The Frontstretch Newsletter: Ambrose On The Pole For Tomorrow

THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
August 10th, 2013

Volume VII, Edition CXLVIII

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Don't forget to follow Phil Allaway as he provides live coverage for Frontstretch from Watkins Glen. His Twitter is @Critic84; and remember, our Twitter can be found at @TheFrontstretch.

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What to Watch: Weekend Racing Schedule

Saturday, August 10
Time                          Telecast                                                                   Network

2:00 - 2:15 PM       NASCAR Countdown                                                     ABC

2:15 - 5:00 PM      Nationwide Series Zippo 200                                           ABC

5:00 - 8:00 PM      Rolex Sports Car Series VisitFlorida.com SportsCar 250 SPEED

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BREAKING: Marcos Ambrose Wins Pole For Sunday's Race At The Glen

Marcos Ambrose's bid for a three-peat is off to a very good start. The Australian native landed on the pole for Sunday's Cheez-It 355 At The Glen, posting a time of 128.241 miles an hour. Clint Bowyer was second, followed by teammate Martin Truex, Jr., AJ Allmendinger, and Kyle Busch. Max Papis, subbing for Tony Stewart was 29th while Carl Edwards, fastest in one of the Friday practice sessions clocked in a disappointing 16th.

For more information, be sure to check our Twitter and Facebook pages for an official starting lineup when it becomes available.

Sprint Cup: Truex Pulls a Senna in Opening Practice, Edwards Fastest Overall

Back in the 1980's and early 1990's, qualifying sessions in Formula One were one hour sessions that were full of suspense.  Each driver had 12 laps (including in and out laps) to put up their best time.  Often times, everyone would just wait for Ayrton Senna to come out and completely blitz the field right at the end of the session.  Martin Truex, Jr. effectively did this at the very end of opening practice.

While many teams focused on race setup during the first session, Truex's team decided to put their qualifying setup in the car right at the end of the session and send him out for a banzai run.  The team definitely liked the result.

Truex's lap of 69.319 seconds (127.238 mph) broke the track record of 127.020 mph set by Marcos Ambrose last year.  It was also 1.117 seconds faster than Ambrose, who was second quickest.  Carl Edwards was third, followed by Juan Pablo Montoya and Casey Mears.

The times from only the first practice session were used to create the qualifying groups for today's session.  The fastest teams will go last, while the slowest will go first.

In the 45-minute Final Practice Session, the teams once again held off on showing their best stuff until the end.  Early on, AJ Allmendinger, driving for JTG-Daugherty Racing once again this week, was fastest, followed by Ron Fellows and David Gilliland.

Later on, the bigger names came out to play.  Clint Bowyer turned a lap of 69.322 seconds (127.232 mph) to put himself on top of the scoring pylon.  Then Michael McDowell, driving the No. 35 Dockside Logistics Ford in a one-off for Front Row Motorsports, eclipsed that.

Finally, Edwards substantially upped the ante and showed that he will be a serious threat for the pole when he put down a lap of 68.693 seconds (128.397 mph).  That lap was nearly six-tenths of a second faster than McDowell and nearly three-quarters of a second faster than Ambrose's existing track record.

Behind Edwards, McDowell and Bowyer was Montoya in fourth with a lap of 69.328 seconds (127.221 mph).  Brad Keselowski was fifth quickest.  Points leader Jimmie Johnson was sixth, followed by Kyle Busch and Brian Vickers.  Dale Earnhardt, Jr., despite oil temperature issues was ninth and Kurt Busch rounded out the top-10.

Other notables included Jeff Gordon 12th quickest, Kevin Harvick 14th, Denny Hamlin 15th, Ambrose 17th, Truex 19th, Owen Kelly 20th, Kasey Kahne 28th, Matt Kenseth 29th, Max Papis (subbing for Tony Stewart) 30th, Danica Patrick 33rd and Boris Said 35th.

Nationwide Series: Penske Racing Sets The Pace in Practice and Qualifying

Originally, Nationwide teams were scheduled to have over two hours of practice for today's Zippo 200.  However, rains cut that down to just over an hour.  Then, three cautions requiring cleanup cut into it even more.

When the cars were out on the track, one organization appeared to be the strongest of all.  That organization was Penske Racing.  The organization had the two quickest laps in the session, with Sam Hornish, Jr. leading the way.  Hornish's lap of 72.009 seconds (122.485 mph) was a little over a tenth quicker than teammate Brad Keselowski.  Penske also a third car, the No. 48, entered for Joey Logano.  Logano was also very strong, at one point leading the session before ending with the fifth quickest time.

Regan Smith, despite not necessarily being the best road racer out there (his words), was third quickest, while Kyle Busch was a half second off of Hornish in fourth.  Nationwide Series points leader Austin Dillon was 13th quickest.

The session was not without pitfalls.  Early on, Australian Kenny Habul spun on his own in Turn 11 and backed into the SAFER Barrier.  The team has chosen to go to a backup car, but Habul was unable to get it out onto the track before practice concluded.  Before the crash, Habul was 28th quickest.

Later in the session, Frenchman Anthony Gandon spun in the Inner Loop and damaged the nose of his R3 Motorsports/Rick Ware Racing-entered Qolix Chevrolet.  The team originally planned to repair the car, but there was too much damage underneath the car.  As a result, the team has pulled out a Ford Mustang that will serve as Gandon's backup car.

Immediately after the caution for Gandon's incident, Morgan Shepherd appeared to lose an engine.  Smoke billowed from the Racing For Jesus Chevrolet as if it were so.  However, an investigation in the garage by Shepherd and his crew revealed a busted oil line.  The team had to refill the oil tank (much of its contents was on the track, the access road to the garage, and in the garage itself) and repair the oil line.  Since the massive leak occurred before Shepherd could set a time, he will be qualifying a car with no track time today.

In Qualifying, Penske Racing continued their form.  Hornish expanded on his fastest lap in practice with a new track record of 71.538 seconds (123.291 mph) to take the pole position.  For Hornish, it is his second pole of 2013 and second Nationwide pole at Watkins Glen.  Alongside him will be Kyle Busch in his Monster Energy Toyota.

Penske's Cup regulars also continued to be strong.  Joey Logano, driving a one-off third Penske entry, was third quickest while Brad Keselowski was fifth.  Regan Smith was the lone Chevrolet in the top-5.

Turner Scott Motorsports teammates Justin Allgaier and Nelson Piquet, Jr. were sixth and seventh, while Brian Vickers was eighth quickest.  Parker Kligerman and Brian Scott rounded out the top-10.

Anthony Gandon did not go out on the track during the session since the team could not get their backup car ready in time after yesterday's crash.  He will start at the rear of the field.  Morgan Shepherd, after yesterday's oil issues, did get on track, but did not record a lap before pulling off with fuel pressure issues.  Finally, Kenny Habul developed engine issues on his backup car.  He qualified 32nd, but will have to start in the rear.

Zippo 200 Starting Grid

Row 1:  12 Sam Hornish, Jr.   54 Kyle Busch

Row 2:  48 Joey Logano          7 Regan Smith

Row 3:  22 Brad Keselowski   31 Justin Allgaier

Row 4:  30 Nelson Piquet, Jr.  20 Brian Vickers

Row 5:  77 Parker Kligerman    2 Brian Scott

Row 6:  11 Elliott Sadler          6 Trevor Bayne

Row 7:   5 Kasey Kahne          3 Austin Dillon
Row 8:  32 Kyle Larson          33 Brendan Gaughan

Row 9:  44 Cole Whitt            43 Michael Annett

Row 10: 99 Alex Bowman       60 Travis Pastrana

Row 11: 53 Andrew Ranger     87 Kyle Kelley

Row 12: 01 Mike Wallace        4 Landon Cassill
Row 13: 19 Mike Bliss           51 Jeremy Clements

Row 14: 40 Reed Sorenson    79 Bryan Silas

Row 15: 10 Jeff Green            14 Eric McClure

Row 16: 42 Josh Wise            75 Kenny Habul

Row 17: 70 Tony Raines          46 TJ Bell
Row 18: 24 Derek White         00 Blake Koch

Row 19: 74 Carl Long              52 Joey Gase

Row 20: 23 Anthony Gandon   89 Morgan Shepherd

Top News

Stewart Dominates Press Conferences

On Friday, it seemed that the only thing that anyone really wanted to talk about during the press conferences was Tony Stewart.  Multiple drivers noted that "it wasn't the same without Stewart at the track."

Stewart-Haas Racing's Director of Competition Greg Zipadelli held a press conference Friday morning where he gave next to no new updates on Stewart, other than to say that he is as good a condition as possible, given the circumstances.  He continued on to say that Stewart feels that he let a lot of people down, including sponsors, fans, and others.  There are no updates on a substitute driver for Stewart at Michigan and beyond.  However, Zipadelli stated that the team needed to know where they were going to go on the issue before they left Watkins Glen.

Max Papis was selected to drive the No. 14 this weekend because he is a known quantity to the team.  In the pre-Stewart-Haas days, Papis drove for the team at Watkins Glen.  In addition, Papis tested the No. 14 at Road Atlanta a couple of weeks ago and established crucial communication with the race team.

Regan Smith was a name that came up often in discussions about potential Stewart subs.  Smith's Nationwide car owner, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (who Smith subbed for last year for two races) seems to be all for it.

"I'd be the first to put Regan's name in the hat for that opportunity," Earnhardt Jr. said during his press conference.  "I understand that we are racing for a championship, but I think that it could actually help Regan.  It would be a challenge, but it could be an advantage to him."

Smith, when asked about it, mentioned that he had not had official talks with Stewart-Haas about the ride. There have been some text messages exchanged, though.

IMSA, USCR Sign TV Deal with FOX Sports

On Friday, the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA), which serves as the sanctioning body for United SportsCar Racing (USCR), announced that they signed a new TV deal with FOX Sports that will see USCR and supporting Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge (CTSCC) races air on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2 through the end of the 2018 season.  In addition, FOX Sports will gain streaming rights to both series for their new FOX Sports GO service.

USCR officials are very happy to continue Grand-Am's existing relationship with FOX Sports.

"It's hard to argue that there's a global media company more equipped and better resourced to cover and broadcast sports car racing than FOX Sports," said Ed Bennett, CEO of IMSA.  "By partnering with FOX Sports for the next five years, United SportsCar Racing, Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge and their teams, tracks, drivers and sponsors are positioned for strong exposure while our existing fans can expect top-notch presentation, promotion and marketing."

"FOX Sports has shown a thirst for live sports programming, and in particular live motorsports programming," said Scott Atherton, American Le Mans Series President and CEO.  "We're thrilled to have partnered with FOX Sports on this deal, rounding out their motorsports coverage with this content and giving sports car racing fans a place to call home for the next five years. United SportsCar Racing and the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge will be surrounded by some of the best sports programming in the world and will benefit from great awareness and promotion."

FOX Sports is also happy to stay in the sports car fold.

"It's a fantastic opportunity to partner with IMSA and [the] newly formed United SportsCar Racing," said Billy Wenger, FOX Sports' Executive Vice President of Programming and Research.  "Our commitment to motorsports remains very strong across the FOX family of networks, and this relationship with what is now a unified sports car community delivers a strong package of racing content for its passionate fans."

With no set schedule as of yet for 2014 (five tracks (Daytona, Sebring, Road Atlanta, Watkins Glen and Indianapolis) have confirmed races), it is currently hard to predict what the split between FOX Sports 1 and 2 for races will be.  For the remainder of this season for the Rolex Sports Car Series, the Inaugural SFP Grand Prix at Kansas Speedway will air live on FOX Sports 2 on Saturday, August 17.  Laguna Seca will air on FOX Sports 1.  TV coverage for Lime Rock has not been announced yet.

News 'n Notes

- Swan Racing announced on Friday that they have signed the Genesee Brewery out of Rochester, NY to a two-race deal that will see the brewery's Genny Light serve as the primary sponsor of the No. 30 Toyota both here and at Loudon in September.  Team owner Brandon Davis is very happy to be working with the Genesee Brewery and claimed in a press release that he is already working towards some sort of partnership for 2014.

- BK Motorsports (Brian Keselowski) has Star Coach Race Tours onboard as their sponsor for the weekend.  Star Coach is a company that sells luxury RV packages to race fans at various tracks on the Sprint Cup calendar.  For full disclosure, Star Coach Race Tours is a past and present sponsor of Frontstretch.com.

- A couple of local companies have associate sponsorships in the Nationwide Series.  The Motorsports Group's Reed Sorenson has picked up sponsorship from Sayre, PA-based Dandy Mini Marts.  Dandy Mini Marts is a regional chain of gas stations and convenience stores in the Southern Tier of New York and Northern Pennsylvania with over 70 locations.  Meanwhile, Travis Pastrana and Roush Fenway Racing have picked up sponsorship from Turning Stone Casino & Resort, a large resort in Verona, NY operated by the Oneida Indian Nation.

- On Friday, Watkins Glen President Michael Printup and New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo jointly announced a new initiative meant to curb texting while driving.  The centerpiece of the initiative will be a PSA featuring NASCAR drivers talking about the dangers of texting while driving.  In New York, texting while driving laws were just recently strengthened.  Texting while driving is considered a primary driving infraction now (meaning that a policeman can pull you over because of it instead of it being tacked onto something else).  The fine for a first offense is $300 (plus court costs) and places five points on your driver's license (11 points results in the loss of one's license).

- Kevin O'Connell was originally supposed to drive the No. 74 for Mike Harmon Racing this weekend.  However, O'Connell's mother recently passed away.  As a result, Carl Long will drive the car this weekend at Watkins Glen.  O'Connell will return at Mid-Ohio.

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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TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:

Tech Talk: "Bono" Manion Sets Up NASCAR Strategy For The Glen

by Mike Neff

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Monday on the Frontstretch:

Thinkin' Out Loud: Cheez-It 355 at the Glen by Mike Neff
Mike is back with his overall thoughts from Sunday's race in Watkins Glen.

Commentary by Summer Bedgood
Summer takes a look at one of the biggest stories to come out of Daytona.

Commentary by TBA
One of the Frontstretch staff members stops by with their thoughts on Saturday night's action from Watkins Glen.

Big Six: Cheez-It 355 at the Glen by Amy Henderson
Amy has your weekly look at the Who, What, When, Where, Why and How from a weekend of racing at Daytona.

Pace Laps: Watkins Glen Weekend by the Frontstretch Staff
It's back again this season! The staff gets together to help you catch up on the latest and greatest going on in each series coming out of a weekend of racing at Daytona.

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