Source: Bill McAanally Racing/Kaye Reshaw
Date: 08/28/2007

ANTELOPE, California – Bill McAnally Racing’s Brian Ickler and the No. 15 NAPA AUTO PARTS team finished eleventh in the NASCAR Grand National Division Busch East Series Mansfield “150” in Mansfield, Ohio Saturday afternoon. Ickler and the team have plans to run both at Mansfield and also at Dover, Delaware in the East Series this season. Ickler is a NGND West Series regular and currently is fourth in the chase for the championship and only one point out of third. The West Series final point race of 2007 will be at Altamont Motorsports Park on September 15th.

Amid cloudy skies, the team from BMR unloaded the no. 15 NAPA car prepared to win. During the two practice session, Ickler posted in the top ten of 29 entries at the half-mile.

“Our results don’t show it, but we had a good run in the No.15 Napa Auto Parts car,” said Ickler. “A lot of things had to come together for us, our BMR crew coming from California, the car from Mooresville, and dodging the severe rain. I think we had a solid top 5 car.”

Ickler went out to qualify and put the no. 15 NAPA car on the inside of row three behind East Series point leaders Joey Logano and Matt Kobyluck. A rain delay gave the 150-lap race a late start. Before the first lap could be completed, the first caution of nine came out for an on track crash involving three competitors. Ickler lost a couple of spots and ran in seventh for much of the first twenty laps. At lap 32, he moved into sixth and by lap 56, Ickler posted the no. 15 in fifth on the score board. “We were running 5th or 6th in the race, just counting down laps,” continued Ickler.

The race was red flagged at lap 66 to clear debris and fluids from the track. Ickler continued to run in the fifth spot when at lap 81; he was turned by another competitor. Ickler’s driving skills kept him off the wall. He brought the no. 15 BMR entry to pit road for a track bar adjustments by the team. He reentered the race seventh on the grid and within fifteen laps, he had moved up to the top-ten. More contact with a competitor at lap 124 had the No. 15 NAPA car once again taking a spin. Again Ickler kept it off the wall but was now posted in seventeenth. As the race came to a close, Ickler once again got up on the wheel and moved towards the front finishing the race in eleventh.

“We came out alright,” added Ickler. “We accomplished what we wanted to; to get acclimated to the Busch East Series and better prepare ourselves for Dover. As a team, we enjoyed racing the East guys and are looking forward to doing it again at Dover and the NASCAR Toyota All Star Showdown. I can’t thank Bill McAnally, the entire BMR crew, and NAPA AUTO PARTS enough for making this race possible.”

The final West Series race for the team from BMR will be at Altamont Motorsports Park in Tracy, California on September 15th. The race from Mansfield was broadcast live on HDNet and will be presented by SPEED Channel in an enhanced replay on September 5th. Check your local listings. For more information on Bill McAnally Racing and our race partners, please visit our website at www.billmcanallyracing.com

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