Jesse Love and the No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Team Capitalize on Pit Strategy to Lead Laps at Pocono Raceway
“I’m proud of my No. 2 Whelen team for fighting all day at Pocono Raceway. After qualifying, we had to start at the rear to fix a brake issue. My guys got the problem fixed and strategy was going to be important to regain track position. At the start of the race, we had a strategy that played out well. We took the lead on lap 23 when the leaders pitted, and even despite the tire disadvantage, we were able to hold our own which set us up for the end. Unfortunately, on our scheduled green flag stop, a tire got away from the crew, and I had to serve a pass-through penalty that put us a lap down. Everyone our team kept pushing forward for the remainder of the race. Once we got our lap back, there were not a lot of cautions to help come from the back a second time. The fact that we finished 22nd does not reflect how good our Richard Childress Racing Camaro was. We should have had a top-10 finish at the worst, but we will move on and head to Indianapolis Motor Speedway next week.”
-Jesse Love
Austin Hill and the No. 21 Global Industrial Chevrolet Team Earn Stage Points En Route to a Seventh-Place Finish at Pocono Raceway
“Another top-10 finish with stage points for our No. 21 Global Industrial Chevrolet team today at Pocono Raceway. On initial fire off, the car was secure, and I was able to drive forward from 11th to sixth in a lap and a half. As the race continued though, the front end pushed up the track over the bumps in the tunnel turn and I had to wait for it to turn to complete the corner. It felt like a different car in dirty air. The adjustments made helped the overall balance, but the car was a touch loose on throttle before the final green flag pit stop. As normal, my over-the-wall crew killed it on pit road and put us in position to have a shot at the win. They consistently are the best crew on pit road week in and week out. In reality, we should have finished either fourth or fifth, but on the final restart, I went to pass the No. 18 on the bottom and the three cars got lined up on the top, pushing us back to seventh. All in all, solid day for our team, and everyone at Richard Childress Racing and ECR will keep pushing to get back in Victory Lane.”
-Austin Hill
RCR PR
