Frontstretch Newsletter: March 3, 2025
Volume
XIX, Edition XXI |
- NASCAR teams are working on their equipment swaps today, so that the transporters can get out to Arizona for their first trip to Phoenix. Entry lists for this weekend should be released today. We'll have the entry lists and everything else breaks for you at Frontstretch. |
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| Christopher Bell Holds Off William Byron to Win
COTA Christopher Bell took the lead from Kyle Busch with five laps to go Sunday, then held off William Byron to win the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix for his second straight win. Tyler Reddick was third, then Chase Elliott and
Busch. |
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| Kyle Busch Dominates Before Fading to 5th in NASCAR Cup
Race at COTA Kyle Busch led a race-high 42 laps Sunday in Austin. However, a late caution put the field on his tail when he had older tires. As a result, he faded to fifth. |
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| Connor Zilisch Dazzles in NASCAR Cup Debut Despite
Mid-Race Crash Connor Zilisch showed a lot of speed Sunday at Circuit of the Americas, but his day ended early when Daniel Suarez spun and Zilisch crashed into him unsighted. |
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| Katherine Legge Making Cup Debut at
Phoenix Live Fast Motorsports announced Monday morning that Katherine Legge will make her NASCAR Cup Series debut for the team this weekend in Phoenix. |
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| Connor Zilisch Overcomes Adversity, Scores Xfinity Win at
COTA JR Motorsports' Connor Zilisch took the lead away from teammate Carson Kvapil with 10 laps to go Saturday, then held on to win the Focused Health 250. Ross Chastain was second, then William Byron, Sam Mayer and Christian Eckes. |
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| Carson Kvapil Shines at COTA, Keeps Pace with Connor
Zilisch Until Flat Tire JR Motorsports' Carson Kvapil was every bit the equal of Connor Zilisch Saturday, but contact ended up being his undoing as a flat tire late dropped him to 23rd. |
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| Alex Palou Takes 1st 2025 IndyCar Win After Final Pit Stop
at St. Petersburg Chip Ganassi Racing's Alex Palou used an excellent final stop to take the lead, then held on to win the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Sunday. Scott Dixon was second, then Josef Newgarden, Scott McLaughlin and Kyle
Kirkwood. |
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| Florida Man Kyle Kirkwood Earns First IndyCar Top 5 in
Home State For Kyle Kirkwood, St. Petersburg has traditionally been a struggle for him. Sunday saw him break that mold with a fifth-place finish. |
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| Rinus VeeKay Finishes 9th for Dale Coyne Racing at St.
Petersburg For Rinus VeeKay, just having a full-time ride was a last-minute thing for him. In St. Petersburg, he drove up to a ninth-place on debut with Dale Coyne Racing. |
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| Scott McLaughlin Signs Long-Term Extension with Team
Penske Team Penske announced Friday that Scott McLaughlin has signed a contract extension that will see him stay with the team for the foreseeable future in the NTT IndyCar Series. |
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| Hailie Deegan Physically Struggles in First Career Open
Wheel Weekend For Hailie Deegan, her debut in Indy NXT by Firestone was a struggle as she had to get used to a car without power steering. She ultimately finished 14th. |
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| Ferrari Scores Podium Sweep In WEC Qatar
Opener The Ferrari 499P reigned supreme in Qatar as the trio of Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen won the FIA World Endurance Championship season opener, the Qatar 1812km. |
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| Jonathan Woolridge Wins Bizarre COTA Race No.
1 MLT Motorsports' Jonathan Woolridge inherited victory Saturday morning in Race No. 1 for IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge at Circuit of the Americas after the top contenders ran out of fuel with two minutes to go. |
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| Valentino Catalano Wins COTA VP Racing Challenge Race No.
2 GEBHARDT Intralogistics Motorsports' Valentino Catalano led flag-to-flag Saturday afternoon to win IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge Race No. 2 at Circuit of the Americas. It is Catalano's third win of the year. |
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| Hall Wins Chaotic zMAX CARS Tour Opener, Avedisian Takes
PLM Win At New River All-American Speedway Saturday night, Connor Hall took home the zMAX CARS Tour Late Model Stock opener, while Jade Avedisian won in the Pro Late Model division. |
Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, Chris Jones, Chris Owens and Joe Skibinski of Penske Entertainment, IMSA, Fabrizio Baldoni of DPPI and Joshua White of the CARS Tour. 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. 28-March 2 |
- The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series returned to action Sunday night at Volusia Speedway Park. Here, defending series champion David Gravel flexed his muscles. Gravel was able to sweep into the lead on the first lap after three attempts to get the race underway.
He then led flag-to-flag and conserved his fuel to take the victory. Aaron Reutzel was second, then Jacob Allen, Sheldon Haudenschild and Cole Macedo. In the points, Gravel has a 38-point lead after five races over Carson Macedo. Logan Schuchart is third, then Buddy Kofoid and Donny Schatz. |
This is just a sampling of the videos that we uploaded to our YouTube channels from Circuit of the Americas and New River All-American Speedway last weekend. For more from Austin, New River, 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 Takes Lead With Strong Run In Austin
by Phil Allaway
Ryan Blaney finished second in stage one, but otherwise had a very quiet day en route to a 19th-place finish. William Byron finished second to Christopher Bell and took the points lead. His advantage is just two points over Blaney. Tyler Reddick remains in third after finishing in third. Bell's second straight victory moved him up eight places into a tie with Chase Elliott. Elliott recovered from getting spun out on the first lap of the race to finish fourth. Bubba
Wallace won stage one and had 13 stage points. However, a penalty dropped him to a 20th-place finish, causing him to fall to sixth. Alex Bowman is up two places to seventh after finishing ninth. Michael McDowell finished 11th on an alternate pit strategy and moved up five places to eighth. Kyle Busch's
fifth-place finish moved him up 14 positions to ninth. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Austin Cindric are tied for 10th. Stenhouse finished 18th and dropped from sixth, while Cindric had a miserable weekend and finished 25th, falling down from fourth. Chris Buescher and Joey Logano are tied for 12th. Buescher moved up four places after using fresh tires to finish seventh, while Logano dropped a spot after finishing 24th. John Hunter Nemechek is down eight places to 14th after a quiet run to 22nd. Carson Hocevar remains in 15th, while Kyle Larson fell 10 places to 16th after losing a tire on lap 44 and finishing 32nd. He is the final driver currently in the playoffs on points. Larson has a four-point lead over Denny Hamlin, who had Ty Gibbs launch off of him on the opening lap. He would finish 21st. Todd Gilliland and Shane van Gisbergen are tied for 18th, while Ross Chastain is 20th. Point Standings (1-16): 1) William Byron 116, 2) Ryan Blaney -2, 3) Tyler Reddick -5, t-4) Christopher Bell -21, t-4) Chase Elliott -21, 6) Bubba Wallace -22, 7) Alex Bowman
-29, 8) Michael McDowell -31, 9) Kyle Busch -35, t-10) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -36, t-10) Austin Cindric -36, t-12) Chris Buescher -39, t-12) Joey Logano -39, 14) John Hunter Nemechek -40, 15) Carson Hocevar -44, 16) Kyle Larson
-45. Note: Drivers in italics are either outside of the playoffs, or ineligible for points. Playoff Points: 1) Christopher Bell 10, 2)
William Byron -5, t-3) Ryan Blaney -4, t-3) Bubba Wallace -9, t-3) Kyle Larson -9, t-3) Joey Logano -9, t-3) Josh Berry -9, t-3) Ryan Preece -9. Stage
Points: 1) Bubba Wallace 41, 2) Joey Logano -4, 3) Ryan Blaney -8, 4) William Byron -10, 5) Austin Cindric -11, 6) Tyler Reddick -17, 7) Chase Elliott -18, 8) Alex Bowman -24, 9) Kyle Busch -25, 10) Erik Jones
-26, t-11) Kyle Larson -27, t-11) Todd Gilliland -27, t-11) Shane van Gisbergen -27, 14) Chris Buescher -28, 15) AJ Allmendinger -30, t-16) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -31, t-16) Ryan Preece -31, t-16) Josh Berry -31. Outside of the top-16, but Still in the Playoffs: t-19) Christopher Bell -32, t-22) Michael McDowell -33, 26) Carson Hocevar -35, 29) John Hunter Nemechek -39. Note: The Stage Points also include the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Tyler Reddick 100, 2) William Byron -1, 3) Christopher Bell -2,
4) Ryan Blaney -5, 5) Michael McDowell -10, 6) John Hunter Nemechek -14, 7) Chase Elliott -15, 8) Alex Bowman -16, 9) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -18, 10) Kyle Busch -20, 11) Carson Hocevar -21, 12) Chris Buescher -24, 13) Denny Hamlin
-27, 14) Riley Herbst -28, 15) Kyle Larson -31, 16) Bubba Wallace -33. Outside of the top-16, but still in the playoffs: t-17) Austin Cindric -35, 22) Joey Logano -45. Note: These standings are based on the old point system that was used before stages were created. WC Points (1-16): 1) Tyler Reddick
446, 2) William Byron -4, 3) Christopher Bell -16, 4) Ryan Blaney -24, 5) Michael McDowell -52, t-6) Chase Elliott -60, t-6) John Hunter Nemechek -60, 8) Alex Bowman -63, 9) Kyle Busch -69, 10) Ricky Stenhouse
Jr. -73, 11) Carson Hocevar -74, 12) Chris Buescher -93, 13) Denny Hamlin -100, 14) Kyle Larson -106, 15) Riley Herbst -110, 16) Bubba Wallace -119. Outside of the top-16, but still in the playoffs: 17) Austin Cindric -122, 22) Joey Logano -155. Note No. 2: The WC points are based on the original points system created by Bob Latford in 1975. Race Winners: William Byron (Daytona), Christopher Bell (Atlanta, COTA)
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: Austin Hill Expands Lead in Austin
by Phil Allaway
Austin Hill led six laps Saturday at Circuit of the Americas, but faded to a fourth-place finish. That was still enough for him to expand his points. Hill's advantage is now 13 points over teammate Jesse Love, who gained a place after finishing sixth.
Sheldon Creed finished 12th and dropped down to third. Sam Mayer finished third and moved up four spots to fourth. Justin Allgaier had significant contact that resulted in two unscheduled pit stops. He never recovered and finished 29th, dropping a spot to sixth. Sammy Smith is up five places to sixth after finishing 11th and
scoring a race-high 11 stage points. Jeb Burton is down two places to seventh after a quiet day where he finished 25th. Taylor Gray is up five positions to eighth after finishing seventh. Christian Eckes, despite his car being beaten up by contact, finished fifth and moved up 11 spots to ninth. Harrison Burton won stage two, but
broke an axle and dropped out. That dropped him from sixth to 10th in points. There is a three-way tie for 11th between Carson Kvapil, William Sawalich and Ryan Sieg. Kvapil gets the 11th spot and the final spot in the playoffs on points by virtue of his fourth-place finish at Daytona. Kvapil, Sawalich and Sieg are four points ahead of
Jeremy Clements and Josh Williams. Connor Zilisch's victory Saturday moved him up 16 positions to 16th. Point Standings (1-16): 1) Austin Hill 122, 2) Jesse Love -13, 3) Sheldon Creed -14, 4) Sam Mayer
-28, 5) Justin Allgaier -32, 6) Sammy Smith -35, 7) Jeb Burton -37, 8) Taylor Gray -47, 9) Christian Eckes -48, 10) Harrison Burton -49, t-11) Carson Kvapil -54, t-11) William Sawalich -54, t-11) Ryan Sieg
-54, t-14) Jeremy Clements -58, t-14) Josh Williams -58, 16) Connor Zilisch -61. Playoff Points: 1) Austin Hill 9, t-2) Jesse Love -4, t-2) Connor Zilisch -4, 4) Harrison Burton
-8. Note: If he were eligible for NASCAR Xfinity Series points, William Byron would be tied for fourth in playoff points. Stage Points: 1) Austin Hill 45, 2) Justin Allgaier -17, 3) Sheldon Creed
-19, 4) Sam Mayer -21, 5) Jeb Burton -24, 6) Jesse Love -28, t-7) Sammy Smith -30, t-7) Ryan Sieg -30, 9) Harrison Burton -32, 10) Taylor Gray -33, 11) Anthony Alfredo -35, t-12) Dean Thompson
-36, t-12) Daniel Dye -36, t-14) Connor Zilisch -37, t-14) Christian Eckes -37, t-14) Nick Sanchez -37. Outside the top-16, but still in the playoffs: 17) Carson Kvapil -39. Note: If he were eligible for NASCAR Xfinity Series points, William Byron would be tied for 11th in stage points. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Jesse Love 106, 2) Sheldon Creed -11, 3) Austin
Hill -13, 4) Sammy Smith -21, 5) Sam Mayer -23, t-6) Jeb Burton -29, t-6) Christian Eckes -29, t-6) William Sawalich -29, t-9) Justin Allgaier
-31, t-9) Jeremy Clements -31, t-9) Taylor Gray -31, t-12) Harrison Burton -32, t-12) Carson Kvapil -32, 14) Josh Williams -33, 15) Matt DiBenedetto
-38, 16) Connor Zilisch -39. WC Points (1-16): 1) Jesse Love 455, 2) Austin Hill -31, 3) Sheldon Creed -37, 4) Sam Mayer -60, 5) Sammy Smith
-69, t-6) Justin Allgaier -95, t-6) Taylor Gray -95, t-8) Jeb Burton -97, t-8) Christian Eckes -97, 10) William Sawalich -100, 11) Carson Kvapil -102, 12) Harrison Burton -103, 13) Jeremy Clements -108, 14) Josh Williams
-116, 15) Connor Zilisch -122, 16) Matt DiBenedetto -131. Race Winners: Jesse Love (Daytona), Austin Hill (Atlanta), Connor Zilisch (COTA) 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: Off-Week Update No. 1
by Phil Allaway
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series was off last weekend. They are scheduled to return to action at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 14. When the teams roll into Las Vegas, Grant Enfinger will have a one-point lead over defending champion Ty Majeski.
Chandler Smith is third, then Corey Heim and Ben Rhodes.
At the playoff cutoff, Jack Wood has the 10th and final spot in the playoffs. He is one point ahead of Bayley Currey. Tanner Gray is 12th, then Layne Riggs, Tyler Ankrum, Kaden Honeycutt and and a tie for 16th between
Frankie Muniz and Josh Reaume.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) Grant Enfinger 85, 2) Ty Majeski -1, 3) Chandler Smith -6, 4) Corey Heim -16, 5) Ben Rhodes -19, t-6) Gio
Ruggiero -23, t-6) Stewart Friesen -23, t-6) Daniel Hemric -23, 9) Jake Garcia -32, 10) Jack Wood -35, 11) Bayley Currey -36, 12) Tanner Gray -42, 13) Layne Riggs -43, 14) Tyler Ankrum -44, 15) Kaden
Honeycutt -46, t-16) Frankie Muniz -47, t-16) Josh Reaume -47. Note: If they were eligible for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points, Kyle Busch would be ninth and Michael McDowell 13th.
Playoff
Points: 1) Corey Heim 5, t-2) Ben Rhodes -4, t-2) Jack Wood -4, t-2) Matt Crafton -4. Note: If he were eligible for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points, Kyle Busch would be leading in Playoff points with six. Stage Points: 1) Grant Enfinger 25, t-2) Ty Majeski -4, t-2) Jack Wood -4, 4) Ben Rhodes -6, 5) Chandler Smith -9, 6) Corey Heim -10, 7) Stewart Friesen -12, 8) Connor Mosack
-13, 9) Daniel Hemric -14, 10) Matt Crafton -15, 11) Johnny Sauter -16, 12) Kaden Honeycutt -19, 13) Tanner Gray -20, t-14) Tyler Ankrum -21, t-14) Rajah Caruth -21, 16) Andres Perez -23.
Outside of the top-16, but still in the playoffs: 17) Gio Ruggiero -24, t-18) Jake Garcia -25. Note: If they were eligible for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points, Kyle Busch would be fifth and Michael McDowell 13th in stage points. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Chandler Smith 58, 2) Ty Majeski -2, t-3) Grant Enfinger -4, t-3) Gio Ruggiero -4, 5) Corey Heim -11, t-6) Daniel Hemric -13, t-6) Jake Garcia -13, 8) Stewart Friesen -16, 9) Bayley
Currey -17, 10) Ben Rhodes -18, 11) Layne Riggs -25, t-12) Tyler Ankrum -27, t-12) Josh Reaume -27, t-14) Frankie Muniz -28, t-14) Tanner Gray -28, t-16) Spencer Boyd -30, t-16) Kaden Honeycutt -30. Note: If he was eligible for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points, Kyle Busch would be 11th in Old School points. WC
Points (1-16): 1) Chandler Smith 320, 2) Ty Majeski -8, 3) Gio Ruggiero -15, 4) Grant Enfinger -16, 5) Corey Heim -41, 6) Daniel Hemric -49, 7) Stewart Friesen -51, 8) Jake Garcia -55, 9) Bayley Currey -60, 10) Ben Rhodes
-66, 11) Layne Riggs -93 12) Tyler Ankrum -94, 13) Josh Reaume -97, 14) Tanner Gray -100, 15) Frankie Muniz -101, 16) Spencer Boyd -108. Note: If the was eligible for NASCAR Craftsman
Truck Series points, Michael McDowell would be 16th in WC points. Race Winners: Corey Heim (Daytona), Kyle Busch (Atlanta) 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 EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix was brought to you by the Letter C for Confusion over Track Limits. I suppose it shouldn't be that big of a surprise, given that Circuit of the Americas
is likely the worst track on the planet for track limits. During Sunday's race, there was a lack of clarity regarding what was fair game in the Esses. A ruling was made involving turn 6 during the race itself. - Phil Allaway |
Quotes to Remember: EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix compiled by Phil Allaway
"That was almost a deja vu of last year. I had the track position that time. Man, these road course races are just so much fun. Whenever Kyle [Busch] was leading, I was just trying to be so cautious. Obviously, we know what happened last year. I didn’t want that to happen. I wanted to pass him clean. He was just doing such a good job at running his race, and he could get off
the corners just good enough that I couldn’t get inside of him. But there I started peeking a nose, and he bobbled and allowed me to get out front. Whenever I did, I’m, like, ‘Okay, just don’t beat yourself.’ Those were about the five or six sloppiest laps I’ve ever run. Just so happy for these guys right here. They’ve been on me hard about winning with them. Just super proud for everyone on this DeWalt No. 20 team. We didn’t count last week. Last week was a speedway. We didn’t have that one
circled. We definitely had this one circled. I’m ready to keep adding to it." - Christopher Bell, race winner "It was really close. I feel like the battle between [Christopher Bell] and [Kyle] Busch -- I was just sitting there waiting for one of them to bobble or slide their tires. Bell got by him and I felt like once he got by him and clear,
his car was super loose and it kind of gave me a couple of shots at him. I just couldn’t ever get beside him. We have always raced really well together, so I didn’t want to move him blatantly. We were just sliding there a ton at the end. We came a long way this weekend and I am really proud of that. We were pretty far off to start, but got ourselves pretty raceable and in a position to win. Just sucks to be so close. You are on the bumper of the guy coming to the line and that
sucks. A lot of races ahead and hopefully we can just keep bringing this speed. It’s a good start to our road course program. Still a little work to do, but thanks to Raptor, Chevrolet, Axalta, Liberty University, and all of our partners. Been a good start to the year so far." - William Byron, finished second "We really did in our Beast Toyota
Camry. I don’t know, I thought we were okay in the first stage and just got caught off guard out there by [Shane van Gisbergen] and a couple others. Stage two and the first half of [the final stage,] unfortunately we just – I wouldn’t say we really lost the handle, we just lost the pace on our Beast Toyota Camry. I didn’t really know how the rest of the race was going to unfold for it to hang on there at the end and the drive back up to the front was good. Just wish the last restart there — I
lost some track position just getting jumped on by cars on different tire strategies and just lost ground there. I think if I could’ve survived that we probably would’ve had a much better shot out there sooner than we did. All in all, a good recovery for our team and any time we come to a place like this we want to win but a solid day." - Tyler Reddick, finished third "It was just a crazy day, really. I got run over, I felt like, there in the first corner. I’m curious to see it. I still haven’t seen it to know whether or not I did something wrong. I’m happy to own it, if I did. I just felt like it was the first corner of the first lap, and it’s just a bummer to get behind and then we had damage. Alan [Gustafson] and the guys did a great job fixing it and getting it that close. We got behind on a restart there and
just had to play major catchup there. Alan made a great call there at the end to put tires on it. We were rolling up through there really good at the end. Obviously when you have a good car like that, I would have liked to have been in the fight with those guys, but it was a great recovery from where we were at during the end of the second stage." - Chase Elliott, finished fourth "No, that was it on pushing the car. We had a really good No. 8 Rebel Bourbon Chevy to be able to push that hard. I just wish that maybe we had equal tires to[Christopher Bell]. I don’t know if that was all the difference. I know he was really fast and he had a good race car. I feel like that might have been able to help hold me on a little bit better to him, but even that last yellow flag that we had, I felt like the gap that I had to the field, I was
far enough out front that I could run the clean lines, the lines that I wanted, to preserve the tires and take care of them as much as I could to see if he could get there. But once we had that yellow, then it was just defensive mode. You’re in complete and utter just beat the heck out of the tires at that point, and I just didn’t have it over the No. 20. Hate it that the contact that we made between two and three ruined our racecar too. It bent the right-rear toe link and knocked everything out
of it. I just didn’t have anything there at the end to compete with those guys. That doesn’t go for what our Chevy was today. Randall [Burnett] and the guys did a great job adjusting it through practice, qualifying and into the race, and giving me a piece to go out there and do that well, and to get this Rebel Chevrolet up front like we did. Appreciate Zone, Cheddar’s, Lucas Oil, Chevrolet and everyone at RCR and ECR for a really good piece this weekend. If we can keep getting top-fives and
running in the top-five, the wins will be right there." - Kyle Busch, finished fifth "This No. 17 team battled really hard to get our Fastenal Ford Mustang Dark Horse up to P7 here. We are happy with that. It was a really hard day; a lot of ups and downs. We never got ourselves into the track position that we wanted to. We want to be better. It
was a good day but I just feel like we are not quite competitive enough to win here at COTA. We have been very close at all of the other road courses - we feel like we have a chance to win at the others. We need to make a couple more tweaks to our Mustang here at this place. A good showing for this new course. We stayed out of the melee, for the most part, and I am proud of everyone on this Fastenal team. They did a good job today." - Chris Buescher, finished seventh "It was not looking good after that first run. We were really, really bad. We kept our heads up and never quit. This Rush Trucks Centers team did just an awesome job of wrenching on this Ford Mustang Dark Horse. We persevered and didn’t let that early adversity get us down. It was a lot of hard work throughout the day but I am super proud of everyone’s efforts. It just matters what that
scoreboard says at the end of the day, not what it took to get there. We brought it home in one piece and in the top 10." - Noah Gragson, finished eighth
"I just hit the curb, hit the ground and then it spun me out. When you have low air pressure, that’s very easy to do because the car is lower to the ground. I wish I could say it was a big mistake, but it wasn’t. It was just maybe a tire
width too far to the left, and I hit the curb and I spun out." - Daniel Suarez, finished 36th (Crashed out) "All I saw was a cloud of smoke, and by the time I saw [Daniel Suarez], it was way too late to do anything. I saw him spinning off to the left and I thought he was going to keep going in that direction or stay there. I guess he flipped back right
and he started coming towards me. Really unfortunate way to end my Cup Series debut. We were one of the top-five fastest cars in the second stage there. I went from outside the top 30 to 14th, and I felt really good about our Chevy. We made a lot of gains from practice and qualifying. It’s just an unfortunate way to end it." - Connor Zilisch, finished 37th (Crashed out) Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of NASCAR Media via Meg Oliphant of Getty
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