The Frontstretch Newsletter: Kyle Busch Gets Warned Again, Keselowski and Bayne Docked Practice Time

4 views
Skip to first unread message

Frontstretch.com

unread,
Apr 14, 2016, 12:04:21 PM4/14/16
to The Frontstretch
THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
Apr. 14, 2016
Volume X, Edition LI
~~~~~~~~~~

FRONTSTRETCH JOBS: SALES & BRANDING MANAGER

Frontstretch is seeking a dynamic, creative individual to head our sales team. The individual would be responsible for the following:
– Engaging new partners and taking the lead in brokering agreements for sales & advertising across all Frontstretch outlets: Website, Newsletter, Podcast, and video content
– Responding to exposure inquiries from potential advertisers
– Working with our social media team to enhance the marketing and branding experience for our advertising clients

The position will be a direct report to our Business and Financial Manager, a position that also will work closely with the Majority Owner and Social Media team. A fast-growing website whose writers have won multiple NMPA Awards, the Frontstretch is well-positioned for success in 2016 and has a healthy audience of over seven figures per year. The role, while initially commission-based offers a generous percentage and perks down the road for this startup company. Frontstretch management has, in many cases been in place for nearly a decade before becoming a for-profit website and we’re excited to welcome the right person into this family atmosphere.
 
Interested parties should email tbow...@yahoo.com with a short note on why they’re interested and their current resume.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What to Watch: Thursday
- Today is pull-in day at Bristol Motor Speedway.  No on-track activity is scheduled.  If anything of note breaks, we'll have it for you at Frontstretch.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thursday's TV Schedule can be found here.

Top News
by the Frontstretch Staff

Kyle Busch Highlights Texas Warnings List

On Wednesday, NASCAR released their weekly penalty list.  Once again, race winner Kyle Busch was on the list of teams formally warned, this time for failing pre-qualifying inspection twice.  Five other teams suffered the same infraction but Trevor Bayne and Brad Keselowski will lose 15 minutes of practice time at Bristol as a result.  Read more

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

~~~~~~~~~~
Today's Featured Commentary
Potts on Kyle Busch and Indianapolis
Potts' Shots
by John Potts

Before getting into my thoughts on the 100th Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, I want to say something about Kyle Busch.

Most people know I wasn’t much of a fan of this guy when he first came into the Cup Series. However, I’ve never said I didn’t think much of his driving ability.

Since Busch's injury last year, I’ve paid a lot of attention to him, and have nothing but admiration for the way he came back from that forced layoff. The veteran seems to have matured a lot, and that combined with his unbelievable talent has made him something special.

A friend of mine once told me during one of NASCAR’s seasons when different teams were winning every week that, sooner or later, someone was going to get their act together and simply start blowing everybody else away. It happens in nearly every series at one time or another. He pointed to A.J. Foyt’s 1964 campaign on what was then called The Championship Trail, when Indianapolis drivers competed on dirt and asphalt ovals. The United States Auto Club had 13 races on the Trail that year and Foyt won ten of them, including taking his second Indianapolis 500 win.

Well, this year it seems that the team which has gotten their act together is Joe Gibbs Racing... and the No. 18 bunch in particular. Listening to Kyle and crew chief Adam Stevens on the scanner at the Brickyard, I sensed a real chemistry between them. You could tell Kyle was chomping at the bit to get up front, and when he asked if Stevens wanted him to “…get up there and go for the win,” the crew chief’s reply was a classic. “No, Kyle," he said, "Because if you do that there won’t be any win. You’ll run out of gas. Just hold on until the next caution, and then go for it.” The rest is history.

OK, we’ve got one more race in the Verizon IndyCar Series this weekend, the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.  After that, there's Barber Park and then it’s time for May in Indianapolis.

There was a time, not too long ago, when Indianapolis Motor Speedway presented one race a year – the 500. A full house on race day, and probably 150,000-plus were in the stands on the first day (of four) for qualifying. No doubt 100,000 or more would be there on the other three qualifying days and Carburetion Day.

Then, in 1994 came the Brickyard 400 as NASCAR arrived; the place has been seeing more use each year. Formula One didn’t last long, and now the motorcycles are gone, but we’ve got a road race to pep things up in mid-May, a fantastic SportsCar Vintage Racing Association event in June, and new events seem to pop up all the time. Heck, we even had a Rolling Stones Concert last year.

Being honest, some of the luster has seemed to be missing from the venerable old 500 in the past couple of decades. Qualifying is now done under a new format and takes only two days, etc. The racing hasn’t been bad, though. Far from it. Last year’s 500-Mile Race was one of the most exciting I’ve ever seen, and it was a real thrill watching Juan Pablo Montoya come from the rear of the field to win.

If IMS is going to see things swing back to the way it was in the good ol’ days, there’s going to be no opportunity like 2016. My former intern at Indianapolis Raceway Park, Doug Boles, who is now president of IMS (I still call him Probie), says ticket sales are running far ahead compared to any of the past few years. He’s looking for all reserved seating to be sold out. Already, camping spaces are sold out, I’m told.

Don’t let the fact that the reserved seats may be gone well before race day keep you away. General Admission in the infield offers you the chance to walk all over the facility, and several of the new “spectator mounds” provide a great view of the action.

On most of the message boards which I frequent, you can read all kinds of complaints about the way the series is today. I’ll have to admit I miss those days in the 1960s, '70s, and '80s when it was almost a “run what ya brung” affair. Innovation was invited, but if you went too far and appeared to get too big an edge you got reined in quickly. The best example of that I can remember was Andy Granatelli’s turbine back in 1967. You could almost hear USAC thinking, “That’s enough of that.” They came close in 1967 and ’68, but any turbine after that was uncompetitive because of legislation. Then, there was Penske’s pushrod Mercedes engine that blew everybody’s doors off.

Let’s face it, there are two extremes here – Open Competition, Anything Goes, and Spec Racing. I recall one of my favorite old comedians, Brother Dave Gardner, saying, “It’s not the pendulum as it swings to and fro, but the essence which drives it that makes stuff go.”

I’m not sure if that applies, but I do know, as I’ve said before, that the pendulum never stops in the middle of its arc. It has to go all the way to the other end by nature.

Now, we’ve got what amounts to Spec Racing. Identical cars, engines built to a specific formula without much leeway... you can go on and on. Oh, there’s some allowance with the “aero” kits, but that’s about it. What’s going to happen on race day, or even in qualifying, I don’t know. We’ve got Honda-powered teams complaining that Chevrolet has a big advantage and is sandbagging. How do we know Honda isn’t waiting for 500 time to open their 2016 engine up all the way?

Either way, it should be interesting.

John Potts is a Senior Writer for Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at john....@frontstretch.com.
~~~~~~~~~~
Editor's Note: The Critic's Annex will run on Friday.
~~~~~~~~~~
Frontstretch Line of the Week
 
From Beyond the Cockpit: Reed Sorenson “Trying to Survive” in NASCAR

"Just trying to survive. This sport is tough. The field has shrunk with this new charter system and it makes it harder on some of us that are at the backside of the field. You just have to keep digging. I’m not giving up. I still enjoy getting in the racecar each week. Trying to do the best I can to make a living." - Reed Sorenson on the current status of his career
~~~~~~~~~~
TODAY AT FRONTSTRETCH:
by Aaron Bearden and Sean Fesko

by Bryan Gable
by Beth Lunkenheimer
 
~~~~~~~~~~
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: Bill Elliott ended up winning the 1988 Valleydale Meats 500 at Bristol, the first of six wins during his championship season.  What was notable about this victory?

Check back Friday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!

Wednesday's Answer:

Q:  Rick Wilson claimed his one and only career pole in the Winston Cup Series for the 1988 Valleydale Meats 500 at Bristol.  He led the first 21 laps and ran well early.  However, Wilson ended up finishing over 200 laps down.  What happened?

A: Wilson led early, but was spun in turn 1 by Phil Parsons in the aftermath of a crash involving Jimmy Means.  That incident damaged the right front corner of Wilson's Oldsmobile.

Less than 100 laps later, Wilson spun in turn 2 and hit the wall with the left front corner before crossing the track and backing into the inside wall.  Wilson stated in an interview that he had gotten into the wall exiting turn 4, then had contact with Richard Petty.  The contact with Petty cut his tire.  The team would repair the No. 4 Oldsmobile, but Wilson ended up 209 laps down in 25th.
~~~~~~~~~
COMING TOMORROW
In The Frontstretch Newsletter:
We'll have some news from today while we preview Sunday's Food City 500, scheduled to be run in the daytime.

On Frontstretch.com:
Zach Catanzareti answers Four Burning Questions heading into this weekend's action in Bristol.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Talk back to the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Got something to say about an article you've seen in the newsletter? It's as easy as replying directly to this message or sending an email to edi...@frontstretch.com. We'll take the best comments and publish them here!
©2016 Frontstretch.com
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages