Kwasniewski Comes Home 24th in Daytona

Fresh off his 11th-place finish last weekend in Kentucky, Dylan Kwasniewski wanted to build momentum and come home with another solid finish in Daytona. Kwasniewski and his Rockstar Energy Drink team were in position to do just that, until suffering damage when another competitor spun out coming through the tri-oval on lap 93. Despite the damage, Kwasniewski was able to cross the finish line in the 24th position at the 2.5-mile superspeedway on Friday night. During the Fourth of July week, the NASCAR Nationwide Series had one two-hour practice session on Thursday afternoon, when Kwasniewski and his TSM team ran 20 laps and laid down the seventh-fastest lap time. Kwasniewski then went out on an overcast Friday afternoon and laid down a time of 48.540 seconds, which was good enough for the 26th starting position for the 100-lap shootout.

 

After taking the green flag, the Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender wasted no time making his way to the front, cracking the top 15 by lap seven and working his way into seventh on lap 18. Kwasniewski continued to hold onto his top-10 position until green-flag pit stops began on lap 36. During the stop, crew chief Pat Tryson called Kwasniewski down pit road for four tires and fuel. Once green-flag pit stops cycled through, Kwasniewski was scored in the 19th position. Kwasniewski worked his way to 15th when the first caution of the night came out on lap 53. Playing strategy, Tryson once again called Kwasniewski down pit road, this time taking fuel only. With most of the field on the same strategy, Kwasniewski restarted 14th on lap 58. After the restart, the field settled into a long green-flag run with Kwasniewski staying locked up in the draft. The Las Vegas native was scored in the 18th position on lap 93 when another competitor spun in the tri-oval and clipped the Rockstar Energy Drink Chevy, causing minor left-front damage. During the caution, Kwasniewski came down pit road to repair the damage and take another splash of Sunoco racing fuel. After restarting 26th on lap 96, Kwasniewski survived a green/white/checkered finish and came home in the 24th position.

 

Dylan Kwasniewski on Racing at Daytona:

My Rockstar Energy Drink Chevy was fast all night, but unfortunately we received damage to the left front towards the end of the race and that hurt us a little bit. The guys at Turner Scott Motorsports continue to build me fast racecars; we just need a little bit of luck to turn this thing around. The great thing about this sport is we get to race every weekend, so I am looking forward to moving on to New Hampshire.

 

TSM PR