- Alpha Prime Racing announced Friday that Leland Honeyman Jr. will make his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut with the organization in 2023. He will drive a part-time schedule in one of Alpha Prime's thiree full-time entries. The team did not indicate which car that would be.
Honeyman made one start in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2022 for Young's Motorsports at Bristol. There, he finished 29th. He also ran full-time for the team in ARCA Menards Series East, where he finished third in points with three top five finishes and one pole position. His best finish was a second at Five Flags Speedway. Three of those races were conjunction events with the
ARCA Menards Series. His best finish in those races was a sixth at Iowa.
- Bubba Wallace married his longtime girlfriend Amanda Carter Saturday night at the JW Marriott in Charlotte. People was on hand for the reception and talked to both the bride and groom. Look for a write up and a bunch more pictures in this week's edition of People magazine at your local
grocery store. We at Frontstretch send our congrats to the Wallaces.
Allen, Bloum and DeAngelis will all be making their IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship debuts. In Bloum's case, he returns to IMSA competition for the first time in nearly three years, having last race in IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge at Daytona in 2020.
- Triarsi Competizione confirmed their driver lineup for the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Fanatec GT World Challenge America Powered by AWS regulars Charlie Scardina and Onofrio Triarsi will be joined by Andrea Bertolini and Alessio Rovera.
Denis Dupont will continue to drive the No. 15, while Preston Brown will drive the No. 10. They will be joined by a combination of Alex Rockwell, Eric Rockwell and Nick Looijmans.
Looijmans comes to the team after racing part-time last year for TWOth Autosport.
- In the Dakar Rally, the Prologue and two stages are now complete. Saturday's Prologue in the Cars category was won by DTM veteran and infrequent NASCAR Cup Series starter Mattias Ekstrom in an Audi. Ekstrom
beat Sebastien Loeb by one second. Stephane Peterhansel was third, then Qatar's Nasser Al-Attiyah and Guerlain Chicherit.
Carlos Sainz won the first stage in his Audi Sunday by 10 seconds over Loeb. Yazeed Al Rajhi was third in his Toyota Hilux, then Chicherit and Orlando
Terranova.
Today, Al-Attiyah claimed the victory by 14 seconds over the Toyota of Erik Van Loon. Sainz was third, then Mathieu Serradori and Lionel Baud.
Through two stages, Sainz holds a two minute and 12 second lead over Al-Attiyah. Serradori is third, then Simon Vitse and Giniel de Villiers.
Australia's Toby Price on the factory KTM won the Bike class in
the Prologue by one second over Daniel Sanders. Ross Branch was third, then Joan Barreda Bort and Kevin Benavides.
American Ricky Brabec won the first stage Sunday by 19 seconds over Benavides. Price was third, then Barreda Bort and Sanders.
Defending champion Sam Sunderland's defense came to a very early end. While leading the stage on the road 52 kilometers into the stage, Sunderland crashed and broke his scapula. He was forced to withdraw from the rally.
Today's second stage to Al Ula was won by Mason Klein by 69 seconds over Sebastian Buehler. Skyler Howes was third on his Husqvarna, then Branch and Price.
Currently, Klein holds a lead
of 101 seconds over Price. Barreda Bort is third, then Benavides and Sanders. Brabec had the overall lead after the first stage, but he lost over five minutes today and dropped to sixth overall.
In the Truck category, things are wide open. The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine means that the
Russian Kamaz Master team would be subject to the FIA's rules regarding participation of Russian teams and/or drivers. As you may remember, that means that the team's drivers would have had to sign the Driver Commitment letter.
They would have had to acknowledge the FIA's support of Ukraine, compete under a neutral FIA flag and not show any support for Russia in any form at events, or on social media.
In September, the Kamaz Master team released a statement indicating that they would not accept the terms. As a result, the team is not entered. They have won the class the last six years in a row and 12 of the 14 runnings since the race left Africa. In last year's race, they won
every stage and swept the podium.
Through two stages, Praga's Ales Loprais is currently leading by 12 minutes and 17 seconds over Iveco's Janus van Kasteren.
Eventually, Welch earned the full-time play-by-play
role for Truck broadcasts starting in 2016 and had served in that role for the last seven seasons. No word on who will replace Welch in his roles.
