Friday, May 29, 2015

The Frontstretch Newsletter: Johnson Gets To Pick His Pit Stall

THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
May 29, 2015
Volume IX, Edition LXXXVI
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What to Watch: Friday

- Today, all three of NASCAR's National Series will be on track at Dover International Speedway.  The action begins with the Lucas Oil 200 for the Camping World Truck Series tonight at 5:30 p.m.

FOLLOW THE FRONTSTRETCH THIS WEEKEND IN DOVER FROM OUR COLLEAGUES:
Tom Bowles (@NASCARBowles) -- Saturday and Sunday
Joseph Wolkin (@JosephNASCAR)
Zach Catanzareti (@ZachRacing)
 
and our own Twitter page, @Frontstretch as well for updates!

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This weekend's TV Schedule can be found in Couch Potato Tuesday here.
 
Top News
by The Frontstretch Staff

New Aero Kits For Chevrolet, Honda

The IndyCar Series has mandated several changes to the aero kits for road and street courses beginning this weekend with the Duals in Detroit. The league has ordered Honda to remove the outer wall of its front wing assembly end fence, among other changes. Read more

Jimmie Johnson Speaks Out On Selecting Stall

Jimmie Johnson elaborated on the Hendrick Motorsports appeal of his P1 penalty Friday, claiming they "didn't agree with it." The appeal allows him a better shot to be just the fifth NASCAR driver to secure ten victories at one track; Johnson has a career-high nine at Dover. Read more

Erik Jones Tops Dover Truck Series Final Practice

Thursday, the Camping World Truck Series held their one and only practice session at Dover International Speedway for today's Lucas Oil 200.  Erik Jones once again turned in the fastest time with a lap of 23.094 seconds (155.885 mph).  Cole Custer was second, followed by Daniel Suarez, Cameron Hayley and Daniel Hemric.  Read more

Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Team Appeal Charlotte Penalty

Hendrick Motorsports has officially decided to appeal the P1-level penalty assessed against the team after they received warnings in consecutive weeks.  The team was supposed to get last pick of the pits (along with HScott Motorsports' No. 51) this weekend at Dover, but that will now be put on hold.  Read more

Adam Sandler Named New Hampshire 301 Grand Marshal

New Hampshire Motor Speedway announced Thursday that Adam Sandler will serve as the Grand Marshal for July's New Hampshire 301.  It will be the third time that he's served as the Grand Marshal for a Sprint Cup race, but the only time that he's done it solo.  Read more

Taylor Swift Featured on Tony Kanaan Car in Detroit

Target Chip Ganassi Racing announced Thursday that Tony Kanaan's No. 10 will promote Taylor Swift's 1989 World Tour in the Chevrolet Duals at Detroit presented by Quicken Loans.  The 1989 album was the highest selling album of 2014 (it is currently a quadruple-platinum album as of April) and gave Swift three No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100.  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: FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks
by Rick Lunkenheimer

The Sprint Cup Series heads to Dover International Speedway this weekend for the first of two events at the Monster Mile. Coverage for the FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks begins at 1 p.m. ET on FoxSports 1; the race can also be heard on your local MRN affiliate or SiriusXM Channel 90. Drivers will compete for 400 laps (400 miles) en route to the checkered flag.

Records and facts

Jimmie Johnson is the defending winner of this race. After starting fourth, the driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet took the lead for the first time on lap 82. He went on to hold the top spot seven times for a race-high 272 circuits en route to a nearly one-second victory over pole sitter Brad Keselowski. Matt Kenseth, Clint Bowyer and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top 5.

Johnson also holds the record for most victories at the Monster Mile. The win last May was his ninth at the concrete oval, and it broke the previous tie he held with Richard Petty.

Track Facts
Track / Race Length: 1.0-mile concrete oval, 400 laps (400 miles)
Banking: 24 degrees in the turns
Frontstretch / Backstretch: 1,076 feet; banked 9 degrees
Grandstand Seating: 96,000
Pit Road Speed: 35 mph
Pace Car Speed: 45 mph
Opened: 1969

Website: http://www.doverspeedway.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DoverInternationalSpeedway

Twitter: http://twitter.com/MonsterMile

Pre-Race Schedule:

Practices: Friday, May 29, 11 a.m. - 12:25 p.m. ET on FoxSports 1
Saturday, May 30, 10 - 10:50 a.m. ET on FoxSports 1

Happy Hour: Saturday, May 30, 1 - 1:50 p.m. ET on FoxSports 1

Qualifying: Friday, May 29 at 3:45 p.m. ET on FoxSports 1

Say What?!

"For me, Dover is one of those tracks where you feel the speed the most. You carry a lot of speed through the corners and, as you go from the straightaways, the elevation change as you go down in the corners is pretty drastic. And then you're right back in the throttle and it kind of throws you back out of that hole and up the hill on the exit of the corner. Laps seem to happen very fast there and you want to try and have the best-handling race car you can have there because, if you're off even a little bit, you'll go multiple laps down in a hurry. It's a fun, very fast racetrack that's really hard to get everything right." - Kevin Harvick

"It takes a group effort to have a good run there. But holy cow, that's a fun place to race. You fall off a ledge and fall right back into the gas. You throttle through the corner a lot more than you do at other places because of the banking, because of the concrete. You can flat haul the mail there. How we don't wreck more often is beyond me." - Clint Bowyer

"Dover is one of my favorite tracks. It's really, really fast. You have a huge sensation of speed there. For a mile track, you definitely know you're getting with it. You can run up high and make some passes and keep carrying your momentum. It's a track that we've run well at as an organization, so we're looking forward to going back there. I think Donnie (Wingo, crew chief) has got some good stuff to try and work with there, so I can't wait." - David Gilliland

Rick Lunkenheimer is a Contributor and Photographer for Frontstretch. He can be reached at rick.lunkenheimer@frontstretch.com.
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IndyCar In Brief: Chevrolet Duals in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans
by Toni Montgomery
 
Editor's Note: This week, we debut a new column, IndyCar In Brief.  Think of it as a Folio for the Verizon IndyCar Series.  It will run on Fridays when the Verizon IndyCar Series is in action.

This Week's Race: Chevrolet Duals in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans (this is a doubleheader with a race on Saturday and a second race on Sunday, both full points-paying events).

Track: Raceway at Belle Isle Park- 2.35 miles, 14-turn temporary street course.

Last year's P1: Helio Castroneves, 1:17.5362 at 109.11 mph for Race #1; Takuma Sato, 1:16.1371 at 111.115 mph for Race #2.

Last year's winner: Will Power, Race No. 1; Helio Castroneves, Race No. 2

Track record: Qualifying: Takuma Sato, 1:16.1371, 111.115 mph on June 1, 2014

Distance: 70 laps for 164.5 miles for both races.

Who Ya Got? Two races requires two picks. Toni Montgomery is going with Will Power and Graham Rahal. Matt Stallknecht is going with Will Power and Simon Pagenaud. Huston Ladner will take Scott Dixon and Will Power.

Where To Watch: ABC for both races. Race No. 1 airs Saturday, May 30, at 3:30 p.m. ET. Race No. 2 airs Sunday, May 31, at 3:30 p.m. ET.

On Social Media: Follow along with @DetroitGP, @IndyCar, #DetroitGP, #IndyCar

Quotable: 

Conor Daly (No. 5 Arrow/Lucas Oil Schmidt Peterson Honda): "I'm honored to have the opportunity to fill in for my close friend James (Hinchcliffe) this weekend. I definitely want to thank Arrow Electronics, Lucas Oil and all the team sponsors for giving me this shot. I can't wait to continue working with the Schmidt Peterson guys and do the best job I can to keep James' seat warm."

Tony Kanaan (No. 10 NTT Data Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet): "After such a disappointing run at the '500' last weekend, I'm glad that we're going straight into Detroit where I can put all of my focus into this weekend's doubleheader. The No. 10 NTT Data Chevrolet has been consistently quick all season, we just need to pull everything together to get the finish I know we're capable of. In my seven starts at Belle Isle, I've only been on the podium twice with a win in 2007 and a third-place finish last year, so I think I'm definitely due to get back up to the top this weekend."

Gabby Chaves (No. 98 Bowers & Wilkins/Curb Honda): "I said last week that Indy seemed like a season in itself. And now that the Angie's List Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500 are behind us, it's like we're starting the last act in the 2015 season. Detroit will be a challenge for us; I've never raced there and the track is very difficult from what I've seen of past races there. I'm excited about the dual race format, even though I'm sure it will be physically tough on myself and the team. The BHA team has given me solid race cars at every event and this gives us a great opportunity to show our strength in race conditions twice."

News Review

James Hinchcliffe Released From Hospital (Matt Weaver)

Conor Daly In For Hinchcliffe At Detroit (Matt Weaver)

What Will Power Would Have Done Differently (Matt Weaver)

Toni Montgomery is the NHRA and INDYCAR Editor for Frontstretch.  She can be reached via e-mail at toni.montgomery@frontstretch.com.
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TODAY ON FRONTSTRETCH:
by the Frontstretch Staff

by Amy Henderson

as told to Mike Neff

by Kevin Rutherford
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FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: The 1996 Miller 500 at Dover was a tame race by Dover standards with only five yellows over the 500-mile distance.  Of course, it still took over four hours to complete.  The most memorable aspect of that race was a special paint scheme that Kyle Petty ran in the event.  The scheme was not a promotion.  Why was it run?

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

Thursday's Answer:

Q: Dick Trickle had a middling day in the 1989 Budweiser 500 at Dover.  He brought his No. 84 Miller High Life Buick home 13 laps down in 21st.  However, there was an incredibly unusual incident during the race.  What happened?

A: Trickle was running behind the pack during an unrelated caution when it appears that he tried to pit.  Dover has always had a tough pit road entrance.  With no pit road speed limit, it's that much more tricky.  Evidently, Trickle turned too suddenly as his Buick spun in turn 4 and broadsided tractor tires protecting the blunt end of the Armco Barrier at the beginning of pit road.  The crash can be seen here.

COMING MONDAY
In The Frontstretch Newsletter:
We'll have recaps from all three races from Dover to wrap up the weekend for NASCAR.

On Frontstretch.com:
We'll have a series of post-race commentaries breaking down the action from Dover.

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©2015 Frontstretch.com

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