THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
August 9th, 2012
Volume VI, Edition CXLVI
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Top News
by Phil Allaway
Truex Close to Re-Signing at MWR
On Tuesday afternoon during the inaugural Goodyear tire test for the new 2013 Sprint Cup COT's, Martin Truex, Jr. was asked about his contract situation for next season. The response signaled that he is fairly close to a deal that would keep him in the No. 56 Toyota.
"I think we'll announce it soon," Truex said in a press conference. "We're really close; there's no secrets to hide. We're just finishing up the details. I really never talked to anybody else or even really thought about going anywhere else. Its just one of those things where we are concentrating on racing, concentrating on putting all the pieces of the deal together during the week when we're not racing. We're very close and we're excited about the future together."
In 57 races in the No. 56 for Michael Waltrip Racing, Truex has failed to win a race, but he has earned eight top-5 finishes and 23 top-10's, along with two pole positions. He is currently fifth in the point standings and in a very good position to make it into the Chase for the Sprint Cup."
Speed to Run Quasi-full time Schedule in 2013 for LFR
Leavine Family Racing announced on Wednesday that current driver Scott Speed has re-signed with the team for the 2013 Sprint Cup Series season. The team will apparently not be completely full-time, but not too far from it.
Speed is pleased to be back in the Sprint Cup Series on a more regular basis for 2013.
"Its a big deal to go from a partial schedule to a relatively full-time deal for the 2013 season," Speed said. "Its the start of a bigger journey. Now is the time I need to give them 100 percent of my time and effort. No longer will I be competing in anything other than the #95."
Team owner Bob Leavine is also pleased to have his driver locked in for next year.
"I am very pleased with the progress crew chief Wally Rogers and Scott have made this year," Leavine said. "It is that progress, along with Scott's charisma and talent enhancing our team chemistry, that has resulted in our agreement to go to an exclusive relationship through the 2013 season. We are using this commitment as a springboard to build on this year's chemistry for 2013."
According to Jayski, the team will likely compete in 28 races next season. Thus far this season, Speed and Leavine Family Racing have attempted six races. They have qualified for all of them, but parked in all but one of them. The one race that they ran to completion was Sonoma, where Speed qualified 22nd and finished one lap down in 25th. The team also recently hired Dan Pikarsky to serve as Vice President of Business Development. One of Pikarsky's roles will be harnessing Speed's natural charisma in order to find sponsorship for the race team in addition to the existing sponsors.
Parker Kligerman to Red Horse Racing
Earlier this week, Parker Kligerman was released by Brad Keselowski Racing (and by extension, Penske Racing) from his ride in the No. 29 Dodge. The reasoning was somewhat puzzling. However, Kligerman appeared to be quite upbeat about it and seemed sure that he would be in a decent ride come Michigan. Mission accomplished.
Red Horse Racing announced on Thursday morning that they are bringing their No. 7 truck back to the track starting in Michigan. Kligerman will be behind the wheel.
Kligerman is pleased to have found a place to land so easily.
"When you look at Truck Series teams right now, there's no doubt Red Horse Racing is definitely one of the top organizations. I'm really excited to make the move here with the support of Tom DeLoach and everyone at this team to see how we can help the team and be successful," Kligerman said. "It sounds so cliche to say I'm excited, but its the only word to say because it perfectly describes what I'm looking forward to doing, and that's winning in these trucks."
DeLoach described just how quickly this deal for Kligerman came together for Michigan.
"Things happen quickly in the racing world. We were busy getting trucks ready to race in Michigan and received a call from Parker [Kligerman], asking if we could get another entry ready," DeLoach said. "Parker has impressive credentials and we believe he is an emerging talent, so we readily agreed and began preparations."
Kligerman will have to qualify for the VFW 200 on speed since the No. 7 truck has been parked since Charlotte in May. However, since the No. 7 truck did win the season opener with John King, Kligerman will have that to fall back on if a qualifying session gets rained out. Chad Kendrick, who served as King's crew chief for his five races, will also serve as Kligemrman's crew chief."
Alex Popow to Drive for TriStar Motorsports in Zippo 200
Rolex Sports Car Series driver Alex Popow announced on his Facebook page just after Midnight that he has been signed to drive for TriStar Motorsports in Saturday's Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen International. A picture on the page shows Popow next to the No. 19 G-Oil Toyota normally driven by Tayler Malsam in TriStar Motorsports' Denver, North Carolina shop. No official announcement of this move has officially been made as of yet. The announcement on Popow's Facebook page is entirely in Spanish, so you'll have to bear with the translation.
Popow is currently full-time in the Rolex Sports Car Series, driving the No. 2 Ford Riley Mk XX for Starworks Motorsport along with former Porsche factory driver Lucas Luhr. He is currently seventh in Daytona Prototype points, however, he teamed up with Izod IndyCar Series regular Sebastien Bourdais to win the Brickyard Sports Car Challenge two weeks ago during the Indy Super Weekend. That was the 36-year old racer's first career Grand-Am victory. In addition, Popow also races an LMPC (Le Mans Prototype Challenge) car in the American Le Mans Series. With the Rolex Sports Car Series racing Saturday evening in the Continental Tire 200 after the Nationwide Series, Popow will be pulling double-duty.
This will be the Venezuelan driver's Nationwide Series debut, and he will be only the second Venezuelan ever to drive in the series. Alex Garcia, who drove a part-time schedule in his own No. 98 Chevrolets starting in 2007, was the other.
Entry List Update:
Note: These entries are accurate as of Wednesday night. However, they are still subject to change.
Sprint Cup Series Finger Lakes 355 at the Glen: 43 cars entered
Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points:
No. 19- Mike Bliss for Humphrey-Smith Racing
No. 22- Sam Hornish, Jr. for Penske Racing
No. 49- Jason Leffler for Robinson-Blakeney Motorsports
No. 87- Joe Nemechek for NEMCO Motorsports
Driver Changes:
No. 10- J.J. Yeley returns to the seat, replacing David Reutimann.
No. 30- Patrick Long is in the seat, replacing David Stremme. This will be Long's Sprint Cup Series debut.
No. 32- Boris Said returns to the seat, replacing Jason White.
No. 36- Dave Blaney returns to the seat, replacing Tony Raines.
No. 49- Jason Leffler is in the seat, replacing J.J. Yeley.
No. 55- Brian Vickers returns to the seat, replacing Mark Martin.
No. 98- Michael McDowell returns to the seat, replacing Mike Skinner.
Since there are only 43 entries, no one will fail to qualify. However, these teams must still qualify on speed:
No. 19- Mike Bliss for Humphrey-Smith Racing*
No. 26- Josh Wise for Front Row Motorsports*
No. 30- Patrick Long for Inception Motorsports
No. 33- Stephen Leicht for LJ Racing*
No. 49- Jason Leffler for Robinson-Blakeney Motorsports
No. 87- Joe Nemechek for NEMCO Motorsports*
No. 95- Scott Speed for Leavine Family Racing
No. 98- Michael McDowell for Phil Parsons Racing
Not Entered:
No. 23- Scott Riggs for R3 Motorsports
No. 91- Reed Sorenson for Humphrey-Smith Racing
Nationwide Series Zippo 200: 48 cars entered
Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points:
No. 15- Chris Cook for Rick Ware Racing
No. 18- Joey Logano for Joe Gibbs Racing
No. 22- Brad Keselowski for Penske Racing
No. 30- Miguel Paludo for Turner Motorsports
No. 33- Paul Menard for Richard Childress Racing
No. 38- Kasey Kahne for Turner Motorsports
No. 47- Josh Wise for Team Motorsports Group, LLC
No. 54- Kyle Busch for Kyle Busch Motorsports
No. 60- Carl Edwards for Roush Fenway Racing
No. 70- Tony Raines for ML Motorsports/Robinson-Blakeney Motorsports
Driver Changes:
No. 00- Derek White is in the seat, replacing Angela Cope. If he qualifies, this will be White's Nationwide Series debut. He has started races in the Camping World Truck Series previously.
No. 08- Louis-Philippe Dumoulin is in the seat, replacing Josh Richards.
No. 10- Jeff Green returns to the seat, replacing Mike Bliss.
No. 15- Chris Cook is in the seat, replacing Dusty Davis.
No. 18- Joey Logano returns to the seat, replacing Michael McDowell.
No. 19- Alex Popow is in the seat, replacing Tayler Malsam. This will be Popow's Nationwide Series debut. Note that this is still unconfirmed by the team.
No. 20- Ryan Truex returns to the seat, replacing Darrell Wallace, Jr.
No. 22- Brad Keselowski returns to the seat, replacing Ryan Blaney.
No. 23- An unknown driver will be in the seat, replacing Jamie Dick.
No. 24- Tim Connolly is in the seat, replacing Scott Saunders. Casey Roderick was originally entered in the car. This will be Connolly's Nationwide Series debut. Connolly is a former competitor in what is now the Whelen Modified Tour.
No. 30- Miguel Paludo is in the seat, replacing Jason Leffler.
No. 33- Paul Menard returns to the seat, replacing Brendan Gaughan.
No. 38- Kasey Kahne returns to the seat, replacing Brad Sweet.
No. 39- Matt Bell is in the seat, replacing Joey Gase.
No. 42- Matt DiBenedetto returns to the seat, replacing Tim Schendel.
No. 44- Mike Bliss returns to the seat, replacing John Blankenship.
No. 47- Josh Wise is in the seat, replacing Matt DiBenedetto.
No. 52- Ryan Ellis returns to the seat, replacing Justin Jennings.
No. 53- Eric Curran is in the seat, replacing Andrew Ranger. If he qualifies, this will be Curran's Nationwide Series debut. Curran is full-time in the Rolex Series and serves as Boris Said's co-driver.
No. 54- Kyle Busch returns to the seat, replacing his brother Kurt.
No. 60- Carl Edwards returns to the seat, replacing Trevor Bayne.
No. 70- Tony Raines returns to the seat, replacing Johanna Long.
No. 87- Alex Kennedy returns to the seat, replacing Joe Nemechek.
No. 97- Joe Nemechek returns to the seat, replacing Johnny Sauter.
No. 99- Victor Gonzalez, Jr. returns to the seat, replacing Brett Moffitt.
Drivers who must qualify on speed:
No. 00- Derek White for SR2 Motorsports
No. 08- Louis-Philippe Dumoulin for Randy Hill Racing
No. 5- Ron Fellows for JR Motorsports
No. 10- Jeff Green for TriStar Motorsports (Has second crack at the Past Champions' Provisional)*
No. 15- Chris Cook for Rick Ware Racing
No. 20- Ryan Truex for Joe Gibbs Racing
No. 26- John Young for Young Motorsports
No. 42- Matt DiBenedetto for Team Motorsports Group, LLC*
No. 46- Chase Miller for Team Motorsports Group, LLC*
No. 47- Josh Wise for Team Motorsports Group, LLC*
No. 50- T.J. Bell for MAKE Motorsports*
No. 52- Ryan Ellis for Means Motorsports
No. 53- Eric Curran for NDS Motorsports
No. 59- Kyle Kelley for Kelley Motorsports
No. 60- Carl Edwards for Roush Fenway Racing (Guaranteed to start via the Past Champions' Provisional)
No. 75- Kenny Habul for SunEnergy 1 Racing, LLC
No. 89- Morgan Shepherd for Shepherd Racing Ventures*
No. 97- Joe Nemechek for NEMCO Motorsports (Has third crack at the Past Champions' Provisional)
*- Expected to Start-and-Park
Rolex Sports Car Series Continental Tire 200: 23 cars entered officially, 3 likely additional entries
Driver Changes (Daytona Prototypes):
No. 5- Jordan Taylor joins the driving lineup. He is not replacing anyone.
Driver Changes (Grand Touring): None
Daytona Prototype Entries:
No. 01- Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates
No. 5- Terry Borcheller, David Donohue and Jordan Taylor for Action Express Racing
No. 9- Joao Barbosa and Darren Law for Action Express Racing
No. 10- Max Angelelli and Ricky Taylor for SunTrust Racing
No. 60- Oswaldo (Ozz) Negri, Jr. and John Pew for Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian
No. 90- Antonio Garcia and Richard Westbrook for Spirit of Daytona Racing
No. 99- Jon Fogarty and Alex Gurney for GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing
Likely Additional Entries:
No. 2- Alex Popow and Lucas Luhr for Starworks Motorsport
No. 8- Ryan Dalziel and Enzo Potolicchio for Starworks Motorsport
Grand Touring Entries:
No. 31- Eric Curran and Boris Said for Marsh Racing
No. 40- Patrick Dempsey and Joe Foster for Dempsey Racing
No. 41- Charles Espenlaub and Charles Putman for Dempsey Racing
No. 42- Wayne and Joe Nonnamaker for Team Sahlen
No. 43- Dane Cameron and Wayne Nonnamaker for Team Sahlen
No. 44- Andy Lally and John Potter for Magnus Racing
No. 46- Michael Baughman and James Davison for Michael Baughman Racing
No. 49- Will Nonnamaker and Joe Sahlen for Team Sahlen
No. 51- Dr. Jim Norman and Dion von Moltke for APR Motorsport
No. 56- Rui Aguas and Robert Kauffman for AF-Waltrip
No. 57- John Edwards and Robin Liddell for Stevenson Motorsports
No. 59- Andrew Davis and Leh Keen for Brumos Racing
No. 69- Emil Assentato and Jeff Segal for AIM Autosport Team FXDD with Ferrari
No. 70- Jonathan Bomarito and Sylvain Tremblay for SpeedSource
No. 73- Pat Lindsay and Eric Foss for Horton Autosport
No. 94- Bill Auberlen, Paul Dalla Lana and Billy Johnson for Turner Motorsport
Likely Additional Entries:
No. 15- Rick Ware Racing
Not Entered:
No. 02- Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates
No. 17- Burtin Racing with Goldcrest Motorsports
No. 64- TRG
No. 66- TRG
No. 72- Grant Racing/901Shop
No. 75- Stevenson Motorsports
No. 87- Vehicle Technologies
No. 88- Autohaus 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.
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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 Thursday with a whole new set of Fan Questions and Answers!
Today's Featured Commentary
Mopar To No Car - Dodge's Departure Sickens The Mopar Faithful
What's Vexing Vito
by Vito Pugliese
Longtime readers of Frontstretch.com are no doubt familiar with Matt McLaughlin. Our resident gearhead, legitimate car guy and certified Harley Head has told numerous stories of his Trans-Am, F-150, and many a summer spent riding H-Ds along the Eastern seaboard. It is my duty however to inform you that there is also a Mopar maniac among our ranks and in your midst, and he is crestfallen, inconsolable, and unstable at best, following the announcement that Dodge is leaving NASCAR at the conclusion of the 2012 season.
That individual is me. When did I first become aware of this affliction? I guess in some ways, I always knew...
I was born into a family where it truly was Mopar or No Car. My Dad was a Plymouth man, favoring Fury's, 'Cudas, and Satellites, but eventually migrated to Dodge. When I was a colicky baby, I am told that rides in my Dad's 440 Challenger would get me laughing and relieve the pain. My first memories are riding in my Mom's B5 blue 1971 Charger SE, and even though it was only five years old, I can remember looking down and seeing the white stripes on the highway through the floorboards of my Dad's 1976 Power Wagon.
His brother always had a Dodge in his garage, be it a Dart, Polara, or Power Wagon, and to this day still has the Sunfire Yellow 1969 Charger R/T he purchased new in February of '69 – still wearing the original plug wires with just a shade over 100,000 miles registering on the odometer next to the Tach-Tock clock. My Mother's youngest brother (my uncle for those in Kentucky) caught the bug too, and due to a close proximity in age, I vividly recall the 1972 GTX with Air Grabber hood that came rumbling up our driveway when I was five years old – and at seven years old, riding shotgun in his 1971 Challenger R/T as the starter fell off the 340 at 6,000 rpm, resulting in the bell housing shattering on the A883 4-speed.
It was the first and only time I've ever had the pleasure of hitchhiking.
As I neared driving age, I was bound and determined to have a hot rod as my first car. In January of 1991 at 13 years of age, I spotted an ad in the Bargain Corner for a 1972 Plymouth 'Cuda for $500. $300 later it was mine, in all of its rusted, rotted, acorn and squirrel-crap infested glory. Lemon Twist yellow with a seized up 440 sitting between the fenders – because that's what every male needs for his first car: 480lbs/ft of torque and drum brakes. No skinny jeans allowed here friends – you legitimately need a large pair to wield something with 400 horsepower and intermittent brakes.
My Dad and I spent the better part of the next three years restoring the car from the ground up, enduring his bout with kidney stones, a robbery that saw all of his tools and welders stolen, as well as me earning a whopping $5.00 an hour as a high school student working at a gas station and car wash. Its okay, it was 1993 and gas was $0.85 a gallon – not like it was The Grapes of Wrath or something. During this same time, my cousin was undertaking a similar feat with a 1973 Dodge Challenger Rallye.
Once completed, it literally was hell on wheels, as we both spent the better part of the next six years drag racing, street racing, bench racing, and making GoPro and YouTube videos look like Sesame Street pop up books, as the chase scene from Bullitt was recreated anytime we were within a quarter-mile of each other.
Think The Dukes of Hazzard meets Goodfellas and you'll have a pretty accurate illustration of what our families are like.
What then, praytell do 383s, 440s, 727s, and 3.91s have to do with Dodge bailing on the biggest car commercial in North America? It is this sort of passion for the Pentastar that has so many of my fellow Chrysler comrades weeping openly in their oil-puddle stained streets this week. You would be hard pressed to find a group of automotive enthusiasts as dedicated, loyal, and steeled with a manufacturer as Mopar fans are to their brand, their cars, and the drivers who wheel them in competition.
When Dodge made their way back to circle track racing in a competitive form in the ARCA Series with Bob Keselowski's Chrysler LeBaron (which is French for, "The Baron"), hope sprung eternal that one day they would return to the big show and pick up where Petty left off before he abandoned his 1978 Magnum for Oldsmobiles, Chevrolets, and ultimately Pontiacs – or as The King called them, "Punnyacks." Editor's Note: NASCAR refused to approve the Chrysler Lebaron for competition. When the Craftsman Truck Series was announced for the 1995 season, it was the modern day incarnation of the Prodigal Son returning, as Petty Enterprises fielded a No. 43 Dodge in NASCAR for the first time in nearly 20 years.
Rumblings soon started about the same time the first LA-motor fired to life in their reborn Rams – when will they field a Cup car? After all, the new Intrepid was shapely and snarky enough to compete with the Monte Carlos and Thunderbirds of the day. Heck, Lincoln nearly made a stab at it with their Mark VIII about this same time.
That day would come at the Daytona 500 in 2001, when Petty Enterprises, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, Melling Racing and Evernham Motorsports took to the track in the new Intrepid. It would be Sterling Marlin who would capture Dodge's first victory in the largest racing series in the Western Hemisphere at Michigan International Speedway conveniently enough – just an hour outside the headquarters of what was then Daimler-Chrysler. He would back it up again at Charlotte in October, taking the checkered flag – and the United States flag – at the same time military operations began on a large-scale in Afghanistan, following the attacks on September 11th.
After years of suffering and having only privateers such as Buddy Arrington to look to, Chrysler fans had something crow about again in motorsports besides NHRA Pro Stock and anything Hemi-powered in Top Fuel or Funny Car.
By 2008 however the automotive industry was in the toilet, and things were circling the drain with the plunger of unemployment, sagging sales, and sky-rocketing labor and benefit costs forcing the Big Three into the septic system of insolvency. Only Ford was able to bail itself out – mortgaging the family farm essentially and the Blue Oval badge itself to remain afloat. General Motors became known as Government Motors, while Chrysler went a similar direction, ultimately with assistance from the Italian auto giant Fiat. During their respective restructuring, the issue of paying for race cars to go play became a bit of a non-sequitur, with taxpayers on the hook for some dumb decisions over the course of the past 25 years.
Couple this with the green movement reaching a crescendo, passing something off that burned gas and rubber was not going to work as a Hybrid.
While a compelling case could be made for NASCAR being an effective marketing arm to move metal and keep people interested in each brands respective models, money dried up mighty quick, which affected the Dodge bunch most of all. Petty Enterprises – the most successful marque in the history of the sport, merged with Gillett Evernham Motorsports. With the help of some investors, Richard Petty Motorsports came to life – although there was suddenly no room left for Kyle Petty. Ray Evernham decided he had enough of the rat race and soon after George Gillett took control of his team, it folded as well, leaving only Robby Gordon's manufacturer-of-the-year program, and Penske Racing, who had been with the brand since 2003.
As the only competitive Dodge team in the series, Penske was on a plain unto their own; sure, they had the sole attention of the remaining Dodge engineers, but there were no other teams to baseline off of, or bounce ideas off of. Recall the struggles of Roush Fenway Racing in 2009-2010. It was not until the gang at RPM tipped them off to the proper front end geometry after two years of flawed data acquisition did they return to their winning ways. It was not until Brad Keselowski broke his foot in a testing crash at Road Atlanta last summer and suddenly became awesome, did Dodge have anybody other than Kurt Busch that was competitive and a race-winning title contender. Coming off his 2010 Nationwide Championship, and running clearly the coolest car in the series with the Challenger, things looked to be turning around for Dodge and Chrysler as a whole, posting consistent double-digit sales increases month after month.
Sadly, this story doesn't have such as happy ending.
With the unveiling of the new 2013 Charger at Las Vegas this March, there was much hope that teams would come-a-callin' to be the newest member of the Fiat-family, what with Penske's announcement of a move back to Ford for next season. Rumors swirled that Richard Petty Motorsports would be more than happy to be back with Mother Mopar, and there were rumblings of Andretti Autosport expanding to NASCAR – what better fit than another American-Italian group, Chrysler by way of Fiat as the manufacturer of choice. As late as this weekend it was rumored that Furniture Row Racing would be acquiring the Penske engine program, with Kurt Busch and/or Ryan Newman as candidates to expand Barney Visser's Colorado based organization. After all, the NHRA Mile High Nationals are sponsored by Mopar – clearly it was all coming together.
Just as quickly, it all fell apart. On Tuesday, Ralph Gilles, SRT CEO and Brand President who heads up Chrysler's motorsports endeavors confirmed that Dodge would be gone from NASCAR after 2012. No Charger. No Challenger. No Ram. There was the cursory, "keep our options open for the future" statement, which is a lot like a girl telling you, "I'll call you later…". Don't bother texting either champ; its not going to matter.
Perhaps what is most unfortunate and borderline insulting is the timing of the announcement. This weekend marks the 32nd Annual Mopar Nationals in Columbus, Ohio. For the uninitiated, imagine placing Woodstock, Vatican City, and a Metallica concert alongside Woodward Avenue, with late night burnout contests in the Hooters or Motel 6 parking lot. It is the Mopar Mecca if there ever was one, born of the days when you could pick up a Hemi-powered anything for chump change – the same cars today that roll across the blocks at Barrett-Jackson for $250,000 – and not that long ago were going for two to three times that amount. Want to see a guy with the Roadrunner tattooed on his calf? This is the place.
With Dodge announcing that they're closing the doors on NASCAR – yet initiating their ALMS Viper program, we may be seeing the Euro influence on what was the most American of car companies. From helping to win WWII, to rising from the ash heap of automotive obscurity not once, twice, but three times in the last 20 years, followed by a host of tear-jerking, heart-string tugging, chest thumping ads that have been appearing for the last two years.
From George Washington power sliding into battle in a black SRT8 Challenger, to Clint telling us during Halftime at the Super Bowl that the fight's not over, and the world will once again kneel at the altar of Walter P., and the love letter from a wife to her between jobs husband that makes you ashamed to look in the mirror if you don't own something imported from Detroit (even though the Charger and Challenger are built in Canada – with made in Mexico engines), it had appeared that Dodge was in it to win it, and not going to bail on NASCAR. This week they did just that, and burned a lot of goodwill within the racing community with teams who were eager to join the cause, while breaking the hearts of millions of longtime friends, fans, and followers.
I for one am among the latter group. I hate goodbyes…so I guess we'll just say, arrivederci ...
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 Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
August 9th, 2012
Volume VI, Edition CXLVI
--
Top News
by Phil Allaway
Truex Close to Re-Signing at MWR
On Tuesday afternoon during the inaugural Goodyear tire test for the new 2013 Sprint Cup COT's, Martin Truex, Jr. was asked about his contract situation for next season. The response signaled that he is fairly close to a deal that would keep him in the No. 56 Toyota.
"I think we'll announce it soon," Truex said in a press conference. "We're really close; there's no secrets to hide. We're just finishing up the details. I really never talked to anybody else or even really thought about going anywhere else. Its just one of those things where we are concentrating on racing, concentrating on putting all the pieces of the deal together during the week when we're not racing. We're very close and we're excited about the future together."
In 57 races in the No. 56 for Michael Waltrip Racing, Truex has failed to win a race, but he has earned eight top-5 finishes and 23 top-10's, along with two pole positions. He is currently fifth in the point standings and in a very good position to make it into the Chase for the Sprint Cup."
Speed to Run Quasi-full time Schedule in 2013 for LFR
Leavine Family Racing announced on Wednesday that current driver Scott Speed has re-signed with the team for the 2013 Sprint Cup Series season. The team will apparently not be completely full-time, but not too far from it.
Speed is pleased to be back in the Sprint Cup Series on a more regular basis for 2013.
"Its a big deal to go from a partial schedule to a relatively full-time deal for the 2013 season," Speed said. "Its the start of a bigger journey. Now is the time I need to give them 100 percent of my time and effort. No longer will I be competing in anything other than the #95."
Team owner Bob Leavine is also pleased to have his driver locked in for next year.
"I am very pleased with the progress crew chief Wally Rogers and Scott have made this year," Leavine said. "It is that progress, along with Scott's charisma and talent enhancing our team chemistry, that has resulted in our agreement to go to an exclusive relationship through the 2013 season. We are using this commitment as a springboard to build on this year's chemistry for 2013."
According to Jayski, the team will likely compete in 28 races next season. Thus far this season, Speed and Leavine Family Racing have attempted six races. They have qualified for all of them, but parked in all but one of them. The one race that they ran to completion was Sonoma, where Speed qualified 22nd and finished one lap down in 25th. The team also recently hired Dan Pikarsky to serve as Vice President of Business Development. One of Pikarsky's roles will be harnessing Speed's natural charisma in order to find sponsorship for the race team in addition to the existing sponsors.
Parker Kligerman to Red Horse Racing
Earlier this week, Parker Kligerman was released by Brad Keselowski Racing (and by extension, Penske Racing) from his ride in the No. 29 Dodge. The reasoning was somewhat puzzling. However, Kligerman appeared to be quite upbeat about it and seemed sure that he would be in a decent ride come Michigan. Mission accomplished.
Red Horse Racing announced on Thursday morning that they are bringing their No. 7 truck back to the track starting in Michigan. Kligerman will be behind the wheel.
Kligerman is pleased to have found a place to land so easily.
"When you look at Truck Series teams right now, there's no doubt Red Horse Racing is definitely one of the top organizations. I'm really excited to make the move here with the support of Tom DeLoach and everyone at this team to see how we can help the team and be successful," Kligerman said. "It sounds so cliche to say I'm excited, but its the only word to say because it perfectly describes what I'm looking forward to doing, and that's winning in these trucks."
DeLoach described just how quickly this deal for Kligerman came together for Michigan.
"Things happen quickly in the racing world. We were busy getting trucks ready to race in Michigan and received a call from Parker [Kligerman], asking if we could get another entry ready," DeLoach said. "Parker has impressive credentials and we believe he is an emerging talent, so we readily agreed and began preparations."
Kligerman will have to qualify for the VFW 200 on speed since the No. 7 truck has been parked since Charlotte in May. However, since the No. 7 truck did win the season opener with John King, Kligerman will have that to fall back on if a qualifying session gets rained out. Chad Kendrick, who served as King's crew chief for his five races, will also serve as Kligemrman's crew chief."
Alex Popow to Drive for TriStar Motorsports in Zippo 200
Rolex Sports Car Series driver Alex Popow announced on his Facebook page just after Midnight that he has been signed to drive for TriStar Motorsports in Saturday's Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen International. A picture on the page shows Popow next to the No. 19 G-Oil Toyota normally driven by Tayler Malsam in TriStar Motorsports' Denver, North Carolina shop. No official announcement of this move has officially been made as of yet. The announcement on Popow's Facebook page is entirely in Spanish, so you'll have to bear with the translation.
Popow is currently full-time in the Rolex Sports Car Series, driving the No. 2 Ford Riley Mk XX for Starworks Motorsport along with former Porsche factory driver Lucas Luhr. He is currently seventh in Daytona Prototype points, however, he teamed up with Izod IndyCar Series regular Sebastien Bourdais to win the Brickyard Sports Car Challenge two weeks ago during the Indy Super Weekend. That was the 36-year old racer's first career Grand-Am victory. In addition, Popow also races an LMPC (Le Mans Prototype Challenge) car in the American Le Mans Series. With the Rolex Sports Car Series racing Saturday evening in the Continental Tire 200 after the Nationwide Series, Popow will be pulling double-duty.
This will be the Venezuelan driver's Nationwide Series debut, and he will be only the second Venezuelan ever to drive in the series. Alex Garcia, who drove a part-time schedule in his own No. 98 Chevrolets starting in 2007, was the other.
Entry List Update:
Note: These entries are accurate as of Wednesday night. However, they are still subject to change.
Sprint Cup Series Finger Lakes 355 at the Glen: 43 cars entered
Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points:
No. 19- Mike Bliss for Humphrey-Smith Racing
No. 22- Sam Hornish, Jr. for Penske Racing
No. 49- Jason Leffler for Robinson-Blakeney Motorsports
No. 87- Joe Nemechek for NEMCO Motorsports
Driver Changes:
No. 10- J.J. Yeley returns to the seat, replacing David Reutimann.
No. 30- Patrick Long is in the seat, replacing David Stremme. This will be Long's Sprint Cup Series debut.
No. 32- Boris Said returns to the seat, replacing Jason White.
No. 36- Dave Blaney returns to the seat, replacing Tony Raines.
No. 49- Jason Leffler is in the seat, replacing J.J. Yeley.
No. 55- Brian Vickers returns to the seat, replacing Mark Martin.
No. 98- Michael McDowell returns to the seat, replacing Mike Skinner.
Since there are only 43 entries, no one will fail to qualify. However, these teams must still qualify on speed:
No. 19- Mike Bliss for Humphrey-Smith Racing*
No. 26- Josh Wise for Front Row Motorsports*
No. 30- Patrick Long for Inception Motorsports
No. 33- Stephen Leicht for LJ Racing*
No. 49- Jason Leffler for Robinson-Blakeney Motorsports
No. 87- Joe Nemechek for NEMCO Motorsports*
No. 95- Scott Speed for Leavine Family Racing
No. 98- Michael McDowell for Phil Parsons Racing
Not Entered:
No. 23- Scott Riggs for R3 Motorsports
No. 91- Reed Sorenson for Humphrey-Smith Racing
Nationwide Series Zippo 200: 48 cars entered
Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points:
No. 15- Chris Cook for Rick Ware Racing
No. 18- Joey Logano for Joe Gibbs Racing
No. 22- Brad Keselowski for Penske Racing
No. 30- Miguel Paludo for Turner Motorsports
No. 33- Paul Menard for Richard Childress Racing
No. 38- Kasey Kahne for Turner Motorsports
No. 47- Josh Wise for Team Motorsports Group, LLC
No. 54- Kyle Busch for Kyle Busch Motorsports
No. 60- Carl Edwards for Roush Fenway Racing
No. 70- Tony Raines for ML Motorsports/Robinson-Blakeney Motorsports
Driver Changes:
No. 00- Derek White is in the seat, replacing Angela Cope. If he qualifies, this will be White's Nationwide Series debut. He has started races in the Camping World Truck Series previously.
No. 08- Louis-Philippe Dumoulin is in the seat, replacing Josh Richards.
No. 10- Jeff Green returns to the seat, replacing Mike Bliss.
No. 15- Chris Cook is in the seat, replacing Dusty Davis.
No. 18- Joey Logano returns to the seat, replacing Michael McDowell.
No. 19- Alex Popow is in the seat, replacing Tayler Malsam. This will be Popow's Nationwide Series debut. Note that this is still unconfirmed by the team.
No. 20- Ryan Truex returns to the seat, replacing Darrell Wallace, Jr.
No. 22- Brad Keselowski returns to the seat, replacing Ryan Blaney.
No. 23- An unknown driver will be in the seat, replacing Jamie Dick.
No. 24- Tim Connolly is in the seat, replacing Scott Saunders. Casey Roderick was originally entered in the car. This will be Connolly's Nationwide Series debut. Connolly is a former competitor in what is now the Whelen Modified Tour.
No. 30- Miguel Paludo is in the seat, replacing Jason Leffler.
No. 33- Paul Menard returns to the seat, replacing Brendan Gaughan.
No. 38- Kasey Kahne returns to the seat, replacing Brad Sweet.
No. 39- Matt Bell is in the seat, replacing Joey Gase.
No. 42- Matt DiBenedetto returns to the seat, replacing Tim Schendel.
No. 44- Mike Bliss returns to the seat, replacing John Blankenship.
No. 47- Josh Wise is in the seat, replacing Matt DiBenedetto.
No. 52- Ryan Ellis returns to the seat, replacing Justin Jennings.
No. 53- Eric Curran is in the seat, replacing Andrew Ranger. If he qualifies, this will be Curran's Nationwide Series debut. Curran is full-time in the Rolex Series and serves as Boris Said's co-driver.
No. 54- Kyle Busch returns to the seat, replacing his brother Kurt.
No. 60- Carl Edwards returns to the seat, replacing Trevor Bayne.
No. 70- Tony Raines returns to the seat, replacing Johanna Long.
No. 87- Alex Kennedy returns to the seat, replacing Joe Nemechek.
No. 97- Joe Nemechek returns to the seat, replacing Johnny Sauter.
No. 99- Victor Gonzalez, Jr. returns to the seat, replacing Brett Moffitt.
Drivers who must qualify on speed:
No. 00- Derek White for SR2 Motorsports
No. 08- Louis-Philippe Dumoulin for Randy Hill Racing
No. 5- Ron Fellows for JR Motorsports
No. 10- Jeff Green for TriStar Motorsports (Has second crack at the Past Champions' Provisional)*
No. 15- Chris Cook for Rick Ware Racing
No. 20- Ryan Truex for Joe Gibbs Racing
No. 26- John Young for Young Motorsports
No. 42- Matt DiBenedetto for Team Motorsports Group, LLC*
No. 46- Chase Miller for Team Motorsports Group, LLC*
No. 47- Josh Wise for Team Motorsports Group, LLC*
No. 50- T.J. Bell for MAKE Motorsports*
No. 52- Ryan Ellis for Means Motorsports
No. 53- Eric Curran for NDS Motorsports
No. 59- Kyle Kelley for Kelley Motorsports
No. 60- Carl Edwards for Roush Fenway Racing (Guaranteed to start via the Past Champions' Provisional)
No. 75- Kenny Habul for SunEnergy 1 Racing, LLC
No. 89- Morgan Shepherd for Shepherd Racing Ventures*
No. 97- Joe Nemechek for NEMCO Motorsports (Has third crack at the Past Champions' Provisional)
*- Expected to Start-and-Park
Rolex Sports Car Series Continental Tire 200: 23 cars entered officially, 3 likely additional entries
Driver Changes (Daytona Prototypes):
No. 5- Jordan Taylor joins the driving lineup. He is not replacing anyone.
Driver Changes (Grand Touring): None
Daytona Prototype Entries:
No. 01- Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates
No. 5- Terry Borcheller, David Donohue and Jordan Taylor for Action Express Racing
No. 9- Joao Barbosa and Darren Law for Action Express Racing
No. 10- Max Angelelli and Ricky Taylor for SunTrust Racing
No. 60- Oswaldo (Ozz) Negri, Jr. and John Pew for Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian
No. 90- Antonio Garcia and Richard Westbrook for Spirit of Daytona Racing
No. 99- Jon Fogarty and Alex Gurney for GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing
Likely Additional Entries:
No. 2- Alex Popow and Lucas Luhr for Starworks Motorsport
No. 8- Ryan Dalziel and Enzo Potolicchio for Starworks Motorsport
Grand Touring Entries:
No. 31- Eric Curran and Boris Said for Marsh Racing
No. 40- Patrick Dempsey and Joe Foster for Dempsey Racing
No. 41- Charles Espenlaub and Charles Putman for Dempsey Racing
No. 42- Wayne and Joe Nonnamaker for Team Sahlen
No. 43- Dane Cameron and Wayne Nonnamaker for Team Sahlen
No. 44- Andy Lally and John Potter for Magnus Racing
No. 46- Michael Baughman and James Davison for Michael Baughman Racing
No. 49- Will Nonnamaker and Joe Sahlen for Team Sahlen
No. 51- Dr. Jim Norman and Dion von Moltke for APR Motorsport
No. 56- Rui Aguas and Robert Kauffman for AF-Waltrip
No. 57- John Edwards and Robin Liddell for Stevenson Motorsports
No. 59- Andrew Davis and Leh Keen for Brumos Racing
No. 69- Emil Assentato and Jeff Segal for AIM Autosport Team FXDD with Ferrari
No. 70- Jonathan Bomarito and Sylvain Tremblay for SpeedSource
No. 73- Pat Lindsay and Eric Foss for Horton Autosport
No. 94- Bill Auberlen, Paul Dalla Lana and Billy Johnson for Turner Motorsport
Likely Additional Entries:
No. 15- Rick Ware Racing
Not Entered:
No. 02- Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates
No. 17- Burtin Racing with Goldcrest Motorsports
No. 64- TRG
No. 66- TRG
No. 72- Grant Racing/901Shop
No. 75- Stevenson Motorsports
No. 87- Vehicle Technologies
No. 88- Autohaus 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
Mopar To No Car - Dodge's Departure Sickens The Mopar Faithful
What's Vexing Vito
by Vito Pugliese
Longtime readers of Frontstretch.com are no doubt familiar with Matt McLaughlin. Our resident gearhead, legitimate car guy and certified Harley Head has told numerous stories of his Trans-Am, F-150, and many a summer spent riding H-Ds along the Eastern seaboard. It is my duty however to inform you that there is also a Mopar maniac among our ranks and in your midst, and he is crestfallen, inconsolable, and unstable at best, following the announcement that Dodge is leaving NASCAR at the conclusion of the 2012 season.
That individual is me. When did I first become aware of this affliction? I guess in some ways, I always knew...
I was born into a family where it truly was Mopar or No Car. My Dad was a Plymouth man, favoring Fury's, 'Cudas, and Satellites, but eventually migrated to Dodge. When I was a colicky baby, I am told that rides in my Dad's 440 Challenger would get me laughing and relieve the pain. My first memories are riding in my Mom's B5 blue 1971 Charger SE, and even though it was only five years old, I can remember looking down and seeing the white stripes on the highway through the floorboards of my Dad's 1976 Power Wagon.
His brother always had a Dodge in his garage, be it a Dart, Polara, or Power Wagon, and to this day still has the Sunfire Yellow 1969 Charger R/T he purchased new in February of '69 – still wearing the original plug wires with just a shade over 100,000 miles registering on the odometer next to the Tach-Tock clock. My Mother's youngest brother (my uncle for those in Kentucky) caught the bug too, and due to a close proximity in age, I vividly recall the 1972 GTX with Air Grabber hood that came rumbling up our driveway when I was five years old – and at seven years old, riding shotgun in his 1971 Challenger R/T as the starter fell off the 340 at 6,000 rpm, resulting in the bell housing shattering on the A883 4-speed.
It was the first and only time I've ever had the pleasure of hitchhiking.
As I neared driving age, I was bound and determined to have a hot rod as my first car. In January of 1991 at 13 years of age, I spotted an ad in the Bargain Corner for a 1972 Plymouth 'Cuda for $500. $300 later it was mine, in all of its rusted, rotted, acorn and squirrel-crap infested glory. Lemon Twist yellow with a seized up 440 sitting between the fenders – because that's what every male needs for his first car: 480lbs/ft of torque and drum brakes. No skinny jeans allowed here friends – you legitimately need a large pair to wield something with 400 horsepower and intermittent brakes.
My Dad and I spent the better part of the next three years restoring the car from the ground up, enduring his bout with kidney stones, a robbery that saw all of his tools and welders stolen, as well as me earning a whopping $5.00 an hour as a high school student working at a gas station and car wash. Its okay, it was 1993 and gas was $0.85 a gallon – not like it was The Grapes of Wrath or something. During this same time, my cousin was undertaking a similar feat with a 1973 Dodge Challenger Rallye.
Once completed, it literally was hell on wheels, as we both spent the better part of the next six years drag racing, street racing, bench racing, and making GoPro and YouTube videos look like Sesame Street pop up books, as the chase scene from Bullitt was recreated anytime we were within a quarter-mile of each other.
Think The Dukes of Hazzard meets Goodfellas and you'll have a pretty accurate illustration of what our families are like.
What then, praytell do 383s, 440s, 727s, and 3.91s have to do with Dodge bailing on the biggest car commercial in North America? It is this sort of passion for the Pentastar that has so many of my fellow Chrysler comrades weeping openly in their oil-puddle stained streets this week. You would be hard pressed to find a group of automotive enthusiasts as dedicated, loyal, and steeled with a manufacturer as Mopar fans are to their brand, their cars, and the drivers who wheel them in competition.
When Dodge made their way back to circle track racing in a competitive form in the ARCA Series with Bob Keselowski's Chrysler LeBaron (which is French for, "The Baron"), hope sprung eternal that one day they would return to the big show and pick up where Petty left off before he abandoned his 1978 Magnum for Oldsmobiles, Chevrolets, and ultimately Pontiacs – or as The King called them, "Punnyacks." Editor's Note: NASCAR refused to approve the Chrysler Lebaron for competition. When the Craftsman Truck Series was announced for the 1995 season, it was the modern day incarnation of the Prodigal Son returning, as Petty Enterprises fielded a No. 43 Dodge in NASCAR for the first time in nearly 20 years.
Rumblings soon started about the same time the first LA-motor fired to life in their reborn Rams – when will they field a Cup car? After all, the new Intrepid was shapely and snarky enough to compete with the Monte Carlos and Thunderbirds of the day. Heck, Lincoln nearly made a stab at it with their Mark VIII about this same time.
That day would come at the Daytona 500 in 2001, when Petty Enterprises, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, Melling Racing and Evernham Motorsports took to the track in the new Intrepid. It would be Sterling Marlin who would capture Dodge's first victory in the largest racing series in the Western Hemisphere at Michigan International Speedway conveniently enough – just an hour outside the headquarters of what was then Daimler-Chrysler. He would back it up again at Charlotte in October, taking the checkered flag – and the United States flag – at the same time military operations began on a large-scale in Afghanistan, following the attacks on September 11th.
After years of suffering and having only privateers such as Buddy Arrington to look to, Chrysler fans had something crow about again in motorsports besides NHRA Pro Stock and anything Hemi-powered in Top Fuel or Funny Car.
By 2008 however the automotive industry was in the toilet, and things were circling the drain with the plunger of unemployment, sagging sales, and sky-rocketing labor and benefit costs forcing the Big Three into the septic system of insolvency. Only Ford was able to bail itself out – mortgaging the family farm essentially and the Blue Oval badge itself to remain afloat. General Motors became known as Government Motors, while Chrysler went a similar direction, ultimately with assistance from the Italian auto giant Fiat. During their respective restructuring, the issue of paying for race cars to go play became a bit of a non-sequitur, with taxpayers on the hook for some dumb decisions over the course of the past 25 years.
Couple this with the green movement reaching a crescendo, passing something off that burned gas and rubber was not going to work as a Hybrid.
While a compelling case could be made for NASCAR being an effective marketing arm to move metal and keep people interested in each brands respective models, money dried up mighty quick, which affected the Dodge bunch most of all. Petty Enterprises – the most successful marque in the history of the sport, merged with Gillett Evernham Motorsports. With the help of some investors, Richard Petty Motorsports came to life – although there was suddenly no room left for Kyle Petty. Ray Evernham decided he had enough of the rat race and soon after George Gillett took control of his team, it folded as well, leaving only Robby Gordon's manufacturer-of-the-year program, and Penske Racing, who had been with the brand since 2003.
As the only competitive Dodge team in the series, Penske was on a plain unto their own; sure, they had the sole attention of the remaining Dodge engineers, but there were no other teams to baseline off of, or bounce ideas off of. Recall the struggles of Roush Fenway Racing in 2009-2010. It was not until the gang at RPM tipped them off to the proper front end geometry after two years of flawed data acquisition did they return to their winning ways. It was not until Brad Keselowski broke his foot in a testing crash at Road Atlanta last summer and suddenly became awesome, did Dodge have anybody other than Kurt Busch that was competitive and a race-winning title contender. Coming off his 2010 Nationwide Championship, and running clearly the coolest car in the series with the Challenger, things looked to be turning around for Dodge and Chrysler as a whole, posting consistent double-digit sales increases month after month.
Sadly, this story doesn't have such as happy ending.
With the unveiling of the new 2013 Charger at Las Vegas this March, there was much hope that teams would come-a-callin' to be the newest member of the Fiat-family, what with Penske's announcement of a move back to Ford for next season. Rumors swirled that Richard Petty Motorsports would be more than happy to be back with Mother Mopar, and there were rumblings of Andretti Autosport expanding to NASCAR – what better fit than another American-Italian group, Chrysler by way of Fiat as the manufacturer of choice. As late as this weekend it was rumored that Furniture Row Racing would be acquiring the Penske engine program, with Kurt Busch and/or Ryan Newman as candidates to expand Barney Visser's Colorado based organization. After all, the NHRA Mile High Nationals are sponsored by Mopar – clearly it was all coming together.
Just as quickly, it all fell apart. On Tuesday, Ralph Gilles, SRT CEO and Brand President who heads up Chrysler's motorsports endeavors confirmed that Dodge would be gone from NASCAR after 2012. No Charger. No Challenger. No Ram. There was the cursory, "keep our options open for the future" statement, which is a lot like a girl telling you, "I'll call you later…". Don't bother texting either champ; its not going to matter.
Perhaps what is most unfortunate and borderline insulting is the timing of the announcement. This weekend marks the 32nd Annual Mopar Nationals in Columbus, Ohio. For the uninitiated, imagine placing Woodstock, Vatican City, and a Metallica concert alongside Woodward Avenue, with late night burnout contests in the Hooters or Motel 6 parking lot. It is the Mopar Mecca if there ever was one, born of the days when you could pick up a Hemi-powered anything for chump change – the same cars today that roll across the blocks at Barrett-Jackson for $250,000 – and not that long ago were going for two to three times that amount. Want to see a guy with the Roadrunner tattooed on his calf? This is the place.
With Dodge announcing that they're closing the doors on NASCAR – yet initiating their ALMS Viper program, we may be seeing the Euro influence on what was the most American of car companies. From helping to win WWII, to rising from the ash heap of automotive obscurity not once, twice, but three times in the last 20 years, followed by a host of tear-jerking, heart-string tugging, chest thumping ads that have been appearing for the last two years.
From George Washington power sliding into battle in a black SRT8 Challenger, to Clint telling us during Halftime at the Super Bowl that the fight's not over, and the world will once again kneel at the altar of Walter P., and the love letter from a wife to her between jobs husband that makes you ashamed to look in the mirror if you don't own something imported from Detroit (even though the Charger and Challenger are built in Canada – with made in Mexico engines), it had appeared that Dodge was in it to win it, and not going to bail on NASCAR. This week they did just that, and burned a lot of goodwill within the racing community with teams who were eager to join the cause, while breaking the hearts of millions of longtime friends, fans, and followers.
I for one am among the latter group. I hate goodbyes…so I guess we'll just say, arrivederci ...
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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COME JOIN THE FRONTSTRETCH FAMILY!
Hey Frontstretch Readers,
We are looking for someone who shares our enthusiasm for NASCAR and has an experienced background in web design. Specifically, we are looking for someone who can help maintain and enhance our website, increase our SEO, and upgrade our publishing platform while producing a limited amount of content throughout the season. This job presents a perfect opportunity for someone with a technical background, a person who wants their work to gain national exposure.
If you are interested, contact frontstretcheditors@googlegroups.com. Please include references to your past work in your e-mail.
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The Critic's Annex: Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio
by Phil Allaway
Hello, race fans. Welcome back to the Critic's Annex, where we take an additional look at motorsports-related programming. This past week was a tough one for ESPN. A split weekend saw ESPN's resources stretched to the breaking point. ESPN's primary crew was in Pocono for the Sprint Cup race. Meanwhile, much of the team that would have ordinarily covered the Izod IndyCar Series race was in Iowa for the Nationwide Series.
However, there was still a third race that ESPN was covering last weekend. That was the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio for the Izod IndyCar Series. With their play-by-play man in Iowa and much of the pit reporting corp either in Pocono or Iowa, ESPN decided to get the NBC Sports Network to come in and work on the telecast. NBC Sports Network had their production crew at their disposal, but no place to air the race on the network due to a contract with the series that requires live telecasts of races, and a full slate of Summer Olympics coverage.
As a result, Bob Jenkins, Wally Dallenbach and Jon Beekhuis covered the race from the broadcast booth with what was referenced by Jenkins as "great cooperation between the networks." For Jenkins, it was his first time covering the series on ABC since 2003. Beekhuis also worked on ESPN telecasts of CART races in the past. For Dallenbach, this was a first. I do have to admit after watching the team on Versus/NBC Sports Network over the past couple of years that this was a little surreal.
Following a recap of the Edmonton Indy, there was a ProfessorB-type feature on pit road entry and pit road procedure. Its a little more in depth than what you normally see in Sprint Cup due to the extra technology involved (like speed limiters and such).
There was also a feature on Anna Chatten, a gearbox mechanic for Panther Racing. In addition, she also goes over the wall on stops and handled the air jack. Chatten describes her roles at the track and at the shop. Hildebrand adds in some quips about Chatten as well. This piece was tied into National Guard's Salute to the Female Solider. I thought this was an interesting piece. Crew members in the Izod IndyCar Series don't usually get any profiles written about them. They're even more anonymous than the crewmembers in NASCAR.
With a much shorter pre-race show (roughly 20 minutes or so) to work with, there wasn't time to do some of the things that NBC Sports Network does on IndyCar Central. Example: No Robin Miller, thus, no Grid Run.
Race coverage was quite decent. The NBC Sports Network on-air crew simply seems to be more knowledgeable about the series, its drivers and cars than ESPN's normal booth crew. Since the race was caution-free, there was a dearth of competition for position. This time was taken up by strategy discussion. Also, in the year and a half that the current booth lineup has been together, they've developed quite the rapport together.
It also should be noted that there was not that much difference in commentary style between what normally airs on the NBC Sports Network and what we saw on ABC. Often times, commentary can be dumbed down when a race is on network television due to the fact that there are more potential eyes watching (the oh-so-crucial "casual fan").
Since the race ended up running caution-free (second time in a row), there was a decent amount of time left over for post-race coverage. ESPN provided viewers with multiple post-race interviews, plus checks of the unofficial results and point standings before leaving the air.
Overall, this telecast was enjoyable to watch. It appears that the NBC Sports Network is still reaping the benefits of the sanctioning body's assistance in finding close action on-track. The camera shots this week were much better than what we usually get from ESPN's IndyCar races. Granted, they've improved since St. Petersburg back in March, but its still a bit sub-par as compared to the NBC Sports Network. Obviously, when they can, ESPN will use their own production crew, but they would do well to study the broadcast that aired on ABC on Sunday.
I hope you liked this brief look at ESPN's coverage of the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio. I'm unclear as to whether there will be an Annex next week, but regardless of whether there is or not, I hope you enjoy this weekend's action at Watkins Glen.
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 Five Points to Ponder: Bring Back Racing to the Yellow Flag
"The running order…what is so complicated here? The issue is trying to set the field based on what scoring loops say, incident be damned. Like it or not, no two incidents are the same, circumstances require drivers to do different things, involved in the incident or not…and scoring loops intermittently positioned over a race track aren't going to be in the right position every time. " - Bryan Keith, ranting about the issues that come from trying to set a restart order solely on the back of scoring loops.
~~~~~~~~~~
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TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
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The Critic's Annex: Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio
by Phil Allaway
Hello, race fans. Welcome back to the Critic's Annex, where we take an additional look at motorsports-related programming. This past week was a tough one for ESPN. A split weekend saw ESPN's resources stretched to the breaking point. ESPN's primary crew was in Pocono for the Sprint Cup race. Meanwhile, much of the team that would have ordinarily covered the Izod IndyCar Series race was in Iowa for the Nationwide Series.
However, there was still a third race that ESPN was covering last weekend. That was the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio for the Izod IndyCar Series. With their play-by-play man in Iowa and much of the pit reporting corp either in Pocono or Iowa, ESPN decided to get the NBC Sports Network to come in and work on the telecast. NBC Sports Network had their production crew at their disposal, but no place to air the race on the network due to a contract with the series that requires live telecasts of races, and a full slate of Summer Olympics coverage.
As a result, Bob Jenkins, Wally Dallenbach and Jon Beekhuis covered the race from the broadcast booth with what was referenced by Jenkins as "great cooperation between the networks." For Jenkins, it was his first time covering the series on ABC since 2003. Beekhuis also worked on ESPN telecasts of CART races in the past. For Dallenbach, this was a first. I do have to admit after watching the team on Versus/NBC Sports Network over the past couple of years that this was a little surreal.
Following a recap of the Edmonton Indy, there was a ProfessorB-type feature on pit road entry and pit road procedure. Its a little more in depth than what you normally see in Sprint Cup due to the extra technology involved (like speed limiters and such).
There was also a feature on Anna Chatten, a gearbox mechanic for Panther Racing. In addition, she also goes over the wall on stops and handled the air jack. Chatten describes her roles at the track and at the shop. Hildebrand adds in some quips about Chatten as well. This piece was tied into National Guard's Salute to the Female Solider. I thought this was an interesting piece. Crew members in the Izod IndyCar Series don't usually get any profiles written about them. They're even more anonymous than the crewmembers in NASCAR.
With a much shorter pre-race show (roughly 20 minutes or so) to work with, there wasn't time to do some of the things that NBC Sports Network does on IndyCar Central. Example: No Robin Miller, thus, no Grid Run.
Race coverage was quite decent. The NBC Sports Network on-air crew simply seems to be more knowledgeable about the series, its drivers and cars than ESPN's normal booth crew. Since the race was caution-free, there was a dearth of competition for position. This time was taken up by strategy discussion. Also, in the year and a half that the current booth lineup has been together, they've developed quite the rapport together.
It also should be noted that there was not that much difference in commentary style between what normally airs on the NBC Sports Network and what we saw on ABC. Often times, commentary can be dumbed down when a race is on network television due to the fact that there are more potential eyes watching (the oh-so-crucial "casual fan").
Since the race ended up running caution-free (second time in a row), there was a decent amount of time left over for post-race coverage. ESPN provided viewers with multiple post-race interviews, plus checks of the unofficial results and point standings before leaving the air.
Overall, this telecast was enjoyable to watch. It appears that the NBC Sports Network is still reaping the benefits of the sanctioning body's assistance in finding close action on-track. The camera shots this week were much better than what we usually get from ESPN's IndyCar races. Granted, they've improved since St. Petersburg back in March, but its still a bit sub-par as compared to the NBC Sports Network. Obviously, when they can, ESPN will use their own production crew, but they would do well to study the broadcast that aired on ABC on Sunday.
I hope you liked this brief look at ESPN's coverage of the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio. I'm unclear as to whether there will be an Annex next week, but regardless of whether there is or not, I hope you enjoy this weekend's action at Watkins Glen.
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 Five Points to Ponder: Bring Back Racing to the Yellow Flag
"The running order…what is so complicated here? The issue is trying to set the field based on what scoring loops say, incident be damned. Like it or not, no two incidents are the same, circumstances require drivers to do different things, involved in the incident or not…and scoring loops intermittently positioned over a race track aren't going to be in the right position every time. " - Bryan Keith, ranting about the issues that come from trying to set a restart order solely on the back of scoring loops.
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TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
Blackhawk Down: NASCAR Conspiracy Theorists Run Amok
by Matt McLaughlin
Potts' Shots: Paying The Price In NASCAR, On The Track And Off
by John Potts
Professor Of Speed: Weathering The Storms
by Mark Howell
Truckin' Thursdays: Exciting Reasons To Keep Watching At Halfway
by Beth Lunkenheimer
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FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: Jeff Gordon claimed his fifth consecutive road course victory when he won the Frontier @ at the Glen at Watkins Glen International. However, the track was a complete mess at the finish due to three separate incidents. One saw Joe Nemechek spin into the gravel trap that was in the Inner Loop at the time. Ted Christopher, who made his official Cup debut that day (relief driving for Dick Trickle the year before technically didn't count since he didn't start the race), was also beached as well. Finally, the exit of Turn 11 was covered in the Styrofoam blocks that Watkins Glen used for soft walls at that time. Who caused the Styrofoam mess?
Check back Friday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Wednesday's Answer:
Wednesday's Answer:
Q: For many years, the then-Busch North Series (now the K&N Pro Series East) used to serve as primary support to the Cup Series at Watkins Glen. In the 1995 Burnham Boilers 150, Busch Grand National regular Curtis Markham was battling for fourth late in the race with Victor Sifton when the two drivers collided. What happened?
A: Coming off of the final corner, Markham got in the back of Sifton's Canaska Ford, spinning the 1993-spec Thunderbird into the protective barrels at the beginning of pit road. Unlike today, these barrels were filled with water instead of sand. The impact flipped Sifton's car upside down. The car did one complete roll before coming back down on all fours. Sifton suffered some bruises, but otherwise walked away from the crash. The Thunderbird had clearly seen better days, though. The incident can be seen in this clip.After this second crash, Jarrett was officially done for the day. He was credited with a 41st-place finish.
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!
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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!
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Tomorrow on the Frontstretch:
Four Burning Questions: Watkins Glen by Summer Bedgood
Summer gets you set with a full preview of what we'll see during a weekend of racing at Watkins Glen.
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 Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen International.
Voices From the Heartland by Jeff Meyer
Our Tennessee transplant returns with another interesting take on recent events.
Driver Diary: Michael Annett as told to Toni Montgomery
Michael returns to discuss his past month on and off the track.
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1 comment:
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