Monday, June 24, 2013

The Frontstretch Newsletter: June 24th, 2013

THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
June 24th, 2013
Volume VII, Edition CXII

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Top News
by Phil Allaway

Audi Dominates Le Mans Once Again; Race Overshadowed by Tragedy

This past weekend's 24 Hours of Le Mans was billed as a duel between the three factory Audi R18 e-tron quattro's and the two Toyota TS030 Hybrids.  All five cars had top-flite driver lineups and occupied the first five places on the grid.  Despite the Toyotas having the advantage of being able to go further on fuel (and thus, have to make fewer stops for fuel), Audi dominated the proceedings.  The No. 1 of defending champions Andre Lotterer, Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fässler led early and often until a generator broke, putting the car in the garage for extended repairs.  From there, the No. 2 Audi driven by Tom Kristensen, Loic Duval and Allan McNish held on to take the overall victory by a lap over the best of the Toyotas.  For Kristensen, it is his record-breaking ninth overall victory at Le Mans.

However, very few people were really thinking about that once the rainy event came to an end Sunday morning.  On the third lap of the race on Saturday, the No. 95 Aston Martin Vantage V8 driven by Allan Simonsen appeared to go wide exiting the Tertre Rouge corner, getting onto the light blue paint on the outside of the corner, which was moist from rain showers.  Simosen tried to save it, then overcorrected.  The result was that Simonsen spun his Aston Martin hard into the temporary Armco barrier that lines the course.  The hit was hard enough to rip the driver's side door off of Simonsen's car and warp the roof.  The Armco barrier was significantly damaged.  In addition, a tree behind the fence was struck by the warped barrier and had its bark ripped from the base.  Simonsen reportedly was talking to doctors at the scene, but later fell into a coma and passed away at the Infield Care Center.  He was 34 years old.  He is survived by his partner, Carina, and a young daughter named Mie-Mai.

Simonsen was a past champion of the Australian GT Championship and was one of the strongest co-drivers in the V8 Supercar endurance races (Bathurst 1000, Gold Coast 600, Sandown 500) in recent years.  Simonsen had co-driven cars at Le Mans to podium finishes two previous times, most recently in 2010.  Simonsen's No. 95 had qualified on pole in the GTE-Am (Grand Touring Endurance-Amateur) class and was considered to be a serious threat to be on top of the GTE-Am podium at the finish.  As per ACO (Automobile Club d'Ouest) rules, GTE-Am cars can only have one professional per car.  Simonsen was the No. 95's pro driver, teamed with gentlemen racers Christoffer Nygaard and Kristian Poulsen.

Simonsen's passing marks the first driver death during the 24 Hours of Le Mans since Jo Gartner died in a crash on the Mulsanne Straight in 1986.  Three months earlier, Gartner had been on the winning team in the 12 Hours of Sebring.  We at Frontstretch send our deepest condolences to the Simonsen family.

Sprint Cup Race Recap: Six-Year Drought Ends At Sonoma For Truex
by Justin Tucker

Flashback to June 4th, 2007 at Dover International Speedway.  That was the date and site of Martin Truex, Jr.'s first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win.

On that day in Dover, Truex led 216 of 400 laps and it appeared it was just the beginning of him succeeding at NASCAR's top level.  But for Truex, another win wouldn't come for another six long years.  Many wondered if and when it would ever happen for the Mayetta, New Jersey native.

But after many close calls and near dates with Victory Lane at Kansas and Atlanta last season, along with Texas this year, Truex finally would experience the sweet taste of victory once again. He dominated the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway Sunday, leading a race-high 51 laps and would outpace Jeff Gordon by 8.133 seconds to claim his second Sprint Cup Series win.

After the race, Truex was happy, not just to return to Victory Lane, but to finish a race at Sonoma without getting punted.

"Well, obviously I'm ecstatic," Truex said in the post-race press conference.  "I think every single year we've gotten spun out at some point, probably late in the race, and when we were up front.  So today, I was a little bit nervous going in, but after the first 15 or 20 laps of the race we settled in and the car really came around, came to me, and I think we made one adjustment on air pressure in the first pit stop, and from there on out the car was phenomenal all day long, and I was able to really settle in and focus on hitting my marks."

Truex used a fast race car and great pit strategy from crew chief Chad Johnston to stay up front all race long and on the final restart would pull away from Juan Pablo Montoya by over six seconds.  Montoya would run second for much of the closing laps until running out of fuel on the final lap while running up the hill.  He coasted to a 34th-place finish.

What a difference a week would make for Jeff Gordon.  After being collected in a wreck six laps into last week's race at Michigan, Gordon would once again show his road course prowess by charging through the field after the final restart to finish second.

Carl Edwards would score another strong finish on Sunday, bringing his No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion home in third.  However, the drive of the day belonged to Kurt Busch.  Busch, who was busted for two pit road speeding penalties early on and was a lap down at one point in the event would rally to score a fourth-place finish.  Defending Sonoma winner Clint Bowyer would continue his very strong 2013 campaign with a fifth-place finish on Sunday.

Busch was disappointed after the race, putting the blame on himself for costing his team. "I had a car to win.  I was just too fast on certain parts of the track — [including] on pit road," Busch said. "I looked at my tach and didn't manage it right.  I tried to get too much on pit road and should have saved it for the racetrack."

The top-10 finishers at Sonoma Raceway on Sunday were Truex Jr., Gordon, Edwards, Kurt Busch, Bowyer, Kasey Kahne, Marcos Ambrose, Greg Biffle, Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick.

Sunday's race at Sonoma proved to be one of pit strategy and track position as it always is on road courses. Many favorites such as Kyle Busch and Juan Pablo Montoya would experience difficulty on Sunday with either wrecked race cars or poor fuel mileage. Denny Hamlin's slim chase hopes would take a huge hit on Sunday with another finish outside the top 20; a midrace wreck doomed his chances. Tony Stewart and Jeff Burton also made contact, late in the going which took both drivers out of potential top-10 finishes; the incident led to a heated argument between the two after the race, although no punches were thrown.

There were 7 cautions for 19 laps in Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 350. The average speed of the race was 76.658 MPH and the margin of victory was 8.133 seconds.

Next week, the Sprint Cup Series heads to the Bluegrass state for some Saturday night racing under the lights action at Kentucky Speedway. The green flag for Saturday's Quaker State 400 at Kentucky is scheduled for 7:45 PM EDT.

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: Edwards Gains A Little More On Johnson
by Phil Allaway

Even though Jimmie Johnson is a past winner at Sonoma, he's not necessarily the best road racer in Sprint Cup.  On Sunday, he did OK.  He was in position to post a great finish, but faded in the final segment when crew chief Chad Knaus called for only two tires on the final stop.  Drivers with fuel woes did boost Johnson to a ninth-place finish, though, so it wasn't all bad.  Carl Edwards, by comparison had a great final run on Sunday to finish third. That was enough to close down Johnson's lead to 25 points, roughly half of what it was just two weeks ago.  Clint Bowyer, the defending champion at Sonoma, had a solid fifth-place finish and inched up a couple of points on Johnson as well. They're the only three who can be the point leader after Kentucky on Saturday night.

Kevin Harvick had a quiet, but solid run to tenth on Sunday.  That was good enough for him to maintain the fourth spot in points and lose minimal ground to Johnson.  Meanwhile, Matt Kenseth was right in the hunt on the final restart, but had to back off due to fuel concerns.  The low fuel and worn tires dropped Kenseth through the field quickly, and he would eventually finish 19th.  While that did not cost him any positions in the standings, he did lose quite a bit of ground.

Kicking off the second half of the top 10 is Greg Biffle, who backed up his win in Michigan with an eighth at Sonoma.  That allowed him to move to a tie for sixth with Dale Earnhardt, Jr.  Earnhardt Jr. is traditionally awful at Sonoma, but he "endured" the 110-lap race to finish 12th.

Kyle Busch had a pretty terrible day on Sunday.  On the third lap of the race, Busch spun in Turn 11 after being hit by Juan Pablo Montoya, dropping him from the top 10 to 27th.  Busch never got back there.  With 27 laps to go, Busch was hit from behind by Carl Edwards and spun into the tires in the Esses.  Busch's car was significantly damaged and rendered uncompetitive.  Another spin late dropped Busch off the lead lap and to a 35th-place finish.  That dropped him to eighth in points.  Brad Keselowski maintained the ninth spot, but took a hit in the standings after fading to a 21st-place finish.  Martin Truex, Jr., on the strength of his win on Sunday, moved up three places to round out the top 10.

In the "wild card" race, Kasey Kahne and Tony Stewart would get in as of now, each with a victory apiece. They're 11th and 15th in points, respectively.

Standings: 1) Jimmie Johnson 573, 2) Carl Edwards -25, 3) Clint Bowyer -45, 4) Kevin Harvick -63, 5) Matt Kenseth -92, t-6) Greg Biffle -94, t-6) Dale Earnhardt, Jr. -94, 8) Kyle Busch -112, 9) Brad Keselowski -119, 10) Martin Truex, Jr. -120.

Best of the Rest: t-11) Kasey Kahne -128, t-11) Paul Menard -128, 13) Jeff Gordon -132, 14) Joey Logano -134, 15) Tony Stewart -140, 16) Aric Almirola -145, 17) Kurt Busch -148, 18) Ryan Newman -155, 19) Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. -167, 20) Jeff Burton -170.

Wild Cards: 1) Kasey Kahne (11th in points, one win), 2) Tony Stewart (15th in points, one win)

Currently Ineligible for Wild Card: 1) David Ragan (29th in points, one win)

Race Winners: Jimmie Johnson (Daytona, Martinsville, Pocono), Carl Edwards (Phoenix), Matt Kenseth (Las Vegas, Kansas, Darlington), Kasey Kahne (Bristol), Kyle Busch (Fontana, Texas), Kevin Harvick (Richmond, Charlotte), David Ragan (Talladega), Tony Stewart (Dover), Greg Biffle (Michigan), Martin Truex, Jr. (Sonoma)

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: Sonoma 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: Casey Mears for Germain Racing; started 21st, finished 16th

Mears has emerged as the best among the small-team drivers this year, and it showed at Sonoma.  Mears was third in the first practice and 12th in the second.  Despite a too-loose race car in qualifying, Mears had the best start among his peers on Sunday and completed the weekend with the best finish.  That's not all on the driver; it's where this team should be among their close competition.  Germain is no stranger to the game, and their experience is shining through. The team has a pair of Truck Series titles, and this year, the Cup team finally has the money to compete on a full-time basis for the first time.  Mears is a solid driver who offers good, thoughtful feedback to his crew and who does not tear up equipment. That makes him a threat to win on the plate tracks as well as the road courses, where he's typically been outstanding.  This team is one that could go the way of Furniture Row Racing in a couple of years with the right backing.

Underdog Selection No. 2: Travis Kvapil for BK Racing; started 33rd, finished 17th

Earlier this year, second-year BK Racing appeared to stagnate in the improvement department after a solid first season among the Cup ranks.  The team hired veteran David Reutimann to replace Landon Cassill, but it's been Kvapil who has slowly begun to show signs of life for this group. No question, it's been a hard road; they had to play catch-up in 2012 after purchasing year-old equipment from the dissolved Red Bull team. That did put them a bit behind heading into 2013, even with the Gen-6 car in the works and then a series of engine failures have derailed momentum.  But the team seems to be slowly picking it up, showing flashes of improvement in recent weeks.  Sunday, Kvapil raced his way to 17th despite some moderate crash damage he received (from his teammate) in a chain-reaction crash earlier in the day.  The veteran navigated the Sonoma course smoothly and competently, taking a big step for this team this week.

Underdog Selection No. 3: Boris Said for FAS Lane Racing; started 24th, finished 18th

One thing about road courses is that they are a bit of an equalizer in terms of equipment; a skilled road racer can have a strong run in a car of a caliber that could never begin to compete on an intermediate oval. This team was living proof of that this weekend as Said drove the No. 32 to its best finish since Talladega last fall and its only top-20 result of 2013.  If you like a study in contrasts, look at this team next to the No. 47, though.  While they fail to be competitive each week, looking for a solution in the wrong place by replacing Bobby Labonte, having Said in the seat illustrated that, for this team, the driver may well be a big part of what's holding them back.  The best finishes have come with an aging Terry Labonte in the seat, and this week with Said, that also points convincingly to the person.  Timmy Hill has talent, but not the experience this team needs at this juncture.  Looking to a veteran driver with a proven record of strong feedback and getting the most of equipment could be the answer here — and there has to be one soon, as this team has failed to improve the way both BK and Germain have in the past two seasons.

Underdog Pick of the Week For Kentucky: David Ragan for Front Row Motorsports

In this section, I'll give you my pick among the small teams to have a strong run in the upcoming race.  This week's pick is David Ragan.  At Kentucky, Ragan's average finish of 18.5 is tied for second best in this group with AJ Allmendinger (both are second to David Reutimann in that category). But with only two Cup races at Kentucky on the books, I also looked at Fontana, which has similar banking to Kentucky though it's a half-mile longer.  Ragan has the best average among the small team drivers there, with top-10 finishes at each track.  He finished 24th at Fontana this spring and 29th at Kentucky, last year; however, he came home eighth there in 2011 with Roush Fenway Racing.  Look for him to have a solid day and finish in the lower 20s.

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 Toyota Save Mart 350 was brought to you by the Letter Q for "Quasi Surprise."  Entering into Sunday's race in Sonoma, few experts would have picked Martin Truex, Jr. to walk away with the spoils.  However, Truex has been solid on road courses in the past, winning the first Nationwide race at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodridguez in Mexico City in 2005,  also running well on road courses in the Busch North Series (now K&N Pro Series East) before moving up the ranks.  Also of note, Truex's win marks the seventh straight year that the race has been won by a first-time Cup winner on a road course.  Sonoma just seems to lend itself to these types of performances these days.  - Phil Allaway

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Sidebar Sonoma Stories
by Summer Bedgood

Kurt Busch Overcomes Pit Road Speeding Penalties

Kurt Busch overcame two pit road penalties to finish fourth in Sunday's race at Sonoma Raceway, though it could be argued that Busch could have won the race without them.  Busch, who had one of the strongest cars of the day, was first caught speeding after entering the pits on lap 35 even though crew chief Todd Berrier repeatedly warned him not to speed.

Busch was then forced to serve a drive through penalty the lap afterwards, which resulted in yet another speeding penalty.  The additional infraction resulted in a stop-and-go, enough to cost Busch a lap on the field. The veteran fell to 38th place after leading 15 laps in the early portions of the race.

"I didn't hit my tachometer right and I was speeding both times," Busch said. The driver admitted he felt like he could have finished better than fourth, but hesitated to say he could have beat eventual race winner Martin Truex, Jr.

"We had to battle hard," Busch said. "We came back up through there. I thought we could have gotten all the way up to second, but we never would have caught Truex."

Montoya Disappoints In Sonoma, Runs Out Of Fuel

As the laps wound down at Sonoma Raceway, it looked like Juan Pablo Montoya would again have a strong finish at a road course race.  But after spending the afternoon as one of the strongest cars in the field, recovering from an incident involving Kyle Busch, Montoya was unsurprisingly sitting inside the top 3 and expected to finish runner-up.

However, his ending wouldn't match his performance, as the fuel tank in the No. 42 car ran dry on the final circuit of the 110-lap race. The mistake in calculations would relegate Montoya all the way back to the 34th position in the final running order.

"To be honest with you, with all the things that have happened, you almost expect something like that," said Montoya postrace. The driver was understandably frustrated over why his crew chief never asked him to save some fuel; however, Chris Heroy was sitting their scratching his head.

"We don't know what happened,'' he said.  "We were on the same strategy as the 56 (Truex, eventual race winner) so we will go back to the shop and figure it out.''

Montoya fell one spot in the standings to 23rd.

Hendrick Motorsports Back to Form In Sonoma

After an abysmal performance at Michigan International Speedway where all four drivers finished outside the top 25, Hendrick Motorsports drivers rebounded in Sonoma as all four drivers finished inside the top 12.

Jeff Gordon was the highest finishing HMS driver, finishing as the runner-up to race winner Martin Truex, Jr.  Gordon jumped three spots in the standings to 13th.

Kasey Kahne finished sixth, Jimmie Johnson ninth, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. brought up the rear in 12th.

"We will take it," said Earnhardt, who held steady at seventh in Sprint Cup points. "This is definitely my worst race track, my least favorite track. We will take whatever, we will take a top-15 here any week."

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: Toyota Save Mart 350
compiled by Summer Bedgood

"I can't even put it into words.  I've got so many people to thank that have stuck with me.  Everybody at NAPA Auto Parts.  Everybody at Toyota Racing.  Michael (Waltrip, co-owner) and Rob (Kauffman, co-owner). Chad (Johnston, crew chief) — Chad has come so far as a crew chief, I can't even tell you how proud I am of him.  The team — they're just phenomenal.  We've had cars really fast all year long.  We've had some tough luck, but that's part of racing.  I'm just proud of these guys for sticking behind me and working hard and giving me race cars like this.  Got to thank everybody that supports our program and stood behind me for 200 and something races without a win.  We've been close a lot and it feels damn good to get one finally." - Martin Truex, Jr., race winner

"It's been great.  I was real confident that Martin (Truex Jr.) would run well today.  I've just seen him run on this track, and he understands how to get around here as good as anyone.  So I've been confident all week coming here about how we'd perform.  I just checked my phone, I have 68 messages from people, and the last one was from one of our employees back in North Carolina, Bobby Kennedy (executive vice president of race operations).  He's been with me since 2000 building cars, and he said I might be late tomorrow.  (Laughter)  There's a lot of people that — I don't think I can articulate how important it is for us to get NAPA to Victory Lane.  You know, they've been with me since 2001 when I drove for Dale (Earnhardt), and we haven't had them to Victory Lane since 2003.  You talk about Martin's breaking a losing streak; NAPA broke one bigger than that.  Michael Waltrip Racing exists because of some key cornerstone partners.  One is NAPA; one is Aaron's; obviously Toyota is the reason why I have a team; and then to have 5-Hour Energy join us and let us bring on Clint, that made our team better.  It's just really special to get a win for Martin and for NAPA.  We knew — I believe in this man.  He can drive a car as good as anybody on the track.  Chad (Johnston, crew chief) is new to the crew chiefing game.  He joined as an engineer, he's worked his way up, and he called the perfect race today -- he's been on his game all year long.  It's really fun to see these two mature, and I think they can do a lot of special things over the next few years." - Michael Waltrip, race-winning owner

"Like Martin (Truex Jr.) said, we didn't have the practice that we wanted Friday.  We didn't feel real confident that the car was where we needed it to be.  And obviously, we had our issues in qualifying and the guys did a great job of replacing all the wiring in the car from an incident in qualifying.  It's typical road course racing.  You set your strategy before the race and you stick to it.  But, you've kind of got to adapt as the cautions come out and you make the decisions based on information you have and hope the cautions fall your way, and today they did.  It's an awesome feeling to get all the guys that work on this NAPA Toyota into Victory Lane.  There's not a better bunch of guys in the garage.  I wouldn't replace any of them with anybody in the garage.  It's nice to get them, get NAPA, get Martin back in Victory Lane, and it's just a good day." - Chad Johnston, race winning crew chief

"This is one of those crazy types of races where pit strategy goes all over the place and you never know what might happen.  We were on a three-stop strategy and that's why we wanted to come in when we did.  I hate it for (crew chief) Alan (Gustafson) because that's the call the crew chief makes and I'm right there.  And I couldn't turn away.  At the time I was thinking gosh, I don't know who has the worst (luck) right now, me or him?  The way things have been going on the track for me haven't been great and the way things have been going with the calls haven't been going his way either.  But, wow, we finally had a race car that was fantastic with this Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet.  And the pit crew and Alan the rest of the day were just spot on.  Great adjustments.  We had a lot of fun out there. I knew that we could probably never get to that No. 56 (race winner, Martin Truex, Jr.), but boy, we were sure having fun coming up through there.  I do want to say one thing about Drive to End Hunger.  Go to Drivetoendhunger.org.  We've got a really cool program where your name could be on our car and ride around the race with me on the hood for the race in Chicago later this year." - Jeff Gordon, finished second

"It was a real battle and I feel really bad about the incident with Kyle back there.  We were racing really hard and I got to the inside of him and I took a gamble that he knew I was there. His spotter called it and I backed out as hard as I could and ended up wrecking him, but I had a lot of fun racing with him. I'm really proud of my Aflac guys. We ended up with a good position. I didn't think our car was that good, so I'm happy with it." - Carl Edwards, finished third

"Yeah, we were fast, even on pit road (laughs), twice.  I messed-up, flat-out.  I didn't hit my tachometer right and I was speeding both times.  It was one of those where I'm like 'how does that happen?'  I just put myself in a position that was poor trying to get too much on pit road.  But man, this Furniture Row Chevy was fast.  Congrats to Truex.  When we were running a lap down with him, I was trying to pace myself.  I wanted to get back on the lead lap.  We did get back on the lead lap when he pitted, but we had to battle hard.  We came back up through there.  You've got to rub guys and move guys and we gave guys room and just made one mistake.  I think we could have gotten all the way up to second, but we never would have caught Truex.  I just have to thank the Furniture Row guys.  We have Simmons, Serta, and Sealy as our mattress sponsors.  But, I got busted speeding on pit road.  My bad." - Kurt Busch, finished fourth

"It was a good run.  I felt like — I still think we had the fastest car — it's just that jinx, man.  That's where it's at — nine different winners.  I was trying to be patient in traffic.  I knew my strong point was long runs and we just never got that opportunity to showcase — never got in the lead.  I think if we could have got in the lead we would have been dangerous.  Just wasn't our day.  Another top-five.  Another strong run for the boys." - Clint Bowyer, finished fifth

"We had a good day.  We came a long ways from Friday.  The guys, Kenny (Francis, crew chief), Keith (Rodden, engineer) did a really nice job.  That was one of the better cars I've had here late in the race.  I was really happy with it.  I don't know if we played the right strategy, I thought.  Maybe we could have stayed out with Martin (Truex) and ran second to him.  Martin was the class of the field, for sure.  I think what we did and got back to sixth was probably better.  Because of what we did last year, it really bit us.  That was our plan.  We need the points.  We have been struggling to get points.  We have been pretty good, but we have been struggling to get points.  The Farmers Insurance guys did that today." - Kasey Kahne, finished sixth

"It's OK.  We got a top-10 out of it.  The weather cooled down a lot and we just didn't anticipate that when we set the car up and we just fought it all day, but I'm proud of my team.  It was a solid effort." - Marcos Ambrose, finished seventh

"It was a great day.  We could have been a little bit better, but I'm happy with a top 10.  Our pit strategy didn't go our way, but it was close.  We wanted to stay on the track all day because we knew that would lead to a good finish and that's what we did.  We're pretty happy with it." - Greg Biffle, finished eighth

"It was eventful.  I was kind of disappointed at the beginning of the race because we were going backwards in a hurry.  I couldn't get into the corner and couldn't get off the corner.  We just had some braking issues and some chassis setup stuff for the exit, but the guys did a good job.  They got the car better.  We never had enough speed, so we really just focused on making sure we had some tires at the end because I had about 20 laps of good in it and then it hit a light switch and I'd go backwards in a hurry.  We made sure we had something at the end because we knew we weren't good on the long runs, so we put tires on it and tried to forge our way forward.  We came up 11th – just a little bit short for our goal to get through today with a solid top 10. From where we started today, it was a good finish for us, but it's never good enough." - Joey Logano, finished 11th

"It was a solid weekend for us.  We definitely showed some improvement.  We were third in the first practice and 12th in the second.  We got loose in qualifying and had a solid day today, so I'm just happy with our progress.  We're not there yet.  The good guys could put the throttle down a little bit harder through the high-speed stuff, so we need to work on that, but I'm proud of what we're doing.  If we just keep being solid week in and week out, we'll have a solid year in the points." - Casey Mears, finished 16th  

"Our Target Chevy was really good today.  The guys did an amazing job; it's just heartbreak.  It's heartbreak for me and everybody on the Target team.  You've got to defend them in the way that when they do the fuel calculations based on the other runs; and the other runs, when you're stuck in traffic, you can't run that hard.  Then you get in clean air and they're asking me to run as hard as I can, and I'm doing that, you're going to use a little more fuel.  We should have been a little smarter.  With five (laps) to go you start saving a little bit, just in case.  We've got tools to prevent things like that from happening." - Juan Pablo Montoya, finished 34th

"I don't know what to say except that stuff happens. We had a right-front go down and that was it." - Paulie Harraka, finished 39th

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TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:

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FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:

Q:  Kentucky Speedway may not have the longest history in NASCAR, but it's still had some notable moments, like the finish of the 2002 Kroger 300.  Todd Bodine won, but how did he do it?

Check back Tuesday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!

Friday's Answer:

Q:  The strange incidents at Sonoma were not necessarily limited to Winston Cup.  Lance Hooper had an unusual incident, one time during the Budweiser 200 Southwest Tour event that served (at the time) as the primary support race to the Winston Cup Series.  What happened?

A: Hooper was running second on the second lap of the race when he got loose exiting Turn 3a.  Hooper's car slid across the track and off the side of a hill.  The Pontiac slid down the hill, nearly getting up on it's side before coming to rest.  By mid-1990s Sonoma standards, this was a bizarre incident.  It can be seen at the 7:37 mark of this clip.

Hooper was OK, but he was basically trapped at the bottom of the hill in his "Thicket of Solitude."  As a result, Hooper was out of the race and credited with a 42nd-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: Toyota Save Mart 350 by Tom Bowles
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, and more!

Tomorrow on the Frontstretch:
 
Five Points To Ponder by P. Huston Ladner
Huston returns for his weekly edition of talking points, which will wrap up the action at Sonoma and get us ready for the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway.

Couch Potato Tuesday by Phil Allaway
This past weekend, the Sprint Cup Series was at Sonoma Raceway, while the Nationwide Series was at Road America. How were these races broadcast? Find out tomorrow.

Who's Hot / Who's Not in Sprint Cup: Sonoma-Kentucky Edition by Brad Morgan
Brad gets us set for Kentucky 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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Posted by Curious ... at 9:05 AM

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