With three laps to go at the final restart, four of the top five drivers ducked down to pit road with fuel concerns on the three-plus mile circuit, including then-leader Jake Thomas, leaving Harley with a massive gap over runners-up Conor Mays and Justin Roderick.
"Everyone was playing that game all weekend," #49 crew chief Percy Rhys said. "We knew what would work for us, so we just executed. It wasn't our intention to watch everyone else come down, cause we were right in that group too at third place, but we were prepared to draft to the front if that's what it came to." The late pit stops were a beneficiary for several top five drivers who were grateful for their finishes. "It's great to get a top five," fifth place finisher 19carfan said. "Involved in some trouble early on but didn't give up and ended with an awesome finish." "I'm really proud of the guys who made some minor repairs to get back up to a third place finish, and I hope that everyone is okay after those terrible wrecks," third place finisher Justin Rodeback said. Rodeback's comments on accidents resonate with the extreme danger the race presented with wrecks occurring on various parts of the track, notably on the exit of turn six and merging onto pit lane. "As three incidents happened in the first caution, I think we shouldn't return here - ever," said Hierjel Arvin Alonso, involved in an accident though still managing to finish fourth after fuel strategy. The accidents led to another DNF for Chase Baldwin who led final practice and was sixth in the first. He now sits last in standings among full-timers, 18 points behind the next driver up, Andy Coleman. "Infuriated doesn't cut it," Baldwin said. "This isn't our fault anymore. What we got caught up in falls on Joey [Radcliffe]. We're running our a-- off on a fast track and he decides he doesn't want to let up for a garbage spot. All he does is drive off and we (EAGLE Motorsport) get two wrecked race cars. That's bulls---." As the league moves on, the top 14 in standings get bonus races attempting to qualify for the NFRN Elite Cup Series races at Mirage Short Roval and Riki Raceway, in addition to the already run Piggz Cliff race. "I guess we just have to be thankful we got what we did and move on," said Eric Van Arsdale, who finished 18th. "We are able to qualify for the next three Elite Cup races so we will see what we can do there and come back in the NACS in three weeks."
"We need a turnaround, plain and simple," Baldwin said. "There can't be any more issues on my part."
Here's the top 10 final practice times: 1) Chase Baldwin - 58.685 (45 laps) 2) Noah Kim - 58.739 (43) 3) Hierjel Arvin Alonso - 58.749 (44) 4) TJ Ball - 58.814 (45) 5) Kyle Basaglia - 58.859 (41) 6) Ray Chapman - 58.861 (46) 7) Al Callaway - 58.914 (46) 8) Jon Gilbert - 58.924 (44) 9) Craig Martin - 58.954 (41) 10) 19carfan - 58.962 (42)
"I'm not going to say it was a case of good luck because we didn't have enough data on the first car to tell how it was performing," crew chief Beau Gordon said. "This should show that it's not our team or our driver that's the issue, it's really bad circumstance."
Another driver involved in multiple accidents this year, Chase Baldwin, also found his way into the top ten in practice, while last week's winner Dwayne Callaway grabbed 7th place. Here's practice times from session #1: 1) Andy Coleman - 58.259 (66 laps) 2) 19carfan - 58.269 (67) 3) Anthony Lopez - 58.353 (69) 4) Jack Freeman - 58.393 (67) 5) Robert Harrison - 58.418 (66) 6) Chase Baldwin - 58.420 (68) 7) Dwayne Callaway - 58.464 (69) 8) Noah Kim - 58.479 (68) 9) Hierjel Arvin Alonso - 58.495 (64) 10) Eric Van Arsdale - 58.502 (68) |
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