March 21, 2016
- Eckrich, Operation Homefront and Almirola Give Thanks Military Family: Eckrich, the makers of naturally hardwood smoked sausage and savory deli meats, partnered with Albertsons and Operation Homefront, a national nonprofit whose mission is to build strong, stable, and secure military families, to honor a Southern California military family in advance of the big race in Fontana on Sunday. Before the race, Richard Petty Motorsports driver and Eckrich partner, Aric Almirola, surprised the unsuspecting Desma family with $5,000 worth of free groceries at Albertsons, courtesy of Eckrich. Eckrich, Operation Homefront and Richard Petty Motorsports have partnered to honor military families since 2012. Almirola, who is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series winner, was born on a military base and, as a father of two, is inspired by our military families. The surprise is part of the ongoing campaign by Eckrich to honor, thank and support military families through its partnership with Operation Homefront. The Desma family is supported by Operation Homefront’s Hearts of Valor program, a network of people caring for wounded, ill or injured service members. Frank Desma served 18 years in the Army as a Sergeant and served in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Eckrich, entering the fifth year of partnership with Operation Homefront, has surpassed $2 million in donations since 2012.(RPM Facebook)(3-21-2016)
- Race and Commercial Breakdown of the 2016 Auto Club 400: For those NASCAR fans that like stats and love to hate commercials, here is the breakdown for Sunday’s race. Began recording the times at the Invocation of the race at 3:30 PM, and stopped at the waving of the checkered flag at 6:49 PM (all times are EST). Did not keep records for the pre- and post-race coverage. Fox was the broadcast team for this event.
Total number of commercials: 104
Total number of companies or entities advertised: 48
Number of traditional commercials (not split-screen): 86
Total number of companies or entities advertised: 46
Number of ‘Side-by-Side’ commercials during race broadcast (split-screen): 18
Total number of companies or entities advertised: 10
Number of times Fox utilized ‘Side-by-Side’ commercials during this broadcast: 4
Start time to record race/commercial periods: 3:30 PM
End time to record race/commercial periods: 6:49 PM
Total minutes of complete race broadcast: 199
Minutes of race broadcast: 160
Minutes of traditional commercials (not split-screen): 39
Minutes of ‘Side-by-Side’ commercials (split-screen): 8
Number of missed restarts: 0
Number of ‘mystery cautions’ (debris not shown): 1
Total race brdcst time 160 Total comm. brdcst time 39
See past races, more info on the commercials with links at CawsnJaws.com.(3-21-2016) - Larson talks about Auto Club 400 wreck: #42-Kyle Larson was involved in a single car accident on lap 48 in the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway.
Q) WHAT HAPPENED?
Larson: “I was going down the back stretch and I think it was my left-rear tire got cut. It must have ripped the brake line because I went to push the pedal and it went straight to the floor board. I couldn’t slow down. It was definitely a hard hit there, probably one of the harder ones of my career. Even before that we were pretty sub-average there, we were pretty bad. Disappointed in our run today, but glad I’m alright.”
Q) ON THE INCIDENT:
Larson: “We were struggling all day. We were really bad. And just on that backstretch, my left rear tire got cut and spun me to the outside wall and then spun me back into the inside wall. By the time I could hit the brakes it must have ripped the brake line and I had no brakes. They just went to the floorboard. I couldn’t slow down and had a hard hit there; head-on. I’m okay. I’m thankful for Safer barriers and thankful that I’m all right. That was definitely probably the hardest hit I’ve ever had in my career. I’m glad to be on my feet right here.”(Team Chevy)(3-21-2016) - Contact from Kahne puts Patrick into the wall: A collision with #5-Kasey Kahne ruined a promising afternoon for #10-Danica Patrick in Sunday’s Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway. Patrick started 31st and had worked her way up to 19th before wrecking hard into the Turn 1 wall on Lap 121 after contact from Kahne’s Chevy. Kahne was a lap down at the time, thanks to an earlier unscheduled pit stop. “We were on a restart, and I had a run on him so I went down low,” said Patrick, who finished 38th. “If you get too close to them (a car you’re trying to clear) then it will drag you both back. I was going low. I saw him chase me down the track, and then the next thing I know I was getting spun up the track. I was passing him. He was behind me in the right rear. I don’t know what kind of day he was having. I just heard he was a lap down, actually. I feel bad if he felt like he was put in a position to have to be that desperate a lap down. … I was having a pretty good recovery day, kind of like last weekend. I was just running good race laps and on the lead lap at the end of the race back up into the top 20 from a bad starting position.”
Kahne said the accident was unintentional but avoidable. “I passed her in (Turns) 3 and 4, and then she had the momentum off the top and went back under me going down the front stretch,” he explained. “So I went just to kind of catch a side draft to make sure I was in position getting into Turn 1, and it didn’t hold me up when I got there because I was the one coming, and I just got too close and the car was moving around and we hit and she had a bad wreck. I felt really bad because it was far from anything than just trying to hold my position. I’ve never had an issue with Danica at all. It was an avoidable accident in the middle of the straightaway that was far from anything but just trying to hold my position that I had just gained.” Kahne and crew chief Keith Rodden were summoned to the NASCAR hauler after the race. “I don’t see the NASCAR hauler very often, other than signing in on Friday mornings,” Kahne said. “They just wanted to make sure that everything was OK from my perspective and there were no hard feelings prior to the wreck or anything like that. Not at all.”(NASCAR Wire Service)(3-21-2016) - Incident with Logano leaves Truex upset: #78-Martin Truex Jr. and #22-Joey Logano were racing for 4th place on lap 151 of the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway when Logano either took the air off or made contact with the #78 sending the car up and into the wall. Truex was able to keep racing but fell back when he was caught speeding during a pit stop on lap 154. Truex Jr. finished 32nd and was not happy with Logano. Comments from each driver:
Q) How was your race?
Truex Jr.: “We had a good run going until the #22 (Joey Logano) put our car into the fence. There was a lot of right-side damage to the car, and we were pretty much toast after that incident. Not sure what he (Logano) was thinking about at the time, but that hit spoiled our day. We went from being a contender to the back of the field. Really frustrating to have a good car and not have anything to show for it. I think we were running in or close to the top five when the 22 rammed our Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Toyota.”(Toyota Racing)
Q) MARTIN TRUEX JR. TALKED WITH YOU AFTER THE RACE. WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT?
Logano: “It was completely my fault. I was gonna go in on the outside of him and he was gonna go in on the top as well and I just ended up being right on him. We never touched each other, but just taking the air off these cars makes them uncontrollable. I didn’t mean to do that. I was gonna try to go to the top and I just got a little bit close to him and got him free, so I’m taking the hit on that one.”
Q) WE HEAR HOW AGGRESSIVE YOU LIKE TO BE AT THE END OF RACES, SO WERE YOU LICKING YOUR CHOPS ON THAT FINAL RESTART?
Logano: “I was in a decent spot. I was gonna try everything I could to try to get a run and do what I had to do, but I just spun the tires. I don’t know why. It didn’t really do that all day. I don’t know what made it do that at the end. I’ll have to watch the replay.”(Ford Racing)(3-21-2016)
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