NASCAR Driver Places 20th at Bristol Motor Speedway
BRISTOL, Tenn. (April 17, 2016) – Just one week after earning a career-best finish at Texas Motor Speedway, NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) driver Ray Black Jr. broke his record again when he secured his first NXS career Top-20 finish this past weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. The driver of the No. 07 ScubaLife.com Chevrolet Camaro and his team fought hard and overcame multiple obstacles during Saturday’s heat race and main before finishing 20th in the Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300.
“Another great weekend for the team! Our first Top-20 finish in the XFINITY Series!” said Black. “We knew Bristol was going to be tricky, but everyone kept digging all weekend long and we had a solid car when it mattered most.”
After spending the two practice sessions of the weekend dialing in the handling of the car, Black and his ScubaLife team qualified 34th, setting them up for the second 50-lap heat race. Right at the start of his heat race, Black reported something being very wrong with the car and pitted multiple times throughout the event to try to figure out the problem. After finishing the 50 lap event, the team would discover the root of the problem – a flat right rear tire.
With only 200-laps in the main race, Black knew how quickly the main would go and immediately began moving up from his 36th place starting spot. The No. 07 ScubaLife.com Chevrolet got better the longer the stretch of green flag racing, and it wasn’t long until Black was running lap times consistent with the Top 15 to 20th place drivers.
During the closing laps of the race, Black was slowing under a caution flag when the No. 39 car got into him and damaged the left rear quarter panel of his car. After pitting to fix the damage, Black restarted 20th and held on to that spot during the final three laps of the race.
“It really was just a solid day for the team,” Black stated. “The car got better and better throughout the day, and we were right where we needed to be at the end, even with the last minute trip to pit road. I’m so proud of my team and how hard everyone has been working to make this happen! We’ll take this and move on to the next one!”
Next up for Black and Team Scuba Racing will be the Toyotacare 250 at Richmond International Raceway on Saturday, April 23 at 12:30 p.m. ET.
Fans can keep up with Ray Black Jr. by following him and his sponsor, ScubaLife, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @TeamScubaRacing and @RayBlackJr.
