Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
What to Watch: Tuesday
by the Frontstretch Staff
NASCAR Releases Entry List for Axalta "We Paint Winners" 400
Camping World Truck Series Prepares for Rare IndyCar Companion Weekend
Brian Vickers Joins NBC for NASCAR Coverage
Rob Gronkowski & Family Prepare for Pre-Race Honors at Chicagoland Speedway
~~~~~~~~~~
Kyle Busch Ready to Win and Dover's Dwindling Seats
Sitting in the Stands: A Fan's View
by S.D. Grady
Sometimes, not a whole lot happens during a race. Sunday's running of the FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks was a fine example of such a Sunday pastime. For 405 laps, we watched the usual cast of characters spin around in circles with a fairly expected outcome to the end of the day: Jimmie Johnson hoisting a trophy after burning up his tires on the frontstretch.
Still, after spending four hours in front of your television, there had to be something happening of note, wasn't there?
I've avoided commenting on Kyle Busch's return to the Cup Series weeks ahead of rumored original ETAs. However, there is no doubt in my mind that his presence in the car and at the Gibbs shop and garage has lit a fire in the organization. That No. 18, regardless of the paint job on its doors, is one hot machine with its customary pilot back in place. Meanwhile, the cameras seem to be picking up the No. 19 and No. 20 more often since the Sprint All-Star Race. You could say that it just took four months for the shop to get this year's setup figured out, but there's a fine example across the infield of another team that is running without a captain, and it shows.
While Greg Biffle does all he can to talk to the media and convince them that he's working hard to bring the Roush cars up to speed, there are simply not the results on-track to make me believe in him. That has always been a problem as a fan with The Biff. He's a nice guy! I know he could put me in the wall without blinking, but he just doesn't have that special spark that turns heads when he walks in the room. His younger teammates are desperate for a leader — Trevor Bayne and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. lack experience and maturity when it comes to pushing the champions of the Cup Series out of the way. Without a success story at the top of the organization, it's going to be a long haul before the Cat in the Hat is going be the Top Cat again.
Meanwhile, new baby-daddy Kyle Busch is eager to scramble his way into the Chase. His excitement about getting behind the wheel immediately translates onto the track. The No. 18 in the playoffs? I think I'm a begrudging believer that it can be done. Cousin Carl and Kenseth have already grabbed their spots. What's stopping Kyle? A crowded rush hour, but he knows how to take care of that.
However, Miles the Monster wasn't ready to help Kyle, was he? Ah, you know despite Sunday's relatively sedate competition at Dover, it is a great track to watch a race from the stands. It's sort of like watching a Bristol on steroids. There's not a terrible seat in the house — although the horse track does block the frontstretch if you're in turns 2 and 3. The ongoing construction in removing seating actually makes a lot of sense at the facility. Almost every track I've visited in the last four years has been doing something similar.
Obviously, we are never going to return to the days of seating over 100k at a NASCAR race, except possibly at Daytona. One by one, sections of seats across the nation are being replaced by premium trackside parking for RVs or even party patios. Both options provide upgrades for those of us who will be attending races for the foreseeable future. It's actually reassuring to know that our sport is attempting to change with the tide, rather than decide their track is the Mecca of racing and needs no updates. Fabled Fenway Park in Boston benefited from a little modernization even as diehard baseball fans in the '90s staunchly agreed it needed no improvements. Well, sellout after sellout in the new century says staying current pays off. Glad to see there will be new things to visit when I return to Dover.
And finally, ten whole freakin' wins at Dover. We can complain that there are boring races, that it's not fun to have the same guy win all the time, and then you can stop for a minute and realize that it takes some kind of combination of genius, talent and luck to rack up the kind of stats the No. 48 team does on a regular basis. We are living through racing history. Be in awe.
Sonya's Scrapbook
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.
0
Laps led Sunday by fifth-place finisher Aric Almirola. Almirola, now 10th in points has still not led a single lap all season.
1
Top-5 finish for Kyle Larson this season, a third at Dover Sunday. Larson benefited from a final green-white-checkered restart where he was able to move up on fresh tires.
2
Career second-place finishes for Kevin Harvick at Dover, including Sunday. Harvick only has four top-5 finishes at Dover in 29 career starts.
3
Straight races where Martin Truex, Jr. has led the most laps, the first time that's happened in his Sprint Cup career.
4
Hendrick-supported teams to finish inside the top 4 spots Sunday: Johnson, Harvick, Larson and Kasey Kahne.
5
Drivers in history who have ten career wins or more at a NASCAR track: Johnson, Dale Earnhardt, David Pearson, Richard Petty and Darrell Waltrip.
12
Races led this season in 13 starts for Kevin Harvick.
15
Lead changes Sunday at Dover, the fourth straight event at the track where there's been less than 20.
168
Points separating Kyle Busch from 30th-place Justin Allgaier in the standings after Dover. Busch was 36th Sunday after crashing out of the race.
$98,035
Money won by Carl Edwards by finishing 19th.
$107,610
Money won by Trevor Bayne by finishing 43rd (dead last).
$118,345
Money won by Paul Menard by finishing eighth.
$133,201
Money won by Kyle Busch by crashing out in 36th.
$305,826
Money won by Jimmie Johnson Sunday, a $31,000 decrease in the purse money offered from the previous year.
Tom Bowles is the Editor-in-Chief of Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at tom.bowles@frontstretch.com.
~~~~~~~~~~
TODAY AT FRONTSTRETCH:
NASCAR Driver Report Cards: Part I
by Tom Bowles
NASCAR Driver Report Cards: Part II
by Tom Bowles
~~~~~~~~~~
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Monday's Answer:
Q: The 1990 Miller Genuine Draft 500 at Pocono Raceway was likely shaping up to be one of the best races in the career of Rob Moroso. Two-thirds of the way through the race, Moroso was right in the hunt for the win before it came to an end. What happened to put Moroso out?
A: Moroso was running second behind Alan Kulwicki when he entered the Tunnel Turn (turn 2) too high. Moroso's Crown Oldsmobile then spun and backed into the wall in front of the entire field. No one hit Moroso, but his Cutlass was badly damaged. The crash can be seen here. Dave DeSpain and Lyn St. James have the call on the broadcast, which is the most recent Sprint Cup race to air on pay-per-view.~~~~~~~~~~
COMING TOMORROW
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
--
Feel free to forward this newsletter if you have any friends who loves
NASCAR and great NASCAR commentary. They can subscribe to the Frontstetch by visiting http://www.frontstretch.com/notice/9557/.
If you want to stop your Frontstretch Newsletter subscription, we're sorry
to see you go. Just send an email to
TheFrontstretch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com from the address that you
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 thefrontstretch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
No comments:
Post a Comment