Frontstretch Newsletter: April 26, 2021
Volume: XV, Edition LXI
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- Today is the first day of the WEC Prologue at Belgium's Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. It will serve as the public debut for the new Toyota GR010 Hybrid in the new Hypercar class and the debut for the limited LMP2s that will be racing against them. We'll have a brief recap of how that goes here in the Newsletter tomorrow.
- NASCAR teams will be back at the shops today, preparing for this weekend's action at Kansas Speedway. Entry lists should be out either today or tomorrow. We'll have those and anything else that breaks at Frontstretch.
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Around the World in Motorsports: April 23-25
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- Kyle Kirkwood led flag-to-flag to win the first Indy Lights race of the weekend Saturday afternoon in St. Petersburg. He won by 1.382 seconds over Danial Frost. David Malukas was third, then Robert Megennis and Alex Peroni.
Sunday morning's second race saw Malukas lead flag-to-flag to win with Kirkwood right on his tail. Linus Lundqvist was third, then Frost and Devlin DeFrancesco.
- In Indy Pro 2000 action, Braden Eves led flag-to-flag to earn his second win of the year. Christian Rasmussen was right on his tail in second, then Hunter McElrea, Artem Petrov and Manuel Sulaiman.
Sunday morning's second race saw Rasmussen take the lead from McElrea on lap 9 and pull away for the win. He ended up 7.921 seconds ahead of Sulaiman, while Reece Gold was third. McElrea and Colin Kaminsky rounded out the top five.
- In Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship action, Christian Brooks led flag-to-flag in a wreck-strewn Race No. 1 to take his first win of the year. Matt Round-Garrido was second, then Yuven Sundaramoorthy, Billy Frazer and Kiko Porto.
Saturday's second race saw Brooks take the lead from Porto with five laps to go and hold on for the weekend sweep. Michael d'Orlando was third, then Round-Garrido and Josh Green.
- Monster Energy AMA Supercross held their penultimate race night of the season Saturday night at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City. In the 450cc class, Ken Roczen was doing what he needed to do to keep himself in championship contention, but just like in Atlanta, he crashed in the whoops. This time, it was KTM's Marvin Musquin who took advantage. Musquin took the lead and held on to
win.
Points leader Cooper Webb finished second, followed by the Yamahas of Malcolm Stewart and Dylan Ferrandis. Chase Sexton was fifth. Roczen ended up sixth, which gives Webb a 22-point lead over Roczen with one race remaining. The title isn't clinched yet for Webb, but he will still need to make the main event and finish 19th or better.
In the 250cc East class, Kawasaki's Jo Shimoda took the holeshot and led flag-to-flag to take a well-deserved victory. Jett Lawrence was second, then Colt Nichols, Michael Mosiman and Thomas Do. With only the East-West Showdown to go, Nichols has a 23-point lead over Shimoda. He'll only need a 20th-place finish or better to win the title next weekend.
- There were a pair of sweeps last weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway at the Bristol Throwdown. In the World of Outlaws NoS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series, David Gravel had the impregnable quadrilateral Friday night. He was fastest in qualifying, won his heat, won the Dash to earn the pole, then led flag-to-flag to win the 25-lap feature. Aaron Reutzel was second, then Carson Macedo, Sam
Hafertepe Jr. and Donny Schatz.
- In the Super DIRTcar Series, Stewart Friesen started eighth and made his way up through the leaders to take the lead from Mike Mahaney. From there, he pulled away to take the win. Tyler Dippel was second, then Mat Williamson, Tim Sears Jr. and Mahaney.
Sunday afternoon's feature (postponed due to rain Saturday) was relatively similar. Friesen once again ran down Mahaney and took the lead. From there, Friesen held on in lapped traffic to sweep the weekend and keep a flawless streak alive after also winning the first points race of the season at Can-Am Speedway on April 10.
Demetrios Drellos, a young driver who races somewhat similarly to Noah Gragson, finished second. Max McLaughlin was third, followed by Mahaney and Ryan Watt.
- JR Motorsports' Josh Berry, after having issues Saturday at Talladega, traveled to Orange County Speedway in Rougemont, N.C. and won Sunday's Puryear Tank Lines Old North State Nationals, claiming $30,000 in the process. Deac McCaskill was second, then Tyler Matthews, Jared Fryar and Stephen Nasse.
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| | Brad Keselowski Wins Talladega Amid Flips,
Spins & Mayhem
Team Penske's Brad Keselowski was able to get past Matt DiBenedetto on the final lap Sunday and held off charges from behind to win the GEICO 500 for his first victory of 2021 and sixth at Talladega. William Byron was
second, then Michael McDowell, Kevin Harvick and DiBenedetto.
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| | Derrick Lancaster Still in Hospital, Critical
But Stable
Saturday's ARCA Menards Series General Tire 200 was marred by a fiery crash on the backstretch involving Derrick Lancaster. Lancaster suffered second and third-degree burns in the crash and is currently in critical but
stable condition on a ventilator at UAB Hospital in Birmingham.
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| | Charlie Glotzbach Passes Away At
82
Former Grand National and NASCAR Cup Series racer Charlie Glotzbach died Friday at the age of 82. He made 124 starts in what is now the NASCAR Cup Series between 1960 and 1992 with four career victories. He still
owns the record for the fastest 500-lap race at Bristol.
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| | NASCAR President Steve Phelps on Jennifer Jo
Cobb, COVID-19 Vaccines & State Voting Laws
Prior to Sunday's GEICO 500, NASCAR president Steve Phelps held a press conference at Talladega Superspeedway. In addition to announcing the sport's new partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, he spoke
about the sport's stance on vaccinations, voting laws and more.
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| | Joey Logano Flips In Wild Crash at
Talladega
Joey Logano has been successful at Talladega in the past, but Sunday saw his race come to an early end when contact on lap 60 saw his AutoTrader Ford take flight entering turn 3.
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| | Kaz Grala’s Talladega Top 10 ‘Another Piece of
the Puzzle’ for Full-Time Ride
Kaz Grala doesn't get to race all that much these days. When he gets to have at it, he has to make the most of it. On Sunday, Grala took his Hyperice Chevrolet for Kaulig Racing to a sixth-place
finish.
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| | Toyotas Come Up Empty At
Talladega
In recent years, no manufacturer has worked together better at Daytona and Talladega than Toyota. While Toyotas did lead 67 laps Sunday, all of them were eliminated from contention. Christopher Bell had the best
finishing Camry in 17th.
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| | Jeb Burton Scores 1st Xfinity Win in
Rain-Shortened Race
Kaulig Racing's Jeb Burton put himself in the right position Saturday in Talladega as a thundershower showed up and drenched the 2.66-mile tri-oval. With not enough daylight remaining to dry the track and 90 laps complete,
NASCAR called the Ag-Pro 300, giving Burton his first career win. Austin Cindric was second, then AJ Allmendinger, Riley Herbst and Ryan Sieg.
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| | Surging Riley Herbst Keeps Moving Ahead With
Top Five
Stewart-Haas Racing's Riley Herbst had a terrible start to 2021. Recently, he's found his proper form once again. Saturday's fourth-place finish was his third top 10 finish in the last four races.
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| | Noah Gragson Places Sixth at Talladega, Wants
to “Race for Wins”
Much like Herbst, Noah Gragson has had a tough start to the season. Saturday saw him lead eight laps and finish sixth, but he wants way more than that.
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| | Colton Herta Dominates in St. Petersburg;
Josef Newgarden Second
Andretti Autosport's Colton Herta was nearly untouchable Sunday, leading 97 of 100 laps to win the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Josef Newgarden was second, then Simon Pagenaud, Jack Harvey and Scott
Dixon.
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| | Jack Harvey Finishes a Strong 4th at St.
Petersburg
Meyer Shank Racing's Jack Harvey had an excellent run in St. Petersburg Sunday. He spent the afternoon dicing with the best of them before finishing in fourth.
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| | Will Power Charges to 8th at St.
Petersburg
Team Penske's Will Power had a rather miserable time Saturday in qualifying. He was only good enough for 20th on the grid. From there, he managed to rise to the challenge, getting himself up to eighth by the
finish.
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| | Friday St. Petersburg IndyCar
Notebook
For Arrow McLaren SP's Felix Rosenqvist, he entered St. Petersburg with the obvious goal of winning. A secondary goal was to get through the first lap without any disasters befalling him.
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| | Corey Heim Sweeps ARCA Superspeedways, Wins at
Talladega
Venturini Motorsports' Corey Heim made a last-lap pass Saturday to claim victory in the ARCA Menards Series General Tire 200 at Talladega. Dave Mader III was second, then Nick Sanchez, Drew Dollar and Bret
Holmes.
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Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, the Brandon Reed Collection, Chris Jones and Chris Owens of INDYCAR Media, and Zach Catanzareti.
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Seeking the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs: Denny Hamlin Expands Points Lead Despite Bad Finish In Talladega
by Phil Allaway
The top drivers in points had a tough day Sunday in Talladega. Denny Hamlin led the most laps before crashing at the end of stage two. He ended up 32nd, but still managed to expand his lead. His advantage is now 87 points over teammate Martin Truex Jr. Truex recovered from being involved in a crash at the end of stage two
only to cut a tire on lap 182. A second issue dropped him to a 31st-place finish. As for Joey Logano, well...he took a roll bar to the head after flipping his Mustang. The 39th-place finish dropped him to third. William Byron finished second and made up a bunch of ground. While he didn't gain any spots, he did gain 29 points on Hamlin. He's now only two points behind Logano.
Ryan Blaney finished ninth and remains in fifth. Brad Keselowski's victory moved him up three places to sixth. Kevin Harvick finished fourth and moved back up to seventh. Chase Elliott is down one position to eighth after getting involved in the same wreck as Truex and Hamlin, then finishing 24th.
Kyle Larson's race never got underway due to items placed on his car during transport not being removed before the race. Less than a lap in, Larson's car overheated. By lap eight, the engine was blown. That dropped him down to ninth in points. Christopher Bell is still in 10th after a 17th-place finish, while Kyle Busch is 11th.
Austin Dillon earned a top 10 finish and stays in 12th.
Michael McDowell's third-place finish moved him back up into the top 16 in 13th, while Alex Bowman is down one place to 14th after getting eliminated in a crash. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Chris Buescher are tied for 15th. Stenhouse got clipped by Logano in his big crash on lap 60, then hit the wall trying to pit under green. As a
result, he ended up 33rd. Buescher hit the wall on the final lap and finished 21st.
Stenhouse and Buescher have the last two spots in the playoffs at the moment. They are 12 points ahead of Matt DiBenedetto, who finished a season-best fifth Sunday despite leading at the white flag. Kurt Busch had a fire in his car that cost him a number of laps, dropping him to 18th. Ryan Newman is still 19th after a late charge to finish
13th, while Bubba Wallace chose the wrong tire strategy late in the race. He's still 20th despite winning his first stage on Sunday.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) Denny Hamlin 446, 2) Martin Truex Jr. -87, 3) Joey Logano -93,
4) William Byron -95, 5) Ryan Blaney -100, 6) Brad Keselowski -128, 7) Kevin Harvick -138, 8) Chase Elliott -140, 9) Kyle Larson -146, 10) Christopher Bell -166, 11) Kyle Busch -175, 12) Austin Dillon -178, 13) Michael
McDowell -202, 14) Alex Bowman -205, t-15) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -217, t-15) Chris Buescher -217.
Playoff Points: 1) Martin Truex Jr. 11, t-2) Kyle Larson -3, t-2) Ryan Blaney -3, 4) Joey Logano -4, t-5) William Byron -5, t-5) Brad Keselowski -5, t-7) Christopher Bell -6, t-7) Denny Hamlin -6, t-7) Alex Bowman -6, t-7) Michael McDowell -6, t-10) Chase Elliott -10, t-10) Chris Buescher -10, t-10) Matt DiBenedetto -10, t-10) Bubba Wallace -10.
Stage
Points: 1) Denny Hamlin 146, 2) Ryan Blaney -45, 3) Martin Truex Jr. -53, 4) Joey Logano -56, 5) William Byron -66, 6) Chase Elliott -71, 7) Brad Keselowski -75, 8) Kyle Larson -78, 9) Alex Bowman -97,
10) Kyle Busch -102, 11) Christopher Bell -104, 12) Kevin Harvick -105, 13) Bubba Wallace -107, t-14) Austin Dillon -111, t-14) Kurt Busch -111, 16) Chris Buescher -114.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the playoffs: t-20) Michael McDowell -129, 23) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -136.
Note: Stage Points include the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Denny Hamlin 353, 2) William Byron -37, 3) Martin Truex Jr. -42, t-4)
Joey Logano -44, t-4) Kevin Harvick -44, 6) Brad Keselowski -62, 7) Ryan Blaney -64, 8) Christopher Bell -72, t-9) Chase Elliott -78, t-9) Austin Dillon -78, 11) Kyle Larson -79, t-12) Michael McDowell -85, t-12) Kyle Busch -85,
14) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -93, 15) Chris Buescher -115, 16) Matt DiBenedetto -120.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the playoffs: 18)
Alex Bowman -130.
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), Brad Keselowski
(Talladega)
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 Expands Lead With Solid Run
by Phil Allaway
Austin Cindric finished second Saturday in Talladega and scored the most points of anyone. That means that he was able to expand his points lead once again. The advantage is now 59 points, nearly a full race, over Daniel Hemric. Hemric led 18 laps and finished 12th. Harrison Burton finished 10th and stays in third. Jeb Burton moved up to fourth
after claiming his first career victory.
Justin Haley won stage one Saturday and finished eighth. Despite that, he lost a position to Burton. AJ Allmendinger remains in sixth after finishing third. Myatt Snider is still in seventh after earning another top 10 finish. Jeremy Clements finished 14th, but moved up to eighth in points.
JR Motorsports teammates Justin Allgaier and Noah Gragson are now tied for ninth. Gragson finished sixth Saturday, while Allgaier finished a disappointing 29th. Brandon Jones crashed out of the race to bring out the yellow that ultimately ended the race. The 37th-place finish cost him only one spot. Brandon Brown's
seventh-place finish moved him back up into the top 12.
Brown is the last driver currently in the playoffs. He is 15 points ahead of Riley Herbst, who finished fourth on Saturday. Michael Annett is down three places to 14th after getting caught up in the lap 85 crash with Jones. Tommy Joe Martins moved up three places to 15th after finishing 11th. Josh Williams remains in
16th.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) Austin Cindric 367, 2) Daniel Hemric -59, 3) Harrison Burton -92, 4) Jeb Burton -97, 5) Justin Haley -98, 6) AJ Allmendinger -110, 7) Myatt Snider -128, 8) Jeremy Clements
-146, t-9) Justin Allgaier -150, t-9) Noah Gragson -150, 11) Brandon Jones -169, 12) Brandon Brown -176, 13) Riley Herbst -191, 14) Michael Annett -192, 15) Tommy Joe Martins -227, 16) Josh Williams -232.
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 Xfinity points for the full season, 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 -9, t-4) Jeb
Burton -9, 7) Daniel Hemric -11, 8) Noah Gragson -12, t-9) Noah Gragson -13, t-9) Justin Haley -13.
Note: If he were eligible for points, Martin Truex Jr. would be tied for ninth in playoff points. If he had run the full season for Xfinity points, Brett Moffitt would be tied for 11th.
Stage Points: 1) Austin Cindric 97, 2) Daniel Hemric -21, 3) Justin Haley -22, 4) Justin Allgaier -29, 5) Noah Gragson -30, 6) Harrison Burton -32, 7) Brandon Jones -40, t-8) AJ Allmendinger -59, t-8)
Myatt Snider -59, 10) Jeb Burton -61, 11) Michael Annett -63, 12) Jeremy Clements -64, 13) Riley Herbst -65, t-14) Brandon Brown -73, t-14) Ty Dillon -73, 16) Ty Dillon -77.
Note: If he were eligible for points, Martin Truex Jr. would be tied for 16th in stage points.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Austin Cindric 312, 2) Daniel Hemric -42, 3) Jeb Burton -45, 4) AJ Allmendinger -59, 5) Harrison Burton -68, 6) Myatt Snider -78, 7)
Justin Haley -82, 8) Jeremy Clements -91, 9) Brandon Brown -110, t-10) Justin Allgaier -130, t-10) Noah Gragson -130, 12) Brandon Jones -138, 13) Michael Annett -141, 14) Riley Herbst
-142, 15) Tommy Joe Martins -144, 16) Josh Williams -145.
Note: If he were eligible for Xfinity points for the whole season, Brett Moffitt would be 10th 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), Jeb Burton (Talladega)
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 Update No. 5
by Phil Allaway
The Camping World Truck Series was off last weekend. They'll be back in action at Kansas Speedway.
When they return to the track, John Hunter Nemechek will have a 20-point lead over Ben Rhodes. Sheldon Creed will be third, followed by Austin Hill and Matt Crafton.
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 GEICO 500 was brought to you by the letter W for Wild Moves. The race was full of them. Swooping moves, big blocks and great saves marked the 500 mile race. - Phil
Allaway
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Quotes to Remember: GEICO 500
compiled by Phil Allaway
"Merry Christmas. What an awesome day today to bring the MoneyLion Ford Mustang into Victory Lane. The whole race I had a couple opportunities to take the lead, but I just kept thinking, ‘Man, keep your car in one piece.’ We’ve been so close here and it just didn’t seem to want to come together here the last few years and I’ve been on kind of a four-year drought here,
but it’s nice to get number six. I would have never dreamed I’d tie Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. here. That’s something. Those guys are really legends. I’m just really proud of my team. We had an accident there early and they recovered and got it fixed up to where I could keep running. My crew chief, Jeremy Bullins, had a lot of confidence. I told him, ‘I want to come in and put four tires on this thing,’ and he said, ‘Yep, go ahead.’ And that really helped a bunch at the end. Other than
that, I’m just so excited. My daughters and my wife are here. They’re in the motorhome lot. I don’t know if they’ll get to come to Victory Lane, but if not, they got to see daddy win, so that’s pretty cool." - Brad Keselowski, race winner
"It was a good race for us. I felt like we had a shot there at the end, just not quite enough racecar to lead the race I felt like. But it was a really good day. We had some damage, but the guys did a great job fixing it. We’ll go to Kansas (Speedway) and hopefully have a really fast car there." - William Byron, finished second
"I felt like it was pretty close. I am just so thankful to everybody at this Front Row Motorsports team. We have fast superspeedway cars. This Ford Mustang was fast. It has been a great season for us. I really felt like I was in a good spot again working with Brad (Keselowski) and drug back off of him coming off of Turn 4. I thought I would have the run but just
didn’t suck him down enough. It was a great run and I am glad there is another Ford Mustang in victory lane. I am thankful to all our partners. It has been a great year. To get a top-five and to be running in the top 10 and have a win says a lot for this team and Bob Jenkins for giving me the opportunity." - Michael McDowell, finished third
"We definitely didn’t like to see the 22 flying around in the air right in front of us but our Dog Brew Ford Mustang was good all day. We raced all day. I kind of slid the left front there and got a speeding penalty at one point but we were able to stay on the lead lap. Everybody did a great job. The car is rolling two speedway races in a row and I think that is a
first for us. We just need a little momentum. The cars have run good on the speedways. Hopefully next week we have everything together at Kansas and we can go have a good day." - Kevin Harvick, finished fourth
"Oh, man. You say that after every one of these races. It’s tough, but it’s just all so circumstantial. We talked about it a lot before the race and it’s tough. Our day will come. I’m just lucky to drive this thing and have the support from everybody. The fans, they are so awesome. Driving for the Wood Brothers is really a dream come true. Gosh, it’s hard to come so
close to so many of these things. The Fords are so fast. They believe in me, the whole Ford camp. They do an excellent job. The Mustangs are great. Motorcraft, Quick Lane, Menards and all of our vendor partners, I tell you that because all those people believed in me and I love what I do. Our day will come. We’ll get there. I just appreciate the support from everybody." - Matt DiBenedetto, finished fifth
"I try to Regan (Smith) and I feel like we did today. We had a really good Hyerice Chevrolet. Kaulig Racing did a great job. They won the NASCAR Xfinity Race yesterday, so big weekend for them all around. But I was just happy to get to pilot this thing. It is few and far between when I do, but I try to make an impression on my few starts and I feel like today was a
good step in the right direction. Didn’t have the best luck in Daytona, but we rebounded here. I think that’s a great boost in momentum for us and hopefully it’ll be just another piece of the puzzle for me to get a full-time ride sometime down the road." - Kaz Grala, finished sixth
"We had a really strong No. 8 Roland Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE today and were able to walk away with a finish that showed it. After being caught up in a wreck so early at Daytona this year, our strategy was different for this race with the goal of making it to the end. My whole team did a great job today with sticking with that strategy and racing smart with the big
picture in mind to be there at the checkered flag. Almost all day long I could get the car to do whatever I wanted, which was great. The run right before the green-white-checkered felt like the car completely flipped its switch and didn’t drive anything like it did for the majority of the race, so we’ll have to figure out what changed there. Luckily, we were still able to make it through the chaos of the last lap and come away with a solid seventh-place finish. Overall, a good day for our team."
- Tyler Reddick, finished seventh
"What was a crazy race today in the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops / TRACKER Off Road Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE at Talladega Superspeedway. We were really good to start the race, and then for portions of the race we couldn’t make anything work unless I was on the top. We made some moves at the end of the race to get that eighth-place finish. Everyone was all over the place and
that was some work. We hit someone on the outside quarter panel, but I’m not even sure who it was. We were all wrecking on the backstretch, but somehow it didn’t happen. I don’t know how we all came out of that. It was crazy. I’m proud of everyone at RCR and ECR for working so hard to get us that awesome finish. We’ll go back to Welcome and look over our Chevy to get it even better for Daytona." - Austin Dillon, finished eighth
"It was a lot of learning. It was pretty fun, just a different level of competition when you’re against these guys. It makes you better when you go back to Xfinity, hopefully, and it makes me a better driver. Just happy I had the chance to come out here and do it. I very rarely get emotional or that excited before races, because I’m so focused but this weekend was
pretty neat. I’m thankful for the opportunity to do it. It was pretty awesome and can’t wait to do it again someday." - Harrison Burton, finished 20th
"Obviously this is not the way we wanted to end our day. Things like this just happen at places like Talladega. We had a good Ally Chevrolet today and Greg (Ives) had some really good adjustment calls on pit road. Just not our day today. This team is really looking forward to going to Kansas next week. That is a really good track for us and hopefully we can rebound in
a week." - Alex Bowman, finished 38th (Crashed out)
"I guess I don’t know exactly what to think. It is a product of this racing. On one hand I am so proud to drive a Cup car that is safe, and that I can go through a crash like that and get out and speak about it. On one hand I am made about being in the crash and on the other I am happy to be alive. On another hand I am wondering when we are going to stop because this
is dangerous doing what we are doing. I got a roll bar in my head. That is not okay. I am one hit away from the same situation Ryan Newman just went through. I just don’t feel like that is acceptable. A lot of it is the big spoiler and the big runs and all the pushing. It is nobody’s fault. Denny (Hamlin) is trying to go and the 47 is trying to go. It is a product of this racing. We have to fix it though. Someone already got hurt and we are still doing it, so that’s not real smart. At the same
time, I am appreciative of driving a car that is this safe and what Team Penske has done for the safety of these cars so that I can live to talk about it and go again. I got lucky that I didn’t get hit while I was in the air. It is unfortunate for our Autotrader Mustang but we will go on but it won’t be a good starting spot next week." - Joey Logano, finished 39th (Crashed out)
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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