RCR Post Race Report – Jeff Kyle 400 at the Brickyard

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In: NASCAR Cup Series News

Race Highlights:

  • Richard Childress Racing drivers Ryan Newman, Paul Menard and Austin Dillon finished 11th, 14th and 25, respectively, in the Jeff Kyle 400 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
  • Newman ranks 12th in the Sprint Cup Series championship point standings, trailing current leader Kevin Harvick by 214 points, while Menard ranks 13th and Dillon ranks 19th.
  • Kyle Busch earned his fourth win of the 2015 season and was followed to the line by Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr., and Denny Hamlin.
  • The 21st race of the 2015 Sprint Cup Series season is the Windows 10 400 at Pocono Raceway on Sunday, August 2, 2015, which is scheduled to be televised live on NBCSN beginning at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Time and broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Satellite Radio, channel 90.

Austin Dillon Earns 25th-Place Finish in No. 3 Dow Mycogen Seed Chevrolet at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

 

Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon earned a 25th-place finish in the No. 3 Dow Mycogen Seeds Chevrolet in the Jeff Kyle 400 at the Brickyard on Sunday afternoon. The sophomore NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competitor, making his third-career Indianapolis Motor Speedway start in the Dow Mycogen Seeds Chevrolet, reported a loose-handling condition from the start of the race. The problem was corrected during a pit stop on lap 30 for four tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment. Dillon was caught speeding on pit road twice and penalized with two pass-through penalties, pinning him one lap down to the race leader. The No. 3 team spent the next 100 laps fighting to get back on the lead lap. They caught the break they needed when the caution was displayed on lap 107, crediting them with the Lucky Dog award. Dillon restarted 26th and used a fuel-only pit stop on lap 121 to climb to 17th place. Several stellar restarts and hard racing positioned Dillon 13th soon after. The team stayed on the racetrack while several other teams pitted when the caution flag was displayed on lap 140, placing Dillon in the top 10 with 20 laps remaining. Although the team was hoping for a long green-flag run in the closing laps as several teams were close on fuel, several late-race cautions ensued. The race was extended four laps past its advertised distance with Dillon crossing the line 19th. Dillon maintained his 19th-place position in the driver point standings leading into the next event on the Sprint Cup Series schedule at Pocono Raceway where he will drive the No. 3 American Ethanol Chevrolet

 

Start – 25                Finish – 25                   Laps Led – 0                Points – 19

                                             

AUSTIN DILLON QUOTE:
“Man, we had to gamble there to see if we would get a long green flag run at the end, but if we could have known that we would have gotten so many cautions we could have pitted so that we would have tires for the end of the race. I’m thankful to Dow, Dow AgroSciences and Mycogen Seeds for all of their support this weekend. Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a track with a lot of history and it means a lot to have their support.”

 

 2011 CC Team Icon 27 NSCS Menards

 

Paul Menard Earns 12th Top-15 Finish of the 2015 Season at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

 

Paul Menard started 11th in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event and finished 14th after 160-plus laps of action at the famed speedway. Menard reported the Duracell/Menards Chevy was loose in traffic and felt like the front end wasn’t turning within the first 20 laps of the event. The Justin Alexander-led team made adjustments on laps 28, 45, 51, 62, 92, 108, 120, 123 and 142 for a combination of four-tire and two-tire stops with wedge and air pressure adjustments. After a pit stop on lap 92, Menard radioed from the 13th position that the car was the best it had been all day. Pit strategy had the Eau Claire, Wisconsin native in 25th on the lap 124 restart but he was able to race his way within the top 15 by lap 152, crossing the finish line 14th after a green-white-checkered restart. This marks Menard’s 12th top-15 finish of the season and moves him up a position to 13th in the driver point standings. Up next for the No. 27 team is Sunday’s event is Pocono Raceway.

 

Start – 11            Finish – 14           Laps Led – 0              Points – 13

 

PAUL MENARD QUOTE:

“We had a good car today and came a really long way this weekend with the handling. I’m proud of my guys for working so hard. It was a long and hot couple of days here in Indy. The Duracell/Menards Chevy got better as the race went on with adjustments from Justin (Alexander, crew chief) and the guys. We’ll keep at it.”

  

   

 

Ryan Newman Rallies from 43rd-Starting Position to Finish 11th Place at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

 

Ryan Newman drove Richard Childress Racing’s No. 31 Grainger Chevrolet SS to an 11th-place finish in Sunday’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The South Bend, Ind., driver started 43rd because of an issue involving the right-side window during Saturday’s qualifying session. The opening laps saw Newman experiencing an extremely tight-handling condition through the corners, despite gaining 10 positions before the team’s first service on lap 28. The No. 31 team lost a lap to the leader during the next green-flag run but raced back onto the lead lap by lap 51. At halfway, Newman competed in 12th and made it up to 10th before his fourth service of the event on lap 84. A variety of fuel strategies were in play posting the No. 31 comfortably within the top 15. With 18 laps to go, the Grainger pit crew serviced the car one final time for two right-side tires allowing Newman to restart in 12th position but just after green flag waved, the No. 88 car spun with the No. 31 scored in the eighth position.  Two green-white-checkered flags determined the outcome of the race. With Newman stuck in the high line, the No. 31 Grainger Chevrolet finished in the 11th position. In the first 20 races of 2015, Newman has earned four top-five and 10 top-10 finishes with just eight races remaining before the start of the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship. Newman now ranks 12th in the championship standings. Next Sunday, the NASCAR Sprint Cup teams will compete at the Pocono Raceway. Caterpillar will be the primary partner.

Start – 43           Finish – 11        Laps Led – 0         Points – 12

 

RYAN NEWMAN QUOTE: 
 “I am really proud of Luke (Lambert, crew chief) and the entire Grainger team for a great job today. To think we passed more than 30 cars is very respectable at a place like Indy. We had a top-10 car there at the end but on those final two restarts, we were in the outside line and it was not ideal. It slowed our momentum. All and all, it was a solid day considering what we were up against and I look forward to going back to Pocono because we had a good car there back in June.”

RCR PR

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