THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
September 22nd, 2011
Volume V, Edition CXCIX
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Frontstretch sends its well wishes, prayers, and support to all our fans affected by the swath of horrible storms over the past few months. To help out recovery efforts, text "GIVE" to 80888 to donate $10 towards disaster relief efforts in Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Virginia, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Missouri and Vermont through the Salvation Army.
What To Watch: Thursday
Both the K&N Pro East Series and the NASCAR Modifieds have practice and qualifying scheduled for today up in New Hampshire. The weather, at least right now is not cooperating but officials are hopeful to get some track time in.
As always, the big stories floating over the sport - the 2012 schedule, Clint Bowyer's 2012 contract - could break any day now.
Jeff Gordon will be on ESPN Sportscenter momentarily.
Today's Top News
by Phil Allaway
On Wednesday, NASCAR made an announcement to try to break up the two-car tandem drafts that have become the norm at Daytona and Talladega this season. The holes in the restrictor plates have been increased in size, 1/64th of an inch to 57/64ths of an inch in diameter. Such a change would be enough to result in a seven to ten horsepower increase.
In addition, NASCAR announced a recalibration of the pressure relief, or "pop-off" valve. As a result, maximum pressure will be reduced from 33 to 25 pounds.
NASCAR's Vice President of Competition, Robin Pemberton is confident that the changes will make for a much better show at Talladega.
"After the last few superspeedway races, we've heard many drivers express their desires to open up the size of the restrictor plate some and we thought the time was right to do that," Pemberton said. "We anticipate these revisions in the rules package for Talladega will help [to] continue to provide competitive and exciting racing for our fans."
The changes will make the cars faster by themselves by roughly three mph, and the decreased amount of pressure (nearly 25 percent) will significantly decrease the amount of time that drivers can stay locked in two-car tandem drafts. Talladega's Good Sam RV Parks and Resorts 500 will likely look substantially different from July's Coke Zero 400, where some drivers spent the entire race (when under green) affixed to the rear bumper of another driver.
Brad Keselowski Voted Third Quarter Driver of the Year
On Wednesday, the Driver of the Year Foundation announced that Brad Keselowski has been voted the 3rd Quarter Driver of the Year. Over the past three months, Keselowski surged into the upper echelon of NASCAR stars with two victories (Pocono and Bristol), four top-5 and seven top-12 finishes. To make those accomplishments even more impressive, most were made after a broken ankle suffered in a nasty testing crash at Road Atlanta. Those wins, along with Keselowski's June fuel mileage victory at Kansas Speedway, allowed Keselowski to claim the first of two wild-cards in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
Keselowski is very excited to earn such a prestigious award.
"It's nice to be recognized when you have put in a lot of hard work, and this No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge team has worked as hard as any team that I've been around," Keselowski said. "The driver puts in five percent of the effort, but they get 95 percent of the credit. The credit should go to Paul Wolfe and everyone on this team that didn't settle for how we ran earlier in the year."
Brad Schmoyer, President of the Driver of the Year Foundation, is thrilled with Keselowski's on-track performance over the past three months.
"I have seen many talented drivers and drivers who have driven in pain or illness," he explained. "Brad's third quarter results, after his injury, show what a winner he is, in attitude and as well as on the track."
Keselowski earned ten out of a possible 21 first-place votes and won by a total of nine points over Izod IndyCar Series driver Will Power. Kyle Busch finished third.
This weekend, Keselowski will receive his Third Quarter Driver of the Year trophy this weekend in Loudon, New Hampshire. In addition, he will be presented with a Tissot watch. Keselowski now joins 1st Quarter winner Kyle Busch and 2nd Quarter winner Carl Edwards in contention for the 2011 Driver of the Year award.
More On Villeneuve Buying Red Bull
Expanding and clarifying our News Bite from yesterday, SceneDaily.com's Bob Pockrass reported on Wednesday that 1995 PPG IndyCar World Series, 1995 Indianapolis 500 and 1997 World Drivers' Champion Jacques Villeneuve is apparently one of the interested parties that has looked into purchasing the assets of the Red Bull Racing Team.
According to Pockrass, Villeneuve's business manager has confirmed that the former Williams pilot has made an inquiry about buying the team from Red Bull. However, it is unclear just where negotiations, if there have even been any, have gone.
Red Bull announced earlier this season that they were pulling out of Sprint Cup as an owner at the end of the 2011 season. Since then, it has been a mad dash for Red Bull Racing Team General Manager Jay Frye to gather up potential investors to purchase the team. Current driver Brian Vickers is also helping to round up potential investors, but is still unsure what his future holds.
"To my knowledge, [Red Bull] is still looking to sell the team," Vickers said. "I've put them in touch with some great buyers, and they haven't done anything with it so I'm not sure what they're up to."
Entry List Update
Note: These entries are accurate as of Wednesday evening. However, they are still subject to change.
Sprint Cup Series Sylvania 300: 45 cars entered
Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points:
No. 32 - Mike Bliss for FAS Lane Racing
No. 37 - Josh Wise for MaxQ Motorsports
No. 51 - Landon Cassill for Phoenix Racing
No. 55 - Travis Kvapil for Front Row Motorsports
No. 87 - Joe Nemechek for NEMCO Motorsports
Driver Changes:
No. 35 - Steve Park returns to the seat, replacing Stephen Leicht. Park is running a one-race deal with a special "Ole Blue" tribute scheme honoring the Modifieds; he's still working on raising the $100,000 in donations necessary to run the race.
Drivers who must qualify on speed:
No. 7 - Robby Gordon for Robby Gordon Motorsports*
No. 30 - David Stremme for Inception Motorsports*
No. 35 - Steve Park for Tommy Baldwin Racing
No. 37 - Josh Wise for MaxQ Motorsports*
No. 38 - J.J. Yeley for Front Row Motorsports
No. 46 - Scott Speed for Whitney Motorsports
No. 50 - T.J. Bell for MAKE Motorsports*
No. 55 - Travis Kvapil for Front Row Motorsports*
No. 66 - Michael McDowell for HP Racing, LLC*
No. 87 - Joe Nemechek for NEMCO Motorsports*
* - Entry expected to start and park
Withdrawn:
No. 60 - Mike Skinner for Germain Racing
Camping World Truck Series F.W. Webb 175: 33 trucks entered
Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points:
No. 2 - Kevin Harvick for Kevin Harvick, Inc.
No. 10 - Jennifer Jo Cobb for JJC Racing
No. 18 - Kyle Busch for Kyle Busch Motorsports
Driver Changes:
No. 07 - Butch Miller returns to the seat, replacing Caleb Roark. This truck is without sponsor funding for the weekend and will start and park.
No. 51 - German Quiroga is in the seat, replacing Josh Richards. This will be Quiroga's first career Camping World Truck Series start.
No. 66 - Peyton Sellers returns to the seat, replacing J.J. Yeley.
Since there are only 33 trucks entered, no one will go home. However, these teams still need to qualify on speed:
No. 10 - Jennifer Jo Cobb for JJC Racing
No. 14 - Brendan Newberry for Newberry Motorsports (First career start)
No. 51 - German Quiroga for Kyle Busch Motorsports
No. 61- Wes Burton
No. 70 - Jeff Agnew
No. 73 - AJ Russell for Sacred Power Motorsports (First career start)
No. 96 - Todd Peck for Peck Motorsports
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.
~~~~~~~~~~
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
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. unveiled his 2012 car Wednesday at Hendrick Motorsports headquarters. No offense to Junior or his nation, but am I the only one who thinks his cars are the most bland, uninspired, slab-sided rectangles in racing? His normal AMP Energy scheme is an abomination, and looks like it would be more at home on an ARCA car. The National Guard scheme in camo, run at Daytona in July was awesome, but most of the time it's just the AMP design with a blue tint. What was wrong with the retro DW Mountain Dew hue they have been running for the last few seasons at Darlington and this year at Kentucky? Now that was a paint scheme.
Come to think of it, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. All of Hendrick Motorsports' standard paint jobs for their cars look kind of awful, while the special schemes look far and away the best.
Jimmie Johnson's car never looks right. There's a house on the hood or something, sometimes a hex-headed wrench, and in the days of old when the cars were all cock eyed and shifted over to the left for downforce, the house looked like it was collapsing. His Power of Pride and Summer Salute schemes looked patriotic and presentable – why don't they do that with the normal arrangement? Jeff Gordon's car has a pleasant candy apple red tint to it, but it bleeds into gray and black on the side – kind of prophetic when you're trying to end hunger. The DuPont flame scheme is a little old, but has worn well; so why not due a tribute to 'ol Four-Time with a rainbow-hued one off from the 1993-2000 years?
Mark Martin's Farmers Insurance Tim Richmond tribute car this year at The All-Star race was all class and was well executed, while the Quaker State car continues to show that oil-sponsored machines always produce the best looking rides in motorsports. The GoDaddy lime green machine is just not doing it for me, though. If Martin ends up splitting time with Danica Patrick in 2012, hopefully they can find some more sponsorship for him to run those races, because what works on an early 1970's Plymouth or Dodge E-Bod, doesn't work for that Chevrolet.
--
Richard Childress Racing sure puts the FUN back in dysFUNctional. First, they can't find a sponsor for Bowyer, but RCR absorbs Kevin Harvick's Nationwide program. They win the Brickyard 400 with Paul Menard, then at Richmond go to an encrypted channel after asking him to check his volt meter while 80 laps down, and giving him split times between Harvick and Jeff Gordon… then, he happens to spin out while going well under the race pace. Pit crew coaches, competition directors, and crew changes are made at the drop of a hat, but we are told nothing is afoot. Only when the owner goes to beating on a guy nearly one-third his age does anything ever appear suspect.
Speaking of crew swaps at RCR, they're at it again with the No. 29 crew pilfering Bowyer's No. 33 guys…which is great since they swapped the No. 33 and 29 teams last year halfway through the Chase. So much for "Dance With The One Who Brung Ya".….now it's, "Hang Out By The Bathroom And Try To Snag a Straggler."
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Think NASCAR isn't on shaky ground? Nine races left in the season, and Roush Fenway racing still only has sponsorship for a whole season on one of their four cars.
Greg Biffle will have a special www.Ford40mpg.com paint scheme this weekend in New Hampshire. That's actually kind of ironic considering he's lost about four races this year on fuel mileage, which ended up getting his crew chief Greg Erwin fired. Well, not funny…there's nothing funny about getting canned. I know. Been there, done that, got the cardboard box.
Vito Pugliese is a Senior Writer for Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at vito.pugliese@frontstretch.com.
Today's Featured Commentary~~~~~~~~~~
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
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. unveiled his 2012 car Wednesday at Hendrick Motorsports headquarters. No offense to Junior or his nation, but am I the only one who thinks his cars are the most bland, uninspired, slab-sided rectangles in racing? His normal AMP Energy scheme is an abomination, and looks like it would be more at home on an ARCA car. The National Guard scheme in camo, run at Daytona in July was awesome, but most of the time it's just the AMP design with a blue tint. What was wrong with the retro DW Mountain Dew hue they have been running for the last few seasons at Darlington and this year at Kentucky? Now that was a paint scheme.
Come to think of it, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. All of Hendrick Motorsports' standard paint jobs for their cars look kind of awful, while the special schemes look far and away the best.
Jimmie Johnson's car never looks right. There's a house on the hood or something, sometimes a hex-headed wrench, and in the days of old when the cars were all cock eyed and shifted over to the left for downforce, the house looked like it was collapsing. His Power of Pride and Summer Salute schemes looked patriotic and presentable – why don't they do that with the normal arrangement? Jeff Gordon's car has a pleasant candy apple red tint to it, but it bleeds into gray and black on the side – kind of prophetic when you're trying to end hunger. The DuPont flame scheme is a little old, but has worn well; so why not due a tribute to 'ol Four-Time with a rainbow-hued one off from the 1993-2000 years?
Mark Martin's Farmers Insurance Tim Richmond tribute car this year at The All-Star race was all class and was well executed, while the Quaker State car continues to show that oil-sponsored machines always produce the best looking rides in motorsports. The GoDaddy lime green machine is just not doing it for me, though. If Martin ends up splitting time with Danica Patrick in 2012, hopefully they can find some more sponsorship for him to run those races, because what works on an early 1970's Plymouth or Dodge E-Bod, doesn't work for that Chevrolet.
--
Richard Childress Racing sure puts the FUN back in dysFUNctional. First, they can't find a sponsor for Bowyer, but RCR absorbs Kevin Harvick's Nationwide program. They win the Brickyard 400 with Paul Menard, then at Richmond go to an encrypted channel after asking him to check his volt meter while 80 laps down, and giving him split times between Harvick and Jeff Gordon… then, he happens to spin out while going well under the race pace. Pit crew coaches, competition directors, and crew changes are made at the drop of a hat, but we are told nothing is afoot. Only when the owner goes to beating on a guy nearly one-third his age does anything ever appear suspect.
Speaking of crew swaps at RCR, they're at it again with the No. 29 crew pilfering Bowyer's No. 33 guys…which is great since they swapped the No. 33 and 29 teams last year halfway through the Chase. So much for "Dance With The One Who Brung Ya".….now it's, "Hang Out By The Bathroom And Try To Snag a Straggler."
--
Think NASCAR isn't on shaky ground? Nine races left in the season, and Roush Fenway racing still only has sponsorship for a whole season on one of their four cars.
Greg Biffle will have a special www.Ford40mpg.com paint scheme this weekend in New Hampshire. That's actually kind of ironic considering he's lost about four races this year on fuel mileage, which ended up getting his crew chief Greg Erwin fired. Well, not funny…there's nothing funny about getting canned. I know. Been there, done that, got the cardboard box.
Vito Pugliese is a Senior Writer for Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at vito.pugliese@frontstretch.com.
Oh, How The Mighty Have Fallen!
Shakedown Session
by Brody Jones
One year ago, Denny Hamlin was on top of the world. He had an eight-win season and was the first driver in recent memory to put noticeable chinks in the armor of five-time defending Sprint Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson. Hell, he had Johnson practically on the ropes until a faulty strategy call last November in Phoenix. Going into the 2011 campaign, there was a great deal of hope that Hamlin could again duplicate his success from 2010 and maybe even finish the job that he fell short of the previous year. Surely, without distractions like a torn ACL to worry about Hamlin would be able to pick up where he left off, right?
Wrong. The 2011 season has been nothing short of a never-ending nightmare for Denny Hamlin. The season started off on the wrong foot when the JGR engine shop caught on fire and in the Bud Shootout, Hamlin had what appeared to be a victory taken away from him for going below the yellow line to pass Shootout winner Kurt Busch. In fact, his first eight races of the season were pretty much a disaster of Hindenburg-esque proportions. To only have one top-10 during that stretch and have to deal with rumors that crew chief Mike Ford was getting the axe? Welcome to "Ouch Town," Population: Denny Hamlin and the No. 11 FedEx Toyota team.
There was a bit of a resurgence from there, as Hamlin strung together top-10 finishes over five of the next seven races, including a win at Michigan. But even that victory did not come without controversy as Hamlin was busted for unapproved oil pans before the race. And since then? Hamlin has only cracked the top-10 four times in 12 races, thanks to a cornucopia of misfortune in the form of flat tires, crashes, and various other setbacks.
The capper to an already disappointing season was a poor finish at Chicagoland Sunday that left Hamlin with a 31st-place result and pretty much out of contention for the Sprint Cup Series championship, now sitting 41 points back from points leader Kevin Harvick. This disaster was like salt, no, scratch that, lemon juice in the already open wounds of the No. 11 FedEx team. Which begs the question how on earth could a team this good fall from grace this fast?
Was it the fire at the Joe Gibbs Racing shop? Was it the apparent Bud Shootout win being taken away? Or, does it stem further back to the Phoenix race where Hamlin essentially blew his opportunity to prevent Jimmie Johnson from winning his fifth consecutive championship? Or, does the real problem lie with Mike Ford? Despite the insistence of Hamlin and Ford that nothing is wrong with their crew chief/driver relationship, with the disappointing performance this year, and watching the actions of Ford and Hamlin at times toward each other, it's clear that their relationship is not quite as harmonious as it once was.
But fans of Denny Hamlin shouldn't fret too much about their driver's misfortunes this year. Hamlin, at 31 years old, is just now hitting the prime of his career. He will be back as a championship contender and possibly even win a Sprint Cup championship or two before he hangs up the helmet. But NASCAR fans can't help but wonder what has gone wrong this year for Hamlin and how can the bleeding be stopped.
Brody Jones is a Contributor to Frontstretch.com. He can be reached via e-mail at brody.jones@frontstretch.com.
The Critic's Annex: Indy Japan 300k
by Phil Allaway
Hello, race fans. Welcome back to the Critic's Annex, where I take an additional look at motorsports-related programming. While NASCAR's three "National" series were all in action at Chicagoland Speedway, the Izod IndyCar Series made their annual haul to the other side of the planet to race at the Twin Ring Motegi in Japan. However, things were quite a bit different this time.by Phil Allaway
Because of the 8.9 (or 9.0, depending on which source you want to cite) earthquake that decimated much of Japan back in March, the oval was damaged and rendered unusable for the race. OK, it wasn't quite as bad as I thought it would be, but there were significant cracks and a drop off in elevation in one of the turns - more than enough to make 200 mph+ unsafe. As a result, the Indy Japan 300k was moved from the 1.549-mile, egg shaped superspeedway (apparently modeled after Darlington, but not really) to the 2.98-mile Twin Ring Motegi Full Road Course. That course was apparently not as heavily damaged, and received a brand new repave, described as "glass smooth" and "slippery" even though it was 100 percent bone dry all weekend. The other change for this race weekend was that the teams did not use the regular pit lane for the road course, instead using the Super Speedway's pit lane with special new connectors to and from the road course. Weird. I guess they needed to have a wall between the garage and pit road. NASCAR did just fine without one for the exhibition races at Suzuka in 1996 and 1997. But, I digress.
Hearing those terms made me think back to last year, when Formula One made their first visit to South Korea. The track construction had run behind schedule and paving was done very late. Because of this delay, a quick-curing pavement with a high oil content was used. That surface is also quite slippery in the dry (in the wet, like the race was last October, it's nearly impossible). It appears that such a solution was used at the Twin Ring Motegi.
Like the Sao Paulo event earlier this season, Versus' crew stayed home in Indianapolis. Only Kevin Lee made the trip over. Meanwhile, Bob Jenkins, Wally Dallenbach and Jon Beekhuis were joined in the booth by Robin Miller, making for a pretty cramped room back in Indiana.
Prior to the race weekend, Danica Patrick expressed some doubts about going over to Japan for the race. As a result, Lee asked some of the drivers on camera what they really thought about the weekend. The responses were generally positive. Then, Lee went off the record. The responses then were a little more mixed.
Speaking of Patrick, she made a rather ridiculous comment on the driving style of Brazilian drivers, something that Tony Kanaan took offense to and attacked back via Twitter. Lee attempted to get further comment from both parties on the issue, but neither would go on camera. Kanaan stood by his tweets, while Patrick flat out refused.
The main feature of IndyCar Central was about Takuma Sato and what he has done in the past six months to help the people of Japan following the earthquake. In addition to running "Pray for Japan" logos on his No. 5, Sato has pledged his time and money to helping children that were orphaned as a result of the quake. A feel good feature if I ever saw one.
Since only Lee and a lone Versus cameraman made the trip over to Japan, Versus' telecast was dependent on the host feed from NTV, also known as Nippon Television. This is the equivalent of a race being on network television here, so it's a big deal. Unfortunately, it appeared that Nippon Television had some quirky ideas on how to show the race.
I should have known something was afoot when we missed the command to start engines. It was during a commercial break, which is all but unheard of these days. There was a lot of miscommunication with the rolling start on both the drivers and the telecast. Seems like maybe 13 people actually knew the race was going green, and none of those dudes were on TV.
Nippon Television also really liked to zoom in and out really fast. It was crazy to watch. Since this race started a little after Midnight, I was already tired by the time the race started. The cuts and zooms actually made me dizzy. The booth realized this and basically told viewers that they were just along for the ride.
Unfortunately for viewers, the race was not all that exciting to watch. Bites when you realize that the race had excellent attendance. The main grandstand was crammed. Around the midpoint of the event, a discussion of how fuel mileage has hurt on-track action recently in all series broke out. Kinda interesting, actually. We discussed that in the Sprint Cup context in Mirror Driving this week.
The late night feel of the telecast naturally led to some stupid stuff. In this kind of setup, Miller would be better off just taking the weekend off and spending time with Dave DeSpain on Wind Tunnel. He basically adds zilch to a telecast if he's not at the track. Here, he made a bunch of wisecracks, talking about White Castle burgers as "the kind of burgers you eat at 3am when you're drunk," then insinuated that Jenkins may be drunk (he wasn't, as far as I know) and that they were going to go to the White Castle after the race, like Harold and Kumar before them. Ridiculous.
Stuff like that above brings up the notion of what is considered professional in the booth and what isn't. What Miller was doing Saturday night/Sunday morning wasn't. That was basically sitting around and saying a bunch of random things. Granted, Miller did have that "salty father figure going on about the old days" air about him that some fans might find appealing, but he was just coming off as an idiot. Simple as that.
If you think ESPN's Chase focus is bad, Nippon Television was worse. The vast majority of the race was focused on either the two leaders (Scott Dixon and Will Power), who weren't even battling for the lead, and the two Japanese drivers (Sato and Hideki Mutoh). Granted, the Japanese bias was nowhere near as strong as I thought it could be, but the leader bias was stronger. It made me think of the time I saw the 1991 Brazilian Grand Prix on YouTube. The Brazilian host broadcaster basically spent 75 laps focused on the leader. Since that leader was the late Ayrton Senna, the focus was even stronger than it would have been otherwise.
There were focus issues as well. You could see certain shenanigans going down, like on the first lap when Helio Castroneves went off into the trap and Nippon Television's cameras would act like nothing happened and go on.
Post-race coverage was OK. Normal Versus viewers would have expected a little more, though. We got three driver interviews, interviews with the winning car owner and race strategist, and checks of the unofficial results and point standings before Versus left the air.
Nippon Television's broadcast was just plain hard to watch. It was like stepping into a time capsule to an earlier time, when covering the field was not considered to be all that important. It makes me long for the regular crew, who will be back in Kentucky in a couple of weeks.
I hope you enjoyed this look back at the Indy Japan 300k. Tune in next week for another critique here in the Frontstretch Newsletter. Until then, enjoy this week's racing in New Hampshire and Singapore.
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 Top Ten "Yeah, Right! Whatever You Say" Statements
"I know what I'm doing. Besides, it's what the fans wanted." –Brian France
"I know what I'm doing. Besides, it's what the fans wanted." –Brian France
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:
Five Points To Ponder: Dollars, Cents, And The Lack Thereof
by Bryan Davis Keith
Going Green: Winners And Losers From Chase Race One
by Garrett Horton
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TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
Five Points To Ponder: Dollars, Cents, And The Lack Thereof
by Bryan Davis Keith
Going Green: Winners And Losers From Chase Race One
by Garrett Horton
by Brett Poirier
Mirror Driving: Surprises, Off Weeks, And Sorting Out Free Agency
by the Frontstretch Staff
~~~~~~
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: September, 1997 marked the first time that then-New Hampshire International Speedway held two Cup races in one season. That Fall day was rather eventful for Geoff Bodine, who finished 16th. What happened?
Mirror Driving: Surprises, Off Weeks, And Sorting Out Free Agency
by the Frontstretch Staff
~~~~~~
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: September, 1997 marked the first time that then-New Hampshire International Speedway held two Cup races in one season. That Fall day was rather eventful for Geoff Bodine, who finished 16th. What happened?
Check back Friday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Wednesday's Answer:
Q: In the inaugural Slick 50 300 for the Cup Series at then-New Hampshire International Speedway, Jeff Burton made his debut driving a No. 0 Ford for FILMar Racing sponsored by TIC Financial. What was TIC Financial?
A: TIC Financial was a company owned by Filbert Martocci that catered to the transportation industry (specifically trucking). The company provided financial and informational services. In August of 1996, the company was acquired by the Ceridian Corporation and merged into Comdata. Today, Comdata focuses on fleet cards that are used to pay for purchases (Ex: Fuel for a tractor trailer).
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: Loudon by Mike Lovecchio
We'll have a preview of the Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series races this weekend in New Hampshire.
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: Loudon by Mike Lovecchio
We'll have a preview of the Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series races this weekend in New Hampshire.
Holding A Pretty Wheel by Amy Henderson
Amy's back with another interesting commentary.
Voices From The Heartland by Jeff Meyer
For the rest of the season, Jeff's weekly column will run on Fridays. It's sure to satisfy.
Voices From The Heartland by Jeff Meyer
For the rest of the season, Jeff's weekly column will run on Fridays. It's sure to satisfy.
Tearing Apart The Trucks by Beth Lunkenheimer
Beth returns with an intriguing commentary ahead of the series making their annual visit to New Hampshire 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.
-----------------------------
Talk back to the Frontstretch Newsletter!
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©2011 Frontstretch.com
-----------------------------
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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