NASCAR on TV this week

Did You Notice? … Start-And-Park War Brewing?, Aerodynamic Engineering & NASCAR Quick Hits

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*Did You Notice?…* The battle over start-and-parking is revving up for 2013? The first salvo was fired at the end of January, where Bruton Smith went so far on the Media Tour as to ask reporters in attendance to stop the practice, where cars come to the track, park and collect the prize money for profit.

“Start-and-park should not be a part of what we do,” said the Speedway Motorsports, Inc. owner, whose tracks, he claimed, “donated” tens of millions of dollars to “this cause” in 2012. “Either NASCAR should shorten the race or something in order to stop this, but I think it’s got to be stopped.”

“I hope we look back in a year and (start-and-park) is history. Because it should be history.”

2013 Staff NASCAR Preview, Part II: Who Has The Most To Prove

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Today’s Season Preview Topic: There’s only a handful of drivers in new rides this season, but they all have big names attached to them. Which driver within that group has the most to prove entering the 2013 season, and why?

Brett Poirier, Senior Writer: Easily Joey Logano. Joe Gibbs Racing gave up on him as a Sprint Cup driver, but he’s been given a second chance with Penske. He’s entering his fifth full season in Cup and has little to show for his time — two wins and no points finish inside the top 15. Logano has more potential than any young driver I can think of, and he’s only 22. Kyle Busch was 22 when he left Hendrick for Gibbs in 2008 and became a star. Logano needs to prove he is capable of doing the same. While he is still very young, if he does fail with Penske, then what would be next? It would be highly improbable for Logano to land another ride with a top-tier team if this one doesn’t work out. The pressure is on to perform now.

Frontstretch NASCAR Foto Funnies: They’re Ba-a-a-ck!

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_Welcome to the Frontstretch Foto Funnies! Ever see a photo that’s just begging for a caption? We see them all the time! Each week, we’ll pick a few, and our let our staff give it their best shot. Then we’ll post the best ones for you!_

_Want to get in on the fun? Each week, we’ll also designate one of the photos for fan captions. Leave your best ideas in the comments below or on our Facebook page. We’ll choose our favorite one and reprint the photo next week with its new caption! This week’s Fan Foto is Photo No. 2 (the one with Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, and the cell phone). Ready, set…caption that!_

2013 Staff NASCAR Preview, Part I: Is The Gen-6 A Great Solution?

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Today’s Season Preview Topic: All we’ve heard about this offseason is the Gen-6, Gen-6, Gen-6 and how it’s ready to fix NASCAR’s problems. Based on what you’ve seen in testing, heard from teams or through your sources will the car be as competitive as we’re being told? Also, will we see some of the underdogs break through, creating parity versus the upper-class teams or will the Hendricks, Roushs, etc. have the edge?

Mike Neff, Short Track Editor: The Gen-6 car is definitely an upgrade from the CoT. It appears as though there is more downforce on the front of the car along with greater mechanical grip. Crew chiefs are telling us that the increased downforce will make it easier to get close to a car and actually pull out and pass. That would seem counterintuitive, though because increased downforce would seem to require more air on the nose. The one thing that does seem to be true is that the car is harder to drive. That means it will put a greater emphasis on driver ability and a good driver will be able to do things with the car to make it respond.

Pace Laps: Baldwin’s Boost, NASCAR Family Traditions And Eldora Excellence

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*Sprint Cup: New Backers Hope To Boost Underdog Organizations* A handful of new sponsors were announced this week for two Sprint Cup teams, both of whom are scrapping to survive towards the back end of the series garage. Tommy Baldwin Racing announced that his No. 36, which will be driven by J.J. Yeley, acquired sponsorship from Golden Corral for the restrictor plate events: four races total at Daytona and Talladega. In addition, Accell Construction has signed on with Yeley for six, including both events at Phoenix, Kansas, and Texas. Finally, United Mining Equipment will sponsor Yeley at both Bristol events and Kentucky Speedway.

Did You Notice? … Awesome Bill’s NASCAR Family Dream, Family Fraud And Quick Hits

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*Did You Notice?* … How difficult it is for some drivers to hang it up for good? Bill Elliott is the latest example of that, a certain Hall of Famer hanging on nearly a decade after full-time retirement. Back then, it was nearly a Cinderella story for Awesome Bill, the 1988 Cup Series champion who’s best known for capturing the 1985 Winston Million: a reward for capturing three of NASCAR’s “crown jewel” events (Daytona, Talladega, Darlington) in the same season. 48 years old when the “R” word first beckoned, he’d won every major event in the sport and came within a lap of winning the 2003 season finale at Homestead before blowing a tire on the final lap. Walking away in his prime, the dream most superstar athletes rarely achieve was firmly within reach.

What To Know Heading Into 2013: NASCAR’s Media Tour Hits And Misses

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The Sprint Media Tour is a four-day trek through the racing landscape around the greater Charlotte area. It allows media members the opportunity to eat better than they will for the next month, drink more than they do the rest of the year and are told the “inside information” inside each team for the coming year — depending on how many insightful questions they come up with. But in the end, media and fans learn far too little, hear a lot of the same answers, realize every team thinks they’re going to win the championship and end up wondering what would Brian France do without a teleprompter.

With all that being said, there are still a few small observations you pick up along the way. Here’s some of mine that didn’t fit within the confines of a “normal” column…

Too Much of a Good Thing? How Social Media Has Changed NASCAR

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The NASCAR Sprint Media Tour Hosted by Charlotte Motor Speedway spent its 31st anniversary visiting with the sport’s biggest names, from team owners to drivers to NASCAR executives. Optimism abounded about the new sixth-generation race cars, while sponsorship talk was a mixed bag with some teams announcing new backers, others championed extensions with old ones while the rest revealed a number of races still unpaid for. NASCAR outlined its plans for a much faster track-drying procedure and expressed continued support of the much-maligned Chase format.

A few teams debuted new drivers, like Penske Racing’s Joey Logano; Roush Fenway trumpeted Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.’s rise to Cup and Travis Pastrana’s Nationwide presence. A few new paint schemes were unveiled, to limited fanfare while Nationwide Series drivers took on the media in some game-room challenges. All in all, there was plenty to talk about; none of it Earth-shattering, but plenty of tidbits to feed the race-starved masses in the heart of the winter offseason.