Frontstretch Newsletter: Feb. 17, 2025
Volume
XIX, Edition XI |
- NTT IndyCar Series teams are at Sebring International Raceway for preseason testing today and tomorrow.
- The Daytona 500 winner's tour begins today for William Byron. Earlier today, his winning car was put on display in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America outside of Daytona International
Speedway. It will remain there for the next year. His handprints were also cast in cement.
Entry lists for Atlanta should be released today. We'll have the entry lists and everything else breaks for you at Frontstretch. |
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| William Byron Wins Back-to-Back Daytona
500s William Byron was able to avoid a wreck on the final lap to take the lead and get back around to win his second straight Daytona 500 Sunday night. Tyler Reddick was second, then Jimmie Johnson, Chase Briscoe and John Hunter
Nemechek. |
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| ‘Something Needs to Be Done’: Ryan Preece Sounds Off After
Another Airborne Daytona Crash This year's Daytona 500 will be best remembered for Ryan Preece's wheelie flip on lap 196 after he had contact with Christopher Bell. He was not pleased with his situation. |
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| Trackhouse, Pitbull Ending
Partnership Trackhouse Racing announced Friday that the partnership between the team and Armando Perez, better known as Pitbull, has officially ended after five years. |
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| Jimmie Johnson Leads Legacy Double Top 5 at
Daytona 2024 was a huge struggle for Legacy Motor Club. The 2025 season has gotten off to a much better start for the operation as Jimmie Johnson and John Hunter Nemechek were able to finish third and fifth in Daytona. |
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| ‘I Cannot Take This for Granted’: Helio Castroneves Upbeat
Despite Turbulent Week in Daytona For Helio Castroneves, Speedweek in Daytona was a tough time. He managed to crash no less than five times during the week. A wreck on lap 71 Sunday ended his first Daytona 500. |
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| ‘I Do Want to Be Here’: Dale Jr. Yearns for More JRM Cup
Starts After Daytona 500 Top 10 JR Motorsports' NASCAR Cup Series debut Sunday went about as well as it could have gone with Justin Allgaier mostly keeping himself clean on his way to a ninth-place finish. |
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| Here’s What Happened This Week With the 23XI/FRM Lawsuit
(Feb. 8-14) Last week, NASCAR filed a brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals' Fourth Circuit to ask them to overturn the 23XI Racing/Front Row Motorsports lawsuit on grounds that the lower court that granted the preliminary injunction had no
standing. |
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| ‘We’ll Try & Figure Something Out’: Scott Dixon
Eyeballing Daytona 500 Entry Scott Dixon is best known as a six-time champion of the NTT IndyCar Series. In Daytona over the weekend, he indicated that he wouldn't mind having at it in the Daytona 500 in the future. |
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| Jesse Love Wins Xfinity Season Opener at
Daytona Despite teammate Austin Hill dropping out, Jesse Love held up the honor of Richard Childress Racing by leading 30 laps and winning the United Rentals 300. Sam Mayer was second, then Sheldon Creed, Carson Kvapil and Taylor Gray. |
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| Haas Gets Xfinity Double Podium After Offseason of
Change The former Xfinity division of Stewart-Haas Racing got off to an excellent start Saturday as Sam Mayer and Sheldon Creed finished second and third in their first race as part of the Haas Factory Team. |
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| ‘What Could’ve Been’: Austin Hill Falls Short of 4th
Straight Spring Daytona Win Austin Hill clearly had the best car in Saturday's United Rentals 300. However, a rear end leak resulted in smoke filling the Bennett Chevrolet and putting Hill out after winning the first two stages. |
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| Corey Heim Wins Daytona Truck Race After Parker Kligerman
DQ TRICON Garage's Corey Heim was declared the winner of Friday night's Fresh From Florida 250 after Parker Kligerman was disqualified due to a height violation. Gio Ruggiero was second, then Ty Majeski, Grant Enfinger and Justin
Haley. |
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| Who Is Gio Ruggiero? Daytona Truck Debut Lets Everyone
Know Friday night's Truck race may very well be remembered as a coming out party for TRICON Garage's Gio Ruggiero. The rookie, in his first Truck start, was right in the mix for the win before finishing second. |
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| ‘I Could’ve Won!’: Norm Benning Frustrated He Didn’t
Finish Higher at Daytona 73-year-old Norm Benning finished 16th Friday night in Daytona, but the veteran out of Pennsylvania truly believed that he could have done much, much better in his underdog effort. |
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| Justin Carroll Confirms 4 More Truck Race Attempts for
2025 Justin Carroll indicated to Frontstretch Friday that he will attempt four additional NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races in 2025, the next one being Atlanta this weekend. |
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| Brenden Queen Wins Messy ARCA Race at
Daytona Brenden Queen took the lead with 10 laps to go Saturday and managed to hold on to win the ARCA Menards Series Chili's Ride the 'Dente 200. William Sawalich was second, then Jason Kitzmiller, Lavar Scott and Helio Castroneves. |
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| Craig Bracken Evaluated At Local Hospital After ARCA
Daytona Wreck Young's Motorsports' Craig Bracken was sent to a local hospital in Daytona Beach Saturday after crashing on lap 19 of the ARCA Menards Series Chili's Ride the 'Dente 200. |
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| ARCA Field Decimated by 3 First Half Wrecks: Garrett
Mitchell (Cleetus McFarland) Among Those Eliminated Saturday's ARCA race was marred by a series of crashes. Half of the field was caught up in wrecks prior to lap 25. |
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| Kole Raz Working on Running Full-Time ARCA in
2025 Kole Raz, younger brother of former ARCA Menards Series West competitor Gracin Raz, informed Frontstretch Saturday that he is trying to put together a full schedule in the ARCA Menards Series in 2025. |
Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, Trackhouse, James Black of Penske Entertainment, Katelyn Mulcahy of ARCA Racing and our own Dalton Hopkins. 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: Feb. 14-16 |
- In Abu Dhabi, the Asian Le Mans Series wrapped up their 2024-25 winter season at the Yas Marina Circuit. The weekend was marked by multiple red flags.
Race No. 1 Saturday saw the race red-flagged for an hour after QMMF by Herberth's Ibrahim Al-Abdulghani spun and hit the Armco on the first lap, damaging it.
Al-Abdulghani was ok, but done for the day.
The race ended up being dominated by Algarve Pro Racing. Malthe Jakobsen was able to run down teammate Alex Quinn, who was on an ultra-lean fuel strategy, and took the lead on the final lap. From there, he pulled away to take the victory with teammates Michael Jensen and Valerio Rinicella. It was the trio's third win of the year and the fourth in a row for
APR.
The No. 25 team's margin of victory was 5.410 seconds over Quinn, Olli Caldwell and Kriton Lentoudis. Proton Competition's Tom Dillmann, Vladislav Lomko and Giorgio Roda were third, then Nielsen Racing's Matt Bell, Nicky Catsburg and Naveen Rao. The second Proton Competition entry for Mathias Beche, Alexander Mattschull and Jonas Ried was fifth. In LMP3, RLR MSport's Ian Aguliera took the class lead with a little more than a half-hour to go when Inter Europol Competition's Douwe Dedecker made his final pit stop. From there, Aguliera held on to take his second straight win with Nick Adcock and Chris Short. The margin of victory was 17.378 seconds over Bretton Racing's Theodor Jensen, Jens Moeller and Griffin Peebles. Graff Racing's Alexander Bukhantsov and James Winslow were third, then Dedecker, Daniel Ali and Tim Creswick were a lap down in fourth. In GT, Manthey EMA's Riccardo Pera took the class lead with an hour to go. From there,
Pera, RIchard Lietz and Ryan Hardwick were able to hold on to take the win in their Porsche 911 GT3 R. The margin of victory was .977 seconds over their teammates Antares Au, Klaus Bachler and Joel Sturm. Winward Racing's Mercedes for Maro Engel, Viktor Shaytar and Sergey Stolyarov were third, then Kessel Racing's Ferrari for Dustin Blattner, Dennis Marschall and Ben Tuck.
Earl Bamber Racing's Jamie Day, Mattia Drudi and Gabriel Rindone were fifth in their Aston Martin. - Race No. 2 on Sunday started similarly to Race No. 1. There were three separate incidents on the first lap. The worst of the incidents saw Prime Speed Sport's Rene Malmezac spun his Lamborghini into the barrier, damaging it and causing another red flag. Unlike Saturday, APR was not dominant as the No. 25 had multiple spins. AF Corse led early and often, but Matthieu Vaxiviere had to run down Catsburg in the closing laps. He was able to make the pass with nine minutes to go. From there, he held on to take the win with Francois Perrodo and Alessio Rovera. AF Corse's margin of victory was 14.143 seconds over Catsburg, Bell and Rao. RD Limited's James Allen, Fred Poordad and Tristan Vautier were third, then Algarve Pro Racing's Jakobsen, Jensen and Rinicella. Beche, Mattschull and Ried were fifth. In LMP3, High Class Racing's Anders Fjordbach took the lead with 38 minutes to go when
Aguliera spun out of the lead. From there, he was able to hold on to take the class win with Thomas Kiefer and Mark Patterson. High Class Racing's margin of victory was 7.364 seconds over Adcock, Aguilera and Short. Bretton Racing's Jensen, Moeller and Peebles were third, then Ultimate's Leonardo Colavita, Matteo Quintarelli and Louis Stern. In GT, Manthey Racing completed a weekend sweep as Au, Bachler and Sturm took the final class win of the season. Their margin of victory was 6.434 seconds over Day, Drudi and Rindone. Blattner, Marschall and Tuck were third, then Optimum Motorsport's McLaren for Benji Goethe, Andrew Gilbert and Fran Rueda. Engel, Shaytar and Stoylarov were fifth. In the points, Algarve Pro Racing's Jakobsen, Jensen and Rinicella won the championship and an automatic entry into June's 24 Hours of Le Mans by 21 points over RD Limited's Allen, Poordad and Vautier. AF Corse's Perrodo, Rovera and Vaxiviere were third, then Caldwell, Lentoudis and Quinn in the second APR entry. Proton Competition's Dillmann, Lomko and Roda ended up fifth. In LMP3, Bretton Racing's Moeller and Theodor Jensen won the championship by seven points over RLR MSport's Aguliera and Adcock. Ultimate's Matteo Quintarelli ended up tied with High Class Racing's Fjordbach and Patterson for third, but won the tiebreaker on wins two to one. Peebles, who drove in the final two doubleheader weekends for Bretton Racing, was fifth. In GT, Manthey Racing's victory Sunday gave the No. 10 team of Au, Bachler and Sturm the championship and the automatic berth at Le Mans in the LMGT3 class. They ended up 10 points ahead of teammates Hardwick, Lietz and Pera. Winward Racing's Gabriele Piana and Rinat Salikhov were third, then Kessel Racing's Blattner, Marschall and Tuck. Earl Bamber Racing's Day, Drudi and Rindone ended up
fifth. - The Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals wrapped up this past weekend at Volusia Speedway Park with two more nights of action for the World of Outlaws Late Model Series and the Super DIRTcar Series. Here, you saw some good action. On Friday
night, Devin Moran started eighth, but moved up to third by lap 8. He had Jonathan Davenport and Ricky Thornton Jr., two of the strongest drivers in all of late model dirt racing, to do battle with. Moran dispatched of Davenport on a restart, then ran down Thornton. On lap 20, Moran used a slide job to take the lead away from. From there, he held on to take the
win. Davenport ended up second, then Thornton and Garrett Alberson. Ryan Gustin was fifth. Saturday night saw Davenport charge up from 12th on the grid to second in 20 laps. He then ran down Drake Troutman, who was five seconds ahead, to take the lead
10 laps later. From there, Davenport held on to win. Troutman ended up second, then Nick Hoffman, Brandon Overton and Moran. Thornton finished sixth and claimed the Gator trophy. - In the Super DIRTcar Series, Peter Britten was able to get past Alex
Payne on lap 3 Friday night to take the lead. From there, the Australian racer was able to hold off Payne's charges to take the win. Payne had to settle for second, followed by Erick Rudolph and Mat Williamson. Alex Yankowski was fifth. Saturday night
saw Rudolph start 11th and drive up to the front. He was able to get past Rich Laubach and Larry Wight to take the lead on lap 25. From there, Rudolph was able to hold on to take the victory.
Williamson finished second, followed by Matt Sheppard and Payne. Laubach ended up fifth. Yankowski finished eighth, but that was just enough to win the Big Gator championship by three points over
Williamson.
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This is just a sampling of the videos that we uploaded to our YouTube channels from Daytona last weekend. For more from Daytona, 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: Ryan Blaney Uses Stage Points To Claim Points Lead
by Phil Allaway
William Byron managed to avoid the last-lap crash on the backstretch to defend his Daytona 500 victory. However, Ryan Blaney finished seventh and a total of 21 stage points to get out of Daytona with the points lead. Blaney's advantage is just one point over Byron. Austin Cindric had the car to beat for much of the race, but crashed on the last lap and finished eighth. Despite that, he is still third in points. Tyler Reddick finished second and is currently fourth in points. Alex Bowman leaves Daytona fifth in points after finishing
sixth in a backup car. Chris Buescher and Erik Jones are tied for sixth. Buescher finished 10th, while Jones was 12th. Jimmie Johnson and John Hunter Nemechek are tied for eighth. Johnson finished third, while Nemechek was fifth. Chase Briscoe and Chase Elliott
are tied for 10th. Briscoe finished fourth, while Elliott was 15th. Ty Dillon recovered from an unscheduled pit stop to finish 14th. That puts him 12th in the standings. Daniel Suarez is 13th in points, followed by Michael McDowell and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ty Gibbs and
Joey Logano are tied for 16th. Gibbs wins the tiebreaker by virtue of finishing 16th to Logano's 35th. Gibbs and Logano are one point ahead of a six-way tie for 18th. Those drivers are Todd Gilliland, Denny Hamlin, Riley Herbst, Brad Keselowski, Corey LaJoie and
Bubba Wallace. Herbst holds the tiebreaker here due to having the best finish (17th). Point Standings (1-16): 1) Ryan Blaney 51, 2) William Byron -1, 3) Austin Cindric
-8, 4) Tyler Reddick -7, 5) Alex Bowman -9, t-6) Chris Buescher -11, t-6) Erik Jones -11, t-8) Jimmie Johnson -17, t-8) John Hunter Nemechek -17, t-10) Chase Briscoe -18, t-10) Chase Elliott -18, 12) Ty Dillon -20, 13) Daniel
Suarez -22, 14) Michael McDowell -24, 15) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -25, t-16) Ty Gibbs -30, t-16) Joey Logano -30. Note: Drivers in italics are either outside of the playoffs, or ineligible for
points. Playoff Points: 1) William Byron 5, t-2) Ryan Blaney -4, t-2) Joey Logano -4. Stage Points: 1) Ryan Blaney 21, t-2) Austin Cindric -2, t-2) Joey Logano -2, 4) Erik Jones -6, 5) Chris Buescher -8, 6) Bubba Wallace -9, t-7) Alex Bowman -10, t-7) Chase Elliott -10, t-9) William
Byron -11, t-9) Todd Gilliland -11, t-11) Tyler Reddick -12, t-11) Brad Keselowski -12, 13) Ty Dillon -13, t-14) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -14, t-14) Denny Hamlin -14, t-14) Christopher Bell -14, t-14) Ross Chastain -14. Outside of the top-16, but Still in the Playoffs: t-18) Daniel Suarez -16, t-22) John Hunter Nemechek -19. Note: The Stage Points also include the Duels at
Daytona.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) William Byron 44, 2) Tyler Reddick -5, t-3) Jimmie Johnson -6, t-3) Chase Briscoe -6, t-5) John Hunter Nemechek -8, t-5) Alex Bowman
-8, t-7) Ryan Blaney -9, t-7) Austin Cindric -9, t-9) Chris Buescher -13, t-9) Michael McDowell -13, 11) Erik Jones -15, t-12) Ty Dillon -16, t-12) Daniel Suarez -16, 14) Chase Elliott -17, 15) Ty Gibbs -29, 16) Riley Herbst
-20. Outside of the top-16, but still in the playoffs: 17) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -21. Note No. 1: If he were eligible for NASCAR Cup Series points, Justin
Allgaier would be ninth in Old points. Note No. 2: These standings are based on the old point system that was used before stages were created. WC Points (1-16): 1) William Byron
180, 2) Tyler Reddick -10, t-3) Jimmie Johnson -15, t-3) Chase Briscoe -15, t-5) John Hunter Nemechek -25, t-5) Alex Bowman -25, 7) Austin Cindric -28, 8) Ryan Blaney -29, 9) Michael McDowell -45, 10) Chris
Buescher -46, 11) Erik Jones -53, 12) Ty Dillon -54, 13) Daniel Suarez -56, 14) Chase Elliott -57, 15) Ty Gibbs -65, 16) Riley Herbst -68.
Outside of the top-16, but still in the
playoffs: 17) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -71. Note No. 1: The WC points are based on the original points system created by Bob Latford in 1975. Note No. 2: If he were eligible for NASCAR Cup Series points,
Justin Allgaier would be ninth in WC points. Race Winners: William Byron (Daytona)
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: Sheldon Creed Can't Get Past Jesse Love, But Leaves Daytona With Lead
by Phil Allaway
Jesse Love was able to get the victory Saturday, but he only scored two stage points. Meanwhile, Sheldon Creed finished third and earned 12 stage points. That was enough to get him the points lead. Creed's advantage over Love is nine points. Dean
Thompson leaves Daytona in third after finishing eighth with nine stage points. Taylor Gray is fourth after a fifth-place finish. Sam Mayer finished second on debut with the Haas Factory Team and leaves Daytona fifth in points. Carson Kvapil and Jeb Burton are tied for sixth. Kvapil finished fourth, while Jeb was 16th.
Harrison Burton is eighth after a sixth-place finish. Jordan Anderson and Justin Allgaier are tied for ninth. Allgaier actually turned himself across Anderson's nose, resulting in the crash that caused the race to end under yellow. Anderson finished seventh while Allgaier was 18th. Jeremy Clements is 11th after a ninth-place
finish and the bonus point for the fastest lap. Patrick Emerling and Ryan Sieg are tied for 12th. Emerling wins the tiebreaker due to finishing 10th to Sieg's 19th. Emerling and Sieg are one point ahead of Matt DiBenedetto, who finished 11th in his Viking Motorsports Chevrolet. Christian Eckes is 15th, while Caesar
Bacarella and Austin Hill are tied for 16th. Hill was the dominant driver, but a rear end fluid leak and smoke put him out. Point Standings (1-16): 1) Sheldon Creed 51, 2) Jesse Love -9, 3) Dean Thompson -13, 4) Taylor Gray
-14, 5) Sam Mayer -16, t-6) Carson Kvapil -18, t-6) Jeb Burton -18, 8) Harrison Burton -19, t-9) Jordan Anderson -21, t-9) Justin Allgaier -21, 11) Jeremy Clements -22, t-12) Patrick Emerling -24, t-12) Ryan Sieg
-24, 14) Matt DiBenedetto -25, 15) Christian Eckes -26, t-16) Caesar Bacarella -27, t-16) Austin Hill -27. Playoff Points: 1) Jesse Love 5, 2) Austin Hill -2. Stage Points: 1) Austin Hill 20, 2) Sheldon Creed -3, 3) Jeb Burton -8, 4) Justin Allgaier -9, t-5) Dean Thompson -11, t-5) Ryan Sieg -11, t-7) Anthony Alfredo -12, t-7) Nick Sanchez
-12, t-9) Taylor Gray -15, t-9) Leland Honeyman -15, 11) William Sawalich -17, 12) Jesse Love -18, 13) Harrison Burton -19. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Jesse Love
44, t-2) Sheldon Creed -5, t-2) Sam Mayer -5, t-4) Carson Kvapil -7, t-4) Taylor Gray -7, 6) Harrison Burton -8, 7) Jordan Anderson
-10, 8) Dean Thompson -11, 9) Jeremy Clements -12, 10) Patrick Emerling -13, 11) Matt DiBenedetto -14, t-12) Caesar Bacarella -15, t-12) Christian Eckes
-15, 14) Josh Bilicki -17, t-15) Jeb Burton -18, t-15) Joey Gase -18. WC Points (1-16): 1) Jesse Love 180, t-2) Sheldon Creed -10, t-2) Sam Mayer
-10, t-4) Carson Kvapil -20, t-4) Taylor Gray -20, 6) Harrison Burton -25, 7) Jordan Anderson -34, 8) Dean Thompson -38, 9) Jeremy Clements -42, 10) Patrick Emerling -46, 11) Matt DiBenedetto -50, 12) Caesar Bacarella
-51, 13) Christian Eckes -53, 14) Josh Bilicki -59, 15) Jeb Burton -60, 16) Joey Gase -62. Outside of the top-16, but still in the playoffs: 17) Justin Allgaier -66. Race Winners: Jesse Love (Daytona) 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 Playoffs: Corey Heim Benefits From Parker Kligerman's Disqualification
by Phil Allaway
The disqualification of Parker Kligerman due to a height stick violation elevated Corey Heim to the victory. As a result, Heim leaves Daytona with a three-point lead over Ty Majeski, who finished third. Chandler Smith finished sixth and earned 14 stage points, allowing him to leave Daytona third in points. Might have been better if
he didn't damage his nose. Grant Enfinger is fourth after a fourth-place finish. Daniel Hemric is fifth in points after finishing seventh. Giovanni Ruggiero and Ben Rhodes are tied for sixth. Ruggiero finished second in his series debut, while Rhodes was 20th after crashing on the final lap. Jason
White and Johnny Sauter are tied for eighth. White was eighth, while Sauter was 17th. Frankie Muniz finished a career-best 10th and has the last spot in the playoffs at the moment. He has a one-point lead over Timmy Hill. Jake Garcia, Layne Riggs and Andres Perez are tied
for 12th after finishing 12th, 13th and 14th, respectively. Norm Benning is 15th, while Tanner Gray and Matt Crafton are tied for 16th. It should be noted that Henderson Motorsports has appealed Kligerman's disqualification. As a result, the results and the points listed below could be subject to change. Point Standings (1-16): 1) Corey Heim 49, 2) Ty Majeski -3, 3) Chandler Smith -4, 4) Grant Enfinger -8, 5) Daniel Hemric -12, t-6) Gio Ruggiero -13, t-6) Ben
Rhodes -13, t-8) Jason White -20, t-8) Johnny Sauter -20, 10) Frankie Muniz -22, 11) Timmy Hill -23, t-12) Jake Garcia -24, t-12) Layne Riggs -24, t-12) Andres Perez -24, 15) Norm Benning -28, t-16) Tanner Gray -29,
t-16) Matt Crafton -29. Playoff Points: 1) Corey Heim 5, t-2) Ben Rhodes -4, t-2) Matt Crafton -4. Stage Points:
1) Ben Rhodes 19, 2) Chandler Smith -5, 3) Ty Majeski -7, 4) Matt Crafton -9, t-5) Corey Heim -9, t-5) Johnny Sauter -9, 7) Grant Enfinger -11, 8) Daniel Hemric -12, 9) Jack Wood -13, t-10) Tanner Gray
-14, t-10) Stewart Friesen -14, t-12) Andres Perez -17, t-12) Rajah Caruth -17, 14) Gio Ruggiero -18. Outside of the top-16, but still in the playoffs: t-15) Jason White -19, t-15) Frankie Muniz
-19. Note: If he were eligible for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points, William Sawalich would be tied for 14th in stage points. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Corey Heim 36, 2) Gio Ruggiero
-4, t-3) Ty Majeski -6, t-3) Grant Enfinger -6, 5) Chandler Smith -7, 6) Daniel Hemric -9, 7) Jason White -11, 8) Frankie Muniz -13, 9) Timmy Hill -14, 10) Jake Garcia -15, 11) Layne Riggs -16, 12) Andres
Perez -17, 13) Norm Benning -19, t-14) Johnny Sauter -20, t-14) Josh Reaume -20, t-16) Spencer Boyd -22, t-16) Ben Rhodes -22. Note: If they were eligible for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points, Justin Haley would tied for fifth, William Sawalich ninth and Mason Maggio 15th in Old School points. WC Points (1-16): 1) Corey Heim 180, 2) Gio Ruggiero
-5, t-3) Ty Majeski -15, t-3) Grant Enfinger -15, 5) Chandler Smith -20, 6) Daniel Hemric -29, 7) Jason White -38, 8) Frankie Muniz -46, 9) Timmy Hill -50, 10) Jake Garcia -53, 11) Layne Riggs
-56, 12) Andres Perez -59, 13) Norm Benning -65, 14) Josh Reaume -66, 15) Johnny Sauter -68, 16) Ben Rhodes -72. Note: If they were eligible for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points, Justin Haley would tied for
fifth, William Sawalich ninth and Mason Maggio 15th in WC points. Race Winners: Corey Heim (Daytona) 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 Daytona 500 was brought to you by the Letter R for Rain. Precipitation brought the race to a halt twice in the first 25 laps for more than three hours. It is the fourth time in six
years that the Daytona 500 was substantially delayed due to weather. - Phil Allaway |
Quotes to Remember: Daytona 500 compiled by Phil Allaway
"Obviously some good fortune, but just trusted my instincts on the last lap there. I felt like they were getting squirrelly on the bottom and I was honestly going to go to the third lane regardless because I was probably sixth coming down the back.
"Just obviously
fortunate that it worked out in our favor. Just really proud of this No. 24 Axalta Chevy team. They worked super hard all week and we had an amazing car. Just had a really hard time with the fuel saving and kind of staying towards the front. "Crazy. I can’t honestly believe that. But we’re here. So proud of it." - William Byron, race
winner "With that restart with 15 to go, we kind of checked up in the middle and ended up further back than we wanted to be. We didn’t really want to, but we ducked out of it hoping for the caution and we got it. But we were still lined up 16th there on the green-white-checkered. When they started to spin on the dogleg, I kind of jumped out of line thinking
that was going to be it, and we just kept going. I knew that me and [William Byron] had a good run and they were throwing big blocks, and when they started spinning on the inside and I had a run on [Byron], I thought, man, if I can just make it through on [Denny Hamlin] and not scrub my speed, I would have had at least an opportunity to do something. All in all, I never really finished a race here unless it was 40 laps down, so I’ll take second. We wanted to get a good start to the year, and we
scored a lot of points today. So, I’m really happy with everyone’s effort on this No. 45 Nasty Beast Toyota Camry." - Tyler Reddick, finished second "What an experience. We tried to play it smart. Chad [Johnston] had a great strategy for the third segment. Unfortunately, on one of the pit stops we got blocked in and lost our track position. Still had a
good car and a straight car and there at the end I was able to make my way through the crash in the back. I was in a good position and here we are. This is great." - Jimmie Johnson, finished third "Man, it was crazy. We restarted I think eighth and the seas kind of just kept parting for me. Everything honestly went my way up until the very end there down
the back straightaway. They all split off kind of three-wide and [Denny Hamlin] car was just sitting there for me, and I was like, ‘I’m going to push Denny to the win. JGR is going to win with my first race here. When I hit him, we all came together – I haven’t seen it yet – and somehow I was able to keep it straight and obviously move forward. A great way for us to start the year. Obviously, would’ve loved to win the race, but for us to come here and run in the top-five is really cool for our
first race. Hopefully this is what we’ll be doing all year long." - Chase Briscoe, finished fourth "It’s a green-white-checkered at Daytona. I wouldn’t really expect anything less. I don’t really know what happened on the back straightaway there. I know everyone was pushing hard and the next thing I knew there was smoke. I got hit in the left side door,
right side door and managed to keep it straight. Jimmie [Johnson] blew my doors off. I don’t think he ever lifted for it. Strong run by Legacy Motor Club. Erik [Jones] in the Duels and then up front for the majority of the day. Then, Jimmie came home third and myself fifth so a solid day. A solid week I would say and Speedweeks for the Legacy Motor Club group. Excited to see what this year has. We already know that we’re better than last year, it’s just how much better is unknown." - John
Hunter Nemechek, finished fifth "I’m clearly disappointed. I mean, you take the white and you’re in the lead. I wish we had a better chance to bring that home for everyone at Discount Tire and Team Penske and Ford Performance. It was just an exceptional effort all the way through Speedweeks. There’s definitely a lot to review there, trying to figure out
when I need to actually be leading, so just frustrating to be that close.
"[My performance] says the same things it’s said about our program the last year and a half to two years and it’s a shame we don’t have enough wins to show for it. I feel like there’s an opportunity to make the playoffs for all three of us tonight. I know it’s super early in the season, but it’s super critical and
it’s a big race to try and win. To be that close it definitely stinks." - Austin Cindric, finished eighth
"I think we checked all the boxes. Really proud of JR Motorsports and everybody on this team. We hit all the markers. We had DVP. We had pit stops. We had craziness in picking lines. A lot of uncertainty on my part, just knowing the guys you are around. But all-in-all, it was a
solid night. Missing the crash there at the end was cool. I assumed the caution was out and I didn’t know we were racing back to the line. That was cool to race back to the line and get a top 10.
"Just want to thank everybody at Travellers Whiskey, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kelly Earnhardt Miller, and everybody that let me be a part of this. Thank you to everybody at Team Chevy and the Hendrick
Engine Shop. This is a big moment for JR Motorsports, and we are excited about what the future holds for our company." - Justin Allgaier, finished ninth "I thought we were in a great spot many times in the last 10 laps. Appreciate National Debt Relief coming on our Toyota and we gave them a great ride. We had the caution on the front straightaway spin –
I measured up [Austin Cindric,] and got a run on him. I stayed with him long enough where I could kind of control which side I wanted to pass him on, and then we had pulled away from the pack slightly so I knew a run was going to come. [Cole Custer] had a run, and I chose not to block him because these races, you have to live to make it off of turn 4, and we just didn’t. I thought [Custer] came down. I’m pushing [CIndric] down as low as I can to give him all of the space, and not stopping his
run, and I thought he, not hung a left, but steered left and was trying to crowd it. I understand what he was trying to go for – he’s going for it – all of us are, but you know, in those situations, you’ve gotta do it off of [turn 4] – then we can we do this, but we never made it – and someone else won. I don’t even know where he was running." - Denny Hamlin, finished 24th "From my perspective, I felt like to win the race I had to get to the second row in my line there. I was in third and needed to get to second. I saw the opportunity to drop down and get underneath [Ricky Stenhouse Jr.] and [have Noah Gragson], another Ford, behind me. Then [Stenhouse] threw a late block there. I checked up for it and it looked like he was going to go back up and grab the top lane so I went back in to try and close the gap again but he
kept coming down. I am checking up but at that point the checkup has already happened behind me and everybody is all over each other. I can’t get out of it and then we made contact. It is unfortunate. We had a good Shell Pennzoil Mustang. We had a good car but just couldn’t get it done." - Joey Logano, finished 35th (Crashed out) "I tried stopping it and
Martin Truex Jr. came really hard and hit me, but I don’t think that was the issue. I think the issue was that I guess someone on the bottom hit me from the side and it broke the axle. Disappointed, of course. I was learning so much. It’s incredible when you have more laps in it and how you understand the air flow and what the guys are doing, like saving fuel. There were some sketchy moments, but what a shame. I wish I was still out there because there’s still more to understand and more to
learn. I was starting to get a little more comfortable with the whole process, but it is what it is. "I just have to thank NASCAR, as well, to be able to put together this type of a show. Now let’s go for the Indianapolis 500!" - Helio Castroneves, finished 39th (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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