Frontstretch Newsletter: Oct. 24, 2022
Volume XVI, Edition CLXXXVI |
- NASCAR teams are back at their shops in North Carolina today after an all-night haul back from Homestead. Entry lists for this weekend's races in
Martinsville should be released today. We'll have those and anything else that breaks for you at Frontstretch. |
Around the World in Motorsports: Oct. 21-23 |
- Williams announced Saturday morning that Logan Sargeant will replace Nicholas Latifi in their second car in
2023 alongside Alexander Albon...with some caveats. In order to take the seat, Sargeant will have to earn his FIA Super License. To do that, there are six requirements that must be met. Chiefly among those requirements is a minimum of 40 qualifying points over three years (three in four years if one of those years is 2020). A chart on Wikipedia shows the various series and how many points certain finishes earn. As of this moment, Sargeant has 27 super license points. They come from him finishing third in the FIA Formula 3
Championship in 2020 and seventh last year. As a result, if he finishes fifth or better in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, he will earn the points necessary to get the license and claim his ride. Sargeant is currently third in Formula 2 points. Felipe Drugovich has already clinched the championship, while Theo
Pourchaire is all but locked into second. Sargeant has a nine-point advantage over a three-way tie for fourth between Jack Doohan, Jehan Daruvala and Enzo Fittipaldi, while Liam Lawson is another three points further back. As a result, the season finale for Formula 2 at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi will be critical. We'll know for
sure whether Sargeant gets his ride on Nov. 20. - World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series teams returned to Williams Grove Speedway to make up the final
night of the Champion Racing Oil National Open from Oct. 1. Here, the Pennsylvania Posse dominated the proceedings as Lance Dewease won his fifth National Open and took home a check for $75,000. Brent Marks was second, then Anthony Macri. Spencer Bayston was fourth, while David Gravel was fifth. Brad Sweet finished 27th after breaking his rear end in the main, his first DNF in 166 races. That allowed Gravel to close the margin down to 16 points with only the World Finals remaining on the schedule. Carson Macedo is third, then Donny Schatz and Sheldon
Haudenschild. - World of Outlaws CASE Construction Late Model Series teams had a busy weekend with three races on the
schedule. Friday night saw Chase Junghans take the lead from Dennis Erb Jr. on the first lap and hold on to take the win. Erb ended up second, then Max Blair, Mike Marlar and Tyler Bruening. Saturday night saw the series move to 81 Speedway near Wichita. Here, Brandon Sheppard swept into the lead on the
first lap and led every lap en route to victory. Billy Moyer was second, then Erb, Junghans and Gordy Gundaker. Sunday night saw the late model teams travel to Osborn, Mo. to race at US 36 Raceway. Marlar took the lead away from
Junghans on lap 27 and led the final 14 laps to take his fourth win of the year. Junghans was second, then Bruening, Erb and Ryan Gusting. In the points, Erb continues to lead the standings by 158 points over Tanner English. Erb extended his lead by
beating English in all three races last weekend. Blair is third, then Gustin and Brent Larson. |
These are just a sample of the 34 videos that we posted this past weekend from Homestead. For more videos, be sure to subscribe to Frontstretch's YouTube channel. |
| | Kyle Larson Sweeps Stages, Wins Cup Race at
Homestead-MiamiHendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson led 199 of 267 laps Sunday to win the Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway to lock the No. 5 team into the Owners'
Championship 4. Ross Chastain was second, then AJ Allmendinger, Austin Dillon and Brad Keselowski. |
| | Homestead Mishaps Continue Snake-Bitten Year for Ryan Blaney &
Martin Truex Jr.Sunday's Dixie Vodka 400 saw a couple of unusual pit related spins. Ryan Blaney spun out leaving pit road to draw a yellow, while Martin Truex Jr. spun out of
the lead on pit road under caution. |
| | Noah Gragson Claims Spot in Championship 4, Finally Wins Xfinity Race
at HomesteadNoah Gragson dominated Saturday's Contender Boats 300 at Homestead, leading by as much as 13 seconds at one point en route to his eighth win of the year. Ty Gibbs
was second, then AJ Allmendinger, Daniel Hemric and Sam Mayer. |
| | AJ Allmendinger Revives Championship Run with Strong Homestead
FinishAJ Allmendinger arrived in Homestead down in the dumps after his worst finish of the season. A third-place finish Saturday rejuvenated his championship
cause. |
| | Ty Majeski Wins 2nd Truck Race of Year at
HomesteadThorSport Racing's Ty Majeski led 67 of 134 laps Saturday afternoon to win the Baptist Health Cancer Care 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway for his second win
in the last three races. Zane Smith was second, then Stewart Friesen, Ryan Preece and Corey Heim. |
| | Ben Rhodes Denies Stewart Friesen Championship 4 Berth by 1
PointThe last spot in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship 4 came down to Stewart Friesen and Ben Rhodes Saturday afternoon. Friesen moved up to third and
ended up 10 seconds behind Zane Smith. Meanwhile, Rhodes dispatched a couple of his teammates to advance. |
| | Red Bull Owner, Co-Founder Dietrich Mateschitz Dead at
78Red Bull co-founder and owner of the Red Bull F1 team, AlphaTauri, and the Red Bull Racing Team in NASCAR, Dietrich Mateschitz, died Saturday. He was
78. |
| | Max Verstappen Overcomes Pit Stop, Lewis Hamilton, To Win At
COTARed Bull's Max Verstappen charged back after a 14-second pit stop to pass Lewis Hamilton in the closing laps to win the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the
Americas. Charles Leclerc finished third from 12th on the grid, while Sergio Perez and George Russell rounded out the top five. |
| | Lance Stroll & Fernando Alonso Involved in Heavy Crash at
COTASunday's United States Grand Prix was brought to a halt on lap 22 when Aston Martin's Lance Stroll and Alpine F1's Fernando Alonso collided on the backstretch.
Stroll attempted to block Alonso, only for Alonso to launch himself into the air temporarily off of the left rear tire of Stroll. |
| | Lewis Hamilton Comes Up Just Short of Victory at
COTASunday at Circuit of the Americas appeared to be Lewis Hamilton's best chance this year at a victory. Unfortunately, he was unable to hold off Max Verstappen's
medium tires. As a result, Hamilton had to settle for his third second-place finish of the year. |
| | F1 Staying on ESPN Through
2025ESPN announced during a press conference at Circuit of the Americas Saturday that they have signed a new three-year deal that will see Formula 1 stay on the ESPN
family of networks through the end of 2025. |
Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, Jared C. Tilton and Clive Mason of Getty Images, Aston Martin F1 Media and LAT 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: Ordinary Day Allows Ross Chastain To Move Within Striking Distance Of Joey Logano
by Phil Allaway
Joey Logano had a very mediocre day Sunday in Homestead. He ultimately brought his Shell/Pennzoil Ford home in 18th. That cost him a significant chunk of his points lead. Ross Chastain finished second and cut the lead from 21 points to five entering Martinsville. Chase Elliott finished 14th and
also made up some ground. William Byron scored 17 stage points, but one bad run meant that he finished 12th. That performance was still enough to move him up one place to fourth, the final spot in the Championship 4 on points. Byron is five points ahead of Denny
Hamlin, who ran well Sunday, but hit the wall in the closing laps and dropped back to seventh. Ryan Blaney spun leaving pit road to bring out a caution and ultimately finished 17th. Despite that, he moved up one place to sixth. Christopher Bell is up to seventh after finishing 11th. Chase Briscoe was the only playoff contender to fail to finish Sunday, crashing out and finishing 36th. He's 44 points behind Byron and will effectively
need to win to advance. Of those eliminated from the playoffs, Kyle Larson dominated the proceedings to take the win and score maximum points. It also allowed Larson to lock the No. 5 team into the Owners' Championship 4. That allowed him to expand his lead over Daniel
Suarez from seven to 36 points despite Suarez finishing 10th. Austin Dillon is up two places to 11th after finishing a quiet fourth, while Tyler Reddick's crash dropped him to 12th. Austin Cindric is down to 13th after finishing 19th. Kyle Busch finished ninth and is just one point behind the rookie.
Alex Bowman is still out and remains in 15th. Kevin Harvick is 16th. Martin Truex Jr. had to battle back from a spin on pit road under yellow to finish sixth. The performance locks him into the 17th spot in points. Erik Jones had a
miserable day and finished 30th, dropping significant ground. Aric Almirola moved up into 19th, while the suspended Bubba Wallace dropped to 20th. Round of 8 Point Standings: 1) Joey Logano 4106, 2) Ross Chastain -5, 3) Chase Elliott -13, 4) William Byron
-19, 5) Denny Hamlin -24, 6) Ryan Blaney -37, 7) Christopher Bell -52, 8) Chase Briscoe -63.
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: 9) Kyle Larson 2266, 10) Daniel Suarez -36, 11) Austin Dillon
-66, 12) Tyler Reddick -71, 13) Austin Cindric -79, 14) Kyle Busch -80, 15) Alex Bowman -162, 16) Kevin Harvick -202. Non-Playoff Point Standings (1-16): 1) Chase Elliott 1147, 2) Joey Logano -88, 3) Ryan Blaney -104, 4) Kyle Larson
-111, 5) Ross Chastain -118, 6) Martin Truex Jr. -163, 7) Christopher Bell -165, 8) William Byron -186, 9) Kyle Busch -248, 10) Denny Hamlin -251, 11) Daniel Suarez -297, 12) Tyler Reddick -323, 13) Austin Cindric
-352, 14) Erik Jones -358, 15) Chase Briscoe -369, 16) Kevin Harvick -385. Playoff Points: 1) Chase Elliott 46, 2) Joey Logano -15, 3) Ross Chastain -25, 4) Christopher Bell -28, 5) Ryan Blaney -30, 6) William Byron -31, 7) Denny Hamlin -33, 8) Chase Briscoe -37. Best of the Rest (17-26): 17) Martin Truex Jr. 984, 18) Erik Jones -195, 19) Aric Almirola -264, 20) Bubba Wallace -265, 21) Chris Buescher -286, 22) Justin Haley -305, 23) Michael McDowell -353, 24) Brad Keselowski
-358, 25) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -424, 26) Cole Custer -454. Stage Points: 1) Chase Elliott 280, 2) Ryan Blaney -10, 3) Joey Logano -13, 4) Kyle Larson
-19, 5) William Byron -40, 6) Martin Truex Jr. -51, 7) Ross Chastain -52, 8) Kyle Busch -77, 9) Christopher Bell -78, 10) Denny Hamlin -105, 11) Daniel Suarez -135, 12) Chase Briscoe -145, 13) Tyler Reddick -155, 14) Erik Jones -165, 15) Bubba Wallace -178, 16) Alex Bowman -184.
Note: The Stage Points also include the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at
Daytona. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Chase Elliott 1022, 2) Ross Chastain -70, 3) Joey Logano -84, 4) Ryan Blaney -87, 5) Christopher
Bell -94, 6) Kyle Larson -95, 7) Martin Truex Jr. -103, 8) Denny Hamlin -147, 9) William Byron -148, 10) Austin Cindric -167, 11) Austin Dillon -168, 12) Daniel Suarez -170, 13) Tyler Reddick -172, 14) Kyle
Busch -173, 15) Erik Jones -200, 16) Kevin Harvick -209.
Outside of the Top 16, but Still In The Playoffs: 17) Chase Briscoe
-224. Note: These standings are based on the old point system that was used before stages were created. WC Points (1-16): 1) Chase Elliott 4594, 2) Ross Chastain -180, 3) Joey Logano -236, 4) Ryan Blaney
-270, 5) Kyle Larson -294, 6) Christopher Bell -304, 7) Martin Truex Jr. -394, 8) Denny Hamlin -469, 9) William Byron -515, 10) Tyler Reddick -524, 11) Kyle Busch -542, 12) Daniel Suarez -588, 13) Austin Cindric -596, 14) Austin Dillon -601, 15) Kevin Harvick -634, 16) Erik Jones -700. Outside of the Top 16, but still in the
Playoffs: 17) Chase Briscoe -769. 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), William Byron (Atlanta-1, Martinsville), 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), Kurt Busch (Kansas-1), Daniel Suarez (Sonoma), Tyler Reddick (Road
America, Indianapolis), Christopher Bell (Loudon, Charlotte-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: Noah Gragson Dominates In Homestead To Lock Into Championship 4
by Phil Allaway
Noah Gragson dominated Homestead for the second year in a row. Unlike last year, he was able to complete the deal and take home the victory. Not only does it lock him into the Championship 4, but he was able to expand his lead in the Round of 8 to 31 points over Ty Gibbs, who finished second. AJ Allmendinger finished a strong third and boosted
himself up three places to third, last driver in the Championship 4 on points. Allmendinger has a five-point advantage over Justin Allgaier, who finished 10th. Austin Hill ended up off-sequence on tires and got burned by the final caution. He ended up finishing ninth and held onto fifth in points. Josh Berry had the same issue as Hill. He was
second before the final caution, but ended the day in 11th, dropping two places down to sixth. Sam Mayer was in the hunt all day and finished fifth. That moved him up one place to seventh. Brandon Jones finished 15th and dropped down to eighth, 38 points behind Allmendinger. Daniel Hemric finished fourth Saturday to hold onto the best spot in
points (ninth) of those drivers already eliminated from the playoffs. He expanded his advantage over Riley Herbst to 34 points. Ryan Sieg had a miserable day and lost 35 points to Herbst after finishing 10 laps down in 33rd. Jeremy Clements is still in 12th. Outside of the playoffs, Landon Cassill ran very well early on before
dropping down to a 12th-place finish. The run did allow Cassill to expand his advantage from 41 to 59 points over Sheldon Creed. Anthony Alfredo is 15th, while the idle Brandon Brown is 16th. Round of 8 Point Standings: 1) Noah Gragson 3169, 2) Ty Gibbs
-31, 3) AJ Allmendinger -56, 4) Justin Allgaier -61, 5) Austin Hill -63, 6) Josh Berry -74, 7) Sam Mayer -84, 8) Brandon Jones -94.
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. Eliminated Playoff Driver Standings: 9) Daniel Hemric 2162, 10) Riley Herbst -34, 11) Ryan Sieg -59, 12) Jeremy Clements
-123. Non-Playoff Point Standings (1-16): 1) AJ Allmendinger 1220, 2) Noah Gragson -62, 3) Ty Gibbs -72, 4) Justin Allgaier -78, 5) Josh Berry -168, 6) Austin Hill -259, 7) Brandon Jones
-290, 8) Sam Mayer -348, 9) Riley Herbst -412, 10) Daniel Hemric -463, 11) Ryan Sieg -516, 12) Landon Cassill -525, 13) Sheldon Creed -566, 14) Anthony Alfredo -625, t-15) Jeremy Clements
-701, t-15) Brandon Brown -701. Best of the Rest: 13) Landon Cassill 733, 14) Sheldon Creed -59, 15) Anthony Alfredo -119, 16) Brandon Brown -214, 17) Jeb Burton -223, 18) Myatt Snider
-241, 19) Alex Labbe -315, 20) Brett Moffitt -317, 21) Bayley Currey -324, 22) Trevor Bayne -376. Playoff Points: 1) Noah Gragson 64, 2) AJ Allmendinger -20, 3) Ty Gibbs
-25, 4) Justin Allgaier -31, 5) Josh Berry -37, 6) Austin Hill -46, 7) Brandon Jones -53, 8) Sam Mayer -59. Stage Points: 1) Justin Allgaier 333, 2) Ty Gibbs -4, 3) Noah Gragson
-6, 4) AJ Allmendinger -42, 5) Josh Berry -91, 6) Brandon Jones -125, 7) Austin Hill -141, 8) Sam Mayer -153, 9) Daniel Hemric -185, 10) Riley Herbst -227, 11) Trevor Bayne -237, 12) Sheldon Creed
-242, 13) Landon Cassill -258, 14) Ryan Sieg -265, 15) Brandon Brown -281, 16) Anthony Alfredo -288. Note: If he was eligible, John Hunter Nemechek would be 13th in stage points. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) AJ Allmendinger 1113, 2) Noah Gragson -80, 3) Ty Gibbs -96, 4) Josh Berry -138, 5) Justin Allgaier -148, 6) Austin Hill -164, 7) Brandon Jones -233, 8) Sam Mayer
-252, 9) Riley Herbst -257, 10) Landon Cassill -332, 11) Daniel Hemric -334, 12) Ryan Sieg -345, 13) Sheldon Creed -399, 14) Anthony Alfredo -418, 15) Jeb Burton -505, 16) Jeremy Clements -518. WC Points (1-16): 1) AJ Allmendinger 4816, 2) Noah Gragson -235, 3) Ty Gibbs -302, 4) Josh Berry -483, 5) Justin Allgaier -487, 6) Austin Hill -563, 7) Brandon Jones -832, 8) Sam
Mayer -856, 9) Riley Herbst -901, 10) Daniel Hemric -1170, 11) Landon Cassill -1173, 12) Ryan Sieg -1229, 13) Sheldon Creed -1360, 14) Anthony Alfredo -1466, 15) Jeb Burton -1750, 16) Jeremy Clements
-1772.
Race Winners: Austin Hill (Daytona-1, Atlanta-2), Cole Custer (Fontana), Ty Gibbs (Las Vegas-1, Atlanta-1, Richmond, Road America, Michigan), Noah Gragson (Phoenix, 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), 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 Round of 8; Championship 4 Set For Phoenix
by Phil Allaway
Zane Smith won stage two Saturday afternoon and finished second. The finish and 19 stage points
allowed him to overtake Chandler Smith to win the Round of 8. His margin was 10 points over Chandler Smith, who finished 10th. Ben Rhodes won stage one, but had to bite and scratch back to sixth by the finish to hold onto third in the standings. It was good enough to take the last spot in the Championship 4 on points. Rhodes ended up one point ahead of Stewart Friesen, who finished third and was not happy about Rhodes having the ability to
have a teammate move over for him. Christian Eckes dropped one spot to fifth after finishing seventh. Despite taking his second win in
three races, Ty Majeski could not move up out of sixth. Grant Enfinger had a tire issue drop him to a 14th-place finish. It was still good enough to move up one place to eighth. John Hunter Nemechek cut a tire and went into the wall on lap 14, ruining any chances of advancing. Nemechek ultimately finished six laps down in 35th and ended the Round of 8 in eighth. With the point reset, Nemechek will go to Phoenix fifth in points, three points ahead of
Friesen. Enfinger is seventh, then Eckes. Matt Crafton is still ninth, 13 points ahead of Carson Hocevar. Of those who failed to qualify for the playoffs, Derek Kraus continues to lead the pack after
finishing 15th on Saturday. His lead is down to nine points over Tyler Ankrum. Matt DiBenedetto is 13th, while Corey Heim moved up one place to 14th after finishing fifth. Heim jumped over Tanner Gray for the spot. Chase Purdy is 16th.
Round of 8 Point Standings: 1) Zane Smith
3158, 2) Chandler Smith -10, 3) Ben Rhodes -22, 4) Stewart Friesen -23, 5) Christian Eckes -32, 6) Ty Majeski -34, 7) Grant Enfinger -65, 8) John Hunter Nemechek -72.
Championship 4 Point Standings: t-1) Chandler Smith 4000, t-1) Zane Smith 4000, t-1) Ben Rhodes 4000, t-1) Ty Majeski 4000. Eliminated Playoff Driver Point Standings: 5) John Hunter Nemechek 2236,
6) Stewart Friesen -3, 7) Grant Enfinger -9, 8) Christian Eckes -15, 9) Matt Crafton -64, 10) Carson Hocevar -77. Best of the Rest (11-20): 11) Derek Kraus 569, 12) Tyler Ankrum -9, 13) Matt DiBenedetto -63, 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
857, 2) Chandler Smith -38, 3) Ty Majeski -66, 4) John Hunter Nemechek -74, 5) Stewart Friesen -92, 6) Christian Eckes -104, 7) Ben Rhodes -115, 8) Grant Enfinger -190, 9) Carson Hocevar
-195, 10) Matt Crafton -256, 11) Derek Kraus -288, 12) Tyler Ankrum -297, 13) Matt DiBenedetto -351, 14) Corey Heim -398, 15) Tanner Gray -399, 16) Chase Purdy -425.
Playoff Points: 1) Zane Smith 38, 2) Chandler Smith -7, 3) John Hunter Nemechek -13, t-4) Ben Rhodes -20, t-4) Ty Majeski -20, 6) Stewart Friesen -25, t-7) Grant Enfinger -31, t-7) Christian Eckes
-31. Stage Points: 1) John Hunter Nemechek 228, 2) Zane Smith -21, 3) Chandler Smith -37, 4) Ben Rhodes -38, 5) Ty Majeski -47, 6) Stewart
Friesen -59, 7) Christian Eckes -69, 8) Carson Hocevar -99, 9) Grant Enfinger -106, 10) Corey Heim -114, 11) Derek Kraus -125, 12) Ryan Preece -146, 13) Matt Crafton -150, 14) Tyler Ankrum
-162, 15) Parker Kligerman -166, 16) Tanner Gray -179. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Zane Smith 577, 2) Chandler Smith -26, 3) Ty Majeski
-35, 4) Christian Eckes -57, 5) Stewart Friesen -64, 6) John Hunter Nemechek -90, 7) Ben Rhodes -101, 8) Grant Enfinger -114, 9) Carson Hocevar -116, 10) Matt Crafton -137, 11) Tyler Ankrum
-170, 12) Derek Kraus -190, 13) Matt DiBenedetto -195, 14) Chase Purdy -250, 15) Tanner Gray -253, 16) Colby Howard -276. WC Points (1-16): 1) Zane Smith 3298, 2) Chandler Smith -124, 3) Ty Majeski -158, 4) Christian
Eckes -219, 5) Stewart Friesen -260, 6) John Hunter Nemechek -306, 7) Ben Rhodes -351, 8) Carson Hocevar -407, 9) Grant Enfinger -411, 10) Matt Crafton -528, 11) Tyler Ankrum -649, 12) Derek Kraus
-677, 13) Matt DiBenedetto -728, 14) Tanner Gray -897, 15) Chase Purdy -973, 16) Colby Howard -988. Race Winners: Zane Smith (Daytona, Circuit of the Americas, Kansas-2), 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 Nigel Kinrade Photography.
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Letter of the Race: Sunday's Dixie Vodka 400 was brought to you by the letter S for Stomping. Sunday saw Kyle Larson finally put it
together at Homestead. It is his first Cup victory on the 1.5-mile oval, but it seems like this should have happened a long time ago. As presently constituted, Homestead-Miami Speedway is effectively designed to cater to a drive with Larson's skill set. - Phil Allaway |
Quotes to Remember: Dixie Vodka 400
complied by Phil Allaway
"Definitely the best run we’ve had all year long. We’ve been capable of it I feel like many weekends, we just haven’t quite put it all together. Cliff [Daniels] gave a great speech this morning and got us all ready to go and focused, and I did my best to keep it out of the wall. I got in the wall a few times, but I could still
make speed doing that.
"Amazing No. 5 Valvoline Chevy. I knew that that last run was going to be short enough where I was going to be in some sort of trouble there, but thankfully AJ [Allmendinger] and Ross [Chastain] were racing hard behind me." - Kyle Larson, race winner "AJ [Allmendinger] and I have a pretty good history of running against each other and as teammates. We both felt like whoever could get to [Kyle Larson] could fight for the win. [The battle] was so fun. [Allmendinger] could roll the bottom while I was super tight. We were trading sliders and trading commitment level on entry." - Ross Chastain, finished second "[We] probably didn't have the pace on the long run. On the short run, I felt really good about our race car. It was one of those things where I knew [with the] 15-lap run, we had a shot. With Kyle [Larson], he's so good running the top. Once that speed came in, it's hard
to beat him.
"Proud of everybody. That was cool." - AJ Allmendinger, finished third
"We had a bad fast Huk Chevrolet today at Homestead-Miami Speedway. To start 32nd and
finish fourth, plus rebound from a slow pit stop, is a pretty good recovery. Our Chevy was pretty tight all day, but were able to free it up and get better and better. We didn’t spend a lot of time in clean air, but I think if we would have got up there a little bit earlier we could have made some adjustments to the Huk Chevy that probably could have helped us pass the next couple of cars. At one point in the final run, I thought we were going to run the top three cars down. We were making good
lap times and gained a couple of tenths on them. At the end of the day we finished fourth. Homestead-Miami Speedway is so much fun. I love coming here." - Austin Dillon, finished fourth "We were solid all day. Great
stops and the car was really solid. We weren’t in a spot to dominate the race but we were in a spot to run up front all day and that is what we did. We are starting to gel and click as a team. It is exciting for RFK and I am really happy for Violet Defense and everybody on the team. We are pushing and getting better. It was a solid day all day. I am really looking forward to Martinsville. We had a great test there just like we did here at Homestead. I really want to get a win before this year is
over. If we keep building momentum like this I think we can do that." - Brad Keselowski, finished fifth "It was definitely a little bit [on me and a little on Kyle Larson]. It was really hard to see through these windshields right now with the sun like that and all the stuff covering
it. I did see my box late for sure. So I slowed down before I turned out of the way of [Larson] there. Obviously, partly on me. I didn’t expect to get turned around. Glad nobody got hurt there. Overall, just disappointing. To have a good day going like that and have a shot at winning and couldn’t close the deal. Hate it for my team. It’s been one of those years. Thanks to Bass Pro, Tracker, Cabela’s, Toyota, everybody that supports us and all our fans. We’re going to keep digging and win a bunch
of races once we get through this rough patch." - Martin Truex Jr., finished sixth "It was just slow on the short run. We got the position – the track position – we were able to get the lead there, and then get second, and we just couldn’t hold it. I just didn’t have a car that would go on the short run." - Denny Hamlin, finished seventh "We were in a decent spot running third on the green flag stop and then I just made a mistake. That is two weeks in a row I made a mistake and it cost us a good run. I couldn’t get back up through the
field after that. It was an unfortunate end of the day again, due to a driver mistake again." - Ryan Blaney, finished 17th "We had a good car. It was a bit of a wasted car, unfortunately. We had a really fast Shell
Pennzoil Mustang. Probably not good enough to beat the 5 but good enough for second or third. We just lost too much track position anytime the caution came out or we went to pit road. We just kept losing spot after spot after spot and couldn’t settle into the top five like we needed to. It was a fast car and that is important. We just need to get a little faster on pit road." - Joey Logano, finished 18th
"We started off our day running well in the No. 8 3CHI Chevrolet. Stage 1 was really strong for our team. We ran up front, but our Chevy was just a little too free. From there, it was pretty tough. The balance of our 3CHI Chevrolet was really tight and we couldn’t free it up enough and that was frustrating. We crashed with just a few laps left and that ended our day a little early. Tough end,
but this team will rebound and hopefully have a better result at Martinsville Speedway." - Tyler Reddick, finished 35th (Crashed out)
"The driver just made a mistake. I was really, really loose that run. We were really
tight every other run. That green flag run we tried to get really free on the other side of it and just started taking really hard. I was hanging on with everything I had. It felt like I was on ice. Honestly, I wasn’t even running hard. I was trying to just get to the caution. We kept getting freer. I got sideways and had the wheel all the way to the right and ended up head-on into the wall. It is really frustrating to have it be something of my own doing. I am better than to be crashing by
myself. It is really unfortunate. It makes our job easier next week, I guess. We don’t have to worry about points. We gotta go to Martinsville and win." - Chase Briscoe, finished 36th (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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