THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
August 18th, 2011
Volume V, Edition CLXXVI
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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.
Story to Watch: Thursday
by Phil Allaway
Today is it. The big announcement that most everyone already knows about will be officially announced today at 12:00pm EDT in Scottsdale, Arizona, Patrick's current place of residence and the base of GoDaddy, Patrick's sponsor. It is expected that Danica Patrick will announce her intentions to leave the Izod IndyCar Series in order to drive full-time in the Nationwide Series in 2012. There will also be some Sprint Cup races on tap, possibly as many as ten, for Stewart-Haas Racing. The press conference will be streamed online at http://videos.godaddy.com/danica-media.aspx
Camping World Truck Series Race Recap: Harvick Takes His Third Consecutive Truck Victory
by Mike Neff
The O'Reilly Auto Parts 200 was part demolition derby, part chess match and part fuel conservation experiment. In the end, Kevin Harvick was the victor as others ran low on fuel or wore out their tires at the end of the race. Johnny Sauter put in a workman like performance spending much of the night in the middle of the pack before coming home in second place.
Sadler started on the pole and led the first 53 laps of the race without receiving any real challenge from behind. Behind Sadler, it was a real duel for position. Some of the series' stars were simply not up to snuff on track. Ron Hornaday, Jr., who nearly wrecked in qualifying, spun and hit the inside wall on Lap 10 to bring out a yellow. 20 laps later, Josh Richards, driving a second truck for Kyle Busch Motorsports, spun and grazed the wall after contact from Miguel Paludo.
The third caution flew for a crash involving Chris Jones. Jones was spun from behind by Jake Crum in a move that Jones felt was intentional. On this yellow, Sadler and the rest of the leaders gave up their track position to pit for four tires and fuel. It was designed to be their only stop of the race.
Jason White, who pitted under the second caution of the race 20 laps earlier, took over the lead when Sadler stopped. Shortly afterwards, a multi-car crash on the frontstretch brought out another yellow. Crum, who was accused of taking out Jones in the previous wreck, was taken out of the race in this wreck, along with John King.
White led the race convincingly until the restart from the fifth caution of the race on Lap 98. Harvick got a great restart and simply blasted White away. Shortly afterwards, the second supposedly intentional incident occurred when Kyle Busch tried to put his truck in a space that wasn't big enough exiting Turn 2. Busch drifted up the track into Elliott Sadler's left front corner and turned into the outside wall. Busch believed that the move was intentional on Sadler's part, so he drove around the track slowly and dumped Sadler when he was about to lap him. Busch was out for the night and credited with 30th, while Sadler was simply out of contention for the win. He would eventually finish ninth.
After getting out of his Dollar General Toyota, Busch was candid about the crash.
"Yeah, I'm sure he [wrecked me intentionally]," Busch said. "Where does his paycheck come from? We were racing earlier tonight and I pulled a slide job on him and he ran into me three times after that. Then got clear of him for a while and on that restart there I was trying to slide him and get up to the top. The spotter said I was clear and I was clear at the time. Maybe I was too late. He wrecked us and I'm not going to put up with it."
Towards the end of the race, fuel mileage became a concern. Parker Kligerman made a somewhat unexpected pit stop for gas on Lap 173 after Jeff Agnew blew a tire and hit the wall. Under that caution, White and Brendan Gaughan each ran out of fuel. On the restart, Austin Dillon ran out of fuel, causing a mad scramble in the pack to avoid him. Dillon eventually stalled on track, necessitating another yellow.
Meanwhile, there was simply nothing that anyone could do with Harvick. Harvick led the final 103 laps to claim his third consecutive Camping World Truck Series win. It is his 12th career victory in 112 Camping World Truck Series races. This victory also gave Harvick the National touring series sweep at Bristol with wins in Trucks, Nationwide and Cup. Harvick has also accomplished that feat at Michigan, Martinsville, Phoenix and Atlanta.
Harvick spoke in his post-race press conference about his victory.
"A great night for our Hunt Brothers Pizza Chevrolet," Harvick said. "We had a decent truck and once we got out front, we were able to dictate the race and do what we needed to do on the restarts and get the preferred line."
Second-place finisher Johnny Sauter held back for much of the night, just waiting for that opportunity to push the truck to come along.
"Tonight was about a major strategy with my team,' Sauter said after the race. "Crew Chief Joe Shear, Jr. just about knew every lap on that fuel, and we were watching guys drop like flies. I was fighting our aero package and just trying to stay in there mid-race, but then I knew once we got clean air, we have a chance here. I'm so proud of the guys, we really busted tail to get this second-place."
Todd Bodine, who is hardly a short track specialist, soldiered home third. Bodine suffered through an unusual power steering issue in which the power steering would fail at full lock, yet come when the wheel was turned back to the right. James Buescher and Timothy Peters rounded out the top-5.
Joey Coulter was sixth, followed by Justin Lofton and Nelson Piquet, Jr. Sadler and Kligerman rounded out the top-10.
The race had nine caution periods, which slowed the event for 62 laps. 16 of the event's 36 starters were involved in at least one crash during the event. 15 cars finished on the lead lap (three of which were in wrecks during the night).
The Camping World Truck Series races next Friday night at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the Atlanta 200.
Mike Neff is a Senior Writer for Frontstretch.com. He can be reached via e-mail at mike.neff@frontstretch.com.
Today's Top News
by Phil Allaway
CBSSports.com's Pete Pistone is reporting that last weekend in Michigan, rumors were flying throughout the Sprint Cup garage that Home Depot may leave the No. 20 team and driver Joey Logano in order to join up with Roush Fenway Racing and Carl Edwards on the No. 99. Home Depot is said to be enamored with Edwards and unhappy taking a back seat to their main competition, Lowe's, winning five consecutive championships with Jimmie Johnson. If Home Depot were to make the move, it would be in a partial deal. Aflac would still serve as primary sponsor for a certain number of races.
In addition, 5-Hour Energy is being floated about as a potential replacement primary sponsor on the No. 33 for Richard Childress Racing. The energy shot brand would replace General Mills, which is leaving at the end of the season.
Evernham to Return to NASCAR Garage
On Wednesday, Ray Evernham announced on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio's Sirius Speedway that he will return to the Sprint Cup garage with Hendrick Motorsports starting next season. However, this will be in an unofficial, undetermined capacity. A "rover," if you will.
"I will have no real official capacity, other than being a part of Hendrick Motorsports," Evernham said. "I want to help if I can, and advise here and there. Kasey [Kahne] is going over there next year, and I think I might be able to help with some of the transition."
After leaving ESPN at the end of 2010, Evernham settled back in at Hendrick Companies in a consultant role. Evernham has had very little to no contact with Hendrick Motorsports this season. Instead, Evernham has worked with the Hendrick Automotive Group and Hendrick's aftermarket business. In addition, Evernham has driven a limited schedule in his sprint car and serves as part-owner of East Lincoln Speedway.
Toyota All-Star Showdown Cancelled
NASCAR announced on Wednesday that the Toyota All-Star Showdown, which has served as a premier event for short track racers in NASCAR's Regional Touring series, has been cancelled due to a lack of sponsorship. Toyota Speedway at Irwindale, formerly Irwindale Speedway in Irwindale, California, had hosted the event since 2003.
NASCAR is saddened by the turn of events, but deemed it a necessary move.
"The Showdown has been an exciting showcase event for us, but at this time, the right elements are not in place to run the event this coming January," said George Silbermann, NASCAR's Vice President for Regional Touring Series. "We want to give competitors and teams plenty of advance notice, and let them know that we are now focused on exploring other event opportunities."
According to Toyota Speedway at Irwindale Vice President and COO Bob DeFazio, Toyota's contract to sponsor the event expired with this year's event in January. Contract renewal negotiations were attempted, but unsuccessful.
"[The cancellation] didn't come out of nowhere," DeFazio said. "Negotiations have been ongoing with NASCAR and Toyota. I'm sure the economy had something to do with this. I'm glad that they got the word out now. At least [the teams] know."
For Toyota Speedway at Irwindale, the Toyota All-Star Showdown was far from a money losing endeavor. Each and every year, the race attracted sellout crowds and exquisite on-track action. It will be missed by race fans and race teams, alike.
Advocare to Sponsor Leavine Family Racing, Starr
On Wednesday, Leavine Family Racing announced that AdvoCare International LP has agreed to serve as the team's primary sponsor in five upcoming Sprint Cup races. The first of those events will be Saturday night's Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. In addition, AdvoCare will sponsor Starr in all three races this weekend in Bristol. Those races include last night's O'Reilly Auto Parts 200 on the No. 81 for SS-Green Light Racing, and Friday night's Food City 250 on the No. 05 for Day Enterprises.
Team owner Bob Leavine is pleased to have AdvoCare on board.
"Leavine Family Racing is proud to be partnering with AdvoCare for five NASCAR Sprint Cup races starting with Bristol Motor Speedway," Leavine said. "AdvoCare is a great organization that directly sells health and wellness products. Their philosophy of building champions is an attitude that the Leavine family has subscribed to for many years. We think their presence in NASCAR and their partnering with LFR is a perfect fit."
The AdvoCare sponsorship will also be on the No. 95 at Atlanta Motor Speedway (where AdvoCare is also sponsoring the race), Chicagoland Speedway, Kansas Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway.
Entry List Update
Note: These entries are accurate as of Wednesday night. However, they are still subject to change.
Sprint Cup Series Irwin Tools Night Race: 47 cars entered
Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points:
No. 37- Jeff Green for Front Row Motorsports/MaxQ Motorsports
No. 38- Travis Kvapil for Front Row Motorsports
No. 46- Scott Speed for Whitney Motorsports
No. 50- T.J. Bell for MAKE 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
No. 95- David Starr for Leavine Family Racing
Driver Changes:
No. 32- Terry Labonte returns to the seat, replacing Ken Schrader.
No. 37- Jeff Green is in the seat, replacing Tony Raines.
No. 46- Scott Speed is in the seat, replacing Erik Darnell.
No. 66- Michael McDowell returns to the seat, replacing Todd Bodine.
No. 77- Scott Wimmer returns to the seat, replacing P.J. Jones.
Drivers who must qualify on speed:
No. 7- Robby Gordon for Robby Gordon Motorsports
No. 30- David Stremme for Inception Motorsports
No. 37- Jeff Green for Front Row Motorsports/MaxQ Motorsports
No. 38- Travis Kvapil for Front Row Motorsports
No. 46- Scott Speed 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. 77- Scott Wimmer for Robby Gordon Motorsports
No. 87- Joe Nemechek for NEMCO Motorsports
No. 95- David Starr for Leavine Family Racing
Nationwide Series Food City 250: 49 cars entered (season-high)
Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points:
No. 05- David Starr for Day Enterprises
No. 18- Kyle Busch for Joe Gibbs Racing
No. 20- Joey Logano for Joe Gibbs Racing
No. 22- Parker Kligerman for Penske Racing
No. 33- Clint Bowyer for Kevin Harvick, Inc.
No. 38- Kasey Kahne for Turner Motorsports
No. 47- Brian Keselowski for Key Motorsports
No. 50- T.J. Bell for MAKE Motorsports
No. 60- Carl Edwards for Roush Fenway Racing
No. 64- David Reutimann for Rusty Wallace Racing
No. 70- David Stremme for ML Motorsports
No. 74- J.J. Yeley for Harmon Motorsports
Driver Changes:
No. 03- Scott Riggs returns to the seat, replacing Jean-Francois Dumoulin.
No. 04- Benny Gordon is in the seat, replacing Danny O'Quinn.
No. 7- Josh Wise returns to the seat, replacing Danica Patrick.
No. 13- Jennifer Jo Cobb returns to the seat, replacing D.J. Kennington.
No. 18- Kyle Busch returns to the seat, replacing Michael McDowell.
No. 22- Parker Kligerman is in the seat, replacing Jacques Villeneuve. Brad Keselowski was originally going to drive, but chose to sit out in order to rest his injuries.
No. 23- Dennis Setzer is in the seat, replacing Alex Kennedy.
No. 30- Jason Leffler returns to the seat, replacing Boris Said.
No. 33- Clint Bowyer returns to the seat, replacing Scott Speed.
No. 38- Kasey Kahne returns to the seat, replacing Jason Leffler.
No. 39- Fain Skinner is in the seat, replacing Luis Martinez, Jr.
No. 40- Scott Wimmer returns to the seat, replacing Josh Wise.
No. 41- Carl Long returns to the seat, replacing Tomy Drissi.
No. 42- Tim Andrews returns to the seat, replacing Chase Miller.
No. 52- Kevin Lepage returns to the seat, replacing Louis-Philippe Dumoulin.
No. 64- David Reutimann returns to the seat, replacing Jason Bowles.
No. 70- David Stremme returns to the seat, replacing Blake Koch.
No. 74- J.J. Yeley returns to the seat, replacing Mike Harmon.
No. 75- Johnny Chapman returns to the seat, replacing Chris Cook.
No. 81- Blake Koch returns to the seat, replacing Maryeve Dufault.
No. 87- Kevin Conway returns to the seat, replacing Joe Nemechek. Conway actually qualified the No. 87 in Montreal last weekend for Nemechek to race, but he will actually be racing this week.
No. 97- Joe Nemechek returns to the seat, replacing Kyle Kelley.
Drivers who must qualify on speed:
No. 03- Scott Riggs for R3 Motorsports/Jay Robinson Racing
No. 04- Benny Gordon for Go Green Racing
No. 05- David Starr for Day Enterprises
No. 13- Jennifer Jo Cobb for JJC Racing
No. 16- Trevor Bayne for Roush Fenway Racing
No. 20- Joey Logano for Joe Gibbs Racing
No. 41- Carl Long 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- Brian Keselowski for Key Motorsports
No. 49- Mark Green for Jay Robinson Racing
No. 50- T.J. Bell for MAKE Motorsports
No. 64- David Reutimann for Rusty Wallace Racing
No. 71- Matt Carter for Rick Ware Racing
No. 72- John Jackson for Carter Racing
No. 74- J.J. Yeley for Harmon Motorsports
No. 75- Johnny Chapman for Rick Ware Racing
No. 97- Joe Nemechek for NEMCO Motorsports (Has second crack at the Past Champions' Provisional)
Izod IndyCar Series Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma: 28 cars entered
Driver Changes:
No. 19- Sebastien Bourdais returns to the seat, replacing Alex Lloyd.
No. 22- Giorgio Pantano is in the seat, replacing Tomas Scheckter. This will be Pantano's first career start.
No. 88- Ho-Pin Tung is in the seat, replacing Jay Howard. This will be Ho-Pin's first career start.
Entries:
No. 06- James Hinchcliffe for Newman/Haas Racing
No. 2- Oriol Servia for Newman/Haas Racing
No. 3- Helio Castroneves for Penske Racing
No. 4- JR Hildebrand for Panther Racing
No. 5- Takuma Sato for KV Racing Technologies
No. 6- Ryan Briscoe for Penske Racing
No. 7- Danica Patrick for Andretti Autosport
No. 9- Scott Dixon for Target Chip Ganassi Racing
No. 10- Dario Franchitti for Target Chip Ganassi Racing
No. 12- Will Power for Penske Racing
No. 14- Vitor Meira for AJ Foyt Racing
No. 17- Martin Plowman for AFS Racing
No. 18- James Jakes for Dale Coyne Racing
No. 19- Sebastien Bourdais for Dale Coyne Racing
No. 22- Giorgio Pantano for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
No. 24- Ana Beatriz for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
No. 26- Marco Andretti for Andretti Autosport
No. 27- Mike Conway for Andretti Autosport
No. 28- Ryan Hunter-Reay for Andretti Autosport
No. 34- Sebastian Saavedra for Conquest Racing
No. 38- Graham Rahal for Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing
No. 59- E.J. Viso for KV Racing Technologies
No. 67- Ed Carpenter for Sarah Fisher Racing
No. 77- Alex Tagliani for Sam Schmidt Motorsports
No. 78- Simona de Silvestro for HVM Racing
No. 82- Tony Kanaan for KV Racing Technologies
No. 83- Charlie Kimball for Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing
No. 88- Ho-Pin Tung for Sam Schmidt Motorsports/Dragon Racing
Have news for Phil and The Frontstretch? Don't hesitate to let us know; email us at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com with a promising lead or tip.
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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.
~~~~~~~~~~~
What's Vexing Vito
by Vito Pugliese
So THAT's why Kyle Busch had been going with the gentler-looking part/smear/hair deal the last few weeks. Busch had his date with lady justice on Tuesday, receiving his penalty for being clocked at 128mph in a 45 mph zone. Busch pled guilty to speeding charges and no-contest to charges of careless and reckless driving on Tuesday afternoon. He was given a suspended 30 day jail sentence and one year of unsupervised probation. He was also fined $1,000 in the case and the court took his driver's license for 45 days. Hey, if you're going to get your license yanked, you might as well do it right. At least alcohol wasn't involved. Now with this behind him and Bristol coming up, Busch can go back to driving with reckless abandon.
Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. and Daytona International Speedway announced the all-new 2012 Toyota Camry will serve as the official pace car for next year's Daytona 500. Toyota will showcase the new Camry, which has been the best-selling car in America for nine years straight at the World Center of Speed this coming February. This, on the heels of Chevrolet using what appeared to be a Rascal for the pace car this past Sunday at MIS (_Editor's Note: The pace car at the Pure Michigan 400 was actually a 2012 Chevrolet Sonic, the replacement for the Aveo_). Clearly a sign of the apocalypse. We've gone from a 200mph Z06 Corvette, a supercharged 5.4L Shelby GT500 Mustang, a 4200lb Dodge Challenger SRT8, to the beige sedan that could best be described as NASCAR's Nilla Wafer – the Toyota Camry. At least it's not made in Mexico like the Ford Fusion. Dodge's Charger and Chevrolet's Impala are made in Canada. The Camry is made in Georgetown, KY and Lafayette, IN.
With all of the talk of big name free agents like Mark Martin and Clint Bowyer's plans still up in the air for 2012, there are two more veteran drivers who desperately need some action for next year: Jimmy Spencer and Kyle Petty. If Spence can still fit into a fire suit, and Petty can swaddle his ponytail into something fire-retardant these two most definitely need to be in-race reporters/commentators. Hey, if they could have camera cars running around in Days of Thunder, these two need to be in the race broadcasting to fans what's really going on. And KP can spare me the song and dance about losing a feel for a race car and not knowing what he needed to go fast. He got squeezed out after Petty Enterprises was no more and could be as fast as anybody put into a real race car.
Why is Michigan International Speedway being repaved again? As we have consistently seen over the years, the best tracks and races are those that have tired, worn out, and pockmarked pavement. With Goodyear's tires being borderline indestructible and wearing with the speed and alacrity of a glacier, it's old tracks with character that typically put on the best show. Sure, the winters of Michigan will help cure the track quickly, but what may result in the interim is either more strung out racing (not a good thing), or entering Turn 1 at 215mph. Jimmie Johnson seemed a bit apprehensive about the prospect following the race on Sunday saying, "You're going to have to bring your big boy shoes here when the thing is repaved. We run a really intense lap now, even in race trim, a lot of throttle around this place. Depending on the tire they give us, you would assume we could come close to flat-footing it."
Speaking of ol' Five-Time, I asked Jimmie Johnson if his runner-up result Sunday helped serve as a gauge of where his team was for The Chase, with intermediate tracks making up the lion's share of the ten-week playoff. "Yeah, it's a step in the right direction", said Johnson. "I look at some intermediate tracks. We've been very competitive. I look at Kentucky, here falls into that category, then I think of Kansas from a negative standpoint because we were just terrible there. It's kind of inconsistent. We're still working hard to build that consistency into the car. But every good race, it just kind of builds a direction and helps us reinforce the areas we're working in. We certainly need to do better on the mile and a half's. That's been our bread and butter over the years. With the Chase being so heavily weighted in those races, we need to be competitive there."
Vito Pugliese is a Senior Writer for Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at vito.pugliese@frontstretch.com.
~~~~~~~~~~
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.
~~~~~~~~~~~
What's Vexing Vito
by Vito Pugliese
So THAT's why Kyle Busch had been going with the gentler-looking part/smear/hair deal the last few weeks. Busch had his date with lady justice on Tuesday, receiving his penalty for being clocked at 128mph in a 45 mph zone. Busch pled guilty to speeding charges and no-contest to charges of careless and reckless driving on Tuesday afternoon. He was given a suspended 30 day jail sentence and one year of unsupervised probation. He was also fined $1,000 in the case and the court took his driver's license for 45 days. Hey, if you're going to get your license yanked, you might as well do it right. At least alcohol wasn't involved. Now with this behind him and Bristol coming up, Busch can go back to driving with reckless abandon.
Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. and Daytona International Speedway announced the all-new 2012 Toyota Camry will serve as the official pace car for next year's Daytona 500. Toyota will showcase the new Camry, which has been the best-selling car in America for nine years straight at the World Center of Speed this coming February. This, on the heels of Chevrolet using what appeared to be a Rascal for the pace car this past Sunday at MIS (_Editor's Note: The pace car at the Pure Michigan 400 was actually a 2012 Chevrolet Sonic, the replacement for the Aveo_). Clearly a sign of the apocalypse. We've gone from a 200mph Z06 Corvette, a supercharged 5.4L Shelby GT500 Mustang, a 4200lb Dodge Challenger SRT8, to the beige sedan that could best be described as NASCAR's Nilla Wafer – the Toyota Camry. At least it's not made in Mexico like the Ford Fusion. Dodge's Charger and Chevrolet's Impala are made in Canada. The Camry is made in Georgetown, KY and Lafayette, IN.
With all of the talk of big name free agents like Mark Martin and Clint Bowyer's plans still up in the air for 2012, there are two more veteran drivers who desperately need some action for next year: Jimmy Spencer and Kyle Petty. If Spence can still fit into a fire suit, and Petty can swaddle his ponytail into something fire-retardant these two most definitely need to be in-race reporters/commentators. Hey, if they could have camera cars running around in Days of Thunder, these two need to be in the race broadcasting to fans what's really going on. And KP can spare me the song and dance about losing a feel for a race car and not knowing what he needed to go fast. He got squeezed out after Petty Enterprises was no more and could be as fast as anybody put into a real race car.
Why is Michigan International Speedway being repaved again? As we have consistently seen over the years, the best tracks and races are those that have tired, worn out, and pockmarked pavement. With Goodyear's tires being borderline indestructible and wearing with the speed and alacrity of a glacier, it's old tracks with character that typically put on the best show. Sure, the winters of Michigan will help cure the track quickly, but what may result in the interim is either more strung out racing (not a good thing), or entering Turn 1 at 215mph. Jimmie Johnson seemed a bit apprehensive about the prospect following the race on Sunday saying, "You're going to have to bring your big boy shoes here when the thing is repaved. We run a really intense lap now, even in race trim, a lot of throttle around this place. Depending on the tire they give us, you would assume we could come close to flat-footing it."
Speaking of ol' Five-Time, I asked Jimmie Johnson if his runner-up result Sunday helped serve as a gauge of where his team was for The Chase, with intermediate tracks making up the lion's share of the ten-week playoff. "Yeah, it's a step in the right direction", said Johnson. "I look at some intermediate tracks. We've been very competitive. I look at Kentucky, here falls into that category, then I think of Kansas from a negative standpoint because we were just terrible there. It's kind of inconsistent. We're still working hard to build that consistency into the car. But every good race, it just kind of builds a direction and helps us reinforce the areas we're working in. We certainly need to do better on the mile and a half's. That's been our bread and butter over the years. With the Chase being so heavily weighted in those races, we need to be competitive there."
Vito Pugliese is a Senior Writer for Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at vito.pugliese@frontstretch.com.
Today's Featured Commentary
From Sprint Cup to Nationwide: A Backwards, Yet Successful Journey For Some)
Voice of Vito
by Summer Dreyer
Editor's Note: Vito is out today from his normal column. However, he will be back next week with another regular column that will run at Frontstretch.com. In the meantime, enjoy this commentary from Summer Dreyer.
It's hard to establish a standard of success in the world of NASCAR, and no standard is higher than that of the fans. A few wins here and there won't cut it, as the sport's loyal legion of followers will take nothing less than week-to-week competitiveness and several victories (though not TOO many, just ask Kyle Busch!). From Sprint Cup to Nationwide: A Backwards, Yet Successful Journey For Some)
Voice of Vito
by Summer Dreyer
Editor's Note: Vito is out today from his normal column. However, he will be back next week with another regular column that will run at Frontstretch.com. In the meantime, enjoy this commentary from Summer Dreyer.
For some drivers, they just couldn't achieve that very high standard in the Sprint Cup Series. For whatever reason, be it sponsorship issues, lackluster equipment, or lack of talent, their rise to the top came to a crashing halt when they reached the pinnacle of the sport.
While most drivers either disappear from existence or scrape together start-and-park and low quality rides to keep their name out there, a few competitors settled for their next best option: the Nationwide Series.
The Nationwide Series, the last stop on the way up the ladder before the Sprint Cup Series, is extremely popular in the United States and around the world. And with NASCAR's rules changes saying that drivers can only run for points in one series this year, the "regulars" have a chance to showcase their names and talents just a little bit more than usual.
Through 24 of 34 races this season, no one drives this point home further than Elliott Sadler. Sadler had competed as a full-time Sprint Cup Series regular the last 12 seasons before leaving Richard Petty Motorsports at the end of 2010 to drive for Kevin Harvick, Inc. full-time in the Nationwide Series and part-time in the Camping World Truck Series. Currently, Sadler is second in points, just eight marks behind leader Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Sadler has a total of ten top-5 and 16 top-10 finishes this season, and has held the points lead following the conclusion of five races this season. While he is without any victories in the Nationwide Series this season, Sadler did win a Camping World Truck Series race at Pocono Raceway last year, his first win in any of NASCAR's three national series since 2004.
Like Sadler, two other drivers who have seen their drops from Sprint Cup Series to the Nationwide Series prove successful are Aric Almirola and Reed Sorenson.
Almirola himself never spent an entire year in Sprint Cup, but gained quite a bit of exposure when he split a season with Mark Martin in the No. 8 car for DEI. The next two seasons, he ran a partial schedule for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing and Phoenix Racing, respectively, while running a partial schedule in the Camping World Truck Series for Billy Ballew Motorsports. Last year saw Almirola run full-time in Camping World Trucks while cherrypicking Nationwide Series before moving back up to the Nationwide Series full-time for JR Motorsports in 2011. Currently fifth in points, the move seems to have worked well for him.
Sorenson, on the other hand, spent several full-time seasons struggling in the Sprint Cup Series for various teams, with his most successful season ending with only six top-10s and a 22nd-place finish in the standings. While Sorenson ran a partial schedule for Braun Racing last year, Sorenson moved to full-time when Steve Turner turned the team into Turner Motorsports and has remained in the top-3 in points for most of the season, with a victory in the Bucyrus 200 at Road America in June.
While all three drivers have not won as races this year as they would like to have, they've come close on many occasions and have held their own very well against the Sprint Cup Series regulars who like to steal their thunder. While Almirola is most likely out of this title hunt, both Sadler and Sorenson still have a realistic shot of winning as the top-3 are only separated by nine points.
With success stories like these, I can't help but wonder what a step down would do for drivers who also struggle in the Sprint Cup Series. Drivers like David Ragan, Joey Logano, and David Reutimann are all lauded as talented drivers, but have little to show for it. Logano has had a ton of success at the Nationwide Series level, and Ragan has some fairly impressive numbers as well, not to mention drivers like Martin Truex, Jr. and A.J. Allmendinger, who do little more than show up every weekend, and eventually bring out a much needed caution flag. Or drivers who are bound and determined to remain at the top level of NASCAR, settling for blank, white hoods in back-of-the-pack equipment until (hopefully) something better comes along.
Maybe, just maybe, that "something better" is the Nationwide Series.
Summer Dreyer is a Website Contributor to Frontstretch.com. She can be reached via e-mail at summer.dreyer@frontstretch.com.
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The Critic's Annex: Wednesday Night at Bristol
by Phil Allaway
However, before I start, I have to make an announcement. As you are probably aware of by now, there is a nasty storm, Hurricane Irene, currently moving through the Bahamas, that will be taking aim at the Northeast this weekend. It is more than likely that I will get a fairly substantial hit from the storm here in the Albany, NY area. It's still unclear just how much of a hit we're going to get here, though. Regardless, I'm operating under the opinion that I will be unable to watch Sunday's Izod IndyCar Series race in California because there will be no power here. If I still have power Sunday afternoon, then yee-haw for me, I can still do everything like normal. Luckily, I'll still be able to watch the Sprint Cup and Nationwide races from Bristol and hopefully complete a write-up before the storm hits, so you'll still get some good old-fashioned critique from me.
With that said, on to the critique.
UNOH Perfect Storm 150
With the substantial downgrade in the amount and scope of coverage for the Whelen Modified Tour and the Whelen Southern Modified Tour this season, yesterday's combined race from Bristol Motor Speedway is the first of two live Modified races all year. Various subsequent Modified races have aired via tape-delay on SPEED, multiple weeks after the race has been run.
For this special race, SPEED brought in some of their top guys. Mike Joy and Dick Berggren worked the broadcast booth. Both are Northeastern-bred long-time Modified fans who still keep tabs on the two Modified Tours. As a result, you know you're going to get two things out of these two men.
One, you will have very knowledgeable commentators. This is a substantial change from the Modified coverage on Versus last year. If you remember, that coverage featured Jimmy Spencer in the booth being roughly half as bombastic as he normally is. However, even in that state, he was still butchering names on a regular basis (Ex: Andy Seuss' last name is not pronounced like the famous children's book author's pen name, but like "Siess").
Two, one or both of them can tell you something about basically everyone in the field. For example, during one of the cautions, Wade Cole received the Lucky Dog. Joy proceeded to talk about the low-dollar team's program, including the fact that they used an open top trailer attached to what appeared to be a 20 year old Ford F-Series pickup to pull the car to races. You don't normally see that type of information in race telecasts. Some of these Nationwide Series S&P teams are using smaller trailers similar to what you see at local tracks, but you wouldn't know that unless you were at the track.
Anywho, pre-race coverage was fairly brief. Bob Dillner, who was serving as the sole pit reporter during the event (like the ARCA race at Pocono that was postponed due to rain a few weeks), conducted interviews with pole-sitter Bobby Santos III and Burt Myers. After a break, the racing commenced.
During the actual race itself, the stop-and-go fashion of the race made it very difficult to show much racing for position. I can understand that. It wasn't SPEED's fault that a full one-third of the race was under yellow, including 38 of the first 67 laps.
With the various wrecks that occurred, SPEED generally had good vantage points of all of them. Not sure if I could say the same for the Truck race later on, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
Much of the later portions of the race (when they weren't wrecking) were focused upon Ryan Newman's assault on leaders James Civali and Todd Szegedy. Every once in a while, they would check back with some action outside of the top-3, but not very often. It's a legitimate gripe. For example, Patrick Emerling found a way to finish fifth after spinning out and losing a lap just past halfway.
To the TV audience, it appeared that he basically came out of nowhere. For the Modifieds, Bristol isn't exactly the easiest place on Earth to pass at. I'd imagine a place like South Boston would be more typical (Ted Christopher recently opened a can there while visiting the Southern Tour) racing for the Modifieds. What I'm trying to say is that passing that amount of cars is very difficult to pull off. With the exception of Justin Bonsignore, the top finishers all started up front. Many of the drivers immediately behind them at the start were eliminated in some way, shape or form (wrecks, mainly).
Post-race coverage was expectedly brief. SPEED provided interviews with race winner Ryan Newman, Bonsignore and Szegedy while the unofficial results scrolled by. Joy and Berggren then quickly wrapped up the broadcast before SPEED transitioned into NCWTS Setup.
As I mentioned earlier, Modified racing on TV is rare, but it's pretty cool to watch. With Joy and Berggren in the booth, you have two guys that know a lot about the series and are true fans. You get good commentary with a pair like that, and they delivered. SPEED's production was generally pretty good. Maybe, the cameras were in a little too tight, though. I'm assuming that the Modifieds are smaller vehicles as compared to the Trucks that followed (don't know for sure, as I've never seen a Whelen Modified in person, but the term "overpowered go-kart" comes to mind), so they might have felt the need to zoom in more.
O'Reilly Auto Parts 200
Immediately after the Modified race, SPEED brought viewers coverage of the Camping World Truck Series from Bristol. The usual crew was all in town for the action-packed event.
After the normal recap of the previous race, SPEED provided viewers with multiple features. The most notable of these features (at least to me) was the one where Ray Dunlap sat down with three-time Truck Series Champion Jack Sprague to talk about his career. To many people, Sprague basically disappeared off the face of the earth a couple of years ago after he left KHI, and that's a shame. The interview focused on a couple of topics. One was his time with Hendrick Motorsports, another was his "mistake" in going after a Cup career, and finally, Sprague talked about his hunting preserve in Michigan.
I thought the piece was quite poignant. Generally, every NASCAR racer wants to reach the pinnacle (Winston/Nextel/Sprint Cup). Sprague was no different, but came to the conclusion years later that it was simply a mistake to try. Very unusual sentiment. Something that doesn't really jive by today's standards.
In another feature, Joey Coulter talked a little bit about his move up through the ranks of racing, and a little bit about his season in the No. 22. A third feature saw Timothy Peters talk to a group of employees at Apex Tool Group about his team and how they use the companies' tools on their team.
The race telecast itself was marked by a lot of side-by-side racing. And, a bunch of wrecks. Three of which occurred during rare green-flag commercials (they took five all night). SPEED didn't really break out the split-screen during the race, but then again, they didn't really have to because of the relative small size of Bristol Motor Speedway.
A big theme amongst the commentators (well, at least with Michael) was the idea of conflict. The first of these conflicts occurred when Jake Crum spun out Chris Jones. Jones was none too pleased and gave Crum a shot to the tailgate. This was followed up by an interview where Jones claimed that Crum took him out. First off, that was the first time I'd ever seen Jones interviewed on a telecast, and this was his 39th start. The thought was that there would be a confrontation between Jones and Crum after Crum was eliminated in another wreck shortly afterwards. No battle ever happened, and SPEED did not interview Crum to get his side of the story.
The other conflict (referred to as the "Main Event") was when Kyle Busch failed to clear Elliott Sadler fully and had contact with the No. 24 on the backstretch, turning himself into the wall. Busch then laid back and spun out Sadler at the first opportunity intentionally. We've seen this before. Heck, Busch did it to Brad Keselowski last year in the Food City 250. Busch then tried to drag Kevin Harvick into the fray during his interview (even though Sadler was driving for Joe Denette Motorsports). SPEED did get Sadler's side of the issue after the race, but no conflict is forthcoming. I think the whole thing was (and will continue to be) overblown.
Unlike the Modified race, SPEED's cameras did not catch all the wrecks as well. I don't know why that is. It ended up making the commentators look bad as they constantly jumped to conclusions before being able to pinpoint what happened.
Outside of those issues, SPEED's telecast was decent. Once again, I had no problems with enthusiasm in the booth. The action for position was pretty good, and there was a good range of coverage throughout the field. A nice change from some recent events.
Post-race coverage was fairly substantial. SPEED provided seven post-race interviews along with checks of the unofficial results and point standings. There was also plenty of post-race analysis. However, I think that SPEED was overly generous with their time slot. Even with nine yellows for 62 laps, the race still ended with over a half-hour left in the slot. SPEED simply ran out of footage to fill the slot, so they left 15 minutes early to get to their new episode of The Car Show (originally scheduled for 10:30pm). A two hour 15 minute slot would have been perfect in retrospect.
I hope you enjoyed this look at Bristol Motor Speedway's Wednesday night card. Stay tuned for some more critiquing next week. Until then, enjoy the action this weekend from Bristol and Spa-Francochamps.
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. Follow him on Twitter at @Critic84.
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Frontstretch Line of the Week
From this week's "Pure Michigan:" A Race For Revenue
"Either this region has truly "best in America" attractions to offer, or we have a lot of residents with: 1) free time on their hands and 2) internet access."- Mark Howell's potential reasons why Michigan attractions have recently garnered "Best in America" accolades, that is, if they aren't really the best.
Have a nominee for Line of the Week? Email Phil Allaway at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com and you may see yourself in this space next week!
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TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
Shakedown Session: Bristol's Backwards Mentality: Lodging Up, Attendance Down, Mistakes All Around
by Brody Jones
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TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
Shakedown Session: Bristol's Backwards Mentality: Lodging Up, Attendance Down, Mistakes All Around
by Brody Jones
by Jeff Meyer
Fantasy Insider: Keep Rolling With Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman at Bristol
by Brett Poirier
~~~~~~
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.
~~~~~~
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: 1997 saw a fairly substantial rivalry play out on-track in the Busch Grand National Series between Champion Randy LaJoie and Buckshot Jones. This rivalry hit it's peak during the Food City 250 at Bristol. What happened?
Fantasy Insider: Keep Rolling With Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman at Bristol
by Brett Poirier
~~~~~~
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.
~~~~~~
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: 1997 saw a fairly substantial rivalry play out on-track in the Busch Grand National Series between Champion Randy LaJoie and Buckshot Jones. This rivalry hit it's peak during the Food City 250 at Bristol. What happened?
Check back Friday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Wednesday's Answer:
Q: Gordon's crash and the last legitimate chance for a Dick Trickle victory were not the only stories that came out of the 1997 Goody's Headache Powders 500 at Bristol. There was also a big crash on the frontstretch just a few laps after Gordon's wreck. What happened?
A: About ten laps after the restart from the Jeff Gordon-Jeremy Mayfield crash, Derrike Cope got loose exiting Turn 4 after contact from Michael Waltrip. He overcorrected the slide and turned directly into David Green, who happened to be outside of him at the time. The result of this was that Green was turned into the wall right-front first at an acute angle. In addition, Cope wedged Green into the wall. Because of these factors, Green's Caterpillar Chevrolet ended up on it's driver side. Behind Cope and Green, Waltrip spun and Brett Bodine, Dale Earnhardt, Ricky Rudd and Bobby Hamilton piled in. After sliding for most of the frontstretch, Green's car rolled one time and came to rest right-side up, with a small fire near the master cylinder for the brakes.
Everyone was ok, but the track was effectively blocked, resulting in a short red flag. The wreck can be seen in this clip.
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!
~~~~~~~
Coming tomorrow in the Frontstretch Newsletter:
-- Top News by Summer Dreyer
-- Keepin' It Short by Mike Neff
-- In Case You Missed It by Brett Poirier
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, and more!
Tomorrow on the Frontstretch:
Four Burning Questions: Michigan by Mike Lovecchio
We'll have a preview of the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series races this weekend in Bristol.
Holding A Pretty Wheel by Amy Henderson
-- In Case You Missed It by Brett Poirier
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, and more!
Tomorrow on the Frontstretch:
Four Burning Questions: Michigan by Mike Lovecchio
We'll have a preview of the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series races this weekend in Bristol.
Holding A Pretty Wheel by Amy Henderson
Amy returns with another intriguing commentary heading into Bristol.
Goin' Green by Garrett Horton
Over the past couple of weeks, we've had three thrilling road course events. They managed to combine the best parts of NASCAR Racing. Garrett tells us why NASCAR needs more of these events on their series' schedules (or in the case of the Camping World Truck Series, at all).
Goin' Green by Garrett Horton
Over the past couple of weeks, we've had three thrilling road course events. They managed to combine the best parts of NASCAR Racing. Garrett tells us why NASCAR needs more of these events on their series' schedules (or in the case of the Camping World Truck Series, at all).
Tearing Apart The Trucks by Beth Lunkenheimer
Beth returns with an intriguing post-race commentary in the wake of Wednesday night's O'Reilly Auto Parts 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Driver Diary: Casey Mears as told to Amy Henderson
The driver of the No. 13 GEICO Toyota returns for another interesting look at the past month on and off the track.
-----------------------------
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©2011 Frontstretch.com
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©2011 Frontstretch.com
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