Photo Credit: Tammyrae Benscoter
With 41 laps to go in the UNOH 200, Spencer Gallagher would spin ahead of race leader Cole Custer. Custer would be left nowhere to go, getting into the side of Gallagher and causing heavy front end damage to his No. 00 Haas Automation Chevrolet. In the midst of the wreck, Matt Crafton would sneak around both on the bottom to take the lead.
Under caution, rain would begin to fall, red flagging the race with 34 laps left in the race. Track drying efforts are now under way in hopes of getting the race restarted. Rain has fallen throughout the day, during practice and qualifying.
Matt Crafton currently holds the race lead as he looks for his first victory on the high-banks of the half-mile oval.
“It’s definitely been a long day,” he commented. “Today, it’s been hit or miss – but we were able to get in most of the practice. I’m fine if they call it as it’d be less pressure, but I’d be fine if we keep going as we have a good truck.”
Crew chief Carl Joiner Jr. is also hoping that they get it restarted as he feels they have “a fast Toyota Tundra”, but knew he had to leave his driver out there when the caution came out as “the guys on the box told me it was coming so we were counting it down to Matt. I saw it was a significant blob”.
Brandon Jones currently sits second as he searches for his first career victory. He says it’s 50/50 in wanting the race to resume, but feels that he has a good chance at winning and definitely wants a shot at it as the team has “given me a quick Chevrolet for the race and Shane has been making awesome calls on the pit box”. Daniel Hemric continues his solid season, currently sitting third.
“Considering the way the weekend is going, speed-wise, I’d be happy with third,” Hemric admitted. “But the fans have stuck with us all day so for them, we need to get going. We’ve been able to work on it and get in the right lane for track position. Hopefully we can get back going soon.”
Kyle Busch sits fourth after struggling through the first half of the race with the splitter hitting the track and a tight truck. He made the decision to pit at lap 113, when the rest of the leaders stayed on track, and has since climbed back through the field.
Ryan Blaney currently sits fifth after going down a lap early after serving a penalty for jumping a restart. Blaney led the first 41 laps of the event after starting second, but jumped the restart at lap 41. He then headed down pit road, serving a pass-thru penalty, going a lap down. He got the lucky dog at lap 80 and has since worked his way back to the front.
Erik Jones and David Gilliland currently finish out the top-seven. Custer pitted once the caution came out to address the damage and currently sits 16th in the running order after leading 107 laps.
“I really don’t know what happened,” Custer summarized. “I don’t know if someone got into him or if he spun out. I was already committed to the top, as hard as I could there, so I couldn’t do anything. It wouldn’t turn it all. It’s disappointing. We had a great truck.
“Rain was going to fall in two minute so we would’ve won the thing. Just a shame. We had a really good Haas Chevrolet, but just didn’t get the finish again.”
Thus far in the event, the contact had been kept to a minimal, with a couple multi-car spins, but no heavy contact. Beyond Custer, Caleb Holman is the only driver thus far to get a good chunk of a wreck. He got caught up in an incident at lap 113 when Ray Black Jr. spun and left him nowhere to go.
“I’d been running the top and running super hard, and I did that and it was working pretty good,” Holman commented. “I got in there and got off the gas, and the spotter said ‘go low’ and I couldn’t do it. I was already committed. The 07 did what he was supposed to do – held the brake and stayed there. As a small team, we don’t get the opportunities to run this well that often. It’s not that easy. We’ll just keep going.”
