Hailie Deegan nudged her way to her second victory of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West season Saturday night, bumping past teammate Derek Kraus in overtime at Colorado National Speedway.
Kraus grabbed the lead with a bold move off the restart for the two-lap dash to the finish, but Deegan regained it with a bump in the final turn, sending her Bill McAnally Racing teammate spinning. Deegan forged ahead to the checkered flag and was declared the winner after a brief officials’ review.
RELATED: Race results
The triumph in the NAPA Auto Parts 150 was the 17-year-old Deegan’s third in 19 career K&N West starts.
“That was probably the scrappiest race I’ve ever ran,” said Deegan, who led a race-high 66 of the 155 laps. “Everyone was beating and banging doors from the start.
” … We went out there, (and) we ran our hardest race. In the end, Derek ran me hard right there so I was gonna run him hard back. In the end that’s racing. … In the end, I got the win and that’s all that matters.”
RELATED: More on FansChoiceTV
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Deegan initially snared the lead on Lap 89 and had opened up a sizable margin at the .375-mile track, but a spin by teammate Brittney Zamora forced the race five laps past the scheduled 150-lap distance.
Pole-starter Kody Vanderwal finished second, with Todd Souza, Zamora and Matt Levin completing the top five. Kraus led 43 laps and was credited with an eighth-place finish.
Kraus retains the lead in the K&N West standings, holding a 12-point margin over Deegan.
The full race will be broadcast Thursday, June 13 at 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN and the NBC Sports app.
LOOKBACK: Photos of Las Vegas win
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