THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
April 14th, 2011
Volume V, Edition LXV
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Today's Top News
by Phil Allaway
Biffle To Stay At Roush Fenway Racing
The Charlotte Observer's Jim Utter is reporting that Greg Biffle has signed a contract extension to return to Roush Fenway Racing's No. 16 Ford for 2012 and beyond. The official announcement could come as soon as Talladega this weekend.
Such a move would not be much of a surprise, as Biffle has maintained for months he'd like to remain with his current team (recently, he was quoted as being "90 percent sure" he would return). However, he has had a lackluster start to this season which had raised a flicker of a doubt; he's currently 18th in Sprint Cup points, punctuated by some poor luck on pit road although the team did register their best finish of 2011 last weekend: a fourth at Texas.
Roush Fenway has been the only team Biffle has driven for on the Cup level. He's been a part of their program since 2003.
STP Returning to NASCAR
On Wednesday, STP announced a substantial re-introduction of their iconic brand back into NASCAR (and motorsports in general) after a recent absence. The approach will be multi-faceted, with everything from track to car sponsorship as they hit racing with the ground running once again.
Firstly, STP will serve as the primary sponsor of the inaugural STP 400 at Kansas Speedway on June 6. In addition, they will also return to the famous No. 43 and serve as the primary sponsor of A.J. Allmendinger's Ford during the race. The car will feature a retro 1972 STP paint scheme featuring the well-known "Petty Blue" and STP Day-Glo Red; it's the first time the brand has appeared on a Petty-owned car in four years.
The June race weekend is an unusual one in that the Sprint Cup Series is in Kansas while the Nationwide Series will be at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois. STP will have a presence there, too, serving as the primary sponsor of the Nationwide race on June 5. That event will be known as the STP 300.
In addition to the race sponsorships, STP has entered into multi-year track marketing deals with a number of ISC properties, including Daytona, Talladega, Chicagoland, Kansas, and Darlington. There is also a deal in place with Infineon Raceway, an SMI track.
Outside of NASCAR, STP will also serve as the primary sponsor for three events on Tony Pedregon's Funny Car (Las Vegas, Houston and Infineon Raceway), and as an associate sponsor for the remainder of the year. Finally, the new deals announced will not affect STP's existing sponsorship of Donny Schatz's No. 15 in the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series.
Retro Racing Fan Scheme to Run at Daytona in July
Tommy Baldwin Racing announced on Wednesday that for the second year in a row, the team will pay homage to a modified racing legend in July's Coke Zero 400. Last year, the team ran a special scheme in honor of nine-time NASCAR Modified Champion Richie Evans. This year, the individual that will be honored is long-time car owner and builder Len Boehler. In tribute, the team will run a scheme paying homage to "Old Blue," a somewhat dilapidated but very quick modified built from junkyard parts that raced successfully in the Northeast during the late 1960's and early 1970's.
The driver for the Coke Zero 400 will once again be Steve Park, who made his return to the Sprint Cup Series after having not started a race since 2003. Before moving to the Southeast, the Long Island-bred Park raced on the then-Featherlite Modified Tour in New England.
Like last year, the Tribute car is also a fan sponsorship initiative. Tommy Baldwin Racing's goal is to raise $100,000 in order to compete in Daytona, while any funds raised beyond that amount will be donated to Victory Junction Gang Camp.
Donations will be accepted either at www.tommybaldwinracing.com/teams/old-blue-tribute starting on Monday, April 18, or by mail. The minimum donation is $20 and people (or small businesses) can donate up to $10,000. Those who donate will have their names on the car in varying sizes based on the size of the donation. Donations of $50 or more will also get a 1/64th scale diecast of the car while those who donate $5,000 or more will receive two pit passes to the race, get to have a Meet and Greet session with Tommy Baldwin, Jr. and Park, plus will serve as honorary pit crew members during practice. Those who donate $10,000 will get the same treatment, but will get to serve as honorary crew members during the race.
Park is very excited about the special promotion.
"Lenny Boehler is a guy I always looked up to in the Modifieds. What he was able to accomplish with his race cars and the amount of time he has been involved in the division clearly makes him one of the icons in Modified racing," Park said. "Being able to run a tribute car in NASCAR and honor the heroes of our sport, the Northeast Modifieds, where Tommy and I all got our start in racing, is such an honor."
Last year, with Park at the wheel of the Evans tribute No. 36, the team was able to start the race in 39th position after time trials were canceled due to rain. In the race, Park ran a sensible event, avoided all of the crashes, and brought the No. 36 home on the lead lap in 13th.
Entry List Update:
Note: These entries are accurate as of Thursday morning. However, they are still subject to change.
Sprint Cup Series Aaron's 499: 46 cars entered
Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points:
No. 09 - Landon Cassill for Phoenix Racing
No. 21 - Trevor Bayne for Wood Brothers Racing
No. 38 - Travis Kvapil for Front Row Motorsports
No. 60 - Todd Bodine for Germain Racing
No. 87 - Joe Nemechek for NEMCO Motorsports
Driver Changes:
No. 46 - Bill Elliott is in the seat, replacing J.J. Yeley. The team is utilizing Elliott for the past champion's provisional option to automatically make the race as no other past champions entered are outside the top 35 in owner points.
No. 60 - Todd Bodine returns to the seat, replacing Mike Skinner. The team may actually go the distance this week to form a two-car tandem as a teammate to Germain's Casey Mears.
Drivers who must qualify on speed:
No. 15 - Michael Waltrip for Michael Waltrip Racing
No. 35 - Steve Park for Tommy Baldwin Racing
No. 36 - Dave Blaney for Tommy Baldwin Racing
No. 37 - Tony Raines for Front Row Motorsports/MaxQ Motorsports
No. 38 - Travis Kvapil for Front Row Motorsports
No. 46 - Bill Elliott for Whitney Motorsports (guaranteed to start via the Past Champions' Provisional)
No. 60 - Todd Bodine for Germain Racing
No. 66 - Michael McDowell for HP Racing, LLC
No. 71 - Andy Lally for TRG Motorsports
No. 87 - Joe Nemechek for NEMCO Motorsports
No. 97 - Kevin Conway for NEMCO Motorsports
Nationwide Series Aaron's 312: 46 cars entered
Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points:
No. 07 - Danny Efland for Danny Efland Racing
No. 1 - Jamie McMurray for Phoenix Racing
No. 4 - Kevin Harvick for Kevin Harvick, Inc.
No. 7 - Dale Earnhardt, Jr. for JR Motorsports
No. 18 - Kyle Busch for Joe Gibbs Racing
No. 20 - Joey Logano for Joe Gibbs Racing
No. 22 - Brad Keselowski for Penske Racing
No. 30 - James Buescher for Turner Motorsports
No. 33 - Clint Bowyer for Kevin Harvick, Inc.
No. 60 - Carl Edwards for Roush Fenway Racing
No. 99 - Michael Waltrip for Michael Waltrip Racing
Official Driver Changes:
No. 1 - Jamie McMurray is in the seat, replacing Landon Cassill.
No. 4 - Kevin Harvick is in the seat, replacing Tony Stewart.
No. 7 - Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is in the seat, replacing Josh Wise.
No. 30 - James Buescher is in the seat, replacing Jason Leffler.
No. 33 - Clint Bowyer is in the seat, replacing Paul Menard.
No. 38 - Jason Leffler returns to the seat, replacing Kasey Kahne.
No. 39 - Josh Wise returns to the seat, replacing Danny O'Quinn, Jr.
No. 68 - Carl Long returns to the seat, replacing Matt Carter.
No. 74 - Mike Harmon is in the seat, replacing J.J. Yeley.
No. 81 - Donnie Neuenberger returns to the seat, replacing Blake Koch.
No. 99 - Michael Waltrip returns to the seat, replacing David Reutimann.
No. 07 - Danny Efland for Danny Efland Racing
No. 1 - Jamie McMurray for Phoenix Racing
No. 4 - Kevin Harvick for Kevin Harvick, Inc.
No. 12 - Sam Hornish, Jr. for Penske Racing
No. 21 - Tim George, Jr. for Richard Childress Racing
No. 40 - Scott Wimmer for Key Motorsports
No. 41 - Jennifer Jo Cobb for Rick Ware Racing
No. 44 - Jeff Green for TriStar Motorsports (Guaranteed to start via the Past Champions' Provisional)
No. 49 - Dennis Setzer for Jay Robinson Racing
No. 52 - An Unknown Driver for Means Motorsports
No. 55 - Brett Rowe for Faith Motorsports
No. 68 - Carl Long for Fleur-de-Lis Motorsports
No. 70 - Shelby Howard for ML Motorsports
No. 74 - Mike Harmon for Harmon Motorsports
No. 79 - Tim Andrews for 2nd Chance Motorsports
No. 82 - Blake Koch for MacDonald Motorsports
Have news for Phil and The Frontstretch? Don't hesitate to let us know; email us at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com with a promising lead or tip.
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Hey Frontstretch Readers!
We know you love the roar of raw horsepower under the hood that powers 43 of the best drivers in the world every weekend, but did you ever wonder how the sponsor on top of that hood also contributes to keeping the sport moving? What about the contributions of official NASCAR companies? If you think they are simply writing checks, think again. Check out our newest feature - Sunday Money. This weekly Frontstretch exclusive provides you with a behind the scenes look how NASCAR, its affiliates and team sponsors approach the daunting task of keeping fans interested and excited about the sport for 38 weeks of the year.
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Editor's Note: What's Vexing Vito will not be seen this week. Vito simply didn't have anything that was Vexing him this week. Tune in next Thursday to see if something is grinding his gears.
Today's Featured Commentary
Should Jeremy Mayfield Give Up?
by Brody Jones
Depending on one's viewpoint, Jeremy Mayfield is either a misunderstood conspiracy victim or he's an attention-seeking compulsive liar. There is no middle ground nowadays, with Mayfield's seemingly endless crusade to clear his name from drug use forcing an opinion one way or the other. Nearing the two-year mark on his case, it's had more bizarre twists and turns than a Saw movie since the NASCAR positive test that stirred up a racing nation in May, 2009. Mayfield has accused his stepmother, Lisa Mayfield, at one point of lying about his alleged methamphetamine usage and even accused her of allegedly murdering his father, which led at one point to a lawsuit filed by his former stepmother for slandering her name (later dropped). He has been involved in lawsuits with former lawyers and engine suppliers. He has claimed that NASCAR's Brian France, while allegedly drinking scotch, called Mike Helton at the Indianapolis control tower and had him black-flagged in the 2006 Brickyard 400, a statement that France and even former team owner Ray Evernham have gone on record to dispute.
But the bizarre claims don't end there. He's also gone on record to say that NASCAR allegedly either fabricated the results of those drug tests or they should have been made aware of the chances of inaccurate results. And in the latest strange twist, Mayfield has claimed that NASCAR has allegedly edited his recent interview with SPEED Channel to make it look like he wasn't really saying anything because he claimed NASCAR called the network and said if they aired all of what Mayfield allegedly said, the sport's relationship with the network would be in serious jeopardy. With this latest twist, one has to wonder if Jeremy Mayfield might want to just throw in the towel because, let's be realistic, race fans… even if he wins the case, his NASCAR career is basically over, for all intents and purposes. Mayfield has even admitted this fact. So why keep trying to buck City Hall, or in this case, NASCAR?
There are two schools of thought on the subject. Mayfield's most ardent supporters have stood by him when so many have abandoned ship, and those supporters point to the tragic case of Tim Richmond, whom NASCAR admitted later on to tampering with his drug test for the 1988 Daytona Busch Clash. But what those fans need to realize is that in 1988, society did not know as much as they do now about the AIDS virus. There were very real concerns that Tim might be in a bloody accident and rescue workers could become infected as a result.
However, in this situation, Mayfield does not appear to be suffering from any debilitating diseases on the level of HIV or anything of that sort. He has tested positive for methamphetamines not once, but twice. He has claimed that taking Claritin and Adderall set off the positive test. Jon Wood, of the famous Wood Brothers family, was another driver that claimed to have a bad reaction to Adderall after a bizarre interview following an accident, which led to his eventual removal from his Busch Series ride and a one-way ticket to the land of "Where Are They Now?" But there has been some speculation that perhaps Wood was under the influence of some sort of substance that led to his removal from the car. While it was never formally proven that Wood was under the influence of any illegal substances, that speculation still exists to this day.
The other school of thought is that Mayfield is acting like a typical addict, with his rampant, bizarre denials and outright refusal to take any responsibility for what NASCAR claims that he has done. Those thoughts have only been strengthened with the same type of career-killing interviews that Charlie Sheen has become a laughing stock for. The only thing different is Mayfield hasn't declared himself a "Vatican warlock assassin" with "tiger blood" and hasn't claimed he's "duh, winning!" his court case. It's no secret that Mayfield's public denials and twisted attempts to keep his court case in the limelight of NASCAR have hurt far more than it has helped him and it's leaving NASCAR fans divided. On this other side of the fence, people wish that Mayfield, like Vanilla Ice, would just fade away into obscurity.
It seems as if Mayfield truly is damned if he keeps this case going, but he's damned if he doesn't as well. To keep pushing forward means he's only going to further alienate the public unless dramatic revelations from NASCAR change their perception over the long-term. But if he doesn't keep fighting, then it's more or less an admission of guilt. So what do you do? It's going to be a large, costly uphill battle to disprove the results of not one, but two failed drug tests. Mayfield will, in all likelihood, be black-balled from NASCAR when all the dust settles from this court case, so for race fans to hope he will one day make it back to the sport's top level is rather misguided.
But at the end of the day, the majority of race fans are tired of this mess and just want to see this whole ugly debacle come to a merciful end. Both sides are at a major impasse at this stage; Mayfield maintains his innocence while NASCAR maintains his guilt. It's a case where nobody wins; it's just when faced with little upside, it's Mayfield who loses more by not waving the white flag.
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The Critic's Annex: Porsche 250
Hello, race fans. Welcome back to the Critic's Annex, where I take an additional look at motorsports-related programming. Like this upcoming weekend's action, last weekend was very busy with five major series in action.
There were other changes as well. Normally, Mike Joy serves as a host of SPEED's Barrett-Jackson auction coverage. However, due to his responsibilities in Texas, he couldn't make the trip. SPEED drafted in Bob Varsha, their Formula One play-by-play man (who also hosts recap shows of Barrett-Jackson coverage) as Joy's replacement. Just one issue with that. Formula One was in Malaysia last weekend, meaning SPEED still needed someone to partner up with David Hobbs and Steve Matchett. Leigh Diffey, the excitable Australian who normally serves in the play-by-play role for Grand-Am races, was called up to do that race at the rip-roaring time of 4 AM Sunday morning. Diffey, who subbed in the role at least once last season as well, did fine.
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Frontstretch Line of the Week
From Vito Pugliese's Three Teams on The Verge of Victory and Utter Panic
"If you ever have an opportunity to tune into some scanner chatter at a race, do yourself a favor. Just dial up No. 22, and leave it. What follows is a mix between a 1930's radio show, and a Don Rickles bit, at speeds approaching 200 mph." - Vito Pugliese's description of a normal day in Kurt Busch's office. Apparently, that means putdowns of the highest order are the norm (but, they're done in such a way that everyone loves them).
Have a nominee for Line of the Week? Email Phil Allaway at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com and you may see yourself in this space next week!
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TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
MPM2Nite: The Next Five Into the Hall
Voices From The Heartland: Nearly Four Years Later, Judge Holds NASCAR Solely Responsible For Air Disaster
Potts' Shots Fan Q&A: The Women Standing Behind The Horsepower
by John Potts
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FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: Bobby Allison held off a hard-charging Dale Earnhardt to win the 1986 Winston 500 at Talladega. However, his crew had to make a change during the race that almost never happens nowadays. What was this change?
Check back Friday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Wednesday's Answer:
Q: Back in the mid-1980's, a popular complaint/rumor in the garage area was that the Melling Racing team (meaning, Bill Elliott's family team) built a 7/8ths scale Winston Cup car for use at Daytona and Talladega. The car was a mini-Thunderbird that fit all of NASCAR's templates at the time, but allowed the team to dominate on superspeedways. The question is simple. Is that true?
A: If Bill Elliott is to be believed, no. In his autobiography Awesome Bill From Dawsonville, Elliott says that he studied the Ranier-Lundy Racing Thunderbird after that team switched from Chevrolet to Ford during the Daytona tests in January, 1985. Apparently, the Ranier-Lundy team had split the bumper at the bottom and pulled it out, creating a "kick out."
Also, the team decided to narrow up the fenders. The result was a 205-mph pole lap for the Daytona 500 and one of the biggest butt kickings in Daytona history. In response, NASCAR enacted rule changes for Talladega that mandated a 50.5-inch roof height. Previously, the regulation was somewhat open, but there was a minimum height. Unbeknownst to most of the teams (but knownst to the Elliott's), the No. 9 was above the prior minimum and already at 50.5 inches. So as a result, the change didn't hurt Elliott at all. As you may remember, that was the event in which Elliott won despite having an oil line come loose on Lap 49, losing nearly two full laps getting repairs, then making the whole distance up without the aid of cautions.
Frontstretch Trivia Guarantee: Take the shirt off our backs! If we've provided an incorrect answer to the Frontstretch Trivia question, be the first to email the corrected trivia answer to trivia@frontstretch.com and we'll send you a Frontstretch T-Shirt ... FREE!
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Coming tomorrow in the Frontstretch Newsletter:
-- Top News by Summer Dreyer
-- Keepin' It Short by Mike Neff
-- In Case You Missed It by Brett Poirier
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, and more!
Tomorrow on the Frontstretch:
Goin' Green by Garrett Horton
So far this season, there has been a little resurgence from the Ford camp, finally free of the terrible simulations that plagued them most of 2010. However, there are losers within this "turn the table" as well. Find out who they are and what could happen to their short-term futures in Garrett's latest column.
Four Burning Questions: Texas by Mike Lovecchio
Mike brings us his look at important things to look forward to at Talladega Superspeedway this Sunday in our racing preview.
Holding A Pretty Wheel by Amy Henderson
Amy returns with another interesting commentary.
Driver Diary: Marcos Ambrose as told to Toni Montgomery
Marcos Ambrose returns to talk a little bit about the past few weeks of his life on and off the track in the latest edition of his Frontstretch Driver Diary.
Nuts For Nationwide by Bryan Davis Keith
Bryan's back with another interesting look into the Nationwide Series ahead of Saturday's Aaron's 312 at Talladega Superspeedway.
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