Last week had no shortage of bubble action. At Pocono, Sam Hornish Jr. and Regan Smith parlayed timely pit strategy into a pair of top-20 finishes, shooting both teams further up the owner points rankings. Below them, Bobby Labonte’s No. 71, starved for sponsorship, was forced to park for the second time in three races, …
It was “All for One and One for All” for Front Row Motorsports after Charlotte as the combined efforts of FRM’s David Gilliland and Travis Kvapil, now in the struggling Nos. 37 and 38, shoved Robby Gordon’s battered No. 7 back out of the Top 35 for the first time since Texas in April. That …
Two weeks ago at Dover, the bubble drivers again ended up fighting amongst themselves several laps down to the leader. First across the line came Regan Smith’s resurgent No. 78 in 24th, followed by the No. 38 of David Gilliland. Gilliland pulled Front Row Motorsports’ middle team back onto the bubble, though now the team …
Today, we grade the drivers from AJ Allmendinger to Brian Vickers, the top 40 in the Sprint Cup standings to date. Tomorrow, we’ll hand out the overall team grades in our Frontstretch Newsletter to finish off this four-part series. As with yesterday, this remains a dual effort between myself and site editor Tom Bowles, giving me a second opinion on which drivers passed or failed. Let us know whether you agree and disagree in the comments section below!
Last week, the “Lady in Black” brought the Bubble Battle to a boil when Front Row Motorsports teammates Kevin Conway and David Gilliland, back in their old rides from Fontana, both crashed out of the 500-mile marathon. Still, Conway remained on the bubble with his nearest combatants tantalizingly-close in the rankings. Gilliland, 22 points away from a guaranteed starting spot, was left to contend with the No. 26 of David Stremme, suddenly just 105 points behind him.
Just as fellow open-wheeler Juan Pablo Montoya took dramatic steps forward in 2009 by qualifying for the Chase, Sam Hornish Jr. was arguably the most improved driver on the Sprint Cup circuit last season. But Saturday night at Darlington, Hornish was completely smitten by the siren that is the Lady in Black, as time and again she beckoned the Mobil 1 Dodge into her red and white walls.
Last week on the Bubble Breakdown: As Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon romped around Richmond, all the bubble contenders fell off the lead lap and were left scrounging for spots from 26th on back. In the end, Kevin Conway finished 13 laps down and lost his spot on the bubble to Front Row Motorsports teammate …
Last week on the Bubble Breakdown: A wild afternoon of restrictor-plate chaos at Talladega vaulted Robby Gordon back into the Top 35 while Robert Richardson Jr., back in the No. 37, saw his Front Row team fall just two points out in 36th. Between the two teams sat the car driven by Kevin Conway, whose …
Last week, the No. 34 of Front Row Motorsports (driven by Travis Kvapil) slipped back into the Top 35 after Texas. It wasn’t pretty, but that minuscule three-point cushion was enough to push FRM teammate David Gilliland’s No. 37 back onto the bubble spot for the first time since Bristol. At Talladega, that meant it …
Last week on the Bubble Breakdown, a 14th-place finish at Phoenix vaulted Robby Gordon’s No. 7 back onto the bubble, locking him into a Cup race for the first time since Bristol. Gordon bumped out the No. 34 car driven by Travis Kvapil, who finished 36th after his engine exploded on lap 314. At Texas, …
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