THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
- Today, while the full 2.5 mile tri-oval remains dark, the temporary oval on the Superstretch will be used for the second running of the UNOH Battle at the Beach. There will be no late model event this year, but there will be separate races for the Whelen Modifieds and the K&N Pro Series East. The Modified race begins at 7:00pm EST, while the K&N race will follow at 8:30pm EST. Both races will be aired live on FOX Sports 2.
Top News
NASCAR’s first Hispanic driver within its top three divisions is making a return to competition in 2014. Mexican Carlos Contreras, whose last Nationwide Series race was 2007 will run a limited schedule with Rick Ware this season, driving his No. 15 car in Saturday’s 300-mile race down in Daytona. At age 43, he’s making the trek back into the states after spending the last three seasons running NASCAR’s Toyota Series down in Mexico.
From 2000 to 2002, Contreras ran full-time in the Truck Series with sponsorship support from Hot Wheels. Running the last two seasons with Petty Enterprises, he enjoyed some success, collecting five top-10 finishes and reaching a high of 14th in the championship standings (2001). His Nationwide career was less successful; he’s still searching for his first top-10 result, posting a high of 11th in 16 starts.
RaceTrac will sponsor the effort at Daytona, with additional backers to be announced. Contreras will run at least the three road course races for the team along with events at Phoenix, California, Homestead-Miami, Daytona in July and both series races run at Texas.
Derrike Cope Signs Three-Race Deal, Running ML Motorsports Former No. 70
Derrike Cope is back in the Nationwide Series, aligned with a new sponsor for the first three races on the schedule. Charlie’s Soap has agreed to back Cope’s operation, operating as a partnership between himself, the former ML Motorsports team and Jay Robinson Racing. The longtime owner/driver, best known for winning the 1990 Daytona 500 has been working towards a full-time return to competition in NASCAR’s top three series.
55 years old, Cope ran just two Nationwide races last season but failed to finish both of them. His “purchase” of the No. 70 operation officially leaves the promising Johanna Long without a ride. Long, the only woman running a significant portion of the Nationwide Series schedule last season had a best run of 12th last year, putting up a respectable average finish of 23.3 but that wasn’t enough to convince owner Mary Louise Miller to keep going. ML Motorsports shut down in the offseason, citing a lack of sponsorship support before Cope’s proposal/”purchase” came knocking on the door.
News ‘N’ Notes
- Front Row Motorsports has revealed who will drive their No. 35 car the next two races. Young Blake Koch, a Nationwide Series regular with TriStar Motorsports will slip behind the wheel at both Phoenix and Las Vegas in March. FRM, which carries support from MDS Transport on the car, did not reveal whether it will run the full distance in those events.
- C&J Energy Services officially announced their sponsorship of Terry Labonte and the No. 32 GO FAS Ford Monday. The company will once again back the Frank Stoddard-owned team in four restrictor plate races: Sunday’s Daytona 500, the July race at the 2.5-mile superspeedway and both Cup Series events at Talladega. Labonte, a two-time Cup champion will continue to drive in those races for the team at age 57.
"It is exciting for the GO FAS Racing team to have C&J Energy Services back with us for a fourth season," said Stoddard. "Terry doesn't get rattled behind the wheel at these tracks, and I think his numbers speak volumes. You don't have to worry about him making mistakes and he takes care of the car for you.”
There’s no word on who will complete the Cup schedule for the small-time operation, in a partnership this year with Go Green Racing and Archie St. Hilaire.
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
February 18th, 2014
Volume VIII, Edition VIII
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
February 18th, 2014
Volume VIII, Edition VIII
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Editor's Note: Frontstretch's own Jeff Wolfe is once again running a private NASCAR Fantasy league this season on Yahoo! We'll have more of our writers onboard to compete against you. If you're interested, go here and create a Yahoo! account (if you don't already have one). Once that's completed, create your team and click on Join a Group. Then, click on Join a Private Group once there. Here, you'll have to enter our League ID and password. The League ID is 10532, and the password is "stenica." We hope to see you there!
What To Watch: Tuesday- Today, while the full 2.5 mile tri-oval remains dark, the temporary oval on the Superstretch will be used for the second running of the UNOH Battle at the Beach. There will be no late model event this year, but there will be separate races for the Whelen Modifieds and the K&N Pro Series East. The Modified race begins at 7:00pm EST, while the K&N race will follow at 8:30pm EST. Both races will be aired live on FOX Sports 2.
- Also, today is the 13th anniversary of the death of Dale Earnhardt. To celebrate Earnhardt's memory, there will be the annual candlelight vigil from 6-8pm tonight at Dale Earnhardt, Inc. in Mooresville, NC. In addition, the Duke Energy Building in Charlotte will be illuminated in blue LED lights in Earnhardt's memory.
- Daytona 500 pole sitter Austin Dillon is in Bristol, CT for the ESPN Car Wash today, much like Richard Petty yesterday. Expect him to show up multiple times on the ESPN family of networks, including a SportsCenter appearance at 10:30am.
Top News
by Tom Bowles
Minority Star Returns To Nationwide Series CompetitionNASCAR’s first Hispanic driver within its top three divisions is making a return to competition in 2014. Mexican Carlos Contreras, whose last Nationwide Series race was 2007 will run a limited schedule with Rick Ware this season, driving his No. 15 car in Saturday’s 300-mile race down in Daytona. At age 43, he’s making the trek back into the states after spending the last three seasons running NASCAR’s Toyota Series down in Mexico.
From 2000 to 2002, Contreras ran full-time in the Truck Series with sponsorship support from Hot Wheels. Running the last two seasons with Petty Enterprises, he enjoyed some success, collecting five top-10 finishes and reaching a high of 14th in the championship standings (2001). His Nationwide career was less successful; he’s still searching for his first top-10 result, posting a high of 11th in 16 starts.
RaceTrac will sponsor the effort at Daytona, with additional backers to be announced. Contreras will run at least the three road course races for the team along with events at Phoenix, California, Homestead-Miami, Daytona in July and both series races run at Texas.
Derrike Cope Signs Three-Race Deal, Running ML Motorsports Former No. 70
Derrike Cope is back in the Nationwide Series, aligned with a new sponsor for the first three races on the schedule. Charlie’s Soap has agreed to back Cope’s operation, operating as a partnership between himself, the former ML Motorsports team and Jay Robinson Racing. The longtime owner/driver, best known for winning the 1990 Daytona 500 has been working towards a full-time return to competition in NASCAR’s top three series.
55 years old, Cope ran just two Nationwide races last season but failed to finish both of them. His “purchase” of the No. 70 operation officially leaves the promising Johanna Long without a ride. Long, the only woman running a significant portion of the Nationwide Series schedule last season had a best run of 12th last year, putting up a respectable average finish of 23.3 but that wasn’t enough to convince owner Mary Louise Miller to keep going. ML Motorsports shut down in the offseason, citing a lack of sponsorship support before Cope’s proposal/”purchase” came knocking on the door.
News ‘N’ Notes
- Front Row Motorsports has revealed who will drive their No. 35 car the next two races. Young Blake Koch, a Nationwide Series regular with TriStar Motorsports will slip behind the wheel at both Phoenix and Las Vegas in March. FRM, which carries support from MDS Transport on the car, did not reveal whether it will run the full distance in those events.
- C&J Energy Services officially announced their sponsorship of Terry Labonte and the No. 32 GO FAS Ford Monday. The company will once again back the Frank Stoddard-owned team in four restrictor plate races: Sunday’s Daytona 500, the July race at the 2.5-mile superspeedway and both Cup Series events at Talladega. Labonte, a two-time Cup champion will continue to drive in those races for the team at age 57.
"It is exciting for the GO FAS Racing team to have C&J Energy Services back with us for a fourth season," said Stoddard. "Terry doesn't get rattled behind the wheel at these tracks, and I think his numbers speak volumes. You don't have to worry about him making mistakes and he takes care of the car for you.”
There’s no word on who will complete the Cup schedule for the small-time operation, in a partnership this year with Go Green Racing and Archie St. Hilaire.
Have news for Tom and the Frontstretch? Don't hesitate to let us know; email us at ashland10@mail.com with a promising lead or tip.
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GOT A NASCAR QUESTION OR COMMENT? WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!
That's right; our Fan Q & A column is back once again in 2013. Send your question Summer Bedgood's way at summer.bedgood@frontstretch.com and if you're lucky, you'll get your name in print on Thursday when she does her weekly column. It's all part of our daily mission to give back to you – the fans that keep Frontstretch afloat!
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Today's Featured Commentary
NASCAR 2014: The Year of the Rookie
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GOT A NASCAR QUESTION OR COMMENT? WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!
That's right; our Fan Q & A column is back once again in 2013. Send your question Summer Bedgood's way at summer.bedgood@frontstretch.com and if you're lucky, you'll get your name in print on Thursday when she does her weekly column. It's all part of our daily mission to give back to you – the fans that keep Frontstretch afloat!
~~~~~~~~~~
Today's Featured Commentary
NASCAR 2014: The Year of the Rookie
Sitting In The Stands: A Fan's View
by S.D. Grady
Welcome back, my friends, to another year of speed and hopefully fun. While 2013 ended on a predictable note, at least after the controversy of Richmond, there are many things happening at the start of this season that may manage to jump NASCAR out of its proverbial rut. However, despite a new Chase/Points system, new qualifying structure and a less opaque penalty system, I'm not looking to the sanctioning body to bring about the true winds of change. Something more exciting is coming to our track beyond new tricks for the Fantasy Leaguers to follow. We have a real rookie class!
We haven't had this many rookies start a season and declare for the rookie class since 2006, when Denny Hamlin took home the RoTY honors. There are so many new faces to the Cup Series, and sitting in a few competitive cars, we may actually have more to talk about every week beyond how far down into the 30's they finished.
All this excites me. Fresh blood will effect change in our sport far more than a new timing ticker on our TV screen--even if I do like the new FOX sidebar that replaces the old scroll. It will force new dialogue in the booth, hopefully challenging tried and true veterans to up their game. Who knows? New faces just might squeeze Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson out of Victory Lane a time or two. This makes me want to jump up and down and yell, "Yes!"
Thus, instead of following a single driver for the weekly Sonya Stat in 2014, at the bottom of Fan's View this year you will be finding the stats for the Top 3 Rookies after each race. I fully expect Austin Dillon to steal most of the spotlight, driving his Grandpappy's No. 3 Chevy. But the competition for the Rookie of the Year trophy will not be boring. Kyle Larson will be driving the wheels off his Target emblazoned No. 42. If there's a driver in the roster who can win through talent and determination, Larson will be the one.
However, we can't simply write off the remaining six competitors. Each of them have made their own noise in the Nationwide and Camping World Series over the years. Who are these six horsemen?
In the No. 51 we have Justin Allgaier, a charming young man who has more than a little fire under the hood. He may anger more than a few veterans with his impatience. And hey, the No. 51 has been actually capable of exploding into the Top 10 from time to time.
In the No. 7 there's Michael Annett. Time and again we discussed who wasn't getting enough love on television simply because the Cup boys were crowding out the NNS regulars. While Tommy Baldwin's team keeps clawing their way up the ladder, Annett will finally be getting a little bit of love by rising into the Sprint Cup Series.
Alex Bowman will be piloting the No. 23. A son of the west, he has made an effort to race any car he could hop into for the last two years, with considerable success. He simply hasn't enjoyed the high profile of a corporate development driver. I suspect there's more talent hidden in Bowman than we've had the chance to see, yet.
Parker Kligerman moves up to the Cup Series after enjoying quite the year at KBM. If Larson and Dillon hadn't stunk up the NNS show last year, Kligerman would've been the one in the top notch rides this year. Instead, he'll be running the No. 30 car for Swan Racing. I only hope the S&P flu doesn't sit him down more often than not. As it is, the equipment will not be able to stand up to his talent.
Joining Parker at Swan Racing will be Cole Whitt in the No. 26. (I still can't say his name without echoing Family Guy's Cool Whip jingle.) Another driver who has had to elbow his way into the spotlight past interloping Cup drivers, despite solid wheel skills. Whitt will also suffer at the hands of his team.
Finally, Ryan Truex will be running in the No. 83 at BK Racing. Both the Truex brothers suffer from a near silent PR presence. As good as Ryan may be behind the wheel, he has failed to inspire a fan following through wit and charisma. Such is the life of a stock car driver these days. I suspect we'll see the No. 83 feature in more wrecks than true competition, just as last year. Their machines just tend to be weak.
And there you have it, the Rookie Class of 2014. Big and bad. This should be the indoctrination of at least two, possibly four, long term entrants into the Sprint Cup Series. While the fans and more experienced teams sort out new rules and regulations, these young men will be figuring out how to stay on track for a long and prosperous career. I am excited for them all.
SONYA'S STAT
Top Three Rookies
Daytona 500 Sunday Front Row Qualifying
1.) Austin Dillon in the Richard Childress No. 3 Chevrolet P1 (196.019 mph)
2.) Michael Annett in the No. 7 Tommy Baldwin Chevrolet P18 (194.574)
3.) Kyle Larson in the No. 42 Chip Gannassi Chevrolet P24 (194.410)
Annett and Larson will be competing Thursday to establish their final starting positions for the Daytona 500.
Welcome back, my friends, to another year of speed and hopefully fun. While 2013 ended on a predictable note, at least after the controversy of Richmond, there are many things happening at the start of this season that may manage to jump NASCAR out of its proverbial rut. However, despite a new Chase/Points system, new qualifying structure and a less opaque penalty system, I'm not looking to the sanctioning body to bring about the true winds of change. Something more exciting is coming to our track beyond new tricks for the Fantasy Leaguers to follow. We have a real rookie class!
We haven't had this many rookies start a season and declare for the rookie class since 2006, when Denny Hamlin took home the RoTY honors. There are so many new faces to the Cup Series, and sitting in a few competitive cars, we may actually have more to talk about every week beyond how far down into the 30's they finished.
All this excites me. Fresh blood will effect change in our sport far more than a new timing ticker on our TV screen--even if I do like the new FOX sidebar that replaces the old scroll. It will force new dialogue in the booth, hopefully challenging tried and true veterans to up their game. Who knows? New faces just might squeeze Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson out of Victory Lane a time or two. This makes me want to jump up and down and yell, "Yes!"
Thus, instead of following a single driver for the weekly Sonya Stat in 2014, at the bottom of Fan's View this year you will be finding the stats for the Top 3 Rookies after each race. I fully expect Austin Dillon to steal most of the spotlight, driving his Grandpappy's No. 3 Chevy. But the competition for the Rookie of the Year trophy will not be boring. Kyle Larson will be driving the wheels off his Target emblazoned No. 42. If there's a driver in the roster who can win through talent and determination, Larson will be the one.
However, we can't simply write off the remaining six competitors. Each of them have made their own noise in the Nationwide and Camping World Series over the years. Who are these six horsemen?
In the No. 51 we have Justin Allgaier, a charming young man who has more than a little fire under the hood. He may anger more than a few veterans with his impatience. And hey, the No. 51 has been actually capable of exploding into the Top 10 from time to time.
In the No. 7 there's Michael Annett. Time and again we discussed who wasn't getting enough love on television simply because the Cup boys were crowding out the NNS regulars. While Tommy Baldwin's team keeps clawing their way up the ladder, Annett will finally be getting a little bit of love by rising into the Sprint Cup Series.
Alex Bowman will be piloting the No. 23. A son of the west, he has made an effort to race any car he could hop into for the last two years, with considerable success. He simply hasn't enjoyed the high profile of a corporate development driver. I suspect there's more talent hidden in Bowman than we've had the chance to see, yet.
Parker Kligerman moves up to the Cup Series after enjoying quite the year at KBM. If Larson and Dillon hadn't stunk up the NNS show last year, Kligerman would've been the one in the top notch rides this year. Instead, he'll be running the No. 30 car for Swan Racing. I only hope the S&P flu doesn't sit him down more often than not. As it is, the equipment will not be able to stand up to his talent.
Joining Parker at Swan Racing will be Cole Whitt in the No. 26. (I still can't say his name without echoing Family Guy's Cool Whip jingle.) Another driver who has had to elbow his way into the spotlight past interloping Cup drivers, despite solid wheel skills. Whitt will also suffer at the hands of his team.
Finally, Ryan Truex will be running in the No. 83 at BK Racing. Both the Truex brothers suffer from a near silent PR presence. As good as Ryan may be behind the wheel, he has failed to inspire a fan following through wit and charisma. Such is the life of a stock car driver these days. I suspect we'll see the No. 83 feature in more wrecks than true competition, just as last year. Their machines just tend to be weak.
And there you have it, the Rookie Class of 2014. Big and bad. This should be the indoctrination of at least two, possibly four, long term entrants into the Sprint Cup Series. While the fans and more experienced teams sort out new rules and regulations, these young men will be figuring out how to stay on track for a long and prosperous career. I am excited for them all.
SONYA'S STAT
Top Three Rookies
Daytona 500 Sunday Front Row Qualifying
1.) Austin Dillon in the Richard Childress No. 3 Chevrolet P1 (196.019 mph)
2.) Michael Annett in the No. 7 Tommy Baldwin Chevrolet P18 (194.574)
3.) Kyle Larson in the No. 42 Chip Gannassi Chevrolet P24 (194.410)
Annett and Larson will be competing Thursday to establish their final starting positions for the Daytona 500.
S.D. Grady is a Senior Editor for Frontstretch and runs a NASCAR blog called the S-Curves. She can be reached via e-mail at sonya.grady@frontstretch.com. Follow her on Twitter at @laregna and on her Facebook page (she's an author, too!) at https://www.facebook.com/Author.SDGrady.
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Numbers Game: Sprint Unlimited
by Tom Bowles
0
Laps led by Roush Fenway Racing during this year’s Sprint Unlimited. It’s now been 15 years since RFR won this race, with Mark Martin back in 1999.
1st
Starting position for victor Denny Hamlin. He’s the first driver to win from the pole in NASCAR’s Sprint Unlimited since Ken Schrader way back in 1989.
1.9%
Decrease in purse money for 2014 winner Denny Hamlin compared to last season. He collected $201,139 compared to $205,075 earned for Kevin Harvick’s victory in this race a year ago.
2
Wins for Hamlin in this exhibition race: this year and as a rookie in 2006.
3
Segments won by Hamlin, who swept each portion of the event.
4
Chevrolets inside the top 10, the most of any manufacturer. None, however, ran higher than fifth.
5
Cautions in the 187.5-mile event for 13 laps.
7
Drivers to lead at least one lap out of 18 starters.
8
Number of cars to finish the race, the fewest since 1987.
$20,693
Amount collected, per lap completed by Terry Labonte the last two years of the Sprint Unlimited. In those events, his No. 32 has start-and-parked, running a total of just three laps.
Tom Bowles is the Editor-In-Chief of Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at tom.bowles@frontstretch.com.
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TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
by the Frontstretch Staff
by Danny Peters
by Brad Morgan
by Jeff Meyer
by Phil Allaway
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FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: In 2007, James Hylton attempted to become the oldest man ever to qualify for the Daytona 500 in a former RCR Chevrolet. With a few laps to go, Hylton was actually in position to do it before dropping back. What caused him to drop down the order?
Check back Wednesday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Monday's Answer:
Q: The Duels at Daytona can be a complete toss-up at times. Sometimes, the races are staid affairs that don't feature much action. Other times, there can be instances that result in a jumbled starting grid for the Daytona 500. The first Twin 125 in 1989 resulted in the latter. What happened here?
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: In 2007, James Hylton attempted to become the oldest man ever to qualify for the Daytona 500 in a former RCR Chevrolet. With a few laps to go, Hylton was actually in position to do it before dropping back. What caused him to drop down the order?
Check back Wednesday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Monday's Answer:
Q: The Duels at Daytona can be a complete toss-up at times. Sometimes, the races are staid affairs that don't feature much action. Other times, there can be instances that result in a jumbled starting grid for the Daytona 500. The first Twin 125 in 1989 resulted in the latter. What happened here?
A: Lake Speed came down on Rick Wilson in the tri-oval, triggering a large crash that involved over a dozen cars. The crash can be seen here. Ten drivers (Speed, Wilson, Neil Bonnett, Ricky Rudd, Rusty Wallace, Jim Sauter, Philip Duffie, Derrike Cope, Mickey Gibbs and Eddie Bierschwale) were all out on the spot, dropping the field down to 20 cars.
Some of those 20 cars had damage from the crash and were way off the pace. As a result, the final segment resulted in a group of drivers pulling away from the rest of the field. Only seven drivers managed to finish on the lead lap. Drivers that weren't really on pace, like Lee Raymond, Ronnie Sanders, Charlie Baker and J.D. McDuffie, were able to race into the Daytona 500 simply by keeping their noses clean. Also notable is this footage shown prior to the race of Speed and Wilson arguing over who caused the crash.
Frontstretch Trivia Guarantee: If we mess up, you get 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 tomorrow in the Frontstretch Newsletter:
-- Top News from Tom Bowles
-- Tweet 'N' Greet by Kevin Rutherford
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, and more!
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Tomorrow on the Frontstretch:
Did You Notice? by Tom Bowles-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, and more!
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Tomorrow on the Frontstretch:
Tom returns with his long list of small but important observations surrounding NASCAR's top three series.
Frontstretch Five by Amy Henderson
Amy is back with another interesting column
Beyond the Cockpit: Justin Allgaier as told to Mike Neff
Mike sits down with the HScott Motorsports rookie to discuss moving up to Sprint Cup full-time, fatherhood, dirt track racing and more.
Frontstretch Fan Q&A by Summer Bedgood
Summer takes on your NASCAR questions and answers them to the best of her ability. Be sure to send your questions in if there's something that's been nagging at you and you might see your name in print.
Frontstretch Fan Q&A by Summer Bedgood
Summer takes on your NASCAR questions and answers them to the best of her ability. Be sure to send your questions in if there's something that's been nagging at you and you might see your name in print.
Sprint Cup Power Rankings: Top 15 prior to the Daytona 500 compiled by Michael Mehedin
It's a brand new season, but that doesn't mean that the Power Ranking take a break. We'll have our pre-season top 15, which takes Saturday night's Sprint Unlimited into effect as well.
Open-Wheel Wednesday by TBA
We'll have our first open wheel article of the season.
-----------------------------
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