NASCAR Nationwide Series
Kansas Lottery 300
Kansas Speedway
Saturday, October 4, 2014
Race Highlights:
Ty Dillon qualified on the pole for the Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway, his third of the season and was the highest qualifying Richard Childress Racing entry. Teammates Brian Scott, Paul Menard and Brendan Gaughan qualified fifth, eighth and 10th respectively.
RCR teammates Paul Menard, Ty Dillon, Brian Scott and Brendan Gaughan finished fourth, fifth, ninth and 13th.
Ty Dillon currently leads the RCR drivers in the NASCAR Nationwide Series driver point standings in third, Brian Scott is fourth and Brendan Gaughan eighth.
Next up for the NASCAR Nationwide Series is the Drive for the Cure 300 presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Catch all the action live next Friday, October 10 at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN2.
Brian Scott Earns 19th Top-10 Finish in 2014 at Kansas Speedway
Brian Scott and the No. 2 Shore Lodge Chevrolet Camaro team collected their 26th top-10 qualifying position of the season at Kansas Speedway by starting fifth in the Kansas Lottery 300. Scott battled with front grip through the nine different restarts in the 200-lap event. Remaining inside the top-10 for the race’s entirety, Scott and the Phil Gould-led team made multiple adjustments on their five visits to pit road to better the handling of the No. 2 car. A strategic NASCAR Nationwide Series race, Scott brought the Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff Chevrolet home in 10th place, collecting the teams 19th top-10 finish of the 2014 season.
Start – 5th Finish – 10th Laps Led – 4 Points – 4th
BRIAN SCOTT QUOTE:
“Today was a good effort from our Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff Chevrolet. We had a fast car and a good strategy. I couldn’t get through traffic like I wanted and struggled with grip on the restarts. It wasn’t the day we wanted for Smokey Snuff and Shawn Michaels with us as our guest.”
Ty Dillon Finishes Fifth in the Kansas Lottery 300
Ty Dillon drove the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats Chevrolet Camaro to a fifth-place finish at Kansas Speedway, recording the team’s sixth top-five finish of the season. Earlier in the afternoon, Dillon qualified first for the 200-lap race, recording the team’s third pole award this season and third of his NASCAR Nationwide Series career. He led the race’s first six laps before the first caution flag. Dillon raced in and around the top five before the first pit stop on lap 23. Crew chief Danny Stockman called for a right-side tires only change on the lap 23 pit stop, and a left-side tires only change on the lap 46 pit stop. Dillon noted his car was loose handling when changing only two tires, so on lap 75 the Bass Pro Shops team changed all four tires to regain the balance Dillon needed. For the remainder of the race, Dillon raced on his pit window saving fuel to make it to the end. The race’s last restart came on lap 152 where Dillon found himself in the eighth position. For the remaining 48 laps, the 22-year-old driver drove back inside the top-five with three quality passes. In the end, the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats Chevrolet Camaro crossed the finish line fifth. Dillon was the first Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender and first Nationwide Series regular to finish. He remains third in the driver point standings, two points behind second-place.
Start – 1st Finish -5th Laps Led – 6 Points – 3rd
TY DILLON QUOTE:
“We battled hard all weekend and we had a really fast Bass Pro Shops Chevy as soon as we unloaded. We were able to run up front a little bit, around the top-five and really had a strong balance the entire day. Unfortunately, we made just a few small mistakes which was the difference. I’m proud of our effort and we had a really good points day overall.”
Paul Menard Finishes Fourth at Kansas Speedway in his Final NASCAR Nationwide Series Race of 2014
Paul Menard drove Richard Childress Racing’s No. 33 Tide/Menards Chevrolet Camaro to a fourth-place finish in his final NASCAR Nationwide Series race of the season at Kansas Speedway. The Nick Harrison-led team started the 200-lap race from the eighth position after qualifying earlier in the day. Menard noted early in the race the Chevy’s handling was a combination of both tight and loose in different spots of the 1.5-mile track. The Tide/Menards crew serviced the car on pit road a total of four times for four and two-tire stops with adjustments, as well as fuel during the nine-caution race. The Eau Claire, Wisc.-native raced his way as high as the third position before ultimately finishing in fourth. This finish marks Menard’s third top-five and fifth top-10 finish of his seven-race NNS season.
Start – 8th Finish – 4th Laps Led – 0 Points – N/A
PAUL MENARD QUOTE:
“I was hoping to get a win for Nick (Harrison – Crew Chief) and the guys. They’ve done a great job all season and brought really fast race cars to the track every race. We started out with some handling issues there at the beginning, but the guys made good adjustments on pit road and combined with fast pit stops kept us up front. I think we needed 10 more laps there at the end and we could’ve been in contention for the win. It’s been a fun season with these guys.”
Brendan Gaughan Finishes 13th at Kansas Speedway
Brendan Gaughan and the No. 62 South Point Hotel & Casino team started Saturday afternoon’s Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway from the 10th position. On lap 11 Gaughan reported that his Chevrolet was tight. Only 11 laps later the Shane Wilson-led team made a pit stop under caution for four Goodyear Racing tires, Sunoco fuel and a track bar adjustment. When the call was made on lap 47 for the No. 62 Richard Childress Racing team to stay out on track and not pit, it resulted in the Las Vegas-native leading the field to green on the lap 49 restart. Gaughan raced inside the top 10 for the majority of the day, but received a pit road penalty after his final pit stop on lap 137. The pass-through penalty shuffled Gaughan back to 15th, two laps down. When the checkered flag fell, the 39-year-old driver had fought back to 13th and was only one lap down. Gaughan and the No. 62 team remain eighth in the driver point standings as the Series heads to Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Start – 10th Finish – 13th Laps Led – 7 Points – 8th
BRENDAN GAUGHAN QUOTE:
“We had a great South Point Chevrolet all weekend at Kansas Speedway. RCR does a great job of providing us with fast equipment. On that last pit stop, I just pushed my Chevrolet Camaro a little too far exiting pit road and I got caught.