The Frontstretch Newsletter: October 12th, 2011

THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
October 12th, 2011
Volume V, Edition CCXV

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What To Watch: Wednesday

 

- Nanny Sue Neal, the oldest living breast cancer survivor in North Carolina will be honored with a special ceremony at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The 101-year old from Waxhaw, NC will receive a plaque recognizing her as a race official while being given a ride around the 1.5-mile oval in the weekend's official pace car.

 

The event will also serve as a way to introduce three of the Nationwide Dash4Cash drivers to the media: Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Ryan Truex, and Kenny Wallace could be eligible for a $100,000 bonus under the program Saturday night.

- The World of Outlaws will hold their annual Showdown Wednesday night at Charlotte's dirt track. A 5 PM autograph session will precede the main events; more than 40 drivers are expected to participate including Darrell Lanigan, Josh Richards, Rick Eckert, Shane Clanton, Clint Smith, Chub Frank and Tim McCreadie.

Top News
by Tom Bowles

 

Dollar General To Joe Gibbs Racing?

 

The mystery revolving around one major sponsor's 2012 plans has been solved. Jim Utter from the Charlotte Observer is reporting Dollar General will be shifting its attention to a combination of Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series races next season, aligning themselves with powerhouse Joe Gibbs Racing in a multi-year deal across several platforms. Perhaps most significant is its alignment with young Joey Logano; the company will sponsor Sliced Bread in up to 12 events. According to the Observer, that would reduce longtime sponsor Home Depot's financial load by one third.

 

Home Depot has been the primary sponsor almost exclusively on the No. 20 car since signing on with Tony Stewart at JGR prior to the 1999 season. But Logano's funding wouldn't stop there; he would also get additional support from D.G. in the Nationwide Series. The company is expected to back the No. 20, along with Kyle Busch's No. 18 in a handful of events while also using their funding to sponsor the No. 11 of Brian Scott full-time.

 

The involvement of the sponsor will even extend down into Camping World Trucks. Kyle Busch Motorsports, aligned with D.G. for 2011 will continue to receive sponsorship for its No. 18 Toyota. A source tells us the company continues to explore some type of partnership with JGR or other avenue to move up into the Nationwide Series; however, KBM declined comment on any sponsorship acquisitions for 2012.

 

This deal would be the largest, most expansive for Dollar General since entering the sport in 2005, backing Frank Cicci's old No. 34 cars in the then-Busch Series for Randy Lajoie. Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed as both JGR and Dollar General declined comment to the Observer.

 

TV Ratings Up At Kansas

 

For the third straight race in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Chase, year-to-year TV viewership has gone up. The Hollywood Casino 400, held at Kansas Sunday drew a 3.1 HH rating from the Nielsen company, up 15 percent from last Fall's 2.7 at the 1.5-mile oval. Overall viewership was also up significantly, from 3.741 million to 4.173.

 

This season Kansas, was moved back a week, from the third race of the Chase to number four, in order to accommodate Chicagoland's postseason debut. When compared to last year's Chase race #4 at Auto Club Speedway in California these Kansas numbers still remain positive; the ratings are up 7 percent from last year's 2.9 HH posted at the 2-mile oval out West.

 

So far this season, the Chase races are averaging a 2.8 HH rating with the Chicagoland rain-delayed event included.
 
Jimmie Johnson On Cover Of SI

 

In another accomplishment for Sprint Cup's reigning Five-Time Champ, Jimmie Johnson was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated this week. It's just the 10th time ever NASCAR has received the prestigious honor, one Johnson surely hopes doesn't come with the infamous jinx.

 

"Yeah, I was made aware of this jinx here at a function at the [NASCAR] Hall of Fame today," he said. "That tells you how up-and-up I am on sports.  I thought it was relative to the Madden cover of the football game, not SI."

 

"I guess it's out there for some other sports teams, but in my heart of hearts, there is no way that a photo on a magazine is going to change the luck of a race team.  If we lose this championship, it's because of what happens on the track, not because of a photo in a magazine."

 

Johnson was also featured on the cover of the magazine in 2008, with no problems; he went on to win his third championship by 68 points over Carl Edwards.

Have news for Tom 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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Got NASCAR-related questions or comments?
Send them John Potts' way at john.potts@frontstretch.com; and if you're lucky, you'll get your name in print when he does his weekly column answering back to you – the fans that keep Frontstretch afloat. Potts' Shots will run on Thursday with a whole new set of Fan Questions and Answers!

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Today's Featured Commentary
Full Throttle: Get Touring Series Back to Their Roots
by Mike Neff

Back in July, the suits from Daytona announced that they were going to move the Nationwide Series race from Lucas OIl Raceway Park to Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2012. After 30 years of dedication to the series, with the same title sponsor for every race the sanctioning body said, "Thanks, but we're taking our ball and playing somewhere else." Now, just three months later we're being told that the series is going to have one or two fewer races next season despite the move.

Huh? There is something wrong with the logic in this scenario that a simple mind like mine just doesn't comprehend.  How can you take away a date from a track, one that clearly wants the series there and then not replace it with any other venue? It's likely due to the fact NASCAR won't even consider certain tracks, like LORP, South Boston, Rockingham and others who once held Nationwide races but were dropped from the schedule in order for "companion" cookie-cutter events a long time ago.

In my opinion, that's a huge mistake. The Nationwide and Truck Series lost their way quite some time ago when they started moving the races away from the local short tracks and racing in tandem with the Cup Series. Instead of being able to go to Orange County Speedway or South Boston to see the Nationwide Series roll through town, you had to go to Richmond or Charlotte and deal with all of the trappings involved with being at a big track. Plus, local short track racers that were crowd favorites, often able to get a one-time ride at, say, Hickory were shut out when the series traveled to 1.5-mile ovals that had little to no use for anything other than megateams and moonlighting Cup stars. The series really lost their appeal, over time and now it is coming back to bite them.

 

There are definitely benefits to running as companion events with the Cup Series. There is greater television exposure, for sure and there is a greater presence of drivers from the Cup Series racing alongside the full-time regulars (although there are many people who would say that is a detriment). When drivers and crew members are around the Cup Series veterans, they can learn and make connections that will help advance their careers -- all good things. But if the end result is that fewer teams are coming to the track because of the expense and the reduced reward, then mixing the Cup drivers in is a bad move and needs to be rectified.

 

When the Truck Series was first started, the marketing was focused on the fact that they were going to return to the small tracks that had been abandoned by the Cup Series and bring racing back to its roots. Sadly, when the Trucks went to Daytona and had that incredible first race with half the field side-by-side crossing the finish line (OK, it was really three trucks but it was still a great finish) it signaled the end of the series racing at Hickory and Mansfield and the beginning of going to the same tracks that the Cup series visits for 90% of the schedule. It is certainly cheaper for promoters; they already have everything in place for the Cup weekend. Unfortunately, that is at the expense of the product and is now coming to a head as the sanctioning body can't get enough tracks to host races.

 

The biggest problem in rectifying this scenario, as it is with many racing series during the current economic environment, is promoters are having a hard time making money from standalone races in the support series. NASCAR supposedly tried to help out track promoters and owners by reducing the race purses the last couple of years. There is one problem with that logic. When the money being paid is reduced, the people who are thinking about racing don't bother making the trip to your racetrack because there isn't enough money to be made to make the race. Promoters make a big deal about running races that are $25,000, $10,000 or $1,000,000 to win. However, drivers and teams look at the money that is paid to make the race rather than what is paid to the winner. Most teams know they are going to lose more often than they're going to win. The money that is being paid for making the race is more important than what the winner takes home, and those cuts are part of the payouts that really suffered when NASCAR gave the local tracks this "bone" of reduced purses.

 

In order to be fair, you can't just complain or you're just another part of the problem; you need to offer some solutions. For the Nationwide and Trucks to thrive, a couple of things need to happen. First of all, NASCAR needs to decide if they want the series to survive or not. If these divisions no longer fit into the model that NASCAR is trying to promote, then they need to shut them down and move on. It would be a sad day for sure to see that happen, but it would be better than seeing them slowly die and wither on the vine.

 

Secondly, they need to improve the purses rather than cut them. I've been beating the drum for years that the purses in the Nationwide and Truck Series are abysmal and the sanctioning body should feel embarrassed that they pay so little in those series. NASCAR has money and lots of it. I'm not privy to their books, although I would love to be able to see them if just for an afternoon, but there's no question that the sanctioning body has money and the time has come for them to give some of it back to the sport before they kill it. They need to increase the purses for Nationwide and Truck, not only back to where they were a couple of years ago, but increase them by another 50-100%. They changed the rule to discourage the Cup Series drivers from running, and now that sponsor commitments have been fulfilled, the car counts are going to start dropping as those veterans leave - causing the fan interest to follow quickly if they don't do something.

 

But in order for NASCAR to get more teams and drivers into the series, they need to make it more profitable for teams to build cars and trucks and haul them around to attempt these races. In conjunction with that increase in purses, the folks in Daytona need to cut or eliminate their sanctioning fees for racetracks, giving them "freebies" for a few years while the series rebound. The cost of living has gone up quite a bit while the reward for racing in the support series of NASCAR has gone down. NASCAR needs to help those promoting the sport through these tough times, not make it harder on them.

 

Finally, the series need to get back to their roots. NASCAR needs to bring their minor league divisions back to short tracks where they started, rejuvenating the interest in the races along with the teams and drivers. The Cup Series attendance is still lagging and new fans are not flocking to the tracks even if Brian France does say there is an increase in ratings with the younger demographic. To really bring interest back into the sport and drive more fans to the Cup level, they need to see drivers at their local tracks and follow them there. Start running races at South Boston, Hickory, and Nashville Fairgrounds so that fans who don't follow the Cup series regularly can come out and see the future stars of the sport, ultimately following them when they move up and therefore increasing the fan base.

 

In order for the series to run at the local short tracks, I know they'll need to have SAFER barriers; but NASCAR should pay to have them installed at places where they're going to be hosting the races. NASCAR pays a lot of lip service to safety, sure, but doesn't visibly spend too much on actual safety equipment for the drivers. They demand that HANS devices and SAFER barriers be employed during their races, but they don't assist in making them available. It would send a very strong message if NASCAR went to little tracks like Oxford Plains or Sandusky Speedway and installed SAFER barriers, then rolled into town with a Nationwide/Truck companion weekend. Fans would get to see future stars of the sport, the tracks and communities would benefit from the influx of money and the sport would garner new fans for years to come. Not to mention, it would also make racing safer for local drivers who run at the tracks every week when the big series are competing elsewhere.

 

NASCAR may be seeing some uptick in ratings, but the stands are still far from full and they are not pulling in numbers like they were in the early 2000s. Getting fans back to the track is important for the future of the sport, and the best way to do that is by getting them hooked on following drivers in the lower echelon series so that they'll follow them up to the Cup level. So NASCAR, please, bite the bullet and take some short-term losses to prop up the support series and get fans back in the stands. It will help the economies of these smaller towns where the tracks are located, developing goodwill that will go a long way towards restoring NASCAR to its past glory.

Mike Neff is a Senior Writer for Frontstretch.com.  He can be reached via e-mail at mike.neff@frontstretch.com.

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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 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.

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Tweet 'N' Greet
by Jay Pennell

Editor's Note: With the NASCAR Twitter community expanding by leaps and bounds, it remains a place for instantaneous news, reactions, and a whole lot of inside jokes. We understand if you don't want to join the Twitter community - but as a fan, it's important to know the news and info you're missing out on! That's why, every week, Jay Pennell will sort through the thousands of messages and give us a little taste of what's going on each Wednesday.

So, without further ado, here's a look at what those in NASCAR were thinking over the past seven days...

 

@MattTaliaferro: I'm beginning to wonder what the NNS (and CWTS, for that matter) will look like this time next year. Stuff ain't good & that's a shame. #NASCAR

 

@MattTaliaferro: ACS last yr. & Kansas this yr. get same overnights for 4th Chase race? I think there's a "lipstick on pig" analogy to be made here... #NASCAR

 

@keselowski: :) "@tomjensen100: The biggest championship upstart since Alan Kulwicki? Maybe, just maybe it's @keselowski bit.ly/oXfMBH@racehub"

 

@bigdalsky (Brandon Igdalsky): This @NASCAR Chase for the @Sprint Cup is pretty insane this yr. 4 races in and it's just heating up. Gonna be fun to watch, that's for sure

 

@jjyeley1: @JimmieJohnson congrats on stinking up another race!

 

@JimmieJohnson: Thanks everyone, we had an awesome day. So proud of this team and the fact we got max points.

 

@matt_kenseth17: @jimmiejohnson I thought you were washed up, done, no chance, out of it....at least that's what I heard at dover....

@KevinHarvick: Missed it bad today but the boys kept digging and we made something out of it...#dinq

@JeffGordonWeb: What a disappointing day. Such a rare thing for HMS to have engine trouble. Proud of the team for how well the car performed though #JG

@kaseykahne: Had a great car today! Thanks to kenny Francis and @keithroddenfor doing what they do. @RedBullNASCAR keeps working hard to win! Thx 4 guys

@Samantha_Busch: ESPN race coverage can we please go back to seeing who took how many tires along w how many spots gained/lost on pit rd. Thank u :)

@DeLanaHarvick: But we are being told NOT to do it RT @dustinlong: Austin Dillon pushed Kevin Harvick, which is legal since NOT the last lap of the race

@DeLanaHarvick: I'm not sure, but they did... RT @jim_utter: Why is #NASCARwarning the 29 for a perfectly legal move?????

@AndyLally: Yes, that was a S&P. #NoFun #GottaDoWhatWeGottaDo

@landoncassill: Wow great finish for us, really proud of the thank a teacher #51 team. We had a good car all day. P17

@nascarcasm: The #14 team - unhappy with 2nd, prefers to run 17th. When did Steve Turner buy the team?

@nascarcasm: Props to Kasey Kahne on a strong finish! When Red Bull Racing puts everything on EBay, that car should definitely be the featured listing.

@Buzz_Cutler: The #NASCAR fan. RT @mikemulhern: if everyone runs out of gas on the last lap and just stops, and no one can push anyone, who wins the race?

@NASCARBowles: I'm sorry, but when Rusty Wallace says in that drawl, "Money buys speed" on #NASCAR now he sounds just like that guy from #Talladeganights

@bobpockrass: Steve Wallace has left foot in a walking boot. He said he broke it last Sunday chasing his dog. I believe Sunday part of that story. #nascar

@bobpockrass: For all those asking, I believe Steve Wallace had tweeted the dog that attacked his girlfriend Sept. 29 was put down .... #nascar

@bobpockrass: ... so if SWallace was chasing dog & broke his left foot (his story, again I'm skeptical), then it would make sense it was a different dog.

Jay Pennell is an Assistant Editor to Frontstretch.com.  He can be reached via e-mail at jaywpennell@yahoo.com, and you can also check out his work at allleftturns.com or jaywpennell.blogspot.com.

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TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:

Did You Notice? ... A Cost-Cutting Idea, Toyota's Five-Year Plan That Wasn't, And Points Projecting
by Tom Bowles

Less is More: Nationwide Losing Some Dates Not a Bad Idea If They're the Right Ones

by Vito Pugliese

Top Ten Ways To Stop Jimmie Johnson from Winning a Sixth Straight Championship

by the Frontstretch Staff

Beyond the Cockpit: Jeremy Petty on Making the Show and Making... Pickles?

by Summer Dreyer

Sprint Cup Power Rankings: Top 15 After Kansas-2
compiled by Mike Neff

Top Ten Ways To Stop Jimmie Johnson from Winning a Sixth Straight Championship
by the Frontstretch Staff

The Frontstretch Foto Funnies! Kansas, October 2011

by Kurt Smith

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FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:

Q: This weekend is the Izod IndyCar World Championships in Las Vegas, the regular season finale in 2011.  But did you know... this is the third venue in Las Vegas that has hosted IndyCar racing in the Las Vegas area.  The one-off street race for Champ Car in Downtown Las Vegas back in 2007 is another example.  What was the third venue? 

Check back Thursday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
 
Tuesday's Answer:

Q:  Charlotte Motor Speedway hosted three races in the Izod IndyCar Series in the late 1990's (the third of which was cancelled after a crash threw debris into the grandstands, killing three spectators).  In the first of those races, Greg Ray was driving a car with an unexpected backer.  Name the sponsor.

A: Ray's No. 31 was carrying RCR logos, interestingly enough.  The No. 31 was also "stylized" much like the current No. 31 on Jeff Burton's car.  Makes sense since the race was in Concord.  Unfortunately, Ray's night did not last very long.  Ray dropped out of the event with engine failure after completing only 30 laps.

Frontstretch Trivia Guarantee:  If we mess up, you get the shirt off our backs!  If we've provided an incorrect answer to the Frontstretch Trivia question, be the first to email the corrected trivia answer to trivia@frontstretch.com and we'll send you a Frontstretch T-Shirt ... FREE! 

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Coming tomorrow in the Frontstretch Newsletter:
-- Top News from Phil Allaway
-- What's Vexing Vito by Vito Pugliese
-- Shakedown Session by Brody Jones
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, the Line of the Week and more!

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Tomorrow on the Frontstretch:

MPM2Nite by Matt McLaughlin
Matt McLaughlin is back again this season with his usual sarcastic sense of humor ... and incomparable insight. This week, Matt tackles the slippery slope of team orders possibly affecting the Chase.

Going Green by Garrett Horton
Garrett's column has moved to Thursdays now, but it's still the same great commentary it has always been! This week, Garrett tackles the concept of how the leader four races into the Chase can be deceiving...

Potts' Shots by John Potts
Fanning the Flames has become Potts' Shots, and John Potts is here to answer your questions in our weekly Fan Q & A. Do you have something you'd like to ask John? Don't sit on the sidelines! Send it to john.potts@frontstretch.com, and you just may see your question in print next week!

Fantasy Insider by Brett Poirier
Did your fantasy racing team take a hit at Kansas?  Well, Brett has just what you need to know to turn things around when choosing your teams for the Bank of America 500 in Charlotte.

Who's Hot / Who's Not In NASCAR by Summer Dreyer
With Charlotte just around the bend, Summer looks at which NASCAR drivers are streaking while select others are trending towards some ice cold results.

Professor Of Speed by Mark Powell
Our professor of racing history "has at it" with another column pertinent to the sport at large. This week's edition focuses on the way "brand" and "branding" is incorporated in NASCAR.

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©2011 Frontstretch.com

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