The opening stint of the second race began exactly as race one did, with polesitter Chase Cabre jetting out to the early lead over Purdy on the initial green flag.
However, Purdy wasted less time before making his move to the front, powering to the inside of Cabre in Turns 3 and 4 to take the point for the first time on lap five.
Moments later, a huge engine failure on Charles Buchanan Jr.’s No. 19 Chevrolet dumped fluid all along Turns 1 and 2 and drew the red flag for cleanup.
Racing resumed on lap 13 and saw Purdy jump out to his largest advantage so far in the second twin, extending his lead to a full second by the one-third mark and holding a 1.6-second gap over Cabre at halfway.
Just before the crossed flags, Todd Gilliland dispatched Vinnie Miller for third after a lengthy battle, and seven laps after halfway he was clear of Cabre for the runner-up spot and on the hunt for the lead.
By that point, Purdy had extended his margin to 2.2 seconds and appeared to be in the driver’s seat for his first win.
But a caution with 27 laps to go changed that perspective, as Collin Cabre lost a right front tire and pounded the outside wall in Turn 1, bunching the field up and setting the stage for a barn-burner finish.
The green flag flew with 19 laps left and Gilliland used a maneuver nearly identical to the one Travis Miller used to win race one, charging past Purdy on the top side of Turns 3 and 4.
Gilliland led the way through the night’s final caution with seven to go, when a clash between Peyton Sellers and Ronnie Bassett Jr. ended with a hard hit for Bassett into the backstretch wall.
That paved the way for the final restart, where Burton got by and Gilliland was left wondering what might have been.
“I don’t know what the 17 (Purdy) was doing there,” Gilliland said. “He went 10 car lengths early and that ultimately gave the 12 (Burton) a much, much better restart than he should have had.”
“I thought we had that one won, honestly. It stings, but we had a bad-fast race car tonight and we’re going to go out and try to win all the rest of them from here.”
Burton’s MDM teammate Vinnie Miller completed the podium with a career-best in third, followed by Cabre and Ruben Garcia Jr.
Race one winner Travis Miller, Hunter Baize, Peyton Sellers, Enrique Baca and Jay Beasley completed the top 10.
Leaving South Boston, Burton holds an 18-point advantage over Gilliland, who jumped from third to second in the standings with a pair of podium finishes on the night.
The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East resumes on June 3, with the series’ inaugural appearance at Memphis Int’l Raceway.
Full results can be viewed on the next page…
