Frontstretch Newsletter: June 16, 2025
Volume
XIX, Edition XCVI |
- Teams are still making their way back to North Carolina after this past weekend's action in Mexico City. Entry lists for this weekend's races at Pocono Raceway should be released today. We'll have the entry lists and everything else breaks for you at Frontstretch. |
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| Shane van Gisbergen Spanks the Field South of the
Border Trackhouse Racing's Shane van Gisbergen, once the race got in a long run, destroyed the field Sunday, winning the Viva Mexico 250 by 16.567 seconds. Christopher Bell was third, then Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman and Michael
McDowell. |
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| Alex Bowman Gets Mexico City Top 5 After He ‘Couldn’t Walk
on Wednesday’ Hendrick Motorsports' Alex Bowman is a sore man after his head-on crash at Michigan. Despite barely being able to move for part of last week, he was able to finish fourth Sunday in Mexico City. |
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| Daniel Suarez Earns Storybook Homecoming Xfinity Win in
Mexico City In a backup car with no laps on it, Daniel Suarez drove up from the rear of the field Saturday to win The Chilango 150 in front of his countrymen in Mexico City. Taylor Gray was second, then Austin Hill, Christian Eckes and Connor
Zilisch. |
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| Connor Zilisch Rebounds to 5th in Mexico City After Late
Restart Melee Connor Zilisch was in position to potentially win Saturday in Mexico City before triggering the Big One. He recovered from that to finish fifth. |
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| Henderson Motorsports Owner Charlie Henderson Passes
Away Henderson Motorsports announced Saturday that longtime team owner Charlie Henderson, whose time as a team owner dates back to the Late Model Sportsman days of the 1970s, has passed away. |
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| Kyle Kirkwood Earns 3rd Win of IndyCar Season in St.
Louis Kyle Kirkwood managed to beat Scott Dixon and Patricio O'Ward out of the pits during the final round of green-flag pit stops Sunday night and win the Bommarito Automotive Group 500k for his third win of the year. O'Ward was second, then Christian
Rasmussen, Dixon and Santino Ferrucci. |
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| Josef Newgarden OK After Flip at
Gateway Team Penske's Josef Newgarden had an excellent night at World Wide Technology Raceway. Then, Louis Foster hit the wall and came down the track into him, which launched Newgarden onto his head. |
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| ‘Thought We Had a Shot at it Honestly’: Conor Daly
Finishes Season-Best 6th at Gateway Conor Daly led 36 laps Sunday night in Illinois, but lost out due to the various pit strategies at play. He ultimately finished sixth. |
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| George Russell Cruises at Canadian Grand Prix; McLaren Duo
Bring the Drama Mercedes' George Russell scored a dominant win in Sunday's Grand Prix of Canada in Montreal. Max Verstappen was second, then Kimi Antonelli, Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc. |
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| Lando Norris Gets ‘Stupid’ in Clash with Teammate Oscar
Piastri Sunday's Grand Prix of Canada ended under the safety car due to McLaren's Lando Norris running into the back of teammate Oscar Piastri with four laps to go and stalling on the racing surface with a broken left front corner. |
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| AF Corse Wins 24 Hours of Le
Mans The trio of Phil Hanson, Robert Kubica and Yifei Ye won the 24 Hours of Le Mans Sunday, the first overall victory for a privateer team in decades. |
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| Treyten Lapcevich Leads Flag to Flag, Scores ARCA Win at
Berlin On debut with Nitro Motorsports' Treyten Lapcevich led flag-to-flag from pole Saturday night to win the ARCA Menards Series Berlin ARCA 200. Max Reaves was second, then Lawless Alan, Brenden Queen and Lavar Scott. |
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| Trevor Huddleston Finds Victory Lane Again at Kern
County Trevor Huddleston took the lead on lap 50 Saturday night and was able to hold back to pack to win the ARCA Menards Series West NAPA Auto Parts 150 presented by the West Coast Stock Car Motorsports Hall of Fame at Kevin Harvick's Kern Raceway. Teammates
Kyle Keller and Robbie Kennealy were second and third, then Tanner Reif and Eric Johnson Jr. |
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| Mission Complete as Mini Tyrrell Earns 2nd CARS Tour Win
of 2025 Mini Tyrrell dominated his namesake race Saturday night to win the Mini's Mission 125 at Dominion Raceway. Connor Hall was second, followed by Chad McCumbee, Tristan McKee and Lanie Buice. |
Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, Matt Fraver and Karl Zemlin of Penske Entertainment, Mercedes-AMG F1 Media, DPPI, NASCAR Media via Ted Malinowski of ARCA Racing, David Dennis of ARCA Racing, Steven Tee of LAT Images, and our own Chase
Folsom. Have news for Frontstretch? Don't hesitate to let us know; email us at frontstretcheditors@googlegroups.com with a promising lead or tip. |
Around the World in Motorsports: June 13-15 |
Things were rather busy in Le Mans in addition to the 24 Hour classic (see above). As it stands, there were a number of announcements made. - The ACO announced Friday that the current Hypercar regulations have been extended. They will remain in effect through 2032. The regulations were
previously scheduled to expire after 2027, but were extended last year to 2029. At that point, IMSA signaled that they would do the same with GTP regulations. This time, it's not quite as clear. SportsCar365.com is reporting that IMSA president John Doonan was not exactly onboard for a like-to-like confirmation. Instead, Doonan wants IMSA to seek a "very clear definition" for the ruleset. He wants the process to look like it has in recent years with the manufacturers all coming together to agree on a ruleset. However, there isn't a guarantee that it would match the ACO's
rules. - The 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship Schedule was announced. It will have eight races like this year with no venue changes. The only real change on the schedule is that it will start later. The Prologue in Qatar is scheduled for March
22-23, while the 1812 kilometer (or eight hours, whichever happens first) season opener is March 28. That is roughly one month later than this year.
- Ford Performance announced that their new Hypercar that is due to debut in the WEC in 2027 will be built with support from ORECA. The new Hypercar program will be run by Ben Sayers, who currently is involved with Red Bull Powertrains. He is known to Ford since Red Bull will run Ford engines in Formula 1 starting with the new regulations in 2026. - Genesis Magma Racing announced that Gabriele Tarquini will serve
as the team's sporting director for their inaugural WEC campaign in 2026. Tarquini is a retired racer that competed in Formula 1 in the 1980s and 1990s, then embarked on a decades long career in touring cars. - The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series spent last weekend at Knoxville Raceway for the Premier Chevy Dealers Clash. Friday night saw David Gravel
finish last in the Dash, giving him the eighth starting spot for the feature. From there, Gravel charged up to the front and took the lead from Kerry Madsen on lap 20. Gravel pulled away to take his ninth victory of the year.
The margin of victory was 2.793 seconds over Madsen. Rico Abreu
was third, then Carson Macedo and Corey Day.
Saturday night saw 64 teams try to make a 26-car A-Main in Knoxville. Here, Day was able to drive up from fourth on the grid and take the lead on lap 9 from Brad Sweet.
In the closing laps of the 25-lap race, Gravel ran Day down and tried to
make a move on the final lap in turns 3 and 4. A slower car blocked Gravel out, allowing Day to take the win. The margin of victory was .444 seconds over Gravel. Buddy Kofoid was third, then Anthony Macri and Sweet. After 32 races, Gravel continues to
lead the points by 176 over Kofoid. Macedo is third, followed by Logan Schuchart and Sheldon Haudenschild. |
This is just a sampling of the videos that we uploaded to our YouTube channels from Gateway and Dominion last weekend. For more from Gateway, Dominion, 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 Expands Lead While Rivals Falter
by Phil Allaway
William Byron had a bad qualifying effort and spent the entire race trying to make up for it. He ultimately pulled that off with a ninth-place finish. That allowed him to expand his lead. Byron's lead is now 67 points over Kyle Larson, who was collected in an early crash and finished 36th. Christopher Bell charged from 31st on the grid to finish second to move up to third. Chase Elliott is up to fourth after finishing third. Denny Hamlin
dropped two places to fifth after sitting Mexico City out due to the birth of his son. Tyler Reddick had a quiet day in Mexico City and stays in sixth after finishing 20th. Ryan Blaney stays in seventh after finishing 14th with a race-high 16 stage points. Ross Chastain is still in eighth. Joey Logano and Bubba Wallace are tied for ninth. Logano qualified well, but had a terrible pit stop to switch to wets and never really recovered. Wallace finished 12th to move into the tie. Chase Briscoe is still 11th after finishing seventh. Alex Bowman moved up one place to 12th after finishing fourth. Chris Buescher dropped one place to 13th after finishing 10th. He is the last driver in the playoffs on points. Buescher's advantage is 19 points over teammate Ryan Preece, who won stage one and finished 15th. Austin Cindric is
up one place to 15th, while Michael McDowell's fifth-place finish moved him up seven spots to 16th. AJ Allmendinger, despite being caught in the same crash as Larson, moved up one place to 17th after finishing 13th. Kyle Busch was the lynchpin of the early crash after he missed his braking point.
He ended up last and dropped four places to 18th. Josh Berry is down two spots 19th, then Carson Hocevar. Point Standings (1-16): 1) William Byron 604, 2) Kyle Larson
-67, 3) Christopher Bell -80, 4) Chase Elliott -104, 5) Denny Hamlin -110, 6) Tyler Reddick -127, 7) Ryan Blaney -138, 8) Ross Chastain -161, t-9) Joey Logano -193, t-9) Bubba Wallace
-193, 11) Chase Briscoe -211, 12) Alex Bowman -228, 13) Chris Buescher -231, 14) Ryan Preece -250, 15) Austin Cindric -267, 16) Michael McDowell -274. Outside of the top-16, but still in playoffs: 19) Josh Berry -284, 30) Shane van Gisbergen -362. Note: Drivers in italics are either outside of the playoffs, or ineligible for points. Playoff Points: 1) Kyle Larson 23, 2) Denny Hamlin -5, 3) Christopher Bell -7, 4) William Byron -11, 5) Ryan Blaney -15, t-6) Austin Cindric
-16, t-6) Joey Logano -16, 8) Josh Berry -17, t-9) Ross Chastain -18, t-9) Shane van Gisbergen -18, t-11) Bubba Wallace -21, t-11) Ryan Preece -21, 13) Chris Buescher -22. Stage Points: 1) William Byron 172, 2) Ryan Blaney -27, 3) Kyle Larson -40, 4) Denny Hamlin
-48, 5) Tyler Reddick -56, 6) Bubba Wallace -62, 7) Alex Bowman -81, 8) Christopher Bell -82, 9) Chase Elliott -85, 10) Austin Cindric -86, 11) Carson Hocevar -88, 12) Joey Logano
-89, 13) Ryan Preece -114, 14) Josh Berry -115, 15) AJ Allmendinger -121, 16) Chris Buescher -127. Note: The Stage Points include the Duels at
Daytona. Outside of the top 16, but Still in the Playoffs: 17) Ross Chastain -128, 18) Chase Briscoe -139, 23) Shane van Gisbergen -148. Note: The Stage Points also include the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) William Byron 509, 2) Christopher Bell
-5, 3) Chase Elliott -26, 4) Kyle Larson -36, 5) Ross Chastain -47, 6) Denny Hamlin -75, t-7) Tyler Reddick -79, t-7) Chase Briscoe -79, 9) Chris Buescher -107, 10) Joey Logano
-111, 11) Ryan Blaney -118, 12) Kyle Busch -136, 13) Michael McDowell -139, 14) Bubba Wallace -140, 15) Ryan Preece -148, 16) Alex Bowman -153. Outside of the top 16, but still in the playoffs: 24) Josh Berry -178, 26) Austin Cindric -182, 32) Shane van Gisbergen -226. Note: These standings are
based on the old point system that was used before stages were created. WC Points (1-16): 1) William Byron 2283, 2) Christopher Bell -36, 3) Kyle Larson -119, 4) Chase Elliott
-136, 5) Ross Chastain -202, 6) Chase Briscoe -288, 7) Denny Hamlin -290, 8) Tyler Reddick -303, 9) Ryan Blaney -395, 10) Joey Logano -414, 11) Chris Buescher -416, 12) Bubba Wallace
-485, 13) Kyle Busch -494, 14) Michael McDowell -510, 15) Alex Bowman -511, 16) Ryan Preece -524. Outside of the top-16, but still in the playoffs: 23) Josh Berry -618,
27) Austin Cindric -671, 32) Shane van Gisbergen -775. 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, Kansas), Denny Hamlin (Martinsville, Darlington, Michigan), Austin Cindric (Talladega), Joey Logano (Texas), Ross Chastain (Charlotte), Ryan Blaney (Nashville), Shane van Gisbergen (Mexico City)
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: Broken Axle Costs Justin Allgaier In Mexico
by Phil Allaway
Justin Allgaier had a miserable day in Mexico City. An early axle failure put the points leader 15 laps down. His eventual 34th-place finish cut into his lead significantly. Allgaier's lead is down from 92 points to 54 over Austin Hill,
who finished third. Sam Mayer remains in third after getting caught up in the big restart crash and finishing 23rd. Jesse Love is still in fourth. Connor Zilisch was in line to win Saturday until an error on a restart triggered the Big One. He recovered from it to finish fifth and stay fifth in points. Sheldon
Creed is still in sixth after an 11th-place finish. Carson Kvapil won stage one, but finished 19th and stays seventh. Brandon Jones scored the most stage points (12), but finished 25th and stays in eighth. Jeb Burton has sole possession of ninth after an eighth-place finish. Sammy Smith won stage two and
finished 10th, moving up three places to 10th. Harrison Burton is still in 11th, while Taylor Gray and Ryan Sieg are tied for 12th. Gray gets the position by virtue of his second-place finish Saturday. Gray is the last driver in the playoffs on points. Gray and Sieg are 15 points ahead of Nick Sanchez, who lost two
spots after finishing 31st. Daniel Dye is still in 15th, while Dean Thompson is 16th. Point Standings (1-16): 1) Justin Allgaier 587, 2) Austin Hill -54, 3) Sam Mayer -99, 4) Jesse Love
-127, 5) Connor Zilisch -157, 6) Sheldon Creed -171, 7) Carson Kvapil -178, 8) Brandon Jones -183, 9) Jeb Burton -190, 10) Sammy Smith -209, 11) Harrison Burton -210, t-12) Taylor Gray
-213, t-12) Ryan Sieg -213, 14) Nick Sanchez -228, 15) Daniel Dye -257, 16) Dean Thompson -272. Playoff Points: t-1) Austin Hill 21, t-1) Justin Allgaier
21, t-3) Connor Zilisch -14, t-3) Sammy Smith -14, t-5) Aric Almirola -15, t-5) Jesse Love -15, 7) Brandon Jones -16, 8) Harrison Burton -19, t-9) Sam Mayer -20, t-9) Carson Kvapil -20, t-9) Dean Thompson -20, t-9)
Nick Sanchez -20. Note: If they were eligible for NASCAR Xfinity Series points, Kyle Larson would be third, William Byron fourth, Daniel Suarez tied for ninth and Alex Bowman tied for 11th in playoff points. Stage Points: 1) Justin
Allgaier 178, 2) Austin Hill -63, 3) Connor Zilisch -78, 4) Sam Mayer -79, 5) Sheldon Creed -85, 6) Sammy Smith -94, 7) Jesse Love -96, 8) Carson Kvapil -99, 9) Nick Sanchez -103,
10) Brandon Jones -105, 11) Aric Almirola -108, 12) Taylor Gray -113, 13) Ryan Sieg -117, 14) Jeb Burton -127, 15) Christian Eckes -140, 16) Harrison Burton -145. Note: If he were eligible for NASCAR Xfinity Series points, Kyle Larson would be 15th in stage points. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Austin Hill 482, 2) Justin Allgaier -5, 3) Sam
Mayer -30, 4) Jesse Love -38, t-5) Harrison Burton -75, t-5) Jeb Burton -75, 7) Connor Zilisch -87, 8) Brandon Jones -88, 9) Carson Kvapil -89, 10) Sheldon Creed -97, 11) Ryan Sieg
-107, 12) Sammy Smith -112, 13) Taylor Gray -115, 14) Daniel Dye -117, 15) Dean Thompson -133, 16) Nick Sanchez -136. WC Points (1-16): 1) Justin Allgaier
2154, 2) Austin Hill -10, 3) Sam Mayer -117, 4) Jesse Love -158, 5) Harrison Burton -295, 6) Jeb Burton -304, 7) Brandon Jones -325, 8) Carson Kvapil -333, 9) Connor Zilisch
-339, 10) Sheldon Creed -346, 11) Taylor Gray -392, 12) Ryan Sieg -398, 13) Sammy Smith -442, 14) Daniel Dye -444, 15) Nick Sanchez -485, 16) Dean Thompson -489. Race Winners: Jesse Love (Daytona), Austin Hill (Atlanta, Martinsville, Talladega), Connor Zilisch (COTA), Aric Almirola (Phoenix), Justin Allgaier (Las Vegas, Homestead, Nashville), Brandon Jones (Darlington), Kyle Larson (Bristol, Texas), Sammy Smith (Rockingham), William Byron (Charlotte) 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. 5
by Phil Allaway
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series was off last weekend. They will be back in action Friday afternoon at Pocono Raceway. When the field gets to Pennsylvania, Corey Heim will have a 133-point lead over Chandler Smith.
Daniel Hemric is third, then Grant Enfinger and a tie for fifth between Tyler Ankrum and Layne Riggs. Ty Majeski in eighth is the last driver in the playoffs on points at the moment. He is four points ahead of Jake Garcia. Garcia is 51 points ahead of Ben Rhodes,
while Gio Ruggiero is close behind. Point Standings (1-16): 1) Corey Heim 605, 2) Chandler Smith -133, 3) Daniel Hemric -151, 4) Grant Enfinger
-164, t-5) Tyler Ankrum -181, t-5) Layne Riggs -181, 7) Kaden Honeycutt -197, 8) Ty Majeski -212, 9) Jake Garcia -216, 10) Stewart Friesen -258, 11) Ben Rhodes -267, 12) Gio Ruggiero
-268, 13) Rajah Caruth -269, 14) Tanner Gray -308, 15) Matt Crafton -324, 16) Jack Wood -356.
Playoff Points: 1) Corey Heim 31, 2) Chandler Smith
-20, 3) Tyler Ankrum -25, t-4) Daniel Hemric -26, t-4) Rajah Caruth -26, t-4) Stewart Friesen -26, 7) Layne Riggs -28, 8) Grant Enfinger -29, t-9) Ty Majeski -30, t-9) Ben Rhodes -30, t-9) Gio Ruggiero -29, t-9) Jack Wood
-30, t-9) Matt Crafton -30, t-9) Bayley Currey -30.
Note: If they were eligible for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points, Kyle Busch and Carson Hocevar would be tied for third and Kyle Larson tied for sixth in Playoff points. Stage Points: 1) Corey Heim 191, 2) Chandler Smith -81, 3) Kaden Honeycutt -84, t-4) Ty Majeski -92, 5) Layne Riggs -103, 6) Grant Enfinger -105, 7) Daniel Hemric
-109, 8) Tyler Ankrum -118, 9) Stewart Friesen -139, 10) Ben Rhodes -143, 11) Jake Garcia -147, t-12) Tanner Gray -150, t-13) Connor Mosack -150, 14) Rajah Caruth -151, 15) Gio Ruggiero
-158, 16) Matt Crafton -164. Note: If they were eligible for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points, Carson Hocevar would be 15th and Kyle Busch 16th in stage points. Old Point
Standings (1-16): 1) Corey Heim 374, 2) Daniel Hemric -50, 3) Chandler Smith -57, 4) Grant Enfinger -64, 5) Tyler Ankrum -70, 6) Jake Garcia -78, 7) Layne Riggs -86, 8) Gio Ruggiero -117, 9) Kaden
Honeycutt -119, 10) Rajah Caruth -124, 11) Stewart Friesen -128, 12) Ty Majeski -129, 13) Ben Rhodes -132, 14) Tanner Gray -169, 15) Matt Crafton -170, 16) Andres Perez -182. WC Points (1-16): 1) Corey Heim 1958, 2) Daniel Hemric -163, 3) Tyler Ankrum -234, 4) Chandler Smith -261, 5) Grant Enfinger -297, 6) Layne Riggs -327, 7) Jake Garcia
-336, 8) Rajah Caruth -395, 9) Kaden Honeycutt -431, 10) Gio Ruggiero -449, 11) Ty Majeski -474, 12) Ben Rhodes -525, 13) Stewart Friesen -527, 14) Tanner Gray -606, 15) Matt Crafton
-649, 16) Matt Mills -662. Race Winners: Corey Heim (Daytona, Las Vegas, Texas, Charlotte), Kyle Busch (Atlanta), Kyle Larson (Homestead), Daniel Hemric (Martinsville), Chandler Smith (Bristol, North Wilkesboro), Tyler Ankrum (Rockingham), Carson Hocevar (Kansas), Rajah Caruth (Nashville),
Stewart Friesen (Michigan)
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 Viva Mexico 250 was brought to you by the letter S for Stomping. Quite simply, no one could compete with Shane van Gisbergen on worn tires. Once you had a run of any decent lap, he was a second
a lap faster than anyone. Once the final yellow flew, removing Ty Gibbs from contention, he was unbeatable. - Phil Allaway |
Quotes to Remember: Viva Mexico 250 compiled by Phil Allaway
"What a week. I have really enjoyed myself here. I felt pretty rubbish today. Thank you to Safety Culture, Trackhouse, Chevy and these guys right here. I think the 54 was close, but that last stint, what a pleasure to just be ripping lap after lap and to watch them all get smaller in the mirror. Unreal. [On whether his car was the best one he's had in his career] "It’s certainly up there. I have been privileged to have some great ones in my time, but when I go slower, I just lose my concentration, so I was just trying to stay in a rhythm and a routine. Josh [Williams, spotter] and Stephen [Doran] were doing a great job of keeping me calm and focused." - Shane van Gisbergen, race winner "I don’t know. [Shane van Gisbergen] was really good. Ultimately it was just a third-place day. I felt like Ty [Gibbs] was really good, so the yellow flag bit him and we walked away with second. Both days – in the Xfinity car, I was the third-place car, and today, I felt like I was the third-place car. I think more than anything it was just me. I need to do a little more homework and
figure out where I can be better to keep up with these guys. The Joe Gibbs Racing Group brought an amazing Mobil 1 Camry, and I can’t really say that it was my car that was lacking. It was on me this weekend." - Christopher Bell, finished second
"The restart was [chaotic], for sure. And yeah, I felt like we were in a really good spot. I was super excited about having tires and getting
ourselves to -- we got in front of [Ty Gibbs] and I thought, to be honest, that was going to be the race for the win there initially. We got clear of the [Ross Chastain] and [John Hunter Nemechek], I think, and started settling in, and I didn't have anything left. I was kind of cooked after that. I think we just pressed so hard to try to get through traffic that when it got singled out, I didn't have a lot of pace left. I felt like I gained on him there for a little while, but it was pretty
tough to get to that point. We pressed on.
"Really proud of our No. 9 LLumar Chevy group for sticking with it. We were kind of up and down all day and finally got going there a few runs from the end. Alan [Gustafson] made us a good call to get us on tires. Finally had a restart go halfway decent and got
a decent top-three finish out of it." - Chase Elliott, finished third "It feels good to get this No. 48 Ally Chevrolet team a run that they deserve. We’ve had a lot of fast race cars and just had days that haven’t gone our way. We’ve had issues and there’s been times that I’ve crashed the car, so to get them a good run after everything this week and how hard
they’ve had to work is great. Just really appreciate all of their support and glad we could get a top-five finish." - Alex Bowman, finished fourth "Overall, it was a great day for the No. 71 B’laster Chevrolet team. We’re bummed out. Our Chevrolet was fast. I felt like our strategy was going to work out there. We were just a few laps away from it working out,
but unfortunately the caution came out. It happens… you can’t plan for everything. But I feel like we did a great job of coming back up through the field from restarting 15th there in the last stage. Proud of the effort and proud of the speed. We needed a little bit more, but it’s something to build on. If we keep building here at Spire Motorsports, we’ll get a win. It’s good to be bummed with a top-five finish. I felt like we had more today and hopefully we’ll get a chance to prove that when we
get to the upcoming road courses. Mexico City was a lot of fun. It was a cool weekend and a cool race track." - Michael McDowell, finished fifth "Hats off to this whole No. 42 Legacy Motor Club team. Pye-Barker colors look really good on our Camry this weekend, and I’m super stoked on a sixth-place finish. Our road course program has not been good here
at Legacy Motor Club, so solid run for us after the last three weeks we’ve had – two wrecks, and not so good run in Nashville – we needed this as a team to get back on track. Had a lot of text messages from my wife and had a lot of text messages from Jimmie [Johnson] yesterday – I was pretty down after qualifying, and beating myself up pretty bad, but we executed during the race. I got spun out a couple of times and still came home sixth. Hats off to Travis (Mack, crew
chief) on the strategy. He called a really good race, and we were able to execute and come home sixth. Proud of the day." - John Hunter Nemechek, finished sixth "Just in the rain, I went down into [turn] 11 and got on the brakes pretty hard and everything was fine. Everything was comfortable, it stopped really good, and I thought okay, I can be a little
bit more aggressive this time. Getting back into one and went to the 10 marker, if there is a 10 marker, it's the bridge, and we've been going much past the bridge all day on dries and so wet, I figured it's going to be fine. As soon as I went to the brakes, it was just on ice, and I was sliding, and so about a second and a half or so, I was just trying to figure out which direction to go, and then I was like, I’ve got to turn this thing around backwards because I'm going to nail some people So
I hate it for all those that were involved in my mishap there, and hate it for Lucas Oil, and of course, RCR, ECR, the guys, I mean, the car yesterday in qualifying was really good, it felt like we were going to be really sporty in the dry. I hate that the rain came, and now it's nice and dry, so just have to go fight for more points in another week." - Kyle Busch, finished 37th (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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