Friday Chicagoland Speedway Notebook:
Rookie Cale Conley Leads Final Practice: It was a good day for Richard Childress Racing at Chicagoland Speedway. Rookie driver Cale Conley in the No. 33 Chevrolet Camaro paced the field Friday night in the final practice session for tomorrow night’s fourth-annual EnjoyIllinois.com 300.
Conley will make his sixth career NASCAR Nationwide Series start this weekend and first on an intermediate track. Conley in his IAVA Chevrolet Camaro timed in a lap of 30.811 seconds at 175.262 miles per hour, ahead of RCR teammate Brendan Gaughan.
Richard Childress Racing didn’t stop there as Ty Dillon chimed in the third quickest lap in his No. 3 Red Kap Chevrolet Camaro, ahead of Trevor Bayne and rookie Ryan Reed to mark the top-five.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Erik Jones was sixth flanked by Chase Elliott, rookie sensation Ryan Sieg, James Buescher and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series regular Ryan Blaney to comprise the top-10.
Brian Scott who led the day’s first on-track activity session managed just the 11th quickest lap.
Other notables: Elliott Sadler (12th), Kasey Kahne (13th), Kyle Larson (14th), Sam Hornish Jr. (15th), Chris Buescher (16th), Regan Smith (17th), Dylan Kwasniewski (22nd), Jeremy Clements (26th), Jamie Dick (31st) and Harrison Rhodes in place of Jeffrey Earnhardt (32nd).
The series will hit the track on Saturday afternoon for knockout qualifying at 3:10 p.m. (Central) live on Fox Sports 2.
Tanner Berryhill in the No. 17 NationalCashLenders.com Dodge Charger was the only vehicle that failed to post a lap.
Surprise! It’s A Boy: NASCAR’s newest superstar Kyle Larson announced last month that he and girlfriend Katelyn Sweet are expecting this December.
And, Larson had been preparing himself to be enshrined with the “Daddy’s Little Girl,” comments, but earlier this week that changed in a shocking surprise when Larson and Sweet found out that they will become parents of a baby boy.
“I thought it was really going to be a girl, so I was surprised it’s a boy,” Larson told members of the media Friday afternoon at Chicagoland Speedway.
“It’s exciting. We had some friends over at the Sprint Car shop to have the party and had a lot of fun there. I’ve been thinking about life with a baby girl, now you have to change it up to think about life with a baby boy. It will be exciting and a lot of fun, definitely going to be a life changing experience, but we’re both ready for it and really looking forward to it.”
Indeed, the addition of baby Larson will in fact change his outlook on life, sooner than anyone probably anticipated, but many feel he’s ready for the next big stage in his life, including fellow Nationwide driver Elliott Sadler.
“It’s neat to listen to him talk about it, cause it is definitely a life changing experience and they seem to be very excited about it and that’s awesome,” offered Sadler. “Good luck to him as a racer and a father. I think he’ll be a great Dad. He seems to be such a down-to-earth great kid. I know he’s looking forward to it.”
Mum’s the word though when Larson was asked of a potential name for their child, who’s expected around Christmas.
Kevin Swindell To Return?: Kevin Swindell, the 2010 Chili Bowl Nationals champion is expected to return to NASCAR Nationwide Series competition next weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, CATCHFENCE.com has learned.
Swindell, the son of renowned World of Outlaws Sprint Car Champion Sammy Swindell is expected to drive the No. 93 for JGL Racing in the Lilly Diabetes 250. It is rumored that Swindell is hoping to run the team’s second entry in the remaining NASCAR Nationwide Series races as a teammate to J.J. Yeley.
The Germantown, Tennessee native last competed for Biagi-DenBeste Racing in the season-finale at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway last November, but hasn’t competed in a NASCAR race since.
Swindell was replaced by NASCAR Sprint Cup Series veteran David Ragan for the 2014 season-opener, but the team failed to qualify under the series’ new knockout qualifying procedure.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series winner Jeb Burton also competed for the team at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. Swindell told CATCHFENCE.com that he would be in the No. 98 Ford Mustang for the short track events, but that has yet to materialize.
The 25-year old Swindell has 20 NASCAR Nationwide Series starts to his credit with a career-best finish of eighth at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last year driving the No. 98 for car owner Fred Biagi.
Brian Scott Leads First Practice Session:
NASCAR Nationwide Series Dash4Cash candidate Brian Scott took the top-spot early in the first practice session at Chicagoland Speedway Friday afternoon and never relinquished. Scott in the No. 2 Shore Lodge Chevrolet Camaro paced the field with a lap of 31.249 seconds at 172.806 miles per hour.
Scott considers Chicagoland Speedway one of his favorite racetracks on the Nationwide circuit, and he exemplified that to the fullest with his Richard Childress Racing horsepower. Scott scored his first career Nationwide pole at Chicagoland Speedway in 2011 driving for Joe Gibbs Racing. The Boise, Idaho native has a career-best at the 1.5-mile speedway of third, twice in 2010 and 2011.
Fellow Dash4Cash candidate Chris Buescher trailed Scott in second (31.282 seconds / 172.623 miles per hour) followed by Chase Elliott, Brendan Gaughan and Kyle Larson to complete the top-five.
Sam Hornish Jr. in the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry this weekend at Chicagoland was sixth ahead of Kasey Kahne, Ryan Reed, Ty Dillon and Trevor Bayne to comprise the top-10.
Other notables: Cale Conley (11th); Erik Jones (12th); Ryan Blaney (13th); Ryan Sieg (16th); Dylan Kwasniewski (19th); Chad Boat (22nd); David Starr (25th) and Tanner Berryhill (28th).
33 of the 40 cars pre-entered trigged the timing and scoring line, but Jamie Dick in the No. 55 for Viva Motorsports failed to post a lap.
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Editor’s Note: Our Friday Chicagoland Speedway notebook will be updated throughout the remainder of the day at Chicagoland Speedway.
