Eckes Makes Second AMSW Appearance at Portland
Venue: Portland International Raceway
Events: Portland 112
Date: Friday, August 29
Location: Portland, OR
Track Description: 1.96-mile road course
Distance: 57 laps, 112.29 miles (7:00 p.m. ET – FloRacing – www.floracing.com)
Take Two … Christian Eckes is back in the ARCA Menards Series West (AMSW) on Friday evening for his debut at Portland International Raceway (PIR). The driver of the No. 19 NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet SS is making his second AMSW appearance of the year with Bill McAnally Racing after posting a runner-up finish in thrilling fashion at Sonoma Raceway. Friday’s 112-mile AMSW contest serves as a tune up for Eckes’ day job in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race on Saturday afternoon with Kaulig Racing.
Finish the Job … Eckes looks to finish the job he started at Sonoma Raceway where he narrowly missed the victory in a scintillating last-lap charge. He led into the final corner on the last lap but was moved out of the groove with the checkers in sight. He and crew chief Cayden Lapcevich aim to avenge that result and score BMR’s first victory at the 1.96-mile road course. Eckes is still searching for his first-career road course victory but has performed at an elite level in the NXS this season with two top-five’s and three top-10’s on the road courses. He also earned a podium result and two top-10’s in three road course races with McAnally-Hilgemann Racing between 2023-2024.
History in Portland … While BMR is hopeful to grace victory lane at PIR for the first time on Friday evening, Portland holds a special place in the team’s history. The organization notched the first of 100 points-paying AMSW victories at the old half-mile Portland Speedway bullring in 1998. Canadian driver Gary Smith piloted a No. 16 NAPA Chevy to victory over legend Butch Gilliland and a field that included NASCAR champion Kevin Harvick for BMR’s first AMSW win 27 years ago.
Tune In … The second and final road course event of the AMSW calendar goes green Friday on FloRacing at (www.floracing.com) at 7:00 p.m. ET. Stay connected with the No. 19 NAPA Auto Care team by following @BMR_NASCAR on X, @bmr_nascar on Instagram, and Bill McAnally Racing on Facebook.
Christian Eckes Quote:
On his first appearance at Portland International Raceway:
“Extra track time always helps, especially at places you’ve never been before, so thanks to Bill (McAnally), NAPA Auto Care, and everyone at BMR for putting this together. We almost got the job done at Sonoma, so I know we can do it this week at Portland. It’s a fairly short course but has some characteristics that make it unique to the other road courses on the NASCAR schedules. There’s a really big braking zone into Turn 1 with a tight chicane. Then the backstretch is the second long straightway that leads into another hard braking zone into Turn 10. If we can keep a good long run pace in our NAPA Chevy, I think we give ourselves a good shot at the win.”