Bill McAnally Racing Opens ARCA West Season on Friday
- ARCA Menards West Competing at Phoenix Raceway
ROSEVILLE, Calif. (March 9, 2022) – Bill McAnally Racing will embark on its drive for its 12th NASCAR regional championship during Friday’s season opener for the ARCA Menards Series West at Phoenix Raceway.
The event opens the 32nd season of the partnership between NAPA AUTO PARTS and BMR, as well. The 2022 campaign sees 19-year-old rookie driver Austin Herzog of Clovis, Calif., driving the No. 16 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet SS.
Herzog will be joined at Phoenix by 2021 ARCA Menards Series West Rookie of the Year Cole Moore and McAnally-Hilgemann Racing NASCAR Camping World Truck Series competitor Derek Kraus.
Moore has competed twice at Phoenix including a 10th-place finish in November. He will drive the No. 99 NAPA Power Premium Plus Chevrolet SS on Friday.
Kraus – in his third season of competing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series – is taking advantage of an open weekend to return to ARCA West, where he won a championship with BMR in 2019. This is his first season working with crew chief Shane Wilson and the Phoenix race will give them more time together early in the season.
Herzog will be paired with Charlie Wilson, his crew chief for a top-10 debut in the ARCA Menards Series West at Kern County Raceway Park in 2018. Herzog has previously won six Junior Late Model features, along with a Pro Late Model track championship at Madera Speedway – where the third-generation driver’s father and grandfather also competed.
The General Tire 150 will be the inaugural ARCA West streamed broadcast on FloRacing, while also being televised live on MAVTV. The ARCA West and ARCA Menards Series competitors will compete against one another during the NASCAR weekend at the one-mile oval in Avondale, Ariz.
In advance of Friday’s race, BMR will be visiting NAPA AUTO PARTS stores and NAPA AutoCare shops in the Phoenix area. A special group from NAPA Power Premium Plus/BBB Industries, along with Gates Industrial and NGK, will be attendance at the race as VIP guests of the team. BMR drivers will also participate in a special autograph session with the fans on Friday afternoon.
ARCA Menards Series West Event:
Race: General Tire 150 (Race 1 of 11) March 11, 2022
Location: Phoenix Raceway, Avondale, Ariz. (1-mile oval)
Television: Streamed live on FloRacing on March 11, 4:30 p.m. PT/ MAVTV
BMR Drivers:
Austin Herzog
No. 16 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet SS
Age: 19
Hometown: Clovis, Calif.
Career series stats: 1 start, 1 top 10
Most recent series finish: 8th – Kern (3/15/18)
Best career series finish: 8th – Kern (3/15/18)
Phoenix stats: First start at Phoenix in series
Cole Moore
No. 99 NAPA Power Premium Plus Chevrolet SS
Age: 24
Hometown: Granite Bay, Calif.
Best career series finish: 4th – two times (Sonoma 6/5/21, Colorado 7/31/21)
Most recent series finish: 10th – Phoenix (11/6/21)
Phoenix stats: 2 starts, 1 top 10 (Best finish – 10th on 11/6/21)
Derek Kraus
No. 19 NAPA AutoCare Chevrolet SS
Age. 20
Hometown: Stratford, Wis.
Career series wins: 10 (Kern 11/4/17, Kern 3/18/18, Roseburg 6/30/18, Gateway 8/24/18, Kern 10/27/18, Tucson 5/11/19 – Race 1 & Race 2, Roseburg 6/29/19, Meridian 9/28/19, Kern 10/26/19)
Career series poles: 8 (Iowa 7/28/17, Tucson 5/5/18 – Race 1 & Race 2, Colorado 6/9/18, Monroe 8/11/18, Meridian 9/29/18, Roseburg 6/29/19, Kern 10/26/19)
Most recent series finish: 5th – Phoenix (3/12/21)
Phoenix stats: 2 starts, 2 top fives (Best finish – 3rd on 11/9/19)
BMR Series Record at Phoenix:
BMR has visited Victory Lane at Phoenix on five occasions: Austin Cameron (2002), Eric Holmes (2010), Cole Custer (2014), Nick Drake (2014) and Todd Gilliland (2015).