Story By: JORDAN WOOD / WOOD BROTHERS RACING – SPEEDWAY, IN – After celebrating a triumphant performance by their manufacturer, Ford Motor Company, at Michigan International Speedway on Monday, Harrison Burton and the No. 21 DEX Imaging team are preparing for Sunday’s race on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“This past weekend in Michigan was a great weekend for Ford and a solid result for the Wood Brothers,” crew chief Brian Wilson said of the No. 21 team’s drive from 29th place at the green flag to 17th at the checkered in a race won by Chris Buescher in his No. 17 Mustang.
“Congrats to everyone within Ford Performance for the ninth consecutive win in Michigan.
“Our pace was very competitive and seeing a Ford win shows that everyone within our group has been fighting hard to improve and be ready for the playoff stretch.”
Wilson and the team have reason to be optimistic headed into the weekend as Burton scored a Cup-career-best third-place finish on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn course inside the 2.5-mile Indy oval.
“Last year’s race at Indianapolis was a great result for everyone on the DEX Ford team and still our best finish as a group,” Wilson said. “Harrison did an incredible job on all the late-race restarts and chaos to march forward.”
The 2023 edition of the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard presents a new set of challenges.
“As we prepare for this weekend’s race we’re studying the changes over the past year,” Wilson said. “This year’s aero rules have taken away a large portion of total downforce. But we also had a rule change on floor sealing last year after this race which added some downforce back.
“And this year’s tire is softer than last year, which also adds mechanical grip.
Wilson said he believes the DEX Imaging team is well positioned to adapt to the changes since last year.
“Everyone on the team is excited to head to such an iconic venue like Indy and hopefully improve on last year’s finish,” he said.
Practice for the Verizon 200 is set for Saturday at 11:35 a.m. Eastern Time and will be followed by qualifying at 12:35. TV coverage on Saturday will be provided by USA Network.
Sunday’s 82-lap race is scheduled to get the green flag just after 2:30 p.m. with TV coverage on NBC. Stage breaks are planned for Lap 15 and 35.