Frontstretch Newsletter: July 14, 2025
Volume
XIX, Edition CXVI |
And Now A Word From Our Title Partner, My Place Hotels! |
My Place Hotels is a proud to be the official hotel sponsor of Frontstretch. With plush beds, in room kitchens and Pet Friendly Hotels My Place makes for the perfect pit stop when traveling. Racing fans can use Promo Code: Frontstretch to save 10% on your stay at any of our nationwide properties. That’s 10% off nationwide with code FRONTSTRETCH. This racing season, be sure to
Make My Place Your Place! |
- Kubota High Limit Sprint Car Series are starting out a busy week for sprint car racing with a Monday night show at Ohio's Fremont Speedway. Coverage from Fremont will stream live on FLORacing at 5:45 p.m. ET. - Teams are hauling back east after this weekend's action in Sonoma. Entry lists for this weekend's races at Dover Motor Speedway 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 Dominates Toyota/Save Mart
350 Trackhouse Racing's Shane van Gisbergen led 97 of 110 laps Sunday to win the Toyota/Save Mart 350k Sunday for his third win of the year. Chase Briscoe was second, then Chase Elliott, Michael McDowell and Christopher Bell. |
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| Chase Briscoe Best of the Rest Behind Dominant Shane van
Gisbergen Chase Briscoe gave everything that he had Sunday in Sonoma. He just couldn't stick with Shane van Gisbergen. A second-place finish did give him a lot of confidence going forward. |
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| Sonoma Strategy Falls Michael McDowell’s Way with Top-5
Finish Michael McDowell was on an alternate pit strategy and falling back when Cody Ware lost a wheel. The choice to pit for tires allowed him to drive up to fourth at the finish. |
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| Here’s What Happened in the 23XI/FRM vs. NASCAR Lawsuit
This Week (July 6-11) Last week, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports' attempt to have their preliminary injunction repeal reheard was denied. There is the possibility that the team's charters could be taken away this week. |
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| Connor Zilisch Holds Off Shane van Gisbergen to Win Sonoma
Xfinity Thriller JR Motorsports' Connor Zilisch held off Shane van Gisbergen in a race-long battle Saturday to win the Pit Boss/FoodMaxx 250k at Sonoma Raceway for his third win of the year. William Sawalich was third, followed by Nick Sanchez and Riley
Herbst. |
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| Career-Best Finish Caps Off Banner Sonoma Outing for
William Sawalich William Sawalich has had a miserable rookie year in the Xfinity Series. Saturday saw him put up his best run of the year, finishing third behind Connor Zilisch and Shane van Gisbergen. |
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| Role Reversal for Erik Jones, Will
Rodgers Will Rodgers finished 16th Saturday for Cope Family Racing at Sonoma. He did so with Erik Jones acting as one of his spotters. |
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| Pato O’Ward Holds Off Dominant Josef Newgarden for Iowa
Race 1 Win Arrow McLaren's Patricio O'Ward beat Josef Newgarden out of the pits late, then held on to win the Synk 275 at Iowa Speedway. Newgarden was second, then Will Power, Scott McLaughlin and Alex Palou. |
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| Almost Penske Perfect: Opinions Differ After 2-3-4 Finish
at Iowa Team Penske appeared to beat back their recent struggles Saturday with strong runs from Will Power, Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin, but not everyone agreed about the day at large. |
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| Christian Rasmussen Charges Through IndyCar Field to
Finish 6th at Iowa Ed Carpenter Racing's Christian Rasmussen drove up from 19th on the grid to finish a strong sixth Saturday. |
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| Alex Palou Wins Iowa Race 2 as Josef Newgarden’s Bad Luck
Continues Chip Ganassi Racing's Alex Palou led 194 of 275 laps Sunday to win the Farm to Finish 275 at Iowa Speedway, his seventh win of the year. Scott Dixon was second, then Marcus Armstrong, David Malukas and Patricio O'Ward. |
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| Nolan Siegel Not Cleared To Drive Iowa Race
2 Sunday's Farm to Finish 275 started with only 26 cars on the grid. Arrow McLaren's Nolan Siegel crashed during the Synk 275 Saturday and was not cleared to race. |
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| Despite Setbacks, Robert Shwartzman Takes Career-Best
Finish in Iowa For PREMA Racing's Robert Shwartzman, 2025 has been an up-and-down season. Sunday saw him finish ninth, a career-best, at Iowa. |
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| Banner Day for Dale Coyne Racing at Iowa Includes
Career-Best Finish for Jacob Abel 2025 has been a struggle at the time for Dale Coyne Racing. On Sunday in Iowa, Jacob Abel finished a season-best 11th while Rinus VeeKay was 12th. |
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| Myles Rowe Scores First Indy NXT Victory at Iowa
Speedway Force Indy's Myles Rowe swept around the outside of Dennis Hauger to take the lead late Saturday morning. From there, he held on to become the first black driver to win in the Firestone Indy NXT Series. |
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| William Sawalich Wins ARCA West Race at
Sonoma In a wild finish Friday afternoon, Joe Gibbs Racing's William Sawalich won the ARCA Menards Series West General Tire 200 at Sonoma over Christian Eckes. Alon Day was third, then Trevor Huddleston and Tyler Reif. |
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| Spike Claims Overall Honors At
CTMP AO Racing's Dane Cameron took the lead with 14 minutes to go when Inter Europol Competition's Tom Dillmann crashed. From there, he held on to win the Chevrolet Grand Prix with PJ Hyett. |
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| Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA Scores 1-2 Finish In 6 Hours of
Sao Paulo Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA's Alex Lynn, Norman Nato and Will Stevens recovered from an early drive-through penalty to win the Rolex 6 Hours of Sao Paulo, the first WEC victory for Cadillac. |
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| CarBahn Motorsports with Peregrine Racing Wins CTMP
120 CarBahn Motorsports with Peregrine Racing's Sean McAlister and Jeff Westphal were able to one-stop their way to victory in Saturday's two-hour Michelin Pilot Challenge race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. |
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| Valentino Catalano Wins CTMP VP Racing Challenge Race No.
1 Valentino Catalano took the lead early Saturday morning and held on to win his fourth IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Championship race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. |
Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, James Black, Travis Hinkle, Chris Owens and Joe Skibinski of Penske Entertainment, IMSA, DPPI and our own 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: July 11-13 |
- IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge Race No. 2 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park was supposed to take place at 11:10 a.m. ET Sunday morning. However, severe weather first postponed the race until after the Chevrolet Grand Prix. Prior to the start of the 160-minute WeatherTech
race, IMSA officially postponed the race. They officially stated that team logistics, specifically international travel
for drivers and crossing the border back into the United States for teams, for the postponement. The race will be made up later this year, but it is unclear when that will be. - World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series teams were in Wisconsin last weekend for the Larry Hillerud Memorial Badger 40 at Wilmot Raceway. Friday night's card was washed out due to severe weather. Saturday night saw Buddy Kofoid keep up his momentum from the past month. He started from pole and led all 40 laps to win the Badger 40. He finished. 746 seconds ahead of David Gravel. Carson Macedo was third, then Chris Windom and Logan Schuchart. Gravel's second-place finish means that he now has a 180-point lead over Kofoid. Macedo
is third, then Schuchart and Sheldon Haudenschild. - The Kubota High Limit Sprint Car Series spent last weekend at Florence Speedway in Northern Kentucky for the Kentucky Sprint Nationals. Friday night's feature had trouble getting started as there were two red flags for crashes. First, Danny Sams III and Bobby Elliott flipped on the first lap in turn 3. Then, a multi-car wreck on the backstretch involving Spencer Bayston broke out. At the front, Brad Sweet won the FK Rod Ends Dash to earn the pole, then led flag-to-flag to take the win. Tyler Courtney was second, then Rico Abreu, Aaron Reutzel and Daison Pursley. Saturday night's scheduled feature was cancelled due to rain in the afternoon and the threat of severe weather. The race will not be made up. Sweet has
a three-point lead in the standings over Reutzel. Courtney is third, then Abreu and Brent Marks. - World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series teams spent the weekend at Sharon Speedway for the Battle at the Border. Friday night saw Bobby Pierce dominate the proceedings. He led all 40 laps en route to victory. Pierce won by 5.119 seconds over Drake Troutman. Brian Shirley was third, then Ryan Gustin and Nick Hoffman. Saturday night looked like it could have been more of the same. Pierce took the lead on an early restart from Dennis Erb Jr. and looked good to win his fourth
straight race at Sharon. However, Mike Marlar ran down Pierce in the final laps and got past on lap 44. From there, he held on to win. Pierce ended up second, followed by Erb and Tanner English. Shirley was fifth. In the points, Pierce wiped out his
losses from last week and now has a 92-point lead over Hoffman. Gustin is third, then Troutman and Tim McCreadie. |
This is just a sampling of the videos that we uploaded to our YouTube channels from Sonoma, Iowa and Hickory last weekend. For more from Sonoma, Iowa and Hickory, 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 Playoffs: William Byron Stops The Bleeding In Sonoma
by Phil Allaway
After three consecutive terrible weekends, William Byron had a good day Sunday in Sonoma, finishing in eighth. That effectively allowed him to stand pat in the standings. Byron's point lead increased by one point to 14 over teammate
Chase Elliott, who used fresh tires to drive up to third. Kyle Larson had a pretty miserable day that was made worse by a late crash that dropped him to 35th. He stays in third, but loses significant ground. Tyler Reddick moved up one place to fourth after finishing sixth. Denny Hamlin had a
mediocre run to 20th Sunday that dropped him back to fifth. Christopher Bell remains in sixth after a fifth-place finish. Ryan Blaney got forced off-course and lost multiple laps. He would finish 36th, but stay in seventh. Chase Briscoe's second-place finish moved him up one spot to eighth. Ross
Chastain won stage one, but finished 24th and dropped to ninth. Chris Buescher is up a place to 10th after finishing 16th. Joey Logano is up to 11th after sneaking into the top 10 at the finish. Alex Bowman is down two spots to 12th after a bump-and-run on the final lap in turn 11 dropped him to 19th. Bubba
Wallace scored 15 stage points Sunday, but spun in the final stage and finished 26th. He stays in 13th, the last driver in the playoffs on points. Wallace has a three-point lead over Ryan Preece, who finished 12th without stage points. Kyle Busch is up one place to 15th after finishing 10th, while AJ Allmendinger is 16th. Ty Gibbs' good form on road courses moved him up two places to 17th after a seventh-place finish. Erik Jones is down one place to 18th, while Michael McDowell gained four places to 19th with his fourth-place finish. Austin Cindric is down to 20th. With his third win of the year, Shane van
Gisbergen moved up one place to 26th. He is 62 points out of the top 16. Point Standings (1-16): 1) William Byron 668, 2) Chase Elliott -14, 3) Kyle Larson
-44, 4) Tyler Reddick -53, 5) Denny Hamlin -62, 6) Christopher Bell -71, 7) Ryan Blaney -123, 8) Chase Briscoe -142, 9) Ross Chastain -155, 10) Chris Buescher -168, 11) Joey Logano
-169, 12) Alex Bowman -170, 13) Bubba Wallace -199, 14) Ryan Preece -202, 15) Kyle Busch -236, 16) AJ Allmendinger -249. Outside of the top-16, but still in
playoffs: 20) Austin Cindric -272, 21) Josh Berry -278, 26) Shane van Gisbergen -301. 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) Shane van Gisbergen -6, 4) Christopher Bell -7, 5) William Byron -11, , 6) Ryan Blaney -14, 7) Austin Cindric
-15, 8) Joey Logano -16, t-9) Chase Briscoe -17, t-9) Ross Chastain -17, t-9) Josh Berry -17, 12) Chase Elliott -18, t-13) Bubba Wallace -21, t-13) Ryan Preece -21, t-15) Tyler Reddick -22, t-15) Chris Buescher -22, t-15)
Michael McDowell -22. Stage Points: 1) William Byron 195, 2) Ryan Blaney -32, 3) Tyler Reddick
-45, 4) Denny Hamlin -51, 5) Kyle Larson -52, 6) Bubba Wallace -63, 7) Chase Elliott -81, 8) Alex Bowman -89, 9) Austin Cindric -95, 10) Joey Logano -100, t-11) Carson Hocevar
-104, t-11) Christopher Bell -104, 13) Chase Briscoe -120, 14) Chris Buescher -124, 15) Josh Berry -125, 16) Ryan Preece -131. Note: The Stage
Points include the Duels at Daytona.
Outside of the top 16, but Still in the Playoffs: 17) Ross Chastain -136, 19) Shane van Gisbergen -145. Note: The
Stage Points also include the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Chase Elliott 626, 2) Christopher Bell -33, 3) Kyle Larson -60, 4) William Byron
-65, 5) Tyler Reddick -76, 6) Denny Hamlin -84, 7) Chase Briscoe -86, 8) Ross Chastain -92, 9) Chris Buescher -105, 10) Joey Logano -133, 11) Ryan Preece -142, t-12) Alex Bowman
-145, t-12) Kyle Busch -145, 14) Ty Gibbs -154, 15) Ryan Blaney -160, 16) Michael McDowell -178. Outside of the top 16, but still in the playoffs: 21) Bubba Wallace
-205, 23) Josh Berry -222, 25) Shane van Gisbergen -227, 27) Austin Cindric -239. Note: These standings are based on the old point system that was used before stages were created. WC Points (1-16): 1) Chase Elliott 2762, 2) Christopher Bell -79, 3) Kyle Larson -153, 4) William Byron -160, 5) Tyler Reddick -235, 6) Chase Briscoe -250, 7) Denny
Hamlin -261, 8) Ross Chastain -302, 9) Chris Buescher -363, 10) Alex Bowman -437, 11) Joey Logano -445, 12) Ryan Preece -465, 13) Ryan Blaney -474, 14) Kyle Busch -481, 15) Ty Gibbs
-495, 16) Michael McDowell -580. Outside of the top-16, but still in the playoffs: 20) Bubba Wallace -648, 23) Josh Berry -718, 24) Shane van Gisbergen -728, 29) Austin Cindric
-807. 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-1, 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, Chicago, Sonoma), Chase Briscoe (Pocono), Chase Elliott (Atlanta-2)
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 Continues To Lead
by Phil Allaway
Justin Allgaier had a decent day Saturday in Sonoma, scoring 40 points and finishing sixth. That allowed him to expand his lead back up to 59 points over Sam Mayer, who now has sole possession of second despite finishing 17th. Austin Hill is down to third after finishing 12th with no stage points. Connor Zilisch's
third win of the year boosted him up one place to fourth. Jesse Love burned up his rear gear early and finished 38th. That dropped him to fifth. Carson Kvapil is still in sixth after an eighth-place finish. Brandon Jones is still in seventh, while Sheldon Creed remains in eighth. Nick Sanchez finished fourth, but stays in ninth and actually lost ground to Creed. Sammy Smith is up one place to 10th after a ninth-place finish. Taylor Gray moved up to 11th with his seventh-place finish, while Jeb Burton dropped to 12th. He is now the final driver in the playoffs on points. Jeb has a 16-point lead over his cousin Harrison Burton, who finished 21st. Ryan Sieg's freefall continued Saturday as a 35th-place finish means that he's now 50 points behind Jeb. Dean Thompson is up to 15th, while Christian Eckes crashed, finished 34th and fell back to 16th. Point Standings (1-16): 1) Justin Allgaier 686, 2) Sam Mayer -59, 3) Austin Hill -64, 4) Connor Zilisch -69, 5) Jesse Love -104, 6) Carson Kvapil -132, 7) Brandon
Jones -159, 8) Sheldon Creed -168, 9) Nick Sanchez -179, 10) Sammy Smith -184, 11) Taylor Gray -200, 12) Jeb Burton -206, 13) Harrison Burton -222, 14) Ryan Sieg -256, 15) Dean
Thompson -272, 16) Christian Eckes -287. Playoff Points: t-1) Austin Hill 21, t-1) Justin Allgaier 21, 3) Connor Zilisch -3, 4) Brandon Jones -13, 5) Sammy Smith -14, t-6)
Jesse Love -15, t-6) Nick Sanchez -15, t-6) Aric Almirola -15, t-9) Harrison Burton -19, t-9) Sam Mayer -19, t-10) Carson Kvapil -20, t-10) Sheldon Creed -20, t-10) Taylor Gray -20, t-9) Dean Thompson -20. Note: If they were eligible for NASCAR Xfinity Series points, Kyle Larson would be fourth, William Byron tied for fifth, Shane van Gisbergen tied for eighth, Daniel Suarez 12th and Alex Bowman tied for 15th in playoff points. Stage Points: 1) Justin Allgaier 199, 2) Connor Zilisch
-60, 3) Austin Hill -67, 4) Sheldon Creed -71, 5) Sam Mayer -74, 6) Sammy Smith -82, 7) Brandon Jones -85, 8) Nick Sanchez -90, 9) Carson Kvapil -91, 10) Jesse Love
-93, 11) Taylor Gray -115, 12) Ryan Sieg -124, 13) Aric Almirola -129, 14) Jeb Burton -139, 15) Christian Eckes -149, t-16) Dean Thompson -164, t-16) Anthony Alfredo -164. Note: If he were eligible for NASCAR Xfinity Series points, Kyle Larson would be 16th in stage points. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Sam Mayer 584, 2) Justin Allgaier -12, 3) Austin
Hill -15, 4) Connor Zilisch -22, 5) Jesse Love -25, 6) Carson Kvapil -58, 7) Harrison Burton -73, 8) Jeb Burton -87, 9) Brandon Jones -89, t-10) Sammy Smith -107, t-10) Taylor Gray
-107, 12) Nick Sanchez -108, 13) Sheldon Creed -114, 14) Dean Thompson -131, 15) Daniel Dye -145, 16) Ryan Sieg -153. WC Points (1-16): 1) Sam Mayer
2617, 2) Justin Allgaier -10, 3) Austin Hill -43, 4) Jesse Love -87, 5) Connor Zilisch -97, 6) Carson Kvapil -214, 7) Harrison Burton -284, 8) Brandon Jones -319, 9) Jeb Burton
-337, 10) Taylor Gray -350, 11) Nick Sanchez -374, 12) Sheldon Creed -378, 13) Sammy Smith -415, 14) Dean Thompson -480, 15) Daniel Dye -522, 16) Ryan Sieg -526. Race Winners: Jesse Love (Daytona), Austin Hill (Atlanta-1, Martinsville, Talladega), Connor Zilisch (COTA, Pocono, Sonoma), Aric Almirola (Phoenix), Justin Allgaier (Las Vegas, Homestead, Nashville), Brandon Jones (Darlington), Kyle Larson (Bristol, Texas), Sammy Smith (Rockingham), William Byron (Charlotte), Nick Sanchez (Atlanta-2), Shane van Gisbergen (Chicago) 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. 7
by Phil Allaway
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series was off last weekend. They will not resume their season until July 25 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. When the teams get to Indiana, Corey Heim will have a 144-point lead over Chandler Smith
with three races remaining in the regular season. He'll have the chance to lock up the regular season championship with a decent run. Layne Riggs is third in points, followed by Daniel Hemric. Kaden Honeycutt rounds out the top-five. Ty Majeski is the final driver in the playoffs on points. He has a 38-point lead over Jake Garcia. Gio Ruggiero is 10th, but he's more than a full race behind Majeski. Point Standings (1-16): 1) Corey Heim
690, 2) Chandler Smith -144, 3) Layne Riggs -165, 4) Daniel Hemric -176, 5) Kaden Honeycutt -199, 6) Grant Enfinger -202, 7) Tyler Ankrum -222, 8) Ty Majeski -228, 9) Jake Garcia
-266, 10) Gio Ruggiero -293, 11) Stewart Friesen -295, 12) Ben Rhodes -296, 13) Rajah Caruth -306, 14) Tanner Gray -329, 15) Connor Mosack -369, 16) Matt Crafton -381.
Playoff Points: 1) Corey Heim 39, 2) Chandler Smith -28, 3) Layne Riggs -30, 4) Tyler Ankrum -33, t-5) Daniel Hemric -34, t-5) Rajah Caruth -34, t-5) Stewart Friesen -34, 8) Grant Enfinger
-37, t-9) Ty Majeski -38, t-9) Ben Rhodes -38, t-9) Gio Ruggiero -38, t-9) Jack Wood -38, t-9) Matt Crafton -38, t-9) Bayley Currey -38.
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 221, 2) Kaden Honeycutt -90, 3) Layne Riggs -97, 4) Chandler Smith -98, 5) Ty Majeski
-116, 6) Grant Enfinger -134, 7) Daniel Hemric -139, 8) Tyler Ankrum -142, 9) Connor Mosack -158, t-10) Stewart Friesen -164, t-10) Jake Garcia -164, 12) Ben Rhodes -169, 13) Tanner Gray
-174, 14) Rajah Caruth -176, 15) Gio Ruggiero -188, 16) Matt Crafton -193. 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 2361, 2) Daniel Hemric -191, 3) Chandler Smith -226, 4) Grant Enfinger
-283, 5) Layne Riggs -287, 6) Tyler Ankrum -327, 7) Jake Garcia -423, 8) Gio Ruggiero -425, 9) Kaden Honeycutt -437, 10) Ty Majeski -451, 11) Rajah Caruth -489, 12) Ben Rhodes
-499, 13) Stewart Friesen -509, 14) Tanner Gray -601, 15) Matt Crafton -714, 16) Andres Perez -720. Race Winners: Corey Heim (Daytona, Las Vegas, Texas, Charlotte, Lime Rock), 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 Toyota/Save Mart 350k was brought to you by the letter N for Not In Doubt. Shane van Gisbergen is on a roll right now and just could not be beat. He won with veritable ease, leaving his
competitors thinking that he had more in the bank that he didn't have to use. - Phil Allaway |
Quotes to Remember: Toyota/Save Mart 350k compiled by Phil Allaway
"This is amazing. This is why we go racing. I had a great time. It’s awesome to have Red Bull on the car this weekend. Trackhouse Racing gave me a great Chevrolet again. What a great couple of weeks! Just to execute, make no mistakes, have great pit stops, great strategy and be able to hold them off there at the end – it’s incredible. Chase [Briscoe] was driving really well. We had a lot
of fun there. "I don’t dream about that stuff.. that’s why we work hard – to repay and reward everyone that helps make this happen. It was a tough start to the season, but we’re getting better and better. To win three NASCAR Cup Series races is unbelievable." - Shane van Gisbergen, race winner
"I don’t know. I don’t know if I really saw everything he had, truthfully. I felt like every time I would get close; he would just start driving back away. We were definitely the second-best car. I don’t really know what more I need – maybe a little bit a grip, but even if I had a little more grip, I don’t know if I’m going to be able to gain the speed that he had. But overall, great day for the Bass Pro Shops Toyota. This is by far my worst race track, so to run
second to him, it definitely means a lot, so proud of the day." - Chase Briscoe, finished second "I’m not sure if there was dirt across the track or what, but it happened a couple of times throughout the day. I was obviously pushing really hard. I just got sliding and ran out of road, but I don’t know that it would have been enough anyways, to be honest. I wasn’t near
as good that run than the run before. I’m not really sure why that was, but the call by Alan [Gustafson] was great. It was nice to be on offense and give ourselves a shot. I wish I could have made it happen there. I was trying, but I just couldn’t get going like we needed to there at the end. We had a really fast No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet all day. I thought we were really solid. We probably needed a little bit more to get Shane [van Gisbergen] and Chase [Briscoe]." - Chase Elliott, finished
third "We needed a little bit more pace out of our No. 71 Gainbridge Chevrolet. We had Project Zin on the car today, which was really cool. Qualifying really hurt us. I think we had decent pace, but we weren’t fast enough to get around the good cars. We got off strategy there, and that didn’t work. Thankfully, we caught a caution and we were able to [put] tires on our
Chevrolet and fight our way back. We salvaged a top-five day, but that’s not what we need. We all know what we need to do, and we just weren’t quite good enough to do it today. But this is part of the process. You have good weeks and bad weeks. Last weekend [at Chicago], we had a car that could win. Today, we were a little off. We’ll keep building on it." - Michael McDowell, finished fourth "It was a rough couple of laps there. Alex [Bowman] and I race really clean. I told him – man, if it wasn’t for the million dollars, I probably wouldn’t have done that, but I had to. It’s been an incredible run for this No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet team. We’ve worked so hard for this opportunity. I can’t thank Matt Kaulig, Chris Rice, Ty Norris and Kaulig Racing for giving me the opportunity to shine again. I’ve worked so hard to get here and I’m just grateful.
All of our partners that are on board, this has just been so much fun. "We’re going to give it all we’ve got at Dover; put pressure on the guys. I think you’ve seen through this that our team doesn’t quit. I saw the No. 48 there at the end, and I knew it was our opportunity to race hard and go get him. Just proud of this team’s effort." - Ty Dillon, finished
17th Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of our own Danny
Peters0.
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