The 2018 NAPA Auto Parts Idaho 208 was a NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race held at Meridan Speedway in Meridian, Idaho. Hailie Deegan won the race, the first ever victory by a female in K&N Pro Series history. Her Bill McAnally Racing teammates Cole Rouse and Derek Kraus finished second and third respectively. Kraus won the pole and led the most laps, leading the first 189 of 208.
Report
Race
Derek Kraus took the pole and led the first 189 laps. With 20 laps to go, Taylor Canfield, who was making his series debut, spun in front of Kraus and blocked the racetrack. Kraus tried to avoid him but hit the outside wall and lost the lead to his Bill McAnally Racing teammate Cole Rouse. After the ensuing caution, Rouse held the lead until the final lap of the race, when Hailie Deegan tapped his left-rear quarter panel in turn one, making a last-lap pass. Deegan went on to score the win, the first of her career, while Rouse and Kraus finished second and third to complete a podium sweep for BMR. Deegan led only the final lap.
Post-race
Deegan's victory was her first career win and the first win by a female in history at the K&N Pro Series West level of NASCAR. Deegan was ecstatic after the win, explaining, "This has to be the best day of my life right here. It doesn't get any better than this. People don't understand how many days, how many hours I've put into this. How much work I've done to get to this moment. It’s just amazing ... this is the happiest day of my life."
Immediately following the race, Rouse expressed displeasure with Deegan's bump and run-style pass on the final lap, saying, "We were going into Turn 1...and she doesn't lift and drives into me, gets me completely sideways. We were going to win that race if it was run clean, but unfortunately it wasn't." He continued by saying he would race Deegan hard the last two races of the season: "I'm just going to go into the next two races, not give her any slack and we're going to win both of those. It was a good night, but I don't really care about second, honestly." The next day, however, Rouse tweeted that he "got over it quick" and called Deegan "an amazing girl and amazing talent", adding, "I'm happy for her! She made history and I'm a part of it." Kraus, meanwhile, was unhappy due to the incident with Canfield (Canfield's third of the night). "We led 190+ laps, then a lapped car spun again. I was predicting he was going to roll down because he didn't have his brakes on yet. But he stayed there, and I was already committed [to the top]...and I guess NASCAR ruled me third. I don't know, I guess we'll go onto Roseville and Kern and win them two."
Results
Qualifying Grid Driver Team Manufacturer 1 16 Derek Kraus Bill McAnally Racing Toyota 13.244 67.955 2 9 Ryan Partridge Sunrise Ford Racing Ford 13.257 67.889 3 99 Cole Rouse Bill McAnally Racing Toyota 13.344 67.446 4 19 Hailie Deegan Bill McAnally Racing Toyota 13.353 67.401 5 6 Derek Thorn Sunrise Ford Racing Ford 13.418 67.074 6 27 Jeff Jefferson Jefferson Pitts Racing Ford 13.431 67.009 7 22 Trevor Huddleston Sunrise Ford Racing Ford 13.481 66.761 8 10 Matt Levin Levin Racing Chevrolet 13.524 66.548 9 43 Kody Vanderwal Patriot Motorsports Group Ford 13.544 66.450 10 91 Kyle Tellstrom Patriot Motorsports Group Toyota 13.752 65.445 11 77 Andrew Koens Performance P-1 Motorsports Toyota 13.757 65.421 12 11 Takuma Koga John Krebs Racing Chevrolet 13.802 65.208 13 08 Travis Milburn Patriot Motorsports Group Chevrolet 13.881 64.837 14 36 Sting Ray Robb Patriot Motorsports Group Chevrolet 14.072 63.957 15 32 Taylor Canfield Patriot Motorsports Group Toyota 14.447 62.168
Race results Pos Grid Driver Team Manufacturer Status Points 1 4 19 Hailie Deegan Bill McAnally Racing Toyota 208 1 Running 47 2 3 99 Cole Rouse Bill McAnally Racing Toyota 208 18 Running 43 3 1 16 Derek Kraus Bill McAnally Racing Toyota 208 189 Running 43 4 5 6 Derek Thorn Sunrise Ford Racing Ford 208 0 Running 40 5 2 9 Ryan Partridge Sunrise Ford Racing Ford 208 0 Running 39 6 7 22 Trevor Huddleston Sunrise Ford Racing Ford 207 0 Running 38 7 8 10 Matt Levin Levin Racing Chevrolet 207 0 Running 37 8 6 27 Jeff Jefferson Jefferson Pitts Racing Ford 207 0 Running 36 9 9 43 Kody Vanderwal Patriot Motorsports Group Ford 207 0 Running 35 10 14 36 Sting Ray Robb Patriot Motorsports Group Chevrolet 206 0 Running 34 11 11 77 Andrew Koens Performance P-1 Motorsports Toyota 205 0 Running 33 12 15 32 Taylor Canfield Patriot Motorsports Group Toyota 182 0 Running 32 13 13 08 Travis Milburn Patriot Motorsports Group Chevrolet 151 0 Oil line 31 14 12 11 Takuma Koga John Krebs Racing Chevrolet 47 0 Drive shaft 30 15 10 91 Kyle Tellstrom Patriot Motorsports Group Chevrolet 14 0 Engine 29
Standings after the race Rank +/– Driver Points 1 Derek Thorn505 2 Ryan Partridge473 (–32) 3 Cole Rouse473 (–32) 4 Derek Kraus466 (–39) 5 1 Hailie Deegan438 (–67) 6 1 Trevor Huddleston430 (–75) 7 Kody Vanderwal412 (–93) 8 Matt Levin354 (–151) 9 Takuma Koga333 (–172) 10 Todd Souza237 (–268)
Note: Only the top ten positions are included for the driver standings.
References