Thursday, May 26, 2016

The Frontstretch Newsletter: Another New NASCAR Rules Package To Run... Where?

THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
May 26, 2016
Volume X, Edition LXXXI
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What to Watch: Thursday

- Today, the Sprint Cup and XFINITY Series teams will take to the 1.5 mile quad-oval for practice and (for Sprint Cup) qualifying.  We'll have updates from the track.

FOLLOW THE FRONTSTRETCH TODAY THROUGH OUR COLLEAGUES:
 
Amy Henderson (@Writer_Amy)
Zach Catanzareti (@ZachRacing)
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Thursday's TV Schedule can be found here.

Top News
by the Frontstretch Staff

Mark Martin, Rick Hendrick, Benny Parsons Among 2017 NASCAR Hall of Fame Inductees

Wednesday, the annual NASCAR Hall of Fame Voting Day took place in Charlotte.  After hours of videos and deliberations, the Voting Committee elected Benny Parsons, Mark Martin, Rick Hendrick, Richard Childress and Raymond Parks to be the Hall's five selections.  In addition, Martinsville Speedway founder H. Clay Earles will receive the Landmark Award.  The panel, which included a Fan Vote and reigning champion Kyle Busch chose from a list of 20 nominees.  Read more
 
NASCAR to Test Newest Rules Package at Michigan, Kentucky
 
Thursday morning, NASCAR announced new rule changes for upcoming Sprint Cup races at Michigan International Speedway and Kentucky Speedway.  The rear spoiler and shark fin will be cut in height by an inch, along with a front splitter cut.  The adjustments are designed to reduce both downforce and sideforce while increasing side-by-side action in the turns.  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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Editor's Note: Potts' Shots will return next week.
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The Critic's Annex: North Carolina Education Lottery 200
by Phil Allaway

Welcome back, race fans.  It's time for yet another look into the realm of motorsports broadcasts.  The Camping World Truck Series' North Carolina Education Lottery 200 was originally supposed to run Friday night.  However, no one managed to trudge onto Charlotte Motor Speedway's 24-degree banks at any more than about 30 mph that night.  The race was postponed more than an hour before pre-race coverage would have started.  As a result, there was no attempt at filling in the time.

On Saturday, FOX Sports 1 provided rain-delay coverage although there was no official edition of NCWTS Setup.  However, there were half-a-dozen pre-race interviews that helped to set the tone for the race.
 
Once the green flag dropped, there was a good amount of on-track battling for position that was really exciting to watch.  FOX Sports 1 made good use of their in-car cameras to show the on-track action.  Drivers before the race seemed to be pretty excited to try out the new tires and they proved to give up quite a bit.  That was more than likely responsible for a good chunk of the side-by-side action that we did get.
 
The booth did display a decent amount of enthusiasm throughout the race as well.  As far as focus is concerned, it was pretty good early in the race, but not so much later on as fuel mileage took over as the main topic of discussion.  Viewers ended up with shots of Matt Crafton and Johnny Sauter for most of the last 20 laps as drivers who had already pitted ended up in a pretty big pack.  FOX Sports 1 didn't pick up on said pack until there was barely a lap to go in the race.  Of course, it proceeded to get wild as heck on the final lap, culiminating in Austin Wayne Self wrecking at the line.
 
I feel like the constant Caution Clock reminders from the booth are completely unnecessary.  We have the clock on-screen at all times.  It's getting to be a bit much.  Sure, give one update per time period, but not six or so.  I don't need to be updated on the clock like I'm doing the temple run on Legends of the Hidden Temple.  (Editor's Note: That show's coming back!) As much as I wish that I could have gotten on that show (I'm about ten months too young to have tried out for its final season) Kirk Fogg's time reminders on the show during the run would have been somewhat distracting, especially given the fact that doing it was something akin to a 14-hour day for some of the contestants.  However, that is a whole 'nother article in general.

Post-race coverage Saturday was substantial as FOX Sports 1 was able to fill their scheduled allotment for the first time.  Here, viewers got a bunch of post-race analysis, along with eight post-race interviews in what amounted to 45 minutes of programming.  I suppose the idea here is that the race had already run 15 minutes into what was supposed to be the repeat of the Berlin e-Prix.  FOX Sports 1 likely figured that this coverage would have drawn more eyeballs than the e-Prix would have.
 
Also of note, ratings for Truck races are up quite a bit so far in 2016, nearly up to the levels previously seen when FOX Sports 1 was still SPEED (with the exception of Dover).  That's good to see.  The NHRA is helping FOX Sports 1's bottom line as well (1.3 million viewers after the Cup race from Dover last weekend).
 
FOX Sports 1 needs to watch their overall focus, though.  You cannot stay on just one or two drivers for laps and laps at a time; spreading the wealth is key.  There's plenty of action to cover out there and covering as much as you can helps in so many different ways, not just for the broadcast, but for the series in general.

Hope you liked this week's look at the North Carolina Education Lottery 200.  I'm going to jump back down the rabbit hole now and I know some of you are going to follow me.  

Hope you enjoy this weekend's action!

Phil Allaway is the Newsletter Manager and a Senior Writer for Frontstretch.com.  He can be reached via e-mail at ashland10@mail.com.

"There are little things in life you don't take for granted as much. When you have a situation like that where you could lose everything, it is easy to reflect a little bit and realize that some of the things that you think are big problems aren't really big problems."  - James Hinchcliffe on how his outlook on life has changed since his crash last year.
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TODAY AT FRONTSTRETCH:
by Sean Fesko and Zach Catanzareti
by Bryan Gable

by Zach Catanzareti


by Dustin Albino
by Toni Montgomery
 
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FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: In 1994, John Andretti attempted the first Indy-Charlotte double.  After finishing ninth at Indianapolis despite getting hit by Dennis Vitolo, Andretti traveled to Charlotte to drive the No. 14 Chevrolet.  Why did his Coca-Cola 600 race fail to match that open-wheel success?

Check back Friday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!

Wednesday's Answer:

Q:  When were the warm-up lanes installed at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and why?

A: The warm-up lanes were installed as part of a re-profiling of the turns in 1993.  The turn reconstruction (which made them sharper) was done concurrently with a project to raise the height of the concrete walls, redesign the pit lane and replace the scoring pylon.  It was all part of a larger move to prepare the facility to host the first Brickyard 400 for NASCAR in 1994.
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COMING TOMORROW
In The Frontstretch Newsletter:
We'll have some news from today (including practice recaps from Charlotte and Indianapolis) while we preview Friday night's Sprint Showdown and Saturday night's Sprint All-Star Race.

On Frontstretch.com:
Zach Catanzareti answers Four Burning Questions heading into this weekend's action in Charlotte.
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Talk back to the Frontstretch Newsletter!
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Posted by Curious ... at 11:18 AM

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