Frontstretch Newsletter: July 12, 2021
Volume: XV, Edition CXVI
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- Cup and Xfinity teams are back at their shops to prepare for this weekend's hot action in New Hampshire. 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: July 9-11
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- Panis Racing's James Allen, Julien Canal and Will Stevens dominated the second half of the race Sunday to win the European Le Mans Series' 4 Hours of Monza. It is the first ELMS victory for the Olivier Panis-run team. They won by 5.131 seconds over United Autosports' Jonathan Aberdein, Phil Hanson and Tom Gamble. JOTA Sport's Sean Galael and Jazeman Jaafar were third, followed by Team
WRT's Louis Deletraz, Robert Kubica and Yifei Ye.
In LMP3, DKR Engineering's Laurents Hoerr and Mathieu de Barbuat claimed the class win from pole by 21.318 seconds over United Autosports' Wayne Boyd, Edouard Cauhaupe and Robert Wheldon. Inter Europol Competition's Ugo de Wilde, Martin Hippe and Mattia Pasini were third, then COOL Racing's Matt Bell, Niklas Kruetten and Nicolas Maulini. Team Virage's Charles Crews, Rob Hodes and Garret Grist were
fifth.
Finally, in GTE competition, it was a Ferrari top five sweep as Spirit of Race's Duncan Cameron, David Perel and Alessandro Pier Guidi took the victory by 2.862 seconds over Iron Lynx's Matteo Cressoni, Rino Mastronardi and Miguel Molina. AF Corse's Emmanuel Collard, Francois Perrodo and Alessio Rovera were third, then JMW Motorsport's No. 66 for Jody Fannin, Andrea Fontana and Rodrigo Sales. Iron
Lynx's No. 60 for Paolo Ruberti, Claudio Schiavoni and Giorgio Sernagiotto were fifth.
- Likely the biggest news item out of Monza was that United Autosports' No. 32 team was forced to withdraw in the paddock. This was because Job van Uitert tested positive for COVID-19. Teammates Nico Jamin and Manuel Maldonado both tested negative, but were both considered to be close contacts, rendering them unable to race.
- Saturday's two-hour Michelin Le Mans Cup race at Monza was won by United Autosports' Scott Andrews and Gerry Kraut in their Ligier JS P320-Nissan from 16th on the grid. Andrews and Kraut were 29.622 seconds ahead of Rinaldi Racing's Alexander Mattschull and Nicolas Varrone. Nielsen Racing's Colin Noble and Anthony Wells were third, then United Autosports' Wayne Boyd and John Schauerman. DKR
Engineering's Jon Brownson and Dario Cangliosi were fifth.
The DQ elevated Iron Lynx's Gabriele Lancieri and Paolo Ruberti to the class win in fourth overall, 16.675 seconds ahead of teammates Sarah Bovy and Doriane Pin. Julian Andlauer and Nicolas Leutwiler ended up third after a late penalty.
- Brad Sweet took the lead from Logan Schuchart on lap 22 after a long battle Saturday night and held on to win the Badger 40 at Wilmot Speedway for his third straight World of Outlaws NoS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series. Schuchart was second, then Donny Schatz, James McFadden and Aaron Reutzel.
With the win and David Gravel's 19th-place finish, Sweet's points lead is up to 132 points at the halfway point of the season. Carson Macedo is third, then Sheldon Haudenschild and Schuchart.
- In Southwick, Mass. on Saturday, Dylan Ferrandis won his third straight 450cc round, while Hunter Lawrence won overall in the 250cc class.
Ferrandis led flag-to-flag to win 450cc Moto No. 1 by 5.4 seconds over Justin Barcia. Aaron Plessinger was third, then Ken Roczen and Adam Cianciarulo.
Moto No. 2 saw Cooper Webb win the holeshot, but Roczen took the lead early and run away. Later in the race, Eli Tomac ran Roczen down and took the lead. From there, he ran away from the field to win by 16.4 seconds over Roczen, Ferrandis, Barcia and Webb. For the day, Ferrandis won with a total of four points over
Ferrandis leaves Southwick with a 19-point lead over Roczen. Tomac is third in points, then Plessinger and Barcia.
The 250cc class saw RJ Hampshire lead early in Moto No. 1, but he crashed out of the lead 15 minutes in, allowing Michael Mosiman to take the advantage. Hunter Lawrence took the lead with eight minutes to go when Mosiman crashed and held on to win by 7.8 seconds over Hampshire. Jo Shimoda was third, then Colt Nichols and Jalek Swoll.
Moto No. 2 saw Hampshire take the lead on the first lap, but a repeat of the first race happened. He crashed out of the lead 15 minutes in. This gave the lead to Justin Cooper. Hunter Lawrence ran Cooper down in the final 10 minutes, took the lead and pulled away to take the sweep by 4.5 seconds. Cooper was second, then Jett Lawrence, Shimoda and Nichols.
Hunter Lawrence claimed the minimum two points to win the day over Shimoda, Cooper, Hampshire and Nichols. Points-wise, Jett Lawrence, who finished sixth overall Saturday, has a three-point led on Cooper. Hunter Lawrence is third, then Hampshire and Shimoda.
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| | Kurt Busch Outduels Brother Kyle Busch, Scores 4th Win at Atlanta
Kurt Busch led 144 of 260 laps Sunday and passed his younger brother with 25 laps to go to win the Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Kyle Busch was second, then Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman
and Ryan Blaney.
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| | Kyle Busch Takes Issue with Ross Chastain’s Late-Race Moves
Kurt Busch was able to get back past his younger brother thanks to Ross Chastain setting a pick that slowed Kyle down. Naturally, Kyle wasn't very happy about that.
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| | Drivers Continue Sounding Off on Atlanta’s Planned Repave
Atlanta Motor Speedway's upcoming repave and reconfiguration has angered the majority of the garage. Drivers were more than willing to voice their opinions on the issue prior to the race Sunday.
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| | Kyle Busch Gets Xfinity Win No. 102 at Atlanta
Kyle Busch dominated much of Saturday's Credit Karma Money 250, but took the lead for good after having contact with teammate Daniel Hemric in the final laps. From there, Busch held on to win in what just might be his
final career Xfinity start. Jeb Burton was second, then Noah Gragson, Justin Haley and Ty Dillon.
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| | Michael Annett Out at Atlanta Due to Injury; Austin Dillon Fills In
Michael Annett was forced to miss Saturday's Credit Karma Money 250 at Atlanta due to a leg injury. After a search, JR Motorsports tapped Austin Dillon to fill in.
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| | Daniel Hemric Riddled Again by Bad Luck at Atlanta
Daniel Hemric had a strong run Saturday in Atlanta, leading 45 laps and putting him in the conversation at the end of the race. Then, contact between himself and Kyle Busch sparked a crash that resulted in Hemric finishing
30th.
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| | Austin Hill Wins 1st Ever Knoxville Truck Race
Hattori Racing Enterprises' Austin Hill took the lead on the third Green-White-Checker restart from Chandler Smith and held on through one final restart to win the wreck-strewn inaugural Corn Belt 150 at Knoxville Raceway
Friday night. Smith was second, then Grant Enfinger, Todd Gilliland and Derek Kraus.
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| | Chase Elliott to Be Featured in Doc on Peacock
NBC Sports announced Friday that they will premier a new documentary about Chase Elliott simply entitled Chase. The show, which premiers in August on Peacock, will take a deep dive into Elliott and his love
of racing.
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| | Corey Heim Wins, Bumpers Fly in Menards 250
Venturini Motorsports' Corey Heim executed a bump and run on Ty Gibbs with three laps to go and held on to win Saturday night's Menards 250 at Elko Speedway. Jesse Love was second, then Gracie Trotter, Gibbs and Taylor
Gray.
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| | Patient Marco Andretti Sneaks by Luke Fenhaus for Slinger SRX Win
Marco Andretti was able to drive past Luke Fenhaus on the outside on the final restart Saturday night to win the Camping World SRX Series race at Slinger Speedway. Tony Stewart was third, then Hailie Deegan and Bobby
Labonte.
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Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, NASCAR Media via Sean Gardner and James Gilbert of Getty Images, Emilee Chinn of ARCA Racing and our own Tom Bowles.
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Seeking the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs: Speeding Penalty Preserves Denny Hamlin's Point Lead
by Phil Allaway
Denny Hamlin was decent on Sunday, but a speeding penalty during the break after stage two set him back. He was only able to get back to a 13th-place finish. Kyle Larson had a prime opportunity to take the points lead, but he got busted for speeding under green. He struggled to stay on the lead lap for the remainder of the race,
finishing 18th. As a result, Hamlin has extended his points lead over Larson to 10 points. Kyle Busch led 91 laps and finished second. That finish and 19 stage points moves him up to a season-best third. William Byron ended up finishing a disappointing 20th and dropped back to fourth.
Chase Elliott got penalized early and spent much of the race recovering. He finished seventh and moved up one place to fifth, displacing Joey Logano. Logano had a tire issue under green that put him off-sequence and he got lapped late en route to a 19th-place finish. Martin Truex Jr. came from the rear of the field to
finish third, which allowed him to stand pat for the day in seventh. Ryan Blaney remains in eighth after finishing fifth.
Kevin Harvick had an off-day by his standards at Atlanta. He struggled with handling and finished 11th, which keeps him ninth in points. Brad Keselowski had a quiet run to 10th, which keeps him in 10th. Alex Bowman finished fourth and stays in 11th, while Austin Dillon is still
12th.
Tyler Reddick had an excellent day to finish sixth and stay in 13th. He is now the last driver in the playoffs on points. Kurt Busch's first victory of 2021 didn't move him up out of 14th. He did close the margin between himself and Reddick from 50 points to 33. Christopher Bell had a solid eighth-place finish to
stay in 15th. Chris Buescher finished 16th Sunday, but Kurt Busch's win means that it is now a much harder task to qualify on points. He is 96 points behind Reddick for the last spot in the playoffs on points.
Michael McDowell struggled on Sunday with handling and finished four laps down in 27th. He is still 17th in points. Matt DiBenedetto is up two spots to 18th after finishing ninth. Despite helping teammate Kurt Busch win, Ross Chastain is down one spot to 19th after finishing 21st, while Bubba Wallace
is back up to 20th.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) Denny Hamlin 836, 2) Kyle Larson -10, 3) Kyle Busch -97, 4) William Byron
-103, 5) Chase Elliott -132, 6) Joey Logano -136, 7) Martin Truex Jr. -165, 8) Ryan Blaney -197, 9) Kevin Harvick -210, 10) Brad Keselowski -213, 11) Alex Bowman -227, 12) Austin Dillon -265,
13) Tyler Reddick -273, 14) Kurt Busch -306, 15) Christopher Bell -344, 16) Chris Buescher -369.
Outside the Top 16, but still in the Playoffs: 17) Michael McDowell
-400.
Playoff
Points: 1) Kyle Larson 32, 2) Martin Truex Jr. -13, 3) Alex Bowman -17, 4) Kyle
Busch -19, 5) Chase Elliott -21, t-6) Joey Logano -24, t-6) Ryan Blaney -24, t-6) William Byron
-24, t-6) Kurt Busch -24, 10) Brad Keselowski -26, t-11) Christopher Bell -27, t-11) Denny Hamlin -27, t-11) Michael McDowell -27, t-14) Tyler Reddick
-31, t-14) Chris Buescher -31, t-14) Matt DiBenedetto -25, t-14) Bubba Wallace -31, .
Stage
Points: 1) Kyle Larson 248, 2) Denny Hamlin -9, 3) William Byron -55, 4) Kyle Busch -83, 5) Chase Elliott -87, t-6) Joey Logano -98, t-6) Martin Truex Jr. -98, 8) Ryan Blaney -108, 9) Brad
Keselowski -132, 10) Alex Bowman -140, 11) Kurt Busch -149, 12) Kevin Harvick -159, 13) Tyler Reddick -164, 14) Austin Dillon -177, 15) Christopher Bell -186, 16) Bubba Wallace
-198.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the playoffs: 19) Michael McDowell -217.
Note: Stage Points include the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Denny Hamlin 702, 2) Kyle Larson -29, 3) Kyle Busch -34, 4) Joey Logano -58,
5) William Byron -67, 6) Chase Elliott -70, 7) Kevin Harvick -79, 8) Martin Truex Jr. -87, 9) Brad Keselowski -102, t-10) Ryan Blaney -115, t-10) Austin Dillon -115, 12) Alex Bowman -123, 13) Tyler Reddick -139, 14)
Christopher Bell -184, 15) Chris Buescher -190, 16) Kurt Busch -196.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the playoffs: 17) Michael McDowell
-209.
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-1), Joey Logano (Bristol), Alex Bowman (Richmond, Dover), Brad Keselowski (Talladega), Kyle Busch (Kansas), Chase Elliott (Circuit of the Americas, Road America), Kurt Busch (Atlanta-2)
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 Has Rare Off-Day In Atlanta
by Phil Allaway
Austin Cindric was unusually quiet Saturday, failing to score a stage point and finishing 10th. That cost him some of his lead. AJ Allmendinger finished behind Cindric in 13th after getting into a late incident with Daniel Hemric. However, he scored 18 stage points and that was enough to cut Cindric's points lead down from 89 to 74 points. Hemric ended up 30th after his crash, but
stays in third. Justin Allgaier finished seventh Saturday and stays in fourth.
Harrison Burton finished in a disappointing 24th, but ran strong early. That was enough to keep him in fifth. Jeb Burton finished second and made gains on Cindric while staying in sixth. Justin Haley is still in seventh after finishing fourth. Noah Gragson is up one place to eighth after finishing third.
Brandon Jones dropped to ninth after crashing out and finishing 39th. Michael Annett remains in 10th after missing the event due to a leg injury. Jeremy Clements is still in 11th after finishing eighth. He is still the last driver in the playoffs on points. Myatt Snider is up one place to 12th despite finishing 21st.
Riley Herbst is 54 points behind Clements after dealing with a stuck throttle en route to a 19th-place finish. Brandon Brown is down two places to 14th after crashing out and finishing 31st. Josh Berry is still 15th, while Ryan Sieg is up to 16th after finishing 12th.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) Austin Cindric 748, 2) AJ Allmendinger -74, 3) Daniel Hemric -112, 4) Justin Allgaier -141, 5) Harrison Burton -176, 6) Jeb Burton -189, 7) Justin Haley -211, 8) Noah Gragson -229,
9) Brandon Jones -260, 10) Michael Annett -298, 11) Jeremy Clements -303, 12) Myatt Snider -352, 13) Riley Herbst -357, 14) Brandon Brown -359, 15) Josh Berry -386, 16) Ryan Sieg -397.
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 15th in points.
Playoff Points: 1) Austin Cindric 27, 2) AJ Allmendinger -12, 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 have the most with 29, 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 206, 2) Daniel Hemric -34, 3) AJ Allmendinger -39, 4) Justin Allgaier -43, 5) Harrison Burton -54, 6) Noah Gragson -58, 7) Justin Haley -74, 8) Brandon Jones -89, 9) Jeb Burton -122,
10) Michael Annett -137, 11) Ty Gibbs -148, t-12) Myatt Snider -152, t-12) Riley Herbst -152, 14) Josh Berry -156, 15) Jeremy Clements -161, t-16) Brandon Brown -179, t-16) Ty Dillon -179.
Note: If he were eligible for points, Kyle Busch would be tied for 10th in stage points.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Austin Cindric 633, 2) AJ Allmendinger -45, 3) Daniel Hemric -82, 4) Jeb Burton -84, 5) Justin Allgaier -108, 6) Harrison Burton -138, 7) Justin Haley -155, 8) Jeremy Clements -159, 9) Michael Annett -186, 10) Noah Gragson -188, 11) Brandon Jones -190, 12) Brandon Brown -196, 13) Myatt Snider -222, 14) Ryan Sieg -232, 15) Riley Herbst -233, 16) Josh Berry -264.
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-1, Darlington), Josh Berry (Martinsville), Jeb Burton (Talladega), Kyle Busch (Circuit of the Americas, Texas, Nashville, Road America, Atlanta-2)
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 Clinches Regular Season Championship
by Phil Allaway
The action in Knoxville was chaotic. John Hunter Nemechek crashed in practice, had to start in the rear and finished 11th. That allowed him to effectively stand pat. His lead is 85 points over Ben Rhodes with only one race remaining in the regular season. As a result, he has clinched the regular season title. Rhodes finished seventh despite getting in an
incident on the last lap on the backstretch. Austin Hill won the Corn Belt 150, but stays in third. Todd Gilliland led 61 laps Friday night and finished fourth, moving him back up to fourth.
Zane Smith is down to fifth after crashing multiple times and finishing 14th. Matt Crafton is up one place to sixth after finishing sixth. Sheldon Creed had a pretty terrible time in Knoxville, crashing hard in practice, racing up to the front in the race, then getting eliminated in the Big One. He's down into a tie for seventh with Grant
Enfinger, who finished third.
Carson Hocevar ran well all night and was right in the mix at the end until he was spun out in turn 2 on the final lap. He finished 16th, but still moved up to ninth in points. Stewart Friesen was involved in multiple crashes and ended up nine laps down in 27th. That dropped him to 10th. Chandler Smith led a race-high 71 laps and finished
second to stay in 11th. He is the last driver in the playoffs on points. Smith is 40 points ahead of Derek Kraus, who gained three places after winning the first two stages and finishing fifth. He's also Public Enemy No. 1.
Tyler Ankrum is 13th after finishing 17th. Johnny Sauter is down two places to 14th after finishing 20th with crash damage. Austin Wayne Self is down to 15th after crashing out late and finishing 30th. Ryan Truex is still in 16th.
With only one race remaining in the regular season, Zane Smith, Crafton and Hocevar all locked into the playoffs on points Friday night. Friesen is 53 points ahead of Kraus and needs to earn only eight points in Watkins Glen to lock in.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) John Hunter Nemechek 605, 2) Ben Rhodes -85, 3) Austin Hill -95, 4) Todd Gilliland -147, 5) Zane Smith -154, 6)
Matt Crafton -175, t-7) Sheldon Creed -192, t-7) Grant Enfinger -192, 9) Carson Hocevar -233, 10) Stewart Friesen -241, 11) Chandler Smith -254, 12) Derek Kraus -294, 13) Tyler Ankrum -298, 14) Johnny Sauter -305, 15) Austin
Wayne Self -334, 16) Ryan Truex -353.
Note: If he were eligible for points, Kyle Busch would be 16th in
points.
Playoff
Points: 1) John Hunter Nemechek 34,
2) Ben Rhodes -23, 3) Todd Gilliland -27, 4) Sheldon Creed -28, 5) Austin Hill -29, t-6) Zane Smith -31, t-6) Derek Kraus -31, 8) Raphael Lessard -32, t-9) Chandler Smith
-33, t-9) Grant Enfinger -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 167, 2) Austin Hill -47, 3) Ben Rhodes -54, 4) Sheldon Creed -58, 5) Zane Smith -76, 6) Matt Crafton -78, 7) Stewart Friesen -80, 8) Derek Kraus -83, 9) Todd Gilliland -84,
10) Chandler Smith -99, 11) Grant Enfinger -107, 12) Raphael Lessard -127, 13) Carson Hocevar -134, 14) Tyler Ankrum -138, 15) Johnny Sauter -142, 16) Kaz Grala -153.
Note: If they were eligible for stage points, Kyle Busch would be 10th.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) John Hunter Nemechek 396, 2) Ben Rhodes -38, 3) Todd Gilliland -47,
4) Austin Hill -58, 5) Zane Smith -85, 6) Grant Enfinger -87, 7) Matt Crafton -107, 8) Carson Hocevar -110, 9) Sheldon Creed -129, 10) Chandler Smith -156, 11) Tyler Ankrum -165, 12) Stewart Friesen -167, 13) Johnny Sauter -176,
14) Austin Wayne Self -185, 15) Ryan Truex -202, 16) Derek Kraus -211.
Race Winners: 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), Austin Hill (Knoxville)
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 Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart was brought to you by the letter I for It's Time. The race was halted for 19 minutes after stage two due to a small chunk of the track surface coming up in the
quad-oval. Atlanta Motor Speedway has spent literal millions keeping the old surface together in recent years, but Sunday was the actual breaking point. The reconfiguration is happening at Atlanta. While the reconfiguration may not be necessary, Sunday's race proved that the repave just couldn't be put off any more. - Phil Allaway
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Quotes to Remember: Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart
compiled by Phil Allaway
"I came into this weekend respecting the racetrack more than I ever have. Atlanta Motor Speedway is one of the top tracks for all the drivers based off of how we’re able to slide the car through the corners and choose which lane we want to race in.
"Like a raceability factor, Atlanta Motor Speedway was always at the top of the list. I came to respect her surface and to ask her for the right amount of grip today, and I could feel it. I could feel she was helping me pull through and come out on top. I really wanted to win this last race on the old surface. I was pushing hard, and really happy for our GearWrench team to win this last race
here.
"It’s going to go through a facelift, going to have a lot of new feel and a lot of new action next year, but this was the last little bit of the old school, and I’m glad an older guy won the race today." - Kurt Busch, race winner
"It’s just the same as always. We just don’t have enough front end with laps on tires. I had everything I had early in the run and then just smoked it behind [Ross Chastain], obviously. It shows you what kind of driver he is. Just tried to fight hard after that when I got passed and had one valiant effort off of (turn)
two, but didn’t have enough momentum to drag him down and make him go high in [turns 3 and 4], and after that the tires were smoked. Great effort. Guys gave me a great piece. We were fast. [Kurt Busch] was definitely better than us today. I just thought I had him. And we did. But racing just didn’t play out that way for us. The Skittles Gummies Camry was fast, and thanks to Toyota, TRD, Rowdy Energy Drink, Interstate Batteries, all the guys. Good piece, just not quite good enough, just needed a
tick more." - Kyle Busch, finished second
"I would say that’s a fact [that we passed the most cars today]. It’s funny you look at results and oh, you started fifth and finished third, that’s a pretty good day. We went through a lot today on our Auto Owners Toyota Camry. I’m excited to have them on board again and have a good run for them. We definitely had the speed to battle for the win at the end, just had
to come from too far back. I’m proud of everyone at JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing), Toyota, TRD. Everyone at the shop is working really hard getting our stuff better. It just had the feel I was looking for today. We were good on the short runs and good on the long runs. I’m glad to be back running up front." - Martin Truex Jr., finished third
"We were OK. We had a really good race car, just not good enough to contend for the win. I feel like we were really fast on the short runs and I could run with those guys. I felt like I was just hanging out and trying not to burn my tires off. It never really paid off for me in the long run. I struggled at the end of runs and was really lane-limited at the end of the
race. I needed the bottom to make the car turn. It was a good solid day for our Ally Camaro but not quite good enough." - Alex Bowman, finished fourth
"It was definitely a long, hard-working day. We weren’t that good, to be honest with you. The front was pretty numb. The rear was stepping out and just kind of all over the place and we worked on it all day and just got a little bit better and a little bit better. That long run there at the end kind of played in our favor. We kind of got going there pretty good at the
end, but, overall not a bad day for our Advance Auto Parts Ford Mustang and back to running top five, which is good for us. We’ve been struggling a little bit lately, but proud of everybody on the 12 group today." - Ryan Blaney, finished fifth
"Our No. 8 Okuma Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE handled really well today and had a ton of speed right from the start. I was able to get up into the top-five early and stayed there for most of the race. Our car was a bit tight almost all day long, but the team was able to help counter that with air pressure adjustments
throughout our pit stops. It felt like handling faded a little bit towards the end of the day, but I was able to switch up my lines and keep our speed for the most part, which was good. Racing in the Cup Series is just so tough. Everyone in this series is so smart and immediately picks up on anything someone does differently, so you’re constantly having to find new grooves and lanes during the race to stay up front. While I wish we could have finished top-five, races like today are a testament
to all the hard work the men and women of RCR and ECR put in at the shop every day, and this result is just another step in the right direction for our team. I know we can make the Playoffs, we just have to continue to push." - Tyler Reddick, finished sixth
"We had a long day, for sure. The Adrenaline Shoc Camaro was not so hot there to start, and really just worked a lot. We changed a bunch of stuff throughout the day and just kind of kept grinding. I feel like we got to a decent spot there at the end. We weren’t anything special. But it was a heck of a lot better than where we started today. So, I’m happy with that. We
just need to find a little pace and need to find a little bit myself and I think we can get back to where we need to be. We just need a tick more." - Chase Elliott, finished seventh
"This is another good example of where we’re really clicking as a team and executing and I think we made about the most of our car. We just kept chipping away at it. Hassler made good adjustments and just kept getting better and better. That’s all you can ask for. I think everybody just did a good job. You like those days when you don’t have anything too crazy to talk
about other than our team just doing a good job. Our pit stops were good. We were solid all day there. Hassler made great adjustments and we did fall back there. At a point we got pretty tight. The track changed a little and we got tight, but we took a little stab at it and got right back to where we were running in the top 10 and made the most of it. I’m pretty happy with it." - Matt DiBenedetto, finished ninth
Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of NASCAR Media via Sean Gardner of Getty Images.
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