Thinkin’ Out Loud: 2013 Kobalt Tools 400 at Las Vegas
Editor’s Note: Mike Neff is writing Matt’s column this week. The Key Moment – On the penultimate caution of the race, Matt Kenseth took fuel …
Cup Series
Silence! NASCAR's Unspoken Cry To Opinionated Drivers Needs To Stop
“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.†It’s a mantra that was repeated on the school playground, a lesson taught to us by our parents, and a phrase we have to repeat inwardly to ourselves when the boss is in an especially critical mood on a Monday morning. It is, however, a foreign concept to NASCAR—a lesson that Denny Hamlin learned the hard way. After making what NASCAR called a disparaging—or, what most of it would call it, honest—statement about the Gen 6 racecar, it was announced that Hamlin had been fined $25,000. Though Hamlin stated on Twitter that he would appeal, NASCAR never balked at the prospect of shutting up the drivers when they say something negative. It wasn’t but a couple of weeks ago that Keselowski was called to the NASCAR hauler for comments that, too, were made with an honest assessment of NASCAR’s product, though this was about their business model rather than the product of the on-track racing. Still, for some reason, NASCAR is bearing their teeth to any driver who dares gives negative feedback. The worst part, however, is that it seems to be working. Not only were drivers cordial in expressing their opinions about the new car following the checkered flag yesterday in Las Vegas. From the way it sounded, they were simply delighted in the way it drove! It’s never been better! In their mandatory post-race press conferences for the top three drivers, Kasey Kahne and Brad Keselowski were about two seconds from doing rock-paper-scissors to determine who had to answer the question “How did the car drive today?†Now, to be fair, the race really wasn’t _that_ bad. I felt like it was a decent race considering the kind of “show†intermediate tracks usually put up. While there wasn’t a ton of passing, it looked like the faster cars generally _could_ pass and tire wear played more of a roll than they had in a while. Still, though, clean air and track position was the most important aspect of the race, which has been a complaint with the car for a long time. Why can’t the drivers talk about that? Why shouldn’t they? Here’s what I’m concerned about. Right now, NASCAR has a little bit of breathing room because drivers and their crews are still learning the ins and outs of the new car. That can be the excuse for a good while. They can silence the drivers for a good while and fans will probably believe that to be that problem. But what happens afterwards? This car has its problems. I’m sure anyone could have guessed that it wouldn’t be perfect and that there would be an adjustment period. But after a while, people are going to get sick of waiting around for some of the little quirks and mannerisms to fix itself. Who better, then, to give the feedback on areas of improvement than the ones who are behind the wheel every weekend? I know NASCAR’s preference would be that the drivers deliver this feedback behind closed doors and not to the media. That’s not realistic, though, either. First of all, NASCAR wouldn’t have its reach, appeal, or popularity without the media. Also, who is right there in the drivers’ face first thing after they exit their racecar on pit road? Who do the fans turn to when they want to hear their drivers’ thoughts after a hard wreck? You can’t shut the drivers up about everything except for the rainbows and lollipops of the sport. First of all, fans are smarter than that. The drivers can get out of a single-file race at Daytona, say “What a great race!†and the fans will cry foul. Secondly, it’s completely unfair. If NASCAR is working on a solution to alleviate the issues that the sport is facing, I think the fans deserve to know about it. Simply put, this whole “don’t talk about our sport unless it’s positive†needs to stop. Like I said, fans are smart enough to see right through it and you can’t be in damage control over damage control. In other words, you can’t try and protect the image of the sport by not letting the drivers say what they feel. They are human beings and many are very opinionated. Let them do so! After all, negative feedback is only negative if you don’t listen. *Connect with Summer!* <a href=\"http://www.twitter.com/summerbedgood\"><img src=\"http://www.frontstretch.com/images/6502.jpg\"></a><a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/summerdreyer\"><img src=\"http://www.frontstretch.com/images/6501.jpg\"></a><br> \"Contact Summer Bedgood\":http://www.frontstretch.com/contact/28526/
Quotes

“I had an unbelievable Farmers Insurance Chevrolet. Throughout the whole race the pit stops were great. We just came out sixth there which I think …
Let's Be Realistic: Putting Gen-6 Expectations In Perspective
The complaints are raining down fast and heavy about NASCAR's new Gen-6 race cars—they can't pass, they don't draft well. Even the drivers have been in on the discussion; Denny Hamlin got a fine from NASCAR for his complaints about the car after the race at Phoenix last week. Everyone seems ready to jump on the \"Gen Sux\" bandwagon after two races this year. Now hold on a minute. Wasn't this the car that was supposed to save NASCAR and make all the races full of on-track action? Well, yes. But there are two things going on here that are fueling the complaints. One, perhaps the expectation that a redesigned car could fix everything was a little unrealistic. Two, it's still several months too early to make an accurate assessment of what this car can and cannot do. Let's take a look at the Gen-6, why it's simply impossible to give it a final grade of any kind, and what fans can—and can't—expect from it, along with some of the more realistic ways to turn things around in the sport. *Why it's too early to pass judgment* I've said all along that everyone, from drivers to media to fans, needs to wait until the second race at tracks to even begin to say with any kind of understanding whether or not the new cars are up to snuff. The reason is simple: you have to remember that the teams have had limited track time with these cars, and they don't have a folder full of notes from previous races to compare them to. Plus, every track has some individual quirks and is raced under different conditions, so even applying, say, notes from Fontana to Michigan, will not give an accurate picture the first time or two. Because teams are still trying to figure out how to make the cars handle, it's not really fair to accuse them of not trying on track, either. Car inventory is not where it was for most teams with the old car yet, and they're not going to risk a month's setback racing for fifth on lap 100. It's entertainment to fans, but to race teams, it's their livelihood, and they're going to do what's best for them long term. That can be applied to racing in general. To fans in March, it's frustrating that teams concentrate on the Chase, but the reality is, that's where the money is, and that's where they focus (along with the biggest reason that the Chase is bad for the sport, but I digress…). Once teams are better adjusted to the car, then it will be time for NASCAR to take an objective look at the racing (and I sincerely hope they will do so), and make tweaks as necessary. Expect them to take a look at things like spoiler height and angle and other things that affect handling and downforce. Hand it to NASCAR, they have already made one change to help reduce the huge benefit of clean air by eliminating the camera pods on the car's roof once it was discovered that they gave the leader a significant advantage (80-90 pounds of downforce, which translates into quite a bit of speed) but not the cars behind him. If they can continue to do that without worrying about what the manufacturers and teams say, the cars can and will improve. <div style=\"float:right; width:275px; margin: 20px; border: black solid 1px; padding: 3px;\"><img src=\"http://www.frontstretch.com/images/14618.jpg\" width=\"275\" height=\"183\"/><p style=\"margin: 3px; text-align: left; font-weight:bold;\">It's too early to pass judgment on the new Gen-6 cars, but everyone has to be realistic about just how much of what ails NASCAR one car can fix.</p></div> All of that means that it's just way too early to call the Gen-6 car a success or a failure. Everyone needs to take a deep breath, be patient, and remember that good things come to those who wait for them. Once the teams and NASCAR learn more, it's likely that fans will see the benefits of making changes the _right_ way—based on knowledge and forward thinking, not a knee-jerk reaction to what happened during one or two weeks. *What fans should be able to expect from the Gen-6 down the road* While a lot of people talked about the Gen-6 car as if it would be the one savior that racing has been looking for, that's simply not true. Fans can and should expect some things from this car, but perhaps not on the grand scale that they had hoped for. First, the car goes back to one thing fans have been clamoring for since the Car of Tomorrow made its debut and probably even before that: brand identity. The SS looks like an SS, the Fusion looks like a Fusion, and the Camry looks like a Camry. Hopefully that will bring back a bit of the \"win on Sunday, sell on Monday\" attitude that was a part of the sport for so long before the COT and the later incarnations of its predecessor. That's good for the sport because it's good for the industry. Simply put, if Chevy, Ford, and Toyota are making more money because people like what they see in the cars, they can put more money back into improving their racing programs, which produces a better product on the racetrack. While it may seem like a small thing, in the larger picture of the sport, what the cars look like is very important. The Gen-6 design changes also mean that teams shouldn't be able to skew them to the right the way that they did with the fourth-generation cars and even, to a smaller extent, to the COT. While that may have helped handling, it looked grotesque and prompted cries of foul among teams. This car can't be as easily manipulated, so teams won't gain an advantage by altering the geometry. Plus, the more the cars got skewed in the past, the worse they looked to the observer. While people thought the COT was ugly, the car before that, the fourth-generation, was even worse by the end of its era; if you looked at one from the front, it was apparent just how out-of-shape they really were. Fans can also, hopefully, expect to see the racing put more in the drivers' hands and less in the hands of the engineers. While that might bring complaints from some drivers, it does showcase some of the talent that may have been overlooked with the older car. If you look at the results from Phoenix, for example, there were teams in the top 15 that you might not expect—because they figured it out first. That's good for the sport (or at least it would be if those teams got the broadcast time they deserved) because it forces drivers to drive, and it puts the emphasis on what the fans see every week, the drivers behind the wheel, rather than on what happens behind closed doors back at the shop. Hopefully, if the car is difficult to drive, this will remain even after the teams with more resources get better at working with it. *What nobody should expect* Simply put, anyone who expects this race car to magically create 500 miles of non-stop action every week is going to be sorely disappointed. That's just totally unrealistic at most tracks for many reasons. First and foremost, in the 65-year history of the sport, it has never been nonstop passing and vying for the lead on every lap of every race, or even most of them. When part of what the sport is testing is the endurance and flexibility of both driver and equipment as it is at the Cup level, racing every lap like it's the last just isn't part of any smart race team's strategy. Any driver worth his salt will tell you that to finish first, you must first _finish_, and sometimes that means not taking every available risk. Winning is still what teams want most every week, and they will do what they can to make sure that the driver and car are capable of making the moves when it counts…and that's just not every lap, and never has been in the longer Cup races. The emphasis that's put on the championship, however, has changed teams' focus, especially in more recent years, and even more especially since the addition of the Chase. There is a ton of money at stake in the year-end point fund, and the top teams know that. They race for points when they can't race for the win, and some teams do revert to a kind of test mode once they're comfortable with their Chase status because they know that those ten races are more important in the scheme of things than a win at Pocono in August. That mentality is far more destructive to the on-track product than any race car ever has been or will be. Simply put, if NASCAR wants teams to race for the win, the emphasis needs to be on winning races throughout the season rather than the championship. Perhaps they should put that year-end point money into the winners' purses for the 36-race season and give a nice trophy and a trip to the banquet for the champion and that's all. It would still be an honor to win the title, but it would put the actual races higher on the priority list. Most local short-track teams race for the win every week first and their title second because the title just isn't that big a deal—and they all race every week like it's a title battle. Perhaps NASCAR should be taking notes on that. Also, if people want the race cars to look like the street cars, it's time to accept that aerodynamic dependence isn't something NASCAR can get rid of. They can tweak with downforce with spoilers, etc., but the reality is that if people want the cars to look like the street version, they're going to be aero-dependent because the _street version_ is aero dependent. As drivers, we want cars with better fuel mileage and that are fun and easy to drive. A more aerodynamic car gets better mileage and is, generally, easier and more fun to drive (If you disagree, try driving a box truck instead of your car for a couple of weeks and see if that's really your definition of fun.). There is a reason that the cars of the 1970's and 1980's became obsolete-consumers wanted better gas mileage and more streamlined cars. And so, if a race car is to look like a street car as the word \"stock\" in stock car racing implies, it's going to have superior aerodynamics to its predecessors…and be more dependent on that aspect for handling. *So, is there a fix?* There are a few fixes, actually, but making drastic changes to the Gen-6 have little to nothing to do with them. The cars are beautiful, but they aren't the real answer. If NASCAR really wants to combat aerodynamic dependence and make it easier for cars to pass, the solution is there, but it's a little radical to most fans: slow the cars down. Somehow, we’ve been conditioned to think that faster is always better, but that's not always true. Look at tracks like Martinsville—it's the slowest track on the circuit in terms of miles per hour, but it consistently produces action. The fastest tracks, the mile-and-a-half and two-mile ovals, have much faster speeds but often far less passing than the shorter, slower tracks do. In a nutshell, racing at 200 miles per hour isn't necessarily better than racing at 165 miles per hour. Slower speeds (which could probably be easily achieved by reducing horsepower through EFI programming), in general, mean less turbulent air, or at least less effect of turbulent air on the cars. It's air turbulence that makes a race car \"aero tight,\" or \"aero loose,\" terms we’ve heard drivers use in describing their cars' handling in close-quarters racing. If turbulence, or its effects, can be reduced by reducing speeds, it should follow that cars would be less likely to be influenced by the air around them, and in turn, it would be easier to pass. It flies in the face of what most people think about racing, but it's the truth. And while NASCAR doesn't want to look into that type of solution because it might be confusing to fans, the reality is that if fans saw a better product, they wouldn't care if the physics behind it were confusing. Another way to slow the cars down, of course, would be to race at more shorter tracks. You simply can't go as fast at say, Dover, as you can at Atlanta. Second of all, as I said above, the emphasis needs to be redirected from winning the championship to winning races. Whether that comes from eliminating the huge point bonuses drivers get for finishing near the top of the standings and making every race worth a huge amount for the win, or by changing the points system or how championships are won, it could have a big impact on what fans see every week. Heck, there used to be bonus money for leading at halfway—that money would still be valuable to many teams, and it might even encourage the mid-tier teams to step up their game to earn it over the big teams each week. …
Four Burning Questions In Las Vegas: Fines, Tires, and \"Quality\" Concerns
Viva Las Vegas, baby. Las Vegas Motor Speedway is the site of this week’s Sprint Cup Series race, and as we enter the third week of the grueling Sprint Cup Series season, the field is beginning to take shape, with the haves rising to the top and the have nots slowly beginning their descent to the bottom of the series standings. However, for the third week in a row, the performance and raceability of the Gen-6 car will undoubtedly be the hot topic amongst media types and fans alike, and less than stellar races in Daytona and Phoenix have suddenly given pause to the seemingly boundless optimism that surrounded the new car. Are we in for another parade at Las Vegas? There’s little doubt that's the main question on everyone’s minds as we gear up for the Kobalt Tools 400. *1. Will the Gen-6 finally come alive in the Sin City?* NASCAR was not bashful at the start of this season when touting the raceability of it’s prized Gen-6 race cars. Seemingly every day over the course of the offseason there was a new quote from some NASCAR higher-up singing the new car's praises and raising expectations for the 2013 season to a fever pitch. Well, here we are in Week 3, and so far the cars have failed to deliver as promised. Daytona was a 3.5 hour parade, and Phoenix was only marginally better. Is this the week that we finally get to see the Gen-6 perform like it was supposed to? I’m an optimist so I never rule anything out, but I wouldn’t count on it. Not yet at least. Phoenix painted a very telling picture as to what the drivers and teams are dealing with in the new Gen-6 machines. Many drivers, most notably Denny Hamlin (who angered NASCAR officials with his remarks, more on this later), were quick to point out how hard it was to pass at Phoenix, mostly due to aero sensitivity issues. Brad Keselowski’s comment was perhaps the most telling of them all, as he went on to say that the new car is the “hardest car I’ve ever had to drive in traffic.†Its possible that this was a Phoenix specific issue (it has long been hailed as one of the most difficult tracks to pass on), and that the car may in fact drive differently on the 1.5 mile tracks that the cars were designed for. Indeed, there is one saving grace that could play into NASCAR’s favor here, and that is the draft. That absolutely massive spoiler you see on the back of the new cars is the biggest one NASCAR has used in a very long time, and in addition to all of the extra downforce it creates, it also creates a very sizeable draft effect. Phoenix is too small for that draft to come into a play, but the 1.5 mile high-banked Vegas track may just be big enough for it to work. If the draft effect is sizeable enough, it could theoretically negate whatever aero grip is lost in the corners and allow drivers to race closer than they have in years past (note that this wouldn’t yield pack racing, as the drivers will obviously still be lifting quite a bit in the corners). The draft may be NASCAR’s only hope for good racing at 1.5 milers, and we will find out soon enough if it’s viable enough to finally be the spark the Gen-6 cars need. <div style=\"float:right; width:250px; margin: 20px; border: black solid 1px; padding: 3px;\"><img src=\"http://www.frontstretch.com/images/14928.jpg\" width=\"250\" height=\"367\"/><p style=\"margin: 3px; text-align: left; font-weight:bold;\">Denny Hamlin incurred the wrath of NASCAR for criticizing the raceablity of the new Gen-6 cars but says he won't pay the $25,000 fine he's been issued.</p></div> *2. Will Denny Hamlin’s penalty affect driver-media relations going forward?* Ridiculous is the only word apt enough to describe this mess. In case you missed it yesterday, NASCAR announced that they were fining Denny Hamlin $25,000 for “disparaging remarks about on-track racing at Phoenixâ€. The specific remark Hamlin uttered that angered NASCAR is supposedly as follows “It (the Gen 6 car) did not race as good as our Generation 5 cars did here.†Hamlin, who is irate over the fine, has vowed not to pay it, and said that NASCAR could suspend him if they wanted to. Yikes. NASCAR is once again going down a dangerous road. They boast about wanting the drivers to show their personalities and speak their minds, yet they fine a driver when he makes even the (admittedly quite accurate) slightest of negative comments about the new car. The simple fact is that nothing Hamlin said was worthy of a fine. He correctly pointed out that it was hard to pass in Phoenix, and that the cars needed more work to become racier. NASCAR’s ultimate message is clearly that they don’t want anyone to say anything negative at all about their new cars. The sad irony of this whole ordeal is that the fine will likely have the opposite effect of the intended one. If anything, the fine just draws more attention to the growing pains of the Gen-6 cars. So where does this leave driver-media relations going forward? Well, frankly, it completely sours them. What driver will want to speak his mind to us media types now that he/she knows NASCAR will drop the hammer on just about any comment that paints the sport in a negative light? With the Hamlin fining now set as a precedent, you can expect even more political correctness and vanilla faux optimism about the new cars than we had before. And trust me, more political correctness is the last thing this sport needs. *3. Will JGR and TRD get their engine woes straightened out?* For those keeping track at home, Toyota Racing Development, who supplies engines for powerhouse teams Joe Gibbs Racing and Michael Waltrip Racing, has already had issues with four of their engines in the first two weeks of the season. Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth both had their Daytona 500 hopes dashed by late race engine woes, and last week both Busch and Denny Hamlin were forced to start from the rear at Phoenix because of another rash of engine issues. This is nothing new to anyone who follows the Toyota teams, especially JGR. JGR struggled mightily with mechanical issues all throughout 2012, and engine issues plagued the team even before they switched engine suppliers to TRD. Interestingly enough, Toyota sister team Michael Waltrip Racing has not suffered near as many issues as JGR has with engines, suggesting that this may be a JGR-specific problem in which their engineers are perhaps overtuning the engines past their limit. Whatever the problems are, both JGR and TRD need to get them figured out before this weekend’s race in Las Vegas. The engines will be turning some of their highest RPMs of the season at the fast and unrestricted Vegas track, meaning that engine strain will be heavy. Mechanical issues derailed JGR in 2012, and they can’t afford to have that same fate to befall them once again in 2013. They need to either figure out their problems now, or face another season of wondering what could have been. *4. Will the tires hold up in Vegas?* Last week in Phoenix, for the first time in quite a while in the Sprint Cup Series, tire blowouts were a very real concern. Many teams dealt with tire issues, but none more so than Stewart-Haas Racing as Ryan Newman suffered two right front tire failures while Danica Patrick suffered one that resulted in an accident so vicious that it was covered Monday night on the FOX News show “The Fiveâ€. Drivers blamed overtly hard left side tires as the main culprit, as they created a “balance issue†(as termed by Denny Hamlin; he’s been popular this week hasn’t he?) in which the right side tires were forced to do too much of the work, especially the right front. However, for as much as drivers complained last week about tires, don’t expect to hear quite as many this weekend. Goodyear is reportedly bringing a softer tire this week, and the slightly aged surface of the Vegas track ought give teams more leeway in building their setups in such a manner that blowouts have less of a chance of happening. Drivers may still complain that there isn’t enough falloff, which is a legitimate grievance, but I wouldn’t expect any outright blowouts. We have to remember that the Phoenix track was repaved only a year and a half ago, and brand new surfaces always cause problems for Goodyear. Thus, last week’s tire problems were something of an anomaly, and it probably won’t be something teams have to worry about for this weekend at least. *Connect with Matt!* <a href=\"http://www.twitter.com/MStall41\"><img src=\"http://www.frontstretch.com/images/6502.jpg\"></a><br> \"Contact Matt Stallknecht\":http://www.frontstretch.com/contact/38642/
Voices From The Cheap Seats: NASCAR Told To Kiss Hamlin’s Posterior
Yeah, yeah, I know he didn’t quite put it in those words but he might as well have! In case you have no idea what I am talking about, and unfortunately there are some out there who fall into that category, the big story this week, besides the not unsurprising whining by Jimmie Johnson over a restart, is that NASCAR is fining Denny Hamlin 25 grand for providing firsthand feedback on Brian France’s latest toy, the “Gen-6†car. Hamlin has said that he refuses to pay the fine. It’s hard to know for sure just what it is that pissed NASCAR off because they are acting exactly like your wife… I mean, significant other… when you ask her, I mean them, what is wrong and she… dang! … I mean, they won’t tell you! Anyway, as far as _we_ can tell, Hamlin’s offending comment on NASCAR's new chassis read as follows… \"We learned a lot. I don't want to be the pessimist, but it did not race as good as our generation five cars. This is more like what the generation five was at the beginning. The teams hadn't figured out how to get the aero balance right. Right now, you just run single-file and you cannot get around the guy in front of you. You would have placed me in 20th with 30 to go, I would have stayed there – I wouldn't have moved up. It's just one of those things where track position is everything.†<div style=\"float:right; width:250px; margin: 20px; border: black solid 1px; padding: 3px;\"><img src=\"http://www.frontstretch.com/images/14673.jpg\" width=\"250\" height=\"361\"/><p style=\"margin: 3px; text-align: left; font-weight:bold;\">Jeff Meyer is willing to pitch in if Denny Hamlin is eventually forced to pay his fine, but he completely agrees with Hamlin that the whole thing is ridiculous.</p></div> Personally, I think someone was walking by his motorcoach, heard him tell his significant other that the reason he didn’t win is because “the new car is a piece of s*#t and it sucks out loud!†then promptly reported him to the nearest NASCAR Nazi, who in turn ran straight to Adolf France, who in turn ran sobbing to Robin Pemberton and ordered him to have Hamlin immediately arrested, interrogated (painfully) and then shot. No, no, I mean arrested, interrogated (painfully), fined, and then shot. NASCAR, of course, is not admitting to the arrest, interrogation and execution part. But here's what they did say. _“Following the Sprint Cup Series event last Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway, Denny Hamlin made some disparaging remarks about the on-track racing that had taken place that afternoon. While NASCAR gives its competitors ample leeway in voicing their opinions when it comes to a wide range of aspects about the sport, the sanctioning body will not tolerate publicly made comments by its drivers that denigrate the racing product.\"_ In defense of NASCAR, they have already made clear this year that free speech is not to be tolerated when they indefinitely suspended Nationwide Series driver, Jeremy Clements, for supposedly using the dreaded “N†word during an off the record conversation with a supposed media member. _(Side bar and passing thought) Is it racist of me to use a capital \"N\" when referring to it or is it a sign of respect? I would think it would be offensive to use a lower case \"n,\" seeing as how it is about the most heinous thing a white person could possibly utter, so it seems these days. Just something to think about. (End of side bar!)_ It is amazing to me how stupid the leadership of NASCAR is and/or can be. Just when you think things might be getting better and we are finally getting back to the \"roots\" of this sport, what with the new “look like the street version car†and all, plus the \"winning the core fan back\" initiative, they go and make a decision like this one. When it comes to the Gen Six car, which as I predicted and Denny seems to agree is more aptly the \"Gen Sux\" car, NASCAR has said all along that it is a work in progress. So what better feedback can you get then from the men who race it? They sure aren’t going to listen to the fans. NASCAR should take the time to listen to Denny and others who actually _drive_ the machine they have created. You can bet your (insert body part of your choice here) France, Helton or Pemberton aren’t going to risk their (again, the body part bit here) trying it out! I know that I have been hard on Hamlin in the past for seeing a \"sports psychologist\" about his inability to win enough. But in this case, I firmly stand behind him and his decision to not pay this stupid fine. \"Ultimately, I'm not OK with it,\" Hamlin said of the penalty. \"This is the most upset and angry I've been about anything in a really, really long time, anything that relates to NASCAR … the truth is what the truth is and I don't believe in this, I'm never going to believe in it. As far as I'm concerned, I'm not going to pay the fine. If they suspend me, they suspend me. I don't care at this point.\" Hamlin followed up those comments with a Thursday evening series of \"Tweets\":http://www.twitter.com/dennyhamlin/ which said the following… <div style=\"float:right; width:200px; margin:20px; padding-left:20px;\"> <object classid=\"clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000\" codebase=\"http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=7,0,0,0\" width=\"160\" height=\"350\" align=\"middle\"> <param name=\"allowScriptAccess\" value=\"sameDomain\" /> <param name=\"movie\" value=\"/poll/poll.swf?pollid=2133&owner=phpjabbers.com&phpurl=/poll/\" /> <param name=\"quality\" value=\"high\" /> <param name=\"bgcolor\" value=\"#ffffff\" /> <embed src=\"/poll/poll.swf?pollid=2133&owner=phpjabbers.com&phpurl=/poll/\" quality=\"high\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\" width=\"160\" height=\"350\" align=\"middle\" allowScriptAccess=\"sameDomain\" type=\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" pluginspage=\"http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer\" /> </object> </div> _The short of the long of it is I believe I was severely disrespected by NASCAR by getting fined. I believe that the simple fact of us not even having a conversation about this issue before I was hit with a fine has something to say about our relationship. What I said was 1 sentence taken completely out of context. Most drivers will tell you that we constantly have our AND NASCAR's best interest in mind when speaking. On the other hand, I am a person that worked very hard from the BOTTOM to get where I am today and someone telling me that I can['t] give my 100 percent honest opinion really bothers me. Since being fined in 2010, I have been a lot more careful about what I say to media and I felt this past weekend felt completely in my rights to give an assessment of the question asked. I feel as if today, NASCAR lost one of its biggest supporters vocally of where our sport is headed. So in the end, there are no winners. I said today I would not pay the fine. I stand by that and will go through the process of appealing. Trust me, this is not about the money.. It's much deeper. I will now shift my focus on giving FedEx and my team what they deserve this weekend, a win._ …
Mirror Driving: What Will Label Sin City A Gen-6 Success Story
Welcome to \"Mirror Driving.\" Every Wednesday, your favorite columnists sit down and give their opinion about the latest NASCAR news, rumors, and controversy. Love us or hate us, make a comment below and tell us how you feel about what we've said! *This Week's Participants*: <span style=\"color:dodgerblue; font-weight:bold\">Amy Henderson</span> \"(Mondays / The Big Six & Fridays / Holding A Pretty Wheel & Frontstretch Co-Managing Editor)\":http://www.frontstretch.com/staffinfo/351/ <span style=\"color:indigo; font-weight:bold\">Jeff Wolfe</span> (Frontstretch Fantasy Insider) <span style=\"color:blue; font-weight:bold\">Phil Allaway</span> \"(Tuesdays / Talking NASCAR TV & Frontstretch Newsletter Editor)\":http://www.frontstretch.com/staffinfo/18439/ <span style=\"color:magenta; font-weight:bold\">Summer Bedgood</span> \"(Frontstretch NASCAR Senior Writer)\":http://www.frontstretch.com/staffinfo/32577/ *The Gen-6 car has received mixed reviews so far in 2013, but we’re only two races into the season. The “real test†is going to be this weekend in Las Vegas, one of the many intermediate racetracks that are currently on the Sprint Cup Series schedule. What would a successful race be for you and do you think expectations are too high?* <span style=\"color:indigo; font-weight:bold\">Jeff:</span>: I would like to at least six or eight passes for the lead. But really, when it comes down to the end, it would be nice to say any one of four or five drivers could win. <span style=\"color:dodgerblue; font-weight:bold\">Amy:</span> Like I said a couple of weeks ago, teams are still learning this car, as is NASCAR. Any time before the second race at tracks is too soon to know what it's really capable of. <span style=\"color:magenta; font-weight:bold\">Summer:</span>: I do think expectations are too high because of all the hype. Still, though, a successful race would be a variety of passing throughout. <span style=\"color:indigo; font-weight:bold\">Jeff:</span>: Yes, even a lot of passing in the top 10 would be good, too. <span style=\"color:blue; font-weight:bold\">Phil:</span> Agreed. A successful race at Las Vegas would be one where drivers don’t just pass… they can race each other _hard_ for position. <span style=\"color:magenta; font-weight:bold\">Summer:</span>: I don't think that will happen simply because it's a long race and drivers won't race too hard regardless. But I'd like to get through one weekend without hearing the drivers say, \"You just can't pass in traffic.\" Phoenix wasn't a terrible race, but drivers were _still_ saying that. I understand that some of that is the tires and track configuration, but the car plays a role too. <span style=\"color:blue; font-weight:bold\">Phil:</span> At this point, I'm confident that almost any type of car at Phoenix would create a similar race to what we saw on Sunday. <span style=\"color:indigo; font-weight:bold\">Jeff:</span>: I thought Phoenix was a decent race. There was a respectable amount of passing late in the event. <span style=\"color:dodgerblue; font-weight:bold\">Amy:</span> I think expectations are too high from fans. And one thing hasn’t changed…there are passes for position, under green, all race long…but you never see most of them because the cameras are only showing a few select cars. When FOX used the stationary cams during the Crank It Up segments at Phoenix, you could see several cars racing side-by-side. The rest of the time, not so much. I was listening to team audio, so I know there was passing going on. <span style=\"color:magenta; font-weight:bold\">Summer:</span>: Like I said, it wasn't a terrible race, but I still heard drivers talking about how the car reacted in traffic. It sounded the same as the old car. <span style=\"color:dodgerblue; font-weight:bold\">Amy:</span> It will be interesting to see what the cars do at Vegas. Based on what I saw during the tests at Charlotte over the winter, there was passing when they raced in small groups. However, they never raced in groups bigger than about four or five. <span style=\"color:magenta; font-weight:bold\">Summer:</span>: Yeah, but we don't see \"big packs\" at intermediates anyway. Four or five _is_ a big pack at those tracks. <span style=\"color:blue; font-weight:bold\">Phil:</span> Let's be honest. There were crew chiefs that talked to us and stated that they didn't really believe the Gen-6 car would race all that differently from the CoT. Seems like they might have been right. <span style=\"color:dodgerblue; font-weight:bold\">Amy:</span> Here's the other problem. Yes, the cars look like the street version. But manufacturers have worked so hard to make new cars more aerodynamic for better fuel mileage that if the race cars look like them, they're going to be aero dependent. <span style=\"color:magenta; font-weight:bold\">Summer:</span>: Which basically means that we have to pick our poison. <span style=\"color:dodgerblue; font-weight:bold\">Amy:</span> Right. Do you want a car that looks as close to stock as possible, or one that is race-specific but looks even less like the street version than the CoT? <span style=\"color:blue; font-weight:bold\">Phil:</span> Basically, that means either have aero dependent cars or don't exist, considering the manufacturers would pull out. Not that tough a decision, to be honest. …
NASCAR Fantasy Insider: Are You Ready To Roll The Dice In Las Vegas?
The Sprint Cup Series makes its only in-season trip to Las Vegas this week and now that we’re into Week 3 of the 36-race season, the decisions on who to pick for your NASCAR fantasy team can start to get a bit tricky, especially if you’re in a league with pick limits. So if you’re off to a good start in your league, you may want to save some key guys for the 10-race Chase. If you’re not off to a good start, it’s not time to panic yet, but for sure, you want to have a good week. So, hopefully we can find some drivers who can offer you success, but not burn up a week of eligibility that you will regret later. *Looking For Some Aces* This is getting old already, but of the top drivers this week it’s just impossible to ignore *Jimmie Johnson*. Yes, you may have to pick and choose just exactly what weeks to play him, and for sure, you want to save four or five races in the Chase for him – but the fact remains, his numbers in Las Vegas are pretty much off the charts. He has an average finish of 9.82 in 11 races with four wins and two other top 10 finishes. Johnson is again my pick to win this week. Yes, I know I said it last week, too, so go ahead, put out a news bulletin if you wish. <div style=\"float:right; width:275px; margin: 20px; border: black solid 1px; padding: 3px;\"><img src=\"http://www.frontstretch.com/images/15453.jpg\" width=\"275\" height=\"200\"/><p style=\"margin: 3px; text-align: left; font-weight:bold;\">Apparently, this guy is good at driving or something. Guaranteed top-2 finisher every week if the current trend is to be continued.</p></div> Another top driver with a pretty good record at Las Vegas is *Matt Kenseth*. In 13 races there, he has two wins, and four more top 10 finishes. He also has led 471 laps led, second most in the series. Which brings us to . . . *Tony Stewart* is the defending champion of this race and has the most laps led at the track with 482. Stewart also has five other top five finishes and three more top 10 finishes in his 14 races at Las Vegas. He had the 2011 event won as well, before a botched late pit stop saw him hand the win to Carl Edwards. <div style=\"float:right; width:275px; margin: 20px; border: black solid 1px; padding: 3px;\"><img src=\"http://www.frontstretch.com/images/15374.jpg\" width=\"275\" height=\"183\"/><p style=\"margin: 3px; text-align: left; font-weight:bold;\">Who could say no to a face like that? Smoke won at Las Vegas last year, and should have won in 2011. Go ahead and pick him now – no need to wait until later in the season.</p></div> And take this for what it’s worth, too. One premium driver to avoid this week may well be *Brad Keselowski*. In four career starts at Vegas, he has an average finish of 30.50. He’s of course capable of turning that around, and he has back to back fourth place finishes to start the year, but BK looks like a pretty risky pick here compared to these others that are available. *Middle of The Roadsters* Last week I gave you *Carl Edwards* as one of the possibilities in this spot, and he came through with the win. Edwards can be a bit streaky in his career, both on the good side and bad, so if you’re really thinking his team has things figured out now, it wouldn’t be the worst idea to pick him this week as well. He does have two wins in eight races at Las Vegas and an average finish of 10.25. If you’re a believer that *Jeff Burton* is having, or can have, a rebound season after last year’s disaster, Las Vegas isn’t a bad place to spot him. Burton has two wins in 15 career starts and an average finish of 10.93. He also has six other top 10 finishes there. If it's a sleeper pick you're questioning, a guy who will be a must pick on only the road courses, look no farther than Richard Petty Motorsports driver *Marcos Ambrose*. He was 18th at Phoenix last week and has an average finish of 12.75 in four races at Las Vegas, including one top five finish. <div style=\"float:right; width:275px; margin: 20px; border: black solid 1px; padding: 3px;\"><img src=\"http://www.frontstretch.com/images/14120.jpg\" width=\"275\" height=\"183\"/><p style=\"margin: 3px; text-align: left; font-weight:bold;\">Why is this man smiling? Jeff Burton's three-year long spiral into obscurity may be over with the advent of the Gen-6 car.</p></div> And lest we forget, there is *Dale Earnhardt, Jr.* in this group, too. He very easily could have won the first two races, with just a little better luck in the draft at Daytona and on exiting pit road at Phoenix. Junior does have six top 10 finishes in 13 races, including two top fives, for an average finish of 16.31. *The Dark Horses* Just because these drivers aren’t respected by fantasy leagues, doesn’t mean they aren’t important. In fact, you can make a case they are more important because if you score a top 10 with one of these picks, then you’re likely in for a good week. The two obvious ones in each week in this group are rookies *Danica Patrick* and *Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.* But if you are on a nine race limit, that means there are 18 races where you have to pick at least two other drivers. You can probably choose a road-course specialist for the Sonoma and Watkins Glen races as well, so that leaves you with 16 open spots. <div style=\"float:right; width:275px; margin: 20px; border: black solid 1px; padding: 3px;\"><img src=\"http://www.frontstretch.com/images/13768.jpg\" width=\"275\" height=\"183\"/><p style=\"margin: 3px; text-align: left; font-weight:bold;\">Wondering why you haven't picked Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. yet? So is he. A 12th and a 16th to start the year is rather respectable for a rookie – even if he has won two Nationwide titles back-to-back.</p></div> The other option when he runs is *Trevor Bayne*, who is running a limited schedule again for the Wood Brothers. That being said, here’s some good news: Bayne is entered to drive in the No. 21 car in the Sprint Cup race at Las Vegas this week. The problem here is that Bayne, Patrick and Stenhouse have not driven a Sprint Cup car at Vegas. That’s also the case with former Truck Series champion *Austin Dillon*, who is entered to be the third driver in three weeks for the No. 51 car owned by James Finch. Driving that car has been a good thing for the first two races, where it finished 11th at Phoenix with *A.J. Allmendinger* behind the wheel and seventh at Daytona with *Regan Smith* driving. So, knowing that Patrick and Stenhouse will be available to pick all year, this may well be the week to look at Dillon or Bayne. *The Rear-View Mirror* The top scorer in the two Frontstretch Fantasy leagues last week was the team Hurtubise, most likely named after late Indycar great Jim Hurtubise, with 359 points. That team had race winner *Carl Edwards*, then a third place from *Denny Hamlin*, a fifth by *Dale Earnhardt, Jr.* and an 11th by *A.J. Allmendinger*. That’s tough to beat in this format. So good picking there and obviously there wasn’t a case of beer in the engine compartment when these picks were made (that’s an inside joke for us old IndyCar fans. Go look it up. It’s a great story). Since the Frontstretch leagues have the lucky dog scoring provision, throwing out the worst score, the season total reflects the best score between the two races this season. So if you have a bad week and see that your score didn’t change, just remember it’s already been thrown out. *Connect with Jeff!* …
Guns, Retirees Up Front And Faulty Restarts: What's Wrong With This Picture?
So Jimmie Johnson is still miffed two days after getting smoked on a restart by Carl Edwards. I think JJ’s reaction reeks of sour grapes, considering that the No. 48 has had its share of questionable calls in the inspection area during the past 11 seasons and five championships. That being said, I’ve never really understood the restart rules anyway. Lines on wall, cones jammed in a fence, a restart area, a start/finish line, can’t pass a guy unless it’s on the right before the start/finish line, leader has to get to the line first, but what if he’s slow or spins his tires….enough already. You have a guy with a green flag, standing in a thing called THE STARTER’S STAND. Have him wave the flag and the race starts. If that doesn’t work, use the caution lights. When they go out, it’s go time – just like in Formula One. Last I checked, they don’t seem to have an issue at their races with knowing when to accelerate. — Much was made in NASCAR circles of Mark Martin winning the pole at 54 years of age at Phoenix last weekend. <div style=\"float:right; width:320px; margin: 20px; border: black solid 1px; padding: 3px;\"><img src=\"http://www.frontstretch.com/images/15507.jpg\" width=\"320\" height=\"200\"/><p style=\"margin: 3px; text-align: left; font-weight:bold;\">Chances at some point Martin's holding that Coors Light Award and it says 2020? Umm… would you bet against it at this point?</p></div> Typically, something like that would be front page news and something that captures the public’s attention to rally around. However, considering the fact that Martin has been doing it with regularity, ever since breaking decade number five, it’s become kind of expected. Check back in six years or so after he wins the Coca-Cola 600 at 60; by then, he should become a national phenomenon. Also, just throwing it out here – don’t be shocked if he wins the pole or the race at Las Vegas. In fact, I’d put money on one or the other. Or both. — Perhaps the first casualties of the re-branding of SPEED to FOX Sports 1, will be the loss of Sunday night staples Wind Tunnel and SPEED Center. As much as we are a NASCAR-centric site, nation, and fans, I have always looked forward and enjoyed the comprehensive motorsports coverage afforded by both of these programs. Yes, I am one of those degenerates who get up at 5:00am on a Sunday to watch Formula One – or stays up until 3:00am to watch the races from Asia and Australia. You won’t see World Superbike highlights on Sports Center, and good luck getting any in-depth post-race analysis on IndyCar or NHRA in a timely fashion. Whatever the outcome, please, for the love of God and all that is holy: No more Unique Whips. No more Pinks. No more Pass Time. Enough. — Social media was all atwitter Tuesday, when it was revealed that the National Rifle Association will be the title sponsor of the Sprint Cup race there on April, 13th. How could NASCAR do this?! I mean, the controversy of such a group, whose membership helps to promote firearms education, safety, and uh, protect the amendment that was deemed important enough to be ranked No. 2 when the country was founded, and…hmm…I guess that’s it. Again, it was a pretty transparent attempt by certain media outlets and their members to make a stink over something that is essentially a non-issue. Call it a slow news day, deflection attention from the sequester, or trying to gin up support for something that the majority of Americans oppose, it’s a question nobody asked, and even fewer truly care about. The argument against it is silly to begin with. I mean, it’s at Texas Motor Speedway, where you get a shotgun for winning the pole, and a pair of single-action .45 Long Colt revolvers to fire blanks into the air. Petitions were gaining momentum a couple of months back to secede, and Texas typically does the opposite of what the rest of the country does – and is probably why it’s one of the few financially stable states in the union. On the flip side of the coin, would these same critics be up in arms of Planned Parenthood was sponsoring a race? Or GLAD? FBI statistics show there were nearly 20 million background checks in 2012 – that’s a rather large audience of potential new members, many of whom may not be very familiar with the safe handling of firearms. The NRA has seen record spikes in membership – up over 300,000 since the first of the year. If they have the ability to sponsor a race and help promote the sport (those purses don’t come out of thin air – or Federal funding), as well as their cause, so be it. Besides, let’s be honest: the few who threaten to not attend or not watch weren’t going to anyway. <div style=\"float:right; width:360px; margin: 20px; border: black solid 1px; padding: 3px;\"><img src=\"http://www.frontstretch.com/images/15508.jpg\" width=\"320\" height=\"236\"/><p style=\"margin: 3px; text-align: left; font-weight:bold;\">What do you mean the NRA is sponsoring a NASCAR race?! How could we ever break such a redneck southern stereotype?!!</p></div> Some think it does nothing but reinforce the stereotype of NASCAR fans as a bunch of rednecks, with gun racks and pickup trucks. This has been the same battle we’ve been fighting since Donnie, Cale, and Bobby were mud wrestling at Daytona in 1979 in front of the entire snowbound East Coast. As much as NASCAR has tried to lure the casual fan in with doing whatever it can to disguise it to look like the NFL with headers the last decade, there is a core group that has kept things afloat, and the reason why it’s still relevant. The same ones who stand for the National Anthem, salute the military and law enforcement, go nuts for the fly-by, and represent the core of American values. As far as I can tell, it’s about as perfect of a sponsor as we’re ever going to have in the sport. Except of course maybe Anheuser-Busch, Miller, Coors, and RJ Reynolds, and Winston. Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms; who would’ve imagined such diverse items would ever be so irrevocably linked in our time… *Connect with Vito!* <a href=\"http://www.twitter.com/VitoPugliese\"><img src=\"http://www.frontstretch.com/images/6502.jpg\"></a><br> \"Contact Vito Pugliese\":http://www.frontstretch.com/contact/14359/
Did You Notice? … NASCAR's New TV Challenge, Record Droughts & Six Shooters
*Did You Notice?…* The major undercurrent of FOX’s rebranding of SPEED as FOX Sports 1? The new network, set to debut August 17th is a reaction to NBC’s recent cash infusion into its own sports network. NBCSN, who happens to be looking for a chunk of NASCAR races in the next rights package, is being built as a “superstation†of sports with designs to challenge ESPN over the next decade. Add in CBS’ own dabbling in sports, albeit on a smaller scale with CBSSN and FOX felt like they needed to get with the program. (Note: ABC, the last member of TV’s network giants is owned by the same parent company, Disney, that controls ESPN.) With that adjustment, though comes a reality check that some of the programming all have enjoyed on a racing-only network will simply go away. You’ve got to think, considering how they had cornered the racing market at one point FOX recognized a limit to how much money they could make through motorsports-related programming. Sports television, after all is a business just like all other fields and rebranding the network allows it to pursue other, more profitable sources of programming. Already, Dave Despain’s _Wind Tunnel,_ popular amongst hardcore racing fans has been placed in the “under evaluation†category as to whether it will continue under the new network. What a nice way of saying its days are numbered, right? I think Despain, while one of the best racing reporters of our time doesn’t have an audience centered on that juicy 18-49 age group that makes advertisers start to spontaneously drool. There are other sports, like soccer that take less time, are easy to produce, have a well-rounded following and will bring in a newer, hipper audience. Again… if FOX felt racing would carry the majority of their new venture, maximizing the profit why wouldn’t they have found a way to keep a version on SPEED? The bottom line is, while racing will form parts of the network (it won’t go away; FOX’s TV deal would be a waste without it) don’t expect it to be front and center all the time. Especially during the Fall, when Sprint Cup is televised elsewhere and NFL season takes center stage racing will be barely a blip on the radar screen. Expect major drops in the ratings, too if the big network chooses to move a handful of their Cup races to FS1 beginning in 2015. Yes, the network may be in 90 million homes but we saw the consequences for IndyCar when their races were relegated to Channel 12356 on the local cable channel. (The Nielsen ratings are so microscopic, these days it’s hard to get a reading on what they actually are for that series.) In the short-term, there’s not much NASCAR can do about this adjustment. But as the four stick ‘n’ ball giants – hockey, baseball, football, and basketball – carry on with their own, branded networks you have to wonder what the sport is going to do to protect itself. Through NBATV, for example basketball can always rest assured its product is out there, along with 24-hour analysis and special programming for its hardcore fans. At one time, NASCAR was rumored to be starting its own TV network in Charlotte but those plans, at the moment appear to be on hold. In the meantime, its own NASCAR.com website continues to struggle with interactive, in-race enhancements for fans to the point people have emailed me and said they can’t even navigate to the website because it’s crashing their browser. On Twitter, a once cutting-edge way for fans to stay connected to the sport now comes with a worry drivers can be fined for speaking their minds about series rules. We’re living in a technology and television generation, yet both seem to be slipping out of NASCAR’s grasp. Getting a grip on that, beyond Danica Patrick and the Gen-6 car may be more of a key to growth than anything else. But I’ll tell you one thing that definitely isn’t a positive; a racing network specifically changing its name to _get away_ from racing, with no replacement in sight. That doesn’t tell people to come sit in the stands on Sunday. *Did You Notice?…* The panic over the new Generation-6 model? It’s two races in and already, after some below-average competition people are ready to take this car and throw it in the trash bin. We haven’t even been to an intermediate track yet! For those threatening to boycott the sport, already it’s like watching a baseball game after changing the rules and then leaving, stomping your feet in the third inning. Is it that bad you can’t bear to see how it turns out? I do have one concern, though and it surrounds dominance from a particular program. \"As I pointed out yesterday,\":http://www.frontstretch.com/tbowles/42496/ the whole concept of “cookie-cutter†tracks filling the boredom quota in our lives comes from the fact Jimmie Johnson has absolutely dominated them. Here we are again, two races into a season and that pesky J.J. has an average finish of 1.5. His current shop, still led by crew chief Chad Knaus won 10 times and stomped the competition during the first year of the Gen-5 chassis. Add in the atypical early success of Earnhardt at Phoenix, a track where he’d skipped a beat at times in very recent history and you’re looking at the possibility for a runaway regular season, at least. The Gen-6 was designed, in part so the smaller teams could start on a level playing field, have a better chance to challenge the superstars above them. Instead, should HMS come out and take control it all but sets a Formula One style separation in stone. Someone needs to find a way to compete; there’s still time. But you have to think if J.J. contends and/or wins this Sunday he’s got to be the overwhelming favorite in the Chase once again. *Did You Notice?…* This interesting twist, following Carl Edwards' Las Vegas win put together by our own Kevin Rutherford? For a driver of his caliber (and for someone whose previous winless streaks weren't as daunting), Edwards' 70-race losing streak in Sprint Cup was unexpected and a bit troubling. Though he's never been a driver to go on a tear, save for 2008's nine-win campaign, seeing his familiar No. 99 out of victory lane took some getting used to. But while the streak was sizable, it's certainly not among the longest. In fact, in terms of resolved streaks (i.e. winless streaks broken by a victory), it runs about mid-pack. As hard on one's confidence 70 races without a win may be, Bill Elliott actually holds the distinction of the longest losing streak in Cup that ended up being broken with a victory (for drivers who have won at least once). Awesome Bill went an astounding 226 races, between 1994 and 2001 without one. A close second is Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s dry spell between 2008 and last year, 205 races in total. That said, Edwards' streak came at a time when he was still semi-competitive. In 2011, he finished tied for the championship despite winning only once that season, while Elliott and Junior downright struggled during the years of their streak.That's partially what makes the lack of wins less affecting; one only really looks at 2012 as a year when he didn't perform up to standards. Edwards' winless streak isn't even that long put against other active drivers in the same boat. Of former winners who have competed in one of NASCAR's top series since 2012, Ken Schrader holds the current record, with a 565-race dry spell dating back to 1991. Derrike Cope hasn't won since 1990 – 327 races – and former champ Bobby Labonte just hit 326. In terms of drivers in (proven) winning equipment? Martin Truex, Jr.'s 205 races without a victory comes to mind. It all comes down to the team for which Edwards drives. Guys at Roush Fenway Racing are pretty much expected to win, not go on 70-race spells in between victories. Coupled with the fact that he actually hasn't been half bad despite not winning, him taking so long to taste victory surprised a lot of people. Don't count on it being this long again. *Longest Winless Droughts Snapped* (Between wins - Number of starts to get first career win does not count) *Bill Elliott* - 226 ('94 - '01) *Dale Earnhardt, Jr.* - 205 ('08 - '12) *Jeff Burton* - 175 ('01 - '06) *Sterling Marlin* - 170 ('96 - '01) *Dave Marcis* - 167 ('76 - '82) *Did You Notice?…* Quick hits before we take off… - An underreported story from Phoenix is the way new Ford “front man†Brad Keselowski pushed the old, uncontested superstar a car length ahead during that green-white-checkered finish. Clearly, both men have matured since this \"2010 flip\":www.youtube.com/watch?v=-y-9ZDs8fd0 that could have turned tragic after the two couldn’t get away from each other on-track; the mellowing of the bad blood between them is genuine. But I also think two of the smartest men in the garage are well aware of where their bread is now buttered. Penske Racing (Keselowski) is getting their engines from Roush Fenway, during year one with the Blue Oval program and needs all the support they can get. When you don’t build your own equipment, well, the last thing you want to do is bite the hand that feeds you. As for Edwards? He’s never been afraid to seek out help and support. And who better to help rebuild your confidence, sharing information than a man that just won the 2012 Sprint Cup championship? - Front Row Motorsports is putting on a brave face this week. But after tearing up five cars, out of a possible six to start off 2013 you have to wonder how much they’re hurting for equipment. An underfunded team, who doesn’t have extra cash lying around to begin with the next month or so may be a case of “survival mode:†third driver Josh Wise starting-and-parking while the other two, David Ragan and David Gilliland, take out a restraining order on anyone within 50 feet. Such is the nature of NASCAR these days, another layer of possible conservatism that comes with running behind on building these new cars. - Is it just me, or does Kurt Busch still think he’s driving Phoenix Racing equipment? Even last Fall, when experiencing success with Furniture Row Racing’s No. 78 he’d put himself in hot water unnecessarily with a self-imposed trip to the outside wall. You’d think a former Cup champion, once known for his consistency would learn to take a 15th-place car and finish 15th with it. Second place is the first loser; I understand that much-needed aggression within the sport. But sending yourself to the garage on a wrecker comes with a nasty bill that’s only going to dig your smaller team a deeper hole. …