Four talented Northern California drivers each aim to score Bill McAnally Racing’s first win at Sonoma Raceway as the ARCA Menards Series West makes its traditional visit to the winding 2.52-mile road course this week for the General Tire 200 on Saturday.
BMR has two series regulars – Jesse Love behind the wheel of the No. 16 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry and Cole Moore in the No. 99 NAPA Power Premium Plus Toyota Camry. BMR will have two additional entries at Sonoma – with Dylan Lupton in the No. 4 Lupton Excavation Toyota Camry and Eric Nascimento Jr. in the No. 19 RJ Paint Shop Toyota Camry.
Saturday’s race will mark the first ARCA West race at Sonoma for Love and Moore. Love was set to compete there as a rookie last year, but the event was cancelled due to concerns over coronavirus. In eight series starts Moore made with BMR between 2015 and 2017, he did not compete at Sonoma Raceway.
Love, who hails from Menlo Park, delivered BMR its first road course win last season – with a victory at Utah Motorsports Campus. He went on to capture the 2020 title and become the youngest champion in series history, at the age of 15. He’s focused on winning back-to-back titles, matching the accomplishments of previous drivers of the No. 16 – Brendan Gaughan (2000 & 2001) and Todd Gilliland (2016 & 2017).
Moore, who turns 24 on Thursday, is from Granite Bay. He is contending for the Sonoma win in his first full season of series competition.
Lupton, 27, is from Wilton, California. He registered one top-five and two top-10s in two series starts at Sonoma – during the two full seasons he raced in the series in 2013 and 2014. He finished third in 2014, in a West race won by Kyle Larson. From 2015 to 2020, Lupton made 50 starts across NASCAR’s three national levels.
Nascimento, known as Bubba, is a 20-year-old from Manteca. He will be making his ARCA West debut at Sonoma. He honed his driving talent racing super late models on short tracks in California’s Central Valley.
BMR intends to add Sonoma to its list of 26 different tracks with ARCA West wins. The team has come close on several occasions. BMR’s best results there came with four entries in the 2010 race – with Paulie Harraka, Brandon Davis, Eric Holmes and Moses Smith finishing second, third, fourth and ninth, respectively. In 2006, BMR rookie teammates Brian Ickler and Peyton Sellers finished second and third, respectively.
Love, Moore and team owner Bill McAnally will participate in a VIP dinner, hosted by BBB Industries, for NAPA guests on Friday night at Sonoma. VIP garage guests from NAPA’s Sacramento Distribution Center and Riebes group will be at the race on Saturday. A VIP garage experience will be provided for a group of 50 guests.
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