Frontstretch Newsletter: July 15, 2024
Volume
XVIII, Edition CXVII |
- NASCAR teams are arriving back at their shops today after yesterday's race in Pocono. We'll have anything that breaks for you, including entry lists for Indianapolis and Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park at Frontstretch. |
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| Ryan Blaney Pulls Away to Earn 2nd Win of 2024 at
Pocono Ryan Blaney was able to take advantage of late cautions Sunday to save enough fuel to drive all out to win The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway. Denny Hamlin was second, then Alex Bowman, William Byron and Joey Logano. |
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| Corey LaJoie, Kyle Busch Tangle on Late Pocono
Restart The biggest crash of the day Sunday came on lap 121 when Corey LaJoie had contact with Kyle Busch on a restart, sending Busch spinning and taking out nearly a half-dozen others. |
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| Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson Among Those Excited for
Brickyard 400 Return Next weekend is the Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. A number of drivers are very intrigued about the 115-year-old oval being back on the schedule instead of the infield road course. |
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| Cole Custer Claims 1st Xfinity Win of 2024 at
Pocono Stewart-Haas Racing's Cole Custer took the lead from Justin Allgaier with nine laps to go Saturday and held on to win the Explore the Pocono Mountains 225 for his first win of the year. Allgaier was second, then William Byron, Sheldon Creed and Taylor
Gray. |
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| Justin Allgaier Falls 1 Spot Short with Alternate Pit
Strategy at Pocono JR Motorsports' Justin Allgaier was forced to use an alternate strategy to get to the front late Saturday due to a pit penalty. Despite that, he was able to finish second. |
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| Corey Heim Takes Win in Pocono Truck
Race TRICON Garage's Corey Heim swept the stages Friday evening to win the rain-delayed CRC Brakleen 175 for his fifth win of the year. Grant Enfinger was second, then Christian Eckes, Taylor Gray and Ross Chastain. |
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| Will Power Jumps Alex Palou in Pits to Win at
Iowa On a day where it was very difficult to pass, Team Penske's Will Power took the lead during a round of stops and held on to win the Hy-Vee One Step 250 at Iowa Speedway. Alex Palou was second, then Scott McLaughlin, Scott Dixon and Colton
Herta. |
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| Sting Ray Robb Flips in Massive Last-Lap Crash at
Iowa The most incredible moment Sunday at Iowa occurred after Will Power had already won. Sting Ray Robb ran over Alexander Rossi after Rossi slowed, sending Robb into a barrel roll on the backstretch. |
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| Ed Carpenter Frustrated After 2 Late-Race Crashes in Iowa
Doubleheader This past weekend was a rather expensive one in Iowa for Ed Carpenter Racing. Team owner/driver Ed Carpenter managed to crash out of both races. |
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| Alex Palou Among Many Victims of Iowa’s Damaged Racing
Product Sunday's Hy-Vee One Step 250 at Iowa Speedway was not the most competitive event. The combination of hot weather, the partial repave and a lack of tire wear made it nearly impossible to pass. |
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| Scott McLaughlin Wins 1st Race of Iowa
Doubleheader Saturday night saw Team Penske's Scott McLaughlin win the race off of pit road during a round of stops, then hold on to win the Hy-Vee Homefront 250 for his first INDYCAR oval victory. Patricio O'Ward was second, then Josef Newgarden, Scott Dixon and
Rinus VeeKay. |
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| Repaved Iowa Bites Some of IndyCar’s
Best Saturday night's Hy-Vee Homefront 250 saw a number of drivers end their nights in the SAFER Barrier. Alex Palou, Ed Carpenter, Katherine Legge and Romain Grosjean comprise a partial list of those who found trouble. |
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| Rinus VeeKay Begins Iowa Doubleheader With 5th-Place
Finish While other drivers found trouble, Ed Carpenter Racing's Rinus VeeKay was able to avoid those issues to bring home a fifth-place finish on the short oval. |
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| Nick Boulle, Tom Dillmann Win Chevrolet Grand
Prix Inter Europol Competition by PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports' Nick Boulle and Tom Dillmann claimed overall victory in Sunday's IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. |
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| Trent Hindman, Stevan McAleer Win CTMP
120 Rennsport One's Trent Hindman and Stevan McAleer chose not to pit during the final caution Saturday when the leaders did. That gave Hindman the lead and he was able to save enough fuel to win the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Canadian Tire Motorsport
Park 120. |
Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, James Black and Joe Skibinski of Penske Entertainment and IMSA. 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: July 12-14 |
- Toyota GAZOO Racing's Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa dominated the proceedings Sunday to win the FIA World Endurance Championship Rolex 6 Hours of Sao Paolo. It is the trio's first victory of the season. The margin of victory was 68.811 seconds over Porsche Penske Motorsport's Kevin Estrem Andre Lotterer and Laurens Vanthoor. Matt Campbell, Michael Christensen and Frederic Makowiecki were third, then Toyota GAZOO Racing's Mike Conway, Nyck de Vries and Kamui Kobayashi. Ferrari AF Corse's James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi and Alessandro Pier Guidi were fifth. They were the only five teams on the lead lap
at the end of the race. In LMGT3, Manthey PureRxcing's Klaus Bachler, Alex Malykhin and Joel Sturm earned their second win and Manthey's fourth class win of the year. Their margin of victory was a full lap over The Heart of Racing's Ian James, Daniel Mancinelli and Alex Riberas. United Autosports' two McLarens were third and fourth. The No. 95 of Josh Caygill, Nico Pino and Marino
Sato were a lap ahead of the No. 59 of Nicolas Costa, James Cottingham and Gregoire Saucy. Team WRT's Ahmad Al Harthy, Maxime Martin and Valentino Rossi were fifth. - The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series spent the weekend in Wisconsin at Wilmot Raceway for the Federated Auto Parts Larry Hillerud Memorial Badger 40. Friday night saw Carson Macedo take the
lead at the start and run away to take his third straight Wilmot victory.
Macedo ended up 5.972 seconds ahead of Buddy Kofoid at the finish. David Gravel was third, then Sheldon Haudenschild and Brady Bacon. Saturday night saw Donny Schatz start from the pole, then lose the advantage
to Kofoid. He was able to get the lead back on lap 10 and drove away to take the Badger 40 win, career victory No. 314 in the series. Schatz won by 6.844 seconds over Macedo. Haudenschild was third, then Kofoid and Gravel. In the points, Gravel has a 58-point
lead over Schatz. Macedo is third, then Giovanni Scelzi and Kofoid. - The World of Outlaws CASE Construction Late Model Series spent the weekend at Ohio's Sharon Speedway. Friday night saw Bobby Pierce start from pole, then drop back. He was able to charge back to the front and retake the lead from Ryan Gustin on lap 20. From there, Pierce pulled away in lapped traffic to win the first feature and $10,000. Pierce won by 1.776 seconds over Cade Dillard. Gustin was third, then Kyle Bronson and Nick Hoffman. Saturday night saw Pierce wrap up a weekend sweep in Ohio by successfully outdueling Brandon Sheppard. Gustin was third, then Brian Shirley and
Bronson. In the points, Sheppard has a 52-point lead over Hoffman. Pierce is third, then Dillard and Bronson. - The Super DIRTcar Series was at Weedsport Speedway Sunday night for the Hall of Fame 100, named after the DIRTcar Northeast Hall of Fame, which is located on the
grounds of Weedsport Speedway along with DIRTcar Northeast's headquarters. Here, Stewart Friesen learned his lesson from Memorial Day. Friesen held himself back in order to conserve his tires. Then, he turned up the wick near halfway. He was able to take the lead away from Jimmy Phelps on lap 45, then pulled away to take the victory. Phelps held on for second, followed by Anthony Perrego. Erick Rudolph was fourth, while Tim Sears Jr. was fifth. In the points, Matt Sheppard, who finished ninth, has a mere two-point lead over Perrego. Phelps is one more point back in third. Mat Williamson and Peter Britten are fourth and
fifth. Photo is courtesy of Julien Delfosse of DPPI. |
This is just a sampling of the videos that we uploaded to our YouTube channels from last weekend. For more from Pocono, Iowa, or from other race weekends, be sure to subscribe to our suite of YouTube channels (Frontstretch, Frontstretch
Plus, 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: Chase Elliott Retakes Points Lead Due to Kyle Larson's Penalty
by Phil Allaway
Kyle Larson was in good position to challenge for the win Sunday. However, he got busted for speeding on pit road during the final round of stops and went to the back. He recovered to finish 13th. Meanwhile, teammate Chase Elliott finished ninth and scored 15 stage points to
Larson's five. That was enough to give Elliott the points lead. His advantage is three points over Larson. Tyler Reddick remains third after a sixth-place finish. Denny Hamlin finished second and won stage two. He stays in fourth, but is now only 20 points out of the lead. William Byron is up one place to fifth after finishing
fourth. Byron jumped over Martin Truex Jr., who won stage one and finished eighth. Ryan Blaney stays in seventh after his victory, but gained ground on the leaders. Christopher Bell is still in eighth after finishing 12th. Brad Keselowski is up one place to ninth after finishing seventh. Alex Bowman
is up to 10th after finishing third. Ty Gibbs led laps early, but blew his engine with under 30 laps to go. That dropped him two places to 11th. Chris Buescher is up one place to 12th after finishing 11th. Ross Chastain crashed out early Sunday and dropped down to 13th in points. He is the last driver in the playoffs on points.
Joey Logano is still in 14th after finishing fifth. Chastain has a 27-point lead over Bubba Wallace for the final playoff spot. Wallace didn't qualify well, but finished a decent 10th. Chase Briscoe is still 16th. Daniel Suarez is up two places to 17th after finishing 16th Sunday. Kyle Busch is down
one place to 18th after being spun out on a restart by Corey LaJoie and collecting a number of others. Austin Cindric is up one place to 19th, while Todd Gilliland is down to 20th. Point Standings (1-16): 1) Chase Elliott 703, 2) Kyle Larson
-3, 3) Tyler Reddick -15, 4) Denny Hamlin -20, 5) William Byron -57, 6) Martin Truex Jr. -63, 7) Ryan Blaney -76, 8) Christopher Bell -87, 9) Brad Keselowski
-104, 10) Alex Bowman -107, 11) Ty Gibbs -133, 12) Chris Buescher -156, 13) Ross Chastain -173, 14) Joey Logano -181, 15) Bubba Wallace
-200, 16) Chase Briscoe -248. Outside of the top 16, but still in the playoffs: 17) Daniel Suarez -272, 19) Austin Cindric -295. Note: Drivers
in italics are either outside of the playoffs, or ineligible for points. Playoff Points: 1) Christopher Bell 24, 2) Kyle Larson -1, 3) Denny Hamlin -4, 4) William Byron -8, 5) Ryan Blaney
-12, 6) Tyler Reddick -16, 7) Austin Cindric -17, t-8) Chase Elliott -18, t-8) Joey Logano -18, t-10) Brad Keselowski -19, t-10) Alex Bowman -19, t-10) Daniel Suarez -19, 13) Martin Truex Jr.
-21, t-14) Ty Gibbs -22, t-14) Chris Buescher -22, t-16) Ross Chastain -23, t-16) Michael McDowell -23, t-16) Joey Hand -23. Note: If he were eligible for playoff points, Shane van Gisbergen would be tied for 16th. Stage Points: 1) Kyle Larson 218, 2) Denny Hamlin -25, 3) Christopher Bell -55, 4) Tyler Reddick -65, 5) Ryan Blaney -66, 6) Martin Truex Jr.
-69, 7) Chase Elliott -75, 8) William Byron -92, 9) Brad Keselowski -97, 10) Ty Gibbs -117, t-11) Alex Bowman -125, t-11) Joey Logano -125, 13) Bubba Wallace -138, 14) Austin Cindric
-146, 15) Ross Chastain -152, 16) Chris Buescher -156.
Outside of the top-16, but Still in the Playoffs: 19) Daniel Suarez -176. Note: The Stage Points also include the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at
Daytona. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Chase Elliott 653, 2) Tyler Reddick -21, 3) William Byron -43, t-4) Denny Hamlin -65, t-4) Alex
Bowman -65, 6) Martin Truex Jr. -73, 7) Chris Buescher -77, t-8) Kyle Larson -82, t-8) Brad Keselowski -82, 10) Ryan Blaney -85, 11) Ty Gibbs -90, 12) Ross Chastain -97, 13) Christopher Bell
-105, 14) Joey Logano -129, 15) Bubba Wallace -139, 16) Chase Briscoe -151. Outside of the top 16, but still in the playoffs: 17) Daniel Suarez -176, 24) 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 2890, 2) Tyler Reddick -30, 3) William Byron -128, 4) Denny Hamlin
-176, 5) Alex Bowman -207, 6) Martin Truex Jr. -228, 7) Brad Keselowski -233, 8) Chris Buescher -239, 9) Ryan Blaney -254, 10) Kyle Larson -272, 11) Ty Gibbs -277, 12) Christopher Bell
-304, 13) Ross Chastain -333, 14) Joey Logano -409, 15) Bubba Wallace -458, 16) Chase Briscoe -509. Outside of the top-16, but still in the playoffs: 17) Daniel Suarez -594, 24) Austin Cindric -756. 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, Pocono), Joey Logano (Nashville), Alex Bowman (Chicago)
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 Increases Advantage With First Win of 2024
by Phil Allaway
Cole Custer claimed his first win of the year Saturday in Pocono and earned 59 points. That allowed him to expand his lead up to 51 points over Justin Allgaier, who finished second. Chandler Smith remains in third after a 15th-place finish. Austin Hill is in fourth after a seventh-place run. AJ Allmendinger is up two places to fifth after a sixth-place finish with 11 stage points. Jesse Love is down to sixth after finishing 22nd. Riley Herbst is down to seventh, while Sheldon Creed remains in eighth. Parker
Kligerman is ninth following an eighth-place finish, while Sam Mayer finished 10th and stays 10th in points. Sammy Smith is up one place to 11th after finishing ninth. He is the last driver in the playoffs on points. Sammy is 22 points ahead of Ryan Sieg, who finished 12th but managed to outscore Sammy nine to five in stage points. Shane van Gisbergen had a tough day, including contact with Sieg, whom he referred to as a "wobbo," late that dropped him to a 31st-place finish. That dropped him three places to 13th. Brandon Jones is 14th, then Anthony Alfredo and Brennan Poole. Point Standings (1-16):
1) Cole Custer 716, 2) Justin Allgaier -51, 3) Chandler Smith -59, 4) Austin Hill -76, 5) AJ Allmendinger -152, 6) Jesse Love -153, 7) Riley Herbst -156, 8) Sheldon Creed
-173, 9) Parker Kligerman -192, 10) Sam Mayer -215, 11) Sammy Smith -228, 12) Ryan Sieg -250, 13) Shane van Gisbergen -253, 14) Brandon Jones -304, 15) Anthony Alfredo -323, 16) Brennan Poole -379. Playoff Points: 1) Shane van Gisbergen 17, 2) Justin Allgaier -1, 3) Chandler Smith -2, 4) Austin Hill -4, 5) Sam Mayer -6, 6) Jesse Love -8, t-7) Cole Custer
-9, t-7) Aric Almirola -9, 9) Ryan Truex -12, t-10) Riley Herbst -16, t-10) Parker Kligerman -16. Note: If they were eligible for Xfinity Series points, John Hunter Nemechek would be tied for fifth in playoff points, while Christopher Bell would be 10th, Kyle
Larson and Chase Elliott tied for 11th and Ty Gibbs 14th. Stage Points: 1) Justin Allgaier 213, 2) Cole Custer -39, 3) Chandler Smith -55, 4) Austin Hill -56, 5) Riley Herbst
-68, 6) AJ Allmendinger -84, 7) Sheldon Creed -106, t-8) Sam Mayer -111, t-8) Jesse Love -111, 10) Sammy Smith -123, 11) Parker Kligerman -133, 12) Brandon Jones -144, 13) Aric Almirola -149, 14) Ryan Sieg
-158, 15) Shane van Gisbergen -166, 16) Ryan Truex -177. Note: If they were eligible for Xfinity Series points, John Hunter Nemechek and Ty Gibbs would be tied for 14th in stage points. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Cole Custer 630, t-2) Chandler Smith -54, t-2) Austin Hill -54, 4) Jesse Love -82, 5) Justin Allgaier -89, 6) Parker Kligerman -106, 7) Sheldon Creed
-111, 8) AJ Allmendinger -115, 9) Shane van Gisbergen -134, 10) Riley Herbst -136, 11) Ryan Sieg -139, 12) Sam Mayer -143, 13) Sammy Smith -151, 14) Anthony Alfredo -175, 15) Brandon Jones -210, 16) Brennan Poole
-226. WC Points (1-16): 1) Cole Custer 2766, 2) Chandler Smith -175, 3) Austin Hill -184, 4) Justin Allgaier -278, 5) Jesse Love -282, 6) Sheldon Creed
-339, 7) Parker Kligerman -385, 8) AJ Allmendinger -405, 9) Riley Herbst -463, 10) Shane van Gisbergen -468, 11) Sam Mayer -471, 12) Ryan Sieg -497, 13) Sammy Smith -511, 14) Anthony Alfredo
-620, 15) Brandon Jones -716, 16) Brennan Poole -787. Race Winners: Austin Hill (Daytona, Atlanta), John Hunter Nemechek (Las Vegas, Nashville), 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, Chicago), Christopher Bell (Loudon), Cole Custer (Pocono) 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: Christian Eckes Continues to Lead, Corey Heim Has Perfect Score in Pocono
by Phil Allaway
Christian Eckes finished a strong third Friday evening in Pocono. However, Corey Heim swept the stages to take his fifth win of the year with a perfect 60 points. That means that Eckes keeps the lead, but his advantage is down to 32 points with two races remaining in the regular season. Nick Sanchez finished 13th for the second week in a row. He stays in third, but loses ground. Ty Majeski had to change a battery under green Friday and dropped to a 31st-place finish. He stays in fourth, but lost a bunch of ground. Despite that, he is more than two full races ahead of the cutoff, so he has locked into the playoffs on points. Rajah Caruth recovered from a spin to finish 10th. He stays in fifth. Tyler Ankrum is still in sixth after fading late to 14th. Grant Enfinger is up two places to seventh after finishing second. Taylor Gray is down one place to eighth despite finishing fourth.
Ben Rhodes finished 18th and dropped one place to ninth. Daniel
Dye finished 16th, but earned 15 stage points. That was enough to move him up to 10th, the last spot in the playoffs on points. Dye is one point ahead of Tanner Gray, who finished 19th. Stewart Friesen is only four points behind Dye in 12th after finishing seventh.
Behind Friesen, everyone else would likely need to win to make the playoffs. Matt
Crafton is 47 points behind Dye after finishing eighth, a slight gain over the 54-point deficit he had entering the race. Chase Purdy is still 14th, then Jake Garcia. Dean Thompson's ninth-place finish moved him back up to 16th. Point Standings (1-16): 1) Christian
Eckes 618, 2) Corey Heim -32, 3) Nick Sanchez -113, 4) Ty Majeski -128, 5) Rajah Caruth -188, 6) Tyler Ankrum -204, 7) Grant Enfinger -207, 8) Taylor Gray -214, 9) Ben Rhodes -235, 10) Daniel Dye
-252, 11) Tanner Gray -253, 12) Stewart Friesen -256, 13) Matt Crafton -299, 14) Chase Purdy -304, 15) Jake Garcia -325, 16) Dean Thompson -341. Playoff
Points: 1) Corey Heim 31, 2) Christian Eckes -4, 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) Christian Eckes 179, 2) Ty Majeski -14, 3) Corey Heim -33, 4) Tyler
Ankrum -74, 5) Nick Sanchez -90, 6) Ben Rhodes -104, 7) Grant Enfinger -105, 8) Rajah Caruth -114, 9) Taylor Gray -116, 10) Layne Riggs -125, 11) Daniel Dye -127, 12) Stewart Friesen -129, 13) Tanner Gray
-135, 14) Chase Purdy -137, 15) Kaden Honeycutt -138, 16) Dean Thompson -151. Note: If they were eligible for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points, Kyle Busch would be ninth and Zane Smith 14th in stage points. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Christian Eckes 398, 2) Corey Heim -2, 3) Nick Sanchez -31, 4) Rajah Caruth -87, 5) Taylor Gray -109, 6) Grant Enfinger -114, 7) Ty
Majeski -117, 8) Tanner Gray -129, 9) Tyler Ankrum -138, 10) Daniel Dye -139, 11) Stewart Friesen -141, 12) Ben Rhodes -144, 13) Matt Crafton -160, 14) Chase Purdy -176, 15) Jake Garcia -180, 16) Dean Thompson
-203. WC Points (1-16): 1) Christian Eckes 2212, 2) Corey Heim -19, 3) Nick Sanchez -125, 4) Rajah Caruth -340, 5) Taylor Gray -395, 6) Ty Majeski
-407, 7) Grant Enfinger -412, 8) Tyler Ankrum -491, 9) Tanner Gray -492, 10) Daniel Dye -513, 11) Ben Rhodes -520, 12) Stewart Friesen -522, 13) Matt Crafton -581, 14) Chase Purdy -617, 15) Jake Garcia
-658, 16) Dean Thompson -722. Race Winners: Nick Sanchez (Daytona, Charlotte), Kyle Busch (Atlanta, Texas), Rajah Caruth (Las Vegas), Christian Eckes (Bristol, Martinsville, Nashville), Corey Heim (COTA, Kansas, North Wilkesboro, Gateway, Pocono), 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 The Great American Getaway 400 was brought to you by the letter S for Staid. The race that we saw Sunday in Pocono didn't just have a lack of lead changes. Passing in general was down
significantly from last year, even with more laps under green - Phil Allaway |
Quotes to Remember: The Great American Getaway 400 compiled by Phil Allaway
"I think things are just kind of falling into place for us. I feel like we have gotten to a great place on speed in the last two months, especially. I feel like we honestly had a couple races slip away from us which I thought we had a good shot at winning. It was nice to stick to the plan today and our plan was to have track position at the end. I knew our car was fast enough. I am super
proud of the whole No. 12 team. The Wabash Ford Mustang was amazing. I appreciate Menards, Body Armour, the Wurth Group, Advance Auto Parts, DEX Imaging and everyone that makes this possible. It is so cool to win here again. I won here seven years ago for my first Cup win. The crowd, you guys were amazing. Thank you for being here all weekend." - Ryan Blaney, race winner "You never lose one, just run out of laps or you run out of time, right? No, hats off to this whole Mavis Tires and Brakes team. Dave [Sorbaro], the CEO and 100 associates were here today, so we were proud to host them. Would’ve loved to give them a victory, but second is close and at least, it’s good to get back on track. We’ve had some slides over the last month-and-a-half." - Denny Hamlin, finished second "We struggled with our car a lot in dirty air. Once we got clean air there in the end, I think most of our adjustments kind of hurt us a little bit; just got too free. Proud of my No. 48 Ally Best Friends Chevy team. It was a good run; we just needed a little bit more to get to [Ryan Blaney]. Once I abused the right-rear tire for so long, it made [Hamlin's] job pretty easy to get around me. But
yeah, it was a solid third-place day. "I think it was important to come here and have another good day after our win last week. We’re going to a special race track next weekend, so hopefully we can get the job done there." - Alex Bowman, finished third "We were just kind of okay. Definitely had a decent No. 24 Raptor High Heat Chevy. Really good execution and everyone did a good job of just keeping their heads in it. Not every situation went our way with the strategy, but we were able to have decent restarts, especially at the end there, and just kind of maintained it to the end. Definitely a lot of things to dissect, but really proud of the team and just good to get a top-five, for sure." - William Byron,
finished fourth "Overall, a top-five, you have to be somewhat happy with that. We had speed there toward the end of the race and I think we could have run in the top two. I don’t know if we could have been better than Ryan or not, but it just took us too long to get the balance right. Once we got the track position and the balance close, I about wrecked it on the
restart. Those spots there kind of ultimately cost us a chance to win it, but overall I am proud of the speed that we brought to a track like this. It makes me look forward to Indy a little bit more where we have some long straightaways again and it seemed like our car was decent on the straightaways this time." - Joey Logano, finished fifth "Stage one and [the final
stage] were decent for us. Stage 2two was a bit of a struggle. Unfortunately, we just didn’t have any good restarts in the middle portion there and gave up on some points. But all in all, it was a solid day and we closed the gap to the points lead. And obviously, Denny [Hamlin] closed in on
us a little bit. Overall, solid day and great points day." - Tyler Reddick, finished sixth "It’s about points, so we didn’t capitalize on points, but [Ross Chastain] had a bad day, [Ty Gibbs] had a bad day. It was a nice rebound. Usually, it’s the opposite. We start really good and end up fading and giving up a lot track position. Here, we were able to call a good
strategy and hang on. We just didn’t have the car. [Brad Keselowski] drove it down into [turn 1] and I was going to race the heck out of him and I realized I was going to crash and he was going to keep going. It’s pretty eye-opening of how far we’re off. Going to have a good debrief
tomorrow. All in all, I was trying to have fun the first stages, that’s what I said I was going to do. Was trying my butt off and here we are." - Bubba Wallace, finished 10th "We fought with a little bit of brake shake through practice and a little at the beginning of the race. About five laps before that, my brake pedal started getting a little bit long. Then it just
blew in the middle of the straightaway. I have never had that before. We have been really lucky. We have had some really well built Ford Mustangs coming out of Front Row Motorsports and haven’t had many mechanical issues the last three years. I thank those guys for giving us great cars. We will keep battling. Definitely not our best day to begin with and we have a lot of work to do but we will try to learn from it." - Todd Gilliland, finished 34th (Crashed out) "I’m just worried about why I spun out. I’m a racecar driver in the NASCAR Cup Series, I shouldn’t be doing that. You don’t see us do that too often, so when I do it myself, I’m as surprised as everybody else." - Ross Chastain, finished 36th (Crashed out) "I just got
loose in turn one. We were battling and just got loose. Nobody got into me. I was all alone. I was just trying to make it until we got to the caution and could tighten it up a little bit but it just took off on me. It is definitely a bummer being out super early in the race but thanks to Overstock.com, and this whole 10 team. It hasn’t really been the weekend we hoped for through practice and qualifying and now into the race being out so early. Thanks to all the fans for their support. We
will go on to Indy. Indy will be fun next week." - Noah Gragson, finished 37th (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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