NASCAR Driver Looking Forward to Return to New Hampshire Motor Speedway
FLAGLER BEACH, Fla. (July 13, 2016) – It takes a team to be successful in racing, which is something NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) driver Ray Black Jr. knows really well. When the driver of the No. 07 ScubaLife.com Chevrolet decided to move up to the XFINITY Series for the 2016 season, he was thrilled to learn his SS Green Light Racing team was up for the challenge and move as well.
Black competed with Bobby Dotter’s SS Green Light Racing team last year in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS). Together, they collected 11 Top-15 finishes and finished 11th in Championship Points.
Prior to the 2016 season, Dotter’s team had competed mostly in the NCWTS with a few one-off XFINITY Series races throughout the year, but based on their season with Black the team felt moving with him to the NXS would be a great step up to the next level.
“I was really excited when the team said they would take on the XFINITY Series with me this season,” said Black. “It’s a huge undertaking changing series like that, but they were up for the challenge and willing to learn with me this year. I really enjoyed racing with them last year and was ready to see where this new venture would take us.”
The move to the NXS hasn’t come without a learning curve, but both Black and his team have stayed motivated through all the highs and lows this year and put together solid finishes to show for their efforts. The team has collected nine Top-25 finishes in their debut NXS season so far, three of which are Top-20 finishes.
“It has definitely been a roller coaster of a season but we’ve gotten a lot better as it has gone on,” explained Black. “We visited a lot of tracks during this first half of the season that we hadn’t been to before so we had to build up our program. Now, we’ll be getting to the point where we start returning to some tracks and have notes to rely on and look back on to see where we can improve.”
With the return to tracks the team has visited earlier this year, Black also has a stronger expectation of how they will perform and the finishes he believes they will earn.
“For this half of the season, I’d really just like to see us put together complete, competitive races,” he said. “We need to finish out every race as strong as we can and capitalize on what we know. Every lap counts out here and we need to finish this year as strong as possible.”
Up next for Black and his team in their debut NXS season will be the “Magic Mile” of New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Black has raced at the 1-mile track twice in his career, most recently finishing 13th during last year’s NCWTS event.
“New Hampshire was a good track for us last year,” Black stated. “I had a lot of fun up there and we had a great race last September. Setup is key there, so as long as we have a solid base this time around we should be able to secure a great finish again.”
The AutoLotto 200 will take place on Saturday, July 16 at 4:00 p.m. ET at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Fans can tune in via NBCSN or the Performance Racing Network for live coverage.
Fans can keep up with Ray Black Jr. by following him and his sponsor, ScubaLife, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @RayBlackJr and @TeamScubaRacing. Learn more about Ray Black Jr. and Team Scuba by visiting www.rayblackjr.com and www.teamscuba.com.
About Ray Black Jr.
Ray Black, Jr. grew up in Florida after relocating from Montgomery, Alabama at age 9. It was here that Black fell in love with deep sea diving after a couple of scuba trips with his father. His passion for motorsports came later at age 14 after playing some racing video games. He began competing in the Florida Mini Cup Racing Association (FMCRA), where finished in the Top-5 in every race and secured the FMCRA Junior All-Star Championship. In 2013 Black moved up to racing pro late models and then into the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2014. During that year, he got his first taste of true NASCAR racing when he competed in seven races for SS Green Light Racing. In 2015, Black competed in his first full season of NASCAR in the Camping World Truck Series, where he finished 11th in the championship standings with one Top-5 and 11 Top-15 finishes. Black will compete in the NASCAR XFINITY Series for the 2016 season. Learn more at www.rayblackjr.com.
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