Frontstretch Newsletter: April 15, 2022
Volume XVI, Edition LV
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What to Watch: April 15-17
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- Today, the NASCAR Cup and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will both have two 50-minute practice sessions at Bristol Motor Speedway so the drivers can acclimate themselves to the dirt. There will be no time trials. Practice speeds will set the order for Saturday's heat races, which will air on FOX Sports 2.
The Camping World Truck Series
will race Saturday night on FOX Sports 1, while the Cup Series races Sunday night on FOX.
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SRO America teams are practicing all day today at Sonoma Raceway. Qualifying will be
tomorrow morning Pacific Time. Races will be Saturday and Sunday. The races will be streamed live on the GT World YouTube channel.
- The World of Outlaws NOS Energy
Drink Sprint Car Series will be at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 tonight and tomorrow night. This is not the Ironman weekend, but the springtime weekend. Action starts at 7:15 p.m. ET tonight.
- The European Le Mans Series is
starting their season this weekend at Circuit Paul Ricard in France. The first practice is already complete (see below). Qualifying is early Saturday morning, while the race is Sunday morning.
Also, don't forget to follow our Twitter page, @Frontstretch as well for updates!
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Around the World in Motorsports: April 14
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- Panis Racing's Nico Jamin was fastest overall in the first European Le Mans Series practice session of the 2022 season this morning with a lap at 124.855 mph in his ORECA 07-Gibson. Jamin was a tenth of a second faster than PREMA Racing's Louis Deletraz. United Autosports' Tom Gamble was third, followed by Racing Team Turkey's Jack
Aitken. Inter Europol Competition's Fabio Scherer was fifth.
In LMP3, United Autosports' Kay van Berlo, fresh off his Porsche Carrera Cup North America weekend sweep in Long Beach, was fastest in practice with a lap at 117.471 mph. He was the only driver in the class to complete a lap in under 1:50. Kay's lap was a quarter of a second faster than RLR MSport's Alex Kapadia. COOL Racing's Antoine Doquin was
third, followed by Eurointernational's Glenn van Berlo (Kay's younger brother). Finn Gehrsirtz was fifth in the No. 2 from United Autosports.
GTE was topped by Kessel Racing's Mikkel Jensen with a lap at 113.396 mph in his Ferrari. That lap was one-sixth of a second faster than the Porsche of Proton Competition's Gianmaria Bruni. Bruni's teammate Richard Lietz was third, then Iron Lynx's Davide Rigon. Absolute Racing's Alessio Picariello was fifth.
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| | Chandler Smith Joins Hunt for 3-Race
Deal
Sam Hunt Racing announced Thursday that Chandler Smith will drive the team's No. 26 Toyota in three races, starting at Talladega.
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Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography
Have news for Frontstretch? Don't hesitate to let us know; email us at frontstretcheditors@googlegroups.com with a promising lead or tip.
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Frontstretch Folio: Food City Dirt Race
by Phil Allaway
This weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series will return to Bristol Motor Speedway for their first visit of the year. However, things are very different this time. Instead of running on the concrete, they'll race on dirt. Coverage
of the Food City Dirt Race will start at 4:30 p.m. ET Sunday afternoon with an Easter Celebration on FOX Sports 1. That will be followed by NASCAR RaceDay at 5:30 p.m. NASCAR RaceDay moves to FOX at 6 p.m. Race coverage starts at 7 p.m. with the green flag scheduled to drop around 7:15. In addition, the event can also be heard on your local PRN affiliate or SiriusXM Channel 90. Drivers will compete for 250 laps (133.25 miles) en route to
the checkered
flag.
Records and
facts
Last year's Food City Dirt Race was delayed to Monday afternoon due to rain. Once it got underway, Martin Truex Jr. was the man to beat. After winning the rain-delayed NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Pinty's Truck Race on Dirt earlier in the day, Martin Truex Jr. charged into the lead and dominated early, leading 126
consecutive laps and winning stage one.
Daniel Suarez was a surprise on this day, driving up to the lead and staying there for 58 laps. However, right before the end of the stage, Joey Logano was able to get past Suarez to take the lead. From there on, Logano was able to hold off the pack to win the inaugural Bristol dirt race. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was
second, then Denny Hamlin, Suarez and Ryan Newman.
As you can see from the picture above, dust was a problem last year with NASCAR decreeing that single-file restarts had to be used due to limited visibility. Moving the race to Sunday night will hopefully mean that the track will have more moisture in
it.
All-time, Darrell Waltrip has the most Bristol wins with 12, including a stretch of seven in a row in the early 1980s. He won 11 races on asphalt and the 1992 Bud 500, which was the first Cup race run on concrete at Bristol. Dale Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace and Cale Yarborough have nine wins apiece while Kyle Busch has
eight.
Kyle Busch's eight victories are tops among active drivers. Older brother Kurt has six Bristol victories, including his first Cup win in the 2002 Food City 500. Logano, Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski have three Bristol wins a piece, while Denny Hamlin has
two.
Track Facts
Track / Race Length: .500 mile-oval, 250 laps (133.25 miles)
Banking: ~16-18 degrees
Straightaways: 650 feet, banked 4-9
degrees
Grandstand Seating: 153,000
Pit Road Speed: 30 mph
Pace Car Speed: 35 mph
Opened: 1961
Website: http://www.bristolmotorspeedway.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bristolmotorspeedway
Twitter: http://twitter.com/BMSUpdates
Pre-Race
Schedule:
Practice No. 1: Friday, April 15, 4:05 - 4:55 p.m. on FOX Sports
1
Happy Hour: Friday, April 15, 6:35 - 7:25 p.m. on FOX Sports
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Heat No. 1: Saturday, April 16, 6 p.m. on FOX Sports
1
Heat No. 2: Saturday, April 16, 6:15 p.m. on FOX Sports
1
Heat No. 3: Saturday, April 16, 6:30 p.m. on FOX Sports
1
Heat No. 4: Saturday, April 16, 6:45 p.m. on FOX Sports
1
Note: Heat races will run one after another. Start times could be dependent on accidents that could occur during the
heats.
"Going through practice and getting into the race was an experience and it was a highlight. I crashed out in the race last year, unfortunately. The two best dirt racers in the field, [Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson] crashed into each other and I piled in. I wish I could’ve run the rest of that race. I had an awesome experience and learned a
ton.
"I’ve been going to school to learn how to dirt race – how to read the dirt, what has grip, what does moisture look like, what’s the blue groove, what’s slicked off – I don’t know all of those terms. Fortunately for me, a lot of the No. 1 team guys are old dirt racers, sprint car guys that came over because of Kyle [Larson] to be on the No. 42 team and are now on the No. 1 team. I work with [Tyler] Reddick, [Alex] Bowman, Larson and Josh Wise. Between those
four guys, they’ve forgotten more about dirt racing than I have ever learned, so I’ll lean on them a lot. I’m used to dirt, but it has been on a tractor." - Ross
Chastain
"I am a lot more ready than I was last year. It was funny, all the guys with dirt experience seemed to struggle last year and the drivers who dirt racing was something new to seemed to do
better.
"I don’t know if that will continue. Those guys are pretty smart and will figure it out. It’s going to be a lot of fun and the fans should
see a really good show Sunday night." - Daniel Suarez
"I don’t really know what to expect, just because I’ve never driven a car that has this type of
suspension on dirt. So how it drives on dirt and what you feel is probably totally different than what I’ve experienced. The other big component is the tires. The sidewall is so much shorter and stiffer than what we had before, from a side-bite and lateral grip standpoint. It’ll be totally different how the car reacts and the grip level that you have compared to anything I’ve raced. But we’ve got a couple of practices and heat races to figure it out." - Chase
Briscoe
Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.
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