Christian Rose ARCA Menards Series Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Zinsser SmartCoat 150 Race Preview

AM Racing | ARCA Menards Series

Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course | Zinsser SmartCoat 150

Fast Facts

 

No. 32 AM Racing Team:

Driver: Christian Rose

Primary Partner(s): Department of West Virginia Tourism

Manufacturer: Ford Mustang

Crew Chief: Ryan “Pickle” London

Spotter: Trevor Monn

Chassis Intel: AMR Chassis No. A-939

Engine: Ilmor Racing Technologies

Notes of Interest:

Welcome Back: AM Racing returns to the ARCA Menards Series full-time in 2024 with sophomore Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) driver Christian Rose behind the wheel of the team’s No. 32 Ford Mustang continuing with Friday night’s Zinsser SmartCoat 150 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.  

The 2024 ARCA Menards Series will mark the first time that AM Racing has competed back-to-back full-time in the NASCAR-owned development series since three-time ARCA Menards Series winner Gus Dean drove for the organization during the 2017 – 2018 seasons, respectively.

Meet Christian Rose: Rose, a former Division 1 baseball player for the University of Maryland Eastern Shore has traded the glove and bat in for a steering wheel and helmet and has set achievable goals for his second full season of stock car competition aboard the team’s flagship No. 32 Ford Mustang.

Rose returns to the Statesville, N.C.-based team on the heels of his inaugural rookie ARCA schedule in 2023, which was highlighted by two top-five, 13 top-10 finishes, and the most laps completed by any ARCA driver last season at 2,550 of 2,624 laps or 97.2% throughout the 20-race season.

His strength of two top-five and five top-10 finishes in the final five races of the season vaulted Rose to third overall in the championship standings behind series champion Jesse Love and Andrés Pérez de Lara.

The 29-year-old also made two starts in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series, respectively, with starts at Richmond (Va.) Raceway and the season-finale at Phoenix (Ariz.) Raceway.

He’s Back Too!: To help steer Christian Rose and the AM Racing team towards a championship in 2024, Ryan “Pickle” London will return to serve as crew chief of the No. 32 Ford Mustang this season.

London, a long-time NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series crew chief, returned to AM Racing in early 2023 after spending the 2020 season as the truck chief with the team’s Truck Series program. 

London has plenty of experience as a leader in the ARCA Menards Series, including guiding drivers Tom Hessert and Frank Kimmel to poles and leading Grant Enfinger to victories at Berlin (Mich.) Raceway and DuQuoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds in 2014.

In addition to the two wins as crew chief, the winning NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series crew chief has numerous ARCA top-fives and top-10 efforts to his credit.

Partner Support: The Department of West Virginia Tourism will serve as the primary marketing partner on Rose’s No. 32 Ford Mustang in Friday night’s Zinsser SmartCoat 150.

The Department of West Virginia Tourism promotes West Virginia as a leading four-season travel destination and top state to live, work and retire.

Known as the Mountain State, West Virginia is one of the most scenic states in the United States and home to thousands of acres of parks and public lands, including America’s newest national park and 45 state parks and forests.

In addition to its majestic mountains and rolling hills, West Virginia is full of rich historic sites, enchanting art galleries, charming towns and an immense sense of belonging found only in its heaven-like landscapes.

After running the Department of West Virginia Tourism summer paint scheme last weekend at Iowa Speedway, the AM Racing team will unveil their patriotic scheme that is expected to run in a pair of ARCA Menards Series races in 2024.

Squeaky Blue Clean: In March, AM Racing and Christian Rose proudly announced the addition of Blue Wolf as a partner to the team’s ARCA Menards Series platform for the remaining 13 races in 2024.

Originally created by a West Virginia coal miner and a chemist to clean and degrease mining equipment, Blue Wolf quickly became trusted as a proven product for getting the job done.

As miners began taking the product home, they soon discovered that Blue Wolf worked great on everything from removing grease and coal dust from carpets and work clothes to pressure washing houses.

Today, Blue Wolf offers a full line of cleaners and degreasers for household, automotive, and industrial use.

Blue Wolf will serve in an associate role for Friday night’s race.

Christian Rose ARCA Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Stats: Friday night’s Zinsser SmartCoat 150 will mark Rose’s second ARCA start at the 2.258-mile road course, which is nestled in Lexington, Ohio

In his Mid-Ohio debut last year, the Martinsburg, W.V. native in his road course debut qualified 12th aboard his No. 32 Department of West Virginia Tourism Ford Mustang and methodically worked throughout the race to enhance his road course skills.

Rose entered the top-10 late in the race, but a mechanical failure on the final lap robbed him and the AM Racing team of a top-10 finish. Rose finished 11th.

Friday’s eighth ARCA Menards Series race of the season will mark Rose’s third-career road course start.

Christian Rose Career ARCA National Series Stats: In 35 career ARCA National Series starts, Rose has earned four top-five and 16 top-10 finishes highlighted by a career-best third-place finish achieved at Salem (Ind.) Speedway in September 2023.

Additionally, Rose has showcased 24 top-20 finishes overall since 2022.

Since 2022, he has maintained an average finishing position of 13.0.

To The Point(s): Entering Mid-Ohio, Rose is seventh in the ARCA Menards Series championship standings, just three markers behind ARCA Menards Series driver Andy Jankowiak for fifth, with 13 races remaining.

Rose is 19 markers out of second place currently occupied by Greg Van Alst and stands 52 points in the arrears to championship leader Andrés Pérez de Lara

Unofficially, AM Racing stands a respectable 10th in the ARCA Menards Series championship owner standings. 

Slingin’ That Dirt: Since Daytona, Rose has been teamed up with AM Racing’s Dirt Division and has been getting experience behind the wheel of a Dirt Modified to strengthen his driving skills.

Rose will continue to participate in select Dirt Modified events as his schedule allows this season.

Thanks For Your Support: With 35 percent of the 2024 ARCA Menards Series season complete, AM Racing and Christian Rose would like to thank their associate marketing partners for their support: AirBox Air Purifier, Blue Wolf Cleaners, Flying Circle, Mobil 1 and Whitetail Smokeless.

Iowa Speedway | Atlas Roofing 150 Race Recap: In the seventh ARCA Menards Series race of the season, Rose looked to turn a string of three frustrating races at Dover Motor Speedway, Kansas Speedway and Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway around in the team’s return to Iowa Speedway.

Rose qualified his No. 32 Department of West Virginia Tourism Ford Mustang 13th and diligently worked through the balance conditions on his race car to eventually force himself into the top-10 in the waning laps.

On a late race restart, Rose was bounced out of the top-10 but held steady to finish on the lead lap in 11th.

The effort yielded the team Rose’s fourth top-15 finish of the 2024 ARCA Menards Series season.

 Follow on Social Media: For more on AM Racing, please visit AMRacingteam.com, like their Facebook page (AM Racing), or follow them on Instagram and X | Twitter @AMRacingNASCAR. 

For more on Christian Rose, please like him on Facebook (Christian Rose Racing), or follow him on Instagram (@christianroseracing) and X | Twitter (@CRoseRacing).

Christian Rose Quoteboard:

On Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course: “I have taken improving my road course craft very seriously over the past few months. It’s important for us to get our team back on track with a top-10 finish on Friday afternoon.

 “We have fast No. 32 Department of West Virginia Tourism Ford Mustangs, just for one reason or another haven’t had the best of luck with our finishes. Mid-Ohio was a major obstacle for me last year, but I feel like we came out of the race a lot better than we thought.

“I’ve taken the time to study the important elements of Mid-Ohio Sports Course to help elevate our road course program. Hopefully, we have a good race on Friday night, and it will give us some momentum for this busy upcoming summer stretch.”

Race Information:

The Zinsser SmartCoat 150 (42 laps | 94.84 miles) is the eighth of 20 races on the 2024 ARCA Menards Series schedule. Practice and General Tire pole qualifying is set for Friday, June 21, from 12:35 p.m. – 1:35 p.m. The race is set to take the green flag later in the day shortly after 6:00 p.m. ET. The event will be televised live on FOX Sports 2 (FS2). ARCARacing.com will also stream live timing and scoring throughout the day’s festivities.

About AM Racing:

AM Racing is a multi-tiered, multi-faceted Motorsports program headquartered in Statesville, N.C.

Established in December 2015, AM Racing is prided on faith, honesty and intelligent performance.

The family-owned team will compete in the ARCA Menards Series, the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN® Truck Series, the NASCAR Xfinity Series and various Dirt Modified events in its eighth year of competition.

The team has named Hailie Deegan, Christian Rose, and Austin Wayne Self as their primary drivers for the 2024 Xfinity, ARCA Menards Series, and Dirt Modified seasons, respectively.

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