Bama Bash Rain Moves Sunday To Monday

 

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Sunday at Talladega...moves to Monday:

Cars were on their pace laps at Talladega on Sunday, with one lap to go before green when it started raining.

The cars we taken to pit road to wait it out as of 2:11pm/et, then...as of 3:46pm/et the rain is still off and on and the track is still wet, supposedly NASCAR will make a decision by 4:30pm/et on plans as the track takes about two hours to dry and their are no lights at the track.

The radar looks bad for another couple hours.

Just about 4:00pm/et NASCAR announced the race was postponed until Monday, May 1st at 12:00noon/et [11am local Talladega time] and the race will be covered on TV via FX and some FOX affiliates, plus live on MRN Radio and XM Satellite radio, plus the race can be followed via my Racepage and updates on Jayski's Cingular Alerts.

The weather forecast for Monday at Talladega calls for sunshine and 77 degrees.

Courtesy of Jayski's... http://jayski.com

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NASCAR Wrecks - Bama Bumping at Talladega

 

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Things that go bump in the draft
Monte Dutton- Gazette Sports Writer


TALLADEGA, Ala. — A funny thing happened on the way to the Daytona 500. At Speedweeks in Febuary, something called “bump drafting” became the scourge of NASCAR. Tony Stewart set off the furor with some pointed remarks about some other drivers. Later the furor continued, at least in part, because of Stewart’s own tactics in the Daytona 500.

Stewart said something had to be done, and then he proved his point by making an example of himself. Don’t try this at home, kids. In the passage of time since the Daytona 500, the heat has subsided. Stewart has worked himself into position to at least contend for a second straight Nextel Cup championship. He commands considerable respect among his peers and is far more respected in the garage area than among his detractors in the grandstands.

But it’s time for the first of two Talladega races, which means that aluminum plates are going to be placed between the carburetors and manifolds of the cars to sap horsepower. Another thing that will be back is bump drafting, because most of the best drivers don’t consider it likely anyone can win one of these so-called “plate races” without the tactic. It’s hard to pass. When one car bumps another from behind, it causes a little boost that advances the front car, and perhaps both, in relation to those glued together in the next line over.

NASCAR officially discourages bump drafting. You can look it up. Bump drafting is the Office Discouraged Tactic of NASCAR. NASCAR officials are not going to allow it. Nor are they going to allow anyone except Dale Earnhardt Jr. to pass by going below the yellow line in the turns.

Enough is enough! At the end of the day, it is what it is. You could ask NASCAR’s president, Mike Helton. Come to think of it. You could ask Helton practically anything and that would be the answer. But these mountains of Jello had to do something, so, in the weirdest move since they started making drivers pit more often by reducing the size of the fuel tanks, they have decided to protect drivers from themselves by not protecting the front ends of their cars as much.

Officials have responded to the Crisis in our Drafts by changing the construction of the cars. They supposedly aren’t as strong. A good, swift kick in the rear of the car in front may cause damage, which sounds a lot like a Surgeon General’s warning. Some warning labels in fine print might be next. Jeff Burton says it isn’t going to do a bit of good. After all, boys will be boys. Not all racers are boys, but the analogy fits pretty well. Racers will be racers. Boys will often be racers, and racers will frequently be boys.

“To be quite honest,” said Burton, who at 38 isn’t a boy anymore, “I don’t really think they’ve done anything. If you really look at the new front bumpers that will be in the cars, they’re really strong. I don’t think we’ve done anything but cause a lot of work without accomplishing anything. That’s my opinion. “

Maybe I’ll be proven wrong, but when I look at it, I see an extremely strong front bumper. I don’t think it’s going to keep anybody from running into the back of the guy in front of him at all. When we go to Talladega, it’s almost a vacation for the drivers until Sunday. You go out and practice, but there’s not a lot you can do once you get to the track. Once Sunday comes though, business picks up and it’s a little bit of a crapshoot to miss the big wreck. There’s going to be a big wreck; you just have to hope you miss it.

” Not everyone thinks the bumpers are as bump-proof as Burton does. His own teammate, Clint Bowyer, said, “I think it’s a step in the right direction, but you’re probably just going to see bashed-up bumpers now.”

Don’t tell anyone, but there are actually some drivers — more of them private than public, perhaps – who don’t think bump drafting is such a bad thing. Casey Mears, who finished second to Jimmie Johnson in the Daytona 500, admits to thinking it’s fun, and he’s obviously not fired up about having to worry about a nose on his No. 42 Dodge that isn’t quite the battering ram it once was.

“I’m not sure about the new softer bumper this weekend,” said Mears. “I know they want to get rid of guys slamming people, and I think they did when they had the meeting at Daytona. It was one of the cleanest races I’ve seen in a long time. “I feel the majority of the crashes are caused not by the guy trying to bump draft, but the guy in front trying to block the driver that has a run on him.”

An acknowledge master of bump drafting, Dale Earnhardt Jr., agrees with Burton. He doesn’t think he’s had his super powers sapped.

“I don’t think it’ll make that much difference,” he said. “A lot of guys are going to go out there in practice and see how soft (the bumpers) really are: what they can take and what they can’t take. We’ll have an opportunity to find that out and know exactly what we got for the race. When the race comes, we’ll know exactly how hard we can use them, what we can use them for, stuff like that. “I hate that it had to come to that, but it’s probably better than the situation we had.”

So this week, NASCAR fans turn their intense scrutiny to Talladega. Maybe they can worry about gas prices, bird flu, Iraq, Iran, and immigration next week.
Contact Monte Dutton at hmdutton50@aol.com

NASCAR Wrecks - Talladega Tidbits

 

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Storylines and Drivers to watch at Talladega
By Greg Engle - Cup Scene Daily

Here are the storylines to watch here this weekend at Talladega:

Can Jeff Gordon, the defending champion of this race, finally score a much-needed win? Gordon and his crew chief, Steve Letarte have been quietly lurking in the background but have yet to score that all important first win of the season, a win that might send the message that the four time champion is on track for his fifth cup.

Another thing to watch about Gordon: The accomplished master here, the late Dale Earnhardt Sr. won 13 points races at Talladega, 11 of the wins during the era of restrictor plates, if Gordon can win here this weekend, he’ll inch closer to that record.

Then there is of course, Dale Earnhardt Junior. He, like his famous father, is quickly becoming a legend here in his own right. He’s won five races at Talladega and he sure could use one. Junior is slowing crawling out of the hole he was in last season and has looked very strong, all he needs is a win to help get him back on track.

Dale Jr. will have some extra motivation this weekend, as he’ll campaign a car with a paint scheme similar to the famous one his father ran for many years. His father was inducted in the International Motorsports Hall of Fame Thursday and Saturday would have been his 55th birthday, so look for Junior to try and ride that karma all the way to victory lane.

NASCAR has instituted a new rule for the Talladega event this weekend that they hope will curb some of the ‘bump-drafting’ that became such an issue at Daytona in February.

Bump drafting is a practice where one car comes up onto the back of another at full speed, usually on a straightaway, and ‘bumps’ the car in front. If done correctly this technique will gain a burst of speed for both cars. If done incorrectly the move could spell disaster.

At Daytona during Speed weeks this year, the bump draft got so out of hand that Tony Stewart predicted dire, perhaps deadly, consequences, if something wasn’t done about it. During the final events of Speedweeks, NASCAR officials kept a close eye on competitors and set up ‘no-bump’ zones around the Speedway. That was the answer in the short term.

NASCAR’s long term solution will get its first major test this weekend as the Nextel Cup cars will race here utilizing what NASCAR calls ‘soft bumpers’ on the front of the cars. Who’ll be the first to put them to the test?

Here are your drivers to watch this weekend at Talladega.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was one of those who rolled the dice and lost the fuel mileage gamble last Saturday night at Phoenix. He scored 23rd, just his second finish outside of the top 12 this season.

He is currently tied with Jeff Gordon for sixth in the standings with 1,045 points

Earnhardt has competed in 12 races at Talladega, scoring five victories and two second-place finishes between October 2001 and October 2004. His 42nd-place finish in his first race at Talladega (April 2000) and his 40th in his last race there (October 2005) are his worst Talladega finishes and only DNFs at the famed Superspeedway. They also were the only Talladega races in which Earnhardt has failed to lead.

Earnhardt offered his opinion on NASCAR's use of soft bumpers at Talladega this week. "I don't think it'll make that much difference," he said, adding, "I hate that it had to come to that, but it's probably better than the situation we had."

Jeff Gordon continued his quiet season last Saturday night, remaining a contender but not quite sealing the deal with a win. He finished 10th at Phoenix to climb into a tie with Earnhardt for sixth place in the standings. Gordon ranked 26th in the point standings after Daytona and was fourth at this point one year ago.

So far this season, Gordon has three top-five finishes and four top-10s. He is the two-time defending winner of this event has captured four victories and recording 14 top-10 finishes in 26 career starts.

But watch out, Gordon finished 37th there last October, his sixth Talladega DNF. His average finish at Talladega is 15.153. He has led 640 laps at Talladega, the most among active drivers. Gordon has competed in 53 restrictor-plate races, scoring 10 victories and 29 top-10 finishes (55 percent).

Kevin Harvick is the hottest driver on the circuit right now and hopes to carry momentum from victory at Phoenix. The last two times NASCAR was on the track prior to that, the Busch races at Phoenix and Nashville, Harvick was the victor as well. Harvick has finished seventh or better in each of his last four Nextel Cup races

The sixth Nextel Cup win of his career last Saturday night allowed him climb to eighth in the standings with 1,044 points

Harvick has five top-10 finishes in 10 races at Talladega and finished 12th in this race one year ago and 10th there last October. He holds the longest current streak of top-15 finishes at Talladega (six), has led in each of the last seven Talladega races. Harvick knows how to avoid trouble here and has been running at the finish in all 10 of his races here. His average Talladega finish is 13.5. Harvick has eight top-10 finishes in 20 restrictor-plate races but has never won one.

Expect team owner Richard Childress and Harvick to soon announce that they have come to an agreement to keep Harvick at RCR for a little while longer.

Kasey Kahne doesn’t normally do well at the superspeedways, finishing no higher than 11th in nine career races, but has defied the odds so far this year with wins at Atlanta and Texas. It might depend on where Kahne starts though; all three of his career victories have come from the pole.
Kahne finished sixth at Phoenix to remain third in the standings with 1,167 points. Kahne‘s record so far this year is seven top-15 finishes in the first eight races in 2006. He was ranked 20th in the point standings one year ago.

He finished 24th in this race one year ago and 13th there last October, his best Talladega finish. He has never posted a restrictor-plate top-10 finish in nine races, but Kahne seems to be in the midst of a breakout season. The Chevy’s have ruled here of late, but Kahne could lead the Dodge camp to victory this Sunday.

Tony Stewart is having somewhat of his own breakout season. Stewart has historically never started a season this strong; he has led at least one lap in all eight races this season, the only driver to do so and his 55 lap-leader bonus points are the most of all drivers, as is his total of 790 laps.

As an example of his stellar season so far, look at his run at Phoenix last Saturday night; Stewart, who qualified third, had to start at the rear of the field when a crewmember inadvertently turned his qualifying tires back in to Goodyear officials. By NASCAR rules, a driver has to start on the same set of tires that he qualified with.

The reigning series champion went on to finish second to Kevin Harvick at Phoenix and is now fifth in the standings with 1,141 points.

Stewart has nine top-10 finishes in 14 races at Talladega. He finished second in both races at Talladega in 2005, the fourth and fifth times he has been runner-up here and although he’s never won here, (his only victory in 29 restrictor-plate races came at Daytona in July 2005), this could be the weekend when Stewart gets to climb a fence in Alabama

Others:
Jimmie Johnson is one of just two drivers to score six top-10 finishes in eight races this season. He’s been somewhat under the radar the last few races, but he finished seventh at Phoenix and fell to second in the standings with 1,209 points, nine behind Matt Kenseth, so he might want to try and make some noise this weekend.

Mark Martin ran 11th at Phoenix and is fourth in the standings with 1,152 points.

Martin has competed in 40 races at Talladega, scoring two victories — most recently in May 1997. He has 21 top-10 finishes at Talladega, the most of all full-time drivers. He also still holds the distinction of winning the fastest race in NASCAR history, the May 1997 Winston 500, in which the average speed was 188.354 mph.

Matt Kenseth finished third at Phoenix to take over the standings lead with 1,218 points, nine ahead of Johnson. Kenseth leads the circuit with five top-five finishes. He has competed in 12 races at Talladega, scoring four top-10 finishes and three top-15s in the last three races there.

Kenseth finished 11th in this race one year ago and third there last October, his best Talladega finish.

Dale Jarrett scored his second career Talladega victory in the race there last fall. He has 11 top-five and 16 top-10 finishes at the Alabama superspeedway. Of the top-fives, he has been second five times and third three times. Jarrett has been running on the lead lap at the end of the last eight races at Talladega.

Greg Engle, the Editor of the Cup Scene Daily is seeking employment within the motorsports journalism industry. If you are interested, please contact him at:greg@cupscene.com

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Sadler Looking For A New Gig?

 

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Elliott Salder looking for new gig? ....

When Sadler arrived at Yates, he said it was a dream job, perhaps a lifetime job. And now? He's not so sure.

Sources say Sadler is talking to other team owners looking for a deal. He'll be 31 on Sunday, and in a tight market for experienced, winning Cup drivers with plenty of years left, somebody likely will be interested.

Sadler has a year remaining on his contract, and he may just be testing the waters in case things don't improve. Or he may be trying to create a situation like Kurt Busch and Jamie McMurray did last year by signing a year in advance and then letting the car owners work out a deal for an early release.

"This team needs a boost right now, some good luck to come our way for a change," Sadler said.

"My guys haven't let down all year. They are working as hard as they ever have, but we've had a couple of bad finishes here lately, things that weren't in our control, and now we're heading to a place where a lot of times you don't have a lot of control. "We just want to qualify well and see the checkered flag. If we can do that, it should be a pretty good day."

Sadler arrived at Yates, then a premier team, in 2003 with aspirations of many good days. He'd shown promise in Cup with the Wood Brothers, which plucked him out of the Busch Series after a whirlwind 76-race career that saw Sadler win five races. Sadler's first Cup victory with the Wood Brothers in his third full season of 2001 caught the eye of Yates, who forced Ricky Rudd out at the end of 2002 to make room for Sadler.

Progress with Yates was sure-footed. Sadler justified Yates' faith with two wins in 2004 and made the Chase, ending ninth in the championship.

Sadler appeared headed for a breakthrough campaign last year. He was third in points as the Cup series headed to Daytona in early July. But the rest of summer and all of the fall was a long, slow goodbye from the Chase. Sadler was 13th at the end of the 36 races.

Yates brought in Tommy Baldwin Jr. as crew chief to rectify the situation. It hasn't, at least not yet.
Does Sadler really want out at Yates?

We know this for certain: Sadler wants to run better, and if he doesn't, a change of teams and equipment is the best option. But a couple of wins and a cluster of top fives could cause him to consider staying at Yates.

There may be no better place for him to turn it around than at Talladega, if for no other reason than it's next on the schedule. He'll just need to avoid the Big One on Sunday.

Courtesy of www.jayski.com

DEI Will "Paint It Black" In Memory Of Dale Sr. At Talladega

 

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In a unified effort, the primary sponsors of Dale Earnhardt, Inc. will pay tribute to Dale Earnhardt with special paint schemes at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend. The schemes will salute Dale Earnhardt Day (April 29th), his induction into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame and his accomplishments at Talladega. Earnhardt, a seven-time NASCAR champion is the winningest driver at Talladega with 10 trips to Victory Lane.

Fittingly, his 76th Nextel Cup victory occurred at the track in October of 2000. And, he did it in Earnhardt fashion by coming from 17th to first in the closing laps.

The #1 Bass Pro Shops, #8 Budweiser and #11 Menards Chevys will carry paint schemes reminiscent of the familiar black theme Dale Earnhardt ran while driving for DEI in the Busch Series. Additionally, Bass Pro Shops will sponsor Martin Truex, Jr. in Saturday's Busch Series race. Truex, a two-time Busch Series champion and two-time winner of the NBS race at Talladega, will drive the #8 black Bass Pro Shops Chevy.

"I think this is a great tribute to Dale on such a special weekend," said Teresa Earnhardt, President and CEO of Dale Earnhardt, Inc. "To have all of our sponsors come together with this tribute and want to be a part of it says a lot about the respect they have for Dale's accomplishments."

In addition to the black paint schemes, Dale Earnhardt Day and the International Motorsports Hall of Fame induction, all Busch Series teams are being asked to carry a Dale Earnhardt Legacy Logo on their cars. Fans are asked to participate from the grandstands, or wherever they are watching the race, by raising three fingers in the air on Lap 3 of Saturday's Busch Series race.
(DEI PR / fingerprintinc PR),

Want to see what they'll look like? Click on the links below...
#8 Team Schemes page
#1 Team Schemes page
2006 Busch Series Schemes page.
(courtesy of www.Jayski.com)

NASCAR Wrecks - Car Of Tomorrow

 

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Car of Tomorrow, new rules will keep car builders in line
Darrell Waltrip / AllWaltrip.com

These car builders have figured out how to get these cars so whoppy-jawed that the noses are moved to one side and the tails are moved to the other side. The roofs are pulled down. The cars are truly a mess. NASCAR is banking on the Car of Tomorrow to replace the problems with the current car because the cow is so far out of the barn now that they'll never get it back in.

The Car of Tomorrow has what I like to call some rules of unintended consequences. I'm just not sold on the car, although I feel better about it than I did. A few weeks ago, Brett Bodine told me that the Car of Tomorrow can use the same front snout, rear clip and all of the suspension parts and pieces that the teams are using now. The only thing that's going to be different is the center section of the car. The two framerails, the rollcage and the body are going to be totally different.

Each manufacturer will be given an opportunity to make the car look like whatever brand it may be. If it's a Toyota, it will look like a Camry. If it's a Chevrolet, they can make it look like a Monte Carlo with graphics and other things that they can do to the noses and tails. The way the car looks right now is not indicative of the way the car is going to look when it hits the track for its first race at Bristol next year.

The only thing that I am adamantly against about the Car of Tomorrow is a stock car with a rear wing on it. IndyCars and Formula 1 cars must have rear wings because they don't have a body with a trunk and a decklid for a spoiler. Stock cars have decklids. The only time stock cars have had a wing was during the 1970s when Dodges and Plymouths got so exotic that they had rear wings which stood up in the air about five feet. And they looked ridiculous.

There are just way too many things that can come into play when you tinker around with a wing's configuration and angle and trying to mount it so it won't get knocked off. What are you going to do if you get hit or back it into the wall and knock off the wing? You can't go back on the track without a wing. Wings could fly off and go everywhere, causing wrecks. Wings will be a huge headache and a problem that can be avoided.

NASCAR should just work with the rear blade. If it takes a nine-inch rear blade, then put a nine-inch rear blade on it. Do whatever it takes to make the car drive right without a wing because the car has enough issues. Don't add another problem by sticking a rear wing on the back of the car. I like the way that NASCAR is going in some areas with the rear clip and front snout. Those are good changes, but when it comes to the cosmetics of the car, I'm not in favor of trying to make the car look too exotic and different.

Behind the rule change

Realigning the rear end of the car on the rear quarterpanels — a new rule that was announced just before the Easter break — is a welcome change. It moves the rear bumper back in line with the center line of the car. It's going to have a huge effect on some racecars.

Some teams have been sticking their rear spoilers out to the right, and it creates a ton of downforce, particularly in yaw when the car is going through the corner. Drivers with cars that have handled awfully well may have to go back to the drawing board over the next few weeks. It's a good rule change that needed to be done. Now, NASCAR needs to get the nose lined back up with the center of the car.

Oh, by the way
The way these cars are designed is causing all of these wrecks. At Texas, Matt Kenseth ran the nose of his car under the back of Scott Riggs' car on pit road, demonstrating exactly what has been causing many wrecks. The noses are so low and so swooped back, and the tails of the cars are so high up in the air that the nose goes right under the rear bumper and lifts the car off the ground.

When drivers barely bump somebody, they jack them up, get the rear wheels off the ground and spin them out. Hopefully some of these rule changes that they're starting to make, like lining up the center of the rear bumper, will make these cars look something like a stock car again.

Darrell Waltrip / AllWaltrip.com

5th Annual Dale Earnhardt Day This Saturday!

 

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Fifth Annual Dale Earnhardt Day Celebration April 29th:

Organizers at Dale Earnhardt, Inc. have confirmed that celebrations honoring the life and legacy of Dale Earnhardt will take place at Dale Earnhardt, Inc., on Saturday, April 29, 2006 from 9:00am - 4:00pm.

Dale Earnhardt will be honored and inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame on April 27 in Talladega, Ala. The Busch Series race will be held on Dale's birthday, April 29th. In honor of both events, this year's theme will highlight Dale's incredible track record at Talladega International Speedway.

Dale Earnhardt is the winningest driver at Talladega with 10 trips to Victory Lane during his illustrious career. His 76th, and final, victory occurred at the 2.66-mile superspeedway on October 15, 2000 when he roared from 17th to first in the final laps.Fans attending the Dale Earnhardt Day festivities at Dale Earnhardt, Inc. on Saturday, April 29 are in for a special day.

Aside from all the functions and activities that surround the birthday of our co-founder and seven-time NASCAR champion, they will also get to hear from a major network news anchor. Brian Williams, lead anchor of NBC Nightly News, will be the Grand Marshall. A fan of NASCAR and friend of Dale Earnhardt, Williams will preside over the 3:00pm/et ceremony to officially mark Dale's birthday. He will share stories of his relationship with Dale and assist the Dale Earnhardt Foundation in recognizing achievements from the past year. He will join Teresa Earnhardt, President and CEO of DEI, at the 3:00pm/et. ceremony, as well. They will sign a special Dale Earnhardt Day flag which will be auctioned during the day.

Later in the afternoon, Williams will be honored during a VIP guest reception. And, just like last year, there will be some autographed sheet metal and other exclusive items up for auction throughout the day.

The first silent auction is from 9:00am - 12:00pm/et and the second one will run from 1:00 - 3:00pm/et. The main silent auction will begin at 9:00pm/et and end at 3:00pm/et featuring 10 items of very exclusive nature.

For more information of times and events, activities, places to stay and things to do while in town for Dale Earnhardt Day, check out www.DaleEarnhardtInc.com under the Legacy Section..(4-24-2006)

NASCAR Wrecks - Hell Yeah, Harvick's Happy!

 

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Happy days are here again
By Greg Engle - Cup Scene Daily

Kevin Harvick had a gas Saturday night at Phoenix International Raceway both figuratively and literally.

Harvick who had been lurking in the top ten all night in pounced on hard luck poster child Greg Biffle with ten laps to go, holding off Tony Stewart to win Saturday night’s Subway Fresh 500, his first Nextel Cup win in the last 38 starts.

The win also gave Harvick a sweep of the Phoenix weekend, he also won Friday night’s Busch Series race, only the second time that’s ever been done in the tracks history.

The big story of the race was fuel and the lack of it by some of the teams who gambled in the closing stages of the event.

Among those who rolled the dice and lost were, Biffle, Mark Martin, Kyle Petty and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Biffle, who for yet another race, once again had a dominant car, faded late in an effort to conserve his gas allowing the pass by Harvick. That conservation effort would fail however as Biffle would come up three laps short on fuel and head for the pits. Harvick's lead was increased to over three seconds and the rest as they say was history.

"We sure didn't have the fastest car all night," said Harvick, "but we had the best car when it counted."

"I was sweating the gas situation," said Harvick, who ran out of fuel last year while running fourth. "I kept letting off the throttle at the start-finish line and again at the dogleg off the second turn. If we were going to run out of gas, it wasn't going to be close before that."

"We thought we'd be a lap short, but I was running so slow--almost pace laps--that we made it fine."

Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle’s Roush Racing teammate talked about Biffle’s continuing run of bad luck.

“I feel bad for Greg, but it’s hard to look at the good side, if you’re him, but he’s been leading these races, “Kenseth said. “He had a car good enough to win three or four races this year and he just had things happen, and really none of it’s his mistake.”

Fuel mileage was one issue; another was the amazing run of second place finisher Tony Stewart.

Stewart was forced to drop to the rear of the field from his third place starting position after the tires he used to post that third-place qualifying time were taken to Goodyear and destroyed because of a miscommunication among the crew.

Unfortunately for Stewart, NASCAR mandates that the top-10 qualifiers start the race on the tires that they qualified with and when those tires weren't available to Stewart, NASCAR had no choice but to send Stewart to last-place in the 43-car field.

No worries for the defending Nextel Cup champion though, Stewart was able to drive from 43rd to finish second.

"We just never got in a hurry," Stewart said. "We were having to work too hard and not punish the tires too much. With 312 laps, we utilized the first 200 wisely and were able to get the lead. The car kept getting better and better. We just had to be patient. That's something Zippy (crew chief Greg Zipadelli) and I talked about before the race."

Polesitter Kyle Busch made history when the pole sitter for the Subway Fresh 500 took the green flag and became the youngest driver in the history of the Cup Series to have made 50 starts.

He would make the highlight reels and a post race trip to the NASCAR trailer before the night was through.

On lap 100, Busch spun out after it appeared he made contact with Casey Mears going into turn one, Busch careened into the wall ending his hopes for a repeat win. Behind him coming out of the fourth turn, a melee ensued that involved Elliott Sadler, Joe Nemechek, Reed Sorenson, Michael Waltrip and Kyle Petty. With the fourth turn blocked, NASCAR officials put out the red flag for more than nine minutes.

During the stoppage, Busch drove his car into the left side of Mears' Dodge Charger in retaliation. After he returned on lap 145 - 44 laps off the pace - NASCAR officials black-flagged him for a five-lap penalty for the Mears incident.

More penalties could be forthcoming early next week.

"I'm devastated,” Busch, who finished 36th, said. “We had a pole-winning car and were three times faster than everyone else in the field. I'm harder on myself than anyone. I'm a competitor and I take this seriously. It was just a devastating day."

The Busch brother duo had been favorites for the win - the Busch siblings swept the two Phoenix events last year - but they never contended. Kurt Busch had to finish the race using one hand to hold his window net up after it fell with about 25 laps to go, he would finish 24th.

"Guess I've seen it all this time," he shrugged. "They finally black-flagged us and we had to come in with four laps to go to get it back up to their approval."

With 90 laps to go, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was involved in a crash in the fourth turn after he ran into the back of Kyle Petty after it appeared that Mark Martin may have run into the back of Earnhardt's Chevrolet. Ryan Newman tried to avoid the crash and slammed into the fourth-turn wall. The crash also involved Scott Riggs who was trying to recover from an earlier solo spin.

“I hate it for Kyle (Petty), man, and the other guys that were caught up in it,” Earnhardt said. “I have a lot of respect for Kyle, and I want him and all the other drivers to have respect for me as well, and that ain’t the way to get it. It makes me sick to have something like that happen.

It bent up the car enough that it was just wicked after the crash. I was just hangin’ on, trying not to crash in every turn and trying to stay out of the way of the lead lap cars and not put ‘er into the wall. That’s not a fun way to end the night.”

Kenseth finished third to take over the Nextel Cup points standings lead. Carl Edwards was fourth and Clint Bowyer, Harvick's teammate, was fifth.

Martin, who led three times for 111 laps, wound up 11th and Biffle ended up 16th.

For Harvick, his streak of three race victories in a row (Busch wins at Nashville and Phoenix, Cup win at Phoenix) could not have come at a better time.

He is being courted by Toyota to be one of their lead drivers when the manufacturer joins Nextel Cup next season. But if team owner Richard Childress meets his asking price of $6 million per season, he would like to stay.

"Everything is good right now from personal life to life in the race car," Harvick said. "For whatever reason, I'm more relaxed this year and it's working and we're not going to complain about it. There is a seven-year relationship here, I have a lot of friends on this race team, we've been through a lot of traumatic situations, we've done everything we want to do except win a Cup championship and win consistent races. I believe everything will work in the right direction."

"If it does, that's what I want."

What Richard Childress is thinking on the issue isn’t clear. The team owner is in Africa on a safari and Harvick joked that he maybe should extend his stay.

"All I know is while he's been gone, we're undefeated," Harvick said. "If I was him, I'd stay away until we at least lost."

The next event on the Nextel Cup schedule is the April 30 Aaron's 499 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. The race begins at 2:10 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX.

Greg Engle, the Editor of the Cup Scene Daily is seeking employment within the motorsports journalism industry. If you are interested, please contact him at:greg@cupscene.com

NASCAR Wrecks - Night Time is the Right Time!

 

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Saturday night's all right for racing
By Greg Engle - Cup Scene Daily

There’s something almost magical about a night race not only for the fans watching but those competing as well.

“I love coming to Phoenix for a night race,” defending series champion Tony Stewart said. “If you can't have fun with that, you're never going to enjoy a race at Phoenix. The lights make us look like we're running twice as fast, and when we bottom-out in the turns you see the sparks fly out from underneath the cars. It's a good show.”

Since 1988, the tight, flat track with the backstretch dogleg has seen 16 different winners in 19 NASCAR Nextel Cup events.

Last year though, Phoenix belonged to the Busch Brothers. And so far this week, Kyle has continued the family tradition; he’ll start on the pole tonight. Older brother Kurt will start seventh.

Matt Kenseth, who had a much publicized run in with Kurt at Bristol a few weeks ago, says the Busch boys will be the main contenders tonight.

"I think they'll be two of the guys to beat," Kenseth who starts fourth tonight said. "Both those guys run really good here, but they run pretty good everywhere. Both of those guys are really talented and they figure out how to run out front at most tracks."

Kurt Busch won last year’s inaugural spring event, and brother Kyle won the traditional November race. Kyle Busch’s 4.5 average finish in two Phoenix events is the best of all drivers while Kurt Busch’s four straight top-10 finishes is the longest current streak here.

The Busch brothers had better keep a weary eye out to the competition though.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Burton, Mark Martin and Dale Jarrett are among those who have visited Victory Lane here.

Earnhardt and Burton lead all active drivers with two wins each at Phoenix. Burton won in 2000 and 2001. Earnhardt won in 2003 and 2004.

“I’ve always liked it, “Earnhardt Jr. said of Phoenix. “It’s very unique with its configuration, and requires a lot of discipline as a driver. There are so many opportunities to pass there it’s real easy to lose focus and overdrive the corners.”

Phoenix has multiple grooves, so drivers have more room for passing and a choice of lines to run.

“Sometimes you start the race and you think you are going to be running on the bottom,”

Earnhardt Junior said, “then either the car gets tight or you over guesstimated on how the track was going to be when the race starts and you are either too loose or too tight.

This place has a couple different grooves, which is really good; those are the racetracks you like to run on. I like running around the bottom myself; right around the bottom if I can, but if that isn't working for me, we just move around a lot to find something that just maintains until we get a pit stop or find something that is a little faster. "

Jarrett, who won in 1997 and Martin won in 1993; in fact Martin’s13 top-10 Phoenix finishes leads all drivers here and his 471 laps led is the best mark of any active driver.

“It’s just so different than anything that we run,” said Jarrett. “Trying to get off the corners there is the biggest thing that you have to do and carrying the speed through the straight-away but that starts back in the center of the corner and trying to get your car to carry speed through the center and then be able to get in the gas hard off of it. It’s a fun race track to race on.”

Starting from the pole here may not be the way to go, since no driver has ever won from the pole at Phoenix, in fact four of the last six races here have been won by drivers who started outside the top ten.

But don’t tell that to the series most recent winner, Kasey Kahne. Kahne defied the odds at Texas winning the pole and the race, the first time that has ever been done.

“I think it’s safe to say the No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger team will have a keen interest in Thursday’s Bud Pole qualifying for the Nextel Cup Series at Phoenix,” Kahne said. “All three of my wins have come from the pole. One of the big advantages is pit selection with the pole winning team getting first choice. My crew seems to perform at its best from that No. 1 spot on pit road.”

The next stop for the series will be the Talladega Superspeedway on April 30th.

Greg Engle, the Editor of the Cup Scene Daily is seeking employment within the motorsports journalism industry. If you are interested, please contact him at:greg@cupscene.com

NASCAR Wrecks - Phoenix, Fire It Up!

 

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Drivers and Storylines to watch at Phoenix
By Greg Engle - Cup Scene Daily

Right now, the Busch brothers may be on fire at Phoenix, but can Kyle win here again? No driver has ever won from the pole at Phoenix but the same was true at Texas a few weeks ago; Kasey Kahne led from the pole there and won so he must not have heard that stat. Maybe Kyle isn’t listening either.

Here are your drivers to watch Saturday night:

Kyle Busch will start from the number one position Saturday night after scoring the second Bud pole award of his career Thursday night. And while no driver has ever won from the pole here, Busch does have a win (last November) and an eighth place finish in this race last year in just two starts at Phoenix.

"That was a great run for us,” Busch said. “It was a very strong effort for the entire Kellogg's/Carquest Chevy team. They did a great job for me today. We have a good racecar. It's the sister car to what we won with here last fall, so hopefully they can make it just as good if not better.”

Overall so far this year, Busch has finished inside the top 12 in five of seven races .The reigning Raybestos Rookie of the Year placed 15th at Texas Motor Speedway and fell to seventh in the standings with 950 points. He finished eighth at Bristol and ran third at Las Vegas.

The Las Vegas native has said the first Cup Series race he ever saw as a fan was at Phoenix;

Terry Labonte in the No. 5 Kellogg’s Chevrolet won it, that’s the same car Busch now drives.

Kurt Busch the older half of the Busch brother combo is also defending champion of Saturday's Subway Fresh 500. He’ll roll off seventh Saturday night.

Busch has an impressive record here; in his six Phoenix Cup races, Busch has one win, two top-five finishes and four straight top-10 finishes. In last year's race, Busch led five times for 154 laps. Maybe even more notable, Busch has completed all but one of the possible laps (1,874 out of 1,875). He’ll be seeking his second consecutive Busch Series win in Friday night's Bashas' Supermarkets 200.

Busch will be debuting a brand new car this weekend. The team used the testing session at Richmond last week as opportunity to shake down the new car. Until now, Busch has driven cars that were used by the previous driver of the No. 2, Rusty Wallace.

However, Busch will be without crew chief Roy McCauley this weekend. McCauley is sitting out the race while he recovers from a surgical procedure performed Tuesday to treat an arterial blockage after he experienced mild chest pains. He plans to be back in action next weekend at Talladega Superspeedway.

"The procedure was 100 percent effective in alleviating the problem, but my doctor advised me to take it easy and spend this weekend relaxing at home," said McCauley.

Matt Gimbel, who was Busch's crew chief two weeks ago in his Busch Series win at Texas, will fill in for McCauley.

Unlike absentee crew chiefs in the past though, McCauley won’t be in constant contact with his team this weekend via phone.

"We told him just to relax," Busch said.

Jeff Burton has been rather quiet so far this season, but this could finally be the weekend he makes some noise. Even though he’ll roll off 37th Saturday night, look for Burton to head to the front quickly.

“It is what it is and we've just got to get on it and make something happen, “Burton said of his qualifying run. “It's not the first time I've ever started in the back."

Burton is in his second year with Richard Childress Racing and the team spent the off-season revamping in hopes of returning to their former glory. That reworking seems to be paying off with solid runs so far this season. Burton has a pole, a top five finish and three top tens.

He now heads to the flat track at Phoenix, the type of track Burton excels on. Burton has seven wins overall on these type of tracks; four at New Hampshire, two here and one at Martinsville. In 2000, Burton started on the pole at New Hampshire and went on to lead every lap in route to the win. That was the only time in modern NASCAR history a driver has done that.

There have been 16 winners in the 19 races at Phoenix and only Burton, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the late Davey Allison have scored two victories each. Burton's victories came in back-to-back seasons (2000 and 2001). He finished third in the spring race a year ago. That was his fifth top-five finish at the one-mile track.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is working hard to get back on pace in the points and he seems to be accomplishing that quite well. Dale Jr. placed in the top 12 in six of the first seven races this season and is sixth in the standings with 951 points. He finished 12th at Texas, 11th at Bristol and third at the Golden Corral 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 20.

The next three tracks on the schedule combined, starting with Phoenix, are venues where Earnhardt has scored nine victories overall, including two wins here at Phoenix (back-to-back checkered flags in the Checker Auto Parts 500 in 2003 and 2004). He has four top-five finishes in his last five races here. He finished fourth in this race one year ago and 40th there last November; his worst Phoenix finish and second DNF here while in the midst of a forgettable 2005 season. He’ll roll off 11th Saturday night.

"We run pretty good at Phoenix. Last year, I thought we had a car that could run in the top three at the second race here (but) we blew a tire,” Earnhardt said. “We had a camber issue or setting or something that was bad for that tire.

But we like this racetrack and we've won a couple of races here and we still seem to have a good handle on the set-up when race time comes. Even when Tony (Eury) Jr. wasn't crew-chiefing the car in the first race, we still had a top five finish. So I'm really getting to where I like the track and I get a lot of confidence when I come here."

Tony Stewart is at one of his favorite tracks. He’ll start third Saturday night. Stewart has raced in six different series here since 1993 – the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, the NASCAR Busch Series, USAC Midgets, USAC Silver Crown, the Indy Racing League and Supermodifieds.

In fact Phoenix is where it could be said that Stewart's climb to the top ranks of the auto-racing world began.

It was his performance in a USAC Silver Crown car in the famed Copper World Classic in February 1993 that had team owners in the IRL IndyCar Series and in NASCAR sitting up and taking notice of the future champion. The race was his first ever at the desert mile and the season opener for USAC's Silver Crown division. Stewart qualified second and went on to lead 31 of the 50 laps before finishing second to Mike Bliss, the 2003 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion.

His record in the Nextel Cup Series now stands at one win (1999) and five top 10s in eight series starts at Phoenix; and with a record like that Stewart could be the driver to watch not only Saturday night but in the big picture of the points race as well.

Historically a slow starter early in a season, Stewart is sneaking up behind series leader Jimmie Johnson with one win (Martinsville) and three top-five finishes in his last four events. Currently fifth in the standings, he’s only 97 points behind Johnson and Stewart’s team looks more like their typical mid-season form rather than early season.

“Last year, I think if you look, we ran well at a lot of races earlier,” crew chief Greg Zipadelli said. “We just made some mistakes; some things were costly to us. We didn't win as early as we should have last year. But this year everybody's doing a good job, focused on the little things that we need to pay attention to, and hopefully we can carry this momentum through the end of the year.”

“You know, I'm happy with where we're at. I'm glad we've got such a great start to the season and hope we can maintain that, “Stewart added. “Our team is working hard towards that obviously.”

But Stewart still maintains a cautious attitude when it comes to his strong early season start.

“We're in a lot better shape than we were last year at this time” Stewart said. “You still have -- at the end of the day, you still have to take it one week at a time right now. I wish I could say, yeah, I'm real excited about the opportunity and possibility of winning another championship this year.

Others:
Jeff Gordon has fared well here, registering six career top-five finishes and 11 top-10s. He starts 19th. Jimmie Johnson finished 15th in this race last season but has enjoyed success here, recording one top-five finish and three top-10s. He rolls off 10th. Matt Kenseth has competed in seven races at Phoenix, scoring one victory (November 2002) and three top-10 finishes. He starts 4th. Mark Martin has finished among the top 20 in 18 straight races at Phoenix. His only finish outside the top 20 came there in the inaugural race in November 1988, when he finished 36th behind first-time race winner Alan Kulwicki. He’ll start 18th. Dale Jarrett,who won the 1997 race at Phoenix, has nine top-10 finishes in the 19 Cup races held at Phoenix. He’ll roll off 17th.

Greg Engle, the Editor of the Cup Scene Daily is seeking employment within the motorsports journalism industry. If you are interested, please contact him at:greg@cupscene.com

NASCAR Wrecks - Which Manufacturer Is Leaving?

 

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One of the Manufacturers pulling out of NASCAR?

An autoextremeist.com column is reporting that: It has come to our attention that serious discussions are taking place for the first time in the conference rooms of one domestic manufacturer in particular on a subject heretofore unthinkable in Detroit. The subject?

Pulling out of NASCAR.

Yes, it has been mentioned before, and I have predicted it for months now - ever since the announcement was made that Toyota would be buying its way into the France family circus - but we have confirmation that not only are the discussions taking place, they're so far down the road that a timetable for a pullout has been created, taking into account the end dates of existing contracts with individual racing teams currently aligned with this particular manufacturer.

This Detroit manufacturer has decided that if it competes in motorsports in the future, it will only compete in three basic areas:

1. In production-based racing series that by rule and specification retain more than a passing resemblance to the cars they sell and the competitors they compete against in showrooms.

2. "Technical" efforts, in other words, engine programs for open-wheel and prototype racing series, but stopping short of Formula 1.

3. Developing an effort to compete for the overall victory at Le Mans. Any other efforts, grass-roots racing, drag racing, etc., would be covered as the need and budget allow.(in part....see full article at autoextremeist.com, note: the article doesn't say which manufacturer COULD be leaving [Chevy, Dodge, Ford] and this column will only be up a few days),

Peter M. DeLorenzo, who owns and writes for the site has been on Speed Channel's Wind Tunnel a few times and tends to be controversal and a bit anti-NASCAR, however doesn't tend to just post stuff for the sake of posting it and has a lot of sources.

Mark Martin Part Time Cup Racin' in 07?

 

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Martin part-time Cup in 2007?

UPDATE denies part-time Cup schedule rumor:

#6-Mark Martin is hedging on his vow to not return to Nextel Cup in any part-time capacity after moving to a full-time Craftsman Truck Series ride next year.

He now says if the right opportunity presents itself, he might consider doing Cup races that run in conjunction with truck events.
(Tampa Tribune)

UPDATE: #6-Mark Martin, who was at Lowe’s Motor Speedway to help promote the upcoming NASCAR All-Star race at the 1.5-mile track, said Tuesday that he has no plans to run a partial Nextel Cup schedule in 2007 and that he’d likely only drive a Cup car if a Roush Racing teammate is injured and unable to drive.

“I’ve got to be careful about saying ‘never,’ but there may be a situation where I fill-in or whatever,” said Martin. “I’m just not going to say it couldn’t happen. … There is some wiggle room and I just can’t say ‘never,’ but there’s no plans.”
(Speed Channel)(4-19-2006)

Joe Gibbs Racing anticipates desert drive time

 

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Joe Gibbs Racing anticipates desert drive time

A sun-drenched desert oval might not seem like a dream destination, but if you work for Joe Gibbs Racing, Phoenix International Raceway beckons more than any mirage.

The one-mile track nestled among mountain foothills represents different things to reigning NASCAR Nextel Cup Series champion Tony Stewart and his Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidate teammates Denny Hamlin and J.J. Yeley.

But when the green flag flies for Saturday night's Subway Fresh 500, all three drivers hope to ride their different Phoenix connections to victory.

"I really do feel like it's my West Coast home away from home," said Stewart, who has raced in six different series at Phoenix since 1993 -- the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series, the NASCAR Busch Series, USAC Midgets, USAC Silver Crown, the Indy Racing League and Supermodifieds.

For Yeley, Phoenix is home. Like Stewart, the Arizona native has turned countless laps at PIR, where it was announced last November that he would succeed former series champion Bobby Labonte (No. 43 Cheerio's/Betty Crocker Dodge) in JGR's No. 18 Chevrolet. A good performance before the home folks would not only extend Yeley's dream weekend, but also boost him in the series and rookie standings.

Hamlin can't claim his teammates' Phoenix mileage, but he'd gladly duplicate his last -- and only -- trip to the Valley as a NASCAR Nextel Cup competitor. Hamlin won the Budweiser Pole for last November's event at Phoenix -- the first of his young career. He also finished a respectable 13th.

"Phoenix International Raceway is one of my favorite tracks -- a track that I feel really suits my driving style," Hamlin said. "I spent years running late models on tracks that were flat, or at least not banked like a lot of the tracks we visit, and I think that really helps me coming to a track like Phoenix in a Cup car because it feels familiar to me."

Stewart understands. With one win (1999) and five top 10s in eight series starts at Phoenix, he merits particular attention. Usually a slow starter, he's creeping closer to series leader Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet) with one win (Martinsville) and three top-five finishes in his last four events. Currently fifth, only 97 points behind Johnson, Stewart could use Phoenix as a springboard.

"I love coming to Phoenix for a night race," Stewart said. "If you can't have fun with that, you're never going to enjoy a race at Phoenix. The lights make us look like we're running twice as fast, and when we bottom-out in the turns you see the sparks fly out from underneath the cars. It's a good show."

And potentially rewarding. The combination of a two-time series champion and two talented rookies could be the one to beat Saturday night.

"I think this is the best year for Joe Gibbs Racing because between myself and Denny and Tony, we are all comfortable with similar setups," Yeley said. "When we show up at the race track, other than a couple of minor changes, the cars are almost identical. We'll tune them as the race go on and if one of us finds something better, the other two teams will actually give it a try. That's something that Joe Gibbs Racing has never had in the past."

Greg Engle, the Editor of the Cup Scene Daily is seeking employment within the motorsports journalism industry. If you are interested, please contact him at:greg@cupscene.com

NASCAR Wrecks - Church Woos NASCAR Faithful

 

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Church Woos NASCAR Faithful:

A church in Manatee County [Tampa FL area] is hoping the presence of a legendary NASCAR driver's car will have people racing to its Easter Sunday service.

Bayside Community Church plans to have the late Dale Earnhardt Sr.'s black #3 Chevy available for viewing and photos [a showcar].

There's a catch.

People have to sit through a service to get a ticket to be photographed with the race car. To get the free 4-by-6-inch picture, they have to return the next weekend and sit through another service.

The nondenominational church expects to more than double its normal attendance of about 1,100. It has mailed 40,000 fliers, sent out news releases and advertised on a country radio station and at the DeSoto Speedway.

Lead pastor Randy Bezet is tying the Earnhardt car into Sunday's service. The theme: "Finishing the race of life."

NASCAR Wrecks - Church Woos NASCAR Faithful

 

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Church Woos NASCAR Faithful:

A church in Manatee County [Tampa FL area] is hoping the presence of a legendary NASCAR driver's car will have people racing to its Easter Sunday service.

Bayside Community Church plans to have the late Dale Earnhardt Sr.'s black #3 Chevy available for viewing and photos [a showcar].

There's a catch.

People have to sit through a service to get a ticket to be photographed with the race car. To get the free 4-by-6-inch picture, they have to return the next weekend and sit through another service.

The nondenominational church expects to more than double its normal attendance of about 1,100. It has mailed 40,000 fliers, sent out news releases and advertised on a country radio station and at the DeSoto Speedway.

Lead pastor Randy Bezet is tying the Earnhardt car into Sunday's service. The theme: "Finishing the race of life."

NASCAR Wrecks - Kurt Busch & Greg Biffle Girlfriends Feud!

 

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NASCAR to have ‘conversation’ with Biffle/Busch girlfriends
By Greg Engle - Cup Scene Daily

Talk about ‘standing by your man’. NASCAR officials indicated Wednesday that they would sit down with the two ladies after a much-publicized confrontation last Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway that has been the talk of the garage area this week.

During Sunday’s running of the Samsung/Radio Shack 500, on lap 84 Greg Biffle who was dominating the race up to that point, slid up in front of Kurt Busch who was a lap down at the time; whether by accident or design, Busch tapped the rear bumper of Biffle’s car sending Biffle on a wild ride into the turn three wall.

In the aftermath, TV cameras focused on Biffle’s girlfriend Nicole Lunders first slamming a water bottle down on a pit box. She then headed down to Busch’s pit area, climbed the pit box and confronted Kurt Busch's fiancée, Eva Bryan.

For Lunders the confrontation wasn’t necessarily about Biffle being knocked out of the race, but more about her concern for his health.

According to Fox Sport’s Steve Byrnes, when Lunders climbed off of the pit box, she walked right towards him grabbed his wrist and looked him in the eye.

"I'm mad because he could have hurt Greg," she told Byrnes.

The brief altercation has NASCAR officials wanting to ensure that emotions are held in control, not only on the track but off as well.

"There will be some conversations that will be had with the people that participated, and we'll make sure that this doesn't carry on and into the garage or anywhere else," Robin Pemberton, vice president of competition, told the Associated Press Wednesday.

"You've got to remember, most everybody in the garage area is friends, and those two girls in particular have a close relationship. Tempers flare, and we'll look at that and we'll make sure it doesn't carry on any further than that."

While NASCAR does not have a written rule against team members entering other pit areas, they are generally less than pleased if the reason for approaching the area stems from something that happened in race.

"When altercations and things like that happen, we recommend that you stay in your own area," Pemberton said. "You can go have a conversation, but it can't be heated per se."

Family members are typically given entrance to the track on a "license" that recognizes them as a team member, meaning their actions can be policed by NASCAR and the sanctioning body reserves the right to revoke their pass at any time.

Lowe's Motor Speedway president Humpy Wheeler told the Associated Press that wives and girlfriends had a stormy history during NASCAR's early days and many have been thrown out of tracks because of their behavior.

"That kind of stuff was common back in the old days, everybody was fighting back then, especially the women," Wheeler said. "But there wasn't the TV coverage we have today, so it wasn't that big of a deal."

Greg Engle, the Editor of the Cup Scene Daily is seeking employment within the motorsports journalism industry. If you are interested, please contact him at:greg@cupscene.com

NASCAR Wrecks - Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the Crystall Ball

 

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Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. looking for resurgent seasons

After one of the more trying seasons of their NASCAR Nextel Cup Series careers, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. find themselves back on track this week at Richmond International Raceway.

Literally.

Not only are they logging test laps, they’re back in the mix for the ultimate payoff – a berth in the Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup when the series returns to Richmond in September. Gordon is eighth in the series standings after seven events; Earnhardt is sixth – much better than where they finished in 2005.

“I'm pleased,” said Gordon, who finished 11th last season, his worst result since his rookie season of 1993. “I guess this is what I was expecting of us at this point in the season where we were a better team. We had better racecars. Not necessarily the cars being better, but the setups relating to how I like to drive, the comfort and feel. I think it's given me more confidence. It's building confidence in the team.”

Wednesday marked the second day of a three-day session at Richmond, which host’s two events – the Richmond 400 on May 6, and the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 on Sept. 9. Teams may test on two of the three days.

The latter event is race No. 26, the cutoff event that sets the field for the Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup. Following the season’s first 26 events, the top 10 drivers and any within 400 points of the leader will battle for the series title over the final 10 races.

“Target is to run as good as you can every week,” said Earnhardt, who finished a career-worst 19th last year. “Everything else kind of takes cares of itself. We just go out there and race as hard as we can, take the car we got, do the best we can with it every week.”

Gordon and Earnhardt were among the drivers who visited the Richmond media center Wednesday. This week’s Richmond test marks the third of six designated 2006 tests for NASCAR Nextel Cup teams. This year, NASCAR has scheduled those tests as a cost-containment measure at tracks that host series events, and those dates are the only test opportunities at those tracks.

“It's a very important test for us,” Gordon said. “I think we're learning a lot of things. We've made so many changes with our race team this year, our race cars, we're just really out there trying a lot of new things.

“We're fortunate that we're running decent enough to be in the top 10 in points right now where we can experiment. But we also know we got to get better than what we are, so we have to experiment. This is a perfect opportunity for us to do this.”

Which means no time to dally. Earnhardt noted an accelerated pace during the past two days, with cars zipping in and out of Richmond’s garage.

“There's just a larger sense of urgency because you know you only got five tests,” he said. “Where you might take a little more time in between runs, you're in and out of the garage a lot quicker now, where you're trying to get as many runs as you can, trying to try as many things as you can. You're doing a lot of things that you may be testing for, for other tracks, like Phoenix and other places that are similar to a Richmond.”

While Gordon fine-tuned with new crew chief Steve Letarte, Earnhardt had a shadow during his two-day test: Mark McFarland, who drives Earnhardt’s JR Motorsports-owned No. 88 U.S. Navy Chevrolet in the NASCAR Busch Series. McFarland, a Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidate, was at his boss’s heels for most sessions, taking notes atop the transporter and in the garage.

“I brought him here to see if he could understand some of the things and see a little bit how they're kind of off base on a couple areas,” Earnhardt said of McFarland and the new team’s growing pains. “He's got a notepad, he's been filling it up. Hopefully he takes it back and learns something.”


Greg Engle, the Editor of the Cup Scene Daily is seeking employment within the motorsports journalism industry. If you are interested, please contact him at:greg@cupscene.com

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