Chris Eggleston returns to his hometown track as the defending series champion when the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West visits Colorado National Speedway near Erie for the Toyota / NAPA AUTO PARTS 150 on Saturday.
In addition to honing his talent at the 3/8-mile track just north of Denver, Eggleston advanced his racing career by winning a K&N West event there in 2014. It marked just his second start in the series and his first with Bill McAnally Racing.
That win led to an opportunity for Eggleston to run the full schedule with BMR in 2015, and he responded by winning the series crown. He returns this season behind the wheel of the No. 50 NAPA Filters / H2O Fire Protection Toyota Camry.
Eggleston, who finished third in last year’s series race at CNS, is coming off a victory last month at Orange Show Speedway in Southern California. It was his first series win of the year and the fourth of his career. He is third in the championship standings as the series heads to Colorado for the fifth event on a 14-race schedule. He has finished in the top five in each of the first four races.
Eggleston is accompanied by three rookie teammates at BMR – Todd Gilliland, Julia Landauer, and Riley Herbst. In addition, series newcomer Cole Moore will be in a fifth BMR car at CNS.
Gilliland – a 16-year-old from Sherrills Ford, North Carolina – drives the No. 16 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry for BMR. He has scored two wins and four top-five finishes in the first four races. Following a fourth-place finish at Orange Show Speedway, he leads the overall championship standings, as well as the rookie standings.
Landauer – a native New Yorker who now lives in Charlotte, North Carolina – drives the No. 54 Curb Records Toyota Camry. The 24-year-old finished fifth at Orange Show Speedway. She is fifth in the overall standings and second in rookie points – with two top-five and four top-10 finishes this year.
Gilliland and Landauer are members of this year’s NASCAR Next program, which spotlights NASCAR’s rising stars.
Herbst is a 17-year-old from Las Vegas who drives the No. 19 NAPA Power Premium Plus Toyota Camry for BMR. He finished 16th-place at Orange Show Speedway, after getting caught up in an early-race incident. Herbst has one top-five and three top-10 finishes. He is seventh in the championship standings and fourth in rookie points.
Moore, 19, is a second-generation driver from Granite Bay, California who will be making his second career series start, driving the No. 20 JM Environmental Toyota Camry. It was announced just last week that Moore will be competing in six series events for BMR this season, with Colorado being his first.
BMR has been to Victory Lane at Colorado National Speedway four times. In addition to Eggleston’s win there in 2014; BMR won at CNS in 2008 and 2010 with Eric Holmes, and in 2009 with Paulie Harraka. Holmes and Harraka are still part of the BMR team, serving as spotters and coaching drivers.
NAPA activities for the NASCAR weekend in Colorado will kick off on Friday evening with a special get-together for some NAPA VIPs that will include the BMR drivers. Plans at the track on Saturday include a big NAPA Hospitality event, a popular part of the NASCAR day at CNS. Hospitality activities will include the NAPA Toyota racing simulator.
The Toyota / NAPA AUTO PARTS 150 will be televised on NBCSN on June 16 at 6 p.m. ET. It marks the 14th visit by the series to CNS.
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