Drake Salvages Top 10 Finish At Bowman Gray

• Wild NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Action At “The Madhouse”

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (June 01, 2014) – Nick Drake salvaged a top-10 finish in a wild NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race on Saturday night that marked his first visit to historic Bowman Gray Stadium.

The 18-year-old series rookie from Mooresville, N.C., was challenging for second place in the No. 15 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota, but was swept up in a last-lap crash at the track known appropriately as “The Madhouse.”

The incident on the final lap of the NASCAR Hall of Fame 150 capped a hectic night of racing that featured 12 cautions, two red flags, a green-white-checkered finish and plenty of bent sheet-metal. Drake recovered to finish 10th, while Ben Rhodes captured his third win of the season.

Drake, who started sixth in the Bill McAnally Racing entry, had worked his way to third and was in position to collect his third consecutive top-three series finish. He was battling for second on the white flag lap when contact from behind sent his car spinning in Turn 4.

“The NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota was good tonight,” Drake said. “We could run on the same pace with the leaders.”

With the numerous cautions, one of the biggest advantages on the flat quarter-mile oval was gained by cars that lined up on the inside lane for a restart.

“When we had to restart on the outside, we got shuffled back a position or two and when we restarted on the inside we gained a position or two,” he said.

Drake remains second in the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings and is seventh in the overall championship standings. He has one pole, three top fives and four top 10s in seven series starts this season.

The NASCAR Hall of Fame 150 from Bowman Gray Stadium will be televised on FOX Sports 1 on June 7 at 10:30 a.m. ET. The event was the seventh on a 16-race schedule this season.

The next event on the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East schedule is the Pensacola 150 at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Fla., on June 13.