KANSAS CITY, KAN. ? Kansas may have a new resident today.

At least Brandon Ash said he was stoked enough to stay in the Sunflower State after claiming his first NASCAR Winston West Series victory when he won the KansasSeedway.com 150 on Saturday at Kansas Speedway.

Brandon Ash sprays his crew with a sports drink after his KansasSpeedway.com 150 win Saturday.

“It’s been a long time coming,” said Ash, a 24-year-old native of Oregon who has been racing in the NWWS since 1996. “I’ve been close numerous times. It’s absolutely amazing.”

Ash’s first career victory kicked off Kansas Speedway’s second season, but it was the first lap Saturday that provided most of the drama.

Veteran driver Frank Kimmel, who won the inaugural race last season and sat third after Friday’s pole qualifying, shot out of the start and tried to pass both Austin Cameron and John Metcalf.

But the three racers came too close with Kimmel clipping Metcalf and causing all three to collide. Kimmel took the brunt of the collision, barreling into the wall and being forced to retire.

“I saw that thing,” Ash said of the crash. “Usually I don’t start close enough to see it, but I was close enough today. We knew the (Nos.) 46, 16 and 05 cars were involved and those were the cars coming in today that we knew we’d have to beat.

“You want to beat them on the track, but those are the circumstances of racing”

That wasn’t the only crash Ash would have to avoid Saturday. Another four-car pile-up shook things up in the early going. But after a few more spinouts the racers settled down.

On the 61st lap Ash overtook leader Tim Woods III. Ash would never relinquish that lead even when Metcalf and Mike Duncan gave him a late push.

“I could see Metcalf, but I had pulled away and I was trying to conserve fuel because I knew we were close,” said Ash, who had led last season’s race at the Speedway for nearly 30 laps. “We were catching quite a bit of lap traffic, but I thought I would be all right if I could put a good number of cars between me and them.”

Ash did just that and cruised to his first victory lane celebration.

“You never forget the first one,” Ash said. “I don’t know what it is about this place, but I think it’s a driver’s race track. I love Kansas. I may move here.”

Hometown heroes?

Kansas City, Kan., native Jennifer Jo Cobb finished 16th in her first ARCA RE/MAX race behind the partisan cheers of a hometown crowd.

But John O’Neal Jr., the other KCK product, made it around the track just five times. The car he rented from a fellow owner had major engine problems.

On Friday, O’Neal crashed in turn No. 3 during the qualifying session and wrecked his car. But after Bill McAnally let him borrow one of McAnally’s Orleans Racing vehicles, the problem appeared to have been solved.

It wasn’t, though. O’Neal made a few laps around and went into pit road, and shortly after pushed it off to the garage.

Cobb, on the other hand, couldn’t be happier about her first race as she climbed six spots from her 22nd position.

“It’s pretty cool,” said Cobb who hustled off to another race Saturday in Missouri. “It’s such a thrill having those fans cheer you on.”

Cobb was so pleased with her performance she said she hoped to get a sponsor so she could race a full ARCA RE/MAX season next year.

“That’s the goal we’re aiming for, but it’s going to take a lot of hard work,” Cobb said.

Galloping Glanville Ran

After a wreck during Friday’s qualifying session that all but negated any chance of Jerry Glanville racing Saturday, he somehow made it onto the track.

But what a brief appearance it was for the former NFL coach. He made it only two laps around the superspeedway before a violent vibration from his No. 81 car made Glanville retire for the day.

Standout’s day cut short

Another premier ARCA driver, Tim Steele, had an even shorter run at the Speedway. Steele, a three-time ARCA champion who was a provisional qualifier Friday when his car wrecked, pulled out before the start.

Tire trouble

For the second straight year, tires seemed to cause fits. Last season the tires were too soft. This weekend, racers were uncomfortable about Hoosier’s tires being too hard. The main problems occurred during Friday’s qualifying sessions, but there were a handful of spinouts in both of Saturday’s races. Still, most of the racers said that while the tires were better than a year ago, it just took some time getting used to the handling on the track.