The Frontstretch Newsletter: November 11th, 2009
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November 11th, 2009
Volume III, Edition CCXVIII
DON'T FORGET THE FRONTSTRETCH LIVE BLOG THIS SUNDAY!
Jimmie Johnson's early race wreck at Texas last weekend, combined with Mark Martin's top 5 finish, has closed up the battle for the championship significantly. Johnson's lead is now down to 73 points with just two races to go -- so can Martin take advantage and make one final run at the trophy?
Sunday's race at Phoenix will tell the tale. Can't get to a television to watch the race? Or are you too busy watching Philip Rivers and the Chargers take the Philadelphia Eagles on FOX to switch over? Well, join your favorite Frontstretch writers 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
Champions' Week Schedule in Las Vegas Released
On Tuesday, NASCAR released the schedule for Champions' Week in Las Vegas. The centerpiece of it all, of course, is the Sprint Cup Series Banquet at the Wynn in Las Vegas. Coverage will be aired live on SPEED for the first time (the previous three banquets have been aired on the ESPN family of networks) on Friday, December 4th at 9:00 PM EST. In addition, NASCAR Radio on Sirius will also provide live coverage, along with MRN.
In another new twist, 300 tickets to the festivities are now available for fans. These tickets will be available through certain racetracks, NASCAR partners, the Chase participants, and other various promotions.
There's also several other major events going on during the week. Wednesday, December 2nd is the Chasers for Charity Fanfest at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This is mainly a free event for fans in the Neon Garage. However, there is also a charity roast of the 2009 Sprint Cup champion. 250 tickets are available to the roast at the cost of a $250 donation to Speedway Children's Charities.
Thursday, December 3rd is the 2009 NASCAR NMPA Myers Brothers Awards ceremony at the Venetian. Here, the winners of seasonal awards will be recognized. In addition, there will be the Top 12 Victory Lap Parade on the Strip starting at 3:30 PM PST (6:30 PM EST) in front of the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino. According to the schedule, the drivers will drive up the Strip (Las Vegas Boulevard) to Spring Mountain Road, where there will then be a "pit stop," complete with burnouts. Afterwards, the parade will return to the MGM Grand.
Friday, of course, is banquet day. The current scheduled running time of that event is three hours and 40 minutes.
RPM Engine Shop Shut Down
FoxSports.com is reporting that Richard Petty Motorsports' engine shop closed permanently on Monday, the first casualty of the still pending RPM-Yates merger. As a result of the closure, 47 employees are now out of work. Of course, with only two races remaining in the season, there is no point in continuing to build Dodge engines since the merged team will use Fords in 2010. In addition, A.J. Allmendinger's No. 44 car is already running Fords in the remaining races this season.
In order to supply the other three RPM teams with engines for the remaining two races, a skeleton crew of 14 will continue in the engine shop through the end of the season. At that point, those 14 people will also be let go. The merged team will then transition into Roush-Yates engines beginning next season.
NASCAR Announces Penalty for Cup Series' No. 1 Team
In post-race inspection following Sunday's Dickies 500, the No. 1 of Martin Truex, Jr. was found to be too low. On Tuesday, NASCAR announced the penalties for their latest rules violation.
Martin Truex, Jr. has been docked 50 driver points and team owner Teresa Earnhardt has been docked 50 owner points for the infraction. In addition, crew chief Kevin Manion has been fined $50,000. He was already on probation through December 31st after a previous height violation (the No. 1 measured too high at Chicagoland in July), but that probation will not be extended.
The No. 1 team was judged to have violated Section 12-1 of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rulebook (the blanket "Actions Detrimental to Stock Car Racing"). In addition, NASCAR cited violations of Sections 12-4-l and 20-12.8.1B in their release (Front of the car was too low in post-race inspection).
Carmichael Leaves KHI for Turner Motorsports
Turner Motorsports announced on Tuesday that Ricky Carmichael has signed a multi-year contract to drive the team's No. 31 Chevrolet. Carmichael is also bringing his personal sponsor, Monster Energy, with him to the team. This move is effective immediately, so Carmichael will run the final two races of the season in the No. 31. Next season, Carmichael will run the full season for Turner Motorsports in the Camping World Truck Series, around ten races in the ARCA Racing Series (likely in the No. 32), and a few assorted races in the Nationwide Series.
Despite the fact that Carmichael has left KHI, Ricky still maintains a good relationship with owner Kevin Harvick. On Tuesday's edition of NASCAR Race Hub on SPEED, Carmichael stated that Harvick will still give him advice at the track. Essentially, their relationship will stay the same; he'll just be racing for a different team.
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
Is Racing FINALLY coming back to North Wilkesboro?
Full Throttle
By Mike Neff
After the Winston Cup race in the Fall of 1996 at North Wilkesboro Speedway, the gates were closed and have never been opened for a competitive race since. There have been some test sessions and the Roush Gong Show, sure, but there have been no laps turned in anger since September 29th. Yet if the latest plans carry through, that will all change October 3, 2010 when the USAR Pro Cup Series holds a race at the track.
North Wilkesboro held a Cup race every year from the inaugural season of NASCAR in 1949 until that final race in 1996. Lee Petty, Richard Petty, Herb Thomas, Junior Johnson, Darrell Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt, and Jeff Gordon all visited Victory Lane at the storied speedway. It was also a "gold standard" race for manufacturers, as well: Hudsons, Oldsmobiles, Plymouths, Fords, Dodges, and Chevrolets all won at the track. The place is not only steeped in racing history, but in the history of moonshining. Wilkes County was where Junior Johnson was actually arrested working at his father’s still in 1956. The track embodied the very soul of stock car racing, because after all, it started with moonshiners racing each other to see who had the fastest car. So it is only fitting that stock car racing take place at North Wilkesboro.
Unfortunately for NASCAR fans, the only way for Speedway Motorsports to secure race dates has been for them to acquire race tracks and move their dates to SMI facilities. So when Bruton Smith wanted to have a race at his new facility in Texas, he did what he had to do, buying out half of North Wilkesboro Speedway and moving a date to his new track. He partnered with Bob Bahre, who opened a new track in New Hampshire, and took the other date for his facility.
After the track held that final race, it sat dormant for a couple of reasons, but mostly because Bruton Smith maintained that he would not invest any money into a facility that he did not have a controlling interest in. Since he only held half of North Wilkesboro, and not 51%, he let it sit quietly and did not make any money or hold any events. He rented it out a few times for Jack Roush to hold his driver tryout show and a few teams went there to do some short track testing, but there were not any competitive races. The wheels started to move back toward hosting a race, however, when Smith bought New Hampshire from Bahre. When he concluded that transaction, he became the sole owner of North Wilkesboro and people now had someone that they could contact about trying to lease the speedway. Before that point in time, with two people holding an equal interest, there wasn’t one person to contact so the obstacles were generally too much for people to try and overcome.
At the beginning of this summer, there were rumblings that an entrepreneur from Texas was going to lease the track and hold a late model race. He hired a driver to put a car on the track and took some pictures of it running around to prove to people that the track was in shape to race on and did not, as it was rumored, have trees growing up through the surface. Unfortunately weather prevented a test for the cars and the event was pushed back -- it never happened. The gentleman is now, in fact, being sued for some monies that were supposedly promised and not delivered.
This time, however, things are looking a little more secure. While it is difficult to find any information about the lease for the track, it appears as though there is a three year deal in place with an option to buy. The group’s name is Speedway Associates Inc. and consists of Alton McBride Sr, Alton McBride Jr., Dave Ehret, John Burwell, Bosco Lowe and Terri Parsons. The last name in that list is a well known name to racing fans. Terri is the widow of Benny Parsons, and has worked very hard in this effort to bring racing back to the track that her husband and so many others loved so dearly.
The history of the sport is spread throughout the Southeast, but one of its cornerstones is in Wilkes County, north of Charlotte, is sitting idly by waiting for the roar of engines to return. When the speedway springs to life next Fall, you can bet there will be many eyes filled with tears at the sight of racing once again in the hills of North Carolina.
It was announced yesterday that the ASA Late Model Series is going to move its King’s Ransom 300 to North Wilkesboro as well. The race has been held for years at Memphis Motorsports Park, but it was just announced that that track is going to close. Fortunately for the series, this new venue is returning to the scene at the perfect time.
Mike Neff is a Senior Writer for Frontstretch.com. He can be reached at mn...@carolina.rr.com.
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TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
by Kurt Smith
Mirror Driving: Too Much Teamwork?, Curbing NASCAR Criticism, And A Tall Order For Townley
by the Frontstretch Staff
Did You Notice? ... Championship Collusion, Poor Media Manners, And Salvaging 2009
by Tom Bowles
Top Ten Ways To Save Gas In A NASCAR Race
by Kurt Smith
Texas Race A Snapshot Of What Could Have Been For Many Drivers In 2009
by Vito Pugliese
Frontstretch Sprint Cup Power Rankings: Top 15 After Texas
compiled by Mike Neff
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: Phoenix was first added to the Winston Cup Series schedule in 1988. Which race did it replace on the schedule and why?
Check back Thursday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Tuesday's Answer:
Q. In 1995, Ricky Rudd waited until the Dura Lube 500K at Phoenix to extend his consecutive years with a victory streak to 13. Who did he beat out in order to claim that win?
Also of note, Derrike's cousin, Ernie Cope, made his only Winston Cup start that day in 1995 driving a No. 19 Chevrolet Lumina painted identically to Derrike's No. 12.
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Coming tomorrow in the Frontstretch Newsletter:
-- Top News from Phil Allaway
-- What's Vexing Vito by Vito Pugliese
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, and more!
Voices From The Heartland by Jeff Meyer
Anytime Brian France has something to say, well, Jeff Meyer appears to have something to criticize. He analyzes the NASCAR CEO's recent 15-minute sitdown interview with Dustin Long in the latest edition of his weekly commentary.
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
This week, Tommy takes a look at Jimmie Johnson's behavior during the hour when his championship hopes all but hung in the balance. In staying inside his car, was he trying to avoid a media onslaught or simply becoming the quiet supporter his team needed at the time?
Matt McLaughlin Mouths Off by Matt McLaughlin
In NASCAR's latest sidestep of what Matt calls the real issues, they've chosen to take the media to task for their recent criticisms. But is the media really to blame for the overflow in negativity as of late? Matt takes a look in the latest edition of his weekly commentary.
Fantasy Insider: Phoenix by Bryan Davis Keith and Mike Neff
Phoenix International Raceway is a tight one-mile oval with characteristics of both a short track and a superspeedway. In practice, it races much more like a short track ... but that doesn't mean you should set your fantasy roster short on information. Bryan and Mike are here to help you out with advice on which drivers are most likely to be able to get a good handle of the one mile tri-oval for you to choose for your fantasy rosters.
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