THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
Apr. 20, 2015
Volume IX, Edition XLVIII
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
Apr. 20, 2015
Volume IX, Edition XLVIII
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What to Watch: Monday- After Sunday's trials, the teams are already back at work prepping for this weekend at Richmond. We'll have any breaking news if it breaks at Frontstretch and in tomorrow's edition of the Frontstretch Newsletter.
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Monday's TV Schedule can be found in Couch Potato Tuesday here.
Matt Kenseth Survives to Win Wild Race at Bristol
Monday's TV Schedule can be found in Couch Potato Tuesday here.
Top News
by the Frontstretch Staff
Matt Kenseth Survives to Win Wild Race at Bristol
Matt Kenseth inherited the lead late in the going when Kurt Busch chose to pit under the yellow. From there, Kenseth held off the Hendrick Motorsports duo of Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon to claim his first win since 2013. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. was fourth, while Ryan Newman rounded out the top-5 in a very unusual and action packed race. Read more
Denny Hamlin Out of Bristol Race With Neck Spasms
Denny Hamlin Out of Bristol Race With Neck Spasms
If you look at the unofficial results, you'll see that Denny Hamlin finished 26th Sunday. However, he only drove the first 22 laps of the race in a fair amount of pain due to neck spasms. During the red flag, Joe Gibbs Racing flew Erik Jones up to Bristol from Charlotte to sub. Read more
Joey Logano Cruises to Victory in Drive to Stop Diabetes 300
Joey Logano Cruises to Victory in Drive to Stop Diabetes 300
On Saturday, Joey Logano pitched a perfect game, leading all 300 laps to win the XFINITY Series Drive To End Diabetes 300. Rookie Daniel Suarez was second, followed by Chris Buescher, Erik Jones and Ty Dillon. 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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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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Chasing the Chase: Despite Being Caught Up In Crash, Harvick Expands Advantage
by Phil Allaway
Kevin Harvick was a victim of circumstance Sunday evening after sliding into the aftermath of a crash involving Jeb Burton, Jimmie Johnson and David Ragan. However, since everyone in the top 5 had problems during the race, he actually managed to increase his points lead to 30 over Joey Logano. Logano got caught up in an early crash with teammate Brad Keselowski and ended up finishing 59 laps down in 40th. With the top 2 in trouble, Martin Truex, Jr. had an opportunity to capitalize. However, Truex Jr. made multiple unscheduled pit stops, one due to a vibration and one due to a flat left front tire. Those stops put the No. 78 miles off the pace and getting hit in a late crash didn't help either. However, Truex's 29th-place finish puts him only three points out of second in points.Johnson moved up two places to fourth after finishing second on Sunday, but it was definitely an uphill battle to get there. Johnson was involved in two separate wrecks and needed a Lucky Dog to get back onto the lead lap. From there, Johnson charged into contention from there. Keselowski's day never got going because of the lap 19 crash. He had to scramble to finish 22 laps down in 35th. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. made two unscheduled pit stops Sunday, one for a flat right rear tire and the second for a loose wheel. Those stops cost the No. 88 four laps. Wave-arounds cut the deficit to two laps by race's end, enough to gain Earnhardt Jr. a spot.
Kasey Kahne was in good position to gain ground in the points until he tangled with Tony Stewart with less than 20 laps to go. What was likely going to be a top-15 finish turned into a 37th-place finish and two lost positions in the standings. Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon are both up four places to eighth and ninth after their excellent runs. Aric Almirola is down one place to tenth after finishing in a decent 13th on Sunday.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) Kevin Harvick 306, 2) Joey Logano -30, 3) Martin Truex, Jr. -33, 4) Jimmie Johnson -56, 5) Brad Keselowski -59, 6) Dale Earnhardt, Jr. -73, 7) Kasey Kahne -77, 8) Matt Kenseth -78, 9) Jeff Gordon -87, 10) Aric Almirola -88, t-11) Denny Hamlin -91, t-11) Jamie McMurray -91, 13) Danica Patrick -103, 14) Paul Menard -104, 15) Carl Edwards -111, 16) Ryan Newman -113.
Race Winners: Joey Logano (Daytona), Jimmie Johnson (Atlanta, Texas), Kevin Harvick (Las Vegas, Phoenix), Brad Keselowski (Fontana), Denny Hamlin (Martinsville), Matt Kenseth (Bristol)
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Letter of the Race: Sunday's Food City 500 In Support of Steve Byrnes And Stand Up For Cancer was brought to you by the letter "M," for Marathon. Rain delays havppen in NASCAR from time to time. Races turning into nine-hour epics are rare. Having it happen in the same race in back-to-back years is incredibly unusual. That's what we got on Sunday. Almost ended the same as last year as well (going beyond the scheduled 500 lap distance, but getting called before a GWC due to rain). - Phil Allaway
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Quotes to Remember: Food City 500 In Support of Steve Byrnes And Stand Up To Cancer
compiled by Phil Allaway
"It means a lot. I have a great race team. Last year was tough and not winning again this year so far has been tough. We've been putting ourselves in position. Really need to thank Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) and all these guys – our pit stops have been great. I haven't been doing as great and the cars haven't been as good, but these guys have been really doing it. I want to thank everyone at JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) and Dollar General, I think they stuck it out all day in the rain to watch this thing like the fans and all our sponsors – Dollar General, DeWalt, Toyota, TRD (Toyota Racing Development), Gatorade, Citizen Watch, Wiley X, Reser's and Cessna, they're great partners and I'm proud to be standing here representing them. And, Steve (Byrnes), because I am his favorite driver. He doesn't tell many people that, but I am his favorite driver." - Matt Kenseth, race winner
"Yes, is was a wild night. But I just have to thank my crew for all their hard work. They burned the midnight oil on Friday night to get some stuff ready to put in this race car for Saturday's practice and turning it around. We were really bad on Friday, but my team never gave up. Just like all the Lowe's associates, in store. They never give up. And, I'm just really glad we we got a second. I maybe had a shot at the win, but am just thrilled to get such a great finish here. This is one of the more tough tracks for me, as a driver. So, I'm very stoked to be here. Chevy was fast, and we go on to the next one." - Jimmie Johnson, finished second
"Yeah, we got really lucky there after we had to pit under green. Everything seemed to fall our way after we made that green flag stop. We had a different strategy going on and when we had that caution late on that run and I was leading. We were going to end up 17th or something and then people started wrecking, we got the "Lucky Dog" and we came away with a seventh place finish. So a good overall day and I feel like it's the first race where we haven't had any issues really. You know, every race we have run so far…whether it's been an issue with myself, the pit crew, or running out of luck on the race track. We just haven't had a clean race and tonight I feel like we finally had that." - Kyle Larson, finished seventh
"You know, it just seems like the first time I came here I felt like it was my kind of race track. I just felt comfortable and have been fortunate enough over the years to have some good runs here with the pole and the win. It's awesome, awesome to have good runs here. But at the same time, the Cup series is definitely an extreme challenge. It's not been easy to break our way up through the pack but tonight we felt like that was a big step in doing that and getting respect by racing around a lot of these guys. We need to do that on a weekly basis so when you can do that here at a place you run good at, hopefully you can take that momentum and go somewhere else that you don't run good at and use that same momentum." - Justin Allgaier, finished eighth
"We had a really good car. I was proud of Trent and the guys because they gave me a lot better car than what I had the rest of the weekend. We just had some stuff go wrong at the end and that kind of hurt our race a little bit. All in all it was a good day. I'll take it. It's a solid points day and we'll move on." - Aric Almirola, finished 13th
"We had a very eventful day. I don't even know how to describe it. This is a good sign. We had good long run speed and that is the most positive thing to take from the last couple of week where we didn't have that long run speed. I think we found some good things in our Haas Automation Chevrolet. All-in-all 500 laps here you are right upon that edge. We had 100 laps on our tires. I thought we needed to pit. (John) Klausmeier (engineer) thought we needed to pit. Then I was thinking this is the Bristol of old we might be able to get away with staying out and it turned out that (Matt) Kenseth brought it on home to Victory Lane. Congratulations to him.
"We had fresh tires coming up through. (Carl) Edwards pushed the cushion. He hit some ice, I hit the same stuff or he was throwing the marbles out on the track and I just got sucked right in there. I was like I'm avoiding the wreck, but I couldn't do anything to avoid them. We salvaged 15th. The car could have won. Thanks Gene (Haas) sorry we didn't get a win. Gene Haas would have said to pit if you are watching. Thanks to everybody Monster Energy, State Water Heaters, Mobil 1, Rush Truck Centers, Hendrick Engines, the great group we have at Stewart-Haas Racing. We will get it. We are not going to get one win. We are going to get many wins." - Kurt Busch, finished 15th
"I was sitting on my couch back in North Carolina thinking about when I was going to get my nap in during the race in the middle and then I got a text from one of the crew members and they let me know that I might need to be on standby. Right then I started packing a bag. I called my dad and said, 'Hey, I think I might be getting to run a Cup race tonight.' He was like, 'Okay, cool keep me updated.' Took off right from there and flew here and helicoptered in and got in and drove.
"Obviously, it was a huge learning experience overall. The FedEx Camry was pretty good, but it just took me so long – really up until the red flag and kind of sitting and thinking about it and really figuring out what I had and what I had to do different from the Xfinity cars was just huge. I learned a ton. I wish we could start the night over and do it all again. It was an interesting situation for sure. I never turned a lap in one of these cars until the green flag dropped. It was interesting and I learned a ton. I can't wait to try it again." - Erik Jones, finished 26th in relief of Denny Hamlin
"It's been raining since we started the race. It was just a really light sprinkle and the track was just barely dry. I don't know. The rain was coming in and out and the car just took off on me. I would like to blame the rain, but I honestly don't know. Usually when a car gets that far sideways and it's kind of out of nowhere there's a reason behind it. I just really hate that I tore up my teammate in the process. That's really a bummer. I felt like I had a pretty normal line and it just flew crazy sideways on me. It's a bummer for everybody at Team Penske to tear up both cars that way. I hate racing in the rain, but I understand the position that NASCAR is in. They want to get the race going and this is one of those days where it's gonna just keep raining off and on and we're trying to get as many laps in at a time as we can to give the fans the best race possible, but we're racing in the rain to do it and that's what happens." - Brad Keselowski, finished 35th, on his crash
"It happened quick, obviously. You think you get early in this race and kind of want to settle in and just starting to get the top worked in a little bit there and Brad just got loose underneath that lapped car. You start checking up and it looked like he was gonna have it saved and he checked up more than I expected and the next thing you know I'm in the back of him and we're both headed towards the fence. The last thing you want to see when you've got a rain delay here. We're just gonna try to fix it and ride this thing out and get what we can out of the day. It's unfortunate for Autotrader. This is the one race they do a year and unfortunately, we're gonna be crashed, but we'll do what we can." - Joey Logano, finished 40th
"Sometimes when you race back there with the squirrels, you find a nut sometimes. That's just Bristol. You're racing hard and the 26 (Jeb Burton) was a little slower and I know Jimmie (Johnson) is probably a little impatient trying to get back to the front. I see he just touched him there and as soon as my spotter said they were wrecking, I'm all into the 48 (Johnson). That's just one of those things you have at short track racing. I really hate that about the Snickers Xtreme Camry. Our guys had worked hard and we had a pit road problem – lost a couple laps, but we were still out there trying to get the best finish we could. It's unfortunate and hopefully we can tune on it and go out and make some laps, get some points and head to Richmond." - David Ragan, finished 41st
"I'm really frustrated I came down on the No. 42. I knew he was back there. I didn't know how far back there. The No. 26 went to the bottom and I wanted to get behind him so the No. 42 could run on the outside and then all of a sudden my spotter said inside. He must have just had a huge run on me. You know it's really frustrating. I hope the No. 42 didn't get any damage. They are playing a really smart pit strategy. I hope it works out for them." - Landon Cassill, finished 43rd (Crashed out)
Phil Allaway is the Newsletter Manager as well as a Senior Writer for Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com."It means a lot. I have a great race team. Last year was tough and not winning again this year so far has been tough. We've been putting ourselves in position. Really need to thank Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) and all these guys – our pit stops have been great. I haven't been doing as great and the cars haven't been as good, but these guys have been really doing it. I want to thank everyone at JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) and Dollar General, I think they stuck it out all day in the rain to watch this thing like the fans and all our sponsors – Dollar General, DeWalt, Toyota, TRD (Toyota Racing Development), Gatorade, Citizen Watch, Wiley X, Reser's and Cessna, they're great partners and I'm proud to be standing here representing them. And, Steve (Byrnes), because I am his favorite driver. He doesn't tell many people that, but I am his favorite driver." - Matt Kenseth, race winner
"Yes, is was a wild night. But I just have to thank my crew for all their hard work. They burned the midnight oil on Friday night to get some stuff ready to put in this race car for Saturday's practice and turning it around. We were really bad on Friday, but my team never gave up. Just like all the Lowe's associates, in store. They never give up. And, I'm just really glad we we got a second. I maybe had a shot at the win, but am just thrilled to get such a great finish here. This is one of the more tough tracks for me, as a driver. So, I'm very stoked to be here. Chevy was fast, and we go on to the next one." - Jimmie Johnson, finished second
"Yeah, we got really lucky there after we had to pit under green. Everything seemed to fall our way after we made that green flag stop. We had a different strategy going on and when we had that caution late on that run and I was leading. We were going to end up 17th or something and then people started wrecking, we got the "Lucky Dog" and we came away with a seventh place finish. So a good overall day and I feel like it's the first race where we haven't had any issues really. You know, every race we have run so far…whether it's been an issue with myself, the pit crew, or running out of luck on the race track. We just haven't had a clean race and tonight I feel like we finally had that." - Kyle Larson, finished seventh
"You know, it just seems like the first time I came here I felt like it was my kind of race track. I just felt comfortable and have been fortunate enough over the years to have some good runs here with the pole and the win. It's awesome, awesome to have good runs here. But at the same time, the Cup series is definitely an extreme challenge. It's not been easy to break our way up through the pack but tonight we felt like that was a big step in doing that and getting respect by racing around a lot of these guys. We need to do that on a weekly basis so when you can do that here at a place you run good at, hopefully you can take that momentum and go somewhere else that you don't run good at and use that same momentum." - Justin Allgaier, finished eighth
"We had a really good car. I was proud of Trent and the guys because they gave me a lot better car than what I had the rest of the weekend. We just had some stuff go wrong at the end and that kind of hurt our race a little bit. All in all it was a good day. I'll take it. It's a solid points day and we'll move on." - Aric Almirola, finished 13th
"We had a very eventful day. I don't even know how to describe it. This is a good sign. We had good long run speed and that is the most positive thing to take from the last couple of week where we didn't have that long run speed. I think we found some good things in our Haas Automation Chevrolet. All-in-all 500 laps here you are right upon that edge. We had 100 laps on our tires. I thought we needed to pit. (John) Klausmeier (engineer) thought we needed to pit. Then I was thinking this is the Bristol of old we might be able to get away with staying out and it turned out that (Matt) Kenseth brought it on home to Victory Lane. Congratulations to him.
"We had fresh tires coming up through. (Carl) Edwards pushed the cushion. He hit some ice, I hit the same stuff or he was throwing the marbles out on the track and I just got sucked right in there. I was like I'm avoiding the wreck, but I couldn't do anything to avoid them. We salvaged 15th. The car could have won. Thanks Gene (Haas) sorry we didn't get a win. Gene Haas would have said to pit if you are watching. Thanks to everybody Monster Energy, State Water Heaters, Mobil 1, Rush Truck Centers, Hendrick Engines, the great group we have at Stewart-Haas Racing. We will get it. We are not going to get one win. We are going to get many wins." - Kurt Busch, finished 15th
"I was sitting on my couch back in North Carolina thinking about when I was going to get my nap in during the race in the middle and then I got a text from one of the crew members and they let me know that I might need to be on standby. Right then I started packing a bag. I called my dad and said, 'Hey, I think I might be getting to run a Cup race tonight.' He was like, 'Okay, cool keep me updated.' Took off right from there and flew here and helicoptered in and got in and drove.
"Obviously, it was a huge learning experience overall. The FedEx Camry was pretty good, but it just took me so long – really up until the red flag and kind of sitting and thinking about it and really figuring out what I had and what I had to do different from the Xfinity cars was just huge. I learned a ton. I wish we could start the night over and do it all again. It was an interesting situation for sure. I never turned a lap in one of these cars until the green flag dropped. It was interesting and I learned a ton. I can't wait to try it again." - Erik Jones, finished 26th in relief of Denny Hamlin
"It's been raining since we started the race. It was just a really light sprinkle and the track was just barely dry. I don't know. The rain was coming in and out and the car just took off on me. I would like to blame the rain, but I honestly don't know. Usually when a car gets that far sideways and it's kind of out of nowhere there's a reason behind it. I just really hate that I tore up my teammate in the process. That's really a bummer. I felt like I had a pretty normal line and it just flew crazy sideways on me. It's a bummer for everybody at Team Penske to tear up both cars that way. I hate racing in the rain, but I understand the position that NASCAR is in. They want to get the race going and this is one of those days where it's gonna just keep raining off and on and we're trying to get as many laps in at a time as we can to give the fans the best race possible, but we're racing in the rain to do it and that's what happens." - Brad Keselowski, finished 35th, on his crash
"It happened quick, obviously. You think you get early in this race and kind of want to settle in and just starting to get the top worked in a little bit there and Brad just got loose underneath that lapped car. You start checking up and it looked like he was gonna have it saved and he checked up more than I expected and the next thing you know I'm in the back of him and we're both headed towards the fence. The last thing you want to see when you've got a rain delay here. We're just gonna try to fix it and ride this thing out and get what we can out of the day. It's unfortunate for Autotrader. This is the one race they do a year and unfortunately, we're gonna be crashed, but we'll do what we can." - Joey Logano, finished 40th
"Sometimes when you race back there with the squirrels, you find a nut sometimes. That's just Bristol. You're racing hard and the 26 (Jeb Burton) was a little slower and I know Jimmie (Johnson) is probably a little impatient trying to get back to the front. I see he just touched him there and as soon as my spotter said they were wrecking, I'm all into the 48 (Johnson). That's just one of those things you have at short track racing. I really hate that about the Snickers Xtreme Camry. Our guys had worked hard and we had a pit road problem – lost a couple laps, but we were still out there trying to get the best finish we could. It's unfortunate and hopefully we can tune on it and go out and make some laps, get some points and head to Richmond." - David Ragan, finished 41st
"I'm really frustrated I came down on the No. 42. I knew he was back there. I didn't know how far back there. The No. 26 went to the bottom and I wanted to get behind him so the No. 42 could run on the outside and then all of a sudden my spotter said inside. He must have just had a huge run on me. You know it's really frustrating. I hope the No. 42 didn't get any damage. They are playing a really smart pit strategy. I hope it works out for them." - Landon Cassill, finished 43rd (Crashed out)
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TODAY AT FRONTSTRETCH:
by Amy Henderson
by Summer Bedgood
by Jerry Jordan
by the Frontstretch Staff
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FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: As you may remember, the former Richmond Fairgrounds Speedway was completed encircled by Armco guardrails. There was not a concrete wall to be found. Having no concrete walls can lead to some bizarre instances. Derrike Cope had a bizarre incident early in the final race on the fairgounds half-mile. What happened?
Check back Tuesday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Friday's Answer:
Friday's Answer:
Q: Much like he did the previous summer in the infamous 1999 Goody's Headache Powders 500, Dale Earnhardt had an excellent car during the Food City 500 and he took that car to the lead just before halfway. His lead didn't even last 40 seconds before heck went down. What happened?
A: Earnhardt was a victim. In front of him, Kenny Irwin, Jr. spun and hit the wall in turn 4 after contact from Matt Kenseth. Irwin then came down the track, clipping Earnhardt, who was nearly on the apron when he was clipped in the right rear. The incident can be seen here. Earnhardt went behind the wall for repairs and eventually returned to the race. However, he pulled out before the finish and was credited with a 39th-place finish.
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COMING TOMORROW
COMING TOMORROW
In The Frontstretch Newsletter:
We'll have breaking news from Monday and S.D. Grady's Sitting In The Stands: A Fan's View commentary.
On Frontstretch.com:
Danny Peters gives us Five Points To Ponder after an action packed weekend of racing in Bristol.-----------------------------
Talk back to the Frontstretch Newsletter!
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