The Frontstretch Newsletter: June 6th, 2011

THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
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June 6th, 2011
Volume V, Edition CVI
  
Sprint Cup Race Recap:  Keselowski Stretches His Fuel To Win At Kansas

by Brody Jones

 

In a case of déjà vu from last week's Coca-Cola 600, fuel mileage once again decided the race winner as Brad Keselowski, who managed to take the lead with nine laps to go when teammate Kurt Busch pitted.  From there, Keselowski made his fuel hold out to claim victory in the STP 400 at Kansas Speedway Sunday afternoon.

 

"It was hot out there." remarked an exhausted yet elated Keselowski.  "We've been so close.  We've been plugging away.  We had a car that I thought was capable of winning.  I had a car last week that sat on the pole and had a shot at it and just caught the wrong line on the restart.  The same thing at Dover and Darlington, we could just never catch that good break.  You can only put yourself in that position so many times before you're going to catch the right break.  We caught a great break today because of all the hard work by the Miller Lite team that works on these Dodge Chargers.  We got great gas mileage and that doesn't hurt either."

 

Kurt Busch won the pole for the race, qualifying at 174.752 mph.  After complaining of a tight car at the very beginning of the race, Busch's car came to him and he came roaring back to the front after 18 laps and dominated the next 65 laps, leading all but two of them. 

 

Kurt Busch held the lead through the first round of stops under caution and continued to hold on up front until lap 84, when Carl Edwards took the lead away.  Edwards led until the second caution of the day came out for debris on Lap 111.

 

Kyle Busch took the lead away in the pits and led for a few laps before Denny Hamlin took over the top spot on lap 117.  Two laps later, the third caution of the day came out when Landon Cassill slapped the wall exiting Turn 4 after contact with Marcos Ambrose. 

 

When the race went back to green, Hamlin and Tony Stewart traded the lead back and forth before caution number four of the afternoon came out on Lap 154 when Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a solo spin in Turn 4 after apparently driving over a tar-covered seam on the track. The No. 88 was undamaged, but it was a big turning point in the event.  Earnhardt, Jr. was forced change his strategy since the spin killed his track position.

 

Another caution for debris on Lap 163, albeit short, changed the flow of the race.  Denny Hamlin, who had been run into by Kurt Busch on the previous restart, pitted for four tires and fuel out of second.  In addition, a small group of drivers towards the end of the lead lap including Earnhardt, Jr. also stopped.  Those drivers would be able to go the rest of the way on just one more stop. 

 

After the restart, Kurt Busch settled into a small, yet comfortable lead over Jeff Gordon and managed to hold that lead through a round of green-flag pit stops.  However, the leaders, with the exception of Keselowski and Tony Stewart were forced to pit at Lap 205 or earlier for fuel.  Stewart and Keselowski stretched their final stops out to Laps 210 and 211, putting them on the edge of making it.  Meanwhile, Earnhardt, Jr. and Hamlin pitted on Lap 215.

 

Busch reclaimed the lead once the cycle finished, but chose to stay out until his tank ran dry, unlike most of his adversaries, who chose to short-pit.  When Busch finally stopped with ten laps to go, the car had issues getting back up to speed because Busch ran the tank dry.  Teammate Keselowski then took the lead and managed to hang on the rest of the way while in fuel conservation-mode to hold off a hard-charging Earnhardt, Jr. in the closing laps to take the win.

 

Hamlin, Jeff Gordon and Edwards rounded out the top-5.  Sixth through tenth were Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson, Stewart, who was forced to pit towards the end after all, Kurt Busch, and Greg Biffle.

 

Earnhardt Jr., for the second straight week, lost due to fuel mileage, but was optimistic about his team's future prospects after the race.

"We shouldn't have run second again," Earnhardt, Jr. said.  "We've got to fix some things.  We've got fast cars, so we can be fast."

Stewart, who seemed to be in a good position to make it on fuel, could only reflect on what might have been after the race.

 

"We didn't get all the fuel in it to make it to the end," Stewart said after the race.  "We had a problem getting the fuel in and we didn't get it full at that second to last stop so we had to pit there with about ten to go.  There's nothing you can do. Our guys are doing a great job. They did a great job all day. We kind of had to roll the dice on the chassis set up.  I'm really proud of our engineers and Darian (Grubb, crew chief). they did a great job of getting us there and making good educated guesses. So we had a really good car today."

 

The elder Busch brother, who despite leading four times for 152 laps, had to settle for ninth-place, was gracious and complimentary of team-mate Brad Keselowski following the race.

 

"I'm proud of the way that this team has run," Busch said.  "To have a car to lead laps today and be very competitive, I was all smiles.  I felt coming into the weekend that if we could pace ourselves, have good team communication, we would be competitive. it was great. There was always something in the back of my mind today that we weren't going to win, but I'm glad that Brad Keselowski got this win for those Miller Lite guys, for Dodge."

 

There were five cautions for 22 laps, 17 lead changes among 9 different leaders, and the race was run at an average speed of 137.184 mph.  Next week, the Sprint Cup Series makes their first visit of the season to Pocono Raceway for the Pocono 500.

 
Brody Jones is a Website Contributor for Frontstretch.com.  He can be reached via e-mail at brody.jones@frontstretch.com.
 
Tracking The Chasers:  Edwards Extends His Lead Once More

by Garrett Horton
 
Carl Edwards continues his amazing run to the 2011 campaign.  His fifth-place finish marked his seventh top-5 and tenth top-10 in 13 races run so far.  Edwards led 29 laps early on in the event, marking the eighth straight race he has led at least one lap in.  His run also extended his point lead over Jimmie Johnson, who sits 40 points back.  For Johnson, he was quickly able to work his way up to the top-10 after starting 31st, but slow pit stops on several occasions slowed his progress to the front.  Still, the No. 48 was able to overcome it for a seventh-place finish.

 

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and his Steve Letarte-led crew once again used the fuel mileage game to give them a chance to win.  After a spin on lap 154 hindered the teams march toward the top-10, it gave the team a chance to make it on one more stop.  Fortunately for Junior and the No. 88 team, there was just one more caution the rest of the race, giving them a solid second-place finish.  Unfortunately, they were beat by one other driver, Brad Keselowski, who was also playing the fuel mileage game.  Earnhardt's second runner-up finish of the year has him sitting third in the standings, just one point behind Johnson.

 

Kevin Harvick wasn't able to pull off any late race magic in the STP 400, finishing in 11th position.  With strong finishes by Earnhardt and Johnson, Harvick fell back two spots to fourth in the standings, but still leads the league with three wins, giving him the point lead if the Chase were to start today.

 

Kyle Busch was able to run up front and lead early; however, his car appeared to go away after long runs and had a top-10 finish taken away from those who stretched their gas mileage.  Busch ended the day one spot behind Harvick in 12th, and sits fifth in the point standings.  Like Harvick, Busch has the advantage of several wins to have a good seeding in the Chase.

 

Kurt Busch did not appear to be upset losing after leading a race high 152 laps.  After going through several weeks of being non-competitive, this certainly had to be a sigh of relief for Busch and the No. 22 team after it had looked like they were quickly going to fall outside the top-10 in points.  This was the most laps Busch has led since he won the Coca-Cola 600 over a year ago, but more importantly, his ninth-place finish and laps led bonus has kept him in the sixth-place spot.

 

Matt Kenseth had a typical Kenseth day, slowly working his way up from his 21st starting position.  He, along with all the other Roush cars, looked to be strong early, but the handle went away on the No. 17 team midway through the race.  However, they were still able to have a good points day, coming home in sixth.  He remains seventh in the point standings, 73 markers behind Edwards.

 

Tony Stewart had a much needed competitive run, leading 20 laps and looked poised to win his first race of 2011, as he was on the same pit strategy as Keselowski.  Once again though, Stewart and the No. 14 team threw away another top finish on pit road, this time because the gas man didn't get the tank fuel of fuel on the last stop.  The call to come down pit road with a handful of laps to go dropped Stewart from a possible win to an eighth-place finish.  However, the result was good enough to move Stewart up one spot in the standings to eighth.

 

Clint Bowyer was hoping to have a better result at his home track.  After starting mid pack in 27th, Bowyer wasn't seen much in the early stages.  He finally crept his way into the top-10 late in the going before he fell victim to fuel strategy.  He ended up in 18th position, one lap off the pace.  In the process, Bowyer lost one spot in the standings and now sits ninth.

 

Ryan Newman was no where to be seen all day, yet pulled off a 15th-place effort.  He still remains tenth in points, but is now just one point ahead of 11th-place Denny Hamlin, who finished third.

Point Standings: 1) Carl Edwards 485; 2) Jimmie Johnson -40; 3) Dale Earnhardt, Jr -41; 4) Kevin Harvick -43; 5) Kyle Busch -60; 6) Kurt Busch -71; 7) Matt Kenseth -73; 8) Tony Stewart -92; 9) Clint Bowyer-94; 10) Ryan Newman -103.

 

Wildcards:  Denny Hamlin (11th in points, zero wins), Jeff Gordon (13th in points, one win)

 

Note:  While Brad Keselowski and Regan Smith both have victories this year, neither would make the Chase because they are not in the top-20 in points.  In order to qualify as a wildcard driver, you must be 20th or higher in the standings.  Keselowski is currently 21st, while Smith is 29th.  Also, Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne is not eligible for the Chase because he is not running for Sprint Cup points.

 
Tracking The Top 35:  Stenhouse Acquits Himself Well
 
There were no changes in the top 35 cutoff despite the Wood Brothers skipping Sunday's event in Kansas.  Their closest competitor, Robby Gordon Motorsports, gained a little ground after Johnny Sauter finished 36th, filling in for Gordon.  TRG Motorsports, who sit 37th, also cut into some of their deficit with Andy Lally finishing 31st.  They are now just 17 behind the Wood Brothers organization.

 

Tony Raines, who failed to qualify in the No. 37 Front Row Motorsports Ford, was the biggest loser of the weekend.  Since the Wood Brothers didn't run the event, Raines didn't lose any ground on 35th, however, they lost more ground on the three teams in between them.

 

Top 35 Summary

 

t-31) Phoenix Racing (No. 51 – Landon Cassill), +39 ahead of 36th place.
t-31) Tommy Baldwin Racing (No. 36 – Dave Blaney), +39 ahead of 36th place.
33) Germain Racing (No. 13 – Casey Mears), +34 ahead of 36th place.
34) FAS Lane Racing (No. 32 – Mike Bliss), +33 ahead of 36th place.
35) Wood Brothers Racing (No. 21 – Ricky Stenhouse, Jr./Trevor Bayne), +9 ahead of 36th place.
36) Robby Gordon Motorsports (No. 7 – Robby Gordon), -9 behind 35th place.
37) TRG Motorsports (No. 71 – Andy Lally), -17 behind 35th place.
38) Front Row Motorsports (No. 38 – Travis Kvapil), -22 behind 35th place.
39) Front Row/MaxQ Hybrid Team (No. 37 – Tony Raines), -58 behind 35th place.
 
Garrett Horton is a Contributor to Frontstretch.com.  He can be reached via e-mail at garrett.horton@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
 
It should be no surprise to see Matt Kenseth as the "Secret Star Of The Race" this week after his sixth-place finish.  Though Kenseth has had some incredibly strong showings the past several weeks, including two victories thus far in 2011 coming at Texas Motor Speedway and Dover International Speedway, normally very little is said about the driver that is "credited" (i.e., blamed) for the implementation of the Chase for the Sprint Cup.  He is quietly consistent, and even when he is in Victory Lane, not much is said beyond the normal headlines that read "Matt Kenseth wins!"  Even heading into a track that is normally very find to Roush Fenway Racing, Kenseth's name was never heard, with most fantasy players opting for his teammates Carl Edwards or Greg Biffle.

Though his last few finishes don't show for it (aside from the wins), Kenseth has had strong cars in almost every race, leading a handful of laps in every race between his two victories.  Though Kenseth was unable to lead any laps in Sunday's STP 400 at Kansas Speedway, his No. 17 Ford Fusion was normally inside of the top-5 running lap times similar to those of the leaders.  Kenseth remains seventh in points heading into Pocono next weekend, 73 points back from leader Edwards. - Summer Dreyer

STAT OF THE WEEK: 60.  This represents the number of races between Keselowski's Cup victories. The Penske Racing sophomore driver always seems to make an entrance.  The driver, who has had altercations and longstanding rivalries with drivers such as Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, and Carl Edwards, usually wins his race with a bit of noise as well.  Though his win at Kansas wasn't as flashy as his first, where contact with Edwards sent the No. 99 into the catchfence while Keselowski went on to win his first career victory, this victory definitely made some noise with a gutsy fuel mileage call by crew chief Paul Wolfe.  Now, if Keselowski can work his way into the top-20 in points, he may be able to earn a wild card spot in the Chase. - Summer Dreyer

Running Their Mouth:  STP 400
by Brody Jones
 
Best Quote:

"We shouldn't have run second again.  We've got to fix some things.  We've got fast cars so we can be fast."- Dale Earnhardt, Jr., second, on his team getting better and better each week.

Admit it, NASCAR fans; Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is right on the cusp of breaking a nearly three-year victory drought.  Last week, he came 500 yards away from victory.  This week, he had the fuel mileage, but Brad Keselowski simply had better track position at Kansas.  The off-season crew swap as a whole has been a mixed bag of results for the Hendrick Motorsports fleet.  But the clear winners in that switch are Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Steve Letarte.  Earnhardt, Jr. has a fire burning inside of him that hasn't been seen in years on and off the track, and Letarte has rebuilt his reputation after a somewhat disappointing stint as Jeff Gordon's crew chief.  If the past couple of weeks are any kind of omen, Junior Nation may be in for quite the resurgence in the coming weeks.

Most Controversial Quote:

"He's got to make those decisions.  I can't see the monitor; I can't see the lap times and you've got to trust what he sees.  The hard thing is that they know it was a problem in not getting all the fuel in the car and that changed our strategy.  It took what was going to be a good day and just made an average day out of it."- Tony Stewart, eighth, on Darian Grubb making fuel decisions.

When Stewart pitted one lap after Brad Keselowski on lap 211, most everyone watching at home assumed that Stewart would be good to go on fuel mileage.  But in the words of Lee Corso, "Not so fast, my friends!"  It turned out that Stewart's crew did not get the car full of fuel, and Stewart had to stop with ten laps to go, a disappointing finish to what could have been a spectacular victory.  In the post-race, it seemed as if Stewart, in a round-about way, was placing equal blame on his crew and the crew chief.  But, on the plus-side of the ledger for Stewart fans, it's looking as if Stewart may have his usual mid-season mojo working with the strong run yesterday at Kansas.

Crew Chief Quote Of The Week:

"Yeah, obviously being my first win, really excited about all the effort that's been put in so far.  And to be able to get the Miller Lite Dodge to Victory Lane was pretty special today.  Brad and I talked I think this week or the week before that, man, if we just keep putting ourselves in the top-10, it's not always the fastest car that seems to be winning these races.  So, we've kept working on our program since the beginning of the year.  It was kind of embarrassing of how we ran at California and Vegas earlier in the year.  So, to see the progress that we've made and put ourselves in position to win these races now just says a lot about all the hard work and everything that's going on at Penske Racing.  One point in the race, I don't know, we were still running 15th and Kurt was out there leading the race, and it was pretty cool, because we knew what the leader had in his car, we knew what he had.  Its just been a good team effort here of late, just really trying to understand how to get these cars better and running similar geometries and front ends has definitely helped I think both of us to get our cars better." – Paul Wolfe, winning crew chief for Brad Keselowski, on the progress he and Brad have made this year.

Last year, in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, it was evident that Brad Keselowski and Paul Wolfe had great chemistry as Wolfe, the former Busch Series driver-turned-crew-chief, helped lead the driver and Roger Penske to their first NASCAR championship. Now, 13 races into their time together at the Cup level, they've won a race together. And they didn't back into it either. The car had run in the top-10 all day and Keselowski, with Wolfe's guidance, made it to Victory Lane for the first time since Talladega in 2009.  Unlike that win, there was no controversy about this triumph.       

Owner Quote Of The Week:

"I think we've made a lot of progress the last several weeks.  People haven't really noticed it, but bad break there when the [No.] 4 car stalled at Charlotte with the [No.] 2 car there and the [No.] 22 has run well.  This is a real step-up for us.  These are the tracks that were tough for us, the one-and-a-half miles.  It looks like we have a handle on these now.  We'll see what happens."- Roger Penske, on the progress his organization has made the past several weeks.

 

Roger Penske's organization, until the past couple of weeks on the Cup side of things, has been oft-maligned by fans and media wondering why the Penske equipment wasn't quite running up to snuff.  Last week saw things head in the right direction with Kurt Busch finishing in the top-5 and Brad Keselowski having a strong car until the brou-ha-ha on the chaotic green-white-checkered finish at Charlotte.

This week saw Kurt Busch dominate the race, but teammate Brad Keselowski was the victor at the end of the day, masterfully conserving gas at the end of the race to earn his second career win in Sprint Cup competition and his first in over two years.  Busch ended up with a ninth-place finish, but was quick to compliment his teammate and praise his organization.  Perhaps "The Captain" is back in the saddle again?

Best Of The Rest:

"It was hot out there.  We've been so close.  We've been plugging away.  We had a car that I thought was capable of winning.  I had a car last week that sat on the pole and had a shot at it and just caught the wrong line on the restart.  The same thing at Dover and Darlington, we could just never catch that good break.  You can only put yourself in that position so many times before you're going to catch the right break.  We caught a great break today because of all the hard work by the Miller Lite team that works on these Dodge Chargers.  We got great gas mileage and that doesn't hurt either."- Brad Keselowski, race winner.

"I'm proud of our whole FedEx Freight team.  We did a great job today.  We had a really good car there at the beginning and there towards the middle part, I'm thinking something gave out on the front end and we just went real bad tight.  So, we decided to come in, work on it, get fuel to put us right there on the pit window, and obviously it worked out great for us.  So, can't say enough for this whole team.  We're battling back.  The pit crew is really stepping up these last few weeks and getting ourselves back in position."- Denny Hamlin, third, on whether he was happy with his result.

"I really wanted to win and it is really hard to win here.  Today was a little bit extra difficult because the track was changing a lot.  The first third of the race and even the first half, our Aflac Ford Fusion was superior.  It was great.  Bob and I didn't change the car enough to keep up with the conditions.  We had a restart and I went backwards in a hurry and I thought we had to really gather it up.  We did that and made it up to fifth.  I had a good time though.  It is a fun race track and it is my new favorite race track.  When it is hot and slick like this, you can slide the cars around and run multiple grooves.  It is a lot of fun and I like it."- Carl Edwards, fifth, on his day.

"We just kind of missed it.  We thought we were pretty good Friday, but we missed it today.  The track really changed on us and we didn't keep up.  I am really happy to finish sixth.  I saw those other guys pit the race different again and I knew some of those guys would beat us if it went green to the end and it looks like three of them got us.  We finished third out of the guys that were all racing for speed there, so I guess that was pretty good."- Matt Kenseth, sixth, on his day.

"Is this the first time it's happened?  Nah, and it won't be the last time either.  That's just part of it.  There is nothing you can do about it and it's not a problem.  Its part of racing.  Crew chiefs are pretty smart and they know how to play the odds and they know what their scenario is and what their situation is and you lose a heck of a lot more of them than you win that way, but its nice to steal one once in a while and get it that way.  You'll take them any way you can get them."- Tony Stewart, eighth, on all these races coming down to fuel mileage.

"I'm proud of the way that this team has run.  To have a car to lead laps today and be very competitive, I was all smiles.  I felt coming into the weekend that if we could pace ourselves, [and] have good team communication, we would be competitive.  It was great.  There was always something in the back of my mind today that we weren't going to win, but I'm glad that Brad Keselowski got this win for those Miller Lite guys, for Dodge.  We're really happy to keep AAA up front all day today.  Its just one of those days where you're on the right side, sometimes you're not.  For all my guys, we'll take this one and the points.  I'm not discouraged at all."- Kurt Busch, ninth, summarizing his day.

 

"It was really, really hot.  My feet were burning up.  That wasn't our biggest problem.  Our first run, we were alright.  Then, we could just never get a handle on it.  The track changed a lot and we never got it back."- Joey Logano, 23rd, on his day.

 

"We had an alright day.  We definitely made the car a lot better and kept adjusting on it through the race and put ourselves in position to have a decent finish before we ran out of gas at the end.  It is a disappointing end to a halfway decent day."- David Gilliland, 33rd, on his day.

 

"That was a tough day.  Our car broke a sway bar pin coming to the green flag.  The pin fell out of the car and I don't know if it broke or if we overlooked it or what.  Obviously, we ran all the way to the first caution without a front sway bar and it took us like 15 or 20 laps to get it fixed.  Our day was over before it even started."- Travis Kvapil, 34th, on his day.

 

Brody Jones is a Contributor for Frontstretch.com.  He can be reached via e-mail at brody.jones@frontstretch.com.

 

Today's Featured Commentary

How Much Havin' At It Is Too Much?

by Ron Lemasters, Jr.

Who would have ever thought that we'd be talking about Brad Keselowski winning a fuel-mileage race on Sunday, a couple days after Richard Childress allegedly opened a can of whoop-up on one Kyle Busch?

Keselowski, known for rough-and-tumble racing on the track, finessed his way to victory in the STP 400, topping Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in a battle of fuel strategy rather than on-track action.  Childress, known for his charm and stature within the NASCAR community, was involved in an altercation with Busch in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series garage following Saturday's NASCAR Nationwide Series race.

What's next?  Kevin Harvick opening up a charm school?

Reports of Childress putting Busch in a headlock and delivering three punches exploded into the blogosphere, and it was on.  Kyle Busch, as you know, is on probation for the bizarre ending at Darlington last month and his part in the post-race throwdown with Harvick.

NASCAR said Busch did nothing to violate his probation when he slid up beside Joey Coulter after the checkered in the Truck race and left a visible reminder that he considered something the youngster had done on the track at issue.

After that, Childress did the romp and stomp, and NASCAR stopped short of suspending the venerable owner for the weekend.  NASCAR President Mike Helton, who I imagine would like to stop seeing RCR personnel in the trailer on such a regular basis, said RC's punishment will be announced soon.

Like, today or Tuesday.

Helton had to walk a pretty fine line with the penalties, restricting Childress' movement at the track on Sunday (read: he couldn't be on pit road).  Given the vitriol that Busch has taken from NASCAR fans since Darlington, it was bound to happen sooner or later between KBM and RCR/KHI.  I just didn't figure it would be RC doing the deed.

This will end soon, because Childress won't let it cost his teams money or points, but the lingering discontent remains.  Busch can be arrogant, and he is nearly universally disliked by segments of the NASCAR fan base, but this seems a touch much, don't you think?

I'm all for a little emotion and a little in-your-face and some by-God excitement in NASCAR, but is this really what we're after?  A couple of guys wrestling around the Truck garage for something that happened a month ago and was arguably more the RCR driver's fault than the one who ended up getting ambushed by the team owner?

Thank you, no.

Meanwhile, on the race track, Keselowski played the fuel mileage game to perfection and led the final nine laps, easily holding off Earnhardt, Jr.

One of these days, Earnhardt, Jr. is going to figure out how to win a fuel-mileage race…because he's certainly getting a lot of practice in them.  Last weekend at Charlotte, Earnhardt ran dry on the backstretch coming to the checkered and finished seventh at CMS.

Denny Hamlin came third, on the same schedule as Earnhardt, and Jeff Gordon ran fourth.  Point leader Carl Edwards was fifth while Jimmie Johnson rallied for seventh.  Edwards has 40 points on Five-Time heading to Pocono.
 
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TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
  
Matt McLaughlin's Thinkin' Out Loud:  2011 Kansas 1st Race Recap

by Matt McLaughlin
 
Owners Should Know Better Than Drivers

by Mike Neff
  
Bubble Breakdown:  Hot Hot Heat Wears Down Bubble Drivers in Kansas City

by Bryan Davis Keith
 
The Big Six:  STP 400

by Amy Henderson
 
Tracking The Trucks:  O'Reilly Auto Parts 250

by Beth Lunkenheimer

 
Nationwide Series Breakdown:  STP 300

by Bryan Davis Keith
 
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FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
 
Q:   In the now-infamous 1986 Summer 500, Neil Bonnett suffered injuries in a crash that forced him to sit out the Talladega 500.  A very green Davey Allison was tapped to sub in the Junior Johnson-owned No. 12 Budweiser Chevrolet.  What happened to Bonnett in the race?

Check back Tuesday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
 
Friday's Answer:

Q:

  Yesterday, we asked about the first ASA race held at Heartland Park Topeka in 1993.  However, neither Heartland Park Topeka nor Brainern International Raceway hosted the first ASA road race.  Where was it, and when?

 
A:  It was at Mosport International Raceway on September 20, 1992.  John Cadman won the race over Leighton Reese.  Unlike the races in 1993 at Brainerd and Heartland Park Topeka, the Mosport race was just a 30 lap race, just under 200 kilometers in length.  Also, the race was part of the Players Ltd. Cup, a five race series-within-a-series consisting of the five Canadian races on the ASA AC-Delco Challenge Series schedule in 1992.

 
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: Kansas-Pocono Edition by Summer Dreyer
Summer takes a look at post-Kansas numbers to see who's got the most momentum heading into Pocono... 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 Pocono 500 at Pocono Raceway.
 
Talking NASCAR TV by Phil Allaway
Last weekend, the Sprint Cup Series traveled to Kansas Speedway for the inaugural STP 400, with the Camping World Truck Series as support.  Meanwhile, the Nationwide Series raced a standalone event at Chicagoland 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 Kansas and determines whether they're true or not.
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