Frontstretch Newsletter: May 23, 2022
Volume XVI, Edition LXXXI
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- NASCAR teams are arriving back at their shops today after yesterday's action in Texas. Entry lists for Charlotte should be released later today. We'll have those, along with anything else that breaks at Frontstretch.
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Around the World in Motorsports: May 20-22
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- In Formula 2 competition, MP Motorsport's Felipe Drugovich came from fourth on the grid to take the lead in turn 1 on the first lap Saturday. From there, he led flag-to-flag to win the Sprint race. He was 2.109 seconds ahead of Ayumu Iwasa. Logan Sargeant (younger brother of former NASCAR Camping World Truck Series racer Dalton
Sargeant) was third, then Jehan Daruvala and Theo Pourchaire.
Sunday's Feature race saw Drugovich start 10th and overcut the field by running longer than anyone else on soft tires. He ran down Jack Doohan and passed him with 11 laps to go. From there, he pulled away to take the weekend sweep. Doohan was 5.63 seconds back in second, then Frederik Vesti in third, 23 seconds behind. Sargeant was fourth,
then Clement Novalak.
Through four race weekends, Drugovich now has a 26-point lead over Pourchaire. Daruvala is third, then Liam Lawson and Marcus Armstrong.
- In FIA Formula 3 action, Campos Racing's David Vidales led flag-to-flag Saturday to win the Sprint race for an emotional hometown victory. Vidales ended up 1.268 seconds ahead of Jak Crawford. Caio Collet was third, then Arthur Leclerc and Juan Manuel Correa.
Sunday's Feature race saw Victor Martins take the lead at the first corner and dominate the proceedings en route to victory. He ended up 2.368 seconds ahead of Roman Stanek at the checkered flag. Isack Hadjar was third, then Alexander Smolyar and Oliver Bearman.
Through six races, Martins has a six-point lead over Stanek. Crawford is third in points, then Hadjar and Leclerc.
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| | Ryan Blaney Takes White Flag Twice, Checkered Flag Once to Win
Controversial All-Star Race
Team Penske's Ryan Blaney dominated the second half of Sunday night's NASCAR All-Star Race, then held on during a controversial Green-White-Checker to claim the victory. Denny
Hamlin was second, then Austin Cindric, Joey Logano and Daniel Suarez.
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| | Daniel Suarez Wins All-Star Open; Stenhouse, Buescher and Jones
Advance
Trackhouse Racing Team's Daniel Suarez won the All-Star Open late Sunday afternoon to claim the final race-in spot to the All-Star Race. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Chris Buescher
won segments to advance.
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| | Kaulig Re-Ups With SciPlay for 8 Cup
Races
Kaulig Racing announced Saturday that SciPlay, a manufacturer of digital slot machines, will return to the team to serve as the primary sponsor for eight races starting at World
Wide Technology Raceway in June.
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| | The Battle for the Indianapolis 500 Pole: Scott Dixon vs Alex
Palou
Qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 came down to a battle between Chip Ganassi Racing teammates Alex Palou and Scott Dixon. Dixon set down a four-lap average of 234.046 mph to claim the fastest pole speed in the history of
the Indianapolis 500.
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| | With Some Adjustments,
Rinus VeeKay Qualifies a Strong 3rd for the 2022 Indianapolis 500
Ed Carpenter Racing's Rinus VeeKay was fastest overall in qualifying Saturday, then dropped to fifth in the Round of 12. A couple of quick changes resulted in VeeKay qualifying in the Firestone Fast 6 at 233.385 mph
to claim the outside of the front row.
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| | Starting Lineup For 2022 Indianapolis
500
With qualifying complete, the full field is set for the Indianapolis 500 with Scott Dixon on pole.
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| | Takuma Sato Penalized
for Indianapolis 500 Qualifying Interference
Takuma Sato had a very interesting Saturday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. After being fastest for much of the week in practice, he got his original qualifying run thrown out for an improper cool down lap. He
then hit the wall on his second run.
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| | Takuma Sato Fastest on Fast Friday, Jimmie Johnson Brushes Indy
Wall
"Fast Friday" at Indianapolis Motor Speedway brought high winds and hot weather to the 2.5-mile oval. Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing's Takuma Sato was fastest overall with a lap at 232.789 mph.
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| | Tyler Reddick Brings Home Big Machine Racing’s 1st Xfinity Win at
Texas
Tyler Reddick led the final 31 laps Saturday afternoon to claim the first-ever Xfinity Series victory for Big Machine Racing in the SRS Distribution 250. William Byron was second, then Sam Mayer, Justin Allgaier and Austin
Hill.
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| | JR Motorsports’ Bid for Perfect Day Falls
Apart
Recently, JR Motorsports has been on a roll, winning the last three races with three different drivers. Noah Gragson and Josh Berry won the first two stages and were in contention for another win when Berry spun at the
start of the final stage, triggering a multi-car crash.
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| | Timmy Hill Gains Xfinity Sponsorship From YouTuber Pair’s
Company
MBM Motorsports announced Monday that Prime Hydration, a drink founded by YouTubers Logan Paul and KSI, will serve as the primary sponsor of Timmy Hill's No. 13 in Saturday's NASCAR
Xfinity Series ALSCO Uniforms 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
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| | Stewart Friesen Takes SpeedyCash.com 220 Win at Texas With OT
Pass
Stewart Friesen was able to get past Christian Eckes on the final lap Friday night to win the SpeedyCash.com 220 at Texas Motor Speedway, his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win since 2019. Eckes was second, then
Ryan Preece, Carson Hocevar and Ty Majeski.
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| | Ryan Preece Recovers From Damage to Score Season-Best 3rd-Place Finish
at Texas
Ryan Preece was dominant early on Friday night in Texas, winning the first two stages of the SpeedyCash.com 220. He faded to a third-place finish after getting hit and having damage to his left rear
corner.
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| | Max Verstappen Wins Wild Spanish Grand Prix, Reliability Undermines
Leclerc
Points leader Charles Leclerc retired from the lead on lap 27 Sunday. That allowed Red Bull's Max Verstappen to clean up the scraps and win the Grand Prix of Spain in Barcelona. Sergio Perez was second, then George
Russell, Carlos Sainz Jr. and Lewis Hamilton.
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| | Fernando Alonso Salvages Points, Finishes P9 after Grid
Penalty
Fernando Alonso was forced to start at the rear of the field in Sunday's Grand Prix of Spain due to the installation of new power unit parts. From there, he drove up to a ninth-place finish.
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| | K-PAX Racing Dominates NOLA Fanatec GT World Challenge America Race No.
1
K-PAX Racing's Michele Beretta and Andrea Caldarelli dominated Race No. 1 for Fanatec GT World Challenge America Powered by AWS Saturday at NOLA Motorsports Park, leading nearly flag-to-flag to claim the
victory.
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| | Michele Beretta, Andrea Caldarelli Scores NOLA GT World Challenge
America Weekend Sweep
K-PAX Racing's Michele Beretta passed Racers Edge Motorsports' Ashton Harrison with 33 minutes remaining, then pulled away to earn the weekend sweep for himself and Andrea Caldarelli. They were 13.486 seconds ahead of
Harrison and Mario Farnbacher, who won the Pro-Am class.
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| | Stevan McAleer, Eric Filguerias Win Rain-Marred NOLA GT4 Race No.
1
Rennsport One's Stevan McAleer and Eric Filguerias won Pirelli GT4 America SprintX Race No. 1 at NOLA Motorsports Park Saturday. This race had less than three laps under green
due to crashes and rain. There was also a 96-minute red flag due to lightning.
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| | Eric Filguerias, Stevan McAleer Complete 2nd Straight Pirelli GT4
America SprintX Weekend Sweep
Eric Filguerias passed Adam Adelson with 25 minutes to go Sunday and pulled away to take a dominant weekend sweep in Pirelli GT4 America SprintX at NOLA Motorsports Park. Adelson and Elliott Skeer won in Pro-Am, while Alain Stad and Seth Thomas won
the Am class.
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Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, NASCAR Media via Meg Oliphant of Getty Images, James Black, Chris Jones and Walt Kuhn of INDYCAR Media, Clive Mason of Getty Images, Alpine Media, K-PAX Racing and SRO Motorsports Group.
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: All-Star Weekend Update
by Phil Allaway
While the NASCAR Cup Series was in action this
past weekend in Texas for All-Star Weekend, the All-Star festivities do not count for points. As a result, there are no changes this week.
When the NASCAR Cup Series rolls into Charlotte Motor Speedway this week, Hendrick Motorsports' Chase Elliott will have a 52-point lead over Ryan Blaney, who will bring the momentum of an All-Star Race victory with him. Kyle Busch is third, then William
Byron and Ross Chastain.
Aric Almirola in 12th is the last driver in the playoffs on points at the moment. He is 11 points ahead of Austin Dillon. Tyler Reddick is another 11 points back in a tie for 14th, while Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez in 17th and 19th are next
up.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) Chase Elliott 475, 2) Ryan Blaney -52, 3) Kyle Busch -58, 4) William Byron
-60, 5) Ross Chastain -68, 6) Martin Truex Jr. -75, 7) Joey Logano -79, 8) Alex Bowman -89, 9) Kyle Larson -99, 10) Christopher Bell -116, 11) Kevin Harvick -140, 12) Aric Almirola
-153, 13) Austin Dillon -164, t-14) Chase Briscoe -175, t-14) Tyler Reddick -175, 16) Austin Cindric -184.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the Playoffs: 18) Kurt Busch -192, 20) Denny Hamlin
-208.
Playoff Points: 1) William Byron 13, 2) Ross Chastain -1, t-3) Chase Elliott -6, t-3) Denny Hamlin -6, t-5) Joey Logano -7, t-5) Alex Bowman -7, t-5) Kyle Larson -7, t-5) Chase Briscoe -7, t-5) Kyle Busch -7, t-5) Kurt Busch -7, 11) Austin Cindric -8, 12) Ryan Blaney -9, 13) Martin Truex Jr. -10, 14) Tyler Reddick -11, t-15) Daniel Suarez -11, t-15) Darrell Wallace Jr. -11.
Stage Points: 1) Chase Elliott
130, 2) William Byron -10, 3) Ryan Blaney -21, 4) Joey Logano -30, 5) Martin Truex Jr. -33, 6) Kyle Larson -35, 7) Ross Chastain -41, 8) Kyle Busch -43, 9) Christopher Bell
-50, 10) Chase Briscoe -71, t-11) Denny Hamlin -77, t-11) Erik Jones -77, 13) Tyler Reddick -79, 14) Alex Bowman -83, 15) Brad Keselowski -94, t-16) Austin Cindric
-95.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the Playoffs: t-19) Aric Almirola -98, 21) Kevin Harvick -101, 22) Kurt Busch -103.
Note: The Stage Points also include the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Chase Elliott 402, 2) Kyle Busch -11, 3) Alex Bowman -18, 4) Ryan Blaney
-23, 5) Ross Chastain -29, t-6) Martin Truex Jr. -41, t-6) Kevin Harvick -41, t-8) William Byron -46, t-8) Joey Logano -46, 10) Aric Almirola -59, 11) Kyle Larson -60, 12) Austin Dillon
-62, 13) Christopher Bell -65, 14) Kurt Busch -90, 15) Austin Cindric -93, 16) Tyler Reddick -96.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the Playoffs: 17) Chase Briscoe -97, 24)
Denny Hamlin -131.
Note: These
standings are based on the old point system that was used before stages were created.
WC Points (1-16): 1) Chase Elliott 1776, 2) Kyle Busch
-7, 3) Ross Chastain -48, 4) Ryan Blaney -50, 5) Alex Bowman -61, 6) Joey Logano -128, 7) Martin Truex Jr. -130, 8) William Byron -132, 9) Kevin Harvick -133, 10) Kyle Larson
-148, t-11) Christopher Bell -191, t-11) Austin Dillon -191, 13) Aric Almirola -205, 14) Tyler Reddick -276, 15) Kurt Busch -278, 16) Chase Briscoe -312.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the Playoffs: 17) Austin Cindric
-316, 24) Denny Hamlin -414.
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, Martinsville), Ross Chastain (Circuit of the Americas, Talladega), Denny Hamlin (Richmond), Kyle Busch (Bristol), Chase Elliott (Dover), Joey Logano (Darlington), Kurt Busch (Kansas)
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: AJ Allmendinger Expands Points Lead After Rivals Crash
by Phil Allaway
AJ Allmendinger was a little off on Saturday, dealing with handling issues. However, he still managed to finish ninth for his 12th straight top 10 finish to start the season. That allowed him to expand his points lead to 44 over Noah Gragson. Gragson was on the front row for the start of the final stage when Josh
Berry spun. Gragson got collected in the crash, then crashed again later and finished 36th. Ty Gibbs crashed twice Saturday, but still finished 12th. He remains in third. Justin Allgaier stays in fourth and gains 15 points on Allmendinger after finishing fourth.
Berry stays in fifth after winning stage two and finishing seventh despite his spin. Brandon Jones finished 14th with a smashed-in nose and remains in sixth. Sam Mayer is still seventh, followed by Riley Herbst.
Austin Hill moved up one place to ninth after finishing fifth. Landon Cassill is up one place to 10th after a 10th-place finish. Ryan Sieg crashed out early and finished 35th, dropping him to 11th. Daniel Hemric is still the last driver in the playoffs in 12th.
Hemric's advantage is now 40 points over Anthony Alfredo, who crashed out and finished 32nd. Jeb Burton is still in 14th, while Sheldon Creed crashed early and finished 26th. Being 79 points out of 12th, Creed will likely need to win to make the playoffs. Brandon Brown is back up to 16th.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) AJ Allmendinger 500, 2) Noah Gragson -44, 3) Ty Gibbs -52, 4) Justin Allgaier -77, 5) Josh Berry -89, 6) Brandon Jones
-123, 7) Sam Mayer -124, 8) Riley Herbst -150, 9) Austin Hill -158, 10) Landon Cassill -174, 11) Ryan Sieg -181, 12) Daniel Hemric -188, 13) Anthony Alfredo -228, 14) Jeb Burton -251, 15) Sheldon Creed
-267, 16) Brandon Brown -271.
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 17, 2) Noah Gragson -1, 3) Josh Berry -9, t-4) AJ Allmendinger -10, t-4) Justin Allgaier -10, 6) Brandon Jones -11, 7) Austin Hill
-12, t-8) Daniel Hemric -15, t-8) Trevor Bayne -15, t-8) Sam Mayer -15.
Note: If they were eligible, Cole Custer would be tied for sixth, Tyler Reddick tied for eighth and John Hunter Nemechek 13th in playoff points.
Stage Points: t-1) Noah Gragson 126, t-1) Justin Allgaier 126, t-3) AJ Allmendinger -12, t-3) Ty Gibbs -12, 5) Josh Berry -13, 6) Sam Mayer -36, 7) Brandon Jones
-42, 8) Daniel Hemric -62, 9) Austin Hill -75, 10) Ryan Sieg -87, 11) Riley Herbst -91, t-12) Landon Cassill -93, t-12) Trevor Bayne -93, t-14) Brandon Brown -101, t-14) Ryan TRuex -101, 16) Jade
Buford -105.
Note: If he were eligible, John Hunter Nemechek would be 10th in stage points.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) AJ Allmendinger 442, 2) Ty Gibbs -52, 3) Noah Gragson -56, 4) Riley Herbst -82, 5) Josh Berry -90, 6) Brandon Jones -95, 7) Austin Hill
-98, 8) Justin Allgaier -102, 9) Landon Cassill -103, 10) Sam Mayer -104, 11) Ryan Sieg -112, 12) Anthony Alfredo -138, 13) Daniel Hemric -143, 14) Jeb Burton -153, 15) Sheldon Creed -172, 16) Brett
Moffitt -174.
WC Points (1-16): 1) AJ Allmendinger 1905, 2) Noah Gragson -167, 3) Ty Gibbs -196, 4) Riley Herbst -291, 5) Josh Berry -312, 6) Austin Hill -331, 7) Justin Allgaier
-335, 8) Brandon Jones -338, 9) Sam Mayer -348, 10) Landon Cassill -368, 11) Ryan Sieg -412, 12) Anthony Alfredo -495, 13) Daniel Hemric -502, 14) Jeb Burton -558, 15) Sheldon Creed -592, 16) Brett
Moffitt -613.
Race Winners: Austin Hill (Daytona), Cole Custer (Fontana), Ty Gibbs (Las Vegas, Atlanta, Richmond), Noah Gragson (Phoenix, Talladega), AJ Allmendinger (Circuit of the Americas), Brandon Jones (Martinsville), Josh Berry (Dover), Justin Allgaier (Darlington), Tyler Reddick (Texas)
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: John Hunter Nemechek Takes Points Lead After Ben Rhodes' Late Crash
by Phil Allaway
Ben Rhodes had another medicore night Friday until he crashed on the backstretch after contact from Tanner Gray. Rhodes ended up 27th and that cost him the points lead. John Hunter Nemechek came from the rear to finish sixth and takes over the points lead as a result. His advantage is
four points over Rhodes. Chandler Smith is up one place to third after finishing eighth. Stewart Friesen's first victory in the Trucks since Halmar Friesen Racing split from GMS Racing boosted him up two places to fourth.
Zane Smith is down two spots to fifth after contact with Chandler Smith cut Zane's tire. A pit stop under green dropped him to a 32nd-place finish. Ty Majeski is down one place to sixth despite finishing fifth. Christian Eckes is up one place to seventh after finishing second. Carson
Hocevar drops to eighth despite a fourth-place finish.
Grant Enfinger remains in ninth after starting and finishing 11th. Matt Crafton scored a ninth-place finish and stays in 10th, the last driver in the playoffs on points. He has a 35-point advantage over Gray, who finished 24th. Derek Kraus crashed out early, but will stay in 12th.
Matt DiBenedetto is up to 13th after coming from the rear to finish 10th. Tyler Ankrum was eliminated in a crash and dropped to 14th. The idle Parker Kligerman dropped to 15th, while Timmy Hill is 16th.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) John Hunter Nemechek 343, 2) Ben Rhodes -4, 3) Chandler Smith -18, 4) Stewart Friesen -21, 5) Zane Smith -32, 6) Ty Majeski
-33, 7) Christian Eckes -45, 8) Carson Hocevar -59, 9) Grant Enfinger -81, 10) Matt Crafton -83, 11) Tanner Gray -118, 12) Derek Kraus -140, 13) Matt DiBenedetto -150, 14) Tyler Ankrum -151, 15) Parker
Kligerman -173, 16) Timmy Hill -189.
Playoff Points: 1) Zane Smith 19, 2) Ben Rhodes -9, 3) John Hunter Nemechek -11, t-t-4) Stewart Friesen -13, t-4) Corey Heim -13, 6) Chandler Smith
-14, 7) Ryan Preece -17, t-8) Carson Hocevar -18, t-8) Parker Kligerman -18.
Note: If he were eligible for Playoff Points, William Byron would be tied for sixth.
Stage Points: 1) Ben Rhodes 109, 2) John Hunter Nemechek -8, 3) Chandler Smith -32, t-4) Stewart Friesen -39, t-4) Ty Majeski -39, 6) Zane Smith
-40, 7) Christian Eckes -50, 8) Carson Hocevar -61, 9) Derek Kraus -62, t-10) Matt Crafton -71, t-10) Tanner Gray -71, 12) Grant Enfinger -73, 13) Parker Kligerman -74, 14) Corey Heim -78, 15) Ryan Preece
-84, 16) Tyler Ankrum -89.
Note: If he were eligible, Ross Chastain would be 16th in stage points.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Stewart Friesen 220, 2) Chandler Smith -4, 3) John Hunter Nemechek -6, 4) Zane Smith -7, 5) Christian Eckes -12, 6) Ty Majeski
-13, 7) Carson Hocevar -15, 8) Ben Rhodes -20, 9) Grant Enfinger -28, 10) Matt Crafton -33, 11) Tanner Gray -66, 12) Matt DiBenedetto -75, 13) Tyler Ankrum -82, 14) Derek Kraus -95, 15) Parker
Kligerman -103, 16) Ryan Preece -106.
Note: If he were eligible, Kyle Busch would be tied for 16th in Old Points.
WC Points (1-16): 1) John Hunter Nemechek 1285, 2) Chandler Smith -12, 3) Stewart Friesen -15, 4) Christian Eckes -32, 5) Zane Smith -34, 6) Ty Majeski -37, 7) Carson Hocevar
-44, 8) Ben Rhodes -46, 9) Grant Enfinger -100, 10) Matt Crafton -125, 11) Tanner Gray -232, 12) Matt DiBenedetto -272, 13) Tyler Ankrum -289, 14) Derek Kraus -339, 15) Timmy Hill
-368, 16) Austin Wayne Self -397.
Race Winners: Zane Smith (Daytona, Circuit of the Americas, Kansas), Chandler Smith (Las Vegas), Corey Heim (Atlanta), William Byron (Martinsville), Ben Rhodes (Bristol), John Hunter Nemechek (Darlington), Stewart Friesen (Texas)
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Letter of the Race: Sunday's NASCAR All-Star Race was brought to you by the letter T for Tough to Take. Of all the tracks where traction compound has been used, no track has been affected as negatively as Texas Motor Speedway. The groove has never really moved all that much since the repave and it has seriously hurt
the INDYCAR product at the 1.5-mile quad-oval. Sunday night saw all the problems of the current version of the track, combined with lunacy. That's not going to go over well. - Phil Allaway
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Quotes to Remember: NASCAR All-Star Race
complied by Phil Allaway
"We were cruising
there and I just wanted to get to the white to have it covered and then the caution came out off of four. I thought it was like any other race. That rule was never kind of relayed to us. I already took my window net down and everything. My left arm is worn out from trying to get that damn thing back up. I got it rigged up enough to where it halfway stayed. I appreciate NASCAR for not making us come down pit road to fix it and letting me get it clipped back again to where we could stay out there.
This Mustang was a rocketship. I am really glad we ended up winning that after that last caution. I am so proud of everybody. Tonight will be fun.
"[Track position]
was huge. I felt like I was good on restarts, it just felt like the bottom launched better. It was a lot about the push and luckily the last restart Austin [Cindric] gave me a great push, almost too good of a push because he kind of had me jacked sideways. I missed the corner but was able to get up in front of the 11. The push was huge. Control of the lane was big, but a good push definitely helps out." - Ryan Blaney, race
winner
"I just needed to
stay beside [Ryan Blaney]. You know, it’s tough because he deserved to win the race, but if you mess up and you break a rule – not intentionally, but there’s rules and we have rules in place for safety. My crew chief is taking four weeks off because of safety. I nearly crashed him off of turn two when I got squeezed there. If I send him into traffic and he’s got no window net, then what right? Luckily, that didn’t happen and NASCAR avoids another controversy because there wasn’t a wreck in a car
with no window net.
"That’s the rule.
I don’t know what we’re talking about here. This is not a judgement call by me. This is just, that’s the rule. It’s unfortunate for him. Very, very unfortunate for him, but it’s the rule. You have to play by the rules." - Denny Hamlin, finished second, on whether Ryan Blaney should have been penalized
"I felt like we
were pretty fast. Everyone at Trackhouse Racing – the 99 team, the 1 team, everyone has been doing a very, very good job building fast racecars. I feel like at one point, we were probably one of the best cars out there. Right down to the very end, we probably were not. We were at a disadvantage on tires, as well.
"It was a huge
fight. We started in the back, fought all the way to the top-10 or something like that and then tires changed. I’m just happy with the result. Hopefully we can close the deal next week in the Coca-Cola 600." - Daniel Suarez, finished fifth
"I just got a flat
tire off of four, right-rear is flat. Unfortunate for our guys at Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota, M&M’s. We had a really fast race car, great race car and had led all the laps up to that point obviously. Disappointing to not be able to go out and race for a million bucks." - Kyle Busch, finished 21st (Crashed out)
"It felt like the
driver of the No. 1 car chose the wrong lane to get in. Our Worldwide Express Chevy was tight all night and we were just managing the tightness. I saw Kyle [Busch] have an issue with a tire down. I guessed left and I should have guessed right.
"It was a big hit
into Kyle. It was a tough break, but we had a fast car." - Ross Chastain, finished 22nd (Crashed out)
"I saw [that Kyle
Busch] had a problem; and then I saw [Ross Chastain] hit him really hard. I just didn’t give him enough room. I knew he was going to go straight; I just didn’t realize he was going to go that far right that quick. I just kind of misjudged it. It was really avoidable on my end. I just kind of messed up and didn’t get the gap shot quick enough.
"Hate it. I
thought our No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevy was surprisingly pretty good for me and Texas [Motor Speedway], so I was pretty excited about it; looking forward to getting going and seeing what we had here towards the end. I thought we were sitting in a really good spot with strategy and things like that. We’ll try again next week." - Chase Elliott, finished 23rd (Crashed out)
"Just had a right
front tire let go. I got moved up, but I don’t really think that made the [tire] wear any worse. It just let go in the center and took off. I hate that it happened. I feel like our car was good enough, depending on restarts since you can’t pass at all, especially the leader anyways.
"We’ll move on and
look forward to the Coca-Cola 600, and hopefully put on some good racing there." - Kyle Larson, finished 24th (Crashed out)
Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of NASCAR Media via Jared C. Tilton of Getty Images.
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