Frontstretch Newsletter: Oct. 6, 2025
Volume XIX,
Edition CLXXVI |
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
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- Teams are back at their shops today and are preparing for this weekend's action in Las Vegas. We'll have the entry lists for this weekend's events and everything else that breaks for you at Frontstretch. |
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| Shane van Gisbergen Goes 5 Road Courses in a Row at ROVAL;
4 Drivers Eliminated From Playoffs Shane van Gisbergen continued to assert his road course dominance Sunday, leading 57 of 109 laps to win the Bank of America ROVAL 400k for his fifth win of the year. Kyle Larson was second, then Christopher Bell, Chris Buescher and Michael
McDowell. |
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| Tyler Reddick Eliminated From Playoffs; A Bigger Race
Looms Tyler Reddick finished 10th Sunday and failed to advance to the Round of 8. However, Reddick has more important issues to deal with at the moment. |
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| Toyota Drivers Looking for Clarity After 2 Straight Weeks
of Self-Destruction Recently, Toyota has been extremely strong, but their drivers have been sabotaging each other. Not exactly the best look. |
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| Ross Chastain’s Day of Self-Inflicted Errors at ROVAL
Costs Him Round of 8 Spot Ross Chastain did everything that he needed to Sunday to advance to the Round of 8. However, a speeding penalty and worn tires resulted in him losing his spot on the final lap. |
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| Here’s What Happened in the 23XI/FRM vs. NASCAR Lawsuit
This Week (Sept. 27-Oct. 3) Last week in the 23XI Racing/Front Row Motorsports lawsuit against NASCAR, both sides asked for summary judgment on a number of their points from the judge. |
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| Connor Zilisch Wins 10th Xfinity Victory of Season at
Charlotte ROVAL JR Motorsports' Connor Zilisch led 61 of 68 laps Saturday to win the Blue Cross North Carolina 250k at Charlotte Motor Speedway, his 10th win of the year. Austin Green was second, then Sammy Smith, Kaz Grala and Connor Mosack. |
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| Sammy Smith Ekes Taylor Gray for Final Round of 8 Spot
With Bold Pit Call Sammy Smith finished third Saturday evening. That was enough for him to move up from 12th to claim the final spot in the Round of 8 by one point over Taylor Gray. |
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| Part-Time Drivers Shine in Xfinity ROVAL
Race Road races in the NASCAR Xfinity Series can result in unexpected drivers scoring great finishes. Austin Green finished a career-best second Saturday, while Kaz Grala and Connor Mosack had top-fives. |
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| Corey Heim Claims 10th Victory of 2025 at the ROVAL,
Advances to Championship 4 Corey Heim recovered from a crash on the first lap of the race to take the lead in the closing laps and win the Ecosave 250k Friday for his record-breaking 10th win of the year. Brent Crews was second, then Gio Ruggiero, Rajah Caruth and Connor
Zilisch. |
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| Brent Crews Leaves ROVAL Empty-Handed After Dominant
Showing TRICON Garage dominated Friday's Ecosave 250k, but that domination came from Brent Crews. He led 56 of 67 laps, but was forced to pit for fuel late and had to settle for second. |
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| Connor Mosack Unlikely to Return to McAnally-Hilgemann
Racing in 2026 Connor Mosack indicated to Frontstretch Friday that he is not likely to return to the No. 81 Chevrolet in 2026. |
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| George Russell Wins Singapore Grand Prix, McLaren Seals
2025 Constructors’ Championship Mercedes' George Russell dominated Sunday to win the Grand Prix of Singapore, his first win of the year. Max Verstappen was second, then Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and Kimi Antonelli. |
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| Max Reaves Dominates ARCA at Toledo, Brenden Queen Crowned
2025 Champion Joe Gibbs Racing's Max Reaves dominated the proceedings Saturday afternoon to win the ARCA Menards Series Owens Corning 200 at Toledo Speedway. Tristan McKee was second, then series champion Brenden Queen, Isabella Robusto and Tyler
Reif. |
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| ARCA Announces 2026
Schedule Prior to the Owens Corning 200, ARCA announced the 2026 ARCA Menards Series schedule. It will have 20 races with venues such as Chicagoland Speedway returning, while Charlotte is off the schedule. |
Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, NASCAR Media via Jared C. Tilton of Getty Images, Steve Etherington of Mercedes and our own Danny Peters and Reid Scott. 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. 3-5 |
- The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series spent last weekend at Williams Grove Speedway for the J&S Classics National Open, the final visit of the year to the Harrisburg area. Friday night saw the Pennsylvania Posse take first blood. Carson Macedo started from the
pole and pulled out to a decent advantage. However, Chase Dietz emerged from a group of chasers to try to run down the Outlaws regular. With four laps to go, Dietz dove to the inside of Macedo in turn 3 and slid past him to take the lead. From there, Dietz held on to pick up his first World of Outlaws victory. Dietz won by .798 seconds over veteran Lance Dewease. Danny
Dietrich was third, then Macedo and Justin Whittall. Saturday night saw Bill Balog start from the pole and dominate early on while additional contenders fought for second. Sheldon Haudenschild eventually emerged from this group and tried to run down Balog. However, it was an unforced error by Balog when he jumped the cushion with six laps to go that allowed Haudenschild to take the lead. From there, he had to hold off a strong Balog to win the National Open. Haudenschild won by .887 seconds over Dietrich. Balog was third, then Daryn Pittman and Buddy Kofoid. In the points, David Gravel continues to lead by 146 points over Kofoid. Macedo is third, then Logan Schuchart and Haudenschild. - World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series teams spent the weekend in Kansas. First up was Humboldt Speedway, where Brian
Shirley started from pole, but Chase Junghans swept into the lead on the first lap. It appeared that Junghans was going to lead flag-to-flag for the win, but he spun on his own in turn 2 with 12 laps complete to end that discussion. The spin and resulting caution put Dennis Erb Jr. into the lead. From there, Erb was able to hold the field back to pick up the win. Dustin
Sorensen was second, then Shirley, Bobby Pierce and Ethan Dotson. Saturday night saw the tour move to 81 Speedway for the Ed Gressel Tribute. Here, Bobby Pierce was forced to start at the rear due to an unapproved tire adjustment. That gave the pole to Shirley. However, he didn't last all that long up front. Tim McCreadie charged from third on the grid to take the lead on lap 6. From there, the Watertown, N.Y. native led the final 45 laps to take his fifth win of the year. Shirley was 1.746 seconds back in second, then Nick Hoffman, Tanner English and Drake Troutman. In the points, Pierce
continues to lead by 108 points over Hoffman. Ryan Gustin is third, then McCreadie and Shirley. |
This is just a sampling of the videos that we uploaded to our YouTube channels from Charlotte and Toledo last weekend. For more from Charlotte, Toledo, 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 Round of 12
by Phil Allaway
Kyle Larson likely had the second-best car Sunday in Charlotte and finished second with it. That was more than enough for him to win the Round of 12. Larson won the round by 14 points over
Christopher Bell, who finished third Sunday. Chase Elliott moved up two places to third after finishing eighth. William Byron ended the round in fourth. Ryan Blaney won stage two and finished 13th, moving himself up to fifth. Denny Hamlin had an off-day, finishing
outside of the top 20 and dropping four places to sixth. Chase Briscoe finished 14th and stayed in seventh. Joey Logano was able to just eek his way into the Round of 8 with a 20th-place finish. Logano ended up four points ahead of Ross Chastain, who scored 13 stage points Sunday and ran well, but a
late speeding penalty put him in position to get run down by drivers with fresher tires. Tyler Reddick moved up to 10th after finishing 10th, but it was not enough to advance. Bubba Wallace dropped to 11th, while Austin Cindric had a truly miserable day and was out of the hunt by lap 10. Of those
already eliminated from the playoffs, Reddick has a 10-point lead over Wallace. Chastain is 11th, then Shane van Gisbergen jumped up two places after his victory. Alex Bowman is 13th, then Cindric and Austin Dillon. Josh Berry is 16th. Outside of the playoffs, Chris
Buescher finished fourth and expanded his advantage over teammate Ryan Preece to 74 points. Ty Gibbs is back up to 19th, while Brad Keselowski dropped out with driveline issues and is now 20th. Round of 12 Point Standings: 1) Kyle Larson
3173, 2) Christopher Bell -14, 3) Chase Elliott -29, 4) William Byron -35, 5) Ryan Blaney -40, 6) Denny Hamlin -41, 7) Chase Briscoe -55, 8) Joey Logano
-70, 9) Ross Chastain -74, 10) Tyler Reddick -82, 11) Bubba Wallace -94, 12) Austin Cindric -137. Round of 8 Point Standings: 1) Denny Hamlin 4036, 2) Ryan Blaney
-2, t-3) Kyle Larson -4, t-3) William Byron -4, 5) Christopher Bell -8, t-6) Chase Elliott -18, t-6) Chase Briscoe -18, 8) Joey Logano -28. Eliminated Driver Point Standings: 9) Tyler Reddick 2187, 10) Bubba Wallace
-10, 11) Ross Chastain -15, 12) Shane van Gisbergen -45, 13) Alex Bowman -77, 14) Austin Cindric -93, 15) Austin Dillon -95, 16) Josh Berry -109.
Non-Playoff Point Standings (1-16): 1) William Byron 1052, 2) Ryan
Blaney -27, 3) Kyle Larson -34, 4) Christopher Bell -47, 5) Chase Elliott -64, 6) Denny Hamlin -78, 7) Chase Briscoe -100, 8) Tyler Reddick -141, 9) Joey Logano
-228, 10) Chris Buescher -230, 11) Bubba Wallace -244, 12) Ross Chastain -257, 13) Alex Bowman -258, 14) Ryan Preece -304, 15) Ty Gibbs -374, 16) Brad Keselowski -396. Note: Drivers in italics are either outside of the playoffs, or ineligible for points. Best of the Rest (17-26): 17) Chris Buescher 822, 18) Ryan Preece
-74, 19) Ty Gibbs -144, 20) Brad Keselowski -166, 21) Michael McDowell -175, 22) Kyle Busch -188, 23) Carson Hocevar -189, 24) AJ Allmendinger -202, 25) Erik Jones -206, 26) John Hunter Nemechek -221. Playoff Points: 1) Denny Hamlin 36, 2) Ryan Blaney -2, t-3) Kyle Larson -4, t-3) William Byron -4, 5) Christopher Bell -8, t-6) Chase Elliott -18, t-6) Chase Briscoe
-18, 8) Bubba Wallace -27, t-9) Austin Cindric -28, t-9) Joey Logano -28, 11) Ross Chastain -29, 12) Tyler Reddick -30. Stage Points: 1) Ryan Blaney 284, 2) William Byron -3, 3) Kyle Larson -32, 4) Denny Hamlin -64, 5) Bubba Wallace -82, 6) Tyler Reddick
-88, 7) Christopher Bell -105, 8) Chase Elliott -109, 9) Alex Bowman -123, 10) Chase Briscoe -128, 11) Joey Logano -133, 12) Austin Cindric -150, 13) Carson Hocevar -158, 14) Ross
Chastain -168, 15) Chris Buescher -183, 16) Brad Keselowski -194.
Note: The Stage Points include the Duels at Daytona. Old
Point Standings (1-16): 1) Christopher Bell 965, 2) Chase Elliott -16, 3) Chase Briscoe -22, 4) William Byron -56, 5) Kyle Larson -62, 6) Denny Hamlin -81, 7) Ryan Blaney
-83, 8) Chris Buescher -102, 9) Tyler Reddick -115, 10) Joey Logano -149, 11) Ross Chastain -159, 12) Ryan Preece -171, 13) Alex Bowman -192, 14) Ty Gibbs -217, 15) Bubba Wallace
-221, 16) Michael McDowell -232. Note: These standings are based on the old point system that was used before stages were created. WC Points (1-16): 1) Christopher Bell 4342, 2) Chase Briscoe -55, 3) Chase Elliott -84, 4) Kyle Larson -172, 5) William Byron -182, 6) Ryan Blaney -242, 7) Denny Hamlin
-278, 8) Chris Buescher -404, 9) Tyler Reddick -409, 10) Joey Logano -530, 11) Ross Chastain -579, 12) Ryan Preece -606, 13) Alex Bowman -622, 14) Bubba Wallace -728, 15) Ty Gibbs
-747, 16) Michael McDowell -811. 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, Bristol-2), Josh Berry (Las Vegas), Kyle Larson (Homestead, Bristol-1, Kansas-1), Denny Hamlin (Martinsville, Darlington-1, Michigan, Dover, Gateway), Austin Cindric (Talladega), Joey Logano (Texas), Ross Chastain (Charlotte-1), Ryan Blaney (Nashville, Daytona-2, Loudon), Shane van Gisbergen (Mexico City, Chicago, Sonoma, Watkins Glen,
Charlotte-2), Chase Briscoe (Pocono, Darlington-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.
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Seeking the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship: Connor Zilisch Wins Round of 12
by Phil Allaway
Connor Zilisch dominated Saturday in Charlotte to earn his 10th win of the year. With it, it also brings a victory in the Round of 12 and extends his record to 17 straight top-five finishes. Zilisch won the round by 52 points over Justin Allgaier, who
finished eighth Saturday. Sam Mayer struggled to a 19th-place finish, but still finished the round in third. Brandon Jones stayed in fourth after finishing 18th. Jesse Love moved up three places to fifth after finishing 12th Saturday. Sheldon Creed stayed in sixth after finishing 11th. Carson Kvapil stayed in
seventh, while Sammy Smith's third-place finish moved him up four places to claim the final spot in the Round of 8. Smith ended up one point ahead of Taylor Gray, who dropped four places after finishing 13th. Nick Sanchez dropped one place to 10th, while Austin Hill dropped to 11th after late mechanical woes. Had he not been suspended earlier this year, he would have ended the round tied with Creed for sixth thanks to the 21 playoff points he earned and the six he would have gotten for finishing the regular season fifth in points. Harrison Burton finished four laps down and ended up 12th. Outside of the playoffs, Christian Eckes finished 10th, but Jeb Burton cut his margin down to 20 points after he scored a sixth-place finish. Ryan Sieg is back up to 15th, while Dean Thompson slipped to 16th. When the Round of 8 starts Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Zilisch will have a 33-point lead over Allgaier. Jones will be third, then Mayer and
Love. The owners points Round of 8 has two different teams that are not represented in the regular Round of 8. Those are Joe Gibbs Racing's No. 19 due to Aric Almirola's victory at Bristol and Richard Childress Racing's No. 21, which can take advantage of the additional playoff points that Hill was forced to surrender earlier this year. Round of 12 Point Standings: 1) Connor Zilisch 2217, 2) Justin Allgaier -52, 3) Sam Mayer -91, 4) Brandon Jones -100, 5) Jesse Love -108, 6) Sheldon Creed
-110, 7) Carson Kvapil -114, 8) Sammy Smith -116, 9) Taylor Gray -117, 10) Nick Sanchez -125, 11) Austin Hill -137, 12) Harrison Burton -157. Round of 12
Owner Point Standings: 1) JR Motorsports No. 88 2222, 2) JR Motorsports No. 7 -57, 3) Haas Factory Team No. 41 -96, 4) Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 -105, 5) Richard Childress Racing No. 2 -113, 6) Richard Childress Racing No. 21 -115, 7) Haas Factory Team No. 00 -116, 8)
JR Motorsports No. 8 -119, 9) JR Motorsports No. 1 -119, 10) Joe Gibbs Racing No. 54 -123, t-10) Big Machine Racing No. 48 -130, 12) Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 -136. Round of 8 Point Standings: 1) Connor Zilisch 3071, 2) Justin Allgaier -33,
3) Brandon Jones -53, 4) Sam Mayer -55, 5) Jesse Love -57, 6) Sammy Smith -62, 7) Carson Kvapil -66, 8) Sheldon Creed -68. Round of 8 Owner Point Standings: 1) JR Motorsports No. 88 3076, 2) JR Motorsports No. 7 -38, 3) Richard Childress Racing
No. 21 -49, 4) Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 -58, 5) Haas Factory Team No. 41 -60, 6) Richard Childress Racing No. 2 -62, 7) Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 -65, 8) Haas Factory Team No. 00 -74. Eliminated Driver Point Standings: 9) Taylor Gray 2100, 10) Nick Sanchez -8,
11) Austin HIll -20, 12) Harrison Burton -40. Non-Playoff Point Standings (1-16): 1) Connor Zilisch 1136, 2) Justin Allgaier -76, 3) Sam Mayer -144, 4) Jesse Love
-195, 5) Austin Hill -256, 6) Brandon Jones -286, 7) Carson Kvapil -309, 8) Taylor Gray -362, 9) Sheldon Creed -363, 10) Sammy Smith -376, 11) Nick Sanchez
-427, 12) Harrison Burton -435, 13) Christian Eckes -461, 14) Jeb Burton -481, 15) Ryan Sieg -513, 16) Dean Thompson -515. Best of the Rest: 13) Christian Eckes 675, 14) Jeb Burton -20,
15) Ryan Sieg -52, 16) Dean Thompson -54, 17) William Sawalich -72, 18) Brennan Poole -117, 19) Daniel Dye -118, 20) Jeremy Clements -183, 21) Aric Almirola -196, 22) Parker Retzlaff -251, 23) Anthony Alfredo -257. Playoff
Points: 1) Connor Zilisch 71, 2) Justin Allgaier -33, 3) Brandon Jones -53, 4) Sam Mayer -55, 5) Jesse Love -57, 6) Sammy Smith -62, 7) Nick Sanchez -65, t-8) Carson Kvapil -66, t-8) Taylor Gray
-66, 10) Sheldon Creed -68, 11) Harrison Burton -69, 12) Austin Hill -71. 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. Note No. 2: 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. Stage Points: 1) Justin Allgaier
338, 2) Connor Zilisch -65, 3) Sam Mayer -112, 4) Austin Hill -138, 5) Jesse Love -150, 6) Brandon Jones -152, 7) Sheldon Creed -166, 8) Carson Kvapil
-182, 9) Sammy Smith -184, 10) Taylor Gray -197, 11) Aric Almirola -202, 12) Nick Sanchez -204, 13) Ryan Sieg -249, 14) William Sawalich -268, 15) Christian Eckes -270, 16) Jeb Burton -276. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Connor Zilisch 991, 2) Sam Mayer -101, 3) Jesse Love -110, 4) Justin Allgaier -135, 5) Austin
Hill -192, 6) Carson Kvapil -201, 7) Brandon Jones -205, 8) Harrison Burton -224, 9) Taylor Gray -239, 10) Sammy Smith -251, t-11) Sheldon Creed -269, t-11) Christian Eckes
-269, 13) Jeb Burton -281, 14) Nick Sanchez -297, 15) Dean Thompson -310, 16) Ryan Sieg -339. WC Points (1-16): 1) Connor Zilisch 4310, 2) Sam Mayer
-317, 3) Jesse Love -361, 4) Justin Allgaier -400, 5) Austin Hill -651, 6) Carson Kvapil -691, 7) Brandon Jones -700, 8) Taylor Gray -790, 9) Harrison Burton -795, 10) Sammy
Smith -865, 11) Sheldon Creed -886, 12) Christian Eckes -907, 13) Jeb Burton -982, 14) Nick Sanchez -993, 15) Dean Thompson -1083, 16) Ryan Sieg -1137. Race
Winners: Jesse Love (Daytona-1), Austin Hill (Atlanta-1, Martinsville, Talladega), Connor Zilisch (COTA, Pocono, Sonoma, Dover, Indianapolis, Watkins Glen, Daytona-2, Portland, Gateway, Charlotte-2), Aric Almirola (Phoenix, Bristol-2), Justin Allgaier (Las Vegas, Homestead, Nashville), Brandon Jones (Darlington, Kansas), Kyle Larson (Bristol-1, Texas), Sammy Smith (Rockingham), William Byron (Charlotte), 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.
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Seeking the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship: Corey Heim Locks Into Championship 4
by Phil Allaway
Corey Heim got lucky Friday. He was involved in an incident in the first turn of the race and clearly didn't have the best truck. However, Brent Crews had to pit for fuel late, allowing him to take his record-breaking 10th win of the season and lock into the Championship 4. Heim
also extended the massive points lead that he entered the Round of 8 with. It is now a 71-point lead over a tie between McAnally-Hilgemann Racing teammates Daniel Hemric and Tyler Ankrum. Ankrum would win the tiebreaker by virtue of his ninth-place finish to Hemric's 11th. Rajah Caruth finished a strong fourth and moved up three places to fourth. He would be the last driver in the Championship 4 on points. Caruth has a one-point lead over Layne Riggs, who wrecked with Heim on the first lap and broke his sway bar, then drove to a 21st-place finish. Ty Majeski is down two places to sixth after an eighth-place finish, then a tie for seventh between Grant Enfinger and Kaden Honeycutt. Of those eliminated, neither Chandler Smith or Jake Garcia had good finishes. Smith finished 19th and expanded his lead to 19 points over Garcia. Outside of the playoffs, Gio Ruggiero continued his recent strong form with a third-place finish. That allowed him to expand his lead to 42 points
over Ben Rhodes, who crashed out on the second lap. Tanner Gray is 13th, then Connor Mosack, Andres Perez and Matt Crafton. Round of 8 Point Standings: 1) Corey Heim 3122, t-2) Tyler Ankrum -71, t-2) Daniel Hemric -71,
4) Rajah Caruth -72, 5) Layne Riggs -73, 6) Ty Majeski -74, t-7) Grant Enfinger -76, t-7) Kaden Honeycutt -76. Eliminated Driver Point Standings: 9) Chandler Smith 2104, 10) Jake Garcia -19.
Non-Playoff Point Standings (1-16): 1) Corey Heim 1064, 2) Layne Riggs -258, 3) Ty Majeski -309, 4) Daniel Hemric -325, 5) Chandler Smith -336, 6) Grant Enfinger -345, 7) Kaden Honeycutt -365, 8) Tyler Ankrum
-369, 9) Gio Ruggiero -450, 10) Jake Garcia -471, 11) Rajah Caruth -490, 12) Ben Rhodes -492, 13) Tanner Gray -558, 14) Connor Mosack -593, 15) Andres Perez -628, 16) Matt Crafton -633. Best of the Rest: 11) Gio Ruggiero 614, 12) Ben Rhodes -42, 13) Tanner Gray -108, 14) Connor Mosack -143, 15) Andres Perez -178, 16) Matt Crafton -183, 17) Matt Mills -212, 18) Stewart Friesen
-217, 19) Dawson Sutton -224, 20) Jack Wood -238.
Playoff Point Standings: 1) Corey Heim 84, 2) Layne Riggs -52, 3) Daniel Hemric -73, t-4) Tyler Ankrum -74, t-4) Ty Majeski -74, 6) Grant
Enfinger -77, 8) Rajah Caruth -79, 9) Kaden Honeycutt -79. Stage Points: 1) Corey Heim 325, 2) Layne Riggs -131, 3) Kaden Honeycutt -136, 4) Ty Majeski -151, 5) Chandler Smith
-161, 6) Grant Enfinger -188, 7) Daniel Hemric -206, 8) Tyler Ankrum -207, 9) Ben Rhodes -236, 10) Jake Garcia -240, 11) Rajah Caruth -247, 12) Connor Mosack -254, 13) Gio Ruggiero -258, 14) Tanner Gray
-265, 15) Stewart Friesen -268, 16) Matt Crafton -297. 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 668, 2) Daniel Hemric -131, 3) Layne Riggs -137, 4) Grant Enfinger -165, 5) Ty Majeski -170, 6) Tyler Ankrum -174, 7) Chandler Smith -185, 8) Gio Ruggiero -203, 9) Kaden Honeycutt
-237, 10) Jake Garcia -243, 11) Rajah Caruth -252, 12) Ben Rhodes -264, 13) Tanner Gray -309, 14) Andres Perez -346, 15) Connor Mosack -350, 16) Matt Crafton -351. WC Points (1-16): 1) Corey Heim 3616, 2) Daniel Hemric -479, 3) Layne Riggs -491, 4) Grant Enfinger -597, 5) Ty Majeski -603, 6) Tyler Ankrum -638, 7) Chandler Smith -672, 8) Gio Ruggiero -726, 9) Kaden
Honeycutt -868, 10) Jake Garcia -879, 11) Rajah Caruth -893, 12) Ben Rhodes -946, 13) Tanner Gray -1086, 14) Andres Perez -1231, 15) Matt Crafton -1241, 16) Connor Mosack -1250. Race Winners: Corey Heim (Daytona, Las Vegas, Texas, Charlotte-1, Lime Rock, Watkins Glen, Richmond, Darlington, Loudon, Charlotte-2), Kyle Busch (Atlanta), Kyle Larson (Homestead), Daniel Hemric (Martinsville), 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)
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 Bank of America ROVAL 400k was brought to you by the letter H for High Tire Wear. Drivers had to deal with substantial tire wear that resulted in lap times slowing down
by up to five seconds a lap during the race. Despite this, there were next to no major issues. - Phil Allaway |
Quotes to Remember: Bank of America ROVAL 400 compiled by Phil Allaway
"It's unbelievable. Kyle [Larson] and Christopher [Bell] were racing really well today. They had a bit of speed on me and then got going at the end. Thank you to WeatherTech, Chevrolet, everyone at Trackhouse Racing. Our car was fast and really amazing today. Just an unreal year that we have had.
"Things are going well. We are getting better and better, and we’re having a blast doing it. Just speechless. It was certainly a good race, and I am so happy for everyone." - Shane van Gisbergen, race winner "I’m happy with a second-place finish for this No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet team. Shane van Gisbergen is just so good. It was a
fun battle with Christopher (Bell), too. To start the final stage, we were trying to break up [van Gisbergen's] rhythm and race, and I thought it was playing out well. He was just so fast. I tried riding. I tried saving my tires, but I just can’t do it as well as he does. But overall, it was a great finish and momentum to head into the Round of 8." - Kyle Larson, finished second "It felt kind of like the rest of the road courses. We had a hell of a race for second between me and my DEWALT Camry, [Chris] Buescher and [Kyle] Larson. It is that [Shane van Gisbergen] was what, 30 seconds ahead of us. Congratulations to Shane and that Trackhouse team. They have set the bar, and we are all clearly having a hard time getting up to it." - Christopher Bell, finished third
"That’s where we ran all day right there, sitting around fourth. I’m proud of this team for bringing up a Ford Mustang that was this good. Today’s race was a big step in the right direction at the ROVAL. It was a lot more fun to drive this go-around, and I’m sure we want more and have a bit more to go, but it was much better than last week. We’re proud to take a top-five." - Chris Buescher, finished fourth
"I’m proud of the effort today by this No. 71 Delaware Life/FIG Chevrolet team. We executed really well. We had top-five speed, and we sort of stayed there all day long. There wasn’t a lot of excitement for us with just managing our track position. I’m bummed we didn’t have a little bit more speed to contend. When I would push hard, I could hang with [Shane van Gisbergen], [Kyle Larson] and [Christopher Bell] for a little while. But then
I would fade, so I sort of had to run my pace to keep the tires underneath me." - Michael McDowell, finished fifth
"We were just trying to do something different on the strategy side, and unfortunately, it never really went our way. I thought the pace in our No. 9 UniFirst Chevrolet was respectable, restarting in the mid-20s there on a couple of occasions and getting back into the top-10. I felt
like we were decent, but we just needed to have something go our way with the way we were running it. Overall, it was a solid day for our team. We certainly gave it our best effort and I’m excited to get to Las Vegas Motor Speedway." - Chase Elliott, finished eighth "I don’t know if anything necessarily went wrong today for how the race was playing out. We wanted to
prioritize setting up to win the race. I think you could pick it apart – a couple restarts and what not, just kind of, as the race unfolded our long run was not where it needed to be with the top guys. Stage three there, we didn’t make the progress that we needed too, so we kind of went long there hoping for a caution there, and lost a lot of spots, but at the end of the day, we were trying to set ourselves up for a caution late. Looking back on it, my crew chief, Billy Scott, said we were only
out by 14 [points] – maybe we could have chased points a little bit harder there, so a few things to look back on, but coming into this, we played it the way we should have." - Tyler Reddick, finished 10th "Everybody was telling me how close it was gonna be there. We’re still in. We’re still alive, baby. I’m so excited. It was such a close finish there. I knew
it was within a point there and I knew we were gonna be tied there at the end and Ross was gonna do whatever he had to do to make it happen. I just wasn’t quite fast enough today with our car, but, overall, it’s the drama of the playoffs. If you want drama, the playoffs bring it every time. What an entertaining finish there. To come down to, like I said, a tie there basically at the end before the wreck. I’m proud of Paul Wolfe. He made some really hard calls today. Three-stopping
the end there. That was kind of an audible at the because our fall off was a little bit too much. Making that call there at the end was ultimately what kept us in the game with just a few left, so that’s a championship performance from the team. I wish I was a little faster, but, overall, I couldn’t be more proud of the team. We’ve still got a shot." - Joey Logano, finished 20th
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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