The Chicagoland Speedway race proved to be a challenging one for Leavine Family Racing and Michael McDowell. Going into the race weekend, the team had set its sights on a Top-25 finish in the MyAFibStory.com 400, but with a non-responsive race car the team had to work hard throughout the entire race in order to secure the best finish the car was capable of.
“This was a long, hard race,” McDowell said. “I’m very proud of the team and the execution on pit road. We gained a lot of spots at the end and fought hard for that finish. I’m confident we’ll get this car dialed-in for future races and have a strong finish for our team in 2014.”
It was a busy day in the pits for the No. 95 team as crew chief Wally Rogers made strategic calls for position and multiple changes to the Thrivent Financial Ford Fusion in order to help McDowell get more speed and better handling.
“I’m proud of the guys for their work this weekend,” said Rogers. “We made a lot of changes and adjustments. It didn’t net out where we wanted but we’ll go back and review the weekend. We’ll learn from this and be ready for Kansas.”
With qualifying rained out, the team started in 32nd position and raced in the back half of the 30’s for a majority of the day.
“If you’re gonna be a bear, be a grizzly” is a phrase McDowell used a few times during the race when Rogers and the team took chances making big changes on the car and taking a few wave-around’s in order to gain track position.
McDowell drove hard and at the end was able to pick up a few spots to secure the 32nd place finish.
Next on the schedule for Leavine Family Racing is the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, Oct. 5.
LFR PR
