Boyd would roll off from the 35th position for the Drive for the Cure 200 presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina. The green flag waved and the inaugural Roval race from Charlotte was underway! It only took two laps for the first caution of the day to wave after the 36 car of Alex Labbe stalled on track. Boyd came down pit road to top off on fuel. Surprisingly the remainder of the opening stage went caution free. Daniel Hemric captured the stage one win. Spencer received the free pass and was back on the lead lap. Boyd came down pit road for four tires, fuel, and adjustments to help his car turn better in the right-hand turns.
Stage two began and it was same song, different verse. Each driver tiptoed their way around the Roval, racing extremely cautiously. Everything was clean and green until on lap 27 the 39 of Ryan Sieg made contact with the 7 of Justin Allgaier. The contact completely tore up the front of the 39 car, but no caution was displayed. Christopher Bell scored the stage two victory and Boyd was yet again the beneficiary of the free pass.
The final stage got underway, and the first multi-car pile up took place in turn one. Several cars pancaked the outside wall and bounced off each other to bring out the fourth caution of the day. Boyd continued his cautious approach into the final stage, and found himself as high as 23rd. After an aggressive restart, Boyd dropped a few positions and fought to get back into his rhythm. With just 14 laps remaining the fifth and final caution was displayed for debris on the backstretch. Shockingly the final laps went green. Chase Briscoe would score his first career Xfinity win, with Boyd bringing home the special edition pink & camouflage Grunt Style Chevrolet in the 29th position.
After the race Boyd reflected, “Well that was an interesting race to say the least. I think everyone was really surprised we didn’t see a lot more attrition during the race, but I guess after we saw so many incidents in practice everyone decided to play it safe. Our approach was very similar to that of a super speedway race, simply hang back and avoid the accidents. We may have even been a little too conservative at times, but it was a fun race overall. I really enjoyed the opportunity to race for breast cancer survivor, Liz Alarik, as well as many other women who have been affected by breast cancer.”
A 29th place finish keeps Boyd rooted to 25th in driver standings. The NASCAR Xfinity Series will visit The Monster Mile next week at Dover International Speedway for the first elimination race of the playoffs. Race coverage of the Bar Harbor 200 will begin 3:00 PM ET Saturday October 6th on NBCSN.
Spencer Boyd Racing PR/Spencer Boyd Racing Photo
