*THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER Presented by
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<http://frontstretch.com/>**The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on
the Net!*
July 14th, 2008
Volume II, Edition CXXXI
*Today's Top News*
*Kyle Busch Overtakes Jimmie Johnson Late To Win At Chicagoland Speedway
*
*by Phil Allaway*
*
*Another week, another race, another victory for Kyle Busch. It's been a
dream season for the younger of the Busch brothers, and Chicagoland was no
exception. On Saturday night, the 23-year-old started from the pole
(because qualifying was cancelled), led the most laps (165), and won his
seventh race of the year in nineteen starts with a scintillating pass on the
second-to-last lap of the race.
The frantic finish unfolded as Busch was under intense pressure from Jimmie
Johnson late in the 267-lap event. On lap 251, Johnson passed Busch for the
lead and seemed to be on cruise control for his second win of the year.
However, a blown engine on the No. 38 of David Gilliland brought out the
ninth and final yellow flag with seven laps left. On the ensuing restart
with just two laps remaining, Busch got to the outside of Johnson, running
him side-by-side all the way to Turn 4 before clearing the No. 48 and
inching away to the victory.
"I should have given [Kyle Busch] the inside line," Johnson lamented after
the race. "When I heard the spotter, I knew I was in trouble."
" I just had to go to the outside because he was going to block the bottom
in turn one and two," added Busch. "I don't know how I did that."
Just behind the battle for the lead, Kevin Harvick finished third on
Saturday, followed by Greg Biffle and Tony Stewart. Brian Vickers came in
sixth, followed by Roush teammates Matt Kenseth and David Ragan. Martin
Truex, Jr. and Ryan Newman rounded out the Top 10 finishers in the
400-miler.
*The Race To The Chase -- Tracking The Top 12*
Saturday night's victory allowed Kyle Busch to expand his lead over Dale
Earnhardt, Jr. (who finished 16th) to 262 points in the championship
standings. Behind them, Jeff Burton is still in third spot, a mere 29
points behind Earnhardt with seven races left in the regular season.
Roush Fenway Racing's top driver Carl Edwards remained fourth in points, but
had a bad night. While leading the race, Edwards' splitter broke, a problem
made worse when he locked up the brakes while trying to bring the No. 99 car
down pit road. That unscheduled stop caused him to struggle from that point
on, and the resultant 32nd place finish means that Edwards is now 372 points
out of the lead.
With his runner-up performance in the race, Jimmie Johnson was able to
maintain fifth, putting some distance between himself and teammate Jeff
Gordon: the margin between the two Hendrick Motorsports drivers is now 110
points. Behind them, Greg Biffle is up four spots this week to seventh,
after having a pit gamble early in the race work out so he could lead some
laps. Once he got that track position, Biffle stayed in the Top 12 the rest
of the race, and finished a strong fourth for his first Top 10 finish since
Dover. Eighth in points is his teammate, Matt Kenseth, who fought back from
an unscheduled pit stop and used a timely Lucky Dog to work his way back to
seventh in the race. Had that not happened, Kenseth had a car easily
capable of finishing in the Top 5.
Back in ninth is Kevin Harvick, who raced his way up into the Top 12 with
his third place finish on Saturday night. However, he is only 52 points
ahead of 13th as the race for the Chase continues to run tight. Harvick's
pal Tony Stewart rounds out the Top 10, only three points behind Harvick
after his fifth place finish but continuing to hold onto a playoff spot by
the skin of his teeth. Kasey Kahne -- the lone Dodge in the field --
dropped behind both drivers this week to 11th, following a ho-hum 15th place
performance in his Budweiser car. And rounding out the Top 12 is the Big
Loser in the standings, Denny Hamlin, who dropped five spots after a 40th
place finish in the race. The poor run occurred because of a bad ignition
box; on lap 49, that caused the No. 11 car to stall on the track and bring
out a caution. After getting pushed in by a wrecker, the team repaired the
issue; but four laps were lost as a result, and those laps were never made
up.
The odd man out this week in the Chase Race is Clint Bowyer, who fell out of
the Top 12 after finishing 22nd. He is now 27 points behind Hamlin for the
spot in the playoffs.
*
Danger Zone -- Who's In And Who's Out Of The Top 35*
This week's race saw the margin between 35th and 36th place close up to only
13 points after *Scott Riggs* drove the No. 66 Haas CNC car to a 20th place
finish. But who Riggs will be chasing is now the No. 00 car driven by *Michael
McDowell*, down a position to 35th from last week. McDowell had a horrible
night, being forced to pit less than five laps into the race after being
unintentionally forced into the wall by the No. 70 of Jason Leffler --
ironically, Leffler was driving as a teammate of the very car who's trying
to catch McDowell in the points (No. 66). The No. 00 Champion Mortgage
Toyota stayed on pit road after the contact for multiple laps under green,
allowing the crew to fix the damage and reset the toe of the car. But once
McDowell got back out on the track, his car was already seven laps down; and
with the low attrition rate, the rookie could never advance his position and
finished dead last in the race.
The team that had the best night out of the Danger Zone teams was the No. 84
Red Bull car driven by *A.J. Allmendinger*. Through the use of a good setup
and some pit strategy from new crew chief Jimmy Elledge, Allmendinger was
able to bring his Toyota home in 13th position after running a substantial
part of the race in the Top 10. That finish allowed the team to gain
substantially on the cars ahead of them, although they still remain 122
points out of 35th place. Right behind Allmendinger in the race was the No.
44 of David Reutimann, whose team moved up to 28th in owner points with a
solid 14th place finish -- leapfrogging team owner Michael Waltrip's No. 55
in the process.
*J.J. Yeley's *Hall of Fame Racing No. 96 had issues in technical inspection
right before the race started. Apparently, they were thought to have to
have tried to make the car lighter through the use of lead-filled water
bottles. As a result, the car did not reach the grid until about a minute
before the starting command was given. Then, NASCAR gave the team a
drive-through penalty on the first lap of the race, putting them in the hole
from the start. But even through that mess, the No. 96 eventually got back
on the lead lap and finished 24th. It is unclear whether NASCAR will punish
the team any further for this issue, because it seems like a
misunderstanding ... but any additional punishments against the organization
will be levied later this week (most likely Tuesday).
*Secret Star Of The Race : The Best Run You Never Saw*
Amongst all the Silly Season madness this week was a rumor – quickly denied
– that *David Reutimann* could replace Kyle Petty behind the wheel of the
No. 45 Dodge for 2009. But while both sides said the news was false, Michael
Waltrip Racing better step up and sign their young talent to a long-term
extension before someone else takes him away. Once again, Reutimann put
forth a solid performance with mediocre equipment, jumping from his 29th
place starting spot to a 14th place finish at Chicagoland. The No. 44 team
used a little bit of pit strategy to move up through the field early, but
once Reutimann got the track position he needed, he didn't give it back –
remaining a Top 15 car throughout the race's second half. The sophomore now
has seven Top 20s in fourteen starts behind the wheel of the No. 44 – that's
five more than previous driver Dale Jarrett had throughout all of *last
season* in the car. Continued improvement is a given with Reutimann behind
the wheel; unfortunately for the team, it's just not coming fast enough for
soon-to-be-departed sponsor UPS. *- Tom Bowles*
*STAT OF THE WEEK: 0*. That's the number of Top 10 finishes accumulated by
all drivers "officially" competing for Rookie Of The Year honors in the Cup
Series this season (yeah, Aric Almirola has a Top 10 from Bristol, but he's
running so few races DEI hasn't actually nominated him for the Rookie Of The
Year Award). Want to know how bad it's gotten for these freshmen? No rookie
class in the modern era (1972-present) has gone this deep into a season
without a single Top 10 finish. In fact, you need to go all the way back to
1961 – when the schedule stretched 62 races deep – for the last time all the
ROTY candidates were shut out of the Top 10 nineteen races in. So far in
2008, the best finish by any of the five drivers running for the award is a
13th place by Sam Hornish, Jr. at the Coca-Cola 600 in May. And in case
you're wondering, at Chicagoland the best run any of the first years could
muster was a 30th by Patrick Carpentier. - *Tom Bowles*
*Think you have what it takes to write for the Frontstretch?*
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*Big Six: LifeLock.com 400*
*by Amy Henderson*
*Who…gets my shoutout of the race?*
Nobody understands the adage that the fastest car doesn't always win better
than *Jimmie Johnson*, who had the car to beat in the final laps on Saturday
night. Had David Gilliland not blown up in the late going, Johnson had the
race won. But getting run over on the restart -- coupled with what was
perhaps the wrong lane choice and the refusal to use his own bumper on the
last lap -- relegated Johnson to second place. But if the No. 48 team is
starting to peak now -- along with the Nos. 17 and 20 also showing signs of
a surge -- the Chase might not be the one-car race people have said it will
be.
*What… kind of driver is Kyle Busch, really?*
He's a hell of a good one, and that's been evident for years. But what I
mean is, when all is said and done, *will he be remembered as a "dirty"
driver, or a clean one*, a la Jeff Burton? Despite the comparisons to Dale
Earnhardt that might suggest otherwise, Busch is not really a dirty driver.
He doesn't crash guys simply because he can ... for example, he could have
wrecked Jimmie Johnson on the final restart in Chicago, and didn't. But he's
not really a clean driver, either. Busch didn't exactly restart as cleanly
as he could have Saturday night, running hard into the back of the No. 48
when he didn't like the way the leader handled the green flag. And this
young gun has the tendency to push other drivers harder than he needs to, as
if he figures if he drives them hard enough, they'll back off and give him
the space; after all, he's Kyle Busch and they aren't. It makes for an
interesting question - what makes a driver clean or dirty, anyway?
*Where…would the sport be had a helicopter not gone down at Talladega 15
years ago?*
That's also an interesting question, because you can't, of course, know for
sure. But had Davey Allison had the years to race in the Cup Series that
were taken from him, *Dale Earnhardt might not have seven championships, and
Jeff Gordon might not have four*. Allison was that good when he was killed
in that crash, another driver whose impact on the sport was never finished.
Would NASCAR today be any different? I sure wish we'd had the chance to
know…
*When…was the last time an organization got its 100th win?*
Chip Ganassi Racing took that distinction on *Saturday* when Scott Dixon won
the rain-shortened IRL race at Nashville. Ganassi currently owns two Sprint
Cup teams and one full-time Nationwide Series team in addition to his
IndyCar and sportscar teams. Ganassi has owned teams in racing since 1990,
when he created a single-car team in the IRL.
*Why…can't NASCAR be consistent on anything?*
I know I'm beating a dead horse here, but you've got to wonder. Last week,
Jeff Gordon spun out of the groove, didn't hit anything, and left no debris
on the racing surface -- but there was no caution. This week, Bobby Labonte
spun out of the groove, didn't hit anything and left no debris, and
NASCARthrew the caution. In some other series, the yellow flies far
less for spins
and minor crashes than it does in Sprint Cup. And sometimes, NASCAR*there
should never even be a question in anyone's mind*. throws the yellow for a
blown engine when the driver gets out of the groove before he drops
oil...but sometimes not. I would argue that for the latter, there should
always be a caution, because of the safety issue of even the possibility of
oil on the track. But the cynic in me wonders if the yellow flag would still
have flown for David Gilliland's engine (Gilliland got immediately out of
the groove) had another car had a big lead and growing with six laps to go.
And frankly,
*How…is Joey Logano ready for Sprint Cup?*
I don't know, and *I don't think that bringing him up full-time in 2009 is
the best thing*JGR might be to stick to the original plan of building a
fourth team for Logano in 2010 or 2011, giving him the chance to gain
experience and race for a championship in the Nationwide Series. There's
more to a stellar Cup career than raw talent; and the kid has so much of
that talent, it would be a shame to rush him. in the long run. Joe Gibbs
Racing should fill the seat of the No. 20 with a veteran who can serve as a
mentor to Logano and as an example to both Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin, both
of whom could use a few lessons in tact when it comes to throwing their
crews under the bus. Logano came into the Nationwide Series expecting the
cakewalk that he's enjoyed for most of his career. He didn't find it, and he
complained. His sixth-place debut was "not good enough." To me, that shows
Logano's immaturity, and the lessons he needs to learn before moving into a
series where, if anything, success will be even harder to come by. Sure,
nobody races for sixth place, but Logano didn't sound the least bit
appreciative of his team's considerable effort that night, and he's really
done nothing else to endear himself since. The best move for
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*TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
<tr_1216016265381>**Matt McLaughlin's Thinkin' Out Loud :
*<http://www.frontstretch.com/mmclaughlin/18449/>
*Lifelock.com 400*
*by Matt McLaughlin*
*
Two Busch Brothers, Two Careers Headed In Opposite
Directions*<http://www.frontstretch.com/tbowles/18450/>
*by Tom Bowles*
*
Ten Points To Ponder ... After
Chicagoland*<http://www.frontstretch.com/tthompson/18451/>
*by Tommy Thompson*
*Bubble Breakdown : Waltrip, McDowell In A Bind After Tough Go At
Chicago*<http://www.frontstretch.com/mravesi/18446/>
*by Mike Ravesi*
*Sprint Cup Rookie Report: Rough Ride For NASCAR Freshmen At
Chicagoland*<http://www.frontstretch.com/dturnbull/18447/>
*by Doug Turnbull*
*
<http://tr_1215411316477/>**Nationwide Series Breakdown : Dollar General 300
* <http://www.frontstretch.com/bkeith/18412/>
*by Bryan Davis Keith*
*FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA*
*Q. He was the first Grand National driver to win four races in a row. Who
is he?*
*Check tomorrow's newsletter for the answer!*
*Friday's Answer:**
Q.**This was the first track to host a NASCAR race run with restrictor
plates. Where and when?**?
A.** The first Grand National race to be run with restrictor plates was the
1970 Yankee 400 at Michigan International Speedway on August 16, 1970.
Charlie Glotzbach won the race in a Dodge Daytona.**
*
*
*
* Frontstretch Trivia Guarantee; If we mess up, you get the shirt off our
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*Coming Tomorrow in the Frontstretch Newsletter*
-- Top News *from Phil Allaway and Tom Bowles*
-- Sitting in the Stands: A Fan's View *by S.D. Grady
**TOMORROW ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:*
*The Voice Of Vito
*
*by Vito Pugliese*
Kyle Busch's championship run is starting be reminiscent of some of the
greatest seasons of the past ... but as Vito discovers, those were champions
who didn't have a "Chase" to yank their points out from under them.
*The Yellow Stripe
**by Danny Peters*
Danny breaks down the 18 drivers still competing for a spot in the Chase,
and who has the best chance to emerge amongst the Top 12 with seven races
left.
*
Who's Hot / Who's Not In Sprint Cup :** ** LifeLock.com 400*
* by Mike Lovecchio*
Yeah, you know Kyle Busch is stiniking up the show, but Mike will let you
know not only who's burning up right now, but also who's burning out!
*Running Their Mouth :** ** LifeLock.com 400*
*by Beth Lunkenheimer*
Beth tracked all the wild and wacky things the Cup drivers said at Chicago,
and she's put it together in one easy-to-read column for your convenience.
*The Race For Ratings Points : Critiquing NASCAR TV**
by Doug Turnbull*
TNT's short stay is over, and now we're welcoming back ESPN. But how well
did Bill, Wally and Kyle do during this six week stretch? Find out Tuesday
on the Frontstretch!
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