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 Friday night’s Henry Ford Health 200 at Michigan International Speedway.
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 Friday night’s Henry Ford Health 200 at Michigan International Speedway.
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 eight 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 Friday night’s race.
Christian Rose ARCA Michigan International Speedway Stats: Friday night’s Henry Ford Health 200 at Michigan International Speedway will mark Rose’s second ARCA start at the iconic 2.0-mile speedway nestled in Brooklyn, Mich. – about seventy miles from Detroit.
In his Michigan International Speedway ARCA debut last summer, Rose earned a seventh-place finish during the 2023 edition of the Henry Ford Health 200 after starting 10th.
The effort was among his 13 top-10 finishes claimed for the rookie ARCA driver during the 2023 season.
In 13 career ARCA speedway races, Rose has delivered four top-10 finishes.
Christian Rose Career ARCA National Series Stats: In 40 career ARCA National Series starts, Rose has earned five top-five and 19 top-10 finishes highlighted by a career-best third-place finish achieved at Salem (Ind.) Speedway in September 2023.
Additionally, Rose has showcased 28 top-20 finishes overall since 2022.
Since 2022, he has maintained an average finishing position of 12.8.
Double Duty Weekend: It’s a busy weekend for the ARCA Menards Series. In addition to competing at Michigan International Speedway next weekend, the series will trek to the Illinois State Fairgrounds for the first of two dirt races for the running of the Springfield ARCA 100.
The event will mark Rose’s third career dirt races in ARCA Menards Series competition.
The team looks to recover from a frustrating 12th place finish after starting fifth in last year’s event after enduring overheating issues 55 laps into the race.
To The Point(s): Entering Michigan International Speedway, Rose is fifth in the ARCA Menards Series championship standings, just six markers behind ARCA Menards Series driver Kris Wright for fourth, with eight races remaining.
Rose stands 90 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.
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 60 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.
Elko Speedway | Shore Lunch 250 presented by Dutch Boy Paints Race Recap: In the 12th ARCA Menards Series race of the season, Rose returned to short-track racing at the legendary Elko Speedway in Elko, Minnesota.
After qualifying his No. 32 Department of West Virginia Tourism Ford Mustang eighth, Rose displayed major improvement in his execution of the race compared to his rookie season in 2023.
Maintaining a solid pace inside the top-10 for most of the race, the sophomore ARCA Menards Series driver was forced to make an unscheduled pit stop during the second half of the race after making contact with another competitor while battling for seventh.
The misfortunate briefly dropped Rose out of the top-10. However, with grit and determination, Rose climbed back through the field and landed 10th at the checkered flag to capture his fifth top-10 finish of the season.
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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 Michigan International Speedway:“I am glad to get back to work after a much-needed weekend off. I really enjoyed racing at Michigan International Speedway last season and I have no doubt that my AM Racing team is going to be bringing a fast No. 32 Department of West Virginia Tourism Ford Mustang to the track.
“As we execute through the second half of the season, we need to start moving forward and inching ourselves into position to finish inside the top five so we can gain some points and put us in contention for the win.
“Michigan would be a great place to accomplish that goal.”
On Illinois State Fairgrounds: “There’s nothing but redemption on my mind at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. We had such a fast No. 32 Department of West Virginia Tourism Ford Mustang last year, but unfortunately, we had overheating issues that prevented a better outcome.
“We’ll try again on Sunday afternoon.”
The Henry Ford Health 200 (100 laps | 200 miles), is the 13th of 20 races on the 2024 ARCA Menards Series schedule. Practice begins Friday, August 16, from 1:30 p.m. to 2:10 p.m. General Tire pole qualifying follows beginning at 2:30 p.m. The race is set to take the green flag later in the day shortly after 6:00 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 (ET).
The Springfield ARCA 100 (100 laps | 100 miles), is the 14th of 20 races on the 2024 ARCA Menards Series schedule. Practice begins Sunday, August 18, from 10:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. General Tire pole qualifying follows beginning at 11:15 a.m. The race is set to take the green flag later in the day shortly after 1:00 p.m. CT (2:00 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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