THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
May 18, 2015
Volume IX, Edition LXXVII
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
May 18, 2015
Volume IX, Edition LXXVII
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What to Watch: Monday- Today, teams continue to prep for this weekend's Coca-Cola 600. Meanwhile, the 33 starters for the Indianapolis 500 will spread out throughout the country on a promotional tour. Finally, Indy Lights teams are testing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in preparation for Friday's Freedom 100.
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Monday's TV Schedule can be found in Couch Potato Tuesday here.
Denny Hamlin Wins The Sprint All-Star Race
Chris Buescher Turns Three-Wide Move Into Iowa Victory
Monday's TV Schedule can be found in Couch Potato Tuesday here.
Top News
by the Frontstretch Staff
Denny Hamlin Wins The Sprint All-Star Race
Denny Hamlin took advantage of the No. 1 pit stall (earned by winning the pole) by winning the race off of pit road prior to the final segment. From there, Hamlin held off a charge from Kevin Harvick to earn his first career Sprint All-Star Race victory. Harvick was second, followed by Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth. Read more
Chris Buescher Turns Three-Wide Move Into Iowa Victory
A late caution in Sunday's 3M 250 brought nearly all the leaders into the pits prior to a Green-White-Checker. On the restart, Chris Buescher took teammate Ryan Reed and Chase Elliott three-wide entering turn 1 to take the lead. From there, Buescher held on for his first career XFINITY Series victory on an oval. Elliott finished second, followed by Erik Jones. Brian Scott and Ryan Blaney rounded out the top-5. Read more
Brennan Poole Retaliates to JJ Yeley at Iowa; Parked by NASCAR
Brennan Poole Retaliates to JJ Yeley at Iowa; Parked by NASCAR
Brennan Poole had high hopes for a good run at Iowa Speedway on Sunday. Instead, he ended up in the wall on lap 11 after contact from JJ Yeley. Poole believed that Yeley's move was intentional. Later in the race, Poole intentionally took out Yeley, ending the JGR Racing driver's day. NASCAR parked Poole as punishment for the completely intentional crash. Read more
Kasey Kahne Edges Erik Jones For Truck Series Victory in Charlotte
Kasey Kahne Edges Erik Jones For Truck Series Victory in Charlotte
For the second week in a row, Erik Jones completely dominated a Camping World Truck Series race, but failed to close the deal. Jones started in the rear after missing the drivers' meeting and was in the lead by lap 26. The race came down to a late side-by-side between Jones and Kasey Kahne, driving for JR Motorsports. The two had contact in the quad-oval, allowed Kahne to edge out a slim victory by only .005 of a second. Behind Kahne and Jones was Matt Crafton, then Tyler Reddick and Brad Keselowski. 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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Chasing the Chase
by Phil Allaway
As Saturday night's Sprint All-Star Race was not a points race, the points (for now) are unchanged from Kansas. However, as of press time, Jimmie Johnson's team was under investigation for potential manipulation of the side skirts during the race Saturday night. That infraction may end up resulting in a points deduction later in the week. Stay tuned.by Phil Allaway
Point Standings (1-16): 1) Kevin Harvick 437, 2) Martin Truex, Jr. -46, 3) Jimmie Johnson -48, 4) Joey Logano -62, 5) Dale Earnhardt, Jr. -77, 6) Brad Keselowski -94, 7) Matt Kenseth -106, 8) Jamie McMurray -109, 9) Jeff Gordon -120, 10) Kasey Kahne -124, 11) Aric Almirola -125, 12) Paul Menard -131, 13) Ryan Newman -132, 14) Kurt Busch -145, 15) Denny Hamlin -153, 16) Clint Bowyer -165.
Race Winners: Joey Logano (Daytona), Jimmie Johnson (Atlanta, Texas, Kansas), 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: Last weekend's Sprint All-Star Weekend was brought to you by the letter "A," for Average. Even with the action for the lead early in the second segment of the Sprint Showdown Friday night, the 2015 rules package really didn't significantly change how the Sprint All-Star Race was run. The same strategies worked as compared to last year. The only differences were that the straightaway speeds were lower and speeds in the turns were higher. - Phil Allaway
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Quotes to Remember: Sprint All-Star Race
compiled by Phil Allaway
"So much. You want to win the Daytona 500. You want to win the Brickyard 400. You want to win the Coke 600. You want to be an All-Star, so can't say enough for this whole FedEx Express team, everyone from Toyota for getting their first All-Star victory as well. Just a big day. Got to thank Michael Jordan and the Jordan brand, the Greenbriar (Resort), Coca-Cola, Sprint and everything they do for this series – just can't thank them enough – for Sport Clips. It's just an unbelievable experience. We just didn't have a car that was fast enough to run with those guys until Dave (Rogers, crew chief) made that last adjustment and of course the clean air, but that pit crew – that's all I can say – they carried me all day long and they got us this victory." - Denny Hamlin, race winner
"Well we finished no worse than fifth in all of our segments. That put us in position for the pit crew to do their job. They did great. We restarted second and we are going to have to go to the tape and look at it and see if Denny (Hamlin) went too soon. I was anticipating the restart zone which is right here (points to zone on track). His car went two car lengths before that in my mind. We got a podium finish thanks to Chevrolet, Haas Automation, Monster Energy, it was a great night. We didn't finish worse than fifth in any of our segments, we did our job and I was asleep at the wheel on a restart." - Kurt Busch, finished third
"You need everything to go your way in a race like this. I almost had a shot at the No. 41 (Kurt Busch) but I just couldn't quite clear him and then he kind of took off there. All in all it was a solid night. Congrats to (race winner) Denny Hamlin. Qualifying well and that number one pit stall means everything and once you get out front, it's so hard to get by." - Jeff Gordon, finished fourth
"It was really good. I learned some things. I think we also learned some stuff, myself and Adam Stevens (crew chief), about this race car, for me, and getting around here in Charlotte. So we can take some of that next week and look forward to the Coke 600. All in all it was a good evening. We were clicking off some spots, moving ourselves forward. Felt really good about things. I got busted for speeding on pit road. In that same segment, we ended up having a loose wheel. At least it was two things biting us in one segment, not two things biting us in different segments. That was a real positive. Real fortunate just to get back in the race car. Get out there and feel things out. Otherwise everything felt good and getting to pit road, all that, everything was fine. Like I said, I felt like we had a fast racecar. Bummed out we got busted for speeding and had a loose wheel. Felt like we definitely could have raced our way in, maybe even the top five, and give it a shot to win, governing our final pit stop, which was good where we were at." - Kyle Busch, finished sixth
"Oh no. Whoever gets the clean air with this format and this rules package is gonna drive away. We've seen that for the last three years and with this particular car it's probably even more so. I thought the 41 and the 4 were probably two or three tenths faster than everybody without clean air and it doesn't matter. I knew when I came out of my pit stall and the 11 was pulling out with me that I either beat him to that line or lose the race, and the penalty was I was three-tenths of a mile an hour over the speed limit, but I told my crew chief I'd rather go down swinging than take a strike and wonder what might have been. I swung and missed. The 11 team did a great job. Congrats to Denny. Their pit stops were phenomenal. They easily won him this race, but they've got a lot to be proud of and so does my team. We've just got to keep working to be better." - Brad Keselowski, finished ninth
"Well we finished no worse than fifth in all of our segments. That put us in position for the pit crew to do their job. They did great. We restarted second and we are going to have to go to the tape and look at it and see if Denny (Hamlin) went too soon. I was anticipating the restart zone which is right here (points to zone on track). His car went two car lengths before that in my mind. We got a podium finish thanks to Chevrolet, Haas Automation, Monster Energy, it was a great night. We didn't finish worse than fifth in any of our segments, we did our job and I was asleep at the wheel on a restart." - Kurt Busch, finished third
"You need everything to go your way in a race like this. I almost had a shot at the No. 41 (Kurt Busch) but I just couldn't quite clear him and then he kind of took off there. All in all it was a solid night. Congrats to (race winner) Denny Hamlin. Qualifying well and that number one pit stall means everything and once you get out front, it's so hard to get by." - Jeff Gordon, finished fourth
"It was really good. I learned some things. I think we also learned some stuff, myself and Adam Stevens (crew chief), about this race car, for me, and getting around here in Charlotte. So we can take some of that next week and look forward to the Coke 600. All in all it was a good evening. We were clicking off some spots, moving ourselves forward. Felt really good about things. I got busted for speeding on pit road. In that same segment, we ended up having a loose wheel. At least it was two things biting us in one segment, not two things biting us in different segments. That was a real positive. Real fortunate just to get back in the race car. Get out there and feel things out. Otherwise everything felt good and getting to pit road, all that, everything was fine. Like I said, I felt like we had a fast racecar. Bummed out we got busted for speeding and had a loose wheel. Felt like we definitely could have raced our way in, maybe even the top five, and give it a shot to win, governing our final pit stop, which was good where we were at." - Kyle Busch, finished sixth
"Oh no. Whoever gets the clean air with this format and this rules package is gonna drive away. We've seen that for the last three years and with this particular car it's probably even more so. I thought the 41 and the 4 were probably two or three tenths faster than everybody without clean air and it doesn't matter. I knew when I came out of my pit stall and the 11 was pulling out with me that I either beat him to that line or lose the race, and the penalty was I was three-tenths of a mile an hour over the speed limit, but I told my crew chief I'd rather go down swinging than take a strike and wonder what might have been. I swung and missed. The 11 team did a great job. Congrats to Denny. Their pit stops were phenomenal. They easily won him this race, but they've got a lot to be proud of and so does my team. We've just got to keep working to be better." - Brad Keselowski, finished ninth
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TODAY AT FRONTSTRETCH:
by Amy Henderson
by Summer Bedgood
by Jerry Jordan
by the Frontstretch Staff
by Joseph Wolkin
by Beth Lunkenheimer
~~~~~~~~~~FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: In 1985, Bill Elliott came into the Coca-Cola World 600 with a chance to win the Winston Million. However, luck was clearly not on his side that day. What happened to put Elliott out of the hunt.
Check back Tuesday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Friday's Answer:
Friday's Answer:
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?
A: Al Unser, Jr. ended up making the majority of the attempts. He could not get his primary No. 1 up to speed, then switched to a Reynard No. 21 acquired from Pagan Racing. Later, Team Penske was loaned Raul Boesel's backup car (No. 11T) by Rahal-Hogan Racing for Unser Jr.'s use. Ultimately, Unser made the three allowable attempts in the No. 11T on Bump Day, but failed to put up a speed quick enough to qualify.
Emerson Fittipaldi was given Bobby Rahal's backup car after his No. 2 failed to show decent speed in practice. With that car, Fittipaldi put in a four-lap average of 224.907 mph on his second attempt on Bump Day. After a significant amount of time on the bubble, Fittipaldi was bumped out of the field with 12 minutes remaining in qualifying. As a result, the total number of attempts was five.
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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:
We'll have Five Points To Ponder after Sprint All-Star Weekend in Charlotte. We'll also take a look at FOX Sports' broadcasts from Charlotte and Iowa in Couch Potato Tuesday.-----------------------------
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