Frontstretch Newsletter: June 28, 2021
Volume: XV, Edition CVI
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- Cup and Xfinity teams are back at their shops to prepare for this weekend's road course racing in Wisconsin. We'll have entry lists later today or tomorrow. We'll also have anything else that breaks at Frontstretch.
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Around the World in Motorsports: June 25-27
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- In Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America action, Dream Racing's Richard Antinucci won Race No. 1 at Watkins Glen Friday in his Bitbull-sponsored entry. O'Gara Motorsport/USRaceTronics' Steven Aghakhani and Jacob Eidson earned victory in the second race of the weekend Saturday morning.
- Kelly-Moss Road and Race's Kay van Berlo earned himself a weekend sweep in Porsche Carrera Cup presented by Visit Cayman Islands at Watkins Glen.
- Logan Schuchart took the lead on lap 8 Saturday night and held on to win the AGCO Jackson Nationals for the second consecutive year. David Gravel was second, then Brad Sweet, Kerry Madsen and Carson Macedo.
- Alice Powell earned herself a Grand Slam (lead every lap from pole and set the fastest lap) Saturday at the Red Bull Ring in dominating the opening round of the W Series. Since Powell won at Brands Hatch in 2019, the victory marks back-to-back wins for the British racer. Sarah Moore was second, then Fabienne Wohlwend, Belen Garcia and Jess Hawkins.
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| | Kyle Busch Saves Just Enough Fuel, Wins Pocono
Stuck in 4th Gear
Kyle Busch had a tough Sunday, dealing with a car without a clutch and stuck in fourth gear. Despite all that, he managed to save enough fuel to take the lead coming to the white flag and hold on to win the Explore the
Pocono Mountains 350. Kyle Larson was second, then Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick and Bubba Wallace.
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| | Bubba Wallace Grabs 1st Top 5 for 23XI Racing
at Pocono
Fuel mileage was everything Sunday in Pocono, but you have to put yourself in position to take home a good finish. Bubba Wallace was able to do that, more or less hanging on to the leaders. Wallace made his fuel hold
out to finish a season-best fifth.
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| | Justin Allgaier Driving No. 77 for Spire
Motorsports at Pocono
Spire Motorsports announced merely an hour before Sunday's Explore the Pocono Mountains 350 that Justin Allgaier would drive in the race in place of Justin Haley, who had a big crash during the Pocono Green 225 Recycled by J.P.
Mascaro & Sons.
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| | Alex Bowman Wins Pocono After Kyle Larson Cuts
Tire on Last Lap
Alex Bowman was the beneficiary of bad luck for Kyle Larson. Bowman swept past Larson on the final lap to win Saturday's Pocono Organics CBD 325. Kyle Busch was second, then William Byron, Denny Hamlin and Ryan
Blaney.
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| | Kyle Larson Crashes Out While Leading On Last
Lap at Pocono
Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson had Saturday's Pocono Organics CBD 325 in the bag. Then, he cut his left front tire on the final lap and hit the wall in turn 3. He would finish a disappointing
ninth.
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| | Denny Hamlin Fights for Top 5 Finish at
Pocono
After a strong start to the season, Denny Hamlin has struggled in recent weeks. A fourth-place finish Saturday in Pocono could be the start of some good things.
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| | Brad Keselowski to Roush Fenway ”Done Deal,”
Reports Say
Over the past few weeks, there have been rumors that Brad Keselowski would be leaving Team Penske at the end of 2021 and moving on to Roush Fenway Racing. Additional reporting Friday is indicating that this is very likely
to happen now.
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| | Ryan Blaney’s Crew Chief Todd Gordon To Retire
at Season’s End
Todd Gordon, crew chief for Ryan Blaney, announced on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio's The Morning Drive Monday morning that he will step off of the pit box at the end of the 2021 season.
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| | Austin Cindric Holds off Ty Gibbs, Takes Home
Xfinity Win at Pocono
Austin Cindric held off a late charge by Ty Gibbs to win Sunday afternoon's Pocono Green 225 Recycled by J.P. Mascaro & Sons. Justin Allgaier was third, then Noah Gragson and AJ Allmendinger.
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| | Myatt Snider Hopes Luck Turns Around with
Pocono Top 10
Myatt Snider has had a tough time in recent weeks with crashes and mechanical woes. On Sunday, Snider managed to finish 10th, ending the snide.
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| | Kaz Grala Joining Jordan Anderson Racing at
Road America
Jordan Anderson Racing announced Saturday that Kaz Grala will drive the No. 31 Chevrolet in next weekend's race at Road America, replacing Josh Berry.
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| | John Hunter Nemechek Outduels Kyle Busch for
Pocono Victory
John Hunter Nemechek led 12 laps Saturday and beat out his own boss to win the CRC Brakleen 150 at Pocono Raceway, his fourth win of the year. Kyle Busch was second, then Sheldon Creed, Tyler Ankrum and Austin
Hill.
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| | Ryan Preece Backs Nashville Win with Top 10 at
Pocono
Ryan Preece was back with David Gilliland Racing Saturday after winning on debut in Nashville. While he didn't win again, he did score a solid ninth-place finish.
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| | Corey Heim Ends Ty Gibbs’ Winning Streak, Wins
ARCA Race at Pocono
Ty Gibbs is beatable in the ARCA Menards Series. Corey Heim was able to get past on a late restart and held on to win Friday's General Tire #AnywhereIsPossible 200 at Pocono Raceway. Gibbs was second, then Drew
Dollar, Nick Sanchez and Thad Moffitt.
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| | Sam Mayer, Others Frustrated as Debris Ruins
Day at Pocono
Sam Mayer's General Tire #AnywhereIsPossible 200 ended under unusual circumstances. Part of the driveshaft broke off of Kris Wright's car and lodged under his nose. It then broke off and ravaged his
engine.
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| | Single Tire Strategy Gives Mazda Sahlen’s Six
Hours At The Glen Victory
A one-tire pit stop under the final caution with 51 minutes remaining gave Mazda Motorsports' Harry Tincknell the lead. From there, Tincknell held off Olivier Pla to take overall victory in the Sahlen's Six Hours at the
Glen for himself, Oliver Jarvis and Jonathan Bomarito.
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| | Stevan McAleer, Patrick Gallagher Win Tioga
Downs Casino Resort 240
Notlad Racing by RS1's Stevan McAleer drove past Turner Motorsport's Bill Auberlen in the final four minutes Saturday to win the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Tioga Downs Casino 240 at Watkins Glen along with teammate
Patrick Gallagher.
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| | Max Verstappen Cruises to F1 Styrian Grand
Prix Win
Red Bull's Max Verstappen led flag-to-flag to win the Grand Prix of Styria at the Red Bull Ring, his fourth victory of the year. Lewis Hamilton was second, then Valtteri Bottas, Sergio Perez and Lando
Norris.
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| | Tony Stewart Wins 2nd Straight SRX Race After
Late-Race Battle With Kody Swanson
Tony Stewart may have struggled to hold the inside line Saturday night, but he was able to hold off Kody Swanson to win Round No. 3 of the Camping World SRX Series at Eldora Speedway. Helio Castroneves was third, followed
by Marco Andretti and Paul Tracy.
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Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, NASCAR Media via Getty Images, Emilee Chinn of ARCA Racing, IMSA, Getty Images via Red Bull Racing and our own Phil Allaway, Tom Bowles and Zach Sturinolo.
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Seeking the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs: Denny Hamlin Just Barely Keeps The Points Lead
by Phil Allaway
Denny Hamlin had good cars in both races at Pocono Raceway. Saturday saw Hamlin finish fourth. He nearly won Sunday, but his fuel cell ran dry, dropping him to 14th. That was just enough for him to keep the points lead. His margin is just two over Kyle Larson, who dominated Saturday before hitting the wall on the last lap and finished second
Sunday. William Byron remains in third after finishes of third and 12th. Joey Logano is up one place to fourth after a pair of top 10 finishes.
Kyle Busch's victory Sunday and a second-place finish Saturday moved him up to fifth, his best points position of the year. Chase Elliott is down two spots to sixth after a 27th-place finish Sunday and 12th Saturday. Martin Truex Jr. is still in seventh despite a mediocre run Saturday and an 11th-place run Sunday. Ryan Blaney is up one place to eighth
after racking up fifth and sixth-place finishes.
Kevin Harvick finished fourth Sunday and eighth Saturday. That still cost him a spot, dropping down to ninth. Brad Keselowski remains in 10th after finishes of third and 10th. Alex Bowman is back up to 11th on the strength of his win on Saturday, while Austin Dillon is 12th.
Tyler Reddick is 13th after finishes of ninth and 11th, while Kurt Busch is up three places to 14th. His Sunday run was mediocre, but Saturday saw Kurt win a stage, earn 14 stage points and finish sixth. He is now the last driver in the playoffs on points. Kurt has a three-point lead over Chris Buescher, who had finishes of 19th and 20th. Christopher
Bell is down from a tie for 14th to 16th after wall contact Sunday dropped him to 32nd.
Daytona 500 winner Michael McDowell is down to 17th, his lowest position of the year, after finishes of 17th and 19th. Daniel Suarez is up three places to 18th, courtesy of two top 15 finishes. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is down one place to 19th, while Bubba Wallace is back up to 20th after scoring his first top five finish of the year Sunday.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) Denny Hamlin 761, 2) Kyle Larson -2, 3) William Byron -71,
4) Joey Logano -110, 5) Kyle Busch -111, 6) Chase Elliott -128, 7) Martin Truex Jr. -155, 8) Ryan Blaney -175, 9) Kevin Harvick -176, 10) Brad Keselowski -192, 11) Alex Bowman -218,
12) Austin Dillon -243, 13) Tyler Reddick -286, 14) Kurt Busch -331, 15) Chris Buescher -334, 16) Christopher Bell -337.
Outside the Top 16, but still in the Playoffs: 17) Michael McDowell
-342.
Playoff
Points: 1) Kyle Larson 32, 2) Martin Truex Jr. -13, 3) Alex Bowman -17, 4) Kyle
Busch -20, t-5) Joey Logano -24, t-5) Ryan Blaney -24, 7) William Byron -25, t-8) Chase Elliott -26, t-8) Brad Keselowski -26, t-10) Christopher Bell -27, t-10) Denny Hamlin -27, t-10) Michael McDowell -27, 13) Kurt Busch -30, t-14) Chris Buescher -31, t-14) Matt
DiBenedetto -25, t-14) Bubba Wallace -31, .
Stage
Points: 1) Kyle Larson 221, 2) Denny Hamlin -1, 3) William Byron -50, 4) Chase Elliott -61, 5) Martin Truex Jr. -74, 6) Kyle Busch -76, 7) Joey Logano -80, 8) Ryan Blaney -85, 9) Brad
Keselowski -108, 10) Alex Bowman -131, 11) Kevin Harvick -137, 12) Kurt Busch -149, 13) Austin Dillon -152, 14) Christopher Bell -163, 15) Tyler Reddick -165, 16) Bubba Wallace
-174.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the playoffs: 19) Michael McDowell -190.
Note: Stage Points include the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Denny Hamlin 637, 2) Kyle Larson -12, 3) William Byron -32, 4)
Joey Logano -41, 5) Kyle Busch -48, 6) Kevin Harvick -58, 7) Chase Elliott -85, 8) Martin Truex Jr. -93, 9) Brad Keselowski -96, 10) Ryan Blaney -107, 11) Austin Dillon -109, 12) Alex Bowman -114, 13) Tyler
Reddick -143, t-14) Michael McDowell -169, 15) Chris Buescher -173, 16) Christopher Bell -191.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the playoffs: 20) Kurt Busch
-213
Race Winners: Michael McDowell (Daytona-1), Christopher Bell (Daytona-2), William Byron (Homestead), Kyle Larson (Las Vegas, Charlotte, Sonoma, All-Star Race, Nashville), Martin Truex Jr. (Phoenix, Martinsville, Darlington), Ryan Blaney (Atlanta),
Joey Logano (Bristol), Alex Bowman (Richmond, Dover, Pocono-1), Brad Keselowski (Talladega), Kyle Busch (Kansas, Pocono-2), 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 Continues To Expand Advantage After Pocono Victory
by Phil Allaway
Austin Cindric had to sweat a little bit in the final laps, but he was able to hold on to claim his fourth win of 2021. That allowed him to extend his lead up to 101 points over AJ Allmendinger. Allmendinger had a decent day Sunday, finishing fifth. Daniel Hemric had one of the best cars Sunday, but ended up with a sixth-place finish that keeps him in third.
Justin Allgaier is up one place to fourth after finishing third.
Allgaier was able to jump over Harrison Burton, who won the first stage on Sunday, then crashed out in the second. Jeb Burton remains in sixth after finishing eighth. Brandon Jones is up one place to seventh after finishing seventh. Justin Haley crashed out spectacularly and finished 38th. That dropped him down to eighth in points.
Noah Gragson remains in ninth after finishing fourth, while teammate Michael Annett had a quiet run to 12th that keeps him in 10th. Jeremy Clements finished 13th and stays in 11th, the last spot in the playoffs on points. Myatt Snider finished 10th and moved up two places to 12th.
Clements has a 50-point advantage over Brandon Brown, who dropped to 13th after finishing in 15th. Josh Berry is up one place to 14th after finishing ninth in the Jordan Anderson No. 31. Riley Herbst crashed out and dropped back to 15th. Ty Gibbs moved back up to 16th after finishing second.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) Austin Cindric 680, 2) AJ Allmendinger -101, 3) Daniel Hemric -112, 4) Justin Allgaier -148, 5) Harrison Burton -168, 6) Jeb Burton -187, 7) Brandon Jones -218, 8) Justin
Haley -222, 9) Noah Gragson -243, 10) Michael Annett -267, 11) Jeremy Clements -273, 12) Myatt Snider -314, 13) Brandon Brown -323, 14) Josh Berry -332, 15) Riley Herbst -339, 16) Ty Gibbs -358.
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 27, 2) AJ Allmendinger -14, t-3) Ty Gibbs -16, t-3) Justin Allgaier -16, 5) Josh Berry -21, t-6) Jeb Burton -22, t-6) Myatt Snider
-22, t-6) Daniel Hemric -22, 9) Justin Haley -24, t-10) Noah Gragson -25, t-10) Harrison Burton -25, t-11) Brandon Jones -26.
Note: If they were eligible for points, Kyle Busch would be second in playoff points, while Martin Truex Jr. would be tied for 11th. If he had run the full season for Xfinity points, Brett Moffitt would be tied for 14th.
Stage Points: 1) Austin Cindric 194, 2) Daniel Hemric -48, 3) Justin Allgaier -51, 4) Harrison Burton -57, 5) AJ Allmendinger -65, 6) Noah Gragson -66, 7) Justin Haley -81, 8) Brandon Jones -84, 9) Jeb Burton
-118, 10) Michael Annett -128, t-11) Myatt Snider -140, t-11) Ty Gibbs -140, 13) Riley Herbst -142, 14) Josh Berry -144, 15) Jeremy Clements -149, 16) Brandon Brown -167.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Austin Cindric 568, 2) AJ Allmendinger -48, 3) Daniel Hemric -69, 4) Jeb Burton -86, 5) Justin Allgaier -108, 6) Harrison Burton -127, 7) Jeremy Clements -140, 8) Brandon Jones -150, 9) Justin Haley -158, 10) Michael Annett -159, 11) Brandon Brown -171, 12) Myatt Snider -191, 13) Noah Gragson -195, 14) Ryan Sieg -211, 15) Josh Berry -213, 16) Riley Herbst -220.
Note: If he were eligible for Xfinity points for the whole season, Brett Moffitt would be 12th in old points.
Race Winners: Austin Cindric (Daytona-1, Phoenix, Dover, Pocono), Ty Gibbs (Daytona-2, Charlotte), AJ Allmendinger (Las Vegas, Mid-Ohio), Myatt Snider (Homestead), Justin Allgaier (Atlanta, Darlington), Josh Berry (Martinsville), Jeb Burton (Talladega), Kyle Busch (Circuit of the Americas, Texas, Nashville)
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 Re-Asserts Himself In Pocono
by Phil Allaway
John Hunter Nemechek successfully outdueled the boss on Saturday to win the CRC Brakleen 150. That allowed him to expand his lead up to 86 points with two races to go in the regular season. He can clinch the regular season title with a decent run in Knoxville.
Ben Rhodes remains in second, but had a disappointing 17th-place finish. Austin Hill finished fifth and stays in third. Zane Smith won stage one and finished eighth to keep fourth.
Todd Gilliland started from the pole and finished seventh, a good enough performance to hold onto fifth. Sheldon Creed is up one place to sixth after finishing third. Matt Crafton is up one place to seventh after a sixth-place finish. Grant Enfinger is down two places to eighth after suffering a late engine failure.
Stewart Friesen is still in ninth, but he had a miserable finish after running well all day. Carson Hocevar finished a quiet 13th and stays in 10th. Chandler Smith finished a lap down in 25th, but stays in 11th, the last driver in the playoffs on points. Chandler is the final driver in the playoffs. He has a 31-point advantage over Johnny Sauter,
who had a terrible 35th-place finish Saturday.
Tyler Ankrum is up one place to 13th after finishing fourth, displacing Austin Wayne Self. Self is still only 10 points behind Sauter. Derek Kraus stays in 15th after finishing 10th, but at 55 points behind Chandler Smith, he'll need to win to make the playoffs. Ryan Truex is 16th.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) John Hunter Nemechek 575, 2) Ben Rhodes -86, 3) Austin Hill -106, 4) Zane Smith -147, 5) Todd Gilliland -167, 6) Sheldon Creed -169,
7) Matt Crafton -183, 8) Grant Enfinger -202, 9) Stewart Friesen -225, 10) Carson Hocevar -240, 11) Chandler Smith -261, 12) Johnny Sauter -292, 13) Tyler Ankrum -294, 14) Austin Wayne Self -302, 15) Derek Kraus -316, 16) Ryan Truex
-347.
Note: If he were eligible for points, Kyle Busch would be 15th in
points.
Playoff Points: 1) John Hunter
Nemechek 34, 2) Ben Rhodes -23, 3) Todd Gilliland -27, 4) Sheldon Creed -28, 5) Zane Smith -31, 6) Raphael Lessard -32, t-7) Chandler Smith -33, t-7) Grant Enfinger -33, t-7) Derek Kraus
-33.
Note: If they were eligible for points, Kyle Busch would be second in playoff points while Martin Truex Jr. would be fourth and Ryan Preece seventh.
Stage
Points: 1) John Hunter Nemechek 163, 2) Austin Hill -44, 3) Ben Rhodes -51, 4) Sheldon Creed -59, 5) Zane Smith -72, 6) Stewart Friesen -80, 7) Matt Crafton -81, t-8) Todd Gilliland -97, t-8) Chandler Smith -97, 10)
Derek Kraus -99, 11) Grant Enfinger -109, 12) Raphael Lessard -123, 13) Johnny Sauter -138, 14) Tyler Ankrum -140, 15) Carson Hocevar -146, t-16) Austin Wayne Self -150, t-16) Tanner Gray
-150.
Note: If they were eligible for stage points, Kyle Busch would be eighth. Had Kaz Grala been eligible for points for the full season, he would be tied for 15th.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) John Hunter Nemechek 374, 2) Ben Rhodes -42, 3) Todd Gilliland -55,
4) Austin Hill -72, 5) Zane Smith -82, 6) Grant Enfinger -95, 7) Carson Hocevar -106, 8) Sheldon Creed -108, 9) Matt Crafton -113, 10) Stewart Friesen -151, 11) Tyler Ankrum -159, 12) Austin Wayne Self -166, 13) Chandler Smith -167, 14) Johnny
Sauter -168, 15) Ryan Truex -200, 16) Tanner Gray -210.
Note: If he were eligible for Old School points, Kyle Busch would be
16th.
Race Winner: Ben Rhodes (Daytona-1, Daytona-2), John Hunter Nemechek (Las Vegas, Richmond, Charlotte, Pocono), Kyle Busch (Atlanta, Kansas), Martin Truex Jr. (Bristol), Sheldon Creed
(Darlington), Todd Gilliland (Circuit of the Americas), Ryan Preece (Nashville)
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 Explore The Pocono Mountains 350 was brought to you by the letter F for Fuel Mileage. It's not unusual that the mileage can come into play at Pocono Raceway knowing how
big the place is and how fuel can be saved. Starting your fuel saving at the correct time was critical. William Byron found that out the hard way. - Phil Allaway
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Quotes to Remember: Pocono Organics CBD 325
compiled by Phil Allaway
"Yeah, I hate to win one that way, but hell, yeah, I’ll take it.
"Super proud of this Ally 48 team. Man, we kind of gave the lead away. Were on two tires, just got super tight. Tried to hold him off as long as I could. Can’t say enough about everybody at Team Hendrick right now, body shop, engine shop, chassis shop. Top to bottom, everybody is putting race cars on the racetrack.
"Greg [Ives] and all the guys did a really good job. We didn’t run that good all day, so I’m kind of in shock. I don’t know what to say to you guys. Hell, yeah, so cool to see all the fans out here. Always like to come to PA. It’s a cool place day, beautiful weather, great day for a race. Heck, yeah, I’ll take it." - Alex Bowman, race
winner
"Just more front turn. Our cars kind of die tight in traffic, and just wasn’t able to turn as well as I needed too late in the going in order to get a run on them. I couldn’t even get any closer than I was. I was trying like hell to get there and get into that mix, but I couldn’t even get there. I was just hindered by traffic and dirty air, stuff like that. Ben
[Beshore] and the guys gave me a great piece. It was fast early on. We made minimal changes to it all day long, so when you are well-balanced, and your car is good – that’s as much as we have for them right now. Last week we saw that we were off just a little bit, and we got our ass kicked. We certainly have some work forward, and trying to find some more, but thanks to everyone on this M&M’s Minis Toyota Camry. The guys did a great job. Thanks to Rowdy Energy, Stanley, Interstate Batteries
and Rheem. We will get back after them tomorrow." - Kyle Busch, finished second
"The things we thought coming here, we wanted to be a little snug. So, we just kind of gained tight center off and it was hard to make the straightaways long with that, especially with the PJ1. It seems to make your car tighter. So, our Axalta Chevy was good, especially at the beginning; a little bit on the splitter. But we had the lead there and lost it. Just wasn’t
quite able to pass the top two guys, I should say. So, it’s just part of it. Luckily, we get a chance to work on those things. It’s the first time for Rudy [Fugle] and I here. It was a good run for us. We finished third and we’ll try to go win tomorrow." - William Byron, finished third
"[We needed track position. We had the fastest car. Just that restart – I had the chance to start on the inside, but we just couldn’t accelerate on the restarts. I thought the smart move was to start on the outside in the third lane, so we could go, and it turns out we should have gone to the bottom. Our FedEx Camry wasn’t good on the restarts coming through the
gears, so I don’t know that we would have got past [Kyle Busch] like [Alex Bowman] did, but I thought we had the fastest car, but we just could never really show it. We were running down that front pack big time, but it was a little bit too little, too late." - Denny Hamlin, finished fourth
"I thought it was a solid day. It was one of those days where we stuck to our strategy. We were going to pit twice; use that track position from our finish last week at Nashville [Superspeedway]. That helped us stay up front; helped us stay in rhythm. I battled every lap with loose conditions. The car wanted to just keep getting loose with the rear. We just had to
stay out. We just didn’t want to sacrifice our track position. Good calls by Matt McCall – utilized the speed of the track and the car together to keep that track position and to have a solid points day." - Kurt Busch, finished sixth
"Our Busch Light Ford Mustang was really good at the end. It just took us all day to kind of get the track position and get the loose into the center of the corner better. It took all day, but then we were able to get an OK finish out of it." - Kevin Harvick, finished eighth
"I guess disbelief still. I don’t know, a little bit laughable just because I can’t believe it.
"Hate that we didn’t get another win. Would have been cool to win five in a row. Just wasn’t meant to be I guess today. Yeah, I felt something like right in the middle of the tunnel. Wasn’t quite sure what it was yet. It finally kind of shredded halfway through the short chute there. Couldn’t turn.
"Hate that we didn’t get the win. Cool that Alex [Bowman[ still did, a Hendrick car with another win. Cool to keep Mr. H’s streak going. Yeah, hate we didn’t get HendrickCars.com into Victory Lane, but we’ll try to start another streak tomorrow." - Kyle Larson, finished ninth
"It’s a gamble. You have to gamble and you have to stick with it; and unfortunately, it didn’t work out for us today, but hopefully it does tomorrow. We had, what I felt like, a top-10 car, sometimes even a top-five. We ended up 13th. We have to make a couple of adjustments to be a little bit better for tomorrow." - Daniel Suarez, finished
13th
Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of NASCAR Media via James Gilbert of Getty Images.
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Quotes to Remember: Explore the Pocono Mountains 350
compiled by Phil Allaway
"Yeah, stuck in fourth gear. About out of gas (laughter). Just saving, just riding, playing the strategy the best, we could with what was given to us. Just can’t say enough about everybody on my team, everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota, TRD, all the work they’re putting in. Sometimes these races aren’t always won by
the fastest car, but I felt we had the fastest car. Even though we were in the back and behind and having to come through and persevere through being stuck in fourth gear, no clutch, all that stuff. It’s all burned out. Nothing left in this M&M’s Minis Camry. It was awesome today. Thanks to Rowdy Energy, Interstate Batteries, Stanley, Rheem, everybody that works on this car. A lot of our M&M’s friends are here today, so it’s really cool to have them here back at the track. Thanks to
Rowdy Nation, all the Kyle Busch fans up there supporting and pulling for us. Really great to pull off another win here at Pocono. Feels good." - Kyle Busch, race winner
"I don’t know. It’s surprising finish for us. Our HendrickCars.com Chevy was really loose for a majority of the race, then we got a lot of nose damage there on one of the restarts. Was off on speed. I felt like after that.
"[Kyle Busch] did pit a lap after us under caution. That actually probably won them the race. But, yeah, second-place finish, I thought we would be outside of the top 20. A lot of points throughout the race today; we’ll take it. Happy about the effort for sure all weekend." - Kyle Larson, finished second
"We ran a really good race but just didn’t have enough fuel to make it to the end like those others guys did. They beat us on power and fuel mileage. We have a lot of work to do to keep up with those guys. I am really proud of Jeremy Bullins and the team. They had the setup really well and it put is in position and we
ran a great race today and maximized our day.
"It was a nice rebound from where we have been. We have had a lot of bad breaks with things breaking and all kinds of issues across the board. My mistakes, other mistakes. This was a really good day for us." - Brad Keselowski, finished third
"Our Busch Light Ford Mustang, we struggled with it the first half of the race. Then we had a good restart there, a couple restarts there from the end that got us some track position and we were able to have a good strategy and stay up front there. I didn’t think any of those guys could make it on fuel. I thought I was just racing Brad. At the end of the day, it was a
solid day, a solid finish for us.
"I thought our car was better yesterday than it was today. We just kind of over adjusted from what we had yesterday to where we started today. They did a good job keeping us in the game and made some good adjustments in the car. We had some good restarts and good track position and were able to pick up the pace. Just still we just lose the handling of the car more
than I would like to behind cars. Other than that, we just keep clawing along." - Kevin Harvick, finished fourth
"It’s big. A lot of confidence for myself which is huge. It came down to fuel strategy there, but I appreciate Wheels (Mike Wheeler, crew chief), J.R. (Houston, engineer), Freddie (Kraft, spotter), telling me what to do – 80% there, 60% here, the whole time. It got so annoying, but it worked out. That’s what it takes. It takes a team effort to pull off this. Great day
for us. Great day for DraftKings – their first race is the first top-five for our team. That makes you want to resign, but all-in-all, really good day. Really good weekend for us. We knew that we had the speed. Bossman was here – MJ (Michael Jordan) was here. We had the whole staff out, so it was a good day. Good weekend." - Bubba Wallace, finished fifth
"My team definitely made some good changes to the No. 8 Kalahari Resorts and Conventions Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE overnight. We were a lot better over the bumps today, which was one of my bigger issues on Saturday. I seemed to fire off too loose for each run but then build too tight, especially when I was in dirty air. The adjustments my team made all race long did
help though. I just needed to get a little creative with the lines I was running since I had no grip when I would try to run the traction compound. We got a little off-sequence with our strategy today, but it ended up working for us in the long run when all those other cars ran out of gas during the last few laps. Our car had good speed all weekend long, so that’s great for us to build on as we head to Road America next weekend for some road racing." - Tyler Reddick, finished
ninth
"We definitely had the fastest car. The caution didn’t fit us perfectly. We had control of the race there and were right on our number to make it or not, but it just didn’t work out. We had a really fast car. The Axalta Chevrolet was awesome. It sucks to lose like that, but I feel like we had everything we needed in the car. We just couldn’t save enough fuel as far
back as we were. It’s just part of it, but thanks to the guys." - William Byron, finished 12th
Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of NASCAR Media via James Gilbert of Getty Images.
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