Frontstretch Newsletter: Jan. 13, 2025
Volume
XIX, Edition II |
What to Watch: Jan. 13-19 |
- This week, the Chili Bowl Nationals presented by NOS Energy Drink will take over Tulsa, Okla. Practice was Sunday and tonight is the first night of preliminaries. Coverage will start with a pre-race show at 4 p.m. ET on DirtVision. Live coverage from the SageNet Center will begin at 4:30 p.m. ET on FLORacing and run on that schedule through Friday. Saturday will have the full alphabet soup of main events with coverage starting at 10 a.m. ET. The mains are scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. ET. - In Daytona, this weekend is
the ROAR Before the 24, the official test weekend ahead of the Rolex 24 at Daytona. IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge teams will be testing all weekend. In addition, the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge will have their first two races of the year. Those races will start at 2 p.m. ET Saturday and 1:20 p.m. ET Sunday. Both races will
stream live on Peacock.
Prior to the on-track activity, IMSA is holding a Media Day in the Daytona 500 Club at Daytona International Speedway Thursday morning starting at 10 a.m. ET. There will be plenty of interviews and we'll have videos for you on our suite of YouTube channels.
FOLLOW THE
FRONTSTRETCH THIS WEEKEND IN DAYTONA THROUGH OUR COLLEAGUES:
Also, don't forget to follow our Twitter page, @Frontstretch as well for updates from Daytona. |
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| NASCAR Institutes Open Exemption Provisional, DVP &
Waiver Change NASCAR announced a series of rule changes for the NASCAR Cup Series Friday. Specifically, the Damaged Vehicle Policy has been overhauled, while an Open Exemption Provisional has been adopted. |
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| Here’s What Happened This Week With the 23XI/FRM Lawsuit
(Jan. 4-Jan. 10) This past week, NASCAR tried and failed to get 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports' lawsuit against them dismissed. A trial date has been set for December. |
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| Helio Castroneves Running Daytona 500 for
Trackhouse Trackhouse Racing announced last Monday that four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves will attempt the Daytona 500 as part of Trackhouse Racing's PROJECT91. |
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| Helio Castroneves Entering ARCA Daytona Race With
Pinnacle As is often the norm with drivers new to stock car racing, Helio Castroneves was announced Wednesday as a participant in the ARCA Menards Series opener in Daytona for Pinnacle Racing Group. |
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| Noah Gragson Nabs MillerTech
Sponsorship Front Row Motorsports announced Wednesday that MillerTech will follow Noah Gragson from Stewart-Haas Racing and sponsor the No. 4 in three races this year. |
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| Chase Elliott, Hendrick Add Amazon Prime Video
Sponsorship Hendrick Motorsports announced Wednesday that Amazon, via Prime Video, will serve as the primary sponsor on Chase Elliott's car for three races per year in a three-year deal. |
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| MINER Added As Carson Hocevar
Sponsor Spire Motorsports announced Tuesday that MINER, previously of Stewart-Haas Racing, will sponsor Carson Hocevar's No. 77 in a multi-race deal. |
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| Corey Day Joins Hendrick
Motorsports Hendrick Motorsports announced Thursday that Corey Day will join the operation in 2025 and race in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, ARCA and more. |
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| Dean Thompson Moving to Xfinity Full Time With
SHR Sam Hunt Racing announced Tuesday that Dean Thompson will drive the No. 26 Toyota full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2025. |
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| Justin Bonsignore Running 5 Xfinity Races for
JGR Joe Gibbs Racing announced Tuesday that four-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Justin Bonsignore will drive the No. 19 Toyota in five NASCAR Xfinity Series races in 2025. |
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| Ross Chastain, Shane van Gisbergen Sharing Part-Time JRM
Xfinity Car in 2025 JR Motorsports announced Friday that their No. 9 Chevrolet in the NASCAR Xfinity Series will be a part-time all-star car in 2025. Trackhouse Racing's Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen will share the car. |
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| First Bank of Alabama Sponsoring JRM at
Talladega JR Motorsports announced Wednesday that First Bank of Alabama will return to sponsor Carson Kvapil and Connor Zilisch at Talladega this year. |
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| Brandon Jones, William Sawalich, Brent Crews & Lawless
Alan Splitting TRICON Truck TRICON Garage revealed their driver lineup for their No. 1 Toyota in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series last Monday. Brent Crews will make the most starts in the truck with nine. |
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| Reaume Brothers Racing Adds Third Full-Time Truck for
2025 Reaume Brothers Racing announced Thursday that they have acquired the No. 2 from Rev Racing and will race it full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2025. |
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| Jacob Abel Running Full IndyCar Season With
Coyne Dale Coyne Racing announced Monday morning that Jacob Abel will return to the team to run the full 2025 NTT IndyCar Series season. |
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| Marco Andretti Back for Indy
500 Andretti Global announced Tuesday that Marco Andretti will return for another attempt to win the Indianapolis 500 in a MAPEI-sponsored No. 98. |
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| Gianmaria Bruni Joins JDC-Miller MotorSports for
2025 JDC-Miller MotorSports announced Tuesday that Gianmaria Bruni will move over from Proton Competition to share the No. 85 Porsche with Tijmen van der Helm in 2025. |
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| Austin Cindric To Run Rolex 24 for Ford Multimatic
Motorsports Ford Multimatic Motorsports announced last Monday that Austin Cindric has been tapped to race the No. 64 Ford Mustang in the Rolex 24 at Daytona in place of the injured Ben Barker. |
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| Triarsi Competizione Signs Stevan McAleer, Sheena Monk for
2025 Triarsi Competizione announced Tuesday that Sheena Monk and Stevan McAleer will drive the team's No. 021 Ferrari full-time in 2025 with JG Wentworth sponsorship. |
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| Entry List: ROAR Before the 24/Rolex 24 at
Daytona The official entry list for the Rolex 24 at Daytona is out. No team changes from the entry list released in December, but lineup clarifications have been made. |
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| Brent Crews, Max Reaves, William Sawalich & Gio
Ruggiero Splitting JGR ARCA Car Joe Gibbs Racing announced Wednesday that a quartet of drivers will share their No. 18 Toyota in the ARCA Menards Series in 2025. Max Reaves will run the most races in the car with 10. |
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| Katherine Legge Running Daytona ARCA Race With
Sigma Sigma Performance Services announced Tuesday that Katherine Legge will make her ARCA Menards Series debut for the team at Daytona. |
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| Jake Finch Returning to Venturini for 6
Races Venturini Motorsports announced Wednesday that Jake Finch will return to the team in a part-time schedule in 2025. |
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| Thad Moffitt Running Full ARCA Schedule With
Nitro Nitro Motorsports announced Tuesday that Thad Moffitt will drive full-time for the team in the ARCA Menards Series in 2025. |
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| Amber Balcaen Running Part-Time ARCA Schedule with
Nitro Nitro Motorsports announced Thursday that they will field an entry in the ARCA Menards Series for Amber Balcaen part-time in 2025. |
Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, Adam Glanzman and Ed Zurga of ARCA Racing, Chris Jones and Joe Skibinski of Penske Entertainment and IMSA. 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: Jan 6-12 |
- Last week, ARCA Menards Series teams spent two days testing at Daytona International Speedway ahead of the season-opening Daytona ARCA 200. 77 drivers took to the 2.5-mile tri-oval to get their bearings. Nitro Motorsports' Amber Balcaen was fastest overall with a lap at 183.292 mph
in her Toyota. Her lap was .124 seconds faster than Venturini Motorsports' Chase Pinsonneault. Mullins Racing's Willie Mullins was third, then Venturini teammates Lawless Alan and Jake Finch. Additional notables were Isabella Robusto in sixth, Andy Jankowiak in seventh, Brad Perez eighth, Kole Raz 10th, Katherine Legge 13th, Dale Quarterley 14th, Thad Moffitt
17th, Corey Day 19th and Helio Castroneves 27th. Given that there is no distinction made between laps in the draft and laps without a tow, it is a little difficult to determine who really has the fastest car. - Proton Competition revealed their full Daytona driver lineup Sunday. The quartet of Neel Jani, Nico Pino, Tristan Vautier and Julien Andlauer will drive the No. 5 Mustang Sampling-sponsored Porsche 963. - Van der Steur Racing announced Thursday that NASCAR Xfinity Series racer Sammy Smith will join the team and make his IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge debut in next Friday's BMW M Endurance Challenge at Daytona International Speedway. He will drive the No. 82 Aston Martin Vantage GT4 pictured above at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta last fall alongside Brady Behrman. |
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