THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
July 28th, 2011
Volume V, Edition CXLIII
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Frontstretch sends its well wishes, prayers, and support to all our Southern U.S., Joplin, MO and Western Massachusetts fans affected by the swath of tornadoes over the past few weeks. To help out recovery efforts, text "GIVE" to 80888 to donate $10 towards disaster relief efforts in Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Massachusetts and Missouri through the Salvation Army.
Today's Top News
by Phil Allaway
Francis to Move to Hendrick Motorsports in 2012
In a move that surprised almost no one, Hendrick Motorsports announced on Wednesday that Kenny Francis, currently the crew chief on the No. 4 Red Bull Toyota driven by Kasey Kahne, has been named the Crew Chief of the No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet for 2012. Francis will replace Lance McGrew, who shifted over to the No. 5 team from Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s No. 88 at the end of the 2010 season.
Francis is very excited about his upcoming move to Hendrick Motorsports.
"Joining Hendrick Motorsports and continuing to work with Kasey next year is an opportunity [that] I'm excited about," Francis said. "[Kasey] is a championship-caliber driver and a good friend, and I'm looking forward to building on our relationship. Mr. Hendrick has built an impressive team and culture, and it's going to be fun to be a part of that when the time comes."
Team owner Rick Hendrick is also happy to have Francis aboard for 2012.
"Our people have a lot of respect for Kenny and what he's accomplished [as a Crew Chief]," Hendrick said. "We know the chemistry is already there with Kasey and there's no doubt that Kenny will communicate well with our folks. He's a character guy that brings an awful lot to the table as a crew chief."
McGrew will finish out the 2011 season as crew chief on the No. 5 team for driver Mark Martin. After the season, McGrew will move into a R&D and Special Projects. Among the projects that McGrew will oversee is the new car for 2013.
Entry List Update:
Note: These entries are accurate as of Wednesday night. However, they are still subject to change.
Sprint Cup Series Brickyard 400: 48 cars entered
Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points:
No. 21 - Trevor Bayne for Wood Brothers Racing
No. 32 - Mike Bliss for FAS Lane Racing
No. 37 - Scott Speed for Front Row Motorsports/MaxQ Motorsports
No. 51 - Landon Cassill for Phoenix Racing
No. 60 - Mike Skinner for Germain Racing
No. 77 - Scott Wimmer for Robby Gordon Motorsports
No. 87 - Joe Nemechek for NEMCO Motorsports
Driver Changes:
No. 7 - Robby Gordon returns to the seat, replacing Scott Wimmer.
No. 37 - Scott Speed is in the seat, replacing Tony Raines.
No. 38 - Travis Kvapil returns to the seat, replacing Sam Hornish, Jr.
No. 55 - J.J. Yeley is in the seat, replacing Jeff Green.
No. 77 - Scott Wimmer is in the seat, replacing Robby Gordon.
Drivers who must qualify on speed:
No. 21 - Trevor Bayne for Wood Brothers Racing
No. 23 - Terry Labonte for FAS Lane Racing (Guaranteed to start via the Past Champions' Provisional)
No. 30 - David Stremme for Inception Motorsports
No. 37 - Scott Speed for Front Row Motorsports/MaxQ Motorsports
No. 38 - Travis Kvapil for Front Row Motorsports
No. 46 - Erik Darnell for Whitney Motorsports
No. 50 - T.J. Bell for MAKE Motorsports
No. 55 - J.J. Yeley for Front Row Motorsports
No. 60 - Mike Skinner for Germain Racing
No. 66 - Michael McDowell for HP Racing, LLC
No. 71 - Andy Lally for TRG Motorsports
No. 77 - Scott Wimmer for Robby Gordon Motorsports
No. 87 - Joe Nemechek for NEMCO Motorsports
Absent:
No. 81- Scott Riggs for Whitney Motorsports
Nationwide Series Kroger 200: 43 cars entered
Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points:
No. 18 - Michael McDowell for Joe Gibbs Racing
No. 22 - Brad Keselowski for Penske Racing
No. 30 - James Buescher for Turner Motorsports
No. 33 - Austin Dillon for Kevin Harvick, Inc.
No. 60 - Carl Edwards for Roush Fenway Racing
No. 70 - David Stremme for ML Motorsports
Driver Changes:
No. 18 - Michael McDowell returns to the seat, replacing Drew Herring.
No. 20 - Drew Herring returns to the seat, replacing Joey Logano.
No. 30 - James Buescher returns to the seat, replacing Mikey Kile.
No. 39 - Matt Frahm returns to the seat, replacing Danny Efland.
No. 40 - Charles Lewandoski returns to the seat, replacing Chase Miller.
No. 41 - Fain Skinner is in the seat, replacing Carl Long. He will be making his Nationwide Series debut.
No. 46 - Chase Miller returns to the seat, replacing Brett Rowe.
No. 47 - Brett Rowe is in the seat, replacing Charles Lewandoski.
No. 52 - Tim Schendel returns to the seat, replacing Kevin Lepage.
No. 87 - Joe Nemechek returns to the seat, replacing Scott Wimmer.
No. 99 - Travis Pastrana is in the seat, replacing Ryan Truex. If Pastrana qualifies on speed, he will be making his Nationwide Series debut.
Drivers who must qualify on speed:
No. 04 - Danny O'Quinn, Jr. for Go Green Racing
No. 13 - Jennifer Jo Cobb for JJC Racing
No. 16 - Trevor Bayne for Roush Fenway Racing
No. 20 - Drew Herring for Joe Gibbs Racing
No. 41 - Fain Skinner for Rick Ware Racing
No. 42 - Tim Andrews for Key Motorsports
No. 44 - Jeff Green for TriStar Motorsports (Guaranteed to start via the Past Champions' Provisional)
No. 46 - Chase Miller for Key Motorsports
No. 47 - Brett Rowe for Key Motorsports
No. 49 - Mark Green for Jay Robinson Racing
No. 74 - Mike Harmon for Harmon Motorsports
No. 75 - Johnny Chapman for Rick Ware Racing
No. 99 - Travis Pastrana for Pastrana-Waltrip Racing
Withdrawn:
No. 71 - Carl Long for Rick Ware Racing
Camping World Truck Series AAA Insurance 200: 37 trucks entered
Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points:
No. 2 - Elliott Sadler for Kevin Harvick, Inc.
No. 10 - Jennifer Jo Cobb for JJC Racing
Driver Changes:
No. 07 - Ricky Moxley is in the seat, replacing Johnny Chapman. He will be making his Camping World Truck Series debut.
No. 32 - Steve Arpin returns to the seat, replacing Blake Feese.
No. 66 - Ross Chastain is in the seat, replacing Justin Marks. Chastain will be making his Camping World Truck Series debut.
No. 75 - Greg Seevers returns to the seat, replacing Mike Harmon.
Drivers who must qualify on speed:
No. 00 - Brad Queen for Queen Motorsports. If Queen gets in on speed, he will make his Camping World Truck Series debut.
No. 01 - Jake Crum
No. 10 - Jennifer Jo Cobb for JJC Racing
No. 20 - Johanna Long for Panhandle Motorsports
No. 38 - Mike Garvey for RSS Motorsports
No. 42 - Tommy Joe Martins
No. 57 - Norm Benning for Norm Benning Racing
No. 63 - Jack Smith for Mittler Brothers Racing
No. 75 - Greg Seevers for Norm Benning Racing
No. 92 - Clay Rogers for RBM Motorsports
No. 96 - Todd Peck for Peck Motorsports
No. 98 - Dakoda Armstrong for ThorSport Racing
Withdrawn:
No. 1 - Jack Sprague for Rick Ware Racing
Faith Motorsports to Possibly Shut Down?
Morgan Shepherd has had a decades-long career in NASCAR that has included four wins in the Cup Series and 15 more in the Nationwide Series. However, Shepherd could be forced to end his long career in the near future.
On Wednesday, Shepherd appeared on MRN Radio's NASCAR Live! with Eli Gold to talk about his team's issues. On the show, he revealed serious financial issues that could park his No. 89 team as soon as mid-August.
"It's come to a point that financially, we can't buy the tires to be there," Shepherd told Gold. "We can't pay for the engines."
Shepherd went on to explain that his team uses the older SB2 engines in his cars, which were first used in NASCAR in the late 1990's. Those engines, at $35,000 a pop, are far cheaper than the current R07's, which cost $91,000 just for the parts. Assembly costs extra.
Ideally, a sponsor would be nice to have for Shepherd. However, he would be happy with some assistance with the engine costs. If he cannot come up with additional funding, the team would likely be put up for sale following the NAPA Auto Parts 200 in Montreal.
The monetary issues that Faith Motorsports faces has already cost the team their second car, the No. 55 that was driven by Brett Rowe earlier this season. A series of DNQs, lack of funding, and an inability to update their equipment led to the No. 55 being parked in the late Spring.
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Hey Frontstretch Readers!
We know you love the roar of raw horsepower under the hood that powers 43 of the best drivers in the world every weekend, but did you ever wonder how the sponsor on top of that hood also contributes to keeping the sport moving? What about the contributions of official NASCAR companies? If you think they are simply writing checks, think again. Check out our newest feature - Sunday Money. This weekly Frontstretch exclusive provides you with a behind the scenes look how NASCAR, its affiliates and team sponsors approach the daunting task of keeping fans interested and excited about the sport for 38 weeks of the year.
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What's Vexing Vito
McGrew was assigned the regrettable task of picking up the pieces from the split of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and cousin Tony Eury, Jr. in 2009. He will finish out the season with Martin – still in Chase contention in 20th place in points after a season that has seen the No. 5 caught up in a number of wrecks not of their doing this season – and move into an R&D Role with HMS getting the new 2013 Chevrolets up to speed. While the No. 5 is essentially the No. 88 from last season, the car has arguably been about as competitive as when Dale Earnhardt, Jr. drove it. Martin has been in contention to win all but a handful of times this year, after winning five races in 2009, and nearly winning the Championship in his first year with the team and crew chief Alan Gustafson. That team and crew chief have now resurrected the career of Jeff Gordon this year... just as they did with Martin two years ago.
- The questions rage whether Joey Logano will be replaced by Carl Edwards in the No. 20 Home Depot Toyotas of Joe Gibbs Racing, with little indication of how things will play out one way or another for the driver deemed "Sliced Bread." During his appearance on ESPN's NASCAR Now Wednesday afternoon, there were some clues that Logano may have his nail apron revoked. Logano looked liked he had about two hours of sleep with the kind of bags under his eyes that Clubber Lang would have had a field day with. Logano made sure to mention his Home Depot "Tie-Ota" more often than one would expect even a NASCAR driver to. Looks like Logano might actually be feeling the heat to keep his seat at JGR.
- One of the most unfortunate falls from grace in the Sprint Cup Series over the past few years has to be that of Robby Gordon. Gordon first appeared in the Cup Series in 1991 driving for legendary Ford car owner Junie Donlavey. In 1993, Gordon was tasked with stepping in for Robert Yates Racing following the death of Davey Allison at Talladega. His first full season was abruptly ended in 1997 after verbal sparring and alleged physical confrontations between Gordon and car owner Felix Sabates. After a couple of seasons back in CART, Gordon brought his own team to NASCAR for 2000, running No. 13 Fords.
In 2001, Gordon joined Richard Childress Racing after an abbreviated stint in the No. 4 Morgan-McClure Kodak Chevrolet. It was a tumultuous time for RCR, having endured the loss of Dale Earnhardt, Sr., as well as losing Mike Skinner to injuries and resulting surgery halfway through the year. Gordon took over and won his first career race at the real season-ending event at a rescheduled New Hampshire Motor Speedway – and would have won at Watkins Glen had NBC's battery pack for the in-car camera not caught on fire.
Gordon would go on to record another pair of wins in the No. 31 Chevrolet, at Infineon Raceway and Watkins Glen. But he would leave at the end of 2004 to embrace his inner-Alan Kulwicki, going back to running his own team; it was an effort that had long gone out of vogue since the trials and tribulations of owner-drivers such as Geoff Bodine, Ricky Rudd, and Darrell Waltrip. His best efforts to date have been a 26th-place points finish in 2007 – which included a missed race after being parked by NASCAR for his refusal to heed race control instructions after an on-track altercation with Marcos Ambrose in the Montreal Nationwide Series race.
Gordon has finished 34th in points the last two years, and sits 34th currently in 2011. Although his name is on the entry list for this weekend's Brickyard 400, Robby Gordon occasionally takes weekends off now, and has gone so far as to refer to Robby Gordon Motorsports as, "a marketing company that races." For a driver who had four 24 Hours of Daytona class wins by the time he was 25, and came within a lap of winning the 1999 Indianapolis 500, it has to be a bit disheartening to have came so far and detoured what appeared to be the groundwork laid for a promising competitive Cup Series career just a few short years ago. I know I'm depressed about it.
Farewell To Thee, IRP
Shakedown Session
by Brody Jones
However, 2011 marks the end of an era for the Nationwide and Truck Series, respectively. With the IMS announcement of the "Super Weekend" at the Brickyard for the Nationwide Series to make their debut at the Brickyard, and the subsequent departure of the Truck Series, there is no longer room at the NASCAR inn for Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis. Lay observers might call this "progress," but let's take a dose of reality, race fans, and call this exactly what it is: yet another nail in the proverbial coffin and salt in the open wounds of short track racing.
The loss of Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis for longtime followers of NASCAR's Triple-A and Double-A touring series is just devastating, especially to an already seriously-ill Nationwide Series. Another standalone event goes by the wayside for, oh joy, another Cup companion race! The Nationwide Series needed another companion event about as much as the world needs a second Rebecca Black single, and for a series that already has one-third of its entries start-and-parking and no one able to realistically compete for wins unless they're a Cup driver or their team is Cup-affiliated, this is just another blow it does not need.
It's not just the Nationwide and Truck Series that will suffer with the loss of Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis, but fans will suffer as well. The track has long been one of the most fan-friendly stops on the tour and the close-quarters bumping and banging kept people coming back in droves, year after year. But now that the Nationwide Series is getting shipped down the road, to the big track questions arise as to whether any type of audience will follow suit. Indianapolis Motor Speedway has been on a downward spiral since the 2008 "Tire-Gate," at least a small part in the overall snowball effect that has bogged NASCAR's growth down in recent years with attendance at the track, along with many other facilities, on a downward trend. Well, if the IMS braintrust thinks a companion weekend is going to be the quick fix for declining attendance, they're going to be hit with a cold dose of reality by ignoring the fact that, while the track is great for IndyCars, it's not exactly known as the most conducive track to side-by-side racing on the NASCAR circuit. Add it to the bulky nature of the COT and it makes for mostly single-file, train racing.
But after the final NASCAR checkered flag falls on the "Night Before The 400", fans in the Indianapolis area should try not to dwell too much on the loss of the area short track. They should focus on the positives: the fan access, the side-by-side racing, the cozy confides, sitting on "The Hill," so many things that made Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis such a quirky little place on the NASCAR touring landscape. While the race festivities will move to the Brickyard, Clermont residents should take pride at the fact their facility made for some great memories over the years. Whether it was in the Truck Series or the Nationwide Series, it always seemed like Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis brought out the best in the drivers in these series. So fret not, loyal fans, and cherish what memories that can still be had.
Brody Jones is a Website Contributor to Frontstretch.com. He can be reached via e-mail at brody.jones@frontstretch.com.
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The Critic's Annex: Edmonton Indy and the Grand Prix of Germany
by Phil Allaway
The IndyCar critique was pushed back because of that, and the fact that all the NASCAR content from Nashville pushed the regular critique to 2800 words. Can't go much longer than that without significant chunks of the column being cut out. However, for today, you get a bonus. Not only will I be covering the Edmonton Indy, but I'm still throwing in Formula One as well because I like my readers so much. Here we go.
Edmonton Indy
Sunday afternoon brought the Izod IndyCar Series back into action after a weekend off. The break seemed to cool off some of the drivers after the shenanigans that plagued the Toronto round. The wrecking on track was bad enough, but the inconsistent and/or non-existent officiating made a bad situation even worse. Luckily, Sunday's race was free of the bad calls from Brian Barnhart (Chief Steward of the Izod IndyCar Series) that hurt the race. I'd go into more detail about the officiating, but then I'd be writing 2000 words about Barnhart. Let's just say that a lot of people hate him, want him out, and have stuck to those opinions for years. For reference, check out any of Robin Miller's Mailbags at speedtv.com.
Of course, once Versus came on the air, they needed to recap the craziness that went on in Toronto. I'm not opposed to Versus doing that, because they always do. However, this look back included more than just the usual recap. It also included a montage of race winner Dario Franchitti and Will Power's interviews, Franchitti from Victory Lane and Power's after he retired from the event. For the uninformed, Power was spun out by Franchitti in this incident on Lap 57.
Kevin Lee interviewed Justin Wilson and Tony Kanaan on Versus stage for their thoughts on the issue. Both drivers crashed out of the Toronto event in separate incidents. They're also the leaders of an unofficial (read, "unrecognized") IndyCar Drivers' Association, and, by extension, basically the voice of the drivers. They were asked to talk about the events of Toronto, what could have been done to prevent them, and who should have been apportioned blame for the wrecks. The answers were perfectly rational, but went against what actually happened in Toronto.
The ProfessorB segment was focused on brake bias. Beekhuis did the feature from inside of Graham Rahal's No. 38 and discussed the proper amount of front brake bias that is required for optimal running (apparently, about 52-57 percent). He also showed the dial that drivers could use to adjust that bias. Interesting little feature. Yes, in NASCAR, drivers can adjust bias as well (it's literally the only thing they can adjust themselves in the car), but they cannot see the actual bias. In IndyCar, the bias is shown on the steering wheel so they know how much they need to move the dial to be exact.
Versus was back down to a three-man booth (at first) since Dan Wheldon did not make the trip up to Edmonton. As a result, Robin Miller did the Grid Run by himself. Versus is making note of the feature's popularity by creating on-screen graphics with the 61-year old Miller running that ran before the feature started. Still interesting to watch. Got a kick of his statement about A.J. Foyt, who is quite corpulent these days and apparently doesn't run for anyone.
However, the Grid Run brought something else up that was interesting and came out of Power's angry interview at the 5:00 mark in the aforementioned clip. Apparently, one can get away with using a six-letter word that describes a person pleasuring themselves with no repercussions from Versus or the Izod IndyCar Series these days. I could care less, to be really honest, but I'm actually surprised that Versus let that air uncensored twice now. I know their ratings aren't the best (a .41 for Toronto), but I'm pretty sure that someone's not very happy about that.
During pre-race ceremonies, there were some embarrassing issues with the PA system during the National Anthems and the Command to Start Engines. I cannot recall anything like that happening before. Jenkins acknowledged the issues, then got surprised when the Canadian anthem sound came back quietly. I guess that's just one of the hazards of live television. The PA system then cut out again during the command so that no one could hear it. That is just a shame. Nothing Versus could have done about it, even though it probably makes them look bad.
The Canadian host broadcasters' camera shots didn't help out much either. They would miss stuff every now and then, which simply bites. We hold telecast production to a much higher standard today than in the 1990's. The simple thing is this. If someone wrecks, stay on the wreck. The Canadians failed to do that on Lap 1.
On Lap 1, Graham Rahal was eliminated after Alex Tagliani all but drove through him halfway through the lap. The hit cut his left rear tire, which caused him to spin and get hit by Paul Tracy. Following the hit, and an angry pit road interview, Rahal joined the Versus trio in the booth, much like Wheldon has done recently and Carl Edwards has done a couple of times this season in NASCAR.
Rahal was interesting to listen to. He was very much focused on the actions of the drivers themselves on track, which resulted in a bit of a contrast as compared to normal, but Rahal was quite informative. He was not afraid to call out drivers for moves that he felt were unnecessary. Granted, some of that might have resulted from his legitimate anger at Tagliani (which did not show when he was in the booth), but it was a nice change.
Listening to Rahal in the booth reminded me of some of the commentary that viewers got from TNN and TBS in 1994 from their rotating third chair after Neil Bonnett died. That year, you had people like Dave Marcis, Kenny Wallace, Darrell Waltrip and others work in the booth for a race. They were relatively reserved and informative in that role (even Darrell). Now, Graham is very young, so I don't think that he's angling for a TV career right now. He'd rather win a bunch of races.
The officiating issue was nowhere near as egregious in Edmonton as it was in Toronto. Obviously, Barnhart must have read some of the vitriol. There were penalties levied against multiple drivers judged guilty of overly aggressive moves that resulted in wrecks (Tagliani, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Mike Conway).
Post-race coverage was actually relatively brief by Versus standings. There were five post-race interviews (the top-4 finishers, plus Scott Dixon, who finished 24th after getting hit by E.J. Viso). There were also checks of the unofficial results and point standings before Versus left to get to tape-delayed coverage of Stage 21 of the Tour de France.
The coverage from Edmonton was enjoyable to watch. The track is quite hard to pass on, though. Helio Castroneves spent the last 30 laps trying to make a move on Will Power, but could never really do it. The technical issues that the venue itself had didn't help Versus out much, either.
I really did like Rahal in the booth, but it creates the dreaded fourth man in issue that I've written about in the past. It's just plain difficult for everyone to participate in such a setup, and that is why networks should refrain from doing it.
Grand Prix of Germany
As per the current TV deal that News Corp. holds for Formula One, four races a season are aired on FOX. The rest of the races are live on SPEED. FOX cannot (or will not) air the European races on their slate live. I'm not sure if they've ever released a real reason why, but I've got a couple of theories. One has to do with the local affiliates being unwilling to give up early Sunday morning time to the network. Another reason could be the e/i set forth by the U.S. Government. As you may remember, that was the reasoning used by ESPN to move Chase races away from ABC to ESPN last year. Sunday morning is a popular time for affiliates to run the necessary programming required for compliance.
Prior to the start of the race, FOX brought viewers some pre-race analysis. Will Buxton, the European-based reporter that contributes to SPEED's Formula One broadcasts, gave a brief description of the tire compounds available to the teams during the weekend. Usually, an explanation such as this is handled by Bob Varsha, but for the FOX telecast, it appears that FOX decided that a more visual representation was necessary.
SPEED's normal on-air crew of Varsha, David Hobbs and Steve Matchett were on hand for the race just like normal. However, like with Buxton's tire compound description, a fair amount of the commentary was simplified to help some of the newer viewers learn about the technology that goes into the series. While some of the more die-hard fans, the people that get up at the butt-crack of dawn (or earlier) to watch the races live, would probably find the incessant explanations to be a little annoying, I can understand that having the races on FOX brings in new viewers that may not know all that much about Formula One (prior to roughly 2005, Formula One had not been on network TV on a regular basis since the late 1980's).
However, despite the incessant explanations, the race was quite nice to watch. There was a lot of enthusiasm in the commentary, which I always like to see. Then again, that is no different than what you normally see when the races are on SPEED. The new rules for 2011 that bring the Drag Reduction System (DRS) into play, along with the return of KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) have really spiced up the on-track action. If you thought Formula One was boring before because of a lack of passing, then I think you should take a look once again. Passing is up substantially this season and almost all of the races have been very competitive. The days of someone running away from the field to a 50-second lead and hiding are likely over.
The tape-delaying and cutting down of the race resulted in viewers missing a couple of things. For example, the Force India driven by Paul di Resta spun out on the first lap of the race. No replay of this spin was ever shown on the air. Viewers could see di Resta's spin in the background and the booth did commentate on it. However, you could only just see the smoke cloud from the spin.
Also of note, towards the middle of the race, Hobbs and Matchett were talking about the extremely close pit stops. Hobbs appeared to be badgering Matchett about them. Why? The McLaren team serviced Hamilton's car with four new tires in 3.2 seconds. That matches what Matchett believed to be a world record from 1993 at Spa, viewable at the 4:00 mark of this clip. Hobbs and Matchett are commentating there as well. Also of note, Matchett was serving on the Benetton crew in that clip from 1993 as the rear jack man.
Post-race coverage was actually a little more generous that we've had in the past with Formula One coverage on network television. The national anthems on the podium were actually cut out, though. That bites. We also could not see Lewis Hamilton greeting his overjoyed crew in Parc Ferme (basically, a designated parking area in the paddock). After the race ended, FOX took a break, then came back on the podium with the champagne spraying. There were checks of the unofficial results and point standings, along with some quotes from Hamilton in the post-race press conference before FOX left the air.
I'm simply not a fan of the tape-delayed races on FOX. While I do like the commentary team, I don't like the idea of the races being chopped up to fit in a much smaller slot. I can deal with the simplification for the reasons stated above. At least nothing serious got cut out due to time constraints.
I hope you enjoyed this look back at some open-wheeled goodness from this past weekend. Next week's Annex will cover the Ansell Protective Gloves 200 from Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis. Interestingly enough, that race is tonight at 8pm on SPEED. Enjoy.
Phil Allaway is a Senior Writer and the Newsletter Manager for Frontstretch.com. He can be reached via e-mail at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com.
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Frontstretch Line of the Week
"One rider in particular that I knew got paralyzed on his bike. It was kind of an eye opener for me. It was like 'Wow, this is serious, this is real. I'm blessed that these injuries are minor compared to what could happen."- Blake Koch, on the instance that made him want to give up racing Motocross.
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TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
Did You Notice? ... Stability In The Driver's Seat; But Which Crew Chief Leaves Next?
Fantasy Insider: Tradition of Champions at Brickyard
by Brett Poirier
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Get THE ANNUAL, 2011 Racing Preview for your mobile device.
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.
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FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Note: In the answer to Tuesday's trivia question, we printed that Chuck Bown finished third in the 1991 Kroger 200 at then-Indianapolis Raceway Park. He actually finished in the fourth position. We apologize for the error. The seat belt issue was the real reason why Bown lost, though.
Q: Prior to 1994, Indianapolis Raceway Park had a very quirky pit road procedure. What was the setup like?
Check back Friday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Wednesday's Answer:
Q: Willy T. Ribbs is best known in racing circles as the first African-American to ever qualify for the Indianapols 500 when he got his Derrick Walker-owned No. 17 Lola Buick into the field in 1991. However, Ribbs spent most of his career in CART with backing from a famous benefactor, in addition to sponsorship from Service Merchandise. Who was this benefactor?
A: Willy T. Ribbs' benefactor was Bill Cosby, who was finishing up his well-renown sitcom at the time. Cosby served as (more or less) Ribbs' car owner in 1993 and 1994.
Frontstretch Trivia Guarantee: Take the shirt off our backs! If we've provided an incorrect answer to the Frontstretch Trivia question, be the first to email the corrected trivia answer to trivia@frontstretch.com and we'll send you a Frontstretch T-Shirt ... FREE!
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Coming tomorrow in the Frontstretch Newsletter:
-- Top News by Summer Dreyer
-- In Case You Missed It by Brett Poirier
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, and more!
Tomorrow on the Frontstretch:
Four Burning Questions: Indianapolis by Mike Lovecchio
Mike is back with a preview of the upcoming races in the Indianapolis Metro Area this weekend.
Holding A Pretty Wheel by Amy Henderson
Goin' Green by Garrett Horton
Garrett returns with more commentary and insight.
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