No. 97 WeatherTech Chevrolet Camaro
- Shane van Gisbergen qualified 26th for the Explore the Pocono Mountains 225.
- The first caution came out on lap three, and the No. 97 team opted to pit for fuel only. The No. 97 Team was forced to drop to the rear of the field for a pit road speeding penalty before the event resumed. Van Gisbergen battled a loose race car but managed to work his way through the field, taking the green-and-white checkered flag in 27th.
- The No. 97 WeatherTech team opted to pit under the stage break caution for adjustments, tires and fuel. Van Gisbergen started stage two in 21st after gaining six spots on pit road. Van Gisbergen maintained position through the 20-lap stage and finished 20th. The No. 97 still continued to battle a loose race car on entry and opted to pit during the stage break for adjustments, fuel and tires.
- Van Gisbergen started the final stage 20th. A caution came out early in the stage, and the No. 97 opted to stay out and save fuel, restarting the stage in 19th. Van Gisbergen quickly moved his way through the field, entering the top 10 with 27 laps remaining in the race. The No. 97 WeatherTech team pitted under caution for fuel, tires and adjustments with 19 laps remaining. Van Gisbergen restarted the final stage 17th. He re-entered the top 10 with 10 laps remaining in the race. On lap 83, Van Gisbergen was involved in a minor incident, forcing the No. 97 team to pit for new tires, restarting the event in 27th with four laps remaining. Van Gisbergen raced his way into the top 20 before the No. 39 made contact with him, resulting in a 31st-place finish for the No. 97.
“Well that’s gutting! We are getting better and better on these ovals. My No. 97 Kaulig Racing team made a good call on strategy and we had pretty good tires, but just got taken out there at the end two separate times. We had a great WeatherTech Chevy this weekend, just a shame we weren’t able to get top 10.”
– Shane van Gisbergen
No. 11 Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet Camaro
- Josh Williams qualified 22nd for the Explore the Pocono Mountains 225.
- On lap two, a wreck brought out the first caution, with Williams running 21st. After restarting on lap seven, Williams took 20th and finished there when the first stage ended.
- Williams took the No. 11 Chevy Camaro down pit road for tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment and restarted from 16th on lap 26. Debris brought the caution out on lap 28, and after firing back off on lap 31 from 17th, Williams moved into 14th on the restart lap. After scrapping to try to enter the top 10, Williams got tight out of turn three on lap 34 and lost momentum, falling back to 16th before select leaders began pitting before the stage end. Williams took the green-white-checkered flag running 14th.
- During the final stage break, Williams pitted for tires and fuel and restarted on lap 47 in 18th. With the pack steaming into turn one, a multi-car wreck ensued behind the No. 11, and the field was once again forced to pace until the lap-51 green flag. Restarting 16th, Williams picked up two spots and continued his positive momentum. Running long, he took over second place before a caution came out on lap 70. Alloy Employer Services crew chief Kevin Walter instructed Williams to come down pit road for tires and fuel, and after doing so, he restarted in 18th with 16 to go. Another wreck brought out the yellow flag on lap 76, and Williams restarted 17th with 12 to go. He quickly got shuffled back to 22nd and began his trek forward once again, then pulling into 19th before the race went yellow again with seven laps to go. Williams restarted 21st with four laps to go and crossed the line to finish 18th.
“The car drove really well today. The yellow came out at an unfortunate time in the third stage, and I think we deserved better than where we finished.”
– Josh Williams
No. 10 Champion Container Chevrolet Camaro
- Daniel Dye qualified 20th for the Explore the Pocono Mountains 225.
- Immediately upon the start of the 90-lap event, Daniel Dye battled a tight-handling No. 10 Champion Container Chevrolet in addition to surging engine temperature concerns while in traffic. Completing the stage in the 23rd position, Dye pitted under the stage caution for four tires, fuel, and a left-front packer and air pressure adjustment. Due to the prolonged pit stop, Dye restarted 27th.
- Running in the 27th position, a caution for debris came early in the stage on lap 28. Dye relayed the temperature was again rising on the No. 10 Champion Container Chevrolet. Crew chief Philippe Lopez made the call to bring Dye down pit road to remove tape from grille and make an air pressure adjustment. Dye continued to battle rising engine temperatures during the green flag run and completed the stage in the 22nd position. Under the stage caution, the No. 10 received four tires, fuel, and a wedge adjustment.
- Dye continued to fight the balance of the No. 10 as the race prolonged. A late caution relegated Dye from 14th to 17th at the checkered flag.
“Good day of learning today at Pocono. Fought tight conditions all day and didn’t get it to where it needed to be ultimately by the end. We continued to make progress all day though and learned a lot. It was good to make some laps in our Champion Container Camaro this afternoon, and I can’t thank them and Kaulig Racing enough for coming out and supporting us. Looking forward to doing it all over again next week at Indy.”
– Daniel Dye
No. 16 Celsius Chevrolet Camaro
- AJ Allmendinger qualified 10th for the Explore the Pocono Mountains 225.
- Allmendinger remained quiet on the radio during the opening stage as he moved up from his starting position. The team stayed out under the first caution, and by lap 16, Allmendinger was in fifth place, where he went on to finish the stage. Allmendinger reported the rear of his No. 16 Celsius Chevy was stable, but he was building tighter center off. The team came to pit road during the stage break for four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment.
- The No. 16 restarted the second stage in seventh place. The caution came out two laps later, and Allmendinger reported he was free when running single file behind other cars. Allmendinger restarted in sixth place and battled hard as the stage continued. The No. 16 finished the second stage in sixth place. The team came to pit road under the stage break for four tires, fuel and an additional track bar adjustment.
- The third stage restarted on lap 51; Allmendinger was running 10th. On the first lap green, Allmendinger slide sideways but was able to save his No. 16 Celsius Chevy from bringing out the caution. The team came to pit road on lap 53 for four fresh tires. When the caution came out on lap 70, Allmendinger stayed out to restart in 10th. Allmendinger went on to finish sixth.
“Everybody is shoving on the restart there and I didn’t want to get put three-wide in the middle. When I popped out, I realized I was already way low. I tried to do everything I could to lock it down and not spin anyone. We’re just looking for speed. We know it’s not where we need to be yet, but at times we had really good speed. Of course, you want to go out and win, but it is a step in the right direction.”
– AJ Allmendinger
Kaulig Racing PR
