Emerging Stars Of NASCAR Showcased In Combo Race At Iowa
• 4 BMR Drivers Among Those In Prestigious Event
ROSEVILLE, Calif. (July 26, 2016) – Many of NASCAR’s emerging stars will be showcased in the Casey’s General Store 150 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East-West combination race at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa on Friday.
Among the competitors who will battle it out on the 7/8-mile track in this year’s event are four talented young drivers from Bill McAnally Racing.
Chris Eggleston, the defending champion in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, leads three rookies at BMR – Todd Gilliland, Riley Herbst, and Julia Landauer. Eggleston drives the No. 50 NAPA Filters / H2O Fire Protection Toyota Camry, while Gilliland wheels the No. 16 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry, Herbst pilots the No. 19 NOS Energy Drink Toyota Camry, and Landauer drives BMR’s No. 54 Curb Records Toyota Camry.
Gilliland is coming off a victory in series competition at Stateline Speedway in Idaho. It was his third series win this season and the fifth victory by BMR in the first seven races of 2016. The 16-year-old driver from Sherrills Ford, North Carolina is just three points out of the lead in the championship standings and tops the rookie points. In addition to his wins, he has six top-five finishes.
Along with the K&N West schedule, Gilliland also competes this year in select events in the K&N East – where he most recently registered a second-place at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on July 16.
Eggleston, who has a best finish of 15th overall in three starts in combo races at Iowa, is third in the championship standings with two wins and six top-five finishes in the first seven races this season. The Erie, Colorado driver came away from Stateline with his first career series pole and a third-place finish.
Landauer – a native New Yorker who now resides in Charlotte, North Carolina – finished fifth at Stateline. She is sixth in the championship standings and second in rookie points, with three top-five and six top-10 finishes.
Coming off a seventh-place finish at Stateline, Herbst is eighth in the championship standings and fourth in rookie points. The 17-year-old Las Vegas driver has two top-five and five top-10 finishes this season, including a career-best fourth-place finish at Kern County Raceway Park near Bakersfield, California.
Gilliland and Landauer are members of the NASCAR Next program that spotlights NASCAR’s rising stars.
Last year, BMR and driver Brandon McReynolds captured the spotlight by sweeping the two East-West combination races at Iowa – becoming the first with multiple wins in the prestigious event. The track has hosted 13 such races, dating back to 2007.
The Casey’s General Store 150 will be televised on NBCSN on Aug. 5 at 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT.