JR Motorsports Race Report
Saturday, September 3, 2016
Race 24 of 33: VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway
Track Specs: 1.366-mile oval / 147 laps
Weather: Partly Cloudy; 81 degrees
Race Winner: Elliott Sadler
Harvick’s finish: 35th
Following a strong practice session earlier Saturday morning, Kevin Harvick and the No. 88 Armour Vienna Sausage Chevrolet finished the VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200 in 35th after an engine issue sent them to the garage 33 laps into the 147-lap race.
Mother Nature washed out both practice sessions on Friday, which meant that the NASCAR Xfinity Series cars would line up by NXS owner points for the 147-lap race on Saturday. The No. 88 team lined up sixth and was confident that they had a good car for the race.
Early in the race, Harvick reported that his Chevrolet Camaro was tight on both ends. The team knew there would be a competition caution on or around lap 25, so they waited to make adjustments until the caution flag was shown. A wreck brought out the yellow flag on lap 23 and NASCAR deemed this the competition caution. Harvick radioed to the team that his Armour Chevrolet was sliding the front tires and tight in the center.
Under caution, the team came down pit road for four tires, fuel, a track bar adjustment and an air pressure adjustment. Harvick was quiet on the radio until lap 33 when he reported that he had no power. The No. 88 Armour Chevrolet came to pit road and went straight to the garage. After the team looked over the car, the diagnosis was that the team had an engine issue that would end their day.
JR Motorsports teammate Elliott Sadler claimed his second victory of the 2016 season. He was followed to the checkered by Denny Hamlin, Daniel Suarez, Kyle Larson and Brennan Poole.
Dave Elenz, crew chief No. 88 Armour Vienna Sausage Chevrolet team
“We had a good Armour Chevrolet in practice this morning. Kevin (Harvick) was providing good feedback before the competition caution and we were able to make adjustments when we came to pit road. Unfortunately, we had issues that ended our day early. We will take this week to go over everything and get ready for next weekend’s race in Richmond.”