THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
March 3rd, 2014
Volume VIII, Edition XVIII
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Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
March 3rd, 2014
Volume VIII, Edition XVIII
~~~~~~~~~~
Frontstretch seeking NASCAR Nationwide Series Writer
Do you have strong writing and communication skills and a passion for racing? If so, The Frontstretch is looking for YOU! We have an opening on our staff for a writer to focus on the NASCAR Nationwide Series in 2014, including postrace coverage and a weekly column covering current storylines in the series. If you have extensive knowledge of the Nationwide Series, the ability to work on a deadline, and want to join a staff of passionate writers, please click HERE for application instructions. Show us what you've got!
FRONTSTRETCH FANTASY: GET IN THE GAME
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!
Today's TV Schedule
Time Telecast Network
4:00pm - 5:00pm NASCAR RaceHub FOX Sports 1
5:00 - 5:30pm NASCAR America NBC Sports Network
Sprint Cup Race Recap: Earnhardt Jr. Claims Second Daytona 500 Victory
by Justin Tucker
Phoenix International Raceway has become Kevin Harvick's home away from home. Sunday Afternoon was no exception as Harvick charged to the front early and would dominate for much of the day, leading 224 of the scheduled 312 laps to record his record fifth win on the one mile oval and his third win in the last four races at Phoenix.
Harvick, coming off of a disappointing Speedweeks which was capped by a last lap crash in the Daytona 500 in his debut with Stewart-Haas Racing, set the tone on Saturday by winning both practices while having the best 5 and 10-lap averages in the first practice of the day on Saturday. On Sunday, Harvick and his No. 4 Jimmy John's Chevrolet was nothing short of flawless as he was able to hold Dale Earnhardt, Jr. by .489 seconds after a late race restart to claim his 24th career Sprint Cup Series victory.
"Man, this is awesome," Harvick said after his dominant victory on Sunday. "Man, this just solidifies so many things and so many decisions. It’s been so much work with all the time and effort that these guys (the crew) have put in--but what a race car."
Stewart Haas Racing co-owner Gene Haas shared in Harvick's excitement after the race.
"It took long enough," Haas joked. "This is phenomenal. I think there was a lot of skepticism last year about what myself and Tony (Stewart) what we were up to, was there a lot of madness to this. Quite frankly, it's a great team, there's a lot of synergy at the shop, people working together. I don't know what we did, but I think we put together a great organization."
Daytona 500 winner Dale Earnhardt, Jr. continued his hot start to the 2014 season. Earnhardt Jr. would finish second on Sunday, marking his seventh consecutive top 10 finish since the end of the 2013 season. Earnhardt Jr. was pleased with the effort after a coast-to-coast whirlwind week after winning his second Daytona 500 and also gave great praise to the efforts of Harvick and the No. 4 team.
"I've got to congratulate Kevin. Those guys were two-tenths faster than everyone all weekend in practice. They were just phenomenal," Earnhardt said. "To be able to run with them all day was a big confidence builder for us."
Joining Harvick and Earnhardt in the top 5 of The Profit on CNBC 500K were Brad Keselowski with his second consecutive top 3 run of 2014 in third. Keselowski's Team Penske teammate Joey Logano would finish fourth, and Jeff Gordon would come home fifth in his No. 24 Pepsi Max Chevrolet.
Jimmie Johnson finished in sixth, followed by Ryan Newman with a nice rebound after Daytona in seventh. Carl Edwards would carry the banner for Roush Fenway Racing by finishing eighth, Kyle Busch was ninth, and Jamie McMurray would finish tenth.
A look at the Profit on CNBC 500K by the numbers. There were 14 lead changes among eight different drivers, there were eight cautions for 39 laps which slowed the race pace to 109.229 MPH.
Next Sunday, the Sprint Cup Series heads to Sin City and the Las Vegas Motor
Speedway for the Kobalt Tools 400. Green flag from Vegas is scheduled for 3:16 P.M. EST.
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: Harvick Locks In, While Earnhardt Jr. Increases Lead
by Phil Allaway
Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s victory on Sunday night not only gave him his first victory since 2012, first non-Michigan victory since 2006 and first plate victory since 2004, but it also all but locked him into the Chase. Granted, it is possible under the new system to miss the Chase despite winning (two different scenarios allow this "exception" to occur), but barring catastrophe, Earnhardt Jr. is in.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 90, 2) Brad Keselowski -6, 3) Jeff Gordon -10, 4) Kevin Harvick -11, 5) Jimmie Johnson -12, 6) Joey Logano -15, 7) Matt Kenseth -20, 8) Denny Hamlin -22, 9) Carl Edwards -25, t-10) Greg Biffle -26, t-10) Casey Mears -26, t-10) Jamie McMurray -26, 13) Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. -27, 14) Kyle Busch -29, 15) Ryan Newman -30, 16) Austin Dillon -34.
Race Winners: Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (Daytona), Kevin Harvick (Phoenix)
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.
Quotes to Remember: The Profit on CNBC 500k
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TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
Thinkin' Out Loud: Phoenix Edition
by Mike Neff
Pace Laps: A Tale Of Two At Stewart-Haas, Handcuffs, And A Budding Rivalry
by the Frontstretch Staff
The Big Six: Questions Answered After the The Profit on CNBC 500
by Amy Henderson
Harvick's Dominance Raises the Question: Does Years Of Experience Mean a Significant Advantage at a Track?
by Aaron Creed
NASCAR's Drought In The Desert... A Case of Bad Timing
by Tom Bowles
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 Kevin Rutherford
-- Fan's View Commentary by S.D. Grady
-- Numbers Game: The Profit on CNBC 500 by Tom Bowles
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, and more!
Tomorrow on the Frontstretch:
We'll take a look at which drivers are sitting pretty after two races -- and who is just happy to get onto an intermediate track.
Racing to the Point by Brett Poirier
Brett is back with another commentary to make you think. This week, Brett talks about the procession of cars crawling around the track to cool their engines.
Voices From The Heartland by Jeff Meyer
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: Phoenix 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: Casey Mears for Germain Racing; started 18th, finished 14th
This week wasn't just about the equipment this team gets from Richard Childress Racing, though it's notable that of three RCR teams and four satellite operations, only Ryan Newman had a better result on Sunday. Mears' car wasn't handling well for most of the race, and Mears lost a lap early, but the No. 13 team worked on making it better throughout and never gave up on it. Thanks to a lucky dog pass late in the race, Mears was able to get back onto the lead lap and pass some cars to finish 14th, his second top-15 run of 2014. Mears now sits 11th in driver points, and while it's unlikely that will stick, his hot start has to give Mears and his team confidence, and with confidence comes better results. Surprise Chase contender? A longshot, but suddenly not looking like a crazy notion.
Underdog Selection No. 2: AJ Allmendinger for JTG-Daugherty Racing; started 25th, finished 26th
While it wasn't as pretty as Mears' day, Allmendinger had a solid midpack run that was good enough for second in this class. It's not a bad run, and after mechanical problems at Daytona, it lifts Allmendinger three spots to 21st in driver points, which is third in his group, and a shade off where they finished a year ago, though higher in actual standings. In comparison to Furniture Row Racing in 2013 and now Germain Racing, though, Allmendinger's finishes do hint at some deeper internal problems at his team…something that was showing last year as well. They have a huge opportunity here to overcome the past and move onto the next tier of competition (think closer to Richard Petty Motorsports or even Chip Ganassi Racing than to the other small teams), but they have to capitalize on it every step of the way. So far, they haven't shown the improvement of the other two, but it's still early, and they have time to find their stride.
Underdog Selection No. 3: Cole Whitt for Swan Racing; started 31st, finished 27th
Swan Racing was quietly impressive in 2013, quietly improving with their single-car operation and posting a few surprisingly strong runs along the way. Now, after expanding to two cars for 2014, the team is looking like they could emerge as one of the best small teams this year. Whitt has been solid, and while his results aren't top 20's, his Phoenix run in particular was notable among his peers. He's outperforming veterans like David Ragan and David Gilliland, and that's not as easy as it might seem. This team is one that bears keeping an eye on this year to see where they land in this group.
Underdog Pick of the Week- Las Vegas: Casey Mears for Germain Racing
In this section, I'll give you my pick among the small teams to have a strong run in the upcoming race.
My Phoenix pick, AJ Allmendinger, didn't quite get it done, finishing second in class to Casey Mears and 26th overall, but he did beat the rest of the underdogs in the desert.
This week, teams head to the the first of many intermediate-track races on the schedule, races which are probably the hardest on this group because so much of the race is determined by how equipment rolls off the truck, an area where the big-money teams still have a big advantage. I'm going with Mears this week, not only based on his strong start to 2014 but to a solid three top-10 finishes in 10 races at Las Vegas. That's not what a bigger team would be happy with, but for a smaller team, a top-10 would be a great day. I'm not sold on Mears doing that, but a top 15 isn't out of the question.
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: Phoenix 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: Casey Mears for Germain Racing; started 18th, finished 14th
This week wasn't just about the equipment this team gets from Richard Childress Racing, though it's notable that of three RCR teams and four satellite operations, only Ryan Newman had a better result on Sunday. Mears' car wasn't handling well for most of the race, and Mears lost a lap early, but the No. 13 team worked on making it better throughout and never gave up on it. Thanks to a lucky dog pass late in the race, Mears was able to get back onto the lead lap and pass some cars to finish 14th, his second top-15 run of 2014. Mears now sits 11th in driver points, and while it's unlikely that will stick, his hot start has to give Mears and his team confidence, and with confidence comes better results. Surprise Chase contender? A longshot, but suddenly not looking like a crazy notion.
Underdog Selection No. 2: AJ Allmendinger for JTG-Daugherty Racing; started 25th, finished 26th
While it wasn't as pretty as Mears' day, Allmendinger had a solid midpack run that was good enough for second in this class. It's not a bad run, and after mechanical problems at Daytona, it lifts Allmendinger three spots to 21st in driver points, which is third in his group, and a shade off where they finished a year ago, though higher in actual standings. In comparison to Furniture Row Racing in 2013 and now Germain Racing, though, Allmendinger's finishes do hint at some deeper internal problems at his team…something that was showing last year as well. They have a huge opportunity here to overcome the past and move onto the next tier of competition (think closer to Richard Petty Motorsports or even Chip Ganassi Racing than to the other small teams), but they have to capitalize on it every step of the way. So far, they haven't shown the improvement of the other two, but it's still early, and they have time to find their stride.
Underdog Selection No. 3: Cole Whitt for Swan Racing; started 31st, finished 27th
Swan Racing was quietly impressive in 2013, quietly improving with their single-car operation and posting a few surprisingly strong runs along the way. Now, after expanding to two cars for 2014, the team is looking like they could emerge as one of the best small teams this year. Whitt has been solid, and while his results aren't top 20's, his Phoenix run in particular was notable among his peers. He's outperforming veterans like David Ragan and David Gilliland, and that's not as easy as it might seem. This team is one that bears keeping an eye on this year to see where they land in this group.
Underdog Pick of the Week- Las Vegas: Casey Mears for Germain Racing
In this section, I'll give you my pick among the small teams to have a strong run in the upcoming race.
My Phoenix pick, AJ Allmendinger, didn't quite get it done, finishing second in class to Casey Mears and 26th overall, but he did beat the rest of the underdogs in the desert.
This week, teams head to the the first of many intermediate-track races on the schedule, races which are probably the hardest on this group because so much of the race is determined by how equipment rolls off the truck, an area where the big-money teams still have a big advantage. I'm going with Mears this week, not only based on his strong start to 2014 but to a solid three top-10 finishes in 10 races at Las Vegas. That's not what a bigger team would be happy with, but for a smaller team, a top-10 would be a great day. I'm not sold on Mears doing that, but a top 15 isn't out of the question.
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 The Profit on CNBC 500 was brought to you by the letter "D," for Dominant. Rarely can a Sprint Cup race weekend be so thoroughly dominated by one driver like Kevin Harvick dominated in Phoenix. Harvick was the fastest driver on the track in both practice sessions on Saturday in nearly any metric that could be thought of. On Sunday, he climbed through the field from 13th to sniff the lead before the Competition Caution flew on Lap 37. After overcoming the Team Penske duo, Harvick was nearly unassilable. - Phil Allaway
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Sidebar Stories: Phoenix
by Phil Allaway
Letter of the Race: Sunday's The Profit on CNBC 500 was brought to you by the letter "D," for Dominant. Rarely can a Sprint Cup race weekend be so thoroughly dominated by one driver like Kevin Harvick dominated in Phoenix. Harvick was the fastest driver on the track in both practice sessions on Saturday in nearly any metric that could be thought of. On Sunday, he climbed through the field from 13th to sniff the lead before the Competition Caution flew on Lap 37. After overcoming the Team Penske duo, Harvick was nearly unassilable. - Phil Allaway
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Sidebar Stories: Phoenix
by Phil Allaway
Wolfe Misses Race For Birth Of Child
Paul Wolfe, crew chief of Brad Keselowski's Alliance Truck Parts Ford, flew back to North Carolina Saturday after receiving word that his wife, Aleia, had gone into labor with their first child. A combination of Greg Irwin and Brian Wilson took over crew chiefing duties in Wolfe's absence.
Aleia gave birth to her first child, a little boy, at 2:30am EST Sunday morning. Caden Paul Wolfe weighed in at 7 pounds, 10 ounces. We at Frontstretch send our congrats to the Wolfes.
Knockout Qualifying Generally A Hit...But
Friday afternoon marked the debut of the short track variant of knockout qualifying in the Sprint Cup Series. Generally speaking, it was relatively popular amongst the drivers. Except for one aspect of the sessions.
NASCAR has decreed that teams cannot hook their cars up to machines in order to cool them down. As a result, teams have been forced to take all the tape off of their cars and run them on track at low speeds in order to cool the engines. The resulting speed differential between those on qualifying laps and those trying to cool their engines was downright dangerous at times.
"When you’re going out there and you’re going 100 mph slower, the closing rate is really fast, so it gets kind of scary," Joey Logano said after qualifying second on Friday. "[With cool-down units], the cars would also go out more often. It takes so long to cool, so if you can do it in five minutes and go back out, there would be more cars on the race track to do a hot lap."
"When you’re going out there and you’re going 100 mph slower, the closing rate is really fast, so it gets kind of scary," Joey Logano said after qualifying second on Friday. "[With cool-down units], the cars would also go out more often. It takes so long to cool, so if you can do it in five minutes and go back out, there would be more cars on the race track to do a hot lap."
Jamie McMurray was also quite critical of NASCAR's anti-cooling rules.
"When we do normal qualifying runs and you shut the car off at the start/finish line and coast back to the garage – when you start the car back up, it’s had enough time to push the air through the radiator that when you start it up, it cools down 20 degrees. Everybody already knew that and I think it’d be hard to police on NASCAR’s side," McMurray said. "I think they need to let us cool the engines down so we can run full tape [on the grill] the whole time and eliminate that. To me, what [the current rules] will start is people buying expensive batteries so you can run better fans on the radiators to push more air – to me, it’ll just save everybody more money if we can just do the cool-down unit."
"When we do normal qualifying runs and you shut the car off at the start/finish line and coast back to the garage – when you start the car back up, it’s had enough time to push the air through the radiator that when you start it up, it cools down 20 degrees. Everybody already knew that and I think it’d be hard to police on NASCAR’s side," McMurray said. "I think they need to let us cool the engines down so we can run full tape [on the grill] the whole time and eliminate that. To me, what [the current rules] will start is people buying expensive batteries so you can run better fans on the radiators to push more air – to me, it’ll just save everybody more money if we can just do the cool-down unit."
Next weekend in Las Vegas will see the debut of the three round knockout qualifying format, along with much higher speeds. Stay tuned, as there should be more on this issue next week.
Quotes to Remember: The Profit on CNBC 500k
compiled by Phil Allaway
"Well, it's just a huge credit to the team really, the organization and everybody who has been a part of this process as we've gone through the winter and over the last couple months of last year. To see the amount of change within Stewart‑Haas Racing with the car, the haulers, the pit boxes, everything that has come with putting all these pieces together is just a huge credit to really these guys and all the guys that work in the shop. I'm just the lucky guy that gets to drive the car around the racetrack when they're dialed in like they were today. Luckily we were able to put it all together." - Kevin Harvick, race winner
"I would have loved to have won the race, am a little disappointed to have come that close. But our team is performing so well. Got a lot of great chemistry and good communication going back and forth. Everybody's confidence is very high. Everybody's mood and morale is really high.
Hopefully we can maintain that and not have any bad luck or make any mistakes and continue to keep working towards winning more races. If we run second enough, we're bound to at least trip into one or two (smiling). We ran second quite a few races in the last 10 or so races we run. I feel really good. I feel like we're coming around the corner, peaking at the right time this season to try to run for the championship." - Dale Earnhardt, Jr., finished second
"It feels good to run up front and be competitive. We know under this system wins are the only things that count. Last year you would have said second and thirds were great but this year they are just so-so. We were close. I could see it the whole race and I think some of the long run stuff we were just as good as anybody but then the short run stuff we were just kind of okay. It was a good run either way and something to be proud of and hang our hat on. We just know we have to be a little better and move from here." - Brad Keselowski, finished third
"It was fun out there. I had a really good Shell Pennzoil Ford. That 4 car was just so fast. I was joking on the radio that on the back bumper of that car it says freaky fast and they weren’t lying when they put that on there. We had a really good car, just not as good as his. On that last restart, the last two restarts, I figured I might as well go for it. With a win being so important you might as well go for it and I tried to stuff it in there three-wide and gave up a spot by doing that but overall it is all about the win. We didn’t quite get that today but we will go to Vegas and try again." - Joey Logano, finished fourth
"You know when Ryan Newman is in front of you on a restart it’s going to get interesting. I didn’t know if it was going to get interesting because me and him were side-by-side or because he got side-by-side with somebody else. We were able to capitalize on it. Our Pepsi Max Chevrolet started the race really strong and we just didn’t like four tires. We needed two tires and we came in and got two on that last pit stop and unfortunately got caught under the caution under green a lap down. Great fight by this team. What a week it has been for this No. 24 team from that top-five in Daytona, the Pepsi Max Test Drive II and then here we are with another top-five here at Phoenix. Great way to start the season." - Jeff Gordon, finished fifth
"A good day. I was in position to be third or fourth a couple of different times late in the race. Just racing incidents happened where I lost a couple of spots and have to work my way back through the field, but all in all okay. We thought we would be a little stronger unloading this weekend. Had to work for it really hard and next week’s test in Las Vegas is going to be very helpful for us. It looks like we spent a lot of time focusing on closing out ’13 strong which was what we needed to do and maybe a couple of guys got a head start on this 2014 package." - Jimmie Johnson, finished sixth
"We had a great race. We just needed to qualify better. We had a fast race car all day but it takes so long to pass people. I really love this place. The track is aging and getting better and it makes it fun. I had a good time, just wish we could have had a better finish. We did it to ourselves on Friday thought. We put ourselves in that spot and it was really hard to get through the field." - Carl Edwards, finished eighth
"We fought hard all day with our Skittles Camry. Just didn’t have the speed that we were looking for, especially getting off the corner. Dave (Rogers, crew chief) and the guys made the car better during the day, but we just didn’t have the handle to run with the leaders. We had a seventh to 10th-place car today and brought it home in ninth. Looking forward to Vegas next weekend." - Kyle Busch, finished ninth
"Overall a good day. It’s really hard to pass here. I thought a top 10, especially being really quick in all the practices and qualifying in the top three for our first, what I would say is our real race of the season is a great way to start. We have had two solid cars both races this year and just can’t wait to get to (Las) Vegas. That is a really good track for me and our cars are really good this year. So I’m pretty pumped about everything right now." - Jamie McMurray, finished tenth
"I felt like we started a lot better than we were yesterday. Yesterday I didn’t think we were competitive and today I thought we had a top-10 Husky Tools Toyota, we were doing the right things with it which was actually a huge improvement from yesterday. Kind of raced our way up there. We had everything going okay and looked like we were maybe going to sneak out a fifth or sixth or seventh -- somewhere in there -- then the caution fell right after we pitted and put is a lap down. We were the lucky dog and then we were in traffic the rest of the day. I just couldn’t negotiate traffic. My car would be so aero tight, I couldn’t really do anything. Just couldn’t really go forward." - Matt Kenseth, finished 12th
"Nothing worked for us today – I mean nothing. We made a number of chassis adjustments to our Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet but never could find the grip that was needed. The guys worked hard to find a combination for this track but it just didn’t materialize. The way we struggled is not what we expected after a pretty solid final practice on Saturday. But I can honestly say that we all gave it our best effort and had to work really hard just to finish 22nd." - Martin Truex, Jr., finished 22nd
"The reality is I think we had a decent car. I don’t think anyone had anything for a couple of those guys, especially the 4 (Kevin Harvick). The guys on this Aaron’s Dream Machine Camry worked really hard and made a lot of gains over the weekend from where we started to where we finished. The first run, I think we were one of the fastest cars on the track and the second run we were trying to make an adjustment and the left rear jack screw broke so we didn’t get our adjustment. I think we even went the wrong way and that killed us -- we lost track position and went a lap down. We fought hard and still had a decent car on the long run relative to comp(arison) and we got the lucky dog. Low and behold the right front, came back around to catch up and I wasn’t going that fast, it just blew the bead out, not sure why. We had some cords after the first stop, but that was after 100 laps and we blew it there after 60. Then after that it was just catchup and fighting to stay one lap down, hoping for the lucky dog." - Brian Vickers, finished 25th
"I would have loved to have won the race, am a little disappointed to have come that close. But our team is performing so well. Got a lot of great chemistry and good communication going back and forth. Everybody's confidence is very high. Everybody's mood and morale is really high.
Hopefully we can maintain that and not have any bad luck or make any mistakes and continue to keep working towards winning more races. If we run second enough, we're bound to at least trip into one or two (smiling). We ran second quite a few races in the last 10 or so races we run. I feel really good. I feel like we're coming around the corner, peaking at the right time this season to try to run for the championship." - Dale Earnhardt, Jr., finished second
"It feels good to run up front and be competitive. We know under this system wins are the only things that count. Last year you would have said second and thirds were great but this year they are just so-so. We were close. I could see it the whole race and I think some of the long run stuff we were just as good as anybody but then the short run stuff we were just kind of okay. It was a good run either way and something to be proud of and hang our hat on. We just know we have to be a little better and move from here." - Brad Keselowski, finished third
"It was fun out there. I had a really good Shell Pennzoil Ford. That 4 car was just so fast. I was joking on the radio that on the back bumper of that car it says freaky fast and they weren’t lying when they put that on there. We had a really good car, just not as good as his. On that last restart, the last two restarts, I figured I might as well go for it. With a win being so important you might as well go for it and I tried to stuff it in there three-wide and gave up a spot by doing that but overall it is all about the win. We didn’t quite get that today but we will go to Vegas and try again." - Joey Logano, finished fourth
"You know when Ryan Newman is in front of you on a restart it’s going to get interesting. I didn’t know if it was going to get interesting because me and him were side-by-side or because he got side-by-side with somebody else. We were able to capitalize on it. Our Pepsi Max Chevrolet started the race really strong and we just didn’t like four tires. We needed two tires and we came in and got two on that last pit stop and unfortunately got caught under the caution under green a lap down. Great fight by this team. What a week it has been for this No. 24 team from that top-five in Daytona, the Pepsi Max Test Drive II and then here we are with another top-five here at Phoenix. Great way to start the season." - Jeff Gordon, finished fifth
"A good day. I was in position to be third or fourth a couple of different times late in the race. Just racing incidents happened where I lost a couple of spots and have to work my way back through the field, but all in all okay. We thought we would be a little stronger unloading this weekend. Had to work for it really hard and next week’s test in Las Vegas is going to be very helpful for us. It looks like we spent a lot of time focusing on closing out ’13 strong which was what we needed to do and maybe a couple of guys got a head start on this 2014 package." - Jimmie Johnson, finished sixth
"We had a great race. We just needed to qualify better. We had a fast race car all day but it takes so long to pass people. I really love this place. The track is aging and getting better and it makes it fun. I had a good time, just wish we could have had a better finish. We did it to ourselves on Friday thought. We put ourselves in that spot and it was really hard to get through the field." - Carl Edwards, finished eighth
"We fought hard all day with our Skittles Camry. Just didn’t have the speed that we were looking for, especially getting off the corner. Dave (Rogers, crew chief) and the guys made the car better during the day, but we just didn’t have the handle to run with the leaders. We had a seventh to 10th-place car today and brought it home in ninth. Looking forward to Vegas next weekend." - Kyle Busch, finished ninth
"Overall a good day. It’s really hard to pass here. I thought a top 10, especially being really quick in all the practices and qualifying in the top three for our first, what I would say is our real race of the season is a great way to start. We have had two solid cars both races this year and just can’t wait to get to (Las) Vegas. That is a really good track for me and our cars are really good this year. So I’m pretty pumped about everything right now." - Jamie McMurray, finished tenth
"I felt like we started a lot better than we were yesterday. Yesterday I didn’t think we were competitive and today I thought we had a top-10 Husky Tools Toyota, we were doing the right things with it which was actually a huge improvement from yesterday. Kind of raced our way up there. We had everything going okay and looked like we were maybe going to sneak out a fifth or sixth or seventh -- somewhere in there -- then the caution fell right after we pitted and put is a lap down. We were the lucky dog and then we were in traffic the rest of the day. I just couldn’t negotiate traffic. My car would be so aero tight, I couldn’t really do anything. Just couldn’t really go forward." - Matt Kenseth, finished 12th
"Nothing worked for us today – I mean nothing. We made a number of chassis adjustments to our Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet but never could find the grip that was needed. The guys worked hard to find a combination for this track but it just didn’t materialize. The way we struggled is not what we expected after a pretty solid final practice on Saturday. But I can honestly say that we all gave it our best effort and had to work really hard just to finish 22nd." - Martin Truex, Jr., finished 22nd
"The reality is I think we had a decent car. I don’t think anyone had anything for a couple of those guys, especially the 4 (Kevin Harvick). The guys on this Aaron’s Dream Machine Camry worked really hard and made a lot of gains over the weekend from where we started to where we finished. The first run, I think we were one of the fastest cars on the track and the second run we were trying to make an adjustment and the left rear jack screw broke so we didn’t get our adjustment. I think we even went the wrong way and that killed us -- we lost track position and went a lap down. We fought hard and still had a decent car on the long run relative to comp(arison) and we got the lucky dog. Low and behold the right front, came back around to catch up and I wasn’t going that fast, it just blew the bead out, not sure why. We had some cords after the first stop, but that was after 100 laps and we blew it there after 60. Then after that it was just catchup and fighting to stay one lap down, hoping for the lucky dog." - Brian Vickers, finished 25th
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TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
Thinkin' Out Loud: Phoenix Edition
by Mike Neff
Pace Laps: A Tale Of Two At Stewart-Haas, Handcuffs, And A Budding Rivalry
by the Frontstretch Staff
The Big Six: Questions Answered After the The Profit on CNBC 500
by Amy Henderson
Harvick's Dominance Raises the Question: Does Years Of Experience Mean a Significant Advantage at a Track?
by Aaron Creed
NASCAR's Drought In The Desert... A Case of Bad Timing
by Tom Bowles
~~~~~~~~~~~
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: The inaugural Las Vegas 400 in 1998 was a relatively staid affair. However, there was some history made. What happened?
Check back Tuesday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Friday's Answer:
Q: The 2008 Lucas Oil 150 was the site of a crazy incident at the beginning of the race that could have decided the Camping World Truck Series championship (ultimately, it didn't). What happened?
A: Entering Turn 3 on the first lap, Ron Hornaday and Kyle Busch had contact. Busch continued on without issue, but Hornaday spun out and nosed into the outside wall. Hornaday came down the banking and was hit hard by J.R. Fitzpatrick. Johnny Benson, Hornaday's primary competitor for the title, also hit Hornaday. Butch Miller, Mike Bliss and Jack Sprague were also involved. The crash can be seen here.
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: The inaugural Las Vegas 400 in 1998 was a relatively staid affair. However, there was some history made. What happened?
Check back Tuesday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Friday's Answer:
Q: The 2008 Lucas Oil 150 was the site of a crazy incident at the beginning of the race that could have decided the Camping World Truck Series championship (ultimately, it didn't). What happened?
A: Entering Turn 3 on the first lap, Ron Hornaday and Kyle Busch had contact. Busch continued on without issue, but Hornaday spun out and nosed into the outside wall. Hornaday came down the banking and was hit hard by J.R. Fitzpatrick. Johnny Benson, Hornaday's primary competitor for the title, also hit Hornaday. Butch Miller, Mike Bliss and Jack Sprague were also involved. The crash can be seen here.
Miller was out of the race on the spot. Bliss and Fitzpatrick made some repairs and got back out before pulling out for the night. Sprague continued and finished on the lead lap in 17th. Hornaday's team made repairs behind the wall, which allowed him to finish the race 34 laps down in 25th. Benson was able to continue and was battling for 13th when he collided with T.J. Bell and crashed in Turn 1 on Lap 87. A third incident of the day put Benson out and allowed Hornaday to finish in front of him.
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 Kevin Rutherford
-- Fan's View Commentary by S.D. Grady
-- Numbers Game: The Profit on CNBC 500 by Tom Bowles
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, and more!
Tomorrow on the Frontstretch:
Going By The Numbers by Kevin Rutherford
Kevin returns with another look at the numbers after Phoenix.
Couch Potato Tuesday by Phil Allaway
This past weekend, the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series were all in action at Daytona International Speedway for their season openers. 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 two races -- and who is just happy to get onto an intermediate track.
Racing to the Point by Brett Poirier
Brett is back with another commentary to make you think. This week, Brett talks about the procession of cars crawling around the track to cool their engines.
Voices From The Heartland by Jeff Meyer
Jeff's back with another interesting opinion piece.
-----------------------------
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©2014 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!
©2014 Frontstretch.com
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