THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
June 29, 2015
Volume IX, Edition CV
II
~~~~~~~~~~
What to Watch: Monday
- Today, the Cup teams are hustling back east to get their gear switched out for the haul to Daytona. If anything notable breaks in the world of NASCAR, we'll have it for you here at Frontstretch.
- In sports car racing, IMSA is holding a special test today at Watkins Glen International for the Ginetta LMP3 chassis to gauge whether the car could possibly race in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. Updates to come.
~~~~~~~~~~
Monday's TV Schedule can be found in Couch Potato Tuesday here.
Top News
by the Frontstretch Staff
Kyle Busch Claims Comeback Win at Sonoma
Sunday, Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch dominated the action at NASCAR's first road course race of the season. However, after a late caution created two separate pit schedules, Kyle Busch was the best positioned of those with fresh tires. With them, Kyle marched up from seventh, took the lead from Johnson on the final restart and held off brother Kurt to take his first win in nearly a year. Clint Bowyer was third, followed by Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano to round out the top 5. Read more
Martin Truex, Jr. Dumped Into Tire Barriers By David Ragan Sunday, everything was in place for Martin Truex, Jr. to have a good run. He qualified well, the car handled great, and Truex has a good record of past success at Sonoma Raceway. That came to a screeching halt, though when Truex was spun into the tire barriers in the Esses by David Ragan. The crash effectively ended his day and left the second-place driver in points very upset.
Read more Justin Bonsignore Dominates at Riverhead for First Win of 2015The Whelen Modified Tour was supposed to race at the quarter-mile Riverhead Raceway Saturday night. However, rain pushed the show to Sunday afternoon. Justin Bonsignore didn't mind that much as he led all but nine laps to claim his first win of the year. Todd Szegedy was second, followed by Doug Coby, Eric Goodale and Woody Pitkat. The race can be seen Thursday night at 6 p.m. on NBC Sports Network.
Read more
~~~~~~~~~~
Chasing the Chase: Harvick Expands Lead After Truex's Crash
by Phil Allaway
Kevin Harvick had a decent day Sunday. He qualified 17th and moved up through the field to a solid fourth-place finish. That would have been more than enough to stand pat atop the standings. However, Martin Truex, Jr. was spun off course and into the tires in the Esses earlier in the race. Truex's 42nd-place disappointment allowed Harvick to gain back everything he lost at Michigan...and then some. Harvick's lead is now 53 points over Truex, giving him a healthy cushion on the "regular season" title with ten races remaining. In fact, Truex is only four points ahead of Joey Logano, who charged in the final few laps to fifth after pit strategy took some track position away in the closing laps.
Jimmie Johnson essentially had the race won prior to the last caution. Then, almost everyone else pitted while he stayed out. Despite being a sitting duck, Johnson still finished sixth, which was enough to move him up to fourth in points. Johnson displaced Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who ran right behind him in seventh. Nearly a full race behind Earnhardt Jr. is Brad Keselowski in sixth. Keselowski struggled to finish 19th after a rough weekend; the car never handled to his liking at Sonoma.
Jamie McMurray had a fast car, but ended the race on old tires. As a result, he dropped back to 11th in the final laps. It was still enough for him to hold onto seventh in points and gain significantly on Keselowski. Kasey Kahne, meanwhile is up one spot to eighth after posting a solid eighth-place result. Kahne displaced Matt Kenseth, who had to recover from a cut left-rear tire under green that put him a lap down at one point. He recovered, earning the lap back but could do no better than 21st. Finally, by virtue of his second-place finish Sunday Kurt Busch enters the top 10 for the first time all year despite missing the first three races.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) Kevin Harvick 616, 2) Martin Truex, Jr. -53, 3) Joey Logano -57, 4) Jimmie Johnson -70, 5) Dale Earnhardt, Jr. -71, 6) Brad Keselowski -111, 7) Jamie McMurray -119, 8) Kasey Kahne -133, 9) Matt Kenseth -137, 10) Kurt Busch -147, 11) Jeff Gordon -154, 12) Paul Menard -164, 13) Denny Hamlin -178, 14) Ryan Newman -181, 15) Aric Almirola -185, 16) Clint Bowyer -186.
Race Winners Currently Ineligible for Chase: 37) Kyle Busch -491 (136 points out of 30th)
Race Winners: Joey Logano (Daytona), Jimmie Johnson (Atlanta, Texas, Kansas, Dover), Kevin Harvick (Las Vegas, Phoenix), Brad Keselowski (Fontana), Denny Hamlin (Martinsville), Matt Kenseth (Bristol), Kurt Busch (Richmond, Michigan), Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (Talladega), Carl Edwards (Charlotte), Martin Truex, Jr. (Pocono), Kyle Busch (Sonoma)
~~~~~~~~~~
Letter of the Race: Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 350k was brought to you by the
letter "R," for Rubber. Goodyear made a tire change for this year at Sonoma, which turned out to be a bad move. A number of drivers had their races compromised by blisters and delamination. It's one thing if you're locking up your tires something vicious, but a whole 'nother beast if its happening ten laps into the race, like what happened to Jamie McMurray. -
Phil Allaway~~~~~~~~~~
Quotes to Remember: Toyota/Save Mart 350k
compiled by Phil Allaway
"This is awesome – it's unbelievable. Can't say enough about my team, everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing. I can't say enough about my medical team that got me back in shape and ready to go behind the wheel. And my brother (Kurt Busch), he certainly was hard on Clint (Bowyer) and I think certainly gave me ten lengths and then gave me another eight. Man, I can't say enough about M&M's and their support – they've been behind me so much through the years – not just this year but through the years. M&M's Crispy has done an awesome job this year and we have an exciting thing coming out in Kentucky, so I'm excited about that – the promotion is pretty neat. Interstate Batteries, Skittles, Pedigree, Snickers, Sprint – thanks to Sprint for all the years that they've been here and of course the fans. It's pretty cool. I pulled up here and blew the tires and the thing wouldn't make the turn (into Victory Lane) and I blew the rear tires off of it. I was like, 'Alright, park it right here and we'll walk in.' Walking in on a broken leg and a broken foot, nothing better than doing that... I don't know if they can all understand how it feels. There's some sentimental fans out there for sure, the ones that are cheering that normally wouldn't cheer for me. It's definitely special to be here in Victory Lane in a Sprint Cup Series race at Sonoma. We broke this streak of 10 different winners – I won here in 2008. It's been a long time, but man, it's so cool to come home one-two with my brother (Kurt Busch), that was really awesome." - Kyle Busch, race winner
"Gene Haas has given everything to me and I wanted to deliver a win for him. It was an incredible drive all day. The car was fast. I thought we had the right sequence. Kyle (Busch) got a lucky break when that yellow came out and he got onto pit road and there were just too many cars between me and him on some of those restarts. I just didn't quite get the restarts I needed. But it was a great Haas Automation Chevy. It was fast. We led laps. We qualified second and finished second. But I think we made a statement. The car was great. Tony Gibson (crew chief) and all the guys back at the shop built me a beautiful road course car. I just came up a little shy in qualifying and in the race. Congratulations to my little brother (Kyle). I know this is huge. He still has a long way to go to get him in that Top 30. He's an incredible driver. I don't know how many times we've finished 1-2." - Kurt Busch, finished second
"I was just in the wrong line [on the final restart]. That restart there, Kyle (Busch) got up on the inside of us and wasn't able to get underneath of him. Then, I got hung up with Matt (Kenseth) and thought we were both going to work. Tore our car up real bad. You get so close – drove my ass off. I tried, just came up a little short. Kyle had a really good short run car and after a handful of laps I was able to get by him on the run before that. I knew that wasn't going to be the case. I was just going to have to go. I tried to get up through him and get rough with him and beat him to it, but he beat me to that situation and won. A good weekend for us. Billy Scott (crew chief) and all these guys on the 5-Hour ENERGY Toyota – two solid weekends. Wasn't what we came out here to do, but had a lot of fun." - Clint Bowyer, finished third
"Just a lot of things went wrong. We had probably the fastest car on the racetrack; it just took us all day to overcome all the stuff we had going on. Just want to thank Budweiser, Outback, Folds of Honor, everybody from Jimmy John's and Chevrolet for everything they do for our team." - Kevin Harvick, finished fourth
"Todd (Gordon, crew chief) did a good job and got me some track position and got the car running pretty good. We struggled all weekend and got something decent. Once we started running I thought, 'We're not that slow.' We made some adjustments and started getting closer and got a top 5 out of it. We'll take that. I think it's our third top 5 in a row and they've all been hard fought." - Joey Logano, finished fifth
"Initially, a little concerned. Then as we made that next lap, I saw there were a bunch of cars between myself and the first guy on (new) tires. I felt pretty good about things. And then, after about a lap and a half, I wasn't feeling so good about things (laughs); they were there quickly. But if we came back tomorrow, we'd still run the same strategy. We played it perfectly. We were one caution away from it working out just right. So, this situation we're in with the wins and being locked in the Chase, we wanted to come out and be aggressive with our strategy in the Lowe's Pro Services Chevrolet." - Jimmie Johnson, finished sixth
"I put myself in better positions two out of the other three times I've been out here but got run over. That time we weren't in a very good position, so we put tires on it and we were the ones going forward. All in all, I'm real happy with the effort everybody put forward on our Jacob Companies Ford Fusion. With how fast we were on Friday I was pretty disappointed with how we qualified and I was disappointed with about half the race today, but we hung in there and got the best finish that we could out of it. I appreciate all the guys' hard work and I'm looking forward to going to Watkins Glen. I'm a lot better there than I am here, so if we can get a top 10 out of it here, hopefully we can get a solid top 5 out of it when we go to Watkins Glen." - Sam Hornish, Jr., finished tenth
"I was really optimistic going into the race. Our car was good in practice. We qualified well. They dropped the green and we were moving forward. I was pretty happy with it. I felt that rear (tire) starting to go off pretty early on and saw some guys coming from further back. And so we tried to make a couple of adjustments. It just seemed as the track continued to lay rubber, our setup, which we were taking a little bit of a gamble and risk with; it looked good in practice, but it just didn't pay off for us. So, we had to make some big adjustments and lose track position. But the car was really, really good there at the end. So, it was great to have AARP and Member Advantages on board and it was a great weekend. Nothing's going to take away from this weekend for me. I know it wasn't the finish we all wanted, but it was a very memorable weekend. It's still a little bit more fun to go to hang out with some of my friends and family here. But, I hate that we weren't a little bit better. And that last thing, I was just taking some risk on that last pit stop. We didn't have anything to lose at that point." - Jeff Gordon, finished 16th
"I don't know the problem. I think it was a fuel-related issue. The car was good. I thought we had a better chance of winning this year than we did last year. It was still going to be tough. The No. 41 (Kurt Busch) was pretty solid. The No. 18 (Kyle Busch) the way it played out was pretty good. I know the No. 48 (Jimmie Johnson) was good. We just fought the rear a little bit. I don't know how that would have played out at the end. I know we had the fastest lap of the race, which shows the car had speed. I think we were going in the right direction; it just feels like a swift kick to everything right now. But it's nothing we really did wrong... it is one of those circumstances. I don't know if that helps or not. I think we had a good enough car to be in the top 5, for sure. It would have just been interesting the way it played out. There were a couple of spots on the racetrack where I was just a little weak that we need to be a little bit better. But I thought it was at least good enough to at least contend." - AJ Allmendinger, finished 37th
"On these restarts you can really gain or lose a lot. If you give an inch, a lot of guys take a mile and I really knew that we were both putting ourselves in a bad situation right there watching the replay. It's tight through there, but if I give a little bit to Carl (Edwards), three or four guys are going to get around me. We had a great Aaron's Dream Machine, I can't say enough about everybody at Michael Waltrip Racing and Toyota for working hard and really bringing some fast Camrys out here. I felt like we had a chance to win this thing today. Just proud of Brian Pattie (crew chief) and everybody for giving me a chance to run well here. You have to be aggressive on these restarts and I felt like I was in a good spot there. We were 50-50 and I just raced him for a spot and it's just one of those things. I don't regret what I did, if I had to do it all over again, I'd do it again. A lot of times I'm a little too conservative and I give these guys too much. I'm glad I held my own and had a good car today." - David Ragan, finished 39th (crashed out), on the wreck with Carl Edwards
"I didn't get together with the No. 78 (Martin Truex, Jr.), the No. 78 ran me off the racetrack, just bodyslammed me. I was just trying to get back on the racetrack. That's a great instance where the No. 78 just absolutely did me wrong and I'm trying to get back on the racetrack. That's unfortunate for him, it's never good to see anybody tear up their race car. Martin would probably not do that again if he had an opportunity." - Ragan, on the incident with Martin Truex, Jr.
"We were just racing and David (Ragan) and I race really well together, but it was just one of those deals where we came off of turn seven dead even and both of us wanted to see who would kind of give first. My left rear hit his right rear and it was pretty small contact, but it bounced both the cars sideways and ruined our day. Probably my fault, in fact that part is my fault, but it's frustrating because I love this racetrack and I was having fun. Just want to be out there racing. It's a tough one to have to sit out." - Carl Edwards, finished 40th (crashed out)
"We got wrecked, bottom line. Definitely a tough day. I felt like we had a decent car all weekend. We were off a little bit that first run, made some adjustments, felt like it helped. When you start around 20th on those restarts it is just a recipe for disaster. I was trying to be aggressive, made some moves. I had a couple of cars passed and then the lane I was in jammed up and the guys I had passed got back by me. You just get frustrated, you lose patience and I got into the No. 55 (David Ragan's) doors a little bit in turn 7 and I guess he didn't like it and he figured he would just dump me. He probably has one coming, but other than that it's just part of the restart deal. I hate that I got my guys' car tore up." - Martin Truex, Jr., finished 42nd (crashed, then pulled out)
"That was a bad deal. I just passed Sam Hornish, Jr. up in seven and went through the Esses and I just told Donnie, 'I think I've got a left front going down. It's soft.' We were gonna come in and pit that lap and I eased up a little bit going through 10, but it never turned and once you get off in the dirt there that's a bad place to get off. It was a big hit, but I'm OK. I'm just bummed out for the situation. This is a great racetrack. We really love racing out here and I've had some great finishes here, but we'll have to wait until next year to try again." - David Gilliland, finished 43rd (Crashed Out)
Phil Allaway is the newsletter manager for Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com.
~~~~~~~~~~
TODAY AT FRONTSTRETCH:
by Amy Henderson
by Summer Bedgood
by Jerry Jordan
by the Frontstretch Staff
~~~~~~~~~~
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: In 2010, the Rolex Sports Car Series ran at Daytona the morning of the Coke Zero 400. Despite starting at 11 a.m., the conditions were quite arduous. Third-place finisher in GT Robin Liddell looked like a beet after the race. Why was this so?
Check back Tuesday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Friday's Answer:
Q: With three laps to go in the 1997 Kragen 151, Boris Said did this to Rich Bickle (driving the DieHard-sponsored No. 17). Out of context, it seems random. However, there's a reason for his actions. What happened?
A: You can make a case that the whole situation was caused by Dave Rezendes bunching the field up on the restart, but Said got in the grass entering turn 1a. It appears that Said blamed Bickle for that, since he shoved Bickle at turn 2. Naturally, Bickle wasn't too pleased about that, as Bickle shoved Said off the road at turn 3. Said then trundled around the track for a couple of laps until Bickle came around to lap him. The shenanigans can be seen here.
~~~~~~~~~~
COMING TOMORROWIn The Frontstretch Newsletter:
We'll have breaking news from Monday and a look inside the numbers from Sonoma with Tom Bowles.
On Frontstretch.com:
We'll have Five Points To Ponder after last weekend's moist action in Sonoma. Danny Peters was at the races this weekend and offers an at-track report.
-----------------------------
Talk back to the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Got something to say about an article you've seen in the newsletter? It's as easy as replying directly to this message or sending an email to editors@frontstretch.com. We'll take the best comments and publish them here!
©2015 Frontstretch.com NASCAR and great NASCAR commentary. They can subscribe to the Frontstetch by visiting
.
to see you go. Just send an email to
recieve the Frontstretch Newsletter.
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Frontstretch" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to
.
.
