Frontstretch Newsletter: Nov. 25, 2024
Volume
XVIII, Edition XXCIII |
With the offseason in full swing, Frontstretch is starting their offseason lineup of articles this week. There will be a series of list articles over the next week. December will cover the Top 10 Storylines of 2024 and give out awards. It should be fun. |
What to Watch: Nov. 25-Dec. 1 |
- This weekend, Formula 1 returns to Qatar for the final Sprint weekend of the year. The weekend's only practice session is scheduled for 8:25 a.m. ET Friday morning and will air live on ESPNU. Qualifying for the Sprint will be at 12:25 p.m. ET on ESPNEWS The
Sprint race is scheduled to take place at 9 a.m. ET Saturday. Coverage will begin at 8:55 a.m. ET on ESPN2. Qualifying for the Grand Prix will be at 12:55 p.m. ET on ESPNEWS.
Coverage of the Grand Prix of Qatar will begin with Formula 1: Grand Prix Sunday at 9:30 a.m. ET Saturday night on ESPN2. Race coverage will begin at 12:55 a.m. ET with the formation lap at 11 a.m.
ET. - On the undercard of Formula 1 in Qatar are two different series. Formula 2 returns after more than two months off. They will practice at 6:05 a.m. ET Friday and qualify at 11:10 a.m. ET. Race No. 1 (the Sprint race) is scheduled for 11:20 a.m. ET Saturday, while the Feature Race is at 7:20 a.m. ET Sunday. All sessions will stream live on
ESPN+ (subscription required). - F1 Academy has their second to last race weekend of the season in Qatar as well. Practice sessions are scheduled for 5 a.m. ET and 10 a.m. ET. Friday. Race No. 1 will be at 3:05 p.m. ET Saturday, while Race No. 2 is at 6 a.m. ET Sunday. All sessions will stream live on ESPN+ (subscription required). Abbi Pulling can wrap up the
championship with a seventh-place finish in Race No. 1. - Back in the United States, race teams are continuing their preparations for the 2025 season. We'll have anything that breaks for you at Frontstretch. |
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| George Russell Wins in Las Vegas, Max Verstappen Clinches
Title Mercedes' George Russell was dominant Saturday night in Nevada, never seriously being threatened en route to victory. Lewis Hamilton was second, then Carlos Sainz Jr., Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen. Verstappen clinched his fourth straight World
Championship. |
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| Max Verstappen Wins 4th Straight Formula 1 World
Championship Max Verstappen finished fifth Saturday night in Las Vegas, but he was ahead of Lando Norris. That was all Verstappen needed to clinch the World Championship. |
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| Here’s What Happened This Week With the 23XI/FRM Vs.
NASCAR Lawsuit (Nov. 16-22) Last week was quite busy in court as 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports ultimately withdrew their appeal of the preliminary injunction denial. NASCAR also eliminated a rule that would have barred the teams from racing in 2025 as open teams while
proceeding with litigation. |
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| Ryan Preece Running Full Time for
RFK RFK Racing announced Tuesday that they will expand back to three full-time entries in 2025 with Ryan Preece driving a Kroger-sponsored No. 60. |
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| Riley Herbst Driving 3rd Cup Car for
23XI 23XI Racing announced Wednesday that they will expand to three full-time Cup teams in 2025. Riley Herbst will drive the new No. 35 Toyota. |
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| Todd Gilliland Moving to FRM’s No.
34 Front Row Motorsports announced Tuesday that Todd Gilliland will move from the No. 38 to the team's flagship No. 34 for 2025. |
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| JTG Daugherty Racing Rebrands To Hyak
Motorsports JTG-Daugherty Racing has officially been rebranded. Following the departure of team co-founder Tad Geschickter, the team will now be known as Hyak Motorsports after team owner Gordon Smith's Hyak Maritime shipbuilding company. |
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| Titan Re-Ups With RCR for
2025 Richard Childress Racing announced earlier today that Titan Risk Solutions has extended their relationship with the organization. They will sponsor Austin Dillon, Jesse Love and Austin Hill in 2025. |
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| Chris Gayle Will Be Denny Hamlin’s Crew
Chief Joe Gibbs Racing announced Friday that Chris Gabehart, who served as Denny Hamlin's crew chief, has been promoted to competition director at JGR. Chris Gayle will replace Gabehart as Hamlin's crew chief in 2025. |
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| Daniel Hemric Joining MHR in
2025 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing announced Wednesday that Daniel Hemric will return to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and drive the No. 19 Chevrolet in 2025, replacing Christian Eckes. |
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| Tyler Ankrum Will Remain With
MHR McAnally-Hilgemann Racing announced earlier today that Tyler Ankrum will return to the No. 18 Chevrolet in 2025 with LiUNA! sponsorship. |
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| Jeremy Bullins Moves To RFK As Brad Keselowski’s Crew
Chief RFK Racing announced Thursday that Jeremy Bullins, formerly of Wood Brothers Racing, will serve as Brad Keselowski's crew chief in 2025. |
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| COTA Changing NASCAR Race Layout for
2025 Circuit of the Americas announced Wednesday that 2025's NASCAR weekend will move from the full circuit to the National circuit that hosted what is now the Repco Supercars Championship in 2013. |
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| Richard Boswell Added as Austin Dillon’s Crew
Chief Richard Childress Racing announced Wednesday that Richard Boswell, formerly of Stewart-Haas Racing, will serve as Austin Dillon's crew chief in 2025. |
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| Travis Mack Moves to Legacy As John Hunter Nemechek’s Crew
Chief Legacy Motor Club announced Wednesday that Travis Mack will serve as John Hunter Nemechek's crew chief in 2025. |
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| Adam Alexander, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Steve Letarte Make Up
Amazon/TNT Broadcast Booths Amazon and Warner Bros. Discovery jointly announced last Monday that their NASCAR broadcast booths for 2025 will consist of Adam Alexander, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Steve Letarte. |
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| Kris Wright Moving to Xfinity With
Our Our Motorsports announced Wednesday that Kris Wright will drive the No. 5 Chevrolet in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2025, replacing Anthony Alfredo. |
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| Tanner Gray Staying With TRICON for
2025 TRICON Garage announced last Monday that Tanner Gray will return to the No. 15 in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2025. |
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| Sting Ray Robb Added to JHR
Lineup Juncos Hollinger Racing announced Wednesday that Sting Ray Robb will drive for the team full-time in INDYCAR in 2025. |
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| Treyten Lapcevich Wins 32nd South Carolina
400 Saturday night saw Canadian racer Treyten Lapcevich lead the entire second half of the race to win the South Carolina 400 at Florence Motor Speedway. Doug Barnes Jr. was second, then Sam Yarborough, Jacob Heafner and Carson
Loftin. |
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| Dale Earnhardt Jr. Shines In The Bud 8’s Return At
Florence While Treyten Lapcevich took home the spoils Saturday night, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the star of the evening, driving to second from the rear of the field before mechanical issues put him out. |
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| Erik Jones Named 2024 Comcast Community Champion of the
Year In a ceremony in Charlotte Friday afternoon, Erik Jones was named the 2024 Comcast Community Champion of the Year for his work with the Erik Jones Foundation. |
Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, LAT Images via Mercedes, Mark Thompson of Getty Images, NASCAR Media via Jonathan Bachman of Getty Images, Travis Hinkle of INDYCAR Media and our own Phil Allaway and Chase Folsom. 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: Nov. 22-24 |
- The FIA World Endurance Championship revealed their 2025 entry list Friday. There are 36 cars on the list, 18 Hypercars and 18 LMGT3 entries. With the reveal, a number of new
stories arose. First off, Lamborghini has withdrawn from the series in both classes. There will be no Lamborghini SC63 in the WEC. Iron Lynx has ended their relationship with the manufacturer. The team will field two Mercedes-AMG GT3s in the LMGT3 class. The Iron
Dames have aligned with Porsche for 2025. They will effectively replace Pure Rxcing as the second Manthey-run team. Alex Malykhin, the face of the Pure Rxcing brand, has moved up to LMP2 (which does not race in the WEC outside of Le Mans) and will compete in the Asian Le Mans Series starting at Sepang Circuit in December. Aston Martin has revealed that Harry Tincknell and Alex Riberas will drive the new Aston Martin Valkyrie in the WEC. Tincknell will drive the No. 007, while Riberas will be in the No. 009. - IMSA released the provisional schedule for the Rolex 24 at Daytona weekend
Wednesday. In it, IMSA revealed that they currently plan to move Rolex 24 at Daytona qualifying back to the Rolex 24 weekend in 2025. Previously, this session was held at the end of the ROAR Before the 24 in an attempt to curb sandbagging. |
This is just a sampling of the videos that we uploaded to our YouTube channels from Charlotte and Florence last weekend. For more from Charlotte, Florence, or from other race weekends, be sure to subscribe to our suite of YouTube channels (Frontstretch, Frontstretch Grassroots, Frontstretch Plus and FS Open Wheel) and don't forget to click the bell to be notified of future videos. |
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