By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer
From start to finish Anthony Alfredo’s journey to a top-10 finish in the Shady Rays 200 was wild.
Immediately following the command to start engines at Kentucky Speedway, the steering wheel on Alfredo’s No. 21 Alsco Uniforms Chevrolet Camaro SS disconnected. His Richard Childress Racing crew went to work to fix the issue. Alfredo moved to his pit box and missed crucial pace laps that including the pit road speed check. When the crew finished, he moved back into his 11th-place starting position.
In the closing laps, Alfredo battled hard with Colby Howard for 15th. The duo slammed one another on the frontstretch with under 20 laps to go. A few laps later, Howard crashed in turns one and two. Before he climbed into the ambulance, the 18-year-old gestured toward Alfredo, venting his frustration.
Howard later took to Twitter explaining that he wasn’t blaming Alfredo for the incident:
Thanks for everyone’s support, I’m not blaming Anthony at all, I’ve raced with Anthony in late models cleanly a bunch, just 2 young guys trying to give everything they got out there. Thanks again!
— Colby Howard (@ColbyHoward16) July 10, 2020
On the ensuing restart, Alfredo jumped from 15th to 10th, battling Ryan Sieg for position. The race was slowed once again for a spin by Harrison Burton.
During the chaotic overtime restart, Alfredo maneuvered his Chevrolet up to sixth, side-by-side with Michael Annett for fifth. However, an accident on the backstretch ended the race before the 21-year-old could complete the pass. Alfredo was credited with a sixth-place finish with the field frozen.
“It was a really great night in our Alsco Chevrolet Camaro,” explained Alfredo. “The No. 21 guys did a phenomenal job on pit road. Thank you to everyone at Richard Childress Racing back at the shop and here at the track for building me a really fast piece.
“Tonight’s race went by fast. We got behind on a couple restarts and went the wrong way on adjustments, but we fixed it and were able to get back through the field to earn a sixth-place finish. It was a great call by Andy Street (crew chief) to take tires and make a few adjustments towards the end.
“We had a really fast race car, so we were able to get back up there after a few late restarts. I think we could have finished even better if we had a few more laps. We just needed clean air. Clean air is king, especially here with a one groove racetrack. It was extremely difficult to pass because everyone runs the same line. Overall, I feel like I learned a lot and think we will be in contention to win tomorrow night.”
Alfredo didn’t break into the top-10 until the second stage. He finished the stage in 10th and earned one stage point.
The sixth-place finish is the fifth top-10 in Alfredo’s NASCAR Xfinity Series career. The top-10 is the eighth for Richard Childress Racing in 2020 with Myatt Snider scoring the other three. The RCR No. 21 moves up to ninth in the Owner’s Points standings, 197 behind the leading Stewart-Haas Racing No. 98.
Following an invert of the top-15 finishers for the doubleheader at Kentucky, Alfredo’s sixth-place finish results in a 10th-place starting position in the Alsco 300.