BMR Drivers Look For Strong Finish In K&N West Finale

Bill McAnally Racing’s trio of drivers each have a lot on the line when the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West wraps up its season on Saturday with the Arizona Lottery 100 at ISM Raceway near Phoenix.

 

When he takes the green flag in BMR’s No. 16 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry, Derek Kraus will officially clinch the series championship.

 

Hailie Deegan, meanwhile, could give BMR a 1-2 finish in the final standings – with a powerful performance in the No. 19 Monster Energy/NAPA Power Premium Plus Toyota Camry.

 

And series rookie Brittney Zamora knows a strong run in the No. 99 NAPA Filters/ENEOS Toyota Camry could assure her of finishing the season in the top five of the standings.

 

All three drivers will be making their first series start on the one-mile track in the Valley of the Sun. The K&N West event is part of a big NASCAR weekend at ISM Raceway, that also features a NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race on Friday, the NASCAR XFINITY Series in action on Saturday, followed by the K&N West race, and the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series event on Sunday.

 

Kraus is coming off a dominant performance at Kern County Raceway Park – where he led wire-to-wire in winning his fourth consecutive series race at the Bakersfield-area track. With the win, he extended his lead in the championship standings to 47 points.

 

It’s been a career-best season for the 18-year-old NASCAR Next driver from Stratford, Wisconsin – who is wrapping up his third full season in the series. He has five wins, 10 top-five and 12 top-10 finishes in 13 starts this year. He has led nearly half of the laps in the K&N West so far in 2019. Kraus also scored two wins earlier in the year in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and led the standings in both divisions in the first half of the season.

 

He will be pulling double duty at ISM Raceway – competing in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series on Friday and the K&N West race on Saturday. He made his truck series debut a year ago with an eighth-place finish at the Phoenix-area track.

 

Deegan, also an 18-year-old NASCAR Next driver, is coming off a third-place finish at Kern. She is third in the championship standings and is in the middle of a fierce points battle – with the second, third and fourth-place drivers separated by just five points. A strong finish could propel her to second and give BMR a 1-2 finish in the championship points.

 

The Temecula, California driver has two wins, seven top-five, and 10 top-10 finishes in 13 starts this season.

 

Deegan followed up her history-making rookie season of a year ago, with more records this season. With a win in the season opener, she became the first woman to lead the championship standings of a series at the regional or national levels of NASCAR.

 

Zamora, meanwhile, looks to finish the season in the top five of the championship standings. With only a one-point advantage over the sixth-place driver, however, she knows the importance of finishing the year with a strong performance.

 

The 20-year-old from Kennewick, Washington finished fourth at Kern. She has six top-five and nine top-10 finishes in 13 starts. In addition to being fifth in the overall standings, she is second in rookie points.

 

BMR has visited Victory Lane at ISM Raceway on five occasions, with five different drivers. Austin Cameron won there in 2002 and Eric Holmes took the victory in 2010. The three most recent K&N West races at ISM were won by BMR – with Cole Custer (2014), Nick Drake (2014) and Todd Gilliland (2015) each visiting Victory Lane.

 

Leading up to the event, the BMR team will make a special appearance on Thursday at Tech 1 Auto at 8768 W. Thunderbird Road in Peoria.

 

The BMR drivers are also scheduled to attend a NAPA Store wholesale event from 7 to 8 p.m. on Thursday evening at 9897 W. McDowell Road in Tolleson.

 

A large contingent of guests from NAPA’s Phoenix Distribution Center are slated to be in attendance at the track and will get the VIP treatment, with special pit tours and a meet-and-greet with the BMR drivers.

 

The K&N West season finale will air live on FansChoice. TV – the streaming digital platform that’s airing the entire NASCAR regional series schedule live this year. In addition, it will also be broadcast to a national audience on NBCSN on Nov. 14 at 3 p.m. PT.

 

The Phoenix-area track has hosted the K&N West season finale on 21 occasions, dating back to 1977. The series closed out its season at the raceway most recently from 2010 to 2015. The top three finishers in the championship race in 2011 featured Ryan Blaney in Victory Lane, followed by Alex Bowman in second and Chase Elliott in third. All three are now regulars in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

BMR PR