THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
May 16th, 2011
Volume V, Edition LXXXIII
What's Happening Now - Our Newest Newsletter Feature
Here's the latest news story we're following this lunch hour...
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Misses All-Star Race, Forced Into Showdown
Sunday's Dover event marked an ugly milestone for NASCAR's eight-time Most Popular Driver: for the first time in his 11-year Sprint Cup career, he failed to qualify for the sport's primetime exhibition event, the Sprint All-Star Race. Winless since June 2008 (Michigan), Earnhardt had earned an exemption last year through his 2000 All-Star Race victory; however, that had a ten-year expiration date and now the driver of the No. 88 must earn his way in through the Showdown field or NASCAR's Sprint Fan Vote, a spot almost guaranteed to go his way based on past popularity.
Earnhardt headlines a long list of Sprint Cup stars who failed to get the job done themselves. Among the other Showdown participants are Bobby Labonte (2000 Sprint Cup champ exemption now expired); Jeff Burton (without a top-10 finish this season); and Joey Logano (winless since New Hampshire in 2009). For the full entry list, Showdown rules, and more check out the Newsletter later this week.
Sometimes, one can have the most dominant car and still not win a race. For the early three-fourths of the race, the FedEx 400 Benefiting Autism Speaks was essentially a two-car show between Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson, with both drivers leading a total of 14 times for 324 out of 400 laps. However, at the end of the day, a very bold gamble by Matt Kenseth to take two tires instead of four with 37 laps remaining gave him track position. He then took advantage of clean air to hold off Mark Martin and Marcos Ambrose and capture his second win of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.
"Honestly, I was sitting on the track and thinking that we should stay out and get clean air and try it, because I knew we wouldn't win if we took four," Kenseth said. "Jimmie wanted four, but as I was driving down pit road, I thought maybe we could compromise."
Rain washed out qualifying for the first time this season. As a result of NASCAR's new procedure for setting the field in those situations, Jimmie Johnson was awarded the pole for Sunday's race with A.J. Allmendinger starting alongside. From the drop of the green flag, Johnson the advantage and held on tight to it.
Due to Saturday's heavy rains, NASCAR had a competition caution on Lap 40 to check tire wear. Luckily, overall wear was not a problem. However, like last fall, the rubber was sticking a little too well to the track, making the track very slippery.
Johnson led without challenge until the Competition Caution flew, but then lost the lead on pit road to Carl Edwards. However, Johnson reclaimed the lead as soon as the green came back out. The green flag came back out with Johnson still leading until a lap 40 competition caution came out after Saturday's practice session was washed out. After the first round of full-blown pit-stops led to a brief interlude to Johnson's dominance, the number 48 Lowe's Chevrolet came roaring back to the front of the pack and would lead until green-flag pit-stops that caused another short break from Johnson's dominating performance. But a few laps later, Johnson was right back to the front.
The rains were forecasted to threaten the race and even potentially postpone the event to Monday. However, Sunday was dry, for the most part. A renegade pop-up shower did pass over the track on Lap 162, necessitating a quick caution, though. Fortunately, the skies cleared and on lap 169, the race went back to green flag action with Johnson and Carl Edwards playing hot-potato with the lead until the fourth caution of the race came out on lap 218 for debris. Green flag action resumed on lap 222 and aside from a brief stint in the lead by Juan Pablo Montoya for two laps, the tug-of-war between Johnson and Edwards continued unabated for the next 115 laps until the event's fifth caution came out for Kasey Kahne stalling his car in Turn 1. Edwards and Johnson had led all but 11 of the race's first 331 laps to that point.
After pit-stops, it would be a fresh face leading the festivities as Clint Bowyer took the lead and led for the next 29 laps until the final caution of the afternoon came out for Juan Pablo Montoya's spin in Turn 3 on Lap 361. With a great deal of pit strategy in play, Mark Martin stayed out on the track to take the lead, while Matt Kenseth rook second by being the first car off pit road with a two-tire stop. The previous leaders all took four tires and ended up in the lower half of the top-10.
Martin led on the restart, but Kenseth put a move on him for the lead just a lap later. The only question was whether the two-tire gamble would pay off. As the laps clicked off, Kenseth looked like a genius for his call to take two tires as he won the race by 2.122 seconds over Mark Martin with Marcos Ambrose, Kyle Busch, who came from the back of the field after an engine change to finish fourth, and Brian Vickers rounding out the top-5. Sixth through tenth were Clint Bowyer, Carl Edwards, Martin Truex Jr., Jimmie Johnson, and Kevin Harvick.
"That was all Matt there," Fennig said. "He figured we needed to have clean air and he called two tires, and we did two and away we went."
The average speed was 125.578 mph with six cautions for 28 laps and 23 lead-changes among 11 drivers. Attendance was listed at 82,000, down from last year's figure of 88,000 and leading the most laps with Jimmie Johnson for nine times for 207 circuits around the "Monster Mile."
Johnson and Edwards both lamented after the race on what might have been.
"I didn't have any choice in it really, that is up to the guys up on the box," Edwards said after the race. "That is too tough of a choice to make right there and I don't blame Bob Osborne one bit. I thought we would be able to march up through there and I thought the race would be between Clint and I. I did see a couple cars go fast early on two tires, but I really felt we were going to have something. If we had had a caution, who knows what would have happened. You can't look back, you have to look forward. We still have the points lead and the fastest car here today. Everybody did a good job on the Aflac Ford and a teammate won, so that is good." Said Edwards.
"I guess in our minds we didn't think that would take place, so many guys taking two [tires]. It was certainly the call," Johnson lamented post-race. I knew basically from the numbers [that] we were in trouble when we left pit road and there were so many guys in front of us. It is just the way it is. We had a great race all day. Led a lot of laps, but unfortunately, not the one at the end that counted. But [it was a] solid day; in the pits and on the track. We couldn't really get a hold of the track the longer the day went on, but we got some good ideas coming back."
Brody Jones is a Website Contributor for Frontstretch.com. He can be reached via e-mail at brody.jones@frontstretch.com.
Tracking The Chase: Edwards Holds Station While Kenseth Gains
Carl Edwards led five times for 117 laps on Sunday afternoon. However, pit strategy saw the Aflac Ford drop back to a seventh-place finish after an ill-advised choice to take four tires on the final pit stop. Luckily for Edwards, Jimmie Johnson was in the exact same boat as he was, despite leading 207 laps. Johnson picked up the bonus point for leading the most laps, but finished ninth. As a result, Edwards gained one point on Johnson, who is now 24 points behind.
Wildcard drivers: Mark Martin (11th in points (-92 points), no wins), Jeff Gordon (14th in points (-117 points), one win)
Tracking The Top 35: Consolidation the Name of the Game, Robby Gordon Motorsports S&P's
31) Phoenix Racing (No. 09 – Landon Cassill), +41 ahead of 36th place.
32) Tommy Baldwin Racing (No. 36 – Dave Blaney), +31 ahead of 36th place.
33) FAS Lane Racing (No. 32 – Ken Schrader), +26 ahead of 36th place.
34) Germain Racing (No. 13 – Casey Mears), +25 ahead of 36th place.
35) Robby Gordon Motorsports (No. 7 – Scott Wimmer), +7 ahead of 36th place.
36) TRG Motorsports (No. 71 – Andy Lally), -7 behind 35th place.
37) Wood Brothers Racing (No. 21 – Trevor Bayne), -10 behind 35th place.
38) Front Row Motorsports (No. 38 – Travis Kvapil), -28 behind 35th place.
39) Front Row/MaxQ Hybrid Team (No. 37 – Tony Raines), -35 behind 35th place.
Got NASCAR-related questions or comments about 2011? John's got answers!
A new year means a new columnist to answer all your pressing questions about the sport! Our legendary flagman John Potts is taking over our Fan Q & A, so be sure to stack his inbox with plenty of queries and comments for the New Year! Send them his way at john.potts@frontstretch.com; and if you're lucky, you'll get your name in print when he does his weekly column answering back to you – the fans!
Secret Star of the Race: The Race You Never Saw
First off, kudos to Brian Vickers' well-deserved fifth-place run; it was a roller-coaster day which Amy Henderson documents beautifully in our "Big Six" section. But today's Secret Star surrounds the No. 56, Martin Truex, Jr., who is quietly doing his own patchwork job of putting a season back together mere weeks after 2011 appeared to be a lost cause.
Remember Richmond, when this driver fired his pit crew after an ugly lugnut penalty left a top-5 finish sitting on the table? It was the peak of frustration for this group, letting too many solid runs slip away through the agony of self-inflicted mistakes. But sometimes, it takes change to light a fire under this team and that's exactly what's happened in this case: runs of 10th (Darlington) and 8th (Sunday) have followed to push Truex back to 19th in Sprint Cup points.
In this case, the team had to fight through adversity as Sunday's changing track conditions threw a wrench in the handling of the NAPA Toyota. Falling outside the top 10 early, dropping rapidly from his eighth starting spot Truex complained of the car just not being able to turn entering the corner. It took a multitude of adjustments, some long green-flag runs and the most important attribute of all for a race team - patience - to get things headed back in the right direction.
"We didn't really fight a major balance issue, we just didn't have the overall grip and the car was bouncing back and forth between loose and tight," explained Truex. "It was hard to tell them what I needed. One lap it would try to spin out and the next lap it plowed. So, it was just real hard to hit it just right. It was very, very hard to drive. It was hard to know what to ask for other than more grip, and a little bit of a smoother ride. It just got real bouncy out there on the rubber build-up."
But here's the bottom line: the team fought through it instead of fizzling out, and now the No. 56 has a bit of momentum going heading to Charlotte. – Tom Bowles
STAT OF THE WEEK: 226. That's the number of laps led for Matt Kenseth through eleven races - more than double his 2010 total (108) in what was a winless 2010 season. This year, Kenseth has now won twice in what will almost assuredly land him a Chase bid, either through the regular point system or NASCAR's new "wild card" format. – Tom Bowles
Who…gets my shoutout of the race?
What… was THAT?
Nothing about racing is easy, but Dover can really throw teams and drivers for a loop. Toss into that mix one of the most difficult pit road entrances on the circuit and it makes for an interesting day. Both David Ragan and Andy Lally had trouble navigating the sharp turn off of turn three, spinning out right at the top of pit road. Ragan didn't hit anything but was lucky he wasn't hit by Jamie McMurray as McMurray made his own approach to pit road during a round of green flag stops. They don't call it "The Monster Mile" for nothing.
Where…did the polesitter wind up?
The grid was set for Sunday based on speeds in the first practice session after rain forced cancellation of qualifying and put the defending Sprint Cup champ on the pole and looking for a record-tying seventh Dover victory. After dominating the race for the first half, Jimmie Johnson faded a bit. He still had a car capable of winning, however, until a call for four tires on the last caution put Johnson completely out of the running and barely inside the top 10 for his earlier efforts. Johnson finished a disappointing ninth. Given that the No. 48 saw little tire wear all day, a four-tire call at the end was a bit puzzling. While four is standard operating procedure for the No. 48 team in most situations, why not call an audible and get track position at the end?
When…will I be loved?
It's unusual, but we got through the entire weekend at Dover without a real villain. The worst incident took place on Saturday coming to the white flag of a green-white-checkered finish when Carl Edwards and Joey Logano both got loose in the wrong place at the wrong time. Edwards wiggled up under Logano's left rear quarter panel, which got Logano loose and sent him spinning, and in the resulting pileup, Clint Bowyer was sent over on his side, very nearly flipping over the inside wall onto pit road. The replays showed that Edwards never touched Logano's car, but some were still skeptical about the intent of the No 60 driver. Brad Keselowski wrote on Twitter after the race that Edwards had known exactly what he was doing and that bottom line, "he's not there, the 20 doesn't wreck." True, but that might still be a bit extreme. Edwards clearly meant to loosen Logano's car and send him up the track, but not to trigger a multi-car incident. So blame that on the nature of the beast and move on. But Keselowski did raise one good point: why is using aerodynamics to loosen a car and send it uptrack any more acceptable than a bump and run that accomplishes the same thing without wrecking the other car? My answer: it's not, and both are acceptable in the closing laps-provided the intent was to move, not wreck, the other car.
Why…have a tape delay on the truck race?
The excuse was to reap the benefits of a prime-time audience. But here's the thing. Between social media and even NASCAR's own website, it was next to impossible NOT to know who won the race before it even aired on Speed. I'm sure there are diehard fans who didn't turn on their computers or televisions until race time, but that's impractical for many, if not most, people who depend on their computers for other communication. And I do wonder if some of those who found out ahead of time, whether by accident or by design, that Kyle Busch took the checkers simply decided not to watch since the outcome was rather predictable and knowing took out any surprises. Which begs the question: if people may choose not to watch based on knowing the outcome, does that negate waiting until prime time? I'd venture a guess that there's not a significant enough gain in viewership to justify ruining the race for many fans who would have been home from work in plenty of time to see most of it-some of whom no doubt turned on their computers instead, saw the results, and just didn't bother. Races should be aired live, period.
How…come there's no All-Star event for the Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series?
Search me, because there certainly should be. It would take a little schedule rearranging, but why not make it a doubleheader on the Cup off-week that follows the summer race at Loudon? While it would be necessary to look at different qualifying criteria (hard to use wins when series regulars never win in their own series…), the regulars do deserve recognition. Why not have a pair of Saturday-night specials on a short track like Richmond for only those eligible for series driver points? And since we know NASCAR likes to imitate other major sports, it makes even more sense: minor league baseball holds all-star games at all levels, and the American Hockey League has its own as well. NASCAR and the networks already do their level best to bury the considerable talent in those series; why not showcase it instead-it might bring a few more fans, and that's never a bad thing.
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TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
Matt McLaughlin's Thinkin' Out Loud: Dover Spring Race Recap
Go to Frontstretch.com and click on "The Annual" link on the right side to order and download this special issue that includes: Track Information, Driver profiles and In-Depth Features.
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: The Winston in 1987 was best known for Dale Earnhardt's infamous "Pass In The Grass," which, as we know now, was not even a pass, but a maneuver to save the Wrangler Chevrolet after contact with Bill Elliott. That contact was quite interesting, since The Winston turned out to be a breaking point for some of the series' stars with Earnhardt. What happened?
Check back Tuesday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Friday's Answer:
Q: Staying on the topic of the 2004 Spring race at Dover, Kasey Kahne was on track to claim his first career Cup victory. However, it all came apart with 20 laps to go. What happened?
A: Just a couple of laps after a restart, the No. 41 of Casey Mears started smoking. It appeared to be due to a blown tire, but oil somehow made it onto the track. Kahne had a comfortable lead on Lap 382 when he entered Turn 3 and ran through the oil. Kahne's No. 9 immediately swapped ends and went into the wall hard. Matt Kenseth went up and hit the wall as well, while Robby Gordon and Brian Vickers crashed. Mark Martin avoided the oil and took over the lead. A second red flag was thrown to clean up the track for the final run. The crash can be seen starting at the 6:30 mark of this clip.
Frontstretch Trivia Guarantee: If we mess up, you get 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 Tuesday in the Frontstretch Newsletter:
-- Top News from TBA
-- Sitting In The Stands: A Fans' View by S.D. Grady
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, and more!
Tomorrow on the Frontstretch:
The Yellow Stripe by Danny Peters
Danny is back with another captivating commentary.
What's Hot / What's Not in Sprint Cup: Dover-Darlingto Edition by Summer Dreyer
Summer takes a look at post-Dover numbers to see who's got the most momentum heading into the All-Star Race... and beyond.
Five Points To Ponder by Bryan Davis Keith
Bryan's back with his weekly edition of talking points to get you set for the Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Talking NASCAR TV by Phil Allaway
Last weekend, NASCAR's top-3 series each raced at Dover International Speedway. Were these telecasts up to snuff, or did they leave something to be desired? Check out our weekly TV critique to find out.
Fact or Fiction by Tom Bowles
Tom looks at some conclusions that could be made after Dover and determines whether they're true or not.
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