Heartbreak for Ryan Vargas at Richmond as Xfinity Run Goes Up in Smoke

Ryan Vargas’s Xfinity Series adventures have taken a huge hit at Richmond Raceway. With just 14 laps on the board, Vargas’s No. 32 car coming off turn 4 couldn’t make a turn and his car seemed to have caught the fire. On a closer look at the replays, the brakes also looked to be on fire. This incident enforced the first caution of the race and track staff was put to work in escorting Vargas’s car.

The 23-year-old driver will be running a full-time schedule in the NASCAR Wheelen EURO Series, thus allowing him to run only a few races this season in Xfinity. After a disappointing finish to his race at Phoenix, Vargas at Richmond might have to take an early exit because of mechanical failure.

Vargas is not too bothered by the unfortunate end to his race in Richmond

Ryan Vargas was looking forward to an eventful afternoon for his feature in the Xfinity race at the short track in Richmond. In qualifying, his car showed some good pace; with 15 cars in the qualifiers, he managed to break inside the top 10 position with a timed lap of 23.197. However, with the race starting to pick up pace after early jitters, the No. 32 car gave up on the driver.

Coming into Turn 4, Vargas was unable to steer his car into the corner, and his car was engulfed in smoke. Initially, it looked like he had engine troubles, but his car had a lock-up, which fired up the brakes as well. The former JD Motorsports driver took to X and summed up his feelings after the early exit at Richmond Raceway.

“Blowed up, blowed up BIG. I’m thankful to have made 75+ starts in NASCAR and I’m not stopping anytime soon. I live for this sport and the opportunities I get, and I’m blessed to even be here. Bummer of a day, but we’ll regroup and move forward. On to the next,” Vargas wrote on X.

Having already competed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for long , the 23-year-old driver is now making a big leap in his racing career. He will be joining the Euro Series for his first full-time schedule away from home.

Vargas will compete in the NASCAR Wheelen Euro Series in 2024

During the 2023 season, Ryan tried his hands at racing overseas in the Euro Series. Driving the No. 30 Chevry car for 3F Racing, he competed in four races. And this is where it clicked for him to compete in the series full-time in 2024. It is strange for a driver who has had over 70 Xfinity starts to compete in a series away from the sport’s traditional setting. But last we checked, NASCAR is trying to enter a different market, and Vargas is working towards that goal.

Another important element supporting Vargas in taking his racing overseas is his sponsors. “We ran with Critical Path Security last year for those races (in the Euro Series), and they just had a blast. They were over the moon with the media coverage, with how well we ran, and all that. They came back to me and said, ‘Ryan, we want to do Europe. We want to go back to Europe,” he said via NASCAR.

Vargas is one of the few American drivers to have competed in the Euro Series. No American has been able to win the 14-race schedule series, and who knows, he might be the first to achieve that.

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