Podium Finish for Eric Holmes- Cameron Hayley Disappointed with Results at Stockton 99
Eric Holmes Podium Finish at Stockton 99
NAPA AUTO PARTS team second place finish at the historic short track
Antelope, CA (May 7, 2012) – The three-time NASCAR K&N Pro Series West champion from Bill McAnally Racing, Eric Holmes and the No. 20 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota team brought home a second place finish for a second week in a row. With a second place finish, Holmes duplicated his finish from back in 2006 when the series last raced at Stockton 99 Speedway.
Holmes and the NAPA Toyota team from BMR showed that they were fast when they put the No. 20 NAPA entry at the top of the timing chart in the final practice. With an early draw for qualifying, Holmes managed to secure a starting position on the inside of the second row for the 150 lap race.
Under the “Super Moon”, the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West field took the green flag. By lap 7, the leaders were lapping cars on the 1/4-mile short track. The first caution came out at lap 19 at which time Holmes radioed in that the No. 20 NAPA Toyota was running warm in the tight traffic. Two cautions later at lap 59 while running in third, there was a multi-car incident in turn two. Holmes did his best to avoid being a part of it and lost four positions in the effort. The race was ‘red flagged’ at lap 68 to continue the clean-up. Holmes moved into 5th at lap 88. With green flag racing for more than 35 laps enabled Holmes to move up to 4th. With 10 laps to go, the No. 20 NAPA Toyota Camry was up to 3rd and would gain one more spot at lap 145 moving into 2nd. The race would finish under a green-white-checkered scenario with Holmes challenging for the lead at the restart but not able to secure the position.
“The NAPA Toyota was really good,” said Holmes. “We were just trying to cruise during the first half of the race trying to save our equipment for the end. It was a frustrating night racing with some drivers that didn’t have enough experience to be racing at the level of competition we have in this series. It ruins this race for a lot of the teams running for the championship. Unfortunately it hurt me tonight when the NAPA Toyota got damaged and pushed me back to 7th.”
“It was a good points night for our NAPA team. I’m not happy about finishing in second but happy that I got back up to second.” Holmes is fourth in the chase for his fourth series championship and only 13 points out of first.
Cameron Hayley Disappointed with Results at Stockton 99 Speedway
The No. 24 Cabinets by Hayley team heading next to Iowa Speedway
Antelope, CA (May 7, 2012) – Rookie driver Cameron Hayley and the No. 24 Cabinets by Hayley Toyota team looked forward to racing at a track that he last raced at when he was nine-years old. Now 15, he was making his first Stockton 99 Speedway start now in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West for Bill McAnally Racing.
The young driver showed he had an exceptional Toyota Camry by being at the top of the timing chart in the first practice and third in the final practice. Hayley backed that up by putting the No. 24 Cabinets by Hayley Toyota on the outside of the second row to start the 150-lap race.
Hayley gained a position by lap 3. During the first caution, he radioed in to the team from BMR that the No. 24 Cabinets by Hayley Toyota was “feeling good” and “I’m saving my stuff” for the end. Track conditions became slick at one point after a caution with the young Canadian driver telling his team that he felt like he was “skating on ice.” The multi-car involved incident caused by lappers at lap 59, collected the No. 24 forcing Hayley to drop to 20th position from 4th. He pressed on with considerable damage. By lap 113, Hayley was up to 13th and in the top-ten by lap 141. He moved up to 6th during the white flag lap only to be caught up again to finish in 15th.
“We had a great No. 24 Cabinets by Hayley Toyota Camry,” said Hayley. “The weekend started off great and we had a fast car right from the start. We made tons of changes throughout the entire weekend but the car seemed the happiest, right out of the hauler due to the great job the guys did setting up our Toyota Camry back at the BMR shop.”
“We led first practice and had a solid qualifying run but just couldn’t get that luck we needed in the race. Getting caught up in two wrecks while just trying to stay clean was tough but stuff happens that you can’t control. Overall it was a productive weekend and we look forward to better finishes in the races to come.”
Hayley is still in sixth in the chase for the 2012 NASCAR K&N Pro Series Championship and leads in the 2012 Sunoco Rookie of the Year points.
The Pick-n-Pull “150” will be shown on SPEED Channel on Thursday May 17th at 3 pm EST. Please check your local listings. The next race event will be at Iowa Speedway on May 19th. The Graham Tire “150” is a 2012 NASCAR K&N Pro Series Combination race. For the most up-to-date information all weekend long, please visit www. hometracks.nascar.com/series/kn_pro_series_west.
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