Frontstretch Newsletter: May 10, 2024
Volume
XVIII, Edition LXXI |
- Today is a very busy day at Darlington Raceway as teams from all three of NASCAR's National-level series are on site and preparing for their races. The NASCAR Cup Series will not be on-track until Saturday, but will be going through inspection today. - NASCAR Xfinity Series teams
will practice today starting at 5 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1. Qualifying will follow immediately afterwards. Coverage of the Crown Royal Purple Bag Project 200 will start with NASCAR RaceDay - Xfinity Edition Saturday afternoon at 12:30 p.m. ET on FS1. Race coverage will start at 1:30 p.m. ET with the green flag flying at 1:40 p.m. ET. - NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series teams effectively have a one-day show today at Darlington Raceway. Practice is due to start at 3 p.m. ET on FS1. Qualifying will immediately follow.
Coverage of the Buckle Up South Carolina 200 will start with NASCAR RaceDay - NCTS Edition at 6:30 p.m. ET on FS1. Race
coverage will begin at 7:30 p.m. ET with the green flag around 7:40 p.m. ET.
- The NTT IndyCar Series is at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend as the month of May truly gets underway. Practice No. 1 is already complete (see below). Practice No. 2 will be at 1:10 p.m. ET this afternoon on Peacock. Qualifying is scheduled for 4:20 p.m. ET this
afternoon. Coverage of the Sonsio Grand Prix will start with INDYCAR Live at 3 p.m. ET on NBC. The green flag will fall at 3:30 p.m. ET. - IMSA teams are practicing today at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is
the headlining division with the Motul Course de Monterey. That race can be seen on NBC at 3 p.m. ET Sunday. Qualifying is scheduled for 7:35 p.m. ET Saturday and will be streamed on both IMSA.com and Peacock. - IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge teams will race Saturday in the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca 120. The race is scheduled to go green at 5 p.m. ET Saturday. Coverage will begin at 4:55 p.m. ET on Peacock. - FIA World Endurance Championship teams are racing this weekend at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in their final tune-up prior to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Coverage of the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps will start at 6:30 a.m. ET Saturday morning on Motor Trend with the green flag flying at 7 a.m. ET. Coverage will air on Motor Trend
until 8 a.m. ET, then will be exclusively on Max's B/R Sports Add-On through Noon ET. Motor Trend coverage resumes at that point and will run through the finish. - ARCA Menards Series East teams will be at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway Saturday night for the Music City 150. Coverage from Nashville will begin at 9:15 p.m. ET on FLORacing. - World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series teams will be at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Penn. tonight
and tomorrow night for the Morgan Cup. Coverage both nights will start at 6 p.m. ET on DirtVision. - Kubota High Limit Sprint Car Series teams will be at 34 Raceway in Iowa tonight, then at Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Ill. near St. Louis Saturday night. Both races will be streamed live on FLORacing starting at 7:15 p.m. ET. FOLLOW THE
FRONTSTRETCH THIS WEEKEND THROUGH OUR COLLEAGUES: DARLINGTON: INDIANAPOLIS: Also, don't forget to follow our Twitter page, @Frontstretch as well for updates from Darlington. |
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| Corey Heim Driving Nashville for
23XI 23XI Racing announced Friday morning that the team will field a third car, No. 50, for Corey Heim next month at Nashville Superspeedway. |
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| Theo Pourchaire Joining Arrow McLaren For Majority of 2024
Season Arrow McLaren SP announced Thursday that Theo Pourchaire will remain in the No. 6 for the remainder of the 2024 season with the exception of the Indianapolis 500. |
Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography and James Moy via Alfa Romeo. 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: May 9-10 |
- In the opening practice session for NTT IndyCar Series teams at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this morning, Andretti Global's Colton Herta was fastest with a lap at 126.726 mph. He was .085 seconds faster than a somewhat surprising Agustin Canapino for Juncos Hollinger Racing. Team Penske's Will Power was third, then Rinus VeeKay and Marcus Ericsson. - In Qualifying for the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps Friday morning, the speeds increased substantially. No one in the three Free Practice sessions made it out of the 124-second bracket. You had to get into the 122-second bracket just to advance to the Hyperpole session. In the first round, Ferrari AF Corse's Antonio Fuoco was fastest with a lap at 127.935 mph. The lap was .124 seconds faster than Toyota GAZOO Racing's Brendon Hartley. Penske Porsche Motorsport's Matt Campbell was third, then Robert Kubica in the customer Ferrari for AF Corse. Signatech Alpine's Charles Milesi was fifth. The difference between Fuoco and Alex Lynn in 10th was .519 seconds. Hyperbole saw Fuoco slow down just a little, but a lap at 127.791 mph was more than good enough to win the pole for the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. Fuoco's lap was .507 seconds faster than Campell. Lynn was third in his Cadillac, followed by the customer Porsche of Proton Competition's Julian Andlauer. Hertz Team JOTA's Callum Ilott completed the top-five. In LMGT3, Iron Dames' Sarah Bovy was fastest in regular qualifying with a lap at 111.489 mph, the fastest LMGT3 lap of the whole weekend. Bovy was .706 seconds faster than the BMW of Team WRT's Ahmad Al Harthy. Manthey EMA's Yasser Shahin was third in his Porsche, then The Heart of Racing's Ian James. Manthey PureRxcing's Alex Malykhin was fifth The Hyperpole session was overshadowed by a nasty crash for Malykhin. Malykhin lost control of his Porsche
in the treacherous Radillion corner and went hard into the tires to bring out a red flag. Malykhin was able to get out of the car under his own power and is getting checked out as of this writing. The Porsche 911 GT3 R has definitely seen better days. Bovy was able to back up her pace from the first qualifying session and set a lap at 111.308 mph to win the class pole in her Lamborghini.
Bovy was .337 seconds faster than United Autosports' No. 95 McLaren for Josh Caygill. Al Harthy was third, then Shahid and James Cottingham in the second McLaren. In addition to the aforementioned Malykhin, Akkodis ASP Team's Arnold Robin did not set a time in the session in his Lexus.
- In FIA World Endurance Championship Free Practice No. 2 from Spa Thursday, Porsche Penske Motorsport's Kevin Estre was fastest
overall with a lap at 126.184 mph in his Porsche 963. Estre's lap was .121 seconds faster than Ferrari AF Corse's Antonio Fuoco, who was fastest in the opening session. Chip Ganassi Racing's Alex Lynn was third in the sole Cadillac, then Toyota GAZOO Racing's Kamui Kobayashi. Hertz Team JOTA's Callum Ilott was fifth. In LMGT3, Akkodis ASP Team's Clemens Schmid was fastest in his
Lexus with a lap at 110.913 mph, a little slower than what Daniel Juncadella managed in the opening session. Schmid's lap was .115 seconds faster than the Lamborghini of the Iron Dames' Sarah Bovy. Team WRT's Valentino Rossi was third in his BMW, then TF Sport's Sebastien Baud. Esteban Masson in the second Akkodis Lexus was fifth. There were no red flags in the session. However, Team
WRT's Darren Leung spun the No. 31 BMW M4 GT3 into the gravel at La Source. That resulted in a full course yellow in order to extricate the car. - Estre was once again fastest overall in Free Practice No. 3 with a lap at 126.221 mph, which stands as the fastest practice lap of the weekend. Estre's lap was .215 seconds faster than Ferrari AF Corse's James Calado. Peugeot TotalEnergies'
Mikkel Jensen was third in the new 9X8, then Fuoco and BMW M Team WRT's Dries Vanthoor. The top eight drivers back to Signatech Alpine's Charles Milesi were separated by only .641 seconds. In LMGT3, Manthey PureRxcing's Alex Malykhin was fastest in his Porsche with a lap at 111.157 mph. The lap was .261 seconds faster than Michelle Gatting in the Iron Dames Lamborghini. Juncadella was
third, then Vista AF Corse's Thomas Flohr in the No. 54 Ferrari. Manthey EMA's Yasser Shahin was fifth. There were no red flags in the session, but there was another full course caution after TF Sport's Hiroshi Koizumi spun the No. 82 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R into the gravel at Les Combes at the end of the Kemmel Straight. Earl Bamber in the Cadillac had a similar off-course
excursion during the session, but managed to escape. Finally, Hertz Team JOTA's Oliver Rasmussen slid off at the quick Blanchimont corner and damaged his Porsche 963 bounding through the grass. Rasmussen was ok, but the car for done for the session. |
Remember that we have 3 YouTube channels for your pleasure. The Frontstretch YouTube channel is focused on NASCAR content, while FS OpenWheel is focused on INDYCAR. Finally, we have Frontstretch2, which will focus on the CARS Tour, IMSA and other forms for motorsports. Subscribe to all three of them and don't forget to click the bell to be notified of future videos! |
Frontstretch Folio: Goodyear 400
by Phil Allaway
This weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series returns to the oldest superspeedway on
the schedule, Darlington Raceway for their first visit of the year as part of Throwback Weekend. Coverage of Goodyear 400 will begin with NASCAR RaceDay at 1:30 p.m. ET Sunday on FOX Sports 1. The green flag is scheduled to drop around 3:15 p.m. ET. The race can also be heard on MRN Radio and
SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).
Records and facts Last year's Goodyear 400 saw Martin
Truex Jr. dominate much of the race, leading 145 laps before crashing out in turn 1 with 13 laps to go in a multi-car crash. He would finish 31st. On the restart after the multi-car incident, William Byron was able to snag the lead away from Ross
Chastain. Chastain was then immediately eliminated in another wreck in turn 2 that set up the final restart. On that final restart, Kevin Harvick actually beat Byron on the line, but Byron was able to reassume control shortly afterwards. He was
then able to hold on to take the win. Byron won by .781 seconds over Harvick. Chase Elliott was third, then Brad Keselowski and Bubba Wallace. All-time, David Pearson has the most wins at the "Track Too Tough to Tame" with 10, the most recent of the wins coming in the CRC Chemicals Rebel 500 in 1980. Dale Earnhardt has nine wins, including season sweeps in 1987 and 1990. Jeff Gordon is third with seven career wins, then four drivers (Bobby Allison, Bill Elliott, Darrell Waltrip and Cale Yarborough) are tied with five.
Among active drivers, Denny Hamlin has the most victories with four, while Jimmie Johnson (not entered) has three. Erik Jones and Martin Truex Jr. have two victories.
Track Facts
Track / Race Length: 1.366-mile egg-shaped oval, 367 laps (501.322 miles)
Banking: 25 degrees in Turns 1-2, 23 degrees in Turns 3-4 Frontstretch: 1,229 ft., banked 3 degrees Backstretch: 1,229 ft., banked 3 degrees Grandstand Seating: 58,000
Pit Road Speed: 45 mph
Pace Car Speed: 50 mph
Opened: 1950
Website: http://www.darlingtonraceway.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DarlingtonRaceway Twitter: http://twitter.com/TooToughToTame Pre-Race Schedule: Practice: Saturday, May 13, 10:30 - 11:20 a.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 Qualifying: Saturday, May 13, 11:30 a.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 Say What?! "It’s quite the challenge. I love going there. I’m still mad about the Southern 500 last year, leading late and having the engine
issues, so a little bit of redemption, hopefully, this weekend. It’s been so good to us and we’ve only been able to win there twice. I feel like we should have won there seven or eight times over the years. You’ve got to race the racetrack, but somehow with these cars you’ve got to find a way to get track position, as well. It’s very difficult to do but I’m really looking forward to the challenge. I can’t thank our friends at Auto-Owners Insurance enough for being along with us yet again this
weekend. It’s going to be a fun weekend, for sure. "I think it just suits some guys, and others it doesn’t. For me, I feel like it’s about how I like to drive my car and the feel I need for the long run. For as long as I remember, I don’t really know what I do differently than everyone else, and I don’t
know if my team does, either, it’s just the way that it happens. Even with all the technology today, sometimes you just can’t pinpoint exactly what it is that makes us good there. You can see the SMT and see exactly what a driver is doing, but there’s more to connecting that feel and those inputs than you can imagine. It just suits me, and I really enjoy it. Looking forward to this weekend with our Auto-Owners Insurance Camry." - Martin Truex Jr. "It’s a tough place. This race, being a hundred miles shorter than the (Southern) 500, is a little different, but still a tough racetrack and a place that’s just – these cars are so fragile with the way the suspension components are, even now that
they’ve changed them a lot. You just can’t afford to hit the wall very hard. You end up bending something and it can ruin your day. That risk versus reward and the fine line of when to push and how hard to push is important there." - Chase Elliott "Darlington is a place that requires a tremendous
amount of patience. The line you run right next to the wall takes a high level of commitment and execution all day. If you are off even by a few inches, you get the ‘Darlington Stripe,’ so it’s just a place that you need to be focused and tuned in all race, which is challenging." - Josh Berry 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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