Frontstretch Newsletter: April 19, 2021
Volume: XV, Edition LVI
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Around the World in Motorsports: April 16-18
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- Team WRT's Louis Deletraz, Robert Kubica and Yifei Ye dominated the European Le Mans Series season opener Sunday at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona, leading all but 13 laps to win the 4 Hours of Barcelona. COOL Racing's Matt Bell, Niklas Kruetten and Nicolas Maulini won in LMP3, while Iron Lynx's Matteo Cressoni, Rino Mastronardi and Miguel Molina won in GTE. We'll have more on this race in
Tuesday's edition of the newsletter.
- In Indy Lights competition, Linus Lundqvist led flag-to-flag to win the season opener Saturday afternoon at Barber Motorsports over Benjamin Pedersen and Devlin DeFrancesco.
Race No. 2 on Sunday saw David Malukas lead flag-to-flag to take his own win by 6.390 seconds over Lundqvist and DeFrancesco.
- Indy Pro 2000 saw Braden Eves lead flag-to-flag to win the first race of the weekend Saturday over Artem Petrov, Reece Gold, Cameron Shields and Enaam Ahmed.
Race No. 2 saw Christian Rasmussen lead the race flag-to-flag and cross the start-finish line first. However, he was penalized five seconds after the race for blocking. That gave the victory to Hunter McElrea. Rasmussen was reclassified in second, followed by Petrov, Eves and Jacob Abel.
- Both of the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship races at Barber Motorsports Park were held on Saturday. Race No. 1 early in the morning saw Yuven Sundaramoorthy lead flag-to-flag to win from the pole. Prescott Campbell was second, then Josh Pierson, Michael d'Orlando and Christian Brooks.
Race No. 2 saw the only on-track lead change of the weekend in Road to Indy competition. Campbell passed Nolan Siegel on lap 6 and held on Siegel's charges to take the victory. Pierson was third, then Kiko Porto and Brooks.
- Dinamic Motorsports's Klaus Bachler, Matteo Cairoli and Christian Engelhart won the season opener for the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS Endurance Cup at Monza Sunday from 12th on the grid. The race started in the wet due to the same rains that affected Sunday's Formula 1 race, but eventually dried out.
- KTM's Cooper Webb ran down Ken Roczen and took the lead with just a couple of minutes to go after Roczen crashed in the whoops. Webb was then able to pull away for his seventh win of the year. Roczen was second, then Eli Tomac, Aaron Plessinger and Justin Barcia.
With two rounds remaining, Webb now has a 16-point lead over Roczen. Tomac is third, then Barcia and Plessinger.
- The 250cc West race was wild. Cameron McAdoo was clearly the most notable rider of the night between both classes. He entered the race with soreness in both shoulders and his groin from his big crash in Tuesday night's main event. Saturday night only made it worse.
First, he crashed in qualifying. Then, he got caught up in a crash on the first lap of the main event with Chris Blose and Derek Kelley. Blose was hurt, resulting in a red flag and complete race restart.
Shortly after the race restart, McAdoo ran into the back of Seth Hammaker in the whoops and crashed in an incident that also involved Pierce Brown. Despite these incidents, he was still in the top 10 until Garrett Marchbanks made a banzai move and crashed himself and
McAdoo in a move that seemed to be intentional0. The three crashes in the main were separated by about 12 minutes. Somehow, McAdoo was able to remount and finish in 13th.
Up front, Yamaha's Nate Thrasher once again won the Last Chance Qualifier like he did on April 10. He was able to dispatch teammate/points leader Justin Cooper for the lead and pulled away to take his second victory. Cooper ended up second, while Hammaker recovered from his crash to finish third. Hunter Lawrence (who also had an incident) was fourth, while Kyle Peters was
fifth.
In the 250cc West points, Cooper now has a commanding 20-point lead with only the East-West Showdown in Salt Lake City remaining over Lawrence. McAdoo is back to third, followed by Hammaker and Jalek Swoll.
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- Preparations will continue today for the Cup and Xfinity action this weekend in Talladega. Entry lists will be released either today or tomorrow. We'll have those and anything else that breaks at Frontstretch.
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| | Alex Bowman Uses Final Restart to Steal
Victory at Richmond
Hendrick Motorsports' Alex Bowman powered around Denny Hamlin with 10 laps to go Sunday and held on to win the Toyota Owners 400 for his first career short track victory. Hamlin was second, then Joey Logano, Christopher
Bell and Martin Truex Jr.
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| | Denny Hamlin Not Worried Following Runner-Up
At Richmond: “We’re Smashing Everyone”
Denny Hamlin's incredible start to 2021 continued Sunday. He led 207 more laps and won the first two stages. A big run in the closing laps by Alex Bowman stole the win away, but he's not dissatisfied with his
performance.
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| | Alex Bowman’s Richmond Win Caps Off Big Day
for Drivers of No. 48
While Alex Bowman's win in Richmond Sunday was a breakthrough for him, it wasn't the only big deal for a No. 48. Jimmie Johnson also made his INDYCAR debut Sunday. Unfortunately, some trouble regulated him to a
19th-place finish at Barber Park.
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| | Bubba Wallace on Adam Toledo & the
‘Never-Ending Battle’
Prior to the action in Richmond, Bubba Wallace spoke about the ongoing efforts for equality and the current efforts surrounding police violence against African-Americans.
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| | John Hunter Nemechek Wins Richmond, Leads KBM
Dominance
Kyle Busch Motorsports had a banner day Saturday at Richmond. At one point, the team's three trucks ran one-two-three. John Hunter Nemechek led 117 of 250 to claim his second win of the year. Kyle Busch was
second, then Tyler Ankrum, Chandler Smith and Johnny Sauter.
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| | Tyler Ankrum “Living For a Run Like This”
After Top 5 at Richmond
GMS Racing's Tyler Ankrum has had a wretched start to 2021, crashing out of three races and running badly when he didn't crash. Saturday saw him overcome issues and a bad starting spot to score a crucial third-place
finish.
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| | Alex Palou Wins In Ganassi Debut At Barber
Park; Romain Grosjean Scores Top 10 Finish
Chip Ganassi Racing's Alex Palou benefitted from Patricio O'Ward getting himself on the wrong strategy to lead 56 of 90 laps en route to his maiden NTT IndyCar Series victory. Will Power was second, then Scott Dixon,
O'Ward and Sebastien Bourdais.
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| | IndyCar Bigger Picture Outlook from Barber
Motorsports Park
While Alex Palou claiming his first win and Jimmie Johnson's debut were the big stories Sunday at Barber Park, there were a couple of other stories worth scoping out.
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| | IndyCar at Barber on Saturday: What
Mattered
Saturday at Barber Motorsports Park saw a number of support races, while Jimmie Johnson spent the time getting his feet wet.
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| | Saturday Morning IndyCar Notebook: Barber
Motorsports Park
Entering the weekend, Patricio O'Ward's goal was to finally get himself to victory lane. Romain Grosjean's goals were quite as lofty, but he still desired to run as well as he could.
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| | Max Verstappen Wins an Action Packed Emilia
Romagna Grand Prix
Red Bull's Max Verstappen was able to get past Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton at the Tamburello chicane on the first lap and was able to hold on to win a wild Grand Prix of Emilia Romagna at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in
Italy. Hamilton recovered from a spin to finish second, then Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr.
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| | Miami to Host Formula 1 in
2022
The FIA announced Sunday morning that the World Championship will race on a new 3.362-mile temporary circuit around Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. starting next year in a 10-year deal. The race will be scheduled
for sometime in the second quarter of the year.
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Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, Joe Skibinski and Chris Owens of INDYCAR Media, Lars Baron of Getty Images and James Moy of Rolex.
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Seeking the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs: Denny Hamlin Dominates Again, Misses Paydirt
by Phil Allaway
Sunday's Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond was more of the same for Denny Hamlin. He led 207 of 400 laps, but got passed for the win with 10 laps to go. Another second-place finish allowed Hamlin to expand his lead again. The advantage is now 81 points over Martin Truex Jr., who recovered from a speeding penalty to
finish fifth. Joey Logano was a threat to win before Hamlin beat him off pit road late. A third-place finish allows him to stay the same one point behind Truex that he was entering the race. William Byron is up two places to fourth after finishing seventh and scoring 10 stage points.
Ryan Blaney got trapped a lap down due to bad pit strategy in stage two. He recovered to finish 11th and stay in fifth. Kyle Larson dropped two places to sixth after finishing two laps down in 18th. Chase Elliott is still in seventh, while Kevin Harvick cut a tire and crashed with
20 laps to go. He managed to finish 24th and held onto eighth.
Brad Keselowski went from running in the top five to a lap down due to the same bad pit strategy as Blaney. He ended up 14th at the end of the day, but kept ninth in points. Christopher Bell finished fourth and stays in 10th. Kurt Busch is still 11th, while Austin Dillon is
12th.
Alex Bowman's victory on Sunday moved him up four places to 13th in the standings. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is 14th after a 17th-place finish, while Kurt Busch still has the final spot in the playoffs on points. He currently holds a 10-point advantage over Chris Buescher, who finished
25th.
Michael McDowell had a disappointing day, finishing 27th. That dropped him back to 17th in points. Matt DiBenedetto finished ninth and moved into the top 20 in points for the first time this year. Ryan Newman spun early on and had a very disappointing day, finishing five laps down in 30th.
That dropped him to 19th in points. Bubba Wallace wasn't much better, fading to a 26th-place finish, but maintaining 20th.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) Denny Hamlin 434, 2) Martin Truex Jr. -81, 3) Joey Logano -82,
4) William Byron -124, 5) Ryan Blaney -130, 6) Kyle Larson -135, 7) Chase Elliott -149, 8) Kevin Harvick -161, 9) Brad Keselowski -165, 10) Christopher Bell -177, 11) Kyle Busch -189, 12) Austin Dillon -195, 13) Alex
Bowman -198, 14) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -212, 15) Kurt Busch -220, 16) Chris Buescher -230.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the playoffs: 17)
Michael McDowell -235.
Playoff Points: 1) Martin Truex Jr. 11, t-2) Kyle Larson -2, t-2) Ryan Blaney -2, 4) Joey Logano -4, 5) William Byron -5, t-6) Michael McDowell -6, t-6) Christopher Bell -6, t-6) Denny Hamlin -6, t-6) Alex Bowman -6, t-10) Brad Keselowski -10, t-10) Chase Elliott -10, t-10) Chris Buescher -10.
Stage
Points: 1) Denny Hamlin 139, 2) Martin Truex Jr. -46, 3) Joey Logano -49, 4) Ryan Blaney -52, 5) William Byron -65, 6) Kyle Larson -71, 7) Chase Elliott -72, 8) Brad Keselowski -77, 9) Alex Bowman -94,
t-10) Kevin Harvick -100, t-10) Christopher Bell -100, 12) Kyle Busch -102, t-13) Austin Dillon -104, t-13) Kurt Busch -104, 15) Bubba Wallace -110, 16) Chris Buescher -116.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the playoffs: 22) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -132, 23) Michael McDowell -133.
Note: Stage Points include the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Denny Hamlin 342, 2) Joey Logano -36, 3) Martin Truex Jr. -41, 4)
William Byron -66, 5) Kyle Larson -69, 6) Kevin Harvick -71, 7) Chase Elliott -85, t-8) Ryan Blaney -86, t-8) Christopher Bell -86, 10) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -90, 11) Brad Keselowski -95, 12) Kyle Busch -98, 13) Austin Dillon -100, 14)
Michael McDowell -112, 15) Alex Bowman -122, 16) Chris Buescher -124.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the playoffs: 17) Kurt Busch
-128.
Race Winners: Michael McDowell (Daytona-1), Christopher Bell (Daytona-2), William Byron (Homestead), Kyle Larson (Las Vegas), Martin Truex Jr.
(Phoenix, Martinsville), Ryan Blaney (Atlanta), Joey Logano (Bristol), Alex Bowman (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 Xfinity Series Playoffs: Off-Week Edition No. 4
by Phil Allaway
The Xfinity Series was off last weekend. They will be back in action this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. When they take on the 33-degree banks, Austin Cindric will have a 42-point lead over Daniel Hemric. Hemric's teammate Harrison Burton, who will make his Cup debut as well, is third. Kaulig Racing teammates
Justin Haley and Jeb Burton are fourth and fifth.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) Austin Cindric 317, 2) Daniel Hemric -42, 3) Harrison Burton -75, 4) Justin Haley -87, 5) Jeb Burton -96, 6) AJ Allmendinger -99, 7) Myatt Snider -111, 8) Justin Allgaier
-118, 9) Jeremy Clements -119, 10) Brandon Jones -130, t-11) Noah Gragson -149, t-11) Michael Annett -149, 13) Brandon Brown -159, 14) Riley Herbst -174, 15) Ty Gibbs -189, 16) Josh Williams -191.
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 13th in points.
Playoff Points: 1) Austin Cindric 14, t-2) AJ Allmendinger -8, t-2) Ty Gibbs -8, t-4) Myatt Snider -9, t-4) Justin Allgaier -9, t-4) Josh Berry
-5, 6) Daniel Hemric -11, t-7) Brandon Jones -13, t-7) Noah Gragson -13.
Note: If they were eligible for points, Martin Truex Jr. would be tied for eighth in playoff points, while Brett Moffitt would be tied for ninth with Brandon Jones and Noah Gragson.
Stage Points: 1) Austin Cindric 82, 2) Daniel Hemric -14, 3) Justin Haley -17, 4) Harrison Burton -23, 5) Justin Allgaier -24, 6) Noah Gragson -33, 7) Brandon Jones -35, t-8) AJ Allmendinger -49, t-8)
Myatt Snider -49, t-8) Jeremy Clements -49, t-11) Michael Annett -50, t-11) Riley Herbst -50, 13) Jeb Burton -55, 14) Brandon Brown -61, 15) Ty Gibbs -62, 16) Ty Dillon -64.
Note: If they were eligible for points, Martin Truex Jr. would be 15th in stage points.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Austin Cindric 271, 2) Daniel Hemric -31, 3) Jeb Burton -48, 4) AJ Allmendinger -56, 5) Harrison Burton -59, 6) Myatt Snider -70, 7) Justin Haley -75,
8) Jeremy Clements -77, t-9) Justin Allgaier -101, t-9) Brandon Jones -101, 11) Brandon Brown -104, 12) Michael Annett -109, 13) Josh Williams -117, 14) Noah Gragson -125, 15) Landon Cassill -132, 16) Tommy Joe Martins -133.
Note: If he were eligible for points, Brett Moffitt would be ninth in old points.
Race Winners: Austin Cindric (Daytona-1, Phoenix), Ty Gibbs (Daytona-2), AJ Allmendinger (Las Vegas), Myatt Snider (Homestead), Justin Allgaier (Atlanta), Josh Berry (Martinsville).
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: John Hunter Nemechek Gets Back Down To Business After Bristol Crash With Triumph
by Phil Allaway
John Hunter Nemechek got back to his winning ways Saturday in Richmond. That allowed him to regain some of the advantage that he lost in Bristol. His advantage over Ben Rhodes is back up to 20 points. Sheldon Creed struggled at times and finished 11th after failing to score stage points. That cost him over 30
points. Austin Hill is up two places to fourth after finishing 10th.
Matt Crafton is down one place to fifth after finishing 18th, losing 40 points. Stewart Friesen is down to sixth after finishing 13th. Grant Enfinger won stage one and finished eighth after leading 71 laps. 19 stage points moved him up to seventh. Zane Smith is down to eighth after a 14th-place
finish.
Todd Gilliland remains in ninth after a strong sixth-place finish. Johnny Sauter is up one place to 10th after earning a top five finish. Carson Hocevar has sole possession of 11th after finishing 12th and earning his first stage points of the year. Since Enfinger is ineligible, Hocevar is currently the last driver in the
playoffs. He has a 10-point advantage over Chandler Smith and Austin Wayne Self.
Chandler Smith had his best run of the year Saturday, finishing in fourth. Self finished back in 19th. Raphael Lessard is still in 14th after a late spin, while Brett Moffitt dropped to 15th after crashing out. Tanner Gray is 16th.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) John Hunter Nemechek 270, 2) Ben Rhodes -20, 3) Sheldon Creed -54, 4) Austin Hill -74, 5) Matt Crafton -80, 6) Stewart Friesen -87, 7) Grant Enfinger
-91, 8) Zane Smith -105, 9) Todd Gilliland -106, 10) Johnny Sauter -129, 11) Carson Hocevar -131, t-12) Chandler Smith -141, t-12) Austin Wayne Self -141, 14) Raphael Lessard -149, 15) Brett Moffitt -168, 16) Tanner Gray
-170.
Note: If he were eligible for points, Kyle Busch would be 10th in
points.
Playoff
Points: 1) John Hunter Nemechek 16,
2) Ben Rhodes -6, t-3) Raphael Lessard -14, 4) Grant Enfinger -15.
Note: If they were eligible for points, Martin Truex Jr. would be third in playoff points while Kyle Busch would be fourth.
Stage
Points: 1) John Hunter Nemechek 91, 2) Ben Rhodes -34, 3) Austin Hill -38, 4) Sheldon Creed -39, 5) Stewart Friesen -48, 6) Raphael Lessard -51, 7) Grant Enfinger -54, 8) Matt Crafton -57, 9) Zane Smith -63, 10) Chandler Smith
-71, 11) Todd Gilliland -74, 12) Johnny Sauter -76, t-13) Brett Moffitt -81, t-13) David Gilliland -81, t-13) Derek Kraus -81, 16) Austin Wayne Self -82.
Note: If they were eligible for stage points, Kyle Busch would be fifth, while Martin Truex Jr. would be 11th and Ross Chastain 15th.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Ben Rhodes 171, 2) John Hunter Nemechek -7, 3) Sheldon Creed -26,
4) Matt Crafton -37, 5) Grant Enfinger -46, 6) Todd Gilliland -48, 7) Austin Hill -50, 8) Stewart Friesen -53, 9) Zane Smith -54, 10) Carson Hocevar -61, 11) Johnny Sauter -73, 12) Austin Wayne Self -75, 13) Chandler Smith -78, 14) Tanner Gray -93,
15) Brett Moffitt -97, 16) Parker Kligerman -102.
Note: If he was eligible for points, Kyle Busch would be 11th in old school
points.
Race Winner: Ben Rhodes (Daytona-1, Daytona-2), John Hunter Nemechek (Las Vegas, Richmond), Kyle Busch (Atlanta), Martin Truex Jr.
(Bristol)
Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography. Photo is courtesy of
Nigel Kinrade Photography.
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Letter of the Race: Sunday's Toyota Owners 400 was brought to you by the letter S for a Second Chance. Alex Bowman had a great car on Sunday, but never had a chance to really show what he could do.
Kevin Harvick cutting his tire and wrecking put him in position to strut his stuff. He did that and more. - Phil Allaway
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Quotes to Remember: Toyota Owners 400
compiled by Phil Allaway
"We just had a great race car; it’s as simple as that. Greg Ives (Crew Chief) and all the guys, they have to deal with me at short tracks and I drive these places really wrong. We kind of instead of trying to make me figure it out, we went to work on getting the race car where I needed it to be. Greg has done such an amazing job at making that
happen.
"To be honest with you, we were terrible on short runs. We restarted third and I’m like man, if we get out of here with a solid top-five, we’ll be good. We’ve overcome a lot today. I don’t know if Greg pumped the pressures way up or what he did, but that’s more grip than I’ve ever had in a race car at Richmond and it worked out really well. Getting to race a guy like
Denny (Hamlin) at a place that this is really cool. I feel like we raced each other really clean, so I’m appreciative of that. It means a lot." - Alex Bowman, race winner
"We just didn’t take off quite as good there at the end. I tried to warm it up and do everything that I could – just the 48 (Alex Bowman) had a little more on those last few laps and I couldn’t hold the bottom. Once he got the position, we were just shut down there. Great job by this FedEx Ground team. First and foremost, we want to think of all of the families in
Indy right now. Awful tragedy to happen there. Our thoughts and prayers are with these names. We will get them. We will keep digging. We are dominating – just have to finish it." - Denny Hamlin, finished second
"We just needed more turn. We didn’t turn good enough to take off. The 48 sure did. They put the qualifying pressures in or something. That thing took off like a rocket. Denny and I caught him the last few laps, which was probably because they showed the adjustments they made to their car to make it fire off. They started to pay a penalty
at the end, but they were too far out. Congratulations to them. They beat us. They beat us fair and square. It stinks when you’re that close. We were leading with a few to go. Denny and I had a hell of a race. It was pretty fun there for a minute, but here we are third. It stings. We were up there all day. It’s a decent finish, don’t get me wrong, but wanted more for our Shell/Pennzoil Mustang." - Joey Logano, finished
third
"I knew that we had a really, really good SiriusXM Camry right from the drop of the green flag. We kept working on it and kept working on it, but then I guess we got caught a lap down there by the yellow flag in stage two. From that point on, it was just battling back up through there. Really proud of this 20 group. We’ve kind of lacked a little bit of consistency
throughout the year, but now it seems like we’re picking it up." - Christopher Bell, finished fourth
"Driver screwed up our chances there for sure. Auto Owner’s Toyota Camry was really fast. Just like last week, we got off in the middle of the race and then stage three we got it dialed in and I got caught speeding on pit road. We had to drive all the way back through the field and under green, that was tough. We got all the way back to fifth. Heck of an effort by the
guys and wish I hadn’t made that mistake so I could have seen what I could have done with them." - Martin Truex Jr., finished fifth
"Man I really battled for fifth there at the end but burnt up my tires on the outside in the process. Finally, a solid day for our Smithfield team. Everyone did their part and we were mistake-free today. Let’s fire it up and keep it rolling." - Aric Almirola, finished sixth
"It was a good day for us. We ran in the top 10 all day; sometimes top-five. Definitely were searching for more there at the end, but to come home seventh at a track that I’ve struggled at is good for us. We definitely know what we need to work on to get better. This is not a race that we had circled to do well, so it’s good to finish top 10 again and keep that streak
alive." - William Byron, finished seventh
"It definitely feels long overdue that we got that top 10 finally, so that’s good. We’ve had some rough circumstances that sort of put us in a hole to start the year, but we knew that we have plenty of speed and obviously a great team. It was good to come here and at a track that I really wouldn’t consider one that I have a ton of success at in the past,
so that was definitely rewarding. It was a day full of just no forgiveness. You couldn’t have any mistakes at all, so we started the race and we’re too far off. We worked on the car a little bit and made the right calls and got great breaks and once we got track position and got up in the top 10 we had no problem staying up there. That was good. It was a really high pressure day because there was no room for mistakes with that much green flag here. I’m proud
of the team and having Menards and Libman on the car. All good stuff and something to build on. We’re climbing out of that hole in the points and gaining a lot quick." - Matt DiBenedetto, finished ninth
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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