Friday, August 08, 2014

The Frontstretch Newsletter: Watkins Glen Gets Underway

THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
August 8th, 2014
Volume VIII, Edition CXXXII

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FRONTSTRETCH AT THE TRACK!
tk

Twitter: @NASCARBowles

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This Weekend's TV Schedule

Friday, August 8

Time                                              Telecast                                                                                                                      Network
9:30 AM - 11:00 AM                     Nationwide Series Practice No. 1                                                                           FOX Sports 1
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM                  K&N Pro Series Autolite Iridium XD 150                                                                FOX Sports 1*/ (from August 1)
12:00 PM - 12:30 PM                 NASCAR Live No. 1                                                                                                    FOX Sports 1
12:30 PM - 2:00 PM                    Sprint Cup Series Practice No. 1                                                                            FOX Sports 1
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM                      Nationwide Series Happy Hour                                                                               FOX Sports 1
3:00 PM - 4:30 PM                      AMA Pro Flat Track: Indianapolis Mile, Timed Practice                                       FansChoice.tv^
3:30 PM - 4:30 PM                      NASCAR Live No. 2                                                                                                    FOX Sports 1
4:30 PM - 6:00 PM                      Sprint Cup Series Happy Hour                                                                                FOX Sports 1
5:00 PM - 5:30 PM                      NASCAR America                                                                                                       NBC Sports Network
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM                      AMA Pro Flat Track: Indianapolis Mile, Main Events                                             FansChoice.tv^

Saturday, August 9

Time                                             Telecast                                                                                                                       Network
3:00 AM - 4:30 AM                       Sprint Cup Series Practice No. 1                                                                            FOX Sports 1*# (from August 8)
4:30 AM - 6:00 AM                       Sprint Cup Series Qualifying                                                                                   FOX Sports 1*# (from August 8)
9:30 AM - 11:00 AM                     Nationwide Series Qualifying                                                                                  ESPN 2
11:30 AM - 1:00 PM                     Sprint Cup Series Qualifying                                                                                   ESPN 2
1:15 PM - 4:00 PM                      IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge: Road America                            IMSA.com^
2:00 PM - 2:15 PM                      NASCAR Countdown                                                                                                 ABC
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM                      Langley Speedway Practice                                                                                     FansChoice.tv^
2:15 PM - 5:00 PM                      Nationwide Series Zippo 200                                                                                  ABC
4:30 PM - 6:00 PM                      Langley Speedway Qualifying                                                                                  FansChoice.tv^
5:20 PM - 6:45 PM                      TUSC Qualifying (All Classes)                                                                                 IMSA.com/FansChoice.tv^
5:55 PM - 9:35 PM                      Lake County Speedway Banner Night                                                                    FansChoice.tv^
6:00 PM - 7:20 PM                      Evergreen Speedway Practice                                                                                 FansChoice.tv^
6:55 PM - 10:00 PM                    Langley Speedway 4CDL.com/TNCC Night at the Races                                 FansChoice.tv^
7:05 PM - 8:05 PM                      IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Race No. 1                                                                        FansChoice.tv^
7:45 PM - 8:30 PM                      Evergreen Speedway Qualifying                                                                              FansChoice.tv^
8:45 PM - 11:45 PM                    Evergreen Speedway Seattle Sun Tan Figure 8 Nationals                                 FansChoice.tv^

Sunday, August 10

Time                                             Telecast                                                                                                                         Network
3:00 AM - 4:00 AM                       motoGP World Championship Grand Prix of Indianapolis Qualifying              FOX Sports 1* (from August 9)
10:50 AM - 11:50 AM                   IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Race No. 2                                                                        FansChoice.tv^
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM                   NASCAR RaceDay                                                                                                      FOX Sports 2
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM                    Moto3: Indianapolis                                                                                                     FOX Sports 1
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM                    NASCAR Countdown                                                                                                  ESPN
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM                      Moto2: Indianapolis                                                                                                     FOX Sports 1
1:00 PM - 4:00 PM                      Sprint Cup Series Cheez-It 355 at the Glen                                                            ESPN
1:30 PM - 3:00 PM                      Pirelli World Challenge: Mid-Ohio                                                                             NBC Sports Network*/ (from August 2-3)
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM                      motoGP World Championship Grand Prix of Indianapolis                                  FOX Sports 1
3:30 PM - 5:00 PM                      TORC Series Battle at the Chip                                                                                 NBC Sports Network*/ (from August 5-6)
5:00 PM - 5:30 PM                      Formula DRIFT: Atlanta (Road to the Championship), Part 1                              NBC Sports Network*/ (from May 9)
6:30 PM - 9:30 PM                      TUSC Continental Tire Road Race Showcase                                                       FOX Sports 1*
9:30 PM - 10:00 PM                    NASCAR Victory Lane                                                                                                  FOX Sports 1

* - Tape Delayed
/ - Highlighted Coverage
# - Repeat Coverage
^ - Available via free online streaming
$ - Available via password-protected online streaming.  Check with your internet and/or programming provider for availability
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Top News
by Justin Tucker
 
Joe Gibbs Racing Will Not Appeal Indy Penalties
 
On Thursday afternoon (Aug. 7), Joe Gibbs Racing announced that they would would not be appealing the penalties levied against Denny Hamlin, crew chief Darian Grubb and the No. 11 FedEx team for infractions found in post-race inspection after the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway weeks ago. Read more

Bandit Industries, Jeffrey Earnhardt Announce 2-Race Deal

Bandit Industries announced on Thursday it has signed a two-race deal to sponsor Jeffrey Earnhardt, JD Motorsports and Earnhardt's No. 4 Chevrolet in the Nationwide Series. Read more

Have news for Justin and the Frontstretch? Don't hesitate to let us know; email us at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com.

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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!

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Frontstretch Folio: Cheez-It 355 at the Glen
by Brad Morgan

The Sprint Cup Series travels to Watkins Glen International Raceway for the 22nd race of the 2014 Sunday, Aug. 10. Television coverage of the Cheez-It 355 at The Glen begins at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN; your local Motor Racing Network (MRN) affiliate or SiriusXM Channel 90 will provide the radio broadcast. Drivers will compete for at least 90 laps (221 miles) before the checkered flag waves.

Records and Facts

Kyle Busch beat Brad Keselowski off the line following a lap 88 green flag and then stayed ahead of the No. 2 Ford Fusion to win at Watkins Glen for the second time in this race last season. Busch and Keselowski were also in serious contention for victories in the 2011 and 2012 renditions of this event – both won by Marcos Ambrose.

Busch has three road course wins in total, ranking him third among active drivers in that category. He still has a long way to go to catch Jeff Gordon (9) and Tony Stewart (7), who rank first and second on the all-time list.

Busch will try for back-to-back wins at the Glen, a feat that would put him in a class with Ambrose, Gordon, Mark Martin and Tony Stewart.

Track Facts

Track Length: 2.45-mile road course with 11 turns
Banking: 6 – 10 degrees
Frontstretch: 2,141 ft.
Backstretch: 1,839 ft.
Grandstand Seating: 41,000
Website: http://www.theglen.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WatkinsGlenInternational
Twitter: http://twitter.com/wgi

Pre-race Schedule

Practices: Friday, Aug. 8, 12:30 - 2 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1
Happy Hour: Friday, Aug. 8, 4:30 - 5:55 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1
Qualifying: Saturday, Aug. 9, 11:40 a.m. ET on ESPN2

VIPs

Grand Marshal: TBA
Command to start engines: TBA
Honorary Starter/Wave Green Flag: TBA
Invocation: TBA
National Anthem: TBA
Flyover: TBA

Race Day Forecast

Sunday: Mostly Sunny
High: 86
Low: 62

They Said It:

"Watkins Glen International is just a fast road course. Most of the corners are high speed. It's a fun course because of that. Each road course we go to has their little bit of differences. Sonoma Raceway is a slower track where rear grip is such a premium there that you can easily tear off the rear tires. At Watkins Glen, it's important to get a good overall balance. If you are a little tight, you are not going to get through the S's very well and through the high speed stuff. If you are loose, the slower speed stuff, you are going to cook the rear tires. This is more of an overall balance than say compared to a Sonoma. You are constantly looking to find rear grip to not burn the rear tires off it." – AJ Allmendinger


"Obviously I'm very comfortable at a road course, and I just love Watkins Glen. I love the area, the track and going to Victory Lane there. I know what I need at this track, as far as the setup of the car, the feel of the car, and it's something that I can communicate back to Drew (Blickensderfer). I don't need a lot of direction and can really tell the guys what adjustments to make so we have a good car on Sunday. This race is still a lot of pit strategy, and a lot of things can happen on the track too. You are never guaranteed a win at this level. Even if you have the best car, which does help, nothing is handed to you. You need the best strategy, good pit stops and have everything fall in place. It takes a whole team, more than just the driver, to win. We just always feel like we're capable or being up front and competing for the win." – Marcos Ambrose


"I don't know that I'm that great but I do enjoy them. Sonoma is a little better for me than Watkins Glen but we've had some decent finishes the past few years. I'm not really sure why. You've really got to have everything go right on the road courses. You can't make dumb mistakes, dive bomb someone and crash, take yourself out of the race. I think we can get a good finish, we just have to have everything go right and not do something that takes us out of the running for a good finish." – Clint Bowyer

"It's really hard to pass. Obviously the harder it is to pass the more track position means, so you try to get all you can on the restarts. At a place like Watkins Glen there are better passing opportunities than somewhere like Sonoma. I think historically you see more wrecks and things like that at Sonoma whereas at Watkins Glen ,you can get by a guy if you're faster than him. It's a fun road course and it's totally opposite from Sonoma. It has really high speeds and the setup is a lot different than you would run at Sonoma, which all makes for an interesting weekend." – Paul Menard

"It's definitely a big weekend for our team. Obviously it's not been the season that we had hoped it would be, and definitely not sitting where we'd like to be in points. But we felt like Watkins Glen would be a good place for us to kind of put in a little bit of extra effort. We decided to go out there and test just a few weeks ago and try to improve our chances because that's been a good track for me and also the team has been good on road courses in the past, too. Decided to go test there and try to put a little bit of extra effort in for this race, and hopefully it'll go well for us and we can run up front and hopefully have a shot at getting in a first win at Watkins Glen." – Martin Truex, Jr.


Brad Morgan is a senior writer for Frontstretch.

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Keepin' It Short: Short Track Racing Saved From Extinction
by Mike Neff

Since 1982, NASCAR has been running the All-American Series. It is a points system that crowns a National Champion from among the drivers who compete at all of the NASCAR sanctioned local short tracks across the United States and Canada. For over 30 years the point system has been tweaked and changed to try and take into account all of the different rules implemented by various tracks to truly identify the champion among the thousands of drivers across the countries. The latest iteration is taking into account starting position to try and compensate for the Northeastern tracks who handicap multi-race winners by making them start deeper in the pack. The points are also awarded based on number of cars in the field of each race, up to 18 cars for maximum points.

Throughout the years, the car count piece of the equation has been a bone of contention that has resulted in some shenanigans that ultimately brought the validity of the championships into question. People have complained about start and park cars in the national touring series for some time, but they have been an issue at local tracks for years. Drivers who found themselves in contention to make a run at the national title have paid other drivers to start and park or brought their own backup cars out onto the track to take the green flag to ensure they had maximum cars for maximum points. While the practice has been implemented for many years, it has been taken to a whole new level in 2014.

Lee Pulliam is attempting to do something that has never been done before. He has won the National Championship in the last two years, becoming the third driver in history to repeat as a Champion. No driver has ever done it three years in a row. Pulliam is in the mix this season, along with Keith Rocco. Rocco won the title in 2010 and has not finished lower than third in the point standings since 2009. The two former champions are currently chasing Anthony Anders, the three-time South Carolina State Champion who is pulling out all of the stops to win the National Championship this year, and that is were the controversy begins.

A few weeks ago we highlighted the issues the plagued races at Anders home track of Greenville-Pickens Speedway when Pulliam took a trip to the track to compete against Anders in twin Late Model features. The curious twists and turns became even more dramatic this past weekend. Anders started in 10th in the first of two races to try and score maximum points. Randy Porter was dominating the first race when one of the cars owned by Anders stopped on track to bring out the caution. On the restart, Anders aggressively moved Porter to take the win. Porter didn't like the way he was raced and door slammed Anders on the cool down lap,. Anders responded by spinning Porter on the track. Track ownership informed Porter he was not allowed to race in the second feature.

18 cars started the first feature so, without Porter the field would be one short for maximum points. Miraculously another car was included in the field of the second event so that maximum points were available again. Anders started 10th again and this time Jeremy Burns had the race well in hand when the laps were winding down. This time Anders son went for a slow spin by himself to bring out a caution and put Anders on the back bumper of Burns. Try as he might Anders could not move Burns as the laps counted off and Burns won the race. Anders protested Burns car and the part-time race refused to have his engine torn down since he is only running a handful of races this season and can't afford to rebuild his engine. As a result he was disqualified and Anders was given the win.

Call it what you want but a National Champion shouldn't be a sore loser enough to protest another car just to attempt to get the maximum points on a night when you are outrun. That is only half of the story however, because the number of cars that are being included in the Late Model races that do not belong, just to get maximum points, is the bigger issue. As we stated at the beginning, start and parking has been a part of the National Title chase for many, many years. The difference in prior years and this year is that Greenville-Pickens is allowing Sport Trucks, Super Late Models and even Street Stocks into the Late Model races to achieve full fields. Start and parking with cars that are legal for a division is one thing. It isn't right and certainly questionable on the ethical front, but at least they are legal cars for the division. Trucks and Street Stock will not pass tech for Late Models and should not be allowed in the races period.

The ultimate problem is that NASCAR has chosen not to take a stand in this despicable bastardization of the championship. In a response to Race22.com, they stated that the rules are in place and individual tracks can modify the rules as they see fit and add or remove any rules they choose. Unless the people at Greenville-Pickens swallow their pride over having a National Champion from their track and stop allowing illegal cars in their Late Model races, the title will be Anders.

The bottom line is, NASCAR integrity is constantly called into question in the national touring series due to questionable caution flags and other rules calls. This is another black eye to the sport and they appear to have no desire to step in and make sure the title, that has their name plastered all over it, is won in an honorable way. One thing is for sure, the banquet at the end of the year will be very interesting.

Whelen All-American National Points

With the length of this weeks column already talking about the title chase, we'll just post the points this week.

Pos. Name Tracks Races Wins Top 5s Top 10s Points

1 Anthony Anders Anderson, Myrtle, Hickory, Greenville 39 23 34 37 710
2 Lee Pulliam Caraway, S Boston, Greenville, Motor Mile, Southern Natl 32 15 27 28 691
3 Keith Rocco Waterford, Stafford, Thompson 31 11 24 27 673
4 Peyton Sellers Langley, Motor Mile, Caraway, S Boston 27 5 23 27 629
5 Ryan Preece Riverhead, Thompson, Stafford, Waterford 30 10 23 27 616
6 Dillon Bassett East Carolina, Caraway, Motor Mile, Langley, Anderson, Greenville, Southern Natl, Hickory 24 7 19 23 612
7 Kres Vandyke Kingsport, Motor Mile, L Pine 24 8 20 22 608
8 Tommy Lemons, Jr Southern Natl, Caraway, Motor Mile, S Boston 32 4 19 25 590
9 Matt Bowling Caraway, Langley, Motor Mile, S Boston, Southern Natl 28 2 20 24 576
10 Chad Finchum L Pine, Kingsport 22 10 19 19 574

This week's racing schedule can be found here.


Mike Neff is a senior writer for Frontstretch.com. Feedback can be sent to mike.neff@frontstretch.com.

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FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA
 
Q: In the past, some Cup drivers have voluntarily chosen to take relief during road races for various reasons.  In 1998, Boris Said relieved Jimmy Spencer (and qualified Spencer's car) at Watkins Glen because Spencer was hurt the previous weekend in the Brickyard 400.  Dick Trickle was not hurt, but simply putrid on road courses.  As a result, Donlavey Racing brought in a driver to relieve Trickle in the Bud at the Glen.  Who did they get?

Check back Monday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!

Thursday's Answer:

Q: In 1991, Tommy Kendall was a fairly well-known road racing personality to NASCAR fans.  He had competed part-time in Winston Cup for Marc Reno in 1990 and was the man to go to if you needed a ringer.  Kendall nearly won at Sonoma while subbing for the injured Kyle Petty.  However, Kendall's career was put on hold after the Camel Continental at Watkins Glen that summer.  What happened?

A: Kendall was driving the No. 65 EDS-sponsored Riley & Scott Intrepid when the left rear wheel nut dislodged from the hub entering Turn 5 (now 9).  The wheel left the car, spinning Kendall out.  With the general lack of runoff in Turn 5 since the track is fairly close to the property line, Kendall flew off the road and went head-on into the wall.  The impact caused the car to bound into the air before coming to rest.  The crash can be seen in this clip.  The crash ended up being one of a number of incidents used as reasoning by Watkins Glen International to build the Inner Loop for 1992.

Kendall broke his legs in the crash and sat out for over a year recooperating.  He would return late in the 1992 season and run well in a couple more races in the Intrepid before switching to GTO-class Mustangs in Jack Roush's stable for 1993.  Kendall, a very tall driver, still experiences the effects of the aforementioned crash on a daily basis.  He walks with a permanent limp as a result of the crash.


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 Monday in the Frontstretch Newsletter:
-- Cheez-It 355 at the Glen Race Recap by Justin Tucker
-- Never Fear, The Underdogs Are Here by Amy Henderson
-- Sidebar Stories: Watkins Glen by Phil Allaway
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch Columns and More!

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This Weekend on the Frontstretch:

Four Burning Questions: Watkins Glen by Matt Stallknecht
Matt covers all the big stories and questions entering wine country in the Finger Lakes.

Nationwide Breakdown: Zippo 200 by Kelly Crandall
We'll have all the post-race analysis you need following this weekend's action at Watkins Glen.

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Monday on the Frontstretch:

Thinkin' Out Loud: Cheez-It 355 at the Glen by Mike Neff
Mike covers all the details and post-race analysis from Pocono.

Big Six: Cheez-It 355 at the Glen by Amy Henderson
Amy tackles the who, what, when, where, how and why from Pocono.

Pace Laps: All Racing Series by the Frontstretch Staff
Our staff keeps you posted on all the racing action that occurred over the weekend.

Bowles-Eye View by Tom Bowles
Tom returns to tackle one of the most important storylines post-Pocono.

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