NASCAR West Series heads to Colorado National Speedway

NASCAR Camping World Series West driver Greg Pursley has posted three top-five finishes in a row and is in third place in the West Series standings. He will need another strong run on Saturday at Colorado National Speedway if he wants any chance of catching Jason Bowles, the leader in the West Series standings.
Pursley, a Canyon High graduate, has one thing in his favor heading to Colorado. The track is the same size, a 3/8-mile oval, as Thunderhill Raceway in Texas, the site of his first win in the West Series.
“I have always liked racing at Colorado National,” Pursley said, who is making his first West Series start at Colorado National Speedway, but raced there regularly when he was in the defunct NASCAR Southwest Tour. “The track is really fun to drive is like no other track we race. It is a definite two-groove track which means you can pass in any corner. I have heard the track has gotten a little rough over the last several years and that will certainly make it interesting.”
Pursley trails Bowles by 187 points with only three races remaining in the West Series schedule.
“Realistically, Jason and Eric (Holmes) will have to have some real rotten luck for us to have a chance,” Pursley said. “Those guys have run really well all year and I don’t expect that to change but have been points over the last few races.”
As for Bowles, a driver from Ontario, he is coming off a third-place finish at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah and extended his lead over Holmes to 56 points. Bowles has recorded 10 top-10 finishes in all 10 West Series races.
Holmes, the reigning West Series champion, finished eighth at Miller Motorsports Park. Holmes won the race at Colorado National Speedway last year. Bowles was third.
Jeff Jefferson, a driver from Naches, Wash., and a veteran West Series driver, will be making his season debut at Colorado National Speedway. He will be driving a car owned by Tom Hill, who also owns ESI Construction, and will have West Series champion Craig Raudman as his crew chief.
“I am really excited to get back to the West and looking to have a lot of fun this weekend,” Jefferson said. “When Tom said that he wanted to do a West race I just couldn’t believe it. I have had more fun racing for Tom this season in the RMCS then I can remember. I know we have a good car and I know we can run competitively at Colorado thanks to Tom and ESI Construction.”
Jefferson has been racing in the CarbonX Rocky Mountain Challenge Series and is second in the series standings.

Photo: Jeff Jefferson will be making his NASCAR Camping World Series West season debut at Colorado National Speedway on Saturday.