Column By: STEPHEN DURHAM / RPW – LOUDON, NH – For Brandon McReynolds coming to some of the tracks his father did well at, a former crew chief for many former great NASCAR drivers, means a lot to him to come to the Magic Mile and to pick up the win. McReynolds would roll off from the second row inside. Derek Kraus would lead early on, but then it was the 74 IGA Food Markets Chevrolet leading the K&N Pro Series East field around the Magic Mile.
Kraus and McReynolds would be the ones to be duking out for the lead for the first half of the race. That is when for the second stage break, Riley Herbst would be the only car to stay out trying get a different strategy working in his favor.
On the restart, Herbst tried to put up a fight against McReynolds, but was no match for the 74, as he would get by and take away the lead. Lurking though there in the top five was the fast Toyota of Derek Kraus. Kraus would reel in the 74 machine and take away the lead on lap 121 and begin to create a gap between himself and the field.
A caution would come out on lap 123 and this would set up a green, white, checkered finish. Kraus would have issues as Tyler Dippel of Wallkill, New York would get underneath the 1, allowing Kraus to spin his tires and holding up the outside line. McReynolds would jump out front and not look back and hold onto the lead to pick up a special win.
Was able to catch up with Brandon McReynold’s father of Larry McReynolds to ask how special it was to get a win here in the Granite State. Mr. McReynolds talked about the Magic Mile means a lot to him, one reason being “back here in July of 1993, I was Davey Allison’s crew chief for that race, and as we know it was Allison’s final race, and being Davey was Brandon’s godfather, it means that much more to me to get a win here.” It was special day for the McReynolds family picking up a big win.
While Brandon McReynolds was being crowned the winner, a champion of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East was named, and that is Tyler Ankrum. The champion dealt with handling issues all race long including some rear end issues for the 17 machine. To clinch the title, Ankrum had to keep Dippel in his sights or finish in front of him to seal the deal. On a late caution, Ankrum would be able to get into the mix on things as the field became scattered and had door to door racing. Coming down to the final two laps, Ankrum and Dippel, teammates, would exchange hits on the track. Both drivers were unhappy with each other on the ordeal that took place.
