Frontstretch Newsletter: Aug. 14, 2023
Volume XVII, Edition CXXXVII |
- Most of the NASCAR teams are back at their shops today, preparing for this weekend's action in Watkins Glen. - Meanwhile, Goodyear is holding a two-day test session starting today on the oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Chase Briscoe, Alex Bowman and Ty Gibbs will test rubber of the oval ahead of a potential return to the oval next year.
- Monday Night Racing's MRN
Summer Bash concludes tonight with the final Gen4 race, the Highland Homes Roofing 200 at the virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway. 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 Homestead sim race and anything else that breaks for you at Frontstretch. |
| | Michael McDowell Locked Into Playoffs with Indianapolis
Win Front Row Motorsports' Michael McDowell led 54 of 82 laps Sunday to win the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard for his second career NASCAR Cup Series win. Chase Elliott
was second, then Daniel Suarez, Tyler Reddick and Alex Bowman. |
| | Chase Elliott, Daniel Suarez Still Below Playoff Cut
Line After Top-5 Finishes Sunday saw a number of teams outside of the playoffs run very well. Chase Elliott and Daniel Suarez, who finished second and third, are part of that
group. |
| | What International Stars Said After Indianapolis Cup
Race Sunday's Verizon 200 at the Brickyard had drivers from seven different countries on the grid. Shane van Gisbergen finished the best out of these drivers in 10th,
but everyone seemed to have a good time. |
| | Ty Gibbs Drives Away to Xfinity Win At
Indianapolis Joe Gibbs Racing's Ty Gibbs drove away from the rest of the field late Saturday to win the Pennzoil 150 presented by Advance Auto Parts. Sam Mayer was second,
then AJ Allmendinger, Austin Hill and Justin Allgaier. |
| | Sam Mayer Continues Hot Streak with 3rd Top-2 Finish in
Last 4 Races JR Motorsports' Sam Mayer is on a roll recently after breaking through at Road America. Saturday saw Mayer finish second once again and continue his march forwards
in the points. |
| | Ty Majeski Dominates at IRP, Advances in
Playoffs ThorSport Racing's Ty Majeski led all but 21 laps Friday night to win the TSport 200 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park for his first NASCAR Craftsman
Truck Series win of 2023. Christian Eckes was second, then Layne Riggs, Carson Hocevar and Zane Smith. |
| | Layne Riggs Takes It to the Truck Regulars, Finishes 3rd
at Lucas Oil IRP Layne Riggs is struggling to find a foothold in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. His performance Friday night with Spire Motorsports should help a bit as he
drove himself up to a third-place finish. |
| | Scott Dixon Plays Strategy, Holds Off Graham Rahal to
Win at Indianapolis Scott Dixon recovered from a spin on the first lap of the race Saturday to hold off a charging Graham Rahal to win the NTT IndyCar Series Gallagher Grand Prix in
Indianapolis, Dixon's first win of the year and 54th of his career. Patricio O'Ward was third, then Christian Lundgaard and Alexander Rossi. |
| | Graham Rahal Ends ‘Smooth’ Day Just Short of Win in
Indianapolis Saturday's Gallagher Grand Prix was the best race for Graham Rahlal in INDYCAR in years. He led a race-high 36 laps, but got outfoxed on pit strategy by Scott
Dixon and had to settle for second. |
| | Alex Palou Says He Won’t Honor 2024 Contract with Arrow
McLaren The contractual mess surrounding Alex Palou continues. McLaren CEO Zak Brown issued a memo Saturday stating that Palou informed him recently that he will not honor
a contract that would have seen him move to the McLaren family in 2024. |
| | Jesse Love Wins 7th ARCA Race of 2023 at
IRP Venturini Motorsports' Jesse Love took the lead away from Luke Fenhaus on the final restart and held on to win the Reese's 200 Friday evening for his seventh ARCA
Menards Series win of the year. Fenhaus was second, then Luke Hingorani, William Sawalich and Lavar Scott. |
Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, Dana Barrett, James Black and Chris Jones of INDYCAR Media, and our own 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: Aug. 11-13 |
- Saturday night saw Kyle Larson lead all 50 laps from the pole to win the 62nd Annual NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals and take home the check for $185,000. It is Larson's second win in the biggest 410 sprint car race of them all. David Gravel came from 22nd on the grid to finish second, followed by Donny Schatz. Giovanni Scelzi was fourth,
while Carson Macedo was fifth. |
This is just a sample of the 51 videos we posted to our YouTube channel from both the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park last week. For more Indianapolis coverage, or videos from other race weekends, please subscribe to our channel and don't forget to ring the bell to be notified of future posts. |
Seeking the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs: Martin Truex Jr. Has A Full Race Over The Pack
by Phil Allaway
Martin Truex Jr. had the best race Sunday of anyone who entered Indianapolis in the top 10 in points. He finished seventh. That run was enough for Truex to extend his lead up to 60 points, a full race over Denny Hamlin, who finished 19th. He will clinch the regular season championship if he
outscores Hamlin at Watkins Glen next weekend. William Byron spent the entire race recovering from failing inspection three times on Friday. With no practice or qualifying, plus a drive-through penalty at the end of the first lap, Byron recovered to finish 14th and
stay in third. Christopher Bell finished ninth and stays in ninth. Kyle Larson finished eighth and moved up one place to fifth. He displaced Kevin Harvick, who had a quiet run to 23rd. Ross Chastain remains in
seventh, while Brad Keselowski is eighth. Ryan Blaney is up one place to ninth after a 13th-place finish. Chris Buescher finished 11th and moved up to 10th. Kyle Busch ran well early, but engine problems dropped
him to a 37th-place finish. As a result, he's down to 11th in points. Tyler Reddick is up one place to 12th after finishing fourth. Joey Logano had a miserable day in Indianapolis. Contact with Justin Haley early put Haley in the tires and caused
the race's only caution. On the restart, Logano locked up, ran in the back of Blaney and spun. He never recovered from the incident and finished 36th, dropping to 13th. Bubba Wallace remains in 14th after finishing 18th. He is the last driver in the playoffs on points. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Michael McDowell are now tied for 15th. McDowell dominated to win Sunday, while Stenhouse finished a lap down in 25th. Wallace has a 28-point lead over Daniel Suarez, who finished third Sunday and could have won himself had he not lost 10 seconds on his final pit stop. Ty Gibbs recovered from an early spin to finish 12th, but dropped two places to 18th. Hendrick Motorsports
teammates Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman are tied for 19th, but they are 80 points behind Wallace. Point Standings (1-16): 1) Martin Truex Jr. 830, 2) Denny Hamlin -60, 3) William Byron -106, 4) Christopher Bell -121, 5) Kyle Larson -132, 6) Kevin Harvick -153, 7) Ross Chastain -154, 8) Brad Keselowski -155, 9) Ryan Blaney -164, 10) Chris Buescher -165, 11) Kyle Busch -170, 12) Tyler Reddick -177, 13) Joey Logano -191, 14) Bubba Wallace -270, t-15) Michael McDowell -288, t-15) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -288. Note: Drivers in italics are either outside of the playoffs, or ineligible for points. Playoff Points: 1) William Byron 22, 2) Martin Truex Jr. -2, 3) Kyle Busch -5, 4) Denny Hamlin -7, 5) Denny Hamlin
-9, 6) Chris Buescher -11, 7) Ross Chastain -12, 8) Tyler Reddick -13, t-9) Ryan
Blaney -14, t-9) Joey Logano -14, 11) Christopher Bell -15, 12) Michael McDowell -12, 13) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -17, 14) Brad Keselowski -19, t-15) Kevin Harvick -21, t-15) Austin Cindric -21, t-15) Aric Almirola -21, t-15) Ryan Preece -21, t-15) Chase Elliott
-21. Note: Prior to Indianapolis, Shane van Gisbergen changed his points eligibility to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. His five playoff points prior to last weekend would tie him for 13th. Stage Points: 1) William Byron 207, 2) Martin Truex Jr. -11, 3) Denny Hamlin -15, 4) Tyler Reddick -32, 5) Kyle Larson -41, 5) Christopher Bell -56, 7) Ross Chastain
-59, 8) Ryan Blaney -66, 9) Brad Keselowski -77, 10) Joey Logano -82, 11) Kevin Harvick -90, 12) Kyle Busch -103, 13) Alex Bowman -115, 14) Daniel Suarez -119, 15) Bubba Wallace -123, 16) Michael McDowell -126.
Outside of the top-16, but in the playoffs: 17) Chris Buescher -128, 25) Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
-173. Note: The Stage Points also include the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona. Old Point Standings (1-16):
1) Martin Truex Jr. 744, 2) Denny Hamlin -49, 3) Chris Buescher -56, 4) Christopher Bell -75, 5) Kevin Harvick -79, 6) Kyle Busch -86, 7) Brad Keselowski -88, 8) William Byron
-100, 9) Kyle Larson -102, 10) Ross Chastain -106, 11) Ryan Blaney -111, 12) Joey Logano -124, 13) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -140, 14) Tyler Reddick -159, 15) Bubba Wallace
-165, 16) Michael McDowell -181. 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. 3329, 2) Denny Hamlin -180, 3) Chris Buescher -238,
4) Christopher Bell -260, 5) Kyle Busch -287, 6) Kevin Harvick -295, 7) Brad Keselowski -308, 8) Kyle Larson -315, 9) Ross Chastain -361, 10) William Byron -375, 11) Ryan Blaney -379, 12) Joey Logano -396, 13) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -518, 14) Tyler Reddick -522, 15) Bubba Wallace -577, 16) Michael McDowell -635. 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-1, Martinsville), Christopher Bell (Bristol), Martin Truex Jr. (Dover, Sonoma, Loudon), Denny Hamlin (Kansas, Pocono), Ross Chastain (Nashville), Shane van Gisbergen (Chicago), Chris Buescher (Richmond-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: Austin Hill Breaks Tie to Retake Points Lead
by Phil Allaway
John Hunter Nemechek had an off day at Indianapolis, finishing in 13th and scoring three stage points. Austin Hill scored five stage points and finished fourth. That was enough to break the tie and allow Hill to retake the points lead. His lead over Nemechek is 11 points. Justin Allgaier finished fifth and stays in
third. Cole Custer finished sixth and stays in fourth. The 20-point penalty that he received last week did not cause any position movement. Josh Berry finished 14th Saturday and remains in fifth. Teammate Sam Mayer is now only three points behind Berry after finishing second. Chandler Smith
dropped out due to suspension failure. He is still in seventh, but a full race behind Mayer. Daniel Hemric is still in eighth. Riley Herbst is still in ninth after a 12th-place finish. Sheldon Creed is up one place to 10th after finishing eighth. He is still the last driver in the playoffs on points. Creed has a
17-point lead over Parker Kligerman, who finished seventh Saturday. Sammy Smith is down two places to 12th after finishing a lap down in 28th. Brandon Jones is still in 13th after finishing 21st. Jeb Burton is 14th, followed by Brett Moffitt, who finished 10th. Kaz
Grala is still 16th. Point Standings (1-16): 1) Austin Hill 849, 2) John Hunter Nemechek -11, 3) Justin Allgaier -34, 4) Cole Custer -112, 5) Josh Berry
-164, 6) Sam Mayer -167, 7) Chandler Smith -227, 8) Daniel Hemric -228, 9) Riley Herbst -244, 10) Sheldon Creed -261, 11) Parker Kligerman -278, 12) Sammy Smith -282, 13) Brandon Jones
-326, 14) Jeb Burton -328, 15) Brett Moffitt -356, 16) Kaz Grala -414. Playoff Points: 1) John Hunter Nemechek 30, 2) Austin Hill -7, 3) Justin
Allgaier -17, 4) Cole Custer -20, t-5) Chandler Smith -23, t-5) Ryan Truex -23, t-7) Jeb Burton -24, t-7) Sammy Smith -24, 9) Sam Mayer -25, t-10) Sheldon Creed -27, t-10) Josh Berry -27, t-12) Riley Herbst
-29, t-12) Parker Kligerman -29. Note: If they were eligible for Xfinity Series points, AJ Allmendinger would be fourth in playoff points, while Kyle Larson and Ty Gibbs would be tied for sixth. Aric Almirola would be tied for 12th. Stage Points: 1) Justin Allgaier 233, 2) John Hunter Nemechek -16, 3) Cole Custer -42, 4) Austin Hill -51, 5) Sheldon Creed -77, 6) Chandler Smith -92, 7) Josh Berry
-95, 8) Riley Herbst -99, 9) Sam Mayer -110, 10) Daniel Hemric -127, 11) Sammy Smith -131, 12) Brandon Jones -139, 13) Parker Kligerman -164, 14) Ryan Truex -192, 15) Ryan Sieg -199, 16) Brett
Moffitt -201. Outside of the top-16, but still in playoffs: 17) Jeb Burton -207. Note: If they were eligible for points, AJ Allmendinger and Ty Gibbs would be tied for 13th in stage points. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Austin Hill 765, 2) John Hunter Nemechek -42, 3) Justin Allgaer -85, 4) Sam Mayer -112, 5) Cole Custer
-118, 6) Josh Berry -120, 7) Daniel Hemric -161, 8) Parker Kligerman -175, 9) Jeb Burton -182, 10) Chandler Smith -187, 11) Riley Herbst -203, 12) Sammy Smith -208, 13) Brett Moffitt
-213, 14) Sheldon Creed -230, 15) Brandon Jones -245, 16) Kaz Grala -259. WC Points (1-16): 1) Austin Hill 3324, 2) John Hunter Nemechek -122, 3) Justin Allgaier -255, 4) Sam Mayer -374, 5) Josh Berry -394, 6) Cole Custer -410, 7) Daniel Hemric -565, 8) Parker Kligerman
-608, 9) Chandler Smith -636, 10) Jeb Burton -678, 11) Riley Herbst -685, 12) Sammy Smith -705, 13) Brett Moffitt -758, 14) Sheldon Creed -801, 15) Brandon Jones -850, 16) Kaz Grala -908. 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), Sam Mayer (Road America), Ty Gibbs (Indianapolis) 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 Championship: Corey Heim Maintains Lead Despite Late Penalty
by Phil Allaway
Corey Heim had one of the strongest trucks Friday night at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, but got busted on his final pit stop for an extra crewmember over the wall. That dropped him to the rear of the line, from which he recovered to finish eighth. That was enough to keep the
points lead. His advantage is three points over Ty Majeski, who dominated to win and lock himself into the Round of 8. Christian Eckes finished second and moved up one place to third. Eckes jumped over Carson Hocevar, who finished fourth. Zane Smith dropped three places to fifth despite a fifth-place finish. Grant Enfinger is down one place to sixth after finishing 12th. Ben Rhodes remains in seventh after finishing 16th. Nick Sanchez remains in eighth, the last spot in the Round of 8, after finishing 11th. Sanchez has a two-point lead over Matt Crafton, who finished ninth. Matt DiBenedetto is one point behind Crafton in 10th. Outside of the playoffs, Stewart Friesen had a miserable night, spending time behind the wall before finishing 30th. He has a seven-point lead over Tanner Gray. Chase Purdy is 13th, while Jake Garcia is up to 14th after finishing 13th. Tyler Ankrum dropped out due to electrical issues and dropped
down to 15th. Taylor Gray and Rajah Caruth are tied for 16th. Caruth finished seventh, while Taylor Gray was 20th.
Round of 10 Point Standings: 1) Corey Heim 2077, 2) Ty Majeski -3, 3) Christian Eckes -8, 4) Carson Hocevar -12, 5) Zane Smith -18, 6) Grant Enfinger -23, 7) Ben Rhodes
-43, 8) Nick Sanchez -45, 9) Matt Crafton -47, 10) Matt DiBenedetto -48.
Non-Playoff Point Standings (1-16): 1) Corey Heim 663, 2) Ty Majeski -38, 3) Zane Smith -65, 4) Grant Enfinger -88, 5) Ben Rhodes -89, 6) Christian Eckes -93, 7) Carson Hocevar
-129, t-8) Nick Sanchez -184, t-8) Matt DiBenedetto -184, 10) Matt Crafton -186, 11) Stewart Friesen -246, 12) Tanner Gray -253, 13) Chase Purdy -267, 14) Jake Garcia -276, 15) Tyler Ankrum -298, t-16) Taylor Gray -350,
t-16) Rajah Caruth -350. Best of the Rest: 11) Stewart Friesen 417, 12) Tanner Gray -7, 13) Chase Purdy -21, 14) Jake Garcia -30, 15) Tyler Ankrum -52, 16) Taylor Gray -104, t-16) Rajah Caruth -104, 18) Daniel Dye -119, 19) Hailie Deegan
-134, 20) Colby Howard -162. Note: Drivers in italics are either outside of the playoffs, or ineligible for the playoffs.
Playoff Points: 1) Corey Heim 30, 2) Zane Smith -8, t-3) Carson Hocevar -9, t-3) Ty Majeski -9, 5) Christian Eckes -11, 6) Grant Enfinger -13, 7) Ben Rhodes -17, 8) Nick Sanchez -18, t-9) Matt Crafton -19, t-9) Matt DiBenedetto -19. Stage Points: 1) Corey Heim 177, t-2) Zane Smith
-8, t-2) Ty Majeski -8, 4) Christian Eckes -34, 5) Ben Rhodes -46, 6) Carson Hocevar -71, 7) Grant Enfinger -77, 8) Matt DiBenedetto -88, 9) Nick Sanchez -93, 10) Stewart Friesen -100, 11) Matt Crafton
-106, 12) Tanner Gray -124, 13) Tyler Ankrum -131, 14) Chase Purdy -134, 15) Rajah Caruth -139, 16) Dean Thompson -148. 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 437, 2) Grant Enfinger -27, 3) Ty Majeski -40, 4) Ben Rhodes -55, 5) Zane Smith -67, 6) Carson Hocevar
-70, 7) Christian Eckes -71, 8) Matt Crafton -95, 9) Nick Sanchez -101, 10) Matt DiBenedetto -113, 11) Jake Garcia -137, 12) Tanner Gray -142, 13) Chase Purdy -146, 14) Stewart Friesen -162, 15) Tyler Ankrum -182, 16) Taylor Gray -189. WC Points (1-16): 1) Corey Heim
2456, 2) Ty Majeski -58, 3) Grant Enfinger -83, 4) Zane Smith -155, 5) Ben Rhodes -165, 6) Christian Eckes -178, 7) Carson Hocevar -202, 8) Matt Crafton -311, 9) Nick Sanchez -314, 10) Matt DiBenedetto
-354, 11) Tanner Gray -454, 12) Chase Purdy -467, 13) Stewart Friesen -484, 14) Jake Garcia -514, 15) Tyler Ankrum -592, 16) Daniel Dye -679. Race Winners: Zane Smith (Daytona, Austin), Kyle Busch (Las Vegas, Pocono), Christian Eckes (Atlanta, Darlington), Carson Hocevar (Texas, Nashville, Richmond), Joey Logano (Bristol), Corey Heim (Martinsville, Mid-Ohio), Grant Enfinger (Kansas, Gateway), Ben Rhodes (Charlotte), Ty Majeski (Lucas Oil
IRP)
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 Verizon 200 at the Brickyard was brought to you by the letter C for Clean. After an early crash for Justin Haley, the last 77 laps of the race ran under green. Nearly two hours
straight of continuous racing. It is incredibly rare to see that in the NASCAR Cup Series and with the current rules, it is impossible outside of a road course. - Phil Allaway |
Quotes to Remember: Verizon 200 at the Brickyard compiled by Phil Allaway
"It was a total team effort. Our car was so fast. I just knew I had to execute and not make any mistakes. We lost the lead there in that first cycle but got it back on the second. We did everything we needed to do to have a fast Horizon Hobby Ford Mustang. So thankful, man.
Such a grind – to finally be in victory lane. To do it at Indy, on a road course – it’s so special.
"It’s special. There’s not a cooler moment than winning the Daytona 500. But to do it and not have my family there, it was tough. So, I always cherry pick the races they come to.
They can’t come to all of them, but they come to the ones that we think we can win. Today, we did it." - Michael McDowell, race winner "We just needed to be a little better through the back-half of the race, and get off of [turn] 14 a little better
to have myself in a better spot getting into Turn One. Just really appreciate the effort. Our NAPA Chevy was really good, we just needed a little bit more. We came up just a bit short, but congrats to Michael [McDowell] – man, he did a good job, ran a great race and stayed mistake-free, and that’s what you have to do." - Chase Elliott, finished second "I felt like the No. 99 Freeway.com Chevy was very strong today. We just lacked a little bit of speed the first-half of the race. We made a mistake as a team during the last pit cycle, which was probably the most important one. But we will continue to build and get better. We’ll continue to build race cars like this and hopefully we’ll have another shot next week at Watkins Glen [International]." - Daniel Suarez, finished
third
"We definitely had really good pace in the second half of the race. We just didn’t have the best start and weren’t quite as fast in the first half and got behind it. We short-pitted them, but we had a slow stop, and wasn’t in position to lunge them off of pit road, and that was kind of the story. We didn’t have a chance to get back around Daniel
[Suarez]. We could drop off about 10 car lengths and get right back to his bumper. Our SiriusXM Toyota Camry TRD was better, but not good enough to complete the pass. I think AJ Allmendinger with much fresher tires had to push really hard to get around Daniel, so that is the story of it – just unfortunately, hard to pass." - Tyler Reddick, finished fourth
"It was how road course racing used to be. We didn’t have a million restarts to run over each other, which was nice. I think we had a fast race car. A caution there at the end would have been nice to have a shot at it, but at the same time, the best team won. Congrats to the No. 34 guys and we’ll try to get one the next couple of weeks." - Alex Bowman, finished fifth
"Today was a solid day. From a speed standpoint, we had a top-three car. We just could never get the track position when it goes green like that. There are just no opportunities. I feel like we did everything right from a strategy standpoint, trying to play our cards right. Just a difference from starting 13th versus starting in the first two rows. I felt like that’s what cost us there. Part of it: Kicking myself. I
knew yesterday when I didn’t make the final round, that it was going to be very hard to win. It proved itself today. Just kicking myself knowing I had a great shot at it. But overall, I’m proud of our team. We really needed a good run like this. I feel like we really learned something." - Chase Briscoe, finished sixth
"I’m a little bit bummed. I
made a mistake in turn 12 there and locked up. Went from fourth to tenth, then the race went green from then on. I don’t know. I’ll have to see the gaps. If I didn’t make that mistake, maybe I’d finish third or fourth. I’m bummed about that, but all in all, it could have been worse. I just have to clean up a little bit. All in all a good day. It was just a long green flag run. When things get spread out, it’s really hard to pass. [Christopher Bell] and [Shane van Gisbergen] were better than I
was in the end, but it was just going to be hard to pass." - Kyle Larson, finished eighth "It’s just a battle of good drivers. It was with Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell there. Unfortunately, they came out in front of me on that last pit stop. Great to get another top 10 for the Enhance Chevy, and PROJECT91. We had
fun all weekend. Hopefully can come back and do it all again. "It’s hard here because everyone’s on it. Everyone knows the track and there’s a lot more room for error. Everyone’s racing aggressively. I can’t thank the PROJECT91 guys here
enough for the Enhance Chevy. So much fun to be back. Hopefully can do more. Had an awesome battle with Kyle [Larson] and Christopher [Bell] there. They got the better of me at the end, but battling with those guys was great." - Shane van Gisbergen, finished 10th "First of all, I was waiting for a caution. It never
happened. I definitely enjoyed it. Thank you. 77 laps, no caution is pretty long – I think I learned a lot. We had some good speed, as well. I got hit by someone, but this is NASCAR. But the racing in the field was great. It’s a really cool championship – I had a great experience here. Thank you to all of the support from Toyota, Toyota Gazoo Racing North America. This is a dream come true." - Kamui Kobayashi, finished 33rd 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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