Kaulig Racing Race Recap | Crown Royal Purple Bag Project 200 - Speedway Digest

SHANE van GISBERGEN

No. 97 Quad Lock Chevrolet Camaro
Shane van Gisbergen started 17th, as per the rule book, after qualifying for the Crown Royal Purple Bag Project 200 was canceled due to weather. Sporting a Quad Lock throwback scheme honoring Marcos Ambrose, Van Gisbergen slipped to 22nd by the competition caution on lap 20. Battling a loose car during the remaining portion of the run, Van Gisbergen ended stage one in 22nd on lap 45. Following a pit stop for four tires, fuel and adjustments during the stage break, Van Gisbergen started stage two in 18th on lap 53. After a completely-green second stage, Van Gisbergen finished in 19th on lap 90. The Quad Lock team hit pit road for four tires, fuel and another round of adjustments under the stage yellow. Following the stop, Van Gisbergen began the final stage in 15th. Van Gisbergen slipped to 21st on lap 100, where he’d run when the caution flag waved once again on lap 103. After staying out under the caution, the Quad Lock team restarted 22nd on lap 109. Van Gisbergen finished in 15th following a day of learning at the “Lady in Black.”

“Overall I had a really good time. I wasn’t as good on the restarts, but once we got going, the car was really fast. I enjoyed my first race here at Darlington and came home with a pretty straight car, just a little stripe on this Quad Lock throwback.”
– Shane van Gisbergen

JOSH WILLIAMS

No. 11 Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet Camaro
Josh Williams started 25th, as per the rule book, after qualifying for the Crown Royal Purple Bag Project 200 was canceled due to weather. Williams gained one spot before the lap-20 competition caution came out. He came down pit road during the yellow for tires, fuel, and air pressure and wedge adjustments, restarting in 21st on lap 26. Williams, battling a tight-handling race car, dropped positions to finish stage one in 25th. The No. 11 Alloy Employer Services Chevy was brought down pit road for tires, fuel and a set of adjustments intended to free the car up. Williams started stage two in 29th on lap 53 and passed three cars to finish it on lap 90 in 26th. Williams pitted for tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment during the stage caution. He started the final stage in 23rd with 49 laps to go, and four laps later, the race’s first natural caution occurred with Williams running in 26th. Williams drove the No. 11 Chevy Camaro down pit road for tires and fuel under yellow and restarted in 28th with 39 to go. He climbed to 24th before a wreck brought out the yellow flag on lap 124. Williams pitted for tires and fuel and restarted with 16 laps remaining in 21st, where he’d take the checkered flag.

“We started off super tight and were never really able to get it freed up. Without any practice, and with it being such a short race, it was hard to make adjustments and gain the positions we needed.”

– Josh Williams

AJ ALLMENDINGER

No. 16 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet Camaro
AJ Allmendinger started fourth, as per the rule book, after qualifying for the Crown Royal Purple Bag Project 200 was canceled due to weather. On the first lap, Allmendinger took over second place. On lap seven, still maintaining second place, Allmendinger reported he was building free. The competition caution came out on lap 20, and Allmendinger told the team he was most free in the center and laterally through the corner. The team came to pit road for adjustments and restarted in fifth place on lap 26. By lap 27, Allmendinger was running fourth and reported he was more free this run. The No. 16 finished the first stage in fourth place. Allmendinger came to pit road during the stage break for four tires, fuel and adjustments to tighten up the No. 16. Allmendinger restarted in fourth place on lap 80 and remained quiet on the radio for the majority of the stage. He finished the second stage in sixth place and reported he had no lateral grip. The team came to pit road to make adjustments for the final stage. Under the caution laps, the car shut off before coming to the choose. Allmendinger fell back and restarted in 28th. With 45 laps to go, the caution came out, and the No. 16 team planned to come down pit road for tires and fuel. When Allmendinger attempted to refire the car under caution, the key switch broke. During the pit stop, the No. 16 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevy shut off again. The team restarted the car, but following the green flag, the car once again turned off. Crew chief, Alex Yontz, called Allmendinger behind the wall to repair the issue. Allmendinger rejoined the field on lap 128, 20 laps down. Allmendinger went on to finish 35th.

“Really disappointing end to the day. I thought the race was going fairly well; I felt like we had a top-five car there, just fighting being too loose as the run went on. Definitely didn’t have the speed to go win the race but felt like we could run third-to-fifth depending on where we restarted and the pace of the race. Some positives to take is what we’re learning, definitely need to clean up a lot to get where we need to be. At the end of the day, it’s frustrating to finish where we did, but at least we had speed most of the day to run up front.” – AJ Allmendinger

Kaulig Racing PR