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No. 10 Smithfield Ford Racing: Aric Almirola Darlington II Race Report

by MikeMay 21, 2020

Date: May 20, 2020

Event: Darlington 500k

Series: NASCAR Cup Series

Location: Darlington (S.C.) Raceway (1.366-mile oval)

Format: 228 laps, broken into three stages (60 laps/65 laps/103 laps)

Start/Finish: 9th/7th (Running, completed 208 of 208 laps)

Point Standing: 7th (186 points, 72 out of first)

Note: Race called official 20 laps shorts of its scheduled 228-lap distance due to rain.

Race Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Stage 1 Winner: Clint Bowyer of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford)

Stage 2 Winner: Clint Bowyer of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-60):

● Aric Almirola started ninth and finished sixth, earning five bonus points.

● The No. 10 Smithfield/#GoodFoodChallenge Ford driver advanced to fourth place before the lap-25 competition caution.

● He took four tires, fuel and air pressure adjustments under caution and restarted third.

● Almirola noted loose-handling conditions and fell to sixth.

● He pitted for four tires, fuel and adjustments at the conclusion of the stage.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 61-125):

● Almirola started ninth and finished 11th.

● The first caution was called on lap 72 with Almirola in seventh.

● He advanced to fourth on the restart.

● Another caution was called right after Almirola said “the car was really coming to me.” He pitted for four tires and fuel to restart 12th.

● Almirola rejoined the top-five on lap 97.

● The caution was called on lap 108. Almirola pitted for four tires and fuel.

● He restarted seventh on the inside line and fell just outside the top-10 by the end of the stage.

● Almirola pitted for four tires, fuel and adjustments at the end of the stage.

Final Stage Recap (Laps 126-208):

● Almirola started 12th and finished seventh.

● Almirola raced the Smithfield/#GoodFoodChallenge Ford to seventh on lap 137.

● Crew chief Mike Bugarewicz said Almirola turned the fastest lap on lap 160.

● The caution was called on lap 179 after Almirola pitted under green for four tires and fuel. This caution put the majority of the field a lap down due to pit cycles. Almirola took the wave around to restart seventh.

● Almirola pitted under caution on lap 193 for four tires, fuel and more adjustments to restart seventh.

● The final caution was called with 28 laps to go. Inclement weather ended the race early with Almirola in seventh to earn his first top-10 at Darlington.

Notes:

● Almirola earned his third top-10 of the season and his first top-10 in 10 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Darlington.

● Almirola’s seventh-place result bettered his previous best finish at Darlington – 11th, earned in the 2015 Southern 500.

● This is Almirola’s fourth straight finish of 12th or better. He finished eighth March 1 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, eighth March 8 at Phoenix and 12th last Sunday at Darlington.

● Almirola finished sixth in Stage 1 to earn five bonus points.

● This was the first NASCAR Cup Series to be held on a Wednesday in 36 years. The last time: July 4, 1984 when Richard Petty scored his 200thcareer victory at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.

● Denny Hamlin won the Darlington 500k to score his 39th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his second of the season and his third at Darlington.

● There were 11 caution periods for a total of 54 laps.

● Only 23 of the 39 drivers in the Darlington 500k finished on the lead lap.

● Harvick remains the championship leader after Darlington with a 34-point advantage over second-place Joey Logano.

Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Smithfield/#GoodFoodChallenge Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“I thought we had a really good car tonight. We ran up in the top-five quite a bit and had a really fast car on the long runs. Everyone else’s car would slow down a lot and my car wouldn’t slow down nearly as much on the long run. We would start beating all the leaders really good on the long run. If we could have had that race go green to the end I think it would have been interesting because we were beating the leaders pretty bad. I’m just really proud of all of the guys on our Smithfield team. We came back with some setup changes from what we ran Sunday and I felt like we made some real improvements to the car and were very competitive. We cleaned up some things on pit road, so I’m really proud of those guys. We’ll just continue to build off of that. I feel like we’re in the game.”

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday, May 24 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. The race starts at 6 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

RCR Post Race Report – Darlington 300

by MikeMay 21, 2020

	20th
	10th
	21st

“Wednesday night NASCAR Cup Series racing – how great is that for our industry to pull together and make that work. I hope all of the fans enjoyed tuning in. I know a lot went into it. We started off the race with a tight-handling Dow Keep America Beautiful Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and that proved to be our challenge all race long. Handling issues plagued us in Stages 1, 2 and 3. I thought for sure that we were going to be able to get our Chevy freed up, but we never could. It wasn’t for lack of effort. The team never gave up and made adjustments all race long. That’s just the way it goes sometimes.The weather was much different than it was last Sunday. Cooler weather, rain and temperatures dropping didn’t play into our hands. We wanted a little more heat in the track. Even though it turned into a long race and we didn’t get the finish we were hoping for, I know we have it in us. I think we can find some speed heading into Charlotte Motor Speedway and the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday. It feels good to be back racing and I want to thank everyone at Dow, Keep America Beautiful and all of the fans who tuned in.”

-Austin Dillon

Tyler Reddick and the No. 8 Caterpillar Chevrolet Team Battle Through Tough-Handling Conditions for 13th-Place Finish at Darlington Raceway

	13th
	14th
	17th

“Man, we had to fight hard for that finish, and I’m proud of my No. 8 Caterpillar team for sticking together tonight. We weren’t exactly where we needed to be to fire off and missed the handling a little bit for the first half of the race. I kept bouncing from being too tight to too loose, but mostly too tight. It honestly felt different every lap we ran, which made it tough to decide which way to keep adjusting. I made a slight rookie mistake at one point and got some damage after a brush with the wall, but my team helped get back after it. I have to hand it all my guys. They kept after it and worked really hard to make the changes we needed to pick our way back through the field. We were in a good spot for that final restart in the 11th position, but restarting on the bottom is tough here and we slipped back a couple spots to 13th. That’s just a product of the restarts here. The top lane is so good that it’s almost impossible to stop that momentum. We’ll take it though and move on to the Coca-Cola 600. We’re going twice the distance there, more than I’ve ever gone in a race, so minimizing mistakes will be key. I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

-Tyler Reddick

HaasTooling.com Racing: Cole Custer Darlington 500k Race Report

by MikeMay 21, 2020

Date: May 20, 2020

Event: Darlington 500k

Series: NASCAR Cup Series

Location: Darlington (S.C.) Raceway (1.366-mile oval)

Format: 228 laps, broken into three stages (60 laps/65 laps/83 laps)

Start/Finish: 22nd/31st (Running, completed 206 of 208 laps)

Point Standing: 24th with 88 points, 170 out of first

Note: Race called official 20 laps short of its scheduled 228-lap distance due to rain.

Race Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Stage 1 Winner: Clint Bowyer of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford)

Stage 2 Winner: Clint Bowyer of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-60):

● Cole Custer started 22nd and finished 17th.

● Custer climbed to 18th in the opening laps reporting his HaasTooling.com Mustang was a little loose.

● During the lap-25 competition caution Custer pitted his Ford for fuel, four tires and adjustments to help his tight condition. He restarted 17th on lap 31.

● The HaasTooling.com Mustang ended the stage 17th.

● A penalty for an uncontrolled tire during the stage break pit stop sent Custer to the rear of the field for the start of Stage 2.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 61-125):

● Custer started 30th and finished 34th.

● The 22-year-old pitted from 28th for fuel, four tires and adjustments to help with his tight-handling Mustang at lap 72.

● Custer moved from 23rd to fifth when he stayed on the track during the lap 83 caution.

● The California native made contact with the outside wall on lap 107, bringing out a caution.

● He pitted twice to repair damage on the right side and change four tires.

● Custer restarted 32nd on lap 112, one lap down and completed the stage 34th, one lap down.

● The HaasTooling.com driver pitted during the Stage 2 break for more repairs to his Mustang.

Final Stage Recap (Laps 126-208):

● Custer started 34th and finished 31st.

● Custer lost a second lap during the long green flag run to open the stage.

● With the caution out on lap 179 he pitted from 33rd for four tires, fuel and adjustments.

● The rookie driver restarted 32nd on lap 186 and was 33rd at the lap 195 caution.

● The final caution was displayed for an accident on lap 201 with Custer in the 33rd spot.

● Rain ended the race on lap 208 – 20 laps short of the schedule distance.

Notes:

● Custer made his ninth career NASCAR Cup Series start and just his second at Darlington.

● This was the first NASCAR Cup Series race to be held on a Wednesday in 36 years. The last time: July 4, 1984 when Richard Petty scored his 200th career victory at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.

● Denny Hamlin won the Darlington 500k to score his 39th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his second of the season and his third at Darlington.

● There were 11 caution periods for a total of 54 laps.

● Only 23 of the 39 drivers in the Darlington 500k finished on the lead lap.

● Harvick remains the championship leader after Darlington with a two-point advantage over second-place Joey Logano.

Cole Custer, Driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“We definitely had a lot better to start tonight at Darlington in the HaasTooling.com Mustang. We just had some bad luck and damage which made for a long night. We’ll move on to the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday. ”

Next Up:

Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr. Finishes in the 16th-place at the Darlington Raceway

by MikeMay 21, 2020May 21, 2020

Bowyer Finishes 22nd in Darlington 500k

by MikeMay 21, 2020

Date: May 20, 2020

Event: Darlington 500k

Series: NASCAR Cup Series

Location: Darlington (S.C.) Raceway (1.366-mile oval)

Format: 228 laps, broken into three stages (60 laps/65 laps/103 laps)

Note: Race called official 20 laps short of its scheduled 228-lap distance due to rain.

Start/Finish: 4th/22nd (Running, completed 208 of 208 laps)

Point Standing: 9th with 170 points, 88 out of first

Race Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Stage 1 Winner: Clint Bowyer of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford)

Stage 2 Winner: Clint Bowyer of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-60):

● Clint Bowyer started fourth and finished first to earn 10 bonus points and one playoff point.

● The No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Mobil Delvac 1 Ford Mustang quickly showed it was one of the fastest on the track moving to second by the lap-25 competition caution.

● Bowyer grabbed the lead on the restart logging his 3,000th lap led in the Cup Series.

● Bowyer led the next 30 laps to capture his fourth stage victory of his career.

● Before the stage, Bowyer had led 17 laps in 15 races at Darlington.

● Bowyer reported his car was a little loose, but crew made minimal changes during the stage break.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 61-125):

● Started first, finished first to earn 10 bonus points and one playoff point.

● The No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Mobil Delvac 1 Ford Mustang stayed at the front through two cautions.

● Bowyer pitted during the stage’s third caution and returned to the track in 10th on lap 85.

● The Kansas native wasted no time moving to third by lap 100.

● Bowyer was using his fresher tires to chase down SHR teammate Kevin Harvick for the lead on lap 109 when the seventh caution of the race came out. Fast pit work returned Bowyer to the lead for the lap 111 restart.

● The Ford driver stayed at the front to win the stage. It was the first time he’s ever won two stages in a race and the first time in 2020 a driver has won the first two stages of a race.

● During the stage break he told his crew: “this car is pretty fast.”

● Two cars stayed on the track on old tires hoping for rain forcing Bowyer to start the final stage in fourth.

Final Stage Recap (Laps 126-208):

● Started fourth, finished 22nd.

● Amid frenetic racing in the opening laps, the No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Mobil Delvac 1 Ford Mustang dropped to sixth.

● Bowyer climbed to fourth but handling issues for the first time in the race slowed his progress leaving him in third with 60 to go.

● The veteran driver made a routine green-flag stop with 53 laps remaining, but a caution a few laps later dropped Bowyer off the lead lap.

● Bowyer took the wave around to return to the lead lap and restarted sixth with 43 laps remaining.

● Bowyer moved to fourth after the restart despite telling the crew, “I hit the wall pretty good.”

● Bowyer cut a right rear tire after wall contact with 34 laps to go damaging the right side of the car and bringing out a caution.

● Bowyer restarted the race in 22nd with 30 laps remaining, but another car hit the No. 14 from behind as cars attempted to avoid a wreck at the front of the field.

● Heavy rain during the caution ended the race with 20 to go.

Notes:

● Bowyer led twice for a race-high 71 laps. Prior to tonight’s race, Bowyer had led only 17 laps at Darlington, 16 of which came in the 2007 Southern 500.

● Denny Hamlin won the Darlington 500k to score his 39th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his second of the season and his third at Darlington.

● There were 11 caution periods for a total of 54 laps.

● Only 23 of the 39 drivers in the Darlington 500k finished on the lead lap.

● Harvick remains the championship leader after Darlington with a 34-point advantage over second-place Joey Logano.

Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Mobil Delvac 1 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“Very proud of the car the guys brought for me on a short turn around. Fast hot rod. Thing just took off behind two cars racing for lucky dog and smoked the wall and blew our night. The No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Mobil Delvac 1 Ford was fast. We keep doing that our day will come.”

Next Up:

Mobil 1 Racing: Kevin Harvick Darlington 500k Race Report

by MikeMay 21, 2020

Date: May 20, 2020

Event: Darlington 500k

Series: NASCAR Cup Series

Location: Darlington (S.C.) Raceway (1.336-mile oval)

Format: 228 laps, broken into three stages (60 laps/65 laps/103 laps)

Start/Finish: 20th/3rd (Running, completed 208 of 208 laps)

Point Standing: (1st with 258 points, 34 points ahead of Joey Logano)

Note: Race called official 20 laps short of its scheduled 228-lap distance due to rain.

Race Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Stage 1 Winner: Clint Bowyer of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford)

Stage 2 Winner: Clint Bowyer of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-60):

● Kevin Harvick started 20th and finished 15th.

● During the competition caution, Harvick brought the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang to pit road for four tires, fuel and a tire pressure adjustment and raised the track bar one round.

● The changes did not work for Harvick as the car had no rear grip.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 61-125):

● Harvick started 14th and finished fifth, earning six bonus points.

● On lap 64, Harvick brought the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang to pit road for four tire, fuel a tire pressure and track bar adjustment. The crew went back on their adjustments.

● On lap 73, Harvick pitted for four tires, fuel and a tire pressure adjustment.

● Harvick got by leader Martin Truex Jr., for the lead on lap 98.

● On lap 109, Harvick pitted for four tires, fuel and a tire pressure adjustment. Said rear grip was good, but the front end needed some work.

Final Stage Recap (Laps 126-228):

● Harvick started fifth and finished third.

● On lap 128, Harvick, pitted for four tires and fuel. Was the first car off pit road.

● While running third on lap 159, Harvick radioed that his car was “plowing tight.”

● With 56 laps to go, Harvick had fallen from third to eighth.

● On lap 175, Harvick brought the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang to pit road for four tires, fuel and two rounds up on the track bar. He was ninth when he pitted.

● Harvick pitted on lap 195 for four tires, fuel and one round up on the track bar. Was the first car off pit road.

● He restarted third, but fell to fourth and was running there when third-place Kyle Busch’s car made contact with second-place Chase Elliott. The No. 9 of Elliott made contact with the SAFER Barrier on the inside wall and then rain starting falling which ended the race with Harvick back in third place.

Notes:

● Denny Hamlin won the Darlington 500k to score his 39th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his second of the season and his third at Darlington.

● There were 11 caution periods for a total of 54 laps.

● Only 23 of the 39 drivers in the Darlington 500k finished on the lead lap.

● Harvick remains the championship leader after Darlington with a 34-point advantage over second-place Joey Logano.

● Harvick earned his fourth top-five and sixth top-10 of the season, and his 10th top-five and 14th top-10 in 25 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Darlington.

● Harvick is the only NASCAR Cup Series driver to have finished in the top-10 in all six races this season.

● This is Harvick’s third straight top-three. He finished second March 8 at Phoenix Raceway and won last Sunday at Darlington in The Real Heroes 400.

● This is Harvick’s fourth straight top-five and ninth straight top-10 at Darlington.

● Harvick has never finished outside the top-10 at Darlington since joining SHR in 2014, a streak that began with a win in the 2014 Southern 500.

● Harvick finished fifth in Stage 2 to earn six bonus points.

● Harvick led once for 10 laps to increase his laps-led total at Darlington to 750.

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“We had to start 20th and battled kind of an ill-balanced car tonight. The track conditions were just a lot different. We made some adjustments going into the race. Just couldn’t get the front of the car to turn. Every time we tried to adjust the back, it would just take the back out. We never could get the front of the car to turn. Had to use a lot more throttle tonight. The things I could do with the car Sunday, I couldn’t do tonight. They kept clawing and fighting. In the end we had a great pit stop on the last pit stop, were in position to have a chance to win the race there, and it rained. The whole night we wound up restarting on the bottom of the racetrack. We’d lose three or four spots every time we’d restart. Definitely didn’t get the good end of the draw on the restarts. In the end our Mobil 1 guys did a great job of just battling. Sometimes you have great nights, sometimes you have nights you have to battle. It was a good two days in Darlington for us.”

Next Up:

John Hunter Nemechek Post Race Report: Darlington 2

by MikeMay 21, 2020

Track: Darlington Raceway, 1.36 Mile Oval

Race: 6 of 38

Event: Toyota 500 (311.4 miles, 228 laps)

John Hunter Nemechek

No. 38 Scag Power Equipment Ford Mustang

Started: 12th

Finished: 35th

Stage One: 39th
Stage Two: 37th
Stage Three: 35th

Following an impressive finish in Sunday’s race and an inverted starting lineup, John Hunter Nemechek started Wednesday’s “Toyota 500” at Darlington Raceway in 12th position. Trouble came early for the Sunoco Rookie-of-the-Year candidate with a spin on Lap 2, which caused heavy damage to the rear of the car. Nemechek would spin again on Lap 11 and later radioed to the team that the car turned on him as soon as he hit the brakes. Nemechek would finish Stage 1 in the 39th position.

Down but not out, Nemechek worked with Crew Chief Seth Barbour to make adjustments to the car’s handling in Stage 2, and take notes for the next time NASCAR returns to the track “Too Tough to Tame.” Unfortunately, the car’s balance was consistently unpredictable and Nemechek took the Stage 2 green-and-white-checkered flag 37th on the leaderboard.

Nemechek hung on and kept his nose clean throughout the remainder of the race despite his car’s handling being unpredictable. Nemechek would finish the rain-shortened evening in 35th place, 6 laps down.

Nemechek on Darlington:

“For as good as our day was on Sunday, we swung to the opposite end of the spectrum tonight. It was a long night. You never want to be that guy who goes out early. Not sure if I cut a tire or just drove it too hard and got loose. I really hate it for my crew and our No. 38 Scag Power Equipment team. These guys have been working their tails off over the last two weeks, and it’s obviously very frustrating to have the kind of race we did tonight. It happens sometimes, but I’m still happy to be here. We’ll take it as a learning experience and move on to Charlotte. Thank you to everyone at Scag Power Equipment and all of our Front Row Motorsports partners for continuing to support us race after race.”

Michael McDowell Post-Race Report: Darlington 2

by MikeMay 21, 2020

Track: Darlington Raceway, 1.36 Mile Oval

Race: 6 of 38

Event: Toyota 500 (311.4 miles, 228 laps)

Michael McDowell

No. 34 CarParts.com Ford Mustang

Started: 23rd

Finished: 17th

Stage One: 27th
Stage Two: 23rd
Stage Three: 17th

Michael McDowell and his No. 34 CarParts.com Ford Mustang took the green flag in Wednesday’s “Toyota 500” from the 23rd position at Darlington Raceway. As the caution flag flew on Lap 4, he noted that his CarParts.com Ford Mustang, “seemed to fire off better,” compared to Sunday’s “Real Heroes 400.” The team made both trackbar and wedge adjustments under multiple cautions and would go on to finish Stage 1, 27th.

During Stage 2, McDowell battled hard inside of the top-20 for a majority of the stage as Crew Chief Drew Blickensderfer made the call to stay out under the Lap 72 caution to gain track position. He was able to stay inside of the top-20 until the caution flag flew again on Lap 108. McDowell mentioned that his No. 34 CarParts.com Ford Mustang was tight in the center of the corners in traffic, so the team took 4 tires, fuel and a trackbar adjustment. McDowell would finish Stage 2 from the 23rd position.

Under the Stage 2 caution, McDowell and his CarParts.com Ford Mustang came down pit road for 4 tires, fuel and a trackbar adjustment in hopes of loosening up his tight race car for the final stage. During Stage 3, the adjustments made under caution prevailed as McDowell drove his CarParts.com Ford inside of the top-15. However, with less than 30 laps remaining, Mother Nature had other plans as rain began to fall and cars were called to pit road, where McDowell would finish the Toyota 500 from the 17th position.

McDowell on Darlington:

“It was a solid night for our No. 34 CarParts.com Ford Mustang. We definitely made improvements from our first race at Darlington Raceway, unfortunately the last restart didn’t go our way. The inside line was just really hard to get going and we lost a couple of spots, finishing 17th. We raced around a lot of competitive cars today and I felt really good. Everybody at Front Row Motorsports did a really good job this week, we just need a little bit more and we’ll be right where we want to be. All in all, it was a really good day. We built some confidence and my guys did a really good job on pit road. Lastly, I want to thank CarParts.com for coming on board for both Darlington races. I’ve really enjoyed promoting their brand all week long.”

Newman Battles to 14th-Place Finish in Rain-Shortened Darlington Race

by MikeMay 21, 2020

DARLINGTON, S.C. (May 20, 2020) – In a day filled with avoiding raindrops, the scheduled 311.4-mile NASCAR Cup Series race was cut short Wednesday with Ryan Newman scoring a 14^th-place finish in the Oscar Mayer Ford. At one point Newman led the field just past the halfway point, as varying strategies played out with the race ending after 208 laps.

It was an eventful night for Newman, who rolled off sixth after scoring a 15^th-place finish in Sunday’s race at Darlington. He maintained his top-10 standing early as he and the team managed tight conditions. After ending the opening stage 13^th, he restarted 11^th for stage two. Three laps later, the yellow was displayed again in which he fired off eighth, but lost the coveted track position on the next caution in which he had to pit.

He ran comfortably inside the top-15 just past lap 100, when the yellow was displayed bringing Newman’s machine down pit road. The team had pit gun issues on the right rear, losing multiple spots on pit road, putting him 24^th on the restart just prior to the stage two end, where he would finish 19^th.

An immediate yellow waved just after the stage three green, and crew chief Scott Graves called for Newman to stay out, putting the Oscar Mayer Ford at the point for the ensuing restart. Throughout all of this, rain crept closer to Darlington Raceway, only reinforcing the strategy call. Despite rain drops falling during the yellow in which he and teammate Chris Buescher ran 1-2, the field would restart at lap 132.

After getting a slight tire rub on the restart, Newman continued to battle feverishly against the field with 20 lap fresher tires. He fell to seventh by lap 140, and slipped to outside the top-15 some 20 laps later due to ill handling. With the remainder of the field on a differing pit cycle, Newman and Buescher were forced to pit under green, as Newman stopped for service at lap 163 from the 23^rd spot.

Some 15 laps later, the yellow was displayed as the majority of the field pitted under green, with Newman reporting the balance had improved aboard his No. 6 Ford. After taking the wave around, Newman fired off 12^th for the restart at lap 186. By lap 194, Newman was 22^nd when the yellow came out again, bringing Newman down pit road one final time for service.

He would restart 18^th at lap 199, moving inside the top 15 as the yellow came out just three laps later for an incident on the front stretch. Newman received some slight damage on his machine, but the rain eventually set in at Darlington, ultimately ending the race after 208 laps.

Following two-straight events at Darlington, the focus now shifts to Charlotte Motor Speedway, where the NASCAR Cup Series will visit Sunday night for the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 (6 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, Sirius XM Channel 90), where Roman makes its debut aboard Newman’s machine.

Buescher Settles for 23rd-place Result at Darlington

by MikeMay 21, 2020May 21, 2020

DARLINGTON, S.C. (May 20, 2020) – A bold pit strategy nearly resulted in a 1-2 finish for the Roush Fenway team, as the No. 6 and 17 Mustangs stayed out during the second stage break with inclement weather threatening Darlington Raceway. Rain drops fell on the track with Chris Buescher in the second position and the caution flag displayed, but ultimately cleared and he took the checkered flag 23rd on Wednesday night at the South Carolina track.

Buescher rolled off the grid 32nd in his Fastenal Ford and drove his way up to as high as 25th in the first stage. The driver pitted twice during the second caution of the day to continue to fix a vibration and to loosen up the car, but Buescher ultimately took the green-white-checkered flag for the first stage 28th.

The No. 17 team restarted stage two 21^st, but only three laps after the restart a competitor car got into the back of Buescher, sending him for a spin. Luckily, his Mustang had minimal damage and the driver was able to pit for a quick fix and get back on track. The team stayed steady in the mid to high twenties to finish the second stage 24th.

Pit strategy came into play at the beginning of stage three as crew chief Luke Lambert made the call not to pit. The threat of inclement weather in the area came into play as Buescher restarted for the final stage in second, with teammate Ryan Newman leading the field. Rain drops fell on the track, but ultimately cleared and the race resumed.

After the green flag waved, the No. 17 team did their best to maintain momentum, but old tires set them back. Buescher hit pit road at lap 169 for a second attempt at a stop after missing pit road the prior lap. The team elected to take tires and fuel, then went back to work, two laps down. A series of cautions in the final sixty laps of the race helped the team fight their way back up to 23rd with 20 laps to go. Inclement weather arrived at Lap 208, ending the race early. Buescher was scored 23rd.

The No. 17 team looks on to Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 24 for 600 miles of racing under the lights. Tune into Sunday evening’s race at 6 p.m. EST on FOX and PRN.