Cole Whitt led his BK Racing teammates to the checkered flag with a 15th-place finish in the No. 26 Bad Boy Mowers Toyota Camry at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway on Sunday afternoon. Whitt was followed by JJ Yeley in the No. 83 Burger King / Dr Pepper Toyota Camry who finished 42nd, and Alex Bowman in the No. 23 Dustless Blasting Toyota Camry who finished 43rd after being caught in “the big one.”
Returning to Talladega Superspeedway for the second time this season, Whitt collected his fifth top-25 starting position of the season to roll off 22nd for Sunday’s main event. Throughout the early stages of the race, the Sunoco rookie contender rode around logging laps while allowing the race to unfold. Making strategic moves while drafting through the field, Whitt avoided all of the on-track incidents to have the Bad Boy Mowers Toyota Camry in a competitive position during the closing stages of the race. Despite a pit miscue prior to the first attempt at a green-white-checkered finish, Whitt was able to make good moves through the field and draft up to the 15th position by the time the checkered flag waved.
“This weekend’s race at Talladega Superspeedway was a lot of fun,” commented Whitt. “Our Bad Boy Mowers Toyota Camry was a great racecar and we were able to come home with a great finish. We were able to put ourselves in a good position throughout the afternoon and avoid several accidents on the track. Superspeedway races can be tough because you not only need a good race car, but you also need luck to fall your way, and fortunately it did this weekend.”
Yeley spent most of the afternoon competing as the highest-running BK Racing entry. With the balance of his car nearly perfect, Yeley strategically raced his way through the draft. Racing as high as the seventh position, Yeley spent most of the afternoon running inside the top 20. On lap 103, the No. 83 Burger King / Dr Pepper Toyota Camry was turned sideways by another competitor while driving down the backstretch. The move triggered a 10-car crash and caused extensive damage to Yeley’s Burger King / Dr Pepper machine. Unable to continue in the event, Yeley was credited with a 42nd-place result.
“Our Burger King / Dr Pepper Toyota Camry was a great racecar,” commented Yeley. “We were able to maneuver through the draft really well, and even logged some laps inside the top 10. Unfortunately we were involved in some contact just past the lap 100 mark, and that triggered a big pileup on the backstretch. I hate that so many cars got involved; a lot of good racecars were torn up, and we even got one of our BK Racing teammates. Sadly, those types of accidents occur a lot at superspeedway races and it’s just a byproduct of the style of racing that takes place here. I’m disappointed that we weren’t able to come home with a clean finish for our Burger King / Dr Pepper Toyota team, but I’m thankful that everyone is okay.”
After recording his career-best qualifying effort, Bowman rolled off 14th for Sunday’s 500-mile race at Talladega Superspeedway. With his racecar handling exactly as he needed, Bowman was running in a race-high 11th position by lap 60. Despite spending most of the day within the top-25, Bowman was included in a 10-car pileup on the backstretch on lap 103. With extensive damage to the No. 23 Dustless Blasting Toyota Camry, Bowman was unable to continue in the event and was scored with a 43rd-place finish.
“First, I’d like to thank Dustless Blasting for coming on board with our BK Racing team this weekend,” commented Bowman. “Our Toyota Camry was a great racecar, and I’m sure we could have brought home a solid finish if we were just able to avoid that pileup on the backstretch. With so many cars involved, sometimes it’s just impossible to avoid being collected in those types of accidents. I’m looking forward to the final few weeks of the 2014 race season, and I’m hopeful that we’ll bounce back with some solid finishes.”
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