Frontstretch Newsletter: Dec. 20, 2021
Volume: XV, Edition CCXV
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What to Watch: Dec. 20-26
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- On-track activity is slowing down to a crawl as we approach Christmas.
- At Frontstretch,
our 2021 season review articles will continue. In addition to those articles, we'll have news for you as it breaks at Frontstretch.
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Around the World in Motorsports: Dec. 13-19
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- Last week saw NASCAR have two days of open testing for the NextGen car at Charlotte Motor Speedway. This saw a significant number of different rule packages tried out. The result was a bit of a surprise as NASCAR has effectively disavowed the 550 horsepower package that has been in use in the Cup Series since 2019. Our own Daniel
McFadin has more about that here.
Speed-wise, Team Penske's Joey Logano was fastest on Wednesday with a lap at 182.014 mph with the 670-horsepower package. He was three-thousandths of a second faster than Trackhouse's Ross Chastain. Kurt Busch was third, then Alex Bowman and Tyler Reddick.
Day No. 2 saw three different packages used. The first one was with a six-inch tall offset spoiler. This package saw the fastest speeds. Logano was fastest here at 182.605 mph, one-eighth of a second faster than teammate Austin Cindric. Brad Keselowski was third, then Reddick and William Byron.
Package No. 2 was the same spoiler, but centered on the rear decklid. This cut speeds by about two miles an hour. Reddick was fastest with a lap at 180.548 mph, five-hundredths of a second faster than Byron. Keselowski was third, then Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Kyle Busch was fifth.
Finally, there was a four-inch centered rear spoiler tested. Here, Byron was fastest at 180.126 mph. His lap was a quarter of a second faster than Keselowski, then Martin Truex Jr., Daniel Suarez and Reddick.
The test session had a number of incidents. Reddick was involved in at least three different incidents during the test. Wednesday saw the No. 8 Chevrolet spin exiting turn 4 and slide into the Fitch barrier (sand-filled barrels) at the beginning of pit road. Additional incidents involved Corey LaJoie, Chase Elliott and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Reddick stated at the track that the cars were on edge, and that he liked it. That was prior to his on-track incidents, though.
- The Lewis Hamilton-owned X44 team of Cristina Gutierrez and Sebastien Loeb won Sunday's Jurassic X-Prix final in Dorset, England to wrap up the inaugural Extreme E Championship. Their margin of victory was 3.613 seconds over JBXE's Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky and Kevin Hansen and Andretti United Extreme E's Timmy Hansen and Catie Munnings. Rosberg X
Racing's Johan Kristoffersson and Molly Taylor finished fourth and wrapped up the inaugural Extreme E Championship.
- Algarve Pro Racing announced Friday that they will have two cars in the LMP2 class for next month's Rolex 24 at Daytona under the G-Drive Racing
banner.. One car (No. 68) will have former Audi factory driver Rene Rast, along with Ed Jones, Oliver Rasmussen and Utlimate's Francois Heriau. The second car (No. 69) will have Luca Ghiotto, James Allen, John Falb and Tijmen van der Helm.
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| | Mars Departing NASCAR, JGR After
2022
SportsBusinessJournal's Adam Stern is
reporting that Mars, Inc., the parent company of M&M's, Wrigley's gum and other confectionary treats, announced Monday that they will be leaving Joe Gibbs Racing and NASCAR at the conclusion of the 2022 season.
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| | Noah Gragson, Daniel Hemric Added to 2nd Kaulig Cup
Car
Kaulig Racing announced Tuesday that Noah Gragson and Daniel Hemric will join AJ Allmendinger in the team's No. 16 Chevrolet in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2022. No word on the official schedule split for the three
drivers.
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| | Jeb Burton, Anthony Alfredo Join Our for
2022
Our Motorsports announced Thursday at the NASCAR Hall of Fame that they will expand to three full-time Xfinity teams for 2022. Brett Moffitt will return for another year with the team, while Jeb Burton and Anthony Alfredo
will join as well.
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| | Mason Massey Moving to
DGM
DGM Racing announced Wednesday that Mason Massey will move to the team to drive their No. 91 Chevrolet in 2022.
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| | Jimmie Johnson Running IndyCar Full
Time
Chip Ganassi Racing announced Wednesday that Jimmie Johnson will expand his schedule up to the full NTT IndyCar Series schedule in 2022 after only running the road and street courses in 2021.
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| | Porsche Night of Champions Sees Multiple
Announcements
Porsche held their annual Night of Champions Saturday night in Stuttgart, Germany. As part of the evening, a number of announcements were made. The biggest of which is that Dane Cameron and Felipe Nasr have been
signed as the first factory drivers for Penske Porsche Racing. A disguised version of the new car was also revealed.
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| | Richard Westbrook Joins JDC-Miller MotorSports As 2022 Lineup
Revealed
JDC-Miller MotorSports revealed their driver lineup for 2022 on Tuesday. Tristan Vautier will be joined for the full schedule by Richard Westbrook. Loic Duval drops down to the endurance races only, while Ben Keating
will make his DPi debut next month at Daytona.
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| | Juan Pablo Montoya Returns to IMSA with DragonSpeed, Son Joins For
Sebring
DragonSpeed announced Wednesday that Juan Pablo Montoya will drive the full season in the LMP2 class in 2022 alongside Henrik Hedman. Juan Pablo's son Sebastian will make his
IMSA debut at Sebring in March.
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| | Andrew Wojteczko Autosport Moves Up To WeatherTech Championship in
2022
Andrew Wojteczko Autosport (AWA) announced Tuesday that they will move up to the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2022 for the full season. Orey Fidani and Kuno Wittmer, who drove for the team full-time in
Michelin Pilot Challenge, will continue their roles in the LMP3 class.
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Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, NASCAR Media via Sean Gardner of Getty Images, Chris Owens of INDYCAR Media, IMSA and our own Phil Allaway.
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