After falling multiple positions down in the opening laps, Dye battled a free-handling No. 10 Champion Container Chevrolet. A caution with six laps remaining ended the stage under yellow, and Dye was scored 15th. He pitted for tires, fuel, air pressure and chassis adjustments to help tighten up the car to start the second stage in 13th. Dye had worked his way to 11th when the second caution of the day came out. He radioed that the previous changes helped the handling of the No. 10 Chevy and stayed out to restart 10th. After the third caution of the day, Dye stayed out to restart fifth with 19 laps to go in stage 2. Making it as high as third while battling for stage points, Dye finished the second stage in fourth place. While the No. 10 handled much better than the start of the race, Dye still lacked drive. He pitted during the stage break for tires, fuel, and an air pressure adjustment to start the final stage in 18th place. While under caution with 75 laps to go, crew chief Kevin Walter made the call for Dye to pit for tires and a chassis adjustment, and Dye restarted 18th with 67 to go. Unable to avoid a multi-car pileup that collected his teammate, Christian Eckes, Dye sustained damage to the No. 10 car but was able to stay in the race. Battling through additional cautions and two overtimes, Dye drove home to a seventh-place finish, his second-straight top 10 result.
“Everyone was fighting hard for the win at the end. We all just wrecked at the start-finish line, but I’m happy we finished where we did. We were pretty free early but got the No. 10 Champion Container Chevy better as the race went on.”
After starting in 26th, it took Williams 29 laps to break into 19th, where he’d run the majority of the first stage. With six laps remaining in Stage 1, a spin brought out the yellow flag stage’s end; Williams finished it in 18th. After pitting for tires, fuel, and a half-pound air pressure adjustment in the rear, he restarted in 16th on lap 68 and was shuffled back to 18th the following lap. The yellow flag reappeared on lap 81, and the No. 11 Chevy stayed out during the caution and restarted in 17th with 32 laps to go in Stage 2. Williams picked up three spots in the ensuing six laps before another yellow came out, and after staying on track, he fired back off in seventh on lap 102 and took the green-white-checkered there on lap 120. After pitting for tires and fuel, Williams took the third-stage green flag in 20th with 118 to go before another two caution periods followed. While many drivers pitted on lap 155 under yellow, Williams stayed on track. He restarted in seventh with 90 laps remaining but fell to 14th as the yellow flew with 74 laps remaining. Williams brought the No. 11 Chevy back in for tires, fuel, and additional air pressure adjustments under caution. He restarted in 21st on lap 184. The race saw multiple start-and-stop cautions in quick succession, and Williams moved up to 13th with under 30 laps to go. On lap 231, Williams suffered right-front damage after getting involved in a wreck, and he restarted in 24th with 12 laps to go. After multiple overtimes, Williams took the checkered running in 17th.
“We fought hard all day, and even though we had a few incidents, we were able to bring it together to get the most out of what we could. Definitely looking forward to Darlington after that one, though.”
Eckes fired off strong in the No. 16 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, gaining 10 spots before a caution with six laps remaining ended the opening stage under yellow. Eckes finished Stage 1 in ninth and radioed that he was happy with the balance of the car. He pitted for tires and fuel, starting the second stage from eighth. Crew chief Alex Yontz reported that there was a small hole in the No. 16 Chevrolet’s nose, but the team elected not to add tape during the pit stop. Under caution with 26 laps left in the second stage, Eckes radioed that the No. 16 Chevrolet was running hot due to the nose damage. Yontz called Eckes to pit road for repairs before restarting 27th with 19 to go in Stage 2. He raced his way back to 16th, where he finished the stage. Strategically, to keep a spare set of tires remaining for later, Yontz kept Eckes out on track during the caution. Additional caution periods gave Eckes the chance to gain track position and stay out on worn tires, and with under 100 laps remaining, he took over the lead at the restart. He led a total of 22 laps until the next caution came out, allowing him to pit for his final set of sticker tires. Restarting 17th with 67 to go, Eckes survived multiple wrecks, gaining more track position each time. The No. 16 suffered major nose damage after a wreck on lap 217, but Eckes stayed out under yellow, as he sat sixth coming to the restart on lap 228. Five laps after the green came back out, mayhem ensued, and Eckes was collected in a multi-car pileup that ended his night early. He was relegated to a 34th-place finish.
“The LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet was pretty good today… Obviously, super disappointed. Wish we could’ve saw that one out. We had a little bit of a tire advantage but it didn’t work for us in the end.”
