Only the latter made it, entering the race 16th in points.
Fry, who put together a 16th-place finish, bumped another two-time playoff contender Reece Butcher, who first had incidental contact with Zachary Fitzwater Sr. on the first lap that ultimately sent Rayne in flight on the backstretch and then was struck from behind on pit lane as Mitchell Marc and TheOtherJR had contact entering their stalls. Butcher exited after the Round of 12 last season. This season, the #90 couldn't clear the first hurdle. The league's original champion might have been as big a surprise as anyone. Rampage looked destined to win in the first playoff race at Texas World, but a series of events there and a non-existent performance at Toronto Lakeshore Speedway led to an early exit for the 3-seed entering the Chase.
Maiden almost played the spoiler among the back four, climbing throughout the race as Stuart Gratton struggled in the pits, but it was the #99 that faltered at the worst time as he slipped back to 32nd on the final pit stop and kept Gratton's title aspirations alive.
So the Round of 12 is set, but we've still yet to talk about the battle for the win, which was in itself a story. Jett Kraus and Brad Stover, the season leaders in top-10s but neither a part of the playoffs, found themselves in a chess match in the latter part of the race, and they took two different paths to get there. Stover made his way to the front by not pitting on the first caution. David Davidson was the initial beneficiary, but his pit crew's speed on the first stop was unable to keep him in the lead, eventually putting him in position to finish 4th. Kraus was one of those to pit under the first caution, and was actually 15th before the first green flag stops took place, but all cylinders were clicking as he eventually caught up to the #55 after the second green stop when Stover was caught in traffic. By the way, both of those drivers started on Row 14. Despite lapped cars giving the #34 team a scare at the end, he was able to keep Stover behind him, as he claimed his first-ever victory and added a slight advantage to his edge on 17th in points, with Stover jumping up to 18th. "It's been such a feast or famine season for us that finally getting to victory lane is really validating for us," crew chief Frank Elwood said. Now the playoff field resets, with the remaining 12 drivers all on equal ground heading to SimTel Park. With the eliminations of Rampage, Butcher, and Rayne, only three veterans have a shot at a title: nascarfan19, John Arndt, and William Brock. Rookies like points leader Jake Baskinger or Bruno de Barros, who had top-10s in each race of the Round of 16, are very much in contention to be a champion in their first season of competition. In other race news, the NFRN stated it has warned Marc after being involved in pit road contact for the third race in a row but stopped short of handing out a probation. At Texas World, he was slow entering his stall leading to Rampage's poor finish, and he ran into Fitzwater Sr. at Toronto Lakeshore after exiting his stall.
Chasers had a hot run on the one-mile track, with five cracking the top-10 at the end of 60 minutes, three of whom are below the cut line. Jonny Gardner led the way in the group, giving Gardner Racing a 2-3 effort in the practice. Jake Baskinger and Ryan Maiden also placed inside the top-10 in both sessions, finishing 5th and 6th, respectively. Gardner, Maiden, and Phillip Fry, are between six to 12 points behind 12th place.
Contenders found themselves on different ends of the spectrum, as three of the bottom five spots were also occupied by playoff drivers. David Davidson came up dead last, with nascarfan19 and Amethyst Ashley failing to find speed. First practice leader TheOtherJR was also tied for second-to-last. Here's practice times for the final session prior to racing at NASCOR: (playoff drivers in bold) 1) Eli Bright (R) - 22.720 (115 laps) 2) Zachary Fitzwater Sr. (R) - 22.725 (120) 3) Jonny Gardner - 22.735 (124) 4) Dalejrfan8883 (R) - 22.747 (118) 5) Jake Baskinger (R) - 22.751 (137) 6) Ryan Maiden (R) - 22.752 (122) 7) Jonathan Raines (R) - 22.755 (129) 8) Aidan Shepherd (R) - 22.758 (124) 9) Phillip Fry (R) - 22.760 (133) 10) Adam Mundinger (R) - 22.762 (124) 15) Reece Butcher - 22.767 (135) 16) John Arndt - 22.769 (125) T17) Stuart Gratton (R) - 22.771 (126) 20) Rampage - 22.774 (124) T21) Julio Cesar (R) - 22.775 (126) 24) William Brock - 22.778 (131) T27) Bruno de Barros (R) - 22.787 (120) T29) Jek Porkins (R) - 22.788 (134) T32) Amethyst Ashley (R) - 22.793 (135) T34) nascarfan19 - 22.794 (120) 36) David Davidson (R) - 22.802 (118) |
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