THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
Aug. 17, 2015
Volume IX, Edition CXLII
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
Aug. 17, 2015
Volume IX, Edition CXLII
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What to Watch: Monday- Today, teams are prepping for this weekend's action at Bristol. Camping World Truck Series teams are nearly done with their preparations since their race is Wednesday night.
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Monday's TV Schedule can be found in Couch Potato Tuesday here.
Bump and Run: Regan Smith Wins Mid-Ohio With Last-Lap Pass
Monday's TV Schedule can be found in Couch Potato Tuesday here.
Top News
by the Frontstretch Staff
Matt Kenseth Soars to Third Michigan Victory
Matt Kenseth Soars to Third Michigan Victory
Matt Kenseth completely dominated Sprint Cup proceedings at Michigan International Speedway in what was mostly a single-file parade. Leading 146 laps from the pole, he cruised to his third victory of the season as NASCAR's high-drag package put a drag on the competition. Kevin Harvick finished second, his fifth runner-up followed by Martin Truex, Jr. Austin Dillon finished a career-best fourth while Denny Hamlin rounded out the top 5. Read more
Some Bite Their Tongues, Others Criticize High-Drag Package Following Hot Michigan Race
Some Bite Their Tongues, Others Criticize High-Drag Package Following Hot Michigan Race
The main story Sunday at Michigan was not necessarily Matt Kenseth's dominance but what caused it. After the race, many drivers had opinions on the high-drag rules package that seemed to struggle on the 2-mile oval. Read more
Carl Edwards Voices Frustration Over Restart Policy Following Pure Michigan 400
Carl Edwards Voices Frustration Over Restart Policy Following Pure Michigan 400
Carl Edwards had a decent sixth-place finish Sunday. However, he was leading on lap 125 when Austin Dillon blew him away on a restart. It looked like Edwards spun his tires but the driver of the No. 19 ARRIS Toyota told a different story in front of assembled media. Read more
Too Thin: NASCAR Confiscates Splitters From Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski Cars
Too Thin: NASCAR Confiscates Splitters From Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski Cars
Prior to Sunday's Pure Michigan 400, NASCAR officials confiscated the splitters from both Team Penske Fords, reportedly for being too thin. The teams were allowed to replace the splitters and retain their starting spots despite failing that portion of pre-race inspection. Any points penalties that could stem from the splitters would be announced later this week. Read more
More Grass: Kyle Busch Criticizes Michigan Infield Following Practice Spin
More Grass: Kyle Busch Criticizes Michigan Infield Following Practice Spin
Saturday morning, Kyle Busch spun into the grass exiting turn 4. The grass ripped up the splitter and undertray of the No. 18, forcing Busch to a backup car for Sunday's race (he finished 11th). Afterwards, he was none too pleased, criticizing Michigan for the maintenance of their track's infield. Read more
Bump and Run: Regan Smith Wins Mid-Ohio With Last-Lap Pass
Regan Smith used his front bumper to get past Alex Tagliani in the second-to-last turn of the race and take his first career road course victory Saturday afternoon at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. An upset Tagliani was forced to settle for second while Ty Dillon was third. Chris Buescher and Chase Elliott rounded out the top-5 finishers. Read more
Kyle Busch Captures First Truck Series Win at Michigan
Kyle Busch Captures First Truck Series Win at Michigan
Saturday afternoon, Kyle Busch held off a late charge by Ryan Blaney to win the Careers for Veterans 200 at Michigan International Speedway. Erik Jones was third, improving his bid for a Truck Series championship followed by Johnny Sauter and Austin Dillon. Matt Crafton made a slight gain on Tyler Reddick in the points despite a late pit stop after nearly wrecking. 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
Despite the rules package in play Sunday Martin Truex, Jr. charged forward from 22nd on the grid in a hurry, putting himself into the top 10 within 100 miles and staying there. By the finish, Truex was third and moved up two places to fourth in what is the closest group of drivers inside the top 12. Just one point behind Truex is Brad Keselowski, the Michigan-born driver who finished ninth Sunday. Of course, that's still unofficial as both Keselowski and Logano had their splitters confiscated before the race.
Jimmie Johnson had a terrible day Sunday. In addition to handling woes, Johnson blew a right-rear tire, missed his pit, then spun out and messed up his splitter. The result was a 39th-place result. Behind him, Matt Kenseth's dominating victory on Sunday did not gain him any spots in the standings. However, it did put him just one point behind Johnson and six points out of fourth. Kurt Busch, who finished a lap down in 20th Sunday, is nearly 70 points back of Kenseth in eighth. Denny Hamlin is up one place to ninth after finishing fifth while Jamie McMurray finished 16th and dropped back to tenth in points.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) Kevin Harvick 866, 2) Joey Logano -48, 3) Dale Earnhardt, Jr. -82, 4) Martin Truex, Jr. -111, 5) Brad Keselowski -112, 6) Jimmie Johnson -114, 7) Matt Kenseth -115, 8) Kurt Busch -183, 9) Denny Hamlin -196, 10) Jamie McMurray -203, 11) Paul Menard -212, 12) Ryan Newman -217, 13) Jeff Gordon -218, 14) Carl Edwards -238, 15) Clint Bowyer -250, 16) Aric Almirola -273.
Drivers Outside the top 16 Eligible for Chase: 29) Kyle Busch -471
Letter of the Race: Sunday's Pure Michigan 400 was brought to you by the letter "S," for "Squirrely." The goal of the high-drag package was to allow cars to draft up on each other, much like the IndyCars could at Auto Club Speedway. Instead, they couldn't stay together in the turns. Being close to anyone in the turns made cars very loose almost regardless of how the cars handled by themselves. - Phil Allaway
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Quotes to Remember: Pure Michigan 400
compiled by Phil Allaway
"I don't know, but if I did [know why our car was so good] I sure wouldn't tell you. We had really fast cars when we first got here. We made a lot of speed and we got it handling really good. They made great adjustments so the race was a lot like we thought it was going to look like, but we were just hoping we would have enough speed and be out front. We had perfect strategy and pit stops and the restarts were just good enough to hang on. Everything fell our way. Denny (Hamlin) did a spectacular job pushing me. From the restart zone to about turn 2 was like a superspeedway race – whomever got locked up [would get out front] and those Chevys could really hook up. Denny did a heck of a job giving me a good push there to get by. Honestly, the toughest one was with the 3 (Austin Dillon). We went back and forth a few times and made some contact there and it was hard to get away from him. My car took about five laps to get going, but once it got going it was pretty stellar." - Matt Kenseth, race winner
"We just fought a lot of things today. Just really proud of everybody on our Jimmy John's/Budweiser Chevrolet for fighting back today. We had some handling issues at the beginning of the race and then they were able to really make the car handle a lot better and then we overcame the running out of gas there and we were able to put ourselves back in position up in front. The No. 20 (Matt Kenseth) was the class of the field today but everybody on our Jimmy John's team did a great job." - Kevin Harvick, finished second
"Well, I had fun. We gained a lot of spots starting 43rd and got to fourth where we qualified. Just overcame a lot today. I'm proud of my guys. Slugger (Labbe, crew chief) made a good call at the beginning. We kind of had made that plan to ride around and save fuel and it worked out for us. Good track position and then staying up there, we had a good racecar. We drove up to where we were and I'm just proud of my guys. Hopefully, we can build on this and maybe go win Bristol." - Austin Dillon, finished fourth
"I learned a bunch. The biggest thing is that it's just cool to be part of the JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) team right now. These Camrys are fast. I had a little bit of restart trouble – with Austin (Dillon) that was really frustrating because with this package the restarts are so important. ARRIS outfitted everybody around here with the good modems and everything so I know they have high def replay up there, I know that. I just wish NASCAR would have called that and helped us a little bit there. It probably didn't matter, we had some sort of electrical issue, dropped back and had a really fun restart and then got back up to sixth. Just a really good day for Matt (Kenseth) and everybody. No matter what package, the guys have been working hard – TRD (Toyota Racing Development) and all of our guys at JGR. It's been good." - Carl Edwards, finished sixth
"It was an okay day. Nothing spectacular. We just never had the speed like the 20 car had. We made the most of our day in every way we could though. We just needed to be faster, for sure, especially down the straightaways. [Passing] wasn't fun. It wasn't the worst I have ever seen but this package increasingly rewards the car over the driver and I am not a fan of that." - Brad Keselowski, finished ninth
"It was a success, it wasn't what we wanted. We had a really, really fast car yesterday, but I screwed up and wrecked that car. It was a winning car, maybe not the winning car, but congratulations to our teammate Matt Kenseth and the 20 bunch. It's really good times for Joe Gibbs Racing right now, the guys are doing a great job. Our Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry was good today, a lot better car than I expected to have. Real proud of all my guys and can't thank them enough for all the long hours they put in last night and this morning to get me prepared and ready with a good piece to go out there and do our best. If all things would have worked out a little better, we might have finished fourth or fifth, but where we ended up there just outside the top 10 doesn't matter. We just have to continue on with our points gathering and go on to next week." - Kyle Busch, finished 11th
"I don't know [about this high-drag package]. Did the 20 lead every lap? He led a lot of them, didn't he? You don't really see that at Michigan all the time. Back in the pack, it probably allowed me to complete some passes that I wouldn't have normally but it also kept me from completing some that I definitely had all the run in the world to get it done. It is a 50-50 deal as far as how it affects the car. The restarts were nuts and I was just really surprised there weren't more yellows with the amount of cars that were sliding all over the place." - Sam Hornish, Jr., finished 19th
"It's hard to get by and hard to pass – everybody is going for it in the restarts. It's one of those deals, you don't want to be in the situation you're in, but it doesn't change the fact that you have to get up on the wheel and get back to it, unfortunately. I thought I was doing right and the 2 (Brad Keselowski) kind of came up sliding and it looked like he was out of control so I went to move up, give him some room and unfortunately they ran right into me. There's still time, we're still in control of our destiny. You're backed up against the wall, need to win and that picture doesn't look pretty. If that doesn't happen, we're still in control." - Clint Bowyer, finished 41st
"From what I understand, it was a clamp. The motor didn't break per se; it did eventually but there is a Wiggins clamp that is on that is on one of the lines that comes out of the radiator. The clamp itself actually broke. So the motor wasn't getting water to cool off and it just burned up and broke. It's unfortunate. We have had a really rough weekend to start here. We qualified terrible and the guys did a really good job. We made up some ground in Happy Hour that we were pretty happy with and then the crew made good calls to start the race as well as far as what we changed. I honestly thought we were going to have a really competitive day. It's disappointing. We have had a number of things happen this year like that. Hopefully, we can get past that and carry on the rest of the year." - Casey Mears, finished 42nd (overheated)
Phil Allaway is the Newsletter Manager for Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com."We just fought a lot of things today. Just really proud of everybody on our Jimmy John's/Budweiser Chevrolet for fighting back today. We had some handling issues at the beginning of the race and then they were able to really make the car handle a lot better and then we overcame the running out of gas there and we were able to put ourselves back in position up in front. The No. 20 (Matt Kenseth) was the class of the field today but everybody on our Jimmy John's team did a great job." - Kevin Harvick, finished second
"Well, I had fun. We gained a lot of spots starting 43rd and got to fourth where we qualified. Just overcame a lot today. I'm proud of my guys. Slugger (Labbe, crew chief) made a good call at the beginning. We kind of had made that plan to ride around and save fuel and it worked out for us. Good track position and then staying up there, we had a good racecar. We drove up to where we were and I'm just proud of my guys. Hopefully, we can build on this and maybe go win Bristol." - Austin Dillon, finished fourth
"I learned a bunch. The biggest thing is that it's just cool to be part of the JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) team right now. These Camrys are fast. I had a little bit of restart trouble – with Austin (Dillon) that was really frustrating because with this package the restarts are so important. ARRIS outfitted everybody around here with the good modems and everything so I know they have high def replay up there, I know that. I just wish NASCAR would have called that and helped us a little bit there. It probably didn't matter, we had some sort of electrical issue, dropped back and had a really fun restart and then got back up to sixth. Just a really good day for Matt (Kenseth) and everybody. No matter what package, the guys have been working hard – TRD (Toyota Racing Development) and all of our guys at JGR. It's been good." - Carl Edwards, finished sixth
"It was an okay day. Nothing spectacular. We just never had the speed like the 20 car had. We made the most of our day in every way we could though. We just needed to be faster, for sure, especially down the straightaways. [Passing] wasn't fun. It wasn't the worst I have ever seen but this package increasingly rewards the car over the driver and I am not a fan of that." - Brad Keselowski, finished ninth
"It was a success, it wasn't what we wanted. We had a really, really fast car yesterday, but I screwed up and wrecked that car. It was a winning car, maybe not the winning car, but congratulations to our teammate Matt Kenseth and the 20 bunch. It's really good times for Joe Gibbs Racing right now, the guys are doing a great job. Our Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry was good today, a lot better car than I expected to have. Real proud of all my guys and can't thank them enough for all the long hours they put in last night and this morning to get me prepared and ready with a good piece to go out there and do our best. If all things would have worked out a little better, we might have finished fourth or fifth, but where we ended up there just outside the top 10 doesn't matter. We just have to continue on with our points gathering and go on to next week." - Kyle Busch, finished 11th
"I don't know [about this high-drag package]. Did the 20 lead every lap? He led a lot of them, didn't he? You don't really see that at Michigan all the time. Back in the pack, it probably allowed me to complete some passes that I wouldn't have normally but it also kept me from completing some that I definitely had all the run in the world to get it done. It is a 50-50 deal as far as how it affects the car. The restarts were nuts and I was just really surprised there weren't more yellows with the amount of cars that were sliding all over the place." - Sam Hornish, Jr., finished 19th
"It's hard to get by and hard to pass – everybody is going for it in the restarts. It's one of those deals, you don't want to be in the situation you're in, but it doesn't change the fact that you have to get up on the wheel and get back to it, unfortunately. I thought I was doing right and the 2 (Brad Keselowski) kind of came up sliding and it looked like he was out of control so I went to move up, give him some room and unfortunately they ran right into me. There's still time, we're still in control of our destiny. You're backed up against the wall, need to win and that picture doesn't look pretty. If that doesn't happen, we're still in control." - Clint Bowyer, finished 41st
"From what I understand, it was a clamp. The motor didn't break per se; it did eventually but there is a Wiggins clamp that is on that is on one of the lines that comes out of the radiator. The clamp itself actually broke. So the motor wasn't getting water to cool off and it just burned up and broke. It's unfortunate. We have had a really rough weekend to start here. We qualified terrible and the guys did a really good job. We made up some ground in Happy Hour that we were pretty happy with and then the crew made good calls to start the race as well as far as what we changed. I honestly thought we were going to have a really competitive day. It's disappointing. We have had a number of things happen this year like that. Hopefully, we can get past that and carry on the rest of the year." - Casey Mears, finished 42nd (overheated)
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TODAY AT FRONTSTRETCH:
by Amy Henderson
by Summer Bedgood
by the Frontstretch Staff
NASCAR's Decisions Made in Best Interest of the Sport
by Jerry Jordan
XFINITY Breakdown: Nationwide Children's Hospital 200 at Mid-Ohio
NASCAR's Decisions Made in Best Interest of the Sport
by Jerry Jordan
XFINITY Breakdown: Nationwide Children's Hospital 200 at Mid-Ohio
by Joseph Wolkin
Tracking the Trucks: Careers for Veterans 200
by Aaron Bearden
Tracking the Trucks: Careers for Veterans 200
by Aaron Bearden
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FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:Q: In 2003, Jeff Gordon led a race-high 179 laps in the Sharpie 500. However, a pit strategy move led to his downfall. What put him out of the race?
Check back Tuesday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Friday's Answer:
Friday's Answer:
Q: In 2001, Sterling Marlin won the Pepsi 400 presented by Meijer at Michigan. For Marlin, it was his first Cup win since the rain-shortened 1996 Pepsi 400 at Daytona. There was another milestone reached that day as well. What was it?
A: Marlin's victory was the first victory for Dodge in what was then Winston Cup since Neil Bonnett's victory in the season-ending Los Angeles Times 500 at Ontario Motor Speedway in 1977. Due to NASCAR's three-year rule, the Chargers used by Dodge teams that day were no longer legal after the race and the replacement Magnums just weren't up to snuff.~~~~~~~~~~
COMING TOMORROW
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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 Michigan.-----------------------------
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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