By Cameron Bebeau, Staff Writer
While Layne Riggs, Carson Kvapil and Corey Heim celebrated wins this weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, several drivers had runs that deserved a closer look.
Cup Series: Cole Custer & Haas Factory Team
Passing came at a premium during Sunday’s Brickyard 400, making every position lost on track difficult to recover. Cole Custer never really had to find out how difficult.
After qualifying 12th, Custer spent nearly 90 percent of the race inside the top 15 while posting the ninth-best average running position (11.68). As several faster cars became involved in incidents or lost ground on pit road, the Haas Factory Team driver remained in position to capitalize, bringing home a 13th-place finish.
For a team still finding its footing after the closure of Stewart-Haas Racing, Indianapolis produced more than another top-15 finish. Custer avoided the mistakes that trapped several faster cars and delivered Haas Factory Team its second-best finish of the season in one of NASCAR’s crown jewel events.
O’Reilly Auto Parts Series: Jeb Burton & Jordan Anderson Racing
Saturday’s Pennzoil 250 wasn’t a race won through strategy or late-race chaos. It was won by teams that executed over the entire distance. Jeb Burton and Jordan Anderson Racing did exactly that, bringing the No. 27 Chevrolet home 15th.
The race featured three cautions for 13 laps, with the only incident-related being for Garrett Smithley’s single-car spin in Turn 2. Restarts in general weren’t as prevalent as they were in the Cup Series race, where there were five for 27 laps.
Because of this, drivers had to earn their finishes through long green-flag runs, evidenced by Burton carrying a 15.73 average running position throughout the afternoon.
This marked Burton’s best finish since Kansas in April and reflected a race with very few mistakes. Jordan Anderson Racing isn’t expected to complete with the powerhouse organizations each week, making another top-15 finish a product of good execution.
Craftsman Truck Series: Patrick Eatmon & Niece Motorsports
Layne Riggs settled the battle for the win early Friday night. The race everyone else was fighting took place behind him.
While riggs led 198 of the event’s 200 laps, positions throughout the top 15 remained up for grabs. Parker Eatmon quietly emerged from that battle, climbing from 14th on the starting grid to finish 12th while maintaining a 12.49 average running position and spending the entire race inside the top 15.
The result continued an encouraging trend for the 20-year-old. In just his third Craftsman Truck Series start, Eatmon improved on a 26th-place debut at Rockingham and a 21st-place finish at Dover, earning the best finish of his young NASCAR career.
With only two lead changes and three cautions slowing the race, there were few opportunities to gain through circumstance. Eatmon’s average running position nearly mirrored his finishing position, showing the result reflected the speed of the No. 44 Chevrolet rather than late-race attrition. For a driver still building experience at NASCAR’s national level, another step forward made Friday night’s top-12 finish easy to overlook, but difficult to dismiss.