Ecosave 200 – Race Results
Venue: Charlotte Motor Speedway
FINISH: 28th
Start: 21st
Heartbreak Hovers Over Dye After an Early Exit at Charlotte
Daniel Dye, driver of the No. 20 Champion Container Chevrolet was poised for a top-10 finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Ecosave 200 until an incident in the closing laps led to heartbreak for the young driver. Dye started the 134-lap event 21st in line and wasted no time on his charge to the front. A quiet first stage saw Dye picking up spots left and right and raced his way to a 16th-place Stage One finish. Under the stage break, Dye reported to his team that his balance was pretty neutral and did not feel he needed adjustments. Four fresh tires and top off of Sunoco race fuel for the young driver to send him on his way to restart Stage Two.
The field stacked up and the No. 20 was forced to drop a few spots back to 22nd. Dye quickly regrouped and soon found himself back just outside the top 15 with 10 laps to go. As the stage came to a close, the young driver was able secure a 15th-place Stage Two finish and reported to crew chief Dewy Townsend under the stage break that he was lacking rear-stability in his race truck. A quick trip down pit road for four fresh tires, fuel and a slight adjustment to help the handling on that race truck led the Daytona Beach, Fla. native to restart the final stage 15th in line.
Throughout the final run, the field started to heat up and the racing started to get dicey. Dye continued to battle with the handling on the rear end of his race truck until a yellow flag appeared with 35 laps to go. This allowed the young driver to come down pit road for four tires, fuel and a small adjustment. A quick stop by the crew gained Dye a few spots on pit road to get him inside the top 10 to restart the closing laps. Dye set his focus forward and made a move up through the middle putting himself three-wide and battling hard as he found himself up to seventh until another caution arose. This gave the No. 20 a chance to reset and regroup in eighth.
On the restart, the field stacked up and a gaggle of trucks, including the No. 20 Chevrolet made contact, sending the competition into a red flag. The No. 20 spotter was able to assess the damage from above and the team chose not to pit when the field went back green. On the restart, the No. 20 went for an unfortunate spin headed into Turn 1 which forced the young driver to the garage for an early exit and a 28th-place finish at Charlotte.
Daniel Dye Quote:
“We had a really fast No. 20 Champion Container Chevrolet tonight and I hate that we walk away, once again, with nothing to show for it. Tough night for this No. 20 team but very grateful to MHR for the opportunity to hop in this truck for a few races this year. Big thanks to Champion Container, Bill (McAnally, team owner), Dewey (Townsend, crew chief) and the No. 20 team for a great run.”
