Frontstretch Newsletter: July 4, 2022
Volume XVI, Edition CXI
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- NASCAR teams are arriving back at their shops this morning after an overnight haul from Wisconsin. Once there, preparations will be on for Atlanta. Given that today is Independence Day, there is a chance that the entry lists won't be released today. If they are, we'll have them for you. If not,
we'll have anything that breaks for you at Frontstretch.
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Around the World in Motorsports: July 1-3
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- In European Le Mans Series competition Sunday at Monza, IDEC Sport's Paul-Loup Chatin, Paul Lafargue and Patrick Pilet took the overall victory in the 4 Hours of Monza, the team's first ELMS victory since 2019 after a rash of pit stops in the final 20 minutes. They ended up 13.209 seconds ahead of Panis Racing's Julian Canal, Nico Jamin
and Job van Uitert. Muehlner Motorsports' Ugo de Wilde, Matthias Kaiser and Thomas Laurent were third, then United Autosports' Tom Gamble, Phil Hanson and Duncan Tappy. Prema Racing's Lorenzo Colombo, Louis Deletraz and Ferdinand Habsburg were fifth.
In LMP3, Inter Europol Competition's Charles Crews, Nico Pino and Guillherme Oliveira took the class win by 9.023 seconds over 360 Racing's Ross Kaiser, Mark Richards and Terrence Woodward. Eurointernational's No. 11 of Jerome de Sadeleer and Max Koebolt were third, then RLR MSport's Nick Adcock, Michael Jensen and Alex Kapadia. United Autosports'
Josh Caygill, Finn Gehrsitz and Bailey Voisin were fifth.
The battle for the win had actually come down to a fight between Gehrsitz and Eurointernational's Glenn van Berlo. Contact between the two in the Rettifilo resulted in Gehrsitz spinning out and van Berlo getting a penalty. Van Berlo tried to serve the penalty on the final lap, which is a no-no and resulted in the No. 10 not being classified as a
finisher.
As a result, the GTE victory was awarded to Proton Competition's Gianmaria Bruni, Lorenzo Ferrari and Christian Ried. The No. 77 Porsche was 4.717 seconds ahead of the Car Guy Ferrari of Mikkel Jensen, Takeshi Kimura and Frederic Schandorff. Absolute Racing's Andrew Haryanto, Alessio Picariello and Martin Rump were third in their Porsche, then the
"Iron Dames" Ferrari of Frey, Michelle Gatting and Sarah Bovy. While the No. 60 Ferrari was DQ'd, no penalty was given to Frey for pushing. Rinaldi Racing's No. 33 Ferrari for Pierre Ehret, Nico Varrone and Gabriele Lancieri were fifth despite crash damage early on that resulted in the dreaded black flag with the orange disc, often referred to as "the Meatball," being shown to it.
- In Indy Lights action Sunday morning, Hunter McElrea led flag-to-flag from pole to win. He ended up 2.6826 seconds ahead of Matthew Brabham. Linus Lundqvist was third, then Christian Rasmussen and Sting Ray Robb.
Points-wise, Lundqvist still holds an 87-point lead over Robb in the points. Brabham is third, then McElrea and Benjamin Pedersen.
- Indy Pro 2000 teams had a doubleheader on Saturday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Race No. 1 on Saturday saw Louis Foster lead flag-to-flag from pole to take the victory by 14.5615 seconds over Salvador de Alba. Nolan Siegel was third, then Kiko Porto and Josh Green.
Race No. 2 had Porto pass Foster on the first lap and lead every lap en route to victory. Porto was .3423 seconds ahead of Foster at the finish. Yuven Sundaramoorthy recovered from a first-lap incident in Race No. 1 to finish third, followed by Enaam Ahmed. De Alba finished fifth.
Through 12 of 18 races, Foster currently holds a 49-point lead over Reece Gold. Siegel is third, then Ahmed and Braden Eves.
- Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship teams held a tripleheader of races at Mid-Ohio. Race No. 1 on Friday afternoon after the first NTT IndyCar Series practice saw Myles Rowe lead flag-to-flag from the pole to claim his third win of the year. Pabst Racing teammate Jace Denmark was 8.8492 seconds back in second, then Billy Frazer, Jagger Jones and Jacob
Douglas.
Race No. 2 Saturday morning saw Rowe pass Michael d'Orlando on lap 6 of 20 and held on for his second win of the weekend. He was .5031 seconds ahead of d'Orlando at the finish with Denmark in third. Nikita Johnson was fourth, while Nicky Hays was fifth.
Race No. 3 Saturday afternoon saw d'Orlando lead flag-to-flag from pole to take the victory by 3.3923 seconds over Denmark. Rowe was third, then Lochie Hughes and Dylan Christie.
Through 13 of 18 races, Rowe has taken the points lead away from d'Orlando thanks to an 85-point haul at Mid-Ohio to d'Orlando's 67. He currently has a 12-point lead. Denmark is third in points, followed by Jones and Frazer.
- The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series had a doubleheader last weekend at Cedar Lake Speedway in Wisconsin. Friday night saw Jacob Allen use the inside line to get the lead from Donny Schatz on lap 22. A final restart with four laps to go gave Brad Sweet a chance, but Allen held him off for the victory. Sweet finished second,
followed by Sheldon Haudenschild, Schatz and Carson Macedo.
Saturday night saw Brock Zearfoss take the fight to Sweet after a caution resulted in Giovanni Scelzi, David Gravel and Logan Schuchart dropping back. A lap 19 restart saw Zearfoss go to the outside and sweep into the lead. From there, Zearfoss pulled away to take his first World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series win since
2017.
Through 34 races, Sweet's points lead is up to 38 points over Haudenschild. Carson Macedo is third, then Gravel and Schuchart.
- Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship teams were in Buchanan, Mich. Saturday to race at Redbud. Moto No. 1 for the 450cc challengers saw Eli Tomac get the holeshot and run away to a flag-to-flag victory. He finished 6.382 seconds ahead of Chase Sexton, while Joey Savatgy was third. Ken Roczen and Christian Craig rounded out the top
five.
Moto No. 2 (which aired live on NBC) saw Justin Barcia take the holeshot on his GASGAS, but he quickly lost the advantage to Roczen. Tomac was further down the order, but continued to show his pace by making his way up to the front. With 15 minutes remaining, he passed Roczen to take the lead, then pulled away for the sweep. He ended up 6.022
seconds ahead of Sexton at the finish. Barcia was third, then Jason Anderson and Ryan Dungey.
Tomac won the round with the minimum possible score of two. Sexton was second, then Barcia, Anderson and Roczen. Points-wise, Sexton holds a seven-point lead over Tomac. Roczen is third, then Anderson and Dungey.
In the 250cc class, the Lawrence brothers were at the front of the field early in Moto No. 1 with Jo Shimoda giving chase. Hunter Lawrence led early, but Jett was able to get past eventually. However, Hunter retook the lead when Jett's bike broke with 10 minutes to go.
Shimoda was able to get by Hunter Lawrence to take the lead with five minutes to go, then ran away and hid to take the win. Shimoda ended up 21.687 seconds ahead of Hunter Lawrence. Stilez Robertson was third, then RJ Hampshire and Seth Hammaker.
Moto No. 2 saw Ryder DiFrancesco take the holeshot, only to crash moments later, which saw Hammaker and later Ty Masterpool take the lead. Hunter Lawrence took the lead early with Jett in tow. Together, the two ran away from the field and decided the moto by themselves. With 10 minutes left, Jett took the lead from Hunter and rode away to the
win.
Jett Lawrence's margin of victory was 16.943 seconds over his brother Hunter. Shimoda was third, then Levi Kitchen and Robertson. For the round, both Hunter Lawrence and Shimoda ended up tied with four points. Shimoda gets the round victory thanks to his win in Moto No. 1. Robertson was third, then Hampshire and Kitchen.
Through five rounds, Hunter Lawrence has a seven-point lead over his brother Jett. Shimoda is third, then Justin Cooper and Kitchen.
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| | Tyler Reddick Claims Maiden Cup Win at Road
America
Tyler Reddick was able to slip past Chase Elliott with 16 laps to go Sunday and pulled away to win the Kwik Trip 250 for his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory. Elliott was second, then Kyle Larson and Trackhouse
Racing Team teammates Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez.
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| | Tyler Reddick’s Winning Moment Arrives With Son Fast
Asleep
As many of you know, NASCAR Cup Series races are not exactly the quietest places on earth. It was quiet enough for Tyler Reddick's son, Beau, who was taking a nap as his father won his first NASCAR Cup Series
race.
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| | Ty Gibbs Takes Lead on Final Lap, Wins Xfinity Race at Road
America
Ty Gibbs took the lead away from Kyle Larson exiting turn 3 on the final lap Saturday and held on to win the Henry 180 at Road America, Gibbs' fourth win of the year. Larson
was second, then Josh Berry, Austin Hill and Brandon Jones.
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| | Tempers Flare at Road America, Spark Massive Xfinity Series
Crash
Saturday's Henry 180 will be remembered best for a 13-car pile-up just past the Sargento bridge that was caused when Noah Gragson intentionally spun Sage Karam in front of the majority of the field after a bumping
match.
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| | Justin Marks Returning to Truck Series With
Niece
Niece Motorsports announced Friday that Justin Marks will drive the team's part-time No. 41 Chevrolet in Saturday's O'Reilly Auto Parts 150 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. It will be the first Truck start for Marks since
2018.
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| | Charles Denike Named New Crew Chief for Derek
Kraus
McAnally-Hilgemann Racing announced Saturday that Charles Denike has been hired to serve as Derek Kraus' new crew chief, effective immediately.
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| | Scott McLaughlin Stays Ahead of Chaos to Win
Mid-Ohio
Team Penske's Scott McLaughlin led 45 of 80 laps and held off a late charge from Alex Palou to win the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sunday for his second triumph of the year. Will Power was third, then Rinus VeeKay and Scott
Dixon.
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| | Will Power’s Mid-Ohio Comeback Concludes in 3rd
Place
Team Penske's Will Power had a wild race on Sunday. He qualified 21st, then spun out on lap 2. He recovered from the rear of the field to finish
third.
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| | Andretti Autosport Suffers Implosion at
Mid-Ohio
Sunday was somewhere close to worst-case scenario at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for Andretti Autosport. The team had multiple instances of intra-team contact, multiple penalties and no one finished better than
15th.
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| | Carlos Sainz Smoothly Operates Drama, Scores Maiden Win At
Silverstone
Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr. was able to get past teammate Charles Leclerc shortly after the final restart Sunday and pulled away to win the Grand Prix of Britain at Silverstone
Circuit for his first grand prix victory. Red Bull's Sergio Perez was second, then Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton, Leclerc and Alpine's Fernando Alonso.
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| | Zhou Guanyu OK After Heavy Crash at British Grand
Prix
The start of Sunday's Grand Prix of Britain was marred by a horrible crash when AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly clipped Mercedes' George Russell. That turned Russell into Alfa
Romeo's Zhou Guanyu, who immediately flipped over. The car slid on the roll hoop before barrel rolling into the catchfence.
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| | Lewis Hamilton Fights Tooth & Nail for British Grand Prix
Podium
The closing laps at Silverstone Sunday saw an all-out duel for second between Charles Leclerc, Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton. After Perez was able to work his way past,
Hamilton used significant skill to snatch a third-place finish in the final laps.
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| | Ganassi’s Renger van der Zande, Sebastien Bourdais Win Chevrolet Grand
Prix
Chip Ganassi Racing's Renger van der Zande passed Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian's Oliver Jarvis with 11 minutes to go Sunday and pulled away from there to win the Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport
Park, the third win of the year for van der Zande and Sebastien Bourdais.
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| | Murillo Racing Scores 1-2 Finish in CTMP
120
Murillo Racing dominated the proceedings in IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge. Eric Foss and Marc Miller scored the overall victory in the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park 120, while teammates Kenny Murillo and Christian Szymczak
were second. Bryan Herta Autosport's Robert Wickens and Mark Wilkins earned their second straight TCR victory.
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| | Ryan Newman Sneaks Past Competition, Wins SRX Race at
Stafford
Ryan Newman took the lead away from Marco Andretti with six laps to go Saturday night and held on to claim his first Camping World SRX Series win at Stafford Speedway. Paul Tracy was third, then Tony Stewart and Bobby
Labonte.
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| | Paul Tracy Finally Has Stroke of Luck, Finishes 3rd in SRX Race at
Stafford
Paul Tracy has more or less been the Dick Dastardly of SRX since the series began with very few decent finishes to show for his work. Saturday night saw Tracy run well and put a whole evening together to finish
third.
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Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, NASCAR Media via Jared C. Tilton of Getty Images, James Black, Chris Owens and Joe Skibinski of INDYCAR Media, FIA Media, Florent Gooden of DPPI, Jiri Krenek of Mercedes-AMG F1, Superstar Racing Experience, IMSA
and our own Tom Bowles.
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 Only Makes Small Gains Despite Near Unassailable Form
by Phil Allaway
Chase Elliott was the driver to beat all weekend in Road America. Tyler Reddick was able to get past him late and take the win, but he managed to finish second. His lead is now 33 points over new second-place man Ryan Blaney. Blaney didn't have the best car Sunday, but he
stayed out and won stage two before scrambling to an 11th-place finish. Despite finishing fourth, Ross Chastain dropped one spot to third. Kyle Larson is up two places to fourth after finishing third.
Joey Logano remains in fifth despite a 27th-place finish. Kyle Busch made a late pit stop and ended up finishing 29th. That dropped him down to sixth. Martin Truex Jr. is still in seventh after a 13th-place finish. Christopher Bell is still in eighth, but he is now the last driver in the
playoffs on points.
Alex Bowman is up one place to ninth after finishing 12th. Bowman jumped over teammate William Byron, who struggled all day en route to a 16th-place finish. Kevin Harvick is the first driver out of the playoffs on points, 20 points behind Bell after a 10th-place finish. Aric Almirola remains in
12th after a 28th-place finish.
Reddick's first career victory really didn't do much for him in the points. He gained three points on Elliott and stays in 13th. Getting the playoff berth is all that more crucial. Austin Cindric finished seventh and moved up three places to 14th. Kurt Busch remains in 15th despite a 23rd-place finish thanks to 13 stage
points. Chase Briscoe won stage one and moved back up to 16th.
Daniel Suarez finished fifth and moved up two places to 17th, two points behind Briscoe. Erik Jones dropped two positions to 18th after finishing 26th. Austin Dillon had a brake rotor explode in the closing laps. That dropped him down five places to 19th. Denny Hamlin is still 20th after
multiple penalties and a 17th-place finish.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) Chase Elliott 624, 2) Ryan Blaney -33, 3) Ross Chastain -35, 4) Kyle Larson -71, 5)
Joey Logano -73, 6) Kyle Busch -77, 7) Martin Truex Jr. -84, 8) Christopher Bell -125, 9) Alex Bowman -130, 10) William Byron -135, 11) Kevin Harvick -145, 12) Aric Almirola -172, 13) Tyler Reddick -183,
14) Austin Cindric -193, 15) Kurt Busch -200, 16) Chase Briscoe -202.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the Playoffs: 17) Daniel Suarez -204, 20) Denny Hamlin
-230.
Playoff Points: t-1) Chase Elliott 13, t-1) William Byron 13, t-1) Ross Chastain 13, t-4) Denny Hamlin -1, t-4) Joey Logano -1, t-6) Kurt Busch -6, t-6) Kyle Larson -6, t-6) Daniel Suarez -6, t-6) Tyler
Reddick -6, t-6) Chase Briscoe -6, t-11) Alex Bowman -7, t-11) Kyle Busch -7, t-11) Austin Cindric -7, t-14) Martin Truex Jr. -8, t-14) Ryan Blaney -8, 16) Darrell Wallace Jr. -12.
Stage Points: 1) Chase Elliott 155,
2) Ryan Blaney -10, 3) Joey Logano -15, 4) Martin Truex Jr. -24, 5) Kyle Larson -25, 6) Ross Chastain -30, 7) William Byron -35, 8) Kyle Busch -39, 9) Christopher Bell -53, 10) Chase Briscoe -70, 11) Denny
Hamlin -75, 12) Tyler Reddick -76, 13) Erik Jones -83, 14) Kurt Busch -95, 15) Daniel Suarez -96, 16) Aric Almirola -97.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the Playoffs: 17) Alex Bowman -98, 18) Austin Cindric -101.
Note: The Stage Points also include the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Chase Elliott 550, 2) Ross Chastain -9, 3) Ryan Blaney -15, 4) Kyle Busch -34, t-5) Kyle Larson
-44, t-5) Kevin Harvick -44, 7) Alex Bowman -48, 8) Martin Truex Jr. -51, 9) Joey Logano -66, 10) Christopher Bell -75, 11) Aric Almirola -83, 12) Austin Dillon -98, t-13) William Byron -99, t-13) Austin Cindric -99,
15) Kurt Busch -107, 16) Michael McDowell -108.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the Playoffs: 17) Tyler Reddick -110, 18)
Daniel Suarez -112, 19) Chase Briscoe -126, t-22) Denny Hamlin -156.
Note: These
standings are based on the old point system that was used before stages were created.
WC Points (1-16): 1) Ross Chastain 2459, 2) Chase Elliott -7,
3) Ryan Blaney -32, 4) Kyle Busch -81, 5) Kyle Larson -113, 6) Kevin Harvick -159, 7) Joey Logano -181, 8) Alex Bowman -189, 9) Martin Truex Jr. -220, 10) Christopher Bell -248, 11)
Aric Almirola -309, 12) William Byron -326, t-13) Kurt Busch -338, t-13) Austin Dillon -338, 15) Tyler Reddick -342, 16) Austin Cindric -356.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the Playoffs: 17) Daniel Suarez
-377, 19) Chase Briscoe -423, 21) Denny Hamlin -509.
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,
Nashville), Joey Logano (Darlington, Gateway), Kurt Busch (Kansas), Daniel Suarez (Sonoma), Tyler Reddick (Road America)
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: It's A Race Between AJ Allmendinger and Ty Gibbs
by Phil Allaway
AJ Allmendinger started from the rear Saturday and made it all the way up to a sixth-place finish while scoring two stage points. That paled in comparison to Ty Gibbs' fourth victory of the year. As a result, Allmendinger's point lead is down to just nine points. Justin Allgaier finished 12th and stays in third, while Noah
Gragson gained a couple of points on Allmendinger, but also gained some enemies.
Josh Berry finished a strong third and stays in fifth, while Brandon Jones moves back up to sixth after finishing fifth. Sam Mayer crashed early, but continued on and finished 21st. That dropped him down to seventh. Austin Hill remains in eighth and didn't gain or lose anything.
Riley Herbst remains in ninth after finishing seventh on Saturday, while Daniel Hemric was eliminated in a crash and is now 37 points behind him in 10th. Ryan Sieg moved up to 11th after finishing 10th, while Landon Cassill was eliminated in the Big One and dropped back to 12th, the last driver in the playoffs.
Cassill is 72 points ahead of Anthony Alfredo, who finished a lap down in 23rd after multiple issues. Brett Moffitt and Brandon Brown were both eliminated in the Big One and remain 14th and 15th. Jeb Burton is 16th.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) AJ Allmendinger 634, 2) Ty Gibbs -9, 3) Justin Allgaier -34, 4) Noah Gragson -39, 5) Josh Berry -74, 6) Brandon Jones -139, 7) Sam Mayer -147, 8) Austin Hill
-149, 9) Riley Herbst -180, 10) Daniel Hemric -217, 11) Ryan Sieg -234, 12) Landon Cassill -244, 13) Anthony Alfredo -316, 14) Brett Moffitt -331, 15) Brandon Brown -332, 16) Jeb Burton -338.
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 23, 2) Noah Gragson -7, 3) Justin Allgaier -8, 4) Josh Berry -9, 5) AJ Allmendinger -11, 6) Brandon Jones -17, 7) Austin Hill -18, t-8)
Daniel Hemric -21, t-8) Trevor Bayne -21, t-8) Sam Mayer -21, 11) Myatt Snider -22.
Note: If they were eligible, Cole Custer would be tied for sixth, Tyler Reddick tied for eighth, Kyle Larson tied for 10th and John Hunter Nemechek tied for 14th in playoff points.
Stage Points: 1) Justin Allgaier 176, 2) Ty Gibbs -23, 3) Noah Gragson -25, 4) Josh Berry -29, 5) AJ Allmendinger -38, 6) Sam Mayer -59, 7) Brandon Jones
-76, 8) Daniel Hemric -97, 9) Austin Hill -101, 10) Riley Herbst -115, 11) Trevor Bayne -121, 12) Landon Cassill -133, 13) Ryan Sieg -137, 14) Sheldon Creed -149, t-15) Brandon Brown -151, t-15) Ryan Truex -151.
Note: If they were eligible, John Hunter Nemechek would be 11th and Cole Custer 15th in stage points.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) AJ Allmendinger 570, 2) Ty Gibbs -23, 3) Noah Gragson -53, 4) Justin Allgaier -84, 5) Josh Berry -85, 6) Austin Hill -91, 7) Brandon Jones -104,
8) Riley Herbst -116, 9) Sam Mayer -133, 10) Ryan Sieg -142, 11) Landon Cassill -161, 12) Daniel Hemric -165, 13) Anthony Alfredo -209, 14) Brett Moffitt -214, 15) Jeb Burton -218, 16) Brandon Brown -226.
WC Points (1-16): 1) AJ Allmendinger 2466, 2) Ty Gibbs -86, 3) Noah Gragson -159, 4) Justin Allgaier -273, 5) Josh Berry -282, 6) Austin Hill
-304, 7) Brandon Jones -373, 8) Riley Herbst -395, 9) Sam Mayer -432, 10) Ryan Sieg -514, 11) Landon Cassill -559, 12) Daniel Hemric -575, 13) Anthony Alfredo -725, 14) Brett Moffitt -749, 15) Jeb Burton
-770, 16) Brandon Brown -784.
Race Winners: Austin Hill (Daytona), Cole Custer (Fontana), Ty Gibbs (Las Vegas, Atlanta, Richmond, Road America), Noah Gragson (Phoenix, Talladega), AJ Allmendinger (Circuit of the Americas, Portland), Brandon Jones (Martinsville), Josh Berry (Dover, Charlotte), Justin Allgaier (Darlington, Nashville), 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: Off-Week Update No. 6
by Phil Allaway
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series was off last weekend. They will be back in action Saturday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
When the teams arrive in Ohio, Zane Smith will have a 21-point lead over John Hunter Nemechek with two races remaining in the regular season. Ben Rhodes is third, then Chandler Smith and a tie for fifth betwen Stewart Friesen and Ty Majeski.
At the cutoff, Matt Crafton has the final spot in the playoffs at the moment. He is 29 points ahead of Derek Kraus. Tyler Ankrum is 50 points behind.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) Zane Smith 530, 2) John Hunter Nemechek -21, 3) Ben Rhodes -30, 4) Chandler Smith -35, t-5) Stewart Friesen -53, t-5) Ty Majeski
-53, 7) Christian Eckes -83, 8) Carson Hocevar -105, 9) Grant Enfinger -141, 10) Matt Crafton -151, 11) Derek Kraus -180, 12) Tyler Ankrum -201, 13) Matt DiBenedetto -213, 14) Tanner Gray -221, 15) Chase
Purdy -260, 16) Ryan Preece -277.
Playoff Points: 1) Zane Smith 21, 2) Ben Rhodes -8, 3) Corey Heim -12, t-4) John Hunter Nemechek -13, t-4) Ryan Preece -13, t-6) Stewart Friesen -15, t-5) Chandler Smith
-15, 8) Carson Hocevar -19, t-9) Ty Majeski -20, t-9) Parker Kligerman -20.
Note: If they were eligible for Playoff Points, Todd Gilliland would be tied for sixth, while Kyle Busch, William Byron and Ross Chastain would be tied for eighth.
Stage Points: 1) Ben Rhodes 143, 2) John Hunter Nemechek -4, 3) Zane Smith -19, 4) Ty Majeski -35, 5) Chandler Smith -37, 6) Stewart Friesen -49, 7) Carson Hocevar
-55, t-8) Christian Eckes -61, t-8) Derek Kraus -61, 10) Ryan Preece -83, t-11) Grant Enfinger -84, t-11) Corey Heim -84, 13) Matt Crafton -90,
14) Parker Kligerman -102, 15) Tanner Gray -105, 16) Matt DiBenedetto -111.
Note: If he were eligible, Ross Chastain would be tied for 16th in stage points.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Zane Smith 360, 2) Chandler Smith -22, 3) Stewart Friesen -28, 4) Ty Majeski -32, 5) John Hunter Nemechek -34, 6) Christian Eckes
-41, 7) Ben Rhodes -49, 8) Carson Hocevar -66, 9) Grant Enfinger -81, 10) Matt Crafton -86, 11) Tyler Ankrum -115, 12) Matt DiBenedetto -128, 13) Derek Kraus -141, 14) Tanner Gray -142, 15) Chase
Purdy -155, 16) Colby Howard -182.
WC Points (1-16): 1) Zane Smith 2064, 2) Chandler Smith -82, 3) John Hunter Nemechek -101, 4) Stewart Friesen -114, 5) Ty Majeski -125, 6) Christian Eckes -136, 7) Ben Rhodes
-159, 8) Carson Hocevar -224, 9) Grant Enfinger -276, 10) Matt Crafton -322, 11) Tyler Ankrum -419, 12) Matt DiBenedetto -464, 13) Derek Kraus -473, 14) Tanner Gray -494, 15) Chase Purdy
-623, 16) Colby Howard -642.
Race Winners: Zane Smith (Daytona, Circuit of the Americas, Kansas), Chandler Smith (Las Vegas), Corey Heim (Atlanta, Gateway), William Byron (Martinsville), Ben Rhodes (Bristol), John Hunter Nemechek (Darlington), Stewart Friesen (Texas), Ross Chastain (Charlotte), Kyle Busch (Sonoma), Todd Gilliland (Knoxville), Ryan Preece (Nashville)
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 Kwik Trip 250 was brought to you by the letter C for Calm. After Saturday's Henry 180 provided some ridiculous moments, the first Next Gen race at Road America was
light on action. For the most part, no one could touch Chase Elliott...until Tyler Reddick dispatched of him. - Phil Allaway
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Quotes to Remember: Kwik Trip 250
complied by Phil Allaway
"I definitely knew [Chase Elliott] was fast, but we could stay with him on the long run. That told me if we cycled through that last pit sequence, we’d be close or get around him, and we’d have a great shot. Didn’t quite get around him.. we were within reach. Thankfully we just waited for the right opportunity and was able to take
advantage of it in Turn 6.
"I thought he was going to run me back down. I started to make some mistakes and started to take care of the brakes; apparently I didn’t need to. Yeah, very good shape there. What a day.
"What better place than Road America [to get my first win]? I love the fans. I love this racetrack. Being here on 4th of July weekend is just so special. And just a huge shout out to 3Chi and the special paint scheme we had this weekend. Love that they’re coming on board this year and taking a chance on a young guy like me and we got it done. We won a race." -
Tyler Reddick, race winner
"[I just needed to] do a better job. First off, congrats to [Tyler Reddick]. I know he’s been super close to that first win, and I’ve been down that road and it can be a rocky one. I’m happy for those guys. They deserve it.
"Just do a better job. First off, congrats to him. I know he’s been super close to that first win, and I’ve been down that road and it can be a rocky one. I’m happy for those guys. They deserve it.
"Obviously it was super difficult to get to somebody to pass them. It was impressive he was able to get up there and capitalize on my mistakes. Happy for those guys. Appreciate the effort out of our team. Wish I could have done a better job there. I felt like we probably needed a little bit, but I think we were good enough to win, so those always hurt." - Chase
Elliott, finished second
"It was really smooth. I knew [Tyler Reddick] was really good; and obviously [Chase Elliott] was really good. I felt like we were third best and we finished third best.
"A nice, smooth day and our pit crew was great the few times we came down pit road. Our car was good enough to run where we did. So, overall happy and congrats to Tyler Reddick. That is really cool. I grew up racing with him in Outlaw cars in California, so it’s really awesome to see him win. I know everybody from northern California is really proud." - Kyle
Larson, finished third
"Trackhouse still had two in the top five. Daniel [Suarez] and I were just talking and there were little bits and pieces we were off today and we still had top five speed. Absolutely nothing to be ashamed about. Our Advent Health Chevrolet was fast enough, we were just lacking mainly rear grip on throttle and in the [right turns] especially. Got really slick there at
the end and those guys didn’t slow down in the end as much as we did. A fourth-place car was where we ran most of the day." - Ross Chastain, finished fourth
"I thought it was fine. For the car that we had, I thought that we maximized everything that we got. Proud of my team and my pit crew today, everyone did a great job. I felt like we had a top-seven car and we finished in the top five, so I felt like we did a good job with that." - Daniel Suarez, finished fifth
"I am proud of the effort of everybody through this week. We had a lot of speed off the truck again. We are just looking for a little bit more. It is a good thing to be running up front and be that close and try to find a squeak more of speed. It is tight up here. That is a good thing. I am proud of everybody. We are going to stay after it and we will be ready for the
next one." - Chris Buescher, finished sixth
"I still love this race track. I wish we would have been a little bit better. It felt like we had a really solid day and were able to make our way through the field after staying out for stage points. I wish we could have gotten that stage win. I feel like I was probably a mistake away by myself in that first stage to get that win, so that one is on me. Otherwise, it
was a really solid weekend by the team. I am happy with three top 10s in a row on three different styles of race tracks. I am proud of that. We will keep moving forward and figure out what we need to have race winning speed in these places but we were really solid and some days that is all you can ask for." - Austin Cindric, finished seventh
"It was a solid effort but not what we hoped for. We seemed to lose the rear tires a bit too much as the run went on and as we tried to dial rear grip into it we just lost a little bit of turn and then it kind of compounded. We didn’t quite have the speed we needed to run up in the top-five and challenge and kind of slid back a little bit. All in all it was a solid
day and we executed well. It is nice to be disappointed with an 8th place finish but our expectations have gone up and we want to challenge for wins. We just needed a bit more. I probably need to be a bit more aggressive in practice of trying things but with that limited practice I am so afraid of dialing us out. We just have a little more to gain and I think we will be in the right direction for the Glen and we have been fast on the ovals too. It should be a good month for us coming up. We will
take a top 10 and build on it but ultimately it is not what we hoped for." - Michael McDowell, finished eighth
"Our HighPoint.com Mustang was good in the first stage. We really needed some more playoff points and those extra stage points as the regular season winds down, so staying out for the stage win helped with that. But once we were fighting back in traffic things really changed. It was super hard to pass and we started to struggle. It was more difficult than I thought it
would be to overcome that but I’m proud of the guys for sticking with it and trying to get as much out of it as we could. I think we’ve got a really good setup for the next few road courses." - Chase Briscoe, finished 14th
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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