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Adds NASCAR K&N Pro Series West Win To Road-Course Dominance

SONOMA, Calif. – There was never any doubt that Will Rodgers was the driver to beat on road courses in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series. And he delivered. Again.

The 23-year-old NASCAR Next driver capped off a dominating weekend by winning the Carneros 200 at Sonoma Raceway on Saturday.

The win marks the fourth of Rodgers’ straight NASCAR K&N Pro Series win on a road course, and Saturday’s West victory comes a week after he won the East race at New Jersey Motorsports Park.

Not even a Sonoma field that included five Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers could keep Rodgers from Victory Lane.

Rodgers was fastest in practice at Sonoma, won the pole position for the second year in a row, and led a race-high 35 laps.

“I knew we would have a great car prepared by Jefferson-Pitts Racing” said Rodgers. “We had a great piece and made very minor adjustments, my crew chief Jeff (Jefferson) definitely had the right ideas in mind and it helped us obviously stay first in practice, get the pole and then here we are in Victory Lane.”

Rodgers entered the first five-minute break at lap 21 as the race leader over Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series regulars William Byron, Daniel Suarez, and Aric Almirola. Seven cars chose to stay out, including Almirola who took over the race lead. With the fastest cars in the field getting shuffled outside of the top five, the excitement picked up.

Rodgers and Suarez began to put on a show as they battled back inside the top-five after the restart. It was Suarez who won the race to the front with a pass for the lead over Almirola on lap 39.

By the second and final break at lap 41, the stage was set: Suarez led with Almirola, Rodgers, Erik Jones, and Byron right behind.

On the pursuing restart, Almirola got the jump around Suarez and back into the lead. The winning pass, however, came on lap 50 when Rodgers dove to the bottom of Almirola entering the hairpin in turn 11. Rodgers never looked back as he drove to victory by 4.420 seconds.

Almirola finished second while Byron settled for third.

Suarez finished fourth, just ahead of Ryan Partridge. Partridge took the championship lead by one point over teammate Derek Thorn, who was eighth.

Jones, Hailie Deegan, Thorn, Cole Keatts and Derek Kraus round out the top-ten.

The Carneros 200 will air on NBCSN on Thursday, June 28 at 6 pm ET.

The NASCAR K&N Pro Series West is right back at it on Saturday, June 30 with the Clint Newell Toyota 150 presented by NAPA Auto Parts at Douglas County Speedway in Roseburg, Ore.

NOTES

• The win marks eight straight road course wins for Jefferson-Pitts Racing.
• After a career-best qualifying effort of third, Hailie Deegan finished seventh.
• Derek Thorn entered the race as the series points leader. He was able to recover from a late race incident to finish eighth.
• After fighting for fourth with Suarez, Cole Rouse went around in turn 11 on lap 61. He finished 12th.

NASCAR K&N PRO SERIES WEST-Carneros 200 Results

Saturday

At Sonoma Raceway

Sonoma, Calif.

lap length: 1.99 miles

(Start position in parentheses)

1. (1) Will Rodgers, Solvang, Calif., Ford, 64 laps, 58.482 mph.
2. (5) Aric Almirola, Tampa, Fla., Ford, 64.
3. (2) William Byron, Charlotte, N.C., Chevrolet, 64.
4. (6) Daniel Suarez, Monterrey, Mexico, Toyota, 64.
5. (4) Ryan Partridge, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., Ford, 64.
6. (13) Erik Jones, Byron, MI, Toyota, 64.
7. (3) Hailie Deegan, Temecula, Calif., Toyota, 64.
8. (9) Derek Thorn, Lakeport, Calif., Ford, 64.
9. (16) Cole Keatts, Lewiston, Idaho, Ford, 64.
10. (8) Derek Kraus, Stratford, Wisc., Toyota, 64.
11. (11) David Mayhew, Atascadero, Calif, Chevrolet, 64.
12. (14) Cole Rouse, Fort Smith, Ark., Toyota, 64.
13. (18) Tom Klauer, Reno, Nev., Chevrolet, 64.
14. (26) Rodd Kneeland, Sonoma, Calif., Chevrolet, 63.
15. (20) Jesse Iwuji, Carrolton, Texas, Chevrolet, 63.
16. (24) Rich DeLong III, Santa Clarita, Calif., Chevrolet, 63.
17. (10) Kody Vanderwal, LaSalle, Colo, Ford, 56, engine.
18. (12) Jim Inglebright, Fairfield, Calif., Chevrolet, 46, clutch.
19. (15) Todd Souza, Aromas, Calif., Toyota, 45, engine.
20. (25) Trevor Huddleston, Agoura Hills, Calif., Ford, 44, electrical.
21. (17) Travis Milburn, Eagle, Idaho, Chevrolet, 39, electrical.
22. (19) Carlos Vieira, Atwater, Calif., Ford, 31, accident.
23. (23) Hollis Thackeray, Gridley, Calif., Toyota, 17, transmission.
24. (7) Alex Bowman, Tucson, Ariz., Chevrolet, 10, engine.
25. (21) Takuma Koga, Nagoya, Japan, Chevrolet, 9, accident.
26. (22) Matt Levin, Tucson, Ariz., Chevrolet, 1, accident.

Race Statistics

Time of Race: 2 hours 10 minutes 40 seconds

The Margin of Victory: 4.420 seconds

Fastest Qualifier: W.Rodgers (90.591 mph, 79.081 seconds)

Caution Flags: Five for 17 laps.

Lead Changes: Six among four drivers.

lap Leaders: W. Rodgers 1-21; A. Almirola 22; C. Rouse 23; A. Almirola 24-39; D. Suarez 40-44; A. Almirola 45-50; W. Rodgers 51-64.

Standings: 1. R. Partridge, 254; 2. D. Thorn, 253; 3. D. Kraus, 237; 4. C. Rouse, 232; 5. H. Deegan, 225; 6. K. Vanderwal, 219; 7. T. Huddleston, 213; 8. M. Levin, 185; 9. W. Rodgers, 181; 10. T. Souza, 179.