Richson has cracked ribs and broken fingers on his left hand, but plans continues to keep on racing, not taking a week off. Concerned for Cortez. Jefferson, back in the top 10 after his first good run in a long time and Knee displeased with being called to the Hauler
Jerry Richson, was desperate in for a good race and he was in a race of desperation but not for the race he wanted to be in. Richson was involved in a very serious accident with Steven Cortez in which saw Richson hit the wall hard but sent Cortez go for a wild series of flips and come to rest barely on Richson's car. Richson, got out of his car, wincing in pain, looking into Cortez's car and waved over for medical crew for Cortez and himself as he sat down next to his car after the accident. Richson was checked and cleared from the medical center but with splints on 3 of his fingers and he was still holding his chest.
"I got some cracked ribs and broke some fingers, got to see if the officials will clear me or not to race. I really don't want to take a week off, would knock us out of being locked in but right now my main concern is Cortez, he took a wild ride and I saw it all. He didnt reply when I called for him so he wasn't responsive as of now. Just sucks again...I can't say anymore."
Jack Jefferson, who had a lot of bad luck recently, finally gets another top 10 and launches himself back against the mountain in the top 10 in points.
"Feels good to get that monkey off our back. Good run for us today, we managed to keep our nose mostly clean and got 6th. We gained the most spots in the race so really proud of the team and effort today."
Greg Knee, who didn't have an ideal day, caused some accidents and was collected in a few and he was called to the Hauler but wasn't happy about it.
"Really? I get called to the Hauler for accidents? I see these more as a racing deal rather then me being homicidal but to hell with it."
Lapinski Wins Coors 200, Cortez OK after scary wreck
It’s been a long time coming for the driver of the #88, and not just for him but for his team as well. Garth Enterprises finally earned their first ever win at Pikes Peak in the Coors 200.
“Yeah we had a tough day,” joked Lapinski, “We spun twice and really had no momentum going. But we stuck with it and were lucky enough to catch a few breaks and get back in it. It feels nice to get in the winners circle with this team, I appreciate all their hard work and it all came together this weekend.”
Lapinski nabs his second career win and vaults into the 17th spot in drivers standings.
Meanwhile, Steven Cortez has a very violent accident with Jerry Richson on lap 107 which sent the #96 rolling 17 times on the back straightaway. Cortez was deemed unresponsive, but said that he was just catching his breath. He climbed out and into an ambulance shortly after and had no significant injury.
“Racing deal, honestly,” said Cortez, “We got into James [Rodin] there and it was a lost cause at that point. We’ve been running well so it sucks but we will continue forward. I’m fine, and we’re gonna be fine as well.”
Points contenders had a rough race. Nate Smith blew an engine finishing 41st, Mikael Carter led a lot only to nab a penalty on the restart. And Caine Dwyer finished 32nd after wrecking late in the Coors 200. Casey Lester finished 5th and grabbed the points lead with 6 races left.
“It was a tough thing to hear,” said Carter about his penalty, “I personally don’t see what we did wrong but I’ll never argue with officials because it isn’t going to work in my favor. We still finished top-20 and we’re still in the hunt. So we can move on and continue to run well and we will be ok.”
Dwyer: “The last two races have been rough. It’s been a learning process. Rebounding is key and I think we’ve got what it takes. We’re still well in this hunt and we know what we are going to have to do, so we will continue to work hard at the shop and do what we can on raceday.”
Thu Feb 08, 2024 8:00 pm by NickSant15
