Frontstretch Newsletter: May 1, 2023
Volume XVII, Edition LXII |
- Since the NASCAR Cup Series Wurth 400 never even got off the ground before rain wiped out it out Sunday, NASCAR is going to try again today at
Dover Motor Speedway. Coverage is scheduled to begin at Noon ET on FOX Sports 1.
Weather-wise, things are looking better. The forecast is for mostly cloudy skies with a high of 62 degrees. There is only a 5% chance of rain.
FOLLOW THE FRONTSTRETCH TODAY AT DOVER THROUGH OUR COLLEAGUES: Also, don't forget to follow our Twitter page, @Frontstretch as well for updates from Dover! We will bring you a recap of the Wurth 400 and anything else that breaks today at Frontstretch. |
| | Cup Series Race at Dover Postponed Due to Heavy
Rain NASCAR made an early call Sunday to postpone the Wurth 400 at Dover Motor Speedway due to rain. It has been rescheduled to Noon ET
Monday. |
| | NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying Canceled Due To Rain, Kyle
Busch on Pole When the NASCAR Cup Series goes green today at Dover Motor Speedway, Kyle Busch will start from the pole as a result of qualifying being scrubbed Saturday due to
mist. |
| | Ryan Truex Scores 1st Career Win at
Dover Joe Gibbs Racing's Ryan Truex led 142 of 200 laps Saturday to win the A-Game 200 to earn his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series win and avenge a
devastating loss in 2012. Josh Berry was second, then Justin Allgaier, Austin Hill and John Hunter Nemechek. |
| | Scott McLaughlin Out-Duels Romain Grosjean to Claim
Victory in Alabama Team Penske's Scott McLaughlin took the lead from Romain Grosjean with 19 laps to go and held on to win the Children's of Alabama Indy Grand Prix for his first win
of the year. Grosjean was second, then Will Power, Patricio O'Ward and Alex Palou. |
| | Things Fall Will Power’s Way As He Notches 1st Podium of
the Season Team Penske's Will Power moved up from 11th on the grid and used an alternate strategy that put him on fresh red tires to finish a strong
third. |
| | Felix Rosenqvist Rebounds From Early Spin for 9th at
Barber In a race with only one caution flag, spinning out and dropping almost to the back in the opening laps is typically bad news. Arrow McLaren SP's Felix Rosenqvist
went around on the first lap and dropped to 23rd before recovering to finish ninth. |
| | ‘It’s Amazing’ — Agustin Canapino Eager to Push Forward
in IndyCar Juncos Hollinger Racing's Agustin Canapino is not exactly your average rookie contender in the NTT IndyCar Series. At 33, Canapino is in new territory after
spending his career primarily racing touring cars in his native Argentina. |
| | Sergio Perez Takes Luck and Runs With it for Win in
Baku Red Bull's Sergio Perez took advantage of an alternate pit strategy to win the Grand Prix of Azerbaijan Sunday in Baku, becoming the first repeat winner on the
street course. Max Verstappen was second, then Charles Leclerc, Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz Jr. |
| | Sergio Perez Wrenches Baku Sprint Win from Charles
Leclerc Red Bull's Sergio Perez took the lead away from Charles Leclerc on the eighth lap Saturday and held on to win the first F1 Sprint of the year in Baku. Leclerc was
second, then Max Verstappen, George Russell and Carlos Sainz Jr. |
| | Toyota GAZOO Racing Stays Perfect In 2023 At
Spa Toyota GAZOO Racing's Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez won the FIA World Endurance Championship's 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps Saturday.
It is the trio's second win of the year and Toyota's fifth straight overall victory. |
| | Stevan McAleer, Eric Filguerias Score Wet NOLA
Victory In changeable conditions Saturday, Rennsport One's Eric Filguerias and Stevan McAleer scored their second Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS victory
of the year at NOLA Motorsports Park. |
| | George Kurtz, Colin Braun Win NOLA GT World Challenge
America Race No. 2 Crowdstrike Racing with Riley Motorsports' George Kurtz and Colin Braun claimed victory in Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS Race No. 2 Sunday at
NOLA Motorsports Park. |
| | John Capestro-Dubets, Zac Anderson Squeak Out NOLA GT4
Victory The cameras had to come out Sunday at NOLA Motorsports Park in order to determine that AutoTechnic Racing's John Capestro-Dubets and Zac Anderson just edged
out JMF Motorsports/Conquest Racing's Michai Stephens and Jesse Webb to win the sole Pirelli GT4 America SprintX race of the weekend. |
| | Memo Gidley Wins NOLA GT America Race No.
1 Memo Gidley overcame some handling problems to win GT America Race No. 1 at NOLA Motorsports Park Saturday. Chouest-Povoledo Racing's Ross Chouest won in the GT4
class. |
| | Memo Gidley Sweeps GT America Weekend at NOLA
Motorsports Park TKO Motorsports' Memo Gidley drove out to as much as a 16-second lead Sunday en route to completing the GT America powered by AWS weekend sweep at NOLA Motorsports
Park. |
| | Jake Finch Defends in Overtime, Wins ARCA East Race at
Dover Venturini Motorsports' Jake Finch had to hold off a charging Landen Lewis on a Green-White-Checker restart Saturday afternoon to win the rain-delayed ARCA Menards
Series East General Tire 125 at Dover Motor Speedway. Luke Fenhaus was third, then William Sawalich and Lavar Scott. |
Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, James Black and Chris Owens of INDYCAR Media, Mark Thompson of Getty Images, Marcel Wulf of Focus Pack Media, Brian Cleary, Bob Chapman and Fabian Lagunas of SRO Motorsports Group and our own Stephen
Stumpf. Have news for Frontstretch? Don't hesitate to let us know; email us at frontstretcheditors@googlegroups.com with a promising lead or tip. |
Around the World in Motorsports: April 28-30 |
The GT4 America race was originally scheduled to start at 6 p.m. ET Saturday, but heavy rains and standing water delayed the start of Fanatec GT
World Challenge America powered by AWS Race No. 1 for over two hours. The sun was already beginning to go down before that race was able to finish. While GT4 cars all have headlights and could conceivably run at night, it appears that the track does not have permission to operate after a
certain time. The race will be made up later this season at a currently undetermined venue. - In TC America powered by Skip Barber Racing School action, LA Honda World Racing's Kyle Loh won the TCX class and overall in his Honda Civic Type-R TCR by 1.463 seconds over VGRT's Dai Yoshihara.
Rooster Hall Racing's Colin Garrett was third, then Lucas Catania and Maddie Aust. The TC class came down to the absolute wire as LAP Motorsports' Cristian Perocarpi put the moves on GenRacer's Jeff Ricca exiting the final turn. The TCX-class BMW of Joseph Catania was there as well. Joseph
Catania turned across Perocarpi's nose and spun hard into the wall, ending his weekend. The crash allowed Ricca just enough to take the victory in his Hyundai Elantra N TC. Celso Neto was second, then Perocarpi, Clay Williams and Sally McNulty. LA Honda World Racing's Spencer Bucknum won in TCA by 1.405 seconds over Will Lambros. PJ Groenke was third, then Shaoyi Che and Ruben Iglesias. Race No. 2 on Sunday saw Loh come from the rear of the TCX class to take a dominant win by 33.143 seconds over Garrett, Lucas Catania, Adam Gleason and Aust. Yoshihara was within striking distance until mechanical issues in the final couple of laps dropped him to sixth. Ricca took another win in TC by 2.391seconds over Neto, then Williams and McNulty. Kris Valdez was fifth. - The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series had a doubleheader weekend. First up was Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Ill near St. Louis. Here, Logan Schuchart led from the pole with Sheldon Haudenschild giving chase. Haudenschild held
onto second until he clipped the wall entering turn 1 on lap 8 and flipped his NOS Energy Drink No. 17. After the restart, David Gravel started to pressure Schuchart for the lead. He was able to take the advantage around halfway and drove on to take his fourth win of the year. Parker
Price-Miller was second, then Schuchart, Carson Macedo and Brad Sweet. - Saturday night saw the Outlaws move to Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Ind. for a 40-lap feature. Here, USAC regular Brady Bacon was able to pull a slide job on Haudenschild with three laps to take the lead. From
there, Bacon held on to win his first World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series feature in his 65th career start. Haudenschild held on for second, followed by Sweet, Macedo and Tyler Courtney. Price-Miller, who finished second Friday night, ended up getting disqualified from the race
after he made illegal contact under yellow. Through 15 races, Macedo currently has a 12-point lead over Sweet. Gravel is third, then Buddy Kofoid and Haudenschild. |
These are just a sample of the 17 videos that we have posted to our YouTube channel over the past couple of days from Dover Motor Speedway and Barber Motorsports Park. For more content from this past weekend and past weekends, be sure to subscribe to our channel and hit the bell to be notified of future posts. |
Seeking the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs: Austin Hill Stands Pat In Dover
by Phil Allaway
Austin Hill had a good run Saturday, finishing fourth and earning 16 stage points. Meanwhile, John Hunter Nemechek finished fifth and earned 17 stage points. That means that both drivers earned 39 points and Hill leaves Dover with the same four-point lead that he entered the weekend with. Chandler Smith is still in third, but doubled his deficit
after finishing 13th. Josh Berry finished second and moved up one place to fourth. Justin Allgaier is up one place to fifth after a third-place finish. Cole Custer is now sixth after finishing seventh, while Sheldon Creed is up to seventh. Riley Herbst is down four places to eighth after handling issues and roof
hatch problems dropped him to 21st. Sammy Smith finished sixth and remains in ninth. Daniel Hemric is 10th, while Sam Mayer is back up to 11th after finishing ninth. He is the last driver in the playoffs on points. Mayer has a nine-point advantage over teammate Brandon Jones, who moved up two places to 12th after finishing
eighth. Jeb Burton and Parker Kligerman are tied for 13th. Burton had a mediocre run to 18th Saturday, while Parker Kligerman crashed out early and finished 38th, dropping down from 11th. Ryan Sieg is in 15th and Brett Moffitt. Point Standings (1-16): 1) Austin Hill 377, 2) John Hunter Nemechek -4, 3) Chandler Smith -38, 4) Josh Berry -43, 5) Justin Allgaier -49, 6) Cole Custer -59, 7) Sheldon Creed -63, 8) Riley Herbst
-65, 9) Sammy Smith -81, 10) Daniel Hemric -93, 11) Sam Mayer -110, 12) Brandon Jones -119, t-13) Jeb Burton -129, t-13) Parker Kligerman -129, 15) Ryan Sieg -147, 16) Brett Moffitt -161. Playoff Points: 1) Austin Hill 18, 2) John Hunter Nemechek -5, 3) Ryan Truex -11, t-4) Chandler Smith -12, t-4) Jeb Burton -12, 6) Sammy Smith -13, 7) Justin Allgaier -14, 8) Cole Custer
-16, t-9) Josh Berry -17, t-9) Sheldon Creed -17, t-9) Parker Kligerman -17. Note: If he were eligible for Xfinity Series points, AJ Allmendinger would be tied for third in playoff points. Stage Points:
1) Austin Hill 94, 2) Sheldon Creed -5, 3) John Hunter Nemechek -9, 4) Justin Allgaier -13, 5) Riley Herbst -15, 6) Chandler Smith -16, 7) Cole Custer -23, 8) Josh Berry -32, 9) Sammy Smith
-35, 10) Brandon Jones -37, 11) Daniel Hemric -44, 12) Sam Mayer -48, t-13) Ryan Truex -58, t-13) Parker Kligerman -58, 15) Jeb Burton -69, 16) Ryan Sieg -75. Note: If he were eligible for points, Kyle Busch would be 16th in stage points. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) John Hunter Nemechek 335, 2) Austin Hill -6, 3) Josh Berry -18, 4) Chandler Smith
-28, 5) Cole Custer -43, 6) Justin Allgaier -46, 7) Sammy Smith -54, 8) Riley Herbst -60, 9) Daniel Hemric -62, 10) Sheldon Creed -65, 11) Sam Mayer -71, 12) Jeb Burton -72, 13) Parker Kligerman
-82, 14) Ryan Sieg -83, 15) Brandon Jones -92, 16) Brett Moffitt -94. WC Points (1-16): 1) John Hunter Nemechek 1481, 2) Austin Hill
-36, 3) Josh Berry -63, 4) Chandler Smith -112, 5) Justin Allgaier -142, 6) Cole Custer -162, 7) Sammy Smith -195, 8) Riley Herbst -223, 9) Sheldon Creed -228, 10) Daniel Hemric -235, 11) Sam Mayer
-258, 12) Jeb Burton -284, 13) Parker Kligerman -292, 14) Ryan Sieg -316, 15) Brandon Jones -338, 16) Brett Moffitt -345. Race Winners: Austin Hill (Daytona, Las Vegas, Atlanta), John Hunter
Nemechek (Fontana, Martinsville)), Sammy Smith (Phoenix), AJ Allmendinger (Austin), Chandler Smith (Richmond), Jeb Burton (Talladega), Ryan Truex (Dover) Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.
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Seeking the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs: Off-Week Edition No. 4
by Phil Allaway
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series was off last weekend. They will return to action May 6 at Kansas
Speedway. When the season resumes, ThorSport Racing's Ty Majeski will have a 26-point lead in the
standings over Zane Smith. Ben Rhodes is third, then Corey Heim and Christian Eckes. At the cut-off, ninth-place Matt DiBenedetto is the last driver in the playoffs on points.
He has an 11-point advantage over both Nick Sanchez and Chase Purdy. Jake Garcia is 12th, then Texas winner Carson Hocevar. Point Standings (1-16): 1) Ty Majeski
301, 2) Zane Smith -26, 3) Ben Rhodes -49, 4) Corey Heim -71, 5) Christian Eckes -72, 6) Grant Enfinger -90, 7) Matt Crafton -92, 8) Tanner Gray -100, 9) Matt DiBenedetto -116, t-10) Nick Sanchez
-127, t-10) Chase Purdy -127, 12) Jake Garcia -149, 13) Carson Hocevar -151, 14) Stewart Friesen -152, 15) Hailie Deegan -159, 16) Tyler Ankrum -162. Note: Drivers in italics are either outside of the playoffs, or ineligible for the
playoffs
Playoff Points: 1) Zane Smith 11, 2) Christian Eckes -3, 3) Corey Heim -4, 3) Carson Hocevar -5, 4) Nick Sanchez -9, t-3) Matt Crafton -10, t-3) Tyler Ankrum -10.
Note: If he were eligible for playoff points, Joey Logano would be tied for third with seven points, while Kyle Busch would be tied for fifth with six. Stage Points: 1) Ty Majeski 77, 2) Zane Smith
-7, 3) Christian Eckes -11, 4) Ben Rhodes -20, 5) Matt Crafton -22, t-6) Corey Heim -35, t-6) Matt DiBenedetto -35, 8) Nick Sanchez -42, 9) Grant Enfinger -44, 10) Tanner Gray -48, t-11) Chase
Purdy -53, t-11) Stewart Friesen -53, 13) Carson Hocevar -54, 14) Tyler Ankrum -59, 15) Hailie Deegan -60, 16) Dean Thompson -65. Note: If they were eligible for stage points, Kyle Busch would be ninth and Joey Logano 15th. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Ty Majeski 199, 2) Zane Smith -19, 3) Ben Rhodes -29, 4) Corey Heim -36, 5) Grant Enfinger -48, 6) Tanner Gray
-55, 7) Christian Eckes -60, 8) Matt Crafton -70, 9) Jake Garcia -72, 10) Chase Purdy -73, 11) Nick Sanchez -81, 12) Matt DiBenedetto -83, 13) Carson Hocevar
-95, 14) Hailie Deegan -99, 15) Stewart Friesen -101, t-16) Tyler Ankrum -104, t-16) Colby Howard -104. WC Points (1-16): 1) Ty Majeski 1105, 2) Zane Smith -71, 3) Ben Rhodes -116, 4) Corey Heim
-143, 5) Grant Enfinger -186, 6) Tanner Gray -199, 7) Christian Eckes -208, 8) Matt Crafton -256, 9) Chase Purdy -265, 10) Nick Sanchez -287, 11) Matt DiBenedetto -297, 12) Jake Garcia -327, 13) Carson
Hocevar -343, 14) Stewart Friesen -350, 15) Tyler Ankrum -360, t-16) Colby Howard -361, t-16) Hailie Deegan -361. Race Winners: Zane Smith (Daytona, Austin), Kyle Busch (Las Vegas), Christian Eckes (Atlanta), Carson Hocevar (Texas), Joey Logano (Bristol), Corey Heim (Martinsville)
Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.
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