Deegan Captures Spotlight as First Female K&N Pro Series Pole Winner
Hailie Deegan set a record in becoming the first female driver to win a pole award in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series, with Bill McAnally Racing’s NAPA drivers leading the way as the series raced on a dirt track for the first time in nearly 40 years.
Deegan put her name in the record books in setting the fast mark in qualifying for the Star Nursery 100 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Dirt Track on Thursday, becoming the first female driver to win a pole award in the history of the series.
Bill McAnally Racing’s NAPA drivers won three of the four heat races in preliminary action – with Deegan, Derek Kraus, and Cole Rouse taking wins.
Deegan went on to finish second in the feature race in the No. 19 Mobil 1/NAPA Power Premium Plus Toyota Camry, She was one of four BMR drivers who ran up front in the event – including Kraus, who led the most laps in the No. 16 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry; Rouse in the No. 99 NAPA Filters Toyota Camry; and Christopher Bell in the No. 60 NAPA Belts & Hoses Toyota Camry.
NASCAR veteran and two-time series champion Brendan Gaughan drove the fifth BMR entry, the No. 62 South Point Hotel & Casino Toyota Camry, to a fifth-place finish, meanwhile. Rouse followed in sixth, with Bell tenth. Kraus was sidelined by an incident and finished 17th.
Derek Kraus
Start / Finish: 2 / 17
Points Earned: 29
Points Standing / Total: 4th / 423 pts.
Next Race: Meridian (Idaho) Speedway, Sept. 29
How to Watch or Listen: NBCSN
Derek Kraus: @derek9kraus
NAPA Racing: @NAPARacing
Bill McAnally Racing: @BMR_NASCAR
Bill McAnally Racing View All
Bill McAnally Racing (BMR) holds the ARCA Menards Series West (AMSW) record with 11 championships and eclipsed the 100-win mark in 2022. The team has piled on six titles in the last eight seasons with four different drivers since 2015. Loomis, California, native Jack Wood takes control of the No. 16 NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet for the 12-race campaign in 2024 and looks to add another title trophy to the BMR archive in his first full-time AMSW campaign.