Dye Aims to Extend Title Hopes at Kansas and Battle Into Round 2
Venue: Kansas Speedway
Event: Kubota Tractors 200
Date: Friday, September 27th
Location: Kansas City, KS
Track Description: 1.5-mile tri oval
Distance: 134 laps, 201 miles (8:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, Motor Racing Network)
Work to Do… Daniel Dye makes his return to Kansas Speedway looking to advance to Round 2 of the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) playoffs. The driver of the No. 43 NAPA Nightvision Chevrolet Silverado RST is currently outside the bubble by a seven points heading into the final race of the first round. Dye’s previous start in “Sunflower State” earlier this year saw him finish ninth, which gave him back-to-back top-10 results for the first time in his NCTS career. The Floridian and the No. 43 team led by crew chief Blake Bainbridge are focused on duplicating that top-10 effort to extend their title pursuit.
Fighting His Way In … Dye and the No. 43 squad are no strangers to making a late rally. Heading into the final race of the regular season at Richmond Raceway, Dye sat five points outside of a provisional playoff spot and became the first driver in NCTS history to bump his way into the playoffs in the regular season finale. His clutch performance of top-five stage results and an eighth-place finish allowed Dye to score 42 points to earn his first-career playoff berth. The No. 43 NAPA Nightvision team began the playoffs with an eighth-place finish at The Milwaukee Mile and has two top-eight results in the last three races.
Season to Date… After two playoff races and 18 total events, Dye sits ninth in the NCTS playoff standings. With one top-five finish and seven top-10’s this season, the 20-year-old driver has an average finish of 15.5. In his last six races, Dye has started 14th or better and finished in the top-10 on three occasions. Dye has had 13 races where he scored 20-points or more, nearly doubling the total from his rookie season.
Tune In … Live coverage from Kansas Speedway begins Friday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 2 with practice and qualifying. Race coverage follows at 8:30 p.m. ET with the green flag on FOX Sports 1. Stay connected with the NAPA Nightvision team by following @BMR_NASCAR on Twitter, @bmrnascar on Instagram, and Bill McAnally Racing on Facebook.
Daniel Dye Quote:
On his outlook entering the first round cut off:
“Its not the spot we expected to be in heading into Kansas. This weekend will be a big test for us and I’m excited for the challenge. Last time we were at Kansas, we were able to get a decent result but, we will need more to be able to move onto the next round. This No. 43 NAPA Nightvision team has been great this year and I believe that we can keep this going. Hopefully we can take care of business all night and bump ourselves into the second round.”