THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
What to Watch: Thursday
- Today is the Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown at South Boston Speedway. The best late model drivers in the Southeast will be taking a number of NASCAR drivers (Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Jeb Burton, etc.) that will be moonlighting for the night. Coverage of the event will air on NBC Sports Network on a tape-delayed basis.
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Thursday's TV Schedule can be found in Couch Potato Tuesday here.
John Darby, NASCAR Part WaysApr. 23, 2015
Volume IX, Edition LX
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What to Watch: Thursday
- Today is the Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown at South Boston Speedway. The best late model drivers in the Southeast will be taking a number of NASCAR drivers (Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Jeb Burton, etc.) that will be moonlighting for the night. Coverage of the event will air on NBC Sports Network on a tape-delayed basis.
~~~~~~~~~~
Thursday's TV Schedule can be found in Couch Potato Tuesday here.
Top News
by Sean Fesko
by Sean Fesko
On Wednesday, longtime NASCAR official John Darby left the sanctioning body. Up until the end of the 2013 season, Darby spent 12 years as the Sprint Cup Series Director before being replaced by Richard Buck. Read more
Jamie Dick Says He'll Return to XFINITY Competition
Jamie Dick Says He'll Return to XFINITY Competition
XFINITY Series driver Jamie Dick released a statement on Wednesday that indicated that he will be back in a race car sometime in the near future. Dick was hospitalized after finishing 28th at Phoenix earlier this season and was diagnosed with diabetes. Dick has no timetable to return to the seat, but is determined to not let diabetes end his career. Read more
Johanna Long to Return to XFINITY Action at Richmond
Johanna Long to Return to XFINITY Action at Richmond
Affarano Motorsports has announced that they will attempt to make their XFINITY Series debut this weekend at Richmond International Raceway. Johanna Long will attempt to qualify the team's No. 03 Chevrolet Camaro on speed for the ToyotaCare 250. Read more
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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 its 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
Remembering Byrnes and Trucks at IRP
Potts' Shots
by John Potts
There have been a lot of mentions on television, posts on Facebook, tweets, etc. since Steve Byrnes passed away on Tuesday. One of the finest commentators and announcers in the game had just been honored at the NASCAR race in Bristol on Sunday, and it may be fitting that it took so long to get that race done.
NASCAR and Bristol Motor Speedway fought to get that race in on the scheduled day, at the same time Steve was fighting against the cancer that ultimately took him. I think they finally got it in because the Good Lord was wanting Steve to see it.
My friend Brian Olson posted one of the best comments on Facebook, and I can't recall exactly what he said. It was mostly to the effect that it doesn't matter if you're in drag racing, oval racing, road racing, or off-road racing, or if you're involved with stock cars, open wheel cars, whatever. All of us announcers are brothers in kind. All of us want to do the best job possible letting the fans who are listening know what's going on. Or in another vein, what's on the mind of the driver, owner, crew chief, or crew member we're interviewing.
Very few have done it as well as Steve Byrnes.
We're going to miss you, Steve. RIP.
- - - - - - - -
A couple of weeks ago, one of my colleagues on Frontstretch wrote a column opining that the truck series would be very well served by adding about five races to the schedule. It was a pretty good list, and some very good reasons were listed for adding them. I had to agree, but there was one race suggested for a return to the series that probably won't be back, at least not by itself.
That was the event at Lucas Oil Raceway, which used to be O'Reilly Raceway Park, which used to be Indianapolis Raceway Park. The race on the .686-mile oval was annually one of the best.
When NASCAR pulled what was then the Nationwide (I think – I'd be getting a little long in the tooth (if I had any of my own teeth left) and I'm getting confused with some of these name changes) race from that place and took it to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the management of the National Hot Rod Association (which I'm sure still owns that track) declined to keep the truck race.
The general manager at the time, Ron Anderson, said it just didn't make good economic sense to keep the truck race without the other headliner. Some people scoffed at that statement.
At the time, this decision was a slap in the face to the NHRA, who had spent a lot of money improving that oval since first bringing what was then the Busch Series to IRP in 1982.
And let's be frank. In doing so, then GM Bob Daniels and the IRP staff proved that NASCAR would sell in Indianapolis. Bob was told it would never go over, and he proved otherwise. Enough so that I am still convinced that there would not be a Brickyard 400 if the Kroger 200 hadn't been successful.
In addition to the general improvements to the oval (some virtually demanded by NASCAR), a LOT of money was spent in promoting that race and, when the truck series came along, that one as well. A major share of that went into erecting temporary bleachers in the two weeks before what became known as "NASCAR weekend" in Indianapolis.
We used to joke that if we had to add any more, the place was going to look like the Rose Bowl. This was before Bruton Smith turned Bristol into something bigger than the Rose Bowl, of course.
Both of those races were successful, of course, with the Busch race selling completely out several times. I know this because I'm the guy who had to change the electronic sign out in front of the place to indicate the sellout, and make sure the sign at the other end of the property also got changed. After the first time we ran out of room, we had a plan in place to do it quickly. If you don't learn in this business, it'll mow you down.
The truck race never did sell out. Fell pretty well short a couple of times. I'm sure that's why it was felt it would not be worth the trouble to put in all that work and go to all that expense to get ready for one race. And without adding the seats, the price of tickets would have to be astronomically high in order to pay the freight.
So, as I said, I don't think that race will be back unless the XFINITY (or whatever it will be called at the time) Series returns to the multi-purpose layout on the west side.
Until then, I'll be at the Speedway covering both races for Frontstretch, because I love that place as well, and I still love racing in general. Moving back to Indianapolis has rekindled that feeling for the big events. To be honest, I'm already a little excited about the fact that it's almost May and I've already picked up my credentials for the month's events there.
There have been a lot of mentions on television, posts on Facebook, tweets, etc. since Steve Byrnes passed away on Tuesday. One of the finest commentators and announcers in the game had just been honored at the NASCAR race in Bristol on Sunday, and it may be fitting that it took so long to get that race done.
NASCAR and Bristol Motor Speedway fought to get that race in on the scheduled day, at the same time Steve was fighting against the cancer that ultimately took him. I think they finally got it in because the Good Lord was wanting Steve to see it.
My friend Brian Olson posted one of the best comments on Facebook, and I can't recall exactly what he said. It was mostly to the effect that it doesn't matter if you're in drag racing, oval racing, road racing, or off-road racing, or if you're involved with stock cars, open wheel cars, whatever. All of us announcers are brothers in kind. All of us want to do the best job possible letting the fans who are listening know what's going on. Or in another vein, what's on the mind of the driver, owner, crew chief, or crew member we're interviewing.
Very few have done it as well as Steve Byrnes.
We're going to miss you, Steve. RIP.
- - - - - - - -
A couple of weeks ago, one of my colleagues on Frontstretch wrote a column opining that the truck series would be very well served by adding about five races to the schedule. It was a pretty good list, and some very good reasons were listed for adding them. I had to agree, but there was one race suggested for a return to the series that probably won't be back, at least not by itself.
That was the event at Lucas Oil Raceway, which used to be O'Reilly Raceway Park, which used to be Indianapolis Raceway Park. The race on the .686-mile oval was annually one of the best.
When NASCAR pulled what was then the Nationwide (I think – I'd be getting a little long in the tooth (if I had any of my own teeth left) and I'm getting confused with some of these name changes) race from that place and took it to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the management of the National Hot Rod Association (which I'm sure still owns that track) declined to keep the truck race.
The general manager at the time, Ron Anderson, said it just didn't make good economic sense to keep the truck race without the other headliner. Some people scoffed at that statement.
At the time, this decision was a slap in the face to the NHRA, who had spent a lot of money improving that oval since first bringing what was then the Busch Series to IRP in 1982.
And let's be frank. In doing so, then GM Bob Daniels and the IRP staff proved that NASCAR would sell in Indianapolis. Bob was told it would never go over, and he proved otherwise. Enough so that I am still convinced that there would not be a Brickyard 400 if the Kroger 200 hadn't been successful.
In addition to the general improvements to the oval (some virtually demanded by NASCAR), a LOT of money was spent in promoting that race and, when the truck series came along, that one as well. A major share of that went into erecting temporary bleachers in the two weeks before what became known as "NASCAR weekend" in Indianapolis.
We used to joke that if we had to add any more, the place was going to look like the Rose Bowl. This was before Bruton Smith turned Bristol into something bigger than the Rose Bowl, of course.
Both of those races were successful, of course, with the Busch race selling completely out several times. I know this because I'm the guy who had to change the electronic sign out in front of the place to indicate the sellout, and make sure the sign at the other end of the property also got changed. After the first time we ran out of room, we had a plan in place to do it quickly. If you don't learn in this business, it'll mow you down.
The truck race never did sell out. Fell pretty well short a couple of times. I'm sure that's why it was felt it would not be worth the trouble to put in all that work and go to all that expense to get ready for one race. And without adding the seats, the price of tickets would have to be astronomically high in order to pay the freight.
So, as I said, I don't think that race will be back unless the XFINITY (or whatever it will be called at the time) Series returns to the multi-purpose layout on the west side.
Until then, I'll be at the Speedway covering both races for Frontstretch, because I love that place as well, and I still love racing in general. Moving back to Indianapolis has rekindled that feeling for the big events. To be honest, I'm already a little excited about the fact that it's almost May and I've already picked up my credentials for the month's events there.
John Potts is a Senior Writer for Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at john.potts@frontstretch.com.
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Editor's Note: A special edition of The Critic's Annex commemorating Steve Byrnes ran at Frontstretch on Wednesday. It can be seen here.
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"Well, guess who just scored top 10s at NASCAR's toughest short tracks (Martinsville and Bristol) and is 13th in points. Nope, nope, nope. It's the one dating the dude with the mullet." - Texas Motor Speedway's Mike Zizzo on Danica Patrick, who just moved into our top 15 in Power Rankings.
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FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
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COMING TOMORROW
-----------------------------
Talk back to the Frontstretch Newsletter!
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
Frontstretch Line of the Week
From NASCAR Sprint Cup Power Rankings: Top 15 After Bristol"Well, guess who just scored top 10s at NASCAR's toughest short tracks (Martinsville and Bristol) and is 13th in points. Nope, nope, nope. It's the one dating the dude with the mullet." - Texas Motor Speedway's Mike Zizzo on Danica Patrick, who just moved into our top 15 in Power Rankings.
~~~~~~~~~~
TODAY AT FRONTSTRETCH:
by Beth Lunkenheimer
by P. Huston Ladner
by Toni Montgomery
by Joseph Wolkin
by Matt Weaver
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: In the rain-delayed 2002 Pontiac Excitement 400 at Richmond, Ward Burton led the most laps from the pole (125). However, he finished in a miserable 30th, 36 laps down. What happened?
Check back Friday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Wednesday's Answer:
Wednesday's Answer:
Q: In 1998, NASCAR moved the Spring race at Richmond International Raceway to June for the first time, making it into a second night race at the track in the process. Why was this move made?
A: Prior to 1998, the Spring race at Richmond was traditionally the coldest race of the year. Past years had seen the race run in 40 degree weather, and in some years, colder than that. After years of deal with chilly weather, gusty winds and even wintry weather, NASCAR moved the race in order to find warmer weather for it.
COMING TOMORROW
In The Frontstretch Newsletter:
We'll have a recap of Thursday's breaking news for you.
On Frontstretch.com:
We'll have some burning questions to consider heading into Richmond.-----------------------------
Talk back to the Frontstretch Newsletter!
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
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