Frontstretch Newsletter: Feb. 20, 2025
Volume
XIX, Edition XIV |
- Today, Henderson Motorsports will go before the National Motorsports Appeal Panel in an attempt to get Parker Kligerman's victory from last Friday's Fresh From Florida 250 in Daytona reinstated. As you may remember, Kligerman was disqualified after his No. 75 Chevrolet failed the height sticks in post-race
inspection. We'll have any news that breaks for you at Frontstretch. |
|
| Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Team Issued L2 Penalty After Daytona
500 NASCAR released the penalty report Wednesday and came down hard on Chase Briscoe, levying an L2 penalty on the team for modifying the rear spoiler. Two other teams were penalized for ballast issues. |
|
| Xfinity Extends Partnership With 23XI Racing, Debuting
Xfinity Speed Center 23XI Racing announced Wednesday that Xfinity has re-upped with the team as a primary sponsor. In addition, Xfinity has branded the team's war room as the Xfinity Speed Center. |
|
| Hendrick’s Xfinity Car Back for 16
Races Hendrick Motorsports announced Wednesday that their Xfinity Series team will enter 16 races this season starting at Circuit of the Americas, up from 10 last year. |
Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography and Xfinity. Have news for Frontstretch? Don't hesitate to let us know; email us
at frontstretcheditors@googlegroups.com with a promising lead or tip. |
Seeking the NASCAR Cup Series Championship: Post-Penalty Points Update
by Phil Allaway
With the big penalties that were handed out Wednesday by NASCAR, there are big changes to the standings. Note that since Joe Gibbs Racing has already appealed the ruling, this is still subject to change. Chase
Briscoe's 100-point penalty not only puts him at the very bottom of the standings, but he's more than a full race in the hole and nearly two full races behind Blaney. If the JGR appeal is denied, then he will likely spend the rest of the regular season making up for the penalty. Joey Logano, who is tied with Ty Gibbs, would now be the last driver in the playoffs. Todd Gilliland's 10-point penalty dropped him from 22nd to a tie for 29th with Carson Hocevar. Cody Ware's penalty drops him from 30th to 35th. Point Standings (1-16): 1) Ryan Blaney
51, 2) William Byron -1, 3) Austin Cindric -8, 4) Tyler Reddick -7, 5) Alex Bowman -9, t-6) Chris Buescher -11, t-6) Erik Jones -11, t-8) Jimmie Johnson -17, t-8) John Hunter Nemechek -17, 10) Chase Elliott
-18, 11) Ty Dillon -20, 12) Daniel Suarez -22, 13) Michael McDowell -24, 14) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -25, t-15) Ty Gibbs -30, t-15) Joey Logano -30. Note: Drivers
in italics are either outside of the playoffs, or ineligible for points. Playoff Points: 1) William Byron 5, t-2) Ryan Blaney -4, t-2) Joey Logano -4. Stage Points: 1) Ryan Blaney 21, t-2) Austin Cindric -2, t-2) Joey Logano -2, 4) Erik Jones -6, 5) Chris Buescher -8, 6) Bubba Wallace -9, t-7) Alex Bowman -10, t-7) Chase
Elliott -10, t-9) William Byron -11, t-9) Todd Gilliland -11, t-11) Tyler Reddick -12, t-11) Brad Keselowski -12, 13) Ty Dillon -13, t-14) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -14, t-14) Denny Hamlin -14, t-14) Christopher Bell
-14, t-14) Ross Chastain -14. Outside of the top-16, but Still in the Playoffs: t-18) Daniel Suarez -16, t-22) John Hunter Nemechek -19. Note: The Stage Points also include the Duels at Daytona.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) William Byron 44, 2) Tyler Reddick -5, 3) Jimmie Johnson
-6, t-4) John Hunter Nemechek -8, t-4) Alex Bowman -8, t-6) Ryan Blaney -9, t-6) Austin Cindric -9, t-8) Chris Buescher -13, t-8) Michael McDowell -13, 10) Erik Jones -15, t-11) Ty Dillon -16, t-11) Daniel Suarez -16, 13) Chase
Elliott -17, 14) Ty Gibbs -29, 15) Riley Herbst -20, 16) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -21. Outside of the top-16, but still in the playoffs: t-31) Joey Logano -37. Note No. 1: If he were eligible for NASCAR Cup Series points, Justin Allgaier would be eighth in Old points. Note No. 2: These standings are based on the old point system that was used before stages were created. WC Points (1-16): 1) William Byron 180, 2) Tyler Reddick -10, 3) Jimmie Johnson -15, t-4) John Hunter Nemechek -25, t-4) Alex Bowman -25, 6) Austin Cindric -28, 7) Ryan Blaney -29, 8) Michael
McDowell -45, 9) Chris Buescher -46, 10) Erik Jones -53, 11) Ty Dillon -54, 12) Daniel Suarez -56, 13) Chase Elliott -57, 14) Ty Gibbs -65, 15) Riley Herbst -68, 16) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -71. Outside of the top-16, but still in the playoffs: 30) Joey Logano -117. Note No. 1: The WC points are based on the original points system created by Bob Latford in 1975. Note No. 2: If he were eligible for NASCAR Cup Series points, Justin Allgaier would be eighth in WC points. Race Winners: William Byron (Daytona)
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.
|
|
|
Frontstretch Line of the Week "Listen, I’m looking out my window at this person next to me. I’m like, ‘Brother, keep your wheel straight. What the hell are you doing?’ Like we’re swerving left and right … and I think that was ultimately the demise of my race was people
just not keeping their steering wheel straight." - Garrett Mitchell, aka "Cleetus McFarland," in the broadcast booth during the ARCA Menards Series Chili's Ride the 'Dente 200 in Daytona after he crashed out. |
The Critic's Annex: United Rentals 300 by Phil Allaway
Back on Saturday, the NASCAR Xfinity Series started a new era for themselves. Yes, the series debuted on The CW last September at Bristol, but those races last year were produced by NBC Sports with NBC Sports on-air personalities. This was the first race with the new NASCAR Productions crew and The CW's own personalities. Back in January, I sat down with Parker Kligerman at IMSA Media Day in Daytona. Kligerman is excitable in general, but he was all jacked up here. Not just for his TV job, but also for his Rolex 24 at Daytona debut with Forte Racing.
|
|
|
During that interview, he talked about how they were going to take the time this year to tell stories, introduce fans to people that they may not know about and be more inclusive in their coverage in general. Based on Saturday's broadcast, or even just the pre-race show, NASCAR Countdown Live, it's mission accomplished so far.
I felt more prepared to watch Saturday's race from the coverage provided than any other NASCAR race in general in about the past year. There were definitely more driver interviews than any Cup pre-race outside of the Daytona 500. This was the first chance that we got to see the trio of Kligerman, Adam Alexander and Jamie McMurray work together. It's like they've been together for years.
Alexander's been in the booth for more than 10 years now and it shows. Kligerman has the recent experience in the Xfinity car that is critical and McMurray has excellent analytical skills. I think we're going to have a fun year. The new deal also means a new on-screen setup. The CW has chosen a horizontal bar at the bottom of the screen that is five lines high. It can show 25 positions at a
time, up from the maximum of 20 on the vertical pylons that we see with FOX Sports and NBC Sports. Unfortunately, I cannot provide a screenshot here because the CW's website and app doesn't allow it (I tried, but I just got a black screen). Some of the larger driver identifications can be fed off of this rundown bar. The last three boxes on the right revolve in order to show drivers from
Positions 26-38. Position changes are shown in real time (drivers who gain position have their position number displayed in orange) and the boxes can change between intervals, manufacturers and more. On paper, it sounds pretty good. In practice, there is one major issue. The information on the screen is pretty small. My first experience with it was during the ultimately cancelled qualifying
session on The CW App Saturday morning. I watched it in bed on a 40" TV and had trouble making out things. I watched the race itself on a 55" TV and the issue was much better. It also isn't really issue on a phone, computer or a tablet since you wouldn't be sitting far away from one of those. NASCAR Countdown Live may have been a little different than what I thought it would be. Carla Metts (formerly Carla Gebhart) was actually in Daytona this past weekend. She didn't just host NASCAR Countdown Live, but also handled infield care center interviews. For a race like Daytona, that's a real benefit since it can be a bit of a haul from the pit
lane to the care center. In case you're wondering, it's behind the NASCAR Cup Series garage and prior to pit in. If you're at pit out, it would take you 10-15 minutes on foot to get there, depending on your route. Viewers got a number of good interviews from the infield care center from Metts, freeing up Kim Coon and Dillon Welch to focus solely on pit road. The content was generally good from
there. Metts, in her role as sports director for WJZY (FOX 46) out of Charlotte, also co-hosted Countdown to Daytona, a Nexstar Media Group produced pre-pre-race show that aired on Nexstar-owned stations at 11 a.m. ET Sunday morning. She shared the stage with Kevin Connolly, sports director of WGHP FOX 8 out of Greensboro, N.C., a sister station. Whether that situation remains for this weekend in Atlanta is a bit unclear. I hope so, but remember that Metts still has a day job to do. Even though FOX 46 and The CW are both Nexstar properties, I wouldn't be surprised to see Metts operating out of NASCAR Productions' complex in North Carolina at some point this year. Post-race coverage was pretty decent. Viewers got a half-dozen driver interviews, including with winner Jesse Love before they signed off for the night. Overall, I think that The CW got off to a very good start in Daytona. You had a very different feel on the broadcast as compared to the output from FOX Sports. While the booth is clearly friendly with one another, they're
all about the race itself and they generally keep on the action. McMurray and Kligerman both brought some great analysis to the broadcast and the focus was a bit wider than we've seen in recent years. With the desire to tell stories about all the teams in the field, I really want to see how that pans out. Does that mean we'll have Metts interviewing Jeremy Clements at his shop in South Carolina
at some point this year? I don't know. Perhaps. Regardless, I want this to play out naturally. Viewers seemed to like what they saw. The race earned a .9 Nielsen rating with 1.825 million viewers. That is the most watched Xfinity Series race in almost three years. I have no doubt that viewership won't be that high this weekend in
Atlanta. However, with sunny skies in the forecast, I do think it will be good. Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography. |
|
