Frontstretch Newsletter: Aug. 16, 2021
Volume: XV, Edition CXLIV
|
- Cup teams are back at their shops after Sunday's action in Indianapolis Entry lists for this weekend's action at Michigan International Speedway should be out either this afternoon or Tuesday.
We'll have the entry lists and/or anything else that breaks for you at Frontstretch.
|
Around the World in Motorsports: Aug. 13-15
|
- Kyle Larson passed Donny Schatz on lap 25 Saturday night and held off an almighty charge by the legendary racer from North Dakota to win the 60th Annual NoS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey's General Store Saturday night. Larson waltzed out of
Knoxville Saturday night and onto his plane back to Indianapolis with a check for $176,000. Schatz was second, then Brad Sweet, Giovanni Scelzi and Logan Schuchart. We have more from Knoxville in Bryan Keith's Thinkin'
Dirty.
- In ABB FIA Formula E World Championship action, Lucas di Grassi claimed victory in e-Prix No. 1 at the Templehof in Berlin Saturday. Di Grassi just barely held off a charge by Edoardo Mortara. Mitch Evans was third, then Norman Nato and Jake
Dennis.
Sunday's season finale got off to a crazy start as Evans' car failed to go at the start of the race. He was plowed into by Mortara, ending both drivers' races and Mortara's chances at the
championship.
Nato passed Stoffel Vandoorne 10 laps into the race and held on to take his first Formula E victory. Oliver Rowland was second, then Vandoorne, Andre Lotterer and Alexander Sims. Mercedes-EQ's Nyck de Vries finished eighth and that was enough to clinch the
2020-21 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.
De Vries, the 2019 FIA Formula 2 Champion, won by seven points over Mortara after being the only driver in the top five to score points in the final race. Dennis finished third in points, then Evans and Robin
Frijns.
- Sunday was the official Le Mans Test Day ahead of next weekend's 24 Hours of Le Mans. Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus' Olivier Pla was fastest overall with a lap at 145.797 mph. He was nearly a quarter of a second faster than Toyota GAZOO Racing's Mike
Conway. Kazuki Nakajima was third in the second Toyota, followed by Signatech Alpine's Nicolas Lapierre.
In LMP2, IDEC Sport's Paul-Loup Chatin was fastest with a lap at 144.423 mph, good for sixth overall. Chatin's lap was less than two-hundredths of a second ahead of Panis Racing's Will Stevens. Team WRT's Louis Deletraz was third fastest, then United
Autosports' Paul di Resta and Filipe Albuquerque.
GTE-Pro was led by Porsche GT Team's Kevin Estre with a lap at 130.907 mph. His lap was a mere three-thousandths of a second faster than Gianmaria Bruni in the No. 91 Porsche. Earl Bamber in the WeatherTech Racing Porsche was third, three-hundredths of a
second back, then AF Corse's James Calado in the best of the Ferraris. Miguel Molina was fifth.
GTE-Am was led by Harry Tincknell, a late addition to Proton Competition's No. 99 Porsche. Tincknell set a lap at 130.030 mph. This was only three-hundredths of a second faster than Team Project 1's Riccardo Pera. The Ferrari of JMW Motorsport's Jody
Fannin was third in class, then Julien Andlauer in the No. 88 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche. Ben Barnicoat in the Inception Racing Ferrari was fifth.
Free Practice for the 24 Hours of Le Mans begins at 8 a.m. ET Wednesday morning. We'll have coverage of practice and qualifying at Frontstretch.
|
| | AJ Allmendinger Scores 2nd Triumph, Maiden Cup Win for Kaulig Amid Indy Road Course Chaos
Kaulig Racing's AJ Allmendinger swept past the spun out Denny Hamlin and the penalized Chase Briscoe with two laps to go. From there, he held on to win Sunday's Verizon 200 at the Brickyard for his second career Cup win
and the first for Kaulig Racing. Ryan Blaney was second, then Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott and Matt DiBenedetto.
|
| | Indy Road Course Turn 6 Curbs Cause 2 Wrecks
Sunday's Verizon 200 at the Brickyard will be remembered best for the chaos that happened at the turns 5-6 chicane. The curb was destroyed on lap 78, triggering a multi-car crash. A second big wreck eliminated even
more teams.
|
| | Christopher Bell: Kyle Larson ‘Running His Mouth is a Little Uncalled For’
Prior to Sunday's race, the collision between Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell at Watkins Glen was still in the news. As of Saturday, the two drivers hadn't talked to each other about the incident and Bell wasn't a fan of
how Larson characterized the communication (or lack thereof).
|
| | Andy Lally Taking Over for Kyle Tilley in Cup Series Race at Indy Road Course
Kyle Tilley was originally scheduled to run both the Cup and Xfinity races at Indianapolis last weekend. However, he opted out Saturday morning. Andy Lally replaced him in the Cup race, while James Davison drove the
Xfinity race in his place.
|
| | Austin Cindric Wins at Indianapolis Road Course in Xfinity
Team Penske's Austin Cindric led a race-high 29 laps Saturday and held off AJ Allmendinger to win the Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard, his fifth win of 2021. Justin Haley was third, then Chase Elliott and Noah
Gragson.
|
| | Chase Elliott Subbing for Michael Annett at Indianapolis Road Course
JR Motorsports announced early Saturday morning that Michael Annett had opted out of the Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard due to his leg injury. Chase Elliott was named as his replacement.
|
| | Chase Elliott Earns Last-Minute Xfinity Top 5 on Indy Road Course
Chase Elliott got the call from JR Motorsports early Saturday morning to replace Michael Annett in the No. 1 Chevrolet. With little time in the car, he charged up from 25th on the grid to finish fourth.
|
| | Myatt Snider Gains Momentum at Indy Road Course
Being locked into the playoffs since winning at Homestead, Myatt Snider has struggled at times. Saturday saw him put together a decent run to finish seventh.
|
| | Josh Berry Running Full Season for JRM in
2022
JR Motorsports announced Monday morning that Josh Berry will drive full-time in the Xfinity Series in 2022. He'll continue behind the wheel of the No. 8 Chevrolet that he drove in 12 races earlier this
year.
|
| | Will Power Wins Indy Road Course for 5th Time
Team Penske's Will Power has struggled quite a bit in 2021, but he put the full package together Saturday. Power led 56 of 85 laps to win the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix for his first win of 2021 and the fifth
win on Indianapolis Motor Speedway's road course. Romain Grosjean was second, then Colton Herta, Alexander Rossi and Patricio O'Ward.
|
Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography and Chris Owens of INDYCAR Media.
|
Seeking the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs: Kyle Larson Claims Sole Possession Of Points Lead
by Phil Allaway
Denny Hamlin getting spun out with two laps to go Sunday didn't just change the outcome of the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard. It also changed the points. Kyle Larson avoided the chaos and finished third. That boosted him into the points lead for the first time all year. Hamlin ended up 23rd at the finish and is now 22 points behind in second. With two races remaining in
the regular season, Hamlin locked into the playoffs on points. Despite getting caught up in the big wreck on lap 78, Kyle Busch finished 20th and jumped up to third in points. Kyle jumped over William Byron, who ripped up the undercarriage of his Chevrolet on the turn 6 curb, sparking the big wreck. He finished 33rd and dropped to fourth.
Chase Elliott is up one place to fifth after finishing fourth. Joey Logano is down to sixth after pounding the tire barrier and finishing 34th. Martin Truex Jr. finished 15th after getting involved in multiple incidents. That performance keeps him in
seventh. Ryan Blaney is still eighth after finishing second.
Kevin Harvick was also caught up in the big wreck. He was able to recover to finish 14th, which keeps him in ninth. Brad Keselowski had another miserable day with multiple incidents. His 24th-place finish keeps him in 10th, but he lost a bunch of ground. Tyler
Reddick is up one place to 11th despite crashing and finishing 21st. Since he won the first two stages, he ended up with 36 points on the day. Despite this, he is still the last man in on points. Alex Bowman is down one place to 12th after finishing 17th.
Austin Dillon is still 13th in points despite running 98% as good as Reddick all day. However, he was eliminated in a lap 89 crash and finished 31st. He is now 28 points behind Dillon. Kurt Busch is 14th after finishing sixth. Christopher Bell was eliminated in the
big crash and lost a bunch of points. He is still 15th, though. Matt DiBenedetto's fifth-place finish moved him up to 16th, but he cannot make the playoffs without winning.
Chris Buescher dropped one position to 17th despite finishing 12th. Ross Chastain remains in 18th, but was in position for a top 10 finish before NASCAR black-flagged him prior to the last restart due to smoke. Michael McDowell ran very well Sunday, but triggered the second big
crash on lap 89 after launching off a curb. He ended up 30th. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. remains in 20th.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) Kyle Larson 953, 2) Denny Hamlin
-22, 3) Kyle Busch -157, 4) William Byron -163, 5) Chase Elliott -179, 6) Joey Logano -190, 7) Martin Truex Jr. -191, 8) Ryan Blaney -206, 9) Kevin Harvick
-220, 10) Brad Keselowski -257, 11) Tyler Reddick -287, 12) Alex Bowman -300, 13) Austin Dillon -315, 14) Kurt Busch -346, 15) Christopher Bell -391, 16) Matt DiBenedetto
-432.
Outside the Top 16, but still in the Playoffs: 19) Michael McDowell
-473, 23) Aric Almriola -537.
Playoff
Points: 1) Kyle Larson 37, 2) Martin Truex Jr. -17, 3) Alex Bowman -22, 4) Kyle Busch -24, 5) Chase Elliott -26, t-6) Ryan Blaney -28, t-6) Joey Logano -28, t-8) William Byron -29, t-8) Kurt Busch -29, 10) Brad Keselowski -30, t-11) Christopher Bell -32, t-11) Denny Hamlin -32, t-11) Michael McDowell -32, t-11) Aric Almirola -32, 15) Tyler Reddick -34, t-16) Chris Buescher -36, t-16) Matt DiBenedetto
-36, t-16) Bubba Wallace -36, .
Stage
Points: 1) Kyle Larson 2671, 2) Denny Hamlin -10, 3) William Byron -72, 4) Chase Elliott -92, 5) Kyle Busch -100, 6) Joey Logano -109, 7) Martin Truex Jr.
-111, 8) Ryan Blaney -113, 9) Brad Keselowski -131, 10) Tyler Reddick -151, 11) Kevin Harvick -158, 12) Alex Bowman -163, 13) Kurt Busch -171, 14) Austin Dillon -181, 15) Christopher Bell
-195, 16) Bubba Wallace -221.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the playoffs: 19) Michael McDowell -231, 22) Aric Almirola -237.
Note: Stage Points include the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Kyle Larson 791, 2) Denny Hamlin -1, 3) Kyle Busch
-60, 4) Chase Elliott -68, 5) Kevin Harvick -71, 6) Martin Truex Jr. -81, 7) Joey Logano -83, 8) William Byron -92, 9) Ryan Blaney -101, 10) Brad Keselowski
-127, 11) Alex Bowman -135, 12) Austin Dillon -143, 13) Tyler Reddick -148, t-14) Kurt Busch -195, t-14) Christopher Bell -195, 16) Matt DiBenedetto -211.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the playoffs:
19) Michael McDowell -250, 24) Aric Almirola -313.
Note: The Old Point Standings have Chase Elliott and Christopher Bell's
L1-penalties from Watkins Glen already added in.
Race Winners: Michael McDowell (Daytona-1), Christopher Bell (Daytona-2), William Byron (Homestead), Kyle Larson (Las Vegas, Charlotte, Sonoma, All-Star Race, Nashville, Watkins Glen), 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), Aric Almirola (Loudon), AJ Allmendinger (Indianapolis)
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.
|
|
|
Seeking the Xfinity Series Playoffs: Austin Cindric Claims 5th Win Of 2021, Barely Moves In Points
by Phil Allaway
Austin Cindric claimed his fifth win of the season Saturday in Indianapolis. However, it didn't make much of a difference in the standings. Cindric's win resulted in a two-point gain on AJ Allmendinger, who finished
second. Daniel Hemric is still in third, but he dropped some points after finishing 12th. Justin Allgaier is fourth after an 11th-place finish.
Harrison Burton remains in fifth after a ninth-place finish. Justin Haley is up one place to sixth after winning stage one, earning a race-high 19 stage points and finishing third. Haley jumped over Jeb Burton, who
pitted on the final lap and finished 23rd. Noah Gragson is still in eighth after finishing fifth.
Brandon Jones fell victim to the orange curb on the first lap and was forced to retire. He's still in ninth, but he's now more than 100 points behind Gragson. Jeremy Clmeents finished 14th, but is now only five behind Jones. Riley
Herbst finished eighth and is now the last driver in the playoffs in 11th. He has a 10-point advantage over Michael Annett, who tried to race this weekend, but the pain was just too great for him. The No. 1 team is still 10th in owners points thanks to Chase Elliott's fourth-place finish, but Annett will have an uphill battle to get back into the
playoffs.
Myatt Snider remains in 13th after finishing seventh Saturday. Brandon Brown is still 14th after getting eliminated on the first lap. Ty Gibbs is up two places to 15th after finishing 19th,
while Ryan Sieg is 16th.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) Austin Cindric 896, 2) AJ Allmendinger -82, 3) Daniel Hemric -159, 4) Justin Allgaier
-177, 5) Harrison Burton -214, 6) Justin Haley -233, 7) Jeb Burton -245, 8) Noah Gragson -267, 9) Brandon Jones -372, 10) Jeremy Clements -377, 11) Riley Herbst -407, 12) Michael Annett -417, 13) Myatt Snider
-418, 14) Brandon Brown -459, 15) Ty Gibbs -491, 16) Ryan Sieg -497.
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 33, 2) AJ Allmendinger -16, 3) Ty Gibbs -17, 4) Justin Allgaier
-22, 5) Josh Berry -27, t-6) Jeb Burton -28, t-6) Myatt Snider -28, t-6) Daniel Hemric -28, 9) Justin Haley -29, t-10) Noah Gragson -31, t-10) Harrison Burton -31, t-11) Brandon Jones
-32.
Note: If they were eligible for points, Kyle Busch would be second in playoff points, while Christopher Bell would be in sixth. Martin Truex Jr. would be tied for 12th. If he had run the full season for Xfinity points, Brett Moffitt would be tied for
15th.
Stage Points: 1) Austin Cindric 247, 2) AJ Allmendinger -35, 3) Daniel Hemric -48, 4) Justin Allgaier
-66, 5) Noah Gragson -74, 6) Harrison Burton -77, 7) Justin Haley -87, 8) Brandon Jones -127, 9) Jeb Burton -140, 10) Ty Gibbs -172, t-11) Riley Herbst -175, t-11) Michael Annett -175, 13) Josh Berry
-191, 14) Myatt Snider -193, 15) Jeremy Clements -194, t-16) Brandon Brown -220, t-16) Ty Dillon -220.
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 754, 2) AJ Allmendinger -56, 3) Daniel Hemric -116, t-4) Justin Allgaier
-123, t-4) Jeb Burton -123, 6) Harrison Burton -154, 7) Justin Haley -170, 8) Jeremy Clements -202, 9) Noah Gragson -210, 10) Myatt Snider -243, 11) Brandon Brown -254, 12) Riley Herbst -255, 13) Brandon Jones -265, 14) Michael Annett -275, 15) Ryan Sieg -287, 16) Tommy Joe Martins -343.
Note: If he were eligible for Xfinity points for the whole season, Brett Moffitt would be 11th in old
points.
Race Winners: Austin Cindric (Daytona-1, Phoenix, Dover, Pocono, Indianapolis), Ty Gibbs (Daytona-2, Charlotte, Watkins Glen), 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), Christopher Bell (Loudon)
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.
|
|
|
Seeking the Camping World Truck Series Playoffs: Off-Week Update No. 11
by Phil Allaway
The Camping World Truck Series was off last weekend. They will be back in action at World Wide Technology Raceway for the Toyota 200, the first race of the playoffs.
When the playoffs start, John Hunter Nemechek will have a 28-point lead over Austin Hill. Ben Rhodes is third, then Todd Gilliland and Sheldon
Creed.
Regular Season Point Standings (1-16): 1) John Hunter Nemechek 649, 2) Austin Hill -89, 3) Ben Rhodes -103, 4) Todd Gilliland -145, 5) Zane Smith
-160, 6) Sheldon Creed -187, 7) Matt Crafton -205, 8) Grant Enfinger -235, 9) Carson Hocevar -246, 10) Stewart Friesen -266, 11) Chandler Smith -279, 12) Tyler Ankrum
-307, 13) Derek Kraus -315, 14) Johnny Sauter -336, 15) Austin Wayne Self -342, 16) Ryan Truex -376.
Note: If he were eligible for points, Kyle Busch would be 16th in
points.
Round of 10 Point Standings: 1) John Hunter Nemechek 2049, 2) Austin Hill -28, 3) Ben Rhodes
-30, 4) Todd Gilliland -34, 5) Sheldon Creed -38, 6) Zane Smith -40, 7) Matt Crafton -45, 8) Carson Hocevar -47, t-9) Stewart Friesen -48, t-9) Chandler Smith -48.
Best of the Rest: 11) Grant Enfinger 414, 12) Tyler Ankrum -72, 13) Derek Kraus
-80, 14) Johnny Sauter -101, 15) Austin Wayne Self -107, 16) Ryan Truex -141, 17) Hailie Deegan -162, 18) Tanner Gray -186, 19) Chase Purdy -237, 20) Christian Eckes -240.
Playoff Points: 1) John Hunter Nemechek 49, 2) Austin Hill -28, 3) Ben Rhodes -30, 4) Todd Gilliland -34, 5) Sheldon Creed
-38, 6) Zane Smith -40, 7) Matt Crafton -45, 8) Carson Hocevar -47, t-9) Chandler Smith -33, t-9) Stewart Friesen -48,
Stage Points: 1) John Hunter Nemechek 176, 2) Austin Hill
-46, 3) Sheldon Creed -52, 4) Ben Rhodes -59, 5) Zane Smith -78, 6) Matt Crafton -80, 7) Derek Kraus -84, 8) Stewart Friesen -86, 9) Matt Crafton -87, 10) Chandler Smith
-108, 11) Grant Enfinger -116, 12) Raphael Lessard -136, 13) Carson Hocevar -139, 14) Tyler Ankrum -142, 15) Johnny Sauter -151, 16) Austin Wayne
Self -157.
Note: If they were eligible for stage points,
Kyle Busch would be 10th and Josh Berry 16th.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) John Hunter Nemechek 428, 2) Todd Gilliland -49, 3) Ben Rhodes -52, 4) Austin Hill
-53, 5) Zane Smith -89, t-6) Grant Enfinger -118, t-6) Carson Hocevar -118, 8) Matt Crafton -128, 9) Sheldon Creed -131, 10) Tyler Ankrum -171, 11) Stewart Friesen
-186, 12) Chandler Smith -187, 13) Johnny Sauter -198, 14) Austin Wayne Self -200, 15) Ryan Truex -218, 16) Derek Kraus -231.
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, Watkins Glen)
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.
|
|
|
Letter of the Race: Sunday's Verizon 200 at the Brickyard was brought to you by the Letter D for Destruction. Honestly, I've never seen anything quite like Sunday's race. The situation wasn't really the fault of anyone. The chicane is
where the older part of the infield road course rejoins the newer part. That older part of the circuit is still used by MotoAmerica.
What we saw Sunday was not the fault of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It was the result of substantial wear and tear, along with the current lack of ride height rules in the NASCAR Cup Series and aggressive driving. Even before the curb broke, there were already multiple times in
which parts were being thrown about, including an entire splitter getting wedged underneath the curb that caused a debris caution. - Phil Allaway
|
Quotes to Remember: Verizon 200 at the Brickyard
compiled by Phil Allaway
"That was fun. Yeah, I mean, it was — that was chaotic. Honestly we didn’t really have a race-winning car on outright speed, probably about seventh to tenth. I sped on pit road, so I just kind of carried on for how I felt yesterday, so put us in the back there, and we were just fighting
hard.
"I thought we probably maybe would get in the edge of the top 10 and have a solid day. For a makeshift really pit crew — I shouldn’t say makeshift, but a crew that we don’t work with all the time, they did a fantastic job, great pit
stops.
"But yeah, once that chaos started happening and we started getting close to the front, I had a really good restart on the front. I think we were restarting 17th with eight to go and was able to get to seventh through all that mess and thought, all right, now we’re at least in shouting distance of
it.
"Knew a couple of the cars had older tires, and that second restart, got to third, and it’s like, okay, now we’ve got a shot at this.
The best part is when you’ve got Matt Kaulig and Chris Rice on the radio just going, Hey, we’re not here for friends, we’re not here for points, we’re here to win this race, so win it or basically bring it back on the hook. That kind of frees up a race car driver to go after
it.
"I just can’t believe the way it played out. I had a great restart. I thought I might take the lead off turn 2, and Denny kind of leaned on me, which he should; I would have done the same thing.
I saw Chase [Elliott] come back on the racetrack. Well, at that point they were just telling me that he had a penalty, so I thought, all right, maybe I can kind of make a run for the last lap and a half here with Denny, and then had contact, and all of a sudden the seas parted and then from there it was just run like hell because I knew
Kyle [Larson] and [Elliott] and Ryan [Blaney] were back there and they were pretty good all day. I put in about as good of a lap and a half as I could." - AJ Allmendinger, race winner
"Our car looks better than most. That was a wild race, especially towards the end. I feel like we could have run 10th-12th all day and that is where we were. We just kind of got a couple good restarts and dodged some mess and we had a good shot to try to win the race. I just couldn’t put together a
good enough lap and a half to get to [AJ Allmendinger] to try to pass. We survived all day and did a good job. The whole team did a good job sticking in there. The race got pretty crazy at the end. We almost made it a perfect weekend for Penske Racing, just missed it by one spot." - Ryan Blaney, finished second
"It was wild there at the end. My car was extremely good. Really proud of everybody on our Hendrickcars.com team. We had the best car for sure throughout the second and third stage, and then just we had the caution there with like 10 to go or something and then we had to come down, put tires on, and
some guys gambled and stayed out, and that kind of just got us in the mess a little bit. Was able to find my way to the front row and then just got shoved around and put in the grass. Kind of ended my shot to win there.
"But [we were] able to salvage a third, so happy about that, and a good points day." - Kyle Larson, finished third
"There is nothing left of the car, I tell you that. We have no rad pan, no fenders, pretty much nothing left on the car. The toe was knocked out a mile and we finished fifth. All this credit goes to crew chief Jonathan Hassler for
knowing the strategy and the spot we were in and throwing a hail mary and running all the way until we were about out of fuel and knowing that if any caution came out we could stay out and get all the track position. This is all him. All I had to do was kind of hang on until the end, hang onto the position. Obviously, our car was missing some pieces on it so I just had to hang on for whatever we could get." - Matt DiBenedetto, finished
fifth
"I swear I saw a hole on the outside down the front straightaway to go to the outside of [Kyle] Larson, who blocked us a little bit. We rubbed the fence and got a little hole here but had a shot on the front row with
old tires. We did all we could to battle. I put us in a hole by flat-spotting a right front early in the race with the Monster Energy Chevy. But the track has so many slow areas, there’s so much time for trouble. But all in all, we’ll take this. It’s a 6th place finish. We had a couple shots at winning but we were really just trying to navigate the day after we were one set of tires less after I made a mistake early on. But, thanks to my guys, we’ll keep digging and learn from this and find what
we need to do better on some of these right-handers." - Kurt Busch, finished sixth
"It was a major day of attrition for us in the Petty’s Garage Chevy. We didn’t really have the car we needed but kind of stuck with it all day and things played out for us, and guys were getting into wrecks and into trouble and making a lot of crazy moves. We just
stuck through it and stayed on the straight and narrow and kept our car fairly clean and came home with a 7th. We’ll take a Top 10 any day and hopefully it’ll be a good stretch for us coming up with some good tracks for me and some good tracks for Richard Petty Motorsports and keep this string of good runs going." - Erik Jones, finished seventh
"We had a fast No. 8 BetMGM Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE this weekend, just ended up needing a little more luck. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course is a lot of fun, really flat and tricky at first. I really started to get the hang of it during the race and was
able to attack more and more during the turns as the race went on. It’s great that we were able to capture two Stage wins during today’s race. That will help with our Playoff situation and hopefully gained us some points to close the gap on the No. 4 car. I’m disappointed we got that damage in the closing laps of the race, since killed the momentum we had after a great pit stop and cost us a shot at a top 10 finish. The positive is that we were one of the teams able to continue on to the end.
Every single point matters, and I know this team will continue to fight as the Playoffs approach." - Tyler Reddick, finished 21st
"I agree [that the crash was not] on purpose, but my team told me that he had a penalty right away and to me, it’s obvious. If you cut the racetrack and end up in the lead, you’re going to have a penalty. Lack of awareness. Race me for a lap. He went right in the back
of me. We can’t race that way. I don’t think he did it malicious. I’ve raced with him for a year now. He’s not that kind of person, just bad judgement." - Denny Hamlin, finished 23rd
"There at the restart, everybody is trying to out-brake each other getting into one and we all kind of missed it to a certain extent. I was getting ran wide and had nowhere else to go. I knew I was going to go through the grass. It was just a matter of do you go through it slow or gas it wide-open and hope
you get through it. I don’t know if there would have been a penalty if I had gone through it slow but that was my only chance to win the race at that point. I went for that and stayed on him tight and knew [AJ Allmendinger] was right behind me. He was on newer tires. A lot of guys were getting lazy through that turn and would just swing it out wide and leave the bottom wide open. So I was kind of all over [Denny Hamlin] in the esses and when I went to go underneath him I just clipped him in the
right rear. He was already trying to get back to the left so it just turned him right around. It is unfortunate for them. They were probably going to win the race if [Allmendinger] didn’t get to him. For us we got a penalty and I don’t even know where we finished. It is frustrating to be that close. You can taste it and imagine what it would be like and then it gets taken away. I have a lot to be proud of. I feel like I showed that I belong here and I will get another chance next year."
- Chase Briscoe, finished 26th (Parked by NASCAR)
"It was so weird. I’ve never had that experience. Like, I come through that corner the same every single lap. We were running fourth there behind [Kyle] Larson, and he gets over the curb in the same spot and something, like after he hit with his right rear, it like
peeled up. And as soon as I got there I hit something and it just threw me completely off line. It tore the front end right off of it. Yeah, I wasn’t offline at all. I was actually safe because I saw what happened to him and it looked like he jumped in the air with his right rear. And so I was like, man, let me try to get a little bit further left and I obviously nailed something that came up off the track. Just a bummer. This Axalta Chevrolet was really fast. We weren’t as fast as [Larson], but
we were a second-place car and made a couple of mistakes early that cost me some track position that we got back. I think we were poised to finish in the top five there. It’s definitely a bummer." - William Byron, finished 33rd (Crashed out)
"Yeah, I am okay. Thank God those tire packs were there. The hit wasn’t that hard at all. The tires absorbed a lot of it. I don't believe in luck but that time I feel like it was just bad luck. Wrong place at the wrong time and
unfortunately it ended our day. We had a decent run coming to us and maybe a top-five finish for our Shell Pennzoil Mustang and the next thing I knew I was airborne and headed to the wall. I had a lot of time to think about it. I was just along for the ride as a passenger knowing what the end result was going to be. All the fans were cheering right there. They were happy to see me get out which was good do see. It will be an exciting finish to watch on TV I guess." - Joey Logano, finished
34th (Crashed out)
"Somebody wrecked the lap before. I didn’t know who it was. But the lap before, I went through fine. I was on my line. I was making sure I was on the right line because I wanted to keep that car on the right side. I was on the regular race track and I hit something
almost like the curb was on the race track. I have no idea. I haven’t seen the replay really, I just know that the curb came apart." - Daniel Suarez, finished 37th (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.
|
|
|
|
