Frontstretch Newsletter: March 23, 2026
Volume
XX, Edition XLIV |
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 back at their shops to prepare for this weekend's action in Martinsville. Entry lists will be released later today. We will have the entry lists and anything else that breaks for you today at Frontstretch. |
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| Tyler Reddick Wins at Darlington For His 4th of the
Season Tyler Reddick was able to overcome battery issues and a failed cool suit to win the Goodyear 400 in Darlington for his fourth win of the year. Brad Keselowski was second, then Ryan Blaney, Carson Hocevar and Austin Cindric. |
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| RFK Racing Performance Does Greg Biffle Design Justice at
Darlington While Tyler Reddick won Sunday, a huge story at Darlington was the strong form from RFK Racing. At one point, they were running one-two-three in stage two. Brad Keselowski ultimately finished second to lead the charge. |
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| Here’s What Happened With the JGR vs. Chris Gabehart/Spire
Lawsuit This Week (March 14-20) In the Chris Gabehart lawsuit last week, a preliminary injunction was tabled Tuesday in favor of additional discovery allowances. Gabehart is still under a temporary restraining order that disallows him from performing certain duties at Spire
Motorsports. |
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| Justin Allgaier Wins at Darlington After Taking Lead on
Late-Race Restart Justin Allgaier took the lead from Brandon Jones on the final restart and held on to win the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 at Darlington. Jones was second, then Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson and Carson Kvapil. |
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| Bad Pit Stop Tames Kyle Larson at
Darlington Kyle Larson, driving in place of Alex Bowman, was the class of the field Saturday. However, a bad pit stop prevented him from taking what would have been a dominant victory. |
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| Viking Motorsports Ends Impressive Darlington Performance
Near Valhalla Viking Motorsports' form has been a pleasant surprise in 2026. Parker Retzlaff was in the top 10 all day, while Anthony Alfredo also ran well. |
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| Corey Heim Wins Darlington Truck Race on the Last
Lap Taking advantage of fresher tires, Corey Heim was able to sweep around Ross Chastain on the final lap Friday to win the Buckle Up South Carolina 200. Chastain was second, then Christian Eckes, Kaden Honeycutt and Connor Mosack. |
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| Kaden Honeycutt Ends Darlington Loss Frustrated with Cup
Regulars TRICON Garage's Kaden Honeycutt was the dominant driver for much of Friday night's race, but came away angry with how Ross Chastain and Carson Hocevar raced him. |
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| Jonathan Wheatley Out at Audi
F1 Audi F1 announced Friday that team principal Jonathan Wheatley has left the team, effective immediately. |
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| Porsche Defends 12 Hours of Sebring
Victory Porsche Penske Motorsport's Julien Andlauer, Laurin Heinrich and Felipe Nasr won the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring Sunday for their second straight win under controversial circumstances. |
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| Ibiza Farm Rebounds, Wins Alan Jay 120 at
Sebring Ibiza Farm Motorsports' Michael Cooper and Moisey Uretsky came on strong late in the race Friday to win the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Alan Jay Automotive Network 120 in Sebring. |
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| Rise Racing Owner Tim Goulet Suspended by
ARCA ARCA announced Saturday that Tim Goulet, owner of Rise Racing, has been suspended indefinitely due to an outstanding arrest warrant. |
Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, Rudy Carezzevoli of Getty Images, IMSA and our own Josh Calloni. Have news for
Frontstretch? Don't hesitate to let us know; email us at frontstretcheditors@googlegroups.com with a promising lead or tip. |
Around the World in Motorsports: March 20-22 |
- Jim Michaelian, the longtime president and CEO of the Grand Prix of Long Beach Association, died Saturday at the age of 83. He served as part of the street
race's parent organization since the launch back in 1975. In addition, Michaelian was also a sports car racer, competing in IMSA and Grand-Am events for decades. "Everyone at Penske Entertainment and within the INDYCAR community is deeply saddened by the passing of Jim Michaelian," INDYCAR owner Roger Penske stated. "Jim was a leader of a small, passionate group who believed in the
concept of bringing elite open-wheel competition to Long Beach in the 1970s, worked tirelessly to make it happen despite steep odds and then helped nurture the Grand Prix of Long Beach into becoming America’s premier street race. His vision and energy surrounding this great event remained boundless for 50 years, as no task was too small for Jim even while he served in numerous leadership roles."
Michaelian is survived by his wife Mary and his sons, Mike and Bob (a full-time racer in IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge). We at Frontstretch send our condolences to the Michaelian family.
- World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series teams were at Lawton Speedway Friday night. Here, David Gravel started from the
pole, but lost the lead to Brady Bacon on the first lap. Gravel then was able to identify the preferred line first and made his move to get back past Bacon. From there, he held on to take his second straight victory. Scott Bogucki was 1.302 seconds back in second, then Bacon, Sheldon Haudenschild and Chris Windom. Saturday night, the series moved to Creek County Raceway for the Creekadega 40, the first-ever visit for the series to Sapulpa, Okla. Here, four different drivers led during the 40-lap feature. Gravel was able to take the lead from Logan Schuchart on lap 35 and held on for his third straight win by .819 seconds over Buddy Kofoid. Donny
Schatz was third, then Spencer Bayston and Schuchart.
In the points, Gravel's three straight wins have increased his points lead to 58 over Carson Macedo. Haudenschild is third, then Schatz and Schuchart.
- Interstate Batteries High Limit Sprint Car Series teams spent the weekend at Central Arizona Raceway for the
Cactus Classic. Thursday night saw Tanner Thorson lead early, but Rico Abreu was able to get past on lap 14 and pull away for the win. Abreu won by 2.697 seconds over Thorson. Daison Pursley was third, then Giovanni Scelzi and Joel Myers Jr. Friday night saw Aaron Reutzel lead
early, but Thorson was able to run him down and take the lead on lap 8. From there, Thorson was able to hold off the pack on multiple restarts to take his first win of the year. Reutzel was second, then Abreu, Tyler Courtney and Brad Sweet. Saturday night saw James McFadden take the lead on the first lap from Scelzi and was never seriously threatened. The race was slowed by a red flag
due to a flip for Pursley on lap 11.
McFadden was able to hold on through multiple restarts to win the Cactus Classic A-main. The margin of victory was .511 seconds over Scelzi. Sweet was third, then Sye Lynch and Reutzel.
In the points, Thorson has a 22-point lead over Abreu. Scelzi is third, then Reutzel and
Courtney. - World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTvision teams returned to Magnolia Motor Speedway for the second time in less than a month for the Duel at the Mag. This time, rain did not affect the proceedings. Friday night saw Drake Troutman storm around Nick
Hoffman to take the lead on lap 6. From there, he was looking good for victory until a caution bunched the field up. On the restart, Bobby Pierce made his move to the outside. After Troutman crossed him over, Pierce took the lead back on the outside, then held on for the win. Hoffman ended up second, 2.66 seconds back. Jonathan Davenport was third, followed by Ryan Gustin and Ashton Winger.
Saturday night saw Davenport, Winger, Dale McDowell and Hudson O'Neal racing at the front of the pack. Contact resulted in nose damage that forced O'Neal to pit for repairs under yellow on lap 25.
Dropping to
the rear of the field, O'Neal charged back into the top 10 quickly. With the help of a bunch of cautions, he got back to the front. Once there, he was able to emerge victorious from a three-way battle for the lead with Davenport and Pierce. From there, he held on for a big victory.
O'Neal won by .983 seconds over Pierce. Davenport was third, then Hoffman and Tyler Erb. In the points, Pierce still holds a 14-point lead over Hoffman. Tim McCreadie is third, then Erb and Gustin. |
This is just a sampling of the videos that we uploaded to our YouTube channels from Darlington last weekend. For more from Darlington, 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 Chase: Tyler Reddick Is Running Away With It
by Phil Allaway
Tyler Reddick was able to overcome battery/alternator issues and a cool suit failure Sunday to claim his fourth win of the year in Darlington. That allowed him to increase his advantage. The points lead is now 95, more than a full race, over Ryan Blaney.
Blaney is up one spot after finishing third. Blaney jumped over Bubba Wallace, who ran very well, but got collected in a crash. As a result, he finished five laps down in 34th. Denny Hamlin remains in fourth after an 11th-place finish. Chase Elliott struggled in the second half of the race, but stays in fifth after a 15th-place finish.
William Byron is up to sixth after an eighth-place finish. Chris Buescher is up two positions to seventh after leading laps, but dropping back to ninth after hitting the wall. Christopher Bell and Brad Keselowski are tied for eighth. Keselowski is up four places after finishing second. Bell dropped two spots after finishing 19th. Kyle Larson ran very well Sunday, but broke a toe link in the closing laps and dropped down to 32nd. That put him down to 10th in points. Ty Gibbs fell one place to 11th despite finishing sixth. Ryan Preece is up one position to 12th. Carson Hocevar came from the rear of the field to finish fourth. That
performance moved him up two places to 13th. Daniel Suarez moved up to 14th with his own top 10 effort. Shane van Gisbergen moved up one place to 15th. Joey Logano and Michael McDowell are tied for 16th. Logano has the tiebreaker by virtue of his third-place finish in the Daytona 500 and thus, the final spot in the playoffs. Logano and McDowell are 15 points ahead of AJ Allmendinger, who ended up 30th Sunday. Zane Smith is still in 19th, while Ross Chastain is 20th. Point Standings (1-16): 1) Tyler Reddick 255, 2) Ryan Blaney
-95, 3) Bubba Wallace -120, 4) Denny Hamlin -122, 5) Chase Elliott -131, 6) William Byron -134, 7) Chris Buescher -137, t-8) Christopher Bell -143, t-8) Brad Keselowski -143, 10) Kyle Larson -149, 11) Ty Gibbs -152, 12) Ryan
Preece -171, 13) Carson Hocevar -174, 14) Daniel Suarez -175, 15) Shane van Gisbergen -185, t-16) Joey Logano -186, t-16) Michael McDowell -186. Note: Drivers in italics are either outside of the Chase as they run, or
ineligible for points. Stage Points: 1) Bubba Wallace 60, 2) Ryan Blaney -6, 3) Tyler Reddick -8, 4) Kyle Larson -10, 5) Christopher Bell -17, 6) Chris Buescher -19, 7) William Byron
-20, 8) Austin Cindric -24, 9) Chase Elliott -26, t-10) Denny Hamlin -29, t-10) Joey Logano -29, t-12) Brad Keselowski -31, t-12) Ty Gibbs -31, 14) Carson Hocevar -33, 15) Daniel Suarez -34, 16) Ryan Preece -39. Outside of the top-16, but Still in the Chase: 18) Shane van Gisbergen -44.
Note: The Stage Points also include the America 250 Florida Duels at Daytona.
2014 Point
Standings (1-16): 1) Tyler Reddick 265, 2) Ryan Blaney -50, 3) Bubba Wallace -60, 4) Chase Elliott -71, 5) William Byron -74, t-6) Denny Hamlin -77, t-6) Chris Buescher -77, t-8) Brad Keselowski -83, t-8) Christopher Bell
-83, 10) Kyle Larson -89, 11) Ty Gibbs -92, 12) Ryan Preece -111, 13) Carson Hocevar -114, 14) Daniel Suarez -115, 15) Shane van Gisbergen -125, t-16) Joey Logano -126, t-16) Michael McDowell -126.
Note: These point standings are from the previous point system used from 2014-2025. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Tyler Reddick 239, 2) Ryan Blaney -50, 3) Chase Elliott -52, 4) Denny Hamlin
-57, 5) Brad Keselowski -58, 6) William Byron -61, 7) Chris Buescher -66, 8) Bubba Wallace -68, 9) Ty Gibbs -69, 10) Christopher Bell -72, 11) Ryan Preece -81, 12) Kyle Larson -85, 13) Carson Hocevar -88, 14) Shane van Gisbergen
-90, 15) Daniel Suarez -91, 16) Michael McDowell -93. Outside of the top-16, but Still in the Chase: t-18) Joey Logano -104. Note: These standings are based on the old
point system that was used before stages were created. WC Points (1-16): 1) Tyler Reddick 996, 2) Ryan Blaney -158, 3) Chase Elliott -163, 4) Denny Hamlin -183, 5) Brad Keselowski -184, 6) William Byron
-198, 7) Ty Gibbs -210, 8) Christopher Bell -212, 9) Chris Buescher -222, 10) Bubba Wallace -226, 11) Kyle Larson -266, 12) Carson Hocevar -277, 13) Ryan Preece -278, 14) Shane van Gisbergen -282, 15) Daniel Suarez
-301, 16) Michael McDowell -305.
Outside of the top-16, but still in the playoffs: 18) Joey Logano -332. Note: The WC points are based on the original points system created by Bob Latford in
1975. Race Winners: Tyler Reddick (Daytona, Atlanta, Austin, Darlington), Ryan Blaney (Phoenix), Denny Hamlin (Las Vegas)
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 O'Reilly Auto Parts Series Chase: Justin Allgaier Expands Advantage With 2nd Victory
by Phil Allaway
Justin Allgaier was fairly strong on Saturday, but came to life late. He was able to take the lead on the final restart from Brandon Jones and held on for his second win of the year. That allowed Allgaier to expand his lead up to 52 points over Jesse
Love, who finished 11th. Carson Kvapil is up two places to third after scoring 17 stage points and finishing fifth. Sheldon Creed is still in fourth after finishing seventh. Austin Hill is down two places to third after getting caught up in a crash on the backstretch and finishing 35th. Sammy Smith is still in sixth
after a ninth-place finish. Corey Day is seventh, while Jones' second-place finish moved him up three spots to eighth. Parker Retzlaff remains in ninth after a strong run to eighth. Rajah Caruth dropped two places to 10th after a tough run to 23rd. Sam Mayer is still in 11th, while Taylor Gray is still in
12th. He is the final driver in the playoffs on points. Gray has a 13-point lead over teammate William Sawalich, who moved up two positions after finishing 17th. Brennan Poole is still 14th, while Jeb Burton drops two spots to 15th. Anthony Alfredo moved up to 16th after a 12th-place finish. Point Standings (1-16): 1) Justin Allgaier 306, 2) Jesse Love -52, 3) Carson Kvapil -84, 4) Sheldon Creed -88, 5) Austin Hill -96, 6) Sammy Smith -114, 7) Corey
Day -118, 8) Brandon Jones -136, 9) Parker Retzlaff -137, 10) Rajah Caruth -155, 11) Sam Mayer -157, 12) Taylor Gray -174, 13) William Sawalich -187, 14) Brennan Poole -190, 15) Jeb Burton -191, 16) Anthony Alfredo
-193. Note: If he were eligible for NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series points, Kyle Larson would be 14th in points. Stage Points: 1) Justin Allgaier 94, 2) Carson Kvapil -17, 3) Jesse Love
-26, 4) Austin Hill -53, 5) Brandon Jones -60, t-6) Sam Mayer -66, t-6) Sammy Smith -66, t-8) Rajah Caruth -67, t-8) Sheldon Creed -67, t-8) Parker Retzlaff -67, t-11) Corey Day -69, t-11) Taylor Gray -69, 13) William Sawalich
-79, 14) Jeb Burton -83, 15) Brent Crews -85, 16) Jeremy Clements -86. Note: If they were eligible, Kyle Larson would be sixth, Chase Briscoe 14th and William Byron 16th in stage points. 2014 Point Standings
(1-16): 1) Justin Allgaier 276, 2) Jesse Love -22, 3) Carson Kvapil -54, 4) Sheldon Creed -73, 5) Austin Hill -81, 6) Sammy Smith -84, 7) Corey Day -88, 8) Brandon Jones -106, 9) Parker Retzlaff
-107, 10) Rajah Caruth -125, 11) Sam Mayer -127, 12) Taylor Gray -144, 13) William Sawalich -157, 14) Brennan Poole -160, 15) Jeb Burton -161, 16) Anthony Alfredo -163. Old
School Point Standings (1-16): 1) Jesse Love 214, 2) Justin Allgaier -5, 3) Sheldon Creed -12, 4) Sammy Smith -24, 5) Corey Day -26, 6) Austin Hill
-32, 7) Carson Kvapil -42, 8) Parker Retzlaff -48, 9) Brandon Jones -52, 10) Rajah Caruth -64, 11) Sam Mayer -65, 12) Brennan Poole -74, 13) Taylor Gray
-81, 14) Anthony Alfredo -83, 15) William Sawalich -85, 16) Jeb Burton -86. WC Points (1-16): 1) Jesse Love 928, 2) Justin Allgaier
-12, 3) Sheldon Creed -46, 4) Sammy Smith -82, 5) Corey Day -96, 6) Austin Hill -112, 7) Carson Kvapil -144, 8) Parker Retzlaff -174, 9) Brandon Jones -184, 10) Sam Mayer -219, 11) Rajah Caruth -225, 12) Brennan Poole
-267, 13) Taylor Gray -281, 14) William Sawalich -291, 15) Anthony Alfredo -294, 16) Ryan Sieg -296. Race Winners: Austin Hill (Daytona), Sheldon Creed (Atlanta), Shane van Gisbergen (Austin), Justin Allgaier (Phoenix, Darlington),
Kyle Larson (Las Vegas) 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 Chase: Chandler Smith Keeps Advantage Despite Mediocre FInish
by Phil Allaway
Chandler Smith had an off-night in Darlington, finishing 17th. Despite that, he lost next to nothing of his lead. Smith currently has a 33-point lead over Kaden Honeycutt. Honeycutt won stage two and led the most laps to finish fourth and move up four places in
points. Layne Riggs is up two spots to third after a 12th-place finish. Gio Ruggiero finished eighth and stays fourth in points. Ty Majeski is down two spots to fifth after crashing late and finishing 31st. Christian Eckes and Ben Rhodes are tied for sixth. Eckes wins the tiebreaker via two third-place finishes to Rhodes' one.
Eckes moved up three spots after finishing third. Rhodes dropped four positions after crashing out early.
Corey Heim gained 13 places as a result of his victory and is now eighth (he is ineligible for the Chase due to missing Daytona and St. Petersburg). Andres Perez is down two spots to ninth after crashing with Majeski. Justin Haley remains in 10th, while teammate
Brenden Queen is 11th. He is the final driver in the Chase on points at the moment.
Queen has a one-point lead over Tyler Ankrum and Stewart Friesen. Ankrum finished 24th and stayed tied for 12th. Friesen dropped four places after finishing 25th. Ankrum has the tiebreaker by virtue of his ninth-place finish at Daytona. Daniel
Hemric is 14th, while Jake Garcia and Tanner Gray are tied for 15th (Garcia has the tiebreaker thanks to his seventh-place finish at Atlanta). Point Standings (1-16): 1) Chandler Smith 172, 2) Kaden Honeycutt -33, 3) Layne Riggs
-41, 4) Gio Ruggiero -45, 5) Ty Majeski -51, t-6) Christian Eckes -53, t-6) Ben Rhodes -53, 8) Corey Heim -58, 9) Andres Perez -82, 10) Justin Haley -83, 11) Brenden Queen -89, t-12) Tyler Ankrum
-90, t-12) Stewart Friesen -90, 14) Daniel Hemric -97, t-15) Jake Garcia -98, t-15) Tanner Gray -98. Note: If he were eligible, Carson Hocevar would be 14th in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points. Stage Points: 1) Ty Majeski 38, 2) Layne Riggs -4, 3) Chandler Smith -5, 4) Kaden Honeycutt -9, 5) Christian Eckes -10, 6) Corey Heim -11, 7) Ben Rhodes -12, 8) Gio Ruggiero
-21, 9) Landen Lewis -22, 10) Stewart Friesen -23, 11) Tyler Ankrum -26, 12) Tanner Gray -27, t-13) Andres Perez -29, t-13) Connor Mosack -29, 15) Dario Franchitti -30, 16) Jake Garcia -32. Outside of the top 16, but still in the Chase: 20) Brenden Queen -36, t-21) Justin Haley -38. Note: If they were eligible, Carson Hocevar would be fourth and Kyle Busch 12th. Ross Chastain and Michael McDowell would be tied for 13th in stage points. 2014 Point Standings (1-16): 1) Chandler Smith 157, 2) Kaden Honeycutt -18, 3) Gio Ruggiero -30, 4) Ty Majeski -36, t-5) Christian Eckes -38, t-5) Ben Rhodes -38, 7) Layne Riggs -41, 8) Corey Heim
-58, 9) Andres Perez -67, 10) Justin Haley -68, 11) Brenden Queen -74, t-12) Tyler Ankrum -75, t-12) Stewart Friesen -75, 14) Daniel Hemric -82, t-15) Jake Garcia -83, t-15) Tanner Gray -83. Note: If he were eligible for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points, Carson Hocevar would be 14th in 2014 points. Old School Point Standings (1-16): 1) Chandler Smith 109, 2) Kaden Honeycutt -12, 3) Gio Ruggiero
-15, 4) Ben Rhodes -25, 5) Christian Eckes -28, 6) Justin Haley -34, 7) Ty Majeski -40, 8) Layne Riggs -42, t-9) Corey Heim -44, t-9) Andres Perez -44, t-9) Brenden Queen -44, 12) Daniel Hemric -52, 13) Tyler
Ankrum -55, 14) Jake Garcia -56, t-15) Stewart Friesen -57, t-15) Grant Enfinger -57, t-15) Daniel Dye -57.
Note: If he were eligible for points, John Hunter Nemechek would be 13th in Old School points. WC Points (1-16): 1) Chandler Smith 607, 2) Kaden Honeycutt -35, 3) Gio Ruggiero -42, 4) Ben Rhodes -85, 5) Christian Eckes -94, 6) Ty Majeski -118, 7) Justin Haley -121, 8) Layne Riggs -138, t-9) Andres Perez
-152, t-9) Brenden Queen -152, 11) Daniel Hemric -181, 12) Jake Garcia -186, 13) Tyler Ankrum -187, 14) Grant Enfinger -191, 15) Stewart Friesen -192, 16) Tanner Gray -208. Race Winners: Chandler Smith (Daytona), Kyle Busch (Atlanta), Layne Riggs (St. Petersburg), Corey Heim (Darlington) 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 Goodyear 400 was brought to you by the letter R for RFK Racing. The race will likely be remembered as a coming out party for a team that has struggled at times in recent years. Brad
Keselowski had one of his best chances of winning in a while and his teammates were right there as well. - Phil Allaway |
Quotes to Remember: Goodyear 400 compiled by Phil Allaway
"It means everything. Some of the guys and I were talking about – we have it pretty good as Cup drivers, but it seemed like today, it was going to be a blue-collar type of day – we were going to have to really work for it. From lap 1, to have the alternator problems we were having, and just be cutting fans and not to be able to run things that I was counting on to keep me cool all day was
tough. Just an incredible Xfinity Camry. So proud of this team, and everyone that is a part of it." - Tyler Reddick, race winner "Tyler [Reddick] was really, really fast. Those problems earlier in the race that he got kind of buried and he was just methodical. He did a great job. He took the fastest car and ran an amazing race. When he was
by me he was way faster. We had to fall into racing the track and even at the end I think he was managing it pretty hard, so, all in all, it’s a great day for us. We won two stages, led a lot of laps, scored a bunch of points, so a lot to be proud of.
"It was a lot of fun. The cars were fair to drive. You really had to be careful. You couldn't be a foot offline and I thought our team did
a good job with that today." - Brad Keselowski, finished second
"I’m proud of the fight back to run third. I thought our car was pretty good, we just got set back too many times and it was hard to make it back up. I’m proud of our effort. We made gains on it all day, so that’s good. I was third and Austin was fifth, so a good showing for the Penske cars and I’m
proud of that comeback." - Ryan Blaney, finished third "I had fun. Our Chevy was good. It didn’t feel crazy different, but it seemed like it was way different for everyone else and we were able to pass a lot of cars. That was beneficial for us, for sure." - Carson Hocevar, finished fourth "It was a difficult weekend for the teams to kind of decide what to bring and the right things to do. My group proves time and time again that they come prepared, whether it’s changes or practice to race, things like that, so we really had a solid package to work with all day, something that we could adjust with and change with the conditions. We were overdue for this group to have a good run and I’m proud to be
able to deliver it and get us to the finish line for the first time, it feels like all year without an issue, so I’m proud of the team and something to build on." - Austin Cindric, finished fifth "[Seventh] was about all that we had. Maybe we could have found it a little sooner, but we got a bit too tight at the end. Just so proud of this No. 7 NationsGuard Chevrolet team.
They did an incredible job all day long. I feel like every single week, if we look at our numbers and we can get a little bit better, that’s all I can ask for. We’re not trying to hit home runs right now, we’re just putting one step in front of the other, and that’s how progress happens." - Daniel Suarez, finished seventh "It’s ironic, but [the incident
with Tyler Reddick] was a racing deal. I don’t hold any fault for this one. That’s just part of it. We were being aggressive and trying to take our opportunity and roll down. I don’t know exactly what happened, but I can take a pretty good stab at it. They were coming on tires. [Brad Keselowski[ had just gotten by us and he probably was gonna go to the bottom and dive through there and pull a slider. That was probably what was on his mind and we kind
of turned down last second to take that and it’s hard to check up that fast. I’m assuming that’s what happened. It was nothing intentionally and I know that from where I’m at without ever having to talk to him. We’re all good. It’s just racing, trying to jump those guys and just missed it a little bit." - Chris Buescher, finished ninth "It wasn’t a
bad day. I thought we had a decent top 10, top-five AdventHealth Camry. Got turned around at the end or stage two and had to fight back from that. Strategy worked out good at the end, and the car was good the last two runs, which allowed us to get back to the front. We needed some long runs, which we had. Long day, lot of sliding around and a lot of guys wrecking and making mistakes, so to come home 10th is good." - Erik Jones, finished 10th 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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