Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
Volume IX, Edition LXXIII
What to Watch: Tuesday
Tuesday's TV Schedule can be found in Couch Potato Tuesday here.
by the Frontstretch Staff
ROK Mobile Joins Justin Boston, KBM for Charlotte Truck Race
XFINITY Regulars Make Up Iowa Speedway Entry List
33 Trucks Fill Charlotte Entry List
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FRONTSTRETCH JOB: WEBMASTER
Frontstretch 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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Spongebob Sponsor Serendipity: It Doesn't Happen Every Day
Sitting in the Stands: A Fan's View
by S.D. Grady
Well, there he was. David Ragan's Spongebob Squarepants No. 55 sat squarely in the middle of the Spongebob Squarepants sign in the middle of the infield during the Spongebob Squarepants 400. See? Strange things do happen in Kansas. The moment, and ensuing need to drag the car out of the water it was drowning in, was either true serendipity for the race sponsor or incredible product placement. I'll go with the former. However, as I chuckled along with the MRN crew and a Twitterverse that just couldn't stop with the Spongebob quips, I cast my memory over the decades. We've had a few remarkable race sponsors. Perhaps not quite as family friendly as the aquatic sponge, but still these make us talk about them years later.
The first time I really questioned a track's choice of sponsor was back in 1997 at then titled New Hampshire International Speedway. We attended the CMT 300. During the pre-race concert, people were actually booing the stage. New Hampshire did not listen to country music back then, and New England was firmly a rock n' roll world. There was no excuse for the introduction of the steel guitar to any sound system near us. We grudgingly bought the T-shirt and buried it in the closet. Bad sponsor choice—but notable. We certainly never forgot the name of the race.
Fast forward to 2001 at Chicagoland for the Tropicana 400. New track. New race. New excitement, right? Especially when the enormous blow-up orange tied down in the infield broke loose and escaped onto the track during qualifying. Um, seriously? Yes! You can't buy advertising like this.
Of course, there are times where we are left scratching our heads. Just last year we had "The Profit" 300 run at Phoenix. I believe "The Profit" sponsored another event at NHMS not too many years ago. We sat in the stands scratching our heads as the track announcer kept mentioning the sponsor. What the heck was "The Profit?" This event was ineffective advertising dollars at work. There were a few banners nailed to the stands and on the track, but there was no explanation as to why it mattered they had bought the race name. Eventually, I figured out it was some new cable show.
Some sponsors are just plain colorful. Do you recall the invasion of Wonderful Pistachios in 2011 at Richmond? It seemed everything at the track was painted that lovely shade of green—I mean everything! NASCAR appeared to glow all weekend long. The person responsible for executing their product placement should have earned a raise. Great job! And it made me hungry for pistachios.
Sometimes, we'll remember a sponsor not for naming an actual race but what happened at the track. Spongebob's party on the infield brought Jimmie Johnson's Madagascar 3 win to mind. He was already driving a special paint job at Dover in 2012. But hey, when you end up in Victory Lane and the sponsor has a truckload of clown wigs for you to wear, embrace the silliness and go all out. Those are surely some of Johnson's most memorable post-race interviews just because of the hair. Just thinking about it makes me want to dance.
However, not all decisions are made with the best intentions at hand. Not too long ago, in April 2013, Texas Motor Speedway announced that the National Rifle Association had bought the race name. This "purchase" was a mere four months after the Sandy Hook school shooting, and America's hot button topic was decidedly gun control. If NASCAR could be considered a political platform, then selling the NRA the naming rights would have been a smart move. However, we are a sport, not an exclusive club. The best way to turn away potential fans is to force them to choose based on political beliefs that are being challenged in the national media. In fact, such poor decision making was displayed that NASCAR had to come up with an actual rule to prevent such stupidity in the future.
Fortunately, we are generally not tested in this manner on a weekly basis. Names like Goody's, STP, Golden Corral, Chevy, Ford and Subway make up the vast majority of NASCAR weekends. They have become reliable friends over the years. However, it is nice to be surprised from time to time. Having David Ragan park his Toyota on his car's sponsor was one of those moments. Fun stuff. I wonder what next week will bring?
Sonya's Scrapbook
It was one of the most amazing nights in All-Star Race history. On lap 1 of the first segment, the heavens opened soaking the track. Cars flew into the corner and wrecked... a lot of them. During the red flag due to weather, teams were permitted to bring out backup cars or wrench on their wrecked vehicles. A veritable army of Hendrick teammates descended on the No. 24, fixing their Chevrolet... and they won. It was a perfect example of teamwork! When we visited the Hendrick shop a couple years later, they had a pictorial review on the wall of that night. Truly a special memory for the DuPont crew.S.D. Grady is a Senior Editor for Frontstretch and runs a NASCAR blog called the S-Curves. She can be reached via email at sonya.grady@frontstretch.com. Follow her on Twitter at @laregna and on her Facebook page (she's an author, too!) at https://www.facebook.com/Author.SDGrady.
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0
Laps led by Clint Bowyer Saturday night. Bowyer, a Kansas native had more spins (one) than time up front. So far this season Bowyer has only been able to lead a single lap (Atlanta in March).
2
Straight races where Matt DiBenedetto has been the highest finishing Sprint Cup rookie. DiBenedetto, 25th at Kansas did not declare for the award until this month's race at Talladega, meaning he has only two races' worth of results to use thus far.
3
11th-place finishes recorded by Aric Almirola this season including Saturday night at Kansas. Almirola, currently inside the Chase cutoff has yet to finish inside the top 10 this season.
4
Cars with Hendrick Motorsports chassis and engines to finish in the top 4 at Kansas. Johnson won, followed by Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Jeff Gordon.
7
Straight races in which Kurt Busch has led at least one lap. He was out front for 20 circuits at Kansas.
8
Winners qualified for NASCAR's Chase through 11 races. All are within the top 16 in the current standings.
10
Laps led by winner Jimmie Johnson Saturday night - the final ten laps of the race.
32
Laps led by Martin Truex, Jr. this season entering the race at Kansas.
95
Laps led by Martin Truex, Jr. Saturday night, a race high.
$110,215
Money won by Kurt Busch Saturday night for finishing eighth.
$110,321
Money won by Erik Jones Saturday night in his Sprint Cup debut after crashing, spending time behind the wall and finishing 40th.
Tom Bowles is the Editor-in-Chief of Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at tom.bowles@frontstretch.com.
TODAY AT FRONTSTRETCH:
by Tom Bowles
Couch Potato Tuesday: Erik Jones' Debut Brings Unsavory Booth Behavior
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FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Monday's Answer:
Q: 1992 was the first year that The Winston was held at night. During the Winston Open earlier that night, TNN experimented with something rarely used in American race broadcasts. What was it?
A: TNN decided to take some time under green and talk to Buddy Baker, who was competing in the Kanawha Insurance-sponsored No. 47 Oldsmobile for Derick Close, under green. They successfully did it here. They tried again later, but had some technical issues. Baker would eventually finish tenth in what turned out to be the last event for Close Racing.COMING TOMORROW
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