SPEEDWAY, Ind. – Often drivers will tell you that Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a difficult track.
Not only is the 2.5-mile speedway a beast to pass on, but the track’s unique flat layout often throws curveballs for inexperienced drivers.
That wasn’t the case though for Chip Ganassi Racing’s NASCAR XFINITY Series driver Brennan Poole.
After showing strong speed in practice and through qualifying at IMS, Poole found himself 10th on the starting grid after two heat races, earning eighth top-10 start of 2016.
During the race, Poole minded his matters and let the 60-lap sprint play out. A race where the competitors were stretched out and pit strategy came into play, Poole in his No. 48 DC Solar Chevrolet persevered through it all, keeping his car on the lead lap and in contention.
After being caution free for nearly eighty percent of the race, two late race yellow flags bunched up the field and while some were able to capitalize, the Woodlands, Texas native found himself on the opposite end as the Texan was forced out of the groove.
While brilliantly keeping his race car intact in the marbles, Poole didn’t have laps to recover and finished 11th.
Being shoved out for a top-10 finish in the final laps at The Brickyard is a tough pill to swallow for anyone, but for Poole he takes the finish in stride, especially knowing the overall result wasn’t an indicator of the performance.
“Obviously, not the finish wanted or deserved with our DC Solar Camaro,” Poole told CATCHFENCE.com. “We showed some good speed through much of race, but unfortunately, that late caution hurt us. We continue to make a ton of progress each week and this team has no give up in it.”
In 14 of the last 16 XFINITY Series races dating back to Las Vegas in March, Poole hasn’t finished worse than 13th and his 11th place finish in Saturday’s Lilly Diabetes 250 gives his team another boost of momentum has teams continue to solider on during a grueling summer stretch.
“Our team is really starting to find its groove,” added Poole. “We knew that this being the first time all of us would work together it would bring some challenges the first few races. We had to battle through some mistakes but each week we were able to clean those mistakes up and become a better team.
“As the year has gone on we have been able to contend for some wins and put ourselves in a great position for the XFINITY Chase. After some of those races, we contended for a win like Talladega our team got a little different swagger and that confidence has been able to bring us great consistency. I feel like if we can just keep working hard and hit our stride as the chase starts we are going to be really tough in the Chase.”
While winless thus far in 2016, Poole’s consistency is hard to be overlooked. And in an era of competition where victories are dominated by Sprint Cup invaders, Poole’s flashy string of consistencies makes him a viable championship threat come Chase time in September.
Winning is everything these days in the XFINITY Series, but you don’t have to be a winner to win the war. Austin Dillon went winless in his championship season in 2013. And while Poole would like nothing more than to deliver sponsor DC Solar a trip to Victory Lane, a championship in November at Homestead-Miami Speedway is 33 like-victories wrapped in one.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
