Frontstretch Newsletter: Nov. 3, 2025
Volume XIX,
Edition CXCVI |
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! |
- Teams are en route back to their shops today as the offseason gets underway. The top drivers are still in Phoenix, preparing for tomorrow's banquet. We'll have everything that breaks for you today at Frontstretch. |
|
| Ryan Blaney Wins at Phoenix, Kyle Larson Wins Cup Series
Championship Ryan Blaney slipped past Brad Keselowski in the final turn Sunday to win the Season Finale 500k at Phoenix Raceway. Keselowski was second, then Kyle Larson, Joey Logano and Kyle Busch. Larson won the championship with his third-place
finish. |
|
| Denny Hamlin’s Championship Falls Apart With 1 Yellow
Flag Denny Hamlin had the dominant car Sunday, leading 208 laps. However, a crash for William Byron brought out a yellow on lap 310. A four-tire stop put him down the order and prevented him from winning the title. |
|
| NASCAR 2025 State of the Sport Address,
Summarized On Friday, NASCAR held their annual State of the Sport address. Here, NASCAR refused to discuss the championship format going forward, touted sponsorship and marketing initiatives. |
|
| Here’s What Happened in the 23XI/FRM vs. NASCAR Lawsuit
This Week (Oct. 25 – 31) The ongoing lawsuit between NASCAR, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports was very busy last week as more than 40 briefs were filed to set ground rules for next month's trial. |
|
| NASCAR Amends Cup Driver Limits for O’Reilly & Truck
Series On Saturday, NASCAR announced new eligibility rules for Cup drivers in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series that would allow drivers to run there more often. |
|
| Jesse Love Bookends 2025 Season with Xfinity
Championship Jesse Love took the lead away from Connor Zilisch with 25 laps to go Saturday night. From there, he held on to win the Xfinity 200 and the Xfinity Series championship. Aric Almirola was second, then Zilisch, Brandon Jones and Justin
Allgaier. |
|
| Connor Zilisch Won the Battles, But Jesse Love Won the
War JR Motorsports' Connor Zilisch was the dominant driver in the Xfinity Series in 2025. However, despite scoring multiple races' more points this year than anyone else, he couldn't beat Jesse Love Saturday and lost the title. |
|
| Corey Heim Survives Double Overtime, Wins 2025 Truck
Series Title Corey Heim used a seven-wide move to the inside on a restart to get in position, then dispatched Ty Majeski on the final restart to claim his 12th win of the year and win the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship. Majeski was second, then Kaden
Honeycutt, Layne Riggs and Rajah Caruth. |
|
| Kaden Honeycutt Confirms Move to TRICON Garage for
2026 After Friday night's Craftsman 150, FOX Sports' Amanda Busick effectively spilled the beans on Kaden Honeycutt moving to TRICON Garage in 2026 to replace Corey Heim. |
|
| Retiring Matt Crafton Critical of Truck Series Racing
After Phoenix Finale Matt Crafton ran his final full-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race Friday night. He wasn't happy with his run and is very unhappy with what the series has become. |
|
| Connor Mosack Caution Costs Layne Riggs Phoenix Win &
Owners’ Championship Similar to Sunday, Layne Riggs had the Craftsman 150 won Friday night. However, Connor Mosack chose not to pit to take care of a tire rub and crashed. That resulted in a sequence of events that cost Riggs the win. |
|
| Dawson Sutton, Rackley W.A.R. to Return Full Time in
Trucks in 2026 After crashing out on the first lap Friday evening, Dawson Sutton confirmed to Frontstretch that he will be back full-time with Rackley W.A.R. for the full 2026 season. |
|
| Brent Crews Dominates Phoenix; Trevor Huddleston Takes
Home Championship Brent Crews led flag-to-flag Saturday afternoon to win the ARCA Menards Series West Desert Diamond West Valley Casino 100. Carson Brown was second, then Thomas Annunziata, Tristan McKee and Leland Honeyman. |
|
| Thomas Annunziata Running ARCA Full Time for
Nitro Thomas Annunziata revealed to Frontstretch Saturday that he will run full-time for Nitro Motorsports in the ARCA Menards Series in 2026. |
Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, NASCAR Media via Jonathan Bachman and Sean Gardner of Getty Images, along with Kostas Lymperopoulos of ARCA Racing. 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: Oct. 31-Nov. 2 |
- The Super DIRTcar Series was in action Saturday night at Georgetown Speedway in Delaware. Here, Erick Rudolph started from pole and led the first lap before he was dispatched by Tim Sears Jr. Alex Payne spent a number of laps racing Rudolph hard before taking second on lap 13. He
was not able to do much with Sears until a yellow closed up the field on lap 33. On the restart, Payne was able to take the advantage away and held onto the lead until a yellow flew for a Peter Britten flat tire. On that restart, Sears took the lead back. Sears led until he caught lapped traffic in the closing laps. Payne was able to move back in on him and got to his inside in turn 4 coming to the white flag. Contact was made, but Payne was able to make the pass and hold on to win the Delaware Diamond 75. Payne won by 1.051 seconds over Sears. Rudolph was third, then Mat Williamson and
Mike Mahaney. With only the World Finals remaining on the schedule, Williamson has a 109-point lead over Alex Yankowski. Payne is third in points, then Matt Sheppard and Rudolph. |
This is just a sampling of the videos that we uploaded to our YouTube channels from Phoenix last weekend. For more from Phoenix, 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: Kyle Larson Wins Title With 2-Tire Stop
by Phil Allaway
Denny Hamlin effectively had the race won until William Byron crashed on lap 309. A two-tire stop put Kyle Larson in fifth for the restart. He was able to move up to third on the final restart. That ended up being enough to give Larson his second championship. Larson won by three points over Hamlin, who finished sixth. Chase Briscoe faded late after two cut tires to finish 18th, taking third in points. Byron ended up 33rd after his late crash, resulting in a fourth-place finish in points. Christopher Bell finished 11th and easily held onto fifth. However, his margin shrunk from 56 points to 30 over Ryan Blaney, who scored a race-high 58 points en route to victory. Joey Logano moved up one place to seventh after finishing fourth. Chase Elliott moved up to eighth with a 10th-place finish. Tyler Reddick had a terrible day Sunday, never really rising into anything resembling contention. A 26th-place finish dropped Reddick two spots to ninth. Ross Chastain moved up one spot to 10th, while Bubba Wallace had electrical problems and dropped to 11th. Shane van Gisbergen will finish 12th in points. Alex Bowman ran well early before a cut tire dropped him back. A 15th-place finish means that he finishes 13th in points. Austin Cindric crashed late and ended up 14th in points. Austin Dillon is 15th, while Josh Berry had a great day Sunday, but couldn't move up from 16th. Outside of the playoffs, Chris Buescher finished 12th to claim the 17th spot by 28 points over teammate Ryan Preece. Ty Gibbs was 19th, while Brad Keselowski (who just missed out on victory Sunday) is 20th. Championship 4 Point Standings: 1) Kyle Larson 5034, 2) Denny Hamlin -3, 3) Chase Briscoe -15, 4) William Byron -30.
Eliminated Driver Point Standings: 5) Christopher Bell 2403,
6) Ryan Blaney -30, 7) Joey Logano -73, 8) Chase Elliott -93, 9) Tyler Reddick -94, 10) Ross Chastain -131, 11) Bubba Wallace -147, 12) Shane van Gisbergen -192, 13) Alex Bowman -211, 14) Austin Cindric -247, 15) Austin Dillon -251, 16) Josh Berry -253.
Non-Playoff Point Standings (1-16): 1) Kyle Larson 1188, 2) William Byron -15, 3) Christopher Bell -31, 4) Ryan Blaney -41, 5) Denny Hamlin -90, 6) Chase Elliott -98, 7) Chase
Briscoe -108, 8) Tyler Reddick -155, 9) Joey Logano -227, 10) Ross Chastain -293, 11) Chris Buescher -299, 12) Bubba Wallace -301, 13) Alex Bowman -312, 14) Ryan Preece -327, 15) Ty Gibbs -405, 16) Brad Keselowski -426. Note: Drivers in italics are either outside of the playoffs, or ineligible for points. Best of the Rest (17-26): 17) Chris Buescher
889, 18) Ryan Preece -28, 19) Ty Gibbs -106, 20) Brad Keselowski -127, 21) Kyle Busch -152, 22) Michael McDowell -155, 23) Carson Hocevar -187, 24) Erik Jones -224, 25) John Hunter Nemechek -225, 26) AJ Allmendinger -240. Playoff Points: 1) Denny Hamlin 42, 2) William Byron -1, 3) Ryan Blaney -3, 4) Kyle Larson -9, t-5) Christopher Bell -14, t-5) Shane van Gisbergen -14, 7) Chase Briscoe -18,
8) Chase Elliott -24, 9) Bubba Wallace -33, t-10) Joey Logano -34, t-10) Austin Cindric -34, 12) Ross Chastain -35, t-13) Tyler Reddick -36, t-13) Josh Berry -36, 15) Austin Dillon -37, 16) Chris Buescher -39, t-17) Alex Bowman -40, t-17) Ryan Preece -40, t-17) Ty Gibbs -40,
t-17) Brad Keselowski -40, 21) Michael McDowell -41. Stage Points: 1) William Byron 344, 2) Ryan
Blaney -28, 3) Kyle Larson -34, 4) Denny Hamlin -87, 5) Bubba Wallace -120, 6) Tyler Reddick -125, 7) Christopher Bell -143, 8) Chase Elliott -148, 9) Chase Briscoe -154, 10) Alex Bowman -175, 11) Joey Logano
-176, 12) Carson Hocevar -200, 13) Austin Cindric -202, 14) Ross Chastain -223, 15) Chris Buescher -241, 16) Ty Gibbs -250.
Note: The Stage Points include the Duels at Daytona. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Christopher Bell 1100, 2) Chase Briscoe -47, 3) Chase Elliott -57, 4) Kyle Larson -66, 5) Denny Hamlin -111, 6) Ryan Blaney
-112, 7) William Byron -114, 8) Tyler Reddick -132, 9) Joey Logano -151, 10) Chris Buescher -155, 11) Ryan Preece -180, 12) Ross Chastain -181, 13) Alex Bowman -237, 14) Ty Gibbs -257, 15) Kyle Busch
-263, 16) Michael McDowell -266. Note: These standings are based on the old point system that was used before stages were created. WC Points (1-16): 1) Christopher Bell 4925, 2) Chase Briscoe -127, 3) Kyle Larson -165, 4) Chase Elliott -211, 5) Ryan Blaney -322, 6) William Byron -358, 7) Denny Hamlin -367, 8) Tyler Reddick -461, 9) Joey
Logano -531, 10) Chris Buescher -579, 11) Ryan Preece -640, 12) Ross Chastain -650, 13) Alex Bowman -771, 14) Ty Gibbs -872, 15) Bubba Wallace -883, 16) Brad Keselowski -920. Note: The WC points are based on the original points system created by Bob Latford in 1975. Race Winners: William Byron (Daytona-1, Iowa), Christopher Bell (Atlanta-1, COTA, Phoenix-1, Bristol-2), Josh Berry (Las Vegas-1), Kyle
Larson (Homestead, Bristol-1, Kansas-1), Denny Hamlin (Martinsville, Darlington-1, Michigan, Dover, Gateway, Las Vegas-2), Austin Cindric (Talladega-1), Joey Logano (Texas), Ross Chastain (Charlotte-1), Ryan Blaney (Nashville, Daytona-2, Loudon, Phoenix-2), Shane van Gisbergen (Mexico City, Chicago, Sonoma, Watkins Glen, Charlotte-2), Chase Briscoe (Pocono, Darlington-2, Talladega-2), Chase Elliott (Atlanta-2, Kansas-2), Bubba Wallace (Indianapolis), Austin Dillon
(Richmond)
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 Championship: Jesse Love Is The Champion
by Phil Allaway
Jesse Love was able to get past Connor Zilisch with 25 laps to go Saturday night and held on to take the win. That was enough for him to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship. Love won by six points over Zilisch, who finished third. Justin
Allgaier, who won stage two and led the most laps, faded to fifth and finished third in points. Carson Kvapil finished 13th and will finish fourth in points. Brandon Jones finished fourth Saturday night and claimed up to fifth in points. He ended up 10 points ahead of Austin Hill, who was very quiet early on, but rebounded late to
finish ninth. Taylor Gray moved up two places to seventh after finishing seventh. Sammy Smith stays in eighth after a sixth-place finish. Sheldon Creed moved up one spot to ninth after an eighth-place finish. Sam Mayer's suspension dropped him five places from fifth to 10th. Nick Sanchez finished 11th in points,
while Harrison Burton is 12th. Outside of the playoffs, Christian Eckes finished 16th and claimed 13th in points by 65 points over Jeb Burton, who crashed out early. Ryan Sieg ended up 15th in points after crashing out due to contact from Eckes. Dean Thompson ended up one point behind Sieg in 16th. Aric Almirola ended up 17th in points in his part-time schedule. However, his second-place finish Saturday night means that the No. 19 team won the owners championship by one point over Zilisch's No. 88. Championship 4 Point Standings: 1) Jesse Love
4040, 2) Connor Zilisch 6, 3) Justin Allgaier -8, 4) Carson Kvapil -16. Owners Championship 4 Point Standings: 1) Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 4035, 2) JR Motorsports No. 88 -1, 3) JR Motorsports No. 7 -3, 4) Richard Childress Racing No. 21 -7. Eliminated Driver Point Standings: 5) Brandon Jones 2240, 6) Austin Hill -10, 7) Taylor Gray -12, 8) Sammy Smith -18, 9) Sheldon Creed -22, 10) Sam Mayer -36, 11) Nick Sanchez -42, 12) Harrison Burton -77. Non-Playoff Point Standings (1-16): 1) Connor Zilisch 1293, 2) Justin Allgaier -56, 3) Jesse Love -204, 4) Sam Mayer -223, 5) Austin Hill -263, 6) Brandon Jones -325, 7) Carson Kvapil -338, 8) Taylor Gray
-391, 9) Sheldon Creed -409, 10) Sammy Smith -412, 11) Nick Sanchez -478, 12) Harrison Burton -489, 13) Christian Eckes -509, 14) Jeb Burton -574, 15) Ryan Sieg -602, 16) Dean Thompson -603. Best of the Rest: 13) Christian Eckes 784, 14) Jeb Burton -65, 15) Ryan Sieg -93, 16) Dean Thompson -94, 17) Aric Almirola -132, 18) William Sawalich -148, 19) Brennan Poole -176, 20) Daniel Dye -180, 21) Jeremy Clements -283, 22) Parker Retzlaff -305, 23) Josh Williams -310. Playoff Points: 1) Connor Zilisch 71, 2) Justin Allgaier -31, 3) Jesse Love -52, t-4) Brandon Jones -53, t-4) Aric Almirola -53, 6) Sam Mayer -55, 7) Taylor Gray -60, 8) Sammy Smith -62, 9) Austin
Hill -64, t-10) Nick Sanchez -65, t-10) Carson Kvapil -65, 12) Sheldon Creed -68, 13) Harrison Burton -69, 14) Dean Thompson -70. Note No. 1: Even though Connor Zilisch is credited as the winner of the Wawa 250 at Daytona, he did not earn the five playoff points for
winning since he wasn't in the car at the time of the finish. Note No. 2: Austin Hill actually would have earned 35 playoff points this year. However, he was stripped of his 21 playoff points at the time when he was suspended for intentionally wrecking Aric Almirola at Indianapolis. He also didn't earn the seven playoff points that he would have otherwise been eligible for after finishing the
regular season fifth in points. The seven points Hill does have here are from when he swept the stages at Talladega in October. Note No. 3: If they were eligible for NASCAR Xfinity Series points, Kyle Larson would have been eighth, William Byron 11th and Shane van Gisbergen tied for 13th in playoff points. Stage Points: 1) Justin Allgaier 403, 2) Connor Zilisch -85, 3) Sam Mayer -158, 4) Austin Hill -173, 5) Jesse Love -179, 6) Brandon Jones -202, 7) Sheldon Creed -211, 8) Aric Almirola -214, 9) Carson
Kvapil -219, t-10) Sammy Smith -239, t-10) Taylor Gray -239, 12) Nick Sanchez -252, 13) Ryan Sieg -301, 14) Christian Eckes -309, 15) William Sawalich -332, 16) Jeb Burton -340. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Connor Zilisch 1121, 2) Jesse Love -110, 3) Justin Allgaier -133, 4) Sam Mayer -161, 5) Austin Hill -185, 6) Carson Kvapil -214, 7) Brandon Jones -215, 8) Harrison Burton
-237, 9) Taylor Gray -246, 10) Sammy Smith -254, 11) Sheldon Creed -292, 12) Christian Eckes -300, 13) Nick Sanchez -319, 14) Jeb Burton -334, 15) Dean Thompson -357, 16) Ryan Sieg -399. WC Points (1-16): 1) Connor Zilisch 4892, 2) Jesse Love -375, 3) Justin Allgaier -387, 4) Sam Mayer -561, 5) Austin Hill -649, 6) Brandon Jones -738, 7) Carson Kvapil -747, 8) Taylor Gray
-824, 9) Harrison Burton -862, 10) Sammy Smith -886, 11) Sheldon Creed -975, 12) Christian Eckes -1023, 13) Nick Sanchez -1078, 14) Jeb Burton -1168, 15) Dean Thompson -1246, 16) Ryan Sieg -1345. Race Winners: Jesse Love (Daytona-1, Phoenix-2), Austin Hill (Atlanta-1, Martinsville, Talladega-1, Talladega-2), Connor Zilisch (COTA, Pocono, Sonoma, Dover, Indianapolis, Watkins Glen, Daytona-2, Portland, Gateway, Charlotte-2), Aric Almirola (Phoenix-1, Bristol-2, Las Vegas-2), Justin Allgaier (Las Vegas-1, Homestead, Nashville), Brandon Jones (Darlington, Kansas), Kyle Larson
(Bristol-1, Texas), Sammy Smith (Rockingham), William Byron (Charlotte), Daniel Suarez (Mexico City), Nick Sanchez (Atlanta-2), Shane van Gisbergen (Chicago), Sam Mayer (Iowa) Note: Connor Zilisch still receives credit for winning the Wawa 250 in Daytona even though Parker Kligerman took the checkered flag since Zilisch started the race. 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 Championship: Corey Heim Completes His Destruction Of The Field
by Phil Allaway
It would have been something of a travesty if Corey Heim didn't walk out of Phoenix with the championship trophy Friday night. He had to work hard late in the going, but he was able to walk out of Phoenix Raceway with his 12th win of the year and the championship. The
final margin was five points over Ty Majeski, who finished second. Kaden Honeycutt finished third and ended up third in points. Tyler Ankrum struggled all weekend, got caught up in a late crash and finished 14th. As a result, he finished fourth in points. Of those eliminated from the playoffs, Layne Riggs was locked into fifth
in points entering the race. A fourth-place finish, despite being penalized at the start, keeps him there. He ended up 60 points ahead of Rajah Caruth, who had a strong run to fifth. Grant Enfinger was eliminated in a late crash, but ended up staying in seventh. Chandler Smith moved up one place to eighth after leading early and finishing eighth. Daniel Hemric was eliminated in a first-lap crash and dropped to ninth, while
Jake Garcia stayed in 10th after finishing sixth. Outside of the playoffs entirely, Gio Ruggiero was locked into 11th. He was eliminated in an early crash, but maintained a 71-point advantage over Ben Rhodes, who crashed out in the same incident. Tanner Gray crashed on the first GWC, but stayed in 13th. Connor
Mosack's crash sent the race to overtime. His 26th-place finish keeps him in 14th. Matt Crafton finished his final season 15th in points, while Andres Perez is 16th. The final point margin is far from indicative of how dominant Heim has been in 2025. Without the playoffs being in play, Heim would have won the title by 307 points over Riggs. That is
more than five complete races, including the extra point for the Xfinity Fastest Lap. Championship 4 Point Standings: 1) Corey Heim 4040, 2) Ty Majeski -5, 3) Kaden Honeycutt -6, 4) Tyler Ankrum -17. Eliminated Driver Point Standings: 5) Layne Riggs 2297, 6) Rajah Caruth -60, 7) Grant Enfinger -99, 8) Chandler Smith -118, 9) Daniel Hemric -120, 10) Jake Garcia -149. Championship 4 Owner Point Standings: 1) TRICON Garage No. 11
4040, 2) ThorSport Racing No. 98 -5, 3) Halmar Friesen Racing No. 52 -6, 4) Front Row Motorsports No. 34 -7. Non-Playoff Point Standings (1-16): 1) Corey Heim 1230, 2) Layne Riggs -307, 3) Ty Majeski
-341, 4) Kaden Honeycutt -403, 5) Chandler Smith -427, 6) Tyler Ankrum -433, 7) Grant Enfinger -457, 8) Daniel Hemric -477, 9) Gio Ruggiero -527, 10) Rajah Caruth -560, 11) Jake Garcia -574, 12) Ben Rhodes -598, 13) Tanner Gray
-631, 14) Connor Mosack -715, 15) Matt Crafton -736, 16) Andres Perez -758. Best of the Rest: 11) Gio Ruggiero 703, 12) Ben Rhodes -71, 13) Tanner Gray -104, 14) Connor Mosack
-188, 15) Matt Crafton -209, 16) Andres Perez -231, 17) Matt Mills -247, 18) Dawson Sutton -256, 19) Jack Wood -260, 20) Stewart Friesen -306. Playoff Point Standings: 1) Corey Heim
98, 2) Layne Riggs -66, 3) Chandler Smith -79, 4) Daniel Hemric -87, t-5) Tyler Ankrum -88, t-5) Ty Majeski -88, t-7) Grant Enfinger -91, t-7) Gio Ruggiero -91, 9) Rajah Caruth -92, t-10) Kaden Honeycutt -93, t-10) Stewart Friesen -93,
12) Jake Garcia -95, 13) Ben Rhodes -96, t-14) Matt Crafton -97, t-14) Jack Wood -97, t-14) Bayley Currey -97. Note: If they were eligible for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points, Kyle Busch and Carson Hocevar would be tied for ninth, while Kyle Larson would be tied for 12th in playoff
points. Stage Points: 1) Corey Heim 375, 2) Kaden Honeycutt -154, 3) Layne Riggs -164, 4) Ty Majeski -166, 5) Chandler Smith -211, 6) Grant Enfinger -223, 7) Tyler Ankrum
-237, 8) Daniel Hemric -255, 9) Rajah Caruth -264, 10) Ben Rhodes -279, 11) Jake Garcia -285, 12) Gio Ruggiero -291, 13) Tanner Gray -292, 14) Connor Mosack -301, 15) Stewart Friesen -318, 16) Brent Crews -328. Note: If he were eligible for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points, Carson Hocevar would be 16th in stage points. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Corey Heim 774, 2) Layne Riggs -154, 3) Ty Majeski
-177, 4) Tyler Ankrum -210, 5) Chandler Smith -225, 6) Daniel Hemric -233, 7) Grant Enfinger -240, 8) Gio Ruggiero -247, 9) Kaden Honeycutt -259, t-10) Rajah Caruth -303, t-10) Jake Garcia -303, 12) Ben Rhodes -329, 13) Tanner
Gray -356, 14) Matt Crafton -407, 15) Connor Mosack -427, 16) Andres Perez -428 WC Points (1-16): 1) Corey Heim 4161, 2) Layne Riggs -546, 3) Ty Majeski -657, 4) Tyler Ankrum
-774, 5) Chandler Smith -813, 6) Daniel Hemric -829, 7) Grant Enfinger -869, 8) Gio Ruggiero -881, 9) Kaden Honeycutt -944, 10) Rajah Caruth -1074, 11) Jake Garcia -1089, 12) Ben Rhodes -1174, 13) Tanner
Gray -1257, 14) Matt Crafton -1440, 15) Andres Perez -1512, 16) Connor Mosack -1516. Race Winners: Corey Heim (Daytona, Las Vegas, Texas, Charlotte-1, Lime Rock, Watkins Glen, Richmond, Darlington, Loudon, Charlotte-2, Martinsville-2, Phoenix), Kyle
Busch (Atlanta), Kyle Larson (Homestead), Daniel Hemric (Martinsville-1), Chandler Smith (Bristol-1, North Wilkesboro), Tyler Ankrum (Rockingham), Carson Hocevar (Kansas), Rajah Caruth (Nashville), Stewart Friesen (Michigan), Layne Riggs (Pocono, Lucas Oil IRP, Bristol-2), Gio Ruggiero (Talladega)
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 Season Finale 500k was brought to you by the letter B for Blown Tires. The tire issues that cropped up from the very start of practice on Friday played a huge role on Sunday. All of the
Championship 4 drivers had a flat sometime during the race and Byron's failure and crash ultimately swung the title. - Phil Allaway |
Quotes to Remember: Season Finale 500k compiled by Phil Allaway
"It’s just cool to end it on a good note. It’s just cool and obviously we had a fast car all day. Those other guys were just kind of faster getting going and I could never retain the lead. Those guys were just really good and it took my car a while to come in, but it was a really good call for two there and keeping track position. I got a decent restart and I was able to kind
of roll the bottom in three and four and eek [Brad Keselowski] out at the line. I’m just really proud of the whole group and cool to end it in Victory Lane. It’s a shame we weren’t in the Championship 4. Congrats to Kyle [Larson] and that whole team. I’m happy for this team that we could end it the best way we could." - Ryan Blaney, race winner "I felt
like we were in a good position, but [Kyle Larson] and [Ryan Blaney] were just stupid fast. That’s what we had. "Yeah, we put ourselves in position like you said and just didn’t quite have enough to finish it off, but it was a great day for us, a great day for RFK to be in position. We just want to be a little bit faster to close it out." - Brad
Keselowski, finished second "I’m just speechless… I can’t believe it. We had an average car, at best. We had the right front [tire] go down and lost a lap. We got saved by the caution and did the wavearound. We really struggled that run. We took two tires and I was like – oh, here we go… we’re going to go to the back now. But I had a lot more grip than I
anticipated. We got lucky with the final caution. I was really hoping we were going to take two [tires] again. I felt like I learned a lot on that restart, bombing [turns 1 and 2] really hard. Thought I could do the same thing if we got another one. "It’s just unbelievable. What a year by Hendrick Motorsports. Cliff Daniels’ leadership just showed that whole
race. He kept us all motivated and always had a plan. That’s just the story of our season. Again, just unbelievable. I cannot believe it. This is insane." - Kyle Larson, finished third, won championship "We were close. We needed one more lap, to be honest with you. I was underneath them all at the line and had momentum on the short cut. I think I would
have cleared them all into one if we had one more, but ifs and buts don’t really matter. Overall, we had a shot at it, but didn’t position ourselves far enough forward for the last green-white-checkered there. We just had a little hiccup on pit road leaving. It was close. You see the leaders right there in front of you and you think you’ve got a shot at it, but just couldn’t quite pull it off. It’s a good way to finish the season – solid. Dang it. I saw the win." - Joey Logano, finished
fourth
"We struggled with a loose-handling Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet to start the race today at Phoenix Raceway, but Crew chief Andy Street and the guys went back the other way on adjustments and our Chevy came to life. It really became good, and we were able to tie corners together better and make some good moves on restarts to get track position. That was a positive note to end
the season with a top-five finish and get some momentum for our team and everyone at RCR to get ready for the Daytona 500." - Kyle Busch, finished fifth
"[There was] nothing I [could] do differently. [We] prepared as [well] as I could coming into the weekend. My team gave me a fantastic car. Just didn’t work out. I was just praying that no caution [would
come out]. Had one there. What can you do? Just not meant to be. "It was a championship winning car. Prepared so hard for the weekend and felt like I did the right things and was strong where I typically am weak. Just had everything we needed, just needed 40 more seconds of green flag." - Denny Hamlin, finished sixth
"Yeah, just wish something went our way today. Our car was obviously good enough. We came from the back to the front two or three different times. It was just one of those weekends where nothing went our way. Sometimes that is how it goes. Truthfully, at the end, I think that James [Small] wanted to take two tires and I kind of told him that I would rather be on offense. I didn’t think that many would take two tires, and I
would rather be on offense. I don’t know. We had a great Bass Pro Shops, TRACKER Boats Toyota. It stings for sure. I could taste it for a little bit, with 70 to go, and then we blew that tire. Something to learn from for sure." - Chase Briscoe, finished 18th
"It just stings. It was three laps to go and I was just thinking – okay, let me get to the end. I felt something funny off of
[turn 2] and thought it might be a flat. I thought at the time, if it’s the left-rear, you could maybe get back. But it just went straight into turn three. It laid down on the right-rear and went straight. I just felt like a passenger at that point. But all-in-all, I’m proud of this No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet team. We had a good day going. We had a shot to win it. We just didn’t quite have enough.
"We brought our best towards the end of the playoffs, for sure. The win last weekend [at Martinsville Speedway] was great. Today was really good, too. Thank you to Axalta, Chevrolet, all of our partners. It’s been an awesome year. I wish we could have finished it off better, but we’ll get going for next year and take some much needed time off." - William Byron, finished 33rd Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade
Photography.
|
|
|
|
