NEWPORT NEWS, VA :: Brandon Gdovic became a first time winner in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East on Saturday night when he scored the victory in the Kevin Whitaker 150 at Greenville-Pickens Speedway. That win has boosted Gdovic’s confidence entering the next race at Five Flags Speedway and down the stretch as he pursues the series championship.
“It’s amazing to win,” Gdovic said. “With a new team and new guys, all of us came together and we’re all working so hard working late nights and stuff to get the car prepared. It took so much to get the car ready. The car was perfect all night. It was an amazing feeling to win that quickly.”
Gdovic says the performance at Greenville-Pickens Speedway gives him momentum entering the championship.
“Coming in to this year, I was shooting for the championship,” Gdovic remarked. “Bristol hit us a little bit but with this win, it puts us fourth in points. Our goal is to lead the points leaving Richmond. We’ve got to keep chipping away and keep racking up points for the rest of the season. I think we can be in contention at every single track. We should have great cars everywhere we go. I’m going to try my hardest to win Langley and Richmond. I think we should win those and maybe a couple others.”
Gdovic, who races for a family owned team, celebrated his first career win at Applebee’s.
“We celebrated by going to Applebee’s,” Gdovic commented. “We pulled a bunch of tables together and got all our crew members there and sat the trophy in the center of the table. We didn’t get out of the track until 11:30 and everything was closing up and we didn’t have much time.”
Gdovic feels good about his racecar moving ahead to Five Flags Speedway.
“The car we just ran at Greenville, we’re going to run the same car at Five Flags so we’ll have a really good car,” Gdovic stated. “Coming in to Greenville, we didn’t know which car we would take to Pensacola – it all depended on how the body ended up. We’ve just got to clean it, change a few things, roll it in the trailer and head to Pensacola.”
Gdovic says his first win is an experience he will never forget. Gdovic was able to keep his composure in the closing laps at Greenville despite worrying that a caution could come out and jeopardize his chances of winning.
“It’s something I’ll never forget when I took the lead from Jeremy and my spotter said ‘new leader 46’,” Gdovic explained. “That’s something I’ll never be able to forget. It’s something I’ll always remember. To get out of the car and see a trophy on the roof with the whole crew surrounding the car and screaming, it’s something I’ll always remember.
“I was composed in the closing laps. I was praying that there wouldn’t be a caution because we got the lead and pulled out to a second and a half within just a few laps. We still had 38 laps left so I was saving our tires and equipment in case we needed a restart. Our car was so dominant. I saved so much in it that we would’ve pulled right back out on a restart. It was the longest last 25 laps in my entire life. It was like an entire race, it seemed like it would take forever because I was just praying that it would end and there’d be no caution.”
Gdovic has a new sense of confidence and fresh momentum now.
“I’m happy to have the weight off my shoulders. I feel like us getting our first win opens the door in terms of confidence for the whole team. I feel like we can walk in to Pensacola pumped up about the win and have a smooth weekend and try to make it two in a row.”
Gdovic, who races for a team owned by his father, Richard Gdovic, is now fourth in NASCAR K&N Pro Series East points 10 points behind series points leader Brett Moffitt. He is supported by Aquis Communications, Comserve Wireless, WindStax.
