NASCAR Driver on Streak of Bettering Finishes During Second Round Visits
FLAGLER BEACH, Fla. (September 7, 2016) – NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) driver Ray Black Jr. is ready to return to Richmond International Raceway and grab his third career Top-15 NXS finish. The driver of the No. 07 ScubaLife.com Chevrolet Camaro is on a streak of improving his finishes during second time track visits this season.
During the second half of his rookie NXS season, Black has improved his finish at repeat tracks by as many as 10 positions. At his second visit to Iowa Speedway, he improved 10 spots to finish in 20th place and improved his finish at Bristol Motor Speedway by six positions to 14th place during his second race of the season there.
Black expects the same type of improvement this weekend as he takes on Richmond International Raceway for the second time this year. He and his SS Green Light Racing team have been taking notes all season on each track’s characteristics and setups that they can refer to during future visits, as it is both the driver and team’s first time running a full NXS season.
“Having XFINITY race experience at these tracks has been huge for me when we return to them later in the year,” explained Black. “We’ve done so much better at these tracks the second time around because we have notes to use. We’ve been building our notebook during the first half of the season and now that’s starting to pay off. The team knows how to setup the cars for this weekend and I know how to get around the track better right from the start.”
Black finished 24th at the 3/4-mile track back in April this year after rain limited the amount of on-track practice time during the weekend. Despite the shortened experience, Black already has a couple of key things he’s looking to change up this time around.
“I’m looking forward to trying some different things this time around at Richmond,” he stated. “There’s some different lines I want to try running to see if I can find more speed around there. I also want to improve on our long runs there. We didn’t have the bite off we needed, so if we can get that figured out we should be in great shape for the race!”
One additional change this time around will be the fact that it’s a night race for the NXS. For Black, this just adds more excitement coming into the weekend.
“I love night races!” Black said. “There’s more grooves out there to race on at night. Everyone seems to move up a little higher at Richmond so there will be some great action for the fans to see right up against the wall. It’s just more fun racing under the lights, and I know my team and I can get another Top-15 finish!”
Fans can catch the Virginia529 College Savings 250 at Richmond International Raceway on Friday, September 9 at 7:30 p.m. ET. Live race coverage can be found on NBCSN or via MRN Radio.
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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