NXS: TriStar Motorsports Post-Race Report: Dover International Speedway

Hisense 200

Dover International Speedway

Date: Saturday, September 3, 2015

David Starr qualified 22nd for the Hisense 200, followed by Blake Koch in 24th, Cale Conley in 25th and Eric McClure in 27th.

The 200-lap race included four cautions for 29 laps, one red flag for 30 minutes and five lead changes among four drivers.

David Starr finished the race 18th, followed by Eric McClure in 22nd, Blake Koch in 23rd and Cale Conley in 29th.

With rain in the Dover, Del. area canceling NASCAR XFINITY Series practice and qualifying, NASCAR set the field per the rule book placing David Starr to roll off the grid in the 22nd position to start the Hisense 200. A tight handling Zachry Camry seemed to be the theme of the majority of the 200-lap event. An early in the race caution resulted in a lot of debris on the track surface. Having just pitted a few laps prior and receiving new tires, Starr radioed he was unable to avoid the debris and was concerned it had damaged the tires. Crew Chief Matt Lucas made the call to bring the No. 44 back to pit road for another set of GoodYear stickers and Starr returned to the field scored in the 23rd position. Starr continued to battle a pivoting and rotating off the center through the exit issue. With another pit stop for adjustments, it was determined the Zachry Camry had received minor front end damage from the debris earlier in the race. The No. 44 team made a few repairs and deemed the damage minimal. When exiting pit road, Starr received a speeding penalty from NASCAR. Taking the penalty in stride, Starr began to run his fastest lap times of the day and ultimately took the checkers with an 18th place finish at the Monster Mile.

The NASCAR XFINITY Series race weekend started out soggy, with the cancellation  of practice and qualifying for this afternoon’s Hisense 200 at Dover International Speedway. Being lined-up by owner points, Eric McClure rolled of 27th for the 200-mile event. Being faced with a tight handling car out of the gate, McClure couldn’t wait for the first competition caution on lap-24. Restarting 23rd McClure maintained that position in a long green flag run until the event’s second competition caution on lap-65. Continuing to make chassis adjustments, as well as, fresh tires and some fuel, McClure’s team tried to find a balance in the Reynolds Wrap(r) Camry. A brief rain shower posed gloom on the field as the event fell under red flag conditions on lap 114. Firing the field back up they restarted with 82 laps to go. Being relatively mute on the radio, McClure drove in his 15th start at the “Monster Mile” to a career best finish of 15th at the one-mile concrete beast.

Driver QUOTE: “I’m thankful for my guys, they never stopped working all race long.  It was a tough day and I didn’t have the best race personally, but we still ended up with an ok day. Overall it was a good points day for us.”

                              

After Mother Nature forced the NASCAR XFINITY Series to cancel both practice and qualifying, the No. 8 LeafFilter Gutter Protection team knew they had to unload a good car. Starting from the 24th position, Blake Koch reported loose racing conditions on lap 14. The team chose to stay out under the first caution and then came to pit road on lap 25 for four tires, fuel and adjustments. On lap 45, Koch was running in the 16th position and reported his Camry was a little free. When the second competition caution came out on lap 65, Koch brought his Camry to pit road for four tires, fuel and another round of adjustments. Just before the halfway mark, Koch reported that he had a left rear tire going down, forcing the No. 8 Camry to pit early. After a quick red flag for rain, Koch was ready to get back racing. Unfortunately with less than 40 laps to go, Koch reported that he was out of fuel. The team came to pit road to add Sunoco fuel to his Camry, but that forced him to a 23rd place finish.

Driver QUOTE: “We had a really fast LeafFilter Camry in Dover. We drove up to 17th early, but a flat tire under green early on hurt us. It killed us when we ran out of fuel late in the race. Some good positives came from the weekend and we will move on to NASCAR’s hometrack this weekend in Charlotte.”

Cale Conley and the No. 14 IAVA team returned to Dover International Speedway this weekend in hopes of improving on their previous finish this season. With Hurricane Joaquin heading up the east coast, the weekend was a wet one. Practice and qualifying were rained out so at he field lined up by owner’s points with Conley starting in the 25th position. With no practice, Conley quickly reported some handling issues once the green flag flew for the Hisense 200. His IAVA team adjusted on his Camry during the scheduled competition cautions and Conley began to work his way through the field. He had broken inside the Top 20 when a competitor trying to avoid going a lap down, got loose and spun out, collecting Conley. The damage was significant and after getting checked and released from the infield care center, Conley ended the night in 29th.

Driver QUOTE: “Wild race. First few cup guys set a blistering pace after have cup time on track compared to the rest of us so everyone seemed to be driving as hard as they could to stay on lead lap. We ended up getting wrecked by someone several laps down trying to avoid going another lap down. Hate we wrecked that car it was a good one but it looks to be reparable luckily. Hate it for the team because we were on a good roll. Pick back up in Charlotte.”

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