Trekking to the third and final road course on the NASCAR XFINITY Series tour this weekend at Road America (Wisc.), driver B.J. McLeod looks to make it his best road course performance in Saturday afternoon’s Road America 180 fueled by Johnsonville.
And while McLeod admits he’s not sure what to expect this weekend, the driver of the No. 78 B.J. McLeod Motorsports Ford Mustang wants to have a solid finish on the heels of a 19th place run at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway last Friday night.
“The result at Bristol was something we needed,” said McLeod. “We battled with the handling of the car throughout the race, but we worked hard throughout the race and we were able to work through the changes and take advantage of some late race attrition to match our best finish of the year. That was a good boost we needed.”
Reverting back to road course form at Road America this weekend, McLeod is keeping his expectations modest while utilizing the on-track time to not only learn the course, but plan ahead and form a strategy for race day.
“With Road America being relatively over four miles long, I have a lot to learn in a short amount of time and only 45 laps to get it done, it will be interesting,” McLeod joked. “In all seriousness, if we can get out of Road America with a solid finish, I’ll be happy and ready to get back to oval racing.”
In two road course races this year, McLeod scored a best finish of 26th at Watkins Glen (N.Y.), and most recently at Mid-Ohio, he climbed from his 38th place qualifying spot to finish 27th in a rain-soaked Mid-Ohio 200.
Running in both the dry and the wet and making lefts and rights for the first time in his Motorsports career, McLeod hopes he can take the finesse he learned earlier this month and apply it to Road America.
“Before Watkins Glen, I never really knew what to expect on a road course, but I got fast with every lap I made on both tracks, even in the wet. This weekend, I expect more of the same and I look forward to working with my teammates too.”
Speaking of teammates, McLeod will be in good company for Saturday’s Road America 180. Scott Heckert returns to the No. 15 B.J. McLeod Motorsports / Rick Ware Racing Ford Mustang for his third XFINITY Series race, while longtime veteran Stanton Barrett will drive the No. 99 XCaliber Ford Mustang.
With both drivers having an enormous road course background, McLeod hopes to lean on both of them for guidance around the 4.048-mile, 14-turn race track.
“Scott did an amazing job at Watkins Glen earlier this month and Stanton considers Road America one of his favorite places, so I’m looking forward to leaning on them for advice and letting me know what I’m doing right and what I’m doing wrong. Overall though, start to finish I think it will be a good weekend.”
After spending 11 weeks 21st in the XFINITY point standings, McLeod leaped inside the top-20 two races ago and with plenty of racing still on the schedule, McLeod is hopeful to climb a few more positions by year’s end.
“We’ve been picking away at it,” said McLeod. “Good finishes will help us as we try to leap our way a position or two by Homestead in November. We’re in a critical stretch right now of racing and for the most part, we’ve been able to keep the bad luck at bay. If we can continue to do that, we should be good shape come the end.”
Veteran industry crew chief George (David) Ingram Jr. will call the shots for the No. 78 B.J. McLeod Motorsports Ford Mustang for the 23rd race of the 2016 NASCAR XFINITY Series season.
For more on B.J. McLeod, please visit his official Facebook page, while also visiting the team’s brand new website at BJMcLeodMotorsports.com. Additionally, the team is growing their presence on Twitter, with the team’s new account @teamBJMcLeod. McLeod also utilizes his personal twitter too, @BJMcLeod78.
BJ McLeod Motorsports PR
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