Late Race Wreck Cuts Ray Black Jr.’s Indianapolis Motor Speedway Debut Short

Posted on: Sunday, July 24th 2016

NASCAR Driver Finishes 33rd in Lilly Diabetes 250

SPEEDWAY, Ind.  (July 24, 2016) – NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) driver Ray Black Jr. battled both the extreme heat and an ill-handling race car all weekend long during his debut start at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The driver of the No. 07 ScubaLife.com Chevrolet Camaro worked hard with his team throughout the weekend but a late race spin during the Lilly Diabetes 250 cut Black’s shot at an 11th Top-25 finish this season short.

Black and his SS Green Light Racing team had their work cut out for them when they unloaded at the Brickyard, as they brought a brand new car to the 2.5-mile track. The two practice sessions of the weekend were used to dial in the handling of the car, but the team was still searching for a little bit more after qualifying for the second Dash 4 Cash heat race.

During their heat race, Black and his team tested out a couple of adjustments on the No. 07 ScubaLife.com Chevrolet, as it was too loose off the turns but tight in the middle. Black went on to finish 12th in his heat race and line up 24th for the main.

Once the green flag waved on the main, Black and his team continued to battle with the handling of their car as it swung from being too loose to being way too tight. When a fellow competitor brought out the first yellow flag of the race with just a handful of laps to go, Black came down pit road to have his pit crew make final adjustments on the car.

As the field went back to green with just seven laps to go, Black’s Chevrolet Camaro got too loose in Turn 4 and shot down the track where the No. 13 made contact with him. Black and the team were unable to finish the race and scored in 33rd place.

“That was a tough weekend,” said Black. “We fought with the handling the entire weekend, and finally had a shot to grab another Top-25 at the end there, but the car just got away from me in the end. It’s frustrating and not the way I was hoping this weekend would go, but I know my team and I will regroup and come back next week at Iowa even stronger!”

Next up for Black and the SS Green Light Racing team is the US Cellular 250 at Iowa Speedway on Saturday, July 30.

Fans can keep up with Ray Black Jr. by following him and his sponsor, ScubaLife, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @RayBlackJr and @TeamScubaRacing.