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Nick Drake is our next guest on Fan4Racing Fan2Fan NASCAR & Race Talk on Monday, February 9, 2015 at 9 pm ET. Call 714-202-9918 or tweet @Fan4RacingSite or @Sal_Sigala during the LIVE broadcast with any questions or comments.
Bill McAnally Racing/BMR is expanding their lineup to build on their 2014 success in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series. K&N East driver, Nick Drake returns in the No. 15, as one of four drivers in their lineup for the 2015 season.
As a five-time champion in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, BMR expanded last year into the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East – becoming the only team to race full-time in both the East and West divisions.
“We’re looking forward to our second year of competing in the K&N West and K&N East,” McAnally said. “I’m confident the teams will build on their successes from 2014.”
Nick Drake, of Mooresville, North Carolina, capped off his rookie season in the K&N East by winning the K&N West season finale at Phoenix International Raceway. Last year the 19-year-old, transitioned from racing open-wheel sprint cars on dirt to competing in stock cars, capturing attention early by winning the pole in the K&N East race at Richmond (Virginia) International Raceway.
“We look for Nick’s big win at Phoenix last November to serve as a momentum builder as we head into the 2015 season,” McAnally said. “As a rookie, he displayed great potential throughout the year and we anticipate his success to continue.”
Drake agrees that his Phoenix win is a momentum builder coming into this season.
“We obviously ended the way we wanted to last year with our NAPA Toyota,” Drake said of his win at Phoenix. “So we know we can win races. Hopefully, we can start right where we left off.”
In addition to his win, Drake finished second overall in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East-West combination race at Iowa Speedway last May and he’s optimistic about returning for his second season.
“I think it should be a really good year for BMR,” Drake said.. “Nothing’s new to me anymore. We’re going back to all the same tracks that we went to last year.”
Drake acknowledges that his finishes in 2014 were not always an accurate reflection of his performance in some of the races. That disappointment, along with some luck, is also his inspiration.
“We ran way better than we finished in some events last year,” he said. “We had an opportunity to win a couple of races that slipped away from us. Some of it was out of our control. If we can get some luck on our side, hopefully we can run for this championship.”
The K&N East opens their season at New Smyrna Speedway in New Smyrna Beach, Florida on Feb. 15. The NBCSN broadcast of the race is on Feb 19 at 10:30 pm ET.