Top-10 Run Spoiled by Cut Tire for the RTP / Rheem Chevrolet at Iowa Speedway
“This RTP / Rheem Camaro was really, really good on long runs all weekend. We fired off from our 13th-place qualifying effort and made our way into the top-10 by the end of that first stage. Randall (Burnett, crew chief) and the pit crew adjusted on this Chevy and we were able to race into the top-five at the halfway point. Unfortunately, I made a mistake on pit road and was pinned in the pit stall, which caused us to lose quite a few spots. To make matters worse, we cut right front tire with 50 to go and ended up crossing the finish line in 23rd. I hate our result didn’t reflect how good this Chevy was here at Iowa.”
– Ben Kennedy
Brian Scott’s 2017 NASCAR Return Results in Podium Finish for No. 3 Daniel Defense Chevrolet
“I started off the day without any grip in qualifying, so we knew that we’d have to make big swings on it during the race. We struggled with the lack of grip on both ends of our Daniel Defense Chevrolet in the first stage until we could make adjustments during the caution. It took a little while, but we finally hit on great adjustments with sticker tires in the final stage. It hurt our chances to restart in the bottom lane coming to the green-white-checkered, but third place was a great day for our team nonetheless. It was a lot of fun being out there with nothing to lose. I’m looking forward to getting back in the car in Kentucky to wear these kids out again.”
– Brian Scott
“I started off the day without any grip in qualifying, so we knew that we’d have to make big swings on it during the race. We struggled with the lack of grip on both ends of our Daniel Defense Chevrolet in the first stage until we could make adjustments during the caution. It took a little while, but we finally hit on great adjustments with sticker tires in the final stage. It hurt our chances to restart in the bottom lane coming to the green-white-checkered, but third place was a great day for our team nonetheless. It was a lot of fun being out there with nothing to lose. I’m looking forward to getting back in the car in Kentucky to wear these kids out again.”
– Brian Scott
Hemric Records Second-Consecutive Top-10 Finish in Smoeky Mountain Herbal Snuff Chevy
“On lap 35-ish, I started to feel a vibration in the right-rear tire. We had an unexpected pit stop early in Stage 1 but through a series of cautions we were able to battle back up to contention. The car was fast; at times and we definitely had top 10 speed. I thought we struggled a little bit with getting the front end of the car to turn like we needed it to through the center of the corners. It was something we battled yesterday in practice, too. But a seventh-place finish is a pretty solid day for us as we get down the stretch here in the XFINITY Series schedule. Two top-10 finishes in a row is what we needed.”
– Daniel Hemric
“On lap 35-ish, I started to feel a vibration in the right-rear tire. We had an unexpected pit stop early in Stage 1 but through a series of cautions we were able to battle back up to contention. The car was fast; at times and we definitely had top 10 speed. I thought we struggled a little bit with getting the front end of the car to turn like we needed it to through the center of the corners. It was something we battled yesterday in practice, too. But a seventh-place finish is a pretty solid day for us as we get down the stretch here in the XFINITY Series schedule. Two top-10 finishes in a row is what we needed.”
– Daniel Hemric
Brandon Jones Drives Through the Field for a Top-10 Finish at Iowa Speedway
“That was a wild race for the No. 33 JELD-WEN / Menards Chevy team. We had to start from the back after changing our front left tire due to a cut we found in it during Round Two of qualifying. I really liked how we fired off though in Stage 1 for the race. I was able to move around enough to get up into the Top-20 by the end of that stage. During Stage 2, I lost all rear grip and couldn’t roll through the corners like I wanted. It turned out that we had a bad blister that was causing our right rear tire to fall apart, but luckily that didn’t cause any damage. In the final stage, we pitted to go back on the previous adjustment to help free the car up, which helped our short run. Nick (Harrison, crew chief) made a great call to pit under caution with under 10 laps to go and put on a set of scuffed tires. That grip gave us the edge we needed to break into the top-10 before the checkered flag waved.”
– Brandon Jones
“That was a wild race for the No. 33 JELD-WEN / Menards Chevy team. We had to start from the back after changing our front left tire due to a cut we found in it during Round Two of qualifying. I really liked how we fired off though in Stage 1 for the race. I was able to move around enough to get up into the Top-20 by the end of that stage. During Stage 2, I lost all rear grip and couldn’t roll through the corners like I wanted. It turned out that we had a bad blister that was causing our right rear tire to fall apart, but luckily that didn’t cause any damage. In the final stage, we pitted to go back on the previous adjustment to help free the car up, which helped our short run. Nick (Harrison, crew chief) made a great call to pit under caution with under 10 laps to go and put on a set of scuffed tires. That grip gave us the edge we needed to break into the top-10 before the checkered flag waved.”
– Brandon Jones
Brendan Gaughan Collects 13th-Place Finish at Iowa Speedway
“We had a shot for a top-10 with our No. 62 U.S. Cellular Chevrolet Camaro, but we just picked the wrong lane on that final restart. Our long run speed was great all day, and so were our pit stops. That helped us make up a lot of positions throughout the day. It just came down to that final restart, and we picked the wrong lane to run. But other than that, it was a good day. The boys on pit road did a great job as usual. It was a good race for us in our championship hunt. We’ll continue onto to Watkins Glen next weekend and try to get that win.”
– Brendan Gaughan
“We had a shot for a top-10 with our No. 62 U.S. Cellular Chevrolet Camaro, but we just picked the wrong lane on that final restart. Our long run speed was great all day, and so were our pit stops. That helped us make up a lot of positions throughout the day. It just came down to that final restart, and we picked the wrong lane to run. But other than that, it was a good day. The boys on pit road did a great job as usual. It was a good race for us in our championship hunt. We’ll continue onto to Watkins Glen next weekend and try to get that win.”
– Brendan Gaughan
