Frontstretch Newsletter: May 11, 2026 Volume XX,
Edition LXXIV |
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
Make My Place Your Place! |
- NASCAR teams are back at their shops today after an all-night drive. Preparations are underway for All-Star Weekend in Delaware right now. We will have any news that breaks for you today at Frontstretch.
|
|
| Shane van Gisbergen Dominates at Watkins
Glen
Shane van Gisbergen led 74 of 100 laps from pole Sunday to win the Go Bowling at the Glen. Michael McDowell was second, then Ty Gibbs, Chase Briscoe and Tyle Reddick.
|
|
| Connor Zilisch’s Breakout Cup Performance Marred by Flat
Tire
Connor Zilisch needed a good run in Watkins Glen. He had one...until his right front tire blew out.
|
|
| RCR Scores Double Top-10 Finishes at Watkins
Glen
2026 has been very tough for Richard Childress Racing. Sunday saw the team use strategy to get both Austin Dillon and Kyle Busch in the top 10.
|
|
| Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Extends With
Hyak
Hyak Motorsports announced Monday that Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has signed a contract extension to stay in the No. 47 Chevrolet.
|
|
| Here’s What Happened in the JGR vs. Chris Gabehart/Spire
Trial This Week (May 2-8)
Last week, both parties argued in a phone conference over a proposed trial date of next January for the Gabehart trial. Spire Motorsports is requesting more time to prepare.
|
|
| Connor Zilisch Wins Watkins Glen O’Reilly Race After Last
Corner Pass on Jesse Love
Connor Zilisch was able to slip underneath Jesse Love in the final turn to win Saturday's Mission 200 at the Glen. Love was second, then Taylor Gray, Ross Chastain and Brandon Jones.
|
|
| Jesse Love’s Watkins Glen Defeat Provides Role Reversal
For Himself, Connor Zilisch
Connor Zilisch defeated Jesse Love via a last-lap pass Saturday. It was actually just desserts as Love had done the same thing to Zilisch in the past.
|
|
| Kaden Honeycutt Wins 1st Truck Race at Watkins
Glen
Kaden Honeycutt passed Connor Zilisch on the final restart Friday and held on to win the Bully Hill Vineyards 176 at the Glen. Zilisch was second, then Shane van Gisbergen, Daniel Hemric and Chandler Smith.
|
|
| NASCAR ‘Apologized To’ Gio Ruggiero Following
Controversial Restart Penalty
TRICON Garage's Gio Ruggiero was in position to contend for the win Friday. That is until he was given a controversial restart penalty.
|
|
| Kaulig Racing Scores a Triple Top 10 Day in Watkins
Glen
2026 has been a struggle for Kaulig Racing with their new RAM trucks. Friday saw the team score three top 10 finishes with AJ Allmendinger, Mini Tyrrell and Brenden Queen.
|
|
| Kaden Honeycutt Wins ARCA Race at Watkins
Glen
Kaden Honeycutt was able to get past Carson Brown early on and hold on to win the ARCA General Tire 100 at the Glen Friday. Brown was second, then Thomas Annunziata, Gavan Boschele and Sam Corry.
|
|
| Christian Lundgaard Snaps 47-Race Winless Streak With Late
Pass In Indianapolis
Arrow McLaren's Christian Lundgaard passed David Malukas with 18 laps to go Saturday and held on to win the Sonsio Grand Prix. Malukas was second, then Graham Rahal, Josef Newgarden and Alex Palou.
|
|
| No Win? No Problem for Alex Palou at Indy
GP
Even though Alex Palou was dominant for much of the day in Indianapolis Saturday, Alex Palou finished fifth and still extended his points lead.
|
|
| Louis Foster Scores Career-Best Finish on Indianapolis
Road Course
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's Louis Foster had a trouble-free run Saturday and finished a career-best seventh in the Sonsio Grand Prix.
|
|
| Alexander Rossi on the Short End of an Abysmal Day for ECR
in Indy
Saturday was not great for Ed Carpenter Racing. Alexander Rossi stalled on the frontstretch while Christian Rasmussen broke a toe link.
|
|
| BMW M Team WRT Scores 1-2 Finish At
Spa
Pit strategy in the opening minutes Saturday morning steering BMW M Team WRT's Robin Frijns, Rene Rast and Sheldon van der Linde to overall victory in the FIA World Endurance Championship 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.
|
|
| Turner Motorsport Wins Sebring After JMF Motorsports’
Failure
Turner Motorsport's Robby Foley and Justin Rothberg won the GT World Challenge America powered by AWS round Saturday in Sebring after JMF Motorsports' No. 34 Mercedes broke with 45 minutes to go.
|
Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, James Black, Chris Jones and Doug Mathews of Penske Entertainment, DPPI, Fabian Lagunas of SRO Motorsports Group and our own Phil Allaway and Wyatt Watson. Have news for Frontstretch? Don't hesitate to let us know; email us at [email protected] with a promising lead or tip.
|
Around the World in Motorsports:
|
This is just a sampling of the videos that we uploaded to our YouTube channels from Watkins Glen and Indianapolis last weekend. For more from Watkins Glen, Indianapolis, 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: Tyler Reddick Expands His Lead by Phil Allaway
Tyler Reddick struggled at times Sunday but recovered late to finish fifth. That allowed him to expand his points lead. The advantage is now 129 points over Denny Hamlin, who finished 16th. Chase Elliott is still in third but had a
bad day en route to 24th. Ryan Blaney is still in fourth. Chris Buescher finished 12th and stays in fifth. Ty Gibbs moved up one place to sixth after finishing third. Carson Hocevar struggled all day and dropped to seventh after finishing 28th. Kyle Larson was off the pace all day, but
stays in eighth. Brad Keselowski had brake issues Sunday, but stays in ninth. Bubba Wallace moved up to 10th, but wasn't happy with Christopher Bell afterwards. Bell gained two places to 11th. William Byron dropped back to 12th after breaking a toe link and finishing 36th. Ryan Preece is down to 13th, but that is mainly due to his penalty due to the crash in Texas. Since this is being appealed, he is displayed in red. Daniel Suarez is still in 14th, followed by Austin Cindric. Shane van Gisbergen's victory Sunday moved him up three places to 16th, the last spot in the
Chase. Van Gisbergen currently has a six-point lead over Chase Briscoe, despite Briscoe finishing fourth Sunday. Joey Logano finished 38th Sunday after a tire issue and repairs in the garage, which dropped him to 18th. b dropped a spot to 19th, while AJ Allmendinger is still 20th. Point Standings (1-16): 1) Tyler Reddick 526, 2) Denny Hamlin -129, 3) Chase Elliott -145, 4) Ryan Blaney -162, 5) Chris Buescher -192, 6) Ty Gibbs -195, 7) Carson
Hocevar -225, 8) Kyle Larson -235, 9) Brad Keselowski -249, 10) Bubba Wallace -254, 11) Christopher Bell -256, 12) William Byron -258, 13) Ryan Preece -271, 14) Daniel Suarez -272, 15) Austin Cindric -280, 16) Shane van Gisbergen
-284. Note: Drivers in italics are either outside of the Chase as they run, or ineligible for points. Stage Points: 1) Tyler Reddick 96, 2) Ryan
Blaney -1, t-3) Denny Hamlin -5, t-3) Kyle Larson -5, 5) Christopher Bell -19, 6) Ty Gibbs -22, 7) Bubba Wallace -24, 8) Chris Buescher -29, 9) Joey Logano -33, 10) Chase Elliott -35, 11) Austin Cindric -36, 12) William
Byron -39, 13) Carson Hocevar -43, 14) Brad Keselowski -46, 15) Ryan Preece -53, 16) Chase Briscoe -56. Outside of the top 16, but Still in the Chase: 17) Shane van Gisbergen -59, 19) Daniel Suarez
-65. Note: The Stage Points also include the America 250 Florida Duels at Daytona. 2014 Point Standings (1-16): 1) Tyler Reddick 492, 2) Denny Hamlin
-69, 3) Chase Elliott -100, 4) Ryan Blaney -102, 5) Chris Buescher -117, 6) Ty Gibbs -135, 7) Kyle Larson -160, 8) Carson Hocevar -165, 9) Brad Keselowski -174, 10) Bubba Wallace -179, 11) Christopher Bell -181, 12) William
Byron -183, 13) Ryan Preece -196, 14) Daniel Suarez -197, 15) Austin Cindric -205, 16) Chase Briscoe -215. Outside of the top 16, but still in the Chase: 17) Shane van Gisbergen -224. Note: These point standings are from the previous point system used from 2014-2025. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Tyler Reddick 447, 2) Denny Hamlin -61, 3) Chase Elliott
-64, 4) Chris Buescher -87, 5) Ryan Blaney -99, 6) Ty Gibbs -111, 7) Carson Hocevar -120, 8) Brad Keselowski -126, 9) Daniel Suarez -134, 10) Ryan Preece -138, 11) William Byron -143, t-12) Bubba Wallace -155, t-12) Kyle Larson
-155, 14) Chase Briscoe -159, 15) Christopher Bell -160, 16) Shane van Gisbergen -166. Outside of the top 16, but still in the Chase: 17) Austin Cindric -171. Note: These standings are based on the old point system that was used before stages were created. WC Points (1-16): 1) Tyler Reddick 1895, 2) Denny Hamlin -181, 3) Chase Elliott
-202, 4) Chris Buescher -295, 5) Ryan Blaney -315, 6) Ty Gibbs -335, 7) Carson Hocevar -391, 8) Brad Keselowski -416, 9) Daniel Suarez -458, 10) William Byron -463, 11) Kyle Larson -479, 12) Chase
Briscoe -496, 13) Ryan Preece -499, 14) Christopher Bell -501, 15) Bubba Wallace -511, 16) Shane van Gisbergen -535. Outside of the top 16, but still in the Chase: 17) Austin Cindric -568. 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, Kansas), Ryan Blaney (Phoenix), Denny Hamlin (Las Vegas), Chase
Elliott (Martinsville, Texas), Ty Gibbs (Bristol), Carson Hocevar (Talladega), Shane van Gisbergen (Watkins Glen) 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.
|
|
|
Seeking the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series Chase: Justin Allgaier's Lead Is 2 Full Races by Phil Allaway
Justin Allgaier finished 10th and scored 15 stage points Saturday. Meanwhile, Sheldon Creed was lucky to finish after ripping his splitter off in the mud. That meant that Allgaier's points lead is now a season-high 155 points, more than two full races, over
Creed. Jesse Love was crushed with his second-place finish Saturday, but stays in second. Brandon Jones finished fifth and moved up one place to fourth. Corey Day slipped down to fifth after a 15th-place finish, while Sammy Smith is still sixth. Austin Hill has sole possession of seventh after an 11th-place finish, breaking the tie with
Carson Kvapil. Parker Retzlaff finished seventh Saturday and remains in ninth, followed by Taylor Gray after his third-place finish. Brent Crews led the most laps and finished sixth. That moved him up three spots to 11th, despite missing four races. Sam Mayer remains in 12th, the last spot in the Chase. These
are also the only drivers that have scored even half of what Allgaier has accumulated so far. Mayer has a 17-point lead over William Sawalich, who blew an engine early Saturday and finished 36th. Rajah Caruth is up one place to 14th, jumping over Ryan Sieg. Brennan Poole is still 16th. Point Standings (1-16): 1) Justin Allgaier 640, 2) Sheldon Creed -155, 3) Jesse Love -161, 4) Brandon Jones -207, 5) Corey Day -218, 6) Sammy Smith -241, 7) Austin
Hill -248, 8) Carson Kvapil -260, 9) Parker Retzlaff -278, 10) Taylor Gray -295, 11) Brent Crews -316, 12) Sam Mayer -319, 13) William Sawalich -336, 14) Rajah Caruth -340, 15) Ryan Sieg -348, 16) Brennan Poole
-383. Stage Points: 1) Justin Allgaier 194, 2) Jesse Love -87, 3) Brandon Jones -88, 4) Carson Kvapil -97, 5) Sheldon Creed -104, 6) Sam Mayer -124, 7) Brent Crews -125, 8) Austin
Hill -127, 9) Corey Day -129, 10) Rajah Caruth -137, 11) Taylor Gray -138, 12) Sammy Smith -141, 13) William Sawalich -146, 14) Parker Retzlaff -148, 15) Ryan Sieg -168, 16) Anthony Alfredo -173. Note: If he were eligible for NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series points, Kyle Larson would be tied for ninth and Connor Zilisch 16th in stage points. 2014 Point Standings (1-16): 1) Justin Allgaier 595, 2) Jesse Love -116, 3) Sheldon Creed
-125, 4) Brandon Jones -162, 5) Corey Day -188, 6) Sammy Smith -196, 7) Carson Kvapil -215, 8) Austin Hill -218, 9) Parker Retzlaff -233, 10) Taylor Gray -265, 11) Brent Crews -271, 12) Sam Mayer -274, 13) Rajah
Caruth -295, 14) Ryan Sieg -303, 15) William Sawalich -306, 16) Brennan Poole -338. Old School Point Standings (1-16): 1) Justin Allgaier 458, 2) Sheldon Creed
-23, 3) Jesse Love -25, 4) Sammy Smith -57, 5) Corey Day -60, 6) Brandon Jones -73, t-7) Austin Hill -90, t-7) Parker Retzlaff
-90, 9) Carson Kvapil -120, 10) Taylor Gray -128, 11) Ryan Sieg -138, 12) Brennan Poole -148, 13) Sam Mayer -150, 14) Rajah Caruth -157, 15) Brent Crews
-163, 16) William Sawalich -164. WC Points (1-16): 1) Justin Allgaier 2004, 2) Sheldon Creed -91, 3) Jesse Love -101, 4) Sammy Smith -223, 5) Corey Day -229, 6) Brandon Jones
-274, 7) Austin Hill -337, 8) Parker Retzlaff -346, 9) Carson Kvapil -426, 10) Taylor Gray -458, 11) Ryan Sieg -502, 12) Sam Mayer -519, t-13) Rajah Caruth -551, t-13) Brennan Poole -551, 15) William Sawalich
-578, 16) Jeb Burton -687. Outside of the top 16, but still in the Chase: 17) Brent Crews -696. Race Winners: Austin Hill (Daytona), Sheldon Creed (Atlanta), Shane van Gisbergen (Austin), Justin Allgaier
(Phoenix, Darlington, Martinsville), Kyle Larson (Las Vegas, Texas), William Sawalich (Rockingham), Connor Zilisch (Bristol, Watkins Glen), Taylor Gray (Kansas), Corey Day (Talladega) Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at [email protected]. Photo is courtesy of our own Phil Allaway.
|
|
|
Seeking the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Chase: Kaden Honeycutt Retakes The Lead by Phil Allaway
Kaden Honeycutt took advantage of fresh tires late Friday to take the lead from Connor Zilisch and hold on for his first career victory. That allowed him to extend his lead. The advantage is now 29 points over Chandler Smith, who finished fifth. Layne
Riggs spun out late and ended up in 21st. He remains in third, but lost ground. Gio Ruggiero stays in fourth. Christian Eckes is up one place to fifth after a 16th-place finish. He jumped over Ben Rhodes, who had transmission problems early on and finished 12 laps down in 32nd. Ty Majeski remains in seventh, while the
idle Corey Heim is still eighth. Tyler Ankrum finished 17th to hold onto ninth, while Daniel Hemric moved up three places to 10th after finishing fourth. Stewart Friesen slipped down to 11th after an 18th-place finish. He is the last driver in the Chase. Friesen has a one-point lead over Jake Garcia, who finished 11th and lost a spot. Brenden Queen finished ninth and moved up one place to 13th. Justin Haley dropped to 14th after a late crash. Andres Perez is up to 15th, while Tanner Gray is 16th. Point Standings (1-16): 1) Kaden Honeycutt 312, 2) Chandler Smith -29, 3) Layne Riggs -43, 4) Gio Ruggiero -55, 5) Christian Eckes -71, 6) Ben Rhodes -84, 7) Ty Majeski -87, 8) Corey Heim -108, 9) Tyler Ankrum
-118, 10) Daniel Hemric -123, 11) Stewart Friesen -130, 12) Jake Garcia -131, 13) Brenden Queen -140, 14) Justin Haley -144, 15) Andres Perez -153, 16) Tanner Gray -167. Stage Points: 1) Layne Riggs 76, 2) Kaden Honeycutt -4, 3) Ty Majeski -18, 4) Corey Heim -22, 5) Ben Rhodes -23, 6) Chandler Smith -27, 7) Gio Ruggiero -28, 8) Christian Eckes -33, 9) Tanner Gray
-48, 10) Tyler Ankrum -49, 11) Stewart Friesen -52, 12) Grant Enfinger -55, 13) Andres Perez -56, 14) Jake Garcia -57, 15) Landen Lewis -59, 16) Daniel Hemric -60. Note:
If they were eligible, Carson Hocevar would be third, Kyle Busch 12th and Ross Chastain tied for 15th in stage points. 2014 Point Standings (1-16): 1) Kaden Honeycutt 307, t-2) Gio Ruggiero -42, t-2) Ben Rhodes -42, 4) Chandler Smith
-44, 5) Layne Riggs -50, 6) Christian Eckes -58, 7) Ty Majeski -46, 8) Tyler Ankrum -114, 9) Stewart Friesen -121, 10) Daniel Hemric -131, 11) Corey Heim -133, 12) Brenden Queen -139, t-13) Jake Garcia
-143, t-13) Justin Haley -143, 15) Tanner Gray -160, t-16) Grant Enfinger -162, t-16) Dawson Sutton -162. Old School Point Standings (1-16): 1) Kaden Honeycutt 199, 2) Chandler Smith
-7, 3) Gio Ruggiero -20, 4) Christian Eckes -26, 5) Ben Rhodes -47, 6) Layne Riggs -51, 7) Daniel Hemric -56, 8) Brenden Queen -61, 9) Ty Majeski -62, 10) Tyler Ankrum -64, t-11) Jake Garcia -69, t-11) Justin
Haley -69, 13) Stewart Friesen -72, 14) Corey Heim -93, 15) Andres Perez -94, 16) Dawson Sutton -101. WC Points (1-16): 1) Kaden Honeycutt 1172, 2) Chandler Smith
-51, 3) Gio Ruggiero -81, 4) Christian Eckes -113, 5) Ben Rhodes -179, 6) Layne Riggs -186, 7) Daniel Hemric -217, 8) Ty Majeski -218, 9) Brenden Queen -239, 10) Tyler Ankrum -248, 11) Jake Garcia -257, 12) Justin
Haley -265, 13) Stewart Friesen -267, 14) Andres Perez -341, 15) Dawson Sutton -363, 16) Mini Tyrrell -379. Race Winners: Chandler Smith (Daytona), Kyle Busch (Atlanta), Layne Riggs (St. Petersburg), Corey Heim
(Darlington, Rockingham), Christopher Bell (Bristol), Carson Hocevar (Texas), Kaden Honeycutt (Watkins Glen) Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at [email protected]. Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.
|
|
|
Letter of the Race: Sunday's Go Bowling at the Glen was brought to you by the Letter T for Tire Wear. Shane van Gisbergen was able to pit with 24 laps to go, drop back 29 seconds, then run down Ty Gibbs in 17 laps and beat him by
16 seconds. This is on par with Denny Hamlin coming back from a lap and a half down to win at Richmond in 2022. - Phil Allaway |
"I love being able to [go on the offensive] at the end and chase everyone down on a tire difference. Josh, my spotter, was excellent in giving me the lap times and what the gap was. I was trying to calculate it as I went and manage the tires so that I would still have some when I got there. It’s just so special and really cool." - Shane van Gisbergen, race
winner "It’s been a rough few weeks. But that’s what is great about NASCAR – you’re only one week away from grabbing a top-five finish and having some momentum on our side. We knew this was a track we could come to and, if we executed like we did today, we could contend for the win. We still needed a little bit more to hang with Shane van Gisbergen there. But all-in-all, the No. 71 Go Bowling
Chevrolet team had a good day. It wasn’t a perfect day, but it was a good day. That’s what we needed. We just needed some momentum on our side." - Michael McDowell, finished second "Definitely just a wild day for us. Started off the day and we just weren’t as good as we were in practice with our Mobil 1 Toyota and thought we were going to be okay and then we had a bad
pit stop and we went from seventh to 17th. Then we missed that wreck in the bus stop, and kind of got somewhat back in the mix on our strategy, and then at the end James [Small] did a really good job of just maximizing our strategy and maximized our day with the fuel mileage and everything else. We literally ran out with two corners to go. Glad we were able to end up fourth. Felt like we maximized our day outside of stage points, so we will go on to Dover and see what we can do." - Chase
Briscoe, finished fourth "Yeah, pretty nuts. Just funny how that happens sometimes with where the cautions fall, but it was kind of a decent day – it was the points day that we needed to have for our Jordan Brand Toyota Camry. We were able to get up there sooner than I thought, and I don’t know just that last restart that we had, I didn’t fire off great. We were losing
spots pretty quickly, so Billy [Scott] and the team made the right call. We were bleeding bad, so we hit pit road and pitted for the final time and just had to go a really long way on a set of tires but worked out pretty well. We were able to pick them off and get back to fifth." - Tyler Reddick, finished fifth "That was a crazy race. I thought when we started the race, the No. 16 Grizzly Nicotine
Pouches Chevrolet was pretty good. We just still had some of the same issues that we’ve been fighting. After around 12-14 laps, it hits a cliff and gets loose. But we got some stage points. Unfortunately, that put us a little behind in strategy. It was just so tough to pass, so I thought we were going to be in for a long day. Trent [Owens] made a really good call there; we had a good restart and started moving through the field. I don’t know if that run would have been better if it would have
stayed green, but overall, despite being in a hole on strategy, Trent did a great job to get us back in position to at least be on the offensive side. Obviously, you always want more, but it was a good day." - AJ Allmendinger, finished seventh "Strong day for the No. 8 zone Jalapeño Lime Chevrolet. We were a top 10 car for the majority of the race and ended eighth
here at Watkins Glen International. We made the adjustments and strategy calls we needed to drive forward and make up track position after qualifying 21st, despite battling a car that trended tight throughout the race. We ran out of fuel at the end of the race, but we’re still going home with our second top 10 finish of the season. I’m proud of the work the entire Richard Childress Racing team is putting in back in Welcome, N.C., and will look to continue that momentum as the season progresses."
- Kyle Busch, finished eighth "Really solid day for us. I felt like we had a really good Pye-Barker Fire & Safety Camry today. I feel like we played the first stage to get stage points. Had a late pit call but couldn’t get to pit road so we just made the most out of it. Ended up in the back and couldn’t really pass. Then we played a really good strategy at the end. Ended up staying out
at the end, with like 40 to go, when a lot of guys pitted and they were going to try to make it. We were able to maintain on those tires, not lose that many spots or too much time. We kind of split the stage and ended coming home 10th. Needed one more lap, probably would have gotten five more cars with everyone running out of gas, and us pushing so hard. A lot of work has been done on road courses in the off season for sure – car, myself – and we showed it today. It’s what we needed." - John
Hunter Nemechek, finished 10th
|
|
|
|