Blake Koch Ties Previous Career-Best Finish of Eighth at Bristol

Koch Wins War of Attrition to Move Up in Point Standings

• Race Stats:
• Started: 17th
• Finished: 8th
• Laps: 308/308
• Status: Running
• Driver Points: 11th
• Owner Points: 16th

With just five to go in the NASCAR Xfinity regular season, Blake Koch found himself in a precarious situation before last night’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway. He was barely hanging on to the last place on the chase grid. Koch would have to have an excellent race finish to hold of Ross Chastain and Dakota Armstrong for that final Chase spot. Koch, driver of the #11 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet, was a mere three points ahead of Chastain and eighteen points behind Dakoda Armstrong.

Unfortunately, the race did not progress as planned and the #11 was scored two laps down by lap 125. Just pass the halfway mark though, the second caution of the night would come out. Crew chief Chris Rice elected to have Koch not pit, but instead take the wave around, allowing him to gain one of his two laps back. This strategy call paid off when another caution occurred just 2 laps later.

After becoming the beneficiary of the “lucky dog,” Blake found himself back on the lead lap with a handful of other cars. At the Checker, Koch was able to hold the eighth position on the green-white-checkered attempt, giving him track-best finish at Bristol Motor Speedway, and tying his previous career-best finish.

“It feels amazing and a top ten finish is huge. We needed those points tonight. I had my wife and son here tonight watching even. But a big thank you to Matt and Lisa (Kaulig) for this opportunity. Top ten finishes are definitely awesome.”

Although his finished moved him up one position in the point’s standings, Koch cannot afford to relax quite yet. He is now twelve points ahead of Ryan Sieg, twenty-seven points in front of Ross Chastain, and twenty-eight point to the good of Dakota Armstrong.

Therefore, Blake will still have to mount a good run in the final four-races of the regular season stretch. Last season, he had an average finish of 21.8 during this same five-race stretch. Anything, can happen and usually does in NASCAR. NASCAR Race Mom will be keeping her eyes on the #11 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet and cheering on one of her favorite Xfinity drivers.

Celebrating a top 10 finish at @WaffleHouse !! 😄 pic.twitter.com/Os7wzS52ER

— Blake Koch (@BlakeKochRacing) August 20, 2016

Full results:

Lap length: .533 miles(Start position in parentheses)

1. (5) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 308 laps, 0 rating, 0 points.
2. (8) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 308, 0, 39.
3. (7) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 308, 0, 0.
4. (15) Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, 308, 0, 37.
5. (14) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 308, 0, 36.
6. (12) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 308, 0, 35.
7. (6) Darrell Wallace Jr, Ford, 308, 0, 35.
8. (17) Blake Koch, Chevrolet, 308, 0, 33.
9. (4) Brandon Jones, Chevrolet, 307, 0, 32.
10. (20) Corey Lajoie, Toyota, 307, 0, 31.
11. (9) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 306, 0, 0.
12. (11) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 306, 0, 0.
13. (21) Gray Gaulding, Ford, 303, 0, 28.
14. (28) Ray Black Jr, Chevrolet, 302, 0, 27.
15. (18) Ryan Preece, Chevrolet, 301, 0, 26.
16. (30) David Starr, Chevrolet, 301, 0, 25.
17. (25) Mario Gosselin, Chevrolet, 301, 0, 24.
18. (29) Dakoda Armstrong, Toyota, 301, 0, 23.
19. (26) B J McLeod, Ford, 300, 0, 22.
20. (27) Travis Kvapil, Ford, 299, 0, 0.
21. (32) Brandon Gdovic, Chevrolet, 299, 0, 20.
22. (31) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 299, 0, 19.
23. (38) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 299, 0, 18.
24. (2) Kyle Busch, Toyota, accident, 296, 0, 0.
25. (10) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, accident, 296, 0, 17.
26. (39) Camden Murphy, Ford, 295, 0, 15.
27. (19) J.J. Yeley, Toyota, 293, 0, 14.
28. (13) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 291, 0, 13.
29. (35) Derrike Cope, Chevrolet, 290, 0, 12.
30. (3) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 286, 0, 11.
31. (37) T.J. Bell, Chevrolet, 286, 0, 10.
32. (16) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, accident, 278, 0, 9.
33. (1) Erik Jones, Toyota, accident, 244, 0, 9.
34. (36) Hermie Sadler, Toyota, fuelpump, 228, 0, 7.
35. (22) Ryan Reed, Ford, 226, 0, 6.
36. (40) Mike Harmon, Dodge, brakes, 168, 0, 5.
37. (23) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, suspension, 165, 0, 4.
38. (34) Harrison Rhodes, Toyota, engine, 36, 0, 3.
39. (33) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, handling, 27, 0, 2.
40. (24) Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota, brakes, 3, 0, 0.

Race Statistics

• Average Speed of Race Winner: 84.815 mph.
• Time of Race: 1 hour, 56 minutes, 7 seconds.
• Margin of Victory: 0.277 seconds.
• Caution Flags: 8 for 54 laps.
• Lead Changes: 16 among 7 drivers. 

Lap Leaders: E.Jones 1; D.Wallace 2-5; E.Jones 6-31; K.Larson 32-33; E.Jones 34; K.Larson 35-77; E.Jones 78; K.Larson 79-153; E.Jones 154; K.Larson 155-234; E.Jones 235; B.Keselowski 236-287; K.Busch 288; B.Keselowski 289; T.Dillon 290; B.Keselowski 291-304; A.Dillon 305-308

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): K.Larson, 4 times for 196 laps; B.Keselowski, 3 times for 64 laps; E.Jones, 6 times for 25 laps; A.Dillon, 1 time for 3 laps; D.Wallace, 1 time for 3 laps; K.Busch, 1 time for 0 laps; T.Dillon, 1 time for 0 laps.

Wins: K.Busch, 7; E.Jones, 3; A.Dillon, 1; K.Larson, 1; E.Sadler, 1; D.Suarez, 1.

Top 11 in Points: 1. E.Sadler, 700; 2. D.Suarez, 675; 3. T.Dillon, 667; 4. E.Jones, 648; 5. J.Allgaier, 646; 6. B.Gaughan, 631; 7. B.Poole, 618; 8. B.Jones, 595; 9. D.Wallace, 539; 10. R.Reed, 526; Blake Koch, 499.


Up next: Road America 180 Fired Up By Johnsonville at Road America on Sat., 27

Photo Credit: Rey Del Rio/Getty Images North America

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