THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
Nov. 22, 2016
Volume X, Edition CCXI
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- The teams are all back at their shops now. However, that doesn't mean that the work is over. While a few people will take some time to relax, others are already back at work, developing the equipment that will compete next season. If anything of note breaks, we'll have it for you at Frontstretch.
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Tuesday's TV Schedule can be found here.
Today's Top News
by the Frontstretch Staff
Greg Biffle Leaves Roush Fenway Racing; Chris Buescher To JTG?
On Monday, Roush Fenway Racing announced that Greg Biffle has parted ways with the only race team he's ever run full-time for in NASCAR. Chris Buescher may also ended up on the move as well. Read more
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Today's Featured Commentary
The 2016 Sprint Cup Season is a Keeper
Sitting in the Stands: A Fan's View
by S.D. Grady
OK, you have to admit we had a riveting finish to the 2016 season. The penultimate restart at Homestead contained all the drama you could dream of in a playoff scenario --the Championship 4 were all lined up and ready to make a run for the big prize. While it looked pretty likely that Carl Edwards or Joey Logano would be grabbing the race trophy and the Cup, both the reigning champ and the No. 48 were lurking not far behind. Then... Joey dove down and Carl had to block. There was a wreck, flames, cars climbing over one another and a red flag. When the smoke cleared, we crowned a 7-time Sprint Cup champion with Jimmie Johnson's familiar grin lighting up Victory Lane.
As the confetti settled to the ground, and we talked about how it was almost predictable that the No. 48 would manage to come through in the end, that wistful feeling arrived. The one where we realize there is no race next week. That's when it dawned on me....
2016 was a fantastic year. No, really. I'm not just drinking the Kool-aid. Actually, the Chase cooled my enthusiasm for the year as we allowed the headlines of yesterday to vanish in the mists of time. But do you remember how the year began?
At the Daytona 500, Matt Kenseth led the white flag lap with Martin Truex, Jr. right on his heels. Coming out of Turn 3, Kenseth bumped off the wall and Hamlin surged to the front. The field thundered down the frontstretch, ending in a photo finish where Hamlin stole glory from the No. 78. And so the year began.
We saw the rookies Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott lead the pack, run solid, bang off one another and set the stage for two very bright futures. Tony Stewart missed the first half of his season with a broken back, but managed to attend his retirement parties in the second part of the year, collecting Denny Hamlin and a win at Sonoma to top off his remarkable career. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. suffered a concussion which heralded the return of Jeff Gordon to the track and the re-introduction of Alex Bowman as he took over the No. 88. There were last lap passes, overtime drama, running out of fuel, a fog-covered Pocono and our fair share of rain delays.
The 2016 Sprint Cup season was truly one for the history books. While the headlines will all be talking about Johnson's "amazing" year, it will be the regular season stories that will remain the hallmarks of the year where excitement actually drove the sport forward.
If you'd like to recall what all the excitement was about before the Chase began, check out this excellent compilation of Best Finishes of 2016 (Part I).
I'm actually looking forward to those chilly February days where NASCAR gathers once again to rev it up and take the green flag. What will 2017 bring? I can't wait to find out.
SOMETHING SHINY
When the Chicago Cubs hung up their bats for the last time this year, their fans looked forward to five months of utter boredom. The NFL stores the pigskins for about six months. NASCAR fans are fortunate! There's only 96 days before the green flag flies at Daytona! That means I'll be back in action before you can miss me. Enjoy your holidays!
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 .
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Editor's Note: Numbers Game will run in Wednesday's Newsletter.
Editor's Note: Numbers Game will run in Wednesday's Newsletter.
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TODAY AT FRONTSTRETCH:
by Matt McLaughlin
The Underdog House: Putting A Wrap On 2016
by Amy Henderson
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FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: In Formula One, you can technically finish a race, but not be classified as a finisher. What is the minimum requirement in order to be considered a finisher?
Check back Tuesday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Monday's Answer:
Q: This upcoming weekend, the World Championship will be decided in Abu Dhabi. Controversial things have happened in final races before in Formula One. The series' last visit to Jerez in 1997 is a definite example. What happened between the championship contenders there?
A: Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve, the two drivers racing each other for the World Championship, ended up in a race for the lead together late in the race with the title on the line. Entering the Dry Sack Curve, Villeneuve made a move to the inside for the lead. Schumacher then turned in on Villeneuve and the two drivers made contact. Villeneuve continued on, while Schumacher ended up in a sand trap, ending his race. The incident can be seen here.
Villeneuve ended up finishing third behind McLaren's Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard, good enough to win the World Championship. Two weeks after the race, Schumacher was summoned to a FIA displincary hearing. Here, the FIA stated that Schumacher was at fault for the crash. Since it was designed to affect the championship, Schumacher was disqualified from the 1997 World Championship. In this case, that meant that he lost his second-place in the championship and the points, but kept his wins.
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COMING TOMORROW
-----------------------------COMING TOMORROW
In The Frontstretch Newsletter:
We'll have the latest NASCAR news along with a weekly commentary from our Professor of Speed on the state of the sport.
On Frontstretch.com:
Find out where your favorite driver ranks after Homestead when our experts from across the web weigh in for The 10.
Talk back to the Frontstretch Newsletter!
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
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