MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Aug. 24, 2017) – Hoping three is the new lucky number, Cunningham Motorsports heads to Road America looking for its third road course win in a row by fielding three cars this Sunday in the Road America 100. Shane Lee, Dalton Sargeant and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series rookie Austin Cindric will pilot the three Cunningham cars with intentions of defending the team’s recent road course success.
What You Need to Know:
- Two of the most vital keys to the race, while they may seem simple, are to stay on the track and minimize mistakes. The slightest error results in longer lap times and avoiding mistakes can put a driver that much farther ahead than their competitors.
- Getting the most out of each corner is also critical. With a total of 14 turns, getting good acceleration off of the corners will give a driver faster speed on the long straightaways resulting in a quicker lap time.
- Cunningham Motorsports has won the last two road course races with the No. 22 car at New Jersey Motorsports Park in 2015 (Kyle Weatherman) and 2016 (Parker Kligerman).
Shane Lee, No. 22 Big Tine Ford Fusion
- This will be Lee’s first time out on a road course. Earlier this month he went to the Ford Performance Racing School in Utah to get accustomed to the vastly different style of racing.
- Last time out, Lee continued to gain momentum with a fifth-place finish at the Illinois State Fair in his dirt track debut. Lee moved up to fourth in championship standings and is quickly closing in on third.
- Lee: “I’ve never raced on a road course before so this is going to be a great learning experience. I don’t think I could have a better crew chief going into the weekend. Paul (Andrews) knows what he’s doing and he’s had proven success on road courses in the past and in recent years. This 22 team has won the past two road course races so I feel like I have the best team that I can have behind me. I’m excited to get to Road America…we’re definitely capable of running towards the top and hopefully we’ll keep getting these strong finishes.”
Dalton Sargeant, No. 77 Big Tine Ford Fusion
- Sargeant is no stranger to road courses. The 19-year-old spent the majority of his young career in open-wheel racing before making the move to stock cars in 2014.
- He is coming off of a solid race at the Illinois State Fair last weekend. Sargeant earned his 12th top-10 finish of the season with a 10th-place run in his first showing on a dirt track.
- Sargeant: “I’m extremely excited to go to Road America. I grew up racing road courses and since I’ve moved to stock cars that’s not exactly the type of track I get to race often anymore. There’s a really strong field this weekend which is great to see and it’s going to be a challenge, but I think if we hit our marks we’ll definitely be in contention to win. We haven’t finished where I know we can these past few races, but I think we can turn it around here and hopefully get this No. 77 Big Tine Ford another win.”
Austin Cindric, No. 99 Menards Ford Fusion
- Coming from a road course racing background, Cindric is pulling double-duty this weekend and will be making his NASCAR XFINITY Series debut after the ARCA race on Sunday.
- While this will be Cindric’s first ARCA start on a road course, he has earned two wins and two poles – coming in just two starts – in NASCAR K&N Series competition (at Watkins Glen and Virginia International Raceway).
- Cindric hasn’t been behind the wheel of an ARCA car since Lucas Oil Raceway in July. After winning the General Tire Pole Award and leading 53 laps, the No. 99 team experienced mechanical issues and ended the night with a 23rd-place finish.
- Cindric: “It’s a really good opportunity to be able to run in the ARCA race, especially before the XFINITY race on Sunday. We feel like we have some unfinished business after the unfortunate ending to the Lucas Oil race and we want to come back and hit this one out of the park. I think the guys on the No. 99 team really want to be able to come here and get a win and I think we have a pretty good chance at it with the background that I have in road courses. Cunningham has been really strong and consistent on road courses the last few years and I don’t see why we can’t continue that trend and get them another win.”
The Road America 100 kicks off Friday, August 25, with an optional practice day. Saturday will contain two practice sessions starting at 8:50 a.m. followed by General Tire Pole Qualifying at 5:10 p.m. The race is set for Sunday, August 27, at 12:15 p.m. and will air on a tape-delayed basis on MAVTV. Live timing and scoring will be provided at www.arcaracing.com. All times are local (Central).
Keep up with Cunningham Motorsports on Facebook and Instagram (@CunninghamRace) and on Twitter (@Cunningham_Race). Head to www.cunninghamrace.com for more news.
You can follow Shane and Dalton on social media as well. Follow Shane on Facebook/Twitter (@ShaneLeeRacing) and on Instagram (@Shane_Lee00). You can find Dalton on Facebook (@DaltonSargeantRacing) and Twitter/Instagram (@DaltonSargeant). Follow Austin on Facebook (@Austin.Cindric) and on Twitter/Instagram (@AustinCindric).
