THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
May 28th, 2012
Volume V, Edition XCVI
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Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
May 28th, 2012
Volume V, Edition XCVI
~~~~~~~~~~~
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.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Sprint Cup Race Recap: Victory Eases Kahne's Pain of Expectations
by Jeff Wolfe
Kasey Kahne came into the 2012 Sprint Cup season with high expectations. Until recently, he didn't have many high finishes to match them.
But Kahne was feeling quite high after winning Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Kahne pulled away from second-place finisher Denny Hamlin in the final 30 laps for his first win of the year.
"It's something I've been looking forward to for a long time,'' Kahne said of the first victory for Hendrick Motorsports.
It was Kahne's sixth straight finish of eighth or better and his 13th career victory. It has been quite a rebound for the driver who was hand-picked to take over for Mark Martin in Hendrick Motorsports' No. 5 car this season. Kahne began the season well back in the point standings, even flirting with the 30th spot after the first six races, when he had three finishes of 34th or worse. But Hendrick wanted Kahne enough to work out a one-year deal for Kahne to drive for the now defunct Red Bull Racing team in 2011 as Martin had one year left on his contract - and he was determined to back Kahne through the rough times.
"'You could see it was bothering him,'' Hendrick said of Kahne's early season struggles. ''I tried to reassure him that we're in this for the long haul.''
by Jeff Wolfe
Kasey Kahne came into the 2012 Sprint Cup season with high expectations. Until recently, he didn't have many high finishes to match them.
But Kahne was feeling quite high after winning Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Kahne pulled away from second-place finisher Denny Hamlin in the final 30 laps for his first win of the year.
"It's something I've been looking forward to for a long time,'' Kahne said of the first victory for Hendrick Motorsports.
It was Kahne's sixth straight finish of eighth or better and his 13th career victory. It has been quite a rebound for the driver who was hand-picked to take over for Mark Martin in Hendrick Motorsports' No. 5 car this season. Kahne began the season well back in the point standings, even flirting with the 30th spot after the first six races, when he had three finishes of 34th or worse. But Hendrick wanted Kahne enough to work out a one-year deal for Kahne to drive for the now defunct Red Bull Racing team in 2011 as Martin had one year left on his contract - and he was determined to back Kahne through the rough times.
"'You could see it was bothering him,'' Hendrick said of Kahne's early season struggles. ''I tried to reassure him that we're in this for the long haul.''
And now Kahne seems to be rewarding Hendrick's faith. It was Kahne's third Coca-Cola 600 victory and his fourth overall at Charlotte. It was also Hendrick's 201st career Sprint Cup win and the third straight Sprint Cup win for the organization, starting with Jimmie Johnson's win at Darlington and then the Sprint Cup All-Star race last week. It was also Hendrick's 17th overall win at Charlotte, and tenth in the 400-lap, 600-mile event on the 1.5-mile oval in front of 140,000 fans.
Kahne took control of the race for good after pit stops when the yellow flag came out for debris on lap 319. Kahne and Greg Biffle, who led a race-high 204 circuits, had been trading the lead and were among the eight leaders to come in and make either two or four-tire pit stops. But Hamlin and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. stayed out, but didn't stay in the lead for long.
It took Kahne less than eight laps to regain the top spot after the restart on lap 326, and except for green flag pit stops on lap 353 causing the positions to recycle, Kahne was the leader and clearly had the car that no one else could beat. He led the final 44 laps and 96 overall.
"I just know that the cars and the people we have that Mr. Hendrick gives us is everything that we need to win,'' Kahne said.
Jimmie Johnson lost any chance he had to win when he left his pit box on the final stop with the gas can still in his No. 48 car. It cost him a stop-and-go penalty under the green flag and put him a lap down, leading to an 11th-place finish.
Kyle Busch came home third, well behind the top 2 then Biffle, Brad Keselowski, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth, who finished one lap down rounded out the top 10. Danica Patrick, racing in her first Coca-Cola 600, finished 30th, five laps down.
The finishes of Earnhardt Jr., whose winless streak is now at 141 races, and Gordon gave Hendrick three of the top seven finishers.
''I think we're showing the consistency from all of our teams,'' Hendrick said. ''I can't wait for the second half of the season.''
There were just five yellow flags for 23 laps, making this the fastest of the 51 600-mile races at Charlotte with an average speed of 155.696 mph. That translate to just three hours, 51 minutes, five minutes faster than the previous fastest race in 1995. The clean race continued a season where there have been fewer accidents and more long green-flag runs.
"I think everyone is so used to these cars now," Hamlin said. "I think at the beginning, these cars were a tremendous handful to drive. Obviously we saw some wrecks because of it, especially on restarts. Bottom line, I think everyone is so concerned with points nowadays, you know if you wreck and you finish in the 30s, you're going to take ten races to get that back. I think everyone's just a little bit more patient on restarts, as crazy as that sounds. It's just not as wild on restarts as it used to be a couple years ago. Everyone is minding their Ps and Qs, trying to get the best finish out of their day, knowing the one thing you can't overcome in a race is a crash."
And that's something drivers will be especially careful of heading into next Sunday's 1 p.m. race at Dover, a one-mile concrete oval that has proved treacherous at times.
Jeff Wolfe is a Contributor for Frontstretch.com. He can be reached via e-mail at jeff.wolfe@frontstretch.com.
Tracking The Chase: Win Puts Kahne In Thick of Chase Picture
by Jeff Wolfe
Kasey Kahne had been gaining momentum in the points standings for the past five weeks, but Sunday night's victory at Charlotte puts him right in the thick of the hunt. Kahne, who started the season with a best finish of 14th in the first six races and was well back in the points, has now gone six races with a finish of eighth or better.
He left Charlotte Motor Speedway Sunday night 15th in the point standings, just two places behind the final Chase representative Ryan Newman, who also has one win the season. Kahne, however, is now just seven points behind Newman. The other wild-card qualifier at the moment is Brad Keselowski, who is 11th in points and has two wins on the season. Keselowski is just four points behind tenth-place Carl Edwards, who has yet to win. So, if Keselowski was to finish in the top-10, and a driver without a win was to drop out of the top-10, that means both Newman and Kahne would qualify for the Chase at wild-cards.
But it's a bit early to scoreboard watch, as there are 14 more races remaining in NASCAR's regular season, before the final ten-race Chase for the Championship begins.
Standings: 1) Greg Biffle 453, 2) Matt Kenseth -10, 3) Denny Hamlin -16, 4) Dale Earnhardt, Jr. -18, 5) Jimmie Johnson -48, 6) Martin Truex, Jr. -49, 7) Kevin Harvick -55, 8) Kyle Busch -62, 9) Tony Stewart -65, 10) Carl Edwards -81.
Wild Cards: Brad Keselowski 11th in points, 2 wins; Ryan Newman, 13th in points, 1 win.
Race Winners: Matt Kenseth (Daytona), Denny Hamlin (Phoenix, Kansas), Tony Stewart (Las Vegas, Fontana), Brad Keselowski (Bristol, Talladega), Ryan Newman (Martinsville), Greg Biffle (Texas), Kyle Busch (Richmond), Jimmie Johnson (Darlington), Kasey Kahne (Charlotte).
Tracking the Top-35: Cushion Between 35th and 36th Remains Large
While NASCAR guarantees a starting spot for the top-35 in the points standings each week, those close, or the one on, the 35th-place bubble still have plenty of cushion as there is a 45-point gap between the 35th-place car and the 36th-place car. The No. 36 car driven by Dave Blaney sits in the 35th spot, but the lead oftener the No. 21 car driven by Trevor Bayne, which is a part-time team due to sponsorship issues. Bayne finished 24th Sunday night while Blaney dropped out early with engine problems and finished 40th. Stephen Leicht, with the new Circle Sport No. 33 team had mechanical problems and retired within the first 100 laps - his team appears unable to have enough funding to make the distance consistently. They're the next team in line behind Bayne, a whopping 51 points from securing a top-35 spot.
Here's your owner point standings around the all-important cutoff.
29) Front Row Motorsports (No. 38 - David Gilliland), 86 points ahead of 36th.
30) Front Row Motorsports (No. 34 - David Ragan), 82 points ahead of 36th.
31) BK Racing (No. 93 – Travis Kvapil), 73 points ahead of 36th.
32) BK Racing (No. 83 - Landon Cassill), 65 points ahead of 36th.
33) FAS Lane Racing (No. 32 – T.J. Bell), 56 points ahead of 36th.
34) Tommy Baldwin Racing/Stewart-Haas Racing (No. 10 – Danica Patrick), 53 points ahead of 36th.
35) Tommy Baldwin Racing (No. 36 - Dave Blaney), 45 points ahead of 36th.
36) Wood Brothers Racing (No. 21 - Trevor Bayne), 45 points behind 35th.
37) Richard Childress Racing/LJ Racing (No. 33 – Stephen Leicht), 51 points behind 35th.
38) Inception Motorsports (No. 30 - David Stremme), 69 points behind 35th.
39) Robinson-Blakeney Racing (No. 49 - J.J. Yeley), 81 points behind 35th.
40) Front Row Motorsports (No. 26 - Josh Wise), 95 points behind 35th.
Jeff Wolfe is a Contributor for Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at jeff.wolfe@frontstretch.com.
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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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Secret Star Of The Race: The Best Run You Never Saw: coming in a separate Newsletter later today
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Quotes To Remember: Coming in a separate Newsletter later today
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Quotes To Remember: Coming in a separate Newsletter later today
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TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
Matt McLaughlin's Thinkin' Out Loud: World 600 Race Recap
by Matt McLaughlin
The Big Six: Questions Answered After The Coca-Cola 600
by Amy Henderson
Pace Laps: NASCAR's Fakery, Indy's Twists and Turns, And A Safety Message
by the Frontstretch Staff
by Ron Lemasters
A Rollercoaster Ride To Redemption
by Tom Bowles
A Last-Lap Thriller For The Ages: Indy 500 Race Recap
by Toni Montgomery
A Rollercoaster Ride To Redemption
by Tom Bowles
A Last-Lap Thriller For The Ages: Indy 500 Race Recap
by Toni Montgomery
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: In the 1992 Budweiser 500 at then-Dover Downs International Speedway, Derrike Cope and Wally Dallenbach, Jr. crashed hard on the frontstretch. That's not necessarily out of the ordinary since Dover is a "self-cleaning" racetrack. What is unusual is that the yellow was out for an astonishing 37 laps. Why?
Check back Tuesday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Friday's Answer:
Q: In 1992, Al Unser, Sr. finished third in the Indianapolis 500 in a substitute role with Team Menard in their No. 27 Conseco-sponsored Lola Buick. The Buick engine in Unser's No. 27 was rather unique in that it had a butterfly cylinder. What does this mean?
A: The Buick engine was unique at Indianapolis in the early 1990's just by being a V6, as opposed to the V8 Ford Cosworth and Chevrolets that were commonplace. However, ABC described the "butterfly cylinder" on Unser's engine as essentially being a seventh cylinder. Team Menard was by far the strongest team in the race using the Buick engines, but the question was whether any of them could finish. Out of the 12 drivers that started with Buick engines, only Unser and John Paul, Jr. in ninth managed to finish the race.
Q: In the 1992 Budweiser 500 at then-Dover Downs International Speedway, Derrike Cope and Wally Dallenbach, Jr. crashed hard on the frontstretch. That's not necessarily out of the ordinary since Dover is a "self-cleaning" racetrack. What is unusual is that the yellow was out for an astonishing 37 laps. Why?
Check back Tuesday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Friday's Answer:
Q: In 1992, Al Unser, Sr. finished third in the Indianapolis 500 in a substitute role with Team Menard in their No. 27 Conseco-sponsored Lola Buick. The Buick engine in Unser's No. 27 was rather unique in that it had a butterfly cylinder. What does this mean?
A: The Buick engine was unique at Indianapolis in the early 1990's just by being a V6, as opposed to the V8 Ford Cosworth and Chevrolets that were commonplace. However, ABC described the "butterfly cylinder" on Unser's engine as essentially being a seventh cylinder. Team Menard was by far the strongest team in the race using the Buick engines, but the question was whether any of them could finish. Out of the 12 drivers that started with Buick engines, only Unser and John Paul, Jr. in ninth managed to finish the race.
Coming Tomorrow in the Frontstretch Newsletter:
-- Top News from Kevin Rutherford
-- Sitting In the Stands: A Fan's View by S.D. Grady
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, and more!
Coming Tomorrow On The Frontstretch:
The Yellow Stripe by Danny Peters
Danny is back with another interesting commentary.
5 Points To Ponder by Danny Peters
Bryan returns with a series of storylines setting you up for Dover.
Who's Hot / Who's Not in Sprint Cup Presented by StarCoach Race Tours: Coke 600-Dover Edition by Brett Poirier
With the lone 600-mile race in the books, Brett looks at what positive trends are developing in NASCAR's two top series and which drivers need a breather heading into Sunday's race in Dover.
Couch Potato Tuesday by Phil Allaway
This past weekend, the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series competed at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Meanwhile, the Izod IndyCar Series finally completed the month of May with the pomp and circumstance of the Indianapolis 500. Were the race telecasts for these events up to snuff? Find out in this week's edition of the TV Critique.
We'll have a special Cup Series guest stop by to discuss the technical aspects of our sport.
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