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The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
July 31st, 2014
Volume VIII, Edition CXXVI
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Today's TV Schedule
Time Telecast Network
by Phil Allaway
Entry List Update:
Note: These entries are accurate as of Wednesday night. However, they are still subject to change.
Sprint Cup Series GoBowling.com 400: 43 cars entered
Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points:
No. 40 - Landon Cassill for Hillman Racing
No. 66 - Joe Nemechek for Michael Waltrip Racing/Identity Ventures Racing
No. 93 - Johnny Sauter for BK Racing*
Driver Changes:
No. 33 - Alex Kennedy returns to the seat, replacing David Stremme. Kennedy is running a limited schedule in the car based on funding.
No. 37 - Dave Blaney is in the seat, replacing Bobby Labonte. Blaney is running for a new, third car trotted out by Tommy Baldwin Racing this summer. It's unknown whether he will go the distance.
No. 66 - Joe Nemechek returns to the seat, replacing Brett Moffitt. Nemechek runs for Jay Robinson when a funded, Toyota-sponsored driver does not take the seat.
No. 93 - Johnny Sauter is in the seat, replacing Mike Bliss. Sauter is driving a fourth car for BK Racing to "fill the field" and will start-and-park.
Since there are only 43 cars entered, no one will fail to qualify.
Not Entered:
No. 12 - Juan Pablo Montoya for Team Penske
No. 21 - Trevor Bayne for Wood Brothers Racing
No. 29 - Matt Crafton for RAB Racing with Brack Maggard
No. 95 - Michael McDowell for Leavine Family Racing
Nationwide Series U.S. Cellular 250 presented by New Holland: 39 cars entered
Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points:
No. 20 - Michael McDowell for Joe Gibbs Racing
No. 22 - Brad Keselowski for Team Penske
No. 31 - Chase Pistone for Turner Scott Motorsports
No. 40 - Josh Wise for The Motorsports Group
No. 87 - Joe Nemechek for Identity Ventures Racing
Driver Changes:
No. 5 - Josh Berry is in the seat, replacing Kevin Harvick. Berry will be making his Nationwide Series debut.
No. 20 - Michael McDowell returns to the seat, replacing Matt Kenseth. McDowell is running a limited schedule for JGR at some standalone events.
No. 22 - Brad Keselowski returns to the seat, replacing Joey Logano. Keselowski is part of a merry-go-round of Penske drivers sharing this seat.
No. 23 - Josh Reaume returns to the seat, replacing Robert Richardson, Jr.
No. 29 - Kenny Wallace returns to the seat, replacing Scott Lagasse, Jr.
No. 31 - Chase Pistone returns to the seat, replacing Dylan Kwasniewski.
No. 42 - Dylan Kwasniewski returns to the seat, replacing Kyle Larson. Kwasniewski runs this car at the standalone events when Larson does not compete.
No. 44 - Hal Martin returns to the seat, replacing David Starr.
No. 46 - An unknown driver will be in the seat, replacing Matt DiBenedetto.
No. 54 - Sam Hornish, Jr. returns to the seat, replacing Kyle Busch. Hornish is running seven races this season.
No. 74 - Mike Harmon returns to the seat, replacing Kevin Lepage.
No. 87 - Joe Nemechek returns to the seat, replacing Josh Reaume. Nemechek is also running in the Cup event, at Pocono so it's possible this entry may change.
Since there are only 39 cars entered, no one will fail to qualify. However, these drivers must still qualify on speed:
No. 5 - Josh Berry for JR Motorsports
No. 10 - Blake Koch for TriStar Motorsports
No. 17 - Tanner Berryhill for Vision Racing
No. 29 - Kenny Wallace for RAB Racing with Brack Maggard
No. 46 - Unknown driver for The Motorsports Group
No. 70 - Derrike Cope for Derrike Cope Racing
No. 74 - Mike Harmon for Mike Harmon Racing
No. 84 - Chad Boat for Billy Boat Motorsports
No. 89 - Morgan Shepherd for Shepherd Motor Ventures*
Not Entered:
No. 25 - John Wes Townley for Athenian Motorsports
No. 72 - Carl Long for Carter Racing
No. 98 - David Ragan for Biagi-DenBeste Racing
Camping World Truck Series Pocono Mountains 150: 32 trucks entered
Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points:
No. 3 - Austin Dillon for Richard Childress Racing
No. 28 - Ryan Ellis for FDNY Racing
No. 32 - Kyle Larson for Turner Scott Motorsports
Driver Changes:
No. 07 - An unknown driver will be in the seat, replacing Jared Landers.
No. 08 - Ray Black, Jr. is in the seat, replacing Korbin Forrester.
No. 0 - Caleb Roark returns to the seat, replacing Joe Cobb.
No. 3 - Austin Dillon returns to the seat, replacing his brother, Ty Dillon.
No. 8 - Joe Nemechek returns to the seat, replacing his son, John Hunter Nemechek.
No. 9 - Jason White is in the seat, replacing Chase Pistone.
No. 20 - Justin Lofton returns to the seat, replacing Gray Gaulding.
No. 63 - Justin Jennings returns to the seat, replacing J.R. Heffner.
Since there are only 32 trucks entered, no one will fail to qualify. However, these drivers must still qualify on speed:
No. 05 - John Wes Townley for Athenian Motorsports
No. 0 - Caleb Roark for JJC Racing*
No. 3 - Austin Dillon for Richard Childress Racing
No. 23 - Spencer Gallagher for GMS Racing
No. 28 - Ryan Ellis for FDNY Racing
No. 40 - Todd Peck for Peck Motorsports
No. 59 - Kyle Martel for Martel Racing
*- Expected to Start-and-Park
Not Entered:
No. 03 - Mike Affarano
No. 2 - Richard Childress Racing
No. 14 - Michael Annett for NTS Motorsports
No. 80 - Jody KnowlesNo. 82 - Cody Erickson for Empire Racing
Verizon IndyCar Series Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio: 22 cars entered
Driver Changes: None
Entries:
No. 2 - Juan Pablo Montoya for Team Penske
No. 3 - Helio Castroneves for Team Penske
No. 7 - Mikhail Aleshin for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
No. 8 - Ryan Briscoe for NTT Data Chip Ganassi Racing
No. 9 - Scott Dixon for Target Chip Ganassi Racing
No. 10 - Tony Kanaan for Target Chip Ganassi Racing
No. 11 - Sebastien Bourdais for KVSH Racing
No. 12 - Will Power for Team Penske
No. 14 - Takuma Sato for A.J. Foyt Enterprises
No. 15 - Graham Rahal for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
No. 17 - Sebastian Saavedra for KVAFS Racing
No. 18 - Carlos Huertas for Dale Coyne Racing
No. 19 - Justin Wilson for Dale Coyne Racing
No. 20 - Mike Conway for Ed Carpenter Racing
No. 25 - Marco Andretti for Andretti Autosport
No. 27 - James Hinchcliffe for Andretti Autosport
No. 28 - Ryan Hunter-Reay for Andretti Autosport
No. 34 - Carlos Munoz for Andretti Autosport/HVM Racing
No. 67 - Josef Newgarden for Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing
No. 77 - Simon Pagenaud for Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports
No. 83 - Charlie Kimball for Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing
No. 98 - Jack Hawksworth for Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian
ARCA Racing Series ModSpace 125: 33 cars entered
Driver Changes:
No. 00 - Wayne Peterson returns to the seat, replacing Tom Woodin.
No. 06 - Don Thompson is in the seat, replacing Wayne Peterson.
No. 6 - Josh Williams returns to the seat, replacing Mark Lambert.
No. 10 - Ed Pompa returns to the seat, replacing Blake Hillard.
No. 40 - Evan Pardo is in the seat, replacing Mike Senica.
No. 52 - Matt Tifft returns to the seat, replacing Ken Schrader.
No. 66 - Brennan Poole is in the seat, replacing J.J. Haley.
No. 68 - Michael Lira returns to the seat, replacing Chris Bailey, Jr.
No. 69 - Will Kimmel returns to the seat, replacing Michael Lira.
No. 97 - Roger Carter returns to the seat, replacing Ray Ciccarelli
Notable Entries:
No. 5 - Bobby Gerhart for Bobby Gerhart Racing
No. 6 - Josh Williams for Williams Motorsports
No. 15 - John Wes Townley for Venturini Motorsports
No. 22 - Austin Wayne Self for Cunningham Motorsports
No. 25 - Justin Boston for Venturini Motorsports
No. 44 - Frank Kimmel for Win-Tron Racing
No. 52- Matt Tifft for Ken Schrader Racing
No. 53- Andrew Ranger for NDS Motorsports
No. 55- Cody Coughlin for Venturini Motorsports
No. 66- Brennan Poole for Venturini Motorsports
No. 77- Tom Hessert, III for Cunningham Motorsports
No. 88- Justin Allison for Team BCR
No. 90- Grant Enfinger for GMS Racing
No. 98- Mason Mitchell for Mason Mitchell Motorsports
Not Entered:
No. 4- Brandon Jones for Turner Scott Motorsports
No. 8- Barry Layne for Finney Motorsports
No. 11- Fast Track Racing
No. 27- A.J. Fike for Fike Motorsports
No. 29- Wayne Edwards for Brown Motorsports
No. 60- Kyle Weatherman for Roulo Brothers Racing
No. 72- Shannon McIntosh for Cunningham Motorsports
No. 80- Brian Finney for Finney Motorsports
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Got NASCAR-related questions or comments?
Send them Summer Bedgood's way at summer.bedgood@frontstretch.com; and, if you're lucky, you'll get your name in print when she does her weekly column answering back to you – the fans that keep Frontstretch afloat. Frontstretch Fan Q & A will run on Thursdays with a whole new set of Fan Questions and Answers!
Potts' Shots for July 31
What can be done to make the Indianapolis Motor Speedway more conducive to NASCAR-style stock car racing?
The narrow track with long straightaways and comparatively flat turns (nine degrees, 15 minutes of banking – like most NASCAR straights) doesn't lend itself well to the type of rubbin' and racin' that most stock car fans are accustomed to.To be frank, I think driving a stock car around that place is just like driving an Indy Car, just 35 miles an hour or so slower. It's a precision thing. The driver has to hit his or her marks almost dead on every lap.
The passing usually takes place in the pits or on restarts. In Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race, I can only recall one on-track green flag pass for the lead that wasn't on a restart, and that was Jeff Gordon around Kevin Harvick after Harvick, the polesitter, had taken the lead on the start.
You can be sure that the Speedway's management is concerned about the fact that fans are voting with their wallets. A virtual sellout (roughly 230,000 people) for the first Brickyard 400 in 1994 compares to an estimated 70,000 or 85,000 on Sunday, depending on who you ask.
Because I'm slightly prejudiced about it, I hesitate to mention that the Nationwide race on Saturday fares even worse. If you can loose 85,000 people at IMS, 25 or 30,000 are even worse. You could have fired a cannon loaded with grapeshot at a couple of those grandstands and never hit anybody.
Before it was moved from what was then Indianapolis Raceway Park, the crowds were approaching 40,000, the place was packed, and the race was voted the best NASCAR event of the year a couple of times. Yeah, the racing was better on the .686-mile oval, too.
I wasn't doing a column at the time, but I predicted that the first couple of Brickyards would be fantastically successful, but that the race may fade in popularity due to the aforementioned non-suitability for NASCAR and the fact that NASCAR fans like to be able to see all the way around the race track.
I didn't expect it to fall as far as it has, and the economy has obviously had an effect, but 85,000 still compares well with the crowds NASCAR is getting at other venues. Even Daytona is reducing the number of seats available. They don't run in many places with 230,000 seats.
The management at IMS has one possible fix on the table, but they're obviously not completely sold on it as yet. According to IMS president Doug Boles, a new eight-foot wide apron on the inside of the turns has been approved by the board of directors, but no final decision has been made. Rest assured that the effect it may have on IndyCar racing will be a major factor in whether this project gets the go-ahead.
It's been tried on Turn Two at Pocono, but not all the competitors were happy with it. Denny Hamlin said it was like driving into a hole, and added that with today's cars, the apron has to be at the same banking and level as the rest of the turn. I suppose we'll see what we'll see.
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Spent a VERY enjoyable weekend at IMS, working for my friend Jim Morrison at Hawkeye Racing News. My 24-year-old granddaughter, Toni, was my photographer. Her first assignment, and let's just say she's learning fast.
She's been something of a race fan, but never exposed to anything like this. Now she's ready to go back for the 500 next Spring.
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As always, one of the neat things about covering events at IMS is the people you meet. The girls who are essentially the brains of the operation of the Media Center are a delight to be around, and they make everyone feel welcome. I'm looking forward to the Moto GP race in a couple of weeks.
And I was happy to finally meet, in person, Larry MacReynolds. We've been corresponding by e-mail for a couple of years. His best comment was that the Kentucky decals on my three-wheel cart "just won't do." He wants to see it with a "Roll Tide" sticker. What can I say – it's a blue cart. I think he hears all of the UK talk he wants to hear from DW.
Another person I met personally for the first time was my Frontstretch colleague Mike Neff. Very knowledgeable guy, and fun to be around. Can't wait to see him again. And it was positively super to see Susan Chrysler again after about 12 years. One of my favorite people from when I was at Indianapolis Raceway Park and her family was operating Kil-Kare.
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Just how long are race names going to get? Sunday's event was the "Crown Royal presents the John Wayne Walding 400 at the Brickyard powered by BigMachineRecords.com." And I thought Brock Yates' old "Cannonball Baker Sea to Shining Sea Memorial Trophy Dash" was a long title.
It's a sign of the times, folks. When somebody makes a significant contribution to the sponsorship and presentation of an event, they have to be recognized.
John Potts is a Senior Writer for Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at john.potts@frontstretch.com.
Phil Allaway is the Newsletter Manager and a Senior Writer at Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Critic84.
Frontstretch Line of the Week
From Beyond the Cockpit with Tyler Reddick – Trucks, Super Dirt Late Models and Mini Outlaw Sprint Karts
"They are nothing like it. It is cool going around the same track but that is about the only thing in common between the Late Model and the Truck. The Truck gets around there in 21.8 or 21.9 before it gets much drier. Late Models go around there in 16 or 17 at the slowest. There is a big difference for sure but it is a lot of fun out there. It is different seeing the track from a different perspective based on the pace. Going around so much slower you get to see a few things around the race track that you didn't notice before." - Tyler Reddick, on driving his truck at Eldora.
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TODAY AT FRONTSTRETCH:
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Wednesday's Answer:
Q: In the 2003 Pennsylvania 500, then-rookie Casey Mears was having a decent run in the No. 41 Target Dodge. Chip Ganassi's move to get Mears more seat time in both the Busch Series and ARCA via Braun Racing was clearly paying off. However, Mears' decent run at the triangle came up about 75 miles short of completion. What happened?
A: Mears was having a decent run, but with 34 laps to go, Mears spun and backed hard into the wall in Turn 1. The Target Dodge was shortened up significantly. Unfortunately, TNT decided not to show a replay of the race at the time. Mears was ok, but he was out of the race.Frontstretch Trivia Guarantee: If we mess up, you get the shirt off our backs! If we've provided an incorrect answer to the Frontstretch Trivia question, be the first to email the corrected trivia answer to trivia@frontstretch.com and we'll send you a Frontstretch T-Shirt ... FREE!
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Coming tomorrow in the Frontstretch Newsletter:
-- Top News from Justin Tucker
-- In Case You Missed It by Staff
-- Keepin' It Short by Mike Neff
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, trivia, and more!
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Tomorrow on the Frontstretch:
Amy returns this week with another intriguing Friday commentary.
Pictures can lead to a thousand laughs; join us in our weekly dose of humor that comes from those candid moments at the track.
Don't let your life sink into the pits. Huston takes a look at the racing stories from the last seven days that should leave you smiling.
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!
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