Anthony Alfredo may not be in the Monday Night Racing Rowdy Energy Pro Series Playoffs, but the NASCAR Xfinity Series competitor played Playoff spoiler on Monday in the 100 lap contest at the virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Alfredo held it together during a crazy race, which had star power in the Podium eSports booth in the form of Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Labonte and featured numerous cautions, to score the victory.
“I feel really good. I was just having a good time tonight,” Alfredo said. “Felt like I was in a great mood all race long. Tried to mind my own business and stay clean and make it to the end.”
For Alfredo, it was his first win of Season 4 of the Monday Night Racing Pro Series.
David Schildhouse scored a solid second-place finish in the No. 20 TobyChristie.com Chevrolet Camaro. While it’s no surprise, normally, to see Schildhouse — the Series point leader — near the front, the Ohio-native had to rally from a mid-race spin after contact with the lapped car of Michael Massie.
Rally Schildhouse did, as he ended up second to Alfredo, and in doing so, he secured his Place in the Round of 7 in the Playoffs.
“I didn’t want to see all of the cautions I would have rather seen some longer runs because that’s when the field gets separated and the skills come to play,” Schildhouse said in his post-race interview with NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Labonte. “The guys who understand these combinations really have fun with that and can put on quite a show. Having the short runs isn’t necessarily what I wanted to see, but in this league, you have to adapt…”
Rallying from early trouble was a theme as Rajah Caruth and Collin Fern both rallied from crashes earlier in the race to finish third and fourth. Adam Cabot came home in fifth, despite having the second-place spot heading into the closing laps.
Gary Sexton, James Bickford, Kyle Busch, Preston Pardus and Shane Van Gisbergen rounded out the top-10 finishers on the night.
The seven drivers who have advanced to the next round of the Playoffs are:
David Schildhouse, Collin Fern -5, Adam Cabot -6, Ryan Vargas -6, Will Rodgers -7, Max Kennon -9, Rajah Caruth -9
The three drivers who were eliminated from Playoff contention at the end of Monday’s race were: Josh Bilicki, Preston Pardus and Kyle Busch.
Now, the Monday Night Racing Rowdy Energy Pro Series heads to Iowa Speedway with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series vehicles on January 24th.
If you missed the Monday Night Racing Pro Series at Homestead, here is the race broadcast from Podium eSports, where you can watch the entire race:
