A Recap of the Weekend Past
It was an action-packed weekend for FRM at the Pocono Raceway. Todd Gilliland finished seventh in Saturday's NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race to extend his top-10 streak to five. Michael McDowell and Anthony Alfredo raced both Saturday and Sunday in separate NASCAR Cup Series events. McDowell debuted his new Horizon Hobby partnership with the ARRMA brand. He led laps both days and finished 19th and 17th, respectively. Alfredo returned the matte black Death Wish Coffee scheme for both races at Pocono. A good run on Saturday ended when another car hit Alfredo. Sunday's race was ruined early after a cut tire on Lap 2.
TODD GILLILAND. NO. 38 FRONTLINE ENTERPRISES FORD F-150. FINISHED 7. Gilliland and the No. 38 Frontline Enterprises Ford F-150 team finished seventh on Saturday after leading for four laps and scoring points in Stage 1 and at the checkered flag. Gilliland remained fifth in the championship after the race. Starting from the pole on Saturday, Gilliland had a great first stage of the race. He raced in the top-five throughout the early portion of the race and finished fourth. To begin Stage 2, Gilliland stayed on the track and once again was up front. He stayed in the top-five before pitting late in Stage 2 for fuel and tires. The pit stop just before the end of the Stage allowed Gilliland and the Frontline Enterprises team to make a run towards the front in the end. The truck was just a bit too free for Gilliland to get back into the top-five in the end. The truck team will sit idle this weekend before heading to the Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway on Friday, July 9. GILLILAND ON POCONO RACEWAY: "We didn't have a great restart at the end. I couldn't get the grip. We were in the top-three, and I knew we had a top-five truck, but we just could't stay there. I'm disappointed because all race we were in the top-five and I hate we lost some positions at the end. We've got a good streak going and this break will help us get even better as we get into July and August. We're gunning for this championship."
MICHAEL MCDOWELL. NO. 34 ARRMA MUSTANG. FINISHED 19 and 17.
With new colors from the ARRMA RC brand, McDowell and the No. 34 team led 12 laps this past weekend at the Pocono Raceway and started from the outside of row one on Sunday.
The team started from the 17th position in Saturday's race and moved up to 15th at the end of Stage 1. McDowell knew his ARRMA Ford Mustang was fast, but was laying on the splitter too much. The team made adjustments on Saturday and also for Sunday's race. McDowell put the ARRMA Ford into the second position late in Stage 2 through pit strategy. The team wanted to run long in the final stage on fuel. That allowed the ARRMA No. 34 to take the lead. The plan was for McDowell to pit and cycle back inside the top-15. Instead, a caution ended that plan. The team made their final pit stop for fuel and restarted just outside the top-15. He finished 19th. With a top-20 invert of the field on Sunday, McDowell started second on Sunday. He took the lead early and the ARRMA colors looked great up front. McDowell settled into sixth at the end of Stage 1. A tough restart, McDowell fell back to 20th to begin Stage 2. He finished the Stage in 23rd. But, McDowell saved his best for the last run of the weekend. He saved fuel, ran fast laps and moved back to 17th at the end of Sunday's race. MCDOWELL ON POCONO RACEWAY: "First, it was great to have ARRMA with us both days, having guests at the track and meeting new people from Horizon Hobby. That was good. We wish we had some better finishes. I feel that we were a top-15 car both days. The car was good when he had it low, but we didn't want to rub the splitter too much. It was great through the Tunnel Turn and the ARRMA Ford Mustang had some pretty good speed overall. We had a great strategy both days with our fuel runs. We got a little bit hurt on Saturday with a caution that may have cost us a few positions. We were really close to being in the top-15 both days and now we just continue to work hard. We're in the summer months and you're digging hard for every position."
ANTHONY ALFREDO. NO. 38 DEATH WISH COFFEE FORD MUSTANG. FINISHED 26 and 34
The results do not show the speed that Anthony Alfredo had on Saturday during the first of the doubleheader races. It's because Alfredo was taken into the wall on Lap 61 by another car. The damage was able to be fixed on pit road by the team and Alfredo salvaged a 26th-place finish on the Lead Lap. After the race, the team went to a backup car because of the damage.
Without the incident in Saturday's race, Alfredo was on pace for a top-20. He finished the first stage in 22nd and was showing impressive lap times. Alfredo was happy with the car, too. Alfredo was racing in the Tunnel Turn when he was swept into the wall by a car below him. The driver later apologized to Alfredo.
The team made repairs and Alfredo was still fast considering the damage. The Death Wish Coffee team finished 26th and pulled the backup car for Sunday.
Sunday, however, bad luck struck early. Going over the bumps in the Tunnel Turn, the backup car bounced off the wall and cut a tire. Alfredo was sent hard into the Turn Three wall and the right side of the car was damaged. Again, the team made repairs on pit road and Alfredo was able to complete the race. But, the car didn't have the speed after the damage.
ALFREDO ON POCONO RACEWAY:
"Saturday, we had a fast Death Wish Coffee Ford Mustang. We were getting ready to be inside the top-20 in the middle of the race. I felt good about our car and the gain we were making, but we were taken out. We still finished the race and for the damage we had, still weren't too bad. Sunday, that was just bad luck to have a tire cut and go into the wall. It made for a really long day. I wanted more for Death Wish Coffee this past weekend."
-30-