Frontstretch Newsletter: Joe Gibbs Racing, GMS Racing Shore Up Lineups; Lewis Hamilton Clinches 7th World Title

Published: Mon, 11/16/20

Frontstretch Newsletter: Nov. 16, 2020
Volume: XIV, Edition CLXXII

Editor's Note:

With NASCAR now in their offseason, we are cutting back the Newsletter to once a week. We will still have news as it breaks at Frontstretch and we'll have a weekly news recap here in the Newsletter. We'll also update you on Frontstretch's plans for the offseason once they become available. It should be quite interesting. We thank you for your continued support of the Frontstretch Newsletter, now in it's 14th year. Have a great day.

Phil Allaway

Newsletter Manager, Frontstretch.com

Around the World in Motorsports: Nov. 14-16

- Toyota GAZOO Racing's Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez dominated Saturday's Bapco 8 Hours of Bahrain to win over the sister No. 8 Toyota by 64.594 seconds. That also gave Conway, Kobayashi and Lopez the LMP World Drivers Championship.

Aston Martin Racing's Marco Sorensen and Nicki Thiim won the World Endurance GTE Drivers Championship after finishing fifth in the GTE-Pro class. In GTE-Am, AF Corse's Emmanuel Collard, Nicklas Nielsen and Francois Perrodo finished second in class with their Ferrari 488 GT3 to claim the GTE Am Drivers Endurance Trophy.

- AF Corse's Tom Blomqvist, Come Ledogar and Alessandro Pier Guidi claimed victory in Sunday's Paul Ricard 1000k, the final round of the 2020 GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup. Their margin of victory was 1.69 seconds over the GPX Racing Porsche of Matt Campbell, Mathieu Jaminet and Patrick Pilet.

Pier Guidi's victory earned him the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup championship. The Pro-am Championship went to Garage 59's Chris Goodwin and Alexander West in their Aston Martin. The Silver championship went to Barwell Motorsport's Patrick Kujala, Alex MacDowall and Frederik Schandorff, while the Amateur title went to CMR's Stephane Tribaudini.

Timur Boguslavskiy won the overall GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS championship (Endurance and Sprint). Sky-Tempesta Racing's Eddie Cheever III and Chris Froggatt won the Pro-am title, while Ezequiel Perez Companc won the Silver championship.

- Championship contenders Riley Dickinson (Moorespeed) and Jeff Kingsley (Kelly-Moss Road & Race) split the two IMSA Porsche GT3 Challenge Cup races Friday at Sebring International Raceway. Kingsley won the final IMSA Porsche GT3 Challenge Cup championship by 31 points over Dickinson. For 2021, the championship will be replaced by the new Porsche Carrera Cup North America.

- US RaceTronics' Steven Aghakhani and Jacob Eidson swept Friday's Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America races at Sebring International Raceway.. In the championship standings, Madison Snow is the Pro champion, Madison's younger brother McKay and Corey Lewis won the Pro-am championship, Victor Gomez, IV, won the Am championship, and Randy Sellari won the LB Cup championship.

What to Watch:

- Today is the first day of NextGen testing at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr. will be testing on the ROVAL today. On Wednesday, they'll be testing on the quad-oval.

- Wednesday night will have a special awards ceremony for all three of NASCAR's National Series, in lieu of the actual banquets, which have been cancelled. This will be aired Wednesday night on NBCSN at 8:30 p.m.

- The Athletic's Richard Deitsch is reporting that Jamie Little will likely be named as the new play-by-play commentator for FOX Sports' coverage of the ARCA Menards Series at some point this week. If so, Little would be the first female play-by-play commentator for a major racing series. We'll have more on this in Couch Potato Tuesday.

- The Trans-Am Series presented by Pirelli will be racing this weekend at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta for their second to last race weekend of the year. There are some interesting drivers on the entry list (Ex: Ray Evernham in a Mike Cope entry in TA2). Streaming will be available through the Trans-Am Series app.

TV Schedule: Here

Today's Top News:

Harrison Burton Returning to Joe Gibbs Racing in 2021

Joe Gibbs Racing confirmed Friday that Harrison Burton will return to the No. 20 Toyota in the Xfinity Series full-time in 2021. Burton finished eighth in points after winning four races.

Chase Purdy to Compete Full Time for GMS Racing in 2021

GMS Racing announced Friday that Chase Purdy will drive for the team full-time in the soon-to-be Camping World Truck Series in 2021, replacing the departed Brett Moffitt.

Lewis Hamilton Wins 7th World Title with Turkish Grand Prix Win

In a wet race at Istanbul Park, Lewis Hamilton managed to make a set of intermediate tires last over 50 laps on a drying track to win the Grand Prix of Turkey and clinch his seventh World Championship. Sergio Perez was second, then Sebastian Vettel, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr.

What Went Wrong for Lance Stroll

Sunday started out great for Racing Point's Lance Stroll. He started from his first career pole and ran well early. Then, his tires wore out, forcing him to stop for a second set of intermediates. Those tires grained immediately and Stroll began a free fall, eventually finishing more than a minute back in ninth.

Mazda Motorsports Claims Victory in Wild Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring

The No. 55 Mazda RT24-P of Harry Tincknell, Jonathan Bomarito and Ryan Hunter-Reay took the lead with 28 minutes to go Saturday when the sister Mazda cut a tire. Tincknell held on to win the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring presented by Advance Auto Parts. Acura Team Penske's Helio Castroneves and Ricky Taylor won the DPi championship.

Turner Motorsport Claims Alan Jay Automotive Network 120 Victory; KohR Motorsports Claims Title

Turner Motorsport's Robby Foley and Cameron Lawrence (driving in place of Bill Auberlen) claimed victory in Friday's Alan Jay Automotive Network 120 at Sebring. Kyle Marcelli and Nate Stacy of KohR Motorsports won the Grand Sport championship.

SRX Announces First Track for 2021 Schedule: Eldora

The new for 2021 Superstar Racing Experience announced the first track on their inaugural schedule Friday. It will be Eldora Speedway in Ohio.

Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, IMSA, James Moy of Rolex and BWT Racing Point.

Have news for Frontstretch? Don't hesitate to let us know; email us at frontstretcheditors@googlegroups.com with a promising lead or tip.

Today at Frontstretch:

Josh Reaume’s Suspension a Reminder That Ignorance Has No Bounds

by Zach Sturniolo

F1 Review: Lewis Hamilton Makes History in an Improbable Turkish Grand Prix

by Alex Gallacher

This Week at Frontstretch.com:

We'll have a number of articles for you. We'll take a look at NBC Sports' coverage from Sebring, more fallout from Turkey and more.

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