Frontstretch Newsletter: Sept. 27, 2021
Volume: XV, Edition CLXXIV
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- Cup teams are en route back to their shops after Sunday night's action in Las Vegas. Truck and Xfinity teams are on the way there, or already
there. We'll have entry lists for this weekend's action in Talladega and/or anything else that breaks for
you at Frontstretch.
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Around the World in Motorsports: Sept. 24-26
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- Friday night saw the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series race at Eldora Speedway in the annual BeFour the Crowns event. Here, Logan Schuchart took the lead from Donny Schatz with nine laps to go and held on take the victory. James McFadden was second, then David Gravel, Schatz and Tyler Courtney. Points leader Brad Sweet
had two flat tires and ended up 19th.
- Saturday night saw the series move to Pennsylvania's Lernerville Speedway for the Commonwealth Clash. Here, Gravel snagged the lead away from Sweet on lap 23 and held on to win by 1.478 seconds over Sweet, Schatz, McFadden and Sheldon Haudenschild.
With nine races to go, Sweet has a 120-point lead over Gravel. Carson Macedo is third, then Schatz and Haudenschild.
- Mercedes-AMG Team Toksport WRT achieved a weekend sweep in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS Sprint Cup season finale at Valencia with drivers Luca Stolz and Maro Engel.
Team WRT's Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts clinched both the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS Sprint Cup and the overall Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS championships. The overall title comes with one race still to run.
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| | Denny Hamlin Dominates Las Vegas, Wins 1st Race in Sin City
Denny Hamlin led 129 of 267 laps and held off a charging Denny Hamlin Sunday night to win the South Point 400 for his second win of the year. Kyle Busch was third, then Martin Truex Jr. and Ryan Blaney.
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| | Joe Gibbs Racing Notches Critical Performance at Las Vegas
After a Bristol marred by tire issues, Joe GIbbs Racing came into Las Vegas on a mission. That mission was successful as JGR put three cars in the top five Sunday night.
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| | Josh Berry Wins Xfinity Alsco 302, JR Motorsports Sweeps Top 3 Spots
Driving in place of the injured Michael Annett, Josh Berry ran down and passed Justin Allgaier after the final round of pit stops Saturday night. From there, Berry pulled away to take his second win of the year.
Allgaier was second, then Noah Gragson to complete a JR Motorsports 1-2-3. Austin Cindric and Daniel Hemric completed the top five.
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| | Xfinity Series Silly Season: Daniel Hemric Headed to Kaulig Racing for 2022
Kaulig Racing announced Saturday that Daniel Hemric will move over from Joe Gibbs Racing to replace Justin Haley in the No. 11 Chevrolet full-time in the Xfinity Series in 2022.
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| | Christian Eckes Scores 1st Career Win in Chaotic Las Vegas Truck Series Race
Christian Eckes took the lead away on the final restart with four laps to go from Todd Gilliland. From there, he held on to take his first career Camping World Truck Series victory. Ben Rhodes was second, then Matt
Crafton and Johnny Sauter in a ThorSport Racing 1-2-3-4 finish. Gilliland was fifth.
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| | Issues Plague Playoff Drivers, Mar Truck Series Race in Las Vegas
The Round of 8 started off Friday with a series of issues for playoff contenders. John Hunter Nemechek had electrical issues that put him out. Meanwhile, Chandler Smith and Sheldon Creed crashed
out.
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| | Colton Herta Sweeps SoCal; Alex Palou Wins IndyCar Championship
Colton Herta started 14th Sunday and did what often cannot be done on street courses. He made oodles of overtakes to get to the lead, then held off Josef Newgarden to take his second straight victory in Sunday's Acura
Grand Prix of Long Beach. Scott Dixon was third, then Alex Palou and Simon Pagenaud.
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| | Alex Palou Wins 2021 IndyCar Series Championship
Alex Palou entered Sunday only needing to finish 12th or better to win the NTT IndyCar Series championship. He ultimately drove a methodical and safe race to move up to fourth by the finish to claim his first
championship.
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Pato O’Ward’s IndyCar Title Chances Disappear in Long Beach
Arrow McLaren SR's Patricio O'Ward entered Sunday's Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach with a need to win to have a decent chance of winning the NTT IndyCar Series championship. Those chances effectively ended when he was hit
on the first lap, which caused problems that ended his day.
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| | Simon Pagenaud Heading to Meyer Shank in 2022
Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian announced Monday morning that Simon Pagenaud will move over to the team to replace Jack Harvey in the No. 60 full-time in 2022.
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| | Romain Grosjean Moving to IndyCar Full Time in 2022 for Andretti
Andretti Autosport announced Friday in Long Beach that Romain Grosjean has signed to drive the team's No. 28 DHL-sponsored entry full-time (including all of the ovals) in 2022, replacing Ryan Hunter-Reay.
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| | Callum Ilott Driving Full Time for Juncos Hollinger in 2022
Juncos Hollinger Racing announced Friday that 2020 F2 runner-up Callum Ilott will race for the team full-time in the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series.
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| | Lewis Hamilton Scores 100th Career Win in Wet Russian Grand Prix
Rains in the final five laps Saturday completely changed the outcome of the Grand Prix of Russia. Lando Norris stayed out too long on slicks, allowing Lewis Hamilton to drive pass on his intermediate tires to claim his
100th Grand Prix victory. Max Verstappen charged to second, then Carlos Sainz Jr., Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas.
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| | Max Verstappen Rallies to Finish 2nd at Sochi
Red Bull's Max Verstappen had to start Sunday's Grand Prix of Russia from the rear of the field due to an engine change. From there, he raced up into the points, then benefitted from the rain to get all the way up to
second.
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| | Felipe Nasr, Pipo Derani Sweep IMSA Weekend at Long Beach
Action Express Racing's Felipe Nasr and Pipo Derani swept every IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship session in Long Beach. The duo combined to lead 73 of 78 laps Saturday to win the IMSA Acura Grand Prix of Long
Beach.
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Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, NASCAR Media via Sean Gardner and Steph Chambers of Getty Images, James Black, Chris Jones and Chris Owens of INDYCAR Media, Antonin Vincent of DPPI and Yuri Kochetkov and Mark
Thompson of Getty Images.
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Seeking the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs: Pit Strategy Hurts Kyle Larson, Cuts Into Points Lead
by Phil Allaway
Kyle Larson won stage one Sunday night and had one of the best cars. However, pit strategy in stage two burned him. He chose not to pit during the sole non-competition caution of the race and that resulted in him having to make a stop from the lead. He was never able to fully recover and finished 10th. Denny
Hamlin led 137 laps and won his second race of the season. That cut Larson's point lead from 30 points to 14. Kyle Busch finished a strong third in his 600th career start and moved up two places to third. Martin Truex Jr. is down two places to fourth despite finishing fourth.
Ryan Blaney is down to fifth after finishing fifth and earning seven stage points. Chase Elliott remains in sixth after finishing second. Joey Logano is up two places to seventh after finishing 11th. Brad Keselowski is up two places to eighth after finishing seventh.
William Byron is down one place to eighth after a roller coaster of a day. He came from the rear of the field to lead the race, but a flat tire in the final run of the race dropped him to a 18th-place finish. Kevin Harvick is up to 10th after finishing ninth. Alex Bowman is down four places to 11th
after a cut tire right after his final scheduled stop dropped him to 22nd. Christopher Bell is down to 12th after getting damage early and finishing 24th.
Outside of the playoffs, Tyler Reddick claimed sole possession of 13th after finishing sixth. He is 14 points ahead of Kurt Busch, who finished eighth. Aric Almirola dropped to 15th after finishing 19th. Michael McDowell remains in 16th.
Of those who weren't in the playoffs at all, Austin Dillon continues to hold onto 17th, effectively holding pat with Matt DiBenedetto on Sunday. Ross Chastain is still 19th, while Chris Buescher is 20th.
Round of 12 Point Standings: 1) Kyle Larson 3096,
2) Denny Hamlin -14, 3) Kyle Busch -22, 4) Martin Truex Jr. -26, 5) Ryan Blaney -33, 6) Chase Elliott -35, 7) Joey Logano -51, 8) Brad Keselowski -53, 9) William Byron -57, 10) Kevin Harvick -60, 11) Alex Bowman -66, 12) Christopher Bell
-78.
Note : Drivers in Bold have advanced to the Round of
12.
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: 13) Tyler Reddick
2118, 14) Kurt Busch -14, 15) Aric Almirola -25, 16) Michael McDowell -74.
Full Season Point Standings (1-16): 1) Denny Hamlin 1226, 2) Kyle Larson -4, 3) Chase Elliott -225, 4) Ryan Blaney -255, 5) Martin Truex Jr. -261, 6) Kyle Busch -262, 7) Joey Logano
-289, 8) Kevin Harvick -293, 9) William Byron -296, 10) Brad Keselowski -354, 11) Tyler Reddick -395, 12) Alex Bowman -412, 13) Austin Dillon -439, 14) Kurt Busch -463, 15) Christopher Bell -533, 16) Matt
DiBenedetto -571.
Best of the Rest: 17) Austin Dillon 787, 18)
Matt DiBenedetto -131, 19) Ross Chastain -149, 20) Chris Buescher -177, 21) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -193, 22) Bubba Wallace -204, 23) Chase Briscoe -235, 24) Daniel Suarez -265, 25) Erik Jones -273, 26) Ryan Preece -288.
Playoff
Points: 1) Kyle Larson 60, 2) Denny Hamlin -30, 3) Martin Truex Jr. -31, 4) Ryan Blaney -36, t-5) Kyle Busch -39, t-5) Chase Elliott -39, 7) Alex Bowman -45, 8) William Byron
-46, 9) Joey Logano -47, 10) Brad Keselowski -52, 11) Christopher Bell -55, 12) Kevin Harvick -58.
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): 1) Denny Hamlin 1019, 2) Kyle Larson -13, 3) Kevin Harvick
-103, 4) Martin Truex Jr. -110, 5) Ryan Blaney -115, 6) Chase Elliott -123, 7) Kyle Busch -147, 8) Joey Logano -154, 9) Brad Keselowski -181, 10) William Byron -184, 11) Alex Bowman -205, 12) Tyler Reddick
-214, 13) Austin Dillon -224, 14) Kurt Busch -260, 15) Matt DiBenedetto -286, 16) Christopher Bell -294.
Race Winners: Michael McDowell (Daytona-1), Christopher Bell (Daytona-2), William Byron (Homestead), Kyle Larson (Las Vegas-1, 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, Las
Vegas-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: Austin Cindric Breaks Tie, Snatches Round of 12 Points Lead
by Phil Allaway
Austin Cindric was the best non-JR Motorsports driver Saturday night, finishing fourth. That broke the tie between himself and AJ Allmendinger. Cindric's advantage is seven points over Allmendinger, who finished seventh. Justin Allgaier is still in third after finishing second and leading the most laps. Noah
Gragson is up one spot to fourth after finishing third.
Daniel Hemric is up one place to fifth after finishing fifth Saturday. Justin Haley is down one place to sixth after finishing ninth. Harrison Burton is up one place to seventh after finishing 10th. Brandon Jones is up two places to eighth and currently has the last spot in the Round of 8 after finishing
sixth.
Jones is 10 points ahead of Myatt Snider, who remains in ninth after finishing 15th. Jeb Burton is down three places to 10th after getting eliminated in the lap 31 crash and finishing 35th. Riley Herbst was also eliminated in the crash and stays in 11th. Jeremy Clements met the same fate and is
12th.
Outside of the playoffs, Ty Gibbs remains in 13th after finishing 11th Saturday. He is 37 points ahead of Ryan Sieg, who gained two spots after finishing 17th. The idle Michael Annett dropped down to 15th, while Brandon Brown is now 16th.
Round of 12 Point Standings: 1) Austin Cindric 2093, 2) AJ Allmendinger -7, 3) Justin Allgaier -28, 4) Noah Gragson -29, 5) Daniel Hemric
-32, 6) Justin Haley -49, 7) Harrison Burton -53, 8) Brandon Jones -56, 9) Myatt Snider
-66, 10) Jeb Burton -83, 11) Riley Herbst -88, 12) Jeremy Clements -92.
Full Season 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.
Best of the Rest: 13) Ty Gibbs 563, 14) Ryan Sieg -37, 15) Michael Annett -39, 16) Brandon Brown -44, 17) Josh Berry -66, 18) Tommy Joe Martins -136. 19) Josh Williams -141, 20) Alex Labbe -153, 21) Landon Cassill
-163, 22) Brett Moffitt -191, 23) Jade Buford -200.
Playoff Points: 1) AJ Allmendinger 45, 2) Austin Cindric -1, 3) Justin Allgaier -24, 4) Noah Gragson -28, 5) Justin Haley -30, 6) Daniel Hemric -31, 7) Jeb Burton -36, 8) Harrison Burton -37, 9) Myatt Snider -40, 10) Brandon Jones -42, 11) Riley Herbst -44, 12) Jeremy Clements -45.
Stage Points: 1) Austin Cindric 308, 2) AJ Allmendinger -6, 3) Daniel Hemric -40, 4) Noah Gragson -57, 5) Justin Allgaier -74, 6) Harrison Burton -97, 7) Justin Haley
-114, 8) Brandon Jones -169, 9) Jeb Burton -176, 10) Ty Gibbs -181, 11) Riley Herbst -225, 12) Michael Annett -236, 13) Josh Berry -240, 14) Myatt Snider -244, 15) Jeremy Clements -255, 16) Ty Dillon
-272.
Note: If he were eligible for points, Kyle Busch would be 13th in stage points.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) AJ Allmendinger 909, 2) Austin Cindric -5, 3) Justin Allgaier -51, 4) Harrison Burton -104, 5) Daniel Hemric -111, 6) Justin Haley -112, t-7) Noah Gragson -137, t-7) Jeb Burton -137, 9) Jeremy Clements -232, 10) Myatt Snider -255, 11) Riley Herbst -261, 12) Brandon Jones -282, 13) Ryan Sieg -301, 14) Brandon Brown -310, 15) Michael Annett -375, 16) Josh Williams -393.
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-1, Mid-Ohio, Michigan, Bristol), Myatt Snider (Homestead), Justin Allgaier (Atlanta-1, Darlington-1), Josh Berry (Martinsville, Las Vegas-2), 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: The Leaders Find Trouble In Las Vegas
by Phil Allaway
Friday night was a bit of a mess for the Camping World Truck Series playoff contenders. Points leader Sheldon Creed crashed out of the event early and finished 36th. Ben Rhodes was able to avoid the wrecks and finished second. That elevated Rhodes up two places to the points lead. His advantage is six points over John Hunter
Nemechek, who had issues under the hood that ended his race early in 33rd. Stewart Friesen moved up five spots to third after finishing sixth. Matt Crafton moved up to fourth, the final spot in the Championship 4, after finishing third.
Crafton's advantage is five points over Creed, who crashed out after hitting Chandler Smith. Carson Hocevar is up one place to sixth, but cut a tire late and intentionally spun out to bring out the yellow, dropping him to a 22nd-place finish, two laps down. Zane Smith is down three spots to seventh after cutting a tire early and
having battery issues. Chandler Smith is down to eighth after crashing out and finishing 35th.
Outside of the playoffs, Todd Gilliland finished fifth and stays in ninth. He is 24 points ahead of Austin Hill, who finished 10th.
Of those who were never in the playoffs, Grant Enfinger continues to lead by 90 points over Johnny Sauter after finishing seventh Friday night. Derek Kraus is still in 13th, while Austin Wayne Self is back up to 14th. Tyler Ankrum is 15th and Ryan Truex 16th.
Round of 8 Point Standings: 1) Ben Rhodes 3070, 2) John Hunter Nemechek -6, 3) Stewart Friesen -25, 4) Matt Crafton -29, 5) Sheldon Creed -34, 6) Carson Hocevar
-45, 7) Zane Smith -48, 8) Chandler Smith -53.
Note No. 1: Drivers in Bold have advanced to the
Round of 10.
Note No. 2: Drivers in Italics have been
eliminated.
Eliminated Playoff Driver Standings: 9) Todd Gilliland 2151,
10) Austin Hill -24.
Full Season Point Standings (1-16): 1) John Hunter Nemechek 779, 2) Ben Rhodes -99, 3) Austin Hill -112, 4) Todd Gilliland -114, 5) Sheldon Creed
-152, 6) Matt Crafton -168, 7) Zane Smith -180, 8) Stewart Friesen -219, 9) Grant Enfinger -251, 10) Carson Hocevar -252, 11) Chandler Smith -319, 12) Johnny Sauter -338, 13) Derek Kraus -352, 14) Austin Wayne Self
-369, 15) Tyler Ankrum -397, 16) Ryan Truex -429.
Best of the Rest: 11) Grant Enfinger
531, 12) Johnny Sauter -90, 13) Derek Kraus -104, 14) Austin Wayne Self -121, 15) Tyler Ankrum -142, 16) Ryan Truex -181, 17) Hailie Deegan -222, 18) Tanner Gray -251, 19) Chase Purdy -270, 20) Christian Eckes
-303.
Playoff
Points: 1) John Hunter Nemechek
51, 2) Sheldon Creed -25, 3) Ben Rhodes -32, 4) Zane Smith -42, 5) Chandler Smith -44, 6) Matt Crafton -47, 7) Carson Hocevar -48, 8) Stewart Friesen -49.
Stage
Points: 1) John Hunter Nemechek 218, 2) Sheldon Creed -28, 3) Austin Hill -61, 4) Ben Rhodes -67, 5) Zane Smith -81, 6) Stewart Friesen -83, 7) Todd Gilliland -86, 8) Matt Crafton -89, 9) Derek Kraus
-121, 10) Chandler Smith -123, 11) Grant Enfinger -149, 12) Carson Hocevar -158, 13) Tyler Ankrum -169, 14) Raphael Lessard -178, 15) Johnny Sauter -192, 16) Ty Majeski
-195.
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 503, 2) Todd Gilliland -38, 3) Ben Rhodes
-40, 4) Austin Hill -63, 5) Matt Crafton -93, 6) Grant Enfinger -101, 7) Carson Hocevar -106, 8) Zane Smith -109, 9) Sheldon Creed -115, 10) Stewart Friesen -145, 11) Johnny Sauter -162, 12) Austin Wayne Self
-188, 13) Chandler Smith -193, 14) Tyler Ankrum -228, 15) Ryan Truex -231, 16) Derek Kraus -235.
Race Winners: Ben Rhodes (Daytona-1, Daytona-2), John Hunter Nemechek (Las Vegas-1, 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), Christian Eckes (Las Vegas-2)
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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Quotes to Remember: South Point 400
compiled by Phil Allaway
"So happy for our FedEx Office Toyota team. Joe Gibbs Racing just gives us great race cars. That’s what I’m so proud of is to drive for those guys. Can’t thank them enough for everything they do. It feels so good to win in Vegas. Last couple times I’ve been so close, just didn’t have the right breaks. They dialed the car in great. Great to hold those guys
off.
"It does [relieve me]. Especially with this crazy round coming up. We’ve just done a great job on this race track and getting it a lot better for me over the course of my career. 14 years of not really being that good. Chris (Gabehart, crew chief) and the whole FedEx team have been great – great ride with them. We’ve added another trophy to the trophy case and now we
get to go and worry about the next round." - Denny Hamlin, race winner
"We were really close, just not quite close enough. Denny [Hamlin] did a good job of controlling the gap to me. He was having a hard time with [Matt DiBenedetto]. I think he was doing a good job of giving himself enough room to him to be able to work the lanes, kind of control the gap back to me.
"Super close. Really proud of our NAPA team. Feel like we’ve been performing at a really nice level the last three or four weeks, we just haven’t had great results to show for it. Proud of the effort tonight. Looking forward to the next two. Going to be wild. Looking forward to it." - Chase Elliott, finished second
"We got all we could. I felt like during the daytime, we were a little bit better than [Denny Hamlin]. We could race with him. I felt like I was looking forward to the lights coming on and us picking up speed and being able to rip the wall a little bit faster. When we got hit into the fence there off of [turn] 2 the first time, it definitely knocked speed out of our
car. We helped it a little bit coming to pit road putting the last set of tires on it and then I got into the fence again trying to get by a lapped car. Not enough room over there I guess. Overall, great job by Ben [Beshore, crew chief] and my guys on this M&M’s Camry. They gave me a good piece. We moved forward all day long so that was good and just appreciate TRD and Interstate Batteries, Rowdy Energy and Ethel M for being here from Las Vegas and all of those guys were here today. Good
showing." - Kyle Busch, finished third
"We just could never get the balance quite right. We were really struggling off of turn 4, no matter what we did. Not sure exactly why. It’s not something that we’ve had here in the past. Definitely something going on there that we couldn’t fix. We tried a lot. We made a lot of adjustments. James [Small, crew chief] and the guys did a really good job executing and we
got all we could out of it. The Bass Pro Toyota was a little bit off tonight. I wish we could have been a little bit better, but all-in-all to grind out a fourth with that car is a good effort." - Martin Truex Jr., finished fourth
"I thought a couple of cars were a little quicker than us. We got behind the eight-ball a little bit there in that second stage having to pit at the end and take the wave around. That hurt us. We had a fast enough Menards Ford Mustang to finish fifth. That is something to be proud of. We will go on to Talladega." - Ryan Blaney, finished
fifth
"It wasn’t a bad night. We executed really, really well and made the most of what we had. That was just all we had. We just kind of rode in 10th to 15th most of the day and at one point we got up to seventh or eighth but couldn’t really hold it. At the end we just really executed really well. The pit stops were great. The pit calls were good. No loose wheels or any
troubles and we were able to get a solid day out of it to get ourselves a little cushion." - Brad Keselowski, finished seventh
"We stayed out and had to do the wave around. I wasn’t on fresh tires and stuck in traffic. Everyone is fighting so hard back there to run their race that I just got kind of stuck. Not beat around, but just stuck and having to race. It’s just hard.
"[Ryan] Blaney got through there better. I got stuck around [Ross Chastain], so he was able to get clear and get away and have a good finish. Just being on older tires and having to battle through all of them was difficult. You forget how hard everybody races back there; it’s pretty wild. There were moments where I thought I was going to end up crashed or get
frustrate and run myself into the wall. But we were able to mentally fight through it and come away with a top-10." - Kyle Larson, finished 10th
"I thought we were really fast. We came from the back to the front, took the lead and then obviously had that caution. I chose the wrong lane there and had to run second there for awhile to Kyle. And then we had the strategy deal with not being able to make it on fuel and had to recover from that. We had to take two tires and that hurt us. We were able to drive all
the way back to the front from the back again, so that was twice today. And then we had the flat tire." - William Byron, finished 18th
"We weren’t great. The stage two strategy just didn’t work out for us and it put us in a tough spot there to start stage three. The valve stem got knocked off on a pit stop and the rest is history. Not a good day on any aspects. We had a decent car, we just didn’t have the pit road and strategy we needed." - Alex Bowman, finished
22nd
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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