Spencer Gallagher No. 23 Allegiant Chevrolet Camaro Indy Recap

Spencer Gallagher and the No. 23 Allegiant team finished 28th in Saturday’s Lily Diabetes 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Gallagher was running within the top-15 when a vibration occurred causing him to drop back in the field. Trying to hold on until the end, Gallagher blew a right front and hit the wall on the final lap.
 
Gallagher qualified in the 20th position but had to start from the back due to unapproved adjustments after he felt a vibration during his qualifying attempt. Trying to make his way through the field, Gallagher reported from the 25th position to his No. 23 Allegiant team that he is free in heavy traffic and that the vibration is gone. The competition caution flew on lap 15, Gallagher was scored in the 22nd position. Crew chief Joey Cohen called for Gallagher to pit for right side tires, fuel, and no adjustments, restarting in the ninth position with 10 laps left in stage one. The majority of the cars behind Gallagher took four tires causing him to drop back into the 18th position before the end of Stage one on lap 30. Under the stage break, Cohen called for Gallagher to hit pit road for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment after telling the crew that he was on the tight side on his last run. Gallagher restarted 17th on lap 35. On lap 39, Gallagher got turned in turn four but had minimal damage, however, he did report a slight vibration. Cohen called for Gallagher not to pit under caution, restarting in the 18th position on lap 44. Another caution occurred on lap 50, Gallagher came to pit road for four tires, fuel and no chassis adjustments to his No. 23 Allegiant Chevrolet, restarting 28th on lap 52. After Stage two came to a conclusion on lap 60, Gallagher reported that his handling was back to the loose side. Gallagher finished the stage in the 13th position. Under the caution, strategy came into play, Gallagher came to pit road for fuel and a track bar adjustment, restarting 10th for the final stage on lap 64. Cohen gambled hoping there would be another caution where he could put on his final set of fresh tires on, but the field went green the remainder of the race. Gallagher dropped back in the field to the 19th position after not having fresh tires like the majority of the field. Gallagher was experiencing a vibration but worked with what he had and battled back into the top-15 with five laps remaining. Gallagher tried to hold on until the end but blew a right front tire on the final lap, relegating Gallagher to finish his first race at IMS in the 28th position.
 
Quote
“I thought we were going to have a top-15 day here at Indy. We gambled really big there at the end and didn’t take tires. If a caution would have fallen, like we were planning, we would have had four fresh tires for the end. I had a bad vibration in the closing laps of the race and I figured I could finish it out but then the right front blew on the final lap. It’s frustrating, to say the least but we have to keep our heads up and focus on Iowa.”
 
GMS PR