THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
September 4th, 2011
Volume V, Edition CLXXXIV
~~~~~~~~~~
FRONTSTRETCH AT THE TRACK ALL DAY! Be sure to follow us through our Facebook page at Frontstretch Writers, Twitter @TheFrontstretch plus @Writer_Amy (Amy Henderson) AND the main page of Frontstretch.com for all your racing news from Atlanta.
NEW PODCAST! Don't forget our new FREE weekly audio segments hosted by Doug Turnbull. Click here for the September 2nd edition that features Kurt Busch and Martin Truex, Jr. as our main racing guests.
~~~~~~~~~
Nationwide Series Race Recap: Edwards Overcomes Early Penalty To Win Great Clips 300
by Mike Neff
Carl Edwards started on the pole, was set back by a pit road penalty, then powered his way back to the front before holding off a late charge by Kyle Busch to win the Great Clips 300 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Busch started the race in the third position, took the lead for the first of six times on lap 44, but didn't have a car fast enough at the beginning of the run to put himself in contention to win at the end. Edwards, who coasted home nearly seven-tenths of a second over Busch, collected his sixth Nationwide victory of the season. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. ran amongst the leaders for most of the evening, then finally crossed the line in the third position while Kevin Harvick and Kasey Kahne rounded out the top 5.
Edwards led the race five times for a race-high 101 laps; the victory is Edwards' 35th in 236 career Nationwide races. This event was the second time in seven career races at Atlanta that Edwards has taken home the trophy.
"The car was spectacular; from the first lap on the race track, the car was great," he said. "Mike and Scott and all the guys did a really great job with it. It's amazing how these cars have progressed over the last year to year and a half. They're really fast. Trevor was fast. Ricky was fast. Our car was great. It was just a fun race."
The event, which had 21 lead changes among eight drivers received much praise from drivers based on both Goodyear's tire and Atlanta's wide, multiple-groove oval that allows for plenty of passing.
"I love this race track," Edwards said. "Whatever it is about this race track that makes it so much fun to drive, we need to figure out if we can engineer that into some other race tracks. This is as good as it gets, so I'm excited for tomorrow. I'm really excited to go run 500 miles here."
Meanwhile, in the championship race it was Stenhouse's night that stood out; leaving Atlanta with the series points lead, 13 ahead of Elliott Sadler it was a big step to pull away from his two major rivals. Sadler, whose car struggled with handling issues throughout the weekend came home 10th while Reed Sorenson was caught up in an accident and slumped to 32nd. Sorenson's night was cut short courtesy Justin Allgaier, who bumped the left rear of Sorenson's car in turn two in an accident that also involved Trevor Bayne.
All of that mess benefited Stenhouse, whose team was a little sluggish on pit road at times but overcame a tire issue to work their way to the front.
"The race itself was fun," he said, also singing the racetrack's praises. "This race track is a lot of fun. It's old and it wears the tires out and it's rough. That's my kind of race track. I like to get up on the wheel and drive it hard and it worked out for us tonight. The last few laps there, the last run, I think we had a tire coming loose, so I kind of had to take it a little easy and made sure we finished and it was a good points night for us."
Busch, meanwhile, gave it his all but the all-time leader in Nationwide victories didn't have anything left for Edwards when the checkered flag flew.
"No, that is it," he said. "We were all kind of stuck on the bottom tonight. Wish we could have spread out and moved around and never did. Good car, just not good enough. We knew that it would be a race against the Ford. They got great horsepower under the hoods. Just hated that we didn't have enough under the hood to run with them a little bit better... it was all about how you could get to the bottom of the race track and how you could run the bottom."
Justin Allgaier, Brad Keselowski (in his return to Nationwide competition), Aric Almirola, Jason Leffler and Elliott Sadler round out the top-10 finishers.
For more on this race, be sure to check out Bryan Keith's Nationwide Series Breakdown; this Monday, only on the Frontstretch.
Saturday News 'N' Notes
by Amy Henderson
NASCAR Women To Race for Charity In Charlotte
Charlotte Motor Speedway announced on Saturday that the track will host the "Better Half Dash," a 25-lap charity event that will pit wives, girlfriends, and television personalities against one another in Bandolero cars before the Bank of America 500 on October 15. The race will be held on the quarter-mile track located in the speedway's tri-oval. U.S. Legend Cars International will provide the cars, while the women will have two, half-day practice sessions to shake the cars down; however, adjustments will not be permitted. The women's husbands and significant others may act as crew chief or spotter; proceeds from the race will support Speedway Children's Charities and Motor Racing Outreach.
Confirmed participants so far include Katie Kenseth, Angie Skinner, Nan Zipadelli, Ashley Allgaier, Trisha Mears, and Wendy Venturini. Kelley Earnhardt will wave the green flag to start the event. The top three finishers will receive donations to the charity of their choice. Tickets to the Bank of America 500 are available at Charlotte Motor Speedway or online.
No Penalty For Busch Following Truck Altercation at Bristol
To answer a question from our Newsletter reader Mike...
Kyle Busch was not penalized for an incident at Bristol Motor Speedway in which Busch, after wrecking off the nose of Elliott Sadler, waited on track for Sadler and spun Sadler's No. 24 in the Camping World Truck Series event. NASCAR chose not to penalize Busch, whose truck was too damaged to continue, further after the race. In the past, the sanctioning body has responded to similar incidents by immediately parking the offending driver for a number of laps. Since Busch's team was unable to repair his truck, NASCAR didn't have that option and chose not to penalize rather than to create a new policy.
Jeff Gordon Paces Final Practice In Atlanta
Jeff Gordon led the way in the final Sprint Cup Series practice on Saturday afternoon with a top lap speed of 182.392 MPH. Gordon, who has clinched a Chase berth already, set his fast time on the first lap of the session as he tries to add another victory Sunday night to help in postseason seeding. The rest of the top 5 was made up of Chase hopefuls Tony Stewart, Clint Bowyer, Brad Keselowski, and Greg Biffle while Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, and Ryan Newman rounded out the top 10.
Jimmie Johnson was the slowest of the title contenders, landing 33rd on the chart.
Kahne Snares AdvoCare 500 Pole
Kasey Kahne won the pole as Team Red Bull put on a show in qualifying. Kahne took the No. 4 to the top spot with a lap time of 29.775. His teammate, Brian Vickers put his No. 83 in the top 5; he'll start fourth on Sunday night in one of the best runs by TBR all season as they wind down their tenure in the Cup Series. Clint Bowyer will share the front row with Kahne, while points leader Kyle Busch wound up third alongside Vickers. Jeff Gordon rounds out the top five.
The rest of the top 10 is made up by Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, last week's runner-up Martin Truex, Jr., Ryan Newman, and Kurt Busch.
Drivers in current Chase positions not in the top ten on the grid include Jimmie Johnson (starts 17th), Kevin Harvick (21st), Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (29th), Tony Stewart (20th), Brad Keselowski (14th), and Denny Hamlin 13th). Just four drivers failed to qualify: Tony Raines, David Stremme, Geoffrey Bodine in Tommy Baldwin's second car (the No. 35) and rookie T.J. Bell.
Top-12 Availability Wrap-Up
by Mike Neff
Once again, the 12 drivers eligible for the Chase were available to the media at the race track, this week in Atlanta. Here is a little something gleaned from their press conferences on Friday and Saturday.
Q: When you go visit the President next week, are you going to talk politics or just general things?
Jimmie Johnson: Years past up there, there really wasn't a chance to do more than shake a hand and say hello and stuff like that. I can attempt to talk politics if you had anything you wanted me to talk to him about. I can go up there... I've seen a lot of opinions of late, especially through Social Media. So, it is obviously a huge honor to go up. I look forward to D.C. and going through what we do there.
Q: We're coming up on the ten year anniversary of 9/11. What do you remember about that week that followed and what was the atmosphere like when everyone went to Dover to finally get back on the track and race?
Jeff Gordon: It was just such disbelief and still shock, I think. From the day of and days to follow, just trying to understand it, why this happened and how it happened and how does it get prevented, where is our safety at. I think it was obviously a smart call to not race [at New Hampshire], but to go to Dover. What was amazing that when we got to Dover, was the American Spirit, everyone showing support for our country and how proud we are to be Americans, how we're going to stand up, we're going to push back, we're going to show everybody what we are made of. To go from a sporting standpoint and an entertainment standpoint and go and perform with all those things happening to me was important and it felt great.
Q: Would you prefer to have tires that would not last an entire fuel run?
Denny Hamlin: Yes, I would. I was thinking about it this morning actually is that watching some of those old races back in the days, the cars made a little downforce, the tires were soft and it was about who could time their tire cycles to fuel and overtaking another car was much easier. It's just so hard nowadays to do that because honestly the tires are better. I know that what Goodyear wants and what NASCAR wants and drivers want as far as safety is concerned, but nowadays drivers don't pay any price for overdriving a race car. In the last year, guys are driving corner entry way harder than what they should be allowed to and I think that is some of the reason why you see some of the more successful drivers and new drivers winning this year that you have is that you just don't pay a price anymore for overdriving your race car because everything is so good now. The drivers like Mark Martin that you've seen for years and years be so good at saving his equipment, it's not as big of an advantage anymore because the tires are so much better. I would like to see in the future, tires that we run fast for a lap or two, but then drop tremendously off. It forces us to come in and take tires and these races are not going to be won on some sort of fuel strategy or some kind of gamble in the pits. I like that part of it. It's all part of racing and I understand that, but you like to see fast cars win races.
Have news for Mike 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 at 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.
~~~~~~~~~~
Special At-The-Track Commentary
by Amy Henderson
As the Jeff Gordon Era Draws To A Close, Gordon Poised to Take the Title One More Time
Jeff Gordon led final practice for the AdvoCare 500 and qualified fifth. Now 40, the one-time "Wonder Boy" will try on Sunday night to grab the 85th win of his career, one that has defined him as not just a great driver but perhaps the best of his generation. Gordon's numbers speak in a way that few men can boast: his 84 wins are third on the all-time list, behind only "King" Richard Petty and David Pearson. Along the way, he's collected four championships; only three drivers in all of NASCAR's storied history have more.
Gordon came along at the perfect time for NASCAR. Dale Earnhardt was entering the last years of his prime and Gordon provided the perfect foil for Earnhardt in so many ways. Gordon's four titles came between 1995 and 2001, and it was Gordon more than any other driver who bridged the gap between two eras. Gordon was an era, really. In the late 90's, it seemed that it would be only a matter of time until Gordon won the most championships, not Jimmie Johnson; it would be the Rainbow Warrior cutting through the elusive seven, surpassing the records of legends like Petty and Earnhardt.
Many will argue that perhaps Gordon should be running for that seventh title in 2011, that without the Chase points systems he might have two more. But the points system Gordon worked so well is a thing of the past and he is preparing to make a fifth title run this year. Currently sixth in points, Gordon is already assured a Chase berth by starting in Atlanta and Richmond. His two wins will seed him as high as a tie for third; a win in the next two races would move him to a tie for second. Coming off a five-race stretch where he finished lower than sixth only once, the No. 24 team looks poised to make a strong run in the coming weeks, perhaps their best championship chance since a record-setting, 30 top-10 finish season back in 2007. Make no mistake, Gordon is a strong title contender in a year where there is no clear favorite.... and he's got to capitalize.
Because Gordon is running out of chances.
There are two things at work that suggest future opportunities are, well, limited at best. One is as simple as Father Time; Gordon is 40 years old now, and statistics suggest that wins and championships tail off after that age. But secondly, not only is the driver formerly known as Wonder Boy getting older, he also has tremendous competition from a posse of younger drivers, all of whom are fierce, talented competitors: Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski to name a few. And while, save perhaps Gordon's nemesis Jimmie Johnson, it's unlikely that any of these drivers will match Gordon's career numbers, they are entering their prime at a time the graying Rainbow Warrior will start struggling to hang on to past success.
Is 2011 Gordon's last chance at glory? Probably not. But Gordon himself has said that as he gets older, he realizes that each win could be his last. Those halcyon summers of the late 1990's are far behind him, and while Gordon has become the defining driver of those years, he's not defining these years. Seven championships, realistically, is out of the realm now, unless he's going to win them as a car owner. And one thing you can bank on about Jeff Gordon is that while that would be nice, in a feather-in-the-cap kind of way, he doesn't want to win them through Jimmie Johnson.
If Gordon retired tomorrow, he'd go down as one of the finest drivers ever to grace the seat of a stock car. Symbolically, he's the bridge between two eras, and he made that bridge the Jeff Gordon Era, standing on its own as a reign of terror that made fans gnash their teeth and wish him things like a nice meeting of the minds - preferably with a retaining wall. That's changed; Gordon still gets some loud boos when he's introduced, but he also gets an increasing number of cheers as fans realize that they have seen something special in a career that will go down as one of NASCAR's best.
Jeff Gordon won't back down with the championship on the line, especially entering the most wide open Chase in years. He never has flinched in the face of tough competition; trust me, that isn't about to start now. But if Gordon is going to make that title run, getting over a hump that's lasted nearly a decade now he needs to do it soon. Legends like this one, although they rarely do deserve to go out with a roar… and maybe another big trophy or two as the years do finally close in.
It's up to him.
Amy Henderson is a Senior Editor for Frontstretch.com. She can be reached at amy.henderson@frontstretch.com.
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Hey Frontstretch Readers!
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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Coming Monday in the Frontstretch Newsletter:
-- Advocare 500 Race Recap by Mike Neff
-- Mouthing Off: Advocare 500 by Brody Jones
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, and more!
Monday on the Frontstretch:
Matt McLaughlin's Thinkin' Out Loud: Advocare 500 by Toni Montgomery and Bryan Keith
With Matt still out of commission, two of your favorite Frontstretch writers will be here with their overall thoughts about the action from Sunday night's action from Atlanta.
Bubble Breakdown by Bryan Davis Keith
Who's hot and who's not towards the back end of the owner points battle? Bryan brings the stories you didn't hear about into print from Sunday's race from Atlanta.
Special Commentary by Ron Lemasters
Ron returns for a website look at one of the big stories from Sunday's race from Atlanta.
Bowles-Eye View by Amy Henderson
Filling in for Tom, Amy has all of the insight you need from a weekend of racing from Atlanta.
Big Six: Advocare 500 by Amy Henderson
Amy has your who, what, when, where, why and how from a weekend of racing at Atlanta.
Nationwide Series Breakdown: Great Clips 300 by Bryan Davis Keith
Bryan has all the post-race analysis you need after Saturday night's Nationwide Series race from Atlanta.
Tracking the Trucks: Good Sam Club 200 by Beth Lunkenheimer
Beth has all the post-race analysis you need after Friday night's Camping World Truck Series race from Atlanta.
-----------------------------
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
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
September 4th, 2011
Volume V, Edition CLXXXIV
~~~~~~~~~~
FRONTSTRETCH AT THE TRACK ALL DAY! Be sure to follow us through our Facebook page at Frontstretch Writers, Twitter @TheFrontstretch plus @Writer_Amy (Amy Henderson) AND the main page of Frontstretch.com for all your racing news from Atlanta.
NEW PODCAST! Don't forget our new FREE weekly audio segments hosted by Doug Turnbull. Click here for the September 2nd edition that features Kurt Busch and Martin Truex, Jr. as our main racing guests.
~~~~~~~~~
Nationwide Series Race Recap: Edwards Overcomes Early Penalty To Win Great Clips 300
by Mike Neff
Carl Edwards started on the pole, was set back by a pit road penalty, then powered his way back to the front before holding off a late charge by Kyle Busch to win the Great Clips 300 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Busch started the race in the third position, took the lead for the first of six times on lap 44, but didn't have a car fast enough at the beginning of the run to put himself in contention to win at the end. Edwards, who coasted home nearly seven-tenths of a second over Busch, collected his sixth Nationwide victory of the season. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. ran amongst the leaders for most of the evening, then finally crossed the line in the third position while Kevin Harvick and Kasey Kahne rounded out the top 5.
Edwards led the race five times for a race-high 101 laps; the victory is Edwards' 35th in 236 career Nationwide races. This event was the second time in seven career races at Atlanta that Edwards has taken home the trophy.
"The car was spectacular; from the first lap on the race track, the car was great," he said. "Mike and Scott and all the guys did a really great job with it. It's amazing how these cars have progressed over the last year to year and a half. They're really fast. Trevor was fast. Ricky was fast. Our car was great. It was just a fun race."
The event, which had 21 lead changes among eight drivers received much praise from drivers based on both Goodyear's tire and Atlanta's wide, multiple-groove oval that allows for plenty of passing.
"I love this race track," Edwards said. "Whatever it is about this race track that makes it so much fun to drive, we need to figure out if we can engineer that into some other race tracks. This is as good as it gets, so I'm excited for tomorrow. I'm really excited to go run 500 miles here."
Meanwhile, in the championship race it was Stenhouse's night that stood out; leaving Atlanta with the series points lead, 13 ahead of Elliott Sadler it was a big step to pull away from his two major rivals. Sadler, whose car struggled with handling issues throughout the weekend came home 10th while Reed Sorenson was caught up in an accident and slumped to 32nd. Sorenson's night was cut short courtesy Justin Allgaier, who bumped the left rear of Sorenson's car in turn two in an accident that also involved Trevor Bayne.
All of that mess benefited Stenhouse, whose team was a little sluggish on pit road at times but overcame a tire issue to work their way to the front.
"The race itself was fun," he said, also singing the racetrack's praises. "This race track is a lot of fun. It's old and it wears the tires out and it's rough. That's my kind of race track. I like to get up on the wheel and drive it hard and it worked out for us tonight. The last few laps there, the last run, I think we had a tire coming loose, so I kind of had to take it a little easy and made sure we finished and it was a good points night for us."
Busch, meanwhile, gave it his all but the all-time leader in Nationwide victories didn't have anything left for Edwards when the checkered flag flew.
"No, that is it," he said. "We were all kind of stuck on the bottom tonight. Wish we could have spread out and moved around and never did. Good car, just not good enough. We knew that it would be a race against the Ford. They got great horsepower under the hoods. Just hated that we didn't have enough under the hood to run with them a little bit better... it was all about how you could get to the bottom of the race track and how you could run the bottom."
Justin Allgaier, Brad Keselowski (in his return to Nationwide competition), Aric Almirola, Jason Leffler and Elliott Sadler round out the top-10 finishers.
For more on this race, be sure to check out Bryan Keith's Nationwide Series Breakdown; this Monday, only on the Frontstretch.
Saturday News 'N' Notes
by Amy Henderson
NASCAR Women To Race for Charity In Charlotte
Charlotte Motor Speedway announced on Saturday that the track will host the "Better Half Dash," a 25-lap charity event that will pit wives, girlfriends, and television personalities against one another in Bandolero cars before the Bank of America 500 on October 15. The race will be held on the quarter-mile track located in the speedway's tri-oval. U.S. Legend Cars International will provide the cars, while the women will have two, half-day practice sessions to shake the cars down; however, adjustments will not be permitted. The women's husbands and significant others may act as crew chief or spotter; proceeds from the race will support Speedway Children's Charities and Motor Racing Outreach.
Confirmed participants so far include Katie Kenseth, Angie Skinner, Nan Zipadelli, Ashley Allgaier, Trisha Mears, and Wendy Venturini. Kelley Earnhardt will wave the green flag to start the event. The top three finishers will receive donations to the charity of their choice. Tickets to the Bank of America 500 are available at Charlotte Motor Speedway or online.
No Penalty For Busch Following Truck Altercation at Bristol
To answer a question from our Newsletter reader Mike...
Kyle Busch was not penalized for an incident at Bristol Motor Speedway in which Busch, after wrecking off the nose of Elliott Sadler, waited on track for Sadler and spun Sadler's No. 24 in the Camping World Truck Series event. NASCAR chose not to penalize Busch, whose truck was too damaged to continue, further after the race. In the past, the sanctioning body has responded to similar incidents by immediately parking the offending driver for a number of laps. Since Busch's team was unable to repair his truck, NASCAR didn't have that option and chose not to penalize rather than to create a new policy.
Jeff Gordon Paces Final Practice In Atlanta
Jeff Gordon led the way in the final Sprint Cup Series practice on Saturday afternoon with a top lap speed of 182.392 MPH. Gordon, who has clinched a Chase berth already, set his fast time on the first lap of the session as he tries to add another victory Sunday night to help in postseason seeding. The rest of the top 5 was made up of Chase hopefuls Tony Stewart, Clint Bowyer, Brad Keselowski, and Greg Biffle while Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, and Ryan Newman rounded out the top 10.
Jimmie Johnson was the slowest of the title contenders, landing 33rd on the chart.
Kahne Snares AdvoCare 500 Pole
Kasey Kahne won the pole as Team Red Bull put on a show in qualifying. Kahne took the No. 4 to the top spot with a lap time of 29.775. His teammate, Brian Vickers put his No. 83 in the top 5; he'll start fourth on Sunday night in one of the best runs by TBR all season as they wind down their tenure in the Cup Series. Clint Bowyer will share the front row with Kahne, while points leader Kyle Busch wound up third alongside Vickers. Jeff Gordon rounds out the top five.
The rest of the top 10 is made up by Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, last week's runner-up Martin Truex, Jr., Ryan Newman, and Kurt Busch.
Drivers in current Chase positions not in the top ten on the grid include Jimmie Johnson (starts 17th), Kevin Harvick (21st), Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (29th), Tony Stewart (20th), Brad Keselowski (14th), and Denny Hamlin 13th). Just four drivers failed to qualify: Tony Raines, David Stremme, Geoffrey Bodine in Tommy Baldwin's second car (the No. 35) and rookie T.J. Bell.
Top-12 Availability Wrap-Up
by Mike Neff
Once again, the 12 drivers eligible for the Chase were available to the media at the race track, this week in Atlanta. Here is a little something gleaned from their press conferences on Friday and Saturday.
Q: When you go visit the President next week, are you going to talk politics or just general things?
Jimmie Johnson: Years past up there, there really wasn't a chance to do more than shake a hand and say hello and stuff like that. I can attempt to talk politics if you had anything you wanted me to talk to him about. I can go up there... I've seen a lot of opinions of late, especially through Social Media. So, it is obviously a huge honor to go up. I look forward to D.C. and going through what we do there.
Q: We're coming up on the ten year anniversary of 9/11. What do you remember about that week that followed and what was the atmosphere like when everyone went to Dover to finally get back on the track and race?
Jeff Gordon: It was just such disbelief and still shock, I think. From the day of and days to follow, just trying to understand it, why this happened and how it happened and how does it get prevented, where is our safety at. I think it was obviously a smart call to not race [at New Hampshire], but to go to Dover. What was amazing that when we got to Dover, was the American Spirit, everyone showing support for our country and how proud we are to be Americans, how we're going to stand up, we're going to push back, we're going to show everybody what we are made of. To go from a sporting standpoint and an entertainment standpoint and go and perform with all those things happening to me was important and it felt great.
Q: Would you prefer to have tires that would not last an entire fuel run?
Denny Hamlin: Yes, I would. I was thinking about it this morning actually is that watching some of those old races back in the days, the cars made a little downforce, the tires were soft and it was about who could time their tire cycles to fuel and overtaking another car was much easier. It's just so hard nowadays to do that because honestly the tires are better. I know that what Goodyear wants and what NASCAR wants and drivers want as far as safety is concerned, but nowadays drivers don't pay any price for overdriving a race car. In the last year, guys are driving corner entry way harder than what they should be allowed to and I think that is some of the reason why you see some of the more successful drivers and new drivers winning this year that you have is that you just don't pay a price anymore for overdriving your race car because everything is so good now. The drivers like Mark Martin that you've seen for years and years be so good at saving his equipment, it's not as big of an advantage anymore because the tires are so much better. I would like to see in the future, tires that we run fast for a lap or two, but then drop tremendously off. It forces us to come in and take tires and these races are not going to be won on some sort of fuel strategy or some kind of gamble in the pits. I like that part of it. It's all part of racing and I understand that, but you like to see fast cars win races.
Have news for Mike 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 at 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.
~~~~~~~~~~
Special At-The-Track Commentary
by Amy Henderson
As the Jeff Gordon Era Draws To A Close, Gordon Poised to Take the Title One More Time
Jeff Gordon led final practice for the AdvoCare 500 and qualified fifth. Now 40, the one-time "Wonder Boy" will try on Sunday night to grab the 85th win of his career, one that has defined him as not just a great driver but perhaps the best of his generation. Gordon's numbers speak in a way that few men can boast: his 84 wins are third on the all-time list, behind only "King" Richard Petty and David Pearson. Along the way, he's collected four championships; only three drivers in all of NASCAR's storied history have more.
Gordon came along at the perfect time for NASCAR. Dale Earnhardt was entering the last years of his prime and Gordon provided the perfect foil for Earnhardt in so many ways. Gordon's four titles came between 1995 and 2001, and it was Gordon more than any other driver who bridged the gap between two eras. Gordon was an era, really. In the late 90's, it seemed that it would be only a matter of time until Gordon won the most championships, not Jimmie Johnson; it would be the Rainbow Warrior cutting through the elusive seven, surpassing the records of legends like Petty and Earnhardt.
Many will argue that perhaps Gordon should be running for that seventh title in 2011, that without the Chase points systems he might have two more. But the points system Gordon worked so well is a thing of the past and he is preparing to make a fifth title run this year. Currently sixth in points, Gordon is already assured a Chase berth by starting in Atlanta and Richmond. His two wins will seed him as high as a tie for third; a win in the next two races would move him to a tie for second. Coming off a five-race stretch where he finished lower than sixth only once, the No. 24 team looks poised to make a strong run in the coming weeks, perhaps their best championship chance since a record-setting, 30 top-10 finish season back in 2007. Make no mistake, Gordon is a strong title contender in a year where there is no clear favorite.... and he's got to capitalize.
Because Gordon is running out of chances.
There are two things at work that suggest future opportunities are, well, limited at best. One is as simple as Father Time; Gordon is 40 years old now, and statistics suggest that wins and championships tail off after that age. But secondly, not only is the driver formerly known as Wonder Boy getting older, he also has tremendous competition from a posse of younger drivers, all of whom are fierce, talented competitors: Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski to name a few. And while, save perhaps Gordon's nemesis Jimmie Johnson, it's unlikely that any of these drivers will match Gordon's career numbers, they are entering their prime at a time the graying Rainbow Warrior will start struggling to hang on to past success.
Is 2011 Gordon's last chance at glory? Probably not. But Gordon himself has said that as he gets older, he realizes that each win could be his last. Those halcyon summers of the late 1990's are far behind him, and while Gordon has become the defining driver of those years, he's not defining these years. Seven championships, realistically, is out of the realm now, unless he's going to win them as a car owner. And one thing you can bank on about Jeff Gordon is that while that would be nice, in a feather-in-the-cap kind of way, he doesn't want to win them through Jimmie Johnson.
If Gordon retired tomorrow, he'd go down as one of the finest drivers ever to grace the seat of a stock car. Symbolically, he's the bridge between two eras, and he made that bridge the Jeff Gordon Era, standing on its own as a reign of terror that made fans gnash their teeth and wish him things like a nice meeting of the minds - preferably with a retaining wall. That's changed; Gordon still gets some loud boos when he's introduced, but he also gets an increasing number of cheers as fans realize that they have seen something special in a career that will go down as one of NASCAR's best.
Jeff Gordon won't back down with the championship on the line, especially entering the most wide open Chase in years. He never has flinched in the face of tough competition; trust me, that isn't about to start now. But if Gordon is going to make that title run, getting over a hump that's lasted nearly a decade now he needs to do it soon. Legends like this one, although they rarely do deserve to go out with a roar… and maybe another big trophy or two as the years do finally close in.
It's up to him.
Amy Henderson is a Senior Editor for Frontstretch.com. She can be reached at amy.henderson@frontstretch.com.
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Coming Monday in the Frontstretch Newsletter:
-- Advocare 500 Race Recap by Mike Neff
-- Mouthing Off: Advocare 500 by Brody Jones
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, and more!
Monday on the Frontstretch:
Matt McLaughlin's Thinkin' Out Loud: Advocare 500 by Toni Montgomery and Bryan Keith
With Matt still out of commission, two of your favorite Frontstretch writers will be here with their overall thoughts about the action from Sunday night's action from Atlanta.
Bubble Breakdown by Bryan Davis Keith
Who's hot and who's not towards the back end of the owner points battle? Bryan brings the stories you didn't hear about into print from Sunday's race from Atlanta.
Special Commentary by Ron Lemasters
Ron returns for a website look at one of the big stories from Sunday's race from Atlanta.
Bowles-Eye View by Amy Henderson
Filling in for Tom, Amy has all of the insight you need from a weekend of racing from Atlanta.
Big Six: Advocare 500 by Amy Henderson
Amy has your who, what, when, where, why and how from a weekend of racing at Atlanta.
Nationwide Series Breakdown: Great Clips 300 by Bryan Davis Keith
Bryan has all the post-race analysis you need after Saturday night's Nationwide Series race from Atlanta.
Tracking the Trucks: Good Sam Club 200 by Beth Lunkenheimer
Beth has all the post-race analysis you need after Friday night's Camping World Truck Series race from Atlanta.
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