Frontstretch Newsletter: Feb. 27, 2026
Volume XX,
Edition XXVIII |
And Now A Word From Our Title Partner, My Place Hotels! |
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What to Watch: Feb. 27-March 1 |
For more information on the NASCAR Cup Series DuraMAX Texas Grand Prix, please see the Frontstretch Folio below. - Today, on-track action is scheduled to get underway at both Circuit of the Americas and in St. Petersburg. It will be a busy day between the two venues. NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series teams are scheduled to practice today at 5 p.m. ET at COTA. Coverage will stream live on the CW App and website. Qualifying will begin at 6:05 p.m. ET. Some CW affiliates may choose to air the sessions live, but check your local listings to make sure. Coverage of
the Focused Health 250k will begin with NASCAR Countdown Live at 2:30 p.m. ET Saturday afternoon on The CW. Race coverage will begin at 3 p.m. ET with the green flag around 3:15 p.m. ET. - NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series teams are scheduled to press their luck on the 1.8-mile street course in St. Petersburg today for the first time. There is a 50-minute practice session scheduled for 4
p.m. ET this afternoon with live coverage on FOX Sports 2. Qualifying will follow shortly afterwards. However, the weather forecast is not good. A cold front will pass through the area right around the time practice is scheduled to start. As a result, there is a high chance of rain during the session and potential thunderstorms. Coverage of the OnlyBulls Green Flag 150 is scheduled to start at Noon ET Saturday on FOX. The green flag will fly around 12:20 p.m. ET. - Today is the first day of on-track activity for the NTT IndyCar Series. They are scheduled to have a 90-minute practice session today at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS2. Practice No. 2 is scheduled for 9:35 a.m. ET Saturday morning with live coverage on FOX Sports 1. Qualifying will be after the Truck race at 4:30 p.m. ET on FS2. Sunday will start off with a warmup session at 9:05 a.m. ET. That will air live on FS1 as a run-up to the Firestone Indy NXT season
opener. Coverage of the Firestone Indy Grand Prix of St. Petersburg will begin at Noon ET Sunday on FOX. After a little pre-race coverage, the green flag is scheduled to fall at 12:29 p.m. ET. - In Austin, IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge will run as the teritary series
this weekend. Teams are scheduled for two 40-minute practice sessions at 1 p.m. ET and 3 p.m. ET. Qualifying is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET tonight. Teams will have two races on Saturday. Coverage of Race No. 1 wiil start at 12:25 p.m. ET after Cup qualifying. Race No. 2 will be at 6:25 p.m. ET after the Focused Health 250k. Both races. Both races will stream live on both the IMSA Official YouTube channel and Peacock. FOLLOW THE FRONTSTRETCH THIS WEEKEND THROUGH OUR COLLEAGUES: AUSTIN: ST. PETERSBURG: Also, don't forget to follow our Twitter page, @Frontstretch as well for updates on Austin! |
Around the World in Motorsports: Feb. 26 |
- Kellymoss announced Thursday that they will supplement their GT World Challenge America powered by AWS effort this year with a three-car effort in Pirelli GT4 America SprintX. This will be a first for the team in Pirelli GT4 America, although they have previously competed in IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, winning the 2024 BMW M Endurance Challenge at Daytona. In
Pro-Am, Eric Filguerias is back in the series after a year away. He is a former two-time champion in the Silver class (2022 and 2024 with Rennsport One). He will share a PorscheCayman GT4 CS with Tom Kopczynski, who has previously raced in GT America. A second Pro-Am entry will be shared by Erika Hoffmann and Jack Parriott. Parriott is the son of Todd Parriott, who was
previously announced as a driver of one of the team's Porsche 911 GT3 Rs in GT World Challenge America powered by AWS. Both drivers come out of the Porsche Sprint Challenge as Hoffmann raced Carrera Cup while Parriott won the Porsche Sprint Challenge USA West Pro-Am title.
The third car, which will race in the Silver class, will be shared by Ashley Freiberg and Loni Unser. Freiberg has
competed in GT4 equipment since 2014, winning on debut in Pilot Challenge with Fall-Line Motorsports. She added a second win at Road Atlanta in 2015, sharing a BMW M3 with Trent Hindman in rainy conditions. She also has six career starts in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (three in GTD, three in PC). Her best finish was second in GTD in the 12 Hours of
Sebring in 2016.
Unser comes from Mazda MX-5 Cup and Porsche Sprint Challenge. Both drivers have previously competed together in Porsche Sprint Challenge. - McCumbee-McAleer Racing announced Thursday that they will be supplementing their full-time effort in IMSA Michelin Pilot
Challenge by also entering a Ford Mustang GT4 in Pirelli GT4 America SprintX in 2026. The No. 48 will be shared by Jenson Altzman and Zach Lee. Altzman has driven for the team in Pilot Challenge since 2023. In 30 career starts, he has one career victory (Road America last year) and five podium finishes. He finished fourth in Grand Sport points last year.
Lee comes to the team from Mustang Challenge, where he has claimed nine class victories.
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Frontstretch Folio: DuraMAX Texas Grand Prix
by Phil Allaway
This weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series makes their third visit to Circuit of the Americas near Austin for the DuraMAX Texas Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas. Coverage is scheduled to start with NASCAR RaceDay at 2 p.m. ET on FOX. Race coverage starts at 3 p.m. ET. The green should fly around 3:15 p.m. ET. Radio coverage will be provided by local PRN radio affiliates and
SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).
Records and facts Last year's EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix came down to a four-way battle between Kyle Busch, William Byron, Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick. Busch led until he effectively ran the tires off of his Chevrolet. That allowed Bell to slip past in turn 15 with six laps to go. From there, Bell was able to hold off a charging Byron and Reddick to take the victory. It was his second straight victory. Bell won by .433 seconds over Byron. Reddick was third, then Chase Elliott, who was on fresher tires and had to charge through the field to finish fourth. Busch was fifth. In the five previous races at Circuit of the Americas, there has never been a repeat winner. The previous events have been won by Elliott, Reddick, Byron, Bell and Ross Chastain. Track Facts
Track / Race Length: 2.4-mile road course, 95 laps (228
miles)
Banking: varies Grandstand Seating: 120,000 Pit Road Speed: 35 mph
Pace Car Speed: 45 mph
Opened: 2012 Website: http://www.circuitoftheamericas.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CircuitofTheAmericas Twitter: https://twitter.com/COTA Pre-Race Schedule: Practice: Saturday, Feb. 28, 10 - 10:50 a.m. ET on Amazon Prime Video Qualifying: Saturday, Feb. 28, 11:10 a.m. ET on Amazon Prime Video Say
What? "Man, every time we come back to COTA it just gets better. The new layout really makes the corners come alive, it’s exciting for the fans, and honestly, it’s just as exciting for me in the car. You’ve got to be aggressive, you’ve got to be precise, and that’s what makes this place special. For me, the new 20-turn layout is more technical and strategic, keeping me more focused with every lap. I am
excited to get back out there." - Daniel Suarez "COTA is just super-fun, especially since they shortened the course. I really enjoy the shortened course. It has created really good racing and has a short track type feel to it now. Except for the frontstretch you don’t really have straightaways anymore. It’s just so unique. You’ve got a new passing zone now with turn 6A, that cut
through is a great passing zone and as a driver. And as a driver you’re doing more: you’re turning more and you’re in a corner more often. It’s a lot of fun." - Connor Zilisch "I’m looking forward to going to COTA. Obviously having a road course early in the season is beneficial, especially for me with my background in sports cars and road-course racing. The first handful of races are
places we have had success, even though Daytona and Atlanta didn’t play out the way we wanted. We had some good speed and opportunities on the two drafting tracks so far, but now we can learn where we have improved our road-course program from last year. We had three top-five finishes on road courses and a penalty at COTA last year potentially cost us a fourth, but this weekend we will have a lot of opportunities to score some big points, and race for a win with Katz Coffee onboard." -
Michael McDowell "I like it. I think it’s gonna be a completely different race from last year just because of the tire and the tire degradation and how you have to position yourself through that. I think there are still quite a few unknowns, but I think it showed last year at the Roval that qualifying matters, but you can still make a good day out of something if you
don’t have track position." - Ryan Preece Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.
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