The Frontstretch Newsletter: Big Driver Changes Announced TODAY

THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
September 4th, 2012
Volume VI, Edition CLXXVI

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What to Watch For: Tuesday

- Later today, there is a press conference scheduled to be held at Joe Gibbs Racing.  In it, the team is expected to announce that Matt Kenseth will be coming to the team to drive the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota, starting at the beginning of the 2013 season.  It's not exactly a surprise, but the move will be made official and all the main players will be in attendance.  We'll have a write-up about the announcement in tomorrow's edition of the Frontstretch Newsletter.

- This afternoon (see below), Roger Penske is expected to announce the driver of his No. 22 Dodge for 2013. Multiple sources, first reported by ESPN are claiming that it's Joey Logano.

Top News
by Tom Bowles

Sources: Logano To Drive For Penske In 2013

Sliced Bread has found himself a new place to slice up the competition next season. Multiple reports, first coming from ESPN have Logano heading to Penske Racing in 2013 in a deal that will be announced this afternoon. The 22-year-old driver, in his fourth full season driving Sprint Cup will move over from Joe Gibbs Racing, the only NASCAR team he's ever known to drive the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge.

Logano had been heavily rumored to take Penske's open seat, as Matt Kenseth slides into his No. 20 Home Depot Toyota starting next season; that contract will be announced today at a 1 PM news conference (see above). However, the move does come as a bit of a surprise considering Penske, just over the weekend reaffirmed current interim driver Sam Hornish, Jr. was still being strongly considered for the seat. Hornish, championship contender in the Nationwide Series for Penske will remain with the organization in either that role or driving a new, full-time Cup Series car in 2013.

For Logano, the 2012 season has been disappointing despite a win during the first Pocono race in June. He sits 18th in the current standings, with just one other top-5 finish and would have to score a victory at Richmond in order to make the Chase. Overall, his time with JGR has produced two victories and 37 top-10 finishes in 136 starts; the driver dubbed the "best of his generation" by Mark Martin has never finished inside the top 15 in points during four full-time seasons at the Cup level. He'll try and turn that around at Penske, which is handing him a team with a long-term sponsor and a history of Chase success.

Logano's departure at JGR is expected to pave the way for Elliott Sadler to join the team, according to multiple reports. JGR would be able to give Sadler a full-time Nationwide Series ride, driving one of their two main cars (the No. 18/20) as well as a select number of Cup Series starts in a fourth Toyota.

NASCAR Wives Reality Show?

Dave Moody of SIRIUS Satellite Radio is reporting this morning VH1 has started filming a reality show revolving around women in NASCAR. The Influence Entertainment Group is behind the idea, with producer LT Tottle confirming to Moody ten women are committed to the project. Some are current wives of NASCAR drivers while others have been previously connected to the sport in some way, shape, or form.

The plan, if negotiations are successful is for the show to run in the beginning of 2013. If successful, it would be the second such program in history to focus exclusively on the wives of NASCAR; NASCAR Wives, produced by NASCAR Media Group ran during the 2009 season on TLC.

NASCAR has not been consulted on anything regarding the show.

News Bites

- Travis Pastrana's Nationwide Series season just got extended a little bit longer. He'll be driving the No. 60 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing Friday at Richmond, with sponsorship to be announced in a one-race deal. Pastrana, who has made eight series starts in RAB Racing's Toyota, with backing from Boost Mobile has a best finish of 13th at Indianapolis. However, Friday night's race at Atlanta may have been his best to date; he led six laps, then ran consistently inside the top 10 until wrecking during the second half of the race.

- Paulie Harraka, recently parting ways with Wauters Motorsports in the Truck Series has found himself a new home in NASCAR. He'll drive in the Nationwide Series at Richmond, making his first career oval start in that division wheeling the No. 39 Ford of Go Green Racing. That car, which has had a revolving door of funded drivers features Clinton Cram as crew chief; Cram and Harraka worked together during a successful stint with Bill McAnally in 2010, when Harraka was driving in NASCAR's West Series.

Harraka had struggled during his time in the Truck Series; no better than 17th in 11 starts, he failed to finish four times due to wrecks and finished on the lead lap only three times.

Have news for Tom and the Frontstretch? Don't hesitate to let us know; email us at ashland10@mail.com with a promising lead or tip.

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Got NASCAR-related questions or comments?
Send them John Potts' way at john.potts@frontstretch.com; and if you're lucky, you'll get your name in print when he does his weekly column answering back to you – the fans that keep Frontstretch afloat. Potts' Shots will run on Thursdays with a whole new set of Fan Questions and Answers!

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Today's Featured Commentary
Making Memories with NASCAR: There's No Replacement for Being There
Sitting In The Stands: A Fan's View
by S.D. Grady

It's Sunday.  You flick on the TV and the NASCAR logo flows across the screen, usually with an aerial shot of that week's location in the background.  The grandstands, shape of the track and familiar buildings rise up out of the trees, desert, hills... whatever the iconic signature of the area might be today.  We've been here in the past and the TV commentators begin to feed you the images and sounds of races that came before.

This last Sunday, ESPN regaled us with the 1992 Hooters 500 at Atlanta and all that momentous day brought. You had Alan Kulwicki's improbable championship, the end of Richard Petty's career and the start of Jeff Gordon's.  Yes, it was twenty years ago, and yet every time the circuit returns to this track, we still recall those days of glory.  It feeds into the anticipation of the drop of the green flag and all that occurs today, in the hopes 2012 will bring memories to draw upon in future years.

However, I wasn't there in 1992.  And not every snippet of yore will ignite a spark of passion in the avid fan.  For the '92 Hooters 500, I have little more than warm fuzzy thoughts, all created from the comfort of my couch.  At the same time, I have visited Atlanta and so those wide shots of the track displayed before the AdvoCare 500? There are memories I do have: a spring thunderstorm, the scent of mowed onion grass in the campground, Dale Jr. winning, Tina Gordon's wreck, and Bobby Hamilton winning in the Truck Series.

That's because visiting a track even once heightens your awareness of everything broadcast. You've got the new pylons, how full the stands appear, exactly how a car sets as it runs through the corner...and the noise.  Oh, the noise.  Did you know every track has its own signature hum of a race?  It's kind of wild. 

At Atlanta, the cars wind up and never really get out of the gas, except when they're sliding around.  But unlike a short track, the hum dwindles across the backstretch from your view in the grandstands.  Bristol, now it ain't called Thunder Valley for nothing.  Your seat vibrates beneath you, and when the field cranks it up, you had better be good at lip reading. The sound remains an unending roar for the duration of the event, focused on the fans by the bowl shape of the stands set atop the mountain.

In Darlington, while you walk to the track the soles of your shoes are grabbed by that old asphalt that gave the track its sandpaper reputation for so many years. Pocono's frontstretch vanishes toward Turn One as you shield your eyes in an attempt to keep the ant-like cars within sight.  At The Glen, it seems like you can reach out and touch the cars from the fences as they roar towards Turn 11.

Yes, ESPN always does its best to sell you on those quirks of each track on the circuit, but it's impossible to replace the feel of Indy's yard of bricks under your wondering fingers with those short, historic video segments.  You will never truly understand the towering banks of Dover until you climb them.  The exact angle of the track, how high above the pavement you sit, the tinny sound of the announcer over the PA system... it all creates a precise snapshot in your mind that no amount of reporting will ever duplicate.  Once you have that, you watch new races with a curious blend of nostalgia and a desire for more.

As we look forward to the regular season finale, classic Richmond races will be pulled out of the scrapbooks.  I will happily reminisce with the talking heads on TV and even appreciate some stellar commentary.  Unfortunately, when the sun goes down and the cameras go live on Saturday night, I will not have my own personal experiences to increase my pulse when the inspectors raise their hands and the tower gives the command.   I am still wondering what it is like to be there, at that moment in that place during a time when hearts will be broken... and mended.

Are there awesome seats all around the D-oval?  Can I buy cotton candy?  How many miles would I have to hike to find my seat?  Exactly what will the engines sound like, there, up close and personal, as they attack the short track with the big attitude?  I want to know.  I need to know.  My bucket list of visiting all the tracks on the Sprint Cup circuit is not complete.  And never will be. 

Twenty years ago NASCAR experienced the pinnacle of its existence in that Hooters 500.  Twenty years from now we'll look back on the Federated Auto Parts 400 and learn who snared that final wild card spot for the Chase.  TV will do a fine job of recalling stats and drivers, but it will be the 80,000 fans sitting in the stands who will truly be able to share that ethereal essence of the moment you can only find when you're really there.  I'm wishing I was...

What memories have you stored up over the years at your favorite track?  I'd love to hear.

Sonya's Weekly Danica Stat
Atlanta: NNS in the No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
Qualified: 17th
Finished: 13th (running, two laps down)
Points Position: 10th

Atlanta: NSCS in the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
Qualified: 23rd
Finished: 29th (running, six laps down)
Points Position: Not eligible to earn points

S.D. Grady is a Senior Editor for Frontstretch.com.  She can be reached via e-mail at sonya.grady@frontstretch.com.  Follow her on Twitter at @laregna.

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Numbers Game: AdvoCare 500
by Garrett Horton

0
Chase hopeful Joey Logano needs a win at Richmond to make this year's Chase.  It will be tough given Logano's history at the short track – he hasn't led a single lap in his seven career starts.

1
Since announcing he would be leaving Roush Fenway Racing at the conclusion of this year, Matt Kenseth has just one top-5 result, which was a third at Daytona in July.

2
Jeff Gordon has two career victories at Richmond International Raceway, but none since 2000.  Despite the winless drought, it is a venue has remained competitive for him in recent years.  In his last 11 starts, he has eight top-10 finishes while leading 659 laps.

3
Only three drivers have finished every race this year – Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Greg Biffle, and Paul Menard.

4
Denny Hamlin picked up his fourth win of the season on Sunday night at Atlanta.  Continuing the trend from his win at Bristol last week, all four of his victories this season have been first-time visits to Victory Lane at those venues.

4th
Ryan Newman's best finish at Richmond since 2005 was a fourth-place effort in the spring race in 2009.  It is his only top-5 performance at the three-quarters of a mile track since then.

5
With his crash at Atlanta, Jimmie Johnson now has five DNFs on the year - his most since 2005.

7.7
Kyle Busch has simply been amazing at Richmond since arriving on the Sprint Cup scene in 2005.  However, his numbers for its second race are nowhere near as impressive as they are in the spring.  His average finish in the fall race is only a 7.7 compared to his 2.1 average in the first event.  Perhaps more importantly, he has yet to win NASCAR's final regular season race despite owning four consecutive spring victories at RIR.

9
Crew chief Darian Grubb now has nine victories in the last 35 races; five with Tony Stewart in the final ten races of last season and four with current driver Denny Hamlin in 2012.

16.1
Marcos Ambrose, who is one of five drivers looking to occupy the second wild card spot in the Chase with a second win, has an average finish of 16.1 at Richmond.  While it's nothing stellar, that's his second-highest average finish on any oval track in his career.

19.0
The average finish for Sam Hornish, Jr. in nine starts since replacing AJ Allmendinger in the No. 22 Dodge.  His competitor for the ride next year, Joey Logano, had an average finish of 19.4 during the same stretch.

22
The Sprint Cup series returns to Richmond this weekend, and it should be a welcome sight for Tony Stewart.  Since leading 118 laps en route to a third-place finish here in the spring, the defending Cup champ hasn't led more than 22 laps in a race.

101
Kevin Harvick led 101 laps on Sunday – his season total going into the race was 128.

Garrett Horton is a Contributor to Frontstretch.  He can be reached via e-mail at garrett.horton@frontstretch.com.  Follow him on Twitter at @Garrett_Horton.

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TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:

Five Points to Ponder: NASCAR's a Tough Sell, Labor Day or Not
by Bryan Davis Keith

Who's Hot/ Who's Not in NASCAR: Atlanta/Richmond Edition
by Brett Poirier

Tech Talk with Dave Rogers - One Shot to Put Rowdy in the Chase
by Mike Neff

Gunning for a Win: Lining Up the Remaining Chase Wild Card Hopefuls
by Kevin Rutherford

ESPN Puts Themselves (Unintentionally) In a Dark Place at Atlanta
by Phil Allaway
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FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
 
Q:  In 2001, Ricky Rudd won the Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400 at Richmond International Raceway.  However, it wasn't exactly the cleanest victory.  What happened late in the race?
 
Check back Wednesday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
 
Monday's Answer:

Q:  In September, 1988, the Miller High Life 400 marked the grand opening of the then-brand new Richmond International Raceway (the track was renovated from its original narrow, .542-mile configuration to the current three-quarter mile track in six and a half months).  However, the field was completely jumbled up.  Why was this so?

A:  At the time, there was a tire war in Winston Cup between Goodyear and Hoosier.  There was also a rule change that stipulated that while you could change brands during the race without penalty, you had to start the race on the brand that you qualified on.  Almost all the Goodyear teams switched to Hoosiers for the race, so they had to line up behind the teams that qualified on Hoosiers.

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 Brad Morgan
-- Beth's Brief by Beth Lunkenheimer
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, and more!

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Tomorrow on the Frontstretch:

Did You Notice?... by Tom Bowles
Tom returns with a series of "quick hit" discussion points.

Mirror Driving by the Frontstretch Staff
Your favorite Frontstretch writers are back to discuss a variety of different subjects.  Topics include whether Denny Hamlin deserves to start the Chase as the No. 1 seed, whether Elliott Sadler's "lame duck" status will prevent him from winning the Nationwide title, who will earn the second and final Wild Card entry into the Chase, and more.

The Yellow Stripe by Danny Perers
After a column day swap, Danny returns with an interesting commentary on street racing. When and where would such a venue be added to the NASCAR schedule?

Frontstretch Top Ten by the Frontstretch Staff
We'll have a top ten list that will tickle your funny bone, guaranteed.

Open-Wheel Wednesday by Matt Stallknecht
Matt's back with another look inside the Izod IndyCar Series as the teams prepare for next weekend's season finale.
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