The Frontstretch Newsletter: October 28th, 2009
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October 28th, 2009
Volume III, Edition CCVIII
Jimmie Johnson has a 118-point lead in the point standings after his second place finish on Sunday at Martinsville. However, Talladega's coming up, a track where -- as we all know -- anything can happen. Needless to say, the AMP Energy 500 should leave you amped up for some nailbiting action as NASCAR holds its final restrictor plate race of the year.
What? You say you're too busy watching Brett Favre's infamous return to Green Bay to tune in? Or are you just looking for a great group of people to watch the race with? Because either way, we're here to help. 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 12:45 PM 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
Steve Addington Out as Kyle Busch's Crew Chief; Rogers In
On Tuesday, Joe Gibbs Racing announced that Steve Addington will be replaced as crew chief for their No. 18 Toyota after this weekend's AMP Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Replacing Addington on a permanent basis will be Dave Rogers beginning at Texas in November.
Rogers is currently the crew chief on the No. 20 Toyota in the Nationwide Series (and has been since the beginning of the 2006 season), which has been driven by Joey Logano, Brad Coleman, Denny Hamlin, and Matt DiBenedetto this season. The team is currently fifth in Nationwide Series owner points, 761 behind the No. 18.
Team President J.D. Gibbs is positive that this move will make the No. 18 team better out on the track.
"We evaluate all of our teams on an ongoing basis, and believe this is a change that will make the No. 18 team stronger as we prepare for next season," Gibbs said on Tuesday. "BUt we think highly of Steve, the job he has done, and we look forward to him remaining a part of the JGR family."
This will not be Rogers' first crew chief opportunity in the Sprint Cup Series for Joe Gibbs Racing. Back in 2005, Rogers was tapped as the crew chief for Jason Leffler in the No. 11 FedEx Chevrolet. However, the team got off to a terrible start, as Leffler and his No. 11 actually fell out of the top 35 in owners' points at one point and failed to qualify for the Coca-Cola 600. Shortly afterward, Rogers was reassigned to the engineering department at JGR while Mike Ford took over as crew chief. Rogers then resurfaced in the Nationwide Series, winning nearly two dozen races in three-and-a-half years while bringing home the owners' title for the No. 20 car with a handful of drivers in the seat.
Addington will be reassigned elsewhere in the company.
Robert Richardson to Drive the No. 36 Cup Car at Talladega
On Tuesday, Tommy Baldwin Racing announced that Robert Richardson, Jr. will attempt to qualify the No. 36 Toyota this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway. If he qualifies, Richardson would be making his Sprint Cup debut.
Richardson is also bringing his sponsor from the Nationwide Series, Mahindra Tractors, along with him. This will allow the team to run a whole race for the first time since the Coca-Cola 600 in May.
"I am really excited to have this opportunity with Tommy Baldwin Racing and Mahindra Tractors," Richardson said on Tuesday. "Tommy's cars always run well at the superspeedways, and I am confident we will qualify into the race on time. My goal is to run clean, avoid wrecks, and come home with a solid finish."
The 27-year-old Richardson has made 45 career starts in the Nationwide Series over the past three seasons. His best career finish is a 16th earlier this season at Talladega. In addition, he has started 23 races in what is now the Camping World Truck Series, where his best finish there is also a 16th at Talladega. Despite results that could be considered quite dreadful at times at other tracks, Richardson has always done well at the monstrous 2.66 mile tri-oval, never finishing worse than 19th in his four Nationwide/Truck starts at the speedway.
Nationwide COTs to be Displayed at Talladega
In a press release on Tuesday, NASCAR announced that all four manufacturers (Chevrolet, Ford, Toyota and Dodge) will have their Nationwide COT cars on display outside of the media center at Talladega Superspeedway on Friday, October 30th.
Dodge will also use this week to officially unveil their COT entrant in the Nationwide Series, the Challenger, on Thursday afternoon. So far, the only pictures released of Dodge's Nationwide COT were from a test session late last year, before the testing ban went into effect.
BAM Racing Announces New Partnership, Hoping to be at Daytona in 2010
On Tuesday, BAM Racing owner Beth Ann Morgenthau announced in an open letter to race fans that the fledgling race team has entered into a marketing alliance with Warner Music Nashville. The agreement allows recording artists under the Warner Music Nashville label (as of right now, those artists include Big & Rich, Michelle Branch, Faith Hill, and Blake Shelton, amongst others) to make use of the deal for branding purposes and promotional appearances at races.
This would result in Warner Music Nashville effectively becoming the primary sponsor of BAM Racing's No. 49. Currently, on BAM Racing's website, there is a depiction of a Warner Music-sponsored No. 49 Toyota.
Plans currently have the team returning to the track next February at Daytona. The first of these promotional events is currently scheduled for February 6, 2010, which is the day of pole qualifying for the Daytona 500 and the Budweiser Shootout.
BAM Racing has not raced in the Sprint Cup Series since the Goody's Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville Speedway in March, 2008. In the open letter on BAM Racing's website, Morgenthau stated that the team could have continued on as a start-and-park organization, but claimed "that is not why we're in racing." She describes the relationship with Warner Music Nashville as one where both sides want to create an "unparalleled fan experience within NASCAR's Sprint Cup teams."
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
Sometimes, You Have To Make Changes Sooner Rather Than Later
Full Throttle
By Mike Neff
NASCAR is a business built on chemistry. Owners have to mesh well with drivers, sponsors have to be a good fit for their pitchmen, the pit crews have to work like a well-oiled machine and, most importantly, crew chiefs and drivers have to blend in harmoniously. There are some isolated incidents of teams in the past that have won a championship while the driver and crew chief were constantly at odds, but the vast majority of series champions have benefited from a symbiotic relationship -- one where a crew chief knows exactly what the driver needed often before the driver even asks for it.
The No. 18 team looked like they were on that track at the beginning of last season, but completely disintegrated when the chips were down. This year followed a similar pattern, with even less success at the start of the year making it obvious to a man who knows chemistry, Joe Gibbs, that a change had to be made.
Kyle Busch has been at JGR for almost two seasons. After coming over from the Hendrick juggernaut in 2008, Busch lit the NASCAR world on fire early in 2008 with eight wins in the first 22 races. Going into the Chase for the Sprint Cup, he was the odds on favorite to win the title... but it was not meant to be. Starting on the pole with qualifying rained out at Loudon, Busch came home 34th, 12 laps down, after a series of problems. Despite losing the point lead that day, he headed into Dover still feeling like he had a chance -- but that didn’t last long, as 172 laps into the race his engine failed, sending his title hopes up in smoke.
So Busch basically gave up from that point on, finishing 28th at Kansas the next week to put the final nail in the coffin of his 2008 championship run. Yet while the playoffs were largely a disappointment, the season was arguably a huge success with 8 wins, 17 top 5s, and 21 top 10s. Considering those gaudy numbers, the team came into this season thinking a championship was a forgone conclusion.
2009 didn’t start off very well with a 41st place finish at Daytona, but the team rebounded with a third at California and then a win at Las Vegas. Unfortunately, the success of the previous year was much harder to capture from that point on, and a slew of finishes worse than 20th doomed the team to the ultimate disappointment of the year -- missing the Chase for the Sprint Cup. So far this season, Busch has logged four wins, nine top 5s and 12 top 10s, basically half of his totals from last season despite another year of seasoning under his belt. While Busch is headed for a Nationwide title, his Cup Series success has slipped -- and the time for change has arrived.
It's a major adjustment, as Steve Addington has been on the top of the box for all of Kyle Busch’s races since he’s been at JGR and in charge of the No. 18 team for three years before that. Yet while their marriage had the early success, it slowly deteriorated and ultimately, it came time to change the man on top of the box. No one will know if the disappointment of the Chase in 2008 ultimately doomed the relationship or not -- but it certainly didn’t help.
Regardless, the man replacing him is a name that is not unfamiliar to Busch, as Dave Rogers is the crew chief for the No. 20 JGR Toyota in the Nationwide Series. He crew chiefed the car to the Nationwide Owners' championship last season with nine victories, six poles, 16 top 5s, and 26 top 10 finishes, achieved with four different drivers in the car throughout the year.
In 1999, Rogers started out working with Greg Zipadelli and helped him guide the No. 20 Home Depot team to two championships between then and 2005. He was then given the crew chief duties when JGR started up the No. 11 Cup team. As with most new teams, the group struggled, and Rogers was back in the engineering department before the end of the season. He was then given a second opportunity at the end of 2005 when Denny Hamlin asked him to be the crew chief of the No. 20 Nationwide car.
Rogers has a mechanical engineering degree from Clarkson University in Potsdam, NY and a masters from the General Motors Institute. Whether Rogers has what it takes to make Kyle Busch the best of the best. or if he’ll just be another crew chief who could win races but not the big one is yet to be seen. But there is no mistaking the fact that he knows how to win a championship, and he certainly could make Busch a serious threat again to dethrone Jimmie Johnson in 2010.
Chemistry is a very important factor in this sport. So let’s sit back and see if the mixture of Rogers and Busch is like oil and water... or sugar and tea.
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:
The Frontstretch Foto Funnies! Martinsville, October 2009
by Kurt Smith
Did You Notice? ...Busch Brothers Burn Crew Chiefs Out, Officiating Mistakes, And NASCAR On WWE?
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Top Ten Things Bob Griese Could Have Said That Would Have Actually Been An Insult
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Mirror Driving: Addington Angst, Rewarding Wins, And Is Jeff Gordon Over The Hill?
by the Frontstretch Staff
Johnson's Fourth Title In Striking Distance, Yet Talladega Remains A Game Changer
by Vito Pugliese
Frontstretch Sprint Cup Power Rankings: Top 15 Through Martinsville
compiled by Mike Neff
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:
Note: Today's trivia question was provided by Buzztime. Be sure to visit buzztime.com to battle against others in trivia challenges about NASCAR and all of your favorite sports!
Q: Today, NASCAR has only four manufacturers (Chevrolet, Ford, Toyota and Dodge). However, in the past, teams used cars from many more manufacturers (in fact, the record for most manufacturers represented in a Cup race is 15). Which manufacturer claimed victory in the very first Daytona 500 in 1959?
Tuesday's Answer:
Q. The Sprint Cup Series historically has been an older man's game, unlike many other racing series. It is generally very rare for a driver under the age of 30 to win a championship. In fact, for much of the 1980's, it was fairly rare that anyone that young was in position to win a race, let alone a championship. However, a couple of "young 'uns" have pulled off the feat of winning a title in what is now the Sprint Cup Series before the age of 25. Who is the youngest person to win the championship?
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 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
Another commentary tinged with the usual dose of sarcasm from our writer based in the Upper Midwest.
Athlon Racing's resident editor-in-chief just got married last weekend and is on his honeymoon. But that does not mean that your questions won't get answered. Phil will tackle your questions in our weekly Fan Q & A. Do you have something you'd like to say to Phil? Don't sit on the sidelines! Send it to ashl...@mail.com, and you just may see your question in print this week!
Thompson In Turn 5 by Tommy Thompson
Matt McLaughlin Mouths Off by Matt McLaughlin
The shifting of the schedule this season resulted in Martinsville and Talladega once again being held on back-to-back weekends. Matt talks about how these two tracks have evolved over the years.
Fantasy Insider: Martinsville by Bryan Davis Keith and Mike Neff
Talladega is a track where literally anything can happen, and often does. As a result, it can be a toss-up in regards to who to ride on for the race. But luckily, Bryan and Mike are here to help you out with advice on which drivers are most likely to avoid the carnage and bring home good finishes on Sunday for your fantasy roster.
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