"Our driver did a great job all day long," crew chief ??? said. "It helps when you eliminate half the field and you're on the good side, but that doesn't mean we didn't build a great car or we don't have the best driver out there."
A big accident on lap 9 provided underdog opportunities for those who avoided the accidents like Noah Pontzer (6th, season-best) and David Davidson (15th). "Would have liked to get a win, but now we are starting to put together some good runs after a bad start to the season," Pontzer said. "I’ll take a solid top-15 finish over another wrecked car any day, and I just hope for some better luck the rest of the season," Davidson said. The caution that sparked a late race run was contact between Donnie Moore and nascarfan19 that sent the #43 spinning. nascarfan19 was apparently still gaining speed coming off pit road. Moore was not pleased with the run-in after finishing 14th and leading three laps. "He had half the track for himself, I don't know how going up the hill is gonna gain you speed," Moore said. "My team had one of the best chances at a win today and to get it ruined like that is garbage."
Rampage has two career victories, both of which come on tracks 2.5 miles or longer. Eight Bowl is 2.5 miles long.
Much like the NFRN Amateur Cup Series, the first practice leader didn't catch the same draft. Jake Baskinger was 29th this session. Here's the fast ten from final practice: 1) Rampage - 46.017 (56 laps) 2) Jek Porkins (R) - 46.094 (58) 3) William Brock - 46.120 (60) 4) Zachary Fitzwater Sr. (R) - 46.141 (58) 5) Rambo (R) - 46.141 (58) 6) Jonny Gardner - 46.144 (57) 7) Mitchell Marc (R) - 46.236 (55) 8) Noah Kars - 46.242 (62) 9) John Arndt - 46.250 (61) 10) Phillip Fry (R) - 46.269 (61)
Jek Porkins, who earned his first career top-10 last week, came in at runner-up, and points leader Brad Stover was 12th in the session.
Here's a look at the other fastest times at Eight Bowl: 1) Jake Baskinger (R) - 44.948 (91 laps) 2) Jek Porkins (R) - 45.070 (88) 3) Caleb Campbell (R) - 45.097 (93) 4) Mitchell Marc (R) - 45.139 (87) 5) William Brock - 45.156 (94) 6) Eli Bright (R) - 45.166 (88) 7) Nick Smith - 45.175 (92) 8) Ryan Maiden (R) - 45.177 (88) 9) John Arndt - 45.217 (96) 10) Jonathan Raines (R) - 45.219 (91)
Twists and turns were the name of the game at Twin Ring Motegi, but when it came down to the end, Pikes Peak NACS winner Dwayne Callaway showed a ton of muscle to become the first driver in NFRN history to win in two different divisions.
"Holy cow is all I can say," Callaway said post-race. "We have a lot of confidence and teamwork within our family-owned operation, but this success is pretty sudden for us." Callaway did have some competition during his final green flag stretch. Dalejrfan8883 made a pass for the lead and led two of the final laps before falling to 3rd by the end. "Our #76 Chevy SS was fast but the #93 had the better car," Dalejrfan8883 said. "Hopefully we can pull it off next week and get our first win." While last week's winner Reece Butcher put up a solid enough run to maintain the points lead in a tie with Brad Stover, the runner-up in that race was not so fortunate. Gerrard Oran came to pit road while running in the top-10, but a hit by Chris Harley into the end of pit road, which collected nascarfan19, took the #91 out of the race. "I have no clue what the #2 was thinking. Complete dumba** move," Oran said. " I will say though we proved finally that we are a top team, it's just we have some of the worst luck in the league." Polesitter Rambo wasn't a fan of pit road either, as an unexpected stop put the #4 near a lap down for most of the race and gave him a 28th place finish. Harley's nasty hit wasn't the only one of the day. Knox got turned by Phillip Fry coming to a caution flag, rebounded back toward the racing groove and was struck by Jett Kraus, overturning once. "Certainly a brutal hit I took, feels about the same as our crash at Piggz Cliff [Super Speedway]," Knox said. "I feel fine though, just a hurt pride."
Donnie Moore and Jay Jefferson beat out the full load of full-time drivers in final practice at Twin Ring Motegi. Dwayne Callaway also placed in the top-10 for the second straight session.
For the first NACS race winner of the year, the result felt sweet. "We've gotta have better runs then we've been doing up here [in the NECS], at least in the races we actually make," Moore said. "We're only running around 30th place or worse, and that's just too low for my standards." Consistency was also key in this practice. Four drivers who placed top-10 in the first session did the same today. Here's the official results from that session: 1) Donnie Moore (i) - 33.559 (89 laps) 2) Jay Jefferson (i) - 33.579 (86) 3) Noah Pontzer (R) - 33.590 (89) 4) Gerrard Oran (R) - 33.592 (85) T5) Jake Baskinger (R) - 33.595 (89) T5) Reece Butcher - 33.595 (90) 7) Phillip Fry (R) - 33.596 (90) 8) TheOtherJR (R) - 33.603 (84) 9) Dwayne Callaway (i) - 33.610 (85) 10) Dalejrfan8883 (R) - 33.616 (85)
"The season's been up and down for us so far," crew chief Titus Ivan said. "We think the speed is there, we have confidence in our driver, it's just other people's mistakes that we get caught up in."
Aidan Shepherd, who's led three practice sessions this year, also turned the second fastest lap. Dwayne Callaway is the only part-time driver to crack the top-10, tied for 6th. Here are the fastest times at Twin Ring practice #1: 1) Jake Baskinger (R) - 33.880 (125 laps) 2) Aidan Shepherd (R) - 33.882 (130) 3) TheOtherJR (R) - 33.884 (134) 4) Nick Smith - 33.887 (131) 5) Ryan Maiden (R) - 33.923 (131) T6) Eli Bright - 33.927 (135) T6) Dwayne Callaway (i) - 33.927 (118) T8) Noah Pontzer (R) - 33.934 (128) T8) Zachary Fitzwater Sr. (R) - 33.934 (130) 10) Brad Stover (R) - 33.935 (126)
League officials expressed concerns with Motor City's pit lane being unsuitable for their cars to run at.
Despite being shorter than Motor City, Red River's layout is extremely similar to the Michigan track and should allow for drivers to be acquainted with the style.
After late race contact on pit road at Green Valley Super Speed Ring, the final 10 laps were battled out by Reece Butcher and Gerrard Oran. Butcher showed off a race car that seemed to be the fastest on the track, but lap traffic allowed Oran to lead a couple laps along the way. When the white flag flew, the #90 car was pulling away and victory seemed well within his grasp.
Then, a moment. Ryan Maiden, maintaining competitive pace as a lapped car, was on the outside as Butcher took the final turn. Butcher ran up the race track, made contact with the #99, and put himself in the wall. Both cars careened toward the finish line, and that unexpected window made Oran accelerate without hesitation. Even sideways, Butcher still grabbed the victory in the closest finish in a points-paying race to date: 0.026 seconds. (Stuart Gratton beat Colin Lindsay by 0.003 in the All-Star Race just a week prior) "It's really strange how those things just sort of work out," #90 crew chief Mathew Blackburn said. "Everyone was having those problems on the final turn, loose, tight, whatever. If we have that a lap earlier, heck, a few feet earlier from where [Butcher] crashed, I'm not at the mic right now." This is Butcher's second career victory, breaking a 27-race winless streak that dates back to Delaware Speedway in 2016. For Oran, the rookie driver still found positives in the performance despite coming up short of the first win. "At first, I was heartbroken losing out by so little, but after thinking about it, I say it was a great day for the team," Oran said. "I'd take finishing 2nd for the rest of the season instead of a win, no matter how painful that would be." The duo battled it out in the final 11 laps of clean, green action in a race that saw four accidents in total. Gratton, the points leader coming into the race, took the wildest ride of everyone after colliding with the inside wall after contact with David Davidson, flipping multiple times and landing next to pit stalls. Gratton would be okay but finished 42nd, losing the points lead to Butcher and dropping to 2nd. Davidson would later also cross the pit road wall in a multi-car accident started by Checkmate Motorsports teammates Stephen Willey and Jonathan Raines. "That's the first time I've been on my roof, and it was a new, but terrifying experience," Davidson said. This race also put four NFRN Amateur Cup Series drivers into their NFRN Elite Cup Series debut. Ryan Kendall started on the pole and grabbed a top-20 finish along with Sparky the Sun Devil, Jay Jefferson finished without his hood in 24th, and Craig Martin crashed out in the final accident. Despite his good finish, Kendall was not pleased with season 1 champion Rampage for contact in an early accident that damaged his race car. "[He] needs to learn where the brakes are if you're gonna plow into someone going 3 times slower than you are," Kendall said. "Not a very champion-caliber move in my book."
Tyler Markel, leader in first practice, put up another top-10 in practice to show he may have some much needed speed going into this race.
Here's the top speeds for this session: 1) Stuart Gratton (R) - 28.109 (92 laps) 2) Dalejrfan8883 (R) - 28.181 (100) 3) Mitchell Marc (R) - 28.196 (97) 4) Caleb Campbell (R) - 28.199 (92) 5) Dominic Carranza (R) - 28.218 (92) 6) Ryan Maiden (R) - 28.238 (93) 7) Tyler Markel - 28.280 (94) 8) Jett Kraus (R) - 28.286 (91) 9) Jonny Gardner - 28.305 (100) 10) Jake Baskinger (R) - 28.314 (97)
"We know that we have to dig harder to get into competitive position," crew chief Dax Street said. "There's been a lot of tough breaks for us on these bigger tracks."
The rest of the top 10 was filled with several rookies and a couple veterans in Nick Smith and Rampage. Last week's winner William Brock was 13th in the first session. Here are the top times from first practice at GVSSR: 1) Tyler Markel - 27.953 (146 laps) 2) Jonathan Raines (R) - 28.006 (135) 3) Jake Baskinger (R) - 28.038 (150) 4) Nick Smith - 28.039 (142) 5) Zachary Fitzwater Sr. (R) - 28.073 (132) 6) Adam Mundinger (R) - 28.097 (145) 7) Noah Pontzer (R) - 28.137 (134) 8) Gerrard Oran (R) - 28.138 (137) 9) Eric Monaco (R) - 28.144 (144) 10) Rampage - 28.147 (142)
"I don't know what to say," Gratton said. "I can't believe we won. I thought when we crossed the line that the #32 had gotten us, so I was over the moon to find out that we won."
Gratton faced a lot of adversity on his way to the top. Contact with Lindsay stalled his car on pit road and he narrowly avoided going a lap down on the second segment, and the next segment saw him slowed a bit by Reece Butcher, leading him to start last in the final segment. "There were times that thing didn't work on pit road and the track and Freddie [Sherwood] always found a solution to the problem so I can't thank him enough," Gratton said. The final two segments only saw six cars duking it out for the win as ten other competitors either crashed or went a lap down in the beginning 40 laps. "Fast car all day, just could not take any more than the first wreck of the day," Amethyst Ashley said after crashing twice in the race.
This was Brock's 31st career start and he was the last season 1 driver to be able to lead a lap.
"I didn't ever lose faith in William," #23 crew chief Ed Harve said. "There's a reason why we were a playoff team last year. We had the consistency, we just couldn't clear those zeros out of the wins and laps led columns, but we're past that now."
"Hurting a bit, but just glad everyone was okay and that we had the car to run up front on a part-time schedule," Van Arsdale said.
Gratton was frustrated with the #76 driver for the contact. "I don't know why he did that but it ruined our chance of getting a top 20," Gratton said. "Quite frustrated with what happened in the race, but our car was fast so that's a positive." Gratton finished 22nd one lap down after leading 9 laps but getting caught going down pit road on a restart. Riki was extremely good for the series' Georgia drivers, all earning top-10s. In addition to Brock's victory, Jake Baskinger finished just behind him in 2nd, and Caleb Campbell finished 8th. "We had a pretty quiet run today, just happy to get my first top-10 in my NFRN career," Campbell said. "Just didn't expect it to happen here knowing how insane the race was here last year." The race fortunately didn't see the same carnage that last year's did. Only 11 cars had a DNF, five of which came from a lap 3 accident that saw Noah Kars take a flip and rebound back into the pack off of Cody Hagen. John Arndt, 2nd in points at the time, was involved in the wreck and finished 28th. Two other big contenders for the playoffs were knocked out in the second caution when Adam Mundinger tried to cut to the outside of a lapped TheOtherJR when the two made contact and slammed the wall. Jett Kraus was also crunched in the wreck, hitting Mundinger head on and slipping both down the standings after entering the race in the top-10 in points.
First practice leader Rampage was 13th in the session, and rookie Cody Hagen and veteran Tyler Markel showed consistency within the top 10.
Here's the final practice results before the Riki 500: 1) Aidan Shepherd (R) - 34.515 (83 laps) 2) William Brock - 34.592 (78) 3) Jonathan Raines (R) - 34.596 (79) 4) Cody Hagen (R) - 34.598 (77) 5) Amethyst Ashley (R) - 34.618 (76) 6) Mitchell Marc (R) - 34.624 (80) 7) Dominic Carranza (R) - 34.648 (79) 8) Caleb Campbell (R) - 34.660 (81) 9) Tyler Markel - 34.668 (78) 10) TheOtherJR (R) - 34.669 (79)
The driver of the #1 currently sits 5th in the standings but is not clinched in the playoffs until he earns a win this year.
Here's who's showing the most speed in this session: 1) Rampage - 34.593 (121 laps) 2) Zachary Fitzwater Sr. (R) - 34.612 (115) 3) Noah Pontzer (R) - 34.690 (115) 4) Dalejrfan8883 (R) - 34.697 (122) 5) David Davidson (R) - 34.744 (117) 6) Cody Hagen (R) - 34.751 (115) 7) Gerrard Oran (R) - 34.754 (120) T8) Nick Smith - 34.755 (118) T8) Jett Kraus (R) - 34.755 (117) 10) Tyler Markel - 34.756 (117)
NECS cars tested at Lydden Hill, but the league determined the track would not be sufficient for competitive stock car racing. The NFRN turned to officials involved with the NFRN Australian Series, which decided not to run in 2017, for other options.
"Our international presence is important," NFRN commissioner Collin Denton said. "We appreciate Lydden Hill and their efforts to bring our stock cars back to England, but none of our race packages provided the kind of excitement we want our fan base to experience. The expectation is that Calder Park's configuration will fill the gap." Calder Park's road course configuration, which cuts the Thunderdome oval, will be used for the race. The NECS ran one time in England, during the 2016 season at Brooklands Outer Circuit.
Knox led most of the last third of the race after he beat Dwayne Callaway on pit stops and Reece Butcher, leader for 33 laps, stalled in his stall.
"It felt unbelievable just being up front," Knox said. "When I'm driving, I'm not really thinking about being in my home state. The circumstances just played out perfectly for us. Knox's victory opened up a spot in the Elite Cup Series Chase. Knox is unable to participate in the top series' playoffs because he is an Amateur Cup Series regular. The open spot will go to whoever isn't clinched in with a win and topping raw points unless another spot opens later in the season. nascarfan19 finished 2nd, making it twice in four races that he grabbed the runner-up spot. Noah Kars, lined up behind the #64 and lapped at the time, made a cut underneath nascarfan19 into turn one and extended Knox's lead until the end of the race.
Despite not getting the victory, Callaway led 13 laps en route to a 3rd place finish. He now runs 13th in standings despite missing Columbia.
"I appreciate the #93 team giving me the opportunity in their car," Callaway said. "Toyota has been special for our family organization, and they're helping us build great cars that put us in the position to qualify for the Elite Cup Series in the first place and then run competitive." On the opposite side of the leaderboard, controversy erupted when NACS driver TJ Smith ran into the back of Jek Porkins after getting spun on the frontstretch, even though Zachary Fitzwater Sr. was the instigator of Smith's spin. Smith forced Porkins toward pit road, putting himself into the end of a wall in the process. Porkins would still finish 17th while Smith placed dead last as the only car out of the race. After the race, Smith blamed the inability to steer for the incident. He could face discipline from the league when they review footage later this week. Gerrard Oran tried to stretch his fuel late in the first pit run, but a cut tire put him into the grass and wall, simultaneously running out of gas at the top of the hill. He was towed back to pit road and finished 38th two laps down, leading one lap before his incident. "I'm starting to lose confidence in being able to do anything now, because of how bad luck treats me," Oran said. "I'm kinda glad this isn't getting much attention, since I feel some may think it's because I'm not a good driver, nor do we have a good team."
TheOtherJR, who led first practice, fell all the way back to 26th place.
Here's who shows speed before we hit the track at Mirage: 1) Aidan Shepherd (R) - 25.253 (116 laps) 2) Phillip Fry (R) - 25.264 (124) 3) Reece Butcher - 25.268 (124) 4) Zachary Fitzwater Sr. (R) - 25.275 (120) 5) Adam Mundinger (R) - 25.276 (123) 6) Eli Bright (R) - 25.280 (122) 7) Amethyst Ashley (R) - 25.281 (114) 8) Jonny Gardner - 25.282 (119) 9) John Arndt - 25.288 (121) 10) Bruno de Barros (R) - 25.291 (121)
Here are the top 10 times from first practice:
1) TheOtherJR (R) - 25.309 (176 laps) 2) Adam Mundinger (R) - 25.319 (179) 3) Ryan Maiden (R) - 25.320 (172) 4) Aidan Shepherd (R) - 25.327 (183) 5) Gerrard Oran (R) - 25.334 (187) 6) Jonathan Raines (R) - 25.336 (163) 7) Reece Butcher - 25.341 (180) T8) nascarfan19 - 25.356 (174) T8) Phillip Fry (R) - 25.356 (165) 10) William Brock - 25.357 (171)
Open segments: 20-20-10 laps
All-Star Race segments: 20-20-20-10 laps Also set is the list of eligible drivers that plans ahead for future winners as well. NFRN Amateur Cup Series full-timers that win before the event can race if they have a ride available through being in the top 14 in the standings. Colin Lindsay is being granted a waiver to run the feature because the All-Star Race was not run last year, and Eric Van Arsdale will also be provided a ride for the Open race for similar reasons. Eligible drivers are listed below: Stephen Willey Reece Butcher Nick Smith Rampage Colin Lindsay nascarfan19 Jonny Gardner Julio Cesar Stuart Gratton Amethyst Ashley Race #4 Winner Race #5 Winner Open Segment 1 Winner Open Segment 2 Winner Open Segment 3 Winner Fan Vote Winner The fan vote will open at the race #4 broadcast and include only NECS full-timers in addition to Van Arsdale. The vote will remain open for one week from the broadcast start. Voters will be allowed ONE (1) vote during the entire period.
The two drivers spun toward the inside right near the arching Goodyear tire at the end of the straight, but instead of hitting the inside wall separating the pace car from the race track, Cesar and Smith missed it by inches.
Smith struck an angled wall head-on at 230 miles per hour. Cesar hit Smith in the driver side door almost simultaneously, sending Smith flipping. By the time the cars settled, several others receiving damage because of the stalled #18, Smith got out of his car. Cesar somehow got his car back to pit road under power. "That last accident was my hardest hit in my career so far," Cesar said post-race. "Only got a few bruises but I'm able to race for next week." Smith climbed out of his car but was taken to a local hospital to be evaluated for minor concussion-like symptoms. The drama didn't end there. The first leaders to take the caution, Dalejrfan8883 and Jonathan Raines, came down to pit road immediately following the caution, knowing they wouldn't make the checkered flag with fuel even though this race ending under caution was inevitable given the accident. Amethyst Ashley, pitting off-cycle from the first race restart, made it just fine. The Texas native won her first race in her third career start, making her the first female driver to win an NFRN race while still remaining the only female driver in the league at all. She also did it one race following the fury of Hurricane Harvey. The win was a big one for the #57 team, but also an emotional one. "We know where she comes from and that's really hard to come out and race given what happened," #57 crew chief Charles Ruggero said. "That's real life stuff. That matters more than this, more than sports."
Here's the top 10 times from Piggz Cliff:
1) Dominic Carranza (R) - 55.564 (71 laps) 2) Nick Smith - 55.591 (68) 3) Ryan Maiden (R) - 55.638 (67) 4) nascarfan19 - 55.653 (65) 5) Jek Porkins (R) - 55.682 (64) 6) Julio Cesar (R) - 55.689 (66) 7) John Arndt - 55.692 (68) 8) Noah Pontzer (R) - 55.700 (66) 9) Stephen Willey - 55.739 (62) 10) Amethyst Ashley (R) - 55.744 (66)
"That was a bit demoralizing at the time, wanting to win in front of local fans and not pulling it off," nascarfan19 said. "We got our wins last year inside the Chase. Now I want to win in the regular season so we're not pressured to pull it off on points again."
Here's the top 10 times from Piggz Cliff: 1) nascarfan19 - 55.564 (71 laps) 2) Gerrard Oran (R) - 55.591 (68) 3) Tyler Markel - 55.638 (67) 4) Eli Bright (R) - 55.653 (65) 5) Phillip Fry (R) - 55.682 (64) 6) Jek Porkins (R) - 55.689 (66) 7) David Davidson (R) - 55.692 (68) 8) John Arndt - 55.700 (66) 9) Brad Stover (R) - 55.739 (62) 10) Noah Kars - 55.744 (66)
The terms of the deal were not specified and neither company has responded to NFRN for comment. Sources have said that PepsiCo made an offer that Coca-Cola Company found valuable enough to invest in other sports marketing outlets.
The change comes at a time when Shepherd is running fourth in standings. “Honestly, with the amount of money PepsiCo has given us it was a good idea for a sponsorship change," Shepherd said. "Coke was great for us, but with PepsiCo when can do so much more with the team and our results." Crew chief Morgan Valter is indifferent to the new look. "I don't pay attention to how the car looks unless it makes a difference to our performance," Valter said. "I don't own the team, I don't make those calls, but if it keeps our team going in an upward trend, then good for us." Shepherd is looking to build off his two strong top-tens to start the season. "This won't really add pressure to us, just more confidence," Shepherd said. |
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