SONY DSCConcord, NC (Aug. 5, 2014) –  Mistakes can be costly. However, being on the opposite side of a mistake can prove beneficial. In this past weekend’s Autolite Iridium XP 150, other’s mistakes going into the halfway break became the defining moment of the race for the Rev Racing team.

Leading Rev Racing heading into the break was Sergio Peña, who was P5 after fighting his way up from his P21 qualifying position. Battling back from an unfavorable qualifying effort at Iowa Speedway is all too familiar for the Rev Racing returnee. In his first stint at Iowa Speedway this season, Peña impressively improved 18 spots over the course of the race before finishing P11. And although he had hopes of qualifying better this time around, he was forced to battle back again.

A few laps before the halfway break, Peña’s campaign to crack the top-3 was cut short by a caution flag that was issued after a Rev Racing competitor hit the wall in turn two. Significant damage from the crash was enough to keep the race under caution until the halfway mark.

As cars continued their go-around under the caution, the leading four cars deviated from the pack and drove down pit road, prior to officials giving the signal that pit road was open. As a result, each of those drivers was penalized and sent to the back of the 43-car field, allowing Peña to automatically jump to P1.

Unfortunately, Peña was unable to hold his first place position for the remaining 75 laps. However, it was his ability to recognize the mistake of his competitors and their pit road mistake to put him in position to secure his second top-5 in a row.

“I was able to move up early in the race by running high because nobody else was running up there. Then at the end of the race everyone else decided to go high. However, by that time the car was a little too loose and I couldn’t hang on. We’re still happy with our top-5,” Peña said.

Daniel Suarez also had an admirable run for Rev Racing. The Monterrey, Mexico native had the best qualifying position for Rev Racing and took the green flag in P14. After a roller coaster race that saw Suarez move up as high as P5 and fall as low as P18, the Rev Racing veteran ultimately fell one spot short of the top-10, taking the checkered in P11.

Bell, Beasley, and Gifford finished the race P23, P29, and P40 respectively.

The Autolite Iridium XP 150 will air on FOX Sports 1 on Friday, Aug. 8 at 11am.

The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East will resume action with the Bully Hill Vineyards 125 at Watkins Glen International in New York on Friday, Aug. 8.

ABOUT REV RACING: Headquartered in Concord, NC, Rev Racing, owned by Max Siegel, operates the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Program, which is the industry’s leading developmental program for ethnic minorities, women drivers, and pit crew members. For more information about Rev Racing visit https://revracing.net and follow us on Twitter @RevRacin.


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