Track: Darlington Raceway, 1.366-mile oval
Race: 15 of 23
Event: S.C. Education Lottery 200 (200 miles, 147 laps)
Schedule:
Sunday, Sept. 6
2:00 p.m…………..Race (FS1)
(all times ET)
Tanner Gray, No. 15 Ford Performace F-150
Tanner Gray is on equal footing to most of his NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series (NGROTS) competitors this weekend since very few drivers have experience racing at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. With the exception of Truck Series veterans like Johnny Sauter and Matt Crafton, most of the field has never made a lap at the track known as “Too Tough to Tame.” This may provide a more level playing field for the 21-year-old rookie.
In 14 Truck Series races this season, Gray has two top-five, five top-10 finishes, has led four laps and sits 12th in the driver point standings. He finished 10th last weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Ill., after his DGR-Crosley team made improvements to the handling of his No. 15 Ford Performance F-150 throughout the race.
Gray has spent time preparing for Darlington by watching past races from the challenging track, trying to learn how to avoid the dreaded “Darlington stripe” on the right side of his truck. Gray has another advantage this weekend, a teammate with experience there. NASCAR Cup Series veteran David Ragan will be his teammate and a great person to lean on for advice and tips, as well as co-owner David Gilliland who has made 11 starts there between the Cup and Xfinity Series.
The South Carolina Education Lottery 200 from Darlington Raceway will be run on Sunday, Sept. 6 at 2 p.m. ET. The race will be broadcast live on FS1. The 147-lap race will be broken into three segments with stage-ending cautions on laps 45 and 90.
Gray on Darlington: “I’ve heard so much about Darlington and honestly it sounds a little intimidating. I’m excited to have a chance to race there though with the track’s history in NASCAR. I’m glad I’ll have a veteran spotter like Kevin Hamlin on the roof coaching me, as well as a teammate (David Ragan) and co-owner (David Gilliland) with a lot of experience there. This is kind of a normal race for me though since I’ve been to a lot of tracks for the first time this season with no practice, or qualifying. This time I’ll just have a lot of competitors in the same boat with me.”
David Ragan, No. 17 Shriners Hospitals for Children Ford F-150
David Ragan will be making his first start in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series since 2006, but he has a distinct advantage this weekend over most of the other drivers in the field, and that is experience at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. A track known as “too tough to tame” and “the lady in black.”
Ragan has 13 starts at Darlington in the NASCAR Cup Series through 2019 and two NASCAR Xfinity Series starts. His best finish of fifth came in the Cup Series race in 2008 driving for Jack Roush. Ragan has made 4,731 laps around Darlington in his career.
Shriners Hospitals for Children will support Ragan and his No. 17 Ford F-150 in the 200-mile race. Shriners Hospitals for Children provides specialized care to children with orthopaedic conditions, spinal cord injuries, burns and cleft lip and palate regardless of the families’ ability to pay. Ragan has been a member of Shriners International since 2012 and serves as its NASCAR ambassador. In addition, Envision will be an associate partner.
The South Carolina Education Lottery 200 from Darlington Raceway will be run on Sunday, Sept. 6 at 2 p.m. ET. The race will be broadcast live on FS1. The 147-lap race will be broken into three segments with stage-ending cautions on laps 45 and 90.
Ragan on Darlington: “Darlington is one of my favorite tracks and to be going back in the Truck Series is pretty cool. I know there is going to be anxiety for a lot of people going green for the first time at Darlington with no practice, or qualifying in a truck. Those first few laps will have a lot of intensity, but I think the trucks are made for tracks like Darlington, those one-mile tracks with a lot of character. You’ve got these young guys who are racing hard in the Truck Series, so it should be a fun race and it’s kind of like the preview right before the Southern 500.”
