Regan Smith was positioned in fifth place with one lap remaining in Sunday’s NASCAR Busch Series event at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. But during the final lap on the 2.518-mile road course, the right-front tire on the Ginn Resorts Chevrolet went flat, sending Smith to a disappointing 26th-place finish.
“Regan ran an incredible race, ” offered crew chief Doug Randolph. “We had a great day and didn’t get the result we deserved. It’s very frustrating. “
In only his fourth NASCAR road course event, Smith started the 82-lap race from the eighth position after posting a strong lap during Friday’s qualifying session. But when the green flag waved, the 23-year-old driver found himself fighting an extremely tight race car, falling back to as far as 20th midway through the event.
“The Ginn Resorts Chevy was tight early, but Doug adjusted on it and we got it where it was pretty good, ” said Smith. “We drove through the field, avoided a ton of wrecks and looked to be closing in on a top-five finish. Then we cut the tire. One of the most upsetting parts is that if the race hadn’t gone into extra laps, we would’ve been fine—but that’s part of racing. “
The Telcel Motorola Mexico 200 was scheduled to be an 80-lap, 201-mile event. But when the caution flag waved on Lap 78, NASCAR was forced to make it a green-white-checkered finish.
“We had an unbelievable day, ” said Smith. “To qualify well at a road course and be able to drive to the front is a credit to this Ginn Resorts team. Everyone knows we were here today. “
Randolph added, “It was a tough day for sure. But we showed ourselves and everyone else what a strong team this is. I’m proud of each person here and know there are a lot of positive things in our future. “
Las Vegas Motor Speedway is the next stop on the NASCAR Busch Series schedule—Saturday, March 10.
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