THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
March 22nd, 2012
Volume VI, Edition XLV
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
March 22nd, 2012
Volume VI, Edition XLV
~~~~~~~~~~
EDITOR'S NOTE: FRONTSTRETCH HAS A BRAND NEW, REDESIGNED FACEBOOK PAGE! CLICK HERE TO "LIKE" US AND GET A DIRECT CONNECT TO ALL YOUR FRONTSTRETCH FAVORITES ALONG WITH POLLS, INTERACTION WITH FANS AND SO MUCH MORE.
Top News
by Phil Allaway and Tom Bowles
SMI To Re-Create "Old Bristol"
Dave Moody is reporting that Speedway Motorsports, Inc. (SMI) CEO O. Bruton Smith has decided to move ahead with a plan to return Bristol Motor Speedway to its old configuration from 1992-2007. The move is coming after Sunday's Food City 500 had the lowest attendance of any Sprint Cup race in Bristol since 1997.
Following Sunday's race, Smith requested that Bristol Motor Speedway reach out to fans and ask them what they think about the current track surface and whether the track should leave it alone, or fix it. The sentiment was rather telling.
"I'd say its about 75 percent from the race fans that they'd like to see us put it back the way it was five years ago," Smith said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio's The Late Shift with Buddy Baker and Jim Noble. "It's not a major change that we did [to the track]. We took up all the old concrete that was breaking up and causing a lot of problems. We completely redid the speedway, and fans got the idea that it's not the same. I guess it's not the same since they told us that, and the race fan is always right. When the race fans speak, you listen. And that's what we're doing now."
Race track renovations are not a cheap proposition, but Smith and SMI have plenty of funds to be able to do the work. In addition, Smith has already brought the idea up to engineers.
"We have on paper exactly the way the track was before we came in and redid it," Smith said. "We're going to have all the elevations, the ingress and egress as it was before we completely redid it. We will here again offer race fans the track the way it was.
What is really telling about this move is that Smith admits that SMI have not even gone to NASCAR about their intentions (although, they do intend to in the near future). They just plan to go ahead with the renovations anyway. Smith expects that the construction will be done in time for the August NASCAR weekend, featuring the Sprint Cup, Nationwide, and Camping World Truck Series, along with the UNOH Perfect Storm 150 combination race for the Whelen Modified Tour and Whelen Southern Modified Tour. The renovations will cost roughly one million dollars.
Charter Cable to Sponsor JTG-Daugherty Racing at Fontana
JTG-Daugherty Racing announced on Wednesday that they have signed Charter Cable, the United States' fourth largest cable operator to a two-race deal to serve as primary sponsor of the team's No. 47 Toyota Camry. The green and blue Charter colors will debut on the No. 47 this weekend in the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway.
JTG-Daugherty co-owner Tad Geschickter is happy to have Charter Cable onboard.
"The Charter deal is a game changer for us," Geschickter said. "We always strive to provide our sponsors with great value. This new partnership, with the fourth-largest cable provider in the country, gives us the opportunity to create sponsor activation elements that we could have never provided before."
In addition to this Sunday's Auto Club 400, the Charter colors will be on the No. 47 at Michigan in June.
For Charter Cable, this is most definitely not their first go-around in NASCAR, even this season. The company originally served as a full-time primary sponsor on the No. 60 Ford in the then-Busch Series from 2004-2005 with Greg Biffle driving In 2005 and 2006, the company also served as a part-time sponsor on Biffle's No. 16 in the-then Nextel Cup Series. In 2008, the company sponsored both Robby Gordon's No. 7 and the No. 10 for Gillett-Evernham Motorsports, even once sponsoring both cars in the same race at Martinsville. Last season, Charter had a one-race deal as primary sponsor on Denny Hamlin's No. 11 for Joe Gibbs Racing. Finally, just last weekend, Charter's colors were on Richard Petty Motorsports' No. 43 Ford for driver Aric Almirola.
Team Penske No. 6 changes to No. 2.
Lotus-Dragon Racing No. 8 changes to No. 6.
KV Racing Technologies No. 59 changes to No. 8.
KV Racing Technologies No. 82 changes to No. 11.
Driver Changes:
No. 5- E.J. Viso is in the seat, replacing Takuma Sato.
No. 6- Katherine Legge is in the seat, replacing Paul Tracy.
No. 8- Rubens Barrichello is in the seat, replacing E.J. Viso.
No. 14- Mike Conway is in the seat, replacing Vitor Meira.
No. 15- Takuma Sato is in the seat, replacing Jay Howard.
No. 18- Justin Wilson returns to the seat, replacing James Jakes.
No. 19- James Jakes is in the seat, replacing Alex Lloyd.
No. 22- Oriol Servia is in the seat, replacing Townsend Bell.
No. 27- James Hinchcliffe is in the seat, replacing Mike Conway.
No. 67- Josef Newgarden is in the seat, replacing Ed Carpenter.
No. 77- Simon Pagenaud is in the seat, replacing Dan Wheldon.
No. 2 - Ryan Briscoe for Team Penske
No. 3 - Helio Castroneves for Team Penske
No. 4 - J.R. Hildebrand for Panther Racing
No. 5 - E.J. Viso for KV Racing Technologies
No. 6 - Katherine Legge for Lotus-Dragon Racing
No. 7 - Sebastien Bourdais for Lotus-Dragon Racing
No. 8 - Rubens Barrichello for KV Racing Technologies
No. 9 - Scott Dixon for Chip Ganassi Racing
No. 10 - Dario Franchitti for Chip Ganassi Racing
No. 11 - Tony Kanaan for KV Racing Technologies
No. 12 - Will Power for Team Penske
No. 14 - Mike Conway for A.J. Foyt Racing
No. 15 - Takuma Sato for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
No. 18 - Justin Wilson for Dale Coyne Racing
No. 19 - James Jakes for Dale Coyne Racing
No. 20 - Ed Carpenter for Ed Carpenter Racing
No. 22 - Oriol Servia for Lotus-DRR
No. 26 - Marco Andretti for Andretti Autosport
No. 27 - James Hinchcliffe for Andretti Autosport
No. 28 - Ryan Hunter-Reay for Andretti Autosport
No. 38 - Graham Rahal for Chip Ganassi Racing
No. 67 - Josef Newgarden for Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing
No. 77 - Simon Pagenaud for Sam Schmidt Racing
No. 78 - Simona de Silvestro for Lotus-HVM Racing
No. 83 - Charlie Kimball for Chip Ganassi Racing
No. 98 - Alex Tagliani for Bryan Herta Autosport
Not Entered:
No. 06 - Newman/Haas Racing (folded)
No. 2 - Newman/Haas Racing (folded)
No. 7 - Andretti Autosport (folded)
No. 11 - Davey Hamilton for Lotus-DRR
No. 17 - Wade Cunningham for AFS Racing/Sam Schmidt Racing
No. 24 - Ana Beatriz for Lotus-DRR
No. 30 - Pippa Mann for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
No. 34 - Sebastian Saavedra for Conquest Racing
No. 44 - Buddy Rice for Panther Racing
No. 57 - Tomas Scheckter for Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing
~~~~~~~~~~
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!
~~~~~~~~~~
Today's Featured Commentary
Make Up Your Mind Already!
What's Vexing Vito
by Vito Pugliese
"You write 'Born To Kill' on your helmet and you wear a peace button. What's that supposed to be, some kind of sick joke?"
"No sir."
"What is it supposed to mean?"
"I don't know, sir."
"You don't know very, much do you?"
"No sir."
"You better get your head and your ass wired together, or I will take a giant $*** on you."
That little irony-laden exchange between a Marine Colonel and Private Joker from the 1987 Stanley Kubrick Vietnam War epic Full Metal Jacket came to mind after the back and forth that has raged the last few days and weeks with regards to the plight of Chad Knaus, Ron Malec, and the No. 48 team, as well as the fate of the recently reconfigured Bristol Motor Speedway. The comments read on message boards, within the media, and critics who serve to be critical, simply for the sake of being critical.
When the penalties were originally assessed to the Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 team, the vast majority of pundits and commentary read was that Chad Knaus has a history of cheating, you aren't supposed to touch that area, he told Jimmie Johnson to crack the back of the same car up at Talladega five months earlier, and that NASCAR fines are virtually never rescinded. Following the initial decision by the NASCAR appeals committee, it was deemed that the fine should remain. Rick Hendrick undeterred escalated the appeals process to the ultimate arbiter, John Middlebrook, for which it was overturned on Tuesday of this week.
Each story about the fine includes a little dig, such as Middlebrook was once a General Motors executive, and would curry favor with Hendrick who owns a renowned Chevrolet dealership and has campaigned Chevrolets in NASCAR for nearly 30 years. That kind of overshadows the story of how the car was randomly pulled out of line for inspection – and was never actually inspected. Competition Director John Darby said he didn't like the way the C-pillars looked.
So I guess now we just eyeball the cars and don't actually put a gauge on them. This is akin to the TSA pulling an 80-year old lady out of line at the air port and giving her a thorough inspection, since clearly she is the most likely of underwear and shoe bomber for domestic air travel. Very little has been said regarding NASCAR's total botch-job of handling their own inspection procedure and due process for assigning guilt, or the other three cars that had the same issue with their C-pillars going through inspection – failing – and then being allowed to repair and resubmit for inspection.
If this had been a criminal case, it would have been thrown out of court and never made it to trial, and Hendrick Motorsports would have a pretty tasty lawsuit to play with. That would be like pulling somebody over with a broken taillight, then charging the operator with drunk driving, but never actually administering a field sobriety test.
Score one for creative engineering, playing within the rules, and seeing justice actually prevail with addressing a NASCAR issued penalty.
The other flip-flop and selective recollection in recent weeks is that regarding Bristol Motor Speedway. Bristol has long since been known as the action track, and who's souvenir cups boldly declare, "Racin' The Way it Oughta Be!" With only five cautions, a distinct lack of wrecking (save for Kasey Kahne's latest expedition into the wall), and – gasp – side-by-side racing, their slogan is finally wringing true. I'm not sure that single file riding and ramming into somebody from behind constitutes "racing". After all it was Bristol that helped bring the term "bump-n-run" into the NASCAR lexicon, which then devolved into the dump-n-run.
The same people who carp and moan about the lack of action at Bristol are also the same ones who find fault with restrictor plate racing and the 25-car mash up that results from "The Big One", or multi grove tracks such as California, Michigan, Kansas, or Chicagoland that can often slip you into the sweet slumber of unconsciousness. Sure I miss guys chucking helmets, footies, and blasting ambulances, or going Cole Trickle ramming somebody after the checkered flag falls, however in this day and age of racing with the more hearty and virtually indestructible COT, is that really what we need at Bristol?
The end result would be the track blocked with 43 cars, half of them torn up but still running just fast enough to be in the way. The old races were usually pretty clean in the last 50 laps, because by that time, 20 cars had spun and made contact with the inside retaining walls, and buckled the front end. I remember Carl Edwards going out to qualify in the previous generation car, losing control on an upshift, barely making contact with the inside wall, and completely ruining the racecar.
In the lower series such as Nationwide or the Camping World Truck Series, might it be good for teams so save a couple bucks and not have to bank on writing off a wrecked racecar?
After a somewhat disappointing fan turnout (102,000 stated attendance in a 160,000 seat venue), Bruton Smith is now in the process of meeting with designers and engineers in an attempt to re-Bristolize Bristol. I can only imagine how this is going to turn out, after the last time somebody had the bright idea to sanitize Charlotte Motor Speedway, ruining what was the absolute perfect race track with character, speed, and idiosyncrasies. Apparently it was decided that somebody didn't like the little bump in Turn Four so they had to introduce the sport to "levigating".
At the 2005 Coca-Cola 600, over 100 laps were contested under caution because the track started coming apart. The end result was ultimately a repaving, resulting in the cookie cutter of cookie cutter tracks, with hideous yellow walls.
Not sure why I'm so cranky over this; perhaps it is the perpetual sinus infection and bronchitis I've been combating for the last two weeks, coupled with mid-80 degree Michigan-in-March heat. Everybody is entitled to their opinion, and far be it from me to stifle somebody's right of self-expression. A little consistency would be in order though from the media, NASCAR, and those who don't have anything better to do than get all worked up over something for no apparent reason.
And yes, I am well aware of the irony and hypocrisy considering the name of this column. Well….whatever. You're the one who read it, don't get mad at me.
Vito Pugliese is a Senior Writer for Frontstretch.com. He can be reached via e-mail at vito.pugliese@frontstretch.com.
~~~~~~~~~~
COME JOIN THE FRONTSTRETCH FAMILY!
EDITOR'S NOTE: FRONTSTRETCH HAS A BRAND NEW, REDESIGNED FACEBOOK PAGE! CLICK HERE TO "LIKE" US AND GET A DIRECT CONNECT TO ALL YOUR FRONTSTRETCH FAVORITES ALONG WITH POLLS, INTERACTION WITH FANS AND SO MUCH MORE.
Top News
by Phil Allaway and Tom Bowles
SMI To Re-Create "Old Bristol"
Dave Moody is reporting that Speedway Motorsports, Inc. (SMI) CEO O. Bruton Smith has decided to move ahead with a plan to return Bristol Motor Speedway to its old configuration from 1992-2007. The move is coming after Sunday's Food City 500 had the lowest attendance of any Sprint Cup race in Bristol since 1997.
Following Sunday's race, Smith requested that Bristol Motor Speedway reach out to fans and ask them what they think about the current track surface and whether the track should leave it alone, or fix it. The sentiment was rather telling.
"I'd say its about 75 percent from the race fans that they'd like to see us put it back the way it was five years ago," Smith said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio's The Late Shift with Buddy Baker and Jim Noble. "It's not a major change that we did [to the track]. We took up all the old concrete that was breaking up and causing a lot of problems. We completely redid the speedway, and fans got the idea that it's not the same. I guess it's not the same since they told us that, and the race fan is always right. When the race fans speak, you listen. And that's what we're doing now."
Race track renovations are not a cheap proposition, but Smith and SMI have plenty of funds to be able to do the work. In addition, Smith has already brought the idea up to engineers.
"We have on paper exactly the way the track was before we came in and redid it," Smith said. "We're going to have all the elevations, the ingress and egress as it was before we completely redid it. We will here again offer race fans the track the way it was.
What is really telling about this move is that Smith admits that SMI have not even gone to NASCAR about their intentions (although, they do intend to in the near future). They just plan to go ahead with the renovations anyway. Smith expects that the construction will be done in time for the August NASCAR weekend, featuring the Sprint Cup, Nationwide, and Camping World Truck Series, along with the UNOH Perfect Storm 150 combination race for the Whelen Modified Tour and Whelen Southern Modified Tour. The renovations will cost roughly one million dollars.
Charter Cable to Sponsor JTG-Daugherty Racing at Fontana
JTG-Daugherty Racing announced on Wednesday that they have signed Charter Cable, the United States' fourth largest cable operator to a two-race deal to serve as primary sponsor of the team's No. 47 Toyota Camry. The green and blue Charter colors will debut on the No. 47 this weekend in the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway.
JTG-Daugherty co-owner Tad Geschickter is happy to have Charter Cable onboard.
"The Charter deal is a game changer for us," Geschickter said. "We always strive to provide our sponsors with great value. This new partnership, with the fourth-largest cable provider in the country, gives us the opportunity to create sponsor activation elements that we could have never provided before."
In addition to this Sunday's Auto Club 400, the Charter colors will be on the No. 47 at Michigan in June.
For Charter Cable, this is most definitely not their first go-around in NASCAR, even this season. The company originally served as a full-time primary sponsor on the No. 60 Ford in the then-Busch Series from 2004-2005 with Greg Biffle driving In 2005 and 2006, the company also served as a part-time sponsor on Biffle's No. 16 in the-then Nextel Cup Series. In 2008, the company sponsored both Robby Gordon's No. 7 and the No. 10 for Gillett-Evernham Motorsports, even once sponsoring both cars in the same race at Martinsville. Last season, Charter had a one-race deal as primary sponsor on Denny Hamlin's No. 11 for Joe Gibbs Racing. Finally, just last weekend, Charter's colors were on Richard Petty Motorsports' No. 43 Ford for driver Aric Almirola.
Entry List Update:
Note: These entries are accurate as of Wednesday night. However, they are still subject to change.
Sprint Cup Series Auto Club 400: 46 cars entered
Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points:
No. 19 – Mike Bliss for Go Green Racing
No. 87 - Joe Nemechek for NEMCO Motorsports
Driver Changes:
No. 55 – Mark Martin returns to the seat, replacing Brian Vickers in a planned move. Martin is running the majority of races (24) behind the wheel of the Aaron's Toyota; Vickers will return at Martinsville next week.
New Entries:
No. 19 – Not much known about this team, but the listed owner is Randy Humphrey, who used to partner with Phil Parsons on a start-and-park program in Cup from 2009-11. Mike Bliss is listed as the driver, with sponsorship TBA.
Drivers who must qualify on speed:
(Note: This weekend is the last 2011 owner points are used to "lock in" the first 35 spots. Martinsville will be the first event where we'll revert to 2012 points).
No. 7 - Robby Gordon for Robby Gordon Motorsports*
No. 19 – Mike Bliss for Go Green Racing
No. 23 - Scott Riggs for R3 Motorsports*
No. 26 – Josh Wise for Front Row 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. 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 the Wood Brothers
No. 40 – Hillman Racing
Nationwide Series Royal Purple 300: 43 cars entered
Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points:
No. 18 - Joey Logano for Joe Gibbs Racing
No. 22 - Brad Keselowski for Penske Racing
No. 27 - TBA for GC Motorsports International (some reports have this car withdrawn, but we are putting it on the entry list for the time being)
No. 30 - James Buescher for Turner Motorsports
No. 33 – Brendan Gaughan for Richard Childress Racing
No. 42 - Josh Wise for Key Motorsports
No. 47 - Scott Speed for Key Motorsports
No. 54 - Kyle Busch for Kyle Busch Motorsports
Driver Changes / New Entries:
No. 08 - Tim Andrews is in the seat, replacing Kyle Fowler. Andrews was supposed to debut in this seat last week but was replaced by Fowler at the last minute. Expect this team to start-and-park.
No. 4 – Daryl Harr returns to the seat, replacing Danny Efland. Harr is running a limited schedule of events out West, using JD Motorsports' second car number while fielding his own effort.
No. 23 – Robert Richardson, Jr. returns to the seat, replacing Jamie Dick. Robertson's family owns the team and he is running a limited schedule of Nationwide events when drivers are not bringing sponsorship on any given week.
No. 28 – J.J. Yeley is in the seat, replacing Kevin Lepage. Jay Robinson Racing continues to try and eke out full-distance events in the Nationwide Series, and for this event are using their full-time driver on the Cup side.
No. 33 – Brendan Gaughan returns to the seat, replacing Kevin Harvick. Gaughan is running a limited schedule of events in NASCAR's top three series – Cup, Nationwide and Trucks - with Richard Childress Racing.
No. 38 – Brad Sweet replaces Kasey Kahne at Turner Motorsports. The Great Clips rookie driver is running a limited schedule, splitting time with the Cup veteran while transitioning into the Nationwide Series.
No. 72 – John Jackson is entered in what's essentially a second car for MAKE Motorsports. This machine is expected to start and park.
Teams who are not guaranteed a starting spot (all will qualify for the race at this time):
(Note: This weekend is the last 2011 owner points are used to "lock in" the first 35 spots. Texas will be the first event where we'll revert to 2012 points).
No. 08 – Tim Andrews for Randy Hill Racing
No. 10 – Jeff Green for TriStar Motorsports
No. 22 – Brad Keselowski for Penske Racing (first crack at Past Champion's Provisional)
No. 24 – Benny Gordon for SR2 Motorsports
No. 27 – TBA 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 (second crack at Past Champion's Provisional)
No. 72 – John Jackson for MAKE Motorsports
No. 74 – Mike Harmon for Mike Harmon Racing
No. 89 – Morgan Shepherd for Faith Motorsports
IndyCar Series: Honda Grand Prix Of St. Petersburg: 26 Cars Entered
Number Changes:
Team Penske No. 6 changes to No. 2.
Lotus-Dragon Racing No. 8 changes to No. 6.
KV Racing Technologies No. 59 changes to No. 8.
KV Racing Technologies No. 82 changes to No. 11.
Driver Changes:
No. 5- E.J. Viso is in the seat, replacing Takuma Sato.
No. 6- Katherine Legge is in the seat, replacing Paul Tracy.
No. 8- Rubens Barrichello is in the seat, replacing E.J. Viso.
No. 14- Mike Conway is in the seat, replacing Vitor Meira.
No. 15- Takuma Sato is in the seat, replacing Jay Howard.
No. 18- Justin Wilson returns to the seat, replacing James Jakes.
No. 19- James Jakes is in the seat, replacing Alex Lloyd.
No. 22- Oriol Servia is in the seat, replacing Townsend Bell.
No. 27- James Hinchcliffe is in the seat, replacing Mike Conway.
No. 67- Josef Newgarden is in the seat, replacing Ed Carpenter.
No. 77- Simon Pagenaud is in the seat, replacing Dan Wheldon.
No. 2 - Ryan Briscoe for Team Penske
No. 3 - Helio Castroneves for Team Penske
No. 4 - J.R. Hildebrand for Panther Racing
No. 5 - E.J. Viso for KV Racing Technologies
No. 6 - Katherine Legge for Lotus-Dragon Racing
No. 7 - Sebastien Bourdais for Lotus-Dragon Racing
No. 8 - Rubens Barrichello for KV Racing Technologies
No. 9 - Scott Dixon for Chip Ganassi Racing
No. 10 - Dario Franchitti for Chip Ganassi Racing
No. 11 - Tony Kanaan for KV Racing Technologies
No. 12 - Will Power for Team Penske
No. 14 - Mike Conway for A.J. Foyt Racing
No. 15 - Takuma Sato for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
No. 18 - Justin Wilson for Dale Coyne Racing
No. 19 - James Jakes for Dale Coyne Racing
No. 20 - Ed Carpenter for Ed Carpenter Racing
No. 22 - Oriol Servia for Lotus-DRR
No. 26 - Marco Andretti for Andretti Autosport
No. 27 - James Hinchcliffe for Andretti Autosport
No. 28 - Ryan Hunter-Reay for Andretti Autosport
No. 38 - Graham Rahal for Chip Ganassi Racing
No. 67 - Josef Newgarden for Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing
No. 77 - Simon Pagenaud for Sam Schmidt Racing
No. 78 - Simona de Silvestro for Lotus-HVM Racing
No. 83 - Charlie Kimball for Chip Ganassi Racing
No. 98 - Alex Tagliani for Bryan Herta Autosport
Not Entered:
No. 06 - Newman/Haas Racing (folded)
No. 2 - Newman/Haas Racing (folded)
No. 7 - Andretti Autosport (folded)
No. 11 - Davey Hamilton for Lotus-DRR
No. 17 - Wade Cunningham for AFS Racing/Sam Schmidt Racing
No. 24 - Ana Beatriz for Lotus-DRR
No. 30 - Pippa Mann for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
No. 34 - Sebastian Saavedra for Conquest Racing
No. 44 - Buddy Rice for Panther Racing
No. 57 - Tomas Scheckter for Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing
~~~~~~~~~~
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!
~~~~~~~~~~
Today's Featured Commentary
Make Up Your Mind Already!
What's Vexing Vito
by Vito Pugliese
"You write 'Born To Kill' on your helmet and you wear a peace button. What's that supposed to be, some kind of sick joke?"
"No sir."
"What is it supposed to mean?"
"I don't know, sir."
"You don't know very, much do you?"
"No sir."
"You better get your head and your ass wired together, or I will take a giant $*** on you."
That little irony-laden exchange between a Marine Colonel and Private Joker from the 1987 Stanley Kubrick Vietnam War epic Full Metal Jacket came to mind after the back and forth that has raged the last few days and weeks with regards to the plight of Chad Knaus, Ron Malec, and the No. 48 team, as well as the fate of the recently reconfigured Bristol Motor Speedway. The comments read on message boards, within the media, and critics who serve to be critical, simply for the sake of being critical.
When the penalties were originally assessed to the Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 team, the vast majority of pundits and commentary read was that Chad Knaus has a history of cheating, you aren't supposed to touch that area, he told Jimmie Johnson to crack the back of the same car up at Talladega five months earlier, and that NASCAR fines are virtually never rescinded. Following the initial decision by the NASCAR appeals committee, it was deemed that the fine should remain. Rick Hendrick undeterred escalated the appeals process to the ultimate arbiter, John Middlebrook, for which it was overturned on Tuesday of this week.
Each story about the fine includes a little dig, such as Middlebrook was once a General Motors executive, and would curry favor with Hendrick who owns a renowned Chevrolet dealership and has campaigned Chevrolets in NASCAR for nearly 30 years. That kind of overshadows the story of how the car was randomly pulled out of line for inspection – and was never actually inspected. Competition Director John Darby said he didn't like the way the C-pillars looked.
So I guess now we just eyeball the cars and don't actually put a gauge on them. This is akin to the TSA pulling an 80-year old lady out of line at the air port and giving her a thorough inspection, since clearly she is the most likely of underwear and shoe bomber for domestic air travel. Very little has been said regarding NASCAR's total botch-job of handling their own inspection procedure and due process for assigning guilt, or the other three cars that had the same issue with their C-pillars going through inspection – failing – and then being allowed to repair and resubmit for inspection.
If this had been a criminal case, it would have been thrown out of court and never made it to trial, and Hendrick Motorsports would have a pretty tasty lawsuit to play with. That would be like pulling somebody over with a broken taillight, then charging the operator with drunk driving, but never actually administering a field sobriety test.
Score one for creative engineering, playing within the rules, and seeing justice actually prevail with addressing a NASCAR issued penalty.
The other flip-flop and selective recollection in recent weeks is that regarding Bristol Motor Speedway. Bristol has long since been known as the action track, and who's souvenir cups boldly declare, "Racin' The Way it Oughta Be!" With only five cautions, a distinct lack of wrecking (save for Kasey Kahne's latest expedition into the wall), and – gasp – side-by-side racing, their slogan is finally wringing true. I'm not sure that single file riding and ramming into somebody from behind constitutes "racing". After all it was Bristol that helped bring the term "bump-n-run" into the NASCAR lexicon, which then devolved into the dump-n-run.
The same people who carp and moan about the lack of action at Bristol are also the same ones who find fault with restrictor plate racing and the 25-car mash up that results from "The Big One", or multi grove tracks such as California, Michigan, Kansas, or Chicagoland that can often slip you into the sweet slumber of unconsciousness. Sure I miss guys chucking helmets, footies, and blasting ambulances, or going Cole Trickle ramming somebody after the checkered flag falls, however in this day and age of racing with the more hearty and virtually indestructible COT, is that really what we need at Bristol?
The end result would be the track blocked with 43 cars, half of them torn up but still running just fast enough to be in the way. The old races were usually pretty clean in the last 50 laps, because by that time, 20 cars had spun and made contact with the inside retaining walls, and buckled the front end. I remember Carl Edwards going out to qualify in the previous generation car, losing control on an upshift, barely making contact with the inside wall, and completely ruining the racecar.
In the lower series such as Nationwide or the Camping World Truck Series, might it be good for teams so save a couple bucks and not have to bank on writing off a wrecked racecar?
After a somewhat disappointing fan turnout (102,000 stated attendance in a 160,000 seat venue), Bruton Smith is now in the process of meeting with designers and engineers in an attempt to re-Bristolize Bristol. I can only imagine how this is going to turn out, after the last time somebody had the bright idea to sanitize Charlotte Motor Speedway, ruining what was the absolute perfect race track with character, speed, and idiosyncrasies. Apparently it was decided that somebody didn't like the little bump in Turn Four so they had to introduce the sport to "levigating".
At the 2005 Coca-Cola 600, over 100 laps were contested under caution because the track started coming apart. The end result was ultimately a repaving, resulting in the cookie cutter of cookie cutter tracks, with hideous yellow walls.
Not sure why I'm so cranky over this; perhaps it is the perpetual sinus infection and bronchitis I've been combating for the last two weeks, coupled with mid-80 degree Michigan-in-March heat. Everybody is entitled to their opinion, and far be it from me to stifle somebody's right of self-expression. A little consistency would be in order though from the media, NASCAR, and those who don't have anything better to do than get all worked up over something for no apparent reason.
And yes, I am well aware of the irony and hypocrisy considering the name of this column. Well….whatever. You're the one who read it, don't get mad at me.
Vito Pugliese is a Senior Writer for Frontstretch.com. He can be reached via e-mail at vito.pugliese@frontstretch.com.
~~~~~~~~~~
COME JOIN THE FRONTSTRETCH FAMILY!
Hey Frontstretch Readers,
We are looking for someone who shares our enthusiasm for NASCAR and has an experienced background in web design. Specifically, we are looking for someone who can help maintain and enhance our website, increase our SEO, and upgrade our publishing platform while producing a limited amount of content throughout the season. This job presents a perfect opportunity for someone with a technical background, a person who wants their work to gain national exposure.
If you are interested, contact frontstretcheditors@googlegroups.com. Please include references to your past work in your e-mail.
~~~~~~~~~~
The Critic's Annex
Edition #81: Critique Of The Mobil 1 12 Hours Of Sebring
by Phil Allaway
Hello, race fans. Welcome back to the Critic's Annex, where we intend to take additional looks at available racing action for public consumption. Up until now, we've been covering studio shows since before late March, there simply isn't much out there.
However, this past weekend gave viewers four major events to pick from. Naturally, with the help of the good 'ol DVR and internet streaming (legal, of course), I watched them all. I'm a fan of all types of racing, and that is why I often use this space to talk about other series. Last weekend, the American Le Mans Series presented by Patron Tequila and the brand-new World Endurance Championship (WEC) held their season opener in quasi-South Florida at Sebring International Raceway, the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring.
I only say that its "quasi-South Florida" because Sebring fits almost no one's idea of what South Florida is (unless you're from somewhere near there). Press Your Luck giving away trips to Sebring back in the 1980's was always a bit of a headscratcher for me. Outside of the big race, not much goes on there.
For the American Le Mans Series, this past weekend started year No. 2 of their relationship with ESPN, and specifically, ESPN3.com. The only way to watch the complete race (or watch any of it live) was to do it via their website online. Let's just get this out of the way. That bites. Having the whole thing on television live today is probably impossible these days, but ESPN televised portions of sports car races live on TV back in the 1990's. Remember when I wrote 4000+ words about the 1996 Rolex 24 last year? For that race, ESPN (via espn2) provided live coverage from 12:30pm-4:00pm on Saturday, then 7:00am-1:30pm on Sunday. For Sebring, ESPN would televise roughly the first three hours or so, then come back for the final hour. Heck, the race got live coverage on television back in 1986 on TBS.
The point of all this is to say that the American Le Mans Series is getting the major league shaft here. Its not just with Sebring, but for the whole season. Now, I recognize that it might be a little tough for Sebring to get live coverage with all the college basketball on, but its possible to squeeze a little in. Or, perhaps they could take some of that $6.5 billion in per-subscriber fees they get a year and start another general sports cable channel. Now, before I go on, it should be noted that the series is getting a couple of live TV telecasts this year. The first is race No. 2 in Long Beach on April 14, then Mid-Ohio on August 4 and Baltimore on September 2. Long Beach is a Saturday evening race, but starts at 7:30pm EDT and will air on ESPN 2. Mid-Ohio and Baltimore are Saturday afternoon races that will air on ABC. Perhaps these telecasts will be a step in the right direction for the series.
As for the telecast that ESPN3.com viewers got last weekend (which is still viewable in two parts until the middle of next month if you have access to the site), well, it was interesting.
The telecast started off with a look at Sebring's past and the dominant makes (Ford, Porsche, Nissan, etc.) since 2012 marks the 60th running of the 12 hours before Brian Till and Johnny O'Connell introduced the telecast. Or, at least, that was what I was supposed to see. For some reason, I was having some issues with ESPN3's service and missed a little more than half of pre-race. Not cool. What happened is that I went to watch the live coverage on ESPN3 at the scheduled start time of 10:15am, I was greeted with a message that said "Thank You for Watching," as if the show was already over before it started. What's worse is that apparently this issue was mine alone. I asked ESPN about it Saturday and they couldn't replicate my problem. I don't know what the heck was behind that, but I hope I don't see it again the next time I watch a race live on ESPN3.
ESPN provided viewers with six pre-race interviews (the pole winner, Andre Lotterer, the top ALMS P1 driver (Klaus Graf), the top WEC and ALMS GT drivers (Gianmaria "Gimmi" Bruni and Jan Magnussen) and representatives from P2 (Tim Pappas and Olivier Pla). There was also a description of the new entry for Turn 1 due to the expanded pit lane.
While Till and O'Connell went to the booth to provide their commentary on the Sunday afternoon highlight package that aired on ABC, viewers went to the duo of John Hindhaugh and Jeremy West for their commentary. I've stated before that these two men are top notch commentators with a wealth of knowledge about sports car racing. They're not really the type of people to dumb down anything so that it will play better to new fans.
ESPN's pit reporters were the same group from last year (Jamie Howe, Rick DeBruhl and Kelli Stavast), plus a newcomer in Taro Koki who I had admittedly never heard of. A little research shows that Koki is the Executive Producer/Co-Founder of content for GTChannel.com and the CEO of Zigzag Asia Co., Ltd., a company that focuses on Asian pop culture and automotive DVD production. Interesting background, but not a whole lot in front of a camera (although a fair amount behind it). It showed a little on Saturday. However, Koki will have some time to grow into his new role, which he seems to be enjoying.
ESPN's American Le Mans Series finally received some of the new ESPN graphics that all the other divisions of the network received last year. Better late than never, I guess. However, a fair amount of the graphics on the ESPN3 telecast are generated by the American Le Mans Series themselves and not ESPN. Those plain-looking graphics are back for another year.
Early on in the telecast, I noticed some sound issues with the telecast. I had no problem hearing either Hindhaugh or West, but you could barely hear the cars at all, especially when in-car cameras were being used. That would have been a great shame had it not been fixed. It was, but it took over half an hour for the ambient sounds to be adjusted up to their proper volume.
Speaking of in-car cameras, ESPN went all out for the season opener. Nine cars representing each of the major classes carried cameras. However, looking at my notes, all the cars that carried them (with the exception of two of the Audi R18's) were ALMS teams. Interesting. The race itself provided a rather interesting issue for ESPN since there were technically nine classes racing out there and being scored separately. In order to cut down on confusion, ESPN chose to combine the P1, P2 and GT classes from the WEC into the equivalent classes from the American Le Mans Series. A fair move, especially since there is very little (if any) distinction between the cars racing in GT-Pro and GT-Am (its more of a driver distinction than anything else).
Since the WEC takes priority over the ALMS, it creates a rather annoying numbering issue. Last year, when Sebring was a joint round of the ILMC (Intercontinental Le Mans Cup) and ALMS, all of the ALMS teams were forced to run a zero in front of their number in order to not clash with the ILMC teams. That rule was still in effect this year, but only for those teams whose numbers clashed with the WEC teams' numbers since those numbers are locked in with series registration. For commentators, that causes issues because it could lead to a long discussion of a certain team's plans while mistaking the car on-screen for another. This happened during Hour 2 when Hindhaugh was talking about Dempsey Racing's plans to race in P2 later this year. They have the No. 25 in ALMS this year for their LMPC contender. However, the No. 25 is assigned to ADR-Delta in the WEC, forcing Dempsey Racing to use the No. 025. This resulted in Hindhaugh spending over a minute talking about the Dempsey team after misidentifying the car. For next year, I would advise that ALMS and/or WEC take a look into this since the American round is the only one in which this is an issue (the other seven are WEC-exclusive races).
Jean Todt, President of the FIA (Federation Internationale de l'Automobile, the sanctioning body for international motorsports) stopped by the booth to talk about the WEC and its goals of bringing endurance racing to developing markets in the Middle East and Far East (three of the eight WEC rounds are in Asian countries). Todt could be best described as quiet during his interview, which was cut short by a multi-car crash caused by oil on the course. It was hard to tell whether he was happy with the inaugural WEC event, but that's Todt. He's a nervous fellow. Anyone who saw him when he was still at Ferrari would know. There's a reason he always wears tape on his fingers.
ALMS head honcho Scott Atherton stopped by in Hour 6 and blushed about the general direction of the series, which is based heavily on manufacturer involvement and return on investment. The P1 ranks are almost non-existent at the moment, but overall entries are great. The Long Beach round closed their entries recently, maxed out at 36. Atherton believes that between the five normal classes (P1, P2, LMPC, GT and GTC), they'll have that many all year. Things are looking up for the series. In regards to the TV deals, Atherton considers the series to be pioneers in what they believe to be the wave of the future. If so, they're definitely early adopters, possibly to their own detriment.
Overall coverage of the race was fairly varied. Hindhaugh and West didn't simply focus in on the P1 class or the GT class. Everyone got their time on-air. As mentioned previously, cars in all five main classes had in-car cameras. In addition, cars from each class received isolated pit stop commentaries from the pit reporters and coverage of their on-track battles. When there was a lull in actual battling for position, which happens in a 12 hour race, the Hindhaugh and West would talk about individual teams. I'd argue that with the Audi vs. the field dynamic in play, the P1 class probably got less coverage than normal.
Post-race coverage consisted of interviews with the class winners (Allan McNish for P1, Joey Hand for GT, Stephane Sarrazin for P2, and Dion von Möltke for GTC), in addition to Olivier Beretta (main challenger to Hand). There were also checks of the unofficial results in each class and the results of the Michelin Green X Challenge.
Overall, the coverage was pretty good. Lots of action for position and generalized excitement in the booth. I was happy with the telecast. I just wish that we could see more of it on regular television. The ABC version of the race just wasn't as good. O'Connell and Till seemed to mix cars up repeatedly. Just not as good.
I hope you enjoyed this look at ESPN3's coverage of the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring. Next week is the second installment of our diary with Paulie Harraka, but this column will be back on April 5 with a look at SPEED's telecast of the Porsche 250 from Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, Alabama. Until then, enjoy the action from Fontana, St. Petersburg and Kuala Lampur this weekend and have fun.
Phil Allaway is the Newsletter Manager. He can be reached at ashland10@mail.com or phil.allaway@frontstretch.com.
Frontstretch Line of the Week
From A Travesty And A Tragedy: Reviewing The Johnson Appeal Decision by Matt McLaughlin
It reminds me of an old joke. A grandmother is walking her grandson down the beach when a rogue wave sweeps to shore and carries the lad out to sea. Unable to swim, she drops to her knees and begins to pray, "Oh, God, please don't let my grandson drown. If you restore him to me, I'll be the person I know you want me to be, I'll confess my sins, and I'll give one tenth of all I own to charity." Another wave sweeps the boy back to shore and he's fine. The grandmother looks up angrily towards Heaven and hollers, "Hey, he was wearing a hat!"
~~~~~~~~~~
ADVERTISEMENT
Are you looking to advertise your website, product or brand? A good way to get your name out there is via direct advertising here in the Frontstretch Newsletter! Interested parties can contact us at tony.lumbis@frontstretch.com for details.
~~~~~~~~~~
TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
~~~~~~~~~~
The Critic's Annex
Edition #81: Critique Of The Mobil 1 12 Hours Of Sebring
by Phil Allaway
Hello, race fans. Welcome back to the Critic's Annex, where we intend to take additional looks at available racing action for public consumption. Up until now, we've been covering studio shows since before late March, there simply isn't much out there.
However, this past weekend gave viewers four major events to pick from. Naturally, with the help of the good 'ol DVR and internet streaming (legal, of course), I watched them all. I'm a fan of all types of racing, and that is why I often use this space to talk about other series. Last weekend, the American Le Mans Series presented by Patron Tequila and the brand-new World Endurance Championship (WEC) held their season opener in quasi-South Florida at Sebring International Raceway, the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring.
I only say that its "quasi-South Florida" because Sebring fits almost no one's idea of what South Florida is (unless you're from somewhere near there). Press Your Luck giving away trips to Sebring back in the 1980's was always a bit of a headscratcher for me. Outside of the big race, not much goes on there.
For the American Le Mans Series, this past weekend started year No. 2 of their relationship with ESPN, and specifically, ESPN3.com. The only way to watch the complete race (or watch any of it live) was to do it via their website online. Let's just get this out of the way. That bites. Having the whole thing on television live today is probably impossible these days, but ESPN televised portions of sports car races live on TV back in the 1990's. Remember when I wrote 4000+ words about the 1996 Rolex 24 last year? For that race, ESPN (via espn2) provided live coverage from 12:30pm-4:00pm on Saturday, then 7:00am-1:30pm on Sunday. For Sebring, ESPN would televise roughly the first three hours or so, then come back for the final hour. Heck, the race got live coverage on television back in 1986 on TBS.
The point of all this is to say that the American Le Mans Series is getting the major league shaft here. Its not just with Sebring, but for the whole season. Now, I recognize that it might be a little tough for Sebring to get live coverage with all the college basketball on, but its possible to squeeze a little in. Or, perhaps they could take some of that $6.5 billion in per-subscriber fees they get a year and start another general sports cable channel. Now, before I go on, it should be noted that the series is getting a couple of live TV telecasts this year. The first is race No. 2 in Long Beach on April 14, then Mid-Ohio on August 4 and Baltimore on September 2. Long Beach is a Saturday evening race, but starts at 7:30pm EDT and will air on ESPN 2. Mid-Ohio and Baltimore are Saturday afternoon races that will air on ABC. Perhaps these telecasts will be a step in the right direction for the series.
As for the telecast that ESPN3.com viewers got last weekend (which is still viewable in two parts until the middle of next month if you have access to the site), well, it was interesting.
The telecast started off with a look at Sebring's past and the dominant makes (Ford, Porsche, Nissan, etc.) since 2012 marks the 60th running of the 12 hours before Brian Till and Johnny O'Connell introduced the telecast. Or, at least, that was what I was supposed to see. For some reason, I was having some issues with ESPN3's service and missed a little more than half of pre-race. Not cool. What happened is that I went to watch the live coverage on ESPN3 at the scheduled start time of 10:15am, I was greeted with a message that said "Thank You for Watching," as if the show was already over before it started. What's worse is that apparently this issue was mine alone. I asked ESPN about it Saturday and they couldn't replicate my problem. I don't know what the heck was behind that, but I hope I don't see it again the next time I watch a race live on ESPN3.
ESPN provided viewers with six pre-race interviews (the pole winner, Andre Lotterer, the top ALMS P1 driver (Klaus Graf), the top WEC and ALMS GT drivers (Gianmaria "Gimmi" Bruni and Jan Magnussen) and representatives from P2 (Tim Pappas and Olivier Pla). There was also a description of the new entry for Turn 1 due to the expanded pit lane.
While Till and O'Connell went to the booth to provide their commentary on the Sunday afternoon highlight package that aired on ABC, viewers went to the duo of John Hindhaugh and Jeremy West for their commentary. I've stated before that these two men are top notch commentators with a wealth of knowledge about sports car racing. They're not really the type of people to dumb down anything so that it will play better to new fans.
ESPN's pit reporters were the same group from last year (Jamie Howe, Rick DeBruhl and Kelli Stavast), plus a newcomer in Taro Koki who I had admittedly never heard of. A little research shows that Koki is the Executive Producer/Co-Founder of content for GTChannel.com and the CEO of Zigzag Asia Co., Ltd., a company that focuses on Asian pop culture and automotive DVD production. Interesting background, but not a whole lot in front of a camera (although a fair amount behind it). It showed a little on Saturday. However, Koki will have some time to grow into his new role, which he seems to be enjoying.
ESPN's American Le Mans Series finally received some of the new ESPN graphics that all the other divisions of the network received last year. Better late than never, I guess. However, a fair amount of the graphics on the ESPN3 telecast are generated by the American Le Mans Series themselves and not ESPN. Those plain-looking graphics are back for another year.
Early on in the telecast, I noticed some sound issues with the telecast. I had no problem hearing either Hindhaugh or West, but you could barely hear the cars at all, especially when in-car cameras were being used. That would have been a great shame had it not been fixed. It was, but it took over half an hour for the ambient sounds to be adjusted up to their proper volume.
Speaking of in-car cameras, ESPN went all out for the season opener. Nine cars representing each of the major classes carried cameras. However, looking at my notes, all the cars that carried them (with the exception of two of the Audi R18's) were ALMS teams. Interesting. The race itself provided a rather interesting issue for ESPN since there were technically nine classes racing out there and being scored separately. In order to cut down on confusion, ESPN chose to combine the P1, P2 and GT classes from the WEC into the equivalent classes from the American Le Mans Series. A fair move, especially since there is very little (if any) distinction between the cars racing in GT-Pro and GT-Am (its more of a driver distinction than anything else).
Since the WEC takes priority over the ALMS, it creates a rather annoying numbering issue. Last year, when Sebring was a joint round of the ILMC (Intercontinental Le Mans Cup) and ALMS, all of the ALMS teams were forced to run a zero in front of their number in order to not clash with the ILMC teams. That rule was still in effect this year, but only for those teams whose numbers clashed with the WEC teams' numbers since those numbers are locked in with series registration. For commentators, that causes issues because it could lead to a long discussion of a certain team's plans while mistaking the car on-screen for another. This happened during Hour 2 when Hindhaugh was talking about Dempsey Racing's plans to race in P2 later this year. They have the No. 25 in ALMS this year for their LMPC contender. However, the No. 25 is assigned to ADR-Delta in the WEC, forcing Dempsey Racing to use the No. 025. This resulted in Hindhaugh spending over a minute talking about the Dempsey team after misidentifying the car. For next year, I would advise that ALMS and/or WEC take a look into this since the American round is the only one in which this is an issue (the other seven are WEC-exclusive races).
Jean Todt, President of the FIA (Federation Internationale de l'Automobile, the sanctioning body for international motorsports) stopped by the booth to talk about the WEC and its goals of bringing endurance racing to developing markets in the Middle East and Far East (three of the eight WEC rounds are in Asian countries). Todt could be best described as quiet during his interview, which was cut short by a multi-car crash caused by oil on the course. It was hard to tell whether he was happy with the inaugural WEC event, but that's Todt. He's a nervous fellow. Anyone who saw him when he was still at Ferrari would know. There's a reason he always wears tape on his fingers.
ALMS head honcho Scott Atherton stopped by in Hour 6 and blushed about the general direction of the series, which is based heavily on manufacturer involvement and return on investment. The P1 ranks are almost non-existent at the moment, but overall entries are great. The Long Beach round closed their entries recently, maxed out at 36. Atherton believes that between the five normal classes (P1, P2, LMPC, GT and GTC), they'll have that many all year. Things are looking up for the series. In regards to the TV deals, Atherton considers the series to be pioneers in what they believe to be the wave of the future. If so, they're definitely early adopters, possibly to their own detriment.
Overall coverage of the race was fairly varied. Hindhaugh and West didn't simply focus in on the P1 class or the GT class. Everyone got their time on-air. As mentioned previously, cars in all five main classes had in-car cameras. In addition, cars from each class received isolated pit stop commentaries from the pit reporters and coverage of their on-track battles. When there was a lull in actual battling for position, which happens in a 12 hour race, the Hindhaugh and West would talk about individual teams. I'd argue that with the Audi vs. the field dynamic in play, the P1 class probably got less coverage than normal.
Post-race coverage consisted of interviews with the class winners (Allan McNish for P1, Joey Hand for GT, Stephane Sarrazin for P2, and Dion von Möltke for GTC), in addition to Olivier Beretta (main challenger to Hand). There were also checks of the unofficial results in each class and the results of the Michelin Green X Challenge.
Overall, the coverage was pretty good. Lots of action for position and generalized excitement in the booth. I was happy with the telecast. I just wish that we could see more of it on regular television. The ABC version of the race just wasn't as good. O'Connell and Till seemed to mix cars up repeatedly. Just not as good.
I hope you enjoyed this look at ESPN3's coverage of the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring. Next week is the second installment of our diary with Paulie Harraka, but this column will be back on April 5 with a look at SPEED's telecast of the Porsche 250 from Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, Alabama. Until then, enjoy the action from Fontana, St. Petersburg and Kuala Lampur this weekend and have fun.
Phil Allaway is the Newsletter Manager. He can be reached at ashland10@mail.com or phil.allaway@frontstretch.com.
Frontstretch Line of the Week
From A Travesty And A Tragedy: Reviewing The Johnson Appeal Decision by Matt McLaughlin
It reminds me of an old joke. A grandmother is walking her grandson down the beach when a rogue wave sweeps to shore and carries the lad out to sea. Unable to swim, she drops to her knees and begins to pray, "Oh, God, please don't let my grandson drown. If you restore him to me, I'll be the person I know you want me to be, I'll confess my sins, and I'll give one tenth of all I own to charity." Another wave sweeps the boy back to shore and he's fine. The grandmother looks up angrily towards Heaven and hollers, "Hey, he was wearing a hat!"
~~~~~~~~~~
ADVERTISEMENT
Are you looking to advertise your website, product or brand? A good way to get your name out there is via direct advertising here in the Frontstretch Newsletter! Interested parties can contact us at tony.lumbis@frontstretch.com for details.
~~~~~~~~~~
TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
Bristol: Everything Old Is New Again
by Matt McLaughlin
The Education of a NASCAR Fan
by Mark Howell
Beyond the Cockpit: Sam Hornish, Jr. On Driving On The Edge...And Dreading Kindergarten
as told to Amy Henderson
Truckin' Thursdays: Hornaday, Sauter, Buescher Look To Rise To The Top In 2012
by Beth Lunkenheimer
Potts' Shots: How To Flag The Leader And Possible Short Track Expansion?
by John Potts
~~~~~~~~~~
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: Auto Club Speedway has hosted all kinds of different series over the years, from Sprint Cup to CART and Grand-Am. However, a different type of series showed up for an exhibition race in December, 2004. What was it?
Check back Friday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Wednesday's Answer:
Wednesday's Answer:
Q: Recently, JR Motorsports gave viewers a tour of the race car graveyard at Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s "Dirty Mo Acres" on their online show, JRM 360. One of the cars pictured is a No. 88 Navy Seabees - sponsored Chevrolet that Brad Keselowski drove at Auto Club Speedway which was thrashed. What happened to cause the thrashing?
A: The No. 88 Navy Seabees Chevrolet pictured in the linked clip was from the 2007 Camping World 300. Keselowski was racing for position with the No. 1 of J.J. Yeley and the No. 42 of A.J. Allmendinger, who was driving for Chip Ganassi. The cars were three-wide in the tri-oval when they approached the slower No. 0 of Eric McClure. Bliss appeared to move down the track to avoid McClure and got into the right rear of Allmendinger. Allmendinger spun entering Turn 1 and collected Keselowski in the right rear while Bliss went back up the track and hit McClure.
The result of all this mess was that Keselowski's No. 88 was turned head-on into the wall. The car bounded into the air, then was hit on the bottom of the door by Allmendinger. The hit put the car bottom-first into the SAFER Barrier and caused it to ride the wall before sliding down the banking. Oh, and we cannot forget that the car was on fire as well. The crash can be seen in this clip. Dr. Jerry Punch, Rusty Wallace and Andy Petree have the call for ESPN.
All four drivers walked away from their damaged steeds after the crash; however, each car was immediately retired from the race.
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!
~~~~~~~~~~
Coming tomorrow in the Frontstretch Newsletter:
-- Top News from Jeff Wolfe
-- In Case You Missed It by Nick Schwartz
-- Frontstretch Folio: Auto Club 400 by Nick Schwartz
-- Keepin' It Short by Mike Neff
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, trivia, and more!
~~~~~~~~~~
Tomorrow on the Frontstretch:
Four Burning Questions: Fontana by Summer Dreyer
Summer is back with a four-part look at what we should expect from this weekend's Auto Club 400 in Fontana.
MPM2Nite by Matt McLaughlin
Pushed back from yesterday, based on the Bristol Breaking News Matt returns at a special date and time takes a look at the Brad Keselowski - Matt Kenseth restart incident at Bristol. Should there have been a penalty for Kenseth? And how do you master the restart in NASCAR?
Friday Fast Forward Into NASCAR's Future by Bryan Davis Keith
Bryan returns with another interesting commentary piece on the Nationwide Series heading to Fontana.
Voices From the Heartland by Jeff Meyer
Our Midwestern voice turned Tennessee transplant has plenty of "BS News" heading to another snoozer out in Fontana.
Driver Diary: Michael Annett as told to Toni Montgomery
For 2012, we have added Nationwide Series regular Michael Annett to our roster of driver diaries. In his first edition, he talks about the switch to Richard Petty Motorsports for 2012, his NCAA tournament picks and ... his iPod? You'll just have to read to find out more.
The result of all this mess was that Keselowski's No. 88 was turned head-on into the wall. The car bounded into the air, then was hit on the bottom of the door by Allmendinger. The hit put the car bottom-first into the SAFER Barrier and caused it to ride the wall before sliding down the banking. Oh, and we cannot forget that the car was on fire as well. The crash can be seen in this clip. Dr. Jerry Punch, Rusty Wallace and Andy Petree have the call for ESPN.
All four drivers walked away from their damaged steeds after the crash; however, each car was immediately retired from the race.
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!
~~~~~~~~~~
Coming tomorrow in the Frontstretch Newsletter:
-- Top News from Jeff Wolfe
-- In Case You Missed It by Nick Schwartz
-- Frontstretch Folio: Auto Club 400 by Nick Schwartz
-- Keepin' It Short by Mike Neff
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, trivia, and more!
~~~~~~~~~~
Tomorrow on the Frontstretch:
Four Burning Questions: Fontana by Summer Dreyer
Summer is back with a four-part look at what we should expect from this weekend's Auto Club 400 in Fontana.
MPM2Nite by Matt McLaughlin
Pushed back from yesterday, based on the Bristol Breaking News Matt returns at a special date and time takes a look at the Brad Keselowski - Matt Kenseth restart incident at Bristol. Should there have been a penalty for Kenseth? And how do you master the restart in NASCAR?
Friday Fast Forward Into NASCAR's Future by Bryan Davis Keith
Bryan returns with another interesting commentary piece on the Nationwide Series heading to Fontana.
Voices From the Heartland by Jeff Meyer
Our Midwestern voice turned Tennessee transplant has plenty of "BS News" heading to another snoozer out in Fontana.
Driver Diary: Michael Annett as told to Toni Montgomery
For 2012, we have added Nationwide Series regular Michael Annett to our roster of driver diaries. In his first edition, he talks about the switch to Richard Petty Motorsports for 2012, his NCAA tournament picks and ... his iPod? You'll just have to read to find out more.
-----------------------------
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!
Today's Feedback: In Response to A New NASCAR Hero: Brad Keselowski
Sorry Sonya,
Janie,
©2012 Frontstretch.com
Talk back to the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Got something to say about an article you've seen in the newsletter? It's as easy as replying directly to this message or sending an email to editors@frontstretch.com. We'll take the best comments and publish them here!
Today's Feedback: In Response to A New NASCAR Hero: Brad Keselowski
Sorry Sonya,
I wholeheartedly disagree with you on this one. No doubt Brad is a talented driver, but "the next big thing," I don't think so. He lacks character!!! Two examples: first his tacky interference with Carl Edwards at Homestead last year getting into the pits by driving too slowly in front of him (Carl) so that his pit time was delayed, second, the restart at Bristol Sunday. I agree with NASCAR. He deliberately delayed restarting so that Matt Kenseth would either be flagged for restarting too soon or at least be thrown off enough to give him (BK) the advantage.
I submit, if your talented enough and have a good team you don't have to resort to such tactics to win or affect another drivers chances. Finally, I really was put off by his telling Trevor Bayne he helped him win Daytona last year. I just don't like his "snake in the grass" tactics.
Janie,
Santa Cruz, CA
©2012 Frontstretch.com
Feel free to forward this newsletter if you have any friends who loves
NASCAR and great NASCAR commentary. They can subscribe to the Frontstetch by visiting http://www.frontstretch.com/notice/9557/.
If you want to stop your Frontstretch Newsletter subscription, we're sorry
to see you go. Just send an email to
TheFrontstretch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com from the address that you
recieve the Frontstretch Newsletter.
No comments:
Post a Comment