THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
March 5th, 2013
Volume VII, Edition XXVIII
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What To Watch: Tuesday
- Today is FOX Sports' upfront presentation for advertisers. It is expected that they will officially announce the existence of "FOX Sports 1," the channel that is expected to replace SPEED in cable, satellite and telco systems starting in August. Race telecasts will not be affected for the rest of 2013 since that is all under contract. However, non-racing programming on Fridays is already being curtailed (Example: NASCAR Live is now done from the studio in Charlotte as opposed to at the track).
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Top News
by Tom Bowles
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
March 5th, 2013
Volume VII, Edition XXVIII
~~~~~~~~~~
What To Watch: Tuesday
- Today is FOX Sports' upfront presentation for advertisers. It is expected that they will officially announce the existence of "FOX Sports 1," the channel that is expected to replace SPEED in cable, satellite and telco systems starting in August. Race telecasts will not be affected for the rest of 2013 since that is all under contract. However, non-racing programming on Fridays is already being curtailed (Example: NASCAR Live is now done from the studio in Charlotte as opposed to at the track).
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Top News
by Tom Bowles
Toyota Talks Engine Problems On SPEED
One of NASCAR's top manufacturers, taking heat for its early-season mechanical woes is still trying to get to the root of the problem. In an interview with SPEED's Danielle Trotta last night, Toyota Racing Development Senior VP David Wilson acknowledged the struggles but claimed the right pieces are in place to uncover a fix as soon as possible. Perhaps the most surprising acknowledgment, though was the way in which these failures have influenced one of their biggest superstars - who just happened to sign a long-term extension last Fall.
Busch, who was vocal on the radio after Daytona's engine failure while leading was more measured in his comments at Phoenix last weekend, even after a practice motor replacement left him starting at the rear of the field. Wilson did say TRD is confident they won't have any in-race failures in Las Vegas, similar to what developed at Phoenix after early concerns. For that event, both Denny Hamlin and Busch started in the rear after powerplant changes but were able to complete the distance without a problem. It was a step in the right direction, following Daytona where roughly half the Toyota teams (five of 11) suffered either a lost cylinder or complete engine failure during the sport's biggest race.
Sorenson Officially Announced As Annett Sub
As our Mike Neff first reported, earlier in the week Reed Sorenson was officially announced as the substitute for Michael Annett Tuesday morning. Sorenson, who had been driving the No. 40 for The Motorsports Group will move over to the better-financed No. 43 until Annett fully recovers from his sternum injury.
"It's an unfortunate situation for the team and Michael," said Sorenson in the press release announcing the move. "I have been to the hospital to see him [Note: Annett is now home recovering]. He will be fine, but it's going to take some time to heal. As a friend for a long time, my initial reaction was concern. I'm glad that he's recovering now."
"It's an unfortunate situation to have to deal with," added Director of Competition Sammy Johns. "We had a lot of momentum from last year and we want to make sure we don't lose that and give Michael the best situation possible when he returns."
Sorenson is stepping into a car that ran fifth in driver points last year. With four wins in 173 series starts, he's hoping to return to his former competitive ways after being stuck in underfunded, occasional start-and-park rides the last few years. His best performance in 2012, during a limited schedule was 12th at Charlotte for the No. 98 team co-owned by Fred Biagi.
News 'N' Notes
- Overnight television ratings from Phoenix continued to showcase positive growth for NASCAR in 2013. Sunday's Subway Fresh Fit 500k drew a 5.3 overnight rating, a six percent increase year-to-year and also pulled in a healthy 10 share. (Editor's Note: "Share" is the percentage of households, of all the ones watching television at that time who tuned in.) NASCAR wound up the top-rated sports event of the weekend, easily outpacing top-tier matchups in both the NBA and NHL while sustaining momentum from last Sunday's strong Daytona 500 numbers.
Final ratings for Phoenix, which include all 210 Nielsen markets will be out today. What's notable about that is last Sunday, the more rural areas which typically cause a boost in NASCAR's TV popularity actually caused the final marks to go down for Daytona, a sign the sport is drawing from less traditional areas of support.
- Jeff Burton and RCR's No. 31 team have picked up a new primary sponsor. Kwikset, a leading door lock and door hardware supplier will back the organization for the Coke Zero 400 race at Daytona July 6th. The deal also includes a special VIP Hospitality presence, at five events including this weekend's event out in Las Vegas.
"Richard Childress Racing's focus on elite innovation strategies falls right in line with Kwikset's brand promise to deliver smart, innovative security options to our customers," said Greg Gluchowski, president, Hardware & Home Improvement Group at Spectrum Brands in a release announcing the move. "We are proud to align ourselves with excellence for the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season."
Burton, who is being sponsored by Caterpillar and General Mills for a majority of 2013 races is coming off a 10th-place finish at Phoenix, his best of the year.
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 A NASCAR QUESTION OR COMMENT? WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!
That's right; our Fan Q & A column is back once again in 2013. Send your question Summer Bedgood's way at summer.bedgood@frontstretch.com and if you're lucky, you'll get your name in print on Thursday when she does her weekly column. It's all part of our daily mission to give back to you – the fans that keep Frontstretch afloat!
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Today's Featured Commentary
When Funky and Different is Awesome: Phoenix International Raceway
Sitting In The Stands: A Fan's View
by S.D. Grady
Something wonderful happened in the closing lap of the Subway Fresh Fit 500k on Sunday. Denny Hamlin made a banzai dive to the bottom of the dogleg, cutting off Johnson and Keselowski in a last-ditch effort to perhaps steal the win. It was the kind of move from which legendary finishes are born. Perhaps Carl Edwards did drive off into the sunset and do a flip, but the duel between Hamlin and Johnson for second was alone worth the price of admission.
But if we're not careful, we might just manage to ruin any chances of seeing such wild action at the desert track in the future. For if the fandom of NASCAR proved anything last year, it was that we do have the voice required to get a track to change its configuration just to keep Twitterville happy. Bristol anyone?
But what would Phoenix need to go and change?
It's that funny dogleg that was paved when they reconfigured the track in 2011. For the past two seasons we've watched the cars all gather together in the flat curves of Turns One and Two, only to spread out like a crowd charging the doors on Black Friday in the dogleg. If you dive to the bottom where the moderate banking disappears, you can cut off a good twenty feet of track and slide up in front of the field as you all pile into Three.
For more than a few fans, this has been perceived as cheating. You're not staying within the lines, so to speak. The whole point of running 300+ miles is to go the distance, isn't it? And if somebody cuts a few yards off with each circuit, the math adds up to less than everybody else. Should a particular team make a habit of using the quirk of the track and actually win, there will be a cry of protest that the winner didn't run the whole distance. Something must be done before the potential disaster occurs! Right?
As the race progressed on Sunday afternoon more than a few suggestions from the great #NASCAR world were made on what to do with the dogleg: plant grass, make a sandpit, paint the evil double yellow line....something! So the drivers wouldn't be tempted to kill the handling of their machine, save a little distance and try to outdrive their fellow competitors by diving through the infield.
Hey! Wait a sec. Isn't that the whole point of stock car racing? This isn't one of the pointy car series where the trophy goes to the fastest, most reliable car. This is NASCAR. The hat dance is only performed by the team that is better able to muscle, push, trick, and generally beat the living daylights out of the dude riding your bumper. We don't run at the same track week after week. Teams are not offered the chance to master the quirks of a particular location. Only the best driver is going to be able to win at the wide variety of locales, including plate tracks, flat ones, high-banked wild wonders, a triangle, twisty turns of road courses, and short quarter-mile roller coasters. But now we have Phoenix; the flat dog-legged miler that has just thrown a new wrench into our Sunday entertainment. It's unlike any other stop on the circuit.
In other words, we've got a place to run as different from Darlington as it is from Sonoma. And that is wonderful!
We don't need to plant grass for the cars to slide through in a wreck. Gravel will only litter the "real" racing surface with very visible and destructive debris. And by policing the use of the much discussed expanse of track with some yellow paint, NASCAR would only achieve the neutering of a vibrant and unique stop on the circuit.
There's nothing wrong with PIR or with Hamlin's late race charge. Both are part of the much loved variety, guts and glory that NASCAR is built on and why I continue to tune in every week.
Next up? Vegas Baby. I'll see you there.
Kyle Larson Stat
Series: Nationwide
Race: Dollar General 200 (Phoenix)
Car: No. 32 Eveready Chevrolet
Started: 14th
Finished: 13th (lead lap)
Points Standing: 7th
Want to follow Kyle Larson yourself?
Twitter: @KyleLarsonRacin
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KyleLarsonRacing
Website (under construction): http://kylelarsonracing.com/
Looking for a little history? Try: http://kylelarsonracing.net/
Author's Note: I've finally made it to Facebook! Come visit with me at http://facebook.com/Author.SDGrady
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: Subway Fresh Fit 500k
by Tom Bowles
0
The number of laps led, combined by Aric Almirola and rookie Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. this season. They're the only drivers inside the top 10 in points, despite the Cup season being just two races old who have yet to lead a lap in 2013.
1
The number of finishes, outside the top 15 for Jimmie Johnson in 20 career starts at Phoenix. After Sunday's second-place result, he's got an average finish of 6.4 at the track to lead active drivers.
3
The number of drivers with two top-5 and top-10 finishes to start the year: Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Brad Keselowski.
5
The number of race cars, out of a possible six in the first two races totaled by Front Row Motorsports. Only Josh Wise, who had mechanical issues himself Sunday at Phoenix has been able to finish a 2013 Cup race without being involved in a wreck.
16
The gap, in races between the last time Joe Nemechek completed the full distance in a Sprint Cup event. He was 29th, at Watkins Glen in August two laps down before start-and-parking in the rest of all 2012 events. After blowing an engine in Daytona, Nemechek ran 31st, five laps off the pace at Phoenix.
7
The number of Chase drivers in last year's postseason who would be eligible after two races in 2013. Those who are currently outside the top 12: Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne and Martin Truex, Jr.
75
Laps led by Mark Martin during Sunday's race at Phoenix, the most by a driver age 54 or older since Harry Gant led 88 laps at Bristol in August, 1994.
$96,950
Money won by 10th-place finisher Jeff Burton in Sunday's event.
$104,170
Money won by 36th-place finisher Martin Truex, Jr. in Sunday's event. (Trying to explain NASCAR's purse system is like... OK, stop. Let's not even try.)
$298,875
Purse won by Carl Edwards for his first-place result in Sunday's event.
$1,525,275
Purse won by Jimmie Johnson for his first-place result in last Sunday's Daytona 500.
Tom Bowles is the Editor-In-Chief of Frontstretch.com. He can be reached at tom.bowles@frontstretch.com.
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TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
NASCAR Continues To Blame The Track, Not The Racing, In Daytona Disaster
by Brett Poirier
Who's Hot / Who's Not In NASCAR: Phoenix-Las Vegas Edition
by Brad Morgan
Five Points to Ponder: Second Race Success, Stumbles And Missing Sponsors
by Danny Peters
Couch Potato Tuesday: Danicamania Has FOX Dancing Around Too Much
by Phil Allaway
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FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: In 1998, Jack Sprague did everything in his power to try to claim the Craftsman Truck Series Championship, including winning the season finale at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. However, it was not enough as Ron Hornaday, Jr.'s second-place finish was enough to claim the title. What happened after the race?
Check back Wednesday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Monday's Answer:
Q: In 1996, the then-Craftsman Truck Series served as the primary support to the IRL at the brand new Las Vegas Motor Speedway. However, the day ended quite early for visiting Cup regular Geoff Bodine. What happened to put him out of the race early?
A: Exiting Turn 4, Bodine hit the wall pretty hard with the right side of his QVC Ford F-150. Buddy Baker, commentating on the race for CBS (the race aired as part of a doubleheader after the Jiffy Lube Miami 300 for the Busch Grand National Series at Homestead) theorized that sand blown onto the track may have been responsible. The views of the incident just made it look like Bodine understeered right into the concrete. Bodine, who was driving a second truck as a teammate to series regular Dave Rezendes while the Cup Series took the weekend off, retired shortly afterwards. The crash can be seen at the 27:50 mark of this clip.
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 Tom Bowles
-- Tweet 'N' Greet by Kevin Rutherford
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, and more!
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Tomorrow on the Frontstretch:
Did You Notice?... by Tom Bowles
Did You Notice?... That there are many more drivers with significant winless streaks in Sprint Cup, much larger than the one Edwards snapped? Tom, along with Kevin Rutherford takes a look at a number of drivers that could really use a "W" in their column, the dangers of injecting politics into sports, and other small but important observations revolving around NASCAR these days.
Tech Talk by Mike Neff
Our weekly feature for our readers where we'll have a special guest stop by to discuss the technical aspects of the sport is back for 2013. This week, our special guest is Todd Berrier, crew chief for Furniture Row Racing's No. 78. He'll be discussing the new Gen-6 car and it's first full assault on an intermediate track.
Side by Side: Race Competitiveness by the Frontstretch Staff
An old standby column returns, our weekly staff debate on a major NASCAR topic facing the sport. This week's edition tackles competitiveness. Should NASCAR award point bonuses at certain points of the race to encourage drivers to race harder?
Sprint Cup Top 15 Power Rankings compiled by Michael Mehedin
They're baaack! Your favorite rankings return as we rank the drivers after Sunday's Subway Fresh Fit 500k. See who some of your favorite writers, from both the Frontstretch and across the web have pegged as the driver with the most momentum as of now.
Frontstretch Top Ten by the Frontstretch Staff
This Week's Topic: Top Ten Things Ryan Newman Was Thinking As He Walked Away From His Phoenix Crash. The answers will tickle your funny bone, guaranteed.
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