Auto Club Speedway was the last stop for the NASCAR Xfinity Series “NASCAR Goes West” tour. The fast and bumpy two- mile track would be another first time visit for driver Spencer Boyd.
Boyd would roll off 29th, which was a season high starting position. When the green flag dropped, Boyd immediately struggled, as he battled an extremely tight handling condition. On lap 31, caution was displayed for the 15 of Matt Mills. The first stage ended under this caution. Joey Logano won the stage and Boyd finished 33rd.
During the caution on lap 37, Boyd came to the pits for four tires, fuel, & adjustments to help free the car up. The pit crew had a lighting fast stop. Boyd entered the pits 33rd and left 27th, a net gain of six position thanks to his crew.
As the second stage began, the adjustments seemed to help, but the car started tightening up again throughout the run. On lap 69 caution waved again, this time for the 42 of John Hunter Nemechek. Stage 2 again ended under caution with Joey Logano up front and Boyd in 29th.
Lap 73 Boyd came in for 4 tires, fuel, a tear off, and slight adjustments. Another solid stop by the crew moved him up 3 more positions. Boyd would restart 26th for the final stage of the race.
The final stage produced quite a bit of attrition with wrecks, mechanical failures, and tire failures. Boyd ran the majority of the final stage between the 26th- 28th positions. With 30 laps remaining, Boyd lost the carcass from his right rear tire. Boyd somehow managed to keep the car intact with very minimal to no damage. When it was all said and done, Joey Logano went on to score the victory with Boyd finishing in the 30th position.
After the race Boyd reflected, “This was probably the best feeling car I’ve had this season so far. We battled a tight condition for most of the weekend, but we got it pretty good there about halfway through the race. I love all the different lines you can run here; it makes for great racing. I hate we had that tire problem with about 30 to go though. I thought for sure we were going to get this Grunt Style Chevy another top 25, but that’s racing. I can’t thank my guys enough. The pit-crew was absolutely on fire today.”
The Xfinity Series will head into a mini vacation with two off weeks before heading to Texas Motor Speedway in April. Although he will not be racing, Spencer Boyd will make an appearance next weekend at Martinsville Speedway, as he’ll be with the Grunt Style merchandise hauler to meet fans and sign some autographs.
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