Frontstretch Newsletter: July 24, 2023
Volume XVII, Edition CXVII |
- NASCAR teams are back at their shops today, preparing for this weekend's
action at Richmond Raceway (for NASCAR Cup and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series teams) and Road America (for NASCAR Xfinity Series teams). - Monday Night Racing's MRN Summer Bash resumes tonight with the third
Superspeedway race at the virtual Talladega Superspeedway. Coverage will begin at 8 p.m. ET on Frontstretch's YouTube channel and Podium eSports' Twitch channel. We'll have the entry lists, a recap of the Talladega sim race and anything else that breaks for you at Frontstretch. |
| | Denny Hamlin Earns 7th Pocono Raceway
Win Denny Hamlin moved Kyle Larson up the track on a late restart Sunday to take the lead. He then held on to win the HighPoint.com 400 for his record-breaking seventh
win at The Tricky Triangle. Tyler Reddick was second, then Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick and Ty Gibbs. |
| | Austin Dillon Crashes After Bump From Tyler
Reddick—Tosses Helmet The biggest crash of the day Sunday saw Austin Dillon back hard into the wall in turn 1 on lap 106 after contact from Tyler Reddick. Dillon was very upset with
Reddick afterwards and threw his helmet at Reddick's car in an attempted retaliation. |
| | Despite Being Helmet Toss Target, Tyler Reddick Has
Clear Conscience, 2nd-Place Finish Tyler Reddick scored a second-place finish Sunday in Pocono. However, he was at least partially responsible for Austin Dillon's big crash in turn 1, something that
he isn't all that worried about. |
| | One Year After Cup Debut, Ty Gibbs Scores 1st Top 5 at
Pocono Pocono Raceway is shaping up to be an important venue in the career of Ty Gibbs. Last year, he made his Cup debut there in place of the injured Kurt Busch. Sunday
saw Gibbs finish a career-best fifth. |
| | Daniel Suarez Finishes Last After Pocono Wreck: ‘We
Shouldn’t Have Been Racing Back There’ The early part of stage two Sunday was wreck-strewn at Pocono. Daniel Suarez was taken out in a chain-reaction incident that saw hit the wall nearly head-on in
turn 1. |
| | Austin Hill Steals Pocono Xfinity Win in
Overtime Richard Childress Racing's Austin Hill was able to sweep past Josh Berry on the final restart and held on to win the Explore the Pocono Mountains 225 Saturday
for his fourth NASCAR Xfinity Series win of the year. Sam Mayer was second, then Chase Elliott, Riley Herbst and Daniel Hemric. |
| | Josh Berry on Late Pocono Wreck: ‘It Definitely Wasn’t
Sam’s Fault’ On the final lap Saturday, Josh Berry had a real chance to get past Austin Hill for the victory. Then, contact was made and Berry ended up in the wall. He's
frustrated, but doesn't want to blame Sam Mayer for his plight. |
| | Last Lap Pass at Pocono Gives Kyle Busch 100th Truck Win
for KBM Kyle Busch was able to make the move on the final lap to get around Corey Heim to win the CRC Brakleen 150 Saturday. Heim was second, then Taylor Gray, Christopher
Bell and Grant Enfinger. |
| | A Black & White Day for Tanner & Taylor
Gray The Gray brothers had completely opposite races Saturday at Pocono Raceway. Taylor Gray finished a career-best third, while Tanner Gray crashed out in the first five
laps. |
| | Kaden Honeycutt to Attempt 4 More Races with Niece
Motorsports in 2023 Kaden Honeycutt revealed to Frontstretch Saturday that he will drive the No. 44 Chevrolet for Niece Motorsports in four additional NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
events this season. |
| | Newgarden's Drive For Five At Iowa Ends In
Victory Team Penske's Josef Newgarden had a dominant day in Iowa Saturday, lapping all but the top five finishers en route to victory in the Hy-Vee Homefront 250. Scott
McLaughlin was second, then Patricio O'Ward, Marcus Ericsson and Will Power. |
| | Newgarden Earns IndyCar Iowa Weekend
Sweep Team Penske's Josef Newgarden dominated Sunday at Iowa Speedway, leading 212 of 250 laps to win the Hy-Vee OneStep 250. Will Power was second, then Alex Palou,
Felix Rosenqvist and Scott McLaughlin. |
| | Scott McLaughlin Seeks First Oval Win at Iowa, He Just
Has to Beat Josef Newgarden Scott McLaughlin has done a lot in his brief time in the NTT IndyCar Series. He hasn't won on an oval yet, but he's been knocking on the
door. |
| | Max Verstappen Scores Win No. 12 In A Row For Red Bull
Racing Red Bull's Max Verstappen took the lead away from Lewis Hamilton under braking for the first corner of the race. From there, he was unchallenged as he drove to a
dominant win in the Grand Prix of Hungary. Lando Norris was second, then Sergio Perez, Hamilton and Oscar Piastri. |
| | Jesse Love Wins ARCA Race at
Pocono Venturini Motorsports' Jesse Love led 40 of 60 laps en route to winning the rain-delayed Sunset Hill Shooting Range 150 for his fifth ARCA win of the year. Connor
Mosack was second, then Andres Perez de Lara, Dean Thompson and Conner Jones. |
| | The Heart of Racing Scores Double Victory in Northeast
Grand Prix The Heart of Racing's Ross Gunn and Alex Riberas dominated to win the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship FCP Euro Northeast Grand Prix Saturday at Lime Rock
Park. Teammates Roman DeAngelis and Marco Sorensen won in GTD. |
| | Mason Filippi, Mark Wilkins Win Lime Rock Park
100 Bryan Herta Autosport's Mason Filippi took the lead away from Ryan Eversley with 12 minutes to go Saturday. From there, Filippi pulled away to win the Michelin
Pilot Challenge Lime Rock Park 100 with teammate Mark Wilkins. |
Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, Travis Hinkle and Chris Owens of INDYCAR Media and our own Phil Allaway 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: July 21-23 |
- In IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge action, Jr III Racing's Bijoy Garg swept both races Saturday in his Ligier JS P320-Nissan. In Race No. 1, Garg won by 11.025 seconds over Dan Goldburg.
Denis Dupont was third, then Brian Thienes and Courtney Crone. Race No. 2 saw Garg lead flag-to-flag and win by 4.021 seconds over Goldburg. Crone recovered from a spin in Race No. 1 to finish third, followed by Dupont and Adrian Kunzle. In the GSX class for GT4 cars, AutoTechnic Racing's John Capestro-Dubets picked up a weekend sweep of his own. In Race No. 1, Capestro-Dubets won by 3.561 seconds over teammate Jake Walker. Stephen Cugliari completed an AutoTechnic Racing podium sweep in third. Turner Motorsport teammates Francis Selldorff and Vin Barletta were fourth
and fifth. Race No. 2 was more of the same for Capestro-Dubets. He led flag-to-flag and won by 5.215 seconds over Walker. Selldorff was third, then Automatic Racing's Rob Ecklin. Rebel Rock Racing's Frank DePew was fifth. Capestro-Dubets has an interesting story in motorsports.He was competitive in the now-defunct Street Tuner class 10 years ago, then left racing for a number of years before returning. He revealed his story as to why he left racing and how he got after his second victory Saturday. That story will be shared at Frontstretch in the
coming weeks. - World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series teams were at Williams Grove Speedway for the Champion Racing Oil Summer Nationals. Friday night saw Brad Sweet dominate much of the race, but Shark Racing's Logan Schuchart was able to run him down.
The final laps saw a huge duel between the two. On the final lap, Schuchart dove to the inside and beat Sweet to the line by .078 seconds to take the win. Rico Abreu was third, then Sheldon Haudenschild and Carson Macedo.
The main show Saturday night saw Abreu lead all 30 laps to take a popular victory, along with a check for $20,000. Abreu held off David Gravel in the closing laps. Brent Marks was third, then Spencer Bayston and Justin Peck. Leaving Williams Grove, Sweet and Gravel are now tied for the point lead through 43 races. They are 44 points ahead of Macedo. Schuchart is fourth, followed by Haudenschild. |
This is just a sampling of the 52 videos we posted to our YouTube channel over the weekend from Pocono and Iowa. For more content from this past weekend, or from other race weekends, be sure to subscribe to our channel. Also, please make sure to click the bell in order to be informed about future videos. |
Seeking the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs: Martin Truex Jr. Extends Lead With Strong Pocono Run
by Phil Allaway
Martin Truex Jr. ran very well Sunday, leading 20 laps and finishing third. That allowed him to expand his points lead up to 30 points over William Byron, who led early from pole, but dropped back to a 14th-place finish. Denny Hamlin's victory moved him up one place to third. Christopher Bell is
down to fourth despite a sixth-place finish in an up and down race. Ross Chastain is up one place to fifth after finishing 13th. Kyle Busch had a pretty miserable weekend in Pocono. A 21st-place finish dropped him down to sixth. Kyle Larson and Kevin
Harvick are tied for seventh. Larson won stage two and was right up there in the battle for the win, but wall contact dropped him back to 20th. Meanwhile, Harvick moved up from ninth after finishing fourth. Ryan Blaney lost a cylinder and had to drive the second half of the race at a
reduced pace. A 30th-place finish dropped him two places to ninth. Joey Logano won stage one, then was eliminated in a crash shortly after the restart. The 35th-place finish cost him points, but he stays in 10th. Tyler Reddick's second-place finish moved him up two places to 11th. Brad Keselowski is down one spot to 12th. Chris Buescher is 13th, followed by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Bubba Wallace gained some points with an 11th-place finish that keeps him in 15th, while Michael McDowell still has the last spot in the playoffs in 16th. McDowell expanded his lead up to 17 points over AJ Allmendinger, who moved up one spot after finishing 17th. Daniel Suarez crashed out with Logano and fell down to 18th. Ty Gibbs is still 19th after finishing fifth, while Alex Bowman is still 20th. Chase Elliott is now 21st. Point Standings (1-16): 1) Martin Truex Jr. 711, 2) William
Byron -30, 3) Denny Hamlin -55, 4) Christopher Bell -75, 5) Ross Chastain -98, 6) Kyle Busch -102, t-7) Kyle Larson -110, t-7) Kevin Harvick -110, 9) Ryan Blaney -120, 10) Joey Logano -136, 11) Tyler Reddick -148, 12) Brad Keselowski -151, 13) Chris Buescher -162, 14) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -217, 15) Bubba Wallace -246, 16) Michael McDowell -256. Note: Drivers in italics are either outside of the playoffs, or ineligible for points. Playoff
Points: 1) William Byron 22, 2) Martin Truex Jr. -4, 3) Kyle Busch -5, 4) Denny Hamlin -8, 5) Denny Hamlin -9, 6) Ross Chastain -12, t-7) Tyler Reddick -14, t-7) Ryan Blaney -14, t-7) Joey Logano -14, 10) Christopher Bell -15, t-11) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -17, t-11) Shane van Gisbergen
-17, 13) Brad Keselowski -20, t-14) Kevin Harvick -21, t-14) Austin Cindric -21, t-14) Aric Almirola -21, t-14) Ryan Preece -21, t-14) Chase Elliott -21. Stage Points: 1) William Byron 203, 2) Martin Truex Jr. -31, 3) Denny Hamlin -38, t-4) Ross Chastain -55, t-4) Kyle Larson
-55, 6) Christopher Bell -56, 7) Tyler Reddick -57, 8) Ryan Blaney -61, 9) Joey Logano -83, 10) Kevin Harvick -92, 11) Brad Keselowski -107, 12) Kyle Busch -114, 13) Alex Bowman -127, 14) Chris Buescher -134, 15) Michael McDowell
-141, 16) Austin Cindric -142. Outside of the top-16, but in the playoffs: 18)
Bubba Wallace -151, 25) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -169. Note: The Stage Points also include the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at
Daytona. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Martin Truex Jr.
635, 2) Kyle Busch -23, 3) Denny Hamlin -42, 4) William Byron -44, 5) Christopher Bell -49, 6) Kevin Harvick -52, 6) Chris Buescher -66, 8) Ross Chastain -73, 9) Brad Keselowski
-75, 10) Kyle Larson -85, 11) Joey Logano -86, t-12) Ryan Blaney -91, t-12) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -91, 14) Tyler Reddick -125, 15) Bubba Wallace -133, 16) Michael McDowell -154. 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.
2857, 2) Kyle Busch -84, 3) Christopher Bell -163, 4) Denny Hamlin -164, 5) William Byron -182, 6) Kevin Harvick -193, 7) Ross Chastain -243, 8) Kyle Larson -251, 9) Chris Buescher
-261, 10) Brad Keselowski -264, 11) Joey Logano -266, 12) Ryan Blaney -300, 13) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -346, 14) Tyler Reddick -408, 15) Bubba Wallace -460, 16) Michael McDowell -542. Note: 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, Atlanta-2), Joey Logano (Atlanta-1), Tyler Reddick (Austin), Kyle Larson (Richmond, Martinsville), Christopher Bell (Bristol), Martin Truex Jr. (Dover, Sonoma, Loudon), Denny Hamlin (Kansas, Pocono), Ross
Chastain (Nashville), Shane van Gisbergen (Chicago)
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 Loses Part of Lead After Mid-Race Crash
by Phil Allaway
John Hunter Nemechek had a very good car, but got caught up in a crash just past halfway. He then struggled to a 32nd-place finish. Despite that, he was able to keep his points lead, but it has shrank to 13 points over race winner Austin Hill. Justin Allgaier moved back up to third despite finishing 23rd.
Cole Custer was in the same crash as Nemechek and stays in fourth. Chandler Smith is still in fifth despite finishing 20th. Josh Berry was in position to win before crashing on the final lap. He still took home a good points haul after winning the first two stages and remains in sixth. Daniel
Hemric is seventh, then Sammy Smith. Sam Mayer is ninth after his second-place finish, while Sheldon Creed is 10th. Riley Herbst finished fourth and stays in 11th, the final driver in the playoffs on points. Herbst's lead is now 26 points over Parker Kligerman, who finished
ninth. Jeb Burton is 13th, while Brett Moffitt is four points behind him after another top 10 finish. Brandon Jones is back up to 15th, while Kaz Grala is 16th. Point Standings (1-16): 1) John Hunter Nemechek 751, 2) Austin Hill -13, 3) Justin Allgaier -55, 4) Cole Custer -85, 5) Chandler Smith -164, 6) Josh Berry -174, 7) Daniel Hemric
-198, 8) Sammy Smith -203, 9) Sam Mayer -206, 10) Sheldon Creed -235, 11) Riley Herbst -258, 12) Parker Kligerman -284, 13) Jeb Burton -303, 14) Brett Moffitt -307, 15) Brandon Jones -312, 16) Kaz Grala
-399. Playoff Points: 1) John Hunter Nemechek 24, 2) Austin Hill -1, 3) Cole Custer -9, 4) Justin Allgaier -14, t-5) Chandler Smith -17, t-5) Ryan Truex -17, t-7) Jeb Burton
-18, t-7) Sammy Smith -18, t-9) Sheldon Creed -21, t-9) Josh Berry -21, t-11) Riley Herbst -23, t-10) Parker Kligerman -23. Note: If they were eligible for Xfinity Series points, AJ Allmendinger would be
fourth in playoff points, while Kyle Larson would be sixth. Aric Almirola would be 11th and Ty Gibbs tied for 12th. Stage Points: 1) John Hunter Nemechek 197, 2) Justin Allgaier -9, 3) Austin Hill
-33, 4) Cole Custer -38, 5) Sheldon Creed -48, 6) Chandler Smith -70, 7) Josh Berry -78, 8) Riley Herbst -87, 9) Sammy Smith -98, 10) Daniel Hemric -101, 11) Sam Mayer
-104, 12) Brandon Jones -110, 13) Parker Kligerman -138, 14) Ryan Truex -156, t-15) Brett Moffitt -166, t-15) Ryan Sieg -166. Outside of the top-16, but still in playoffs: 17)
Jeb Burton -171. Note: If they were eligible for points, Ty Gibbs would be 14th and AJ Allmendinger tied for 15th in stage points. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Austin Hill
660, 2) John Hunter Nemechek -17, t-3) Cole Custer -69, t-3) Justin Allgaier -69, 5) Chandler Smith -114, 6) Josh Berry -117, t-7) Sam Mayer -127, t-7) Daniel Hemric -127, 9) Sammy Smith
-129, 10) Jeb Burton -162, 11) Brett Moffitt -169, 12) Parker Kligerman -176, 13) Riley Herbst -199, 14) Sheldon Creed -203, 15) Brandon Jones -229, 16) Kaz Grala -240. WC Points (1-16): 1) Austin Hill 2869, 2) John Hunter Nemechek -37, 3) Justin Allgaier -200, 4) Cole Custer -231, 5) Josh Berry
-385, 6) Chandler Smith -397, 7) Sam Mayer -429, 8) Daniel Hemric -445, 9) Sammy Smith -448, 10) Jeb Burton -599, 11) Brett Moffitt -609, 12) Parker Kligerman -611, 13) Riley Herbst
-667, 14) Sheldon Creed -705, 15) Brandon Jones -794, 16) Kaz Grala -837. Race Winners: Austin Hill (Daytona, Las Vegas, Atlanta-1, Pocono), John Hunter Nemechek (Fontana, Martinsville. Atlanta-2), Sammy Smith (Phoenix), AJ Allmendinger
(Austin, Nashville), Chandler Smith (Richmond), Jeb Burton (Talladega), Ryan Truex (Dover), Kyle Larson (Darlington), Justin Allgaier (Charlotte), Cole Custer (Portland, Chicago), 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 Closes In On Regular Season Title
by Phil Allaway
Corey Heim had another excellent day in Pocono Saturday,
finishing second. Meanwhile, Zane Smith got caught up in a crash. As a result, Heim has expanded his points lead up to 42 points. He'll need only a midfield finish at Richmond Raceway to win the regular season title. There is a three-way tie for third between Ben Rhodes, Grant Enfinger and Ty Majeski. Enfinger finished fifth, while Majeski was sixth and Rhodes ninth. The finish locks Majeski into the playoffs on points. Christian Eckes remains in sixth after coming from the back to finish seventh. Carson Hocevar is still in seventh, while Matt DiBenedetto is eighth. Nick Sanchez scored 17 stage points, but fell back late to a
19th-place finish to stay in ninth. Matt Crafton still has the final spot in the playoffs on points in 10th. He has a nine-point advantage over Stewart Friesen, who crashed out of the race Saturday. Tanner Gray's chances of getting in on points disappeared when he crashed in the opening laps. He is now 47 points behind Crafton. Chase Purdy remains in 13th, while
Tyler Ankrum is 14th. Jake Garcia is 15th, while Taylor Gray moved up to 16th after finishing third. Point Standings (1-16): 1) Corey Heim 569, 2) Zane Smith -42, t-3) Grant Enfinger -59, t-3) Ben Rhodes -59, t-3) Ty Majeski -59, 6) Christian Eckes -89, 7) Carson Hocevar -125, 8) Matt
DiBenedetto -138, 9) Nick Sanchez -148, 10) Matt Crafton -160, 11) Stewart Friesen -169, 12) Tanner Gray -207, 13) Chase Purdy -214, 14) Tyler Ankrum -231, 15) Jake Garcia -254, 16) Taylor Gray -296.
Note: Drivers in italics are either outside of the playoffs, or ineligible for the playoffs. Playoff Points: 1) Corey Heim 15, t-2) Christian Eckes -1, t-3) Zane Smith -1, 4) Carson Hocevar -3, 5) Grant Enfinger -4, 6) Ben Rhodes -9, t-7) Nick Sanchez -13, t-7) Ty Majeski -13, t-9) Matt Crafton -14, t-9) Tyler Ankrum -14. Note: If he were eligible for playoff points, Kyle Busch would be tied for fourth with 12 points. Joey Logano would be seventh, Kyle Larson eighth and William Byron would be tied for 12th. Stage Points: 1) Zane Smith 164, 2) Corey Heim -21, 3) Ty Majeski -35, 4) Christian Eckes -50, 5) Ben Rhodes -51, 6) Carson
Hocevar -75, t-7) Grant Enfinger -76, t-7) Matt DiBenedetto -76, 9) Nick Sanchez -83, 10) Stewart Friesen -87, 11) Matt Crafton -103, 12) Tanner Gray -116, 13) Tyler Ankrum -118, 14) Chase Purdy
-124, 15) Rajah Caruth -129, 16) Dean Thompson -135. Note: If they were eligible for stage points, Kyle Busch would be 12th and William Byron 13th. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Corey Heim
383, 2) Grant Enfinger -18, 3) Ben Rhodes -40, 4) Ty Majeski -56, t-5) Zane Smith -71, t-5) Christian Eckes -71, 7) Carson Hocevar -81, 8) Matt Crafton -91, 9) Nick Sanchez
-94, 10) Matt DiBenedetto -98, 11) Stewart Friesen -117, 12) Chase Purdy -122, 13) Tanner Gray -123, 14) Jake Garcia -132, 15) Tyler Ankrum -149, 16) Taylor Gray -167. WC Points (1-16): 1) Corey Heim 2154, 2) Grant Enfinger -46, 3) Ben Rhodes -110, 4) Ty Majeski
-121, 5) Zane Smith -173, 6) Christian Eckes -181, 7) Carson Hocevar -240, 8) Nick Sanchez -284, 9) Matt Crafton -293, 10) Matt DiBenedetto -298, 11) Stewart Friesen -337, 12) Chase Purdy
-383, 13) Tanner Gray -385, 14) Tyler Ankrum -475, 15) Jake Garcia -496, 16) Daniel Dye -574. Race
Winners: Zane Smith (Daytona, Austin), Kyle Busch (Las Vegas, Pocono), Christian Eckes (Atlanta, Darlington), Carson Hocevar (Texas, Nashville), Joey Logano (Bristol), Corey Heim (Martinsville, Mid-Ohio), 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's HighPoint.com 400 was brought to you by the letter D for "Deja vu," the feeling that you have experienced something before. That is how Sunday's race climaxed with Denny
Hamlin pulling the same move on Kyle Larson that he did to Ross Chastain last year. Larson managed to not trash his car, but the result was the same, Hamlin in victory lane. This time, he got to keep the victory.. - Phil Allaway |
Quotes to Remember: HighPoint.com
400 compiled by Phil
Allaway
"I pushed [Kyle Larson] all the way into turn 1. I don’t know if he didn’t have his tires clean and then he washed up the race track. We got side-by-side, and he chose not to lift. It’s just one of those things when you are on the outside the aerodynamics position, I didn’t touch him.
He just made the decision not to lift." - Denny Hamlin, race winner
"Our Interstate Batteries Camry was a rocket. We fought track position all day, and finally got it, and then drove away from the field until strategy got us back a few spots. All-in-all, really good speed, good day. I
just couldn’t get the push from the front row to get the lead back." - Martin Truex Jr., finished third "I would have rather won, but I think we just have to keep ourselves in the mix, keep doing what we’re doing and you just never know how these things are gonna play out. We needed the front in clean air and we never really got that. Our car just
struggled in traffic on that first lap of the restarts to get going with the front tires, but it was a strange race. I didn’t ever think that that strategy would play out like it did, running where we were and then have it cycle all through. You’ve just got to keep going every lap. They know what they’re doing up there and let it play out." - Kevin Harvick, finished fourth "It’s really cool. We had a really fast He Gets Us, Monster Energy Toyota Camry. It’s great to come home in the top-five. Thank you to everybody [that] supports me at [Joe Gibbs Racing] and Toyota, TRD. What a great day. We were up front all day. Solid day with good track position. It was nice to stay out of the mess back there. We just have to keep fighting." - Ty Gibbs, finished fifth "It was an up-and-down day for the No. 47 Blue Buffalo Chevy team. We didn’t have track position at the beginning. We got it there in the middle stages of the race, but just wasn’t good enough to keep it. The guys made some really good adjustments and we got better. The final stage when we ran long, we were running good lap times
when we got clean air. We took two tires and that gave us really good track position for when the cautions came out. It was just about timing those restarts there at the end. We messed up every restart there at the beginning, and then nailed every one there at the end. All-in-all, it was a really strong day for our team." - Ricky Stenhouse Jr., finished seventh "It stinks. We got the lead and had it for two laps and then we had our issue. We’ll have to figure out what it was, but, overall, I’m proud of the effort. We brought a pretty good car and got it better throughout the day. It’s just one of those things that happens every now and then. I essentially lost 100 horsepower. We’ll have to look at it, but it laid down pretty flat pretty quick." - Ryan Blaney, finished 30th "I don’t know – I heard [Dale Earnhardt Jr. said on the broadcast] that I came down a little bit. I felt like I was holding my own. [Tyler Reddick] was at my left rear going in there, and I knew we were three-wide. I think I’ve got the right to at least hold my lane. I’ve got to turn at some point to get down. Brad [Keselowski] was on my outside, maybe a half-lane up. But [Reddick]
drove it in there, and obviously I feel like he drove it in there deep enough where he had to come up the track into me. We can look at the SMT and see the little fine movements that we make, but I felt like that was not the time to do that for the No. 45." - Austin Dillon, finished 34th (Crashed out) "There was some damage from hitting the wall. The
left-rear toe link. I think some control arms also got bent, but towing the car two miles didn’t do any favors, for sure. It just doesn’t make any sense. We’ve been fighting these cars for two years now with four flat tires when a car spins out, and you get this long, horrible ride back. It’s rough. Your head is bouncing around in there. It’s stupid. It’s just really dumb that we can’t just put four tires on a truck. I saw a whole bunch of them earlier today. I did something for Verizon and I
saw at least 25 trucks. If we can put four tires on one of them with a jack and an impact that can just change the tires and let us come back, instead of dragging the car two miles around the racetrack, it’s just stupid. It’s not fun for anybody. The poor guy driving the tow truck. The poor driver getting his head knocked around for two miles and the poor team that’s got to fix the underbodies of these things after they get dragged around. It’s dumb. I don’t know. It is what it is, but it seems
like it has a very easy fix. I’ve brought this up before, but I guess it doesn’t matter." - Joey Logano, finished 35th (Eliminated due to failing to meet minimum speed) "I don’t know – I got turned around on the right-rear on a very fast straightaway. Just lucky we didn’t get wrecked big time, but unfortunately we couldn’t continue anymore. But at the
end of the day, it’s our fault. We shouldn’t be back there with those guys. We fought the balance of the car in the first stage. We lost a bunch of track position. We kind of got it back a little bit. I felt like once we got the balance, we were going to be able to drive the front. But we didn’t get the opportunity to and got wrecked before that. "It was a
racing incident, but we shouldn’t be back there racing with those guys anyway." - Daniel Suarez, 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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