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The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
by the Frontstretch Staff
What's bizarre about the situation is that Sadler has risen above the fray. Fifth in series points, he has just four top-5 finishes over 19 starts but all of them have come within the last two months. The No. 1 Ford has been the rock within the program, a veteran presence some looked at as potentially rising to the Cup level depending on the futures of Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. and Trevor Bayne over time.
Entry List: XFINITY Series Preps for Watkins Glen Showdown
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Trick Me Once...When the NASCAR Gods Keep an Eye Out for Our Safety
Sitting in the Stands: A Fan's View
by S.D. Grady
Lady Luck certainly made herself known this past weekend at Pocono. How else would Matt Kenseth have snared his second win of the year?
All kidding aside, there was an inordinate amount of déjà vu and serendipity that played out on pit road throughout the weekend. It was a bit like the racing gods were out to make sure NASCAR and the raceway got the point after Jeb Burton smacked pit wall Saturday morning. Had we all managed to shelve the panic-button topic of checking the unlikely points of impact at all the tracks after Kyle Busch made such a quick recovery from his Daytona accident? It was certainly tempting to ride the wave of euphoria as he notched up all those wins with his eyes on the Chase. The heads of the media all were turning away from the boring and constant topic of safety.
So, impact number one. Burton slammed into the wall of pit 42, sending a few media and fans scurrying. The car was toast. Jeb was fine. But it was an odd place to hit. He just sort of lost control coming out of turn 3 and aimed straight for pit road. We all pondered the fact that cars shouldn't be able to slide into that place by simply spinning out on the racing surface. The idea of altering pit road was tossed about in the commentary booth. Some fans at home nodded their heads and a few moaned as it seemed like a broken record was being set up for another gazillion plays. Safety, safety, safety….
We might have managed to forget the whole thing until the truck race later that afternoon. The No. 07 truck spun coming out of turn 3 and started a familiar slide in the general direction that Burton's No. 26 car had earlier in the day. Ray Black, Jr.'s truck actually ran over the skid marks remaining on the track from the previous incident. While the truck took a harder left and smacked the wall before the true entry to pit road, the comparative nature of the wreck started a flashing light again in our collective consciousness. Something ought to be done about pit road. Move a pit. Lengthen the already massive pit road farther down toward turn 1. Change the outer pit wall at pit entry. Something.
The media latched on to the idea and brought up the topic during pre-race talk shows. But you know, nobody was hurt. It really wasn't that big of a thing, was it? If nothing changed at the track by next year, nobody would've been squawking.
The racing gods listened in and heard the doubt and disinterest. So, they hammered home the problem for a third time. Kasey Kahne's No. 5 executed virtually the same slide as Jeb Burton during the Cup race Sunday afternoon. The only difference was that Kahne did a better job of steering his machine and managed to roll it farther down pit road, landing between pits 37 and 38. His car cracked the boiler plate wall and sent helmets flying. Lady Luck simply made sure nobody was stopped in their box at that time, and we were in-between green flag stops so no crews were standing at the wall. Kasey got out of his car scratching his head, trying to figure out just what happened. Further evidence that mystical hands had a part in this strange play.
And like a Christmas tree, NASCAR Nation lit up with how something should be done about Pocono's pit road. It was obviously a hazard zone! Even though through the decades of racing this track, NASCAR had never had a car smack the inside pit wall before, clearly they were capable of doing it. And what if there had been crews there? What if a lucky fan with a Hot Pass wasn't paying attention? What if, what if….
It might seem like NASCAR has become obsessed with fixing all the walls at all the tracks this year, but in reality it isn't a bad thing. However, it is very easy to only repair what is the obvious problem. It seems those who look over us understand our human foibles and simply want to help. Thus Burton, Black, and Kahne were used as pawns in the pursuit of a safer sport.
NASCAR and Pocono have both stated that they will be looking at the situation and putting in place some improvements for the following season. Such is how we respond to those near catastrophes. Isn't it wonderful how lucky we are, though? Despite the alarming incidents, nobody was injured. That's when you stop to wonder if luck had anything to do with it at all.
Sonya's Scrapbook
Sometimes, luck is not so kind to you. Sometimes, your luck brings out the true colors in others. While Jeff Gordon has enjoyed much success at the twisty turns in western New York, in 2003 he just didn't have a great day. On the final turn of the final lap, Gordon ran out of gas, sputtering on his way to the finish line. Meanwhile, Kevin Harvick and the No. 24 had issues earlier in the race and Harvick took Gordon's bad luck as a chance to put his enemy of the day in the wall.
However, following the theme of the above column, Jeff Gordon sat in his wrecked car on the frontstretch for several long minutes before the safety crews bothered to check on him. This incident brought to light the inconsistent performance of safety crews at various tracks and resulted in NASCAR improving standards and expectations on race weekends.
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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TODAY AT FRONTSTRETCH:
Who's Hot and Who's Not in NASCAR: Pocono-Watkins Glen Edition
by Jeff Wolfe
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FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Monday's Answer:
Q: The first race at Watkins Glen for what is now Sprint Cup was back in 1957. What course did the Grand National teams race on back then?
A: The original circuit that NASCAR ran on in 1957 has only a couple of similarities to the current Watkins Glen. They ran on a configuration similar to what Formula 1 began racing on in 1961. Back then, the start-finish line was where a crossover gate is today entering the Esses and the entire track was different from roughly the end of the backstretch to the pit straight. The current configuration (minus the Inner Loop, which debuted in 1992) for NASCAR was created in a pinch for a sports car weekend in 1971 when delays prevented "The Boot" from being completed in time.~~~~~~~~~~
COMING TOMORROW
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