Rookie of the Year contender and West Palm Beach, Florida native Blake Koch continues to improve on the race track, week-in and week-out. This week at Nashville was more of the same as Blake recovered from running out of gas and a pit road speeding violation to post his 3rd straight top-25 finish.
In his first trip to the 1.333 mile concrete oval near Nashville, TN, Blake learned the track quickly during practice and was 28th on the time sheets. The Daystar Television Network No. 81 Dodge was quick in qualifying but lost grip coming out of turn 4 which left him 30th for the start of the race.
Blake patiently moved up from this 30th place starting position and was running in 26th on lap 75. On lap 114 Blake ran out of gas and was caught speeding on pit road, leaving him with a pass-thru penalty. This dropped the Daystar No. 81 Dodge back outside the top-30 and Blake would have to drive hard to make up for the set back. The last 100 laps Blake did just that and was able to “Finish Strong,” as it says on the hood of his No. 81 Dodge with a 25th place result.
Blake continues to sit 25th in the driver’s standings but now is only 26 points out of the top-20. He was also able to close the gap on Timmy Hill in the Rookie of the Year standings. The No. 81 Dodge remains 26th in the owner’s standings and is now 17 points ahead of 30th.
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