SPARTA, Ky. (July 10, 2016) – The Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing team welcomed Ty Dillon back behind the wheel of the No. 95 this weekend at Kentucky Speedway for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Dillon and the team had a fast race car and persevered through two on-track incidents to secure a 25th place finish in the Quaker State 400.
With qualifying canceled due to weather, NASCAR set the line-up by owner’s points putting the No. 95 in the 30th position for the green flag. But, Dillon quickly began to move up the field, getting to 21st position by Lap 27.
Dillon, who finished seventh in the Alsco 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series race the day prior, stayed in the Top-25 and got as high as 20th within the first 90 laps of the race.
Unfortunately, Dillon was caught up in a wreck on the track on Lap 92 when he was running in 24th position. Three cars in front of him made contact and Dillon had nowhere to go. Luckily, the team was able to fix the damage on pit road and keep Dillon on the lead lap. He restarted in 30th position and told the crew they did a good job in fixing the car.
From there, Dillon was able to continue to gain positions on the race track. He restarted Lap 157 in 23rd position on the lead lap and radioed into his crew, “we ain’t too bad at all!” – and then quickly raced into the Top-20.
The biggest challenge of the race came at Lap 172 when the No. 95 Chevrolet was in 19th position. Dillon ran over debris on the track and had a huge piece of sheet metal in the nose of the race car. The team had to pit multiple times to remove the debris and fix the nose of the car. This put the team a lap down and from there, Ty held on to the 25th position all the way to the checkered flag.
“Tonight really wasn’t our night, but we stayed with it and battled to the end,” said Dillon after the race. “We got into a wreck pretty early on and had to make several pit stops to repair the right-front nose of our No. 95 Chevy Summer Sell Down Chevrolet. I’m proud of the effort of our team and its never-give-up attitude. Overall, I learned a lot and gained some experience on this new racing surface; it was tough to maneuver and pass and had a lot of speed. This is not how I envisioned the night going, but being able to race here in the Sprint Cup Series is always fun.”
Michael McDowell will return to the seat of the No. 95 Chevrolet SS for the upcoming NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday, July 17 at 1:30 p.m. ET. Fans can follow the race team on Twitter at @CSLFR95 for updates.
About Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing
Formed in 2016, Joe Falk, owner of Circle Sport Racing and Bob and Sharon Leavine, owners of Leavine Family Racing teamed up to compete in the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season as Circle Sport-Leavine Family Racing. The team will field the No. 95 Chevrolet SS, which will be driven by Michael McDowell as well as Ty Dillon in select races. The team operates out of their Concord, N.C.-based race shop with a veteran group of racing personnel and is driven by several core principals including Value, Integrity, Flexibility, Opportunity, Access and Experience. For more information, please visit www.CSLFR95.com.
