Frontstretch Newsletter: May 2, 2022
Volume XVI, Edition LXVI
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- NASCAR Cup Series teams will be back at Dover Motor Speedway to complete the DuraMAX Drydene 400. Coverage is scheduled to start at Noon ET and will be aired live on FOX Sports 1.
- Today is the 40th anniversary of the 1982 Winston 500 at then-Alabama International Motor Speedway. This race was the sole start in the then-NASCAR Winston Cup Series for a mystery driver known as LW Wright. The Scene Vault Podcast tracked him for an interview,
which is now available at wherever you find podcasts.
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Around the World in Motorsports: April 29-May 1
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- In MotoGP action at Jerez Sunday, Ducati's Francesco Bagnaia emerged victorious after a long duel with defending champion Fabio Quartararo to win the Grand Prix of Spain. Quartararo was 0.285 seconds back at the finish. Aleix Espargaro was third, then Marc Marquez and Jack Miller.
Through six of 21 races, Quartararo currently has a seven-point lead over Aleix Espargaro. Enea Bastanini and Alex Rins are tied for third, while Bagnaia and Joan Mir are tied for fifth.
- In Monster Energy AMA Supercross action, Jason Anderson passed Eli Tomac early on for the lead and held on to take his sixth win of the season. He finished 13.86 seconds ahead of Malcolm Stewart. Marvin Musquin was third, then Chase Sexton and Tomac.
Tomac only needed a middling finish to clinch the 450cc title. A conservative ride got him fifth and the championship. Anderson is locked into second, but there is a three-way scrap for third between Stewart, Justin Barcia and Musquin with the three riders separated by only eight points.
In the 250cc West class, Hunter
Lawrence claimed his fourth victory of the season and third in a row. His margin of victory was 4.042 seconds over Michael Mosiman. Christian Craig was third, then Jo Shimoda and Garrett Marchbanks.
With only the East-West Showdown
at Rice-Eccles Stadium remaining on the schedule, Craig has an 18-point lead over Lawrence. Mosiman is third, then Vince Friese and Shimoda.
- In Porsche Carrera Cup North America competition, Parker Thompson took the lead from Trenton Estep on lap 2 Saturday and held on to win Race No. 1. Estep was second, then Riley Dickinson, Leh Keen and Kay van Berlo.
Race No. 2 saw Thompson take the lead on lap 1 from Dickinson on lap 1 and held on to take the weekend sweep. Dickinson was second, then van Berlo, Estep and Keen. In the points, van Berlo has a 22-point lead over Thompson through six of 16 rounds. Dickinson is third, then Estep and TJ Fischer.
- Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America started off their season Saturday at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Wayne Taylor Racing's Danny Formal passed O'Gara Motorsport's Patrick Kujala on the first lap and held on to take the win for himself and Kyle Marcelli. Kujala and Edoardo Piscopo were second, then Edoardo Liberati. Loris Spinelli
and Giano Taurino were fourth, while Ashton Harrison and Tom Long were fifth.
Race No. 2 on Sunday saw Kujala take the lead late in the race from Taurino and hold on to take the overall victory for himself and Piscopo. They were 0.441 seconds ahead of Formal and Marcelli at the finish. Bryson Lew and John Capestro-Dubets were third, then Spinelli and Taurino. Luke Berkeley was fifth.
- The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series was at Bristol Motor Speedway last weekend for the Bristol Bash. Two nights of racing on the ultra-quick high-banked oval. Friday night saw Shark Racing's Logan Schuchart sweep the entire evening, passing Aaron Reutzel on the first lap for the lead and driving away to his first win of the
year. Reutzel was second, then Kraig Kinser, Carson Macedo and David Gravel.
Saturday night saw Spencer Bayston hold off an epic charge on a one-lap shootout from Kyle Larson to take the win and $25,000. Larson was second, then Schuchart, Rico Abreu and Gravel.
Through 19 of 81 races, Brad Sweet still leads the points, but his advantage is down to 20 points over Macedo. Gravel is third, then Sheldon Haudenschild and Schuchart.
- World of Outlaws CASE Construction Late Model Series was also in Bristol for two nights of racing. Friday night saw Jonathan Davenport run down and pass Ricky Weiss with four laps to go. From there, he pulled away to take the win. Kyle Larson charged from the rear of the field to finish second after being late to the grid. Kyle Bronson
was second, then Scott Bloomquist and Chris Madden.
Saturday night saw Weiss leading early from the pole before Madden took the lead. Weiss was able to charge back, retake the lead and hold on for the victory. Davenport snatched second from Madden in the closing laps. Bronson was fourth and Larson fifth.
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| | Dover Cup Race Postponed to
Monday
Rain descended upon Dover Motor Speedway Sunday after 78 laps were completed in the DuraMAX Drydene 400. At 5:30 p.m. ET, NASCAR called the race for the day. It will continue at Noon ET today. Kyle Larson
currently leads over Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Martin Truex Jr. and William Byron.
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| | Josh Berry Wins at Dover, Noah Gragson Claims Dash 4 Cash
Prize
JR Motorsports' Josh Berry snatched the lead away from teammate Justin Allgaier with 55 laps to go. From there, Berry held on to win the A-Game 200 for his first triumph of the year. Allgaier ended up second, then Ty
Gibbs, Noah Gragson and Sam Mayer.
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| | Sam Mayer Rides ‘Roller Coaster of a Day’ to 5th at
Dover
Sam Mayer was excellent early on Saturday at Dover, winning stage one. Then, a wheel fell off after their first pit stop. From there, he had to battle back to finish fifth, but the events of Saturday are going to
affect the team for the next month.
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| | Patricio O’Ward
Outduels Alex Palou, Rinus VeeKay to Steal Alabama Win
Arrow McLaren SP's Patricio O'Ward passed Rinus VeeKay for the lead after the final pit stop Sunday, then held off Alex Palou to win the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park for his first win of the
year. VeeKay ended up third, then Will Power and Scott Dixon.
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| | Will Power Leapfrogs Most of IndyCar Field to Finish 4th at
Barber
Barber Motorsports Park is not the easiest track to pass at. Team Penske's Will Power made it look rather easy in moving up from 19th at the start to finish fourth in a race with only one full course
caution.
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| | Despite Stealing the Show, Colton Herta Finishes 10th at
Barber
While the majority of the field Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park chose a two-stop strategy, Andretti Autosport's Colton Herta chose a three-stopper. It resulted in Herta being on fresher tires late, but a spin in
turn 5 after contact with Scott McLaughlin dropped him to a 10th-place finish.
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| | Callum Ilott and
Juncos Hollinger Racing Showing Pace at Barber
Although the final results won't show much for Callum Ilott and Juncos Hollinger Racing, the rookie and former Formula 2 winner showed a lot of progress this past weekend, putting up some of the fastest times in
practice.
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| | Wayne Taylor Racing
Successfully Defends Laguna Seca Victory
Wayne Taylor Racing's Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor led all but six laps Sunday to win the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Hyundai Monterey Sports Car Championship at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. It
is the second year in a row that WTR has won at Laguna Seca and Taylor's third straight win.
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| | VOLT Racing Scores Laguna Seca Win With Gutsy Pit
Strategy
VOLT Racing executed an aggressive pit strategy that saw Trent Hindman have to go the final 68 minutes of the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca 120 on fuel. With the help of
cautions, Hindman stretched the fuel to give himself and Alan Brynjolfsson their first win of the year in IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge.
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Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, Chris Jones and Joe Skibinski of INDYCAR Media and IMSA.
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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Seeking the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs: Mid-Race Update
by Phil Allaway
As you know, Sunday's DuraMAX Drydene 400 was
red-flagged after 78 laps due to rain Sunday. The remainder of the event will be completed Monday afternoon.
Entering the race, Chase Elliott had a 21-point lead on Ryan Blaney. William Byron is third, followed by Kyle Busch and Alex Bowman.
In addition to Byron, Busch and Bowman, Joey Logano, Ross Chastain, Chase Briscoe, Austin Cindric and Denny Hamlin all have victories this season. Hamlin is outside of the top 16 in 24th after a terrible start to his season.
Christopher Bell in 14th is the final driver in the playoffs on points. He has a one-point lead over Tyler Reddick.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) Chase Elliott 368, 2) Ryan Blaney -21, 3) William Byron -34, 4) Kyle Busch
-56, 5) Alex Bowman -59, 6) Joey Logano -60, 7) Kyle Larson -69, 8) Martin Truex Jr. -70, 9) Ross Chastain -76, 10) Aric Almirola -103, 11) Kevin Harvick -116, 12) Chase Briscoe
-122, 13) Austin Dillon -123, 14) Christopher Bell -125, 15) Tyler Reddick -126, 16) Austin Cindric -130.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the Playoffs: 24) Denny Hamlin
-190.
Playoff Points: 1) William Byron 13, 2) Ross Chastain
-2, t-3) Alex Bowman -7, t-3) Denny Hamlin -7, t-3) Kyle Larson -7, t-2) Chase Briscoe -7, t-7) Austin Cindric -8, t-7) Kyle Busch -8, t-9) Martin Truex Jr. -10, t-9) Ryan Blaney -10, t-11) Chase Elliott -11, t-11) Tyler Reddick -11, t-13) Daniel Suarez
-11, t-13) Darrell Wallace Jr. -11.
Stage Points: 1) Chase Elliott
103, 2) William Byron -4, 3) Ryan Blaney -14, 4) Kyle Larson -18, 5) Joey Logano -23, 6) Martin Truex Jr. -39, 7) Christopher Bell -43, 8) Chase Briscoe -44, 9) Kyle Busch
-53, 10) Ross Chastain -58, 11) Tyler Reddick -61, t-12) Alex Bowman -65, t-12) Erik Jones -65, 14) Brad Keselowski -68, 15) Daniel Suarez -72, 16) Aric Almirola
-73.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the Playoffs: t-17) Denny Hamlin -74, t-17) Kevin Harvick -74, 19) Austin Cindric -75, 22) Austin Dillon -78.
Note: The Stage Points also include the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona.
Old Point Standings (1-16): t-1) Chase Elliott 309, t-1) Ryan Blaney 309, 3) Kyle Busch -2, 4) Alex Bowman
-6, 5) Ross Chastain -22, 6) William Byron -27, 7) Martin Truex Jr. -31, 8) Aric Almirola -33, 9) Joey Logano -34, 10) Kevin Harvick -44, 11) Austin Dillon -47, 12) Kyle Larson
-49, 13) Austin Cindric -58, 14) Kurt Busch -65, 15) Tyler Reddick -66, 16) Chase Briscoe -70.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the Playoffs: 19) Christopher Bell
-82, 25) Denny Hamlin -117.
Note: These
standings are based on the old point system that was used before stages were created.
WC Points (1-16): 1) Ryan Blaney 1392, 2) Kyle Busch
-18, 3) Chase Elliott -32, 4) Alex Bowman -51, 5) Ross Chastain -63, 6) William Byron -94, 7) Joey Logano -117, 8) Martin Truex Jr. -124, 9) Aric Almirola -142, 10) Kyle Larson
-154, 11) Austin Dillon -163, 12) Kevin Harvick -170, 13) Tyler Reddick -216, 14) Austin Cindric -226, 15) Kurt Busch -228, 16) Chase Briscoe -246.
Outside of the Top 16, but still in the Playoffs: 19) Christopher Bell
-282, 25) Denny Hamlin -400.
Note No. 1: The WC points are based on the original points
system created by Bob Latford in 1975.
Race
Winners: Austin Cindric (Daytona), Kyle Larson (Fontana), Alex Bowman (Las
Vegas), Chase Briscoe (Phoenix), William Byron (Atlanta, Martinsville), Ross Chastain (Circuit of the Americas, Talladega), Denny Hamlin (Richmond), Kyle Busch
Note: Race wins in Italics do not count towards playoff eligibility.
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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Seeking the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs: AJ Allmendinger Makes Small Gain in Dover
by Phil Allaway
AJ Allmendinger had a decent day Saturday in Dover, earning 12 stage points and finishing sixth. That allowed him to slightly expand his points lead. His advantage is now 43 points over both Ty Gibbs and Noah Gragson (Gibbs wins the tiebreaker due to his three victories to Gragson's two). Gibbs finished third, while Gragson finished
fourth and only scored seven stage points. Josh Berry's victory keeps him in fourth, but he gained 12 points on Allmendinger.
Brandon Jones and Justin Allgaier are tied for fifth. Jones finished seventh on Saturday, while Allgaier was second. Sam Mayer moved up one place to seventh after finishing fifth, but he's likely to lose his crew chief, jackman and tire changer to suspensions later this week. Ryan Sieg is down one place to eighth after coming from the rear of the field to
finish 10th.
Riley Herbst is up one place to ninth after finishing ninth. Austin Hill drops to 10th after finishing 14th. Landon Cassill remains in 11th after finishing 12th. Daniel Hemric is still the final driver in the playoffs in 12th.
Hemric has a 17-point advantage over Anthony Alfredo, who finished 15th Saturday. Sheldon Creed has sole possession of 14th after finishing eighth. Brandon Brown is 15th, while Jeb Burton is 16th.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) AJ Allmendinger 427, t-2) Ty Gibbs -43, t-2) Noah Gragson -43, 4) Josh Berry -88, t-5) Brandon Jones -110, t-5) Justin Allgaier -110, 7) Sam Mayer -130, 8) Ryan Sieg -140,
9) Riley Herbst -150, 10) Austin Hill -153, 11) Landon Cassill -162, 12) Daniel Hemric -168, 13) Anthony Alfredo -185, 14) Sheldon Creed -210, 15) Brandon Brown -223, 16) Jeb Burton -226.
Note No. 1: Drivers in Bold have locked into the playoffs.
Note No. 2: Drivers in italics are either ineligible for the playoffs, or outside of the top 12.
Playoff Points: 1) Ty Gibbs 17, 2) Noah Gragson -4, t-3) AJ Allmendinger -10, t-3) Josh Berry -10, 5) Brandon Jones -11, 6) Austin Hill -12, t-7) Daniel Hemric -15, t-7) Trevor Bayne -15,
t-7) Sam Mayer -15, t-7) Justin Allgaier -15.
Note: If they were eligible, Cole Custer would be tied for fifth and John Hunter Nemechek 12th in playoff points.
Stage Points: 1) AJ Allmendinger 98, 2) Ty Gibbs -2, 3) Justin Allgaier -5, t-4) Noah Gragson -8, t-4) Josh Berry -8, t-6) Brandon Jones -21, t-6) Sam Mayer
-21, 8) Daniel Hemric -34, 9) Austin Hill -55, 10) Ryan Sieg -63, 11) Trevor Bayne -65, 12) Landon Cassill -68, t-13) Riley Herbst -73, t-13) Brandon Brown -73, 15) Jade Buford -77, 16) Ryan Truex -82.
Note: If they were eligible, John Hunter Nemechek would be 10th in stage points.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) AJ Allmendinger 376, 2) Noah Gragson -36, 3) Ty Gibbs -41, 4) Ryan Sieg -82, 5) Josh Berry -83, 6) Riley Herbst -87, 7) Brandon Jones -91, 8) Austin Hill -101,
9) Landon Cassill -103, 10) Anthony Alfredo -107, 11) Sam Mayer -112, 12) Justin Allgaier -119, 13) Sheldon Creed -124, 14) Daniel Hemric -138, 15) Jeb Burton -142, 16) Brett Moffitt -148.
WC Points (1-16): 1) AJ Allmendinger 1620, 2) Noah Gragson -117, 3) Ty Gibbs -158, 4) Josh Berry -292, 5) Riley Herbst -313, 6) Ryan Sieg -315, 7) Brandon Jones
-325, 8) Austin Hill -344, 9) Landon Cassill -367, 10) Sam Mayer -383, 11) Anthony Alfredo -395, 12) Justin Allgaier -400, 13) Sheldon Creed -441, 14) Daniel Hemric -481, 15) Jeb Burton
-518, 16) Brett Moffitt -528.
Race Winners: Austin Hill (Daytona), Cole Custer (Fontana), Ty Gibbs (Las Vegas, Atlanta, Richmond), Noah Gragson (Phoenix, Talladega), AJ Allmendinger (Circuit of the Americas), Brandon Jones (Martinsville), Josh Berry (Dover)
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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Seeking the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs: Off-Week Update No. 5
by Phil Allaway
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series was off last weekend. They will return to action May 6 at Darlington Raceway.
When they get to Darlington for Throwback Weekend, Bristol winner Ben Rhodes will have a 38-point lead over Chandler Smith. Stewart Friesen is third, followed by Zane Smith and John Hunter Nemechek.
At the playoff cutoff, Matt Crafton currently has the last spot. He is nine points ahead of Grant Enfinger. Derek Kraus is 12th, then Tyler Ankrum.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) Ben Rhodes 265, 2) Chandler Smith -38, 3) Stewart Friesen -51, 4) Zane Smith -54, 5) John Hunter Nemechek -62, 6) Christian Eckes -72, 7) Ty
Majeski -78, 8) Tanner Gray -85, 9) Carson Hocevar -95, 10) Matt Crafton -102, 11) Grant Enfinger -111, 12) Derek Kraus -125, 13) Tyler Ankrum -127, 14) Parker Kligerman -144, 15) Matt
DiBenedetto -155, 16) Timmy Hill -159.
Note: If he were eligible for Camping World Truck Series points, Kyle Busch would be 14th.
Playoff Points: 1) Zane Smith 13, 2) Ben Rhodes -3, t-3) Chandler Smith -8, t-3) Corey Heim -8, 5) John Hunter Nemechek -10, 6) Stewart Friesen -12.
Note: If he were eligible for Playoff Points, William Byron would be tied for second with the points from winning at Martinsville.
Stage Points: 1) Ben Rhodes 84, 2) John Hunter Nemechek -21, 3) Chandler Smith -27, 4) Stewart Friesen -34, 5) Ty Majeski -37, 6) Zane Smith -41, 7) Christian
Eckes -43, 8) Derek Kraus -52, 9) Matt Crafton -55, 10) Tanner Gray -56, 11) Carson Hocevar -60, 12) Grant Enfinger -62, 13) Tyler Ankrum -65, 14) Parker Kligerman -67, 15) Matt DiBenedetto
-69, t-16) Corey Heim -77, t-16) Jack Wood -77.
Note: If he were eligible, Kyle Busch would be tied for 12th in stage points.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Ben Rhodes 162, 2) Chandler Smith -12, 3) Zane Smith -13, 4) Stewart Friesen -19, 5) Christian Eckes -31, 6) Tanner Gray -33, 7) Carson
Hocevar -37, 8) John Hunter Nemechek -41, 9) Ty Majeski -44, 10) Matt Crafton -51, 11) Grant Enfinger -53, 12) Tyler Ankrum -66, 13) Parker Kligerman -73, 14) Derek Kraus -77, 15) Chase Purdy -83, 16) Timmy
Hill -85.
Note: If he were eligible, Kyle Busch would be 13th in Old Points.
WC Points (1-16): 1) Ben Rhodes 930, 2) Chandler Smith -59, 3) Zane Smith -78, 4) Stewart Friesen -93, 5) Christian Eckes -124, 6) Tanner Gray -138, 7) John Hunter Nemechek
-140, 8) Carson Hocevar -147, 9) Ty Majeski -172, 10) Matt Crafton -201, 11) Grant Enfinger -210, 12) Tyler Ankrum -251, 13) Derek Kraus -287, 14) Timmy Hill -313, t-15) Matt DiBenedetto -327, t-15) Austin
Wayne Self -327.
Race Winners: Zane Smith (Daytona, Circuit of the Americas), Chandler Smith (Las Vegas), Corey Heim (Atlanta), William Byron (Martinsville), Ben Rhodes (Bristol)
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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