Max McLaughlin delivered his best result at Iowa Speedway on Saturday afternoon with a seventh-place finish in the Shore Lunch 150. The driver of the No. 1 Toyota Racing Development Toyota Camry endured sweltering hot conditions at the “Fastest Short Track on the Planet” to deliver his third top-10 finish in his fourth start of the season.
“Mad Max” posted the second-fastest lap of the lone practice session on Saturday afternoon and started 14th as the field was set based on ARCA Menards Series point standings. The 20-year old steadily made improvements throughout the 150-lap contest and held the 10th position when the opening 50-lap segment ended with the race’s first of two competition cautions. Crew chief Dave McCarty bolted on four fresh tires and gave McLaughlin a round of chassis adjustments on the competition caution to aid his loose condition, and allowed him to drive up as high as eighth before pitting for additional changes under a lap 72.
After restarting 13th, McLaughlin quickly drove back into the top-10 before the second and final competition caution on lap 98. With his final set of fresh tires, McLaughlin challenged for a position in the top five before fending off a fierce attack for his seventh position in the waning laps to claim his best finish at Iowa Speedway in his second appearance at the .875-mile oval.
Max McLaughlin Quote: “We struggled all day really. Just couldn’t seem to find the right balance. We pitted every chance we could to try and make it better and just couldn’t tighten the car up. Finished seventh, the guys worked really hard and they didn’t give up, and that’s all you can ask.”
HRE PR
