The Frontstretch Newsletter: November 8th, 2012

THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
November 8th, 2012
Volume VI, Edition CCXXV
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What to Watch: Thursday

- The race weekend at Phoenix International Raceway gets underway in earnest with two practice sessions for the Camping World Truck Series today.  One will be held from 3:30 - 4:25 PM local time (6:30 - 7:25 PM EST), while the second session will run from 5:35 - 7:35 PM (7:35 - 9:35 PM EST).  Neither of these sessions will be televised.

Top News
by Phil Allaway

RCR Names Rick Penn as New Vice President of Business Development

On Wednesday, Richard Childress Racing (RCR) announced that they have promoted Rick Penn to the role of Vice President of Business Development.  Since it is a brand new position, Penn is not replacing anyone.  Previously, Penn served as the team's Director of Business Development in 2009 and was promoted to Managing Director of Business Development in 2010.

Representatives of RCR are very happy to have Penn continue on in an elevated role.

"Rick has done an outstanding job for RCR since he joined us in 2009, said Ben Schlosser, RCR's Chief Marketing Officer.  "He has assembled a terrific team for our business development efforts, implemented solid strategies to attract new partners for RCR and has helped to drive B2B (business-to-business) for many of our business partners."

According to RCR's press release, Penn's responsibilities include "...developing long-term partnerships for all of RCR's teams and growing new revenue channels."  Penn was instrumental for facilitating RCR's current relationships with WESCO, Budweiser, AdvoCare, Husky Liners and Growth Energy (American Ethanol).  For example, the work that went into the acquisition of WESCO as a sponsor for RCR was chronicled on an episode of NASCAR RaceHub back in the summer months.  There are more companies that have been attracted to the organization via Penn's work, but according to Schlosser, those will be announced at a future date.

Childress, expected to field three full-time Sprint Cup cars in 2013 has some investment partners putting their portion of the team up for sale at this time. He's also endured Chip Ganassi "pulling out" of their engine program for the coming season in favor of Hendrick engines, although Teresa Earnhardt will reportedly still invest in their effort.

Nemechek Gets Sponsor for Phoenix

On Wednesday, NEMCO Motorsports announced that two Alaskan-based companies will sponsor the team's Nationwide entry this weekend at Phoenix International Raceway.  AC General and the Sasquatch Alaska Adventure Company will serve as sponsors on Nemechek's No. 87 in Saturday's Great Clips 200.  As a result, the No. 87 will take on a Great Northwest theme for the weekend.

Nemechek is very pleased to have these two backers on board and is very confident about his chances in Phoenix.

"We love coming to Phoenix and we are hoping for a great run, especially with the support of having Sasquatch Alaska Adventure Company and AC General running with us on our No. 87 Toyota," Nemechek said.  "Our team is excited to have this themed car this week and we have been working to rally up our resources to deliver a solid performance, while helping these companies spread the word about their unique tank construction services and amazing Alaska tour experiences."

For AC General, a company that specializes in foundations for above ground fuel storage tanks, it is a return to NEMCO Motorsports.  Earlier this season, they served as an associate sponsor on the No. 87 at Bristol.  Meanwhile, the Sasquatch Alaska Adventure Company is an outlet that arranges excursion tours into the backcountry of Alaska
for camping, bear watching, glacial tours and more.

Nemechek, who start-and-parks in the Cup Series runs the full distance in Nationwide and is currently 11th in points, 10 behind Danica Patrick for the final spot inside the top 10.

Entry List Update:
Note: These entries are accurate as of Wednesday night.  However, they are still subject to change.

Sprint Cup Series Advocare 500k: 44 Cars Entered

Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points:
No. 10 - Danica Patrick for Tommy Baldwin Racing/Stewart-Haas Racing
No. 19 - Mike Bliss for Humphrey-Smith Racing
No. 22 - Sam Hornish, Jr. for Penske Racing
No. 32 - Timmy Hill for FAS Lane Racing
No. 87 - Joe Nemechek for NEMCO Motorsports
No. 91 - Reed Sorenson for Humphrey-Smith Racing

Driver Changes:
No. 32 - Timmy Hill returns to the seat, replacing Ken Schrader.  According to Jayski, T.J. Bell is listed as the driver of record, but Hill stated on his Twitter page earlier this week that he will be back in the car.
No. 51 - Regan Smith is in the seat, replacing AJ Allmendinger. Smith will drive the final two races for the team before moving on to be the full-time driver for JR Motorsports in the Nationwide Series for 2013.

Drivers who must qualify on speed:
No. 19 - Mike Bliss for Humphrey-Smith Racing*
No. 26 - Josh Wise for Front Row Motorsports*
No. 30 - David Stremme for Inception Motorsports*
No. 33 - Stephen Leicht for Circle Point, LLC
No. 37 - J.J. Yeley for Tommy Baldwin Racing/MaxQ Motorsports*
No. 44 - David Reutimann for Xxxtreme Motorsports*
No. 87 - Joe Nemechek for NEMCO Motorsports*
No. 91 - Reed Sorenson for Humphrey-Smith Racing*
No. 98 - Michael McDowell for Phil Parsons Racing*

Not Entered:
No. 21 - Trevor Bayne for Wood Brothers Racing
No. 23 - Scott Riggs for R3 Motorsports
No. 79 - Kelly Bires for Go Green Racing
No. 95 - Scott Speed for Leavine Family Racing

Nationwide Series Great Clips 200: 46 Cars Entered

Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points:
No. 08 - Paulie Harraka for Randy Hill Racing/Go Green Racing
No. 18 - Joey Logano for Joe Gibbs Racing
No. 20 - Brian Vickers for Joe Gibbs Racing
No. 22 - Brad Keselowski for Penske Racing
No. 30 - Jason Leffler for Turner Motorsports
No. 33 - Brendan Gaughan for Richard Childress Racing
No. 38 - Kasey Kahne for Turner Motorsports
No. 42 - Josh Wise for Team Motorsports Group, LLC
No. 47 - J.J. Yeley for Team Motorsports Group, LLC
No. 54 - Kyle Busch for Kyle Busch Motorsports
No. 70 - Tony Raines for ML Motorsports/Robinson-Blakeney Motorsports
No. 91 - Tony Raines for TriStar Motorsports

Driver Changes:
No. 08 - Paulie Harraka returns to the seat, replacing Scott Saunders. Harraka brings funding to this buy-a-ride, continuing a limited schedule in this series after being released from his ride at Wauters Motorsports in the Truck Series earlier this season.
No. 4 - Daryl Harr returns to the seat, replacing Danny Efland. Harr is running a limited schedule with the JD Motorsports team at West Coast races.
No. 10 - Jeff Green returns to the seat, replacing Mike Bliss. Green will start-and-park this car.
No. 13 - An unknown driver will be in the seat, replacing Jennifer Jo Cobb.
No. 18 - Joey Logano returns to the seat, replacing Denny Hamlin.
No. 19 - Mike Bliss returns to the seat, replacing Hal Martin.
No. 20 - Brian Vickers is in the seat, replacing Joey Logano. This will be Vickers' debut with the team since announcing he'll run the full schedule with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2013.
No. 22 - Brad Keselowski returns to the seat, replacing Ryan Blaney.
No. 23 - Jamie Dick returns to the seat, replacing Robert Richardson, Jr. Dick is running a limited schedule with the team through the sponsorship of VIVA Auto Group.
No. 24 - Derek White returns to the seat, replacing David Starr.
No. 30 - Jason Leffler returns to the seat, replacing Ryan Newman. Leffler is running a limited schedule with the team, which he used to drive full-time for up through the 2011 season.
No. 33 - Brendan Gaughan returns to the seat, replacing Kevin Harvick.
No. 38 - Kasey Kahne returns to the seat, replacing Brad Sweet.
No. 39 - Dexter Stacey returns to the seat, replacing Tim Andrews.
No. 41 - An unknown driver will be in the seat, replacing Juan Carlos Blum.  This seat will likely be occupied by Nur Ali, since he stated last week that he would drive in Phoenix after not being approved by NASCAR to race at Texas.
No. 70 - Tony Raines will be in the seat, replacing Johanna Long.
No. 75 - Carl Long returns to the seat, replacing Timmy Hill.
No. 91 - Tony Raines is listed as in the seat, replacing Jeff Green.  Raines is currently entered in both the Nos. 70 and 91, but without proper sponsorship at TriStar will likely be running the No. 70 -- TriStar may simply withdraw.
No. 99 - Alex Bowman returns to the seat, replacing Kenny Wallace.

Drivers who must qualify on speed:
No. 00 - Blake Koch for SR2 Motorsports/Ruch Motorsports*
No. 08 - Paulie Harraka for Randy Hill Racing/Go Green Racing
No. 10 - Jeff Green for TriStar Motorsports (Has second crack at the Past Champions' Provisional)*
No. 13 - Unknown driver for JJC Racing*
No. 15 - Timmy Hill for Rick Ware Racing
No. 20 - Brian Vickers for Joe Gibbs Racing (Guaranteed to start via the Past Champions' Provisional)
No. 42 - Josh Wise for Team Motorsports Group, LLC*
No. 46 - Chase Miller for Team Motorsports Group, LLC*
No. 47 - J.J. Yeley for Team Motorsports Group, LLC*
No. 52 - Joey Gase for Means Motorsports
No. 73 - Derrike Cope
No. 74 - Mike Harmon for Mike Harmon Racing*
No. 75 - Carl Long for Rick Ware Racing*
No. 86 - Kevin Lepage for Deware Motorsports*
No. 89 - Morgan Shepherd for Shepherd Motor Ventures
No. 91 - Tony Raines for TriStar Motorsports*

Not Entered:
No. 03 - Scott Riggs for R3 Motorsports
No. 50 - T.J. Bell for MAKE Motorsports
No. 98 - Kevin Swindell for Biagi-DenBeste Racing

Camping World Truck Series Lucas Oil 150: 38 Trucks Entered

Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points:
No. 0 - Blake Koch for JJC Racing
No. 2 - Brendan Gaughan for Richard Childress Racing
No. 18 - Brian Scott for Kyle Busch Motorsports
No. 19 - David Mayhew for Brad Keselowski Racing
No. 27 - Ryan Truex for Hillman Racing

Driver Changes:
No. 07 - Johnny Chapman returns to the seat, replacing Jeff Agnew. The team does not have funding for this race, so Chapman will start-and-park.
No. 08 - Todd Peck is in the seat, replacing Ross Chastain. Peck will run the full race before Chastain returns to the car to run the Homestead season finale; he did not have funding to do more than start-and-park at Phoenix.
No. 4 - Kyle Larson returns to the seat, replacing Brandon McReynolds. Larson, the K&N East Series champion and a development driver for Chip Ganassi is looking at running a full schedule in this series next season.
No. 5 - John King returns to the seat, replacing Aric Almirola. King, the Daytona winner has been hopping from ride to ride since being released from Red Horse Racing midseason.
No. 18 - Brian Scott returns to the seat, replacing Kyle Busch. This start is the final one for Scott driving a KBM truck as he continues to search for a ride in 2013.
No. 27 - Ryan Truex returns to the seat, replacing Stephen Leicht.
No. 74 - Brian Weber is in the seat, replacing Scott Riggs.  Mike Harmon was originally entered in the truck; this entry will simply start-and-park.
No. 84 - Chris Fontaine returns to the seat, replacing Russ Dugger.

Drivers who must qualify on speed:
No. 0 - Blake Koch for JJC Racing*
No. 4 - Kyle Larson for Turner Motorsports
No. 5 - John King for Wauters Motorsports
No. 7 - Parker Kligerman for Red Horse Racing
No. 10 - Jennifer Jo Cobb for JJC Racing
No. 14 - Brennan Newberry for NTS Motorsports
No. 19 - David Mayhew for Brad Keselowski Racing
No. 35 - Matt Merrell for Win-Tron Racing
No. 38 - Chris Jones for RSS Racing*
No. 47 - Benjamin Reynolds for Reynolds Racing
No. 51 - German Quiroga for Kyle Busch Motorsports
No. 74 - Brian Weber for Mike Harmon Racing*
No. 97 - Jeff Choquette for Adrian Carriers Racing

Not Entered:
No. 8 - Max Gresham for Eddie Sharp Racing
No. 25 - B.J. McLeod for Hillman Racing
No. 81 - David Starr for Billy Ballew Motorsports
No. 83 - Chris Fontaine, Inc.
*- Expected to Start-and-Park

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 Summer Bedgood's way at summer.bedgood@frontstretch.com; and, if you're lucky, you'll get your name in print when she does her weekly column answering back to you – the fans that keep Frontstretch afloat. Frontstretch Fan Q & A will run on Thursdays with a whole new set of Fan Questions and Answers!

Today's Featured Commentary
Decision 2012: Election Night Parallels Between Keselowski and Johnson
What's Vexing Vito
by Vito Pugliese

The 2012 Sprint Cup Chase for the Championship is setting up to read a bit like Tuesday night's election results. With two races to go, it's down to Phoenix (Ohio) and Homestead (which actually is in Florida) for Brad Keselowski to pull this one out in the 11th hour. Can the challenger (or Charger… since it's not Nationwide) defeat the incumbent from four years ago to ascend to the highest motorsports seat in the land?

I won't bore you with lap by lap or county by county breakdowns, but the path that each of them took to get here is parallel to the two men who squared off Tuesday night. Keselowski hails from Michigan originally, along with his father Bob, a very successful competitor in the ARCA and NASCAR Truck Series. Mitt Romney was born in Michigan, his father a former Governor of the state, while the younger Romney went on to be Governor of Massachusetts.

Jimmie Johnson comes from California, a perennial blue state, and despite winning the most races (popular vote) and championships (electoral college) over the past four years, suddenly seemed vulnerable a few weeks ago. The No. 48 team had seemed to lose a bit of its mojo this season, scrambling until just before Chase/election time. Obama, certainly knows how that one feels.

Also of interest here is that Keselowski drives a Dodge. It's a brand a bit beleaguered in recent years that seemingly lost its way, such that after being in control of only one house (the Nationwide Series) and having one Cup team, is leaving NASCAR at the end of 2012 ala Romney's final Presidential bid. Johnson's Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, however, was most notably bailed out and saved in 2009 by a stroke of Barack Obama's pen.

So who's got the edge? Keselowski got out of the gate quickly with wins in Chicago (ironically) and Johnson's ironclad territory of Dover (Joe Biden was the Senator from Delaware). Romney got a couple of quick wins off the bat as well, with a convincing first debate performance, as well as a rousing comedy bit at the Al Smith Dinner. It looked like the Penske Dodge was possibly going to cruise to its first ever Sprint Cup title when, as fate would have it, Jimmie Johnson lost it and backed his car into the wall at Kansas.

It was the perfect storm. The No. 2 was having a top-10 day, cruising along while their chief competitor just shorted up the Lowe's Chevrolet by about two feet. Sure, this moment was it. There is no way you can trail with that much damage and baggage in the closing laps and days before the final decision, then still pull it out.

But no one counted on what happened next. Johnson's ground game in the pits is the best in the sport, and after (hanging) Chad Knaus started to examine the exit polling data provided by the battered machine, he began to direct the steps of his people to repair the damage and get the No. 48 back into contention. David Axelrod, Hillary Cutter, and Obama's campaign team rolled into one, Knaus knew the right moves and the "target areas" to get this car capable of a miracle comeback. Somehow, someway, with all of the data and common consensus against him, Jimmie Johnson took a car that usually would be junk to a ninth-place finish at Kansas – one behind Brad Keselowski.

Martinsville was next to follow in Virginia. Keselowski had not fared well there in his previous starts, and Johnson had won here in the Fall of 2008 – just as had Barack Obama. It was the last time a Hendrick car had visited Victory Lane at the half-mile paperclip, despite a tight race in the spring where Johnson and teammate Jeff Gordon were sent spinning by an errant Clint Bowyer – a man who, at this stage of the game, 36 points out is this year's Chase version of Gary Johnson. Martinsville is also the site of the 2004 plane crash, one which claimed the lives of John Hendrick and his twin daughters along with Ricky Hendrick, Rick Hendrick's son.

Johnson won the pole, led the most laps, and walked away with all 48 electoral points. It was a maximum honor to lives lost, a crucial turning point that makes the path for Romney... err, Keselowski rather difficult to get to the Promised Land of Sprint Cup title trophies.

Battered and bruised, the Republican challenger made what amounted to a last NASCAR stand at Texas. It's a track that's traditionally red state country, but the Blue Oval dominated here in April when Greg Biffle turned what is usually a long race into an agonizing lapfest, walking away to a 3.235-second victory over Johnson. This time, however, Biffle was a factor late in the race for the wrong reasons; he brought out an untimely caution for Brad Keselowski, leading to allegations of restart fraud and acceleration suppression by both Johnson and Kyle Busch.

Keselowski's two tires, however, were no match once a green-white-checkered was ordered after Biffle brushed the wall exiting Turn 4, spooking Carl Edwards to turn left directly into elder statesman Mark Martin, sending him spinning through the infield grass. Keselowski was despondent at first, telling his team, "not much you can do when you're constantly handed these damn things," but was gracious in defeat, offering his congratulations and concession to Johnson in Victory Lane amid the fire, cowboy hats, and wheelguns.

Well... I guess they probably don't have cowboy hats in Chicago.  That one's probably a bit of a stretch.

With two states left to count, however, Keselowski is running out of options. He needs to run the table on Johnson, and decisively, for the improbable to fall his way. These are two tracks that Johnson has carried easily in the past, though at Homestead he usually just shows up and rides around trying to finish 16th so he can claim his crown.

This time, however, the five-time champ won't be able to, barring any disastrous missteps by the No. 2 team in the desert. From the outset, it looks like it's going to be a replay of a previous decision – in 2011, it went down to the last lap between Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart. Whoever won the race won the title.

In 2004, it was down to Ohio and whoever won that race won the presidency.
While the race ended a bit abruptly late Tuesday night, it was not quite the nail-biter that it was in 2004. If Brad Keselowski can eke out a few extra electorals over Jimmie Johnson this weekend, we may have a late night ahead of us next Sunday in Homestead. Karl Rove will be out there, sorting through results and making his case the crowning of Johnson is a bit premature.

If not, the re-election of Jimmie Johnson as Sprint Cup Champion for 2012 seems almost inevitable.

Vito Pugliese is a Senior Writer/Assistant Editor 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: Peak Motor Oil World Finals
by Phil Allaway

Hello, race fans.  Welcome back to the Critic's Annex, where additional motorsports programming is broken down and dissected for your Thursday reading pleasure.  While NASCAR's National series spent last weekend outside Fort Worth, Texas, DirtCar's primary series spent their time at the Dirt Track at Charlotte in North Carolina for their season-ending extravaganza.  As always, the show consisted of the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars, the World of Outlaws Late Models, and the Super DirtCar Series (Northeast dirt modifieds).

Now, this particular show is a very long one.  Due to SPEED's existing priorities, there is no way they could show everything live, meaning the majority of the competition got tape-delayed.  After all, the action in Charlotte started during the practice sessions for Sprint Cup at Texas Motor Speedway.

Just like with SPEED's coverage of the VP Small Engine Fuels 200, Ralph Sheheen and Shane Andrews shared the booth for the evening.  Those two were joined by former Sprint Car racer Brad Doty, a veteran Sprint Car racing analyst.  Dave DeSpain once again hosted the coverage from an auxiliary desk at the entrance to the pits.  Personally, I wonder about the safety ramifications of DeSpain's desk being right there, but no one seems to have a problem with it.

The telecast continued on with recaps of last year's Saturday night show, along with Friday night's action and point checks for all three classes.  Note that there was a slight error with the Super DirtCar Series points where SPEED mistakenly flipped Brett Hearn and Jimmy Phelps' numbers in the graphics.

This year saw a change to the program for the Super DirtCar Series.  The time trials and heat races for Saturday night's race were held Thursday night.  No footage was shown of any of this competition.  I'd argue, for the benefit of the viewers that some heat race highlights should have been shown.  As a result, the program started off with the two LCQ's for the Super DirtCar Series, followed by the Sprint Car heat races.  Unlike last year, none of the Sprint Car heat races got cut out of the broadcast.

The Late Model heat races were next, shown uncut as well.  This adjustment was a nice change from last year, when people that ended up playing big roles in the "A" Mains didn't even get their heat races televised.  Afterwards, SPEED aired what I think was a taped piece with Craig Dollansky at his mobile desk.  I can only surmise that's the case because the track lights seem to have been dimmed.  Makes me think that the interview was actually taped late Friday night, after the Friday night show.  A small group of onlookers (including four dudes dressed up as Teletubbies) looked on in awe while the Q&A was happening; it was strange, to say the least.  I still do not understand the benefit of having DeSpain there, besides it simply being DeSpain.  Most race telecasts do not need hosts.  He's there to be there, and doesn't add much to the telecast.  If you're going to have him there, either put him in the booth, or have him serve as a third pit reporter.

Speaking of pit reporters, SPEED had two of them on-site Saturday.  Matt Yocum and Bobby Gerould did a pretty good job working the pits and bringing viewers interviews from drivers and crew members in all three classes.  The one-on-one with Sammy Swindell, after his flip in the Dash was the most notable here since Swindell was ticked off and blamed the track (and to an extent, the World of Outlaws) for not finishing their track prep.

The C-Main for the Sprint Cars, and two of the three B-Mains for the Late Models ultimately got cut from the broadcast.  Unfortunately, with a program that lasts well over five hours, some stuff can't air.  Having said that, the event was allotted a four-hour slot on SPEED and went well over that.  The four-hour mark was reached in the middle of the Sprint Car A-Main, with the Late Model race still to come.  Just tells you how long of a day at the track that it actually was. SPEED's approach to post-race coverage was to interview a number of key protagonists after each of the races.  All of the winners got interviewed, as well as the season champions (Matt Sheppard, Donny Schatz and Darrell Lanigan).  Heat winners (in the Sprint Cars and Late Models only) were also given TV timetiem along with other notables.

Fo
For the most part, I did enjoy SPEED's coverage from Charlotte.  However, I believe that their telecast was too focused at the front of the field.  As a result, they couldn't come up with a definitive view of what happened to Swindell in the Dash race (they caught the incident on camera, but Swindell was already flipping).  Besides that, a better role needs to be found for DeSSpainspainSpain.  The current setup just isn't working for me. 

I hope you liked this week's look at the Peak Motor Oil World Finals.  Next week, I'll be back with a look at Beyond 200: The Hendrick Motorsports Story, which will be hosted by Rick Hendrick himself.  Until then, I hope you enjoy the action this weekend in Phoenix.enn te y, BBwith aMouuyyyou I

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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.

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Frontstretch Line of the Week

From Mirror Driving: Rating The Restart, Dillon vs. Hamlin And Tough Times At EGR

"Nah, there would be much yelling and finger pointing on pit road. And someone would be called a big dummy and someone else would question someone's momma's virtue."- Mike Neff, on what would probably have happened Saturday night had Austin Dillon and Denny Hamlin not gotten into a bumping and shoving match with their cars after the O'Reilly Auto Parts Challenge.
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TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:

Speeding Through Summer: Your NASCAR Questions Answered
by Summer Bedgood

Professor Of Speed: Too Little, Too Late
by Mark Howell

Truckin' Thursdays: Miguel Paludo on Milestones, Diabetes Awareness and More
by Beth Lunkenheimer

Five Nights in SoPo: Sometimes, It's Good To Just Watch A Race
by Danny Peters

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FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:

Q:  For Ricky Craven, Phoenix in 1997 was incredibly frustrating.  It was a struggle for him just to make the race, then his day ended before Lap 50.  What happened?

Check back Friday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
 
Wednesday's Answer:

Q:  The 1996 Dura Lube 500k is most notable for being the race in which Bobby Hamilton picked up his first career victory and put Petty Enterprises back in Victory Lane for the first time since 1983 (remember, Petty's last wins as a driver came with Curb Motorsports). However, points leader Terry Labonte had strange issues in practice early in the weekend. What happened?

A:  Labonte suffered a brake failure in practice and smacked the wall hard.  This impact broke Labonte's wrist and wrote off the Ironman car that Labonte had used to win earlier in the year at North Wilkesboro.  Ken Schrader shook Labonte's car down in practice, but Labonte returned to drive the car in the race.  Ultimately, Labonte came up from 30th starting spot to lead 61 laps and finish third.  This performance gave him some breathing room in the points over teammate Jeff Gordon (who finished fifth) and ultimately helped him to claim the 1996 Winston Cup Championship in Atlanta.

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 Beth Lunkenheimer
-- 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: Phoenix by Matt Stallknecht
We'll help prepare you for the AdvoCare 500k, Race No. 9 in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

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 as the teams get ready for Phoenix this weekend.

Voices From the Heartland by Jeff Meyer
Our Tennessee transplant returns with another interesting take on recent events.

Formula One Fridays by Andy Hollis
Andy returns with another look at the World Championship as the teams prepare for next weekend's Grand Prix of the United States at the brand new Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

Landon Cassill Driver Diary as told to Summer Bedgood
Landon returns for the final time this season to talk about some of the more interesting aspects of his past month.
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