Frontstretch Newsletter: Oct. 7, 2022
Volume XVI, Edition CLXXV |
- NASCAR teams are loading in today at Charlotte Motor Speedway and going through inspection. No on-track activity is
scheduled. - NASCAR Xfinity Series teams will be on-track bright and early Saturday morning in Charlotte Practice is scheduled for 10
a.m. ET with live coverage on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports App. Qualifying follows shortly afterwards. - Formula 1 teams will be back on-track for Free Practice No. 3 tonight at 10:55 p.m. ET on ESPN2. Qualifying is scheduled for
1:55 a.m. ET Friday night/Saturday morning in DVR Theater on ESPN2.
Race coverage will start Saturday night at 11:30 p.m. ET with Formula 1 Grand Prix Sunday. Coverage of the race itself will
begin at 12:55 a.m. ET with the formation lap starting promptly at 1 a.m. ET.
- Today is a full day of activity at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Qualifying for Saturday's Indianapolis 8 Hour is
scheduled for this afternoon, along with the first race of the weekend for the SRO America supporting classes. Qualifying is underway right now for the Indianapolis 8 Hour, while coverage of the Pole Shootout starts at 4:50 p.m. ET on the GT World YouTube channel. Saturday has Race No. 1 for Pirelli GT4 America SprintX in the morning, then the Indianapolis 8 Hour will start at Noon. Coverage
will be split between CBS Sports Network and the GT World YouTube channel. Sunday will see the SRO America supporting classes wrap-up their season. - The
ARCA Menards Series will wrap up their season with a 200-lap duel at Toledo Speedway Saturday afternoon. Coverage of the Shore Lunch 200 is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. ET and will air live on MAVTV and on FLORacing.com. - Finally, it is the biggest race weekend of the year in Australia as the Repco Supercars Championship takes on Bathurst. The
Repco Bathurst 1000 is scheduled to go green at 8:15 p.m. ET Saturday night on either MotorTrend+ or Supercars' V8 Superview service. Be warned that the weather forecast there is miserable and the race might get shortened due to the time limit of six hours and 45 minutes. FOLLOW THE FRONTSTRETCH THIS WEEKEND THROUGH OUR
COLLEAGUES:
CHARLOTTE: TOLEDO: Also, don't forget to follow our Twitter page, @Frontstretch as well for updates on
Charlotte! |
Around the World in Motorsports: Oct. 6-7 |
- At Suzuka Circuit Thursday night, wet weather reigned. In Free Practice No. 1, teams started on full wet tires, but later switched to intermediates. Alpine F1's Fernando Alonso was fastest overall with a lap at 127.032 mph. Alonso was .315 seconds faster than Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr. Charles Leclerc was third, then Esteban Ocon and Kevin Magnussen. Given the weather conditions, the session was not clean. After the checkered flag, Haas F1's Mick Schumacher spun in turn 7 and broke his front wing. He was forced to sit out Free Practice No. 2 since his car was damaged enough to force a chassis change. Free Practice No. 2 saw the Mercedes come to the front after being outside of the top 10 in Free Practice No. 1. George Russell was fastest with a lap at 127.322 mph, .235 seconds quicker than teammate Lewis Hamilton. Red Bull's Max Verstappen was third, then Sergio Perez and Haas F1's Kevin Magnussen.
There were no red flags in the session, but there were off-course excursions. Both Leclerc and Yuki Tsunoda took trips through the traps.
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| | William Byron’s Texas Penalty Amended: Fine Increases, Points Given
BackWilliam Byron's appeal of point penalties given to him for spinning out Denny Hamlin under caution was heard Thursday. The National Motorsports Appeals Board
decided to increase his fine, but cut out the 25-point penalty. |
| | SHR Files Appeal for Kevin Harvick’s 100-Point Penalty,
FineStewart-Haas Racing announced Friday that they are appealing the fine and suspensions levied earlier this weekend against the team. They were found to have an
illegally modified single source component on Kevin Harvick's No. 4 at Talladega. |
| | AM Racing Planning Full-Time Xfinity Team in
2023AM Racing announced Friday that they will move up to the NASCAR Xfinity Series full-time in 2023 with a multitude of drivers, including currently NASCAR Camping
World Truck Series driver Austin Wayne Self. |
| | Santino Ferrucci Returning to Full-Time Racing in IndyCar for AJ
FoytAJ Foyt Enterprises announced Thursday that Santino Ferrucci will drive the No. 14 in the NTT IndyCar Series full-time in 2023, replacing Sebastien
Bourdais. |
Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography and James Black 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. |
Seeking the NASCAR Cup Series Championship: Post-Byron Rescindment Update
by Phil Allaway
Yes, for the second time in as many days, we must update the points. William Byron getting his point penalty rescinded is a bigger change than Kevin Harvick's was
yesterday. Byron moves up from 10th to seventh. Daniel Suarez drops to eighth and is now on the bubble. Suarez has a 12-point cushion over both Chase Briscoe and Austin Cindric, who are tied for ninth. The rescindment changes both Briscoe and Cindric's strategy for Sunday.
Beating each other is no longer enough (although it would still help). Round of 12 Point Standings: 1) Chase Elliott 3103, 2) Ryan Blaney -2, 3) Ross Chastain -6, 4) Denny Hamlin -13, t-5) Joey Logano -16, t-5) Kyle Larson -16, 7) William Byron -20, 8) Daniel Suarez -22, t-9) Chase Briscoe -34, t-9) Austin Cindric -34, 11) Christopher Bell -67, 12) Alex Bowman -88. Note No. 1: Drivers in Bold have locked into the Round of 12. Note No. 2: Drivers in italics have been eliminated from the playoffs, or never qualified for
the playoffs. Eliminated Playoff Driver Standings: 13) Tyler Reddick 2116, 14) Austin Dillon -9, 15) Kyle Busch -27, 16) Kevin Harvick -145. Non-Playoff Point Standings (1-16): 1) Chase Elliott 1082, 2) Ryan Blaney -113, 3) Kyle Larson -127, 4) Joey Logano -136, 5) Ross Chastain -144, 6) Christopher Bell -176, 7) Martin Truex Jr.
-202, 8) William Byron -223, 9) Kyle Busch -280, 10) Denny Hamlin -282, 11) Daniel Suarez -314, 12) Tyler Reddick -337, 13) Austin Cindric -342, 14) Alex Bowman -347, 15) Erik Jones -355, 16) Chase Briscoe -373. Playoff Points: 1) Chase Elliott 46, 2) Joey Logano -21, t-3) Ross Chastain -26, t-3) Kyle Larson -26, t-5) William Byron -31, t-5) Ryan Blaney -31, t-7) Denny Hamlin -33, t-7) Christopher Bell -33, 9) Chase Briscoe -37, t-10) Daniel Suarez -39, t-10) Alex Bowman -39, 12) Austin Cindric -40.
Best of the Rest (17-26): 17) Martin Truex Jr. 880, 18) Erik Jones -153, 19) Bubba Wallace
-202, 20) Aric Almirola -217, 21) Chris Buescher -259, 22) Justin Haley -265, 23) Michael McDowell -298, 24) Brad Keselowski -339, 25) Cole Custer -343, 26) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -374. Stage Points: 1) Chase Elliott 271, 2) Ryan Blaney -35, 3) Joey Logano -39, 4) Kyle Larson -47, t-5) William Byron -63, t-5) Ross Chastain -63, 7) Martin Truex Jr. -65, 8) Kyle Busch
-69, 9) Christopher Bell -76, 10) Denny Hamlin -106, 11) Chase Briscoe -143, 12) Erik Jones -156, 13) Daniel Suarez -159, 14) Tyler Reddick -163, 15) Alex Bowman -175, 16) Bubba Wallace -179. Outside of the Top 16, but still in the Playoffs: t-23) Austin Cindric -204.
Note: The Stage Points also include the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Chase Elliott 952, 2) Ryan Blaney -70, 3) Kyle Larson -82, 4) Ross Chastain -85, 5) Joey Logano -105, 6) Christopher Bell -106, 7) Martin Truex Jr. -127, 8) Austin Cindric
-152, 9) William Byron -161, 10) Daniel Suarez -162, 11) Denny Hamlin -177, 12) Tyler Reddick -178, t-13) Alex Bowman -197, t-13) Austin Dillon -197, 15) Erik Jones -205, 16) Kyle Busch -211. Outside of the Top 16, but still in the
Playoffs: 18) Chase Briscoe -216. Note: These standings are based on the old point system that was used before
stages were created. WC Points (1-16):
1) Chase Elliott 4260, 2) Ryan Blaney -217, 3) Ross Chastain -253, 4) Kyle Larson -261, 5) Joey Logano -305, 6) Christopher Bell -346, 7) Martin Truex Jr. -473, 8) Austin Cindric -549, 9) Tyler Reddick -550, 10) William Byron -552, 11) Daniel Suarez -563, 12) Denny Hamlin -570, 13) Kyle Busch -676, 14) Austin Dillon -695, 15) Erik Jones -716, 16) Alex Bowman -733. Outside of the Top 16, but still in the
Playoffs: 18) Chase Briscoe -797. 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, Watkins Glen), Alex Bowman (Las Vegas), Chase Briscoe (Phoenix), William Byron (Atlanta-1, Martinsville), Ross Chastain (Circuit of the Americas, Talladega-1), Denny Hamlin (Richmond-1, Charlotte), Kyle Busch (Bristol-1), Chase Elliott (Dover, Nashville, Atlanta-2, Pocono, Talladega-2), Joey Logano (Darlington-1, Gateway), Kurt Busch (Kansas-1), Daniel
Suarez (Sonoma), Tyler Reddick (Road America, Indianapolis), Christopher Bell (Loudon), Kevin Harvick (Michigan, Richmond-2), Austin Dillon (Daytona-2), Erik Jones (Darlington-2), Bubba Wallace (Kansas-2), Chris Buescher (Bristol-2)
Note: Race wins in Italics do not count towards playoff eligibility.
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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Frontstretch Folio: Bank of America ROVAL 400k by Phil Allaway
This weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series returns to Charlotte Motor Speedway for their second visit of the season, this time on the 2.28-mile ROVAL. Coverage Sunday begins with Countdown to Green at 1 p.m. ET on NBC. Race coverage is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. ET, while the green flag should fly around 2:15. Radio coverage will be provided by local PRN radio affiliates and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).
Records and facts
Last year's Bank of America ROVAL 400k had no clear dominant driver. 10 different drivers led laps
during the race and no driver led more than 30. Denny Hamlin was leading until a late yellow flew for Kevin Harvick crashing in turn 1. On the restart, Kyle Larson was able to dispatch of Hamlin. From there, he was able
to hold on to win. He was .782 seconds ahead of Tyler Reddick at the finish. Chris Buescher was third, while Kyle Busch and Hamlin rounded out the top five. There have only
been four races on the ROVAL to this point. Chase Elliott is the only driver with multiple wins, claiming triumphs in 2019 and 2020. Track Facts Track / Race Length: 2.28-mile infield road course ("ROVAL"), 109 laps (248.52 miles, 399.954 kilometers)
Banking: 0-24 degrees Turns: 17 Grandstand Seating: 89,000 Pit Road Speed: 45 mph
Pace Car Speed: 55 mph
Opened: 1960 Website: http://www.charlottemotorspeedway.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/charlottemotorspeedway Twitter: http://twitter.com/CLTMotorSpdwy Pre-Race Schedule: Practice: Saturday, Oct. 8, 12 - 12:50 p.m. ET on NBCSports.com/NBC Sports App (joined in progress at 12:30 p.m. ET on USA) Qualifying: Saturday, Oct. 8 at 1 p.m. ET on USA Say What! "I feel ready to win. I’m ready to jump back in the Chevy simulator and brush up on a few things. That’s been the road course that I’ve been focused on the most. I’ve focused a lot on road courses in my career, but I haven’t
shown the speed at that course like I have at other ones. So I’m looking for that next step there in speed for overall raw lap times. "We’ll just have to be mindful of what is around our No. 1 Chevy. We need to know at all times what is going on. We’ll be aware of the points and not put ourselves in the position to fall out of the race. Aside from that,
we’ll just go and try and make fast laps." - Ross Chastain "When we tested there last year after the ROVAL race, we were trying things and found some stuff and we were really fast in that test. I was like ‘Man, when we come back here it’s going to be crazy.’ These teams and our competitors are just so smart. Where everyone was with this car when we last tested there and now are just two
different places completely. It’s going to be a tough race for sure, but we’ve been doing a really good job this year of making our cars better little by little. I’m very excited about it. We had a really good test and made it faster every time and we had a lot of speed. We’re all pretty close on setups nowadays so it all comes down to who does the best job preparing for the race weekend and who executes properly. It should be an interesting race. This car is going to be going through the
infield there faster than ever before and it’s going to be a physical race for sure. "The racing and passing will evolve from where we were last year, but there are certainly a lot of opportunities to mix it up for track position and positioning yourself against your competitors when you try to set up passes
or try to defend them into the chicanes. We’re going to be moving through the infield faster than we ever have before so I think some of the techniques will change a bit. Exiting off of turn 8 onto the big oval will remain the most important corner followed by getting out of the rear chicane. How you approach it, prepare for it and what you want your car to do will be a lot different with this car with the bigger brakes, wider tires and a little bit less power." - Tyler Reddick "Stay out of trouble. There can be a lot of chaos at the Roval, just like we see at superspeedways and some of the bigger tracks. You can lose a ton of positions on restarts and certain turns. If you miss a turn, it can put you behind. We just need to run a good race and stay out of trouble. We’re not in a terrible position to be able to advance but we also can’t have a bad day. It’s tough to gain points but
all it takes is us not getting stage points and one of the guys in the bottom four spots winning to knock us out." - 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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