THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Jul. 9, 2015
Volume IX, Edition CXV
~~~~~~~~~~
What to Watch: Thursday
- With Wednesday's rainout, Thursday is a very busy day at Kentucky Speedway. There is a two-hour test session for Sprint Cup teams scheduled so they can test the new package for this weekend. In addition, there is a one-day show for the Camping World Truck Series that culminates in tonight's UNOH 225.
Top News
by the Frontstretch Staff
Another Event, Another Rain Delay as Kentucky Test Interrupted
At Kentucky Speedway Wednesday, NASCAR dealt with constant rain and track weepers. As a result, cars were never able to get on track for the Sprint Cup Series' scheduled open test session. The test has been rescheduled for Thursday morning. Read more
Two More Drivers Swapped Out at Kentucky for Cup Race
by the Frontstretch Staff
Another Event, Another Rain Delay as Kentucky Test Interrupted
At Kentucky Speedway Wednesday, NASCAR dealt with constant rain and track weepers. As a result, cars were never able to get on track for the Sprint Cup Series' scheduled open test session. The test has been rescheduled for Thursday morning. Read more
Two More Drivers Swapped Out at Kentucky for Cup Race
There were a couple of driver changes announced Wednesday. First, Travis Kvapil has been named as the driver of the No. 30 Chevrolet for The Motorsports Group, replacing Jeff Green. Meanwhile, Reed Sorenson has been tapped as the driver of the No. 62 Chevrolet for Premium Motorsports, replacing Brendan Gaughan. Read more
Midseason Swap: Christopher Bell Replaces Justin Boston at Kentucky
Midseason Swap: Christopher Bell Replaces Justin Boston at Kentucky
The original plan for Kentucky was for Kyle Busch Motorsports to field four trucks this weekend as USAC standout Christopher Bell was set to make his intermediate track debut. However, there's been a falling out between KBM and driver Justin Boston. As a result, Boston has left the team, effective immediately, while Bell has gotten the call to drive the No. 54 Toyota. 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.
~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~
Today's Featured Commentary
Potts' Shots for July 9
Potts' Shots
by John Potts
Well, we certainly had an exciting race at Daytona Sunday night (and Monday morning), didn't we?
After all the conversation, discussion, etc. about the "pack racing" with the Verizon IndyCar Series at Fontana the week before, NASCAR proved once again they are the best at presenting the most breathtaking action in that form of competition.
First, I'm happy that all the safety equipment did the job for which it is intended, and that Austin Dillon crawled out of what was left of that Chevrolet with nothing but minor injuries. I'm happy to say no more fans than we've heard about were injured.
Second, I know that NOBODY wants to see anybody get hurt, but let's face it – racing is dangerous. There is no way to make it completely safe, and I'm not sure many people would watch if the risk was removed completely. Much of the thrill of competition is seeing these drivers take things completely to the edge, watching them risk life and limb in doing something all of us wish we could do, but know that we can't.
We keep seeing more and more advances in safety, much of it coming in the last 15 years since (and partly because of) Dale Earnhardt's fatal accident at Daytona. From the SAFER barriers to the HANS devices, etc. The latest suggestion, voiced fittingly by Kyle Busch, is that all grass areas at the tracks get paved over. This theory is understandable, especially coming from Kyle after his really bad accident at Daytona in February. It was there he hit a wall without a SAFER barrier at who-knows-what speed after careening across a grassy stretch.
Most of that area was paved before last weekend's events, and a SAFER barrier installed. I've heard some people say they think cars actually accelerate when they hit grass, but we all know that's not possible. It seems that way because no matter how hard the brakes are locked up, they barely decelerate at all.
As with the previous weekend, the message boards lit up about how dangerous the plate races are and what can be done. Short of lowering the banking, which we know is not going to be done, I'm not sure.
One thing which entered my mind was what might have happened if another car had become airborne and hit the same spot in the debris fence which Dillon's car had already ripped out. The cables were still in place, but would they have withstood another similar impact? A suggestion on one of those message boards was that maybe a second debris fence should be installed, several feet behind the first one. That may be an idea, but if so, I believe it should be constructed exactly the same as the "front" fence.
Another suggestion is to move the fans back farther from the fence. I understand this "fix" has already been done to some extent at Daytona. But how about doing even more? We're extremely lucky that the engine out of that No. 3 car didn't end up in the crowd, but tumbled down to the infield. Since they've already eliminated seats down there, why not make those so close to the fence part of the deal?
Two fences are going to pose something of a vision problem to begin with, so why not remove all the seats down so low? I'm just spitballing here, tossing out ideas I've heard or thought about.
Some recollections come to me from my flagging career, including one involving a debris fence. This one involved a half-mile track where we were running an ASA race. A car got into the fence coming out of the fourth turn and I felt like I was going to get shaken out of the flagstand. A quick inspection after the race showed the stand was tied into the fencing. I strongly advised that this situation be remedied, and when I was later consulted on the erection of a new flagstand at Indianapolis Raceway Park, I saw that it didn't happen there.
Next subject: the crew members who immediately ran to Austin Dillon's car to see if he was OK, and NASCAR's decision to "talk" to them this week. Fittingly, they said they don't plan to fine or punish them, but they want to impress on those guys the unsafe aspect of running out into that tri-oval. As far as keeping that from happening the next time a car battered that badly comes to rest in the grass right in front of those pit crews, forget it.
They're competitors, of course, but they are all family, and they all care about each other. That was one of THEM out there in that bent up hulk of a car, and they were going to help him. I'm sure the same thought went through their minds as Dale Jr. expressed in his post-race interview. For those who missed it, he said it "scared the hell" out of him as he watched the wreck unfold in his mirror.
Thankfully, all the mayhem was over at that point. The race had been concluded and those men weren't in any real danger.
For those who thought the safety equipment was late in arriving, remember that those trucks don't roll until race control dispatches them. The closest safety equipment was probably at the end of pit road, and they're always careful about dispatching them to go counter-race until all the traffic has cleared. That's just NASCAR's policy, the way it is.
At any rate, we were extremely lucky early last Monday morning, and I'm thankful for it.
Well, we certainly had an exciting race at Daytona Sunday night (and Monday morning), didn't we?
After all the conversation, discussion, etc. about the "pack racing" with the Verizon IndyCar Series at Fontana the week before, NASCAR proved once again they are the best at presenting the most breathtaking action in that form of competition.
First, I'm happy that all the safety equipment did the job for which it is intended, and that Austin Dillon crawled out of what was left of that Chevrolet with nothing but minor injuries. I'm happy to say no more fans than we've heard about were injured.
Second, I know that NOBODY wants to see anybody get hurt, but let's face it – racing is dangerous. There is no way to make it completely safe, and I'm not sure many people would watch if the risk was removed completely. Much of the thrill of competition is seeing these drivers take things completely to the edge, watching them risk life and limb in doing something all of us wish we could do, but know that we can't.
We keep seeing more and more advances in safety, much of it coming in the last 15 years since (and partly because of) Dale Earnhardt's fatal accident at Daytona. From the SAFER barriers to the HANS devices, etc. The latest suggestion, voiced fittingly by Kyle Busch, is that all grass areas at the tracks get paved over. This theory is understandable, especially coming from Kyle after his really bad accident at Daytona in February. It was there he hit a wall without a SAFER barrier at who-knows-what speed after careening across a grassy stretch.
Most of that area was paved before last weekend's events, and a SAFER barrier installed. I've heard some people say they think cars actually accelerate when they hit grass, but we all know that's not possible. It seems that way because no matter how hard the brakes are locked up, they barely decelerate at all.
As with the previous weekend, the message boards lit up about how dangerous the plate races are and what can be done. Short of lowering the banking, which we know is not going to be done, I'm not sure.
One thing which entered my mind was what might have happened if another car had become airborne and hit the same spot in the debris fence which Dillon's car had already ripped out. The cables were still in place, but would they have withstood another similar impact? A suggestion on one of those message boards was that maybe a second debris fence should be installed, several feet behind the first one. That may be an idea, but if so, I believe it should be constructed exactly the same as the "front" fence.
Another suggestion is to move the fans back farther from the fence. I understand this "fix" has already been done to some extent at Daytona. But how about doing even more? We're extremely lucky that the engine out of that No. 3 car didn't end up in the crowd, but tumbled down to the infield. Since they've already eliminated seats down there, why not make those so close to the fence part of the deal?
Two fences are going to pose something of a vision problem to begin with, so why not remove all the seats down so low? I'm just spitballing here, tossing out ideas I've heard or thought about.
Some recollections come to me from my flagging career, including one involving a debris fence. This one involved a half-mile track where we were running an ASA race. A car got into the fence coming out of the fourth turn and I felt like I was going to get shaken out of the flagstand. A quick inspection after the race showed the stand was tied into the fencing. I strongly advised that this situation be remedied, and when I was later consulted on the erection of a new flagstand at Indianapolis Raceway Park, I saw that it didn't happen there.
Next subject: the crew members who immediately ran to Austin Dillon's car to see if he was OK, and NASCAR's decision to "talk" to them this week. Fittingly, they said they don't plan to fine or punish them, but they want to impress on those guys the unsafe aspect of running out into that tri-oval. As far as keeping that from happening the next time a car battered that badly comes to rest in the grass right in front of those pit crews, forget it.
They're competitors, of course, but they are all family, and they all care about each other. That was one of THEM out there in that bent up hulk of a car, and they were going to help him. I'm sure the same thought went through their minds as Dale Jr. expressed in his post-race interview. For those who missed it, he said it "scared the hell" out of him as he watched the wreck unfold in his mirror.
Thankfully, all the mayhem was over at that point. The race had been concluded and those men weren't in any real danger.
For those who thought the safety equipment was late in arriving, remember that those trucks don't roll until race control dispatches them. The closest safety equipment was probably at the end of pit road, and they're always careful about dispatching them to go counter-race until all the traffic has cleared. That's just NASCAR's policy, the way it is.
At any rate, we were extremely lucky early last Monday morning, and I'm thankful for it.
John Potts is a Senior Writer for Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at john.potts@frontstretch.com.
~~~~~~~~~~
The Critic's Annex: Random Thoughts about NBC's Cup Return
by Phil Allaway
Admittedly, restrictor plate races are somewhat skewed when it comes to inclusiveness due to the fact that nearly everyone is running together in a big pack. Because of that fact, I'll hold my thoughts on how NBC covers the field until we get to Kentucky this weekend.
The fact that viewers got any post-race coverage at all after eight hours on NBC and a couple of hours before that on NBCSN is actually quite amazing. Everyone had to be exhausted. I know I was. The only downside there is that they left the air before being able to get an interview with Austin Dillon. They did interview him, but it occurred after the broadcast ended. Given that it was 3 a.m., they should have just waited until Dillon came out of the Infield Care Center and got the interview before going off the air for the night.
Generally, I did enjoy the race telecast. It was a more basic broadcast that, while modern and flashy, was really down to earth as well. Allen, Burton and Letarte have taken the time that they've had to work together on K&N Pro Series races, the Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown, and in their mock races to create a nice atmosphere. I like what I'm seeing so far. I just hope they can keep it up.
Hi guys. I hope you enjoyed NBC's return to Sprint Cup last weekend. I'll tell you that it was quite exhausting. You see, I was in Daytona covering the race. In the panorama picture Dale Earnhardt, Jr. posted on Twitter Sunday, I can be seen on the right side in a gray shirt and light khakis.
Did I watch the race on NBC Sunday night/Monday morning? To a point, I did. With no Press Box in Daytona due to the ongoing Daytona Rising project, that was just about the only way I could see the race and actually do work in the Media Center. However, the audio and video was de-synced, which made it a little difficult to follow along. Also, on the satellite feed of NBC we had, you would hear the NBC chimes during every commercial break. Let's just say that if I actually got out of the track and back to my friend's apartment in Orlando at a decent time (not 6:20 a.m.), that stuff probably would have kept me up for much of the night.
However, since that is a quirk regular viewers would not have seen, I cannot hold that against the broadcast. It just drove me nuts.
During the long rain delay, NBC ran a piece on Kyle Busch adjusting to fatherhood, his big wreck from Daytona and how he's changed over the past few months. It's interesting to look at. FOX has done pieces like this one on Busch in the past. Often times, it's Darrell Waltrip doing the interview. He seems to be quite "buddy-buddy" with Busch. While that means that Waltrip can get information others cannot because Busch is comfortable for him, NBC's approach was a little different. They let Busch tell his own story, in his own words. The result was a more humanizing piece on Busch than anything I can recall in recent years.
Another piece saw the wives or girlfriends of drivers talking about the stresses that they face watching their men race. Specific incidents were mentioned (Clint Bowyer's XFINITY crash at Dover, Ryan Newman's roll in the 2003 Daytona 500, etc.). The general opinion is that they find racing stressful, but the plate races are on another planet.
Aric Almirola talked about how his grandparents immigrated to the United States from Cuba in 1966. The whole setup is actually rather interesting in knowing that it was based on a lottery. The modern image of Cuban immigration to the United States has next to nothing to do with airplanes and tacit permission from the Cuban government. It's far more covert and secretive. It's a classic "bootstraps" story that you hear so much about these days. While yes, I knew that Almirola is of Cuban descent prior to the piece airing, I had no clue about how his family came to the United States. NBC treaded into completely new territory here.
For the race itself, NBC decided to take a professional approach. I have no doubt that Rick Allen, Jeff Burton and Letarte had fun in the booth, regardless of how tiring the day and night must have been for them. Partially due to FOX's decisions in how to cover races earlier this year, NBC really didn't take any time to teach fans much Sunday night. The only exception to that was taking time to point out the new light on the rear windshield of the pace car, denoting whether pit road was open or not. That's because that's just plain new and placed there due to the ridiculousness that occurred at Chicagoland Speedway a couple of weeks ago in the Owens Corning AttiCat 300.
Unlike FOX broadcasts, I could not detect any blatant favoritism. Instead, the race was called fairly. While Letarte did used to be Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s crew chief, by no means was he rooting for Earnhardt Jr. Allen and Burton have no physical ties to any of the teams and Letarte's move to television was a clean break.
Admittedly, restrictor plate races are somewhat skewed when it comes to inclusiveness due to the fact that nearly everyone is running together in a big pack. Because of that fact, I'll hold my thoughts on how NBC covers the field until we get to Kentucky this weekend.
I touched upon Burton's conduct following the big crash at the finish in my post-race commentary Monday. I thought his conduct there was completely fine. Heck, everyone in the Media Center was concerned. With the lag and the fact that I didn't have a good view of a screen with Sprint Vision, I didn't see the hit into the catchfence right away. I wrote about seeing the Earnhardt Jr. and Mears' crews running out to Dillon's stricken car because I literally saw that before the crash into the catchfence. I had to go back and watch the telecast again once I got back to New York to see what it looked like in real time.
The fact that viewers got any post-race coverage at all after eight hours on NBC and a couple of hours before that on NBCSN is actually quite amazing. Everyone had to be exhausted. I know I was. The only downside there is that they left the air before being able to get an interview with Austin Dillon. They did interview him, but it occurred after the broadcast ended. Given that it was 3 a.m., they should have just waited until Dillon came out of the Infield Care Center and got the interview before going off the air for the night.
Also of note, Dillon was actually going to come to the Media Center and do a press conference after the wreck, but eventually decided against it. Instead, he did the teleconference Tuesday morning. I can only imagine how that press conference would have gone at 3:30 in the morning.
Generally, I did enjoy the race telecast. It was a more basic broadcast that, while modern and flashy, was really down to earth as well. Allen, Burton and Letarte have taken the time that they've had to work together on K&N Pro Series races, the Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown, and in their mock races to create a nice atmosphere. I like what I'm seeing so far. I just hope they can keep it up.
I hope you liked this brief look at the Coke Zero 400. Next week, we're back to normal. I'll be back next Thursday with a look at Chasing 43, the newest special that premiered Sunday afternoon on NBC. Until then, enjoy this week's action at Kentucky, Milwaukee and CTMP.
Phil Allaway is the Newsletter Manager and a Senior Writer for Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com.
~~~~~~~~~~
Line of the Week
"Great performance, happy to be 1‑2, but clearly thinking about the accident that happened and the people in the stands. It sounds like things are well out there, which is shocking. I'm shocked that Austin Dillon is even alive, what he went through. Just a frightening moment. I saw it in the mirror, and man, I expected the worst when I came back around." - This isn't from from one of our columns this week. This quote is direct from Jimmie Johnson during his post-race press conference in Daytona Monday morning. It just shows the genuine concern and fear that Johnson had in that situation.
~~~~~~~~~~
TODAY AT FRONTSTRETCH:
by Vito Pugliese
by P. Huston Ladner
by Toni Montgomery
by Phil Allaway
by Beth Lunkenheimer
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: In the 2001 Bluegrass Quality Meats 200 at Kentucky Speedway for the ARCA Re/MAX Series, Jerry Glanville was having a pretty good night. He led 13 laps and was running inside the top 10 when his night came to an end. What happened?
Check back Friday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Wednesday's Answer:
Wednesday's Answer:
Q: Speaking of records, Mike Bliss set a record of his own when he won the then-Craftsman Truck Series Kroger 225 at Kentucky Speedway in 2002. What was this record?
A: Bliss set the record for largest margin of victory when he won the Kroger 225 by over 18 seconds over Dennis Setzer. In that race, the final 76 laps were run under green.
~~~~~~~~~~
COMING TOMORROW
In The Frontstretch Newsletter:
We'll have a recap of Thursday's UNOH 225 for the Camping World Truck Series at Kentucky for you and preview the rest of the weekend's racing on the bumpy 1.5-mile tri-oval.
On Frontstretch.com:
Amy will be back with another edition of Holding a Pretty Wheel. Also, Aaron Bearden has the latest news and information live from the track at Kentucky.-----------------------------
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
--
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