Eggleston Takes Third In K&N Pro Series West Race At Monroe
• NAPA AUTO PARTS 150 presented by Toyota
MONROE, Wash. (Aug. 15, 2015) – Chris Eggleston came away with a third-place finish in the NAPA AUTO PARTS 150 presented by Toyota at Evergreen Speedway on Saturday, as the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West made its annual visit to the .646-mile track in Monroe, Washington.
It marked the first visit to the historic fairgrounds facility for the driver of Bill McAnally Racing’s No. 99 NAPA Belts & Hoses / H2O Fire Protection Toyota.
Eggleston’s BMR teammate, Brandon McReynolds, came up short, meanwhile, in trying to match his performance of a year ago at Monroe – where he won the pole and finished second in the No. 16 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota. This time around, he ran into electrical issues and finished off the pace.
“Overall, it was a good night for the Bill McAnally Racing NAPA Belts & Hoses Toyota guys,” Eggleston said. “I appreciate them giving me a good race car and all their hard work.”
“The day started off kind of rough, when we got into the fence a little bit during practice,” he said. “The crew did a great job of getting the car fixed up. We were a little timid on our qualifying run and left a lot on the table.”
Eggleston, in his first full season of competing in the series, qualified fifth quickest. The Erie, Colorado driver faded a bit in the early part of the race – but came on strong in the middle stages. An adjustment made during the midway break by his crew chief, Roger Bracken, gave him what he needed to mount a charge, Eggleston said.
“Roger made the right adjustment at the midway break and we moved to third,” he said. “We kind of rode there for a little bit.”
Although Eggleston tried to late challenge for second, he came up a bit short.
With his third-place finish, Eggleston returned to the top of the championship standings. He has two wins, six top-five and seven top-10 finishes in nine starts.
McReynolds qualified 11th in time trials. Although he moved into the top 10 early in the race, he started to fade just before the midway point of the race. He managed to salvage a 12th-place finish, despite the mechanical trouble.
The 24-year-old Mooresville, North Carolina driver is eighth in the standings – with two wins, and five top-10 finishes.
More than 350 NAPA fans, including a contingent from NAPA Belts & Hoses, turned out Saturday to root on their drivers and enjoy the VIP Hospitality. Michael’s Toyota was also represented at the track with VIP customers and employees.
The NAPA AUTO PARTS 150 presented by Toyota, won by David Mayhew, will be televised on NBCSN on Aug. 21 at 2:30 p.m. ET. The event was the ninth of a 13-race schedule and marked the 55th series visit to Evergreen Speedway.
The next event on the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West schedule will be the NAPA AUTO PARTS/TOYOTA 150 at Colorado National Speedway just north of Denver on Aug. 22.