William Byron held off Paul Menard in one of the more exciting NASCAR XFININTY series race in recent years. The race produced a series track record of 16 lead changes – the previous record was nine.  The competitive race was directly attributable to a new race package used for the first time ever.

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The new competitive package included changes in spoiler, splitter, aero ducts and inclusion of 7/8-inch restrictor plate (See more below). The outcome of the these changes slowed the cars down and kept the cars closer together with much more passing and side-by- action

For Byron this was his third victory in 18 NASCAR XFINITY Series races. This is his third victory of the season. And he set Indianapolis Motor Speedway becoming the youngest winner at the age of 19 years.

“It’s such a special place to come here,” said Byron “I’ve watched a lot of races on TV. To see the front stretch how narrow it is with grandstands on both sides. It’s really a special place.”

For never racing at Indy, he was competitive throughout the race but especially in the end. In the closing laps Byron and Paul Menard had put on a show. Byron was leading but Menard was charging up the field eventually to second with less than five laps to go.  Menard eventually came within a car length meanwhile Byron was fighting a problem with a front tire and trying to block his competitor from passing.

“Over the last 15 or 20 laps, I thought the tire was going to go,” said Byron “With 5 laps I stopped worrying about it and thought I had nothing to lose.”

Byron’s crew chief, David Elenz, indicated the team had not had time to fully analyze the issue with the tire.

“I was shaking the last five laps,” said Elenz.

Paul Menard(i) (second) posted his sixth top-10 finish in six races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  It is his second top-10 finish in 2017.

Joey Logano(i) (third) posted his fifth top10 finish in five races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.William

Elliott Sadler leads the point standings by 40 points over William Byron.

Today’s Margin of Victory of 0.108 second is the series record for the closest MOV at IMS – previous record was 0.411 second (2016).

Race Results – Top 10

1 William Byron

2 Paul Menard(i)

3 Joey Logano(i)

4 Elliott Sadler

5 Cole Custer

6 Ryan Reed

7 Brennan Poole

8 Daniel Hemric

9 Brandon Jones

10 Ty Dillon(i)

New Competition Package For NASCAR XFINITY Series at Indy implemented.

New Competition Package was the highly touted in the NASCAR XFINITY Series the return to Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The teams and competitors will be working with a new competition package specific for this event.

Designed specifically for the 100-lap race at Indianapolis the modifications are as follows:

• The 2016 spoiler and splitter will be reimplemented (teams must run the ear flaps on both sides)
• New aero ducts will be supplied by NASCAR at the track, and will be attached to the front bumper
• A 7/8-inch restrictor plate will be used.

The new package is designed to create close racing and passing opportunities for competitors. The key to the package are the aero ducts, which will move air out of the front wheel wells and create a larger wake (punch a bigger hole in the air behind the vehicle). This will increase the draft envelope by approximately 25%, which will allow the trailing car to race closer to the leading car.

Salder Wins Lilly Diabetes 250 Pole

Elliott Sadler won the Coors Light Pole Award for the 6th Annual Lilly Diabetes 250 with a lap of 54.452 seconds, 165.283 mph.This is his 17th pole in 347 NASCAR XFINITY Series races.This is his first pole and eighth top10 start in 2017.This is his first pole in six races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.Erik Jones(i) (second) posted his eighth top10 start of 2017 and his third in three races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.William Byron  (third) posted his first top10 start at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  It is his 14th in 18 races this season.William Byron (third) was the fastest qualifying rookie.