Blake Koch at Daytona International Speedway… Blake Koch has 10 previous starts in the NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) at Daytona International Speedway (DIS). Koch’s track-best finish of ninth came in February 2016. The last time the NXS visited DIS, Koch earned a track-best start of eighth before finishing 15th in a battered No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevy. In this race last year, the Florida-native started 16th before being collected in a last-lap crash, relegating him to a 22nd-place finish.
Sounding Off – Blake Koch… “I feel like we really have an opportunity to take some risks at Daytona with where we are in the points right now. This race is just so unpredictable it’s hard to say what our strategy will be at any point in the race. I know we will have a fast No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevy since we are bringing our pole-winning car from Talladega earlier this season. I’m excited to hopefully qualify on the pole again and bring this car home with a top-five finish.”
2017 Season… Koch is currently 12th in the NXS Championship standings after 14 races. He has recorded one pole position, three top-10 starts, one top-10 finish and six top-15 finishes. Last week at Iowa Speedway, Koch started 13th and ran in the top-10 for much of the race before being caught a lap down after a late-race caution fell just as the team had completed a green-flag pit stop. With little time to make up ground, Koch finished 25th.
Blake Koch NXS Career… Koch makes his 195th NXS start this weekend at DIS. To date, Koch has a career-best NXS starting position of first at Talladega Superspeedway (May 2017), and a career-best NXS finish of eighth at RIR (April 2016), Bristol Motor Speedway (August 2016) and Phoenix International Raceway (November 2016).
Meet Blake…Koch will sign autographs for fans at the Fresh From Florida display at the DIS fan midway on Friday, June 30th at 4 p.m. ET.
Koch will participate in a Q&A session at the DIS Chevy Stage on Friday, June 30th at 5:30 p.m. ET.
Riding Along…Koch will carry carry a special windshield decal on the No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet Camaro this weekend at DIS, honoring the service of Cody Rainey, son of Kaulig Racing fabricator, Chad Rainey. The decal will display the name of Cody’s unit, U.S. Army 3rd Squadron, 3rd Cavalry Regiment, which is based in Fort Hood, Texas.
Matt Kaulig wins Entrepreneur of the Year… Kaulig Racing team owner Matt Kaulig was honored last week as a recipient of Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Entrepreneur of The Year, founded by EY, is the world’s most prestigious business awards program for entrepreneurs, chosen from an independent panel of judges including entrepreneurs and prominent leaders from business, finance, and the local community. The program makes a difference through the way it encourages entrepreneurial activity among those with potential and recognizes the contribution of people who inspire others with their vision, leadership, and achievement.
Tune-In… The 100-lap NXS Coca-Cola Firecracker 250 from DIS will be televised live Saturday, June 30th, 2017 at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN and will be broadcasted live on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio channel 90.
