Kaulig Racing Recap – Mission 200 at The Glen
- Start: 36th
- Stage 1 Finish: 35th
- Stage 2 Finish: 15th
- Finish: 8th
- Christian Eckes was involved in an unavoidable incident in practice and did not make a qualifying lap, as the team worked to prepare the No. 16 Celsius Chevrolet for the race. Eckes started the race from 36th place and quickly made up 12 spots. Radioing that the right front tire was going away, Eckes nursed the car to lap 17, before being called to pit road for a scheduled pit stop for tires and fuel. Being told to take care of his tires, Eckes went on to finish 35th in stage 1. While much of the field pitted during the stage break, Eckes started the second stage from 13th place. After sustaining minor right front fender damage, Eckes worked to take care of his tires and finished the stage in 15th. With a strategy in place for the final stage, Eckes stayed out during the second stage break, starting the final stage from 10th. On the restart, Eckes’ left-front tire began going down, forcing him to make an unscheduled pit stop. A timely caution on lap 51 allowed Eckes to catch back up to the field, as crew chief Alex Yontz made the call to pit for the team’s final set of tires. He restarted from 24th on lap 55 and drove to 17th when the next caution came out 10 laps later. Happy with the tire fall off, Eckes stayed out under caution to restart 14th with 14 laps to go. Expertly navigating through late-race chaos, Eckes sat sixth when the caution came out with eight laps remaining. After getting pushed off track during a three-wide battle on the final restart, Eckes recovered and finished eighth, earning his 10th top-10 finish of the year.
“Very long day, but proud of the effort from our No. 16 team. Unfortunately our Celsius Chevrolet was never the same after getting wrecked in practice, and we had to fight hard to maintain pace. Between that and having a left front tire go down early in stage 3, I’ll take an eighth-place finish to end the day.”
– Christian Eckes
- Start: 21st
- Stage 1 Finish: 34th
- Stage 2 Finish: 34th
- Finish: 17th
- Daniel Dye fired off slightly free in the No. 10 Race to Stop Suicide Chevrolet, maintaining 21st place before making his first scheduled pit stop on lap 17. Dye finished the first stage in 34th place. While much of the field pitted during the stage break, Dye started the second stage from 11th place. As the stage stayed incident free, Dye’s right-front tire went away, eventually resulting in a flat tire. Dye was forced to pit for right side tires when pit road closed, causing him to lose a lap and the opportunity for the free pass. He started the final stage in 32nd place and one lap down to the leaders. Dye sat in the free-pass position when a caution came out on lap 51, and crew chief Kevin Walter made the call for Dye to make a fuel-only stop under yellow, saving the team’s final set of tires for a late-race caution. He restarted from 29th place on lap 55. The late-race caution came, allowing the No. 10 team to execute its pit strategy, as Dye pitted for his final set of sticker tires. Overcoming a second right-front flat, Dye avoided multiple wrecks, recovering to finish 17th.
“It was a long day for this No. 10 team. After two flat right fronts, we ultimately ended up 17th, thanks to some carnage. We’ll use this next weekend off to get ready to go back to my home track.”
- Start: 11th
- Stage 1 Finish: 28th
- Stage 2 Finish: 6th
- Finish: 25th
- In the opening 11 laps, McDowell reported to his team that he was loose on the right turns and would benefit from some additional right-rear grip. The team elected to flip the race’s opening stage for four tires and fuel, before finishing Stage 1 in 28th place. Following the flipped stage, McDowell cycled out eighth for the 20-lap run of Stage 2. The No. 11 Chevrolet ran the entirety of the stage in the top 10, finishing Stage 2 in sixth. Crew chief Eddie Pardue made the call to stay out at the stage break with enough fuel to run 10 laps, and McDowell started the final stage from fifth. McDowell ran in the top five until the team was in its fuel window, and he pitted with 29 laps remaining. While on pit road, a timely caution flag waved and the No. 11 returned to the track fourth with fresh tires and fuel. Restarting on the front row with 11 laps to go, McDowell took the lead into the first corner, before being passed for first. While running second, the No. 11 machine was collected in a late race wreck and was credited with a 25th-place finish.
“I felt like I had two good restarts and was able to take the lead without roughing up the No. 21 there, but it felt like he just kept trying to move me in the carousel. I hate it for everyone at Kaulig Racing; we were trying to get a trophy and had a couple shots at it. Bailey Zimmerman was at the track hanging out, so we wanted to get him to victory lane. It’s unfortunate, but that’s racing. I’m thankful for everyone at Kaulig Racing for letting me do this. It took me a little while, but then I got into a rhythm. I felt like I was executing on my end, but it just didn’t work out.”
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