Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
Nov. 7, 2014
Volume VIII, Edition CXCVII
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What to Watch: Friday
compiled by Phil Allaway
Time Telecast Network
Time Telecast Network
Top News
by Phil Allaway and Justin Tucker
Kurt Busch Under Investigation for Domestic Violence
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Frontstretch Folio: Quicken Loans Race Heroes 500
by Brad Morgan
The Sprint Cup Series travels back to Phoenix International Raceway for the 35th race of the 2014 season on Sunday, Nov. 9. Television coverage of the Quicken Loans Race Heros 500 begins at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN; your local MRN affiliate or SiriusXM Channel 90 will have the radio broadcast. Drivers will compete for at least 312 laps (312 miles) before the checkered flag waves.
Records and Facts
Kevin Harvick led the last 64 laps and stayed ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr. across the line for his second consecutive PIR victory in March. Another would lock Harvick into the championship round in South Florida.
Harvick (2006) and Kurt Busch (2005) have recorded the only perfect driver ratings (150.0) at PIR.
Matt Kenseth won here in 2002 from the 28th starting position, the furthest back a PIR winner has started before going to Victory Lane.
Mark Martin remains the only driver to win at PIR for two different manufacturers: Chevrolet and Ford.
Track Facts
Track Length: 1.0-mile "D"-shaped tri-oval
Pit Road Speed: 45 mph
Degree of Banking: 11 degrees in turns 1-2, 9 degrees in turns 3-4
Frontstretch: 1,179 ft., 3 degrees of banking
Backstretch: 1,551 ft., 9 degrees of banking
Grandstand Seating: 55,000
Website: http://www.phoenixraceway.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PhoenixRaceway
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhoenixRaceway
Pre-race Schedule
Practices: Friday, Nov. 7, 1:30 - 3 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1
Saturday, Nov. 8, 11:30 a.m. - 12:20 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 2
Happy Hour: Saturday, Nov. 8, 2:30 - 3:20 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 2
Qualifying: Friday, Nov. 7, 6:45 p.m. ET on ESPN2
VIPs
Grand Marshal: TBA
Command to start engines: TBA
Honorary Starter/Wave Green Flag: TBA
Invocation: TBA
National Anthem: Hayley Orrantia, of ABC's The Goldbergs
Flyover: TBA
Race Day Forecast
Sunday: Clear
High: 86
Low: 55
They Said It:
"When we first arrive at Phoenix International Raceway, the track has a lot of dirt on it. We spend the first-half, maybe three-quarters of practice just cleaning off the track. It is a track that has a lot of grip especially if it is a little cooler there. So, you spend a couple practice sessions with a lot of grip. Then by Sunday morning, if it gets a little warmer with the sun is sitting on the race track and just that desert air, all that grit and grime gets on the track. When they drop the green, it's really dirty. It's just trying to keep up with the track conditions and usually what happens with the track is that it starts to widen out a little bit, but if you get offline it's really dirty. So, you can easily make a mistake and kind of get up in the dirt and maybe into the fence. More importantly, you can just lose a lot of track position by doing that." AJ Allmendinger
"I love being out West, that's where I grew up and I love Phoenix and the race track. I got to spend a little time at the sand dunes before heading into this weekend and that's one of my favorite things to do. We've had some good runs at Phoenix in the past and I think we can get another good finish this weekend." - Greg Biffle
"You have to drive it differently than anywhere else. That wall coming out of Turn 2, it used to feel like it was going to reach out and grab you. And it has grabbed me, more times than I'd probably like to admit. Since they've opened that up, you can really let your car go and get a good run getting into 3." - David Gilliland
"With this format you don't feel like you are ever secure unless you win a race, and it is hard to build a big lead that means anything, kind of like where Joey Logano is now. On the other side of it, you always feel like you can get your way out of a jam and in this case it is with a win. We were able to do that in the last round. I am optimistic we can do that in this round. I completely understand that and am ready for that challenge. When it comes down to moments like this, great teams have to step it up. I believe we are a great team, and we are ready for the challenge." - Brad Keselowski
"I feel like a broken record because I feel like I keep saying this week after week, but we just need to keep doing what we've been doing. Like my crew chief Todd Gordon said, we aren't out here trying to reinvent the wheel, we are just trying to polish the wheel. We are just fine-tuning everything that we've been doing all year long. This team has had some bad luck, and when we do, we fight through it and make the best of it, just like what happened in Texas. We were in a hole after we had the issue on the pit stop, and no one gave up and we were able to finish strong and come out of there with the point lead. That's what this team does. And that is what we will keep doing, all the way through Homestead." - Joey Logano
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Keepin' It Short: The World Comes to Charlotte
by Mike Neff
Charlotte Motor Speedway has a long history of doing things big.
The annual end of season extravaganza for the World Racing Group is just another example of how the folks at CMS go all out to put on an event of epic proportions. The Dirt Track at Charlotte is one of the nicest racing facilities in the dirt world. Annually at the beginning of November the three biggest tours of the World Racing Group wrap up their seasons at Charlotte with the World Finals. The three-day event includes two feature races for the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars, the World of Outlaws Late Models and the Super DIRTCar Series Big Block Modifieds. The World Finals have been held at the Dirt Track since 2007 and are sold out for the sixth consecutive year.
The World of Outlaws Sprint Cars have been competing since 1978 and Steve Kinser has been a part of most of their events. When the checkered flag flies on Saturday night it will be the final time it waves over his historic career. Kinser has 20 series championships and 577 career A main wins. His last win was in February at Volusia Speedway Park during the DIRTCar Nationals. The Salute to the King tour has crisscrossed the country visiting many of the race tracks that have seen Kinser's success throughout these 27 years of racing with the winged warriors of the Outlaws.
The 2014 championship battle in the Sprint Cars is a formality as the series heads into Charlotte with Donny Schatz pummeling the competition all season long. Schatz has had dominant year with 26 wins, 62 top 5s and 79 top 10s. Schatz has twice the number of wins of second-place Daryn Pittman, the 2013 series champion coming into this weekend. The 316 point cushion between Schatz and Pittman is insurmountable this weekend so Schatz will win his sixth title in nine years.
On the Late Model side Darrell Lanigan has had a season that is even more dominant that Schatz, although he doesn't have quite the lead on second place. Lanigan has set a series record with 16 wins. While Schatz has 10 more victories, Lanigan has run 55 fewer races. Lanigan has scored the win in nearly 50 percent of the events contested by the Late Models this year. Lanigan leads 2011 champion Rick Eckert by 284 points on his way to third career title.
The Big Block Modifieds have an intense point battle heading into the weekend at Charlotte. Matt Sheppard leads Billy Decker by one point. Sheppard is 52 points ahead of Brett Hearn, the 2013 series champion. The three combatants for the title in Modifieds have combined for the last seven championshihps. Hearn won the title in 2013, 2009 and 2007 (he also owns the champion's trophies from 2001, 1997, 1996, 1993, and 1990). Sheppard took the title in 2010, 2011 and 2012. Decker won the whole shebang in 2008 (Decker also took the title in 1998).
The eight year history of the World Finals has seen an impressive list of winners. They include:
2007 – Jason Meyers and Steve Kinser – Sprint Cars, Scott Bloomquist and Donnie Moran - Late Models
2008 – Brooke Tatnell and Donnie Schatz – Sprint Cars, Scott Bloomquist and Josh Richards – Late Models
2009 – Jason Meyers and Joey Saldana – Sprint Cars, Scott Bloomquist and Jimmy Owens – Late Models
2010 – Jason Meyers (2) – Sprint Cars, Jonathan Davenport and Jimmy Owens – Late Models, Jimmy Phelps and Tim McCreadie – Modifieds
2011 – Donny Schatz (2) – Sprint Cars, Jonathan Davenport and Jimmy Owens – Late Models, Tim McCreadie (2) – Modifieds
2012 – Sammy Swindell and Dale Blaney – Sprint Cars, Jimmy Owens (2) – Late Models, Tim Fuller and Brett Hearn – Modifieds
2013 – Donny Schatz and Paul McMahan – Sprint Cars, Darrell Lanigan and Josh Richards – Late Models, Brett Hearn and Stewart Friesen – Modifieds
If you don't already have tickets for the World Finals you might be able to slip in to the standing room only area if you get there early enough. If not, a pit pass is a possibility but they have cut off sales of pit passes the last couple of years because they were so full. The World Finals are one of the biggest dirt events of the season and all of the big names will be there.
This Weekend's Racing Schedule can be found here.
Mike Neff is a senior writer for Frontstretch. Feedback can be sent to mike.neff@frontstretch.com.
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TODAY ON FRONTSTRETCH:
| | Tires: The Decision That Changed Texas Outcome and the Precedence It Sets |
|---|
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA
Q: The 1999 MCI WorldCom 200 at Phoenix International Raceway marked the Indy Racing League's debut on FOX Sports Net. Yes, regional television. However, the race wasn't that bad. Eddie Cheever came from well outside of the top 10 to lead the race before running into problems. What happened?
Check back Monday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Thursday's Answer:
Q: For many years, Phoenix International Raceway hosted sports car races on its 1.51-mile infield road course. In 2005, the Rolex Sports Car Series held split races, one for GT cars and one for Daytona Prototypes, at PIR. During the DP race, the Chip Ganassi-owned No. 01 Lexus-powered Riley driven by Luis Diaz and Scott Pruett dominated early on, leading 58 laps. However, it wasn't meant to be. What took the No. 01 out of the race?
A: On a restart, Pruett was in second and posed to challenge Butch Leitzinger in the No. 4 Pontiac Crawford for Howard-Boss Motorsports. However, Michael McDowell had other ideas. He drove his BMW-powered Riley for Finlay Motorsports to the inside of Pruett at the end of the frontstretch. It was a hole that was not really there. McDowell had contact with Pruett, hit the inside wall, then bounced into Pruett again. The contact resulted in Pruett spinning and backing into the inside wall. The crash can be seen here.
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:
-- Quicken Loans Race Heroes 500 Race Recap by Justin Tucker
-- Never Fear, The Underdogs Are Here by Amy Henderson
-- Sidebar Stories: Phoenix by Phil Allaway
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch columns and More!
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This Weekend on Frontstretch:
Four Burning Questions: Phoenix by Matt Stallknecht
Matt covers all the big stories and questions heading into the penultimate race of the season.
Tracking the Trucks: Texas by Beth Lunkenheimer
Beth has all the post-race analysis you need following Friday's Truck Series race from Phoenix.
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Monday on Frontstretch:
Thinkin' Out Loud: Quicken Loans Race Heroes 500 by Mike Neff
Mike covers all the details and post-race analysis from Phoenix.
Big Six: Quicken Loans Race Heroes 500 by Amy Henderson
Amy tackles the who, what, when, where, how and why from Phoenix.
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-Phoenix.
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