Making his first-career NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) start at Chicagoland Speedway on Saturday night, Dylan Kwasniewski and his No. 31 Rockstar Energy team looked to put down laps and get familiar with the 1.5-mile oval in the 200-lap race. During the two-day show, the NNS had two practice sessions on Friday afternoon, where Kwasniewski and his new crew chief Shannon Rursch looked to fine tune the car while laying down the 19th and 22nd fastest lap times, respectively. Kwasniewski then went out on Saturday afternoon looking to tackle knockout qualifying, and laid down a time of 31.282 seconds, good enough for the 19th-place starting position for Saturday night’s event.
As the green flag waved on a picture perfect Midwest night, Kwasniewski reported to Rursch that his Rockstar Energy Drink Chevy was tight center off. Despite battling a tight race car, Kwasniewski worked his way up to the 15th position when the first caution of the night came out on lap eight. Electing to stay out during the caution, the Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender restarted 13th on lap 14. Kwasniewski would continue to hold on to a top-15 position until first round of green-flag pit stops took place on lap 53. Running in the 15th position, Rursch called Kwasniewski down pit road for four tires, Sunoco Racing Fuel and a track-bar adjustment. Once green flag pit stops cycled through, Kwasniewski was 17th, the second car a lap down. Battling for the coveted free pass position, Kwasniewski stayed out during the second caution on lap 70 and was 16th when the second round of green-flag pit stops took place on lap 110. The Las Vegas native was scored in the 21st position with the third and final caution of the night came out on lap 124. During the caution, Rursch called Kwasniewski down pit road for a splash of Sunoco Racing fuel only. The young rookie gained several spots on pit road and restarted 17th. The field would make one more green-flag pit stop and settle in for a final long green-flag run to end the race, with Kwasniewski and his Rockstar Energy Drink team coming home in the 17th position.
Dylan Kwasniewski on Racing at Chicagoland:
“I would like to thank my guys for all the effort they put into this No. 31 Rockstar Energy Drink Chevy this weekend. Shannon made great calls on pit road and I felt like we made great gains on the car all night. The cautions just didn’t fall our way and we could never gain our lap back, and that hurt us. Our finish doesn’t indicate how good of a car we had. I am really looking forward to getting back on the track next week and making my first start at Indy.“
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