Frontstretch Newsletter: Road America Gets Underway

Published: Fri, 07/01/22

Frontstretch Newsletter: July 1, 2022
Volume XVI, Edition CX

What to Watch: July 1-3

- NASCAR teams will be in action today at Road America. Action starts with NASCAR Xfinity practice at 5:30 p.m. ET. That will immediately be followed by qualifying at 6 p.m. Both sessions will be on USA.

NASCAR Cup Series teams will have a 50-minute practice session for Sunday's Kwik Trip 250 at Noon ET that will air live on USA. That will immediately be followed by qualifying.

Xfinity Series Henry 180 coverage starts with Countdown to Green at 2 p.m., followed by the race at 2:30.

Cup coverage starts with Countdown to Green Sunday at 2 p.m. on USA. Race coverage starts at 3 p.m. on USA.

- Formula 1 teams are at Silverstone Circuit. Free Practice No. 1 is already complete (see below). Free Practice No. 2 is scheduled for 10:55 a.m. ET this morning and will air live on ESPNU.

Saturday Silverstone coverage starts with 6:55 a.m. ET with Free Practice No. 3 live on ESPN2. Qualifying is at 9:55 a.m. on ESPN2.

W Series teams are qualifying this afternoon at 1:20 p.m. on ESPNEWS. This broadcast may or may not show up on your on-screen guides. The race is scheduled for 8:20 a.m. Saturday morning on ESPNU.

- NTT IndyCar Series teams are at Mid-Ohio this weekend for the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio. Practice coverage starts today with Practice No. 1 at 3:30 p.m. live on Peacock. Practice No. 2 is at 9:30 a.m. Saturday.

Qualifying is scheduled for 2:45 p.m. ET Saturday afternoon on Peacock. There is a warmup scheduled for Sunday morning at 9:45 a.m. on Peacock. The race itself will air on NBC with coverage starting at 12:30 p.m. ET.

- IMSA teams are at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park this weekend. WeatherTech teams practice today and Saturday. Michelin Pilot Challenge teams will practice and qualify today.

Saturday will have qualifying for the Chevrolet Grand Prix at 12:40 p.m. ET on Peacock. Michelin Pilot Challenge teams will race at 4:10 p.m. for two hours live on Peacock.

The Chevrolet Grand Prix is scheduled for 3:10 p.m. ET Sunday. The race will air live on NBC starting at 3 p.m., immediately after coverage finishes up at Mid-Ohio. IMSA Prototype Challenge teams will qualify and race Sunday. Their 90-minute race is scheduled for 11:35 a.m. ET and will be streamed live on Peacock.

- The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series will be at Cedar Lake Speedway for the two-night Independence Day Spectacular. Action starts tonight at 7:15 p.m. ET at DirtVision.

- The DIRTcar Summer Nationals continues this weekend at Paducah International Speedway in Kentucky for the 14th round of the arduous series. Action will be streamed on DirtVision starting at 7 p.m. ET.

FOLLOW THE FRONTSTRETCH THIS WEEKEND THROUGH OUR COLLEAGUES:

ROAD AMERICA:

Daniel McFadin (@DanielMcFadin)

MID-OHIO:

Christopher DeHarde (@CdeHarde)

Also, don't forget to follow our Twitter page, @Frontstretch as well for updates!

TV Schedule: Here

Around the World in Motorsports: June 30-July 1

- In Free Practice No. 1 for Formula 1 at Silverstone Circuit, teams had to deal with conditions that changed from dry to pouring rain within only a couple of minutes. Definitely not the most ideal conditions for testing new aerodynamic changes that have come out of the factories. The conditions resulted in a jumbled timesheet.

Alfa Romeo's Valtteri Bottas was fastest in the session with a lap at 128.897 mph. This was .532 seconds ahead of Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton. Ferrari teammates Carlos Sainz Jr. and Charles Leclerc were third and fourth, while Haas' Mick Schumacher was fifth.

Everyone ventured out onto the 3.661-mile circuit during the session, but only 10 of the 20 drivers took time during the session. Among those who did not set official times included both Red Bulls (Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez), both Alpines (Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon), both McLarens (Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo), both Williams (Alexander Albon and Nicholas Latifi), along with George Russell's Mercedes and Pierre Gasly's AlphaTauri.

- In Thursday night's Super DIRTcar Series Stars and Stripes 76 at Land of Legends Raceway, Heinke Baldwin Racing's Max McLaughlin passed Justin Haers with four laps to go and held on to take his first career points victory in the Super DIRTcar Series (it's his fourth actual win after previous non-points triumphs). Haers was second, then Matt Sheppard, Erick Rudolph and Stewart Friesen.

- Final entry lists are out for this weekend's races at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race is down to 24 cars from 27. Forty7 Motorsports' No. 7 has been withdrawn, likely due to crash damage from Sunday. Same for CarBahn Motorsports with Peregrine Racing's No. 39 Lamborghini.

The other withdrawal comes from Wright Motorsports. They chose to skip the race because of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate. In a press release, full-time driver Ryan Hardwick states that he is unvaccinated, along with a number of team members. They plan to be back at Lime Rock Park.

In Michelin Pilot Challenge, the entry list has fallen from 36 to 33 cars. Corsa Horizon's Aston Martin has withdrawn, along with the two Ford Mustang GT4s from KohR Motorsports.

Have news for Frontstretch? Don't hesitate to let us know; email us at frontstretcheditors@googlegroups.com with a promising lead or tip.

Newsletter Exclusives:

Frontstretch Folio: Kwik Trip 250

by Phil Allaway

This weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series returns to Road America for the first time since the 1950s for 62 laps of action. Some sports car sprint races don't last that long.

Coverage of the Kwik Trip 250 starts with Countdown to Green at 2 p.m. ET on USA. Race coverage starts at 3 p.m. and the green should be around 3:20 p.m. As of now, there is no streaming element of pre-race or post-race coverage scheduled.

Records and facts

Last year's Jockey Made in America 250 presented by Kwik Trip was relatively clean as compared to previous NASCAR Xfinity Series races on the 4.048-mile road course. William Byron dominated early on from the pole, but the man on the move was Chase Elliott.

Elliott started a distant 34th and made his way up to the front by the beginning of the final stage. He briefly relinquished the lead to make his final pit stop, but he led the final 17 laps en route to his first win on the Wisconsin road course.

Eliott ended up 5.705 seconds ahead of Christopher Bell at the finish. Kyle Busch was third, then Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin. Byron ended up finishing 33rd.

Track Facts
Track / Race Length: 4.048-mile road course, 62 laps (250.976 miles)
Banking: Variable

Pit Road Speed: 40 mph
Pace Car Speed: 50 mph
Opened: 1955

Website: http://www.roadamerica.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RoadAmerica

Twitter: http://twitter.com/roadamerica

Pre-Race Schedule:

Practice: Saturday, July 2, 12:05 - 12:45 p.m. on USA

Qualifying: Saturday, July 2, 12:50 p.m. on USA

Say What?!

"I’m excited to get back to Road America. I thought last year’s event was really good. For me, I was always partial to having the Fourth [of July] race at Daytona, but the crowd was really good and the energy was super high, and I think we need to have an energetic race on the Fourth. That’s a big weekend for our country. It’s a race inside our sport that I think is deserving of a lot of energy too, because we are a sport that’s going on this time of year and that needs to be a big event. I felt like the people up there welcomed us with open arms and brought a lot of energy. Anytime you have energy at the track, it makes it fun for everybody involved – whether you’re working inside the sport, you’re a driver, you’re another fan there, it just makes for a better event, better environment. Last year, I felt was a great example of that. I hope that’s the case again this weekend. I hope the results are the same this weekend and everybody has a big time." - Chase Elliott

"I would be lying to you if I told you I’m not extremely excited about every single road course because I believe that we can win in every single one of them. We have good cars. I have a very good team behind me. I feel like I’ve done a good job with the tools that have been given to me and it’s been fun. So, I’m really looking forward to it. I know it’s going to be a lot of fun for me; and hopefully we can have another strong shot." - Daniel Suarez

"Being in that part of the country and seeing the way that the Cup Series was taken to by the fans, and seeing all the fans – I mean, they were hiding between the trees, campers, all over the place. It was definitely a lot of fun to see all the people, and just a neat place to be during that time of the year.

"I haven’t spent a lot of time at Road America, but the thing I did take away from last year is there are a lot of heavy braking zones. So, I think that’s still going to be the ticket to passing – making the time into the heavy braking zones and being able to out-brake somebody." - Kevin Harvick

"First of all, this is my favorite racetrack in all the world. I’ve been fortunate to race around the world in different cars and different tracks and this is number one for me. People ask me all the time, what’s your favorite track? Road America. Easy. It’s the best lap in racing." - Joey Hand

Phil Allaway is the Newsletter Manager for Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.

Today at Frontstretch:

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Tomorrow at Frontstretch.com:

We'll have recaps and breakdowns of all the action from Road America, Silverstone, Mid-Ohio and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

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