Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
Volume IX, Edition LIX
What to Watch: Tuesday
~~~~~~~~~~
The bump and run. It just doesn't get old. It doesn't much matter if I'm watching street stocks or the Sprint Cup drivers duke it out; a last corner pass using the chrome horn is possibly one of the best moves in auto racing. My enthusiasm for the ending of Sunday's Toyota Owners 400 has little to do with the pair of combatants as we beat up on Kyle Busch and pondered Edwards' return to success last week. No, the shock of joy I experienced had everything to do with what is good on a paved oval.
If we just set aside the whole Gibbs Glory thing, ignoring the fact that between the Nos. 18 and 19 cars they led 229 out of 400 laps, it is so satisfying to just sit back and savor a fantastic finish. Who was destined to take the checkers paled beside the fact that a driver hoped he had the car to beat out the leader and then used all his talent to do it. Hunger, focus, determination, and the crumple factor of sheet metal all combined into that perfect moment. Can we do it again?
Like children, we yearn for the return of oversized elves dressed in red suits. And it seems like 2016 is the year of great finishes. These classic battles will combine into one heck of a highlight reel in November. But is it enough? Is five seconds of guttural thrills enough to keep us tuning in each and every week? From what I've been observing of gleaming, empty, aluminum grandstands on the television, passing excitement does not turn into a fan base that is materially invested in their sport.
I heard one of those annoying and uninformative stats on the radio this week. The average American adult now has an average attention span of about eight seconds. Well, that was about how long the Edwards and Busch contest lasted. So, it was enough to make SportsCenter and possibly your nightly news YouTube clip. We might grant the battle another minute of discussion around the water cooler during the week. And as quickly as it came -- the thrill is gone.
We're left with six more days of predictable, un-life-altering moments; a week of groceries, gas stations, Little League games, and primetime television. As soon as we've dismissed the giddy popping of the champagne bottles in victory lane we are already keying in on what will be coming our way next Sunday.
When you put it that way, perhaps Cousin Carl and Rowdy's rumble in Richmond is exactly what a NASCAR fan needs. The mere thought that when we take the checkered flag in Talladega this upcoming Sunday, it might be one more chance for our steel gladiators to dazzle us with a few moments of glee and couch-thumping entertainment. That ending, those passes might be just enough to turn the ordinary time we spend in line at the post office into moments of hearty anticipation.
We look behind and agree -- Carl Edwards gave us one heck of a finish. We look ahead...maybe Talladega will bring us another show worthy of impelling us forward for yet another week.
Was that bump and run enough? You know... I think it is.
Something Shiny
It wasn't so much of something new as the return of something we've missed. Tony Stewart was fined $35,000 by NASCAR this past week for daring to speak up against the establishment in favor of driver safety, specifically that missing lug nuts will become a hazard sooner or later. It was equally refreshing to see the Drivers' Council stand up and pay the fine for Tony, sending a message of solidarity and support to the men in Daytona. It's important to keep the lines of communication open. It's even more important that NASCAR realizes that money will not always get you what you want -- silence. Now, we have new lug nut rules. I suppose it was money well spent for Stewart.
~~~~~~~~~~
Numbers Game: Toyota Owners 400
by Tom Bowles
0
Laps led by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. at Richmond, historically one of his better tracks on the circuit. Earnhardt has led just twice in nine races so far this season.
1
Lap led by Denny Hamlin Sunday at one of his hometown tracks. Hamlin has two career victories at Richmond but has led just 15 laps in his last six starts at the short track, finishing no better than sixth.
2
Victories by Carl Edwards this season. It's the fourth straight year he's visited Sprint Cup victory lane twice.
4
Straight victories by Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas on the Cup circuit. They've won five of nine races so far this season.
101
Points behind 30th place in the point standings for Tony Stewart. Stewart, 19th in his first race back from injury must be inside the top 30 and score a win to be eligible for NASCAR's postseason Chase.
11
Races missed by Kyle Busch last season before charging back inside the top 30 in points. Stewart, by comparison has missed only eight.
38.5
Average finish of rookie Ryan Ellis in his first two Sprint Cup starts. He made his 2016 debut Sunday for BK Racing, running 37th in a third entry sponsored by ScienceLogic.
157
Green-flag laps to start the race at Richmond Sunday. It's the furthest the race has run without an opening caution since 1979.
9
Races without a top-10 finish this season for Greg Biffle, 14th on Sunday. It's the longest he's gone without a top-10 finish to start the season in his Cup career (which began in 2003).
Tom Bowles is the Editor-in-Chief of Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at tom.bowles@frontstretch.com.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Monday's Answer:
Q: The 1993 Fram Filters 500k was the second race at Talladega for the then-Busch Grand National Series. Dale Earnhardt won the race but fellow Cup regular Ernie Irvan was in the hunt right up until the last lap. He ended up 17th in the final rundown though. What happened?
A: Irvan, along with Tracy Leslie and Randy LaJoie, ran down the five-car lead pack coming to the white flag. Leslie then got a big run coming out of turn 2 and ran into the back of Irvan, spinning Irvan out. Irvan's Kodak FunSaver Chevrolet got airborne before coming back down and hitting the inside wall hard. The crash can be seen here. Irvan was unable to drive back to the line and was thus credited with finishing as the first car one lap down.
COMING TOMORROW
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!
©2016 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