AM Racing | ARCA Menards Series
DuQuoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds | Southern Illinois 100
Fast Facts
No. 32 AM Racing Team:
Driver: Christian Rose
Primary Partner(s): Department of West Virginia Tourism | Secure Testing Services
Manufacturer: Ford Mustang
Crew Chief: Ryan “Pickle” London
Spotter: Mark Soronen
Chassis Intel: AMR Chassis No. 236
Engine: Ilmor Racing Technologies
Driver Championship Point Standings: Fourth
Team Championship Point Standings: Eighth
Notes of Interest:
Entering The Home Stretch: AM Racing returned to the ARCA Menards Series full-time in 2023 with Automobile Racing of America (ARCA) Rookie of the Year candidate Christian Rose behind the wheel of the team’s No. 32 Ford Mustang.
The 2023 ARCA Menards Series will mark the first time that AM Racing has competed full-time in the NASCAR-owned development series since Gus Dean drove for the organization during the 2018 season.
The Southern Illinois 100 at the DuQuoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds signifies the start of the homestretch of the 2023 season with just five races remaining in the ARCA Menards Series season.
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 first full season of stock car competition aboard the team’s flagship No. 32 Ford Mustang.
Rose joins the Statesville, N.C.-based team on the heels of a limited ARCA schedule in 2022 competing in a series of races on ARCA’s platform with Cook Racing Technologies which was highlighted by a career-best seventh-place finish at Kansas Speedway last October.
Additionally, Rose earned two additional top-10 finishes at Five Flags (Fla.) Speedway and Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway respectively.
Glad To Have You: To help steer Christian Rose and the AM Racing team towards a championship in 2023, the organization has recruited Ryan “Pickle” London to serve as crew chief of the No. 32 Ford Mustang this season.
London, a long-time NASCAR CRAFTSMAN® Truck Series crew chief returns to AM Racing after spending the 2020 season with the team’s Truck Series program as the truck chief.
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 Sunday night’s Southern Illinois 100.
The West Virginia Department of Tourism promotes West Virginia as a leading four-season travel destination and a 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.
This weekend at the DuQuoin, Rose and the AM Racing team will continue to showcase their breathtaking Department of West Virginia Tourism summer paint scheme beaming the adventures that await with a tour of West Virginia.
On June 20, 2023, the state of West Virginia celebrated its 160th birthday!
Secured Partnership: In addition to the Department of West Virginia Tourism, Secure Testing Services (STS) will serve as a major associate marketing partner for the 16th of 20 races on the 2023 ARCA Menards Series tour.
Secure Testing Services LLC. is a nationwide leader in on-site drug testing located in Richmond, Virginia.
Quite simply, STS provides customized assistance to your organization’s Human Resources and Safety teams in achieving their compliance goals.
AM Minute: Last weekend was another busy summer weekend for AM Racing.
In addition to the ARCA Menards Series team being in action at The Milwaukee Mile, AM Racing’s NASCAR Xfinity Series team was also roaring to life on Friday night at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.
Driver Brett Moffitt qualified his No. 25 Wawa Recharger Ford Mustang 22nd and quickly drafted to the front of the field and finished Stage 1 in the fourth position. Unfortunately, the team’s race fell apart in Stage 2 when Moffitt was collected in a multi-race accident.
Despite suffering significant damage to his race car, Moffitt and the AM Racing team were able to stay on the lead lap. Late in the race, the team was again at the wrong place at the wrong time and collected in another multi-car accident.
With heavy front-end damage to his car, Moffitt was able to limp home during a green-white-checkered to collected an 18th place finish at the checkered flag.
Conversely, AM Racing’s Dirt Division was victorious again at East Lincoln Motor Speedway.
Austin Wayne Self was able to claim the pole, score the victory in the dash race and host the trophy in the feature for a clean sweep.
Overall, the Statesville, N.C.-based Dirt Division has 10 victories thus far in 2023.
To The Point(s): Entering DuQuoin, Rose is fourth in the ARCA Menards Series championship standings, 146 markers in the arrears to championship leader Jesse Love with five races remaining.
Just 13 points separate Rose from third in the championship standings currently occupied by Frankie Muniz
He sits 26 points behind second place in the championship standings occupied by Andrés Pérez de Lara.
Rose is the series leader in most laps completed in 2023 at 1,752 of 1,824 at 96.1 percent overall.
AM Racing stands a respectable seventh in the ARCA Menards Series championship owner standings.
Thanks For Your Support: With 75 percent of the season complete, AM Racing and Christian Rose would like to thank their associate marketing partners for their support: AIRBOX Air Purifier, Black Draft Farm & Distillery, Disability Opportunity Fund, Drillbrush, Extreme Family Fitness, Flying Circle, Lopez Team, Mountaineer Rub, Mobil 1, Whitetail Smokeless and Warwood Tool.
Christian Rose ARCA DuQuoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds Stats: Sunday night’s Southern Illinois 100 will mark Rose’s first tango with the iconic dirt track in DuQuoin, Ill.
In mid-August, Rose made his ARCA Menards Series dirt debut at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield, Ill, where he qualified his No. 32 Department of West Virginia Tourism | Secure Testing Services Ford Fusion fifth but suffered overheating issues throughout the race that regulated them a 12th place result.
The AM Racing team feels confident that they have verified and corrected the overheating issue in the second and final dirt track of the 2023 ARCA Menards Series season.
Christian Rose ARCA National Series Stats: In 23 career ARCA National Series starts, Rose has earned nine top-10 finishes: seventh at Michigan International Speedway | August 2023, seventh at Iowa Speedway | July 2023, seventh at Berlin (Mich.) Raceway | June 2023, seventh at Kansas Speedway | October 2022, eighth at Charlotte Motor Speedway | May 2023, ninth at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway | July 2023, ninth at Kansas Speedway | May 2023, 10th at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park | August 2023, 10th at Elko Speedway | June 2023), while also showcasing 14 top-20 finishes overall.
Sprecher 150 | The Milwaukee (Wisc.) Mile Race Recap: In the most recent ARCA Menards Series race at The Milwaukee (Wisc.) Mile, Rose and the AM Racing team chased their eighth top-10 finish of the season together.
Returning to the famed Milwaukee short track, Rose qualified his No. 32 Department of West Virginia Tourism | Secure Testing Services LLC. Ford Mustang 11th and steadily contended for a top-10 finish throughout the race before settling for a respectable 11th-place result at the checkered flag.
He posted his 12th top-12 finish since Kansas Speedway in May 2023 for the Statesville, N.C.-based team.
Show Your Support: AM Racing and Christian Rose are proud to announce that official team 2023 apparel is available by visiting Christian Rose’s website.
You can show your support for Christian Rose and the No. 32 AM Racing team by purchasing an official West Virginia Tourism tee-shirt, as well as a team cap representing West Virginia Tourism, Secure Testing Services and Disability Opportunity Fund.
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 Twitter @AMRacingNASCAR.
For more on Christian Rose, please like him on Facebook (Christian Rose Racing), or follow him on Instagram (@christianroseracing) and Twitter (@CRoseRacing).
Christian Rose Quoteboard:
On The DuQuoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds: “I am thankful to have another opportunity to compete on dirt in the ARCA Menards Series. My AM Racing team brought me a really fast No. 32 Department of West Virginia Tourism | Secure Testing Services LLC. Ford Mustang at Springfield, but unfortunately we battled some overheating issues.
“As a group, we have learned from that and I believe we won’t have to worry about overheating on Sunday, but rather contending for a strong finish under the lights!”
On 2023 Season: “The season is starting to slowly windle down and I think we can really press the attack and make some noise the rest of the season.
“In my first full season as a full-time driver, I have learned a lot. I have a great team around me that believes and supports me and we have incredible partners that allow us to be at the track every week.
“Over the next month or so, I am focused on doing my part to ensure we leave the track every weekend with the best finish possible. Every race isn’t perfect, but limiting mistakes and capitalizing on the opportunity will hopefully propel us forward as we inch closer to the season finale.
“We have shown speed, finesse, led laps, and put ourselves in contention to win a race. I’m hopeful we can achieve everything we set out to do by October.”
Race Information:
The Southern Illinois 100 (100 laps | 100 miles) is the 16th of 20 races on the 2023 ARCA Menards Series schedule in the 71st consecutive ARCA season Practice begins Sunday, September 3 from 5:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. General Tire pole qualifying in a timed session will begin a short time later at 7:00 p.m. The race is set to take the green flag shortly after 9:00 p.m. ET. The event will be televised live on FOX Sports 2 (FS2), while also streaming on FloRacing. ARCARacing.com will also stream live timing and scoring throughout the entire weekend festivities. All times are Eastern (ET).
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 seventh year of competition.
The team has named Brett Moffitt, Christian Rose and Austin Wayne Self as their primary drivers for the 2023 Xfinity, ARCA Menards Series and Dirt Modified seasons respectively.
