Burton, Miller Take K&N East Twin 100’s At South Boston

Story By: HUNTER THOMAS / NASCAR – SOUTH BOSTON, VA – Harrison Burton continued his winning ways Saturday night when he won the second WhosYourDriver.org 100 at South Boston Speedway.

With just three laps to go, rookie Chase Purdy, who was on the inside of race leader, Todd Gilliland, jumped the restart and opened the door for 16-year-old Burton to challenge Gilliland for the lead. The Huntersville, N.C., teen was able to pilot his No. 12 DEX Imaging Toyota past Gilliland to earn his second NASCAR K&N Pro Series East victory in a span of two weeks.

The NASCAR Next driver was speechless in Victory Lane as he celebrated with his family who has a long, rich history of winning at the .400-mile Virginia oval. His father, Jeff Burton, and his uncle, Ward, raced in the track’s Late Model Stock Car division en route to two careers in NASCAR’s premier Cup series. Jeff Burton made his second career NASCAR XFINITY Series start at South Boston in 1988 and finished 17th. He made eight starts there under the old Busch Series banner, with a win in 1991. Two sections of the front stretch grandstands bear the name of Jeff and Ward.

Gilliland, 16, and his No. 16 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota held on to finish second, an improvement from his fifth-place finish earlier in the night. Although he was disappointed with his finishes at South Boston, his two top fives kept the Sherrills Ford, N.C., native within striking distance of Burton in the standings.

With his solid-top five finishes at South Boston, he finished fifth in the first twin feature, and his victory at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, Burton sits atop the K&N Pro Series East standings with an 18-point lead over Gilliland.

Finishing third was Vinnie Miller, driver of the MasterMfgIn.com Toyota, who earned his best series career finish in just his fourth NASCAR K&N Pro Series East start. Chase Cabre, who started on the pole for both events, finished fourth while his Rev Racing teammate, Ruben Garcia finished fifth.

Completing the top-10 was the first twin-feature winner Travis Miller followed by Hunter Baize, Peyton Sellers, Enrique Baca and Jay Beasley.

Miller Captures First K&N Pro East Victory
Chesapeake, Virginia’s Travis Miller won his first career NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race Saturday night at South Boston Speedway.

Miller and his No. 40 MDM Motorsports Chevrolet started the WhosYourDriver.org Twin 100s in the third position and quickly picked his way to the start of the field. It was a restart on Lap 59 that enabled the 29-year-old to take the lead from Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender, Chase Purdy. Once Miller, who is making his season debut this weekend, was able to get around the 17-year-old, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, native he never looked back and went on to lead the final 40 laps of the 100-lap feature event.

Purdy and his No. 17 Bama Buggies/Textron Off Road Toyota made one last effort to get around Miller as they exited Turn 4 coming to the checkered flag, but was unable to get past Miller and had to settle for second. It was the rookie’s best career NASCAR K&N Pro Series East finish to date.

NASCAR Next driver Todd Gilliland finished third after having one of the fastest cars on the track the first half of the race. The 16-year-old from Sherrills Ford, North Carolina, was picking his way through the field after starting fifth, when he crashed with JP Morgan in Turn 2 on Lap 55. To add to the 2016 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West champion’s mid-race bad luck, he was later penalized for pitting too soon and had to restart from the rear of the field. As the laps dwindled, Gilliland in his No. 16 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota quickly made his way back to the front of the field.

Dillon Bassett finished fourth followed by Harrison Burton in fifth.

Ruben Garcia Jr., pole-sitter Chase Cabre, Jay Beasley, Peyton Sellers and Vinnie Miller rounded out the top 10.

The first WhosYourDriver.org Twin 100 will air on NBCSN Thursday, May 11 at 7 p.m. ET.

The second WhosYourDriver.org Twin 100 at South Boston Speedway will begin at 9 p.m. ET.

RACE STATISTICS

Fastest Qualifier: Chase Cabre *, Time: 14.711 Seconds, Speed: 97.886 mph

Time of Race: 0 hrs., 0 mins, 0 secs Average Speed: Margin of Victory:

Caution Flags: Laps 55-58 (Turn 4 – 30, 41, 2, 18 – Turn 2 23, 16 – No FP).  1 for 4 laps.

Lap Leaders: Chase Cabre * 1-19, Chase Purdy * 20-58, Travis Miller 59-100.

Total Laps Led: Travis Miller 42, Chase Purdy * 39, Chase Cabre * 19.  2 changes involving 3 drivers.

Top 10 Driver Points: Harrison Burton 168, Todd Gilliland 154, Chase Purdy * 144, Ruben Garcia Jr. 143, Hunter Baize 141, Ronnie Bassett, Jr. 140, Chase Cabre * 126, Dillon Bassett 123, Jay Beasley 122, Collin Cabre 121

* – Denotes Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender

RACE STATISTICS

Fastest Qualifier: Chase Cabre *, Time: 15.158 Seconds, Speed: 94.999 mph

Time of Race: 0 hrs., 36 mins, 10 secs Average Speed: 66.359 mph Margin of Victory: 1.126 Seconds

Caution Flags: Laps 6-11 (Turn 1 #19 – No FP); 73-80 (Turn 1 #2 – FP #9); 93-96 (Backstretech #04 – FP #42).  3 for 18 laps.

Lap Leaders: Chase Cabre * 1-4, Chase Purdy * 5-81, Todd Gilliland 82-97, Harrison Burton 98-100.

Total Laps Led: Chase Purdy * 77, Todd Gilliland 16, Chase Cabre * 4, Harrison Burton 3.  3 changes involving 4 drivers.

Top 10 Driver Points: Harrison Burton 215, Todd Gilliland 197, Ruben Garcia Jr. 182, Chase Purdy * 179, Hunter Baize 178, Ronnie Bassett, Jr. 170, Chase Cabre * 167, Jay Beasley 156, Dillon Bassett 154, Tyler Dippel 151

* – Denotes Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender