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NOTEBOOK: Mayhew turns flat tire into fifth-place finish at Colorado National

David Mayhew had every reason to be upset after the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race at Colorado National Speedway on Saturday night.

His car didn’t qualify well. He cut a front tire early in the race and had to pit to change it. When he returned to the race, he was a lap down.

But he got his lap back and salvaged a fifth-place finish on what would have been an otherwise disastrous night.

“We had an eventful night for sure,” Mayhew said after the race. “We weren’t running real good, had a flat tire early. It actually proved to be a little helpful for us. Came in and got a new right front tire on it. Got the lucky dog on the next caution and was able to put together some good runs on the last couple restarts.”

He still finished four spots behind race winner Eric Holmes, the driver he and the rest of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West drivers are chasing in the standings.

Mayhew entered the race at Colorado in second place in the West Series standings, 79 points behind Holmes. Holmes, a two-time West Series champion, increased his lead to 114 points with the win at Colorado, his second in a row and fourth of the year.

“It wasn’t the best points night for us,” Mayhew said. “Still lost some points to Eric, but how it was looking in the middle of the race there, it could have been a lot worse.”

Greg Pursley says fourth place like a win: It’s been a rough year for Greg Pursley in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West. He’s had fast cars, won some poles and led some laps in races, but getting to the checkered flag has been a challenge, especially in recent races.

He won the pole and led the first 41 laps of the race at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale in July. A flat tire took him out of that one.

He won the pole and led the first 18 laps of the race at Montana Raceway Park. But he was collected in a crash late in the race, didn’t finish and ended up in 18th place.

Pursley didn’t win the pole or lead any laps at Colorado National Speedway. But he did finish the race in the top five.

“Qualified third, had a great car,” Pursley said. “We ended up a little too tight to contend with the front guys. We ran third for a long time, dropped back to fourth a little bit as the race went on and the tire wore on the front. On the restarts we got up there and raced with them for a couple laps, and then had to drop back and get back in line.”

After the race, Pursley was wiping the windshield and cleaning up the car while it went through tech. He and team owner Gene Price said their fourth-place finish felt like a win because they made it to the checkered flag without incident.

“All in all a great night,” Pursley said. “We finally finished a race. We got the monkey off our back and we’re in tech. Hopefully this is a start to a new beginning again.”