April 23, 2024

Casey's 150: Self dominates second half en route to victory

Moffitt falters, finishes third after dominating first half of race

By Bob Eschliman

Michael Self became the first K&N Pro Series West driver to ever win a joint East-West event at Iowa Speedway. He passed Iowa native and East points leader Brett Moffitt just before the mid-race break and never looked back. (Dustin Turner)

All Michael Self's Chevy needed was clean air. The K&N Pro Series veteran took the lead just before the competition yellow at the midway point of the Casey's General Stores 150 and never looked back.

"Just an unbelievable night," he said. "We had an interesting day. We were 23rd or 24th in practice, which was pretty much the same position we were in last year. I knew we just had to be patient and bide our time; as soon as the sun came down, I knew we would have something. Just before the break, my car really came to life."

The caution-plagued race wound up lasting 159 laps instead of 150 to allow a green-white-checkered finish. While the sprint to the checkered certainly added drama to the end of the race, it didn't provide any suspense.

Taking the high side of the track on every restart, Self checked out from the rest of the field at the onset, leaving little doubt as to who would win.  Iowa native and K&N East points leader Brett Moffitt, who led much of the first half of the race, gave it everything he had at the end, but faltered to a third-place finish.

Self recorded his second win of the season. The Utah native was the first K&N West driver to win a combined race at Iowa Speedway. He was the top West driver last season, placing ninth in Newton.

Dylan Kwasniewski, who finished second, picked up his third Top-10 finish in four East-West events at Iowa Speedway. He skipped out on his high school graduation to take part in the race, wearing his graduation cap during driver introductions.

Moffitt collected his 23rd podium finish in 53 career starts in the K&N Pro Series. It was his fourth Top-5 finish in six starts this season. In seven East-West events at Iowa Speedway, he was six Top-5s.

All three drivers were introduced earlier in the day as NASCAR Next drivers for 2013-14. Four of the top five finishers were NASCAR Next drivers.

Anderson Bowen, competing in his first career K&N Pro Series event, won the pole earlier in the day. After falling back around Lap 20, he finished 14th.

See more on this story in Monday's Daily News.

Unofficial Results

1. 21 Michael Self, Chevrolet

2. 98 Dylan Kwasniewski, Chevrolet

3. 11 Brett Moffitt, Toyota

4. 26 Greg Pursley, Ford

5. 41 Ben Rhodes, Chevrolet

6. 00 Cole Custer, Chevrolet

7. 47 Cale Conley, Toyota

8. 24 Cameron Hayley, Ford

9. 20 Gray Gaulding, Toyota

10. 89 Matt Tifft, Chevrolet

11. 33 Brandon James, Chevrolet

12. 96 Ben Kennedy, Chevrolet

13. 4 Bryan Ortiz, Toyota

14. 77 Anderson Bowen, Dodge

15. 71 Eddie MacDonald, Chevrolet

16. 69 Daniel Suarez, Toyota

17. 01 Daryl Harr, Chevrolet

18. 6 Derek Thorn, Ford

19. 97 Jesse Little, Chevrolet

20. 1 Johnny Van Doorn, Chevrolet

21. 14 Jamie Krzysik, Toyota

22. 27 MacKenna Bell, Toyota

23. 37 Anthony Giannone, Toyota

24. 72 Scott Heckert, Chevrolet

25. 12 Giles Thornton, Toyota

26. 9 Dylan Lupton, Ford

27. 5 Dylan Hutchison, Chevrolet

28. 99 Austin Dyne, Chevrolet

29. 02 Carl Harr, Chevrolet

30. 42 Taylor Cuzick, Ford

31. 30 John Wood, Toyota

32. 39 Akinori Ogata, Toyota

33. 2 Ryan Gifford, Toyota

34. 15 Jack Sellers, Chevrolet

35. 16 Eric Holmes, Toyota

36. 28 Brandon McReynolds, Chevrolet

37. 13 Austin Hill, Toyota

38. 46 Brandon Gdovic, Toyota

39. 61 Brett Thompson, Chevrolet