Antelope, CA (May 1, 2011) –Moses Smith, driver of the No. 16 Hasa Pool Products/NAPA Gold Filters Toyota Camry finished in second leading fourteen lap at the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West event at Miller Motorsports Park (Toole, UT). The veteran driver from Bill McAnally Racing is in close pursuit of the point leader seeking his first series championship. Smith is second in the 2011 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West chase for the championship. He is only 58 points out of first with eleven races left in the 2011 race season.
Smith qualified the No. 16 Hasa Toyota on row six for the scheduled 50-lap race event on the East Course at MMP. He made a scheduled pit stop at lap 10 for fuel. He would restart the race at lap eleven in 26th. At lap 18, Smith was in the top ten with his focus set on the leader. He took the lead at lap 20. He radioed in that he thought his left front fender may have gotten “banged up a bit” during the course of very tight racing and that the Hasa Toyota was “tight”.
Smith led from lap 20 until lap 33 when he suffered a right rear flat. Crew Chief Mario Isola had him return to pit road a lap later to top off with fuel. The No.16 Hasa Toyota was back at it now in 21st. Spotter Mike David kept Smith focused as he navigated thru traffic and back in the top ten at lap 45.
With few scheduled laps left, Smith knew it was time to “go”. The caution came out at lap 49 as a car was stopped in turn three. With a “Green, White, Checkered” scenario, Smith, who was now in 7th was on the move when another caution flag was displayed, this time as two cars were involved in an accident at turn seven. Smith was now in third. Another attempt was made at lap 55 bringing the lap count up to 60 before the final restart. A last hard charge yielded Smith another position to finish the race in second. He continues to hold the series record at miller with the most top-five finishes.
The race was set to run 50 laps but eventually went to 63 laps, pushing the race an addition 13 laps and more than 28 miles past the scheduled distance.
“All those yellows at the end really helped me move up,” laughed Smith. “This was a tough race. We experienced really cold weather. When I woke up race day at the hotel and looked out, I saw over 3 inches of snow on the ground. I wasn’t sure if were racing. But then we got to the track just a few miles away and though it was cold, the track was clear and ready to race on.”
“This is a really tough track to pass on. After all that door banging action, we came away solid in our momentum to win a championship and some left side damage. I think the fans saw a great show. On to Iowa.”
The next race for the teams from Bill McAnally Racing will be on Saturday, May 21st at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa. It is the annual East/West combination event. NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Kyle Busch holds the qualifying record for this event.
For more information on Bill McAnally Racing, please visit our website at www.billmcanallyracing.com. Bill McAnally Racing is now on Facebook. Become a fan and stay up to date with the latest happenings with your favorite race teams.
For more information on Moses Smith, please visit www.mosessmith.com. You can visit our sponsors’ websites at www.hasapool.com www.whiteflyer.com, www.napafilters.com and www.tcitransportation.com . You can also follow Moses on Twitter.
