Thorn wins West Series race in New Mexico

Derek Thorn won his second NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race at NAPA Speedway in New Mexico on a night when a pair of rookies stole the spotlight.
Dallas Montes was the runner-up in his West Series debut. Hannah Newhouse, a 15-year-old making her West Series debut, was sixth.
Thorn started seventh and worked his way to the lead holding off Montes and Eric Holmes in a green-white-checkered flag finish in the NAPA Auto Parts 150.
Greg Pursley was eighth and leads the West Series standings by 13 points over teammate Dylan Kwasniewski.
Go to the K&N website for more on the West Series race from Albuquerque, N.M.

Photo: Derek Thorn won the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race at NAPA Speedway in New Mexico. (Credit: Getty Images for NASCAR)

Tagliani flames out, Hunter-Reay snags IndyCar Series title at Auto Club Speedway

What a bittersweet end to the Izod IndyCar Series for Alex Tagliani and the Barracuda Racing team.

Tagliani led 19 laps and was out front with 23 laps to go in the season finale MAVTV 500 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana.

But what the team described as mechanical problems ended Tagliani’s night prematurely. He withdrew from the race with 21 laps to go and finished 20^th.

Tagliani, driving for the team owned by Valencia’s Bryan Herta, pulled into the pits and relinquished the lead with smoke seeping from the car’s engine. It looked like the engine burned up.

“I think we were the car to beat at the end,” Tagliani said. “I won’t lie, it’s disappointing, but I would race with Honda any given day. I’m very thankful that they allowed us back into their group. I’m a Honda driver and I want to race with them for a long time. These are things that happen. It’s racing, it’s mechanical and it’s out of our control.”

Ed Carpenter won the race taking the lead from Dario Franchitti on the final lap.

Ryan Hunter-Reay won the IndyCar Series championship by the slimmest of margins. He finished fourth in the race and edged out Will Power by three points to win the series title.

Power entered the IndyCar Series season finale with the lead in the standings. But he spun out and crashed early in the race. His team repaired his car and he returned to the race briefly.

Power ended up with a 24^th-place finish and completed only 66 laps.

“It was team effort right there,” said Hunter-Reay, driver of the No. 28 Honda for Andretti Autosport. “We were struggling all weekend. I didn't want to let anyone really know about it. We were really in the woods. This hasn't sunk in yet. I just drove 500 miles for my life.”

Photo: Alex Tagliani was leading the Izod IndyCar Series season finale at Auto Club Speedway when his engine blew with 21 laps remaining in the race. (Credit: Tim Haddock)

Charlie Kimball looks to kick it in high gear

Camarillo's Charlie Kimball heads into the Izod IndyCar Series season finale at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana with some lofty goals.
He wants to finish the season on a high note after a pair of disappointing finishes in Sonoma and Baltimore.
But there have been some high points for Kimball in his second season with the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team. He was the runner-up at the race in Toronto.
He had three top-10 finishes in a row, including an eighth-place at the Indianapolis 500.
Go to the Ventura County Star for more on Kimball and the season finale MAVTV 500.

Photo: Charlie Kimball has four top-10 finishes, including a runner-up at Toronto, in the Izod IndyCar Series this year. (Credit: Izod IndyCar Series)

Pursley pads West Series lead in Portland

Greg Pursley won the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race at Portland International Raceway and extended his lead in the West Series standings.
Pursley won his fourth race of the season. The reigning West Series champion has a 15-point lead over his Gene Price Motorsports teammate Dylan Kwasniewski.
Michael Self was second, his fifth top 10 in the past six races. Three-time West Series champion Eric Holmes was third.
Go to the K&N website for more on the race from Portland International Raceway.

Photo: Greg Pursley won the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race at Portland International Raceway. (Credit: Craig Mitchell Dyer/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Corey LaJoie rises to the top in Iowa

The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East dominated the race at Iowa Speedway taking nine of the top 10 spots in the Pork Be Inspired 150.
Corey LaJoie was the top of the class, winning the race, his third of the K&N Pro Series season.
LaJoie led the last 10 laps of the race and finished ahead of rookie Kyle Larson. Sergio Pena was third.
Brett Moffitt, the leader in the East Series standings, was fifth. Cale Conley won the pole and finished seventh. Travis Pastrana was sixth.
Michael Self was the highest-finishing driver from the West Series in ninth place.
Go to the K&N website for more on the race from Iowa Speedway.

Photo: Corey LaJoie won the NASCAR K&N Pro Series race at Iowa Speedway, his third of the season. (Credit: Iowa Speedway)

Pursley moves out front in Colorado

Greg Pursley made a move to repeat as the champion of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West after winning the race at Colorado National Speedway.
Pursley won his third race of the season and moved ahead of Gene Price Motorsports teammate Dylan Kwasniewski in the West Series standings.
Pursley won the race in a field that included two-time Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip and Ben Kennedy from the K&N Pro Series East.
Derek Thorn was second, his seventh top-10 finish in 10 West Series races. Kwasniewski won the pole and finished third.
Go to the K&N website for more on the race from Colorado National Speedway.

Photo: Greg Pursley won the NASCAR K&N Pro Series race at Colorado National Speedway and took over the lead in the West Series standings.(Credit: Marc Piscotty/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Conley makes most of race in Columbus

Cale Conley scored one of the biggest wins of his NASCAR career at Columbus Motor Speedway in Ohio.
Conley, a part-time driver in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, won the Jegs 150 leading every lap of the race.
He took the lead passing pole winner Ben Kennedy on the first lap. Conley won the first race of his NASCAR K&N Pro Series career.
It was his third top-five finish in four East Series races this year. He was second at Gresham Motorsports Park in Georgia and third at Iowa Speedway.
Brett Moffitt was second, followed by Darrell Wallace Jr. in third.
Go to the K&N website for more on the race from Columbus Motor Speedway.

Photo: Cale Conley won the first race of his NASCAR K&N Pro Series East career at Columbus Motor Speedway.(Credit: Jamie Sabau/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Eric Holmes wins 50th race for Bill McAnally Racing

Eric Holmes posted a milestone win for his owner, Bill McAnally, at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Wash.
Holmes won the 50th NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race for his boss' team, Bill McAnally Racing, taking the lead on lap 131 of the Toyota/NAPA Auto Parts 150.
McAnally is second to Jack McCoy, who won 54 West Series races as an owner over his career.
Holmes won his first West Series race of the season and the 17th of his career. He is tied with two-time West Series champion Bill Sedgwick for eighth in career West Series wins.
Go to the K&N website for more on the West Series race from Evergreen Speedway.

Photo: Eric Holmes won the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race at Evergreen Speedway, the 50th for team owner Bill McAnally and Bill McAnally Racing. (Credit: Stephen Brashear/Getty Images for NASCAR)

No lights, no problem for Moffitt in Pennsylvania

The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East made its first visit to CNB Bank Raceway Park in Pennsylvania since 1988 and provided some unexpected drama.
The lights went out on the backstretch and delayed the race with three laps to go. Brett Moffitt won the Samuel 150, holding off rookie Kyle Larson over the the final three laps and a green-white-checkered flag finish.
It was the second K&N Pro Series East win of the season and the ninth of his career for Moffitt.
Larson posted his seventh top-10 finish in eight races.
Moffitt took over the lead in the East Series standings with the win. Larson moved into second place in the East Series standings.
Chase Elliott, who entered the race in Pennsylvania as the leader in the East Series standings, was 15th.
Go to the K&N website for more on the Samuel 150.

Photo: Brett Moffitt won the Samuel 150 at CNB Bank Raceway Park in Pennsylvania. (Credit: Justin K. Aller/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Gilliland wins West Series race at Sonoma

David Gilliland, a driver from Riverside, won the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race at Sonoma on the same weekend his father, Butch Gilliland, was inducted into the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame.
Gilliland, a regular on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, won his second West Series race at Sonoma, matching his dad's two wins at the road course in Northern California.
David Gilliland was the crew chief for his dad in one of those wins at Sonoma.
Greg Pursley won the pole for the race in Sonoma and finished third. The reigning West Series champion cut into the lead of his Gene Price Motorsports teammate, Dylan Kwasniewski, who leads the West Series standings.
Derek Thorn finished second, his fifth top-five finish in eight West Series races this year.
Go to the K&N website for more on the West Series race from Sonoma.

Photo: David Gilliland leads the field at the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race at Sonoma. (Getty Images for NASCAR)

LaJoie Rallies For Second East Series Win

Corey LaJoie won the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race at Langley Speedway in Virginia, his second in the past three races.
LaJoie passed for the lead on lap 165 in the Visit Hampton VA 175 and held on for the last 10 laps of the race. With the win, he is one point out of first place in the East Series standings after seven races.
Chase Elliott won the pole and set the track record in qualifying at Langley Speedway. His time of 16.400 seconds around the .4-mile oval broke the qualifying mark set by Coleman Pressley last year.
Brett Moffitt led race-high 115 laps and finished in second place. Elliott led the first 20 laps of the race at finished in third place.
Go to the K&N website for more on the East Series race from Langley Speedway.

Photo: Corey LaJoie won the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race at Langley Speedway in Virginia. (Jason Smith/Pixelcrisp for NASCAR)

Rookie wins East Series race at Gresham

Rookie Kyle Larson won the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race at Gresham Motorsports Park in Georgia, taking advantage of a restart mistake by Cale Conley.
Larson, a driver from Elk Grove, Calif., won the first race of his East Series career. He took the lead from Conley on the final restart and held on over the last five laps of the race.
Conley, who won the pole and led the first 145 laps of the Slack Auto Parts 150, spun his tires on the final restart allowing Larson to pass for the lead.
Larson has three top-five finishes in six East Series starts this season.
Conley has made only three East Series starts and finished in the top five in two of those races.
Go to the K&N website for more on the East Series race from Gresham.

Photo: Rookie Kyle Larson won the first NASCAR K&N Pro Series race of this career at Gresham Motorsports Park in Georgia. (Credit: Kevin Lyles/NASCAR)

LaJoie adds his name to winner's list at historic Bowman Gray Stadium

Corey LaJoie won the first race of his NASCAR K&N Pro Series East career on one of the most historic tracks in NASCAR.
LaJoie won the East Series race at Bowman Gray Stadium in North Carolina, one of the tracks where Richard Petty and Tim Flock started their stock-car racing careers.
LaJoie, the son of two-time NASCAR Nationwide Series champion Randy LaJoie, was second at Bowman Gray last year and had three runner-up finishes in his East Series career.
Go to the K&N website for more on the East Series race from Bowman Gray Stadium.

Photo: The cars in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race make their way around historic Bowman Gray Stadium. (Credit: Jason Smith/NASCAR)

Pursley and Kwasniewski a 1-2 punch for Gene Price Motorsports

Gene Price Motorsports teammates Greg Pursley and Dylan Kwasniewski finished 1-2 in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race at the Bullring in Las Vegas.
Pursley won the West Series race in Las Vegas for the second year in a row.
Kwasniewski won the pole and led the first 12 laps of the race. He maintained his lead in the West Series standings with his second-place finish.
Pursley won his second race of the season.
"It was a great race," Pursley said. "We had a really good car there and a really good battle there with Dylan. Our car, on a restart, wouldn't start going until about 10 laps in. We had a great battle with him there at the end. Kid's a great driver, but our car was
just a little bit better and had a little bit more at the end."
Go to the K&N website for more on the West Series race from Las Vegas.

Photo: Greg Pursley (26) and Dylan Kwasniewski gave Gene Price Motorsports a 1-2 finish in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race at Las Vegas. (Getty Images for NASCAR)

Dylan Kwasniewski leads Hunter Index for June

Dylan Kwasniewski won his first NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race of the season at Stockton 99 Speedway and claimed the top spot in the West Series standings.
He was voted as the top driver in the NASCAR Hunter Index for June with two wins and two runner-up finishes in his past four races.
He was credited with a win for being the highest finishing driver from the West Series at Iowa Speedway. He was eighth. Chase Elliott won the race and he was followed by seven drivers from the East Series.
He was second at the inaugural West Series race at Brainerd International Raceway in Minnesota and was leading that race before his transmission gave out on him in the closing laps.
Go to NASCAR Home Tracks for the complete Hunter Index.

Photo: Dylan Kwasniewski leads the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West standings and is the top driver in the Hunter Index for June. (Credit Getty Images for NASCAR)

Self wins first West Series race at Brainerd

The NASCAR K&N Pro Series West made its first trip to Brainerd International Raceway in Minnesota.
Michael Self won the first race of his NASCAR K&N Pro Series West career.
Self, who had made 33 career West Series starts without a win, chased down Dylan Kwasniewski in the final laps on the road course to win the race.
Kwasniewski led a race-high 39 laps, but had gear box problems down the stretch. He was able to nurse his car across the finish line in second place.
Greg Pursley, the reigning West Series champion, was third.
Go to the K&N website for more on the race from Brainerd.

Photo: Michael Self celebrates winning the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race at Brainerd International Raceway, the first of his career.Credit: Adam Bettcher/NASCAR

Elliott wins at Iowa Speedway

Chase Elliott saved his first win for one of the biggest stages on the NASCAR K&N Pro Series schedule.
He won the race at Iowa Speedway which pits the top driver from the East and West Series.
Elliott started 15th and won his first race in his 16th career start on the K&N Pro Series East.
The East Series took the top seven spots in the race at Iowa Speedway.
Dylan Kwasniewski was the highest-finishing driver from the West Series in eighth. He was credited with a win and padded his lead in the West Series standings.
Travis Pastrana, an X-Games champion and action sports athlete, had the best finish of his K&N Pro Series career. He was fourth.
Go to the K&N website for more on the K&N Pro Series race from Iowa Speedway.

Photo: Chase Elliott and crew chief Lance McGrew celebrate winning the K&N Pro Series race at Iowa Speedway. Credit: Mike Gatzke/Iowa Speedway

Kwasniewski dominates at Stockton 99 Speedway

Dylan Kwasniewski won the NASCAR K&N Pro Series race at Stockton 99 Speedway, his first of the season, on May 5.
Kwasniewski took over the lead in the K&N Pro Series West standings with the win. The 16-year-old driver for Gene Price Motorsports won the third race of his West Series career. He won the pole and led every lap in the Pick-N-Pull 150.
Three-time West Series champion Eric Holmes was second, followed by David Mayhew in third.
Go to the K&N website for more on  the West Series race from Stockton.

Photo: Dylan Kwasniewski won the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race at Stockton 99 Speedway. (Credit: Jason O. Watson/Getty Images for NASCAR).

Moffitt wins East Series race at Richmond

Brett Moffitt won his first NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race of the season and denied Chase Elliott the first East Series win of his career.
Moffitt won the Blue Ox 100 at Richmond International Raceway in a green-white-checkered flag finish battling Elliott on the last lap. Moffitt crossed the finish line 0.011 seconds ahead of Elliott.
Moffitt won the pole and led a race-high 92 laps for the eighth win of his East Series career.
Elliott is the leader in the East Series standings after three races. He has a four-point lead over teammate Ben Kennedy.
Moffitt is sixth in the East Series standings, 11 points behind Elliott.
Go to the K&N website for more on the East Series race from Richmond.

Photo: Brett Moffitt (11) won the eighth NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race of his career at Richmond International Raceway. (Getty Images for NASCAR)

Memorial for John Partridge at Irwindale Speedway

All are invited to the memorial service for John Partridge, the father of Ryan Partridge, the 2010 NASCAR Super Trucks champion at Irwindale Speedway, and the father of the late Bernie Partridge, NHRA announcer, official, administrator and trailblazer.

John Partridge died of a heart attack on April 11, 2012. He was an instrumental member of his son’s NASCAR teams and a driving force behind Ryan Partridge’s debut in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West on April 14 at Havasu 95 Speedway.

Ryan Partridge recorded a top-10 performance in his first K&N Pro Series West race. He finished ninth at Havasu after qualifying 11^th in the inaugural West Series race at the quarter-mile oval.

“I’ve been racing since I was 5 years old with my dad,” Ryan Partridge said. “Together we could put any car on the pole in a matter of a couple of practices, regardless of what it was.” 

Ryan Partridge and his dad were working on putting a together a car for the West Series race at Havasu at the time of John Partridge’s death. Drivers and teams from Irwindale Speedway pulled together to complete the West Series package and enter a car for Ryan Partridge in the race at Havasu.

Ryan Partridge’s car at the West Series race at Havasu carried an inscription on the hood that read, “RIP John Partridge.”

“He wouldn’t care about the memorial or anything,” Ryan Partridge said. “He wants me to get in the West Series. He wants me to do well. He wants me to be humble about it. My dad was always my biggest fan. He would brag to everybody who was around how good his kid was. I plan on doing exactly what he’s been prepping me for since I was 5.”

John Partridge was 57. He is survived by his wife, Carolyn, and four children, Nicole, John David Jr., Ryan and Andrew.

“It’s just about getting the racers together at the race track. That’s what it’s all about,” Ryan Partridge said. “Just getting out at the race track, getting all the racers together is what needs to happen.”