NEWTON, Iowa (June 24, 2017) – Ty Majeski got off to a fast start in his NASCAR debut, driving his iRacing Ford Mustang inside the top five from the 10th position in just the first lap of Saturday night’s XFINITY Series Race at Iowa Speedway. However, a tire issue forced the him to lose track position midway through Stage 1 and Majeski eventually got caught up in an accident when the No. 18 car spun out just in front of him midway through the race.
The team worked feverishly to repair the damage, with Majeski even battling back to get back on the lead lap with the free pass, but the damage would prove too extensive, leading to a blown tire that sent the No. 60 Ford into the wall on lap 144 and ending the promising debut.
“I hate the fact that we were not able to finish the race,” said Majeski. “But we learned a lot and I’m excited to get back here in July. We had a fast car early and was able to really take off, but the car’s handling went away towards the end of the run and I just could not get it to turn.
“We would have been fine, but we got caught up in that accident and were never able to recover,” added Majeski. “The team did a great job and we’ll take what we learned and build on that when we come back.”
Majeski advanced all the way to the third and final round of knockout qualifying and started an impressive 10th. Once the green flag dropped he wasted little time showcasing his talent, moving all the way to fifth position on the race’s first lap. He would run inside the top five for the next 20 laps, before settling into sixth position. He continued run inside the top 10 for 20 laps, before the cars handling disappeared with what appeared to be a chording tire.
With the handling fading, Majeski dropped back to 17th positon by the end of Stage 1. He moved back inside the top 15 by lap 95, but was unable to avoid a spinning No. 18 car coming out of turn four on lap 120. The team made repairs to the car, stopping several times under caution; eventually going a lap down.
When the race returned to green, Majeski was able to move into the ‘Free Pass’ position, after a quick caution. However, the damage to the front end of Majeski’s Ford Mustang would prove to too severe, eventually leading to a blown tire that sent the car into the outside wall on lap 144. The car was too damaged to continue and the team had to take it behind the wall; forced to settle for a 34th-place finish.
Majeski is set to make his next start at Iowa Speedway on July 29. The start will mark the 600th start for Roush Fenway’s iconic No. 60 Ford.
