Welcome Back: AM Racing returns to the ARCA Menards Series full-time in 2024 with sophomore Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) driver Christian Rose behind the wheel of the team’s No. 32 Ford Mustang, continuing with Sunday night’s Southern Illinois 100 at the DuQuoin (ll.) State Fairgrounds.
The 2024 ARCA Menards Series season will mark the first time that AM Racing has competed back-to-back full-time in the NASCAR-owned development series since three-time ARCA Menards Series winner Gus Dean drove for the organization during the 2017 – 2018 seasons, respectively.
Meet Christian Rose: Rose, a former Division 1 baseball player for the University of Maryland Eastern Shore has traded the glove and bat in for a steering wheel and helmet and has set achievable goals for his second full season of stock car competition aboard the team’s flagship No. 32 Ford Mustang.
Rose returns to the Statesville, N.C.-based team on the heels of his inaugural rookie ARCA schedule in 2023, which was highlighted by two top-five, 13 top-10 finishes, and the most laps completed by any ARCA driver last season at 2,550 of 2,624 laps or 97.2% throughout the 20-race season.
His strength of two top-five and five top-10 finishes in the final five races of the season vaulted Rose to third overall in the championship standings behind series champion Jesse Love and Andrés Pérez de Lara.
The 29-year-old also made two starts in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series, respectively, with starts at Richmond (Va.) Raceway and the season-finale at Phoenix (Ariz.) Raceway.
He’s Back Too!: To help steer Christian Rose and the AM Racing team towards a championship in 2024, Ryan “Pickle” London will return to serve as crew chief of the No. 32 Ford Mustang this season.
London, a long-time NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series crew chief, returned to AM Racing in early 2023 after spending the 2020 season as the truck chief with the team’s Truck Series program.
London has plenty of experience as a leader in the ARCA Menards Series, including guiding drivers Tom Hessert and Frank Kimmel to poles and leading Grant Enfinger to victories at Berlin (Mich.) Raceway and DuQuoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds in 2014.
In addition to the two wins as crew chief, the winning NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series crew chief has numerous ARCA top-fives and top-10 efforts to his credit.
Partner Support: The Department of West Virginia Tourism will serve as the primary marketing partner on Rose’s No. 32 Ford Mustang in Sunday night’s Southern Illinois 100 at the DuQuoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds.
The Department of West Virginia Tourism promotes West Virginia as a leading four-season travel destination and top state to live, work and retire.
Known as the Mountain State, West Virginia is one of the most scenic states in the United States and home to thousands of acres of parks and public lands, including America’s newest national park and 45 state parks and forests.
In addition to its majestic mountains and rolling hills, West Virginia is full of rich historic sites, enchanting art galleries, charming towns and an immense sense of belonging found only in its heaven-like landscapes.
After running the Department of West Virginia Tourism winter paint scheme in the first four races of 2024, the AM Racing team will continue with their summer scheme for the 100-lap race this weekend.
Squeaky Blue Clean: In March, AM Racing and Christian Rose proudly announced the addition of Blue Wolf as a partner to the team’s ARCA Menards Series platform for the remaining five races in 2024.
Originally created by a West Virginia coal miner and a chemist to clean and degrease mining equipment, Blue Wolf quickly became trusted as a proven product for getting the job done.
As miners began taking the product home, they soon discovered that Blue Wolf worked great on everything from removing grease and coal dust from carpets and work clothes to pressure washing houses.
Today, Blue Wolf offers a full line of cleaners and degreasers for household, automotive, and industrial use.
Blue Wolf will serve in an associate role for Sunday night’s race.
Christian Rose ARCA The DuQuoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds Stats: Sunday night’s Southern Illinois 100 at the DuQuoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds will mark Rose’s second ARCA start at the iconic 1.0-mile dirt oval nestled in DuQuoin, Ill.
In his DuQuoin debut last September, Rose earned a track-best seventh-place finish during the 2023 edition of the Southern Illinois 100 after starting seventh with his No. 32 AM Racing Ford Mustang.
In three career ARCA dirt track races, Rose has delivered two top-10 finishes and carries an average finish of 9.3.
Christian Rose Career ARCA National Series Stats: In 43 career ARCA National Series starts, Rose has earned five top-five and 22 top-10 finishes highlighted by a career-best third-place finish achieved at Salem (Ind.) Speedway in September 2023.
Additionally, Rose has showcased 31 top-20 finishes overall since 2022.
Since 2022, he has maintained an average finishing position of 12.5.
To The Point(s): Entering DuQuoin, Rose is fourth in the ARCA Menards Series championship standings, 29 markers behind ARCA Menards Series driver Kris Wright for third, with five races remaining.
Rose stands 95 points in the arrears to championship leader Andrés Pérez de Lara.
AM Racing stands a respectable eighth in the ARCA Menards Series championship owner standings.
Hot Streak: Rose invades the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds on the heels of five consecutive top-10 finishes dating back to late July at Salem (Ind.) Speedway.
In fact, Rose has delivered one top-five and five top-10 finishes that have allowed him to climb from seventh in the ARCA Menards Series championship standings to fourth.
In six of the last seven races dating back to Berlin (Mich.) Raceway in late June, the West Virginia native has posted six top-10 finishes only botched by a late-race accident finish of 22nd at the Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in July.
Slingin’ That Dirt: Since Daytona, Rose has been teamed up with AM Racing’s Dirt Division and getting experience behind the wheel of a Dirt Modified to strengthen his driving skills.
Rose will continue participating in select Dirt Modified events as his schedule allows this season.
Thanks For Your Support: With 75 percent of the 2024 ARCA Menards Series season complete, AM Racing and Christian Rose would like to thank their associate marketing partners for their support: AirBox Air Purifier, Blue Wolf Cleaners, Flying Circle, Mobil 1 and Whitetail Smokeless.
The Milwaukee Mile | Sprecher 150 Race Recap: In the 14th ARCA Menards Series race of the season, Rose returned to historic The Milwaukee Mile (Wisc.) in West Allis, Wisc.
After a productive practice, Rose qualified for a career-track best of 10th. Through the race’s 150 laps, Rose productively impressed throughout the race, allowing him to climb through the running order in the extremely fast-paced race.
At one point, Rose challenged for a race-high seventh but settled for eighth at the checkered flag in his No. 32 Department of West Virginia Tourism Ford Mustang.
Rose’s Milwaukee-best eighth-place finish captured his eighth top-10 finish of the season and extended his top-10 finishing streak to five looking ahead to the second and final dirt track race of the season at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds.
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For more on Christian Rose, please like him on Facebook (Christian Rose Racing), or follow him on Instagram (@christianroseracing) and X | Twitter (@CRoseRacing).
Christian Rose Quoteboard:
On The DuQuoin State Fairgrounds: “I’m excited with our current streak of top-10 finishes to go to the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds on Sunday.
“Regarding dirt track racing, I felt a little more comfortable at DuQuoin than at Springfield. Unfortunately, we are not bringing the same No. 32 Department of West Virginia Tourism Ford Mustang that we raced with at Springfield a couple of weeks ago because of the last lap crash.
“But, I have tremendous faith in my AM Racing team and crew chief Pickle (Ryan London) that we’ll have a competitive piece for under the lights on Sunday night.
“It’s hard to believe that only five races are left this season. We’ve worked hard and had a lot to be proud of. We’re going to keep working hard and see if we can’t sneak some more top-fives or perhaps even a win before the end of the season in October.”
Race Information:
The Southern Illinois 100 (100 laps | 100 miles) is the 16th of 20 races on the 2024 ARCA Menards Series schedule. Practice begins Sunday, September 1, from 4:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. General Tire pole qualifying follows beginning at 6:00 p.m. The race is set to take the green flag later that night shortly after 7:30 p.m. CT (8:30 p.m. ET). The event will be televised live on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) and streaming on FloRacing. ARCARacing.com will also stream live timing and scoring throughout the entire weekend festivities. All times are local (CT).
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