Niece Motorsports NCTS Race Recap: Kansas Speedway

NKP #41: Bayley Currey, Niece Motorsports, Masked Owl Technologies Chevrolet Silverado

No. 41 Masked Owl Technologies Chevrolet Silverado RST
Driver: Bayley Currey | Crew Chief: Wally Rogers

– Key Takeaway: At last, Bayley Currey finally secured his first top-10 finish of the season at Kansas Speedway. Currey started the night in the 22nd position, but gained track position to finish 15th in stage one. In stage two, his No. 41 Masked Owl Technologies Chevrolet came to life, and he picked up two points with a ninth-place finish in the stage. Currey excelled on the final restart and climbed into the top-five before a green flag pit stop. Passing trucks on differing strategies, Currey navigated his way to a much-needed eighth-place result.

– Bayley Currey’s Post-Race Thoughts: “Yeah, our Masked Owl Technologies / DQS / AutoVentive / Precision Silverado was very good tonight. I was a little discouraged after qualifying, but I knew in practice we had a really, really good race truck. And that showed all night. We qualified 22nd and got up as high as fourth at one point. We lost a few spots on pit road, but the No. 41 guys worked really hard on it. I’m so proud of them. We’ve had a really tough year and we really needed that finish. Hats off to everyone on this team; we’ll go to Talladega and try to put it in victory lane!”

No. 42 J.F. Electric / Utilitra Chevrolet Silverado RST
Driver: Matt Mills | Crew Chief: Jon Leonard

– Key Takeaway: Matt Mills’ night out in Kansas was cut short with a hard crash in the third stage of the race. Mills qualified his No. 42 J.F. Electric / Utilitra Chevy in 12th and held that spot in the first stage. In stage two, the team lost a few spots to 19th, but was making moves when he was caught up in an incident on the back straightaway. Mills was scored with a 33rd-place finish after he was unable to continue from the wreck.

– Matt Mills’ Post-Race Thoughts: Interviewer: What happened on the wreck, did something break?

“I don’t really know. The No. 17 threw a late block but it was alright. We got to his inside a little and I don’t know if the steering broke or what. I feel like I got behind on the steering. It was a late block and I kind of got a little sideways, but had it gathered. And then it took off. I don’t know what happened. There was no warning and I couldn’t tell what went wrong.”

No. 44 Polkadot Chevrolet Silverado RST
Driver: Conor Daly | Crew Chief: Cody Efaw

– Key Takeaway: Conor Daly and the No. 44 Polkadot team battled back from an early penalty to secure the drivers’ best-career finish. Daly qualified 29th but was given a penalty for changing lanes on the initial green. He dropped to 31st in stage one, moved back to 29th in stage two, and took the wave around to get back into the fight. Daly and team made ground in the final stage to rally back up to a 17th-place finish.

– Conor Daly’s Post-Race Thoughts: “Right at the beginning, I thought all hope was lost. The truck in front of me didn’t go and I pulled out of line just so I wouldn’t hit him, which I thought was really respectful. I’m new to the rules here, but that was a shame to get a penalty because of that. We obviously knew we were fast enough to get on the lead lap, and we did when we took the wave around. The last restart was really fun racing with the No. 88, and I got to one truck behind Kaden (Honeycutt) our teammate, and I thought I was in a really good spot. I struggled a little bit in the middle of the stint and had to save fuel at the end, but it was really fun. I learned a lot and it was nice to get my best truck finish. We need to keep improving on that, but it was a big learning experience for me and I had a great time with our Polkadot Chevy.”

No. 45 AutoVentive / Precision Vehicle Logistics Chevrolet Silverado RST
Driver: Kaden Honeycutt | Crew Chief: Phil Gould

– Key Takeaway: Kaden Honeycutt had another great showing at Kansas and finished where he did in the spring. Honeycutt started off the day by qualifying sixth and picked up two spots to cross the line fourth in stage one. In stage two, the truck dropped to eighth, but a gutsy strategy call to stay out on the racetrack led to another fourth-place finish. Unfortunately, the No. 45 team was unable to advance to the Round of 8 in the Owner’s Playoffs, but their strong result tonight cannot be overlooked. 
– Kaden Honeycutt’s Post-Race Thoughts: Interviewer: Second top-five for Kaden Honeycutt; you were up there balling with the best of them tonight.

“Yeah, I wish we had what we had in the spring. I don’t know, but we struggled a little bit today and I’m not really sure what from, but we’ll go back and find out what it is. Either way, we fought the best we could. A P4 finish is something to be proud of tonight. It’s not the way we want to finish fourth, but yeah, I hate that we missed the next round of the Owner’s Playoffs. We’re going to attack the next four races just like we’ve been doing and try to win them all. We’ll keep pushing forward.”

Niece Motorsports PR

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