Driver of Porter Pipe & Supply Chevrolet Camaro Secures Third Top-10 After Career-Best Qualifying Effort in the NASCAR Xfinity Series
Date: Saturday, July 6
Event: The Loop 110
Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series
Location: Chicago Street Course (temporary 2.2-mile, 12-turn street circuit)
Format: 50 laps, broken into three stages (15 laps/15 laps/20 laps)
Start/Finish: 3rd / 6th (Running, completed 50 of 50 laps)
Race Winner: Shane van Gisbergen of Kaulig Racing (Chevrolet)
Overview:
Connor Mosack returned to the streets of Chicago intent on wrapping up unfinished business from a year ago. In last year’s inaugural NASCAR Xfinity Series race on the 2.2-mile, 12-turn street circuit that loops around the city’s iconic Grant Park, Mosack qualified fourth and was a top-five mainstay until a carburetor issue thwarted his effort. In the second edition of Xfinity Series racing on Chicago’s streets, Mosack qualified a career-best third and then nabbed his third career top-10 by driving his No. 88 Porter Pipe & Supply Chevrolet Camaro to an impressive sixth-place finish.
Like last year, Mosack was a regular among top-five. He held steady in fourth through the races’ first 16 laps and picked up third when he opted to stay out at the end of the first stage, leapfrogging third-place Ty Gibbs. When the race restarted on lap 19, it was three-time Australian Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen in first and 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson in second. Mosack was third, with 17-time Xfinity Series race winner A.J. Allmendinger behind him in fourth.
Allmendinger squeezed past Mosack in turn one at the restart, forcing Mosack wide and dropping him to fourth. Three laps later, however, Allmendinger overshot turn six, nosing his car into the tire barrier and handing third back to Mosack.
When the caution flag waved on lap 24 to pull Allmendinger out of the tire barrier, it was time for Mosack to pit. With four fresh Goodyear tires and a full tank of Sunoco fuel, Mosack returned to the race in 18th, with those who had pitted at the end of the first stage now ahead of him. But Mosack was joined in this strategy by van Gisbergen and Larson, as well as others running in the top-10. This put Mosack 18th for the lap-26 restart. Undaunted, the 25-year-old racer picked up six spots to finish the second stage in 12th.
With other drivers having to pit at the stage break, Mosack lined up 10th for the restart. He passed John Hunter Nemechek and Larson to rise to eighth before a seven-car quagmire in turn 11 brought out the caution.
Cautions periods ended up consuming six of the final 13 laps, but even with the stop-start nature of the waning laps, Mosack made the most of the green-flag laps he did have, driving to sixth in his final three tours as van Gisbergen motored to a 1.287-second margin of victory over Gibbs. Larson was third, with Parker Kligerman in fourth and Jessie Love in fifth.
Connor Mosack driver of the No. 88 Porter Pipe & Supply Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports:
“I felt like we were probably a third-place car all day. I rode between fourth and third there until we pitted. We kept up the speed out there, but were saving some for later and felt like we were in a really good spot. Never felt like we were quite as good as the 17 (Kyle Larson) or the 97 (Shane van Gisbergen).
“I felt like our pit strategy was the right one, but all those cautions and not having the green-flag laps really killed our strategy. That being said, the 97 was able to make it work, but we were probably in the wrong lane on a couple of restarts and just the line we were in didn’t go, and that kind of hurt our chances of getting back up there. Overall, it was a really fun race and I had a fun day, and grateful to be back on the streets of Chicago with Porter Pipe & Supply and JR Motorsports.
“This was probably one of the more stacked Xfinity Series fields on a road course in a long time, and that was part of the fun of the race. Even though we didn’t quite get the result we wanted, the showing was good and we had good speed, so I go home happy about that.”
Notes:
● This was Mosack’s 27th career NASCAR Xfinity Series start, but his first of the season.
● Mosack’s sixth-place finish was his third career top-10 in the Xfinity Series.
● Mosack finished fourth in Stage 1 and 12th in Stage 2.
● Mosack’s third-place qualifying effort was the best of his Xfinity Series career. He toured the 2.2-mile, 12-turn street course in 89.980 seconds at 88.020 mph. The only drivers to out-qualify Mosack were pole-winner and three-time Australian Supercars champion Shave van Gisbergen, and 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson
● Mosack was the sixth-fastest driver in the lone practice session prior to qualifying for The Loop 110. Mosack’s best lap in the session was 91.738 seconds at 86.333 mph.
● The Loop 110 was a hometown race for primary partner Porter Pipe & Supply. Based in Addison, Illinois, Porter Pipe & Supply is a third-generation, family-owned and operated wholesale supplier of commercial and industrial pipe, valves, fittings, plumbing supplies, HVAC and refrigeration equipment and mechanical products. In fact, the walls surrounding the track were all anchored with heavy-duty pipe from Porter Pipe & Supply.
Next Up:
Mosack in back in action on Friday, July 12 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. He will drive the No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado for Spire Motorsports in the CRC Brakleen 175. The 70-lap race around the 2.5-mile triangle starts at 5:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
