No. 31 Poppy Bank Camaro ZL1
- Daniel Hemric started 33rd, as per the rule book, after qualifying for the USA Today 301 was canceled, due to inclement weather.
- Hemric stayed quiet on the radio, as the opening stage remained green for the entire 70-lap stint. Hemric finished 34th and down one lap to the leaders.
- During the first stage break, Hemric radioed that his No. 31 Poppy Bank Chevy was loose on entry. He pitted for tires, fuel, and a handful of adjustments to help the handling of the car. He started the second stage in 34th. Hemric made steady improvements but lacked the rear grip he needed to advance. On lap 141, Hemric spun but acquired no damage, as the caution came out. Crew chief Trent Owens made the call to pit for substantial adjustments on the No. 31 Chevy. The field went back to green on lap 148, as Hemric sat two laps down to the leaders. Another caution came out on lap 153, giving the No. 31 team another chance to make more left-side adjustments. He restarted 34th on lap 159 and went on to finish 33rd in stage two.
- During the second stage break, Hemric noted improvements of the No. 31 Chevrolet’s drivability, adding that the rear tires felt more connected. He pitted for four tires and started the final stage in 33rd. A caution came out on the initial restart, followed by another, before eventually going back to green with 96 laps remaining. As another caution came out with 92 laps remaining, Hemric radioed that the No. 31 Chevy was extremely tight handling, and Owens made the call to pit for right-side tires. Hemric restarted in the free-pass position before another caution came out just after the restart. Rain began to fall, red-flagging the race. The race resumed and went back to green on lap 228, as Hemric sat 31st. The next caution fell on lap 234, and Hemric pitted for a wedge adjustment. The field went back to green on lap 262 and only made it two laps before another caution came out. Hemric avoided wrecking cars in front of him, but made slight contact with the wall. The field pitted under caution for a non-competitive stop to put on fresh wet-weather tires. Hemric restarted 30th with 27 laps to go, before the next caution came out with 18 laps remaining, as Hemric avoided a spinning No. 77 car in front of him. He radioed to his team that the No. 31 Poppy Bank Chevy was tight on throttle. Hemric pitted under caution for wet-weather tires and restarted 31st with nine laps remaining. A caution on the restart put the field back under yellow, and Hemric stayed out before restarting 31st. The field went green for two laps before a spin brought out an overtime-inducing caution. On a lap of his own, Hemric restarted 31st, where he finished the race.
“We knew coming into the weekend that our short-track package has been a challenge for this Kaulig Racing team, and that’s what today was. Our No. 31 Poppy Bank Chevy lacked rear grip, and I spun after using up the rear tires. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t rebound and get our laps back.”
– Daniel Hemric
No. 16 CarBravo Camaro ZL1
- Ty Dillon started 36th, as per the rule book, after qualifying for the USA Today 301 was canceled, due to inclement weather.
- Dillon and the No. 16 CarBravo team remained silent on the radio for the first half of Stage one, before reporting he was tight in the middle. Dillon fell one lap down, as he continued to battle a car that became loose in and out of turns. After a caution-free stage one came to an end, the No. 16 car finished 36th and one lap down.
- While under the first stage break, the No. 16 team pitted for tires, fuel, a sway bar and rear track-bar adjustment with the goal of being able to enter the corners more aggressively. Dillon restarted 36th and one lap down. As the field returned green, Dillon noted the adjustments had improved the handling of the No. 16. Electing to run long while the field began green-flag pit stops, the No. 16 gained as many as three positions but eventually fell two laps down, before the first caution of the day on lap 143. Staying out, Dillon restarted 31st and one lap down, when a timely caution on lap 155 allowed the No. 16 to pit for a right-rear adjustment, tires and fuel. Dillon restarted 30th and one lap down. As the green-white-checkered flew to wrap up stage two, Dillon finished 31st and a lap down.
- As the final stage got underway, Dillon reported low air pressure did not allow the No.16 to fire off fast enough. Crew Chief Travis Mack brought the No.16 down pit road for an air pressure adjustment, tires and fuel. Dillon restarted 31st when an early caution allowed the No.16 to pit once again and top off with fuel. Dillon restarted 30th and in the free-pass position when the fourth caution fell, putting the No.16 back on the lead lap. Dillon pitted for four tires and fuel, before restarting 28th. On Lap 211 the fifth caution of the day came out. Dillon stayed out and restarted 26th, climbing two spots before the next caution and inclement weather red-flagged the race. After a lengthy delay and a NASCAR-mandated switch to rain tires, the No. 16 restarted 26th, as Dillon fell one position before the next caution. Electing to stay out, the No. 16 restarted 25th. Dillon slowly lost four positions as the No. 16 was free exiting turns, when the next caution came out with 45 laps to go. Staying out, the No. 16 restarted 29th and climbed as high as 23rd before a wreck with 37 laps to go eliminated several cars and caused minimal driver-side body damage to the No. 16 car. The field pitted for a non-competitive pit stop for fresh rain tires. The No. 16 gained as many as seven positions over the next several laps, before the caution once again flew with 18 laps remaining. Dillon avoided the wreck, elected to stay out and restarted 17th, when NASCAR again mandated fresh rain tires. As the field looked to return to green-flag racing, the caution once again came out on the restart. The No. 16 stayed out and restarted 17th. The next and final caution of the race set up NASCAR overtime. Dillon once again stayed out and restarted 17th. Dillon went on to finish 20th.
“I’m really proud of the guys today and everything they did to make the car better. At one point, we were two laps down, and we just kept fighting, hitting our restarts, and gaining positions back. We still need to work on a few things, but was an overall team effort today.”
– Ty Dillon
Kaulig Racing PR
