Frontstretch Newsletter: Carson Hocevar Continues To Agitate The Garage

Published: Mon, 08/04/25

Updated: Mon, 08/04/25

Frontstretch Newsletter: Aug. 4, 2025
Volume XIX, Edition CXXXI

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What to Watch: Monday

- Teams are working their way back to their shops today. Meanwhile, preparations are still underway for this weekend's action in Watkins Glen. Entry lists for this weekend's races 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:

William Byron Wins Iowa Corn 350

Hendrick Motorsports' William Byron made his fuel last the final 144 laps Sunday to win the Iowa Corn 350 at Iowa Speedway. Chase Briscoe was second, then Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney and Ryan Preece.

‘Hurricane’ Hocevar Strikes Iowa: Leaves Drivers, Crew Chiefs Upset

Carson Hocevar may have finished eighth Sunday in Iowa, but he irritated a lot of teams, especially Zane Smith's, after he spun Smith out.

(Photo: NASCAR Media via Meg Oliphant of Getty Images)

Brad Keselowski, Ryan Preece Suffer Playoff Crop Failure at Iowa

For RFK Racing, Sunday's Iowa Corn 350 was a great day as Brad Keselowski won the first two stages. The team also put two cars in the top-five for the second week in a row.

Sam Mayer Victorious in Xfinity Series at Iowa

Haas Factory Team's Sam Mayer took the lead with 28 laps to go Saturday and held on to successfully defend his victory in the Hy-Vee Perks 250. Jesse Love was second, then Ross Chastain, Connor Zilisch and Harrison Burton.

Harrison Burton Shines with Iowa Top 5 to Move Above Xfinity Playoff Cut Line

Harrison Burton has been consistent in 2025, but hasn't been able to put up a great finish. Saturday saw him finish fifth and move back up to 11th in points.

Christopher Bell to Sub for Stewart Friesen at Watkins Glen

Halmar Friesen Racing announced Saturday that Christopher Bell will drive the No. 52 Toyota in Friday's Mission 176 at the Glen in place of the injured Stewart Friesen.

Lando Norris Wins a Closely Fought Hungarian Grand Prix

McLaren's Lando Norris used an alternate pit strategy to run hard tires to the finish to win the Grand Prix of Hungary Sunday. Oscar Piastri was second, followed by George Russell, Charles Leclerc and Fernando Alonso.

Brenden Queen Takes 5th ARCA Victory of 2025 at Iowa

Brenden Queen was able to hold off a late charge from Brent Crews in order to win the Atlas 150, a combined ARCA Menards Series and ARCA Menards Series East race at Iowa Speedway. Crews was second, then Lawless Alan, Isabella Robusto and Lavar Scott.

Clubb Racing Inc. Involved in Auto Accident en Route from Iowa

After Friday night's Atlas 150 in Iowa, Clubb Racing Inc.'s hauler was involved in a crash on Interstate 80, resulting in a substantial equipment loss for the team.

BMW M Team RLL Claims Road America 1-2

BMW M Team RLL used pit strategy to get to the front Sunday at Road America. From there, Philipp Eng and Dries Vanthoor were able to hold on to win the Motul SportsCar Grand Prix at Road America.

Jenson Altzman, Nate Cicero Win Road America 120

McCumbee McAleer Racing's Jenson Altzman and Nate Cicero dominated Saturday's IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race at Road America to earn their first-ever victory in the series.

Mini Tyrrell, Spencer Davis Capture Record Payouts in CARS Tour Throwback Classic

After rain delayed the event to Sunday night, Mini Tyrrell was able to win the Late Model Stock Throwback Classic at Hickory Motor Speedway, winning $50,000. Spencer Davis won the Pro Late Model race.

Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, NASCAR Media via Meg Oliphant of Getty Images, Rudy Carezzevoli of Getty Images and our own Phil Allaway, Josh Calloni and 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: Aug. 1-3

- IMSA announced their 2026 plans for LMP3 cars Friday afternoon at Road America. The biggest change is that the new third-generation LMP3 cars with the Toyota engines will be legal to race. They will race alongside the second-generation prototypes for at least 2026.

The VP Racing SportsCar Challenge schedule was previously released in March. In addition, there will be four two-hour endurance races on race weekends run by USAC. Those races will be at Sebring, Circuit of the Americas, VIRginia International Raceway and Road America. These races will feature a mandatory driver change.

- World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series teams were in Pevely. Mo. over the weekend for the Ironman 55. Friday night saw the Jason Johnson Racing team deal with a fire during engine warmup, which caused a scramble.

Carson Macedo ran well enough in his heat to make the Dash. He then claimed the pole for the Dash in a redraw, then won the Dash to earn the pole for the A-Main.

In the A-Main, Macedo led flag-to-flag to take his seventh win of the year. Donny Schatz was 2.833 seconds back in second, then Buddy Kofoid, David Gravel and Logan Schuchart.

Saturday night saw the Outlaws take on Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 for 55 laps. Here, Macedo had a good enough car to sweep the weekend. He started from the pole and was running away with the race.

Then, a caution came out. During that yellow, Macedo cut his right rear tire and was forced to pit for a replacement. He would eventually finish 12th.

Macedo stopping gave the lead over to Sheldon Haudenschild. Kofoid was there and threatening. Haudenschild held off Kofoid until Kofoid pulled a slide job to take the lead with five laps to go. From there, Kofoid held on to take the Ironman 55 victory and a check for $25,000.

Kofoid won by .986 seconds over Tanner Thorson. Haudenschild slipped to third, while Gravel was fourth. Zach Hampton was fifth.

Gravel's pair of fourth-place finishes means that his points lead is down to 172 over Kofoid. Macedo is third, then Schuchart and Haudenschild.

- World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series teams were at Cedar Lake Speedway for the USA Nationals. Garrett Alberson started from the pole and led early.

However, Alberson ran afoul of bumps in turns 1 and 2. That allowed Ryan Gustin to take the lead away on lap 12. Once out front, Gustin was able to pull away from the pack.

Devin Moran slowing on track set up a seven-lap sprint to the finish. From there, Gustin was able to hold on to win the USA Nationals and take home a check for $100,000.

Gustin's margin of victory was 1.049 seconds over Mike Marlar. Hudson O'Neal was third, then Nick Hoffman and Chris Madden.

Bobby Pierce continues to lead the points by 74 over Hoffman. Gustin is third, then Tim McCreadie, who won Thursday night's USA Nationals preliminary feature. Drake Troutman is fifth.

Frontstretch Videos:

"Yeah, I'm Fine" - Kyle Busch OK After Hard Crash in NASCAR Cup Series Practice at Iowa

Carson Hocevar on Contact w/ Zane Smith at Iowa; Ryan Bergenty, Zane's Crew Chief, Confronts Hocevar

Connor Zilisch Apologizes to Justin Allgaier, No. 7 Team After Contact: "I Take Responsibility"

Denny Hamlin on Austin Hill Suspension: "I Think the Penalty is Definitely Enough"

This is just a sampling of the videos that we uploaded to our YouTube channels from Iowa last weekend. For more from Iowa, 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 Playoffs: William Byron Retakes The Lead
by Phil Allaway

Chase Elliott ran well early on Sunday, but faded late to a 14th-place finish. Meanwhile, teammate William Byron made his fuel last for 144 laps to win.

As a result, Byron has regained the points lead. His margin is 18 points over Elliott. Kyle Larson dropped back to a 28th-place finish late, but remains in third. Denny Hamlin was involved in a crash and finished 24th, staying in fourth.

Christopher Bell got involved in an incident of his own and finished 17th, keeping him in fifth. Bell was in that wreck with Tyler Reddick, who finished 19th and stays in sixth. Ryan Blaney finished fourth and remains in seventh. Chase Briscoe finished sixth, but lost ground to Blaney in eighth.

Alex Bowman is still in ninth after a seventh-place finish. Bubba Wallace charged from two laps down to finish sixth, moving up to 10th in the process. Wallace jumped over Chris Buescher, who finished 22nd. He is the last driver in the playoffs on points. Joey Logano remains in 12th.

Buescher has a 23-point lead over his teammate Ryan Preece, who moved up one place to 13th after a fifth-place finish. Ross Chastain is down one place to 14th despite an 11th-place finish. Kyle Busch remains in 15th, then Ty Gibbs.

Austin Cindric is still in 17th after a good run with 17 stage points. AJ Allmendinger remains in 18th, while Brad Keselowski won the first two stages and finished fourth. That run moved him up five spots to a season-best 19th. John Hunter Nemechek is still in 20th.

Point Standings (1-16): 1) William Byron 770, 2) Chase Elliott -18, 3) Kyle Larson -45, 4) Denny Hamlin -51, 5) Christopher Bell -86, 6) Tyler Reddick -97, 7) Ryan Blaney -105, 8) Chase Briscoe -130, 9) Alex Bowman -156, 10) Bubba Wallace -189, 11) Chris Buescher -196, 12) Joey Logano -210, 13) Ryan Preece -219, 14) Ross Chastain -226, 15) Kyle Busch -269, 16) Ty Gibbs -283.

Outside of the top-16, but still in playoffs: 17) Austin Cindric -289, 21) Josh Berry -327, t-25) Shane van Gisbergen -372.

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

Playoff Points: 1) Denny Hamlin 24, 2) Kyle Larson -1, t-3) Shane van Gisbergen -7, t-3) Christopher Bell -7, t-3) William Byron -7, 6) Ryan Blaney -14, 7) Austin Cindric -16, t-8) Joey Logano -17, t-8) Chase Briscoe -17, t-8) Bubba Wallace -17, t-11) Ross Chastain -18, t-11) Josh Berry -18, t-11) Chase Elliott -18, t-14) Ryan Preece -22, t-14) Brad Keselowski -22, t-16) Tyler Reddick -23, t-16) Chris Buescher -23, t-16) Michael McDowell -23.

Stage Points: 1) William Byron 230, 2) Ryan Blaney -39, 3) Denny Hamlin -62, 4) Kyle Larson -63, 5) Tyler Reddick -73, 6) Bubba Wallace -87, 7) Chase Elliott -96, 8) Alex Bowman -100, 9) Austin Cindric -113, 10) Christopher Bell -120, 11) Carson Hocevar -127, t-12) Joey Logano -130, t-12) Chase Briscoe -130, 14) Chris Buescher -151, 15) Josh Berry -155, 16) Ryan Preece -164.

Note: The Stage Points include the Duels at Daytona.

Outside of the top 16, but Still in the Playoffs: 18) Ross Chastain -171, t-20) Shane van Gisbergen -180.

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

Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Chase Elliott 719, 2) Christopher Bell -45, 3) Kyle Larson -63, 4) Chase Briscoe -75, 5) Denny Hamlin -77, 6) William Byron -78, 7) Tyler Reddick -106, 8) Chris Buescher -120, 9) Alex Bowman -132, 10) Ryan Preece -139, 11) Ross Chastain -145, 12) Ryan Blaney -147, 13) Joey Logano -158, 14) Ty Gibbs -170, 15) Kyle Busch -171, 16) Bubba Wallace -184.

Outside of the top 16, but still in the playoffs: 22) Austin Cindric -249, 26) Josh Berry -255, 28) Shane van Gisbergen -277.

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

WC Points (1-16): 1) Chase Elliott 3172, 2) Christopher Bell -121, 3) Kyle Larson -149, 4) Chase Briscoe -196, 5) William Byron -200, 6) Denny Hamlin -230, 7) Tyler Reddick -336, 8) Alex Bowman -388, 9) Chris Buescher -417, 10) Ryan Blaney -426, 11) Ryan Preece -449, 12) Ross Chastain -472, 13) Joey Logano -529, 14) Ty Gibbs -545, 15) Kyle Busch -570, 16) Bubba Wallace -577.

Outside of the top-16, but still in the playoffs: 22) Josh Berry -828, 24) Austin Cindric -842, 29) Shane van Gisbergen -889.

Note No. 2: The WC points are based on the original points system created by Bob Latford in 1975.

Race Winners: William Byron (Daytona, Iowa), Christopher Bell (Atlanta-1, COTA, Phoenix), Josh Berry (Las Vegas), Kyle Larson (Homestead, Bristol, Kansas), Denny Hamlin (Martinsville, Darlington, Michigan, Dover), 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), Bubba Wallace (Indianapolis)

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: We Have a JR Motorsports Dead Heat
by Phil Allaway

Justin Allgaier had a quiet day Saturday in Iowa. Despite that, he was in position for a good finish until contact from Connor Zilisch resulted in a spin. Allgaier ended up finishing 16th while Zilisch was fourth.

As a result, Allgaier and ZIlisch are now equal on 772 points through 22 races. Zilisch gets the tiebreaker due to him having five wins to Allgaier's third. The JR Motorsports teammates are 16 points ahead of Sam Mayer, who earned his first win of the year Saturday. Jesse Love finished second and stays in fourth.

Austin Hill sat out Sunday due to his suspension for wrecking Aric Almirola in Indianapolis. While he lost points, he stays in fifth. Carson Kvapil is up one place to sixth after finishing ninth. Kvapil jumped over Brandon Jones, who ran well, but spun late and finished 23rd. Sheldon Creed is still in eighth.

Taylor Gray is still in ninth, followed by Sammy Smith. Harrison Burton is up two places to 11th after a fifth-place finish. He is now the last driver in the playoffs on points. Nick Sanchez is still in 12th.

Harrison Burton has a 17-point lead over Ryan Sieg, who is up one place to 13th after an eighth-place finish. Jeb Burton dropped three spots to 14th after a disappointing 29th-place finish. Christian Eckes is up one place to 15th after a 10th-place finish, jumping over Dean Thompson.

Point Standings (1-16): t-1) Connor ZIlisch 772, t-1) Justin Allgaier 772, 3) Sam Mayer -16, 4) Jesse Love -70, 5) Austin Hill -122, 6) Carson Kvapil -150, 7) Brandon Jones -154, 8) Sheldon Creed -161, 9) Taylor Gray -176, 10) Sammy Smith -205, 11) Harrison Burton -226, 12) Nick Sanchez -237, 13) Ryan Sieg -243, 14) Jeb Burton -245, 15) Christian Eckes -295, 16) Dean Thompson -304.

Playoff Points: 1) Connor Zilisch 30, 2) Justin Allgaier -8, t-3) Sam Mayer -22, t-3) Brandon Jones -22, 5) Sammy Smith -23, t-6) Jesse Love -24, t-6) Nick Sanchez -24, t-6) Aric Almirola -24, t-9) Harrison Burton -28, t-9) Taylor Gray -28, t-11) Carson Kvapil -29, t-11) Sheldon Creed -29, t-11) Dean Thompson -29.

Note No. 1: Austin Hill earned 21 playoff points previous to Iowa. However, since he was suspended for intentionally wrecking Aric Almirola at Indianapolis, he lost all of his playoff points and cannot earn any until the playoffs start.

Note No. 2: If they were eligible for NASCAR Xfinity Series points, Kyle Larson would be third, William Byron tied for fourth, Shane van Gisbergen tied for eighth, Daniel Suarez 12th and Alex Bowman and Ross Chastain tied for 15th in playoff points.

Stage Points: 1) Justin Allgaier 230, 2) Connor Zilisch -49, 3) Sam Mayer -77, 4) Brandon Jones -79, 5) Sheldon Creed -88, 6) Austin Hill -97, 7) Jesse Love -99, 8) Carson Kvapil -111, 9) Sammy Smith -113, 10) Nick Sanchez -116, 11) Taylor Gray -120, 12) Aric Almirola -127, 13) Ryan Sieg -148, 14) Jeb Burton -170, 15) Christian Eckes -180, 16) Harrison Burton -192.

Note: If they were eligible for NASCAR Xfinity Series points, Kyle Larson would be 15th and Ross Chastain 16th in stage points.

Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Sam Mayer 697, 2) Connor Zilisch -8, 3) Jesse Love -30, 4) Justin Allgaier -55, 5) Austin Hill -93, 6) Harrison Burton -97, 7) Carson Kvapil -102, 8) Taylor Gray -121, 9) Brandon Jones -135, 10) Sheldon Creed -136, 11) Jeb Burton -141, 12) Sammy Smith -142, 13) Ryan Sieg -162, 14) Dean Thompson -178, 15) Christian Eckes -184, 16) Nick Sanchez -187.

WC Points (1-16): 1) Sam Mayer 3099, 2) Connor Zilisch -49, 3) Jesse Love -101, 4) Justin Allgaier -147, 5) Austin Hill -340, 6) Carson Kvapil -367, 7) Harrison Burton -372, 8) Taylor Gray -394, 9) Sheldon Creed -460, 10) Brandon Jones -465, 11) Jeb Burton -522, 12) Sammy Smith -537, 13) Christian Eckes -632, 14) Nick Sanchez -634, 15) Dean Thompson -643, 16) Ryan Sieg -689.

Race Winners: Jesse Love (Daytona), Austin Hill (Atlanta-1, Martinsville, Talladega), Connor Zilisch (COTA, Pocono, Sonoma, Dover, Indianapolis), 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), Sam Mayer (Iowa)

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: Off-Week Update No. 9
by Phil Allaway

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series was off last weekend. They will be back on the track Friday afternoon at Watkins Glen International.

When the series gets there, Corey Heim will have a 143-point lead over Chandler Smith. He has already clinched the regular season championship with two races to spare. Layne Riggs is third, then Daniel Hemric and Grant Enfinger.

Ty Majeski in seventh is the last driver in the playoffs on points right now. He has a 61-point lead over Jake Garcia. Ben Rhodes is next on the list, then Gio Ruggiero. Those drivers will likely need a victory to make the playoffs.

Point Standings (1-16): 1) Corey Heim 735, 2) Chandler Smith -143, 3) Layne Riggs -150, 4) Daniel Hemric -191, 5) Grant Enfinger -199, 6) Kaden Honeycutt -215, 7) Ty Majeski -227, 8) Tyler Ankrum -233, 9) Jake Garcia -288, 10) Ben Rhodes -304, 11) Rajah Caruth -320, 12) Gio Ruggiero -326, 13) Stewart Friesen -339, 14) Tanner Gray -349, 15) Connor Mosack -392, 16) Matt Crafton -407.

Playoff Points: 1) Corey Heim 39, 2) Layne Riggs -23, 2) Chandler Smith -28, 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 231, 2) Layne Riggs -87, 3) Chandler Smith -93, 4) Kaden Honeycutt -94, 5) Ty Majeski -112, 6) Grant Enfinger -129, 7) Tyler Ankrum -147, 8) Daniel Hemric -149, 9) Connor Mosack -166, 10) Ben Rhodes -168, 11) Jake Garcia -173, 12) Stewart Friesen -174, 13) Rajah Caruth -182, 14) Tanner Gray -183, 15) Gio Ruggiero -198, 16) Matt Crafton -204.

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 454, 2) Daniel Hemric -52, 3) Chandler Smith -57, 4) Layne Riggs -72, 5) Grant Enfinger -77, 6) Tyler Ankrum -95, t-7) Ty Majeski -126, t-7) Jake Garcia -126, 9) Kaden Honeycutt -129, 10) Gio Ruggiero -137, 11) Rajah Caruth -145, 12) Ben Rhodes -146, 13) Stewart Friesen -171, 14) Tanner Gray -179, 15) Matt Crafton -215, 16) Andres Perez -218.

WC Points (1-16): 1) Corey Heim 2531, 2) Daniel Hemric -215, 3) Chandler Smith -246, 4) Layne Riggs -272, 5) Grant Enfinger -293, 6) Tyler Ankrum -355, 7) Ty Majeski -466, 8) Jake Garcia -475, 9) Kaden Honeycutt -486, 10) Gio Ruggiero -507, 11) Rajah Caruth -525, 12) Ben Rhodes -539, 13) Stewart Friesen -621, 14) Tanner Gray -647, 15) Matt Crafton -775, 16) Andres Perez -793.

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, Lucas Oil IRP)

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 Iowa Corn 350 was brought to you by the letter D for Durability. Despite a number of crashes Sunday, all 37 cars that started the race managed to finish. Joey Gase, who finished in last, was the only driver more than six laps down at the finish. - Phil Allaway

Quotes to Remember: Iowa Corn 350

compiled by Phil Allaway

"It was just a big relief. I feel like we have been on the bad side of some fuel races, and everybody has been working super hard and that was every ounce it took there at the end. Man, just so damn proud of this team. I feel like we have been through so much this year, and everybody has been working super hard and it showed there at the end." - William Byron, race winner

"First off, I just want to apologize to [Tyler Reddick] and [Christopher Bell], that was just a boneheaded move on my part. Got in there and got loose and ruined their day, that was 100 percent on me. In the end, I was running William [Byron] down and I thought I was in the catbird seat there. I got there and kind of stalled out. I experienced that when I was leading earlier, I caught the back of the field and it was the same thing, as soon as I got there it just kind of died. It’s unfortunate, you are limited in where you can go with the repave. Overall a great finish for our Bass Pro Shops Toyota, it was cool. Johnny [Morris] was here and I was wanting us to win with him here, to end up second was a good recovery. Our day got kind of got flipped upside down when that caution came out and trapped us, but I was able to rebound. Congrats to William, he did a really good job and we’ll go onto the next one." - Chase Briscoe, finished second

"We had so many yellows in stage three that it got the 24 and the 19 where they could make it on fuel pitting way outside the window. We just couldn’t get back by them. Got back by a lot of guys. Restarted 24th there I think after we pitted. Got all the way back up to third but that was as far as I could get. Great run for both of our RFK cars. Obviously, we want to win but we’re in contention, that’s for sure. We will keep putting solid runs on the board and I think this will come to us. We have some pretty strong Ford Mustangs right now. Blaney was really fast there at the end. He had a little bit newer tires and he was running us down. I feel like I was going to get the 19 but Blaney was going to pass me. It was a solid day, we just needed a few more things to go our way." - Brad Keselowski, finished third

"I just restarted a little further back than those guys and it took me longer to get in a decent spot. Honestly, it sort of surprised me just how hard those guys tanked at the end and my car kept chugging along. I ran Brad down but everyone is so free it is hard to pass anybody. You are scared of spinning out and you are creeping around the bottom but it was a fun race. I am really proud of our group for sticking with it. I appreciate Wabash and Ford and Menards for doing what they do. Really good showing and just keep going. It has been a good last few weeks for us. I think the speed is there, just have to keep putting these races together. We had a good shot to win today but it just didn’t work out. The strategies just got really weird with all those cautions. We were on the back end of it and it just kind of cycled me behind. We were covered really nicely. Really proud of the 12 group." - Ryan Blaney, finished fourth

"I am super proud of everyone at RFK for making solid adjustments. We had a little bit of luck there when that caution came out and allowed us to take another shot at it. So, thanks for RFK. Thanks to Mohawk Northeast and everybody with this Ford Mustang. I thought if we had a bunch of restarts we were going to be okay because we were so, so good in that third lane. But it just seemed that long run, that last run, wasn’t the best thing for us. On that restart when we were able to get to third, I thought we were going to have a shot at it. It seemed we could close in on the 19 and the 24 a little bit and then I just got loose. When Brad was catching me I thought ‘what is the best thing to do for a teammate and for the company?’ and wanted to give him the opportunity even if it was at a deficit for us. Ultimately, I look forward to Watkins Glen, Richmond and Daytona. All three of us [RFK Ford Mustangs] can still get in [to the Playoffs]. It is going to take a lot of perseverance and a lot of luck but we have fast race cars and we can get the job done." - Ryan Preece, finished fifth

"I was just relaxed the whole time, really. It was interesting to see how things shake out. We had an up and down day as you mentioned. I was ready to just debrief the whole car mid-race and figure out what we need to do to just wholesale it. We had our issues and just fought really hard to get our Alltroo Camry back in the top-10. I felt really good firing off and I was really hesitant on how that was going to last and here with are P6 after all of that. After the middle part of the race if you would have told me we would finish sixth I would have told you alright." - Bubba Wallace, finished sixth

"I got the right-rear tire really hot on that last restart and hurt myself there. I got a bad restart. We came down in second gear and William [Byron] really slowed the pace down, but I knew he was in second too so I thought it would be OK. [Chase Briscoe] just hammered him and got him going. I got pinned on the bottom; slid the right-rear a couple of times and got it hot. That was on me. I just need to do a better job there. But overall, just proud of this No. 48 Ally Chevrolet team. Once this tire seems to get hot, it seems like it just tanks and you can’t really get it back. I just tried to take care of it from then on. Honestly, I needed to just not speed on pit road early in the race. That hurt us, but it was a good day overcoming that." - Alex Bowman, finished seventh

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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