THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
May 18, 2016
Volume X, Edition LXXV
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
May 18, 2016
Volume X, Edition LXXV
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Today is penalty day and we have takers. Kasey Kahne's No. 5 flunked post-race inspection Sunday and should get some level of penalty. In addition, Daniel Suarez's No. 51 truck measured too high after Friday's race. That should be a P3 penalty there. Those two, in addition to the usual collection of warnings, should be announced later today.
~~~~~~~~~~
Top News
Wednesday's TV Schedule can be found here.
Top News
by the Frontstretch Staff
Kyle Busch Adds SiriusXM Sponsorship for Charlotte Truck Race
On Tuesday, Kyle Busch Motorsports announced a six-race primary sponsorship deal with SiriusXM Satellite Radio. Team owner Kyle Busch will be debuting the new sponsorship in the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 Friday night. Read more
Dover Cup Overnights Ratings Down Slightly
Sunday's broadcast of the AAA 400 Drive for Autism on FOX Sports 1 registered a 2.2 overnight rating, down slightly from last year. However, the overall viewership was up just slightly. Read more
Harrison Burton, Matt Tifft Included in 2016-2017 'NASCAR Next' Class
On Tuesday, NASCAR announced the 2016-2017 NASCAR Next class of future stars. They consist of seven competitors in the K&N Pro Series, one in the Whelen Euro Series (Alon Day), one splitting time between the XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series (Matt Tifft), one late model star (Ty Majeski) and one in the Pinty's Series (Gary Klutt). Read more
ARCA Menards 200 to be Live Streamed Sunday for Free
Frontstretch learned on Tuesday that Sunday's Menards 200, the premiere event for the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards on the American Sports Network (ASN), will be live-streamed at ASN's website for free. We also have a full list of affiliates that will be airing the race on TV as well. Read more
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today's Featured Commentary
We Are Young
Professor of Speed
by Mark Howell
Call it a fountain of youth….
NASCAR's recent resurgence has come about for a number of reasons. The low downforce aerodynamic package turned dull into dynamic. Goodyear's new tire puts drivers back in the hot seat as grip erodes into slip. Even the much-maligned Chase for the Championship with its "win-and-in", elimination-based postseason breathed new life into the sport.
And now, it's the kids' turn.
It's no exaggeration; the current crop of Sprint Cup rookies is perhaps the best class we've seen in the sport's nearly-70 year history. While drivers like Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, and Chris Buescher get constant attention for being true NSCS "freshmen", other young guns with more Cup experience like Kyle Larson, Landon Cassill, Matt DiBenedetto, and Trevor Bayne are turning heads and getting noticed for abundant talent beyond their years.
Sunday afternoon at Dover was merely another example of what we've seen coming in NASCAR.
Call it a youth movement.
And these youth sure can move. Victory Lane in the Sprint Cup Series might feel like uncharted territory to most of these bright-and-shiny kids, but it won't stay that way for long. Trevor Bayne scored a storybook win at the Daytona 500 in 2011 at the ripe new age of twenty, and we all saw what Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott nearly did in Delaware last weekend.
It's a world inhabited by the young, and that goes for somber ol' NASCAR, too….
Look beyond the Cup Series and you'll see all kinds of young talent perched on the edge of greatness. Erik Jones is the most recent (and most visible) youngster on the NASCAR horizon, but there's a long line of future winners and champions forming right behind him.
Consider the weekend 23-year old Alex Bowman enjoyed at Dover. After losing his Cup ride with Tommy Baldwin Racing and going more than six months without a start, Bowman climbed behind the wheel of a JR Motorsports Camaro and finished third in last Saturday's XFINITY race.
With youth comes resilience.
While this wave of young talent is impressive to watch, it brings an air of melancholy to my all-too-fast-approaching "golden" years. According to survey results published just two weeks ago by Marist College, "middle age" is now defined by reaching the age of 65, whereas previous data put the classification back at the somewhat-youthful age of 45. Recent research compiled in the United Kingdom found that 74 is now the point in life when someone achieves "old" age.
And still the talent wheeling around NASCAR tracks continues to trend ever younger. Many of the students I teach at my college are years older than Masters Elliott. Blaney, and Larson, even as student enrollment numbers trend lower each semester.
But is youth not contagious? Can we not learn to celebrate the accomplishments of life in the same way that Kyle Larson reveled in his runner-up performance at Dover? Should we not take a page or two from the boyish instruction manual of Erik Jones?
Isn't NASCAR's current "youth movement" good for all of NASCAR Nation?
The positive energy surrounding NASCAR's emerging corps of Millennials reminds me of what my college advisor articulated to me at the beginning of my sophomore year. He asked me what my future plans were, and I told him I hoped to become a college professor. I explained how I wanted to live a life devoted to writing, reading, teaching, and continuous study of my chosen field.
Little did I guess that said "chosen field" would be motorsports.
Dr. Gregory grinned, nodded, and responded to my statement of intent. His first words to me were: "It's a fountain of youth."
My advisor told me that being a college professor kept him young despite being more than seventy years of age. "I should have been dead years ago," he said, "I smoke too much and drink too much, but, up here (he pointed to his brain), I'm 18 years old. I know how young people think, I know what they value, and I know what inspires them. Being around young people every day is a fountain of youth."
And Dr. Gregory was right. While I'm not ancient, I am at the age where most of my students are three decades (or more) behind me. As I think about the aches and pains of my life, they think about the exciting potential for theirs. I learn from these young people just as much as they learn from me.
Which is why NASCAR Nation is beginning to enjoy such a resurgence. It's not just the new cars, the new rules, and the improved competition – it's the brighter future, as well. The fountain of youth in our sport runs deep.
Dr. Mark Howell is a Senior Writer for Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at mark.howell@frontstretch.com.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TODAY AT FRONTSTRETCH:
TODAY AT FRONTSTRETCH:
compiled by Aaron Bearden
by Amy Henderson
Beyond the Cockpit: JJ Yeley on Tristar Change, Month of May and Opportunities on the Horizon
Beyond the Cockpit: JJ Yeley on Tristar Change, Month of May and Opportunities on the Horizon
as told to Zach Catanzareti
~~~~~~~~~~
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: For Tony Stewart's first Indianapolis 500 back in 1996, he started his No. 20 Lola-Menard V6 from the pole and ran laps early in the race faster than he qualified. However, he didn't qualify there. How did he end up on the pole?
Check back Thursday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Tuesday's Answer:
Tuesday's Answer:
Q: Today, Carl Long is currently running MBM Motorsports in the XFINITY Series and racing on a part-time basis. He has previously raced in 23 Sprint Cup races but none since 2009. Why?
A: Long raced in the Sprint Showdown in his own No. 46 Dodge sponsored by Romeo Guest Construction. Three laps in, the engine blew. Due to a larger than expected entry (35 cars), Long received only $5,000 for his efforts. The car was selected for a random teardown and the blown engine was found to be oversized by just under two-tenths of a cubic inch. In response, NASCAR suspended Long for 12 weeks from Sprint Cup, banned him from NASCAR for three months, penalized him 200 driver and owner points, and fined crew chief Charles Swing $200,000.
Swing ended up in the hospital shortly afterwards due to heart problems. An appeal resulted in the overall NASCAR ban being rescinded (so that Long could support himself), but the points and money stood. Swing couldn't pay the fine, so the fine reverted to Long. Long tried to solicit donations to help pay the fine, but only managed to raise a tenth of the necessary funds (David Reutimann was the biggest benefactor, donating $5000 of his own money to the cause). As a result, Long is still officially suspended from Sprint Cup to this day.
~~~~~~~~~~
COMING TOMORROW
COMING TOMORROW
In The Frontstretch Newsletter:
We'll have any news that breaks in the world of NASCAR. In addition, we'll have a two-fer in the Critic's Annex. Both the Ollie's Bargain Outlet 200 and the Angie's List Grand Prix of Indianapolis will be covered.
On Frontstretch.com:
Toni Montgomery returns with her weekly look at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, Nitro Shots.
---------------------------
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