Spencer Boyd No. 07 Grunt Style Chevrolet Camaro Race Review

TheHouse.com 300 – Chicagoland Speedway NASCAR Xfinity Series

Joliet, IL (September17, 2017) – As the NASCAR Xfinity Series looked to the playoffs with Elliott Sadler winning the regular season championship, Spencer Boyd was focused on a mission of his own. The young driver brought a clean No. 07 Grunt Style Camaro home with a 28th place finish for SS Green Light Racing.

“My goal was really to better understand this track,” said Boyd. “I had turned laps here before and even though 1.5 miler’s are considered ‘cookie-cutter’ tracks, Chicago is unique. The big bump in the middle of 3 and 4 was giving me trouble in practice so we tried to make an adjustment before qualifying. While it helped some, I just couldn’t get my entry where I wanted it.” Boyd would qualify and start 37th for the 200 lap event. Within the first 10 laps he was able to quickly gain some spots moving up to 34th. His lap times remained consistent while he climbed a few more spots, but the car was just a bit too loose entering the corners. In a caution-less first stage, Boyd would find himself in an improved 31st position down two laps to the winner of stage one, Erik Jones. In stage two, Boyd would start in 28th thanks to a quick pit stop. Though Crew Chief Jason Miller called for air pressure changes and an adjustment to the track bar, the car wasn’t where it needed to be yet. With the track heating up on a hot day in Chicago and the speeds slowing down slightly, Boyd fought to keep the car in 28th at the end of the stage at about halfway through the race. Spencer would pit again between stages for a fresh set of Goodyear stickers, more air pressure changes and continued adjustments to the back of the car. The Grunt Style Camaro was about one second slower dropping a few spots in the opening laps of stage three. It was apparent by both the lap times and radio chatter that the adjustments had not worked. The No. 07 would go another couple laps down before a caution came out for the No. 33 just as Boyd ducked down to enter pit road. Unfortunately it was too late for Boyd to get back on track without making a commitment cone violation, so he pitted for huge adjustment to the track bar and missed the opportunity to get the wave around like many of his competitors. This time the adjustment worked, but it was too late to gain very many more spots. As Justin Allgaier surprised many to win the race, Boyd would continue to work on his entries and pass a few cars to finish 28th. "It wasn’t the finish I wanted but I learned a ton," remarked Boyd. "Fighting a loose race car at a track I haven’t completely figured out yet makes me hungry to come back here. The over-the-wall crew was awesome and the guys in the garage worked hard so I am grateful to be part of a great team. Overall it was a special weekend with all the signatures of Chicago-based Grunt Style employees on my deck lid and the family of SPC Jose Torre Jr. at the track. I want to thank Jose Sr. and Robert for staying on top of the pit box for the entire race as my honorary crew chiefs.” The 28th-place finish in Boyd’s fourth start of NASCAR Xfinity Series competition this season would be one place off his personal best of 27th at New Hampshire earlier this year.