Frontstretch Newsletter: March 1, 2021
Volume: XV, Edition XXI
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Around the World in Motorsports: Feb. 26-28
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- In Saudi Arabia, the second e-Prix of the weekend in Ad-Diriyah was a back and forth affair between Envision Virgin Racing's Robin Frijns and Jaguar Racing's Sam Bird. Bird was able to make the pass stick on lap 24 and held on to take the win. Frijns was second, then DS Techeetah's Antonio Felix da Costa. Dragon/Penske Autosport teammates Sergio
Sette Camara and Nico Mueller were fourth and fifth.
Mercedes EQ's Edoardo Mortara, who finished second on Friday, did not race on Saturday after crashing in the final practice session Saturday. This wreck was found to have occurred due to a computer fault, resulting in the FIA not allowing Mercedes EQ or ROKiT Venturi Racing on-track during qualifying.
- Joe Gibbs Racing's Sammy Smith dominated the ARCA Menards Series East race Saturday night at Five Flags Speedway. Smith led 145 of 200 laps, including the final 85 to claim his first career victory. Mason Diaz was second, then Taylor Gray, Rajah Caruth and Joey Iest.
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- Teams are back at their shops to prepare for Las Vegas. Entry lists for this weekend should be out either today or tomorrow. We'll have those and anything else that might break today at Frontstretch for your pleasure.
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| | William Byron Dominates Late at Homestead for
2nd Career Cup Win
Hendrick Motorsports' William Byron was strong all day in Homestead. However, he didn't get up front until he snuck into the lead on the final lap of stage two. From there, no one could catch him as he went on to
take his second career victory. Tyler Reddick was a career-best second, then Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Larson and Kevin Harvick.
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| | After Slow Start, Tyler Reddick Finishes 2nd
at Homestead
Tyler Reddick struggled early on Sunday in Homestead. However, he came on like a freight train once it got dark, turning in laps half a second faster than the leader. He was able to get all the way up to second by
the time the checkered flag fell.
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| | Myatt Snider Scores 1st Xfinity Win in Wild
Homestead Race
Richard Childress Racing's Myatt Snider was able to get past Tyler Reddick on a late restart and held on to take his first career Xfinity Series victory in Saturday's Contender Boats 250. Reddick crossed the line second,
but was disqualified due to height violations. That gave second to Brandon Jones, followed by Daniel Hemric, Jeb Burton and Austin Cindric.
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| | 3rd Straight Homestead Heartbreak for Noah
Gragson
Saturday's Contender Boats 250 appeared to be a foregone conclusion that Noah Gragson was going to win. With just five laps to go, he had an eight-second lead. However, David Starr had a tire unwind on him, causing
him to lose control. Gragson ran right in the back of him, ending his day.
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Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.
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Seeking the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs: Denny Hamlin Holds Onto Lead Despite Pit Penalty
by Phil Allaway
Denny Hamlin had a decent car on Sunday, but had issues off the track. The team found something with the car they didn't like before the race, resulting in unapproved adjustments and a trip to the rear. In the race, Hamlin was decent, but another one of his pit penalties put him at the rear of the field for the final restart. On the final run, Hamlin was able to get back to
11th by the finish. That performance and nine stage points was enough for him to expand his lead up to 20 over Kevin Harvick. Harvick finished fifth on Sunday. Joey Logano made a green-flag pit stop to try to break up the final run and it didn't work out for him. A 25th-place finish dropped him to third. Michael McDowell finished sixth, one of the best-ever runs for Front Row Motorsports on an intermediate track.
That moved McDowell up two places to fourth.
Chase Elliott was quick early, but faded as it got darker to a 14th-place finish. That was good enough to keep him in fifth. Kurt Busch moved up two places to sixth despite stopping with 39 laps to go with a vibration. From there, he charged up from a lap down to finish eighth. Christopher Bell struggled all day and finished 20th, dropping to seventh in the process.
Kyle Larson is up four places to eighth after finishing fourth.
Martin Truex Jr. is up five places to ninth after leading 37 laps and finishing third. Brad Keselowski drops back to 10th after taking the same gamble as Logano and finishing 16th. Austin Dillon and Ryan Preece are tied for 11th. Dillon finished 12th, while Preece was 21st.
William Byron's victory Sunday moved up all the way from 29th to 13th in the standings. Cole Custer ran very well late in the race Sunday, but ran out of fuel on the final lap. That dropped him to 23rd and cost him three places in the points. Chris Buescher and Bubba Wallace are tied for 15th. Buescher won stage one, but faded late to finish 19th.
Wallace was 22nd at the finish.
Wallace and Buescher have the final two places in the playoffs at the moment. They are two points ahead of Alex Bowman, who gained six positions after finishing ninth. Kyle Busch dropped a place to 18th despite a 10th-place finish. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. dropped three places to 19th despite running in the top five early on. Ryan Newman's seventh-place
finish moved him up to 20th.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) Denny Hamlin 139, 2) Kevin Harvick -20, 3) Joey Logano -31, 4) Michael McDowell -33, 5) Chase Elliott -34, 6) Kurt Busch -35, 7) Christopher Bell -40, 8) Kyle Larson -42, 9) Martin Truex Jr. -43, 10) Brad Keselowski -44, t-11)
Austin Dillon -49, t-11) Ryan Preece -49, 13) William Byron -63, 14) Cole Custer -71, t-15) Chris Buescher -72, t-15) Bubba Wallace -72.
Playoff Points: 1) William Byron 6, t-2) Christopher Bell -1, t-2) Michael McDowell -1, 4) Denny Hamlin -3, t-5) Chase Elliott -5, t-5) Chris Buescher -5.
Stage Points: 1) Denny Hamlin 47, 2) Joey Logano -11, 3) Chase Elliott -16, 4) Kyle Larson -17, 5) Austin Dillon -19, 6) Kurt Busch -20, 7) Martin Truex Jr. -22, 8) Kevin Harvick -24, t-9) Christopher Bell -26, t-9) William Byron -26,
t-9) Bubba Wallace -26, 12) Brad Keselowski -29, 13) Chris Buescher -30, 14) Ryan Preece -32, t-15) Kyle Busch -37, t-15) Aric Almirola -37.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the playoffs: 19) Michael McDowell -41, t-20) Cole Custer -43.
Old Point Standings (1-16): t-1) Michael McDowell 112, 2) Kevin Harvick -3, 3) Denny Hamlin -5, 4) Christopher Bell -21, t-5) Chase Elliott -22, t-5) Kurt Busch -22, t-5) Brad Keselowski -22, t-8) Joey Logano -25, t-8) Ryan Preece -25, 10)
Martin Truex Jr. -28, 11) Kyle Larson -31, 12) Cole Custer -35, 13) Austin Dillon -37, 14) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -38, 15) Alex Bowman -42, 16) William Byron -44.
Outside of the top 16, but still in Playoffs: 18) Chris Buescher -49, 19) Bubba Wallace -52.
Race Winners: Michael McDowell (Daytona-1), Christopher Bell (Daytona-2), William Byron (Homestead)
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 Xfinity Series Playoffs: Austin Cindric Continues To Extend Lead
by Phil Allaway
Austin Cindric won another stage Saturday and finished a strong
fifth. That allowed him to expand his points lead to 29 points. That margin is over Myatt Snider, who gained three spots after claiming his first career victory Saturday. Daniel Hemric remains in third after finishing third. Jeb Burton is up two positions to fourth after finishing fourth.
Brandon Jones is up five places to fifth after just missing out on the win Saturday. Justin
Haley is up three places to sixth after finishing sixth. Harrison Burton dropped down to seventh after having his engine fail under caution, resulting in a 39th-place finish. Jeremy Clements is down one place to eighth despite scoring his third straight top 10 finish.
Brandon Brown struggled all day Saturday. A loose plug wire dropped him down into the 30s, then overheating
issues put him out. That dropped him down from fourth to ninth. AJ Allmendinger is up to 10th after winning stage one and finishing 14th. Riley Herbst is up 11 places to 11th after finishing 11th. Landon Cassill and Kyle Weatherman are tied for 12th, but Cassill wins the tiebreaker by virtue of the best finish to this point in the season (Cassill's 12th in the Super Start Batteries 188). Weatherman
would have stayed in a playoff spot had his engine not turned traitor at the end of the race Saturday.
Ryan Sieg is up 14 places to 14th after finally finishing a race without issues Saturday. Joe Graf
Jr. dropped from a tie for 12th to 15th, while Ty Gibbs sat out Saturday's race and dropped from eighth to 16th.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) Austin Cindric 147, 2) Myatt Snider
-29, 3) Daniel Hemric -30, 4) Jeb Burton -41, 5) Brandon Jones -54, 6) Justin Haley -57, 7) Harrison Burton -58, 8) Jeremy Clements -60, 9) Brandon Brown -72, 10) AJ Allmendinger -77, 11) Riley Herbst -85, t-12) Landon Cassill -89, t-12) Kyle Weatherman -89, 14)
Ryan Sieg -91, 15) Joe Graf Jr. -94, 16) Ty Gibbs -97.
Note No. 1: Drivers in Bold have locked into the playoffs.
Note No. 2: Drivers in italics are ineligible for the playoffs.
Note No. 3: If he were eligible for points, Brett Moffitt would be fifth in points.
Playoff Points: 1) Austin Cindric 7, 2) Ty Gibbs
6, 3) Myatt Snider -2, t-4) Brandon Jones -6, t-4) AJ Allmendinger -6.
Note: If he were eligible for points, Brett Moffitt would have one playoff point and be tied for third in playoff points.
Stage Points: 1) Austin Cindric 40, t-2) Myatt Snider
-16, t-2) Brandon Jones -16, t-2) Riley Herbst -16, t-5) Harrison Burton -17, t-5) Justin Haley -17, 7) Daniel Hemric -19, t-8) Jeremy Clements -23, t-8) Ty Dillon -23, t-8) Noah Gragson -23, 11) Justin Allgaier -24, 12) AJ Allmendinger -27, 13) Brandon Brown -28,
14) Ryan Sieg -29, 15) Ty Gibbs -30, 16) Jeb Burton -32.
Outside the top 16, but still in the Playoffs: 22) Landon Cassill -39.
Note: If he were eligible for points, Brett Moffitt would be 15th in stage points.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Austin Cindric 124, 2) Jeb Burton -13,
3) Daniel Hemric -15, 4) Myatt Snider -18, 5) Jeremy Clements -41, t-6) Brandon Jones -43, t-6) Justin Haley -43, 8) Harrison Burton -45, 9) Brandon Brown -48, 10) AJ Allmendinger -53, 11) Landon Cassill -55, 12) Kyle Weatherman -57, 13) Joe Graf Jr.
-59, 14) Jesse Little -64, t-15) Ryan Sieg -65, t-15) Michael Annett -65, t-15) Matt Mills -65, t-15) Josh Williams -65.
Note: If he were eligible for points, Brett Moffitt would be fifth in old points.
Race Winners: Austin Cindric (Daytona-1), Ty Gibbs (Daytona-2), Myatt Snider
(Homestead)
Note: Wins that are ineligible for playoff ineligibility are in italics.
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 Camping World Truck Series Playoffs: Off Week Check
by Phil Allaway
The Camping World Truck Series was off this past weekend. They'll be back in action Friday night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
When the series rolls into Las Vegas, Ben Rhodes will have the points lead by virtue of sweeping the races in Daytona. He'll be nine points ahead of John Hunter
Nemechek. Sheldon Creed is third, followed by Chandler Smith and Matt Crafton.
Carson Hocevar is sixth despite meeting up with the Fitch barrier in Daytona.
Raphael Lessard is seventh, then Codie Rohrbaugh, Johnny Sauter and a three-way tie for 10th between Ryan Truex, Todd Gilliland and Austin Wayne Self.
Cory Roper is the first driver outside of the playoffs at the moment in 13th.
Grant Enfinger is 14th and ineligible for the playoffs because he's part-time. Derek Kraus is 15th and Stewart Friesen16th.
Point Standings (1-16): 1)
Ben Rhodes 100, 2) John Hunter Nemechek -9, 3) Sheldon Creed -13, 4) Chandler Smith -30, 5) Matt Crafton -37, 6) Carson Hocevar -45, 7) Raphael Lessard -46, 8) Codie Rohrbaugh -50, 9) Johnny Sauter -53, t-10) Ryan Truex -55, t-10) Todd Gilliland -55, t-10) Austin Wayne Self
-55, 13) Cory Roper -63, 14) Grant Enfinger -64, 15) Derek Kraus -66, 16) Stewart Friesen -67.
Playoff Points: 1) Ben
Rhodes 10, t-2) John Hunter Nemechek -8, t-2) Raphael Lessard -8.
Stage Points: 1) Raphael Lessard 29, 2) John Hunter Nemechek -2, 3) Sheldon
Creed -8, 4) Ben Rhodes -9, 5) Chandler Smith -12, 6) Johnny Sauter -16, t-7) Matt Crafton -19, t-7) Grant Enfinger -19, 9) Zane Smith -21, t-10) Austin Wayne Self -22, t-10) Brett Moffitt -22, t-10) Austin Hill -22, t-13) Ryan Truex -23, t-13) Todd Gilliland
-23, t-15) Timothy Peters -25, t-15) Hailie Deegan -25.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Ben Rhodes 72, 2) Sheldon Creed -11,
3) John Hunter Nemechek -14, t-4) Chandler Smith -25, t-4) Carson Hocevar -25, 6) Matt Crafton -27, 7) Codie Rohrbaugh -30, t-8) Cory Roper -41, t-8) Ryan Truex -41, t-8) Todd Gilliland -41, 11) Austin Wayne Self -42, 12) Derek Kraus -45, t-13) Stewart Friesen
-49, t-13) Grant Enfinger -49, t-13) Drew Dollar -49, t-13) Christian Eckes -49.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the playoffs: 17) Johnny Sauter -50, t-22) Raphael Lessard -53.
Note: If they were eligible for Truck points, Jordan Anderson would be eighth in Old Points, Riley Herbst 13th, Kaz Grala 15th and Timmy Hill 16th..
Race Winner: Ben Rhodes (Daytona-1, Daytona-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 Dixie Vodka 400 was brought to you by the Letter C for Changes. The first half of the race saw one group of drivers lead the charge. However, as the race continued, those drivers
dropped off and another group came to the front. This is relatively unusual in NASCAR Cup Series events. William Byron, who ultimately won, was one of the only drivers that was strong in both phases. - Phil Allaway
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Quotes to Remember: Dixie Vodka 400
compiled by Phil Allaway
"Yeah, I mean, where do I start? I think honestly the work and the effort goes back a long ways. Getting Rudy on board and just having a guy like that to work with. We really think the same way, and it helps us in a
lot of ways to progress through races and communicate well and work through the off-season.
"I’d say it’s a lot to do with off-season prep, and as soon as we got into the race the track was super slick to start. We had to start pretty far back but made our way up and just had to keep adjusting on the car and kind of finding those little bits. I
think the 19 was really strong to start the race. The 17 was surprisingly really good, so we had to kind of work on that and had a really good restart the last one. The 2 pushed me super hard down the backstretch and the car was just good enough.
"It’s cool when you have cars like that and you can make moves and make them stick. Love this racetrack; it’s really fun." - William Byron, race winner
"Well, finishing second is a good night considering how the first two weekends of the season have gone, but I hate that I didn’t get this Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevy into Victory Lane because if I would have then I would have gotten a lot of people in
America free chicken tenders on Monday night. Once I really saw how fast we were in clean air at the end of the race, and I saw how fast we were catching everybody it became beyond frustrating because I know just two or three different decisions on a restart would have put me miles ahead. I knew that we were going to have to have a well-executed restart. We didn’t do that, and it takes time to get around all of those cars who pass you on a restart because they are all really good drivers. That’s
the difference. I thought we would be better in the day and everyone would catch up at night, but it was the opposite of that. We tried to work on our Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevy throughout the night. We learned a lot. You have to win these races by being very consistent and making the right calls as a driver and as a team. I’m proud of how fast we were at the end of the race." - Tyler Reddick, finished second
"The track changed a lot. Our Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry was really fast at times. At times a little bit off. On that last run, for whatever reason, I was just babying it. The 24 (William Byron) got the lead from me on that restart and then the 5 (Kyle
Larson) got by us and I’m just biding my time waiting for them to start coming back to me and they just never did. They obviously were really fast at the end and we weren’t quite as good that last run. These things are so hard to win. These cars are so touchy and just needed one more adjustment to have a chance." - Martin Truex Jr., finished third
"It got pretty intense there at the end. I was just trying to take care of my tires and was just struggling on the long runs. We were loose for a majority of the race and in that last run, we actually got kind of tight. But I felt like being tight was
better for my long runs than loose, just because I could be a little more confident. I would have liked to finish second, but those guys were better than me in the end and I just couldn’t hold them off. I hate that I gave up those spots. But it was a good day for the NationsGuard Chevy team. Congrats to William Byron. It’s really cool for William to get a win this early in the year. Hats off to their team and hopefully we can get it done soon." - Kyle Larson, finished
fourth
"We actually had a good car the second half of the race. We were just way too loose in the first third of the race. The Busch Light Ford team did a great job of getting the car better and a great job on pit road keeping our track position and the things
we had early in the race, so I’m just really proud of the way that everybody is battling right now. I would consider these three tracks that we’ve gone to so far kind of hit or miss for me as far as my like-ability as far as driving and the things we have going on. To have the finishes that we’ve had in the first three races says a lot about our team." - Kevin Harvick, finished fifth
"I think it says a whole lot for this whole Front Row Motorsports organization. We’re just making huge improvements and to come here to a very challenging mile-and-a-half and run in the top 10 and not luck our way in, we raced there all night long, is
super impressive. Thank you to everybody back at the shop. I’ve got to thank Love’s Travel Stop, Speedy Cash, Freight Auctions, Speedco and especially Ford and our Roush Yates engines are super strong right now. Everything is clicking. The momentum is going and it’s pretty awesome right now. It’s exciting to be a part of this organization and to have this momentum. Like I said, this is a win for us to come to Homestead and run in the top 10." - Michael McDowell, finished
sixth
"I’m not going to second guess having to pit. We had a vibration and a loose wheel and we had to pit. We unlapped ourselves and drove all the way back to eighth. It just took our chance of winning away or being up front for a final restart. But what a
really good long-run speed car, the Monster Energy Chevy was really fast with the sun out and on long runs, so that’s the good. We just need to find our short run speed and when the track picks up pace at night." - Kurt Busch, finished eighth
"It was good. It was positive. We came through some adversity very early. We had a little damage at the start of the race and all in all, I’m very proud of my team. They did a hell of a job. The pit crew did a very, very good job. They have a lot of
potential and I’m very happy to see that. I haven’t had that in probably two years. And just overall, I’m very happy with the product that we are making. We are showing well there. We just have to clean up a few things to get closer to a top 10." - Daniel Suarez, finished 15th
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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