Carl followed up his speedy qualifying run with a sixth in second practice. In the third and final practice, he posted the fourth fastest time, but the fastest time in ten-lap averages. While all of this sounded promising, Carl himself cautioned that he has had trouble in the past with converting speed in qualifying to speed in the race at Loudon's mile-long racetrack.
He started off the race with a bang, holding the top position for the first 30 laps. Even when he slid back, he only lost a few positions. He held 2nd place for the second 30 laps. He was still in 3rd when he made his first green-flag pit stop on lap 77. Once everyone cycled through their green-flag stops, he was in 5th.
The first caution flag flew on lap 123 for debris. Pulling into his pit stall, he overshot his ideal position by just a little bit. The resulting just-a-wee-bit slower-than-usual pit stop lost him a couple of spots, so he restarted in 7th, then fell back to 8th.
He got that spot back before the next debris caution on lap 165. He pitted for four tires and fuel but no adjustments, although he was advised to adjust the track bar prior to the restart. This time his pit crew snagged him two spots, so he restarted in 5th on lap 171. He lost two spots in five laps, noting that he restarts with adequate grip that quickly goes away. Although he was posting some of the fastest times on the track, he was only able to move up one spot in the next ten laps.
50 laps later, it was time for another green-flag pit stop, this time getting four tires, fuel, and a slight air pressure adjustment to free up his car. Once most of the cars had completed their stops, he found himself in 10th place.
The caution flag came back out on lap 238 for a car in the outside wall. The build-for-speed Comcast Business Camry pitted for right-side tires only and restarted 10th. He spent the next 25 laps between the 9th and 11th positions.
When a car spun out and brought out the caution flag on 263, the team pondered whether or not to pit. A last-minute decision to come to pit road was made just a tiny bit too late, as Carl had the slimmest of a pit road commitment line violation. Cars need to have all four tires inside the commitment box at the entrance of pit road, but his right rear tire ran over that box. As a result, he had to fall to the rear of the field for the restart, putting him back in 20th place on lap 267, with only 33 laps to go.
His frustration with his mistake seemed to fuel his car, because he clawed his way forward. On average, he advanced one position every four laps, until the next caution flag for a car in the outside wall on lap 284. This time he did not pit, restarting in 10th on lap 288, now with only 12 laps to go.
He gained two spots almost immediately and two more spots in the next five laps. When the folks in the flagstand waved the checkered flag, his Toyota crossed the finish line in 6th place. During his after-the-race interview, he said he had a car capable of a top three or four, so a 6th place finish would be respectable under any circumstance. But given the fact that his pit road mistake buried him in the middle of the field, 6th place was magnificent.
Had he finished the race back in that 20th spot, he would have been 3 points below the cut-off line at the end of the day. Instead he finds himself 16 points ahead of the cut-off line, 13 points better than he was before the race got underway. He currently sits in 10th both on the Chase grid and in the drivers' standings, one position back from last weekend. With only two drivers separating him from that dreaded elimination line, it is good that next we go to Dover, one of the tracks where Carl has enjoyed success.
No comments:
Post a Comment