RCR Post Race Report – Watkins Glen 355

Austin Dillon and Dow Team Utilize ‘Never Give Up’ Attitude to Claim Valuable Points for The Chase

“This definitely wasn’t our day. We were in the wrong place at the wrong time and ended up with some damage on the Dow Chevrolet that required a trip to the garage in the middle of the race. When you’re in a tight Chase battle like we are, you have to do everything you can to get back out on track. This Richard Childress Racing team knows how to keep digging. With all the repairs, we only lost four laps. Every lap counts in this championship battle. All the cautions at the end of the race really helped. We made up all but one of our laps. We won’t give up. We’ll regroup over the off weekend and be ready for Bristol.”
 Austin Dillon

Paul Menard and the Richmond/Menards Team Play the Strategy Game at Watkins Glen International

“Today isn’t what we wanted but I’m proud of my team for not giving up. We didn’t have an ideal starting position. We tried some things during qualifying that just didn’t work out, so we knew going into today that we had a battle ahead of us. Danny Stockman and the guys worked hard to get a new setup ready for today. Handling didn’t feel right at the beginning of race, so during the first caution we made a few big changes that really helped. We decided to take a chance and went with a pit strategy that got us to the front. It was a lot of fun to be up there and play the strategy game. The brakes started to give me some trouble near the end, so guys were beating me in the braking zones. Otherwise I think our Richmond/Menards Chevy was a solid top-10 car. It’s something we will go back to the shop and work on.” 
 Paul Menard

Ryan Newman Overcomes Spin to Recover 13 Positions in Closing Laps at Watkins Glen International 

“Our team never gives up. I hate it that we got behind there when we spun out. I did everything I could and luckily, no one hit us. We stayed out and restarted 28th. We managed to dodge another close call with five laps to go. Overall, our Caterpillar Chevrolet was a top-10 car. Our biggest challenge was that we battled tighter than expected track conditions with the new surface. Plus, all the pit strategies and cautions made for an interesting day for all of us. I’m just happy that we were able to battle back and get our team a respectable finish with all things considered.”

 Ryan Newman

RCR PR