Blake Koch and the RAB Racing No. 99 CompassionRacing.com, GodSpeaks.com Toyota Camry had something to prove going into the NASCAR Nationwide Series season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday, November 16. Koch started on the front row for the first time in his NASCAR career, and finished in the 11th position after restarting in the 21st position with five laps remaining.
On Friday, Koch made it known throughout the garage area that he was a contender when he completed the seventh-fastest lap in the first practice session and the fifth-fastest lap in the second and final practice session. This raw speed translated into Koch and the No. 99 team qualifying in the second position, a mere .01 seconds off of the pole-winning lap time set by Sam Hornish Jr. The second-fastest lap in qualifying was RAB Racing’s seventh top-10 starting position of the 2013 racing season.
The green flag flew on the 300-mile event and Koch immediately started racing side-by-side with NASCAR Sprint Cup Series veterans and held on to a top-10 position for most of the first half of the event. Laps 48-99 saw four caution periods and with each restart the action intensified with Koch still trying to familiarize himself with a car he’d never raced. The No. 99 slid back to the 21st position by the halfway point, with the balance of the car worsening as a result of turbulent air caused by the large pack of cars that were in front. Koch picked up positions on the track and in the pits and by lap 143 the No. 99 had worked its way back into the top 15, but received extensive front-end damage from the car directly in front hitting the wall and losing speed. The damage sent the No. 99 to the pits multiple times in an effort to fix the damage, but lost all the positions that were made up on the track, sending Koch back to the 26th position with a small handful of laps left in the event. Although the situation wasn’t ideal, Koch and the CompassionRacing.com Toyota Camry team never gave up, and after a lengthy caution period and restarting in the 21st position with five laps remaining Koch made a comeback for the ages. In the final five laps Koch aggressively made it three and sometimes even four wide finishing in the 11th position, the best result in his five-year NASCAR career. The 11th-place finish was RAB Racing’s 19th top-15 finish of the 32 race schedule.
Blake Koch: “I can’t thank RAB Racing enough for the opportunity to get my career-best finish and start on the front row here at my hometown track. A big thank you goes to Robby Benton, my crew chief Chris Rice, everyone at CompassionRacing.com and GodSpeaks.com for putting this together and allowing me to show my talents in great equipment. Not only did we compete at the highest level but we brought awareness to CompassionRacing.com and helped a lot of children in poverty. We could have easily finished in the top 10 if it weren’t for the damage we received to the front end of the car. I was racing for the 15th position and the car right infront of me slammed the wall and lost all his speed, I had nowhere to go and made contact with the back of his car. The damage we received to the front changed the balance and performance of the car. We had to give up all the positions we worked so hard to gain on the track, to come into the pits and repair it the best we could. My team never gave up and pushed me in the closing laps, I can’t remember having that much fun in a race car.”
With the 11th-place finish owner Robby Benton finished the 2013 NASCAR Nationwide Series season in the 16th position in owner point standings. Blake Koch gained two positions in the driver point standings to finish the season in the 25th position.
RAB Racing PR
