THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
July 16th, 2011
Volume V, Edition CXXXIX
~~~~~~~~~~
BREAKING: Kentucky Traffic Issues Discussed by Bruton Smith, Mike Helton. Click here to see the transcript of the NASCAR President's Friday Press Conference on the issue.
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Friday's News From New Hampshire Motor Speedway
by Amy Henderson
Gresham Wins K&N Pro Series East Race at New Hampshire
Joe Gibbs Racing development driver Max Gresham won the New England 125 from the pole on Friday, beating Brett Moffitt handily to take his first win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and the fourth of his career. Gresham currently leads the East Series points race with four events remaining on the schedule.
The winner, who said in a radio interview earlier in the week that racing is in his blood, recently graduated from high school and is looking forward to a limited ARCA schedule later this season to add onto K&N Pro events. His grandfather owns Gresham Motorsports Park in Jefferson, Georgia.
K&N Pro Series East Celebrates 25 Years; Names Top 10 Drivers
On Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, a longtime staple on the K&N Pro Series East schedule, NASCAR announced the top 10 drivers from the series' first 25 years, a list compiled by a panel of voters that included series media, NASCAR administration, and series competition and communications staff. Topping the list is four-time champion Andy Santerre. Santerre's four championships stand as a series record; during that stretch, Santerre dominated the points, winning championships handily from 2002-2005. Santerre is also the 1993 Rookie of the Year and a four-time Most Popular Driver. His 23 wins stand in third on the all-time list, and Santerre is also third on the all-time poles list with 14. in 166 career races, Santerre finished in the top ten 119 times. With an eye for finding talented young racers, Santerrre is now a key figure in driver development for the series with Revolution Racing.
Second on the list is all-time wins leader Kelly Moore, whose 27 wins came at 13 different tracks over Moore's 20-year career. Moore also holds the series record for top-5 finishes with 125. In seventeen full-time seasons in the series, Moore never finished outside the top 10 in points. Three–time champion Brad Leighton ranked third on the list. Leighton is second on the wins list with 24 and has eight wins at New Hampshire. Leighton is also the 1996 Rookie of the Year and 2000 Most Popular Driver.
Three-time champion Jamie Aube was fourth on the list. Aube won three straight titles from 1988-1990. Rounding out the top 5 is NASCAR veteran Ricky Craven, who began his career in the East Series in 1990 by winning the rookie title. Craven holds a series record five straight wins as well as the record for wins in a single season with ten. Craven competed in the East Series for only two full seasons, earning Most Popular Driver honors in both of those years, and his 269-point margin of victory in the 1991 title race is the largest the series has seen in its 25 years. Craven also has wins in all three of NASCAR's national touring divisions.
Sixth place went to Mike Stefanik, one of six drivers to win back-to-back titles in the East Series, which he did in 1997 and 1998. His titles came in years when Stefanik also ran full-time in the Modified Division, an impressive double-dip that showcases the driver's versatility. Over in that series, Stefanik was also voted #2 on the all-time drivers' list in 2003. He is a three-time Most Popular Driver in the East Series and also has three runner-up points finishes. Current Sprint Cup driver Joey Logano is seventh on the list. Logano competed just one year in the series, but he made it count, winning his first pole in 2007 at the age of 16. Logano's average finish in the series is fifth place, and he is also the first driver to earn Rookie of the Year honors and a championship in the same season - which he capped off by winning the East vs. West Toyota All-Star Showdown.
Eighth in the final tally is youngster Ryan Truex, who spent two seasons in the series and won the championship in both of them. Truex won the 2009 title despite a slow start and joins Logano as the only other driver to win the title in his rookie campaign. In Truex's 22 career starts, he finished in the top 10 17 times. Dale Shaw is the ninth-place driver. Shaw, the 1994 series champion is fourth on the all-time victory list with 19, scoring those along with eight top-10 points finishes. Even with those totals on his resume, Shaw is the only driver to win the series title without a single win. The tenth driver to be recognized was Dick McCabe, who posted back-to-back title runs in 1992 and 1993 and finished in the top 10 in driver points in each of the series' first eight seasons.
Sprint Cup Drivers Dominate First Nationwide Series Practice Sessions, Regulars Take Over in Second
Both Nationwide Series Practice sessions of Friday had a common theme: Cup regulars at the top of the leaderboards. The morning session's fast time was set by Kevin Harvick at 29.802 seconds (127.419 MPH) Hot on Harvick's heels were Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, and Joey Logano. The lone Nationwide regular in the top 5 was Reed Sorenson, who turned in a lap time of 30.024. Only Kasey Kahne and Carl Edwards from the Cup set failed to crack the top 10 in the session.
The second practice of the day, though, went to the Nationwide regulars as Sorenson and Aric Almirola took the top two spots. Sorenson's lap time of 29.602 gives Sorenson the best lap of the day. Harvick, Logano, and Jason Leffler rounded out the top 5. The only other Cup driver to crack the top ten was Brad Keselowski with the ninth-best time. Sixth through eighth place on the board went to Justin Allgaier, Michael Annett, and Kenny Wallace; Steve Wallace was the final car in the top 10.
Nationwide Series qualifying will take place at 10:35 on Saturday morning. The order was set by final practice speeds. Danny Efland will go out first while Sorenson will make the last time trial run to set the field.
Bliss, TriStar Motorsports Suffer Car Damage
The weekend didn't get off to a great start for Mike Bliss and the No. 19 TriStar team, as the team's primary car was damaged in a strange unloading mishap. As the team was removing the car from their hauler on Thursday, the lift gate that lowers the cars to the ground gave way, damaging the car. The team determined that the primary car was still raceable and will race it on Saturday. Bliss was 20th in the opening practice session of the weekend on Friday morning, and 19th in final practice.
Kurt Busch Leads All Drivers in Laps Completed in 2011
At the halfway point in the season, Penske Racing driver Kurt Busch leads all drivers in laps completed. There have been 5295 laps turned in competition this year, and Busch has completed 5285 of them. That's a percentage of 99.8. While Busch has just one win this year, his consistency of finishing races and completing all the laps will be of key importance if Busch is to make a second title run. Busch, currently fourth in points, has only finished off the lead lap three times in 2011.
NHMS Reports Preliminary Sales at 90,000+
According to reports, New Hampshire Motor Speedway has sold upwards of 90,000 tickets for Sunday's Lenox Industrial Tools 301 as of Friday. While that number is well shy of a sellout of New Hampshire's 101,000 capacity, it still represents strong sales for the track, which sold out every Cup date from 1993-2009. If weekend sales are bolstered by a nearly flawless weather forecast, the track could post some of the season's best numbers, especially in terms of percentage. For New England fans who fear that track owner Bruton Smith will move one of the tracks races elsewhere, strong attendance is extra important to the venue's long-term future.
NHMS to Host a Night Race In the Future?
Speaking of the future, on a local radio interview Thursday New Hampshire Motor Speedway President Jerry Gappens said that the speedway is doing preliminary work in renegotiating noise ordinances that have prevented the track from starting a race after 6:00 PM. Gappens said that the track's number one hope when it comes to improvements is to add lights in the near future. However, local towns have taken a hard line with the issue in the past, and the track will have to jump through several political hoops to make a night race a reality.
Have news for Amy and The Frontstretch? Don't hesitate to let us know; email us at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com with a promising lead or tip.
~~~~~~~~~~
NEW PODCAST! Don't forget our new FREE weekly audio segments hosted by Doug Turnbull. Click here for the July 15th edition that features Blake Koch as our main racing guest.
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
July 16th, 2011
Volume V, Edition CXXXIX
~~~~~~~~~~
BREAKING: Kentucky Traffic Issues Discussed by Bruton Smith, Mike Helton. Click here to see the transcript of the NASCAR President's Friday Press Conference on the issue.
~~~~~~~~~~
Friday's News From New Hampshire Motor Speedway
by Amy Henderson
Gresham Wins K&N Pro Series East Race at New Hampshire
Joe Gibbs Racing development driver Max Gresham won the New England 125 from the pole on Friday, beating Brett Moffitt handily to take his first win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and the fourth of his career. Gresham currently leads the East Series points race with four events remaining on the schedule.
The winner, who said in a radio interview earlier in the week that racing is in his blood, recently graduated from high school and is looking forward to a limited ARCA schedule later this season to add onto K&N Pro events. His grandfather owns Gresham Motorsports Park in Jefferson, Georgia.
K&N Pro Series East Celebrates 25 Years; Names Top 10 Drivers
On Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, a longtime staple on the K&N Pro Series East schedule, NASCAR announced the top 10 drivers from the series' first 25 years, a list compiled by a panel of voters that included series media, NASCAR administration, and series competition and communications staff. Topping the list is four-time champion Andy Santerre. Santerre's four championships stand as a series record; during that stretch, Santerre dominated the points, winning championships handily from 2002-2005. Santerre is also the 1993 Rookie of the Year and a four-time Most Popular Driver. His 23 wins stand in third on the all-time list, and Santerre is also third on the all-time poles list with 14. in 166 career races, Santerre finished in the top ten 119 times. With an eye for finding talented young racers, Santerrre is now a key figure in driver development for the series with Revolution Racing.
Second on the list is all-time wins leader Kelly Moore, whose 27 wins came at 13 different tracks over Moore's 20-year career. Moore also holds the series record for top-5 finishes with 125. In seventeen full-time seasons in the series, Moore never finished outside the top 10 in points. Three–time champion Brad Leighton ranked third on the list. Leighton is second on the wins list with 24 and has eight wins at New Hampshire. Leighton is also the 1996 Rookie of the Year and 2000 Most Popular Driver.
Three-time champion Jamie Aube was fourth on the list. Aube won three straight titles from 1988-1990. Rounding out the top 5 is NASCAR veteran Ricky Craven, who began his career in the East Series in 1990 by winning the rookie title. Craven holds a series record five straight wins as well as the record for wins in a single season with ten. Craven competed in the East Series for only two full seasons, earning Most Popular Driver honors in both of those years, and his 269-point margin of victory in the 1991 title race is the largest the series has seen in its 25 years. Craven also has wins in all three of NASCAR's national touring divisions.
Sixth place went to Mike Stefanik, one of six drivers to win back-to-back titles in the East Series, which he did in 1997 and 1998. His titles came in years when Stefanik also ran full-time in the Modified Division, an impressive double-dip that showcases the driver's versatility. Over in that series, Stefanik was also voted #2 on the all-time drivers' list in 2003. He is a three-time Most Popular Driver in the East Series and also has three runner-up points finishes. Current Sprint Cup driver Joey Logano is seventh on the list. Logano competed just one year in the series, but he made it count, winning his first pole in 2007 at the age of 16. Logano's average finish in the series is fifth place, and he is also the first driver to earn Rookie of the Year honors and a championship in the same season - which he capped off by winning the East vs. West Toyota All-Star Showdown.
Eighth in the final tally is youngster Ryan Truex, who spent two seasons in the series and won the championship in both of them. Truex won the 2009 title despite a slow start and joins Logano as the only other driver to win the title in his rookie campaign. In Truex's 22 career starts, he finished in the top 10 17 times. Dale Shaw is the ninth-place driver. Shaw, the 1994 series champion is fourth on the all-time victory list with 19, scoring those along with eight top-10 points finishes. Even with those totals on his resume, Shaw is the only driver to win the series title without a single win. The tenth driver to be recognized was Dick McCabe, who posted back-to-back title runs in 1992 and 1993 and finished in the top 10 in driver points in each of the series' first eight seasons.
Sprint Cup Drivers Dominate First Nationwide Series Practice Sessions, Regulars Take Over in Second
Both Nationwide Series Practice sessions of Friday had a common theme: Cup regulars at the top of the leaderboards. The morning session's fast time was set by Kevin Harvick at 29.802 seconds (127.419 MPH) Hot on Harvick's heels were Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, and Joey Logano. The lone Nationwide regular in the top 5 was Reed Sorenson, who turned in a lap time of 30.024. Only Kasey Kahne and Carl Edwards from the Cup set failed to crack the top 10 in the session.
The second practice of the day, though, went to the Nationwide regulars as Sorenson and Aric Almirola took the top two spots. Sorenson's lap time of 29.602 gives Sorenson the best lap of the day. Harvick, Logano, and Jason Leffler rounded out the top 5. The only other Cup driver to crack the top ten was Brad Keselowski with the ninth-best time. Sixth through eighth place on the board went to Justin Allgaier, Michael Annett, and Kenny Wallace; Steve Wallace was the final car in the top 10.
Nationwide Series qualifying will take place at 10:35 on Saturday morning. The order was set by final practice speeds. Danny Efland will go out first while Sorenson will make the last time trial run to set the field.
Bliss, TriStar Motorsports Suffer Car Damage
The weekend didn't get off to a great start for Mike Bliss and the No. 19 TriStar team, as the team's primary car was damaged in a strange unloading mishap. As the team was removing the car from their hauler on Thursday, the lift gate that lowers the cars to the ground gave way, damaging the car. The team determined that the primary car was still raceable and will race it on Saturday. Bliss was 20th in the opening practice session of the weekend on Friday morning, and 19th in final practice.
Kurt Busch Leads All Drivers in Laps Completed in 2011
At the halfway point in the season, Penske Racing driver Kurt Busch leads all drivers in laps completed. There have been 5295 laps turned in competition this year, and Busch has completed 5285 of them. That's a percentage of 99.8. While Busch has just one win this year, his consistency of finishing races and completing all the laps will be of key importance if Busch is to make a second title run. Busch, currently fourth in points, has only finished off the lead lap three times in 2011.
NHMS Reports Preliminary Sales at 90,000+
According to reports, New Hampshire Motor Speedway has sold upwards of 90,000 tickets for Sunday's Lenox Industrial Tools 301 as of Friday. While that number is well shy of a sellout of New Hampshire's 101,000 capacity, it still represents strong sales for the track, which sold out every Cup date from 1993-2009. If weekend sales are bolstered by a nearly flawless weather forecast, the track could post some of the season's best numbers, especially in terms of percentage. For New England fans who fear that track owner Bruton Smith will move one of the tracks races elsewhere, strong attendance is extra important to the venue's long-term future.
NHMS to Host a Night Race In the Future?
Speaking of the future, on a local radio interview Thursday New Hampshire Motor Speedway President Jerry Gappens said that the speedway is doing preliminary work in renegotiating noise ordinances that have prevented the track from starting a race after 6:00 PM. Gappens said that the track's number one hope when it comes to improvements is to add lights in the near future. However, local towns have taken a hard line with the issue in the past, and the track will have to jump through several political hoops to make a night race a reality.
Have news for Amy and The Frontstretch? Don't hesitate to let us know; email us at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com with a promising lead or tip.
~~~~~~~~~~
NEW PODCAST! Don't forget our new FREE weekly audio segments hosted by Doug Turnbull. Click here for the July 15th edition that features Blake Koch as our main racing guest.
~~~~~~~~~~
Coming Monday in the Frontstretch Newsletter:
-- Lenox Industrial Tools 301 Race Recap by TBA
-- Mouthing Off: Lenox Industrial Tools 301 by Brody Jones
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, and more!
Monday on the Frontstretch:
Matt McLaughlin's Thinkin' Out Loud: Lenox Industrial Tools 301 by Matt McLaughlin
Matt will be here with his overall thoughts about the action from Sunday afternoon's action from New Hampshire.
Bubble Breakdown by Bryan Davis Keith
Who's hot and who's not towards the back end of the owner points battle? Bryan brings the stories you didn't hear about into print from Sunday's race from New Hampshire.
Special Commentary by Ron Lemasters
Ron returns for a website look at one of the big stories from Sunday's race at New Hampshire.
Bowles-Eye View by Tom Bowles
Tom brings back his weekly post-race commentary with all of the insight you need from a weekend of racing from New Hampshire.
Big Six: Lenox Industrial Tools 301 by Amy Henderson
Amy has your who, what, when, where, why and how from a weekend of racing at New Hampshire.
Nationwide Series Breakdown: New England 200 by Bryan Davis Keith
Bryan has all the post-race analysis you need after Saturday afternoon's Nationwide Series race from New Hampshire.
Tracking the Trucks: Coca-Cola 200 presented by Hy-Vee by Beth Lunkenheimer
Beth has all the post-race analysis you need after Saturday night's Camping World Truck Series race from Iowa.
-----------------------------
Talk back to the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Got something to say about an article you've seen in the newsletter? It's as easy as replying directly to this message or sending an email to editors@frontstretch.com. We'll take the best comments and publish them here!
©2011 Frontstretch.com
Coming Monday in the Frontstretch Newsletter:
-- Lenox Industrial Tools 301 Race Recap by TBA
-- Mouthing Off: Lenox Industrial Tools 301 by Brody Jones
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, and more!
Monday on the Frontstretch:
Matt McLaughlin's Thinkin' Out Loud: Lenox Industrial Tools 301 by Matt McLaughlin
Matt will be here with his overall thoughts about the action from Sunday afternoon's action from New Hampshire.
Bubble Breakdown by Bryan Davis Keith
Who's hot and who's not towards the back end of the owner points battle? Bryan brings the stories you didn't hear about into print from Sunday's race from New Hampshire.
Special Commentary by Ron Lemasters
Ron returns for a website look at one of the big stories from Sunday's race at New Hampshire.
Bowles-Eye View by Tom Bowles
Tom brings back his weekly post-race commentary with all of the insight you need from a weekend of racing from New Hampshire.
Big Six: Lenox Industrial Tools 301 by Amy Henderson
Amy has your who, what, when, where, why and how from a weekend of racing at New Hampshire.
Nationwide Series Breakdown: New England 200 by Bryan Davis Keith
Bryan has all the post-race analysis you need after Saturday afternoon's Nationwide Series race from New Hampshire.
Tracking the Trucks: Coca-Cola 200 presented by Hy-Vee by Beth Lunkenheimer
Beth has all the post-race analysis you need after Saturday night's Camping World Truck Series race from Iowa.
-----------------------------
Talk back to the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Got something to say about an article you've seen in the newsletter? It's as easy as replying directly to this message or sending an email to editors@frontstretch.com. We'll take the best comments and publish them here!
©2011 Frontstretch.com
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