Frontstretch Newsletter: Aug. 5, 2024
Volume
XVIII, Edition CXXXII |
- NASCAR teams are still at their shops and hard at work. The drivers are beginning to return from their vacations. We'll have entry lists for this weekend's action in Richmond and anything else that breaks for you at Frontstretch. |
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| Penske Scores IMSA 1-2 In Rough Road America Sprint
Race Penske Porsche Motorsport's Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy took the lead when Ricky Taylor gambled on fresh tires late Sunday. They then held on to win the IMSA SportsCar Weekend event at Road America. |
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| William Sawalich Wins ARCA Elko in a Thrilling 3-Wide
Photo Finish Joe Gibbs Racing's William Sawalich recovered Saturday night from a spin to win the ARCA Menards Series Shore Lunch 250 at Elko Speedway. Lavar Scott was second, then Kris Wright, Isabella Robusto and Andres Perez. |
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| Trent Hindman, Stevan McAleer Score 2nd Straight Pilot
Challenge Win Rennsport One's Trent Hindman and Stevan McAleer took the lead with 20 minutes to go Saturday and held on to win the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Road America 120. KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering's Tim Lewis Jr. and Dr. William Tally won in
TCR. |
Photos are courtesy of IMSA and our own Josh Calloni. 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: Aug. 2-4 |
- World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series teams were busy this past weekend at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Mo. The result was that Kyle Larson simply increased his stature as a racer. Friday night didn't start out well for him, though. Struggles in his
heat race forced Larson to go to the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown. Winning that short sprint got him the 21st starting spot for the feature. Larson quickly moved up the order, moving into the top 10 in just eight laps and the top-five in 18. He took second from Sheldon Haudenschild with four laps to go and tried to run James McFadden. Haudenschild held on to finish third, followed by Carson Macedo and Donny Schatz. Saturday
night was the Ironman 55 in Pevely, one of the toughest races of the year. Giovanni Scelzi started from the pole and led early. Larson started 12th and made his way forward, but admitted that he was struggling. On lap 22, Corey Day and Buddy Kofoid collided, resulting in Day flipping and the red flag coming out. Teams were allowed to refuel here and make
adjustments. From there, Larson continued to make forward progress. He took second with 22 laps to go, then ran down Scelzi. With 11 laps to go, he made the move for the lead and got his slide job to stick. From there, he held on to take the weekend sweep and his third Ironman 55 victory. Schatz finished second, then Macedo and Scelzi. Logan Schuchart ended up fifth. Through 43 races, David Gravel continues to lead, but his advantage is down to 98 points over Schatz. Macedo is third, then Scelzi and Kofoid. - The World of Outlaws CASE Construction Late Model Series was in New Richmond, Wis. this past weekend for the USA Nationals. Wet conditions Thursday night resulted in a rare doubleheader on Friday. Friday afternoon's preliminary feature saw Bobby Pierce snatch the lead away from Tim McCreadie on lap 2, then pull away to take victory in
the 25-lap race. McCreadie was second, then Kyle Bronson, Nick Hoffman and Jonathan Davenport. Later that night, Davenport led early on while Pierce was eliminated from contention when he collided with Cade Dillard. Nick Hoffman cut a tire during that caution and was forced to pit. The race came down to a duel between Davenport, Brandon Sheppard and Ryan Gustin. Gustin was ultimately able to take the lead away from Sheppard with two laps to go. From there, he held on for the win. Gustin won by .541 seconds over Sheppard. Davenport was third, then Brian Shirley and Ricky Thornton Jr. Saturday night was the the main show, scheduled for 100 laps. Davenport started from pole and led early, but Pierce was right on his tail. On lap 3, Pierce used the low line to take the lead away. From there, he held a steady advantage. However, the race did not run to
the full 100-lap distance. With 44 laps to go, a deluge descended upon Cedar Lake Speedway, forcing the race to be stopped. With the racing surface quickly becoming unraceable and the event past halfway, that meant that the race was called, giving Pierce the win. Kyle Bronson was credited with second, followed by Dustin Sorensen and Ryan Gustin. Davenport was fifth. Sheppard is still leading the points by 26 over Hoffman. Pierce is third, then Bronson and Dillard. |
This is just a sampling of the 15 videos that we uploaded to our Grassroots YouTube channel from Elko and North Wilkesboro last weekend. For more from Elko, North Wilkesboro, or from other race weekends, be sure to subscribe to our suite of YouTube channels (Frontstretch and FS Open Wheel) and don't forget to click the bell to be notified of future videos. |
Seeking the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs: Off-Week Update No. 2
by Phil Allaway
The NASCAR Cup Series was off last weekend. They will return to action at Richmond Raceway on Sunday. When the field arrives at Richmond, Kyle Larson will have a10-point advantage over teammate Chase
Elliott. Tyler Reddick is third, then team co-owner Denny Hamlin. Ryan Blaney is fifth. At the points cut-off, Ross Chastain is the last driver in the playoffs on points in 13th. He has a seven-point lead over Bubba Wallace. Chase Briscoe is more
than a full race behind Wallace, then Kyle Busch and Todd Gilliland. Point Standings (1-16): 1) Kyle Larson 749, 2) Chase Elliott -10, 3) Tyler Reddick
-15, 4) Denny Hamlin -43, 5) Ryan Blaney -73, 6) William Byron -95, 7) Martin Truex Jr. -96, 8) Christopher Bell -98, 9) Brad Keselowski -134, 10) Alex Bowman
-143, 11) Ty Gibbs -162, 12) Chris Buescher -187, 13) Ross Chastain -197, 14) Bubba Wallace -204, 15) Joey Logano -224, 16) Chase Briscoe -280. Outside of the top 16, but still in the playoffs: 17) Daniel Suarez -289, 19) Austin Cindric -311. Note: Drivers in italics are either outside of the playoffs, or
ineligible for points. Playoff Points: 1) Kyle Larson 28, 2) Christopher Bell -4, 3) Denny Hamlin -7, 4) William Byron -12, 5) Ryan Blaney -16, 6) Tyler
Reddick -20, 7) Austin Cindric -21, t-8) Chase Elliott -22, t-8) Joey Logano -22, t-10) Brad Keselowski -23, t-10) Alex Bowman -23, t-10) Daniel Suarez -23, 13) Martin Truex Jr. -25, t-14) Ty Gibbs
-26, t-14) Chris Buescher -26, t-16) Ross Chastain -27, t-16) Bubba Wallace -27, t-16) Michael McDowell -27, t-16) Joey Hand -27. Note: If he were eligible for playoff points, Shane van Gisbergen would be tied for 16th. Stage Points: 1) Kyle Larson 227, 2) Denny Hamlin -16, 3) Ryan Blaney -60, 4) Christopher Bell -62, 5) Tyler Reddick
-63, t-6) Martin Truex Jr. -75, t-6) Chase Elliott -75, 8) William Byron -94, 9) Brad Keselowski -106, 10) Ty Gibbs -123, 11) Alex Bowman -130, 12) Joey Logano -134, 13) Bubba Wallace
-137, 14) Austin Cindric -155, 15) Ross Chastain -161, 16) Chris Buescher -165. Outside of the top-16, but Still in the Playoffs: 20) Daniel Suarez -185.
Note: The Stage Points also include the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Chase Elliott 685, 2) Tyler Reddick
-12, 3) Kyle Larson -70, 4) William Byron -72, 5) Ryan Blaney -79, t-6) Denny Hamlin -87, t-6) Alex Bowman -87, 8) Chris Buescher -90, 9) Martin Truex Jr. -91, 10) Brad Keselowski
-93, 11) Christopher Bell -99, 12) Ross Chastain -102, 13) Ty Gibbs -104, 14) Bubba Wallace -134, 15) Joey Logano -154, 16) Chase Briscoe -166. Outside of
the top 16, but still in the playoffs: 17) Daniel Suarez -175, 22) Austin Cindric -228. Note: These standings are based on the old point system that was used before stages were created. WC Points (1-16): 1) Tyler Reddick 3040, 2) Chase Elliott -11, 3) William Byron -229, 4) Ryan Blaney -239, 5) Kyle Larson -242, 6) Denny Hamlin -254, 7) Brad Keselowski
-278, 8) Alex Bowman -287, 9) Christopher Bell -289, 10) Chris Buescher -292, 11) Martin Truex Jr. -296, 12) Ty Gibbs -333, 13) Ross Chastain -360, 14) Bubba Wallace -448, 15) Joey Logano -498, 16) Chase
Briscoe -568.
Outside of the top-16, but still in the playoffs: 17) Daniel Suarez -602, 22) Austin Cindric -760. Note: The WC points are based on the original points system created by Bob Latford in 1975. Race Winners: William Byron (Daytona, COTA, Martinsville), Daniel Suarez (Atlanta), Kyle Larson (Las Vegas, Kansas, Sonoma, Indianapolis), Christopher Bell (Phoenix, Charlotte, Loudon), Denny Hamlin (Bristol, Richmond, Dover), Chase Elliott (Texas), Tyler Reddick (Talladega), Brad Keselowski (Darlington), Austin Cindric
(Gateway), Ryan Blaney (Iowa, Pocono), Joey Logano (Nashville), Alex Bowman (Chicago)
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. Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.
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Seeking the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs: Off-Week Update No. 5
by Phil Allaway
The NASCAR Xfinity Series was off last weekend. They will resume their 2024 season on Aug. 17 at Michigan International Speedway. When the teams pull into Michigan, Cole Custer will have a 56-point lead over Justin Allgaier. Austin
Hill is third, then Chandler Smith and Riley Herbst. At the points cut-off, a strong run for Ryan Sieg at Indianapolis allowed him to move up to 10th and take the last spot in the playoffs on points. He has a three-point lead over Sammy Smith. Brandon Jones is another 66 points back, then
Anthony Alfredo and Brennan Poole. Point Standings (1-16): 1) Cole Custer 761, 2) Justin Allgaier -56, 3) Austin Hill -87, 4) Chandler Smith -100, 5) Riley
Herbst -143, 6) AJ Allmendinger -152, 7) Jesse Love -174, 8) Sheldon Creed -185, 9) Parker Kligerman -208, 10) Ryan Sieg -251, 11) Sammy Smith -254, 12) Sam Mayer -259, 13) Shane
van Gisbergen -261, 14) Brandon Jones -320, 15) Anthony Alfredo -365, 16) Brennan Poole -408. Playoff Points: 1) Shane van Gisbergen 17, 2) Justin Allgaier -1, 3) Chandler Smith
-2, 4) Austin Hill -4, 5) Sam Mayer -6, 6) Jesse Love -8, t-7) Cole Custer -9, t-7) Aric Almirola -9, 9) Riley Herbst -10, 10) Ryan Truex -12, t-11) Parker Kligerman -16, t-11) Ryan Sieg
-16. Note: If they were eligible for Xfinity Series points, John Hunter Nemechek would be tied for fifth in playoff points, while Christopher Bell would be 11th, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott tied for 12th and Ty Gibbs 15th. Stage Points:
1) Justin Allgaier 225, 2) Cole Custer -41, 3) Riley Herbst -62, 4) Austin Hill -65, 5) Chandler Smith -67, 6) AJ Allmendinger -80, 7) Sheldon Creed -117, t-8) Sam Mayer
-123, t-8) Jesse Love -123, 10) Sammy Smith -135, 11) Parker Kligerman -141, t-12) Brandon Jones -149, t-12) Aric Almirola -149, 14) Ryan Sieg -152, 15) Shane van Gisbergen -174, 16) Ryan Truex
-189. Note: If they were eligible for Xfinity Series points, John Hunter Nemechek and Ty Gibbs would be tied for 15th in stage points. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Cole Custer 671, 2) Austin
Hill -60, 3) Chandler Smith -87, 4) Jesse Love -95, 5) Justin Allgaier -98, 6) Sheldon Creed -116, 7) Parker Kligerman -118, 8) AJ Allmendinger -122, 9) Riley Herbst -133, 10) Shane van Gisbergen
-138, 11) Ryan Sieg -149, 12) Sammy Smith -169, 13) Sam Mayer -180, 14) Anthony Alfredo -209, 15) Brandon Jones -224, 16) Brennan Poole -247. WC Points (1-16):
1) Cole Custer 2946, 2) Austin Hill -214, 3) Chandler Smith -291, 4) Justin Allgaier -320, 5) Jesse Love -338, 6) Sheldon Creed -364, 7) Parker Kligerman -438, 8) AJ Allmendinger -443, 9) Riley
Herbst -463, 10) Shane van Gisbergen -488, 11) Ryan Sieg -542, 12) Sammy Smith -582, 13) Sam Mayer -599, 14) Anthony Alfredo -739, 15) Brandon Jones -773, 16) Brennan Poole -867. Race Winners: Austin Hill (Daytona, Atlanta), John Hunter Nemechek (Las Vegas, Nashville), Chandler Smith (Phoenix, Richmond), Kyle Larson (COTA), Aric Almirola (Martinsville), Sam Mayer (Texas, Iowa), Jesse Love (Talladega), Ryan Truex (Dover), Justin Allgaier (Darlington), Chase Elliott (Charlotte), Shane van Gisbergen (Portland, Sonoma, Chicago), Christopher
Bell (Loudon), Cole Custer (Pocono), Riley Herbst (Indianapolis) 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. 10
by Phil Allaway
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series was off last weekend. They will resume their season Saturday at Richmond Raceway for the final race of the regular season. When the teams arrive in Richmond, Christian Eckes will enter with a 50-point lead over
Corey Heim. He doesn't have the regular season title wrapped up, but there is a good chance that he could wrap it up by the end of stage two on Saturday by scoring 11 stage points. Ty Majeski, after his win at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, is third, then Nick Sanchez and Rajah Caruth. There are only three spots on points remaining. Taylor Gray is looking good for one of them in eighth. Ben Rhodes is ninth, while Tanner Gray is 10th. Tanner has a five-point lead over Daniel Dye, while Stewart Friesen is 12th. Anyone behind Friesen will need to win in order to qualify for the
playoffs. Point Standings (1-16): 1) Christian Eckes 673, 2) Corey Heim -50, 3) Ty Majeski -135, 4) Nick Sanchez -136, 5) Rajah Caruth
-206, 6) Tyler Ankrum -213, 7) Grant Enfinger -219, 8) Taylor Gray -248, 9) Ben Rhodes -274, 10) Tanner Gray -291, 11) Daniel Dye -296, 12) Stewart Friesen -307, 13) Matt Crafton
-334, 14) Chase Purdy -335, 15) Dean Thompson -362, 16) Layne Riggs -366.
Playoff Points: 1) Corey Heim 31, 2) Christian Eckes -9, 3) Nick Sanchez -20, 4) Ty Majeski
-21, 5) Rajah Caruth -26, 6) Tyler Ankrum -29, t-7) Tanner Gray -30, t-7) Kaden Honeycutt -30, t-7) Johnny Sauter -30. Note: If they were eligible for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
points, Kyle Busch would be third and Zane Smith tied for eighth in playoff points. Stage Points: 1) Christian Eckes 199, 2) Ty Majeski -26, 3) Corey Heim -36, 4) Tyler Ankrum
-81, 5) Nick Sanchez -105, 6) Grant Enfinger -116, 7) Ben Rhodes -124, 8) Rajah Caruth -126, 9) Taylor Gray -136, 10) Layne Riggs -141, 11) Daniel Dye -146, 12) Stewart Friesen
-149, 13) Tanner Gray -155, 14) Chase Purdy -157, 15) Kaden Honeycutt -158, 16) Dean Thompson -165. Note: If they were eligible for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points, Kyle Busch would be ninth and Zane Smith 14th in stage
points. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Christian Eckes 431, 2) Corey Heim -19, 3) Nick Sanchez -41, 4) Rajah Caruth -95, 5) Ty Majeski
-114, 6) Grant Enfinger -116, 7) Taylor Gray -125, 8) Tyler Ankrum -142, 9) Tanner Gray -149, 10) Ben Rhodes -165, 11) Daniel Dye -166, 12) Stewart Friesen -173, 13) Matt Crafton
-184, 14) Chase Purdy -189, 15) Jake Garcia -210, 16) Dean Thompson -212. WC Points (1-16): 1) Christian Eckes 2392, 2) Corey Heim -87, 3) Nick
Sanchez -171, 4) Rajah Caruth -378, 5) Ty Majeski -407, 6) Grant Enfinger -422, 7) Taylor Gray -460, 8) Tyler Ankrum -511, 9) Tanner Gray -569, 10) Ben Rhodes -600, 11) Daniel Dye
-611, 12) Stewart Friesen -637, 13) Matt Crafton -669, 14) Chase Purdy -672, 15) Dean Thompson -763, 16) Jake Garcia -764. Race Winners: Nick Sanchez (Daytona,
Charlotte), Kyle Busch (Atlanta, Texas), Rajah Caruth (Las Vegas), Christian Eckes (Bristol, Martinsville, Nashville), Corey Heim (COTA, Kansas, North Wilkesboro, Gateway, Pocono), Ross Chastain (Kansas), 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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