Frontstretch Newsletter: June 19, 2023
Volume XVII, Edition XCVII |
- Monday Night Racing returns
tonight with the first night of the MNR Summer Bash at the virtual Daytona International Speedway. Coverage starts tonight at 8 p.m. ET at the Podium eSports Twitch channel.
- NASCAR teams are getting back
into race mode today as preparations for this weekend's action in Nashville are ongoing. Entry lists will be released today. We'll have those and anything else that breaks for you at Frontstretch. |
| | Alex Palou Steals Road America Win From Dominant Colton
Herta Chip Ganassi Racing's Alex Palou took the lead from Colton Herta with seven laps to go and pulled away to win the Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America for his second
straight NTT IndyCar Series win. Josef Newgarden was second, then Patricio O'Ward, Scott Dixon and Herta. |
| | Scott Dixon Makes the Most of a Tough Weekend to Stay in
Championship Hunt Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon had a miserable weekend leading into Sunday's Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America. Despite that, he came from 23rd on the grid to
finish fourth. |
| | Will Power and Scott Dixon to Start Deep in the Field at
Sonsio GP After Practice Clash Prior to the Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America, the standout moment of the weekend occurred in practice Saturday when Will Power and Scott Dixon collided and
crashed. The incident significantly angered Power. |
| | Matt Mills Slated for 2 KBM Truck
Starts Kyle Busch Motorsports announced Friday that Matt Mills will drive the No. 51 Chevrolet in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in two upcoming
races. |
| | Max Verstappen Reinforces Dominance, Coasts to Canadian
GP Win Red Bull's Max Verstappen led flag-to-flag Sunday to win the Grand Prix of Canada at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Fernando Alonso was second, then Lewis
Hamilton, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. |
| | William Sawalich Passes Jesse Love on Last Lap to Win at
Berlin Joe Gibbs Racing's William Sawalich ran down Jesse Love in lapped traffic and passed him coming to the white flag. From there, he held on to win the Berlin
ARCA 200. Love was second, then Sean Hingorani, Andres Perez de Lara and Toni Breidinger. |
| | Kenton Koch, Daniel Morad Win VIR GT World Challenge
America Race No. 1 TR3 Racing's Daniel Morad lost the lead shortly after getting in his Mercedes, then regained it when Bill Auberlen went off. From there, he held on to win
Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS Race No. 1 at VIR Saturday with teammate Kenton Koch. |
| | Colin Braun, George Kurtz Win VIR GT World Challenge
America Race No. 2 Crowdstrike Racing with Riley Motorsports' Colin Braun and George Kurtz took the lead during the mid-race pit stops Sunday and held off Samantha Tan to win Fanatec
GT World Challenge America powered by AWS Race No. 2 at VIRginia International Raceway. |
| | Kenton Koch, Kevin Boehm Win VIR Pirelli GT4 America
Race No. 1 Random Vandals Racing's Kenton Koch swept around the outside of John Capestro-Dubets with 12 minutes to go Saturday to win Pirelli GT4 America SprintX Race No. 1
at VIR with teammate Kevin Boehm. |
| | Zac Anderson, John Capestro-Dubets Win VIR Pirelli GT4
America SprintX Race No. 2 AutoTechnic Racing's Zac Anderson was able to get around Kevin Boehm with 20 minutes to go Sunday. From there, he held on to win Pirelli GT4 America SprintX Race
No. 2 at VIR with teammate John Capestro-Dubets. |
| | Memo Gidley Wins Wreck-Strewn GT America Race No. 1 at
VIR TKO Motorsports' Memo Gidley won GT America powered by AWS Race No. 1 Saturday at VIR. It was a race where a
grand total of four laps were run under green due to four safety car periods. |
| | Memo Gidley Wraps Up 2nd GT America Weekend Sweep At
VIR TKO Motorsports' Memo Gidley led flag-to-flag Sunday to win his sixth GT America powered by AWS race of 2023 at VIR. It is his second weekend
sweep. |
Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, Jared C. Tilton of Getty Images, James Black and Travis Hinkle of INDYCAR Media, and Brian Cleary and Fabian Lagunas of SRO Motorsports Group. 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: June 16-18 |
- In TC America competition, Maddie Aust took her first two career victories, but in very different circumstances. She more or less inherited the win in Race No. 1 Saturday after Colin
Garrett was spun out of the lead on the last lap by Lucas Catania. Catania finished first on the road but was given a time penalty equivalent to a drive-through for the contact. Race No. 2 was different. Aust took the lead from Garrett eight minutes into the race. From there, she held on
to take the weekend sweep. - In World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series action, the touring series was at Wisconsin's Beaver Dam Raceway for the Jim "JB" Boyd Memorial.
Night No. 1 saw Giovanni Scelzi lead flag-to-flag to take the victory, but he had to hold off a late run from David Gravel. Brad Sweet was third, then James McFadden and Sheldon Haudenschild.
The big show Saturday night saw Haudenschild take the lead away from Gravel on a restart, then hold him off to win the $20,000 first prize. It is Haudenschild's fourth career win at Beaver Dam. Sweet was third, then Carson Macedo and Logan Schuchart.
Through 30 races, Sweet
has a 10-point lead over Gravel. Macedo is third, then Schuchart and Donny Schatz. |
Seeking the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs: Off-Week Update
by Phil Allaway
The NASCAR Cup Series was off last weekend. They will be back in action Sunday night in
the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway. When the teams get to Nashville, Martin Truex Jr. will have a 13-point
lead over William. Ryan Blaney and Ross Chastain are tied for third, while Kevin Harvick is fifth. At the points cutoff, Alex Bowman is the last driver in the playoffs
despite missing three races. He is three points ahead of Daniel Suarez. Ty Gibbs is 18th, then Michael McDowell and AJ Allmendinger. Point Standings (1-16): 1) Martin Truex Jr. 525, 2) William Byron -13, t-3) Ryan Blaney -24, t-3) Ross Chastain -24, 5) Kevin Harvick -25, 6) Kyle Busch -29, 7) Christopher Bell -32,
8) Denny Hamlin -63, 9) Joey Logano -81, 10) Kyle Larson -85, 11) Chris Buescher -95, 12) Brad Keselowski -101, 13) Tyler Reddick -105, 14) Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
-125, 15) Bubba Wallace
-171, 16) Alex Bowman
-194. Note: Drivers in italics are either outside of the playoffs, or ineligible for points. Playoff Points: t-1) William Byron 17, t-1) Kyle Busch 17, 3) Kyle Larson -5, 4) Martin Truex Jr. -6, 5) Denny Hamlin -9, t-6) Ryan Blaney -10, t-6) Tyler Reddick -10, t-6) Joey Logano -10, t-9) Christopher Bell -12, t-9) Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
-12, t-9) Ross Chastain -12, t-12) Kevin Harvick -16, t-12) Brad Keselowski -16, t-12) Austin Cindric -16, t-12) Aric Almirola -16, t-12) Ryan Preece -16, t-12) Chase Elliott -16. Stage Points: 1) William Byron 165, 2) Ross Chastain -34, 3) Denny Hamlin -41, 4) Martin Truex Jr. -57, t-5) Ryan Blaney -59, t-5) Christopher Bell -59, t-7) Kyle Larson
-61, t-7) Kevin Harvick -61, 9) Tyler Reddick -70, 10) Joey Logano -72, 11) Kyle Busch -80, 12) Brad Kesleowski -82, 13) Alex Bowman -99, 14) Chris Buescher -106, 15) Austin Cindric -115, 16) Daniel Suarez -120.
Outside of the top-16, but in the playoffs: t-19) Bubba Wallace -129, t-21) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -131. Note: The Stage Points also include the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at
Daytona. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Martin Truex Jr. 489, 2) Kyle Busch -7, 3) Kevin Harvick -21, 4) Ryan Blaney -22, 5) Christopher Bell -29, 6) Ross Chastain -43, 7) Chris Buescher
-50, 8) William Byron -53, 9) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -60, 10) Joey Logano -67, 11) Denny Hamlin -70, 12) Brad Keselowski -74, 13) Kyle Larson -79, 14) Tyler Reddick -94, 15) Bubba
Wallace -103, 16) Ty Gibbs -136. Outside of the top-16, but in the playoffs: 23) Alex Bowman -162.
Note: These standings are based on the old point system that was used before stages were created. WC Points (1-16): 1) Martin Truex Jr.
2179, 2) Kyle Busch -14, 3) Ryan Blaney -59, t-4) Kevin Harvick -80, t-4) Christopher Bell -80, 6) Ross Chastain -123, 7) Chris Buescher -176, 8) William Byron -190, 9) Joey Logano
-191, 10) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -220, 11) Kyle Larson -226, 12) Denny Hamlin -233, 13) Brad Keselowski -237, 14) Tyler Reddick -299, 15) Bubba Wallace -335, 16) Daniel Suarez -458. Outside of the top-16, but in the playoffs: 25) Alex Bowman -651.
Note No. 1: The WC points are based on the original points system created by Bob Latford in 1975. Race Winners: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Daytona), Kyle Busch
(Fontana, Talladega, Gateway), William Byron (Las Vegas, Phoenix, Darlington), Joey Logano (Atlanta), Tyler Reddick (Austin), Kyle Larson (Richmond, Martinsville), Christopher Bell (Bristol), Martin Truex Jr. (Dover, Sonoma), Denny Hamlin (Kansas)
Note: Race wins in Italics do not count towards playoff eligibility.
Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached
at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com.
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Seeking the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs: Off-Week Update No. 4
by Phil Allaway
The NASCAR Xfinity Series was off last week. They will be back in action Saturday at Nashville Superspeedway. When
they get to Tennessee, John Hunter Nemechek will have a four-point lead over Austin Hill. Justin Allgaier is third, then Cole Custer and Josh Berry. At the points cutoff, Daniel Hemric in 11th is the last driver in the playoffs on points. He has an 18-point lead over
Parker Kligerman. Brandon Jones is next, followed by Talladega winner Jeb Burton, Brett Moffitt and Ryan Sieg. Point Standings (1-16): 1) John Hunter Nemechek
547, 2) Austin Hill -4, 3) Justin Allgaier -25, 4) Cole Custer -59, 5) Josh Berry -112, 6) Chandler Smith -122, 7) Sheldon Creed -123, 8) Sammy Smith -161, 9) Sam Mayer
-162, 10) Riley Herbst -176, 11) Daniel Hemric -185, 12) Parker Kligerman -203, 13) Brandon Jones -212, 14) Jeb Burton -220, 15) Brett Moffitt -255, 16) Ryan Sieg -262. Playoff Points: 1) Austin Hill
18, 2) John Hunter Nemechek -4, 3) Justin Allgaier -9, 4) Cole Custer -10, 5) Ryan Truex -11, t-6) Sammy Smith -12, t-6) Jeb Burton -12, 8) Sammy Smith -13, 9) Sheldon Creed
-16, t-10) Josh Berry -17, t-10) Parker Kligerman -17. Note: If they were eligible for Xfinity Series points, Kyle Larson woudl be tied for fourth in playoff points. AJ Allmendinger
would be tied for sixth, while Aric Almirola would be tied for 10th and Ty Gibbs tied for 12th. Stage Points: 1) John Hunter Nemechek 144, 2) Justin
Allgaier -9, 3) Austin Hill -11, 4) Sheldon Creed -22, 5) Cole Custer -42, 6) Chandler Smith -56, 7) Riley Herbst -57, 8) Josh Berry -70, 9) Sam Mayer -72, 10) Daniel Hemric -80, 11) Brandon
Jones -81, 12) Sammy Smith -83, 13) Parker Kligerman -92, 14) Ryan Truex -103, 15) Jeb Burton -118, 16) Ryan Sieg -121. Note: If they were eligible for points, Ty Gibbs would be 14th and Kyle Larson 16th in stage points. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Austin Hill 474, 2) John Hunter Nemechek -3, 3) Justin Allgaier -26, 4) Cole Custer -27, 5) Josh Berry -52, 6) Chandler Smith -75, 7) Sammy Smith
-89, 8) Sam Mayer -101, 9) Sheldon Creed -109, 10) Jeb Burton -117, 11) Daniel Hemric -121, 12) Parker Kligerman -127, 13) Riley Herbst -134, 14) Brett Moffitt -142, 15) Brandon Jones -144, 16) Ryan Sieg
-154. WC Points (1-16): 1) John Hunter Nemechek 2080, 2) Austin Hill -8, 3) Justin Allgaier -60, 4) Cole Custer -101, 5) Josh Berry -174, 6) Chandler Smith
-273, 7) Sammy Smith -319, 8) Sam Mayer -353, 9) Sheldon Creed -374, 10) Daniel Hemric -434, 11) Jeb Burton -437, 12) Parker Kligerman -442, 13) Riley Herbst -467, 14) Brett Moffitt
-511, 15) Brandon Jones -514, 16) Parker Retzlaff -547. 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), Kyle Larson (Darlington), Cole Custer (Portland), Aric Almirola (Sonoma) 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 Update No. 6 by Phil Allaway
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series was off last weekend. They will return to action June 23 at Nashville
Superspeedway. When the season resumes, Corey Heim will have a one-point lead over Ty Majeski.
Grant Enfinger, coming off a win at World Wide Technology Raceway, is third, then Zane Smith and Ben Rhodes. At the playoff cutoff, Matt DiBenedetto currently has the final spot in the Round of 10. He has a
seven-point advantage over Tanner Gray. Nick Sanchez is 12th, then Chase Purdy. Jake Garcia, who is 58 points out, likely needs to win in order to make the playoffs. Point Standings (1-16): 1) Corey Heim
425, 2) Ty Majeski -1, 3) Grant Enfinger -9, 4) Zane Smith -19, 5) Ben Rhodes -32, 6) Christian Eckes -36, 7) Carson Hocevar -88, 8) Matt Crafton -93, 9) Stewart Friesen -100, 10) Matt DiBenedetto
-107, 11) Tanner Gray -114, 12) Nick Sanchez -118, 13) Chase Purdy -145, 14) Jake Garcia -165, 15) Tyler Ankrum -186, 16) Rajah Caruth -203. Note: Drivers in italics are either outside of the playoffs, or ineligible for the
playoffs. Playoff Points: 1) Christian Eckes 14, t-2) Zane Smith -3, t-2) Grant Enfinger -3, 4) Corey Heim -6, 5) Carson Hocevar -7, 6) Ben Rhodes -9, 7) Nick Sanchez -12, t-8) Ty Majeski -13, t-8) Matt Crafton -13, t-8) Tyler Ankrum -13. Note: If he were eligible for playoff points, Joey Logano and Kyle Busch would be tied for fourth
with seven points. Stage Points: 1) Zane Smith 116, 2) Ty Majeski -6, 3) Corey Heim -9, 4) Christian Eckes -15, 5) Ben Rhodes -32, 6) Grant Enfinger
-40, 7) Carson Hocevar -43, 8) Matt DiBenedetto -55, 9) Matt Crafton -56, 10) Stewart Friesen -57, 11) Nick Sanchez -69, 12) Tanner Gray -75, 13) Chase Purdy -77, t-14) Rajah Caruth
-87, t-14) Dean Thompson -87, 16) Tyler Ankrum -88. Note: If they were eligible for stage points, William Byron would be 11th and Kyle Busch 13th. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Grant Enfinger 295, 2) Corey Heim
-13, 3) Ty Majeski -24, 4) Ben Rhodes -29, 5) Zane Smith -48, 6) Christian Eckes -49, 7) Matt Crafton -68, 8) Tanner Gray -71, 9) Carson Hocevar -72, 10) Stewart Friesen -74, 11) Nick Sanchez -76, 12) Matt DiBenedetto -85, 13) Chase Purdy -96, 14) Jake Garcia -108, 15) Tyler Ankrum -130, 16) Daniel Dye -135. WC Points (1-16): 1) Grant Enfinger 1699, 2) Ty Majeski -37, 3) Corey Heim -80, 4) Ben Rhodes -91, 5) Zane Smith
-129, 6) Christian Eckes -131, t-7) Stewart Friesen -218, t-7) Tanner Gray -218, 9) Carson Hocevar -222, 10) Matt Crafton -232, 11) Nick Sanchez -248, 12) Matt DiBenedetto -270, 13) Chase Purdy
-311, 14) Jake Garcia -348, 15) Tyler Ankrum -423, 16) Daniel Dye -449. Race Winners: Zane Smith (Daytona, Austin), Kyle Busch (Las Vegas), Christian Eckes (Atlanta, Darlington),
Carson Hocevar (Texas), Joey Logano (Bristol), Corey Heim (Martinsville), Grant Enfinger (Kansas, Gateway), Ben Rhodes (Charlotte)
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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