Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
March 10, 2015
Volume IX, Edition XXVIII
What to Watch: Tuesday
Tuesday's TV Schedule can be found in Couch Potato Tuesday here.
by the Frontstretch Staff
Arrest Warrant Issued for Team Xtreme Car, Trailer Theft
Haas Hopeful for Chase Eligibility
GP2 Vet Coletti to IndyCar, KV Racing Technology
~~~~~~~~~~
FRONTSTRETCH JOB: WEBMASTER
Frontstretch 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.
~~~~~~~~~~
Sitting in the Stands: A Fan's View
by S.D. Grady
Harvick won Vegas. It's about time! While he is our reigning champ, he still doesn't appear in Victory Lane often enough for us to be tired of it. In fact, reigning champ? When did that happen? Oh yes, there was a Chase or some such shenanigans in the fall. Harvick played the lottery and did well.
Such is my excitement level these days when the Cup Series comes to town. I sit in my living room with the race on and wonder why is it I can't stay focused on the lap by lap unfolding before me. Is it me? Am I old? Or is it the Millennial TV production values that change camera angles every two seconds? Is it a long-abiding dislike of DW 'splainin things to me?
While I am no longer in the target demographic of 17-35 that entertainment moguls worry so much about, I don't think I've permanently settled into my rocking chair. There is a tendency to watch Sunday Morning on CBS that feels a little dowdy, but I know how to tweet, Facebook, Pinterest and operate computers. My new car came with a touchscreen system I have not shied away from. I listen to Top 40 and replace my wardrobe on a regular basis. No, I'm not stuck Back in the Day.
So, why did Sunday's presentation of the Kobalt Tools 400 result in a much cleaner house? I looked up somewhere around the second load of laundry, discovered there were 34 laps left and thought hey, I ought to pay attention to that now. 200 laps had passed, a few tires popped, some uneventful spin outs occurred, and by and large the leader was the leader. The usual cast of characters had filled the Top 10 for much of the afternoon. In short, it was just another day at the track.
And no, I don't blame my ennui on the cookie-cutter location. I have fond memories of our trip to Las Vegas, watching the fighters take off behind the backstretch all week, shivering under the desert sun, appreciating the speeds and general celebratory atmosphere that Sin City shares with its racing venue.
I just might be bored while I wait for that new story to ignite. After all, despite the new year, we haven't had a whole lot of WOW to divert us. Three weeks into the season and we've got Jeff Gordon's farewell tour that isn't (He's still not retiring, didn't you know?) There's the missing Busch Brothers, but with the amount of buzz either one is creating you could bring a library to town without a problem. Tony Stewart has found just enough speed to live nicely at the back of the pack. Kyle Larson still hasn't notched his first win. Neither has Danica… holding your breath, aren't you? NASCAR fixed its qualifying mess for a day. The new penalty system is working like a charm and if you want something completely different, we can talk about which driver hit a non-SAFER barrier this week. Yawn....
Well, that's a whole lot of nothing. Do you feel better? I do. Apparently my dishes got done because there really wasn't anything worth paying attention to this week. And sometimes, that's just how it is. We can't have edge of our seat excitement every day — can we?
Here's hoping the series will rise out of the ashes soon. We are heading to Phoenix, after all.
Sonya's Scrapbook
Jeff Gordon's 76th win, tying him with Dale Earnhardt Sr. for all-time Cup wins. Gordon saluted Senior on the cool down lap, a move which was entirely fitting. Despite the fact Gordon and Senior fans hated one another for years and years, the two were in many ways responsible for the massive offerings of T-shirts and die-cast you can easily find at the track these days. The pair worked as business partners promoting souvenir sales.
Not only did this win place Gordon another spot up in the annals of racing history, it added to his personal record by knocking Phoenix off the "tracks I haven't won at" list. And he did it in style…sort of. This year brought us the CoT. There was that ugly as sin wing on the back of the car. But Tony Stewart in the No. 20 and Gordon in his blue and red flame No. 24 entertained the crowd with some late-racing passes — the kind that make highlight reels.
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.
~~~~~~~~~~0
Races Jeff Gordon has run this season without getting involved in a crash. He's now been in wrecks at Daytona, Atlanta, and Las Vegas posting a best finish of 18th.
1
Career victory for Kevin Harvick at Las Vegas after conquering the track Sunday. Harvick was winless in 14 previous starts, posting only three other top-5 finishes.
2
Laps led by Roush Fenway Racing in three races to date. Only Greg Biffle has led a lap for RFR so far this season.
3
Laps led by Toyotas Sunday out of 267. Carl Edwards had two and Matt Kenseth had one.
4
Chevrolets in the top four spots at Las Vegas. Chevy has now won two of the first three races.
5
Tire violations Sunday for a tire rolling outside the pit box. Among those hit with the penalty included Tony Stewart, Brad Keselowski and David Ragan.
6
Straight top-2 finishes for Kevin Harvick, the first time that's happened in NASCAR since Jeff Gordon in 1996.
13th
Finish for Brian Scott Sunday, a career best for him in the Cup Series.
27
Points for Tony Stewart after three races.
29
Points for Brian Vickers after one race.
35th
The best finish by an "official" Rookie of the Year candidate this season (Jeb Burton). Ryan Blaney, running a limited schedule for the Wood Brothers has chosen to run for XFINITY Series points.
50
Percentage of cautions Sunday that were for "competition" or debris.
$121,010
Money won by Paul Menard for finishing 12th.
$121,226
Money won by Jimmie Johnson for finishing 41st.
~~~~~~~~~~
TODAY AT FRONTSTRETCH:
~~~~~~~~~~
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Monday's Answer:
Q: In the 1989 CART Autoworks 200 at Phoenix International Raceway, Dominic Dobson started from a career-best third on the grid. Everything looked good for the race; however, it all fell apart early. What happened?
A: At the time, Dobson had only managed to finish one of his previous 15 starts in CART. After dropping back early, Dobson was still running decently on lap 30 when he ran up on the slower Randy Lewis. Dobson misgauged Lewis' speed, hit the back of Lewis' No. 28 and put himself in the turn 3 wall. The incident damaged the front wing and broke the right rear suspension, putting Dobson out. The crash can be seen here.~~~~~~~~~~
COMING TOMORROW
-----------------------------
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 to editors@frontstretch.com. We'll take the best comments and publish them here!
©2015 Frontstretch.com
--
Feel free to forward this newsletter if you have any friends who loves
NASCAR and great NASCAR commentary. They can subscribe to the Frontstetch by visiting http://www.frontstretch.com/notice/9557/.
If you want to stop your Frontstretch Newsletter subscription, we're sorry
to see you go. Just send an email to
TheFrontstretch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com from the address that you
recieve the Frontstretch Newsletter.
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Frontstretch" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to thefrontstretch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
No comments:
Post a Comment