Frontstretch Newsletter: Valtteri Bottas, Max Verstappen Fastest in Hungary Practices; More COVID-19 Schedule Changes

Published: Fri, 07/30/21

Frontstretch Newsletter: July 30, 2021
Volume: XV, Edition CXXXIII

What to Watch: July 30-Aug. 1

- World of Outlaws NoS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series teams will be at Ransomville Speedway tonight for the Big "R" Outlaw Shootout. Coverage starts at 5:45 p.m. on DirtVision.com (subscription required). Saturday night sees the 410 sprints move to Weedsport Speedway in Weedsport, N.Y. for the Empire State Challenge. Coverage from Weedsport will also start at 5:45 p.m.

- World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series teams will contest the Prairie Dirt Classic at Fairbury Speedway Friday and Saturday nights. Coverage starts at 6:45 p.m. ET tonight and 6:30 p.m. Saturday on DirtVision.

- NASCAR's lower divisions are very busy. The ARCA Menards Series will be at Winchester Speedway Saturday night for the Calypso Lemonade 200. Coverage will air live on MAVTV and NBC Sports' TrackPass service at 8 p.m. ET. ARCA Menards Series West teams will be at Colorado National Speedway for the NAPA Auto Parts Colorado 150. That race will be streamed on NBC Sports' TrackPass at 10 p.m. ET.

- The Whelen Modified Tour will be at New York International Raceway Park (Lancaster Speedway) for the Nu-Way Auto Parts 150 Saturday night. That race will start at 8 p.m. on NBC Sports' TrackPass.

- Sunday also sees the start of the NASCAR Pinty's Series season with a doubleheader at Sunset Speedway. As per a new deal, the Pinty's Series season will also be streamed on TrackPass after the 2020 season was not. Coverage is scheduled to start at 4:45 p.m. ET Sunday.

- Saturday sees qualifying for the Grand Prix of Hungary at 8:55 a.m. on ESPN2. Race coverage starts Sunday with Formula 1: Grand Prix Sunday at 7:30 a.m. ET on ESPN. Race coverage starts at 8:55 sharp with the lights going out at 9:02.

- The Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS Endurance has the SRO's marquee event this weekend, the Total Energies 24 Hours of Spa. That race is scheduled to start at 10:30 a.m. ET. Coverage of the event will be flag-to-flag on the GT World YouTube channel. In addition, there will be live coverage on CBS Sports Network from 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. and 3 - 6 p.m. Saturday, along with coverage of the finish from 7 - 11 a.m. Sunday.

Also, don't forget to follow our Twitter page, @Frontstretch as well for updates!!

TV Schedule: Here

Around the World in Motorsports: July 28-30

- The FIA officially dismissed Red Bull's inquest Thursday into the Lewis Hamilton-Max Verstappen collision on the first lap at Silverstone. In the sanctioning body's statement provided by Mercedes-AMG F1 via their Twitter, Red Bull created their additional evidence in order to support their petition to review. There will be no further action taken against Hamilton.

- At the Hungaroring Friday morning, Red Bull's Max Verstappen was fastest with a lap at 126.352 mph. This lap was accomplished with the same engine that was in the car he crashed two weeks ago in Silverstone.

Verstappen was six-hundredths of a second faster than Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas. Lewis Hamilton was third, then Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr. and AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly.

The session had a red flag with 18 minutes remaining when AlphaTauri's Yuki Tsunoda spun in turn 4 and backed into the tire barriers. Tsunoda was able to walk away, but he was done for the session.

- In Free Practice No. 2, Bottas was fastest with a lap at 127.243 mph, three-hundredths of a second faster than Hamilton. Verstappen was three-tenths of a second back in third, then Alpine's Esteban Ocon and Perez. AlphaTauri was able to make repairs to Tsunoda's No. 22 to allow him to return for the second session. He would end up 17th quickest.

- AKKA-ASP's Raffaele Marciello won the pole for Saturday's Total 24 Hours of Spa Friday with a lap at 113.572 mph in his Mercedes-AMG GT3. The lap was three-tenths of a second faster than the Lamborghini of Orange 1 FFF Racing's Mirko Bortolotti. Garage 59 AMR's Nicki Thiim was third in his Aston Martin, then Haupt Racing Team's Maro Engel and Emil Frey Racing's Riccardo Feller.

- The Repco Supercars Championship announced a revised schedule Friday (Thursday night ET). In it, the rounds at Barbagallo Raceway and New Zealand's Pukehohe Park have been cancelled. The New Zealand round was cancelled due to the Trans-Tasman travel bubble between Australia and New Zealand being suspended due to COVID-19. As a result of the cancellations, the series is currently in a 10-week break before resuming at Winton Motor Raceway in early October. In addition, the Repco Bathurst 1000 has been pushed back from Oct. 10 to Nov. 7, the same day that the NASCAR Cup Series champion will be decided.

- Philippe Charissoux, team principal of KCMP, told Endurance-Info.com in an interview Wednesday that the Hong Kong-based team will enter at least one Porsche 911 GT3 R in the new GTD Pro class in January's Rolex 24 at Daytona. No word on potential drivers or the number of cars that will make the trip.

- SRO Motorsports Group CEO Stephane Ratel announced Friday at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps that the 2021 Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia Powered by AWS season has been cancelled due to COVID-19. The Asian division of SRO is a Far East-centered series. The most recent season (2019) had two rounds in Japan, along with rounds in China, Malaysia, Thailand and South Korea.

- The Super DIRTcar Series Battle of the Midway at Orange County Fair Speedway in Middletown, N.Y. was cancelled Thursday night due to the threat of severe thunderstorms. The event technically will not be made up. Instead, the series has taken over the track's Centennial 102, scheduled for Aug. 12. This was originally going to be a standalone race, the crown jewel for Orange County Fair Speedway's Modified class.

Today at Frontstretch:

4mula Burning Questions: Grabbing the (Red) Bull By the Horns

by Michael Finley

Friday Faceoff: Should Auto Racing Be An Olympic Sport?

by the Frontstretch Staff

NASCAR Needs to Reassert Control of Race Start Times

by Mike Neff

Eyes On Xfinity: A JGR ‘Star Car’ Should Include Bubba Wallace

by Brad Harrison

Reel Racing: The Top 10 Racing Films of All Time

by Adam Cheek

ARCA Preview: 2021 Calypso Lemonade 200 at Winchester

by Mark Kristl

Thinkin’ Dirty: 2021 Don Smith Classic at Terre Haute

by Bryan Keith

Monday at Frontstretch.com:

We'll have a recap of Saturday night's Calypso Lemonade 200 from Winchester and a potentially sketchy Grand Prix of Hungary.

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