Saturday night’s SunTrust Indy Challenge at the Richmond International Raceway was a battle of attrition as only 12 out of 26 cars finished the race, and thankfully, Townsend Bell was one of them.

Having to start the race in 21st, Bell and the team knew a challenging night would be ahead.  The team had to be creative in gaining positions, especially by gambling on pit strategy when necessary.  At one point, Bell cycled himself into third-place with an off-sequence move.

He kept his nose clean all night, and while everyone around him fell out, Bell fought on to stay in the race and brought home an eighth-place finish.

Unfortunately, one of the many crashes of the night involved Bell’s teammate, Buddy Rice, who lost control of his vehicle on a lap 79 restart.  Rice, who had practiced in the top three all weekend and was running sixth when the incident occurred, was obviously disappointed with the result and felt an opportunity was lost.

He will look to rebound next weekend when the series races next at the Watkins Glen International Raceway.

There, Rice will be joined by Milka Duno who will return to the cockpit of the #23 CITGO/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Honda Dallara.

The Camping World Indy Grand Prix at the Glen can be seen live and in HD on Sunday on ABC at 3:30 p.m. EST.

QUOTES

#15 DREYER & REINBOLD RACING Honda Dallara Driver Buddy Rice

“I think I screwed up.  I think that’s just what it comes down to right now.  Our car was good.  It seemed to be good on the longer runs.  We were right where we needed to be initially.  I don’t know.  I think I just flat screwed up.  I don’t think I got hit or anything.  It’s just disappointing for Dreyer and Reinbold and the Roll Coater car.  We could have had a really good night tonight.  I don’t know.  I just seemed to throw it away.”

#23 DREYER & REINBOLD RACING Honda Dallara Driver Townsend Bell

“We just made Smart decisions tonight.  Great spotting by Dane (Carter).  We just had the mindset of wanting to make it to the end.  This race was sketchy, which is what I expected.  It was a total dogfight that first half of the race.  Our car was great.  We’re going to continue to work on things.  It’s just fun to get another top ten.  I’m pleased.  It’s our best finish of the year.  We can’t complain about that.  The guys did a great job in the pits, and I can’t wait to get back into the car again.”