By Walter Bruce Hale
Burton hold his trophy as the winner of the 2017 Memphis 125 held at Memphis International Raceway in Millington.
The crew makes a tire change for Giilliland during Saturday’s Memphis 125 at the Memphis International Raceway in Millington.
On Saturday evening, Harrison Burton won the inaugural Memphis 125 presented by AutoZone at the Memphis International Raceway in Millington. He took the lead, in his Dex Imaging Toyota, with 19 laps to go, after Todd Gilliland had a tire go down. It was Harrison’s third win in the last 4 races of the K&N Pro Series East. Harrison, who is 16, is the son of former NASCAR driver, Jeff Burton, who was on hand Saturday to watch his son win. Chase Purdy, who won the pole for the race and Todd Gilliland, battled up front for most of the race. Both of them had tire issues and finished 13th and 8th, respectfully. Collin Cabre finished second, his best finish this season. Driving a Toyota, he qualified in the 10th position. He spent the evening moving through the field with patience. Travis Miller, after spinning out in turn 2, recovered and came in third. He also was driving a Toyota. This is the first NASCAR race at Millington since 2009. From 1998 to 2009, the track hosted the Infinity and Truck series. The track is 0.75 oval with 11 degrees banked turns. Pam Kendrick, MIR President and her staff had the raceway ready for a great race. The weather cooperated and the fans were thrilled to see NASCAR back in Millington. On Friday, drivers Chase Cabre, Ruben Garcia Jr, Jay Beasley and Collin Cabre went to St. Jude in Memphis. They spent some time getting a tour of the hospital. Millington hosted events for the Memphis 125 including Friday’s Hauler Parade in Downtown Millington. The event was made possible by Millington dignitaries like Dianne Baker, Terry Jones, Thomas Pages and more. Millington Mayor Terry Jones led a NASCAR hauler parade from the Holiday Inn Express in Downtown Millington to the Memphis International Raceway (oval track), located at 5500 Victory Lane. Saturday evening, it was time for the race. Late in the race, Harrison Burton passed Todd Gilliland with 19 laps to go. Burton, the driver of the No. 12 DEX Imaging Toyota, led the final 19 circuits around the .075-mile tri-oval in Millington, and was greeted by an enthusiastic crowd, who welcomed NASCAR back to the Mid-South after an eight-year absence. “The fans here were awesome,” the 16-year-old Burton said. “They were rowdy and had a good time. That was awesome to win in front of these people who have been waiting for NASCAR to be back for so long. To see them rejuvenated by us being back, hats off to the fans in Memphis. It’s one of the coolest atmospheres we’ve been to.” It was a season sweep in the state of Tennessee for Burton, who won earlier this season at Bristol Motor Speedway. It came with his father, 21-time NASCAR Cup Series winner Jeff Burton, on hand. “Sweeping Tennessee is pretty cool,” said the younger Burton, the K&N Pro Series East points leader. “It’s an awesome state with a lot of dedicated race fans.” Chase Cabre ran second, his best finish of the season. He qualified 10th, but patiently drove his Toyota to the front. “The track is really fun to race on,” Cabre said. “By yourself, this track can get frustrating because of how patient you have to be. But, it makes for a fun race. You can overdrive here by two feet and lose a lot of ground. I was glad to come out of here with such a good finish.” Travis Miller finished third in another Toyota. He overcame an early spin-out as the result of a flat right rear tire to record the strong finish. “We never gave up,” Miller said. “We had a car capable of winning. I was fortunate to be able to work my way back up there.” Ronnie Bassett in a Chevrolet and Jay Beasley in a Toyota rounded out the top five.
The first half of the race was a battle between pole winner Chase Purdy and Gilliland. Purdy scored his first career pole for the event with a lap of 23.799 seconds (113.450 mph). However, both drivers were stymied by tire issues. Gilliland battled back to finish eighth and Purdy finished 13th.
Official results: NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Memphis 125, Presented by AutoZone Memphis International Raceway Margin of Victory: 1.583-seconds 1. (12) Harrison Burton, Toyota, 125 laps 2. (4) Chase Cabre, Toyota, 125. 3. (40) Travis Miller, Toyota, 125. 4. (04) Ronnie Bassett, Chevrolet, 125. 5. (42) Jay Beasley, Toyota, 125. 6. (13) Hunter Baize, Toyota, 125. 7. (2) Collin Cabre, Toyota, 125. 8. (16) Todd Gilliland, Toyota, 125. 9. (44) Dillon Bassett, Ford, 125. 10. (14) Trey Hutchens, Chevrolet, 125. 11. (23) JP Morgan, Chevrolet, 125. 12. (30) Tyler Dippel, Ford, 123. 13. (17) Chase Purdy, Toyota, 122. 14. (6) Ruben Garcia Jr., Toyota, 122.
15. (19) Charles Buchanan Jr., Chevrolet, 122.
