Posted on by Nascar

Pittsboro, Indiana welcomes emotional four-time NASCAR champion

PHOTOS: Hometown honors Gordon with parade

PITTSBORO, Ind. — There’s a sign on the Subway storefront proclaiming "Chicken Salad is Back" and the Cork & Cap package liquor establishment is nearby.
 
Across the street, there’s the Dollar General with the sign "You Make Us Proud Jeff" out front. Next door is the Pittsboro Veterinary Clinic and Big Tuck’s Feed & More sits on the corner of Main and Maple Streets.
 
A single traffic light is all that’s required in this tiny town of 3,000 residents.
 
A helicopter buzzes overhead as hundreds of folks crane their necks, looking down the street. It’s high noon and the parade has begun.

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Jeff Gordon, five times a winner of the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and a four-time NASCAR champion, is being honored here. The town’s most popular son, by way of California, has come home.

RELATED: Photos, recaps of Gordon’s 21 Brickyard 400s
 
The Hendrick Motorsports driver is winding up an incredible career in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series, and this weekend’s Crown Royal Presents the Jeff Kyle 400 at the Brickyard (3:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, IMS, SiriusXM) will be his last at the legendary facility as a driver. His 92 career wins is most among active drivers and third on NASCAR’s all-time win list. At season’s end, he’ll be Jeff Gordon the racer no more.
 
The procession slowly makes its way down Main Street, led by a Pittsboro Police Department cruiser. Members of the Tri-West Marching Band are close behind, with a Boy Scout troop, members representing American Legion Post 426, various dignitaries, Little League players, soccer players (state finalists, the banner proclaims), representatives from IMS and state officials parade past the crowd.
 
Eventually, the white Chevrolet convertible eases down the street, with Gordon seated in back, smiling and waving to the crowd.
 
Less than 20 minutes after it starts, the parade ends.
 
But Jeff Gordon Day in Pittsboro is only beginning.
 

• • •

Fans are seen carrying die-casts, pieces of sheet metal and one even has a racing tire in tow. Most here at Scamahorn Park have their attention turned to the stage, where various dignitaries are speaking on behalf of Gordon.
 
It’s Jeff Gordon Day "not just here in Pittsboro," Indiana Gov. Mike Pence tells the crowd, "but … I declare (it) in all 92 counties."
 
Pence presents Gordon with the Sagamore of the Wabash award, the highest honorary award given by the state.
 
There were proclamations, plaques and a badge — Gordon is now an honorary member of the Pittsboro Police Dept. — as well.
 
"My parents had a lot of reasons why we came here," Gordon told the crowd, "but racing was a big, big part of it; maybe the primary reason.
 
"But they found this nice home … in Pittsboro. They wanted to be here. They found that home, and we lived there for a very long time and just loved being here in Indiana. I’ve got some of my best friends that I’ve ever had in life that I still stay in touch with that are still living here in Pittsboro or right around here."
 
Gordon was honored. He was also emotional.
 
"This to me today has been one of the best days of my life," he said as the crowd cheered. "I say that sincerely … because I get to see what Pittsboro not only meant to me but what it means to you guys. And it’s an awesome town and the way you guys came out and supported me and what I’ve done in racing, what the Brickyard has meant to me and what this town has meant to me … thank you guys, this means the world to me, it really does."
 

• • • 

They could have lived anywhere. In fact, Pittsboro wasn’t the first stop for Gordon and his parents, John and Carol Bickford, when the family looked to move from Vallejo, California.
 
"In 1985 when we came back to race (in the Midwest), we lived in Findlay, Ohio," John Bickford said. "We knew a guy in quarter midget racing that lived in Findlay … He said, ‘Hey you can work out of my shop if you want, I’ve got an apartment here with two rooms I don’t use, you can stay in here this summer.’ So we lived in Findlay, Ohio for the summer of ’85."
 
But Findlay proved too problematic. It wasn’t centrally located, it wasn’t close to those that built Gordon’s sprint cars and it wasn’t close to the tracks where he competed each weekend.
 
If one were to draw a line at a 45-degree angle or so, beginning at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the line heading northwest would go through Brownsburg, Pittsboro, Lizton (where Gordon attended Tri-West High School) and eventually Jamestown.
 
Pittsboro was perfect.
 
"It was close to the car manufacturers, close to the people we know, close to the school he’s got to go to," Bickford said. "We’ve got a piece of property that’s five acres so we can build a shop with no restrictions. … So all the boxes were checked."
 
It made perfect sense to Gordon, who said he was "100 percent all in" for the move.
 
His racing career "really only became a serious reality because of Lee Osborne out in Jamestown who built our first sprint car," Gordon said.
 
"And also the Stanley family that lived out in Brownsburg and used to build my quarter midgets, that are now building my kids’ quarter midgets.
 
"Those two families really were responsible for us first coming to Indiana and recognizing that we needed to be here if we wanted to take racing seriously."

• • •

Northwest of the famed speedway, out past Clermont and Brownsburg, the cornstalks are tall and green. Just down County Road 100, the brick ranch sits back off the highway.
 
"It picks up quite a bit when the race is in town," Michael Lang says.
 
Folks stop by, unannounced and uninvited, but Lang says he’s used to it.
 
Jeff Gordon grew up here. Raced out of here. Laid the foundation for his legacy here.
 
The race shop out back is now home of Fluid Transfer Products, a company that Lang says "builds hoses and fittings" and similar products.
 
He and his wife, Sherry, have been the owners of home and business here since 2000.
 
Before that, Lang raced. He won seven consecutive Midget titles at Indianapolis Speedrome. He raced with and against Gordon, Tony Stewart and a host of others.
 
"Just about anybody that’s been down there and tried to run, maybe not in the last 10 years, but a little longer, I raced against them. Raced against them all," Lang says.
 
Eventually, his car owner began to scale back and Lang "took a year and a half off.
 
"I came back, ran an indoor show, won the race and then got bit (by the racing bug) again. But then we had some problems and I thought ‘this is exactly why I got out before.’
 
"I had young kids at the time, had just moved in here. I had a good run, won 76 midget races and had a lot of fun. I had ambitions just like anyone, but unfortunately didn’t have the money."
 
He had already decided to move away from the city — he previously lived near the speedway — when "I picked the USAC newsletter up one day," he says.
 
"And there was an ad for this place."

• • •

"You have no idea how deep here it goes for us," Gordon says. "We’re very proud to call Pittsboro our home.
 
"I tell everybody it really started here in Pittsboro and I would never be where I am today if it weren’t for Pittsboro, this town and what it meant to me."
 
The two-lane road leads past the fields of corn and across the railroad tracks. Up ahead, the highway sign indicates the end of Mitchell Avenue and the start of Wall Street.
 
A turn, out of Pittsboro, leads back to the Interstate.
 
The name of the road is fitting — Jeff Gordon Boulevard.

Posted on by Brad Norman

Kes hit the wall with 10 laps to go; made his movie debut in Sharknado trilogy

ROSSBURG, Ohio — Brad Keselowski‘s tweet said it best, of course.

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The 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion — and social media maven — had a day that was equally fun, frustrating and ridiculous. His Wednesday at Eldora Speedway, which hosts yearly one of the premier NASCAR Camping World Truck Series events, ended with Keselowski wrecking his No. 29 Ford … after being eaten by a shark.

Driving in the 1-800-CarCash MudSummer Classic at the half-mile dirt track in Ohio, Keselowski added his own flair to a day with plenty of memorable moments. His first foray onto dirt included: some spice at the end of the first 60-lap segment when he was the lone truck not to pit; a breathtaking move that showed why he’s one of the best drivers in the world; a hard crash that ended any shot of a top-10 finish … and his movie debut when "Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!" aired on SyFy.

The spot for the Team Penske driver (who was driving in his own Brad Keselowski Racing truck at Eldora), in which he was devoured by a shark that flew out of a tornado, coincidentally came at nearly the exact moment he inherited the lead after not pitting.

"We had nothing to lose," Keselowski said after not taking his truck in for service, then leading the field to green for the second segment (50 laps). "I wanted to try something."

That led to a restart that produced one of the night’s best highlights in a race full of them. Keselowski, starting in the top lane, slipped back to fourth place coming out of Turn 2 before squeezing by Ty Dillon while turning his nose toward the inside of the track, then sliding down below Austin Dillon and clearing leader and eventual winner Christopher Bell to reclaim first position — although Bell would pass Keselowski out of Turn 4.

That driving display brought the appreciative Eldora crowd to its collective feet, but Keselowski would slip down to 17th before the final 40-lap segment to the finish.

He slowly made his way back up through the field, having gotten more accustomed to the clay surface, and was inside the top 10 before a slide job gone wrong sent him hard into the wall. The damage to his right rear was severe, relegating Kes to a 28th-place finish, 10 laps down.

"I came to broaden my view on the sport," Keselowski said of his day on dirt. "I would say from that perspective, mission accomplished."

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In his third career Truck Series start, Christopher Bell goes to Victory Lane

RELATED: Complete race results | Updated series standings | See the best Eldora photos

In one of the most anticipated races of the year, Christopher Bell scored a dramatic win in the third annual 1-800-Car-Cash Mud Summer Classic on the famed Eldora Speedway dirt.

It was the first victory for Bell in just his third career start. Bell’s triumph marked back-to-back victories for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the No. 54 Toyota Tundra at Eldora.
 
"It’s just unbelievable," said Bell in Victory Lane. "I’ve been coming here quite a few times and if you would have told me two years ago that my first win at Eldora was going to be in a truck, I would have told you you’re crazy. This is just fantastic. I’m just thrilled to be here."

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Dirt late model ace Bobby Pierce scored the 21 Means 21 Pole Award earlier in the day, giving MB Motorsports, one of the longest running teams in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, its first-ever pole. Pierce lost the lead on Lap 1 to John Hunter Nemechek, but took it back on Lap 2.

Pierce maintained control of the race, until a Lap 42 restart when Bell, also a dirt veteran, swiped the lead from Pierce in Turn 1. Bell led through Lap 60.

When Spencer Gallagher spun on Lap 53, NASCAR utilized the yellow flag to serve as the competition caution originally scheduled for Lap 60, allowing teams to come in for tires and fuel. Brad Keselowski elected to stay out during the caution, inheriting the lead alongside Bell for the Lap 61 restart.

Bell quickly slid by Keselowski a lap later and stretched his advantage by 1.5 seconds until a debris caution on Lap 72 brought the field to his bumper.

Through the race’s then-longest green flag stretch, Bell increased his lead on Pierce, but when Chris Fontaine spun on Lap 94, it once again bunched up the field.

On the restart, Pierce attacked Bell and stole the lead on the backstretch and kept it through a yellow for John Wes Townley on Lap 94. Bell slid in front of Pierce two laps after the restart and held the point until the end of segment two for the second competition caution of the night.

Under the yellow, most of the field elected to stay out, setting up for the start of segment three, a 40-lap dash.
 
Showcasing his dirt track skills, Bell checked out from the field with Pierce, Ty Dillon, Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick chasing. The opportunity to pull away would be denied when the 11th caution flag of the night waved.
 
Chasing his first career win in his truck series debut, Pierce stalking Bell for the lead, made contact with the Turn 4 wall with about 15 laps remaining, causing significant rear-end damage. Even with a battered truck, Pierce stayed on the throttle. The challenge for the lead would be slowed with 11 laps remaining when Timothy Peters went for a solo spin in Turn 2.
 
A five-lap sprint to the finish set up for the winner of the 1-800-Car-Cash Mud Summer Classic with Bell and Pierce up front on the restart.

Bell would accelerate hard, while a slow restart for Pierce put him in the clutches of Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick. Pierce escaped them and set his sights on Bell.
 
When Korbin Forrister spun with two laps to go, the drama meter pegged even more, setting up for a green-white-checkered finish.
 
On the final restart of the night, Bell refused to give up the race lead and withstood an attempted pass by Pierce on the last lap to earn the win.
 
"I’ll tell you that’s pretty awesome that Bobby and I could come here and run 1-2," added Bell. "I never heard of him until I was at a sprint car race last year and he was running his late model. It’s pretty cool that a couple of dirt guys could run 1-2 at a dirt race track."
 
Tyler Reddick finished third ahead of Erik Jones and Daniel Hemric. Inaugural Eldora winner Austin Dillon was sixth followed by Nemechek, Cameron Hayley, Matt Crafton and Ty Dillon.
 
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returns to action on Aug. 1 at Pocono Raceway for the running of the Pocono Mountains 150 (1 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM).

Posted on by Staff Report

See where all 32 trucks will pit (9 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1)

RELATED: Starting lineup for the Mud Summer Classic

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The 21 Means 21 Pole Award winner Bobby Pierce, in his first career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start, will pit his No. 63 in the 24th stall as he seeks to win the 1-800-Car-Cash Mud Summer Classic at Eldora Speedway (9 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1).

Kyle Busch Motorsports trucks Erik Jones, Matt Tifft and Christopher Bell will occupy the first three stalls followed by ThorSport Racing’s three trucks Matt Crafton, Johnny Sauter and Cameron Hayley.

Then the Brad Keselowski Racing trucks of Tyler Reddick and Keselowski will be in the seventh and eighth stalls.

The winner of the inaugural Mud Summer Classic, Austin Dillon, will put his No. 31 in the 15th stall.

Posted on by Staff Report

See the results for all five qualifying races and last-chance race

RELATED: Pierce wins pole in first career Truck race | Qualifying results

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Qualifying Race 1 Results (top five transfer to main event)
1. No. 63 Bobby Pierce
2. No. 02 Tyler Young
3. No. 29 Brad Keselowski
4. No. 08 Korbin Forrister
5. No. 45 Chris Fontaine
6. No. 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb
7. No. 74 Stewart Hayward

Qualifying Race 2 Results (top five transfer to main event)
1. No. 8 John Hunter Nemechek
2. No. 98 Johnny Sauter
3. No. 88 Matt Crafton
4. No. 14 Daniel Hemric
5. No. 51 Matt Tifft
6. No. 11 Ben Kennedy
7. No. 94 Wendell Chavous

Qualifying Race 3 Results (top five transfer to main event)
1. No. 52 Ken Schrader
2. No. 17 Timothy Peters
3. No. 6 Norm Benning
4. No. 23 Spencer Gallagher
5. No. 07 Ray Black Jr.
6. No. 1 Travis Kvapil
7. No. 80 Madeline Crane

Qualifying Race 4 Results (top five transfer to main event)
1. No. 54 Christopher Bell
2. No. 13 Cameron Hayley
3. No. 15 Chad Boat
4. No. 4 Erik Jones
5. No. 00 Cole Custer
6. No. 35 Cody Erickson
7. No. 03 Jake Griffin

Qualifying Race 5 Results (top five transfer to main event)
1. No. 19 Tyler Reddick
2. No. 31 Austin Dillon
3. No. 33 Ty Dillon
4. No. 05 John Wes Townley
5. No. 82 Sean Corr
6. No. 50 Jody Knowles

Last Chance Qualifier Results (top two transfer to main event)
1. No. 35 Cody Erickson
2. No. 11 Ben Kennedy
3. No. 1 Travis Kvapil
4. No. 03 Jake Griffin
5. No. 50 Jody Knowles
6. No. 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb
7. No. 74 Stewart Hayward
8. No. 94 Wendell Chavous
9. No. 80 Madeline Crane

Posted on by Staff Report

See the lineup as the qualifying races are completed

RELATED: Qualifying race results

For the 1-800-CarCash Mud Summer Classic (9 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM), five qualifying races will determine the bulk of the starting lineup. The Last Chance Qualifying Race determines two spots for he feature race, while four spots are determined by owner points and possibly a fifth, if the last spot is not filled by an eligible champion.

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Starting lineup as the qualifying races are run (check back after each qualifying race as this will be updated):


1-Bobby Pierce (No. 63)
2-John Hunter Nemechek (No. 8)
3-Ken Schrader (No. 52)
4-Christopher Bell (No. 54)
5-Tyler Reddick (No. 19)
6-Tyler Young (No. 02)
7-Johnny Sauter (No. 98)
8-Timothy Peters (No. 17)
9-Cameron Hayley (No. 13)
10-Austin Dillon (No. 31)
11-Brad Keselowski (No. 29)
12-Matt Crafton (No. 88)
13-Norm Benning (No. 6)
14-Chad Boat (No. 15)
15-Ty Dillon (No. 33)
16-Korbin Forrister (No. 08)
17-Daniel Hemric (No. 14)
18-Spencer Gallagher (No. 23)
19-Erik Jones (No. 4)
20-John Wes Townley (No. 05)
21-Chris Fontaine (No. 45)
22-Matt Tifft (No. 51)
23-Ray Black Jr. (No. 07)
24-Cole Custer (No. 00)
25-Sean Corr (No. 82)

26-Cody Erickson (No. 35)
27-Ben Kennedy (No. 11)

28-Travis Kvapil (No. 1)
29-Jennifer Jo Cobb (No. 10)
30-Jody Knowles (No. 50)
31-Stewart Hayward (No. 74)
32-Wendell Chavous (No. 94)

The two trucks to miss the field are: Jake Griffin (No. 03) and Madeline Crane (No. 80).

Posted on by Staff Report

The 18-year-old will be making his first Truck start in tonight’s event

RELATED: Qualifying race lineups | Qualifying results

After recording top-five speeds in both practices today, newcomer Bobby Pierce earned his first career 21 Means 21 Pole Award on Wednesday, using a high speed of 86.889 mph to bring his No. 63 MB Motorsports Chevrolet owned by Mike Mittler to the top of the leaderboard. It also was Mittler’s first pole.

Pierce, an 18-year-old dirt Late Model driver, will be making his first Camping World Truck Series start in tonight’s 1-800-CarCash Mud Summer Classic (9 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1). His qualifying effort tonight made him the fifth driver in Truck Series history to win the pole in his first start. He joins former series champions Ron Hornaday Jr. (Phoenix, 1995) and Bobby Hamilton (Martinsville, 1996) as well as Kerry Earnhardt (Daytona, 2005) and Alex Tagliani (Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, 2014).

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After sustaining damage in the second practice, Johnny Sauter rebounded, posting the second-fastest speed (84.818 mph) on the leaderboard in his No. 98 ride. Ray Black Jr. was third on the leaderboard, his No. 07 Truck recording a high speed of 84.567 mph. Cameron Hayley (84.380 mph) and John Wes Townley (84.309 mph) rounded out the top five.

The top five from this evening’s single truck qualifying willl start on the pole for each of the five qualifying races, which will determine the rest of the field for tonight’s 1-800-CarCash Mud Summer Classic (9 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM). Beyond the pole, the random draw will decide the order of the qualifying races.

RELATED: Learn more about Eldora race format

Sprint Cup Series Brad Keselowski will be making his dirt track debut in tonight’s Mud Summer Classic. After a brush with the wall, Keselowski’s No. 29 BK Racing Truck picked up the 21st-fastest spot on the leaderboard.

Former Sprint Cup Series driver Ken Schrader — who was the first pole winner for the annual Eldora race — ranked 18th on the leaderboard in his own No. 52 Toyota.

Wednesday’s opening qualifying session provided the drivers with plenty of challenges associated with dirt track racing. JR Motorsports’ Cole Custer took a hard hit to the wall in his first qualifying run, damaging his No. 00 Chevrolet and giving him a flat tire. The incident left him with a 34th qualifying spot. Ty Dillon‘s No. 33 GMS Racing truck made contact with the wall on his first qualiyfing run, giving him a 20th qualifying position for tonight’s five-race event.

Madeline Crane’s No. 80 truck — which took on damage in the second practice — also hit the wall in Turn 1 early in the qualifying session, which qualified her 33rd. Matt Tifft — who qualified 27th — spun out in his second lap, but didn’t make contact.

The Camping World Truck Series is back on track for the first qualiyfing race at 7 p.m. ET (FOX Sports 2).

Posted on by Staff Report

Dirt-track background pays off for 19-year-old in chaotic session

RELATED: Practice 1 results | Final practice results

Tyler Reddick claimed the top spot in final NASCAR Camping World Truck Series practice Wednesday at Eldora Speedway in a spin-filled final prep for the only NASCAR national series race on dirt.

Reddick, who possesses a rich dirt-track pedigree, drove the Brad Keselowski Racing No. 19 Ford to a best lap of 89.264 mph in the 85-minute session. He enters the third annual 1-800-Car-Cash Mud Summer Classic (9 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM) in second place in the series standings, just 20 points behind two-time series champion Matt Crafton.

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NASCAR XFINITY Series regular Ty Dillon was second-fastest in the GMS Racing No. 33 Chevrolet at 88.924 mph. Timothy Peters landed the third-fastest lap at 86.248 mph on the half-mile track in the Red Horse Racing No. 17 Toyota.

Illinois dirt-track hotshot Bobby Pierce, 18, was fourth-fastest in the MB Motorsports No. 63 Chevrolet with Christopher Bell in the Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 54 Toyota capping the top five.

Speeds were slightly slower than the first practice session, topped by 19-year-old Erik Jones in the Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 4 Toyota, but the amount of incidents rose sharply with several spins and some isolated instances of contact. The dirt cushion inched up closer to the outside wall, but a significant dip also developed at the exit of Turn 2, causing trucks to become unsettled as they traveled across the bump.

The trucks of Johnny Sauter, John Hunter Nemechek and Cole Custer sustained the most damage. Sauter and Nemechek both backed into the outside retaining wall after separate spins, and Custer’s No. 00 truck crunched into the back of the slowing truck of teenage newcomer Madeline Crane.

Other drivers involved in solo spins without damage (in chronological order): Matt Tifft, Ty Dillon, Chad Boat, Custer, Brad Keselowski, Jennifer Jo Cobb (twice), Jody Knowles, John Wes Townley, Christopher Bell, Jake Griffin, Nemechek and Pierce.

Former Sprint Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski managed the 16th-fastest lap among the 34 drivers to participate in final practice. Fellow Sprint Cup regular Austin Dillon, winner of the truck series’ inaugural dirt-track event in 2013, was seventh-fastest.

Crafton registered the ninth-fastest lap in the ThorSport No. 88 Toyota. Ken Schrader, the first pole winner for the annual Eldora event, was 19th-fastest in preparation for his first NASCAR national series start of the season.

Keystone Light Pole Qualifying is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. ET. Qualifying heats are scheduled to start at 7 p.m. ET with the 150-lap main event set for a 9 p.m. ET go.

Jones fastest in opening Eldora practice

Erik Jones topped the charts in Wednesday’s opening practice for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at muddy Eldora Speedway.

Jones drove the Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 4 Toyota to a mud-slinging lap of 89.454 mph around the historic half-mile dirt track. The 19-year-old driver was fastest in qualifying last season in his Eldora Speedway debut.

Jones’ lap edged second-fastest Austin Dillon, who turned a 89.299-mph lap in the NTS Motorsports No. 31 Chevrolet in preparation for Wednesday’s third annual 1-800-Car-Cash Mud Summer Classic (9 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM). Dillon holds the distinction as the inaugural winner in 2013 of the truck tour’s only race on dirt.

Bobby Pierce — an 18-year-old dirt Late Model driver from Illinois, prepping for his first Camping World Truck Series start — was third-fastest in the MB Motorsports No. 63 Chevrolet owned by Mike Mittler. Christopher Bell was fourth-fastest in another Kyle Busch Motorsports Tundra with two-time defending series champion Matt Crafton completing the top five in the ThorSport Racing No. 88 Toyota.

Dillon wasn’t the only Sprint Cup regular making his mark in the opening 55-minute session. Brad Keselowski, making his first Eldora start in the truck series, brushed the wall late but was 24th-fastest in the No. 29 Ford from his own race shop.

Ty Dillon, an XFINITY Series regular and part-time Sprint Cup entrant, was seventh-fastest in the GMS Racing No. 33 Chevrolet.

Ken Schrader, a longtime Sprint Cup driver now racing recreationally, was 22nd-fastest in his own No. 52 Toyota. The 60-year-old Schrader won the inaugural Keystone Light Pole Award at Eldora in 2013.

Teams furiously fought for grip in the early going as the ground-pounding trucks began to work in the damp dirt surface. The track’s characteristics, though, created plenty of tacky mud on windshields and inside the trucks’ wheel wells, caking the inside of the fenders.

Ben Kennedy had the hardest contact of the 55-minute session, slamming the right side of his Red Horse Racing No. 11 Toyota in the Turn 4 wall. Korbin Forrister continued after a pair of spins, and Pierce also looped his truck without any damage.

Posted on by Zack Albert

XFINTIY Series rookies hope to continue success at Lilly Diabetes 250

Racing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the first time might be daunting enough, even for two NASCAR XFINITY Series rookies awash in midseason momentum. But when Daniel Suarez and Darrell Wallace Jr. touch down at the fabled Brickyard, the sense of the unknown will hinge on another sizable variable.

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Saturday’s Lilly Diabetes 250 (3:30 p.m. ET, NBC, IMS Radio, SiriusXM) will be the first for a new rules package for the XFINITY Series, which will emulate the high-drag aero setup that Sprint Cup cars will also use for the first time this season. But beyond the tweaked rules that await Suarez and Wallace is also the adjustment to racing at a historic 2.5-mile track with a layout like no other circuit on the NASCAR calendar.

"I’m really excited to get to Indy, another one of those places where I haven’t been to, so it’s going to be a pretty big challenge," Wallace said Monday during a whirlwind tour through New York City with Suarez and defending XFINITY champ Chase Elliott. "We have to not really focus on those first couple of runs on the car, it’s more a focus on me of hitting the right marks and make sure I’m getting all out of the car that I can. You have to be on it but I’m excited to get to another big track for us.

"We’re on a pretty good roll right now with three top-10s in the last four races, so we’ve just got to keep pressing forward."

MORE: Bubba, Chase and Suarez take a selfie in New York City

Wallace’s streak of success in his first year in Roush Fenway Racing‘s No. 6 Ford has some competition with Suarez’s recent tear. The Mexican-born driver of Joe Gibbs Racing‘s No. 18 Toyota has two straight top-five results on the XFINITY side heading to Indy and hasn’t finished outside of the top 10 all season in his partial schedule (seven starts thus far) in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

The last time Suarez visited Indianapolis, he said he was 14 or 15 years old and still getting his motorsports career off the ground in go-karts. Now 23, he has designs on absorbing as many lessons as possible to keep his own rookie roll going.

"It was a long time ago and now we’re coming back for the big race track with a big chance to get experience," Suarez said. "I’m excited about that and looking forward to this weekend, most of all to learn as much as possible on Friday. And after that, hopefully everything will be pretty good."

Suarez said he planned on doing his homework before Saturday’s 250-miler, watching race film as part of his customary preparation. Wallace said he’s already leaned on friends and fellow competitors Elliott and Ryan Blaney, each of whom have starts at the 2.5-mile speedway under their belts.

Standard prep work aside, both say they expect the high-drag rules package to add a new wrinkle to the build-up to Saturday’s race. Both Wallace and Suarez said they approved of NASCAR potentially implementing track-specific packages based on the type of racing they saw with a lower-downforce setup for Sprint Cup cars two weekends ago at Kentucky Speedway.

But how will the Brickyard package race? Wallace said teams and drivers won’t know for certain until cars hit the track for Friday’s pair of practices.

"Hopefully we’re ready for it and on top of our game," Wallace said. "They’re trying to produce more racing, and I’m a fan of that. Just going to see how much different the cars are going to drive and how much different the speeds are getting into the corner. Talking with Chase and Ryan, they’re talking about how it’s almost wide-open there in some corners at Indy. So I don’t know if we will be wide-open in (Turns) 2 and 4 or what, but that new package and that bigger spoiler will definitely reduce horsepower, so we’ll just have to see how it goes."