The Frontstretch Newsletter: November 18th, 2008
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November 18th, 2008
Volume II, Edition CCXXII
Today's Top News
by Phil Allaway
Regan Smith named Rookie of the Year
Regan Smith has been officially declared the 2008 Raybestos Brakes Rookie of the Year for the Sprint Cup Series. Officially, Smith clinched the award by finishing 34th in Sunday's Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Smith's main competition for the award, Sam Hornish Jr., failed to qualify for the final race of the season.
"Well, [I'm] real excited to get Raybestos Rookie of the Year. It's a big deal being the first driver from DEI to be able to get it," Smith said after Sunday's Ford 400.
Previous Rookie of the Year campaigners for DEI were Steve Park in 1998, whose rookie season was derailed by a broken leg in a practice crash at Atlanta that forced him to miss 15 races, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2000.
Smith will take home a $75,000 bonus prize for winning the award.
In the 2008 season, Smith started 34 of the 36 races (Ron Fellows drove the No. 01 at the road course events at Infineon (Sears Point) Raceway and Watkins Glen). He failed to earn a top 10 finish, but a pair of 14th place finishes in the March race at Martinsville and the night race at Bristol doubled as his personal bests for the season. Smith ended the 2008 season 34th in driver points, 146 points ahead of Hornish, who was 35th. Of course, his best race was the Amp Energy 500 at Talladega in October, in which he was the first to take the checkers, but was infamously penalized back to 18th for passing Tony Stewart below the yellow line on the final lap.
The 2008 Rookie crop started with a group of six drivers. In addition to Smith and Hornish, Dario Franchitti, Jacques Villeneuve, Patrick Carpentier and Michael McDowell ran for the award. Only Smith and Hornish finished the season. Villeneuve and Franchitti's teams (Nos. 27 and 40, respectively) folded because of lack of sponsorship, while McDowell and Carpentier were let go by their respective teams.
No declared rookie driver earned a top 10 finish all year, although Marcos Ambrose did finish third at Watkins Glen for the Wood Brothers.
The No. 43 has funding for 2009
USA Today is reporting that the No. 43 Dodge for Petty Enterprises has funding (as off last weekend) for the majority of the 2009 season.
However, unlike past years, where one company (STP, or General Mills) had held full primary sponsorship, the No. 43 will have "five or six companies sharing primary sponsorship," according to Petty Enterprises CMO Mike Bartelli. No word as to which companies these are as of yet.
Got NASCAR-related questions or comments?
Send them Matt Taliaferro's way at matt.ta...@frontstretch.com; and if you're lucky, you'll get your name in print when he does his weekly column answering back to you – the fans that keep Frontstretch afloat. Fanning The Flames returns Thursday with a whole new set of Fan Questions and Answers!
Today's Featured Commentary
Standing on the Precipice in NASCAR
Sitting In The Stands: A Fan's View
by S.D. Grady
It's at this time every year that we are afforded a singular moment in which to assess that which has occurred during the NASCAR season and what is on the planning board in the foreseeable future. Maybe it's the recent election, or the downturn in the economy, but this fan is left with a feeling that change is in the air…and not in the same way that the France Foundation has been executing improvements for the past few years.
In 2008, we felt out a few possibilities in the NASCAR world. We proved that even if you come to the stock car club with a spotless racing pedigree from abroad, it means nothing when you climb into one of our massive monsters and go toe-to-toe with our champions. The rookie class, one of the most highly decorated group I've ever seen, fell into oblivion with little more than a whimper. Their rock star notoriety did nothing to save fenders, finishing orders or sponsor dollars. Like so much mist evaporating on the morning breeze, the names of Carpentier, Franchitti and Villeneuve will likely never be heard from again. In 2009, we are being offered up Sliced Bread as the predicted winner of the Rookie of the Year Award. I don't know…perhaps all the 2008 RoTY class proved was that you really need more than two races to develop the ability to be competitive with the elite of the Cup boys. Scott Speed took his time during this season to get accustomed to our beatin' and bangin' ways. I am thinking Joey Logano and overeager teams would be smart to watch and learn from the man with the catchy name.
The much debated CoT fought its way through its first complete season. The fact that teams unanimously have mixed feelings regarding this difficult machine actually tells me that NASCAR did something right in this department. Crew chiefs, drivers and multi-car shops were finally presented with a puzzle that took longer than a week to put together.
The sudden decision this past week to eliminate all testing at NASCAR sanctioned tracks in 2009 looks to throw a bigger wrench in the effort to master the CoT. The purported reason to save money means nothing. Those shops with giant budgets will drive to Timbuktu to get track time. However, nobody will have the opportunity to compile notes from the field of competition. All's fair in love and war… I can't wait to see how the generals in the Cup series work around this obstacle.
Several years ago, we saw the beginning of the Young Guns campaign. We were told the new boys on the block heralded a changing of the guard in our sport. Out with the old, sort of thing. Well, I didn't really see that at the time. All the new campaign represented was new commentators in the television booth trying to make a stamp on the sport.
This year, those drivers that defined excitement and competition in the 90's and first half of this decade began to take the steps of accepting the mantle of elder statesman. The shifting in power was subtle, but ever so significant.
Tony Stewart, a driver with an explosive personality and definitive opinions, announced he would be stepping out on his own, leaving Joe Gibbs without a senior driver in the stable. Dale Earnhardt Jr., even as he didn't quite make the splash in the standings his army hoped for, developed a new penchant. He began to speak about the sport with passion, intelligence and a reasonable amount of wisdom. Jimmie Johnson, now a 3-time champion, labeled a young gun just those few years ago, now interviewed like a veteran of the sport.
Instead of the invasion of a bunch of youthful rookies knocking the doors down, I perceive that the changing of the guard is occurring at the top of the sport. The organizations of Petty, Penske, DEI and Ganassi are all scrambling to find the respect and recognition for their current cars that came so easily to them a mere four years ago. Sponsor dollars are vanishing along with garages staffed with the best drivers in the sport. Will men like Stewart, Junior and Johnson provide the fresh insight to see this sport into the next decade?
And finally, there was the fan. Or the lack of the fans. Week after week, we saw more and more empty seats. Massive banners covered entire sections of grandstands. Frustration with "boring" races colored on-line chat rooms and bulletin boards. My in-box at home was filled weekly with tracks dropping prices and offering even more attractive ticket packages. It all combines to smack of something slightly like desperation.
Perhaps, like no other time in the past fifteen years, NASCAR is about to undergo a year of reorganization. The constant influx of cheap cash, ecstatic fans and eager sponsors is waning with the average Joe's 401k. The long season and always demanding rhythm of our sport places stresses on the competitors and its proponents. What awaits us in 2009? Maybe, massive reorganizations of the racing schedule, further restrictions placed on engineering creativity and a rookie or two with more than five hundred miles of experience in a stock car. Who will be leading this new NASCAR towards the end of the decade? That, I think, will be the greatest surprise of them all.
However, now that 2008 is all said and done, I enjoyed the roller coaster of fast machines, screaming tires and dynamic personalities. I'm already looking forward to the drop of the green flag in Daytona. For there is still one thing assured when NASCAR comes to town, there will be roaring engines and cheering fans. And I'll be there.
See you next year and enjoy your holidays.
Numbers Game : Ford 400
by Kim DeHaven
3
Drivers failed to qualify for the Ford 400.
(No. 96 - Ken Schrader, No. 13 - Max Papis, No. 77 - Sam Hornish, Jr.)
3 hours, 05 minutes, 36 seconds
Time it took to complete the Ford 400.
5
Number of times winner Carl Edwards led the Ford 400 Sunday.
7
Caution flags for a total of 31 laps at Homestead.
7.548
Carl Edwards' margin of victory over Kevin Harvick Sunday in the Ford 400.
9
Wins and 27 Top 10 finishes in 2008 for Ford 400 winner Carl Edwards.
15
Lead changes among eight drivers Sunday.
15th
Jimmie Johnson's finishing position, which was good enough to earn him the 2008 Sprint Cup Championship.
16
Career wins for Carl Edwards in 157 starts.
17
Number of penalties handed out by NASCAR during the running of the Ford 400.
33
Positions gained by Jeff Gordon in the Ford 400 to win the USG Improving the Finish Award.
34th
Regan Smith's finishing position, earning him Raybestos Rookie of the Race honors for the 11th time this season and clinching Rookie of the Year honors.
41
Cars running at the end of the Ford 400; 17 of those finished on the lead lap.
43rd
Kurt Busch's finishing position Sunday in the Ford 400. He was only able to complete 207 laps of the event after a crash in Turn 2.
69
Points that Jimmie Johnson beat Carl Edwards by to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship.
113
Career Cup wins for Jack Roush after Carl Edwards' trip to Victory Lane on Sunday.
129.472
Average race speed (in mph).
157
Laps led by Ford 400 winner Carl Edwards, the most of any driver.
171.636
David Reutimann's pole winning speed (in mph).
267
Laps in the Ford 400, equaling 400.5 miles.
80,000
Estimated crowd in attendance at Homestead.
$371,025
Carl Edwards' purse for winning the Ford 400.
$5,374,166
Total purse for the Ford 400.
Still haven't joined the Frontstretch Forums? Here's a peek at what you're
missing this week:
How does Jimmie Johnson compare to Cale Yarborough?
Ten things we hated about the 2008 season
Ten things we loved about the 2008 season
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TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA
Q. NASCAR Dynasties: These four ownership groups have combined to win half of the Grand National/Cup championships. Who are they?
Check back Wednesday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Monday's Answer
Q. Sunday, Jimmie Johnson won his third consecutive championship tying him for most consecutive wins by a driver. Which ownership group holds the record for longest consecutive championship streak?
A. He's Jimmie's car owner, Rick Hendrick. He accomplished that honor when Jeff Gordon and Terry Labonte combined to win four straight Winston Cup championships for Hendrick from 1995-98.
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 Tomorrow in the Frontstretch Newsletter
-- Top News from Phil Allaway
-- Mike Neff's Full Throttle Commentary
-- Trivia, links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, and more!
Tomorrow on the Frontstretch:
Top 15 Power Rankings by The Frontstretch Staff; compiled by Mike Neff
See who the Frontstretch Staff puts at the top of the end of season rankings, Wednesday on the Frontstretch.
Frontstretch Top Ten by Jeff Meyer
Don't miss another hilarious Top Ten list that'll be sure to leave you laughing the day away at work.
Mirror Driving by the Frontstretch Staff
Our weekly group roundtable discusses
Did You Notice... by Tom Bowles
…There's over six million reasons why the Car of Tomorrow isn't working and it's inability to pass is just one? You would have if you had checked out Did You Notice... last Wednesday. If you didn't, well, don't make the same mistake twice! Check out Did you Notice... Wednesday, only on the Frontstretch.
Thompson In Turn 5 by Tommy Thompson
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