“Our No. 21 Richard Childress Racing team is strong and we will rebound, but today was a frustrating early end for our Bennett Transportation and Logistics Chevrolet. I didn’t think we were that good in practice yesterday, but once the race started and I drove up to fifth, I thought we had a good piece. We could have easily run inside the top-10 and kept our streak alive, so this is a bummer of a day. I was having issues going from first to second gear and kept missing the shift. Something was getting hung up and the shifter wasn’t smooth like it normally is. I missed a shift probably six or seven times, but when I did, I would recognize it right away to not over rev the engine. I tried to manage my RPMs and started short shifting, but that didn’t work either. Through the stadium section – Turns 14, 15, 16 – I lost the rev limiter. I looked down, was at 10,000 RPMs and wasn't hitting the chip. I think that is what hurt the motor to end our day. We will go on to Richmond Raceway.” -Austin Hill |