NASCAR XFINITY Series
Road America 180 Fired Up by Johnsonville
Road America
Saturday, August 28, 2015
Race Highlights:
- Paul Menard won the Road America 180 Fired Up by Johnsonville, recording the No. 33 team’s fourth victory of the 2015 NASCAR XFINITY Series season. Brian Scott finished third, Ty Dillon 10th and Brendan Gaughan was 16th.
- Richard Childress Racing drivers Brian Scott started fifth, Paul Menard eighth, Ty Dillon 13th and Brendan Gaughan in 16th.
- Next up for the XFINITY Series is the VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway. Catch all the action live on Saturday, September 5th at 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time on NBC Sports Network, broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Satellite Radio channel 90.
Brian Scott Finishes Third at Road America
Rain cancelled NASCAR XFINITY Series qualifying and the starting lineup for the Road America 180 Fired Up by Johnsonville was set by the NASCAR rule book. Brian Scott and the No. 2 Shore Lodge Chevrolet started the race from the fifth position. Scott made a move on lap three and improved three positions in less than four turns at the 14-turn road course. It was under green-flag conditions on lap 12 when the Shore Lodge Chevrolet came to pit road for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. After the field cycled through green-flag stops, Scott was back racing up front in the second position. The caution was displayed on lap 22 forcing the team to start its race winning strategy and the Mike Hillman, Jr-led team elected to stay out. On the lap 27 restart, Scott took the race lead with a cross over move in turn 14. The No. 2 Shore Lodge team surrendered the lead on lap 30 for a four-tire stop and enough fuel to make it to the checkered flag. Lap 35 brought out another race caution while Scott was scored in 12th place. Strategy played into the favor of Scott under caution as he gained six positions before the final restart with four laps remaining. The No. 2 Shore Lodge Chevrolet gained one spot in the closing laps and crossed the finish line in the third position.
Start – 5 Finish – 3 Laps Led – 3 Points – 8th
BRIAN SCOTT QUOTE:
“I’m proud of our third-place finish today, our Shore Lodge Chevrolet was very fast and the guys gave me a good race car. It stinks to be so close to victory and finish third.”
Ty Dillon Records 10th-place Finish at Road America
Ty Dillon drove Richard Childress Racing’s No. 3 WESCO Chevrolet Camaro to a 10th-place finish Saturday afternoon at Road America, recording the team’s seventh-consecutive top 10. Dillon started the 45-lap race from 13th place after qualifying was cancelled earlier in the day because of inclement weather. Dillon quickly found the top-10 running positions, racing there for a majority of the afternoon. Keeping fuel strategy in mind, crew chief Nick Harrison called Dillon to pit road on three separate occasions. On lap 29, with 16 laps remaining, Harrison used a gas-and-go pit stop to gain track position and give Dillon enough fuel for the advertised distance. A lengthy caution in the closing laps moved Dillon up to eighth place after several competitors ran out of fuel. Restarting with four laps to go, Dillon raced hard to the checkered flag crossing the finish line 10th. The top-10 finish extended an impressive stretch for the No. 3 team of seven-consecutive top-10 finishes, including three of them at road courses.
Start – 13 Finish – 10 Laps Led – 1 Points – 3rd
TY DILLON QUOTE:
“We’re happy with yet another top-10 finish, but obviously we wanted more. Our WESCO Chevy today had a good balance and I thought we had a good overall pit strategy. We’ll take this finish and move to Darlington Raceway next weekend. We’re happy with our road course performance this season – three top-10 finishes and two top five finishes is great.”
Paul Menard Wins in Home State of Wisconsin at Road America
Paul Menard won Saturday’s 45-lap NASCAR XFINITY Series event at Road America in the Richmond/Menards Chevrolet Camaro. Menard started from the eighth position, after inclement weather canceled qualifying, and raced his way into the top four, noting the car was in good-handling condition on lap five. Crew chief Danny Stockman called the No. 33 driver to pit road on lap 12 for four tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment to remedy a slight tight-handling condition Menard was experiencing on the four-mile road course. The crew saw Menard again on lap 24 during a caution for four tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment. This put the Richmond/Menards team on a different fuel strategy than other teams. The Richard Childress Racing driver restarted 12th on lap 25 and would not come to pit road again during the event. Menard took the lead on lap 32 and never looked back, crossing the finish line first for his third-career XFINITY Series win. Up next for Menard in the No. 33 Richmond/Menards Chevy is Saturday’s event at Darlington Raceway.
Start – 8 Finish -1 Laps Led – 9 Owners Points – 4
PAUL MENARD QUOTE:
“To be here this week was like a vacation. I got to spend the week with family at home in Eau Claire then take a road trip here to Road America. It was special to bring my daughter here where I spent so much time as a kid. I had a big cook out with my family last night and it brought back a lot of memories. Making new memories with my daughter is very special. It was cool during the victory lap to see all the Badger tents up and people in their Green Bay Packers stuff, all the trails along the fence I used to ride along when I was a kid. I got a little emotional there, just didn’t key the mic. I’ll go home now, crack a beer and spend some time with my family.”
Brendan Gaughan Salvages 16th-Place Finish at Road America
Brendan Gaughan and the No. 62 South Point Hotel & Casino team earned a 16th-place finish in the Road America 180 on Saturday afternoon. Gaughan started the 45-lap affair from the 16th position after NASCAR XFINITY Series qualifying was cancelled because of inclement weather around the Plymouth, Wis., facility. The starting line-up was set based off the first practice speeds. The first caution of the day was displayed on lap one and Gaughan was scored 13th. After running off course on the third lap, Gaughan’s visibility was impaired by mud on the windshield but he continued racing without losing any track position. The Las Vegas native continued his climb into the top 10 through the course of the next 11 circuits around the 4.2-mile track. As teams began to make green-flag pit stops, Gaughan moved into the lead before hitting pit road on lap 15 for four tires, fuel and a windshield tear-off. Gaughan rejoined the racing surface in the 14th position as green-flag stops cycled through with 28 laps to go. After staying out during the lap-24 caution period, Gaughan restarted seventh and worked his way into the third position just one lap later. He maintained his position within the top five and assumed the lead before crew chief Shane Wilson called the 40-year-old driver to the attention of the South Point pit crew on lap 32 for four tires and fuel. As the race entered the final stages, a lengthy caution period gave Gaughan no valuable time to improve his track position forcing him to restart 14th with four laps to go. He entered the top 10 with three laps to go but was driven off course by another competitor relegating the No. 62 South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet team to a 16th-place finish.
Start – 16 Finish – 16 Laps Led – 4 Points – 9
BRENDAN GAUGHAN QUOTE:
“Starting 16th really hurt us. We didn’t get to make a solid mock qualifying run during the first practice session and ultimately was 16th at the end of it. Then the rain came this morning, so we couldn’t qualify. Once we started the race back there, the (No.) 20 car got into the mud and covered the front of our South Point Chevy. It was so hard to see, and we lost quite a bit of time. We were set up decent for the final restart, but that long caution didn’t help us. We didn’t have enough time to get back up into the top five where we should have finished. These guys work so hard every week. This South Point Hotel & Casino team will get us one before the year is over.”
