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The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
August 4th, 2014
Volume VIII, Edition CXXVIII
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Sprint Cup Race Recap: Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Completes Season Sweep at Pocono
by Justin Tucker
This week, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. learned the identity of his new crew chief in 2015. Greg Ives was the storyline for much of the weekend at Pocono.
The other one? A broom. It appears Earnhardt isn't ready to end his storybook relationship with current crew chief Steve Letarte quite yet.
Employing a well-conceived fuel strategy by Letarte, Earnhardt was able to hold off Kevin Harvick on a restart with three laps to go to win the GoBowling.com 400. That completed his season sweep at Pocono, the first time someone's done so since Denny Hamlin accomplished the feat in 2006. It was also Earnhardt's first sweep since the 2002 season, when he captured victories in both races at Talladega.
"Everything about life right now has been great," he said in his post-race presser after dragging an actual broom all over Victory Lane. "I got my professional life good, and the personal life's doing good. So, I've just learned and grown a lot in the last four or five years working with this group, it's been a big thing."
Earnhardt said before the race his No. 88 Chevrolet was "better" than his winner in June, giving all the credit to Letarte after the race.
"It takes a really, really smart guy to understand what to do to take those gambles," Earnhardt said of Letarte's call. "Sometimes they pay off, sometimes they don't. We had a fast car all day. Steve's strategy was perfect at the end. I don't know if anyone knew what was going on there, but it was pretty awesome."
Earnhardt's third win of 2014 is his best in a season since he won six times in 2004. The win on Sunday also marked Hendrick Motorsports' fifth consecutive at Pocono, as all four drivers with the program have now won here since 2012: Kasey Kahne, Jeff Gordon, and Jimmie Johnson have one win apiece.
Gordon was actually Earnhardt's biggest competition, leading a race-high 63 laps. The No. 24 was clearly dominant during a long green-flag run but Letarte's call for fuel only on the final stop gave the No. 88 better track position. That left Gordon with too many cars to pass and fresh rubber not making enough of a difference down the stretch.
"My restarts weren't terrible today, they weren't bad when we were on the outside and we could make up some spots," he said. "Unfortunately, on those last couple ones, we were on the inside. But with Dale getting out in front of us there through that pit sequence, there was nothing we could do. He was really good. Whoever got out front, him or me, was going to win this race."
The game-changing moment came on lap 118, when Hamlin got loose off the exit of turn 2, setting off a wild 13-car pileup that snatched up several drivers battling for all-important points heading into the stretch run toward the Chase. Brad Keselowski, Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, Brian Vickers and Paul Menard were among those involved.
"I was coming out of turn 2 and [the] 11 car [Hamlin got loose] in front of us and I was trying to avoid him and the car got out from under me," Vickers said. "I don't know if someone got into me or not. One thing led to another trying to avoid the 11 and then I ended up in the wall. It's a shame."
Stewart had the craziest ride of all, ending up on the hood of Menard's No. 27 Chevrolet.
"It started so far in front of us coming off [turn 2] we couldn't see it," "Smoke" said. "Somebody got sideways and started wrecking in front us and we got caught in it. We ended up on top of Paul Menard's hood, which is not where we wanted to end up by any means."
That left everyone close to their fuel windows, pitting shortly after the green came out for their final stop. Letarte got his top engineers on top of the pit box, talking strategy and then chose the two-second, fill-er-up stop that gave Earnhardt the edge.
"We drew it out on a piece of paper," said Letarte. "We had the times, the plan, the this, the that, and when we left pit road we had it like to the tenth of a second and that was that moment in time that, man, we might have somewhat of a clue what we're doing. And it was awesome."
Second-place finisher Harvick had a day that truly fits the definition of a roller coaster. After running in the top 10 for much of the afternoon, the Stewart-Haas Racing driver was busted on pit road for speeding, which led to him being involved in the 13-car accident on lap 118.
"I just hung a left and I just wasn't expecting a two foot by two foot drain to be a foot down into the ground as I went down through the asphalt," he explained to laughter in the media center. "As I went through the drain and jumped up out of it, it hung a left to the wall. But I think we had the wreck clear, just timed the drain wrong, I guess."
However, by use of good pit strategy by crew chief Rodney Childers, choosing not to stop Harvick was able to to find his way back to the front of the field, keeping some pressure on Earnhardt in the closing laps after getting passed. The No. 4 car was ultimately unable to make a move, leaving him to settle for second as the team recovered from the adversity that has hurt them badly in recent weeks.
"This hasn't been one of my better race tracks and the cars have been fast both races here," he added afterward. "Today we were able to capitalize on it and get a good finish."
Joey Logano ran third, Clint Bowyer fourth and Greg Biffle, who also tried to stretch his fuel mileage came home fifth.
Gordon, who now has 1,000 career laps led at Pocono, Jamie McMurray, Ryan Newman, Hamlin and Kasey Kahne rounded out the top 10. Pole sitter Kyle Larson, who never led a single lap wound up 11th followed by underdog Casey Mears and Kurt Busch, who recovered from a tire problem to wind up 13th.
Tire failures in a race happen for all, but for Jimmie Johnson and the No. 48 team, they are becoming an epidemic.
The six-time champion experienced another frustrating day at Pocono Sunday. The troubles started early when, on lap nine, Johnson had a right front tire go soft, causing the side of his car to brush the wall. After making a pit stop, he furiously rallied to make it back inside the top 5 before another blown right front ended his day in 39th.
"It wasn't the best weekend but we still gave ourselves a chance at a win, if not a top 5, today," said the defending series champ. "Came up a little short."
Johnson wasn't the only one that had his day end prematurely. Kyle Busch's run ended before it even had a chance to get going when, on lap 23, the engine gave out on his No. 18 Toyota, leaving him to settle for a 42nd-place finish.
All told, there were 15 lead changes among 10 different drivers, while eight cautions for 35 laps slowed the race pace to 127.411 mph. It was clearly more of an action-packed event than the June 400-miler in the Pennsylvania mountains.
Next week, the Sprint Cup series heads to the beautiful Finger Lakes section of New York and Watkins Glen International for the Cheez-It 355 at the Glen. Green flag is scheduled for 1:19 p.m. Eastern on ESPN.
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Chasing the Chase: Hendrick Teammates Are Running Away With It
Jimmie Johnson, after his third DNF in the last four races, dropped back into a tie for sixth in the standings with Joey Logano, who had a near trouble-free run to third. Carl Edwards maintained the eighth spot, but actually spent a couple of laps in the garage after jumping over a drainage grate while trying to avoid the Big One on lap 118. He would eventually finish three laps down in 29th after breaking his driveshaft. One point behind Edwards is Clint Bowyer, who had a strong run to fourth at Pocono. He blew by Kyle Busch, who was the big loser on the afternoon, dropping four places to tenth after blowing an engine early on and finishing 42nd.
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.
Never Fear, The Underdogs Are Here: Pocono-2 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, we take a peek into how the little guys fared in the race.
Underdog Selection No. 1: Casey Mears for Germain Racing; started 24th, finished 12th
Mears and his organization desperately needed a rebound after finishing 38th and 33rd the last two weeks, but Pocono can be a daunting track for smaller teams if they don't find some setup magic and a little strategy. Several teams hit on pit calls that led to strong finishes, and Mears was one of them, getting fuel at the right time to put himself in position for success. Easily the best in the small-team class, he posted a 12th-place finish, almost a dozen spots better than his career Cup average at the Tricky Triangle after artfully dodging the lap 118 wreck that wiped out so many. Note that Mears had a competitive car, capable of running inside the top 15 and muscled ahead of well-funded teams like Kurt Busch and Austin Dillon down the stretch. His reward? Mears gains two spots in points this week to retake the lead among the small teams.
Underdog Selection No. 2: Justin Allgaier for HScott Motorsports; started 22nd, finished 16th
Allgaier suffered minor damage in the 13-car pileup on lap 118, but that didn't stop him from bringing home his first top 20 since June, tying a career-best finish on the Cup level. Allgaier has had some struggles in his rookie season, and running for an underfunded team makes the learning curve that much steeper. The young driver is learning, though, and has shown that he can finish strong if his cars are working for him. The No. 51 actually ran on the fringes of the top 10 before the crash damage limited his ability to contend; however, a late gamble staying out on fuel had him in the top 5 briefly before circumstances turned against him with late caution flags that bunched up the field.
Underdog Selection No. 3: David Gilliland for Front Row Motorsports; started 30th, finished 17th
Gilliland posted his best finish of 2014 and his best at Pocono since 2008 with a 17th-place run. The really good news for FRM is that teammate David Ragan also took home a top 20 and his best finish of the year, capping off a successful weekend for the program. The two teams from FRM continue to be fairly equal, and that's a sign the team is on the right track. If one driver was scoring strong finishes while the other struggled, that could mean deeper problems, but this team does well in keeping both sides balanced.
Underdog Pick of the Week - Watkins Glen: AJ Allmendinger for JTG-Daugherty Racing
My pick for Pocono was David Ragan, who finished a respectable 19th but was fourth in class as several small teams had better-than-expected runs on Sunday.
Now, it's off to the road course at Watkins Glen this weekend, and my pick for the right-hand turns is AJ Allmendinger. He holds an impressive 9.2 average finish in five Cup races at the Glen, easily the best average in this group (next on the list is Casey Mears with a 19.1). In those five events, he's scored a top 5 and three top 10s, plus he'll drive a car that's contended with Marcos Ambrose there in the No. 47 Chevy. Road courses are an equalizer of sorts, and Allmendinger is not only the best bet to lead this group of drivers, he's an outside threat to win.
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!
Letter of the Race: Sunday's GoBowling.com 400 at Pocono Raceway was brought to you by the letter "P" for Pit Strategy. Much of Sunday's race had the field on multiple agendas, partially determined by how the early cautions fell, and partially by how far teams could go on fuel. It made for a rather confusing race to follow for fans, despite the fact those multiple strategies eventually merged by the end of the race. - Phil Allaway
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Sidebar Stories: Pocono-2
by Phil Allaway
Motorsport.com's Lee Spencer is reporting that Ryan McCray, a tire carrier on Carl Edwards' pit crew, was injured Sunday during a pit stop on Lap 31. McCray's fingers were pinned in between the wheel and brake caliper, a result of speed being everything as they pushed to get the No. 99 car out front. Based on the Twitter explanation of Mike Lingerfelt, Edwards' front tire changer and McCray's partner on the left front wheel, McCray placed the tire on the hub, but failed to get his hand out of the way quick enough. Lingerfelt tightened the lug nuts like normal and proceeded to pin McCray's fingers in the wheel well.
"We are privileged to have NASCAR, ISC and WGI support the IMRRC Award Dinner honoring Chip Ganassi," Argetsinger said. "NASCAR and its partners have done a tremendous job in promoting worldwide awareness of the sport we've loved for so long. Chip has put his heart and soul into the success of every team he owns, and it shows."
"We had ‑‑ we were determined to go home from the last win and improve the car. Steve and the guys went home and studied and improved the setup to where we would be faster. We got a little luck on the win last time with Keselowski hitting the debris. We wanted to be in the driver's seat this go round with a faster car and they did that. I could tell Saturday we had a great race car. Once we got to running there, about halfway through the race, I realized that the 24 and myself were pretty even, which is great, and it sucks at the same time, because we're teammates, got the same motors, we realize what each other is doing setup wise and can lean on each other. But, I guess that's great for Mr. Hendrick to have his ‑‑ to have all his cars up there running up front. But, Jeff was very, very strong and we were going to have a very, very hard time passing him on the racetrack. We could run well, as well or better than him at times, but passing that kind of a car with that kind of speed was going to be a challenge." - Dale Earnhardt, Jr., race winner on needing strategy to prevail
"We had a good car all weekend long and we unloaded good. We had a crazy loose set of tires that we qualified on as you saw. We've just got to keep doing what we're doing. Obviously there's some things that we need to work on - some areas that we need to work on to get a top 5 on a track like this with these long straightaways and everything. So, it's a good day for our RK Motors Toyota. I'm proud of [Brian] Pattie (crew chief). All these guys that work so hard. It's the work during the week, day in and day out that makes the difference when you come to these weekends and it's good to see a good finish." - Clint Bowyer, finished fourth
"Yeah, it did [feel good to run well] but it was still a tough day. We had a 20th-place car and got track position and drove our butt off. We did everything we could. We had a good strategy there and we might have been able to sneak one out. The No. 4 was pretty fast, but if that second caution wouldn't have come out for Kurt, we might have had a prayer to try and steal one, but, overall it was a great day to get the 3M retro paint scheme Ford Fusion up in the top 5. We beat the No. 24 car, which I'm not sure how we did that. They were definitely the fastest car, but we feel good about it. We've got to keep working on our car and trying to find the rest of that speed." - Greg Biffle, finished fifth
"I was in the middle lane and I got stuck three-wide. Just the guys getting runs and guys that can accelerate much faster than what we can and so that put me three-wide in the middle. The No. 15 (Clint Bowyer) was right on my door and it sucked me around and I was just hanging on at that point and I think it was mayhem from everyone checking up from behind. Like I said, I just got sucked around." - Denny Hamlin, finished ninth, on his slide that started the Big One
"You know, he (Mike Wheeler) did a really good job. He called the race nice. Good communication and we were on the same strategy as far as what I was thinking and what he was thinking, so that was good. So, really pretty seamless for the most part. These racetracks are very, very tough on a crew chief because they're the ones that have to make the strategy calls to get you the track position up front and he got me up front. We just didn't have the machine to get us to hold it up there." - Hamlin, on interim crew chief Mike Wheeler's debut
"I honestly didn't see it. I saw a little bit of smoke in front of me. Cars probably four or five rows in front of me, and I saw a car make a hard right. I don't even know who it was, but instantly I knew that they were wrecking. I was trying to get low and I was following Keselowski and everybody started to check up. I was on the brakes as hard as I could and I got creamed from behind and pushed into the wreck. There's nothing you can do when it gets like that, so it was just a big pile up trying to get all we can get on the restarts." - Aric Almirola, finished 35th (Crashed Out)
"The first one, I got tight off turn one and got in the fence. It pushed the rear quarter panel into the tire and got the first flat, so my bad. There on that one, I am clueless. It didn't act like a tire went down and I am not exactly sure if it did. Normally, when they go down that quick they explode and there was no explosion, the tire did not come apart, it just went straight. We are trying to get in there and look at it; obviously the tire is flat now from the impact. Hopefully we can get a reason why. Unfortunate with how hard we fought to get ourselves back in contention and I was really proud of this Lowe's team. It wasn't the best weekend but we still gave ourselves a chance at a win, if not a top 5 today and came up a little short." - Jimmie Johnson, finished 39th (Crashed Out)
"Something in between the frame rails just doesn't want to operate correctly right now and so it's unfortunate because I thought we had a good car this weekend. The car in practice was strong and it felt good and we were biding our time here early. We pitted early to get off sequence a little bit to see if we couldn't do something different than the leaders and it just obviously bit us here. This whole M&M's Camry team deserves better days and I guess today is not one of them." - Kyle Busch, finished 42nd (Blown Engine)
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TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
Thinkin' Out Loud: GoBowling.com 400
by Mike Neff
Pace Laps: Pocono Oddity, Iowa Adventures, Ohio Excellence, and More
by the Frontstretch Staff
The Big Six: Questions Answered After the GoBowling.com 400
by Amy Henderson
Earnhardt Conquering Old Demons - And Closing the Deal
by Tom Bowles
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: In 1987, Tim Richmond led seven laps and finished tenth at Watkins Glen. However, it appears that Richmond greatly benefited from the race being postponed to Monday. What was going on with Richmond on Sunday and what would have happened had the race actually ran as originally scheduled?
Check back Tuesday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Friday's Answer:
Q: Pocono Raceway only recently began hosting IndyCar races once again. Previously, the track hosted a 500-mile CART race through the 1989 season. Why did CART leave Pocono?
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 triviaanswers@frontstretch.com and we'll send you a Frontstretch T-Shirt ... FREE!
Coming Tuesday in the Frontstretch Newsletter:
-- Top News by Ashley McCubbin
-- Fan's View Commentary by S.D. Grady
-- Numbers Game: GoBowling.com 400 by Tom Bowles
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, and more!
Tomorrow on the Frontstretch:
Who's Hot / Who's Not in Sprint Cup: Pocono-Watkins Glen Edition by Brad Morgan
We'll take a look at which drivers are looking good as the series shifts from a triangular circuit to a road course that somewhat resembles a rhombus.
Racing to the Point by Brett Poirier
Brett returns with another interesting commentary that'll make you think.
Jeff returns with his typical blend of sarcastic humor tilted towards one of NASCAR's controversial issues.
Talk back to the Frontstretch Newsletter!
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