TC Daily Pit Stop: Halmar Friesen Racing Fabricator Killed in ATV Accident; Reddick, 23XI Penalized Post-Darlington; Suarez Quickest in ASA Practice
TC Daily Pit Stop: Wednesday, May 17th, 2023
Jon Gurley, Halmar Friesen Racing Fabrictor, Killed in ATV Accident
Gutting news from the Halmar Friesen Racing team as Jon Gurley, a fabricator for the No. 52 team in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, has passed away following an accident on an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) in Hanover County in Virginia.
On Tuesday, Stewart Friesen issued a Tweet expressing that the team will race in honor of their fallen teammate for the rest of the 2023 season. Friesen says that Gurley, “was a true warrior here at HFR, he leaves a huge void in our team.”
A report from WRIC.com states that the accident occurred on Saturday, May 13th, and deputies from the Hanover County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a crash involving an ATV around 11:00 PM ET.
Gurley, who was driving the vehicle at the time of the accident, was transported to VCU Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. An investigation is underway to determine what caused the crash that killed the 40-year-old.
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Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Team Docked 10 Driver and Owner Points Post-Darlington
Photo Credit: John K. Harrelson, LAT Images, Courtesy of Toyota Racing.
The busy 2023 season of penalties being issued in the NASCAR Cup Series continued on Tuesday, as NASCAR issued it’s post-Darlington Raceway penalty report.
The No. 45 23XI Racing team, which failed Goodyear 400 pre-race inspection a couple of times, was found to be in violation of Section 14.11.2.1 A of the NASCAR Cup Series rulebook. That portion of the rule book specifically pertains to ballast added to the car.
As a result of the infraction, the No. 45 team and its driver Tyler Reddick have been docked 10 driver championship and 10 owner championship points.
With the penalty factored in, Reddick drops from eighth in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings to 10th. Likewise, the No. 45 team drops from eighth in the NASCAR Cup Series owner standings to 10th.
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Daniel Suárez Edges Out Chase Elliott, William Byron in ASA STARS Final Practice at North Wilkesboro
There will be a lot of NASCAR flavor baked into the starting fields for the companion events to this weekend’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and NASCAR Cup Series races at North Wilkesboro Speedway, as NASCAR drivers are trying to get as many laps on the 0.625-mile short track, which has been off the NASCAR schedule since 1996.
Daniel Suárez has to be feeling confident about things as he paced ASA STARS National Tour final practice at North Wilkesboro Speedway, and he beat out fellow NASCAR Cup Series racers Chase Elliott (-0.044 sec.) and William Byron (-0.109 sec.).
Suárez turned an 18.934 sec. lap around the iconic short track, which equates to a 118.834 mph average speed.
Behind the NASCAR trio of Suárez, Elliott, and Byron was Bubba Pollard, regarded as one of the best short-track racers in the country, and Matt Craig rounded out the top-five fastest in the session.
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Due to Issues With Car, Harrison Burton Will Not Race CARS Tour Event at North Wilkesboro
Harrison Burton, who was set to run in Wednesday’s CARS Tour event at North Wilkesboro Speedway has had to pull out of the event due to issues with his race car. Burton Tweeted the disappointing news on Wednesday.
In the Tweet, Burton said, “Unfortunately, due to an issue with the car, it can’t be ready to run the CARS Tour race tomorrow. Disappointing for sure but this will be a great week of racing at North Wilkesboro and I can’t wait to get on track, Friday!”
As a result, Burton will not get any on-track experience at the 0.625-mile short-track before Friday’s NASCAR All-Star Open Practice session.