The NASCAR Xfinity Series returned to road course racing action this weekend at Road America. After top twenty-five finishes at both Watkins Glen and Mid-Ohio earlier in the month, Boyd was determined to get another solid finish in Road America.
Boyd would roll off from the 37th starting position for The Johnsonville 180 at Road America. The green flag waved and the cars began snaking their way around the four-mile road course. It did not take long for attrition to begin. The first caution of the day waved on lap 3 after the 66 of Carl Long and the 55 of James French each stalled out on track. Caution would once again wave on lap 7 for the 16 of Ryan Reed crashing off course. Matt Tifft won a one lap shootout to end the first stage on lap 10. Boyd patiently made his way around track and managed to pick up ten positions from his starting spot to end the first stage in 27th.
Boyd radioed to his crew and said he was really fighting the balance on braking in turn 5 and turn 8 especially. The Grunt Style Gladiators serviced the car with four tires, fuel, and adjustments to help Boyd. On lap 15 the fourth caution of the day waved when the 22 car of Austin Cindric blew an engine. Boyd said his car was really loose in the right turns and wanted to be tightened up next stop. Stage two ended on lap 20 with Daniel Hemric claiming the stage victory and Boyd up to the 25th position.
The final stage began and Boyd was reminded to stick to his game plan of racing his own race. Boyd did just that. He focused on hitting his marks, staying on track, and avoiding mayhem in front of him. After several cars spun around caution once again waved on lap 28 for the 9 of Tyler Reddick leaking oil. The final caution of the day waved on lap 36 after the 45 of Josh Bilicki lost brakes and made hard contact in the tire barriers of turn twelve. Despite green flag conditions during the last run, Boyd had to avoid many cars spinning around him off track in the final laps. Boyd managed to keep his Grunt Style Chevrolet clean and brought home a very respectable 21st place finish, right behind NASCAR legend Bill Elliott.
After the race Boyd reflected, “ Wow. That was a ton of fun. It’s been really challenging for me to learn the track this weekend, but I feel like we were steadily getting better all race long. My plan for all of these road course races has just been to stay on course and try to get faster as the race goes on without making any mistakes. We got to race Bill Elliott to the checkers there at the end, and that has to be one of the coolest moments I’ve had in my career yet.
A 21st place finish at Road America now extends Boyd’s top 25 streak to eight in a row and ten in the last eleven races. After the No. 76 team was docked 35 points post Bristol for loose lugnuts, Boyd has already climbed his way back to 23rd in driver standings with a very solid weekend in Road America. The NASCAR Xfinity Series will make their next stop in Darlington, SC next week for a special throwback weekend. Coverage of the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 from Darlington Raceway will begin Saturday September 1st at 3:30 pm ET.
Spencer Boyd Racing PR/Photo Credit Spencer Boyd Racing
