NASCAR driver and Capitals fan Ryan Ellis tried to drive his RMNB eFord into NASCAR’s nationally-broadcast race on FOX at 1 PM. Instead, the Ashburn, Virginia native got caught up in a wreck on lap five during the qualifying race.
Yes, he broke the Russian machine (again).
Full race
Before the race, Ellis said how important it was to qualify well so he could avoid any craziness in the middle of the pack. Unfortunately, he started in 18th and in row 9.
The @russianmachine car looked good coming off pit lane, @ryanellisracing pic.twitter.com/FmQ8SfHbID
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) March 29, 2020
The race started inauspiciously enough, but on lap five things got crazy. Kyle Weatherman got into Justin Allgaier and both went into the infield retaining wall. Myatt Snider was sent airborne as other cars collected and wrecked behind those two. Trevor Bayne and Justin Haley were also involved.
Almost won it today 🤣🤣🤣. If they took the top-25 out of 30 I’d have a chance.
For real though, had good speed but got caught up in a big ol crash lap 5.
We’ll get em next week, @russianmachine @AVSpecialists_ @TheTireStore! pic.twitter.com/RECBY9RJVW
— Ryan Ellis (@ryanellisracing) March 29, 2020
Got put top of 3 lap one, and lost a bunch of spots but overall it was fun. Think we would’ve ended up like 6-10th.
— Ryan Ellis (@ryanellisracing) March 29, 2020
“I feel really bad for all the eGuys back at the eShop,” Ellis said. “We had a really good Russian Machine Ford until we got caught up in a massive crash on the back straightaway. I thought I was going to get through it but my dogs Andy and Barry told me to go low/middle through the crash and they guessed wrong.”
FS1 replayed the wreck before the start of the NASCAR race.
Another look at the wreck pic.twitter.com/03hnyng4Wh
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) March 29, 2020
For approximately a half second, the @russianmachine logo was on national TV so @ryanellisracing we’re still winners pic.twitter.com/f0NX7ACayO
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) March 29, 2020
Only four of the 34 drivers who participated advanced into the big race. Those drivers were Ruben Garcia Jr., Ty Majewski, Anthony Alfredo, and the race winner Alex Labbe.
Before the qualifying race began, Ellis got a lot of attention on social media after he posted a video of himself driving through a crazy wreck during practice. He didn’t even lift as he drove through flipping cars and smoke. I’m so proud.
lolololol if this is any indication of what’s to come pic.twitter.com/vRBJyJQMdt
— Ryan Ellis (@ryanellisracing) March 29, 2020
Ellis also had some “fun” as well, ending his practice session by flipping into the fence.
Glad you took time to inspect the fence and make sure it’s safe during practice @ryanellisracing pic.twitter.com/s21H7wsrie
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) March 29, 2020
Despite wrecking during the race, Ellis showed speed all week and believed he was fast enough to challenge for one of the top four spots.
He hopes that NASCAR considers adding a second race for XFINITY and Truck drivers on Friday nights.
Constructive criticism of LCQ. We really need to try to open it up to all @NASCAR licensed drivers – no reason @TommyJoeMartins and a bunch of others couldn't get in there.
Really should be a 100 lap race or so with cautions. Allow 5 to transfer into the other race.
— Ryan Ellis (@ryanellisracing) March 29, 2020
I think we all understand the big race needs to have guys like Dale JR, Biffle, etc. That's cool. But a lot of the other guys have sponsors that need to be represented and I think with the world struggling for live content, we could host our own race for everyone else on Fri/Sat.
— Ryan Ellis (@ryanellisracing) March 29, 2020
That way even if people don't transfer in, they still get their sponsors exposure which is really important in this time. Also, 100 laps (and cautions!!!) would really help calm people down and make it seem like a legit race.
— Ryan Ellis (@ryanellisracing) March 29, 2020
And guess what! We’re already working on another session that we can live stream for those smaller guys/teams. We want to include everyone in the sport. I think @iracing and @iRacingMyers are doing a great job with getting all this done and we all appreciate it.
— Ryan Ellis (@ryanellisracing) March 29, 2020
We can’t wait to see what’s next and thank you again to Ryan for letting us go along for the ride. This is the most exciting Sunday we’ve had in a while.
eRaceday at eTexas with the eRMNB eKansasland eAudioVideoSpecialists eFord!
Tune to https://t.co/maqsVpTUQI at 11am. @russianmachine @AVSpecialists_ @TheTireStore pic.twitter.com/fiwC0FjMrP
— Ryan Ellis (@ryanellisracing) March 29, 2020
Headline photo courtesy of FS1
