THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
March 17th, 2014
Volume VIII, Edition XXVIII
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Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
March 17th, 2014
Volume VIII, Edition XXVIII
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Today's TV Schedule
Time Telecast Network
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM NASCAR RaceHub FOX Sports 1
5:00 - 5:30 PM NASCAR America NBC Sports Network
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Sprint Cup Race Recap: Edwards Takes Soggy Bristol Victory
by Justin Tucker
Carl Edwards punched his ticket to the Chase for the Sprint Cup on a night where many championship and race favorites were plagued by wrecks and mechanical failures in a wild, rain-plagued event at Bristol Motor Speedway.
After two moisture delays totaling more than five hours, which threatened to postpone the race until Monday, Edwards would use a pit strategy call from crew chief Jimmy Fennig with 77 laps to go to gain the lead. It's a top spot which Edwards would never relinquish, holding off Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. and Aric Almirola on subsequent restarts to win the Food City 500 for his 22nd career Sprint Cup Series victory and first win at Bristol since 2008.
A jubilant Edwards said that he and his No. 99 team, after struggling early in 2014 were now poised to make a push towards the top.
"We're in the Chase and we're going to go win this championship," Edwards said. "I just can’t believe we turned this thing around. We were terrible on Saturday, so I’m just glad we turned it around. Jimmy is the man."
However, Edwards' win didn't come without controversy. With two laps to go, the caution lights inexplicably came on, leaving everyone confused as to what the caution was for. While setting up for the first attempt at a green-white-checkered finish, the rains returned, leaving NASCAR no choice but to declare the race over under caution.
NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton said someone had leaned on an override switch in the flag stand that illuminated the track's caution lights. The flagman then waved the yellow flag six seconds later, and NASCAR froze the field. The rain began a few minutes later, on lap 500, and the race was called on lap 503 instead of holding a green-white-checkered finish.
Edwards' Roush Fenway Racing teammate Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. would record his best finish in a Sprint Cup Series race by finishing second. While happy with the ending, Stenhouse was disappointed about not getting a shot at his teammate for the win.
"I was thinking that I would use the bumper if the opportunity was there," Stenhouse said. "If you get the win, you're in the Chase and you can let the rest take care of itself later. That's what I was really thinking if we went back green. I was thinking about doing whatever I could to win."
Aric Almirola, who also scored a best career finish of third on Sunday, also had a difficult time accepting the final outcome of the race.
"It's frustrating because I had one shot to race Carl for the lead, and these races are so hard to win," Almirola said. "It was a great day for us, I'm not disappointed at all with third, but when you see it and you can taste it and it's that close, you wonder what could have went different."
Joining Edwards, Stenhouse, and Almirola in the top 5 of Sunday's Food City 500 were Tony Stewart in fourth, after three horrific races to start the 2014 season and Marcos Ambrose in fifth, capping off a great night for Richard Petty Motorsports with both cars in the top 5.
Denny Hamlin was the highest-finishing Toyota in sixth, while Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne finished seventh and eighth. Brian Vickers was ninth, and rookie phenom Kyle Larson rounded out the top 10.
A look at Sunday's Food City 500 by the numbers. There were 20 lead changes among 12 different drivers, and 12 cautions for 95 laps would slow the race pace to 84.051 MPH. Perhaps the most infamous yellow occurred before halfway, when young Timmy Hill failed to slow for a crash involving Danica Patrick and Cole Whitt. While the rest of the field had taken the caution, Hill kept going at 100 miles an hour and wound up smashing into the rear of leader Matt Kenseth. While the Joe Gibbs Racing driver would recover, eventually regaining the lead the car was never the same (sending Kenseth to 13th) and Hill could do nothing but apologize after the rookie mistake.
"Didn't get the call about wrecked car & didn't see till it was too late," he tweeted. "Sorry to@mattkenseth & to a hard working crew who didn't need this."
Sprint Cup Race Recap: Edwards Takes Soggy Bristol Victory
by Justin Tucker
Carl Edwards punched his ticket to the Chase for the Sprint Cup on a night where many championship and race favorites were plagued by wrecks and mechanical failures in a wild, rain-plagued event at Bristol Motor Speedway.
After two moisture delays totaling more than five hours, which threatened to postpone the race until Monday, Edwards would use a pit strategy call from crew chief Jimmy Fennig with 77 laps to go to gain the lead. It's a top spot which Edwards would never relinquish, holding off Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. and Aric Almirola on subsequent restarts to win the Food City 500 for his 22nd career Sprint Cup Series victory and first win at Bristol since 2008.
A jubilant Edwards said that he and his No. 99 team, after struggling early in 2014 were now poised to make a push towards the top.
"We're in the Chase and we're going to go win this championship," Edwards said. "I just can’t believe we turned this thing around. We were terrible on Saturday, so I’m just glad we turned it around. Jimmy is the man."
However, Edwards' win didn't come without controversy. With two laps to go, the caution lights inexplicably came on, leaving everyone confused as to what the caution was for. While setting up for the first attempt at a green-white-checkered finish, the rains returned, leaving NASCAR no choice but to declare the race over under caution.
NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton said someone had leaned on an override switch in the flag stand that illuminated the track's caution lights. The flagman then waved the yellow flag six seconds later, and NASCAR froze the field. The rain began a few minutes later, on lap 500, and the race was called on lap 503 instead of holding a green-white-checkered finish.
Edwards' Roush Fenway Racing teammate Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. would record his best finish in a Sprint Cup Series race by finishing second. While happy with the ending, Stenhouse was disappointed about not getting a shot at his teammate for the win.
"I was thinking that I would use the bumper if the opportunity was there," Stenhouse said. "If you get the win, you're in the Chase and you can let the rest take care of itself later. That's what I was really thinking if we went back green. I was thinking about doing whatever I could to win."
Aric Almirola, who also scored a best career finish of third on Sunday, also had a difficult time accepting the final outcome of the race.
"It's frustrating because I had one shot to race Carl for the lead, and these races are so hard to win," Almirola said. "It was a great day for us, I'm not disappointed at all with third, but when you see it and you can taste it and it's that close, you wonder what could have went different."
Joining Edwards, Stenhouse, and Almirola in the top 5 of Sunday's Food City 500 were Tony Stewart in fourth, after three horrific races to start the 2014 season and Marcos Ambrose in fifth, capping off a great night for Richard Petty Motorsports with both cars in the top 5.
Denny Hamlin was the highest-finishing Toyota in sixth, while Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne finished seventh and eighth. Brian Vickers was ninth, and rookie phenom Kyle Larson rounded out the top 10.
A look at Sunday's Food City 500 by the numbers. There were 20 lead changes among 12 different drivers, and 12 cautions for 95 laps would slow the race pace to 84.051 MPH. Perhaps the most infamous yellow occurred before halfway, when young Timmy Hill failed to slow for a crash involving Danica Patrick and Cole Whitt. While the rest of the field had taken the caution, Hill kept going at 100 miles an hour and wound up smashing into the rear of leader Matt Kenseth. While the Joe Gibbs Racing driver would recover, eventually regaining the lead the car was never the same (sending Kenseth to 13th) and Hill could do nothing but apologize after the rookie mistake.
"Didn't get the call about wrecked car & didn't see till it was too late," he tweeted. "Sorry to
A late wreck, for Kevin Harvick's blown engine also ruined the chances of the Stewart-Haas Racing driver to win his second race of the season. Perhaps the hardest lick of the race also affected others behind him, including point leader Brad Keselowski.
Next week, the Sprint Cup Series heads West to the Auto Club Speedway for the Auto Club 400. The action gets underway next Sunday with the green flag at 3:16 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: Keselowski Takes Point Lead Despite Late Crash
by Phil Allaway
Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who held the points lead coming into Sunday, ran well early on, only to fade with handling issues. After losing a lap on track, Earnhardt Jr. pitted under green and lost more ground due to what was termed "a mechanical issue" that helped tear up two left-front tires. Eventually, the handling problems disappeared, but the No. 88 was left with a 24th-place finish, four laps down. That allowed last week's winner Brad Keselowski to take over the points lead. However, after Keselowski crashed into the back of Jamie McMurray when Kevin Harvick blew an engine, it looked like Keselowski would give back everything he gained and then some. Quick repairs got the No. 2 Ford back on track, without losing a lap and Brad managed to finish 14th. That earned him a ten-point lead over Earnhardt, Jr. Race winner Carl Edwards has pulled into a tie for third with Jeff Gordon (Edwards claims the spot by virtue of his victory). Gordon, though remains the only driver on the circuit with four top-10 finishes in the season's first four races.
Jimmie Johnson is down two places, to fifth after a 19th-place result. Before the rain delay, Johnson had his right front tire unravel on him under green, costing the driver three laps. Johnson regained two of them, via wave arounds, but lost one back on track. Joey Logano is also down two places after power steering issues necessitated a brief stay behind the wall right after the red flag was lifted. Logano eventually came back to finish 20th.
Denny Hamlin is up one place, to seventh in points after a relatively quiet run to a sixth-place finish. Teammate Matt Kenseth is down a place to eighth, finishing a disappointing 13th after leading a race-high 165 laps. Ryan Newman maintains ninth, while Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.'s career-best second-place finish boosts him all the way into the top 10 from a tie for 16th.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) Brad Keselowski 163, 2) Dale Earnhardt, Jr -10, t-3) Carl Edwards -11, t-3) Jeff Gordon -11, 5) Jimmie Johnson -20, 6) Joey Logano -22, 7) Denny Hamlin -23, 8) Matt Kenseth -25, 9) Ryan Newman -38, 10) Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. -41, 11) Kasey Kahne -43, 12) Greg Biffle -45, 13) Austin Dillon -46, 14) Kyle Busch -52, 15) Marcos Ambrose -55, 16) Jamie McMurray -63.
Outside of the top-16, but in Chase Contention: t-21) Kevin Harvick -74.
Race Winners: Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (Daytona), Kevin Harvick (Phoenix), Brad Keselowski (Las Vegas), Carl Edwards (Bristol)
Phil Allaway is the Newsletter Manager and a Senior Writer for Frontstretch.com. He can be reached via email at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Critic84.
Phil Allaway is the Newsletter Manager and a Senior Writer for Frontstretch.com. He can be reached via email at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Critic84.
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Never Fear, The Underdogs Are Here: Bristol Edition
by Amy Henderson
Are you a fan of a driver from a smaller team? Do you ever see one of these guys on the race results and wonder how he got there? NASCAR's small teams may not get much airtime during the race broadcast, but that doesn't mean there's nothing to talk about. Each week, Amy Henderson takes a peek into how the little guys fared in the race.
Underdog Selection No. 1: Justin Allgaier for HScott Motorsports; started 30th, finished 17th
For the first time in 2014, the No. 51 team looked like a contender. Even after having to start the race in a backup car, Allgaier was able to use his considerable short track skills to race his way into the top 20, the only driver among this group to crack that mark. This team has a solid up-and-comer behind the wheel, an owner who's all in, and had some good runs last year under the Phoenix Racing banner. They should be in the top three among the small teams on a fairly regular basis this year. That said, the Cup Series is a big leap for Allgaier, and he will have to move up the learning curve as the season progresses.
Underdog Selection No. 2: David Gilliland for Front Row Motorsports; started 16th, finished 22nd
While David Ragan grabbed the headlines for FRM last year, with his win at Talladega, it's been Gilliland who's been the team's more consistent driver over time. He had his team's best result this weekend at Bristol, following up an excellent qualifying effort with the No. 38 Ford. FRM needs more funding to reach the next level on a consistent basis, but they beat some better-funded teams this week.
Underdog Selection No. 3: Josh Wise for Phil Parsons Racing; started 32nd, finished 23rd
Not only did this team go the distance this week (a rare occurrence for the organization), they did it in style, as Wise showed that he can race with the best of them if given the opportunity. Wise found himself on the tail end of the lead lap early, but instead of pulling over and letting the leaders pass, he fought for his spot on-track. And he put up one hell of a fight, indeed, outracing the leaders for almost 50 circuits. It was the kind of performance that gives a glimpse into what a driver can really do, and viewers should be impressed with what they saw from Wise at Bristol.
Underdog Pick of the Week-Fontana: AJ Allmendinger for JTG-Daugherty Racing
My Bristol pick was David Ragan, whose day included a pair of spins and an ill-handling race car en route to a 31st-place finish. Ouch.
This week, I'll be looking to redeem myself in Fontana at Auto Club Speedway, a track where small teams generally struggle mightily. Allmendinger has a decent record at ACS, though with an average finish just outside the top 20 (20.3). That's slightly lower than David Ragan's average, but equipment is going to be a big factor, and the No. 47 team's alliance with RCR gives them a leg up over Ragan. Allmendinger's average finish is also more than two spots better than Casey Mears', a fellow RCR-aligned Chevy driving near-equal equipment.
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!
Never Fear, The Underdogs Are Here: Bristol Edition
by Amy Henderson
Are you a fan of a driver from a smaller team? Do you ever see one of these guys on the race results and wonder how he got there? NASCAR's small teams may not get much airtime during the race broadcast, but that doesn't mean there's nothing to talk about. Each week, Amy Henderson takes a peek into how the little guys fared in the race.
Underdog Selection No. 1: Justin Allgaier for HScott Motorsports; started 30th, finished 17th
For the first time in 2014, the No. 51 team looked like a contender. Even after having to start the race in a backup car, Allgaier was able to use his considerable short track skills to race his way into the top 20, the only driver among this group to crack that mark. This team has a solid up-and-comer behind the wheel, an owner who's all in, and had some good runs last year under the Phoenix Racing banner. They should be in the top three among the small teams on a fairly regular basis this year. That said, the Cup Series is a big leap for Allgaier, and he will have to move up the learning curve as the season progresses.
Underdog Selection No. 2: David Gilliland for Front Row Motorsports; started 16th, finished 22nd
While David Ragan grabbed the headlines for FRM last year, with his win at Talladega, it's been Gilliland who's been the team's more consistent driver over time. He had his team's best result this weekend at Bristol, following up an excellent qualifying effort with the No. 38 Ford. FRM needs more funding to reach the next level on a consistent basis, but they beat some better-funded teams this week.
Underdog Selection No. 3: Josh Wise for Phil Parsons Racing; started 32nd, finished 23rd
Not only did this team go the distance this week (a rare occurrence for the organization), they did it in style, as Wise showed that he can race with the best of them if given the opportunity. Wise found himself on the tail end of the lead lap early, but instead of pulling over and letting the leaders pass, he fought for his spot on-track. And he put up one hell of a fight, indeed, outracing the leaders for almost 50 circuits. It was the kind of performance that gives a glimpse into what a driver can really do, and viewers should be impressed with what they saw from Wise at Bristol.
Underdog Pick of the Week-Fontana: AJ Allmendinger for JTG-Daugherty Racing
My Bristol pick was David Ragan, whose day included a pair of spins and an ill-handling race car en route to a 31st-place finish. Ouch.
This week, I'll be looking to redeem myself in Fontana at Auto Club Speedway, a track where small teams generally struggle mightily. Allmendinger has a decent record at ACS, though with an average finish just outside the top 20 (20.3). That's slightly lower than David Ragan's average, but equipment is going to be a big factor, and the No. 47 team's alliance with RCR gives them a leg up over Ragan. Allmendinger's average finish is also more than two spots better than Casey Mears', a fellow RCR-aligned Chevy driving near-equal equipment.
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 at Frontstretch. She can be reached via e-mail at amy.henderson@frontstretch.com.
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Letter of the Race: Sunday's Food City 500 was brought to you by the letter "M," for Marathon. Ultimately, it was over eight hours between the scheduled start of the race and when the checkers finally flew around 9:30 PM. That said, the action on track was fast and furious when it wasn't raining. - Phil Allaway
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Sidebar Stories: Bristol
by Phil Allaway
Letter of the Race: Sunday's Food City 500 was brought to you by the letter "M," for Marathon. Ultimately, it was over eight hours between the scheduled start of the race and when the checkers finally flew around 9:30 PM. That said, the action on track was fast and furious when it wasn't raining. - Phil Allaway
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Sidebar Stories: Bristol
by Phil Allaway
Final Caution Caused by Flagman Leaning on Override Switch
On Sunday night, Carl Edwards had the Food City 500 in hand with two laps to go when the caution lights suddenly came on, neutralizing the field. Shortly after that occurred, a small cell of precipitation created a deluge over the half-mile oval. NASCAR quickly decided to throw the checkered flag and declare Edwards the winner, but the questions still persisted as to what caused the caution. After the race, officials made sure we got answers.
"A track-light malfunction triggered the final caution," was their official statement. "As a result, we threw a full [course] caution as the operation of those lights became compromised."
However, when Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's Vice President of Competition, stepped to the microphone in the Media Center Sunday night, there was a different story afoot.
"It appears that in the flagstand, one of the flag people had leaned on the switch that is the manual override for the caution lights, and so that happened," Pemberton said. "… That happened, and at that time when the flagstand realized that the caution lights were illuminated, the flag man threw the flag, and then after that happened we froze the field from the tower."
"It appears that in the flagstand, one of the flag people had leaned on the switch that is the manual override for the caution lights, and so that happened," Pemberton said. "… That happened, and at that time when the flagstand realized that the caution lights were illuminated, the flag man threw the flag, and then after that happened we froze the field from the tower."
Edwards commented about the honesty of the sport's officials afterwards.
"I can tell you, for Robin and NASCAR to come up here and explain exactly what happened immediately after the race and just put it out there that, 'Hey, it was a mistake and it was inadvertent,' I think that says a lot about the state of the leadership of our sport," Edwards said during his press conference Sunday night. "I was leading the last time that happened at Charlotte in a Truck race, and we got passed, and … (NASCAR) put out a press release saying, 'We messed up, we apologize to Carl and his crew.' And I think NASCAR, that was (10) years ago, and they still stand by their mistakes. And for them to come up here and say, 'Hey, we messed up,' that means a lot. As a sport, they make a lot of tough calls. We all do a lot of things where there's a lot of room for mistakes, and so the outcome worked out for me, but even if it hadn't, I'm glad to be part of something where they just say, 'Hey, we screwed up.'"
"I can tell you, for Robin and NASCAR to come up here and explain exactly what happened immediately after the race and just put it out there that, 'Hey, it was a mistake and it was inadvertent,' I think that says a lot about the state of the leadership of our sport," Edwards said during his press conference Sunday night. "I was leading the last time that happened at Charlotte in a Truck race, and we got passed, and … (NASCAR) put out a press release saying, 'We messed up, we apologize to Carl and his crew.' And I think NASCAR, that was (10) years ago, and they still stand by their mistakes. And for them to come up here and say, 'Hey, we messed up,' that means a lot. As a sport, they make a lot of tough calls. We all do a lot of things where there's a lot of room for mistakes, and so the outcome worked out for me, but even if it hadn't, I'm glad to be part of something where they just say, 'Hey, we screwed up.'"
If you didn't check out the link, Edwards was leading until Chad Chaffin slowed on track, with damage after an apparent crash with four laps to go. Edwards appeared to simply slow down at the end of the backstretch after seeing the light come on. That allowed Dennis Setzer to sweep by and take the victory.
Rains Plague Bristol
After two days of bright, sunny skies, Sunday dawned gray and cool in Bristol, Tennessee. Forecasts for days indicated a near 100 percent chance of rain. The general consensus was that there would be no way that NASCAR was going to be able to get the race in Sunday. Even Monday was seen as a stretch due to an unfavorable forecast (as of this writing, it is currently raining and in the upper 30s at Bristol).
However, the rain clouds cleared around 1:30 PM, allowing the Air Titans to go to work on the high-banked oval. Just before 3:00 PM, the green flag was thrown. A somewhat sparse crowd gathered in the stands to watch the action. Just under one-quarter of the race was run before more rain came in and delayed the race for three hours and 18 minutes. FOX made the somewhat controversial move to cease their coverage on the main network at 6:00 PM ET, shifting the remainder of the race to FOX Sports 1.
Ultimately, the race did get cut short due to rain, but (as noted above) that was only because of a flagman accidentally triggering the caution light override switch, forcing NASCAR to put out the yellow with two laps to go. The rains returned with a vengeance during the caution and NASCAR decided to checker the race rather than red flag it and wait an hour or more just to run the green-white-checkered. Had the switch issue not occurred, the race would have ended in regulation time.
Advancements such as the Air Titan are chiefly responsible for NASCAR being able to actually run the full distance and then some on Sunday, despite the rains in the area. Without it, there likely would not have been 500 laps run.
Johnson Has Tire Unravel
Early on, Jimmie Johnson took only left-side tires under caution during the first competition yellow. That move allowed him to win the race off of pit road and claim the lead. Johnson would hold the top spot for 44 laps before Matt Kenseth swept past.
Early on, Jimmie Johnson took only left-side tires under caution during the first competition yellow. That move allowed him to win the race off of pit road and claim the lead. Johnson would hold the top spot for 44 laps before Matt Kenseth swept past.
Shortly afterwards, Johnson's entire race came apart at the seams. The right front tire, which Johnson had been racing on since the start, started to unravel in small strips. Even though the tire did not deflate, the unraveling created an unraceable situation, forcing Johnson to pit under green.
Johnson dropped three laps on pit road and exited in 39th. The rest of the race was spent trying to get those laps back. Johnson was able to regain two of those laps by taking wavearounds. However, he dropped one of those back under green. Getting back to a 19th-place finish allowed Johnson to minimize his losses on the day.
Logano Suffers Power Steering Issues
Much like Jimmie Johnson, Joey Logano was very clearly in the hunt early in the race, leading 12 laps early on. However, during the second run of the race, Logano's car slowly lost its power steering. With Bristol's sharp turns and high speeds, the No. 22 quickly began to drop back through the field, falling off of the lead lap just before the caution flew for rain.
Logano technically earned the beneficiary from NASCAR, but the team immediately forfeited it to work on the car. The three-hour plus red flag allowed the team time to formulate a plan. After the red was withdrawn, Logano went behind the wall for quick repairs to the power steering pump. Amazingly, the work was done quick enough for Logano to return to the race only three laps down.
While Logano was back up to speed, after the repairs, he was unable to get back any of the laps that he lost. Logano finished three laps down at the finish, but charged back to a 20th-place result.
Quotes to Remember: Food City 500
compiled by Phil Allaway
"First thing, thanks to my guys for working so hard. Everyone worked really, really long hours last night. Jimmy told me they worked until 3 AM on the simulation stuff trying to figure out what to do with the race car because we were terrible yesterday. It was really bad in practice. It was a huge day for us though, a great day for Kellogg’s, for Frosted Flakes, Cheez-It and everybody that was here that supports our team. A huge day for Ford. People were talking a lot about how Fords were running so great on Friday and it wasn’t our Fords, it was not our Roush Fenway Fords. We’ve been struggling lately and for us to come out of here with a win and to run so well with a number of the Fords out of our shop that was big, so it was a fun day and now, yeah, I’m part of a group of guys that can go and have some fun and focus on the final 10 races to win this championship. I’ve been a little bit jealous of those guys that have wins this early in the season. I was thinking today I can’t imagine what that must feel like, to be able to come to a racetrack like this and have all that pressure off you, so now we’ll be able to go have some fun. I’m really excited about the next 22 races. That will be a blast." - Carl Edwards, race winner
"It's been nice working with Mike (Kelley, crew chief) and the guys again. We're having a lot of fun. We're just slowly working and getting better and better. I thought we were a lot better than our finish last week at Las Vegas except I sped on pit road. I think we've got some good cars and everybody at the shop is working hard on building those. But for the race we didn't qualify as well as we wanted, but we thought we had a pretty good race car, and throughout all the practices this weekend, was looking for that racetrack to rubber in. Right before the rain, I thought that run right before the rain, I thought we were coming on pretty strong when it was laying some more rubber, but after that rain delay it seemed to get kind of cold and didn't seem to be laying as much rubber for us. We were just fighting the balance for us, a little bit loose, a little bit tight, never really could zone in on it, but Mike made some good calls. We stayed out there and kept our track position and ended up second, so it was cool to have a one‑two finish for Roush Fenway this weekend." - Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., finished second
"The first half of the race was just a struggle to get to the front. We had a really good car, we just qualified really back in the field, and so we had to pass a lot of cars. Like Ricky said, before the rain, I thought that our car was really good. It seemed like a lot of people were struggling for drive off, and my car was really good on drive offs, and when it cooled down it seemed like not as many people were struggling. They could hold on longer in the run. That was kind of our strong suit. It seemed like our car got better and better as the run went on. It's frustrating because I had one shot to race Carl for the lead, and these races are so hard to win, obviously, and it was a great day for us. I'm not disappointed at all with third, but when you see it and you can taste it and it's that close, you wonder what could have went different. If our car would have taken off a little bit better, things might have went different. But all in all, it was a great day. Our pit stops were really good, I'm really proud of everybody on our team. We changed every part and piece on our race car this morning because we weren't very good in practice. So proud of Trent Owens and all our guys. They gave me a really good car." - Aric Almirola, finished third
"The first half of the race was just a struggle to get to the front. We had a really good car, we just qualified really back in the field, and so we had to pass a lot of cars. Like Ricky said, before the rain, I thought that our car was really good. It seemed like a lot of people were struggling for drive off, and my car was really good on drive offs, and when it cooled down it seemed like not as many people were struggling. They could hold on longer in the run. That was kind of our strong suit. It seemed like our car got better and better as the run went on. It's frustrating because I had one shot to race Carl for the lead, and these races are so hard to win, obviously, and it was a great day for us. I'm not disappointed at all with third, but when you see it and you can taste it and it's that close, you wonder what could have went different. If our car would have taken off a little bit better, things might have went different. But all in all, it was a great day. Our pit stops were really good, I'm really proud of everybody on our team. We changed every part and piece on our race car this morning because we weren't very good in practice. So proud of Trent Owens and all our guys. They gave me a really good car." - Aric Almirola, finished third
"It was great. To start 37th and end up fourth today, I’m pretty excited about that. I’m really excited for Chad Johnson and everybody on the Mobil 1/Bass Pro team. Everybody just worked hard all weekend. We had a long way to go from Friday, when we weren’t very good and every day we just got better and better. So, I’m really proud of this team. [Coming] to Bristol and run 500 laps here and a top five that is just what the doctor ordered." - Tony Stewart, finished fourth
"It’s just a great night for Richard Petty Motorsports. My teammate Aric Almirola was a couple spots in front of us, so we’re really proud of our team tonight and a great night for Ford as well with Carl doing backflips on the frontstretch here. I’ve got thank the fans for sticking with us through all this rain this afternoon. I’m really proud of this Stanley team and can’t wait to watch this one on replay and look forward to California coming up." - Marcos Ambrose, finished fifth
"It’s kind of what I thought it would be. That top groove, when they ground it, it really made it more a one-lane track that this place has ever been. I wish we could do something to get that bottom lane going a little bit better. That surface that they ground -- the tires just adhere to it so much that you have no choice but to try to go three wide with the lapped cars. That’s a lot of the three wide you were seeing. It wasn’t for guys with position, it was guys that were trying to pass each other and then the lapped car would be up there in the high line in the way. It’s tough to get out of the way on this racetrack. It’s tight quarters and we’re lucky to have the car in one piece." - Denny Hamlin, finished sixth
"It was a great battle by this Axalta Chevrolet. The whole team did an awesome job. We had a really good race car at different times throughout the night. It’s crazy; when we went back racing after the rain delay, we just completely wore out the left-front tire in just like 20 or 30 laps. I mean, we were going backwards in a hurry. Thankfully for that competition caution, we fixed that and got the car better. Drove up into the top five, I was pretty happy. The car came up through there so good on four tires that we decided to put four more on. The restart just didn’t go the way I needed it to and we never got up through there again." - Jeff Gordon, finished eighth
"Just really proud of everyone on this Aaron’s Dream Machine team. They made the most out of this Toyota Camry. I’m ashamed to say, we legitimately qualified 38th on Friday -- we just really missed it. It’s uncharacteristic of the team, but it happens to the best of them. I’ve seen it happen to Jimmie (Johnson) and Chad (Knaus, crew chief) -- they’ve won six championships. You have to keep fighting and never give up. All the guys on this team hustled and did an incredible job. Completely wholesaling the car Saturday night and gave me a really fast car today. The only thing we missed was the travels -- just missed it a little bit on the travels and we were just dragging the track on restarts on new tires. We would give up three or four spots on new tires -- we’d get most of them and then some back on long runs, but the closer we got to the front the harder it was to make that up on the long run with guys just being faster and getting their cars better, everybody up top. Considering where we started, I think top-10 is a good run. If we could have started sooner or closer or had the front raised up a little bit, then we might have even been able to contend for a win." - Brian Vickers, finished ninth
"We had a really good run today. Started off the race in 20th and got to the top 10 pretty easily there in the beginning, and then pretty much stayed in the top 10 for the whole race and inched our way up to the front. Ran in second and third for a long time. Our Target Chevy was great in the middle part of the race. I just think we didn't keep up with it enough the last two pit stops. May have made a bad pit call there at the end also to come in for two. Just got a little bit too tight there in the center and ended up 10th." - Kyle Larson, finished tenth
"I don’t think we have enough time for me to tell you all about it. Our Home Depot/Dollar General Toyota was really fast. We had it in the lead there and we were trying to take it easy on tires, honestly I was just trying to keep the gap where it was and we were pretty comfortable. We had some damage earlier when that one car (Timmy Hill) must not have seen the caution and hit me going like 4,000 miles an hour. We had some damage that really slowed our pit stop down and we couldn’t get the tire off. We came out third there and had a flat left rear. Fortunately, got another caution, but then for some reason we just could never get the car tightened up again. Just really couldn’t go forward after that. It was a disappointing ending, but it was a really positive day. We led some laps. We were a lot stronger than we’ve been the last few weeks, so looking forward to hopefully taking that momentum to California." - Matt Kenseth, finished 13th
"It was exactly where I wanted to be, just not smart enough to take advantage of it. I saw the 4 was in trouble and we had new tires and the leaders didn’t. We were just making our way through traffic and he broke something in front of me. Everybody – me and the cars in front of me – we all knocked the wall down running in behind him. It’s unfortunate and just one of those racing deals, I guess. I should have anticipated he was gonna blow up, I guess, but that’s just part of it." - Brad Keselowski, finished 14th
"The GoDaddy guys worked hard all weekend. We had to go to a backup car just four laps into practice, so I appreciate the effort of Tony Gibson and the guys. It was a tough weekend, so to come out of here with 18th, I’ll take it. It was an eventful night. The 26 (Cole Whitt) wasn’t clear and got into us and so we had some damage. Then, I lost 1st and 2nd gear and then finally 3rd gear, so the last 100 or 200 laps I only had fourth gear. That’s why I hit Clint (Bowyer) in the pits. It wouldn’t go, so I dipped the clutch and got sideways and when it was about to spin around, I lifted, it caught and then it went straight and it wouldn’t stop. So I hit him. I apologized to his crew after the race. And then it was like yellow after yellow and if there was any day I didn’t want yellows, it’s today because I didn’t have any gears. We survived and got a decent finish out of it. Gibson made good calls all night and hopefully we can build on this going to Fontana." - Danica Patrick, finished 18th
"We battled and battled to get the car working and it eventually picked up steam. We had a long talk after the red flag (Lap 124 for rain) and it made a difference. We were strong in practice yesterday, but today the cold and damp conditions were a factor and it took a little while to get settled in. I felt we had a shot for a top 10 and then all that stuff happened. Your car gets banged up so much at this track that sometimes those hits will come back to bite you, which it did today. Very disappointing – we’ve had some tough luck this year, but it will change." - Martin Truex, Jr., finished 36th
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TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
Thinkin' Out Loud: Bristol's Food City 500
by Mike Neff
Pace Laps: Gatornationals, Sebring, and the K&N Series
by the Frontstretch Staff
The Big Six: Questions Answered After the Food City 500
by Amy Henderson
Hurry Up and Wait: Does it Help or Hurt NASCAR?
by Aaron Creed
by Tom Bowles
~~~~~~~~~~~
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: Scott Pruett claimed pole for the 1998 Marlboro 500 at then-California Speedway with a lap of 233.748 mph. In the race itself, Pruett got lapped due to pit strategy, but fought back to fifth before falling out. What happened to put him out of the race?
Check back Tuesday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Friday's Answer:
Q: The 1992 Food City 500 was the last Winston Cup race held on an asphalt surface at then-Bristol International Raceway. What occurred in this race to precipitate the conversion to concrete in time for the Bud 500 in August?
A: Prior to the event, the track had been fully repaved, despite a similar project having been carried out for 1989. During the race, the track came up in the turns, resulting in a number of drivers going up the hill if they got out of the groove, similar to what happened during the Busch Grand National Mountain Dew 500 at Hickory 13 days later.
In addition, the track surface caused a number of blown tires, most notably to Dale Earnhardt, who crashed out of second place late in the race.
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: Scott Pruett claimed pole for the 1998 Marlboro 500 at then-California Speedway with a lap of 233.748 mph. In the race itself, Pruett got lapped due to pit strategy, but fought back to fifth before falling out. What happened to put him out of the race?
Check back Tuesday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Friday's Answer:
Q: The 1992 Food City 500 was the last Winston Cup race held on an asphalt surface at then-Bristol International Raceway. What occurred in this race to precipitate the conversion to concrete in time for the Bud 500 in August?
A: Prior to the event, the track had been fully repaved, despite a similar project having been carried out for 1989. During the race, the track came up in the turns, resulting in a number of drivers going up the hill if they got out of the groove, similar to what happened during the Busch Grand National Mountain Dew 500 at Hickory 13 days later.
In addition, the track surface caused a number of blown tires, most notably to Dale Earnhardt, who crashed out of second place late in the race.
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 Greg Davis
-- Fan's View Commentary by S.D. Grady
-- Numbers Game: Food City 500 by Tom Bowles
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, and more!
Tomorrow on the Frontstretch:
Five Points to Ponder by Danny Peters
Danny returns for his weekly edition of talking points, which will wrap up the action in Bristol and get us ready for Fontana.
Couch Potato Tuesday by Phil Allaway
This past weekend, the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series were in Eastern Tennessee to race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Were the telecasts of these events "up to snuff?" Find out in this week's TV Critique.
We'll take a look at which drivers are sitting pretty after four races -- and who wants to get themselves in good shape by the Easter break.
Racing to the Point by Brett Poirier
Brett is back with another commentary to make you think. This week, Brett talks the current state of the Nationwide Series.
Beyond The Cockpit: Clint Bowyer as told to Mike Neff
What's the story behind Michael Waltrip Racing's early struggles? Clint stops by to talk shop about that and more with our Mike Neff in a special piece.
-----------------------------
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©2014 Frontstretch.com
Talk back to the Frontstretch Newsletter!
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©2014 Frontstretch.com
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