Frontstretch Newsletter: May 20, 2022
Volume XVI, Edition LXXX
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- Today is a busy day of activity at Texas Motor Speedway. NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series teams will practice and qualify starting at 4 p.m. ET. All coverage will air live on FOX Sports 1.
Following the practice and qualifying sessions, Camping World Truck Series teams will race for 220 miles today. Coverage of the SpeedyCash.com 220 starts with NASCAR RaceDay - CWTS Edition at 7:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1. Race coverage follows at 8:30 p.m.
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Saturday has the Xfinity Series SRS Distribution 250. Coverage of the 250-mile race will start with NASCAR RaceDay - Xfinity Edition at 1 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1. Race coverage follows at 1:30 p.m.
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NASCAR Cup Series teams will practice in two groups, one for the All-Star Race and one for the All-Star Open, starting shortly after 7 p.m. ET. All-Star Open qualifying is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. ET, while All-Star Race qualifying will be at 7:30 p.m. Both sessions will air live on FOX Sports 1.
Sunday
will see the All-Star festivities air live on FOX Sports 1 starting at 5 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1.
- NTT
IndyCar Series teams have "Fast Friday" today, where the boost is increased on the engines to provide an extra 90 horsepower. Unfortunately, that is not the only thing that is apparently boosted today. There will be 20-30 mph winds at Indianapolis, which will make things sketchy. All six hours of practice will be streamed live on Peacock.
Saturday has practice time in the afternoon, then qualifying up until 6 p.m. All of this will be streamed live on Peacock. Sunday has practice time on Peacock, then final qualifying that determines the top four rows for the Indianapolis 500. This will air live on NBC starting at 4 p.m. ET.
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Formula 1 teams are presently in the middle of Free Practice No. 2. It is airing live on ESPNU. Free Practice No. 3 will also be at 6:55 a.m. ET Saturday on ESPNU.
Qualifying will air at 9:55 a.m. ET Saturday morning on ESPN2. The race coverage is scheduled to start at 8:55 a.m. ET Sunday on ESPN2. Pre-race coverage will start bright and early at 7:30 a.m.
- SRO
America's Fanatec GT World Challenge America Powered by AWS, Pirelli GT4 America SprintX and TC America series will all be in action at NOLA Motorsports Park in Avondale, La. for their second major race weekend of the year. Today will see teams practice on the flat road course. Saturday is qualifying and Race No. 1, while Race No. 2 is on Sunday. The weekend replaces one originally scheduled for this weekend at Ozarks International Raceway in Gravois Mills,
Mo.
FOLLOW THE FRONTSTRETCH THIS WEEKEND THROUGH OUR COLLEAGUES:
TEXAS:
INDIANAPOLIS:
Also, don't forget to follow our Twitter page, @Frontstretch as well for updates!
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Around the World in Motorsports: May 19-20
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- In Indianapolis 500 practice Thursday, Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing's Takuma Sato was once again fastest with a lap at 227.519 mph. His lap was three-hundredths of a second faster than Scott Dixon. Sato's teammate David Malukas was third fastest, then JR Hildebrand and Jimmie Johnson.
On the list of those on-track without aerodynamic assistance, Team Penske's Will Power was fastest with a lap at 224.325 mph. Ed Carpenter Racing teammates Rinus VeeKay and Ed Carpenter were second and third.
- In Free Practice No. 1 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was fastest with a lap at 131.007 mph. This lap was eight-hundredths of a second faster than teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. Red Bull's Max Verstappen was third fastest, then Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Fernando Alonso.
A number of teams (most notably Mercedes and Aston Martin) brought upgrades to the track. As a result, the neon green of Flow-Viz and the aero rakes (the metal, grate-like structures) were a common sight on the cars as teams tried to see how air flows over their new equipment.
- In Thursday night's World of Outlaws CASE Construction Late Model Series feature at Pennsylvania's Bloomsburg Fairgrounds Speedway, Max Blair passed polesitter Jeff Rine on lap 1, then led all 40 laps to take the victory, his second of the year. He's also won all three World of Outlaws CASE Construction Late Model Series features ever run at Bloomsburg
Fairgrounds Speedway.
Dennis Erb Jr. finished second, then Josh Richards. Tanner English was fourth, while Shane Clanton rounded out the top five. Through 16 races, Erb has a 94-point lead on Blair. English is third in points, then Richards and Ryan Gustin. For more on this race, check out today's edition of Thinkin' Dirty at Frontstretch.
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| | From Indianapolis to … Palanga? David Malukas Wants to Explore His Lithuanian Racing
Heritage
INDYCAR rookie David Malukas is learning a lot in his first year in the top flite of American open wheel racing. He's gradually improving in INDYCAR, but wants to expand his
horizons as well.
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Photo is courtesy of Matt Fraver of INDYCAR Media.
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: All-Star Race/All-Star Race
by Phil Allaway
This weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series returns to Texas Motor Speedway for All-Star Weekend. Coverage of the All-Star festivities can be seen on FOX Sports 1 starting at 5 p.m. ET Sunday with NASCAR RaceDay. Coverage of the All-Star Open is
scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. ET, and that will be followed by a Blake Shelton concert during the second edition of NASCAR RaceDay. The green flag is scheduled to fly around 8:05. The race can also be heard on PRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel
90).
Records and facts
Last year's All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway was fairly quiet. There were two cautions outside of the breaks at the end of each
stage.
The race was reasonably competitive, especially at the beginning of the sixth and final segment as Brad Keselowski battled with Hendrick Motorsports teammates Chase Elliott (winner of the fifth segment) and Kyle Larson. Keselowski was able to get past Elliott for the lead with nine laps to go, but Larson was able to sweep past a lap later. Keselowski's team thought he was going to get another chance to get at Larson, and he did get that
chance. However, Larson was able to hold on to take the win.
Keselowski was second, then Elliott. Team Penske teammates Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney were
fifth.
Among active drivers, only Kevin Harvick and Larson have more than one victory in the All-Star Race. Harvick's came at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2007 and 2018. Larson's came at Charlotte in 2019 and last year in Texas. Five others have one
victory.
All-time, Jimmie Johnson has the most All-Star victories with four (2003, 2006 and 2011-2012). Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt each had three wins, while Harvick, Larson, Mark Martin, Davey Allison and Terry Labonte each have
two.
Track
Facts
Track / Race Length: 1.5-mile quad-oval, 125 laps (187.5 miles)
Banking: 24 degrees
Frontstretch: 2,250 ft., banked 5 degrees
Backstretch: 1,330 ft., banked 5 degrees
Grandstand
Seating: 128,655
Pit Road
Speed: 45 mph
Pace Car Speed: 55 mph
Opened: 1997
Website: http://www.texasmotorspeedway.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/texasmotorspeedway
Twitter: http://twitter.com/TXMotorSpeedway
Pre-Race Schedule:
Practice: Saturday, May 21, 7 - 7:45 p.m. on FOX Sports 1
All-Star Open Qualifying: Saturday, May 21, 7:45 p.m. on FOX Sports
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All-Star Race Qualifying: Saturday, May 21, 8:10 p.m. on FOX Sports
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Say What?!
"The All-Star Race is always a really fun and competitive way for our sport to do something a little bit different during the season. Our season is really long, and every weekend is so important so it’s fun to put a different spin on things this weekend. The fact that it’s a non-points-paying race
doesn’t make any of the drivers want it any less. We’re competing for a lot of money and bragging rights, so wo wouldn’t want to win. Our team has had a really up and down few weeks and finishing 30th at Kansas isn’t a reflection of the results we deserve. Our pit crew is crazy good and my crew work so hard every single day at the shop to bring fast cars that can run upfront and compete for wins. I hope we get to showcase that this weekend, win some money and use that as even more momentum to
get out there and win at Charlotte." - Tyler Reddick
"I’m glad that NASCAR has started rotating this event some. I think that’s what this event was initially designed to do. To give fans in the different regions a special event and I think that’s really cool. It’s
more like what other forms of sports do. I’m hoping that next year they switch it up and head somewhere else after being back in Texas for the second year. It’s not exactly one of my best tracks, but we did put in a pretty good effort last year and the pit crew was able to get the job done. Hopefully with this year’s format, it will be entertaining for the fans and we can put on a good show for them." - Chase Elliott
"It’s a big deal. Obviously, the stipulations getting into that race as far as not having to run the Open means you’re a playoff guy or you won a race, so just to be able to say that you’re one of those guys, I
think there are 20 of us in it right now – that’s half the field, so to be able to say you’re one of those guys is a big deal. It’s definitely a who’s who of guys that are in that race. It’s all the bigger names in the sport, so to be a part of that is definitely special and humbling and just to not have the stress of going through the Open is nice. Last year was kind of a thing where you’ve got to go for it and if you didn’t make it you were going home early, so not having that stress will be
nice and just being a part of the festivities that come along with it." - Chase Briscoe
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.
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