Frontstretch Newsletter: Oct. 14, 2024
Volume
XVIII, Edition CLXXXVII |
As you're likely aware of by now, Hurricane Helene has devastated a significant chunk of North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Georgia and Florida. In western parts of North Carolina, some areas have experienced flooding that hasn't been seen since the 18th century. To that end, we at Frontstretch want to help the relief efforts. To that end, Frontstretch is supporting Operation Airdrop's Operation Helene, which is organizing donations in the Charlotte area and airlifting supplies to areas that have been cutoff due to flooding. If you are able, you can donate financially to the effort here. If you're local to the
Charlotte area, you can volunteer to help with the effort. In addition, there is a designated spot to drop off donations at the Walmart Supercenter in Concord, N.C. The address is 5825 Thunder Rd. NW, Concord, NC 28027. This is off Exit 49 of Interstate 85 (Concord Mills Boulevard/Bruton Smith Boulevard). The donations are picked up every day at 5 p.m. ET so that they can be hustled to nearby Concord-Padgett Regional Airport (for plane flights) or to Hickory Regional Airport (for helicopters)
for the airlifts. |
- NASCAR teams are back at their shops today after yesterday's race at Charlotte Motor Speedway's ROVAL. We'll have entry lists for Las Vegas and anything else that breaks for you at Frontstretch. |
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| Kyle Larson Dominates Cup Race at
ROVAL Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson led 62 of 109 laps Sunday to win the Bank of America ROVAL 400k for his sixth win of the year. Christopher Bell was second, then William Byron, Austin Cindric and Chase Elliott. |
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| Alex Bowman Disqualified After Charlotte, Out of Round of
8 Hendrick Motorsports' Alex Bowman was removed from the Round of 8 a couple of hours after Sunday's Bank of America ROVAL 400 when he was disqualified due to his car being underweight. |
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| NASCAR’s Brad Moran Explains Alex Bowman Charlotte
DQ Brad Moran, managing director for the NASCAR Cup Series, explained how NASCAR made the determination to disqualify Alex Bowman due to his weight issues. |
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| Tyler Reddick Advances to Round of 8 Despite Chaotic Day
at Charlotte ROVAL 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick eked out an 11th-place finish in order to advance to the Round of 8 Sunday. That came despite contact with Denny Hamlin that broke a toe link in stage two. |
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| Sam Mayer Takes Xfinity Win at Charlotte ROVAL in
Overtime, Makes Round of 8 Sam Mayer was able to pass Parker Kligerman exiting turn 7 with two laps to go, then drove away to win the Drive for the Cure 250k Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway for his third win of the year. AJ Allmendinger was second, then Shane van Gisbergen,
Austin Hill and Chandler Smith. |
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| Parker Kligerman Thought He Had Won the Charlotte ROVAL;
the Caution Lights Said Otherwise Parker Kligerman was within five feet of taking the white flag in the lead Saturday in Charlotte. However, the caution flew at that point for a crash involving Leland Honeyman. Kligerman fell back to sixth on the final restart. |
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| Chip Ganassi Racing Wins Motul Petit Le
Mans Chip Ganassi Racing's Renger van der Zande passed Nick Tandy with 15 minutes to go Saturday night and held on despite headlight issues to win the Motul Petit Le Mans. |
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| Riley Dickinson, Michael McCarthy Win FOX Factory
120 Riley Dickinson took the lead when Hugh Plumb pitted with 10 minutes to go and held on to win the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge FOX Factory 120 with teammate Michael McCarthy. Bryan Herta Autosport's Mason Filippi and Mark Wilkins won in
TCR. |
Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography and our own Phil Allaway. 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: Oct. 11-13 |
- In Oswego Saturday night, Stewart Friesen pulled off a rare feat. He led all 200 laps from the pole to win the Super DIRTcar Series Billy Whitaker Cars 200 at Oswego Speedway. It is Friesen's sixth Super DIRT Week victory, tying him with Brett Hearn for the most all-time.
Jimmy Phelps from
nearby Baldwinsville, N.Y. was second, followed by Mat Williamson, Max McLaughlin and Jack Lehner. Points leader Matt Sheppard was ninth. As a result, his points lead has been reduced to 15 points with only the World Finals in Charlotte remaining. - World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series teams were at Lincoln Speedway Saturday night for the
Keystone Classic. Here, Sheldon Haudenschild was the man to beat. Then, he got into the wall in turns 3 and 4 and went for a roll that ended his night.
The crash gave the lead over to Donny Schatz. From there, Schatz was able to pull away over the final 10 laps to take the win.
Schatz won by 2.627 seconds over Carson Macedo. Buddy Kofoid was third, then Danny Dietrich, the best of the Pennsylvania Posse drivers. Chase Dietz was third. Through 60 races, David Gravel, who finished Saturday night, has a 72-point lead over Macedo. Schatz is third, then Kofoid and Giovanni
Scelzi. - The Kubota High Limit Sprint Car Series wrapped up their season this past weekend at Texas Motor Speedway on their dirt track. Friday night saw Brad Sweet run down Daryn Pittman for the lead on lap 12. The two drivers dueled back and forth for a couple of laps before Sweet made the pass stick on lap 15.
From there, Sweet held on to take the victory. Pittman was second, then Ryan Timms, Brent Marks and Aaron Reutzel. Saturday night saw Pittman lead early once again with Marks giving chase. With lapped traffic, Pittman got held, allowing Marks to make the move for the lead on lap
21. A couple of laps later, the red flag came out for James McFadden flipping after he came into contact with Sweet. McFadden was ok. From there, Marks was able to hold on to win the All-In Championship Weekend finale and take
home a check for $50,000. Pittman was second, then Emerson Axsom, Corey Day and Timms. Despite a bad finish, Sweet won the inaugural Kubota High Limit Sprint Car Series championship by 297 points over Tyler Courtney. Rico Abreu was third in points, then Marks and Day. |
This is just a sampling of the videos that we uploaded to our YouTube channels from Charlotte, Tri-County and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta last weekend. For more from Charlotte, Tri-County, Road Atlanta, or from other race weekends, be sure to
subscribe to our suite of YouTube channels (Frontstretch, Frontstretch Grassroots, FS Open Wheel and Frontstretch Plus) 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 12
by Phil Allaway
William Byron was already locked into the Round of 8 entering Sunday, but still had an excellent run to finish in third. That propelled him to win the round. His margin was eight points over Kyle Larson, who moved up to second with his victory. Christopher Bell finished second, but dropped to third due to Larson scoring eight
stage points to his zero. Ryan Blaney is up two places to fourth after finishing 10th. Chase Elliott moved up three places to fifth after finishing fifth. Denny Hamlin dropped two places to sixth after finishing 14th. Tyler Reddick had an interesting day, winning stage one, but hitting Hamlin and breaking a toe
link. After repairs, he recovered to 11th and held onto seventh. Joey Logano gained one place and took the last spot in the Round of 8 thanks to a race-high 18 stage points and an eighth-place finish. Logano made the Round of 8 by 20 points over Alex Bowman. Bowman should have had the final spot after finishing 18th, but was disqualified for being
underweight. Austin Cindric was in the top-five seemingly all day, but was just too far behind entering the race. A fourth-place finish only moved him up to 10th over Daniel Suarez, who made an unscheduled stop and finished 30th. Chase Briscoe dropped out after being involved in a crash and ended the round in 12th. When the Round
of 8 starts at Las Vegas next weekend, Larson will have a 20-point lead over Bell. Reddick will be third, then Byron and Blaney. After Bowman's disqualification, the Round of 8 is composed of the drivers with the eight highest total of playoff points for the season. Of those already eliminated from the playoffs, Bowman leads that group by 21 points over Cindric. Ty
Gibbs is 11th after mechanical woes put him out early. Martin Truex Jr. is 12th after a 21st-place finish. Suarez is 13th, then Brad Keselowski, who finished 23rd. Briscoe is 15th, then Harrison Burton. Outside of the playoffs as a whole, Chris Buescher moved up one place to 17th after finishing 17th. He is six points ahead of Bubba Wallace, who finished ninth. Ross Chastain dropped two spots to 19th due to a couple of spins. Kyle Busch is 20th. Round of 12 Point Standings:
1) William Byron 3156, 2) Kyle Larson -8, 3) Christopher Bell -16, 4) Ryan Blaney -43, 5) Chase Elliott -47, 6) Denny Hamlin -54, 7) Tyler Reddick -58, 8) Joey Logano -61, 9) Alex Bowman -81, 10)
Austin Cindric -85, 11) Daniel Suarez -108, 12) Chase Briscoe -126. Round of 8 Point Standings: 1) Kyle Larson 4052, 2) Christopher Bell -20, 3) Tyler Reddick -23, 4) William Byron -29, 5) Ryan Blaney -33, 6) Denny
Hamlin -37, 7) Chase Elliott -38, 8) Joey Logano -40. Eliminated Driver Standings: 9) Alex Bowman 2195, 10) Austin Cindric -21, 11) Ty Gibbs -45, 12) Martin Truex Jr. -49, 13) Daniel Suarez -68, 14) Brad Keselowski -75, 15) Chase Briscoe -85, 16)
Harrison Burton -130. Non-Playoff Point Standings (1-16): 1) Kyle Larson 1049, 2) Chase Elliott -26, 3) Tyler Reddick -50, 4) Christopher Bell
-55, 5) William Byron -83, 6) Ryan Blaney -112, 7) Denny Hamlin -133, 8) Alex Bowman -193, 9) Brad Keselowski -195, 10) Ty Gibbs -201, 11) Martin Truex
Jr. -211, 12) Chris Buescher -219, 13) Bubba Wallace -225, 14) Ross Chastain -228, 15) Joey Logano -265, 16) Kyle Busch -338. Note: Drivers in italics are either outside of the playoffs, or ineligible for points.
Best of the Rest: 17) Chris Buescher 830, 18) Bubba Wallace -6, 19) Ross Chastain
-9, 20) Kyle Busch -119, 21) Carson Hocevar -226, 22) Todd Gilliland -251, 23) Michael McDowell -256, 24) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -287, 25) Noah Gragson -308, 26) Ryan Preece -323. Playoff Points: 1) Kyle Larson 52, 2) Christopher Bell -20, 3) Tyler Reddick -23, 4) William Byron -29, 5) Ryan Blaney -33, 6) Denny Hamlin -37, 7) Chase Elliott -38, 8) Joey Logano
-40, 9) Austin Cindric -43, t-10) Daniel Suarez -46, t-10) Alex Bowman -46, 12) Chase Briscoe -47. Stage Points: 1) Kyle Larson
295, 2) Denny Hamlin -32, 3) Ryan Blaney -48, 4) Christopher Bell -72, 5) William Byron -80, 6) Chase Elliott -86, 7) Tyler Reddick -89, 8) Martin Truex Jr.
-94, 9) Joey Logano -127, 10) Alex Bowman -138, 11) Ty Gibbs -143, 12) Brad Keselowski -144, 13) Bubba Wallace -160, 14) Austin Cindric -169, 15) Ross Chastain -195, 16) Kyle Busch -202. Note: The Stage Points also include the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Chase Elliott
955, 2) Tyler Reddick -13, 3) Christopher Bell -39, 4) Kyle Larson -60, 5) William Byron -66, 6) Chris Buescher -80, 7) Ross Chastain -95, 8) Brad Keselowski -110, 9) Ty Gibbs
-117, t-10) Alex Bowman -124, t-10) Bubba Wallace -124, 12) Ryan Blaney -130, 13) Denny Hamlin -138, 14) Martin Truex Jr. -183, t-15) Joey Logano -194, t-15) Kyle Busch -194. Note: These standings are based on the old point system that was used before stages were created. WC Points (1-16): 1) Tyler Reddick 4284, 2) Chase Elliott
-12, 3) Christopher Bell -68, 4) William Byron -183, 5) Kyle Larson -190, 6) Chris Buescher -273, 7) Ross Chastain -329, 8) Brad Keselowski -332, 9) Ty Gibbs -373, 10) Ryan Blaney
-392, 11) Alex Bowman -408, 12) Bubba Wallace -411, 13) Denny Hamlin -464, 14) Martin Truex Jr. -589, 15) Kyle Busch -623, 16) Joey Logano -626. 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), Daniel Suarez (Atlanta-1), Kyle Larson (Las Vegas, 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), Brad Keselowski (Darlington-1), Austin Cindric (Gateway), Ryan Blaney (Iowa, Pocono), Joey Logano (Nashville, Atlanta-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: Chandler Smith Wins Round of 12
by Phil Allaway
Chandler Smith came into Saturday with a 27-point lead. He just needed to have a steady run in order to win the round. That is what he did as a fifth-place finish was enough for Chandler to win the Round of 12. Chandler won by 23 points over Austin Hill. Hill
finished fourth and broke a tie between himself and Cole Custer. Custer was 14th and dropped to third. AJ Allmendinger won stage one and finished second, moving up four places to fourth. Justin Allgaier was in danger of being eliminated, but finished seventh and moved up four places to fifth. Jesse Love dropped one spot to sixth after finishing
19th. He was the last driver to get into the Round of 8 on points. Love beat out Shane van Gisbergen by two points. Van Gisbergen finished third and gained three places in vain. Sam Mayer's victory moved him up three places to eighth. Sheldon Creed was eliminated in a pile on the frontstretch and finished 35th. That dropped him five places to
ninth and out of the playoffs. Sammy Smith finished 10th, but dropped three places to 10th. Riley Herbst was in the same crash with Creed and later dropped out with a driveshaft failure. That dropped him five places to 11th. Parker Kligerman was within a yard of winning before a caution flew. A sixth-place finish kept him in 12th and ended his playoff chances. Outside of the playoffs, Ryan Sieg has a 103-point lead over Brandon Jones. Anthony Alfredo is 15th, then Brennan Poole. When the Round of 8 starts next weekend in Las Vegas, Allgaier will have a seven-point lead over Custer. Hill will be third, then Chandler Smith and Mayer. Round of 12 Point Standings: 1) Chandler Smith 2158, 2) Austin Hill -23, 3) Cole Custer -39, 4) AJ Allmendinger -43, 5) Justin Allgaier -52, 6) Jesse Love
-54, 7) Shane van Gisbergen -56, 8) Sam Mayer -58, 9) Sheldon Creed -61, 10) Sammy Smith -65, 11) Riley Herbst -72, 12) Parker Kligerman -78. Owners Points
Round of 12 Standings: 1) Joe Gibbs Racing No. 81 2157, 2) Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 -12, 3) Richard Childress Racing No. 21 -23, t-4) Kaulig Racing No. 16 -43, t-4) Stewart-Haas Racing No. 00 -43, 6) JR Motorsports No. 7
-53, 7) Richard Childress Racing No. 2 -54, 8) Kaulig Racing No. 97 -55, 9) JR Motorsports No. 1 -57, 10) Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 -61, 11) Stewart-Haas Racing No. 98 -72, 12) Big Machine Racing -78.
Round of 8 Point Standings: 1) Justin Allgaier 3035, 2) Cole Custer -7, 3) Austin Hill -9, 4) Chandler Smith -10, 5) Sam Mayer -18, 6) Jesse Love -22, 7) AJ Allmendinger -28, 8) Sammy Smith -29. Owners Points Round of 8 Standings:
1) Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 3039, 2) JR Motorsports No. 7 -6, 3) Richard Childress Racing No. 21 -14, 4) Joe Gibbs Racing No. 81 -15, 5) Stewart-Haas Racing No. 00 - 16, 6) JR Motorsports No. 1 -22, 7) Richard Childress Racing No. 2 -27, 8) Kaulig Racing No. 16 -33. Eliminated Driver Standings: 9) Shane van Gisbergen 2102, 10) Sheldon Creed -5, 11) Riley Herbst -16, 12) Parker Kligerman -22. Non-Playoff Point Standings (1-16): 1) Chandler Smith 1023, 2) Cole Custer
-21, 3) Justin Allgaier -43, 4) Austin Hill -88, 5) AJ Allmendinger -102, 6) Sheldon Creed -119, 7) Jesse Love -159, 8) Riley Herbst -195, 9) Parker Kligerman
-215, 10) Sammy Smith -247, 11) Ryan Sieg -298, 12) Shane van Gisbergen -313, 13) Sam Mayer -337, 14) Brandon Jones -401, 15) Anthony Alfredo -453, 16) Brennan Poole -524. Playoff Points: 1) Justin Allgaier 35, 2) Cole Custer -7, 3) Austin Hill -9, 4) Chandler Smith -10, 5) Sam Mayer -18, 6) Shane van Gisbergen -18, 7) Jesse Love -22, 8) Riley Herbst
-25, t-9) AJ Allmendinger -28, t-9) Sheldon Creed -28, 11) Sammy Smith -29, 12) Parker Kligerman -37. Best of the Rest: 13) Ryan Sieg 722, 14) Brandon Jones -103, 15) Anthony Alfredo -155, 16)
Brennan Poole -226, 17) Josh Williams -270, 18) Leland Honeyman -284, 19) Parker Retzlaff -290, 20) Jeb Burton -293, 21) Jeremy Clements -315, 22) Ryan Ellis -336. Stage Points: 1) Justin Allgaier
326, 2) Chandler Smith -78, 3) Cole Custer -80, 4) AJ Allmendinger -95, 5) Austin Hill -102, 6) Riley Herbst -114, 7) Sheldon Creed -137, 8) Jesse Love -172, 9) Sam
Mayer -185, 10) Sammy Smith -197, 11) Aric Almirola -216, 12) Parker Kligerman -218, 13) Brandon Jones -224, 14) Ryan Sieg -238, 15) Shane van Gisbergen -253, 16) Ryan Truex -267. 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 899, 2) Cole Custer -9, 3) Austin Hill
-54, t-4) Jesse Love -57, t-4) Sheldon Creed -57, 6) Parker Kligerman -73, 7) AJ Allmendinger -80, 8) Justin Allgaier -110, 9) Sammy Smith -131, 10) Ryan Sieg -138, 11) Shane van Gisbergen
-140, 12) Riley Herbst -163, 13) Sam Mayer -225, 14) Anthony Alfredo -243, 15) Brandon Jones -260, 16) Brennan Poole -295. WC Points (1-16): 1) Chandler Smith
4044, 2) Cole Custer -39, 3) Sheldon Creed -164, 4) Austin Hill -225, 5) Jesse Love -239, 6) AJ Allmendinger -318, 7) Parker Kligerman -339, 8) Justin Allgaier
-381, 9) Sammy Smith -495, 10) Shane van Gisbergen -519, 11) Ryan Sieg -534, 12) Riley Herbst -580, 13) Sam Mayer -768, 14) Anthony Alfredo -886, 15) Brandon Jones -921, 16) Brennan Poole
-1063. Race Winners: Austin Hill (Daytona-1, Atlanta-1, Atlanta-2), John Hunter Nemechek (Las Vegas, Nashville), Chandler Smith (Phoenix, Richmond), Kyle Larson (COTA), Aric Almirola (Martinsville, Kansas), 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) 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: Off-Week Update No. 15
by Phil Allaway
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series was off last weekend. They will return to action at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Oct. 25. When the teams get to Homestead, Corey Heim will have a one-point lead over Christian Eckes. Grant Enfinger, who
is locked into the Championship 4 after winning in Talladega, is third, followed by Ty Majeski. Majeski is the last driver in the Championship 4 on points at the moment. He has a five-point lead over Rajah Caruth. Taylor Gray is sixth, then Nick Sanchez and Tyler
Ankrum.
Round of 8 Point Standings: 1) Corey Heim 3078, 2) Christian Eckes -1, 3) Grant Enfinger -12, 4) Ty Majeski -25, 5) Rajah Caruth -30, 6) Taylor Gray -38, 7) Nick Sanchez
-45, 8) Tyler Ankrum -48. Eliminated Playoff Driver Standings: 9) Daniel Dye 2089, 10) Ben Rhodes -32. Best of the Rest: 11) Layne Riggs
515, 12) Tanner Gray -16, 13) Stewart Friesen -43, 14) Matt Crafton -60, 15) Chase Purdy -75, 16) Jake Garcia -109, 17) Dean Thompson -116, 18) Bret Holmes -155, 19) Bayley Currey -166, 20) Ty Dillon -181. Non-Playoff Point Standings (1-16): 1) Christian Eckes 918, 2) Corey Heim -93, 3) Ty Majeski -192, 4) Nick Sanchez -232, 5) Grant Enfinger -281, 6) Rajah Caruth
-286, 7) Tyler Ankrum -315, 8) Taylor Gray -317, 9) Layne Riggs -403, 10) Daniel Dye -411, 11) Tanner Gray -419, 12) Ben Rhodes -422, 13) Stewart Friesen -446, 14) Matt Crafton -463, 15) Chase Purdy
-478, 16) Jake Garcia -512.
Playoff Points: 1) Corey Heim 48, 2) Christian Eckes -9, 3) Ty Majeski -24, 4) Nick Sanchez -30, 5) Grant Enfinger -35, 6) Rajah Caruth
-38, 7) Tyler Ankrum -41, 8) Taylor Gray -45. Stage Points: 1) Christian Eckes 277, 2) Corey Heim -64, 3) Ty Majeski -67, 4) Nick Sanchez -146, 5) Tyler Ankrum
-151, 6) Grant Enfinger -156, 7) Layne Riggs -167, 8) Rajah Caruth -175, 9) Taylor Gray -183, 10) Ben Rhodes -190, 11) Daniel Dye -201, 12) Stewart Friesen -215, 13) Tanner Gray
-219, 14) Kaden Honeycutt -224, 15) Jake Garcia -228, 16) Dean Thompson -230. Note: If he were eligible for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points, Kyle Busch would be 12th in stage points. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Christian Eckes 583, 2) Corey Heim -36, 3) Nick Sanchez -100, 4) Rajah Caruth -129, 5) Ty Majeski -133, 6) Grant Enfinger -140, 7) Taylor Gray -151, 8) Tyler Ankrum
-179, 9) Tanner Gray -218, 10) Daniel Dye -230, t-11) Ben Rhodes -249, t-11) Matt Crafton -249, 13) Stewart Friesen -250, 14) Layne Riggs -254, 15) Chase Purdy -261, 16) Jake Garcia -303. WC Points (1-16): 1) Christian Eckes 3227, 2) Corey Heim -166, 3) Nick Sanchez -389, 4) Ty Majeski -495, 5) Rajah Caruth -511, 6) Grant Enfinger -528, 7) Taylor Gray
-564, 8) Tyler Ankrum -670, 9) Tanner Gray -830, 10) Daniel Dye -843, 11) Layne Riggs -900, 12) Ben Rhodes -914, 13) Matt Crafton -916, 14) Stewart Friesen -924, 15) Chase Purdy
-942, 16) Jake Garcia -1100. Race Winners: Nick Sanchez (Daytona, Charlotte), Kyle Busch (Atlanta, Texas), Rajah Caruth (Las Vegas), Christian Eckes (Bristol-1, Martinsville, Nashville), 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)
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 Bank of America ROVAL 400k was brought to you by the letter S for Strange. Really, the whole weekend was. The curbing had to be swapped out mid-weekend due to drivers feeling like they
were crashing every time they went through the frontstretch chicane. Alex Bowman somehow ended up underweight, costing him his spot in the Round of 8. - Phil Allaway |
Quotes to Remember: Bank of America ROVAL 400k compiled by Phil Allaway
"It was a great day, for sure. This place has not been easy on me. This is probably the most difficult track out of the road courses for me. I put in a lot of work this week; a lot of studying and a few hours in the sim. It’s cool to win here with Cliff’s family and everybody’s family. Just a great day for the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevy team. Execution from start to finish was
amazing. "Honestly, there at the end, it wasn’t as easy as I was expecting. I felt like when [Christopher] Bell was behind me earlier….once we got to a certain point of the run, I could really pull away. Then there at the end, he was really matching me, and I was driving pretty hard. So, I was nervous that I was going to start fading some more and he was going to get better
and get close to me. But thankfully, I could push a little bit and get some time back in other areas where I was good. We just had a great race car, a comfortable race car, which is what you need here. A lot more comfort than I have had in the past." - Kyle Larson, race winner
"It feels alright. It feels good – I’ll be honest. Happy for this DEWALT Toyota team. We had a goal today to win the race,
and that’s what we came here to do, and it was close – me and [Kyle Larson] seemed like we were pretty evenly matched once we got out to our equal spacing. I would make a bad lap, and he would pull away, and he would make a bad lap, and I would close in. Hopefully, we get a redo in Phoenix." - Christopher Bell, finished second "It was an OK day for the No. 24
Valvoline Confetti Chevy team. I feel like the whole day, we were just trying to find a little bit more pace. We could get better in some areas, and then other areas, we just struggled. It seemed like the back chicane, we just struggled changing direction there. It was kind of all we had. It was a good day, but we definitely wanted more. We just weren’t quite good enough." - William Byron, finished third "[I needed a] better performance and finishes at Talladega and Kansas. We had the speed and that is the encouraging thing and the exciting thing but today we needed it all. We had a great car. We had a great finish. My guys called a great strategy and we got points in both Stages, all the things that are hard to do in a Cup race, but we did those things and were capable of doing those things in the two prior races. That is what this
format is. It is difficult. I think for us, having a better regular season, having a bit better of a buffer would definitely help. I am proud of everyone. I feel like we are getting into a rhythm here. I am proud of the team and looking forward to trying to spoil some races and support our teammates the rest of the way." - Austin Cindric, finished fourth
"Really, really proud of the effort today
by this No. 9 UniFirst Chevy team. We put ourselves in the worst possible position you could for a good finish. To get back into the top-five there, it was definitely a solid day. It’s nice to get through to the Round of 8. There was a little bit of craziness here and there, but it’s nice to make it happen." - Chase Elliott, finished fifth "We fought hard for sure.
Paul and the guys did a good job executing the strategy of what we needed to do today. We just didn’t get quite enough at the end there. We fell off a little too much that last run. Honestly, [Tyler Reddick] and those guys did a good job driving up through the field and scored more points. It is hard not to think about Richmond a little bit right now. The positive of it is that we are still in the owners championship, so we can confuse all the fans from here on out about drivers and owners
championships. The money is in the owners, so we will keep fighting for the money." - Joey Logano, finished eighth
"What a good day. What a good weekend really. Just a solid day. We showed up with a lot of speed. I look at the track record here, and we run pretty decent here. It is just execution, hard work put in. All-in-all good day for our Leidos Toyota Camry, just have to keep it going." -
Bubba Wallace, finished ninth
"I thought our car was fast, we just were in the Stage points game all day and we had to restart 30th every run to get back up to where we finished in 10th. To be honest, I wasn’t as aggressive on some of the restarts there in the back to weave our way through because we knew our objective today. I am proud of the effort of all the 12 boys to come out here and forget
last week and focus on this week which really mattered." - Ryan Blaney, finished 10th "Yeah, I thought I was going to flip, but I think I was behind [Martin Truex Jr.] – trying to work the move to the inside. I got clear of him – I saw [Austin Dillon] spun and everyone on the binders coming to a stop, and of course, me and my boss get together. It was like I was going
to do a front flip – this thing was absolutely destroyed. Huge props to everyone on this Monster Energy Toyota Camry. This thing couldn’t go within four seconds of what the pace was, and we just kept working on it. We were a lot better in stage three. This is how this place can be sometimes, but it is really nice to pull this off." - Tyler Reddick, finished 11th "It
is tough to have all the momentum that we had and to have it come to an end like it did is unfortunate. I wish we could have kept going for it. I am sure all the guys that get eliminated wish they could keep going for it, right? We knew, I think as a team even, going into it that if we could get through this round we could get to the final four but we weren’t able to get through this round. It is unfortunate. We still have a lot to race for. We can still go win four more races and that is what
we will try to do. It is four really good tracks for us so I feel really good about it. I wish we were racing for a championship still. It is just one of those days. Honestly, kind of one of those weeks with everything that has happened. I am ready for Monday." - Chase Briscoe, finished 36th (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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