Race Highlights:
- Richard Childress Racing teammates Ryan Newman, Austin Dillon and Paul Menard finished sixth, eighth and ninth, respectively.
- Newman ranks fourth in the Sprint Cup Series championship point standings, while Menard ranks 20th and Dillon ranks 21st.
- Joey Logano earned his fifth victory of the 2014 season and was followed to the finish line by Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., and Carl Edwards
- The next Sprint Cup Series race is the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday, October 11, which is scheduled to be televised live on ABC beginning at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time and is scheduled to be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Satellite Radio, channel 90.
Austin Dillon Earns Eighth-Place Finish in American Ethanol Chevrolet at Kansas Speedway
Austin Dillon drove Richard Childress Racing’s No. 3 American Ethanol Chevrolet to an eighth-place finish at Kansas Speedway on Sunday afternoon. Shortly after taking the green flag, the Welcome, N.C. driver, noted a tight-handling condition on exit to the corners at the 1.5-mile track. The Gil Martin-led team remedied the handling issues Dillon was facing through a series of wedge adjustments during routine pit stops for both two and four tires on laps 47, 72, 124,161,192 and 231. The adjustments helped, as Dillon did not fall below 16th in the running order throughout the duration of the 400-mile event. Following the team’s final pit stop on lap 231 for four tires, fuel and wedge, Dillon was scored in the 10th position. He survived one final caution to earn an eighth-place finish in the American Ethanol Chevrolet.
Start -16th Finish – 8th Laps Led – 0 Points – 21st
“It was a good day for everyone on the No. 3 team. I’m happy that we could get a top-10 finish for American Ethanol, Dow, Cheerios, Bass Pro Shops, and everyone associated with Richard Childress Racing. We’re working hard and learning a lot. It was a good day and I’m excited for Charlotte Motor Speedway next week and finishing the rest of the season out strong.”
Paul Menard Earns 12th Top-10 Finish of 2014 at Kansas Speedway
Paul Menard drove Richard Childress Racing’s No. 27 Quaker State/Menards Chevrolet SS to a 10th-place finish in Sunday’s 267-lap event at Kansas Speedway. In the opening laps, Menard reported to his crew he was fighting a tight-handling car in the center of the corners. The Slugger Labbe-led Chevrolet came down pit road on lap 44 during green flag pit stops where the Chevy received four tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment. Menard fought a tight-handling car for the duration of the race but received adjustments that made the handling better on laps 71, 123, 160, 191 and 230. The RCR driver maintained a position in the top 15 for a majority of the race with fast pit stops putting him in the top 10 in the final laps. Menard crossed the finish line in the ninth position, earning his 12th top-10 finish of the season. Up next for the No. 27 team is Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Start – 13th Finish – 9th Laps Led – 0 Points – 20th
PAUL MENARD QUOTE:
“”We fought hard all day. We made some really good adjustments to get the Quaker State/Menards Chevy balanced out well. I’m pretty happy with a top 10 after struggling most of the race. We hit on a couple of things throughout the race that make us better.”
Newman Leads Laps En Route to Sixth-Place Finish at Kansas Speedway
Ryan Newman drove Richard Childress Racing’s No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet SS to a sixth-place finish in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Kansas Speedway. The South Bend, Ind., driver started 17th and needed just 50 laps of 267 to break into the top 10. The following 40 laps saw several caution flags. Newman successfully dodged the wrecks but lost some track position to race in the top 20. Without missing a beat, the No. 31 was back in the top 10 by lap 125 and into the top five at lap 168. While running third, crew chief Luke Lambert called his driver in one final time under caution for a splash of fuel and right-side tires on lap 231. The fast stop allowed Newman to take the lead and command the restart with 33 laps left in the event and held on until the lap-239 restart. When the No. 31 Chevrolet settled back in, Newman raced on to a sixth-place finish. The top-10 result moves the No. 31 team to fourth place, tied with third and just nine points out of the lead in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship. The second of three races in the Contender Round is next Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Earlier this year, Newman rebounded from a 42nd-place qualifying effort to climb up to a 15th-place finish there.
Start – 17th Finish – 6th Laps Led – 6 Points – 4th (tied for 3rd)
RYAN NEWMAN QUOTE:
“We were a sitting duck on those restarts, we just struggled. It was a good run for the Caterpillar Chevrolet team. It was nice to lead some laps, unfortunately the wrong ones. It’s been a long time since we’ve led a lap, we just need to lead the right one next time. We’ll just keep working on it. I am proud of the guys. We are coming to the track with really good cars and we improved on it the entire weekend. We took advantage of other teams’ misfortunes. It was a good points day for us. I also want to congratulate RCR and my teammates for earning top-10 finishes at Kansas Speedway. That’s a motivation for this entire organization.”
RCR PR
