NASCAR Driver Finishes 20th Despite Limited Practice Time at Kentucky Speedway
SPARTA, Ky. (September 25, 2016) – It was a hectic race weekend for NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) driver Ray Black Jr., as he and his SS Green Light Racing team fought hard from the start of the weekend to secure his eighth Top-20 finish of the season. The driver of the No. 07 ScubaLife.com Chevrolet Camaro had little practice time at Kentucky Speedway due to a terrible vibration but rebounded and survived a caution-filled race to finish 20th on Saturday night.
Black only turned 18 laps during the two practice sessions at Kentucky Speedway due to a serious vibration in the car. The team tried multiple adjustments to rid the car of the issue, but noticed at the end of final practice that the nose of car under the grill had cracked. The team would go on to rebuild the nose between final practice on Friday night and qualifying on Saturday afternoon, solving the vibration issue.
After qualifying 25th for the VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300, Black started the race with a slight radio issue, as he could hear the team but the team could not hear him. Luckily the radio issue corrected itself before the competition caution at Lap 25, as the team was going to use hand signals to figure out how Black’s car was handling.
On Lap 77, things got a little chaotic for Black as he spun out from the 24th position when all the cars in front of him bottled-up and braked going into Turn 1. However, Black handled the spin like an expert, keeping it off the wall and preventing any serious damage to come his way.
Black and his team went on to fight hard for every spot they could get on the track, avoiding caution after caution and competing in the Top-20 for the majority of the second half of the race. Black was up in the 18th position on the final restart of the night before he got pinched three-wide and finished in the 20th spot.
“It was a good weekend for my team and I at Kentucky Speedway,” stated Black. “They did an excellent job fixing up my car and getting it ready after we discovered the cracked nose after final practice. That was a race of survival, and we are able to make it through all those cautions and grab another Top-20 finish! We’ll take it and move on to Dover.”
Black and his team will now return to Dover International Speedway for the Drive Sober 200 on Saturday, October 1. Black is looking forward to revisiting the 1-mile concrete track, as it is the site of a breakthrough finish for the team this season (17th, May 2016).
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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