No. 34 Love's Travel Stops Ford Mustang Dark Horse:
With two races to go, Michael McDowell started Sunday's event in the 24th position. McDowell pitted early in Stage 1 under green, making his way up to 17th place before the second caution of the day allowed the field to pit again. On the ensuing restart, McDowell fell back in the field through the end of the stage reporting that the No. 34 had no left driver, finishing Stage 1 in 30th place. With some adjustments, Crew Chief Travis Peterson elected to play to their long-run strength as McDowell climbed up the leader board when the field pitted again under green, running as high as fifth mid-way through Stage 2 before pitting. After cycling through the field, McDowell finished Stage 2 in 17th. The final stage, after another caution, McDowell was able to gain spots on the restart driving the high line into turns 1 and 2, climbing up to 11th. McDowell ran the No. 34 long again for the final time in hopes of cycling back to the Top-10. Unfortunately, a caution was thrown with 12 laps to go. Despite not having immediate short-run speed on the final restart, the No. 34 was able to hold spots in the closing laps to finish 14th-place, his third-consecutive Top-15 finish.
Start: 24th
Stage One: 30th
Stage Two: 17th
Race Result: 14th
DRIVER MICHAEL MCDOWELL:
"Decent day for our Love's Travel Stop Ford Mustang Dark Horse. We had good long run speed and were fast in practice compared to our qualifying effort, which is usually the opposite for us at these tracks. The crew did an awesome job on pit road keeping us in contention for a Top-15 and Travis made some good calls to get us back up there from where we were running during the first half of the race. Just didn't have the short run speed to gain more spots on that final restart, but we'll take the result."
No. 38 gener8tor Ford Mustang Dark Horse:
Todd Gilliland made his third NASCAR Cup Series start at the Homestead-Miami Speedway this past Sunday. Qualifying 31st in the fan-favorite, all-black gener8tor scheme, Gilliland settled in for a long afternoon at the 1.5-mile track. After an early caution, Gilliland gained 10 spots off of the restart. As the pit cycle started, Gilliland saw himself within the Top-5, moving up to the first position before he pitted for four tires and fuel. Gilliland finished Stage 1 in the 31st position. Under the stage-break caution, Gilliland pitted for four tires and fuel. Continuing to fight his way to the front, Gilliland made a routine, green flag stop. He finished out Stage 2, finishing in the 34th position. Gilliland started the final stage with fresh tires and topped off on fuel. Gilliland got back on the lead lap. After a string of cautions and trips to pit road, Gilliland bounced back to cross the start/finish line in the 20th position.
Start: 31st
Stage One: 31st
Stage Two: 34th
Race Result: 20th
DRIVER TODD GILLILAND:
"It was a frustrating day, for sure. It just didn't play out how we wanted it to. Ryan (Bergenty) and the team still made the most of the weekend, however. Big thanks to those guys and the men and women back at the shop for making this weekend possible. There are still two races left on the schedule, hopefully we can make the most of them and finish strong."
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