Roush Fenway Racing’s Travis Pastrana and the No. 60 Ford Mustang finished 27thin Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) race at Chicagoland Speedway.
“We didn’t have the speed we did at the last race here in Chicago, but I thought we had a good car for the long run,” said Pastrana. “Unfortunately, I crashed at the end of practice and had to go to the backup car. We were just starting to get the car set up when I ran out of gas before making it to the pits.”
The NNS headed back to the 1.5-mile race track for the second time this season. Pastrana was involved in a practice accident with less than 30 minutes remaining in the final practice session of the day on Friday. The team quickly prepared the backup car and sent Pastrana back out to practice with 10 minutes remaining.
Saturday morning teams qualified, with the No. 60 posting the 24th quickest lap time, using the same backup car the team raced to 10th at Indianapolis. Pastrana picked up a few positions at the drop of the green, ultimately settling into 22nd.
On Lap 25, the team visited pit road under caution for the first stop of the day. Pastrana was too free on the opening run, so the team put a spring rubber in the left rear, along with bolting on four fresh tires and filling the car with fuel.
After a quick pit stop, Pastrana restarted 19th. On this run, the driver informed the team that the car continued to get looser. During a scheduled green flag pit stop on Lap 81, the team took four tires and fuel, this time opting for a wedge adjustment to the chassis.
The No. 60 returned to the track in 20th, with Pastrana radioing that the car was still too free. The team opted not to pit during a Lap 107 caution, and instead took the wave around in order to get back on the lead lap.
The team hoped for a timely caution that would allow them to pit with the leaders and get back on the same sequence. The caution never came, with the No. 60 running out of fuel on the same lap the team was scheduled to make a green flag pit stop.
Pastrana made it to the pits, but could not get the car re-fired quickly, which cost the team four laps under green. Without a tachometer he received a pass through penalty for speeding entering pit road, losing one more lap under green.
When Pastrana returned to the track after the lengthy visit to pit road, he radioed to the crew that the handling of his Ford Mustang felt the best it had all day. The team maintained position for the final 50 laps, crossing the finish line in 27th.
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