THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
Aug. 24, 2015
Volume IX, Edition CXLVII
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
Aug. 24, 2015
Volume IX, Edition CXLVII
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What to Watch: Monday- The Sprint Cup teams have the upcoming weekend off, so many drivers are going on vacation. Meanwhile, the XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series teams are preparing for road races in Wisconsin and Canada, respectively. Also, if there are any updates on the condition of Justin Wilson, we will bring them to you.
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Monday's TV Schedule can be found in Couch Potato Tuesday here.
Monday's TV Schedule can be found in Couch Potato Tuesday here.
Top News
by the Frontstretch Staff
Justin Wilson Airlifted to Hospital Following Pocono Crash
Justin Wilson Airlifted to Hospital Following Pocono Crash
Verizon IndyCar Series racer Justin Wilson remains in a coma Monday morning after suffering a severe head injury in Sunday's ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway. Wilson, driving the No. 25 for Andretti Autosport was struck in the helmet by the nosecone of Sage Karam's car coming out of turn 1; after getting hit by flying debris, Wilson appeared to lose consciousness immediately and slammed straight into the inside wall. Airlifted to Lehigh Valley Health Network Cedar Crest Hospital in Allentown, Justin's wife and younger brother Stefan Wilson (also an IndyCar driver) are by his side. Read more
IndyCar Recap: 2015 ABC Supply 500
IndyCar Recap: 2015 ABC Supply 500
While the injuries to Justin Wilson ultimately overshadowed the event, Sunday's Verizon IndyCar Series race at Pocono Raceway was an exciting, albeit rather destructive affair. Ryan Hunter-Reay moved up the order late, then took the lead away from Gabby Chaves with five laps to go and held on for the win. Josef Newgarden was second, followed by points leader Juan Pablo Montoya. Will Power was fourth while Carlos Munoz rounded out the top 5. Graham Rahal, second in the standings wrecked out early giving Montoya a strong 34-point edge heading into the Sonoma series finale. Read more
Joey Logano Goes Back-to-Back in the Irwin Tools Night Race
Saturday night, Joey Logano led 176 laps and held off a late charge from Kevin Harvick to defend his Irwin Tools Night Race victory from last year. For Logano, it is his third victory of 2015 and his first short track win of the year. Harvick was second, followed by Denny Hamlin in third. Jimmie Johnson recovered from a crash to finish fourth while Clint Bowyer was fifth. Read more
JTG-Daugherty Racing Extends Sponsorship Deal With Bush's Beans
Friday, JTG-Daugherty Racing announced that one of their primary sponsors, Bush's Beans, has signed a contract extension that will see the company on the No. 47 Chevrolet for several years to come. Bush's Beans joins Kroger in locking up long-term deals with the team this season. Read more
Chris Buescher Comes Up Snake Eyes On Fuel/Tire Gamble
JTG-Daugherty Racing Extends Sponsorship Deal With Bush's Beans
Friday, JTG-Daugherty Racing announced that one of their primary sponsors, Bush's Beans, has signed a contract extension that will see the company on the No. 47 Chevrolet for several years to come. Bush's Beans joins Kroger in locking up long-term deals with the team this season. Read more
Chris Buescher Comes Up Snake Eyes On Fuel/Tire Gamble
Friday night, points leader Chris Buescher tried to steal a win at Bristol Motor Speedway on fuel mileage by attempting to go 160 laps on fuel. Unfortunately, the No. 60 Ford hiccuped on the final green-white-checkered finish, allowing Kyle Busch to get by and take the win. 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.
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Chasing the Chase: Harvick Expands Lead, Middle of Top 10 Compacts
by Phil Allaway
by Phil Allaway
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is still third, but he's nearly a full race behind Logano after finishing ninth. Earnhardt used multiple free passes and wavearounds to get back on the lead lap after encountering a loose wheel, hitting the outside wall and going through a myriad of handling problems. Behind him, Brad Keselowski's sixth-place Bristol finish moved him up one place to fourth in the Cup standings. His advantage over fifth-place Jimmie Johnson stands at just one point, though. Johnson had his own problems on Saturday night but recovered to finish fourth. His No. 48 Chevrolet, battered in the rear end was one of the few cars to show "old school" damage at Thunder Valley.
Martin Truex, Jr. had another tough night. Truex got involved in a crash on the frontstretch late in the race and ended up finishing 28th, five laps down. The end result dropped him back down to sixth in points. Next sits Matt Kenseth who had a very short night, retiring for the evening after 110 laps due to a dropped valve. Kenseth's advantage over Kurt Busch for seventh has been cut from 68 to 40 points. Speaking of Kurt Busch, he ended up as the first driver one lap down for the second week in a row in 14th. It was another somewhat mediocre performance.
Denny Hamlin held serve with Harvick by leading laps and finishing third. That performance kept him ninth but pulled him within a point of Kurt Busch. Jamie McMurray, the first winless driver in the Cup standings rounds out the top 10.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) Kevin Harvick 908, 2) Joey Logano -43, 3) Dale Earnhardt, Jr. -89, 4) Brad Keselowski -115, 5) Jimmie Johnson -116, 6) Martin Truex, Jr. -137, 7) Matt Kenseth -155, 8) Kurt Busch -195, 9) Denny Hamlin -196, 10) Jamie McMurray -212, 11) Ryan Newman -225, 12) Paul Menard -234, 13) Jeff Gordon -236, 14) Carl Edwards -242, 15) Clint Bowyer -253, 16) Aric Almirola -288.
Drivers Outside the top 16 Eligible for Chase: 29) Kyle Busch -475.
Letter of the Race: Bristol's Irwin Tools Night Race was brought to you by the letter "C," for "Close Racing." Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your opinion) the current design of Bristol Motor Speedway significantly lowers the possibility of races with 15 or more yellows due to wrecks. However, it does deliver relatively rough and tumble tight action for position, leaving Saturday night's 500-lapper no exception to the rule. - Phil Allaway
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Quotes to Remember: Irwin Tools Night Race
compiled by Phil Allaway
"It's cool to win here. Racing Kevin Harvick clean like that at the end was a lot of fun. It's so interesting how we ran such different lines and be the same speed on the racetrack. Interesting how that all works out and that's what makes Bristol so much fun to go around that you can drive around this place four or five different ways and have a lot of speed no matter how you drive it, it's what fits your style and what fits the setup of your car. We both found what works for us, and I really thought we were going to be able to pull away because I thought we were really good in the long run and then we didn't pull away, and I was like, uh‑oh. It was just all about working the lapped traffic at the end, not making mistakes and not getting bottled up in traffic and letting him get by. It was a very exciting last 20, 30 laps for sure, and neat to be able to get a checkered flag again here at Bristol and pull that car up on top of the building here and get a big checkered flag and have a little bit of fun with the guys."- Joey Logano, race winner
"I'm just proud that NBC actually played our interview this week so the fans will be happy. I just want you guys to know that I actually did the interview, but they didn't play it. But I've just got to thank everybody on the Jimmy John's/Budweiser team for just doing what they had to do to stick this out. I made a mistake there on pit road and got us behind and just didn't get our Budweiser Chevy through traffic like Joey (Logano) did. There were a couple of times when it was pretty close but I wasn't letting off the gas. I just needed to be a little bit closer to him to make something happen. But all in all, I'm really proud of my team. They showed the heart and determination that you have to have. This hasn't been my favorite place to drive, but they bring really fast race cars here and that overcomes a lot of my talent lack that I have at this particular track."- Kevin Harvick, finished second
"Pretty good run for us, but we just didn't have the speed those guys had there those last couple runs and just fought the balance of the car really all day. Either way, a decent day -- we expect a little bit more out of our FedEx Ground Toyota -- but still a third-place ain't too bad. We could see the leaders all day. That was important. But, the biggest thing is we just didn't have the speed those guys had once we got going on the long runs so we were just a little bit off. I don't know what we could've changed — a little bit more speed out of our cars on the long runs." - Denny Hamlin, finished third
"It took us awhile to get the car going. We were pretty tight in the center of the corner. Once we got it rolling there in the second half of the race I was in pretty good shape. Unfortunately, I restarted on the inside those last two or three restarts and that really hurt us. Great performance for this Lowe's Pro Services Chevrolet -- big credit to my guys for working hard all weekend. I smacked the fence pretty hard on lap four in practice and we fought back from that all weekend long. So, definitely a team effort, very proud of my guys." - Jimmie Johnson, finished fourth
"You hate to have that good of a car – have two good cars and the last person you want to get into and have trouble with is your teammate. I'm sick to death about that. We had two top-five cars and MWR (Michael Waltrip Racing) really needed that run. With that being said, we desperately needed a solid run right there. I mean obviously you're hungry for a win with this organization giving everything it had and I drove my ass off -- we just come up short. I'm really proud of all of these guys on the 5-Hour ENERGY Toyota. They're digging man. It's fun to be a part of this. It's fun to be a part of a group that can answer the call when you gotta dig down and reach down a little bit more to get in that Chase and be a part of that elite group. These guys are up for the challenge." - Clint Bowyer, finished fifth
"Yeah, we had a little issue on pit road and lost real early in the race so that put us behind everyone. It's just so hard to pass here. Kyle (Busch) was flying at the start of the race and lapped all the way up to us and a couple more cars. You just can't get behind early like that when there are so many cars on the lead lap. We never did, hell we were running 12th getting lapped. Just so hard to pass, even the lap traffic is hard to pass. They are doing everything they can to give you an opportunity, but you've got to run like two or three corners just to set a guy up and get in position. You can lose half a straightaway quick, even a straightaway to people you are racing against. That is the way it is. We had a lot of fun. The car is not in bad shape. We did run it into the fence twice, maybe three times, but I know twice. I think it bent up the rear-end housing a little bit. It bent the wheel, so, when it bends the wheel it bends something else. Probably why we lost so many positions at the end there, we should have run fifth or sixth, but on the long run it just got real bad. Just had to be patient and I wasn't patient enough." - Dale Earnhardt, Jr., finished ninth
"The 48 (Jimmie Johnson) jumped on my outside and we were really good on the bottom and it kind of surprised me by getting out there and he held me tight coming off of turn 2 and then I guess the 15 (Clint Bowyer) got a little bit of a run and there just wasn't enough room for the three of us. That's the way things happen at Bristol sometimes. It's unfortunate. Our Aaron's Dream Machine was really fast and we had a chance to win. It's uncalled for to get wrecked and to be involved in a wreck like that but all in all just one of those racing things." - David Ragan, finished 40th
"I guess on our left front the side wall got cut out. I don't know if that was a wear issue or not. Then we got into the wall and we were pretty tight after that with lots of damage on the right side. So, probably just used up our right front tire because I couldn't turn. I just hate it we hit the wall with a blown right front and ended our night." - Kyle Larson, finished 41st (crashed out)
"It broke in the middle of the straightaway – it had that hop and that noise that it makes when you know you dropped a valve. Unfortunate, but man these guys at TRD (Toyota Racing Development) have been doing such an awesome job, we've had so much power and everything has been really reliable here the last year and a half. Things like this happen every once in a while. It's a short night. Felt like we were really competitive – we were one or two adjustments away from where we needed to be, but I thought our Dollar General Camry had good speed. Wish I was out there mixing it up." - Matt Kenseth, finished 42nd (engine failure)
Phil Allaway is the Newsletter Manager for Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com."I'm just proud that NBC actually played our interview this week so the fans will be happy. I just want you guys to know that I actually did the interview, but they didn't play it. But I've just got to thank everybody on the Jimmy John's/Budweiser team for just doing what they had to do to stick this out. I made a mistake there on pit road and got us behind and just didn't get our Budweiser Chevy through traffic like Joey (Logano) did. There were a couple of times when it was pretty close but I wasn't letting off the gas. I just needed to be a little bit closer to him to make something happen. But all in all, I'm really proud of my team. They showed the heart and determination that you have to have. This hasn't been my favorite place to drive, but they bring really fast race cars here and that overcomes a lot of my talent lack that I have at this particular track."- Kevin Harvick, finished second
"Pretty good run for us, but we just didn't have the speed those guys had there those last couple runs and just fought the balance of the car really all day. Either way, a decent day -- we expect a little bit more out of our FedEx Ground Toyota -- but still a third-place ain't too bad. We could see the leaders all day. That was important. But, the biggest thing is we just didn't have the speed those guys had once we got going on the long runs so we were just a little bit off. I don't know what we could've changed — a little bit more speed out of our cars on the long runs." - Denny Hamlin, finished third
"It took us awhile to get the car going. We were pretty tight in the center of the corner. Once we got it rolling there in the second half of the race I was in pretty good shape. Unfortunately, I restarted on the inside those last two or three restarts and that really hurt us. Great performance for this Lowe's Pro Services Chevrolet -- big credit to my guys for working hard all weekend. I smacked the fence pretty hard on lap four in practice and we fought back from that all weekend long. So, definitely a team effort, very proud of my guys." - Jimmie Johnson, finished fourth
"You hate to have that good of a car – have two good cars and the last person you want to get into and have trouble with is your teammate. I'm sick to death about that. We had two top-five cars and MWR (Michael Waltrip Racing) really needed that run. With that being said, we desperately needed a solid run right there. I mean obviously you're hungry for a win with this organization giving everything it had and I drove my ass off -- we just come up short. I'm really proud of all of these guys on the 5-Hour ENERGY Toyota. They're digging man. It's fun to be a part of this. It's fun to be a part of a group that can answer the call when you gotta dig down and reach down a little bit more to get in that Chase and be a part of that elite group. These guys are up for the challenge." - Clint Bowyer, finished fifth
"Yeah, we had a little issue on pit road and lost real early in the race so that put us behind everyone. It's just so hard to pass here. Kyle (Busch) was flying at the start of the race and lapped all the way up to us and a couple more cars. You just can't get behind early like that when there are so many cars on the lead lap. We never did, hell we were running 12th getting lapped. Just so hard to pass, even the lap traffic is hard to pass. They are doing everything they can to give you an opportunity, but you've got to run like two or three corners just to set a guy up and get in position. You can lose half a straightaway quick, even a straightaway to people you are racing against. That is the way it is. We had a lot of fun. The car is not in bad shape. We did run it into the fence twice, maybe three times, but I know twice. I think it bent up the rear-end housing a little bit. It bent the wheel, so, when it bends the wheel it bends something else. Probably why we lost so many positions at the end there, we should have run fifth or sixth, but on the long run it just got real bad. Just had to be patient and I wasn't patient enough." - Dale Earnhardt, Jr., finished ninth
"The 48 (Jimmie Johnson) jumped on my outside and we were really good on the bottom and it kind of surprised me by getting out there and he held me tight coming off of turn 2 and then I guess the 15 (Clint Bowyer) got a little bit of a run and there just wasn't enough room for the three of us. That's the way things happen at Bristol sometimes. It's unfortunate. Our Aaron's Dream Machine was really fast and we had a chance to win. It's uncalled for to get wrecked and to be involved in a wreck like that but all in all just one of those racing things." - David Ragan, finished 40th
"I guess on our left front the side wall got cut out. I don't know if that was a wear issue or not. Then we got into the wall and we were pretty tight after that with lots of damage on the right side. So, probably just used up our right front tire because I couldn't turn. I just hate it we hit the wall with a blown right front and ended our night." - Kyle Larson, finished 41st (crashed out)
"It broke in the middle of the straightaway – it had that hop and that noise that it makes when you know you dropped a valve. Unfortunate, but man these guys at TRD (Toyota Racing Development) have been doing such an awesome job, we've had so much power and everything has been really reliable here the last year and a half. Things like this happen every once in a while. It's a short night. Felt like we were really competitive – we were one or two adjustments away from where we needed to be, but I thought our Dollar General Camry had good speed. Wish I was out there mixing it up." - Matt Kenseth, finished 42nd (engine failure)
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TODAY AT FRONTSTRETCH:
by Amy Henderson
by Aaron Bearden
by the Frontstretch Staff
Kickin' the Tires: Racing Doesn't Need Wrecks to be Entertaining
by Jerry Jordan
XFINITY Breakdown: Food City 300
Kickin' the Tires: Racing Doesn't Need Wrecks to be Entertaining
by Jerry Jordan
XFINITY Breakdown: Food City 300
by Amy Henderson
IndyCar Recap: 2015 ABC Supply 500
by Matt Stallknecht
IndyCar Recap: 2015 ABC Supply 500
by Matt Stallknecht
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FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:Q: The Camping World Truck Series makes their third visit to Canadian Tire Motorsports Park this weekend. The 2.459-mile road course is known to be very fast. After Ayrton Senna's fatal crash in 1994, fast road courses were temporarily neutered in the name of safety. How was the circuit changed in order to slow speeds?
Check back Tuesday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Friday's Answer:
Friday's Answer:
Q: Terry Labonte was always in contention at Bristol in the 1990s once he made the move to Hendrick Motorsports. The 1994 Goody's 500 was no exception in that Labonte qualified well and ran up front. However, this race ended early for the veteran. What happened?
A: Labonte was running third after an early caution when he went to the outside of the lapped car of Lake Speed. Speed then slighly drifted up the track and made contact with Labonte, spinning Labonte into the wall out of third. The crash can be seen here.Labonte ended up having to go behind the wall for repairs. He would eventually return to the race briefly, but pulled out for the night after completing 115 laps and was credited with 33rd.
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COMING TOMORROW
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Talk back to the Frontstretch Newsletter!
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©2015 Frontstretch.com
COMING TOMORROW
In The Frontstretch Newsletter:
We'll have breaking news from Monday and S.D. Grady returns with Sitting In The Stands: A Fan's View.
On Frontstretch.com:
Danny Peters returns with Five Points to Ponder leaving Bristol.-----------------------------
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
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