Frontstretch Newsletter: April 25, 2025
Volume
XIX, Edition LX |
What to Watch: April 25-27 |
For information on the NASCAR Cup Series Jack Link's 500, see the Frontstretch Folio. - The NASCAR Xfinity Series is scheduled to qualify in Talladega today starting at 5:30 p.m. ET. The session will be live on The CW App and on The CW's website. Some local affiliates may choose to air the session live as well, so check your local listings. Coverage of the Ag-Pro 300 will
start with NASCAR Countdown Live at 3 p.m. ET Saturday on The CW. Race coverage will start at 4 p.m. ET with the green flag around 4:10 p.m. ET. - The ARCA Menards Series has the tertiary slot in Talladega. Teams will run in a practice/qualifying session today at 4 p.m. ET that will not be televised.
Coverage of the General Tire 200 will air live on FOX Sports 1 Saturday at 12:30 p.m. ET. The green flag will fly around 12:45 p.m. ET.
- SRO America is back in action this weekend at Circuit of the Americas. Today is primarily a practice day for all the series. The exceptions are McLaren Trophy, which is having a make-up race at 3:15
p.m. ET today due to a rain cancellation at Sonoma. That race will air live on RACER Network. TC America will have their first race of the weekend at 6:25 p.m. ET that will air live on the GT World YouTube channel. Saturday and Sunday will have all six of SRO America's series in action. All will have two races this weekend with two exceptions. One is McLaren Trophy due to the aforementioned make-up issue. The other is Pirelli GT4 America SprintX, which is having only one event, the Lonestar Enduro, on Saturday. All of these races with the exception of the McLaren Trophy events can be streamed live on the GT World YouTube channel. The GT World Challenge America powered by AWS races will air live on RACER Network Saturday and Sunday as well. - The zMAX CARS Tour will race this
weekend at Orange County Speedway. Coverage of the Folsom Fence Co. 225 will air live on FLORacing starting at 4:30 p.m. ET Saturday. - The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series will be in the midwest this weekend. Tonight, they will be at Jacksonville Speedway for the Hy-Vee Perks 40. Coverage from there will begin at 7:15 p.m. ET on DirtVision. Tomorrow night, the series moves to Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Ind. for the Haubs Town Showdown. Coverage from Haubstadt will begin at 7:15 p.m. ET on DirtVision. - The newly-renamed World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series will be racing at the Talladega Short Track this weekend, located just down the street from Talladega Superspeedway. Coverage of both nights of the Alabama Gang 100 will start at 7:15 p.m. ET tonight and tomorrow night on DirtVision.
FOLLOW THE
FRONTSTRETCH THIS WEEKEND AT ROCKINGHAM THROUGH OUR COLLEAGUES: TALLADEGA: ROUGEMONT: James Jackson
Also, don't forget to follow our Twitter page, @Frontstretch as well for updates from Talladega! |
|
| Scott McLaughlin, Alex Palou Pace 2nd Day of Indy 500 Open
Test Team Penske's Scott McLaughlin was fastest overall in Indianapolis testing with a lap at 232.686 mph. However, the day was marred by big crashes for Takuma Sato and Kyle Larson. |
Photo is courtesy of Matt Fraver of Penske Entertainment. Have news for
Frontstretch? Don't hesitate to let us know; email us at frontstretcheditors@googlegroups.com with a promising lead or tip. |
Frontstretch Folio: Jack Link's 500
by Phil Allaway
This weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series travels to Alabama for the third superspeedway race of the year. Coverage of the Jack Link's 500 starts with NASCAR RaceDay at 1:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1. The show moves to FOX at 2 p.m. ET. Race coverage begins
at 3 p.m. ET with the green flag around 3:15 p.m. ET. It can be heard on MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).
Records and facts The early portions of last year's GEICO 500 at Talladega were fairly clean. However, things heated up in the final 100 miles. In a situation unlike a number of recent superspeedway races, there was no overtime in play as the race ran under green from lap 162 until the final lap. Tyler Reddick took the lead
away from Michael McDowell with seven laps to go and fought off the pack. On the final lap, McDowell was able to get the lead back in turn 1. As is typical, he had to try to block runs. Unfortunately, he caught the right front fender of Brad Keselowski while trying to make the block in the
tri-oval.
|
|
That resulted in McDowell spinning in front of the whole field, creating a mess. Reddick was able to sweep around the outside of Keselowski to reclaim the lead and the victory. As the yellow was thrown before Reddick reached the start-finish line, there is no official margin of victory. Keselowski was second, then Noah Gragson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Alex Bowman. Meanwhile, the wreck only continued as Josh Berry, Ryan Preece and Corey LaJoie piled into the wall. LaJoie ended up on his side, slid across the start-finish line to finish 18th,
then rolled over one time. Amongst active drivers, Keselowski is the winningest driver with six triumphs. Team
Penske teammates Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano have three each, while Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson (not entered) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. all have two. All-time, Dale Earnhardt had the most success at Talladega, winning 10 times. The last of his 76 career wins came in the 2000 Winston 500 with his infamous charge from 18th in the final three laps. Keselowski, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon are all tied with six. Bobby Allison, Buddy Baker and Darrell Waltrip all have four wins each. Track Facts
Track / Race
Length: 2.66-mile tri-oval, 188 laps (500.08 miles)
Banking: 33 degrees
Frontstretch: 4,300 feet, banked 18 degrees in tri-oval Backstretch: 4,000 feet, banked minimal Grandstand Seating: 78,000
Pit Road Speed: 55
mph
Pace Car Speed: 65 mph
Opened: 1969
Website: http://www.talladegasuperspeedway.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TALLADEGA Twitter: http://twitter.com/TALLADEGA Pre-Race Schedule: Qualifying: Saturday, April 5,
10:30 a.m. ET on Amazon Prime Video Say What?! "I still think Talladega is one of those racetracks where anybody can win. Next Gen has been a little bit fickle at Talladega in the way that it values different things than the car before did. It seems to really value the last pit stop and executing that at a very high level and then the fuel saving stuff, which I think is gonna be the word everybody hates after this weekend. So, it’s different. It’s a different type of racing than what
Talladega was four or five years ago before the Next Gen car, but I think that’s part of what makes Talladega special is just how the racing there has evolved at least a half dozen times since I’ve been in Cup and it’s different eras of racing that values different things. I appreciate that. There are certainly types that you like more than others of racing there, but I do think that it’s a place where I think of the 39 entries, 33 of them have a realistic shot of winning." -
Brad Keselowski "Talladega is a place that has been very hit or miss for me. It still comes down to execution and a bit of luck to not be
involved in the Big One. All we can do is show up with the speed we had in Daytona and I feel confident that’s what we’re going to do." - AJ Allmendinger "I love racing at Talladega Superspeedway and can’t wait to
get on track in the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Winchester Chevrolet. At Talladega, there’s a lot of movement in the draft, the packs are big and wide, and with the way this package works, there is more two-lane racing around the bottom. You can do certain things throughout that race to put yourself in a better position, but it’s one of those tracks you go into knowing that there’s probably a 75% chance that you could be in a wreck. On whether he can feel when the Big One is coming: "It depends. Sometimes you’re in it, and there is nothing you can do about it because you know time is running out and you’re in it either way. It’s an odd feeling knowing your putting yourself out there and something is about to happen. It’s an issue of timing. You’re hoping you just get through it. I’ve been
fortunate to sneak through some of them, or be in front of some of them. You usually know when the intensity is rising and the pack is starting to get a little bit out of control. You try to do your best to give yourself an out or be in front of it." - Austin Dillon "I always look forward to getting to Talladega, for me it’s somewhere I have been really close to winning a handful of races, but I just haven’t been able to close the deal. I am looking forward to getting back there again, representing TriState Vacuum & Rental, hopefully running up front and having an opportunity to win. I felt like our Daytona week was really good and I feel like
LEGACY MOTOR CLUB’s speedway cars are good, and we have done some things to even improve since then. So, looking forward to just to seeing what our speed is like and having an opportunity to go there and run well with a shot to win." - Erik Jones
Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography. |
|
