ANTELOPE, California – ‘Must be a full moon’. It’s a saying that is often said when things go wrong and so it was for the No. 18 NAPA AutoCare Toyota team from Bill McAnally Racing. Driver Austin Cameron brought home the NAPA AutoCare Toyota Camry 24th, 51-laps down after mechanical problems plagued the team at Toyota Speedway in Irwindale. The finish drops Cameron one spot in the chase for the championship to seventh. He is only 18 points out of sixth.
“I can’t explain it,” said Cameron who is in the record books for the most races won at Toyota Speedway. “We just couldn’t find what we needed in the practices and it showed during qualifying.” He started on the inside of row nine for the 200-lap race. During qualifying, the No. 18 NAPA AutoCare Toyota overheated loosing quite a bit of water that the team needed to replace. Under NASCAR rules, Cameron would have to start the race at the back of the field. Cameron lost 3 laps at the start with the high water temperature and came in during the parade laps to cool down hoping to benefit from the “lucky dog” to gain his laps back. At lap 80, the No. 18 would once again return to the pits to replace a ruptured oil line. Never giving into adversity, Cameron returned to the race at lap 127.
The next race will be at Altamont Motorsports Park on September 13th where Cameron recorded a win in 2006. The race from Toyota Speedway can be seen on SPEED Channel on August 29th at noon EST. Check your local listings.
BMR would like to thank the continued support of our race partners. For more information on Bill McAnally Racing and our race partners, please visit our website at www.billmcanallyracing.com.
