Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
Sept. 18, 2014
Volume VIII, Edition CLVI
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What to Watch: Thursday
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 Sylvania 300: 43 cars entered
Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points:
No. 40 - Landon Cassill for Hillman Racing
No. 66 - Mike Wallace for Michael Waltrip Racing/Identity Ventures Racing
No. 77 - Corey LaJoie for Randy Humphrey Racing
Driver Changes:
No. 32 - Timmy Hill returns to the seat, replacing Joey Gase. Hill is running a limited schedule with the team based on funding, returning to the organization that ran him for much of his rookie season last year.
No. 33 - David Stremme returns to the seat, replacing Travis Kvapil. Stremme is running a limited schedule with the team based on funding.
No. 66 - Mike Wallace is in the seat, replacing Joe Nemechek. Wallace is running the car on a one-race deal, attempting to qualify for his first Sprint Cup race in five years.
No. 77 - Corey LaJoie is in the seat, replacing Joe Nemechek. LaJoie will be making his Sprint Cup Series debut, auditioning for a limited schedule with the organization for later this season.
No. 93 - Travis Kvapil is in the seat, replacing JJ Yeley. Kvapil is in the fourth, start-and-park BK Racing car.
Since there are only 43 entries, no one will fail to qualify.
Not Entered:
No. 37 - Mike Bliss for Tommy Baldwin Racing
No. 95 - Michael McDowell for Leavine Family Racing
Nationwide Series VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300: 41 cars entered
Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points:
No. 20 - Justin Boston for Joe Gibbs Racing
No. 22 - Michael McDowell for Team Penske
No. 31 - Chase Pistone for Turner Scott Motorsports
No. 33 - Cale Conley for Richard Childress Racing
No. 80 - Ross Chastain for HRE Motorsports
Driver Changes:
No. 5 - Austin Theriault returns to the seat, replacing Kevin Harvick. Thierault is running a limited schedule based on sponsorship.
No. 10 - Jeff Green returns to the seat, replacing Blake Koch. This car will start-and-park for Tri-Star.
No. 20 - Justin Boston is in the seat, replacing Denny Hamlin. Boston will be making his Nationwide Series debut.
No. 22 - Michael McDowell is in the seat, replacing Ryan Blaney. McDowell is running a limited schedule for Penske Racing.
No. 23 - Carlos Contreras returns to the seat, replacing Cody Ware. Contreras is running a limited schedule for Rick Ware.
No. 31 - Chase Pistone returns to the seat, replacing Dylan Kwasniewski. Pistone is running a limited schedule for Turner Scott, jumping in for races where Kyle Larson does not run.
No. 33 - Cale Conley returns to the seat, replacing Paul Menard. Conley is running a limited schedule for Richard Childress Racing.
No. 42 - Dylan Kwasniewski returns to the seat, replacing Kyle Larson. Kwasniewski moves to Turner Scott's primary car with Kyle Larson running New Hampshire in the Cup Series.
No. 44 - Blake Koch returns to the seat, replacing Will Kimmel. Koch will run the distance.
No. 54 - Sam Hornish, Jr. returns to the seat, replacing Kyle Busch. Hornish continues his seven-race schedule for Joe Gibbs Racing, running events where Kyle Busch is unable to commit.
No. 55 - Jamie Dick returns to the seat, replacing Brennan Newberry. Dick is the primary driver of this car.
No. 93 - Mike Wallace returns to the seat, replacing Kevin Swindell. Wallace is the primary driver of this car when funding doesn't bump him out of the seat.
Drivers who must qualify on speed:
No. 5 - Austin Theriault for JR Motorsports
No. 10 - Jeff Green for TriStar Motorsports (Guaranteed to start via the Past Champions' Provisional)*
No. 13 - Carl Long for Carl Long Racing
No. 17 - Tanner Berryhill for Vision Racing
No. 33 - Cale Conley for Richard Childress Racing
No. 46 - Ryan Ellis for The Motorsports Group*
No. 70 - Derrike Cope for Derrike Cope Racing
No. 72 - John Jackson for Carter Motorsports*
No. 74 - Mike Harmon for Mike Harmon Racing*
No. 80 - Ross Chastain for HRE Motorsports
No. 89 - Morgan Shepherd for Shepherd Motor Ventures*
Not Entered:
No. 29 - Daniel Suarez for RAB Racing with Brack Maggard
No. 90 - Martin Roy for DGR Motorsports
No. 98 - Aric Almirola for Biagi-DenBeste Racing
Camping World Truck Series UNOH 175: 30 trucks entered
Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points: None
Driver Changes:
No. 07 - B.J. McLeod returns to the seat, replacing Todd Shafer. It's unknown if McLeod will complete the distance.
No. 8 - John Hunter Nemechek returns to the seat, replacing his father Joe Nemechek. John Hunter continues to run at all NASCAR-approved tracks for drivers undr 18.
No. 20 - Gray Gaulding returns to the seat, replacing Austin Dillon. Gaulding is running a limited schedule based on funding.
No. 32 - Cameron Hayley returns to the seat, replacing Tayler Malsam. Hayley is running a limited schedule for Turner Scott based on funding.
No. 36 - Justin Jennings returns to the seat, replacing Scott Stenzel. This truck will start and park.
No. 63 - JR Heffner returns to the seat, replacing Justin Jennings. Heffner is running an oval race after dirt tracking for the team at Eldora earlier this summer.
No. 74 - An unknown driver will be in the seat, replacing Mike Harmon. Harmon's truck has typically started and parked as of late.
Since there are only 30 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. 36 - Justin Jennings for MB Motorsports
No. 74 - Unknown driver for Mike Harmon Racing
No. 86 - Brandon Brown for Brown Motorsports
Not Entered:
No. 03 - Mike Affarano for Affarano Motorsports
No. 12 - Ted Minor for Cefalia Motorsports
No. 40 - Todd Peck for Peck Motorsports
No. 57 - Adam Edwards for Norm Benning Racing
ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards ZLOOP 150: 34 cars entered
Driver Changes:
No. 00 - An unknown driver will be in the seat, replacing Billy Alger.
No. 0 - Wayne Peterson returns to the seat, replacing Con Nicolopoulos.
No. 5 - Bobby Gerhart returns to the seat, replacing Mark Littleton.
No. 10 - Rick Clifton returns to the seat, replacing Ed Pompa.
No. 40 - Mark Meunier returns to the seat, replacing Josh Reeves.
No. 52 - Matt Tifft returns to the seat, replacing Ken Schrader.
No. 55 - Cody Coughlin returns to the seat, replacing J.J. Haley.
No. 66 - Daniel Suarez is in the seat, replacing Bob Strait. Suarez will be making his ARCA Racing Series debut.
No. 69 - Will Kimmel returns to the seat, replacing Chris Bailey, Jr.
No. 72 - Brandon Gdovic is in the seat, replacing Anderson Bowen. Gdovic will be making his ARCA Racing Series debut.
No. 97 - Galen Hassler is in the seat, replacing Katlynn Leer.
Notable Entries:
No. 5 - Bobby Gerhart for Bobby Gerhart Racing
No. 6 - Josh Williams for Williams Motorsports
No. 15 - Brennan Poole for Venturini Motorsports
No. 22 - Austin Wayne Self for Cunningham Motorsports
No. 25 - Justin Boston for Venturini Motorsports
No. 41 - Ben Rhodes for Turner Scott Motorsports
No. 44 - Frank Kimmel for Win-Tron Racing
No. 52 - Matt Tifft for Ken Schrader Racing
No. 66 - Daniel Suarez for Venturini Motorsports
No. 72 - Brandon Gdovic for Cunningham Motorsports
No. 77 - Tom Hessert, III for Cunningham Motorsports
No. 88 - Justin Allison for Team BCR
No. 90 - Grant Enfinger for Team BCR/GMS Racing
No. 98 - Mason Mitchell for Mason Mitchell Motorsports
Not Entered:
No. 1 - Clayton Weatherman for Weatherman Racing
No. 11 - Blake Hillard for Fast Track Racing
No. 34 - Darrell Basham for Darrell Basham Racing
No. 37 - Kyle Benjamin for Kyle Benjamin Racing
No. 73 - Dale Shearer for Dale Shearer Racing
No. 80 - Brian Finney for Finney Motorsports
No. 82 - Cody Erickson for Empire Racing
TUDOR United SportsCar Championship Lonestar Le Mans: 51 cars entered in 4 classes
Prototype (P) Entries: 10
No. 01 - Scott Pruett/Memo Rojas for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates
No. 07 - Joel Miller/Tristan Nunez for SpeedSource
No. 2 - Ed Brown/Johannes van Overbeek for Extreme Speed Motorsports
No. 5 - Joao Barbosa/Christian Fittipaldi for Action Express Racing
No. 10 - Jordan Taylor/Ricky Taylor for Wayne Taylor Racing
No. 31 - Eric Curran/Boris Said for Marsh Racing
No. 42 - Alex Brundle/Gustavo Yacaman for OAK Racing
No. 60 - Oswaldo Negri, Jr./John Pew for Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian
No. 70 - Tom Long/Sylvain Tremblay for SpeedSource
No. 90 - Michael Valiante/Richard Westbrook for Spirit of Daytona Racing
Prototype Challenge (PC) Entries: 10
No. 08 - Chris Cumming/Jack Hawksworth for RSR Racing
No. 09 - Duncan Ende/Bruno Junqueira for RSR Racing
No. 7- Martin Fuentes/John Martin for Starworks Motorsport
No. 8 - Mirco Schultis/Renger van der Zande for Starworks Motorsport
No. 25 - Luis Diaz/Sean Rayhall for 8Star Motorsports
No. 38 - James French/David Ostella for Performance Tech Motorsports
No. 52 - Gunnar Jeannette/Frankie Montecalvo for PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports
No. 54 - Jon Bennett/Colin Braun for core Autosport
No. 85 - Chris Miller/Stephen Simpson for JDC/Miller MotorSports
No. 87 - Tomy Drissi/Marc Drumwright/Martin Plowman for BAR1 Motorsports
No. 88 - Johnny Mowlem/Tom Papadopoulos for BAR1 Motorsports
Grand Touring Le Mans (GTLM) Entries: 11
No. 3 - Antonio Garcia/Jan Magnussen for Corvette Racing
No. 4 - Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner for Corvette Racing
No. 17 - Wolf Henzler/Bryan Sellers for Team Falken Tire
No. 55 - Bill Auberlen/Andy Priaulx for BMW Team RLL
No. 56 - John Edwards/Dirk Müller for BMW Team RLL
No. 62 - Giancarlo Fisichella/Pierre Kaffer for Risi Competizione
No. 91 - Dominik Farnbacher/Marc Goossens for SRT Motorsports
No. 93 - Jonathan Bomarito/Kuno Wittmer for SRT Motorsports
No. 910 - Frédéric Makowiecki/Patrick Pilet for Porsche North America (core Autosport)
No. 911 - Jörg Bergmeister/Richard Lietz/Nick Tandy for Porsche North America (core Autosport)
No. 912 - Michael Christensen/Patrick Long for Porsche North America (core Autosport)
Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) Entries: 19
No. 007 - Al Carter/James Davison for TRG-AMR
No. 18 - Khaled Al-Qubaisi/Larry Pegram for Muehlner Motorsports America
No. 19 - Mark Klenin/Alec Udell for Muehlner Motorsports America
No. 22 - Cooper MacNeil/Leh Keen for Alex Job Racing
No. 23 - Mario Farnbacher/Ian James for Alex Job Racing/Team Seattle
No. 27 - Andrew Davis/Patrick Dempsey for Dempsey Racing
No. 30 - Henrique Cisneros/Jakub "Kuba" Giermaziak for NGT Motorsport
No. 33 - Jeroen Bleekemolen/Ben Keating for Riley Motorsports
No. 35 - Seth Neiman/Spencer Pumpelly/Dion von Moltke for Flying Lizard Motorsports
No. 44 - Andy Lally/John Potter for Magnus Racing
No. 45 - Nelson Canache/Spencer Pumpelly for Flying Lizard Motorsports
No. 48 - Christopher Haase/Bryce Miller for Paul Miller Racing
No. 58 - Jan Heylen/Madison Snow for Snow Racing/Dempsey Racing
No. 63 - Alessandro Balzan/Jeff Westphal for Scuderia Corsa
No. 71 - Mike Skeen/Mike Vess for Park Place Motorsports
No. 73 - Patrick Lindsey/Norbert Siedler for Park Place Motorsports
No. 81 - Ben Barker/Damien Faulkner for GB Autosport
No. 300 - Dane Cameron/Markus Palttala for Turner Motorsport
No. 555 - Townsend Bell/Bill Sweedler for AIM Autosport
Entered, but Already Withdrawn:
No. 46 - Charles Espenlaub/Charles Putman for Fall-Line Motorsports (GTD). According to Fall-Line Motorsports, Charles Putman was in a 4-wheeler accident in Wyoming on Monday and is currently recovering in the hospital from multiple injuries. The team has decided to pull their entry for this weekend.
Not Entered:
No. 1 - Ryan Dalziel/Scott Sharp for Extreme Speed Motorsports (P). The team is running this chassis in the WEC Six Hours of Austin instead.
No. 78 - James Hinchcliffe/Scott Mayer for Starworks Motorsport (P). The Honda DP program has been parked for the remainder of 2014, but the team expects to be back next year in some capacity.
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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!
Let me start off by saying I have never been a big fan of the Chase. Probably also means I'm not particularly enamored with the new format, either. If you like it, fine. I know it was Brian France's attempt to direct more attention to NASCAR as the NFL season opened, and it hasn't particularly worked out.
Especially the way the NFL continues to draw more attention to itself off the playing field. First we get the Ray Rice mess, in which the commissioner completely blew the penalty the first time, and then along comes the Adrian Peterson matter. Any of you folks ever get your behind or legs switched when you were little and misbehaved? I know I did. I had some marks on my legs a lot worse than Peterson's kid.
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Oh well, I apologize for getting off the subject. Some things just get my attention. So I tuned in on Sunday hoping that the racing would get my attention, compared to hearing about somebody's off-track transgressions. I did manage to recall that a driver got penalized a couple of races some time back for a domestic abuse case as I settled down in the recliner. The pre-race talk was particularly interesting to me, especially the comments some of them had regarding their usual trips through the garage area trying to gauge the feelings of competitors.
A lot of the talk centered around the changes some crews had made in the hope that they improved their driver's chances in the race. Steve Letarte told Jerry Punch he'd been up all night, and I can understand that.
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Apparently, after the race got rolling, a lot of the chatter on radios was about crews going back and forth with their changes, and what they were going to do if and when they got into "clean air."
That brought a thought into my mind. What can we do about this "clean air" business? It apparently gives a tremendous advantage to the car that's out there, but I'm not too sure it had anything to do with the eventual winner on Sunday. Brad Keselowski was obviously driving the fastest car, and he was also doing some outstanding driving. His last pass for the lead between Kevin Harvick and Kyle Larson was a thing of beauty, as well as a heck of a move.
I thought maybe Keselowski wouldn't have caught them so easily if they hadn't been fighting for the position themselves, but how do you prevent that? The same result seemed to apply when Jeff Gordon got there to take over second. They were still battling while Keselowski checked out.
Not sure what can be done to equalize the "clean air" deal. It seems to be a product of the cars all being equalized.
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I liked the comment by Larson's crew chief at one point – "Clear, shut the door." Before that, there was a good one from the Harvick camp, prior to a restart – "Make sure you don't go early."
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The caution in the final laps was disappointing, but aren't they all? After the race, my son, Matt, walked in and said he thought it was time to do away with the late-race cautions. I don't know how you do that, but after a night or so of thinking about it I had another one of my harebrained ideas.
How about when we get inside the last fuel window, and after everybody has enough of that fantastic Sunoco stuff to go the distance, we throw a competition caution. All the drivers still in the Chase stay out, along with anybody else in the top 10 who is not in the postseason. Everybody else heads for the garage. They get paid for where they were running when the caution waved.
Now, we've got 16 cars or less out there who have a real ax to grind, and no tail-markers to get in the way or into each other like the two lovers did on Sunday (and if that deal is still on, I'll bet it was on unsteady footing for a day or so).
Then, we run it like an enduro on a short track. Unless the track is blocked, or there is a specific danger, no yellows. Not for somebody brushing the wall or slowing down on the track. Instructions would be given to the drivers that if you don't think you're doing to be able to continue and can't make it to the pits, get down in the grass.
We did something similar to this with ASA at Milwaukee back in the '80s. One race up there, we were having trouble with drivers stopping on the track and causing a yellow. Rex Robbins solved it at the next program by pointing out all the spots on that mile where a car could pull into the infield.
He told them, "If you pull into one of those spots so we don't have to go yellow, we'll send a wrecker across the infield as quick as we can. If you don't and stop on the track, we're gonna send a wrecker out to push you to one of those pulloffs, and then leave you. You'll sit there until the race is over."
It worked.
John Potts is a Senior Writer for Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at john.potts@frontstretch.com.
Before we even get into the race action, the way in which the race was delayed was very unusual. We didn't even get to the scheduled start time for NCWTS Setup before the race was pushed back. That's rare. Usually, NASCAR waits at least partially into the time period in which the race was supposed to be run before making such a decision; making a choice any earlier is usually the result of an emergency. Examples of those situations are NASCAR delaying both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide races at Richmond in 2008 due to Tropical Storm Hanna, or moving the AdvoCare 500 at Atlanta in 2011 due to rains from Tropical Storm Lee.
The primary feature on the show was a series of interviews that Kaitlyn Vincie conducted with the drivers of Kyle Busch Motorsports (Busch, Erik Jones and Darrell Wallace, Jr.). The Jones and Wallace portions of the piece didn't stand out, but Busch's portion did. He talked about the team's struggles to find sponsorship, something that has been a big problem for almost the entire existence of the organization. The Toyota backing that fans often see on the trucks is not real sponsorship. Instead, it's more of a thanks for Toyota's manufacturer support. Busch claims that he hasn't done the best job getting sponsors for the team (much of his current backing comes via Joe Gibbs Racing). If anything, putting the Toyota logos (Ex: ToyotaCare) on the trucks may turn sponsors away from the team because they think the trucks are already taken care of. KBM probably should consider running a race for one or both of their trucks without the Toyota logos to show prospective backers that the space is, in fact, available.
Frontstretch Line of the Week
From Beyond the Cockpit: John Force on Racing 'til You Drop and the Ladies
"I'm under contract for five more years! But you've got to have corporate America to pay the bills and that's why I keep pitching it. I've made it clear, I love the fans, love the excitement, love the racing, love the travel, love being here with my wife and kids, and my grandkids are usually here." - John Force on whether he's close to retirement
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TODAY AT FRONTSTRETCH:
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Wednesday's Answer:
Q: In 2005, Kurt Busch came into Loudon as not only the defending champion of the Sylvania 300, but the defending NEXTEL Cup Champion. However, Busch could not produce another stellar performance to get his Chase off on the right foot. What happened that essentially killed his title defense?
A: On the third lap of the race, Scott Riggs got loose in turn 1 and went up the track to try to catch his Valvoline Chevrolet. Riggs ended sliding up into Busch, who then spun out and hit the wall head-on. The crash can be seen here.~~~~~~~~~~
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.
Danica Patrick's crew chief stops by to give an update on how the driver's doing after her wreck with Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. in Chicagoland, among other topics.
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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