Frontstretch Newsletter: March 28, 2022
Volume XVI, Edition XLI
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- NASCAR Cup Series teams will be getting back to their shops this afternoon, where preparations for this weekend's action at Richmond Raceway are already ongoing. Entry lists should be out later today. We'll have those and anything else that breaks today at Frontstretch.
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Around the World in Motorsports: March 25-27
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- Sunday's Formula 1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia successfully went off without a hitch, but there were plenty of issues getting there. Friday's attack on an Aramco oil facility by Houthi followers from Yemen just outside of Jeddah nearly resulted in a driver boycott before a vote was taken to race. What happens going forward for Formula 1 in Saudi Arabia is a big question mark. Check out Slipstream Saturday for more on this situation.
- In Formula 2 action, Saturday's
Sprint race had three separate safety car periods. The first came when Amaury Cordeel crashed his Van Amersfoort Racing entry. Later on, Jack Doohan and Logan Sargeant collided. Later, Marcus Armstrong had an engine failure and spun.
Carlin's Liam Lawson passed Jake
Hughes for the lead late and held on in a one-lap shootout to take the win. Juri Vips was second, while Hughes came across the line in third before being disqualified for too thin of a skid plate (by extension, this means that the car ran too low in the
race). Felipe Drugovich was elevated to third as a result. Calan Williams was fourth, while Richard Verschoor was fifth.
- Sunday's Feature race saw
Drugovich claim victory from the pole in his MP Motorsport No. 11. He was 2.379 seconds ahead of Verschoor at the finish. PREMA's Jehan Daruvala was third, then Hughes and Armstrong.
Through four races, Drugovich has
a nine-point lead over Lawson. Verschoor is third, then Vips and Theo Pourchaire.
- Monster Energy AMA Supercross
teams raced Saturday night at Lumen Field in Seattle. Despite the change in venue, the result was the same. Eli Tomac won the holeshot and ran off and hid en route to his fifth straight victory.
Tomac opened up a lead as big as
14 seconds before dropping down inside of 10 at the finish. Jason Anderson was second, then Marvin Musquin, Malcolm Stewart and Justin Barcia. In the points, Tomac's lead is 54 points, more than two full rounds, over Anderson with five races remaining. Barcia is third, then Stewart and Cooper Webb
The 250cc West class returned to
action after being idle for the last month. Here, Christian Craig won the holeshot, but felt significant pressure from Michael Mosiman. Further back, Hunter Lawrence was charging forward after exiting the first turn in seventh.
While racing for the lead, Mosiman
and Craig had contact, resulting in Craig crashing. The wreck put Mosiman in the lead, but Lawrence ran him down and took the lead five minutes in. Craig was able to get back to second, but could not prevent Lawrence from taking the win.
Lawrence ended up 1.43 seconds
ahead of Craig at the finish. Mosiman was third after having contact with Jo Shimoda in the final turn. Vince Friese was third. Despite getting beat, Craig still has a 26-point lead over Lawrence. Mosiman is third, then Friese and Shimoda.
- In more positive BMW M4 GT3
news, ST Racing earned the new GT3 challenger's first-ever victory Sunday in the 24H Series Hankook 12H Mugello with the driving lineup of Samantha Tan, Nick Wittmer and Bryson Morris.
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| | Ross Chastain Moves AJ Allmendinger for 1st Cup Win at
COTA
Trackhouse's Ross Chastain led the most laps Sunday, but had to make a wild move with two turns remaining to regain the lead and win the EchoPark Automotive Texas Grand Prix. Alex Bowman was second, then Christopher Bell,
Chase Elliott and Tyler Reddick.
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| | Smashed Watermelon: Ross Chastain Celebrates 1st NASCAR Cup Win at
COTA
Once Ross Chastain won Sunday's EchoPark Automotive Texas Grand Prix, the celebration was on. Our own Daniel McFadin was right down in the middle of it.
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| | The Careen in Turn 19: Reactions to Ross Chastain’s Final-Lap
Move
Sunday's EchoPark Automotive Texas Grand Prix will be best remembered for the move that Ross Chastain put on AJ Allmendinger and Alex Bowman on the final lap. Naturally, those involved had disparate opinions of the
move.
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| | Curb Your Racing Line: Last-Second Changes Made to the Esses at
COTA
NASCAR removed "turtles" from the curbs in the Esses Saturday without notice. As a result, a rule was put into place requiring a drive-through penalty for anyone who gets all four wheels inside of the curbs in turns
3-6.
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| | Christopher Bell On Atlanta Penalty: ‘Next Time My Hands Are Staying
Straight’
Back in Atlanta, Christopher Bell had a top five finish taken away due to a line violation. He's still not pleased about that and has pledged different tactics the next time it becomes an issue.
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| | AJ Allmendinger Dominates, Wins PitBoss 250 Xfinity Series Race at
COTA
AJ Allmendinger outdueled Ross Chastain late Saturday. After Chastain was spun out on the final restart, he pulled away to win the Pit Boss 250 at Circuit of the Americas. Austin Hill was second, followed by Cole
Custer and JR Motorsports teammates Noah Gragson and Sam Mayer.
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| | DGM Racing’s Banner Race Falls Apart in the Final Stage of Xfinity Race at
COTA
Saturday was a big day for DGM Racing at Circuit of the Americas. The team started all three of their cars in the top 10 and Ross Chastain emerged as one of the drivers to beat. However, a number of different issues
ruined the days for Chastain, Alex Labbe and Preston Pardus.
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| | Zane Smith Benefits From Late Contact, Wins XPEL 225 at
COTA
Zane Smith jumped from fourth to the lead with a lap and a half to go Saturday. Once out front, he pulled away to win the XPEL 225 for his second victory of the year. John Hunter Nemechek was second, then Kyle Busch,
Ben Rhodes and Chandler Smith.
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| | Drivers React to Turn 11 Scramble That Left Zane Smith Victorious in XPEL 225 Truck Race at
COTA
Zane Smith claimed the lead Saturday after Kyle Busch, Alex Bowman and Stewart Friesen all came together in turn 11 and went wide. Naturally, there were differing opinions over the incident.
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| | Brad Perez Qualifies for Truck Series Debut at COTA – “Circled This Race at the Beginning of the
Year”
Brad Perez, a tire specialist for Rackley W.A.R. and Spec Miata racer, made his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut Saturday at Circuit of the Americas. Just getting into the race was an accomplishment for him.
He ultimately finished 20th.
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| | Max Verstappen Wins; Charles Leclerc Close 2nd in Saudi
Arabia
Red Bull's Max Verstappen took the lead from Charles Leclerc with four laps to go in Jeddah Sunday. From there, he held on to claim his first win of the year. Carlos Sainz Jr. was third, then Sergio Perez and George
Russell.
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| | Mick Schumacher Ruled Out of 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after Heavy Qualifying
Crash
Haas F1's Mick Schumacher sat out Sunday's Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia after being involved in a massive crash during the second round of qualifying. While Schumacher did not break any bones, the decision was made to sit
out the race to conserve parts.
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Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, Mark Thompson of Getty Images, Mark Sutton of LAT Images and our own Daniel McFadin and Jared Haas.
Have news for Frontstretch? Don't hesitate to let us know; email us at frontstretcheditors@googlegroups.com with a promising lead or tip.
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Seeking the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs: Chase Elliott Scrambles To Extended Points Lead
by Phil Allaway
Chase Elliott didn't really seem to have a great car on Sunday, but was able to get himself in position for a fourth-place finish. As a result, he has expanded his points lead from seven to 13 points. That is over new second-place man Ryan Blaney. Blaney started from the pole and finished
sixth to move up three places. Joey Logano spun multiple times Sunday and ended up 31st. A race-high 15 stage points resulted in Logano only dropping to third. Alex Bowman ended up second and moved up five places to fourth.
Ross Chastain's maiden Cup victory boosted him up five spots to fifth in points. William Byron is down two positions to sixth after finishing 12th. Martin Truex Jr. moves up to seventh after finishing seventh. Aric Almirola drops to eighth after a late spin dropped him to a 19th-place
finish.
Chase Briscoe was in contention for the win late, but a flat tire on the final restart resulted in a 30th-place finish. He dropped six places to ninth as a result. Tyler Reddick finished fifth and moved up five places to 10th. Kyle Busch remains in 11th, followed by a tie for 12th between Austin
Cindric, Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch.
Cindric led laps early on and finished eighth, while Harvick was 11th. Kurt Busch got caught up in a late crash and ended up 32nd. Daniel Suarez won the first stage, then got spun out on the restart and ended up with a flat. He also had power steering issues drop him to a 24th-place finish. That dropped him back to 15th, last driver in the
playoffs on points. Kyle Larson crashed late with Kurt Busch and Logano and ended up 29th. He dropped four places to 16th as a result.
Suarez has a seven-point advantage over Erik Jones, who stalled on-course to bring out a yellow on Sunday. He was able to get back onto the lead lap via the free pass, then charged back to finish ninth. That moved him up two spots. Austin Dillon is up two places to 18th after finishing 10th. Chris Buescher
remains in 19th, while Bubba Wallace is down to 20th after losing his left rear wheel. He'll have to go through the month of April without key crewmembers as a result.
Finally, as a result of a nasty penalty that NASCAR issued Thursday, Brad Keselowski dropped from 16th to 35th in points. Sunday saw Keselowski finish 14th and move up one place to 34th. He is 35 points behind Harrison Burton in 30th and 105 behind Suarez in 15th.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) Chase Elliott 208, 2) Ryan Blaney -13, 3) Joey Logano -23, 4) Alex Bowman -25, 5) Ross Chastain -28,
6) William Byron -33, 7) Martin Truex Jr. -36, 8) Aric Almirola -40, 9) Chase Briscoe -42, 10) Tyler Reddick -50, 11) Kyle Busch -54, t-12) Austin Cindric -55, t-12) Kevin Harvick -55, t-12) Kurt Busch -55, 15) Daniel Suarez -56, 16)
Kyle Larson -59.
Playoff Points: 1) William Byron 7, t-2) Ross Chastain -1, t-2) Alex Bowman -1, t-4) Kyle Larson -3, t-4) Chase Briscoe -2, t-4) Austin Cindric -2, t-7) Martin Truex Jr. -5, t-7) Tyler Reddick -5, t-7) Ryan Blaney -5, t-9) Daniel Suarez -6, t-9) Denny Hamlin -6.
Stage Points: 1) Ryan Blaney 58, 2)
William Byron -3, 3) Chase Elliott -6, t-4) Joey Logano -7, t-4) Kyle Larson -7, 6) Chase Briscoe -18, 7) Tyler Reddick -20, 8) Martin Truex Jr. -24, 9) Alex Bowman -25, t-10) Erik Jones -26, t-10) Brad Keselowski -26, 12) Denny Hamlin
-29, 13) Ross Chastain -31, t-14) Kyle Busch -34, t-14) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -34, t-16) Austin Cindric -36, t-16) Daniel Suarez -36.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the Playoffs: 18) Kevin Harvick -40, 20) Aric Almirola -42, 25) Kurt Busch -47.
Note: The Stage Points also include the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Chase Elliott 183, t-2) Ross Chastain -6, t-2) Aric Almirola -6, 4) Alex Bowman -9, t-5) Ryan Blaney -15, t-5) Kurt
Busch -15, 7) Martin Truex Jr. -18, 8) Joey Logano -20, 9) Kevin Harvick -22, 10) Kyle Busch -26, 11) Austin Cindric -28, 12) Chase Briscoe -30, 13) Daniel Suarez -31, 14) Tyler Reddick -35, 15) William Byron -36, 16) Austin Dillon
-40.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the Playoffs: 22) Kyle Larson
-57.
Note: These
standings are based on the old point system that was used before stages were created.
WC Points (1-16): 1) Ross Chastain 824, 2) Chase Elliott -12, 3) Aric Almirola
-34, 4) Alex Bowman -40, 5) Ryan Blaney -43, 6) Kurt Busch -55, t-7) Joey Logano -73, t-7) Martin Truex Jr. -73, 9) Kevin Harvick -88, 10) Kyle Busch -89, 11) Chase Briscoe -100, 12) Daniel Suarez -104, 13) Austin Cindric -106, 14) Tyler Reddick -110,
15) William Byron -118, 16) Austin Dillon -139.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the Playoffs: 20) Kyle Larson
-173.
Note No. 1: The WC points are based on the original points
system created by Bob Latford in 1975.
Race Winners: Austin Cindric (Daytona), Kyle Larson (Fontana), Alex Bowman (Las Vegas), Chase Briscoe (Phoenix), William Byron (Atlanta), Ross Chastain (Circuit of the Americas)
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.
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Seeking the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs: Noah Gragson Just Barely Holds On
by Phil Allaway
JR Motorsports' Noah Gragson ran decently at times Saturday, but his fourth-place finish was not truly indicative of his day. Despite the top five, he lost almost all of his points lead. He will take a mere one-point lead over AJ Allmendinger, who took his first win of the season, to Richmond next
weekend. Ty Gibbs never truly recovered from a flat tire and ended up finishing 15th. That dropped him to third. Justin Allgaier had a miserable day, spinning multiple times and finishing 33rd. Staying out to the end of the first two stages earned him a race-high 14 stage points. That is all that keeps him fourth in points.
Josh Berry got caught up in a crash on the first lap of the race and had to fight back from that. A 27th-place finish keeps him in fifth. Austin Hill finished second and moved up from eighth to a tie for sixth with Brandon Jones. Jones was very ordinary Saturday en route to an 18th-place finish. Daniel
Hemric is down one place to eighth after finishing 25th.
Sam Mayer finished fifth Saturday, moving him up four places to ninth. Ryan Sieg had a terrible qualifying effort, but charged up to 11th to keep his top 10 points position. Sheldon Creed has sole possession of 11th in points after finishing 10th, while Riley Herbst dropped three places to 12th after finishing
26th.
Herbst is the last driver in the playoffs at the moment. He has a 10-point lead over Brandon Brown, who finished 20th. Landon Cassill dropped from a tie for 11th to a tie for 14th after fading in the final laps to 31st. He is tied with Anthony Alfredo, who finished 13th. Our Motorsports teammates Jeb
Burton and Brett Moffitt are tied for 16th.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) Noah Gragson 258, 2) AJ Allmendinger -1, 3) Ty Gibbs -31, 4) Justin Allgaier -68, 5) Josh Berry -77, t-6) Austin Hill -86, t-6) Brandon
Jones -86, 8) Daniel Hemric -92, 9) Sam Mayer -96, 10) Ryan Sieg -107, 11) Sheldon Creed -109, 12) Riley Herbst -113, 13) Brandon Brown -123, t-14) Landon Cassill -130, t-14) Anthony Alfredo -130, t-16) Jeb
Burton -132, t-16) Brett Moffitt -132.
Note No. 1: Drivers in Bold have locked into the playoffs.
Note No. 2: Drivers in italics are either ineligible for the playoffs, or outside of the top 12.
Playoff Points: 1) Ty Gibbs 10, 2) Noah Gragson -2, 3) AJ Allmendinger -3, 4) Austin Hill -5, t-5) Daniel Hemric -8, t-5) Trevor Bayne -8, t-7) Josh Berry
-9, t-7) Sam Mayer -9.
Note: If he were eligible, Cole Custer would be fourth in playoff points.
Stage Points: 1) Noah Gragson 70, 2) AJ Allmendinger -10, 3) Daniel Hemric -15, 4) Sam Mayer -21, 5) Justin Allgaier -23, 6) Josh Berry -24, 7) Ty Gibbs
-26, 8) Brandon Jones -33, 9) Trevor Bayne -37, 10) Austin Hill -44, 11) Jade Buford -49, 12) Riley Herbst -54, 13) Ryan Sieg -55, 14) Brandon Brown -56, 15) Sage Karam -59, 16) Alex Labbe
-61.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the playoffs: 21) Sheldon Creed -65.
Note: If he were eligible, Cole Custer would be 12th and John Hunter Nemechek 13th in stage points.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) AJ Allmendinger 227, 2) Noah Gragson -10, 3) Ty Gibbs -17, 4) Austin Hill -55, 5) Sheldon Creed -57, 6) Brandon Jones -64, 7) Ryan
Sieg -65, 8) Josh Berry -66, 9) Justin Allgaier -71, t-10) Riley Herbst -76, t-10) Anthony Alfredo -76, 12) Brett Moffitt -78, 13) Brandon Brown -80, 14) Jeb Burton -83, 15) Landon Cassill -84, 16) Sam Mayer
-88.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the playoffs: 17) Daniel Hemric -89.
WC Points (1-16): 1) AJ Allmendinger 975, 2) Noah Gragson -20, 3) Ty Gibbs -78, 4) Austin Hill -181, 5) Sheldon Creed -209, 6) Josh Berry -219, 7) Brandon Jones
-220, 8) Justin Allgaier -239, 9) Ryan Sieg -240, 10) Riley Herbst -262, 11) Anthony Alfredo -271, 12) Brett Moffitt -281, 13) Brandon Brown -289, 14) Landon Cassill -292, 15) Daniel Hemric -301, 16) Sam Mayer
-302.
Race Winners: Austin Hill (Daytona), Cole Custer (Fontana), Ty Gibbs (Las Vegas, Atlanta), Noah Gragson (Phoenix), AJ Allmendinger (Circuit of the Americas)
Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com.
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Seeking the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs: Chandler Smith Stands Pat in Austin
by Phil Allaway
Chandler Smith led one lap Saturday and had a decent fifth-place finish. That allowed him to slightly expand his points lead up to 15 points over new second-place man Ben Rhodes, who finished fourth. Stewart Friesen is up one place to third after having a chance to win before getting knocked back to ninth. Race winner Zane
Smith and Tanner Gray are tied for fourth. Gray ended up 17th after a couple of spins.
Ty Majeski and Christian Eckes are tied for sixth. Majeski ran well, but ended up having mechanical issues and spent time in the garage. Eckes finished a strong sixth. John Hunter Nemechek finally put a full race together and finished second. That keeps him in eighth.
Derek Kraus and Tyler Ankrum are tied for ninth. Kraus finished 13th, but scored 15 stage points to move up from 15th. Ankrum finished seventh and moved up from 12th. Kraus and Ankrum are the last drivers currently in the playoffs. They have a two-point lead over both Carson Hocevar and Matt Crafton. Hocevar finished eighth on Saturday, while
Crafton was 13th.
Austin Wayne Self was wrecked on the first lap in turn 11, fell four laps down, got them back via free passes and finished 27th. That dropped him from seventh to 13th. Grant Enfinger is up two places to 14th after finishing 10th. Matt DiBenedetto had trouble before the race started and during it. 10 stage points helped soothe a 31st-place finish, but the Rackley
W.A.R. driver did drop two places to 15th. Timmy Hill is up to 16th.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) Chandler Smith 170, 2) Ben Rhodes -15, 3) Stewart Friesen -23, t-4) Zane Smith -31, t-4) Tanner Gray -31, t-6) Ty Majeski -38, t-6) Christian Eckes -38, 8) John Hunter Nemechek -55, t-9) Derek Kraus -66,
t-9) Tyler Ankrum -66, t-11) Carson Hocevar -68, t-11) Matt Crafton -68, 13) Austin Wayne Self -76, 14) Grant Enfinger -82, 15) Matt DiBenedetto -89, 16) Timmy Hill -92.
Note: If he were eligible for Camping World Truck Series points, Kyle Busch would be 14th.
Playoff Points: 1) Zane Smith 12, t-2) Chandler Smith -7, t-2) Corey Heim -7, 4) John Hunter Nemechek -9, 5) Ben Rhodes -10, 6) Stewart Friesen -11.
Stage Points: 1) Chandler Smith 49, 2) Ben Rhodes -3, 3) John Hunter Nemechek -7, 4) Stewart Friesen -16, t-5) Christian Eckes -22, t-5) Derek Kraus -22, t-7) Zane Smith -23, t-7) Matt Crafton -23, 9) Tanner Gray -24,
10) Ty Majeski -25, 11) Tyler Ankrum -31, 12) Grant Enfinger -35, 13) Carson Hocevar -38, 14) Matt DiBenedetto -39, t-15) Corey Heim -42, t-15) Jack Wood -42.
Note: If he were eligible, Kyle Busch would be 11th in stage points.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Chandler Smith 108, t-2) Zane Smith -7, t-2) Stewart Friesen -7, 4) Tanner Gray -9, 5) Ben Rhodes -12, 6) Ty Majeski -24, 7) Christian Eckes -26, 8) Carson Hocevar -32, 9) Austin Wayne Self -35,
10) Tyler Ankrum -37, t-11) Derek Kraus -46, t-11) John Hunter Nemechek -46, 13) Matt Crafton -47, 14) Kris Wright -48, 15) Grant Enfinger -49, t-16) Ryan Preece -51, t-16) Timmy Hill -51.
Note: If he were eligible, Kyle Busch would be 11th in Old Points.
WC Points (1-16): 1) Chandler Smith 610, 2) Ben Rhodes -25, 3) Stewart Friesen -27, 4) Zane Smith -35, 5) Tanner Gray -36, 6) Ty Majeski -82, 7) Christian Eckes -86, 8) Carson Hocevar -119, 9) Austin Wayne Self -132, 10) Tyler Ankrum
-135, 11) John Hunter Nemechek -145, 12) Derek Kraus -164, 13) Matt Crafton -165, t-14) Grant Enfinger -174, t-14) Kris Wright -174, 16) Timmy Hill -181.
Race Winners: Zane Smith (Daytona, Circuit of the Americas), Chandler Smith (Las Vegas), Corey Heim (Atlanta)
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Letter of the Race: Sunday's EchoPark Automotive Texas Grand Prix was brought to you by the letter B for the Bumper. Road races in NASCAR often come down to a bunch of bumping and banging late, especially when you have a Green-White-Checker in play. That is exactly what happened Sunday when AJ Allmendinger executed a bump on Ross Chastain in turn 15, then Chastain got him
back. - Phil Allaway
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Quotes to Remember: EchoPark Automotive Texas Grand Prix
complied by Phil Allaway
"It’s never tasted sweeter, I got to tell you. I don’t know. I don’t know how we got back by. I was so worried about AJ (Allmendinger) on the second-to-last restart that I let Tyler (Reddick) drive right by both of us. And AJ is so good. I’ve learned so
much from him. And it was like how do you go beat the guy? He taught me so much. I’ve learned so much from so many people from 417 Speedway back home with my dad.I was thinking about on those late restarts, my dad used to make me race on old tires, and back then I was not going to win. It was in my head before I even started. It crossed my mind, like, We’re not going to win, we’re on old tires, but I couldn’t think that way. I thought neutral. Chevrolet, everything they do for me gave me the
tools to try to go execute and we did it." - Ross Chastain, race winner
"We had a really fast Ally Chevrolet Camaro and I have been trying to do a better job as a race car driver at these road courses and I felt like from where I started the weekend, we accomplished that. So, thanks to Greg [Ives] and all the guys and really
happy for Ross [Chastain] in getting his first win. Its been a crap weekend, so I am ready to get home and see the dogs and move on to next weekend. But glad to come home with a second place finish." - Alex Bowman, finished second
"It was a hard-fought day, that’s for sure. Losing power steering wasn’t ideal. I picked up an issue early on in the race and I knew something wasn’t right and eventually lost power steering a couple laps later. That wasn’t good, but this [No. 20 team]
did amazing getting us back out there. The DeWalt Camry was really strong on restarts. I was always able to pick off a couple spots and that’s ultimately how we got our finish." - Christopher Bell, finished third
"Yeah, just didn’t get a good launch off turn one. And just almost had the 1 car cleared but didn’t quite. We were really on the loose side all day long and that make us pretty susceptible to getting aggressive at the end. So, was just easy to get moved
around there and that was kind of a problem I had all day. Just a little bit of pressure I had from anybody, and the back of this car was out of the track. It could get through the esses pretty good and could do a lot of things really well, but we just missed it in a little way where if we had to battle with other cars in traffic, it was really hard to get the good launch off the corner and complete a pass or really battle hard. So, it was tough, but we will learn from it and go back to the
simulator and go back to work." - Tyler Reddick, finished fifth
"It was a hot day for sure. We got done with the first stage and it was hot. We were close to winning the first stage but I just couldn’t get to Suarez. We ended up fourth in that second stage and that kind of put us back behind the eight ball and make
our way through the field. We stayed out on old tires and were able to maintain track position pretty good there at the start of the third stage. Then we lost a bunch of spots on pit road when we had to wait on gas. We drove back up through there and just kind of survived. I thought our car was pretty decent. It is so hard surviving restarts and trying not to get turned. Overall it wasn’t a bad day. We got some stage points, so that is good." - Ryan Blaney, finished
sixth
"It was just a battle. We never could get the car where we needed it. I was definitely worried after practice – I was not feeling too good. Your hands are so tied to these things with these short practices. We just battled all day and fought on and got a
decent finish but no stage points, so just a so-so day for this Bass Pro Shops Toyota team." - Martin Truex Jr., finished seventh
"On paper, it is pretty simple, right? Qualify 10th, first stage 10th. Second stage ninth, finish eighth. Easy right? It is definitely not that. A lot of adversity to overcome. I put some of it on me and some of it is just circumstantial I guess. They
are tricky cars to drive and tricky to try to out-brake somebody. There were a lot of people out-braking themselves. Either way, a really strong effort by the Discount Tire Ford Mustang. We had the pace to run inside the top-three today and lead laps. I am just happy we got stage points and a top-10. That is what I wanted to come away with today and that is what we got." - Austin Cindric, finished eighth
"Finished top 10 and we were really good on those restarts at the end. Came from a long way back. You know we had a little pit trouble that sent us back, but we were able to just keep going and get all the way up there to finish where we needed to.
Luckily these races are really long, so you can’t let an early penalty get you down. Just stay focused and we were able to progress and make the car better. To come back after two bad races getting taken out kind of out of our own hands, we kept this one in our hands all day and it was wild there at the end. It feels great to get a top 10. Probably not our best track that we would look forward to coming to and it’s becoming better and better for us. Really proud of our guys and the effort that
we put in our Bennett Chevrolet." - Austin Dillon, finished 10th
"This Action Industries Chevy was so fast, and our pit stops were great all day. If we had a long run, nobody was going to touch us. I’m so proud of everyone at Kaulig Racing. All these men and women have had a lot of sleepless nights trying to just get
these cars to the next race. I was doing everything I could do to try to sweep the weekend for them. We were that close. We know we had a shot to win the race. It’s tough to win a Cup race, so when you put yourself in a position to legitimately run up front all day and have a shot to win it, it’s a pretty great day. Unfortunately, just we needed about two more corners." - AJ Allmendinger, finished 33rd
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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