Frontstretch Newsletter: Sept. 13, 2021
Volume: XV, Edition CXLIV
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- Teams are back at work with a short week to prepare for night racing at Bristol. We'll have the entry lists
and/or anything else that breaks for you at Frontstretch.
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| | Richmond Rout: Martin Truex Jr. Gets the Jump on the Field in the End
Martin Truex Jr. recovered from jumping the initial start of the race Saturday night to lead 80 laps and win the Federated Auto Parts 400 Salute to First Responders at Richmond Raceway. Denny Hamlin was second, then
Christopher Bell, Chase Elliott and Joey Logano.
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| | Joe Gibbs Racing Makes the Old Dominion Its Own Dominion
In recent years, Richmond Raceway has been a playground for Joe Gibbs Racing. Saturday night was no exception as the team led over three-quarters of the laps and took the top three finishing positions.
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| | William Byron Finishes 19th at Richmond: “We Were Terrible”
The playoffs are not the right time to have a terrible run. For William Byron, Saturday was that night as he struggled to run competitively before finishing in 19th.
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| | Cody Ware Out for Next 2 Weeks, Garrett Smithley Subbing at Richmond
Cody Ware was originally supposed to be in the No. 51 Saturday night. However, after he suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning at Darlington, he missed Richmond and will be out for Bristol.
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| | Kurt Busch Loses 4 Pit Crew Members for Richmond Due to COVID Protocols
Kurt Busch ended up crashing out of Saturday night's race shortly after the Competition Caution. Had he raced all night, he would have had to deal with four substitute pit crewmembers due to most of his regular crew
being forced to miss the race due to COVID-19 protocols.
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| | Noah Gragson Strikes Again at Richmond, Scores Back-to-Back Xfinity Wins
Noah Gragson took the lead after a late caution and held off Justin Haley to take his second straight victory Saturday afternoon at Richmond Raceway. Haley was second, then John Hunter Nemechek, Justin Allgaier and Riley
Herbst.
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| | Sage Karam Returns to Jordan Anderson Racing for 2 Races, Sets Truck Debut for Martinsville
Jordan Anderson Racing announced Friday that Sage Karam will return to the No. 31 Chevrolet for two additional races starting this weekend in Bristol. In addition, he will make his Camping World Truck Series debut at
Martinsville.
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| | Alex Palou Wins in Portland, Retakes IndyCar Point Lead
Chip Ganassi Racing's Alex Palou led 29 laps from the pole Sunday to win the Grand Prix of Portland at Portland International Raceway. Alexander Rossi was second, then Scott Dixon, Jack Harvey and Josef
Newgarden.
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| | Pato O’Ward Loses IndyCar Points Lead in Portland
Patricio O'Ward entered Portland with a slim points lead. However, he had a bad day on Sunday, finishing 14th. He's out of the lead now and has to fight back in the two remaining races.
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| | Callum Ilott Adds 2 Races to 2021 IndyCar Schedule
Callum Ilott will get to spend two more weeks racing in the United States. Juncos Hollinger Racing announced Friday that Ilott will compete at Laguna Seca and Long Beach with the team.
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| | Daniel Ricciardo Wins Italian Grand Prix as Title Contenders Crash Out
McLaren earned a one-two finish Sunday as Daniel Ricciardo earned his first Grand Prix victory since 2018 at Monza. Lando Norris was second, then Valtteri Bottas, Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez. The race was
overshadowed by a collision between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton in the Rettifilo chicane.
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| | Sunday's Grand Prix of Italy will be best remembered for the aforementioned Rettifilo crash between Verstappen and Hamilton. This was a scary crash in which Verstappen's right rear tire nearly hit Hamilton in the
head.
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| | Jan Heylen, Maxwell Root Win WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca 120
Wright Motorsports' Jan Heylen and Maxwell Root won Saturday's IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca 120 after Bill Auberlen cut his right rear tire with 40 minutes to go. Bryan Herta
Autosport's Harry Gottsacker and Mark Wilkins won in TCR.
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Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, IMSA, LAT Images, Jos Skibinski and Chris Owens of INDYCAR Media and Rudy Carezzevoli of Getty Images.
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Seeking the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs: Kyle Larson Locks Into Round of 12; Loses Portion Of Lead After Denny Hamlin Wins 2 Stages
by Phil Allaway
Kyle Larson had to come from the rear of the field due to flunking inspection multiple times. Ultimately, it didn't matter as Larson finished fourth and claimed 14 stage points. Denny Hamlin won the first two stages and finished second. That's how Hamlin gained 10 points on Larson. Larson was able to lock into the
Round of 12 on points. Martin Truex Jr.'s victory keeps him in third, while Joey Logano's fifth-place finish moved him up two places to fourth.
Ryan Blaney remains in fifth after finishing 10th. Kevin Harvick is up one place to sixth after finishing eighth, while Chase Elliott moved up three positions to seventh after finishing fourth despite a terrible pit stop where he rolled off the jack. Christopher Bell is up one place to eighth after finishing third.
Brad Keselowski is down one place to ninth after finishing 13th. Kyle Busch is up four places to 10th after finishing ninth. It could have been more had he not had a tire issue. Aric Almirola remains in 11th after finishing 14th. Kurt Busch took the biggest hit of the weekend, dropping eight spots into a tie for 12th
after crashing out early and finishing 37th.
Kurt Busch is tied for 12th with Alex Bowman, but has the tiebreaker because of his sixth-place finish at Darlington. Bowman is in the same place he was last week, on the losing end of a tiebreaker. He finished 12th. Tyler Reddick dropped from a tie for 12th to 14th after finishing two laps down in 15th. William Byron had a "terrible"
race (see above) and is still in 15th. Michael McDowell was outright uncompetitive in Richmond, finishing five laps down in 28th. He is 38 points out of 12th and likely needs to win Saturday night to advance.
Outside of the playoffs, Austin Dillon remains in 17th. He has a 137-point advantage over Matt DiBenedetto, who finished 18th. Ross Chastain is up to 19th after finishing seventh. Chastain hopped over Chris Buescher, who is now 20th.
Round of 16 Points: 1) Kyle Larson 2151,
2) Denny Hamlin -24, 3) Martin Truex Jr. -38, 4) Joey Logano -58, 5) Ryan Blaney -70, 6) Kevin Harvick -73, 7) Chase Elliott -79, 8) Christopher Bell -81, 9) Brad Keselowski -85, 10) Kyle Busch -90, 11) Aric Almirola -95, t-12) Kurt Busch -98, t-12) Alex
Bowman -98, 14) Tyler Reddick -103, 15) William Byron -116, 16) Michael McDowell -136.
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 1126, 2) Denny Hamlin -5, 3) Chase Elliott -191, 4) Martin Truex Jr. -234, 5) Kyle Busch -235, 6) Ryan Blaney
-237, 7) Joey Logano -247, 8) William Byron -263, 9) Kevin Harvick -272, 10) Brad Keselowski -335, 11) Alex Bowman -359, 12) Tyler Reddick -365, 13) Austin Dillon -387, 14) Kurt Busch -413, 15) Christopher Bell
-459, 16) Matt DiBenedetto -524.
Outside the Top 16, but still in the Playoffs: 21) Aric Almirola -616, 22) Michael McDowell -618.
Best of the Rest: 17) Austin Dillon 739,
18) Matt DiBenedetto -137, 19) Ross Chastain -138, 20) Chris Buescher -155, 21) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -182, 22) Bubba Wallace -199, 23) Chase Briscoe -234, 24) Daniel Suarez -254, 25) Ryan Newman -259, 26) Erik Jones -265.
Playoff Points: 1) Kyle Larson 53, 2) Martin Truex Jr. -24, t-2) Ryan Blaney -29, t-4) Denny Hamlin -30, t-4) Kyle Busch -30, 6) Chase Elliott -31, 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 327, 2) Denny Hamlin -7, 3) Chase Elliott -109, 4) William Byron -112, 5) Kyle Busch -124, 6) Joey Logano -128, 7) Martin Truex Jr. -145, 8) Ryan
Blaney -149, 9) Brad Keselowski -178, 10) Tyler Reddick -193, 11) Kevin Harvick -199, 12) Austin Dillon -210, 13) Kurt Busch -211, 14) Alex Bowman -219, 15) Christopher Bell -226, 16) Ross Chastain
-271.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the playoffs: t-20) Aric Almirola -286, 22) Michael McDowell -287.
Note: Stage Points include the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Denny Hamlin 941, 2) Kyle Larson -12, 3) Kevin Harvick
-97, 4) Chase Elliott -102, 5) Martin Truex Jr. -105, 6) Ryan Blaney -112, 7) Kyle Busch -128, 8) Joey Logano -136, 9) William Byron -168, 10) Brad Keselowski -174, 11) Alex Bowman -182, t-12) Tyler Reddick
-201, t-12) Austin Dillon -201, 14) Kurt Busch -238, 15) Christopher Bell -245, 16) Matt DiBenedetto -268.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the playoffs:
t-22) Michael McDowell -360, t-22) Aric Almirola -360.
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,
Richmond-2), Ryan Blaney (Atlanta-1, Michigan, Daytona-3), Joey Logano (Bristol), Alex Bowman (Richmond-1, 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: Tires Drops Leaders Back Late At Richmond; AJ Allmendinger Maintains Slight Advantage
by Phil Allaway
AJ Allmendinger had an excellent day going at Richmond, scoring 19 stage points. However, he ended up on worn tires on the late restarts and dropped all the way back to 18th at the finish. Austin Cindric was in a similar plight, dropping to 16th. The points lead for Allmendinger is five entering the final race of the regular season Friday night.
Justin Allgaier finished fourth and remains in third. Daniel Hemric is still in fourth after finishing sixth.
Harrison Burton was in good position to win before the yellow with just under 30 laps to go. He ended up ninth and stays in fifth. Noah Gragson's second consecutive win moved him past second-place finisher Justin Haley into sixth. Haley is seventh, then Jeb Burton.
Jeremy Clements spun late and finished 26th. He still locked himself into the playoffs and sits in ninth. Brandon Jones finished 20th and remains in 10th. Riley Herbst finished fifth and stays in 11th, last man in the playoffs on points. Myatt Snider finished 25th and stays in 12th.
Herbst's margin over Michael Annett is back up to 66 points. That means that Annett will have to win Friday night to make the playoffs. He has never won on a short track at any level above late models. Ryan Sieg is still in 14th after finishing 13th. Ty Gibbs is up one place to 15th after leading the most laps and finishing seventh.
Brandon Brown is 16th after finishing eighth
Point Standings (1-16): 1) AJ Allmendinger 993, 2) Austin Cindric -5, 3) Justin Allgaier -121, 4) Daniel Hemric -144, 5) Harrison Burton -153, 6) Noah Gragson
-171, 7) Justin Haley -174, 8) Jeb Burton -218, 9) Jeremy Clements -395, 10) Brandon Jones -402, 11) Riley Herbst -403, 12) Myatt Snider -435, 13) Michael Annett -469, 14) Ryan Sieg
-496, 15) Ty Gibbs -499, 16) Brandon Brown -512.
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 14th in points.
Playoff Points: 1) Austin Cindric 34, 2) AJ Allmendinger -10, 3) Ty Gibbs -17, 4) Noah Gragson -21, 5) Justin Allgaier -23, 6) Justin Haley -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 282, 2) AJ Allmendinger -2, 3) Daniel Hemric -48, 4) Noah Gragson -60, t-5) Justin Allgaier -77, t-5) Harrison Burton
-77, 7) Justin Haley -103, 8) Jeb Burton -151, 9) Brandon Jones -152, 10) Ty Gibbs -172, 11) Riley Herbst -199, 12) Michael Annett -210, 13) Myatt Snider -218, 14) Josh Berry
-221, 15) Jeremy Clements -229, t-16) Brandon Brown -253.
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 830, 2) Austin Cindric -4, 3) Justin Allgaier -52, 4) Jeb Burton -81, 5) Harrison Burton -90, 6) Daniel Hemric
-100, 7) Justin Haley -101, 8) Noah Gragson -127, 9) Jeremy Clements -183, 10) Riley Herbst -228, 11) Myatt Snider -235, 12) Ryan Sieg
-253, 13) Brandon Jones -274, 14) Brandon Brown -277, 15) Michael Annett -296, 16) Josh Williams -352.
Note: If he were eligible for Xfinity points for the whole season, Brett Moffitt would be 13th 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, Richmond)
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 Update No. 13
by Phil Allaway
The Camping World Truck Series was off last week. They are scheduled to race Thursday night at Bristol Motor Speedway in the final race of the Round of 10.
On the strength of two straight victories, Sheldon Creed enters Bristol with a two-point lead over John Hunter Nemechek. Both are locked into the Round of 8. Matt Crafton is third, then Stewart
Friesen and Ben Rhodes.
At the cutoff, Austin Hill is currently eighth and has a five-point lead on Zane Smith and 12 on Chandler Smith. Outside of the playoffs, Grant Enfinger has a 79-point lead
on Derek Kraus.
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: Saturday night's Federated Auto Parts 400 Salute To First Responders was brought to you by the Letter L for Long Runs. This has been a thing in a number of recent Cup
races at Richmond Raceway. You have to be perfect because there just will not be many opportunities to get a reset. You have to have a very fast car, like Martin Truex Jr. did, in order to overcome significant issues. - Phil Allaway
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Quotes to Remember: Federated Auto Parts 400 Salute To First Responders
compiled by Phil Allaway
"It’s a big day. It’s an important day in our history. I think all of us here – yeah, we’re proud to win, and this car is amazing and there’s so many people to thank, but what a day to win on. It reminds you of the honor and the privilege it is to get to come out here and do this. All these great fans that come out here, we couldn’t do any of these kind of things
without the men and women that take care of us and all the first responders, police officers, firefighters, the military, you name it. NASCAR is very patriotic and we’re very proud, and Johnny Morris is very patriotic; that’s why this thing is red, white and blue. So very proud of everybody to be able to do this today.
"I knew right away. The first three laps I ran and then had to go to the back. That was a tough one to swallow. I knew I wasn’t the control car, but I let the 11 (Denny Hamlin) nose out ahead a little bit there but then he spun the tires. What am I supposed to do there? Am I supposed to stop in front of the field? I don’t know. I think that was kind of a bad call, a
bad decision because there is nothing I could do about it. Luckily, we were able to overcome it. When those things happen, that’s all you can do. Focus forward. These guys stuck with me. They didn’t get mad. We all just kept our cool and we were able to come home with a W." - Martin Truex Jr., race winner
"Yeah, just [needed] a couple more [laps to beat Martin Truex Jr.] But our pit stops were a little slow there and we lost about two or three seconds, maybe four on pit road those two stops. We were coming, just we got off track with our car right there in the middle stages of the race, but overall Chris [Gabehart, crew chief] and the team made great adjustments
there at the end on the FedEx Camry, just needed a couple more laps, that’s all.
"Well, it’s go time now. Ultimately it’s the time where you’ve got to bring your best. All of [Joe Gibbs Racing] team had fast cars for all of us today, and we just — I really wish we would have got two in a row, but regardless, still a great day for our team." - Denny Hamlin, finished second
"I think obviously all of our Joe Gibbs Racing cars were extremely fast, so hats off to everyone back there at the job, Toyota, TRD that gives us the resources that we need to come out here and do good. We knew going into Richmond that this is one of our better racetracks, so we needed to capitalize on that and get all the points we could. Really proud of everyone on
this DeWalt Camry. They worked hard. The start of the race was a little bit disappointing to give up stage points in stage one, but we did good; we got some points there in stage two and got a good finish out of it." - Christopher Bell, finished third
"That’s about where we were — a fifth-place car. Maybe sometimes a little better, sometimes a little worse depending on the kind of run. I’d say we averaged out as the fifth car and that’s where we finished. We got some good points. I think we were third in the first stage and fifth in the second and a fifth finish, so that’s some good points. I don’t know where
that’s gonna stack the Shell/Pennzoil Mustang up in the playoff standings, but it should put us in a decent spot going into Bristol next week. That’s what it’s all about right now. It’s about being solid and getting every point, so we’re getting them. We’re doing what we’ve got to do. We’re grinding them out, but had nothing for the Gibbs cars tonight." - Joey Logano, finished fifth
"It’s a lot better than we were here at Richmond earlier in the year. At the beginning of the race, I thought I was going to have a really good shot to win, but we kind of lost the balance there and got it back a little bit there at the end. So, we probably finished where we deserved. [Kyle Busch] kind of had his problems, so maybe we finished one spot better. Not a
bad day. To go to Bristol and know that we’re locked in is nice. We’ll try to be aggressive and get a win this week." - Kyle Larson, finished sixth
"From the spring race here I thought we could run right there and we ran 11th in the spring. I thought we figured some stuff out and we worked a little bit more on it, so we got some stage points and had a couple runs that were bad, a couple runs where we got better and better, and at the end we were able to pass a handful of cars to get home 10th. I’m proud of the
team. Thanks to Advance Auto Parts and Ford and Menards for sticking in. I had fun tonight. I actually had a lot of fun tonight. That was fun. September 2021 I had fun at Richmond. It’s cool to be in a nice spot going into Bristol. I’m just proud of the whole group all night." - Ryan Blaney, finished 10th
"We struggled to start. We were really good at the end of Stage Two. We didn’t make any adjustments and we were really bad at the beginning of Stage Three. We just had a set of tires that didn’t agree with our race car and got a lap down there. It’s hard to overcome that. Bummer for all of our guys. I feel like we did a good job throughout the course of the race at
getting our car better from where we started. We just didn’t end where we needed to end. On the bubble going into Bristol, but just have to go do my job and hopefully we have a fast Ally Camaro there and go get the job done." - Alex Bowman, finished 12th
"We were just really bad. We finished seventh here in the spring and felt like we had something decent. We tweaked some stuff to try and get a little better. I think the best we got was we got to eleventh one time.
"We just had a lack of grip. Some runs I could run with the [Brad Keselowski] and [Ryan Blaney]. Some runs I was way off the pace. I don’t know. I fought both; tight center at the start of the race. I thought we got some more drive in the car. I thought that was kind of making us faster, but that kind of ran out too." - William Byron, finished
19th
"Just another missed opportunity. We’re just making too many mistakes. We sped on pit road. The first time I thought, ‘Maybe it was close.’ And then I sped on my sped and it was not close, so obviously we missed the configuration on the lights, and then I backed it down again and still sped again. It’s unfortunate. Everybody did a really good job. We actually had good
speed. We had a fast Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang and we just lost all those laps with penalties and unfortunately I didn’t adjust enough or quick enough. I thought I knocked enough speed off, but obviously it wasn’t enough. It’s really unfortunate." - Michael McDowell, finished 28th
"I was just impressed with our speed and the way we unloaded and (the speed) we had in that first 30-lap run. After the pit stop, something in the left rear wasn’t right. The guys said they got the tire tight. They made an adjustment and there was no rub and the left rear let go. I just radioed to them how loose the car was. Something happened with that left rear. It
let go. It let go of our points and it let go of our whole season right now. I don’t know what we’re going to have to do at Bristol other than win." - Kurt Busch, 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.
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