Frontstretch Newsletter: June 24, 2024
Volume
XVIII, Edition CII |
- NASCAR teams are arriving back at their shops today after yesterday's race in New Hampshire. We'll have anything that breaks for you, including entry lists for Nashville at Frontstretch. |
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| Christopher Bell Wins Rain-Delayed USA Today 301, Sweeps
New Hampshire Weekend Christopher Bell led 145 laps Sunday, including nearly every lap on wet tires to win the USA Today 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for his third win of the year. Chase Briscoe was second, then Josh Berry, Kyle Larson and Chris
Buescher. |
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| After the Rain, Chase Briscoe Finds New
Confidence In Loudon, Chase Briscoe had a horrible car for most of the race Sunday. Then, it rained. In the moist conditions, the Zep Ford came to life, allowing Briscoe to drive up to a second-place finish. |
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| Did Christopher Bell Just Confirm Chase Briscoe JGR
Rumors? During a press conference Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Christopher Bell committed a whoopsies. He appeared to accidentally state that Chase Briscoe would replace Martin Truex Jr. in 2025. |
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| Ryan Blaney’s Strong New Hampshire Run Drowned Out by Late
Spin Ryan Blaney was running second late Sunday in Loudon, but contact from Michael McDowell resulted in a spin and a 25th-place finish. |
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| Christopher Bell Steals 4th New Hampshire Xfinity Win in
OT Christopher Bell pulled off a three-wide pass at the white flag Saturday to take the lead and win the NASCAR Xfinity Series SciAps 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for his fourth straight Xfinity win at the track. Sheldon Creed was second, then Cole
Custer, Justin Allgaier and Carson Kvapil. |
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| Justin Bonsignore Shines in New Hampshire Double Duty
Effort Saturday saw Justin Bonsignore make his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut. He did an excellent job, leading laps and running up front before an incident dropped him to a 22nd-place finish. |
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| Alex Palou Uses Underdog Strategy To Win 2nd IndyCar Race
in 2024 Chip Ganassi Racing's Alex Palou used an alternate strategy that put him on the wrong tire Sunday. Despite that, he was able to hold on to win the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey. Colton Herta was second, then Alexander Rossi, Romain Grosjean and Kyle
Kirkwood. |
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| Alexander Rossi Takes 1st Podium Finish of 2024 at Laguna
Seca Alexander Rossi had a strong but quiet run Sunday at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca to finish third, his first podium finish of the season. |
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| Romain Grosjean Scores Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Best
Finish with 4th at Laguna Seca Romain Grosjean has struggled in INDYCAR over the past couple of years. Sunday saw him bring things together and score a fourth-place finish, the best-ever INDYCAR finish for Juncos Hollinger Racing. |
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| Max Verstappen Hangs on to Win in
Spain Red Bull's Max Verstappen was able to get past Lando Norris after the first round of pit stops and held on to win the Grand Prix of Spain for his seventh win of the year. Norris was second, then Lewis Hamilton, George Russell and Charles
Leclerc. |
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| William Sawalich Wins ARCA Race at Mid-Ohio After Connor
Mosack Penalized Joe Gibbs Racing's William Sawalich inherited the victory Friday in the ARCA Menards Series Zinsser SmartCoat 150k at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course after Connor Mosack jumped the final restart. Brent Crews was second, then Gio Ruggiero, Thomas
Annunziata and Marco Andretti. |
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| Thomas Annunziata Takes 4th at Mid-Ohio After Late Contact
for Lead Thomas Annunziata has a similar background in Trans-Am's TA2 class to drivers like Brent Crews. Friday saw him in the hunt for the win before getting sent into the grass by Connor Mosack. He recovered to finish fourth. |
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| Felipe Nasr, Dane Cameron Win Sahlen’s Six Hours at the
Glen Felipe Nasr passed Louis Deletraz on the final restart with 16 minutes to go Sunday to win the rain-delayed Sahlen's Six Hours at the Glen with teammate Dane Cameron. |
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| Paul Holton, Matt Plumb Win The Esses
120 TeamTGM's Matt Plumb took the lead when Kenton Koch was forced to pit for fuel with six minutes to go Saturday. From there, Plumb held on to win the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge The Esses 120 with Paul Holton. |
Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, Mark Thompson of Getty Images, James Black and Joe Skibinski of Penske Entertainment and our own Phil Allaway, Anthony Damcott and Chase Folsom 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: June 21-23 |
- While Mustang Challenge is not necessarily a series that we cover at Frontstretch, Race No. 1 for the new IMSA-sanctioned series at Watkins Glen Friday was overshadowed by an incredible crash. Nate Cicero (car pictured at Mid-Ohio) appeared to
lose his brakes heading into turn 7. The car slid into the tires and did a complete flip in the air before coming down on all fours. Cicero was ok, but done for the weekend. - The final three nights at Huset's Speedway for the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series, including both nights of the BillionAuto.com Huset's High Bank Nationals were wiped out due to rain. As of now, there is no rain date, but series and track officials are working towards one. - World of Outlaws CASE Construction Late Model Series teams had a weekend of racing in the dry. Friday night saw
Brandon Sheppard run down and pass Nick Hoffman around the halfway point to take the lead in the Billy Todd Classic. From there, he was able to hold on to win at Ponderosa Speedway. Bobby Pierce finished second, then Zack Dohm and Kyle Bronson. Dale McDowell was fifth, while Hoffman faded to sixth. Saturday night saw the series move to Brownstown Speedway for the Hoosier Dirt Classic. Here, Hoffman took advantage of a bobble for Dustin Sorensen on lap 33. That allowed him to take the lead. From there, Hoffman held on to take his fourth win of the year. Sorensen was second, then Pierce and Max
McLaughlin. Sheppard ended up fifth. Through 16 races, Sheppard has a 12-point lead over Hoffman. Cade Dillard is third, then Pierce and Bronson.
Photo of Nate Cicero's car is courtesy of our own Phil Allaway.
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This is just a sampling of the videos that we uploaded to our suite of YouTube channels from last weekend. For more from Loudon, Mid-Ohio, Watkins Glen, or from other race weekends, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channels (Frontstretch, FS
Open Wheel and Frontstretch Grassroots) and don't forget to click the bell to be notified of future videos. |
Seeking the NASCAR Cup Series Championship: Hendrick Motorsports Teammates Tied at Halfway
by Phil Allaway
Kyle Larson finished fourth Sunday in Loudon, while Chase Elliott ran well, but ended up 18th with 10 stage points. As a result, the two drivers are tied through 18 races. Larson gets the tiebreaker thanks to his three wins to Elliott's one. Denny Hamlin finished 24th, but stays in third. A ninth-place finish moved Martin Truex
Jr. up one spot to fourth. Tyler Reddick is up a spot to fifth after finishing sixth. Had the race not resumed after the rain/lightning delay, he would have been in victory lane. Christopher Bell's third win of the year moved him up from a tie for eighth to sixth. William Byron dropped three places to seventh after
finishing 26th. Ryan Blaney spun late and finished 25th, dropping him to eighth. Ross Chastain recovered from a spin to finish 10th and moved up to ninth. Brad Keselowski spun to bring out the last caution and dropped to 10th. Ty Gibbs is still in 11th, while Alex Bowman lost a bunch of ground due
to an engine failure, but remains in 12th. Chris Buescher is still 13th after a fifth-place finish, but he has a lot more breathing room. Joey Logano moved up to 14th despite a crash due to his 17 stage points. He is now the last driver in the playoffs on points. Logano has a 13-point lead over Bubba Wallace, who ran well Sunday before getting eliminated in a late crash. Chase Briscoe's second-place finish moved him up to 16th. Kyle Busch's miserable day with multiple incidents dropped him to 17th. Daniel Suarez is still 18th, then Josh Berry and Todd Gilliland. Point Standings (1-16): t-1) Kyle Larson 620, t-1) Chase Elliott 620, 3) Denny Hamlin -40, 4) Martin Truex Jr. -48, 5) Tyler Reddick -60, 6) Christopher Bell
-65, 7) William Byron -72, 8) Ryan Blaney -94, 9) Ross Chastain -110, 10) Brad Keselowski -113, 11) Ty Gibbs -121, 12) Alex Bowman -144, 13) Chris Buescher -153, 14) Joey Logano
-190, 15) Bubba Wallace -203, 16) Chase Briscoe -215.
Outside of the top 16, but still in the playoffs: 18) Daniel Suarez -252, 21) Austin Cindric -275. Note: Drivers
in italics are either outside of the playoffs, or ineligible for points. Playoff Points: 1) Kyle Larson 23, 2) Christopher Bell -1, 3) Denny Hamlin -4, 4) William Byron -7, 5) Tyler Reddick
-15, t-6) Ryan Blaney -16, t-6) Austin Cindric -16, 8) Chase Elliott -17, t-9) Brad Keselowski -18, t-9) Daniel Suarez -18, t-11) Ty Gibbs -21, t-11) Martin Truex Jr. -21, t-11) Chris Buescher
-21, t-14) Ross Chastain -22, t-14) Joey Logano -22, t-14) Michael McDowell -22. Stage Points: 1) Kyle Larson 192, 2) Denny Hamlin -35, 3) Ryan Blaney
-43, 4) Christopher Bell -63, 5) Martin Truex Jr. -65, 6) Tyler Reddick -67, 7) Chase Elliott -69, 8) William Byron -84, 9) Brad Keselowski -102, 10) Ty Gibbs -104, 11) Joey Logano
-105, 12) Bubba Wallace -117, 13) Austin Cindric -120, 14) Alex Bowman -122, 15) Ross Chastain -126, 16) Kyle Busch -133. Outside of the top-16, but Still in the Playoffs: 17) Chris Buescher
-135, 18) Daniel Suarez -151. Note: The Stage Points also include the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Chase Elliott
578, 2) Ross Chastain -55, 3) Martin Truex Jr. -57, 4) Tyler Reddick -59, 5) William Byron -60, 6) Kyle Larson -70, t-7) Denny Hamlin -71, t-7) Christopher Bell -71, 9) Brad
Keselowski -81, 10) Ty Gibbs -89, 11) Chris Buescher -90, 12) Alex Bowman -99, 13) Ryan Blaney -122, 14) Chase Briscoe -131, 15) Joey Logano -153, 16) Bubba Wallace -157.
Outside of the
top 16, but still in the playoffs: 18) Daniel Suarez -175, 25) Austin Cindric -230.
Note: These standings are based on the old point system that was used before stages were created. WC Points (1-16): 1) Chase Elliott
2543, 2) Tyler Reddick -173, 3) Martin Truex Jr. -183, 4) William Byron -189, 5) Christopher Bell -206, 6) Ross Chastain -207, 7) Denny Hamlin -209, 8) Brad Keselowski -234, 9) Kyle Larson
-237, 10) Chris Buescher -285, 11) Ty Gibbs -291, 12) Alex Bowman -326, 13) Ryan Blaney -381, 14) Chase Briscoe -447, 15) Joey Logano -496, 16) Bubba Wallace -515.
Outside of the
top-16, but still in the playoffs: 18) Daniel Suarez -589, 25) Austin Cindric -754. Note: The WC points are based on the original points system created by Bob Latford in 1975. Race
Winners: William Byron (Daytona, COTA, Martinsville), Daniel Suarez (Atlanta), Kyle Larson (Las Vegas, Kansas, Sonoma), Christopher Bell (Phoenix, Charlotte, Loudon), Denny Hamlin (Bristol, Richmond, Dover), Chase Elliott (Texas), Tyler Reddick (Talladega), Brad Keselowski (Darlington), Austin Cindric (Gateway), Ryan Blaney (Iowa)
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: Cole Custer Expands Lead After Close Call
by Phil Allaway
Cole Custer was in position to win Saturday, but Christopher Bell was able to snatch it away from him and Sheldon Creed. A third-place finish allowed Custer to expand his lead back up to 15 over Chandler Smith. Chandler had a spin and ended up in 15th. Justin Allgaier moved up to third after finishing fourth. Allgaier jumped
over Austin Hill, who was involved in a late crash and finished 24th. Creed's 10th career second-place finish means that he has sole possession of fifth in points. Riley Herbst is up one place to sixth after finishing eighth. Jesse Love is down to seventh after a 13th-place finish. AJ Allmendinger remains in eighth after
finishing 11th. Parker Kligerman is ninth after a seventh-place finish, while Sam Mayer remains in 10th. Sammy Smith is still in 11th and has the final spot in the playoffs on points. He has a 31-point lead over both Shane van Gisbergen and Ryan Sieg. Van Gisbergen has the tiebreaker due to his victories at
Portland and Sonoma. Sieg finished sixth Saturday, while van Gisbergen was 18th. Anthony Alfredo remains in 14th after a 20th-place finish. He is now more than a full race out of the playoffs on points. Brandon Jones is still 15th, while Brennan Poole moved back up to 16th. Point Standings (1-16): 1) Cole Custer 589, 2) Chandler Smith -15, 3) Justin Allgaier -42, 4) Austin Hill -68, 5) Sheldon Creed -105, 6) Riley Herbst -111, 7) Jesse
Love -123, 8) AJ Allmendinger -146, 9) Parker Kligerman -153, 10) Sam Mayer -165, 11) Sammy Smith -174, t-12) Shane van Gisbergen -205, t-12) Ryan Sieg -205, 14) Anthony Alfredo -245, 15) Brandon Jones
-256, 16) Brennan Poole -296. Playoff Points: t-1) Justin Allgaier 15, t-1) Chandler Smith 15, 3) Austin Hill -3, t-4) Shane van Gisbergen -4, t-4) Sam Mayer -4, 6) Jesse Love
-6, 7) Aric Almirola -7, 8) Ryan Truex -10, 9) Cole Custer -13, t-10) Riley Herbst -14, t-10) Parker Kligerman -14. Note: If they were eligible for Xfinity Series points, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott and John Hunter Nemechek would be
tied for eighth in playoff points, while Ty Gibbs would be tied for 13th. Stage Points: 1) Justin Allgaier 187, 2) Cole Custer -53, 3) Chandler Smith -54, 4) Austin Hill -56, 5) Riley Herbst
-58, 6) Sam Mayer -90, 7) Sheldon Creed -91, 8) AJ Allmendinger -92, 9) Jesse Love -101, 10) Sammy Smith -111, 11) Parker Kligerman -112, 12) Aric Almirola -123, 13) Brandon Jones -129, 14) Ryan Sieg
-142, t-15) Shane van Gisbergen -151, t-15) Ryan Truex -151. Note: If he were eligible for Xfinity Series points, John Hunter Nemechek would be 15th in stage points. Old
Point Standings (1-16): 1) Cole Custer 530, 2) Chandler Smith -22, 3) Austin Hill -61, 4) Sheldon Creed -72, 5) Jesse Love -78, 6) Justin Allgaier -95, 7) Parker Kligerman -101, t-8) AJ Allmendinger
-114, t-8) Riley Herbst -114, 10) Shane van Gisbergen -115, 11) Sammy Smith -123, 12) Ryan Sieg -124, 13) Sam Mayer -127, 14) Anthony Alfredo -136, 15) Brennan Poole -182, 16) Brandon Jones -190. WC Points (1-16): 1) Cole Custer 2334, 2) Chandler Smith -80, 3) Austin Hill -214, 4) Sheldon Creed -221, 5) Jesse Love -282, 6) Justin Allgaier
-306, 7) Parker Kligerman -370, 8) Riley Herbst -390, 9) AJ Allmendinger -399, 10) Shane van Gisbergen -409, 11) Sam Mayer -413, 12) Sammy Smith -419, 13) Ryan Sieg -442, 14) Anthony Alfredo
-491, 15) Brennan Poole -643, 16) Brandon Jones -644. Race Winners: Austin Hill (Daytona, Atlanta), John Hunter Nemechek (Las Vegas), Chandler Smith (Phoenix, Richmond), Kyle Larson (COTA), Aric Almirola (Martinsville), Sam Mayer (Texas, Iowa), Jesse Love
(Talladega), Ryan Truex (Dover), Justin Allgaier (Darlington), Chase Elliott (Charlotte), Shane van Gisbergen (Portland, Sonoma), Christopher Bell (Loudon) Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of our own Chase Folsom.
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Seeking the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship: Off-Week Update No. 7
by Phil Allaway
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series was off last weekend. They will return to action at Nashville Superspeedway on June 28. When teams get to Tennessee, Christian Eckes will have a 31-point lead over Corey Heim. Nick
Sanchez is third, then Ty Majeski and Taylor Gray. Grant Enfinger is the last driver currently in the playoffs on points. He has a 26-point lead over Stewart Friesen. Daniel Dye is 12th, then Matt Crafton and Chase Purdy. Point Standings (1-16): 1) Christian Eckes 506, 2) Corey Heim -31, 3) Nick Sanchez -53, 4) Ty Majeski -64, 5) Taylor Gray -141, 6) Rajah
Caruth -149, 7) Tyler Ankrum -164, 8) Ben Rhodes -177, 9) Tanner Gray -185, 10) Grant Enfinger -187, 11) Stewart Friesen -213, 12) Daniel Dye -224, 13) Matt Crafton -233, 14) Chase Purdy -239, 15) Jake Garcia
-256, 16) Layne Riggs -263. Playoff Points: 1) Corey Heim 24, 2) Christian Eckes -11, 3) Nick Sanchez -13, t-4) Rajah Caruth -19, t-4) Ty Majeski
-19, t-6) Tyler Ankrum -22, t-6) Tanner Gray -23, t-6) Kaden Honeycutt -23, t-6) Johnny Sauter -23. Note: If he were eligible for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points, Kyle Busch would be second in playoff points. Stage Points: 1) Ty Majeski 151, 2) Christian Eckes -10, 3) Corey Heim -42, 4) Tyler Ankrum -63, 5) Nick Sanchez -66, 6) Ben Rhodes -81, 7) Taylor Gray -91,
8) Rajah Caruth -99, 9) Grant Enfinger -103, 10) Layne Riggs -106, 11) Chase Purdy -109, t-12) Tanner Gray -110, t-12) Kaden Honeycutt -110, 14) Stewart Friesen -114, t-15) Dean Thompson -123, 16) Daniel Dye
-127. Note: If they were eligible for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points, Kyle Busch would be seventh and Zane Smith 11th in stage points. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Christian Eckes
330, 2) Corey Heim -1, 3) Nick Sanchez -3, t-4) Taylor Gray -71, t-4) Rajah Caruth -71, 6) Ty Majeski -75, 7) Tanner Gray -94, 8) Grant Enfinger -104, t-9) Tyler Ankrum -117, t-9) Ben Rhodes
-117, 11) Daniel Dye -119, 12) Stewart Friesen -121, 13) Matt Crafton -127, 14) Chase Purdy -147, 15) Jake Garcia -148, 16) Bret Holmes -161. WC Points (1-16):
1) Christian Eckes 1857, 2) Corey Heim -14, 3) Nick Sanchez -18, 4) Ty Majeski -260, 5) Taylor Gray -261, 6) Rajah Caruth -279, 7) Tanner Gray -364, 8) Grant Enfinger -377, 9) Tyler Ankrum
-412, 10) Ben Rhodes -420, t-11) Stewart Friesen -443, t-11) Daniel Dye -443, 13) Matt Crafton -462, 14) Chase Purdy -512, 15) Jake Garcia -542, 16) Bret Holmes -571. Race Winners: Nick Sanchez (Daytona, Charlotte), Kyle Busch (Atlanta, Texas), Rajah Caruth (Las Vegas), Christian Eckes (Bristol, Martinsville), Corey Heim (COTA, Kansas, North Wilkesboro, Gateway), Ross Chastain (Kansas) 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 USA Today 301 was brought to you by the letter M for Moist. Sunday was the first time that NASCAR ran a Cup race in moist conditions on an oval. The results were interesting, to say the
least. - Phil Allaway |
Quotes to Remember: USA Today 301 compiled by Phil Allaway
"I love this place. It is absolutely amazing. This place – I don’t know – it has been special to me since we came here for that late model race back in, I think, 2015. This one was different though. Rain tires, the track was really slippery – it was just so much fun out there in those adverse conditions, the track was changing around so much. That was one
a lot of fun, and I’m really happy for our partners – Rheem, Toyota, DEWALT. We have Watts on the car again. I think we we’ve won every time they have been on the car. Just a really cool weekend." - Christopher Bell, race winner "What a whirlwind. Two hours ago, we couldn’t even run 25th. The rain saved us. Just an awesome recovery
for our Zep Ford. I always joke that this is one of my worst race tracks so to run second is kind of surprising to be honest with you. The rain definitely helped us. If it wasn’t for the rain we were going to literally run 24th probably. We had a couple of good restarts and the guys did a good job of understanding the rain balance. I think we learned a lot when we did it at Richmond. We needed a good turnaround day and it definitely didn’t start that way but I am glad that it ended up that way
for sure." - Chase Briscoe, finished second "We were 20th when it was raining and then we threw some rain tires on it and did what I knew we could do and moved all the way up there. That was a lot of fun honestly. I am going to think back to a million things I could have done differently there but the bottom was just so hard to get
going through one and two. I feel like if I could have just cleared [Chase Briscoe], I was kind of inching in on Bell before the final caution. I just got a little loose off of two and that let Chase get back to my left rear and we got stuck racing each other. I don’t know. I wanted to take the front row there so bad at the end there but I just felt like we were making the right decision based on the track conditions, it just didn’t work out." - Josh Berry, finished
third "It was fun. I think when it’s like that, I think that is why you see a lot of the dirt racers kind of migrate to the front. Just tried to feel it out under caution. It’s not my best bet on the restart to go extremely low, but it worked out and I was able to maintain track position the rest of the race, so I am proud of that." -
Kyle Larson, finished fourth "Loudon has not been our best track, definitely not mine specifically. There was no quit in this Fastenal group today. It was awesome to come home with a top-five. We were really good in the rain when it was wet. We really fought for it when it was dry but we were on wet tires. There at the end there was
just really one good groove and that made restarts a battle. We were able to persevere through all that and bring this thing home with a handful of more tire marks on the door than when we went in under red initially, but a really good night for us." - Chris Buescher, finished fifth
"It was a really interesting day – that is for sure. It was a real shame we
couldn’t find victory lane today in our SiriusXM Toyota Camry, but for us to take a risk and have a potential to win the race if it continued to rain and to turn that into a top 10 finish is good for our team. We will take the sixth place finish, and move on from it and get ready for the next one, but it was certainly an interesting day and a wild experience." - Tyler Reddick, finished sixth
"Our day was all over the place. We were really bad on dry tires and just struggled all day. And then when we went to the wet weather tires, we had really good runs. We struggled a little bit, but there at the end, we got our No. 47 Kroger/Kleenex 100 Years Chevy really good. We were able to battle back from 25th and drive up into the top 10. We made the most out of it, which was really cool. Two top-10s, back-to-back, and hopefully we can do the same thing at
Nashville [Superspeedway]." - Ricky Stenhouse Jr., finished seventh
"We were stuck two laps down until we got all of the cautions. I was sitting on the top of the box with Ben [Beshore] praying that we were going to be able to go back racing. We were awful the first run of the race, and just worked on it all day. These guys gave it all they had. A lot of
adjustments throughout the day. Thank you to Dollar Tree, Family Dollar for all that they do for us here at Legacy Motor Club and Toyota, TRD. I’ll take eighth after the day we had. I think we were stuck in 31st or 32nd pretty much all day, so solid finish for us and something that we needed. Hopefully we can build some momentum off of this." - John Hunter Nemechek, finished eighth "Definitely [did] not [think we would get a top 10]. When it was pouring rain, I thought we were headed home. Definitely a tough day. We had speed in our Reser’s Camry. It is a shame the way things worked out, but definitely happy to get a top 10. It has been a rough four weeks, so we needed a good finish. We had good stage points, and we needed a good finish, so glad that we got it, but it hurts to have a tough day here, probably
being my last one." - Martin Truex Jr., finished ninth
"He said he was sorry he wrecked me. Apologies are nice but it isn’t going to bring back what he did. I knew what he was trying to do. It was a low percentage move. It was wet down there and he drove it in there. What do you think is going to happen? You are going to take both of us out. I know he has to win and all
that, and that was his excuse, but you have to be a little more calculated than that. It stinks it was at our expense. Man, I really thought we had a decent shot to contend. I was happy because we came in, put tires on, made a big adjustment and I was looking forward to restarting behind Bell and see if we would have anything for him but just never got a chance. I am proud of the 12 boys. Long day and a really fast car. I really enjoyed where our short track program is going right now. Hopefully
we can just continue to get that a little bit better." - Ryan Blaney, finished 25th
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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