Paul Menard and the No. 2 Richmond / Menards Chevrolet Team Earn Seventh-Place Finish in Inaugural NASCAR XFINITY Series Race at Pocono Raceway
“We had a fast Richmond/Menards Chevrolet this weekend. We unloaded fast on Thursday and felt pretty good heading into qualifying. I messed up a little in Turn 1 during qualifying, but we definitely had a top-three car. During the initial part of the race, we fired off a little loose and possibly on the splitter. The handling got better as we ran more laps and I was able to work through the field. I hate that rain cut us short because I know we had a car worthy of the top five, if not top three. I’m looking forward to Michigan next week with these guys.”
Paul Menard
Early pit strategy gives Ty Dillon podium finish in rain-shortened NASCAR XFINITY Series Race at Pocono Raceway
“You know, we’re happy with the finish today but obviously would have liked to have gone back out racing and compete for a win. We had good pit strategy that got us some track position with a fast Rheem Chevy. I love racing at Pocono because of the unique challenge; it’s difficult to pass and it’s hard to be perfect through every turn. I’m glad the XFINITY Series chose to race here this season. Today was a good day for us and we’ll move on to Michigan with a ton of momentum.”
Ty Dillon
Brandon Jones finishes eighth in rain-shortened Pocono Raceway XFINITY Series debut
“It was kind of an up-and-down weekend here at Pocono Raceway. We didn’t get much XFINITY Series practice in, but was able to get the ARCA race in, so I think that helped a ton. It helped me prepare for today’s XFINITY Series race and let me know where I could lift and beat people into the corners. The help from my RCR teammates was huge, too. I talked to Brendan Gaughan and he told me to just commit to each corner and not to second guess myself, because that’s where you’d get in trouble. I think we took his advice and beat him with it today, so he might be a little bit mad at that. I think we needed a little bit of work to get inside the top five, but all-in-all a great day for the Cometic Gasket Chevrolet. I’m looking forward to getting to Michigan.
Brandon Jones
Strategy gamble during rain-shortened event leads to 16th-place finish for Brendan Gaughan at Pocono Raceway
“I’m bummed it didn’t go back green. We pitted early strategically, knowing the weather was coming soon. If the race goes 12 laps further, everyone has to pit. We would have had a shot to win the race. The South Point Chevy was great on restarts today and I could make up a lot of ground running the bottom line. We took a chance with the pit strategy and it didn’t work in our favor. This team is resilient and we’ll unload strong next weekend at Michigan.”
Brendan Gaughan
