Frontstretch Newsletter: Feb. 20, 2026
Volume XX,
Edition XXIII |
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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What to Watch: Feb. 20-22 |
- Today, on-track action is scheduled to get underway at Atlanta Motor Speedway. NASCAR Cup Series teams will load into the garage early this afternoon after a hauler parade, while NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series teams will load in this morning. For more information on the AutoTrader 400, please see the Frontstretch Folio below. NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series teams will qualify this afternoon at 4:30 p.m. ET. The session will air live on The CW App and website. Selected CW affiliates will also air the session, but check your local listings for availability. Coverage of the Bennett Transportation & Logistics 250 will begin with NASCAR Countdown Live at 4:30 p.m. ET Saturday on
The CW. Race coverage will start at 5 p.m. ET with the green flag around 5:10 p.m. ET. - The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will qualify today at 3 p.m. ET with live coverage on FOX Sports 1. Coverage of the Fr8 208 is scheduled to start at 1:30 p.m. ET
Saturday afternoon on FS1. The green flag is scheduled for around 1:50 p.m. ET. There is a 60% chance of showers and thunderstorms on Saturday, so the entire Saturday schedule is subject to change. If that happens, we will keep you updated at Frontstretch. - The World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DirtVision is spending the weekend at Hendry County Motorsports Park for the Swamp Cabbage 100. Action will begin tonight and tomorrow night at 6:15 p.m. ET on DirtVision. FOLLOW THE FRONTSTRETCH IN ATLANTA AT THROUGH OUR COLLEAGUES: Also, don't forget to follow our Twitter page, @Frontstretch as well for updates on Atlanta! |
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| Joe Gibbs Racing Files Lawsuit Against Chris
Gabehart Joe Gibbs Racing has filed a lawsuit against former competition director Chris Gabehart, alleging the theft of intellectual property from the team to benefit his new employer, Spire Motorsports. |
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| Nitro, Rette Jones Teams Penalized After
Daytona ARCA released a penalty report Thursday post-Daytona. The biggest penalty was levied to AM Racing, which was docked 12 points due to a roof height violation on Kole Raz's No. 76 Ford. |
Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography and NASCAR Media via James Gilbert of ARCA Racing. 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: Feb. 19 |
- The Automobile Club d'Ouest officially revealed the entry list and reserve list for this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans Thursday. Like in recent years, there will be 62 cars on the grid for the 24-hour classic in June. The Hypercar class will have 18 cars on the grid. The only non-regular team in the class will be Wayne Taylor Racing, which earned the IMSA Hypercar
at-large bid (Porsche Penske Motorsport would have had it by virtue of winning the GTP championship, but the WEC wing of the team pulled out at the end of last season. With no Porsche 963s on the grid, they were not allowed to enter). The No. 101 Cadillac will be shared by Filipe Albuquerque and the Taylor brothers (Jordan and Ricky). The LMP2 class has 19 entries, a mix of
European Le Mans Series teams, Asian Le Mans Series teams and an LMP3 team or two stepping up. PJ Hyett is using his automatic entry for the AO by TF No. 99. This team will have the same driver lineup that competed in the just-completed Asian Le Mans Series and in the European Le Mans Series last year (Hyett, Dane Cameron and Louis Deletraz). CrowdStrike Racing by APR's
George Kurtz and Alex Quinn are on the grid thanks to winning the Asian Le Mans Series LMP2 championship a couple of weeks ago. F1 Academy champion Doriane Pin will be on the grid with Duqueine Team in their ORECA 07-Gibson. Her teammates have not been announced yet. There are 25 LMGT3 cars on the grid. 13 Autosport is on the grid with their regular Michelin Endurance Cup lineup by virtue of Orey Fidani winning the Bob Akin Award last year as the best bronze-rated GTD driver. There are nine cars currently listed on the reserve list, starting with the GR Racing Ferrari. Likely the most
interesting entry on there is the third reserve entry for Ecurie Ecosse Blackthorn. This is an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo with Dario Franchitti listed as the second driver. Franchitti has not raced on a regular basis since being forced to retire after a bad crash at Reliant Park in Houston back in 2013. That said, Franchitti is scheduled to make a one-off appearance
for TRICON Garage in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race in St. Petersburg. A second reserve entry is for a second ORECA 07-Gibson for CLX Motorsport, No. 137. The only listed driver on that entry is John Farano, who races full-time in IMSA for Tower Motorsport. |
Frontstretch Folio: AutoTrader 400
by Phil Allaway
This weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series travels to EchoPark Speedway for their first visit. TV coverage is scheduled to start with NASCAR RaceDay at 2 p.m. ET Sunday on FOX. Race coverage starts at 3 p.m. ET. The green flag is scheduled to fly around 3:10 p.m. ET. Radio coverage will be provided by local MRN radio affiliates and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90). Records and Facts
Last year's Ambetter Health 400 saw Kyle Larson take the lead with a couple of laps to go in regulation. Then, William Byron spun and hit the inside wall to bring out a caution that extended the race. On the restart, Ross Chastain was able to get past Larson at the line, but Larson took it back with help from Christopher Bell. On the final lap, Bell swept around Larson on the outside. Carson Hocevar attempted to make it three-wide for the lead. However, a
crash broke out on the backstretch involving Josh Berry, Ryan Preece and Justin Haley that forced NASCAR to throw the caution. At the time of caution, Bell was leading, which gave him the win. Hocevar was second, then Larson, Ryan Blaney and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Among active drivers, Jimmie Johnson (who is not entered this week) is the winningest driver with five
victories. Byron, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano each have two. Since the track was redesigned to the current configuration, Byron, Elliott and Logano each have two wins, while Bell and Daniel Suarez have one. All-time, Dale Earnhardt tops the win charts with nine wins, while Cale Yarborough has seven. Richard Petty and Bobby Allison have
six wins each. The vast majority of these victories took place on the original 1.522-mile oval, with the exception of Earnhardt's win in 2000. Track Facts
Track / Race Length: 1.54-mile quad-oval, 260 laps (400.4 miles)
Banking: 28 degrees Frontstretch: 2,332 ft, banked 5 degrees Backstretch: 1,800 ft., banked 5 degrees Grandstand Seating: 75,000
Pit Road Speed: 45 mph
Pace Car Speed: 55 mph
Opened: 1960 Website: http://www.echoparkspeedway.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/echoparkspeedway Twitter: https://twitter.com/EchoParkSpdwy Pre-Race Schedule: Qualifying: Saturday, Feb. 21, 11 a.m. ET on Amazon Prime Video "I think EchoPark Speedway is gaining character from the winters, and just the passing of time. That place is so
banked, and you’re starting to find little bumps and stuff that were in it from the beginning that are getting bigger. It’s a cool style of racing. It’s a lot different than what we all envisioned a repave of EchoPark Speedway would be, I think. It’s speedway racing but with an important handling component. Handling is going to become more and more important as the track wears. I had a lot of fun in previous races there, even though we’ve been caught up in some messes." - Austin
Dillon "I’ve been envious and watched a bunch of races at the old bumpy Daytona. Every time I get to run Atlanta it just makes me think about bumpy Daytona where you can draft by yourself. You don’t need anybody. You can just make moves and time things. It’s basically all offense. It just works for me. If this move didn’t work, I’ll get back in line and make the
next one. And if that didn’t work, I’ll make the next one. Eventually, one of my six moves is going to work and I’ll gain spots. Ultimately, I’m just smiling the whole time because it reminds me of those nostalgic 2000s era races at Daytona. Atlanta provides the opportunity and it’s something I’ve always wanted to do, so that’s the best thing we got." - Carson Hocevar "I’m looking forward to Atlanta, especially after our run last week at Daytona. We had a shot. Obviously, it’s kind of become a wild card race where it’s not exactly a superspeedway, but also not an intermediate. It’ll be interesting to see how the track is aging and how these cars will run there this time around. We’ve ran well at Atlanta in the past, so I’m excited to get back there and see what we’ve got. This could be another shot for us to win,
for sure. We’ll hopefully be there when it matters at the end." - Erik Jones Phil Allaway is the Newsletter Manager for Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade
Photography.
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