Frontstretch Newsletter: Nov. 8, 2021
Volume: XV, Edition CCII
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- Teams are on their way back to North Carolina after wrapping up the season in Arizona last weekend. However, the racing season is not over. IMSA's series wrap up this weekend at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. We'll have entry lists for your pleasure and anything else that breaks
at Frontstretch.
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Around the World in Motorsports: Nov. 5-7
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- In motoGP World Championship action Sunday at Portimao, Ducati's Francesco Bagnaia led nearly flag-to-flag to win the Grand Prix of the Algarve. The race was red-flagged and declared complete two laps early due to a crash involving Miguel Oliveira and Iker Lecuona.
On countback, Bagnaia's margin of victory was 2.478 seconds over Joan Mir. Jack Miller was third, then Alex Marquez and Johann Zarco. Fabio Quartararo has already clinched the championship, but crashed out. The MotoGP season has one race remaining at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo near Valencia, Spain on Sunday.
- In the World of Outlaws NGK-NTK World Finals, there was plenty of action to be had. Friday night saw the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series do battle at The Dirt Track at Charlotte for 30 laps. Logan Schuchart took the lead on lap 2 and looked quite dominant. However, a flat tire on lap 18 ended any chance of
victory.
Schuchart's trouble gave the lead to David Gravel. Gravel was able to hold on for the final 12 laps to take his 11th win of the season. Kerry Madsen was second, then Brian Brown, Carson Macedo and Donny Schatz. Schuchart was able to battle back to ninth from the rear of the field. Brad Sweet finished eighth and clinched the World of
Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series championship.
- Saturday night saw even more bad luck for Schuchart. He was leading the race with four laps to go when he blew his right rear tire and crashed out of the race. That gave the lead to Brent Marks. In only the third race for the new Murray-Marks Motorsports team, Marks took the victory and the spoils. Brock Zearfoss was second, then Schatz,
Gravel and Macedo. Sweet ended up winning the championship by 80 points over Gravel with Macedo third. Schatz was fourth, while Schuchart rounded out the top five.
- In World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series competition, it was an excellent weekend for Jonathan Davenport. Brandon Sheppard was in position to become the winningest driver in the history of the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series, but Davenport was able to run him down and take the lead on lap 32. From there, Davenport
held on to take the win.
Brandon Sheppard ended up second, followed by Dennis Erb Jr. and Tyler Erb. Early leader Ricky Weiss was fifth.
- Saturday night saw Davenport claim the lead early from Garrett Smith on lap 11. However, lapped traffic cost him the advantage a few laps later. A few laps later, Davenport was able to come back on Jason Covert and re-take the advantage. From there, he held on to take the weekend sweep. Smith ended up second, then Brandon Sheppard, Tim
McCredie and Chris Madden.
Brandon Sheppard claimed the championship by 198 points over Madden. Tyler Bruening ended up third in points, then Dennis Erb Jr. and Weiss.
- The Super DIRTcar Series finished their season with an interesting weekend in Charlotte. Friday night saw Larry Wight take the lead from pole sitter Brett Hearn and looked good for victory.
However, an unexpected challenge came from Alex Yankowski, a 17-year old racer. Yankowski was able to run down Wight after a late restart and take the lead. From there, Yankowski held on to take his first career Super DIRTcar Series win in only his second career start.
Wight was forced to settle for second, while Mat Williamson was third. Queensbury, N.Y.s' Demetrios Drellos was fourth, while Max McLaughlin was fifth.
- Saturday saw Hearn, who spends most of his time these days working as the general manager of Orange County Fair Speedway in Middletown, N.Y., dominate the proceedings. Starting from pole, the Madsen Overhead Doors-sponsored No. 20 was unassailable. Hearn, 63, led flag-to-flag to claim the victory. The win was his 450th career DIRTcar feature
win and his 920th overall career win. Matt Sheppard was second, then Peter Britten, Drellos and Williamson.
The Super DIRTcar Series championship went to Matt Sheppard, his eighth career title. His final margin was 136 points over Williamson. Billy Decker was third in points, then Britten and McLaughlin.
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| | Kyle Larson Uses Lightning-Fast Stop to Win Phoenix, NASCAR Cup Championship
Kyle Larson's crew moved him up from fourth to first on the final stop with 28 laps to go Sunday. From there, he held off Martin Truex Jr. to win the Season Finale 500k for his 10th win of the year. That win also
netted him his first NASCAR Cup Series championship. Denny Hamlin was third, then Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott
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| | Denny Hamlin Falls Short of Elusive Title In 3rd Straight Championship 4
Denny Hamlin had a strong car on Sunday, but he simply couldn't hang when it counted. Finishing third, he was at a complete loss as to how he could have done any better.
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| | Highlights from NASCAR President Steve Phelps’ State of the Sport Address
Friday afternoon saw NASCAR president Steve Phelps make his annual State of the Sport address at Phoenix Raceway. Here, topics included the NextGen car, rule packages, attendance, the ongoing "Let's Go Brandon" movement
that started in NASCAR, and more.
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| | One For the Road With Brad Keselowski
Sunday also marked the end of a 12-year relationship for Brad Keselowski and Team Penske. Keselowski closed his time in the No. 2 Ford with a 10th-place finish and a reunion with the giant beer glass that put him all over
the internet in 2012.
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| | Was Phoenix Raceway Ryan Newman’s Final NASCAR Cup Series Race?
Ryan Newman had a relatively quiet run to finish 23rd Sunday in Phoenix. However, he is currently looking at an unclear future in motorsports. He has no plans set for 2022 and appears to be somewhat leery on the
NextGen car.
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| | Quin Houff Crashes Out in StarCom’s Final NASCAR Race
Last week, StarCom Racing announced that they have sold their charter and that Sunday would be their final race as a full-time team. The team didn't go out on a high note as Quin Houff blew a tire and crashed out on lap
122.
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| | Daniel Hemric Wins 1st Race & Xfinity Series Championship
Daniel Hemric was finally able to shut his naysayers up Saturday night. Hemric was able to get to the inside of Austin Cindric exiting turn 4 on the final lap and just barely beat him to the line to win the Xfinity Series
Championship race and claim the 2021 Xfinity Series championship. Harrison Burton finished third, then Riley Herbst and Justin Haley.
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| | Daniel Hemric’s Xfinity Championship a ‘Full Circle’ Win
Daniel Hemric's victory Saturday night was his first win of any kind since 2015 and gave him the Xfinity Series championship. One of the people that have supported him for years is Tim Ladyga, a man who sold his Ford
Mustang GT to finance the purchase of a Legends car to further Hemric's career.
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| | Austin Cindric Beaten by Inches for Xfinity Series Championship
Austin Cindric came oh-so-close to defending his Xfinity Series championship Saturday night. Daniel Hemric beating him at the line cost him the title, but still won Team Penske the owners championship. He was a bit
perturbed afterwards, but that quickly passed.
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| | Noah Gragson Falls Short at Phoenix: ‘We just missed it as a whole’
In Martinsville, Noah Gragson had to win just to qualify for the Championship 4. Once there, Gragson struggled to keep pace with the frontrunners. An all-out move late resulted in wall contact and a 12th-place
finish.
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| | Chandler Smith Wins Truck Series Finale in Phoenix, Ben Rhodes Wins Championship
Joe Gibbs Racing's Chandler Smith had the best truck on long runs Friday night. With that, he ran down Sheldon Creed and took the lead with 18 laps to go. From there, he pulled away to take his second of the
year. Stewart Friesen was second, then Ben Rhodes, Creed and Zane Smith. The third-place finish was good enough to give Rhodes the Camping World Truck Series championship.
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| | Ben Rhodes is a NASCAR Champion and Feelin’ Good
Ben Rhodes' third-place finish earned him the Camping World Truck Series championship Friday night. He celebrated by having champagne and a number of Bud Lights and having a great time.
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| | Zane Smith & John Hunter Nemechek Fall Just Short in Championship Chase
Zane Smith and John Hunter Nemechek had very different races Friday night. Nemechek got in the wall on the first lap and eventually cut a tire. He had to recover from two laps down to finish seventh. Meanwhile,
Smith was up front all night and was in position to take the title until Rhodes passed him with under 10 laps to go.
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| | Matt Crafton, Junior Joiner Fall Short Of 4th Championship as Decade-Long Partnership Ends
For Matt Crafton, Friday night was the end of an era. Crew chief Carl "Junior" Joiner Jr. is leaving the sport to work in California. Crafton wanted to send him off with a title, but a loose condition meant that it
was an impossible task.
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| | Max Verstappen Dominates for Third Mexican Grand Prix Victory
Red Bull's Max Verstappen drafted past Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas at the start to take the lead. From there, he was able to keep himself at the front to take his 10th win of the year. Hamilton was
second, then Sergio Perez, Pierre Gasly and Charles Leclerc.
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| | Time For Some Tequila! Sergio Perez Salvages a Memorable Weekend in Mexico City
The Grand Prix of Mexico at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez is the home race for Red Bull's Sergio Perez. The partisan crowd saw Perez come within a few tenths of a second of making it a Red Bull
one-two.
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| | Toyota GAZOO Racing Completes 2021 WEC Season Sweep In Bahrain
Toyota GAZOO Racing's Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Kazuki Nakajima won Saturday's FIA World Endurance Championship Bapco 8 Hours of Bahrain for their third win of the year and the ninth straight overall win for
Toyota. Team WRT won LMP2 while AF Corse swept the GTE-Pro and GTE-Am classes.
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Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, NASCAR Media via Sean Gardner, Chris Graythen and Jared C. Tilton of Getty Images, Lars Born and Mark Thompson of Getty Images, Harry Parvin of Adrenal Media and our own Daniel
McFadin and Zach Sturniolo.
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Seeking the NASCAR Cup Series Championship: Kyle Larson Wins The Title, Reaches Double Digits In Victories
by Phil Allaway
Kyle Larson was able to get the lead exiting pit road with 28 laps to go. From there, he was able to hold on for his 10th win of the year and claim his first NASCAR Cup Series championship. His final margin was five points over Martin Truex Jr., who won stage one and finished second. Denny Hamlin finished
third in points after finishing third in the race, while Chase Elliott finished fifth and ended up fourth for the year.
Of those eliminated in the playoffs, Kevin Harvick took it to the Championship 4 drivers early on before dropping to eighth at the end. That was enough to boost him up to fifth in the final standings. Harvick was seven points ahead of Brad Keselowski, who finished 10th in his final race for Team Penske. Ryan Blaney broke the tie with teammate
Joey Logano, claiming sole possession of seventh after finishing fourth. Logano finished 11th and ended up eighth.
Kyle Busch finished ninth in points after finishing seventh. William Byron was strong early, but faded to a 17th-place finish. He still finishes 10th in points. Kurt Busch is 11th after finishing 16th Sunday, while Christopher Bell finishes in 12th after scoring a top 10 in Phoenix.
Tyler Reddick finished 19th Sunday, but that was good enough for him to stay in 13th. Alex Bowman finished 18th and will be credited with 14th in points. Aric Almirola scored a quiet sixth-place finish, but it keeps him in 15th. Michael McDowell finished the year 16th in points.
Of those who were never in the playoffs, Austin Dillon finished 17th in points after locking that position up in Kansas. He ended up 160 points ahead of Matt DiBenedetto, who moved up to 18th with a 12th-place finish Sunday. Chris Buescher slid back to 19th after finishing 25th. Ross Chastain ended up 20th on the
season.
Championship 4 Point Standings: 1) Kyle Larson
5040, 2) Martin Truex Jr. -5, 3) Denny Hamlin -6, 4) Chase Elliott -8.
Eliminated Playoff Contender Points: 5) Kevin Harvick
2361, 6) Brad Keselowski -7, 7) Ryan Blaney -11, 8) Joey Logano -25, 9) Kyle Busch -43, 10) William Byron -55, 11) Kurt Busch -64, 12) Christopher Bell -82, 13) Tyler Reddick -111, 14) Alex Bowman -121, 15) Aric Almirola -146, 16) Michael McDowell -209.
Full Season Point Standings with Championship 4 Rules in Play (1-16): 1) Kyle Larson 1456, 2) Denny Hamlin -36, 3) Chase Elliott -245, 4) Ryan Blaney -298, 5) Kyle Busch
-309, 6) Kevin Harvick -319, 7) William Byron -322, 8) Martin Truex Jr. -323, 9) Joey Logano -334, 10) Brad Keselowski -377, 11) Tyler Reddick -493, 12) Kurt Busch -499, 13) Austin Dillon
-521, 14) Alex Bowman -527, 15) Christopher Bell -570, 16) Matt DiBenedetto -681.
Full Season Point Standings Without Championship 4 Rules (1-16): 1) Kyle Larson 1472, 2) Denny Hamlin -37, 3) Chase Elliott -244, 4) Ryan Blaney -314, 5) Martin Truex Jr. -322, 6) Kyle Busch
-325, 7) Kevin Harvick -335, 8) William Byron -338, 9) Joey Logano -350, 10) Brad Keselowski -393, 11) Tyler Reddick -509, 12) Kurt Busch -515, 13) Austin Dillon -537, 14) Alex Bowman
-543, 15) Christopher Bell -586, 16) Matt DiBenedetto -697.
Best of the Rest: 17) Austin Dillon
935, 18) Matt DiBenedetto -160, 19) Chris Buescher -164, 20) Ross Chastain -206, 21) Bubba Wallace -236, 22) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -269, 23) Chase Briscoe -280, 24) Erik Jones -294, 25) Daniel Suarez -301, 26) Cole Custer
-360.
Stage Points With Championship 4 Rules: 1) Kyle Larson 396, 2) Denny Hamlin -30, 3) Chase Elliott -101, 4) William Byron -114, 5) Kyle Busch -151, 6) Ryan Blaney -162, 7) Joey Logano
-164, 8) Martin Truex Jr. -187, 9) Brad Keselowski -191, 10) Kevin Harvick -207, 11) Kurt Busch -237, 12) Tyler Reddick -244, 13) Alex Bowman -265, 14) Austin Dillon -275, 15) Christopher Bell
-279, 16) Bubba Wallace -332.
Note: Stage Points include the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona.
Stage Points Without Championship 4 Rules: 1) Kyle Larson 412, 2) Denny Hamlin
-31, 3) Chase Elliott -100, 4) William Byron -130, 5) Kyle Busch -167, 6) Ryan Blaney -178, 7) Joey Logano -180, 8) Martin Truex Jr. -186, 9) Brad Keselowski -207, 10) Kevin
Harvick -223, 11) Kurt Busch -253, 12) Tyler Reddick -260, 13) Alex Bowman -281, 14) Austin Dillon -291, 15) Christopher Bell -295, 16) Bubba Wallace -348.
Note: Stage Points include the Bluegreen
Vacations Duels at Daytona.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Kyle Larson 1218, 2) Denny Hamlin -4, 3) Kevin Harvick
-122, 4) Chase Elliott -131, 5) Martin Truex Jr. -138, 6) Ryan Blaney -148, t-7) Kyle Busch -173, t-7) Joey Logano -173, 9) Brad Keselowski -188, 10) William Byron -210, 11) Austin Dillon
-254, 12) Alex Bowman -264, 13) Tyler Reddick -273, 14) Kurt Busch -281, 15) Christopher Bell -296, 16) Chris Buescher -335.
Race Winners: Michael McDowell (Daytona-1), Christopher Bell (Daytona-2), William Byron (Homestead), Kyle Larson (Las Vegas-1, Charlotte-1, Sonoma, All-Star Race, Nashville, Watkins Glen, Bristol-2, Charlotte-2, Texas, Kansas-2, Phoenix-2),
Martin Truex Jr. (Phoenix-1, Martinsville, Darlington-1, Richmond-2), Ryan Blaney (Atlanta-1, Michigan, Daytona-3), Joey Logano (Bristol-1), Alex Bowman (Richmond-1, Dover, Pocono-1, Martinsville-2), Brad Keselowski (Talladega), Kyle Busch (Kansas-1, Pocono-2), Chase Elliott (Circuit of the Americas, Road America), Kurt Busch (Atlanta-2), Aric Almirola (Loudon), AJ Allmendinger (Indianapolis), Denny Hamlin (Darlington-2, Las
Vegas-2)
Note: Race wins in Italics do not count towards playoff eligibility.
Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.
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Seeking the Xfinity Series Championship: Daniel Hemric Finally Gets Paydirt...In More Ways Than One
by Phil Allaway
Daniel Hemric has been trying for seven years to win a race in one of NASCAR's National Series. He finally pulled that off Saturday night in Phoenix. Beating out Austin Cindric at the line gave him the 2021 Xfinity Series championship as well. His margin over Cindric is five points. Noah Gragson finished a disappointing 12th and ended up third. AJ
Allmendinger spun out with 20 laps to go due to a loose wheel and finished 14th. He ended up fourth in points.
Justin Allgaier all but had fifth clinched entering Phoenix and nothing Saturday night changed that. He finished ninth and locked up fifth in points for the year. Allgaier ended up 56 points ahead of Justin Haley, who finished fifth. Brandon Jones finished seventh and ended up seventh in points. Harrison Burton came from the rear of the field to
finish third, but stayed eighth in points.
Myatt Snider ended his final race with Richard Childress Racing in 19th, but will be credited with ninth in points. Jeb Burton spun out late in the race and finished 23rd. He'll finish the year 10th in points. Riley Herbst finished fourth to claim 11th in points, while Jeremy Clements ended up 12th in the standings.
Ty Gibbs, who was not entered Saturday, locked up 13th in points in Martinsville. He ended up 20 points ahead of Ryan Sieg, who finished 17th. Michael Annett finished 11th in his final race as a full-time driver in the Xfinity Series to finish 15th in points. Brandon Brown finished 16th in points.
Championship 4 Point Standings: 1) Daniel Hemric 4040, 2) Austin Cindric -5, 3) Noah Gragson -15, 4) AJ Allmendinger -17.
Eliminated Playoff Contender Points: 5) Justin Allgaier 2300, 6) Justin Haley -56, 7) Brandon Jones -61, 8) Harrison Burton -106, 9) Myatt Snider -128, 10) Jeb Burton -138, 11) Riley Herbst -143, 12) Jeremy Clements -174.
Full Season Point Standings With Championship 4 Rules (1-16): 1) Austin Cindric 1336, 2) AJ Allmendinger -48, 3) Justin Allgaier -133, 4) Daniel Hemric -135, 5) Noah Gragson -235, 6) Justin Haley
-243, 7) Harrison Burton -279, 8) Jeb Burton -394, 9) Brandon Jones -471, 10) Riley Herbst -556, 11) Myatt Snider -582, 12) Jeremy Clements -588, 13) Ty Gibbs -673, 14) Ryan Sieg
-693, 15) Michael Annett -698, 16) Brandon Brown -716.
Note No. 1: Drivers in Bold is the champion.
Note No. 2: Drivers in italics are ineligible for the playoffs.
Full Season Point Standings Without Championship 4 Rules (1-16): 1) Austin Cindric 1355, 2) AJ Allmendinger -58, 3) Daniel Hemric -135, 4) Justin Allgaier -152, 5) Noah Gragson -242, 6) Justin
Haley -262, 7) Harrison Burton -298, 8) Jeb Burton -413, 9) Brandon Jones -490, 10) Riley Herbst -575, 11) Myatt Snider -601, 12) Jeremy Clements -607, 13) Ty Gibbs -692, 14) Ryan Sieg
-712, 15) Michael Annett -717, 16) Brandon Brown -735.
Note No. 1: Drivers in Bold is the champion.
Note No. 2: Drivers in italics are ineligible for the playoffs.
Best of the Rest: 13) Ty Gibbs 663, 14) Ryan Sieg -20, 15) Michael Annett -25, 16) Brandon Brown -43, 17) Josh Berry -123, 18) Josh Williams -132, 19) Alex Labbe -161, 20) Tommy Joe Martins
-166, 21) Brett Moffitt -168, 22) Landon Cassill -198, 23) Jade Buford -228.
Stage Points With Championship 4 Rules: 1) Austin Cindric 361, 2) AJ Allmendinger -15, 3) Daniel Hemric -32, 4) Noah Gragson -58, 5) Justin Allgaier -76, 6) Harrison Burton
-111, 7) Justin Haley -130, 8) Jeb Burton -197, 9) Ty Gibbs -200, 10) Brandon Jones -201, 11) Riley Herbst -248, 12) Michael Annett -270, 13) Myatt Snider -272, 14) Josh Berry
-287, 15) Jeremy Clements -296, 16) Ty Dillon -325.
Stage Points Without Championship 4 Rules: 1) Austin Cindric 380, 2) AJ Allmendinger -25, 3) Daniel Hemric -32, 4) Noah Gragson -65, 5) Justin Allgaier -95, 6) Harrison Burton -130, 7) Justin Haley -149, 8) Jeb Burton -216, 9) Ty Gibbs -219, 10) Brandon
Jones -220, 11) Riley Herbst -267, 12) Michael Annett -289, 13) Myatt Snider -291, 14) Josh Berry -306, 15) Jeremy Clements -315, 16) Ty Dillon -344.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Austin Cindric 1125, 2) AJ Allmendinger -10, 3) Justin Allgaier -59, 4) Daniel Hemric -101, 5) Justin Haley -141, 6) Harrison Burton -176, 7) Noah Gragson -185, 8) Jeb Burton -209, 9) Brandon Jones -292, 10) Jeremy Clements -311, 11) Myatt Snider -326, 12) Riley Herbst -330, 13) Ryan Sieg -381, 14) Brandon Brown -402, 15) Josh Williams -476, 16) Michael Annett -477.
Note: If he were eligible for Xfinity points for the whole season, Brett Moffitt would be 15th in old points.
Race Winners: Austin Cindric (Daytona-1, Phoenix-1, Dover, Pocono, Indianapolis), Ty Gibbs (Daytona-2, Charlotte-1, Watkins Glen, Kansas), AJ Allmendinger (Las Vegas-1, Mid-Ohio, Michigan, Bristol, Charlotte-2), Myatt Snider (Homestead), Justin Allgaier (Atlanta-1, Darlington-1), Josh Berry (Martinsville-1, Las Vegas-2), Jeb Burton (Talladega), Kyle
Busch (Circuit of the Americas, Texas-1, Nashville, Road America, Atlanta-2), Christopher Bell (Loudon), Justin Haley (Daytona-3), Noah Gragson (Darlington-2, Richmond, Martinsville-2), John Hunter Nemechek (Texas-2), Daniel Hemric (Phoenix-2)
Note: Wins that are ineligible for playoff ineligibility are in italics.
Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of NASCAR Media via Christian Petersen of Getty Images.
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Seeking the Camping World Truck Series Championship: Ben Rhodes Claims The Championship
by Phil Allaway
None of the Championship 4 drivers managed to even sniff the lead Friday night in Phoenix. Ben Rhodes ran the best of the bunch all night, but had to get past Zane Smith with 10 laps to go for third. That pass earned him the Camping
World Truck Series championship.
Rhodes' margin was two points over Zane Smith, who finished fifth. John Hunter Nemechek had a crazy night. He hit the wall in turn 1 on the first lap, then cut his left front tire and had to make an unscheduled stop under green. He recovered from two laps
down to finish seventh and claim third in points. Matt Crafton struggled with a loose condition and finished 12th, good enough for fourth in points.
Of those eliminated from the playoffs, Sheldon Creed dominated much of the race, leading 106 of 150 laps. However, he faded late to finish fourth. That was still enough to finish fifth in points. Creed ended up 50 points ahead of Stewart
Friesen, who finished second. Todd Gilliland finished eighth and will end the year seventh in points. Chandler Smith sweeping the stages to claim his second win of the year moved him up to eighth in points.
Austin Hill dropped one place to ninth after finishing 10th. Carson Hocevar will end the year in 10th after finishing ninth. Of those who failed to qualify for the playoffs, Grant Enfinger had already locked up 11th in points in Martinsville. He finished 13th Friday night. He
ended up 84 points ahead of Johnny Sauter, who finished 11th.
Derek Kraus finished 15th and will end the year in 13th. Austin Wayne Self struggled and finished 26th Friday night. He'll hold onto 14th in points, while Tyler Ankrum and Ryan
Truex round out the top 16.
Championship 4 Point Standings: 1) Ben Rhodes 4034, 2) Zane Smith -2, 3) John Hunter Nemechek -4, 4) Matt Crafton -9.
Eliminated Playoff Driver Standings: 5) Sheldon Creed 2325, 6) Stewart Friesen -50, 7) Todd Gilliland -63, 8) Chandler Smith
-95, 9) Austin Hill -115, 10) Carson Hocevar -121.
Full Season Point Standings With Championship 4 Rules (1-16): 1) John Hunter Nemechek 868, 2) Ben Rhodes -78, 3) Sheldon Creed -107, 4) Todd Gilliland -117, 5) Austin Hill -119, 6) Matt Crafton -150, 7) Zane Smith
-181, 8) Stewart Friesen -210, 9) Carson Hocevar -263, 10) Grant Enfinger -279, 11) Chandler Smith -292, 12) Johnny Sauter -363, 13) Derek Kraus -388, 14) Austin Wayne Self -421, 15) Tyler Ankrum
-436, 16) Ryan Truex -464.
Full Season Point Standings Without Championship 4 Rules (1-16): 1) John Hunter Nemechek 868, 2) Ben Rhodes -64, 3) Sheldon Creed -107, 4) Todd Gilliland -117, 5) Austin Hill -119, 6) Matt Crafton
-143, 7) Zane Smith -174, 8) Stewart Friesen -210, 9) Carson Hocevar -263, 10) Grant Enfinger -279, 11) Chandler Smith -292, 12) Johnny Sauter -363, 13) Derek Kraus
-388, 14) Austin Wayne Self -421, 15) Tyler Ankrum -436, 16) Ryan Truex -464.
Best of the Rest: 11) Grant Enfinger 589, 12) Johnny Sauter -84, 13) Derek Kraus -109, 14) Austin Wayne Self
-142, 15) Tyler Ankrum -157, 16) Ryan Truex -185, 17) Hailie Deegan -229, 18) Tanner Gray -266, 19) Chase Purdy -278, 20) Tate Fogleman -306.
Stage Points With Championship 4 Rules: 1) John Hunter Nemechek 243, 2) Sheldon Creed
-5, t-3) Ben Rhodes -70, t-3) Austin Hill -70, 5) Todd Gilliland -75, 6) Stewart Friesen -81, 7) Matt Crafton -87, 8) Zane Smith -91, 9) Chandler Smith -123, 10) Derek Kraus
-145, 11) Carson Hocevar -170, 12) Grant Enfinger -172, 13) Johnny Sauter -192, 14) Tyler Ankrum -194, 15) Raphael Lessard -203, 16) Ty Majeski
-220.
Stage Points Without Championship 4 Rules: 1) John Hunter Nemechek 243, 2) Sheldon Creed -5, 3) Ben Rhodes -56, 4) Austin Hill -70, 5) Todd Gilliland -75, 6) Matt Crafton -80, 7) Stewart Friesen -81, 8) Zane Smith -84, 9) Chandler Smith -123, 10) Derek Kraus -145, 11) Carson Hocevar -170, 12) Grant Enfinger -172, 13) Johnny Sauter -192, 14) Tyler Ankrum -194, 15) Raphael Lessard -203, 16) Ty Majeski -220.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) John Hunter Nemechek 530, 2) Ben Rhodes -11, 3) Todd Gilliland -30, 4) Austin Hill -36, 5) Matt Crafton
-71, 6) Zane Smith -72, t-7) Sheldon Creed -87, t-7) Carson Hocevar -87, 9) Grant Enfinger -96, 10) Stewart Friesen -124, 11) Chandler Smith -155, 12) Johnny Sauter -165, 13) Austin Wayne Self
-195, 14) Tyler Ankrum -229, 15) Derek Kraus -235, 16) Ryan Truex -242.
Race Winners: Ben Rhodes (Daytona-1, Daytona-2), John Hunter Nemechek (Las Vegas-1, Richmond, Charlotte, Pocono), Kyle Busch (Atlanta, Kansas), Martin Truex Jr. (Bristol-1), Sheldon Creed (Darlington-1, Gateway, Darlington-2), Todd Gilliland (Circuit of the Americas), Ryan Preece (Nashville), Austin Hill
(Knoxville, Watkins Glen), Chandler Smith (Bristol-2, Phoenix), Christian Eckes (Las Vegas-2), Tate Fogleman (Talladega), Zane Smith (Martinsville)
Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.
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Letter of the Race: Sunday's Season Finale 500k was brought to you by the letter D for Double Digits. In the Modern era of the NASCAR Cup Series (since 1972), it is exceedingly rare for a driver
to win 10 or more races in a season. Kyle Larson won his 10th race of the year to score the championship. In doing so, he became only the ninth driver in the Modern Era to pull off the feat and the first since Jimmie Johnson in 2007. - Phil Allaway
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Quotes to Remember: Season Finale 500k
compiled by Phil Allaway
"I cannot believe it. I didn’t even think I’d be racing a Cup car a year and a half ago. To win a championship is crazy. I’ve got to say first off thank you so much to Rick Hendrick, Hendrickcars.com, Jeff Gordon, NASCAR, every single one of my supporters in the stands, watching at home, my family. I’ve got so many of
my friends and family here. My parents, my sister, my wife and kids. Owen had been giving me crap a month and a half ago about how I can’t win a Cup race when he’s there, so that added a lot of pressure.
"There were so many points in this race where I did not think we were going to win. Without my pit crew on that last stop, we would not be standing right here. They are the true winners of this race. They are true champions. I’m just blessed to be a part of this group. Every single
man or person, man and woman at Hendrick Motorsports, this win is for all of us, and every one of you.
This is unbelievable. I’m speechless." - Kyle Larson, race winner and 2021 champion
"I don’t know. Clean air seemed to be a good bit of an advantage there. Whoever got out front was there for 20, 30, 40 laps and then the long run cars would start coming around. I don’t know. Ultimately, we needed to beat them off of pit road. It’s unfortunate, but we win and lose as a team. I’m really proud of our
efforts this year. Big thanks to everyone that makes it possible – Bass Pro Shops, Auto Owners, Reser’s Fine Foods, Toyota, TRD, Sherwin Williams, Oakley, Textron, Noble Aerospace, all of our partners. That’s three times that we’ve been second and that sucks. Second hurts, I’m not going to lie, especially with the car we had and the job the guys did. That’s racing as they say, and sometimes you’re just not on the right side of things. We were on the right side of things to get the lead there,
and weren’t able to hang on to it. If we could have had the lead, I think it would have been over, but that’s kind of how [Kyle Larson] did it. They had a hell of a season, congrats to them. Gosh, dang, it sucks. I hate it." - Martin Truex Jr., finished second
"I really liked where we were at with 25 [laps] to go. We were just exceptional in the long run, which wasn’t too surprising. Started running [Martin Truex Jr.] back down there and got within a couple car lengths. Obviously, that debris caution changed a lot. Special congrats to
[Kyle] Larson and their team. Any time you win 10 races in a year, you’re absolutely a deserving champion. They did a great job on the last pit stop and got him out there. It was over after that. Proud of my team, great effort adjusting on the car all day getting it so much better. Thank you to our partners at FedEx, Toyota, Jordan Brand – just a really good year, a really, really good year. It just didn’t pan out. We needed that thing to go green and it didn’t." - Denny Hamlin, finished
third
"We had a good race. There was a group of us that were kind of behind the top four guys that were racing pretty much all day. We had a good Mustang there on the last run and we were able to get up to fourth. I am really proud of that effort. It was a really good last run for Todd
[Gordon] before he hands it up. I wish it was a win. I can’t thank him enough for the last couple of years and I can’t thank this whole group enough for this year. It has been a lot of fun. Hopefully, we will be in the Championship 4 next year." - Ryan Blaney, finished fourth
"Yeah, maybe just the right set of circumstances. I felt like our NAPA Chevy was really good, and I thought our team did a really good job preparing this week. I was really proud of our group. I thought we brought a really good car and did a lot of things that we were wanting it to do
today, just didn’t work out, and the sequence of the way all that went certainly was unfortunate for us.
"But look, proud of our team, a lot to build on, and also congrats to Kyle and Cliff. What an amazing season. Very, very deserving champions, and glad to see Kyle have success.
"When you’re a good driver and a good person and you surround yourself with good people, success is warranted. It’s good to see that. But we’ll be back stronger next year and try to give them a run." - Chase Elliott, finished fifth
"What a season. What a day. We worked so hard to finish off the season strong, and we ran where this 10 team was capable of running all year. It was such a rollercoaster of a year. We had some really high highs and really low lows. We capped off the season with two sixth-place
finishes when we’re running in the midst of the championship-contending playoff drivers, and I can’t be prouder of that after the year we’ve had." - Aric Almirola, finished sixth
"Yeah, it was a fun race. We couldn’t really catch any breaks today. The first stage there we stayed out and got that long run and kind of got ate up. We recovered from that and got ourselves back in the hunt to sixth or seventh and then we pitted under green a little early to try to
pick up some spots. But the yellow came out and trapped us a lap down. We were 23rd with like 50 go to and we drove back up through to 10th. I would have loved to see that race run a really long green there at the end to see what we could have done. It just wasn’t meant to be." - Brad Keselowski, finished 10th
"We were racing hard. We had a really, really good long-run Mustang but our short-run speed, we were just trying to hang on. We were three-wide one time off of Turn 4 and the 18 got into me a little and gave it a little bit of a tire rub. I think he was getting frustrated because I
was just trying to hold those guys up as long as I could because I knew if I made it 15 laps I would be okay. He got into me into 3. I don’t know if he just sent me or what. I feel like at the same time, my left-rear tire cut. I don’t know if that was from the damage earlier and then when he got into me the second time it finally cut it or what. At that point, I was along for the ride. It is super unfortunate. We had for sure a top-10 car and if we could have had some long runs maybe even a
top-five car. We went all year long and never crashed a car, so to end it on the last one like that is unfortunate. You always want a good run at the end of the season to build momentum into the off-season. You just want to have good runs every week. I hate it that it ended this way, but I am looking forward to the future and everything that entails." - Chase Briscoe, finished 35th (Crashed out)
Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.
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