Frontstretch Newsletter: Sept. 20, 2021
Volume XV, Edition CLXIX
|
- Teams are back at their shops in the Carolinas to prepare for the tripleheader this weekend at Las Vegas Motor
Speedway. We'll have the entry lists and/or anything else that breaks for
you at Frontstretch.
|
Around the World in Motorsports: Sept. 17-19
|
- In Indy Lights action, Andretti Autosport's Kyle Kirkwood led flag to flat to win Race No. 1 of the Indy Lights Grand Prix of Monterey presented by Cooper Tires. He won by 6.652 seconds over Linus Lundqvist. Benjamin Pedersen was third, then David Malukas and Rasmus Lindh.
Race No. 2 on Sunday was more of the same. Kirkwood annihilated the field to win by 26.056 seconds over Malukas. Lundqvist was third, then Danial Frost and Pedersen.
With only a doubleheader weekend at Mid-Ohio remaining, Kirkwood has taken the points lead. His advantage is 15 points over Malukas. They are the only two drivers still in championship contention. Lundqvist is third, then Pedersen and Frost.
- In TC America action at Watkins Glen, the TCX class fell apart in the final few laps Saturday, allowing Team Hard's Steve Streimer to claim the class and overall win. Eric Powell won the TC class in his Honda Civic Type-R, followed by Kevin Boehm, Tom Capizzi and Roy Block. Carter Fartuch won TCA in his Honda Civic Si Coupe.
Race No. 2 on Sunday morning was a little more typical. Classic BMW's Jacob Ruud led flag-to-flag to win in his BMW M2 CS. Streimer was second, then Lucas Catania and Block.
Powell managed a weekend sweep in the TC class after finishing fifth overall. Boehm was second in TC, then Jeff Ricca, Derek Jones and Austen Smith. Finally, Caleb Bacon won TCA in his Hyundai Veloster over teammate Luke Rumburg, Mike Stillwagon, Jose Blanco and Clayton Williams.
|
| | Kyle Larson Wins Bristol in Dramatic Finish
Kyle Larson slipped past Kevin Harvick with four laps to go despite heavy contact and held on to win the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race. Harvick was second, then William Byron, Ryan Blaney and Alex
Bowman.
|
| | Kevin Harvick & Chase Elliott Rub Fenders, Exchange Insults at Bristol
Saturday night's Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race will likely be best remembered for contact between Kevin Harvick and Chase Elliott that cut Elliott's right front tire late. Harvick and Elliott confronted each other no less
than three times after the race.
|
| | Bristol Elimination Race Sends 4 Playoff Drivers Packing
Saturday night's Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race was the final race of the Round of 16. For Kurt Busch, Tyler Reddick, Aric Almirola and Michael McDowell, it was the end of the road for their championship
chances.
|
| | Rodney Childers Re-Signs With Stewart-Haas
Rodney Childers announced on his Twitter feed Sunday night that he has signed a contract extension that will see him stay at Stewart-Haas Racing and continue as Kevin Harvick's crew chief.
|
| | AJ Allmendinger Wins Bristol, Regular Season Title While Wrecking Across Line
Friday night saw AJ Allmendinger, Austin Cindric and Justin Allgaier duel on a Green-White-Checker restart at Bristol. Allmendinger and Cindric collided exiting turn 4 and crashed across the line with Allmendinger earning
the victory. Cindric was second, then Riley Herbst, Allgaier and Brandon Jones.
|
| | Josh Berry to Replace Michael Annett in Xfinity Race at Bristol
Michael Annett had another setback in his recovery from a leg injury in July. As a result, Annett was forced to sit out Bristol. Josh Berry was tapped to drive in his place.
|
| | Nutrien AG Will Not Sponsor Kaulig Racing in 2022
The Associated Press reported Friday that Nutrien AG Solutions, which has served as the primary sponsor of Kaulig Racing's No. 10 Chevrolet in the Xfinity Series for the past three seasons, will not be back after this
season.
|
| | Colton Herta Dominates Laguna Seca; Alex Palou Inches Closer to IndyCar Championship
Colton Herta led 91 of 95 laps Sunday from the pole to win the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Alex Palou finished second, then Romain Grosjean, Graham Rahal and Patricio
O'Ward.
|
| | Romain Grosjean Charges to 3rd at Laguna Seca
Dale Coyne Racing's Romain Grosjean had an excellent race Sunday at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. On a track that is notoriously difficult to pass on, Grosjean came from 13th on the grid to get on the
podium.
|
| | INDYCAR Unveils 17-Race Schedule for 2022
Prior to Sunday's Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey, INDYCAR unveiled the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series schedule. Detroit will no longer be a doubleheader, while Iowa returns to the schedule as a doubleheader
weekend.
|
| | K-PAX Racing Dominates, Wins Fanatec GT World Challenge America Race No. 1 at Watkins Glen
K-PAX Racing's Andrea Caldarelli and Jordan Pepper dominated Saturday afternoon's Fanatec GT World Challenge America Powered by AWS race at Watkins Glen International. Racers Edge Motorsports' Jacob Abel and Taylor Hagler
won in Pro-Am.
|
| | K-PAX Racing Scores Dominant 1-2 At Watkins Glen Despite Vibration Issues
K-PAX Racing's Jordan Pepper and Andrea Caldarelli scored the weekend sweep in Race No. 2 at Watkins Glen Sunday, but nearly had the entire thing derailed by a vibration.
|
| | Charlie Luck Holds On To Win Watkins Glen GT America Race No. 1 After Sketchy Restart
Charlie Luck dominated GT America Powered by AWS Race No. 1 Saturday at Watkins Glen International. However, he had to hold on Jeff Burton on a track with fluid running across it entering turn 2 to take the overall
win.
|
| | Jeff Burton Wins Watkins Glen GT America Race No. 2
Rearden Racing's Jeff Burton passed Charlie Luck 11 minutes into the race and held on to take his first career overall victory in GT America Powered by AWS. A crash with two laps to go resulted in Caesar Bacarella
finishing second overall.
|
| |
John Capestro-Dubets, Tom Capizzi Win Watkins Glen GT4 America Race No. 1 With Last-Lap Pass
AutoTechnic Racing's John Capestro-Dubets overtook Classic BMW's Toby Grahovec with half a lap to go and held on to win Pirelli GT4 America SprintX Race No. 1 at Watkins Glen Saturday. Grahovec and teammate
Stevan McAleer were later disqualified.
|
| | Stevan McAleer, Toby Grahovec Avenge DQ, Win Watkins Glen SprintX Race No. 2
After getting disqualified for Saturday's race due to a camber violation, Classic BMW's Stevan McAleer and Toby Grahovec came from the rear of the field Sunday to win Pirelli GT4 America SprintX Race No. 2 at Watkins Glen
International.
|
Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, NASCAR Media via Jared C. Tilton of Getty Images, Joe Skibinski and Chris Owens of INDYCAR Media and our own Phil Allaway.
|
Seeking the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs: Kyle Larson Wins Round of 16
by Phil Allaway
Kyle Larson led a race-high 175 laps and snatched the lead away from Kevin Harvick with four laps to go to claim his sixth win of the year. That allowed him to win the Round of 16. He ended the round 36 points ahead of Denny Hamlin, who had a tire failure and hit the wall before recovering to finish ninth. Martin Truex Jr. moved up
one place to third after finishing seventh. Ryan Blaney is up two places to fourth after finishing fourth.
Harvick is up one place to fifth after finishing second in what is his best race of the year to this point. Joey Logano is down two places to sixth after finishing 11th. Brad Keselowski gained two places to seventh after finishing sixth. Chase
Elliott dropped one place to eighth after cutting his tire after late contact with Harvick. He would finish 25th.
Alex Bowman moved up to ninth thanks to a fifth-place finish when it counted. Christopher Bell dropped two places to eighth after he had significant contact late while running third. He would ultimately finish 29th. Kyle Busch dropped a spot to 11th after late issues
dropped him to 21st. William Byron moved up from 15th to 12th after finishing third.
Byron just barely made it into the Round of 12, beating out both Aric Almirola and Tyler Reddick by two points. Reddick finished 12th, while Almirola was 18th. Michael McDowell finished 24th and ended the round in 16th.
For the Round of 12, Larson will start with a 30-point lead over Truex. Hamlin and Blaney are tied for third, then Kyle Busch, Elliott, Bowman, Byron, Logano and Keselowski.
Outside of the playoffs, Austin Dillon still has more than two full races over Matt DiBenedetto. Dillon finished 15th, while DiBenedetto was 10th. Ross Chastain is still 19th, while Chris Buescher is 20th.
Round of 16 Points: 1) Kyle Larson
2210, 2) Denny Hamlin -36, 3) Martin Truex Jr. -65, 4) Ryan Blaney -86, 5) Kevin Harvick -87, 6) Joey Logano -91, 7) Brad Keselowski -98, 8) Chase Elliott
-112, 9) Alex Bowman -125, 10) Christopher Bell -126, 11) Kyle Busch -128, 12) William Byron -133, t-13) Tyler Reddick -135, t-13) Aric Almirola -135, 15) Kurt Busch
-139, 16) Michael McDowell -182.
Note No. 1: Drivers in Bold have advanced to the Round
of 12.
Note No. 2: Drivers in Italics have been
eliminated.
Round of 12 Point Standings: 1) Kyle Larson
3059, 2) Martin Truex Jr. -30, t-3) Denny Hamlin -35, t-3) Ryan Blaney -35, 5) Kyle Busch -37, 6) Chase Elliott -38, 7) Alex Bowman -44, 8) William Byron -45, 9) Joey Logano -46, 10) Brad Keselowski -51, 11) Christopher Bell
-54, 12) Kevin Harvick -57.
Eliminated Playoff Contender Points: t-13) Aric Almirola
2075, t-13) Tyler Reddick 2075, 15) Kurt Busch -4, 16) Michael McDowell -47.
Full Season Point Standings (1-16): 1) Kyle Larson 1185, 2) Denny Hamlin -17, 3) Chase Elliott -224, 4) Ryan Blaney -253, 5) Martin Truex Jr. -261, 6) Kyle Busch
-273, t-7) Joey Logano -280, t-7) William Byron -280, 9) Kevin Harvick -286, 10) Brad Keselowski -348, 11) Alex Bowman -386, 12) Tyler Reddick -397, 13) Austin Dillon
-424, 14) Kurt Busch -454, 15) Christopher Bell -501, 16) Matt DiBenedetto -556.
Best of the Rest: 17) Austin Dillon
761, 18) Matt DiBenedetto -132, 19) Ross Chastain -137, 20) Chris Buescher -163, 21) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -187, 22) Bubba Wallace -200, 23) Chase Briscoe -232, 24) Erik Jones -258, 25) Daniel Suarez -261, 26) Ryan Preece
-271.
Playoff
Points: 1) Kyle Larson 59, 2) Martin Truex Jr. -29, t-3) Denny Hamlin -35, t-3) Ryan Blaney -35, 5) Kyle Busch -37, 6) Chase Elliott -38, 7) Alex Bowman -44, 8) William Byron
-45, 9) Joey Logano -46, 10) Brad Keselowski -51, 11) Christopher Bell -54, 12) Kevin Harvick -57.
Stage
Points: 1) Kyle Larson 346, 2) Denny Hamlin -7, 3) Chase Elliott -114, 4) William Byron -123, 5) Kyle Busch -138, 6) Joey Logano -147, 7) Ryan Blaney
-158, 8) Martin Truex Jr. -162, 9) Brad Keselowski -182, 10) Kevin Harvick -208, 11) Tyler Reddick -210, 12) Austin Dillon -229, 13) Kurt Busch -230, 14) Alex Bowman
-238, 15) Christopher Bell -239, 16) Ross Chastain -290.
Note: Stage Points include the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona.
Old Point Standings (1-16): t-1) Denny Hamlin 974, t-1) Kyle Larson 974, 3) Kevin
Harvick -90, 4) Martin Truex Jr. -103, 5) Ryan Blaney -107, 6) Chase Elliott -118, 7) Joey Logano -139, 8) Kyle Busch -141, 9) William Byron -163, 10) Brad Keselowski
-171, 11) Alex Bowman -179, 12) Tyler Reddick -205, 13) Austin Dillon -208, 14) Kurt Busch -248, 15) Christopher Bell -266, 16) Matt DiBenedetto -270.
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, Bristol-2), Martin Truex Jr. (Phoenix,
Martinsville, Darlington-1, Richmond-2), Ryan Blaney (Atlanta-1, Michigan, Daytona-3), Joey Logano (Bristol-1), 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.
|
|
|
Seeking the Xfinity Series Playoffs: AJ Allmendinger Wins Regular Season Championship
by Phil Allaway
AJ Allmendinger rough-housed his way to the lead on the final restart Friday night, then crashed across the line for his fourth win of the year. That was enough to give him the regular season championship. His final margin was 10 points over Austin Cindric, who he crashed with. Justin Allgaier was also in the mix late
and finished fourth. He finishes the regular season in third. Daniel Hemric finished 10th and stays in fourth.
Harrison Burton remains in fifth after finishing seventh. Justin Haley moved up one place to sixth after finishing sixth. Then, he got wrecked in turn 1 on the cool-down lap. Noah Gragson drops back to seventh after finishing 12th. Jeb Burton stays in eighth, but finished a disappointing
24th.
Brandon Jones moved up one place to ninth after finishing fifth. Riley Herbst finished third and reached the top 10 for the first time all year. That gave him his first playoff point of the year. Jeremy Clements dropped two places down to 11th after finishing 13th. He is the last driver in the playoffs on points.
Myatt Snider stays in 12th after posting an eighth-place finish.
Ty Gibbs, who missed 12 races this year, moved up to 13th in points after finishing 11th. Michael Annett missed Friday night's race after another setback in his ongoing recovery from a July leg injury. That put him back to 14th, 98 points behind Clements. Brandon Brown moved up one place to 15th after finishing 14th, while
Ryan Sieg dropped to 16th after falling out with a fuel pump failure.
In the Round of 12, Allmendinger and Cindric will start tied for the lead. They'll have a 24-point lead over Allgaier, then Gragson and Haley.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) AJ Allmendinger 1043, 2) Austin Cindric -10, 3) Justin Allgaier -119, 4) Daniel Hemric -148, 5) Harrison Burton
-172, 6) Justin Haley -179, 7) Noah Gragson -180, 8) Jeb Burton -254, 9) Brandon Jones -414, 10) Riley Herbst -419, 11) Jeremy Clements -421, 12) Myatt Snider
-456, 13) Ty Gibbs -517, 14) Michael Annett -519, 15) Brandon Brown -539, 16) Ryan Sieg -541.
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.
Round of 12 Point Standings: t-1) Austin Cindric 2044, t-1) AJ Allmendinger 2044, 3) Justin Allgaier -24, 4) Noah Gragson -27, 5) Justin Haley
-29, 6) Daniel Hemric -30, 7) Jeb Burton -35, 8) Harrison Burton -36, 9) Myatt Snider
-39, 10) Brandon Jones -41, 11) Riley Herbst -43, 12) Jeremy Clements -44.
Best of the Rest: 13) Ty Gibbs 526, 14) Michael Annett -2, 15) Brandon Brown -22, 16) Ryan Sieg -24, 17) Josh Berry -76, t-18) Alex Labbe -117. t-18) Josh Williams -117, 20) Tommy Joe Martins -122, 21) Landon
Cassill -147, 22) Jade Buford -174, 23) Brett Moffitt -183.
Playoff Points: t-1) Austin Cindric 44, t-1) AJ Allmendinger 44, 3) Justin Allgaier -24, 4) Noah Gragson -27, 5) Justin Haley -29, 6) Daniel Hemric -30, 7) Jeb Burton -35, 8) Harrison Burton -36, 9) Myatt Snider -39, 10) Brandon Jones -41, 11) Riley Herbst -43, 12) Jeremy Clements -44.
Stage Points: 1) Austin Cindric 292, 2) AJ Allmendinger -2, 3) Daniel Hemric -39, 4) Noah Gragson -54, 5) Justin Allgaier
-68, 6) Harrison Burton -86, 7) Justin Haley -99, 8) Brandon Jones -156, 9) Jeb Burton -160, 10) Ty Gibbs -176, 11) Riley Herbst -209, 12) Michael Annett
-220, 13) Myatt Snider -228, 14) Josh Berry -231, 15) Jeremy Clements -239, 16) Brandon Brown -263.
Note: If he were eligible for points, Kyle Busch would be 13th in stage points.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) AJ Allmendinger 874, 2) Austin Cindric -8, 3) Justin Allgaier -57, 4) Harrison Burton -100, 5) Jeb Burton -107, 6) Justin Haley -110, 7) Daniel Hemric -112, 8) Noah Gragson -141, 9) Jeremy Clements -199, 10) Riley Herbst -234, 11) Myatt Snider -246, 12) Brandon Jones -282, 13) Ryan Sieg -290, 14) Brandon Brown -294, 15) Michael Annett -340, 16) Josh Williams -375.
Note: If he were eligible for Xfinity points for the whole season, Brett Moffitt would be 15th 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, Bristol), 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.
|
|
|
Seeking the Camping World Truck Series Playoffs: Sheldon Creed Wins Round of 10; Chandler Smith Bumps Todd Gilliland Out Of Playoffs
by Phil Allaway
Sheldon Creed dominated Thursday night, leading all but 11 laps. However, contact with Chandler Smith cut his left rear tire and cost him the race. He spun in the final five laps, then continued and finished 19th. Winning both stages gave him an extra 20 points, enough to allow him to win the Round of 10 by one point over John Hunter Nemechek, who finished third. Matt
Crafton and Stewart Friesen ended up tied for third. Crafton gets the spot by virtue of his second-place finish at Gateway.
Carson Hocevar gained two spots to finish the round in fifth after finishing sixth. Ben Rhodes dropped one place to a tie for sixth after finishing ninth. Rhodes was tied with Zane Smith, who finished eighth. Todd Gilliland finished 10th, but that was not enough for him to advance to the Round of 8. He ended up missing out by two points.
Chandler Smith moved up to ninth in the round by virtue of his victory Thursday night. Austin Hill had a great night until he was tagged by Josh Berry, resulting in Hill crashing out. The 24th-place finish put him 10th and ended any championship chances.
After the Round of 8 points reset, Nemechek will enter Las Vegas with a 24-point lead over Creed. Rhodes is third, then Zane Smith and Chandler Smith.
Outside of the playoffs, Grant Enfinger finished second and expanded his advantage. He is 92 points ahead of Johnny Sauter, who finished fifth. Derek Kraus dropped to 13th after spinning late in the race. Tyler Ankrum dropped two places to 14th after running into the back of Clay Greenfield on a late restart and damaging his suspension.
Austin Wayne Self is 15th, followed by Ryan Truex.
Round of 10 Point Standings: 1) Sheldon Creed 2166, 2) John Hunter Nemechek -1, t-3) Matt Crafton -33, t-3) Stewart Friesen -33, 5) Carson Hocevar -63, t-6) Ben Rhodes -64, t-6) Zane Smith -64, 8) Todd Gilliland -66, 9) Chandler Smith -68, 10) Austin Hill -72.
Note No. 1: Drivers in Bold have advanced to the Round of
10.
Note No. 2: Drivers in Italics have been
eliminated.
Round of 8 Point Standings: 1) John Hunter Nemechek 3050, 2) Sheldon Creed -24,
3) Ben Rhodes -31, 4) Zane Smith -41, 5) Chandler Smith -44, 6) Matt Crafton -46, 7) Carson Hocevar -48, 8) Stewart Friesen -49.
Full Season Point Standings (1-16): 1) John Hunter Nemechek 765, 2) Austin Hill -131, 3) Ben Rhodes -136, 4) Sheldon Creed -148, 5) Todd Gilliland
-151, 6) Zane Smith -179, 7) Matt Crafton -191, 8) Stewart Friesen -249, 9) Carson Hocevar -261, 10) Grant Enfinger -267, 11) Chandler Smith -316, 12) Johnny Sauter
-357, 13) Derek Kraus -363, 14) Austin Wayne Self -384, 15) Tyler Ankrum -387, 16) Ryan Truex -443.
Best of the Rest: 11) Grant Enfinger 501, 12) Johnny Sauter
-92, 13) Derek Kraus -99, 14) Tyler Ankrum -116, 15) Austin Wayne Self -120, 16) Ryan Truex -179, 17) Hailie Deegan -198, 18) Tanner Gray -240, 19) Chase Purdy -264, 20) Parker Kligerman -279.
Playoff
Points: 1) John Hunter Nemechek
50, 2) Sheldon Creed -24, 3) Ben Rhodes -31, 4) Zane Smith -40, 5) Chandler Smith -43, 6) Matt Crafton -46, 7) Carson Hocevar -47, 8) Stewart Friesen -48.
Stage Points:
1) John Hunter Nemechek 208, 2) Sheldon Creed -27, 3) Austin Hill -57, 4) Ben Rhodes -73, 5) Zane Smith -76, 6) Matt Crafton -82, 7) Stewart Friesen
-86, 8) Todd Gilliland -95, 9) Derek Kraus -111, 10) Chandler Smith -122, 11) Grant Enfinger -139, 12) Carson Hocevar -156, 13) Tyler Ankrum -160, 14) Raphael Lessard -168, 15) Johnny Sauter
-182, 16) Ty Majeski -185.
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 501, 2) Todd Gilliland -66, 3) Ben Rhodes
-70, 4) Austin Hill -85, 5) Zane Smith -111, 6) Sheldon Creed -114, 7) Carson Hocevar -116, 8) Matt Crafton -121, 9) Grant Enfinger -125, 10) Stewart Friesen
-171, 11) Johnny Sauter -190, 12) Chandler Smith -192, 13) Austin Wayne Self -211, 14) Tyler Ankrum -227, 15) Ryan Truex -253, 16) Derek Kraus -254.
Race Winners: Ben Rhodes (Daytona-1, Daytona-2), John Hunter Nemechek (Las Vegas, Richmond, Charlotte, Pocono), Kyle Busch (Atlanta, Kansas), Martin Truex Jr. (Bristol-1), Sheldon Creed (Darlington-1, Gateway,
Darlington-2), Todd Gilliland (Circuit of the Americas), Ryan Preece (Nashville), Austin Hill (Knoxville, Watkins Glen), Chandler Smith (Bristol-2)
Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.
|
|
|
Letter of the Race: Saturday night's Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race was brought to you by the letter C for Cut Tires. The final 100 laps of Saturday night's race saw multiple drivers drop out of contention due to contact that cut
tires down. Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott had their nights ruined. Only Hamlin recovered for a decent finish. - Phil Allaway
|
Quotes to Remember: Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race
compiled by Phil Allaway
"Yeah, that was an awesome race. It was so cool to be able to race there for the win. Obviously Harvick and Chase [Elliott[ got together. Chase was upset. Kind of held him up. It got Harvick having to move around and use his tires up off the bottom.
"I started to get some dive-ins working off of two, got a big run, decided to pull the trigger, slide him, squeeze him a little bit. Then he had me jacked up down the frontstretch. It was wild.
"I love this place. This is by far my favorite track. This is why. You guys are amazing, loud. We feel the energy while we’re out there racing. Thanks, everyone, for spending your hard-earned money to come watch us putting on a show. I look forward to the rest of the year." - Kyle Larson, race
winner
"I told him it was kind of a <expletive> move that he did there at the end. We’re racing for the frickin win at Bristol. We’re three-wide in the middle and he throws a temper tantrum, like I was just trying to get the lead and race him hard. Then he pulls up in front of me and just sits there until I lose the whole lead, so I just hate it for our Subway Ford
Mustang team to be able to lose a race like that. I watched him let [William Byron] go by and then anytime you run into him it’s a problem. They can boo all they want. I don’t care." - Kevin Harvick, finished second
"Honestly, I don’t think I breathed for 100 laps. I was honestly just trying to go as hard as I could. I mean, I don’t know. I had the best seat in the house for the leaders getting together. I was just trying to make as much speed as I could. I felt like that was what our car had, and we were just trying to hold off the [Ryan
Blaney] and just drive it as hard as I could. It was a pretty awesome moment that we could pull through being 18 points out and come into this race and advance is pretty amazing." - William Byron, finished third
"I thought tonight we did a good job of just staying kind of in the hunt all night. I felt like we kind of ran top five most of the night. It wasn’t the best car. I’d take off really good, but I couldn’t keep the long run speed as good as other guys, like the 4 was crazy fast on the long run and we just didn’t quite have that
speed, but I thought we were a little better that last run and were kind of able to keep pace with the leaders, but just not quite enough. I’m proud of the effort. It’s nice to move onto the next round, that’s for sure, and look forward to Vegas." - Ryan Blaney, finished fourth
"It was an interesting night, for sure. We were pretty awful at the start of the race. Greg [Ives] threw everything, including a laptop at it, I think. I heard there was a laptop casualty there during the race, it was so bad (laughs).
"I just started really out of the race track and it took a lot of adjusting on it to get it where we needed it; and it was obviously really fast there at the end. I’m just proud of everybody on this No. 48 team for not giving up. My mistake at Darlington kind of put us in this box; us and the [William Byron]. I’m really glad
[Byron] made it because if they wouldn’t have, that would have been on me, too." - Alex Bowman, finished fifth
"That’s the most speed we’ve shown in quite some time and I’m super proud of that. It’s awesome. That’s the best we’ve been. I’m thrilled to death with that and trying to move on and advance and find more speed for next week." - Brad Keselowski, finished sixth
"Just a battle. We battled with our Bass Pro Shops Toyota all night long and had a decent night for Bristol. No problems, no wrecks, no drama. We got some stage points that first stage and then struggled a little bit with the car, but got a bit better in the end, but came home seventh. Not a great night, but for us at Bristol it
was uneventful and not a terrible night by any means." - Martin Truex Jr., finished seventh
"Really disappointed about today. We were racing to try to win and cut a tire there. We were fast, we were so fast. We got under Kyle [Larson] there on that run and cut a tire then didn’t have a caution there at the end to try to catch back up. Overall, I think we’re doing a great job. Our cars are fast every week." -
Denny Hamlin, finished ninth
"It was just a struggle. We tried some things and didn’t really get anywhere with it. The car was just very disconnected, very free in, tight landing — tight two-thirds especially and never were able to fix it with the adjustments we got in the race. It just eventually wears the front tires off and back up lights come on. I thought we might finish in the top 10
and get that out of it, but fell off pretty hard the last 15." - Joey Logano, finished 11th
"Yeah, unfortunately we certainly gave up more than two spots over the course of this first round. Darlington, getting stuck down a lap at Richmond. Not just one key opportunity, but there was a number that was the difference.
"One situation, the situation tonight, doesn’t really stick out as the one that makes it sting. It was just unfortunate getting to the Playoffs, we don’t really have the pace that we had to just point our way into the Playoffs leaderboard." - Tyler Reddick, finished 12th
"It was frustrating. I’m disappointed to have it end like that just because we had battled so much adversity throughout the night and got ourselves in position to where we were running top 10 and doing what we needed to do, and then that caution came out there at the end where we had 18 laps on our tires and we stayed out, and
for whatever reason when we re-fired on those tires the car was up on top of the racetrack, skating, wouldn’t turn, I didn’t have any side bite and just struggling. I don’t know. That’s not the way we wanted it to end, but we’ll keep going and battle it out the rest of the playoffs and see if we can’t finish inside the top 10 in points." - Aric Almirola, finished 18th
"Really disappointing effort today. That was not a championship-type effort. We missed it big time. We had bad luck last week and we have no shot at a championship this year. We have to race for pride, dignity and honor for the next few weeks. The team is shutting down and we’re eliminated early. That’s not the way we wanted this
to go. Maybe we can crawl our way back up to a fifth to 10th-range in points. But tonight was not a night to miss the setup." - Kurt Busch, finished 19th
"Just lack of speed really. We just weren’t very good at being able to make up time on the leaders there. Was only going to be about fifth quick. We fought hard there all day long and had a flat there at the end and got way behind. I guess we made it (into the Round of 12) so that’s all that matters." - Kyle Busch, finished
21st
"Well, it’s something he does all the time. He runs into your left side constantly at other tracks. Sometimes it does cut down your left side. Other times it doesn’t. He did it to me at Darlington a few weeks ago because he was tired of racing with me. Whether he did it on purpose, it doesn’t matter. At some point, you’ve got to
draw the line. I don’t care who he is or how long he’s been doing it. I’m going to stand up for myself and my team and we’ll go on down the road." - Chase Elliott, finished 25th
Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.
|
|
|
|
