Ryan Reed Wins PowerShares QQQ 300,
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Fastest in Final DAYTONA 500 Practice
· 59th DAYTONA 500, Set for 2 p.m. Sunday, to Open Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Season
· Elliott, Earnhardt to Lead 40-Car DAYTONA 500 Field to Green Flag
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 25, 2017) – In a race that evolved dramatically from early attrition into stunning door-to-door competition, Ryan Reed won the PowerShares QQQ 300, the high-intensity season-opener for the NASCAR XFINITY Series on Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway.
It required “NASCAR Overtime” which extended the race to 124 laps, four more than the scheduled distance. Reed, driver of the No. 16 Lilly Diabetes Ford, surprisingly out-dueled three of NASCAR’s major stars – Kasey Kahne, Austin Dillon and Brad Keselowski – during the OT. Reed, the 300’s champion in 2015, edged Kahne by 0.219 seconds at the stripe.
The PowerShares QQQ 300 had two significant multi-car incidents early. The first involved 19 cars, the second one nine. Both resulted in red-flag periods. Meanwhile, Elliott Sadler was a constant, avoiding trouble and winning the first two stages – both 30 laps – to earn extra points in the NASCAR XFINITY Series championship standings. Speedweeks is serving as the debut for NASCAR’s new national series format that divides races into three stages with extra points awarded to the top-10 finishers in each of the first two stages. Sadler led 40 laps overall but exited after being caught up in a Lap 104 mishap.
After that, the lead changed hands repeatedly over the last 20 laps. Reed took the lead for good on the overtime restart.
“I don’t know how that looked from the grandstands or on television but from my view it was a lot of fun,” Reed said. “Now, let’s go get some more. Let’s go win a championship.”
Prior to the PowerShares QQQ 300, the final practice for the 59th annual Daytona 500 was held, a one-hour, 25-minute session with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. posting the fastest lap on the 2.5-mile tri-oval – 196.452 mph in the No. 17 Fastenal Ford. Former Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski (No. 2 Miller Lite Ford) had the best 10-lap average speed of 195.635.
Chase Elliott (No. 24 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet) and two-time champion Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet) will start 1-2 in the DAYTONA 500 with two other former race champions, Jamie McMurray (No. 1 Cessna McDonald’s Chevrolet) and Denny Hamlin (No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota) starting third and fourth, respectively.
Hamlin is trying to become only the fourth driver to win consecutive DAYTONA 500s. The others: Richard Petty in 1973-74; Cale Yarborough in 1983-84; and Sterling Marlin in 1994-95.
More
Brad Keselowski and the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang team survived one of the longest NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) races in recent history and brought home a fourth-place finish in the Powershares QQQ 300 at Daytona International Speedway (DIS) on Saturday evening. After starting the race from the sixth position, Keselowski quickly made his way to the front of the field by the third lap. Unfortunately, for the Discount Tire team, Keselowski was shuffled back in the pack just prior to the first pit stop of the day at lap 19 and resulted in him being caught up in a multi-car incident on lap 23. The No. 22 Ford received only minor damage and Keselowski was able to continue after quick repairs to finish 13th in the first, 30-lap segment that featured two, long red-flag periods. Keselowski started the second, 30-lap segment from the sixth position and was able to keep his No. 22 Ford up front throughout as he and the other leaders traded the lead several times in an exciting duel. Having led 126 total laps at DIS in his NXS career, Keselowski kept his Ford in position for his first series win during the final segment, but over the final laps of the race he did not receive the help needed to make one final charge to the front. The 2010 series champion crossed the finish line in the fourth position in a race that took over three hours to complete.
Quote: “We seem to run up front a lot in this race, but we just can’t quite bring home the win. The Discount Tire Ford Mustang team gave it a full effort today. I’m really proud to see another Ford win at least, but I wanted it to be me. That’s just all we had. We needed a little help on that restart. We had I think the 3 and the 62 behind us and I guess something happened to the 3 and he ran out of gas, I don’t know. It would have been interesting to see what would have happened if I had somebody behind me. That would have been exciting. A race like this sometimes you just feel good to survive. There were a couple instances where I didn’t think that was going to happen. It was an interesting day.”
