Frontstretch Newsletter: May 30, 2023
Volume XVII, Edition LXXXIII |
- Tonight, the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series will race at the virtual Charlotte Motor Speedway in the Coca-Cola 150. Coverage is scheduled to
begin at 8:30 p.m. ET on both NASCAR and iRacing's YouTube channels. The race itself will start at 9 p.m. ET. We will have a recap of the sim racing action and anything else that breaks today for you at Frontstretch. |
| | Ryan Blaney Snaps Winless Streak With Coca-Cola 600
Victory Team Penske's Ryan Blaney led a race-high 163 laps Monday night to win the Coca-Cola 600 for his first victory since 2021. William Byron was second, then Martin
Truex Jr., Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick. |
| | Chase Elliott Tags, Wrecks Denny Hamlin in Coca-Cola 600 The most controversial moment in Monday night's Coca-Cola 600 occurred on lap 184 when Chase Elliott was squeezed into the outside wall exiting turn 4 by Denny
Hamlin. Elliott appeared to retaliate and wrecked both Hamlin and himself. |
| | Bubba Wallace Tangles with Aric Almirola, Surges to
4th 23XI Racing's Bubba Wallace had another strong run Monday night to finish fourth, his third straight top-five finish. However, he also got into it with Aric
Almirola early on, leading to Almirola shoving him during a red flag. |
| | Justin Allgaier Brings JR Motorsports its 1st Win of
2023 Justin Allgaier made his fuel hold out for the final 66 laps Sunday night to win the twice-delayed ALSCO Uniforms 300 for his first NASCAR Xfinity Series win of
the year. John Hunter Nemechek was second, then Cole Custer, Austin Hill and Ty Gibbs. |
| | Dylan Lupton Joins Alpha Prime Racing for 2
Races During the break in the ALSCO Uniforms 300 Monday, Alpha Prime Racing announced that Dylan Lupton will drive for the team in the upcoming road course races at
Portland and Sonoma. |
| | Clay Greenfield, Others Form GK
Racing Monday saw the announcement of the formation of GK Racing, a new team owned by Clay Greenfield and his wife Tandra, along with additional partners, that will field
the No. 95 Toyota in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series starting this weekend. |
Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography and our own Jared Haas. 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: May 29 |
- James McFadden led flag-to-flag Monday night to win the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series Memorial Day Spectacular at Lawrenceburg Speedway. Carson Macedo was second, then Rico Abreu, Giovanni
Scelzi and Buddy Kofoid. Through 24 races, Brad Sweet and Macedo are now tied for the points lead. They are eight points ahead of David Gravel. Logan Schuchart is fourth, while Donny Schatz is fifth. - At Lebanon Valley Speedway Monday night, Matt Sheppard led flag-to-flag to win the Super DIRTcar Series King of Spring 100, his third career win on the high-banked oval and 90th career Super DIRTcar Series win. Mike Mahaney was second, then Andy Bachetti, Marc Johnson and Jimmy Phelps. Through three
races, Mat Williamson has a three-point lead over Sheppard. Phelps is third, then Darren Smith and Peter Britten. |
This is just a sample of the 13 videos we posted Monday from Charlotte. For more content from Charlotte, or from other venues, please subscribe to our YouTube channel. Also, don't forget to click the bell in order to be notified about future
videos! |
Seeking the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs: Ross Chastain's Lead Trimmed To The Minimum
by Phil Allaway
Ross Chastain really just didn't have it on Monday. He scored two stage
points, but finished a disappointing 22nd. That was ultimately just enough for him to keep his points lead. His advantage is down to only one point over Ryan Blaney. Blaney's victory and a race-high 64 points moved him up five places to second. William Byron is up two spots to third after winning stage one and finishing second. Kevin Harvick is down one place to fourth after getting in a crash, but recovering to finish 11th. He is only eight
points out of the lead. Martin Truex Jr. is up one position to fifth after finishing third.
Christopher Bell spun out early in stage three, then struggled for the rest of night on his way to 24th. As a result, he dropped four places to sixth, but still gained on Chastain. Tyler Reddick is up three places to seventh after finishing fifth. Denny Hamlin is down four positions to eighth after crashing out with Chase Elliott. Brad Keselowski is down one place to ninth after getting
involved in two incidents. Despite that, he still finished 19th. Kyle Busch is back up to 10th after finishing sixth. Kyle Larson was eliminated in a late crash and dropped two spots to 11th. Chris Buescher is up to 12th after winning stage two and finishing eighth. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished seventh and moved up to 13th. Joey
Logano dropped two places to 14th, while Bubba Wallace's third straight top five keeps him in 15th. In his first race back from injury, a 12th-place finish moved Alex Bowman up to the playoff bubble in 16th. Bowman has a four-point lead over Chase Briscoe, who struggled terribly
at the beginning of the race, dropping as far back as 35th. He eventually recovered to finish 20th. Ty Gibbs is up a spot to 18th despite a 26th-place finish. Gibbs jumped over Daniel Suarez. Corey LaJoie gained three spots to get back up to 20th. Point Standings (1-16): 1) Ross Chastain 446, 2) Ryan Blaney -1, 3) William Byron -4, 4) Kevin Harvick -8, 5) Martin Truex Jr. -13, 6) Christopher Bell -17, 7) Tyler Reddick -37, 8) Denny Hamlin -46, 9) Brad Keselowski
-52, 10) Kyle Busch -54, 11) Kyle Larson -69, 12) Chris Buescher -78, 13) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -88, 14) Joey Logano -89, 15) Bubba Wallace -119, 16) Alex Bowman -150.
Note: Drivers in italics are either outside
of the playoffs, or ineligible for points. Playoff Points: 1) William Byron 17, 2) Kyle Larson -5, 3) Kyle Busch -7, t-4) Denny Hamlin -10, t-4) Tyler Reddick
-10, t-4) Joey Logano
-10, t-7) Ryan Blaney -11, t-7) Martin Truex Jr.
-11, t-9) Christopher Bell
-12, t-9) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -12, t-9) Ross Chastain -12, t-12) Kevin Harvick -16, t-12) Brad Keselowski -16, t-12) Chris Buescher -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 147, 2) Ross Chastain -29, 3) Kyle Larson -44, 4) Denny Hamlin -49, 5) Christopher Bell -51, 6) Kevin Harvick -52, 7) Tyler Reddick -57, 8) Martin
Truex Jr. -59, 9) Ryan Blaney -60, 10) Brad Keselowski -64, 11) Joey Logano -73, 12) Alex Bowman -83, 13) Kyle Busch -91, 14) Chris Buescher -92, 15) Austin Cindric -99, 16) Daniel Suarez -109.
Outside of the top-16, but in the playoffs: 17) Bubba Wallace -111, 25) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -125. Note: The Stage Points also include the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at
Daytona. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Ryan Blaney 421, 2) Martin Truex Jr. -13, 3) Kevin Harvick -14, 4) Christopher Bell -23, 5) Kyle Busch -24, 6) Ross Chastain -26, 7) Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
-30, 8) Tyler Reddick -41, 9) Brad Keselowski -44, 10) William Byron -46, 11) Denny Hamlin -47, 12) Chris Buescher -48, 13) Bubba Wallace -70, 14) Joey Logano -75, 15) Kyle Larson
-82, 16) Chase Briscoe -98.
Outside of the
top 16, but still in the playoffs: 22) Alex Bowman -135. Note: These standings are based on the old point system that was used before stages were
created. WC Points (1-16): 1) Ryan Blaney 1895, 2) Martin Truex Jr. -56, 3) Kevin Harvick
-60, 4) Christopher Bell -64, 5) Ross Chastain -75, 6) Kyle Busch -90, 7) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -130, 8) Tyler Reddick -142, 9) Brad Kesleowski -147, 10) William Byron -174, t-11) Denny Hamlin -179, t-11) Chris Buescher -179, 13) Bubba Wallace -236, 14) Joey Logano -237, 15) Kyle Larson -249, 16) Chase Briscoe -333.
Outside the top-16, but still in the playoffs: 27)
Alex Bowman -570. 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), William Byron (Las Vegas, Phoenix), Joey Logano (Atlanta), Tyler Reddick (Austin), Kyle Larson (Richmond, Martinsville), Christopher Bell (Bristol), Martin Truex Jr. (Dover), Ryan Blaney (Charlotte)
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.
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Seeking the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs: John Hunter Nemechek's Fuel Holds Out, Expands Points Lead
by Phil Allaway
John Hunter Nemechek was right up there with Justin Allgaier Monday night fighting for the win.
Then, fuel mileage came into play. Nemechek fell back from Allgaier, but still finished second. That allowed him to expand his advantage to 10 points over Austin Hill. Hill chose to pit for tires and fuel with 20 laps to go and eventually got back to fourth. Justin Allgaier's victory keeps him in third with only a minimal points gain. Cole Custer is up one place to fourth after finishing third. Josh Berry is down to fifth after finishing 15th. Chandler Smith finished 13th and stays in sixth. Sheldon Creed had a terrible night, finishing three laps down in 28th. Despite that, he is still seventh, one point ahead of Sammy Smith. Riley Herbst is still in ninth, but is continuing to drop off after a 14th-place finish. Daniel
Hemric is up one place to 10th despite a 22nd-place finish. Sam Mayer crashed Monday night and eventually finished 35th. That dropped him to 11th, the final driver in the playoffs. Jeb Burton finished seventh and moved up to 12th. Mayer has a 20-point lead over teammate Brandon Jones, who moved up a spot after finishing ninth. Parker
Kligerman had mechanical issues and dropped two places to 14th after finishing 38th. Ryan Sieg is still in 15th, while Parker Retzlaff's sixth-place finish moved him up to 16th. Point Standings (1-16): 1) John Hunter Nemechek
477, 2) Austin Hill -10, 3) Justin Allgaier -50, 4) Cole Custer -74, 5) Josh Berry -85, 6) Chandler Smith -103, 7) Sheldon Creed -126, 8) Sammy Smith -127, 9) Riley Herbst
-140, 10) Daniel Hemric -148, 11) Sam Mayer -162, 12) Jeb Burton -174, 13) Brandon Jones -182, 14) Parker Kligerman -202, 15) Ryan Sieg -220, 16) Parker Retzlaff -234. Playoff Points: 1) Austin Hill
18, 2) John Hunter Nemechek -4, 3) Justin Allgaier -9, 4) Ryan Truex -11, t-5) Chandler Smith -12, t-5) Jeb Burton -12, 7) Sammy Smith -13, 8) Cole Custer -16, t-9) Josh
Berry -17, t-9) Sheldon Creed -17, t-9) Parker Kligerman -17. Note: If they were eligible for Xfinity Series points, AJ Allmendinger and Kyle Larson would be
tied for fifth in playoff points, while Ty Gibbs would be tied for 10th. Stage Points: 1) John Hunter Nemechek 122, 2) Austin
Hill -4, t-3) Sheldon Creed -17, t-3) Justin Allgaier -17, t-5) Chandler Smith -34, t-5) Cole Custer -34, 7) Riley Herbst -42, 8) Josh Berry -54, t-9) Sam Mayer -59, t-9) Brandon Jones -59, 11) Sammy Smith
-62, 12) Daniel Hemric -63, 13) Ryan Truex -81, 14) Parker Kligerman -84, 15) Jeb Burton -97, 16) Ryan Sieg -99. Note: If he were eligible for points, Kyle Busch would be 16th in stage points. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) John Hunter Nemechek 413, 2) Austin Hill -9, 3) Josh Berry -36, 4) Justin Allgaier -39, 5) Cole Custer -45, 6) Sammy Smith -71, 7) Chandler Smith
-73, 8) Jeb Burton -87, 9) Daniel Hemric -96, 10) Riley Herbst -108, 11) Sam Mayer -109, 12) Sheldon Creed -114, 13) Parker Retzlaff -124, t-14) Parker Kligerman -129, t-14) Ryan Sieg -129, 16) Brandon Jones
-131. WC Points (1-16): 1) John Hunter Nemechek 1821, 2) Austin Hill -51, 3) Justin Allgaier -122, 4) Josh Berry -139, 5) Cole Custer -172, 6) Sammy Smith -271, 7) Chandler Smith
-273, 8) Jeb Burton -351, 9) Daniel Hemric -363, t-10) Riley Herbst -393, t-10) Sam Mayer -393, 12) Sheldon Creed -401, 13) Parker Retzlaff -454, 14) Parker Kligerman -459, 15) Ryan Sieg -478, 16) Brandon
Jones -479. Race Winners: Austin Hill (Daytona, Las Vegas, Atlanta), John Hunter Nemechek (Fontana, Martinsville)),
Sammy Smith (Phoenix), AJ Allmendinger (Austin), Chandler Smith (Richmond), Jeb Burton (Talladega), Ryan Truex (Dover), Kyle Larson (Darlington) Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com.
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Letter of the Race: Monday' night's Coca-Cola 600 was brought to you by the letter T for Testy. You had Aric Almirola and Bubba Wallace
getting into an expletive-laden argument that resulted in a shove on pit road and Denny Hamlin outright stating that Chase Elliott should be suspended. Should be interesting going forward. - Phil Allaway |
Quotes to Remember: Coca-Cola 600 compiled by Phil Allaway
"It’s just so cool. What a weekend with [Josef] Newgarden and Roger winning at Indy and us winning the 600, I mean that’s just so cool. That kind of snaps our winless streak right there and that’s even better. I’m just really thankful to everybody who stuck around with us. It’s huge to have
BodyArmor on the car. It’s such a cool car and looking forward to celebrate with these guys and I’m just really proud of the car and the effort that we had and was able to hang on." - Ryan Blaney, race winner
"I think we
just needed a little bit more. Our No. 24 Liberty University Chevy was good. We could move around and get through the field. We could get to the top-five, and then we would just kind of stay there and not have enough pace to really get further than that.
"It was easier with the fact that it was cloudy and cool out when the race
started, and it stayed that way for three-quarters of the race. It wasn’t as much change as it normally is here. Honestly I think everyone’s dialed their cars in so much that I don’t know how much change there would be even if it was really hot out." - William Byron, finished second
"It was a fun
day overall. We had just too many hiccups, too many issues on pit road with a couple of bad stops and the damage that sent us to the rear and had to come back. I thought through stage three we were going to have a shot at this thing, and out of the blue at the start of the final stage, we got some damage on the splitter from debris and the car was never quite as good. Unfortunate that happened, but all-in-all, great night for our Bass Pro Shops, Tracker Boats Toyota Camry. The car looked amazing
with the red, white and blue. It means a lot to have all of the soldiers on our cars this weekend. I got to meet an amazing family this weekend. Really wish I could have taken them to victory lane, so it’s a little bittersweet, but overall, it’s a solid day for us." - Martin Truex Jr., finished third
"It started on Friday. We didn’t get through tech. We are trying to push all we can get, and didn’t happen, so bad pit selection really set us back all day. I knew it would be a grind. I need my pit crew to know that as well – they made a couple mistakes – but they rebounded. We were playing the cards that we were dealt. I’m super proud of this Dr. Pepper Toyota team. Just continuing to make strides and continuing to show up and be a part of the factor. Just makes you think –
if you were that close on the final restart, or closer, what could have happened. It looked like [Ryan Blaney] was lights out all day. About time he got him one. I thought he was done washed up (laughter).
On the mess with Aric Almirola: "We were just frustrated on how we raced each other. We were in stage two of the Coke 600. I
finished fourth and that’s a good day for our team." - Bubba Wallace, finished fourth
"We had a great car. We were really, really strong there. Just made a lot of mistakes – we kind of went to the bad side of it on that
one strategy in the second stage. We had a million cautions, because we just kept crashing. We got behind there and we had to fight to get our track position back after that and we did. We got to [Ryan Blaney], and just being too aggressive, got sideways and hit the wall, and front there, hit the wall about 10 more times and pretty much took all of the life out of the race car." - Tyler Reddick, finished fifth
"Coca-Cola 600’s are normally up-and-down, so we definitely had an up-and-down day. But the guys fought hard all race long and made some good repairs. We made a lot of good adjustments. There were a couple that we had to go back on, and then go back on again. But all-in-all, just proud of everyone on the No. 8 Alsco Chevy team. Our car wasn’t as fast as we wanted on the
fire-off’s there – we wanted the long run to finish. Even though we hadn’t been good on the long runs all night, we adjusted for that, but we just didn’t get it. We’ll take a good solid effort and top 10 finish." - Kyle Busch, finished sixth
"I feel great. I got up and did the “Murph” workout this morning. My trainer wasn’t too thrilled about that, but went ahead and did that, and then came out here and ran 600 miles. Our No. 47 Kroger / Coca-Cola Chevy was so good all night. We just fought some track position every now and then, and then [Kyle Busch] fenced us there. I felt like we would have had a top-five if it wasn’t for
that. "But all-in-all, it was a great Coca-Cola 600 for us. It was what we needed after last week at the All-Star Race.. we kind of got beat up there a little bit. But it’s cool to get another top 10. This team is doing a lot of good things." - Ricky Stenhouse Jr.,
finished seventh
"It was early in the race and I felt like he ran me all over the racetrack and then when he got by me he shot me the bird, so I just went by and asked him why you shot me the bird. I felt like I gave him a lot of room and a lot of respect and he started mouthing off and saying a lot of bad things and cussing
at me after he shot me the bird, so I just wasn’t gonna take that." - Aric Almirola, finished 25th
"[Denny Hamlin] ran us up into the fence there. Once you tear the right-side off these things, it’s kind of over. I hate it – I thought our No. 9 NAPA Chevy was getting better. It was nice to
be making some gains there throughout the race. Our pit stops were really good. We had some pretty good fortune to get up towards the front there. It was just trying to get to mile 600 and have a shot, so unfortunately failed to do that again." - Chase Elliott, finished 34th (Crashed out)
"I got right-rear hooked in the middle of the straightaway. It’s a tantrum and he shouldn’t be racing next week. Right rear hooks are absolutely unacceptable. I don’t care. It is the same thing that Bubba Wallace did with Kyle Larson. Exact same. He shouldn’t be racing. It’s a tantrum." - Denny Hamlin, finished 35th (Crashed
out)
Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of NASCAR Media via David Jensen of Getty Images.
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![Denny Hamlin, Chris Gabehart React To Crash With Elliott: "[Chase] Shouldn't Be Racing [Next Week]"](https://hostedimages-cdn.aweber-static.com/MTUwNjA2Nw==/original/f097d520247846b0965e05768e087996.png?t=1685467442)
