Pocono Proves Tricky for Driver of IRWIN® TRADE STRONG™ Toyota GR Supra
Date: Saturday, July 22
Event: Explore the Pocono Mountains 225
Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series
Location: Pocono (Pa.) Raceway (2.5-mile triangle)
Format: 90 laps, broken into three stages (20 laps/20 laps/50 laps)
Start/Finish: 4th / 34th (Accident, completed 85 of 92 laps)
Race Winner: Austin Hill of Richard Childress Racing (Chevrolet)
Note: Race extended two laps past its scheduled 90-lap distance due to a green-white-checkered finish.
Overview:
The “Tricky Triangle” lived up to its name Saturday in the Explore the Pocono Mountains 225 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. Connor Mosack qualified his No. 19 IRWIN® TRADE STRONG™ Toyota GR Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing a stout fourth for the 90-lap race around the 2.5-mile triangle, but brake issues combined with a pit road penalty conspired to leave him with a 34th-place finish. Mosack finished ninth in the first stage, despite having his hands full with a loose-handling racecar. A trip to pit road afforded the team a chance to change four tires, add fuel and make adjustments. Quick pit work placed Mosack sixth for the restart, but the loose-handling condition persisted and Mosack noted that he was “snapping loose” at the exit of turn two. The handling issue was compounded when he lost brake power on lap 68. The 24-year-old racer from Charlotte, North Carolina, made a trip to pit road for the team to work on the brakes and wound up two laps down to the race leaders. Despite having his hands full with the car’s handling and its brake issues, Mosack continued to log laps as the race drew to a close. He was deep in the field when he came off turn two on lap 86 and made hard contact with the outside retaining wall. Mosack was able to drive the IRWIN® TRADE STRONG™ Toyota to pit road where the team assessed the damage and determined that they were unable to continue the race.
Connor Mosack driver of the No. 19 IRWIN® TRADE STRONG™ Toyota GR Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing:
“We just started losing the brake pedal pretty bad, so I was trying to manage that. We kind of maintained it and came down to pit to remove tape and cool the brakes off some more, but I made a mistake and went through too many boxes and got a penalty, which put us two laps down. We had a caution toward the end and it felt like the brakes came back to me a little, so I thought we were okay, and then all of a sudden I think the brake rotor exploded going into turn two. I had nothing, so I tried to hold it up into the wall to make the corner. It’s an unfortunate end to the day. I felt like we had a really fast car, especially in clean air. I have some things to work on to keep momentum up in turns one and two, so we have a lot of good notes to walk away with. Overall, it was a good learning day. Appreciate IRWIN TRADE STRONG for coming on board and Joe Gibbs Racing for bringing a great car.”
Notes:
● This was Mosack’s 14th career NASCAR Xfinity Series start and his 12th of the season. It was his second start of 2023 with Joe Gibbs Racing.
● Mosack’s fourth-place qualifying effort matched his career best in the Xfinity Series. He toured the 2.5-mile triangle in 53.898 seconds at 166.982 mph. Mosack qualified fourth earlier this month for the inaugural NASCAR Xfinity Series race on the streets of downtown Chicago.
● Mosack finished second earlier in the day in the Sunset Hill Shooting Range 150 ARCA Menards Series race, equaling his previous best ARCA result, earned twice beforehand. Mosack finished second in the 2023 ARCA season-opener on Feb. 18 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway and he finished second on June 4, 2022 at Portland (Ore.) International Raceway in an ARCA Menards Series West race.
Next Up:
Mosack returns to Joe Gibbs Racing next weekend for the Henry 180 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. He will drive the No. 19 Porter Pipe & Supply Toyota GR Supra on Saturday, July 29 in the 45-lap race around the 4.048-mile, 14-turn circuit. It will be Mosack’s third and final Xfinity Series race of 2023 for Joe Gibbs Racing and it goes live at 3 p.m. EDT on NBC and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Mosack will return to Sam Hunt Racing for the remainder of his Xfinity Series schedule.
