Friday, September 9
Track: Kansas Speedway, 1.5-mile oval
Race: 19 of 23
Event: Kansas Lottery 200 (134 laps/201 miles)
Hailie Deegan, No. 1 Odyssey Battery Ford F-150
Start: 17th
Stage 1: 26th
Stage 2: 21st
Finish: 23rd
Hailie Deegan qualified 17th for the Kansas Lottery 200 at Kansas Speedway. The 21-year-old fired off uncomfortable, fighting a tight condition in the race’s opening laps. After settling in, Deegan finished the first stage in 26th. After a big swing by Crew Chief Jerry Baxter calling for a spring rubber and track-bar adjustment heading into Stage 2, Deegan steadily climbed the order, sitting in 21st heading into the race’s final stage. Deegan relayed that the Odyssey Battery Ford F-150 was too loose, as the crew made another round of adjustments for the race’s final 75 laps. The Temecula, CA native climbed as high as 14th in the final stage before tightness in the middle of the corners halted her progress. Following a green flag pit stop on lap 110, Deegan rejoined the field in the 25th – climbing two more spots by race end to earn a 23rd-place finish at the Kansas Lottery 200.
Tanner Gray, No. 15 Ford Performance Ford F-150
Start: 10th
Stage 1: 10th
Stage 2: 17th
Finish: 16th
Tanner Gray qualified 10th for the Kansas Lottery 200 and battled hard in the latter half of the top-10 for much of the opening stage to secure 10th at the green-checkered. The No. 15 pit crew had a lightning-fast pit stop and the Ford driver would restart in sixth for the second stage. A caution flag late in Stage 2 would end the stage under yellow and Gray was in the 17th position as his Ford F-150 had built too tight on the long run. The New Mexico native restarted 12th for the final stage and pitted under green from the mid-pack with 28 laps to go. Gray would cross the finish line in 16th.
Ryan Preece, No. 17 Morton Buildings F-150
Start: 7th
Stage 1: 6th
Stage 2: 3rd
Finish: 3rd
Ryan Preece qualified seventh for Friday’s 200-mile event at Kansas Speedway. The Morton Buildings F-150 was fast from the drop of the green flag and would secure sixth at the end of Stage 1. The team gained an additional spot on pit road during the break and Preece parlayed the fifth-place starting position to third quickly in the second stage – a position he would hold until a caution ended Stage 2 prematurely. The Connecticut driver restarted the final stint of the race from outside the front row and settled into third early on. The remainder of the race would be run under green flag conditions and Crew Chief Chad Johnston elected to call his driver down pit road with 30 laps to go. Preece used the four fresh tires to drive back up to a third-place finish and secure a spot in the Round of 8 for DGR in the NCWTS Owner’s Championship.
Next event: UNOH 200 presented by Ohio Logistics at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee on September 15 at 9:00 p.m. ET.
