Mayhew hopes third times is a charm at Kern County Raceway Park
NASCAR K&N series heading for Bakersfield.
David Mayhew
Eric Gilbert
David Mayhew is heading back to his home track, in search of his first NASCAR K&N Pro Series West victory at the half-mile he's become very familiar with in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series.
In 2013, Mayhew took a break from his K&N Pro Series West schedule in order to compete for a late model championship at Kern County Raceway Park in Bakersfield, California, during its inaugural season. He completed the mission, recording 15 wins in 22 starts, but has been unable to convert that success to a K&N victory in two attempts thus far. The Atascadero, California, native hopes that the third time's a charm as he heads into Saturday's Bakersfield 150 at the .5-mile oval.
Mayhew, coming off his third series win of the season the last time out at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Washington, came close to a Kern County victory earlier this year. He overtook Greg Pursley for the lead on Lap 114 of the 150-lap event, but a late-race caution changed everything. The Lap 136 caution set up a restart on Lap 142. Mayhew and Pursley waged a side-by-side battle that figured to go all the way to the checkered flag, but as the pair came through Turn 2 on Lap 146, the slowed car of Bill Kann was in Mayhew’s line and he had to put on the brakes to avoid contact. The evasive action dropped Mayhew to fourth in the moment, and Pursley cruised for the final four circuits in the No. 26 GPM/Star Nursery/Real Water Ford to his 19th career victory.
Mayhew would earn back a spot, ultimately finishing third on the evening, but he knew that he missed an opportunity to celebrate in front of a home crowd.
Track owes him one
"We gave one away the last time we were there," said Mayhew. "We'd love nothing better than to go to our home track and try and get two in a row."
Mayhew enters the Bakersfield 150 on Saturday in fourth place in the championship standings, trailing points leader Pursley by 40 points. His three victories have come at Stockton (California) 99 Speedway, the May Iowa Speedway event and the last time out at Evergreen Speedway.
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