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Pursley Wins NASCAR West Series Pole, Finishes 7th At Iowa Speedway

Greg Pursley’s return to Iowa Speedway started out so well. He set fast time in qualifying and won the pole for the NASCAR Camping World Series West race on Friday night.

Then things started going downhill. He blew an engine in practice. His team spent most of the practice session replacing the engine. The new engine cost Pursley his pole position and had to start from the back of the 27-car field.

pursley-iowa-pole“The crew was flawless in changing the engine,” Pursley said. “All we really lost was some track time as the car was really good.”
Pursley, a Canyon High graduate, rallied for a seventh-place finish and ended his weekend in much better shape than his first visit to Iowa Speedway in May.

He finished 12th in the May race, his only finish outside the top-10 all season.

“All in all it was a good day for the Gene Price Motorsports team,” Pursley said.  “We have such a great group of guys working on the car so the engine deal was a minor setback. We were fast but the changes we made during the pit stop were  not enough to move us forward. We are happy to leave Iowa with the car in one piece and head to the finale at All American.”

Pursley is in third place in the West Series standings with one race to go. He trails Jason Bowles, a driver from Ontario and the leader in the West Series standings, and Eric Holmes of Escalon, the reigning West Series champion and the second place driver in the West Series standings.

The West Series season ends at All American Speedway in Roseville on Sept. 26.

Photo: Greg Pursley displays the Coors Light Pole Award he won at Iowa. (Photo Credit: David Purdy/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Hornaday pads lead in NASCAR Truck Series standings
Ron Hornaday Jr. made his first visit to Iowa Speedway a top-five performance. Hornaday finished fourth in the inaugural NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Iowa Speedway on Saturday night.

Mike Skinner won the race, his second of the season.

Hornaday increased his lead in the Truck Series standings to 225 points over Matt Crafton. Hornaday, driver of the No. 33 Chevrolet Silverado for Kevin Harvick Inc., is in search of his fourth Truck Series championship.

“The guys on this Longhorn Silverado did a great job,” said Hornaday, a former Saugus Speedway champ. “We didn’t have the truck to beat, Skinner did. We just fought loose-in, tight-off all night. Actually, we really struggled the last two days, but this is why this KHI team is championship caliber. It was a lot of fun here. We didn’t give up and with eight races to go, we still have our lead. Crafton was good and I am not sure how we gained five points on him, but we’ll take it.”

Johnson wins sixth NASCAR Super Trucks race at Irwindale
R.J. Johnson of Canyon Country won his second NASCAR Super Trucks race in a row and his sixth of the season on Saturday night.

Pat Mintey Jr. of Quartz Hill, the leader in the Super Trucks standings at the track, was fourth. He holds a six-point lead over Johnson with two races to go in the Super Trucks season.

John Watkinson of Canyon Country was 15th.

In other races, Valencia’s Connor Cantrell was ninth in the NASCAR Late Model race.

Mike Johnson of Covina won the Late Model race, his fourth in a row. Nick Joanides of Woodland Hills, the leader in the Late Model standings at Irwindale, was sixth.

Valencia’s Mark Borchetta was fourth and Kenny Maler Jr. of Acton was fifth in the Legend Cars race. Rookie Dallas Montes of Bakersfield won the Legend Cars race. Ryan Reed of Bakersfield, the leader in the Legend Cars standings, was third.

Go to Haddock in the Paddock for comments from the drivers and recaps from all the races at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale and Iowa Speedway.

Pursley Wins NASCAR West Series Pole, Finishes 7th At Iowa Speedway

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About Connie Jones

Connie and her husband, John, moved to the Santa Clarita Valley almost 30 years ago. Living in Santa Clarita for that long is the direct opposite of Connie’s childhood. She was an Army ‘brat’ who moved every two to three years. Consequently, she has lived in many states and even spent three years in Europe. All three of her kids went to Santa Clarita schools. Connie says the best thing about her job at KHTS is that she is never bored. “If I’m not smiling, Carl is sure to ask why, just before giving me a mind-boggling project.” “KHTS AM-1220 is an integral part of our community and I’m glad to be a part of it. Besides, the DJs will take my request to play Shania Twain’s ‘Still the One’ for my wedding anniversary – gotta love that!”