Wallace Wins Whitaker 150
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Darrell Wallace Jr. won the Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 150 in NASCAR K&N Pro Series East action on Saturday night at Greenville Pickens Speedway.
Wallace, out of Mobile, Ala., led every lap but one on the way to his first win of the 2012 season and the sixth of his series career. Wallace’s first win came at the Greenville track to open the 2010 season.
| POS | DRIVER |
|---|---|
| 1 | Darrell Wallace Jr. |
| 2 | Corey LaJoie |
| 3 | Brandon Gdovic |
| 4 | Brett Moffitt |
| 5 | Eddie MacDonald |
He jumped out to an early lead and withstood challenges from Travis Pastrana and Carlos Iaconelli on a couple of early restarts. Wallace started from the pole position after qualifying was rained out and the field was set per the rule book.
Brett Moffitt, who started 21st, charged through the field and into the top five before the race’s halfway point. He took an opportunity on a Lap 126 restart to apply some pressure to Wallace. Coming out of Turn 4 Lap 128, Moffitt muscled his way into the lead, but Wallace was up to the challenge and regained the lead before the two came back around to the line. Moffitt fell back to finish fourth.
Corey LaJoie crossed the line in the second position .868 seconds behind the race winner. Brandon Gdovic scored a career-best third-place finish while Eddie MacDonald finished in fifth, behind Moffitt.
Chase Elliott, Dylan Kwasniewski, rookie Dylan Presnell, Ben Kennedy and Daniel Suarez rounded out the top 10. Kwasniewski charged from 29th on the grid to finish seventh in his first appearance in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East. the 16-year-old had a record-setting season as a rookie in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West last year.
With his victory, Wallace locked up a spot in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series race at the UNOH Battle at the Beach at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway during next February’s Speedweeks.
The Greenville race was slowed due to caution just six times for 30 laps.
The Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 150 will be broadcast by SPEED on May 3 at 3 p.m. ET.
The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East returns to action on Thursday, April 26 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway.
