BMR brings home Three-Top Eight Finishes at AAS
NASCAR K&N Pro Series West Toyota teams kept the race fans that packed grandstands of All American on the edge of their seats. The Toyota/NAPA AUTO PARTS “150” presented by Ace Hardware and Incredible Solutions ran on Saturday October 12th with 24 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West teams taking the green flag. The race was preceded by the Late Model Fall Classic “Matt Camp Memorial Twin 52/52” and the INEX Legends race events.
There were four entries from BMR in the West Series. They were 2-time Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip piloting the No. 55 NAPA Filters/ NAPA Brakes Toyota, three-time West Series Champion Eric Holmes piloting the No. 16 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota, PEAK Driver Challenge winner Patrick Staropoli piloting the No. 99 PEAK Motor Oil/BlueDEF Toyota Camry and Shane Golobic, the 2012 Ocean Speedway Sprint Car Champion who piloted the No. 20 Ray Scheidts Electric/Cobe Construction Toyota.
Holmes started the race on the inside of row two. At lap 15, he moved into second place behind pole sitter Derek Thorn. Holmes would take the lead for the first time at lap 65. He would trade positions back and forth with Thorn for most of the race often running side-by-side until the final laps. The eventual race winner, Cameron Hayley would take the lead away with five laps to go. Holmes would finish in third.
“It was a great race. The NAPA Toyota was one of the best cars that I’ve had all year,” said Holmes. “It was hard to pass Derek (Thorn) racing side by side. I just needed to get the lead so I wouldn’t of had to run it so hard. The No. 24 just had a little bit better car than we had after running with Derek so hard. It was just an awesome race running side by side for probably half the race. Just disappointed that we couldn’t get that lead and be able to single ourselves out. I’m really proud of the NAPA/Toyota team.”
“This weekend was a lot of fun,” continued Holmes. “We had an awesome crowd here at BMR’s home track of All American Speedway. Makes racing exciting when you have all these great race fans here. Can’t thank them enough for coming out and not only supporting our team but supporting this kind of great racing here in Roseville.”
Staropoli qualified the No. 99 No. 99 PEAK/BlueDEF Toyota on the outside of row five. By lap 25, he was just outside the top-five running often two and three wide at AAS. Staropoli moved in to the top five just before a caution came out at lap 119. The field was reset back to the last completed green flag lap. He would finish in sixth.
“Started on the outside of row five and charged all night with a loose racecar,” said Staropoli. “This was my second start in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West piloting the No. 99 PEAK/BlueDEF Toyota Camry. We had a very strong sixth place finish. I always wish I had just a few more laps.”
“I started 11th in the No. 99 BMR Toyota Late Model for the Late Model Fall Classic “Matt Camp Memorial Twin 52/52”. I got spun and cut a tire while fighting for 5th. I ran in the top-5 twice while coming back from being 2 laps down. I finally got back on the lead lap and the end of the race.”
“I loved coming out to California and getting this opportunity to pull double duty at BMR’s home track of All American Speedway. Thank you PEAK, BMR, MWR and Toyota for an unforgettable race weekend. Also want to thank my great team from BMR led by crew chief Duane Knorr. They also did double duty this weekend.”
The No. 20 Ray Scheidts Electric/Cobe Construction Toyota with rookie Shane Golobic qualified on the outside of row seven. This was Golobic’s second start in the West Series. Golobic raced hard running in the mid-pack saving his equipment. With less than 25 laps to go, he began his climb thru the field going from 11th to bring home a top-ten finish in eighth. Look for Golobic make a run for the front at the NASCAR K&N West Series at Kern later this month for BMR.
“Well, we ended up 8th place,” said Golobic. “The car came on strong late in the race and if it wasn’t for a missed shift on a late restart, I believe we had a strong shot for a top 5. Can’t thank Steve Osborne, Ray Scheidts Electric, Cobe Construction, and Bill McAnally Racing for the opportunity. I am excited to get back behind the wheel of the #20 soon! Thanks to everyone who came out and supported me as well, it really means a lot to me.”
The No. 55 NAPA Filters/NAPA Brakes Toyota Camry piloted by Michael Waltrip qualified on the inside of row four. Waltrip was up to 6th challenging for the top-five when at lap 72 he was forced to come to the garage area. His day would end with a fatal transmission problem. Waltrip posted on Twitter that AAS had “some good short track racing and NASCAR Home Tracks were good racing folk.” After the race he added; “I appreciate everything about All American Speedway. The track’s awesome, the fans are amazing and BMR has so much passion for NASCAR.”
BMR would like to thank all of the race fans and our race partners for all of their continued support and for making this weekend another success.
The Toyota/NAPA AUTO PARTS “150” presented by Ace Hardware and Incredible Solutions will be televised on FoxSports1 on Sunday October 27 at 9 am EST. Please check your local listings.
The next race will be the inaugural Toyota/NAPA “150” at the Kern County Raceway in Bakersfield on October 26th. For more information and race tickets, visit www.kernraceway.com.
For more information on Bill McAnally Racing and our race partners, please visit our website at www.bmrnapa. Become a fan of Bill McAnally Racing and follow us on our Facebook Fan page. We can also be followed on Twitter @BMR_NASCAR.