Thursday, October 02, 2014

The Frontstretch Newsletter: Labbe To Take R&D Job; Menard Gets New Crew Chief At Talladega

THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!

October 2, 2014
Volume VIII, Edition CLXXI
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Editor's Note: Potts' Shots will return next week.  In error, it was listed in yesterday's Newsletter that we would have an edition of Potts' Shots today.  However, that is not the case. We are sorry for the inconvenience.

What to Watch: Thursday

- Today is the first day of practice for Saturday's ten hour or 1000 mile (whatever comes first) Petit Le Mans, the season finale for the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.  We'll have a wrap-up in tomorrow's newsletter.  

- In Kansas, there is no on-track action today.  However, both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series teams will load-in and Nationwide teams have opening inspection.

Today's TV Schedule

Time                                      Telecast                                                                                                                    Network
5 p.m. - 5:30 p.m                 NASCAR America                                                                                                  NBC Sports Network
5 p.m. - 6 p.m.                     NASCAR RaceHub                                                                                                FOX Sports 1
9 p.m. - 10:30 p.m.              Formula One Grand Prix of Japan Free Practice No. 1                                  NBC Sports Live Xtra$
10:30 p.m. - 12:30 a.m.        Pirelli World Challenge: Miller Motorsports Park                                             NBC Sports Network*# (from September 13-14)

DVR Theater (Late Thursday Night/Early Friday Morning
1 a.m. - 2:30 a.m.                 Formula One Grand Prix of Japan Free Practice No. 2                                  NBC Sports Network
 
* - Tape Delayed
/ - Highlighted Coverage
# - Repeat Coverage
$ - Available via password-protected online streaming.  Check with your internet and/or programming provider for availability.

Top News
by Phil Allaway

Slugger Labbe Takes R&D Position With RCR; Alexander to Crew Chief No. 27

On Wednesday, Richard Childress Racing (RCR) announced that Slugger Labbe, currently the crew chief for Paul Menard's No. 27 in the Sprint Cup Series, will step down from that position after the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte to take a Research & Development job at the shop.  He will be replaced atop the pit box by Justin Alexander, Menard's engineer.  Read more on Frontstretch

Regan Smith Will Return to JR Motorsports in 2015

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. announced on Twitter Wednesday that Regan Smith will return to the No. 7 Chevrolet in the Nationwide Series for the 2015 season.  Read more at Frontstretch

NTS Motorsports Loses Chicagoland Penalty Appeal

On Wednesday, representatives of the National Motorsports Appeal Board met to hear NTS Motorsports' appeal of the penalties given to the No. 20 team after Austin Dillon's truck measured too low in the front end after finishing third at Chicagoland Speedway.  The penalties were upheld.  Read more at Frontstretch

Entry List Update:
Note: These entries are accurate as of Wednesday night.  They are still subject to change.

Sprint Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400: 43 cars entered

Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points:
No. 32
- Joey Gase for Go FAS Racing

No. 37- Mike Bliss for Tommy Baldwin Racing

No. 40- Landon Cassill for Hillman Racing

No. 66- Mike Wallace for Michael Waltrip Racing/Identity Ventures Racing

Driver Changes:
No. 32
- Joey Gase returns to the seat, replacing JJ Yeley.
No. 33- Timmy Hill returns to the seat, replacing David Stremme.

Since there are only 43 drivers entered, no one will fail to qualify. 

Not Entered:
No. 44
- Team Xtreme Racing

Nationwide Series Kansas Lottery 300: 43 cars entered

Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points:
No. 5
- Kevin Harvick for JR Motorsports

No. 20- Matt Kenseth for Joe Gibbs Racing

No. 22- Ryan Blaney for Team Penske

No. 25- John Wes Townley for Athenian Motorsports

No. 33- Paul Menard for Richard Childress Racing

No. 42- Kyle Larson for Turner Scott Motorsports

No. 54- Kyle Busch for Kyle Busch Motorsports

No. 87- Jennifer Jo Cobb for Identity Ventures Racing

No. 98- Corey LaJoie for Biagi-DenBeste Racing

Driver Changes:
No. 5
- Kevin Harvick returns to the seat, replacing Austin Theriault.

No. 10- Blake Koch returns to the seat, replacing Kevin Lepage.
No. 14- Eric McClure returns to the seat, replacing Jeff Green.  McClure is scheduled to be in the car for the remainder of the season.
No. 20- Matt Kenseth returns to the seat, replacing Justin Boston.
No. 22- Ryan Blaney returns to the seat, replacing Joey Logano.

No. 44- David Starr returns to the seat, replacing Blake Koch.

No. 72- John Jackson returns to the seat, replacing Harrison Rhodes.
No. 87- Jennifer Jo Cobb is in the seat, replacing Mike Harmon.  Cobb is bringing sponsorship to the team from Mark One Electric since Kansas is Cobb's home race.

No. 98- Corey LaJoie returns to the seat, replacing Aric Almirola.

Drivers who must qualify on speed:
No. 5
- Kevin Harvick for JR Motorsports (Guaranteed to start via the Past Champions' Provisional)

No. 10- Blake Koch for TriStar Motorsports*
No. 17- Tanner Berryhill for Vision Racing

No. 25- John Wes Townley for Athenian Motorsports

No. 29- Milka Duno for RAB Racing with Brack Maggard

No. 33- Paul Menard 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. 89- Morgan Shepherd for Shepherd Motor Ventures*

No. 90- Martin Roy for DGR Motorsports*
No. 98- Corey LaJoie for Biagi-DenBeste Racing

*- Expected to Start-and-Park

Not Entered:

No. 13- Carl Long for Carl Long Racing
No. 80- Alex Bowman for HRE Enterprises

ARCA Racing Series ARCA 98.9: 32 cars entered

Driver Changes:
No. 00
- Con Nicolopoulos is in the seat, replacing Wayne Peterson.
No. 0- Wayne Peterson returns to the seat, replacing Con Nicolopoulos.

No. 3- Ross Kenseth is in the seat, replacing Karl Weber.

No. 10- Ed Pompa returns to the seat, replacing Rick Clifton.
No. 15- John Wes Townley returns to the seat, replacing Brennan Poole.  With the Nationwide Series also racing at Kansas Speedway this weekend, the entry is likely to stick without changes.  Townley had been entered originally at Kentucky, but let Poole race the car instead.

No. 40- Roger Carter is in the seat, replacing Mark Meunier.

No. 60- Galen Hassler is in the seat, replacing Kyle Weatherman.

No. 66- Leilani Munter returns to the seat, replacing Daniel Suarez.
No. 68- Will Kimmel returns to the seat, replacing Michael Lira.

No. 69- Chris Bailey, Jr. returns to the seat, replacing Will Kimmel.

No. 88- Charles Evans, Jr. is in the seat, replacing Justin Allison.

No. 97- Mark Meunier is in the seat, replacing Roger Carter.

Notable Entries:

No. 08- Justin Allison for Team BCR
No. 3- Ross Kenseth for Hixson Racing

No. 5- Bobby Gerhart for Bobby Gerhart Racing

No. 6- Josh Williams for Josh Williams Racing

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. 68- Will Kimmel for Kimmel Racing

No. 77- Tom Hessert, III for Cunningham Motorsports

No. 90- Grant Enfinger for Team BCR/GMS Racing

No. 98- Mason Mitchell for Mason Mitchell Motorsports

TUDOR United SportsCar Champsionship Petit Le Mans: 53 entries in 4 classes

Prototype (P) Entries: 11

No. 01- Scott Dixon/Scott Pruett/Memo Rojas for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates
No. 07- Joel Miller/Tristan Nunez/Tristan Vautier for SpeedSource
No. 0- Gabby Chaves/Katherine Legge/Andy Meyrick for DeltaWing Racing Cars

No. 5- Joao Barbosa/Sebastien Bourdais/Christian Fittipaldi for Action Express Racing

No. 9- Brian Frisselle/Burt Frisselle/Jon Fogarty for Action Express Racing

No. 10- Max Angelelli/Jordan Taylor/Ricky Taylor for Wayne Taylor Racing

No. 31- Eric Curran/Max Papis/Boris Said for Marsh Racing
No. 42- Alex Brundle/Ho-Pin Tung/Gustavo Yacaman for OAK Racing

No. 60- Oswaldo Negri, Jr./John Pew for Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian

No. 70- Ben Devlin/Tom Long/Sylvain Tremblay for SpeedSource

No. 90- Mike Rockenfeller/Michael Valiente/Richard Westbrook for Spirit of Daytona Racing

Prototype Challenge (PC) Entries: 11

No. 08- Chris Cumming/Jack Hawksworth/Rusty Mitchell for RSR Racing

No. 09- Duncan Ende/David Heinemier Hansson/Bruno Junqueira for RSR Racing

No. 7 – Ryan Eversley/Martin Fuentes/John Martin/Adam Merzon for Starworks Motorsport

No. 8- Alex Popow/Mirco Schultis/Renger van der Zande for Starworks Motorsport

No. 25- Tom Kimber-Smith/Eric Lux/Sean Rayhall for 8Star Motorsports

No. 38- James French/Jerome Mee/David Ostella for Performance Tech Motorsports

No. 52- Gunnar Jeannette/Frankie Montecalvo for PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports
No. 54- Jon Bennett/Colin Braun/James Gue for core Autosport

No. 85- Mikhail Goikhberg/Chris Miller/Stephen Simpson for JDC/Miller MotorSports

No. 87- Tomy Drissi/Marc Drumwright/Martin Plowman for BAR1 Motorsports

No. 88- David Cheng/Johnny Mowlem/Tom Papadopoulos for BAR1 Motorsports

Grand Touring Le Mans (GTLM) Entries: 11

No. 3- Ryan Briscoe/Antonio Garcia/Jan Magnussen for Corvette Racing

No. 4- Ryan Briscoe/Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner for Corvette Racingm

No. 17- Wolf Henzler/Marco Holzer/Bryan Sellers for Team Falken Tire

No. 55- Bill Auberlen/Joey Hand/Andy Priaulx for BMW Team RLL
No. 56- John Edwards/Dirk Müller/Dirk Werner for BMW Team RLL
No. 57- Andrea Bertolini/Tracy Krohn/Nic Jonsson for Krohn Racing

No. 62- Olivier Beretta/Giancarlo Fisichella/Pierre Kaffer for Risi Competizione

No. 91- Marc Goossens/Ryan Hunter-Reay/Kuno Wittmer for SRT Motorsports
No. 93- Rob Bell/Jonathan Bomarito/Dominik Farnbacher for SRT Motorsports

No. 911- Richard Lietz/Nick Tandy for Porsche North America

No. 912- Michael Christensen/Patrick Long for Porsche North America

Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) Entries: 20

No. 007- David Block/Al Carter/James Davison for TRG-AMR
No. 18- Michael Kvamme/Unknown drivers for Muehlner Motorsports America

No. 19- Michael Kvamme/Daniel Lloyd/Unknown driver for Muehlner Motorsports America

No. 22- Leh Keen/Cooper MacNeil/Craig Stanton for Alex Job Racing

No. 23- Mario Farnbacher/Ian James/Alex Riberas for Alex Job Racing/Team Seattle

No. 27- Andrew Davis/Patrick Dempsey/Joe Foster for Dempsey Racing

No. 33- Jeroen Bleekemolen/Sebastiaan Bleekemolen/Ben Keating for Riley Motorsports

No. 35- Alessandro Latif/Seth Neiman/Dion von Moltke for Flying Lizard Motorsports

No. 44- Andy Lally/John Potter/Marco Seefried for Magnus Racing

No. 45- Nelson Canache/Andrew Palmer/Spencer Pumpelly for Flying Lizard Motorsports

No. 48- Matt Bell/Christopher Haase/Bryce Miller for Paul Miller Racing

No. 49- Eddie Cheever, III/Marco Cioci/Piergiuseppe Perrazini for Spirit of Race (AF-Corse)

No. 51- Matt Griffin/Pasin Lathouras/Michele Rugolo for Spirit of Race (AF-Corse)

No. 58- Jan Heylen/Madison Snow for Snow Racing/Dempsey Racing

No. 63- Alessandro Balzan/Brandon Davis/Kyle Marcelli/Jeff Westphal for Scuderia Corsa

No. 71- Unknown drivers for Park Place Motorsports

No. 73- Kevin Estre/Patrick Lindsey/Unknown driver for Park Place Motorsports

No. 81- Ben Barker/Philipp Eng/Damien Faulkner for GB Autosport

No. 94- Dane Cameron/Kristoffer Nygaard/Markus Palttala for Turner Motorsport

No. 555- Townsend Bell/Conrad Grunewald/Bill Sweedler for AIM Autosport

Entered, but Already Withdrawn:

No. 1- Extreme Speed Motorsports

No. 2- Extreme Speed Motorsports.  Both teams have withdrawn from the event in order to enter the World Endurance Championship's Six Hours of Shanghai in November in preparation for a potential assault on Le Mans in 2015.

No. 30- NGT Motorsport.  Team withdrew due to Earl Bamber, a silver-rated driver, earning a last minute ride with Porsche North America for the race, leaving the team short of a required amateur driver without the time to find a replacement.

No. 46- Fall-Line Motorsports.  Withdrew due to Charles Putman's current recovery from injuries in an ATV crash in his native Wyoming.

No. 64- Scuderia Corsa


Have news for Phil and the Frontstretch? Don't hesitate to let us know; email us at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com with a promising lead or tip. Comments can also be sent to frontstretcheditors@googlegroups.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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The Critic's Annex: FOX Sports 1 and 2
by Phil Allaway

Hello, race fans.  Welcome back to another edition of the Critic's Annex.  This week, we're going to do something a little different.  Instead of focusing on one particular race, which I could have done with FOX Sports 1's delayed telecast of the F.W. Webb 100 from New Hampshire, I'm going to talk about FOX Sports 1 and 2 themselves.

It's been 13.5 months since SPEED became FOX Sports 1 and Fuel became FOX Sports 2.  How have the networks evolved over that time?  Admittedly, it's been a mixed bag.

When the relaunch occurred. FOX Sports actively wanted to promote their new shows.  Almost none of the shows that launched with FOX Sports 1 are still on the air today.  Crowd Goes Wild, with Regis Philbin at the helm, was supposed to be the cornerstone of early evening programming.  The show lasted less than eight months.  Why?  A couple of reasons.  Likely the biggest one was that the ratings stunk.  The show barely pulled in 60,000 viewers a day.  The second reason is likely that Philbin tired of the show after a few months.  Despite the short run, Philbin took an extended leave of absence, leaving the remaining quintet (Georgie Thompson, Michael Kosta, Katie Nolan, Trevor Pryce, and Jason Gay) to run things despite all the promotion being centered around Philbin. As a result, you know had a TV show with a bunch of unknowns to the American audience. 

Since the show's cancellation, the quintet have spread out all over the place.  Thompson returned to her native England to host a radio show called Fighting Talk (on paper, it's a radio version of ESPN's Around the Horn that is centered around soccer), while Nolan is on the new show Fantasy Football Uncensored and made news recently for her comments on the treatment of women in sports media.  Gay returned to his full-time gig with The Wall Street Journal, while Kosta returned to comedy and Pryce went back to his retirement from football.

It was a great shame for a couple of reasons.  One, they gave our website some publicity by having our Fearless Leader (Tom Bowles) on the show as a NASCAR expert a few times.  Two, I thought it was a nice alternative to Around the Horn.  To me, it was a nice way to unwind, even though it could be silly at times.  Having said that, it may have done better had Philbin never been on the show in the first place.  Unfortunately, it just never caught on.

A number of other programs were launched as well.  Those include FOX Football Daily and FOX Soccer Daily, both of which were quickly cancelled.  The Ultimate Fighter moved to FOX Sports 1 from Spike and promptly shed a good chunk of its ratings almost overnight.  Following the cancellation of the former two shows and Crowd Goes Wild, FOX Sports 1 launched America's Pregame, a show hosted by Mike Hill and Molly McGrath at 6 p.m. that previews upcoming prime time games.  It's their answer to the 6 p.m. SportsCenter that currently outdraws it 12 to one.

Finally, you had FOX Sports Live, the highlight show that was supposed to challenge SportsCenter.  For that show, FOX Sports imported Canadian Sportscentre (TSN) anchors Jay Onrait and Dan O'Toole to be their Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann.  The result has been touch and go.  Over the past year, it's become very clear that the show cannot rate without a live sports lead-in.  I've ranted about that fact multiple times this season because FOX Sports Live has cut into Camping World Truck Series telecasts, most notably last Saturday night in Las Vegas, when 25 minutes of scheduled coverage was cut out for more FOX Sports Live. 

Onrait is very much in your face, and that's something that viewers would need to get used to.  O'Toole is more of a straight man.  Otherwise, the show's decent.  It has resulted in some controversial conversation in the past.  It was here last season that Donovan McNabb came out and claimed that Jimmie Johnson is not an athlete, prompting vilification.

The fear at launch was that all of the new shows were going to come at the expense of the NASCAR coverage that was being carried over to FOX Sports 1 from SPEED.  At first, NASCAR RaceHub suffered.  Prior to the relaunch, RaceHub was on at 6 p.m. for a full hour.  Post-relaunch, it was cut to a half-hour and slotted in at 4:30...for the first couple of days.  The timeslot would then move around so much that you didn't really know when it was going to be on.  However, something interesting happened.  Despite all the moving around, RaceHub still outrated any of the new studio shows, including getting more than double Crowd Goes Wild's audience.  The goal was clearly to emphasize the new programming, but it didn't work.  The previous audience for the network was racing-oriented, and that group largely stayed around, something that the FOX Sports brass didn't expect for weekdays.

By the end of the 2013 season, RaceHub was back to a full hour, albeit still at 4 p.m.  That slot could still move around due to soccer, though.  Crowd Goes Wild's cancellation in May allowed the show to move to 5 p.m., a much less likely timeslot to be pre-empted.

The live coverage of non-racing sports is quite decent, but it still doesn't rate well.  NASCAR telecasts are still some of the highest-rated telecasts on the network, with major UFC events and marquee college football up there as well.

For FOX Sports 2, that particular network has struggled since Day One.  The channel inherited Fuel's distribution issues.  For instance, FOX Sports 2 still does not have a deal with Comcast, the country's largest cable operator.  The problem with that is that while Fuel was a niche channel, FOX Sports 2 is way more broad.  By merger-time, Fuel had completely deviated away from their original action sports format in favor of UFC.  While some of that programming migrated to FOX Sports 1, a lot of UFC programming is still on the channel.  The rest of the programming is essentially repeats of FOX Sports 1 programming, or overflow programming.

Anything that ends up on FOX Sports 2 will have terrible ratings.  A general rule of thumb seems to be that ratings will drop at minimum, 75 percent for programming that would normally air on FOX Sports 1.  Recently, the Camping World Truck Series race at Chicagoland Speedway was postponed due to rain and aired Saturday night live on FOX Sports 2.  While the Lucas Oil 225 was one of the best truck races of the year, only a shade over 100,000 people watched it.  Average truck viewership is at least a half million viewers per race on FOX Sports 1, although that number is down from past years.

Another example is the recent Lone Star Le Mans weekend at Circuit of the Americas.  The TUSC race aired live on FOX Sports 2, but also had a highlighted two hour telecast that aired on FOX either before or after their single NFL game that Sunday (depending on your market).  Series officials touted the 1.1 million viewers that watched the highlighted telecast on FOX.  However, the live telecast on FOX Sports 2 only brought in 22,000 viewers.  Even worse, the WEC six hour race (the first two hours of which were exclusive to FOX Sports GO due to a lightning delay in one of FOX Sports 1's college football games) attracted just 5,000 viewers.

It's very difficult to attract viewers to FOX Sports 2.  That's not going to change until the FOX Entertainment Group can work with the various programming distributors to get FOX Sports 2 in more homes on a level where viewers don't have to spring for the special sports pack.  As it stands right now, the channel is not self-sufficient with it only being available in 37 million homes.  Also, for the people that do get FOX Sports 2, they may not be able to get it in HD.  I know I can't on TV, but somehow, I can on Time Warner Cable's TV app.  I don't understand that move.  It's not a deal breaker for me, but some viewers may be turned off due to it.

Overall, the first 13.5 months of FOX Sports 1 and 2 have been difficult.  FOX Sports has tried a number of moves, but many of them have not worked.  The major accomplishment that has come from the relaunch is that the weekday primetime programming on FOX Sports 1 is stronger today than it was when it was still SPEED.  Motorsports, which were thought to be de-emphasized with the relaunch, are still very important to the network and provide a good chunk of the viewership.  The new shows have been hit-or-miss and have had difficulty attracting an audience.  Unfortunately, some of the programming inherited from SPEED has eroded viewership.

FOX Sports also severely underestimated how important SPEED's audience was going to be to FOX Sports 1.  They tried to cast them aside, but that wasn't going to happen.  The near future will see bigger events come to FOX Sports 1.  Seven Sprint Cup point races will be on the channel next year, along with ten races for the soon to be XFINITY Series.  More baseball could be in the cards, in addition to other sports.  I wouldn't be surprised to see some golf on the network in 2015 since FOX Sports won the rights to the U.S. Open.

FOX Sports 2 will likely end up with many more live broadcasts in the future, which means that working out the carriage agreements is imperative for the channel to grow.  As it stands, FOX Sports 2 is purgatory.  Yes, it's on TV, but it's like it's not.  There's a reason why the WEC still allowed American viewers to watch the race from Circuit of the Americas on the FIA WEC app despite live coverage on television.

FOX Sports will need to promote their studio shows more.  As it stands, RaceHub is still their highest-rated studio show, much to their chagrin.  The whole slate needs to be promoted more, especially outside of FOX Sports 1.  FOX Sports 2 needs something to drive viewers to the network and get viewers to demand the channel more.  It might take something as crazy as moving The Ultimate Fighter there, but the channel currently doesn't have a draw.  They may need to take a chance on something.

As far as future motorsports coverage goes, I believe that the new NASCAR TV deal will see Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series coverage of the first half of the season remain similar to what we have now.  In the second half of the season, practice and qualifying sessions may move to NBC Sports Network, depending on the weekend.  The regional NASCAR coverage (K&N Pro Series East and West, Whelen Modified Tour, etc.) will also move over to NBC Sports Network. 

Coverage of TUSC and the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge, which is under contract with FOX Sports through 2018, will likely have much, if not all of their seasons air on FOX Sports 2 next year.  I'm sure that sports car racing fans (including myself) won't be happy about it.  In fact, the situation we had at Circuit of the Americas and this weekend at Road Atlanta could become the norm (live coverage on FOX Sports 2, then a highlighted version on FOX that gets more promotion).  Effectively, a slightly better version of the coverage that the American Le Mans Series had with ESPN.  Unfortunately, with higher profile programming coming onto FOX Sports 1, something's probably going to have to move to FOX Sports 2.

I hope you liked this look at FOX Sports 1 and 2.  I'm currently undecided on what will be covered in next week's edition of the Annex.  It'll either be the delayed coverage of the Drive Sober 150 from Dover (the season finale for the K&N Pro Series East), or the season ending Petit Le Mans from Road Atlanta for TUSC.  Until then, enjoy this weekend's action from Kansas, Georgia and Japan.

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.

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Frontstretch Line of the Week


From Voices From The Cheap Seats: Talk Of A Stewart/Ward Settlement Is Ludicrous!


"Now, after all [that has happened], I would advise careful consideration if you are thinking of filing a wrongful death civil suit against Tony Stewart.

"First of all, it truly comes off as just a ploy for money – not, as one of the lawyers called it, "and the memory of the deceased can rest." That is simple hogwash. No, it's not "fair" that your son is dead but life doesn't play fair, as we all know.

"If I had been sitting in that seat and I'd been the one who hit your son, you sure as heck would not be thinking of suing me. Why? Because I got nothing! Tony Stewart is famous and has lots of money. Any suit against him in this case, especially in light of what Kevin did and other facts that have since been released (whether relevant or not, i.e. the toxicology report) will do nothing to positively further the memory of your son among the general populace." - Jeff Meyer's advice to the Ward family in the wake of last week's announcement from Ontario County District Attorney

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ADVERTISEMENT
Are you looking to advertise your website, product or brand?  A good way to get your name out there is via direct advertising here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!  Interested parties can contact us at tony.lumbis@frontstretch.com for details.

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TODAY AT FRONTSTRETCH:

as told to Mike Neff


 
by Kevin Rutherford

by Beth Lunkenheimer
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FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:

Q:  Saturday marks the 17th running of the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.  The first running of the race is best known for an unusual crash that put Porsche's factory GT1-98 out of the race.  What happened?

Check back Friday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
 
Wednesday's Answer:

Q:  We're going a little different on today's question.  In 2003, Rich Bickle finished 13th in the then-Craftsman Truck Series O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway while carrying sponsorship from Vokal Clothing.  Who created Vokal Clothing?

A: Vokal Clothing is a line of urban attire for men created by rapper Nelly.  In 2003, at the height of his career following the release of his No. 1 album Nellyville, Nelly bought into Billy Ballew Motorsports and helped sponsor the team with his own clothing line, which was a sister company to the more well-known Apple Bottoms, which caters to women.

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:


Friday Faceoff by the Frontstretch Staff
Our new feature returns, a shorter, easier-flowing version of Mirror Driving with answers from a greater number of the staff you know and love.

Happiness Is... by P. Huston Ladner
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.

Frontstretch Foto Funnies by the Frontstretch Staff
Pictures can lead to a thousand laughs; join us in our weekly dose of humor that comes from those candid moments at the track.

Nuts For Nationwide by Joseph Wolkin
Joseph returns to bring us up-to-date on NASCAR's second-tier series as they return to the track this weekend in Kansas.

Creed's Corner by Aaron Creed
On a new day, Aaron returns to talk shop as NASCAR heads for a weekend in Kansas.
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