Andy Lally Dover 300 race report

TRG Motorsports Gains Ground at the Monster Mile

Andy Lally, TRG Motorsports Ford

Photo by: Ted Rossino

Mooresville, N.C. (10/5/11) - Andy Lally drove the No. 71 Interstate Moving Services Ford Fusion to a 33rd place finish in Sunday's AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway.

While the team did not come up with the finish it had hoped for heading into the night, it not only increased the margin that secures it in the top-35, but gained ground on the 34th position. The No. 71 team is now only eleven points out of the 34th position. The team is on the verge of finishing the season in the top-35 of NASCAR's Owner's Point Standings for the second straight year.

Lally was a driver on the move Sunday. Lally ran a handful of laps up front and performed fifty five green flag passes; nineteen more than race winner Kurt Busch.

"We didn’t have the best day in the world, but we have a few good things to take with us into next week. Most importantly, we outperformed everyone we are close to in the point standings. We increased our lead over 36th and shortened the gap between us and 34th. There was a lot of congestion on track. We didn't qualify as well as we wanted and it was tough to make up ground. We worked on our car all day and even spent a handful of laps racing up front during a pit cycle. It may not be the best run we've had all year, but we are certainly not going to hang our heads over this one."

Team owner Kevin Buckler is pleased with his team's progress in the points standings.

"First and foremost, we did what we came here to do. We leave here better positioned to finish in the top-35 than we entered. That is our biggest goal right now and we accomplished it. I feel like we got lost in the shuffle today. We didn't qualify as well as we had hoped and struggled to make up track position on the tight and crowded racetrack. We will take the things we did right and work to build on that as we head into Kansas next week."