Brennan Newberry and the No.24 Qore-24 Hand Purifier team headed north to a town that runs deep with patriotism and American pride in Hampton, Virginia. In the shadow of The Langley Air Force Base and countless other military and defense installations, Langley Speedway is a pearl of short track action. All on track activity for The Visit Hampton Virginia 175 was scheduled for a single Saturday as crews faced a flat track known for its tough corners and bull-ring style competition. As a multitude of Northern Virginia racing fans filed into their local NASCAR Home Track, the Qore-24 NTS Motorsports team had made several gains during the day. Through a practice session with multiple changes and qualifying in the back half of the field, Newberry picked his way through traffic and made a hard charge toward the front until a late race incident relegated the No.24 Chevrolet Impala to a finish just outside the top ten.
The events lone ninety minute practice session got underway as early morning rain had swept through the area and the sun finally began to peak through the cloud cover. Once on track, Newberry relayed back to crew chief John Monsam that he lacked the forward drive needed to carry his speed through the turns and he was pushing heavily in the center. After a round of changes Newberry returned to the track and, with the front grip issue solved, still was not able to keep his car pinned to the inside through turns three and four. With just minutes remaining in the session Monsam returned his driver to the track for a mock qualifying run and Newberry could immediately feel a positive change and posted a lap time of 16.125 which stood for eighth fastest on the chart.
Going into qualifying, Monsam knew he had sacrificed qualifying speed for more race ready setup. After Newberry hit the track early in time trials, he posted a time of 16.215 on his second lap. As the track cooled throughout the remaining laps of qualifying Newberry knew he would have to work hard and pick his way through traffic after taking the green. With a starting position of seventeenth, John Monsam was confident his setup would prove one of the strongest once the sun fell behind the Virginia horizon.
The green was displayed for The Visit Hampton VA 175 and the tone was set for a “rough and tumble” fight to the finish after only six of 175 circuits. A mid-pack spin in the middle of turns one and two brought out the caution for the first time and Newberry made a daring but critical move to the outside, narrowly avoiding disaster. Green would be displayed once again after seven laps of cleanup and Newberry had already made his way up to thirteenth.
Staying almost completely silent on the radio throughout the first portion of the race, Newberry showed strength on track. Passing competitors on the inside as well as the outside he had made his way inside the top ten by lap eighty-eight and told his crew chief, “This thing is strong, I think we are in a good spot!” Throughout the last half of the event, Newberry raced clean and kept the Qore-24 Chevrolet clean and in one piece, all the while saving for a final dash to capitalize on a strong run. With only eight laps to go, Newberry made another pass into sixth position and was charging to the top five when the night’s momentum was brought to an abrupt halt. After making a clean pass on a fellow competitor and clearing the car through turns one and two, Newberry was turned from behind on the exit of turn four bringing out the event’s final caution. Restarting at the rear of the lead lap competitors, Newberry picked his way back up to eleventh by the time the checkered flag was displayed after seventy miles on one of The NASCAR K&N Pro Series’ toughest tracks. With a lot of confidence in their equipment and a proven ability to adapt to any challenge throughout an event, Brennan Newberry, John Monsam, and the entire Qore-24 NTS Motorsports crew look forward to the next event on the schedule, The Granite State 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Brennan Newberry’s Post-Race Thoughts:
“I am, as always, very proud of my Qore-24 NTS Motorsports team after our showing at Langley. We made a lot of changes throughout practice but the crew and I worked together to be strong for the race. John (Monsam) made a lot of decisions during the session that helped me to be able to pass and run multiple grooves under green. We didn’t get the result we deserved, unfortunately, but that is just a part of racing. We continue to make gains and find speed each and every weekend. I look forward to getting to New Hampshire and capitalizing with a strong finish.”
John Monsam’s Post-Race Thoughts:
“It was a day full of ups and downs at Langley. In practice we worked very hard, as a team, to find the balance for a good race setup. The head and humidity made it really tough on the guys as we made a lot of changes. The adjustments for qualifying to free the car up a bit worked as expected but the result wasn’t quite what we had hoped for. Although we qualified seventeenth, I feel like we had a good race car. Brennan did great throughout the event, running side-by-side and racing clean, making excellent moves on the outside on restarts to pick up spots. In the end we were spun out and had a good finish taken away once again. The Qore-24 NTS Motorsports team will undoubtedly bounce back and I can’t wait to get to my NASCAR Home Track, New Hampshire Motor Speedway.”
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