Frontstretch Newsletter: Nov. 7, 2022
Volume XVI, Edition CXCVI |
- NASCAR teams are still en route
back to their shops from Arizona after wrapping up the 2022 season.
- Tonight, the newest season of
Interstate Batteries Monday Night Racing starts with the Proceller 8 300 at the virtual Talladega Superspeedway. Coverage is scheduled to start at 7:45 p.m. ET on Podium eSports' Podium2 Twitch channel. Our own Michael Massie, fresh from Phoenix, will be competing in the 113-lap race.
For this season,
Frontstretch has entered into a sponsorship deal with Monday Night Racing. During the offseason, we will weekly 5 Points to Ponder columns about each event, in addition to a post-race show on our YouTube channel. That is in addition to race recaps. We will have a recap of the Proceller 8 300 and anything else that breaks today at Frontstretch. |
Around the World in Motorsports: Nov. 4-6 |
- Friday afternoon saw the ARCA Menards Series West teams wrap up their 2022 season. Despite getting penalized a lap for rough driving, Kyle Busch Motorsports' Sammy Smith was able to charge
back to win the Desert Diamond Casino West Valley 100. Jesse Love was second, then Andres Perez de Lara, Landon Pembelton and Todd Souza. Jake Drew finished finished 13th and won the ARCA Menards Series West title by 56 points over Tanner Reif. Cole Moore was third, then Souza and Joey
Iest. - In Charlotte, the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series wrapped up their season at the World of Outlaws World Finals. Friday night saw Donny Schatz dominate the proceedings to take the win by 1.05 seconds over Cory Eliason. Brad Sweet was third, then Cole Macedo and Tyler
Courtney. Saturday night was more of the same as Schatz led the final 20 laps to take his 14th career World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series victory at The Dirt Track at Charlotte. Giovanni Scelzi was second, then Sheldon Haudenschild, Carson Macedo and Sweet. Finishes of third and fifth were more than enough to give Sweet his third straight World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series championship. He ended up 48 points ahead of David Gravel. Carson Macedo was third, then Schatz and Haudenschild. - In the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Late Model Series, Jonathan Davenport swept past Hudson O'Neal on lap 28 Saturday night to take the lead. From there, he drove away to take the victory, his 22nd overall for the year. Chris Madden was second, then Dennis Erb Jr., Tim McCreadie and Dale McDowell. Erb's third-place finish was good enough to give him the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Late Model Series championship by 186 points over Tanner English. Max Blair was third, then Ryan Gustin and Brent Larson. - In the Super DIRTcar Series in Charlotte, Mathieu Desjardins claimed his first career series victory Friday night in only his second start in the United States. He led the first 13 laps, then benefitted when Matt Sheppard's car ground to a halt. Tim Fuller was second, then Demetrios Drellos, Peter Britten and Max McLaughlin. Saturday night saw Mat Williamson sweep around McLaughlin with three laps to go and hold on to take the victory. McLaughlin was second, then Drellos, Anthony Perrego and Alex Payne. Sheppard did not have the best weekend in Charlotte, but he still got to take the spoils back to Waterloo, N.Y. as he won the championship over Williamson by 83 points. Jimmy Phelps was third in points, then McLaughlin and Britten. |
| | Joey Logano Dominates Phoenix, Wins 2nd Cup
ChampionshipTeam Penske's Joey Logano dominated Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series season finale at Phoenix Raceway, leading 187 of 312 laps to claim his fourth victory of the year
and win the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series championship. Ryan Blaney was second, then Ross Chastain, William Byron and Kevin Harvick. |
| | Joe Gibbs Racing announced Sunday afternoon that Coy Gibbs, the team's vice chairman and COO, died in his sleep Saturday night. He was
49. |
| | Ty Gibbs Removed from 23XI Racing No. 23 at Phoenix After Family
EmergencyPrior to Coy Gibbs' death being announced, Joe Gibbs Racing announced that Ty Gibbs would not race the 23XI Racing No. 23 on Sunday. Daniel Hemric ultimately took
his place. |
| | NASCAR Community Reacts to Coy Gibbs’
DeathNews of Coy Gibbs' death broke 30 minutes before Sunday's race. A number of people in the NASCAR industry took to social media and posted their
condolences. |
| | Crew Member Injury Keeps Christopher Bell From Title on Heels of Coy
Gibbs’ DeathChristopher Bell was right there with Joey Logano prior to the final pit stops Sunday. An unfortunate pit crew injury resulted in a stop of nearly 20 seconds,
dropping him out of contention. |
| | Chase Elliott’s Dominant Season Ends with a Whimper at
PhoenixChase Elliott had been the most consistently successful driver all season in the NASCAR Cup Series. However, a crash on lap 200 ruined his day in Phoenix. A
28th-place finish relegated Elliott to fourth in points. |
| | Ty Gibbs Brings Home Xfinity Championship After Winning at
PhoenixTy Gibbs was able to hold off Noah Gragson Saturday to win the Xfinity Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway to claim the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship.
Justin Allgaier was third, then Landon Cassill and AJ Allmendinger. |
| | Runner-Up Noah Gragson Respects the Loss But Laments the ‘Douchebag’
WonNoah Gragson had a fast Chevrolet Saturday at Phoenix Raceway, but a bad final pit stop forced him to spend the rest of the race catching up to Ty Gibbs. While he
finished second, the was very frustrated afterwards. |
| | Zane Smith Wins Race, Truck Title at
PhoenixFront Row Motorsports' Zane Smith was able to take the lead on the final restart and hold on to win the Lucas Oil 150 Friday night at Phoenix Raceway to claim the
2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship. Ben Rhodes was second, then Chandler Smith, John Hunter Nemechek and Stewart Friesen. |
| | Zane Smith: 120 Voicemails For A Job, 1 Call Back — & Now 1 Truck
TitleAt this point last year, Zane Smith was effectively unemployed. He worked hard behind the scenes just to get anything for 2022. Only Front Row Motorsports returned
his calls. Now, he's a champion. |
| | Ty Majeski Falls Short of Championship After Late Phoenix
SpinThorSport Racing's Ty Majeski tried his hardest Friday night to bring another championship back to Ohio. However, he spun exiting turn 2 and hit the inside wall to
end his championship chances. |
| | KBM Announces Chevrolet Switch, Adds Chase Purdy & Jack
WoodKyle Busch Motorsports announced Friday that they are switching to Chevrolet for the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season. Chase Purdy will drive full-time in
the No. 4, while the No. 51 will be shared by Kyle Busch, Jack Wood and others. |
| | Nick Sanchez, Rev Moving to Truck Series in
2023Rev Racing announced Friday that they will move up to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2023. Nick Sanchez and Gainbridge will remain with the team, which will
have an alliance with Kyle Busch Motorsports. |
Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography and NASCAR Media via Meg Oliphant of Getty Images. Have news for Frontstretch? Don't hesitate to let us know; email us at frontstretcheditors@googlegroups.com with a promising lead or tip. |
Seeking the NASCAR Cup Series Championship: Joey Logano Wins 2nd NASCAR Cup Series Championship
by Phil Allaway
Joey Logano came up huge when he needed to. He led 187 of 312 laps Sunday to take the win and claim his second NASCAR Cup Series championship. The final margin was six points over Ross Chastain, who came all the way up from 25th to finish third. Christopher Bell had a terrible final pit stop
(see above) and ended up finishing 10th to take third in points. Chase Elliott crashed on a lap 200 restart after contact with Chastain and finished 28th to take fourth in points. Of those eliminated from the playoffs, Denny Hamlin finished eighth to hold onto fifth
in points. He ended up one point ahead of William Byron, who finished a strong fourth. Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney ended up tied for seventh. Larson gets the position due to his victories. Chase Briscoe's fourth-place finish Sunday
moved him up one place to ninth in the final standings. Briscoe jumped over Daniel Suarez, who struggled to a 24th-place finish, but still finished a career-best 10th in points. Austin Dillon finishes 11th in points, while Austin Cindric is 12th. Kyle Busch finished seventh in his final race for Joe Gibbs Racing to move up to 13th. Tyler Reddick ended up 23rd Sunday and dropped to 14th. Kevin Harvick moved up to 15th with his fifth-place finish, while Alex Bowman dropped down to 16th in his return to the car after crashing late. Martin Truex Jr. has been locked into 17th in points since the playoffs began. He ended up 206 points ahead of Erik Jones. Bubba Wallace will finish 19th in points, while Aric Almirola ended up four points behind Wallace in 20th. Championship 4 Point
Standings: 1) Joey Logano 5040, 2) Ross Chastain -6, 3) Christopher Bell -13, 4) Chase Elliott -31.
Note No. 1: Drivers in Bold have locked into the Round of 12. Note No. 2: Drivers in italics have been eliminated from the playoffs, or never qualified for the playoffs. Eliminated Playoff Driver Standings: 5) Denny Hamlin 2379, 6) William Byron -1, t-7) Kyle Larson -25,
t-7) Ryan Blaney -25, 9) Chase Briscoe -87, 10) Daniel Suarez -107, 11) Austin Dillon -151, 12) Austin Cindric -153, 13) Kyle Busch -155, 14) Tyler Reddick -164, 15) Kevin Harvick -253, 16) Alex Bowman -272. Non-Playoff Point Standings
(1-16): 1) Chase Elliott 1206, 2) Joey Logano -53, 3) Ryan Blaney -66, 4) Kyle Larson -82, 5) Ross Chastain -104, 6) Christopher Bell -141, 7) Martin Truex Jr. -169, 8) William Byron -176, 9) Denny Hamlin -229, 10) Kyle Busch -269, 11) Daniel Suarez -314, 12) Chase Briscoe -346, 13) Tyler Reddick -362, 14) Austin Cindric -372, 15) Erik Jones -375, 16) Kevin Harvick
-382.
Best of the Rest (17-26): 17) Martin Truex Jr. 1037, 18) Erik Jones -206, 19) Bubba Wallace -273, 20) Aric
Almirola -277, 21) Chris Buescher -310, 22) Justin Haley -338, 23) Michael McDowell -374, 24) Brad Keselowski -408, 25) Cole Custer -448, 26) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -457. Stage Points with Championship Race Corollary: t-1) Chase Elliott 298, t-1) Ryan Blaney 298, 3) Kyle Larson -12, 4) Joey Logano
-27, 5) William Byron -50, 6) Martin Truex Jr. -55, 7) Ross Chastain -64, 8) Christopher Bell -85, 9) Kyle Busch -95, 10) Denny Hamlin -103, 11) Chase Briscoe -142, 12) Daniel Suarez -149, 13) Tyler Reddick -169, 14) Erik Jones -183, 15) Bubba Wallace -195, 16) Kevin Harvick -198.
Stage Points without Championship Race Corollary: 1) Chase Elliott 303, 2) Ryan Blaney -5, 3) Joey Logano -13, 4) Kyle Larson -17, 5) William Byron -55, 6) Martin Truex Jr.
-60, 7) Ross Chastain -69, 8) Christopher Bell -85, 9) Kyle Busch -100, 10) Denny Hamlin -108, 11) Chase Briscoe -147, 12) Daniel Suarez -154, 13) Tyler Reddick -174, 14) Erik Jones -188, 15) Bubba Wallace -200, 16) Kevin Harvick -203
Note No. 1: Drivers in the Championship 4 are currently ineligible to score Stage Points in the final race of the year. The first
stage point standings reflect this. The second reflects the normal rules being in place for the final race.
Note No. 2: The Stage Points also include the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Chase Elliott 1054, 2) Ross Chastain -65, t-3) Joey Logano -81, t-3) Ryan Blaney -81, 5) Christopher Bell
-82, 6) Kyle Larson -87, 7) Martin Truex Jr. -114, 8) Denny Hamlin -141, 9) William Byron -146, 10) Daniel Suarez -173, 11) Austin Cindric -184, 12) Austin Dillon -192, 13) Kyle Busch
-193, 14) Tyler Reddick -198, 15) Erik Jones -209, 16) Kevin Harvick -216. Note: These standings are based on the old point system that was used before stages were created. WC Points (1-16): 1) Chase Elliott
4812, 2) Ross Chastain -73, 3) Joey Logano -119, 4) Ryan Blaney -148, 5) Kyle Larson -199, 6) Christopher Bell -208, 7) Denny Hamlin -380, 8) Martin Truex Jr. -391, 9) William Byron -437, 10) Kyle Busch
-538, 11) Kevin Harvick -582, 12) Daniel Suarez -588, 13) Tyler Reddick -590, 14) Austin Cindric -599, 15) Austin Dillon -631, 16) Chase Briscoe -679. 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, Watkins Glen, Homestead), Alex Bowman (Las Vegas-1), Chase Briscoe (Phoenix-1), William Byron (Atlanta-1, Martinsville-1), Ross Chastain (Circuit of the Americas, Talladega), Denny Hamlin (Richmond-1, Charlotte-1), Kyle Busch (Bristol-1), Chase Elliott (Dover, Nashville, Atlanta-2, Pocono), Joey Logano (Darlington-1, Gateway, Las Vegas-2, Phoenix-2), Kurt Busch (Kansas-1), Daniel Suarez (Sonoma), Tyler
Reddick (Road America, Indianapolis), Christopher Bell (Loudon, Charlotte-2, Martinsville-2), Kevin Harvick (Michigan, Richmond-2), Austin Dillon (Daytona-2), Erik Jones (Darlington-2), Bubba Wallace (Kansas-2), Chris Buescher (Bristol-2)
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 Championship: Ty Gibbs Holds Off Noah Gragson For Championship
by Phil Allaway
The past 10 days have been rather miserable for Ty Gibbs. Saturday saw him put together a complete race to score the victory and take home the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship in a shower of boos. He ended up five points ahead of Noah Gragson, who finished second. Justin Allgaier ended up third in points after finishing third. Josh
Berry ended up 13th Saturday and finishes fourth in points. AJ Allmendinger ended up the best of those drivers eliminated from the playoffs with a fifth-place finish, He ended up a full race, 60 points ahead of Austin Hill. Sam Mayer was involved in a crash and ended up 34th. Despite that, Mayer ended up finishing seventh in the
standings. Brandon Jones moved up one place to eighth after finishing 11th. Daniel Hemric finished eighth, but dropped one place to ninth. Riley Herbst ended up in 10th, while Ryan Sieg and Jeremy Clements rounded out the top 12. Landon Cassill had one of his best races of the year Saturday, finishing fourth and earning 12 stage points. He ends the year in 13th, 28 points ahead of Sheldon Creed. Anthony Alfredo ended up 15th, while Jeb Burton is 16th. Note No. 1: Drivers in Bold have locked into the
Round of 8. Note No. 2: Drivers in italics have failed to qualify, or were otherwise ineligible for the playoffs. Championship 4 Point Standings: 1) Ty Gibbs 4040, 2) Noah Gragson -5, 3) Justin Allgaier -6, 4) Josh Berry
-16. Eliminated Playoff Driver Standings: 5) AJ Allmendinger 2333, 6) Austin Hill -60, 7) Sam Mayer -94, 8) Brandon Jones -112, 9) Daniel Hemric -113, 10) Riley Herbst -136, 11) Ryan Sieg -207, 12) Jeremy Clements
-264.
Non-Playoff Point Standings (1-16): 1) AJ Allmendinger 1337, 2) Ty Gibbs -22, 3) Noah Gragson -27, 4) Justin Allgaier -67, 5) Josh Berry -206, 6) Austin Hill -274, 7) Brandon Jones
-329, 8) Sam Mayer -383, 9) Riley Herbst -431, 10) Daniel Hemric -482, 11) Landon Cassill -558, 12) Sheldon Creed -586, 13) Ryan Sieg -606, 14) Anthony Alfredo -704, 15) Jeb Burton
-777, 16) Brandon Brown -799. Best of the Rest: 13) Landon Cassill 779, 14) Sheldon Creed -28, 15) Anthony Alfredo -146, 16) Jeb Burton -219, 17) Brandon Brown -241, 18) Myatt Snider
-252, 19) Alex Labbe -318, 20) Bayley Currey -351, 21) Brett Moffitt -363, 22) Kyle Weatherman -410. Stage Points with Championship Race Corollary: 1) Justin Allgaier 350, 2) Ty Gibbs -2, 3) Noah
Gragson -16, 4) AJ Allmendinger -44, 5) Josh Berry -96, 6) Brandon Jones -126, 7) Austin Hill -153, 8) Sam Mayer -163, 9) Daniel Hemric -202, 10) Riley Herbst -239, 11) Sheldon Creed -248, 12) Trevor Bayne
-254, 13) Landon Cassill -263, 14) Ryan Sieg -280, 15) Sammy Smith -297, 16) Brandon Brown -298. Stage Points without Championship Race Corollary: 1) Ty Gibbs 368, 2) Justin Allgaier
-1, 3) Noah Gragson -17, 4) AJ Allmendinger -62, 5) Josh Berry -106, 6) Brandon Jones -144, 7) Austin Hill -171, 8) Sam Mayer -181, 9) Daniel Hemric -220, 10) Riley Herbst -257, 11) Sheldon Creed
-266, 12) Trevor Bayne -272, 13) Landon Cassill -281, 14) Ryan Sieg -298, 15) Sammy Smith -315, 16) Brandon Brown -316.
Note No. 1: Drivers in the Championship 4 are currently ineligible to score Stage
Points in the final race of the year. The first stage point standings reflect this. The second reflects the normal rules being in place for the final race. Note No. 2: If he was eligible, John Hunter Nemechek would be 14th in stage points. Old Point Standings (1-16):
1) AJ Allmendinger 1174, 2) Noah Gragson -63, 3) Ty Gibbs -67, 4) Justin Allgaier -133, 5) Josh Berry -149, 6) Austin Hill -161, 7) Brandon Jones -245, 8) Riley Herbst -246, 9) Sam Mayer
-271, 10) Daniel Hemric -329, 11) Landon Cassill -352, 12) Ryan Sieg -377, 13) Sheldon Creed -386, 14) Anthony Alfredo -453, 15) Jeb Burton -511, 16) Jeremy Clements -541. WC Points (1-16): 1) AJ Allmendinger 5086, 2) Noah Gragson -165, 3) Ty
Gibbs -202, 4) Justin Allgaier -427, 5) Josh Berry -521, 6) Austin Hill -557, 7) Riley Herbst -860, 8) Brandon Jones -873, 9) Sam Mayer -915, 10) Daniel Hemric -1156, 11) Landon Cassill
-1231, 12) Sheldon Creed -1310, 13) Ryan Sieg -1332, 14) Anthony Alfredo -1578, 15) Jeb Burton -1775, 16) Myatt Snider -1845.
Race Winners: Austin Hill (Daytona-1, Atlanta-2), Cole Custer (Fontana), Ty Gibbs (Las Vegas-1, Atlanta-1, Richmond, Road America, Michigan, Martinsville-2, Phoenix-2), Noah Gragson (Phoenix-1, Talladega-1, Pocono, Darlington-2, Kansas, Bristol, Texas-2, Homestead), AJ Allmendinger (Circuit of the Americas, Portland, Indianapolis, Talladega-2, Charlotte-2), Brandon Jones (Martinsville-1), Josh Berry (Dover, Charlotte-1, Las Vegas-2),
Justin Allgaier (Darlington-1, Nashville, Loudon), Tyler Reddick (Texas-1), Kyle Larson (Watkins Glen), Jeremy Clements (Daytona-2) 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 Championship: Zane Smith Wins NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Championship
by Phil Allaway
Zane Smith was able to get around Ben Rhodes on the final restart Friday night and
hold on to win the Lucas Oil 150. With the victory, he claimed the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship. Rhodes held on for second with only two fresh tires to finish second in points. Chandler Smith finished third and ended up third. Ty Majeski crashed late and ended up 20th, finishing fourth in points. John Hunter Nemechek was the best of those eliminated from the playoffs, finishing fourth Friday night
to claim the fifth spot in points. He was nine points ahead of Stewart Friesen, who stayed out when the rest of the field pitted late, ultimately finishing fifth. Grant Enfinger finished sixth to take seventh in points, while Christian Eckes stayed in eighth despite a crash dropping him to 30th. Matt Crafton finishes ninth in points, followed by Carson Hocevar. Hocevar ended up with nearly 100
fewer points than Nemechek over the final seven races. Outside of the playoffs, Derek Kraus ended up 11th in points after finishing 11th Friday night. He was 12 points ahead of Tyler Ankrum. Matt DiBenedetto finished 13th in points, while Corey Heim jumped over Tanner
Gray to take 14th after finishing seventh. Chase Purdy ended up 16th in points. Championship 4 Point Standings: 1) Zane Smith 4040, 2) Ben Rhodes -5, 3) Chandler Smith -6, 4) Ty Majeski -23. Eliminated Playoff Driver Point Standings: 5) John Hunter Nemechek 2285, 6) Stewart Friesen -9, 7) Grant Enfinger -19, 8) Christian Eckes
-55, 9) Matt Crafton -77, 10) Carson Hocevar -99.
Best of the Rest (11-20): 11) Derek Kraus 595, 12) Tyler Ankrum
-12, 13) Matt DiBenedetto -74, 14) Corey Heim -110, 15) Tanner Gray -111, 16) Chase Purdy -137, 17) Ryan Preece -159, t-18) Parker Kligerman -169, t-18) Colby Howard -169, 20) Timmy Hill -211.
Non-Playoff Point Standings (1-16): 1) Zane Smith 917, 2) Chandler Smith -53, 3) John Hunter Nemechek -85, 4) Ty Majeski -103, 5) Stewart Friesen -109, 6) Ben Rhodes
-134, 7) Christian Eckes -155, 8) Grant Enfinger -211, 9) Carson Hocevar -228, 10) Matt Crafton -280, 11) Derek Kraus -322, 12) Tyler Ankrum -334, 13) Matt DiBenedetto -396, 14) Corey Heim -412, 15) Tanner Gray -430, 16) Chase Purdy -467. Stage Points with Championship Race Corollary: 1) John Hunter Nemechek 244, 2) Zane Smith -37, 3) Chandler Smith -53, 4) Ben Rhodes -54, 5) Ty Majeski -63, 6) Stewart Friesen
-64, 7) Christian Eckes -83, t-8) Grant Enfinger -114, t-8) Corey Heim -114, 10) Carson Hocevar -115, 11) Derek Kraus -141, 12) Matt Crafton -155, 13) Ryan Preece -162, 14) Tyler Ankrum
-178, 15) Parker Kligerman -182, 16) Tanner Gray -195. Stage Points without Championship Race Corollary: 1) John Hunter Nemechek 244, 2) Zane Smith -17, 3) Chandler Smith -42, 4) Ben
Rhodes -48, 5) Ty Majeski -57, 6) Stewart Friesen -64, 7) Christian Eckes -83, t-8) Grant Enfinger -114, t-8) Corey Heim -114, 10) Carson Hocevar -115, 11) Derek Kraus -141, 12) Matt Crafton -155, 13) Ryan Preece -162, 14) Tyler Ankrum -178, 15) Parker Kligerman -182, 16) Tanner Gray -195. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Zane Smith 614, 2) Chandler Smith -32, 3) Ty Majeski -59, 4) Stewart Friesen -72, 5) Christian Eckes
-91, 6) John Hunter Nemechek -97, 7) Ben Rhodes -106, 8) Grant Enfinger -124, 9) Carson Hocevar -130, 10) Matt Crafton -153, 11) Tyler Ankrum -188, 12) Derek Kraus -205, 13) Matt DiBenedetto
-221, 14) Tanner Gray -265, 15) Chase Purdy -273, 16) Colby Howard -295. WC Points (1-16): 1) Zane Smith 3483, 2) Chandler Smith -139, 3) Ty Majeski -240, 4) Stewart Friesen -285, 5) John Hunter Nemechek
-326, 6) Christian Eckes -331, 7) Ben Rhodes -361, 8) Grant Enfinger -446, 9) Carson Hocevar -458, 10) Matt Crafton -586, 11) Tyler Ankrum -713, 12) Derek Kraus -732, 13) Matt DiBenedetto
-816, 14) Tanner Gray -940, 15) Chase Purdy -1052, 16) Colby Howard -1055. Race Winners: Zane Smith (Daytona, Circuit of the Americas, Kansas-2, Phoenix), Chandler Smith
(Las Vegas, Pocono, Richmond), Corey Heim (Atlanta, Gateway), William Byron (Martinsville), Ben Rhodes (Bristol-1), John Hunter Nemechek (Darlington, Kansas-2), Stewart Friesen (Texas), Ross Chastain (Charlotte), Kyle Busch (Sonoma), Todd Gilliland (Knoxville), Ryan Preece (Nashville), Parker Kligerman (Mid-Ohio), Grant Enfinger (Lucas Oil IRP), Ty Majeski (Bristol-2, Homestead)
Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of NASCAR Media via Jared C. Tilton of Getty Images.
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Letter of the Race: Sunday's Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway was brought to you by the letter P for Penske. Team Penske was
dominant all weekend. They were quick in practice, Joey Logano won the pole and dominated the race. If Logano weren't as strong as he was, he had Ryan Blaney right there as well in a potential wingman role, although he ended up angry that he couldn't get the win for himself. - Phil Allaway |
Quotes to Remember: Season Finale 500k
complied by Phil Allaway
"Amazing. It felt like it took too long to get back to this point, but it’s so special to win championships. It’s what you want. It’s the only thing I race for. Race wins are nice, but championships is what it’s all about. We were in great position there. Everybody on the Team
Penske team did so great. Teamwork from the get-go, working through practice together and everybody trying to put together what would be the best 22 car for us to win this championship and the goal was achieved. I can’t thank everyone enough for the opportunity. It’s so special to win these things and to get this for the guys. I know how bad Paul wanted it. I’ve never seen him stress so much the last few weeks, and I was right there with him the whole time, so it was pretty special to get it." -
Joey Logano, race and championship winner "I wish we could have won one. We had a great car to do it and it just didn’t happen. I’m proud of the effort. We had a winning car and it just didn’t happen.
"You can’t pass anybody. You get behind someone and get tight and it takes your air away and that’s all you can do." - Ryan Blaney, finished second
"I think we did everything right there at the end. That was a heck
of a drive by us. Who had the No. 1 car second in points on their bingo card on Feb. 1? This is pretty wild. This is a continuation of a lot of people believing in me. To build everything together to come drive this car, there are so many team owners and so many crew members that have put in the work. It’s pretty wild to fight for a Cup Series championship and to have a car fast enough to chase them down to the end. It’s also a testament to everyone at Chevy and GM to make me a better race car
driver. And my family… they have stuck with me and pushed me from the farm to NASCAR. I’m so proud of what we’ve been able to do at the track and on the farm. A lot of people probably weren’t sure how I’d be getting out the car. But I’m so proud of the effort and so proud of the execution on pit road of our pit crew. This is only our first shot with Trackhouse. For Justin Marks, Ty [Norris] and Pitbull to believe in me to drive this 1 car, it’s incredible." - Ross Chastain, finished third "I just didn’t fire off near as good. I was kind of on top of the racetrack a little bit more than I really had been all day. Truthfully, the 22 and the 12 were so good on the short run every time. I just had nothing for them. On the long run, I was typically a little bit better I just would give up so much on the short run. I just didn’t fire off very good there at the end. I don’t really know why. I don’t know if the track just
changed there as the sun was going down. It wasn’t as good. I felt that was the worst run balance-wise we had all day. It’s unfortunate that’s when it came, but, overall, it was a good day." - Chase Briscoe, finished fourth "Wow, wow, wow. Just from being out and then the wins at Charlotte and Martinsville and all of a sudden you wake up this morning and you are racing for a championship, and you are happy, you are elated and then your world comes crashing down. Whenever you get news like that, it puts it in perspective that there is more to this than racing. The whole Gibbs
family is in all of our prayers. I’m thinking of them. Ultimately today, the best car won the championship. He was really strong. Proud of our 20 group though. We fought hard, and at the end of the race – the last pit stop, or what we thought was going to be the last pit stop, we were right there battling for it. I’m just proud to be in this position, proud to be at Joe Gibbs Racing and race this no. 20 car. The DeWalt Camry was – we were there, and hopefully, we can come back here next year." -
Christopher Bell, finished 10th
"I’m not sure what happened [with Ross Chastain]. I haven’t seen it. Unfortunately it ruined our day. Congratulations to Joey [Logano] and their team. They did a really good job all weekend. He’s a very deserving champion so that’s a positive at least. If you’re going to lose to one,
lose to a deserving one. "I’m proud of my team for the effort they put in this weekend. I felt like we had gotten our car a lot better throughout the race. For that I think we should be very proud. It’s very nice to make the (final) round. It’s a very
difficult thing to do. Obviously I’m not content with that but certainly it’s not to come out here with a shot. Hopefully we can come back stronger next year and give ourselves another chance and make it go our way next time." - Chase Elliott, finished 28th
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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