Frontstretch Newsletter: April 12, 2024
Volume
XVIII, Edition LI |
Welcome our New Presenting Sponsor, Race Face Digital! |
The Frontstretch Newsletter is presented by Race Face Digital, the ultimate entertainment platform for race fans and collectors to collect, buy, sell and trade digital MP4 collectible racing cards. |
What to Watch: April 12-14 |
- NASCAR teams are all on-site at Texas Motor Speedway for three big races at the paperclip. NASCAR Cup Series teams will be on-track starting Saturday. NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series teams are up first. Practice will start at 4 p.m. ET today with live coverage on FOX Sports 1.
Qualifying will follow immediately afterwards. Coverage of the SpeedyCash.com 250 will start with NASCAR RaceDay - NCTS Edition at 7:30 p.m. ET. Race coverage will start at 8:30 p.m. ET with the green flag falling around 8:40 p.m. ET. - NASCAR
Xfinity Series teams will also practice and qualify today. Practice is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET and will air on FS1. Qualifying follows afterwards. Coverage of the Andy's Frozen Custard 300 will start with NASCAR RaceDay - Xfinity Edition at 12:30 p.m. ET Saturday on FS1. Race coverage will follow at 1:30 p.m. ET with the green flag at 1:40 p.m.
ET. - World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series teams will spend the weekend at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Mo. for the Spring Classic. Coverage stars at 7:15 p.m. ET on DirtVision both nights. - The Kubota High Limit Sprint Car Series will be at Texas Motor Speedway's Dirt Track for the Stockyard Stampede. The action will stream live on
FLORacing at 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday night. The European Le Mans Series starts their season at the
Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona. Coverage of the 4 Hours of Barcelona will start at 5:10 a.m. ET Sunday morning on the European Le Mans Series YouTube channel. Coverage will pick up at 5:30
a.m. ET on SpeedSport1 just when the race goes green. - The CARS Tour's Late Model Stock division will be at New River All-American Speedway for the National Dodge Chrysler Jeep RAM 250. Coverage will start at 4:45 p.m. ET Saturday on FLORacing. FOLLOW THE FRONTSTRETCH THIS WEEKEND THROUGH OUR COLLEAGUES: TEXAS: NEW RIVER ALL-AMERICAN: Also, don't forget to follow our Twitter page, @Frontstretch as well for updates on Texas! |
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| Formula 1 Unveils 2025
Schedule The FIA officially released the 2024 season for Formula 1 Friday morning. It will have 24 races, starting off in Australia. The Bahrain and Jeddah races will move back in order to avoid conflicting with Ramadan. |
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| Xfinity Series Moving to The CW for
Playoffs NASCAR announced Thursday that the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoff races this year will air live on The CW in preparation for the series moving there full-time in 2025. |
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| Jeffrey Earnhardt Running Truck Race at Charlotte for
MBM MBM Motorsports announced Thursday that they will field a truck for Jeffrey Earnhardt at Charlotte next month. |
Photos are courtesy of Mark Thompson of Getty Images and Nigel Kinrade Photography. Have news for Frontstretch? Don't hesitate to
let us know; email us at frontstretcheditors@googlegroups.com with a promising lead or tip. |
Frontstretch Folio: AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 by Phil Allaway
This weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series returns to Texas Motor Speedway for their only visit of the year. Coverage of the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 begins with NASCAR RaceDay at 2 p.m. ET Sunday on FOX Sports 1. Race coverage starts at 3:30 p.m. ET with the green flag scheduled to fly around 3:40 p.m. ET. Radio coverage will be provided by local PRN radio affiliates and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).
Records and facts Last year's AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 was held in the heat of late September as opposed to April. Kyle Larson dominated a decent chunk of the race, but crashed with under 20 laps to go while racing Bubba Wallace for the lead in turn 1. After a multi-car crash brought out another caution, William Byron was able to get past Wallace on the final restart and
held on to take the win. Byron won by 1.863 seconds over Ross Chastain. Wallace was third, then Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin. Jimmie Johnson is the winningest driver all-time at Texas Motor Speedway with seven career wins. Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards have four triumphs, while Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick have three wins each, while Kyle Larson and Logano have one each. All-time, Jimmie Johnson
has the most victories at Texas with seven. Kyle Busch is tied for second with Carl Edwards with four, then Hamlin and Harvick.
Track Facts
Track / Race Length: 1.5-mile quad-oval, 334 laps (501 miles)
Banking: 24 degrees
Frontstretch: 2,250 ft., banked 5 degrees Backstretch: 1,330 ft., banked 5 degrees Grandstand Seating: 128,655 Pit Road Speed: 45 mph
Pace Car Speed: 55 mph
Opened: 1997 Website: http://www.texasmotorspeedway.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/texasmotorspeedway Twitter: http://twitter.com/TXMotorSpeedway Pre-Race Schedule: Practice: Saturday, April 13, 10:30 - 11:20 a.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 Qualifying: Saturday, April 13, 11:30 a.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 Say What? "It’s been a few different things over the years. It’s always been a good track for us. In 2022, we were leading and we blew a tire. It’s been one of those
places where we have been snakebit a lot. We’ve had some good runs, we’ve had some struggles at times since they repaved it. Just one of those things, but I feel confident going there with what we have that we’ll run well, especially how we ran there the last couple of years. It’s been tough, we’ve gotten a lot of poles there and led a lot of laps but we just haven’t been able to win there. We just have to go there and I think we have a great shot to win with our Bass Pro Shops Camry." -
Martin Truex Jr. "Texas is a really weird racetrack because in turns one and two, it’s still really fast, but it’s slow compared what turns 3 and 4 are. You go to turns 3
and 4, it literally feels like terminal velocity. It feels like the car cannot go any faster. It’s like you’re strapped to a rocket. It’s wild how it feels inside the racecar in three and four. It’s one where you’re hanging on and hoping you get through to the other side. It’s a very, very fast racetrack. It’s changed a lot just over the last two or three years as it’s kind of started to age, already. Texas is a wild one just because of how fast it is on one side and how slow it feels on the
other side." - Chase Briscoe "Texas Motor Speedway is one of my favorite tracks, and I’m excited to be racing there this weekend in the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops / TRACKER Off-Road Chevrolet. It has always been a strong track for me. There is a lot of variety on both ends of the track, which makes it exciting to race. On one end you are going to have a high-speed and very banked corner,
and on the other end, you will have a hard corner that you will have to get turned into and then get back on the gas. The track has so much grip now and has changed a lot from the old track to the new track." - Austin Dillon 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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