Todd Gilliland Scores Back-to-Back Wins at Iowa Speedway
Todd Gilliland Scores Back-to-Back Wins at Iowa Speedway (submitted photo)
NASCAR Next driver gives Bill McAnally Racing fourth straight win in central Iowa
NEWTON, Iowa (July 28, 2017) – Todd Gilliland entered this weekend with eyes set on the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and West titles. Before Friday night’s NASCAR K&N Pro Series Casey’s General Store 150 presented by Vatterott College, Gilliland led the K&N Pro West Series standings by 11 points, but at the same time sat second to Harrison Burton in the East Series by 14 points.
That will change after the NASCAR Next driver captured his seventh win overall on the season and fourth consecutive win for Bill McAnally Racing at Iowa Speedway. NASCAR Next is an overarching industry initiative to help spotlight NASCAR’s rising stars – and bolster fan recognition around talent that will hopefully grow into NASCAR mainstays.
Thanks to a change by NASCAR in how it will score the annual K&N Pro Series combination race at Iowa Speedway, it is now possible for drivers to compete for the NASCAR K&N East and West titles in the same season and Gilliland is taking full advantage.
“Our car was pretty good tonight on restarts especially,” said Gilliland. “This is a special place to Bill McAnally Racing. This helped us catch up to [Harrison] Burton and pull away from [Chris] Eggleston.”
Gilliland held off fellow NASCAR Next driver Chase Purdy on a late race restart en route to Casey’s General Store’s Victory Lane. Chris Eggleston, who trails points leader Gilliland in the West standings, crossed the line in third.
“Hats off to those guys, they work their tails off,” said Purdy. “There at the end it was every man for himself with five to go.”
Last year, Gilliland won handily in his Iowa Speedway debut, taking home a race win for the fourth time in the 2016 season on his way to the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West Championship.
The NASCAR XFINITY Series U.S. Cellular 250 presented by American Ethanol is scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, July 29. Fans should plan to arrive at Iowa Speedway early to avoid congestion. Parking lots open at 9:00 a.m. CT with plenty of pre-race entertainment on tap.
