Gase Moves Up to 18th in Driver Points After Charlotte

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In: Xfinity Series News

Joey Gase and Go Green Racing picked up right where they left off at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It was special weekend for Gase and everyone in the sport as NASCAR launched their NASCAR Salutes program to support all of the men and women in our nations military. It was only fitting to pay tribute and honor the life of Det. Mike Doty of the York County Sheriff’s Office who was tragically killed earlier this year. Doty was not only a hero in life, but after life as well as he made the decision to be an organ donor which ultimately saved the lives of two people.

After a rainy morning at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the rain had just cleared in time to dry the track and squeeze in qualifying. After qualifying was all said and done, Gase would take the green flag in the 26th position for the Alsco 300.

After the rain had passed, the lineup was set, the green flag had waved and the long wait was finally over. On lap one coming into turn 3 and 4 Joey had gotten really lose, but made a nice save to keep his day alive. Shortly after the lap one excitement he came over the radio and said that he was very free through the whole corner. A caution came out on lap 22 for the #55, so Joey would come down pit road for some packer and a track bar adjustment to help tighten him up. A few laps later he would relay to Crew Chief Patrick Donahue that now he was tight but could be much more aggressive. He would fight through to the end of stage one and come back down pit road to free him up, four fresh tires, and a full tank of gas. 

They went back to green for stage two and they would stay green until lap 80 when the #0 went spinning. Race leader Kyle Busch had just caught Gase before the caution, but he was the first car a lap down so he would get the free pass putting him back on to the lead lap. They would go back green for the remainder of the stage. During the caution between stages Joey would come down pit road for tires, fuel, and two rounds out of the right rear to get ready for the final stage!

A short time after the final stage had begun, a caution had come out for the #01 and Joey communicated that he was still tight but it got decent on the longer run. At this point Gase had fought his way up to 21st. After going back to green, the clouds started to roll in and it had started to rain. As the rain picked up, NASCAR had decided to pull the caution out for weather. The rain would blow over quick and they went back to racing with 69 laps remaining in the Alsco 300. A couple more cautions had come out, and with 49 laps remaining Gase found himself up in the 11th position. Some hard racing resulted in a couple more cautions as they attempted to restart the race, and that’s when more rain clouds rolled in. This time it would cause about an hour delay with only 24 laps remaining. After the long hour wait, drivers were finally back in their cars and headed out on the track to finish the hard fought battle! Joey and the LifeShare Of The Carolinas / Sparks Energy Chevrolet would restart in 15th. 

Shortly after we had gone back to green another caution came out for the #7 and #42. Gase had come over the radio and said the track had changed quite a bit after the rain delay and that he was now very tight center off. With only 14 laps remaining and sitting in 16th, he had no choice but to fight through to the end. That’s exactly what he did and brought it to the checkered in 17th. 

This weekend would mark Gase’s 5th Top 20 of the season and second in as many races. It was a solid way to start off after the break for Go Green Racing. Gase has jumped up to 18th in driver points and the team now sits in 19th in owner points. Gase and team will head to Pocono Raceway next weekend to take on the Tricky Triangle. 

Joey Gase PR

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