McReynolds Gains First Series Victory With Major Win At Iowa

• Puts NAPA Toyota In Victory Lane At K&N Pro Series East-West Combination Race

NEWTON, Iowa (May 16, 2015) – Brandon McReynolds got his first victory in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West on Saturday night with a major win in the East –West combination race at Iowa Speedway.

McReynolds, making his 20th series start, put the No. 16 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota in the lead eight laps from the finish and held on following a late-race restart to take the victory in the Casey’s General Store 150 and become just the second K&N Pro Series West driver to win in 12 combo races at the .875-mile track.

“I knew that whoever could get a good jump on the last restart was probably going to come out with the victory,” said McReynolds, who is in his second season driving for Bill McAnally Racing. “It was pretty much hammer down there at the end with our NAPA Toyota. Once we took the air off the (No.) 9 and got that good run down the back I knew that we were going to be in pretty good shape.”

Scoring his first career series win in such a big event is a major boost of confidence, according to McReynolds, who will celebrate his 24th birthday on Thursday.

“It’s a huge confidence builder,” said the Mooresville, North Carolina driver – who finished 34th a year ago at Iowa. “It’s been a rough start to the year. After Tucson, I knew we had the right team behind us. And we showed that tonight.”

Christopher Bell, making just his second series start, put a second BMR car in the top five at Iowa with a fifth-place finish in the No. 54 ToyotaCare Toyota.

Despite each of them pitting to replace a flat tire, BMR teammates Chris Eggleston in the No. 99 NAPA Filters/H2O Fire Protection Toyota and Nick Drake in the No. 15 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota managed to remain on the lead lap and finished 15th and 18th, respectively.

McReynolds had captured his third career series Coors Light Pole Award during qualifying earlier in the day, turning in the second quickest time overall and quickest among West drivers. He ran in second early in the race, before moving out front on Lap 45. He gave up the lead following a restart not long after and appeared content to ride in second as the laps clicked off.

Late in the race, McReynolds closed in on the leader. He charged by on a restart and then held on after another restart that followed the sixth and final caution of the event.

Bell, who qualified 15th, moved up and back a bit through the first half the race. It wasn’t until late in the event the 20-year-old sprint car standout from Oklahoma mounted a charge to the front. He was up to ninth by Lap 125 and continued to move forward to the finish.

Drake qualified seventh and raced in the top 10 until fading to 26th just before the midway break with a flat right front tire. Eggleston qualified 11th and had worked his way into the top 10 in the first half of the event. He started to slip back in the second half, before eventually making a pit stop during the final caution.

With his win, McReynolds moved to 10th in the championship standings for K&N Pro Series West. He is rebounding strong after encountering mechanical troubles in the first two races.

Eggleston of Erie, Colorado, remains second in the K&N West standings – four points out of first. He has one win, three top-five and four top-10 finishes in four starts this year.

Drake is sixth in the championship standings of the K&N East. The 19-year-old from Mooresville, who is in his second season in the series, has two top-10 finishes in four starts this year.

The excitement for the fans did not end with the checkered flag at Iowa. Following the race was the NAPA AUTO PARTS Concert Series at Iowa Speedway, featuring John Michael Montgomery.

The East-West combination race will be televised on NBCSN on May 21.

The next event on the K&N West schedule is at Shasta Speedway in Anderson, California on May 30. Next on tap for the K&N East is the NASCAR Hall of Fame 150 at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, also on May 30.