Frontstretch Newsletter: April 6, 2026
Volume XX,
Edition LIV |
And Now A Word From Our Title Partner, My Place Hotels! |
My Place Hotels is a proud to be the official hotel sponsor of Frontstretch. With plush beds, in room kitchens and Pet Friendly Hotels My Place makes for the perfect pit stop when traveling. Racing fans can use Promo Code: Frontstretch to save 10% on your stay at any of our nationwide properties. That’s 10% off nationwide with code FRONTSTRETCH. This racing season, be sure to
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- With Easter weekend now over, NASCAR teams are hard at work preparing for this weekend's action in Bristol. Entry lists will be released later today. We will have the entry lists and anything else that breaks for you today at Frontstretch. |
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| William Sawalich Captures 1st Career O’Reilly Series Win
at Rockingham Joe Gibbs Racing's William Sawalich took the lead on a restart and led the final 79 laps to win the North Carolina Education Lottery 250 for his first career win. Brandon Jones was second, then Justin Allgaier, Rajah Caruth and Carson
Kvapil. |
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| A Career Day for Corey Day at The
Rock Hendrick Motorsports' Corey Day was the man to beat early on Saturday. He led 118 laps and won the first two stages before fading to 10th. |
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| Cleetus McFarland Survives to Finish O’Reilly
Debut For Garrett Mitchell, his NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series debut Saturday was a struggle. He spun out twice and finished six laps down in 32nd. |
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| Here’s What Happened in the JGR vs. Chris Gabehart/Spire
Lawsuit This Week (March 28-April 3) Last week, Joe Gibbs Racing filed a second motion for expedited discovery in their case against Chris Gabehart, who they allege took trade secrets to Spire Motorsports. |
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| Corey Heim Dominates Truck Series at
Rockingham TRICON Garage's Corey Heim led all but 22 laps Friday, but just barely eked out the Black's Tire 200 victory over teammate Kaden Honeycutt. Layne Riggs was third, then Stewart Friesen and Grant Enfinger. |
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| Kaden Honeycutt’s Runner-Up at the Rock Begs the Question:
To Be or Not To Be a Teammate? Friday saw Kaden Honeycutt come the closest so far to getting his first career Truck win. Nine-hundredths of a second to teammate Corey Heim, who is not full-time. |
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| Carson Ferguson Debuting in Trucks at
Bristol Kaulig Racing announced Friday that Carson Ferguson, runner-up on the RAM: Race for the Seat reality show, will drive the No. 25 RAM Friday night at Bristol. |
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| Tristan McKee Goes Flag to Flag at
Rockingham Pinnacle Racing Group's Tristan McKee dominated Saturday to win the ARCA Menards Series East Rockingham ARCA Menards East 125. Carson Brown was second, then Isaac Kitzmiller, Garrett Mitchell and Wesley Slimp. |
Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography and our own Phil Allaway. Have news for Frontstretch? Don't hesitate to let us
know; email us at [email protected] with a promising lead or tip. |
This is just a sampling of the videos that we uploaded to our YouTube channels from Rockingham last weekend. For more from Rockingham, 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. |
Seeking the NASCAR Cup Series Chase: Off-Week Update No. 1
by Phil Allaway
The NASCAR Cup Series was off last weekend for Easter. They will return to action with the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 12. When the teams get to Bristol, Tyler Reddick will have an 82-point lead over Ryan Blaney.
Denny Hamlin is third, then Chase Elliott and William Byron. Daniel Suarez is currently the final driver in the Chase in 16th. He has a nine-point lead over teammate Michael McDowell. Austin Cindric is 18th, then Ross Chastain and AJ
Allmendinger. Point Standings (1-16): 1) Tyler Reddick 353, 2) Ryan Blaney -82, 3) Denny Hamlin -94, 4) Chase Elliott -104, 5) William Byron -115, 6) Ty Gibbs
-131, 7) Christopher Bell -141, t-8) Kyle Larson -147, t-8) Brad Keselowski -147, t-8) Chris Buescher -147, t-8) Bubba Wallace -147, 12) Joey Logano -168, 13) Ryan Preece -173, 14) Shane van Gisbergen -179, 15) Carson
Hocevar -182, 16) Daniel Suarez -186. Note: Drivers in italics are either outside of the Chase as they run, or ineligible for points. Stage Points: 1) Ryan
Blaney 64, 2) Bubba Wallace -4, 3) Tyler Reddick -6, 4) William Byron -9, 5) Kyle Larson -12, 6) Denny Hamlin -13, 7) Austin Cindric -17, 8) Ty Gibbs -19, t-9) Christopher Bell -21, t-9) Joey Logano -21, 11) Chris
Buescher -23, 12) Chase Elliott -30, 13) Brad Keselowski -35, 14) Carson Hocevar -37, 15) Daniel Suarez -38, 16) Shane van Gisbergen -40.
Outside of the top-16, but Still in the Chase: 17) Ryan Preece -42. Note: The Stage Points also include the America 250 Florida Duels at Daytona.
2014 Point Standings (1-16): 1) Tyler Reddick 293, 2) Ryan Blaney -37, 3) Denny Hamlin
-49, 4) William Byron -55, 5) Chase Elliott -59, 6) Ty Gibbs -71, 7) Christopher Bell -81, t-8) Brad Keselowski -87, t-8) Kyle Larson -87, t-8) Chris Buescher -87, t-8) Bubba Wallace -87, 12) Joey Logano -108, 13) Ryan
Preece -113, 14) Shane van Gisbergen -119, 15) Carson Hocevar -122, 16) Daniel Suarez -126. Note: These point standings are from the previous point system used from 2014-2025. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Tyler Reddick 265, 2) Chase Elliott -34, 3) Ryan Blaney -40, 4) Denny Hamlin -42, 5) William Byron -50, 6) Brad Keselowski -56, 7) Ty Gibbs -58, 8) Christopher Bell -64, 9) Chris Buescher
-70, 10) Ryan Preece -78, 11) Kyle Larson -79, 12) Shane van Gisbergen -86, 13) Bubba Wallace -89, 14) Carson Hocevar -90, 15) Joey Logano -92, t-16) Daniel Suarez -96, t-16) Michael McDowell -96. Note: These standings are based on the old point system that was used before stages were created. WC Points (1-16): 1) Tyler Reddick 1114, 2) Chase Elliott -101, t-3) Denny Hamlin
-121, t-3) Ryan Blaney -121, 5) William Byron -156, 6) Ty Gibbs -168, 7) Brad Keselowski -178, 8) Christopher Bell -184, 9) Chris Buescher -234, 10) Kyle Larson -246, 11) Ryan Preece -269, 12) Shane van Gisbergen
-270, 13) Carson Hocevar -283, 14) Joey Logano -285, 15) Bubba Wallace -289, 16) Michael McDowell -314. Outside of the top-16, but still in the playoffs: 17) Daniel Suarez -316. Note: The WC points are based on the original points system created by Bob Latford in 1975. Race Winners: Tyler Reddick (Daytona, Atlanta, Austin, Darlington), Ryan Blaney (Phoenix), Denny Hamlin (Las Vegas), Chase Elliott
(Martinsville)
Note: Race wins in Italics do not count towards playoff eligibility.
Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at [email protected]. Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.
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Seeking the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series Chase: Justin Allgaier Continues To Run Away
by Phil Allaway
Justin Allgaier had another strong run Saturday in Rockingham, finishing third and scoring 15 more stage points. That brings him up to 120 for the season, 39 more than anyone else. The finish allowed him to expand his points lead to 126 over Jesse Love. Love
had a disappointing 27th-place finish. Sheldon Creed remains in third after a sixth-place finish. Austin Hill is still in fourth. Corey Day is up two places to fifth after winning the first two stages before fading to 10th. Carson Kvapil finished fifth, but slipped one place to sixth due to only scoring one stage point.
Sammy Smith is down one place to seventh after a 12th-place run, while Brandon Jones was even points-wise with Allgaier for the day. A second-place finish keeps him in eighth. Parker Retzlaff finished eighth Saturday to keep himself in ninth, while Rajah Caruth is still 10th after a fourth-place run. William
Sawalich moved up three spots to 11th after earning his first career win. Taylor Gray is still in 12th, the final driver in the Chase at the moment. Gray has a 30-point lead over Sam Mayer, who retired with engine failure Saturday and finished 38th. Ryan Sieg is up one place to 14th after a ninth-place finish. Brennan
Poole is up to 15th, while Anthony Alfredo dropped three places to 16th. Point Standings (1-16): 1) Justin Allgaier 422, 2) Jesse Love -126, 3) Sheldon Creed -131, 4) Austin Hill -145, 5) Corey Day
-150, 6) Carson Kvapil -155, 7) Sammy Smith -162, 8) Brandon Jones -175, 9) Parker Retzlaff -193, 10) Rajah Caruth -207, 11) William Sawalich -208, 12) Taylor Gray -219, 13) Sam Mayer -249, 14) Ryan Sieg
-254, 15) Brennan Poole -260, 16) Anthony Alfredo -265. Stage Points: 1) Justin Allgaier 120, 2) Carson Kvapil -39, 3) Jesse Love -45, 4) Brandon Jones -63, 5) Austin Hill
-69, 6) Corey Day -73, 7) Rajah Caruth -74, 8) Taylor Gray -78, t-9) Sammy Smith -83, t-9) William Sawalich -83, t-9) Sam Mayer -83, 12) Sheldon Creed -84, 13) Parker Retzlaff -88, 14) Brent Crews -94, 15) Anthony
Alfredo -105, 16) Jeb Burton -109. Note: If they were eligible for NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series points, Kyle Larson would be 14th and Chase Briscoe 16th in stage points. 2014 Point Standings (1-16): 1) Justin Allgaier
377, 2) Jesse Love -81, 3) Sheldon Creed -101, 4) Corey Day -105, 5) Carson Kvapil -110, 6) Austin Hill -115, 7) Sammy Smith -117, 8) Brandon Jones -130, 9) Parker Retzlaff -148, 10) Rajah Caruth
-162, 11) Taylor Gray -174, 12) William Sawalich -178, 13) Sam Mayer -204, 14) Ryan Sieg -209, 15) Brennan Poole -215, 16) Anthony Alfredo -220. Old School Point Standings (1-16):
1) Justin Allgaier 293, 2) Sheldon Creed -19, 3) Corey Day -32, 4) Jesse Love -35, 5) Sammy Smith -36, 6) Austin Hill -45, 7) Parker Retzlaff
-64, 8) Brandon Jones -68, 9) Carson Kvapil -72, 10) Rajah Caruth -89, 11) Taylor Gray -97, t-12) William Sawalich -99, t-12) Brennan Poole -99, 14) Ryan Sieg
-102, 15) Anthony Alfredo -119, 16) Sam Mayer -122. WC Points (1-16): 1) Justin Allgaier 1271, 2) Sheldon Creed -79, 3) Corey Day -120, 4) Jesse Love
-129, 5) Sammy Smith -133, 6) Austin Hill -170, 7) Brandon Jones -243, 8) Parker Retzlaff -245, 9) Carson Kvapil -253, 10) Rajah Caruth -315, 11) Taylor Gray -349, 12) William Sawalich -351, 13) Ryan Sieg
-363, 14) Brennan Poole -368, 15) Sam Mayer -414, 16) Anthony Alfredo -428. Race Winners: Austin Hill (Daytona), Sheldon Creed (Atlanta), Shane van Gisbergen (Austin), Justin Allgaier (Phoenix, Darlington, Martinsville), Kyle Larson (Las Vegas),
William Sawalich (Rockingham) Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at [email protected]. Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade
Photography.
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Seeking the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Chase: Corey Heim Ties For The Lead, Despite Not Being Chase-Eligible
by Phil Allaway
Chandler Smith had a terrible day in Rockingham Friday. He was fast in practice, then broke a shock in qualifying. Starting at the rear, he drove to the front and finished fourth on the road, but failed to score any stage points. He would have kept the points lead, but his truck
failed the height sticks in post-race inspection, leading to an ignominious disqualification. That cost him the points lead. TRICON Garage teammates Corey Heim and Kaden Honeycutt finished one-two Friday and are now tied for the points lead. Heim's second win of the year moved him up from eighth and gives him the tiebreaker over his teammate. Heim and Honeycutt have an 11-point lead over Layne Riggs, who finished third. Smith's DQ dropped him from a 33-point lead to fourth in points, 17 points back. Ty Majeski scored 18 stage points, but got caught out by the last caution and dropped to an eighth-place finish,
keeping him in fifth. That same caution caught Gio Ruggiero two laps down. Despite a wavearound, he ended up two laps down in 17th and dropped two places to sixth. Christian Eckes dropped one place to seventh after finishing 13th. Ben Rhodes struggled all day and finished 18th, dropping to eighth. Stewart Friesen finished fourth
and moved up three places to ninth. Justin Haley had a quiet run to 12th and stays 10th. Tyler Ankrum moved up to 11th after a sixth-place finish and has the last spot in the Chase on points. He has a four-point lead over Grant Enfinger, who finished fifth and gained five places in the standings. Jake Garcia started on pole, but
led for less than half a lap before finishing ninth. Despite that, he moved up to 13th. Tanner Gray is 14th, while Andres Perez dropped six spots to a tie for 15th after hitting the wall twice in the first four laps and finishing 13 laps down in 32nd. Perez is tied for 15th with Cole Butcher, who earned his first career top 10 finish Friday. Point Standings (1-16): t-1) Corey Heim 190, t-1) Kaden Honeycutt 190, 3) Layne Riggs -11, 4) Chandler Smith -17, 5) Ty Majeski -22, 6) Gio Ruggiero -41, 7) Christian Eckes -47, 8) Ben Rhodes -52, 9) Stewart
Friesen -71, 10) Justin Haley -76, 11) Tyler Ankrum -77, 12) Grant Enfinger -81, 13) Jake Garcia -83, 14) Tanner Gray -84, t-15) Andres Perez -95, t-15) Cole Butcher -95. Stage Points: 1) Ty Majeski 56, 2) Layne Riggs -8, 3) Corey Heim -9, 4) Kaden Honeycutt -11, 5) Chandler Smith -23, 6) Christian Eckes -28, 7) Ben Rhodes -30, 8) Tanner Gray -34, t-9) Gio Ruggiero
-37, t-9) Stewart Friesen -37, 11) Landen Lewis -39, 12) Tyler Ankrum -44, 13) Jake Garcia -45, t-14) Grant Enfinger -47, t-14) Andres Perez -47, t-14) Connor Mosack -47. Outside of the top 16, but still in the Chase: 20) Brenden Queen -36, t-23) Justin Haley -56. Note: If they were eligible, Carson Hocevar would be sixth and Kyle Busch 13th. Ross Chastain and Michael McDowell would be tied for 14th in stage points. 2014 Point Standings (1-16): 1) Kaden Honeycutt 190, 2) Ty Majeski -22, 3) Layne Riggs -26, 4) Corey Heim -30, 5) Chandler Smith -32, 6) Gio Ruggiero -41, 7) Christian Eckes
-47, 8) Ben Rhodes -52, 9) Stewart Friesen -71, 10) Justin Haley -76, 11) Tyler Ankrum -77, 12) Grant Enfinger -81, 13) Jake Garcia -83, 14) Tanner Gray -84, t-15) Andres Perez -95, t-15) Cole Butcher -95. Old School Point Standings (1-16): 1) Kaden Honeycutt 129, t-2) Chandler Smith -19, t-2) Gio Ruggiero -19, 4) Corey Heim -27, 5) Christian Eckes -28, 6) Ben Rhodes -30, 7) Layne Riggs
-32, 8) Justin Haley -33, 9) Ty Majeski -35, t-10) Stewart Friesen -48, t-t-10) Tyler Ankrum -48, t-10) Grant Enfinger -48, 13) Jake Garcia -52, 14) Brenden Queen -58, 15) Cole Butcher -61, t-16) Andres Perez
-63, t-16) Daniel Hemric -63. WC Points (1-16): 1) Kaden Honeycutt 747, 2) Gio Ruggiero -70, 3) Chandler Smith -85, 4) Christian Eckes -110, 5) Layne Riggs -113, t-6) Ty Majeski
-116, t-6) Ben Rhodes -116, 8) Justin Haley -134, 9) Grant Enfinger -171, 10) Stewart Friesen -172, 11) Tyler Ankrum -177, 12) Jake Garcia -188, 13) Brenden Queen -210, t-14) Corey Heim -222, t-14) Cole Butcher
-222, 16) Andres Perez -225. Race Winners: Chandler Smith (Daytona), Kyle Busch (Atlanta), Layne Riggs (St. Petersburg), Corey Heim (Darlington, Rockingham)
Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch
newsletter manager. He can be reached at [email protected]. Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.
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Letter of the Race: Saturday's North Carolina Education Lottery 250 was brought to you by the letter P for Potential. Over the past couple of years, race fans have had William Sawalich's potential thrown in their faces. To
this point, he really hadn't shown all that much in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series. Saturday saw Sawalich finally live up to that potential and reach pay dirt. He didn't back into it, either. He deserved the win. - Phil Allaway |
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