THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
May 6th, 2013
Volume VII, Edition LXXIV
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Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
May 6th, 2013
Volume VII, Edition LXXIV
~~~~~~~~~~
Are you looking to advertise your website, product or brand? A good way to get your name out there is via direct advertising here in the Frontstretch Newsletter! Interested parties can contact us at tony.lumbis@frontstretch.com for details.
~~~~~~~~~~
Sprint Cup Race Recap: Ragan Wins As Front Row Motorsports Scores Historic 1-2
by Justin Tucker
They always say at Talladega Superspeedway to expect the unexpected, that anything can happen during 500 miles (and then some) at NASCAR's fastest track.
On Sunday evening, one of NASCAR's wildest and bizarre races lived up to those expectations. One of the biggest upsets in NASCAR history came to pass, on the final lap as David Ragan pushed to the front and gave Front Row Motorsports its first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win in 406 career starts. The victory, the realization of a dream for owner Bob Jenkins since entering NASCAR in 2005 came with an added bonus: team car David Gilliland settling for second.
That decision, Gilliland pushing Ragan to the line made the difference on a frantic green-white-checkered finish. With Edwards out in front, trailed by a dominant Matt Kenseth the FRM duo found some space in the middle and came powering down the backstretch. The Kenseth/Edwards battle drifted to the outside, became separated briefly in the draft and that was all she wrote as the momentum of the Front Row Motorsports cars had them living up to their nickname.
"It's a huge, huge deal for us to be sitting here right now and it's even better to get a 1-2 finish," Ragan said in his postrace presser. "Can you believe that? Gilliland was hooked to my rear bumper, and so that gave me a little extra confidence coming out of Turn 2, we were probably running 4th or 5th at the time that I could make the right moves and I knew that he was going to stick with me. The 99 was leading. I think he tried to block [Kenseth], which allowed me a clean hole on the bottom, so I went low, Carl, I guess, didn't see me come quick enough or we had such a fast run, I was able to get position on him, and I don't know still how the 38 had such a good run, and he was just pushing me unbelievably through 3 and 4. "
That would be Gilliland, who tied his best career finish in an NSCS race by finishing second. Sunday was Gilliland's first top-5 result in 81 races, dating back to his third-place finish in the 2011 Daytona 500 -- also the career best for owner Jenkins until this miracle ending.
"I want to be known as a team that did the most with the least," said the car owner, who runs the team mostly out of his own pocket while searching for patchwork sponsorship. "Every year, we try to get better. We work within ourselves. The chassis we run, we build, so we're not able to go out and buy products from other teams, and that's a disadvantage, but on a day like today it really makes you feel good because you know the equipment that you won the race with what you built in your own shop."
The dynamic duo of his two top teams - so close Gilliland's family came in for the post-race presser - put a damper on Kenseth's time up front. Leading 142 of 192 laps, the No. 20 Toyota seemingly led the race at will until some poor drafting choices haunted him during the green-white-checkered ending.
Sprint Cup Race Recap: Ragan Wins As Front Row Motorsports Scores Historic 1-2
by Justin Tucker
They always say at Talladega Superspeedway to expect the unexpected, that anything can happen during 500 miles (and then some) at NASCAR's fastest track.
On Sunday evening, one of NASCAR's wildest and bizarre races lived up to those expectations. One of the biggest upsets in NASCAR history came to pass, on the final lap as David Ragan pushed to the front and gave Front Row Motorsports its first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win in 406 career starts. The victory, the realization of a dream for owner Bob Jenkins since entering NASCAR in 2005 came with an added bonus: team car David Gilliland settling for second.
That decision, Gilliland pushing Ragan to the line made the difference on a frantic green-white-checkered finish. With Edwards out in front, trailed by a dominant Matt Kenseth the FRM duo found some space in the middle and came powering down the backstretch. The Kenseth/Edwards battle drifted to the outside, became separated briefly in the draft and that was all she wrote as the momentum of the Front Row Motorsports cars had them living up to their nickname.
"It's a huge, huge deal for us to be sitting here right now and it's even better to get a 1-2 finish," Ragan said in his postrace presser. "Can you believe that? Gilliland was hooked to my rear bumper, and so that gave me a little extra confidence coming out of Turn 2, we were probably running 4th or 5th at the time that I could make the right moves and I knew that he was going to stick with me. The 99 was leading. I think he tried to block [Kenseth], which allowed me a clean hole on the bottom, so I went low, Carl, I guess, didn't see me come quick enough or we had such a fast run, I was able to get position on him, and I don't know still how the 38 had such a good run, and he was just pushing me unbelievably through 3 and 4. "
That would be Gilliland, who tied his best career finish in an NSCS race by finishing second. Sunday was Gilliland's first top-5 result in 81 races, dating back to his third-place finish in the 2011 Daytona 500 -- also the career best for owner Jenkins until this miracle ending.
"I want to be known as a team that did the most with the least," said the car owner, who runs the team mostly out of his own pocket while searching for patchwork sponsorship. "Every year, we try to get better. We work within ourselves. The chassis we run, we build, so we're not able to go out and buy products from other teams, and that's a disadvantage, but on a day like today it really makes you feel good because you know the equipment that you won the race with what you built in your own shop."
The dynamic duo of his two top teams - so close Gilliland's family came in for the post-race presser - put a damper on Kenseth's time up front. Leading 142 of 192 laps, the No. 20 Toyota seemingly led the race at will until some poor drafting choices haunted him during the green-white-checkered ending.
"It was a real disappointing finish," he said, now having led over 440 laps in the last three Sprint Cup events -- with only one victory to show for it. "I just didn't watch them runs from those guys in the back."
Neither did Edwards, who still hung on to finish third, his first top 5 in a restrictor plate race since the 2011 Daytona 500. Edwards would gain two points on leader Jimmie Johnson in Sunday's race and now trails Johnson by 41.
"He just did it," the veteran said of Ragan's last-lap move. "He raced me clean."
Behind him came Michael Waltrip, who would prove his restrictor plate prowess once again by bringing the No. 55 Toyota Camry home in fourth. Waltrip, who has proven to be one of the best plate racers in NASCAR, was strong all day. Waltrip's No. 55 was running in the top 5 for a majority of the race and was knocking on the door of another Talladega win in the closing laps.
Jimmie Johnson and restrictor plate racing usually aren't mentioned in the same sentence. However, the five-time champion backed up his Daytona 500 win with another impressive showing on a restrictor plate track, bringing his No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet home in fifth. Regan Smith, Martin Truex, Jr., Matt Kenseth, Scott Speed, and Aric Almirola rounded out the top 10.
This Talladega race had it all, providing the side-by-side action that many fans didn't see at Daytona in February. There was lots of three-wide racing and a large majority of pack style competition which many fans expect to see at these superspeedways. The race, however was split into two segments, slowed by a 3 hour and 36 minute rain delay on Lap 126. The second one was more subdued, and in fact the miracle ending wouldn't have happened without a bit of luck: Michael McDowell's flat tire turned wreck, on Lap 175 which happened when there was a six-car, single-file breakaway up in front.
Talladega also provided two big crashes. A wild, 13-car melee on lap 43 took out race favorites Kyle Busch, Kasey Kahne, Greg Biffle and Kevin Harvick. A second big one occurred with six laps to go, collecting the likes of Danica Patrick, Clint Bowyer, Ryan Newman, and Kurt Busch. Busch's No. 78 was clipped by the spinning Chevrolet of JJ Yeley and rolled over once before landing on top of Newman.
Newman, who has been in his share of harrowing incidents at tracks like Daytona and Talladega was none too pleased with NASCAR after Sunday's race, joining a growing chorus of drivers looking to have the rules changed -- bringing handling and horsepower back into play -- for good.
"That's no way to end a race," Newman said. "That's just poor judgment in restarting the race, poor judgment. I mean, you got what you wanted, but poor judgment and running in the dark and running in the rain."
"My mom doesn't come to four races a year — Daytona and Talladega," Busch added. "Wonder why?"
Brad Keselowski also expressed anger at NASCAR postrace by expressing his belief that the No. 34 was lined up improperly on the last restart; however, officials ruled that the way the cars were scored then, with Scott Speed eighth, Keselowski ninth and Ragan tenth was the correct order. Keselowski finished 15th, blaming the inside line on that green-white-checkered for his slump -- and the outside placement for allowing Ragan to steal the win.
"Some people just can't handle facts," he tweeted after the race on Sunday. "Watch full in-car camera replays and judge for yourself, guys."
(Note: You can check the 2:42 mark of this clip to judge for yourself which driver was out front when the caution flew.)
The race featured 17 leaders and 30 lead changes, with five cautions for 31 laps. Now, the stars of the Sprint Cup Series will take on "The Lady In Black" up next, Darlington Raceway in the Bojangles Southern 500. Green flag is scheduled for 7:00 PM ET.
Justin Tucker is a Newsletter Contributor at Frontstretch. To reach Justin, please contact Newsletter Manager Phil Allaway at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com.
Chasing the Chase: Johnson Maintains Advantage by Staying Out of Trouble
by Phil Allaway
With a number of major contenders caught up in at least one of the big wrecks on Sunday, simply getting through all the action to post a good finish was good enough to move yourself up the point standings. Of course, Jimmie Johnson was already at the top. He had a great day on Sunday, spending most of the time drafting with Matt Kenseth and finished fifth. However, Carl Edwards got to the checkered just a little bit ahead of Johnson, his third-place result for the No. 99 closing the margin between them to 41 points. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is up one position to third, but that came after he ran 17th and lost 13 points to Johnson. Earnhardt, who hasn't won at 'Dega in nine years suffered from an early flat tire, following contact from Travis Kvapil, fell a lap down for awhile and struggled to be a factor all day. Behind them, there's a little bit of a logjam as drivers all dealt with disappointing days. Clint Bowyer is up one place to fourth, but only after an 18th-place finish, nursing his car to the end after piling in to a late-race wreck. Brad Keselowski is fifth after finishing 15th, choosing the wrong line after claiming he was "misplaced' by NASCAR for the final restart. Kasey Kahne dropped three places to sixth after getting turned into the wall on Lap 43 by Kyle Busch, sparking the first big crash. Kahne's car could not be repaired, resulting in a 42nd-place finish.
Aric Almirola had a great run on the final restart to claim his fourth straight top-10 result. As a result, Almirola moved up four places to seventh in the standings, a career best for him in Sprint Cup. He is three points in front of Paul Menard, who finished a distant four laps down in 26th due to engine woes. Menard, on seven cylinders for most of the race's second half greatly benefited from a number of drivers being eliminated in the Lap 183 crash. That allowed him to pass Kyle Busch, whose bad luck continued on Sunday. Contact with Kasey Kahne started the first big wreck, and Kyle's M&M's Toyota was heavily damaged. Kyle did get back on track, completing 137 laps, but finished a distant 37th.
Greg Biffle is down an additional two places this week to tenth after getting caught up in the first big wreck and slumping to 36th. Matt Kenseth, who completely dominated Sunday's race, but had to settle for eighth, is up two places to 11th, just one point out of the top 10 even with the 50 points deducted due to the engine issues discovered in postrace inspection at Kansas. Kevin Harvick rounds out the top-12, earning the second "wild card" spot with that Richmond victory even after being eliminated in the early 'Dega crash.
Standings: 1) Jimmie Johnson 383, 2) Carl Edwards -41, 3) Dale Earnhardt, Jr. -59, 4) Clint Bowyer -67, 5) Brad Keselowski -69, 6) Kasey Kahne -84, 7) Aric Almirola -90, 8) Paul Menard -93, 9) Kyle Busch -98, 10) Greg Biffle -103, 11) Matt Kenseth -104, 12) Kevin Harvick -107.
Best of the Rest: t-13) Martin Truex, Jr. -114, t-13) Jeff Gordon -114, 15) Jamie McMurray. -116, 16) Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. -127, 17) Ryan Newman -141, 18) Joey Logano -146.
Wild Cards: 1) Matt Kenseth (11th in points, 2 wins, but only one for bonus purposes), 2) Kevin Harvick (12th in points, one win)
Currently Ineligible for Wild Card: 1) David Ragan (26th in points, one win)
Race Winners: Jimmie Johnson (Daytona, Martinsville), Carl Edwards (Phoenix), Matt Kenseth (Las Vegas, Kansas), Kasey Kahne (Bristol), Kyle Busch (Fontana, Texas), Kevin Harvick (Richmond), David Ragan (Talladega)
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.
Never Fear, The Underdogs Are Here: Talladega-1 Edition
by Amy Henderson
Editor's Note: This year, we're going to switch things up a little bit. Instead of just focusing upon one underdog (or underreported) car in the Secret Star section, we will point out three smaller teams that put up good finishes each week.
Underdog Selection No. 1: David Ragan for Front Row Motorsports; started 19th, finished 1st
Just one week after cracking the top 20 for the first time in 2012, Ragan broke down the door to Victory Lane, winning the Aaron's 499. It's Ragan's second career win, the first for a small team since Regan Smith won at Darlington for Furniture Row Racing in May 2011 and the first ever for FRM owner Bob Jenkins. Ragan drove a flawless green-white-checkered run with help from teammate David Gilliland, whose second-place finish was the best of his Cup career to date. Not to be outdone, FRM's Josh Wise also scored a career-high 19th-place finish on Sunday, ending the race on the lead lap.
Ragan, despite gaining an early reputation for being a "dart without feathers" on the racetrack at times, is an excellent and underrated restrictor plate driver. His skills served him well on Sunday, as he and Gilliland came seemingly from nowhere to steal the win from Carl Edwards on the final lap. Ragan's other career Cup win came at Daytona in July 2011 with Roush Fenway Racing; seven of his 14 career top-5 finishes (50%) have now come on plate tracks.
Underdog Selection No. 2: Regan Smith for Phoenix Racing; started 34th, finished 6th
Smith passed a lot of cars on Sunday en route to Phoenix Racing's best finish of 2013, besting the seventh-place run Smith had at Daytona in February. The team continues to lead all of the underfunded ones in owner points, sitting 14th, ahead of at least one team from Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Penske Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing, Roush Fenway Racing, Michael Waltrip Racing, and Richard Childress Racing.
It was a great weekend for Smith, who looked like he might sweep both major NASCAR events. He won Saturday's Nationwide Series race on a bold last-lap move, passing Kasey Kahne and Joey Logano as the caution flew on the final lap, and powered to the front of the pack on Sunday as well (though he didn't officially lead a lap, he did lead the pack in the late going). Like Ragan, this team could be a factor come Daytona in July.
Underdog Selection No. 3: Scott Speed for Leavine Family Racing; started 36th, finished 9th
If you did a bit of a double take seeing Speed's name among the top 10, you probably aren't alone; Sunday marks the first top 10 for Leavine Family Racing in 25 total races, the first for Speed since 2010, and the second-best result of the driver's Cup career. Speed avoided trouble when others couldn't and was in position to capitalize on the green-white checkered. For this part-time team that often start and parks to save money, Sunday's finish was proof positive that when sponsors take a chance, giving these cars the opportunity to run the distance they're capable of rising to the occasion.
Is your favorite driver among NASCAR's underdogs? Are you frustrated with the lack of coverage they receive during the race broadcasts? Amy has all the small teams covered each and every week in The Big Six. Be sure to check it out to see how your favorites fared!
Amy Henderson is a Co-Managing Editor and a Senior Writer for Frontstretch. She can be reached via e-mail at amy.henderson@frontstretch.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Writer_Amy.
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Letter of the Race: Sunday's Aaron's 499 was brought to you by the Letter L, for "Lucky." That's not necessarily because of how David Ragan ended up in Victory Lane. There were a number of close calls in the event where a couple of inches each way could have changed the outcome for a particular driver. For example, Scott Speed just snaked his way through the big crash on Lap 183 on his way to a ninth-place finish, a reminder that for every plate race disaster, there's one team counting their "lucky stars" they got away in one piece. - Phil Allaway
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Sidebar Talladega Stories
by Phil Allaway
Big Wrecks Decimate Field
At Daytona and Talladega, there is always the threat of "The Big One," a large-scale crash that can knock multiple potential contenders out of the race. On Sunday afternoon and evening, the dreaded "Demolition Derby" style accident happened not once, but twice.
The first time occurred on Lap 43, when Kyle Busch got into the right rear corner of Kasey Kahne exiting the tri-oval. Kahne turned into the outside wall, then ricocheted into Busch, starting the carnage. In all, 13 cars were involved. Kahne and David Reutimann were out on the spot, while several others, including a struggling Tony Stewart and Greg Biffle finished the event several laps down. It was the second straight plate race disaster for Busch, who wound up sidelined in February's Daytona 500 with late-race engine problems.
The first time occurred on Lap 43, when Kyle Busch got into the right rear corner of Kasey Kahne exiting the tri-oval. Kahne turned into the outside wall, then ricocheted into Busch, starting the carnage. In all, 13 cars were involved. Kahne and David Reutimann were out on the spot, while several others, including a struggling Tony Stewart and Greg Biffle finished the event several laps down. It was the second straight plate race disaster for Busch, who wound up sidelined in February's Daytona 500 with late-race engine problems.
Unfortunately, the other drivers left weren't done wrecking. The second major crash occurred on Lap 183, when JJ Yeley and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. had contact on the backstretch. Yeley hit the wall, then slid down the track into Marcos Ambrose. Yeley's car hooked off of Ambrose's bumper into Kurt Busch's Furniture Row/Beautyrest Chevrolet. The force of the hit rolled Busch's Chevrolet over twice, eventually landing on top of Ryan Newman. 16 cars were ultimately involved, including Ambrose, Jeff Gordon and David Stremme, who were also a part of the first wreck. Yeley, Kurt Busch, Newman, Danica Patrick and Terry Labonte were unable to continue.
Hamlin's Return Takes A Disappointing Twist
Sunday also marked the return of Denny Hamlin to the No. 11 FedEx Toyota after missing the last four races due to an L1 Compression Fracture suffered on the final lap of Fontana's Auto Club 400. The plan was for Hamlin to drive to the first caution, then hand over to Brian Vickers.
Ultimately, Hamlin hung around towards the back of the field until Trevor Bayne blew an engine on Lap 23, bringing out the first yellow. During the caution, the No. 11 team did the driver change, swapping Hamlin out through a rarely-used roof hatch in favor of Vickers. That might have been the highlight of the No. 11 team's day. Shortly afterwards, Vickers was swept up into the first big wreck and spent significant time behind the wall. JGR did get the No. 11 back on track, but Vickers brought it home in 34th, 44 laps down. The result dropped Hamlin three places to 31st in points, 125 out of tenth and 76 out of 20th. Hamlin does plan to go the full 500-mile distance Saturday night in Darlington pending medical clearance by his doctors.
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.
Quotes to Remember: Aaron's 499
"This is a true David vs. Goliath moment here. This is special to get Front Row Motorsports their first win. It feels like I've never been in Victory Lane before, I'm so excited. We're a small team. We build our own chassis, our own bodies, and it's such a special moment for our team and all of our partners. This is big." - David Ragan, race winner
"My crew chief, Frank Kerr, said, 'You've got to have the restart of your life,' and we had a good one. It was dark out there, sprinkling a little bit, dry sweep was on the windshield a bunch, but we got a good restart. Our Love's Travel Stops Ford Fusion was really fast all day. I got hooked up with my teammate there. Michael Waltrip got behind me and was giving me a great shove and I had some good momentum and got hooked up with Ragan there and just stayed glued to his bumper and kind of worked our way up through there and came home 1-2 for Front Row Motorsports. It's a huge day obviously for any team to get first and second, but for Front Row Motorsports and our little team, and what we do it with, we're really proud of that. And Bob Jenkins, for sticking with us and doing this deal probably 80-90 percent out of his own pocket... it's a special day." - David Gilliland, finished second
"That was crazy. I blocked everybody I could. I was doing everything I could. I blocked Matt and I thought, 'Oh, we've got it.' And then I saw Jimmie coming and I blocked him and I thought, 'Who is that back there?' It was this Ford freight train coming and I just couldn't stay in front of them. David did everything but wreck me. He did everything right and I still thought he was gonna wreck when he was looking in his mirror and he almost hit the apron and he wiggled coming to the line, so I thought we still might get this thing, but it's awesome for David Ragan. We were gonna win the race if it rained, and then I thought we were still gonna win this thing and it just wasn't meant to be. But it's the most fun I've had at Talladega." - Carl Edwards, finished third
"Well, the last few laps I didn't see much; it was pretty dark. Happy for the guys on the Hendrickcars.com Chevy Phoenix Racing, it was a good day for them. A little disappointed. That last restart, we were on the bottom and our car just didn't work on the bottom at all for whatever reason. It just kept stalling out. I stayed down there to try and help Jimmie (Johnson) and give him a shove so we could get up there and battle it out. I just couldn't give him a big enough push to clear guys at the right time. I kept getting stalled out by the cars on the outside. Still a good day, still proud of the effort by the team and, you know, go to the next one." - Regan Smith, finished sixth
"I don't really know. We didn't have a car that I felt comfortable with. We just didn't have a good car all day, but – I don't know – I thought it was alright I guess. What did you guys think?" Dale Earnhardt, Jr., finished 17th, on the racing at 'Dega
"We just got hit from behind, and along for the ride we went. It's Talladega, what can I say. We ran up front for most of the day and don't have much to show for it. It's been the story of our season. But when the luck cycle turns our way it's going to be good, because the performance is there. We've proven that." - Kurt Busch, finished 30th (Crashed Out)
"My car was really bad on the bottom all day long, so I just stayed to the outside. Everyone kept getting jammed up in the middle. I could carry a ton of momentum, and pushed the No. 51 (Regan Smith) to the lead there. Thought I was going to take the lead there myself down the back straightaway. I just kind of stalled out there from a side draft from Regan, and the No. 17 (Ricky Stenhouse) thought he could stick it on the outside there, and there wasn't enough room. He hit me in the right rear, and got me loose, and sent me back across the field. Very disappointing. I definitely thought we had at least a shot at a top-five, but we were definitely going for the win." - JJ Yeley, finished 31st (Crashed Out)
"I am doing this interview to let everybody know I'm alright. They can build safer race cars, they can build safer walls. But they can't get their heads out of their asses far enough to keep them on the race track, and that's pretty disappointing. I wanted to make sure I get that point across. Y'all can figure out who 'they' is. That's no way to end a race. Our car was much better than that. That's just poor judgment in restarting the race, poor judgment ... I mean; you got what you wanted, but poor judgment and running in the dark and running in the rain. That's it, thank you." - Ryan Newman, finished 32nd (Crashed Out)
"I'm probably sure the most common answer is, 'I have no idea.' It happens out here; it is frustrating. Ricky (Stenhouse Jr.) was trying to make it four-wide, and the No. 36 (JJ Yeley) came up to block him, and it turned him. Then the No. 78 (Kurt Busch) was spinning; I went high, and somebody came up and clipped me and put me in the wall. I'm not sure which car it was. The No. 32 (Terry Labonte), it looked like. Honestly, it is just the way it goes. People forcing the issue. It is late in the race; I get it. But that's what causes these accidents that makes speedway racing speedway racing. It's just unfortunate for everyone on the Go Daddy team." - Danica Patrick, finished 33rd (Crashed Out)
"Yeah, I'm alright. I don't really know what happened. I know I got in the back of the 5 (Kasey Kahne) and I guess I was trying to go to the outside of him, but he just moved up in front of me and I wasn't expecting it and I tried to go to the outside of him and before I could get to the outside of him I got in the back of him. I just hate that I caused a hell of a melee for everybody. I hate that. A lot of cars got torn up and it's way too early in the race to be doing any of those sorts of moves whether he made it or I made it. Just I hate it that we all got crashed in that deal." - Kyle Busch, finished 37th (Crashed Out)
"There was no warning at all. I got to turn one and it let go. I'm surprised the whole field didn't crash with as much oil that's pouring out of this thing in the garage, but we were lucky to hold onto it and keep this car in one piece because it's gonna be fast at Daytona in July. I hate this for our team, but that's kind of been our luck this weekend. It's OK though because we've got good race cars. It's unfortunate because we were running in the top 10 the whole time. I dropped back to 30th and came right back to fifth, so I think it's gonna be a fun race for everybody. It seems a little bit different than Daytona, where everybody was in one lane. At least a couple of lanes seem to be working where you can pass, but it looks like I'll have to watch the rest of this thing in the motorhome. That kind of stinks because I'd rather be driving this No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford." - Trevor Bayne, finished 43rd (Blown Engine)
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TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
by Mike Neff
by Kevin Rutherford
The Big Six: Questions Answered After the Aaron's 499
by Amy Henderson
NASCAR's Fine Line Between Tragedy And Terrific: Newman's Nasty Remarks
by Summer Bedgood
by P. Huston Ladner
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FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: In the Sprint Cup Series, getting yourself parked is pretty rare. Usually, you have to do something malicious. That wasn't the case in the 1991 TranSouth 500. What happened that forced NASCAR to park a driver early on?
Check back Tuesday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Friday's Answer:
Q: The 1993 FRAM Filters 500k for the Busch Grand National Series is known mainly for a number of wrecks. Richard Lasater infamously rolled his Chevrolet in the event and Ernie Irvan got airborne on the final lap. Todd Bodine also had a wild ride early in the race. What happened?
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: In the Sprint Cup Series, getting yourself parked is pretty rare. Usually, you have to do something malicious. That wasn't the case in the 1991 TranSouth 500. What happened that forced NASCAR to park a driver early on?
Check back Tuesday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Friday's Answer:
Q: The 1993 FRAM Filters 500k for the Busch Grand National Series is known mainly for a number of wrecks. Richard Lasater infamously rolled his Chevrolet in the event and Ernie Irvan got airborne on the final lap. Todd Bodine also had a wild ride early in the race. What happened?
A: On Lap 12, Bodine and Rick Wilson had contact on the backstretch. Wilson went hard into the outside wall, while Bodine spun into the grass and took off. The Fiddle Faddle Chevrolet appeared to get all four wheels off the ground before coming back down on all fours. Meanwhile, Mike Wallace and Shawna Robinson also got swept into the crash. The wreck can be seen here.
Bodine, Wilson and Robinson were all out on the spot. Wallace's FDP Brakes Chevrolet was repaired behind the wall and got back out. However, Wallace officially pulled out due to suspension failure after 37 laps and was credited with a 35th-place finish.
Frontstretch Trivia Guarantee: Take the shirt off our backs! If we've provided an incorrect answer to the Frontstretch Trivia question, be the first to email the corrected trivia answer to trivia@frontstretch.com and we'll send you a Frontstretch T-Shirt ... FREE!
Coming Tuesday in the Frontstretch Newsletter:
-- Top News by Tom Bowles
-- Fan's View Commentary by S.D. Grady
-- Numbers Game: Aaron's 499 by Tom Bowles
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, and more!
Tomorrow on the Frontstretch:
Five Points To Ponder by Danny Peters
Danny returns for his weekly edition of talking points, which will wrap up the action at Talladega and get us ready for Richmond.
Couch Potato Tuesday by Phil Allaway
This past weekend, the Sprint Cup, Nationwide and ARCA Racing Series were in action at Talladega Superspeedway. How were the rain-delayed telecasts of these races? Find out tomorrow.
Brad gets us set for Darlington's lone 500-miler of the season while tracking the trends of the past few weeks to see which drivers are on a tear... or tearing their hair out.
Racing To The Point by Brett Poirier
Brett is back with another commentary to make you think.
Going By The Numbers by Kevin Rutherford
Kevin enlightens us with his weekly statistics column based on trends we've been seeing in the Cup Series so far this season.
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