The Frontstretch Newsletter: November 16th, 2009

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THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
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The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
November 16th, 2009
Volume III, Edition CCXXI

Sprint Cup Race Recap
By Jay W. Pennell

 

Proving Their Point

One week after wrecking in the opening laps at Texas, points leader Jimmie Johnson set out to prove the No. 48 team was deserving of a record-setting fourth straight title. Starting from the third spot on Sunday, it only took him fifty-three laps to find the lead.

He never looked back.

In a dominating performance, Johnson put the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet in front of the pack for 238 of the 312 laps at the 1-mile Phoenix International Raceway for his fourth win in five races in the desert. Entering the day just seventy-three points ahead of teammate Mark Martin in the standings, the three-time defending champion extended that advantage to 108, needing just a 25th place finish or better to become the first man in history to win four straight titles in Sprint Cup.

“We don’t need to get too excited about things, but one-o-something is better than 73,” Johnson said. “What a great car. What a great race team. We could have been easily been down, and certainly, there were some dark moments last week about the points lead and what we lost. These guys have bounced back and have always been good at it.”

Leading final practice and qualifying well, it was clear from the outset of the weekend that the No. 48 team would be amongst the favorites come Sunday. And despite strong runs from Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin, and Jeff Burton throughout the day, in the end the No. 48 team did what they did best – celebrate in Victory Lane. Although Jeff Burton’s car came on strong in the end, no one was able to touch Johnson as he earned his seventh victory of the 2009 season.

"When we put new tires on, the car came to life, and then we had a couple of small adjustments that really, really helped it,” he said. “I could get out to a nice comfortable lead and ride and protect what I had -- work my way through traffic. Not with ease, but better than the other guys. Had a great finish."

Behind him, Burton overcame starting 36th to score his best finish of the 2009 season. A step or two behind the competition all year long, RCR was able to put two cars in the top-10 Sunday in Phoenix (Bowyer finished 7th).

“Everybody has been working really hard,” Burton said. “Todd Berrier (crew chief) has come in and done a great job. Scott Miller has done a great job helping get our company where we need to be. We are working hard. We're getting there. We're not 100% there, but we're gaining and real proud of everybody's effort.”

Fading at the end, Hamlin scored his fourth third-place finish at Phoenix. Expecting more on the day, the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Camry called himself the "king of mediocrity" at PIR.

“Track position meant so much here,” Hamlin said. “You got to try to push when you can, and my pit crew did an awesome job closing the gap on that last pit stop. I got within a car length of him (Jimmie Johnson), but I just used myself up getting there and the 31 (Jeff Burton) came on strong. Overall, it was a great day for us.”

Finishing fourth, Mark Martin lost 35 points to teammate Jimmie Johnson and perhaps his shot at the title. With one race to go, Martin now must close the gap on the No. 48 at a track he has not raced on since 2007.

"I'm pretty proud of what we've done this season,” Martin said with a smile. “That's really all I've got to say about it. I'm proud of what we've accomplished."

Pole sitter Martin Truex, Jr. earned his first top-5 of the season after moving past Kurt Busch late in the race. Busch held on to finish sixth, while Clint Bowyer, Juan Pablo Montoya, Jeff Gordon, and David Reutimann rounded out the top-10.

Kurt Busch started the day from the outside of the front row and was able to wrangle the top spot away from pole sitter Martin Truex, Jr. to lead the first fifty-two laps. But once the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge hit traffic, Johnson closed the gap and went to work. After a short battle, Johnson took the lead as Busch battled to stay in contention.

After a clean start to the 312-lap event, a debris caution on Lap 116 brought the field to pit road for the second time and set up the first double-file restart at PIR. Johnson slowly brought the field to the green flag, but as he pulled away from Martin on his outside the field stacked up behind him and the caution was quickly thrown again.

As the field checked up on the restart, Brad Keselowski was hit from behind by David Ragan. Michael Waltrip received the worst of the damage, while Erik Darnell, Elliott Sadler, Robby Gordon, Jamie McMurray, John Andretti, and David Gilliland were also involved.

Following the restart, Denny Hamlin made his first charge to the front of the field after moving around Martin for second. That charge, however, was stalled when the third caution was thrown on Lap 164 for debris. While the leaders hit pit road for service, the clean-up crews searched for the debris with no luck. Even pace car driver Brett Bodine reported to NASCAR saying, “We couldn’t locate it either, tower.”

Johnson again brought the field to the green flag for the restart on Lap 168, this time with Richard Childress Racing’s Clint Bowyer trying to knock him from the top spot. However, a nine car pileup coming off the fourth turn slowed the field for the fourth caution of the day just four laps later.

Racing in the middle of the pack, Dale Earnhardt Jr. battled on the inside of Marcos Ambrose with the rest of the field stacked up behind them. Coming off the corner, Earnhardt, Jr. lost control of the car and spun the No. 88 as those behind him tried to make their way through the mess. The incident blocked the track and in the end collected Keselowski, Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, Joey Logano, Bobby Labonte, Sam Hornish, Jr., Scott Speed, and Brian Vickers.

Reports emerged just prior to the incident that the No. 88 was leaking fluid; however, the bumper camera from Ryan Newman’s car showed Earnhardt got on the apron and simply lost control. Frustrated with being caught up in the wreck, Stewart radioed his crew, calling Earnhardt, Jr. a “no talent SOB.”

After a lengthy cleanup, it was back to racing and more Johnson domination. The final 134 laps saw nothing but green flag racing, as Johnson and his Chad Knaus-led team looked to further solidify their championship season. Behind them, Jeff Burton emerged on the scene to take the second spot with twenty-nine laps to go.

Sunday’s Checkered O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 presented by Pennzoil saw nine lead changes amongst four different drivers, and was slowed four times by yellow flags. Next week, the Chase for the Sprint Cup concludes at the Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Jay W. Pennell is a freelance writer. His blog can be seen at jaywpennell.blogspot.com.
Tell us what you think about Jay!  Email questions, comments, concerns to frontstre...@googlegroups.com.

Point Standings (Top 12)
By Phil Allaway

Jimmie Johnson's victory on Sunday has not locked the championship up, but it has taken quite a bit of the doubt out of the likely result.  Johnson's lead is back up to 108 points, an increase of 35 over teammate Mark Martin, who finished fourth.  As a result, all Johnson needs to do at Homestead next Sunday is to finish 25th or better and the fourth title is his.  Of course, that's assuming that Martin wins the race and leads the most laps... he must run at least seventh to even have a chance at wresting away the title from Johnson.

 

Jeff Gordon remains third in points, but is now 169 out of the lead.  He will be eliminated from championship contention at the drop of the green flag at Homestead.  Further back, Kurt Busch is still fourth in points after a sixth place finish on Sunday.  Tony Stewart is still in fifth, but had a pretty tough afternoon.  Stewart's car didn't handle very well, and was hanging on to the end of the lead lap when he got involved in the big crash on lap 170.  This definitely didn't help matters much.  The caution for the wreck was then the only real chance the team got to fix the car since the race went green to the finish from lap 178.  By the end of the race, Stewart was a very disappointing 25th.

 

Just four points behind Tony is Juan Pablo Montoya.  Montoya had a fairly good run on Sunday, finishing eighth after starting 17th.  However, the crash at Texas completely derailed a potential charge for the podium in the final standings.  Greg Biffle is in seventh, 32 points behind Montoya.  Biffle had an average day, running just outside of the top 10 for the most of the race before finishing 14th.  Denny Hamlin, despite another third place finish at Phoenix, is still eighth, while Ryan Newman is ninth after a mediocre 20th place finish.  He is 65 points behind Hamlin.

 

Kasey Kahne maintained the 10th place spot in the standings, but simply was not all that great on Sunday, notching a 15th place finish.  Carl Edwards was right behind him in 16th to maintain 11th in points.  Bringing up the rear is Brian Vickers, who has had a nightmarish Chase all his own.  Sunday saw him get eliminated in the big crash on lap 170, eventually being credited with a 38th place finish.  He is now 666 points out of the lead.

 

Around the 35th Place Cutoff

 

The race for 35th place between the No. 34 of Front Row Motorsports and the No. 82 of the Red Bull Racing Team is just about the same now as it was going into the Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500k on Sunday.  John Andretti was running at the back of the pack on the first restart (lap 120) when a series of check ups resulted in a pileup on the front stretch.  Replays showed that Andretti's car barely grazed another car, but whatever happened there resulted in the No. 34 spending some time behind the wall.  Andretti eventually emerged from the garage and finished the race in 34th place.

 

This would have given Scott Speed an opportunity to gain on the No. 34.  However, Speed got mixed up in the big wreck exiting turn 4.  This rendered the No. 82 uncompetitive for the rest of the race.  Additional wall contact and an unscheduled pit stop under green resulted in Speed finishing 33rd, nine laps down.  Yes, Speed managed to gain some points on Sunday, but it was a measly three points.  The margin is 114 points with only Homestead to go.  All Andretti has to do next week to guarantee a starting spot for the No. 34 in the first five races of 2010 is finish 27th or better, regardless of what Speed does.

 

For Robby Gordon, things were looking pretty bad after he got caught up in the lap 120 restart pileup.  Luckily for Gordon, his crew repaired the Jim Beam No. 7 and allowed him to continue at roughly the same pace as before.  By the end of the race, Gordon was right where he started the day, in 22nd position.  This gives him a 77 point edge over the No. 34, and effectively locks him into the top 35.  The only way the No. 7 team can be knocked out of the top 35 is if some kind of points penalty is assessed this week while the No. 82 comes up with an excellent run to boot.

 

Secret Star Of The Weekend: The Best Run You Never Saw

For Martin Truex, Jr., one’s been the loneliest number that he’s ever known … for about the last four months. Since announcing his departure from his Earnhardt Ganassi Racing team for greener pastures at Michael Waltrip Racing for 2010, it’s been a rocky road of rough performances – even while teammate Juan Pablo Montoya has scored top 5 finish after top 5 finish across the way. With only one top 10 and one pole from July 1st through Texas in November, Truex’s “lame duck” tenure has been mediocre at best, ugly at worst even as his team refuses to get up. Adding insult to injury, a 50-point penalty for failing post-race inspection at Texas left them on the cusp of ending the year outside the top 25 in points.

That’s why Phoenix was so refreshing for the only Cup program Truex has ever known. Winning the pole on Friday, the Rain-X Chevrolet remained at or near the front of the pack virtually all day long in their most consistent race of the year. Despite failing to lead a lap, the No. 1 car held its track position well over the course of a long green flag run, and a solid adjustment on the final pit stop propelled him to a 5th place finish. Not only was it the best run Truex has had all year, it’s the first time he’s scored a top 5 finish since August of 2008 at Watkins Glen. Talk about a long drought…

“It has been a tough year, but they just keep fighting,” he said afterwards. “And they did a great job today." With just one week left to go, it’s a nice way to end a tenure at a place that’ll always hold a special place in his heart. – Tom Bowles

STAT OF THE WEEK:  24.1.  That’s Brian Vickers’ average finish in the Chase, by far the worst of the 12 drivers nine races into the ten-race playoff. With just 5,831 points, Vickers is on the verge of setting a dubious record for the fewest points scored under the Chase format. That ugly mark is currently held by Kurt Busch, who scored 5,974 points in 2005 despite missing the final two races after serving a Roush-ordered suspension for a drunken driving charge. It just goes to show that making the Chase and succeeding under this format are two completely separate things. – Tom Bowles
 
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!
 
Big Six:  Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500k Presented by Pennzoil
By Amy Henderson

Who…gets my shoutout of the race?

 

Sure, I called him to win this week, but hey - I was close!  Jeff Burton finished a solid and hard-raced second at Phoenix, his best run of the year.  Burton has suffered through the mysterious malady that has plagued all four Richard Childress Racing teams this year-but Phoenix is Burton’s third top ten finish in the last three races-a sign that things are turning around?

 

What…was THAT?

 

During the prerace show I caught a piece of a blurb about the No. 2 team that, if I heard correctly, makes Kurt Busch’s Texas win and great run at Phoenix even more impressive.  If I heard correctly, Pat Tryson is no longer welcome in the Penske Racing shop, not even to work on his team’s own cars.  I’ve heard of outgoing drivers and crew chiefs being excluded from team meetings and strategy sessions, but not being allowed to work on their own cars?  If that’s the case, double the props for Busch’s Chase this year and the five top 10 finishes in those nine races. It can’t be easy to call the shots on a car you haven’t seen before it arrives at the racetrack!

 

Where…did the polesitter wind up?

 

Though outclassed in equipment at the end, Martin Truex Jr. still pulled off Chip Ganassi’s best finish as a car owner at PIR this week with a sold fifth.  It was the first top 5 run of the year for Truex, who will depart Earnhardt-Ganassi racing for Michael Waltrip Racing after the season finale at Homestead-Miami.

 

When…will I be loved?

 

Both of the day’s biggest incidents happened when the field was in restart mode.  In the first, a driver (it looked like Greg Biffle on the replay) didn’t take off, and on the second, Dale Earnhardt Jr. got loose and slid into Marcos Ambrose when oil from an internal leak got on his tires, and the ensuing stack-up got messy.  Most of the drivers were on their best behavior all day-but several drivers weren’t feeling the love for quirky and fun Phoenix International Raceway on Sunday, so the track herself takes the fall this week-though it’s hardly deserved.

 

Why…no media hype when Kevin Harvick had the chance at a weekend trifecta?

 

Last week at Texas, when Kyle Busch was trying to become the first driver in NASCAR history to win the Camping World Truck, Nationwide, and Sprint Cup Series races at the same track in a single weekend, it was all over the airwaves, especially after Busch won the truck race and was contending in the Nationwide Series race.  This week, Kevin Harvick won the truck race, and was in contention very late in the Nationwide race, and barely received a passing comment as the talk surrounded Busch’s title run-a title which he did not clinch, but is a certainty as long as he starts at Homestead.  So why no love for Harvick, who is very, very good at Phoenix?

 

How…far out of the points lead is too far with one race to go?

 

Mathematically speaking, two drivers will head to Homestead with a chance to win the Sprint Cup championship: Point leader Jimmie Johnson, who rebounded after finishing 39th in Texas to win in Phoenix, and Mark Martin, who has shown that at 50 he still has what it takes to run with drivers in their prime. Jeff Gordon, who probably occasionally wishes he had hired a different driver in 2001, will be mathematically eliminated as soon as Johnson (who is locked into the race via his top-35 points position) takes the green flag.  Johnson holds a 108-point advantage, and will win the title if he finishes 25th or better, no matter what Martin does.  But Johnson historically isn’t very good at Homestead, and his 13th-place average finish includes only 43 laps led and the DNF that ultimately ended his title hopes in 2005.  Martin’s stats are nearly identical to Johnson’s, with a slightly better average of 12th.  The numbers say it’s Johnson’s title to lose, but as Johnson pointed out after Phoenix, he finished 39th just a week ago-a finish that would almost hand Martin the title should it happen in Homestead.  Bottom line-the fat lady is warming up, but she’s not singing just yet.

 

TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
Matt McLaughlin's Thinkin' Out Loud: Phoenix Fall Race Recap
by Matt McLaughlin

Want To Stop Hendrick? Here's Five Ways How
by Tom Bowles

Five Points To Ponder: Chase Race #9 Edition
by Mike Lovecchio

Bubble Breakdown: Robby Gordon Clinches Spot In Top 35 As Speed, Andretti Stumble
by Mike Ravesi

Wrecks Doom Rookies At Phoenix As Joey Logano Leads The Wounded
by Tony Lumbis

Nationwide Series Breakdown: Able Body Labor 200
by Bryan Davis Keith

Tracking The Trucks: Lucas Oil 150
by Beth Lunkenheimer

FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
 
Q:  Dale Jarrett won the inaugural Jiffy Lube Miami 300 in 1995 at the then-Homestead Motorsports Complex while debuting a new sponsorship from Hudson Technologies.  However, with just two laps to go, Jarrett was running fourth on a track that was very difficult to pass on.  How did he overcome the top three drivers to win?

 

Check back Tuesday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
 
Friday's Answer:
Q:  In the inaugural season of the NASCAR SuperTrucks by Craftsman (now the Camping World Truck Series) in 1995, the season began and ended in Phoenix.  Mike Skinner, driving for Richard Childress Racing, won both events.  The season finale was held as a support race to the Winston Cup Series' Dura Lube 500k.  What was the season-opening race at PIR a part of?

A:  The season opening race at Phoenix International Raceway, held on February 5, 1995, was part of the Skoal Bandit Copper World Classic, and aired live on TNN.  The race was a mere 80 miles (80 laps) in length, with a halftime break in the middle.  Skinner won the race, holding off Terry Labonte in a No. 5 Chevrolet painted up to look like Jeff Gordon's DuPont Chevrolet (an identically painted No. 24, driven by Scott Lagasse Sr., finished 11th).
 
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 by Tom Bowles
-- Sitting In The Stands: A Fan's View by S.D. Grady
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, and more!
 
Tomorrow on the Frontstretch:

Talking NASCAR TV by Phil Allaway
Phoenix International Raceway hosted a trio of relatively entertaining races with their share of action.  It was clear that the drivers brought their "A" game to the track.  However, did NASCAR's TV partners bring their "A" game as well?  Find out in our weekly TV Critique.

 

A Broadcast Team to Brag About by Vito Pugliese

The 2009 season has seen plenty of discussions about the quality of NASCAR race broadcasts, not just from our resident critique, but from all over the place, including NASCAR's own PR representative, Ramsey Poston.  But, imagine if the best possible group were convened to do the Sprint Cup races on Sundays, with no regards to affiliation.  Vito imagines just that in this special feature.

 

The Yellow Stripe by Danny Peters
We'll have another stellar entry from our sophomore columnist as he reviews a weekend's worth of action at Phoenix.
 
Who's Hot / Who's Not In Sprint Cup:  Phoenix Edition by Doug Turnbull
With just one race left on the calendar, time's running out for any struggling teams to get their act together. Who needs to have a good run at Homestead in order to start the offseason on a high note, and who actually benefited themselves by running well at Phoenix on Sunday?  Doug lets us know in his weekly look at driver trends in and around the NASCAR circuit.
 
Running Their Mouth:  Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500k by Beth Lunkenheimer
What did Denny Hamlin say he was going to do to Brad Keselowski? Beth has the answer, bringing us the best quotes of the past weekend from Phoenix.

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