THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
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November 2nd, 2009
Volume III, Edition CCXI
Sprint Cup Race Recap
By Jay W. Pennell
McMurray Wins as NASCAR Steals the Show
Entering this weekend’s race at Talladega Superspeedway, everyone knew Sunday’s AMP Energy 500 would be one of the wildest races of the 2009 season. In an attempt to make safer racing, NASCAR issued smaller restrictor plates to reduce the speed of the cars. Aggressive bump-drafting during Friday’s practice sessions led NASCAR President Mike Helton to warn teams in the pre-race drivers’ meeting that if bump-drafting took place in the corners, black flags would start to fly.
This late announcement threw a kink in the plans of many teams and drew criticism from both drivers and fans alike. Dale Earnhardt Jr. explained the late rule change was like telling the NFL to go from tackle football to two-hand touch.
With rain washing out qualifying, points leader Jimmie Johnson led the 43-car field to the green Sunday afternoon. It did not take long before the first yellow flew on Lap 6 when Paul Menard blew a tire in turn two, collecting Joe Nemechek.
Following the restart on Lap 9, the field broke from the typical two- and three-wide racing and paraded around the top of the track in single-file fashion. In what appeared to be a message to NASCAR, the drivers forewent racing aggressively and putting on a good show for the fans and decided instead to ‘play it safe’ lap after lap.
Kurt Busch brought out the second caution of the day just as the first round of green flag pit stops were coming to a close. As a tire gave out and the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge slid through the grass in the tri-oval, Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman, Jamie McMurray, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon had slowed to hit pit road. NASCAR quickly threw the caution and closed the pits as the five cars approached the commitment line. Gordon was the only one of the group to turn back to the track and avoid the penalty for pitting too soon.
The second caution of the day mixed up the field and allowed Elliott Sadler to lead the field to the green on Lap 56. After some dicey racing on the restart, the field soon got back to single-file racing. The lackluster racing continued as Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Denny Hamlin, Juan Pablo Montoya and Sadler took turns out front.
With the 100-lap mark approaching the field began to slow again for the second round of green flag stops. After the field completed their stops under green, NASCAR threw the third yellow of the day for a reported piece of debris, sending the leaders back to pit road.
Restarting the race on Lap 109, Denny Hamlin led the field to the green as the action picked up on the track. Gone was the single-file racing and back was the typical jockeying for position two- and three-wide. Despite the warning from NASCAR, drivers continued to bump-draft mostly on the straightaways, but others pushed the issue in the corners.
This intense racing continued for the next 30 laps until Hamlin dropped to the apron in the tri-oval with smoke billowing from his No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota. Although he was one of the best cars in the draft, Hamlin’s terrible luck continued as he scored his third DNF in the last four races.
Hamlin’s troubles brought out the caution with 49 laps remaining and sent the field to pit road for what many figured to be the final time of the day. As NASCAR gave the one to go signal, a number of cars – including Jimmie Johnson – came back in to top off the fuel before the restart with 45 laps to go.
Three-wide racing following the restart gave way to single-file racing as the field came to 30 laps to go. That did not last long however, as the bottom lined formed and the action picked up with Earnhardt Jr. and Mark Martin charging towards the front.
As the laps clicked away the racing intensified. With five laps remaining Ryan Newman looked to bump-draft teammate Tony Stewart to the front of the pack. Hitting the back of the No. 14 Chevrolet, Newman was tagged from behind causing the first big crash of the day. The contact sent Stewart into the outside wall, as Newman shot down the track into Kevin Harvick. Spinning around backwards, Newman’s No. 39 U.S. Army Chevrolet lifted into the air, landing on the hood of Harvick’s car before shooting back up the track and into the outside wall on its roof. Sliding back down the banking the No. 39 flipped again in the grass before coming to a rest on its roof. Elliott Sadler and Marcos Ambrose were also involved.
An outspoken critic of cars getting airborne, Newman had to be cut from the car after the safety crew righted the No. 39. Uninjured in the crash, Newman explained he was sore from the incident, but overall was disappointed in NASCAR’s rules for Sunday’s race.
“I wish NASCAR would do something,” Newman said after leaving the infield care center. “It was a boring race for the fans. That's not something anybody wants to see, at least I hope not. If they do, go home because you don't belong here.
"It's just a product of this racing and what NASCAR has put us into with this box and these restrictor plates with these types of cars,” he went on to say. “You know with the yellow line, no bump-drafting, no passing. Drivers used to be able to respect each other and race around each other. Richard Petty, David Pearson and Bobby Allison and all those guys have always done that. I guess they don't think much of us anymore."
Following a 12 minute and 34 second red flag period, the yellow was brought out and the cars rolled around to set up for the final dash to the checkers. With fuel a concern prior to the lengthy clean-up, a number of cars including Gordon, Montoya, Earnhardt Jr., Martin and David Stremme ran out of gas and had to hit pit road with only a handful of laps remaining.
With others having trouble and some running out of gas, Johnson’s strategy of lying at the back of the pack all day finally paid off. Restarting the race in the 16th spot, the points leader looked to make three clean laps and emerge from the ‘wild-card’ race with a secure lead in the standings.
Roush Fenway Racing’s Jamie McMurray led the field to the final restart of the day for the green-white-checkered finish. The field broke into two- and three-wide racing as everyone battled for position. Coming off turn 4 to get the white flag, Kurt Busch received a bump-draft from Brad Keselowski that sent the No. 2 car sideways in front of the rest of the field. A number of cars were involved as Martin’s No. 5 Chevrolet tumbled on its roof and back on four wheels before hitting the outside wall.
As the field wrecked behind him, McMurray led the field to the white and yellow flag to score his first victory in 85 races. Kasey Kahne overcame losing the draft early in the race and contact with A.J. Allmendinger to finish second. Joey Logano, Greg Biffle, Jeff Burton, Johnson, Michael Waltrip, Keselowski, Sadler and Earnhardt Jr. rounded out the top 10.
“I saw the guys wreck behind me and I didn’t know if you had to take the white in order for, I wasn’t real sure what the rules were, and the No. 9 went to the outside because he saw the same issue, but I just moved up and kind of tried to block him,” McMurray said in Victory Lane. “As soon as I crossed the start-finish line I shut the engine off and pushed the clutch in and coasted around as far as I could. What an exciting day. We had a lot of fans out here today and, certainly, thanks to them.”
While the end of the race was a jumbled mess thanks to a number of cars running out of fuel, McMurray truly had one of the better cars in the field. The No. 26 led the field five times for a total of 31 laps, more than any other driver.
Only three races remain in the 2009 season, and with the series headed to Texas the action will continue to heat up. Johnson was able to survive the biggest threat to his title run and enters next weekend’s race with an over 180 point lead over his teammate Mark Martin.
"I am good with that. That is a good number,” Johnson said of his lead with three races to go. “I really have to give Chad (Knaus, crew chief) credit for coming in and pitting and putting fuel in the car. That's what set us up for this great finish. To be far enough ahead on the race track that I wasn't caught up in that big wreck."
Sunday’s AMP Energy 500 from the Talladega Superspeedway featured 58 lead changes amongst 25 drivers and was slowed by caution six times. Next week the Chase for the Sprint Cup continues to Texas, followed by Phoenix and the season-finale in Homestead.
Point Standings (Top 12)
By Phil Allaway
Jimmie Johnson actually did not have a very good car on Sunday. He spent most of the race riding along at the back of the lead pack, but when it came time to go at the end of the race, he didn't really have the car to really move up in the standings. When Newman crashed, he was 22nd. Only a mass rush to pit road and the crash in the closing laps allowed him to come home in sixth. This allowed him to once again expand his points lead, which is now unofficially 184 points, guaranteeing he'll leave Texas as the point leader unless he fails to start the race. Mark Martin is still in second place after a 28th place finish. Martin ran well all day, but got clipped coming to the white flag by Martin Truex Jr. putting Martin into a roll, and then into the wall. Third place Jeff Gordon also got involved in the crash, finishing in 20th with a beaten-up Chevy.
Juan Pablo Montoya also got involved in the crash coming to the white flag, but soldiered on to finish 19th. This allowed him to gain one spot to fourth in points. That position came at the expense of Tony Stewart, who was involved in a wreck on lap 184, which put him out of the race. Stewart was credited with a 35th place finish. Kurt Busch stays put in sixth despite being involved in the wreck coming to the white flag. Busch was hit by the No. 09 of Brad Keselowski, spinning out and causing the big one. Busch was credited with a 30th place finish.
Greg Biffle gained a spot with a fourth place finish on Sunday, however he needed a free pass to accomplish that. Biffle lost a lap when he incurred a pass through penalty on a green flag pit stop when a crew member failed to control a tire. Ryan Newman was credited with a 36th place finish, after his spectacular flip and is down one place to eighth in points. Twelve points behind Newman is Kasey Kahne, who gained two places on Sunday. Kahne had to start at the rear of the field due to an engine change, and then promptly lost the draft at the start. An early caution allowed him to catch back up. Towards the end of the race, he was in position to battle Jamie McMurray for the victory, but the crash coming to the white flag ended that charge and forced Kahne to settle for second.
Carl Edwards maintained the tenth position in points after a quiet 14th place finish. Denny Hamlin dropped two places back to 11th after blowing an engine with 50 laps to go. Brian Vickers, who finished 13th on Sunday, maintains the 12th spot although he is now officially eliminated him from championship contention. Just outside of the Chase, Kyle Busch maintains the 13th place with a 57 point advantage over Matt Kenseth.
Tracking the Top 35
As a result of the field being set by owners' points, John Andretti in the Window World-sponsored No. 34 started 35th, while Scott Speed started 38th (behind race winner Brad Keselowski and former Champion Bobby Labonte) in the Red Bull No. 82. During the race, both Andretti and Speed hung back in the pack early on before moving up.
As a result of all the pitting under the caution for Newman's flip, Speed was running in the seventh position coming to the white flag. Unfortunately, he was just far enough back to get clipped by the spinning No. 2 of Kurt Busch. The resulting incident put Speed out of the race. He was credited with a 27th place finish.
As for Andretti, he didn't pit under the caution and was lined up for the Green-White-Checker in the top 15. The car sputtered on the restart, causing him to drop like a stone. However, the car came back to life shortly afterwards, allowing Andretti to continue. Being behind the pack allowed Andretti to miss the crash and finish 23rd. In addition, Andretti stayed out during a caution early in the race to lead a lap. Those five extra points allowed Andretti to gain 17 points on Speed. As a result, the margin between Nos. 34 and 82 is now 135 points. The Front Row Motorsports No. 34 gained 27 points on the No. 7 of Robby Gordon, who also got caught up in the wreck coming to the white flag and finished 32nd. The margin is now 50 points between the Nos. 7 and 34.
The best run by a team that is outside of the Top 25 was the eighth place run by Brad Keselowski in the No. 09 Miccosukee Gaming Chevrolet for Phoenix Racing. However, Keselowski caused the big crash coming to the white flag by running into the back of Kurt Busch. Right behind Keselowski was the No. 19 of Elliott Sadler, who was doing a one-off in a Ford to help Richard Petty Motorsports prepare for 2010.
In tenth was Bobby Labonte in the TaxSlayer.com No. 71 for TRG Motorsports. This is the team's best finish of the season (previously, TRG's best was a 14th at Las Vegas in March with David Gilliland driving), and only Bobby Labonte's second top 10 of the season (Labonte finished fifth at Las Vegas in the No. 96). This is definitely good to see for the small TRG Motorsports team, which is looking at expanding to a second car and going all out for 2010.
Secret Star Of The Weekend: The Best Run You Never Saw
When it was announced last week that Robert Richardson Jr. was going to drive the No. 36 Toyota in Sunday's Amp Energy 500, I took the opportunity to take a look at Richardson's career statistics to see what could be expected of him. The stats revealed a driver with fairly atrocious record at most tracks, but one who at Talladega was likely to miss the big wrecks and score a decent top 20 finish. Prior to this weekend, Richardson had made four starts at Talladega between the Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series, finishing 19th, 19th, 16th and 16th.
This is more or less what happened at Talladega. For those of you who watched the race on ESPN, Richardson was completely invisible all day, running towards the back of the pack. There was not a shot of the side of the No. 36 in the entire race telecast. A couple of well-timed cautions saved him from potentially being lapped. Then, when all heck broke loose in the last ten laps, Richardson avoided both wrecks and brought the Mahindra Tractors-sponsored No. 36 home unofficially in 18th position, the best finish all season for the struggling Tommy Baldwin Racing team. Their previous best finish was when Scott Riggs brought the No. 36 home in 25th position in the Daytona 500, the team's only lead lap finish prior to Sunday. And in that race, the team was partially sponsored by Mahindra Tractors, who had come over from the No. 23 R3 Motorsports team after they failed to qualify with Mike Skinner driving. The owner of that team? Richardson's father, Robert Sr. - Phil Allaway
STAT OF THE WEEK: 58. Unofficially, this is the number of lead changes during the Amp Energy 500, among 25 leaders. This is the highest number of lead changes all season, although it is down from last year's race. Despite most people considering this race to be "dull" by Talladega standards due to Mike Helton's edict on Sunday morning that bump drafting was banned in the turns, the action was fast and furious at times. Also, this number of lead changes is substantially higher than anything seen in the 1990's at Talladega. Most of the lead changes came in quick bursts before long periods with no racing at all for position, either right after restarts or before and after green flag pit stops. However, there were significant periods that saw everyone run single file all the way around the track in one huge pack. Many people view this as a driver protest of the no bumping in the turns rule, while others thought that the drivers were afraid to push the issue, fearing a black flag that actually never came. Needless to say, there were quite a few unhappy campers after Sunday's race. - Phil Allaway
Got NASCAR-related questions or comments?Send them Matt Taliaferro's way at
matt.ta...@frontstretch.com; and if you're lucky, you'll get your name in print when he does his weekly column answering back to you – the fans that keep Frontstretch afloat. Fanning The Flames returns Thursday with a whole new set of Fan Questions and Answers!
Big Six: Amp Energy 500By Amy Henderson
Who…gets my shoutout of the race?
If I gave this award to the race winner, Jamie McMurray would have been the hands-down winner - a lame-duck driver who is probably running R&D stuff in the Chase and has no ride for 2010 winning the race is a great story. But since the official shoutout goes to a non-winner, how about Michael Waltrip, who avoided trouble and finished seventh. Waltrip, who will retire as a full-time driver at the end of this season, has a good knowledge of the draft and used that to his advantage on Sunday, pulling off his second top 10 finish of the season.
What…was THAT?
NASCAR needs to be proactive about safety - nobody would argue this, but the sanctioning body took things one step too far this week, disallowing any bump drafting in the corners rather than simply penalizing drivers who used the bump draft too aggressively. This came after the spring race, when Carl Edwards went airborne and slammed into the catch fence, injuring several fans, as well as an incident where several laps of overaggressive bumping ended when NASCAR parked Michael Waltrip for 30 minutes of practice after he nearly wrecked Jimmie Johnson. Where it gets silly is that Edwards’ wreck was caused by a boneheaded attempt to block, and NASCAR handled Friday’s incident exactly right - by penalizing an offender who went too far instead of making the whole field afraid to race for most of the event on Sunday.
Where…did the polesitter wind up?
Unharmed - and on this day, at this point in the Chase, that was all that Jimmie Johnson wanted. Johnson hung around the back of the field for much of the day but began to power forward late - avoiding both late-race crashes while his points competition wasn’t so lucky. Johnson finished sixth and in one piece. The only higher finishing Chase contenders were Kasey Kahne and Greg Biffle, who are both more than 300 points behind Johnson in the standings.
When…will I be loved?
It would be easy to blame Marcos Ambrose for getting into Ryan Newman or Brad Keselowski for getting into Kurt Busch, but the fact is that all the blame should be placed squarely where Newman laid it after a scary late crash in which Newman’s car got turned around and stood up on its nose before tumbling over backwards onto Kevin Harvick’s hood - on the shoulders of the sanctioning body, whose myriad of changes and restrictions has made this kind of crash a near-certainty at Talladega. Newman was relatively unhurt, but was angry and frustrated on the radio while waiting to be extricated. Still one piece of credit where it is due - even in this car with its higher roofline, the roll cage was bent until it was dangerously close to Newman’s head. The outcome might have been far different in the old car for Newman, whose chief complaint as he waited to be cut from the car was needing a restroom badly. After seeing the replay, I bet Harvick didn’t share that complaint…anymore.
Why…is this racetrack in the Chase?
Mark Martin said before Sunday’s race that Talladega is nothing more than “a game of chance.” The problem is that, while sometimes it is better to be lucky than good, racing is supposed to be a game of skill. Yet at Talladega, where setup of the car is rarely a factor and everyone makes the same horsepower, it becomes a roll of the dice - anyone can win. It’s a matter of being in the right place at the right time. Gone are the days where a few cars could lap the field and where cars were spread out all around the track - eliminating to a large degree the “Big One” that plagues today’s races at that track. Perhaps it’s time for NASCAR to either find another way to slow the cars down so they can lose the restrictor plates (or at least open them up a great degree) or to find another track to fill two weeks on the schedule. As it races right now, this track has no business having such an impact on the championship.
How…far out of the points lead is too far with three races to go?
Jimmie Johnson’s sixth-place run must have felt like a small victory to the defending champ, who boasts an average finish of just 25th in this race and avoided both late crashes by the skin of his teeth. It looked all day as though Johnson’s closest pursuers, teammates Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon, would gain a bunch of points on Johnson, but both were caught in the last melee of the day and lost ground to the points leader, who now holds a 184 point lead over Martin and an advantage of 192 over Gordon. Fourth-place Juan Pablo Montoya is 239 behind Johnson and probably the last driver with any kind of hope. 12th place Brian Vickers was mathematically eliminated from contention this week, and that list is sure to be added to next week as well. Johnson will leave Texas with the point lead no matter what happens during the race, and if he is able to maintain this advantage through Phoenix, he will only have to start at Homestead to claim his fourth consecutive title. A gain of just eleven points over the next two races would mean that Johnson will clinch the title outright at Phoenix. It’s not over, but it’s down to four men now.
TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
by Matt McLaughlin
by Bryan Davis Keith
by Mike Lovecchio
by Tony Lumbis
by Beth Lunkenheimer
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: This question could be considered to be really easy, or really hard, depending on how you look at it. The 2000 DirecTV 500 is best known for being the first Winston Cup Series win for Dale Earnhardt Jr., and the only career start for the late Adam Petty. In addition, the No. 10 of Johnny Benson unveiled a new black and blue paint scheme for sponsor Lycos, complete with the Lone Star Flag. It's obvious that the race was in Texas, but there's another reason why that was there. Why?
Check back Tuesday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Friday's Answer:
Note: Friday'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: "The King" Richard Petty is best known in NASCAR circles for his 200 career victories in what is now known as the Sprint Cup Series. He has the highest number of victories at Martinsville (15). What other current track does he hold this mark at?
A: Richard Petty is also the all time winningest driver at Richmond. Petty won 13 races at Richmond, including seven in a row from September, 1970 to September, 1973. Four of those victories came when the track was dirt, nine more after it was paved. However, all those victories came on the .542 mile Fairgounds Speedway that the Grand National/Winston Cup Series raced on from 1953-1988. Petty never won on the current 3/4 mile configuration that he "helped" construct in 1988 (he dug the first hole when they were chopping up the track literally right after the Pontiac Excitement 400 ended on February 21, 1988. Petty's best finish on the 3/4 mile oval was an 11th, two laps down in February, 1991.
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 by TBD
-- Sitting In The Stands: A Fan's View by S.D. Grady
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, and more!
Tomorrow on the Frontstretch:
Talking NASCAR TV by Phil Allaway
Talladega is always a popular stop with fans. The drivers, not so much. There was more than enough anger to go around on Sunday about the action on the track. Were the telecasts up to snuff? Phil Allaway has a full report.
The Yellow Stripe by Danny Peters
After Sunday's race left many on and off the track frustrated beyond words, there is no telling which topic Danny will tackle in this week's version of The Yellow Stripe.
Who's Hot / Who's Not In Sprint Cup: Talladega Edition by Doug Turnbull
With just four races left on the year, time's running out for any struggling teams to get their act together. Who needs to thaw their icy season before Homestead? And who actually benefitted themselves by running well at Talladega on Sunday? Doug lets us know in his weekly look at driver trends in and around the NASCAR circuit.
Running Their Mouth: Amp Energy 500 by Beth Lunkenheimer
Juan Pablo said what about Hendrick rival Jeff Gordon? Beth has the answer, bringing us the best quotes of the past weekend from Talladega.
Beyond The Cockpit: Michael Annett
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