No. 34 Love's RV Stop Ford Mustang Dark Horse:
Michael McDowell once again had a top-10 starting position, 8th-place, after a 2-hour rain delay. The Love's RV Stop Ford Mustang Dark Horse was competitive amongst the top-10, top-15 cars with good long-run pace, as McDowell finished Stage 1 in P11 just missing out on stage points. Stage 2 showed the 34's consistency being able to stay in the top-15, running as high as 9th place. Green flag pit stops cycled McDowell to 15th to end the stage. On the ensuing pit stop, McDowell lost spots on pit road due to an incident with the No. 41 entering his pit box too early, forcing McDowell to check up. Restarting 19th for Stage 3, McDowell was unfortunately caught up in a caution with 83 laps to go. The No. 2 Ford Mustang of Austin Cindric spun and clipped the right rear door of McDowell, but luckily the 34 team only had to repair slight cosmetic, aero damage on the following pit stop. After that incident, a series of late-race cautions by the No 21 and No. 22, and tire strategy helped propel McDowell to restart 6th position with 63 laps to go on older tires. Fading back to 15th-place, the track position gamble paid off when Kyle Busch brought out the final caution of the evening, with 7 laps to go forcing overtime. Crew Chief Travis Peterson made another track position move, electing to take 2 tires on the final stop to have McDowell restart 13th. After a wild green-white-checkered finish, McDowell held on for a well-earned 10th-place finish. The Top-10 was his third of the season, career best for McDowell at Kansas and the best finish for Front Row Motorsports at the Kansas Speedway.
Start: 8th
Stage One: 11th
Stage Two: 15th
Race Result: 10th
DRIVER MICHAEL MCDOWELL:
"It was an eventful race, certainly had a fast Love's RV Stop Ford Mustang. We were holding strong that first half of the race. Glad to fight back after the incident on pit road and the crash we were caught up in and have the opportunity to fight back to the top-10. It was definitely a handful, but all those restarts went our way. Glad to get some momentum back on our side."
No. 38 Long John Silver's Ford Mustang Dark Horse:
Qualifying 25th in the Long John Silver's Ford Mustang Dark Horse, Todd Gilliland and company settled in for the rain-delayed race. Gilliland was the first to come down pit road in Stage 1 during a green flag stop after crew chief Ryan Bergenty made the call for four tires and fuel. Back in the pack, Gilliland held strong in the top-25 to finish out Stage 1 in the 24th position. An uneventful Stage 2 saw the No. 38 crew complete another green flag stop for Gilliland and his Ford Mustang Dark Horse before finishing the stage 23rd. Gilliland started the stage on fresh tires and topped off on fuel but came to pit road after the yellow flag waved for an on-track incident giving Ryan Bergenty the chance to play the strategy game and take just right-side tires. After another caution came out with teammate Michael McDowell involved, Gilliland stayed out for track position and clean air. Gilliland kept his head down and kept logging laps before another caution flew giving him the chance to stay out and restart P1. Running long, Gilliland was close on his fuel window and was laps away from pitting before fellow competitor Kyle Busch spun with seven laps to go, forcing overtime. Gilliland restarted 17th but managed to work his way into the top-15 to bring home a 14th-place finish.
Start: 25th
Stage One: 24th
Stage Two: 23rd
Race Result: 14th
DRIVER TODD GILLILAND:
"Today was a step in the right direction. I didn't have the best qualifying run, but Ryan (Bergenty) and the team put me in a good spot to bring home a solid finish. I like the next couple of tracks we are going to, and I don't see why we can't consistently compete within the top-15 and even top-10."