It was a hot weekend for the Go Green Racing team at Darlington Raceway. The team kicked off NASCAR Throwback weekend with two practice sessions on Friday afternoon. The Agri Supply / Sparks Energy Chevrolet was tight most of the afternoon so they were working on freeing Gase up during both sessions. Qualifying came around on Saturday morning and Gase said that in his two lap run it was way better than it was all day in practice the day before. He made the second round with the lap time he put down and ended up qualifying in 19th.
The Agri Supply / Sparks Energy team was geared up and ready to take on the Lady in Black for NASCAR throwback weekend. The green flag waved and the Sports Clips VFW 200 was underway in the hot and humid Darlington, South Carolina. Just three laps in, the race would see it’s first caution for the #60 of Austin Cindric getting turned coming off of turn 4. On the short three lap run Gase had said he was loose. Knowing that the track would tighten up as the day would progress CC Patrick Donahue replied “Perfect!” They would go back to green on lap 9 and would stay under green for the remaining 36 laps of stage one.
After the green and white checkered waved Gase said he was still pretty loose and he had gotten some debris on the grill so his water temperature was running a little hot. In between stages, Joey would bring it to the crew on pit road for a fresh set of Goodyear’s, fuel, two rounds in the right rear, and clean the grill. The crew did a great job on the stop and would pick Gase up four spots and would restart 20th!
Stage two would begin on lap 51 making this stage a 39 lap shootout. 12 laps into the green flag run Gase reported that he was still loose. Shortly after he had reported this to the crew a caution had come out for the #20 of Christopher Bell. Giving Gase a chance to come back down pit road for another adjustment. He would come down pit road for tires, fuel and two round in the left rear.
They would get the green on lap 70. Then eight short laps later another caution would come out for #19 of Brandon Jones spinning on the back stretch. Under the caution Gase would report to Donahue that now he was too tight but at least he’s still had grip. He would battle through for the final nine laps and end the stage in 15th. Between stages he would come back to pit road for another wedge adjustment, tires, and fuel.
The green flag would wave on lap 96 to start the third and final stage of the Sports Clips VFW 200. 11 laps into the final stage Gase said he was still too tight. Another caution would come out shortly after so he would bring it back for another wedge adjustment to loosen him up. Joey and the Agri Supply / Sparks Energy Chevrolet would restart in the 23rd position. He would gain two more spots after the adjustment and bring it to the checkered flag in the 21st position.
It was a roller coaster of day for the Agri Supply / Sparks Energy Inc team on Saturday. But the guys showed the fight and hustle that they’ve shown all year. They never gave up and helped Gase bring home his best career finish at Darlington Raceway. Next week the team will head to Indiana to take on Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the Lilly Diabetes 250.
Joey Gase PR
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