THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
August 1st, 2013
Volume VII, Edition CXLI
~~~~~~~~~~
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
August 1st, 2013
Volume VII, Edition CXLI
~~~~~~~~~~
What to Watch For: Thursday
- Today is the opening day of on-track action at Pocono Raceway. While the Sprint Cup Series doesn't get on track until tomorrow, the ARCA Racing Series will be on track for their first practice session starting at 3:00pm this afternoon.
Top Newsby Phil Allaway
NASCAR Media Tour to See Changes In 2014
The Charlotte Observer's Jim Utter is reporting that the Charlotte Motor Speedway-hosted Preseason Media Tour will see some changes starting in 2014. In the past, the event has been centered around a local hotel in the Concord area, which would also serve as host to the NMPA's (National Motorsports Press Association) annual banquet and Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.
For 2014, the media tour will be centered at Uptown Charlotte's NASCAR Hall of Fame. In addition, the tour will shrink from four days to three (January 28-30, 2014). The NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony is scheduled for January 29th and will serve as the centerpiece of the Media Tour.
Charlotte Motor Speedway seems to believe that the consolidation is a good move for all parties involved.
"After gathering a lot of feedback from media and the race teams, we're working with NASCAR, Sprint and our industry partners on a more consolidated schedule and format for the media tour in 2014," said Scott Cooper, Charlotte Motor Speedway's Vice President of Communications. "There's still a lot to be determined, but our goal remains the same as it has for the last three decades – to deliver the best preseason publicity event found in any sport."
Brett Jewkes, NASCAR's Chief Communications Officer, agrees as well.
"[The consolidation] is a great evolution of the season kickoff week and something many people in the industry have wanted to explore," Jewkes said. "With the Hall of Fame inductions in the heart of the annual preseason media tour, we think it will help drive media attendance for that event as well and create great efficiency for the media, track, teams, drivers and NASCAR. It's going to be a great way to kick off next season."
While some activites were based around hotels in the past, the Media Tour often consisted of media riding chartered buses from shop to shop, where teams would have special media receptions. In 2014, most of the events will take place either at the NASCAR Hall of Fame itself, or somewhere close by.
Kyle Busch Motorsports to Promote FOX Sports 1
Kyle Busch Motorsports announced on Wednesday that their No. 18 truck and Joey Coulter will be sponsored by FOX Sports for the next two races. The sponsorship is designed to promote the new FOX Sports 1 cable network, a competitor to ESPN that will replace SPEED and is due to launch on August 17. In addition, the No. 18 truck will have a countdown on the quarterpanels showing the number of days until the relaunch (currently 16 days away).
According to FOX Sports PR, this is the first time that the company has outright sponsored a team. However, it is not the first time that FOX Sports logos have appeared on a car. During Darrell Waltrip's final season as a driver in Cup back in 2000, FOX Sports logos could be found on his Big K/Route 66 Jeans Ford to promote his then-future career as a FOX analyst.
Logano to Drive Third Penske Entry in Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen
USA Today's Jeff Gluck reported on Wednesday that Joey Logano will be entered in the Nationwide Series Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen International on August 10. Since Brad Keselowski will be driving the No. 22 that Logano normally uses, the team has entered a third car for Logano. That car, which will carry Discount Tire sponsorship, will use the No. 48, a number used in the past by Innovative Motorsports, and most recently, a start-and-park team from Jay Robinson Racing.
Driving the No. 48 naturally evokes thoughts of Jimmie Johnson, teammate Keselowski's primary rival for the championship last year. When asked about that fact, Logano joked about it.
""I said, 'Well, I'm just going to call him 'Chad,' and he can call me 'Jimmie,'" Logano said. ""I think if I don't win in the 48 car, we've got an issue."
In reality, Penske Racing chose the No. 48 because they thought it was the best number out of the limited number available. More importantly, Logano will not have any points to fall back on, so he will have to qualify on speed.
Entry List Update:
Note: These entries are accurate as of Wednesday night. However, they are still subject to change.
Sprint Cup Series GoBowling.com 400: 44 cars entered
Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points:
No. 19- Alex Kennedy for Humphrey-Smith Racing
No. 33- Tony Raines for Circle Sport, LLC
No. 35- Josh Wise for Front Row Motorsports
No. 40- Landon Cassill for Hillman Racing/Circle Sport, LLC
No. 87- Joe Nemechek for NEMCO Motorsports/JRR
Driver Changes:
No. 19- Alex Kennedy returns to the seat, replacing Mike Bliss.
No. 33- Tony Raines is in the seat, replacing Austin Dillon.
No. 52- Brian Keselowski returns to the seat, replacing Morgan Shepherd.
Driver who must qualify on speed (in the top-36):
No. 40- Landon Cassill for Hillman Racing/Circle Sport, LLC
Drivers with access to a provisional, but still at threat of failing to qualify:
No. 19- Alex Kennedy for Humphrey-Smith Racing (44th in owners' points, 18 attempts)
No. 32- Timmy Hill for FAS Lane Racing (38th in owners' points, 20 attempts)
No. 33- Tony Raines for Circle Sport, LLC (36th in owners' points, 20 attempts)
No. 35- Josh Wise for Front Row Motorsports (39th in owners' points, 20 attempts)
No. 36- JJ Yeley for Tommy Baldwin Racing (35th in owners' points, 20 attempts)
No. 52- Brian Keselowski for BK Motorsports (45th in owners' points, 4 attempts)
No. 83- David Reutimann for BK Racing (34th in owners' points, 20 attempts)
No. 87- Joe Nemechek for NEMCO Motorsports/JRR (40th in owners' points, 20 attempts)
No. 93- Travis Kvapil for BK Racing (37th in owners' points, 20 attempts)
No. 98- Michael McDowell for Phil Parsons Racing (42nd in owners' points, 17 attempts)
Not Entered:
No. 21- Trevor Bayne for Wood Brothers Racing
No. 95- Scott Speed for Leavine Family Racing
Nationwide Series U.S. Cellular 250: 40 cars entered
Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points:
No. 22- Brad Keselowski for Penske Racing
No. 46- JJ Yeley for The Motorsports Group, LLC
Driver Changes:
No. 00- Blake Koch returns to the seat, replacing David Green.
No. 4- Daryl Harr returns to the seat, replacing Landon Cassill.
No. 5- Brad Sweet returns to the seat, replacing Kasey Kahne.
No. 22- Brad Keselowski returns to the seat, replacing Joey Logano.
No. 23- Richard Harriman is in the seat, replacing Robert Richardson, Jr. This will be Harriman's Nationwide Series debut.
No. 24- Brett Butler returns to the seat, replacing his brother Ken.
No. 33- Ryan Gifford is in the seat, replacing Paul Menard. This will be Gifford's Nationwide Series debut.
No. 42- TJ Bell returns to the seat, replacing Josh Wise.
No. 54- Drew Herring returns to the seat, replacing Kyle Busch.
No. 74- Kevin Lepage returns to the seat, replacing Carl Long.
No. 79- An unknown driver will be in the seat, replacing Kyle Fowler.
No. 87- Travis Sauter is in the seat, replacing Joe Nemechek. This will be Sauter's Nationwide Series debut.
Since there are only 40 entries, no one will fail to qualify. However, these teams still 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. 15- Carl Long for Rick Ware Racing
No. 29- Kenny Wallace for RAB Racing with Brack Maggard
No. 42- TJ Bell for The Motorsports Group, LLC*
No. 46- JJ Yeley for The Motorsports Group, LLC*
No. 50- Danny Efland for MAKE Motorsports
No. 52- Joey Gase for Jimmy Means Racing
No. 74- Kevin Lepage for Mike Harmon Racing
No. 89- Morgan Shepherd for Shepherd Motor Ventures
Not Entered:
No. 17- Tanner Berryhill for Vision Racing
No. 18- Matt Kenseth for Joe Gibbs Racing
No. 21- Kevin Harvick for Richard Childress Racing
No. 37- Matt DiBenedetto for Vision Racing
No. 39- Ryan Sieg for RSS Racing
No. 55- David Starr for Viva Motorsports
No. 98- Kevin Swindell for Biagi-DenBeste Racing
Camping World Truck Series Pocono Mountains 125: 35 trucks entered
Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points: None
Driver Changes:
No. 07- Chris Cockrum returns to the seat, replacing Jimmy Weller.
No. 0- An unknown driver will be in the seat, replacing Chris Lafferty.
No. 5- Tim George, Jr. returns to the seat, replacing Jason Bowles.
No. 10- Jennifer Jo Cobb returns to the seat, replacing her father Joe.
No. 19- Ross Chastain returns to the seat, replacing Dave Blaney.
No. 28- Dominick Casola is in the seat, replacing Andy Seuss.
No. 30- Todd Bodine is in the seat, replacing Kyle Larson.
No. 39- Ryan Sieg returns to the seat, replacing Austin Dillon.
No. 51- Chad Hackenbracht returns to the seat, replacing Scott Bloomquist.
No. 81- David Starr returns to the seat, replacing Kenny Wallace.
No. 84- Mike Harmon returns to the seat, replacing Jeff Babcock.
Since there are only 35 entries, no one will fail to qualify. However, these teams still must qualify on speed:
No. 0- Unknown driver for JJC Racing*
No. 10- Jennifer Jo Cobb for JJC Racing
No. 28- Dominick Casola for FDNY Racing
No. 40- Todd Peck for Peck Motorsports
No. 59- Kyle Martel for Martel Racing
No. 82- Sean Corr for Empire Racing
No. 84- Mike Harmon for Chris Fontaine, Inc./Mike Harmon Racing
No. 93- Chris Jones for RSS Racing*
Not Entered:
No. 6- Jared Landers for Eddie Sharp Racing
No. 34- Ryan Newman for Turner Scott Motorsports
No. 44- JR Heffner for North American Racing
No. 52- Ken Schrader for Ken Schrader Racing
No. 63- Justin Jennings for MB Motorsports
No. 68- Clay Greenfield for Clay Greenfield Motorsports
ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards ModSpace 125: 37 cars entered
Driver Changes:
No. 0- Don Thompson returns to the seat, replacing Steve Fox.
No. 3- Steve Fox returns to the seat, replacing Dr. Ed Bull.
No. 11- Dick Doheny is in the seat, replacing Kyle Weatherman.
No. 15- Erik Jones is in the seat, replacing Nelson Canache.
No. 17- Corey LaJoie returns to the seat, replacing George Cushman.
No. 22- Will Kimmel returns to the seat, replacing Austin Self.
No. 55- Taylor Ferns returns to the seat, replacing Brian Wong.
No. 68- Chris Bailey, Jr. is in the seat, replacing Mark Gibson.
No. 69- An unknown driver will be in the seat, replacing Will Kimmel.
No. 82- Mason Mitchell is in the seat, replacing Sean Corr.
No. 99- An unknown driver will be in the seat, replacing Chris Buescher.
Notable Entries:
No. 02- Josh Williams for Williams Motorsports
No. 5- Bobby Gerhart for Bobby Gerhart Racing
No. 9- Chase Elliott for Hendrick Motorsports
No. 15- Erik Jones for Venturini Motorsports
No. 17- Corey LaJoie for Roulo Brothers Racing
No. 22- Will Kimmel for Cunningham Motorsports
No. 23- Spencer Gallagher for Gallagher Motorsports
No. 25- Justin Boston for Venturini Motorsports
No. 32- Mason Mingus for Win-Tron Racing
No. 44- Frank Kimmel for ThorSport Racing
No. 77- Tom Hessert for Cunningham Motorsports
No. 84- Chad Boat for Billy Boat Motorsports
No. 92- Brennan Newberry for NTS Motorsports
Not Entered:
No. 24- Steve Minghenelli
No. 43- David Levine for David Levine Racing
No. 53- Andrew Ranger for NDS Motorsports
No. 67- Kimmel Racing
No. 85- Tim Cowen for Cowen Racing
No. 86- Robert Mitten for Quarterley Racing
No. 89- Matt Tifft for Win-Tron Racing
Izod IndyCar Series Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio: 24 cars entered
Driver Changes:
No. 4- Oriol Servia returns to the seat, replacing Carlos Munoz. Munoz replaced Ryan Briscoe for Race 2 in Toronto after Briscoe broke his wrist in Race 1.
No. 18- James Davison is in the seat, replacing Mike Conway. Davison will be making his Izod IndyCar Series debut.
No. 98- An unknown driver will be in the seat, replacing Alex Tagliani. Luca Filippi, who tested the car on Wednesday, may ultimately drive the car.
Entries:
No. 1- Ryan Hunter-Reay for Andretti Autosport
No. 3- Helio Castroneves for Team Penske
No. 4- Oriol Servia for Panther Racing
No. 5- EJ Viso for Andretti Autosport/Team Venezuela
No. 6- Sebastian Saavedra for Dragon Racing
No. 7- Sebastien Bourdais for Dragon Racing
No. 9- Scott Dixon for Target Chip Ganassi Racing
No. 10- Dario Franchitti for Target Chip Ganassi Racing
No. 11- Tony Kanaan for KV Racing Technologies
No. 12- Will Power for Team Penske
No. 14- Takuma Sato for AJ Foyt Enterprises
No. 15- Graham Rahal for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
No. 16- James Jakes for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
No. 18- James Davison for Dale Coyne Racing
No. 19- Justin Wilson for Dale Coyne Racing
No. 20- Ed Carpenter for Ed Carpenter Racing
No. 25- Marco Andretti for Andretti Autosport
No. 27- James Hinchcliffe for Andretti Autosport
No. 55- Tristan Vautier for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
No. 67- Josef Newgarden for Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing
No. 77- Simon Pagenaud for Schmidt-Hamilton Racing
No. 83- Charlie Kimball for Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing
No. 98- Unknown driver for Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian
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.
~~~~~~~~~~
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!
~~~~~~~~~~
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!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today's Featured Commentary
Formula For Success, Midsummer Malaise, And Newman Is Born Again
Formula For Success, Midsummer Malaise, And Newman Is Born Again
What's Vexing Vito
by Vito Pugliese
Well, it's the week following the Brickyard 400, and what is everybody talking about? Right, that dirt track Truck race from Eldora.
It's appropriate that the Brickyard 400 followed ESPN's announcement that they are bailing on the sport they built from the early 1980s through 2000, and then again starting in 2007. They cited an aging demographic, and difficulty finding sponsorship for the races. The latter I can believe; despite recent inflated economic figures that contradict startling reports such as the manufacturing hub of the western hemisphere going bankrupt, and 4 out of 5 Americans near the poverty level, things still aren't that great when it takes $20 million a year to show up to the track and not make a fool out of yourself.
As for the aging demographic and lack of new fans, you can pin that one solely on the geniuses who fiddled around with 30 years of unbridled success, coupled with a goofy looking car that Vin Diesel would have rejected out of hand, as well as the Mario Kart points gimmick which changed more often than Robby Gordon changed crew chiefs and car manufacturers. Sports Illustrated in 1994 had a cover emblazoned with "America's Hottest Sport", with the No. 4 Kodak Chevrolet streaking by. Kodak recently filed for bankruptcy, but luckily NBC was ready to step up to the plate and revive their NASCAR coverage which ended in 2006.
Coupled with their recent addition of Formula One, are NBC and NBC Sports Network primed to become the ESPN of the 1990's as we move into the second decade of the millennium?
Hopefully NBC and NASCAR take a lesson from Tony Stewart's experiment at his dirt track. You know what gets fans interested about the sport and talking about it again in the same sort of manic tone that has been heard for the last two weeks? Keep it simple, the product on the track is what sells tickets and attracts new eyes to the sport.
Bragging about grille inserts and headlight stickers from grocery getters and rental cars, does not do anything but distract from the obvious issues that have required attention for the past five years. That is not meant to sound all bleak, gloom & doom, and spouting the same sour grapes that many have re-hashed since the economic downturn of 2008. What that dirt race on a Wednesday night proved was that NASCAR is still relevant, still viable, and tweakable to fit the changing landscape of sports entertainment.
Between the Wednesday night Truck race at Eldora and the 2012 Daytona 500 that ran on Monday night, the ingredients for success have been laid out; the sweet spot lies somewhere in between.
********************
Ryan Newman's Brickyard 400 was as timely as they come. He and crew chief Matt Borland reunited again from their tenure together at Penske Racing, have picked up where things left off since he and Jimmie Johnson raised the bar to a new level during their rookie campaigns of 2002. While Newman is allegedly in scramble mode looking for a ride next year, I don't think it's as dire as it is being made out to be. He was long rumored to be leading candidate to replace Kevin Harvick next season, and this win probably helps more with sponsorship rather than proving himself to Richard Childress.
I suspect we'll see the No. 39 in Victory Lane at least one more time this year. Remember all those races Newman and Borland won together on pit strategy and fuel mileage by running smaller carburetors, sacrificing a couple of peak horsepower for a significant gain in fuel economy? Much is made about Newman being an engineer, but when that mode of thinking and creativity is coupled with another engineer in Matt Borland, expect to see more of the same that we saw at Indy as the year winds down and 2014 begins to take shape.
********************
I still can't believe Dodge halfway through 2013, is still nowhere to be found, heard of, or even mentioned in any breath returning to Sprint Cup, Nationwide, or the Camping World Truck Series under the Ram banner. As a lifelong Mopar nut, it pains me to no end that the third leg of The Big Three is still absent from the premier motorsports divisions in North America.
********************
I read a tweet this week that read, "Following up Indy with Pocono is like following up Valium with chloroform."
Kind of hard to disagree with that one. Again, this is a perfect time to adjust the schedule and avoid consecutive lack-luster, low-impact, parades that occur at this time of the year. Before The Chase came along, Talladega was ran in July – and let's face it, what we wouldn't give for a replay of the May race again right now. Mix in Martinsville, a new road course that is designed for racing (i.e., the carousel course of Infineon) and not to place seats (i.e., the current layout of Infineon), head to Road America, Montreal, SOMETHING out of the ordinary for a change. And spare me the argument of "well it only holds 50,000 people…"
With the way that tracks are scrapping grandstands like Fred Sanford, it doesn't sound like attendance is really an issue to worry about at this point. Besides, the tracks get a good chunk of the TV money anyway, so it isn't like they're banking on the gate to turn a profit.
What is needed now, is freshness, innovation, and something to spark conversation. We don't need to fiddle with the Chase again, unless fiddling means doing away with forever and ever. No, we don't need to be running on dirt, but what Eldora continues to reaffirm, is that when fan interest is piqued, they will respond en mass. If they really want some world-wide buzz, why not run a Cup race in conjunction with the Circuit of The Americas Formula One race in Austin, Texas?
That track is big enough to race cement trucks on, and Texas Motor Speedway is consistently a Top 5 track attendance wise, so there would be butts in the seats for sure. Moreover, you could expose Formula One Fan to the Left Turn Only circuit with our rudimentary 1980's throttle body fuel injection systems and solid rear axles. Even the gang from Top Gear made the trip over from the UK a couple of years ago to TMS to show the rest of the world what NASCAR is all about.
Well, Hammond came....and as all Top Gear fans know, he really is an American after all.
Well, it's the week following the Brickyard 400, and what is everybody talking about? Right, that dirt track Truck race from Eldora.
It's appropriate that the Brickyard 400 followed ESPN's announcement that they are bailing on the sport they built from the early 1980s through 2000, and then again starting in 2007. They cited an aging demographic, and difficulty finding sponsorship for the races. The latter I can believe; despite recent inflated economic figures that contradict startling reports such as the manufacturing hub of the western hemisphere going bankrupt, and 4 out of 5 Americans near the poverty level, things still aren't that great when it takes $20 million a year to show up to the track and not make a fool out of yourself.
As for the aging demographic and lack of new fans, you can pin that one solely on the geniuses who fiddled around with 30 years of unbridled success, coupled with a goofy looking car that Vin Diesel would have rejected out of hand, as well as the Mario Kart points gimmick which changed more often than Robby Gordon changed crew chiefs and car manufacturers. Sports Illustrated in 1994 had a cover emblazoned with "America's Hottest Sport", with the No. 4 Kodak Chevrolet streaking by. Kodak recently filed for bankruptcy, but luckily NBC was ready to step up to the plate and revive their NASCAR coverage which ended in 2006.
Coupled with their recent addition of Formula One, are NBC and NBC Sports Network primed to become the ESPN of the 1990's as we move into the second decade of the millennium?
Hopefully NBC and NASCAR take a lesson from Tony Stewart's experiment at his dirt track. You know what gets fans interested about the sport and talking about it again in the same sort of manic tone that has been heard for the last two weeks? Keep it simple, the product on the track is what sells tickets and attracts new eyes to the sport.
Bragging about grille inserts and headlight stickers from grocery getters and rental cars, does not do anything but distract from the obvious issues that have required attention for the past five years. That is not meant to sound all bleak, gloom & doom, and spouting the same sour grapes that many have re-hashed since the economic downturn of 2008. What that dirt race on a Wednesday night proved was that NASCAR is still relevant, still viable, and tweakable to fit the changing landscape of sports entertainment.
Between the Wednesday night Truck race at Eldora and the 2012 Daytona 500 that ran on Monday night, the ingredients for success have been laid out; the sweet spot lies somewhere in between.
********************
Ryan Newman's Brickyard 400 was as timely as they come. He and crew chief Matt Borland reunited again from their tenure together at Penske Racing, have picked up where things left off since he and Jimmie Johnson raised the bar to a new level during their rookie campaigns of 2002. While Newman is allegedly in scramble mode looking for a ride next year, I don't think it's as dire as it is being made out to be. He was long rumored to be leading candidate to replace Kevin Harvick next season, and this win probably helps more with sponsorship rather than proving himself to Richard Childress.
I suspect we'll see the No. 39 in Victory Lane at least one more time this year. Remember all those races Newman and Borland won together on pit strategy and fuel mileage by running smaller carburetors, sacrificing a couple of peak horsepower for a significant gain in fuel economy? Much is made about Newman being an engineer, but when that mode of thinking and creativity is coupled with another engineer in Matt Borland, expect to see more of the same that we saw at Indy as the year winds down and 2014 begins to take shape.
********************
I still can't believe Dodge halfway through 2013, is still nowhere to be found, heard of, or even mentioned in any breath returning to Sprint Cup, Nationwide, or the Camping World Truck Series under the Ram banner. As a lifelong Mopar nut, it pains me to no end that the third leg of The Big Three is still absent from the premier motorsports divisions in North America.
********************
I read a tweet this week that read, "Following up Indy with Pocono is like following up Valium with chloroform."
Kind of hard to disagree with that one. Again, this is a perfect time to adjust the schedule and avoid consecutive lack-luster, low-impact, parades that occur at this time of the year. Before The Chase came along, Talladega was ran in July – and let's face it, what we wouldn't give for a replay of the May race again right now. Mix in Martinsville, a new road course that is designed for racing (i.e., the carousel course of Infineon) and not to place seats (i.e., the current layout of Infineon), head to Road America, Montreal, SOMETHING out of the ordinary for a change. And spare me the argument of "well it only holds 50,000 people…"
With the way that tracks are scrapping grandstands like Fred Sanford, it doesn't sound like attendance is really an issue to worry about at this point. Besides, the tracks get a good chunk of the TV money anyway, so it isn't like they're banking on the gate to turn a profit.
What is needed now, is freshness, innovation, and something to spark conversation. We don't need to fiddle with the Chase again, unless fiddling means doing away with forever and ever. No, we don't need to be running on dirt, but what Eldora continues to reaffirm, is that when fan interest is piqued, they will respond en mass. If they really want some world-wide buzz, why not run a Cup race in conjunction with the Circuit of The Americas Formula One race in Austin, Texas?
That track is big enough to race cement trucks on, and Texas Motor Speedway is consistently a Top 5 track attendance wise, so there would be butts in the seats for sure. Moreover, you could expose Formula One Fan to the Left Turn Only circuit with our rudimentary 1980's throttle body fuel injection systems and solid rear axles. Even the gang from Top Gear made the trip over from the UK a couple of years ago to TMS to show the rest of the world what NASCAR is all about.
Well, Hammond came....and as all Top Gear fans know, he really is an American after all.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Critic's Annex: Brickyard Grand Prix
by Phil Allaway
Hello, race fans. Welcome back to the Critic's Annex, where we take an additional look at motorsports-related programming that was available for consumption. In addition to the Sprint Cup and Nationwide races that were held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Grand-Am's Rolex Sports Car Series and Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge also raced on the track's 2.534 mile infield road course. While the CTSCC race has not actually aired on regular television yet (it airs this weekend), the Rolex Series event aired Friday night.
However, before I start, I should mention that tonight is the debut of the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards on the NBC Sports Network. The Herr's Chase the Taste 200 from Winchester Speedway will air at 11pm. Now, I cannot recall seeing any promotion for the races. I actually failed to mention the race in my listings on Tuesday. We'll see how NBC Sports Network does with the telecast.
Now, back to your scheduled programming. While the race did air on Friday, it was actually tape delayed. The telecast started just before the race actually ended in real time. A fair amount of the pre-race discussion was centered upon the North American Endurance Championship, a championship-within-a-championship for the team. I'd argue that the whole thing is confusing to most race fans. I don't know if it will be back for 2014 as part of United SportsCar Racing, but I hope not.
In addition to the NAEC discussion, there were also taped pre-race interviews with Tony Kanaan, AJ Allmendinger and Rubens Barrichello, all hired guns brought in to run at Indy.
For those of you who thought that ESPN's telecast of Sunday's Sprint Cup race was light on actual racing for position, the Rolex Series race would have been a pretty good antidote for that. There was quite a bit of action for position that was shown between the Daytona Prototype and Grand Touring classes.
Granted, the infield road course at Indianapolis is what it is. It isn't the most exciting course on earth. In fact, I'm sure that most of my readers, even those who don't give a hoot about road racing, could probably name at least one road course that is more exciting.
Even with all the on-track battles for position (and I will tell you that there were a lot more than I was expecting), a lot of the commentary was centered on the confusing NAEC. Maybe it's just the fact that the NAEC is a team championship, something that hasn't really been awarded in American motorsports since Trans-Am in the late 1960's and early 1970's. On paper, the whole thing shouldn't be all that confusing. However, in practice, it really is. I felt that it took away from my enjoyment of the rest of the race.
I have not heard anything on whether the NAEC will be back for 2014 as part of USCR. If it does return, it would be longer than three races (at the absolute minimum, it would be four races long (Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen, Road Atlanta (Petit Le Mans))).
The rule changes that have come into Grand-Am this season as part of Step 1 of the Grand-Am/ALMS merger have affected the racing. Paul Walter has been brought in from ALMS to head up Race Control. Previously, Grand-Am had a reputation for allowing causal contact on-track and understanding that spins that occur due to contact just happen sometimes in racing. That's not true anymore. More than likely, unless you get forced off the road and uncontrollably hit someone, like the late Ferrari-Porsche crash at Lime Rock in ALMS, you're probably getting a "Stop+60," which is nearly guaranteed to ruin your race. On Friday, the penalties were once again flying as multiple DP teams were hit with the penalties.
SPEED was unable to catch all of these incidents, even after they occurred. An example of this was when Sebastien Bourdais spun out Ozz Negri in the infield. Richard Westbrook also spun in the incident, but that was more or less unrelated (he also spun on his own). We saw live footage of Bourdais pitting to serve his Stop+60, then the booth realized that they never showed us what happened to result in Bourdais' penalty. Yeah, that's not so good.
Post-race coverage was fairly typical. SPEED provided viewers with interviews with all of the class winners (Ryan Dalziel and Alex Popow in DP, Max Papis and Jeff Segal in GT, Tom Long and Sylvain Tremblay in GX). In addition, there were checks of the point standings for GT and DP. Finally, after a commercial break, there was the presentation of the North American Endurance Championship trophy to Chip Ganassi and Felix Sabates. For GT and GX, the trophy presentations were not shown, but SPEED did talk to Stevenson Motorsports Team Manager Mike Johnson and SpeedSource team owner Tremblay to get their reactions.
Despite the difficulties that SPEED sometimes had in bringing viewers everything that went on during Friday's three-hour tour, I thought that they did a decent job in broadcasting the race. The action on-track was pretty good and the commentators definitely seemed to be into the action that was out there. I wasn't into the whole NAEC thing, but since it was the third and final race of the competition and there was $175,000 up for grabs, I understand why SPEED made such a big deal out of it. Having said that, it doesn't mean that I like it.
That's about all for this week. I hope you enjoyed this look at SPEED's telecast of the Brickyard Grand Prix. Check out next week's edition of the Annex, when I'll be looking at coverage of the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio. Until then, enjoy this weekend's action at Pocono, Mid-Ohio and Iowa.
However, before I start, I should mention that tonight is the debut of the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards on the NBC Sports Network. The Herr's Chase the Taste 200 from Winchester Speedway will air at 11pm. Now, I cannot recall seeing any promotion for the races. I actually failed to mention the race in my listings on Tuesday. We'll see how NBC Sports Network does with the telecast.
Now, back to your scheduled programming. While the race did air on Friday, it was actually tape delayed. The telecast started just before the race actually ended in real time. A fair amount of the pre-race discussion was centered upon the North American Endurance Championship, a championship-within-a-championship for the team. I'd argue that the whole thing is confusing to most race fans. I don't know if it will be back for 2014 as part of United SportsCar Racing, but I hope not.
In addition to the NAEC discussion, there were also taped pre-race interviews with Tony Kanaan, AJ Allmendinger and Rubens Barrichello, all hired guns brought in to run at Indy.
For those of you who thought that ESPN's telecast of Sunday's Sprint Cup race was light on actual racing for position, the Rolex Series race would have been a pretty good antidote for that. There was quite a bit of action for position that was shown between the Daytona Prototype and Grand Touring classes.
Granted, the infield road course at Indianapolis is what it is. It isn't the most exciting course on earth. In fact, I'm sure that most of my readers, even those who don't give a hoot about road racing, could probably name at least one road course that is more exciting.
Even with all the on-track battles for position (and I will tell you that there were a lot more than I was expecting), a lot of the commentary was centered on the confusing NAEC. Maybe it's just the fact that the NAEC is a team championship, something that hasn't really been awarded in American motorsports since Trans-Am in the late 1960's and early 1970's. On paper, the whole thing shouldn't be all that confusing. However, in practice, it really is. I felt that it took away from my enjoyment of the rest of the race.
I have not heard anything on whether the NAEC will be back for 2014 as part of USCR. If it does return, it would be longer than three races (at the absolute minimum, it would be four races long (Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen, Road Atlanta (Petit Le Mans))).
The rule changes that have come into Grand-Am this season as part of Step 1 of the Grand-Am/ALMS merger have affected the racing. Paul Walter has been brought in from ALMS to head up Race Control. Previously, Grand-Am had a reputation for allowing causal contact on-track and understanding that spins that occur due to contact just happen sometimes in racing. That's not true anymore. More than likely, unless you get forced off the road and uncontrollably hit someone, like the late Ferrari-Porsche crash at Lime Rock in ALMS, you're probably getting a "Stop+60," which is nearly guaranteed to ruin your race. On Friday, the penalties were once again flying as multiple DP teams were hit with the penalties.
SPEED was unable to catch all of these incidents, even after they occurred. An example of this was when Sebastien Bourdais spun out Ozz Negri in the infield. Richard Westbrook also spun in the incident, but that was more or less unrelated (he also spun on his own). We saw live footage of Bourdais pitting to serve his Stop+60, then the booth realized that they never showed us what happened to result in Bourdais' penalty. Yeah, that's not so good.
Post-race coverage was fairly typical. SPEED provided viewers with interviews with all of the class winners (Ryan Dalziel and Alex Popow in DP, Max Papis and Jeff Segal in GT, Tom Long and Sylvain Tremblay in GX). In addition, there were checks of the point standings for GT and DP. Finally, after a commercial break, there was the presentation of the North American Endurance Championship trophy to Chip Ganassi and Felix Sabates. For GT and GX, the trophy presentations were not shown, but SPEED did talk to Stevenson Motorsports Team Manager Mike Johnson and SpeedSource team owner Tremblay to get their reactions.
Despite the difficulties that SPEED sometimes had in bringing viewers everything that went on during Friday's three-hour tour, I thought that they did a decent job in broadcasting the race. The action on-track was pretty good and the commentators definitely seemed to be into the action that was out there. I wasn't into the whole NAEC thing, but since it was the third and final race of the competition and there was $175,000 up for grabs, I understand why SPEED made such a big deal out of it. Having said that, it doesn't mean that I like it.
That's about all for this week. I hope you enjoyed this look at SPEED's telecast of the Brickyard Grand Prix. Check out next week's edition of the Annex, when I'll be looking at coverage of the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio. Until then, enjoy this weekend's action at Pocono, Mid-Ohio and Iowa.
Phil Allaway is the Newsletter Manager and a Senior Writer for Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com.
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Frontstretch Line of the Week
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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Frontstretch Line of the Week
"I don't know how Corporate America operates when you can't get ahold of the decisionmakers. You might as well take every website in the world that has contact information on the back of it, and you might as well throw that away because nobody responds to it." - Mike Wallace, on the difficulties involved in just getting in the door to even pitch sponsorships to businesses.
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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.
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TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
by Jeff Wolfe
NASCAR Mailbox: Riding Around, Sharing Information, And Wake-Up Calls
by Summer Bedgood
Truckin' Thursdays: Midseason Checkup
by Beth Lunkenheimer
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FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: The 1991 Miller Genuine Draft 500, shortened to 448 miles due to rain, was won by Rusty Wallace. However, the race may be most notable for a big wreck exiting Turn 3. What happened and who was considered to be solely to blame?
Check back Friday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Wednesday's Answer:
Wednesday's Answer:
Q: The 2004 Pocono 400 was a rather decisive race that ultimately led to the introduction of Green-White-Checker situations to the then-NEXTEL Cup Series. What happened?
A: With just five laps to go, both Jeff Burton and Dale Jarrett suffered engine failures to bring out the yellow. At the time, there was a drop dead lap where if the yellow flew after that point, NASCAR would not throw a red flag, thus guaranteeing a finish under yellow. Here, the yellow flew at the end of Lap 196, but NASCAR didn't immediately throw the red.
Meanwhile, prior to the caution, Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick got in a bumping match over 11th. Harvick, unhappy about being shoved the length of the North Straight, dumped Kenseth exiting Turn 3. A lap later, Kenseth dumped Harvick. The lack of a red flag, plus the spinouts meant the race had to finish under caution, angering fans. The beers flew onto the track once again, but this time, some cretin threw a small cooler, which hit the assistant flagman in the head. The whole sequence can be seen here. Ultimately, the Pocono instance was the last straw. One month later, GWC's were introduced to the NEXTEL Cup Series.
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Coming tomorrow in the Frontstretch Newsletter:
-- Top News from Justin Tucker
-- In Case You Missed It by Beth Lunkenheimer
-- Keepin' It Short by Mike Neff
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, trivia, and more!
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Tomorrow on the Frontstretch:
Coming tomorrow in the Frontstretch Newsletter:
-- Top News from Justin Tucker
-- In Case You Missed It by Beth Lunkenheimer
-- Keepin' It Short by Mike Neff
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, trivia, and more!
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Tomorrow on the Frontstretch:
Holding A Pretty Wheel by Amy Henderson
Amy returns this week with another intriguing Friday commentary.
IndyCar In-Depth by P. Huston Ladner
Huston is back to preview this weekend's Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio for the Izod IndyCar Series.
Nuts For Nationwide by Kevin Rutherford
Kevin has another interesting look at the Nationwide Series prior to this weekend's U.S. Cellular 250 from Iowa Speedway
Voices From the Heartland by Jeff Meyer
Our Tennessee transplant returns with another interesting take on recent events.
Frontstretch Foto Funnies by the Frontstretch Staff
Pictures can lead to a thousand laughs; join us in our weekly dose of humor that comes from those candid moments at the track.
Driver Diary: Brendan Gaughan as told to Amy Henderson
The driver of the No. 62 South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet Silverado in the Camping World Truck Series returns to talk about the past month, on and off the track.
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Talk back to the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Got something to say about an article you've seen in the newsletter? It's as easy as replying directly to this message or sending an email to editors@frontstretch.com. We'll take the best comments and publish them here!
©2013 Frontstretch.com
Talk back to the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Got something to say about an article you've seen in the newsletter? It's as easy as replying directly to this message or sending an email to editors@frontstretch.com. We'll take the best comments and publish them here!
©2013 Frontstretch.com
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