Frontstretch Newsletter: June 23, 2025
Volume
XIX, Edition CI |
- Teams are back at their shops and preparing for this weekend's action. Entry lists for both Atlanta and Lime Rock should be released today. We'll have the entry lists and everything else breaks for you at Frontstretch. |
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| Chase Briscoe Survives Fuel Scare, Wins at
Pocono Chase Briscoe was able to save a significant amount of fuel Sunday and hold on to win the The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway. Denny Hamlin was second, then Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher and Chase
Elliott. |
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| Chase Elliott Warns of Dirty Air Races: ‘You’re Going to
Hear More of It, Just Wait’ After Sunday's The Great American Getaway 400, the main topic of discussion was dirty air. Chase Elliott believes that there is a legitimate chance that it will dominate races in the near future. |
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| What Happened in the 23XI/FRM vs. NASCAR Lawsuit This Week
(June 7-June 20) On Friday, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports announced that they have requested a re-hearing of the entire Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in regards to their attempt to keep their charters. |
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| Connor Zilisch Snags 1st Xfinity Oval Win at
Pocono JR Motorsports' Connor Zilisch took the lead from Jesse Love with five laps to go Saturday, then held on to win the Explore the Pocono Mountains 250. Love was second, followed by Christian Eckes, Chase Elliott and Ryan Sieg. |
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| Jesse Love Bittersweet After ‘Finishing Bridesmaid’ to
Best Friend Connor Zilisch Jesse Love finished second Saturday at Pocono Raceway, but walked away disappointed after getting beat by Connor Zilisch. |
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| Layne Riggs Collects 1st 2025 Truck Series Win at
Pocono Layne Riggs took the lead with 20 laps to go Friday afternoon and pulled away to win the MillerTech Battery 200 at Pocono Raceway. Tanner Gray was second, then Kaden Honeycutt, Brandon Jones and Daniel Hemric. |
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| Corey Heim ‘Writes a New Way to Have It Go Away’ at
Pocono Corey Heim has four victories this year in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, but the way he's run, it should be more like seven or eight. On Friday, he cut a tire under yellow while leading. |
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| Max Reaves Wins ARCA Race at
Elko Joe Gibbs Racing's Max Reaves took the lead from Lavar Scott with 47 laps to go Saturday and held on to win the Shore Lunch 250 for his first ARCA Menards Series win. Brenden Queen was second, then Lawless Alan, Ty Fredrickson and Isabella
Robusto. |
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| Alex Palou Stretches Fuel to Win IndyCar Race at Road
America Alex Palou's dream season continued Sunday in Wisconsin as he stretched his fuel to win the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America for his sixth win of the year. Felix Rosenqvist was second, followed by Santino Ferrucci, Kyle Kirkwood and Marcus
Armstrong. |
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| IndyCar Provides Update on New Car Set For 2028
Debut Over the weekend at Road America, IndyCar indicated that their new chassis will debut officially in 2028. On-track testing should begin next year. |
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| David Malukas Goes From the Gravel Trap to 7th at Road
America AJ Foyt Racing's David Malukas ended up in the gravel early Sunday at Road America. From there, he recovered to finish seventh. |
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| Meyer Shank Racing Wins Sahlen’s Six Hours On Energy
Mileage Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian's Tom Blomqvist took the lead at the white flag when Earl Bamber pitted for extra energy. Blomqvist then held on to win the Sahlen's Six Hours at the Glen with Colin Braun. |
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| Rennsport One Wins Pilot Challenge LP Building Solutions
120 Rennsport One's Luca Mars and Jan Heylen won Saturday's IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge LP Building Solutions 120 in a massive duel involving the top-five teams overall. |
Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, Joe Skibinski and Chris Owens of Penske Entertainment, and our own Phil Allaway and Josh Calloni. 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 20-22 |
- Frontstretch talked to Magnus Racing's John Potter on the grid prior to Sunday's Sahlen's Six Hours at the Glen. He mentioned that the hospitality venture that led him to step away from racing is going before the board in Salt Lake City this week. The sponsorship from Virtual Energy gave the team the impetus to go back to the track. As for the team's future, it's up in the air. They don't have any planned races as of now, but that might change if the right opportunity arises. - World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series teams finished out their residency at Huset's Speedway last weekend that started back on Wednesday. Friday
night saw Bill Balog start second and take the lead from Garet WIlliamson on lap 2. From there, Balog held off charges to take the win. He won by .487 seconds over Buddy Kofoid. Williamson was third, then David Gravel and Sheldon Haudenschild. Saturday night was the big one. $250,000 was on the line in the BillionAuto.com Huset's High Bank Nationals presented by Menards. Kofoid started from the pole, but lost the lead to Balog early on. A restart on lap 17 was key as Balog broke traction. That was all Kofoid needed as he slid past to take the lead back. From there, he was
able to hold on to win the $250,000 prize, rounding out a very lucrative week in which he won $362,000. Kofoid beat Balog by 1.611 seconds. Haudenschild was third, then Williamson and Schuchart. - World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model teams
were at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Mo. for the St. Louis Firecracker Faceoff. Friday night's feature saw Bobby Pierce lead all 40 laps to take the win. He won by 1.088 seconds over Tim McCreadie. Ryan Gustin was third, then Jason Feger and Ashton Winger. Saturday saw Drake Troutman drive up to the lead from fourth on the grid after Brian Shirley nearly
rolled his car in turn 1. From there, Troutman was able to hold on to take the win and $20,000. Troutman won by 2.331 seconds over Mike Harrison. Shirley was third, then Tyler Erb and Pierce. |
This is just a sampling of the videos that we uploaded to our YouTube channels from Pocono, Elko, Road America and Watkins Glen last weekend. For more from Pocono, Elko, Road America, Watkins Glen, 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 Loses Part Of Points Lead
by Phil Allaway
William Byron ran well Sunday, scoring nine stage points and being in the hunt until a late stop dropped him to a 27th-place finish. That cost him a little in the standings. Byron's lead is down to 54 points over teammate Kyle Larson, who finished seventh. Denny Hamlin finished second and moved up two places to third. Christopher Bell finished 17th and dropped one place to fourth. Chase Elliott is down one place to fifth
despite finishing fifth. Ryan Blaney is up one place to sixth after finishing third. Tyler Reddick had mechanical issues and finished a lap down in 32nd. That dropped him one place to seventh. Ross Chastain remains in eighth despite a 26th-place finish. Chase Briscoe's victory
moved him up two places to ninth. Joey Logano is down to 10th, followed by Chris Buescher, who gained two positions with a fourth-place finish. Bubba Wallace crashed out due to brake failure. That dropped him from a tie for ninth to 12th. Alex Bowman finished 11th and dropped one
place to 13th. He is the last driver in the playoffs on points. Bowman has a 20-point advantage over Ryan Preece, who finished eighth. Austin Cindric is 15th, while Josh Berry moved up three places to 16th. AJ Allmendinger remains in 17th, then Erik Jones. Kyle Busch is 19th, while
Carson Hocevar is still in 20th. Point Standings (1-16): 1) William Byron 623, 2) Kyle Larson -54, 3) Denny Hamlin
-78, 4) Christopher Bell -79, 5) Chase Elliott -80, 6) Ryan Blaney -120, 7) Tyler Reddick -133, 8) Ross Chastain -169, 9) Chase Briscoe -173, 10) Joey Logano -187, 11) Chris Buescher
-202, 12) Bubba Wallace -211, 13) Alex Bowman -220, 14) Ryan Preece -240, 15) Austin Cindric -255, 16) Josh Berry -269. Outside of the top-16, but still in
playoffs: 31) Shane van Gisbergen -375. Note: Drivers in italics are either outside of the playoffs, or ineligible for points. Playoff Points: 1) Kyle Larson 23, 2) Denny Hamlin -4, 3) Christopher Bell -7, 4) William Byron -11, 5) Ryan Blaney -15, t-6) Austin Cindric -16, t-6) Joey Logano -16, t-8) Chase
Briscoe -17, t-8) Josh Berry -17, t-10) Ross Chastain -18, t-10) Shane van Gisbergen -18, t-12) Bubba Wallace -21, t-12) Ryan Preece -21, 14) Chris Buescher -22. Stage Points: 1) William Byron 181, 2) Ryan Blaney -33, 3) Denny Hamlin -42, 4) Kyle Larson -47, 5) Tyler Reddick -57, 6) Bubba Wallace
-71, 7) Chase Elliott -83, 8) Alex Bowman -89, t-9) Christopher Bell -91, t-9) Austin Cindric -91, 11) Joey Logano -94, 12) Carson Hocevar -96, 13) Josh Berry -115, 14) Chris Buescher
-121, 15) Ryan Preece -123, 16) AJ Allmendinger -130. Note: The Stage Points include the Duels at Daytona. Outside of the top 16, but Still in the Playoffs: 17) Chase Briscoe -131, 18) Ross Chastain -137, 23) Shane van Gisbergen -157. Note: The Stage Points also include the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at
Daytona. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Christopher Bell 528, 2) William Byron -5, 3) Chase Elliott -9, 4) Kyle Larson
-21, 5) Ross Chastain -51, 6) Chase Briscoe -53, 7) Denny Hamlin -54, 8) Chris Buescher -88, 9) Tyler Reddick -89, 10) Ryan Blaney -98, 11) Joey Logano -104, t-12) Ryan Preece
-134, t-12) Kyle Busch -134, 14) Alex Bowman -141, 15) John Hunter Nemechek -147, 16) Michael McDowell -152. Outside of the top 16, but still in the playoffs: 17) Bubba
Wallace -154, 21) Josh Berry -168, 22) Austin Cindric -170, 33) Shane van Gisbergen -235. Note: These standings are based on the old point system that was used before stages were created. WC Points (1-16): 1) William Byron 2365, 2) Christopher Bell -6, 3) Kyle Larson -55, 4) Chase Elliott -63, 5) Chase Briscoe
-185, 6) Denny Hamlin -197, 7) Ross Chastain -199, 8) Ryan Blaney -307, 9) Tyler Reddick -318, 10) Chris Buescher -333, 11) Joey Logano -376, 12) Alex Bowman -458, 13) Ryan
Preece -464, 14) Kyle Busch -473, 15) Bubba Wallace -512, 16) John Hunter Nemechek -517. Outside of the top-16, but still in the playoffs: 20) Josh Berry -573, 25) Austin Cindric
-619, 32) Shane van Gisbergen -787. 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), Chase Briscoe (Pocono)
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: Justin Allgaier Expands Lead After Austin Hill's Crash
by Phil Allaway
Justin Allgaier was strong on Saturday in Pocono. However, he was pushed up the hill on a late restart and ended up 10th. However, Austin Hill was eliminated in an early crash. As a result, Allgaier's point lead is back up to 82
points over Hill. Sam Mayer finished seventh and stays in third, followed by Jesse Love. Connor Zilisch's second win of the year keeps him in fifth, but he gained 27 points on Allgaier. Carson Kvapil is up one spot to sixth after a sixth-place finish. Brandon Jones is up to seventh after winning
stage one Saturday. Jeb Burton is up to eighth. Sheldon Creed dropped three places to ninth after getting eliminated in a late crash. Ryan Sieg is up from a tie for 12th to 10th after finishing fifth. Sammy Smith is down one place to 11th despite finishing eighth. Taylor Gray remains in 12th. He is the last driver in the playoffs on
points. Gray has an 11-point lead over Harrison Burton, who finished 14th Saturday. Nick Sanchez is still in 14th, while Christian Eckes moved up two places to 15th after finishing third. Daniel Dye is down one place to 16th. Point Standings (1-16): 1) Justin Allgaier 618, 2) Austin Hill -82, 3) Sam Mayer -100, 4) Jesse Love -116, 5) Connor Zilisch -130, 6) Carson Kvapil -176, 7) Brandon
Jones -185, 8) Jeb Burton -194, 9) Sheldon Creed -198, 10) Ryan Sieg -200, 11) Sammy Smith -203, 12) Taylor Gray -207, 13) Harrison Burton -218, 14) Nick Sanchez -233, 15) Christian Eckes
-262, 16) Daniel Dye -282. Playoff Points: t-1) Austin Hill 21, t-1) Justin Allgaier 21, 3) Connor Zilisch -8, 4) Sammy Smith -14, t-5) Aric Almirola
-15, t-5) Jesse Love -15, t-5) Brandon Jones -15, 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 182, 2) Connor Zilisch -64, 3) Austin Hill -66, 4) Sam Mayer
-83, 5) Sheldon Creed -86, t-6) Sammy Smith -90, t-6) Nick Sanchez -90, 8) Jesse Love -93, 9) Brandon Jones -99, 10) Carson Kvapil -101, 11) Taylor Gray -108, 12) Ryan Sieg -109, 13) Aric Almirola
-112, 14) Jeb Burton -130, 15) Christian Eckes -132, 16) Harrison Burton -149. Note: If he were eligible for NASCAR Xfinity Series points, Kyle Larson would be 16th in stage points. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Justin Allgaier 509, 2) Austin Hill -21, 3) Sam Mayer -22, 4) Jesse Love -25, 5) Connor Zilisch -70, 6) Jeb Burton -72, 7) Harrison Burton
-74, 8) Carson Kvapil -81, 9) Brandon Jones -91, 10) Ryan Sieg -98, 11) Sammy Smith -106, 12) Taylor Gray -110, 13) Sheldon Creed -119, 14) Daniel Dye -134, 15) Dean Thompson -136, 16) Christian
Eckes -141. WC Points (1-16): 1) Justin Allgaier 2293, 2) Austin Hill -91, 3) Sam Mayer -105, 4) Jesse Love -122, 5) Connor Zilisch -298, 6) Harrison Burton
-308, 7) Jeb Burton -313, 8) Carson Kvapil -322, 9) Brandon Jones -350, 10) Ryan Sieg -382, 11) Taylor Gray -393, 12) Sheldon Creed -430, 13) Sammy Smith -439, 14) Christian Eckes -503, 15) Daniel Dye
-513, 16) Dean Thompson -516. Race Winners: Jesse Love (Daytona), Austin Hill (Atlanta, Martinsville, Talladega), Connor Zilisch (COTA, Pocono), 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: Flat Tire Cuts Slightly Into Corey Heim's Lead
by Phil Allaway
Corey Heim had the best truck Friday in Pocono. However, a flat tire on the final restart dropped him to a 23rd-place finish. That issue resulted in Heim's lead dropping from 133 to 124 points over Chandler Smith. Daniel
Hemric stays in third after finishing fifth. Layne Riggs' victory moves him up from a tie for fifth to standalone fourth.
Grant Enfinger drops down to fifth after finishing 17th. Kaden Honeycutt is up to sixth after finishing third. Tyler Ankrum crashed in the final stage and limped to a 26th-place finish. That dropped him from a tie for
fifth to seventh. Ty Majeski remains in eighth. He is the last driver in the playoffs on points.
Majeski has a 10-point lead over Jake Garcia, who ran well until he crashed with Ben Rhodes. Stewart Friesen is still in 10th, followed by a tie for 11th between Rajah Caruth and Gio
Ruggiero. Caruth gained two spots after finishing 10th. Rhodes dropped to 13th after his crash with Garcia. Tanner Gray is still in 14th after his second-place finish, then Matt Crafton. Connor Mosack is up to 16th. Point Standings (1-16): 1) Corey Heim 629, 2) Chandler Smith -124, 3) Daniel Hemric -143, 4) Layne Riggs -146, 5) Grant Enfinger -168, 6) Kaden Honeycutt -173, 7) Tyler Ankrum
-188, 8) Ty Majeski -208, 9) Jake Garcia -218, 10) Stewart Friesen -248, t-11) Rajah Caruth -266, t-11) Gio Ruggiero -266, 13) Ben Rhodes -268, 14) Tanner Gray -291, 15) Matt Crafton
-338, 16) Connor Mosack -342.
Playoff Points: 1) Corey Heim 32, 2) Chandler Smith -21, 3) Layne Riggs -23, 4) Tyler Ankrum -26, t-5) Daniel Hemric -27, t-5) Rajah Caruth
-27, t-5) Stewart Friesen -27, 8) Grant Enfinger -30, t-9) Ty Majeski -31, t-9) Ben Rhodes -31, t-9) Gio Ruggiero -31, t-9) Jack Wood -31, t-9) Matt Crafton -31, t-9) Bayley Currey -31. Note: If they were eligible for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points, Kyle Busch and Carson Hocevar would be tied for fourth and Kyle Larson tied for seventh in Playoff points. Stage Points: 1) Corey Heim 201, 2) Kaden
Honeycutt -80, 3) Chandler Smith -88, 4) Layne Riggs -95, 5) Ty Majeski -102, 6) Grant Enfinger -115, 7) Daniel Hemric -119, 8) Tyler Ankrum -122, t-9) Stewart Friesen -144, t-9) Jake Garcia
-144, 11) Ben Rhodes -149, 12) Connor Mosack -151, 13) Tanner Gray -154, 14) Rajah Caruth -161, 15) Gio Ruggiero -168, 16) Matt Crafton -173. Note: If they were eligible for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points, Carson Hocevar would be 14th and Kyle Busch 16th in stage points. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Corey Heim 386, 2) Daniel Hemric -34, 3) Chandler
Smith -43, 4) Grant Enfinger -60, 5) Layne Riggs -62, 6) Tyler Ankrum -75, 7) Jake Garcia -85, 8) Kaden Honeycutt -101, 9) Gio Ruggiero -107, 10) Rajah Caruth -112, 11) Stewart Friesen
-114, 12) Ty Majeski -117, 13) Ben Rhodes -129, 14) Tanner Gray -150, 15) Matt Crafton -176, 16) Andres Perez -177. WC Points (1-16): 1) Corey Heim
2176, 2) Daniel Hemric -144, 3) Chandler Smith -191, 4) Grant Enfinger -228, 5) Layne Riggs -231, 6) Tyler Ankrum -276, 7) Jake Garcia -329, 8) Kaden Honeycutt -379, 9) Rajah
Caruth -404, 10) Gio Ruggiero -405, 11) Stewart Friesen -418, 12) Ty Majeski -436, 13) Ben Rhodes -474, 14) Tanner Gray -537, 15) Matt Crafton -635, 16) Andres Perez -647. 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), Layne Riggs (Pocono)
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 The Great American Getaway 400 was brought to you by the letter D for Dirty Air. This is the kryptonite to good racing on longer tracks. If cars cannot realistically run around each other,
you're not going to get much in the way of action.. - Phil Allaway |
Quotes to Remember: The Great American Getaway 400 compiled by Phil Allaway
"I was just making sure [Denny Hamlin] didn’t get close enough to do something with me. It was hard because I was only running 50 percent. You are running hard to enough to maintain the lead, but also to save fuel. The truth is I’ve never been in that position before, it was kind of trial by fire. Amazing job by all the Bass Pro Shops guys, we had a really, really good car. I think I had
James [Small] was a bit worried when I went too early and I just did everything I could to make it back up and I’m glad we are finally in victory lane." - Chase Briscoe, race winner "[Trying to run Chase Briscoe out of fuel] was the best option. It definitely was going to be difficult. There was a key moment when [Briscoe] and some other guys pitted and the caution
came out and leaped him in front of us. At that point, we knew it was going to be really hard to pass those guys back on the racetrack. Team did a great job, next best in line there of our strategy, it just didn’t work out. I want to send my condolences to the FedEx family and the Smith family for the loss of Fred Smith. He was such a big part of Joe Gibbs Racing’s since the inception of this 11 car and my career, so thank you to the FedEx family and Fred Smith’s family." - Denny Hamlin,
finished second "It was hot. Yeah, I flipped [the cool suit] on probably lap 15. I was like, Oh, it's going to be a long day, so... "It was warm. Was able to just keep going. Really proud of the whole 12 guys from starting in the back, making good ground.
Then me speeding set us back again. Having to come back up there. "Jonathan and the whole 12 team did a good job of kind of figuring out what to do from the start of the race and after my mistake. Yeah, just kind of stuck really there at the end, all three of us just kind of running the same pace. "Overall I appreciate Wabash, Ford Mustang Performance, Menards Body Armor, DEX Imaging, Advance Auto Parts. Really good day for us." - Ryan Blaney, finished third "We were just really loose in [turn 3]. I felt like I could pace pretty good through turns one and two, but I just could not get turn three right all day. Certainly as the run went on, it
became more challenging for me and I started making more and more mistakes over there. I thought Denny [Hamlin] and Ryan [Blaney] could do a better job of kind of stalking the person in front of them to get themselves opportunities. I was just a little bit too far back and I think it was mainly because of that. But overall, happy to get a fifth-place finish for this No. 9 NAPA Chevy team." - Chase Elliott, finished fifth "Both cars had speed this weekend right off the truck and qualified really well. It was my best qualifying effort in the Cup series and we raced well also. I’m proud of everything they’ve put in at Legacy Motor Club – all the men and women with all the effort they’ve been putting in. Looking forward to continuing to come to the racetrack when you have the speed. Just a testament to this 42 team. Travis Mack (crew chief), and I
have been working really hard and we’ve been communicating well. Sydney, our primary engineer, Dex, Carl, Josh, and everyone who works on this thing. I’m just proud of the effort." - John Hunter Nemechek, finished sixth
"It was an up-and-down day. It was really hard to pass. It was a good fight for the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevy team to get a seventh-place finish, and for three Hendrick
Motorsports cars to get top 10 results. I just hope we don’t carry what we had the last few weeks into the rest of the season. Prior to the last few weeks, we’ve been really fast. It’s just been a rough stretch, but we’ll continue to go to work." - Kyle Larson, finished seventh "Yeah, I had warning half of the race that the brakes weren’t going to make it. It’s
unfortunate. It wasn’t what we needed for this No. 71 Gainbridge Chevrolet team. We came off a good weekend (in Mexico City), and this is the exact opposite of what we needed. But we have Atlanta, Chicago and Sonoma coming up, so we have a lot of good tracks on the horizon for our team. The season is grueling sometimes. "I was just trying to nurse it there at the end on that
last restart, knowing I was starting to lose my pedal a little bit. In the car, there’s not a lot you can do other than dial bias to the rear and hope and pray for the best. What put us behind this weekend was yesterday in qualifying. I just made a mistake there, and that kind of sets you up for the whole race starting 28th. We did some strategy there and we were going to give ourselves a fighting chance. But like I said, I knew we had an issue with the brakes and I was trying to get to a place
where hopefully they would last, but they didn’t." - Michael McDowell, finished 35th "[My car gave no warning]. I was going to battle [Chris Buescher] and [Austin Cindric] and by the time I was ready to touch the pedal it just went to the floor and the brakes exploded. I hate it, we’ve had two or three good races in-a-row and there goes the bad luck again. But MJ told
me there’s no such thing as bad luck, we create our own luck. I hate it for my guys. I hate it for McDonald’s. We knew it was going to be a grind and I was mentally prepared for that all day. As frustrating as it gets not being able to pass here in Pocono, we were going to just take our lumps and march our way through and set ourselves up for the end of the race, but the brakes just didn’t want to hang on that long." - Bubba Wallace, finished 36th (Crashed out) Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.
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