West Palm Beach, Florida native Blake Koch continues to turn heads with his impressive runs each week at tracks that he’s never seen before. Returning to one that he had previous experience on didn’t change anything this weekend at Iowa Speedway. Blake had a strong second half of the race and crossed the finish line with a 21st place finish. The solid run earned Blake $1,000 for Sunoco Rookie of the Race as well as $2,400 for being the Featherlite Most Improved Driver.
Returning to a familiar track proved beneficial for Blake as he practiced the Daystar.com Dodge. This allowed the MacDonald Motorsports team to be fast right out of the gate and he was just that. Blake turned in a fast lap of 129.662 mph which put him 22nd. Unfortunately, rain showers throughout the weekend caused qualifying to be cancelled for the third straight race.
After a short race last weekend with some bad luck on the first lap, almost anything would be an improvement. After starting in 26th because of car owner’s points, Blake ran the first half of the John Deere Dealers 250 between 25th and 29th. The last half of the race Blake and the MacDonald Motorsports team made a surge forward, advancing 7 spots to bring the Daystar.com No. 81 home in 21st place.
The finish gave Blake his third Sunoco Rookie of the Race award of the year so far. Also, with his 43rd place finish last week after the accident, his strong run this week won him the Featherlite Most Improved Driver award.
The Daystar.com No. 81 moves up one position in the owners standings ahead of the No. 39 car to 26th. Blake remains 23rd in the driver’s standings but is just 14 points behind 22nd.
MacDonald Motorsports PR
- Dover Weekend Schedule - April 21, 2024
- Kaulig Racing Race Recap | Ag-Pro 300 - April 20, 2024
- Odd Tony Stewart Talladega Post Race Q&A - May 7, 2012