Frontstretch Newsletter: Sept. 20, 2022
Volume
XVIII, Edition CLXVII |
What to Watch: Sept. 20-22 |
- Xfinity Series teams are already practicing and qualifying for tonight's Food City 300. That coverage can be found on USA Network
Coverage of the Food City 300 will begin with NASCAR Countdown Live at 7 p.m. ET on The CW (check your local listings for channel number). Race coverage will begin at 7:30 p.m.
ET with the green at 7:40 p.m. ET.
- Formula 1 is in Singapore this weekend. Friday's on-track activity is already complete. Saturday has Free Practice No. 3 at 5:25 a.m. ET. That will air live on ESPN2. Qualifying will be at 8:55 a.m. ET. 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 will begin at 7:55 a.m. ET with the formation lap at 8 a.m. ET.
- IMSA is in action this weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Friday's on-track activity
for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is already done. Practice No. 2 is scheduled for 8:55 a.m. ET Saturday morning. Qualifying for Sunday's six-hour race is scheduled for 3:40 p.m. ET. That session will be streamed live on IMSA's YouTube channel and on Peacock. The TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks is scheduled to start at 11:40 a.m. ET Sunday morning. Coverage will begin at 11:30 a.m. ET on Peacock. NBC will pick up the race in progress at 3 p.m. ET. - IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge teams are already done with practice for the weekend. Qualifying
is scheduled for 8 a.m. ET Saturday. Coverage of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway 120 is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. ET Saturday on Peacock. The green flag will be at 1:05 p.m. ET
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! |
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| Corey LaJoie & Justin Haley to Swap Seats Starting at
Kansas Rick Ware Racing and Spire Motorsports announced Friday in Bristol that Corey LaJoie and Justin Haley will switch teams starting next weekend at Kansas Speedway. |
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| Ty Norris Joining Kaulig as Chief Business Officer in
2025 Kaulig Racing announced Friday that Ty Norris, formerly of Trackhouse Racing, will join the team as their Chief Business Officer starting in 2025. |
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| Layne Riggs Plays Spoiler Again, Wins Bristol Truck
Race Front Row Motorsports' Layne Riggs drove up from 18th on the grid to take the lead from Corey Heim on a lap 121 restart and held on to win the UNOH 200 presented by Ohio Logistics for his second straight. Heim was second, then Rajah Caruth, Christian
Eckes and Nick Sanchez. |
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| FBI Investigating Rahal Letterman Lanigan
Racing The FBI raided Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's shop in Zionsville, Ind. Wednesday as part of a larger investigation. Details are sparse at the moment, but it could end up having a big impact on the INDYCAR team. |
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| Rajah Caruth Is on the Inside Looking Out After
Bristol Rajah Caruth entered Bristol Thursday night 10th in points after a disappointing Milwaukee. He more than made up for that by winning stage one and finishing third in Bristol. |
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| Connor Zilisch’s Promising Bristol Double Ends in Double
Whammy Connor Zilisch won the pole for both races Thursday at Bristol Motor Speedway. Neither of them ended the way he wanted due to on-track incidents. |
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| Harrison Burton Joining AM Racing in
2025 AM Racing announced this morning that Harrison Burton will join the team and drive the No. 15 Ford full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2025. |
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| Marcus Armstrong Moving to Meyer Shank for
2025 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian announced Thursday that Marcus Armstrong will drive the No. 66 full-time in INDYCAR in 2025, replacing David Malukas. |
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| William Sawalich Takes Bristol Win, ARCA East
Title Joe Gibbs Racing's William Sawalich took the lead away from Landen Lewis late Thursday and held on to win a wreck-strewn Bush's Beans 200. With the win, he clinched the ARCA Menards Series East championship. Lewis was second, then Lavar Scott, who came from 28th
on the grid. Andres Perez was fourth and Dean Thompson fifth. |
Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, Paul Hurley and Joe Skibinski of Penske Entertainment and our own Stephen Stumpf. 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. 19-20 |
- In Free Practice No. 1 in Singapore earlier today, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was fastest with a lap at 120.441 mph. The lap was .076 seconds faster than McLaren's Lando Norris. Carlos Sainz Jr. was third, then Red Bull's Max Verstappen and RB's Yuki Tsunoda. There were no red flags
during the session, but McLaren's Oscar Piastri did hit the wall at one point in turn 10 after sliding off-line into the dust. He was able to drive the car back to the pits and later returned to the session. Free Practice No. 2 saw Norris go fastest with a lap at 121.816 mph in his McLaren. He was .058 seconds faster than Leclerc. Sainz was third, then Tsunoda and
Piastri. The session ended early after Mercedes' George Russell locked up and slid into the wall in turn 8. He was ok and drove back to the pits. The car will require a new nose, but should be otherwise ok. - In opening IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship practice at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Porsche Penske Motorsport's Mathieu Jaminet was fastest with a lap at 115.322 mph. He was .039 seconds faster than the Cadillac of Chip Ganassi Racing's Renger van der Zande. BMW M Team RLL teammates Connor de Phillippi and Jesse Krohn were third and fourth, while Wayne Taylor Racing with
Andretti Global's Jordan Taylor was fifth. Jordan's brother Ricky ran into mechanical problems and stalled his Acura ARX-06 on Hulman Boulevard to draw a red flag. The team would not continue in the session afterwards. In LMP2, TDS Racing's Mikkel
Jensen was fastest in class with a lap at 113.489 mph, 11th overall. Jensen was .451 seconds faster than Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports' Tom Dillmann. Tower Motorsports' Charlie Eastwood was third, then United Autosports' Ben Hanley and Richard Mille AF Corse's Nicklas Nielsen. The GT ranks saw Triarsi Competizione's Riccardo Agostini go fastest in his
GTD class Ferrari with a lap at 104.709 mph, 22nd overall. Agostini's lap was .081 seconds faster than Forte Racing's Loris Spinelli. AF Corse's Miguel Molina was third, then Wright Motorsports' Jan Heylen. Conquest Racing's Albert Costa was fifth. GTD Pro was topped by Pfaff Motorsports' Marvin Kirchhoefer with a lap at 104.491 mph, third fastest of the GT runners. His lap
was .075 seconds faster than the BMW of Paul Miller Racing's Bryan Sellers. The Heart of Racing's Roman DeAngelis was third fastest in his first session in the class, then teammate Alex Riberas. Ford Multimatic Motorsports' Mike Rockenfeller was fifth. - In IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, Rennsport One positioned themselves as the fastest team on the track on a single lap. It didn't matter who was in the car. Practice No. 1 this morning was topped by Trent Hindman with a lap at 97.214 mph in his Porsche. The lap was .318 seconds faster than Winward Racing's Daniel Morad. KohR Motorsports' Luca Mars was third, then Baby Bull Racing's Michael Cooper and Archangel Motorsports' Aaron Telitz. Montreal Motorsport Group's Daijiro Yoshihara was fastest in TCR with a lap at 95.245 mph in 19th overall. His lap was .130 seconds faster than KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering's Tim Lewis Jr. Harry Gottsacker was third, then Tyler Gonzalez and Denis Dupont. Session No. 2 saw Stevan McAleer go fastest overall with a lap at 96.564
mph. The lap was a mere seven-thousandths of a second faster than Lone Star Racing's Scott Andrews. CarBahn Motorsports with Peregrine Racing's Jeff Westphal was third, then Motorsports In Action's Jesse Lazare. BGB Motorsports' Spencer Pumpelly was fifth. JDC-Miller MotorSports' Mikey Taylor was fastest in TCR with a lap at 94.906 mph, 19th overall. Mikey's lap was
.240 seconds faster than Gottsacker. Mark Wilkins was third, then Kuno Wittmer and Morgan Burkhard. |
Seeking the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship: Christian Eckes Continues to Lead, Locks Into Round of 8 on Points
by Phil Allaway
Christian Eckes continued his excellent 2024 season Thursday night with a fourth-place finish in points. He lost a little bit of his advantage, but he will still go into Kansas with a 15-point lead in the Round of 10. That lead is over Corey
Heim, who finished second and moved up one place. Nick Sanchez finished fifth and moved up to third in points. All three drivers have locked themselves into the Round of 8 on points. Ty Majeski finished eighth, but failed to score any stage points. That dropped from second to fourth. Rajah Caruth made the biggest move of
the week, gaining five positions to fifth after winning stage one and finishing third. Tyler Ankrum finished 10th, but dropped to sixth. Taylor Gray had a quiet run to 12th and dropped two places to seventh. Grant Enfinger struggled with handling and ended up 20th. He is the last driver in the Round of 8 on points at the moment. Enfinger has a seven-point lead over Daniel Dye, who cut a tire late and spun into Kaden Honeycutt. He would eventually finish 32nd. Ben Rhodes had a miserable run to 27th and dropped to 10th. In the owner points playoffs, the top-eight teams are the same as the normal Round of 8 standings. The
No. 7 for Spire Motorsports moved up a place to ninth, four points behind Enfinger's No. 9 despite a spin out of fifth for Connor Zilisch. Honeycutt's wreck dropped the No. 45 back to 10th. Outside of the playoffs, Layne Riggs' second straight win moved him up to 11th. He is five points ahead of Tanner Gray. Stewart
Friesen has sole possession of 13th over Matt Crafton, then Chase Purdy and Jake Garcia. Round of 10
Point Standings: 1) Christian Eckes 2140, 2) Corey Heim -15, 3) Nick Sanchez -32, 4) Ty Majeski -37, 5) Rajah Caruth -60, 6) Tyler Ankrum -70, 7) Taylor Gray -72, 8) Grant Enfinger -88, 9) Daniel Dye -95, 10) Ben Rhodes -100. Best of the Rest: 11) Layne Riggs 455, 12) Tanner Gray -5, 13) Stewart Friesen -22, 14) Matt Crafton -26, 15) Chase Purdy -53, 16) Jake Garcia -90, 17) Dean Thompson -96, 18) Ty
Dillon -121, 19) Bayley Currey -138, 20) Bret Holmes -146. Non-Playoff Point Standings (1-16): 1) Christian Eckes 829, 2) Corey Heim -92, 3) Ty Majeski -171, 4) Nick
Sanchez -193, 5) Rajah Caruth -266, 6) Tyler Ankrum -272, 7) Grant Enfinger -279, 8) Taylor Gray -294, 9) Ben Rhodes -350, 10) Daniel Dye -366, 11) Layne Riggs -374, 12) Tanner Gray -379, 13) Stewart Friesen
-396, 14) Matt Crafton -400, 15) Chase Purdy -427, 16) Jake Garcia -464. Playoff Points: 1) Corey Heim 42, 2) Christian Eckes -3, 3) Ty Majeski
-19, 4) Nick Sanchez -24, 5) Rajah Caruth -32, t-6) Grant Enfinger -35, t-6) Tyler Ankrum -35, 8) Taylor Gray -39, 9) Ben Rhodes -40, 10) Daniel Dye -41. Round of 10 Owners Point
Standings: 1) McAnally-Hilgemann Racing No. 19 2140, 2) TRICON Garage No. 11 -15, 3) Rev Racing -32, 4) ThorSport Racing No. 98 -37, 5) Spire Motorsports No. 71 -60, 6) McAnally-Hilgemann Racing No. 18 -70, 7) TRICON Garage No. 17 -73, 8) CR7
Motorsports No. 9 -88, 9) Spire Motorsports No. 7 -92, 10) Niece Motorsports No. 45 -108. Stage Points: 1) Christian Eckes 253, 2) Corey Heim -62, 3) Ty Majeski -64, 4) Tyler Ankrum
-127, 5) Nick Sanchez -132, 6) Grant Enfinger -151, 7) Rajah Caruth -157, 8) Layne Riggs -159, 9) Ben Rhodes -166, 10) Taylor Gray -171, 11) Daniel Dye -177, 12) Stewart Friesen -193, 13) Tanner Gray
-206, 14) Chase Purdy -208, 15) Kaden Honeycutt -210, 16) Matt Crafton -211. Note: If they were eligible for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points, Kyle Busch would be 12th and Zane Smith 15th in stage points. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Christian Eckes 524, 2) Corey Heim -36, 3) Nick Sanchez -74, 4) Ty Majeski -114, 5) Rajah Caruth -126, 6) Taylor Gray -138, 7) Grant
Enfinger -142, 8) Tyler Ankrum -158, 9) Tanner Gray -189, 10) Ben Rhodes -202, 11) Daniel Dye -208, 12) Matt Crafton -209, 13) Stewart Friesen -221, 14) Layne Riggs -231, 15) Chase Purdy -233, 16) Jake Garcia
-259. WC Points (1-16): 1) Christian Eckes 2902, 2) Corey Heim -156, 3) Nick Sanchez -293, 4) Ty Majeski -420, 5) Rajah Caruth -497, 6) Taylor Gray
-518, 7) Grant Enfinger -526, 8) Tyler Ankrum -587, 9) Tanner Gray -728, 10) Ben Rhodes -744, 11) Daniel Dye -770, 12) Matt Crafton -778, 13) Stewart Friesen -819, 14) Layne Riggs -824, 15) Chase Purdy
-840, 16) Jake Garcia -951. Race Winners: Nick Sanchez (Daytona, Charlotte), Kyle Busch (Atlanta, Texas), Rajah Caruth (Las Vegas), Christian Eckes (Bristol-1, Martinsville, Nashville), Corey Heim (COTA, Kansas, North Wilkesboro, Gateway, Pocono), Ross Chastain (Kansas), Ty
Majeski (Lucas Oil IRP), Layne Riggs (Milwaukee, Bristol-2) 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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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 7:45 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 was not the most competitive race. It was very difficult to pass and teams had to dodge raindrops early on. Denny Hamlin was able to emerge victorious in a battle with teammate Ty Gibbs for the lead with 138 laps to go. After a brief battle on the final restart with Chris Buescher, Hamlin was able to hold
on to win. Hamlin won by 2.437 seconds over Kyle Larson. Christopher Bell was third, followed by Buescher and Gibbs. Amongst active drivers, Kyle Busch has the most victories at Bristol with nine, eight on concrete and one on dirt. Hamlin has four wins, while 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. 20, 4 - 4:45 p.m. ET on USA Network Qualifying: Friday, Sept. 20 at 4:55 p.m. ET on USA Network Say What!
"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. Obviously the spring race there was very encouraging, and hope we can run up front all night like we did there in March and have a shot to make it through to the next round. Would be great to have another strong run there and finally get a win at Bristol with our Bass Pro Shops Camry. We’ll see how it plays out." - Martin Truex Jr. "I’ll be interested to see how the tire wear is this weekend. We had a pit road penalty, restarted from the rear and still managed tire wear to battle back for a top-five earlier this year. I really enjoy this track and this race under the lights, so I am looking forward to
Saturday night." - Kyle Larson "I think our group is really adaptable and can react well, and we saw that in the spring. When our team saw how the tires wore out faster and knew we were basically having to rework our strategy, Rodney [Childers] and all the guys did a really good job of getting to work quickly and putting together a new plan that was really effective and gave me a car
that drove through the field. As a group, we are just staying open-minded to the fact that the race may play out the same as the spring, or maybe totally different – it’s just too early to make that call. (on saving tires) "It kind of depends on where you start the run. Like, if you are up front, you are going to have to find a balance of speed, but also saving some tires to get the most out of the run. If you are further back, you can save harder and try to make a run later in that
stint. It is really hard to say, too, with how the race in the spring unfolded. I think it will be situational and depends a lot on our strategy, but we had a really good car in the spring and I am confident that our team will build another fast No. 4 Bed Bath & Beyond Ford Mustang Dark Horse and we can go try to maximize our day and contend for a win. We are more than capable; we just need to put together a complete day." - Josh Berry 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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![Rajah Caruth Nets 3rd at Bristol, Wanted to Win: "I Don't Feel Like I Executed That [Restart] Well"](https://hostedimages-cdn.aweber-static.com/MTUwNjA2Nw==/original/34c256cf636d4df994267e662a5398a2.png)
