The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
June 24th, 2014
Volume VIII, Edition XCIX
Top News
As first reported on Monday by Tripp Mickle of Sports Business Journal's Sport Business Daily, longtime NASCAR sponsor The Home Depot will be leaving the sport after their contract expires with Joe Gibbs Racing and the No. 20 Toyota Camry at the end of this season. You can see the rest at Frontstretch here.
Announced Monday, ESPN has canceled their weekday, 30-minute NASCAR program NASCAR Now which has run on the network since 2007. ESPN, which is ending its deal to televise the NASCAR Nationwide Series and select Sprint Cup races at the end of the 2014 season, is now left with no NASCAR-specific programming. For the past couple of seasons, NASCAR Now has aired in the early AM hours, without a fixed time slot, making it very difficult to generate a regular audience.
"We will continue to present the race telecasts at the same high level fans expect from ESPN for the remainder of our final season," said a spokesman for the network, Andy Hall, to Motorsport. "We will continue to aggressively cover NASCAR across our news platforms, including SportsCenter, ESPN.com and others."
NBC will take over broadcasting rights for NASCAR in 2015, splitting with longtime TV partner FOX. Currently, with ESPN canning the NASCAR news and features show, only NBC and Fox Sports 1 are left with daily, weekday NASCAR-specific programming. Viewers now have the choice between watching NBC Sports Network's NASCAR America show, which is filmed between the NBC Sports studios in Stamford, CT and Charlotte, NC or FS1, with their NASCAR Race Hub show filmed at their studios in Charlotte.
NASCAR Hall of Fame Unveils New Rockin' and Racin' Exhibit Today
A new exhibit launches at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in downtown Charlotte, NC today. "Rockin & Racin'" makes its debut at the Hall, as the exhibit explores the relationship between music - whether it be rock, rap or country - and the sport of NASCAR over the years. The special exhibit will take a look at music in the sport, from those who have used NASCAR sponsorships to promote it, to performances at the track and more.
The exhibit will take an in-depth look at four areas of music and racing, including: "Racers Who Rock," "Rockers Who Race," "Rocking the Track," and "NASCAR in Song." Each section will feature artifacts such as trophies, guitars, records, music-inspired driver fire suits and even seven cars that combine music and NASCAR, such as the 1936 moonshine-hauling Ford used in country artist Brantley Gilbert's "Bottoms Up" music video; the 1959 Chevy Corvette from Brad Paisley's "Old Alabama" video, and the 2012 No. 42 Chevy Impala of Juan Pablo Montoya, which was sponsored by country superstar, Taylor Swift.
The new exhibit can be seen now through the end of 2014.
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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 2014. 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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Editor's Note: This week, we have a one-time commentary switch! Mark's Professor Of Speed column will run today while Sonya's Fan's View column will run later this week. Enjoy!
The Twists and Turns of Brain Trauma: Why NASCAR Should Pay Attention
Once again, the National Football League is taking competitor safety to a new level of national attention, and it seems like a suitable issue for NASCAR to consider, as well. Safety is a serious matter, and ignoring it possesses far greater – and more negative – connotations.
The issue involves new research into more easily combating, diagnosing, then possibly treating brain injuries and/or head trauma. Concussions have been front page news for the past few years, and only recently has NASCAR paid relevant attention to this medical concern. The NFL's recent announcement regarding a diagnostic tool to be used in football helmets seems tailor-made for use by the sport. Given the nature of the injuries studied by this emerging technology, Brian France should be both very interested and very involved. Allow me to explain...
This newer research into brain trauma is focused on what scientists refer to as rotational acceleration. When an athlete suffers a head impact, he/she not only experiences a linear acceleration (front and/or rear) but also a rotational form of the movement (side-to-side). The brain, encased within the skull and tethered by nerves to the spinal column, will both rock and twist when affected by violent forces during a tackle or a collision. Such impacts are commonplace in sports like football and ice hockey, but they also pose threats to the safety of race car drivers, as well.
Think about the consequences of a wild spin. Consider the damage possible when a stock car slaps against the outside retaining wall. Observe whenever a car hits a tire barrier or flies side-over-side when barrel-rolling down a straightaway; each of these events puts massive strain on the driver's head and brain. Wearing a HANS (Head and Neck Support) device might be considered a good way to protect against bad injuries, but these pieces of equipment only restrain the driver's head from moving – they do nothing to keep the driver's brain from moving inside the skull. It is the sudden strain of brain movement that damages nerve connections and creates neurological injury.
Now think about how often we see cars slide, spin, and experience side impacts during NASCAR events. Even the slightest stress against the driver's brain can, over time and repeated occurrences, cause trauma leading to neurological damage. Violent, rolling wrecks like the one Ryan Newman experienced during the 2003 Daytona 500 are excellent examples of just how rotational acceleration can pose a threat to a driver's head and brain safety. Sure, Newman walked away from such an accident and managed to race the following weekend, but just how much trauma did his brain suffer from its twisting and turning inside a 3,400-pound whirling dervish?
Unfortunately, this kind of brain injury is overshadowed by its more insidious counterpart, better recognized as linear acceleration. Linear acceleration is the kind of brain trauma that kills quickly – it's what ended the lives of NASCAR drivers like Neil Bonnett, Rodney Orr, Kenny Irwin, Jr., Adam Petty, and Tony Roper. Linear acceleration also prompted NASCAR to require use of the aforementioned HANS device following Dale Earnhardt's death at Daytona in 2001.
The problem is that a racing accident almost always involves two forms of head trauma: the linear kind and the rotational variety. While linear acceleration makes for tragic headlines and mass mourning, it is rotational acceleration that stealthily results in neurological impairment after many seasons behind the wheel.
According to medical research, even mere millimeters of brain movement from highly-common occurrences of rotational acceleration can lead to nerve damage. As explained by Dr. Robert Cantu, a neurosurgeon at Boston University's School of Medicine: "'Because most hits are off-center and because our heads are not square, most of the accelerations in the head are going to be rotational.'" (quoted in Popular Science, August 2013)
Simply put: even the slightest of impacts can cause significant injury.
While much of this data has been known for years, taking measures to protect against such injuries has been slow going. As I have written here before, it took NASCAR until 2014 to begin monitoring for possible brain trauma (and if it was not for multiple concussions suffered by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. it is quite likely that NASCAR would continue to ignore the problem). Such actions may look proactive on the sanctioning body's part, but that is not the case.
Ask drivers like Bobby Allison, Steve Park, Ernie Irvan, and Jerry Nadeau about monitoring for brain trauma caused by rotational acceleration, and you will likely hear a much different story. That's all the more reason for NASCAR to get in line with the NFL and its emerging research methods.
What's there to lose by not getting involved? A lot, I'd say….
Numbers Game: Toyota/Save Mart 350k
by Tom Bowles
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1
2
3
4
5
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$101,635
$110,986
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:
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: In 2002, Jack Sprague was leading the Busch Series points entering Kentucky. However, while dodging raindrops, he had to deal with some adversity during the race. What happened?
Check back Wednesday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Monday's Answer:
Q: Kentucky Speedway hosts their fourth Sprint Cup race this weekend. Unfortunately, the first race was marred by significant issues. What flub by the track resulted in massive backups and generalized anger from fans?
Coming tomorrow in the Frontstretch Newsletter:
-- Top News from Ashley McCubbin
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, and more!
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Tomorrow on the Frontstretch:
Open Wheel Wednesday by the Frontstretch Staff
Did You Notice?... by Tom Bowles
Amy steps up with 1,2,3,4,5 reasons you should be concerned about something going on in NASCAR this week.
NASCAR Mailbox by Summer Bedgood
Summer returns for her weekly session of answering questions from you, our loyal fans. Do you have a question or comment for Summer? Don't be shy. Just send her an email (summer.bedgood@frontstretch.com) and you might just see your name in print!
NASCAR Power Rankings: Top 15 After Sonoma compiled by Michael Mehedin
While Carl Edwards visited Victory Lane for the second time this season, Hendrick Motorsports continued their roll by putting all four teams in the top 10. How did Sunday's action affect the rankings? Find out how your favorite national experts voted, laughing along with their one-liners in the latest update of our weekly NASCAR poll.
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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