BMR Drivers Look To Add To Team’s Success At Irwindale
• K&N Pro Series West Visits Southern California Track
ROSEVILLE, Calif. (April 7, 2015) – The NASCAR K&N Pro Series West travels to Southern California this week for the King Taco Catering/NAPA AUTO PARTS 150 at Iwindale Speedway on Saturday.
The half-mile track has been a popular stop on the circuit for Bill McAnally Racing. The Northern California team won eight of 11 series races there between 2001 and 2007, with four different drivers scoring victories. In addition, the team won the inaugural NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown at Irwindale in 2003.
BMR returned to Victory Lane at Irwindale last year, with Patrick Staropoli driving the No. 99 PEAK Toyota to his first career series win.
BMR drivers Brandon McReynolds and Chris Eggleston hope to keep BMR’s success rolling at this week’s race. McReynolds, who wheels the No. 16 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota, won the pole and finished fourth a year ago in his only visit to Irwindale. His rookie teammate Chris Eggleston will be getting his first look at the state-of-the-art facility.
They will be joined by a third BMR entry as Christopher Bell makes his series debut in the No. 54 ToyotaCare Toyota. Bell – a 20-year-old standout sprint car driver from Norman, Oklahoma – has collected three wins in just 12 starts since he began racing pavement late models for Kyle Busch Motorsports last September.
BMR is looking for great results from all three drivers in this visit to Irwindale.
“Our car was really good there last year,” McReynolds said. “We should be even better this time. I really felt we were the car to beat last year. I just kind of let my guard down a little bit, trying to save tires too much.”
The 23-year-old from Mooresville, North Carolina will be looking to gain ground on his competition after experiencing mechanical trouble in the season opener. He expressed confidence, meanwhile, in returning to tracks this year with a full season of experience under his belt.
“Having notes this year for pretty much every track we’re going to, including Irwindale, we expect to take our performance one step further,” said McReynolds, a member of the NASCAR Next program. “I plan to be more aggressive throughout the race and not so complacent, getting up there and leading laps and racking up some points and at the end of the day taking home the checkered flag.”
Eggleston, who scored a win last year while running a handful of series events, is focused on recapturing that success this season in the No. 99 NAPA Filters/ H2O Fire Protection Toyota. He started his 2015 campaign with a fifth-place finish in the season opener.
“I’ve never been to Irwindale,” said the Erie, Colorado driver. “I’ve watched a lot of videos. It appears most of the guys run up against the fence there. It looks somewhat racy if you can get your car to work on the bottom. I’m excited to go try that place out. I too like to run along the fence, on the top side. So I feel like it’s going to fit my driving style really well. I’m very excited to go out there.”
Bell’s most recent triumph on pavement came in March at the prestigious Rattler 250 at South Alabama Speedway, where he led more than 200 laps en route to victory over a field that included reigning NASCAR XFINITY Series Champion Chase Elliott, driver of the NAPA No. 9 entry and several of the best drivers in the super late model ranks.
“Running late models for Kyle Busch Motorsports has been a lot of fun and I’m really looking forward to taking the next step in my pavement career by competing in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West for Bill McAnally Racing,” Bell said. “I know that BMR will provide me with a solid ToyotaCare Toyota and my main goal is to make sure that I complete all the laps and try to learn as much as I can.”
The King Taco Catering/NAPA AUTO PARTS 150, the second event on a 13-race schedule, will be televised on NBCSN on April 16. It will be the 23rd series race at Irwindale since it opened in 1999.