No. 97 Wendy’s Chevrolet Camaro
- Shane van Gisbergen qualified 20th for the National Debt Relief 250 at Martinsville Speedway.
- Van Gisbergen sustained minimal front end damage on the first lap after making contact with another competitor. The first caution occurred on lap 12 and the No. 97 Wendy’s team chose to stay out and gain track position on the restart. Van Gisbergen restarted the stage 18th and quickly drove his way to 15th and maintained position. Another caution came out on lap 37 and the No. 97 team opted to stay out to continue to follow the team’s strategy. Van Gisbergen restarted the stage in fourth, entering the top five for the first time in the race. A caution came out with six laps remaining in the stage and the No. 97 team opted to forfeit their second place position to come to pit road for adjustments, fresh tires and fuel. Van Gisbergen ended the stage 32nd.
- The No. 97 team stayed out at the stage break caution and started the second stage in 25th. Van Gisbergen worked his way up the field to 18th before a caution came out on lap 103 and the No. 97 team opted to come to pit road for a chassis adjustment, fuel and fresh tires, cycling back in 20th. Van Gisbergen reported to his team that the Wendy’s Chevrolet was good just lacking a little grip in the corners. He completed the stage 16th.
- The No. 97 team chose to stay out with the field at the stage break. Van Gisbergen started the final stage 15th with 120 laps remaining in the race. A caution quickly flew and the Van Gisbergen reported damage to the front right fender. The No. 97 team assessed damage before the restart and he was scored 13th. He drove the Wendy’s Chevrolet up the field to 11th before a caution came out on lap 173 and the No. 97 team came to pit road for fuel and four fresh tires. Van Gisbergen restarted the stage 12th with 68 laps remaining in the event. He raced his way into the top 10 on the first lap of the restart. Battling to maintain position inside the top 10 when a caution came out with 31 laps to go and the No. 97 team opted to stay out in the field. The Wendy’s Chevrolet restarted the stage 11th with 25 laps remaining. On the restart, Van Gisbergen was involved in an incident that caused right front tire failure. The No. 97 Wendy’s Chevrolet came to pit road for repairs. Van Gisbergen re-entered the field 28th, one lap behind and ultimately took the checkered flag 28th.
“It was going really good until it wasn’t. Had a solid Wendy’s Chevrolet and I was very comfortable with the car all day. I knew this race would be a crazy one! Just wish our result could’ve shown the type of race we had today. Get another shot at it tomorrow in the Cup car!”
– Shane van Gisbergen
No. 16 Amarr Chevrolet Camaro
- AJ Allmendinger qualified 11th for the National Debt Relief 250 at Martinsville Speedway.
- After contact, Allmendinger cut a right front tire, sending his No. 16 Amarr Chevy into the wall, bringing out the first caution on lap 14. The damage sustained ended to the day for Allmendinger and he was relegated to a 37th place finish.
“Very disappointing to not really get a shot at it today. I felt like the car was going to be pretty good; just trying to be patient there and then got mixed up there. Just a disappointing race, one we would have like to have won, but we are fortunate enough to be locked into the Champ 4. We’ll regroup and be ready to head to Phoenix.”
– AJ Allmendinger
No. 11 Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet Camaro
- Josh Williams qualified 23rd for the National Debt Relief 250 at Martinsville Speedway.
- Within the opening five laps, Williams had moved up to 18th. The first caution came on lap 14 with Williams running in 17th. He restarted there on lap 19 but was quickly shuffled to the outside line and fell back to 22nd on lap 25. On lap 38, a spin brought the yellow flag out, and Williams stayed out on track to restart in the third row on lap 44. Another spin brought out the race’s third caution, and Williams once again stayed out to gain track position. He restarted in fifth with seven laps to go in Stage 1, but the yellow flag immediately reappeared after a first-turn wreck, setting up a one-lap shootout to end the first stage; Williams finished it in seventh.
- Crew chief Eddie Pardue called the No. 11 Alloy Employer Services Camaro into the pits during the stage break for tires, fuel, and track bar and air pressure adjustments. Williams fired off for the second stage in 30th on lap 71. After making it up to 21st by lap 103, the caution displayed, and Williams pitted for tires, fuel, and an air pressure adjustment. He restarted in 22nd with 10 laps to go in Stage 2 and took the green-white-checkered in 19th.
- Williams stayed out during the stage caution and took the green flag on lap 131 in 17th. The yellow flag reappeared on lap 135; Williams restarted in 14th on lap 141. He lost two spots after getting shuffled high on lap 166, and then the yellow flag flies on lap 175. Williams pitted for tires, fuel, a left-rear wedge adjustment, and an air pressure adjustment under the caution. The restart was short-lived, as the yellow came back out on the first lap back to green. Williams fired off on lap 191 in 17th, but on lap 197, he was spun, which brought out the caution, after being taken three wide. He suffered minimal damage and restarted in 30th with 48 laps to go. Within five laps of the restart, he took 22nd, and with 30 laps remaining, the race’s 12 caution was displayed. Williams pitted for scuff tires, fuel, and a track bar adjustment and restarted in 27th with 24 laps to go. The race’s 13th yellow flag came out on the restart lap, and Williams took the green from 23rd with 16 to go. He finished the race in 17th.
“We made adjustments all night, but we couldn’t quite get the car to handle like we wanted. Appreciate Eddie [Pardue] on the box and the rest of the No. 11 Alloy Employer Services team for all their effort and not giving up. One more race, we’re on to Phoenix.”
– Josh Williams
Kaulig Racing PR
