Frontstretch Newsletter: Sept. 15, 2023
Volume
XVII, Edition CLXI |
What to Watch: Sept. 15-17 |
- NASCAR Xfinity Series teams are practicing, qualifying and racing today at Bristol Motor Speedway. Practice is scheduled to begin momentarily and will air live on USA Network. Qualifying will follow immediately. Coverage of the Food City 300 will begin with Countdown to Green at 7 p.m. ET tonight on
USA Network. Race coverage will begin at 7:30 p.m. ET with the green flag around 7:45 p.m. ET. - Formula 1 teams are in Singapore this weekend. Friday's on-track activity is already complete. Saturday sees the teams back on track for Free Practice No.
3. That is scheduled for 5:25 a.m. ET and will air live on ESPN2. Qualifying is at 8:55 a.m. ET and will also air on ESPN2. Coverage of the Grand Prix of Singapore will start with Formula 1: Grand Prix Sunday at 6:30 a.m. ET on ESPN. Race coverage starts at 7:55 a.m. ET with the formation lap starting precisely at 8 a.m. ET. - IMSA teams are in Indianapolis this weekend. IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship practice will begin at 2:40 p.m. ET this afternoon. The second practice is scheduled for 8:55 a.m. ET Saturday. Qualifying is at 1 p.m. ET and will be streamed live on Peacock. The
TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks starts at 1:10 p.m. ET Sunday. Live coverage of the race will air on NBC starting at 1 p.m. ET. - IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge teams have already finished their first practice session of the day. The second will be at 7:15 p.m. ET tonight. Qualifying is scheduled for 11 a.m. ET Saturday morning. The race is scheduled to go green at 4:30 p.m. ET and will be four hours in length instead of the normal two hours. As a result, the race will finish in near darkness. - World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series teams are racing in the Tom Tarlton Classic tonight at
Kings Speedway. Coverage starts at 8:45 p.m. ET and can be streamed at DirtVision.com. Saturday night sees the outlaws move to Placerville Speedway for the 49er Gold Rush Classic. Coverage from Placerville is scheduled to start at 9:15 p.m. ET on DirtVision. - The Knoxville Late Model Nationals at Knoxville Raceway continues tonight with the second preliminary night. Coverage will stream live starting at 7:30 p.m. ET
on FLORacing.com. FOLLOW THE FRONTSTRETCH THIS WEEKEND THROUGH OUR COLLEAGUES:
BRISTOL: INDIANAPOLIS: Also, don't forget to follow our Twitter page, @Frontstretch as well for updates from Bristol and
Indianapolis! |
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| Corey Heim Navigates Lapped Traffic, Wins at
Bristol Christian Eckes won the first two stages and led 151 of 200 laps Thursday night. However, Corey Heim was able to get past in lapped traffic with six laps to go and held on to win the UNOH 200 presented by Ohio Logistics. Eckes was second, then Grant
Enfinger, Carson Hocevar and Taylor Gray. |
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| Christian Eckes Dominates Bristol, Loses Win
Late Christian Eckes won the first two stages and led 151 of 200 laps Thursday night. However, he left Bristol upset, convinced that TRICON Garage committed an act of treachery to give Corey Heim the win. |
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| Daniel Hemric Moving Back to Cup With Kaulig in
2024 In a press conference Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway, Kaulig Racing announced that Daniel Hemric will take over the No. 31 Chevrolet full-time in 2024, replacing Justin Haley. |
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| Both Bristol Races on Concrete in 2024 Bristol Motor Speedway announced Friday that the dirt is out for 2024. Both NASCAR weekends will take place on the concrete. |
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| Brandon Jones Back With JRM for 2024 JR Motorsports announced Friday morning that Brandon Jones will return to the team and continue to drive the No. 9 Chevrolet in 2024. |
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| William Sawalich Wins Race, East Championship at
Bristol Joe Gibbs Racing's William Sawalich won a wreck-strewn Bristol 200 combination race for the ARCA Menards Series and ARCA Menards Series East Thursday evening. Jesse Love was second, then Andres Perez de Lara, Jake Finch and Greg Van
Alst. |
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| Ricky Thornton Jr. Steals Knoxville Late Model Opener, Jonathan Davenport Left
Fuming Ricky Thornton Jr. swept past Brandon Overton on the final lap Thursday night to win Night No. 1 of the Knoxville Late Model Nationals. Daulton Wilson was second, then Overton, Devin Moran and Mike Marlar. |
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| Chris Ferguson Showcases Racy Knoxville With Heat Race Strength, Top-10
Finish Despite a sixth-place finish in Thursday night's A-Main, Chris Ferguson is set up for a good starting spot for Saturday's big show thanks to strong form in his heat race and making good use of the inside lane. |
Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography and Jay Barker. 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: Sept. 14 |
- In Formula 1 today, things are looking up for the rest of the field in Singapore. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was fastest in Free Practice No. 1 with a lap at 118.393 mph. The lap .078 seconds faster than teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. Red Bull's Max Verstappen was third, then Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton.
Free Practice No. 2 saw speeds
increase on the newly revised Marina Bay Street Circuit. Sainz ended up fastest with a lap at 119.974 mph, a mere .018 seconds faster than Leclerc. Mercedes' George Russell was third, then Fernando Alonso and Hamilton.
There were no red flags during the sessions, although Alexander Albon got only five laps in the second session due to power unit issues. There's a lot of work ahead for the
Williams team. Outside of that, the big story of the day was the struggles experienced by Red Bull. Yes, Verstappen was third fastest in Free Practice No. 1, but slipped to seventh in the second session. Both Verstappen and Sergio Perez were very frustrated with their cars due to handling and braking issues. - In the opening practice for IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, Rennsport One's Eric Filguerias was fastest with a lap at 97.905 mph. The lap was .466 seconds faster than Accelerating Performance's Michael Cooper. Winward Racing's Daniel Morad was third, then van der Steur Racing's Valentin Hasse-Clot. Archangel Motorsports' Billy
Johnson was fifth. In TCR, Road Shagger Racing's Jon Morley was fastest in class with a lap at 94.758 mph, good for 27th overall. Morley's lap was .064 seconds faster than KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering's Tim Lewis Jr. Bryan Herta Autosport teammates Harry Gottsacker and Michael Lewis were third and fourth, while Rockwell Autosport Development's Denis Dupont was
fifth. |
This is just a sampling of the 14 videos from Bristol Thursday that we posted to our YouTube channel. Please subscribe for more Bristol content and all kinds of interesting videos. Also, don't forget to hit the bell in order to be notified of future
videos. |
Frontstretch Folio: Bass Pro Shops Night Race
by Phil Allaway
This weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series makes their second visit of the season to Bristol Motor Speedway in Eastern Tennessee to wrap up the Round of 16. Coverage of the Bass Pro Shops Night Race starts on USA Network
with Countdown to Green at 7 p.m. ET Saturday night. Race coverage is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. ET with the green flag scheduled to drop around 7:50 p.m. ET. The race can
also be heard on PRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).
Records and
facts Last year's Bass Pro Shops Night Race saw Chris Buescher drive to the front after starting 20th on the grid.
Buescher, teammate Brad Keselowski and Christopher Bell would combine to lead 421 of the 500 laps. Bell was leading on lap 436 when he cut his right rear tire and brought out the yellow. That brought everyone in for their final stops. Buescher won the race off of pit road. From there, he held on to take his second career victory. Buescher won by .458 seconds over Chase
Elliott. William Byron was third, then Bell and Kyle Larson. Amongst active drivers, Kyle Busch has the most victories at Bristol with nine, eight on concrete and the dirt race last year. Harvick, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano have three each. All-time, Darrell Waltrip is the winningest driver in the history of Bristol Motor Speedway with 12 wins, including seven in a row at one
point. Kyle Busch, Cale Yarborough, Dale Earnhardt and Rusty Wallace all have nine wins, followed by Kurt Busch with his six victories, then Jeff Gordon and David Pearson with five each. Track Facts
Track / Race Length: 0.533-mile oval, 500 laps (266.5 miles)
Banking: 24-30 degrees
Straights: 650 ft., banked 4-9 degrees
Grandstand Seating: 153,000
Pit Road Speed: 30 mph
Pace Car Speed: 35 mph
Opened: 1960 (first Cup race in 1961)
Website: http://www.bristolmotorspeedway.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bristolmotorspeedway Twitter: http://twitter.com/ItsBristolBaby Pre-Race Schedule: Practice: Friday, Sept. 16, 4:35 - 5:15 p.m. ET on USA Network Qualifying: Friday, Sept. 16 at 5:25 p.m. ET on USA Network Say What! "You can’t control much at Bristol other than your own car, most of the time. It’s happening so fast and you can’t see around the corner to the next straightaway. Something silly can happen. The cars are under immense stress and we as drivers are under stress. Its so loud
for the crew chiefs and engineers, spotters and everything is so tightly packed in there. We aren’t as in control at Bristol as we are at some of the other tracks. "It’s an awesome place. If I wasn’t driving in a Cup car, I would still be there because I went the Bristol night race before I ever raced. And then when I was running in the truck series, I would stay over for the Cup race because the race is so awesome. If I wasn’t racing in it, I
would definitely be in the stands with friends." - Ross Chastain "Bristol, the night race, especially, is a place that just has a special feel. Being in the playoffs now and being a part of that event for a long time just gets you
jacked up as a driver. It’s just a very intense place to race. It’s an intense place to just make laps, honestly. As you get into that race and understand the magnitude of the situation, especially with Bristol being in the playoffs, it’s something that I just think is very challenging and exciting to be a part of. "As Bristol goes, you can wind up in somebody
else’s mess. You can create your own mess too, but it’s usually something that’ll jump out and bite you in a hurry. As soon as you let your guard down, something happens, and the next thing you know, your hood’s up over your windshield because they’ve spun out and wrecked, or you’ve been hit in the back, whatever the case may be. It just happens really quickly there. Bristol is a high-speed racetrack, but it’s also a racetrack where you can’t see the exit of the corner until you round the center
part of the corner. Sometimes you come up on the wrecks before you even see them, and you can hit stuff really hard there." - Kevin Harvick "Bristol hasn’t been my favorite place, but we’ve
had some good runs there, too. I think we’ve been competitive there over the years. It’s a place that’s tight and things happen fast there, so you have to be on your toes. Always really excited to be a part of how great the crowd is there, and the fans love that place. Bass Pro Shops is the sponsor there again and they do a lot of cool stuff for the fans. Hoping we can have a strong run there for them and get to the next round of the playoffs. We’ll see how it plays out." - Martin Truex Jr. 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.
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Seeking the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship: Corey Heim Advances to Championship 4, Nearly Loses Points Lead
by Phil Allaway
Corey Heim was strong Thursday night, but managed to pull a fast one on Christian Eckes, taking the lead in the final 10 laps to take his third win of the year and lock himself into the Championship 4. Despite the victory, Heim's point lead is down to only one point over Christian Eckes, who did everything but win. Carson
Hocevar is up one place to third after finishing fourth, while Grant Enfinger drops down to fourth despite a third-place finish. Enfinger has the last spot in the Championship 4 on points. Enfinger currently has a 14-point lead over Zane Smith. Smith came within a couple of laps of winning stage two, but a bad pit strategy resulted
in him finishing a lap down in 24th. Ben Rhodes is up one place to sixth after finishing seventh, while Ty Majeski and Nick Sanchez are tied for seventh. Majeski cut his right front tire after contact with Heim and dropped a lap down at the end of stage two. He recovered from there to finish 19th. Sanchez broke an upper control arm in practice, then came from the back to finish ninth. Of those eliminated from the playoffs, Matt DiBendetto finished 10th and has a 12-point lead over Matt Crafton. Outside of the playoffs altogether, Chase Purdy finished eighth and now has a 20-point lead over Stewart Friesen. Jake
Garcia moved up one place to 13th, followed by Tanner Gray and Tyler Ankrum. Taylor Gray is right on Ankrum's tail in 16th. Round of 8 Point Standings: 1) Corey Heim 3080, 2) Christian Eckes -1, 3) Carson Hocevar
-12, 4) Grant Enfinger -16, 5) Zane Smith -30, 6) Ben Rhodes -35, t-7) Nick Sanchez -38, t-7) Ty Majeski -38. Eliminated Playoff Driver Standings: 9) Matt DiBenedetto 2102, 10) Matt Crafton
-12. Non-Playoff Point Standings (1-16): 1) Corey Heim 810, 2) Christian Eckes -86, 3) Grant Enfinger -106, 4) Zane Smith -114, 5) Carson Hocevar -140, 6) Ben Rhodes
-158, 7) Ty Majeski -180, 8) Nick Sanchez -220, 9) Matt DiBenedetto -258, 10) Matt Crafton -273, 11) Chase Purdy -313, 12) Stewart Friesen -333, 13) Jake Garcia -343, 14) Tanner Gray -351, 15) Tyler Ankrum
-386, 16) Taylor Gray -388. Best of the Rest: 11) Chase Purdy 497, 12) Stewart Friesen -20, 13) Jake Garcia -30, 14) Tanner Gray -38, 15) Tyler Ankrum -73, 16) Taylor Gray
-75, 17) Rajah Caruth -95, 18) Daniel Dye -160, 19) Hailie Deegan -172, 20) Colby Howard -199. Note: Drivers in italics are either outside of the playoffs, or ineligible for the playoffs.
Playoff Points: 1) Corey Heim 35, 2) Christian Eckes -9, 3) Grant Enfinger -11, t-4) Carson Hocevar -13, t-4) Zane Smith -13, 6) Ty Majeski -19, 7) Ben Rhodes -22, 8) Nick Sanchez -29. Stage Points: 1) Corey Heim 218, 2) Zane Smith -21, 3) Christian Eckes -30, 4) Ty Majeski -36, 5) Ben Rhodes -72, 6) Carson Hocevar -75, 7) Grant Enfinger
-83, 8) Nick Sanchez -93, 9) Matt DiBenedetto -127, 10) Stewart Friesen -141, 11) Matt Crafton -144, 12) Chase Purdy -157, 13) Tanner Gray -161, 14) Rajah Caruth -170, 15) Tyler Ankrum
-172, 16) Taylor Gray -188. Note: If they were eligible for stage points, Kyle Busch would be 14th and William Byron tied for 15th. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Corey Heim
533, 2) Grant Enfinger -39, 3) Christian Eckes -67, 4) Carson Hocevar -77, 5) Ben Rhodes -99, 6) Zane Smith -103, t-7) Ty Majeski -137, t-7) Nick Sanchez -137, 9) Matt Crafton -145, 10) Matt DiBenedetto
-149, 11) Jake Garcia -165, 12) Chase Purdy -170, 13) Tanner Gray -204, 14) Taylor Gray -206, 15) Stewart Friesen -210, 16) Tyler Ankrum -231. WC Points (1-16):
1) Corey Heim 2966, 2) Grant Enfinger -126, 3) Christian Eckes -158, 4) Carson Hocevar -222, 5) Zane Smith -282, 6) Ben Rhodes -321, 7) Ty Majeski -438, 8) Nick Sanchez -443, 9) Matt DiBenedetto -478, 10) Matt DiBenedetto
-487, 11) Chase Purdy -559, 12) Jake Garcia -626, 13) Stewart Friesen -654, 14) Tanner Gray -668, 15) Tyler Ankrum -767, 16) Rajah Caruth -845. Race
Winners: Zane Smith (Daytona, Austin), Kyle Busch (Las Vegas, Pocono), Christian Eckes (Atlanta, Darlington, Kansas-2), Carson Hocevar (Texas, Nashville, Richmond), Joey Logano (Bristol-1), Corey Heim (Martinsville, Mid-Ohio, Bristol-2), Grant Enfinger (Kansas-1, Gateway, Milwaukee), Kyle Larson (North Wilkesboro), Ben Rhodes (Charlotte), Ty Majeski (Lucas Oil IRP)
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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