THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
October 4th, 2012
Volume VI, Edition CC
-----------------
Top News
by Phil Allaway
The 2013 Sprint Cup COT Tests at Talladega
On Wednesday, NASCAR held an open test session for the brand new 2013 COT chassis at Talladega Superspeedway ahead of this weekend's Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500. It is the first official NASCAR test for the new cars. The previous test at Martinsville was actually just a test for Goodyear.
The overall goal of the session was for the teams to test aerodynamics, drivability and cooling with the restrictor plates. For example, teams ran with very small rear spoilers that some posters on Twitter said were reminiscent of cars in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series (formerly the CASCAR Super Series). There was also an experiment with a rear facing exhaust late in the session in an attempt to prevent tandem drafting. So far, so good.
"With a different car, we'll look at what it's going to take for restrictor plate size and other things, but the main concern is how the cars draft, how they react in the draft, and obviously to get more one-on-one racing," said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's Vice President of Competition. "All of the input that we have from the drivers and the teams so far has been pretty good."
Each of the three manufacturers that have confirmed their participation in Sprint Cup for 2013 had teams at Talladega to test their new machinery. For Ford, Sam Hornish, Jr. was in attendance for Penske Racing (making the switch to Ford from Dodge), along with Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. to test the new 2013 Fusion.
For Toyota, they were represented by Joey Logano of Joe Gibbs Racing, and Brian Vickers for Michael Waltrip Racing. Vickers was fresh off racing last weekend in Bahrain for AF-Waltrip Racing.
Finally, Chevrolet had three representatives at the test. Kasey Kahne was representing Hendrick Motorsports, Jeff Burton for Richard Childress racing and Juan Pablo Montoya for Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing. The Chevrolets were running graphics designed to intentionally obscure their new bodystyle based on the new Chevrolet SS that will be sold as a 2014 model starting next year. This was done because the model has not officially been unveiled as of yet.
Kahne appeared to enjoy himself quite a bit during the test.
"NASCAR's trying really hard to make [the cars] drive better and make the races more exciting," Kahne said. "Right there, we had five or six of us out there and it was actually pretty dicey and pretty exciting. We're definitely going in the right direction and that's great from a drivers' standpoint because we're going to be able to race and pass more, and it's awesome from a fans' standpoint because they're going to get a much better show all the time."
For pictures and some video from Talladega, check out the Twitter feed of Sporting News' Bob Pockrass, who was at the track on Wednesday. No speeds were officially released.
TRD Disappointed in Kyle Busch's Post-Race Remarks
On Sunday afternoon after the finish of the AAA 400, Kyle Busch voiced his harsh opinions of the engines in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas over the radio. It was quite the expletive-laden tirade. As one would expect, comments such as that might strike at the heart of TRD.
The Charlotte Observer/That's Racing reporter Jim Utter is reporting that Toyota Racing Development, the Torrance, California-based company that provides the engines to Joe Gibbs racing, is none too pleased with Busch throwing them under the bus. Lee White, President of Toyota Racing Development, issued a statement in response to Busch's comments on Wednesday.
"We're as frustrated as he was that he didn't win that race considering how many laps he led, considering he and Denny (Hamlin) both literally dominated the race," White said. "We're as disappointed as he was. However, we've got used to saying 'That's just Kyle, you know' But this is a bit of a special case. We're extremely disappointed in his negative comments and the tone of the comments after the event. It is under discussion as we move forward. We certainly are very disappointed, having said that, Kyle is an amazing talent in a race car and he takes it very personally when something goes wrong and he loses a race he thinks he should have won. Every one of our teams ran full power, full rich (fuel mixture) and kicked their ass. All six of them and some other teams did, too. It wasn't just TRD power that had this issue. The race didn't fall their way and we've seen it happen more lately."
"I'm not going to apologize for TRD," White continued. "We went there and qualified three out of the top five. We led a gazillion freaking laps. We should have won the race but circumstances didn't work out that way and I'm sorry. We don't have anything to apologize for. The thing I am most disappointed in is TRD is not some separate entity - we are Toyota. We are a global company. Every person globally shares in our passion for winning and competing - and that's hundreds of thousands of people. All those people and their families basically had their feelings hurt by those comments last week. I look forward to take it up with coach (Joe) Gibbs and see if we can't do something to sort it out so that we have a better working relationship in the future. I am confident that we will."
Even though NASCAR has gone to fuel injection in Sprint Cup for 2012, the drivers cannot adjust the fuel mixture like in other series. The tuning of the engines before the race often determine how good they are on fuel mileage. SPEED's NASCAR RaceHub aired a segment on Wednesday night's show that focused upon how the tuning of the engine can affect the mileage. Going "Full Rich" means that they are going with maximum power. This doesn't necessarily mean maximum speed, but it does mean the maximum potential for speed.
White's comments show that TRD, and even Toyota as a whole are generally not going to tolerate unwarranted complete and total evisceration of their equipment over the radio. Busch will have to sit down with his boss and representatives from Toyota to explain himself.
FOX Sports to Stream Sprint Cup Races in 2013
CBS Sports' Pete Pistone is reporting that FOX, who is already in the process of re-signing to continue their coverage of Sprint Cup beyond 2014, will introduce live streaming to their Sprint Cup broadcasts starting at the 2013 Daytona 500. It is just one part in a multi-faceted plan to substantially expand streaming of live sporting events by FOX Sports over the next couple of years.
This is an interesting move in that it completely flies in the face of what ESPN has stated on the issue in the past. Currently, ESPN will not allow streaming of race telecasts, or the usage of RaceBuddy with races that air on ABC. Their official reason is that it hurts the ABC affiliates.
In the past, Turner Sports would have objected to online streaming due to the fact that they owned NASCAR's digital rights. When RaceBuddy first premiered, it was restricted to only TNT's Summer Series. ESPN eventually signed on, but with the caveat that it not be available for ABC races. FOX has never had RaceBuddy available for their broadcasts, but did try to implement an online-only post-race show before, only to get hit with a cease-and-desist. After the cease-and-desist, FOX instituted an additional post-race show on SPEED. Eventually, it involved into the current airing of NASCAR Victory Lane live after the end of each Sprint Cup race broadcast. We'll have a review of FOX's Sprint Cup online streaming next season once it officially starts up.
Entry List Update:
Note: These entries are accurate as of Wednesday night. They are still subject to change.
Sprint Cup Series Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500: 44 cars entered
Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points:
No. 21- Trevor Bayne for Wood Brothers Racing
No. 22- Sam Hornish, Jr. for Penske Racing
No. 23- Robert Richardson, Jr. for R3 Motorsports
No. 33- Cole Whitt for Circle Point, LLC
No. 87- Joe Nemechek for NEMCO Motorsports
No. 97- Timmy Hill for NEMCO Motorsports
Driver Changes:
No. 10- David Reutimann returns to the seat, replacing Danica Patrick.
No. 23- Robert Richardson, Jr. returns to the seat, replacing Scott Riggs.
No. 32- Terry Labonte returns to the seat, replacing T.J. Bell.
No. 36- Dave Blaney returns to the seat, replacing J.J. Yeley.
No. 37- J.J. Yeley returns to the seat, replacing Dave Blaney.
No. 55- Michael Waltrip returns to the seat, replacing Mark Martin.
No. 97- Timmy Hill is in the seat, replacing Bill Elliott.
Drivers who must qualify on speed:
No. 21- Trevor Bayne for Wood Brothers Racing
No. 23- Robert Richardson, Jr. for R3 Motorsports
No. 26- Josh Wise for Front Row Motorsports*
No. 30- David Stremme for Inception Motorsports
No. 33- Cole Whitt for Circle Point, LLC*
No. 37- J.J. Yeley for Tommy Baldwin Racing/MaxQ Motorsports*
No. 87- Joe Nemechek for NEMCO Motorsports
No. 97- Timmy Hill for NEMCO Motorsports
No. 98- Michael McDowell for Phil Parsons Racing
Not Entered:
No. 19- Mike Bliss for Humphrey-Smith Racing
No. 49- Jason Leffler for Robinson-Blakeney Motorsports
No. 79- Kelly Bires for Go Green Racing
No. 91- Reed Sorenson for Humphrey-Smith Racing
No. 95- Scott Speed for Leavine Family Racing
Camping World Truck Series Fred's 250 powered by Coca-Cola: 36 trucks entered
Number Change: BRG Motorsports switches from No. 82 to No. 20
Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points:
No. 1- Donnie Neuenberger for Rick Ware Racing
No. 5- Aric Almirola for Wauters Motorsports
No. 18- Kurt Busch for Kyle Busch Motorsports
No. 27- Cole Whitt for Hillman Racing
No. 74- Mike Harmon for Mike Harmon Racing
Driver Changes:
No. 2- Tim George, Jr. returns to the seat, replacing Brendan Gaughan.
No. 5- Aric Almirola returns to the seat, replacing Ryan Reed.
No. 18- Kurt Busch returns to the seat, replacing David Mayhew.
No. 20- Rick Crawford is in the seat, replacing Grant Enfinger.
No. 27- Cole Whitt is in the seat, replacing Travis Miller.
No. 29- Ryan Blaney returns to the seat, replacing Grant Enfinger.
Since there are 36 trucks entered, no one will miss the field. However, these drivers must still qualify on speed:
No. 1- Donnie Neuenberger for Rick Ware Racing
No. 5- Aric Almirola for Wauters Motorsports
No. 7- Parker Kligerman for Red Horse Racing
No. 10- Jennifer Jo Cobb for JJC Racing
No. 20- Rick Crawford for BRG Motorsports
No. 28- Wes Burton for FDNY Racing
No. 51- German Quiroga for Kyle Busch Motorsports
No. 68- Clay Greenfield for Clay Greenfield Motorsports
No. 74- Mike Harmon for Mike Harmon Racing
No. 76- Ryan Hackett for Hackett Racing
No. 81- David Starr for Billy Ballew Motorsports
Not Entered:
No. 00- Obregon Racing
No. 14- Brennan Newberry for NTS Motorsports
No. 25- BJ McLeod for Hillman Racing
No. 38- Chris Jones for RSS Racing
No. 65- Chris Lafferty for Tagsby Racing
No. 98- Travis Pastrana for ThorSport Racing
Have news for Phil and the Frontstretch? Don't hesitate to let us know; email us at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com with a promising lead or tip.
~~~~~~~~~~
Got NASCAR-related questions or comments?
Send them Summer Bedgood's way at summer.bedgood@frontstretch.com; and, if you're lucky, you'll get your name in print when she does her weekly column answering back to you – the fans that keep Frontstretch afloat. Frontstretch Fan Q & A will run on Thursdays with a whole new set of Fan Questions and Answers!
Today's Featured Commentary
Quick Hits for September 27th
What's Vexing Vito
by Vito Pugliese
When Danica Patrick rolls into Daytona next year, it likely will not be with her Greg Zipadelli-led crew, but rather that of Tony Gibson and Ryan Newman's No. 39 team. It has been rumored that in part, the No. 39 crew doesn't exactly feel appreciated by Newman, and the driver's comments did little to dispel that notion.
"I wouldn't say I would be upset," Newman said. "I think a lot of (Gibson) as a person. We've had success on the racetrack and we've struggled on the racetrack." Newman has won five times in the last seven years; two of those wins were legitimate dominating wins at Loudon; the other three were the result of Green-White-Checker shootouts that saw him go from not even being close to being in contention, to suddenly being pushed to the front by Kurt Busch (2008 Daytona 500), or waiting for the seas to part (Martinsville 2012).
After nearly a decade of underperforming, doesn't some of the responsibility rest on the driver at some point? After all, his boss has won 14 races and a Championship since 2009. Newman, two GWC's and a win at the Magic Mile. Should he be paired with Zipadelli, he will almost be expected to match the output of Stewart – both at SHR, and with Zippy back in the Home Depot Halcyon days of 1999-2008.
----------
I know I've been harping on this a lot, but it bears repeating: just what is Penske Racing going to benefit by from switching to Ford next year over Dodge? Since The Chase began, Brad Keselowski has been a one man wrecking crew, with two wins and a sixth-place finish in the first three races. Keselowski won at Talladega in April, and very well could duplicate his effort again this weekend. Keep in mind that Keselowski, Paul Wolfe and the Penske team has done this essentially as a single car effort. There are no other Dodge teams in the garage, and upon notifying Ralph Gilles in March that they would not be returning to Firebase Mopar for 2012, I'm guessing the support they were getting is not exactly at the levels it once was.
Couple this with that little incident of their teammate being suspended and Sam Hornish being asked to serve Yeoman's duty since July on four hours notice, and you get a sense of the "island unto themselves" as Kurt Busch used to term it. This isn't the first time that Penske has done this as essentially a solo outfit in NASCAR. Penske once fielded AMC Matadors during the 1974-1975 seasons, winning five races with Bobby Allison and Mark Donohue, including Allison's 1975 Southern 500 win at Darlington. In 1993, Pontiac nearly won the manufacturer's championship, largely on the strength of Rusty Wallace's ten win season; this was back when the schedule was 30 races, not 36.
I hope Edsel opened the checkbook mighty wide for Roger Penske on this deal; sticking with Dodge would have kept them in the sport, and likely attracted a few more teams to help boost the brand. With the way the Roush gang has been running lately, Ford should change their current slogan of "Moving Forward" to "Championing Mediocrity".
----------
Much has been made of the fuel mileage fiasco that has resulted from these first three races. There's really nothing more boring and underwhelming than seeing a car, driver, and team that should have won the race fail to do so, simply because the gas mileage didn't work out. It's like watching a guy return a kickoff for 105 yards (likely against my Detroit Lions….seems to be the thing to do lately), only to get to the ten and his shoes fall off. I've heard a number of arguments for and against this. "Put the 22 gallon fuel cells back in the cars!"
I remember back at Dover in 1997, Kyle Petty had the race all but sewn up, except he had to pit for fuel with 21 laps to go, handing the win over to Mark Martin. Martin's Valvoline Thunderbird had a little carburetor tweaking that day for fuel mileage. Some argue that it's no different than managing your tires and not burning them up after 40 laps. I would agree with that as well. But here's another aspect to consider: these are no longer the 500 lap endurance contests that they were in year's past. The distance was shortened to 400 laps at Dover in 1997 to make them more TV friendly. Think that last 100 laps would've brought out a caution or two with the way that track bars were breaking last weekend (Justin Allgaier and Matt Kenseth), or that engines sometimes don't quite hang together for 500 miles?
It's no different than driving on the road. Are you going to be the first guy to work or to an out of state family reunion if you drive 100 mph the entire way and don't stop to get gas, versus your a-hole brother who's going 68 mph with the cruise on in the left lane? It's not always the fastest car that wins; it's the one that gets to the checkered flag the fastest.
Vito Pugliese is a Senior Writer for Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at vito.pugliese@frontstretch.com. Follow him on Twitter at @VitoPugliese.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
COME JOIN THE FRONTSTRETCH FAMILY!
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
October 4th, 2012
Volume VI, Edition CC
-----------------
Top News
by Phil Allaway
The 2013 Sprint Cup COT Tests at Talladega
On Wednesday, NASCAR held an open test session for the brand new 2013 COT chassis at Talladega Superspeedway ahead of this weekend's Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500. It is the first official NASCAR test for the new cars. The previous test at Martinsville was actually just a test for Goodyear.
The overall goal of the session was for the teams to test aerodynamics, drivability and cooling with the restrictor plates. For example, teams ran with very small rear spoilers that some posters on Twitter said were reminiscent of cars in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series (formerly the CASCAR Super Series). There was also an experiment with a rear facing exhaust late in the session in an attempt to prevent tandem drafting. So far, so good.
"With a different car, we'll look at what it's going to take for restrictor plate size and other things, but the main concern is how the cars draft, how they react in the draft, and obviously to get more one-on-one racing," said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's Vice President of Competition. "All of the input that we have from the drivers and the teams so far has been pretty good."
Each of the three manufacturers that have confirmed their participation in Sprint Cup for 2013 had teams at Talladega to test their new machinery. For Ford, Sam Hornish, Jr. was in attendance for Penske Racing (making the switch to Ford from Dodge), along with Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. to test the new 2013 Fusion.
For Toyota, they were represented by Joey Logano of Joe Gibbs Racing, and Brian Vickers for Michael Waltrip Racing. Vickers was fresh off racing last weekend in Bahrain for AF-Waltrip Racing.
Finally, Chevrolet had three representatives at the test. Kasey Kahne was representing Hendrick Motorsports, Jeff Burton for Richard Childress racing and Juan Pablo Montoya for Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing. The Chevrolets were running graphics designed to intentionally obscure their new bodystyle based on the new Chevrolet SS that will be sold as a 2014 model starting next year. This was done because the model has not officially been unveiled as of yet.
Kahne appeared to enjoy himself quite a bit during the test.
"NASCAR's trying really hard to make [the cars] drive better and make the races more exciting," Kahne said. "Right there, we had five or six of us out there and it was actually pretty dicey and pretty exciting. We're definitely going in the right direction and that's great from a drivers' standpoint because we're going to be able to race and pass more, and it's awesome from a fans' standpoint because they're going to get a much better show all the time."
For pictures and some video from Talladega, check out the Twitter feed of Sporting News' Bob Pockrass, who was at the track on Wednesday. No speeds were officially released.
TRD Disappointed in Kyle Busch's Post-Race Remarks
On Sunday afternoon after the finish of the AAA 400, Kyle Busch voiced his harsh opinions of the engines in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas over the radio. It was quite the expletive-laden tirade. As one would expect, comments such as that might strike at the heart of TRD.
The Charlotte Observer/That's Racing reporter Jim Utter is reporting that Toyota Racing Development, the Torrance, California-based company that provides the engines to Joe Gibbs racing, is none too pleased with Busch throwing them under the bus. Lee White, President of Toyota Racing Development, issued a statement in response to Busch's comments on Wednesday.
"We're as frustrated as he was that he didn't win that race considering how many laps he led, considering he and Denny (Hamlin) both literally dominated the race," White said. "We're as disappointed as he was. However, we've got used to saying 'That's just Kyle, you know' But this is a bit of a special case. We're extremely disappointed in his negative comments and the tone of the comments after the event. It is under discussion as we move forward. We certainly are very disappointed, having said that, Kyle is an amazing talent in a race car and he takes it very personally when something goes wrong and he loses a race he thinks he should have won. Every one of our teams ran full power, full rich (fuel mixture) and kicked their ass. All six of them and some other teams did, too. It wasn't just TRD power that had this issue. The race didn't fall their way and we've seen it happen more lately."
"I'm not going to apologize for TRD," White continued. "We went there and qualified three out of the top five. We led a gazillion freaking laps. We should have won the race but circumstances didn't work out that way and I'm sorry. We don't have anything to apologize for. The thing I am most disappointed in is TRD is not some separate entity - we are Toyota. We are a global company. Every person globally shares in our passion for winning and competing - and that's hundreds of thousands of people. All those people and their families basically had their feelings hurt by those comments last week. I look forward to take it up with coach (Joe) Gibbs and see if we can't do something to sort it out so that we have a better working relationship in the future. I am confident that we will."
Even though NASCAR has gone to fuel injection in Sprint Cup for 2012, the drivers cannot adjust the fuel mixture like in other series. The tuning of the engines before the race often determine how good they are on fuel mileage. SPEED's NASCAR RaceHub aired a segment on Wednesday night's show that focused upon how the tuning of the engine can affect the mileage. Going "Full Rich" means that they are going with maximum power. This doesn't necessarily mean maximum speed, but it does mean the maximum potential for speed.
White's comments show that TRD, and even Toyota as a whole are generally not going to tolerate unwarranted complete and total evisceration of their equipment over the radio. Busch will have to sit down with his boss and representatives from Toyota to explain himself.
FOX Sports to Stream Sprint Cup Races in 2013
CBS Sports' Pete Pistone is reporting that FOX, who is already in the process of re-signing to continue their coverage of Sprint Cup beyond 2014, will introduce live streaming to their Sprint Cup broadcasts starting at the 2013 Daytona 500. It is just one part in a multi-faceted plan to substantially expand streaming of live sporting events by FOX Sports over the next couple of years.
This is an interesting move in that it completely flies in the face of what ESPN has stated on the issue in the past. Currently, ESPN will not allow streaming of race telecasts, or the usage of RaceBuddy with races that air on ABC. Their official reason is that it hurts the ABC affiliates.
In the past, Turner Sports would have objected to online streaming due to the fact that they owned NASCAR's digital rights. When RaceBuddy first premiered, it was restricted to only TNT's Summer Series. ESPN eventually signed on, but with the caveat that it not be available for ABC races. FOX has never had RaceBuddy available for their broadcasts, but did try to implement an online-only post-race show before, only to get hit with a cease-and-desist. After the cease-and-desist, FOX instituted an additional post-race show on SPEED. Eventually, it involved into the current airing of NASCAR Victory Lane live after the end of each Sprint Cup race broadcast. We'll have a review of FOX's Sprint Cup online streaming next season once it officially starts up.
Entry List Update:
Note: These entries are accurate as of Wednesday night. They are still subject to change.
Sprint Cup Series Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500: 44 cars entered
Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points:
No. 21- Trevor Bayne for Wood Brothers Racing
No. 22- Sam Hornish, Jr. for Penske Racing
No. 23- Robert Richardson, Jr. for R3 Motorsports
No. 33- Cole Whitt for Circle Point, LLC
No. 87- Joe Nemechek for NEMCO Motorsports
No. 97- Timmy Hill for NEMCO Motorsports
Driver Changes:
No. 10- David Reutimann returns to the seat, replacing Danica Patrick.
No. 23- Robert Richardson, Jr. returns to the seat, replacing Scott Riggs.
No. 32- Terry Labonte returns to the seat, replacing T.J. Bell.
No. 36- Dave Blaney returns to the seat, replacing J.J. Yeley.
No. 37- J.J. Yeley returns to the seat, replacing Dave Blaney.
No. 55- Michael Waltrip returns to the seat, replacing Mark Martin.
No. 97- Timmy Hill is in the seat, replacing Bill Elliott.
Drivers who must qualify on speed:
No. 21- Trevor Bayne for Wood Brothers Racing
No. 23- Robert Richardson, Jr. for R3 Motorsports
No. 26- Josh Wise for Front Row Motorsports*
No. 30- David Stremme for Inception Motorsports
No. 33- Cole Whitt for Circle Point, LLC*
No. 37- J.J. Yeley for Tommy Baldwin Racing/MaxQ Motorsports*
No. 87- Joe Nemechek for NEMCO Motorsports
No. 97- Timmy Hill for NEMCO Motorsports
No. 98- Michael McDowell for Phil Parsons Racing
Not Entered:
No. 19- Mike Bliss for Humphrey-Smith Racing
No. 49- Jason Leffler for Robinson-Blakeney Motorsports
No. 79- Kelly Bires for Go Green Racing
No. 91- Reed Sorenson for Humphrey-Smith Racing
No. 95- Scott Speed for Leavine Family Racing
Camping World Truck Series Fred's 250 powered by Coca-Cola: 36 trucks entered
Number Change: BRG Motorsports switches from No. 82 to No. 20
Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points:
No. 1- Donnie Neuenberger for Rick Ware Racing
No. 5- Aric Almirola for Wauters Motorsports
No. 18- Kurt Busch for Kyle Busch Motorsports
No. 27- Cole Whitt for Hillman Racing
No. 74- Mike Harmon for Mike Harmon Racing
Driver Changes:
No. 2- Tim George, Jr. returns to the seat, replacing Brendan Gaughan.
No. 5- Aric Almirola returns to the seat, replacing Ryan Reed.
No. 18- Kurt Busch returns to the seat, replacing David Mayhew.
No. 20- Rick Crawford is in the seat, replacing Grant Enfinger.
No. 27- Cole Whitt is in the seat, replacing Travis Miller.
No. 29- Ryan Blaney returns to the seat, replacing Grant Enfinger.
Since there are 36 trucks entered, no one will miss the field. However, these drivers must still qualify on speed:
No. 1- Donnie Neuenberger for Rick Ware Racing
No. 5- Aric Almirola for Wauters Motorsports
No. 7- Parker Kligerman for Red Horse Racing
No. 10- Jennifer Jo Cobb for JJC Racing
No. 20- Rick Crawford for BRG Motorsports
No. 28- Wes Burton for FDNY Racing
No. 51- German Quiroga for Kyle Busch Motorsports
No. 68- Clay Greenfield for Clay Greenfield Motorsports
No. 74- Mike Harmon for Mike Harmon Racing
No. 76- Ryan Hackett for Hackett Racing
No. 81- David Starr for Billy Ballew Motorsports
Not Entered:
No. 00- Obregon Racing
No. 14- Brennan Newberry for NTS Motorsports
No. 25- BJ McLeod for Hillman Racing
No. 38- Chris Jones for RSS Racing
No. 65- Chris Lafferty for Tagsby Racing
No. 98- Travis Pastrana for ThorSport Racing
Have news for Phil and the Frontstretch? Don't hesitate to let us know; email us at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com with a promising lead or tip.
~~~~~~~~~~
Got NASCAR-related questions or comments?
Send them Summer Bedgood's way at summer.bedgood@frontstretch.com; and, if you're lucky, you'll get your name in print when she does her weekly column answering back to you – the fans that keep Frontstretch afloat. Frontstretch Fan Q & A will run on Thursdays with a whole new set of Fan Questions and Answers!
Today's Featured Commentary
Quick Hits for September 27th
What's Vexing Vito
by Vito Pugliese
When Danica Patrick rolls into Daytona next year, it likely will not be with her Greg Zipadelli-led crew, but rather that of Tony Gibson and Ryan Newman's No. 39 team. It has been rumored that in part, the No. 39 crew doesn't exactly feel appreciated by Newman, and the driver's comments did little to dispel that notion.
"I wouldn't say I would be upset," Newman said. "I think a lot of (Gibson) as a person. We've had success on the racetrack and we've struggled on the racetrack." Newman has won five times in the last seven years; two of those wins were legitimate dominating wins at Loudon; the other three were the result of Green-White-Checker shootouts that saw him go from not even being close to being in contention, to suddenly being pushed to the front by Kurt Busch (2008 Daytona 500), or waiting for the seas to part (Martinsville 2012).
After nearly a decade of underperforming, doesn't some of the responsibility rest on the driver at some point? After all, his boss has won 14 races and a Championship since 2009. Newman, two GWC's and a win at the Magic Mile. Should he be paired with Zipadelli, he will almost be expected to match the output of Stewart – both at SHR, and with Zippy back in the Home Depot Halcyon days of 1999-2008.
----------
I know I've been harping on this a lot, but it bears repeating: just what is Penske Racing going to benefit by from switching to Ford next year over Dodge? Since The Chase began, Brad Keselowski has been a one man wrecking crew, with two wins and a sixth-place finish in the first three races. Keselowski won at Talladega in April, and very well could duplicate his effort again this weekend. Keep in mind that Keselowski, Paul Wolfe and the Penske team has done this essentially as a single car effort. There are no other Dodge teams in the garage, and upon notifying Ralph Gilles in March that they would not be returning to Firebase Mopar for 2012, I'm guessing the support they were getting is not exactly at the levels it once was.
Couple this with that little incident of their teammate being suspended and Sam Hornish being asked to serve Yeoman's duty since July on four hours notice, and you get a sense of the "island unto themselves" as Kurt Busch used to term it. This isn't the first time that Penske has done this as essentially a solo outfit in NASCAR. Penske once fielded AMC Matadors during the 1974-1975 seasons, winning five races with Bobby Allison and Mark Donohue, including Allison's 1975 Southern 500 win at Darlington. In 1993, Pontiac nearly won the manufacturer's championship, largely on the strength of Rusty Wallace's ten win season; this was back when the schedule was 30 races, not 36.
I hope Edsel opened the checkbook mighty wide for Roger Penske on this deal; sticking with Dodge would have kept them in the sport, and likely attracted a few more teams to help boost the brand. With the way the Roush gang has been running lately, Ford should change their current slogan of "Moving Forward" to "Championing Mediocrity".
----------
Much has been made of the fuel mileage fiasco that has resulted from these first three races. There's really nothing more boring and underwhelming than seeing a car, driver, and team that should have won the race fail to do so, simply because the gas mileage didn't work out. It's like watching a guy return a kickoff for 105 yards (likely against my Detroit Lions….seems to be the thing to do lately), only to get to the ten and his shoes fall off. I've heard a number of arguments for and against this. "Put the 22 gallon fuel cells back in the cars!"
I remember back at Dover in 1997, Kyle Petty had the race all but sewn up, except he had to pit for fuel with 21 laps to go, handing the win over to Mark Martin. Martin's Valvoline Thunderbird had a little carburetor tweaking that day for fuel mileage. Some argue that it's no different than managing your tires and not burning them up after 40 laps. I would agree with that as well. But here's another aspect to consider: these are no longer the 500 lap endurance contests that they were in year's past. The distance was shortened to 400 laps at Dover in 1997 to make them more TV friendly. Think that last 100 laps would've brought out a caution or two with the way that track bars were breaking last weekend (Justin Allgaier and Matt Kenseth), or that engines sometimes don't quite hang together for 500 miles?
It's no different than driving on the road. Are you going to be the first guy to work or to an out of state family reunion if you drive 100 mph the entire way and don't stop to get gas, versus your a-hole brother who's going 68 mph with the cruise on in the left lane? It's not always the fastest car that wins; it's the one that gets to the checkered flag the fastest.
Vito Pugliese is a Senior Writer for Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at vito.pugliese@frontstretch.com. Follow him on Twitter at @VitoPugliese.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
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The Critic's Annex: Inside NASCAR
by Phil Allaway
Hello, race fans. Welcome back to the Critic's Annex, where we take an additional look at motorsports-related programming that is available to us viewers. This is officially the 100th edition of the Annex and 261st critique overall. That makes my head spin, to be honest.
When Inside NASCAR premiered in 2010, it was a one-hour show airing every week from February to November and covered multiple stories each week. Basically, it was the NASCAR equivalent to Inside the NFL, the long-running series which Showtime picked up after HBO cancelled it in 2008.
However, the show has been curtailed multiple times since 2010. First, the show was cut back to a half-hour. Then came the move to cut the show from 38 episodes to just 11. Yes, NASCAR's official YouTube page posts Showtime's Inside NASCAR race recaps on their page during the season, but there's nothing during the bulk of the year. Their slot selections clearly show what they consider to be important. They air one episode before the season starts, then go off-air until the Chase starts up in September. From there, they have a new episode every week until the end of the season. I'm not going to say I'm a fan of this setup because it basically means that the rest of the season doesn't matter.
Now, we get to today's version of Inside NASCAR. The show airs on Wednesday nights at 10pm EDT right after a full hour of Inside the NFL. Chris Myers hosts the show, with Michael Waltrip and Kyle Petty serving as driver analysts. This used to be a quartet with either Brad Daugherty or Randy Pemberton, but they left the show and were not replaced.
The show started off with a little discussion of Brad Keselowski's performances thus-far in the Chase, then they transitioned into the recap of Sunday's AAA 400. This started out with a bit of humor as apparently Brad Keselowski had apparently decided to stand through the Driver's Meeting because of Bobby Allison's presence. Robin Pemberton wasn't having that. Yes, people can stand in the back at drivers' meetings. These people are usually PR reps and media members. I've done that myself multiple times in the past. And before I go on, no, I don't really do anything there. I just stand and listen. Others use the time prior to the meeting to chat. However, drivers and crew chiefs are mandated to sit in the chairs.
After the moment of brevity, we transition into the actual race recap. Inside NASCAR prides itself on it's uncensored radio chatter (as opposed to the bleeped audio you'll hear on race broadcasts, NASCAR RaceHub and NASCAR Now). However, this creates an interesting issue. The show (at least according to my cable box's guide) is rated TV-PG. Granted, it's airing at 10pm and many people watching at that time could care less about "gutter language" (this is a term once used in an contact e-mail we received here at Frontstretch to describe profanity), but there are audible F-Bombs here. It's not a fleeting type of F-Bomb either, like in this post-race interview that Chris Economaki conducted for CBS with Ayrton Senna after Senna won the Detroit Grand Prix in 1986. As opposed as I am to the TV rating system introduced in 1997, uncensored F-Bombs generally do not show up on TV-PG rated shows. Those are in the domain of TV-MA rated shows. This is a simple fact. Also, NASCAR does not strike me as a sanctioning body willing to put their name on TV-MA rated programming, but something isn't right here.
The recap clips were augmented by interview footage with certain drivers, including race winner Brad Keselowski. However, I could have done without the discussion of peeing in one's firesuit that stemmed from an admittedly funny quip from Paul Wolfe about getting Keselowski some time to go potty. That's kinda puerile and I'd expect a little more than that from a show like this.
In addition to the race recap, there was an inside look at Kasey Kahne's day via radio clips and footage. Kahne then joined Myers, Petty and Waltrip in the studio to talk about his day. He explained that he had a strut break in the rear of his car and it led to a nasty vibration that they ended up just having to deal with. He's discouraged to have lost the points that he did on Sunday, but he's still confident.
There are also questions sent into the show from fans who "liked" Inside NASCAR's Facebook page that Kahne would answer. Random note: This show has 369,376 likes on Facebook. This is nearly ten times the number of likes that SPEED's NASCAR RaceHub has, and over 53 times the number of likes for NASCAR Now on ESPN 2 has. That should show that it should be on a little more often than 11 times a year. I like the idea of getting fans involved. However, some of the 103 questions submitted this week were pretty bad. One of them from what I guess is a joke account called "Jimmy Spencerswig" actually says "Is it hard being a GAY Nascar Driver?" Editor's Note: Emphasis in the original post, not added. I don't know if Kahne is gay or not, but it's pretty obvious that this was just trying to get a rise out of people. Thank goodness for producers to sort through them. However, the quality control of many Facebook fan pages, not just Inside NASCAR's, leaves something to be desired.
After the interview segment, the show previewed this weekend's Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. The pre-requisite clips of wrecking were shown. By this point, you can pretty much figure out which clips they are. Edwards going into the catchfence in the 2009 Aaron's 499? Check. Mark Martin going over in the 2009 AMP Energy 500? You betcha. Bobby Allison's crash in 1987? Of course. Rusty Wallace's wild ride to sixth in the 1993 Winston 500? Oh yea. Clips of the most recent finishes were also shown, while the whole piece was interspersed with audio from either TV or MRN Radio, depending on which clip was being shown at the time. Waltrip talks about gearing up to drive this weekend, and about how it makes him better on TV shows. I suppose I can buy that from Waltrip. Finally, the show ends with Waltrip and Petty making their picks to win on Sunday.
Chris Myers is actually pretty good on this show. He's much different than on FOX's Pre-Race Show, where he adopts a different persona, one of a complete and total moron who apparently knows nothing about NASCAR, despite working on telecasts since 2001. Here, he's more like what you would get when he calls NFL games for FOX. However, I say that knowing that his games literally never air here in Albany, NY unless you have DirecTV and NFL Sunday Ticket. The whole Sunday Ticket thing is another quagmire that deserves it's own article, but I just can't do that here since it's not racing-related. Waltrip and Petty are decent here, although Petty seems to be a little subdued as compared to anything he does for SPEED or Turner Sports. On those channels, Petty is super-opinionated and hammers down his thoughts.
The show continues to try to use the uncensored audio to draw in viewers to watch, but that's not a reason why I would watch a NASCAR-related TV show. Truth is, any argument that I could make here could easily be made just as well by the South Park episode, "It Hits the Fan" from 2001 (viewer disrection advised for obvious reasons). If you remember, that episode, made in response to the hubbub around the S-word being used on Chicago Hope, was the one where they used it 162 times in a 22 minute episode. There were consequences to people throwing the word around like water. First, a recurrence of the Bubonic Plague (or Black Death) starts affecting people all over the country. Then, after a night of live programming went awry, a mythical, dragon-like beast named "Geldon" arose and attempted to take over the world (Not making this up). Yes, Geldon was ultimately defeated, and mythical beasts likely will not arise in real life due a "mass utterance of a word of curse," but there is a point here. Marketing a show based on profanity only is just not really the way to go. It takes away from everything else that is on offer.
I hope you enjoyed this look at Showtime's Inside NASCAR. I hope you enjoy this weekend's action in Talladega, and stay tuned for additional critiques in the coming weeks. In addition to more races, in November, we'll have a review of Eutechnyx and Activision Blizzard's new NASCAR game, NASCAR The Game: Inside Line.
Phil Allaway is the Newsletter Manager and a Senior Writer for Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Critic84.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Frontstretch Line of the Week
From Regan Smith Driver Diary: The End of an Era and a New Beginning
"I had an inkling that he was going to replace me, but that was for the team to talk about, not me. What did catch me off guard was the fact that I will be out of the car after Talladega. I would have expected to at least have been able to finish the season after all of my efforts, but it is not to be."- Regan Smith talking about his sudden dismissal from Furniture Row Racing, effective Monday.
~~~~~~~~~~
ADVERTISEMENT
Are you looking to advertise your website, product or brand? A good way to get your name out there is via direct advertising here in the Frontstretch Newsletter! Interested parties can contact us at tony.lumbis@frontstretch.com for details.
~~~~~~~~~~
TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
--
The Critic's Annex: Inside NASCAR
by Phil Allaway
Hello, race fans. Welcome back to the Critic's Annex, where we take an additional look at motorsports-related programming that is available to us viewers. This is officially the 100th edition of the Annex and 261st critique overall. That makes my head spin, to be honest.
When Inside NASCAR premiered in 2010, it was a one-hour show airing every week from February to November and covered multiple stories each week. Basically, it was the NASCAR equivalent to Inside the NFL, the long-running series which Showtime picked up after HBO cancelled it in 2008.
However, the show has been curtailed multiple times since 2010. First, the show was cut back to a half-hour. Then came the move to cut the show from 38 episodes to just 11. Yes, NASCAR's official YouTube page posts Showtime's Inside NASCAR race recaps on their page during the season, but there's nothing during the bulk of the year. Their slot selections clearly show what they consider to be important. They air one episode before the season starts, then go off-air until the Chase starts up in September. From there, they have a new episode every week until the end of the season. I'm not going to say I'm a fan of this setup because it basically means that the rest of the season doesn't matter.
Now, we get to today's version of Inside NASCAR. The show airs on Wednesday nights at 10pm EDT right after a full hour of Inside the NFL. Chris Myers hosts the show, with Michael Waltrip and Kyle Petty serving as driver analysts. This used to be a quartet with either Brad Daugherty or Randy Pemberton, but they left the show and were not replaced.
The show started off with a little discussion of Brad Keselowski's performances thus-far in the Chase, then they transitioned into the recap of Sunday's AAA 400. This started out with a bit of humor as apparently Brad Keselowski had apparently decided to stand through the Driver's Meeting because of Bobby Allison's presence. Robin Pemberton wasn't having that. Yes, people can stand in the back at drivers' meetings. These people are usually PR reps and media members. I've done that myself multiple times in the past. And before I go on, no, I don't really do anything there. I just stand and listen. Others use the time prior to the meeting to chat. However, drivers and crew chiefs are mandated to sit in the chairs.
After the moment of brevity, we transition into the actual race recap. Inside NASCAR prides itself on it's uncensored radio chatter (as opposed to the bleeped audio you'll hear on race broadcasts, NASCAR RaceHub and NASCAR Now). However, this creates an interesting issue. The show (at least according to my cable box's guide) is rated TV-PG. Granted, it's airing at 10pm and many people watching at that time could care less about "gutter language" (this is a term once used in an contact e-mail we received here at Frontstretch to describe profanity), but there are audible F-Bombs here. It's not a fleeting type of F-Bomb either, like in this post-race interview that Chris Economaki conducted for CBS with Ayrton Senna after Senna won the Detroit Grand Prix in 1986. As opposed as I am to the TV rating system introduced in 1997, uncensored F-Bombs generally do not show up on TV-PG rated shows. Those are in the domain of TV-MA rated shows. This is a simple fact. Also, NASCAR does not strike me as a sanctioning body willing to put their name on TV-MA rated programming, but something isn't right here.
The recap clips were augmented by interview footage with certain drivers, including race winner Brad Keselowski. However, I could have done without the discussion of peeing in one's firesuit that stemmed from an admittedly funny quip from Paul Wolfe about getting Keselowski some time to go potty. That's kinda puerile and I'd expect a little more than that from a show like this.
In addition to the race recap, there was an inside look at Kasey Kahne's day via radio clips and footage. Kahne then joined Myers, Petty and Waltrip in the studio to talk about his day. He explained that he had a strut break in the rear of his car and it led to a nasty vibration that they ended up just having to deal with. He's discouraged to have lost the points that he did on Sunday, but he's still confident.
There are also questions sent into the show from fans who "liked" Inside NASCAR's Facebook page that Kahne would answer. Random note: This show has 369,376 likes on Facebook. This is nearly ten times the number of likes that SPEED's NASCAR RaceHub has, and over 53 times the number of likes for NASCAR Now on ESPN 2 has. That should show that it should be on a little more often than 11 times a year. I like the idea of getting fans involved. However, some of the 103 questions submitted this week were pretty bad. One of them from what I guess is a joke account called "Jimmy Spencerswig" actually says "Is it hard being a GAY Nascar Driver?" Editor's Note: Emphasis in the original post, not added. I don't know if Kahne is gay or not, but it's pretty obvious that this was just trying to get a rise out of people. Thank goodness for producers to sort through them. However, the quality control of many Facebook fan pages, not just Inside NASCAR's, leaves something to be desired.
After the interview segment, the show previewed this weekend's Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. The pre-requisite clips of wrecking were shown. By this point, you can pretty much figure out which clips they are. Edwards going into the catchfence in the 2009 Aaron's 499? Check. Mark Martin going over in the 2009 AMP Energy 500? You betcha. Bobby Allison's crash in 1987? Of course. Rusty Wallace's wild ride to sixth in the 1993 Winston 500? Oh yea. Clips of the most recent finishes were also shown, while the whole piece was interspersed with audio from either TV or MRN Radio, depending on which clip was being shown at the time. Waltrip talks about gearing up to drive this weekend, and about how it makes him better on TV shows. I suppose I can buy that from Waltrip. Finally, the show ends with Waltrip and Petty making their picks to win on Sunday.
Chris Myers is actually pretty good on this show. He's much different than on FOX's Pre-Race Show, where he adopts a different persona, one of a complete and total moron who apparently knows nothing about NASCAR, despite working on telecasts since 2001. Here, he's more like what you would get when he calls NFL games for FOX. However, I say that knowing that his games literally never air here in Albany, NY unless you have DirecTV and NFL Sunday Ticket. The whole Sunday Ticket thing is another quagmire that deserves it's own article, but I just can't do that here since it's not racing-related. Waltrip and Petty are decent here, although Petty seems to be a little subdued as compared to anything he does for SPEED or Turner Sports. On those channels, Petty is super-opinionated and hammers down his thoughts.
The show continues to try to use the uncensored audio to draw in viewers to watch, but that's not a reason why I would watch a NASCAR-related TV show. Truth is, any argument that I could make here could easily be made just as well by the South Park episode, "It Hits the Fan" from 2001 (viewer disrection advised for obvious reasons). If you remember, that episode, made in response to the hubbub around the S-word being used on Chicago Hope, was the one where they used it 162 times in a 22 minute episode. There were consequences to people throwing the word around like water. First, a recurrence of the Bubonic Plague (or Black Death) starts affecting people all over the country. Then, after a night of live programming went awry, a mythical, dragon-like beast named "Geldon" arose and attempted to take over the world (Not making this up). Yes, Geldon was ultimately defeated, and mythical beasts likely will not arise in real life due a "mass utterance of a word of curse," but there is a point here. Marketing a show based on profanity only is just not really the way to go. It takes away from everything else that is on offer.
I hope you enjoyed this look at Showtime's Inside NASCAR. I hope you enjoy this weekend's action in Talladega, and stay tuned for additional critiques in the coming weeks. In addition to more races, in November, we'll have a review of Eutechnyx and Activision Blizzard's new NASCAR game, NASCAR The Game: Inside Line.
Phil Allaway is the Newsletter Manager and a Senior Writer for Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Critic84.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Frontstretch Line of the Week
From Regan Smith Driver Diary: The End of an Era and a New Beginning
"I had an inkling that he was going to replace me, but that was for the team to talk about, not me. What did catch me off guard was the fact that I will be out of the car after Talladega. I would have expected to at least have been able to finish the season after all of my efforts, but it is not to be."- Regan Smith talking about his sudden dismissal from Furniture Row Racing, effective Monday.
~~~~~~~~~~
ADVERTISEMENT
Are you looking to advertise your website, product or brand? A good way to get your name out there is via direct advertising here in the Frontstretch Newsletter! Interested parties can contact us at tony.lumbis@frontstretch.com for details.
~~~~~~~~~~
TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
Frontstretch Fan Q & A: Preaching Tolerance And Patience Across NASCAR
by Summer Bedgood
Beyond the Cockpit: Chad McCumbee On A Possible Change In Career Arc?
as told to Phil Allaway
Professor Of Speed: This Is (Not) Only a Test...
by Mark Howell
Truckin' Thursdays: Miguel Paludo on Vegas, Talladega and Little Feet
by Beth Lunkenheimer
Regan Smith Driver Diary: The End of an Era and a New Beginning
as told to Tony Lumbis
The 2013 IndyCar Schedule: The Good, Questionable, and Baffling
by P. Huston Ladner
~~~~~~~~~~
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: Later on during the 1998 Winston 500, there was a huge crash in Turn 1 involving Ernie Irvan that forced him to miss the last three races of the season. What happened?
Check back Friday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Wednesday's Answer:
Wednesday's Answer:
Q: In 1998, Dave Marcis finished 12th in the Winston 500, his best finish in the last five years of his career. However, it didn't come easy for him. What happened to the Realtree Chevrolet during the race?
A: Marcis blew a left front tire during a round of green flag pit stops on the backstretch. This brought out the race's second caution and trapped a number of drivers who had already made green-flag pit stops a lap down. Ken Schrader ran over pieces off of Marcis' car and blew a right front tire as well. This can be seen at the 2:50 mark of this clip.Frontstretch Trivia Guarantee: If we mess up, you get the shirt off our backs! If we've provided an incorrect answer to the Frontstretch Trivia question, be the first to email the corrected trivia answer to trivia@frontstretch.com and we'll send you a Frontstretch T-Shirt ... FREE!
~~~~~~~~~~
Coming tomorrow in the Frontstretch Newsletter:
-- Top News from Jeff Wolfe
-- In Case You Missed It by Nick Schwartz
-- Keepin' It Short by Mike Neff
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, trivia, and more!
~~~~~~~~~~
Tomorrow on the Frontstretch:
Four Burning Questions: Talladega by Matt Stallknecht
We'll help prepare you for the Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500, Race No. 4 in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
Holding A Pretty Wheel by Amy Henderson
Amy returns this week with another interesting Friday commentary.
Friday Fast Forward Into NASCAR's Future by Bryan Davis Keith
Bryan returns with another interesting commentary piece on the Nationwide Series as the teams enjoy their final off-week of the season..
Voices From the Heartland by Jeff Meyer
Our Tennessee transplant returns with another interesting take on recent events.
Formula One Fridays by Andy Hollis
Andy returns with another look at the World Championship as the teams prepare for this weekend's Grand Prix of Japan at Suzuka Circuit.
-----------------------------
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