The Frontstretch Newsletter: Rodney Childers Signs Long-Term Contract Extension
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The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
by The Frontstretch Staff
Gallagher, Crafton Head Up Truck Series Practice at TMS
Alex Bowman Driving No. 25 XFINITY Car at Michigan
Arnold Schwarzenegger Piloting Pace Car at Sonoma
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The Sprint Cup Series heads to Dover International Speedway this weekend for the first of two events at the Monster Mile. Coverage for the Axalta "We Paint Winners" 400 begins at 1 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1; the race can also be heard on your local MRN affiliate or SiriusXM Channel 90. Drivers will compete for 160 laps (400 miles) en route to the checkered flag.
Records and facts
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is the defending winner of this race. Earnhardt Jr. started eighth and kept himself in the hunt all day as the various pit strategies played themselves out on the scalene triangle. After a late crash closed the field up for a final 12-lap dash to the checkers, Earnhardt Jr. passed Brad Keselowski with five laps to go and held on to take the win.
Keselowski was second, followed by Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin. Rookie Kyle Larson rounded out the top-5 finishers.
Johnson also holds the record for most victories at the Monster Mile. The win last May was his ninth at the concrete oval, breaking the previous tie he held with Richard Petty.
Track Facts
Track / Race Length: 2.5-mile tri-oval, 160 laps (400 miles)
Banking: 14 degrees in turn 1, 8 degrees in turn 2, 6 degrees in turn 3
Frontstretch: 3,740 feet; banked 0 degrees
Long Pond Straightaway: 3,055 feet; banked 0 degrees
North Straight:
1,780 feet; banked 0 degrees
Grandstand Seating: 70,000
Pit Road Speed: 55 mph
Pace Car Speed: 65 mph
Opened: 1974
Website: http://www.poconoraceway.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/poconoraceway
Twitter: http://twitter.com/poconoraceway
Pre-Race Schedule:
Practices: Friday, June 5, 12 - 1:25 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1
Saturday, May 30, 9 - 9:55 a.m. ET on FOX Sports 1
Happy Hour: Saturday, May 30, 11:30 a.m. - 12:25 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1
Qualifying: Friday, May 29 at 4:45 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1
Say What?!
"Obviously, I think we have performed better and better each week this year. We didn’t necessarily get the finishes at Charlotte or Dover to match where we ran throughout the races, but I’m encouraged that the cars are better and we have shown speed each of these last few weeks. Pocono is definitely a place that I circle on the calendar each year and feel that we have a chance of winning. I just acclimated well to the track when I got into the Sprint Cup Series, and we have had some strong runs throughout the years there. Hopefully, we can strike the balance of a good FedEx Camry through all three turns and compete for the win on Sunday." - Denny Hamlin
"Pocono has three corners that are very different. Turn one is the longest corner with the most turning, it’s the most vertical and you carry the most speed into it. Turn two is flat and squared off and then, turn three is the slowest corner. It’s very sweeping, very flat and it sets up a very long straightaway. To me, the key at Pocono is how you get from the entry of turn three to the exit of turn one and then still be good through turn two." - Danica Patrick
"Pocono [Raceway] is
one of my favorite tracks that we go to on the schedule. Each turn is
unique at the track and the speeds we reach are incredible. Every time
we go there, the bumps become more prevalent and the surface roughens
up. I have great memories of being in Victory Lane there and it would
certainly be nice to visit it again. We have SEM Products on the car
this weekend. They're a great group of people, and I enjoy visiting them
at their headquarters each year. I know they will all be cheering us on
in Pocono." - Justin Allgaier
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This Week’s Fast Facts for the Firestone 600
Date: Saturday, June 6, 2015
Track: Texas Motor Speedway, a 1.455-mile oval
Race distance: 248 laps / 360.84 miles
2014 race winner: Ed Carpenter
2014 Verizon P1 Award winner: Will Power, 47.8584 seconds, 218.896 mph (two laps)
Qualifying record (two laps): Will Power, 47.7960 seconds, 219.182 mph, June 7, 2013
Qualifying record (one lap): Gil de Ferran, 23.5031 seconds, 222.864 mph, Oct. 10, 2003
Where to Watch: NBCSN - Saturday at 8:00 p.m. ET.
On Social Media: @TXMotorSpeedway @IndyCar, #Firestone600, #IndyCar
Firestone tire allotment: Eleven sets for use through the weekend
Who Ya Got: Toni Montgomery is going with Helio Castroneves. Matt Stallknecht is picking Honda power and Graham Rahal. Matt Weaver thinks Will Power will pull out a big oval win from Team Penske. Finally, Huston’s thinking that Juan Pablo Montoya will earn the win.
Race notes: There have been seven different winners in eight Verizon IndyCar Series races in 2015: Juan Pablo Montoya (Streets of St. Petersburg and Indianapolis 500), James Hinchcliffe (NOLA Motorsports Park), Scott Dixon (Streets of Long Beach), Josef Newgarden (Barber Motorsports Park), Will Power (Grand Prix of Indianapolis), Carlos Munoz (Raceway at Belle Isle-1) and Sebastien Bourdais (Raceway at Belle Isle-2). In 2014, there were a record-tying 11 different race winners. Dixon's win at Long Beach April 19 gave him sole possession of fifth on the all-time IndyCar victory list with 36. He is the active leader in wins.
Quotable:
SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Energizer Chevrolet): "Texas Motor Speedway has gone through different evolutions of racing over the years. You had pack racing, then it spread out with very low downforce and degradation of the tires. There was lots of overtaking and I think we're in a really good spot right now this year with the aero kits. We'll have to see how it plays out, but it's such a tough track because you start just before dusk and then it gets colder because it's so hot during the day. The car on the track changes a lot and you've got to be really fast to try to keep up with it - especially over a fairly long distance too. I love Texas as a race because it's a lot of fun. I think two years ago I crashed out of it but it was probably one of the races I had the most fun in a long time at."
TAKUMA SATO (No. 14 ABC Supply AJ Foyt Racing Honda): "Texas Motor Speedway is a thrilling track. It has got the steepest bank in the Verizon IndyCar Series and that gives us a lot of exciting racing. We can go side-by-side more often and sometimes even three-wide, although the recent reduction of downforce makes it quite challenging. I think Texas gives fans and us, as drivers, always great racing. As we are a Texas-based team, it's our home race too. We have lots of support from the fans and many of the crew's families come to the race, so I am really looking forward to having another strong weekend."
GRAHAM RAHAL (No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda): "It's hard to say what to expect at Texas Motor Speedway this year. In recent years, the racing has been difficult because we removed downforce and made the racing harder and harder. At this point, it's hard to say what it's going to be like but I'm sure we will put on a good race. We are going back to using the old style main plane, so I don't know that anybody has a real idea of where the car is going to be, performance-wise, just yet. At Indy, the aero kit was very good but there are a couple of different things that will change for Texas as far as the aero kit goes. We're just going to have to see how it all plays out. But we always put on a good race and a good show, so I'm sure it will be the same. The first things I think about when I think about the race at TMS are close racing and craziness. It's always close and always hard-fought. It feels good to get that race under your belt."
INDYCAR Article Review
Open Wheel Wednesday: Checking in at Halfway (Huston Ladner)
Helio Castroneves Debriefs Belle Isle Incident, Excited for Texas (Matt Weaver)
Helio Castroneves, Shell Kick Off 3,000-Mile Cross-Country Relay (Joseph Wolkin)
Huston Ladner is the Open-Wheel Editor for Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at huston...@frontstretch.com.
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Thursday's Answer:
Q: Jason Leffler had a rather miserable first trip to Pocono back in 2001. First, he got caught up in a multi-car crash exiting turn 2. Later on, he ended up making a visit to the garage after another incident. What happened?
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