The Frontstretch Newsletter SPECIAL EDITION: February 7th, 2010

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THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER - SPECIAL EDITION
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
February 7th, 2010
Volume IV, Edition XIV

Today's Top News

Harvick Scores Second Straight Shootout Victory
by Dave Exum

Kevin Harvick was at the right place at the right time to win his second consecutive Bud Shootout at Daytona International Speedway Saturday night.

With one lap remaining in the 75-lap exhibition race, Roush Fenway Racing's Greg Biffle spun out, creating a multi-car crash that ended the race under caution. Harvick, who was leading at the time, was named the winner according to the rulebook, as the race was already under a green-white-checkered finish scenario (extended under caution to lap 76).

"When you go through the year we went through last year, this kind of night makes it all worth it," he said in Victory Lane. "This thing was a rocket, and it really handled well."

Harvick, driver of the No. 29 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, becomes the fourth driver in NASCAR history to win the event twice in a row (Neil Bonnett -1983-'84, Ken Schrader - '89,'90, and Tony Stewart - 2001, '02). Leading 21 laps, he passed Biffle during the green-white-checkered restart after Biffle stayed out under yellow with Kasey Kahne, gambling while the other major contenders dove down pit road for fresh right side rubber.

Hanging on in second, Richard Petty Motorsports' Kahne was thrilled in his return to the Blue Oval crowd.

"I was having a blast out there," Kahne said. "The Roush-Yates Ford is a definite improvement, and it's nice to have."

Roush Fenway Racing's Carl Edwards, who started from the pole after a draw was held to set the 24-car field last Thursday, led all 25 laps of the first segment. He wound up leading the most laps, with 42, but fell back to finish 17th after becoming involved in the Biffle-Gordon incident.

Rounding out the top-5 were Jamie McMurray, Kyle Busch, and Denny Hamlin.

Bud Shootout Odds 'N' Ends
by Tom Bowles

- Confusion reigned from fans and drivers alike following the Bud Shootout, as Harvick claimed he never knew the exhibition race - notorious for green-flag only finishes - could end under caution.

"I read on something somewhere, it wasn't the entry blank, I know that for sure, but I read the race will end under green," he said. "Maybe it was on a TV telecast as I was delusional sleeping in bed on Thursday. I don't know. Maybe I dreamed it."

Adding to the confusion was a question on the TV Show NASCAR Smarts, run earlier in the day on SPEED channel, which insinuated the Bud Shootout must always end under the green flag. However, official NASCAR PR sent early in December, detailing the race's new format stated the following:

The race distance will continue to be 75 laps (187.5 miles)... Both green-flag laps and yellow-flag laps will count.

Sounds pretty black-and-white to me. The change back to normal NASCAR rules was also reinforced during the driver's meeting before the race.

"There wouldn't have been anything left," claimed McMurray of a green-flag finish only scenario. "They would have just kept wrecking..."

- Hendrick who? Just hours after capturing the front row for next Sunday's Great American Race, most thought a Shootout win would be a mere formality for one of the Hendrick-supported cars. But while Stewart-Haas driver/owner Tony Stewart ran up or near the front all night, all other Hendrick chassis and engines were out to lunch more than we've ever seen them at Daytona in recent years.

How bad was it for HMS? When the smoke cleared, they were 0-for-6 on top 5 finishes, with Jeff Gordon the high man in sixth - and even that wasn't smooth sailing, with the DuPont Chevy involved in the Greg Biffle wreck which caused the Shootout to end under caution.

"We went into the corner and he just spun right out," said Gordon, claiming there was no contact to trigger the incident. "I don't know if he had a tire go down, or just the fact that he was on old tires and couldn't take that kind of a push. They said that bump-drafting is OK now, so that's what it's going to take to win the race. He was thanking me for the push, and I was trying to push him up there to win the race or finish right there behind him anyway."

Further back was Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in 11th, who never came close to smelling the front all night.

"Just can't go, ya know?" he told crew chief Lance McGrew during the race. "Ain't got no go. No offense."

"We were not very fast in practice with this car, and it was not very strong in the race," he said later. "We'll just try to bring a better chassis to the next Shootout."

Perhaps most disturbing for Hendrick, though, were subpar runs by Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin. They were 13th and 20th, respectively, with Martin triggering an accident midrace which wiped out the No. 2 Dodge of Kurt Busch. Not exactly the way next Sunday's polesitter wanted his night to end...

- Speaking of Kurt Busch, he's now totaled two cars in the last three days of practice for the 500 - involved in accidents where he was nothing more than an innocent victim.

"I'm just making more laps in the ambulance than I am on the track," he joked afterward. "Not fun."

Have news for Tom, Dave, Phil, and the Frontstretch? Don't hesitate to let us know; email us at ashl...@mail.com with a promising lead or tip.

 
Saturday Roundup
Patrick Quiets Critics, Finishes 6th In ARCA Race

by Mike Lovecchio

After months and months of relentless speculation and waiting, D-Day finally arrived in Daytona Beach. During what was playfully known as "Danica Day" throughout the garage, open-wheel standout Danica Patrick made her long awaited stock car debut - and silenced many of her critics in the process.

After spending the first half of the event receiving a crash course in restrictor plate racing, Patrick's day nearly came to a halt after contact with Nelson Piquet, Jr. sent her spinning through the tri-oval grass at 180 mph. But it was that moment where Patrick wowed even her biggest detractors, displaying the amazing car control needed to compete for wins at both the IndyCar and NASCAR levels. In what equated to both a visual and driving masterpiece, she was able to keep the No. 7 GoDaddy Chevy off the wall and survive with minimal damage.

"I just held to the yellow line, because I know you're not supposed to go below the yellow line to advance your position and I took myself out unfortunately," she admitted.

But once crisis was averted, it was as if the spin knocked the training wheels off. Patrick looked like a seasoned vet in the final 25 laps, working her way through the field en route to a 6th place finish.

"I was pretty excited to go from last to the top 5," Patrick said after the 80-lap event. "You can see I was racing by all of the marks on the car."

The fact remains, however, that Patrick was racing against drivers even less experienced than herself, and there is still question as to whether she will compete in the Nationwide Series event in Daytona next weekend.

So now, we must wait again -- the circus will stay in town for at least a few more days, with a final decision on an attempt to be made on Monday. Danica Patrick showed Saturday that she can drive a stock car; now, the world is left to wonder if she can do it with the best of the best.

Note: For a full recap of the ARCA event, Bryan Davis Keith has a special commentary / recap coming Monday. For official results, click here for ARCAracing.com.
 
Mark Martin Wins Daytona 500 Pole At Gustafson's Home Track
by Mike Lovecchio

Growing up just five miles from Daytona International Speedway in nearby Ormond Beach, a 6-year-old Alan Gustafson would hear engines roaring around the famed 2.5-mile speedway while playing in his own backyard. As a teenager, he would go to the track and watch great crew chiefs, from Gary DeHart to Ray Evernham, dreaming to one day be in their shoes.

Now, people dream to be in his.

After a breakthrough season working with his childhood driving idol, Mark Martin, Gustafson and his No. 5 team returned to Daytona in 2010 to earn one of the most prestigious achievements of Speedweeks - the pole position for the Daytona 500. In the process, the 51-year-old Martin became the oldest driver in NASCAR history to start 1st for the event - his first career pole for a race he's been trying to win since the early 1980s.

"Mark has enough records to have his own record book, but when you can get a new one with him - and we've done it a few times since he drove his car - I'm really proud to be able to do something he's never done, because he's done an awful lot," Gustafson said. "That's really cool for me."

While Martin will get most of the accolades for narrowly nipping teammate Dale Earnhardt, Jr., he'll be the first person to tell you that at a track like Daytona, winning a pole is more of a tribute to the team than the driver.

Various drivers with differing levels of accomplishments have sat on the pole for the Daytona 500, from David Gilliland to Jimmie Johnson, but every team that has done so has one common link -- a great crew chief. As a historian of the sport, Gustafson understands what a pole at Daytona entails, and knows the company he is now in.

"For me, it's a huge deal. Being a crew chief, this is a situation where you can really shine," he admitted. "You've got an opportunity to put a well-engineered, fast car out there and run faster than anybody else for the biggest race of the year."

Next Sunday, Gustafson will sit on top of the pit box and watch his car be the first to take the green flag. 200 laps later -- if his car is the first to take the checkered flag -- it will be a dream come true.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. qualified second, the only other driver to "lock in" a spot in the 43-car field. The rest of the starting spots will be determined through the two Gatorade Duel 150-mile qualifying races on Thursday. Ryan Newman, Bill Elliott, and Juan Pablo Montoya rounded out the top 5 fastest cars.

Elliott, Wood Brothers Shine With Fourth-Fastest Speed
by Dave Exum

Bill Elliott showed why he's nicknamed "Awesome Bill from Dawsonville" on Saturday at Daytona International Speedway.

Elliott locked himself into the field for this year's Daytona 500 by being the fastest Ford in Saturday's qualifying for "The Great American Race." Elliott was fourth quickest in Saturday qualifying, clocking in with a speed of 190.573 mph.

"That was a great run. You never can tell about circumstances – when you go, what happens, how the wind blows for this guy or that guy, but the Hendrick guys are hard to beat," said the driver of the No. 21 Ford, looking to continue a part-time career renaissance at age 54. "We worked all winter to come down here for today, and now we need to work on what we need to do for Wednesday to be as good as we can on Thursday [for the Duels]."

"Hopefully, everything works out and we’ll be in the 500.”
 
The 1988 Sprint Cup champion ran the only Ford to qualify in the top 10. In fact, Roush Fenway Racing's Matt Kenseth (11th) drove the only other Blue Oval car to crack the top 20.
 
Elliott is no stranger to success at Daytona. The two-time Daytona 500 champion has four wins, 15 top-five and 24 top-10 finishes in 57 starts at "The World Center of Racing."
 
"For the guys that are locked into this deal – the top 35 – it’s kind of a cakewalk for them, but when you get to that 36th guy and he’s got to make it on time or whatever he’s got to do, today is just one part of it," said Elliott. "Then we turn around and Thursday will be another part of it, so you take it a step at a time.  For us, we worked hard.  We did our homework."

Saturday's Daytona 500 qualifying locks in only the front row of pole sitter Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr., who qualified second. The rest of the starting positions are determined by results in the two 150-mile qualifying races that are scheduled Thursday.

For a full list of qualifying results, click here for speeds from all 54 cars that took time. On Monday, we'll have a full breakdown of Who's In And Who's Out in our Frontstretch Newsletter.

FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:

Q.  They say a good run in the Bud Shootout can be a jumpstart towards Daytona 500 Victory Lane. But not every winner of the Great American Race has started off their season running this exhibition race. Who was the last Daytona winner NOT to run the Shootout (formerly the Busch Clash) that same year?

 

Check back Monday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
 
Friday's Answer:

Q. The 2005 Advance Discount Auto Parts 200 for the ARCA Re/MAX Series is infamous for multiple reasons.  First off, the race was shortened from 80 laps to 65 because of wrecks and running up against the start of the Budweiser Shootout (not rain, as Racing-Reference.info claims).  Two crashes during the race required repair of the catch fencing.  And finally, the rare double-flip was accomplished (two cars flipping over in the same crash) when both Todd Kluever and Dan Shaver went upside down towards the end of the race.

 

However, an extremely unusual moment happened on pit road during the first round of pit stops under caution.  What was this weird incident?

 

A: During the caution for Clair Zimmermann's crash (which led to the first red flag), the leaders came onto pit road for a round of stops.  Hendrick Motorsports Development driver Blake Feese, driving a No. 94 Chevrolet sponsored by Ditech.com, noticed his pit a little late and locked up his brakes while trying to get into his stall.
 
Now, this happens often enough, but here's the kicker.  Feese's pit stall was just before an opening in the pit wall.  As a result, Feese slid through his pit stall and into the opening in the pit wall.  Feese ended up crashing into a portable barrier separating the lane to the garage from the pit stall for Country Joe Racing (No. 9 Dodge, now Win-Tron Racing), knocking it over, along with at least three people in the process.  This put Feese, who was running second at the time of the caution, out of the race.
 
A clip of Clair Zimmermann's crash that caused the caution can be found here, while a short clip of Feese blowing through his pit stall can be found here.

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 Monday in the Frontstretch Newsletter:
-- Odds 'N' Ends From The Track by Mike Lovecchio
-- Big Six:  Budweiser Shootout by Amy Henderson
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, Stat of the Week and more!
 
Monday on the Frontstretch:

The Cool Down Lap by Doug Turnbull

We'll have a commentary article on the weekend's biggest story ready to go bright and early Monday morning.

 

Matt McLaughlin's Thinkin' Out Loud:  Budweiser Shootout by Matt McLaughlin

Matt will be here with his overall thoughts about the action this weekend at Daytona.

 

Holding a Pretty Wheel by Amy Henderson

Amy will be back with another commentary sure to make you sit up and take notice.

 

Running Their Mouth By Summer Dreyer

What's that you heard last weekend at Daytona?  Summer brings you the most interesting, unusual, and downright crazy quotes to come out of the first weekend of Speedweeks.

 

Bubble Breakdown By Brock Beard
Want to know how some of the teams a little bit further down the order did in qualifying this past weekend at Daytona?  Brock's got information and much more in the season's first edition of the Bubble Breakdown.

ARCA Commentary by Bryan Davis Keith
Bryan looks back on Saturday's Lucas Oil / Slick Mist 200, one of the wildest ARCA races we've seen in quite sometime at Daytona.
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