Frontstretch Newsletter: Sept. 6, 2021
Volume: XV, Edition CXLIX
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- The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series continues their Northwest swing with a trip to Grays Harbor Raceway tonight. Action will start at 8:45 p.m. ET on DirtVision (subscription
required).
- Despite the fact that today is Labor Day, it is a work day in the world of motorsports. Cup teams have a short week ahead of Richmond. Entry lists should be out later 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 Motorsport: Sept. 3-5
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- In Formula 3 action at Zandvoort, PREMA Racing's Arthur Leclerc claimed victory in Race No. 1 Saturday after facing pressure for the entire race from Logan Sargeant. Ayumu Iwasa was third, then Jak Crawford and Caio Collet.
Race No. 2 saw MP Motorsports' Victor Martins pass Clement Novalak in the final stages with DRS to claim his first career F3 victory. Novalak was second, then Frederik Vesti, Collet and David Schumacher. Points leader Dennis Hauger collided with two laps to go with Ido Cohen and failed to score points.
Sunday's Race No. 3 saw Hauger recover from his Saturday contact to dominate to claim his fourth victory of the year. Martins and Schumacher collided with three laps to go, causing a virtual safety car and eliminating themselves from contention.
Novalak was second, then Aleksandr Smolyar, Jack Doohan and Collet. With one round of three races remaining, Hauger has a 43-point lead over Doohan. Novalak is third, then Martins and Vesti.
The season is scheduled to start at Sonoma Raceway the weekend of April 15-17. That will be followed up by races at an unknown circuit the weekend of May 20-22. It will not be COTA, which has been dropped. That race weekend may be held at the new Ozarks International Raceway in Gravois Mills, Mo.
Watkins Glen has also been moved up to July from mid-September. Sebring, which was added for 2021 as a replacement weekend for Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, will remain on the schedule in late September. The season will continue to end at Indianapolis Motor Speedway as part of the Intercontinental GT Challenge Indianapolis 8 Hour weekend.
- The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series spent three nights at the three-tenths of a mile Skagit Speedway for the Sage Fruit Skagit Nationals. Friday night saw James McFadden recover from a big crash last weekend and an engine change after hot laps to lead flag-to-flag to earn his second win of the year. Sheldon Haudenschild was
second, then David Gravel, Donny Schatz and Brad Sweet.
Saturday night saw Sweet pass Gravel for the lead on lap 22 and hold on to take his series-leading 16th win of the year on the tight bullring. Schatz was second, then Gravel, McFadden and Haudenschild.
Sunday night saw Carson Macedo sweep the night. He was fastest in time trials, won his heat race from the pole, won the dash to earn the feature pole, then led 36 of 40 laps to win the A-Main and $25,000.
McFadden ended up second, followed by Logan Schuchart. Sweet was fourth, followed by Gravel.
Through 64 races, Sweet continues to lead the points by 124 over Gravel. Macedo is third, then Schatz and Haudenschild. The lead is less than one full race, so Sweet is only one bad night away from having Gravel breathing down his neck.
- The World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series raced at two different venue over the weekend. Friday night saw the late models racing at Lavonia Speedway. Here, Ben Watkins led flag-to-flag to win the Charlie Mize Memorial. Tyler Bruening was second, then Brandon Sheppard, Brandon Overton and Zach Mitchell.
- Saturday night saw the series move to Tennessee's Volunteer Speedway. Here, Brandon Sheppard started second and swept into the lead at the start. From there, he held on take the victory. Chris Madden was second, then Michael Chilton, Bruening and Dennis Erb Jr.
Through 45 races, Brandon Sheppard has a 180-point lead on Madden. Bruening is third, then Erb and Ricky Weiss.
- Lebanon Valley track champion Andy Bachetti passed Stewart Friesen on a restart with 10 laps to go Saturday and held on through a late Green-White-Checker to win the Super DIRTcar Series Mr. DIRT Track U.S.A. Saturday night for the fourth time, pocketing $25,500 in the process. Matt Sheppard was second, then Friesen, Billy Decker and Bobby Hackel,
IV.
Since the local Big Block modified seasons are now complete, bonus points have been given to track regulars. This really hurts Friesen, who entered Lebanon Valley with the points lead, but doesn't run full-time at any track due to his Camping World Truck Series schedule. Sheppard now leads by 89 over Peter Britten. Billy Decker and defending
champion Mat Williamson are tied for third, while Mike Mahaney is fifth
- Alice Powell passed pole sitter Emma Kimilainen seven minutes into Round 6 of the W Series Saturday at Circuit Zandvoort. From there, Powell was able to pull away from the pack to claim her third win of the season. Jamie Chadwick was second, then Kimilainen, Nerea Marti and Jessica Hawkins.
Powell's victory tied her with Chadwick for the points lead. She wins the tiebreaker due to her three wins over Chadwick's two. Kimilainen is third, then Marti and Fabienne Wohlwend.
- The Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship returned to Fox Raceway in Pala, Calif. for their second visit of the year. Here, Dylan Ferrandis officially wrapped up the 2021 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross 450cc Class Championship.
Moto No. 1 saw Ken Roczen win the holeshot and pull out to a three-second lead. Ferrandis was able to run Roczen down at the halfway point and take the lead away. From there, he pulled away to win Moto No. 1 by 3.9 seconds over Eli Tomac. Roczen ended up third, then Cooper Webb and Christian Craig.
Moto No. 2 saw Tomac dominate the show. He moved up from fifth at the start to take the lead 10 minutes in. From there, Tomac ran away and hid from the rest of the field, winning by a dominant 45.8 seconds over Ferrandis. Webb was a minute back in third, then Craig and Max Anstie on his Suzuki. Tomac claimed his second straight round
victory on a tiebreaker with Ferrandis since he won Moto No. 2. Webb was third, then Roczen and Craig.
Points-wise, Ferrandis enters Hangtown with an unassailable 62-point lead over Roczen. Tomac is third, within striking distance of Roczen. Chase Sexton is fourth, then Webb.
In the 250cc class, Max Vohland took the holeshot, but quickly lost his advantage to Michael Mosiman on his GASGAS. Mosiman tried to run away with the race, but Jett Lawrence slowly but surely was able to chip away. Unfortunately, there was no battle for the lead as Mosiman crashed, giving Lawrence the advantage. From there, Jett Lawrence pulled
away to win by 9.2 seconds over Mosiman. RJ Hampshire was third, then Jo Shimoda and Justin Cooper.
Moto No. 2 saw Jett Lawrence lead flag-to-flag to earn the weekend sweep with a perfect score. This time, he was even further ahead at the finish as he won by 14.2 seconds over Cooper. Shimoda was third, then Mosiman and Austin Forkner. For the day, Jett Lawrence won with a perfect score over Moisman and Cooper. Shimoda was fourth, while Hunter Lawrence was fifth with a
pair of sixth-place finishes.
In points, Jett Lawrence has a 23-point lead over Justin Cooper with one round remaining. Hunter Lawrence is third, then Hampshire and the injured Jeremy Martin. Jett can clinch the title by earning three more points than Cooper in Moto No. 1 Saturday at Hangtown. Everyone else has been eliminated.
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| | Denny Hamlin Emerges From Darlington Chaos to Score 1st Win of Season
Denny Hamlin won the race off of pit road during the final round of stops and held off Kyle Larson on a rough final lap to win Sunday night's Cook Out Southern 500 for his first victory of the year. Larson was second,
then Ross Chastain, Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick.
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| | Kyle Busch Crashes Out of NASCAR Playoff Opener at Darlington
Kyle Busch was not in a very good mood Sunday night, thinking that he didn't have a very good car. A crash just before halfway ended his night and resulted in an expletive-laden infield care center
interview.
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| | Darlington Crash Ends Michael McDowell’s 1st Playoff Race
Michael McDowell needed to have a good run Sunday night in Darlington. He had made his way forward thanks to an early alternate pit strategy, but things went awry early as he spun and hit the inside wall to end his
night.
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| | Noah Gragson Scores 1st Xfinity Win of 2021 at Darlington
JR Motorsports' Noah Gragson was the beneficiary Saturday after Denny Hamlin was sent to the rear late due to a pit violation. From there, Gragson held on to win the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 at
Darlington. Harrison Burton was second, then Austin Cindric, Justin Haley and Jeb Burton.
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| | Harrison Burton Boosts Hot Streak with Runner-Up Finish at Darlington
Joe Gibbs Racing's Harrison Burton scored his best finish of the entire season Saturday with a much-needed second-place finish at Darlington.
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| | Brett Moffitt Out for Darlington Xfinity Race, Ty Dillon Filling In
Barely an hour before Saturday's Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200, Brett Moffitt opted out of driving the No. 02 Chevrolet due to health reasons.
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| | Justin Allgaier Crew Chief Allen Burdett to Miss Darlington Due to COVID-19 Protocols
Justin Allgaier finished sixth Saturday at Darlington. He had to run the race without his regular crew chief Jason Burdett due to COVID-19 isolation protocols. Allen Hart was on top of the pit box in Burdett's
place.
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| | Sheldon Creed Dominates Darlington, Scores Second Straight Win
Sheldon Creed led 107 of 147 laps Saturday to win the In It To Win It 200 at Darlington for his second straight victory. John Hunter Nemechek was second, then Stewart Friesen, Todd Gilliland and Parker
Kligerman.
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| | Lawless Alan Frustrated With Derek Kraus After Darlington Crash
Lawless Alan made his debut with Niece Motorsports Sunday in Darlington. At first, it went well. Alan ran up into the top 15 before he crashed after getting hit by Derek Kraus. Needless to say, Alan wasn't
pleased afterwards.
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| | Max Verstappen Wins Dutch Grand Prix, Retakes Championship Points Lead
Red Bull's Max Verstappen dominated at Circuit Zandvoort Sunday to win the Dutch Grand Prix and retake the points lead from Lewis Hamilton, who finished second. Valtteri Bottas was third, then Pierre Gasly and Charles
Leclerc.
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| | Valtteri Bottas Joining Alfa Romeo in 2022
Alfa Romeo announced Monday morning that they have signed Valtteri Bottas to a multi-year deal that will see the Finnish racer leave Mercedes to join the team starting in 2022.
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| | Kimi Raikkonen Tests Positive for COVID-19, Out for Dutch GP
Alfa Romeo announced Saturday morning that Kimi Raikkonen had tested positive for COVID-19. As a result, he had to sit out the Dutch GP. Robert Kubica, who has primarily driven for Team WRT in sports cars this year,
was tapped to drive in his place.
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| | Landen Lewis Leads Every Lap, Wins ARCA Race at DuQuoin
Rev Racing's Landen Lewis led flag-to-flag Sunday night to win the ARCA Menards Series Southern Illinois 100 on a problematic track surface. Ty Gibbs was second, then Ken Schrader, Ryan Unzicker, Taylor Gray and Tim
Monroe. These six drivers were the only ones to finish the race.
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Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, ARCA Racing, Joao Filipe Alves Beato of DPPI, Bryn Lennon of Getty Images, NASCAR Media via Jeff Curry of Getty Images, FIA Media and our own Zach Sturniolo.
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Seeking the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs: Kyle Larson Expands Advantage While Denny Hamlin Locks Into The Round of 12
by Phil Allaway
Kyle Larson kept up his strong form Sunday night in Darlington. Larson led a race-high 156 laps, but ended up second to Denny Hamlin. That allowed him to increase his lead up to 34 points. That is now over Hamlin, whose victory moved him up four spots and locked him into the round of 12. Martin Truex Jr. remains in third after recovering from a loose
wheel to finish fourth. Kurt Busch is up six places to fourth after finishing sixth.
Ryan Blaney is down three places to fifth after brake fade resulted in the spin that brought out the final caution and likely swung the entire race. He would finish 22nd. Joey Logano is up three places to sixth after finishing eighth. Kevin Harvick is up nine places to seventh after finishing a strong
fifth. Brad Keselowski is up two positions to eighth after scrambling to a seventh-place finish.
Christopher Bell is up three places to ninth thanks to scoring nine stage points. An unscheduled stop dropped him to a 20th-place finish. Chase Elliott dropped five spots to 10th after crashing out late after contact with Bell. Aric Almirola is up one place to 11th after finishing 16th. Tyler
Reddick and Alex Bowman are tied for 12th. Reddick ran well early, but faded to 18th. He wins the tiebreaker over Bowman thanks to a better finish Sunday night. Bowman crashed early and continued, ultimately finishing four laps down in 26th.
Kyle Busch is down 10 places to 14th after crashing out on lap 126 and finishing 35th. William Byron crashed out on lap 200 and finished 34th, dropping him to 15th. Michael McDowell crashed out early and dropped back to 16th.
Outside of the playoffs, Austin Dillon finished 10th and maintains the 17th spot in points. He is 130 points ahead of Matt DiBenedetto, who finished 23rd. Chris Buescher is still in 19th after finishing ninth, while Ross Chastain gained two places to 20th after finishing third.
Round of 16 Points: 1) Kyle Larson
2106, 2) Denny Hamlin -34, 3) Martin Truex Jr. -44, 4) Kurt Busch -54, 5) Ryan Blaney -58, 6) Joey Logano -59, 7) Kevin Harvick -60, 8) Brad Keselowski -68, 9) Christopher Bell -75, 10) Chase Elliott -76, 11) Aric
Almirola -77, t-12) Tyler Reddick -80, t-12) Alex Bowman -80, 14) Kyle Busch -82, 15) William Byron -89, 16) Michael McDowell -100.
Note No. 1: Drivers in Bold have advanced to the
Round of 12.
Note No. 2: Drivers in Italics are currently at risk of
elimination, or already out of the playoffs.
Full Season Point Standings (1-16): 1) Kyle Larson 1027, 2) Denny Hamlin -15, 3) Chase Elliott -188, 4) Ryan Blaney -225, 5) Kyle Busch -227, 6) William Byron -236, 7) Martin Truex
Jr. -240, 8) Joey Logano -248, 9) Kevin Harvick -259, 10) Brad Keselowski -318, 11) Alex Bowman -341, 12) Tyler Reddick -342, 13) Austin Dillon -368, 14) Kurt Busch -369, 15) Christopher Bell -453, 16) Matt DiBenedetto
-498.
Outside the Top 16, but still in the Playoffs: 21) Michael McDowell -582, 23) Aric Almriola -598.
Best of the Rest: 17) Austin Dillon
713, 18) Matt DiBenedetto -130, 19) Chris Buescher -142, 20) Ross Chastain -151, 21) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -170, 22) Bubba Wallace -178, 23) Chase Briscoe -229, 24) Daniel Suarez -248, 25) Ryan Newman -250, 26) Ryan Preece
-255.
Playoff Points: 1) Kyle Larson 53, t-2) Ryan Blaney -29, t-2) Martin Truex Jr. -29, 4) Kyle Busch -30, 5) Chase Elliott -31, 6) Denny Hamlin -32, 7) Alex Bowman -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 313, 2) Denny Hamlin -13, 3) William Byron -98, 4) Chase Elliott -104, 5) Kyle Busch -119, 6) Joey Logano -128, 7) Ryan Blaney -141, 8) Martin Truex Jr.
-142, 9) Brad Keselowski -168, 10) Tyler Reddick -179, 11) Kevin Harvick -188, 12) Austin Dillon -196, 13) Kurt Busch -197, 14) Alex Bowman -205, 15) Christopher Bell -217, 16) Bubba Wallace
-261.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the playoffs: t-21) Michael McDowell -273, 23) Aric Almirola -276.
Note: Stage Points include the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Denny Hamlin 900, 2) Kyle Larson -7, 3) Kevin Harvick
-89, 4) Chase Elliott -99, 5) Ryan Blaney -102, 6) Martin Truex Jr. -108, 7) Kyle Busch -120, 8) Joey Logano -131, 9) William Byron -149, 10) Brad Keselowski -161, 11) Alex Bowman -170, 12) Tyler Reddick -186, 13) Austin
Dillon -190, 14) Kurt Busch -201, 15) Christopher Bell -243, 16) Matt DiBenedetto -250.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the playoffs:
22) Michael McDowell -332, 23) Aric Almirola -346.
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-1), 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), Denny Hamlin (Darlington-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: Wall Contact Cuts AJ Allmendinger's Points Lead To The Minimum
by Phil Allaway
AJ Allmendinger had one of the best cars Saturday at Darlington. However, he ended up in the wall. That dropped him back to a 20th-place finish. Austin Cindric finished third and cut Allmendinger's lead down to a single point with
two races remaining in the regular season. Justin Allgaier is still in third after finishing sixth. Daniel Hemric won stage one, but crashed late and finished 24th. He is still in fourth.
Harrison Burton finished second Saturday and remains in fifth. He clinched his spot in the playoffs on points. Justin Haley is sixth after finishing fourth, while Noah Gragson's victory moved him up to
seventh. Jeb Burton dropped back to eighth despite a fifth-place finish.
Jeremy Clements is up to ninth after finishing eighth Saturday. Brandon Jones crashed late and finished 33rd, dropping to 10th. Riley Herbst ran in the back of Tommy Joe Martins when Martins blew his
engine. He remains in 11th despite the 38th-place finish, the final driver in the playoffs on points. Myatt Snider is still in 12th after finishing ninth.
Herbst's margin over 13th-place Michael Annett is down from 68 to 46 points after Annett finished 14th. Ryan Sieg is up one position to 14th after finishing 11th. Brandon Brown had another troublesome day,
finishing a lap down in 28th. Despite that, he moved up to 15th, jumping over the idle Ty Gibbs.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) AJ Allmendinger 955, 2) Austin Cindric -1, 3) Justin Allgaier -116, 4) Daniel
Hemric -147, 5) Harrison Burton -156, 6) Justin Haley -171, 7) Noah Gragson -183, 8) Jeb Burton -207, 9) Jeremy Clements -368, 10) Brandon Jones -381, 11) Riley Herbst -400, 12) Myatt Snider
-409, 13) Michael Annett -446, 14) Ryan Sieg -484, 15) Brandon Brown -503, 16) Ty Gibbs -508.
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, 6) Noah Gragson -26, t-7) Jeb Burton -28, t-7) Josh Berry -28, t-7) Daniel Hemric -28, 10) Myatt Snider -29, 11) Harrison Burton -32, 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 eighth. Martin Truex Jr. would be tied for 13th. If he had run the full season for Xfinity points, Brett Moffitt would be tied for
15th.
Stage Points: 1) Austin Cindric 269, 2) AJ Allmendinger -8, 3) Daniel Hemric -45, 4) Noah Gragson
-57, 5) Justin Allgaier -64, 6) Harrison Burton -77, 7) Justin Haley -90, 8) Jeb Burton -138, 9) Brandon Jones -139, 10) Ty Gibbs -176, 11) Riley Herbst -189, 12) Michael Annett
-197, t-13) Myatt Snider -205, t-13) Josh Berry -208, 15) Jeremy Clements -216, t-16) Brandon Brown -240.
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 806, 2) Austin Cindric -6, 3) Justin Allgaier -55, 4) Jeb Burton
-88, 5) Harrison Burton -99, 6) Daniel Hemric -112, 7) Justin Haley -116, 8) Noah Gragson -147, 9) Jeremy Clements -173, 10) Myatt Snider
-227, 11) Riley Herbst -240, 12) Ryan Sieg -257, 13) Brandon Jones -271, 14) Brandon Brown -286, 15) Michael Annett -291, 16) Landon Cassill
-337.
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, Indianapolis), Ty Gibbs (Daytona-2, Charlotte, Watkins Glen), AJ Allmendinger (Las Vegas, Mid-Ohio, Michigan), Myatt Snider (Homestead), Justin Allgaier (Atlanta-1, Darlington-1), 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), Noah Gragson (Darlington-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: Sheldon Creed Snatches Points Lead With 2nd Straight Win
by Phil Allaway
Sheldon Creed's excellent form continued Sunday as he dominated the In It To Win It 200 to take his second straight win. That victory elevated him to the points lead. His advantage is a mere two points over John Hunter Nemechek, who won stage
one and finished second. Nemechek did lock himself into the Round of 8 on points. Matt Crafton is up one spot to third after finishing 10th and earning 16 stage points. Stewart Friesen is up to fourth after finishing third.
Ben Rhodes had a terrible day Sunday. First, he ran in the back of Creed on an early restart. Then, he was caught up in a crash with Kris Wright and Jack Wood in turn 4. Eventually, Rhodes finished 34th. That performance only dropped him to fifth, but he
lost 50 points to the leaders. Todd Gilliland is up two places to sixth after finishing fourth. Carson Hocevar remains in seventh after fading late to 11th. Austin Hill was mediocre Sunday and dropped to eighth after finishing 12th.
Hill is the last driver in the Round of 8 currently on points. He is five points ahead of Zane Smith, who finished ninth despite spinning out on pit road. Chandler Smith is still in 10th after finishing seventh. Outside of the
playoffs, Grant Enfinger continues to lead that group by 79 points after finishing sixth. Derek Kraus is 12th despite gaining more detractors (see above).
Johnny Sauter is up one place to 13th after finishing eighth. Tyler Ankrum drops to 14th after finishing 18th, followed by Austin Wayne Self. Ryan Truex is
16th.
Round of 10 Point Standings: 1) Sheldon Creed
2128, 2) John Hunter Nemechek -2, 3) Matt Crafton -34, 4) Stewart Friesen -36, 5) Ben Rhodes -54, 6) Todd Gilliland
-58, 7) Carson Hocevar -61, 8) Austin Hill -64, 9) Zane Smith -69, 10) Chandler Smith -76.
Note No. 1: Drivers in Bold have advanced to the Round of 10.
Note No. 2: Drivers in Italics are currently at risk of elimination, or already out of the playoffs.
Full Season Point Standings (1-16): 1) John Hunter Nemechek 726, 2) Austin Hill -122, 3) Ben Rhodes -125, 4) Todd Gilliland -142, 5) Sheldon Creed -147, 6) Zane Smith -183, 7) Matt Crafton -191, 8) Stewart Friesen
-251, 9) Carson Hocevar -258, 10) Grant Enfinger -272, 11) Chandler Smith -323, 12) Derek Kraus -348, 13) Johnny Sauter -351, 14) Tyler Ankrum -364, 15) Austin Wayne Self -368, 16) Ryan Truex
-425.
Best of the Rest: 11) Grant Enfinger 457, 12) Derek Kraus -79, 13) Johnny Sauter -82, 14) Tyler Ankrum
-88, 15) Austin Wayne Self -99, 16) Ryan Truex -156, 17) Hailie Deegan -166, 18) Tanner Gray -197, 19) Chase Purdy -227, 20) Parker Kligerman -253.
Playoff Points: 1) John Hunter Nemechek 50, 2) Sheldon Creed
-26, 3) Austin Hill -29, 4) Ben Rhodes -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 203, 2) Sheldon Creed
-42, 3) Ben Rhodes -68, 4) Austin Hill -69, 5) Zane Smith -85, 6) Matt Crafton -86, 7) Stewart Friesen -89, 8) Todd Gilliland -93, 9) Derek Kraus -106, 10) Chandler Smith -123, 11) Grant Enfinger
-143, 12) Carson Hocevar -160, 13) Raphael Lessard -163, 14) Tyler Ankrum -166, 15) Johnny Sauter -178, 16) Ty Majeski -180.
Note: If they were eligible for stage points,
Kyle Busch would be 11th and Josh Berry 16th.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) John Hunter Nemechek 471, 2) Todd Gilliland -59, t-3) Austin Hill -64, t-3) Ben Rhodes -64, 5) Sheldon Creed -100, 6) Zane Smith
-106, 7) Carson Hocevar -114, 8) Matt Crafton -117, 9) Grant Enfinger -126, 10) Stewart Friesen -170, 11) Johnny Sauter -188, t-12) Chandler Smith -198, t-12) Tyler Ankrum -198, 14) Austin Wayne Self
-200, 15) Ryan Truex -240, 16) Derek Kraus -244.
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-1, Gateway, Darlington-2), 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: Sunday night's Cook Out Southern 500 was brought to you by the letter S for Spoiled Pit Strategy. Had Ryan Blaney not had brake fade that led to his spin, the race could have ended very differently. Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. were on a two-stop strategy in the final stage, while Kyle Larson and Ross
Chastain were on a three-stop strategy.
Chastain had beaten Larson off of pit road on their second green-flag stop and was actually pulling away from the points leader. Chastain had a good sporting chance at winning. Also, Corey LaJoie had a good sporting chance of getting a legitimate unrestricted top 10 before things went awry. - Phil Allaway
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Quotes to Remember: Cook Out Southern 500
compiled by Phil Allaway
"It was a matter of time. We can’t just keep leading inside 10 laps to go every week and not get a win. Yesterday was some unique circumstances but, man, I tell you what, I couldn’t be happier for this win and now to move to the Round of 12.
"I knew [Kyle Larson] was going to drive in deep, but I didn’t think he was going to go that deep in the corner. Obviously, I knew he wasn’t going to make it, but still he rattled me a little bit to where he got into the back of us and then we got him low. Fun finish to the Southern 500." - Denny Hamlin, race winner
"I kind of — we got to the white, and I was like, well, I haven’t been able to gain on him now, I’m going to try something. Honestly got to his bumper too quick. I was hoping he was going to run that diamond to kind of be safe and I could skirt to his outside, but gave everything I had. “I didn’t want to wreck him, I just wanted to try to get to his outside there, but
he did a great job not really making any mistakes during the last run, and I was having to push really hard in second to try and just stay with him.
"Was hoping we’d catch some sort of traffic, but we never really did. Our HendrickCars.com Chevy was really good out front, just in traffic I would get stuck. Like in traffic I just got stuck really bad, and then there at the end losing control of the race really hurt us, but all-in-all a great day, good points day. Pit crew did great. Cliff (Daniels) made some good
changes in the car, so try again next week." - Kyle Larson, finished second
"I can go fast. I just can’t quite race with them, and it starts with my restarts. I’ve got some work to do there, so I gave up the outside to take the bottom to be safe and then Kyle rolls around me.
"Was able to make one last charge there at him at the end, but yeah, I just need to clean up a few things. This McDonald’s car, I think it was the fastest car here tonight, so it’s humbling to come with this CGR group these final 10 races here, a place where my career kind of took a totally different trajectory three years ago, and to have people like Clover and the
Moose (Fraternity) and Advent Health on board supporting me and still letting me race three years later, it means the world. I’ve just got to clean up some more, though." - Ross Chastain, finished third
"We were so good on long runs. Early in the race, we weren’t getting them so we were losing track position. Had the issue of the loose wheel under green and we were in pretty good position right there. Fought all the way back and got up to the front and the dumb driver sped on pit road. One of those
days. Thanks to everybody at Bass Pro, TRD, Toyota and everybody back at the shop at JGR – all the men and women there working hard to make our cars good. Congrats to [Denny Hamlin], been a long time coming for them this year. Overall, really strong race car and heck of a battle. Sometimes you can’t do all the little things right. Certainly today we didn’t, but we battled through it and had a good finish." - Martin Truex Jr., finished fourth
"It was [chaotic]. We finished on a flat tire. We had to pit for a loose wheel or a tire coming apart or something and got a lap down, and then got the lucky dog and just a lot going on. That’s pretty typical of this race though. I just want to thank everybody on our Busch Light Ford Mustang. Our guys have done a great job. We led a bunch of laps early and had a fast
race car and were able to capitalize on a good day." - Kevin Harvick, finished fifth
"It was fun to lead laps and be up front. It just seemed like we were juggling a ball of yarn and it was somewhat unraveling the whole race; whether it was the lane choice or a pit stop. And then handling, we were a little bit loose there and a little bit tight there. That last run, everything was back where we needed it; but I threw away all the track position with a
couple of fender rubs." - Kurt Busch, finished sixth
"I felt like we were probably about a fourth-place car. That’s about right where we were running before the caution came out and we outsmarted ourselves a little bit with the adjustment at the end. I was just too tight the last run and plowing actually. I was nervous the right-front was gonna come apart as tight as we were, so I lost three or four spots there at the
end unfortunately to that, and then those guys that pitted and put tires on was worth a little bit as well, but we only had one set left so you really couldn’t risk putting that set on then and run 15 laps and not have another set in the pits. Overall, we did what we had to do at the start of the playoffs. A lot of guys self-destructed and we were able to maximize our day and get every point, so we got what we got and we’ll move on." - Joey Logano, finished
eighth
"The positives were, once again like the last five or six weeks, we’ve been really competitive. Probably longer than that. I felt like our SportClips Camry was capable of running inside the top-two or three. We ran 20th. It seems like that’s happened a lot and obviously we can’t really have that in the Playoffs. It’s a bummer because today was a great opportunity to
try to capitalize on other people’s misfortune and we didn’t. Looking at the Playoff grid, we’re still ahead, but we could be way ahead." - Christopher Bell, finished 20th
"At least our car is in one piece, so that’s good. After that problem you usually bring it back on a wrecker just like in Nashville, so luckily we got a car in one piece. A lot of other teams had their issues, so, overall, not a bad night. I wish we could have finished it off where we should have and been in the top 10 easily and got 10 or 15 more points, but we can’t
complain too much." - Ryan Blaney, finished 22nd
"Yeah, I’m fine. That was a big hit. It looked like on that pit stop, it looked like we dropped the jack and the left front was still finishing up. I took off and everything felt okay. I went to pass the [Quin Houff] or somebody down the front stretch; and was just about to turn into [turn 1] and the left front went down. There was nothing we could do. The guys did an
awesome job to fix it. We were running like Top-12, I think, even with all the [earlier] right rear damage and it’s just terrible. I don’t know, man. That sucks." - William Byron, finished 35th (Crashed out)
"I’m not really sure. The 43 kind of got everybody jammed up. I think he started on the front there without tires, which is a tough spot to be in and I just went three-wide underneath him and just got into the patch with my left sides just a little bit low. I got loose enough into the wall and that was about it. I’ll have to see the replay, but just heartbreaking for
everybody on this Front Row team. We had high hopes coming into the playoffs and this is not how we wanted to start it." - Michael McDowell, finished 37th
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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