*THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER Presented by
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<http://frontstretch.com/>**The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on
the Net!*
June 30th, 2008
Volume II, Edition CXXI
*Today's Top News*
*Kurt Busch Pulls Upset, Uses Pit Strategy To Win Lenox Industrial Tools 301
*
*by Phil Allaway*
Kurt Busch needed a miracle in the worst way to win the race at New
Hampshire Sunday afternoon.
Turns out all he needed was a little rain dance.
Busch snagged his first victory of the year on Sunday, taking the trophy in
the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. It was a
rather bizarre affair, as the race was shortened to 284 laps when a severe
thunderstorm entered the area and drenched the track with heavy rain.
For most of the event, Busch sat back in traffic with his No. 2 Penske
Dodge, running midpack while Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., and Kevin
Harvick took turns at the front of the field. But while those drivers had
strong cars, the complexion of the race changed on lap 216 when Aric
Almirola spun his No. 8 U.S. Army Chevrolet in turn 2 to bring out the fifth
yellow flag. All the leaders stayed out, but many of the midfield runners
pitted for four tires and fuel, causing a split: the leaders that stayed out
were outside of their pit window, while some of the backmarkers thought they
could go the distance on fuel. So, when the sixth yellow came out on lap
274, the contenders pitted for gas while eight cars stayed out and hoped
their fuel was good enough to make it the rest of the race. Kurt Busch
happened to be the highest placed of those, and he was able to hold off
Michael Waltrip to claim victory when the rains came and cut the race short
on lap 284.
"[Pitting on lap 218] put us within a couple laps of making it to the end,"
Busch said after the race. "We just needed one caution. Fortunately, we
got that caution."
Behind the elder Busch were Michael Waltrip, J.J. Yeley, Martin Truex Jr.,
Elliott Sadler, Reed Sorenson and Casey Mears, drivers who all pitted on lap
218 during the fifth caution and stretched their fuel.
Denny Hamlin in eighth was the first finisher who pitted under the sixth
caution on lap 275, followed by the No. 48 of Jimmie Johnson. Outside pole
sitter Bobby Labonte rounded out the Top 10 finishers.
*
The Race To The Chase*
Kyle Busch had a sub-standard day at Loudon, spending most of his race in
the 12-24 range after starting 27th. To add insult to injury, right after
the caution came out for the crash involving Clint Bowyer and Sam Hornish
Jr., Busch was intentionally spun out by Juan Pablo Montoya, intentionally.
Since the race never restarted, the spin dropped Busch to a 25th place
finish. As a result, Busch's point lead is down to 64 over Jeff Burton, who
finished 12th to keep his "miles complete" success story intact (he's
finishes all b. Dale Earnhardt Jr., despite being run over from behind by
Jamie McMurray late in the race, actually gained eight points in the
standings on Kyle Busch after finishing 24th. Carl Edwards remains in
fourth in the points; after Sunday's 17th place finish, he's now 234 outside
the lead.
Jimmie Johnson ran up front before the sixth caution flew for Earnhardt Jr.,
McMurray and Ragan's crash. Pitting under caution for fuel only dropped him
to ninth. Since there was so little time between the restart from the
yellow to the end of the race, Johnson could not make up any positions.
Finishing ninth allows him to keep the fifth spot in points, and to gain on
Kyle Busch. Jeff Gordon stays in the sixth spot after his 11th place
finish. Denny Hamlin moves up one spot to seventh after finishing eighth on
Sunday. Hamlin is only 21 points behind Jeff Gordon in the standings. Greg
Biffle is now eighth after finishing 21st Sunday.
Tony Stewart is up two positions to ninth in the standings this week, but
he's not too pleased with his 13th place finish on Sunday. Stewart led the
most laps (132) and was in front when he took two tires under caution on lap
275. Stewart came out of the pits in 14th and was only able to recover one
spot before the race ended. Kasey Kahne is down to tenth in points after
finishing 30th on Sunday. Kahne was really hurt by spinning out late in the
race (as the result of contact with the No. 8 of Aric Almirola, which did
not draw a caution), and having to pit under green for tires. Clint Bowyer
is eleventh after crashing at the end of the race. fter the wreck, Bowyer
lumbered around in 22nd with his smoking No. 07 until the race was called
due to rain. Rounding out the top 12 is Kevin Harvick, who re-enters the
top 12 with his 14th place finish on Sunday. Matt Kenseth, who was bumped
out, is eight points behind Harvick.
*
The Danger Zone
*
The pit strategy that came into play at the end of Sunday's race resulted in
some teams in the Danger Zone scoring high finishes. The biggest example of
this is the No. 55 of Michael Waltrip, who finished second after running no
better than 23rd all season long. To add to the surprise, Waltrip was
actually forced to start at the rear of the field due to an engine change.
Waltrip then slowly made his way up through the field, but stalled out
around midpack before pit strategy carried him throuh What got Waltrip into
his position at the end was pit strategy. Waltrip pitted on lap 218 under
the fifth caution of the day (when Aric Almirola spun in turn 2). The goal
was to reach the end on fuel from there. Waltrip inherited second place
when the leaders pitted on lap 275 and held on.
J.J. Yeley, in the No. 96 Texas Instruments DLP HDTV Camry, is another
driver who benefited from this strategy. He drove his Toyota to a 3rd place
finish, easily his best in his first season behind the wheel of that car.
This finish boosted to No. 96 back to 37th in owners points, but they still
trail 35th by 157 points. Reed Sorenson in the No. 41 also took advantage
of this strategy to finish in the sixth position, boosting himself from 35th
to 31st in owners' points, 109 points ahead of 36th.
Even with these results from Sunday, nobody moved in or out of the top 35.
The margin between 35th and 36th (the Haas CNC Racing No. 66) increased ever
so slightly this week; and as of now, the No. 66 is still the only non-top
35 team within striking distance of getting back over the bubble.
**
***Secret Star Of The Race : The Best Run You Never Saw
*
After dominating all weekend practice sessions at New Hampshire, everyone
thought this would be the day Chip Ganassi Racing would finally break out of
its season-long funk. But for the most part, things didn't work out as
planned for the three-car operation; promising weekends by *Dario Franchitti
*and *Juan Pablo Montoya* ended with a thud, as both drivers saw their
chances at a solid finish ruined by separate on-track incidents. Only *Reed
Sorenson* was able to salvage something positive, although most of that work
came under the radar screen … and courtesy of some solid pit strategy.
Shortly after the race's halfway point, Sorenson had fallen all the way back
from 6th to 31st following contact from none other than teammate Juan Pablo
Montoya. Eventually dropping a lap behind, Sorenson needed the Lucky Dog to
simply put himself back in contention on lap 204; but just ten laps later,
crew chief Donnie Wingo made the fateful call to bring the No. 41 car down
pit road for a stop under yellow. That gave them the extra fuel mileage
needed to gain track position sixty laps later, with the timely caution flag
allowing Sorenson to bump up to sixth for just his second Top 10 of the
season.
"We were close [on fuel], so we decided what the heck, the rain was close so
we decided to stay out and see what happened," said Sorenson's crew chief
Donnie Wingo after the race. "We needed a day like this; hopefully, we've
made some gains."
Only time will tell, but one thing's for sure after Sunday afternoon : both
Wingo and Sorenson are now a big fan of the rain. – *Tom Bowles*
*STAT OF THE WEEK: 26*. That's the average points position of Sunday's Top 5
finishers heading into the race at New Hampshire. Fourth-place Martin Truex,
Jr. held the high-water mark of the five, coming in a robust 17th in points
as the only driver remotely within consideration for the Chase. But behind
him, Kurt Busch (22nd), Elliott Sadler (25th), Michael Waltrip (30th), and
J.J. Yeley (36th) were all in dire need of a boost. When's the last time a
Cup race had a finishing order that lopsidedm you ask? It's not as long ago
as you might think; in the Coca-Cola 600 last May, the race won by a
surprising Casey Mears saw its Top 5 drivers (J.J. Yeley, Kyle Petty, Reed
Sorenson, Brian Vickers) come into it with an average point position of just
31st. *–Tom Bowles*
*Editor's Note : Remember, for the latest news from the Nationwide and
Craftsman Truck Series each weekend, please see our "Today On The
Frontstretch" section for reviews of both races by your favorite writing
experts!*
*Think you have what it takes to write for the Frontstretch?*
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and/or newsletter!
*Big Six:** LENOX Industrial Tools 301***
*by Amy Henderson*
*Who…gets my shoutout of the race?*
How about *Casey Mears*, who used pit strategy to dominate a portion of the
race and finish seventh just two days after it was announced that he will
not return to Hendrick Motorsports in 2009. Mears very well had the car to
beat had the race run the full 301 lap distance; race winner Kurt Busch had
a broken shock and would almost certainly have been black flagged for a
piece of equipment that was dragging, and the five cars that separated Busch
from Mears were significantly slower. But either way, Mears was impressive
all day long.
*What…was up with Montoya turning Kyle Busch under caution?*
*It happened right in front of me, and I still don't know* why Montoya
turned Kyle Busch, spinning out both Busch and his own race car. Had it been
any of several other drivers, payback comes to mind, because Busch can't be
making any friends out there with his "I'm entitled to that spot and you'd
better give it to me or else" attitude, but I can't recall an incident with
Montoya recently. A little karma here? After all, Busch got what many
thought he had coming -- though it certainly appeared he didn't deserve it
this time -- while Montoya got caught up in a wreck of his own making.
*Where…did the polesitter wind up?*
Not where he probably would have liked. Rookie Patrick Carpentier won his
first career pole on Friday, but was only able to back it up with *a
31st-place finish*, two laps down to Kurt Busch.
*When…Will NASCAR finally figure out what they want?*
When Robby Gordon declared over the radio that he was going to retaliate
against another driver, he got parked. But when Aric Almirola did just that
- he said, "The (No.) nine is mine" to his crew after Kasey Kahne turned him
around, and made good shortly after, there was no immediate penalty, and
Almirola finished on the lead lap. Seems a little odd that there was no
black flag for rough driving; Kahne didn't hit anything, and the spin didn't
even cause a caution, but blatant retaliation has never been tolerated
before. Is that going to change, or *was NASCAR simply looking the other way
for some unknown political reason?*
*Why…would NASCAR think open testing is a good idea?*
I liked the way they did it before - limit testing to a certain number but
wherever teams wanted to go-better than the current system. However, *open
testing is a bad idea* for a couple of reasons. Mainly, the root of parity
in NASCAR should be money, not cars; and all that policy would do is let the
teams that have money run rampant while the others fall further behind. If
you want to run off all the small teams, that would be a place to start, I
guess. Also, open testing would either require teams to make another road
trip virtually every week to keep up, or field a separate test team-which
only works to the extent that the actual driver agrees with what the test
driver does. It's just a bad idea all around. I understand what NASCAR is
trying to do, but it's not the right way to go about it.
*How…much better is it to be lucky than good?*
*Apparently, a lot! *While some drivers don't believe in luck, Kurt Busch
certainly should. Had the rain held off, or had the last caution not come
out, Busch almost certainly would not have won. Kurt has to be happy to
finally beat little brother Kyle, too.
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*TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:*
*Matt McLaughlin's Thinkin' Out Loud : Lenox Industrial Tools
301*<http://www.frontstretch.com/mmclaughlin/18047/>
*by Matt McLaughlin*
*
Ten Points To Ponder ... After New
Hampshire*<http://www.frontstretch.com/tthompson/18067/>
*by Tommy Thompson
**
Mears Almost Had It All ... But Almost Doesn't Cut
It*<http://www.frontstretch.com/tbowles/18071/>
*by Tom Bowles
**
Sprint Cup Rookie Report: Almirola Ascends To The Top In New
Hampshire*<http://www.frontstretch.com/tlumbis/18070/>
*by Tony Lumbis
**
Top 35 Breakdown : Rain Shines Down On Several "Bubble"
Teams*<http://www.frontstretch.com/mravesi/18046/>
*by Mike Ravesi*
*
Nationwide Series Breakdown : Camping World RV Sales
200*<http://www.frontstretch.com/bkeith/18065/>
*by Bryan Davis Keith
<tr_1214806745099>**Tracking The Trucks : O'Reilly
200*<http://www.frontstretch.com/blunkenheimer/18045/>
*by Beth Lunkenheimer*
*FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA*
*Q. What rule change did NASCAR implement in part due to an on-track
incident at Loudon in 2003?*
*Check tomorrow's newsletter for the answer!*
*Friday's Answer:**
Q. In what year did NASCAR mandate teams using a mid-size car in Cup
competition?*
*A.** **1980 was the last Winston Cup/Grand National season in which full
size cars were permitted by NASCAR. Starting in 1981, cars were limited to
110-inch wheel base, down from 115 inches.*
*Correction! *Thursday's trivia question had an incorrect answer for the
meaning of the abbreviation STP. In 1961, when Studebaker purchased the STP
company, they marketed the product as "Studebaker TestED Products" for a
short while, not "Studebaker test parts" as reported. (Ren's memory fails
him once again!) When STP was invented, the name originally was derived from
"Scientifically Treated Petroleum."
*
*
* 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
tri...@frontstretch.com and we'll send you a Frontstretch T-Shirt. Free! *
*Coming Tomorrow in the Frontstretch Newsletter*
-- Top News *from Bryan Davis Keith 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*
This week, Vito tacks on Toyota's success -- and points to a little extra
driver aggression that may be making all the difference in their camp.
*The Yellow Stripe
**by Danny Peters*
This week, we're off to the movies as Danny has a little fun with both
NASCAR and Hollywood.
*
Who's Hot / Who's Not In Sprint Cup :** LENOX Industrial Tools 301***
* by Mike Lovecchio*
Mike's got the inside look at which seasons are on fire and which ones are
freezing cold heading to Daytona.
*Running Their Mouth :** LENOX Industrial Tools 301*
*by Beth Lunkenheimer*
Beth tracked all the wild and wacky things the Cup drivers said up in the
great Northeast, 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*
How did TNT do this week? Did Weber, Dallenbach and Petty continue to
improve, or were they all wet like the weather? Find out Tuesday on the
Frontstretch!
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