Frontstretch Newsletter: Nov. 4, 2024
Volume
XVIII, Edition CCII |
- NASCAR teams are preparing for Championship Weekend in Phoenix at the moment. Teams will begin to depart for Arizona tomorrow. We'll have entry lists for Phoenix and anything else that breaks for you at Frontstretch. |
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| Ryan Blaney Wins at Martinsville, William Byron Earns
Championship 4 Spot on Christopher Bell Penalty Ryan Blaney took the lead away from Kyle Larson with 15 laps to go, then pulled away to win the Xfinity 500 for the second straight year. Chase Elliott was second, then Larson, Austin Cindric and Denny Hamlin. |
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| Another NASCAR Playoff Scandal in
Virginia Sunday's Xfinity 500 ended in a nightmare scenario as the specter of race manipulation has come into play with radio chatter indicating a plan was in place for Chevrolet teams to run blocker for William Byron. |
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| Aric Almirola Sweeps Martinsville, Justin Allgaier &
Cole Custer Advance to Phoenix Joe Gibbs Racing's Aric Almirola swept the stages to win the National Debt Relief 250 Saturday for the Martinsville season sweep. Sammy Smith was second, then Chandler Smith, Cole Custer and Justin Allgaier. |
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| Chandler Smith Swings at Cole Custer, Misses Championship
4 The last spot in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship 4 came down to a battle between Cole Custer and Chandler Smith Saturday. Smith needed to win to get in and had the car to do it. However, he was shoved up the track and out of championship
contention. |
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| Christian Eckes Wins Martinsville in Controversial
Fashion, Advances to the Championship 4 Christian Eckes led all but 13 laps Friday night, but shoved Ben Rhodes up the track late to win the Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 200 in Martinsville. Rhodes was second, then Chase Purdy, Taylor Gray and Nick Sanchez. |
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| Taylor Gray Confronts Christian Eckes After Contact Costs
Title Shot Before Christian Eckes sent Ben Rhodes up the hill, he used similar tactics on Taylor Gray. Gray was very unhappy with the move and confronted Eckes in victory lane after the race. |
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| Max Verstappen Wins in Brazil, Alpine Finish
2-3 Red Bull's Max Verstappen got off the snide Sunday in rainy Brazil, charging from 17th on the grid to win the Grand Prix of Sao Paulo. Esteban Ocon was second, then Pierre Gasly, George Russell and Charles Leclerc. |
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| Lando Norris Wins F1 Sprint in Brazil, Gains 3 Points on
Max Verstappen Team orders resulted in Lando Norris taking the lead late Saturday to win the Sao Paulo Sprint race. Oscar Piastri was second, then Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr. |
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| Toyota GAZOO Racing Wins In
Bahrain Toyota GAZOO Racing's Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa took the lead with 36 minutes to go Saturday and held on from there to win the FIA World Endurance Championship 8 Hours of Bahrain Powered by Bapco Energies. |
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| Jake Garcia Wins 40th All American 400 at Nashville
Fairgrounds Jake Garcia snatched the lead away Sunday in the closing moments and held on to win the 40th Running of the All-American 400 at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway. Casey Roderick was second, then Dawson Sutton, GIovanni Ruggiero and Stephen
Nasse. |
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| Casey Roderick Rides Pit Strategy to Runner-Up Finish, ASA
Title in All American 400 For Casey Roderick, it was old-fashioned pit strategy that put him in position to claim a second-place finish Sunday in Nashville. |
Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, McLaren Media, Mark Thompson of Getty Images, Fabrizio Boldoni of DPPI and our own 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: Nov. 1-3 |
- After Saturday's FIA World Endurance Championship season finale, the WEC held their annual Rookie Test Sunday at the Bahrain International Circuit. The drivers present were a mix of drivers getting their first taste of Hypercar and LMGT3 chassis and regular drivers that were there to guide the new recruits.
In the
morning session, Chip Ganassi Racing's Earl Bamber was fastest in his Cadillac with a lap at 110.498 mph. He was .480 seconds faster than BMW M Team WRT's Dries Vanthoor. Ferrari AF Corse's Nicklas Nielsen was third, then Singatech Alpine's Victor Martins. James Calado in the second Ferrari was fifth.
Martins is the 2022 FIA Formula 3 champion and currently competes in Formula 2. He is eighth in
points.
In LMGT3, United Autosports' Marino Sato was fastest with a lap at 98.761 mph. His lap was 1.099 seconds faster than Vista AF Corse's Alessio Rovera. Gregoire Saucy was third, then Sebastien Baud (driving a Lamborghini for Iron Lynx instead of the Corvette he drove full-time this year) and Matteo de Palo in the second Ferrari.
- The afternoon session saw Signatech Alpine's Jules Gounon go fastest with a lap at 109.658 mph. He was .055 seconds faster than Arthur Leclerc (Charles' younger brother) in the No. 50 Ferrari. Mike Conway was third, then Valentino Rossi and Martins. After the session, the multi-time MotoGP champion told SportsCar365.com that the BMW M Hybrid
V8 is a much more comfortable car for him than the BMW M4 GT3 that he has been racing. He told SportsCar365.com that he had "...a good feeling with the car" and that he preferred
not having an ABS system like the GT car does. Akkodis ASP Team's Ben Barnicoat was fastest in LMGT3 with a lap at 99.422 mph. His lap was .688 seconds faster than Saucy. Mahaveer Raghunathan, driving the No. 55 Ferrari that Rovera drove in the morning, was third fastest, then Aurelien Panis and de Palo. Barnicoat is being considered a rookie because he hasn't raced in the WEC's LMGT3 class. He previously raced full-time in the now-defunct GTE-Am class in 2022. Since then, he has been competing for Vasser Sullivan in IMSA's GTD Pro class alongside Jack Hawksworth. Raghunathan ended up being the second fastest LMGT3
rookie in the test. He is relatively infamous for his season in Formula 2 back in 2019. |
This is just a sampling of the videos that we uploaded to our YouTube channels from Martinsville and Nashville last weekend. For more from Martinsville, Nashville, or from other race weekends, be sure to subscribe to our suite of YouTube channels
(Frontstretch, Frontstretch Grassroots, Frontstretch Plus and FS Open Wheel) and don't forget to click the bell to be notified of future videos. |
Seeking the NASCAR Cup Series Championship: William Byron Wins Round of 8 Due to Controversial Final Lap
by Phil Allaway
Christopher Bell had a tough day in Martinsville. He spun out early with Corey LaJoie, then got lapped and couldn't get a caution to get back on the lead lap. Even with that, he was in position to win the round up until the checkered flag. When the race finished, he had an 18th-place
finish that tied him with William Byron. As Bell had the better finish in the round, he would have won the round and claimed the spot in the Championship 4. However, NASCAR determined that by partially riding the wall in turn 4 on the final lap, Bell committed a safety violation (wall riding was officially banned after the "Hail Melon" in 2022). As a result, he was
put back to the final car on his lap. As a result, Byron's sixth-place finish was enough to win the Round of 8 and advance to the Championship 4. His margin ended up being four points over Bell. Kyle Larson finished third and ended up seven points out. Denny Hamlin came from the rear of the field to finish fifth and ended up fourth. Ryan Blaney's successful defense of his victory from last year locked him into the Championship 4. He moved up to fifth in the round with the result. Chase Elliott's second-place finish moved him up two places to sixth. Tyler Reddick had a terrible day Sunday after his pit strategy stranded him a lap down early, then he dropped out due to fire.
Those instances dropped him to seventh. Joey Logano finished 10th, but fell to eighth. Of those eliminated, Alex Bowman finished the Round of 8 in ninth after a 13th-place finish. He is 69 points ahead of Martin Truex Jr., who started from pole, but ended up 24th after a penalty and a spin. Austin Cindric finished
fourth and stayed in 11th. Daniel Suarez is 12th. Brad Keselowski moved up to 13th after leading the most laps (170) and finishing ninth. Chase Briscoe is up to 14th, while Ty Gibbs had transaxle issues and dropped to 15th. Harrison Burton dropped out early and is locked into 16th. Outside of the playoffs, Bubba Wallace finished 18th despite a cut tire on the final lap. That allowed him to move up to 17th. He is one point ahead of Chris Buescher, who had a terrible day and finished 30th. Ross Chastain finished eighth and stays in 19th. Kyle Busch is 20th. Byron, Blaney, Reddick and Logano will fight for the title in Phoenix. As a result of the reset, Bell has a 24-point lead over Larson for fifth in points. Elliott in seventh is the only other driver with a chance at it, but it will be almost impossible. Bowman is eighth, then Hamlin and Truex. Round of
8 Point Standings: 1) William Byron 4156, 2) Christopher Bell -4, 3) Kyle Larson -7, 4) Denny Hamlin -24, 5) Ryan Blaney -29, 6) Chase Elliott -44, 7) Tyler Reddick -55, 8) Joey Logano -67. Eliminated Driver Standings: 5) Christopher Bell 2363, 6) Kyle Larson -24, 7) Chase Elliott -59, 8) Alex Bowman -68, 9) Denny Hamlin -70, 10) Martin Truex Jr. -137, 11) Austin Cindric -141, 12) Daniel Suarez -164, 13) Brad Keselowski -177, 14) Chase Briscoe -187,
15) Ty Gibbs -195, 16) Harrison Burton -262. Non-Playoff Point Standings (1-16): 1) Kyle Larson 1146, 2) Chase Elliott -25, 3) Christopher Bell -32, 4) William Byron
-47, 5) Tyler Reddick -75, 6) Ryan Blaney -101, 7) Denny Hamlin -113, 8) Alex Bowman -190, 9) Brad Keselowski -226, 10) Martin Truex Jr. -228, 11) Bubba Wallace -248, 12) Chris
Buescher -249, 13) Ross Chastain -262, 14) Joey Logano -275, 15) Ty Gibbs -280, 16) Kyle Busch -364. Note: Drivers in italics are either outside of the playoffs, or ineligible for points.
Best of the Rest: 17) Bubba Wallace 898, 18) Chris Buescher -1, 19) Ross Chastain -14, 20) Kyle Busch -148, 21) Carson Hocevar
-231, 22) Michael McDowell -280, 23) Todd Gilliland -285, 24) Noah Gragson -311, 25) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -312, 26) Ryan Preece -315. Playoff Points: 1) Kyle Larson
52, 2) Tyler Reddick -16, 3) Christopher Bell -19, 4) Ryan Blaney -28, 5) William Byron -29, 6) Joey Logano -35, 7) Denny Hamlin -36, 8) Chase Elliott -37. Stage Points: 1) Kyle Larson 308, 2) Denny Hamlin -23, 3) Ryan Blaney -33, 4) Christopher Bell -48, 5) William Byron -55, 6) Chase Elliott -72, 7) Tyler Reddick
-75, 8) Martin Truex Jr. -85, 9) Joey Logano -129, 10) Alex Bowman -137, 11) Brad Keselowski -140, 12) Ty Gibbs -151, 13) Bubba Wallace -162, 14) Austin Cindric -180, t-15) Ross Chastain
-208, t-15) Chris Buescher -208.
Note: The Stage Points also include the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Chase Elliott
1040, 2) Christopher Bell -26, 3) Tyler Reddick -39, 4) William Byron -42, 5) Kyle Larson -46, 6) Chris Buescher -97, 7) Ross Chastain -105, 8) Alex Bowman -111, 9) Denny Hamlin
-114, 10) Ryan Blaney -121, 11) Brad Keselowski -131, 12) Bubba Wallace -132, 13) Ty Gibbs -176, 14) Joey Logano -191, 15) Martin Truex Jr. -196, 16) Daniel Suarez -226. Note: These standings are based on the old point system that was used before stages were created. WC Points (1-16): 1) Chase Elliott
4671, 2) Christopher Bell -13, 3) Tyler Reddick -78, 4) William Byron -100, 5) Kyle Larson -143, 6) Chris Buescher -335, 7) Ryan Blaney -352, 8) Ross Chastain -364, 9) Alex Bowman
-370, 10) Denny Hamlin -379, 11) Brad Keselowski -399, 12) Bubba Wallace -443, 13) Ty Gibbs -560, 14) Joey Logano -620, 15) Martin Truex Jr. -631, 16) Kyle Busch -732. Note: The WC points are based on the original points system created by Bob Latford in 1975. Race Winners: William Byron (Daytona-1, COTA, Martinsville-1), Daniel Suarez (Atlanta-1), Kyle
Larson (Las Vegas-1, Kansas-1, Sonoma, Indianapolis, Bristol-2, Charlotte-2), Christopher Bell (Phoenix, Charlotte-1, Loudon), Denny Hamlin (Bristol-1, Richmond-1, Dover), Chase Elliott (Texas), Tyler Reddick (Talladega-1, Michigan, Homestead), Brad Keselowski (Darlington-1), Austin Cindric (Gateway), Ryan Blaney (Iowa, Pocono, Martinsville-2), Joey Logano (Nashville, Atlanta-2, Las Vegas-2), Alex Bowman (Chicago), Austin Dillon (Richmond-2), Harrison Burton (Daytona-2), Chase
Briscoe (Darlington-2), Chris Buescher (Watkins Glen), Ross Chastain (Kansas-2), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Talladega-2).
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 Championship: Justin Allgaier Wins Round of 8
by Phil Allaway
Justin Allgaier ran well Saturday in Martinsville, earning 14 stage points and finishing fifth. That was enough for Allgaier to win the Round of 8. His final margin was seven points over Cole Custer, who finished fourth. Austin Hill and Chandler Smith ended up tied for third. Hill was already locked into the Championship 4 by virtue of winning in Homestead. He finished 14th, while Chandler finished third and wasn't happy with Custer afterwards because Custer's moves prevented him from winning and getting into the Championship 4 himself. Jesse
Love moved up one place to fifth after finishing 12th. Love jumped over AJ Allmendinger, who cut a tire and crashed early, finishing 38th. Sam Mayer got damaged on a restart and was forced to retire, locking in seventh in the round. Sammy Smith finished second Saturday, but couldn't get out of the basement. Of those
eliminated from the playoffs, Sheldon Creed was ninth before the reset after finishing sixth. He was 23 points ahead of Riley Herbst, who was 11th. Parker Kligerman was 11th after an eighth-place finish, while Shane van Gisbergen was 12th after a tough run to 28th. Outside of the playoffs, Ryan
Sieg finished 15th and expanded his lead over Brandon Jones to 165 points. Anthony Alfredo finished seventh to stay in 15th, while Brennan Poole is 16th. Allgaier, Custer, Hill and Allmendinger will do battle for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Saturday in Phoenix. In the Owners Championship, Allgaier, Hill and
Allmendinger's teams will be joined by Joe Gibbs Racing's No. 20 with Aric Almirola. Among the eliminated teams, Chandler Smith has all but locked up fifth in points. He is 56 points ahead of Creed and can lock it up with five points in stage one Saturday. Love is seventh, then Herbst, Mayer and Kligerman. Round of 8 Point Standings: 1) Justin Allgaier 3174, 2) Cole Custer -7, t-3) Austin Hill -35, t-3) Chandler Smith -35, 5) Jesse Love -57, 6) AJ Allmendinger -70, 7) Sam Mayer -93, 8) Sammy Smith
-103. Owners Points Round of 8 Standings: 1) Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 3176, 2) JR Motorsports No. 7 -4, 3) Stewart-Haas Racing No. 00 -14, t-4) Richard Childress Racing No. 21 -38, t-4) Joe Gibbs Racing No. 81 - 38, 6)
Richard Childress Racing No. 2 -60, 7) Kaulig Racing No. 16 -73, 8) JR Motorsports No. 1 -95. Championship 4 Point Standings: t-1) Justin Allgaier 4000, t-1) Cole Custer 4000, t-1) Austin Hill 4000, t-1) AJ Allmendinger 4000. Owners Points Championship 4 Point Standings: t-1) Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 4000, t-1) JR Motorsports No. 7 4000, t-1) Richard Childress Racing No. 21 4000, t-1) Kaulig Racing No. 16 4000. Eliminated Driver Standings: 5) Chandler Smith 2273, 6) Sheldon Creed -56, 7) Jesse Love -65, 8) Riley Herbst -79, 9) Sam Mayer -103, 10) Parker Kligerman -106, 11) Sammy Smith -110, 12) Shane van Gisbergen -141. Non-Playoff Point Standings (1-16): 1) Cole Custer 1141, 2) Chandler Smith -4, 3) Justin Allgaier -22, 4) Austin Hill -93, 5) Sheldon Creed -117, 6) AJ Allmendinger -123, 7) Jesse
Love -173, 8) Riley Herbst -205, 9) Parker Kligerman -246, 10) Ryan Sieg -299, 11) Sammy Smith -300, 12) Sam Mayer -391, 13) Shane van Gisbergen -401, 14) Brandon Jones -464, 15) Anthony Alfredo
-501, 16) Brennan Poole -582. Playoff Points: 1) Justin Allgaier 36, 2) Austin Hill -3, 3) Cole Custer -7, 4) Chandler Smith -11, 5) Sam Mayer -19, 6) Jesse
Love -23, 7) AJ Allmendinger -24, 8) Sammy Smith -30. Best of the Rest: 13) Ryan Sieg 842, 14) Brandon Jones -165, 15) Anthony Alfredo -202, 16) Brennan Poole -283, 17) Aric Almirola -326, 18) Josh Williams -331,
19) Jeb Burton -351, 20) Parker Retzlaff -377, 21) Jeremy Clements -382, 22) Leland Honeyman -391. Stage Points: 1) Justin Allgaier 370, 2) Cole Custer -82, 3) Chandler Smith
-99, 4) AJ Allmendinger -110, 5) Austin Hill -123, 6) Riley Herbst -137, 7) Sheldon Creed -152, 8) Jesse Love -201, 9) Aric Almirola -221, 10) Sam Mayer -223, 11) Sammy Smith
-231, 12) Ryan Sieg -252, 13) Brandon Jones -259, 14) Parker Kligerman -262, 15) Shane van Gisbergen -297, 16) Ryan Truex -311. Note: If he were eligible for Xfinity Series points, John Hunter
Nemechek would be 16th in stage points. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Chandler Smith 1004, 2) Cole Custer -2, 3) Austin Hill -56, 4) Sheldon Creed -57, 5) Jesse Love -60, 6) Parker
Kligerman -78, 7) AJ Allmendinger -105, 8) Justin Allgaier -107, 9) Ryan Sieg -142, t-10) Riley Herbst -168, t-10) Sammy Smith -168, 12) Shane van Gisbergen -205, 13) Sam Mayer -260, 14) Anthony Alfredo -268, 15) Brandon Jones -308, 16)
Brennan Poole -331. WC Points (1-16): 1) Chandler Smith 4503, 2) Cole Custer -11, 3) Sheldon Creed -170, 4) Austin Hill -244, 5) Jesse Love
-256, 6) Parker Kligerman -366, 7) Justin Allgaier -373, 8) AJ Allmendinger -404, 9) Ryan Sieg -549, 10) Riley Herbst -608, 11) Sammy Smith -615, 12) Shane van Gisbergen -738, 13) Sam Mayer
-895, 14) Anthony Alfredo -975, 15) Brandon Jones -1081, 16) Brennan Poole -1189. Race Winners: Austin Hill (Daytona-1, Atlanta-1, Atlanta-2), John Hunter Nemechek (Las Vegas-1, Nashville), Chandler Smith (Phoenix,
Richmond), Kyle Larson (COTA), Aric Almirola (Martinsville-1, Kansas, Martinsville-2), Sam Mayer (Texas, Iowa, Charlotte-2), Jesse Love (Talladega-1), Ryan Truex (Dover, Daytona-2), Justin Allgaier (Darlington-1, Michigan), Chase Elliott (Charlotte-1), Shane van Gisbergen (Portland, Sonoma, Chicago), Christopher Bell (Loudon, Darlington-2), Cole Custer (Pocono, Bristol), Riley Herbst (Indianapolis), Connor Zilisch (Watkins Glen), Sammy
Smith (Talladega-2), AJ Allmendinger (Las Vegas-2) 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 Wins Round of 8
by Phil Allaway
Corey Heim ran ok Friday night, but struggled with handling issues. He would eventually finish seventh. He was unable to hold onto his points lead as Christian Eckes led all but 13 laps to win the race with a perfect 60 points. That catapulted him to the Round of 8 victory.
Eckes won the round by seven points over Heim. Grant Enfinger came from the rear to finish ninth to finish the round in third. Ty Majeski faded to 11th late, but claimed the final spot in the Championship 4.
Majeski ended up 28 points ahead of Taylor Gray, who was in position to win before Eckes rode him up the hill with five
laps to go. He was not happy about that. Nick Sanchez moved up two spots to sixth after finishing fifth. Tyler Ankrum finished seventh in the round, while Rajah Caruth had braking issues all night and spent time behind the wall. The 31st-place finish dropped Caruth to eighth.
Of those already eliminated, Daniel Dye
had braking problems and failed to finish. That allowed Ben Rhodes to move within seven points after finishing second. Outside of the playoffs, Layne Riggs finished sixth and expanded his advantage to 22 points over Stewart Friesen, who had his second straight top 10 finish. Tanner Gray crashed out of the race
after teammate Dean Thompson guided him into the wall and dropped to 13th. Matt Crafton is 14th, then Chase Purdy and Thompson. The top-four drivers will have their points reset to 4000 and will race heads up for the championship Friday night in Phoenix. With the points reset, Sanchez will have a 20-point lead over Taylor Gray for fifth in points. Caruth is seventh, then Ankrum, Dye and Rhodes. Realistically, Caruth would need to win the race and get help in order to finish fifth in points.
Round of 8 Point Standings: 1) Christian Eckes 3179,
2) Corey Heim -7, 3) Grant Enfinger -29, 4) Ty Majeski -32, 5) Taylor Gray -60, 6) Nick Sanchez -71, 7) Tyler Ankrum -86, 8) Rajah Caruth -92. Eliminated Playoff Driver Standings: 5) Nick Sanchez 2233, 6) Taylor Gray -20, 7) Rajah Caruth -44, 8) Tyler Ankrum -54, 9) Daniel Dye -105, 10) Ben Rhodes -112. Best of the Rest: 11) Layne Riggs
557, 12) Stewart Friesen -22, 13) Tanner Gray -33, 14) Matt Crafton -51, 15) Chase Purdy -69, 16) Dean Thompson -115, 17) Jake Garcia -121, 18) Bayley Currey -181, 19) Bret Holmes -197, 20) Kaden Honeycutt -203. Non-Playoff Point Standings (1-16): 1) Christian Eckes 1020, 2) Corey Heim -101, 3) Ty Majeski -200, 4) Nick Sanchez -259, 5) Grant Enfinger
-299, 6) Taylor Gray -340, 7) Rajah Caruth -349, 8) Tyler Ankrum -354, 9) Ben Rhodes -460, 10) Layne Riggs -463, 11) Daniel Dye -474, 12) Stewart Friesen -485, 13) Tanner Gray
-496, 14) Matt Crafton -514, 15) Chase Purdy -532, 16) Dean Thompson -578.
Playoff Points: 1) Corey Heim 49, 2) Christian Eckes -3, 3) Ty Majeski -25, 4) Grant
Enfinger -30, 5) Nick Sanchez -31, 6) Rajah Caruth -39, 7) Tyler Ankrum -42, 8) Taylor Gray -46. Stage Points: 1) Christian Eckes 311, 2) Corey Heim
-67, 3) Ty Majeski -68, 4) Nick Sanchez -161, 5) Grant Enfinger -174, 6) Tyler Ankrum -183, 7) Layne Riggs -195, 8) Taylor Gray -198, 9) Rajah Caruth -205, 10) Ben Rhodes
-220, 11) Daniel Dye -231, 12) Kaden Honeycutt -236, 13) Stewart Friesen -244, 14) Tanner Gray -253, 15) Jake Garcia -262, t-16) Dean Thompson -263, t-16) Chase Purdy -263. Note: If he were eligible for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points, Kyle Busch would be 14th in stage points. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Christian Eckes 645, 2) Corey Heim -41, 3) Nick Sanchez
-114, t-4) Ty Majeski -142, t-4) Grant Enfinger -142, 6) Taylor Gray -159, 7) Rajah Caruth -164, 8) Tyler Ankrum -188, 9) Ben Rhodes -258, 10) Stewart Friesen -262, 11) Tanner Gray
-263, 12) Daniel Dye -265, 13) Matt Crafton -269, 14) Layne Riggs -284, 15) Chase Purdy -286, 16) Dean Thompson -337. WC Points (1-16): 1) Christian Eckes
3555, 2) Corey Heim -178, 3) Nick Sanchez -438, 4) Ty Majeski -523, 5) Grant Enfinger -538, 6) Taylor Gray -588, 7) Rajah Caruth -627, 8) Tyler Ankrum -701, 9) Ben Rhodes
-940, 10) Daniel Dye -958, 11) Stewart Friesen -968, 12) Tanner Gray -979, 13) Matt Crafton -990, 14) Layne Riggs -1006, 15) Chase Purdy -1020, 16) Dean Thompson -1212. Race Winners: Nick Sanchez (Daytona, Charlotte), Kyle Busch (Atlanta, Texas), Rajah Caruth (Las Vegas), Christian Eckes (Bristol-1, Martinsville-1, Nashville, Martinsville-2), Corey Heim (COTA, Kansas-1, North Wilkesboro, Gateway, Pocono, Kansas-2), Ross Chastain (Darlington), Ty Majeski (Lucas Oil IRP, Richmond), Layne Riggs (Milwaukee, Richmond-2), Grant Enfinger
(Talladega, Homestead)
Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of NASCAR Media via David Jansen of Getty Images.
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Letter of the Race: Sunday's Xfinity 500 was brought to you by the letter T for Travesty. The presence of the playoffs allows for underhanded factors to worm their way into NASCAR. The conclusion of Sunday race is
just the latest example of that. - Phil Allaway |
Quotes to Remember: Xfinity 500 compiled by Phil Allaway
"I’m worn out. It’s hard. The last 70 or so laps I tried to save my rear [tires] the best I could because that’s where I started struggling later in the runs. I hated I had to lay the bumper to some guys, but I had to do it. It was nice to pass [Chase Elliott] clean. I layed the bumper to a couple guys that I wish I didn’t have to, but I needed to get going, so it was a long
night. I appreciate everybody for getting better through the night. Thank goodness. I think that’s the most tired I’ve been after a race in a long time." - Ryan Blaney, race winner
"It was a great call. It got us right there in the mix and we had an opportunity. I just made a couple mistakes there past halfway and got some damage on our car. I think that hurt a little bit. Just
little things started stacking up. I was pushing really hard trying to get to [Kyle Larson]. I just felt like Ryan [Blaney] had been really good. I was scared to give him an opportunity to get to [Larson] first. I just really wanted to try to get the lead. And then you never know, maybe a caution comes out or something. It just didn’t work out for us. We’ll go to Phoenix [Raceway] and try to put together a good weekend." - Chase Elliott, finished second
"I’m proud of the effort from this No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevy team. This whole Round of Eight has been a fight, really. From the first stage at Las Vegas [Motor Speedway] on, it’s been a fight. I feel like we made the right pit call to give ourselves the best opportunity. I’m proud of my team; the car, the pit crew, everyone at Hendrick Motorsports. We just didn’t have enough. I actually thought that when Chase
[Elliott] got to second, I thought he was going to drive right to me and pass me easily. I was surprised I held on as long as I did, so it gave me hope. But then we just fell off the last 30 laps or so." - Kyle Larson, finished third "We started last. We had to go to the back to start stage three and we had a really fast race car. It was a good strategy
call there by Brian, putting it in my hands at the end with old tires. Honestly, probably a few more laps we would have had third, so I’m proud of everybody’s effort. The whole team collaboration this weekend and most importantly, getting Ryan [Blaney] in the Championship 4. We’ve got a 50 percent shot of Team Penske to win next week, so that’s awesome. It’s well-deserved by everybody on the team and after my last three weeks this feels nice, but we definitely had to work for it today." -
Austin Cindric, finished fourth
"I’ve never been a part of anything like this, so I don’t really know how to feel. I hate it for everyone involved, but I’m happy for this No. 24 Liberty University Chevy team. I’m happy for us moving on, and we’ll go on and focus on Phoenix [Raceway]. "I have not gotten there yet (laughs). I’ll think about this one here at Martinsville [Speedway] with my team. We had a lot of adversity through the second half of the race there. Yeah, I mean we know what the rules are, right? So it is what it is. I wouldn’t say I’m happy, but I’m excited to race for a championship, that’s for sure." - William Byron, finished sixth "It was a top 10. That’s what it was. The focus has been on Phoenix and hopefully it pays a dividend next weekend where we can unload with a lot of speed and have a race car that can go up there and run up front and win a championship." - Joey Logano, finished 10th "It was
Martinsville, and it was a Round of 8 cutoff race. Unfortunately, I was on the bad side of it. Made a lot of mistakes, ran a sloppy race. It is a shame that it comes down to a ball and strike call like that. You can look at both sides of the fence – the Chevy organization had a lot of blocking going on so that [William Bryon] didn’t lose positions. I slid into the wall and kept my foot into it. I guess that is a losing move. "I just got loose. I was trying to get by [Bubba Wallace] and whenever I did, I was kind of pinned in between [Noah Gragson] and [Wallace] and slid into the wall. Whenever I slid into the wall, I knew that I had to have that position and just tried to get to the line. I didn’t intentionally floor it and go into the fence; I slipped into the wall and that’s all she wrote." - Christopher Bell, finished
22nd Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of NASCAR Media via David Jansen of Getty Images.
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