CHINA GROVE, N.C. (September 5, 2011) – Robert Richardson, Jr. and the No. 23 North Texas Pipe Chevrolet of R3 Motorsports survived six cautions and 197 laps of action under the lights of Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday night to earn a 26th-place finish.
The day was filled with two practices early in the day, qualifying in the afternoon and then racing at night around the 1.5-mile oval. When the first practice wrapped up, Richardson was 31st on the chart and then 30th after the final session.
When qualifying ended, the No. 23 North Texas Pipe Chevrolet was lined up 35th for the initial green flag start.
Once the race started, Richardson began his trek forward in the running order. By lap 10, he had cracked the top-30 and raced up and down the 20s for much of the early going.
Battling handling and tire conditions and the other 42 cars kept the McKinney, Texas resident busy for much of the night. The team was able to take advantage of the six cautions throughout the night for fuel, tires and adjustments to their Chevrolet.
However, the tire compound used for this race was giving Richardson fits as he tried to get a handling on the car as he sped through the high banks around the track. As the laps wore down to the finish, so did the tires to the point Richardson felt the car slipping and sliding much to his dislike during the race.
When the 197-lap event was over, Richardson crossed under the checkered flags in 26th place. He will return to the No. 23 ride of R3 Motorsports for the Richmond International Raceway event this Friday night.
Robert Richardson, Jr. Quotes: “We made some good strides in practice gaining on the car and what we needed to do get better. I wished we would have had a better qualifying run because it’s always easier to gain track position that way, rather than racing everybody else for them.
“I don’t know what was going on with the tires, but they kept wearing to the point the car felt like it was slipping and sliding more than ever. We tried different air pressure adjustments and chassis ideas, but nothing worked for those long, green-flag runs.
“We were able to do what we needed on pit stops to keep ourselves in the game. The cautions didn’t fall where would have liked them, but the team did a good job with adjustments and getting me off pit road quickly.
“It was good to get back in the car and I’m looking forward to racing Richmond next weekend. We had our best finish of the season there, so we’re looking to top that next Friday night.”
