Frontstretch Newsletter: July 22, 2024
Volume
XVIII, Edition CXXII |
- The Super DIRTcar Series begins a Canadian swing tonight at Autodrome Drummond. Coverage of Night No. 1 of the King of the North will start at 6 p.m. ET on DirtVision. - NASCAR teams are back at their shops today after yesterday's race in Indianapolis. We'll have anything that breaks for you at Frontstretch. |
|
| Kyle Larson Wins 2024 Brickyard 400 in Double
Overtime Kyle Larson used his extra fuel to charge through the field, take the lead late and hold on to win the Brickyard 400. Tyler Reddick was second, then Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell and Bubba Wallace. |
|
| ‘Dumb Luck’, Wrong Restart Lane Deny Ryan Blaney at The
Brickyard On lap 161, Brad Keselowski was supposed to restart with the lead, but ran out of fuel and pulled into the pits. It technically gave Ryan Blaney the lead, but no time to adjust his strategy. That more or less cost Blaney the
race. |
|
| Lack of Passing Leads to Restart Chaos for Many at
Indianapolis The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has never been the easiest place to pass at in the NASCAR Cup Series. That means that drivers have to pounce when the opportunity arises. That can lead to trouble. |
|
| Cole Custer to Drive for Haas in Cup in
2025 Haas Factory Team announced Saturday morning that Cole Custer will return to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2024 to re-assume driving duties in the No. 41 Ford. |
|
| Kyle Busch Fired Up With Pat McAfee About Corey LaJoie,
Closed Book at Indy Friday saw Kyle Busch appear on The Pat McAfee Show in Indianapolis. He then effectively refused to answer questions pertaining to his Pocono crash with the assembled media Saturday. |
|
| Riley Herbst Earns 2nd Career Xfinity Win at
Indy Stewart-Haas Racing's Riley Herbst was able to pass Aric Almirola on the final lap Saturday and held on to win the Pennzoil 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Cole Custer was second, then Almirola, Shane van Gisbergen and Sheldon Creed. |
|
| Riley Herbst, Cole Custer, Aric Almirola Put on a Show at
Indy The final laps of Saturday's Pennzoil 250 was an all-out duel between Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Cole Custer and Riley Herbst, along with Aric Almirola. |
|
| Daniel Dye Finishes 7th at Indianapolis Despite Igniting
Big Crash Daniel Dye scored a seventh-place finish in Kaulig Racing's part-time No. 10 Saturday. However, he triggered a crash for Anthony Alfredo in the process. |
|
| Ty Majeski Overcomes Penalty to Win Truck Race at
IRP ThorSport Racing's Ty Majeski took the lead on lap 144 Friday night and held on to win the TSport 200 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park for the second straight year. Christian Eckes was second, then Grant Enfinger, Tyler Ankrum and Layne
Riggs. |
|
| Title Battle Between Christian Eckes, Corey Heim Sparks
Tempers at IRP Corey Heim and Christian Eckes have been the class of the field in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2024. Friday night saw the two drivers have contact and discuss the manner after the race. |
|
| Colton Herta Dominates in 1st Win of 2024 IndyCar
Season Andretti Global's Colton Herta dominated Sunday to win a rough and tumble Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto at Exhibition Place. Kyle Kirkwood was second, then Scott Dixon, Alex Palous and Marcus Armstrong. |
|
| Rinus VeeKay Dodges Drama in Toronto for 3rd Consecutive
Top-10 Finish Rinus VeeKay was able to keep himself out of trouble Sunday in Toronto to earn an eighth-place finish at Exhibition Place. |
|
| Alexander Rossi Out at Toronto After Broken Thumb in
Crash Arrow McLaren SP's Alexander Rossi suffered a broken thumb in a practice crash Friday in Toronto. Theo Pourchaire was tapped to drive in his place, but it is unclear whether it will keep Rossi out for additional races. |
|
| Oscar Piastri Gets Maiden F1 Win at
Hungary Oscar Piastri took the lead with three laps to go Sunday via team orders and held on win the Grand Prix of Hungary for his first grand prix victory. Lando Norris was second, then Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc and Max
Verstappen. |
|
| Connor Zilisch Wins ARCA Race at IRP for 3rd Win of
Season Connor Zilisch was able to hold off the pack on a late restart to win the ARCA Menards Series/ARCA Menards Series East Circle City 200 for his third win of the season. Andres Perez was second, then William Sawalich, Lavar Scott and Gio
Ruggiero. |
|
| DXDT Racing Claims 3rd Straight GT World Challenge America
Victory DXDT Racing's Tommy Milner and Alec Udell took the lead at the halfway point Saturday and held on for their third straight Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS victory at VIR. |
|
| Regulator Racing Wins World Challenge America VIR Race No.
2 Regulator Racing's Philip Ellis took the lead from Alec Udell with 12 minutes to go Sunday. From there, he held on to win Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS Race No. 2 at VIRginia International Raceway with teammate Jeff Burton. |
|
| Rennsport One Wins VIR GT4 America Race No. 1 From
Pole Rennsport One's John Capestro-Dubets and Eric Filgueiras dominated the proceedings Saturday afternoon to take their third win of the season at VIR. |
|
| Rennsport One Earns Pirelli GT4 America SprintX VIR
Sweep Rennsport One's John Capestro-Dubets and Eric Filgueiras wrapped up a weekend sweep at VIR by winning Pirelli GT4 America SprintX Race No. 2 Sunday. |
|
| Justin Rothberg Wins VIR GT America Race No. 1 After Late
Contact Turner Motorsport's Justin Rothberg won GT America powered by AWS Race No. 1 at VIR Saturday despite spinning out Johnny O'Connell on the final lap. |
|
| Johnny O’Connell Wins VIR GT America Race No.
2 SKI Autosports' Johnny O'Connell led flag-to-flag Sunday morning to win GT America powered by AWS Race No. 2 at VIRginia International Raceway. |
|
| Brenden Queen Prevails In Slugfest With Connor Hall to Win
Hampton Heat Late Saturday night, Brenden Queen defeated Connor Hall in a fierce battle to win the Hampton Heat 200 at Larry King Law's Langley Speedway. Peyton Sellers was third, then Landon Pembelton and Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, Travis Hinkle and Joe Skibinski of Penske Entertainment, McLaren, Brian Cleary, Fred Hardy and Fabian Lagunas of SRO Motorsports Group, Larry King Law's Langley Speedway 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: July 19-21 |
- World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series teams spent last weekend in Eldora for the Kings Royal. Friday night was the Knight Before the Kings Royal, a 30-lap dash for glory. Here, Rico Abreu took the lead early on, but David Gravel was able to run him down and take the
lead on lap 18. Abreu was eventually able to catch back up and pull a slide job on Gravel to get the lead back with three laps to go and hold on for the win. Gravel ended up second, then Logan Schuchart and Donny Schatz. Tyler Courtney was fifth. Saturday night was the big show, the Kings Royal. Here, Gravel earned the pole for the 40-lap feature, then lost the advantage to Courtney. Gravel got the lead back on lap 7, then lost it on lap 16 to Schuchart.
Gravel got the lead back on a subsequent restart, then spent the last quarter of the race dueling with Schatz, who had started way down in 20th. The two
battled until Schatz hit the wall with five laps to go. From there, Gravel held on for the win, worth $175,000.
Schatz, despite the wall contact, finished second. Justin Peck was third, then Schuchart and Jacob Allen. Through 37 races, Gravel leads by
66 points over Schatz. Carson Macedo is third, then Giovanni Scelzi and Buddy Kofoid. |
This is just a sampling of the videos that we uploaded to our suite of YouTube channels from Indianapolis, Toronto and Larry King Law's Langley Speedway last weekend. For more from last week, or from other race weekends, be sure to subscribe to our
suite of 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: Kyle Larson Retakes Lead With Indianapolis Victory
by Phil Allaway
Kyle Larson was able to race to the front late and held on to win the Brickyard 400. With that victory, he was able to retake the points lead. Larson has a 10-point advantage over teammate Chase Elliott, who finished 10th. Tyler
Reddick finished second Sunday and stays in third. In fact, he also maintains his 15-point deficit to the lead. Denny Hamlin crashed out late and finished 32nd. He's still fourth, but lost significant ground. Ryan Blaney is up two places to fifth after finishing third. William Byron crashed out early and finished 38th. That
dropped him to sixth. Martin Truex Jr. had a brutal day, including a cut tire and spin. Truex's 27th-place finish dropped him to seventh. Christopher Bell stays in eighth after finishing fourth. Brad Keselowski was leading until having to stop for fuel prior to the first Green-White-Checker restart. He would eventually finish 21st
and stay in ninth. Alex Bowman was eliminated in the same crash as Hamlin and stays 10th. Ty Gibbs had more power issues Sunday and finished 23rd. He remains in 11th. Chris Buescher is 12th after coming from two laps down to finish 22nd.
Ross Chastain struggled early, but eventually finished 15th to stay 13th in points. He is the last driver in the
playoffs on points. Chastain has a seven-point lead on Bubba Wallace, who won stage two and finished a strong fifth. Joey Logano crashed out late and dropped to 15th. Chase Briscoe is 16th, 83 points behind Chastain. Daniel Suarez is still in 17th after finishing eighth. Kyle Busch's woes continue after another
wreck while running in the top 10 relegated him to 25th. Austin Cindric is still 19th after finishing seventh. Todd Gilliland finished sixth and stays in 20th. Point Standings (1-16): 1) Kyle Larson 749, 2) Chase Elliott
-10, 3) Tyler Reddick -15, 4) Denny Hamlin -43, 5) Ryan Blaney -73, 6) William Byron -95, 7) Martin Truex Jr. -96, 8) Christopher Bell -98, 9) Brad Keselowski
-134, 10) Alex Bowman -143, 11) Ty Gibbs -162, 12) Chris Buescher -187, 13) Ross Chastain -197, 14) Bubba Wallace -204, 15) Joey Logano
-224, 16) Chase Briscoe -280.
Outside of the top 16, but still in the playoffs: 17) Daniel Suarez -289, 19) Austin Cindric -311. Note: Drivers
in italics are either outside of the playoffs, or ineligible for points. Playoff Points: 1) Kyle Larson 28, 2) Christopher Bell -4, 3) Denny Hamlin -7, 4) William Byron -12, 5) Ryan Blaney
-16, 6) Tyler Reddick -20, 7) Austin Cindric -21, t-8) Chase Elliott -22, t-8) Joey Logano -22, t-10) Brad Keselowski -23, t-10) Alex Bowman -23, t-10) Daniel Suarez -23, 13) Martin Truex Jr.
-25, t-14) Ty Gibbs -26, t-14) Chris Buescher -26, t-16) Ross Chastain -27, t-16) Bubba Wallace -27, t-16) Michael McDowell -27, t-16) Joey Hand -27.
Note: If he were eligible for playoff points, Shane van Gisbergen would be tied for 16th. Stage Points: 1) Kyle Larson 227, 2) Denny Hamlin -16, 3) Ryan Blaney -60, 4) Christopher Bell -62, 5) Tyler Reddick -63, t-6) Martin Truex Jr.
-75, t-6) Chase Elliott -75, 8) William Byron -94, 9) Brad Keselowski -106, 10) Ty Gibbs -123, 11) Alex Bowman -130, 12) Joey Logano -134, 13) Bubba Wallace -137, 14) Austin Cindric
-155, 15) Ross Chastain -161, 16) Chris Buescher -165.
Outside of the top-16, but Still in the Playoffs: 20) Daniel Suarez -185. Note: The Stage Points also include the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at
Daytona. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Chase Elliott 685, 2) Tyler Reddick -12, 3) Kyle Larson -70, 4) William Byron -72, 5) Ryan Blaney
-79, t-6) Denny Hamlin -87, t-6) Alex Bowman -87, 8) Chris Buescher -90, 9) Martin Truex Jr. -91, 10) Brad Keselowski -93, 11) Christopher Bell -99, 12) Ross Chastain -102, 13) Ty Gibbs
-104, 14) Bubba Wallace -134, 15) Joey Logano -154, 16) Chase Briscoe -166.
Outside of the top 16, but still in the playoffs: 17) Daniel Suarez -175, 22) Austin Cindric -228. Note: These standings are based on the old point system that was used before stages were created. WC Points (1-16): 1) Tyler Reddick 3040, 2) Chase Elliott -11, 3) William Byron -229, 4) Ryan
Blaney -239, 5) Kyle Larson -242, 6) Denny Hamlin -254, 7) Brad Keselowski -278, 8) Alex Bowman -287, 9) Christopher Bell -289, 10) Chris Buescher -292, 11) Martin Truex Jr. -296, 12) Ty Gibbs
-333, 13) Ross Chastain -360, 14) Bubba Wallace -448, 15) Joey Logano -498, 16) Chase Briscoe -568. Outside of the top-16, but still in the playoffs: 17) Daniel Suarez -602, 22) Austin Cindric -760. 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, Indianapolis), 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.
|
|
|
Seeking the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs: Cole Custer's Lead Increases To Nearly A Full Race
by Phil Allaway
Cole Custer just missed out on paydirt Saturday. A second-place finish means that Custer expanded his lead to 56 points over Justin Allgaier. Allgaier finished ninth. Austin Hill finished sixth and moved up to third. Hill jumped over Chandler Smith, who finished 14 laps down in 33rd. Riley Herbst's first win of the year moved him up two places to fifth. AJ Allmendinger is down to sixth after an eighth-place finish. Jesse Love is seventh after a 13th-place finish. Sheldon Creed remains in eighth. Parker
Kligerman came from the rear to finish 12th in order to stay in ninth. Ryan Sieg is up two places to 10th after a strong day in which he won stage two and earned 18 stage points (tied for the most on the day with Herbst). He is now the last driver in the playoffs on points. Sieg has a three-point lead over Sammy Smith, who crashed on the first lap and
finished 18th. Sam Mayer was eliminated in the first-lap crash and dropped to 12th after finishing 37th. Shane van Gisbergen remains in 13th after a fourth-place finish, followed by Brandon Jones, Anthony Alfredo and Brennan Poole. Point Standings (1-16): 1) Cole Custer
761, 2) Justin Allgaier -56, 3) Austin Hill -87, 4) Chandler Smith -100, 5) Riley Herbst -143, 6) AJ Allmendinger -152, 7) Jesse Love -174, 8) Sheldon Creed
-185, 9) Parker Kligerman -208, 10) Ryan Sieg -251, 11) Sammy Smith -254, 12) Sam Mayer -259, 13) Shane van Gisbergen -261, 14) Brandon Jones -320, 15) Anthony Alfredo -365, 16) Brennan Poole -408. 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) Riley Herbst -10, 10) Ryan Truex -12, t-11) Parker Kligerman -16, t-11) Ryan Sieg -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 11th, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott tied for 12th and Ty Gibbs 15th. Stage Points: 1) Justin Allgaier 225, 2) Cole Custer -41, 3) Riley Herbst -62, 4) Austin Hill
-65, 5) Chandler Smith -67, 6) AJ Allmendinger -80, 7) Sheldon Creed -117, t-8) Sam Mayer -123, t-8) Jesse Love -123, 10) Sammy Smith -135, 11) Parker Kligerman -141, t-12) Brandon Jones
-149, t-12) Aric Almirola -149, 14) Ryan Sieg -152, 15) Shane van Gisbergen -174, 16) Ryan Truex -189. Note: If they were eligible for Xfinity Series points, John Hunter Nemechek and Ty Gibbs would be tied for 15th in stage
points. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Cole Custer 671, 2) Austin Hill -60, 3) Chandler Smith -87, 4) Jesse Love -95, 5) Justin Allgaier
-98, 6) Sheldon Creed -116, 7) Parker Kligerman -118, 8) AJ Allmendinger -122, 9) Riley Herbst -133, 10) Shane van Gisbergen -138, 11) Ryan Sieg -149, 12) Sammy Smith -169, 13) Sam Mayer -180, 14) Anthony
Alfredo -209, 15) Brandon Jones -224, 16) Brennan Poole -247. WC Points (1-16): 1) Cole Custer 2946, 2) Austin Hill -214, 3) Chandler Smith -291, 4) Justin Allgaier
-320, 5) Jesse Love -338, 6) Sheldon Creed -364, 7) Parker Kligerman -438, 8) AJ Allmendinger -443, 9) Riley Herbst -463, 10) Shane van Gisbergen -488, 11) Ryan Sieg -542, 12) Sammy Smith
-582, 13) Sam Mayer -599, 14) Anthony Alfredo -739, 15) Brandon Jones -773, 16) Brennan Poole -867. 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), Riley Herbst (Indianapolis) Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade
Photography.
|
|
|
Seeking the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship: Christian Eckes Close to Locking Up Regular Season Title
by Phil Allaway
Christian Eckes led the most laps Friday night and finished second at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. That allowed him to increase his lead to 50 points over Corey Heim. Heim faded on worn tires late and finished 17th. Ty Majeski moved up to third after taking his first win of the year. He is one-point ahead of Nick
Sanchez, who finished 10th. Rajah Caruth is still in fifth after an eighth-place finish Friday night. Tyler Ankrum finished fourth and locked in a playoff berth on points while keeping sixth. Grant Enfinger finished third and locks into the playoffs in seventh. Taylor Gray finished 16th and stays in eighth. Ben Rhodes struggled all night and finished 21st. He is still in ninth. Tanner Gray moved back to up to 10th after finishing 20th. Tanner is the final driver in the playoffs on points and has a five-point lead over Daniel Dye. Dye finished 27th after an unscheduled pit stop. Stewart Friesen had mechanical issues and finished 33rd. He is
still 16 points behind Tanner Gray. Matt Crafton is still in 13th, 43 points back. He will need to win at Richmond to get into the playoffs. Chase Purdy remains in 14th, while a ninth-place finish moved Dean Thompson up to 15th. Layne Riggs is 16th after a fifth-place finish. Point Standings (1-16): 1) Christian Eckes 673, 2) Corey Heim -50, 3) Ty Majeski -135, 4) Nick Sanchez -136, 5) Rajah Caruth -206, 6) Tyler
Ankrum -213, 7) Grant Enfinger -219, 8) Taylor Gray -248, 9) Ben Rhodes -274, 10) Tanner Gray -291, 11) Daniel Dye -296, 12) Stewart Friesen -307, 13) Matt Crafton -334, 14) Chase Purdy -335, 15) Dean
Thompson -362, 16) Layne Riggs -366.
Playoff Points: 1) Corey Heim 31, 2) Christian Eckes -9, 3) Nick Sanchez -20, 4) Ty Majeski -21, 5) Rajah Caruth -26, 6) Tyler Ankrum
-29, t-7) Tanner Gray -30, t-7) Kaden Honeycutt -30, t-7) Johnny Sauter -30. Note: If they were eligible for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points, Kyle Busch would be third and Zane Smith tied for eighth in playoff points. Stage Points: 1) Christian Eckes 199, 2) Ty Majeski -26, 3) Corey Heim -36, 4) Tyler Ankrum -81, 5) Nick Sanchez -105, 6) Grant Enfinger -116, 7) Ben Rhodes -124, 8)
Rajah Caruth -126, 9) Taylor Gray -136, 10) Layne Riggs -141, 11) Daniel Dye -146, 12) Stewart Friesen -149, 13) Tanner Gray -155, 14) Chase Purdy -157, 15) Kaden Honeycutt -158, 16) Dean Thompson -165. 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 431, 2) Corey Heim
-19, 3) Nick Sanchez -41, 4) Rajah Caruth -95, 5) Ty Majeski -114, 6) Grant Enfinger -116, 7) Taylor Gray -125, 8) Tyler Ankrum -142, 9) Tanner Gray -149, 10) Ben Rhodes
-165, 11) Daniel Dye -166, 12) Stewart Friesen -173, 13) Matt Crafton -184, 14) Chase Purdy -189, 15) Jake Garcia -210, 16) Dean Thompson -212. WC Points (1-16):
1) Christian Eckes 2392, 2) Corey Heim -87, 3) Nick Sanchez -171, 4) Rajah Caruth -378, 5) Ty Majeski -407, 6) Grant Enfinger -422, 7) Taylor Gray -460, 8) Tyler Ankrum
-511, 9) Tanner Gray -569, 10) Ben Rhodes -600, 11) Daniel Dye -611, 12) Stewart Friesen -637, 13) Matt Crafton -669, 14) Chase Purdy -672, 15) Dean Thompson -763, 16) Jake Garcia -764. 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), 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.
|
|
|
Letter of the Race: Sunday's Brickyard 400 was brought to you by the letter D for Difficult to Pass. The combination of a narrow groove and fuel mileage made it rather difficult to pass Sunday in Indianapolis. NBC Sports did correctly
predict that the field would be a little closer together than in past years, though. - Phil Allaway |
Quotes to Remember: Brickyard 400 compiled by Phil Allaway
"It's for sure up there [on my list of biggest wins]. Like you mentioned, this is just such a prestigious place.. such hallowed ground. Pretty neat to get an opportunity to race here on the oval again. "What a job by our team. I mean, never gave up at all. We had the pit stop
issue there early on. Just fought, dug and had things work out. "Just can't thank them enough. Hendrickcars.com, Valvoline, Chevrolet, JINYA Ramen Bar, Prime; all the fans, too. I love you, Indiana fans. I know you guys love me, too. How about we come back next May and try to kiss these bricks in an INDYCAR? - Kyle Larson, race winner
"Yeah, I mean me and Kyle [Larson] just, were the first few cars on that alternate strategy. We had that issue on pit road. I think he had some issue on pit road as well that put him back there. Just didn’t have anything to lose. A great effort by all of us, the car went through the field. Unfortunately, when Kyle got to me and passed me like he did, I wasn’t expecting it. It was really creative, and he continued to catch the rest of the field and pass cars. I wish
I could’ve seen that one coming and maybe defended that better. It was a great way to make a pass. It unfortunately means we bring home our Beast Unleashed Toyota Camry second. But good points day. Didn’t score as many as [Larson], but nonetheless, a fairly-solid points day." - Tyler Reddick, finished second "It was hard fought. I thought we had a really good shot to
win today. I appreciate Menards and Atlas and Ford and the No. 12 group for putting us in position. Our car was fast and I thought we had really good strategy. We were the front guy of having to save a little bit of gas but I thought we put ourselves in a great spot. I knew [Brad Keselowski] was probably going to run out if it went green. We came to the restart and I couldn’t believe they stayed out. There was no way they were going to make it. So I obviously chose the top because he might run
out in the restart zone. And he winds up coming to the green so he gets to go to pit road and [Kyle Larson] gets promoted. Luck of the day right there I guess. I don’t even know what to get mad about. I am mad about losing this race because I thought we were in the perfect position. Once I lost control of the race, obviously I would have been on the bottom, but I thought the 6 would run out in the restart zone or on the back. It stinks to lose it that way. I appreciate the effort. I hate we
don’t get to celebrate with Mr. Penske and with everyone from Penske here. That stings a lot. We just have to keep going, that is all we can do." - Ryan Blaney, finished third "It was a little bit of a struggle today for our Rheem Camry, but Adam [Stevens], William [Hartman] and [Chris] Whitenight had a great strategy and we were able to run it out of gas and get a
good finish out of it. Something to build on and hopefully we can improve after the break and come out strong for Richmond." - Christopher Bell, finished fourth "We were fifth – what a day. I just did not do a good job on Friday and Saturday and set us behind for track position. I really didn’t know what our car had, but I knew the people we had on it and that is what
matters the most. I appreciate Bootie [Barker] and the gang for just giving me a car to work with. The No. 23 U.S. Air Force Toyota Camry was really, really fast. It felt really good. After a few laps, I was like, I don’t know what we have – but it is good to be back on the oval. The finish is making my mood better, but it was really difficult to pass. All-in-all, a good day. A good points day." - Bubba Wallace, finished fifth
"I think our Mustang was really competitive. We were a little tight on exit the whole race, but that is part of it. Our car had good speed when we stayed up there. It was an interesting race. It was hard to pass. We didn’t do good on the strategy for the middle part of the race but then it put us in a position where it worked out for us at the end. Just disappointing a little bit. I was fourth on
the last restart and probably should have chose the bottom looking back on it, but that is how it goes sometimes. You live and you learn." - Todd Gilliland, finished sixth
"I did my race team zero favors today with qualifying as poorly as I did putting it in the wall and then speeding on the first pit stop. Good rally by everybody. I felt like our Discount Tire Ford Mustang Dark Horse was quick
today, we just had to get it in the right place on the race track. We saved fuel and Brian did the right things with strategy and we earned a good result because of it. I wish it would have gone green there at the end because I think I would have gotten a few more spots with the fuel situation. Overall, a nice reward going into a little break here." - Austin Cindric, finished seventh "The No. 99 Freeway Insurance Chevy team did a great job with the strategy. Our car wasn’t horrible, we just never had the track position that we wanted to, to show the speed of the car. We needed to be faster on the straightaways. But all-in-all, I felt like we had a decent Chevy. Still have some work to do, but the team executed a great strategy, so we will take it." - Daniel Suarez, finished eighth "I changed lanes there after the start/finish line, went to the bottom. I had a pretty good run. Everyone started checking up going into (turn) one. I checked up and I think I got hooked in the left rear here. Not really sure, moved down and I think Daniel [Hemric] got me. It stinks. Our Pye Barker Toyota Camry XSE was really fast today. We led laps. Not leading laps just in a speedway race,
actually leading laps there. Proud of all the guys. Proud of the effort. Pye Barker Fire & Safety colors looked really good today. Thank you to everyone. Toyota, TRD. Everyone to keep us safe. That was a really hard hit. But overall, really excited for a couple weeks off after the last few weeks. But, proud I’ve been able to show speed three of the last five weeks. Looking forward to getting back after the break and seeing what we can do." - John Hunter Nemechek, finished 29th (Crashed
out)
"It seems like they were three wide a couple of rows behind me and the wreck caught me, unfortunately. It looks like Hocevar sent it down the center and just kind of stuffed it in there late. That seems like something he has done a lot recently. Unfortunately it caught up to me. He right reared Jimmie into my left rear and nosed our Shell Pennzoil Mustang into the wall. It is a bummer. You come
here to Indy once a year and all you dream of is kissing the bricks. My team gave me a great race car and we were the leader of our strategy and that is kind of all you can hope for, to get to the lead of your strategy. And we were going to have a shorter pit stop and we were going to try to gain some spots the restart as a lot of guys were staying out. We could have a shorter stop than them and that is when we were going to cycle back up to the front, hopefully, but we never got to see it
through." - Joey Logano, finished 34th (Crashed out)
"We got back there in traffic. It seemed like the pit stop sequence didn’t go our way there. [Chase Briscoe] was just being a squirrel back in the pack. He drove up in front of me. I had to lift way off the corner and I got run over. Hate it for our team. We had an amazing No. 24 Valvoline Chevy. We were running there on the right strategy in
the top two or three; got back there in the pack and got wrecked. Appreciate everybody at Valvoline, Chevrolet. We had a great car. We’ll go on over the break and try to get some more wins." - William Byron, finished 38th (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.
|
|
|
|
