Cunningham Leads Charge at Kentucky with Sargeant, Lee and Majeski

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With another race coming down to a two-lap shootout finale, all three Cunningham cars were once again sitting within striking distance of victory lane Friday night in the Crosley Brands 150 at Kentucky Speedway. Leading 12 laps, Dalton Sargeant steered his No. 77 Big Tine Ford Fusion to a team-high fourth place while teammate Shane Lee picked up valuable championship points with a fifth-place finish in the No. 22 Big Tine car. Roush Fenway development driver Ty Majeski wheeled his No. 99 Treeo’s Ford Fusion up to sixth for his fourth top-10 finish in four races.
 
Shane Lee, No. 22 Big Tine Ford Fusion
  • Start: 6th / Finish: 5th
  • Making it through two early cautions before lap 11, Lee moved up to fourth battling a tight car.
  • The No. 22 team chose to come down pit road on lap 32 during the third caution of the night. With four new General Tires, Sunoco race fuel and adjustments, Lee lined up fifth for the restart.
  • By lap 72, Lee was back to eighth fighting a tight race car and trying to work a different line on the track to maintain position.
  • With a caution falling seven laps later, Lee had a chance to come down pit road for more adjustments and a new set of four General Tires.
  • Restarting eighth on lap 86, Lee moved up four spots before receiving minor left front fender damage from a caution that brought out a green-white-checker finish.
  • Lee lined up third but finished fifth with effects of the exterior damage being felt on the restart.
  • Lee: “We had a pretty good run at Kentucky. We were able to avoid major damage from all of the cautions and come away with a top-five finish. I thought we had a good shot at the win on that last restart but we just lost essential speed from some of the left front damage we picked up on the last caution. Overall, we had a great points day and extended the lead over fourth in driver points. With one race left it would be great to finally get that first win that we’ve been edging closer to for a few weeks and hopefully everything comes together for us at Kansas.”
 
Dalton Sargeant, No. 77 Big Tine Ford Fusion
  • Start: 5th / Finish: 4th
  • Just like teammate Lee, Sargeant avoided both early cautions and was up to third by lap 20. 
  • Sargeant fought Majeski for second and took over that position before a third caution on lap 32. The No. 77 team came down pit road for two fresh General Tires and Sunoco race fuel.
  • Winning the battle off of pit road, Sargeant took the lead.
  • After leading 12 laps, Sargeant fell back to second with a tight car. A lap 79 caution gave the team the chance to pit for two new General Tires, Sunoco race fuel and adjustments.
  • With 14 to go on the restart, Sargeant lined up fourth as the leaders took it four-wide into turn one. Another car made contact with Sargeant, pushing him to ninth when the last caution fell.
  • Making the most out of the green-white-checker finish, Sargeant picked up five spots to give him his ninth top-five finish of the year.
  • Sargeant: “We were definitely in a spot to be able to win the race and we were resilient throughout the night. It was a fun, exciting race and leading some laps felt really good. Right before the last caution on the restart, we got bumped around by another car and unfortunately that pushed us back into ninth. We pushed this car to the limit and weren’t going to give up which ultimately put us up to fourth. I’d love to be able to finish the season off strong and get a win in the final race of the year.”
 
Ty Majeski, No. 99 Treeo’s Ford Fusion
  • Start: 3rd / Finish: 6th
  • Avoiding all contact from the first two cautions of the night, Majeski was up to second when he fell back to seventh on the lap 20 restart after telling his crew chief he spun on oil from the previous yellow flag.
  • With the track under green for a few laps, Majeski made his way back up to fourth when he came to pit road for four fresh General Tires, Sunoco race fuel and adjustments under the third caution of the night on lap 32.
  • Restarting in third, Majeski took second place away from teammate Sargeant on lap 52 and held the second position until another caution fell on lap 79 and Majeski punctured a tire from debris.
  • Coming down pit road twice under yellow to assess the damage, he fell back to 12th.
  • After pitting once more for a chassis adjustment on the next and final caution, the No. 99 team picked up six spots to give Majeski a sixth-place finish on the final green-white-checker restart.
  • Majeski: “We had a great piece at Kentucky and once again were fighting all night to compete for the win. If we had gotten a few more laps on that last restart I know we would have been up to the front closing in on the leaders. I’m proud of the effort the team has put in each race so far and it’s good that we’re not satisfied with where we’ve been finishing. I know we have the potential to get a win and finish within the top five drivers and we’ll put everything we have into getting this No. 99 Treeo’s Ford Fusion a win at Kansas to close out our year.”
 
Keep up with Cunningham Motorsports on Facebook and Instagram (@CunninghamRace) and on Twitter (@Cunningham_Race). Head to www.cunninghamrace.com for more news.
 
You can follow Shane and Dalton on social media as well. Follow Shane on Facebook/Twitter (@ShaneLeeRacing) and on Instagram (@Shane_Lee00). You can find Dalton on Facebook (@DaltonSargeantRacing) and Twitter/Instagram (@DaltonSargeant). You can also follow Ty Majeski on Facebook (@TyMajeskiRacing), Twitter (@TyMajeski) and Instagram (@TyMajeski_).
 
Cunningham Motorsports PR
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