THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTERPresented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
September 15, 2014
Volume VIII, Edition CLVIII
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What to Watch: Monday
- On Sunday, Team Penske announced their new V8 Supercar joint venture with Dick Johnson Racing (see Sidebar Stories below). Tonight, Team Penske and Dick Johnson Racing will be holding a press conference/conference call to discuss the partnership and driver Marcos Ambrose's return to Australia. Ambrose will be present, along with team co-owner Roger Penske and Team Penske President Tim Cindric. Dick Johnson will also participate in the press conference.
Today's TV Schedule
Time Telecast Network
5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. NASCAR RaceHub FOX Sports 1
6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. NASCAR RaceHub FOX Sports 2*#
7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. NASCAR America NBC Sports Network
* - Tape Delayed
# - Repeat Coverage
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sprint Cup Race Recap: Keselowski Captures Chase Opener at Chicagoby Justin TuckerCould it be a case of deja vu all over again? Brad Keselowski certainly hopes so.
Just as he did in 2012 on his way to the Sprint Cup Series championship, Keselowski made a daring three-wide pass of Kyle Larson and Kevin Harvick with 17 laps to go, then held off Jeff Gordon by 1.760 seconds to win the chase opening MyAFibStory.com at Chicagoland Speedway for his fifth win of the season and a guaranteed spot in the next round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
"Man, the next two weeks are going to be a lot of fun, knowing we don't have to worry too much and we are going to move up," said Keselowski, who opened the Chase as the top seed.
"I saw Kyle [Larson] and Kevin [Harvick] racing each other really hard, they were aggressively side drafting and I was waiting for an opportunity to strike and it came," Keselowski said. "The car stuck and everything came together."
Jeff Gordon, who came in to Sunday's race seeking his elusive fifth series championship, led 26 laps on the afternoon. However, he had nothing to reel in Keselowski down the stretch and had to settle for second.
Rounding out the top-5 were rookie Kyle Larson, who came from 42nd to the lead at one point in the race in third, Keselowski's Penske teammate Joey Logano in fourth, and Kevin Harvick, who led the most laps with 79 but had to rally back from a loose wheel to finish fifth. Denny Hamlin was sixth, followed by Kyle Busch in seventh and Kurt Busch in eighth. Jamie McMurray finished ninth after leading early on, while Matt Kenseth rounded out the top 10.
Hendrick Motorsports drivers Dale Earnhardt, Jr., six-time and defending Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, and Kasey Kahne would finish 11th - 13th on the afternoon. Ryan Newman would finish 15th for Richard Childress Racing in his No .31 Chevrolet after battling tire woes for much of the afternoon.
While some chasers enjoyed success at Chicagoland Speedway, some were met with disappointment and now find their backs against the wall heading into next week's race at New Hampshire.
Carl Edwards dealt with an ill-handling car and tire problems to finish 20th. AJ Allmendinger and Greg Biffle were never competitive this weekend and finished 22nd and 23rd respectively.
For Almirola, one of the true underdogs in this chase driving for Richard Petty Motorsports this was nothing short of heartbreak. While running sixth and coming down for a routine pit stop, the engine let go on his No. 43 Ford. Almirola was consoled by his team owner Richard Petty after going to the garage.
"Heartbroken, I think, is the easiest way to describe it," Almirola said. "We know we are capable of running in the top 10. Everyone else might not think so, the rest of the world thinks we are underdogs, and we will gladly accept that tag. We don't have anything to hang our heads about."
A look at the MyAFibStory.com 400 by the numbers: There was 18 lead changes among seven different drivers and six cautions for 28 laps slowed the race pace to 142.330 MPH.
Next week the Sprint Cup Series heads to the Granite State and the New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the second race of the 2014 Chase for the Sprint Cup. The Sylvania 300 goes green at 2:15 P.M. ET next Sunday.
Justin Tucker is a Newsletter Contributor at Frontstretch. To reach Justin, please contact Newsletter Manager Phil Allaway atphil.allaway@frontstretch.com.~~~~~~~~~~~~Chasing the Chase: Keselowski Locks Into Next Round, Expands Lead Slightly
by Phil Allaway
For Brad Keselowski, the weekend did not start all that well at Chicagoland Speedway. Friday was a struggle to find speed. However, the slightly warmer and much sunnier conditions on Sunday meant that the Miller Lite Ford came to life. Despite having to charge from the back a couple of times, Keselowski was able to claim the win and expand his advantage. However, Keselowski's gains were minimal. Jeff Gordon, one of the group of drivers with three wins in 2014, finished second and lost only four points. Teammate Joey Logano is up to third in points, but is lucky to actually be there at all after a windshield tear-off covered up his grille after the final restart. The blockage caused Logano's engine to blow exiting Turn 4 on the last lap, but Logano was able to hold on to finish fourth.
Kevin Harvick led a race-high 79 laps, but had to settle for a fifth-place finish. It was still enough to move up to fourth in the points. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. had a rather miserable Saturday, but recovered to finish 11th. That performance dropped the popular one to fifth in the standings, though. Denny Hamlin fought issues under the hood to finish sixth and move up to a tie sixth in points.
Hamlin is tied with both Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson for the position. Kyle Busch managed a decent finish (seventh) for the first time in quite a while. On the other hand, Johnson was rather anonymous while racing to a 12th-place finish. Kurt Busch finished in eighth and moved up to ninth in the standings.
Matt Kenseth had a decent day on Sunday to finish tenth. The performance moved him up four places to tenth. Kasey Kahne had to make use of a Lucky Dog to get back on the lead lap shortly after halfway, but maintained to finish 13th and move up to 11th. Carl Edwards' unsatisfactory 20th-place finish dropped him to the Bubble for advancement to the next round.
Ryan Newman had two separate tire issues on Sunday that dropped him as far back as three laps down. However, a caution during a round of green flag stops and a fortuitous Lucky Dog allowed Newman to finish on the lead lap in 15th and gain three places. AJ Allmendinger is 14th after struggling to finish 22nd with a broken shift lever. Greg Biffle stays in 15th after a terrible weekend that saw him have to rally in order to finish 23rd. Finally, Aric Almirola rounds out the Chasers after blowing an engine with 37 laps to go.
Chase Point Standings: 1) Brad Keselowski 2059, 2) Jeff Gordon -7, 3) Joey Logano -10, 4) Kevin Harvick -12, 5) Dale Earnhardt, Jr. -17, t-6) Denny Hamlin -18, t-6) Kyle Busch -18, t-6) Jimmie Johnson -18, 9) Kurt Busch -20, 10) Matt Kenseth -20, 11) Kasey Kahne -25, 12) Carl Edwards -29, 13) Ryan Newman -30, 14) AJ Allmendinger -34, 15) Greg Biffle -38, 16) Aric Almirola -52.
Regular Point Standings (1-20): 1) Jeff Gordon 957, 2) Dale Earnhardt, Jr. -41, 3) Brad Keselowski -80, 4) Joey Logano -88, 5) Jimmie Johnson -123, 6) Matt Kenseth -126, 7) Kevin Harvick -128, 8) Ryan Newman -146, 9) Carl Edwards -156, 10) Kyle Larson -178, 11) Greg Biffle -183, 12) Kasey Kahne -191, 13) Clint Bowyer -206, 14) Jamie McMurray -215, 15) Austin Dillon -231, 16) Kyle Busch -232, 17) Paul Menard -233, 18) Brian Vickers -256, 19) Denny Hamlin -260, 20) Kurt Busch -270.
Race Winners: Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (Daytona-1, Pocono-1, Pocono-2), Kevin Harvick (Phoenix, Darlington), Brad Keselowski (Las Vegas, Kentucky, Loudon, Richmond-2, Chicagoland), Carl Edwards (Bristol-1, Sonoma), Kyle Busch (Fontana), Kurt Busch (Martinsville), Joey Logano (Texas, Richmond, Bristol-2), Denny Hamlin (Talladega), Jeff Gordon (Kansas, Indianapolis, Michigan-2), Jimmie Johnson (Charlotte, Dover, Michigan-1), Aric Almirola (Daytona-2), AJ Allmendinger (Watkins Glen), Kasey Kahne (Atlanta)
Key:
Blue - Locked into the Contender Round
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.
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Never Fear, The Underdogs Are Here: Chicagoland 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, Amy Henderson takes a peek into how the little guys fared in the race and picks three who stood out.
Underdog Selection No. 1: AJ Allmendinger for JTG-Daugherty Racing; started 17th finished 22nd
Allmendinger had a best-in-class finish this weekend, but it wasn't the finish he wanted, nor was it the kind of finish he'll need to beat the odds and advance in the Chase. The No. 47 never dialed in in Chicago, and Allmendinger endured a frustrating start to the Chase as a result. On one hand, it's a huge accomplishment for this team to have simply made the cut…but they're racers, and just making the cut isn't something they're satisfied with.
Underdog Selection No. 2: Casey Mears for Germain Racing; started 29th, finished 26th
Mears had an okay day on Sunday, as his No. 13 car did improve over the course of the day as Mears gave copious, thoughtful feedback to his team, but they still need to kick it up a notch to compete with Allmendinger. This team has shown flashes of what they're capable of, but they need to consistently show that they can compete with the next tier of competition.
Underdog Selection No. 3: Justin Allgaier for HScott Motorsports; started 26th, finished 27th
Allgaier didn't have a stellar weekend, but it certainly wasn't terrible. His rookie campaign, though not at the same level as the much better funded Kyle Larson or Austin Dillon, is showing that he's learning and improving, and he's third in class this week. He lost a spot from start to finish, suggesting that his team still has work to do and that Allgaier needs more seasoning to compete with the more seasoned veterans like Mears or Allmendinger, but he's getting better steadily.
Underdog Pick of the Week-Loudon: Reed Sorenson for Tommy Baldwin Racing
My Chicago pick was Casey Mears, who has had some success there in the past, including a Nationwide Series win. Mears finished second in the small-team group. This week, as the series swings to New Hampshire, my pick is Reed Sorenson, who has the best average finish at NHMS among this group, though only by a fraction of a position. He also has a top-10 finish there, and his team has shown marked improvement this year.
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!
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Letter of the Race: Sunday's
MyAFibStory.com 400 was brought to you by the
Letter A for "Aggressive." The last quarter of the race was marked by a series of spectacular moves at the front of the field. Admittedly, Chicagoland races aren't typically the most competitive, but moves from Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon and Kyle Larson definitely made sure that the fans got their money's worth.
- Phil Allaway~~~~~~~~~~
Sidebar Stories: Chicagolandby Phil Allaway
Team Penske Forms Partnership With Dick Johnson Racing; Ambrose to Return to Australia To Drive
On Sunday, Team Penske announced the formation of a partnership between themselves and Dick Johnson Racing to field a team in Australia's V8 Supercar Championship Series beginning in 2015. The team's lead driver starting next season will be two-time V8 Supercar champion Marcos Ambrose, who will leave the Sprint Cup Series at the end of 2014 to return to Australia.
Read more at Frontstretch
Kligerman Tests Indy Lights Car
Parker Kligerman was supposed to be three-quarters of the way through his rookie season in Sprint Cup right now. However, financial issues put an end to his season months ago. Now, the 24-year old racer is re-evaluating his racing future. As part of that re-evaluation, Kligerman returned to the cockpit of an open-wheel road racer for the first time in eight years last weekend in a test on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's 2.439 mile infield road course for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.
Read more at Frontstretch.
compiled by Phil Allaway
"I guess you couldn't ask for a better way to start the Chase other than starting up front. Just phenomenal with the way things played out. I don't know if we were the fastest car. There were some runs where I thought we were really fast and then some runs where I thought the 4 and the 42 were really fast. It was so hard to tell. Whoever had the cleanest air was really at such an advantage. But towards the middle part of the race, that's when we lost track position. That was something that we all thought was awful at the time, but I guess it worked out. Then from there we just fought, just climbed and clawed. I think we got up to eighth, and Paul made the call or decision to pit a little bit late. It worked out perfectly. We were able to be on pit road right as the yellow came out. That put us from eighth to fourth, I think. We were able to take advantage with that on the restarts, get up to third. I just saw a hole and I went for it. The 4 and the 42 were racing really hard, doing all the things they needed to do. It just opened a hole. I didn't know if my car would stick or not, but I knew I'd regret it if I didn't try it. I tried it, it did. That got us into the lead. Even that was going to be close. I think the 42 was quite a bit faster as the long run went. We got that yellow. Things evened out. We were able to take advantage from there." - Brad Keselowski, race winner
"Had a blast the whole race. I was really good on long runs. Got to second there, I don't know, before that last pit stop, was able to chase Kevin down. I knew he'd take my line away once I got to him. He did. Couldn't really figure out how to get by. Then I got a run on him through traffic, was able to get by.
"Had the pit stops. Came back out in the lead. Then got the jump on that first restart. Was just going to cruise I thought to the win. We got some more cautions and we had to battle with Kevin there. That allowed Brad to get by both of us.
"The last restart, me and Jeff had quite a battle. Got in the wall, he was able to get by me. I held on for third.
"Stinks we got third. Coming up close as often as I have this year is going to make that first win feel that much more special." - Kyle Larson, finished third
"We hit a piece of debris with about five to go. I say piece but it was huge. I think it was a tear-off and we got really hot but the car started handling really good when it was on there and we got another spot because of it. We blew up going into three and just had a big smoke screen behind me but I was able to get it across. What a hard fought day for this Shell Pennzoil team. We were struggling all weekend and weren't very fast but we fought hard and got a nice top-five out of it. We will take that and keep being consistent and get to the next round." - Joey Logano, finished fourth (Blew Engine)
"The race started out really good. Our M&M's Camry was fast early, especially on the green racetrack. We were superfast early, superfast when the track was green and we were out front and we could run second or third and didn't have a gaggle of cars around you. But anytime I got in aero situations, man it was tough. Each restart, the farther back you get there, it hurts you. You don't have room to get around these guys until you get tires and they don't have tires. You have to have an advantage to make improvements anytime everyone is on the same game plan. Still, a great job by my M&M's guys, we ended up seventh on a day that could have ended in 16th instead." - Kyle Busch, finished seventh
"I made a mistake early on trying to get on pit road trying to get all I could. It was as if I was going to pass 15 cars and go to the lead all at once. I spun her around; it was a bad mistake on my part. We spent two-thirds of that race digging out of that hole. We spent the last one-third racing hard. I felt like we were in the mix, racing our Haas Automation Chevrolet with the frontrunners. We got up as high as fifth or sixth on the final restart but fell back to eighth. Every spot is so crucial. You can see how everybody is racing. I had a great time out there racing hard carrying the weight of the team after I made my mistake." - Kurt Busch, finished eighth
"The finish wasn't what we wanted, but we made something good out of it. Once we got back on the lead lap that gave us an opportunity to gain track position instead of being stuck in the 20s. I can't recall gaining two laps that quickly. It's been a tough year for us with bad breaks so today we got a break that went our way and that got us to a decent finish." - Martin Truex, Jr., finished 14th
"I heard my spotter (Brandon Benesch) say that [Tony Stewart] was below me on track, and I didn't know the 17 (Stenhouse) was there on the high side of the track," Patrick said. "My spotter took the blame on that one. I just didn't know Ricky was up there, and I obviously don't want to hit his car or anyone else with 10 laps to go. I talked with Ricky afterward, and we're fine. It's just a tough deal. We finished 19th even with the damage, so it was a decent run." - Danica Patrick, finished 19th, on her crash with Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.
"What a battle all day. We used up every bit of our track position and our strategy and everything. We had a flat tire and got fortunate that didn't hurt us, it might have helped us. We have to stay alive. We have to go to Loudon and hopefully our flat short track program is better than this. Then we will take what we learned here to Dover. To make this second round we will have to be perfect and have a little bit of luck. Our day was not good. We've got to be a little faster and we have to continue to have good luck. For us to advance we are going to have to rely on other people making some mistakes. All the while we are looking for more speed from our Fastenal Ford and if we can do that I think we will be alright but we have to stay afloat." - Carl Edwards, finished 20th
"Heartbroken I think is the easiest way to describe it. I am really proud of my guys. We have nothing to hang our heads about. They brought me an awesome race car. We drove from 23rd up to the top-10, running sixth with just over 30 to go and it just wasn't meant to be.
"We were [running well] and I knew this team was capable of that. We were coming off top-10s at Richmond and Atlanta and had momentum on our side. We know what we are capable of. We know we are capable of running in the top-10. Everyone else might not think so, the rest of the world thinks we are underdogs and we will gladly accept that tag but what we've shown today and the last two weeks is exactly what we are capable of. We don't have anything to hang our heads about. We will go to Loudon with our heads held high and try to rebound from this." - Aric Almirola, finished 41st (Engine Failure)
by Aaron Creed
by Beth Lunkenheimer
From the weekend:
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FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: Originally, New Hampshire Motor Speedway had steady banking of "12 minutes" in the turns (approximately seven degrees) when the track opened in 1990. When were the turns reconfigured to the current design and why?
Check back Tuesday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Friday's Answer:
Q: Dale Earnhardt, Jr. claimed victory in the 2005 USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicagoland Speedway for his only victory of the season. Given that Earnhardt Jr. was coming off of a year with six wins and a third-place finish in the points, why was the Chicagoland victory so unexpected?
A: Earnhardt Jr.'s victory was so unexpected at the time due to how he had run on intermediate tracks up to that point in 2005. The performances could be best described as putrid. The ninth-place run at Texas is an exception to the rule. The rest of the runs included handling issues and often running around in the 30's. The performances early on lead to crew chief Pete Rondeau being replaced by Steve Hmiel.
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: Myafibstory.com 400 by Tom Bowles-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, and more!
Tomorrow on the Frontstretch:Five Points To Ponder by Danny Peters
Danny is back with his usual look at five storylines to follow this week after Chicagoland.
Who's Hot / Who's Not in Sprint Cup: Chicagoland-New Hampshire Edition by Brad Morgan
We'll take a look at which drivers are looking good as the series shifts into Chase mode.
Racing to the Point by Brett Poirier
Brett returns with another interesting commentary that'll make you think.
Voices From The Heartland by Jeff Meyer
Jeff returns with his typical blend of sarcastic humor tilted towards one of NASCAR's controversial issues.
Couch Potato Tuesday by Phil Allaway
All three of NASCAR's National Series were in action at Chicagoland Speedway last weekend. How were these races covered? Check out our weekly TV critique to find out.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~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 tofrontstretcheditors@googlegroups.com. We'll take the best comments and publish them here!
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