ANTELOPE, California — Paulie Harraka brought home the No. 12 NAPA Filters Toyota Camry in 9th place in his first visit to the NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown held in Irwindale, California. He faced off with the ‘best of the best’ which included NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers David Gilliland and the winner of this year’s main event, Joey Logano.
Harraka, 20, qualified the No. 12 NAPA Filters Toyota Camry from Bill McAnally Racing on row eight in the 40 car field.
"The NAPA Filters team fought hard all weekend at Toyota Speedway,” said Harraka. “We unloaded with a good Toyota Camry and the guys worked their tails off through practice making changes. We didn't expect to qualify great, so having to start 16th was not a big deal.”
The 2009 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West Rookie of the Year presented by Sunoco award winner made gains on the track before the first segment break at lap 99. Veteran crew chief Duane Knorr and the No. 12 NAPA Filters team went to work to make adjustments during the ten-minute mandatory break.
“Our Camry was a bit too tight in the first segment,” continued Harraka, “and we went a bit too far with our adjustments for the second 100 laps. Still, we rallied to as high as 7th. “
There was a second break at lap 200. Going green running in ninth, Harraka made a hard charge gaining three positions. Going three and four wide in the corners in a tight battle caused some damage to the left front fender of the No. 12 NAPA Toyota Camry. The red flag came out for a third time of the night at lap 215.
“Unfortunately, we got run into right at the start of the final 25, knocking the left front fender into the tire. That killed us. I'm happy that we were able to bring the NAPA Filters Toyota Camry home in the top 10." Harraka was the Sunoco Rookie of the Race Award winner for the 2010 NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown. “I’m looking forward to our first race of the season,” said the Duke University College Sophomore. “I’m now a sophomore in the NASCAR West Series which means no more ‘rookie stripe’,” laughed Harraka. He had a unique stripe put on by his team last season that said ‘Student Driver’.
The NASCAR K&N Pro Series West will kick off their season at All American Speedway in Roseville, California on March 27th. The Drive for Diversity participant will be taking the green and looking to defend his win at BMR’s home track. Harraka finished in third in there in the West Series first visit to All American in 2009 and went onto Victory Lane in the season finale at the short track.
For more information and tickets for the 2010 NASCAR West Series season opener at All American Speedway, logon to www.allamericanspeedway.com. Tickets sell out fast, so don’t miss your opportunity be there. Tickets can be purchased by logging onto www.billmcanallyracing.com or by visiting the All American Speedway office.
For more information on Bill McAnally Racing and our race partners, please visit our website at www.billmcanallyracing.com.
