Bill McAnally's team began at All American Speedway in 1990 and grew into a multi-series operation that has won touring championships, produced drivers and now runs Truck Series trucks.
McAnally-Hilgemann Racing is a Roseville, California team owned by Bill McAnally. It began with his Late Model racing in 1990, has won several touring championships, and now fields four full-time Truck Series trucks alongside a West Series programme that develops young drivers.
McAnally-Hilgemann Racing is an American stock car team based in Roseville, California. Known also as Bill McAnally Racing, it runs full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with four trucks, and it has a large West Series programme that feeds young drivers into the sport. Bill McAnally owns the team, and William Hilgemann joined him in the Truck operation.
The team's story begins with one driver's regional career and grows into a long run of championships. Its owner counts eight titles at the touring-series level, and its drivers have gone on to win races in several national series.
How did Bill McAnally's racing career start?
Bill McAnally first raced in the Late Model series at All American Speedway in 1990. As he prepared for that career he approached NAPA for sponsorship, and the company agreed. McAnally won the Late Model division title in the Whelen All-American Series at the track, and NAPA has backed the team ever since.
He moved up to the NASCAR Winston West Series, the forerunner of today's West Series, making two starts in his first season and five in the next. A 1994 setback came when vandals destroyed his car and equipment the night before the opener, but he still raced six events while rebuilding. In 1995 he finally ran a full regular-season schedule and finished ninth in the standings, repeating that result in 1996.
Built on one owner's late-model start, the team turned a regional racing career into a long line of champions and a Truck Series operation that still develops young drivers.
Why did McAnally nearly retire in 1999?
McAnally made 56 starts from 1992 to 1998 while working as a utility lineman. By 1999 he was preparing to quit racing when a chance meeting with a father and son who wanted to race changed his plans for the season ahead.
Sean Woodside drove for him that year, won the first race of the season at Tucson and went on to take the series championship. McAnally then opened a seat for Brendan Gaughan, who won back-to-back titles for the team in 2000 and 2001 and opened a Truck Series team in the same years. Eric Holmes added two more titles for BMR in 2008 and 2010. Holmes took the 2010 crown with a record five wins that season, including three straight at Douglas County.
Gaughan also made Truck starts for the team in 2000 and 2001. He ran six races in the first year and took a third-place finish at Mesa Marin Raceway in 2001.
Which drivers brought the team its 2015 to 2017 titles?
The team had even more success in 2015 and 2016, winning back-to-back championships with Chris Eggleston and Todd Gilliland. McAnally became just the third car owner in the series' history to win consecutive titles on two separate occasions. The team came back strong in 2017, winning another championship with Gilliland. Eggleston drove the No. 99 car in those years, moving to the No. 50 in 2016 before returning to the 99 in 2017.
| Year | Champion | Series |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Sean Woodside | West Series |
| 2000 and 2001 | Brendan Gaughan | Touring series, back to back |
| 2008 and 2010 | Eric Holmes | Touring series |
| 2015 and 2016 | Chris Eggleston, then Todd Gilliland | Touring series, back to back |
| 2017 | Todd Gilliland | Touring series |
| 2019 | Derek Kraus | K&N Pro Series West |
| 2020 | Jesse Love | ARCA Menards Series West |
How did the Hilgemann tie-up change the team?
The Hilgemann tie-up was announced in January 2020, when McAnally's operation joined with Bill Hilgemann. That year Derek Kraus was the full-time driver of the No. 19 Toyota in the Truck Series. The West Series squad was reshuffled, with Gio Scelzi, Jesse Love, Holley Hollan and Gracie Trotter announced as its drivers.
The team's 2021 line-up was wide-ranging, using the Nos. 1, 4, 5, 16, 19 and 99 with drivers including Jolynn Wilkinson, Dylan Lupton, Sebastian Arias, Jesse Love, Derek Kraus, Eric Nascimento, Amber Balcaen and Cole Moore.
When did the team switch to Chevrolet?
In 2022 the team moved from Toyota to Chevrolet and formed a technical alliance with GMS Racing. In the Truck Series Colby Howard ran the No. 91 full-time, and Jake Garcia drove the No. 35 part-time. In the West Series Austin Herzog made his first full-time appearance, but Landen Lewis replaced him after five rounds.
How did Christian Eckes build his Truck Series run?
On 6 December 2022 the team signed Christian Eckes for the No. 19 in 2023. He opened with a third at Daytona and then won at Atlanta, Darlington and Kansas. He was eliminated at the end of the Round of 8 at Homestead, then won at Phoenix two weeks later and finished fifth in the final points.
In 2024 Eckes started with a tenth at Daytona. He won at Bristol, Martinsville and Nashville, claimed the regular season championship and then won at Martinsville to reach the Championship 4. On 20 November 2024 he moved up to the Xfinity Series, and Daniel Hemric was named as the new driver of the No. 19 for 2025.
What did the 2025 and 2026 Truck seasons bring?
Hemric started 2025 with a seventh at Daytona, and then scored his first career Truck win at Martinsville. The victory put him in the playoffs, and he advanced to the round of eight. He finished the season ninth after three DNFs in the last three races. In 2026 he began with a 26th at Daytona.
Tyler Ankrum had signed for the No. 18 in December 2023. In 2025 he started with a 34th-place DNF at Daytona, then broke a 130-race winless streak at Rockingham. That win earned him a place in the Championship 4, and he finished fourth in points. On 9 October 2026 he announced he would leave the team for 2027.
Christian Eckes returned to the Truck Series full-time in 2026, this time in the No. 91 Chevrolet. In 2023 Jake Garcia, then 18, had run the No. 35 full-time, with Chase Elliott handling the Daytona race because Garcia was too young for the restrictor-plate event.
How did the West Series become the team's development base?
The West Series has been the team's route for young drivers. In 2014 Cole Custer won the series opener at Phoenix in the No. 00, and later that year he also won an ARCA East race at Richmond. In 2018 Derek Kraus won at Gateway in ARCA East.
Hailie Deegan became the first woman to win a pole at the K&N level, at Las Vegas, and on 29 September 2018 she became the first woman to win a K&N Pro Series race, at Meridian. In 2020 Jesse Love won the West title with three wins, becoming the youngest West champion at 15 years, nine months and 24 days. The same year Gio Scelzi scored his first ARCA win after a bump-and-run on Taylor Gray. In 2021 Cole Moore was named ARCA West Rookie of the Year.
In 2022 Cole Moore ran another full West season and won his first race at All-American Speedway in October. In that same event he raced against his father, John Moore, who drove a second BMR car, the No. 27.
Gracie Trotter won the ARCA West race at the Las Vegas Bullring on 26 September 2020. That made her only the second woman to win a West race, and the first to win an event sanctioned by ARCA. In 2026 Hailie Deegan returned to the No. 16 full-time and scored her fourth career win at Madera, while Mason Massey won at Kern Raceway and Portland in the No. 19.
How did Derek Kraus's K&N years go?
Derek Kraus moved from the No. 19 to the flagship No. 16 in 2018 and won the season-opening race at Kern County after a late restart. He won the pole in both races at the Tucson doubleheader and took his third career win at Douglas County, where Deegan finished second for a team one-two.
In 2019 Kraus returned to the West Series in the No. 16. He won both races at the Tucson doubleheader, led every lap at Douglas County from the pole, and won at Kern County for his fourth straight victory at the track. That run gave him the K&N West championship when he finished third in the season finale at ISM Raceway.
What other milestones does the team hold?
In 2011 Cameron Hayley, then 15, ran four races for BMR, becoming the youngest driver ever to take part in a NASCAR-sanctioned race. Hayley went on to run the full 2012 season, scoring seven top-fives and 11 top-tens in total. In 2018 Hershel McGriff, aged 90, ran the K&N West races at Tucson Speedway in a No. 04 car, becoming the oldest person to race in a NASCAR-sanctioned event.
In 2015 Todd Gilliland won at Phoenix in the No. 54, becoming the youngest winner in the track's history. The team was penalised for a lubrication tank cover that was bolted incorrectly, but Gilliland kept the win. In 2016 Julia Landauer, selected by McAnally and his partner Mike Curb, finished eighth on debut and went on to earn the Driver Achievement Award and the series' Top Breakthrough Driver honour.
What is the team's current line-up?
For 2026 the Truck team runs four trucks: Tyler Ankrum in the No. 18, Daniel Hemric in the No. 19, Kris Wright in the No. 81 and Christian Eckes in the No. 91.
In the West Series the team fields Hailie Deegan in the No. 16, Mason Massey in the No. 19 and a part-time No. 20 for Patrick Staropoli and Vito Cancilla.
Christian Eckes's return to the Truck Series was announced on 20 November 2025. In 2025 Daniel Hemric opened the West season at Kern Raceway in the No. 19, winning the pole and finishing ninth, while Jake Bollman drove the car at nine ovals and Eckes handled the road courses at Sonoma and Portland. Bollman earned back-to-back poles at Tucson and Colorado National Speedway, where he took his first career win.
The Truck entries have changed numbers several times, from the No. 19 to the No. 91, and the team has kept its Chevrolet base since 2022.
On 4 May 2026 the team also announced a fifth truck, the No. 20, for developmental drivers. Brendan Gaughan returned to Truck racing with that car at San Diego in June, his first NASCAR start since 2020.
