Dillon Bassett Grabs First K&N East Victory at Motordrome Speedway

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Dillon Bassett at 8:40 pm ET on Monday, August 17, 2015 Photo - Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

Dillon Bassett at 8:40 pm ET on Monday, August 17, 2015 Photo – Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

Dillon Bassett is our guest on Fan4Racing Fan2Fan NASCAR & Race Talk on Monday, August 17, 2015 at 8:40 pm ET. Call 929-477-1790 or tweet @Fan4RacingSite or @Sal_Sigala with any questions or comments during our LIVE broadcast. 

In his inaugural race at Motordrome Speedway, 17-year-old Dillon Bassett grabbed a breakthrough NASCAR K&N East victory in the UPMC Health Plan 150, becoming the 100th different winner in series history.

Getting to the finish line was the challenge for Bassett, from Winston-Salem, NC, with two late-race red flags then intense racing from competitor Austin Hill in the closing laps.

Championship points leader William Byron, led a race-high 92 laps, but on lap 94, Bassett raced his No. 44 to the lead. On lap 101, asphalt issues on the front stretch brought out two red flags, and later caution laps. Finally on lap 120, the race resumed with third-place Austin Hill mounting a hard charge to the lead. Bassett kept his focus and challenged back with momentum on the outside to take back the lead on lap 125. From there, Bassett wouldn’t be denied and raced to a 3.357-second gap over his competitors at the finish line for his first victory in the K&N East.

For Bassett this was his tenth career NASCAR K&N Pro Series start with his earlier best finish of sixth in the season opener at Florida’s New Smyrna Speedway. He scored 16 Late Model wins last year en route to a fourth-place in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national standings. Bassett also earned the UNOH Youth Achievement National Award last year as the top NASCAR Whelen All-American Series driver 17-and-under.

Rico Abreu finished second, while Hill in the end, settled for a third-place finish. Last week’s race winner Scott Heckert finished fourth with JJ Haley rounding out the top-five. Kenzie Ruston finished sixth, followed by Kaz Grala, Byron, Codie Rohrbaugh and Sergio Pena. Heckert gained on his point standings and is now 12 back from the leader, Byron, while Hill is 28 points back in third.x

Watch the K&N East UPMC Health Plan 150 on NBCSN on Thursday, August 20th at 2:30 pm ET.

The K&N East returns to road-course action in the Biscuitville 125 at VIRginia International Raceway on Saturday, August 29th.