Chris Eggleston’s Late Move Pays Off

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Chris Eggleston continued Bill McAnally Racing’s dominance at Irwindale Speedway.

The 26-year-old from Erie, Colorado, took the lead from Ryan Partridge with six laps remaining in the King Taco Catering/NAPA Auto Parts 150 presented by Toyota Saturday night en route to his second career NASCAR K&N Pro Series West victory.

Eggleston’s No. 99 NAPA Filters/H2OFire Protection Toyota gave BMR its 10th win among six drivers at the progressive-banked half-mile in Southern California.

Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate Nicole Behar finished second to set the mark for highest finishing female in series history. The previous best was third-place runs by Sarah Fisher, who did it twice — most recently in 2005 at Kyle, Texas.

Fellow rookie Dalton Sargeant finished third. Sargeant, who is running for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East title, won the 21 Means 21 Pole Award presented by Coors Brewing Company earlier in the day.

Rookies Gracin Raz and Ryan Partridge rounded out the top five.

David Mayhew was sixth, followed by Noah Gragson, Brett Thompson, Alex Schutte and Johnny White. Gragson, Schutt and White are also rookies.

The race featured 10 lead changes among four drivers. Eggleston led for a race-high 102 laps. But he lost the lead on Lap 124 to Partridge, a two-time champion in Irwindale’s NASCAR Whelen All-American Series late model division.

A late-race caution set up Eggleston’s winning move on the Lap 144 restart. Sargeant followed Eggleston into second in a bid for his second straight series win but couldn’t close the ground. Sargeant lost the runner-up spot to Behar on the final lap.

It was BMR’s second straight win at Irwindale, following Patrick Staropoli’s win last year. Eggleston’s previous win came at his home track, Colorado National Speedway, last July. He was making his seventh career series start.

The King Taco Catering/NAPA Auto Parts 150 presented by Toyota will air on NBCSN on Thursday, April 16.

The NASCAR K&N Pro Series West heads next to Arizona’s Tucson Speedway for the Wildcat 150 on Saturday, May 2.

NASCAR PR

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