The Frontstretch Newsletter - December 11th, 2007
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The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
December 11th, 2007
Volume I, Edition CLXI
Editor's Note: We've gotten a few messages that have asked, "What
happened to the newsletter?" In case you missed it, we announced on
November 21st that the newsletter is scaling back to a weekly version for the
offseason. Newsletter editions will appear on the following dates:
Monday, December 17th
Friday, December 21st
Friday, December 28th
Monday, January 7th
Monday, January 14th
Monday, January 21st
Monday, January 28th
This week's publication was delayed slightly. As for the daily version, we will
begin Monday-Friday publication once again on Monday, February 4th. And of
course, if news breaks out, we'll break in - to your email inbox with a special
edition of the newsletter.
Thanks as always for your continued support.
Sincerely,
Tom Bowles
Managing Editor
Frontstretch.com
Feedback on the newsletter? Would you like to advertise with us? Reach us at edi...@frontstretch.com .
Today's Top News
Top 35 Qualifying Procedure to Change in 2008
By Tom Bowles
As Frontstretch.com first reported in August, sources claim NASCAR is close to announcing this week a new qualifying procedure for 2008 where all non-Top 35 teams will qualify together. Under these new rules, all cars outside the Top 35 in owner points will have a separate qualifying draw, taking to the track back-to-back to give each driver a level playing field. Once that's complete, the rest of the teams will qualify to set the 43-car field for Sunday's race.
The rule changes will not change the number of exemptions given out; that number is expected to stay at 35, where it's remained since NASCAR implemented its current provisional program in 2005. Initially, this move was to be made during the year, but concerns about consistency kept NASCAR officials from making the switch until after 2007 was complete.
More on
this story as it develops.
In Case You Missed It
News From The Week That Was
by Tom Bowles
Craftsman Ends
Sponsorship of Truck Series After '08 Season
After thirteen years, Sears Craftsman tools announced plans to
discontinue sponsorship of the Truck Series after next season. While ratings
are up for the series as a whole, sales numbers at Sears are down, creating a
marketing crunch that likely contributed to the surprising move.
"The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series represents some of the world's best racing; the season championship has been determined in the final race of the year in 12 of 13 seasons - including 2007," said NASCAR Chief Marketing Officer Steve Phelps. "The series continues to attract some of NASCAR's most avid fans because of its intense, side-by-side competition."
The company did announce plans to continue in the series in some way, perhaps as the sponsor of an individual team for 2009 and beyond. Craftsman is the third different title sponsor to back out of NASCAR in the last five years – Anheuser-Busch recently ended sponsorship of the Busch Series, and Winston Cigarettes ended its Cup title sponsorship back in 2003.
Edwards Honored At Busch
Series Banquet
One week after making the trip to New York, Carl Edwards found himself in
Orlando to receive another season-ending honor Friday night – the NASCAR Busch
Series championship trophy. Receiving a total payout of $2.4 million this
season – $1.2 million of that from the series point fund – Edwards became the
most profitable champion in the final season of Anheuser-Busch's 26-year
sponsorship. The second straight full-time Cup driver to win the title, Edwards'
winnings still paled in comparison to the $7.4 million he won en route to
finishing 8th in the final Nextel Cup points.
David Reutimann, Jason Leffler, Kevin Harvick, David Ragan, Bobby Hamilton, Jr., Stephen Leicht, Marcos Ambrose, Greg Biffle, and Matt Kenseth rounded out the Top 10 – all of whom were honored at the banquet
Rensi Motorsports Signs Sponsor
For Hamilton, Jr.
In a bit of positive news from Orlando, Team Rensi announced that they would
return to the series with Bobby Hamilton, Jr. in 2008, having signed a sponsor
that will compete in the majority of the events. While the second team is still
in search of sponsorship, Rensi guaranteed the program would show up for all 35
Nationwide Series races and again compete for a championship.
Did You Notice?
Offseason Edition
by Tom Bowles
Did You Notice … That during the New York City
banquet week, it turns out mayor Michael Bloomberg didn't even know there
was a Victory Lap parade going on in Times Square, shutting down half of
Manhattan? This tells me a couple of things:
- The state of politics in this country is nearing emergency status
- NASCAR PR is doing a terrible job of spreading word about the banquet activities through the city
-
The series would be wise to invite Bloomberg to the
Victory Lap next year, so as to avoid any possible controversy
Did You Notice … Helio Castroneves created more publicity and goodwill with his Dancing With The Stars gimmick for his sport than Jimmie Johnson did in two years as champion. Let me make this perfectly clear; this is not a knock on Johnson and his personality. He is literally one of the nicest, most genuine people out there. But I look at it like this; I love the show Friday Night Lights. It's one of the most critically acclaimed shows in history; but it's also on the verge of getting cancelled because not enough people watch it.
Bottom line, you can't help what
people like and dislike; and for whatever reason, people are not warming up to
Johnson. Maybe he needs to follow Helio's lead and do a little Dancing…
Did You Notice … Matt
Kenseth and Carl Edwards were the only two Cup drivers who also got to spend an
extra week at a second banquet, collecting checks for finishing in the Busch
Series Top 10 in Orlando. Wonder if they took a plane down together? On a
separate note, the fact these guys are collecting even more money from a
AAA series – after winning upwards of $7 million in their "regular" job – is downright
ridiculous.
Did You Notice … Mike Helton actually said the
other day the series had a banner year … if not for "off-track" distractions?
Actually, he did have it right – people were so bored by some of the on-track
action they got distracted by anything else, creating "off-track" excursions
which demanded their attention.
TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH :
Driver Review: Jeff Gordon
by
Amy Henderson
Driver Review: Robby Gordon
by Vito Pugliese
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA
Q. This driver became the all-time leader in Restrictor Plate track wins
in 2007. Who was he and who did he displace from the top spot?
(answer Monday)
Last Monday's Trivia Answer : Hendrick Motorsports at one point
posted six consecutive victories in 2007 (Talladega through Phoenix). When was
the last time an organization won that many races in a row, and what team
accomplished this feat?
The last organization to win six races in a row was Petty
Enterprises when the King,
Richard
Petty, won a whopping TEN races in a row starting with the Myers
Brothers 250 in Winston-Salem on August 12th, 1967 and ending
seven weeks later on October 1st with his tenth consecutive win at the Wilkes
400 at
North
Wilkesboro.
Think you have what it takes to write for the Frontstretch?
Are you looking for a fast-growing website that can give you an opportunity
to not only share your thoughts on racing, but have FUN doing it with a group
of laid-back, dedicated personnel? Well, we have the place for you.
Frontstretch is now actively seeking writers to add to our dedicated
staff. Follow this link for more information on how you can become a weekly
columnist for the site and/or newsletter!
This Week On The Frontstretch:
Our Frontstretch Driver Reviews continue - with anyone from A.J. Allmendinger
to David Gilliland featured alphabetically.
Rick Crawford stops by to give a post-mortem review on a successful season in
Trucks.
Coming this offseason on the Frontstretch :
Driver Reviews - Beginning THIS WEEK!
by the
Frontstretch Staff
Beginning December 3rd, report cards and information on the ups and down for
each Nextel Cup driver in 2007, as well as a preview of how they all might do
in 2008.
Fanning
The Flames
By Matt Taliaferro
Matt Taliaferro will still answer questions and comments by you,
NASCAR's loyal fans, with several offseason editions! Don't forget to email him
with what you have to say at matt.ta...@frontstretch.com.
Driver Diary Reviews : Rick Crawford and David Starr (Crawford THIS WEEK!)
by the
Frontstretch Staff
And so,
so much more!!!! If you need an offseason fix, don't go anywhere ... the
Frontstretch has what you need.
The next edition of the newsletter will run on Monday, December 17th.