Frontstretch Newsletter: Front Row Motorsports Sets 2021 Lineup; INDYCAR Season to Start in Alabama

Published: Mon, 01/11/21

Frontstretch Newsletter: Jan. 11, 2021
Volume: XV, Edition II

Around the World in Motorsports: Jan. 4-10

- The Dakar Rally is now halfway done and the margins are tight. Through the seventh stage on Sunday, Honda's Jose Ignacio Cornejo is leading the Bike category by a mere one second over Red Bull KTM's Toby Price. This is despite Cornejo not winning a stage. Teammate Sam Sunderland is third, then Xavier de Soultrait and Kevin Benavides.

The Quad class sees Manuel Andujar leading by 20:55 on his Yamaha over Alexandre Giroud. Giovanni Enrico is another five minutes back in third.

The Car class sees X-Raid MINI JCW Team's Stephane Peterhansel in the overall lead. His advantage is nearly eight minutes over Qatari driver Nasser Al-Attiyah for Toyota GAZOO Racing. Carlos Sainz is 41 minutes back in third after an engine issue dropped him down the order. Jakub Przygonski is fourth, while Nani Roma has worked his way up to fifth.

Finally, it continues to be a Kamaz show in the Truck class as they go for their 17th class victory in 22 years. Dmitry Sotnikov leads overall by nearly 46 minutes over teammate Anton Shibalov. Airat Mardeev in the third Kamaz is third, 65 minutes back. The first non-Kamaz is Ales Loprais in fourth, nearly 82 minutes back. Martin Macik is fifth, another 21 minutes back.

- High Class Racing revealed their driver lineup for the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Regular drivers Dennis Andersen and Anders Fjordbach will be joined by former Formula 1 racer Robert Kubica and Ferdinand Habsburg. The team also revealed that they will be using No. 20 in the race, the same number that the team uses in the European Le Mans Series.

- K2R Motorsport's LMP2 effort for 2021 has been rebranded as WIN Autosport. This team will run Tristan Nunez and Steven Thomas for the full 2021 season, while Thomas Merrill will compete in the Michelin Endurance Cup races. Matt Bell, who drives for K2R Motorsports in Prototype Challenge, will join up for the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

- MAVTV announced Monday morning that Lucas Oil Racing TV is being re-branded as MAVTV Plus, effective immediately. This service will launch with 60 days of free access, including this weekend's Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire. After that, it will be $6.99 a month for limited access or $99.99 a year for full access to all live events and the full broadcast archive.

What to Watch: Jan. 11-17

- This week is the 35th Annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire from the River Spirit Expo in Tulsa. Six days of indoor midget racing are coming right up. Preliminary coverage has moved from RacinBoys.com to FLORacing.com for this year. That means that you can only watch it if you have a subscription. If anything, this is actually cheaper than it was at RacinBoys, where watching all the action from Tulsa could cost you over $200 for the week. Preliminary coverage from Tulsa starts tonight at 6 p.m.

MAVTV will be back with live coverage from Tulsa Saturday night starting at 8:30 p.m. Saturday night. That broadcast should cover the C-Mains, B-Mains and A-Main. Bryan Keith will recap the Chili Bowl in his weekly edition of Thinkin' Dirty next Monday. We'll also have any other news that breaks at Frontstretch for you.

TV Schedule: Here

Today's Top News:

Michael McDowell, Anthony Alfredo Driving for FRM in 2021, David Ragan Racing Daytona

Front Row Motorsports announced their driver lineup for 2021 Wednesday. Michael McDowell returns to the Love's Travel Stops No. 34, while Anthony Alfredo will replace the departed John Hunter Nemechek.

Santino Ferrucci Moving to NASCAR, Plans Part-Time Xfinity Run

Santino Ferrucci, most recently of Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan in the NTT IndyCar Series, will drive a 20-race schedule in the Xfinity Series for Sam Hunt Racing in 2021.

IndyCar Swaps Opening 2021 Race, Will Start Season at Barber

COVID-19 is still affecting race schedules. INDYCAR announced Wednesday that the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg has been pushed back to April 25. The season will start with the Honda Grand Prix of Alabama on April 11.

Raphael Lessard Now Racing Full Time for GMS in Trucks

GMS Racing announced Thursday that Raphael Lessard will now compete in the full Camping World Truck Series schedule in the No. 24 Chevrolet in 2021. Previously, he had only been signed to a 12-race deal.

Jake Griffin Running 2 Truck Dirt Races for Reaume

Reaume Brothers Racing announced Friday that they have signed Jake Griffin to compete in the two Camping World Truck Series dirt races at Bristol and Knoxville.

Cooper MacNeil, WeatherTech Racing, Join With Proton Competition for 2021

WeatherTech Racing and Proton Competition jointly announced Wednesday that WeatherTech will move up to the GT Le Mans in 2021. Cooper MacNeil will drive a Porsche 911 RSR-19 full-time with a revolving group of co-drivers.

Zach Veach Joins Vasser Sullivan For 2021

Vasser Sullivan announced Tuesday that former INDYCAR driver Zach Veach will replace Townsend Bell in the team's No. 12 Lexus full-time in 2021. He'll be teamed up with the returning Frankie Montecalvo.

HTP Winward Motorsport Moves Up to GT Daytona; Turner Motorsport, The Heart of Racing Confirm 2021 Plans

Friday saw three separate teams announce their plans for the GT Daytona class in 2021. HTP Winward Motorsport will be a first-time competitor in the class with Russell Ward, Indy Dontje, Maro Engel and Philip Ellis in their Mercedes.

Sean Creech Motorsports Announces 2021 WeatherTech Plans

IMSA Prototype Challenge team Sean Creech Motorsports announced Sunday that they are moving up and will run the full 2021 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship schedule in the LMP3 class. Joao Barbosa and Lance Willsey will be the team's full-time drivers.

DragonSpeed Confirms Second Rolex 24 Entry

Last Monday, DragonSpeed announced the driver lineup for their second car for the upcoming Rolex 24. This car will be driven by the previously announced Eric Lux, Devlin DeFrancesco, Fabian Schiller and Christopher Mies.

Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, Chris Jones of INDYCAR Media, WeatherTech Racing and IMSA. There are also photos from our own Phil Allaway and Rick Lunkenheimer.

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:

Thinkin’ Dirty, Vol. 2: 2021 Wild West Shootout & Ice Bowl

by Bryan Keith

Thursday Morning Thunder, Vol. 2 – Dirt Late Models Full Stream Ahead to Kick Off 2021

by Bryan Keith

The Podium Moments from 2020 Formula 1

by Alex Gallacher

This Week at Frontstretch.com:

This week, we'll have more news as it breaks, along with some more dirt coverage.

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