Andy Lally Chicagoland race report

TRG Motorsports Finishes 28th at Chicagoland

Andy Lally, TRG Motorsports Ford

Photo by: Ted Rossino

Mooresville, N.C. (9/20/2011) - Andy Lally piloted the No. 71 Interstate Moving Services / RB Enterprises Ford Fusion to a 28th place finish during Monday's Geico 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event from Chicagoland Speedway. While track crews and NASCAR officials did their best to run the race on its originally scheduled date of Sunday, rain forced the event to be postponed to Monday morning.

TRG Motorsports driver and NASCAR rookie Andy Lally did his best to make the most of the rain delay.

"I actually had a good amount of fun during the rain delay hanging out with Trevor Bayne and Michael McDowell. Granted, my first option would have been to be racing on Sunday. Nevertheless, we made the most of it."

When the green flag did drop, the No. 71 car proved to be fast and competitive. While early race cautions failed to coincide with the team's strategy, crew chief Doug Richert helped to adapt and compose a fuel strategy that paid off when the checkered flag waved.

Team owner Kevin Buckler was impressed by the team's refusal to accept failure.

"Once again, we showed our ability to shine in the face of adversity. I believe that is the mark of a true race team. We have a relentless, never-say-die mentality and Monday's race was just another showing of that and everyone did a great job."

Lally's performance was nothing short of impressive either. The Long Island native performed fifty-three green flag passes over the 400 mile race; only four less than race winner Tony Stewart. Pit strategy even allowed Lally the opportunity to spend some time in the top-10.

"This was one of the best cars I've had all year. Lucky for us, we have four more 1.5 mile tracks left this season. We've stepped up lately and are running a lot better. While we were caught off sequence and lost a lap early on, our pit strategy ultimately paid dividends for our finish. While everyone else was running out of fuel on the last lap, we were running wide open. I want to thank Doug, Mark, Kevin and our whole team for another great effort and a really fast racecar."

The No. 71 team heads to Loudon, New Hampshire this weekend where it will look to improve upon its 28th place effort there earlier this season. Coverage will begin Sunday at 2:00 p.m. ET on ESPN.