Frontstretch Newsletter: May 30, 2022
Volume XVI, Edition LXXXVI
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- The Super DIRTcar Series will make the first of two visits to Lebanon Valley Speedway tonight for the King of Spring 100. Action is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. ET, although the broadcast of the race is currently scheduled to start at 4:45 p.m. on DirtVision (subscription required). Our own Phil Allaway will be there to cover the
action.
- The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series will be at Indiana's Lawrenceburg Speedway for a regular night of racing. Coverage from Southeastern Indiana will start at 6:15 p.m. ET on DirtVision (subscription required). Our own Christopher DeHarde will be there as well.
- NASCAR teams are back at their shops to prepare for this weekend's action at World Wide Technology Raceway and Portland International Raceway. The entry lists should be available either today or Tuesday. The possibility of a delay due to Memorial Day is quite possible. We will have the lists (if released) and anything else that breaks for you
at Frontstretch.
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Around the World in Motorsports: May 27-29
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- On Saturday, PREMA Racing's Dennis Hauger took the
lead at the start of the Formula 2 Sprint Race in Monaco when pole sitter Jake Hughes stalled. He then led flag-to-flag on the narrow streets to take his first F2 victory. Teammate Jehan Daruvala was second, then Marcus Armstrong, Enzo Fittipaldi and Juri Vips. Points leader Felipe Drugovich retired from the event after getting a flat tire on the first lap, then getting caught out on the wrong strategy and ending up at the rear of the
field.
The Feature Race on Sunday saw Drugovich recover
from his nightmare sprint race. He was able to convert his pole position into his third win in the last four races. Theo Pourchaire was second, then Vips, Jack Doohan and Fittipaldi.
Through 10 of 28 races, Drugovich claiming maximum
points on Sunday allowed him to expand his lead to 32 points over Pourchaire. Daruvala is third, then Armstrong and Vips.
- Saturday also saw the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross
Championship season begin at FOX Raceway in Pala, Calif. Moto No. 1 for the 450cc Class saw Honda's Ken Roczen win the holeshot and lead early. However, the man of the race was Chase Sexton. He was able to run down Roczen, take the lead, then ride away to take the first win of the season. Roczen ended up 15.877 seconds behind in second, followed by the freshly promoted Christian Craig, who won the 250cc West Supercross title a few weeks ago. Jason Anderson was
fourth, while Ryan Dungey, in his first race since 2017, finished fifth.
Moto No. 2 saw Sexton win the holeshot, but Roczen
was able to take the lead away on the opening lap. Roczen opened up a gap, but Sexton ran him back down and took the lead with less than 10 minutes remaining. From there, Sexton opened up a gap and held on for the sweep.
Sexton was 4.587 seconds ahead of Roczen at the
finish. Craig was third, then Eli Tomac and Dungey. With the minimum possible score of two, Sexton won the round over Roczen and Craig. Tomac was fourth and Dungey fifth.
- The 250cc class saw Justin Cooper claim the
holeshot in Moto No. 1, but Jett Lawrence snatched the lead away 10 minutes in. From there, he rode away to take an easy win. Jett ended up 6.688 seconds ahead of his brother Hunter. RJ Hampshire was third, then Jo Shimoda and Levi Kitchen.
Moto No. 2 saw Nick Romano win the holeshot and lead
early on. However, Jett Lawrence bided his time and made the pass for the lead a couple of laps in. Once out front, Jett Lawrence ran off and hid en route to the sweep. He ended up backing off late, resulting in his brother Hunter finishing 5.381 seconds back. Shimoda was third, then Michael Mosiman and Seth Hammaker.
With the sweep, Jett Lawrence won the round with the
minimum score of two, followed by Hunter Lawrence. Shimoda was third, then Hampshire and Mosiman.
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| | Denny Hamlin Wins Grueling, Record-Setting Coca-Cola
600
Denny Hamlin slipped past a huge wreck, then held off teammate Kyle Busch to win the Coca-Cola 600, the longest Cup race ever by mileage and one of the longest races by time in recent memory. Kevin Harvick, Chase Briscoe
and Christopher Bell rounded out the top five.
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| | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Extends Career-Long Top-10 Streak in Coca-Cola
600
Up until recently, 2022 had been a horrid season for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. However, things have gotten much better recently. Sunday night's seventh-place finish was
Stenhouse's fourth straight top 10 finish.
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| | Marcus Ericsson Wins Indianapolis
500
Chip Ganassi Racing's Marcus Ericsson dispatched of Arrow McLaren SP teammates Patricio O'Ward and Felix Rosenqvist late, then held on during a Green-White-Checker restart to win
the 106th Annual Indianapolis 500. O'Ward was second, then Tony Kanaan, Rosenqvist and Alexander Rossi.
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| | Pit Road Penalty Extends Indy 500 Bad Luck Streak for Scott
Dixon
Scott Dixon led a race-high 95 laps in the Indianapolis 500 Sunday. However, a late speeding penalty dropped him to a 21st-place finish.
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| | Chip Ganassi Racing’s Bad Luck Permeates Through Good Luck at
Indianapolis
While Chip Ganassi Racing scored the victory Sunday with Marcus Ericsson, the team still dealt with plenty of bad luck on pit road, plus Jimmie Johnson's late crash.
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| | Conor Daly Finishes a Strong 6th at Indianapolis
500
Ed Carpenter Racing's Conor Daly was not necessarily a surprise on Sunday, but he was a breath of fresh air when he took the battle to Chip Ganassi Racing. Unlike last year, he was able to put together
the whole race and bring home a sixth-place finish.
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| | Rinus VeeKay Crashes Out of 2022 Indianapolis
500
Early on, Ed Carpenter Racing's Rinus VeeKay was a thorn in the side of Chip Ganassi Racing. However, VeeKay lost control while running in second and crashed out of the race.
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| | Pato O’Ward Reaches Extension With Arrow McLaren SP Through
2025
Prior to Friday's Carburetor Day activities, Arrow McLaren SP announced a deal that will see Patricio O'Ward stay in the No. 5 Arrow-sponsored INDYCAR entry through the end of the 2025 season.
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| | Josh Berry Wins Charlotte Xfinity
Race
JR Motorsports' Josh Berry and Justin Allgaier ran away from the field Saturday. When Allgaier cut a tire, it left Berry with a gigantic lead. He continued to expand it
as he took his second win of the year by 18.039 seconds over Ty Gibbs. Sam Mayer was third, then Noah Gragson and Ryan Preece.
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| | Ryan Preece Impresses With Top-5 Run in Xfinity No.
5
Driving a Ford run as a joint venture between BJ McLeod Motorsports and Stewart-Haas Racing, Ryan Preece was very competitive in Saturday's ALSCO Uniforms 300, scoring a fifth-place
finish.
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| | Ross Chastain Survives Double-Overtime Chaos to Win Charlotte Truck
Race
Ross Chastain, driving a fifth truck for Niece Motorsports, avoided late trouble and got past Christian Eckes on the final lap to win Friday night's North Carolina Education Lottery 200. Grant Enfinger was second, then
John Hunter Nemechek, Eckes and Zane Smith.
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| | Carson Hocevar Heartbroken Yet Again at
Charlotte
Niece Motorsports' Carson Hocevar had the best truck Friday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway. However, a late caution brought everyone back together for a
Green-White-Checker. Hocevar lost it racing for the lead and ended up a disappointing 16th.
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| | Sergio Perez Defends Against Carlos Sainz, Wins Wild Monaco
Race
Red Bull's Sergio Perez took the lead early with good pit strategy, then held on to win the Grand Prix of Monaco, shortened to 64 of 78 laps due to reaching the time limit.
Carlos Sainz Jr. was second, then Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and George Russell.
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| | How It All Went Wrong for Charles Leclerc at
Monaco
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc dominated the weekend in his hometown up until the race. However, it was pit strategy that cost Leclerc the chance to win, or even to finish on the
podium.
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| | Brandon Jones Wins Messy ARCA Race at
Charlotte
Brandon Jones, making his season debut for Kyle Busch Motorsports, won a messy ARCA Menards Series General Tire 150 Friday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Corey Heim was second,
then Rajah Caruth, Connor Mosack and Greg Van Alst.
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Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, James Black, Chris Jones, Joe Skibinski and Karl Zemlin of INDYCAR Media, Eric Alonso of Getty Images and FIA Images.
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: Chaotic Coca-Cola 600 Closes Up Standings
by Phil Allaway
Chase Elliott was one of the strongest drivers early on Sunday, winning stage one and leading 86 laps. Then, he spun exiting turn 4 and broke a toe link. The repair couldn't be made in time, putting him out. As a result, he lost part of his points lead. His advantage is now 34 points over Ross
Chastain. Chastain led a race-high 153 laps before getting caught up in a crash on the first Green-White-Checker. Despite restarting second with two laps to go, he ended up 15th, but that was still enough to gain him three spots. Kyle Busch finished second and remains in third, but he gained 21 points on Elliott. Ryan Blaney crashed out just before halfway and dropped two places to fourth.
Martin Truex Jr. got caught up in the lap 405 crash, but still finished 12th. That moved him up to fifth. Joey Logano crashed out in that same crash. Given the attrition, he was still credited with 20th and moved up one place to sixth. William Byron crashed out with Blaney and dropped three places to
seventh. Alex Bowman remains in eighth after finishing 10th.
Kyle Larson had a ridiculous race, recovering from a spin, a fire and multiple penalties to lead late. Then, he got wrecked and finished ninth. All that results in him staying in ninth. Christopher Bell recovered from multiple unscheduled stops to finish fifth to stay in 10th. Kevin Harvick is 11th, while
Tyler Reddick is up from a tie for 14th to 12th after finishing sixth. He is now the last driver in the playoffs on points.
Chase Briscoe tried like heck to get Larson late, but spun himself out. With the chaos afterwards, he was able to get back to fourth and moved up one place to 13th. Aric Almirola had some issues late and finished 17th. That dropped him down two places to 14th, eight points behind Reddick. Austin Dillon went
for it on lap 405, but got wrecked out. He drops two places to 15th. Erik Jones is up one place to 16th after an eventful drive to 14th.
Denny Hamlin's second win of the year moved him up three places to 17th. Daniel Suarez probably had the best car for most of the night, but got eliminated in a lap 345 crash. Despite this, he still moved up one place to 18th. Austin Cindric crashed out early and dropped to 19th. Kurt Busch
was eliminated with Blaney and Byron and dropped to 20th.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) Chase Elliott 489, 2) Ross Chastain -34, 3) Kyle Busch -37, 4) Ryan Blaney -53, 5) Martin Truex
Jr. -59, 6) Joey Logano -66, 7) William Byron -69, 8) Alex Bowman -74, 9) Kyle Larson -77, 10) Christopher Bell -89, 11) Kevin Harvick -116, 12) Tyler Reddick -139, 13) Chase Briscoe -140, 14) Aric Almirola -147,
15) Austin Dillon -161, 16) Erik Jones -168.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the Playoffs: 17) Denny Hamlin -180, 19) Austin Cindric
-195, 20) Kurt Busch -200.
Playoff Points: t-1) William Byron 13, t-1) Ross Chastain 13, 3) Denny Hamlin -6, 4) Chase Elliott -5, 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, t-14) Tyler Reddick -11, t-14) Daniel Suarez -11, 16) Darrell Wallace Jr. -11.
Stage Points: 1) Chase Elliott 140,
2) William Byron -20, 3) Ross Chastain -25, 4) Ryan Blaney -26, 5) Joey Logano -30, 6) Kyle Larson -37, 7) Martin Truex Jr. -38, 8) Christopher Bell -51, 9) Kyle Busch -53, 10) Chase Briscoe -65, 11) Tyler Reddick -70,
12) Erik Jones -79, 13) Denny Hamlin -85, 14) Alex Bowman -91, 15) Daniel Suarez -92, 16) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -98.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the Playoffs: 19) Austin Cindric -105, 20) Kevin Harvick -107, t-22) Kurt Busch -113.
Note: The Stage Points also include the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Kyle Busch 431, 2) Alex Bowman -16, 3) Chase Elliott -20, 4) Ross Chastain -30, 5) Kevin Harvick -32,
6) Ryan Blaney -39, 7) Martin Truex Jr. -41, 8) Joey Logano -53, 9) Kyle Larson -56, 10) Christopher Bell -58, 11) Aric Almirola -64, 12) William Byron -65, 13) Austin Dillon -72, 14) Chase Briscoe -88, 15) Tyler Reddick -89,
16) Kurt Busch -108.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the Playoffs: 19) Austin Cindric -115, 20) Denny
Hamlin -116.
Note: These
standings are based on the old point system that was used before stages were created.
WC Points (1-16): 1) Kyle Busch 1944, 2) Ross Chastain -88, 3)
Alex Bowman -95, 4) Chase Elliott -99, 5) Kevin Harvick -136, 6) Ryan Blaney -137, 7) Martin Truex Jr. -171, 8) Kyle Larson -173, 9) Joey Logano -188, 10) Christopher Bell -204, 11) William Byron -228, 12) Aric Almirola -261,
13) Austin Dillon -262, 14) Tyler Reddick -289, 15) Chase Briscoe -315, 16) Kurt Busch -371.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the Playoffs: 18) Denny Hamlin -402,
21) Austin Cindric -423.
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, Charlotte), 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. Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.
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Seeking the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs: Tire Issue Cuts Into AJ Allmendinger's Points Lead
by Phil Allaway
AJ Allmendinger broke his streak of top 10 finishes to start the season Sunday with 12. A flat tire put him slightly off-sequence in the final run of the race, forcing an extra pit stop late. He would finish 19th and cost him part of his points lead. His advantage is now 33 over Noah Gragson, who won stage one, then had
power issues. He would recover from that to finish fourth. Ty Gibbs finished a distant second to stay in third, while Justin Allgaier cut a tire late. Despite this, he still finished seventh and stays in fourth.
Josh Berry's win keeps him in fifth, but he's now only two points behind Allgaier. Sam Mayer finished third and moved up one place to sixth. Brandon Jones had handling problems all day, but only finished 16th after cutting a tire in the final 10 laps. He is down one place to seventh. Austin Hill is up one position to
eighth after finishing 14th.
Riley Herbst is down one place to eighth after cutting a tire and hitting the wall. He would finish 25th. Daniel Hemric was the last driver on the lead lap in sixth. That moved him up two places to 10th. Landon Cassill had a bunch of issues with his No. 10 Chevrolet and spent time in the garage. He would finish 29th, 69 laps down
and drop back to 11th. Ryan Sieg dropped to 12th after crashing out of the race. He is the last driver in the playoffs at the moment.
Sieg has a 48-point advantage over Anthony Alfredo, who was eliminated in the same crash that Sieg was. Jeb Burton is still 14th after finishing 12th. Sheldon Creed made some gains after earning a top 10 Saturday, but remains in 15th. Brett Moffitt moved back up to 16th after finishing 11th.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) AJ Allmendinger 530, 2) Noah Gragson -33, 3) Ty Gibbs -40, 4) Justin Allgaier -58, 5) Josh Berry -60, 6) Sam Mayer -107, 7) Brandon Jones -130, 8) Austin
Hill -165, 9) Riley Herbst -168, 10) Daniel Hemric -179, 11) Landon Cassill -196, 12) Ryan Sieg -206, 13) Anthony Alfredo -254, 14) Jeb Burton -256, 15) Sheldon Creed -265, 16) Brett Moffitt -279.
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 -3, 4) Justin Allgaier -9, 5) AJ Allmendinger -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: 1) Justin Allgaier 145, 2) Noah Gragson -11, 3) Josh Berry -13, 4) AJ Allmendinger -19, 5) Ty Gibbs -24, 6) Sam Mayer -42, 7) Brandon Jones
-59, 8) Daniel Hemric -73, 9) Austin Hill -94, 10) Trevor Bayne -105, 11) Ryan Sieg -106, 12) Riley Herbst -110, 13) Landon Cassill -112, t-14) Brandon Brown -120, t-14) Ryan Truex -120, 16) Jade Buford
-124.
Note: If he were eligible, John Hunter Nemechek would be 10th in stage points.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) AJ Allmendinger 464, 2) Ty Gibbs -35, 3) Noah Gragson -40, 4) Josh Berry -67, 5) Sam Mayer -87, 6) Riley Herbst -88, 7) Justin Allgaier -89,
8) Brandon Jones -92, 9) Austin Hill -93, 10) Landon Cassill -113, 11) Ryan Sieg -125, 12) Daniel Hemric -130, 13) Jeb Burton -146, 14) Anthony Alfredo -152, 15) Sheldon Creed -161, 16) Brett Moffitt -166.
WC Points (1-16): 1) AJ Allmendinger 2011, 2) Noah Gragson -108, 3) Ty Gibbs -132, 4) Josh Berry -233, 5) Sam Mayer -284, 6) Justin Allgaier
-290, 7) Riley Herbst -309, 8) Austin Hill -316, 9) Brandon Jones -329, 10) Landon Cassill -398, 11) Ryan Sieg -451, 12) Daniel Hemric -458, t-13) Jeb Burton -537, t-13) Anthony Alfredo
-537, 15) Sheldon Creed -556, 16) Brett Moffitt -589.
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, Charlotte), Justin Allgaier (Darlington), Tyler Reddick (Texas)
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 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs: John Hunter Nemechek Avoids Trouble, Expands Lead Slightly
by Phil Allaway
John Hunter Nemechek struggled early on, but came to life late in the going to finish third. That allowed him to slightly expand his points lead to seven points over Ben Rhodes, who won stage two. He dropped into the 20s after pitting during the stage break (most everyone else had pitted during the previous yellow), then
recovered to 10th. Zane Smith is up two places to third after winning stage one and finishing fifth. Chandler Smith is down one place to fourth after finishing eighth.
Texas winner Stewart Friesen was mediocre Friday night. The late chaos saw him move up to ninth, but he failed to score any stage points. As a result, he slipped back to fifth. Ty Majeski was strong early on, but faded to 13th. He stays in sixth as a result. Christian Eckes was within a whisker of winning again, but came up
short. He remains in seventh. Carson Hocevar should have won Friday night, but the caution and a late crash dropped him to 16th. He's still eighth and lost ground to his immediate rivals.
Grant Enfinger finished second and essentially didn't gain anything from it in ninth. Matt Crafton is still 10th, the last driver in the playoffs. Crafton has a 25-point advantage over Tanner Gray, who eased his recent point bleeding by finishing sixth. Derek Kraus is 12th.
Matt DiBenedetto is still 13th, but had a chance at a top five finish before a flat tire relegated him to 17th. Tyler Ankrum was involved in a late incident and remains 14th, while Ryan Preece is up to 15th. Timmy Hill and the idle Parker Kligerman are tied for 16th.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) John Hunter Nemechek 383, 2) Ben Rhodes -7, 3) Zane Smith -25, 4) Chandler Smith -29, 5) Stewart Friesen -33, 6) Ty Majeski
-38, 7) Christian Eckes -40, 8) Carson Hocevar -64, 9) Grant Enfinger -85, 10) Matt Crafton -102, 11) Tanner Gray -127, 12) Derek Kraus -154, 13) Matt DiBenedetto -162, 14) Tyler Ankrum -174, 15) Ryan Preece
-189, t-16) Timmy Hill -213, t-16) Parker Kligerman -213.
Playoff Points: 1) Zane Smith 20, 2) Ben Rhodes -9, 3) John Hunter Nemechek -12, t-4) Stewart Friesen -14, t-4) Corey Heim -14, 6) Chandler Smith -15, 7)
Ryan Preece -18, t-8) Carson Hocevar -19, t-8) Parker Kligerman -19.
Note: If he were eligible for Playoff Points, William Byron would be tied for sixth.
Stage Points: 1) Ben Rhodes 119, 2) John Hunter Nemechek -12, 3) Zane Smith -35, 4) Ty Majeski -38, 5) Chandler Smith -42, 6) Christian Eckes
-48, 7) Stewart Friesen -49, 8) Carson Hocevar -57, 9) Derek Kraus -71, 10) Ryan Preece -78, 11) Matt Crafton -79, 12) Tanner Gray -81, 13) Grant Enfinger -82, 14) Parker Kligerman -84, 15) Corey Heim
-88, 16) Matt DiBenedetto -96.
Note: If he were eligible, Ross Chastain would be 15th in stage points.
Old Point Standings (1-16): t-1) Stewart Friesen 244, t-1) John Hunter Nemechek 244, 3) Zane Smith -2, 4) Chandler Smith -3, 5) Christian Eckes -6, 6) Ty Majeski
-16, t-7) Ben Rhodes -20, t-7) Carson Hocevar -20, 9) Grant Enfinger -21, 10) Matt Crafton -41, 11) Tanner Gray -63, 12) Matt DiBenedetto -83, 13) Tyler Ankrum -93, 14) Derek Kraus -97, 15) Ryan
Preece -107, 16) Chase Purdy -113.
WC Points (1-16): 1) John Hunter Nemechek 1450, 2) Christian Eckes -32, 3) Chandler Smith -35, 4) Zane Smith -39, 5) Stewart Friesen -42, 6) Ben Rhodes -72, 7) Ty
Majeski -73, 8) Carson Hocevar -89, 9) Grant Enfinger -95, 10) Matt Crafton -176, 11) Tanner Gray -247, 12) Matt DiBenedetto -325, 13) Tyler Ankrum -351, 14) Derek Kraus -372, 15) Timmy Hill -433, 16) Colby
Howard -458.
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), Ross Chastain (Charlotte)
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 Coca-Cola 600 was brought to you by the letter E for Elongated. Seriously, going into the race, I figured that this race would
take longer than last year, but not too different than a normal Coca-Cola 600. Man, was I wrong. Sunday's race was less than a minute shorter than the 22-caution marathon that was the 2005 Coca-Cola 600. - Phil Allaway
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Quotes to Remember: Coca-Cola 600
complied by Phil Allaway
"So good. It’s a big one. It’s one of the three majors we’ve got in our sport and it’s one that I haven’t won. To be part of the Coke family for as long as I have, to finally win is awesome. My daughter was really excited about this Coke machine that we were going to win. Can’t thank my partners enough – FedEx, Toyota, Coca Cola, Sport
Clips, TRD (Toyota Racing Development), the Jordan Brand, Logitech, Shady Rays – all those guys. We were just hanging around all day and then we had some good fortune there with other guys getting each other and finally had one go our way." - Denny Hamlin, race winner
"No, I don’t think [I could have gotten Hamlin]. We didn’t have a good enough day to be even in that position, so just a strong fight all night by this M&M’s team. I give honor to those we remember on Memorial Day weekend. I appreciate the opportunity and being able to do that. We had Sergeant Thiem on here with us this weekend.
We tried to come with victory lane, and honor him, but unfortunately, one spot short." - Kyle Busch, finished second
"We went to the back five times for bad pit stops too, but everybody on our Mobil 1 Ford Mustang team did a good job. We just kept battling. We had a decent car after I hit the wall I got a lot tighter and then every time we’d make it up, we’d just fall on our face on pit road and go to the back again. We just kept battling. That’s just
kind of the name of the game in this particular race because it’s just so long. I knew the attrition was gonna be high.
"Our race was atrocious. We went to the back eight times, but everybody on our Mobil 1 Ford just kept plugging away and we wound up in a good position there at the end and wound up with a good finish, but it was ugly. Everybody’s night was ugly for the most part." - Kevin Harvick, finished third
"In the daytime we kind of struggled and I think a lot of that was just the sun. I was kind of timid around the fence. We kept getting track position. On restarts we were really really good, but I could never get clean air. I felt like if I could have got ahead of the 1, I was a little bit better on the long run. I could have maybe held
him up on the short run. I had a shot at him. We threw a couple sliders and then the 5 was able to get out front and kind of the same thing, our car was really good on the long run. It seemed like if the guy could take the wall away from you, it was just really hard to do anything, but my car was really good almost one lane off [the wall] and I just kept working Kyle really hard and waiting for him to make a mistake, but he’s the greatest of all-time, in my opinion. He just doesn’t make very
many mistakes. I was able to drive it in so much deeper into one than him kind of all race long and felt like that was my opportunity if I could just get to his left-rear quarter panel on exit I would typically make people tighter. I drove in just as deep as I had been the whole race and I don’t know if he came off the wall because he’d been running so close on entry and as soon as I drove in there it just spun me out right away. I’m glad we were able to get back to fourth, but we definitely had
a lot better race car than fourth." - Chase Briscoe, finished fourth
"Really the only reason we got up there was because everyone crashed at the end of the race and gave us an opportunity, but this Yahoo Camry was every bit as capable as the guys that beat us. Disappointing day for sure because I feel like we had something that could contend for the win, but [a] top five is nothing to hang your head
about." - Christopher Bell, finished fifth
"To start with, I was worried about it. I’m not really sure what I have going on, but I’m not 100 percent. Can’t really breath that well; all that fun stuff. So trying to battle that in our longest race of the year is not fun.
"Outside of that, it’s tough having a really fast car and having these things keep happening. I don’t know – we may have been in that really big crash, or a couple of them there; so maybe it’s a good thing we had the problem on pit road." - Tyler Reddick, finished sixth
"We had a really fast FR8 Auction Ford Mustang. Unfortunately, we got too much damage in that wreck, that big pile up when the 6 spun with somebody. That kind of took a little speed out of our race car, but we did a good job working really hard trying to get the balance back. Then a lot of attrition there at the end. It was a wild race
and we got ourselves in position there. I’m proud of everybody. It’s another top 10. We keep clicking them off. We had good speed. We qualified in the top 10 and finished in the top 10 today, so it’s good. It’s good to be disappointed with that. I thought we had a top five coming to the checkered there and got all stacked up there four-wide and got in the fence a little bit, but we’ll take a top 10 and move on to Gateway." - Michael McDowell, finished
eighth
"Yeah, long race thankfully. The first half was a struggle for all of us, but I was especially frustrated with myself. To rebound from that and have a shot to win there late was something to be proud of. Our team fought really hard, so I’m happy with that. [Chase] Briscoe was really good that long run there. Wish we would have been just
a little bit better so he never would have got to me to work really hard and ultimately spin. You’re kind of gambling on tire stuff there. I think we took two to try and get ourselves the front row, which we did. I think [that] four tires [were] just a little bit better than me and got to my inside there through turns 3 and 4. It’s just really tight racing off of [turn] 4. [Austin Dillon] almost had me cleared and we just made contact there and there was a big wreck. Kind of ended my night
there.
"Again, proud of my Hendrick team. Even going back to yesterday and me making a mistake getting into the wall really put ourselves in a bad spot all night. Our pit stall was terrible having to come around [Martin Truex Jr.] and then [Aric Almirola] coming around me. The day would have been a lot easier if I just didn’t hit the wall yesterday." - Kyle Larson,
finished ninth
"The team did a great job working on the car all night and keeping up with the track. I was really happy with what we had and it felt like we had made big gains and turned things around. I felt like we had a good shot at the end, but it just ended up that we were in the wrong place at the wrong time. I really can’t wait to get to the
track next weekend. We’re moving in the right direction and I’ve always loved racing at Gateway." - Cole Custer, finished 21st (Crashed out)
"I just got tight. With these cars, clean air is very important. They were side-by-side in front of me. I was fine in front and eventually I got in the middle of the wake and I got super tight. I put myself in a bad situation there. It was just a tough situation.
"I’m just glad Chris [Buescher] is fine. My team has been building rockets. We had the best car out there. It was a struggle for us on pit road. Not my guys, but the situation where we were in with [Joey Logano] and [Denny Hamlin]. We have to learn from it and come back stronger." - Daniel Suarez, finished 25th (Crashed
out)
"We just got caught up in it with our Fifth Third Bank Mustang. Our team did a really nice job and made some huge gains through the weekend. I’m really proud of them. We had a good race car. We drove all the way into the top 10 and just got back a little bit there and got around cars that really hadn’t been and got caught up in a wreck.
It’s unfortunate.
"[The crash was] not ideal by any means. I’m gonna be a bit sore tomorrow. I haven’t been upside-down in a really long time. The team did a really nice job. We had great speed and had a chance at this thing, it just didn’t work out.
"I do appreciate [the safety crews] for helping me and setting it back over again, so thank you to everybody working for not slamming it back. It was nice to be able to get out. The blood is rushing to your head a little bit. I guess I could have pulled the belts and fallen right to the ground, but figured I’d just wait on them." -
Chris Buescher, finished 26th (Crashed out)
"We had a winning top-five Monster Energy Toyota Camry TRD, we did. Just was hoping we would have enough tires to get to the end and the sequences that everyone was on. Billy Scott’s a great leader. We’ve wrecked a lot of cars this year and we were just wrong place, wrong time this year. Bubba [Wallace] was in front of me and tried not
to hit him. I think I hit about 15 different things. And I tried to crank it up and was like, ‘Nah, she’s done.’ This is a rough situational event. Fast car and I’m really proud of my guys. I’ll be at the shop on Tuesday helping them tear it down." - Kurt Busch, finished 31st (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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