No. 16 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet
Start: 20th
Stage 1 Finish: 22nd
Stage 2 Finish: 15th
Finish: 8th
Struggling with a free-handling No. 16 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, Eckes fell to 22nd, where he finished the incident-free opening stage. Crew chief Alex Yontz made the call for a slew of chassis adjustments, hoping to give the No. 16 more grip and better drive to start the second stage. Restarting 23rd, Eckes avoided a multi-car wreck and slowly worked his way up to 15th, where he finished the second stage. Even though the car had better drive during the Stage 2, Eckes still lacked overall grip. The team made more adjustments during the caution and started the final stage in 13th place. Eckes fell to 14th as the fifth caution of the day came out with 63 laps remaining. He radioed that the No. 16 “felt okay” and just needed a solid pit stop to refire well on the restart. The team did just that, helping the No. 16 gain three spots on pit road, while putting the final set of sticker tires on the car. Eckes restarted 11th with 46 laps remaining. An overtime-inducing caution allowed Eckes to make one final pit stop for 23-lap scuffs, a gamble that paid off, as he raced to eighth place to finish the race.
“Another tough battle today. We fired off free and just struggled with lack of grip and drive. A good day on pit road helped us maximize what we had, and my crew chief, Alex [Yontz], made a good call to put scuffs on for overtime. We’ll take an eighth place and continue improving.” – Christian Eckes
No. 11 Call811.com Chevrolet
Start: 15th
Stage 1 Finish: 23rd
Stage 2 Finish: 20th
Finish: 12th
After initially jumping to 12th during the opening three laps, Williams began to drop throughout the first stage. He struggled with the No. 11 Call811.com Chevy’s front turn and finished Stage 1 in 23rd. Under caution, Williams pitted for tires, fuel, air pressure, and wedge adjustments. Stage 2 didn’t see more than two consecutive laps of green-flag racing until the lap-72 restart, with Williams firing off in 14th. He finished Stage 2 in 20th and pitted for tires, fuel, and further adjustments during the break. The race restarted with 102 laps remaining and Williams in 19th. While running 20th on lap 146, a wreck brought out the caution, and the No. 11 Chevy pitted for its final scheduled stop for tires, fuel, and a wedge adjustment. Williams fired off in 20th with 46 laps to go, and as the sun began setting, the No. 11 began coming into its own; Williams made it to 17th. A late spin forced overtime, and Williams pitted for 25-lap-old scuff tires and fuel. He restarted in the same spot he was running — 17th — and gained five spots en route to a 12th-place finish.
“I was really hoping the race was fixing to be over, but then the caution came out, and I was like, ‘Ahhh!’ Pretty happy with the way it ended up going, though.” – Josh Williams
No. 10 bProAuto Chevrolet
Start: 17th
Stage 1 Finish: 17th
Stage 2 Finish: 13th
Finish: 19th
Dye quickly made his way into the top 15 where he raced the majority of the first stage. He noted that the No. 10 bProAuto Chevrolet felt tight in the front but lacked grip in the rear. He finished the opening stage in 17th before pitting for wedge and track bar adjustments. Dye started the second stage in 19th and avoided an early wreck before driving up to 13th, where he finished the stint. Dye radioed that the rear felt much better but that he still needed the front to turn more. He pitted during the caution for tires, fuel, and an air pressure adjustment before starting the final stage from 11th place. Dye fell multiple spots as the No. 10 Chevy began trending tighter, but a timely caution with 63 laps remaining allowed Dye to pit for his final set of sticker tires and a track bar adjustment. He restarted 14th with 46 laps to go and maintained position before a late caution sent the field into overtime. The team made the call to stay out rather than pitting for scuff tires. Dye started 14th for the first overtime attempt but ultimately finished 19th, as those who pitted for scuffs had the advantage.
“We made some solid gains all day, despite being free and lacking grip. Unfortunately, we just made the wrong call at the end there to stay out and not put scuffs back on. We definitely had a better car than the finish shows, but we will keep pushing and move on to Vegas.” – Daniel Dye
About Kaulig Racing
Kaulig Racing™ is a full-time, multi-car NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) team, owned by award winning entrepreneur, Matt Kaulig. Established in 2016, Kaulig Racing™ has earned 23 NXS wins, made the NXS Playoffs consecutively each season since the playoff system started, and won two regular-season championships. In 2021, the team competed in select NCS events, before expanding to a two-car, full-time NCS team in 2022 and adding a third, part-time entry during the 2023 season. Since its first NCS start in 2021, the team has earned two wins. Kaulig Racing is currently fielding two full-time entries in the NCS and continues to field three full-time NXS entries, with a part-time fourth entry at select events. To learn more about the team, visit kauligracing.com.
