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NASCAR Will Use New Spoiler At Martinsville
posted by Jay Pennell
Wednesday March 17, 2010
During a press conference for the Sprint All-Star Race in Charlotte, N.C. today, NASCAR vice president of competition Robin Pemberton confirmed the Sprint Cup Series would officially make the transition to the rear spoiler beginning with the Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 at the Martinsville Speedway. Pemberton said 83 spoilers had been sent to the teams on Monday. Teams tested the new rear spoiler on Tuesday at the Talladega Superspeedway, where the cars reached speeds well over 200mph in the draft. Throughout the test, NASCAR tried different combinations of spoiler height and restrictor plate size. Next week there is a two-day (Tuesday and Wednesday) test planned at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, where over 50 teams are scheduled to participate. Along with the return of the rear spoiler, Pemberton explained NASCAR is still working on other changes to the aero package on the Sprint Cup cars that will go into effect at all the tracks, possibly starting as soon as Texas in April.
High speeds in Talladega at first CoT spoiler test
posted by Doug Turnbull
Tuesday March 16, 2010
The highly anticipated first official spoiler test for the Car of Tomorrow may be noteworthy for other reasons. In an attempt to break up the large packs of cars, a notorious characteristic for restrictor plate tracks like Talladega, NASCAR allowed teams to try plates with larger holes – they started with a record size plate of 66/64th of an inch before shortening to 62/64ths of an inch after speeds were listed as too high. Just how high did those speeds go? Sources tell Frontstretch.com that this change, combined with the replacement of the rear wing with the traditional spoiler and the lowering of the front edge of the rear quarterpanels on both sides of the race car, allowed cars to approach straightaway speeds of up to 208 mph and average laps over the 200 mph mark. To set a mark for comparison, Juan Pablo Montoya’s April 2009 Talladega pole speed was 188.171 mph. Since speeds were in the 200 mph range, the same source says that NASCAR may consider having teams change the gear ratios on the cars, instead of decreasing the plate holes going forward, so the packs will remain broken up. Interestingly enough, the higher speeds come in light of the infamous Brad Keselowski-Carl Edwards race car flipping episode at Atlanta Motor Speedway two weeks ago, Ryan Newman’s incredible end-over-end flip at Talladega last October, and Keselowski turning Edwards airborne into the Talladega frontstretch catchfence last April. Read Wednesday’s Frontstretch.com Newsletter for more details on the Talladega spoiler test.
Edwards Placed On Probation For Three Races
posted by Jay Pennell
Tuesday March 9, 2010
NASCAR President Mike Helton addressed the media Tuesday afternoon following Sunday’s late-race incident between Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. Well over 100 laps down, Edwards intentionally spun Keselowski through the tri-oval while Keselowski was running sixth. The No. 12 car lifted in the air and slammed the outside wall with the driver’s side window. NASCAR parked Edwards for his actions and ordered him to the NASCAR hauler for further discussion on the matter. Tuesday, Helton explained Edwards would be placed on probation for the next three races and the drivers and their teams would meet with NASCAR about the situation. “Following that incident we asked the driver of the 99 to visit us in the hauler, and we made it very clear to him that these actions were not acceptable and did go beyond what we said back in January about putting the driving back in the hands of the drivers,” Helton said. “We believe the driver of the 99 understands our position at this point.” For NASCAR, the biggest issue emerging from Sunday’s incident was the fact the No. 12 car lifted into the air. “But the bigger topic is the 12 car getting airborne at a mile-and-a-half track which we typically don’t see,” Helton said. “It’s been years since we’ve seen that. So a lot of our effort yesterday, today and until we find resolve to it is figuring out how it happened, why it happened and what we can do to prevent it from happening in the future.”
Keyed Up and Key Motorsports split
posted by Doug Turnbull
Saturday March 6, 2010
If missing the first three races to date was not enough drama for the No. 90 Keyed Up Motorsports Chevy team and Casey Mears, organizational upheaval may tip the scales. A member with the team tells Frontstretch.com that Raymond Key’s Cup operation, originally formed with ties to Curtis Key’s teams in the Nationwide and Truck Series, has become its own entity. As of Monday, the team began a move into Tommy Baldwin Racing’s old shop while planning to continue trying to qualify on Cup races. However, if sponsorship for the team fails to pan out, Keyed-Up may vie for a partial schedule similar to that of the Wood Brothers and only run about 12 races the rest of the year.
Wood Brothers running FR9 for now, Roush says no big problems with new motor
posted by Doug Turnbull
Saturday March 6, 2010
Ford’s new FR9 motor has not made a speedy entrance to the Sprint Cup Series, mainly because the Ford teams need adequate supplies from the engine parts vendors and not because of performance problems, says team owner Jack Roush. Claiming the engine will perform well over the long-term, he still expects the new design to be “the Ford engine of the future” and fully in use by the end of 2010. While his four Ford teams are not running the revamped engine, Roush revealed that the Wood Brothers Ford team will run the FR9 this weekend at Atlanta and in April at Texas. Beyond that, either Roush nor Ford officials have announced a set schedule for full or future implementation of the power plants.
Crawford says truck team is 'close' on sponsorship
posted by Doug Turnbull
Saturday March 6, 2010
While never a standout in the Camping World Truck Series, Rick Crawford has experienced moderate success over his long career in NASCAR’s third-tier. After losing sponsorship at the end of 2009, his Circle Bar Racing team finds itself on the ropes, wondering how many races the future may hold. The veteran Crawford, though, remains optimistic a deal is imminent. “I would say we’re pretty close on signing a sponsor for the 2010 season and 2011 and beyond. [Not starting 2010 with a sponsor] was a matter of losing a sponsor late last year and [the prospective sponsor] getting its marketing efforts done. We’ve got the contracts ready; we’re waiting to get that signed.” Crawford started 2010 with a DNF at Daytona, placing 28th.
Justin Marks Wins The ARCA Race!
posted by Thomas Bowles
Saturday February 27, 2010
Justin Marks won a rain-shortened event at Palm Beach Saturday, collecting his first ever win in the series. Robb Brent, Blake Koch, Tom Hessert III, and Steve Arpin rounds out the top 5. Stay tuned to Frontstretch.com for plenty of post-race coverage on both the website and our Newsletter.
Looking For ARCA Coverage? We Got It!
posted by Thomas Bowles
Saturday February 27, 2010
While the ARCA race at Palm Beach may not be televised … we’ve got you covered. Our own Bryan Davis Keith is at Palm Beach all weekend and will be posting news, commentary, and features from the Florida road course both on the website and in our newsletter. Don’t miss out! And don’t forget, our own Tom Bowles is spending the weekend in Vegas, too … so we’ve got you covered from all angles. Just another reason why we’re the best seat at the track and the best view on the ‘net!
Carter Simo still plans 2010 Cup races
posted by Doug Turnbull
Friday February 19, 2010
One story lost in the shadow of Speedweeks in Daytona was the absence of Carter Simo Racing’s No. 08 car. Much of the team’s equipment was put up for auction Tuesday; however, a source tells Frontstretch.com the operation still plans to field a car in 2010, with a limited schedule of races TBD. CSR may also try and field a car for the Talladega ARCA race in April; until then, most of the team’s employees have been temporarily released and are working for other teams in the sport. In mid-2009, team owner John Carter bought the assets of beleaguered owner/driver Jeremy Mayfield, using the newly purchased equipment and Toyotas to field entries in five races with two-time champion driver Terry Labonte. Equipment issues kept the team from cracking the top 30 in those races. Road course ringer Boris Said also wielded No. 08 Fords last year at both road course races, scoring the team’s season-best finish of 24th at Infineon. Later on that season, Said and longtime partner Mark Simo split, creating the newly-named Carter Simo racing with Labonte behind the wheel. On Tuesday, CSR only placed the equipment purchased from Mayfield on the block, including five Toyotas, a race hauler, and other pit equipment and tools. However, the source says that the team still owns three old Yates chassis and an old Ganassi piece (all of which they converted to Dodges last year) in the shop, with plans on returning to the track midseason pending sponsorship. The move is similar to what happened with Carter Simo last year, in which they took a four-month break between Daytona and Infineon while preparing to race at specific tracks. CSR, which still splits its time between its shops in Charlotte and in Toccoa, Georgia, just has to modify the top of the noses on their cars before returning to the track, due to a minor, lightly-discussed rules change before the season. As for CSR’s 2009 drivers and whether they will return to the team, Boris Said currently is driving the No. 26 for Bill Jenkins’ Latitude 43 Motorsports, and is working on a long-term deal that should remove him as an option. Terry Labonte is also out of the running; he and former owner Bill Stavola formed Stavola Labonte Racing in 2009, but are currently sidelined due to a lack of sponsorship. According to sources, Labonte was offered but initially turned down a return to the No. 08. A John Carter-owned car did participate in the ARCA race at Daytona on February 6th. Former CSR driver James Hylton borrowed a car from Carter, then leased it to driver Jill George for the race. But George infamously crashed the No. 48 roof-first into the wall just 25 laps into the 80-lap Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200, finishing 31st in the 43 car field.
Parrott In As Crew Chief For Kenseth
posted by Jay Pennell
Wednesday February 17, 2010
Less than a week into the 2010 season and Roush Fenway Racing has already made a switch at the crew chief position. News broke on Wednesday that Todd Parrott would take over atop the pit box for the No. 17 team with driver Matt Kenseth, replacing Drew Blickensderfer. The Kenseth-Blickensderfer combination won last year’s Daytona 500 and backed it up by winning the next weekend at the Auto Club Speedway. Despite their strong start out of the box, the No. 17 team failed to live up to expectations in 2009, scoring seven top-5s, 12 top-10s and failing to make, along with missing the Chase. Now after an 8th place finish in Sunday’s Daytona 500, Blickensderfer is headed to the Roush Fenway Racing R&D Department and Parrott is taking over as crew chief. |
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Part-Time Schedule Yielding Big Time Results For Furniture Row Racing
Bubble Breakdown: Tracking The Top 35 In Owner Points · Mike Ravesi · Monday July 6, 2009
The Breakdown:
Rain washed out qualifying for Daytona last Friday, meaning the field was set by owner points. This was not good news for our bubble drivers, as the teams outside the top 35 not only had to start at the rear of the field — they also had to do so in their qualifying setup, as Daytona marked the second of five impound races this season. However, the good news is that back in February, Matt Kenseth proved that you can come from the back to the front and win at Daytona. So with that in mind, read on to see which of our bubble drivers tried to follow his lead, which ones didn’t, and which ones never even made it to the checkered flag in this week’s edition of the bubble breakdown.
Focusing on the bubble:
Just 239 points separated John Andretti in his Front Row Racing’s No. 34 Chevrolet, which sits in 35th place, from TRG Motorsports’ No. 71 Chevy driven by David Gilliland in 37th. Sandwiched in between sits the No. 82 Red Bull Toyota piloted by rookie Scott Speed. All three drivers were able to make some progress up through the field in the early stages, getting themselves into the top 30. However, the forward progress abruptly stopped for Gilliland’s Chevrolet on lap 77. Up in front of him, David Stremme got turned into the wall, collecting Kasey Kahne and triggering a wreck that involved 13 cars when all was said and done — including Gilliland. The damage proved to be too much to fix, relegating the TRG Motorsports car to a disappointing 40th place finish.
As the race continued, the remaining two bubble cars continued to move up, missing small incidents and getting solid pit stops to keep themselves within striking distance of the front. With just 15 laps to go, Andretti was running 24th while Scott Speed was having a great run, sitting in 16th. But then, like Gilliland, Speed’s night came to an early conclusion through no fault of his own. On lap 152, Jamie McMurray slid up the track, pinching Scott’s Toyota into the wall and doing enough damage to send him straight to the garage. In an instant, a promising top 15 run was turned into a dismal 31st place finish, with a wadded up race car to go with it. This left just Andretti, who — without a great car — did his own version of points racing. Realizing the opportunity to stretch the lead over 36th place, he faded to the back of the pack and rode out the rest of the race, finishing 27th. That run, while mediocre, was good enough to extend his advantage over Speed to a very comfortable 172 points — with the distance back to Gilliland now a daunting 283 markers.
Around the Bubble:
Regan Smith and the Furniture Row Racing No. 78 again put together a strong run, making a case for smaller teams running a limited schedule and being better prepared for the races they do run. Regan was able to start because, for the second week in a row, Gunselman Motorsports’ team was a late entry and rain washed out qualifying, giving the spot to Smith despite having fewer qualifying attempts. And once again, FRR made the most of their opportunity. The team started slowly before finally hitting the handling on their race car, having to make some stops to undo qualifying setup mode and get in something resembling race trim. Once they made the adjustments, though, Regan moved through the field, rising into the top 10 during the race’s latter stages. However, they couldn’t get a lot of drafting help and the drive wound up stalling, leaving Regan coming to the checkered flag in 12th place — still a career-best finish for the sophomore. With the run, he extends his streak of no DNF’s to 51 races, while the team slides up to 39th in the owner’s standings — despite having eight fewer starts than several teams behind them.
As chaos ensues around them, Regan Smith (78) and David Ragan (6) sail on by. For Smith, the 12th place finish extends his no DNF streak to 51 races and Ragan’s 13th place run puts more space between himself and the dreaded bubble.
It’s just a matter of time before Roush Fenway Racing’s David Ragan wins one of these plate races in NASCAR’s top series, as not even a lap 121 dustup with Kurt Busch could derail his night. While running tenth, David and Kurt came together, sending Ragan’s No. 6 Ford Fusion sliding through the grass. The team pitted, made some repairs to the body, and while the car wasn’t as good as it was before, it was good enough to come home in 13th position. The UPS Ford now sits 30th in the owner standings, with three of their four top 15 finishes to date coming in restrictor plate races.
If nothing else, David Stremme’s night was exciting. On lap 28, he got loose and into the No. 07 of Casey Mears, sending him spinning off into the grass. Then, on lap 77, he was part of the first big one that involved 13 cars. In between, Stremme also managed to clip the front tire carrier from Paul Menard’s team, knocking the tire out of his grasp. After posting five top 20 finishes in the season’s first eight races, Stremme hasn’t had one since. Penske’s No. 12 Dodge team has slid all the way to 33rd in the owner’s standings and if Robby Gordon gets his pit crew straightened out, they’ll be looking at 34th — or worse.
Speaking of Gordon, his team never ever got the handling right on Robby Gordon Motorsports’ No. 7 Toyota, and the result was a disappointing 22nd place finish with a damaged car. A major part of the handling issue was a strange one I hadn’t heard of before. Apparently, earlier in the race a tire corded on the No. 7 Toyota. But instead of the debris flying all over, it got wrapped around the ball joint of the race car. The crew finally found this and fixed it during a lap 106 pit stop to get Gordon going again. But by then, Robby’s team had made so many adjustments that fixing that problem actually made the car worse. The final straw came as the team got caught up in the second Big One crossing the finish line at the end of the race. At least the team had already decided not to use this car again…
Bubble Chatter:
“They all wrecked there — they just didn’t hit anything.” R. Gordon to his spotter on lap 38
“I checked up and they just kept coming.” D. Gilliland to his crew chief after being involved in a lap 76 wreck
“I can see the moon over here; are you sure it’s gonna rain?” R. Gordon to his crew chief after staying out on lap 78
“I got a good car… I just need someone to give me a little help.” Regan Smith on lap 92
“We’re building a new speedway car — this thing’s a piece of (expletive).” R. Gordon to crew chief
“The 26 just came up into us and I had nowhere to go.” Scott Speed to crew chief on lap 152
What to look for at Chicago:
David Ragan and A.J. Allmendinger are both coming off good runs at Daytona. Considering the duo had top 15 finishes last year at Chicago, both are poised to repeat this success in 2009. These were two drivers expected to be at least in the top 25 in points, not hovering around 30th at this point in the season. I say both finish inside the top 20 and begin a midseason run up the standings.
As for who’ll struggle, David Stremme is going the other way down the points ladder. David has five straight finishes of 28th or worse, and his No. 12 Dodge has plummeted to 33rd in the owner’s standings. Look for another finish of 30th or worse and — combined with a top 25 run by Robby Gordon — Roger Penske will find his third team falling another spot to 34th.
So, that’s it for the bubble breakdown from Daytona International Speedway. Check back next week to see if Gilliland or Speed can start chipping away at Andretti’s lead, if James Finch’s No. 09 Chevy/Dodge can make a move with a driver other than Brad Keselowski, or if maybe David Stremme just works his way back to them all.
So, until next Monday, so long from the bubble!
2009 Bubble Chart After Daytona:
| Pos | Owner | Car # | Driver | Points | Points +/- of 35th Place |
| 31 | Michael Waltrip Racing | 55 | Michael Waltrip | 1,611 | +276 |
| 33 | Yates Racing | 98 | Paul Menard | 1,504 | +169 |
| 33 | Penske Racing | 12 | David Stremme | 1,499 | +164 |
| 34 | Robby Gordon Motorsports | 7 | Robby Gordon | 1,468 | +133 |
| 35 | Front Row Motorsports | 34 | John Andretti | 1,335 | 0 |
| 36 | Team Red Bull | 82 | Scott Speed | 1,163 | -172 |
| 37 | TRG Motorsports | 71 | David Gilliland | 1,052 | -283 |
| 38 | Phoenix Racing | 09 | Brad Keselowski | 1,019 | -316 |
| 39 | Furniture Row Racing | 78 | Regan Smith | 943 | -392 |
| 40 | NEMCO Motorsports | 87 | Joe Nemechek | 882 | -453 |
| 41 | Prism Motorsports | 66 | Dave Blaney | 772 | -563 |
| 42 | Tommy Baldwin Racing | 36 | Patrick Carpentier | 740 | -595 |
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