TOOELE, Utah — Two rookies stole the show at Miller Motorsports Park on Saturday, with Jason Bowles scoring his first victory as the NASCAR Grand National Division, West Series made its inaugural visit to Miller Motorsports Park for the Big O Tires 150.
Bowles won the 41-lap event by 3.510 seconds over fellow rookie Alex Haase, who also registered his best-career finish. Bowles, who started third, raced into the lead on lap 30.
“I don’t know that I expected to win my first race in my rookie year,” Bowles said. “When we unloaded on Friday, the car was really good right out of the trailer. We just all kind of had a feeling that it might be our weekend.”
With his victory, Bowles secured a spot in this year’s NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown. The prestigious post-season event will be held at Irwindale (Calif.) Speedway on Oct. 19-20.
Brian Ickler, who had won the last two West Series races, moved into second with six laps to go and ran 1.5 seconds faster on lap 35. Bowles responded with the fastest lap of the race, and a lap later Ickler slid off the course and lost several spots. He wound up sixth.
Series veteran Mike David of Modesto, Calif., finished third, his sixth podium finish in 10 races, to extend his lead in the standings.
Completing the top five were Johnny Borneman and longtime series veteran Scott Gaylord, who led 10 laps midway through the race in his return to the series after an eight-race absence.
The finish:
Showing driver, car, laps completed and money won: 1. Jason Bowles, Ford, 41, $14,388; 2. Alex Haase, Chevrolet, 41, $10,088; 3. Mike David, Ford, 41, $9,588; 4. Johnny Borneman, Ford, 41, $6,088; 5. Scott Gaylord, Chevrolet, 41, $3,500; 6. Brian Ickler, Chevrolet, 41, $5,588; 7. Eric Richardson, Chevrolet, 41, $4,388; 8. Eric Hardin, Chevrolet, 41, $3,288; 9. Rick Wall, Ford, 41, $3,188; 10. Jim Inglebright, Chevrolet, 41, $4,088; 11. Moses Smith, Chevrolet, 41, $2,658; 12. Garland Self, Ford, 40, $1,800; 13. Brett Thompson, Chevrolet, 37, $3,338; 14. Mike Duncan, Chevrolet, 26, $3,288; 15. Todd Souza, Chevrolet, 22, $1,650; 16. Daryl Harr, Chevrolet, 21, $2,188; 17. Kevin O’Connell, Chevrolet, 14, $1,575; 18. Andrew Myers, Toyota, 6, $2,138; 19. Justin Lofton, Ford, 3, $2,113; 20. Ryan Foster, Chevrolet, 3, $2,102; 21. Stan Silva, Jr., Chevrolet, 0, $2,088.