Unfortunately, the thrill of his first victory was downplayed by it falling one race short of the end of the regular season, where Makana ended 9th in the playoff standings.
"It was definitely one of those things that made me say 'Really?' as I crossed the finish line," Makana said. "It was on my mind that we could've been in the Round of 6, and all we really did was solidify 9th-place. I'm sure I was a bit subdued on the radio afterwards, but that doesn't make me any less proud of my guys. They absolutely deserved one of these, and I hope that leads to new opportunities next season." The only driver to provide a fight for the lead in the first stint of the race was Robbie Bell, who earned a career-best 2nd. He led two laps around the midway point before Makana took it back. "We had a strong truck and a chance throughout the night, it was just getting a little caught in traffic in the pits that set us a little bit back," Bell said. "But that was a good performance, hopefully we can keep up the momentum." When it comes to the playoff drivers, Jasper Rowles put up the best performance in 4th and 2-seed Adam Coon also gained a top-10 finish. "Our team wants wins, but we also don't want to make stupid mistakes that'll cost us points and these playoffs, so I thought we had the right pace, the right aggression, and great pit service to get from 19th to 4th," Rowles said. Meanwhile further back, Steve Rea, Clint McComb, and Dalton Wise all finished outside the top-30, with all three drivers separated by just five points at the bottom of the standings with two races left this round. |
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