Frontstretch Newsletter: Sept. 18, 2023
Volume
XVII, Edition CLXII |
- Teams are back at their shops, preparing for this weekend's action at Texas Motor Speedway. We'll have entry lists for this weekend's Texas races and any other news that breaks for you at Frontstretch. |
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| Denny Hamlin Dominates Late To Win The Bristol Night
Race Denny Hamlin led 142 of 500 laps Saturday night to win the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway for his third win of the year. Kyle Larson was second, then Christopher Bell, Chris Buescher and Ty Gibbs. |
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| No Repeat for Joey Logano, No Happy Ending for Kevin
Harvick A crash on lap 262 ended the title defense for Joey Logano, while Kevin Harvick had a miserable night with an ill-handling GearWrench Ford. Both drivers were eliminated from the playoffs. |
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| Bubba Wallace, Martin Truex Jr. Escape Chaotic Bristol, Advance in
Playoffs Bubba Wallace and Martin Truex Jr. earned top 20 finishes Saturday night in Bristol. That was enough for them to earn the final two places in the Round of 12. |
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| Sherry Pollex, Cancer Advocate, Garage Area Hero Passes at
44 Sherry Pollex died Sunday after a long battle with ovarian cancer. She was 44. |
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| Zane Smith Signs With Trackhouse, Will Drive For Spire In New Combined
Effort In a press conference Saturday in Bristol, Trackhouse Racing Team announced a new alliance with Spire Motorsports. Spire Motorsports will field a third car full-time for Zane Smith in 2024 under the Trackhouse banner. |
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| Live Fast Motorsports Sells Charter to Spire
Motorsports Spire Motorsports has the ability to help field Zane Smith in 2024 thanks to the acquisition of the charter currently held by Live Fast Motorsports. |
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| Busch Light Clash Returning to L.A. Memorial Coliseum in
2024 NASCAR announced Sunday that the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum will return in 2024. This time, the NASCAR Cup Series will be joined by the NASCAR Mexico Series. |
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| Justin Allgaier Locks into Round of 8 with Xfinity Win at
Bristol JR Motorsports' Justin Allgaier took the lead from Daniel Hemric with 13 laps to go Friday night and held on to win the Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Hemric was second, then John Hunter Nemechek, Cole Custer and Chandler
Smith. |
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| Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s NASCAR Return Derailed By Late-Race
Fire Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a legitimate chance to win Friday night at Bristol. Then, the shifter boot caught fire in his car, forcing him to retire from the event with 30 laps to go. |
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| Daniel Hemric Backs Up Cup Promotion With Xfinity
Runner-Up Daniel Hemric had the best race of his 2023 season Friday night in Bristol. Hemric was in position to win late before dropping to second. |
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| RCR Teammates Hill, Creed Tangle at Bristol One of the primary rules of motorsports is not to wreck your teammate. Friday night at Bristol saw Austin Hill spin and hit the wall after contact with teammate Sheldon Creed. Naturally, Hill was a very unhappy man afterwards. |
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| Daniel Dye Debuting in Xfinity With Alpha Prime at
Texas Alpha Prime Racing announced Sunday that Daniel Dye will drive for the team in three upcoming NASCAR Xfinity Series races starting this weekend at Texas. |
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| Carlos Sainz Holds On In Singapore For Lights-To-Flag
Victory Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr. led flag-to-flag from pole Sunday to win the Grand Prix of Singapore, snapping Max Verstappen's 10-race winning streak. Lando Norris was second, then Lewis Hamilton, Pierre Gasly and Verstappen. |
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| Nick Tandy, Mathieu Jaminet Win TireRack.com Battle on the
Bricks Porsche Penske Motorsport's Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy took the lead on the final round of stops and pulled away to win the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Sunday. |
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| Daniel Morad, Bryce Ward Win IMS 240 On Fuel
Mileage In what he described as the toughest race of his life, Daniel Morad held off the pack and made his fuel last to win the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Indianapolis Motor Speedway 240 Saturday night with teammate Bryce Ward. |
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| Ricky Thornton Jr. Sweeps Prelim Races & Nears Knoxville
History Ricky Thornton Jr. led flag-to-flag Friday night to win the second preliminary feature for the Knoxville Late Model Nationals. Chad Simpson was second, then Devin Moran, Brandon Overton and Kyle Bronson. |
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| Ricky Thornton Jr. Sweeps Knoxville Late Model Nationals After Bronson
Wreck Ricky Thornton Jr. is sitting pretty these days. He led 68 of 75 laps Saturday to win the Knoxville Late Model Nationals for the full weekend sweep. Mike Marlar was second, then Hudson O'Neal, Jonathan Davenport and Brandon
Overton. |
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| Role Reversal: Veteran Billy Moyer Struggles as Knoxville Record
Threatened Ricky Thornton Jr. was the show in Knoxville last weekend. On the other hand, Billy Moyer had a miserable weekend capped off by failing to meet the bell for the B-Main Saturday. |
Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, USC Annenberg School of Communication, FIA Media, and our own Phil Allaway and Jay Barker. Memorial graphic courtesy of 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: Sept. 15-17 |
- The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series raced Friday night at Kings Speedway, where the Tom Tarlton Classi was held. Here, Carson Macedo led early before lapped traffic allowed Brad Sweet and Corey Day to get past. Day and Sweet battled for the lead until contact was made with four
laps to go. Day spun while Sweet was able to continue. Sweet then led the remaining laps to claim the victory by 1.196 seconds over David Gravel. Dominic Scelzi was third, then Rico Abreu and Macedo. Day ended up 17th. Saturday night saw the series move on to Placerville Speedway for the 49er Gold Rush Classic. This race was a duel between Roth Motorsports teammates Buddy
Kofoid and James McFadden. The two drivers battled for nearly the entire 40-lap feature before Kofoid emerged victorious. Kofoid won by 2.568 seconds over Macedo. McFadden was third, then Justin Sanders and Day. Through 60 races, Sweet holds a 90-point
lead over Gravel. Macedo is third, then Logan Schuchart and Donny Schatz. |
This is just a sample of the 33 videos we posted to our YouTube channel Friday and Saturday from Bristol Motor Speedway. For more Bristol coverage, or coverage from other race weekends, please subscribe to our channel and don't forget to hit the bell in order to be notified of future videos. |
Seeking the NASCAR Cup Series Championship: Kyle Larson Wins Round of 16
by Phil Allaway
Kyle Larson had a strong night in Bristol, leading 20 laps and finishing second. That was enough to win the Round of 12. He won the round by 11 points over Denny Hamlin. Hamlin moved up one place to second after winning the Bass Pro Shops Night Race. Tyler Reddick dropped one place to third after
finishing 15th. William Byron finished the round in fourth after finishing ninth in Bristol. Christopher Bell led the most laps Saturday night and won the first two stages before finishing third. That performance boosted him from a tie for ninth to fifth. Brad Keselowski is down one spot to
sixth after finishing eighth. Chris Buescher finished fourth and moved up to seventh. Kyle Busch is down one postiion to eighth after finishing 20th. Ryan Blaney had a pretty mediocre run to 22nd. That dropped him three spots to ninth. Ross Chastain was right behind Blaney in 23rd
and dropped to 10th. Martin Truex Jr. dealt with an ill-handling and got bailed out by a caution. He would ultimately finish 19th and move up two places to 11th. Bubba Wallace claimed the last spot in the Round of 12 with a 14th-place finish. Wallace ended up four points ahead of both Joey Logano
and Kevin Harvick. Logano crashed out, while Kevin Harvick finished five laps down in 29th with an ill-handling car. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished 10th, but still came up seven points short. Michael McDowell ended up 16th. Outside of the playoffs, Ty Gibbs'
fifth-place finish means that he has a 17-point lead over Chase Elliott. Daniel Suarez is 19th, then Alex Bowman. When the Round of 12 starts at Texas, Truex and Byron will be tied for the points lead, four points ahead of Hamlin. Larson is fourth, then Buescher, Busch, Bell and
Reddick. Round of 16 Point Standings (1-16): 1) Kyle Larson 2163, 2) Denny Hamlin -11, 3) Tyler Reddick -24, 4) William Byron
-28, 5) Christopher Bell -40, 6) Brad Keselowski -41, 7) Chris Buescher -57, 8) Kyle Busch -66, 9) Ryan Blaney -67, 10) Ross Chastain -70, 11) Martin Truex Jr. -87, 12) Bubba
Wallace -88, t-13) Joey Logano -92, t-13) Kevin Harvick -92, 15) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -95, 16) Michael McDowell -104. Round of 16 Owners Point Standings: 1) Hendrick Motorsports
No. 5 (Kyle Larson) 2163, 2) Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 (Denny Hamlin) -11, 3) 23XI Racing No.45 (Tyler Reddick) -24, 4) Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 (William Byron) -28, 5) Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 (Christopher Bell) -40, 6) RFK Racing No. 6 (Brad Keselowski) -41, t-7) RFK Racing No. 17 (Chris Buescher)
-57, t-7) Hendrick Motorsports No. 9 (Chase Elliott) -57, 9) Richard Childress Racing No. 8 (Kyle Busch) -66, 10) Team Penske No. 12 (Ryan Blaney) -67, 11) Trackhouse Racing Team No. 1 (Ross Chastain) -70, 12) Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 (Martin Truex Jr.) -87, t-13) Team Penske No. 22 (Joey Logano)
-92, t-13) Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 (Kevin Harvick) -92, 15) JTG-Daugherty Racing -95, 16) Front Row Motorsports No. 34 (Michael McDowell) -104. Round of 12 Point Standings: t-1) William Byron 3036, t-1) Martin Truex Jr. 3036,
3) Denny Hamlin -4, 4) Kyle Larson -13, 5) Chris Buescher -15, 6) Kyle Busch -17, 7) Christopher Bell -20, 8) Tyler Reddick -22, t-9) Ross Chastain -25, t-9) Brad Keselowski -25, 11) Ryan Blaney -28, 12) Bubba Wallace -36. Round of 12 Owners Point Standings: t-1) Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 (William Byron) 3036, t-1) Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 (Martin Truex Jr.) 3036, 3) Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 (Denny Hamlin) -4, 4) Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 (Kyle Larson) -13, 5) RFK Racing No. 17 (Chris Buescher) -15, 6) Richard Childress Racing No. 8
(Kyle Busch) -17, t-7) 23XI Racing No. 45 (Tyler Reddick) -22, t-7) Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 (Christopher Bell) -22, t-9) Trackhouse Racing Team No. 1 (Ross Chastain) -25, t-9) RFK Racing No. 6 (Brad Keselowski) -25, 11) Team Penske No. 12 (Ryan Blaney) -28, 12) Hendrick Motorsports No. 9 (Chase Elliott) -35. Eliminated Playoff Driver Standings: t-13) Joey Logano 2071, t-13) Kevin Harvick 2071, 15) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -3, 16) Michael McDowell -12
Best of the Rest: 17) Ty Gibbs
648, 18) Chase Elliott -17, 19) Daniel Suarez -35, 20) Alex Bowman -61, 21) AJ Allmendinger -84, 22) Aric Almirola -138, 23) Austin Cindric -150, 24) Ryan Preece -164, 25) Corey LaJoie -166, 26) Erik Jones -167. Non-Playoff Point Standings (1-16): 1) Denny Hamlin 963, 2) Martin Truex Jr. -39, 3) William Byron -44, 4) Christopher
Bell -72, 5) Kyle Larson -86, 6) Brad Keselowski -109, 7) Tyler Reddick -133, 8) Chris Buescher -143, 9) Kyle Busch -158, 10) Ross Chastain -164, 11) Kevin Harvick
-167, 12) Ryan Blaney -180, 13) Joey Logano -195, 14) Bubba Wallace -268, 15) Ty Gibbs -315, 16) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -331. Note:
Drivers in italics are either outside of the playoffs, or ineligible for points. Playoff Points: t-1) William Byron 36, t-1) Martin Truex Jr. 36, 3) Denny Hamlin -4, 4) Kyle Larson
-13, 5) Chris Buescher -15, 6) Kyle Busch -17, 7) Christopher Bell -20, 8) Tyler Reddick -22, t-9) Ross Chastain -25, t-9) Brad Keselowski -25, t-11) Joey Logano -28, t-11) Ryan Blaney -28, 13) Michael McDowell
-29, 14) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -31, 15) Kevin Harvick -32, 16) Bubba Wallace -36. Stage Points: 1) Denny Hamlin 252, 2) William Byron
-4, 3) Kyle Larson -36, 4) Tyler Reddick -38, 5) Martin Truex Jr. -44, 5) Christopher Bell -51, 7) Brad Keselowski -88, 8) Ross Chastain -90, 9) Ryan Blaney
-91, 10) Kevin Harvick -112, 11) Joey Logano -117, 12) Kyle Busch -129, 13) Bubba Wallace -141, 14) Alex Bowman -153, 15) Daniel Suarez -155, 16) Michael McDowell -156.
Outside of the top-16, but in the playoffs: t-17) Chris Buescher -165. Note: The Stage Points also include the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Chris Buescher 856, 2) Denny Hamlin -3, 3) Martin Truex Jr. -9, 4) Christopher Bell -31, 5) Brad
Keselowski -33, 6) William Byron -38, 7) Kyle Busch -50, 8) Kyle Larson -62, 9) Kevin Harvick -73, 10) Ross Chastain -88, 11) Joey Logano -96, 12) Ryan Blaney
-105, 13) Tyler Reddick -112, 14) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -142, 15) Bubba Wallace -148, 16) Ty Gibbs -173. Note: These standings are based on the old point
system that was used before stages were created. WC Points (1-16): 1) Denny Hamlin 3867, 2) Martin Truex Jr. -22, 3) Chris Buescher -38, 4) Christopher Bell
-97, 5) Brad Keselowski -118, 6) Kyle Larson -161, 7) William Byron -165, 8) Kyle Busch -169, 9) Kevin Harvick -273, 10) Joey Logano -297, 11) Ross Chastain
-300, t-12) Tyler Reddick -357, t-12) Ryan Blaney -357, 14) Bubba Wallace -522, 15) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -523, 16) Ty Gibbs -618. Note: The WC points are based on the original points system created by Bob Latford in 1975. Race Winners: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Daytona-1), Kyle Busch (Fontana, Talladega, Gateway), William Byron (Las Vegas, Phoenix, Darlington-1, Atlanta-2, Watkins Glen), Joey Logano
(Atlanta-1), Tyler Reddick (Austin, Kansas-2), Kyle Larson (Richmond-1, Martinsville, Darlington-2), Christopher Bell (Bristol-1), Martin Truex Jr. (Dover, Sonoma, Loudon), Denny Hamlin (Kansas-1, Pocono, Bristol-2), Ross Chastain (Nashville), Shane van Gisbergen (Chicago), Chris Buescher (Richmond-2, Michigan, Daytona-2), Michael McDowell (Indianapolis)
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 Stands Pat in Bristol
by Phil Allaway
John Hunter Nemechek had a strong start to the NASCAR Xfinity Series, finishing third. That allows him to keep his points lead. He still has the same 10-point lead that he entered Bristol with, but it's now over Justin Allgaier, who led the most laps and won Friday night. Cole Custer led 109 laps from pole and finished
fourth, good enough to move him up one place to third. Austin Hill crashed out after contact from teammate Sheldon Creed (see RCR Teammates Hill, Creed Tangle at Bristol above). That dropped him to fourth. Chandler Smith finished fifth and moved up one spot to fifth. Daniel Hemric's best run of the
year in second resulted in a five-position gain to sixth. Sammy Smith finished ninth and moved up to seventh. Creed stays in eighth after finishing 11th, the last spot in the Round of 8 on points. Creed has a four-point advantage over Jeb Burton, who now has sole possession of ninth. Sam Mayer crashed out and dropped
five spots to 10th. Parker Kligerman had a hub burn up during the race and spent significant time in the garage. He came back out to finish 31st and move up to 11th. Josh Berry crashed out with Mayer and is 12th. Outside of the playoffs, Riley Herbst is 13th after an eighth-place finish. He is 74 points ahead of
Brandon Jones, who crashed out. Brett Moffitt is 15th, then Parker Retzlaff. Round of 12 Point Standings: 1) John Hunter Nemechek 2095, 2) Justin Allgaier -10, 3) Cole Custer -26, 4) Austin Hill -44, 5) Chandler Smith -47,
6) Daniel Hemric -53, 7) Sammy Smith -60, 8) Sheldon Creed -61, 9) Jeb Burton -65, 10) Sam Mayer -75, 11) Parker Kligerman -83, 12) Josh Berry -85. Round of 12 Owner Point Standings: 1) Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 (John Hunter
Nemechek) 2095, 2) JR Motorsports No. 7 (Justin Allgaier) -10, 3) Stewart-Haas Racing No. 00 (Cole Custer) -26, t-4) Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 (Trevor Bayne) -44, t-4) Richard Childress Racing No. 21 (Austin Hill) -44, 6) Kaulig Racing No. 16 (Chandler Smith) -49, 7) Kaulig Racing No. 10 (Daniel Hemric) -50, 8) Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 (Sammy Smith) -60,
9) Richard Childress Racing No. 2 (Sheldon Creed) -62, 10) Jordan Anderson Racing No. 27 (Jeb Burton) -65, 11) JR Motorsports No. 1 (Sam Mayer) -76, 12) JR Motorsports No. 8 (Josh Berry) -86. Best of the Rest (13-22): 13) Riley Herbst 705, 14) Brandon Jones -74,
15) Brett Moffitt -114, 16) Parker Retzlaff -172, 17) Kaz Grala -181, 18) Ryan Sieg -214, 19) Jeremy Clements -265, 20) Anthony Alfredo -340, 21) Kyle Sieg -347, 22) Josh Williams -352. Non-Playoff Point Standings (1-16):
1) John Hunter Nemechek 1059, 2) Justin Allgaier -22, 3) Austin Hill -29, 4) Cole Custer -128, 5) Josh Berry -247, 6) Sam Mayer -264, 7) Sheldon Creed -271, 8) Daniel Hemric -298, 9) Chandler Smith -301, 10) Parker
Kligerman -343, 11) Riley Herbst -346, 12) Sammy Smith -376, 13) Jeb Burton -410, 14) Brandon Jones -420, 15) Brett Moffitt -460, 16) Parker Retzlaff -518.
Playoff Points: 1) John Hunter
Nemechek 49, 2) Austin Hill -10, 3) Justin Allgaier -17, 4) Cole Custer -31, 5) Sam Mayer -34, t-6) Chandler Smith -40, t-6) Josh Berry -40, 8) Sheldon Creed -41, 9) Sammy Smith -43, 10) Jeb Burton -43, 11) Daniel Hemric
-46, 12) Parker Kligerman -47. Stage Points: 1) Justin Allgaier 297, 2) John Hunter Nemechek -15, 3) Cole Custer -49, 4) Austin Hill -50, 5) Sheldon Creed -108, 6) Chandler Smith
-134, 7) Josh Berry -141, 8) Riley Herbst -152, 9) Sam Mayer -156, t-10) Sammy Smith -172, t-10) Daniel Hemric -172, 12) Brandon Jones -183, 13) Parker Kligerman -210, 14) Ryan Truex -256, 15) Brett Moffitt
-257, 16) Ryan Sieg -263. Outside of the top-16, but still in playoffs: 17) Jeb Burton -271. Note: If they were eligible for points, Ty Gibbs would be 13th, AJ Allmendinger 15th and Kyle Larson 16th in stage
points. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Austin Hill 896, 2) John Hunter Nemechek -1, 3) Justin Allgaier -43, 4) Cole
Custer -96, 5) Josh Berry -130, 6) Sam Mayer -136, 7) Daniel Hemric -158, 8) Parker Kligerman -166, 9) Jeb Burton -173, 10) Sheldon Creed
-181, 11) Chandler Smith -191, 12) Riley Herbst -225, 13) Sammy Smith -232, 14) Brett Moffitt -234, 15) Brandon Jones -267, 16) Parker Retzlaff -277. WC Points (1-16): 1) John Hunter Nemechek 3961, 2) Austin Hill -18, 3) Justin Allgaier -147, 4) Cole Custer -351, 5) Josh Berry -456, 6) Sam Mayer -480, 7) Daniel Hemric
-573, 8) Parker Kligerman -594, 9) Sheldon Creed -656, 10) Chandler Smith -680, 11) Jeb Burton -694, 12) Riley Herbst -787, 13) Sammy Smith -815, 14) Brett Moffitt -861, 15) Brandon Jones -945, 16) Parker Retzlaff
-986. Race Winners: Austin Hill (Daytona-1, Las Vegas, Atlanta-1, Pocono), John Hunter Nemechek (Fontana, Martinsville. Atlanta-2, Loudon, Michigan, Kansas), Sammy Smith (Phoenix), AJ Allmendinger (Austin, Nashville), Chandler Smith (Richmond), Jeb Burton (Talladega), Ryan Truex (Dover), Kyle Larson (Darlington-1), Justin Allgaier
(Charlotte, Daytona-2, Bristol), Cole Custer (Portland, Chicago), Aric Almirola (Sonoma), Sam Mayer (Road America, Watkins Glen), Ty Gibbs (Indianapolis), Denny Hamlin (Darlington-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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Letter of the Race: Saturday night's Bass Pro Shops Night Race was brought to you by the letter T for Tough to pass. In many ways, Saturday's 500-lap race looked similar to the 2007 Sharpie 500, the first race at Bristol after
the track was resurfaced and had graduated banking installed. It was hard to make moves on anyone, lapped cars included. - Phil Allaway |
Quotes to Remember: Bass Pro Shops Night Race compiled by Phil Allaway
"Everybody likes a winner right. I can’t thank this whole FedEx team enough. They really kicked ass this whole first round. Just amazing how good our team has been. So happy about the way we are running. I can’t wait to keep going. "It’s our
year. I just feel like we’ve got to put it all together. We’ve got the speed at every different type of race track. Nothing to stop us at this point." - Denny Hamlin, race winner. Apparently, not everyone likes a winner. "I’m definitely happy to finish second. The race went a lot better than I thought it would. Thankfully, [Ross Chastain] and [Kevin
Harvick] went a lap down – they were pitted behind me and in front of me, and had they been on the same lap as us, that would have been very difficult for all of us. So got fortunate there, which made pit stops much easier. And our No. 5 Valvoline Chevy was good, too. I feel like we had the second-best car and we finished second with it. We just didn’t have the pace that Denny [Hamlin] had. He was really, really fast and got through traffic really well. I thought maybe his balance was fading
when we got to traffic, but as soon as he got clear of them, he took back off. Just didn’t quite have the balance that I needed to really charge through the corners and be aggressive on the throttle and exit. We made it better on that final run, but just not quite enough." - Kyle Larson, finished second "It definitely is a run to be proud of, but I’ll be
honest, this was probably our best race we’ve had in a while and probably the most disappointed I’ve been in a while. Just got a little bit away from us there in the last half of the race. That is how it goes sometimes, but I’m really proud of the effort on this Reser’s Camry. It was a lot of fun leading laps, and this track is just the best." - Christopher Bell, finished third "Yeah, it was a great day for us. Our BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang was really fast. We’re not disappointed in the car at all. Obviously, we want to win and coming off the win last time being close and seeing it was good, but we had a really good race car. We needed a touch more to go fight for that win, but I’m really proud of this group. We’re on to the next round of playoffs. We’ve got some more really great tracks coming
for us. We’ve got the first Ford out here tonight, so it was definitely a strong night for us. We just want a little bit more." - Chris Buescher, finished fourth "It’s disappointing not to advance, for sure, but we dug ourselves such a big hole those first two races that we were in a must-win situation. We weren’t good enough to do that tonight, but
I’m still really proud of the speed that we brought and the effort that we brought. We still needed a little bit more to contend for that win, but we gave ourselves a fighting chance. Unfortunately, at the end there wasn’t enough action. Normally at Bristol you get a late-race caution and get the front row beating and banging and maybe you get an opportunity, but that just never happened. We’re learning. It’s a learning experience for us. This is only the second
time we’ve been in the playoffs. We’ve had a good season. We’ve showed good speed and we’ll learn from the mistakes that we made here in this first round and we’ll keep working hard the rest of the season to try to treat it like we are in and we’re fighting for a championship because hopefully next year we will be. So, it’s a learning experience for us. It’s not what we wanted, but I’m still proud of the effort." - Michael McDowell, finished sixth "We’re really happy with 500 good laps here. A top 10 finish is good, but definitely wanted more. After practice, I felt like we could have a little bit more today, but I’m happy with it. I think our No. 24 Relay Payments Chevy was good tonight." - William Byron, finished ninth "We executed in the race really well, but just didn’t execute on Saturday good enough to put us starting up front and get some stage points early. That’s kind of where we’ve been lacking, I would say most of the year – just with qualifying and being able to set ourselves up for the beginning stages of the race. I’m proud of the effort and another top-10 finish. Our No. 47 Scott Brand Camaro was really fast and really good there at the end when I needed it to
be. We went as far forward as we could, but it just wasn’t enough. We’ll keep learning and trying coming back better next year." - Ricky Stenhouse Jr., finished 10th "We had a really fast No. 42 Sunseeker Chevy. It was a lot of fun. We were running fifth at one point and I think that’s where we finished in stage two. Our car was so fast. Luke [Lambert] and this whole
Legacy Motor Club team has worked so hard. They were so excited to come here. This is Luke’s favorite race and it was huge to get a strong finish. We had a lot of speed; we were just too free there at the end. We wanted to get a top 10, but we were really close." - Carson Hocevar, finished 11th "We’ve been like that all year. We’ve been hit or miss and tonight
we just missed by a mile. "I’ve had some good days and bad days, but that’s definitely the worst one I’ve had [at Bristol] with fenders on it." - Kevin Harvick, finished 29th
"Speed. Just a lot of things. We’re not out yet. As much as it feels
like I’m out at the moment there’s still a long ways to go in this race and things can happen to the competitors that are out there. You don’t want to wish misfortune on people for your own good, but it’s kind of our only hope at the moment. It’s what happens. You don’t go fast enough, you’re in the back and they wreck in front of you at Bristol on a restart and you’re going so fast that you can’t whoa up or turn or do anything and you get kind of pile drove into the
wreck. It’s our own fault. "Obviously, it’s a real bummer. You get out of the race like that and you’re behind the wall and you’re in denial for a minute. You don’t want to believe that it happened and you want to think that it’s fixable, but the car was tore up too bad." - Joey Logano, finished 34th (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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