CONCORD, N.C. – Connor Yonchuk is looking forward to finishing strong in the final two races of the 30th Annual Cook Out Summer Shootout at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The 18-year-old Winston-Salem racer was running in sixth with just seven circuits left and battling for what could have been his first series top five finish before contact by another car caused enough damage to end his race early.
But he’s not one to give up, and he knows his Race Driven Performance prepared No. 99 is capable of running up front in the series’ final two events, which will be run the next two Tuesdays, July 25 and August 1.
“I was having a decently clean race,” he explained. “I was gaining a few spots here and there, trying to just take advantage of opportunity when I had it. We had a pretty good green flag run there where I was able to work my way to sixth. I was faster than the car in front of me, but then the cars battling for third and fourth started racing hard. I took it three-wide underneath them both and ended up getting together with the car in the middle. The contact bent my front bumper into my tire causing my tire to rub when I turned left. We both ended up stopped on the back straightaway right next to each other. When the track safety crew got us separated, I looked at the damage and decided to pull off the track because I knew I would have to restart in the rear with just seven laps left and it would be a single-file restart. I really wasn’t going to be able to improve my finishing position, so I felt it wasn’t worth taking a chance on doing any further damage.”
Ironically, at one point on Monday night in series practice, Yonchuk had the fourth fastest time of over 20 cars in his class, and he felt really optimistic about Tuesday’s race. “The car just wasn’t quite as fast in qualifying tonight and I don’t really know why,” he said. “But we did race well until we got tangled up there. The fastest car doesn’t always win these races. You have to be smart and also a little bit lucky just to miss all the wrecks around you. We’ll be ready to roll for the last two races and we are determined to finish the series strong.”
Support for Connor’s racing comes from Race Driven Performance, Cometic Gaskets, Klotz Oil, Radical Racegear, Cook Out, Roomax Racing, Flash’s Speed Shop and Flash Racing.
Yonchuk will return to racing with his No. 99 at Charlotte Motor Speedway this Tuesday, July 25th for the ninth of ten races in the Cook Out Summer Shootout. Subscribe to FloRacing.com to watch all the action each Tuesday beginning around 5:45pm Eastern.