Frontstretch Newsletter: Homestead Gets Underway, Officiating Changes Announced in F1

Published: Fri, 10/21/22

Frontstretch Newsletter: Oct. 21, 2022
Volume XVI, Edition CLXXXV

What to Watch: Oct. 21-23

- NASCAR Xfinity Series teams are set to practice today at 6 p.m. ET at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The session will be aired live on USA. Qualifying will follow shortly afterwards.

Coverage of the Contender Boats 300 is scheduled to start with 4 p.m. ET Saturday with Countdown to Green on USA. Race coverage will start at 4:30 p.m. with the green set to fly around 4:45.

- NASCAR Camping World Truck Series teams are scheduled to practice today for the Baptist Health 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway at 4 p.m. ET. Qualifying will follow shortly afterwards. These sessions will not be televised.

Coverage of the Baptist Health 200 is scheduled to start with NASCAR RaceDay - CWTS Edition at Noon ET Saturday. Race coverage will start at 1 p.m. with the green flag around 1:15.

- NASCAR Cup Series teams are likely already at the track in Homestead. However, they will have no on-track activity today.

- Formula 1 teams are in Austin and ready to go. The opening free practice session of the weekend is due to start at 3 p.m. ET today and will air live on ESPN2. The second session will be at 6 p.m. ET on ESPNEWS.

Practice No. 3 is scheduled for 2:55 p.m. ET Saturday and will air live on ESPNEWS. Qualifying coverage will start at 5:55 p.m. ET on ESPNEWS and run until after 7 p.m.

Race coverage on Sunday will start with Formula 1 Grand Prix Sunday at 1:30 p.m. ET on ABC. The formation lap will begin precisely at 3 p.m. ET.

- World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series teams are back in Mechanicsburg, Penn. Saturday night for one more run-in with the Pennsylvania Posse at Williams Grove Speedway in the rescheduled final night of the Champion Racing Oil National Open. $75,000 will go to the winner in the final race of the season prior to the World Finals. Coverage starts at 5:45 p.m. ET Saturday night on DirtVision.

- Orange County Fair Speedway is hosting Eastern States Weekend, one of the biggest weekends of the year for Northeast-style dirt modifieds. Tonight will be the season finale for the Short Track Super Series, the Hard Clay Finale. Coverage starts at 6:15 p.m. ET on FLORacing. Coverage of the rest of the weekend will be on DirtTrackDigest.tv as a pay-per-view. Preliminary coverage is already underway. It is $99.99 for the entire weekend (minus the FLORacing coverage), $14.99 for today's DTD stream, $39.99 for Saturday's stream and $49.99 for Sunday's stream. Yes, these prices are accurate in that it appears to be cheaper to buy the individual days than the three-day package.

FOLLOW THE FRONTSTRETCH THIS WEEKEND IN HOMESTEAD THROUGH OUR COLLEAGUES:

Jared Haas (@RealJaredHaas)

Dalton Hopkins (@PitLaneLT)

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

TV Schedule: Here

Around the World in Motorsports: Oct. 21

- The FIA announced Friday that changes in race officiating will be made in Formula 1 after a review of the Grand Prix of Japan's officiating. Out of that review, it was determined that the officials failed to note that Pierre Gasly was in the pit lane as a result of hitting an advertising placard. As a result, the crane was sent out too early to remove the crashed Ferrari of Carlos Sainz Jr.

New rules in regards to speeds under the safety car near incidents will be instituted, due to how quick Gasly drove past the crane. In addition, Neils Wittich will serve as race director for the remaining four races of the season. He will no longer share the responsibilities with Eduardo Freitas, who was in charge in Suzuka.

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: Dixie Vodka 400

by Phil Allaway

This weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series will make their sole visit of the year to Homestead-Miami Speedway, now back in the playoffs. Coverage of the Dixie Vodka 400 begins with Countdown to Green at 1:30 p.m. ET on NBC. The green flag should fly around 2:45. Radio coverage will be provided by local MRN radio affiliates and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).

Records and facts

Last year's Dixie Vodka 400 was held in February as opposed to October. You ended up with different locations for the sun than what you will have on Sunday. Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher traded the lead back and forth for most of the first half of the race.

In the second half, William Byron came to the front along with Martin Truex Jr. The sole incident of the day, a spin involving Aric Almirola and Ryan Blaney, brought the yellow out with less than 100 miles to go. After the restart, Byron applied heavy pressure for the lead on Truex. On lap 210, Byron took the lead away and held on from there to take the victory.

Byron ended up winning by 2.777 seconds over Tyler Reddick. Truex was third, then Kyle Larson and Kevin Harvick.

Denny Hamlin is the winningest active driver at Homestead. He won the season finales in 2009 and 2013, along with the swelteringly hot 2020 race held in June. Kyle Busch is the only other active driver with multiple victories. Busch's wins in 2015 and 2019 to claim titles. Six other active drivers have a single victory each.

All-time, Hamlin, Greg Biffle and Tony Stewart each have the most victories all-time at Homestead-Miami Speedway with three. Busch and Carl Edwards each have two.

Track Facts

Track / Race Length: 1.5-mile oval, 267 laps (400.5 miles)
Banking: 18-20 degrees
Straightaways: 1,760 ft., banked 4 degrees
Grandstand Seating: 46,000
Pit Road Speed: 45 mph
Pace Car Speed: 50 mph
Opened: 1995 (first Cup race in 1999)

Website: http://www.homesteadmiamispeedway.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HomesteadMiamiSpeedway
Twitter: http://twitter.com/HomesteadMiami

Pre-Race Schedule:

Practice: Saturday, Oct. 22, 10 - 10:45 a.m. ET on NBCSports.com/NBC Sports App

Qualifying: Saturday, Oct. 22 at 10:55 a.m. ET on NBCSports.com/NBC Sports App

Say What!

"I think this car is just a little different at Homestead-Miami (Speedway). Nothing crazy. I think running the wall is a little bit easier but maybe not way faster than it used to be compared to the other lanes. I still think it is just a lot easier to run the wall than before. You may see more people up there and it may be a little bit harder to pass than in the past." - Kyle Larson

"Homestead is a place I definitely know how to get around, but I feel like we’re going to have to be better. I don’t think we expected the tires to get so worn out at Las Vegas and to be slipping and sliding around as much as we were. It gets a little concerning because Las Vegas has way more grip than Homestead does, so we’ll have to work on some things, but I think there’s a lot we’ve probably learned from last weekend that we can apply. We were really good at the test a few weeks ago at Homestead. I was happy with what we learned, so we’ve just got to go down there and see where we stack up. The thing about testing is you can be really good but show up for the race and nothing works the way you planned. So, hopefully we’ll be good this weekend and can have a car that we can be really racey with and come out in a good place in points." - Chase Briscoe

"I never touched the wall but I ran up against it just about as much as anybody else. I loved that we got to test there. Everyone figured out after about three or four laps the top was the place to be. I was watching 10 or 12 drivers that were running and everyone was getting better at running the fence. The drivers who tested there will be really good at running up top when we go back and I’m going to have my work cut out for me, that’s for sure. This Next Gen car is wider than the old car so I felt like I couldn’t get those last couple of inches to the wall so I learned about that a little bit. I never tagged the wall. We were getting ready to have our last long run of the day. We were going to run about 40 laps and we had rain wash out the remainder of our day. I got to learn a lot about the car and what it drove like. We got some decent long run speed but a lot of those other drivers and teams have done their homework well. It’s going to be a tough race this weekend." - Tyler Reddick

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:

4 Burning Questions: It’s Time for NASCAR Drivers to Stop Treating Themselves as Invincible

by Stephen Stumpf

Friday Faceoff: Will Spire Improve in 2023?

by the Frontstretch Staff

Fire on Fridays: When Do NASCAR Drivers Mature?

by Jack Swansey

Dirty (Half) Dozen: Danny Dietrich vs. Denny Hamlin & Late Model Silly Season

by Bryan Keith

NASCAR 101: Cup Series Playoff Outlook Before Homestead

by Adam Cheek

Podcast: Alpha Prime Racing’s David Schildhouse

with Jared Haas, Bryan Nolen and David Schildhouse

Stock Car Scoop: Was Bubba Wallace’s Suspension Appropriate?

with Adam Cheek and Tanner Marlar

Monday at Frontstretch.com:

We'll have recaps and breakdowns of all the action from Homestead and Austin.

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