Frontstretch Newsletter: March 18, 2021
Volume: XV, Edition XXXIV
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Around the World in Motorsports: March 17-18
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- The SRO announced Wednesday that the Suzuka 10 Hours, originally scheduled for the weekend of Aug. 20-22, has been cancelled for the second straight year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting travel restrictions. In addition to the restrictions, the race was also now a direct clash with the rescheduled 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The SRO indicates that a venue in the Middle East will replace Suzuka on the four-race Intercontinental GT Challenge schedule, but did not name which one. There are a few that could host an endurance race of that caliber (Bahrain
International Circuit, Dubai Autodrome, Losail in Qatar and the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi come to mind). The plan is to announce the replacement venue in the coming months.
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- NASCAR teams are continuing to prepare for Atlanta this weekend. Meanwhile, there is a full day of practice at Sebring for IMSA teams. The first race of the weekend for the Idemitsu
Mazda MX-5 Cup is scheduled for 4:15 p.m. this afternoon and will be streamed at IMSA.com and on NBC Sports' TrackPass. If anything of note breaks, we'll have it for you at Frontstretch.
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| | Autotrader Stays With Team Penske, Signs Multi-Year Extension
Team Penske announced Wednesday that they have reached a contract extension that will see AutoTrader remain
with the team for the next few years. They will have six primary sponsorships in 2021.
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| | Denny Hamlin Starting on Cup Pole at Atlanta
Denny Hamlin may not have won a race so far in 2021, but he's been the most consistent. That has
given him the pole for Sunday's Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500. Teammate Martin Truex Jr. starts second, then Team Penske teammates Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski. Hendrick Motorsports' Chase Elliott starts fifth.
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| | Kyle Larson Joins Niece at Bristol Dirt Truck Race
Niece Motorsports announced Wednesday that Kyle Larson will compete in the Pinty's Dirt Race on March 27 in
the No. 44 Chevrolet.
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| | Austin Cindric Beginning on Xfinity Pole at Atlanta
Austin Cindric's second win of the year last weekend in Phoenix has resulted in him earning the pole for
Saturday's EchoPark 250. Jeb Burton starts second, then AJ Allmendinger, Brandon Brown and Harrison Burton.
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| | Matt Jaskol to Make Xfinity Debut With MBM
MBM Motorsports announced Wednesday that Matt Jaskol has been signed to a deal to drive the No. 13 in four
upcoming Xfinity Series races.
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| | John Hunter Nemechek to Tackle Atlanta Truck Race From Pole
After his dominant performance in Las Vegas, Kyle Busch Motorsports' John Hunter Nemechek will start
Saturday's Fr8 Auctions 200 from the pole. Kyle Busch will be alongside, then Matt Crafton, Stewart Friesen and Ben Rhodes.
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Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography and Zach Catanzareti.
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Frontstretch Line of the Week
From Eyes on Xfinity: Bayley Currey Discusses Career-Best Result at Phoenix
"[We were] just kind of methodically working our way up there,” he said. “… I think we had a good car in the beginning. It was pretty hard to pass with the PJ1 up there; it was laid on pretty thick the day before, or actually even earlier in
that day, so it made it really dominant. But we were able to work on the car, get it a little bit better [and] we were able to slowly get some track position through restarts and things like that.
“… I think we were running about 12th or 13th on that last long green-flag run and we were actually running down 12th, 11th and 10th, but that caution came out. And I knew that I wanted to go to the bottom, because it kind of gives you that
opportunity to shoot across the apron, and it worked out." - Bayley Currey on his run Saturday at Phoenix.
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