Frontstretch Newsletter: Aug. 30, 2023
Volume XVII, Edition CXLIX |
- NASCAR teams are continuing to prepare for this weekend's action in Darlington. We'll have any news that breaks for you at Frontstretch. |
| | No. 98 ThorSport Team Incurs L2 Penalty From
Milwaukee A hefty penalty has been assessed to Ty Majeski's team after a tire was confiscated from the team in inspection at Milwaukee. Majeski has been docked 75 driver and owner points, while crew chief Joe Shear Jr.
has been suspended for the next four races. |
| | Nick Ottinger Wins Coke Series at Dover from Pole,
Punches Ticket to Championship 4 William Byron eSports' Nick Ottinger swept past Garrett Lowe with six laps to go Tuesday night and held on to win the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series event at the virtual Dover Motor
Speedway and lock himself into the Championship 4. Steven Wilson was second, then Lowe, Jimmy Mullis and Tucker Minter. |
Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography and iRacing via eNASCAR. 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. 29 |
Seeking the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship: Ty Majeski Penalty Points Update
by Phil Allaway
The penalties enacted Tuesday by NASCAR do have an effect on the playoff point standings. Ty Majeski's 75-point penalty drops him from fifth to 10th. However, since the violation was discovered at Milwaukee, he does not lose the benefit of his victory at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. He is still locked into the Round of 8. Since Majeski already won in the Round of 10, the cut line does not move as a result of the penalty. Nick Sanchez remains as the last driver currently in the Round of 8 on points.
That said, the five playoff point deduction could affect him starting at Bristol. That drops him from fourth to sixth in the playoff point
standings, which form the standings at the beginning of each round. The suspension to Joe Shear Jr. is likely a more substantial pain point for Majeski and the No. 98 team. As of this writing, ThorSport Racing has not commented on the penalty, so we do not know if they plan to appeal.
For
Matt Mills, the impact on him individually is minor. The 10-point deduction drops him from a tie for 30th with fellow KBM part-timer Jack Wood to a standalone 31st. The penalty is a little bigger since the No. 51 team is in the owners' playoffs. The penalty puts the team 31 points behind Ben Rhodes' No. 99 for the last spot in the Round of 8. Wood will likely need to win at Kansas for the No. 51 team to advance.
Also of note, which we did not mention Sunday, Corey Heim is locked into the Round of 8 on points. He is more than 60 points (a full race) ahead of Matt Crafton in sixth. Even if Rhodes or Matt DiBenedetto won at Kansas and the cut line moved, he could not be eliminated. Round of 10 Driver Point Standings: 1) Corey Heim 2126, 2) Christian Eckes -9, 3) Grant Enfinger -12, 4) Carson Hocevar -14, 5) Zane Smith -41, 6) Matt Crafton -61, 7) Nick Sanchez
-67, 8) Ben Rhodes -70, 9) Matt DiBenedetto -87, 10) Ty Majeski -93.
Round of 10 Owner Point Standings: 1) TRICON Garage No. 11 (Corey Heim) 2126, 2) McAnally Hilgemann Racing No. 19 (Christian Eckes) -9, 3) GMS Racing No. 23 (Grant
Enfinger) -12, 4) Niece Motorsports No. 42 (Carson Hocevar) -15, 5) Front Row Motorsports (Zane Smith) -41, 6) Rev Racing (Nick Sanchez) -68, 7) ThorSport Racing No. 99 (Ben Rhodes) -70, 8) Rackley W.A.R. No. 25 (Matt DiBenedetto) -88, 9) ThorSport Racing No. 98 (Ty Majeski) -93, 10) Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 51 (Matt Mills) -101.
Non-Playoff Point Standings (1-16): 1) Corey Heim 712, 2) Grant Enfinger -77, 3) Zane Smith -88, 4) Christian Eckes -94, 5) Ben Rhodes -116, 6) Ty Majeski
-128, 7) Carson Hocevar -131, 8) Matt Crafton -200, 9) Nick Sanchez -206, 10) Matt DiBenedetto -223, 11) Tanner Gray -274, 12) Chase Purdy -283, 13) Stewart Friesen -288, 14) Jake Garcia -297, 15) Tyler Ankrum
-330, 16) Taylor Gray -367. Best of the Rest: 11) Tanner Gray 438, 12) Chase Purdy -9, 13) Stewart Friesen -14, 14) Jake Garcia -23, 15) Tyler Ankrum -56, 16) Taylor Gray
-93, 17) Rajah Caruth -102, 18) Daniel Dye -131, 19) Hailie Deegan -140, 20) Colby Howard -163. Note: Drivers in italics are either outside of the playoffs, or ineligible for the playoffs. Playoff Points: 1) Corey Heim 30, 2) Grant Enfinger -6, 3) Zane Smith -8, 4) Carson Hocevar -9, 5) Christian Eckes -11, 6) Ty Majeski -14, 7) Ben Rhodes
-17, 8) Nick Sanchez -18, t-9) Matt Crafton -19, t-9) Matt DiBenedetto -19. Stage Points: 1) Corey Heim 193, 2) Ty Majeski -20, 3) Zane Smith
-23, 4) Christian Eckes -36, 5) Ben Rhodes -61, 6) Grant Enfinger -73, 7) Carson Hocevar -75, 8) Nick Sanchez -95, 9) Matt DiBenedetto -104, 10) Stewart Friesen -116, 11) Matt Crafton -119, 12) Tanner Gray
-138, 13) Tyler Ankrum -147, 14) Chase Purdy -148, 15) Rajah Caruth -155, 16) Dean Thompson -164. 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 467, 2) Grant Enfinger -20, t-3) Carson Hocevar -68, t-3) Ben Rhodes -68, 5) Christian Eckes -70, 6) Zane Smith -76, 7) Matt Crafton
-97, 8) Ty Majeski -100, 9) Nick Sanchez -122, 10) Matt DiBenedetto -137, 11) Jake Garcia -143, 12) Chase Purdy -149, 13) Tanner Gray -150, 14) Stewart Friesen -189, t-15) Tyler Ankrum
-199, t-15) Taylor Gray -199. WC Points (1-16): 1) Corey Heim 2621, 2) Grant Enfinger -63, 3) Christian Eckes -173, 4) Carson Hocevar -192, 5) Zane Smith -193, 6) Ben
Rhodes -215, 7) Ty Majeski -308, 8) Matt Crafton -321, 9) Nick Sanchez -388, 10) Matt DiBenedetto -437, 11) Chase Purdy -482, 12) Tanner Gray -489, 13) Jake Garcia -541, 14) Stewart
Friesen -576, 15) Tyler Ankrum -654, 16) Daniel Dye -765. 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, Milwaukee), 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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