Drivers from across the country will head to the St. Louis area this week as the East and West divisions of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series battle it out at Gateway Motorsports Park in the Monaco Cocktails Gateway Classic presented by the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame.
Friday’s event marks the inaugural visit by the NASCAR K&N Pro Series to the 1.25-mile track in Madison, Illinois.
The race is one of two East-West combination races on this year’s schedule – along with the annual event at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa.
Bill McAnally Racing’s trio of drivers are in the top five of the championship standings in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West. Cole Rouse is third in points, 34 markers out of the lead. Derek Kraus is fourth, two points behind Rouse. Hailie Deegan is fifth in the overall championship standings, while leading the rookie points.
Rouse, who drives the No. 99 NAPA Filters Toyota Camry for BMR, is a 21-year-old from Fort Smith, Arkansas. He has four top-five and eight top-10 finishes in nine starts this season, including a career-best runner-up finish in the most recent series event at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Washington.
Kraus – a 16-year-old from Stratford, Wisconsin – wheels the No. 16 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry. He has two wins, four poles, five top fives, and seven top 10s this season.
Deegan, 17, of Temecula, California drives BMR’s No. 19 Mobil 1 / NAPA Power Premium Plus Toyota Camry. She has three top-five and eight top-10 finishes in the series.
Kraus and Deegan are members of NASCAR Next program that spotlights NASCAR’s rising stars.
All three BMR drivers are scheduled to join with other NASCAR drivers and Verizon IndyCar Series drivers in a free fanfest at Ballpark Village in downtown St. Louis from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday. Ballpark Village is located at 601 Clark Avenue in St. Louis, across the street from Busch Stadium.
BMR is excited about big plans for NAPA AUTO PARTS at the track on Friday – with large activation and support through NAPA Mt. Vernon, involving a large sales promotion of guests from BB&B Industries and the McKay Auto Group.
The BMR drivers are also looking forward to being at the Gateway Motorsports Park on the same weekend as their NAPA Racing teammate, Alexander Rossi – who is coming off back-to-back wins in his bid to win the Verizon IndyCar Series championship.
The NASCAR East-West combination race is slated to be televised on NBCSN on Aug. 30 at 3 p.m. PT.
BMR PR
