THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTERPresented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
Apr. 22, 2016
Volume X, Edition LVII
What to Watch: Friday
- Today, the race weekend officially gets underway. Sprint Cup and XFINITY Series teams will take to Richmond International Raceway for practice while the INDYCAR and Pirelli World Challenge series have sessions scheduled as well.
FOLLOW THE FRONTSTRETCH THIS WEEKEND IN RICHMOND FROM OUR COLLEAGUES:
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This weekend's TV Schedule can be found here.
Top News
by The Frontstretch Staff
Kevin Harvick Leads Rain-Shortened Richmond Practice
Kevin Harvick paced the field in Richmond first practice Friday before rain shortened on-track time for the Sprint Cup Series. Harvick posted a speed of 129.069 mph which topped the charts over Joey Logano, Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards and Denny Hamlin. Tony Stewart, turning his first official laps behind the wheel of a Sprint Cup race car this season wound up 18th.
With 41 Cup drivers entered for the race one team will fail to qualify. Should qualifying get rained out (chances are high based on this afternoon's forecast) Cole Whitt had the slowest practice speed of the five "open" teams competing for the final four spots and would miss the race.
Read more
Tony Stewart Fined by NASCAR For Criticism of Lug Nut Rule
Thursday was an interesting day in the life of Tony Stewart. First, he announced his return to the drivers' seat this weekend in Richmond; then, NASCAR fined Stewart $35,000 for comments he made Wednesday about NASCAR no longer officiating lug nuts. Later on, the Drivers' Council released a statement pledging full support for Stewart and that they would collectively pay the fine. Read more
NASCAR CEO Brian France Addresses Many Topics in Associated Press Meeting
Thursday, NASCAR CEO Brian France spoke to members of the media at the ASPE on a number of topics ranging from his endorsement of Donald Trump to the title sponsor search, and everything in between. Read more
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The Critic's Annex: Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
by Phil Allaway
Greetings, race fans. Welcome back to another edition of the Annex, where we're taking a look at Sunday's Verizon IndyCar Series broadcast from Long Beach. The race was covered by NBCSN.
Rick Allen, NBC's main Sprint Cup announcer was once again on play-by-play Sunday for IndyCar. While I don't have a problem with that, note that he's technically the sub while Leigh Diffey is the primary play-by-play guy. However, Diffey has stated he won't make his INDYCAR debut until the end of June at Road America. I think NBCSN may need to hire a third full-time play-by-play guy so that the broadcasts can have continuity.
During IndyCar Live Takuma Sato talked about what his 2014 win at Long Beach meant to him and his countrymen in the wake of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, whose effects were still being felt. In addition, Rutledge Wood narrated a piece about the final Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race. While that event was more fun to watch back in the 1990s it was always interesting. Alfonso Ribeiro claimed his fourth overall victory in that one.
The major story coming out of Sunday's race was the blend line at the end of Shoreline Drive. Simon Pagenaud's warning is the big takeaway but seemingly everyone was either cutting it close or blatantly violating the line. I think Sebastien Bourdais violated the rule after his first stop and was not penalized.
Yesterday in Potts' Shots, we ran a picture provided by a friend of John Potts where Scott Dixon clearly violated the rule but suffered no consequences.
Note that Mr. Powell takes much better photos of his TV screen than I can. Bourdais' violation was more blatant than this picture. My thoughts here are that given INDYCAR's enforcement of the rule during the race there is no way in heck that they could have given Pagenaud the stop-and-go penalty he deserved without Team Penske filing a protest that they more than likely would have won. They probably shouldn't have even warned Pagenaud because the officials proved that they couldn't properly officiate the rule. The whole thing was a got-dang mess.
NBCSN provided some good coverage here. They informed fans of the specific rule and spelled out the individual punishments that the stewards could use as per the new penalty consequences unveiled in between St. Petersburg and Phoenix. Ultimately, they used the mildest one (the warning). There was admittedly some outrage in the booth and in the pits at the announced penalty (which took entirely too long to be announced, mind you). However, given the many passes that officials gave Sunday I have no idea what the heck you were honestly expecting.
Another instance that was relatively interesting was Max Chilton blatantly cheating by cutting the course multiple times. I have no idea what was going through his head right there. Maybe he was still angry about
his checked bag being ruined by American Airlines after Phoenix (Note: This story is completely ridiculous, but it did happen. It's like the back of it was ripped off.)
Apparently, Chilton did this "cut through" at least once or twice before it even made air. Allen noticed the shortcut and made note of it. Ten laps later, INDYCAR called down to the No. 8 pit and notified the they were watching Chilton and no more "corner cutting" would be tolerated. Just goes to show that the officiating crew did a terrible job Sunday; it was like they were on another planet. They had better be on their game this weekend in Alabama.
Since the race went caution-free there was a lot of time for post-race interviews. NBCSN must have talked to more than half of the 21 starters (all of whom finished the race). In addition, there were also checks of the unofficial results and points.
Given that we had a caution-free race that really didn't have that much action NBCSN did a great job of keeping viewers updates on where everyone was running and issues that they were facing. While that is quite a bit easier with a starting field of 21 as opposed to 40 FOX could take some cues here for Sprint Cup telecasts. You have to realize that everyone has fans from Dale Earnhardt, Jr. all the way down to Matt DiBenedetto and beyond. Heck, if anything, bringing attention to some of these smaller outfits would make NASCAR's top three national series healthier in general.
I hope you liked this somewhat brief look at NBCSN's coverage of Sunday's Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Next week, we'll be back with more motorsports content. Until then, enjoy this weekend's action from Richmond, Barber Park and Monza.
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Frontstretch Folio: Toyota Owners 400
by Phil Allaway
This weekend, the Sprint Cup Series travels to Richmond for their second consecutive short track race. Coverage of the Toyota Owners 400 can be seen on FOX starting at 12:30 p.m. ET while the green flag will fly around 1:20. It can be heard on MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).
Records and facts
Last year, the race was scheduled to run Saturday night but was postponed to Sunday afternoon due to rain. When the race was actually run, Kurt Busch dominated, leading 291 laps (including 127 of the last 128) on the way to victory. Kevin Harvick was second followed by Jimmie Johnson, Jamie McMurray and Joey Logano.
All-time, Richard Petty is the winningest driver at Richmond with 13 career victories. Three of those came when Richmond was a dirt track while the other ten were on the paved 0.542-mile Richmond Fairgrounds Speedway that was in place until 1988, including seven in a row from 1970-73. Bobby Allison had seven wins while Darrell Waltrip, David Pearson and Rusty Wallace each had six.
Among active drivers, Kyle Busch has the most victories at Richmond with four. Four others (Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson) have three wins each.
Track Facts
Track / Race Length: .750-mile D-shaped oval, 400 laps (300 miles)
Banking: 14 degrees
Frontstretch: 1,290 feet, banked 8 degrees
Backstretch: 860 feet, banked 5 degrees
Grandstand Seating: 59,000
Pit Road Speed: 40 mph
Pace Car Speed: 45 mph
Opened: 1946
Website: http://www.rir.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RichmondInternationalRaceway
Twitter: http://twitter.com/RIRInsider
Pre-Race Schedule:
Qualifying: Friday, April 15, 4:15 p.m. on FOX Sports 1
Practice No. 2: Saturday, April 16, 8:30 a.m. - 9:25 a.m. on FOX Sports 1
Happy Hour: Saturday, April 16, 11 a.m. - 11:55 a.m. on FOX Sports 1
Say What?!
"I’m looking forward to getting back to Richmond. The surface is worn out and slick, so that makes it fun to drive. It’s a wide track and I think with the new tire we'll be able to pass and that’s always good for the racing. I really enjoy short-track racing in general and I think we’re going to have a good race. Then, in the XFINITY race, I’ll get to participate in the heat races, which will be pretty cool. It should be a good weekend and I think the fans will enjoy it." - Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
"I tend to like short tracks. I think they make for good passing and I’ve always enjoyed going to Richmond. I had fun racing IndyCars there. I liked driving the XFINITY car there, as well. We didn’t have the greatest results, but it was still fun... we are definitely going to be moving around a lot more at Richmond this weekend. I kind of think we’re going to be miserable some of the time. I mean, there are times where the tires fall off and you’re like, ‘Shoot me out here, it’s terrible.’ And I have a feeling we’re going to have a few ‘shoot me’ moments this weekend where it’s just going to be moving all around and it’s going to be a lot of work. But as long as we have the opportunity to pass, I mean, even if you’re slip-sliding around and it feels like crap and you’re passing somebody, it’s still fun." - Danica Patrick
"The daytime race will make it tough. The asphalt will really change temperature and it will change how the race plays out. I like the night races there, but I think it’s going to be interesting to see how it all plays out. It’s another good short track. You’ve got to figure out how to manage tires, manage brakes, and be there at the end. The new downforce package probably won’t play as big of a role at Richmond. It’ll be there, and we’ll notice it getting into Turn 1 more than anywhere else. You’ll have the higher speed and trying to keep a solid arc on entry. So you might see it a little bit there, but for the most part it’s going to be typical short-track racing." - Chris Buescher
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TODAY ON FRONTSTRETCH:
by Zach Catanzareti
by Amy Henderson
ATHLON SPORTS - RICHMOND PREVIEW:
by Tom Bowles
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FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: NASCAR has made a multitude of changes in recent years in an attempt to please race fans. In the past, that wasn't really the case. However, that began to change at Richmond in 1998. First, the Spring race was moved from March to early June in order to avoid the typical cold weather. Then, NASCAR did something unprecedented late in the race. What was it?
Check back tomorrow for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Thursday's Answer:
Q: The 1989 Pontiac Excitement 400 was the first spring race held on the new 3/4-mile Richmond International Raceway. However, it also made history for another reason. What was it?
A: In NASCAR's modern era this race is the only one ever run on Easter. The race was originally scheduled to run the Sunday after the Daytona 500, but it was rained out. NASCAR did not use the "next clear day" at all times back then. If inclement weather struck early in the season, they would often postpone a race to the next clear weekend. That can cause problems, like when the 1992 Mountain Dew 500 at Hickory for the Busch Grand National Series moved to Easter weekend under similar circumstances and ran up against a partial track repave.
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COMING MONDAY
In The Frontstretch Newsletter:
We'll have recaps of the Sprint Cup and XFINITY Series events from Richmond International Raceway. There will also be an update on the points and any other news that breaks this weekend.
On Frontstretch.com:
We'll have a series of post-race commentaries breaking down this weekend's action in Richmond.
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