Hailie Deegan was again in the top-3 at Kern County, while Brittney Zamora claimed another impressive result of her 2019 K&N West rookie season
Kern County Raceway Park hosted the penultime event of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West 2019 season.
Both the ladies taking part in the championship, Hailie Deegan and Brittney Zamora, started the race in the top positions after a very positive qualifying session: they ended their timed efforts respectively in third and fourth place.
At the green flag, Brittney Zamora immediately ignited a side-by-side duel with Jagger Jones. She was able to hold on to her fourth place after some sensational overtaking moves, as the two drivers swapped positions before restoring the running order.
Hailie Deegan had a good start and ran steadily in third, behind pole-setter Derek Kraus and Travor Huddlenston.
The race went on cleanly with no major drama until lap 37, when the first caution was called out for a flat tire occurred to Travor Huddleston's car, probably caused by a contact with a lapped driver.
Hailie Deegan move up to second and at the restart, but the 18 year-old lady had then to defend intensely from Jagger Jones' comeback.
A few laps later, Jones suffered a similar puncture problem to his teammate and caused the second caution of the night.
Brittney Zamora took advantage from the incident to move up to third, but a the restart she was forced to defend from the attacks of Dylan Garner.
The #99 and #50 cars drivers put on a show with a six-laps long side-by-side battle, until the race was halted once again for another puncture, occurred this time to the #38 Taylor Canfield's Chevrolet.
The fight between Zamora and Garner heated up again at the restart, with the girl from Washington State forced to run on the most unfavorable outside lane. Nonetheless, she reclaimed third on lap 75, after another breathtaking duel.
On lap 76, another yellow flag waved on the Kern County Raceway Park and the drivers stopped their cars for the half-time pit stop check.
At the restart, Derek Kraus resumed his perfect run in first, followed by Hailie Deegan in second and Brittney Zamora in third.
Garner tried one more attack attempt on Zamora, but the lady in the Toyota Camry #99 masterfully defended her position and managed to gain a confortable gap.
Behind her, Todd Souza and Dylan Garner made contact, as Jagger Jones had the chance to complete his comeback and move up to fourth.
With 42 lap to go, Jagger Jones closed the gap with Brittney Zamora and passed the Kennewick's girl a few laps later.
Zach Telford spun with 33 laps to the checkered flag and another caution interrupted the race.
Derek Kraus had more more great restart, while Jones tried to take advantage from his favorable inside line to move ahead of Deegan, but the #19 Toyota driver held her P2 with some tenacious defensive driving.
Todd Souza passed Zamora for fourth but Brittney wasn't ready to give up her place easily: she reclaimed her P4 with 21 laps to go.
With 2 laps to go. a caution forced Hailie Deegan to do some extra work to defend herself from the attacks coming from the faster inside line, as Jagger Jones launched his final attacks. They sparked a spectacular final stage of the race, and the two rivals crossed the finish line perfectly aligned. The second place finish was ultimately assigned to the #6 Ford Fusion driver.
"We had a good setup all night long but just got a little too tight towards the end of the race" - wrote Hailie Deegan in regard to the penultimate K&N Pro Series West round of the season on her social media feeds.
Derek Kraus won the race leading from start to finish, while Brittney Zamora finished fourth after a winning an intense battle with Todd Souza. She brought home another impressive result, as her very positive K&N West rookie season keeps momentum.
The next and final round of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West will be at ISM Raceway on November 9th.
In Hailie's words:
"Had a good setup all night long but just got a little too tight towards the end of the race"
Ph credits: Meg Oliphant/NASCAR