While all eyes were on Harrison Burton, Riley Herbst & Austin Cindric for the intense battle for the Production Alliance Group 300 Trophy being handed out at the end of 300 Miles at Auto Club Speedway, not many people were watching the battles behind them for a top-five position between Justin Haley and Anthony Alfredo.
“It was awesome. Definitely exceeded everyone’s expectations and although 6th is great for us, Im bummed we didn’t get 5th since we were so close racing hard for it with the 11 at the end throughout the final laps.” Alfredo said to TobyChristie.com
“This is an incredible start to the year and I plan on carrying this momentum into Homestead. It was a very successful debut and a day I’ll never forget. I’m so thankful to be competing at this level for such an iconic organization. I have worked hard for this and plan to continue doing so in order to take full advantage of this opportunity. I was so proud to have Anderson’s Pure Maple Syrup and Ralph’s on board supporting me for my debut and to give them a great finish was rewarding as well.”
Although Haley was able to narrowly grab the position from him at the end of the race, the 20-Year old from Connecticut was still able to exceed the expectations of many, including himself, with his 6th place finish in his NASCAR XFINITY Series debut.
The P6 was not only the best finish for Richard Childress Racing this season, but also marked Anthony Alfredo’s best NASCAR finish, posting a better result in his series debut this afternoon than in his thirteen previous Truck Series starts for DGR-Crosley.
“I learned a lot this weekend. Our Anderson’s Pure Maple Syrup Chevrolet just needed to be a little more free today. My crew chief Andy Street and the No. 21 team made adjustments to free me up a few times throughout the race, but I still battled neutral to tight conditions most of the day.” exclaimed Alfredo “What a way to start out this season with RCR! We have the best equipment and the best team assembled; we’ve got all the capabilities and they’ve given me so much information to digest during my first race weekend. We are going to build on this sixth-place finish and challenge for wins this year. I can’t wait to get back behind the wheel of this No. 21 Chevrolet in a few weeks.”
In terms of drivers making their series debuts in Richard Childress Racing equipment, Alfredo put up a respectable result, scoring the 4th higest finish of any driver to make thier NXS debut for Richard Childress Racing, behind three very talented racecar drivers in Robby Gordon (P5), 2016 NGROTS Champion Johnny Sauter (P5) & 3x NGROTS Champion Matt Crafton (P3), all of whom recorded top-five finishes.
Anthony Alfredo has been one of the biggest advocates for the great advancements made in recent years with simulators that drivers use to get themselves prepared for the races, by knowing the track layout and certain characteristics that you can’t learn from looking at it. This is a tool that Alfredo uses to prepare him for his races, saying that he spent upwards of twenty hours total between the GM Simulator and his personal simulator at home, in the form of iRacing
Alfredo is scheduled to run 17 of the 33 NASCAR XFINITY Series Races in 2020, taking about three weeks off until his next race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on March 21st. Alfredo will split driving duties of the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet with rookie teammate Myatt Snider (who ran it for the first two races of the 2020 Season), and Kaz Grala, who participated in multiple races in 2019 for RCR.
If you don’t see Anthony Alfredo on track on your TV, you can probably find him on some track, somewhere, on your computer on iRacing, where he runs his own racing leauge that hosts many of the worlds best iRacers, including himself of course.
Great day of practice today! As a kid I would never have imagined competing at this level driving for the most iconic team in NASCAR. Thank you to everyone who supports me and has helped get me here. I’m ready to make you all proud tomorrow ? pic.twitter.com/ToagKS5fkc
— Anthony Alfredo (@anthonyalfredo) February 29, 2020
I am speechless. What a day! P6 finish in my @NASCAR_Xfinity series debut! Raced hard for fifth the last laps but just barely got beat to the line when the checkered flag flew. This is an incredible start to the season and I can’t wait for the next one. Thank you everybody!
— Anthony Alfredo (@anthonyalfredo) March 1, 2020
I’ve worked so hard for this and I’m ready. NASCAR Xfinity Series debut in Cali. Let’s do this ?? https://t.co/54l0F3sqCe
— Anthony Alfredo (@anthonyalfredo) February 29, 2020
