Hailie Deegan made history a year ago at Idaho’s Meridian Speedway, becoming the first female driver to win a NASCAR K&N Pro Series race.
She went on to be the first woman to win the Rookie of the Year Award in the series and earlier this year became the first woman to lead the championship standings of a series at the regional or national levels of NASCAR.
The 18-year-old NASCAR Next driver from Temecula, California returns to Meridian Speedway this week, aiming to put her Bill McAnally Racing No. 19 Monster Energy/NAPA Power Premium Plus Toyota Camry back in Victory Lane with a win in the NAPA AUTO PARTS Idaho 208 on Saturday.
Deegan faces plenty of competition, however, in going for a repeat win at Meridian.
Her BMR teammate, Brittney Zamora, would like to duplicate Deegan’s accomplishment with a victory of her own on the quarter-mile Idaho oval and become the second female to win a series race. Zamora – a 20-year-old series rookie from Kennewick, Washington – drives the No. 99 ENEOS / NAPA Filters Toyota Camry.
Derek Kraus, who wheels BMR’s familiar blue and gold No. 16 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry, will be gunning for his first Meridian win in three starts there. He finished fifth as a rookie in 2017, then won the pole and finished third there last year. Kraus is an 18-year-old NASCAR Next driver from Stratford, Wisconsin.
BMR drivers are 1-2 in the championship standings for the series – with Kraus leading Deegan by 29 points. Kraus has three wins, seven top-five, and nine top-10 finishes in 10 K&N West starts this season – along with two wins in NASCAR K&N Pro Series East competition. Deegan, meanwhile, has two wins, five top-five and eight top-10 finishes in her 10 K&N West starts this year.
Zamora is fifth in the overall series standings and second in rookie points. She has five top-five and six top-10 finishes in K&N West 10 starts.
The NASCAR K&N Pro Series West is heading into the stretch run of its schedule, with the Idaho race being the 11th event on a 14-race series schedule.
In advance of the event, the BMR team will make a special appearance for the Dyson Group at a big customer appreciation sales event at the NAPA AUTO PARTS Store in Meridian on Friday. BMR’s NAPA-sponsored Toyota will be on display and the BMR drivers will participate in a special meet-and-greet with customers.
Activities at the race on Saturday will feature an ENEOS Hospitality area. Guests of NAPA Belts & Hoses will also get the VIP treatment at the track on race day.
The Meridian race will air live on FansChoice. TV – the streaming digital platform that’s airing the entire NASCAR regional series schedule live this year. In addition, it will also be broadcast to a national audience on NBCSN on Oct. 4 at 3 p.m. PT.
Bill McAnally Racing PR
