Chad Finley Post Race LOR

Chad Finley was a man on a mission this past Friday night at Lucas Oil Raceway.
 
From the moment they unloaded in preparation for the Sioux Chief PowerPEX 200, the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards competition knew that Finley and his Chad Finley Racing (CFR) team came to play.
 
Wasting no time in practice under brutal heat on Friday afternoon, Finley quickly sent his No. 51 Auto Value Certified Service Centers Chevrolet to near the top of the charts. While the family-owned team settled for ninth at the conclusion, the team led by veteran crew chief Bruce Cook stayed focused on race runs.
 
In qualifying, Finley only produced the 13th quickest lap. While not exactly thrilled with their effort, their disappointing starting position didn’t rest on their minds for too long, feeling confident that Finley had a quick enough car to move forward.
 
From the drop of the green flag, Finley became the show.
 
One of the fastest cars on the track, the Dewitt, Mich. native hustled into the top-10 by Lap five and continued to throttle forward.
 
From eighth to fifth then third, Finley was making moves that left fans on the edge of their seats.
 
Finley swiped the lead away from Sheldon Creed on Lap 65 and led a race-high 74 laps, but a Lap 127 caution forced the Chad Finley Racing team to make a decision.
 
Do you pit or not?
 
They decided to stay out.
 
Opting to stay out on older tires, the team hoped for a late race caution to come to pit road to arm themselves with four brand new General Tires and make a run for the finish.
Quickly sliding back through the field on the restart on colder, older tires, Finley managed to keep himself inside the top-10.
 
When another caution waved on Lap 146, Cook decided to keep his driver out – hoping for at least one more caution to take full advantage of their plan.
 
On the restart, the race appeared to be settling into what appeared to a green-flag run to the finish, Mother Nature stepped in around Lap 174 putting the field under caution and giving Finley the opportunity he waited for.
 
With fresh rubber, Finley who restarted outside the top-10 took off on the Lap 189 but didn’t get the initial start that he wanted.
 
Still, looking like superman, Finley muscled his way back towards the front and found himself back to third, but ran out of laps to challenge Dalton Sargeant, who was on the same strategy as Finley for his second win of the year.
 
Chad Finley PR