Frontstretch Newsletter: Jan. 20, 2025
Volume
XIX, Edition III |
What to Watch: Jan. 20-26 |
- This week, IMSA takes center stage with the 63rd running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona. The race weekend officially begins on Wednesday with practice for IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge and the Whelen MX-5 Cup.
Thursday has qualifying for both Pilot Challenge and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, along
with Race No. 1 for Whelen MX-5 Cup.
Friday has MX-5 Cup Race No. 2, final practice for the Rolex 24 and the BMW M Endurance Challenge for Pilot Challenge. MX-5 Cup Race No. 2 will stream at 10:10 a.m. ET on IMSA's YouTube channel. The four-hour BMW M Endurance Challenge will air at 1:40 p.m. ET on Peacock. Saturday has a historic race in the morning, then the start of the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Coverage will begin at 1:30 p.m. ET on NBC for the start. At 2:30 p.m. ET, coverage will move to USA Network and stay there for four hours. From 6:30 p.m. ET to Noon ET, the race will be exclusive to Peacock. At Noon ET, the race goes back to NBC through the finish. - In California, ARCA Menards Series West will start their 2025 season at Kevin Harvick's Kern Raceway. Coverage from Kern Raceway is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET Saturday on FLORacing. - The World of Outlaws Late Model Series will begin their 2025 season this weekend with the Sunshine Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park. Practice will start Wednesday, while actual racing will begin Thursday. Coverage of all three nights of racing will begin at 3:45 p.m. ET on DirtVision. 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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| Martin Truex Jr. Running Daytona 500 for
TRICON TRICON Garage announced Thursday that they will make their first-ever attempt in the NASCAR Cup Series at the Daytona 500. Martin Truex Jr. will drive the team's No. 56 Toyota. |
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| Justin Allgaier, JRM Running Daytona 500: ‘I Don’t Want To
Let JR Nation Down’ JR Motorsports announced in a press conference Wednesday that they will attempt the Daytona 500 this year with Justin Allgaier driving the No. 40 Chevrolet. |
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| Cody Ware Running Full Cup Season With
RWR Rick Ware Racing announced Wednesday that Cody Ware will drive the No. 51 Ford full-time in the Cup Series in 2025. |
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| Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Has SUNNYD Sponsorship for 5
Races Hyak Motorsports announced Monday morning that Sunny Delight (also known as SunnyD) will be back with the team for five races as a primary sponsor in 2025. |
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| Here’s What Happened This Week With the 23XI/FRM Lawsuit
(Jan. 11-17) In the ongoing lawsuit between 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports against NASCAR, things have been relatively quiet over the past week. NASCAR has applied for a May 15 date for oral arguments of their appeal of the preliminary injunction given to
the teams. |
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| Jimmie Johnson Announced for Daytona, Charlotte
Starts Legacy Motor Club announced Thursday that Jimmie Johnson will drive in only two NASCAR Cup Series races in 2025, the Daytona 500 and the Coca-Cola 600. |
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| Burt Myers Running Clash With
AmeriVet Team AmeriVet announced Friday that champion Modified racer Burt Myers will race in the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium. |
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| Mike Wallace Not Running Daytona 500 for MBM After
All MBM Motorsports announced last Monday that Mike Wallace will no longer be driving for the team in the Daytona 500. His eligibility to compete in the NASCAR Cup Series for 2025 was revoked. |
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| Speedy Cash & TitleMax Back With
FRM Front Row Motorsports announced Friday that Speedy Cash and Title Max will sponsor Zane Smith's No. 38 in four races each in 2025. |
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| Michael McDowell Adds B’laster Sponsorship for 2
Races Spire Motorsports announced Tuesday that B'laster will serve as the primary sponsor on Michael McDowell's No. 71 Chevrolet in two races in 2025. |
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| Kyle Larson Wins Third Golden Driller at 2025 Chili
Bowl Kyle Larson controversially caused a yellow by knocking a banner onto the track Saturday night. Despite this, he led all 40 laps to win the 39th Annual Chili Bowl Nationals presented by NOS Energy Drink. Daison Pursley was second, then Shane Golobic,
Ryan Bernal and Landon Brooks. |
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| Oklahoma Native Daison Pursley Falls Just Short of Chili
Bowl Triumph Daison Pursley had an excellent week in Tulsa. Cautions that allowed Kyle Larson to regroup just as he had him in his clutches prevented Pursley from taking a win at home, but he still ended up second. |
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| Matt Wood Racing Caps of Chili Bowl Run With Three Top
Fives One of the strongest operations at the SageNet Center in Tulsa last week was Matt Wood Racing. The team had three cars in the top-five of Saturday night's A-Main with Shane Golobic, Ryan Bernal and Landon Brooks. |
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| Kyle Busch Learning in His First Taste of the Chili
Bowl Kyle Busch made his first trip to the Chili Bowl last week. While he couldn't advance past his E-Main on Saturday, he seemingly enjoyed himself and treated it as a learning experience. |
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| Logan Seavey Wins Friday Night, Continues Chili Bowl Title
Defense Logan Seavey slid around Gavin Miller with four laps to go to win Friday night's Hard Rock Tulsa Qualifying Night A-Main at the Chili Bowl. Miller was second, then Tyler Courtney, Daryn Pittman and Justin Grant. |
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| Tyler Courtney Rises to Third in Friday Chili Bowl
Prelim Tyler Courtney, who races full-time in the Kubota High Limit Sprint Car Series, has struggled in Midgets in recent years. Despite that, he drove up to a third-place finish from 12th on the grid Friday night. |
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| Tanner Thorson Tops Thursday Night Thriller At The Chili
Bowl In a three-way duel, Tanner Thorson was able to dispatch Christopher Bell late Thursday night to win the Hasty Bake Qualifying Night feature. Ryan Bernal was second, then Bell, Matt Westfall and Jacob Denny. |
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| Brady Bacon Perseveres on Thursday, Locks Into Saturday
C-Main at Chili Bowl Brady Bacon recovered from a flip in a qualifying race Thursday night to race into the A-Main. He then moved up to a 10th-place finish from 22nd on the grid. |
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| Emerson Axsom Dominates Wednesday Night Chili Bowl
Feature Emerson Axsom took the lead on lap 4 Wednesday night from pole sitter Daison Pursley and held on to win the York Plumbing Qualifying Night feature. Pursley was second, then Corey Day, Tim Buckwalter and Kale Drake. |
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| Corey Day Comes Up Short of Lock-In Spot In Wednesday
Chili Bowl Feature Only the top-two finishers from each of the preliminary A-mains automatically qualify for Saturday night's A-Main at the Chili Bowl. Corey Day's car just wasn't handling good enough for him to make the A-Main, forcing him to settle for a third-place
finish and a decent B-Main starting spot. |
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| Landon Brooks Tops Chili Bowl Tuesday In
Tulsa Landon Brooks emerged victorious Tuesday night on Warren CAT Qualifying Night after engaging in a classic duel with Brenham Crouch. Buddy Kofoid was third, then Corbin Rueschenberg and Gunnar Setser. |
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| Buddy Kofoid Comes Back From a Flip to Lock Into Saturday
B-Main at Chili Bowl Buddy Kofoid flipped in his qualifying race Tuesday night after contact with Corbin Rueschenberg. From there, he had to race into the A-Main, then charged to finish third. |
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| Kyle Larson Wins Thrilling Monday Chili Bowl
Feature Kyle Larson got his week in Tulsa off to a good start by emerging victorious in the 2nd Opinion Auto Center Qualifying Night A-Main. Shane Golobic was second, then Cannon McIntosh, Brent Crews and Ashton Torgerson. |
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| Young’s Signs Anthony Alfredo for 2025 Xfinity
Season Young's Motorsports announced Tuesday that Anthony Alfredo will drive the No. 42 Chevrolet full-time in 2025, replacing Leland Honeyman. Dude Wipes will also follow Alfredo to the team. |
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| Adam Alexander, Jamie McMurray & Parker Kligerman
Announced for CW Broadcast Nexstar Media Group announced Tuesday that Adam Alexander will be on play-by-play for the NASCAR Xfinity Series broadcasts this year. He will be joined in the booth by Jamie McMurray and Parker Kligerman. |
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| Alex Labbe, Patrick Emerling, Nick Leitz Splitting SSGLR’s
No. 07 SS-Green Light Racing announced Thursday that the No. 07 will once again run full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The car will be shared by Patrick Emerling, Alex Labbe and Nick Leitz. |
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| Austin Green Back at JAR for
2025 Jordan Anderson Racing has indicated to Frontstretch that Austin Green, son of David Green, will return to the team in a part-time schedule in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2025. |
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| Harrison Burton Adds Dead On Tools
Sponsorship AM Racing announced Friday that Dean On Tools will sponsor Harrison Burton in 10 races in 2025. The team also announced that they are switching back to No. 25 after running the No. 15 in 2024. |
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| Tyler Tomassi Attempting Xfinity Debut With
MBM MBM Motorsports announced Wednesday that Tyler Tomassi will race a part-time schedule with the team in the Xfinity Series starting at Martinsville. |
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| FOX Names Will Buxton, James Hinchcliffe & Townsend
Bell to IndyCar Booth FOX Sports announced Tuesday that Will Buxton will be on play-by-play for the NTT IndyCar Series in 2025. He'll be joined by James Hinchcliffe and Townsend Bell in the booth. |
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| WWEX Group Joins RLL for 2
Races RLL Racing announced Tuesday that the WWEX Group (via Worldwide Express) will serve as the primary sponsor on Graham Rahal's No. 15 in two races in 2025. |
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| Mason Mitchell Running 3 ARCA Races for
Venturini Venturini Motorsports announced Thursday that 2014 ARCA champion Mason Mitchell will join the team for three ARCA races in 2025. |
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| Tristan McKee Signs Spire Driver Development Deal, Will
Run ARCA Races Spire Motorsports announced Thursday that they have signed Tristan McKee to a development deal. He will run a limited schedule in ARCA in addition to TA2. |
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| Paul Miller Racing Reveals 2025
Drivers Paul Miller Racing announced Tuesday that Madison Snow and Neil Verhagen will race the No. 1 BMW full-time in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2025. Max Hesse and Dan Harper will be in the No. 48. |
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| Valentino Catalano Wins Daytona VP Challenge Race No.
1 GEBHARDT Interlogistics Motorsports' Valentino Catalano won IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge Race No. 1 in Daytona Saturday. Wright Motorsports' Adam Adelson won in GTDX, while RAFA Racing Team's Kiko Porto won in GSX. |
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| GEBHARDT Claims VP Racing Challenge 1-2 at
Daytona GEBHARDT Interlogistics Motorsports' Valentino Catalano wrapped up the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge weekend sweep in tricky conditions in Daytona Sunday. |
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| Frontstretch Signs Official Hotel Partner My Place Hotels
for 2025 Frontstretch has a new official hotel partner in 2025. That chain is My Place Hotels, an Aberdeen, S.D.-based chain of 76 hotels. |
Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, Joe Skibinski of INDYCAR Media, Paul Hurley of Penske Entertainment, Patrick McDermott of ARCA Racing, IMSA, Mason Mitchell Motorsports 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:
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- Last weekend, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship held the ROAR Before the 24 at Daytona International Speedway, seven on-track sessions designed to help teams prepare for this weekend's Rolex 24 at Daytona, and for the rest of the season. So far, it appears that the BMWs are looking good. In the GTP class, BMW M Team RLL's Dries Vanthoor had the fastest lap of the weekend at 134.306 mph. The lap was set during Session No. 2, the afternoon session Friday afternoon. Vanthoor was .193 seconds faster than the Acura of Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian's Nick Yelloly. Teammate Tom Blomqvist was third, then Romain Grosjean in the Lamborghini and Sheldon van der Linde in the second BMW. Saturday was warmer, which
resulted in slower times. The best laps were a second off of the best times from Friday. Sunday's sole GTP session was held in the wet and ended early due to heavy rains. In LMP2, CrowdStrike Racing by APR's Malthe Jakobsen was fastest overall with a lap at 129.884 mph in the opening session on Friday. Jakobsen's lap was .133 seconds faster than United Autosports' Ben Hanley. AF
Corse's Nicklas Nielsen was third, then Inter Europol Competition's Tom Dillmann and AO Racing's Dane Cameron. GTD Pro was topped by the Lamborghini of Pfaff Motorsports' Andrea Caldarelli with a lap at 119.079 mph on Friday morning, the only GT lap of the whole weekend over 119 mph. Caldarelli's lap was .149 seconds
faster than the Porsche of AO Racing's Laurin Heinrich. Caldarelli's teammate Marco Mapelli was third, then Proton Competition's Thomas Preining. Heinrich's teammate Alessio Picariello was fifth. In GTD, the Lamborghini of Forte Racing's Franck Perera was fastest with a lap at 118.627 mph on Saturday morning. His lap was .048 seconds faster than the Porsche of the Iron Dames' Rahel Frey. The Ferrari of AF Corse's Alessandro Pier Guidi was third,
then Wright Motorsports' Elliott Skeer, who was fastest in the night session. Andrew Wojteczko Autosport's Matt Bell was fifth in his Corvette.
There were a few incidents during the sessions, but nothing really serious. The biggest crash occurred during Session No. 4 on Saturday when United Autosports' Dan Goldburg spun and hit the tires in the Le Mans chicane. The team was able to make repairs that allowed
the team to get back out for night practice.
- IMSA MIchelin Pilot Challenge teams were also in Daytona for three days of testing. After five sessions, KohR Motorsports' Marco Signoretti was fastest in his Ford Mustang GT4 with a lap at 113.225 mph that was set in the opening session Friday morning. Signoretti's lap was .173 seconds faster than the similar Ford of Stephen Cameron Racing's Greg Liefooghe. Rennsport One's Jan Heylen was third, then McCumbee McAleer Racing's Jenson Altzman. JDC-Miller MotorSports' Mikey Taylor was fifth in
his Porsche. In TCR, KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering's Tim Lewis Jr. was fastest with a lap at 109.120 mph set late Saturday afternoon in his team's new Honda Civic Type-R TCR. The lap was .797 seconds faster than
Precision Racing LA's Ryan Eversley in an Audi. Montreal Motorsports Group's Karl Wittmer was third in his Honda and fastest on Friday. Bryan Herta Autosport's Harry Gottsacker was fourth in his Hyundai, while Victor Gonzalez Racing Team's Tyler Gonzalez was fifth. Pictures are courtesy of our own Phil Allaway. |
This is just a sampling of the videos that we uploaded to our YouTube channels from Daytona and Tulsa last weekend. For more from Daytona, Tulsa, 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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