THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
August 16th, 2012
Volume VI, Edition CLXIII
--
Top News
by Phil Allaway
Allmendinger Not Being Truthful about Test Failure?
ESPN.com is reporting that a secret source has come forward and disputed the story that AJ Allmendinger has told to various news outlets (including ESPN in a one-on-one sit down conversation with Marty Smith). In addition, the source strongly disputes the notion that Allmendinger could complete NASCAR's Road to Recovery program by the end of the month.
The main issue is Allmendinger's explanation of feeling fatigued after a workout. Upon hearing this, a "friend of a friend" walked up to Allmendinger and gave him a pill to take in order to give himself an energy boost. Allmendinger took the pill, then was singled out for a random test that weekend at Kentucky Speedway, which he flunked.
According to the source, it is "very unlikely that one-pill usage one time would be detected [in a drug test] after 24 hours." This is even though Adderall can stay in the human body for up to three days.
If this theory holds, then the whole investigation would be thrown wide open once again. All the accusations of illegal drug usage, or prescription drug abuse will return. Naturally, if anything other than the one-pill explanation is true, than Allmendinger's stay in NASCAR's Road to Recovery would likely take a bit longer than the couple of additional weeks that Allmendinger claimed he would need in order to complete it.
Dr. David Black, head of Aegis Sciences Corporation, which runs NASCAR's drug testing programs, has stated in the past that it typically takes around five months to complete NASCAR's Road to Recovery program. As of now, its only been six weeks and change since Allmendinger failed his drug test and three weeks since he entered the program.
Additional Canadian Races on tap for 2013?
This weekend, the Nationwide Series returns to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, a 2.795-mile road course located on the Ile de Notre Dame in the middle of the St. Lawrence River in Montreal. It will be the sixth Nationwide race at the somewhat rarely used Formula One venue. However, it could be only the beginning for NASCAR's "National" Series in Canada.
CBS Sports' Pete Pistone is reporting that the high attendance for the Nationwide race in Montreal just might lead to this very scenario occurring. However, just which series would go to Canada, and where?
One option is Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (formerly Mosport International Raceway) in Bowmanville, Ontario. Racer Ron Fellows is now a co-owner of the track and would love to have a major NASCAR event on the 2.459 mile road course.
"We've talked to NASCAR and yes while we weren't able to put it together for 2012, we're pursuing something for our 2013 schedule," Fellows said. During a press conference with teammate-for-the-weekend Danica Patrick at Watkins Glen, Patrick complimented CTMP and talked about how it would be nice to see the road course on the schedule. Fellows was all smiles.
A good candidate for a new Canadian race, according to Pistone, is the Camping World Truck Series, which cut their schedule down from 25 to 22 races for this season. NASCAR is said to be in the process of trying to expand the schedule back up to its traditional length, which reintroducing road racing to the series.
However, getting Sprint Cup to make a Canadian excursion would be a rather difficult objective. Any race in Canada added to the schedule would come at the expense of another scheduled race in the United States since NASCAR is unwilling to add a 37th points race (and has been unwilling to do so for years).
Entry List Update:
Note: These entries are accurate as of Wednesday night. However, they are still subject to change.
Sprint Cup Series Pure Michigan 400: 45 cars entered
Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points:
No. 19- Jason Leffler for Humphrey-Smith Racing
No. 21- Trevor Bayne for Wood Brothers Racing
No. 22- Sam Hornish, Jr. for Penske Racing
No. 32- T.J. Bell for FAS Lane Racing
No. 87- Joe Nemechek for NEMCO Motorsports
No. 91- Reed Sorenson for Humphrey-Smith Racing
Driver Changes:
No. 10- David Reutimann returns to the seat, replacing J.J. Yeley.
No. 19- Jason Leffler is in the seat, replacing Chris Cook.
No. 30- David Stremme returns to the seat, replacing Patrick Long.
No. 32- T.J. Bell returns to the seat, replacing Boris Said. Ken Schrader was originally entered.
No. 55- Mark Martin returns to the seat, replacing Brian Vickers.
No. 98- Mike Skinner returns to the seat, replacing Michael McDowell.
Drivers who must qualify on speed:
No. 19- Jason Leffler for Humphrey-Smith Racing*
No. 21- Trevor Bayne for Wood Brothers Racing
No. 23- Scott Riggs for R3 Motorsports*
No. 26- Josh Wise for Front Row Motorsports*
No. 30- David Stremme for Inception Motorsports
No. 33- Stephen Leicht for LJ Racing
No. 37- J.J. Yeley for Tommy Baldwin Racing/MaxQ Motorsports*
No. 87- Joe Nemechek for NEMCO Motorsports*
No. 91- Reed Sorenson for Humphrey-Smith Racing*
No. 98- Mike Skinner for Phil Parsons Racing*
Not Entered:
No. 49- Robinson-Blakeney Motorsports
No. 95- Scott Speed for Leavine Family Racing
Nationwide Series NAPA Auto Parts 200: 44 cars entered
Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points:
No. 15- Chris Cook for Rick Ware Racing
No. 18- Michael McDowell for Joe Gibbs Racing
No. 33- Brendan Gaughan for Richard Childress Racing
No. 54- Kyle Busch for Kyle Busch Motorsports
No. 70- Tony Raines for ML Motorsports/Robinson-Blakeney Motorsports
Driver Changes:
No. 18- Michael McDowell returns to the seat, replacing Joey Logano.
No. 19- Tayler Malsam returns to the seat, replacing Alex Popow.
No. 22- Jacques Villeneuve returns to the seat, replacing Brad Keselowski.
No. 24- Derek White is in the seat, replacing Tim Connolly. Since White failed to qualify in Watkins Glen, this will be White's Nationwide Series debut.
No. 27- Andrew Ranger is in the seat, replacing David Ragan.
No. 30- Alex Tagliani is in the seat, replacing Miguel Paludo.
No. 33- Brendan Gaughan returns to the seat, replacing Paul Menard.
No. 38- Brad Sweet returns to the seat, replacing Kasey Kahne.
No. 39- An unknown driver will be in the seat, replacing Matt Bell.
No. 40- Erik Darnell returns to the seat, replacing J.J. Yeley.
No. 42- Blake Koch returns to the seat, replacing Josh Wise.
No. 46- Chase Miller returns to the seat, replacing Matt DiBenedetto.
No. 47- Matt DiBenedetto returns to the seat, replacing Stephen Leicht.
No. 60- Billy Johnson is in the seat, replacing Carl Edwards.
No. 99- Patrick Carpentier is in the seat, replacing Victor Gonzalez, Jr.
Drivers who must qualify on speed:
No. 08- Louis-Philippe Dumoulin for Randy Hill Racing
No. 5- Ron Fellows for JR Motorsports
No. 10- Jeff Green for TriStar Motorsports (Guaranteed to start via the Past Champions' Provisional)
No. 15- Chris Cook for Rick Ware Racing*
No. 26- John Young for Apex Racing
No. 27- Andrew Ranger for GC Motorsports International
No. 42- Blake Koch for Team Motorsports Group, LLC*
No. 46- Chase Miller for Team Motorsports Group, LLC*
No. 47- Matt DiBenedetto for Team Motorsports Group, LLC*
No. 52- Ryan Ellis for Means Motorsports
No. 53- Eric Curran for NDS Motorsports
No. 59- Kyle Kelley for Kelley Motorsports
No. 60- Billy Johnson for Roush Fenway Racing
No. 75- Kenny Habul for SunEnergy1 Racing, LLC
Entered, but Already Withdrawn:
No. 97- Joe Nemechek for NEMCO Motorsports (Appears to be a direct result of Alex Kennedy's crash last Saturday)
Not Entered:
No. 00- SR2 Motorsports
No. 20- Ryan Truex for Joe Gibbs Racing
Camping World Truck Series VFW 200: 35 trucks entered
Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points:
No. 0- T.J. Bell for JJC Racing
No. 18- Kurt Busch for Kyle Busch Motorsports
No. 29- Brad Keselowski for Brad Keselowski Racing
No. 74- Mike Harmon for Mike Harmon Racing
Driver Changes:
No. 0- T.J. Bell returns to the seat, replacing Chris Lafferty.
No. 07- Johnny Chapman returns to the seat, replacing Jeff Agnew.
No. 7- Parker Kligerman is in the seat, replacing John King.
No. 18- Kurt Busch is in the seat, replacing Denny Hamlin.
No. 27- An unknown driver will be in the seat, replacing C.E. Falk.
No. 29- Brad Keselowski is in the seat, replacing Parker Kligerman.
No. 75- An unknown driver will be in the seat, replacing Adam Edwards.
Since only 35 drivers are entered, no one will fail to qualify. However, these teams must still qualify on speed:
No. 0- T.J. Bell for JJC Racing*
No. 7- Parker Kligerman for Red Horse Racing
No. 10- Jennifer Jo Cobb for JJC Racing
No. 14- Brennan Newberry for NTS Motorsports
No. 25- Brandon Knupp for Hillman Racing*
No. 38- Chris Jones for RSS Racing*
No. 39- Ryan Sieg for RSS Racing
No. 57- Norm Benning for Norm Benning Racing
No. 74- Mike Harmon for Mike Harmon Racing*
No. 75- Unknown driver for Norm Benning Racing*
Not Entered:
No. 28- Wes Burton for FDNY Racing
No. 59- Kyle Martel for Martel Racing
No. 82- Sean Corr for Empire Racing
ARCA Racing Series Allen Crowe 100: 35 cars entered
Driver Changes:
No. 0- Brett Hudson is in the seat, replacing James Swanson.
No. 04- An unknown driver will be in the seat, replacing Darren Hagen.
No. 3- Joe Cooksey is in the seat, replacing Tim Walter.
No. 5- Mark Littleton is in the seat, replacing Bobby Gerhart.
No. 15- Steve Arpin is in the seat, replacing Clint King.
No. 35- Nelson Canache returns to the seat, replacing Michael Simko.
No. 40- An unknown driver will be in the seat, replacing Justin Lloyd.
No. 55- Kevin Swindell returns to the seat, replacing Erik Jones.
No. 66- Ryan Unzicker is in the seat, replacing Nelson Canache.
No. 99- Kelly Kovski is in the seat, replacing Mike Young.
Notable Entries:
No. 15- Steve Arpin for Venturini Motorsports
No. 16- Matt Lofton for Coulter Racing
No. 17- Chris Buescher for Roulo Brothers Racing
No. 22- Alex Bowman for Cunningham Motorsports
No. 23- Spencer Gallagher for Clark Racing
No. 25- Brennan Poole for Venturini Motorsports
No. 32- Mason Mingus for Win-Tron Racing
No. 35- Nelson Canache for Venturini Motorsports
No. 44- Frank Kimmel for ThorSport Racing
No. 55- Kevin Swindell for Venturini Motorsports
No. 58- Chad Hackenbracht for CGH Motorsports
No. 70- Jeff Choquette for Brad Hill Motorsports
Have news for Phil and the Frontstretch? Don't hesitate to let us know; email us at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com with a promising lead or tip.
~~~~~~~~~~
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
Quick Shots for August 16th
What's Vexing Vito
by Vito Pugliese
Marcos Ambrose winning the Finger Lakes 355 at Watkins Glen could not have come at a better time for Richard Petty Motorsports. After spending the better part of the summer dealing with Dodge and trying to secure a deal for 2013, they were caught off guard a bit by the brand's announcement that they were bailing at the end of this season.
Without a manufacturer in place for 2013, that has put the team who has been on unstable ground for the last three seasons in another pickle. The delay in commiting has as Richard Petty put it, "shuffled them around." Winning, however, has a way of smoothing things over.
"I seen some of the Ford people there today," said Petty. "I told them, `Me and Marcos won the race.' I had the contract in my pocket. I was going to let them sign it right there. I don't think it went over too good."
Further irony can be found in the final lap, with who was battling for the win; the lone Dodge team of Brad Keselowski and Penske Racing, versus RPM's Marcos Ambrose. It still makes no sense to me – at all – why Penske is leaving Dodge to sign with Ford. Brad Keselowski has won as many races as all of the Ford teams have won this year (three), and that is with one teammate who's dropping prescription greenies, and another who is just getting his Nationwide legs under him.
Wouldn't Dodge have moved heaven and Earth to retain the services of The Captain and his basket of which all of their eggs resided?
Ford has some relatively deep pockets at this time, and they're sure to include RPM in the fold. After all, it was RPM who helped solve Roush Fenway's fudged up front-end geometry in 2010, allowing them to get in a position to challenge for the championship in 2011. Ford has been with Marcos Ambrose for a decade now, and with their new global approach to car building and marketing, they're surely not going to let him get away.
The well has gone a bit dry however. Matt Kenseth won this year's Daytona 500 getting a big shove from teammate Greg Biffle on a late restart, while Biffle flat out dominated Texas in the spring. Ever since then, there hasn't been a whole lot to brag about for the Blue Oval. Carl Edwards has a new crew chief, Matt Kenseth's strong runs have been ruined as of late with late-race accidents, while the flagship No. 6 still lays dormant somewhere in Livonia, and half the Roush fleet has Ford sponsorship.
Should the youngest Daytona 500 winner in history still be struggling to find something to slap on the quarter panels?
Wild prediction? Dodge takes 2013 off, gets it ducks in a row, lets the bugs get worked out of the upcoming body change, and returns in 2014 with Andretti Autosport and Richard Petty Motorsports– the two most storied names in American motorsports – as their teams. The Charger and Challenger are both slated to remain in production through 2016, so the cars and marketing will still be relevant.
Take heart Mopar fans – it's not a waiving of the white flag; just an operational pause.
-------------
Kyle Busch Motorsports announced yesterday that Jason Leffler would be out of the No. 18 truck starting at Michigan this weekend. Kurt Busch will take his place, as this announcement was released by Kyle Busch and KBM:
"How things have played out this season are not Jason's fault -- we've had some bad luck and a few other misfortunate happenings -- but when it comes down to it, the No. 18 team has not performed to the standards we've become accustomed to and we owe it to our manufacturer and our sponsors to produce better results," KBM owner Kyle Busch said. "Beginning to make these changes now, instead of waiting until the end of the season, it will allow us to evaluate where our program stands as we begin working towards becoming a championship-contending team once again in 2013. Jason represented KBM and all of our sponsors very well and we wish him the best of luck."
Misfortunate? The only thing misfortunate is whoever is being allowed to write these press releases. I read this and all I can hear is Will Ferrell's George W. Bush "impressionations." Apparently, somebody popped all the F7 keys off the keyboards at KBM as well as the "Lefturn" name plate lettering on Leffler's rigs.
------------
One final thought on Watkins Glen and road courses in general. Recalling the final few laps at Sonoma this year, followed by the last lap at the Glen, it is high time we add more road courses to the schedule and include one in the Chase. The argument against it is not compelling and makes no sense. "We shouldn't let a road course race make up the championship…it only makes up two races a year." Oh and plate racing with it's roll-of-the-dice/maybe-I'll-dodge-the-200mph-20-car-pile-up is fair?
Come to think of it, road courses actually were a part of the championship story for over five decades before The Chase decided who the champion was. And doesn't the Chase diminish the importance of the first 26 races anyway? Besides, how much cooler would Watkins Glen or Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin look in early fall instead of say Kansas. Sorry Midwest, but orange trees beats a dust bowl every time. Besides, the deer crossing the track would act as impromptu chicanes, placing a premium on car control and situational awareness.
Let's face it: we aren't building any new short tracks and what does everybody love? Short track racing. Road Courses are the new short track, bring a new element to the game, and seeing the cars fly over curbing and slide around is a far cry from the slotcar six-second interval parade we've seen at virtually every speedway race this season. You can't bang fenders at 205mph going into a turn and expect things to turn out okay. You can however slide through an oil slick and drift through dirt at 70mph, and bang bumpers, and still have a shot at the win.
Road courses: Stig tested; Vito approved.
Vito Pugliese is a Senior Writer for Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at vito.pugliese@frontstretch.com. Follow him on Twitter at @VitoPugliese.
~~~~~~~~~~
COME JOIN THE FRONTSTRETCH FAMILY!
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
August 16th, 2012
Volume VI, Edition CLXIII
--
Top News
by Phil Allaway
Allmendinger Not Being Truthful about Test Failure?
ESPN.com is reporting that a secret source has come forward and disputed the story that AJ Allmendinger has told to various news outlets (including ESPN in a one-on-one sit down conversation with Marty Smith). In addition, the source strongly disputes the notion that Allmendinger could complete NASCAR's Road to Recovery program by the end of the month.
The main issue is Allmendinger's explanation of feeling fatigued after a workout. Upon hearing this, a "friend of a friend" walked up to Allmendinger and gave him a pill to take in order to give himself an energy boost. Allmendinger took the pill, then was singled out for a random test that weekend at Kentucky Speedway, which he flunked.
According to the source, it is "very unlikely that one-pill usage one time would be detected [in a drug test] after 24 hours." This is even though Adderall can stay in the human body for up to three days.
If this theory holds, then the whole investigation would be thrown wide open once again. All the accusations of illegal drug usage, or prescription drug abuse will return. Naturally, if anything other than the one-pill explanation is true, than Allmendinger's stay in NASCAR's Road to Recovery would likely take a bit longer than the couple of additional weeks that Allmendinger claimed he would need in order to complete it.
Dr. David Black, head of Aegis Sciences Corporation, which runs NASCAR's drug testing programs, has stated in the past that it typically takes around five months to complete NASCAR's Road to Recovery program. As of now, its only been six weeks and change since Allmendinger failed his drug test and three weeks since he entered the program.
Additional Canadian Races on tap for 2013?
This weekend, the Nationwide Series returns to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, a 2.795-mile road course located on the Ile de Notre Dame in the middle of the St. Lawrence River in Montreal. It will be the sixth Nationwide race at the somewhat rarely used Formula One venue. However, it could be only the beginning for NASCAR's "National" Series in Canada.
CBS Sports' Pete Pistone is reporting that the high attendance for the Nationwide race in Montreal just might lead to this very scenario occurring. However, just which series would go to Canada, and where?
One option is Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (formerly Mosport International Raceway) in Bowmanville, Ontario. Racer Ron Fellows is now a co-owner of the track and would love to have a major NASCAR event on the 2.459 mile road course.
"We've talked to NASCAR and yes while we weren't able to put it together for 2012, we're pursuing something for our 2013 schedule," Fellows said. During a press conference with teammate-for-the-weekend Danica Patrick at Watkins Glen, Patrick complimented CTMP and talked about how it would be nice to see the road course on the schedule. Fellows was all smiles.
A good candidate for a new Canadian race, according to Pistone, is the Camping World Truck Series, which cut their schedule down from 25 to 22 races for this season. NASCAR is said to be in the process of trying to expand the schedule back up to its traditional length, which reintroducing road racing to the series.
However, getting Sprint Cup to make a Canadian excursion would be a rather difficult objective. Any race in Canada added to the schedule would come at the expense of another scheduled race in the United States since NASCAR is unwilling to add a 37th points race (and has been unwilling to do so for years).
Entry List Update:
Note: These entries are accurate as of Wednesday night. However, they are still subject to change.
Sprint Cup Series Pure Michigan 400: 45 cars entered
Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points:
No. 19- Jason Leffler for Humphrey-Smith Racing
No. 21- Trevor Bayne for Wood Brothers Racing
No. 22- Sam Hornish, Jr. for Penske Racing
No. 32- T.J. Bell for FAS Lane Racing
No. 87- Joe Nemechek for NEMCO Motorsports
No. 91- Reed Sorenson for Humphrey-Smith Racing
Driver Changes:
No. 10- David Reutimann returns to the seat, replacing J.J. Yeley.
No. 19- Jason Leffler is in the seat, replacing Chris Cook.
No. 30- David Stremme returns to the seat, replacing Patrick Long.
No. 32- T.J. Bell returns to the seat, replacing Boris Said. Ken Schrader was originally entered.
No. 55- Mark Martin returns to the seat, replacing Brian Vickers.
No. 98- Mike Skinner returns to the seat, replacing Michael McDowell.
Drivers who must qualify on speed:
No. 19- Jason Leffler for Humphrey-Smith Racing*
No. 21- Trevor Bayne for Wood Brothers Racing
No. 23- Scott Riggs for R3 Motorsports*
No. 26- Josh Wise for Front Row Motorsports*
No. 30- David Stremme for Inception Motorsports
No. 33- Stephen Leicht for LJ Racing
No. 37- J.J. Yeley for Tommy Baldwin Racing/MaxQ Motorsports*
No. 87- Joe Nemechek for NEMCO Motorsports*
No. 91- Reed Sorenson for Humphrey-Smith Racing*
No. 98- Mike Skinner for Phil Parsons Racing*
Not Entered:
No. 49- Robinson-Blakeney Motorsports
No. 95- Scott Speed for Leavine Family Racing
Nationwide Series NAPA Auto Parts 200: 44 cars entered
Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points:
No. 15- Chris Cook for Rick Ware Racing
No. 18- Michael McDowell for Joe Gibbs Racing
No. 33- Brendan Gaughan for Richard Childress Racing
No. 54- Kyle Busch for Kyle Busch Motorsports
No. 70- Tony Raines for ML Motorsports/Robinson-Blakeney Motorsports
Driver Changes:
No. 18- Michael McDowell returns to the seat, replacing Joey Logano.
No. 19- Tayler Malsam returns to the seat, replacing Alex Popow.
No. 22- Jacques Villeneuve returns to the seat, replacing Brad Keselowski.
No. 24- Derek White is in the seat, replacing Tim Connolly. Since White failed to qualify in Watkins Glen, this will be White's Nationwide Series debut.
No. 27- Andrew Ranger is in the seat, replacing David Ragan.
No. 30- Alex Tagliani is in the seat, replacing Miguel Paludo.
No. 33- Brendan Gaughan returns to the seat, replacing Paul Menard.
No. 38- Brad Sweet returns to the seat, replacing Kasey Kahne.
No. 39- An unknown driver will be in the seat, replacing Matt Bell.
No. 40- Erik Darnell returns to the seat, replacing J.J. Yeley.
No. 42- Blake Koch returns to the seat, replacing Josh Wise.
No. 46- Chase Miller returns to the seat, replacing Matt DiBenedetto.
No. 47- Matt DiBenedetto returns to the seat, replacing Stephen Leicht.
No. 60- Billy Johnson is in the seat, replacing Carl Edwards.
No. 99- Patrick Carpentier is in the seat, replacing Victor Gonzalez, Jr.
Drivers who must qualify on speed:
No. 08- Louis-Philippe Dumoulin for Randy Hill Racing
No. 5- Ron Fellows for JR Motorsports
No. 10- Jeff Green for TriStar Motorsports (Guaranteed to start via the Past Champions' Provisional)
No. 15- Chris Cook for Rick Ware Racing*
No. 26- John Young for Apex Racing
No. 27- Andrew Ranger for GC Motorsports International
No. 42- Blake Koch for Team Motorsports Group, LLC*
No. 46- Chase Miller for Team Motorsports Group, LLC*
No. 47- Matt DiBenedetto for Team Motorsports Group, LLC*
No. 52- Ryan Ellis for Means Motorsports
No. 53- Eric Curran for NDS Motorsports
No. 59- Kyle Kelley for Kelley Motorsports
No. 60- Billy Johnson for Roush Fenway Racing
No. 75- Kenny Habul for SunEnergy1 Racing, LLC
Entered, but Already Withdrawn:
No. 97- Joe Nemechek for NEMCO Motorsports (Appears to be a direct result of Alex Kennedy's crash last Saturday)
Not Entered:
No. 00- SR2 Motorsports
No. 20- Ryan Truex for Joe Gibbs Racing
Camping World Truck Series VFW 200: 35 trucks entered
Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points:
No. 0- T.J. Bell for JJC Racing
No. 18- Kurt Busch for Kyle Busch Motorsports
No. 29- Brad Keselowski for Brad Keselowski Racing
No. 74- Mike Harmon for Mike Harmon Racing
Driver Changes:
No. 0- T.J. Bell returns to the seat, replacing Chris Lafferty.
No. 07- Johnny Chapman returns to the seat, replacing Jeff Agnew.
No. 7- Parker Kligerman is in the seat, replacing John King.
No. 18- Kurt Busch is in the seat, replacing Denny Hamlin.
No. 27- An unknown driver will be in the seat, replacing C.E. Falk.
No. 29- Brad Keselowski is in the seat, replacing Parker Kligerman.
No. 75- An unknown driver will be in the seat, replacing Adam Edwards.
Since only 35 drivers are entered, no one will fail to qualify. However, these teams must still qualify on speed:
No. 0- T.J. Bell for JJC Racing*
No. 7- Parker Kligerman for Red Horse Racing
No. 10- Jennifer Jo Cobb for JJC Racing
No. 14- Brennan Newberry for NTS Motorsports
No. 25- Brandon Knupp for Hillman Racing*
No. 38- Chris Jones for RSS Racing*
No. 39- Ryan Sieg for RSS Racing
No. 57- Norm Benning for Norm Benning Racing
No. 74- Mike Harmon for Mike Harmon Racing*
No. 75- Unknown driver for Norm Benning Racing*
Not Entered:
No. 28- Wes Burton for FDNY Racing
No. 59- Kyle Martel for Martel Racing
No. 82- Sean Corr for Empire Racing
ARCA Racing Series Allen Crowe 100: 35 cars entered
Driver Changes:
No. 0- Brett Hudson is in the seat, replacing James Swanson.
No. 04- An unknown driver will be in the seat, replacing Darren Hagen.
No. 3- Joe Cooksey is in the seat, replacing Tim Walter.
No. 5- Mark Littleton is in the seat, replacing Bobby Gerhart.
No. 15- Steve Arpin is in the seat, replacing Clint King.
No. 35- Nelson Canache returns to the seat, replacing Michael Simko.
No. 40- An unknown driver will be in the seat, replacing Justin Lloyd.
No. 55- Kevin Swindell returns to the seat, replacing Erik Jones.
No. 66- Ryan Unzicker is in the seat, replacing Nelson Canache.
No. 99- Kelly Kovski is in the seat, replacing Mike Young.
Notable Entries:
No. 15- Steve Arpin for Venturini Motorsports
No. 16- Matt Lofton for Coulter Racing
No. 17- Chris Buescher for Roulo Brothers Racing
No. 22- Alex Bowman for Cunningham Motorsports
No. 23- Spencer Gallagher for Clark Racing
No. 25- Brennan Poole for Venturini Motorsports
No. 32- Mason Mingus for Win-Tron Racing
No. 35- Nelson Canache for Venturini Motorsports
No. 44- Frank Kimmel for ThorSport Racing
No. 55- Kevin Swindell for Venturini Motorsports
No. 58- Chad Hackenbracht for CGH Motorsports
No. 70- Jeff Choquette for Brad Hill Motorsports
Have news for Phil and the Frontstretch? Don't hesitate to let us know; email us at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com with a promising lead or tip.
~~~~~~~~~~
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
Quick Shots for August 16th
What's Vexing Vito
by Vito Pugliese
Marcos Ambrose winning the Finger Lakes 355 at Watkins Glen could not have come at a better time for Richard Petty Motorsports. After spending the better part of the summer dealing with Dodge and trying to secure a deal for 2013, they were caught off guard a bit by the brand's announcement that they were bailing at the end of this season.
Without a manufacturer in place for 2013, that has put the team who has been on unstable ground for the last three seasons in another pickle. The delay in commiting has as Richard Petty put it, "shuffled them around." Winning, however, has a way of smoothing things over.
"I seen some of the Ford people there today," said Petty. "I told them, `Me and Marcos won the race.' I had the contract in my pocket. I was going to let them sign it right there. I don't think it went over too good."
Further irony can be found in the final lap, with who was battling for the win; the lone Dodge team of Brad Keselowski and Penske Racing, versus RPM's Marcos Ambrose. It still makes no sense to me – at all – why Penske is leaving Dodge to sign with Ford. Brad Keselowski has won as many races as all of the Ford teams have won this year (three), and that is with one teammate who's dropping prescription greenies, and another who is just getting his Nationwide legs under him.
Wouldn't Dodge have moved heaven and Earth to retain the services of The Captain and his basket of which all of their eggs resided?
Ford has some relatively deep pockets at this time, and they're sure to include RPM in the fold. After all, it was RPM who helped solve Roush Fenway's fudged up front-end geometry in 2010, allowing them to get in a position to challenge for the championship in 2011. Ford has been with Marcos Ambrose for a decade now, and with their new global approach to car building and marketing, they're surely not going to let him get away.
The well has gone a bit dry however. Matt Kenseth won this year's Daytona 500 getting a big shove from teammate Greg Biffle on a late restart, while Biffle flat out dominated Texas in the spring. Ever since then, there hasn't been a whole lot to brag about for the Blue Oval. Carl Edwards has a new crew chief, Matt Kenseth's strong runs have been ruined as of late with late-race accidents, while the flagship No. 6 still lays dormant somewhere in Livonia, and half the Roush fleet has Ford sponsorship.
Should the youngest Daytona 500 winner in history still be struggling to find something to slap on the quarter panels?
Wild prediction? Dodge takes 2013 off, gets it ducks in a row, lets the bugs get worked out of the upcoming body change, and returns in 2014 with Andretti Autosport and Richard Petty Motorsports– the two most storied names in American motorsports – as their teams. The Charger and Challenger are both slated to remain in production through 2016, so the cars and marketing will still be relevant.
Take heart Mopar fans – it's not a waiving of the white flag; just an operational pause.
-------------
Kyle Busch Motorsports announced yesterday that Jason Leffler would be out of the No. 18 truck starting at Michigan this weekend. Kurt Busch will take his place, as this announcement was released by Kyle Busch and KBM:
"How things have played out this season are not Jason's fault -- we've had some bad luck and a few other misfortunate happenings -- but when it comes down to it, the No. 18 team has not performed to the standards we've become accustomed to and we owe it to our manufacturer and our sponsors to produce better results," KBM owner Kyle Busch said. "Beginning to make these changes now, instead of waiting until the end of the season, it will allow us to evaluate where our program stands as we begin working towards becoming a championship-contending team once again in 2013. Jason represented KBM and all of our sponsors very well and we wish him the best of luck."
Misfortunate? The only thing misfortunate is whoever is being allowed to write these press releases. I read this and all I can hear is Will Ferrell's George W. Bush "impressionations." Apparently, somebody popped all the F7 keys off the keyboards at KBM as well as the "Lefturn" name plate lettering on Leffler's rigs.
------------
One final thought on Watkins Glen and road courses in general. Recalling the final few laps at Sonoma this year, followed by the last lap at the Glen, it is high time we add more road courses to the schedule and include one in the Chase. The argument against it is not compelling and makes no sense. "We shouldn't let a road course race make up the championship…it only makes up two races a year." Oh and plate racing with it's roll-of-the-dice/maybe-I'll-dodge-the-200mph-20-car-pile-up is fair?
Come to think of it, road courses actually were a part of the championship story for over five decades before The Chase decided who the champion was. And doesn't the Chase diminish the importance of the first 26 races anyway? Besides, how much cooler would Watkins Glen or Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin look in early fall instead of say Kansas. Sorry Midwest, but orange trees beats a dust bowl every time. Besides, the deer crossing the track would act as impromptu chicanes, placing a premium on car control and situational awareness.
Let's face it: we aren't building any new short tracks and what does everybody love? Short track racing. Road Courses are the new short track, bring a new element to the game, and seeing the cars fly over curbing and slide around is a far cry from the slotcar six-second interval parade we've seen at virtually every speedway race this season. You can't bang fenders at 205mph going into a turn and expect things to turn out okay. You can however slide through an oil slick and drift through dirt at 70mph, and bang bumpers, and still have a shot at the win.
Road courses: Stig tested; Vito approved.
Vito Pugliese is a Senior Writer for Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at vito.pugliese@frontstretch.com. Follow him on Twitter at @VitoPugliese.
~~~~~~~~~~
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The Critic's Annex: Finger Lakes 355 at the Glen
by Phil Allaway
Hello, race fans. Welcome back to the Critic's Annex, which is normally a place in which additional motorsports-related programming is covered for your reading pleasure. However, since I was at Watkins Glen last weekend, I could not bring you a regular critique. Editor's Note: Since there was no regular critique, there were also no TV listings. However, for your benefit, those will be at the end of the column.
If you remember last September when the Advocare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway was postponed two days due to heavy rains, I covered that race here in the Annex since the regular critique had already run by the time the race started. I'm going to do the same thing here. Since I was at the track, I'll try to add in some stuff as well.
On Sunday, ESPN's Sprint Cup coverage started off like normal with NASCAR Countdown. However, instead of filling the first 25 minutes with pre-race analysis, they trotted out a piece designed to answer some questions about what happened on the last restart in Pocono. They took their telecast and the radio communications for the No. 48 team and synced them up in an attempt to see if Johnson really did have tire problems that caused the crash. The result is that Johnson did say something on the radio right before the restart that insinuated that he knew something was up. Then, when he got to Turn 1, he immediately said that he had a flat. Now, some of you reading might think that Johnson (and Knaus) planned ahead to say that to make themselves look good, but I doubt that. They've got more than enough stuff going on that they don't have time to put on their Dick Dastardly and Muttley impression for everyone during the race. I think ESPN provided enough evidence that it was pretty conclusive that Johnson had an issue. Obviously, Matt Kenseth is going to believe otherwise until the end of days, but that's his prerogative.
The big piece that ran as part of Countdown was the much-hyped and teased one-on-one sit down conversation between AJ Allmendinger and Marty Smith. The biggest thing that came out of this was Allmendinger taking the one pill for an energy boost. Now, in the Top News above, this statement has come into question by an unknown source who has basically said (paraphrased) that Allmendinger's explanation is BS.
Perhaps, if Allmendinger really needed an energy boost, he should have gotten himself some cookies sweetened with juice, for that also gives you an energy boost, with no hidden amphetamines. Note: Clip contains profanity and obscene looking edible treats as part of an attempted double-cross. Viewer discretion is advised. Smith claims that he believed Allmendinger during their sit-down, which was cut down from a full hour to just a few minutes. Apparently, his program (which is individually tailored to each case, and that is nothing new) is not really designed for a drug abuser, but for someone with stress issues that led him to use. Smith followed up and asked him the day of the race (on his cell phone, I'm assuming) whether he was truthful and Allmendinger said he was.
Another piece had Ray Evernham sit down with Tony Stewart to talk about his career. Quite simply, he loves racing. During a press conference this past weekend, he mentioned that his schedule has 95 races on it for this season (pretty much, a Schrader season). And he would most definitely hire a driver that ran a schedule like he does (heck, that driver might end up being a traveling buddy for all I know). Stewart considers racing to be his exercise. But, then again, to most of you reading this, that isn't exactly anything new.
A third piece had various drivers (Ambrose, Harvick, Johnson, Kyle Busch, McMurray, Stewart) talking about driving at Watkins Glen and the hazards therein. For those of you who haven't been, the Glen is far hillier than you'd think. The Esses are nothing short of a dang roller coaster, and from a distance, it looks like a wall. There's a tunnel that goes under the track right after Turn 3. On the other side of that is a sharp incline. Unlike other tracks, there's no incline on the other side of it. Also, the track is slightly uphill on the backstretch, but its moreso on the track than in the infield. But, that's just what I've found.
The race telecast itself will probably be best known for ESPN dropping the ball with the last two laps. Yes, there was plenty of actual action shown, but ESPN failed to identify that Bobby Labonte was having issues and oiling down the track. Luckily, they did get footage of Labonte's car smoking and did air that, but not until SportsCenter aired after the race. I thought that ESPN has spotters that point things out to benefit the broadcast. Maybe they couldn't see the oil either, but they definitely should have been able to see Labonte's car smoking and relayed that to the production truck, or directly to the broadcast booth.
Meanwhile, in the Media Center, we generally knew that Labonte was smoking before the White Flag even came out. As for the oil, Michael Waltrip posted this picture on his Twitter page after the race. Going back and reviewing the video actually shows that some of this oil was visible, especially when they showed the replay of Jeff Gordon's spin. At other points on track, it was more of a thin line, but it was pretty noticeable in Turn 11. Unfortunately, like Allen Bestwick says, "Once you put it out there, you can't take it back."
As it stands, the analysts in the booth were convinced that seemingly everybody had a problem in the last couple of laps. Now, Joe Nemechek did run out of gas with two laps to go (and got real salty about it on the radio), that is true. It seemed that Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree were convinced that Kyle Busch either had fuel issues of his own, or that he had a flat tire. Maybe that's just because of the lack of oil knowledge, but once it gets to the point where everyone's going off the road, something had to be out there and Dave Rogers telling that to Dave Burns shouldn't have been the way they found out about it.
Outside of the screw-ups in the last couple of laps, ESPN's telecast was ok, but still too focused up front. I did notice that on Lap 12, ESPN locked down their camera at Turn 1 to show what amounted to the entire front half of the field come by. I thought this was interesting. Its an old-school tactic. Back in the early 1990's, especially at short tracks, ESPN would do this and let the entire field go by, while also timing the laps. They called this the "Field Snapshot." Could this signal the return of it after many, many years? I don't know, but it wouldn't be a terrible idea.
The coverage was very enthusiastic from Bestwick, Petree and Jarrett in the booth and I thought that the pit reporters did a great job. They're often unheralded, but they work hard down there in the very loud pit environment.
Post-race coverage was somewhat typical. ESPN provided viewers with seven post-race interviews (slightly above normal) and a check of the point standings, both above the scroll and in a special graphic. There were also replays of the craziness on the final lap, including Jeff Gordon's spin and the race for the win between Marcos Ambrose and Brad Keselowski.
Speaking of Keselowski, he is quite distractible. During his joint press conference with Jimmie Johnson (which he completely dominated, despite the fact that Johnson had just taken the points lead), he would often look up at ESPN's post-race coverage and replays, or at SportsCenter and completely lose his train of thought. Not really a TV observation, but worth noting, along with the fact that Keselowski said "that'll be worth a couple of ratings points" when he entered for the press conference.
That's all for this week. Next week, we'll be back with another interesting motorsports-related telecast to critique. Until then, enjoy the action from Michigan and Quebec.
TV Listings for the weekend of August 17-19
Friday, August 17
Time Telecast Network
12:30pm-2:00pm Sprint Cup Series Practice SPEED
2:00-3:30pm Camping World Truck Series Practice SPEED
4:00-5:30pm Sprint Cup Series Qualifying SPEED
4:40-6:00pm American Le Mans Series Qualifying ESPN3.com$
6:30-7:00pm SPEED Center SPEED
Saturday, August 18
Time Telecast Network
8:30am-9:30am Sprint Cup Series Practice SPEED
9:30-11:00am Camping World Truck Series Qualifying SPEED
11:00am-12:00pm Sprint Cup Series Happy Hour SPEED
12:00-12:30pm NCWTS Setup SPEED
12:30-2:30pm Camping World Truck Series VFW 200 SPEED
2:00-2:30pm NASCAR Countdown ESPN
2:30-6:00pm Nationwide Series NAPA Auto Parts 200 ESPN
3:15-6:30pm American Le Mans Series Road Race Showcase ESPN3.com$
6:30-7:00pm SPEED Center SPEED
7:00-9:30pm Rolex Sports Car Series Montreal 200 SPEED*
Sunday, August 19
Time Telecast Network
9:00am-10:00am NASCAR Now, Pre-Race ESPN 2
9:30-10:00am SPEED Center, Pre-Race SPEED
10:00am-12:00pm NASCAR RaceDay Fueled by Sunoco SPEED
12:00-1:00pm NASCAR Countdown ESPN
1:00-4:30pm Sprint Cup Series Pure Michigan 400 ESPN
2:00-4:00pm American Le Mans Series Road Race Showcase ESPN 2*/
~4:30-5:00pm NASCAR Victory Lane by Good Sam Roadside Assistance SPEED
7:00-8:00pm SPEED Center SPEED
9:00-10:30pm Wind Tunnel SPEED, SPEEDtv.com^
~- Approximate start time
*- Tape Delayed
/- Highlighted
^- Available via free online streaming
$- Available via password-protected online streaming. Check with your programming provider and/or ISP for availability.
Phil Allaway is the Newsletter Manager and a Senior Writer for Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Critic84.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Frontstretch Line of the Week
From Pace Laps: Dale's Double Trouble, Double-Dipping And A Championship Update
"Races over the past few seasons, from Allgaier's near-miss at Road America last year to Boris Said and Max Papis's epic battle at Montreal, have demonstrated that the Nationwide Series does not need an influx of stock car star power to put on a good road race. Mid-Ohio, Road Atlanta, the possibilities are endless." - Bryan Keith, on the Nationwide Series needing to possibly ditch Watkins Glen (or at least go there on a separate weekend) and go road racing at another venue.
~~~~~~~~~~
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: Finger Lakes 355 at the Glen
by Phil Allaway
Hello, race fans. Welcome back to the Critic's Annex, which is normally a place in which additional motorsports-related programming is covered for your reading pleasure. However, since I was at Watkins Glen last weekend, I could not bring you a regular critique. Editor's Note: Since there was no regular critique, there were also no TV listings. However, for your benefit, those will be at the end of the column.
If you remember last September when the Advocare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway was postponed two days due to heavy rains, I covered that race here in the Annex since the regular critique had already run by the time the race started. I'm going to do the same thing here. Since I was at the track, I'll try to add in some stuff as well.
On Sunday, ESPN's Sprint Cup coverage started off like normal with NASCAR Countdown. However, instead of filling the first 25 minutes with pre-race analysis, they trotted out a piece designed to answer some questions about what happened on the last restart in Pocono. They took their telecast and the radio communications for the No. 48 team and synced them up in an attempt to see if Johnson really did have tire problems that caused the crash. The result is that Johnson did say something on the radio right before the restart that insinuated that he knew something was up. Then, when he got to Turn 1, he immediately said that he had a flat. Now, some of you reading might think that Johnson (and Knaus) planned ahead to say that to make themselves look good, but I doubt that. They've got more than enough stuff going on that they don't have time to put on their Dick Dastardly and Muttley impression for everyone during the race. I think ESPN provided enough evidence that it was pretty conclusive that Johnson had an issue. Obviously, Matt Kenseth is going to believe otherwise until the end of days, but that's his prerogative.
The big piece that ran as part of Countdown was the much-hyped and teased one-on-one sit down conversation between AJ Allmendinger and Marty Smith. The biggest thing that came out of this was Allmendinger taking the one pill for an energy boost. Now, in the Top News above, this statement has come into question by an unknown source who has basically said (paraphrased) that Allmendinger's explanation is BS.
Perhaps, if Allmendinger really needed an energy boost, he should have gotten himself some cookies sweetened with juice, for that also gives you an energy boost, with no hidden amphetamines. Note: Clip contains profanity and obscene looking edible treats as part of an attempted double-cross. Viewer discretion is advised. Smith claims that he believed Allmendinger during their sit-down, which was cut down from a full hour to just a few minutes. Apparently, his program (which is individually tailored to each case, and that is nothing new) is not really designed for a drug abuser, but for someone with stress issues that led him to use. Smith followed up and asked him the day of the race (on his cell phone, I'm assuming) whether he was truthful and Allmendinger said he was.
Another piece had Ray Evernham sit down with Tony Stewart to talk about his career. Quite simply, he loves racing. During a press conference this past weekend, he mentioned that his schedule has 95 races on it for this season (pretty much, a Schrader season). And he would most definitely hire a driver that ran a schedule like he does (heck, that driver might end up being a traveling buddy for all I know). Stewart considers racing to be his exercise. But, then again, to most of you reading this, that isn't exactly anything new.
A third piece had various drivers (Ambrose, Harvick, Johnson, Kyle Busch, McMurray, Stewart) talking about driving at Watkins Glen and the hazards therein. For those of you who haven't been, the Glen is far hillier than you'd think. The Esses are nothing short of a dang roller coaster, and from a distance, it looks like a wall. There's a tunnel that goes under the track right after Turn 3. On the other side of that is a sharp incline. Unlike other tracks, there's no incline on the other side of it. Also, the track is slightly uphill on the backstretch, but its moreso on the track than in the infield. But, that's just what I've found.
The race telecast itself will probably be best known for ESPN dropping the ball with the last two laps. Yes, there was plenty of actual action shown, but ESPN failed to identify that Bobby Labonte was having issues and oiling down the track. Luckily, they did get footage of Labonte's car smoking and did air that, but not until SportsCenter aired after the race. I thought that ESPN has spotters that point things out to benefit the broadcast. Maybe they couldn't see the oil either, but they definitely should have been able to see Labonte's car smoking and relayed that to the production truck, or directly to the broadcast booth.
Meanwhile, in the Media Center, we generally knew that Labonte was smoking before the White Flag even came out. As for the oil, Michael Waltrip posted this picture on his Twitter page after the race. Going back and reviewing the video actually shows that some of this oil was visible, especially when they showed the replay of Jeff Gordon's spin. At other points on track, it was more of a thin line, but it was pretty noticeable in Turn 11. Unfortunately, like Allen Bestwick says, "Once you put it out there, you can't take it back."
As it stands, the analysts in the booth were convinced that seemingly everybody had a problem in the last couple of laps. Now, Joe Nemechek did run out of gas with two laps to go (and got real salty about it on the radio), that is true. It seemed that Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree were convinced that Kyle Busch either had fuel issues of his own, or that he had a flat tire. Maybe that's just because of the lack of oil knowledge, but once it gets to the point where everyone's going off the road, something had to be out there and Dave Rogers telling that to Dave Burns shouldn't have been the way they found out about it.
Outside of the screw-ups in the last couple of laps, ESPN's telecast was ok, but still too focused up front. I did notice that on Lap 12, ESPN locked down their camera at Turn 1 to show what amounted to the entire front half of the field come by. I thought this was interesting. Its an old-school tactic. Back in the early 1990's, especially at short tracks, ESPN would do this and let the entire field go by, while also timing the laps. They called this the "Field Snapshot." Could this signal the return of it after many, many years? I don't know, but it wouldn't be a terrible idea.
The coverage was very enthusiastic from Bestwick, Petree and Jarrett in the booth and I thought that the pit reporters did a great job. They're often unheralded, but they work hard down there in the very loud pit environment.
Post-race coverage was somewhat typical. ESPN provided viewers with seven post-race interviews (slightly above normal) and a check of the point standings, both above the scroll and in a special graphic. There were also replays of the craziness on the final lap, including Jeff Gordon's spin and the race for the win between Marcos Ambrose and Brad Keselowski.
Speaking of Keselowski, he is quite distractible. During his joint press conference with Jimmie Johnson (which he completely dominated, despite the fact that Johnson had just taken the points lead), he would often look up at ESPN's post-race coverage and replays, or at SportsCenter and completely lose his train of thought. Not really a TV observation, but worth noting, along with the fact that Keselowski said "that'll be worth a couple of ratings points" when he entered for the press conference.
That's all for this week. Next week, we'll be back with another interesting motorsports-related telecast to critique. Until then, enjoy the action from Michigan and Quebec.
TV Listings for the weekend of August 17-19
Friday, August 17
Time Telecast Network
12:30pm-2:00pm Sprint Cup Series Practice SPEED
2:00-3:30pm Camping World Truck Series Practice SPEED
4:00-5:30pm Sprint Cup Series Qualifying SPEED
4:40-6:00pm American Le Mans Series Qualifying ESPN3.com$
6:30-7:00pm SPEED Center SPEED
Saturday, August 18
Time Telecast Network
8:30am-9:30am Sprint Cup Series Practice SPEED
9:30-11:00am Camping World Truck Series Qualifying SPEED
11:00am-12:00pm Sprint Cup Series Happy Hour SPEED
12:00-12:30pm NCWTS Setup SPEED
12:30-2:30pm Camping World Truck Series VFW 200 SPEED
2:00-2:30pm NASCAR Countdown ESPN
2:30-6:00pm Nationwide Series NAPA Auto Parts 200 ESPN
3:15-6:30pm American Le Mans Series Road Race Showcase ESPN3.com$
6:30-7:00pm SPEED Center SPEED
7:00-9:30pm Rolex Sports Car Series Montreal 200 SPEED*
Sunday, August 19
Time Telecast Network
9:00am-10:00am NASCAR Now, Pre-Race ESPN 2
9:30-10:00am SPEED Center, Pre-Race SPEED
10:00am-12:00pm NASCAR RaceDay Fueled by Sunoco SPEED
12:00-1:00pm NASCAR Countdown ESPN
1:00-4:30pm Sprint Cup Series Pure Michigan 400 ESPN
2:00-4:00pm American Le Mans Series Road Race Showcase ESPN 2*/
~4:30-5:00pm NASCAR Victory Lane by Good Sam Roadside Assistance SPEED
7:00-8:00pm SPEED Center SPEED
9:00-10:30pm Wind Tunnel SPEED, SPEEDtv.com^
~- Approximate start time
*- Tape Delayed
/- Highlighted
^- Available via free online streaming
$- Available via password-protected online streaming. Check with your programming provider and/or ISP for availability.
Phil Allaway is the Newsletter Manager and a Senior Writer for Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Critic84.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Frontstretch Line of the Week
From Pace Laps: Dale's Double Trouble, Double-Dipping And A Championship Update
"Races over the past few seasons, from Allgaier's near-miss at Road America last year to Boris Said and Max Papis's epic battle at Montreal, have demonstrated that the Nationwide Series does not need an influx of stock car star power to put on a good road race. Mid-Ohio, Road Atlanta, the possibilities are endless." - Bryan Keith, on the Nationwide Series needing to possibly ditch Watkins Glen (or at least go there on a separate weekend) and go road racing at another venue.
~~~~~~~~~~
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:
One Tin Solider Rides Away...
by Matt McLaughlin
Potts' Shots: Bobbling Busch, Last Lap Push, and Hello -- Where's The Yellow?!
by John Potts
Professor Of Speed: Good Finishes Make A Good Start
by Mark Howell
Truckin' Thursdays: A Myriad of Changes Just in Time For Michigan
by Beth Lunkenheimer
~~~~~~~~~~
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: The 2000 Pepsi 400 presented by Meijer is best known as being the one event in which Dale Earnhardt raced against two of his sons (Dale Jr., and Kerry, who drove Dave Marcis' No. 71). However, Kerry's Realtree Chevrolet was not one of Marcis' cars. Where did the chassis come from?
Check back Friday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Wednesday's Answer:
Wednesday's Answer:
Q: The 1994 GM Goodwrench Dealer 400 weekend is best-known for the Saturday morning practice crash that put Ernie Irvan in the hospital with critical head injuries. However, once the rains went away and the race started, a rather unusual crash occurred on the first lap. What happened?
A: In Turn 1, Billy Standridge and Derrike Cope had contact and both spun in front of the second half of the field. Jeff Burton collected Standridge, then Bobby Hillin, Jr. ran over Standridge's left front corner and launched himself onto his side. Dale Jarrett, Morgan Shepherd, Dick Trickle and Phil Parsons were also involved. The crash can be seen in this clip.Standridge, Trickle and Hillin were out of the race on the spot. Parsons, Burton, Jarrett and Shepherd spent a significant amount of time behind the wall receiving repairs, but eventually returned and finished the race. Only Cope managed to continue without going behind the wall. He eventually finished three laps down in 18th.
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
-- Keepin' It Short by Mike Neff
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, trivia, and more!
~~~~~~~~~~
Tomorrow on the Frontstretch:
Four Burning Questions: Michigan by Summer Bedgood
Summer gets you set with a full preview of what we'll see during a weekend of racing at Michigan.
Holding A Pretty Wheel by Amy Henderson
Amy returns this week with another interesting Friday commentary.
Friday Fast Forward Into NASCAR's Future by Bryan Davis Keith
Bryan returns with another interesting commentary piece on the Nationwide Series to prepare you for Saturday's NAPA Auto Parts 200 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal.
Voices From the Heartland by Jeff Meyer
Our Tennessee transplant returns with another interesting take on recent events.
Driver Diary: Kenny Wallace as told to Amy Henderson
Kenny returns to discuss his past month on and off the track.
-----------------------------
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