The Fronstretch Newsletter: November 4th, 2009

[Frontstretch.com]

THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
November 4th, 2009
Volume III, Edition CCXIII

DON'T FORGET THE FRONTSTRETCH LIVE BLOG THIS SUNDAY!
Jimmie Johnson's sixth place finish at Talladega has given him a 184-point lead with just three races to go.  It appears that the race for the actual championship may be a coronation now -- but the rest of the Top 12 are very close.  Positions can jumble this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, a 1.5-miler where anything can happen ... and usually does.
 
Can't get to a television to watch the race?  Too busy watching Drew Brees torch the Panthers to catch the race on ABC?  Well 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 2:45 PM EST 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

NASCAR holds Goodyear Tire Test at Daytona International Speedway

 

On Tuesday, Goodyear wrapped up a two-day tire test for Sprint Cup Series teams at Daytona International Speedway.  The test was designed to test different tire compounds for February's Daytona 500 in some single car runs and extensive drafting runs.

 

"The sequence has been to try as many sets of tires as we can and do it in a simulation with the drafting," Kurt Busch said on Tuesday.  "When you run two or three cars by themselves in a simulation draft, it doesn’t do it justice until you really push everybody out there together to get cars sliding, to have some cars pushing, to have some cars on the loose side. It really gives us a good indication of what changes we’re making on the tires when we have such a big draft."

 

Busch continued on to say that once the tires were changed, the cars were sent out onto the track to do runs of 15-30 laps to see how well the tires held up.  This was done because of complaints that tire wear simply could not be replicated with single car runs, regardless of what speed the cars are going.

 

As is the norm for Goodyear tire tests, no official speeds were announced.

 

17 teams were at the test.  Representing Ford were Matt Kenseth, Jamie McMurray and David Ragan of Roush Fenway Racing.  In addition, Paul Menard was representing Yates Racing, while Eric Darnell was also present, representing Hall of Fame Racing.  Dodge was mainly represented by the three-car Penske Championship Racing team and drivers Kurt Busch, Sam Hornish, Jr., and newest recruit Brad Keselowski.  A.J. Allmendinger was also present at the test, but it is unclear he was driving a Dodge or a Ford, since Richard Petty Motorsports is switching to Ford for 2010.

 

Toyota was represented by Kyle Busch for Joe Gibbs Racing and Scott Speed for the Red Bull Racing Team.  In addition, David Reutimann for Michael Waltrip Racing and Marcos Ambrose for MWR-affiliated JTG Daugherty Racing were also present at the test.

 

Finally, Chevrolet was represented by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. of Hendrick Motorsports, Juan Pablo Montoya of Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing, Sterling Marlin of Phoenix Racing, and Regan Smith of Furniture Row Racing.

 

Allmendinger to Drive Fords for Remainder of 2009

 

Richard Petty Motorsports (RPM) announced on Tuesday that A.J. Allmendinger will drive Ford Fusions for the remaining three races (Texas, Phoenix and Homestead), continuing preparation for the 2010 season, when all RPM cars will be running Fords full-time.

 

In addition, the team announced that Allmendinger's No. 44 will carry the famous Petty Blue colors (from when STP was sponsoring Petty) with Ford Drive One logos for the rest of the season.  The car looks similar to the No. 44 Pontiac that Rick Wilson drove for Petty Enterprises in 1993, the year after Richard Petty retired as a driver. It's also the second time this particular scheme has been used in NASCAR this season.  Baker-Curb Racing raced a similarly painted No. 27 in the Subway Jalapeno 250 at Daytona on July 3, with Scott Tissue and Wal-Mart sponsorship.  Keller started 16th and finished 22nd.

 

"This is exciting stuff. It’s like a new beginning for Richard Petty Motorsports," Allmendinger said on Tuesday.  "Whenever you do something new, you are a little bit excited and a little bit nervous because you haven't done it before. Elliott drove a Ford for us at Talladega last week, and everyone was really positive about the experience. It’s our turn this week tire testing a Ford in Daytona, and we’ll drive one at Phoenix and Homestead as well."

 

Allmendinger will be the second RPM driver to try out the Fusion.  Elliott Sadler drove a Stanley-sponsored No. 19 Ford on Sunday at Talladega, scoring a ninth place finish.

 

Hillin to Drive Nationwide Series No. 81 at Texas

 

MacDonald Motorsports has announced that former Sprint Cup Series driver Bobby Hillin, Jr. will drive the No. 81 Dodge in Saturday's O'Reilly Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway.  Hillin brings sponsorship to the car through Texas ReExcavation, L.C., which specializes in sub-surface vacuum excavation.  In addition, T-Rex Engineering & Construction, a company dedicated to designing and fabricating equipment for offshore oil drilling, will also sponsor the car.  Both companies are owned by Hillin and based out of Houston, Texas.

 

This will not be the first time that Hillin has driven the No. 81 for MacDonald Motorsports.  Last season, team owner Randy MacDonald signed Hillin to drive the No. 81 at Kansas.  Hillin qualified 40th for the race, but crashed after 93 laps.  He was credited with a 36th place finish.

 

Hillin was going to be at the races this weekend to entertain T-Rex clients, but is excited for this opportunity to return to racing in his home state.

 

"It has always been hard for me to be at the track and not race," Hillin said on Tuesday.  "So when we had the opportunity to sponsor the No. 81 car and I could drive, well, we jumped on it. For me, this is equivalent of going back and playing in a high school football game, and I know so many men can relate to that!"

 

This season, 11 different drivers (D.J. Kennington, Bobby Hamilton, Jr., Kevin Hamlin, Mike Bliss, J.J. Yeley, Sean Murphy, Patrick Sheltra, Michael McDowell, Alex Tagliani, Jeff Green, and Blake Koch) have all taken turns behind the wheel of the No. 81 Dodge.  The team's best finish is a 13th in the Copart 300 at Auto Club Speedway on October 9 with Bliss behind the wheel.  In addition, the team has three top 15 and seven top 20 finishes.  The team is currently in 25th place in owner points, and is now guaranteed of a starting spot in the first five races of 2010.

 

Hillin has essentially been out of racing since 2000, when his No. 8 team left the Busch Series after the Kroger 200 at then-Indianapolis Raceway Park, never to return.  After a fill-in start in the Winston Cup Series' goracing.com 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway a few weeks later, Hillin disappeared from NASCAR.  He didn't return until the aforementioned race last season.

 

Tiwi and Valvoline To Sponsor McCumbee No. 07 Truck

 

SS Green Light Racing announced on Tuesday that a new sponsorship deal has been reached for the final three races of the 2009 season.  Tiwi, the GPS company that has sponsored the No. 07 previously this season, along with being the exclusive provider of transponders to NASCAR, will team up with Valvoline to sponsor the No. 07 Chevrolet and driver Chad McCumbee.

 

The paint scheme for this dual sponsorship will be unveiled on Thursday as part of a product launch.

 

Camping World Truck Series Ratings up at Talladega

 

Continuing a positive trend in NASCAR's third-tier division, the telecast of the Camping World Truck Series' Mountain Dew 250 presented by Fred's posted a rating of 1.34 on SPEED Saturday.  This rating is up 21 percent from last year's 1.11, translating to an average of 999,000 households.

 

The ratings, the best ever for a Truck race at Talladega, peaked at a 1.67 towards the end of the event.  This season, ratings for the Camping World Truck Series, despite the falling truck count and lagging attendance, have been up at almost every race on the schedule with the exception of the rain delayed Spring race at Martinsville, which was run on Monday.  This is in contrast to Sprint Cup ratings, which have decreased at most weekends this season.
 
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
Magic Number for Jimmie Johnson
Full Throttle
By Mike Neff

The Fall Classic is not over yet, but the thought of baseball playoffs can bring about the thought of magic numbers. When a baseball team is about to secure a playoff spot, people begin counting down their magic number, a combination of wins for their team and losses for the team chasing them. So with three races left in the 2009 Sprint Cup season, it is now time to talk about the magic number for Jimmie Johnson to clinch his record-setting fourth consecutive title.

 

The calculation of Johnson’s magic number is relatively simple. The winner of a race, if he leads the most laps, scores 195 points. There are three races left in the season, so in doing the basic math, a driver can score 585 points if he can pull off the trifecta and win the last three races -- leading the most laps in each of them.

 

Second-place Mark Martin has 6,064 points following Talladega. If he scores the maximum points over the next three races, he’ll end the season with 6,649 points. Johnson, at this point, has 6,248 markers following his sixth-place finish at Talladega. Subtracting 6,248 from 6,649 leaves 402 points that Johnson needs to score over the next three races to ensure himself of his fourth championship. That translates into 134 points per race, the amount of points awarded for a 10th-place finish.

 

Considering Johnson’s track record in the Chase, that certainly would seem a very simple thing for the No. 48 team to accomplish... but it is by no means a given. There have been 33 races this season, and in 11 of those races, Johnson has finished worse than 10th. In fact, from Pocono through Michigan during the summer, Johnson had finishes of 13th, 12th, and 33rd over that three-race span. There is no question that the team could go on a cold streak and open the door for Martin, Jeff Gordon, or even Juan Pablo Montoya -- but the odds are strongly against it.

 

Since (ironically) Charlotte in 2007 when Johnson finished 14th, he has only finished worse than 10th twice during the Chase: 15th, at Texas and Homestead last year. However, he finished first at Phoenix in between those two, so his average finish over those three races was only fractionally over 10. During the six years of the Chase’s existence, Johnson has finished below 10th in just 14 races out of 57 that have been run (including zero times so far in 2009). He did it four times during his first championship season in 2006, and three times in 2004 and 2005. Interestingly, he’s never gone through an entire Chase without finishing below 10th in two races, however, so there is still some light at the end of the tunnel for his pursuers.

 

One other point to remember: While Johnson's had 14 finishes worse than 10th, he’s won 17 races during that same time span. Johnson’s main concern is having a substantial lead before he gets to Homestead. Johnson did finish second at Homestead during the first Chase in 2004, but has not fared nearly as well since then, finishing seventh in '07, ninth in '06, 15th last season and 40th in '05. If he stumbles before the final race of the season and allows Martin or one of the other close Chasers the opportunity to get close to him heading into the final event, anything is possible.

 

More than likely though, Johnson will be able to start and park at Homestead and sit on the pit box eating ice cream like Harry and the crew in Days of Thunder. If Johnson can gain another 138 points over his next closest competitor at Texas, all he’ll have to do is start the final two races and he’ll be the 2009 and four-time consecutive champion.

 

Writer’s note: For those people who hate the Chase, Johnson would have also taken the points lead using the old point system this past weekend... but the race would be a lot closer than the 184 points it is now.

 
Mike Neff is a Senior Writer for Frontstretch.com. He can be reached at mn...@carolina.rr.com.

Think you have what it takes to write for the Frontstretch?
Are you looking for a fast-growing website that can give you an opportunity to not only share your thoughts on racing, but have FUN doing it with a group of laid-back, dedicated personnel?  Well, we have the place for you. Frontstretch is actively seeking 4-6 additional writers for both our newsletter and website to add to our dedicated staff in 2010. Follow this link for more information on how you can become a weekly columnist for the site and/or newsletter!
 
TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:

Did You Notice? ... NASCAR's Burning To The Ground, And Why The Truck Series Stays Sound
by Tom Bowles

Talladega Troubles Self-Imposed By NASCAR
by Vito Pugliese

Top Ten Things Fans Decided To Do After 20 Laps At Talladega
by Jeff Meyer

Mirror Driving: Where Do We Go From Here?, Judging Allmendinger, And Closing Memphis
by the Frontstretch Staff

Frontstretch Sprint Cup Power Rankings: Top 15 After Talladega
compiled by Mike Neff

The Frontstretch Foto Funnies! Talladega, 2009
by Kurt Smith

Hey, Frontstretch Readers!
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:

Q: The 1998 Texas 500 was the scene of a vicious crash that nearly ended the career of Greg Sacks, who was driving the No. 98 Thorn Apple Valley Meats Ford for Cale Yarborough Motorsports.  What happened here?
 
Check back Thursday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
 
Tuesday's Answer:
Q.  The current version of Texas Motor Speedway that we know today was the result of at least two renovations in the first few years of operation.  For example, the pit lane had to be widened before the track ever opened because it was too narrow.
 
Another staple of Texas Motor Speedway is that it is effectively always been devoid of grass except for the quad-oval.  There was a reason for this.  What is it?

A.  The reason for this is actually quite strange.  When Texas Motor Speedway was under construction, one of the ideas for the track was that it would be two tracks in one.  There would be the 24 degree high-banked oval for stock cars, and a flatter track for open-wheeled racers.  The banking would be used as an apron, similar to Darlington Raceway when it first opened in 1950.

 

Needless to say, this did not catch on.  The IRL used the same 24 degree banking for their inaugural race at Texas in 1997 as the Winston Cup Series did (this race, the True Value 500k, was best known for a scoring issue that incorrectly gave the victory to Billy Boat when Arie Luyendyk was the rightful winner.  Luyendyk protested in Victory Lane after the race, and was infamously the recipent of both a smack upside the head and a bum's rush from A.J. Foyt).

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!

Tomorrow on the Frontstretch:
Voices From The Heartland by Jeff Meyer
NASCAR won two business awards this week for their "exceptional methods" at getting fans involved in their decision-making and overall direction of the sport. But is that synergy as strong as it seems? Jeff takes a look in his latest weekly commentary.

Fanning The Flames by Matt Taliaferro
Athlon Racing's resident editor-in-chief is back from his honeymoon, ready and raring to answer your Questions in our Fan Q&A. Do you have something you'd like to ask Matt? Don't sit on the sidelines! Send it to matt.ta...@frontstretch.com, and you just may see your question in print this week!
 
Thompson In Turn 5 by Tommy Thompson
In this weekend's edition of Thompson in Turn 5, Tommy looks into his crystal ball and wonders what races at Talladega Superspeedway would be like if the racetrack were changed and/or the plates removed.  But he wonders if, deep down, that's really what everyone wants.

Matt McLaughlin Mouths Off by Matt McLaughlin
Buried beneath much of the news that has broken in the past week was an announcement by NASCAR that they are potentially looking toward a "crate motor" for the Camping World Truck Series.  Matt discusses the pros and cons of this in his own unique way.

Fantasy Insider: Texas by Bryan Davis Keith and Mike Neff
Texas Motor Speedway is one of the fastest race tracks on the Sprint Cup Schedule today.  It takes a very fast race car that handles well plus a lot of luck in order to prosper in Fort Worth.  Bryan and Mike are here to help you out with advice on which drivers are most likely to be able to get a good grip of the 1.5 mile quad-oval, bringing their cars home with a good finish on Sunday for your fantasy roster.
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Got something to say about an article you've seen in the newsletter? It's as easy as replying directly to this message or sending an email to edi...@frontstretch.com. We'll take the best comments and publish them here!
©2009 Frontstretch.com

Today's Talkback:
You ask why Newman's car launched into flight. The answer: The rear wing on the CoT is designed to apply downward force to the rear of the car at racing speeds as it proceeds forward. If the car turns backward, which Newman's did, the downward force becomes upwards or produces "lift" which in turn takes the car with it. Note that the roof flaps were deployed, but they are designed only to relieve upward pressure produced from the entry of excess air flow inside the driver's compartment should the car turn sideways.
 
It would seem a relatively easy task to design a wing that would "quick release" from positive lift to negative lift should the car remain in a full backwards path for more than just a moment..

I suggest this from my experience in aircraft maintenance for over 41 years, both military and commercial transport.
 
Al Sorensen