Roulette Recap follows a randomly selected driver throughout a race to break down their efforts. There is no telling ahead of time how the race will go. The driver could face calamity on the opening lap or start from the rear and win the race. With that, may the odds be ever in the driver’s favor.
Drive for the Cure 250
Josh Bilicki qualified fourth at the Charlotte ROVAL, marking his best qualifying effort of the season.
After 15 races in 2024, Bilicki’s best start was at Portland. His best finish came at Watkins Glen. This left fans wondering what he could accomplish this weekend. In six ROVAL starts, the Wisconsinite has a best finish of P13, which came in 2020.
Ahead of the green flag, Bilicki thanked the JGR organization for the opportunity and his crew chief gave him final reminders and wished him well.
Stage 1
Sam Mayer raced ahead with the lead and Bilicki settled in at P5. Immediately into Lap 2, it was noted that Mayer had a restart violation and would be forced to serve a pass-through penalty. This would allow Bilicki to regain P4.
All was quiet on the No. 19 radio in the subsequent laps until Lap 7 when he was door-to-door with the No. 18 of Sheldon Creed. At that point, Bilicki worked his way around his JGR teammate.
Then, on Lap 8, Shane Van Gisbergen missed the backstretch chicane and fell from P2 to P6. With that, Bilicki gained yet another spot.
With eight to go in the stage, Bilicki noted his only complaint was he was tight in the corners.
Two laps later, SVG had made up ground and was starting to put pressure on Bilicki – although, he was still 1.5 seconds back. He was told, “Eyes forward. We’ll let you know if he gets close.”
With four to go, Bilicki was called to pit road for tires and fuel. He returned to the track in P10.
From there, he would battle it out with Chandler Smith and Mayer to finish the opening stage in P9.
Regarding the beating and banging with his teammate, he said, “I was trying not to push, but I guess we’re going for stage points.”
Stage 2
Following some discussion on the restart strategy, Bilicki stayed out and started Stage 2 in P1. Hitting the infield portion of the course, Bilicki launched ahead of C. Smith.
Unfortunately, on Lap 27, the caution waved for debris. Bilicki’s spotter and crew chief went over some notes ahead of the next restart. The team opted to maintain the lead and stay on track.
The green waved with 10 to go in the stage. This time, C. smith gave him a run for his money, but Bilicki jumped out in front even earlier. His spotter said, “That‘s the drive-off we need out of [Turn] 4!”
Cautions Breed Cautions
Before drivers finished the lap, the caution waved as Matt DiBennedetto was in the wall.
Once again, Bilicki stayed on track to keep the lead. He was told, “Take a breath. You’re as good as any of them out here.” With that, he took the green with eight to go. He was lined up next to Mayer this time and fell to P2 in the infield when he slid off into the grass a bit.
Down the backstretch, there was some distance between Bilicki and C. Smith and he was able to set his eyes squarely on Mayer.
As drivers took seven to go, there was a huge wreck coming out of the front stretch chicane.
Chaos in the chicane with #XfinitySeries #NASCARPlayoffs contenders Riley Herbst & Sheldon Creed involved! pic.twitter.com/w3fdJgwBay
— Xfinity Racing (@XfinityRacing) October 12, 2024
During the lengthy clean-up, Bilicki took to pit road for fuel and tires. He was fifth off pit road but lost three spots. He restarted P10 for the final three laps of the stage.
With numerous “slower” cars up front, this set the stage for a messy final few laps. Throughout the infield, drivers kept it clean, despite Bilicki going three-wide. As he hit the oval portion of the course, he was running P12. But with two to go, he worked back to P10.
As drivers took one to go, the caution waved at Sheldon Creed stalled on the backstretch and Riley Herbst had damage after a blown tire.
With that, Bilicki added another stage point to his day.
Stage 3
Bilicki started the final stage in P7. He lost a spot, but held onto P8 with his only complaint being, “The No. 48 is holding everyone up.”
A few laps later, after losing two spots, Bilicki radioed in, “I feel like I lost overall grip.”
A caution came with 15 to go after Bilicki lost one more spot. This time, it was for the No. 35 of Thomas Annunziata crashed into the fence.
The No. 19 opted to pit to avoid getting “run over with fresh tires.” Following that stop, Bilicki lined up in P15 for the final 11 laps.
He was informed he was “fixed up on balance” and to “stay on offense.”
With 10 to go, there was a huge stack up on the front chicane. Bilicki made it through, gaining three spots in the chaos.
The race stayed green, then chaos ensued as Kligerman took the lead from SVG, who fell to P4 in one lap.
With six to go, Bilicki was running P11, working hard to bring home a top 10. In the front chicane, taking five to go, Bilicki gained two spots.
Running behind Brandon Jones, his crew chief said, “Get around him. We haven’t seen him all day.”
As Bilicki took three to go, he was told, “Try something in Turn 7. That’s the only place we get beat.”
Chaos Ensues
With one to go, Leland Honeyman found himself in the tire barrier and the caution waved.
However, NASCAR deemed the race not official, and teams lined up for Overtime.
Lined up P9, his team said, “Good news, no one behind us is faster than us. Bad news, a lot of people in front of us will probably wreck. We need to miss that.”
A confident “10-4” was heard from Bilicki.
He gained a spot on the restart as the leaders went door-to-door.
Then, teammate Aric Almirola worked around Bilicki. The two traded spots in the final lap but, as Mayer took the checkered flag, Bilicki brought it home P8.
Bilicki thanked the JGR team for the opportunity. He said, “That was actually a little less chaotic than I thought it’d be!”
He finished the day hoping for a chance to race with the team again.
Sponsor Shoutout + Driver & Team Socials
NASCAR fans know sponsors make the sport go ’round. We want to give a shoutout to Insurance King and Trim-Tex Drywall Solutions who played a huge part of the weekend for Josh and the No. 19 team.
Be sure to give Josh Bilicki (Facebook, Instagram, X) and Joe Gibbs Racing (Facebook, Instagram, X) a follow to keep up with the latest news from the driver and team.
Thank you. I’m glad that Josh was given a chance. I hope he will got another soon. I think he has the mindset to do well with the right equipment.