Cole Whitt led his BK Racing teammates to the checkered flag as he brought home a 30th-place finish in the No. 26 Standard Plumbing Supply Toyota Camry at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway on Saturday night. Whitt was followed by Alex Bowman in the No. 23 Dr Pepper Toyota Camry who finished 38th, and Ryan Truex who finished 42nd in the No. 83 Burger King / Dr Pepper Toyota Camry.
Earlier this season, Whitt joined BK Racing for the spring Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond International Raceway. This fall, the Sunoco rookie contender returned to the track looking to continue improving his race program. Despite a tight handling condition with the Standard Plumbing Supply Toyota Camry, Whitt and his crew continued to work on their setup all night making a series of chassis and air pressure adjustments. Despite their effort, the BK Racing team couldn’t achieve the balance they had hoped for throughout the 400-mile event. Setting a steady pace and maintaining track position throughout the evening, Whitt went on to finish in the 30th position.
“I’m always proud of the effort of my team,” commented Whitt. “Even though we struggled with the balance of our Standard Plumbing Supply Toyota Camry, my BK Racing team never gave up. They continued to search for adjustments that would make us better, and also made sure that we were able to maintain our track position to get the best finish possible. While it wasn’t quite the finish we wanted, I think it’s a result that we can still be proud of.”
Bowman and the No. 23 Dr Pepper Toyota Camry team made their second start this season at Richmond International Raceway on Saturday night. The group had a solid qualifying effort to allow the Sunoco rookie contender to roll off 26th; however, a tight Toyota Camry at the start of the race cost Bowman some valuable track position. Fighting the balance of his car throughout the course of the race, Bowman and his team made substantial changes during each visit to pit road. Despite their efforts, Bowman continued to fight a tight racecar throughout the event and went on to finish in the 38th position.
“Every week we look for the ‘positives’ that we can take away from our race weekend,” Bowman said. “This week, I was really proud of the qualifying effort by our Dr Pepper Toyota Camry team. We had a solid starting position, but unfortunately we didn’t have the balance of our racecar where we needed to sustain that track position. The fall race at Richmond can be difficult because you practice during the day and then race at night. However, I think we learned a lot and improved as a team tonight.”
Truex and the No. 83 Burger King / Dr Pepper Toyota Camry team had a challenging weekend at Richmond International Raceway. After suffering a problem in the rear end of his racecar, Truex was unable to make a qualifying attempt on Friday afternoon, but secured the 43rd starting position due to owner point standings. Starting at the back of the pack, Truex fought an extreme tight condition in the center of the turns during the early stages of Saturday night’s race. The Burger King / Dr Pepper Toyota Camry team took advantage of each opportunity they had to work on their car while making several chassis and air pressure adjustments. Slowly picking up positions to climb through the field, Truex’s efforts were again slowed as a broken transmission required the team’s immediate attention. After losing several laps while making repairs, Truex was able to return to the track, but was relegated to a 42nd-place finish.
“Our Burger King / Dr Pepper Toyota Camry team had a pretty rough weekend in Richmond,” commented Truex. “After we had a problem with the rear end, we weren’t able to get on track during qualifying, which put us behind at the start of the race. Just like a lot of guys, we fought the balance of our racecar, but we lost even more ground when we suffered a broken transmission around lap 300. We didn’t have many cautions tonight and the race had a really quick pace, which made it extremely difficult to make up any lost ground.”
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