THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
May 20th, 2013
Volume VII, Edition LXXXIV
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Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
May 20th, 2013
Volume VII, Edition LXXXIV
~~~~~~~~~~
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: Johnson Makes History, Wins Fourth All-Star Race
by Justin Tucker
Coming into Saturday night's All-Star Race, Jimmie Johnson had a shot at history. No driver, over nearly three decades had won four All-Star events; Johnson sat tied with Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon for the most, with three. Well, when the smoke cleared after 90 laps late Saturday night at Charlotte, Jimmie Johnson would once again claim the $1 million dollar paycheck and set a new record for others to "Chase" after.
The Sprint Showdown would kick off All-Star Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Martin Truex, Jr. would lead the field to green for the 40-lap main event qualifier, but Jamie McMurray would prove to have the fastest car from the jump. McMurray took the lead on lap 1 and never looked back, leading all 40 circuit en route to his first Sprint Showdown victory. Rookie of the Year candidate Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. would impress all race long and claim his first berth into the All-Star Race by finishing second. Danica Patrick would finish ninth and receive the Sprint All-Star Fan Vote for her first All-Star appearance.
But none of those three would factor into the big race. Instead, the Busch Brothers would set the early pace during the All-Star event as they would split the first four segment wins between themselves. Kurt Busch would win the opening segment of the 90-lap event, followed by brother Kyle winning segments 2 and 3. Segment 4 was dominated by Kurt, as he trudged on to win and hold the all important best average finish through the first four segments heading into the final pit stop.
Then, what was shaping up to be a Busch brothers kind of night turned on a tire change. Hendrick Motorsports, with their duo of Kasey Kahne and Johnson would beat Kurt and Kyle off of pit road to line up first and second on the final restart. On the drop of the green, Johnson was able to pull in front of Kahne on the bottom after a short battle. Afterwards, Johnson would never again be challenged as he cruised to victory by almost two seconds over runner-up Joey Logano and Kyle Busch. An 11.8-second stop by his crew made the difference, launching the No. 48 into the track position needed after starting the night hanging out way at the back.
A jubilant Johnson said after the victory, "I really didn't think we had a shot at winning, starting 20th. I don't know how we keep doing it."
Behind Johnson, Logano and Kyle Busch was Kahne in fourth, while Kurt Busch rounded out the top-5 finishers. Denny Hamlin finished sixth, followed by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Sprint Showdown Winner McMurray was eighth, while Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards rounded out the top 10.
Next up for NASCAR is the Coca-Cola 600, with coverage set to start on FOX with pre-race at 5:30 PM EDT. Race coverage will start at 6:00 PM, with the green flag shortly afterwards.
Indy 500 Coverage
Weekend Qualifying Highlights
Justin Tucker is a Newsletter Contributor at Frontstretch. To reach Justin, please contact Newsletter Manager Phil Allaway at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com.
Justin Tucker is a Newsletter Contributor at Frontstretch. To reach Justin, please contact Newsletter Manager Phil Allaway at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com.
Editor's Note: Chasing the Chase and The Underdog Performers of the Week and will return next Monday.
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Letter of the Race: Saturday night's Bojangles' Southern 500 was brought to you by the Letter C, for "Clean Air." Jimmie Johnson was decent on Saturday night during the Sprint All-Star Race, but wasn't seemingly in the same league as the Busch brothers. However, Johnson's crew had an exquisite pit stop after Segment 4 that got Johnson on the front row for the final restart. Once Johnson got past Kasey Kahne, he waved the field good-bye as he ran off and hid. Perhaps this conclusion is not necessarily what NASCAR wanted with the Gen-6 car, but it is a decent microcosm for what might happen next weekend in the Coca-Cola 600. - Phil Allaway
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Sidebar All-Star Race Stories
by Summer Bedgood
SPEED Graphic Mistake Leads to Controversy
SPEED created controversy during last Saturday's Sprint All-Star Race when a new graphic incorrectly showed Jimmie Johnson should have entered pit road 11th when instead he entered fourth heading into the fifth segment. NASCAR rules dictated that the driver's average finish in the first four 20-lap segments would determine the running order as the drivers headed down pit road for the final mandatory pit stop of the day.
While SPEED's information was, in fact, incorrect it led to outcry on social media from fans who thought NASCAR had played favorites for the five-time champion. Johnson left pit road second and eventually went on to win the race due to track position.
"People just want to hate," said Johnson post-race. "That's fine. I'm just lucky. NASCAR rigs the races and whatever they want to believe. I'm going home with a cool trophy and a big check and we all really know what happened. So whatever."
Johnson's win was his second in a row and fourth all-time, beating out Dale Earnhardt, Sr. and Jeff Gordon for most career All-Star wins.
Busch Brothers Fall Short of Victory Following Strong Run
While Kyle and Kurt Busch combined to win the first four segments of the All-Star Race, neither one of them was in Victory Lane at the conclusion of the final 10-lap shootout. Kyle won the second and third segments and finished third, while Kurt won the first and fourth segments and finished fifth.
"Unfortunately, tonight we didn't have the best of stops and came out third and that was the race right there," said Kyle. You've got to be on the front row if you're going to win this thing."
Kurt, meanwhile, led the field into the final pit mandatory pit stop prior to the 10-lap shootout due to having the best average finish in the first four segments. But his pit crew couldn't follow through, a stop over a second slower than his Hendrick competitors leaving him too far back in the pack to make a run.
"My guys, I'm not getting down on them — we came out top 5," said Kurt. "Then we were a little tight that last run in the traffic or we didn't get aggressive enough with your change. You're a half a click off on the stopwatch on a pit stop and half a click off on an adjustment, and you can go from batting 4-out-of-5 to striking out the last time out."
Jimmie Johnson went on to win the race.
Mixed Results for Showdown Transfers in All-Star Event
Showdown transfers Jamie McMurray, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., and Danica Patrick (fan vote winner) finished eighth, 16th, and 20th, respectively, in Saturday night's 22-car field.
McMurray transferred from the Showdown after dominating the race, with Stenhouse right in tow. Patrick, who finished ninth in the Showdown, was the recipient of the Fan Vote.
While the trio failed to lead any laps and really weren't factors in the race, they were undoubtedly grateful for the opportunity.
20 other drivers competed in the Showdown and failed to qualify for the race.
Jeff Burton, Bobby Labonte, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., and Martin Truex, Jr., in no particular order, were also in the top 5 for the fan vote.
Summer Bedgood is a Senior Writer for Frontstretch. She can be reached via e-mail at summer.bedgood@frontstretch.com. Follow her on Twitter at @SummerBedgood.
Quotes to Remember: Sprint All-Star Race
Letter of the Race: Saturday night's Bojangles' Southern 500 was brought to you by the Letter C, for "Clean Air." Jimmie Johnson was decent on Saturday night during the Sprint All-Star Race, but wasn't seemingly in the same league as the Busch brothers. However, Johnson's crew had an exquisite pit stop after Segment 4 that got Johnson on the front row for the final restart. Once Johnson got past Kasey Kahne, he waved the field good-bye as he ran off and hid. Perhaps this conclusion is not necessarily what NASCAR wanted with the Gen-6 car, but it is a decent microcosm for what might happen next weekend in the Coca-Cola 600. - Phil Allaway
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Sidebar All-Star Race Stories
by Summer Bedgood
SPEED Graphic Mistake Leads to Controversy
SPEED created controversy during last Saturday's Sprint All-Star Race when a new graphic incorrectly showed Jimmie Johnson should have entered pit road 11th when instead he entered fourth heading into the fifth segment. NASCAR rules dictated that the driver's average finish in the first four 20-lap segments would determine the running order as the drivers headed down pit road for the final mandatory pit stop of the day.
While SPEED's information was, in fact, incorrect it led to outcry on social media from fans who thought NASCAR had played favorites for the five-time champion. Johnson left pit road second and eventually went on to win the race due to track position.
"People just want to hate," said Johnson post-race. "That's fine. I'm just lucky. NASCAR rigs the races and whatever they want to believe. I'm going home with a cool trophy and a big check and we all really know what happened. So whatever."
Johnson's win was his second in a row and fourth all-time, beating out Dale Earnhardt, Sr. and Jeff Gordon for most career All-Star wins.
Busch Brothers Fall Short of Victory Following Strong Run
While Kyle and Kurt Busch combined to win the first four segments of the All-Star Race, neither one of them was in Victory Lane at the conclusion of the final 10-lap shootout. Kyle won the second and third segments and finished third, while Kurt won the first and fourth segments and finished fifth.
"Unfortunately, tonight we didn't have the best of stops and came out third and that was the race right there," said Kyle. You've got to be on the front row if you're going to win this thing."
Kurt, meanwhile, led the field into the final pit mandatory pit stop prior to the 10-lap shootout due to having the best average finish in the first four segments. But his pit crew couldn't follow through, a stop over a second slower than his Hendrick competitors leaving him too far back in the pack to make a run.
"My guys, I'm not getting down on them — we came out top 5," said Kurt. "Then we were a little tight that last run in the traffic or we didn't get aggressive enough with your change. You're a half a click off on the stopwatch on a pit stop and half a click off on an adjustment, and you can go from batting 4-out-of-5 to striking out the last time out."
Jimmie Johnson went on to win the race.
Mixed Results for Showdown Transfers in All-Star Event
Showdown transfers Jamie McMurray, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., and Danica Patrick (fan vote winner) finished eighth, 16th, and 20th, respectively, in Saturday night's 22-car field.
McMurray transferred from the Showdown after dominating the race, with Stenhouse right in tow. Patrick, who finished ninth in the Showdown, was the recipient of the Fan Vote.
While the trio failed to lead any laps and really weren't factors in the race, they were undoubtedly grateful for the opportunity.
20 other drivers competed in the Showdown and failed to qualify for the race.
Jeff Burton, Bobby Labonte, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., and Martin Truex, Jr., in no particular order, were also in the top 5 for the fan vote.
Summer Bedgood is a Senior Writer for Frontstretch. She can be reached via e-mail at summer.bedgood@frontstretch.com. Follow her on Twitter at @SummerBedgood.
Quotes to Remember: Sprint All-Star Race
compiled by Summer Bedgood
"It's incredible, especially in the way we had to go about it tonight. I didn't do us any favors qualifying yesterday. With this average that we had through the first four segments, I was really fearful I wouldn't have a shot at a front-row start or a second-row start and I felt like the winner would come from one of those two rows. Not to state the obvious, but that's really the goal from all of us is to try to be in that front row for the final restart." - Jimmie Johnson, race winner
"It was entertaining, to say the least. I thought all my guys did a great job calling the race, keeping that average finish up. I thought we were a fifth to sixth-place car in the beginning of the race and we just needed to get track position and I felt like if we got our track position, we could run decent. I think we averaged fifth and then we came down pit road, beat one car out which put us in the second row, and in the back of my mind before the race started I felt like I needed to be in the second row with 10 to go to at least have a shot at this thing. My guys got me what I needed there and then it was up to me to make of the most of what I had. The 48 was really, really fast. Once he got that clean air, he was gone. All I could do was hope for clean air and try to stack everything up and give it one more shot." - Joey Logano, finished second
"Yeah, it was really good. Obviously I felt like we had a really, really fast race car. The Snickers Bites Camry was awesome, probably the best car here, just ran up front most of the night and had really good runs through the segments there, we had two of them, and average wise we were right there with Kurt. He beat us out a little bit. Ultimately, it came down to pit road where my guys always prove their worth. Unfortunately, tonight we didn't have the best of stops and come out third and that was the race right there. You've got to be on the front row if you're going to win this thing, and unfortunately there on the restart getting side-drafted and sucked around and hit from behind and loose and everything else, I had to finally get straight and get everybody off me to be able to race, and once I could do that I could go forward." - Kyle Busch, finished third (won Segments 2 and 3)
"Our pit crew did a great job getting us out first. I was a little tight in the run before. Not enough time to really fix it if we wanted to get out first. So we just tried to get four tires and I thought if I could just get clean air this Farmer's Insurance Chevy. Then Jimmie just kinda stayed right there and we couldn't get rid of him and he beat me off into the corner into three and kinda on exit and it was over after that. I was tight and fell back to fourth. The pit crew was great. It was a good run. Tried hard and just a little too much. I bounced off a couple too many cars to really have a car capable of running with him at the end." - Kasey Kahne, finished fourth
"It was sure a blast to win two segments and lead laps I am very proud of how this team is coming together. Everyone knew we were here tonight. We fought hard and felt all along that we could win this race. The car got tight and was plowing during the final 10 laps. It just didn't have the same handling as it did in the first four segments." - Kurt Busch, finished fifth (Won Segments 1 and 4)
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TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
"It was entertaining, to say the least. I thought all my guys did a great job calling the race, keeping that average finish up. I thought we were a fifth to sixth-place car in the beginning of the race and we just needed to get track position and I felt like if we got our track position, we could run decent. I think we averaged fifth and then we came down pit road, beat one car out which put us in the second row, and in the back of my mind before the race started I felt like I needed to be in the second row with 10 to go to at least have a shot at this thing. My guys got me what I needed there and then it was up to me to make of the most of what I had. The 48 was really, really fast. Once he got that clean air, he was gone. All I could do was hope for clean air and try to stack everything up and give it one more shot." - Joey Logano, finished second
"Yeah, it was really good. Obviously I felt like we had a really, really fast race car. The Snickers Bites Camry was awesome, probably the best car here, just ran up front most of the night and had really good runs through the segments there, we had two of them, and average wise we were right there with Kurt. He beat us out a little bit. Ultimately, it came down to pit road where my guys always prove their worth. Unfortunately, tonight we didn't have the best of stops and come out third and that was the race right there. You've got to be on the front row if you're going to win this thing, and unfortunately there on the restart getting side-drafted and sucked around and hit from behind and loose and everything else, I had to finally get straight and get everybody off me to be able to race, and once I could do that I could go forward." - Kyle Busch, finished third (won Segments 2 and 3)
"Our pit crew did a great job getting us out first. I was a little tight in the run before. Not enough time to really fix it if we wanted to get out first. So we just tried to get four tires and I thought if I could just get clean air this Farmer's Insurance Chevy. Then Jimmie just kinda stayed right there and we couldn't get rid of him and he beat me off into the corner into three and kinda on exit and it was over after that. I was tight and fell back to fourth. The pit crew was great. It was a good run. Tried hard and just a little too much. I bounced off a couple too many cars to really have a car capable of running with him at the end." - Kasey Kahne, finished fourth
"It was sure a blast to win two segments and lead laps I am very proud of how this team is coming together. Everyone knew we were here tonight. We fought hard and felt all along that we could win this race. The car got tight and was plowing during the final 10 laps. It just didn't have the same handling as it did in the first four segments." - Kurt Busch, finished fifth (Won Segments 1 and 4)
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ADVERTISEMENT
Race fans, do you love Frontstretch.com's coverage of NASCAR's top 3 series, IndyCar, Formula One and Short Track Racing? Do you want to read even more about your favorite sport? Then check out the industry's newest racing publication, Motorsport Illustrated News!, which is available both in print and in digital format! As one of our loyal readers, you'll receive 15% off any subscription when you use the coupon code fs2013.
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TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
by Tom Bowles
The Big Six: Questions Answered After NASCAR's All-Star Race Weekend
by Amy Henderson
All-Star Gimmicks Gone Wrong
by Summer Bedgood
The Big Six: Questions Answered After NASCAR's All-Star Race Weekend
by Amy Henderson
All-Star Gimmicks Gone Wrong
by Summer Bedgood
From Saturday:
by Mike Neff
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FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: In 1988, Rick Wilson had an excellent chance in a relatively unusual Coca-Cola 600 to claim his first career victory. However, it was not meant to be. What happened to put him out for the day?
Check back Tuesday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Friday's Answer:
Q: The late Dick Trickle started the 1996 Winston Cup season without a full-time ride. After what turned out to a one-off in Brittan Schnell's No. 63 Purina Ford in the Daytona 500, Trickle drove in eight races (out of ten attempts) in the Healthsource-sponsored No. 19 for TriStar Motorsports. How did Trickle end up in the seat?
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: In 1988, Rick Wilson had an excellent chance in a relatively unusual Coca-Cola 600 to claim his first career victory. However, it was not meant to be. What happened to put him out for the day?
Check back Tuesday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Friday's Answer:
Q: The late Dick Trickle started the 1996 Winston Cup season without a full-time ride. After what turned out to a one-off in Brittan Schnell's No. 63 Purina Ford in the Daytona 500, Trickle drove in eight races (out of ten attempts) in the Healthsource-sponsored No. 19 for TriStar Motorsports. How did Trickle end up in the seat?
A: Trickle was tapped to drive the No. 19 after regular driver Loy Allen, Jr. was injured in a crash in the Goodwrench 400 at then-North Carolina Motor Speedway (Rockingham). Allen apparently blew a right front tire and hit the wall hard in Turn 1 before crossing the track and hitting the inside wall. Bobby Labonte crashed as well after being hit by Jeff Burton. Allen suffered a neck injury and sat out for a couple of months, clearing the way for Trickle to sub. Video of the crashes can be seen here.
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: Sprint All-Star Race 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 All-Star Weekend and get us ready for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Couch Potato Tuesday by Phil Allaway
This past weekend, the Sprint Cup and Camping World Truck Series were in action at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Meanwhile, the ARCA Racing Series was in Toledo, Ohio. How were the telecasts of these races? Find out tomorrow.
Brad gets us set for Memorial Day weekend 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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