NKNPSE: Ronnie Bassett Jr. Claims First Career Victory at New Smyrna

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Ronnie Bassett Jr. will leave New Smyrna Speedway as the race winner in the Jet Tools 150. Bassett, making his 40th career NASCAR K&N Pro Series East start, captured his first career victory in the series at the 2017 season opener. The 21-year old led the field for 42 circuits around the 0.480-mile oval.

Bassett started the evening in seventh behind the wheel of the No. 04 Bassett Gutters and More Chevrolet. The North Carolina native passed brother Dillon Bassett for the race lead with 41 laps remaining in the event. Bassett scored the win by 3.563 seconds over runner-up finisher Zane Smith.

“We work extremely hard to make these race cars good every weekend,” Bassett Jr. told NASCARHometracks.com. “We’ve had some good runs. We’ve finished second, third, fourth and fifth, but we’ve just never been able to capture the deal, and tonight, I guess was our night, and we were able to get it done.”

Smith came into the evening making his first ever NASCAR K&N Pro Series East start. The California native had some work to do when the Jet Tools 150 got underway as he started 26th. Smith had his time disallowed in qualifying for an infraction.

“The car was good,” Smith told NASCARHomeTracks.com. “Still mad at myself for the qualifying deal, but I cannot thank everyone enough for all they did getting this thing on rails, and I really think if we were able to start up front, it’d be a different story.”

The third spot was also filled by a driver making his NASCAR K&N Pro Series East debut. Derek Kraus, piloting the No. 99 Carlyle Tools Toyota for owner Bill McAnally, started the night in sixth.

Harrison Burton started on the pole for the second time of his career in the Jet Tools 150. Burton led the field for eight laps in his No. 12 Dex Imaging Toyota. Burton, the son of former Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series veteran racer Jeff Burton, will take home a fourth-place finish.

Burton ran a full NASCAR K&N Pro Series East slate in 2016. He scored one top five and five top 10 finishes through 14 races. The North Carolina native ended the season sitting seventh in driver points.

Todd Gilliland led the field for 21 laps in his No. 16 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota. While leading the race on lap 102, Gilliland brought out the caution in turn one after he cut down a tire. He was able to continue on and got the free pass in the next incident on lap 116 that involved four drivers on the backstretch. He was then able to race his way back into the top 10 to a ninth-place finish.

There were six cautions for 28 total laps under the yellow flag. Race lasted one hour, nine minutes and 11 seconds. The average speed of the 150-lap event was 62.443 mph. There were four lead changes among four different drivers.

NASCAR K&N PRO SERIES EAST STANDINGS – RACE 1 OF 14

POS

DRIVER

BEHIND

1

Ronnie Bassett Jr.

47

2

Zane Smith*

-5

3

Derek Kraus*

-6

4

Harrison Burton

-6

5

Travis Cope*

-8

6

Reid Wilson*

-9

7

Hunter Baize

-10

8

Chase Purdy*

-11

9

Todd Gilliland

-11

10

Spencer Davis

-13

 

UNOFFICIAL TOP 10:

POS

DRIVER

1

Ronnie Bassett Jr.

2

Zane Smith*

3

Derek Kraus*

4

Harrison Burton

5

Travis Cope*

6

Reid Wilson*

7

Hunter Baize

8

Chase Purdy*

9

Todd Gilliland

10

Spencer Davis

 

The Jet Tools 150 will air on NBCSN at 10 p.m. ET. on Saturday, February 25th.

The next race for the series will be at Greenville-Pickens Speedway on April 8th.

Brett Winningham
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