No. 31 Poppy Bank Camaro ZL1
- Daniel Hemric qualified 27th for The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway.
- Hemric dropped back to 28th, before the first caution of the day came out on lap 15. He pitted alongside half the field for air-pressure adjustments in the No. 31 Poppy Bank Chevrolet. After restarting 31st on lap 17, some of the field elected to short pit the stage, while Hemric elected to stay out. He made it to 22nd, where he was scored at the end of the opening stage.
- During the first stage break, Hemric pitted for tires, fuel and a right-side wedge adjustment in the No. 31 Poppy Bank Chevy. He started the second stage in 33rd. On lap 51, Hemric made contact with the wall, before a timely caution came out on lap 53. He pitted for tires, an adjustment, and damage assessment. The team concluded that the No. 31 sustained a bent toe link, and Hemric nursed the car to the end of the stage, finishing in 34th place.
- Starting the final stage one lap down, Hemric missed the free-pass position by one spot when the caution came out on lap 116. He pitted for tires, fuel and an adjustment. A wreck on the restart put Hemric in the free-pass spot, allowing him back on the lead lap. He pitted for fuel. The field went green with 34 laps to go when another wreck on the restart brought the caution back out. Crew chief Trent Owens made to call for Hemric to pit for fresh tires, ensuring the team would have scuff tires at the end if needed. The field went back to green with 29 laps to go, as Hemric restarted 26th. The next caution came out just one lap later. Hemric restarted 23rd with 23 to go. With nine to go, Hemric reported an issue and pitted for tires. Once he blended back into the field, he radioed that something was broken on the No. 31 Chevy. Hemric drove it to the garage and was scored 25th.
“We battled a tight-handling No. 31 Poppy Bank Chevrolet. I brushed the wall, which bent the toe link. Unfortunately, the part eventually failed and ended our day a few laps early. I’m proud of the fight in our team to keep going until the very end.”
– Daniel Hemric
No. 16 Cirkul Camaro ZL1
- AJ Allmendinger qualified 26th for The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway.
- On the initial start, Allmendinger got loose running the top of three-wide and fell back to 30th. When the caution came out on lap 15, the No. 16 was running in 25th place. The team stayed out to restart in 13th on lap 18. Allmendinger fell back to 21st, reporting he had no grip. The No. 16 finished the first stage in 23rd.
- During the stage break, Allmendinger came to pit road for four tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment. The No. 16 restarted in 30th on lap 36. By lap 49, Allmendinger was running in 26th and reported his car was better, but he was a tick tight. Allmendinger came to pit road during the caution on lap 54. Crew chief, Travis Mack, called for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment to help Allmendinger with front turn. The No. 16 restarted in 24th and went on to finish the stage in 14th.
- At the end of stage two, Allmendinger reported the No. 16 Cirkul Chevy was tight. The team came to pit road during the stage break for tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment to help with handling. Allmendinger restarted in 25th on lap 101. Allmendinger drove up to 21st by lap 116 when the caution came out. The No. 16 restarted in 28th after coming to pit road for tires and fuel. On the restart, Allmendinger was involved in a wreck, which brought out the next caution. The No. 16 Cirkul Chevy received minimal damage after spinning and came to pit road for scuffs and fuel. Allmendinger restarted at the tail end of the longest line after pitting too soon and was scored in 24th when the next caution came on the first lap green. Allmendinger restarted in 24th on lap 132 and took over 21st on the first lap green, before the caution came back out for fluid on the backstretch. Allmendinger restarted in 20th on lap 138 and went on to finish in 21st.
“Hard fought day. I thought we were decent throughout the middle of the race there, but we never could get on the right side of the strategy to get track position. Getting caught up in that wreck towards the end damaged the racecar little bit and caused us to lose some speed. We did what we could to salvage our day.”
– AJ Allmendinger
Kaulig Racing PR
