Jesse Love heads to Irwindale Speedway this week aiming for his second straight ARCA Menards Series West win there and looking to extend the record of victories by Bill McAnally Racing at the half-mile Southern California track.
Love, who won in his first series visit to Irwindale last year, will be wheeling BMR’s No. 16 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry in the NAPA AUTO PARTS 150 on Saturday.
His rookie teammate, Cole Moore, drives the No. 99 NAPA Power Premium Plus Toyota Camry. A third BMR entry at Irwindale – the No. 19 Icon Technologies Unlimited Toyota Camry – will be driven by Amber Balcaen, as she makes her ARCA West debut. They will battle to bring home the hardware and add to the 14 wins BMR has scored in 28 regular season series races at Irwindale.
Moore is third in the championship standings and leads the chase for the rookie title, while Love is seventh in the championship ranking.
Balcaen is a third-generation driver who has raced on dirt tracks and paved tracks. Her racing resume varies from 410 Outlaw sprint cars to NASCAR Late Model stock cars. She made one ARCA East start in 2017 and is a participant this year in the BMR Drivers Academy.
Eight drivers have contributed to BMR’s record of winning half the series races since the state-of-the-art facility at Irwindale opened in 1999. Four different drivers went to Victory Lane as BMR won eight of 11 regular season series events at the track between 2001 and 2007. Brendan Gaughan swept three races there in 2001. Austin Cameron had three series wins there with BMR – one in 2002 and two in 2004. Steve Portenga scored a win with BMR at Irwindale in 2005 and Brian Ickler added another BMR victory in 2007.
BMR won five consecutive series races at Irwindale between 2014 and 2017. Three different drivers contributed to that string of victories, beginning with Patrick Staropoli winning in 2014 and Chris Eggleston in 2015. Todd Gilliland won at Irwindale as a rookie in 2016 and then swept the twin 100s that comprised a doubleheader there in 2017. Love added to the BMR win total at Irwindale with his victory last year.
In addition to the regular season victories, Cameron and the BMR team won the inaugural NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown at Irwindale Speedway in 2003.
NAPA AUTO PARTS plays a significant role in the Irwindale race. In addition to being the event sponsor, other activation by NAPA and its associates involve a sales program with the NAPA Power Premium Plus group, a VIP guest crew member hosted by NGK, and attendance by special guests from the NAPA Distribution Center in Los Angeles, along with a group of guest employees from BBB Industries. A VIP NAPA Guest Experience will feature a pit tour and meet-and-greet with the BMR drivers.
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