KYLE, Texas “We just wanted to come out here and shake some rust off me,” Lynch said after posting his ninth career series win. “We’re not points racing. We’re only going to run a couple (West Series) races,” said Lynch, who plans to concentrate on running a limited schedule in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series this season.
Despite having a fast car, Lynch had to deal with two obstacles to get to victory lane – overheating and two-time series champion Mike Duncan. “We knew we had a good car, if we could get out in clean air,” Lynch said. “The motor just kept overheating on us. The water temp was pegged, but there was no reason to come in. We finally got some clean air and the water started coming back down a little. We knew if we could get to the front we could probably hold everybody else off.”
With double-file restarts on the tight 3/8-mile oval, Lynch relied on somewhat of a crossover move to get to the inside of pole-sitter Duncan and gain the lead just after a restart on lap 69. “The track is about a groove and a half, not quite two grooves,” Lynch said. “I was kind of laying back a little bit, so when he would push up I would try to miss him coming off turn two and have a run going into turn three. Fortunately, I got in just under Duncan and we kind of made a little bit of contact. He scooted up the track just enough for me to get him coming out of turn four. So, we went from the outside to the inside and ended up leading. We got a little bit lucky there. Knowing Duncan, he’s not going to make the same mistake twice.”
Lynch of Burley, Idaho, kept his Jasper Engines & Transmissions Dodge out front for the remainder of the event, holding off various challengers and winning a two-lap sprint to the finish as a late-race caution extended the race distance to 155 laps with a green-white-checkered finish. His margin of victory was .311 of a second, as he netted $6,500 in prize money and posted awards.
Mike David of Modesto, Calif., was second in the Bennett Lane Winery Ford, followed by Duncan of Bakersfield, Calif., in the Lucas Oil/Ron’s Rear Ends Chevrolet. Brett Thompson of Jerome, Idaho, was fourth in the Thompson Motorsports Chevrolet. Topping a talented field of drivers competing for this year’s Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award was Jason Bowles of Ontario, Calif., in the Sunrise Ford/Turbo Torq Ford. He was followed by another first-year driver, David Mayhew. Rounding out the top 10 were Tim Woods III, Justin Labonte, Andrew Myers and Ryan Foster.
The next event on the West Series schedule is at Phoenix International Raceway on April 19.
