All American Speedway in Roseville was host for the first time, to NASCAR Camping World Series West. Their inaugural year turned out to be quite exciting. All American Speedway has come a long way since opening in 1955. This year the track was greatly improved to meet NASCAR standards. Bill McAnally Racing was instrumental in bringing the race to this area. It turned out to be a great year for Bill McAnally Racing as well, with BMR bringing home the Champion Owner Trophy for 2008! Bill McAnally is no stranger to championships. His racing team now has 4 NASCAR Camping World Series West Championships. BMR was founded in 1986 by Bill McAnally. Headquartered in Antelope, their team features drivers Eric Holmes, Austin Cameron, Moses Smith and Paulie Harraka. Eric Holmes battled and won the 2008 Championship, narrowly edging out Jason Bowles of Ontario, CA. Holmes and Bowles fought the entire year for the title Champion.
The Toyota/NAPA Auto Parts 150 race on October 25, 2008 turned out to be a nail biter that kept everyone on the edge of their seat. It was exciting to watch this race live in person, although the races are televised. Holmes started behind pole winner Paulie Harraka, who had an impressive 13.630 qualifying lap time. Harraka, who is this year's 2008 Late Model Champion, managed to lead 11 of the 157 laps of the race, but it wasn’t enough to bring in the win. Bowles actually won the race beating lap leader Holmes, who had an accident in the final laps of the race. The accident was in turn four, in a tight squeeze between Holmes and Bowles that resulted in Holmes spinning out and losing his lead position. The caution flag came out while the track was cleared. It didn’t look like Holmes could gain enough positions to clinch the championship, but he raced back to finish 5th. Bowles held the lead to the final lap winning the race, but coming in 2nd overall behind Holmes. The race proved to be full of driving skill and a large amount of determination. The drivers endured 157 laps, 55 of those under the 9 cautions. There were 10 lead changes between 3 drivers. Paulie Harraka had 11, Jason Bowles had 40 and Eric Holmes had 106. It shows that the lap leader isn’t always the winner of the race. The margin of victory was a very slim 0.371 seconds! It is encouraging to see the drivers' desire to keep going to the finish. It paid off for more than one driver.
The drivers were rewarded on November 1, 2008 at the Sacramento Convention Center. Eric Holmes received the Championship ring for NASCAR Camping World Series West. He also won the World Happy Camper Award, the Coors Lite Pole Award, the Aero Exhaust Lap Leader Award and a trophy from Goodyear. Austin Cameron, who battled cancer and came back won the Featherlite Most Improved Driver Award. Moses Smith won an award for Most Popular Driver. It was a great season. Next year should prove to be even better. Hope to see you there. The opening race is in March 2009.