Dover International Speedway, also know as The Monster Mile, has its nickname for a reason. “This place is one of the toughest and physically demanding tracks that we go to,” said Gase in an earlier interview. The team started the weekend off with a really tight race car center off and sketchy on entry in practice on Friday afternoon. The Go Green Racing crew threw everything at it but the kitchen sink to get the Sparks Energy car better for Saturday. In qualifying, Gase made the second round of a multi-vehicle qualifying for the 5th time of the season ending the first round in 20th. When it was all said and done, he qualified the Sparks Energy Chevrolet in 21st.
With rain in the forecast for later in the afternoon on Saturday, NASCAR had made the call to move the race up one hour to try and beat the weather. When the clock hit 12:30pm, the green flag had waved and the OneMain Financial 200 was underway! History has proved that there’s always an early caution at The Monster Mile and that’s exactly what we got. Only a lap and a half in, the #2 of Matt Tifft got loose in turn one and went for a spin. We went back to green on lap 8 and a few short laps later Gase came over the radio to relay to CC Donahue that he was really tight. Another caution had come out with 15 laps remaining in the first stage, and pit road had opened. But with the end of the stage coming so soon, the team elected to wave pit road and fight through to keep track position.
Stage one had finally come to end and Gase would come down pit road to free him up and four fresh tires. After a great pit stop, the team picked up about 6 spots and would restart the second stage in 22nd. The green flag would wave for the second stage and a few laps in another caution had come out for the #24 of Kaz Grala. During the caution, Joey came over the radio saying that the car was a little better after the last adjustments, but he’s still too tight on throttle. With those notes, they decided to come down pit road once more to put two more rounds in the right rear and adjust the tire pressures. We went green for the rest of stage two and Gase finished the stage in 22nd.
After another great pit stop, Gase gained two spots and would restart the final stage in 20th. In the final stage we would see some really hard racing, which would ultimately bring out 3 more cautions within the final 70 laps. Gase would hover between 16th and 22nd for a majority of the final stage. The team did a great job and Joey brought the Sparks Energy #35 in 20th for his 5th top 20 of the season.
The NASCAR XFINITY Series now has a two week break before the Alsco 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. CC Patrick Donahue said after the race, “With all of the changes we had to make this weekend a top 20 finish and a car that’s in one piece, we’ll take it.”
Next on the agenda: Joey and Go Green Racing will be out on the track on Monday, May 7th for the test at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Joey Gase PR
