The Frontstretch Newsletter: Your Weekend Racing Primer

THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
May 25th, 2013
Volume VII, Edition LXXXVIX
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Frontstretch Live: At The Track

Be sure to follow your Frontstretch feed on both Facebook and Twitter as two of your favorite writers are live with coverage all weekend long. Amy Henderson (@Writer_Amy) and Mike Neff (@MNeffShortTrack) will be manning the ship down in Charlotte.

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What to Watch: Saturday

- The race weekend in Charlotte continues with both Nationwide Series qualifying, the race and Cup preparations for the Coca-Cola 600. Plus, there's the typical IndyCar pre-race fanfare, analysis, and buildup to open-wheel's biggest race. Here's your upcoming television schedule...

ON TV RIGHT NOW Nationwide Series Qualifying ESPN2
1:00 - 2:00 PM Sprint Cup Series Happy Hour SPEED
2:30 - 2:45 PM NASCAR Countdown ABC
2:45 - 5:30 PM Nationwide Series History 300 ABC
5:00 - 6:00 PM Indianapolis 500 Festival Parade NBC Sports Network

Top News
by Phil Allaway

A Review Of Your 2014 NASCAR Hall of Fame Inductees

 

This week, the NASCAR Hall of Fame announced their fifth class of inductees into the slightly more than three-year old Hall of Fame in Uptown Charlotte, North Carolina.  As is the norm, all 54 voters (21 members of the Nominating Committee), plus 33 additional voters were sequestered in a room at the NASCAR Hall of Fame to discuss the candidates and vote.

 

The five inductees, as announced by NASCAR CEO Brian France, are:

 

1. Tim Flock - 1952 and 1955 NASCAR Grand National Champion, 39 career victories, 21 percent winning percentage in 187 career starts.

 

2. Maurice Petty - Chief engine builder for Petty Enterprises, built the engines for the vast majority of brother Richard's 200 victories.  Crew Chief for Pete Hamilton's winning drive in the 1970 Daytona 500.

 

3. Dale Jarrett - 1999 Winston Cup Champion, 32 career victories, including three Daytona 500s.

 

4. Jack Ingram - 1982 Budweiser Late Model Champion and 1985 Busch Grand National Champion, 1972-1974 NASCAR Late Model Sportsman Champion.  31 career Busch Grand National victories.

 

5. Glenn "Fireball" Roberts - 33 career Grand National victories, including the 1962 Daytona 500.

 

According to FOX Sports' Mike Joy, who had a vote and was in the room in Charlotte, the deliberations were the most contentious yet.  There were four hours of videos and debates (including lunch) prior to the actual voting.  Flock, at 76 percent, got the highest percentage of the vote.  Maurice Petty got 67 percent, while Dale Jarrett got 56 percent, Ingram 53 percent and Roberts 51 percent.  Beyond the five inductees, the top 3 snubs were Modified Champion Jerry Cook, two-time Grand National Champion Joe Weatherly and Wendell Scott. 

 

It is unclear who actually won the Fan Vote.  NASCAR's official press release only listed the top 5 vote getters in alphabetical order.  Those five were Richard Childress, Rick Hendrick, Jarrett, Benny Parsons and Roberts.

 

The recipient of the Squier-Hall Award was not announced on Wednesday.  Voting will commence on that wing of the Hall of Fame in June.  The winner of the Squier-Hall Award will be announced during the Coke Zero 400 weekend at Daytona in July.

 

Meanwhile, the five inductees will be officially enshrined in the NASCAR Hall of Fame in a ceremony on January 29, 2014.  FOX Sports 1, the replacement for SPEED, will televise the induction ceremony live.

 

Grand-Am's Jim France to Wave Tricolor at 24 Hours of Le Mans

 

In Sports Car news, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) announced on this week that Grand-Am Founder Jim France will wave the French tricolor flag to start the 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 22.  The move is symbolic as France, along with Dr. Don Panoz, will jointly lead the new USCR (United SportsCar Racing), which is being sanctioned by IMSA (International Motor Sports Association).  The new organization will continue the relationship that the ALMS (American Le Mans Series) has had since 1999 with the ACO.

France is honored to have the privilege of waving the flag to start the endurance classic.

 

"I will wave the flag to start next month's 24 Hours of Le Mans on behalf of the entire North American sports car community," France said.  "It demonstrates the universal interest in the consolidation of America's two leading road racing organizations.  The worldwide racing community is already anticipating the debut of United SportsCar Racing at the 2014 Rolex 24 at Daytona, with it's close association to the ACO and link to the 24 Hours of Le Mans."

 

This will not be the first time that a France has dropped the flag at Le Mans.  In 1976, NASCAR CEO Bill France, Jr. did the same.  At the time, sports car racing was in a state of flux and car count was down significantly from the early part of the decade due to a flurry of rule changes.  Two Winston Cup-spec cars actually competed in the race, one fielded by Junie Donlavey and the other by Herschel McGriff.

 

The move is considered to be an interesting one, given rumors that Daytona Prototypes could be going to Le Mans as soon as 2014.  Audi, whose R18's will not be allowed to race in USCR since P1 cars will not be legal, has already broached the idea of building a Daytona Prototype for next year so that they can compete at Daytona and Sebring.  When the green flag flies at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, it will be the first 24-Hour race that the ACO has given its blessing to outside of Le Mans for many years.  Previously, ACO-affiliated series were actually banned from putting on races of longer than 12 hours in length.

 

Weekend Racing Primer

 

Sprint Cup Series Coca-Cola 600: Starting Lineup

Row 1

Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota, 195.624 MPH.

Kurt Busch, No. 78 Chevy, 195.221 MPH.

Row 2

Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Toyota, 195.094 MPH.

Mark Martin, No. 55 Toyota, 194.595 MPH.

Row 3

Clint Bowyer, No. 15 Toyota, 194.503 MPH.

Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Chevy, 194.309 MPH.

Row 4

Greg Biffle, No. 16 Ford, 194.238 MPH.

Kyle Busch, No. 18 Toyota, 193.952 MPH.

Row 5

Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Chevy, 193.694 MPH.

Ryan Newman, No. 39 Chevy, 193.639 MPH.

Row 6

Dale Earnhardt, Jr., No. 88 Chevy, 193.444 MPH.

Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Chevy, 193.292 MPH.

Row 7

Carl Edwards, No. 99 Ford, 193.271 MPH.

Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Chevy, 192.961 MPH.

Row 8

Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Chevy, 192.520 MPH.

Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 42 Chevy, 192.287 MPH.

Row 9

Martin Truex, Jr., No. 56 Toyota, 192.191 MPH.

Aric Almirola, No. 43 Ford, 192.130 MPH.

Row 10

Marcos Ambrose, No. 9 Ford, 192.123 MPH.

Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Ford, 191.884 MPH.

Row 11

Casey Mears, No. 13 Ford, 191.884 MPH.

Paul Menard, No. 27 Chevy, 191.727 MPH.**

** - On Friday, Menard announced a long-term contract extension to stay on with Richard Childress Racing for the foreseeable future. Menard, who is sponsored by his family-owned home improvement stores company was in the last year of his contract with the team.

Row 12

J.J. Yeley, No. 36 Chevy, 190.988 MPH.

Danica Patrick, No. 10 Chevy, 190.826 MPH.

Row 13

Tony Stewart, No. 14 Chevy, 190.792 MPH.

David Gilliland, No. 38 Ford, 190.665 MPH.

Row 14

Jeff Burton, No. 31 Chevy, 190.490 MPH.

Travis Kvapil, No. 93 Toyota, 190.416 MPH.

Row 15

Trevor Bayne, No. 21 Ford, 190.409 MPH.

Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., No. 17 Ford, 190.241 MPH.

Row 16

Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford, 190.047 MPH.

Michael McDowell, No. 98 Ford, 189.967 MPH.

Row 17

Dave Blaney, No. 7 Chevy, 189.793 MPH.

Bobby Labonte, No. 47 Toyota, 189.401 MPH.

Row 18

David Ragan, No. 34 Ford, 189.049 MPH.

Regan Smith, No. 51 Chevy, 188.725 MPH.

Row 19

David Reutimann, No. 83 Toyota, 188.383 MPH. (Provisional)

David Stremme, No. 30 Toyota, 188.265 MPH. (Provisional)

Row 20

Timmy Hill, No. 32 Ford, 188.114 MPH. (Provisional)

Joe Nemechek, No. 87 Toyota, 188.081 MPH. (Provisional)

Row 21

Landon Cassill, No. 33 Chevy, 188.075 MPH. (Provisional)

Josh Wise, No. 35 Ford, 186.406 MPH. (Provisional)

Row 22

Scott Speed, No. 95 Ford, 188.659 MPH. (Provisional)

Nationwide Series History 300: 45 cars entered

 

Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points:
No. 5 - Kasey Kahne for JR Motorsports
No. 18 - Matt Kenseth for Joe Gibbs Racing
No. 21 - Dakoda Armstrong for Richard Childress Racing
No. 22 - Joey Logano for Penske Racing
No. 25 - John Wes Townley for Venturini Motorsports
No. 33 - Kevin Harvick for Richard Childress Racing
No. 42 - JJ Yeley for The Motorsports Group, LLC
No. 54 - Kyle Busch for Kyle Busch Motorsports/Joe Gibbs Racing

 

Driver Changes:
No. 21 - Dakoda Armstrong is in the seat, replacing Joey Coulter. Armstrong is running a limited schedule this season with sponsorship support.
No. 23 - Robert Richardson, Jr. returns to the seat, replacing Harrison Rhodes. Richardson is running a limited schedule for the team.
No. 24 - Jason White returns to the seat, replacing Bryan Silas.
No. 33 - Kevin Harvick returns to the seat, replacing Ty Dillon.
No. 40 - Reed Sorenson returns to the seat, replacing Josh Wise. Sorenson returns to his full-time ride after filling in for Michael Annett since February.
No. 43 - Michael Annett returns to the seat, replacing Reed Sorenson. Annett returns to the series after suffering a broken sternum in the season-opening race down in Daytona.
No. 70 - Johanna Long returns to the seat, replacing Tony Raines.
No. 74 - Juan Carlos Blum returns to the seat, replacing Danny Efland.

 

Drivers who must qualify on speed:
No. 00 - Blake Koch for SR2 Motorsports
No. 10 - Jeff Green for TriStar Motorsports (Guaranteed to start via the Past Champions' Provisional)*
No. 16 - Chris Buescher for Roush Fenway Racing
No. 17 - Tanner Berryhill for Vision Racing
No. 18 - Matt Kenseth for Joe Gibbs Racing
No. 21 - Dakoda Armstrong for Richard Childress Racing
No. 25 - John Wes Townley for Venturini Motorsports
No. 29 - Kenny Wallace for RAB Racing with Brack Maggard
No. 37 - Matt DiBenedetto for Vision Racing
No. 42 - JJ Yeley for The Motorsports Group, LLC*
No. 55 - Jamie Dick for Viva Motorsports
No. 66 - Steve Wallace for Rusty Wallace Racing
No. 70- Johanna Long for ML Motorsports
No. 92- Dexter Stacey for KH Motorsports
No. 98 - Kevin Swindell for Biagi-DenBeste Racing

*- Expected to Start-and-Park

 

Not Entered:
No. 46 - Chase Miller for The Motorsports Group, LLC
No. 52 - Kevin Lepage for Jimmy Means Motorsports
No. 73 - Derrike Cope

Indy 500: Starting Lineup (with four-lap average qualifying speeds)

Row 1

Ed Carpenter, No. 20, 228.762 MPH.

Carlos Munoz, No. 26, 228.342 MPH.

Marco Andretti, No. 25, 228.261 MPH.

Row 2

E.J. Viso, No. 5, 228.150 MPH.

AJ Allmendinger, No. 2, 228.099 MPH.

Will Power, No. 12, 228.087 MPH.

Row 3

Ryan Hunter-Reay, No. 1, 227.904 MPH.
Helio Castroneves, No. 3, 227.762 MPH.

James Hinchcliffe, No. 27, 227.070 MPH.

Row 4

JR Hildebrand, No. 4, 227.441 MPH.

Alex Tagliani, No. 98, 227.386 MPH.

Tony Kanaan, No. 11, 226.949 MPH.

Row 5

Oriol Servia, No. 22, 226.810 MPH.

Justin Wilson, No. 19, 226.370 MPH.

Sebastien Bourdais, No. 7, 226.196 MPH.

Row 6

Scott Dixon, No. 9, 226.158 MPH.

Dario Franchitti, No. 10, 226.069 MPH.

Takuma Sato, No. 14, 225.892 MPH.

Row 7

Charlie Kimball, No. 83, 225.880 MPH.

James Jakes, No. 16, 225.809 MPH.

Simon Pagneaud, No. 77, 225.674 MPH.

Row 8

Townsend Bell, No. 60, 225.643 MPH.

Ryan Briscoe, Nol. 8, 225.265 MPH.

Simona De Silvestro, No. 78, 225.226 MPH.

Row 9

Josef Newgarden, No. 21, 225.731 MPH.

Graham Rahal, No. 15, 225.007 MPH.

Sebastian Saavedra, No. 6, 224.929 MPH.

Row 10

Tristan Vautier, No. 55, 224.870 MPH.

Ana Beatriz, No. 18, 224.184 MPH.

Pippa Mann, No. 63, 224.005 MPH.

Row 11
Conor Daly, No. 41, 223.582 MPH.
Buddy Lazier, No. 91, 223.442 MPH.
Katherine Legge, No. 81, 223.176 MPH.

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!
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Today's Featured Commentary
Hall of Fame Produces in 2013... Mostly
What's Vexing Vito
by Vito Pugliese

The 2014 NASCAR Hall of Fame class was announced in Charlotte on Wednesday, and it's hard to find fault with the nominees listed.  While in years past, some may have been wringing their hands over obvious omissions, this year's class is largely free of any hand-wringing or fisticuffs.

 

Julius Timothy Flock: With two Premier Division titles, 39 career victories (18th all-time), and the highest driver winning percentage in history, Flock was a sound choice.  Flock's NASCAR career was cut short in part to having supported a driver's union that Curtis Turner tried to organize – something that got him a lifetime ban as well.  Flock was reinstated in 1966; however, he never raced again following his ban in 1961.  The stats alone prove he should be inducted; it's as simple as that. Besides, what are you going to do, overlook a guy who drove with a monkey riding shotgun in his racecar?

 

Jack Ingram: The Iron Man won 31 races and two championships from 1982 – 1991 in NASCAR's second-tier division.  In addition, he won three consecutive Late Model Sportsman titles in the 1970s, back when what is now the Nationwide Series was comprised of weekly races at various NASCAR-sanctioned short tracks and a few one-off races (ex: the two 300-mile races at Charlotte Motor Speedway).  Ingram won his Busch Grand National titles and those races between the ages of 45 and 50.  So it was good to see a nod paid to the Sportsman/Busch Grand National/Nationwide Series, as Ingram's J.W. Hunt Produce Pontiac is on display among Petty, Pearson, Earnhardt, and Waltrip at the Hall of Fame.  Ingram's wins were in a much different era than that of today, where the programs were not satellite operations of multi-million dollar Cup programs.

 

Edward Glenn "Fireball" Roberts, Jr.: NASCAR's first superstar and speedway pioneer, his nickname had more to do with his pitching prowess than his talents behind the wheel.  When Smokey Yunick was once fretting over the lack of speed in their Pontiac, Roberts assured him, "Superior driving ability will solve it."  Roberts died after contracting pneumonia after suffering burns over 80% of his body in a fiery crash with Ned Jarrett in the 1964 World 600.  It was this incident that would mandate fuel cells instead of gas tanks, and led to the design of fire retardant driving suits.

 

Maurice Petty: Known simply as Chief – or "Morris" by his brother Richard, he engineered and powered the Plymouths, Pontiacs, Dodges, Oldsmobiles, Chevrolets, and Fords to the lion's share of his 200 wins – not to mention wins for other drivers in the Petty Enterprises camp like Pete Hamilton and Buddy Baker.  This selection was a bit of a surprise to me, but one I had identified as a worthy candidate and one who should get in on his first attempt when the nominees were announced.  Racecars don't set themselves up, and there aren't a lot of guys who know how to tune a Mopar properly. Chief helped put the Hemi on the map, and paved the way for Petty Enterprises to prosper after father Lee was seriously injured at Daytona in 1961.

 

Dale Jarrett: I'll admit; this pick does puzzle me.  Not that he should not get in; Dale Jarrett certainly put up the numbers and won the races that matter to get into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.  Three Daytona 500 wins (1993, 1996, 2000), 1999 Champion, two Brickyard 400 wins (1996, 1999), becoming the first driver to win the Brickyard 400 and the Daytona 500 in the same year, as well as three Southern 500 wins at Darlington... the resume is there.  The timing, however, is not exactly ideal. Jarrett is a still young at 56 years old and has plenty of time to get into the Hall.

 

There are those who have passed on that should be included in the Hall, most notably Benny Parsons.  Instead, Jarrett joins Darrell Waltrip and Rusty Wallace as drivers who are currently analysts and commentators now enshrined in the Hall of Fame.  You can see the idea behind it; lend credibility to the broadcast to the casual fan by having guys wearing those big HOF rings. It's also a great story to have a living father and son duo in the Hall of Fame. The whole thing just seems a few years too early for me. 

But if you look at the numbers, DJ's performance is HOF material, even more so than Rusty.  Part of the issue is that we're inducting guys who passed away 50 years ago, at the same time we're honoring those who were active and competitive less than a decade ago.  The reason?  NASCAR is only allowing five members a year to get in.

 

I've been saying it since the Hall opened in 2010, we can't only allow five people a year to be inducted, when there is so much living history still with us – and that which as passed and needs to be recognized.  You can't build something of this sort of significance unless you have a solid foundation on which to grow upon.  There should be ten inductees per year at this rate each year; five drivers, three mechanics/owners, and two for media, marketing, or administrative contributors.  We need to honor those who are still with us, and can still retell the tales that many have never hear or knew existed.

 

Enough of the Gen-6 nonsense already: It's Gen 1 through 4 that made this sport what it is, was, and can be again.

 

Then again, perhaps that is part of the plan by only allowing five per year: Stir debate, rouse recollections and memory of the accomplishments, getting people fired up about racing again.  I would agree, except again, as proven beyond a shadow of a doubt for the last 65 years, racing isn't like other sports, and you will not find a more loyal – and bitter – fan, than those within the NASCAR community who feel their favorite driver has been wronged.

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: A Racer's Life: Richard Childress

by Phil Allaway

 

Hello, race fans.  Welcome back to the Critic's Annex, where we take an additional look at motorsports-related programming.  Last weekend, after the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series finished up at Darlington Raceway, SPEED debuted a new special on Richard Childress.  Truth is, SPEED really didn't promote it very well, so it really snuck up on me.  Regardless, I definitely wanted to give it the once over.

 

When it comes to Richard Childress, people tend to only think about two things with him.  One is the present setting, where he owns a multi-car team in the Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series.  The other is the fact that he was Dale Earnhardt's car owner for parts of 18 different seasons.  Not a lot of people realize that he even raced himself at all.  I didn't know that he did until I went to Albany-Saratoga Speedway for a Race of Champions at age 12 in August of 1996 (during the Watkins Glen race weekend).  Many of our readers are likely familiar with such a setup.  The track got a number of notable people to come out for an appearance (Childress, Ernie Irvan, Kenny Wallace and Ken Schrader) at the track, sign autographs, then have at it on the track in Pro Stock race cars.  Ned Jarrett was also there as a "special guest" (he participated in the autograph session and called the Race of Champions from the tower).

 

Childress had apparently appeared at Albany-Saratoga the previous year on this night and dumped seemingly everyone in the race.  On this night, Childress got his come-uppance.

 

Childress talked with Steve Byrnes at Bowman-Gray Stadium and talked about his upbringing...or the lack thereof.  Childress' father died when he was only five and had to essentially teach himself a lot of life lessons.

 

Bowman-Gray was a very important venue for Childress because it is where his career in racing began.  Apparently, he saw a number of kids at the track selling programs and concessions and convinced his step dad to let him get a job there in the mid-1950s.  Spending time at the track led to meeting drivers and doing a little pro bono work in the pits for some of the smaller teams.

 

Childress admitted to forging his mom's signature onto a document so that he could race at Bowman-Gray at age 19 in 1965, then paid $20 for an old race car to have at it on track.  And since it's Bowman-Gray, we can't go five minutes without referencing fighting.  If you ever saw Madhouse when it was still on History, then you saw a fair amount of fighting on there.  In Childress' day, there was probably even more fighting.  In the book He Crashed Me So I Crashed Him Back, author Mark Bechtel cited former U.S. Senator Jim Webb, who wrote in Born Fighting: How the Scots-Irish Shaped America that the sheer amount of fighting on Southern short tracks may have come from the Scots-Irish lineage that much of the white population in the Southeast at the time shared.  It was in their blood.

 

Childress talked about his big break in 1969, when he raced in the inaugural Talladega 500 as a "scab" driver after most of the Grand National regulars boycotted due to tire concerns.  Apparently, despite finishing 23rd, Childress' race purse, plus the sweetening money put up by Big Bill France to anyone willing to enter to replace the boycotting teams, amounted to the better part of $7,000, more than he'd ever had at one time.  He took that money and built his own shop.

 

Childress described himself as a "business racer," due to the fact that he simply didn't have the money and resources of other teams.  Despite this reality, Childress was very confident that he could win in Grand National.  Unfortunately, he never did as a driver.  The famous No. 3 that became one of Earnhardt's trademarks?  That was simply a switch Childress made to save $50 or so on getting his car lettered.

 

Childress described the decision to quit driving in 1981 as one of the toughest decisions that he ever had to make.  At the time, he realized that new owners such as the infamous J.D. Stacy (who was on his second stint in Winston Cup by this point) entering the sport were going to substantially raise the cost to compete.  It was Junior Johnson, Childress' own hero, and a fellow car owner at the height of his powers (that year, Johnson's No. 11 won 12 races with Darrell Waltrip and won the title), that convinced him to make the move, step out of the seat and place the disgruntled (with Stacy) Earnhardt in his place.

 

For 1982, Childress considered returning to the seat after Earnhardt left to go to Bud Moore Engineering.  However, potential sponsor Piedmont Airlines nixed that idea because Childress didn't necessarily fit the image of the relatively young airline shortly after deregulation of the airline industry.  Ricky Rudd, who appears on television these days about as often as the Mr. Invincibility item shows up in the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game on the NES, talked about his thinking when the No. 3 ride was offered to him for the 1982 season.

 

Childress described his effort at the 1983 Budweiser 400 when Rudd picked up his (and the team's) first Cup win as minimal.  Apparently, roughly nine people made the trip to Riverside.  Yes, they had Piedmont Airlines as a sponsor, but Piedmont Airlines had what could best be described as very limited service to the West Coast at the time.  The year before, they didn't even sponsor Rudd in one of the Riverside races, despite having a full-time deal for the rest of the year.  Regardless, Childress has very good memories of those years with Rudd.

 

Rudd wasn't very pleased about being forced out of the seat at the end of 1983 (despite two wins), but it appeared to be outside of Rudd's control.  Wrangler Jeans returned to the team and they wanted to bring Earnhardt with them.  Keep in mind that they also kept their backing on Bud Moore's No. 15 for 1984 (which Rudd took over).  Not sure how that worked.

 

From here, the show started covering Earnhardt's second stint in the No. 3.  However, emphasis was given to the relationship between Earnhardt and Childress.  Much of that 17-year period between 1984 and 2000 at the track was glossed over.  That surprised me.  My best guess as to why they chose to do it is that viewers might believe that Earnhardt was more responsible for the team's success than Childress.

 

A significant amount of time was spent covering Childress' outdoor exploits.  Today, Childress owns a bunch of land in Montana that he uses for hunting, plus he's known for taking exotic hunting trips to Africa.  Earnhardt won his one and only road race at Sears Point in 1995 while Childress was on an African hunting trip.  Hunting was just another way that Earnhardt and Childress bonded and became, for lack of better words, best friends forever.

 

Childress really did seriously consider closing shop and quitting after Earnhardt died in 2001, and even told his wife as such.  However, after a period of reflection, he decided to press forward.  The only real plan as to what to do was to make it as simple as possible.  Kevin Harvick was tapped to drive because he was already driving for the team in Busch.  The No. 29 was simply the lowest number that was available at the time.  The black was removed and switched to white (apparently, the scheme Harvick debuted at Rockingham was going to be Earnhardt's special scheme for The Winston that year).  Two weeks later, it was replaced with red.

 

The show finishes off with Childress talking about his two grandsons, Austin and Ty Dillon, who are currently driving for him in the Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series, respectively.  Childress is very impressed with how his grandsons have developed as racers and as humans.  He wants them both to eventually drive in Sprint Cup for RCR in the future.

 

Childress apparently has but three regrets in life.  One, which he mentioned multiple times during the show, was the fact that he didn't finish high school.  This is in contrast to Earnhardt, who had no desire to finish high school, something that angered his parents.  He also wished that he had joined the military when he was younger, and that he had spent more time with his daughter.  I suppose the last regret is a common one amongst racers.  Missing big moments in your child's life is an every day thing for a racer.

 

As I mentioned earlier, I figured that there would have been a lot more focus on the time period that Earnhardt drove for Childress (1984-2001).  If that coverage had been there, I probably wouldn't have learned as much about Childress as I did.  Also, there was probably the legitimate fear that giving that period of time a substantial focus would take the spotlight away from Childress and put it on Earnhardt.  Nothing against Earnhardt, but this is not a show about Earnhardt.  Besides, at this point, I'd argue that Earnhardt's story has been told and retold countless times on TV and in films (most notably with the Dale documentary), while Childress' has not.

 

I didn't really know much about Childress' upbringing or his real background prior to entering NASCAR before watching this program.  Since I do pride myself with keeping up on historical knowledge, I think that this show was quite beneficial to fans trying to learn more about the sport, its personalities, and its history.

 

I hope you liked this somewhat delayed look at Richard Childress: A Racer's Life.  Next week, we'll be back with another interesting look at motorsports-related programming.  Until then, enjoy this weekend's action in Indianapolis, Monaco and Charlotte.

 

Phil Allaway is the Newsletter Manager and a Senior Writer for Frontstretch.com.  He can be reached via e-mail at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com.

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Frontstretch Line of the Week

From Side by Side: Daytona Or Indy -- Which Race Is More Important?

"It's similar to watching the Kentucky Derby or the Preakness. Many of those who watch really don't care about horses or horse racing 99% of the time, but the high stakes of the event and all of the hype leading up to it compels even the most disinterred among us to tune in just for the sake of not missing out. For the Indy 500, they may never watch another race that year, but they'll know everything that happened in that one. " - Summer Bedgood, on why the Indianapolis 500 is more important than the Daytona 500.
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TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:

Mirror Driving: Correcting Mistakes, Moving Forward With Charlotte And Dramatic Returns
by the Frontstretch Staff

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Tomorrow on the Frontstretch:

Nationwide Series Breakdown: History 300 by the Frontstretch Staff

We'll break down the action from Saturday's Nationwide Series race out in Charlotte.

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