Three Times Is A Charm For Pena

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Sergio Peña turned in a dominating effort in rolling to his third win of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East season Saturday in the Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 140.

Peña qualified second and took the lead from pole winner Corey LaJoie on Lap 58. He finished 4.633 seconds ahead of runner-up Brett Moffitt, who picked up the win in the season opener at Greenville. Rookie Chase Elliott was third.

Alex Bowman, the Sunoco Rookie of the Year leader, and overall points leader Max Gresham rounded out the top five.

Peña’s Revolution Racing teammate Darrell Wallace Jr. was sixth, followed by Dylan Presnell, Brandon Gdovic, Eddie MacDonald and Matt DiBenedetto. LaJoie led the first 58 laps before finishing 13th.

Gresham leads Moffitt by 65 points and Wallace by 105.

The two previous wins for the 18-year-old Winchester, Va., driver came at his home state tracks of South Boston Speedway and Langley Speedway in Hampton. Peña’s blistering pace Saturday in a race slowed by just three cautions resulted in just 10 cars finishing on the lead lap.

The Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 140 will air on SPEED on Thursday, Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. ET.

The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East will run its second-to-last event of the season Friday, Sept. 23 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H.