Catchfence

21-year-old Will Gallaher will make his ARCA Racing Series presented by Menard’s debut this Friday in the Herr’s Live Life with Flavor 200 at Madison International Speedway, piloting the No. 6 Toyota for Eddie Sharp Racing (ESR).

“We’re happy to help Will take the next step. He doesn’t have any stock car experience, so he needs to run the race, feel everything out, and go from there. We’ve tested with him, but the race will be very different, so we’ll take it slow, help him learn, and see what happens,” car owner Sharp said.

Friday’s race at Madison will mark the first for the Santa Rosa, California resident. After kicking off his racing career at 19, he started out in open wheel machines within the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). He finished a solid 10th in points in his rookie season, followed by an impressive climb to fifth during his sophomore run. After two and a half seasons behind the wheel of an SCCA entry, he opted to move to full bodied stock cars, expanding his racing experience.

Gallaher may be a newcomer to ARCA, but he’s knowledgeable enough about its roots and that the best way to make the jump is with 2009 champion Eddie Sharp Racing. The two sides recently came together for test sessions at Rockingham Speedway and Caraway Speedway in order for the young driver to become acclimated with the machines before entering this weekend’s race.

“Coming to ARCA is a big step for me. Having only three days behind the wheel of an ARCA car, and only six days in any race car with a roof over my head, it has been a steep learning curve. I really feel like Eddie and the team has taught me a lot already and I am eager to continue my development as a stock car driver,” Gallaher said.

Dan Bormann, who is the crew chief on Justin Lofton’s No. 6 Toyota in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will be calling the shots for Gallaher this Friday in Madison.

Though this week’s race in Madison is just the beginning, Gallaher says his ultimate goal is to see if this is something that he would like to pursue. Following this Friday’s race, he will continue his stock car education by mapping out more test runs with ESR.

More on Will Gallaher:

William (Will) Kim Gallaher

DOB: September 4 1989 (age 21)

Hometown: Santa Rosa CA

Born in Seoul Korea, adopted at four months old

Currently enrolled at Dominican University in San Rafael, CA. where he is in his junior year majoring in Business Administration.

- Eddie Sharp Racing Press Release