Bill McAnally Racing drivers continued their season-long dominance of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West on Saturday night at Idaho’s Meridian Speedway.
All three drivers ran up front and were in contention to win the NAPA AUTO PARTS Idaho 208.
When the dust had settled from a two-lap dash to the finish in overtime, however; Todd Gilliland was credited with finishing second, Derek Kraus was fifth, and Chris Eggleston was listed as seventh.
The three BMR drivers remain 1-2-3 in the championship standings, with Gilliland leading Eggleston by 11 points, while Kraus trails in third.
Kraus, a 16-year-old series rookie who drives BMR’s No. 19 Carlyle Tools Toyota Camry, had held a lead of more than four seconds in the closing laps on Saturday night when a late caution came out. Eggleston, who was second in the No. 99 NAPA Filters / H20 Fire Protection Toyota Camry when the yellow waved, charged into the lead on the restart and crossed the finish line first – but was deemed by NASCAR as jumping the restart and was moved to seventh in the finish order. Kraus – who had led 58 laps – was sixth to the checkers, but moved up to fifth in the finish.
Gilliland – who in qualifying had won his sixth series pole of the season, the 12th of his career – led a race high 125 laps in the No. 16 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry. He was fourth on the final restart and charged to third at the finish. The 17-year-old NASCAR Next driver was also moved up a spot, and was second in the final rundown.
Michael Self was declared the winner of the race.
Saturday’s race included some special activities for NAPA guests in attendance. NAPA Spokane and the Dyson Group provided their customers with a VIP experience that featured a hospitality event and special meet and greet with the BMR drivers. The NAPA guests were also treated to special VIP pit tours.
With two events remaining on this year’s 14-race schedule, Gilliland of Sherrills Ford, North Carolina has a record of six wins, nine top-five, and 11 top-10 finishes in 12 starts. Eggleston – the 2015 series veteran from Erie, Colorado – has four wins, 10 top-five, and 12 top-10 finishes. Kraus of Stratford, Wisconsin has seven top-five, and eight top-10 finishes.
In their dominance this season, Gilliland and Eggleston have combined to win 10 of the 12 series races. The three BMR drivers together have led 1,496 of the 1,689 laps run in the 12 races this season.
Gilliland, the defending K&N West champion, had taken an early morning flight on Saturday from the East Coast after competing in the K&N East season finale at Dover International Speedway in Delaware on Friday. His hopes of capturing the K&N East championship were derailed when a flat tire and contact with the wall ended his race early.
The NAPA AUTO PARTS Idaho 208, the fourth series race at Meridian Speedway, is scheduled to be televised on NBCSN on Oct. 8 at 8 p.m. PT.
The next event on the K&N Pro Series West schedule will be the Toyota NAPA AUTO PARTS 150 presented by TriCo Welding Supplies at All American Speedway in Roseville, California on Oct. 14.
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