Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, Lachlan Cunningham of ARCA Racing and our own 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.

- Peugeot TotalEnergies announced Thursday morning that Theo Pourchaire will join the team to drive the No. 94 Peugeot 9X8 starting with the season finale 8 Hours of Bahrain in November. He will replace Stoffel Vandoorne in the car. The move is not just for Bahrain as Pourchaire will keep the seat for the 2026 season.

"I am super happy — thank you to Team Peugeot TotalEnergies for making my dream of becoming a professional racing driver come true, and thank you to everyone who has supported me," Pourchaire said in a press release. "I am proud to represent Peugeot, a brand with a rich motorsport history that has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans. I can’t wait to take the start of this legendary race in the top category behind the wheel of the Peugeot 9X8. I am delighted to make my race debut in Bahrain alongside Loïc [Duval] and Malthe [Jakobsen], on a track I really enjoy and where I’ve already had great success in Formula 2 and karting."

Pourchaire is currently the team's test and reserve driver. In addition, he has been racing in the European Le Mans Series this season for Algarve Pro Racing alongside Lorenzo Fluxa and Matthias Kaiser. He is currently seventh in LMP2 points with a best finish of third at Imola in July.

Prior to moving into sports cars, Pourchaire won the 2023 Formula 2 championship, but could not parlay that into a seat in Formula 1. He made six starts in the NTT IndyCar Series for Arrow McLaren with a best finish of 10th at Detroit last year.

- Gradient Racing announced Wednesday that Mason Filippi will join the team alongside Till Bechtolsheimer and Joey Hand for the final two races of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, replacing Tatiana Calderon. These races will serve as Filippi's first two WeatherTech starts.

"It’s always been a dream of mine to step into the GTD class in IMSA, and I’m beyond excited to make my debut with Gradient Racing at The Brickyard," Filippi said in a press release. "I’m incredibly grateful to Andris and Hanley Motorsports for giving me this opportunity to take the next step in my career. The Ford Mustang GT3 is an incredible machine, and together with Joey and Till, we’re focused on achieving success at two of the most iconic races on the IMSA calendar."

Gradient Racing has run full-time this year, but has had a split lineup. For the endurance races, the car has been shared by Hand, Becholshimer and Calderon with Harry Tincknell joining for the Rolex 24 at Daytona. This group's best finish has been a sixth at Watkins Glen.

In the sprint races, the car has been shared by Jenson Altzman and Robert Megennis. In five starts, their best finish was a fifth last time out at VIR.

"It’s excitement. It’s nerves. I want to throw up, but (there’s) also just a lot of learning to be had, which excites me because I feel like we’ve gone to a lot of new places this year — so you still have a learning curve — but this is just so much to take in a rather short time. My pit stops and all the things that the regular guys do 22 weeks already, the small things are just going to be a lot to learn, so I’m pumped up." - Kole Raz's thoughts ahead of his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut at World Wide Technology Raceway.