THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
April 24th, 2012
Volume VI, Edition LXX
by Kevin Rutherford
Humphrey Smith Racing Reveal 2012 Plans
After joining the Sprint Cup Series at Auto Club Speedway in March with a 40th-place finish, Humphrey Smith Racing owner Randy Humphrey has revealed a few details concerning the team's plans for its inaugural season.
"It's taken us a little longer than we planned, and been a little tougher than we thought, but we're working at it," said Humphrey in an interview with the Topeka Capital Journal. "We've been thankful to be here, and NASCAR's really been good to allow us to keep working at it and it's been good to us. We're trying to build our program into a bigger program. It's all about people, it's all about sponsors and making everything go."
Humphrey was a part-owner in the HP Racing, LLC team that field the No. 66 for Michael McDowell in 2011. At season's end, Humphrey and fellow owner Phil Parsons split, with Parsons and McDowell moving to the No. 98 with some assistance from Mike Curb. Meanwhile, Humphrey has paired with Mark Smith, owner of Nationwide Series team TriStar Motorsports and PME, to field the No. 19 that has been driven by Mike Bliss thus far in 2012.
"Phil and I made a decision to do something different," said Humphrey. "They went a different direction and we went a different direction. We partnered up with Mark Smith, who has been building our motors for four years and owns three Nationwide teams. We rented a new big shop. Bliss had been driving for us before, and we got Mike to drive for us."
According to Humphrey, the mission of the team is to be able to race eventually, though Bliss has been forced to start-and-park during the past four races. The team reportedly does have sponsorship lined up for certain races later in the season, and will also run some events out-of-pocket.
JGR Close to Extension with Toyota
Those theorizing that Joe Gibbs Racing could move to Dodge at season's end may be silenced soon.
According to a report from ESPN, JGR executives are close to a contract extension with Toyota, with a signing potentially happening within the next month.
"We're working on that," team president J.D. Gibbs said on Sunday after Denny Hamlin's Kansas victory. "We'll be with Toyota for a long time to come."
The speculation that Gibbs' teams might move to Dodge was fueled by Penske Racing's departure from the manufacturer, and that JGR's contract with Toyota is up at the end of the 2012 season.
The announcement leaves Dodge without a cornerstone operation in NASCAR, with Robby Gordon Motorsports' one-car operation remaining its only returning team at the moment.
Steve Wallace, Rusty Wallace Racing Return to Nationwide at Richmond
After missing the first six events of the 2012 season, Steve Wallace and Rusty Wallace Racing will return to the NASCAR Nationwide Series at this weekend's Virginia 529 College Savings 250 at Richmond International Raceway.
The announcement caps off speculation that Wallace would return to the series, first prompted by a tweet made by Kenny Wallace that the team would return at the short track.
Wallace will pilot the No. 4 Loanmax Ford in the event, with the team using the owners points from Johnny Davis Motorsports' operation that normally runs the car number with a variety of drivers, meaning that the team will be locked in to the event and will not need to qualify on speed.
The effort to get Wallace to the track is a collaboration with JTG Daugherty Racing. The No. 4 Mustang was prepared in RWR's shop, but on race day, the car will be serviced by JTG Daugherty's pit crew, with Todd Berrier acting as crew chief.
I'm really excited to get back on the racetrack finally," said Wallace. "We've worked very hard to make this happen. Blake [Bainbridge] and I, along with a couple of other guys, put the entire car together. We tested it the other day up at Motor Mile Speedway and it went really well. Hopefully we'll have a smooth race and put together a good finish that can help us firm up some sponsorship to run more races this year."
The plan is for Richmond to be the first of a limited schedule in the series for Wallace and RWR in 2012.
Have news for Kevin 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
Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop: The Hendrick 200th Win Vigil
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
Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop: The Hendrick 200th Win Vigil
Sitting In The Stands: A Fan's View
by S.D. Grady
Its gonna happen...soon. Anytime now. In fact, it should've occurred last month, last week, yesterday. But it didn't. In case you live in the backwoods of no-nevermind, Hendrick Motorsports has not logged their 200th Sprint Cup win--much to the disappointment of our friendly FOX broadcast crew.
By now we all know about the stack of hats hiding in one of the Hendrick haulers with special embroidery, the potential bonus for whichever driver takes the checkers on the future date and now a montage created by the production TV crew just to celebrate the already legendary racing stable.
I get it. Winning 200 races at the Cup level is a big deal. I'm even fairly excited the hallmark will be achieved by Hendrick. I'm just tired of waiting. Or rather, perhaps I'm frustrated that the possibility has been trotted out for us to think about for at least a third of the broadcasts on Sunday's races...only for it not to come to be.
Auto racing is a sport of instant gratification. We want everything to happen right now. We get a winner for each practice session, qualifying...even non-points events offer up bonuses for winning portions of a race. Only the points system is designed to stretch the average fan's attention span out over the entire season. Otherwise, we tune in to see who will win today, not if a particular team will win.
Surprise and shock are key to this illusion of "anything can happen" feeling that is largely associated with NASCAR. Yes, there's some predictability on watching a cookie-cutter event. There's even a good chance we can pick a winner from the list of entrants. Or at least we like to think so.
However, the odds are actually against any particular driver on race day crossing the finish line ahead of his fellow competitors. It's a 1:43 shot, if you want to count in even the teams that have no intention of running the whole race. 1:20 when we only count those teams that can actually execute a believable pass at any particular venue. That's not too good. Even so, Hendrick has padded his end as much as allowable by the sanctioning body.
Thus, the fact we are all staring at each other wondering what could possibly be wrong with Hendrick, since they haven't won in 14 races, is actually slightly out of kilter. Yes, Rick and his boys have pretty much owned the trophy room for the last fifteen years, but we all know the good times can't last forever. There's going to be a drought at some point in a driver's career. Who knew it would hit the No.'s 24 and 48 at the same time? Counting on the No. 5 or the No. 88 to snare that celebratory victory is really pushing the odds. And it's clear Fate is not interested in bucking the odds right now.
Thus we're stuck; no farther forward and incapable of stepping back. 199 blinks like neon with each NASCAR show we listen to or watch. The pain of repetition has been our constant companion for about a month, now. _The destiny of the chosen sons is preordained! They will have 200 wins!_ Oh, the agony of it all.
I've decided to use a tried and true Boston Red Sox approach to the problem. The best way for me to enjoy the inevitable--for the bicentennial mark will happen--is to deny the possibility. For 86 years, we (Boston) watched our team fail to win a World Series and thus a fatalistic attitude was adopted by the locals: Don't believe it can happen. We didn't believe. We really didn't, not until the end of Game 7 against the Yankees. Whenever the local news station would trot out their analysts and tell us this was the year, we'd turn off the TV. It hurt too much to have any hope dashed--again.
And so I shall. No more thoughts or excitement will be generated for the impending celebration. I'm not buying into it. There's gonna be a race this Saturday night at Richmond! Great track. Usually great racing. 43 teams will parade before the green flag flies and there's a good shot an MWR or Roush car will take the trophy. I might even turn off the volume so I won't hear DW harp on the topic of this column a few times more. And I'll enjoy every minute of the silence.
Sonya's Weekly Danica Stat
She didn't race this week. Look for her Richmond results next week.
by S.D. Grady
Its gonna happen...soon. Anytime now. In fact, it should've occurred last month, last week, yesterday. But it didn't. In case you live in the backwoods of no-nevermind, Hendrick Motorsports has not logged their 200th Sprint Cup win--much to the disappointment of our friendly FOX broadcast crew.
By now we all know about the stack of hats hiding in one of the Hendrick haulers with special embroidery, the potential bonus for whichever driver takes the checkers on the future date and now a montage created by the production TV crew just to celebrate the already legendary racing stable.
I get it. Winning 200 races at the Cup level is a big deal. I'm even fairly excited the hallmark will be achieved by Hendrick. I'm just tired of waiting. Or rather, perhaps I'm frustrated that the possibility has been trotted out for us to think about for at least a third of the broadcasts on Sunday's races...only for it not to come to be.
Auto racing is a sport of instant gratification. We want everything to happen right now. We get a winner for each practice session, qualifying...even non-points events offer up bonuses for winning portions of a race. Only the points system is designed to stretch the average fan's attention span out over the entire season. Otherwise, we tune in to see who will win today, not if a particular team will win.
Surprise and shock are key to this illusion of "anything can happen" feeling that is largely associated with NASCAR. Yes, there's some predictability on watching a cookie-cutter event. There's even a good chance we can pick a winner from the list of entrants. Or at least we like to think so.
However, the odds are actually against any particular driver on race day crossing the finish line ahead of his fellow competitors. It's a 1:43 shot, if you want to count in even the teams that have no intention of running the whole race. 1:20 when we only count those teams that can actually execute a believable pass at any particular venue. That's not too good. Even so, Hendrick has padded his end as much as allowable by the sanctioning body.
Thus, the fact we are all staring at each other wondering what could possibly be wrong with Hendrick, since they haven't won in 14 races, is actually slightly out of kilter. Yes, Rick and his boys have pretty much owned the trophy room for the last fifteen years, but we all know the good times can't last forever. There's going to be a drought at some point in a driver's career. Who knew it would hit the No.'s 24 and 48 at the same time? Counting on the No. 5 or the No. 88 to snare that celebratory victory is really pushing the odds. And it's clear Fate is not interested in bucking the odds right now.
Thus we're stuck; no farther forward and incapable of stepping back. 199 blinks like neon with each NASCAR show we listen to or watch. The pain of repetition has been our constant companion for about a month, now. _The destiny of the chosen sons is preordained! They will have 200 wins!_ Oh, the agony of it all.
I've decided to use a tried and true Boston Red Sox approach to the problem. The best way for me to enjoy the inevitable--for the bicentennial mark will happen--is to deny the possibility. For 86 years, we (Boston) watched our team fail to win a World Series and thus a fatalistic attitude was adopted by the locals: Don't believe it can happen. We didn't believe. We really didn't, not until the end of Game 7 against the Yankees. Whenever the local news station would trot out their analysts and tell us this was the year, we'd turn off the TV. It hurt too much to have any hope dashed--again.
And so I shall. No more thoughts or excitement will be generated for the impending celebration. I'm not buying into it. There's gonna be a race this Saturday night at Richmond! Great track. Usually great racing. 43 teams will parade before the green flag flies and there's a good shot an MWR or Roush car will take the trophy. I might even turn off the volume so I won't hear DW harp on the topic of this column a few times more. And I'll enjoy every minute of the silence.
Sonya's Weekly Danica Stat
She didn't race this week. Look for her Richmond results next week.
S.D. Grady is a Senior Editor for Frontstretch.com. She can be reached via e-mail at sonya.grady@frontstretch.com. Follow her on Twitter at @laregna.
~~~~~~~~~~
Numbers Game: STP 400 Edition
by Garrett Horton
2
To say it's been a rocky start for Jeff Gordon would be a huge understatement. His two finishes of 35th or worse eclipses the number of top-5's he has this year – one, which came last week at Texas Motor Speedway.
3
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has three top-5's in 2012, just one short of the most he's had in a year since 2008. His four top-5 results last season were the most since his rookie campaign with Rick Hendrick.
3.25
The last four races have averaged only 3.25 cautions. The short track Martinsville was the only one that had more than three yellows, with seven.
6
Since crashing out of the Daytona 500 and finishing 42nd, Jimmie Johnson has averaged a sixth place finish the following seven races, slightly below Greg Biffle's 5.9 average result in all eight races in 2012.
7
While no race has been won from the pole in 2012, seven out of the eight races have been won by a driver who started in the top-10. The only time a race winner started further back was when Denny Hamlin took the checkered flag at Phoenix after starting 13th.
11
By finishing ninth at Kansas, Carl Edwards now has 11 consecutive top-10 finishes at tracks that are a mile and a half in length. The last time he finished outside the top-10 at one of these tracks was last May in the Coke 600 at Charlotte, when he finished 16th.
12
The highest up a driver in points without a top-5 finish in 2012 is Joey Logano, who sits 12th in points. His best finish so far was a ninth-place effort in the season opening Daytona 500.
13th
The worst points leader Greg Biffle has finished all year – he finished 13th at the two short tracks, Bristol and Martinsville.
19
Denny Hamlin picked up his 19th career win on Sunday, which is the fourth most since his rookie season in 2006. Hamlin trails only Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, and JGR teammate Kyle Busch in the win column.
173
Martin Truex led 173 laps on Sunday, the second highest total of his Cup career. The only time he led more circuits in a race was five years ago at Dover, when he paced the field 216 times en route to his first and only career victory. This comes a week after leading 69 laps at Texas, which is now his fifth highest total for laps led in a race.
199
Hamlin's win at Kansas was the 199th victory for the car number 11, passing the No. 43 for most all-time.
363
Going back to last season, Martin Truex, Jr. has scored a total of 363 points over the last ten races, more than any other driver.
2066
Dave Blaney, who came so close to winning the Daytona 500, has completed just 2066 out of a possible 2526 laps this year, fewer than any other driver who has started all eight races.
Garrett Horton is a Contributor for Frontstretch.com. He can be reached via e-mail at garrrett.horton@frontstretch.com.
~~~~~~~~~~
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 frontstretcheditors@googlegroups.com for details.
~~~~~~~~~~~
TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
Denny Hamlin Hungry for More After Kansas Victory
by Tom Bowles
Five Points to Ponder: Gears Gone Bad and Sponsor Smarts
by Bryan Davis Keith
Couch Potato Tuesday: Waltrip Touts Changes but FOX Under-Delivers
by Phil Allaway
Tech Talk: Prepping the Future of NASCAR for Richmond
by Mike Neff
Who's Hot / Who's Not in NASCAR: Kansas/Richmond Edition
by Brett Poirier
~~~~~~~~~~~
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: In Richmond, cold weather eventually resulted in the first of their two Cup races getting pushed back until later in the season in order to make it more hospitable for fans. The 1996 Pontiac Excitement 400 is just one example of this type of cold weather. Just how cold was it that day?
~~~~~~~~~~
Numbers Game: STP 400 Edition
by Garrett Horton
2
To say it's been a rocky start for Jeff Gordon would be a huge understatement. His two finishes of 35th or worse eclipses the number of top-5's he has this year – one, which came last week at Texas Motor Speedway.
3
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has three top-5's in 2012, just one short of the most he's had in a year since 2008. His four top-5 results last season were the most since his rookie campaign with Rick Hendrick.
3.25
The last four races have averaged only 3.25 cautions. The short track Martinsville was the only one that had more than three yellows, with seven.
6
Since crashing out of the Daytona 500 and finishing 42nd, Jimmie Johnson has averaged a sixth place finish the following seven races, slightly below Greg Biffle's 5.9 average result in all eight races in 2012.
7
While no race has been won from the pole in 2012, seven out of the eight races have been won by a driver who started in the top-10. The only time a race winner started further back was when Denny Hamlin took the checkered flag at Phoenix after starting 13th.
11
By finishing ninth at Kansas, Carl Edwards now has 11 consecutive top-10 finishes at tracks that are a mile and a half in length. The last time he finished outside the top-10 at one of these tracks was last May in the Coke 600 at Charlotte, when he finished 16th.
12
The highest up a driver in points without a top-5 finish in 2012 is Joey Logano, who sits 12th in points. His best finish so far was a ninth-place effort in the season opening Daytona 500.
13th
The worst points leader Greg Biffle has finished all year – he finished 13th at the two short tracks, Bristol and Martinsville.
19
Denny Hamlin picked up his 19th career win on Sunday, which is the fourth most since his rookie season in 2006. Hamlin trails only Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, and JGR teammate Kyle Busch in the win column.
173
Martin Truex led 173 laps on Sunday, the second highest total of his Cup career. The only time he led more circuits in a race was five years ago at Dover, when he paced the field 216 times en route to his first and only career victory. This comes a week after leading 69 laps at Texas, which is now his fifth highest total for laps led in a race.
199
Hamlin's win at Kansas was the 199th victory for the car number 11, passing the No. 43 for most all-time.
363
Going back to last season, Martin Truex, Jr. has scored a total of 363 points over the last ten races, more than any other driver.
2066
Dave Blaney, who came so close to winning the Daytona 500, has completed just 2066 out of a possible 2526 laps this year, fewer than any other driver who has started all eight races.
Garrett Horton is a Contributor for Frontstretch.com. He can be reached via e-mail at garrrett.horton@frontstretch.com.
~~~~~~~~~~
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 frontstretcheditors@googlegroups.com for details.
~~~~~~~~~~~
TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
Denny Hamlin Hungry for More After Kansas Victory
by Tom Bowles
Five Points to Ponder: Gears Gone Bad and Sponsor Smarts
by Bryan Davis Keith
Couch Potato Tuesday: Waltrip Touts Changes but FOX Under-Delivers
by Phil Allaway
Tech Talk: Prepping the Future of NASCAR for Richmond
by Mike Neff
Who's Hot / Who's Not in NASCAR: Kansas/Richmond Edition
by Brett Poirier
~~~~~~~~~~~
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: In Richmond, cold weather eventually resulted in the first of their two Cup races getting pushed back until later in the season in order to make it more hospitable for fans. The 1996 Pontiac Excitement 400 is just one example of this type of cold weather. Just how cold was it that day?
Check back Wednesday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Monday's Answer:
Q: We'll make today's trivia question easy. Last year, the Spring Nationwide race at Richmond was pre-empted off of ESPN's family of networks and aired live on SPEED instead. Why?
A: Last year's BUBBA Burger 250 coincided with ESPN's coverage of both the NFL Draft and the First Round of the NBA Playoffs. As a result, there was simply no room on ESPN for the race to air at a remotely decent hour. This year, the race can air on ESPN 2, but only because the NBA lockout resulted in the Playoffs being delayed until next week. The NFL Draft is ESPN's baby, having been built up from literally nothing TV-wise in 1980 to the colossus that it is today.
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 Brad Morgan
-- Full Throttle by Mike Neff
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, and more!
~~~~~~~~~~
Tomorrow on the Frontstretch:
Did You Notice?... by Tom Bowles
Tom is back with his series of quick hits after Kansas.
Going Green by Garrett Horton
Garrett is back with a commentary piece that is sure to make you think
Mirror Driving by the Frontstretch Staff
Your favorite Frontstretch writers are back to discuss a variety of different topics, including Travis Pastrana's long-awaited debut in the Nationwide Series this weekend, proper etiquette for drivers about to be lapped by the leaders, whether the sponsor issues in NASCAR are finally starting to turn the corner, and more.
Frontstretch Top Ten by the Frontstretch Staff
We'll have a top ten list that will tickle your funny bone .
Sprint Cup Power Rankings compiled by Summer Dreyer
Greg Biffle kept his streak of top-5 finishes going on Sunday. But was that performance, combined with consistency enough to keep him on top of our list? See who your favorite NASCAR experts from around the web voted to the top of our power rankings poll after a weekend in the Lone Star State.
Beyond The Cockpit: Timothy Peters as told to Summer Dreyer
The driver of Red Horse Racing's No. 17 Toyota in the Truck Series talks about his season to date prior to the SFP 250 last weekend at Kansas Speedway
-----------------------------
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©2012 Frontstretch.com
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