This is Rambo's second infraction in four races, with the first bringing a probation of just one race. The probation is now the longest given out in the league, a couple races after Kyle Law received a four-race probation at Peoria Motor Speedway, which is still being served.
"The length of the penalty definitely had to do with it being a second infraction," NFRN Director of Competition Kris Neuert said. "We just have to defuse the tension. We don't want to be in the business of giving out points penalties and especially not suspensions, but with these probation periods, points can be lost if the behavior continues." Under probation, a driver must not have aggressive incidents deemed their fault or else be subject to further penalty.
Suddenly, a twist changed all the momentum.
In the midst of the final green flag pit stops, Chase driver Amethyst Ashley was turned off the front bumper of Rambo exiting pit road, right onto the track where Ashley was slammed hard by Jonny Gardner, another playoff contender. The caution came out with three laps to go and two drivers yet to stop: Eli Bright in the lead and Cody Hagen just behind. But the #88 car knew he was running dry, and stopping mid-course would have risked him losing even more spots, despite most of the field being at least one lap down from already stopping. Bright made the hard left. Hagen was ballsy, yet smart. The #42 team went the longest without stopping in the first pit window: 17 laps, just as long as Jason Langley went in the NFRN Truck Series although he ran out on the backstretch. The confidence on fuel mileage was able to propel Hagen to his first career win, mirroring that of Grayson Acevedo from Riki Raceway last season winning as a non-Chase driver in the first playoff race. "We tested that during practice, we knew what the fuel window was and that in dividing the race, pitting too early could force us to a three-stop strategy," crew chief Edwin Hadley said. "I'm glad we turned those long runs, because I didn't have any reservations keeping him out there on the yellow." Playoff competitor Jake Baskinger snuck his way into 2nd by managing to get off pit lane on the same lap as the leaders and then have Bright come down for his pit stop. The #84 now sits atop the point standings going into Toronto Lakeshore Speedway.
The driver of the #4, under review as a result of the accident, expressed remorse following the accident.
"I know I should be celebrating a top-20 finish today, even at home, but after what happened at the end I have a bad feeling with myself and want to apologize to the #57 and the #6 for wrecking them," Rambo said. "It was a great race but ended badly because of a bad mistake by me."
"I just don't know if we would have gotten to the end without blowing up," Aston said. "We tried to do damage control and the timing potentially saved us some spots but I don't really know. All I know is that if we blew up and the wreck didn't happen, we'd be in even more of a hole."
As it stands, Jek Porkins sits just outside the group to advance, three points behind Rampage who is 12th in points. Ryan Maiden, Ashley, and Gardner also face elimination with two races left in the round. Gardner, the furthest back, is 12 points outside of 12th.
But when it comes to overall strength of the field, it looks like the non-Chasers want to steal away a victory. Only four playoff competitors cracked the top-10 this session, while 10 drivers were found in the back half of the full-timers. Just three playoff drivers were in the top-10 in first practice.
Here's final speeds heading into Chase race #1: (playoff drivers in bold) 1) Julio Cesar (R) - 32.440 (81 laps) 2) Nick Smith - 32.461 (83) 3) Brad Stover (R) - 32.468 (86) 4) Amethyst Ashley (R) - 32.484 (80) 5) nascarfan19 - 32.499 (86) 6) Noah Pontzer (R) - 32.509 (85) 7) Rambo (R) - 32.514 (85) 8) Caleb Campbell (R) - 32.533 (80) 9) Jett Kraus (R) - 32.533 (87) 10) John Arndt - 32.543 (82) 11) William Brock - 32.583 (82) 17) Adam Mundinger (R) - 32.610 (81) 19) Rampage - 32.614 (84) T20) Phillip Fry (R) - 32.616 (85) 22) Stuart Gratton (R) - 32.630 (83) 25) David Davidson (R) - 32.634 (87) 26) Jake Baskinger (R) - 32.646 (83) 28) Ryan Maiden (R) - 32.650 (95) 29) Reece Butcher - 32.653 (83) 30) Jonny Gardner - 32.662 (87) 34) Bruno de Barros (R) - 32.683 (82) 35) Jek Porkins (R)- 32.700 (82) |
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