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The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
March 15th, 2012
Volume VI, Edition XXXIX
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Today's Top Newsby Phil Allaway
Tommy Baldwin Racing Signs Eight-Race Sponsor for Blaney
On Wednesday, Tommy Baldwin Racing announced that SealWrap and Widow Wax have signed a deal with the team to serve as the co-primary sponsors of the No. 36 Chevrolet for driver Dave Blaney. The eight-race deal begins Sunday, with the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
For reference purposes, SealWrap is a repair tape marketed by Welch & Wilson Motorsports that is designed to help repair irregular shapes without the use of bonding agents. Widow Wax is a polymer coating that is designed to protect glossy finishes on cars.
Team owner Tommy Baldwin, Jr. is happy to pick up funding that keeps the No. 36 running the full distance each week. Blaney has started off the season strong, 20th in the season standings after three events with a best finish of 15th at Daytona.
"We are very happy to have Widow Wax come on board and have SealWrap expand their program with us," Baldwin said. "Both companies have great products that we can use around the shop daily. We're proud of the team's performance this year, and these companies coming on board helps us get to the next level."
In addition to this weekend's action on the high banks, SealWrap and Widow Wax will be on the No. 36 at Richmond in April, Darlington in May, Kentucky at the end of June, Indianapolis in July, the return trip to Bristol in August, and Chicagoland and New Hampshire in September.
For SealWrap, this is not their only sponsorship this year in NASCAR, or even with Tommy Baldwin Racing. The company previously signed a six-race deal to sponsor the team's No. 36 in the Nationwide Series for Ryan Blaney's scheduled starts. The first of those races is scheduled to be at Richmond next month. In addition, SealWrap sponsored Jack Smith in his starts in the Camping World Truck Series for Mittler Brothers Racing last season.
Chevrolet To Replace Impala with Unknown Entry In Sprint Cup For 2013
The Detroit Free Press is reporting that General Motors plans to replace the Impala as Chevrolet's car of choice for the Sprint Cup Series; the change will come in time for the second generation CoT's debut in 2013. However, it will be a few more months before an announcement of what model that will be is made.
Chevrolet is currently developing a new street car for the 2014 model year that will reportedly not use any current model's nameplate and will not be a derivative of any car currently being sold by Chevrolet. The Free Press is claiming that the new car may resemble the new Chevrolet Caprice, which is an Australian-built car that is currently being imported to the United States (as a "captive import") solely for the purpose of selling to law enforcement agencies. The Caprice is a full-size four door, rear-wheel drive sedan. A new entry based on the Holden Commodore, also built on the rear wheel drive Zeta (and previously sold in the United States as the Pontiac G8) could also be in play.
Chevrolet plans on introducing their new entry "sometime after the New York International Auto Show," which effectively means anytime after mid-April. Previous news releases have mentioned September as a potential unveiling date. Meanwhile, even though the Impala won't return to Sprint Cup after this season, the model name will continue on with a redesigned car. There's no word on whether this change will filter down into the Nationwide Series, as well.
MAKE Motorsports Announces Sather to drive Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series Events
On Wednesday, MAKE Motorsports announced that 27-year-old former NASCAR Drive for Diversity racer Natalie Sather has signed on with the organization as a development driver. Sather is currently scheduled to attempt to make her Camping World Truck Series debut at Martinsville Speedway the end of the month. When not racing with MAKE Motorsports, Sather will continue competing in additional series with other teams to improve her skills.
Sather is very pleased to be involved with MAKE Motorsports and have the opportunity to make her Truck Series debut.
"I have been racing for 18 years with one goal in mind, NASCAR competition," Sather said on Wednesday. "This opportunity to work with MAKE Motorsports will assist me with furthering my dreams and honing my skills for an eventual run to the Sprint Cup Series."
Sather is currently only scheduled to attempt the Camping World Truck races at Martinsville and Rockingham. In addition, Sather will attempt to qualify for the BUBBA Burger 250 at Richmond in order to make her Nationwide Series debut. It's unclear whether Sather would be driving the No. 50 Chevrolet in place of regular driver T.J. Bell or if this signing would be a second entry from the team. Additional races for Sather will be added later based on funding.
MAKE Motorsports co-owner Tracy Lowe is very happy to have Sather on board with the team.
"Natalie is a rare talent and someone we are proud to put behind the wheel of the No. 50," Lowe said. "She has shown her ability in other forms of racing as well as in stock cars, and we look forward to being a part of her debut into Camping World Truck and Nationwide Series competition."
Sather's background prior to transitioning to pavement racing consisted mainly of racing sprint cars on dirt. She is a past Rookie of the Year in the 360 Sprint class at Knoxville Raceway in Iowa. Since transitioning to NASCAR, Sather has raced late models in the Whelen All-American Series. In 2009, Sather raced at .646-mile Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Washington and finished fourth in points, earning the Rookie of the Year award. For the past two years, Sather has raced regularly at South Boston Speedway and finished second in track points last year, winning the Wendell Scott Trailblazer Award in the process.
Entry List Update:
Note: These entries are accurate as of Wednesday night. However, they are still subject to change.
Sprint Cup Series Food City 500: 46 cars entered
Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points:
No. 87 - Joe Nemechek for NEMCO Motorsports
Driver Changes:
No. 40 - Tony Raines is in the seat, replacing Michael Waltrip. Hillman Racing is running this car for a limited schedule this season; this Truck Series team is pushing Ward and Jeb Burton to sponsors for a full-time run for the NCWTS championship.
Drivers who must qualify on speed:
No. 7 - Robby Gordon for Robby Gordon Motorsports
No. 23 - Scott Riggs for R3 Motorsports*
No. 30 - David Stremme for Inception Motorsports
No. 36 - Dave Blaney for Tommy Baldwin Racing
No. 37 - Timmy Hill for Rick Ware Racing
No. 40 - Tony Raines for Hillman Racing
No. 49 - J.J. Yeley for Robinson-Blakeney Motorsports
No. 74 - Stacy Compton for Turn One Racing
No. 87 - Joe Nemechek for NEMCO Motorsports*
No. 98 - Michael McDowell for Phil Parsons Racing
Not Entered:
No. 21 - Trevor Bayne for Wood Brothers Racing
Nationwide Series Ford EcoBoost 300: 46 cars entered
Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points:
No. 5 - Dale Earnhardt, Jr. for JR Motorsports
No. 18 - Joey Logano for Joe Gibbs Racing
No. 22 - Brad Keselowski for Penske Racing
No. 27 - J.J. Yeley for GC Motorsports International
No. 30 - James Buescher for Turner Motorsports
No. 33 - Kevin Harvick for Richard Childress Racing
No. 38 - Kasey Kahne for Turner Motorsports
No. 42 - Josh Wise for Key Motorsports
No. 47 - Scott Speed for Key Motorsports
No. 54 - Kyle Busch for Kyle Busch Motorsports
Driver Changes:
No. 08 - Tim Andrews is in the seat, replacing Kyle Fowler. Andrews was supposed to debut in Sprint Cup this week, in a car fielded by Go Green but is not listed on that side.
No. 4 - Danny Efland returns to the seat, replacing Daryl Harr. Efland's family-owned program is teaming up with Johnny Davis to run their second car.
No. 15 - Jeffrey Earnhardt is in the seat, replacing Timmy Hill. Earnhardt's running a one-race deal with Sam's Club as the sponsor.
No. 18 - Joey Logano returns to the seat, replacing Mark Martin. The Cup driver is running a limited schedule in this car, replacing Kyle Busch's starts in 2012.
No. 20 - Ryan Truex returns to the seat, replacing Joey Logano. Truex is running a limited schedule in Nationwide for Joe Gibbs Racing this season.
No. 23 - Jamie Dick returns to the seat, replacing Robert Richardson, Jr. Dick carries sponsorship from VIVA Auto Group for the event.
No. 28 - Kevin Lepage is in the seat, replacing Derrike Cope. Jay Robinson Racing continues to try and eke out full-distance events in the Nationwide Series.
No. 33 - Kevin Harvick returns to the seat, replacing Brendan Gaughan. Harvick returns to his former team, now being operated fully by Richard Childress Racing.
Drivers who must qualify on speed:
No. 08 - Tim Andrews for Randy Hill Racing*
No. 5 - Dale Earnhardt, Jr. for JR Motorsports (Has third crack at the Past Champions' Provisional)
No. 10 - Jeff Green for TriStar Motorsports*
No. 15 - Jeffrey Earnhardt for Rick Ware Racing
No. 20 - Ryan Truex for Joe Gibbs Racing
No. 22 - Brad Keselowski for Penske Racing (Guaranteed to start via the Past Champions' Provisional)
No. 24 - Benny Gordon for SR2 Motorsports
No. 27 - J.J. Yeley for GC Motorsports International*
No. 42 - Josh Wise for Key Motorsports*
No. 44 - Mike Bliss for TriStar Motorsports
No. 46 - Chase Miller for Key Motorsports*
No. 47 - Scott Speed for Key Motorsports*
No. 54 - Kyle Busch for Kyle Busch Motorsports (Has second crack at the Past Champions' Provisional)
No. 73 - Derrike Cope for GFK Motorsports
No. 74 - Mike Harmon for Mike Harmon Racing*
No. 89 - Morgan Shepherd for Faith Motorsports
Editor's Note: Note that the No. 60 for Trevor Bayne was not originally entered for this race until Tuesday afternoon after the team acquired sponsorship from Lally Horse Stables. However, this may constitute a Post Entry, meaning that Bayne would be ineligible to earn points.
Have news for Phil and the Frontstretch? Don't hesitate to let us know; email us at ashland10@mail.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 Thursdays with a whole new set of Fan Questions and Answers!
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Today's Featured Commentary
Dual Deja Vu In The Desert
What's Vexing Vito
by Vito Pugliese
Did anyone else feel they had tripped into some sort of Doc Brown-engineered bunny hole the last two weeks in the desert? I guess the heat and blazing sunlight can wreck havoc with a man's faculties – and I'm not referring to an unseasonably warm 81-degree day here in the murder mitten known as Michigan. The blast of something not resembling snow, slush, or despair coupled with locking up Megatron (Calvin Johnson) for eight years in the Honolulu Blue must have sparked the synapses, as the last couple of weeks have served to retell stories already once told.
Think back to Phoenix two races ago. Denny Hamlin helped in essence resurrect his relevance, confidence, and spark renewed hope at Joe Gibbs Racing that the 2010 championship runner-up has got his mind right again and is ready to contend once again for the Cup. Paired with new crew chief and engineer Darian Grubb, Hamlin was back in the conscious of the racing public once again. But it was just one year ago that another former perennial contender got back to good, when Jeff Gordon snapped a 66-race victory drought; he won at the one-mile oblong oval with new crew chief Alan Gustafson. Wind the clock back one more year, and you will find Mark Martin turning back the hands of time himself, returning to first after a two-year, part-time hiatus which ended a drought that stretched back to Kansas in 2005.
During last season's Subway Fresh Fit 500k at Phoenix, Carl Edwards had the race well in hand, when contact with Kyle Busch down the backstretch resulted in some rather wild gyrations from the No. 18 Toyota, resulting in Edwards walling the No. 99. Later, Edwards would tepidly accept the notion that Kyle Busch did not wreck him intentionally – but made no bones about there being a score to settle and that certain inequities would soon be rectified.
Yes, I got that from Spiderman.
Come 2012, Carl Edwards finds himself racing with Ryan Newman, getting loose through turns 3 and 4, washing up the racetrack to save it, and ruining Ryan's run. After the race, Newman's demeanor and comments mirrored those of Edwards a year earlier, refusing to assign deliberate or premeditated action to Carl Edwards – but assuring those who would listen that the score was lopsided and that Edwards should prepare to reap the whirlwind.
Yes, I got that from The Rock.
In the closing laps of Las Vegas, Mark Martin had cleanly passed Dale Earnhardt, Jr. exiting Turn 2 for the ninth position. Having completed the pass and cleared by half a car length, Martin moved up in front of Junior, who had a bit of a run from maintaining the high groove. Rather than ducking back under Martin and racing him for the position, Earnhardt, Jr. bumped Martin from behind, causing him to lose control and bounce it off the backstretch wall.
You may recall Martin passed Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in a similar fashion in 2011 at Michigan, although he did not quite have him cleared completely. The two made contact and Earnhardt bounced off the wall. Earnhardt's post-race comments indicated that he was "pissed off" and that Martin was "careless." Naturally, that did not sit well with his then-Hendrick teammate.
Then there is the case of the Busch brothers. On Saturday, Kyle driving his No. 54 flat black Toyota Camry lost it exiting Turn 2, and spun down the backstretch, collecting the inside retaining wall. On Sunday, brother Kurt in the white No. 51 Phoenix Racing Chevrolet lost control following a blown left rear tire, spun down the backstretch, collecting the inside retaining wall.
Yes, they are both from Las Vegas. No, they did not have good weekends.
With this weekend's race from Bristol, where wild, wacky, wrecks used to occur every other lap, perhaps there will be a revival of races of yore as well. Some of that has been missing since the track resurfacing in 2007, and a throwback to the days of old would be a welcome return. Guys punching ambulances, whipping helmets at each other, rattling cages, or Jimmy Spencer never forgetting never gets old.
Here's hoping somebody remembers some of those great Bristol moments of old this weekend, and makes some new memories.
Vito Pugliese is a Senior Writer for Frontstretch.com. He can be reached via e-mail at vito.pugliese@frontstretch.com.
The Critic's Annex: NASCAR Now
by Phil Allaway
Hello, race fans. Welcome back to The Critic's Annex, where we take an additional look at motorsports-related programming. Since we're still really early in the season, this space can be used to cover some of the TV shows that cover NASCAR.
I was originally planning to cover SPEED's highlighted and tape-delayed coverage of the V8 Supercars' Clipsal 500. However, watching the telecast sadly reinforced a lot of my previous coverage of the Seven Network (and V8 Supercars Australia's) work. There's just too much coverage segregated up front (even more than what we see on ESPN and FOX), which makes the racing difficult to watch. So instead, I decided to take a look at ESPN's daily NASCAR show, NASCAR Now.
Hard to believe, but NASCAR Now is in their sixth year. Crazy, isn't it? The show has most definitely improved from 2007, when a revolving door of people, almost none of whom knew jack about motorsports were in the hosting chair. Dallas Morning News columnist Tim Cowlishaw, probably the only regular on Around the Horn that gives a hoot about NASCAR, was even a regular on the show.
Eventually, the list of hosts was whittled down to a solid few, all of whom were at least decent. Then, ESPN effectively screwed the show over like CBS did to Press Your Luck in 1986.
Up until last Fall, NASCAR Now aired somewhere between 5-6 PM Eastern, with a late night repeat. However, ESPN made a series of schedule changes. SportsNation was moved to 5 PM and expanded to an hour with the already existing Jim Rome is Burning as a lead-in (since then, Rome has left ESPN and has signed a deal for a new show on CBS Sports Network). Two more new shows, Numbers Never Lie with Charissa Thompson and Dan LeBatard is Highly Questionable, premiered as well. Numbers Never Lie appears to have completely changed its format into some kind of a numbers-based Around the Horn-style competition in recent weeks. Meanwhile, Dan LeBatard's father is far more interesting than LeBatard is. Of course, by that point in the year, NFL Live also had a daily spot on ESPN2.
The result of all this? NASCAR Now got pushed up to 3:00 PM Eastern (Noon Pacific). Effectively DVR theater for the vast majority of potential viewers. Also, the repeats were partially stripped from the show. The ones that did air were pushed all the way to 4 AM, and that's only if nothing really notable aired on ESPN2 earlier that night, like an NBA game.
Last year, the main constant was Allen Bestwick hoofing it back to Bristol, Connecticut (where the show is shot) after Sprint Cup races to moderate the weekly Monday one-hour Roundtable shows with a number of different panel members each week. These were very interesting shows that would touch on a number of different topics that were pertinent. I greatly enjoyed these shows, even though the timeslot was horrible with a capital H.
Unfortunately, those shows are out for 2012. We'll have to make do with just a half-hour on Mondays. No Bestwick this year (so far) either, as he's been focusing on his work at the track. So far, it's been Nicole Briscoe hosting, which is not bad in any way, shape or form. Mondays are basically a recap of the weekend's action and discussion of news (if any) that broke during the day.
Tuesday's show this week was all about the Chad Knaus appeal to the National Stock Car Racing Commission. ESPN NASCAR Reporter/Jack of all Trades/Grandmaster Marty Smith was on site to talk about the ruling that had just been announced 20 minutes earlier. Tim Brewer was at the NASCAR R&D Center in Concord, NC with Smith to discuss the much maligned appeals process.
Brewer talked extensively about his own experiences when he was suspended (and the entire team thrown out) for ten weeks (later reduced on appeal to four) for an illegal engine at The Winston in 1991. For those of you who weren't fans, or outright weren't around at that time, the team had to pull their No. 11 off the track for those races and replaced it with the No. 97 owned by Flossie Johnson, Junior's wife (at the time). Geoff Bodine also sat out two of the four races, allowing Tommy Ellis to race in his place. Regardless, Brewer's input was very beneficial to the coverage. Smith did ask Brewer about whether the appeal procedure works here, and he said that it does. However, the version of the appeals system that Brewer went up against might be a little different than what we have now.
They also weren't the only people representing ESPN there as part of the stakeout (for lack of a better word). ESPN's David Newton was there 6.5 hours before the verdict was announced. For his part, he was quite pessimistic about the scenario going in and was completely convinced that the penalties were going to be upheld. Tuesday's verdict only validated that opinion.
Knowing how big the story was, I expected the show to completely be focused on the Hendrick mess. Not the case. It was only the entire first segment, while they returned to the R&D Center for what amounted to wrap-up analysis.
The rest of the show was focused on Roush Fenway Racing. Greg Biffle joined Briscoe on the phone for a conversation about Las Vegas, specifically the late-race shenanigans between Biffle and his teammates. Another segment featured Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. joining Briscoe via satellite for an interview about his start to the 2012 Nationwide Series season. It's always good to see Nationwide drivers get some air time. Outside of the 'whackers, the series drivers have had a long-term lack of visibility.
Wednesday's show featured defending Sprint Cup Champion Tony Stewart as a guest via satellite to talk about his victory on Sunday (something that ideally would have been done on Monday, but alas, schedules are schedules).
In addition, a short piece was aired where D.J. Copp showed viewers using a Handicam what teams do after they win a race (that is, if they don't get knocked down by big guys carrying heavy boxes). Copp talked to some of Stewart's pit crew who had to break the pit stall down after the race (everyone else was already gone by this point). Some of them were messing around with some stragglers left in the stands for the heck of it. Interesting look. If there's one group of people that really don't stay long at a track after a race ends, it's a Sprint Cup race crew. Whereas the guys at your local track might stick around for an hour or so after the night ends (especially if you're trapped in the Infield and can't leave), these crews are basically done 20 minutes after the race unless something great happens. 90 minutes later, they're flying back to North Carolina.
There was a feature on how Kyle Busch has dominated the action at Bristol Motor Speedway over the past few years. Briscoe narrated over multiple clips of Busch's past successes. After this segment (in addition to after the Stewart interview), Brad Daugherty was brought in (via satellite) to give his analysis. Daugherty is a knowledgeable man, but he really didn't bring all that much to the show Wednesday. I will say that he did bring in some outside interview quotes (a previous conversation he had with Kyle Busch three weeks ago) to help his points about Kyle's Nationwide team.
Finally, Briscoe conducted an interview with Sergio Pena, a regular in the K&N Pro Series East and a graduate of NASCAR's Drive for Diversity. Outside of the 2010 Toyota All-Star Showdown in Irwindale, CA where he came literally out of nowhere to win the pole, led a bunch of laps and finish second to a visiting Joey Logano, Pena's been pretty invisible, despite racing full-time for two years and winning multiple races. Part of that is because K&N Pro Series events are almost never covered live (they're delayed for weeks, typically).
Due to the general lack of exposure, Briscoe all but had to spend the interview re-introducing Pena to race fans. It's a shame that has to be so, but it is. Having said that, Pena handled himself just fine. I honestly cannot recall a K&N Pro Series driver getting interviewed on the show, so this turn of fortune should only be beneficial for Pena. Also, before I forget, the K&N Pro Series East Division's season-opener is Saturday evening at 6:15 PM after the Nationwide race in Bristol. I have no idea when it will air on television at the moment since NASCAR has not uploaded the TV schedule for the series to the NASCAR Home Tracks website as of now.
Having taken a thorough look at the show, there are things I like and things I don't. The timeslot is self-explanatory. It bites, royally. The setting of the show in Bristol doesn't help either. They all but never can have live guests because they're 1,150 miles away (by car) from Charlotte. Because of that, SPEED's NASCAR RaceHub will stomp them in that department for the foreseeable future. I bet ESPN kicks themselves constantly for ditching their own Charlotte space where they used to shoot the weekday editions of rpm2night. Granted, it was more than likely underutilized, but they need something like that now.
The show really does lose out with the Roundtables being sent to the same scrap pile as the aforementioned rpm2night. The Wednesday editions, last season referred to as "Wayback Wednesday," were always some of the more enjoyable shows to watch. Then again, I'm one of Frontstretch's historical zealots, so that shouldn't be all that surprising. Hopefully, ESPN will bring that back later this year.
The interview pieces on the show are decent, but as mentioned above, the show does lose something by not being able to have in-studio guests more than 3-5 times a year. I will say that only good will come out of ESPN helping to promote future stars of NASCAR like they did with Wednesday's interview with Pena.
I hope you liked this look at ESPN's NASCAR Now. Check out next week's edition of the Critic's Annex, where we will take a look at the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring from Sebring International Raceway. Until then, enjoy this weekend's action in Bristol, Melbourne, Australia and Sebring.
Phil Allaway is the Newsletter Manager and a Senior Writer for Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com.
Frontstretch Line of the Week
From Beyond the Cockpit: Andy Lally Looks Back On NASCAR, Moves Forward With Career
"The Sebring week is a bit of a cluster from the racer's point of view, to be honest. We are here for far too long. I got in on Friday, eight days before the race. We have test days on track for six days before the actual race."- Andy Lally, on the length of the race weekend in Sebring. In comparison, for the Rolex 24 at Daytona, teams rolled into the garage on Wednesday, had practice and qualifying on Thursday, a couple of practice sessions Friday that were not heavily participated in due to rain, then competed in the race itself starting Saturday afternoon.
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TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
Which Jeff Gordon Will We Remember?
by Garrett Horton
Potts' Shots: Back of The Line, Spoiler's Fine, and Pass on the Gas
by John Potts
Professor of Speed: NASCAR's Social Media Explosion: It's a Small (and Connected) World...
by Mark Howell
Dollars And Sense: NASCAR Executive Leaving Raises Eyebrows
by Jesse Medford
Truckin' Thursdays: Relishing a Return To Road Course Racing
by Beth Lunkenheimer
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FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: The start of the 1997 Cup season featured a series of highs and lows for Steve Grissom. He started the Daytona 500 on the outside pole, then wrecked in the race. Atlanta ended with a spectacular flip on the backstretch. Then, he was finally having a great run in the caution-plagued Food City 500, but fate intervened once again. What happened?
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 Thursdays with a whole new set of Fan Questions and Answers!
~~~~~~~~~~
Today's Featured Commentary
Dual Deja Vu In The Desert
What's Vexing Vito
by Vito Pugliese
Did anyone else feel they had tripped into some sort of Doc Brown-engineered bunny hole the last two weeks in the desert? I guess the heat and blazing sunlight can wreck havoc with a man's faculties – and I'm not referring to an unseasonably warm 81-degree day here in the murder mitten known as Michigan. The blast of something not resembling snow, slush, or despair coupled with locking up Megatron (Calvin Johnson) for eight years in the Honolulu Blue must have sparked the synapses, as the last couple of weeks have served to retell stories already once told.
Think back to Phoenix two races ago. Denny Hamlin helped in essence resurrect his relevance, confidence, and spark renewed hope at Joe Gibbs Racing that the 2010 championship runner-up has got his mind right again and is ready to contend once again for the Cup. Paired with new crew chief and engineer Darian Grubb, Hamlin was back in the conscious of the racing public once again. But it was just one year ago that another former perennial contender got back to good, when Jeff Gordon snapped a 66-race victory drought; he won at the one-mile oblong oval with new crew chief Alan Gustafson. Wind the clock back one more year, and you will find Mark Martin turning back the hands of time himself, returning to first after a two-year, part-time hiatus which ended a drought that stretched back to Kansas in 2005.
During last season's Subway Fresh Fit 500k at Phoenix, Carl Edwards had the race well in hand, when contact with Kyle Busch down the backstretch resulted in some rather wild gyrations from the No. 18 Toyota, resulting in Edwards walling the No. 99. Later, Edwards would tepidly accept the notion that Kyle Busch did not wreck him intentionally – but made no bones about there being a score to settle and that certain inequities would soon be rectified.
Yes, I got that from Spiderman.
Come 2012, Carl Edwards finds himself racing with Ryan Newman, getting loose through turns 3 and 4, washing up the racetrack to save it, and ruining Ryan's run. After the race, Newman's demeanor and comments mirrored those of Edwards a year earlier, refusing to assign deliberate or premeditated action to Carl Edwards – but assuring those who would listen that the score was lopsided and that Edwards should prepare to reap the whirlwind.
Yes, I got that from The Rock.
In the closing laps of Las Vegas, Mark Martin had cleanly passed Dale Earnhardt, Jr. exiting Turn 2 for the ninth position. Having completed the pass and cleared by half a car length, Martin moved up in front of Junior, who had a bit of a run from maintaining the high groove. Rather than ducking back under Martin and racing him for the position, Earnhardt, Jr. bumped Martin from behind, causing him to lose control and bounce it off the backstretch wall.
You may recall Martin passed Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in a similar fashion in 2011 at Michigan, although he did not quite have him cleared completely. The two made contact and Earnhardt bounced off the wall. Earnhardt's post-race comments indicated that he was "pissed off" and that Martin was "careless." Naturally, that did not sit well with his then-Hendrick teammate.
Then there is the case of the Busch brothers. On Saturday, Kyle driving his No. 54 flat black Toyota Camry lost it exiting Turn 2, and spun down the backstretch, collecting the inside retaining wall. On Sunday, brother Kurt in the white No. 51 Phoenix Racing Chevrolet lost control following a blown left rear tire, spun down the backstretch, collecting the inside retaining wall.
Yes, they are both from Las Vegas. No, they did not have good weekends.
With this weekend's race from Bristol, where wild, wacky, wrecks used to occur every other lap, perhaps there will be a revival of races of yore as well. Some of that has been missing since the track resurfacing in 2007, and a throwback to the days of old would be a welcome return. Guys punching ambulances, whipping helmets at each other, rattling cages, or Jimmy Spencer never forgetting never gets old.
Here's hoping somebody remembers some of those great Bristol moments of old this weekend, and makes some new memories.
Vito Pugliese is a Senior Writer for Frontstretch.com. He can be reached via e-mail at vito.pugliese@frontstretch.com.
The Critic's Annex: NASCAR Now
by Phil Allaway
Hello, race fans. Welcome back to The Critic's Annex, where we take an additional look at motorsports-related programming. Since we're still really early in the season, this space can be used to cover some of the TV shows that cover NASCAR.
I was originally planning to cover SPEED's highlighted and tape-delayed coverage of the V8 Supercars' Clipsal 500. However, watching the telecast sadly reinforced a lot of my previous coverage of the Seven Network (and V8 Supercars Australia's) work. There's just too much coverage segregated up front (even more than what we see on ESPN and FOX), which makes the racing difficult to watch. So instead, I decided to take a look at ESPN's daily NASCAR show, NASCAR Now.
Hard to believe, but NASCAR Now is in their sixth year. Crazy, isn't it? The show has most definitely improved from 2007, when a revolving door of people, almost none of whom knew jack about motorsports were in the hosting chair. Dallas Morning News columnist Tim Cowlishaw, probably the only regular on Around the Horn that gives a hoot about NASCAR, was even a regular on the show.
Eventually, the list of hosts was whittled down to a solid few, all of whom were at least decent. Then, ESPN effectively screwed the show over like CBS did to Press Your Luck in 1986.
Up until last Fall, NASCAR Now aired somewhere between 5-6 PM Eastern, with a late night repeat. However, ESPN made a series of schedule changes. SportsNation was moved to 5 PM and expanded to an hour with the already existing Jim Rome is Burning as a lead-in (since then, Rome has left ESPN and has signed a deal for a new show on CBS Sports Network). Two more new shows, Numbers Never Lie with Charissa Thompson and Dan LeBatard is Highly Questionable, premiered as well. Numbers Never Lie appears to have completely changed its format into some kind of a numbers-based Around the Horn-style competition in recent weeks. Meanwhile, Dan LeBatard's father is far more interesting than LeBatard is. Of course, by that point in the year, NFL Live also had a daily spot on ESPN2.
The result of all this? NASCAR Now got pushed up to 3:00 PM Eastern (Noon Pacific). Effectively DVR theater for the vast majority of potential viewers. Also, the repeats were partially stripped from the show. The ones that did air were pushed all the way to 4 AM, and that's only if nothing really notable aired on ESPN2 earlier that night, like an NBA game.
Last year, the main constant was Allen Bestwick hoofing it back to Bristol, Connecticut (where the show is shot) after Sprint Cup races to moderate the weekly Monday one-hour Roundtable shows with a number of different panel members each week. These were very interesting shows that would touch on a number of different topics that were pertinent. I greatly enjoyed these shows, even though the timeslot was horrible with a capital H.
Unfortunately, those shows are out for 2012. We'll have to make do with just a half-hour on Mondays. No Bestwick this year (so far) either, as he's been focusing on his work at the track. So far, it's been Nicole Briscoe hosting, which is not bad in any way, shape or form. Mondays are basically a recap of the weekend's action and discussion of news (if any) that broke during the day.
Tuesday's show this week was all about the Chad Knaus appeal to the National Stock Car Racing Commission. ESPN NASCAR Reporter/Jack of all Trades/Grandmaster Marty Smith was on site to talk about the ruling that had just been announced 20 minutes earlier. Tim Brewer was at the NASCAR R&D Center in Concord, NC with Smith to discuss the much maligned appeals process.
Brewer talked extensively about his own experiences when he was suspended (and the entire team thrown out) for ten weeks (later reduced on appeal to four) for an illegal engine at The Winston in 1991. For those of you who weren't fans, or outright weren't around at that time, the team had to pull their No. 11 off the track for those races and replaced it with the No. 97 owned by Flossie Johnson, Junior's wife (at the time). Geoff Bodine also sat out two of the four races, allowing Tommy Ellis to race in his place. Regardless, Brewer's input was very beneficial to the coverage. Smith did ask Brewer about whether the appeal procedure works here, and he said that it does. However, the version of the appeals system that Brewer went up against might be a little different than what we have now.
They also weren't the only people representing ESPN there as part of the stakeout (for lack of a better word). ESPN's David Newton was there 6.5 hours before the verdict was announced. For his part, he was quite pessimistic about the scenario going in and was completely convinced that the penalties were going to be upheld. Tuesday's verdict only validated that opinion.
Knowing how big the story was, I expected the show to completely be focused on the Hendrick mess. Not the case. It was only the entire first segment, while they returned to the R&D Center for what amounted to wrap-up analysis.
The rest of the show was focused on Roush Fenway Racing. Greg Biffle joined Briscoe on the phone for a conversation about Las Vegas, specifically the late-race shenanigans between Biffle and his teammates. Another segment featured Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. joining Briscoe via satellite for an interview about his start to the 2012 Nationwide Series season. It's always good to see Nationwide drivers get some air time. Outside of the 'whackers, the series drivers have had a long-term lack of visibility.
Wednesday's show featured defending Sprint Cup Champion Tony Stewart as a guest via satellite to talk about his victory on Sunday (something that ideally would have been done on Monday, but alas, schedules are schedules).
In addition, a short piece was aired where D.J. Copp showed viewers using a Handicam what teams do after they win a race (that is, if they don't get knocked down by big guys carrying heavy boxes). Copp talked to some of Stewart's pit crew who had to break the pit stall down after the race (everyone else was already gone by this point). Some of them were messing around with some stragglers left in the stands for the heck of it. Interesting look. If there's one group of people that really don't stay long at a track after a race ends, it's a Sprint Cup race crew. Whereas the guys at your local track might stick around for an hour or so after the night ends (especially if you're trapped in the Infield and can't leave), these crews are basically done 20 minutes after the race unless something great happens. 90 minutes later, they're flying back to North Carolina.
There was a feature on how Kyle Busch has dominated the action at Bristol Motor Speedway over the past few years. Briscoe narrated over multiple clips of Busch's past successes. After this segment (in addition to after the Stewart interview), Brad Daugherty was brought in (via satellite) to give his analysis. Daugherty is a knowledgeable man, but he really didn't bring all that much to the show Wednesday. I will say that he did bring in some outside interview quotes (a previous conversation he had with Kyle Busch three weeks ago) to help his points about Kyle's Nationwide team.
Finally, Briscoe conducted an interview with Sergio Pena, a regular in the K&N Pro Series East and a graduate of NASCAR's Drive for Diversity. Outside of the 2010 Toyota All-Star Showdown in Irwindale, CA where he came literally out of nowhere to win the pole, led a bunch of laps and finish second to a visiting Joey Logano, Pena's been pretty invisible, despite racing full-time for two years and winning multiple races. Part of that is because K&N Pro Series events are almost never covered live (they're delayed for weeks, typically).
Due to the general lack of exposure, Briscoe all but had to spend the interview re-introducing Pena to race fans. It's a shame that has to be so, but it is. Having said that, Pena handled himself just fine. I honestly cannot recall a K&N Pro Series driver getting interviewed on the show, so this turn of fortune should only be beneficial for Pena. Also, before I forget, the K&N Pro Series East Division's season-opener is Saturday evening at 6:15 PM after the Nationwide race in Bristol. I have no idea when it will air on television at the moment since NASCAR has not uploaded the TV schedule for the series to the NASCAR Home Tracks website as of now.
Having taken a thorough look at the show, there are things I like and things I don't. The timeslot is self-explanatory. It bites, royally. The setting of the show in Bristol doesn't help either. They all but never can have live guests because they're 1,150 miles away (by car) from Charlotte. Because of that, SPEED's NASCAR RaceHub will stomp them in that department for the foreseeable future. I bet ESPN kicks themselves constantly for ditching their own Charlotte space where they used to shoot the weekday editions of rpm2night. Granted, it was more than likely underutilized, but they need something like that now.
The show really does lose out with the Roundtables being sent to the same scrap pile as the aforementioned rpm2night. The Wednesday editions, last season referred to as "Wayback Wednesday," were always some of the more enjoyable shows to watch. Then again, I'm one of Frontstretch's historical zealots, so that shouldn't be all that surprising. Hopefully, ESPN will bring that back later this year.
The interview pieces on the show are decent, but as mentioned above, the show does lose something by not being able to have in-studio guests more than 3-5 times a year. I will say that only good will come out of ESPN helping to promote future stars of NASCAR like they did with Wednesday's interview with Pena.
I hope you liked this look at ESPN's NASCAR Now. Check out next week's edition of the Critic's Annex, where we will take a look at the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring from Sebring International Raceway. Until then, enjoy this weekend's action in Bristol, Melbourne, Australia and Sebring.
Phil Allaway is the Newsletter Manager and a Senior Writer for Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com.
Frontstretch Line of the Week
From Beyond the Cockpit: Andy Lally Looks Back On NASCAR, Moves Forward With Career
"The Sebring week is a bit of a cluster from the racer's point of view, to be honest. We are here for far too long. I got in on Friday, eight days before the race. We have test days on track for six days before the actual race."- Andy Lally, on the length of the race weekend in Sebring. In comparison, for the Rolex 24 at Daytona, teams rolled into the garage on Wednesday, had practice and qualifying on Thursday, a couple of practice sessions Friday that were not heavily participated in due to rain, then competed in the race itself starting Saturday afternoon.
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TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
Which Jeff Gordon Will We Remember?
by Garrett Horton
Potts' Shots: Back of The Line, Spoiler's Fine, and Pass on the Gas
by John Potts
Professor of Speed: NASCAR's Social Media Explosion: It's a Small (and Connected) World...
by Mark Howell
Dollars And Sense: NASCAR Executive Leaving Raises Eyebrows
by Jesse Medford
Truckin' Thursdays: Relishing a Return To Road Course Racing
by Beth Lunkenheimer
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FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: The start of the 1997 Cup season featured a series of highs and lows for Steve Grissom. He started the Daytona 500 on the outside pole, then wrecked in the race. Atlanta ended with a spectacular flip on the backstretch. Then, he was finally having a great run in the caution-plagued Food City 500, but fate intervened once again. What happened?
Check back Thursday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Tuesday's Answer:
Q: In 2000, Sterling Marlin won the Cheez-It 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway, but he wasn't even supposed to drive in the race at all. Why was he in the seat?
A: Marlin, who was driving for Felix Sabates' SabCo Racing at the time, was serving as a mentor to rookie driver Dave Steele. After some troubles getting up to the proper pace in practice, Sabates made the move to put Marlin in the No. 82 Channelock Chevrolet to practice and qualify the car. Afterwards, Marlin would give the car back over to Steele to race with the understanding that Steele would have to start at the rear of the field.
Unfortunately, NASCAR nixed that plan. Driver changes are not against the rules in NASCAR. However, switching from a veteran to a driver that had never raced at Bristol in any series previously was unacceptable in NASCAR's eyes. As a result, NASCAR decreed that Marlin would have to drive in the race. Ultimately, Marlin qualified 16th in a car that failed to qualify for the previous three races in a row, led 98 laps and went to Victory Lane. As for Steele, this ended up being his last hurrah in the No. 82, and NASCAR for that matter. He never attempted another race in the series. A group of nine additional drivers (Jeff Fuller, Derrick Gilchrist, Anthony Lazzaro, Jason White, Austin Cameron, Ted Musgrave, Glenn Allen, Jr. and both Houston brothers (Andy and Marty)) shared the driving duties for the rest of the year.
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 Nick Schwartz
-- In Case You Missed It by Nick Schwartz
-- Keepin' It Short by Mike Neff
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, and more!
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Tomorrow on the Frontstretch:
Four Burning Questions: Bristol by Summer Dreyer
Summer returns with her four-part look at what we should expect from this weekend's Food City 500 in Bristol.
Holding A Pretty Wheel by Amy Henderson
As many of you are already well aware, Hendrick Motorsports' appeal was denied Tuesday. However, does this process really work at all? Amy is here to take a look at an appeals board full of "people who have passed away, even if they don't know it."
Friday Fast Forward Into NASCAR's Future by Bryan Davis Keith
Bryan returns with another interesting commentary piece.
Voices From the Heartland by TBD
We'll have a solid racing commentary setting you up for Bristol this weekend.
Driver Diary: Dakoda Armstrong as told to Beth Lunkenheimer
For 2012, we have added Camping World Truck Series rookie Dakoda Armstrong to our roster of driver diaries. In his first diary, Armstrong will talk about his experiences in Daytona and what he's done in the past few weeks since then.
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©2012 Frontstretch.com
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©2012 Frontstretch.com
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