The Frontstretch Newsletter: January 4th, 2010

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THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER

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January 4th, 2010

Volume IV, Edition I

Editor's Note: Wondering where the Newsletter was these last couple of days? Don't forget, it's the offseason now ... so we've scaled down to once a week, with editions coming out sometime on Mondays. Expect the first edition of 2010 to head your way on Monday, January 11th.

And, let us be the last to wish you a Happy New Year!! Hope you had a wonderful start to 2010. - FS Staff

Top News
Report: Jimmie Johnson's Wife Pregnant
by Tom Bowles

As first reported by ESPN's Marty Smith, NASCAR's reigning four-time champ is set to become a first-time dad. Jimmie Johnson has confirmed wife Chandra is pregnant, with the baby expected sometime in Mid-July.

This will be the first child for both Chandra, 31, and the 34-year-old Johnson. The couple has been married since 2004.
 

NASCAR News in Review:  December 29th, 2009 - January 3rd, 2010

By Phil Allaway

Front Row Motorsports 2010 Plans Revealed, 2 Full-Time Cars

 

On Wednesday, Travis Kvapil announced on his new Twitter page that he had a full-time deal for the Sprint Cup Series in 2010, but chose to keep his new team a secret. 

Well, it didn't take long for that mystery to get unraveled.

 

FoxSports.com's Lee Spencer reported Friday Front Row Motorsports reached an agreement with Kvapil to take over behind the wheel of the No. 34 car in 2010.  Steven Lane will continue with the team as crew chief, with sponsorship to be announced at a later date.

 

Kvapil will replace John Andretti in the No. 34.  In 34 races, Andretti had three top 20s, scoring a best finish of 16th in the rain-shortened New Hampshire race in June.  Andretti, along with Tony Raines, were competitive enough to keep the No. 34 35th in owner points for virtually all season, but it wasn't enough for either driver to earn the full-time ride for 2010.  Instead, it's Kvapil who'll be entrusted to keep the team inside the top 35 through the first five races this season -- and beyond.

 

For his part, Kvapil is happy for the opportunity to continue his Sprint Cup career with Front Row Motorsports.

 

“I'm happy to have the opportunity because there's not many opportunities out there [to race],” Kvapil said on Thursday.  “The Front Row Motorsports team has a lot of good things going for them. Sponsorship is critical to the survival of a race team, but despite what type of sponsorship has been brought in in the past, Bob Jenkins, the owner, has always been committed to running a full-time deal.”

 

In other news at FRM, the company has now committed to running two cars. Driving the No. 37 will be Kevin Conway, with funding allowing the organization to bump up the effort from a start and parker to a car that'll run the distance each week.  The 30-year-old will run for Rookie of the Year with sponsorship from ExTenZe, the brand of male enhancement pills best known for their commercials (and infomercials) that are chock full of innuendo and double entendre. 

 

ExTenZe sponsored Conway's efforts for three different teams (No. 23 for R3 Motorsports, No. 26 for K-Automotive Racing (in an alliance with R3 Motorsports), and No. 87 for NEMCO Motorsports) during the 2009 Nationwide Series season.  Conway's best finish was a 15th at Kentucky while driving the No. 87 Toyota, leaving him without a top 10 in a total of 25 career Nationwide starts. Conway's lone Sprint Cup experience to date is the Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500k in November, where he practiced and qualified TRG Motorsports’ No. 70 (he failed to make the field).

 

Also, it was announced Front Row Motorsports will be switching manufacturers from Chevrolet to Ford for the 2010 season. Sources claim the move comes with additional manufacturer support.

Changes for Furniture Row Racing

 

Sirius Speedway’s Dave Moody reported on Thursday that Mark McArdle, formerly of Richard Petty Motorsports, will serve as the Director of Competition at Denver, Colorado-based Furniture Row Racing in 2010.  McArdle served as RPM’s Director of Competition until he was fired as a result of a spat with team co-owner George Gillett at Richmond in September.

 

Faced with a new challenge, McArdle is looking forward to building the small, single-car operation as it returns to full-time competition in 2010.

 

“It’s good to be working for someone I can really get behind,” McArdle said.  “Once Ray Evernham left RPM, things became more and more difficult. But [FRR team owner] Barney Visser is in it for all the right reasons, and he’s putting the right people in place to be extremely competitive.”

 

In addition, the team named Ryan Coniam Monday as the new crew chief on the No. 78 for 2010.  Coniam will replace Jay Guy, who left the team following Homestead.  Coniam comes from an engineering background, having previously held engineering positions with Germain Racing, DEI, and a brief stint with Bill Davis Racing.  But perhaps most intriguing of all is the return of Pete Rondeau to at-the-track duties, officially hired as the car chief of FRR. Rondeau, 44, had been working Research and Development for Petty Enterprises for the last four years after a failed stint as Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s crew chief at DEI in 2005.

 

Greg Biffle to run Nationwide races with Baker-Curb Racing in 2010?

 

Last Monday, SceneDaily.com reported that Baker-Curb Racing was relatively close to signing a Sprint Cup driver to take over for Jason Keller behind the wheel of the No. 27 Ford in the Nationwide Series. According to the NASCAR Insiders, that driver is Greg Biffle. There's no official announcement as of yet, but the team is expected to run a limited schedule with a sponsor to be announced.

Why would the team go after a Cup driver?  Gary Baker claims that it would give the team a “race weekend advantage.”  For example, most Nationwide qualifying sessions take place immediately after a Sprint Cup practice session.  Cup drivers can bring information about the track to the Nationwide team they’re driving for, which allows that team to make adjustments for qualifying.  This would likely give the team with the Cup driver an advantage.

 

As for Biffle, it's not the first time he's driven for Baker-Curb.  In spot duty from 2005-2008, when the team was still known as Brewco Motorsports, he won one race (Bashas‘ Supermarkets 200, April, 2005), and earned 17 top 5s and 29 top 10s in 43 starts.  Sponsors for those races included Yard Man, Cub Cadet, Subway, Duraflame, the United States Postal Service, and Henkel Products.

Baker-Curb has been left in an unsavory position since the end of the 2009 season. They've been forced to find a new sponsor to replace Kleenex on the No. 27 Ford, who decided to move up to the Sprint Cup Series with JTG Daugherty Racing.  The team also parted ways with longtime veteran driver Jason Keller, who remains a free agent looking for a full-time Nationwide ride.

 

More Baby News

 

The holiday season is considered to be a time where families get to spend plenty of time together, reminisce, and give thanks.  And for a couple of families in the NASCAR community, there was a little extra reason to be thankful this year.

 

On New Year’s Day, ESPN pit reporter Shannon Spake (with her husband, Jerry McSorley) gave birth to healthy twin boys.  The twins, named Liam Jerome and Brady James, weighed in at four pounds, eight ounces and four pounds, five ounces, respectively.  Mother and children are doing well, and through her Twitter page, Shannon thanked followers for congratulations.

 

The next day, on Saturday, former Sprint Cup driver Steve Park and his wife, Jessica, welcomed Jaden Robert into their family around 5 PM.  Jaden weighed in at a healthy eight pounds, four ounces on the scale.

 

We here at Frontstretch wish the best for both the Parks and Spake / McSorleys.

 

Have news for Phil and the Frontstretch? Don't hesitate to let us know; email us at ashl...@mail.com with a promising lead or tip.

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FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q:  In 1988, Tommy Ellis won the Busch Grand National Series Championship by 295 points over Rob Moroso - the last time that a driver won a championship in NASCAR's three major touring series without a primary sponsor.  However, that success enabled Ellis and car owner John Jackson to attract a new company to fund their race team for 1989.  What was this primary sponsor?
 
Check back next Monday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
 
Last Monday's Answer:
Q.  1994 marked the last year that the then-Busch Grand National Series raced at Orange County Speedway in Rougemont, North Carolina (for those race fans who are not from the Carolinas, Rougemont is located near Durham in the northeast part of the state).  Hermie Sadler claimed victory that evening in a thrilling race, with a controversial ending.  What happened?

A.  Coming down to the end of the race (known as The Pantry 400, despite the fact that it was a 300-lap event), there were a multitude of incidents.  First, George Crenshaw in the No. 07 Campbell's Soup Chevrolet blew an engine.  Crenshaw pulled his Lumina to the apron, allowing racing to continue.  However, Crenshaw had dumped a bunch of oil on the track, causing Ricky Craven and Tim Fedewa to spin - bringing out the yellow.

 

That left Hermie Sadler to take the yellow flag as the leader -- but he promptly spun out in the oil as well after being tapped by the No. 79 of Dave Rezendes.  Just as his car came to a halt, he was then hit in the rear by the No. 96 of Stevie Reeves, causing significant damage to Sadler's No. 25 Chevrolet.  After getting back in motion, Sadler tried to race Dennis Setzer in the Alliance No. 59 to the line, but ultimately came up short.  Taking the flag in front of Sadler, it looked like Setzer had won himself the race.

Not so fast.

Unfortunately for Setzer, TNN replays showed that Sadler took the yellow flag right before he wrecked.  Under NASCAR rules at the time, all Sadler technically had to do at that point was maintain his position on the track.  So, even though he wrecked, Sadler had a substantial lead over Setzer before the yellow, leaving him enough time to get going again before Setzer caught up to him. That left Sadler sitting in Victory Lane with a wrecked race car ... and Setzer wondering what might have been.
 
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!!
 
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Coming Monday, January 11th, 2010 in the Frontstretch Newsletter:
-- Top News from Phil Allaway and more!
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