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The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
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by the Frontstretch Staff
Underdog Ryan Ellis Set for Sprint Cup Series Debut
For Ryan Ellis, 2015 has been spent scratching and clawing in order to get rides. At Phoenix, those efforts will pay off; he'll make his Sprint Cup Series debut for Circle Sport with sponsorship from ScienceLogic. Read more
Chase Elliott, Rick Hendrick Unveil New No. 24 for 2016
On Monday's episode of NASCAR RaceHub for FOX Sports 1, Chase Elliott and Hendrick Motorsports officially unveiled the NAPA Auto Parts paint scheme that Elliott will run for two-thirds of the 2016 season. Read more
Entry List: CampingWorld.com 500
Entry List: Fred's 250
The Camping World Truck Series returns to Talladega for 250 miles of action on Saturday. 32 trucks are on the entry list meaning that no one will fail to qualify. Notable entries include Brian Keselowski in the No. 29, Bobby Gerhart returning to the series for the first time since 1996 for the Mittler Brothers (No. 36), and Stanton Barrett making a rare start (No. 91). MAKE Motorsports, full-time competitors in the Truck Series all season are currently not entered in the event. Read more
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NASCAR Coverage Talks About Who We Want to Hear About
Sitting in the Stands: A Fan's View
by S.D. Grady
Here's the top 10 for the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas: Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Ryan Blaney, Carl Edwards... wait. Who was that in seventh? Ryan Blaney?
Somehow, the Wood Brothers No. 21 managed to form a very nice conclusion to the race this week. While I'm not super surprised where this second generation driver ended up his one-off does give us a talking point after a cookie-cutter race.
Usually at this point in October NASCAR Nation is wholly focused on the playoffs. Where we had sixteen teams a couple weeks ago now we're down to landing our laser sights on twelve. Nobody talks about anyone else. It's like now that we've got a name for the end-of-season insanity the media is incapable of listing the entire field on the ticker. However, I challenge you to watch a YouTube of the spring Martinsville race and find more mentions of the bottom half of the field than what we can anticipate at Talladega next week. That's it; argue all you like, but we know it's true.
Let's run through the bottom ten finishers from the Kansas race: Landon Cassill, JJ Yeley, Austin Dillon, Clint Bowyer, Will Kimmel III, Reed Sorenson, Jeb Burton, David Gilliland, Tony Stewart, and Michael Annett.
Well, Dillon and Bowyer wrecked out while Stewart struggled as usual with his No. 14. Otherwise, can you actually admit to knowing how the remainder of the bottom feeders' season has run? Do you care? While Burton is enjoying similar coverage and general success akin to Blaney due to their parentage the other six drivers kind of live in the anonymity within the bottom half of the Sprint Cup field. Minor media will score exclusive interviews with them simply because FOX and NBC are not hunting them down. Otherwise, fans don't hear about them...and that's due to the fact their teams are not competitive with the cream of the crop.
That is the way of the world; it's not a conspiracy of the commentators in the suits. We love winners. The fans want to hear stories of triumph, the struggle to knock the king of the mountain down. We are unimpressed by those that are average. If our pre-race show was filled with human interest stories of those who generally fall below the radar we'd be tuning out even more than we already do. There's no thrill of victory or the agony of defeat if the only goal for the day was simply making it to the end.
It wasn't so long ago that the fans were hammering on their disappointment surrounding the start-and-park teams -- those who elected to show up on race day, run a couple laps, park, and then collect the paycheck required to do it all again the following week. Now, the bitch is that NASCAR doesn't pay enough attention to the teams whose sole goal is to avoid a trip to the R&D Center when they're the first ones inside the garage. When you look at it that way, I'm actually pretty glad that the glare of the media center isn't focused on the also-rans.
The math hasn't changed in over fifty years of NASCAR. When you put forty cars in the field there are only about half of them capable of winning on any given Sunday. It's even more likely the end result will only include one "surprise" to be paired with nine or so title contenders.
It's nice that we spend time scouring the entire entry list for those that are on their way up the ladder or perhaps slipping back down. It speaks of an interest in the sport we love and those that invest their lives in it, even if they aren't grabbing all the trophies. However, there ought to be a reality check when we're wondering why the Sunday coverage doesn't seem to appreciate all of it. We are tuning in for one big reason. Who is going to win? Let's not expect that time will be spent avoiding the question of the day.
Sonya's Scrapbook
May there never be a time where we are following the status of an injured fan years later. Hold on to your hats... Talladega is up next!
S.D. Grady is a Senior Writer 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 by Ryan Newman this Chase including Sunday's race at Kansas. Newman is the only title contender remaining who has not led a lap so far this postseason.
1
Career win for Matt Kenseth at Talladega (Fall 2012). Kenseth is in a "must win" situation Sunday in order to advance to the next round of the Chase; he is 35 points behind the top 8 cutoff entering the event.
2
Straight victories for Joey Logano for the first time in his Sprint Cup career.
3
Top-5 finishes for Jeff Gordon this season in 31 starts. Gordon, 10th at Kansas remains championship eligible and within the top 8 heading to Talladega Sunday.
4
Top-5 finishes for Denny Hamlin this Chase, including a runner-up finish at Kansas. That's easily the most of any driver.
6
DNFs for Landon Cassill, including a blown engine at Kansas (dead last). That's tied for the Sprint Cup lead among all drivers (David Ragan).
7
Of 7 cautions Sunday that were thrown for accidents on the racetrack. All but the last one happened either in or just off Kansas' treacherous turn 2.
7th
Finish for Ryan Blaney at Kansas, his best career Sprint Cup result outside of restrictor plate tracks.
9
Combined wins for Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson this season. Johnson has already been eliminated from the Chase and Kenseth is unlikely to advance past Sunday without a Talladega victory.
12th
Finish for Brian Scott at Kansas, his best career Sprint Cup result in 16 starts.
21
Lead changes at Kansas, the most in the Cup Series since Darlington Labor Day Weekend. It's also the most for NASCAR's "normal" 2015 rules package since July at Daytona (22).
25
Races since David Ragan has finished inside the top 10 (Martinsville). Ragan has yet to score a top-10 result since joining Michael Waltrip Racing's No. 55 Toyota team in May.
$109,350
Money won by Paul Menard for finishing 19th.
$110,623
Money won by Clint Bowyer for crashing out and finishing 40th.
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Beside the Rising Tide: Round and Round
by Matt McLaughlin
Who's Hot and Who's Not in NASCAR: Talladega Edition
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Monday's Answer:
Q: In 1990, Alabama native Stanley Smith made his Winston Cup debut in the DieHard 500 at Talladega, introducing longtime NASCAR sponsor Interstate Batteries to racing in the process. However, his debut ultimately went a long way toward rule changes in the pits. What happened?
A: Smith spun his No. 68 Pontiac on pit road and slid into the pit crew for Tracy Leslie, who was getting service. Five members of the No. 72 crew were struck and thrown. The incident can be seen here. Both teams retired from the race as a result of the incidents.
COMING TOMORROW
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