You know the old adage – it is better to be lucky than good.
Sammy SmithAs designed by the crew chief, Phillip Bell, was exactly on Saturday evening at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. They were six points below the cutting line, with both a straight front tire that fades, and little space to move forward inside five laps to do.
So Bell called Smith Down Pit Road in the hope that a caution would give them a chance to fight. And as luck, caution agitated for a Sage Karam incident as soon as n ° 8 has reached its stand stand.
Just like that, Smith had a clear zero track position and fresh tires, and led his car to third place and an advantage of a point on Taylor Gray To reach the 8th round.
So was it lucky or strategy?
“A bit of both,” said Bell laughing. “It did not play exactly as we wanted, but we had planned to divide the scene in two if we were in an essential situation. I did not have the impression that we were in an essential situation, but that it then managed to do three laps. We had a tire and it was the only game we had.”
Bell has always known that if he seemed that there was no other game, descend the road to the stands, because the mathematics shows expect caution inside the last five laps.
But even then, Bell did not expect that he really plays this way, because who really does it?
“The feeling was very good,” said Bell. “Sammy said earlier in the week, than if there is a will, there is a means, and I know that everyone has heard this before, but that’s what we have played.”
It was a race on shots and idioms, but it is only a silly notion when it does not work and it worked this time.
What is one more idiom?
“It really feels good,” said Smith. “Obviously, it was a long -term shot during the day. We were lucky with this hail movement Mary Phil shot and an incredible call by him to do it. And yes, just relieved because I felt like I was a 4 caliber championship team and unfortunately what happened in Bristol withdrawn from it.
“So yes, we are just going to group together and try to do everything we can to do the Final Four.”
Sammy Smith, JR Motorsprots Chevrolet
Photo of: Jordan Bank / Getty Images
It was just a whirlwind of possible results.
“It was from 10 to think, ah, we are not really going to get there because we did not really have the speed to go up and it did not seem that he was going to lose enough positions.
“And yes, Phil made a big call to Pit, then obviously, I had to make a lot of aggressive movements there and fortunately, we were able to get there. So yes, just relieved and ready to go to the next round. Just thank the good man above and obviously, I had an unfortunate situation in Bristol and who put us in the position we are. So yes, just recognizing.”
On the other side was Gray, who had spent most of the race to fight Hill Austin for the last place, and seemed secure in a transfer once the Richard Childres Racing N ° 21 dropped a cylinder. Then came this last caution and a dog fight for each position.
The result left him discouraged.
Embalying close for Gray
Watch: Taylor Gray: “He was not good enough” to go to a round of 8
“He is obviously disappointed,” said Gray. “We cannot race for a championship at the end of the year.
“There was not enough good. We were not good enough today. We did not have a good Bristol, and we should not even be in this place. We are, and we will take our loss and go to the next four and try to win a few shopping.”
Beyond that, Gray said he couldn’t treat his feelings in real time, and just said “it’s difficult” before returning to the garage.
But again, it was a real roller coaster of emotions for all the people involved in the cutting line. Hill was eliminated due to his mechanical failure and Harrison Burton lost three laps earlier in the race due to a fuel collection problem.
Nick Sanchez He fought a variety of problems and was also eliminated from affirmations.
But the most notable elimination came in the form of Hill, which has been stripped of all its play points to crash intentionally Aric Almirola Earlier in summer at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
It finally cost 21 points to Hill and was eliminated by 21 points. It is not as simple as it would probably have obtained five eliminatory series for its last regular season championship result, but he admitted that he was responsible for it.
“I don’t point to anyone,” said Hill. “If someone is at fault, it’s me for having lost the 21 bonus points in the regular season … It is only our year, unfortunately, for half summer half, perhaps in June, we simply did not shoot all the cylinders.
“There are things that have gone wrong and things that I could do better as a driver. I made a lot of errors throughout the middle part of the season and later, and I thought that we turned it there in Kansas having a strong performance and we show it here today and, we came short. ”
He was eighth and closed on Gray for the last place when he started losing power.
“The candles of ignition or something came out, and made it work like seven cylinders, which is zero,” said Hill. “These RCR and ECR engines are classy of the field every week and I would not want to have something other than a RCA in our car.”
Harrison Burton, I run Ford
Photo of: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images
For his part, Burton has just had a fuel collection problem.
“We had a problem in practice and changed everything we could and we feel as if we were going well,” said Burton. “It turns out that we had a fuel collection problem, so it is a whole change in battery with a whole fuel and it is not something that we could really do under Green. It’s just a disappointment. All the evidence that we had not really pointed out that it was the problem, but it was and withdrawn from the race before the start.
“Even when we were there, I was trying to save fuel so that it lasts so long, so I never really knew how good we were. It is the most difficult part, but I am proud of our team. I am proud of the season that we had. It was very fun to do playoffs and go to Bristol, a big point of view for us to run in a really competitive point Playoffs.
Grid update
Connor Zilisch +57
Justin Allgaier +24
Brandon Jones +4
Sam Mayer +2
—
Jesse Love -2
Sammy Smith -7
CARSON KVAPIL -11
Sheldon Creed -13
Those who remain
So now, there are eight drivers left to run for the championship with only four places available in the next three races in Las Vegas, Talladega and Martinsville. And realistically, he is seven pilots for three places because it is realistic to move forward and a pencil at Connor Zilisch who has just won his 10th victory in Roval.
His advance is so massive that it could remove Las Vegas and still enter Talladega above the cutting line. It would take a massive implosion for Zilisch, the team leader Mardy Lindley and the JR Motorsports Team n ° 88 so as not to run for the championship.
So that leaves the other seven to settle things between them.
Mayer was “pissed off” that a day disaster that included a penalty of the stands road and a chicane cutting penalty made it relatively narrow progress, but that does not matter because it is indeed in and above the cup.
“We threw everything on us and used almost our entire cushion to do the next round, and I cannot believe that I say that, but it is the beauty of the playoffs,” said Mayer. “You can spend a bad day and both very good days have come to pick us up.
“Now we cannot have what covers the four championship because your margin of error is so much smaller and there are only four places left and not seven.”
Mayer said Martinsville is “not a place you can control” while Jesse Love says he feels really well everywhere about Martinsville.
“Strong the wood, I never crushed a superspeedway race,” said Love, laughing. “I feel good about Vegas. I think I ran third in the last two times, then fall last year, once the sun below, I thought we had a car capable of winning. We have gone a bit right now, but I think we can lower our heads and maximize our cars.
“And Martinsville, I pray to God, I am locked up and if I am not, I will just be a bull in a China store, I suppose.”
Historically, all those who try to make the Final Four in Martinsville the East.
Sheldon Creed shared these feelings.
“I love the look of vegas,” said Creed. “I ran fifth last week at a mile and a half, so if we can be a little better next week. You never know what will happen in a surface of superspeed, then in Martinsville, anything can happen. ”
Carson Kvapil, in a sense, could be running for his career as he also knows. Its full -time funding is exhausted at the end of this year and everything he has right now is enough to share a tour with Connor Zilisch with Rodney Childers as team leader.
“We are going to go as far as possible with this team, on the right,” said Kvapil. “The goal of the first race or the first month of our group as a group was to go for the Final Four, right? And to go as far as possible, but the goal is to be in the Final Four because then anything can happen when you get there.”
And then there is his teammate, who, no matter what happens once he arrived in Phoenix, has already established himself as the driver of the year regardless of what is happening the checkered flag of the race for the championship.
“I said to my whole group, whatever the next four races, this will not define our season,” said Zilisch. “Does that mean that I’m not going to try to win the championship?” No, this is a difficult situation. There are guys, I’m not even going to follow this route, but it’s just like that and you have to accept this and everyone has the same rules and everyone is in the same format.
“So, whatever our season takes place from here, I wouldn’t say that this season was not a success.”
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
– Motorsport.com team
