Race 27 of 33: Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway
Track Specs: 0.533 mile paved track
Race Winner: Sheldon Creed
Allgaier’s finish: P5
Smith’s finish: P10
Finch’s finish: P11
Caruth’s finish: P23
Kvapil’s finish: P24
Justin Allgaier
Justin Allgaier, driver of the No. 7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet, was poised to fight for the victory with 15 laps remaining in Friday evening’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series event at Bristol Motor Speedway. Allgaier, who led for 49 laps, won the first stage and scored extremely valuable points in the second stage, lined up for the lap-285 restart as the race leader in the outside lane. However, as the field entered Turn 1 just one lap later, contact with another car sent the JR Motorsports driver into the outside retaining wall, shuffling Allga ier back to fourth. The Illinois native would hold steady in fourth through a green-white checkered restart to earn his 15th top-five finish of the season. With tonight’s result, Allgaier remains second in The Chase standings, just 11 points out of the top spot.
“Our BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet was really strong tonight. Hats of to Andrew (Overstreet, crew chief) and everyone on this No. 7 team. We scored a ton of valuable points, but I just hate that we didn’t get the chance to race for the win there in the end. However, we’ll move on and take away all of the positives from tonight and use this momentum to be just a couple spots better when we get to Las Vegas.”
Sammy Smith
Sammy Smith, driver of the No. 8 Pilot Chevrolet made his seventh start at Bristol Motor Speedway with the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series this Friday evening and increased his top-10 finishes this season to 13 with a 10th-place finish. Qualifying for the Food City 300 was cancelled due to weather which saw the NOAPS field line up per NASCAR’s metrics with Smith set to start eighth. The lowa native took the green of Stage One and after a caution-free 85 laps, crossed the green- white checkers in sixth, accumulating valuable stage points. At the stage break, crew chief, Cory Shea called for fresh tires, fuel and slight wedge and air pressure adjustments for a better fire-off. Smith restarted seventh in Stage Two where he ran until lap 135 when he fell back a few spots to 10th and then again to 17th by lap 150. The team could see body damage to the left-rear fender which was causing handling issues and advised Smith to do his best to keep it on the lead lap until the stage end when they could pit for repairs. The JR Motorsports driver did just that, finishing out the second stage in 17th, on the lead lap. The final stage saw Smith restart 18th on lap 182 and he gained several positions to be in 15th when a caution flew on lap 274. Shea called his driver down pit road for fresh tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment to help his fire-off. The field took the green once again on lap 285 with Smith in 14th and nearly made it to the end of the race before another caution which sent the NOAPS field into overtime. The No. 8 driver was sitting in 10th at the time of the caution, restarted 10th and defended his track position through the green-white-checkered restart to tally his 13th top-10 finish of the season.
“Tonight we had good lap times but we struggled to find fire-off speed which made it tough to gain track position. We’re not really sure what caused the fender damage in Stage Two but I’m proud of the team for making a quick repair and getting the handling back under control. In the end, we got another top-10 finish along with stage points so that all helps in the Championship battle. We’ll take this off-week to regroup and prep for Las Vegas.”
Jake Finch
Jake Finch took the green flag for his first NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series start at Bristol Motor Speedway in 36th after qualifying was cancelled due to inclement weather. Finch immediately started to work through the field and within the first 20 laps was knocking on the door of the top-30. The driver of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Chevrolet would continue to push forward, finishing Stage One in 25th. After taking a trip down pit road for four tires, fuel and some adjustments, Finch lined up for Stage Two in 23rd. Throughout the next 85 laps Finch charged through the field taking the second green-and-white-checkered flag in 19th which also allowed him to get the free pass and restart the Final Stage on the lead lap. After several on track incidents during the final 130 laps, the race went into NASCAR’s version of overtime and the field attempted a green-white-checkered finish where Finch took the checkered flag just outside the top-10 in 11th.
“Not being able to qualify is always a bummer, but this No. 9 team rallied to make sure I had a fast car capable of working through the field. In the end our strategy paid off and we were able to get a top-15 finish for O’Reilly Auto Parts. We are going to keep this momentum going and turn our attention towards Charlotte in a few weeks.”
Rajah Caruth
Rajah Caruth and the No. 88 HendrickCars.com team finished 23rd Friday night at Bristol Motor Speedway after overcoming an early tire issue. With qualifying cancelled due to lightning, Caruth started 10th and maintained position inside the top 11 throughout the opening run. On lap 64, Caruth suffered a right-front tire issue that sent the No. 88 into the wall, causing right-side damage and forcing an unscheduled green-flag pit stop. The incident dropped Caruth three laps down and resulted in a 38th place finish in Stage One.
Despite the setback, Caruth and the HendrickCars.com team continued to work on the damaged Chevrolet and steadily gained positions throughout the remainder of the race. Caruth finished Stage Two in 30th, before restarting the final stage 29th. He continued his climb through the field, reaching 24th before a late race caution allowed the team to pit for four tires and fuel. Caruth gained another position following the overtime restart and took the checkered flag in 23rd.
“We obviously wanted a lot more out of tonight, especially after starting inside the top 10 and having a solid car early. The right front issue put us in a tough spot but nobody on this HendrickCars.com team gave up. We kept fighting and gained as much back as we could and brought it home. Thank you to Mr. H, Ms. Linda, Dale, Kelley, LW and everyone at JR Motorsports for the support, we will regroup and try again in two weeks in Las Vegas.”
Carson Kvapil
Carson Kvapil, driver of the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, started in the fourth position for Friday nights NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway after qualifying was cancelled due to weather. During the First Stage, Kvapil maintained his top-five running position and crossed the line in second at the conclusion of the opening stage. After a quick pit stop and a few adjustments, the JR Motorsports driver won the race off pit road and led the field back to the green. Kvapil quickly jumped out to the lead and dominated the second stage. The final stage started and Kvapil continued to dominate the race. With 50 laps to go, the Mooresville, N.C. native started to feel a loose wheel and lost the race lead. Ultimately, the loose wheel caused brake line issues and the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet had to make an unscheduled green flag pit stop. In the end, Kvapil crossed the line for the final time in the 24th position. Kvapil led a race high 155 laps.
“It was a disappointing finish after having one of the best cars in the field. Rodney (Childers, crew, chief) and this entire No. 1 Bass Pro Shops team continue to bring rocket ships to the track every single weekend. We didn’t get the finish we deserved, but it was still good to pick up 19 stage points and remain third in the standings. We will regroup during this off week and be ready to hit the track in Vegas in two weeks. I can’t thank Johnny Morris and everyone enough at Bass Pro Shops for their continued support.”