Frontstretch Newsletter: Dec. 26, 2022
Volume XVI, Edition CCVI |
What to Watch: Dec. 26-Jan. 1 |
- The last week of 2022 should be a quiet time as some teams shut down entirely while others continue to work,
preparing their cars for the 2023 season. If anything of note breaks, we'll have it for you at Frontstretch.
- Interstate Batteries Monday
Night Racing is officially off this week. However, there is a special race tonight. The Dallara IR18s will be racing at the virtual Talladega Superspeedway tonight in the Mark J. Rebilas Photography Challenge presented by Monday Night Race. There is a guaranteed purse of $300, with 60% of that going to the winner and the remaining 40% to fourth. |
Around the World in Motorsports: Dec. 19-25 |
- Spire Motorsports announced Wednesday that the Jessie Rees Foundation will serve as the primary sponsor of Corey LaJoie's No. 7 Chevrolet in six NASCAR Cup Series races in 2023. Those races are Fontana, Martinsville (April), Daytona (Aug.), Bristol, Las Vegas (Oct.) and Phoenix (Nov.). It is a charity that helps kids fighting pediatric cancer try to take their minds off of their cancer fight and enrich their lives through
play. While the team will have sponsorship from the Jessie Rees Foundation for these races, the car will carry the colors
of Team NEGU. NEGU stands for "Never Ever Give Up."
- In a year-end video posted to SS-Green Light Racing's Twitter feed Friday, team owner Bobby Dotter announced that Joe Graf Jr. will not be back in the No. 07 Ford in 2023. Graf finished 27th in points in 2022 with a best finish of eighth at Talladega in April. He also sat out five races
while others such as Cole Custer drove in his place. He also failed to qualify at Fontana in February while Custer won in his regular No. 07. Streiff raced full-time in 1986 and 1987 for Tyrrell, earning three points in 1986 (two at Adelaide and one at
Brands Hatch. 1987 saw Streiff earn four more points in a naturally-aspirated Tyrrell, but lost the Jim Clark Trophy for drivers in non-turbo cars to teammate Jonathan Palmer. For 1988, Streiff moved to Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives (AGS), a small French team running Cosworth engines.
He struggled with an unreliable car and finished only six of 16 races with a best finish of eighth at Suzuka. He was supposed to continue with AGS in 1989, but a horrific testing crash at the Jacarepagua CIrcuit near Rio de Janeiro ended his career less than two weeks before the start of the season. In a 2014 feature, Autosport's Sam Smith described how a number of errors by at-track and medical personnel, resulted in Streiff becoming a quadriplegic. The linked article is available on Autosport's website, but it is behind a paywall. The link is taken from an archived version
of Sniffer Media, Smith's own firm. Smith today works for The Race and is a press officer for the FIA World Endurance Championship. Following his injuries, Streiff maintained some involvement in motorsports, primarily though karting, where he
organized the Paris Bercy Masters event that saw Formula 1 drivers take on young up-and-comers. He was also part of a group with ORECA's Hugues de Chaunac that attempted to buy Ligier in 1994, but that fell through. - Van der Steur Racing announced Friday that they are moving up to the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge's Grand Sport
class for 2023 after running the past couple of years in TCR with a Hyundai Veloster N TCR. Rory van der Steur will continue with the team, but he will be joined full-time for 2023 by Austin McCusker, former IMSA Prototype Challenge champion, in place of Denis Dupont. Wyatt Brichacek will also join up for the four-hour season opener at Daytona. |
| | NASCAR Expands Clash Field for
2023NASCAR announced a revision in the format for the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum Thursday. There will be heats and a Last Chance Qualifier that will fill a
27-car field. |
| | SRX Releases 2023 Track
ScheduleSuperstar Racing Experience announced their 2023 schedule Wednesday. New venues such as Vermont's Thunder Road International Speedbowl will join the series for the
first time. |
| | Adam Cabot Grabs Win at Auto Club in Monday Night
RacingAdam Cabot took the lead on a Green-White-Checker restart just before a massive crash broke out. He then held on during the final restart to win the Interstate Batteries Monday Night Racing Next Level Racing Throwback
200. Nick Olsen was second, then Presley Sorah, Leighton Sibille and Will Rodgers. |
Photos are courtesy of NASCAR Media via Sean Gardner of Getty Images, Mike Arning of True Speed PR and iRacing via Joy Tomlinson. 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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