THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
July 9th, 2012
Volume V, Edition CXXVII
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Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
July 9th, 2012
Volume V, Edition CXXVII
~~~~~~~~~~~
Sprint Cup Race Recap: Stewart in Prime Chase Position with Coke Zero 400 Victory
by Jeff Wolfe
In a race where there were no guarantees, Tony Stewart virtually guaranteed himself a spot in NASCAR's Chase for the Championship Saturday night at Daytona.
Stewart won his third race of the season in the 400-mile, 160-lap event on the famed 2.5-mile oval. The defending Sprint Cup champion joined Brad Keselowski as the only three time winners this season and they are each inside the top-10 in points with seven races left in the Sprint Cup's regular season.
But, as is often the case, there was nothing regular about the final laps of a Daytona race, a restrictor plate track where the cars run in a large pack, which is also a prime recipe for multi-car accidents.
Stewart's recipe for victory included getting a big push from Kasey Kahne on the outside lane on the final lap, which was enough to push him by race leader Matt Kenseth, who was getting help from Roush Fenway Racing teammate Greg Biffle.
"I don't even remember what happened on the last lap," said Stewart, who won his fourth mid-summer Daytona race and 18th race there overall, but is still without a season-opening Daytona 500 victory. "I was in the second lane and tried to get the 17 (Kenseth) and 16 (Biffle) pulled apart. Once we got that done that gave us a run on the outside.
"This is a weird day. I'm still voting for this to be a Figure 8 race."
It was quite the weird weekend for Stewart, who led 22 laps in his 47th career win in front of an estimated crowd of 115,000. He qualified second Friday, only to be demoted to the back of the field and start 38th because of an illegal cooling hose found in post-qualifying inspection. Then, early Saturday night, he was in a three-car pack that included Keselowski about 20 seconds behind the leader due to a lengthy pit stop under the green flag. The first of six yellow flags for a total of 23 laps came on lap 81 and put Stewart back in contention.
The key pit stop for him though came after a Kurt Busch wreck caused the next caution on lap 91. Stewart was one of only a few cars to stop for fuel. That call by crew chief Steve Addington allowed Stewart to only need one can of fuel on the final stop, compared to most other teams needing two cans, which takes a couple of more seconds.
So, on the Stewart's final stop on lap 127, he picked up six spots to win the race off pit road and put him in the lead. And that put him ahead of the pack for the craziness that included two 14-car crashes in the in the final eight laps.
"We've had really good luck at Daytona, obviously, and I wish I could trade a couple of these races in for just one Sunday race in February," Stewart said. "You know, its just being at the right place at the right time, and when those last two big wrecks happened, we were in the right spot. We were ahead of them both times."
And after the checkered flag flew, with Jeff Burton avoiding the melee to finish second, and Kenseth taking third, a big part of the track did resemble one of those figure 8 demolation derby tracks. Biffle got loose to start the last lap crash. The first Big One came with eight laps remaining and Kenseth having just passed Stewart for the lead. It also came when Biffle got loose and came down into Denny Hamlin, who was running the low line.
"We were all jockeying for position," Hamlin said. "I think the 16 came down and got into my right front fender. I was already loose anyway. I was just a ping pong ball after that point."
Biffle, who led 35 laps, spent much of the night pushing Kenseth, who led a race-high 89 laps. And the tandem appeared to be the fastest duo when they could get together. They even moved from the back of the pack to the front after entering pit road on lap 125 immediately after it closed due to an accident. Biffle stopped and took fuel and service and Kenseth kept going and pitted with the rest of the field. A penalty put Biffle in the back and when Kenseth did stop for service, he too was in the back.
So, they were together again in first and third on the final restart. But a slight separation on the final lap, combined with Stewart's big push from Kahne, allowed Stewart to take the lead.
"It's just disappointing because I thought we had the best car," Kenseth said. "It seems like we made the wrong moves. Today, once we got separated off two, I should have just tried to stay with them. But I tried to slow up and get help from my teammate who had been helping me the whole night.
"It's just a different kind of racing. I thought we a did good job to get back up front. And that last lap, it gets crazy. You don't know what's going on two or three rows behind you."
Kahne, who drives a Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, admitted he wanted to see the Hendrick-powered Chevy of Stewart win, rather than one of the Roush Fenway Fords driven by Kenseth or Biffle.
"I was trying all I could because I would rather see Tony win than those two," said Kahne, who survived to finish seventh. "By the time I got to four, there were way too many cars for too small of a place."
Burton may have made the best crash-saving moves of the night, both on the final lap. He saved his car once in the first turn after getting a bump from behind, then found his way through the final turn carnage staying high near the wall to emerge in second.
"I had to go somewhere," he said of the final move. "We had to just kind of ride around in the back or we were going to overheat. That kept us out of some trouble. We got going with about 30 to go and missed a couple of wrecks. Anytime you leave here with your car not torn up it's a good night."
The rest of the top-10 after Kenseth was Joey Logano in fourth, Ryan Newman, Carl Edwards, Kahne, Keselowski, Michael Waltrip and Bobby Labonte.
"I'd rather be lucky than good," Logano said. "We had one up and down night. Going into Turn 3 on the last lap, was just bumper cars. I got loose and then saved it."
Part of the weirdness of the night included NASCAR announcing the suspension of driver A.J. Allmendinger Saturday afternoon for violating the sport's substance abuse policy. That left Penske Racing scrambling for a driver and it summoned current Nationwide and former Sprint Cup driver Sam Hornish, Jr. from North Carolina, where he serving as the driver analyst on the NASCAR pre-race edition of SPEED Center. He arrived at the track about ten minutes before the race started.
"It was the first time I put a (driver's) suit on in an airplane," said Hornish, who finished 33rd. "I was pretty comfortable in the car. I was just trying to make it to the end. It was an up and down day for sure."
The Sprint Cup series heads next to Loudon, New Hampshire for the Lenox Industrial Tools 301. Coverage starts with Countdown to Green at Noon, followed by a 1 p.m. EDT start on TNT.
Jeff Wolfe is a Contributor for Frontstretch.com. He can be reached via e-mail at jeff.wolfe@frontstretch.com.
Tracking The Chase: Logano Takes Final Chase Spot for Now
by Jeff Wolfe
In the race for the final spot in NASCAR's Chase for the Championship, Joey Logano, who some call "Sliced Bread" because of his slight build, is leading by the slimmest of margins after Saturday night's Sprint Cup race in Daytona.
Logano's fourth-place finish gave him a one-point lead over Ryan Newman and a three-point lead over Kasey Kahne for the 12th and final spot in NASCAR's version of the playoffs. Newman finished fifth and Kahne was seventh Saturday.\
The top-10 in points and the next two drivers with the most wins in the top-20 points qualify for the Chase. Logano, Newman and Kahne each have one win. The other wild-card at the moment goes to Kyle Busch, who is 12th in points and also has one victory. He has a 13-point lead over Logano.
Other drivers who could instantly put themselves in the Chase, or in hot contention for a Chase spot if they get a win, include Carl Edwards, who is 11th in points, but 31 behind tenth-place Clint Bowyer; Paul Menard who is 13th in points, nine behind Busch and four ahead of Logano; and Jeff Gordon, who is 17th in points, 18 behind Logano.
Saturday's big winner in the points standings was race winner Tony Stewart. He jumped from ninth to fifth and is now 84 points behind leader Matt Kenseth. However, since it was Stewart's third victory in the Chase, it virtually guarantees the defending champion a playoff spot. Stewart and ninth-place Brad Keselowski are the only two drivers with three victories this year. And, since NASCAR resets the Chase standings with bonus points based on victories, Stewart and Keselowski would be the two leaders at the moment.
Kenseth, who has one win at the season-opening Daytona 500, saw his points lead increase to 25 over Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and 44 over Roush Fenway teammate Greg Biffle. Kenseth finished third Saturday while Earnhardt Jr. was 15th and Biffle was 21st.
The biggest loser in the points battle was Clint Bowyer, who dropped from seventh to tenth after getting caught up in the big crash on Lap 153. Bowyer, however, does have one victory to fall back on should he fall back out of the top-10.
There are now seven races remaining in NASCAR's regular season. The final regular season race is at Richmond Sept. 8.
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Standings: 1) Matt Kenseth 676, 2) Dale Earnhardt, Jr. -25, 3) Greg Biffle -44, 4) Jimmie Johnson -58, 5) Tony Stewart -84, 6) Kevin Harvick -90, t-7) Denny Hamlin -92, t-7) Martin Truex, Jr. -92, 9) Brad Keselowski -103, 10) Clint Bowyer -104.
Wild Cards: Kyle Busch 12th in points, 1 win; Joey Logano 14th in points, 1 win.
Race Winners: Matt Kenseth (Daytona 500), Denny Hamlin (Phoenix, Kansas), Tony Stewart (Las Vegas, Fontana, Daytona (July)), Brad Keselowski (Bristol, Talladega, Kentucky), Ryan Newman (Martinsville), Greg Biffle (Texas); Kyle Busch (Richmond), Jimmie Johnson (Darlington, Dover), Kasey Kahne (Charlotte), Joey Logano (Pocono), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Michigan); Clint Bowyer (Sonoma).
Tracking the Top 35: Margin Balloons to Nearly Two Full Races Between 35th and 36th
While NASCAR guarantees a starting spot for the top-35 in the owners points standings each week, those close, or the one on, the 35th-place bubble still have plenty of cushion as the gap between the 35th place car and the 36th place car grew from 65 to 85 points Saturday. The No. 36 car driven by Dave Blaney Saturday sits in the 35th spot and the No. 33 car driven by Stephen Leicht is in 36th. Blaney finished 22nd Saturday and Leicht was 42nd.
Here's your owners point standings around the all-important cutoff.
29) Front Row Motorsports (No. 34 - David Ragan), 154 points ahead of 36th.
30) BK Racing (No. 93 – Travis Kvapil), 152 points ahead of 36th.
31) Front Row Motorsports (No. 38 - David Gilliland), 136 points ahead of 36th
32) Tommy Baldwin Racing/Stewart-Haas Racing (No. 10 – David Reutimann), 111 points ahead of 36th.
33) BK Racing (No. 83 - Landon Cassill), 100 points ahead of 36th.
34) FAS Lane Racing (No. 32 – Terry Labonte), 96 points ahead of 36th.
35) Tommy Baldwin Racing (No. 36 – Dave Blaney), 85 points ahead of 36th
36) Richard Childress Racing/ LJ Racing (No. 33 – Stephen Leicht), 85 points behind 35th.
37) Wood Brothers Racing (No. 21 - Trevor Bayne), 109 points behind 35th.
38) Robinson-Blakeney Racing (No. 49 - J.J. Yeley), 122 points behind 35th.
39) Inception Motorsports (No. 30 – Dave Stremme), 127 points behind 35th.
40) Front Row Motorsports (No. 26 - Josh Wise), 145 points behind 35th.
41) Phil Parsons Racing (No. 98 – Michael McDowell) 149 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 Week: The Race You Never Saw
For Bobby Labonte, this season has been a real struggle. Entering Daytona last weekend, Labonte was 25th in points and hadn't finished better than 14th all season. That 14th-place finish was in the Daytona 500 in February. His best unrestricted finishes of the season are a pair of 16ths. Those occurred at Phoenix the weekend after the Daytona 500, and at Michigan last month. The team was even considering either skipping or S&P'ing the Sprint Showdown.
Last weekend did not start out all that well. Labonte turned in the absolute slowest time in all of qualifying, which resulted in the 42nd starting spot. Tony Stewart's time disallowment moved him up to 41st, but it was still an uphill battle for JTG-Daugherty Racing. The race itself started out alright, then Labonte got swept in the mess on Lap 92 created by Kurt Busch going into the middle and getting squeezed. Labonte was hit from behind by Landon Cassill and spun onto the apron. The car had damage to the splitter, resulting in repairs on pit road that cost Labonte a lap. Labonte got that lap back via the Lucky Dog when Jimmie Johnson and Bill Elliott, amongst others, crashed on Lap 124. From there, Labonte avoided the two big wrecks and picked up a tenth-place finish, his first since last year's Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at Loudon. Maybe Saturday night can be the beginning of a change in form for the former champion. - Phil Allaway
STAT OF THE WEEK: 8. This number relates to the number of cars that were not caught up in either of the wrecks in Saturday night's Coke Zero 400 (according to NASCAR's official tally. Five of those drivers S&P'ed and six of them were the first six out of the race. Only Tony Stewart and Jeff Burton went the full distance and did not get caught up in anything (although Burton almost did). Hard to imagine that it was all but a clean race for the first three-quarters of the event. - Phil Allaway
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by Jeff Wolfe
In a race where there were no guarantees, Tony Stewart virtually guaranteed himself a spot in NASCAR's Chase for the Championship Saturday night at Daytona.
Stewart won his third race of the season in the 400-mile, 160-lap event on the famed 2.5-mile oval. The defending Sprint Cup champion joined Brad Keselowski as the only three time winners this season and they are each inside the top-10 in points with seven races left in the Sprint Cup's regular season.
But, as is often the case, there was nothing regular about the final laps of a Daytona race, a restrictor plate track where the cars run in a large pack, which is also a prime recipe for multi-car accidents.
Stewart's recipe for victory included getting a big push from Kasey Kahne on the outside lane on the final lap, which was enough to push him by race leader Matt Kenseth, who was getting help from Roush Fenway Racing teammate Greg Biffle.
"I don't even remember what happened on the last lap," said Stewart, who won his fourth mid-summer Daytona race and 18th race there overall, but is still without a season-opening Daytona 500 victory. "I was in the second lane and tried to get the 17 (Kenseth) and 16 (Biffle) pulled apart. Once we got that done that gave us a run on the outside.
"This is a weird day. I'm still voting for this to be a Figure 8 race."
It was quite the weird weekend for Stewart, who led 22 laps in his 47th career win in front of an estimated crowd of 115,000. He qualified second Friday, only to be demoted to the back of the field and start 38th because of an illegal cooling hose found in post-qualifying inspection. Then, early Saturday night, he was in a three-car pack that included Keselowski about 20 seconds behind the leader due to a lengthy pit stop under the green flag. The first of six yellow flags for a total of 23 laps came on lap 81 and put Stewart back in contention.
The key pit stop for him though came after a Kurt Busch wreck caused the next caution on lap 91. Stewart was one of only a few cars to stop for fuel. That call by crew chief Steve Addington allowed Stewart to only need one can of fuel on the final stop, compared to most other teams needing two cans, which takes a couple of more seconds.
So, on the Stewart's final stop on lap 127, he picked up six spots to win the race off pit road and put him in the lead. And that put him ahead of the pack for the craziness that included two 14-car crashes in the in the final eight laps.
"We've had really good luck at Daytona, obviously, and I wish I could trade a couple of these races in for just one Sunday race in February," Stewart said. "You know, its just being at the right place at the right time, and when those last two big wrecks happened, we were in the right spot. We were ahead of them both times."
And after the checkered flag flew, with Jeff Burton avoiding the melee to finish second, and Kenseth taking third, a big part of the track did resemble one of those figure 8 demolation derby tracks. Biffle got loose to start the last lap crash. The first Big One came with eight laps remaining and Kenseth having just passed Stewart for the lead. It also came when Biffle got loose and came down into Denny Hamlin, who was running the low line.
"We were all jockeying for position," Hamlin said. "I think the 16 came down and got into my right front fender. I was already loose anyway. I was just a ping pong ball after that point."
Biffle, who led 35 laps, spent much of the night pushing Kenseth, who led a race-high 89 laps. And the tandem appeared to be the fastest duo when they could get together. They even moved from the back of the pack to the front after entering pit road on lap 125 immediately after it closed due to an accident. Biffle stopped and took fuel and service and Kenseth kept going and pitted with the rest of the field. A penalty put Biffle in the back and when Kenseth did stop for service, he too was in the back.
So, they were together again in first and third on the final restart. But a slight separation on the final lap, combined with Stewart's big push from Kahne, allowed Stewart to take the lead.
"It's just disappointing because I thought we had the best car," Kenseth said. "It seems like we made the wrong moves. Today, once we got separated off two, I should have just tried to stay with them. But I tried to slow up and get help from my teammate who had been helping me the whole night.
"It's just a different kind of racing. I thought we a did good job to get back up front. And that last lap, it gets crazy. You don't know what's going on two or three rows behind you."
Kahne, who drives a Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, admitted he wanted to see the Hendrick-powered Chevy of Stewart win, rather than one of the Roush Fenway Fords driven by Kenseth or Biffle.
"I was trying all I could because I would rather see Tony win than those two," said Kahne, who survived to finish seventh. "By the time I got to four, there were way too many cars for too small of a place."
Burton may have made the best crash-saving moves of the night, both on the final lap. He saved his car once in the first turn after getting a bump from behind, then found his way through the final turn carnage staying high near the wall to emerge in second.
"I had to go somewhere," he said of the final move. "We had to just kind of ride around in the back or we were going to overheat. That kept us out of some trouble. We got going with about 30 to go and missed a couple of wrecks. Anytime you leave here with your car not torn up it's a good night."
The rest of the top-10 after Kenseth was Joey Logano in fourth, Ryan Newman, Carl Edwards, Kahne, Keselowski, Michael Waltrip and Bobby Labonte.
"I'd rather be lucky than good," Logano said. "We had one up and down night. Going into Turn 3 on the last lap, was just bumper cars. I got loose and then saved it."
Part of the weirdness of the night included NASCAR announcing the suspension of driver A.J. Allmendinger Saturday afternoon for violating the sport's substance abuse policy. That left Penske Racing scrambling for a driver and it summoned current Nationwide and former Sprint Cup driver Sam Hornish, Jr. from North Carolina, where he serving as the driver analyst on the NASCAR pre-race edition of SPEED Center. He arrived at the track about ten minutes before the race started.
"It was the first time I put a (driver's) suit on in an airplane," said Hornish, who finished 33rd. "I was pretty comfortable in the car. I was just trying to make it to the end. It was an up and down day for sure."
The Sprint Cup series heads next to Loudon, New Hampshire for the Lenox Industrial Tools 301. Coverage starts with Countdown to Green at Noon, followed by a 1 p.m. EDT start on TNT.
Jeff Wolfe is a Contributor for Frontstretch.com. He can be reached via e-mail at jeff.wolfe@frontstretch.com.
Tracking The Chase: Logano Takes Final Chase Spot for Now
by Jeff Wolfe
In the race for the final spot in NASCAR's Chase for the Championship, Joey Logano, who some call "Sliced Bread" because of his slight build, is leading by the slimmest of margins after Saturday night's Sprint Cup race in Daytona.
Logano's fourth-place finish gave him a one-point lead over Ryan Newman and a three-point lead over Kasey Kahne for the 12th and final spot in NASCAR's version of the playoffs. Newman finished fifth and Kahne was seventh Saturday.\
The top-10 in points and the next two drivers with the most wins in the top-20 points qualify for the Chase. Logano, Newman and Kahne each have one win. The other wild-card at the moment goes to Kyle Busch, who is 12th in points and also has one victory. He has a 13-point lead over Logano.
Other drivers who could instantly put themselves in the Chase, or in hot contention for a Chase spot if they get a win, include Carl Edwards, who is 11th in points, but 31 behind tenth-place Clint Bowyer; Paul Menard who is 13th in points, nine behind Busch and four ahead of Logano; and Jeff Gordon, who is 17th in points, 18 behind Logano.
Saturday's big winner in the points standings was race winner Tony Stewart. He jumped from ninth to fifth and is now 84 points behind leader Matt Kenseth. However, since it was Stewart's third victory in the Chase, it virtually guarantees the defending champion a playoff spot. Stewart and ninth-place Brad Keselowski are the only two drivers with three victories this year. And, since NASCAR resets the Chase standings with bonus points based on victories, Stewart and Keselowski would be the two leaders at the moment.
Kenseth, who has one win at the season-opening Daytona 500, saw his points lead increase to 25 over Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and 44 over Roush Fenway teammate Greg Biffle. Kenseth finished third Saturday while Earnhardt Jr. was 15th and Biffle was 21st.
The biggest loser in the points battle was Clint Bowyer, who dropped from seventh to tenth after getting caught up in the big crash on Lap 153. Bowyer, however, does have one victory to fall back on should he fall back out of the top-10.
There are now seven races remaining in NASCAR's regular season. The final regular season race is at Richmond Sept. 8.
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Standings: 1) Matt Kenseth 676, 2) Dale Earnhardt, Jr. -25, 3) Greg Biffle -44, 4) Jimmie Johnson -58, 5) Tony Stewart -84, 6) Kevin Harvick -90, t-7) Denny Hamlin -92, t-7) Martin Truex, Jr. -92, 9) Brad Keselowski -103, 10) Clint Bowyer -104.
Wild Cards: Kyle Busch 12th in points, 1 win; Joey Logano 14th in points, 1 win.
Race Winners: Matt Kenseth (Daytona 500), Denny Hamlin (Phoenix, Kansas), Tony Stewart (Las Vegas, Fontana, Daytona (July)), Brad Keselowski (Bristol, Talladega, Kentucky), Ryan Newman (Martinsville), Greg Biffle (Texas); Kyle Busch (Richmond), Jimmie Johnson (Darlington, Dover), Kasey Kahne (Charlotte), Joey Logano (Pocono), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Michigan); Clint Bowyer (Sonoma).
Tracking the Top 35: Margin Balloons to Nearly Two Full Races Between 35th and 36th
While NASCAR guarantees a starting spot for the top-35 in the owners points standings each week, those close, or the one on, the 35th-place bubble still have plenty of cushion as the gap between the 35th place car and the 36th place car grew from 65 to 85 points Saturday. The No. 36 car driven by Dave Blaney Saturday sits in the 35th spot and the No. 33 car driven by Stephen Leicht is in 36th. Blaney finished 22nd Saturday and Leicht was 42nd.
Here's your owners point standings around the all-important cutoff.
29) Front Row Motorsports (No. 34 - David Ragan), 154 points ahead of 36th.
30) BK Racing (No. 93 – Travis Kvapil), 152 points ahead of 36th.
31) Front Row Motorsports (No. 38 - David Gilliland), 136 points ahead of 36th
32) Tommy Baldwin Racing/Stewart-Haas Racing (No. 10 – David Reutimann), 111 points ahead of 36th.
33) BK Racing (No. 83 - Landon Cassill), 100 points ahead of 36th.
34) FAS Lane Racing (No. 32 – Terry Labonte), 96 points ahead of 36th.
35) Tommy Baldwin Racing (No. 36 – Dave Blaney), 85 points ahead of 36th
36) Richard Childress Racing/ LJ Racing (No. 33 – Stephen Leicht), 85 points behind 35th.
37) Wood Brothers Racing (No. 21 - Trevor Bayne), 109 points behind 35th.
38) Robinson-Blakeney Racing (No. 49 - J.J. Yeley), 122 points behind 35th.
39) Inception Motorsports (No. 30 – Dave Stremme), 127 points behind 35th.
40) Front Row Motorsports (No. 26 - Josh Wise), 145 points behind 35th.
41) Phil Parsons Racing (No. 98 – Michael McDowell) 149 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!
~~~~~~~~~~
Secret Star of the Week: The Race You Never Saw
For Bobby Labonte, this season has been a real struggle. Entering Daytona last weekend, Labonte was 25th in points and hadn't finished better than 14th all season. That 14th-place finish was in the Daytona 500 in February. His best unrestricted finishes of the season are a pair of 16ths. Those occurred at Phoenix the weekend after the Daytona 500, and at Michigan last month. The team was even considering either skipping or S&P'ing the Sprint Showdown.
Last weekend did not start out all that well. Labonte turned in the absolute slowest time in all of qualifying, which resulted in the 42nd starting spot. Tony Stewart's time disallowment moved him up to 41st, but it was still an uphill battle for JTG-Daugherty Racing. The race itself started out alright, then Labonte got swept in the mess on Lap 92 created by Kurt Busch going into the middle and getting squeezed. Labonte was hit from behind by Landon Cassill and spun onto the apron. The car had damage to the splitter, resulting in repairs on pit road that cost Labonte a lap. Labonte got that lap back via the Lucky Dog when Jimmie Johnson and Bill Elliott, amongst others, crashed on Lap 124. From there, Labonte avoided the two big wrecks and picked up a tenth-place finish, his first since last year's Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at Loudon. Maybe Saturday night can be the beginning of a change in form for the former champion. - Phil Allaway
STAT OF THE WEEK: 8. This number relates to the number of cars that were not caught up in either of the wrecks in Saturday night's Coke Zero 400 (according to NASCAR's official tally. Five of those drivers S&P'ed and six of them were the first six out of the race. Only Tony Stewart and Jeff Burton went the full distance and did not get caught up in anything (although Burton almost did). Hard to imagine that it was all but a clean race for the first three-quarters of the event. - Phil Allaway
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TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
Matt McLaughlin's Thinkin' Out Loud: Firecracker 400 Race Recap
by Matt McLaughlin
The Big Six: Questions Answered After The Coke Zero 400
by Phil Allaway
Pace Laps: Suspensions, Infractions and Penalties - Oh, My!
by the Frontstretch Staff
by Bryan Davis Keith
Drugs, Disaster, and How Racing Dreams Die: AJ's 2012 NASCAR Nightmare
by Matt Stallknecht
IndyCar Toronto Recap: Hunter-Reay Dominates on the Road Too
by Matt Stallknecht
Drugs, Disaster, and How Racing Dreams Die: AJ's 2012 NASCAR Nightmare
by Matt Stallknecht
IndyCar Toronto Recap: Hunter-Reay Dominates on the Road Too
by Matt Stallknecht
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: New Hampshire Motor Speedway has been home to some rather unusual moments in the past. Tomas Scheckter's roll during last year's MoveThatBlock.com 225 and the proto john taking a hit are just two examples of this. However, when CART raced in New Hampshire, there were some unusual moments as well. Like a crash involving Scott Sharp that occurred during the 1994 race. What happened?
Check back Tuesday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Friday's Answer:
Q: In the 1997 Pepsi 400 (the final one held during the daytime), John Andretti led 113 laps to pick up his first career victory and the only win for Cale Yarborough Motorsports. However, Andretti's win was overshadowed by a last-lap wreck. What happened?
A: Tbe race finished with a rare one-lap shootout due to a wreck in Turns 1 and 2 on Lap 156 involving Michael Waltrip, Hut Stricklin, Ricky Rudd and Morgan Shepherd. On the restart, Andretti benefited from an all-out scramble for positions to get some distance and took the win. Meanwhile, Ward Burton, Mark Martin and Dick Trickle collided entering Turn 3 and crashed. Multiple cars racing for position were collected in the crash. The mess can be seen at the 5:30 mark of this clip. Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett and Benny Parsons have the call for ESPN.
Q: New Hampshire Motor Speedway has been home to some rather unusual moments in the past. Tomas Scheckter's roll during last year's MoveThatBlock.com 225 and the proto john taking a hit are just two examples of this. However, when CART raced in New Hampshire, there were some unusual moments as well. Like a crash involving Scott Sharp that occurred during the 1994 race. What happened?
Check back Tuesday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Friday's Answer:
Q: In the 1997 Pepsi 400 (the final one held during the daytime), John Andretti led 113 laps to pick up his first career victory and the only win for Cale Yarborough Motorsports. However, Andretti's win was overshadowed by a last-lap wreck. What happened?
A: Tbe race finished with a rare one-lap shootout due to a wreck in Turns 1 and 2 on Lap 156 involving Michael Waltrip, Hut Stricklin, Ricky Rudd and Morgan Shepherd. On the restart, Andretti benefited from an all-out scramble for positions to get some distance and took the win. Meanwhile, Ward Burton, Mark Martin and Dick Trickle collided entering Turn 3 and crashed. Multiple cars racing for position were collected in the crash. The mess can be seen at the 5:30 mark of this clip. Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett and Benny Parsons have the call for ESPN.
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's back with an interesting commentary piece.
5 Points To Ponder by Bryan Davis Keith
Bryan brings you a series of storylines setting you up for New Hampshire.
Who's Hot / Who's Not in NASCAR Presented by StarCoach Race Tours: Daytona-Loudon Edition by Brett Poirier
We're coming to the halfway point of the season. While here, Brett looks at what positive trends are developing in NASCAR's two top series and which drivers need a breather heading into Saturday night's third restrictor plate race of the season.
Tech Talk by Mike Neff
We'll have a special Cup Series guest stop by to discuss the technical aspects of our sport.
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