The Frontstretch Five: Things to Think About During a Race
Welcome to the Frontstretch Five, a brand-new column for 2014! Each week, Amy Henderson takes a look at the racing, the drivers, and the storylines …
Amy is an 20-year veteran NASCAR writer and a six-time National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) writing award winner, including first place awards for both columns and race coverage. As well as serving as Photo Editor, Amy writes The Big 6 (Mondays) after every NASCAR Cup Series race. She can also be found working on her bi-weekly columns Holding A Pretty Wheel (Tuesdays) and Only Yesterday (Wednesdays). A New Hampshire native whose heart is in North Carolina, Amy’s work credits have extended everywhere from driver Kenny Wallace’s website to Athlon Sports. She can also be heard weekly as a panelist on the Hard Left Turn podcast that can be found on AccessWDUN.com's Around the Track page.
Welcome to the Frontstretch Five, a brand-new column for 2014! Each week, Amy Henderson takes a look at the racing, the drivers, and the storylines …
Some drivers just sneak up on you, and so far in 2014, Brian Vickers has been one of those drivers. He’s quietly put together some strong runs, including his fourth-place finish in Talladega this week. Vickers wasn’t totally stealthy on Sunday; he did lead three times during the race. The No. 55 team does still have some holes to patch (they’re not yet consistent enough to be a title threat), but Vickers sits 10th in points. That’s ahead of race winners Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch, as well as three-time champion Tony Stewart and teammate Clint Bowyer. Vickers still needs to win to lock down a Chase spot, but he’s making a case for that happening.
Our most recent races were Fontana and Texas, neither of those finishes were near as good as our RCR Chevrolets were. We had a cool deal at …
Kyle Larson continued to show that he’s not only a threat for Rookie of the Year honors, but also for winning. Larson got the top starting spot by virtue of his practice speed after qualifying was rained out, part of showing speed and prowess all weekend long. Unfortunately for Larson, he got tagged by Bowyer on the first lap of the race which dropped him to the rear of the field. Larson was able to recover somewhat to finish 16th, still good for Rookie of the Race honors, but clearly lacked the confidence and speed to get back to the front after that moment.
Author’s Note: I wrote the original version of this column in 2010, but I’m realizing that we still need a reminder of what’s right with …
Welcome to the Frontstretch Five, a brand-new column for 2014! Each week, Amy Henderson takes a look at the racing, the drivers, and the storylines …
With all the talk surrounding NASCAR’s new Chase, a lot has been focused on Stewart-Haas Racing, one of two organizations with multiple race winners, the only …
Several years ago, after a string of deaths and injuries in stock cars, Ricky Craven commented that someday everyone would look back at those days …
Welcome to the Frontstretch Five, a brand-new column for 2014! Each week, Amy Henderson takes a look at the racing, the drivers, and the storylines …
On a weekend when, once again, rain changed the game, in the end, the real game changer was Kurt Busch’s blown tire just before the white flag. At first, many questioned the caution as it appeared that Busch had gotten his slowing car onto the apron, but television replays showed that the left rear tire on the No. 41 came apart, shredding the car’s quarterpanel. Debris quickly spewed all over the asphalt, and some made its way onto the racing surface. The caution was a good call, and it set up a green-white-checkered run that a year or two ago would have been much different.