Reif Returns to Road Course Racing at Portland
Climbing the Ladder … Tanner Reif enters the fourth race of the ARCA Menards Series West (AMSW) season sixth in the championship standings and has been climbing the ladder in the first three races. The driver of the No. 16 NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet SS has improved his finishes in each of the three races, which included back-to-back top-five runs at Irwindale Speedway and Kern County Raceway Park. The 1.96-mile Portland International Raceway (PIR) road course presents the biggest challenge of the young season to Reif and the BMR team and is the first of two consecutive road course events in as many weeks.
Road Racing Rewind … A year ago, Reif was a model of consistency at Portland during the two AMSW events and tallied finishes of sixth and third. The two races at PIR account for two-thirds of his road course starts on the tour and provide him a baseline of experience to challenge for his first-career road course victory on Friday evening.
BMR in Portland… PIR is one of the scant few venues where the BMR is still searching for a win. However, prior to racing on the road course at PIR, the BMR organization notched a victory at Portland Speedway, a flat half-mile bullring, in 1998 with Gary Smith driving the No. 16 NAPA Chevrolet.
Tune In … Friday evening’s road course battle will be streamed live on FloRacing (www.floracing.com), with tape delayed coverage on CNBC on June 11th at 12:30 p.m. ET. Stay connected with the No. 16 NAPA Auto Care team by following @BMR_NASCAR on Twitter, @bmrnascar on Instagram, and Bill McAnally Racing on Facebook.
Tanner Rief Quote:
On the first road course race of the season at PIR:
“I’ve been preparing really hard getting ready for Portland. We’ve put time in on the sim and getting coached. We don’t do much road course racing, so it’s important to put as much effort in beforehand as possible. I believe all the guys at BMR have put in a lot of time and effort into our NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet and that we’ll have some good speed. I finished third in the fall race last year, so I believe we can definitely score a podium finish or even better this weekend.”