A Recap of the Weekend Past
Both the NASCAR Camping World Truck and Cup Series hosted playoff events at the Darlington (S.C.) Raceway on Sunday.
Todd Gilliland and the No. 38 Frontline Enterprises Ford F-150 team finished fourth in the day race.
Anthony Alfredo and the No. 38 CP Compressors Ford team finished 24th in the annual Southern 500.
Michael McDowell and the No. 34 Love's Travel Stops team finished 37th in their first playoff race after an accident ended their day early.
TODD GILLILAND. NO. 38 FRONTLINE ENTERPRISES FORD F-150. FINISHED 4th.
Gilliland and the No. 38 Frontline Enterprises team finished fourth in the second NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoff race Sunday afternoon at the Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.
Gilliland moved to sixth in the championship with an 11-point cushion of advancing to the second round with only one race remaining in Round 1.
Gilliland had a fast truck all afternoon and scored points in all stages of the race. At the end of the first stage, Gilliland was sixth. He was then seventh at the end of the second stage and had his best run at the end of the race. Gilliland didn't have a truck to fight for the win, but did move up to fourth at the end.
The series returns to action at the Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway on Thursday night, September 16.
GILLILAND ON DARLINGTON RACEWAY:
"It's easy for any team to get down after a bad race, but our Frontline Enterprises team bounced right back today. They had the right demeanor. We earned points all day and were patient. We went for it at the end and we are back in the top-five where we belong. We can now work on being in the top-three and winning again."
MICHAEL MCDOWELL. NO. 34 LOVE'S TRAVEL STOPS FORD MUSTANG. FINISHED 37
McDowell and the No. 34 Love's Travel Stops team had an early end to their first playoff race in the Southern 500. McDowell crashed on Lap 31 after getting too loose. The crash ended the day for the team early.
However, three other playoff drivers also ended their races early with accidents. McDowell is only 20 points behind 12th in points and the opportunity to advance to Round 2 of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
Making the team more optimistic was their performance early in the race. McDowell was a hard charger and had his Love's Travel Stops Ford Mustang in the top-10 before the accident.
MCDOWELL ON DARLINGTON RACEWAY:
"The 43 kind of got everybody jammed up. I think he started on the front there without tires, which is a tough spot to be in and I just went three-wide underneath him and just got into the patch with my left sides just a little bit low. I got loose enough into the wall and that was about it. I’ll have to see the replay, but just heartbreaking for everybody on this Front Row team. We had high hopes coming into the playoffs and this is not how we wanted to start it.”
ANTHONY ALFREDO. NO. 38 CHICAGO PNEUMATIC COMPRESSORS FORD MUSTANG. FINISHED 24
Anthony Alfredo and the No. 38 team had a solid night in Darlington. Alfredo earned a top-25 in the most demanding race on the schedule. The Southern 500 is a Labor Day NASCAR marathon and Alfredo kept getting stronger all night.
The team didn't make any mistakes and Alfredo advanced from his 32nd starting position. Alfredo finished the first stage in 30th and said he learned a lot about the car and the track. It was evident as Alfredo moved up to 26th at the end of Stage 2.
In the final stage, Alfredo was consistently the best car on his lap. He avoided wrecks and finished 24th.
ALFREDO ON DARLINGTON RACEWAY:
"I think a top 20 was within our reach, but it didn't work out with the way the cautions fell. I felt like I passed a lot of the same cars, but we don't want to get too greedy. This gives us something to improve on next week. We want to get better and better these last nine races."
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