FRM Kansas Weekend Recap: Gilliland Earns Third Consecutive Top-10. McDowell Continues Playoff Push. Alfredo Has Top-25

After a superspeedway weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series returned to the mile-and-a-half oval at the Kansas Speedway on Sunday. The Camping World Truck Series also returned to action on Saturday night at the same track.

 

Todd Gilliland and his No. 38 Speedco Ford F-150 team earned their third consecutive top-10 finish Saturday night after a sixth-place finish. Gilliland moved to eighth in championship points and is only one point out of seventh.

 

Michael McDowell and the No. 34 CarParts.com team finished 13th in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race. It is his sixth top-15 finish this season.

 

Anthony Alfredo raced his No. 38 DUDE Wipes Ford Mustang to a 23rd-place finish. He now has two consecutive top-25 finises.

 

The NASCAR Camping World Truck and Cup Series head to the Darlington (S.C.) Raceway this weekend.

Gilliand raced up to second-place during a NASCAR overtime finish in Saturday night’s race at the Kansas Speedway before finishing sixth on the final lap. The finish extended his streak to three top-10 finishes- the best streak in FRM’s history in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

 

With the sixth-place finish, Gilliland moves to eighth in the championship standings and gained points on the field. He’s only one point behind seventh and nine behind sixth.

 

Gilliland was fast all night Saturday at the Kansas Speedway. He finished eighth in Stage 1 and scored points. He did the same in Stage 2 when he finished ninth. Gilliland was rarely out of the top-10.

 

The team executed flawlessly on pit road, gaining Gilliland multiple positions during each Stage break and also during their green flag stop. Gilliland struggled with some grip as the track cooled off, but he was in contention to win the race.

 

Gilliland went for the win on the final restart. He was up to second before finishing sixth in a wild final lap. Kyle Busch won the race.

 

Michael McDowell and the No. 34 CarParts.com team scored another top-15 finish during Sunday’s 400-miler at the Kansas Speedway. McDowell came back from one lap down to finish 13th in a wild sprint to the finish.

 

The result kept McDowell 13th in points and the team 10th in the Playoff rankings.

 

McDowell started the race in third, but before fell out of the top-10 with a car that needed more overall grip. The CarParts.com team made a pit stop early to make adjustments and spent added time on pit road to get the car better. It also forced McDowell to start in the back of the field.

 

Strategy came into play to keep McDowell on pace with the leaders. With the Stage breaks, crew chief Drew Blickensderfer was able to keep McDowell in contention by running long on fuel and taking a wave around to get back on the Lead Lap.

 

McDowell raced hard and kept getting faster on the track, too. He never went two laps down and once back on the Lead Lap was back in the top-20. The final laps of the race had several cautions. The team took fresh tires and McDowell raced to 13th on the final restart.

 

“That was a good recovery. We started up front in our CarParts.com Ford Mustang, but we just didn’t have the balance to stay in the top-10. Drew and the team made the adjustments we needed, but we had to race back through the field. We just kept gaining spots all afternoon and came close to a top-10 for CarParts.com. We learned some things to get better, too. So, not a bad day.”

Anthony Alfredo and the No. 38 DUDE Wipes team finished 23rd Sunday at the Kansas Speedway. For the No. 38 team, it gives them two consecutive top-25 finishes and more momentum as they build during their rookie season together.

 

The finish kept Alfredo 29th in the standings and he distanced himself from the team behind.

 

Alfredo showed a lot of speed Sunday in the DUDE Wipes Mustang. He was able to consistently race in the top-20 and didn’t look like a rookie. It was the best speed the team had all season and Aldredo looked sharp.

 

The team used the same strategy as the No. 34 team to run long on fuel. Alfredo was up to second before having to pit for fuel.

 

A loose wheel, however, on a pit stop defined the finish for the team. Alfredo was forced to pit under green, twice, and he lost multiple laps.

 

The DUDE Wipes team made up several of those laps, but wasn’t able to get back on the Lead Lap. Alfredo was the best car one lap down.

 

“We had great speed today. Our DUDE Wipes Ford Mustang was probably one of the best cars we had all year. I’m really thankful for the hard work at Front Row Motorsports for bringing me fast cars. Today was a step in the right direction and hopefully we can keep that up. We had some misfortune on pit road and they kept us from a possible top-15. But, we’ll keep working hard, digging, taking it one race at a time and get better results.”