15th: CONOR DALY No. 20 BITNILE.COM Chevrolet
18th: RINUS VEEKAY No. 21 BITNILE.COM Chevrolet

NEXT RACE: Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America, June 18 (USA Network, 1 p.m. ET)

CONOR DALY, NO. 20 BITNILE.COM CHEVROLET

CONOR DALY, No. 20 BITNILE.COM Chevrolet, Finished 15th: “After sorting through some of that chaos at the beginning of the race, we weren’t bad. We were trying to run with Rinus (VeeKay) but had to switch to the other strategy pretty quickly. We just lost out a little bit on some of the strategy side of the race. At the end, the car was good enough to make some moves on some people and try to improve our position. Not the most fun racetrack, but we salvaged something today. This is one of of our better street course finishes in a while, so that is good.”

OF NOTE: 

• Conor Daly started today’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix from the 15th position, his best street course qualifying effort of the year. He elected to start the 100 lap race on a set of Firestone’s alternate green Firehawk tires. After avoiding an incident on the opening lap, he continued on until Lap 17 when he made his first pit stop.

• The No. 20 BITNILE.COM Chevrolet crew gave Daly a set of black Firehawks for his next stint. The full course caution on Lap 43 would provide him the opportunity for his next stop, which he made four laps later. On a three-stop strategy, he came in for the final time on Lap 67. 

• He again selected black tires for the duration of the event. The end of the event saw 13 of 20 laps run under caution. Daly avoided all of the incidents around him and picked up two positions in the final five laps. He took the checkered flag in the 15th position. 

RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 BITNILE.COM CHEVROLET

RINUS VEEKAY, No. 21 BITNILE.COM Chevrolet, Finished 18th:  “I worked pretty hard and was in the Top 10 quite a bit. On the last restart, I was hit from behind and lost momentum. I had to go on the defense there and got too many marbles on my tires, then I couldn’t turn anymore. It was tough. I struggled to keep my car on the track, which I did, but it was only enough for P18. There was way more in the car. I am very bummed. I learned a lot and it is nice to have a weekend off before Road America.”

OF NOTE: 

• In yesterday’s qualifications, Rinus VeeKay missed advancing to the second round by .0011 of a second and had to settle for the 14th starting position. He started the race on black Firestone Firehawks, which he stretched to Lap 36.

• For his second stint, he raced on the alternate green tire. He moved firmly into the Top 10, running as high as 8th. On a two-stop strategy, he made his second and final pit stop on Lap 63. He switched back to a set of black Firehawks for the rest of the race. 

• On the final restart on Lap 96, VeeKay was struck from behind by another competitor. The No. 21 BITNILE.COM Chevrolet got off line and into the marbles and VeeKay fought to keep the car on course. Losing momentum, several cars were able to get around him and he dropped from 12th to 18th, where he would finish.