No. 20 NAPA Toyota & No. 24 Cabinets by Hayley teams at Iowa Speedway
Driver Eric Holmes and the team from BMR are en route to Brainerd, Minnesota
Antelope, CA (May 19, 2012) – Iowa Speedway hosted the NASCAR K&N Pro Series Combination race May 19 in Newton Iowa where Eric Holmes and the No. 20 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota team came away with a finishing position of ninth of the West Series teams.
Practice began at 11 am on race day. The NAPA team made several adjustments to the Toyota Camry through both practice sessions. The qualifying times where close with only a .414-second difference between first place and 20th. Holmes would begin the race on row ten. The green flag fell just after 7 pm. Fans were treated to side-by-side racing as Holmes began his march towards the front of the field. The first caution came out at lap 25 at which time Holmes radioed to the NAPA Toyota team that the car was ‘loose everywhere’. Green flag racing resumed at lap 33. Two laps later, the No. 20 NAPA Toyota had a right front flat tire veering the car into the wall coming out of turn two. The No. 20 Toyota Camry was brought to the garage. Never ones to give up, the NAPA team went to work to make repairs. Holmes returned to competition now in 35th. He would gain two positions before the checkered flag. Holmes is fifth in the chase for the championship and only nine points out of second place.
“I knew something was not right when we took the green to restart the race after the caution,” said Holmes. “The NAPA team did an awesome job getting us back out there and we were able to better our finishing position into ninth of the West Series teams. It was a team effort to be sure.” (The championship points are tallied separately for the East and the West Series. The highest finishing driver and owner are credited with a win regardless of their finishing position overall in the event.)
The Graham Tire “150” is a 2012 NASCAR K&N Pro Series Combination race will be televised on SPEED Channel on Thursday May 31st at 3 pm EST. Please check your local listings.
Brainerd International Raceway this season will host it’s first-ever NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race. The Brainerd “125” will highlight a speed-filled Memorial Day weekend. Joining NASCAR on the 2.5-mile, 13-turn Competition Road Course will be the Sports Car Club of America’s (SCCA) Harvey West Classic. NASCAR hasn’t held a race at BIR since 2004, when the NASCAR Elite Division came to town for a single race.
“I’ve never seen Brainerd International Raceway,” said Holmes. “I know its beautiful country up in Minnesota and the teams from BMR are looking forward to racing there. We would love to be able to bring home the inaugural win on the road course.”
NASCAR K&N Pro Series West: the No. 24 Cabinets by Hayley team at Iowa Speedway
Antelope, CA (May 19, 2012) – Rookie driver Cameron Hayley and the No. 24 Cabinets by Hayley Toyota team recorded a sixth place finish at their first series race at Iowa Speedway May 19th.
The No. 24 Cabinets by Hayley Toyota team began the weekend fight with a loose condition during the two practices sessions which ended up yielding them a starting position of 34th in the Graham Tire “150”. The race is the first of two series combination events that will be held at Iowa Speedway in 2012 and the seventh visit for the series to the 7/8-mile track in Newton, Iowa. The speedway opened in 2006 and hosted its first NASCAR K&N Pro Series race in 2007.
The first 25-laps saw Hayley climbing through the field gaining five positions by lap 11. He radioed in to the team from Bill McAnally Racing that the car was ‘tight in the center ‘off the corner and ‘loose off’. By the caution at lap 54, Hayley reported the car was ‘tight all around’ the track. The No.24 Cabinets by Hayley Toyota was in the top 20 by lap 61. There was a mandatory break in the race at lap 75. Cameron told his team he was putting the first 75 laps behind him and they should focus on the next. The race was just getting started and he was focused on the front of the field.
Hayley ran hard going into the second half of the race often with the field going three-wide. A caution came out with five laps to go. Hayley radioed in that he had a problem with a tire. He was called to pit row and the No. 24 team replaced a flat right side tire most likely acquired from running over debris on the track. Hayley would finish in sixth in the West Series. (The championship points are tallied separately for the East and the West Series. The highest finishing driver and owner are credited with a win regardless of their finishing position overall in the event.)
“This weekend in Iowa was a tough weekend but my team and I learned a lot from it,” said Hayley. “Right from the get go our Cabinets by Hayley Toyota was struggling and needed lots of work throughout the weekend. The No 24 team put in a massive effort and threw everything they had it but at the end of the day we just ran out of time and didn’t have the Toyota Camry the way we would of had liked. Sometimes winning championships isn’t about running well on good days, it’s about making the most of a bad situation on the bad days and on Saturday my team showed that.”
Hayley is leading in the 2012 Sunoco Rookie of the Year points for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West. He is also sixth in the chase for the Series championship.
The Graham Tire “150” is a 2012 NASCAR K&N Pro Series Combination race will be televised on SPEED Channel on Thursday May 31st at 3 pm EST. Please check your local listings.
The next event is May 26th at Brainerd International raceway. Brainerd International Raceway this season will host it’s first-ever NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race. The Brainerd “125” will highlight a speed-filled Memorial Day weekend. NASCAR hasn’t held a race at BIR since 2004, when the NASCAR Elite Division came to town for a single race.
“Brainerd will be the second road course race of my career and I am really looking forward to it,” said Hayley. “Early in the season I had the chance to do a driving school with SNT Motorsports and Chris Cook at Infineon and that track really taught me some valuable lessons about racing a road course that I will bring to this weekend. We will have a fast car and we will be contending for that first win to become the youngest winner in the sport.”
About Brainerd International Raceway:
Opened in 1968 as Donnybrooke Speedway there were no safety barriers, run-out areas, grandstands or even restrooms. George Montgomery and Bud Stall cleared the racetrack through a wooded area on the south side of North Long Lake. With the help of St Paul Sports Promoter Dennis Scanlan It hosted a 2 heat USAC Indy Car race in 1969. The heats were won by Gordon Johncock and Dan Gurney. In 1973 Jerry Hansen bought the track and re-named it Brainerd International Raceway. In the summer of 2006, Jed and Kristi Copham of Forest Lake, Minnesota, became the new owners of Brainerd International Raceway. The 2009 racing season was the first for the 2.5 mile road course which was completed the previous summer.
