Another race came down to fuel mileage as Marty Johnson grabbed an unlikely victory at Hattiesburg Speedway. Johnson was running fourth when the top two of Tyler Markel and Josh Harris pitted approaching two laps to go. He passed Matt Johnson on the lap to take the lead and the win. Alexander Miller came home second with Paul Brenner, Carson Scott and Harrison Butt finishing the top five.
Three Takeaways: Strategy Issues: With only seven drivers finishing on the lead lap, something happened on pit road that kept crews from properly projecting where the cars could manage their fuel. Johnson’s crew made the right calls to move him forward and get him the Chase-securing victory. Points On Edge: Johnson moved from 39th to 27th with his win while Reece Butcher moved down to tie him at the same spot. Now both of these drivers are in positions that require them to race stronger in this stretch that affirm their spot in the Chase. No Cautions: Hattiesburg is the first race this season that had no cautions interrupting the flow of the action. This likely caused the fluttering of cars to the pits late in the race because cars ran varying pit strategies. It will be interesting to see if any other races stay clean and how that affects the pit strategy game. The Wendy’s Cup Series went international for the first time this season and Dan Bandon grabbed the win at Emerson Fittipaldi Speedway down in Rio de Janeiro. He was able to storm off pit lane and take the lead for the final 12 laps of the race. John Green and The Flash were the only other drivers to lead laps, but they finished third and fourth, respectively. Grayson Acevedo snagged second while Conrad Cooper took fifth.
Three Takeaways: Relief to Pressure: The win was much needed for Bandon who hopped from 31st to 22nd in the point standings. However, he’s in as much of a precarious situation as Reece Butcher, currently running 24th. Ten races will determine these drivers’ fates. Single File Racing: Beyond a first turn crash that eliminated three drivers, the race went single file most of the green flag laps. Positions were won and lost on pit road, but drivers weren’t happy that passing was nearly impossible on the long trapezoid-shaped track. They are hoping the series will acquire a new package if they return to the track to make the racing more exciting. Wanderley’s Luck: The #17 of Gabryel Wanderley is getting sick of this bad luck. He got caught up in the one accident of the race and finished 41st, but he has only posted one top-25 finish on the season, 13th at Delaware Speedway. He is now dead last in the point standings. |
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