DOVER, Del. (May 13, 2016) – – Riding the wave of momentum from his career-best NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) finish last weekend at Kansas Speedway, XFINITY Series regular hopes it continues in Saturday afternoon’s Ollie’s Bargain Outlets 200 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway.
Taking advantage of a XFINITY Series break last weekend, McLeod reunited with close friend Bobby Dotter to pilot the No. 07 SS Green Light Racing Chevrolet Silverado. After qualifying mid-pack, McLeod exercised patience and hammered the throttled when it meant most to finish 15th in the Toyota Tundra 250.
This weekend, McLeod heads to The Monster Mile looking to bounce back from a heartbreaking effort at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway where a likely top-20 finish was halted when his engine failed just 39 laps into the race.
“Talladega was a bummer, but Kansas was a nice rebound,” said McLeod. “I had a lot of fun at Kansas Speedway last weekend and that finish has kept my adrenaline pumping heading to Dover this weekend.
“It’s one of my favorite tracks on the circuit. It’s just like a big rollercoaster coming off Turn 2 and coming down the backstretch. I can’t describe it. Hopefully, our bad luck is behind us for a while and we can get away cleanly with a good finish.”
McLeod has one prior start at the 1.0-mile speedway last year where he successfully qualified for the race and took the checkered flag, earning a respectable 27th place finish in his Monster Mile debut. This weekend, McLeod is looking for more, a lot more.
“Building a team that you own, there’s a period where you’re just cautious to keep everything going,” he added. “Now that we have some races under our belt – hopefully it will ease that worry about tearing up equipment and we can just focus on racing hard – but respectable and finishing the race. When things seem to go our way, we end up with a solid finish. That’s what we are hoping for this weekend.”
Saturday’s activities unleash the third of four NASCAR XFINITY Series Dash4Cash races, which offers an incentive for a XFINITY regular to win an astounding bonus should they win the main event. For McLeod and his B.J. McLeod Motorsports team, the dream to win is alive – but if they can’t find themselves in contention for the win – the 40-lap heat races will easily become a test session preparing for the very short 120-lap feature.
“We dream big, there’s nothing wrong with that, but we have other goals too,” added McLeod. “The heat race should give us a good baseline on where we should be for the race. 120 laps will go by in a hurry at Dover, so we just need to be on our game and have a chance of getting our No. 78 B.J. McLeod Motorsports Ford Mustang into a good place when the checkered flag waves.”
For the third consecutive race, NASCAR veteran Travis Kvapil will be a teammate role for McLeod in the No. 15 CorvetteParts.net / Keen Parts Ford Mustang in a collaborative effort with Rick Ware Racing (RWR).
“I can’t begin to tell you how much it’s been productive to work with Travis,” he added. “Not only can he bring a lot of ideas to the table, but he can take care of the equipment while still trying to get the job done. That’s a huge positive for us as we continue to build and grow our program. I’ll be leaning on Travis for some advice. He has a lot of laps at Dover and his suggestions could help with our car too. I’m glad he’s on our side.”
Veteran industry crew chief George (David) Ingram Jr. will call the shots for the No. 78 B.J. McLeod Motorsports Ford Mustang for the 10th race of the 2016 NASCAR XFINITY Series season.
For more on B.J. McLeod, please visit his official Facebook page, while also visiting the team’s new website at BJMcLeodMotorsports.com. Additionally, the team is growing their presence on Twitter, with the team’s new account @teamBJMcLeod. McLeod also utilizes his personal twitter too, @BJMcLeod78.
The Ollie’s Bargain Outlet 200 (120 laps / 120 miles) is the 10th of 33 NASCAR XFINITY Series on the 2016 schedule. Practice begins on Friday, May 13 from 10:00 a.m. – 10:55 a.m. A final practice has been etched in from 12:30 p.m. – 1:55 p.m. Qualifying to determine the starting positions for the heat races is set for race day, Saturday, May 14 beginning at 10:45 a.m. With two heat races (40 laps / 40 miles) which will set the “main” event lineup scheduled to start around 2:00 p.m., the 40-car field will take the green flag for the main event shortly after 3:30 p.m. with live coverage on FOX, the Motor Racing Network (Radio) and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Satellite Radio, Channel 90). All times are Eastern.
