THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
May 4, 2015
Volume IX, Edition LXVII
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
May 4, 2015
Volume IX, Edition LXVII
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What to Watch: Monday- Today is a prep day for the teams ahead of this weekend's action in Kansas. If anything major breaks news-wise, we will have it for you at Frontstretch.
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Monday's TV Schedule can be found in Couch Potato Tuesday here.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Holds On For 6th Talladega Victory
Monday's TV Schedule can be found in Couch Potato Tuesday here.
Top News
by the Frontstretch Staff
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Holds On For 6th Talladega Victory
In a sight that pleased the fans at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. took the lead on the final restart with 26 laps to go and held on to take his sixth career victory at the 2.66-mile tri-oval. Teammate Jimmie Johnson was second, followed by Paul Menard, Ryan Blaney and Martin Truex, Jr. Read more
The Big One Swallows 14 Cars Early at Talladega
The Big One Swallows 14 Cars Early at Talladega
Restrictor plate races always carry the threat of a large multi-car crash that takes out a number of contenders. On Sunday, the crash occurred early on after Trevor Bayne got loose and spun exiting turn 2. 14 cars were involved in the huge crash, including Joey Logano, who entered the race second in points. Read more
Joey Logano Wins Winn-Dixie 300 In Furious Sprint
Joey Logano was able to win a wreck-marred XFINITY Series event at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday afternoon. Logano just edged out Brian Scott at the line for the win. Austin Dillon was third, followed by JJ Yeley and Joey Gase. 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: Harvick Weathers Damage to Increase Lead
by Phil Allaway
Races at Talladega Superspeedway can shake up the points due to wackiness and Sunday was no exception. Despite being damaged in "The Big One" on Lap 47, Kevin Harvick managed to bring himself home in eighth. That was enough to maintain the lead over a new driver in second. The new second-place driver is Martin Truex, Jr., who finished fifth after starting 36th. He's 40 points out of the lead. Jimmie Johnson, who led 50 laps and finished second, gained a spot in the standings and is now third.Getting caught up in the big crash put Joey Logano way back in the pack, and while the No. 22 crew made repairs and put Logano back on track, he finished two laps down in 33rd. That finish dropped him two spots to fourth. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s victory boosted him up three places to fifth. Brad Keselowski wasn't involved in a crash on Sunday, but being shuffled back out of the top 20 cost him a spot in the standings and a lot of ground.
Jamie McMurray's recent excellent form continued on Sunday. His 11th-place finish boosted McMurray up to seventh. Matt Kenseth got shuffled back toward the end of the race and finished 25th. As a result, he's back to eighth in points. Kasey Kahne was caught up in the lap 47 crash and spent significant time behind the wall for repairs. The 34th-place finish dropped Kahne to ninth in points. Denny Hamlin rounds out the top 10.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) Kevin Harvick 394, 2) Martin Truex, Jr. -40, 3) Jimmie Johnson -52, 4) Joey Logano -59, 5) Dale Earnhardt, Jr. -75, 6) Brad Keselowski -89, 7) Jamie McMurray -97, 8) Matt Kenseth -102, 9) Kasey Kahne -108, 10) Denny Hamlin -113, 11) Paul Menard -114, 12) Aric Almirola -115, 13) Jeff Gordon -117, 14) Ryan Newman -123, 15) Kurt Busch -139, 16) Danica Patrick -141.
Race Winners: Joey Logano (Daytona), Jimmie Johnson (Atlanta, Texas), Kevin Harvick (Las Vegas, Phoenix), Brad Keselowski (Fontana), Denny Hamlin (Martinsville), Matt Kenseth (Bristol), Kurt Busch (Richmond), Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (Talladega)
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Letter of the Race: Sunday's GEICO 500 was brought to you by the letter "C," for Choo-choo. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is well-known for being able to get the pack to follow his tune wherever he wants to go. He's been doing it at Talladega since 2002 and Sunday was just another example of it. Ultimately, it made the finish rather anti-climatic. - Phil Allaway
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Quotes to Remember: GEICO 500
compiled by Phil Allaway
"Just real emotional, man. Everything is just so good for me now. My personal life. My racing. The team I am with. I don't know why. I don't feel like I deserve it. I just feel overcome with a lot of emotion. It has been a long time since I won here. I've run so good here, and not to win here in so many races has bothered me. I want to thank Nationwide and my team, my guys. Greg (Ives, crew chief) Kevin (Meendering, engineer). All the guys from last year, Steve Letarte, I'm sure they are happy. All those guys that have moved on. It is a great day for a lot of people that have been a part of this and helped us get here. We just have a really good group of guys. I'm blessed, man. I'm blessed. We just have a really good group of guys." - Dale Earnhardt, Jr., race winner
"No, I tried [to deal with Earnhardt Jr.]. I was waiting for guys to spread out with maybe three to go, and that didn't happen. When we came around to take the white, it started. We had such a small group. There really wasn't much energy in our single car draft. I was trying to back up to the guy behind me but all it would do is open up the gap between me and the No. 88 and I could never really close it. The No. 11 got rid of the No. 21 and that hurt me; hurt my opportunity. Then we just all kind of raced back to the finish. We got a great finish for this Lowe's Chevrolet. We put the engine through a lot of hot situations today so a big thanks to Valvoline . An awesome oil they put in this race car. An awesome day all around. Great pit stops; fast race car. A lot of Hendrick cars up there. I am very proud to be in a Hendrick car." - Jimmie Johnson, finished second
"It was a good day. We had a fast car and a good starting spot. We went back a couple times and came back up through there. It was tough at the end because they were all single file for a long time. It was hard to get a run. I saw the 11 coming and I just didn't react fast enough, and that really would only have worked if we got by the 88 and the 48. I don't think we could have got by them. They would have just pulled down and blocked us, so it was a good day. At least we finished one after having a couple blown motors. It's good to get a good finish with these guys and we're really excited to go to Charlotte." - Ryan Blaney, finished fourth
"You want to make sure you don't make it too early. I think everybody was on the same plan they were waiting with one to go, waiting for the last lap. Because if you make a move and it doesn't work you are going to lose a lot of spots and you try to minimize that. All-in-all we had a good day. We took a shot there on the last lap and had a great run going into (Turn) 1 got up to third, got blocked by the No. 11 (Denny Hamlin) and lost our momentum. I felt like we had a shot at it there. The No. 88 and No. 48 were super strong all day long. That was no surprise that they were up there. Nobody could really pass them, but everybody at Talladega is happy, so it's all good." - Martin Truex, Jr., finished fifth
"We had a bad vibration in the car which made it hard for me to just even see straight. I don't know if it was because of that or what, but once everybody got single file I had no speed in the car. I was just doing all I could to hang in the draft. Just not a lot of speed. They started crashing I am not sure just tried to avoid it the best I could. Almost got through completely clean which would have helped the result, but it could have been a lot worse. We could be on the hook right now coming back. The car rolls, top 20 finish which is sometimes all you can ask for here. Just a rough long day." - AJ Allmendinger, finished 17th
"It was a really good day. I felt like we were gonna have more of an opportunity to try to at least get a top 5 out of it or maybe to win, but some of the other guys made their move a little bit quicker than what I thought that they were going to and that really kind of stuck us on the outside. I wish I would have been a little more heads-up on being a little bit more proactive with that, but this is only my second restrictor plate race back in the Cup Series in almost five years, so I feel like it was a good thing for us to try to be smart and follow people a little bit more than trying to be the leader. As time goes by you get a little bit more respect and a little bit more help." - Sam Hornish, Jr., finished sixth
"My car ran against the wall really well. It didn't really run the bottom or the middle very good, so my plan was I know that's where I needed to be. I was gonna be right up against the fence and whoever was in my way I was going to push them forward. The 17 seemed to be committed to that as well, so I was hoping just to push Ricky as far as I could and then all of that stuff started happening and I was looking for holes to get through. I snaked through there and it all worked out. I'm glad Josh (Wise) had a good run, a couple of underdog Fords get up there and get some good finishes. That's what Talladega is for, so I'm just happy we could get a good run and hopefully we can get some momentum built for the year because I think we can get back on those top 25s. I know we can run, we just have to start proving it." - Cole Whitt, finished 13th
"Our ARRIS Toyota was really good. I thought we had a great run and then Casey Mears just spun me out going into (turn) one. That was frustrating. I was driving down here and I thought we were going to have a good run and I thought we'd get a top-five and as he pushed and pushed I was just hoping he would let go. I tried to save it and I have to apologize to everybody for my language on the radio – I was really upset as I was saving it. There were people going by 100-plus mph and they never checked up. I really think that's the most dangerous thing in the sport right now at these places. When there's a wreck, guys have to get on the brake or we're going to have a lot of problems here. We don't want to see that. Overall, great performance – we didn't get what we wanted. We'll get this monkey off our backs and go win some races – Kansas is next week and I love that place." - Carl Edwards, finished 32nd
"It looked like the 6 (Trevor Bayne) car and maybe another white car got turned sideways down the back straightaway and we were in the top groove and tried to slow down. Someone on our left side just kind of came across our nose. It's very unfortunate with our Pedigree Toyota. I felt like we had some good speed. Just one of those things at Talladega – if you're not up in the top-two or three or if you're not running 38th to 40th then you're very subject to being involved in some accidents like that. Just in the wrong place at the wrong time, but had a good run with the 18 guys. Have to thank everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing for the opportunity and wish it would have worked out a little bit better." - David Ragan, finished 38th
"I haven't seen it yet, but it felt like the 27 was really tight on our door and sucked us around. Our car was a little loose, but we had a fast race car today. I hate that a lot of cars got torn up, but especially our AdvoCare Ford. I felt like we worked our way in the top five a couple times there, and had a good shot at running well in this thing. The air is so sensitive here. Anything, when you get too close to somebody it can just pull you right around and it's as much as hitting somebody physically when you get down on their door that tight and it's just gonna happen." - Trevor Bayne, finished 41st (Crashed Out)
Phil Allaway is the newsletter manager for Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com."Just real emotional, man. Everything is just so good for me now. My personal life. My racing. The team I am with. I don't know why. I don't feel like I deserve it. I just feel overcome with a lot of emotion. It has been a long time since I won here. I've run so good here, and not to win here in so many races has bothered me. I want to thank Nationwide and my team, my guys. Greg (Ives, crew chief) Kevin (Meendering, engineer). All the guys from last year, Steve Letarte, I'm sure they are happy. All those guys that have moved on. It is a great day for a lot of people that have been a part of this and helped us get here. We just have a really good group of guys. I'm blessed, man. I'm blessed. We just have a really good group of guys." - Dale Earnhardt, Jr., race winner
"No, I tried [to deal with Earnhardt Jr.]. I was waiting for guys to spread out with maybe three to go, and that didn't happen. When we came around to take the white, it started. We had such a small group. There really wasn't much energy in our single car draft. I was trying to back up to the guy behind me but all it would do is open up the gap between me and the No. 88 and I could never really close it. The No. 11 got rid of the No. 21 and that hurt me; hurt my opportunity. Then we just all kind of raced back to the finish. We got a great finish for this Lowe's Chevrolet. We put the engine through a lot of hot situations today so a big thanks to Valvoline . An awesome oil they put in this race car. An awesome day all around. Great pit stops; fast race car. A lot of Hendrick cars up there. I am very proud to be in a Hendrick car." - Jimmie Johnson, finished second
"It was a good day. We had a fast car and a good starting spot. We went back a couple times and came back up through there. It was tough at the end because they were all single file for a long time. It was hard to get a run. I saw the 11 coming and I just didn't react fast enough, and that really would only have worked if we got by the 88 and the 48. I don't think we could have got by them. They would have just pulled down and blocked us, so it was a good day. At least we finished one after having a couple blown motors. It's good to get a good finish with these guys and we're really excited to go to Charlotte." - Ryan Blaney, finished fourth
"You want to make sure you don't make it too early. I think everybody was on the same plan they were waiting with one to go, waiting for the last lap. Because if you make a move and it doesn't work you are going to lose a lot of spots and you try to minimize that. All-in-all we had a good day. We took a shot there on the last lap and had a great run going into (Turn) 1 got up to third, got blocked by the No. 11 (Denny Hamlin) and lost our momentum. I felt like we had a shot at it there. The No. 88 and No. 48 were super strong all day long. That was no surprise that they were up there. Nobody could really pass them, but everybody at Talladega is happy, so it's all good." - Martin Truex, Jr., finished fifth
"We had a bad vibration in the car which made it hard for me to just even see straight. I don't know if it was because of that or what, but once everybody got single file I had no speed in the car. I was just doing all I could to hang in the draft. Just not a lot of speed. They started crashing I am not sure just tried to avoid it the best I could. Almost got through completely clean which would have helped the result, but it could have been a lot worse. We could be on the hook right now coming back. The car rolls, top 20 finish which is sometimes all you can ask for here. Just a rough long day." - AJ Allmendinger, finished 17th
"It was a really good day. I felt like we were gonna have more of an opportunity to try to at least get a top 5 out of it or maybe to win, but some of the other guys made their move a little bit quicker than what I thought that they were going to and that really kind of stuck us on the outside. I wish I would have been a little more heads-up on being a little bit more proactive with that, but this is only my second restrictor plate race back in the Cup Series in almost five years, so I feel like it was a good thing for us to try to be smart and follow people a little bit more than trying to be the leader. As time goes by you get a little bit more respect and a little bit more help." - Sam Hornish, Jr., finished sixth
"My car ran against the wall really well. It didn't really run the bottom or the middle very good, so my plan was I know that's where I needed to be. I was gonna be right up against the fence and whoever was in my way I was going to push them forward. The 17 seemed to be committed to that as well, so I was hoping just to push Ricky as far as I could and then all of that stuff started happening and I was looking for holes to get through. I snaked through there and it all worked out. I'm glad Josh (Wise) had a good run, a couple of underdog Fords get up there and get some good finishes. That's what Talladega is for, so I'm just happy we could get a good run and hopefully we can get some momentum built for the year because I think we can get back on those top 25s. I know we can run, we just have to start proving it." - Cole Whitt, finished 13th
"Our ARRIS Toyota was really good. I thought we had a great run and then Casey Mears just spun me out going into (turn) one. That was frustrating. I was driving down here and I thought we were going to have a good run and I thought we'd get a top-five and as he pushed and pushed I was just hoping he would let go. I tried to save it and I have to apologize to everybody for my language on the radio – I was really upset as I was saving it. There were people going by 100-plus mph and they never checked up. I really think that's the most dangerous thing in the sport right now at these places. When there's a wreck, guys have to get on the brake or we're going to have a lot of problems here. We don't want to see that. Overall, great performance – we didn't get what we wanted. We'll get this monkey off our backs and go win some races – Kansas is next week and I love that place." - Carl Edwards, finished 32nd
"It looked like the 6 (Trevor Bayne) car and maybe another white car got turned sideways down the back straightaway and we were in the top groove and tried to slow down. Someone on our left side just kind of came across our nose. It's very unfortunate with our Pedigree Toyota. I felt like we had some good speed. Just one of those things at Talladega – if you're not up in the top-two or three or if you're not running 38th to 40th then you're very subject to being involved in some accidents like that. Just in the wrong place at the wrong time, but had a good run with the 18 guys. Have to thank everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing for the opportunity and wish it would have worked out a little bit better." - David Ragan, finished 38th
"I haven't seen it yet, but it felt like the 27 was really tight on our door and sucked us around. Our car was a little loose, but we had a fast race car today. I hate that a lot of cars got torn up, but especially our AdvoCare Ford. I felt like we worked our way in the top five a couple times there, and had a good shot at running well in this thing. The air is so sensitive here. Anything, when you get too close to somebody it can just pull you right around and it's as much as hitting somebody physically when you get down on their door that tight and it's just gonna happen." - Trevor Bayne, finished 41st (Crashed Out)
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TODAY AT FRONTSTRETCH:
by Amy Henderson
by Summer Bedgood
by Jerry Jordan
by Joseph Wolkin
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: This weekend is the second running of the Angie's List Grand Prix of Indianapolis for the Verizon IndyCar Series. When the infield road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway was first unveiled in 2000 for Formula One, it was often described by the use of a derisive term. What was this term?
Check back Tuesday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Friday's Answer:
Friday's Answer:
Q: The 1987 Winston 500 is best known for Bobby Allison's crash into the catchfence, a wreck that still plays a role in NASCAR today since the continued usage of restrictor plates is a legacy of that crash. However, the only driver that actually got hurt that day at Talladega was Ken Ragan. What happened to Ragan?
A: Ragan spun in turn 2 and went hard into the outside wall before sliding back down onto the apron. In the crash, Ragan suffered a broken leg. As a result, Ragan did not race again in Cup until Michigan in August. Only aftermath footage of the crash is available, and it can be found here.
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 Richmond. We'll also take a look at FOX Sports' broadcasts from Talladega in Couch Potato Tuesday.-----------------------------
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