The Frontstretch Newsletter: November 18th, 2009

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THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
November 18th, 2009
Volume III, Edition CCXXIII
 
Correction / Editor's Note: In yesterday's Newsletter, we forgot to give proper credit to a source regarding Kyle Busch's Truck Series prospects for 2010. Information we pulled from his Snowball Derby interview was exclusive to Jayski.com's Truck Series site.

We apologize for failing to acknowledge one of our sources on this story. The full transcript of the interview can be found on his Truck Series site if you're interested. - Eds.

DON'T FORGET THE FRONTSTRETCH LIVE BLOG THIS SUNDAY!

Jimmie Johnson's victory Sunday at Phoenix has given him a 108-point lead going into the season-ending Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, all but securing him a fourth straight title.  But while there may not be much of a race for the championship this weekend, that doesn't mean the action will stop on a 1.5-mile oval whose graduated banking often makes for fantastic finishes.
 
Can't get to a television to watch the race?  Or are you too busy watching the NFL to switch over?  Well, join your favorite Frontstretch writers instead for commentary, opinions, polls, and all kinds of other inside information you just can't get anywhere else as you follow the race LIVE from your computer.  The action starts at 2:45 PM EST on Sunday, so feel free to drop on by.  And remember, viewer posts are always welcome, so don't be shy -- participate!

Today's Top News
by Phil Allaway

Report: McMurray to the No. 1 in 2010

 

FoxSports.com's Lee Spencer is reporting that Jamie McMurray has signed a contract to take over the No. 1 Chevrolet for the 2010 season, replacing Martin Truex, Jr., who is moving over to Michael Waltrip Racing.  Current crew chief Kevin Manion is likely to stay with the No. 1 team as part of the deal.

Our Tom Bowles claims the hangup continues to be Bass Pro Shops. But the one-year agreement with a driver gives the sponsor the leeway to bail after 2010 (when their contract expires) while seeing if McMurray can really fit their needs.

An announcement on the contract is expected this weekend at Homestead-Miami.

 

Mike Wallace Signs with JD Motorsports for 2010

 

JD (Johnny Davis) Motorsports announced on Tuesday that Mike Wallace, driver of the No. 01 Chevrolet, has re-signed with the team to run the full 2010 Nationwide season.

 

"I enjoy working with the entire 01 JD Motorsports Chevrolet team. Johnny and Lori Davis are true racers, and will do whatever it takes to be competitive," Wallace said.  "They have already ramped up the shop and competition development with NASCAR Nationwide driver Kertus Davis heading up the team’s in-shop efforts."

 

"Mike has been a Godsend to us," said team owner Lori Davis on Tuesday.  "His experience and gregarious style has put the entire operation on a planned pathway to success."

 

"We now know that we can run in the top group in the Nationwide Series," Johnny Davis said.  "We have tried to take little steps since Mike came on board.  We know exactly what we need to do for 2010. and we are going to do that."

 

Currently, the No. 01 for JD Motorsports is 23rd in owner points.  The team's best finishes this season are a pair of 15ths at Auto Club Speedway (October) and Memphis with Mike Wallace behind the wheel.  When Danny O'Quinn Jr. was driving, the team's best efforts were four separate 18th place finishes (Las Vegas, Nashville (June), Kentucky, and Gateway).

 

Kelly Bires to Drive Nationwide Series No. 5 at Homestead

 

JR Motorsports is getting their new hire for 2010 a jump start on his relationship with his new team.  Kelly Bires has been named the driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet for this Saturday's Ford 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, with sponsorship provided by Ragu.

 

"We wanted to get Kelly in one of our cars before the season was out," owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. said on Tuesday.  "Ragu has been with us since the beginning of the year, and I appreciate them stepping up their involvement and helping us put this deal together.

 

Bires has made 13 starts in the Nationwide Series this season.  Unfortunately, seven of those starts were in start-and-park rides. However, in the other six events he's entered, he has two top 5 and three top 10 finishes.
 
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.
 
It's Frontstretch Podcast Time!!!
Don't forget about Tom Bowles and Matt Taliaferro's Athlon / Frontstretch Podcast, sponsored this season by Wrigley's! Check out the archive by clicking here, and look for the newest edition to head your way sometime later this week! Of course, if all else fails, you can always listen to us on iTunes for FREE! Search for our weekly show under "Athlon."
 
Today's Featured Commentary
Another Link To The Past Looking To Hang Up The Helmet

Full Throttle
By Mike Neff

The word in the garage area is that an old warhorse my very well be making his final appearance on the track this weekend in Homestead. The entry list for the final race of the season currently lists the No. 70 car with driver TBA, and according to jayski.com and an article posted Tuesday, that driver is likely to be Sterling Marlin. Marlin has been running a limited schedule the last three years, taking any type of journeyman ride he can get, but it appears he's now unwilling to stick around for a fourth. The 52-year-old Marlin told Larry Woody of Racin' Today in a story published Tuesday he'll "probably" call it quits at the end of the year, retiring to his Tennessee farm full-time.

The son of Coo Coo Marlin, a journeyman Cup driver who ran 165 races and scored nine top 5s and 51 top 10s, Marlin hails from Columbia, Tennessee. He started his Cup career in 1976, completing 55 laps in a race at Nashville when he was a mere 19 years old and his father was still running on the Cup circuit. He then went back to cutting his teeth on the local bullrings, becoming a three-time track champion from 1980 through 1982 at Nashville Speedway USA. He made spot starts during that time in Cup, finally choosing to run his first full season for Roger Hamby in 1983 in the No. 17 Hesco Exhaust Chevrolet. He posted a 10th place finish at Dover for his best finish of the year en route to a 19th place finish in the point standings and Rookie of the Year honors. Losing his full-time ride the following year, he languished in part-time efforts until breaking through in Hoss Ellington's car during a limited schedule in '86. Running second in the Pepsi 400 that year, that got him hired by Billy Hagan to drive the No. 44 Piedmont Airlines Oldsmobile for '87. He finished in the top 5 four times that season, with a best finish of third in the Fall race at Charlotte while displaying some consistency for the first time in his career. It was the start of four reasonably productive years with the team, eventually impressing top-level car owner Junior Johnson enough to sign him to a two-year contract in 1991. But even with some of the sport's best equipment, he couldn't cash in on Victory Lane, and he was released at the end of '92 despite 29 top 10s in his last 58 races. Released again after a one-year stint with the Stavola Brothers in 1993, the victory drought had begun to reach uncomfortable territory: Marlin was staring at a winless Cup career despite 268 total starts.

But all of a sudden, things changed in a hurry. Marlin’s first win came in the 1994 Daytona 500, when he was driving for Morgan-McClure Motorsports in the famous No. 4 Kodak machine. Marlin backed that win up with a win the following year in the 500 as well, becoming the third driver in history to win consecutive 500s. He'd go on to finish third in the standings that year, his best effort in over three decades of Cup Series competition.

In 1998, Marlin was hired by Felix Sabates to drive the Coors Light No. 40 Chevrolet. Sabates sold majority interest in his team to Chip Ganassi in 2001, and Marlin was retained to continue driving the Coors Light car. The team switched to Dodge, and the veteran enjoyed a sudden resurgence, winning the first race for the Intrepid model at Michigan in August while tying his career-best of third in points. One year later, perhaps his best season ended abruptly in 2002. Marlin led the points for 25 straight weeks of the season before losing the lead to Mark Martin. Shortly thereafter, he was involved in a wreck in Kansas that injured his neck. Doctors would not clear him to race after the crash, and he was forced to get out of the car for the rest of the year. Marlin never was the same driver after that, collecting just four top 5 finishes in the final six seasons of his career. And after three more years of running for Ganassi, Marlin was released, reportedly due to sponsorship concerns about his marketability.

Marlin then went to drive for MB2 Motorsports and assumed the No. 14, in tribute to his father who ran that number during his career. He had one top 10 finish for MB2 during the year he drove for them. The following year, Bobby Ginn purchased MB2 and released Marlin after 19 races. Since then he has run 18 races, 16 for James Finch and two for Ganassi Racing. During his career, he's scored a total of 10 victories, 83 top 5s, and 216 top 10s in 748 races.

Marlin was asked if he’s going to miss racing. “Yeah, in some ways," he said. "But in some ways, I’ll kinda be glad when it’s over. The sport has changed. It’s not much fun anymore.”

And the sport just got a little less fun for us, too. We’re going to miss you, Sterling. 
 
Mike Neff is a Senior Writer for Frontstretch.com. He can be reached at mn...@carolina.rr.com.

 

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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 actively seeking 4-6 additional writers for both our newsletter and website to add to our dedicated staff in 2010. Follow this link for more information on how you can become a weekly columnist for the site and/or newsletter!
 
TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:

Hey, Frontstretch Readers!
Do you want the chance to win a free Frontstretch T-Shirt, and are you really good at talking about NASCAR? Well, we have the perfect opportunity for you. Our staff will be giving away a free T-Shirt to the reader who makes the best post in our Frontstretch Forum between now and the end of the season. So, what makes a good post? It's pretty hard to impress us, but here are some things we are looking for:

Does your post spark passionate reactions from other readers? Are you commenting on meaningful NASCAR-related events? Do your posts have substance? In other words, "Dale Jr. is the best driver ever" or "Danica Patrick is hot" will not cut it.
 
So go to the Frontstretch Forums, post early, post often, and post well! We'll announce the winner following the final race of the season at Homestead.

FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q:  Yesterday, we asked a question about the No. 88 team that Kevin Lepage took to Victory Lane at Homestead in 1996.  Today, we're getting a bit more obscure.  During that race weekend in 1996, there were two incredibly fiery crashes, one during practice, and the other during the so-called "Hooligan race" on Saturday.  Which two drivers were involved in these wrecks?

 
Check back Thursday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
 
Tuesday's Answer:
Q.  Kevin Lepage picked up the first of his two career victories in the now-Nationwide Series in 1996 at Homestead, driving the No. 88 Hype Chevrolet for car owner David Ridling.  However, Lepage did not drive the whole season in that car.  What team was Lepage driving for at the start of the season instead, and who started out the year behind the wheel of the No. 88?

 

A.  Kevin Lepage started the 1996 Busch Grand National season behind the wheel of his own No. 71 Chevrolet.  But the Vermont Teddy Bear Company, Lepage's sponsor for his first two seasons in Busch, only sponsored him at Daytona.  For the next six races, Lepage ran an unsponsored black and gold car.

 

As for David Ridling's No. 88, it had sponsorship from Farmer's Choice Fertilizer and short track standout Pete Orr behind the wheel.  However, after four bad finishes and three failures to qualify, Ridling decided to make a change, dumping Orr.  Lepage's team was running out of money by this point, so Kevin was happy to take over the No. 88 ride, and it paid dividends right away.  Lepage rolled off a top 5 and four top 10 finishes over the next six races.

 

Unfortunately for Orr, that was his only chance at racing in the Busch Grand National Series.  He retreated back into short track racing, never to re-emerge again.  Orr sadly died in November of 2002 at the age of 46.

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
-- Start and Park Feature by Bryan Davis Keith (may be interchanged with a website piece)
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, and more!

Tomorrow on the Frontstretch:
Voices From The Heartland by Jeff Meyer

Our Midwestern columnist returns with another tongue-in-cheek column that will make you think.

Fanning The Flames by Matt Taliaferro
Athlon Racing's resident editor-in-chief is here, and he's amped to answer your Questions in our Fan Q&A. Do you have something you'd like to ask Matt? Don't sit on the sidelines! Send it to matt.ta...@frontstretch.com, and you just may see your question in print this week!
 
Thompson In Turn 5 by Tommy Thompson
After several struggling seasons as a driver/owner, Robby Gordon's future in the sport seems to be hanging on life support. But as he ponders what to do in 2010, Tommy reminds him there's already plenty to hang his hat on with a team that's been around far longer than initially expected.

 

Matt McLaughlin Mouths Off by Matt McLaughlin

Matt takes some time this week to review the 2009 season in NASCAR, and his own personal life, as only he can.

Fantasy Insider:  Homestead by Bryan Davis Keith and Mike Neff
It's the last race of the season, and drivers are desperate to finish the year on a high note.  However, a race where anything goes still includes some typical trends that can help you make those all-important fantasy picks.  Bryan and Mike are here to help you make those crucial final selections to win your league.
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