SPART, Ky. (July 11, 2015) – Bubba Wallace had a fast Ford EcoBoost Mustang in Friday night’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Kentucky Speedway, ultimately earning his sixth top-10 finish of the year after crossing the finish line in seventh.
“This is the type of speed that we need going into these next 15 weeks and I can’t thank my guys enough. The Ford EcoBoost Mustang was on rails in our own little league. We couldn’t get the clean air to work with us, so we had to settle in for what we had. I knew we had speed to run top three, but we just couldn’t get up there. It was a strong day though, for sure.”
NASCAR was forced to cancel qualifying for both the NASCAR XFINITY Series and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series after rain greatly limited practice time for the Sprint Cup Series. The sanctioning body opted to forego qualifying in favor of another practice session for the Sprint Cup teams.
The NASCAR XFINITY Series was lined up based on the speeds of Thursday’s lone practice session, with Wallace lining up eighth. At the start of the race, Wallace was able to maintain that position, even with a loose-handling Ford Mustang. The rookie of the year contender visited pit road on Lap 27 under the competition caution, for four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment.
Wallace returned to the track in eighth and continued to tick off laps in that position. The No. 6 Ford Mustang visited pit road for the second time of the day on Lap 77 for four tires, fuel and another track bar adjustment.
On the restart, Wallace gained one position, moving up to seventh. As Wallace began to get closer to the front of the field, his Mustang started to handle better in the clean air. He held his position in seventh until green flag pit stops began to cycle through.
Wallace visited pit road on Lap 139 from first place. For the third time of the evening, Wallace visited pit road for four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment.
He restarted seventh on Lap 146 and battled around that position for the remainder of the race, ultimately crossing the line in seventh.
With the result, Wallace remains sixth in the NASCAR XFINITY Series point standings, as the series travels to New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
NEXT UP:
Lakes Region 200
One-mile New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Loudon, N.H.
Saturday, July 18, 2015
4:00 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network and PRN
RACE SUMMARY
Bubba Wallace
Started: 8
Finished: 7
Complete Race Results:
www.roushfenway.com
POINTS SUMMARY
Bubba Wallace
2015 Season Total: Sixth with 510 points
2015 SEASON SUMMARY
Bubba Wallace
Starts Wins Top-Fives Top-10s Poles
16 0 1 6 1