Ryan Partridge won three races in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West in 2016 | In any other season, Ryan Partridge would have won a NASCAR K&N Pro Series West championship. In 2016, he won three races, five pole positions, had 10 top-five finishes in 14 races. But Todd Gilliland put together a six-win season with 11 top fives and won the K&N Pro Series West title by 13 points over Partridge.In a way, Partridge said it was a blessing that he didn’t win the K&N Pro Series West championship last year. It was his second year racing for Bob Bruncati and his Sunrise Ford Racing team. Typically, drivers don’t come back for a third year with Bruncati. But because Partridge and his team were so close last year, Bruncati decided to bring them back for another shot. “I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason,” said Partridge, the driver of the No. 9 car for the Sunrise Ford Racing team. “If you pay attention historically, Bob Bruncati with his Sunrise Ford Racing team only keeps drivers for two years. The fact that he brought me back for a third year, I’m very blessed and blown away. Perhaps if we won the championship last year, there would be no reason for a third year. So I like to think things happen for a reason. I’d rather stay in the seat than winning championships any day.” The K&N Pro Series West season opens with the NAPA Auto Parts 150 presented by Interstate Batteries at Tucson Speedway in Arizona. Partridge won the K&N Pro Series West race at Tucson last year. It was his first win of the season. “If you look back to the beginning of last season, we started off with a more conservative approach with a championship in mind,” Partridge said. “Historically you have to be fairly conservative. You can’t take any chances because you need to finish every race. That was kind of our mentality, our mindset going into last season. Low and behold, Todd ended up winning the first two races. That kind of set the pace to where we were already behind the 8-ball. We were playing catch up now.” Gilliland won the first two races of the K&N Pro Series West in 2016. He won the season opener at Irwindale Speedway and the second race at Kern County Raceway Park in California. The first race of the 2017 K&N Pro Series West schedule is in Tucson, the first of a four-race stretch in eight days to start the season. NASCAR and K&N are putting up a $100,000 bonus if a driver can win all four races. Partridge said he is focused on starting the season strong. 
Ryan Partridge won the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West season finale in 2016 at All American Speedway | “It’s no longer beer drinking season,” Partridge said. “Lay off the beer and get back in shape. I’m just trying to stay focused. I think we had the right combination last year. We had all the right ingredients. We did everything right. It just wasn’t our year.”Part of the reason Partridge says he fell short of winning the K&N Pro Series West championship last year was because of a conservative approach at the start of the season. It’ a mistake he doesn’t want to duplicate. “I think that’s more just my focus,” Partridge said. “I think being aggressive is what we’re going to have to do so this last year doesn’t repeat itself. I don’t think we can leave anything on the table. There’s going to be some tough competition. We need to make sure we clear our mind and can sleep sound at night because we tried as hard as we can all year long. “I think we have to drive harder. I think we have to drive every race like it’s our last race.” Experience and unity will also be the team’s strength this year, Partridge said. The crew has been together for three years and Bruncati has high expectations. Partridge said he welcomes the challenge. “Everything was jiving well with the 9 team last year,” Partridge said. “The crew’s having fun, the owner’s having fun, the driver’s having fun. Everything is just jiving. It’s a harmonious feel. They value that. It’s rare you come across that and everyone just clicks. They know that we’re capable of the championship. They know, even last year, had a couple of breaks gone our way, it would have been a different outcome.” The Sunrise Ford Racing team added another car for the 2017 campaign. Julia Landauer, one of the top rookies in the K&N Pro Series West last year, joined Bruncati’s team and will make her debut in Tucson. 
Ryan Partridge was second in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West standings in 2016, behind Todd Gilliland | “Hopefully we just get a solid finish,” Partridge said. “We have a new teammate, Julia Landauer, second driver in the 6 car. It’s going to be our first race together as a team. Other than that, hopefully we can repeat what we did last year. That would be nice. We gotta take every chance we can. We gotta take every opportunity.”Partridge said he appreciates all the support K&N gives to the Pro Series West. “K&N has consistently year in, year out, been dishing out serious money for us to go racing,” Partridge said. “We couldn’t be more proud to have that company supporting us. The prestige K&N has as a brand, the prestige they have developed in the racing community, is huge. Not because of what they do now, but because of where they come from. Very excited that we have a great name working for us.” | 
