The NASCAR Xfinity Series invades the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for its fourth annual visit to the historic venue. The Mid-Ohio 200 will go down at 3:30 p.m. ET on the USA Network. Enthusiasts have the opportunity to check out what NASCAR brings to the table after enjoying some Verizon IndyCar Series racing a few weeks ago. Some new faces like Owen Kelly, will get behind the wheel in hopes of reeling in a victory for the Joe Gibbs Racing juggernaut.
JR Motorsport’s Regan Smith drove on to victory in last years addition. The NASCAR mainstay passed Roger Penske Racing’s Alex Tagliani in the second to last corner to take the checkered flag. It was Smith’s first win in 51 events for the talented driver.
The 39 year old, Australian born Owen Kelly, will drive in Saturday’s Mid-Ohio 200 in place of Matt Tifft. Tifft was slated to drive in the event but is still in recovery mode from his surgery to remove a brain tumor.
Owen Kelly mainly has competed in the Australia Supercar Series over the past 12 years. Furthermore, the road course specialist competed in NASCAR national series events on four more occasions. Kelly has made only one start in the Sprint Cup Series in 2013. The new addition to the Joe Gibbs Racing team does have three starts in the Xfinity Series from 2010 to 2013.
Owen Kelly is no stranger to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. He competed here in 2013 and took 23rd and also at Road America for Joe Gibbs Racing. The fill-in did much better in that contest by driving his way to a fourth place finish.
“This is a great opportunity, I’d prefer it to be under different circumstances in regard to Matt’s health, but the good news is that he is on the mend, so I’m happy to help out the No. 18 team and I look forward to working with (crew chief) Chris Gayle also,” Owen Kelly said. “The last time I ran Mid-Ohio was with JGR so it should all be familiar. I’d like to thank Joe Gibbs and the entire team for giving me this opportunity.”
The Joe Gibbs Racing team has amassed an incredible amount of success so far in 2016. As a result, the # 18 team has compiled nine wins, 14 top five’s and another 16 top 10’s. Furthermore, the racing giant has collected eight poles and has been out in front for a whopping 1,658 laps. Joe Gibbs Racing’s most recent triumph came at the historic Indianapolis Speedway. All-time Xfinity Series race winner Kyle Busch piloted his car to victory with a dominate performance.
With number like these, there is no reason to believe the talented roadster can’t hold his own at the iconic sports course. Anytime you have the combination of skill and great equipment, the outcome is tipped in your favor. That is exactly what Joe Gibbs Racing is trying to put together for the Mid-Ohio 200. Owen Kelly’s crew chief Chris Gayle says he likes their chances on Saturday.
“It’s always a little bit of an unknown working with drivers for the first time, but I feel like having Owen at JGR previously, helps shortcut this learning curve,” Gayle said. “Owen also has been around the shop for the last week, so we’ve been able to spend some time discussing Mid-Ohio and the Xfinity Series cars in general. I fully believe we should be one of the cars to beat at Mid-Ohio.”
Owen Kelly might have his work cut out for him this weekend. Although Joe Gibbs Racing is dominating the Xfinity Series, they have struggled at times on the road courses. The highest finishing Joe Gibbs Racing hot-rod in last years race at Mid-Ohio was driven by Daniel Suarez.
Suarez managed to salvage an 11th place finish. Boris Said, the road racing guru, also filled in for the team last year and took 13th. In fact, the highest that a JGR race car driver has placed at Mid-Ohio in the last two contests is Elliott Sadler. Sadler sped his #11 OneMain Financial Toyota to a seventh place finish in 2014.
Furthermore, not one Joe Gibbs race car threatened to claim victory at Watkins Glen. Once again, Daniel Suarez was the highest ranking driver. The Mexican born stud managed a fourth place result but was never in contention throughout the afternoon.
