Frontstretch Newsletter: May 9, 2022
Volume XVI, Edition LXI
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- NASCAR teams are back at their shops, preparing for this weekend's action at Kansas Speedway. Entry lists 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 6-8
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- In W Series action, Jenner Racing's Jamie Chadwick was able to get past Emma Kimilainen with a lap and change to go Saturday and held on to win Round No. 1 at the Miami International Autodrome. Chadwick ended up 3.294 seconds ahead of Jessica Hawkins. Beitske Visser was third, then Abbi Pulling and Bruna Tomaselli. Kimilainen
ended up getting spun out on the final lap and finished 15th.
Race No. 2 saw Chadwick lead flag-to-flag to take the weekend sweep. Nerea Marti finished second on the road, but was given a post-race penalty. This boosted Alice Powell to second, 8.876 seconds behind. Marti was classified third, then Belen Garcia and Kimilainen.
With the weekend sweep, Chadwick leaves Miami with the maximum 50 points. She has a 27-point lead, more than a full race, over Marti. Visser is third, then Pulling. Hawkins, Powell and Belen Garcia are tied for fifth.
- The Monster Energy AMA Supercross season came to an end Saturday in Salt Lake City. The 450cc race saw Justin Bogle win the holeshot on his Suzuki, but Kawasaki's Jason Anderson ran him down and passed him two minutes into the race. From there, Anderson pulled away to take his seventh win of the year.
Anderson ended up 2.364 seconds ahead of Chase Sexton. Justin Barcia was third, then Malcolm Stewart and Marvin Musquin. Champion Eli Tomac chose to sit out the final race in order to heal up for the outdoor season.
With Tomac sitting out, the final margin in the championship was only nine points between Tomac and Anderson, but it wasn't that close all year. Stewart is third, then Barcia and Musquin.
The 250cc class had their final East-West showdown of the year. Christian Craig won the holeshot, but quickly lost the leader to Hunter Lawrence. As the race went on, Lawrence ended up being run down by Nate Thrasher.
The race was a three-man duel between Thrasher, Lawrence and Craig until Craig crashed in the whoops. Thrasher was able to hold off Lawrence to take the victory. Pierce Brown was third, then RJ Hampshire and Jo Shimoda.
Points-wise, Jett Lawrence, who sat out the race, had already clinched the 250cc East title. Craig's eighth-place finish gave him the 250cc West title by 10 points over Hunter Lawrence. Mosiman was third, then Shimoda and Thrasher.
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| | Joey Logano Wins Darlington Cup Race With a Bump &
Run
Joey Logano ran down William Byron in the closing laps and knocked him into the turn 3 wall with two laps to go Sunday to take the lead. Logano then held on to win the
Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway. Tyler Reddick was second, then Justin Haley, Kevin Harvick and Chase Elliott.
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| | William Byron on Joey Logano: ‘He’s Just an
Idiot’
Needless to say, William Byron was not very happy with Joey Logano's actions at the end of Sunday's Goodyear 400. He let Logano have it with angry words after the
race.
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| | Justin Haley Finishes 3rd at Darlington, Best Full-Time Cup Series
Finish
Kaulig Racing's Justin Haley employed an alternate pit strategy in the final stage Sunday. A caution, combined with the big crash shortly after the restart, resulted in
Haley earning a third-place finish for his efforts.
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| | King’s Hawaiian, RFK Racing Announce
Partnership
Prior to Sunday's Goodyear 400, RFK Racing announced a new sponsorship with Kings Hawaiian, a brand of bread rolls. The company will serve as a primary sponsor of Brad
Keselowski's No. 6 for two races and as an associate for the rest of the season.
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| | Justin Allgaier Wins Mahindra ROXOR 200 at
Darlington
JR Motorsports' Justin Allgaier broke a year-long winless streak by leading 76 laps to win the Mahindra ROXOR 200 at Darlington Raceway. Noah Gragson was second, then Riley
Herbst, John Hunter Nemechek and Sam Mayer.
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| | John Hunter Nemechek Finishes 4th at Darlington, Scores Sam Hunt
Racing’s 2nd-Best Result
Over the past couple of years, Sam Hunt Racing has run the best with John Hunter Nemechek in the seat. Saturday was no exception as Nemechek ran as high as second before
finishing fourth.
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| | John Hunter Nemechek Wins First NASCAR Truck Series Race of 2022 at
Darlington
John Hunter Nemechek qualified four-tenths of a second faster than anyone else Friday. In the race, he led 69 of 149 laps and passed Christian Eckes on lap 123 to win the Dead On Tools 200. Carson Hocevar was second,
then Grant Enfinger, Ty Majeski and Parker Kligerman.
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| | Carson Hocevar Quest for First Win Continues After Consecutive
Runner-up Finishes
Niece Motorsports' Carson Hocevar had one of his best career races Friday night in Darlington. He won stage two and was right in the hunt for victory before settling for
second.
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| | Grant Enfinger
Finishes 3rd at Darlington, Scores First Top 5 of 2022
2022 has been a bit of a struggle for Grant Enfinger. Friday night saw the Alabama racer avoid a near-catastrophe exiting turn 2 to finish a season-best
third.
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| | Max Verstappen Wins Inaugural Miami Grand
Prix
Red Bull's Max Verstappen passed Ferrari's Charles Leclerc on lap 9 Sunday and managed to hold on to win the inaugural Grand Prix of Miami. Leclerc was second, then Carlos
Sainz Jr., Sergio Perez and Mercedes' George Russell.
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| | Miami International Autodrome Undergoes Resurfacing Work Friday
Night
Last weekend's first-ever race in Miami Gardens, Fla. did not go off without a hitch. Surface issues in a couple of places on-track resulted in overnight paving work prior to Free Practice No. 3.
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| | Toyota Wins Rain-Plagued 6 Hours of
Spa-Francorchamps
Toyota GAZOO Racing's Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez claimed victory in Saturday's FIA World Endurance Championship TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. The race was plagued by rains, crashes and
three red flags.
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| | Cole Williams Wins Nashville SRX Fan Vote
Berth
Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) announced Saturday that Cole Williams won a Fan Vote that guarantees him a spot on the grid for the SRX race at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway.
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Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, Mark Thompson of Getty Images, LAT Images and Racing News Now.
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's Lead Eclipses A Full Race
by Phil Allaway
Chase Elliott's weekend started off badly with a crash in practice that put him at the rear of the field in a backup car. Elliott was able to charge to the front from there and finish fifth. That allowed him to expand his lead. It is now 65 points, more than a full race, over a tie between William
Byron and Ryan Blaney. Byron was in position to lead until Joey Logano bumped him into the wall with two laps to go. He would finish 13th and move into the tie. Blaney got damage in the big crash late and finished 17th. Logano's victory moved him up five places to fourth.
Ross Chastain, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. are all tied for fifth. Chastain won stage two, but crashed out of second shortly after the start of the final stage. That was still enough to move him up from sixth. Kyle Busch crashed out with Brad Keselowski on the backstretch and
dropped from a tie for third. Truex was eliminated in the big one after rubbing against Ricky Stenhouse Jr. His 15 stage points and a 24th-place finish was still enough to move him up from seventh.
Alex Bowman's car caught fire late and relegated him to 29th. He dropped three places to eighth. Kyle Larson dropped out early with engine failure and is now ninth. Christopher Bell finished sixth and stays in 10th. Kevin Harvick is up one place to 11th after finishing fourth.
Aric Almirola dropped to 12th after finishing 11th.
Chase Briscoe and Austin Dillon are now tied for 13th. Briscoe was caught up in the big one and just barely finished on the lead lap in 20th. Dillon finished ninth and moved up from 15th. Dillon is the last driver in the playoffs on points. He is one point ahead of teammate Tyler Reddick, who finished
second and moved up one place to 15th. Erik Jones was eliminated in the big crash and dropped two places to 16th.
Daniel Suarez is up two places to 17th after finishing 10th. Austin Cindric remains in 18th after finishing 18th. Chris Buescher is 19th, while Justin Haley is now 20th after finishing third. Denny Hamlin is up one place to 22nd despite getting caught up in the big crash and having to limp to the
finish in 21st.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) Chase Elliott 453, t-2) William Byron -65, t-2) Ryan Blaney -65, 4) Joey Logano -79, t-5)
Ross Chastain -89, t-5) Kyle Busch -89, t-5) Martin Truex Jr. -89, 8) Alex Bowman -96, 9) Kyle Larson -117, 10) Christopher Bell -126, 11) Kevin Harvick -140, 12) Aric Almirola -142, t-13) Chase Briscoe -166, t-13) Austin Dillon -166,
15) Tyler Reddick -167, 16) Erik Jones -167.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the Playoffs: 18) Austin Cindric -195, t-22) Denny Hamlin
-222.
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-9) Austin Cindric -8, t-9) Kyle Busch -8, 11) Ryan Blaney -9, 12) Martin Truex Jr. -10, 13) Tyler Reddick -11, t-14) Daniel Suarez -11, t-14) Darrell Wallace Jr.
-11.
Stage Points: 1) Chase Elliott 116,
2) William Byron -2, 3) Ryan Blaney -17, 4) Joey Logano -18, 5) Martin Truex Jr. -24, 6) Kyle Larson -26, 7) Christopher Bell -36, 8) Ross Chastain -40, 9) Kyle Busch -48, 10) Chase Briscoe -57, t-11) Denny Hamlin
-66, t-11) Erik Jones -66, 13) Alex Bowman -70, 14) Tyler Reddick -72, 15) Brad Keselowski -80, t-16) Aric Almirola -84, t-16) Daniel Suarez -84, t-16) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -84.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the Playoffs: 19) Kevin Harvick -87, t-20) Austin Cindric -88, 22) Austin Dillon -91.
Note: The Stage Points also include the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Chase Elliott 389, t-2) Kyle Busch -37, t-2) Alex Bowman -37, 4) Ryan Blaney -40, 5) Ross Chastain
-51, 6) Kevin Harvick -54, 7) Joey Logano -57, 8) William Byron -59, 9) Aric Almirola -61, 10) Martin Truex Jr. -63, 11) Austin Dillon -77, 12) Kyle Larson -87, 13) Christopher Bell -89, 14) Tyler Reddick -95, t-15) Chase Briscoe -101,
t-15) Daniel Suarez -101, t-15) Justin Haley -101.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the Playoffs: t-19) Austin Cindric -110, 25) Denny
Hamlin -155.
Note: These
standings are based on the old point system that was used before stages were created.
WC Points (1-16): 1) Chase Elliott 1695, 2) Kyle Busch -96, 3)
Ryan Blaney -101, t-4) Ross Chastain -118, t-4) Alex Bowman -118, 6) Joey Logano -159, 7) Kevin Harvick -170, 8) William Byron -171, 9) Martin Truex Jr. -199, 10) Aric Almirola -209, 11) Austin Dillon -234, 12) Kyle Larson -242, 13)
Christopher Bell -270, 14) Tyler Reddick -271, t-15) Chase Briscoe -322, t-15) Daniel Suarez -322.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the Playoffs: 19) Austin Cindric -365,
25) Denny Hamlin -493.
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)
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: AJ Allmendinger Loses Some Ground Despite Decent Run
by Phil Allaway
AJ Allmendinger was solid on Saturday en route to an eighth-place finish. However, a number of his closest competitors were better. Noah Gragson won the first two stages and finished second. That allowed him to break the tie with Ty Gibbs and cut the points lead down to 25. Gibbs ran very well, but fell
back late to a 16th-place finish. He's back in third. Justin Allgaier's victory moved him up to fourth.
Josh Berry ended up 18th after a penalty. That dropped him to fifth. Brandon Jones is down to sixth despite finishing seventh. Sam Mayer is still in seventh after finishing fifth. Riley Herbst is up one place to eighth after finishing third.
Herbst jumped over Ryan Sieg, who finished 11th and dropped to ninth. Austin Hill remains in 10th after a ninth-place finish, while Landon Cassill is 11th. Daniel Hemric is still in 12th, the final spot in the playoffs, after a 10th-place finish.
Hemric has a 22-point lead over Anthony Alfredo, who finished 15th. Jeb Burton is up two places to 14th, while Sheldon Creed's engine woes dropped him to 15th. Brett Moffitt is 16th.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) AJ Allmendinger 464, 2) Noah Gragson -25, 3) Ty Gibbs -41, 4) Justin Allgaier -92, 5) Josh Berry -93, 6) Brandon Jones
-117, 7) Sam Mayer -131, 8) Riley Herbst -146, 9) Ryan Sieg -147, 10) Austin Hill -162, 11) Landon Cassill -165, 12) Daniel Hemric -178, 13) Anthony Alfredo -200, 14) Jeb Burton -240, 15) Sheldon Creed
-246, 16) Brett Moffitt -249.
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 -2, t-3) AJ Allmendinger -10, t-3) Justin Allgaier -10, t-3) Josh Berry -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 and John Hunter Nemechek 12th in playoff points.
Stage Points: 1) Ty Gibbs 114, 2) Noah Gragson -4, 3) Justin Allgaier -6, 4) AJ Allmendinger -8, 5) Josh Berry -11, 6) Sam Mayer -33, 7) Brandon Jones
-37, 8) Daniel Hemric -50, 9) Austin Hill -71, 10) Ryan Sieg -75, t-11) Landon Cassill -81, t-11) Trevor Bayne -81, 13) Riley Herbst -82, 14) Brandon Brown -89, 15) Jade Buford -93, 16) Ryan Truex
-94.
Note: If he were eligible, John Hunter Nemechek would be ninth in stage points.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) AJ Allmendinger 410, 2) Noah Gragson -30, 3) Ty Gibbs -49, 4) Riley Herbst -83, 5) Ryan Sieg -86, 6) Brandon Jones -91, 7) Josh Berry
-94, 8) Landon Cassill -102, 9) Austin Hill -103, 10) Justin Allgaier -108, 11) Sam Mayer -110, 12) Anthony Alfredo -115, 13) Daniel Hemric -141, 14) Jeb Burton -149, 15) Brett Moffitt
-154, 16) Sheldon Creed -155.
WC Points (1-16): 1) AJ Allmendinger 1767, 2) Noah Gragson -89, 3) Ty Gibbs -185, 4) Riley Herbst -295, 5) Brandon Jones -326, 6) Josh Berry -330, 7) Ryan Sieg
-332, 8) Austin Hill -353, 9) Justin Allgaier -362, 10) Landon Cassill -364, 11) Sam Mayer -375, 12) Anthony Alfredo -424, 13) Daniel Hemric -494, 14) Sheldon Creed -539, 15) Jeb Burton
-544, 16) Brett Moffitt -551.
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)
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: Ben Rhodes Maintains Lead Despite Late Blown Tire
by Phil Allaway
Ben Rhodes had a pretty difficult Friday in Darlington. A mediocre qualifying effort led to an ok race until he blew his left rear tire late and crashed. A 24th-place finish cost him part of his lead. His advantage is now 30 points over John Hunter Nemechek, who gained three places after winning his first race of the
year. Chandler Smith gained points on Rhodes, but dropped to third after finishing 20th. Stewart Friesen is down one place to fourth after finishing 11th.
Zane Smith is down one place to fifth after a seventh-place finish. Carson Hocevar is up three places to sixth after winning stage two and finishing second. Ty Majeski remains in seventh after finishing fourth. Christian Eckes is down two places to eighth after finishing 16th.
Grant Enfinger gets his No. 23 Chevrolet in the playoff positions for the first time this season after finishing third and making an excellent save exiting turn 2. Tanner Gray crashed out and dropped two places to 10th, the final driver in the playoffs. Parker Kligerman won stage one and finished fifth. The run moved him up to 11th in points
despite missing two races. Due to the missed races, he is ineligible for the Camping World Truck Series playoffs. Gray is 21 points ahead of Tyler Ankrum in 12th. Ankrum moved up one place after finishing eighth.
Matt Crafton originally finished fifth, but got disqualified after his truck failed the height sticks. As a result, he dropped from 10th to 13th in points. Derek Kraus is down two places to 14th after finishing 18th. Matt DiBenedetto is 15th, followed by Timmy Hill.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) Ben Rhodes 284, 2) John Hunter Nemechek -30, 3) Chandler Smith -32, 4) Stewart Friesen -42, 5) Zane Smith -43, 6) Carson Hocevar -61, 7) Ty Majeski
-63, 8) Christian Eckes -65, 9) Grant Enfinger -82, 10) Tanner Gray -96, 11) Parker Kligerman -113, 12) Tyler Ankrum -117, 13) Matt Crafton -120, 14) Derek Kraus -125, 15) Matt
DiBenedetto -147, 16) Timmy Hill -156.
Playoff Points: 1) Zane Smith 13, 2) Ben Rhodes -3, 3) John Hunter Nemechek -5, t-4) Chandler Smith -8, t-3) Corey Heim -8, t-6) Stewart Friesen -12, t-6) Carson Hocevar
-12, t-6) Parker Kligerman -12.
Note: If he were eligible for Playoff Points, William Byron would be tied for fourth.
Stage Points: 1) Ben Rhodes 90, 2) John Hunter Nemechek -16, 3) Chandler Smith -25, 4) Stewart Friesen -38, 5) Ty Majeski -42, 6) Christian Eckes -44, 7) Zane Smith
-47, 8) Carson Hocevar -48, 9) Grant Enfinger -54, 10) Parker Kligerman -55, t-11) Tanner Gray -58, t-11) Derek Kraus -58, 13) Matt Crafton -61, 14) Tyler Ankrum -71, 15) Matt DiBenedetto
-75, 16) Corey Heim -82.
Note: If they were eligible, Kyle Busch would be 14th and Ross Chastain 15th in stage points.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Zane Smith 176, 2) Ben Rhodes -5, 3) Stewart Friesen -11, 4) Chandler Smith -13, 5) John Hunter Nemechek -18, 6) Carson Hocevar -19, 7) Christian Eckes
-27, 8) Ty Majeski -29, 9) Grant Enfinger -36, 10) Tanner Gray -46, 11) Tyler Ankrum -55, 12) Parker Kligerman -58, 13) Matt Crafton -64, 14) Derek Kraus -76, 15) Matt DiBenedetto -79, 16) Timmy Hill
-81.
Note: If he were eligible, Kyle Busch would be tied for 16th in Old Points.
WC Points (1-16): 1) Ben Rhodes 1021, 2) Zane Smith -18, 3) John Hunter Nemechek -46, 4) Chandler Smith -47, 5) Stewart Friesen -54, 6) Carson Hocevar -63, 7) Christian Eckes
-95, 8) Ty Majeski -103, 9) Grant Enfinger -131, 10) Tanner Gray -165, 11) Tyler Ankrum -200, 12) Matt Crafton -237, 13) Derek Kraus -269, 14) Matt DiBenedetto -284, 15) Timmy Hill -286, 16) Parker Kligerman
-320.
Race Winners: Zane Smith (Daytona, Circuit of the Americas), Chandler Smith (Las Vegas), Corey Heim (Atlanta), William Byron (Martinsville), Ben Rhodes (Bristol), John Hunter Nemechek (Darlington)
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 Goodyear 400 was brought to you by the letter A for Attrition. 13 cars failed to finish Sunday's race, mostly due to crashes. As a result, the 1.366-mile oval was feeling a little empty with only 23 cars running at the finish. - Phil Allaway
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Quotes to Remember: Goodyear 400
complied by Phil Allaway
"Just an incredible race there at the end with William. I don’t know if he meant to get into me and fence me, but he did and at that point I felt like it was game on and was able to get back to him there the last few laps, pushing really hard, and just knew
that was my shot to win the thing and I had to take it. Man, I’m so proud of this team. It’s so cool to win in this car. This is my first quarter midget. This is the beginning and to see it in Victory Lane, I’m just so proud. My family is here. My mom, my dad. Happy Mother’s Day. My sister is here. Everybody is here. My wife is not here, unfortunately, and my kids, but this is a very special day to be able to get this one in Victory Lane and celebrate with a few of us here." - Joey Logano,
race winner
"William [Byron] did a really good job on the restart to get by Joey (Logano). There was a little bit of contact there, so I don’t know if that’s why Joey got back to William. It also kind of looked like Joey was going under and William kind of faded down. I was hoping they were going to blow their momentum a little bit more than they
did, but it didn’t turn out that way.
"All-in-all, it was a good rebound for our No. 8 3CHI Chevrolet team. We pitted for a vibration pretty early in the race that could have derailed our whole day, but we were able to bounce back from it." - Tyler Reddick, finished second
"This isn’t the best car we’ve brought to the race track unloading after practice. But we just kept after it all day. Some great strategy from this No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevy team. We had a good restart there at the end and we just kind of hung on. We didn’t have a fourth-place car, but it’s a great finish. This was my
best Cup finish besides that win. To do it here at Darlington [Raceway], to get a [third], it’s pretty special." - Justin Haley, finished third
"I felt like we finished probably better than we should have, but I think the guys did a good job on pit road with our Rheem Ford Mustang and just kind of one side or the other. The last run was probably the best that we were, just being able to hold on. We
just couldn’t hold on once it started getting cooler, but we wound up with a good call there and got the caution and wound up in the right spot and then were able to capitalize on it." - Kevin Harvick, finished fourth
"We just kind of survived, really. It wasn’t anything spectacular by any means. I thought we had our No. 9 NAPA Chevy in a pretty good spot there on a couple occasions. It was just kind of a matter of how you restarted; whether you had a
fortunate set of circumstances that your lane went forward and you were able to get a couple of spots here and a couple spots there. And then you ride around pretty much the rest of the time, unless it gets messed up and then you might be able to pass somebody in the last five laps or so in a run. And then you hope your pit stops are really fast and then hope you do a good job on the next restart." - Chase Elliott, finished fifth
"This SiriusXM Camry was excellent as these No. 20 cars are every time we go to the race track. Last week at Dover, it felt like we had a car capable of winning and had unfortunate circumstances take us out of it. And then you know kind of the
same thing today. That yellow was the big unfortunate moment whenever the yellow came out and kind of flipped the strategy. Overall, really proud to be at Joe Gibbs Racing and proud for all of our partners on this 20 car. Maybe one of these days we’ll be up there." - Christopher Bell, finished sixth
"It was a battle. We weren’t very good to start. I think the track conditions got a little better for us as it cooled off. But we battled all day. My No. 47 Kroger / Nature Valley Chevrolet team made good adjustments and the cautions fell the right way. I felt like we had really good strategy on that last long run, which put us in the
top-five when the caution came out. I felt like we were in a really good spot to run top-five; and then [Kevin Harvick] got us in the fence there and I was really tight after that.
"Two top 10’s in a row is nothing to be too bummed about. That was a battle. We weren’t very good, but we made something out of it." - Ricky Stenhouse Jr., finished eighth
"What an unbelievable day at Darlington Raceway. We faced so much as a team so it feels really good to get a ninth-place finish in the Huk Chevrolet. We had to make a green-flag stop in Stage 1 but fought back to take the wave-around and get back on the lead lap. Our Chevy was really good on the long run, but we struggled on the short
run, especially in dirty air. I was starting to wonder how many times I could hit the wall without having issues. We overcame two speeding penalties today, so it says a lot about our team to be able to overcome those and finish in the top 10." - Austin Dillon, finished ninth
"No, I mean, we were really close off of [turn 2] and I think it spooked him and got him tight; and he was right against the wall and I got the lead. He does this stuff all the time. I’ve seen it with other guys. He drove in there 10 mph too fast, and with these Next Gen cars, he slammed me so hard it knocked the whole right side off the
car and there was no way to make the corner.
"He can’t win a race, so it does it that way. I don’t know. It was close racing on the restart. We were faster than him. Obviously at the end, the right rear started to go away; and yeah, he didn’t even make it a contest." - William Byron, finished 13th
"I saw smoke and a car sideways. I thought I was through on the top side and got hit from behind. Everybody’s just ripping and gouging. It’s almost the last set of tires. We just had no luck today. No luck on pit road. The short run speed wasn’t there, but we were good on the long run, but just didn’t make it happen with the McDonald’s
Toyota." - Kurt Busch, finished 28th (Crashed out)
"Just [that Brad Keselowski] blew a right-front tire coming off of turn 2. I had nowhere to go and just got collected up in something not of our doing. It’s frustrating. We had a good M&M’s Camry and it was nice to be able to run in the top-five and lead some laps there. Just felt like we were trying to debate on the setup there
between the short run versus the long run and where we wanted to be good and what all was going to pay dividends at the end of the day." - Kyle Busch, finished 33rd (Crashed out)
"I just blew a tire. I’m pretty sure I ran over debris off of [turn 2]. There had been debris there for about 25 laps and I think I finally got it. I just blew a tire and went straight. That’s part of it." - Brad Keselowski, finished 34th (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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