GMS Racing Takes On RVA Toyotacare 250 | richmond international raceway
GMS Racing arrived in the Old Dominion's capital for Spencer Gallagher's third race in the NASCAR XFINITY Series and first race at the 3/4-mile short-track known as RIR. For two of the No. 21 crew members, racing in Richmond meant speed, action and coming home.
For Gallagher, it meant the next lesson in his XFINITY Series career at one of the oldest tracks on the NASCAR circuit.
Gallagher Reins-In Best XFINITY Series Finish at Richmond International Raceway
Spencer Gallagher, driver of the No. 21 WaterPulse Chevrolet Camaro, arrived at Richmond International Raceway (RIR) for the next lesson in his NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) career: short track racing. The 26-year-old earned a series-best 17th-place finish in Saturday’s ToyotaCare 250.
After all on-track activities for Friday were cancelled due to inclement weather, Gallagher had only one chance to test out the Central Virginia short track before his debut in the Dash4Cash heat races. Saturday’s qualifying was replaced by one practice session, with the heat race line-ups being set per rulebook guidelines. Gallagher started the second 35-lap heat race from the 20th position and finished in the 11th position, earning a starting position of 22nd for the main 140-lap event.
A tight-in-center handling condition continued from the heat race through the beginning of the feature race. Crew chief Joey Cohen called Gallagher to pit road under green flag conditions for four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment on lap 95, hoping to help the tight handling chassis. Quick work from the No. 21 GMS Racing crew returned Gallagher to the field in the 26th position and climbed his way to the 21st position by lap 110. He maintained that position until the second caution of the day occurred on lap 137, allowing Cohen to call Gallagher to pit road for four new tires to finish out the event. The No. 21 WaterPulse Chevrolet lined up in the 17th position for a green-white-checkered restart, where he remained until he crossed the start-finish line in overtime.
“That long green flag run at the beginning of the race was tough on our tires and I was fighting a really tight WaterPulse Chevrolet throughout the day because there was just no grip on the track. Joey (Cohen, crew chief) had some really great calls today on the pit box and my GMS Racing team worked hard all weekend. Bringing home my best finish so far in the XFINITY Series is awesome and just shows you that our XFINITY program is really growing and I am looking forward to getting back behind the wheel soon.”