NASCAR Wrecks - Riggs Ready To Rock 600

 

Riggs, Mayfield will share front row for Coca-Cola 600
By Greg Engle - Cup Scene Daily

(CONCORD NC- 26 May) -Scott Riggs ran a lap of 187.865 to score the second pole of his career Thursday night at Lowes motor Speedway. He’ll be joined on the front row for Sunday’s running of the Coca-Cola 600 by his Evernham teammate Jeremy Mayfield.

The pole was the first of 2006 for Riggs and will be his first top ten start so far this season.

“The car was absolutely awesome,” Riggs who won last Saturday nights Nextel Open qualifying race said,” We learned a lot from last week and thought we had a real good car last week. There was a lot of grip out there tonight and I didn’t know if it was going to hold up for the pole tonight but I got all I could out of it. I don’t think I could have gotten anymore out of it.”

For second place starter Jeremy Mayfield, his qualifying effort is a shot in the arm for a team that has struggled most of the year.

“I guess everyone knows we switched teams and all that stuff, “Mayfield said referring to a crew swap orchestrated by his boss Ray Evernham made in an attempt to get Mayfield’s team pointed in the right direction.

” It’s been a hard struggle for me, coming back and starting all over again pretty much with not a new group of guys, but it pretty much is. Chris (team director Chris Andrews) has been there and done a great job. Basically we started with a new race team and we’ve been trying to figure each other out and that’s been pretty much the problem. I feel like last weekend was the turning point for our season really. We finally found out what each other were talking about.”

One of the biggest surprises of qualifying was Jimmie Johnson. After a miserable afternoon that saw Johnson wreck his primary Busch car and find enough speed to register only 32nd on the Nextel Cup series practice charts, Johnson admitted that he was worried prior to his qualifying run.

The driver who has been the dominant car here and is favored to win again Sunday managed to qualify third.

“I'm just as shocked as everyone else,” Johnson admitted. “We have a great set up, a great car here and a great feel for this track but for whatever reason at night time is when we shine. In practice we were real loose, real out of control. I almost threw this car a way a couple of times.
I've had my difficulties when the sun is out but for whatever reason when the sun goes down we fly and have a great race car."

Rookie J.J. Yeley, who also crashed in practice, will start fourth in a backup car.

"Yeah, I'm still pretty disappointed that I crashed the car (during practice), “Yeley said. “This was only my second time in my short NASCAR Cup career that I've had to bring a back-up car out before I even got to qualify. I don't like tearing up equipment because I know someone back at the shop is going to have to fix it. But the only way I can do something good is to go out there and do something good now."

Kevin Harvick, who finished second in last weeks All-Star Challenge, will roll off fifth.

"Our Reese's Chevrolet did pretty good in practice,” Harvick said. “We scuffed all our tires and made a qualifying run. We had a great race last week with our GM Goodwrench Chevrolet and hopefully we can do one better this week."

A total of 53 cars made vied for the 43 starting positions, among those who did not qualify was Michael Waltrip. The last time Waltrip failed to qualify for a Cup race was at Phoenix in 1998. In fact the last time a NASCAR Cup series race was run without a Waltrip participating was in 1975.

For Riggs though he now sits his sights on the big prize of the weekend, the Coca-Cola 600.

“We didn’t come out here to sit on the pole we came out here to win the race,” said Riggs.

Matt Kenseth later took the pole for Saturday’s Busch Series race with a lap on 184.011 with Jamie McMurray second.

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 - Waltrip Buys His Way Into The 600

 

Waltrip fails to make the Coke 600...buying Cope ride to run race:

#55-Michael Waltrip’s string of 261 consecutive Cup appeared to come to a halt Thursday night, when he failed to qualify for the Coca-Cola 600, turning in a dreadfully slow qualifying lap more than 8 mph off the pole speed.

He last failed to qualify for a Cup race in Oct. 1998 at Phoenix. But he apparently will purchase a starting spot from #74-Derrike Cope, with details expected to be announced later.(Speed Channel)

Michael Waltrip's consecutive start streak of 261 races will get to 262.

Waltrip's Waltrip-Jasper Racing has bought the ride of the #74 McGlynn Racing Dodge and driver Derrike Cope for the Coca-Cola 600, according to a Waltrip team spokesman.

The car will have the NAPA logo on the car and might carry the #55. The owner points goes to McGlynn and not to Waltrip, whose team sits 36th in owner points and likely will drop following the race. Waltrip likely will put a new engine in the car but must use the car Cope qualified in the event. Waltrip ranks sixth in consecutive starts among NASCAR Nextel Cup drivers

Who's Got The Most Valuable Team In NASCAR?

 

FORBES calculates value by determining each team's total sponsorship and race-related income from all of its cars. We then assigned a multiple to revenue based on the number of cars (the more scale, the higher the multiple), the record of its drivers and level of commitment from its car manufacturers (Ford gives more R&D help to a proven winner like the Roush team than less prominent teams get from their manufacturers). Our multiples range from 1.3 to 2.

The most valuable NASCAR team is Roush Racing, by our calculations worth an estimated $218 million. Roush has an estimated $100 million in sponsorship revenue in the bank and thus far in 2006 has $8 million in race winnings. We afford the Roush team a high multiple of two times revenue because of its success on the track, as well as the research and manufacturing support from Ford that it leverages across its stable of cars.

• 1. Roush Racing
• 2. Hendrick Motorsports
• 3. Joe Gibbs Racing
• 4. Richard Childress Racing
• 5. Chip Ganassi Racing
• 6. Everham Motorsports3
• 7. Penske Racing South
• 8. Dale Earnhardt Inc.
• 9. Robert Yates Racing
• 10. Petty Enterprises
• 11. Bill Davis Racing4
• 12. MB2 Motorsports
• 13. Haas CNC Racing
• 14. Waltrip-Jasper Racing
• 15. Valvoline Evernham Racing

Stakes in teams are bought and sold sporadically in NASCAR. In 2003 Chartwell Investments, a small private equity firm in New York, purchased a stake in Richard Childress Racing that valued its seven cars at $85 million, or roughly two times revenue. With $56 million in revenue now, we value the current Richard Childress Racing team at $100 million, fourth highest in NASCAR. We calculate that the average team value has increased by 20 percent over the last three years.

NASCAR Wrecks - Yates Rebuild Top To Bottom

 

SHAKE-UP Robert Yates Racing releases D'Hondt

After losing his star driver to Toyota, watching his other driver endure sub-par years Robert Yates has decided it’s time for a shakeup at the top.

Robert Yates Racing (RYR) announced Tuesday that general manager Eddie D'Hondt has been released from his position.

"We are re-evaluating the way we do business from the top down," Yates said. "This is a performance-based business and we have to evaluate the performance of where our cars are now. That begins with understanding our cars."

RYR has been one of NASCAR's most successful teams over the last 17-plus seasons, winning a Nextel Cup championship with Dale Jarrett in 1999 and putting at least one driver in the top 10 in the points standings 10 times.

But RYR has had only two drivers finish in the top 10 over the last four seasons, and Yates feels that his entire organization needs an adjustment.

"Our goal is to figure out a technical direction and find the right people to lead that direction," Yates said. "This isn't a quick fix and its is going to be a process for us. This decision is a first step in the evaluation process."

Jarrett and Elliott Sadler, RYR's two Nextel Cup drivers, have struggled this season. Jarrett currently is 12th in the standings with 1,237 points while Sadler is 15th with 1,181 points. The pair has combined to register just one top-five finish and four top-10s through 11 points races this season.

Doug Yates also said the decision to make a change at the management level is a result of the Yates family reasserting themselves as the managers of their family-owned business. One of the first actions the team is taking is moving Raymond Fox, III back to the Nextel Cup shop where he will work with the #38 M&M’S Team and serve as a liaison between the Busch and Nextel Cup Series teams.

“Raymond is very key to our organization,” Yates said. “The Busch program is important to us but we need his help elsewhere in the company and right now that is at the Cup shop where he’s worked since we started this organization.”

“Eddie (D’Hondt) did a good job for us,” he said. “But this is our company and Robert and I have decided we need to get our arms around our company. We’re not happy with where we’re at as a race team. We need to reassert key people including ourselves.”

NASCAR Wrecks - Jeff Burton Diary

 

By Jeff Burton - Cup Scene Daily

I haven’t looked forward to the Coca-Cola 600 for a few years now. It’s not because I don’t love racing at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, it’s because I haven’t been as competitive as I would have liked to be over the last few years.

Richard Childress Racing was once one of the most powerful teams in NASCAR. Following the death of Dale Earnhardt in 2001, things didn’t go as well and the performance wasn’t up to snuff. Towards the end of 2005 and heading into the off-season, everyone at RCR put in a tremendous amount of time and effort to get this organization backing shape.

This season the overall performance at RCR has been far better than last year and I’m very happy with the direction we are heading. Our intermediate-track program, which was our weak point last season, has made huge gains this year.

Not only have our results seen a significant improvement but our overall performance has seen gains as well. With a few minor exceptions our qualifying effort has improved and all of our pit crews have really stepped up this year.

RCR doesn’t like to lose and that starts at the top. Richard Childress has a desire to be the leader in the garage and I’m really proud to be driving for RCR. We are doing everything we can to get this organization back to the top, where it belongs.

Tuesday, May 23

BACK TO THE GRIND
Other than the usual ‘What is Ward doing?’ question, one of the most popular questions I answer from fans is what I do during the week while I’m not at the race track. Well, here’s a little inside look at my weekday schedule as a NASCAR driver -

Monday, May 22

• Work out with my trainer
• Head up to Richard Childress Racing for the weekly competition meeting. Every RCR driver and crew chief, both Cup and Busch, are in this meeting to discuss the previous race, strategies and plans for the upcoming race weekend.
• Tape Cingular’s race review and preview – a weekly feature we shoot at the shop every Monday following the competition meeting to give their subscribers an inside look at our team.
• Inside Nextel Cup – This week I will continue my role as a fill-in host on the popular program on SPEED

Tuesday, May 23

• Work out with my trainer
• A day for me! This is my free day this week so I will most likely catch up on some errands, work on my son’s quarter-midget, do some laundry and possibly cook dinner. It’s really just a day for me to be able to spend some time with my wife Kim and our children Paige and Harrison

Wednesday, May 24

• Work out with my trainer. Today’s work out will include a journalist and photographer from Sports Illustrated for feature in the magazine.
• Shoot a video to highlight the expansion of Cingular's new high-speed 3G wireless broadband network
• Shoot a greeting video to play at State Farm’s national agent meeting
• Autograph appearance at a Charlotte area Cingular store grand opening (4-6 p.m. at Northlake Commons)

Thursday, May 25

• Work out with my trainer
• NBC/TNT Racing Preseason Shoot. This is where they get all those great shots they use for pre-race shows and commercial breaks.
• Back to the track for double duty. This week I will be racing the No. 31 Cingular Chevy in the Cup Series and the No. 29 Holiday Inn Chevy in the Busch Series. Practice and qualifying for both series is scheduled for Thursday which will make for a really busy day.

Friday, May 26

• Work out with my trainer
• No on-track activities for Busch or Cup cars today
• 7 p.m. guest on SPEED’s Trackside program at Speed Street in Downtown Charlotte
• 8 p.m. question and answer session on the Coca-Cola stage

Monday, May 22

There's No Place Like Home
There is nothing quite like a Sunday afternoon at home, especially when you work in the NASCAR Cup Series. Racing in Charlotte for two straight weeks affords the teams an opportunity we rarely have in our sport – free time at home.

Along with the guys who work at the shop Team Cingular, as well as the other Cup teams on the circuit, has a large number team members who travel to the races each weekend. Between the road crew, who travel to each track on Thursday for the typical Sunday race to work on the car for practice and qualifying, and the pit crew, who are responsible for pitting the car on race day, we total roughly 20 team members who travel with us each weekend.

That’s 20 families at home alone for 38 weekends a year while the crew members are at the track doing their jobs. Those 20 families can’t go to church or have Sunday dinner with dad. Giving that much time to your job is difficult but it’s a career they love and are proud of.

Many times people who have the normal weekday work schedule and are off each weekend can’t comprehend how our team members do it.

All sports only have one winner but in NASCAR instead of there being just one losing team, we have 42 each weekend. It’s the competition that brings us back, the chance to lead the last lap and pull into victory lane. That chance to celebrate with your team and hold up the winner’s trophy.

No matter how long it has been since someone has been to victory lane, they never forget what it feels like and do everything they can to get back.

Saturday, May 20

NASCAR’S ALL-STAR EVENT IS THE MOST COMPETITIVE IN ITS CLASS
Many times when professional sports leagues hold their All-Star events it seems like it’s just that, an event. The competition can take a bit of a back seat to the show. The build up to the All-Star game tends to exceed the game itself.

Not NASCAR, not our sport. Now, I’m not going to say NASCAR’s All-Star race doesn’t get hyped up because it certainly does. But, I will stack the competition level of our All-Star event against any out there and know it will come out on top.

NASCAR’s All-Star race is a no points, no-holds-barred, ultra-competitive Saturday night race under the lights for all the money and, hands down, the most exciting race for the fans all season. This one, folks, is worth every penny. Anytime there is a million dollars on the line and no possible repercussions in the championship points chase, it’s going to be good.

Sure, every sport touts their All-Star game as pitting the best against the best and that part is true. Individual athletes from various teams come together to make up an all-star lineup for one game. In NASCAR, the drivers may be the headline to the event but they compete in the All-Star race with the team that has gotten him there, so it’s much more of a team event.

It starts at the beginning of the event, at what on any other race weekend are the driver introductions. For our All-Star game, the pit crew is introduced with the driver. I think that is the way to do it since it’s not just about the driver, at the all-star race or any race during the season.

Friday, May 19

CHOICES
NASCAR Cup Series teams had a big decision to make this week - which car to bring to the All-Star Challenge this weekend at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

There are two different thought processes when it comes to making that decision. One train of thought is to bring the best car in the shop, the one which has the best performance history. After all, this is our All-Star game and winning brings a big payday and all the prestige that goes along with it. But, when people think about the history of the race what tends to pop up in everyone’s mind are the wrecks. When there is a lot of money on the line and no points to consider, there’s no guessing what can happen.

Those wrecks are what lead to the second line of reasoning. Sometimes you make a conscious decision to bring a car that is disposable and the team can stand to lose.

For Team Cingular, we pretty much took the middle road. We brought chassis No. 132, which is a car we tested in February at Las Vegas but we haven’t raced it yet this season. We’ve been running one particular car on all the intermediate tracks this season and, since it has performed so well, it makes it difficult to veer away from it. Our Open car has made the rounds as our back up at all the intermediate tracks, so we’re now giving the nod and seeing if it can make the cut.

NASCAR has a new testing policy in place for 2006 which limits the number of sessions and tracks where we can test. So anytime we can use actual track time to gain some additional information on another car I think we need to take advantage of it. That was a big factor in the decision to bring chassis No. 132.

We are not currently in the All-Star Challenge. If we win the Open we will transfer into the All-Star race and our chance at the big check. I know we have a car and team up to the task, now we just need to prove it.

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 - Johnson Lashes LOWE's Again

 

Johnson survives to win the NASCAR All Star Challenge
By Greg Engle - Cup Scene Daily

A rain delayed All-Star party at Lowes Motor Speedway turned into a two-day soirée becoming a survivor story authored by the landlord of Lowes, Jimmie Johnson.

Johnson overcame a pit road speeding penalty during the first of three segments in the non-points race, avoided carnage during the final segments and pulled away to win the 22nd annual Nextel All-Star challenge early Sunday morning.

The evening’s festivities got off to a rather subdued start after a rain delay of nearly two hours.
Scott Riggs started on the pole for the Nextel Open qualifying race and led for all but one lap in route to an easy victory and advancement into the big show. The only casualty was Casey Mears who performed a solo spin three laps into the event.

"I wish we could have got a few more laps in," Mears said. "I think it was starting to come in better, but we were really, really loose. It would have been nice to have a shot at the million. I probably should have taken it a little easier."

After the introduction of the field for the main event and the announcement of Kyle Petty as the fans choice, the first segment, 40 laps, got underway with Kasey Kahne on the pole and Johnson staring on his flank in second.

Mark Martin, defending All-Star challenge champion, tapped Roush teammate Jamie McMurray several laps into the race. McMurray spun across the track and glanced off the outside retaining wall before continuing on the track.

According to the quirky rules for the event each team had to perform a green flag, four tires and fuel pit stop in the middle of the segment. In the rush to pit road for his stop, Johnson was nailed by NASCAR entering too fast and given the dreaded ‘pass through’ penalty, regulating him to 19th place.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was forced into the infield grass by a spinning Scott Riggs moments later. Riggs and Earnhardt were able to continue with Riggs losing a lap that he was never able to overcome.

Kurt Busch's night ended before the first segment was complete. He limped his smoking Penske Dodge back into the garage with a failed engine.

Soon after the race was red-flagged for 25 minutes due to rain after 34 laps of the first 40-lap segment was completed.

Another quirky rule that hurt Johnson was the inversion of the field after the first segment. Only the top 10 cars were inverted, and Johnson had only battled back to 11th.

The second segment, 30 laps, was when the fireworks on the track began. Michael Waltrip lit the fuse when he spun bringing out a caution. On the ensuing restart, pole-sitter Kasey Kahne's Dodge slid up in turn 2 and into the left side of Martin’s Ford. Both cars slammed into the SAFER barrier and spun back onto the track, igniting a multi-car explosion and a red-flag period.

Kahne and Martin were out along with Greg Biffle, Kyle Busch, Jeremy Mayfield and Jamie McMurray.

"We just lost grip," Kahne, said. "It's tough. Not a lot of grip out there. I thought everything was great, and the next thing I knew I was in the wall."

"Looks like Kasey slid up into me," an obviously upset Martin said. "Just one of those things. He lost it. And when you're on the inside that gas pedal determines whether you get loose."

"Just a chain reaction," Biffle said. "It's just too bad, because we had a car that could have won the race."

Although Stewart would continue on after being involved in the second segment incident, his night would come to an end just two laps into the third session. As Stewart and Matt Kenseth danced side-by-side contesting third place, the two cars touched and both slammed into the fourth-turn wall.

Needless to say, each had an entirely different view of the crash.

"Tony had a run, and once he was inside of me, he just turned," Kenseth said
"It was a pretty demented view," Stewart shot back at Kenseth. "He's a whole lane and a half low. Obviously he was blocking.

"I was there,” Stewart added, “and any other weekend that would acceptable. But this is the Nextel all-star crashfest.

"I think he screwed up on this one. If he thinks it's my fault, he's screwed up in the head."

The loss of Stewart and Kenseth left a total of just nine cars for the final dash to the finish.

Kevin Harvick, winner of the second segment had rolled the dice and took only two tires on the final pit stops while everyone else took four. His gamble wouldn’t pay off, as Johnson easily passed him for the lead early in the final 20-lap sprint.

Johnson pulled away and won by 1.729 seconds over Harvick.

"There's something about this place," said Johnson, who led a total of 33 laps. "When the money's on the line, this race team steps up and gets things done."

"I had adversity to overcome, that speeding penalty, “Johnson added. “We still came back and won the thing. When I was still on the lead lap after that pass-through, I knew I had a shot.”

"Jimmie was just half-a-tenth better than we were," Harvick said. "My only chance was to beat him into turn one and keep him pinned to the bottom. But he got away. Still it was a good night for us. We were 0-for-5 before this. Our main goal was to finish. And we weren't part of the wreck-fest.
Now the drivers are looking towards next Sunday for the running of the Coca-cola 600.

"Everyone was geared up just to run 15 or 20 laps tonight, and we won't be able to do that in the 600,” Harvick said. "And there will probably be more give-and-take in the 600." .

"It was a survival race," third place Jeff Gordon said. "The 600 will be a real handful, a real handful. I know we talk tires, tires, tires, but this tire is just so finicky you really have to be careful with it.

"But Jimmie and those guys just own this place."

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 - All-Star Johnson looks to extend Lowe's dominance

 

Jeff Owens - Special to CBS SportsLine.com


It's not points Jimmie Johnson will be after this weekend at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
He's got plenty of those.

He leads the Nextel Cup point standings, and the Nextel All-Star Challenge does not award points.
And it's not money that will be on his mind, even though the event pays $1 million to win, one of the richest purses on the Cup circuit. He just bagged plenty of that by signing a new contract with Hendrick Motorsports through 2010. And since Johnson, 30, is one of the most dominant drivers today, you can only assume that he is now also one of the wealthiest.

No, what Jimmie Johnson is looking for this weekend is bragging rights.

Like he needs more of that at the Charlotte track appropriately named after his team's sponsor.
No driver in the Nextel Cup Series has more reason to brag about their performance at a particular track than Johnson does at Charlotte, or Lowe's.

He has, after all, won five of the past six points races at the 1.5-mile track, including four in a row. The only thing he hasn't won there in the past two years is the All-Star race, but he won it in 2003.
Since then, only three drivers have beaten Johnson in Cup competition at Charlotte -- Tony Stewart in October of 2003 and Matt Kenseth and Mark Martin in the past two All-Star races.

That's six victories in nine races over three years. Only drivers like Richard Petty, David Pearson, Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon, Johnson's teammate, can lay claim to such feats.
It only stands to reason that Johnson is the overwhelming favorite to win Saturday night's All-Star race and the Coca-Cola 600 -- which he has won three times in a row -- on May 28.

"Lowe's Motor Speedway is a special place for myself and the No. 48 team. We're excited to go back," Johnson says in perhaps one of the greatest understatements of the 2006 season.

Johnson admits his team will have one eye on the grueling 600 during the All-Star Challenge. That, in fact, is how he won the 600 last year -- by learning a few things during the short, sprint race.

Learning, adapting and adjusting will be particularly crucial this year after track officials repaved the Charlotte surface, making it smoother but faster. Goodyear and NASCAR have thrown their own wrinkles into the mix with a new tire and smaller fuel cells.

All of that should play right into the hands of Johnson and his team, which seems better than other teams at figuring out such complex equations and making the necessary adjustments. That's why Johnson leads the series in wins (three) and points.

"We feel that the All-Star event is going to be a real good indication for us on where we stack up for the 600," Johnson says. "We plan on working through some things during the All-Star event and really try to get everything right for the 600 the following weekend."

Make no mistake, though. Johnson wants to win the All-Star Challenge. He owns Lowe's Motor Speedway, and there's no better way to prove it than to win its marquee event.

There is also no better way to prove you are the man than to beat the best in NASCAR's elite series. That, to most drivers, means much more than money.

"There are so many bragging rights that come with winning that event," Johnson says. "I had the pleasure of winning the last Winston (in 2003). There was a lot of buildup before it. And after winning, it was worth every emotion. There are just a lot of bragging rights in the garage area, but also with the media and the fans to win our All-Star event. It's a special thing."

Johnson is special at Charlotte. Don't be surprised if he shows it again Saturday night.

This week's prediction: Jimmie Johnson. Humpy Wheeler, Lowe's Motor Speedway track president and resident prognosticator, picked Carl Edwards to win, with Kasey Kahne as his dark horse. Wheeler's logic is sound. The race format fits Edwards' hard-charging style. And Kahne's two wins this year have come on tracks very similar to Charlotte. But there's no denying or overlooking Johnson's dominance there. He is the overwhelming favorite, and favorites win more than we like to admit.

Keep an eye on: Greg Biffle. If anyone can stink up the show as much as Johnson, it's Biffle, who has been just as dominant this year but doesn't have the results to show for it. Biffle's win at Darlington last week, though, could be a bad sign for the opposition. Biffle has become a top driver the past year and a half. He may prove it at Charlotte.

Also keep an eye on: Matt Kenseth. Critics say that Kenseth is not aggressive enough, that he's not a hard-charger, that his is a more methodical, strategic style, pacing himself and then pouncing at the end. Don't tell that to Kenseth. Though he's as clean a racer as there is, Kenseth has showed this year that he can charge to the front and lead laps. And contrary to popular opinion, this race does fit his style. He won it in 2004. He has run as well as anyone this season. Don't be surprised if he makes it 2-for-3.

Dark horse: Kyle Busch has earned a reputation as an aggressive, give-no-ground, take-no-prisoners driver this year and has riled plenty of competitors along the way. Though he has not won yet, he has often run roughshod over the competition -- literally. This, then, is Busch's kind of race, one that requires all-out aggression. It is also a race in which young drivers have been known to make a name for themselves. Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Ryan Newman both won it as rookies. Busch could be the next young lion to roar on one of NASCAR's biggest stages.

Jeff Owens is executive editor of NASCAR Scene and a columnist for CBS SportsLine.

NASCAR Wrecks - Money Talks Jarrett Walks!

 

Money Talks, Jarrett Walks

By Greg Engle - Cup Scene Daily

Dale Jarrett and Michael Waltrip made it official Saturday and it looks like the 1999 series champion will finish his driving career in a Toyota Camry.

But the move and the motivation behind it has a lot of team owners worried.

One of the biggest fears team owners have when Toyota enters the sport in 2007 is the amount of money they tend to throw around in order to make them winners. And the Jarrett hiring might just prove them right.

What would make Jarrett who has fielded the No. 88 Ford with Robert Yates Racing since 1995 and won the NASCAR series title in 1999 jump ship?

Jarrett's contract with Yates Racing was up after the 2006 season and after finishing 15th or lower in the Nextel Cup standings over the last three years, the argument could be put forward that Waltrip convinced Jarrett to join one of Toyota's start-up teams next season in an effort to become competitive again.

Earlier this year Jarrett went on record saying that his last year of driving will be in 2008 and certainly he wants to go out on top of his game. Given his current lack of performance at RYR heading to Toyota might prove inspirational to Jarrett.

Certainly the 49-year old Jarrett is more than capable of winning races, Harry Gant was winning races in his 50’s, but would it be easier to try and fix what’s broken at his current team or try to win with a brand new team that’s being built from the ground up?

Or could it be that DJ’s eyes were filled with dollar signs?

Doug Yates, son of team owner Robert Yates, talked about the process that led Jarrett to leave his familiar surroundings.

"Obviously we're in the last year of our contract together and he came to us and said that he had an offer,” Yates said. “We told him that we were willing to counter that offer, so we matched it to show him that we were committed to keeping him here until his retirement. He said he would think about it and told us that he really wanted to stay here and really loved our race team and what we've built together. A little time later, though, he came back and said they made him an offer that he couldn't refuse. We told him we understood and wished him well.”

Indications prior to this past week were that Jarrett’s future after racing was coming together nicely; ESPN has talked to him about joining their broadcast team. But Jarrett said in March that a big part of the reason for his retirement has to do with his family.

"Some of it has to do with family issues,” Jarrett said at Bristol in March. “My son, Zach, will be getting ready -- if I drive through that '08 season -- he'll be finishing up grade school and getting ready to go into high school and I'd like to watch that.

"Both of my girls [Natalee and Karsyn] will be in college by then, so that's kind of what I've looked at and that has a little something to do with it.”

Certainly Jarrett’s 401K will benefit from the reported $10 million Toyota is paying him over two years. No one should blame Jarrett for trying to secure his families future; Heck for that kind of money, a few of us would miss a kid’s soccer game or two, but Toyota is reaping the benefits of this deal as well. Toyota gets a highly respected driver, a former champion who will ensure that they make very race and a driver with a huge fan following. Another gain for Toyota will most likely be Jarrett’s sponsor UPS, who is reportedly being lured to change car brands by, you guessed it, financial incentives put forth by Toyota.

All it took was for someone to translate ‘Show me the money’ from Japanese. And while no one should criticize Jarrett, the blank checks have some teams and their owners scared.

“They'll drive the price of sponsorship down and cost up; those are the two concerns,” said Roush Racing president Geoff Smith in a published report.” I have to make what I consider reasoned deduction based upon evidence that I see, that I hear, that I think is from reputable sources. We saw this go on with Dodge in the truck series and Toyota in the truck series, where owners were going out and offering sponsorship of some percentage less. We knew that went on."

The most vocal of the owners when it comes to Toyota’s freewheeling spending habits is Jack Roush.

“They are in fact raiding the garage and that's going to have an impact,” Roush said. “The teams that stay together and the really key people in the organizations that believe in what they're doing and will give the teams time to sort it out will stick together.

Toyota is going to have a problem, even if they get the people, just to build the teams and build their cars and get the result that everybody would expect them to get for the amount of money they're spending. I'm going to be one of the organizations out there trying to frustrate them, but certainly the money is a big challenge right now.”

But Toyota’s open wallet has spurred Roush to action. He’s not sitting back and waiting to see what happens.

"Well, we're certainly starting to think about what we could do to raise some more money, “Roush said.

“We're having initial discussions with our sponsors about what we think the challenges are going to be. I know there was a lot to do in the papers last week about the fact that Toyota was not spending their money on race teams and was not going to create the imbalance that would exist if one manufacturer did more than another, but they're giving their money to Michael Waltrip and to the other teams that they've got started so their fingerprints are all over what's happening.”

Roush also feels that Toyota’s bottomless coffer will upset the parity that NASCAR works so hard to maintain.

“One of the things that has made NASCAR competition so close and so interesting to all the fans is the fact that there is parity. There is parity among the driver's ability at the very top, “Roush said. “There's parity technically among the teams and there's parity among the manufacturers with regard to what they've been able to do or willing to do with supporting the teams and with bringing technology. But Toyota has a chance of breaking that parity and we'll just have to see what happens."

Whether all this expensive pre-positioning by Toyota will pay off in 2007 remains to be seen, but one thing is for certain; Toyota will try to make a big splash when they jump into the Nextel Cup series waters in 2007, they already have stirred them up and all they’ve done so far is dip their toes while sitting on the edge of the pool.

DJ Fans: Want to sound of on the Jarrett issue? Call Speed Talk Live Tuesday and get your views on the air! Call 1-888-WDW-ESPN Tuesday from 6:30PM to 7PM (EDST) (Tuesday only!) For more info : Check out Speed Talk Live.com

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 - Biffle is Back!

 

By Ron Felix
Courtesy of www.insiderracingnews.com

Greg Biffle shook off the bad luck that's been plaguing him and he held off a fast closing Jeff Gordon on Saturday night at Darlington Raceway to win the Dodge Charger 500. It was the first victory of the season for Biffle and the tenth of his career in 125 starts. Biffle’s last victory came at Homestead in November 2005, 11 races ago. All 10 of Biffle’s victories have come on a superspeedway, including two at Darlington and his first superspeedway victory came at Daytona in July 2003.

Biffle became the eighth different race winner in 2006 and he moved to 50th on NASCAR’s all-time winners list tied with Donnie Allison and Sterling Marlin. Biffle also led seven times for 170 laps including the final 49 laps. It was the fourth time in 2006 and the 10th time in his career that Biffle led the most laps in a race. He won the first five races in which he led the most laps. Biffle led the most laps at California, Atlanta and Phoenix this year and finished 15th or worse in all three races.

Two races ago Biffle was 232 points behind 10th. With his victory, Biffle climbed from 20th to 14th in points gaining six positions and is just 106 behind 10th-place Jeff Burton. After 11 races in 2005, he ranked second in the point standings.

"I figured once I got out in clean air that my race car was gonna be a lot better and I’d be able to save my tires more for that long, long run," Said Biffle. "It worked exactly how I planned it to work. They did catch me at the end of that run, but I accomplished my goal of leading to the most laps and getting the five bonus points. That’s what I had in mind at that point and not use up too much tire. It was just a good night overall for us.”

This was team owner Jack Roush’s 91st NASCAR NEXTEL Cup victory. Roush has scored five NASCAR NEXTEL Cup victories at Darlington Raceway. Jack Roush Racing has won at least one race each season 1997-2006, 10 consecutive years.

“I felt like I had been letting Greg down this year," Roush explained in the post-race press conference. "We broke a couple of engines. We had great engines. We didn’t have an engine problem, I think, all last year – certainly not with the 16 – but had one engine problem on all of our teams. We had a couple of engine problems, which are inevitable, we had a couple of crashes and just had things happen. We ran out of gas once or twice. Greg has run good and Doug has done a nice job with the car. The team has done a great job preparing the cars and it was just a matter of time before we broke through, but if we would have let it get much further behind – if we could make a good showing with Greg at Darlington, I’m not sure what the year was gonna hold, but I felt like if we got our year turned around and could be really on track by Charlotte, we would have plenty of time to do our business and we’ve been working toward that. It finally broke for us tonight.”
Matt Kenseth was third and Jimmie Johnson fourth, both drivers led laps in the race.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was driving ill and at one point, called to his crew chief to keep an eye out for a driver, about his size, one that had dropped out of the race, to replace him if necessary. But Earnhardt hung on and finished fifth.

"I told them to maybe have someone on standby just in case," Earnhardt said, "but I wasn’t planning on getting out. Just screaming over the motor really tore my voice up. I don’t know whether they could hear me or not. It’s a tough race, man. I’m tired. Whether you’re sick or not, you’re going to be tired.”

Ryan Newman was sixth followed by Kyle Busch, Mark Martin, Jeff Burton and rookie Denny Hamlin to fill out the top ten.

Jeff Gordon desparately needed a victory, as Biffle did, but was not unhappy with his second place finish.

"I'll tell you we needed a top five just as bad as a win," Gordon said. "I think that with the last couple of weeks and the way they've gone, a top five is fantastic for us but when you're that close to the win you want it really bad. It's not about needing it, it's about wanting it and the fact that the team put out the effort that was capable of a win. I thought our pit stops were phenomenal tonight. I thought that the adjustments and the communications were also fantastic. We kept making the car better and better as the night went on. To me that's a sign of a great team. If we just could figure some of these setups out on these 1.5s, this team is going to shine. Tonight was very good for us."
Several big named drivers had problems.

Kevin Harvick had a chunk of the track come up and break his radiator, he finished 37th.

Jamie McMurray and Roush teammate Carl Edwards both suffered broken oil pump belts.

McMurray finished the night in 42nd spot while Edwards fared a slightly better in 39th.

After starting on the pole, Kasey Kahne finished a disappointing 21st.

“This wasn’t the finish we had expected tonight,: said a dejected Kahne. "We’ve had success here in the past and thought we could duplicate that kind of performance. The car was pretty good the first 100 laps, and then I couldn't get it to turn in and off the corner. We stayed in the top 15 and thought we would get things sorted out the last 100 laps. I brushed the wall (lap 272) and that didn’t help the handling. It’s a disappointing finish, certainly not what we expected.”

The Nextel Cup Series takes a week off but NASCAR will run the All-Star race in Charlotte next Saturday night. The Cup Series returns to action the following week at Lowe's Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 600 on May 28, 2006.

Darlington Notebook Items

Jeff Gordon (second) scored his fifth top-10 finish in 2006. It was his 17th top-10 finish in 26 races at Darlington Raceway. Gordon climbed from ninth to sixth in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings.

Matt Kenseth (third) scored his seventh top-10 finish in 2006. It was his best finish and fourth top-10 finish in 12 races at Darlington. Kenseth remained third in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings, just one point behind second-place Tony Stewart.

Jimmie Johnson (fourth) scored his eighth top-10 finish in 2006. It was his in seventh top-10 finish in eight races at Darlington Raceway. He remained first in the point standings. One year ago he ranked first after 11 races.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (fifth) scored his fifth top-10 finish in 2006. It was his fifth top-10 in 12 races at Darlington Raceway. He climbed from sixth to fifth in the point standings. One year ago he ranked 11th after 11 races.

Three 2006 Raybestos Rookie-of-the Year contenders finished in the top-10 (Hamlin-10th, Sorensen-11th and Truex-14th). This marked the third time this season that three rookies have finished in the top 10.

At least one of the Raybestos Rookie-of-the Year contenders has scored a top-15 finish in all 11 races this season.

Raybestos Rookie-of-the-Year contender Denny Hamlin (10th) posted his fourth top-10 finish in 2006.

Dave Blaney (27th) extended a 29-race streak of running at the finish that began at Pocono last June, which is the longest current streak.

Tony Stewart (12th) ended a streak of top-10 finishes in the last five races.

Carl Edwards (39th) ended a streak of three straight top-10 finishes.

Mark Martin and Jimmie Johnson have each scored top-15 finishes in 10 of the 11 races in 2006.

Kevin Harvick (37th) dropped from fifth to ninth in the point standings.

Jeff Burton has climbed from 21st to 10th in the point standings since Martinsville. Heading to Lowe's Motor Speedway

Ryan Newman has won four of the last six Bud poles at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

Newman has started fourth or better in all 10 of his races at Lowe’s Motor Speedway

Jimmie Johnson has won five of the last six races at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, including four straight. No driver has won five straight races on a superspeedway. Richard Petty holds the record of seven straight victories at a short track which occurred at Richmond (Fall 1970-Fall 1973).

Darrell Waltrip also won seven straight at Bristol between 1981 and spring 1984.

Jimmie Johnson has scored eight straight top-10 finishes at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, the longest current streak.

The last five races at Lowe’s Motor Speedway have been won from a top-10 starting position. Four of Jimmie Johnson’s five wins at Lowe’s were from the top 10. His first victory at Lowe’s (May 2003) came from a 37th-place starting position, the lowest starting position of a race winner at Lowe’s in 94 races there.

A Chevrolet has won the last six races at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

Jeff Gordon finished 30th and 38th at Lowe’s in 2005.

The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Leader bonus will be worth $30,000 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
13 drivers have won a race at Lowe’s from the first-place starting position, the second-place starting position and the third-place starting position.

For full final race results... (Insider Racing News)
Article Courtesy of www.insiderracingnews.com

Can Kahne Dodge Darlington?

 

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Kahne continues Darlington pole mastery
By Greg Engle - Courtesy of Cup Scene Daily

You might say that Kasey Kahne still has a perfect qualifying record at Darlington.

He’s earned the top spot on each of the three occasions where Bud Pole qualifying was run, only missing out on a clean sweep when rain cancelled qualifying for the final Southern 500 in 2004.

Kahne put his #9 Evernham Motorsports Dodge on pole for the appropriately titled Dodge Charger 500 with a lap of 169.013 mph Friday evening locking up his third career pole at the 1.366-mile Darlington Raceway.

"It means a lot to win the pole for a big Dodge race,” Kahne said. “The team did a great job making the car a little better than it was in practice. The engines run great, and I'm just happy to get a Bud Pole again. It's fun to qualify at Darlington, especially when you end up up front.”

Kahne's fastest lap was nearly two tenths faster than second place qualifier Ryan Newman in the #12 Penske Racing Dodge.

Rookies occupy row two led by Richard Childress Racing's Clint Bowyer in the best of the Chevrolets with Chip Ganassi Racing's David Stremme completing the second row, once again heading the list of non top 35 teams.

"It was pretty sporty,” Bowyer said of his qualifying run. “We had a couple spark issues in practice. We bottomed out a little too much. These guys on the Jack Daniels Chevrolet have been working hard. They make a rookie look good don't they?"

Interestingly on a track regarded as a veteran’s playground, Denny Hamlin, who won last nights Busch race, made it three rookies in the top five with fifth fastest time followed by Elliott Sadler, Carl Edwards, Brian Vickers, Greg Biffle and Kurt Busch.

Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick, three of the expected major players in tonight's 367-lap contest, will start 12th, 13th and 14th respectively with last weeks winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. set to roll off 22nd in his #8 DEI Budweiser Chevrolet.

Travis Kvapil, Derrike Cope, Stanton Barrett, Michael Waltrip, Scott Wimmer and Kevin Lepage all joined Stremme in the starting line-up for Saturday's race while Terry Labonte needed the past champions provisional to get his #44 Hendrick Chevrolet into the starting field for what will be his very last Darlington start.

Chad Chaffin; Kenny Wallace; Carl Long and Chad Blount did not make the field.

Kahne will lead the field at Darlington tonight having won two races so far in 2006; that’s three wins overall in his young career, all of those wins coming from the pole.

"Those two races we won we had to work real hard throughout the race, fall back and get back to the front,” Kahne said. “I know Darlington is going to be as tough as any track. Whether you start in the front or back it doesn't matter. It's a tough track and it can get you at any time. We're just going to try to do everything right. We had the right starting spot and the right pit stall. We've done everything right on Friday. We just have to get our car better in the final hour of practice today and hopefully we'll have a shot tomorrow night and be able to win a big race for Dodge.”

The last driver to win from the pole here though was Dale Jarrett back in 1997. Kasey has been pretty quiet the last few races, could Kahne he be ready to make some noise in a race sponsored by his car make?

"I think it's a really long race,” Kahne said. “A lot of things go on during the race. Your car can be off and there's so many pit stops because of the tires here falling off so quickly. You can help your car or hurt your car.

You have to make the right decisions and keep yourself in the right place and not get frustrated. At some point in the race, every race so far, I think we've finished third, fifth and 13th, and I've been frustrated at some point. You have to keep your head. Things change quick, especially at this track.”

Dodge Charger 400 Lineup

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

Waltrip To Announce Jarrett's Jump To Toyota!

 

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Jarrett's Toyota move could bring Ward Bruton back into Nextel Cup

Michael Waltrip will make an announcement "about the future of Michael Waltrip Racing" live on Speed Channel at 12:30 p.m. today.

That announcement will be that Dale Jarrett will leave Robert Yates Racing at the end of the 2006 season to drive a Toyota Camry for the two-car team Waltrip will own.

Jarrett's deal means that Toyota will have a former Nextel Cup champion in its ranks as it enters the Cup series in 2007. Jarrett, the 1999 champion who has won 32 races in NASCAR's top series, has said he wants to race for two more seasons after this year.

The move will give Toyota a former champ's provisional spot under NASCAR rules.

Sources indicate that the front-runner for his replacement at RYR is Ward Burton who has expressed his eagerness to return to Nextel Cup competition.

Nextel Cup Drivers Get Ready For Darlington's "Lady In Black"

 

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Storylines and Drivers to Watch at Darlington
By Greg Engle - Cup Scene Daily

Another week, another night race.

NASCAR heads to the famed “Lady In Black” this weekend for the running of the Dodge Charger 500, race no. 11 of 36 for the Nextel Cup Series.

Here are a few of the storylines to watch this weekend:

Kasey Kahne has scored two poles in just three starts here. Kahne now heads to Darlington having won two races so far in 2006; that’s three wins overall in his young career, all of those wins coming from the pole. The last driver to win from the pole here though was Dale Jarrett back in 1997. Kasey also has a 7th place finishing average and has been pretty quiet the last few races, could Kahne he be ready to make some noise in a race sponsored by his car make?

Qualifying was rained out only once in the first 77 races at Darlington, but in the last 9 races here qualifying has been rained out 3 times. Weather has plagued all three series this year and while Friday night is forecast to be clear, Saturday night has a 40% chance of-you guessed it- rain.

Mark Martin leads all full time active drivers with 16 top five finishes here and also leads all active driver with 24 top ten finishes. Could this be the weekend he finally scores a much-needed win in his last year of full time Nextel series competition?

Greg Biffle rolls in here as the defending champion of the race; after his stellar 4th place run last week at Richmond he looks to defend that win and get back on track after a dismal season up to that point.

Speaking of dismal seasons, Kurt Busch could use a shot in the arm. His biggest memory here is of his second place run here in 2003 when he lost to Ricky Craven by 0.002 seconds, the closest finish in the history of electronic timing.

"To this day, every time I think back about that race I have to say that it was pretty incredible.”

Busch did score his first career pole here in 2001and hopes to make some more memories at Darlington Saturday night.

Dale Earnhardt Junior will have something to prove this weekend. Coming off his first win since Chicagoland last year, Earnhardt hopes to carry his momentum from Richmond’s victory lane to here and prove that his team’s turnaround is for real. He has the pedigree of his legendary father to live up to; Dale Earnhardt Sr. led a total of 2648 laps in 44 races at Darlington, the most of any driver; the closest active driver to that mark is Jeff Gordon with 1553 laps in 25 races.

And as to Gordon, he was second here last year and needs a win to prove that his team is turning around. Gordon has three poles and six wins here and hopes to avoid the Darlington stripe and earn win number seven.

Nighttime is the right time at Darlington. It wasn’t too long ago that the famed raceway was in its final moments of life. But after adding lights and paring down to one race a year, the track is enjoying a rebirth; this race is sold out for the second year in a row and that’s after the track added 3000 seats. Look for Darlington to shine again Saturday night and for many years to come.

Here are some other drivers to watch this weekend:

Dale Jarrett will be without his crew chief this weekend. Tuesday, crew chief Richard "Slugger" Labbe was fined $25,000 and suspended from NASCAR until June 7 — three races plus the all-star event — for an unapproved rear sway bar. The violation was discovered during prerace inspection at Richmond. Jarrett and car owner Robert Yates were also penalized 25 driver and owner points, respectively. This penalty dropped Jarrett from 11th to 12th in the standings.

Jimmie Johnson won two races early in the season while crew chief Chad Knaus was serving a suspension and it would be somewhat ironic if Jarrett won this weekend without his.

Darlington is one of Jarrett’s better tracks; he has three pole positions and he’s won here three times with all of those victories coming in the spring. His career statistics include 11 top-fives and 13 top-10s

“It’s been a very good track not just for me but for my dad, too,” said Jarrett of his famous father Ned. “I love racing here. It’s such a unique track and a lot of fun. There’s just nowhere else on the schedule that compares to this track. I think it takes on an even deeper meaning once you’ve won here because everyone knows how difficult a track it is, so when you walk away with a win, you know that you’ve really accomplished something. I usually mark this on my calendar well in advance knowing and anticipating when we’re going to Darlington.”

Jimmie Johnson will have his crew chief Chad Knaus with him this weekend. Johnson leads Tony Stewart by 55 points in the standings and has two victories here; he swept both races in 2004. He has six top-10 finishes in seven races at Darlington and in fact his only Darlington finish outside the top 10 was a 27th in March 2003 that’s the longest current streak.

“Darlington is a very fun track to drive at night, “Johnson said. “The track has a little more grip and is a little more forgiving than what you have during a day race. That takes away a little bit of the challenge at Darlington, but I love going to that track, regardless. It's one of my favorite tracks on the circuit."

Tony Stewart. Despite never winning here, he has seven top-10s in 13 career starts with a best finish of fourth, twice (spring 2000 and fall 2001) — Stewart likes Darlington."A lot of it has to do with the history of the track," Stewart said.

"If you can say you won a race at Darlington, that's a feather in your cap."

He finished sixth at Richmond and climbed from third to second in the standings, his best points ranking of 2006. It was his eighth top-15 finish in the first 10 races of the season and Stewart looks primed to score his first win at this historic venue despite his frustration of running here.

"I could probably run backward and run about the same as I do going forward,” Stewart said. “That's how close I feel like I am to figuring out Darlington. We've run decent at Darlington. I mean, I've run in the top-five there before, but every time I think I have something figured out, I normally whack the wall and go, 'Oh boy, I really did figure it out, didn't I?' I don't know that I'll ever feel like I've got Darlington totally figured out.”

Kevin Harvick is still the hottest driver on the circuit despite coming up short after dominating the race (he led a race high 247 laps) at Richmond, to finish third. Harvick has four top-10 finishes in nine races at Darlington with his best Darlington finish, second, coming here in August 2003. He finished 14th in this race one year ago and has been running at the finish in all but one of his races here.Harvick is also on fire in the Busch series as well. There he enjoys a commanding lead, he’s won three races and now leads the points by 313 over his Richard Childress Racing teammate Clint Bowyer.

“Darlington’s tough, but I like it,” Harvick said. “It’s a very narrow, fast racetrack that has a lot of history and is very prestigious to win. It’s one of those places where I’d like to win either in the Busch Series or in the Nextel Cup Series. Keeping the car off the walls is a key when you go to Darlington. You’ve got to get in a rhythm there and be consistent over the long runs. You have to take care of the fenders, tires and sides of the car.”

Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick’s teammate at Richard Childress Racing has eight top-five finishes, including two victories, in the last 17 races at Darlington. He came close to winning at Richmond but a critical mistake late in the race ended any chance he had of scoring his first win of the season. To add insult to injury, a late-race spin forced him to settle for a 15th-place finish on a night where he had a legitimate chance to win the race.

Burton believes his luck will change here this weekend.

"To me, Darlington is a track where both the driver and the team have to be on their game and everything (has to be) going well," said Burton. "There aren't any fluke winners at Darlington."

Others:

Carl Edwards has finished in the top 10 in both of his starts at Darlington.

"I can't wait to run Darlington this weekend," he said. "It is hands down my favorite track on the circuit. The track has a million different characteristics that make it a very cool track to run. The shape of the track is unique — one end is different than the other, so you have to set the car up for almost two different types of corners."

Elliott Sadler has 13 starts at Darlington and has been running at the finish all 13 times. As a result, he ranks first in fewest DNFs in the long history of the track. He has four top-10 finishes in those 13 races, including a second in the 2002 spring race. In March 2003 Sadler won the first pole position of his Cup career here.

Clint Bowyer will be making his Nextel Cup debut at Darlington. He has raced twice at the 1.366-mile oval, both times in the Busch Series, and his best finish was a 10th. Bowyer said Darlington reminds him of

"my days on the dirt tracks, where you're sliding up toward the wall and the car finally catches right before you hit the wall and off you go. For a split second, you slide in and then you have to use a lot of throttle control off the corner. It's real fun, and I am really looking forward to going back."

Denny Hamlin will also make his first Nextel Cup start at Darlington this weekend. He finished seventh in the Busch Series race at the track in 2005. Hamlin has two top-five finishes thus far this season.

Hamlin scored his career-best finish of second before the hometown fans as he battled crowd favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the win at Richmond.

"I definitely would rather run second here than I would the Daytona 500 regardless of money or anything," he said.

Ryan Newman is "really looking forward to going to Darlington," and no wonder; he has four top-five finishes in seven starts here, including a second in his second start at the track. Newman could use the boost, he has only one top-five finish this season.

Brian Vickers’ best career-finish at Darlington in three starts is 16th. But he is the youngest-ever winner at the oldest superspeedway in the sport's history by virtue of his August 2003 win in the Busch Series event. Vickers was 19.

Martin Truex Jr. is another member of the rookie class who will be making his first Cup start at Darlington on Saturday night. He finished third in the Busch Series race a year ago and would be thrilled to match that finish this weekend.

Jamie McMurray has five starts at Darlington and has two top-fives and three top-10s. He had led in three of the five races. "Racing at Darlington is always fun and intense," said McMurray. "You always run close to the wall and hope you don't take that extra inch and run too close to it. The track is abrasive and fast — you'll need good pit stops, speed and a good-handling race car to prevail at Darlington."

Fast Facts:Dodge Charger 500 / Race No. 11 of 36 in the Nextel Cup Series
Darlington Raceway / Darlington, S.C.
1.366-mile oval, 370 laps, 500 miles
Saturday, May 13, 2006TV: Fox, 7 p.m. ET start (coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. ET)
Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN)
Bud Pole Qualifying: Friday, May 12 / 3:30 p.m. ET on SPEED Channel
2005 winner: Greg Biffle

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

Jeff Gordon Ready For The Darlington Dance

 

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DARLINGTON, S.C.

There was a time in the not too distant past when NASCAR's top series paid regular visits to tracks such as the 1/2-mile North Wilkesboro Speedway and the 1-mile North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham.

However, a combination of progress and greed closed down two tracks that epitomized the roots of racing. Darlington Raceway in South Carolina hosted the annual Southern 500 on Labor Day weekend from NASCAR's inception until 2004. Once again, progress dictated changes. The unique egg-shaped oval now hosts a single NASCAR race-- not on its traditional weekend, but rather on a Saturday night in May. With each passing year it seems the 1.366-mile slice of history edges closer to extinction.

For Jeff Gordon, visiting Darlington is like sitting down with an old friend, albeit a tempermental one that can land a right cross on your jaw without warning. Gordon has scored six victories at the track, including five in the 500-mile affair. Even though it's been four years since he last visited victory lane at Darlington, Gordon remains a prohibitive favorite every time the series visits.

"Darlington is one of those odd mixes with the way we're setting the cars up," Gordon said. "You've got Darlington where the asphalt is worn out and it wears the tires out. You have to have a lot more finesse there and patience than you do at most of the tracks we're going to these days. I always look forward to going to Darlington. It's one of my favorites and I'm sure it always will be.

" As Gordon prepares for the Dodge 500, he knows it'll be 367 laps of mental chess with both his competitors and himself. "It's very mentally draining," Gordon said. "Unless it's hot outside, it's not a real physical race track. You can't run fast enough and hard enough to really push yourself. You just have to be careful not to push too hard because the car is slipping and sliding at all times and it's all about staying out of the wall."

'Who knows how long this will last
Now we've come so far, so fast
But somewhere back there in the dust
That same track in each of us'

Ward in a Ford with UPS on board???

 

Ward in a Ford with UPS on board???
By Clint NewlinLastCowboys.com Staff Writer

Before you start getting all worked up and sending me a bunch of e-mails, accusing me of making crap up or simply being a rumor monger, let me preface this article by saying that I know none of the following to be fact….not even the part about Jarrett going to Toyota, which appears to be fact, but cannot in fact be a fact until Jarrett states it as such, in which case, the effect of the fact will fuel further fan speculation.

Now, say THAT 20 times fast! In short, the following is based solely on rumor, e-mails sent to me, and good old fashion speculation, dig? Now, enough of the salad….let’s get to the meat and potatoes, shall we?A couple of little birdies have told me in the last couple of weeks that Ward Burton is off the market in terms of driver availability. And while it is claimed that this information comes from people we would all consider ‘official’ type people, these ‘official’ type people are being coy in regards to whom or what has taken him off the market. One rumor that has gained momentum has Ward taking over the #88 UPS Ford owned by Robert Yates Racing when Dale Jarrett bolts for Toyota.

Again, Jarrett hasn’t officially said that he is going to Toyota, but he hasn’t exactly denied it either. I know what you’re thinking….why in the wide world of sports would Jarrett or UPS want some dude who hasn’t raced a Cup car in….in….well, in a long time? Let me tell you why….Another little nugget of information floating around out there states that if Jarrett bolts, UPS will stay with Yates, but they don’t want the next ‘potential’ Cup star.

They want a proven competitor, not just some cat with little or no experience. Still, why not someone younger to match up with Hamlin in the FedEx car? How about Mears? Let me tell you something….if Mears doesn’t stay with Ganassi, it will be because he can’t get out of his house due to the pile of Benjamins that Toyota has stacked in front of his door. Toyota is supposedly offering drivers up to three or four times what they’re making now. You think Yates is going to offer that kind of jack to Mears with his zero Cup wins? The answer is no with a capital NO. Who else with any kind of Cup experience is out there?There are people out there who are (and have been) in regular contact with Ward’s public relations rep and with people who know him. Both parties agree that he has something nailed down, but neither is willing to part with any information. Why would that be? Well, you could say that it’s because the whole rumor of Burton having a ride has no basis in fact, or you could go the other direction. Suppose the Yates rumor IS true?

Jarrett currently drives in the Cup Series. He has commitments to his team and sponsors. He hasn’t officially said anything yet, but is expected to soon. If he is going to Toyota and Michael Waltrip Racing in 2007, maybe THEY are the reason behind the delay. Maybe they’re waiting until they can announce a full roster? Maybe Yates and/or UPS have asked him to wait for whatever reason? If either of these scenarios holds any water, then it stands to reason that Ward’s camp wouldn’t want to play the part of the spoiler, especially where Toyota’s entry into Cup or Jarrett’s team or sponsors are concerned.

Let’s not forget that there is a connection between RYR and Burton, namely Tommy Baldwin Jr. who was Burton’s crew chief at Bill Davis Racing from 1998 to 2002. If anyone knows how competitive Burton is, it’s Baldwin. Baldwin is currently the crew chief for Elliott Sadler’s #38 M&M’s Ford, but it’s not like crew chief switching or changing is anything unusual over at RYR, right? There is also the Virginia connection, with the aforementioned Sadler being from the same state as Mr. Burton. At the very least, we’ll know what Jarrett’s plans are in a couple of weeks or less.

As for the fate of the 88….well, if Jarrett goes the way of Toyota, the rumors will start flying faster than we can write about them. Let’s just hope that Mr. Burton’s name is mentioned somewhere in there.Know anything about what Mr. Burton has cooking? Have any solid information to disprove any of the above speculation? I’d love to hear from you.If Burton isn't in a Cup ride by the time the Pepsi 400 rolls around, I am going to Daytona Beach, and I am going to set myself on fire in front of the NASCAR headquarters. Wait....on second thought, that would hurt a lot.

Who do I have to light up to get something done in this sport? What do I have to do to get a straight answer from Ward's people? I swear to God, I will take a squirrel hostage or put a blindfold around a redwood tree and put a gun to its head....er, trunk? Anyway, I'll do whatever it takes to get some straight answers.

Copyright © 2006 http://www.LastCowboys.com.

Labonte's Last Darlington Start

 

Labonte's final Darlington start:

Terry Labonte, driver of the #44 Kellogg's Chevy, will make his 54th and final Darlington Raceway start Saturday evening. Racing a limited schedule in his last NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series season, Labonte will enter eight more events for Hendrick Motorsports in 2006, including the last of his career in November at Texas Motor Speedway.

Darlington Raceway president Chris Browning will present Labonte with a one-of-a-kind memento during pre-race driver introductions Saturday evening. The piece includes souvenir program covers from significant Darlington races throughout Labonte's career, including his first start, first win, most recent win and final start. Although Labonte has 53 career starts at Darlington, Saturday night's race will mark his first under the lights at the South Carolina track.

Labonte, whose career now spans 29 seasons, did not compete there in 2005 while running a part-time schedule for Hendrick Motorsports. Following Darlington, Labonte will next race for Hendrick Motorsports at Lowe's Motor Speedway on May 28.(Hendrick Motorsports PR)(5-10-2006)

NASCAR Wrecks - Richmond Recap by Greg Engle