Frontstretch Newsletter: May 20, 2021
Volume: XV, Edition LXXIX
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- In Indianapolis, NTT IndyCar Series teams will be back on-track for six more hours of practice starting at Noon ET. The session will be streamed live on Peacock, which is an interesting way to get through the day if you're working from home.
- Formula 1 teams are practicing today in Monaco. Normally, Free Practice sessions during Formula 1 weekends are on Fridays, but in Monaco, Friday is for the schmoozing. Coverage of Free Practice No. 2 begins at 8:55 a.m. on ESPNU.
- Today, teams are still at the shop, continuing their preparations for this weekend's action in Dover. If anything of note breaks, we'll have it for you at Frontstretch.
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Around the World in Motorsports: May 19-20
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- Red Bull's Sergio Perez was fastest in Free Practice No. 1 at Monaco with a lap at 103.000 mph. This was one-eighth of a second faster than Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr. Max Verstappen was third, followed by AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly and Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton.
The session was not without incident as Alpine F1's Fernando Alonso hit the wall exiting the Anthony Noghes corner to bring out the virtual safety car. Alonso was able to continue without issue.
- Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon was fastest in Day No. 2 of practice for the Indianapolis 500 with a lap at 226.829 mph. Dixon was eight-hundredths of a second faster than Conor Daly. Ed Carpenter was third quickest, then Marcus Ericsson and Tony Kanaan. Only Ericsson's lap was set in the morning hours.
- Danica Patrick, who will already be in Indianapolis an analyst for NBC Sports, will serve as the ceremonial pace car driver for the 105th running of the Indianapolis 500.
- In a bit of a throwback, members of Mike Harmon Racing's team were pulled over in Denver, N.C. Wednesday for attempting to drive one of their No. 74 Chevrolets to a dyno on public roads. Since Xfinity
Series cars are not exactly road legal, this is frowned upon. No word on the fines that were likely issued for this citation.
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| | North Carolina Gov. Plans $30 Million Funding
for Charlotte, Rockingham, North Wilkesboro
North Carolina governor Roy Cooper announced Wednesday that $45 million of the funds that North Carolina will receive from the American Rescue Plan of 2021 (signed into law in March) will go towards expanding motorsports and
outdoor event opportunities in the state. Two-thirds of that money ($30 million) will go towards renovations at three race tracks in the state.
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| | Fastenal Staying With Roush Fenway Through
2024
Roush Fenway Racing announced Wednesday that they have re-signed Fastenal to continue their sponsorship of the No. 17 Ford (currently driven by Chris Buescher) through the 2024 season.
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| | Justin Haley Cleared to Return at
COTA
Kaulig Racing announced Wednesday that Justin Haley has been cleared by his doctors to race this weekend at Circuit of the Americas after sitting out last week due to contact tracing.
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| | eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series: James
Davison Wins on Virtual COTA
Rick Ware Racing's James Davison dominated the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series event Wednesday night at the virtual Circuit of the Americas. Davison led nearly flag-to-flag from pole and won by 18 seconds over
Anthony Alfredo. William Byron was 37 seconds back in third, then Tyler Reddick and Chris Buescher.
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| | Greg Biffle, Scott Speed, Scott Bloomquist
Join SRX
Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) announced Wednesday that Greg Biffle, Scott Speed and Scott Bloomqvist will race in the Saturday night series on a part-time basis this summer.
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Photos are courtesy of NASCAR Media via Getty Images, Nigel Kinrade Photography and iRacing.
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Frontstretch Line of the Week
"We have a good thing going on at Front Row Motorsports right now, and the [No.] 34 car has been making solid gains the last few years, and I feel like last year was a breakout season for us. People are just starting to kind of recognize it now, but last year was a solid year for us, and we were more competitive than we’ve ever
been. And we had speed to race inside the top 15, in the top 20 the majority of the time, so we felt like, as a group, we were getting close, that we are kind of embarking into that next phase of where we could run. And so it’s been a lot of fun at the shop, everybody’s working hard. We got good momentum and confidence." - Michael McDowell on how things are
for him at Front Row Motorsports.
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