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The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
Volume IX, Edition LXIV
What to Watch: Tuesday
GMS Racing announced Monday that Clint Bowyer will drive the team's part-time fourth entry this weekend at Kansas Speedway. Sponsorship will be provided by Georgia Boot, 5-Hour ENERGY and Visine. Read more
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"The World's Fastest Junkyard"
FOX's Mike Joy may have coined the next great nickname for a track on the Sprint Cup circuit. It's a shame that Talladega won't be able to use it in their promotional material. Who wants to sell their multi-million dollar venue as a place where cars go to die? Yes, over the years most fans realize that when we tune in twice a year to this Alabama superspeedway; watching a high-stakes demolition derby is exactly what we've signed up for.
As long as 'Dega and Daytona remain on the docket, we will be fighting with our consciences over whether we should find any enjoyment when cars are offered up to what is equal to unlimited amounts of TNT. We're watching an old Buster Keaton movie, waiting for the fuse to burn down and the mine to go BOOM. Boy, did those bombs go off on Sunday. 56 cars were involved in wrecks over the afternoon -- obviously, some of them made repeat appearances with each agitation of the wrecking ball.
It's funny, though because there's something else that is as sure as our quarterly visits to restrictor plate tracks. It is NASCAR's promise to revisit the current plate package and tweak aero, engine, brakes and tires for the next time to promote a safer race.
It's true, then, a fact we've known for a very long time. Those who sign the big checks and make all the serious decisions in Daytona are insane...or else they would have stopped sending plate video and telemetry results to the R&D Center in the hopes of finding a different result. You know, something that more closely resembles a stock car race versus an audition tape to gain entry into Dale Jr.'s auto mausoleum.
As expected, Monday morning brought us the same old statements. They were criticisms that cars should not get airborne, the impacts to the wall were pretty serious, and parts failures like steering wheels shouldn't be happening. Something must be done! My goodness, we'll have to study it and issue another slew of changes in time for the July Daytona production of the Blues Brothers' cop car chase.
Will it get better? Will we end up with the vehicles being able to pull away from one another and leave the massive pack racing behind? Would anybody tune in to watch a Talladega event where the only question is who is fastest... instead of who is just plain lucky?
Or, maybe I'm insane. I seem to keep watching these demolition derbies and sit down on Monday afternoon hoping to pen a few meaningful sentences on Sunday's entertainment. Except nothing changes.
With the current aero packages the insanity appears to be even more intense than before. Now, it doesn't matter if a rookie can't keep his car pointed in the right direction. Even veteran track champions like Dale Earnhardt, Jr. have their cars spinning out from underneath them without any real driver error involved. "It's just plate racing" has taken on a less-predictable façade.
At some point, you would think that the checkbooks of teams would simply lie down in protest and stop sending cash into the great plate race machine. That we should stop wasting the money, time, and lying to ourselves it is somehow possible this bastard child of auto racing could ever become a product worthy of fixing.
Or maybe what we really want in life is exactly what we get, the World's Fastest Junkyard. In that case, just ignore me and carry on. It's seems to be what happens anyway.
Something Shiny
Well, it didn't come to pass, but it could have. Tony Stewart took the green flag in his No. 14 Bass Pro Shops car Sunday. But Stewart hopped out after the caution flew on Lap 50 to save his still recovering back and Ty Dillon took over. If the No. 14 went on to win, Dillon would have done the burnout, but Stewart would have received the points for finishing the race. Stewart, then would have been eligible for the Chase if he managed to get inside the top 30 in the standings. However, Dillon only managed to take the checkers in sixth place. It was a good points day for the team and a good showing for Dillon... but what if...
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Numbers Game: GEICO 500
by Tom Bowles
0
Laps led Sunday by third-place finisher Austin Dillon. Dillon has led just three laps this year but has three top-5 finishes and his third at Talladega was a career best.
0
Top-15 finishes for Danica Patrick in seven career starts at Talladega. She's got three top 15s at Daytona, by comparison in eight career starts there. Patrick was wrapped up in a crash Sunday and finished 24th, out of the race.
2
Poles for Chase Elliott this season in two restrictor plate race attempts. He was fifth Sunday after starting from the pole, far better than his Daytona effort (37th).
4
Drivers tied for the Sprint Cup Series lead with eight top-10 finishes through ten races. They are points leader Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch.
4
Career Cup victories for Brad Keselowski at Talladega, the most for him at any racetrack on the circuit.
6.5
Career average finish for Ryan Blaney in the spring race at Talladega. He's run 22nd and 43rd in the fall event there.
7th
Finish Sunday for Clint Bowyer at Talladega, his best since Bristol last August (5th).
10
Cautions at Talladega Sunday for 41 laps. That's the most for a 500-mile race there since the fall of 2008.
11th
Finish Sunday for Landon Cassill at Talladega, his best since a fourth in the fall of 2014 (also at 'Dega).
22
Laps led Sunday by Trevor Bayne, a career high for him in any race. The most laps he had led in a season prior to this year was 11 in 2011, also the last time he won a race (2011 Daytona 500).
38.0
Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s average finish in two restrictor plate races this season. Sunday, Earnhardt finished last at 'Dega which is the first time in his career he's run dead last in a plate race.
Tom Bowles is the Editor-in-Chief of Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at tom.bowles@frontstretch.com.
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FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Monday's Answer:
Q: After the death of Ayrton Senna in 1994 a number of tracks made configuration changes in the name of safety. The Circuit de Spa-Francochamps in Belgium was no different. What did they do to the 4.3-mile track in response to Senna's death?
A: Essentially, they neutered the Eau Rouge-Radillion complex, the signature corners of the circuit. A left-right chicane was installed at Eau Rouge. The chicane can be seen shortly after the start of the race here.
The placement of the chicane completely changed the flow of the circuit, making what was a sixth-gear complex into a first-gear slog. The traditional setup was brought back for 1995 but the chicane's construction resulted in additional runoff for the complex.
COMING TOMORROW
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