Tuesday, March 03, 2015

The Frontstretch Newsletter: Kurt Busch Agrees to NASCAR's Stipulations for Reinstatement

THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
Mar. 3, 2015
Volume IX, Edition XXIII

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What to Watch: Tuesday

- Today, we're still monitoring the ongoing theft saga in the Atlanta Metro area.  Still no arrests in the case as of this writing, but if the thieves that stole Travis Kvapil's No. 44 are tracked down and apprehended, we will have a write-up about it here at Frontstretch.

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Tuesday's TV Schedule can be found in Couch Potato Tuesday here.

Top News
by the Frontstretch Staff

Kurt Busch Agrees to NASCAR Reinstatement Process

According to NBC Sports, Kurt Busch has officially begun the process that could see him get reinstated to NASCAR.  Just what that process will ultimately look like is not public.  However, NASCAR did consult several outside sources in order to develop a proper plan for Busch.  Any eventual reinstatement would still be dependent on what ultimately happens in Delaware, though.  Read more

Regan Smith to Continue in the No. 41 at Las Vegas

Stewart-Haas Racing announced Monday that Regan Smith will continue to drive the No. 41 HAAS Automation Chevrolet in place of the suspended Kurt Busch this weekend in Las Vegas.  Smith's agreement to drive the No. 41 is still on a week-to-week basis.  Read more

Nickelodeon Announces Title Sponsorship of Kansas Speedway Night Race

Monday, Kansas Speedway announced that they have reached a deal for Nickelodeon to serve as the primary sponsor of Kansas Speedway's night race in May.  Using one of their most recognized properties, the race will be known as the SpongeBob SquarePants 400.  Read more

Have news for 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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FRONTSTRETCH JOB: WEBMASTER
Frontstretch.com is looking for a talented and motivated individual to fulfill the role of the site's webmaster. The ideal candidate must be highly proficient in WordPress, as the site recently converted from Textpattern to WordPress as the content management system. The webmaster will assist with leftover conversion tasks, work with the management team to implement site enhancements and help troubleshoot problems as they arise. The candidate must also have a working knowledge of search engine optimization strategies to help improve search rankings for the site. Motorsports knowledge is preferred, but not required. The candidate should have on average at least 1-2 hours per week to devote to Fronstretch initiatives. If you are interested, please contact our Business Manager, Tony Lumbis at Tony.Lumbis@gmail.com.
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Today's Featured Commentary
Fixing a SNAFU: NASCAR Style
Sitting in the Stands: A Fan's View

by S.D. Grady

In the locked offices near Daytona:

"Look boys, it wasn't enough for cars and trucks to be wrecked out of knockout qualifying at Daytona. It just didn't create enough havoc for NASCAR. Nope, something more needs to be done if we want to make the biggest joke of the week into the ratings monster we are dreaming of. If FOX pulls the cameras off the end of pit road where a gaggle of cars wait to enter the arena and place them in the intellectual stratosphere of the inspection bay, that would most assuredly garner more attention, wouldn't it?

Great idea. Let's do it. Oh, and just to make sure we don't have anybody trying to block somebody on the warmup lap, let's toss out another bunch of how-to's for the guys waiting until the last second to take time. No, they can't bring their machines up to speed as fast as possible — let's keep them down on the skirt for half the lap so they don't get in anybody's way. Whose way? You know, the teams that are already on track.

What's that? Do we actually want teams to post times? Oh. Well. Not especially. That's not what qualifying is all about, after all. If we make them line up like ducklings on pit road and they have to wait their turn in order to leave, then the first one out will try to time it so nobody else can get in under the clock. Then it's not about racing at all, more of a way to give the fans in the stands an opportunity to get really good shots with their phones of their favorite cars sitting still. Yes! Awesome idea.

And, yes, we are still staying within the time limits for the network. This is getting better all the time!

Some of the teams are looking really fast in practice? Hmmm. That must be hard for the cameras to follow. Why don't we hire a few extra officials and they can look for specks of dust when the cars roll across the bay. If they see anything, we'll just send those teams around again. Yeah, I know that'll take a little extra time, but that won't be our problem, will it?

Do I think the fans will mind? Why should they? They're only going to tune in for the race. Nobody cares what happens during qualifying. We want to make sure we've got some of those fast teams lined up at the back, cause you know we don't want races with a runaway lead. This'll slow that process down a bit and give the Sunday crowd some more entertainment value for their buck.

Yes. Yes. This is working out wonderfully!"

The headcheese clasps his hands together and rubs them.

"Thanks so much for coming and bringing all your creative ideas with you today. We'll meet next week and see how we want to roll the dice in Vegas."

He leaves the room. The blow up dolls seated around the conference table stare blindly off into the distance.

Sonya's Scrapbook

2001 UAW Daimler-Chrysler 400

Way back when… Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Casey Atwood, Jason Leffler and Ron Hornaday shared a rookie season. Sterling Marlin hadn't learned all the things you can't do to a car under a red flag and Jeff Gordon hadn't won on every track…yet. (Yes, I know, still working on that.) This event was the fourth race run at Las Vegas and yes, it wasn't exactly a barn burner. It had not suffered the reconfiguration yet, making it a slippery, scary sort of track to run on. Gordon did win the Winston No Bull Million — a sponsor-driven promotion — and that made one fan extremely happy.

S.D. Grady is a Senior Editor for Frontstretch and runs a NASCAR blog called the S-Curves. She can be reached via email at sonya.grady@frontstretch.com. Follow her on Twitter at @laregna and on her Facebook page (she's an author, too!) at https://www.facebook.com/Author.SDGrady.

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Numbers Game: Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500
by Tom Bowles

0
Roush Fenway Racing cars inside the top 15 at Atlanta. Trevor Bayne, in 19th was the best of the bunch. 

1
Lap led by Brett Moffitt, the first of his Sprint Cup career. Moffitt, despite limited experience drove the No. 55 Aaron's Toyota to a surprising eighth-place finish on Sunday.

1
Top-5 finish by Tony Stewart since his return to the Sprint Cup Series at Atlanta last September. 

2
Straight last-place finishes for Landon Cassill after two straight blown engines to start the year. It's the first time a driver has swept last-place finishes to open a season since 1949.

2
Hendrick Motorsports cars in the top 3 Sunday, winner Jimmie Johnson and third-place Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Three Hendrick cars (add Kasey Kahne) sit inside the top 7 in the current standings. 

3
Chevrolets sweeping the top 3 spots Sunday.

5
Cautions for debris out of the ten shown on Sunday, a rate of 50 percent.

7.0
Average finish for Martin Truex, Jr. in the first two races of 2015.

32.5
Average finish for Martin Truex, Jr. in the first two races of 2014.

$107,285
Money won by Carl Edwards for finishing 12th Sunday.

$124,401
Money won by Jeff Gordon after crashing into the SAFER Barrier on the backstretch.

Tom Bowles is the Editor-in-Chief of Frontstretch.  He can be reached via e-mail at tom.bowles@frontstretch.com.

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TODAY AT FRONTSTRETCH:

by Phil Allaway

by Jeff Wolfe

by Matt McLaughlin

by Danny Peters

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FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:

Q: In 1997, Las Vegas Motor Speedway hosted the final race of the 14-month 1996-97 Indy Racing League season.  Tony Stewart would waltz out of the track with the championship, but Roberto Guerrero was lucky to be able to walk out of the track by the end of the night.  What happened?

Check back Wednesday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!

Monday's Answer:

Q:  When Las Vegas Motor Speedway opened in 1996, the track was designed to cater to all kinds of racing tastes.  The configurations also included an infield road course.  That road course had multiple configurations as well.  But there was one notable difference between when the first sports car race was held there in 1997 and the last ALMS race in 2000.  What was it?

A:  In 1997, when PSCR (Professional SportsCar Racing, or IMSA after Andy Evans bought it and changed the name) raced at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the cars actually used the then-12 degree banking in turns 3 and 4.  When the series morphed into the American Le Mans Series and raced at LVMS, they opted out of using the banking,  Instead, they used a strip of pavement that connected the infield section to the cool down lane on the inside of turns 3 and 4, then blasted into the tri-oval.
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COMING TOMORROW
In The Frontstretch Newsletter:
We'll have more NASCAR news to report, while Mark Howell returns with his Professor of Speed commentary.

On Frontstretch.com:
Amy Henderson returns with her award-winning Frontstretch 5 column, where she'll review chilly Atlanta and preview Las Vegas, including the return of Brian Vickers.
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