Road Course Restart … The ARCA Menards Series West (AMSW) gets restarted on Friday afternoon at the 1.967-mile Portland International Raceway (PIR) as Jack Wood makes his fifth road course start in ARCA competition. The driver of the No. 16 NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet SS has back-to-back road course outings on tap and hopes to make the right turns to climb the championship standings. Wood enters Portland fourth in the point standings, just 10 markers out of the lead. Crew chief Kevin Bellicourt is accompanying Wood to PIR as the duo chase the title with the NAPA Auto Care team.
Road Runner … The Californian is one of the few drivers entered for Friday’s clash that has road course experience in 2024. Wood drove the No. 91 Klotz Synthetics, Cometic Gasket Chevrolet to a 13th-place finish in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series event at Circuit of the Americas in March. He has made four prior starts at road courses in the ARCA Menards Series, two apiece at Watkins Glen International and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Those starts yielded a pair of top-10 results, including a third-place finish at Mid-Ohio in 2023. In the first two AMSW this season, Wood’s best finish was seventh in the opener at Phoenix Raceway.
BMR in Portland … Wood and his BMR teammate Eric Johnson Jr. are looking for the first victory for the organization at PIR. However, the former Portland Speedway bullring was the site of the team’s first AMSW victory in 1998. Canadian driver Gary Smith drove the No. 16 NAPA Chevrolet to the team’s first win to kick start over 100 combined wins in ARCA Menards Series West and East. Wood looks to return the No. 16 NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet to victory lane in Portland, Ore. 26 years later on Friday.
Tune In … The tour’s first road course event of the season can be streamed live on FloRacing (www.floracing.com) at 7:00 p.m. ET. Stay connected with the No. 16 NAPA Auto Care team by following @BMR_NASCAR on Twitter, @bmrnascar on Instagram, and Bill McAnally Racing on Facebook.
Jack Wood Quote:
On tackling PIR for the first time:
“I went out there a few weeks ago and got a feel for the track. It definitely flows a lot more than some other road courses. COTA is really technical on the Truck schedule, where Portland is a lot more rhythm based. We had a good sim session this week, so I think we’re well prepared. Road course racing is always physical and a challenge to be consistent. I think we’ll have enough pace that if we keep our NAPA Auto Care Chevy on track all race, we should have a shot to win it and that’d be a big shot in the arm to go after this championship.”
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