Frontstretch Newsletter: Aug. 30, 2021
Volume: XV, Edition CLIV
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- Cup teams are back at their shops after Saturday night's action in Daytona. Preparations are underway for this weekend's racing in Darlington. Entry lists should be out today. We'll have the entry lists
and/or anything else that breaks for you at Frontstretch.
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Around the World in Motorsports: Aug. 27-29
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- In FIA Formula 3 competition, Lorenzo Colombo won Race No. 1 Saturday morning to claim his first F3 victory. He ended up 13.4 seconds ahead of Jak Crawford. Roman Stanek was third, followed by Frederik Vesti and Victor Martins.
Race No. 2 Saturday afternoon saw Jack Doohan claim his second win of the year in another wet affair. David Schumacher was second, then Logan Sargeant, Caio Collet and Clement Novalak. Sunday's Race No. 3 saw Doohan successfully defend against Martins and Alexandr Smoylar to take his second win of the weekend. Collet was fourth, then
Novalak.
Through 15 of 21 races, Dennis Hauger has a 25-point lead over Doohan despite only scoring six points all weekend to Doohan's 44. Vesti is third, then Martins and Smolyar.
- In Pirelli GT4 America SprintX competition, BimmerWorld Racing's Bill Auberlen and James Walker Jr. claimed victory Saturday in Race No. 1. Auberlen passed Classic BMW's Toby Grahovec with 14 minutes to go and held on to win. Auberlen and Walker were 13.888 seconds ahead of AutoTechnic Racing's Tom Capizzi and John Capestro-Dubets. James Clay
and Nick Galante completed a BMW 1-2-3. TRG's Spencer Pumpelly and Derek DeBoer were fourth, while NOLAsport's Matt Travis and Jason Hart were fifth.
Murillo Racing's Kenny Murillo and Christian Szymczak finished fifth overall to win the Silver class. They ended up 0.955 seconds ahead of CCR Racing/Team TFB's Tim Barber and Cole Ciraulo. PF Racing's Chad McCumbee and James Pesek were third, then Conquest Racing West's Colin Mullan and Michai Stephens. BimmerWorld Racing's Jon Miller and
Chandler Hull were fifth. Smooge Racing's Mike Conway and John Geesbreght won the Am class in their Toyota GR Supra GT4 in 15th.
- Race No. 2 on Sunday saw a rather bizarre instance in which Motorsports USA's McLaren got a lap ahead of the field due to strange timing on a caution. Stephen Cameron Racing's Sean Quinlan passed Todd Clarke with a few minutes remaining and held on for the win by eight-tenths of a second over Capizzi and Capestro-Dubets. BSport Racing's Kenton Koch
and Bryan Puttt was third, then Auberlen and Walker. Black Swan Racing's Jeroen Bleekemolen and Tim Pappas were fifth.
Todd and Ty Clarke held on to finish sixth overall, good enough to win the Am class. The Clarkes were 3.894 seconds ahead of Geesbreght and Conway. Stephen Cameron Racing's Alain Stad and Thomas Merrill were third, then Capstone Motorsports' Kris Wilson and John Allen. Motorsports USA's Michael McAleenan and Dan Rogers was
fifth.
ST Racing's Tyler Maxson and Harry Gottsacker, driving in place of regular drivers Ryan Eversley and Joe Rubbo, won the Silver class in seventh overall. Murillo and Szymczak were second, 1.405 seconds back. Stephens and Mullan were third, then McCumbee and Pesek. Bryson Lew and Tomas Meija were fifth in the second ST Racing
BMW.
- GT America competition saw James Sofronas win Race No. 1 Saturday in his Audi R8 LMS Ultra from the pole. He was 3.672 seconds ahead of Memo Gidley in the TKO with Flying Lizard Motorsports Bentley. Wright Motorsports' Charlie Luck was third, then Andy Wilzoch and Jason Harward. Quinlan won the GT4 class in his BMW, followed by RENNTech
Motorsports' Chris Cagnazzi, then Jason Bell, Scott Noble and Robb Holland.
Race No. 2 on Sunday was a bizarre race in which less than one lap was run under green. Wilzoch earned the overall win in an event where seven different cars crashed on the final lap in two separate incidents. The rest of the race was under yellow.
Rearden Racing's Jeff Burton was second, then GMG Racing's Kyle Washington. Jason Daskalos was fourth, then John Megrue. Quinlan finished fifth overall and swept the weekend in GT4.
- Classic BMW's Jacob Ruud won the first TC America race of the weekend Saturday by 1.478 seconds over Steve Streimer. Stephen Cugliari was third, then John Hennessey and Roy Block. Austen Smith won the TC class over the Hyundai of Jeff Ricca, the Hondas of Eric Powell and Kevin Boehm. Finally, Carter Fartuch won in TCA over Caleb Bacon, Clayton
WIlliams, Luke Rumburg and Jose Blanco.
Race No. 2 saw Ruud and Cugliani duel late in the race. Cugliari got by Ruud in the closing laps and held on for his first win. Ruud was second, then Streimer, Olivia Askew and Hennessey. Powell won TC over Ricca, Smith, Hines and Capizzi. Fartuch swept the weekend in TCA, followed by Rumburg, Blanoc, Sally McNulty and Devon
Anderson.
- Emma Kimilainen drove up from fourth on the grid to take the lead Saturday and pulled away to win Round 5 of the W Series at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in the wet. Jamie Chadwick was second, then Marta Garcia, Alice Powell and reserve driver Caitlin Wood.
- Yamaha's Fabio Quartararo won Sunday's MotoGP Grand Prix of Great Britain at Silverstone Circuit. He was 2.663 seconds ahead of Alex Rins at the finish. Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro was third, then Jack Miller and Pol Espargaro.
Quartararo has a 65 point lead over Joan Mir in the points. Johann Zarco is third, then Francesco Bagnaia and Miller with a minimum of six races to go (Argentina is also on the calendar, but it was postponed with no replacement date announced).
- Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship teams were at Indiana's Ironman Raceway Saturda. Here, Dylan Ferrandis took the lead early in Moto No. 1 and held off Eli Tomac to take the victory. Ken Roczen was third, then Cooper Webb and Chase Sexton.
Moto No. 2 saw Tomac run down holeshot winner Webb and take the lead 10 minutes into the 39 minute race. From there, Tomac was able to hold on to win by 4.7 seconds over Ferrandis, Webb, Sexton and Roczen. By virtue of winning Moto No. 2, Tomac claimed the round victory in a tiebreaker over Ferrandis. Webb was third, then Roczen and
Sexton.
- In the 250cc class, Honda's Jett Lawrence swept both motos to win the round. Jo Shimoda was second overall with a second-place finish in Moto No. 1 and third in Moto No. 2. Justin Cooper finished fourth in both motos to take third for the day. Michael Mosiman finished third and sixth to take fourth with a total of nine, while Austin Forkner
finished fifth in both motos to take fifth for the day.
Points-wise, Ferrandis has a 50-point lead in the 450cc class over Roczen. Tomac is third, then Sexton and Webb. In the 250cc class, Jett Lawrence's sweep gives him an 11-point lead over Cooper. Hunter Lawrence is third, then Jeremy Martin and RJ Hampshire. Martin suffered an injury Saturday and may be done for the
year.
place finish in Moto No. 1 and third in Moto No. 2. Justin Cooper finished fourth in both motos to take third for the day. Michael Mosiman finished third and sixth to take fourth with a total of nine, while Austin Forkner finished fifth in both motos to take fifth for the day.
Points-wise, Ferrandis has a 50-point lead in the 450cc class over Roczen. Tomac is third, then Sexton and Webb. In the 250cc class, Jett Lawrence's sweep gives him an 11-point lead over Cooper. Hunter Lawrence is third, then Jeremy Martin and RJ Hampshire. Martin suffered an injury Saturday and may be done for the
year.
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| | Ryan Blaney Wins Daytona Thriller, Tyler Reddick Clinches Final Playoff Position
Ryan Blaney swept past Chris Buescher into the lead Saturday night and held on as the field crashed behind to win the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona. Buescher was second across the line, but got disqualified. Bubba
Wallace was credited with second, then Ryan Newman, Ryan Preece and Tyler Reddick.
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| | Kurt Busch to Join 23XI Racing in 2022, Drive the No. 45
23XI Racing announced Friday that Kurt Busch will drive a new second car for the team full-time in 2022. The team will use No. 45 and Monster Energy will follow Busch from Chip Ganassi Racing.
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| | NASCAR Confirms Number Placement Change for 2022
Shortly after 23XI Racing's announcement, NASCAR announced that door numbers in the NASCAR Cup Series will move forward in 2022.
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| | Tyler Reddick Ready to Raise NASCAR ‘Playoff Baby’
On lap 146, Tyler Reddick was involved in a crash on the backstretch that heavily damaged his Cheddar's Scratch Kitchens Chevrolet. He was just barely able to continue. Avoiding the final lap crash meant that he
finished fifth. Now in the playoffs, Reddick is hoping for a nice long run.
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| | Austin Dillon Falls Short of Playoffs After Late Crash at Daytona
Up until the very end Saturday night, Austin Dillon was in position to battle for the victory. However, he couldn't avoid the final big crash on the backstretch. He ended up high-centered in turn 3, unable to
finish the race and unable to advance.
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| | Justin Haley, Kaulig Win Daytona Xfinity Race in Thrilling Finish
Kaulig Racing set up a perfect three-wide duel Saturday at Daytona. Justin Haley was just able to poke his nose out front to win the rain-delayed Wawa 250. AJ Allmendinger was second, then Justin Allgaier, Jeb Burton
and Daniel Hemric.
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| | Dylan Lupton Driving Final 4 Truck Races for RBR & DCC
The opportunities continue to add up for Dylan Lupton. On Friday, he announced a deal where Reaume Brothers Racing and DCC Racing will team up to field the No. 34 Toyota for him in the final four Camping World Truck Series
races of the season.
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| | Max Verstappen Wins Rain-Shortened Belgian Grand Prix
Red Bull's Max Verstappen was dec;ared the winner of Sunday's Grand Prix of Belgium with only a few laps of 44 complete due to heavy rains. George Russell was second, Lewis Hamilton, Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian
Vettel.
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| | Ty Gibbs Dominates Milwaukee Mile, Earns 9th ARCA Win of Season
Joe Gibbs Racing's Ty Gibbs was dominant Sunday, leading flag-to-flag from pole to win the ARCA Menards Series/ARCA Menards Series East Sprecher 150 at The Milwaukee Mile. Sam Mayer was second, then Daniel Dye, Taylor
Gray and Sammy Smith.
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| | Sammy Smith Leaves Milwaukee Wanting More
Entering Sunday's Sprecher 150, Sammy Smith was in good position to win, having been fastest in practice. However, teammate Ty Gibbs had the field covered. He had to settle
for fifth.
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| | Tommy Joe Martins, Caesar Bacarella Pair for New Xfinity Team, Sign Rajah Caruth
Martins Motorsports announced Monday at the NASCAR Hall of Fame that the team is partnering with Caesar Bacarella to form Alpha Prime Racing. Martins and Bacarella will share the car, along with Rajah
Caruth.
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| | K-PAX Racing, Turner Motorsport Split Road America GT World Challenge America Victories
K-PAX Racing's Andrea Caldarelli and Jordan Pepper won Race No. 1 for Fanatec GT World Challenge America Powered by AWS at Road America Saturday. Turner Motorsport's Michael Dinan and Robby Foley won Race No. 2 Sunday
after HTP Winward Motorsport's Russell Ward ran out of fuel late.
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Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, NASCAR Media via Getty Images, K-PAX Racing, Dan Mullen of Getty Images and our own Mark Kristl.
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Seeking the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs: Kyle Larson Wins Regular Season Championship
by Phil Allaway
Kyle Larson ran decently Saturday night, but got caught up in the crash on the final lap. He finished 20th, but that was enough to give Larson the regular season championship and the 15 playoff points that come with it. He ended up 18 points ahead of Denny Hamlin, who finished 13th after getting caught up in the lap 157
crash. Chase Elliott led 36 laps and finished eighth. That allowed him to move up two places to third. Kyle Busch got involved in the lap 157 wreck, but might have been fine had he not been hit by Kaz Grala. That hit knocked him out for the night. The 34th-place finish dropped him to fourth.
William Byron crashed out in the lap 146 crash on the backstretch and was credited with a 37th-place finish. That dropped him to fifth in points. Ryan Blaney's second straight victory moved him up to sixth. Martin Truex Jr. finished 29th after getting caught up in the lap 146 crash and dropped to seventh as a result. Joey
Logano remains in eighth after leading the most laps and finishing 23rd.
Kevin Harvick got spun out on the final lap and ended up 15th. That performance keeps him in ninth. Brad Keselowski ended the regular season in 10th after crashing out in the lap 157 crash. Tyler Reddick nearly got eliminated in the lap 146 crash, but recovered to finish fifth. That got him the final spot in the playoffs on points.
Alex Bowman finished seventh and ended up 12th.
Austin Dillon was eliminated in the final lap crash Saturday night. His 17th-place finish meant that he ended up 30 points behind Reddick. Kurt Busch finished 12th and ended up 14th in the regular season points. Christopher Bell is 15th, while Matt DiBenedetto ended up 16th.
Michael McDowell blew his engine early and ended up 39th after Chris Buescher's disqualification. He ends the regular season in 21st. Aric Almirola finished 14th Saturday night and ended the regular season in 23rd.
With the point reset, Larson will start the playoffs with a 28-point lead over Blaney and Truex. Kyle Busch will be fourth, then Elliott. Hamlin and Bowman are tied for sixth, followed by Byron and Logano. Keselowski and Kurt Busch will be tied for 10th.
Bell, McDowell and Almirola will be tied on the bubble at the start of the Round of 16. Reddick will be two points behind them, while Harvick will be 16th, another point further back.
Outside of the playoffs, Dillon will have nearly a two-race lead over DiBenedetto. Chris Buescher will be 19th, then Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) Kyle Larson 1027, 2) Denny Hamlin
-18, 3) Chase Elliott -168, 4) Kyle Busch -175, 5) William Byron -185, 6) Ryan Blaney -195, 7) Martin Truex Jr. -224, 8) Joey Logano -228, 9) Kevin Harvick
-249, 10) Brad Keselowski -294, 11) Tyler Reddick -311, 12) Alex Bowman -323, 13) Austin Dillon -341, 14) Kurt Busch -359, 15) Christopher Bell -425, 16) Matt DiBenedetto
-458.
Outside the Top 16, but still in the Playoffs: 21) Michael McDowell
-529, 23) Aric Almriola -568.
Round of 16 Points: 1) Kyle Larson 2052, t-2) Ryan Blaney -28, t-2) Martin Truex Jr.
-28, 4) Kyle Busch -30, 5) Chase Elliott -31, t-6) Alex Bowman -37, t-6) Denny Hamlin -37, 8) William Byron -38, 9) Joey Logano -39, t-10) Brad Keselowski -44, t-10) Kurt Busch -44, t-12) Christopher Bell -47, t-12) Michael McDowell -47, t-12) Aric Almirola -47, 15) Tyler Reddick -49, 16) Kevin
Harvick -50.
Best of the Rest: 17) Austin Dillon 686,
18) Matt DiBenedetto -117, 19) Chris Buescher -143, 20) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -163, 21) Bubba Wallace -167, 22) Ross Chastain -168, 23) Chase Briscoe -220, 24) Erik Jones -233, 25) Daniel Suarez -245, 26) Ryan Newman -246.
Playoff Points: 1) Kyle Larson 52, t-2) Ryan Blaney -28, t-2) Martin Truex Jr. -28, 4) Kyle Busch -30, 5) Chase Elliott -31, t-6) Alex Bowman -37, t-6) Denny Hamlin -37, 8) William Byron -38, 9) Joey Logano -39, t-10) Brad Keselowski -44, t-10) Kurt Busch -44, t-12) Christopher Bell -47, t-12) Michael McDowell -47, t-12) Aric Almirola -47, 15) Tyler Reddick -49, 16) Kevin Harvick -50.
Stage Points: 1) Kyle Larson 294, 2) Denny Hamlin -11, 3) William Byron -79, 4) Chase Elliott -88, 5) Kyle Busch -100, 6) Joey Logano -114, 7) Martin Truex Jr.
-128, 8) Ryan Blaney -131, 9) Brad Keselowski -149, 10) Tyler Reddick -164, 11) Austin Dillon -177, 12) Kevin Harvick -181, 13) Alex Bowman -186, 14) Kurt Busch
-191, 15) Christopher Bell -207, 16) Bubba Wallace -242.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the playoffs: 20) Michael McDowell -254, 22) Aric Almirola -260.
Note: Stage Points include the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Denny Hamlin 856, 2) Kyle Larson -4, 3) Chase Elliott
-65, 4) Ryan Blaney -78, t-5) Kyle Busch -82, t-5) Kevin Harvick -82, 7) Martin Truex Jr. -102, 8) William Byron -112, 9) Joey Logano -120, 10) Alex Bowman
-141, 11) Brad Keselowski -151, 12) Tyler Reddick -165, 13) Austin Dillon -177, 14) Kurt Busch -193, 15) Christopher Bell -221, 16) Matt DiBenedetto -224.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the playoffs:
21) Michael McDowell -292, 24) Aric Almirola -327.
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, Michigan, Daytona-3), 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.
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Seeking the Xfinity Series Playoffs: AJ Allmendinger Claims Points Lead After Austin Cindric Crashes
by Phil Allaway
Austin Cindric was running well early Saturday afternoon until he was turned into the wall exiting the tri-oval. This crash ended his day early, forcing him to accept a 39th-place finish. AJ Allmendinger led the most laps and finished second. That performance was enough to give him the points lead. The advantage is 17 points with three races left in
the regular season. Justin Allgaier split the Kaulig Racing stranglehold to finish third and hold onto third in points. Daniel Hemric is still in fourth after finishing fifth.
Harrison Burton is still in fifth after finishing ninth. Justin Haley's first victory of the year keeps him in sixth, but he gained 40 points on the lead. Jeb Burton is up one place to seventh after finishing fourth. Noah Gragson is down to eighth despite finishing seventh.
Brandon Jones got debris on his grille during the opening laps Friday night and was forced to pit under green. Unfortunately, he waited too long to do it and overheated the engine. He was forced to drop out before the rain delay. The 40th-place finish didn't cost him a spot, but he lost a bunch of ground. He is now the better part of three races behind
Gragson.
Jeremy Clements finished 24th Saturday and holds onto 10th. He's only nine points behind Jones. Riley Herbst finished 10th and keeps the 11th spot, the final position in the playoffs. Myatt Snider is still in 12th after finishing eighth.
Michael Annett returned to the car last weekend, but things didn't go well. Annett crashed early, then blew a tire later on. He finished 30th and lost significant ground. He's now 68 points, more than a full race, behind Herbst for the final spot in the playoffs and will likely need to win. Ty Gibbs is still in 14th after sitting out Daytona.
Ryan Sieg is up two places to 15th after finishing 16th, while Brandon Brown ran out of gas early on and lost three laps. He ended up 34th and dropped back to 16th in points.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) AJ Allmendinger 925, 2) Austin Cindric -17, 3) Justin Allgaier -125, 4) Daniel Hemric -146, 5) Harrison Burton -170, 6) Justin Haley
-183, 7) Jeb Burton -209, 8) Noah Gragson -212, 9) Brandon Jones -358, 10) Jeremy Clements -367, 11) Riley Herbst -371, 12) Myatt Snider -410, 13) Michael Annett -439, 14) Ty Gibbs
-478, 15) Ryan Sieg -480, 16) Brandon Brown -482.
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 34, 2) AJ Allmendinger -11, 3) Ty Gibbs -18, 4) Justin Allgaier -23, 5) Justin Haley -24, t-6) Jeb Burton -28, t-7) Josh Berry -28, t-7) Myatt Snider -29, t-7) Daniel Hemric -29, t-10) Noah Gragson -32, t-10) Harrison Burton -32, t-12) Brandon Jones -33.
Note: If they were eligible for points, Kyle Busch would be second in playoff points, while Christopher Bell would be in seventh. 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 257, 2) AJ Allmendinger -9, 3) Daniel Hemric -49, 4) Justin Allgaier -60, 5) Noah Gragson -64, 6) Harrison Burton -74, 7) Justin Haley
-78, 8) Jeb Burton -126, 9) Brandon Jones -130, 10) Ty Gibbs -164, 11) Riley Herbst -177, 12) Michael Annett -185, t-13) Myatt Snider -196, t-13) Josh Berry -196, 15) Jeremy Clements
-204, t-16) Brandon Brown -228.
Note: If he were eligible for points, Kyle Busch would be tied for 10th in stage points.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) AJ Allmendinger 784, 2) Austin Cindric -23, 3) Justin Allgaier -79, 4) Jeb Burton -102, 5) Daniel Hemric -108, 6) Harrison Burton -116, 7) Justin Haley -132, 8) Noah Gragson -169, 9) Jeremy Clements -185, 10) Riley Herbst -221, 11) Myatt Snider -237, 12) Brandon Jones -257, 13) Ryan Sieg -265, 14) Brandon Brown -277, 15) Michael Annett -296, 16) Tommy Joe Martins -328.
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, Michigan), 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), Justin Haley (Daytona-3)
Note: Wins that are ineligible for playoff ineligibility are in italics.
Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.
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Seeking the Camping World Truck Series Playoffs: Off-Week No. 12 Update
by Phil Allaway
The Camping World Truck Series was off last weekend. They will return to action this upcoming weekend at Darlington Raceway.
When they get there, John Hunter Nemechek will have a two-point lead over Gateway winner Sheldon Creed. Ben Rhodes is third, then Matt Crafton and Stewart
Friesen.
Round of 10 Point Standings: 1) John Hunter Nemechek
2073, 2) Sheldon Creed -2, 3) Ben Rhodes -3, 4) Matt Crafton -22, 5) Stewart Friesen -24, 6) Austin Hill
-34, 7) Carson Hocevar -42, 8) Todd Gilliland -45, 9) Zane Smith -55, 10) Chandler Smith -63.
Full Season Point Standings (1-16): 1) John Hunter Nemechek 673, 2) Ben Rhodes -76, 3) Austin Hill -94, 4) Todd Gilliland -131, 5) Sheldon Creed -151, 6) Zane Smith
-171, 7) Matt Crafton -181, t-8) Carson Hocevar -241, t-8) Stewart Friesen -241, 10) Grant Enfinger -250, 11) Chandler Smith -312, 12) Derek Kraus -316, 13) Johnny Sauter
-327, 14) Tyler Ankrum -330, 15) Austin Wayne Self -338, 16) Ryan Truex -376.
Best of the Rest: 11) Grant Enfinger 426, 12) Derek Kraus -69, 13) Tyler Ankrum -76, 14) Johnny Sauter
-80, 15) Austin Wayne Self -91, 16) Ryan Truex -129, 17) Hailie Deegan -143, 18) Tanner Gray -180, 19) Chase Purdy -218, 20) Tate Fogelman -230.
Playoff Points: 1) John Hunter Nemechek 49, 2) Austin Hill -28, 3) Ben Rhodes -30, 4) Sheldon Creed -31, 5) Todd
Gilliland -35, 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 185, 2) Sheldon Creed
-41, t-3) Austin Hill -51, t-3) Ben Rhodes -51, t-5) Zane Smith -80, t-5) Stewart Friesen -80, t-7) Matt Crafton -84, t-7) Todd Gilliland -84, 9) Derek Kraus -88, 10) Chandler Smith -117, 11) Grant Enfinger
-125, 12) Raphael Lessard -145, t-13) Carson Hocevar -148, t-13) Tyler Ankrum -148, 15) Johnny Sauter -160, 16) Ty Majeski -162.
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 439, 2) Ben Rhodes -33, 3) Austin Hill -53, 4) Todd Gilliland -56, 5) Zane Smith -98, 6) Carson Hocevar
-104, 7) Sheldon Creed -105, 8) Matt Crafton -108, 9) Grant Enfinger -121, 10) Stewart Friesen -168, t-11) Tyler Ankrum -181, t-11) Johnny Sauter -181, 13) Austin Wayne Self -187, 14) Chandler Smith
-193, 15) Ryan Truex -209, 16) Hailie Deegan -226.
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, Gateway), 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.
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Letter of the Race: Saturday night's Coke Zero Sugar 400 was brought to you by the letter D for Desperation. The first half of the race was relatively calm, but as the race continued on,
drivers became more and more unhinged. The result was a series of wrecks in the last 20 laps of the race that turned the running order inside out.
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Quotes to Remember: Coke Zero Sugar 400
compiled by Phil Allaway
"It was wild. We missed that big one barely. I don’t know how we missed it and then we got a restart on the front row and it was kind of a drag race. I’m really thankful to LaJoie, who gave me a really good push and we were able to get clear on the restart, so I appreciate the push from him. I was having to hold off
[Kevin Harvick, Chris Buescher] and [Corey LaJoie] and I didn’t really know which lane to go with down the back, so I kind of picked the middle and I kind of committed to the bottom and I guess some people got turned, but what a couple of cool weeks that’s for sure. It was a very eventful race. It’s so cool to be here in victory lane in Daytona. Maybe we’re on a roll right now and we’ve got everything going our way. Hopefully, we keep it up." - Ryan Blaney, race
winner
"Stay in it, that’s all you can do. I needed to win. I was comfortable taking a hit if we were caught up in it. You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do and I came out third. I was happy with that, but we needed to win to get in. Up and down regular season for us. Thankful for opportunity. It’s a brand new team.
Everybody is still figuring each other out. I’ve always said our superspeedway stuff is good. It’s good to give us a finish we deserved. I don’t think we were a winning car, so I can’t hang my head too much, but knowing that we needed a win and we came up just short stings a little bit. Thanks to Columbia for coming aboard our Toyota Camry this weekend. It looked awesome. It looked great. It’s the cleanest I’ve ever kept a superspeedway car, so maybe I will get to take this one home. Long night
with a lot of perseverance." - Bubba Wallace, finished second
"There was definitely so much happening there during the race and I didn’t get nervous till Stage 3 there on a restart that I thought was coming, but he did a really good job of matching the move with Chase Elliott going three-wide on the bottom and we lost all the track position that we gained there in Stage 2. From
that point on we had the cycles and the cautions that came when we got collected in that accident with 15 to go. Yeah, that is when the nerves kind of shot up because the car is crashed, we were out of the draft, and not really sure what was going to happen. We caught a caution and fortunately got through that last crash. Even more fortunate than that was that Ryan Blaney was able to win and if you look at the guys from third to myself, if any of those guys win but Blaney, we are having a
different conversation." - Tyler Reddick, finished fifth
"We definitely struggled the three weeks after the two off weeks. But solid top-10 here today for the No. 48 Ally Camaro. Last year, we were miserable all summer and then showed up in the Playoffs and were really strong each and every week. I’m not worried about it. I know we’re going to be good every week. Our Ally Camaro is going to be fast. Greg (Ives, crew chief)
and the guys have been doing a really good job. Confident going into a lot of good racetracks for us and excited to get going." - Alex Bowman, finished seventh
"For us, we wanted to protect the car and get it to the end and have a shot to win. Five points in the Playoffs is what we were after. Secondary was to push the 42 of Chastain, but in the end, the lineup……they couldn’t seem to find out which lane all of us were supposed to restart in. Really doesn’t matter for the lineup if they just let us choose which lane. Some
weeks we get to choose, some weeks we don’t. There are too many different inconsistencies and then all hell breaks loose at the end of plate racing and everybody is ripping and gouging for themselves. The Monster Energy Chevrolet is all beat up, and I got it close, but I don’t even know if we got a top 10 out of it. We will see where things shake out. It’s what it is and now we are in Playoff mode. I can feel it and we have a good 10 weeks ahead of us." - Kurt Busch, finished
12th
"It was kind of a mix from the old package with tandem to kind of the package we’ve had over the last two years. It was big runs, but you could stay connected. The speeds being slower you could just hammer the person in front of you really, really hard and the tires did not lose grip because you were under the tire with the speeds we were running. Very intense as far
as I am concerned. Just kind of a log jam there at the end. We gave ourselves a chance. We were running third when the two leaders wrecked and got collected in it. Just some bad luck." - Denny Hamlin, finished 13th
"I didn’t see anything. I got hit in the left rear quarter panel and then we wrecked a lot, but everybody on our Unibet Ford Mustang did a good job. We had a shot there at the end and that’s all you can ask and just wound up in a wreck." - Kevin Harvick, finished 14th
"It was a little bit of a roller coaster ride. We fought our butts off in the stages. We made some good moves to get points and found ourselves in fourth-place for a green-white-checkered here at Daytona. That’s where we were when we won the Daytona 500, so I was feeling pretty good about it. I don’t know – looking back, I wish I would have been a little more patient
and probably stay in the top line. But I had a run and they all kind of boggled getting into ([urn] 3, so I went with [Chris Buescher] just to see if we could get all the way to the front. [Ross Chastain] kind of left us at the line and our night was over there. We were kind of in the middle, had a big run and then the crash happened.
"We fought hard. The Bass Pro Shop Chevy was very fast. Two weeks in a row we’ve had great cars out of the 3 Team. Just haven’t gotten the finishes we’d like to have, but very thankful that the good Lord took care of us tonight and we get to race at Darlington next week. Unfortunate that we’re not in the Playoffs, but we gave it all we could and fought until the very
end." - Austin Dillon, finished 17th
"Just got a run up the middle coming in through (turns) one and two. I got to the 18 (Kyle Busch) and was pushing him and it all checked up. Just an accordion. I got hit and spun. One of those superspeedway deals. You’re trying to push the guy in front of me and when they check up you’ve got to slow down a little bit and sometimes you get hit. In that case, I got
squeezed out of the middle and was sandwiched. It’s Daytona. We had a great Bass Pro Camry. It was good. We got shuffled a bunch of times, but we kept getting back to the front so I was happy and we were in good shape until the pit strategy kind of went south on us and we lost track position. The wreck was just an accordion deal and I got the bad end of it." - Martin Truex Jr., finished 29th
"Just a bunch of blocking going on and guys got crossed up. I don’t know if anybody even touched me. I just lost it. It’s a disappointing effort on my part I guess. I got a little help there from [Ricky Stenhouse Jr..] I thought I had it straight and then I didn’t. And I don’t know who came out of nowhere but they T-boned me so that was fun. Just frustrating to come
to these places and always wonder if you’re going to walk out of here. Thanks to Interstate Batteries, Toyota, M&M’s. We’ll see what we can do next week." - Kyle Busch, finished 34th (Crashed out)
"It looks like I was just one row short of getting through it. I was basically with [Chase Elliott] and [Martin Truex Jr.] came up the track all of a sudden…yeah, just got off-center and got loose; the No. 19 did. We were the meat in the sandwich there. That’s just how it goes sometimes.
"I thought we were having an OK night. We were third in Stage 2 and got some Stage points. And then, just trying to get back to the front and just nowhere to go. We’ll go onto Darlington and get ready for the Playoffs."- William Byron, finished 37th (Crashed out)
Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of Jared C. Tilton of Getty Images.
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