BMR Drivers Carry Momentum To Spokane
• K&N Pro Series West Returns To Washington Track
ROSEVILLE, Calif. (May 9, 2017) – Bill McAnally Racing’s three drivers got off to a hot start this season and aim to continue their momentum when the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West visits Washington’s Spokane County Raceway for the Toyota / NAPA AUTO PARTS 150 presented by DAA Auto Body Center on Saturday.
This will be the fifth event of 14 races that comprise this year’s series schedule.
Todd Gilliland, Chris Eggleston, and Derek Kraus accounted for 1-2 finishes by BMR in the first four races this season.
Gilliland, who had a sensational rookie season in winning the series championship a year ago, has been dominant so far this season in BMR’s No. 16 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry. He followed up a second-place finish in the season opener with three straight wins. The 16-year-old from Sherrills Ford, North Carolina – a member of the NASCAR Next program that spotlights NASCAR’s rising stars – has taken an early lead in the championship standings.
In addition to contending for the K&N West title, Gilliland is also running the full schedule this year in the East division of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series, where he is second in the standings after five of 14 races.
Eggleston – the 2015 series champion from Erie, Colorado – won the season opener in Arizona at Tucson Speedway and finished second to Gilliland in each of the Twin NAPA 100s that comprised a doubleheader at Southern California’s Irwindale Speedway. Eggleston, who drives the No. 99 NAPA Filters / H20 Fire Protection Toyota Camry, is second in the standings – 13 points behind his teammate.
Kraus, 15, of Stratford, Wisconsin notched two top-five finishes in the first four races this season – including a runner-up finish to Gilliland at Kern County Raceway Park near Bakersfield, California. He also had a fourth-place finish at Irwindale and a sixth-place finish at Tucson, driving the No. 19 Carlyle Tools Toyota Camry. He is third in rookie points and fifth in the overall standings.
All three BMR drivers will be competing at the half-mile Washington track for the first time on Saturday.
Activities leading up to the event will kick off early in the week in Spokane, with Gilliland greeting fans and signing autographs at DAA NorthWest on Thursday from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. He will be accompanied there by BMR’s No. 16 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry and the team hauler, which will be on display from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Two large NAPA Tools & Equipment sales events are on the agenda this week for the BMR drivers and team owner Bill McAnally. Their first appearance will be from 12 to 1 p.m. on Thursday at an event at the NAPA AUTO PARTS Store at 2514 N. 4th St., in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
The team will also greet fans and sign autographs at a NAPA Tools & Equipment sales event at the NAPA Distribution Center in Spokane on Friday from 9:30 a.m. until early afternoon. In addition to McAnally and his drivers, the team’s NAPA Toyota Camry and NAPA team hauler will be displayed at Friday’s event at 501 N. Freya St.
McAnally and the three BMR drivers are also scheduled to meet with members of the local media at activities on Friday.
NAPA guests, meanwhile, will get a special chance to meet the three BMR NAPA drivers at the track on Friday evening and have an opportunity to ride around the track in BMR’s two-seater NAPA Toyota.
At the track on Saturday, the BMR drivers will visit with guests at a huge NAPA Hospitality, which will also include guests from Larry H. Miller Downtown Toyota Spokane and from DAA Auto Body Center.
Saturday’s race is scheduled to be televised on NBCSN on May 18 at 10 p.m. PT.
Spokane County Raceway, located in Airway Heights, has hosted three series events – including the most recent races in 2011 and 2013.