Woodside Clinches First International NASCAR Championship
21 November 1999
November 21, 1999 (Motegi City, Japan) - Sean Woodside and Bill McAnally Racing participated in making history today by clinching the first-ever NASCAR championship to be determined at a racetrack outside of North America. With a strong top five finish, the team took the championship at today's Coca-Cola 500 at Twin Ring Motegi. The team had settled on running conservatively until the championship was finalized, and then pushing for a strong finish. Woodside held back and ran between 12th and 19th place for the first half of the race, then started moving up through the pack. He was up to second place when a late-race incident on a restart resulted in minor damage to the front and rear of the race car, and held him back to a fifth place finish. "It was a great season," said Woodside, following the race. "The championship just caps off all the team's hard work and the great support from NAPA." He continued, "It will be a lot nicer sitting at the center table than at the side table, like I have the last couple of years." Woodside finished second in the championship race in both the 1997 and 1998 NASCAR Winston West seasons. Team owner Bill McAnally commented, "I'm happy for the team and happy for NAPA. A lot of experience in previous years and a lot of hard work this year went into winning this championship. Sean's experience brought a lot to the effort. I'm very glad that we got this championship together that we've all worked so hard for." "With the great support this year from NAPA and their manufacturers, anything other than the championship would be less than they deserve." The Coca-Cola 500 is scheduled to air in the United States on Saturday, December 11, beginning at 3 p.m. EST, and will be telecast live in Japan by Fuji Television. Bill McAnally Racing (BMR) owns and operates the No. 16 NAPA Auto Parts/Martin Senour Automotive Finishes/NAPA Filters/California Integrated Waste Management Recycled Oil Program Chevrolet Monte Carlo NASCAR Winston West team with Sean Woodside as driver. In addition to winning the 1999 NASCAR Winston West championship, they led the series in the Gatorade Front Runner Award, the Clevite Engine Builder Award and Bud Pole Award races, laps led, laps completed and best average finish. Current season results include two wins, five top fives and ten top ten finishes and two Bud Pole Awards. -- end --