• Eighth-Place Finish For Staropoli Gives BMR 3 Top 10s In UNOH Battle At The Beach
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 18, 2014) – Bill McAnally Racing drivers Brandon McReynolds and Nick Drake made a hard charge to the front to finish third and fourth in NASCAR K&N Pro Series East competition at the UNOH Battle At The Beach at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla., on Tuesday night.
McReynolds made the biggest gain in the No. 16 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry, rocketing from 19th on the grid to take third – while Drake methodically moved from his 11th-place starting position to finish fourth in the No. 15 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry.
Patrick Staropoli rounded out the BMR effort with an eighth-place finish in the No. 99 PEAK Toyota Camry – giving car owner Bill McAnally three top-10 finishes in the prestigious race. Staropoli had made his way to sixth after starting 18th, but got caught up in an incident about two-thirds through the 150-lap event and had to battle back in the closing laps.
The race, staged on a short-track oval on the backstretch at the “World Center of Racing,” marked the second event in three days as the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East completed a doubleheader to start the season. The series had opened its 2014 campaign at nearby New Smyrna Speedway on Sunday.
For BMR, which just expanded into the K&N East this season, the two Florida events provided an opportunity to kick off this year’s competition with its East and West teams together, according to BMR President Bill McAnally.
“For BMR to come together in an event like Daytona and put all three cars in top eight says a lot about the overall team,” McAnally said. “We wanted to build camaraderie, bringing the East and West teams together. That’s why we came here. I’m really impressed with the way the crews worked together and the job the drivers did. I can’t wait for Phoenix.”
McReynolds, meanwhile, credited his crew with providing him with a car to contend for the win.
“The NAPA AUTO PARTS guys did really great with this Toyota all week,” he said. “They put a great race car together. I wish I could have finished two spots better, but I just got hung out on the outside on that last restart. There is really nothing you can do.”
“I think we represented the K&N West well tonight,” added McReynolds, who will contend for the championship in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West this season.
“I really am excited about my opportunity with Bill McAnally Racing and NAPA and Toyota,” McReynolds said. “I think we’re going to do some really great things this year.”
The fourth-place finish for Drake, who is running for this year’s Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award in the K&N East, came in just his second series start.
“The car was good,” the 18-year-old said of his NAPA Toyota. “We just sort of rode things out for a while and then we worked our way forward. I made a rookie mistake on a couple of restarts, but managed to recover. It was a good night for our second race.”
Staropoli, who along with his eight-place finish at Daytona registered an 11th-place finish at New Smyrna, is driving in select events for BMR this season.
The UNOH Battle At The Beach was broadcast live on television, with coverage by FOX Sports 2, and on radio, with coverage by Motor Racing Network (MRN). In addition to the live television broadcast, the race re-airs on FOX Sports 1 on Wednesday, Feb. 19 at 5:30 p.m. ET.