AVONDALE, Ariz. – Cutoffs races have not been kind to Chip Ganassi Racing this season in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) or as Saturday’s Ticket Galaxy 200 at Phoenix (Ariz.) Raceway proved the NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) too.
Brennan Poole’s hope to compete for his first XFINITY Series championship in his sophomore season came to a screeching halt following a Lap 24 accident in the penultimate race of the season.
While battling Championship 4 contenders Cole Custer and Daniel Hemric for a spot inside the top-10, The Woodlands, Texas native made contact with newcomer Caesar Baracarella entering Turn 1.
The contact cut down the right front tire and sent Poole’s No. 48 DC Solar Chevrolet hard into the outside wall bringing out the race’s second caution.
The 26-year-old brought his battered Chevrolet to pit road for attention, where his crew attempted to make repairs under the damaged vehicle policy.
Just beating the five-minute clock, Poole left pit road but as he attempted to ride around the track to catch up to the rear of the field, the suspension gave way and sent Poole into the wall for a second time – making the damage terminal and officially ending their day and their chances to chase a championship next weekend at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway.
“I saw the 8 car (Bacarella) go in and we were going to kinda go to the top to go around him and he slid up, so I tried to go to the bottom,” Poole said.
“Bad luck, bad circumstances. I guess I could have been a little more cautious there, but just trying to get up there to get some stage points and keep moving forward. Our car was actually pretty good.
“Just a bummer. I don’t know what else to say.”
Poole finished 38th, collecting just one point for his efforts and leaving him eighth in the championship standings with one race remaining.
Last month, Poole’s teammate Kyle Larson saw his championship hopes go up in smoking at Kansas Speedway when an engine failure at Lap 73 in the Hollywood Casino 400, the cutoff race in the Round of 12 for the Cup Series left the five-time Cup winner with a 39th place finish.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
