Bollman Set for Debut with BMR at Phoenix

Venue: Phoenix Raceway

Events: General Tire 150

Date: Friday, March 7

Location: Avondale, AZ

Track Description: 1-mile tri oval

Distance: 150 laps, 150 miles (8:00 p.m. ET – FOX Sports 1, Motor Racing Network)

Debut Outing … Round two of the ARCA Menards Series West (AMSW) season marks the debut outing for Jake Bollman with the Bill McAnally Racing team as he takes over the No. 19 NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet SS at Phoenix Raceway. Bollman, a Huntington Beach, Calif. native has made four previous AMSW starts but will get his first opportunity to drive for the winningest team in series history. Cayden Lapcevich will continue to crew chief the NAPA Auto Care team after the No. 19 earned the pole position in the series opener with Daniel Hemric at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway back in January. Bollman has a pair of top-10 finishes in four career starts and seeks to capture his first top-five result in his maiden outing with BMR.

Seeking the Promised Land … Bollman and the No. 19 team look to return BMR to AMSW victory lane as the team pursues its 100th points-paying victory on the tour, and their 101st overall, beginning on Friday evening in Phoenix. Bollman has one prior appearance at the desert mile, which came in last spring’s season opener. The one-mile trioval is the largest track that the 17-year-old has contested in his career, and he hopes the second visit to Phoenix will establish himself as a weekly AMSW contender.

BMR in the Desert … It’s been 10 years since a BMR entry last visited victory lane at Phoenix Raceway. Bollman is contending with a deep field of both AMSW and ARCA Menards Series national competitors in a combination race on Friday evening. BMR has laid claim to five victories at Phoenix, including three consecutive from 2014-2015, and Bollman seeks to add a sixth to that collection. (2002 – Austin Cameron, 2010 – Eric Holmes, 2014 – Cole Custer, 2014 – Nick Drake, 2015 – Todd Gilliland)

Tune In … Coverage from Phoenix Raceway goes live at 8:00 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1. Stay connected with the No. 19 NAPA Auto Care team and No. 91 Mongoose team by following @BMR_NASCAR on Twitter, @bmrnascar on Instagram, and Bill McAnally Racing on Facebook.  

Jake Bollman Quote:

On making his first start with BMR:

“I couldn’t be more excited for this. It’s a surreal opportunity to drive for BMR and be the guy wheeling the NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet. There’s going to be a deep field of cars this weekend, but the people and effort we have focused on this No. 19 team should give us a chance to compete right off the bat. I’m sure there’s going to be a learning curve, getting used to working with new people, new cars, but we have all the support to run up front. I ran Phoenix last year, and it’s the biggest track I’ve ever been on, but everything seemed to be at a slower pace than some of the short tracks I’m used to. That experience is really valuable and hopefully will help us on Friday night.”