Ben Kennedy Closes out 2017 NASCAR XFINITY Series with 18th- Place Finish in Rheem Chevrolet after Top-10 Run
“We has a really fast Rheem Chevrolet today. We started 25th and I felt like our car was better than most of the cars I was running with but I stayed patient so as not to wear out our equipment. At the end of Stage 2, we had an awesome pit stop that helped us restart in the top-10. We couldn’t really run with those guys at the bottom but at the top of the track we were better than anyone. At the end of the race I tagged the wall like I had been tagging it all day and it finally cut a tire. We had to pit with two laps to go for right-side tires. We were running ninth at the time and the fastest car on the track so I hated to see that happen. It was a pleasure racing with RCR this season and I am thankful for the opportunity.”
– Ben Kennedy
Scott Lagasse Jr. Battles Loose-Handling Fight Colorectal Cancer/Screen Your Machine Chevrolet in Miami
“Our Fight Colorectal Cancer/Screen Your Machine Chevrolet fired off too loose through the corner. We were one of the few teams that came down pit road during the first caution to get fresh tires and make chassis adjustments. With the fresh tires, we were able to drive up through the field to fourth place to end the first stage. Our Camaro reverted back to being too loose in the second stage, and we battled with it for the rest of the race. We took big swings at it, but they just never seemed to be enough. I was up on top of the racetrack and lacked the front grip we needed. It definitely wasn’t the day that we anticipated after promising practice sessions yesterday, but there were bright spots this afternoon and this team never gave up in trying to make changes to try and get a handle on the balance.
– Scott Lagasse Jr.
Daniel Hemric Finishes Fourth in XFINITY Series Championship After Mechanical Issues Hamper Efforts for the Poppy Bank Chevrolet Team at Homestead-Miami Speedway
“We came down here, we did our jobs. We practiced, qualified, did everything we needed to do to race the guys we needed to race, and I was really looking forward to battling it out with everybody with our No. 21 Poppy Bank Chevrolet, and just wasn’t meant to be. We were able to stay out in front of those guys the first stage, come down pit road, thought we were in pretty good shape to kind of make our race car a little better. The racetrack was starting to go through the transition of cooling down and whatnot, so just logging laps, and when we left pit road, I started losing volts for whatever reason, and not exactly sure why yet, but we’ll get to the bottom of it. Not ideal by no means, but sometimes it’s just not meant to be, and if it was meant to be it would, but it just wasn’t our day. But I don’t want to let that take away from our efforts that we did all year to put ourselves in position and to get ourselves here. Proud of the effort, and that’s why we decided to keep running all the laps because we didn’t give up and that’s what got us here, so whether we were 12 laps down or not, we wanted to complete the race, and that’s what we did.”
– Daniel Hemric
Brandon Jones and the Jeld-Wen / Menards Team Finish 14th in the 2017 NASCAR XFINITY Series Finale
“We struggled with rear grip all weekend in the No. 33 Jeld-Wen / Menards Chevrolet Camaro. Throughout practice and the race, we could get the front of the car dialed in really well but couldn’t get the rear to grip the track surface like I needed it to in order to move around and pass cars. Unfortunately with that long green-flag run at the end of the race, our handling faded away, making it tricky to get any forward momentum. We held on to everything we could though and came away with a top-15 finish to cap off the season. I can’t thank this team enough for all their hard work and for all the support of our partners. It means a lot.”
– Brandon Jones
Brendan Gaughan and the South Point Hotel and Casino Team Close Out The Season with 13th-Place Finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway
“I can’t say it was a good run for the South Point Hotel and Casino team. I would have liked to have kept the right side on it like the fab shop had started it. I guess I made a few aerodynamic adjustments on my own. Our race was pretty much like the way we ran most of the season. We were good for about ninth to 13th. I want to say we can help RCR get better so that they’ll be stronger next year. It’s been real and it’s been fun and it’s been real fun. I want to thank Richard, Judy and the boys for everything.”
– Brendan Gaughan
