WELCOME, N.C. (November 11, 2005) -- Richard Childress Racing (RCR) has signed 2005 NASCAR Weekly Series (NDWS) National Champion Peyton Sellers to a multi-year contract and next season will have him driving the No. 16 Chevrolet for Bill McAnally Racing (BMR)
in the NASCAR Grand National Division, West Series.
Sellers, a 22-year-old native of Danville, Va., claimed this year’s NDWS Division I championship racing primarily at South Boston (Va.) Speedway, where he also earned the track championship. His multi-championship season consisted of 15 wins, including 12 at South Boston Speedway, and 20 top-five finishes in 28 races. He is the youngest national champion in the 24-year history of the series and had the highest point total (1,114) among this season’s four NDWS divisional champions.
“This is hopefully the beginning of a long relationship I’ll have with Richard Childress Racing,” said Sellers. “I’ve been fairly successful so far in my racing career and this is another step on that path. The development program between Richard Childress Racing and Bill McAnally Racing has been pretty successful so far. To step into one of the top teams in the series right off the bat and shoot for the championship puts a little pressure on me but it’s something that will give me some momentum going into next season.
“I grew up going to CKI (Competition Karting Inc., whose building is located on what is now the RCR campus) and you had to drive right by RCR. I used to see that big No. 3 car on the show room floor and think, ‘Man, I’d love to be there some day.’ Now it’s a reality. I’ve seen RCR take Clint Bowyer from dirt track racing to BMR to NEXTEL Cup and, hopefully, I’m on that same path.”
Getting his start in go-kart racing at age seven, Sellers moved up to open wheel mini sprints at 13 and Super Stocks two years later. He finished fifth in 2004 in his rookie season of Late Model stock car racing at South Boston Speedway and, that sameseason, also made his debut in the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) RE/MAX Series.
“Peyton has a history of winning and is already a national champion,” said Richard Childress. “We really liked what we saw when we tested him so being able to sign him to a multi-year contract is something we’re very excited about for the present and the future of RCR.”
BMR’s No. 16 team finished second in the NASCAR Grand National Division, West Series point standings this season with driver Steve Portenga. In 12 starts, the team earned three victories, seven top-five and 11 top-10 finishes.
“I look forward to the continuation of the driver development program between BMR and RCR,” said Bill McAnally. “I recently was able to spend some time with Peyton Sellers in Virginia at the Drive for Diversity combine where he worked with the 18 participants. I am impressed with his accomplishments in NASCAR Weekly Series as the youngest national champion and I feel he is ready for the move to NASCAR’s Regional Racing Series. We at BMR look forward to working with him.”
