The Frontstretch Newsletter: May 30th, 2011

THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
May 30th, 2011
Volume V, Edition CI

 

Happy Memorial Day!

 

Sprint Cup Race Recap:  Kevin Harvick Wins Coca-Cola 600 As Others Run Out Of Fuel

by Jay Pennell

The sport's longest race of the year came down to a wild handful of laps during Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.  While Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch led the most laps, it was Kevin Harvick – who led only two laps – that celebrated in Victory Lane.

 

A blown motor under the hood of Jimmie Johnson's No. 48 car brought out the night's final caution and set up a green-white-checkered finish.  With the majority of the field running on fumes, it was unclear who would have enough fuel to make it to the end.

 

Under the caution, Greg Biffle gave up the lead as he ran out of fuel and was forced to pit, moving Kasey Kahne to the top spot.  Others in the field began shutting their engines off to conserve fuel, while the Richard Childress Racing teammates Jeff Burton and Paul Menard pushed Harvick's No. 29 around during the caution.

 

Restarting the race on the outside, Kahne ran out of fuel heading into Turn 1.  As Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the lead, Kahne stacked everyone up behind him. Pole-sitter Brad Keselowski drove into the back of Burton's No. 31 Chevrolet, sending him sliding down the banking.

 

Despite the cars spinning in Turn 1, NASCAR did not throw the caution flag and Earnhardt Jr. appeared to be on his way to his first victory since 2008.

 

However, as Earnhardt Jr. ran down the backstretch, the tank ran dry.  Coasting through the final corner, Earnhardt Jr. could only watch as Harvick and six others drove past to the checkered flag.

 

"I was out on the back straightaway," he said.  "My car just kept up enough speed it didn't look like it was out.  But, I was out.  The spotter is like 'man, they are comin', they are comin' and I'm like I'm just crusin' here, what am I supposed to do?  Get out and pedal this thing with my feet?  It was a long race and a really hard race and I haven't ran good here in a long time.  We ran really, really good tonight.  Real good and I'm real happy about that.  The wins are going to come; we just have to keep working."

 

While Junior Nation was left disappointed, Harvick and the No. 29 Budweiser crew were the ones celebrating in Victory Lane. Earning his third win of the season, Harvick struggled throughout much of the afternoon, but never gave up and was there when it mattered most.

 

"When they threw the green flag tonight, we'd fought the same thing for last week and this week, and I said, 'Well, we haven't fixed it in two weeks,' and Gil (Martin, crew chief) said, 'Well, we've got four more hours and we're going to fix you right up,'" Harvick said.  "Usually when he says something like that, it always comes back to haunt me."

 

Along with Harvick, David Ragan, Joey Logano, Kurt Busch, AJ Allmendinger and Marcos Ambrose were also able to get past Earnhardt Jr. – who finished seventh. Regan Smith, David Reutimann and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top-10.

 

One of the best cars all day, Hamlin's tenth place finish is more impressive considering he battled engine issues throughout much of the race.  When an extended caution provided the opportunity, Hamlin's 2011 Pit Crew Challenge winning team changed the carburetor and kept their driver on the lead lap.

 

Roush Fenway Racing's Matt Kenseth was the class of the field for much of Sunday's Coca-Cola 600, leading five times for a total of 103 laps.  Dominating the first half of the 600-mile event, Kenseth fell back in the pack when the track transitioned into night and the field began using different pit strategies.  While he was able to work his way back to the front in the closing laps, Kenseth was forced to pit road with eight laps to go for fuel and finished the night 14th.

 

One of Kenseth's biggest threats in those early stages of the race was Joe Gibbs Racing's Kyle Busch.  Leading twice for a total of 55 laps, Busch's night was ruined by two single-car spins.  The second incident, coming on Lap 344, sent Busch behind the wall and ultimately ended his night in 32nd.

 

"He was pushing it and running right on the edge trying to get it," crew chief Dave Rogers said.  "The 17 car was the best car all day on that pit stop.  He was the only car that could make it up through traffic.  We knew we left pit road right behind him and Kyle was trying to stay with him.  We didn't quite have the car that he had.  Kyle just tried to do the impossible and that's why we love him.

 

"We know he gives us 100 percent and he doesn't ever leave anything on the table," Rogers said.  "Tonight he just tried to take a little bit too much and it got away from him.  That's part of racing.  That's why we love Kyle Busch – he only knows one speed – full throttle."

Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 saw 38 lead changes among 19 different drivers and was slowed 14 times by cautions.  Next weekend the series heads to Kansas Speedway for the Inaugural STP 400.  
 
Jay Pennell is a Website Contributor for Frontstretch.com.  He can be reached via e-mail at jay.pennell@frontstretch.com.

 

Tracking The Chase:  Edwards Expands His Lead While Top Contenders Falter

by Phil Allaway

 

Points leader Carl Edwards was the class of the field early on Sunday evening, leading 61 laps in broad daylight.  However, the handle went away as night fell.  Edwards ended up finishing 16th, a far cry from where he thought he could have finished.  However, his numerical points lead increased this week from 24 to 36 points over second place.  That second place driver is now Kevin Harvick, fresh off of his last-minute victory.  Harvick has a one point advantage over Jimmie Johnson, who ran well Sunday night before two issues doomed his night.  First, Johnson's crew failed to remove an adjustment wrench from Johnson's car during his final stop, forcing him to stop a second time under yellow.  Finally, on Lap 396, Johnson's engine blew, relegating him to a 28th-place finish.

 

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is likely hurting emotionally right now after coming so close to his first victory since 2008 Sunday night.  However, the seventh-place finish that he eventually earned did keep him in the fourth spot in points and allowed him to gain on the leaders.  Kyle Busch is down two places to fifth after his late crash in Turns 1 and 2 put him out of the race with a 32nd-place finish.  Kurt Busch, after all of his recent issues, is the big gainer of the week, moving up three positions to sixth after making his fuel last to the end to finish fourth.  Matt Kenseth, despite leading a race-high 103 laps, finished 14th and dropped one place in points to seventh.

 

Clint Bowyer maintained the eighth spot in points after finishing 15th.  Just getting there was an accomplishment due to handling issues on the No. 33 that required the hood to be raised to adjust the camber.  Tony Stewart is up one place to ninth after a 17th-place finish.  However, Stewart's teammate Ryan Newman dropped three places to tenth after getting caught up in Mark Martin and David Gilliland's wreck on Lap 302.

Outside of the top-10, the current wild cards are Jeff Gordon, by virtue of his win at Phoenix in February, and Greg Biffle, who moved up to 11th in points thanks to his 13th-place finish Sunday night.

 

Point Standings: 1) Carl Edwards 445; 2) Kevin Harvick -36; 3) Jimmie Johnson -37; 4) Dale Earnhardt, Jr. -43; 5) Kyle Busch -53; 6) Kurt Busch -68; 7) Matt Kenseth -71; 8) Clint Bowyer -80; 9) Tony Stewart -89; 10) Ryan Newman -92.

 

Wild Cards:  Greg Biffle (11th in points (-102 points), no wins), Jeff Gordon (16th in points (-121 points), one win (Phoenix))

 

Tracking The Top 35:  Stenhouse Acquits Himself Well

 

On Sunday, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. made his Sprint Cup Series debut in relief of Trevor Bayne in the Motorcraft No. 21.  Stenhouse's performance was up and down.  He made contact with the outside wall on no less than three occasions during the race.  However, those hits on the wall didn't really hurt Stenhouse's car.  Struggles with handling early dropped Stenhouse off the lead lap, but he eventually got his laps back via wave arounds.  He was able to gain positions at the end of the race thanks to the stack-up caused by Kasey Kahne running out of fuel to finish 11th, an excellent debut.  The finish moved the No. 21 back up into 35th in owners' points.  However, the team is not making the trip out to Kansas Speedway, so the 36th-placed team, Robby Gordon Motorsports, will still be locked in.

 

For Robby Gordon, he debuted two new things at Charlotte.  Firstly, he introduced a new bright pink paintscheme for his No. 7 Dodge, with some sponsorship from Harris Teeter.  Second, he brought out a second car, the No. 77 for Scott Wimmer to attempt to qualify for the race.  Wimmer was unable to qualify.  Robby's No. 7 was off the pace all weekend.  They were the second slowest locked-in car in practice and qualifying and pulled out after 99 laps due to brake issues.

 

Andy Lally may have been able to save his No. 71 Ford from suffering significant damage when he spun out in qualifying Thursday.  However, missing the field hurt his team more than the spin did.  TRG Motorsports was within striking distance of the Top 35 entering Charlotte.  Now, they're 30 points out and have to have a couple of good weeks so that Lally could potentially use his road course skills to move the team upward at Infineon Raceway.

 

Top 35 Summary:

 

31) Phoenix Racing (No. 09 – Landon Cassill), +37 ahead of 36th place.
32) Tommy Baldwin Racing (No. 36 – Dave Blaney), +35 ahead of 36th place.
33) Germain Racing (No. 13 – Casey Mears), +34 ahead of 36th place.
34) FAS Lane Racing (No. 32 – Mike Bliss), +27 ahead of 36th place.
35) Wood Brothers Racing (No. 21 – Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.), +17 ahead of 36th place.
36) Robby Gordon Motorsports (No. 7 – Robby Gordon), -17 behind 35th place.
37) TRG Motorsports (No. 71 – Andy Lally), -30 behind 35th place.
38) Front Row Motorsports (No. 38 – Travis Kvapil), -32 behind 35th place.
39) Front Row/MaxQ Hybrid Team (No. 37 – Tony Raines), -58 behind 35th place.

 

Phil Allaway is the Newsletter Manager and a Senior Writer for Frontstretch.com.  He can be reached via e-mail at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com.
 
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

 

Furniture Row Racing has gotten quite a bit more press than normal over the past eight months or so.  First, there was the transporter crash on the way back to the team's Denver base after Phoenix last November.  Then, the excellent run throughout Speedweeks at Daytona.  Then, the triumph at Darlington.

 

However, the No. 78 team and Regan Smith were out to lunch early at Charlotte.  Much of the early part of the race was spent in the 25-30 range while dealing with handling issues.  The green flag feel early on got Smith lapped, but he got the Lucky Dog during the third caution.  Once night fell, the No. 78 started to come to life, allowing Smith to move up through the field.

 

The late race fuel issues undoubtedly helped out Furniture Row Racing.  Smith was able to make it to the finish on fuel, allowing him to take home a good eighth place finish.  However, even with Smith's third top-10 finish of the season, Smith is still 29th in points, 44 out of the important 20th position, which would put Smith in Chase contention thanks to the win. - Phil Allaway

STAT OF THE WEEK: 0. This represents the number of drivers in the top-5 on Lap 390 that managed to finish there.  Leader Greg Biffle pitted under the last yellow and finished 13th, Kasey Kahne ran dry on the final restart and finished a lap down in 22nd, and Matt Kenseth pitted with eight laps to go and finished 14th.  Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Denny Hamlin were one-two on the final lap, but ran out simultaneously and finished seventh and tenth, respectively.  - Phil Allaway

Running Their Mouth:  Coca-Cola 600

by Brody Jones

 
Best Quote:

 

"We're happy to get a top-five, but when you're that close to a win, you're kind of disappointed,"- David Ragan, second, on being so close to his first Sprint Cup points victory.

 

So close yet so far aptly sums up David Ragan's night.  After the past two weeks at Charlotte, it's becoming apparent that Ragan is right on the cusp of capturing that elusive first career Sprint Cup points-race victory.  Ragan's car won the Sprint All-Star Showdown and was consistently a top-5 car all night, proving to his many detractors that Ragan's not going to give up his ride in the No. 6 UPS Ford Fusion without a fight. E ven though he had to pit on the final caution, he managed to avoid a massive cluster-something-that-rhymes-with-duck on the restart and finish second to Kevin Harvick.

 

Worst Quote:

 

"I just don't like racing here,"- Kevin Harvick, winner, on his feelings about racing at Charlotte.

 

However context one wants to put in Kevin Harvick's post-race comments, perhaps saying that he doesn't like racing in Charlotte right in the heart of Junior Nation after their hero ran out of gas in the final 500 feet was probably, in hindsight, not the best idea.  All it did was draw the ire of already disappointed and disgusted fans who felt, in their minds, that Harvick shouldn't have won the race.  The sad thing is that despite the fact that this is the third race Kevin harvick has won this year in the last five laps, all anyone will talk about was how much he hates racing at Charlotte.

 

Funniest Quote:

 

"It was everything I thought it was gonna be.  The 600 miles didn't seem too bad.  I still feel pretty good, so that's good.  Our trainer at the shop must be working me out pretty good."- Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 11th, on running 600 miles at Charlotte for the first time.

 

Trevor Bayne had set the bar pretty high for how to begin a Sprint Cup career with a top-20 at Texas and, obviously, a win at Daytona in his second start.  So Ricky Stenhouse had a tough, if almost impossible act to follow.  But, despite scraping the wall three times during the race, Stenhouse Jr. finished in 11th place in his first Sprint Cup start, better than Bayne's debut.  There were a lot of questions going into this race for Stenhouse Jr., namely could he go 900 miles in two days?  That was answered resoundingly this weekend as Stenhouse passed his first Cup test with flying colors and pulled within one point of Elliott Sadler's point lead in the Nationwide Series.  Furthermore, the on-going debate of Ricky vs. Trevor just picked up a little more steam in favor of Stenhouse.  There's no telling what the Olive Branch, Mississippi native will do in Cup with more experience.

 

Most Controversial Quote:

 

"We weren't supposed to make it."- Dale Earnhardt Jr., seventh, on running out of gas in the final turn.

 

Fate on Memorial Day week-end was not kind to Dale Jr. (or any National Guard-sponsored team on the last lap yesterday, for that matter).  To come agonizingly close to breaking a nearly three year victory drought and know that you're short on fuel is like being punched in the stomach full-force by Bernard Hopkins, or like shooting Santa Claus.  Junior Nation was rocking to their feet in anticipation of a long drought ending.  Even certain FOX announcers were cheering for Junior, but alas, it was not to be.  If Junior Nation can find any solace in this, at least their driver has gained on the leaders, now just 43 points out of the lead.  But still, one has to wonder what might have been.

Best Of The Rest:

 

"Our fuel mileage wasn't that good, so that whole last run we were saving.  It was funny because the fuel numbers kept changing because we were ten laps short, then we were two laps short, and then we were gonna run out coming to the checkered.  At that point, I was happy when it stayed green and made it on fuel, and then on that last restart we came in and were just hanging out that point.  You just hope you don't get into guys that run out of fuel.  I had a great restart and split the middle.  The 31 just completely ran out and the 99 got into him.  I checked up and it was pretty insane."- A.J. Allmendinger, fifth, on his fuel mileage and the finish.

 

"It was a long night.  That's the longest race I've ever been a part of, I can tell you that, without switching drivers around.  It's just a big thrill to finish one.  This is my third try and I hadn't finished one, so I'm proud of my team and proud of our record."- Marcos Ambrose, sixth, on whether it was a long race.

 

"Its disappointing to run as well as we did and have that happen at the end.  Disappointing.  The Miller Lite Dodge was fast all night.  We started on the pole.  We ran in the top-10 most of the night.  The crew did a great job.  It was a total team effort.  Unfortunately, we ended up three miles short of a top-five finish."- Brad Keselowski, 19th, on being disappointed with his finish.

 

"No we didn't.  I couldn't get the car pulled down in time and they (Mark Martin and David Gilliland) bounced off the wall and came back and got me.  We were just a by-product of it.  We shouldn't have been in that position, we should have been out front.  Just disappointed in our day.  The US Army Chevrolet was not good but the guys fought hard.  Just got on the unfortunate side of an unfortunate accident."- Ryan Newman, 31st, on having nowhere to go in the accident that put him in the garage.

 

"Getting into Turn 3 on the restart, Carl made it three-wide getting down into three. I was trying to give everybody room and Mark was on my right side.  These cars are pretty aero-sensitive and I just got loose.  I tried to chase it up the track and there was nowhere to go, so it's an unfortunate ending to a long night.  Its just a bad deal that we're tore up and they're tore up, but we'll just go on."- David Gilliland, 33rd, on his accident with Mark Martin.

 

"This was a great weekend.  I'm just honored and blessed to be driving this Ford Fusion.  It was awesome out there.  We just wanted to get to the end and learn a lot.  We raced with a lot of good cars and made a lot of changes, but it was just hard racing out there.  I think some of the other people out there weren't running very good, and I guess they just took it out on us.  Wally Rogers, Doug Yates, Bob Leavine, Sharon Leavine, all the people involved, are just awesome.  We weren't gonna win the race or run in the top-10, but we were learning a whole lot.  The car was getting better every pit stop and the team was getting better every lap.  Our goal was just to make sure we got to the finish and it's just disappointing.  It hurts my feelings that we're sitting in here, but it was just one of those racing things.  This is a great series with the best drivers in the world, but things like that happen.  I'm just disappointed it happened to us tonight, but we'll leave the race track with our heads held high and fix our cars and come back for the next race.  I'm really blessed and excited to be here.  It was a big honor to race in the Coca-Cola 600 even though it ended up like this."- David Starr, 36th, on his race.

 

"It was really special for Bass Pro Shops to take Tracker off the side and put Joplin, Missouri on there.  They have helped me a lot this past week with putting together ways to raise money to help rebuild Joplin.  It's my hometown.  It was heartbreaking to see the tornado and see all the people that lost their homes and the ones that lost their lives.   It is really special that Johnny let us put that on there.  Hopefully we made some people proud tonight."- Jamie McMurray, 37th, on putting Joplin, Missouri on the side of his car.

 

Amy Henderson is a Senior Writer for Frontstretch.com.  She can be reached via e-mail at amy.henderson@frontstretch.com.
 
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TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
  
Matt McLaughlin's Thinkin' Out Loud:  2011 Coca-Cola (World) 600 Race Recap

by Matt McLaughlin

 

A Good Night Goes Bad, Then A Bad Night Goes Good Again

by Mike Neff
 
Almost Just Doesn't Cut It:  The Missed Opportunity 600

by Tom Bowles

 

Bubble Breakdown:  Stenhouse Shines, 600 Miles Chews Up Sprint Cup Backmarkers

by Bryan Davis Keith

 

The Big Six:  Coca-Cola 600

by Amy Henderson
 
Frontstretch Breakdown:  2011 Indianapolis 500

by Toni Montgomery

 
Nationwide Series Breakdown:  Top Gear 300

by Bryan Davis Keith
  
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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:  When NASCAR started up the then-NASCAR SuperTruck Series presented by Craftsman in 1995, one of the original 18 venues (two tracks, Phoenix and Mesa Marin, hosted two races) on the schedule was the road course at Heartland Park Topeka.  Kerry Teague had a terrible weekend, qualifying a dismal 26th, then having an incident less than ten laps in.  What happened?

 

Check back Tuesday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
 
Friday's Answer:
Q:  The 1994 Champion 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway was won by Phil Parsons in his No. 29 Matchbox/White Rose Collectibles Chevrolet, in what was considered to be an upset at the time.  However, the race was marred by a nasty crash on a restart.  What happened?

 
A:  Tim Bender had just crashed, bringing out a yellow and bunching up the field.  On the Lap 47 restart, Stanton Barrett made an ill-advised three-wide move to the inside of Bobby Labonte and Chad Little.  The three cars collided and while Barrett continued on, Labonte and Little went hard into the wall.  Little hit the wall at a particularly nasty angle.  Both cars slid across the track and collected nearly a dozen more drivers.  The wreck can be seen in this clip.

 

Sterling Marlin, Morgan Shepherd, Tracy Leslie, Derrike Cope, Dale Jarrett, Labonte and Little were all eliminated in the crash on the spot.  Barrett continued on, but ran into his own issues later in the race and finished 20th, 17 laps down.

 
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

   This Week's Topic:  Kimi Raikkonen, and Racing When He Wants To
-- 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.  The topic this week:  The sweetest weekend of the year for race fans.  Charlotte, Indianapolis and Monaco on the same day.
 
What's Hot / What's Not in Sprint Cup: All-Star-Charlotte Edition by Summer Dreyer
Summer takes a look at post-Charlotte numbers to see who's got the most momentum heading into Kansas... 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 STP 400 at Kansas Speedway.
 
Talking NASCAR TV by Phil Allaway
Last weekend, the Sprint Cup Series brought the points back into play at Charlotte Motor Speedway along with the Nationwide Series  Meanwhile, the Izod IndyCar Series had their crown jewel, the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday.  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 the Coca-Cola 600 and determines whether they're true or not.
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