Monday, January 05, 2015

The Frontstretch Newsletter: Dakar Rally Gets Underway; Robby Gordon Squarely in the Hunt Through Stage 1

THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
Jan. 5, 2014
Volume IX, Edition I

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What to Watch: Week of January 5-11:

- With the holidays over, we once again have actual on-track activity to report on.  The Dakar Rally started Sunday in Buenos Aries, Argentina and is scheduled to wind its way through the Andes Mountains, the Atacama Desert, and everything in-between while visiting Chile and Bolivia before returning to Buenos Aires.  We have a recap of Stage No. 1 below.

- For sports car fans, this upcoming weekend is the Roar Before the 24, the official test weekend ahead of the Rolex 24 at Daytona.  With Preseason Thunder being cancelled, the three-day test was pushed back a week.  We'll have a wrap-up of the test session and all the news that will be announced (Ex: The official Entry List for the Rolex 24 at Daytona will be released on Tuesday) in next Monday's edition of the Frontstretch Newsletter.
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TV Schedule for January 5-11


Monday, January 5

Time                                      Telecast                                                                Network
7 p.m. - 11 p.m.                       NASCAR America: Scan All 43 (eight episodes)       NBC Sports Network#
7:30 p.m. - 8 p.m.                    The 10: Biggest Bonehead Moves                            FOX Sports 2#
8 p.m. - 11 p.m.                       AMA Monster Energy Supercross: Anaheim No. 1    FOX Sports 1*# (from January 3)
11 p.m. - 11:30 p.m.                 NASCAR America                                                  NBC Sports Network*#
11:30 p.m. - 12 a.m.                 NASCAR America                                                  NBC Sports Network*#

Tuesday, January 6

Time                                       Telecast                                                                  Network
12 a.m. - 12:30 a.m.                  NASCAR America: Championship Edition                   NBC Sports Network*# (from November 17)
12:30 a.m. - 1 a.m.                    NASCAR America: Celebrate the Unexpected             NBC Sports Network*#
1 a.m. - 3 a.m.                          NASCAR America: Celebrate the States                     NBC Sports Network#
10 a.m. - 1 p.m.                        AMA Monster Energy Supercross: Anaheim No. 1       FOX Sports 1*# (from January 3)
4:30 p.m. - 5 p.m.                      Dakar Rally: Stage 2                                                 NBC Sports Network*/ (from January 5)
5 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.                      NASCAR America                                                    NBC Sports Network
5 p.m. - 6 p.m.                           NASCAR RaceHub: Best of the Year                         FOX Sports 1
6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.                  NASCAR RaceHub: Best of the Year                         FOX Sports 2*#

Wednesday, January 7

Time                                       Telecast                                                                        Network
5 a.m. - 6 a.m.                          NASCAR RaceHub: Best of the Year                               FOX Sports 1*#
3:30 p.m. - 4 p.m.                     NASCAR America                                                          NBC Sports Network#
4 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.                     Dakar Rally: Stage 2                                                       NBC Sports Network*/# (from January 5)
4:30 p.m. - 5 p.m.                     Dakar Rally: Stage 3                                                       NBC Sports Network*/ (from January 6)
5 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.                     NASCAR America: Countdown 2014                                 NBC Sports Network
5 p.m. - 6 p.m.                          NASCAR RaceHub: Best of the Year                                FOX Sports 1
6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.                 NASCAR RaceHub: Best of the Year                                FOX Sports 2*#
7:30 p.m. - 8 p.m.                     100,000 Cameras                                                            FOX Sports 2#
8 p.m. - 9 p.m.                          Sprint Cup Series 2014 Sprint All-Star Race                     FOX Sports 2*/# (from May 17)

Thursday, January 8

Time                                       Telecast                                                                          Network
2:30 p.m. - 3 p.m.                     NASCAR America's The List: Tracks                                  NBC Sports Network#
3 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.                     NASCAR America's The List: Dale Earnhardt Sr. Moments   NBC Sports Network#
4:30 p.m. - 5 p.m.                     Dakar Rally: Stage 4                                                         NBC Sports Network*/ (from January 7)
5 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.                     NASCAR America: Countdown 2014                                   NBC Sports Network
5 p.m. - 6 p.m.                          NASCAR RaceHub: Best of the Year                                  FOX Sports 1
6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.                 NASCAR RaceHub: Best of the Year                                  FOX Sports 2*#
7:30 p.m. - 8 p.m.                     The 10: Earnhardt Moments                                               FOX Sports 2#
8 p.m. - 9 p.m.                          The Day: Remembering Dale Earnhardt                              FOX Sports 2#

Friday, January 9

Time                                         Telecast                                                                           Network

3:30 p.m. - 4 p.m.                       NASCAR America: Expect the Unexpected                         NBC Sports Network#
4 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.                       Dakar Rally: Stage 4                                                          NBC Sports Network*/# (from January 7)
4:30 p.m. - 5 p.m.                       Dakar Rally: Stage 5                                                          NBC Sports Network*# (from January 8)
5 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.                       NASCAR America: 2014 Top Moments                                NBC Sports Network
5 p.m. - 6 p.m.                           NASCAR America: Best of the Year                                     FOX Sports 1
10 p.m. - 1 a.m.                          World of Outlaws World Finals Night No. 1                           CBS Sports Network*/# (from November 7)

Saturday, January 10

Time                                           Telecast                                                                            Network

1 a.m. - 4 a.m.                              World of Outlaws World Finals Night No. 2                           CBS Sports Network*/# (from November 8)
11 a.m. - 12 p.m.                           FIA Formula E Championship: Punta del Este                      FOX Sports 2*# (from December 13)
12 p.m. - 1 p.m.                            FIA Formula E Championship: Buenos Aires                        FOX Sports 2
9 p.m. - 12 a.m.                            AMA Monster Energy Supercross: Phoenix                          FOX Sports 1

Sunday, January 11

Time                          
               Telecast                                                                         Network
5 a.m. - 6 a.m.                            FIA Formula E Championship: Buenos Aires                     FOX Sports 1*# (from January 10)
6 a.m. - 6:30 a.m.                        Dakar Rally: Stage 6                                                       NBC Sports Network*/ (from January 9)
10 a.m. - 11 a.m.                         FIA Formula E Championship: Buenos Aires                     FOX Sports 1*# (from January 10)
1 p.m. - 4 p.m.                            AMA Monster Energy Supercross: Phoenix                       FOX Sports 1*# (from January 10)
10 p.m. - 1 a.m.                          AMA Monster Energy Supercross: Phoenix                       FOX Sports 2*# (from January 10)

*- Tape Delayed
/- Highlighted coverage
#- Repeat Coverage

Top News
by Phil Allaway

Dakar Rally Gets Underway

On Sunday, the 36th running of the Dakar Rally got underway in Argentina with a relatively short (for Dakar) 175 kilometer special stage.  Despite the short length, one of the main contenders has already fallen out of the hunt.

In the Car division, Qatar's Nasser Al-Attiyah turned in the fastest time of the day in his MINI.  However, after the stage, Al-Attiyah was given a two minute penalty for speeding.  The time addition dropped Al-Attiyah down to seventh.  Al-Attiyah's teammate, Argentinian Orlando Terranova, assumed the class victory despite battling temperature issues.  Terranova's lead following the first stage is 42 seconds over Robby Gordon in his self-built Gordini.  South African Giniel de Villiers was third, followed by Krzysztof Holowczyc.

2014 Dakar Rally Champion Joan "Nani" Roma is likely already out of the hunt to repeat after the first stage.  Early on in the special, Roma stopped on the side of the road with problems under the hood.  Roma had to be towed to the finish of the stage by his team's assistance truck.  While the practice is completely legal in non-marathon stages, Roma lost over six hours to the leaders.

After the stage, Roma voiced his frustration.

"It was 3 km after the start of the special when the oil warning lit up," Roma said after the stage.  "We tried to change everything and we managed to get to the 10 km point. But then we saw that the oil just wasn't working anymore. I don't know if it's the oil pump which is broken, I really don't know. After just 3 kilometres… it's not fair!"

In the Motorcycle class, Great Britain's Sam Sunderland won the stage by a mere five seconds over Paulo Goncalves.  Multiple-time winner Marc Coma was 72 seconds back in third.  Joan Barreda Bort and Alain Duclos rounded out the top 5.
 
The stage saw rider Humphrey Sennvanbasel crash and suffer what race organizers (via the live feed at Dakar.com) are describing as a traumatic brain injury.  Sennvanbasel was taken to the hospital for treatment, but no more information has been made available.  We will update you on Sennvanbasel's condition when information is released
 
In the Truck category, Holland's Hans Stacey won Stage No. 1 in his IVECO truck No. 504 by 35 seconds over Marcel Van Vliet.  Ales Loprais in his Man and Czech racer Martin Kolomy tied for third fastest with the Renault of Martin Van Der Brink fifth.
 
Today's stage will see the competitors travel from Villa Carlos Paz to San Juan.  The cars, bikes and quads have 518 kilometers of racing against the clock, while the trucks have 331 kilometers.  Highlighted coverage of the event can be seen daily on NBC Sports Network at 4:30 p.m.
 
McClure to JGL Racing for 2015
 
On Monday morning, Team McClure Inc. announced that Eric McClure will leave TriStar Motorsports and move over to JGL Racing for the 2015 XFINITY Series season.  McClure is bringing sponsorship with him from Hefty and Reynolds Wrap for 25 races at minimum.  Read more

 
Joey Gase to Return to Jimmy Means Racing

Just after we sent out last week's Newsletter, Joey Gase announced on his Facebook fan page that he will be returning to Jimmy Means Racing's No. 52 for the full 2015 XFINITY Series season.  The team does not currently have a primary sponsor, but Gase will continue to promote organ donation via the Donate Life campaign on the car in the upcoming season.

Gase is excited for the future after reaching all the goals he hoped to reach in 2014.

"I am excited to be running the full Xfinity season again with Jimmy Means Racing," Gase said in a statement.  "Last year was a record breaking season for us with minimum funding. We successfully made both of our goals, which were to finish top 20 in driving points, and to keep the team locked in the top 30 of owner points. Our goals in 2015 will be to finish in the top 20 in driver points once again and to get the team our first top 10 finish."

In addition to the Donate Life campaign, Gase has some sponsorship from DB Sales Company and finddieselengines.com.  The team continues to search for additional backing that would allow them to be more competitive on track.

Last season, Gase finished 20th in the point standings with a best finish of 11th at Talladega in May.  In addition, Gase drove the No. 32 Ford for Go FAS Racing in Sprint Cup for four races.  Gase's best run in those four races was a 33rd-place finish at Phoenix in November.
 
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.
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Our 2014 Driver Reviews are now complete.  Click here for the full suite of reviews.

 
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:

Q: As noted above, the Dakar Rally got underway on Sunday.  The race is run in South America today because terrorist groups registered threats against the race entering Mauritania in 2008 (at the time, the bulk of the competition was held inside of Mauritania).  However, that was not the first time in which the threat of terrorism affected the race.  In 2000, terrorists threatened the race in Niger.  However, instead of cancelling the whole race, a different solution was used.  What happened?

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

Last Monday's Answer:

Q:  In the 1987 SunBank 24 at Daytona, Scott Pruett was supposed to race a Mustang Probe GTP car.  However, the car barely lasted an hour before it failed.  Eventually, Pruett moved around like a hot potato to a couple of Roush Racing's GTO Ford Mustangs.  While driving the No. 22 Mustang, Pruett had a very unusual incident in the tri-oval.  What happened?

A:  Pruett was entering the tri-oval directly behind the No. 1 Porsche 962 driven by A.J. Foyt when the front end bodywork ripped off the Mustang.  The incident was likely due to turbulence from the Porsche.  Pruett, leaking water from a radiator that was nearly ripped out of the car along with the bodywork, slid to a stop in the tri-oval grass.  The incident can be seen here.

The No. 22 Mustang was able to be repaired and Pruett returned to the race.  Amazingly, Pruett managed to not lose a position in the mess.  In fact, by the time the race ended, the No. 22 had moved up to ninth overall and third in GTO after the All-American Racers No. 99 Toyota Celica driven by Juan Manuel Fangio II, Jerrell Rice and Ricky Rudd ran into trouble in the final hour.

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:
-- Top News from Phil Allaway
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles and more!
 
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