Patrick Staropoli concluded all murmurs about him winning the PEAK Stock Car Dream Challenge was a fluke, and further ended any discussion of him not capable of performing well.
Staropoli shutdown these critics after winning Saturday night’s NAPA Auto Parts 150 at Irwindale Speedway in the NASCAR K&N West Pro Series. He inherited the race lead on the restart with 15 laps remaining. After controlling the lead, he pulled away from the field and never looked back until he crossed the start/finish line, first.
“Just and awesome night, I’ll never forget this.” Staropoli commented in the media center following the race. “I’m so excited to be standing here (in victory lane), I never would have imagined this a year ago.”
The Irwindale crowd expected Brett Thompson, who led over half the race, to score the victory. However, K&N West regulars like Greg Pursley and Dylan Lupton began marching through the field during the last stint of the race.
Thompson was shuffled outside the top five with 15 to go and eventually finished a dismal seventh. Ryan Partridge also was a contender during the mid-section of the race, but like Thompson, wasn’t a factor during the final restart and finished right behind Thompson in eighth.
David Mayhew finished 1.5 seconds behind Staropoli in second position after passing Greg Pursley in the final laps. Pursley, K&N West point’s leader, ended up third with Brandon McRenyolds, who won the pole for the race, and Lupton behind him.
“Running at Irwindale is just fun.” Pursley explained after climbing from his machine. “Good points night for us, and just glad we could be back here (Irwindale) in K&N competition.”
The K&N West Series returns to action on May 3rd at Stockton 99 Speedway, which is right down the road from Irwindale. Pursley will look to defend his points lead, and Staropoli will look to defend his first career K&N victory.
