No. 11 Star Tron Chevrolet Camaro
- Josh Williams qualified 24th for the Credit One NASCAR Amex Credit Card 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
- Williams gained three spots on the opening lap. By lap 12, he had picked up two more spots, and after passing the No. 27 for 17th on lap 22, Williams gave the No. 11 Star Tron Chevy clean air to continue moving forward. He finished Stage 1 in 16th.
- Williams pitted for tires, fuel, and an air pressure adjustment, which was made to tighten the car, during the stage break. He fired off for the second stage from 13th on lap 52 and took 12th the following lap. Soon after, the No. 11 Camaro started to become too tight, and Williams fell to 16th. The Chevy’s handling improved for Williams as the stage progressed, and Williams took 14th on lap 66. Williams dropped to 15th on lap 85, and following a lap-87 yellow flag that ended the stage, Williams finished there for Stage 2.
- The No. 11 Star Tron pit crew changed the Camaro’s tires, added fuel, reverted on the air pressure adjustment it made during the first stop, and made a wedge adjustment during the stage break. Williams restarted for the final stage from 16th on lap 96. He took 15th place on lap 114, then he continued his slow climb by passing the No. 9 on lap 118 to take 14th place. Coming out of turn four on lap 120, the No. 11 and No. 26 cars made contact. This cut the No. 11’s right-front tire as Williams drove into turn one, and he collided with the No. 26 to bring out a caution on lap 122. Williams reported that the car still felt “pretty good,” but he pitted for minimal damage repair, tires, and fuel. He restarted in 29th as the last car on the lead lap on lap 128. After toiling in 28th, Williams radioed that he “felt something dragging” on the No. 11 Star Tron Camaro, and he pitted on lap 142 so the crew could diagnose the problem and change tires. He cycled out one lap down. On lap 168, Williams pitted again for right-side tires, which put him two laps down in 29th. He eventually took the checkered flag in 27th.
“That was going well til it didn’t. We had a pretty decent run. There’s nothing we could really do there with the flat tire.”
– Josh Williams
No. 97 WeatherTech Chevrolet Camaro
- Shane van Gisbergen qualified 25th for the Credit One NASCAR Amex Credit Card 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
- Due to adjustments to the No. 97 WeatherTech Chevrolet following qualifying, Van Gisbergen was required to drop to the rear of the field for the race start. Van Gisbergen battled to work his way up the field, and, by lap 20, had gained 10 positions. Halfway through the stage, Van Gisbergen reported that the No. 97 WeatherTech Chevrolet was “pretty good” as he continued to work on his entry and exits through the corners. He completed the stage in 20th.
- The No. 97 team came to pit road at the stage break for fresh tires, fuel and adjustments. Van Gisbergen started the second stage in 19th. He quickly reported the car was super tight and lacked turn in the corners as he battled to maintain position. Nearing the end of the stage, the handling remained tight, but Van Gisbergen managed to advance to 17th. A caution came out with four laps remaining in the stage and the No. 97 team opted to stay out and finish the stage under caution. Van Gisbergen concluded the stage in 16th, his highest position of the race at that time.
- The WeatherTech team opted to come to pit road at the stage break for a chassis adjustment, four new tires and fuel. Van Gisbergen started the final stage in 18th. He quickly reported that the car was “much better” and battled to race up the field. On lap 110, Van Gisbergen reported that the WeatherTech Chevy had “tightened back up.” On lap 122, the caution came out, and the No. 97 opted to pit to pull a packer from the front and give the Chevrolet fresh tires and more fuel. Van Gisbergen re-entered the field in 14th with 74 laps remaining in the race. He entered the top 10 with 42 laps remaining, and the No. 97 team told him to “save fuel, as the plan is to run long unless something else changes.” Van Gisbergen reached his highest position of the race, fourth, with 29 laps remaining. He battled to maintain position and was running 10th with 15 laps left. The No. 97 WeatherTech Chevrolet ultimately took the checkered flag in 17th.
“That was a tough race for my WeatherTech team. My car was super tight all day, and the team continued to work on it but just couldn’t get it comfortable. Homestead is a super cool track, and I enjoyed the racing, just wish we could’ve gotten a better result.”
– Shane van Gisbergen
No. 16 Modern Day Garage Chevrolet Camaro
- AJ Allmendinger qualified sixth for the Credit One NASCAR Amex Credit Card 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
- By lap seven, Allmendinger had taken over fourth place. He drove up to second place by lap 36 and fell back to third on lap 40 after battling with the No. 20. From sixth place on lap 44, Allmendinger reported he had no rear tire remaining. He finished the opening stage in seventh and came to pit road for adjustments under the stage break. The No. 16 took four tires, fuel and air pressure and wedge adjustments.
- Allmendinger restarted in fifth place for the second stage on lap 52 and took over third on the restart. He remained quiet on the radio, taking over second place on lap 85. When the caution came out on lap 87, ending the stage, Allmendinger was scored in second, and he reported he was fighting lateral grip in the corner. The No. 16 came to pit road for tires, fuel and air pressure and wedge adjustments.
- Allmendinger restarted the final stage in fourth place. He maintained position in the top five, reporting his Chevy was sideways, until the caution came on lap 122. The No. 16 came to pit road for tires, fuel and additional wedge and air pressure adjustments. Allmendinger restarted in 11th, with his teammate in the No. 97 behind him, on lap 128. He drove up to seventh on the first lap green and continued on to take sixth by lap 131. When green flag pit stops began on lap 159, Allmendinger took over second place and then the lead on lap 171. Being locked in the Championship 4 and having the ability to gamble on strategy, crew chief Alex Yontz brought Allmendinger to pit road under green on lap 179. After the pit stop, Allmendinger was scored in 17th. He was told to get back on the lead lap and manage his tires. Allmendinger went on to finish in 10th place.
“I loved today. Our Modern Day Garage Chevy was pretty good. The No. 21 was obviously hooked up, congrats to them. It’s cool to get another Welcome, NC car in the Championship 4. We had nothing to lose, so once they started pitting, we decided to run it out and maybe get that lucky yellow and have an easy win. I was really proud to run top five all day. We have speed and that’s all that matters; we had a good day.”
– AJ Allmendinger
Kaulig Racing PR
