ANDERSON, Calif. — Chris Eggleston waited. And waited. And then he made his move.
The Erie, Colorado, driver muscled his No. 99 NAPA Filters/H20 Fire Protection Toyota past James Bickford with five laps remaining and claimed the checkered flag in the Bill Schmitt Memorial 150 presented by Lithia Toyota and NAPA Auto Parts at Shasta Speedway.
It was the third win in nine career NASCAR K&N Pro Series West starts for the 26-year-old, who is running his first full-time season for Bill McAnally Racing. Eggleston won earlier this year at California’s Irwindale Speedway.
Bickford, the 2014 Sunoco Rookie of the Year, seemed poised to pick up his second career win after inheriting the lead on Lap 92 when Coors Light Pole Award winner David Mayhew pulled off the track with mechanical issues.
But Eggleston tracked him down and made the late pass to grab the win. He wound up .705 seconds ahead of Bickford at the finish line and more than four seconds over the rest of the field on the .375-mile track.
Johnny White finished third and Gracin Raz was fourth. Buddy Shepherd, 15, was fifth in his first career series start. All three rookies.
Another Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate, Ryan Partridge, finished sixth, followed by Brandon McReynolds, Thomas Martin, and rookies Alex Schutte and Nicole Behar.
With the win, Eggleston also took over the championship points lead by 12 over Raz and 15 over Noah Gragson. Gragson entered the event with the points lead but ended up 16th after suffering a flat tire, while Mayhew wound up 20th. Partridge is now fourth in points and Bickford fifth.
The Bill Schmitt Memorial 150 will air on Thursday, June 4 at 4 p.m. on NBCSN.
The NASCAR K&N Pro Series West next races June 27 in the Carneros 200 at California’s Sonoma Raceway.
