Frontstretch Newsletter: Kyle Larson Comes Up 1 Spot Short of Bristol Weekend Sweep

Published: Mon, 04/14/25

Frontstretch Newsletter: April 14, 2025
Volume XIX, Edition LI

What to Watch: Monday

- Teams are back at their shops today. With the NASCAR Cup Series taking this weekend off, some drivers are leaving for vacations. Meanwhile, NASCAR Xfinity and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series teams are preparing for this weekend's action in Rockingham. Entry lists should be released today. We'll have the entry lists and everything else breaks for you at Frontstretch.

TV Schedule: Here

Today's Top News:

Kyle Larson Scores 2nd Win of the Weekend, Takes Bristol Cup Race

Kyle Larson led 411 of 500 laps Sunday to win an uneventful Food City 500 in Bristol. Denny Hamlin was second, then Ty Gibbs, Chase Briscoe and Ryan Blaney.

Cup Tire Concerns Ultimately Unfounded in Sunday Bristol Race

Entering Sunday's Food City 500, tires were the story. Then, the temperature increased. All of a sudden, the track took rubber and wear was no longer an issue.

Denny Hamlin Falls Just Short of 3-Peat at Bristol

Even though Kyle Larson led more than 400 of the 500 laps Sunday, Denny Hamlin was right on his tail and gave it all he had. In the end, he came up short of a third straight win.

Here’s What Happened This Week in the 23XI/FRM vs. NASCAR Lawsuit (April 5-11)

Last week in the lawsuit against NASCAR was very interesting. A series of filings were made by 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, seeking information from a number of sporting organizations in order to help show their damages.

Kyle Larson Dominates Xfinity Race at Bristol in Tripleheader Weekend

Kyle Larson led 277 of 300 laps Saturday to win the SciAps 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Carson Kvapil was second, then Justin Allgaier, Sammy Smith and Brandon Jones.

Justin Allgaier Wins Dash 4 Cash, Adds to Strong JRM Showing at Bristol

Justin Allgaier spent the vast majority of Saturday's SciAps 300 running second to Kyle Larson. He ultimately finished third, but that was more than enough to claim the Xfinity Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus.

Sam Hunt Racing Cements a Pair of Top 10s at Bristol

Sam Hunt Racing had one of their best-ever races Saturday in Bristol. Corey Heim finished eighth in his Upper Deck Toyota, while Dean Thompson was 10th.

Chandler Smith Claims 1st Truck Victory of 2025 at Bristol

Chandler Smith was able to get past both Corey Heim and Bayley Currey late Friday night to win the Weather Guard Truck Race at Bristol. Kyle Larson was second, then Heim, Tyler Ankrum and Ben Rhodes.

Driveshaft Issue Ends Bayley Currey’s Bid for Career-Best Result

Bayley Currey had a career race Friday night in Bristol. He had a legitimate chance to win his first race until the driveshaft broke on his Chevrolet on a late restart.

Ty Majeski, Brandon Jones Ask Newer Truck Drivers for More Predictability After Bristol Crash

Defending NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Ty Majeski was eliminated early Friday night after he had contact with Frankie Muniz and hit the wall with Brandon Jones.

Kyle Kirkwood Bests Alex Palou for 2nd IndyCar Long Beach Win

Andretti Global's Kyle Kirkwood was able to drive to the front Sunday and hold off charges to win the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Alex Palou was second, then Christian Lundgaard, Felix Rosenqvist and Will Power.

Christian Lundgaard Drives Backup Car to 3rd Place in Long Beach

Christian Lundgaard was forced to switch to a backup car following a crash Saturday in qualifying. From there, he was able to charge to a podium finish.

Will Power Rallies Again for Top 5 at Long Beach

Long Beach is not the easiest course to pass on, but Team Penske's Will Power was able to move up from 13th on the grid to finish fifth.

Sting Ray Robb Surfs to a Career Day at Long Beach

For Sting Ray Robb, Sunday was the best day of his IndyCar career in Long Beach. The third-year racer drove up to a ninth-place finish.

Oscar Piastri Cruises to 2nd Win of 2025 in Bahrain

McLaren's Oscar Piastri was never seriously threatened Sunday en route to victory in the Grand Prix of Bahrain, his second win of the year. George Russell was second, then Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.

Felipe Nasr, Nick Tandy Claim 3rd Straight IMSA Win In Long Beach

Porsche Penske Motorsport's Felipe Nasr and Nick Tandy took the lead after the sole round of pit stops Saturday and held on to win the IMSA Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, their third straight win to start the season.

Connor Hall Bests Mini Tyrrell In CARS Tour Classic at Cordele

Connor Hall emerged victorious in the zMAX CARS Tour Byron Outdoor Superstore 225 after a fight with Mini Tyrrell. Landon Huffman was third, then Landen Lewis and Conner Jones.

(Photo: Fabian Lagunas/SRO Motorsports Group)

Justin Rothberg Wins Long Beach GT America Race No. 1

Justin Rothberg assumed the lead with two minutes remaining when James Sofronas stalled en route to victory in Saturday's GT America powered by AWS Race No. 1 in Long Beach.

Justin Rothberg, Judson Holt, Adrian Kunzle Sweep GT Weekend at Long Beach

Turner Motorsport's Justin Rothberg took the lead from Blake McDonald on the initial start and held on to score the GT America weekend sweep in Long Beach.

Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, Clive Mason of Getty Images, IMSA, Fabian Lagunas of SRO Motorsports Group, and our own Chase Folsom and Danny Peters.

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: April 11-13

- The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series was in Pevely, Mo. for the Federated Auto Parts Spring Classic. Friday night's 40-lap feature saw Logan Schuchart and Carson Macedo swap slide jobs for much of the feature. Ultimately, Macedo came out on top in what he described as "one of the funnest races I’ve run in a while."

Schuchart ended up second, then David Gravel and Sheldon Haudenschild. Bill Balog was fifth.

Saturday was more of the same. Schuchart claimed the pole by winning the Toyota Dash, then ran off and hid. Macedo ran Schuchart down late and battled again, but Schuchart held on to take the win in a race sponsored by his own primary sponsor, Federated Auto Parts.

Macedo was second, then Donny Schatz and Rico Abreu. Aaron Reutzel was fifth.

Through 15 races, Gravel has a 64-point lead over Macedo. Schuchart is third, then Buddy Kofoid and Haudenschild.

- World of Outlaws Late Model Series teams were at Farmer City Raceway in Illinois for the Illini 100. Here, Ethan Dotson started in ninth and slowly made his way up the order with the help of early cautions.

Dotson was able to take advantage of a restart to sweep around Drake Troutman and Ricky Thronton Jr. to take the lead. From there, Dotson held off the pack to take the preliminary victory.

Thornton ended up second, followed by Brian Shirley and Brandon Sheppard. Tyler Erb was fifth.

Saturday night saw Sheppard start 11th and slowly move up the order towards the leaders without the help of a caution. Drake Troutman led early from second on the grid.

Following a caution for a spin involving Devin Moran, Sheppard was able to blast around Troutman for the lead using the cushion. From there, he drove away to win his fourth Illini 100.

Bobby Pierce finished second, followed by Troutman and Shirley. Dustin Sorensen was fifth.

Through 10 races, Pierce continues to lead the points. He has a 66-point advantage over both Ryan Gustin and Nick Hoffman. Troutman is fourth, followed by Dotson.

Frontstretch Videos:

Denny Hamlin on the Lack of Tire Falloff: "It Certainly Seems Like a Track Temperature Issue

JR Motorsports Drivers Sammy Smith, Justin Allgaier and Carson Kvapil React To Their Race At Bristol

Sheldon Creed, Brennan Poole Both OK After Violent Crash in Xfinity Race at Bristol

Dale Jr. Talks About Restart Racecraft in the CARS Tour, Ways That it Could be Improved

Toni Breidinger on Wreck w/ Stewart Friesen; Corey Heim & Parker Kligerman Talk Strong Performances

This is just a sampling of the videos that we uploaded to our YouTube channels from Bristol, Cordele and Long Beach last weekend. For more from Bristol, Cordele, Long Beach, 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.

Newsletter Exclusives:

Seeking the NASCAR Cup Series Championship: William Byron's Lead Shrinks Despite Strong Finish
by Phil Allaway

William Byron had a decent run Sunday, finishing sixth. However, he didn't score any stage points. Meanwhile, Denny Hamlin finished second and scored 15 stage points.

As a result, Byron's point lead has been cut from 49 points to 30. Christopher Bell remains in third after an eighth-place finish. Kyle Larson's dominant victory moved him up two places to fourth.

Chase Elliott dropped to fifth after a middling run to 15th. Ryan Blaney is up one spot to sixth. Similar to Darlington, he was the last driver to make his final stop and drove up to fifth on fresher tires. Tyler Reddick is down two positions to seventh after finishing 18th. Teammate Bubba Wallace is still in eighth. Both drivers were on Blaney's strategy, but couldn't benefit from fresher rubber.

Joey Logano is still in ninth despite finishing three laps down in 24th. Alex Bowman dropped out early with engine issues, but stays in 10th. Ross Chastain is up one place to 11th after charging from the back to finish seventh. Chris Buescher is down to 12th.

Chase Briscoe finished fourth and moved up one place to 13th. That came at the expense of Ryan Preece, who finished 20th. Kyle Busch is still in 15th, the last driver in the playoffs on points. Busch's advantage over AJ Allmendinger is down to only one point after Allmendinger finished ninth.

Josh Berry is up three places to 17th after finishing 12th Sunday. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. remains in 18th, followed by Michael McDowell. Ty Gibbs, Austin Cindric and John Hunter Nemechek are tied for 20th.

Point Standings (1-16): 1) William Byron 346, 2) Denny Hamlin -30, 3) Christopher Bell -41, 4) Kyle Larson -42, 5) Chase Elliott -68, 6) Ryan Blaney -71, 7) Tyler Reddick -72, 8) Bubba Wallace -95, 9) Joey Logano -101, 10) Alex Bowman -102, 11) Ross Chastain -117, 12) Chris Buescher -119, 13) Chase Briscoe -133, 14) Ryan Preece -145, 15) Kyle Busch -146, 16) AJ Allmendinger -148.

Outside of the top 16, but still in the playoffs: 17) Josh Berry -167.

Note: Drivers in italics are either outside of the playoffs, or ineligible for points.

Playoff Points: 1) Christopher Bell 16, 2) Kyle Larson -2, 3) Denny Hamlin -4, 4) William Byron -8, 5) Josh Berry -10, t-6) Joey Logano -14, t-6) Ryan Blaney -14, t-8) Bubba Wallace -15, t-8) Ryan Preece -15, t-8) Austin Cindric -15.

Stage Points: 1) Ryan Blaney 92, 2) William Byron -2, 3) Bubba Wallace -14, 4) Kyle Larson -20, 5) Joey Logano -22, 6) Alex Bowman -26, 7) Denny Hamlin -31, 8) Austin Cindric -35, 9) Tyler Reddick -40, 10) Chase Elliott -43, 11) Christopher Bell -44, 12) Carson Hocevar -59, t-13) Josh Berry -61, t-13) Ryan Preece -61, 15) AJ Allmendinger -62, t-16) Brad Keselowski -71.

Note: The Stage Points include the Duels at Daytona.

Outside of the top 16, but Still in the Playoffs: 17) Chris Buescher -72, 18) Ross Chastain -73, t-20) Kyle Busch -76, t-20) Chase Briscoe -76.

Note: The Stage Points also include the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona.

Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) William Byron 298, 2) Christopher Bell -3, 3) Denny Hamlin -4, 4) Kyle Larson -28, 5) Chase Elliott -31, 6) Tyler Reddick -38, 7) Ross Chastain -54, 8) Chris Buescher -55, 9) Chase Briscoe -63, 10) Ryan Blaney -73, 11) Kyle Busch -74, 12) Alex Bowman -79, 13) Joey Logano -81, 14) Bubba Wallace -86, 15) Ryan Preece -89, 16) Michael McDowell -95.

Outside of the top 16, but still in the playoffs: 24) Josh Berry -112.

Note: These standings are based on the old point system that was used before stages were created.

WC Points (1-16): 1) William Byron 1321, 2) Denny Hamlin -17, 3) Christopher Bell -21, 4) Kyle Larson -96, 5) Chase Elliott -133, 6) Tyler Reddick -139, 7) Ross Chastain -202, 8) Chris Buescher -210, 9) Chase Briscoe -223, 10) Ryan Blaney -247, 11) Kyle Larson -264, 12) Kyle Busch -266, 13) Bubba Wallace -293, 14) Joey Logano -295, 15) Ryan Preece -311, 16) Michael McDowell -346.

Outside of the top-16, but still in the playoffs: 22) Josh Berry -380.

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, Phoenix), Josh Berry (Las Vegas), Kyle Larson (Homestead, Bristol), Denny Hamlin (Martinsville, Darlington)

Note: Race wins in Italics do not count towards playoff eligibility.

Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.

Seeking the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs: Justin Allgaier Continues To Run Away From The Field
by Phil Allaway

At Bristol Saturday, no one was touching Kyle Larson. That meant that everyone else had to pick up the scraps.

Justin Allgaier had a strong day, spending the majority of the race in second. Teammate Carson Kvapil got him for second before the finish, but a third-place finish and the most points on the day (for anyone eligible for them) allowed him to expand his advantage again.

Allgaier's lead is up to 83 points over Sam Mayer, who used pit strategy to win stage one and finished 11th. Jesse Love is up one place to third after finishing sixth. Austin Hill struggled for most of the day en route to a 24th-place finish, two laps down. That dropped him to fourth.

Connor Zilisch moved up to fifth despite fading late to a 12th-place finish. Kvapil moved up to sixth after finishing second. Brandon Jones remains in seventh after finishing fifth. Sheldon Creed dropped four positions to eighth after being eliminated in an early crash.

Ryan Sieg is still in ninth after a seventh-place finish. Sammy Smith is up to 10th after a fourth-place finish. Daniel Dye is up two positions to 11th after finishing 13th. Harrison Burton struggled to a 26th-place finish and dropped down to 12th. He is the last driver in the playoffs on points at the moment.

Harrison has a two-point advantage over his cousin Jeb Burton, who finished 21st. Christian Eckes moved up two places to 14th after a ninth-place finish. Nick Sanchez remains in 15th, while Taylor Gray is 16th.

Point Standings (1-16): 1) Justin Allgaier 395, 2) Sam Mayer -83, 3) Jesse Love -109, 4) Austin Hill -115, 5) Connor Zilisch -135, 6) Carson Kvapil -138, 7) Brandon Jones -142, 8) Sheldon Creed -143, 9) Ryan Sieg -146, 10) Sammy Smith -154, 11) Daniel Dye -183, 12) Harrison Burton -186, 13) Jeb Burton -188, 14) Christian Eckes -191, 15) Nick Sanchez -193, 16) Taylor Gray -206.

Playoff Points: 1) Austin Hill 14, 2) Justin Allgaier -1, 3) Connor Zilisch -7, 4) Aric Almirola -8, t-5) Jesse Love -9, t-5) Brandon Jones -9, 7) Harrison Burton -12, t-8) Sam Mayer -13, t-8) Sammy Smith -13.

Note: If they were eligible for NASCAR Xfinity Series points, Kyle Larson would be tied for third, while William Byron and Alex Bowman would be tied for ninth in playoff points.

Stage Points: 1) Justin Allgaier 117, 2) Sammy Smith -49, 3) Connor Zilisch -50, 4) Sam Mayer -53, 5) Austin Hill -56, t-6) Carson Kvapil -64, t-6) Aric Almirola -64, 8) Sheldon Creed -70, 9) Jesse Love -74, 10) Brandon Jones -78, 11) Ryan Sieg -83, 12) Taylor Gray -85, 13) Harrison Burton -88, 14) Nick Sanchez -90, 15) Christian Eckes -94, 16) Jeb Burton -96.

Outside of the top 16, but still in Playoffs: t-18) Daniel Dye -101.

Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Justin Allgaier 320, 2) Sam Mayer -33, 3) Jesse Love -39, 4) Austin Hill -61, 5) Ryan Sieg -67, 6) Brandon Jones -70, t-7) Sheldon Creed -78, t-7) Carson Kvapil -78, 9) Connor Zilisch -85, 10) Daniel Dye -90, 11) Sammy Smith -94, 12) Jeb Burton -97, 13) Harrison Burton -100, 14) Christian Eckes -104, 15) Nick Sanchez -109, 16) Dean Thompson -112.

WC Points (1-16): 1) Justin Allgaier 1405, 2) Sam Mayer -123, 3) Jesse Love -160, 4) Austin Hill -213, 5) Brandon Jones -258, 6) Ryan Sieg -262, 7) Sheldon Creed -282, 8) Carson Kvapil -283, 9) Connor Zilisch -311, 10) Daniel Dye -345, 11) Harrison Burton -368, 12) Jeb Burton -369, 13) Christian Eckes -377, 14) Sammy Smith -379, 15) Nick Sanchez -398, 16) Dean Thompson -412.

Race Winners: Jesse Love (Daytona), Austin Hill (Atlanta, Martinsville), Connor Zilisch (COTA), Aric Almirola (Phoenix), Justin Allgaier (Las Vegas, Homestead), Brandon Jones (Darlington), Kyle Larson (Bristol)

Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.

Seeking the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs: Corey Heim Continues to Lead
by Phil Allaway

Corey Heim once again had an excellent night in Bristol, but he couldn't keep Chandler Smith out of victory lane. Regardless, he maintained most of his advantage with a third-place finish.

Heim leaves Bristol with an 18-point lead over new second-place man Smith, who earned his first win of the year. Ty Majeski crashed out and dropped down to third. Tyler Ankrum is up two positions to fourth after finishing fourth.

Daniel Hemric started from pole, but faded to 13th at the finish. That dropped him one place to fifth. Layne Riggs came back from a lap down to finish sixth. That moved him up two places to sixth. Grant Enfinger wasn't the best Friday night, but managed to finish 12th and stay seventh in points. Stewart Friesen crashed with Majeski and struggled to a 27th-place finish. That dropped Friesen three spots to eighth.

Ben Rhodes finished fifth and moved himself up a spot to ninth. Jake Garcia finished seventh, but dropped a position to 10th. He is the last driver in the playoffs on points at the moment.

Garcia has a five-point lead over Kaden Honeycutt, who finished eighth. Tanner Gray is 12th, while Gio Ruggiero is 13th. Rajah Caruth and Matt Crafton are tied for 14th. Caruth finished ninth with an alternate pit strategy, while Crafton was 16th. Jack Wood is 16th.

Point Standings (1-16): 1) Corey Heim 270, 2) Chandler Smith -18, 3) Ty Majeski -57, 4) Tyler Ankrum -60, 5) Daniel Hemric -65, 6) Layne Riggs -84, 7) Grant Enfinger -88, 8) Stewart Friesen -93, 9) Ben Rhodes -96, 10) Jake Garcia -98, 11) Kaden Honeycutt -103, 12) Tanner Gray -122, 13) Gio Ruggiero -124, t-14) Matt Crafton -144, t-14) Rajah Caruth -144, 16) Jack Wood -153.

Playoff Points: 1) Corey Heim 14, 2) Chandler Smith -8, 3) Daniel Hemric -9, t-4) Ty Majeski -13, t-4) Ben Rhodes -13, t-4) Tyler Ankrum -13, t-4) Jack Wood -13, t-4) Matt Crafton -13, t-4) Bayley Currey -13.

Note: If they were eligible for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points, Kyle Busch would be tied for second and Kyle Larson tied for fourth in Playoff points.

Stage Points: 1) Corey Heim 76, 2) Ty Majeski -14, 3) Chandler Smith -18, 4) Tyler Ankrum -31, 5) Kaden Honeycutt -34, 6) Stewart Friesen -38, 7) Ben Rhodes -40, 8) Daniel Hemric -42, t-9) Grant Enfinger -50, t-9) Connor Mosack -50, t-11) Jack Wood -55, t-11) Tanner Gray -55, 13) Layne Riggs -56, 14) Matt Crafton -58, 15) Jake Garcia -62, 16) Bayley Currey -66.

Note: If they were eligible for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points, Kyle Larson would be 11th and Kyle Busch 16th in stage points.

Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Corey Heim 176, 2) Chandler Smith -1, 3) Daniel Hemric -26, 4) Tyler Ankrum -31, 5) Layne Riggs -33, 6) Jake Garcia -41, 7) Grant Enfinger -42, 8) Ty Majeski -47, 9) Gio Ruggiero -56, t-10) Stewart Friesen -59, t-10) Ben Rhodes -59, 12) Kaden Honeycutt -71, 13) Tanner Gray -73, 14) Rajah Caruth -80, 15) Matt Mills -85, 16) Andres Perez -87.

WC Points (1-16): 1) Corey Heim 969, 2) Chandler Smith -15, 3) Tyler Ankrum -109, 4) Daniel Hemric -110, 5) Layne Riggs -127, 6) Grant Enfinger -154, 7) Jake Garcia -157, 8) Ty Majeski -174, 9) Gio Ruggiero -209, 10) Stewart Friesen -210, 11) Ben Rhodes -215, 12) Tanner Gray -263, 13) Kaden Honeycutt -268, 14) Rajah Caruth -282, 15) Matt Mills -312, 16) Andres Perez -314.

Race Winners: Corey Heim (Daytona, Las Vegas), Kyle Busch (Atlanta), Kyle Larson (Homestead), Daniel Hemric (Martinsville), Chandler Smith (Bristol)

Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.

Letter of the Race: Sunday's Food City 500 was brought to you by the letter L for Lack of Tire Wear. All of the discussion entering the race was that the tires were going to wear away to nothing like last year. Practice and qualifying bore that out. Warmer conditions on Sunday eliminated that issue and resulted in a completely different race. - Phil Allaway

Quotes to Remember: Food City 500

compiled by Phil Allaway

"Yeah, it’s special. You know, Jon Edwards meant a lot to the No. 5 team, and a lot to the NASCAR Industry, too. Just good to get a win for him. Obviously, we don’t want to be winning for him and his spirit, we wish he was here in person with us. But he is no longer here, so it’s just going to be fun to celebrate and I know he is smiling down on us. We had a damn good weekend, as he would say. A lot of fun, and I can’t say enough about the team. The car they brought again here to Bristol was amazing and just makes it fun for me." - Kyle Larson, race winner

"You have to give that team their due – just a dominate performance. It looked like a pretty flawless day for them. It looked pretty easy. It was all I had to try to keep up there. I’m glad we were able to give him a little bit of a run with our Progressive Toyota, but this weekend – we are all thinking about Jon Edwards’ family, Al Pearce, Shige Hattori. We’ve lost a lot of great people in our sport over the last week, so our thoughts are with them. Wish we could have got one more spot, but I just wanted to keep him honest there at the end. That was all I was trying to do, but he was a little too much to handle." - Denny Hamlin, finished second

"Yeah, I had been kind of catching him the last 30, 40 laps. I about got him in the end and then [Ryan Blaney] came out of nowhere – I didn’t even know there was anybody close to us. It was fun. The [Joe Gibbs Racing] cars were really good today. I wish we could have got [Ty] Gibbs there at the end there, but all-in-all, great day for us, especially after last week. Last weekend was probably our worst race of the year, so to be able to come back and have a good run like that in our Bass Pro Shops Toyota was good. Just need a little bit more still." - Chase Briscoe, finished fourth

"It was just kind of a learning thing all day. The first run of the race nobody really knew what the tires were going to do and everyone kind of just rode around there a little bit and we finally got going and we went so long. Then it was like, ‘Alright, we can go a little bit harder.’ The track widened out, which was good. I honestly don’t know if I really anticipated that with the track getting wide and really not having tire problems. I’m glad that’s the way it was. I think it put on a pretty decent race. There were a lot of comers and goers, except for the lead, I guess, but it was a pretty fun day and a really good finish. We kind of took a chance of running really long there, seeing if we’d get a caution and then we finally bailed and had to make all the ground up and got back to fifth. Overall, it was a solid weekend." - Ryan Blaney, finished fifth

"Overall, it was just a long day having to come from the back. It didn’t seem like many people could pass, but I felt like we could slowly work our way forward. Bristol Motor Speedway has sort of been a tough place for us, so just trying to get our footing back and put some consistent runs back together, and I felt like we did that today with the No. 24 Axalta Chevy. I was really happy about that. We were close to the top-five, but we just needed a little bit more." - William Byron, finished sixth

"Overall, really good race for our No. 16 group. I’m proud of the team and how we executed this weekend. We had a pretty consistent car, we were able to run in the top 12 all day so I’m really proud of that. We’ve had good momentum over the last few weeks that we’ll take into the off week and get ready for Talladega." - AJ Allmendinger, finished ninth

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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