Frontstretch Newsletter: June 26, 2023
Volume XVII, Edition CII |
- Monday Night Racing returns
tonight with the first night of the MNR Summer Bash Gen4 Cup at the virtual Charlotte Motor Speedway. Coverage starts tonight at 8 p.m. ET on our own YouTube
channel, and on Podium eSports' Twitch
channel. Frontstretch will continue to host a post-race show with our own Brandon Hauff and Michael Massie hosting. - NASCAR teams are back at their
shops today, preparing for the unknown territory of street racing in Chicago. Entry lists will be released today. We'll have those and anything else that breaks for you at Frontstretch. |
| | Ross Chastain Wins Ally 400 at Nashville
Superspeedway Trackhouse Racing Team's Ross Chastain led 99 laps Sunday night and held off Martin Truex Jr. to win the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway for his first win of
the year. Truex was second, then Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson. |
| | Ryan Blaney, Other Drivers Frustrated with Exposed
Concrete Wall at Nashville Ryan Blaney crashed out of Sunday night's Ally 400 when he spun on a restart and hit an unprotected concrete wall on the inside of turn 1 head-on. Needless to say,
there were a lot of people that were very unhappy about that. |
| | AJ Allmendinger Wins Wild Xfinity Series Race at
Nashville Kaulig Racing's AJ Allmendinger recovered from an early crash to win a wreck-filled Tennessee Lottery 250 Saturday for his second NASCAR Xfinity Series win of
the year. Riley Herbst was second, then Sam Mayer, Austin Hill and Josh Berry. |
| | AJ Allmendinger’s Car ‘Cheated Up?’ Cole Custer Sure
Thinks So Cole Custer walked away from Saturday's Tennessee Lottery 250 in an angry state. He believes that Kaulig Racing was cheating to
win. |
| | Carson Hocevar Survives Late Restart to Win
Nashville Niece Motorsports' Carson Hocevar took the lead late Friday night and held off the pack on a late restart to win the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Rackley Roofing
200 at Nashville Superspeedway. Zane Smith was second, then Nick Sanchez, Corey Heim and Bayley Currey. |
| | Jake Drew Finishes 12th in Nashville Truck Debut, His
First Race Since Winning ARCA West Title Friday night saw 2022 ARCA Menards Series West champion Jake Drew make his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut in Nashville. He did a pretty good job in getting
himself into the top 10 before dropping to a 12th-place finish. |
| | Jesse Love Wins at Elko Speedway for Fourth ARCA Win of
2023 Venturini Motorsports' Jesse Love dominated Saturday night to win the Menards 250 at Elko Speedway for his fourth ARCA Menards Series win of the year. William
Sawalich recovered from a spin to finish second, then Sean Hingorani, Conner Jones and Andres Perez de Lara. |
| | William Sawalich Scores Eventful Runner-Up Finish as
Venturini Motorsports Rivalry Intensifies William Sawalich finished second Saturday night at Elko Speedway, but the race ended up being an extension of a rivalry between Joe Gibbs Racing and Venturini
Motorsports that stretches back multiple years. |
| | New Investors in Alpine F1 Team Include Ryan Reynolds,
Rob McElhenney Alpine F1 Team announced Monday that they have sold a 24% stake in the team for approximately $218 million to a group of new investors including Otro Capital Redbird Capital Partners and Maximum Effort
Investments. |
| | Connor de Phillippi, Nick Yelloly Awarded Watkins Glen
Victory After Penalty BMW M Team RLL's Connor de Phillippi and Nick Yelloly have been declared the winners of Sunday's Sahlen's SIx Hours at the Glen after the winning Porsche was moved
to the rear of the GTP class for a skid block issue. |
| | Porsche Penske Motorsport To Protest Watkins Glen
Penalty Porsche Penske Motorsport released a statement Sunday night indicating that they will protest their victory in Sunday's Sahlen's Six Hours at the Glen being
stripped in post-race inspection. |
| | Turner Motorsport Claims 1-2 Finish In Rain-Delayed
Sahlen’s 120 Turner Motorsport's Vin Barletta and Robby Foley won the Sahlen's 120 at the Glen Saturday for their second win of the year. KMW Motorsports with TMR
Engineering's Roy Block and Tim Lewis Jr. won in TCR. |
| | Monday Night Racing Updates Procedures Ahead of Gen 4
Season Opener After a wreckfest in the MRN Summer Bash opener at Daytona last week, Monday Night Racing has instituted new rules for tonight's Gen 4 season opener, including a
race distance of 250 miles or two hours. |
Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, FIA Media, Eric Bronson of ARCA Racing, iRacing and our own Phil Allaway, Jared Haas and Stephen Stumpf. Have news for Frontstretch? Don't hesitate to let us know;
email us at frontstretcheditors@googlegroups.com with a promising lead or tip. |
Around the World in Motorsports: June 23-25 |
- The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series spent the weekend near Sioux Falls, S.D. for the BillionAuto.com Huset's High Bank Nationals. Friday night saw Logan Schuchart drive
around Spencer Bayston on the fifth lap and hold off Buddy Kofoid to win the third preliminary feature. Kofoid was second, then Bayston, Brad Sweet and David Gravel. $250,000 was on the line Saturday night. Kofoid was looking good to take the money, but his engine expired. That allowed
Gravel to take the lead and he was able to hold on to take the win and the quarter-million dollars. Gravel's car owner Tod Quiring also owns Huset's Speedway, so he was very happy that his money was going to stay close to home. Rico Abreu ended up second, followed by Kyle Larson (who won
Thursday's preliminary feature). Schuchart was fourth, while Carson Macedo was fifth. In the points, Sweet still holds a 10-point lead over Gravel. Macedo is third, then Schuchart and Donny Schatz. |
This is just a sampling of the 45 videos that we posted to our YouTube channel from Nashville Superspeedway. For more Nashville coverage, or from other weekends, please subscribe. Also, make sure to hit the bell so that you can be notified of future posts. |
Seeking the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs: Martin Truex Jr. Maintains Lead With Strong Nashville Run
by Phil Allaway
Martin Truex Jr. had a strong run Sunday night in Tennessee, leading 50 laps and finishing second. That allowed
him to expand his lead. His advantage is now 18 points over both William Byron and Ross Chastain. Byron finished sixth to maintain second while Chastain's victory moved him up from a tie for third. Christopher Bell is up three places to fourth after finishing seventh. Kyle Busch had a flat tire in the first 10 laps Sunday night, but recovered to finish ninth. That moved him up
one place to fifth. Kevin Harvick had a flat tire under green and ended up finishing 24th. That dropped him a spot to sixth. Denny Hamlin won stage two and finished third, which moved him up one place to seventh. Ryan Blaney fell from a tie for third to eighth after crashing out and finishing 36th. Kyle Larson is up one place to ninth after finishing fifth. Larson jumped over Joey Logano, who
finished 19th. Brad Keselowski jumped over teammate Chris Buescher to move back into 11th. Tyler Reddick lost a wheel under green and dropped to the rear of the field Sunday night. A 30th-place finish
will keep him in 13th, but he will lose crewmembers later this week. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. remains in 14th, followed by Bubba Wallace. Daniel Suarez moved back up into the final playoff spot with a 12th-place finish. Suarez is two points ahead of Alex Bowman, who finished 17th in Nashville. Ty Gibbs is 18th,
only 10 points behind Suarez, while AJ Allmendinger moved up to 19th with a 10th-place finish. Michael McDowell slipped back to 20th. Point
Standings (1-16): 1) Martin Truex Jr. 576, t-2) William Byron -18, t-2) Ross Chastain -18, 4) Christopher Bell -45, 5) Kyle Busch -48, 6) Kevin Harvick -61, 7) Denny Hamlin -64, 8) Ryan Blaney -74, 9) Kyle Larson -101,
10) Joey Logano -114, 11) Brad Keselowski -126, 12) Chris Buescher -127, 13) Tyler Reddick -139, 14) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -161, 15) Bubba Wallace -195, 16) Daniel Suarez -223. Note: Drivers
in italics are either outside of the playoffs, or ineligible for points. Playoff Points: t-1) William Byron 17, t-1) Kyle Busch 17, 3) Kyle Larson -5, 4) Martin Truex Jr. -6, 5) Ross Chastain -7, 6) Denny Hamlin -8, 7) Tyler Reddick -9, t-8) Ryan Blaney -10, t-8) Joey Logano -10, t-9) Christopher Bell
-12, t-9) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -12, t-12) Kevin Harvick -16, t-12) Brad Keselowski -16, t-12) Austin Cindric -16, t-12) Aric Almirola
-16, t-12) Ryan Preece -16, t-12) Chase Elliott -16. Stage Points: 1) William Byron 180, 2) Ross Chastain -32, 3) Denny Hamlin -40, 4) Martin Truex Jr. -56, 5) Christopher Bell
-66, 6) Kyle Larson -73, t-7) Ryan Blaney -74, t-7) Kevin Harvick -74, 9) Tyler Reddick -75, 10) Joey Logano -87, 11) Kyle Busch -91, 12) Brad Kesleowski -97, 13) Alex Bowman -114, 14) Chris Buescher -121, 15) Austin Cindric -130, 16) Daniel Suarez -135.
Outside of the top-16,
but in the playoffs: 18) Bubba Wallace -129, t-22) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -146. Note: The
Stage Points also include the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Martin Truex Jr. 529, 2) Kyle Busch -14, 3) Christopher Bell -34, 4) Ross Chastain -38, 5) Kevin Harvick
-44, t-6) William Byron -57, t-6) Ryan Blaney -57, 8) Chris Buescher -67, 9) Denny Hamlin -71, 10) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -81, t-11) Kyle Larson -83, t-11) Brad Keselowski -83, 13) Joey Logano
-85, 14) Bubba Wallace -117, 15) Tyler Reddick -122, 16) Daniel Suarez -148. Note: These standings are based on the old
point system that was used before stages were created. WC Points (1-16): 1) Martin Truex Jr. 2354, 2) Kyle Busch
-46, 3) Christopher Bell -104, 4) Ross Chastain -113, 5) Kevin Harvick -164, 6) Ryan Blaney -179, 7) William Byron -210, 8) Denny Hamlin -238, 9) Chris Buescher -242, 10) Kyle Larson -246, 11) Joey Logano
-260, 12) Brad Keselowski -277, 13) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -298, 14) Bubba Wallace -392, 15) Tyler Reddick -396, 16) Daniel Suarez -501. Note No. 1: The WC points are based on the original points system created by Bob Latford in 1975. Race Winners: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Daytona), Kyle Busch
(Fontana, Talladega, Gateway), William Byron (Las Vegas, Phoenix, Darlington), Joey Logano (Atlanta), Tyler Reddick (Austin), Kyle Larson (Richmond, Martinsville), Christopher Bell (Bristol), Martin Truex Jr. (Dover, Sonoma), Denny Hamlin (Kansas), Ross Chastain (Nashville)
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: John Hunter Nemechek Holds Scant Lead After Nashville Wreckfest
by Phil Allaway
John Hunter Nemechek was able to avoid trouble Saturday in Nashville and bring his Toyota home in sixth. That was enough to slightly expand his points lead up to nine points over Austin Hill. Hill spun early in the race, yet recovered to finish fourth. Justin Allgaier crashed on the first lap, then hung on to finish 15th. It cost him some points, but he
stays in third. Cole Custer finished ninth and stays in fourth. Josh Berry is still fifth after a fifth-place finish, but is now more than a full race behind Custer. Chandler Smith led the most laps Saturday and finished 12th. He is now only five points behind Berry. Sheldon Creed is still in seventh, while Sam
Mayer is up one place to eighth after finishing third. Riley Herbst finished second and moved back up to ninth. Daniel Hemric is up one place to 10th, but is still the last driver in the playoffs on points. Sammy Smith crashed out early and dropped three positions to 11th. Parker Kligerman overcame illness to finish
11th Saturday, but lost ground to Hemric. He is now 28 points out of the playoffs. Jeb Burton was bounced around a bunch Saturday, but finished 13th and moved up a spot to 13th. Brandon Jones was involved in a crash and finished 24th, dropping to 14th in points. Brett Moffitt is still in 15th, while Ryan Sieg is
16th. Point Standings (1-16): 1) John Hunter Nemechek 585, 2) Austin Hill -9, 3) Justin Allgaier -41, 4) Cole Custer -51, 5) Josh Berry -115, 6) Chandler Smith
-120, 7) Sheldon Creed -141, 8) Sam Mayer -156, 9) Riley Herbst -169, 10) Daniel Hemric -186, 11) Sammy Smith -190, 12) Parker Kligerman -214, 13) Jeb Burton -234, 14) Brandon Jones -237, 15) Brett
Moffitt -269, 16) Ryan Sieg -282. Playoff Points: 1) Austin Hill 18, 2) John Hunter Nemechek -4, 3) Justin Allgaier -9, 4) Cole Custer -10, t-5) Chandler Smith -11, t-5) Ryan Truex
-11, 7) Jeb Burton -12, 8) Sammy Smith -13, 9) Sheldon Creed -16, t-10) Josh Berry -17, t-10) Parker Kligerman -17. Note: If they were eligible for Xfinity Series points, AJ Allmendinger would be third in playoff points, while Kyle Larson would
be tied for fifth. Aric Almirola would be tied for 10th and Ty Gibbs 12th. Stage Points: 1) John Hunter Nemechek 151, 2) Justin Allgaier -16, 3) Austin Hill -18, 4) Sheldon Creed -29, 5) Cole Custer
-31, 6) Chandler Smith -48, 7) Riley Herbst -54, 8) Sam Mayer -69, 9) Josh Berry -74, 10) Daniel Hemric -79, 11) Sammy Smith -84, 12) Brandon Jones -88, 13) Parker Kligerman -98, 14) Ryan Truex
-110, 15) Jeb Burton -125, 16) Ryan Sieg -128. Note: If they were eligible for points, Ty Gibbs would be 13th and AJ Allmendinger 16th in stage points. Old Point Standings (1-16):
1) Austin Hill 512, 2) John Hunter Nemechek -6, 3) Cole Custer -32, 4) Justin Allgaier -38, 5) Josh Berry -53, 6) Chandler Smith -82, 7) Sam Mayer -100, 8) Sammy Smith
-119, 9) Sheldon Creed -123, 10) Daniel Hemric -125, 11) Jeb Burton -127, 12) Riley Herbst -133, 13) Parker Kligerman -134, 14) Brett Moffitt -153, 15) Parker Retzlaff -164, 16) Brandon Jones -165. WC Points (1-16): 1) Austin Hill 2237, 2) John Hunter Nemechek -7, 3) Justin Allgaier -99, 4) Cole Custer -115, 5) Josh Berry
-171, 6) Chandler Smith -293, 7) Sam Mayer -340, 8) Sammy Smith -410, 9) Sheldon Creed -419, 10) Daniel Hemric -444, 11) Riley Herbst -454, 12) Parker Kligerman -464, 13) Jeb Burton
-470, 14) Brett Moffitt -547, 15) Parker Retzlaff -565, 16) Brandon Jones -580. Race Winners: Austin Hill (Daytona, Las Vegas, Atlanta), John Hunter Nemechek (Fontana, Martinsville)), Sammy Smith (Phoenix), AJ Allmendinger (Austin, Nashville), Chandler
Smith (Richmond), Jeb Burton (Talladega), Ryan Truex (Dover), Kyle Larson (Darlington), Cole Custer (Portland), Aric Almirola (Sonoma) 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 Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs: Corey Heim Expands Lead With Strong Run In Nashville by Phil Allaway
Corey Heim entered Friday night's race with a single-point advantage over Ty Majeski. After leading the most laps and finishing fourth, he now has a 16-point lead over Zane Smith, who finished second and moved up two places in points. Grant Enfinger remains in third after
a 13th-place finish. Majeski dropped down to fourth after slowing with a mechanical issue and going behind the wall. Ben Rhodes finished ninth and stays in fifth. Christian Eckes was in a crash with Stewart
Friesen late and finished 23rd. It cost him a bunch of points, but he remains in sixth. Carson Hocevar remains in seventh after his victory, while Matt DiBenedetto's seventh-place finish and 10 stage points moved him up two places to eighth. Matt Crafton is down to ninth after a mediocre 15th-place finish, while Nick Sanchez's third-place finish moved him back onto the playoff bubble. Sanchez has a six-point advantage over both Friesen and Tanner Gray. After two spins, Friesen finished 18th Friday night while Gray was 11th. Chase Purdy is still in 13th and is more or less in the territory of having to win to make the playoffs now that he is 39 points behind Sanchez. Jake Garcia finished 10th for the second race in a row, but is now more than a full race behind Sanchez. Tyler Ankrum is 15th while Rajah Caruth lost a chance to win Friday night when his
fuel pump failed. He is still 16th, but more than two full races behind Sanchez. Point Standings (1-16): 1) Corey Heim
474, 2) Zane Smith -16, 3) Grant Enfinger -31, 4) Ty Majeski -44, 5) Ben Rhodes -47, 6) Christian Eckes -70, 7) Carson Hocevar -81, 8) Matt DiBenedetto -116, 9) Matt Crafton
-120, 10) Nick Sanchez -124, t-11) Tanner Gray -130, t-11) Stewart Friesen -130, 13) Chase Purdy -163, 14) Jake Garcia -187, 15) Tyler Ankrum -196, 16) Rajah Caruth -247. Note: Drivers in italics are either outside of the playoffs, or ineligible for the
playoffs. Playoff Points: 1) Christian Eckes 14, t-2) Zane Smith -2, t-2) Carson Hocevar -2, 4) Grant Enfinger
-3, 5) Corey Heim -4, 6) Ben Rhodes -9, 7) Nick Sanchez -12, t-8) Ty Majeski -13, t-8) Matt Crafton -13, t-8) Tyler Ankrum -13. Note: If he were eligible for playoff points, Joey Logano and Kyle Busch would be tied for sixth
with seven points while William Byron would be tied for 11th. Stage Points: 1) Zane Smith 133, 2) Corey Heim -10, 3) Ty Majeski -23, 4) Christian Eckes -31, 5) Ben Rhodes
-43, 6) Carson Hocevar -44, 7) Grant Enfinger -54, 8) Matt DiBenedetto -62, 9) Matt Crafton -73, 10) Stewart Friesen -74, 11) Nick Sanchez -77, 12) Tanner Gray -85, 13) Chase
Purdy -94, 14) Tyler Ankrum -95, t-15) Dean Thompson -104, t-15) Rajah Caruth -104. Note: If they were eligible for stage points, William Byron would be 12th and Kyle Busch 14th. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Grant Enfinger
315, 2) Corey Heim -2, 3) Ben Rhodes -25, 4) Zane Smith -36, 5) Ty Majeski -42, 6) Carson Hocevar -56, 7) Christian Eckes -59, 8) Nick Sanchez -65, 9) Tanner Gray -69, 10) Matt Crafton -70, 11) Matt DiBendeetto -78, 12) Stewart Friesen -79, 13) Jake Garcia -82, 14) Chase Purdy -89, 15) Tyler Ankrum -125, 16) Daniel Dye -144. WC Points (1-16): 1) Grant Enfinger 1823, 2) Corey Heim -34, 3) Ben Rhodes -77, 4) Zane Smith -78, 5) Ty Majeski
-91, 6) Christian Eckes -161, 7) Carson Hocevar -166, 8) Nick Sanchez -202, 9) Tanner Gray -212, 10) Stewart Friesen -233, 11) Matt Crafton -238, 12) Matt DiBenedetto -243, 13) Chase Purdy
-285, 14) Jake Garcia -338, 15) Tyler Ankrum -405, 16) Daniel Dye -476. Race Winners: Zane Smith (Daytona, Austin), Kyle Busch (Las Vegas), Christian Eckes (Atlanta, Darlington),
Carson Hocevar (Texas, Nashville), Joey Logano (Bristol), Corey Heim (Martinsville), Grant Enfinger (Kansas, Gateway), Ben Rhodes (Charlotte)
Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.
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Letter of the Race: Sunday night's Ally 400 was brought to you by the letter C for Close Racing. The race at times had side-by-side battles for the lead for multiple laps, including a three-wise battle for the lead for three consecutive laps. Those in
attendance seemed to definitely get their money's worth. - Phil Allaway |
Quotes to Remember: Ally 400 compiled by Phil Allaway
"This is why every little kid out there anywhere in the world, when you get criticized, and you're going to if you're competitive, they will try to tear you down. You will start believing you can't do
it. You have to go to your people, trust in the process, read your books, trust the big man's plan upstairs, just keep getting up and going to work. I got to tell you, a lot of self-reflection throughout all this. I had a group that believed in me and they didn't let me get down. They bring rocket ships and I just try to point them to Victory Lane." - Ross Chastain, race winner "Just needed to get the lead. Once we lost it – I probably made a move picking the bottom on the restart, just too loose on the long run. I could hang with whoever leading, just could never get off the corner to make a move – just lacking the side-bite, overall, just burning off the rear tires a little
bit too much. I was really loose there at the end of the race too. Just needed a little bit. I’ve got a lot of speed, just could never get the balance where we needed it to be. Without having clean air, it was difficult. Overall, good night for our Bass Pro, Tracker Toyota Camry. The guys are doing a great job, just that close again. If we can keep doing this, we will be in good shape." - Martin Truex Jr., finished second "The field is so close. Everyone is running the same times. It’s really hard. I think we had a third-place car the entire race. [Martin Truex Jr.] was a little better, and [Ross Chastain] came on strong there in the end. That’s all we had with our FedEx Ground Toyota. Just an optimized day with no mistakes. We gave ourselves a chance – just didn’t have quite fast enough car today." - Denny Hamlin, finished
third
"It was solid, but we still needed a little bit. I actually thought we were the best at the start of the race and then we kind of got off there in the mid-stage and I think we basically just kind of got back to where we were and everyone else got a little better. But yeah, proud of the effort
and to get two top-fives in a row is a good thing for us. Trying to get things going, so we will try again in Chicago." - Chase Elliott, finished fourth
"We were pretty bad all race long and I don’t know how we ended up fifth there. Our team just did a good job with the pit cycles to leapfrog a few guys, and then we were actually somewhat decent on that
last run and passed a couple of cars. So, I am surprised we ended up fifth. Happy with the effort and happy with another week of keeping our heads in it and getting a good finish out of the day.
"Proud of the team. We just have to get the race cars a little bit faster now or I need to look at data on what
I need to do because we just haven’t been as strong as we were through the first couple of months. But now, I think we are executing way better than we did, you know, ever so far through the season. I am very happy with that; just wish we could have some of those early races back at this point. All-in-all, happy with a top five, just frustrated that we didn’t have the speed to really go battle.” - Kyle Larson, finished fifth "We had decent balance once the sun was out and then okay through the middle portion of the race. Just not a lot of speed to catch those guys who were rolling the center, which is our weakness. We just got eaten up on the restarts not being able to roll into [turn] 1. "The No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet was decent all night. The guys worked really hard, and it was just that last run where we needed a little bit more. It’s good to come home sixth and kind of be somewhat disappointed with that. We will go to work next week for Chicago and get a little bit better and see what we can improve. I thought the
weekend was solid as a whole." - William Byron, finished sixth "Nashville is a place – and especially today – with long green flag runs. If you were better than the guys, you could move around and make passes. In the end, with the last stage going green, I feel like it shook out pretty much. Good cars ended up in the front, and I was kind
of a fifth-to-10th place guy all day." - Christopher Bell, finished seventh "It was a good day. We had a good No. 43 Allegiant Chevy. We were able to run up towards the top 10 all day, so just need to build on that. If you can be up there and running competitively,
it gives you something to work on. Today was the first day in a while that I felt like we were in the ballpark and where we need to be, so that’s a good step. I’m proud of the effort, for sure. We’re getting the cars better and where we want them to be, and hopefully just get them a little bit more moving forward." - Erik Jones, finished eighth
"We had
a really good No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevy, but just kept making mistakes again. We had a flat to begin the race, so that kind of set us behind, but we were able to recover from that. And then sped on pit road, so that set us back. We got involved in that wreck on the frontstretch, so we had some damage. By that time, the sun had gone down and everybody had picked up speed and worked on their cars, and it’s just really hard to pass. It just took us a long time to keep clawing back and
getting back up as far as we could. Good finish overall, but definitely know there was more." - Kyle Busch, finished ninth "We had a really good day. Our car was really balanced all day; we didn’t have to make adjustments. We just couldn’t get the track positions and we lost spots on pit road and had to make up for it. At the end of the day, that probably
cost up three or four spots overall. I’m proud of the team. We are making a lot of progress, we had a lot of speed all weekend. I’m looking forward to going to a street course here to hopefully make up some more ground." - AJ Allmendinger, finished 10th
"There’s always something to learn. I’d like to find more speed. Just felt like I was driving over my head. Guys would miss
corners, and I’d hit a perfect lap and just keep up. Then they’d finally hit the groove and drive away from me. It’s just frustrating as hell. We’re not bad. We just need more speed. We have the pit crew to do this, and I needed to do a little better on the restarts, for sure. I got ran over a couple times. But, we’re dabbling with it and need a little bit more." - Brad Keselowski, finished 11th
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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![Ryan Blaney: "Hardest [Hit] of My Life" at Nashville](https://hostedimages-cdn.aweber-static.com/MTUwNjA2Nw==/original/6d695ef6ff5a430e89e8da315d9ab009.png?t=1687805905)
