Friday, May 15, 2015

The Frontstretch Newsletter: Airborne Crashes Mar Practice Sessions at Indy While Jones and Kahne Top Sheets in Charlotte

THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
May 15, 2015
Volume IX, Edition LXXVI
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What to Watch: Friday

- Today, we've got racing.  The Sprint Showdown for teams not currently qualified for the Sprint All-Star Race is this evening at 7 p.m., followed by the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 for the Camping World Truck Series.  Meanwhile, it's the final day of practice at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  The boost will be turned up today by approximately 7.7 percent.  As a result, today will see the highest speeds of the month thus far.
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This weekend's TV Schedule can be found in Couch Potato
Tuesday here.

Top News
by The Frontstretch Staff

Jones, Kahne Top Truck Practices at Charlotte

On Thursday, the Camping World Truck Series teams had nearly five hours of practice at Charlotte Motor Speedway for tonight's North Carolina Education Lottery 200.  Kasey Kahne, making his debut in JR Motorsports' No. 00 Chevrolet, was quickest in the three-hour first practice, while Erik Jones was quickest in the second session.  Read more

NASCAR Partners with DraftKings for Fantasy Games

NASCAR announced on Thrusday that they have partnered with DraftKings, a company known for online fantasy competitions.  DraftKings will be known as NASCAR's "Official Daily Fantasy Sports Partner" and help improve the current fantasy experience at nascar.comRead more

Josef Newgarden Escapes Violent Indy 500 Practice Crash

After Helio Castroneves' crash on Wednesday, the paddock at Indianapolis Motor Speedway was a little on edge.  Thursday didn't make them feel any better.  Josef Newgarden spun out exiting turn 1, hit the wall, then flipped and slid his way to a stop.  Newgarden was ok, but his Century 21-sponsored car was trash.  Read more

Simon Pagenaud Tops Frantic Thursday in Indianapolis

Aside from Josef Newgarden's crash, there was plenty more on-track activity on Thursday.  The Chevrolet-powered No. 22 of Simon Pagenaud was quickest with a lap of 228.793 mph.  Read more

Vautier to Sub for Davison in Indy 500 Qualifying

Dale Coyne Racing has named James Davison as the driver of the No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing entry in the Indianapolis 500.  However, Davison has a conflict this week.  He's full-time in Pirelli World Challenge in a Nissan NISMO GT-R GT3 for Always Evolving Racing and is racing at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park for both days of qualifying.  Former Verizon IndyCar Series regular Tristan Vautier will qualify the car this weekend in Davison's place.  Read more

Increasing Speeds, Risk Highlight Early Indy 500 Practices

The first few days of Indianapolis 500 practice have been quite interesting.  Carlos Munoz has turned in the fastest lap of the month so far with a lap over 230 mph.  However, there have been crashes.  Helio Castroneves flipped on Wednesday after hitting the wall.  Later on Wednesday, Pippa Mann crashed her third Dale Coyne Racing entry into the inside wall and the pit road attenuator exiting turn 4.  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 Folio: Sprint All-Star Weekend
by Phil Allaway

The Sprint Cup Series heads to Charlotte Motor Speedway for a couple of nights of action for a Saturday night showdown, weather permitting. Coverage of the Sprint Showdown  begins tonight at 7 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1; the race can also be heard on your local MRN affiliate or SiriusXM channel 90. Drivers will compete for 40 laps (60 miles) to fill in the final spots on Saturday night's grid.

The Sprint All-Star Race is scheduled to get underway around 9 p.m. ET Saturday night on FOX Sports 1.  Like Friday night, the Sprint All-Star Race will also be available on MRN Radio or SiriusXM channel 90.  Drivers will race 110 laps (165 miles) over five segments. 

Records and facts

Jamie McMurray is the defending winner of this race. After starting 11th, McMurray led 31 of the 90 laps to claim the victory over Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Carl Edwards.

Track/Race Length: 1.5-mile quad-oval, 40 laps, 60 miles Friday; 110 laps, 165 miles Satuday
Frontstretch: 1,952.8 feet; banked 5 degrees
Backstretch: 1,360 feet; banked 5 degrees
Banking in turns: 24 degrees
Seating: approx. 89,000
Opened: 1960

Pre-Race Schedule:

Sprint Showdown Practice: Friday, May 15, 12 - 1:45 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1
Sprint All-Star Race Practice: Friday, May 15, 1:45 - 3:30 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1
Sprint Showdown Qualifying: Friday, May 15 at 4:15 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1

Sprint All-Star Race Qualifying: Saturday, May 16 at 7:15 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1

Weather Forecast

Friday: Partly Cloudy, 20 percent chance of rain

High: 83

Low: 60

Saturday: Partly Cloudy

High : 85

Low: 63

Say What?!

"Just like last weekend in Kansas, Charlotte is another track that we race at in the Chase, so we'll certainly spend some time over the next couple weeks trying to learn some things for the October race at Charlotte. Saturday night's All-Star Race is a fun atmosphere, and with no points on the line, we drivers can go for broke. We can take chances we normally wouldn't take, try some different strategies and hopefully put ourselves in position after the fourth segment to race for a million bucks." - Denny Hamlin

"It's an event for the fans and that's something that's very important to us, but there's a lot of bragging rights, too. Charlotte is an area where 95 percent of the Cup teams are based, so when you go there, you want to run well. You're able to have guys come from the shop that don't get a chance to travel. They don't get a chance to come to the racetrack very often and see the fruits of their labor, so for them to come to the All-Star Race and see their cars run, especially when you have a good night, it really pumps up your organization. You do it for your fans, but at the same time, you do it for your organization and your team. That's why the All-Star Race is important." - Tony Stewart

"It's exciting and I'm really happy to be getting back in the No. 18 M&M's Red Nose Day Camry for the Sprint All-Star Race this weekend. I know everybody has been anxious to know when I would return and it would have been great back in February to say we were looking at the All-Star Race, but not a lot of people would have bet I could be back by then. I think it's a great race to come back to, though. It's shorter and it's a non-points event with mandatory cautions after every 25 laps and whatnot. So it gives you an opportunity to take a breather, take a rest, whatever it may be. That will allow me to make adjustments to myself, as well as being behind the wheel of the 2015 Camry for the first time, because I haven't had an opportunity to race at all in this aero package." - Kyle Busch

Phil Allaway is the Newsletter Manager and a Senior Writer for Frontstretch.  He can be reached via e-mail at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com.
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TODAY ON FRONTSTRETCH:
by the Frontstretch Staff
by Amy Henderson
as told to Mike Neff
by Kevin Rutherford
 
by Matt Weaver

 

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FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
 
Q: In 1995, after completely stomping the field the previous years, both Team Penske drivers Al Unser, Jr. and Emerson Fittipaldi infamously DNQ'd for the Indianapolis 500.  How many collective attempts did the two drivers unsuccessfully make to get into the field?

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

Thursday's Answer:

Q: During TNN's coverage of the 1997 Winston Open, Eli Gold noted that there were actually 32 cars entered for the Winston Open, but that Joe Ruttman had withdrawn.  What would Ruttman have been driving had he raced?

A: Ruttman would have been driving a No. 55 Ford sponsored by Sealy Furniture that was owned by Michael Waltrip.  The car eventually surfaced in the NASCAR 500k, a Winston West race at the then-new Pikes Peak International Raceway, where Waltrip won with it from second on the grid.
COMING MONDAY
In The Frontstretch Newsletter:
We'll have recaps of both NASCAR races this weekend from All-Star Weekend and the XFINITY Series race from Iowa Speedway, along with any notable news that breaks.

On Frontstretch.com:
We'll have a series of post-race commentaries breaking down the action from Charlotte.
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Talk back to the Frontstretch Newsletter!
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