Frontstretch Newsletter: Oct. 26, 2020
Volume: XIV, Edition CLVII
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Around the World in Motorsports: Oct. 23-25
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- Porsche GT Team's Earl Bamber, Nick Tandy and Laurens Vanthoor took the overall honors Sunday in the Total 24 Hours of Spa. Tandy was able to hold on with a very sick Porsche (it sounded like a used car on it's final legs due to an engine problem) in the closing
laps. Audi Sport Team Attempto was second, then Dinamic Motorsport's No. 54 Porsche and GPX Racing's Porsche. The majority of the race was run in the wet after intermittent rain showers plagued the weekend.
Other IMSA and SRO America notables include Frederic Makowiecki in eighth overall in a Porsche, Dane Cameron, Renger van der Zande and Mario Farnbacher ninth in an Acura NSX GT3 Evo (billed as a Honda), and K-PAX Racing's No. 3 Bentley in
10th.
- Sting Ray Robb and Hunter McElrea split the two Indy Pro 2000 presented by Cooper Tires races at St. Petersburg last weekend. Robb won the championship, earning himself a scholarship that will see him race full-time in Indy Lights next season. Devlin
DeFrancesco was second in points, then Danial Frost, Artem Petrov and McElrea.
- In Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship action in St. Petersburg, Kiko Porto and Christian Brooks each claimed victories. Christian Rasmussen finished 5th and 19th last weekend, but that was still enough for him to win the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship. He'll be
able to advance up to Indy Pro 2000 presented by Cooper Tires next year.
- The IMSA Porsche GT3 Challenge Cup was back in action this past weekend in St. Petersburg. Kelly-Moss Road and Race's Jeff Kingsley swept both races and takes a 31-point lead into the final two races of the season at Sebring in November. He has just short of
one full race over Moorespeed's Riley Dickinson, who finished in both St. Petersburg races and is the only driver that can still win the championship.
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- With some luck, the NASCAR Cup Series' Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 will get back underway at 10 a.m. ET after adverse weather resulted in the race being red-flagged after 52 laps. The forecast is not great, though. The race will be on NBCSN
when it gets going. We'll have a recap for you once the race finishes, whether that is today or tomorrow.
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| | Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 Postponed to Monday
A combination of light rain, fog and mist forced NASCAR to postpone the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 to Monday after 52 laps.
The race will resume at 10 a.m. ET.
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| | Precipitation Delays Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 NASCAR Cup Series Race
The red flag was thrown after 52 laps due to precipitation. When the race restarts, Clint Bowyer will be leading. Pole sitter
Kevin Harvick found trouble early when he hit the wall exiting turn 2 and was forced to pit under green.
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| | Martin Truex Jr. Fails Texas Pre-Race Inspection, Loses Points
Martin Truex Jr. ran into trouble prior to the start of Sunday's Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 when his rear spoiler was determined
not to be up to spec. He was penalized 20 points while crew chief James Small was given the heave-ho for the day. He'll still have to sit out the rescheduled remainder of the race.
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| | Matt Tifft, BJ McLeod Operating Cup Charter in 2021
BJ McLeod Motorsports and Matt Tifft announced Friday that they have teamed up to acquire half of the charter currently used by Go FAS
Racing. The team will compete full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2021.
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| | Last-Lap, Last-Gasp Pass For Harrison Burton Wins NXS Race at Texas
Harrison Burton was able to drive to the inside of Noah Gragson in turn 4 on the final lap and get past to win the O'Reilly Auto Parts 300
at Texas Motor Speedway for his third win of the year. Gragson was second, then Anthony Alfredo, Austin Cindric and Brandon Brown in a career-best fifth.
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| | Noah Gragson Loses Lead in Final Corner, Misses Win at Texas
JR Motorsports' Noah Gragson was in position to rectify the issues he had in Kansas and lock himself into the Championship 4
Saturday. However, he got a little tight in turn 4 and that was all Harrison Burton needed to deny Gragson the spoils of victory.
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| | Late-Race Wreck Ruins Ross Chastain, Brandon Jones, Justin Allgaier Playoff Runs
Saturday saw Ross Chastain leading with 25 laps to go on a restart. Shortly afterwards, he was wrapped up in a crash with Justin
Allgaier, Brandon Jones and Jeremy Clements. While Chastain was the only one of the four to finish the race, his day was ruined.
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| | Sheldon Creed Seals Dominating Texas Truck Series Win, Spot in Championship 4
GMS Racing's Sheldon Creed led 131 of 152 laps Sunday to win a rough SpeedyCash.com 400 at Texas Motor Speedway and lock himself into
the Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Championship 4. Austin Hill was second, followed by Zane Smith, Raphael Lessard and Brett Moffitt.
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| | ‘KBM Trucks Run Over Everybody’: Ben Rhodes Among Drivers Angry As Wrecks Mar Texas Truck Race
ThorSport Racing's Ben Rhodes had an eventful day on Sunday, wrecking Christian Eckes in the closing laps, then apparently getting
dumped on the final lap by Chandler Smith. After the race, Rhodes blamed the Kyle Busch Motorsports teammates, questioning their talents in the process.
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| | Sheldon Creed, Tyler Ankrum Returning to GMS in 2021
GMS Racing announced Friday that both Sheldon Creed and Tyler Ankrum have signed contract extensions that will see them (along with Zane
Smith) stay with the team in the Camping World Truck Series in 2021.
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| | Scott Dixon Takes IndyCar Championship, Josef Newgarden Wins at 2020 St. Pete Grand Prix
Team Penske's Josef Newgarden did everything he had to do Sunday, winning the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. It was not
enough to prevent Scott Dixon from winning his sixth NTT IndyCar Series championship. Patricio O'Ward was second, then Dixon, Sebastien Bourdais and Ryan Hunter-Reay.
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| | Carvana to Sponsor Jimmie Johnson in 2021 IndyCar Season
Chip Ganassi Racing announced Saturday that Carvana, a car seller known for online car sales and "car vending machines," will serve as the
primary sponsor for Jimmie Johnson's part-time schedule in the NTT indyCar Series in 2021.
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| | Scott McLaughlin To Run Full 2021 IndyCar Season With Team Penske
Team Penske announced Friday that Scott McLaughlin will leave the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship to race full-time in the NTT
IndyCar Series in 2021. He'll drive a fourth Penske entry. In addition, the DJR Team Penske partnership will also end.
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| | Takuma Sato to Return to RLL Racing in 2021
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing announced Friday that Takuma Sato will return for a fourth straight season (fifth overall) in the team's
No. 30 entry in 2021.
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| | Lewis Hamilton Breaks Michael Schumacher’s F1 Win Record with Portuguese GP Victory
Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton won the Grand Prix of Portugal at the Algarve International Circuit Sunday for his record-breaking 92nd Grand
Prix victory. Valtteri Bottas was second, then Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly.
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| | Inside A Remarkable Recovery For Sergio Perez
Racing Point's Sergio Perez had a very interesting day Sunday in Portugal. He started in fifth and had a great start. Contact
with Max Verstappen resulted in a spin that dropped him to the rear of the field. Perez then charged back to finish seventh.
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Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, NASCAR Media via Getty Images, INDYCAR Media, Mercedes-AMG F1, BWT Racing Point F1 and Chris Graythen of Getty Images.
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Seeking the Xfinity Series Championship: Chase Briscoe Holds Onto Advantage Despite Mechanical Issues
by Phil Allaway
Chase Briscoe likely had one of the best cars Saturday in Texas, but a broken shock led to a flat right rear tire
early in the race. After time in the garage, Briscoe came back to finish 24th. Given the problems everyone else had, he minimized his losses. The points lead is down to 30 over Austin Cindric, who finished fourth. Justin Allgaier is down one place to third after being eliminated in a late crash and finishing 26th. Justin Haley is up one place to fourth after finishing seventh.
Haley is the last man currently in the Championship 4. He has a four-point advantage over Brandon Jones. Jones ran very well, but got eliminated in the same crash as Allgaier and finished 25th. Ross
Chastain was in the same crash as Jones and Allgaier, but managed to finish 16th. He held onto sixth in the standings, but lost a little ground to fourth. Noah Gragson was about a quarter of a mile from locking into the Championship 4 before losing out. Instead of being locked in, he only moves up to seventh, 24 points out of fourth. That hurts. Ryan Sieg had mechanical issues and went to the garage early. A 31st-place finish puts him 43
points out of fourth.
Outside of the playoffs, Harrison Burton's victory keeps him in ninth. He has a 32-point lead on Michael Annett, who finished sixth. Brandon Brown dropped a spot to 11th despite finishing in a
career-best fifth. Riley Herbst crashed out and is now 67 points behind his teammate.
Of those who never qualified for the playoffs, Jeremy Clements still leads that group. He earned seven stage points, but crashed out with Jones and Allgaier, which put him back to a 27th-place finish. Alex
Labbe finished 11th and made some small gains. Josh Williams had his third top 10 in the last four races Saturday to move back up to 15th. Anthony Alfredo and the idle Daniel Hemric are tied for 16th.
Round of 8 Point Standings: 1) Chase Briscoe 3133, 2) Austin Cindric -30, 3) Justin Allgaier
-36, 4) Justin Haley -40, 5) Brandon Jones -44, 6) Ross Chastain -55, 7) Noah Gragson -64, 8) Ryan Sieg -83.
Note No. 1: Drivers in Bold have locked into the Championship 4.
Note No. 2: Drivers in italics are currently at risk of elimination.
Regular Season Point Standings (1-16): 1) Austin Cindric 1290, 2) Chase Briscoe -20, 3) Ross
Chastain -56, 4) Noah Gragson -116, 5) Justin Haley -212, 6) Justin Allgaier -235, 7) Harrison Burton -251, 8) Brandon Jones -325, 9) Michael Annett -386, 10) Ryan Sieg -497, 11) Riley Herbst -524, 12) Brandon Brown -602, 13) Jeremy Clements -675, 14) Alex Labbe -707, 15) Josh Williams -723, t-16) Daniel Hemric -747,
t-16) Anthony Alfredo -747.
Best of the Rest: 9) Harrison Burton 2160, 10) Michael Annett -32, 11) Brandon Brown -34, 12)
Riley Herbst -67, 13) Jeremy Clements -1545, 14) Alex Labbe -1577, 15) Josh Williams -1593, t-16) Daniel Hemric -1617, t-16) Anthony Alfredo -1617, 18) Myatt Snider -1633, 19) Jesse Little -1656, 20) Tommy Joe Martins -1703, 21) BJ McLeod -1754, 22) Jeffrey Earnhardt -1757.
Playoff Points: 1) Chase Briscoe 67, 2) Austin Cindric -17, 3) Justin Allgaier -34, 4) Noah
Gragson -42, 5) Justin Haley -44, 6) Brandon Jones -46, 7) Ross Chastain -57, 8) Ryan Sieg -65.
Stage Points: 1) Austin Cindric 398, 2) Chase Briscoe -50, 3) Ross Chastain -51, 4) Justin
Allgaier -68, 5) Noah Gragson -94, 6) Justin Haley -165, 7) Brandon Jones -182, 8) Harrison Burton -195, 9) Riley Herbst -264, 10) Michael Annett -267, t-11) Daniel Hemric -281, t-11) Ryan Sieg -281, 13) Anthony Alfredo -318, 14) Jeb Burton -349, 15) Brandon Brown -360, 16) AJ Allmendinger -369.
Note: If he were eligible for points, Kyle Busch would be 14th in stage points.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Chase Briscoe 1070, 2) Austin Cindric -32, 3) Ross Chastain -38, 4)
Noah Gragson -51, 5) Justin Haley -98, 6) Harrison Burton -104, 7) Michael Annett -170, 8) Brandon Jones -189, 9) Justin Allgaier -199, 10) Ryan Sieg -260, 11) Brandon Brown -293, 12) Riley Herbst -306, 13) Jeremy Clements -346, 14) Josh Williams -380, 15) Alex Labbe -387, 16) Myatt Snider -435.
Race Winners: Noah Gragson (Daytona-1, Bristol), Chase Briscoe (Las Vegas-1, Darlington-1, Homestead-2, Pocono,
Indianapolis, Dover-2, Bristol-2, Las Vegas-2, Kansas-2), Harrison Burton (Fontana, Homestead-1, Texas-2), Brandon Jones (Phoenix, Kansas-1, Darlington-2), Kyle Busch (Charlotte), AJ Allmendinger (Atlanta, Charlotte-2), Justin Haley (Talladega-1, Daytona-3, Talladega-2). Austin Cindric (Kentucky-1, Kentucky-2, Texas-1, Road America, Daytona-2), Justin Allgaier (Dover-1, Richmond-1, Richmond-2)
Note: Race wins in Italics do not count towards playoff eligibility.
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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Seeking the Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Championship: Sheldon Creed Locks Into Championship 4, Expands Points Lead
by Phil Allaway
Sheldon Creed led all but 21 laps Sunday at Texas, but he had to fight for it in order to claim his fourth win of
2020 and lock into the Championship 4. He also managed to extend his points lead to 19 over Austin Hill, who finished third Sunday. Zane Smith stays in third after finishing third. He is the last driver in the Championship 4 on points at the moment. Brett Moffitt stays in fourth after finishing fifth.
Matt Crafton is the first driver on the outside of the Championship 4 looking in. He is currently five points
behind Moffitt, but 12 behind Zane Smith for the last spot on points after finishing sixth. Grant Enfinger had a very ill-timed engine failure Sunday and finished 32nd. That dropped him from fifth, seven points out to sixth, 42 points out. Ben Rhodes finished 20th after crashing on the final lap. He's now 45 points behind Smith and has angered a number of drivers. Tyler Ankrum finished 16th and is now more than a full race behind
Smith.
Outside of the playoffs, Christian Eckes was eliminated in a crash after contact with Rhodes. He finished 25th and stays in ninth. Todd Gilliland was also eliminated in a crash after contact with Rhodes
and is now 51 points behind Eckes. Of those who never qualified for the playoffs, Derek Kraus is still best in class after a ninth-place finish. He's 102 points ahead of Raphael Lessard, who finished fourth.
Tanner Gray is up one place to 13th after finishing 10th, but he had his own issues with contact. Johnny
Sauter is 14th after crashing with Stewart Friesen while racing for the lead. Unlike Friesen, he managed to finish 23rd. Friesen was done for the day and finished 28th. He's still in 15th. Austin Wayne Self earned his first top 10 finish (a seventh) of the year Sunday and stays in 16th.
Round of 8 Point Standings: 1) Sheldon Creed 3142, 2) Austin Hill -19, 3) Zane Smith -34, 4) Brett Moffitt -41, 5) Matt Crafton -46, 6) Grant Enfinger
-76, 7) Ben Rhodes -79, 8) Tyler Ankrum -113.
Note No. 1: Drivers in bold have locked into the Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Championship 4.
Note No. 2: Drivers in italics in the point standing sections are in danger of being eliminated.
Best of the Rest (9-20): 9) Christian Eckes 2159, 10) Todd Gilliland -51, 11) Derek Kraus -1555, 12) Raphael Lessard -1657, 13) Tanner Gray -1676, 14) Johnny Sauter
-1687, 15) Stewart Friesen -1735, 16) Austin Wayne Self -1818, 17) Tate Fogelman -1848, 18) Ty Majeski -1860, 19) Jordan Anderson -1869, 20) Chandler Smith -1881.
Regular Season Point Standings (1-16): 1) Austin Hill 829, 2) Brett Moffitt -11, 3) Sheldon Creed -52, 4) Zane Smith -72, 5) Ben Rhodes -100, 6)
Matt Crafton -124, 7) Christian Eckes -150, 8) Grant Enfinger -170, 9) Tyler Ankrum -222, 10) Derek Kraus -225, 11) Todd Gilliland -259, 12) Raphael Lessard -327, 13) Tanner Gray -346, 14) Johnny Sauter -357, 15) Stewart Friesen -405, 16) Austin Wayne Self -488.
Note No. 1: Drivers in bold have locked into the Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Championship 4.
Note No. 2: Drivers in italics in the point standing sections are not in the playoffs.
Playoff Points: 1) Sheldon Creed 30, 2) Austin Hill -2, 3) Zane Smith -8, 4) Brett Moffitt -9, 5) Grant Enfinger -11, 6) Ben Rhodes -16, 7) Matt
Crafton -21, 8) Tyler Ankrum -27.
Stage Points: 1) Brett Moffitt 219, 2) Sheldon Creed -10, 3) Austin Hill -15, 4) Zane Smith -17,
5) Ben Rhodes -41, 6) Christian Eckes -43, 7) Matt Crafton -70, 8) Tyler Ankrum -94, 9) Todd Gilliland -102, 10) Grant Enfinger -114, 11) Derek Kraus -118, 12) Johnny Sauter -146, 13) Chandler Smith -177, 14) Raphael Lessard -178, 15) Stewart Friesen -190, 16) Sam Mayer -193.
Note: If everyone were eligible for stage points, Ross Chastain would be 13th in points, while Kyle Busch would be 14th.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Austin Hill 554, 2) Brett Moffitt -13, 3) Sheldon Creed -53, 4) Ben Rhodes -68, 5) Zane Smith -71, 6) Matt Crafton -75,
7) Grant Enfinger -80, 8) Derek Kraus -120, 9) Christian Eckes -123, 10) Tyler Ankrum -154, 11) Raphael Lessard -174, 12) Tanner Gray -176, 13) Todd Gilliland -177, 14) Johnny Sauter -224, 15) Stewart Friesen -235, 16) Austin Wayne Self -299.
Race Winners: Grant Enfinger (Daytona-1, Atlanta, Richmond), Kyle Busch (Las Vegas-1, Homestead, Texas-1), Chase Elliott (Charlotte), Brandon Jones (Pocono), Sheldon Creed (Kentucky, Daytona-2, Gateway,
Texas-2)), Austin Hill (Kansas-1, Las Vegas-2), Matt Crafton (Kansas-2), Zane Smith (Michigan, Dover), Ben Rhodes (Darlington), Sam Mayer (Bristol), Raphael Lessard (Talladega), Brett Moffitt (Kansas-3).
Note: Race wins in Italics do not count towards playoff eligibility.
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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Letter of the Race: Sunday's
Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 was brought to you by the letter M for Mist. If you looked at the radar Sunday afternoon, you would have wondered just what was going on in Denton County. There was all but nothing on it. However, the race was red-flagged due to a persistent heavy mist and fog. That later developed into a persistent light rain, which led to the postponement. - Phil Allaway
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