Knox led most of the last third of the race after he beat Dwayne Callaway on pit stops and Reece Butcher, leader for 33 laps, stalled in his stall.
"It felt unbelievable just being up front," Knox said. "When I'm driving, I'm not really thinking about being in my home state. The circumstances just played out perfectly for us. Knox's victory opened up a spot in the Elite Cup Series Chase. Knox is unable to participate in the top series' playoffs because he is an Amateur Cup Series regular. The open spot will go to whoever isn't clinched in with a win and topping raw points unless another spot opens later in the season. nascarfan19 finished 2nd, making it twice in four races that he grabbed the runner-up spot. Noah Kars, lined up behind the #64 and lapped at the time, made a cut underneath nascarfan19 into turn one and extended Knox's lead until the end of the race.
Despite not getting the victory, Callaway led 13 laps en route to a 3rd place finish. He now runs 13th in standings despite missing Columbia.
"I appreciate the #93 team giving me the opportunity in their car," Callaway said. "Toyota has been special for our family organization, and they're helping us build great cars that put us in the position to qualify for the Elite Cup Series in the first place and then run competitive." On the opposite side of the leaderboard, controversy erupted when NACS driver TJ Smith ran into the back of Jek Porkins after getting spun on the frontstretch, even though Zachary Fitzwater Sr. was the instigator of Smith's spin. Smith forced Porkins toward pit road, putting himself into the end of a wall in the process. Porkins would still finish 17th while Smith placed dead last as the only car out of the race. After the race, Smith blamed the inability to steer for the incident. He could face discipline from the league when they review footage later this week. Gerrard Oran tried to stretch his fuel late in the first pit run, but a cut tire put him into the grass and wall, simultaneously running out of gas at the top of the hill. He was towed back to pit road and finished 38th two laps down, leading one lap before his incident. "I'm starting to lose confidence in being able to do anything now, because of how bad luck treats me," Oran said. "I'm kinda glad this isn't getting much attention, since I feel some may think it's because I'm not a good driver, nor do we have a good team."
TheOtherJR, who led first practice, fell all the way back to 26th place.
Here's who shows speed before we hit the track at Mirage: 1) Aidan Shepherd (R) - 25.253 (116 laps) 2) Phillip Fry (R) - 25.264 (124) 3) Reece Butcher - 25.268 (124) 4) Zachary Fitzwater Sr. (R) - 25.275 (120) 5) Adam Mundinger (R) - 25.276 (123) 6) Eli Bright (R) - 25.280 (122) 7) Amethyst Ashley (R) - 25.281 (114) 8) Jonny Gardner - 25.282 (119) 9) John Arndt - 25.288 (121) 10) Bruno de Barros (R) - 25.291 (121)
Here are the top 10 times from first practice:
1) TheOtherJR (R) - 25.309 (176 laps) 2) Adam Mundinger (R) - 25.319 (179) 3) Ryan Maiden (R) - 25.320 (172) 4) Aidan Shepherd (R) - 25.327 (183) 5) Gerrard Oran (R) - 25.334 (187) 6) Jonathan Raines (R) - 25.336 (163) 7) Reece Butcher - 25.341 (180) T8) nascarfan19 - 25.356 (174) T8) Phillip Fry (R) - 25.356 (165) 10) William Brock - 25.357 (171) |
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