Herbst Leads BMR Charge With 3rd-Place Finish At Roseburg
• K&N Pro Series West Returns To Oregon Track
ROSEBURG, Ore. (Aug. 27, 2016) – Riley Herbst led the charge for Bill McAnally Racing at Douglas County Speedway on Saturday, finishing third in the Toyota / NAPA AUTO PARTS 150 – an event that marked the return of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West to Roseburg, Oregon.
It was Herbst’s third straight third-place finish, a career-best mark for the 17-year-old rookie from Las Vegas who pilots the No. 19 NOS Energy Drink Toyota Camry.
“We had to battle to get to the bottom the whole race, it felt like,” Herbst said of the preferred lower groove around the 3/8-mile track. “It was like we could never catch a break, but when we got to the bottom we were moving forward – passing cars left and right. I felt like it might be our race to win. We needed one more caution to get by the 9 and the 27.”
Herbst’s BMR teammate, Julia Landauer, also matched her career-best mark – with her fourth fifth-place finish of the season. Landauer, a 24-year-old New York native, drives the No. 54 Curb Records Toyota Camry.
BMR’s Todd Gilliland won his sixth pole of the season on Saturday and dominated much of the event, but saw his hopes of a fourth consecutive series win dashed when he and teammate Chris Eggleston tangled while battling for the lead on Lap 114. The incident opened the door for Ryan Partridge to take the win. Gilliland, who drives the No. 16 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry, and Eggleston, in the No. 50 NAPA Filters/H20 Fire Protection Toyota Camry, recovered to finish sixth and seventh, respectively.
Gilliland – a 16-year-old from Sherrills Ford, North Carolina – retained his lead in the championship standings, by a five-point margin. He has five wins, eight top-five, and nine top-10 finishes in 10 series starts this year. The NASCAR Next driver also leads the chase for this year’s rookie title.
Eggleston of Erie, Colorado remains third in the standings, with two wins, seven top-five, and eight top-10 finishes this season.
Herbst is sixth in the overall points and second in the rookie standings, with five top-five and eight top-10 finishes.
Landauer, also a NASCAR Next driver, is seventh in the overall standings and third in rookie points – with four top-five and nine top-10 finishes this year.
Activities leading up to the Toyota / NAPA AUTO PARTS 150 included driver appearances by BMR drivers in the local community. In addition, NAPA VIPs got a first-hand look at the track in the two-seater NAPA Toyota on Friday evening.
The Toyota / NAPA AUTO PARTS 150, the 10th event on a 14-race schedule, will be televised on NBCSN on Sept. 2 at 4 p.m. PT (7 p.m. ET).
The next event on the series schedule will be a double-header weekend at Utah Motorsports Campus in Tooele, Utah on Sept. 10-11.