Frontstretch Newsletter: May 24, 2021
Volume: XV, Edition LXXXI
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- NASCAR teams are back at their shops today, preparing for this weekend's action at Charlotte Motor 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: May 21-23
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In the now-Xfinity Series, Green has 535 starts, second all-time to Kenny Wallace's 547. In addition to the dominant championship in 2000, Green has 16 wins, 87 top five finishes, 131 top 10s and 23 poles.
In recent years, Green had transitioned into a crew chief at RSS Racing, racing part-time. That racing ceased after Green had surgery last year.
- Early Saturday morning, Hitech Grand Prix's Liam Lawson took his second Formula 2 win of the year in the wet in Monaco. However, Lawson was found to have used the wrong throttle mapping on the initial start of the race. As a result, Lawson was disqualified and the victory was given to Carlin Racing's Dan Ticktum. Oscar Piastri inherited second, followed by Juri Vips, Theo Pourchaire and
Ralph Boschung.
- In the feature race late Saturday afternoon, ART Grand Prix's Pourchaire held on through three Virtual Safety Car periods to take his first-ever F2 victory. At 17, Pourchaire is the youngest-ever winner in Formula 2. Piastri was second, then Felipe Drugovich, Robert Shwartzman and Guanyu Zhou.
Through six races, Zhou, who won the first Monaco sprint race Friday afternoon, has a 16-point lead over Piastri. Pourchaire is third, followed by Ticktum and Lawson.
- In World of Outlaws NoS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series action, Sheldon Haudenschild had the Kistler Engines Classic at Attica Raceway Park won Friday night. Then, DJ Foos had a tire issue and spun, leaving Haudenschild with nowhere to go. That allowed David Gravel to get past and claim the victory. Donny Schatz was second, followed by Brent Marks, Carson Macedo and Brad
Sweet.
- Saturday night saw the World of Outlaws NoS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series travel to Ohio's Sharon Speedway, where the hometown man came good. Haudenschild once again was fast and led often. However, Dave Blaney ran him down and overtook him on the final lap to take his first World of Outlaws victory since 1997, prior to his NASCAR move. Haudenschild was second, then Macedo, Gravel and
Sweet.
Through 26 of 83 races, Sweet has a 56-point lead over Gravel. Macedo is third, then Schatz and Haudenschild.
- The World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series spent Friday and Saturday nights racing at Port Royal Speedway in Pennsylvania. In Friday night's Huey Wilcoxon Memorial, Chris Madden was untouchable. He was fastest in time trials, won his heat race and led flag-to-flag to win the 40-lap feature. Brandon Overton was second, then Brandon Sheppard, Rick Eckert and Tyler
Bruening.
- Saturday night was the Billy Vacek Memorial, but it was more of the same. Madden slipped past Overton with 22 laps to go and held on to sweep the weekend and take his third win in a row. Eckert was second, then Dan Stone, Overton and Ryan Gustin.
Currently, Brandon Sheppard has a 26-point lead over Madden through 19 races, although Madden has a series-high four wins. Bruening is third, then Kyle Strickler and Ricky Weiss.
- On the undercard of last weekend's action in Austin, Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America held their season opening races. In Race No. 1 Saturday after the Pit Boss 250, Dream Racing Motorsport's Richard Antinucci led 18 of 20 laps to claim the win. Change Racing's Stevan McAleer and Madison Snow were second, followed by O'Gara Motorsports' Steve Aghakhani and Jacob Eidson.
Kelly-Moss Road & Race's Alec Udell was fourth, while Prestige Performance with WTR's Kyle Marcelli and Danny Formal were fifth.
Race No. 2 on Sunday morning prior to the EchoPark Texas Grand Prix saw Snow get past Antinucci on lap 15 for the lead. A couple of laps later, Change Racing's Scott Welham crashed under braking for turn 12 and significantly dented the Armco barrier. This brought the race to a premature end, giving Snow and McAleer the victory in their Bud Light-sponsored entry.
Udell ended up second, while Marcelli and Formal were third. Antinucci was fourth, while Change Racing's Victor Gomez was fifth.
- Lyn St. James was presented with the Spirit of Ford Award Saturday at the 26th Annual Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance in Florida in recognition of her accomplishments in motorsports as a driver and as an advocate for women and minorities in motorsports.
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| | The Art of Racing in the Rain: Chase Elliott
Prevails at COTA
Chase Elliott took the lead thanks to pit strategy Sunday at the wet Circuit of the Americas. He was still out front when NASCAR decided that the conditions were too wild to continue racing. The race was called with
54 of 68 laps completed, resulting in Elliott winning his sixth career road course race and first of the year. Kyle Larson was second, then Joey Logano, Ross Chastain and AJ Allmendinger.
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| | Multi-Car Pileups Mar Rainy Stage 2 at
COTA
At the beginning of stage two Sunday at Circuit of the Americas, the rainy conditions and spray got too dangerous. There were multiple instances of drivers running into the back of each other on the long straight between
turns 11 and 12, most notably Cole Custer plowing into the back of Martin Truex Jr.
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| | Seventh-Place Finish at COTA ‘Bittersweet’ for
Michael McDowell
For Michael McDowell, Sunday's EchoPark Texas Grand Prix was an opportunity to score a bunch of points and battle for a win. Ultimately, he was rear-ended by Martin Truex Jr., but recovered to finish
seventh.
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| | Kyle Busch Dominates 1st-Ever Xfinity Series
Race at the Circuit of the Americas
Kyle Busch made his first Xfinity Series start of the 2021 season Saturday at Circuit of the Americas. He also scored his first win of the year as he dominated the Pit Boss 250 for his 98th career win. AJ
Allmendinger finished second, then Justin Allgaier, Kevin Harvick and Austin Cindric.
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| | BJ McLeod ‘Super Proud’ of Kevin Harvick
Scoring Best Finish in Team History
In an attempt to better their chances of making Saturday's Pit Boss 250, BJ McLeod Motorsports collaborated with Stewart-Haas Racing to put Kevin Harvick in the No .5 Ford in place of Matt Mills. Harvick delivered the team
their best-ever finish, fourth, in return.
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| | Todd Gilliland Wins Inaugural COTA Truck
Series Race
Front Row Motorsports' Todd Gilliland snatched the lead away from Tyler Ankrum with six laps to go on a drying track. From there, he pulled away to win the Toyota Tundra 225. Kaz Grala was second, then Ankrum, Grant
Enfinger and Sheldon Creed.
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| | Scott Dixon Wins Indianapolis 500
Pole
Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon won the pole Sunday for this weekend's Indianapolis 500 with a four-lap average of 231.685 mph. Colton Herta will start in the middle of the front row with Rinus VeeKay on the
outside.
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| | Alex Palou Crashes in Indianapolis 500
Qualifying
Chip Ganassi Racing's Alex Palou did well Saturday to put himself into the Firestone Fast 9 on his first run, but he had a big crash exiting turn 2 on his second run.
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| | Karam, Power, De Silvestro Survive
Indianapolis 500 Last Row Shootout
Sunday's Last Row Shootout saw Sage Karam, Will Power and Simona de Silvestro turn in the three fastest four-lap averages in order to lock themselves into Row No. 11 for the Indianapolis 500.
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| | IndyCar Veteran Andre Ribeiro Dies at
55
Former INDYCAR/CART racer Andre Ribeiro died Saturday after a battle with cancer. He was 55.
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| | Scott Dixon Fastest on Day No. 1 of
Indianapolis 500 Qualifying
Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon drew the first spot in qualifying, then set a four-lap average of 231.828 mph. That speed held up all day to give him the provisional pole. Colton Herta was second, then Tony Kanaan,
Ed Carpenter and Helio Castroneves.
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| | Scott Dixon Fastest on Fast Friday at
Indianapolis
Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon was fastest in "Fast Friday" practice with a lap at 233.302 mph, the quickest lap of the month. Colton Herta was second, followed by Ganassi teammates Tony Kanaan, Marcus Ericsson and Alex
Palou.
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| | Max Mosley, Former FIA President, Dead at
81
The FIA announced Monday that former president Max Mosley, who worked hand in hand with Bernie Ecclestone to build Formula 1 into the biggest form of motorsport on the planet, has died at the age of 81.
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| | Max Verstappen Wins Monaco Grand Prix, Takes
Over Points Lead
Red Bull's Max Verstappen swept into the lead at the start Sunday after pole sitter Charles Leclerc was rendered unable to start due to crash damage. He then led flag-to-flag to win the Grand Prix of Monaco. Carlos
Sainz Jr. was second, then Lando Norris, Sergio Perez and Sebastian Vettel.
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| | Ty Gibbs Dominates ARCA Race at
Toledo
Joe Gibbs Racing's Ty Gibbs dominated once again, leading all 200 laps in winning Saturday night's Herr's Potato Chips 200 at Toledo Speedway. Corey Heim was second, followed by Nick Sanchez, Jesse Love and Thad
Moffitt.
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Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, James Moy of Rolex, James Black, Doug Mathews, Chris Owens and Karl Zemlin of INDYCAR Media, NASCAR Media via Getty Images, Sebastian Nogier of Getty Images, and the Indianapolis Motor
Speedway.
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Seeking the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs: Denny Hamlin Effectively Stands Pat In Tricky Conditions
by Phil Allaway
Denny Hamlin was competitive Sunday at Circuit of the Americas, but ended up finishing 14th. He lost only a couple of points of his lead and will enter Charlotte with a 98-point lead over William Byron. Byron finished 11th, ending his streak of 11 straight top 10 finishes. Kyle Larson is up two places to
third after finishing second Sunday. Joey Logano is still in fourth, but is just one point behind Larson.
Chase Elliott's victory moved him up two places to fifth in points, five behind Logano. Martin Truex Jr. getting smashed from behind by Cole Custer dropped him from third to sixth. Ryan Blaney was hit from behind by Christopher Bell and spun out to bring out a yellow. He recovered to finish 17th, but that still cost him a
spot. Kevin Harvick was eliminated in the same crash that Blaney was in. He's down to eighth as a result.
Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch are now tied for ninth. Keselowski gets the position via a tiebreaker. Keselowski finished 19th, while Kyle Busch led laps and finished ninth. Austin Dillon is 11th after finishing 12th, while Alex Bowman's eighth-place finish moved him up to 12th.
Chris Buescher ran well on Sunday and finished 13th, moving him up to 13th in points. Bell's crash resulted in a 38th-place finish and dropped him to 14th. Tyler Reddick is still 15th, the last driver in the playoffs on points, while Michael McDowell's seventh-place finish keeps him in 16th.
Reddick has a 38-point advantage over Matt DiBenedetto for the final playoff spot. DiBenedetto ran into Byron early on and dealt with mechanical issues en route to a 23rd-place finish. Kurt Busch is still 18th, but he's lucky not to have destroyed his car after hydroplaning late in the race and nearly wiping out his brother and Dillon. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is 19th, while Ross Chastain moved up
to 20th after finishing fourth.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) Denny Hamlin 597, 2) William Byron -98, 3) Kyle Larson -110,
4) Joey Logano -111, 5) Chase Elliott -116, 6) Martin Truex Jr. -123, 7) Ryan Blaney -139, 8) Kevin Harvick -169, t-9) Brad Keselowski -175, t-9) Kyle Busch -175, 11) Austin Dillon -231, 12) Alex Bowman
-235, 13) Chris Buescher -259, 14) Christopher Bell -260, 15) Tyler Reddick -263, 16) Michael McDowell -268.
Playoff Points: 1) Martin Truex Jr. 18, 2) Kyle Larson -7, 3) Alex Bowman -8, t-4) Ryan Blaney -10, t-4) Joey Logano -10, t-6) William Byron -12, t-6) Brad Keselowski -12, t-6)
Kyle Busch -12, t-6) Chase Elliott -12, t-10) Christopher Bell -13, t-10) Denny Hamlin -13, t-10) Michael McDowell -13, t-13) Chris Buescher -17, t-13) Matt DiBenedetto -17, t-13) Bubba Wallace
-17.
Stage Points: 1) Denny Hamlin 187, 2) Kyle Larson -55, 3) Ryan Blaney -64, 4) Martin Truex Jr. -70, 5) Chase Elliott -73, 6) Joey Logano -74, 7) William Byron -79, 8) Brad Keselowski -98,
9) Kyle Busch -103, 10) Kevin Harvick -124, 11) Alex Bowman -125, 12) Christopher Bell -137, 13) Kurt Busch -140, 14) Chris Buescher -147, 15) Bubba Wallace -148, 16) Austin Dillon
-150.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the playoffs: 17) Tyler Reddick -153, 18) Michael McDowell -161.
Note: Stage Points include the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Denny Hamlin 482, 2) William Byron -29, 3) Joey Logano -45, 4)
Chase Elliott -55, 5) Kevin Harvick -59, 6) Martin Truex Jr. -61, 7) Kyle Larson -64, 8) Kyle Busch -85, t-9) Ryan Blaney -87, t-9) Brad Keselowski -87, 11) Austin Dillon -95, 12) Michael McDowell -121, 13) Chris
Buescher -125, 14) Tyler Reddick -128, 15) Alex Bowman -134, 16) Christopher Bell -137.
Race Winners: Michael McDowell (Daytona-1), Christopher Bell (Daytona-2), William Byron (Homestead), Kyle Larson (Las Vegas), Martin Truex Jr. (Phoenix, Martinsville, Darlington), Ryan Blaney (Atlanta), Joey Logano (Bristol), Alex Bowman (Richmond, Dover),
Brad Keselowski (Talladega), Kyle Busch (Kansas), Chase Elliott (Circuit of the Americas)
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 Advantage After Daniel Hemric's Problems
by Phil Allaway
Austin Cindric was strong Saturday at Circuit of the Americas, leading a couple of laps and finishing fifth. That allowed him to expand his points lead up to a season-high 77 over Harrison Burton, who finished sixth. AJ Allmendinger won stage one and finished second. That moved him up to third in points. Daniel Hemric had a miserable day,
dealing with a number of mechanical issues. A 29th-place finish dropped Hemric to fourth.
Justin Allgaier is up one place to fifth after finishing third. Jeb Burton is down to sixth after finishing 10th Saturday. Justin Haley is up one place to seventh after winning stage two and finishing ninth. Jeremy Clements is up two places to eighth after finishing 23rd and scoring 11 stage points.
Noah Gragson blew an engine at the end of stage one and finished 36th. That dropped him two places to ninth in points. Myatt Snider is down to 10th after finishing 21st. Michael Annett remains in 11th after finishing in 11th. Brandon Jones is still in 12th after overcoming damage to finish 17th.
Jones is still the last driver in the Xfinity Series playoffs at the moment. He is 26 points ahead of Brandon Brown, who had trouble before the green flag even dropped Saturday. He would eventually finish 26th. Riley Herbst had multiple spins Saturday, but recovered to finish 16th. He still moved up to 14th in points, past the idle Josh Berry. Ryan
Sieg is still in 16th.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) Austin Cindric 471, 2) Harrison Burton -77, 3) AJ Allmendinger -81, 4) Daniel Hemric -88, 5) Justin Allgaier -112, 6) Jeb Burton -126, 7) Justin Haley -141, 8) Jeremy
Clements -169, 9) Noah Gragson -170, 10) Myatt Snider -173, 11) Michael Annett -192, 12) Brandon Jones -203, 13) Brandon Brown -229, 14) Riley Herbst -244, 15) Josh Berry -249, 16) Ryan Sieg -263.
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 11th in points.
Playoff Points: 1) Austin Cindric 20, 2) Justin Allgaier -9, 3) AJ Allmendinger -13, t-4) Ty Gibbs -14, t-4) Josh Berry -14, t-6) Jeb Burton -15, t-6)
Myatt Snider -15, 8) Daniel Hemric -17, t-9) Noah Gragson -18, t-9) Justin Haley -18, t-10) Harrison Burton -19, t-10) Brandon Jones -19.
Note: If they were eligible for points, Kyle Busch would be tied for sixth in playoff points, while Martin Truex Jr. would be tied for 10th. If he had run the full season for Xfinity points, Brett Moffitt would be tied for 13th.
Stage Points: 1) Austin Cindric 122, 2) Justin Allgaier -20, 3) Harrison Burton -26, 4) Noah Gragson -27, 5) Justin Haley -37, 6) Daniel Hemric -39, 7) AJ Allmendinger -43, 8) Brandon Jones -51, 9) Michael
Annett -70, 10) Jeremy Clements -78, 11) Myatt Snider -80, 12) Jeb Burton -81, 13) Josh Berry -85, 14) Riley Herbst -89, 15) Ty Gibbs -94, t-16) Brandon Brown -98, t-16) Ty Dillon -98.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Austin Cindric 368, 2) Daniel Hemric -28, 3) AJ Allmendinger -49, 4) Jeb Burton -50, 5) Harrison Burton -58, 6) Jeremy
Clements -83, 7) Myatt Snider -87, 8) Justin Allgaier -102, 9) Justin Haley -111, 10) Brandon Brown -118, 11) Noah Gragson -121, 12) Michael Annett -129, 13) Josh Berry -146, t-14) Brandon Jones -150, t-14) Ryan Sieg -150, 16) Tommy Joe Martins -152.
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, Dover), Ty Gibbs (Daytona-2), AJ Allmendinger (Las Vegas), Myatt Snider (Homestead), Justin Allgaier (Atlanta, Darlington), Josh Berry (Martinsville), Jeb Burton (Talladega), Kyle Busch (Circuit of the Americas)
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: Ben Rhodes Cuts Into John Hunter Nemechek's Advantage
by Phil Allaway
John Hunter Nemechek had a rather ordinary day in the wet Saturday at Circuit of the Americas. Nemechek earned only three stage points and finished 12th. Meanwhile, Ben Rhodes won stage two, earned 16 stage points and finished 10th. As a result, Nemechek's lead has been cut from 46 to 31. Sheldon Creed is still third after finishing fifth Saturday.
Austin Hill stood pat Saturday and remains fourth.
Todd Gilliland's victory moved him up to fifth in the standings. Gilliland displaced Matt Crafton, who earned 16 stage points, but finished 15th. Grant Enfinger has sole possession of seventh in points after finishing fourth. Zane Smith is eighth after a decent eighth-place finish.
Stewart Friesen dropped from a tie for seventh to ninth after finishing 17th. Carson Hocevar is back up to 10th after finishing seventh. Hocevar hopped over Johnny Sauter, who finished 22nd. Sauter is the last driver in the playoffs at the moment. He is 16 points ahead of Austin Wayne Self, who finished 16th Saturday.
Chandler Smith's chances of getting into the playoffs on points took a hit Saturday as he finished two laps down in 33rd. It didn't cost him a spot, but he's now 35 points behind Sauter. Tyler Ankrum's third-place finish moved him up to 14th. Hailie Deegan equalled her season-best with a 14th-place finish. That keeps her in 15th. The inactive Raphael Lessard
drops to 16th in points.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) John Hunter Nemechek 396, 2) Ben Rhodes -31, 3) Sheldon Creed -69, 4) Austin Hill -93, 5) Todd Gilliland -108, 6) Matt Crafton -111,
7) Grant Enfinger -130, 8) Zane Smith -137, 9) Stewart Friesen -139, 10) Carson Hocevar -171, 11) Johnny Sauter -181, 12) Austin Wayne Self -197, 13) Chandler Smith -216, 14) Tyler Ankrum -218, 15) Hailie Deegan -242, 16) Raphael Lessard
-246.
Note: If he were eligible for points, Kyle Busch would be 11th in
points.
Playoff Points: 1) John Hunter
Nemechek 17, 2) Ben Rhodes -6, 3) Todd Gilliland -10, 4) Sheldon Creed -12, 5) Raphael Lessard -15, 6) Grant Enfinger -16.
Note: If they were eligible for points, Kyle Busch would be second in playoff points while Martin Truex Jr. would be fourth.
Stage Points: 1) John Hunter Nemechek 131, 2) Sheldon Creed -45, 3) Ben Rhodes -48, 4) Austin Hill -57, 5) Stewart Friesen -69, 6) Matt Crafton -70, 7) Todd Gilliland -83, 8) Zane Smith -89, 9) Raphael
Lessard -91, 10) Grant Enfinger -92, 11) Chandler Smith -100, 12) Derek Kraus -107, 13) Tyler Ankrum -114, 14) Johnny Sauter -116, 15) Carson Hocevar -118, 16) Corey Heim -119.
Note: If they were eligible for stage points, Kyle Busch would be fifth, while Martin Truex Jr. would be 15th. Had Kaz Grala been eligible for points for the full season, he would be 14th.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Ben Rhodes 251, 2) John Hunter Nemechek -10, 3) Sheldon Creed -38,
4) Todd Gilliland -46, 5) Grant Enfinger -53, 6) Austin Hill -55, 7) Matt Crafton -60, 8) Zane Smith -66, 9) Carson Hocevar -74, 10) Stewart Friesen -89, 11) Johnny Sauter -90, 12) Austin Wayne Self -97, 13) Tyler Ankrum -118, 14) Chandler Smith
-129, t-15) Ryan Truex -138, t-15) Hailie Deegan -138.
Note: If he was eligible for points, Kyle Busch would be 13th in old school
points.
Race Winner: Ben Rhodes (Daytona-1, Daytona-2), John Hunter Nemechek (Las Vegas, Richmond), Kyle Busch (Atlanta, Kansas), Martin Truex Jr. (Bristol), Sheldon Creed (Darlington), Todd
Gilliland (Circuit of the Americas)
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 EchoPark Texas Grand Prix was brought to you by the letter S for Sketchy. Effectively all of Sunday's race was run in the wet, but it was wet to varying degrees. The time at the beginning of
stage two was pretty bad and the crashes seen at the time pan out. The conditions were much worse when the race was stopped, but wet conditions at Circuit of the Americas can be far worse than what we saw Sunday. Just ask anyone who competed in the WEC race there in 2014. - Phil Allaway
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Quotes to Remember: EchoPark Texas Grand Prix
compiled by Phil Allaway
"I couldn’t be more excited. I’ve never won a rain race before, so it’s kind of cool. And I’m just super proud of our team for just continuing to fight. We started the day, and we weren’t very good. I just kept pushing myself and we kept making some good changes throughout the day and got to where I thought we were on pace with those guys there at the end. So, I’m
really proud of that. It’s not the greatest thing ever, for it to rain and to have a rain race win, if it’s your first one; but I think it’s okay if it’s down the road, so I’m pretty excited about that. I’m looking forward to next week and trying to keep it rolling.
"I just kept pushing myself harder and harder. Some areas on the track though were getting, actually, really treacherous, I felt like. The back straightaway was puddling up and starting to hydroplane and do some weird stuff. My only option was to just kind of send it through those spots and just hope for the best." - Chase Elliott, race
winner
"I mean, there's honestly nothing safe about being a race car driver. Yeah, I mean, it was at moments worse than other restarts. NASCAR did a good job with the Air Titans. That definitely helped it. You could definitely see a little bit after that for the restarts.
Honestly just the restarts were bad for me. Once you get back around the next time, get better, get better each lap. There at the end, yeah, it was starting to rain pretty hard. You were having to deal with hydroplaning, trying to go 170-something miles an hour. It was getting pretty crazy.
There's also sports car drivers, road racers that do this for a living. Yeah, I mean, I don't follow it enough to know if our conditions were different than theirs or what. I mean, that's kind of what you have to expect I think from racing in the rain also." - Kyle Larson, finished second
"Yeah, it was, but it was fun. I had a blast. It was mentally draining, mentally very, very challenging out there because the track changed so much from lap to lap. One lap it’s pouring. The next lap it’s raining a little bit and then you’re hydroplaning everywhere and you’re really slipping and sliding, and tires meant something, which I think was surprising to
everybody — that tires meant something. You saw the 18 drive through the field one time. We put tires on and were able to drive through the field, so it was kind of fun. We’re all learning together and trying to figure it all out at the same time." - Joey Logano, finished third
"Fourth place, solid day. Car was fast in the rain. My goodness. Just keep it on track was my plan, and we did that. I had a few close calls, and we did get into a few people, but I think a lot of people did. Learned a lot and this girl (taps watermelon), is going to have to wait for another day. Close, and its cool to be disappointed with a top five. Congrats to
Chevrolet on their 800th win. Is that possible? The Clover Chevy…..there were some guests, some Clover guests and there were a ton of Clover machines on property today. Awesome stuff. I was proud of the effort of relaying through our spotters of Josh Wise and Scott Speed. The Skip Barber Racing School here at COTA taught me a ton in the last year at road racing and in the rain. Thank you boys and girls, thank you CGR, and on to the next." - Ross Chastain, finished
fourth
"It was crazy with the conditions. With the Roval I felt like I was gonna have a pretty good understanding of what it was gonna be like, but we’re just going so much faster here that the vision was way worse. The grip level, I felt like was honestly a little bit better, but you just couldn’t see. There could be a guy stopped in the middle of the straightaway and you
would have hit him wide-open, so between that and hydroplaning it was definitely challenging. Overall, it was good for us. I felt like we passed a lot of cars today. We continue to make our car better and this is the type of run we needed where we were up front a lot of the day." - Chase Briscoe, finished sixth
"The beginning of the race wasn’t too bad. We started out on kind of a damp track and then obviously rain started coming down. It was a lot of fun in the first little bit, but those restarts, once the rain started really coming down was so treacherous. Our cars don’t spray like a sports car or an open-wheel car that has ground effects or a rear diffuser. It doesn’t
shoot it in the air. It stays on the ground, so you just can’t see the car in front of you. It was super treacherous. The back straightaway accident there was completely my fault. I saw a brake light, but I couldn’t see anything else. Normally, you’re looking for the bridge for your braking markers, looking for something, but I could not see anything so I just rolled out of the gas. Obviously, the guys behind me didn’t and I hate that, but I literally could not see anything. The conditions were
really treacherous. Once the cars got single filed out you were OK, but as soon as you got within four or five car lengths of a car it was pretty tough to see, and it always is in the rain, but a little bit different in our cars. And then at the end with the heavy rain our cars just hydroplane so bad that you just go down the straightaway and lose it, so those are always really dangerous when you’re hydroplaning down the straightaway. But, at the same time, it’s the same for everybody so you’re
always in the same conditions and have to manage them the best you can, but at the same time I felt really unsafe at the end there just making laps by myself trying to hold onto a top 10 finish." - Michael McDowell, finished seventh
"To start the day off in COTA with my first NASCAR Cup Series pole was unreal. Our No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet was so fast, and that is a huge testament to all the hard work everyone does at RCR, ECR and Chevrolet. Road racing has been a big challenge in my career, and I’ve worked really hard to get better at it. The race today was wild. It was so
difficult to see out there with the rain, but my spotters did a good job of helping me navigate around the track. We came back through the field a handful of times for a variety of reasons during the day, so we definitely had the speed to compete. It was just really tough out there and we just needed a little more time. I’m thankful we were able to get both stage points and a top-10 finish out of the day, but I wish we were somehow able to finish the day safely. I would have loved to get this
Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet and their 40+ veteran team members that were riding along with me a little farther up, but hopefully I made them proud with our effort today. Congrats also to Chevrolet on 800 wins in NASCAR. Hopefully we’re part of the next one." - Tyler Reddick, finished ninth
"There were certainly times where you could not see. You’re behind guys and in traffic and there is just so much spray down the backstretch that you just could not see. There were other times for me, running around the race track where I think I was up to ninth or eighth or something and I’m blind through the esses. Just so much dirt and stuff up on the windshield
that the windshield can’t stay clean. Light rain is okay, but heavy rain is not.
"We had super pace early on and we were really good. Once it got to where it was raining heavier, we lost pace to [Chase Elliott] and those guys. We were going to finish third. A couple tires were killed with just how bad it was driving and how wet it was so we came in to try to get better tires to carve through the wet and that didn’t do anything so we cost ourselves
seven spots, but it is what it is." - Kyle Busch, finished 10th
"Yeah, we honestly wanted to win today, and I thought we were in a great position and I just kind of jumped the gun on pitting too early. I got the rain tires on the car and we were a little too dry for it and wore them out. We were running fifth there in Stage 1 and the 21 got into us and tore the right rear up and we just had a bunch of damage after that. To finish
11th is awesome for this Liberty University Chevrolet team. They did a great job repairing it, but it never really drove the same because I think it knocked the rear end out of place. To finish 11th after that is good, it’s a bummer, but I thought for sure we would get a top 10 the way it was going and just unfortunately the rain came to hard. But it was a blast, I enjoyed it, and congrats to Chevrolet on their big win, and to Hendrick Motorsports. Getting close to breaking that record, so
hopefully we can do it next week." - William Byron, finished 11th
"Well, I mean, the only way to describe it is you can’t see anything so I mean it’s, you just mash the gas and going through the gears on the backstretch praying that nobody’s going to be there and all of a sudden I seen the tail light flash, and I was already in through him. It happens that fast when you’re going that fast and then my thought was that once I hit that
guy , I need to try to keep going because I knew they were coming from behind, and literally next thing I know, again, I get drilled so I mean, there’s just nothing you can do in those situations. A shame for Bass Pro and Tracker and all our guys and girls are working on these things. Sorry, we got behind there just. We got a little oil windshield at some point there and I literally couldn’t see anything and I had to pit and we got off sequence in the back there and then it’s you know it’s
really, really hard to see back there so it’s I don’t know it’s hard, it’s really hard to race like that if you’re not in the top, you know couple cars and we’re not sure how we can make it easier or better but, man, it’s dangerous and you just get on the backstretch every lap praying there’s nobody having an issue you know you’re praying there’s not going to be a crash or a car stuck or whatever because you’re just wide open and can’t see anything. Just wrong place, wrong time." - Martin
Truex Jr., finished 35th (Crashed out)
"I’m all good. It didn’t hurt as much as I thought it was gonna be, but it’s just that you can’t see anything. It’s pretty bad. I mean, you can’t see a foot in front of your car. I was just rolling down the backstretch. You can’t see anything. I’m just so frustrated about having our day end like this. It killed the car and it’s just really frustrating. It’s not fair
to all our guys and everybody at HaasTooling.com and everybody at SHR, so it’s just you can’t see anything." - Cole Custer, finished 36th (Crashed out)
"It’s the most unsafe thing I’ve ever done in a race car by a lot. You can’t see anything down the straightaways. These cars were not built to run in the rain and when you can’t see, my spotter said, ‘Check up, check up,’ because he thought he saw two cars wrecking. I let off and the guy behind me hit me wide-open because he never saw me. It’s unbelievable that we’re
out there doing what we’re doing because we’re in race cars that aren’t made to do this, and if you can’t see going down the straightaway it’s absolutely not safe, not even close." - Kevin Harvick, finished 37th (Crashed out)
"I don’t exactly know what happened. I wasn’t sure if they were wrecking up there or what. I drove in blind and ran into the back of somebody. I was really looking forward to running my Craftsman Camry today – had a lot of fun in practice yesterday, but when you get into the pack, you’re just racing blind." - Christopher Bell, finished 38th (Crashed
out)
"It was just one of those things that once you got mid-pack you just couldn’t see what was going on. Early on, we were trying to talk about braking points into turn 12 and he just couldn’t see. We got back on a clean track and he was hitting his braking points well. Once you are back in the teens to twenties, it’s not good vision. It looked like something happened
between [Ryan Blaney] and [Christopher Bell] first. I think [Kevin Harvick] was coached up to kind of check up when he was going 100 mph and we just ran in the back of him because we couldn’t see more than five feet in front of us." - Mike Wheeler, crew chief for Bubba Wallace, 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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