This team has a great deal of potential, and we just haven't met the expectations this year."
-Team owner Ray Evernham

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Busch's wedding footage to air: #2-Kurt Busch and wife Eva's wedding footage is scheduled to air on Wednesday, August 9th on The Insider, hosted by Pat O'Brien and Lara Spencer. Check local listing for channel and time, it airs in the Charlotte on WBTV-TV Channel 3-CBS at 7:30pm/et.

NASCAR sued for racial discrimination:  A former African-American crewman who once worked on NASCAR's Winston Cup circuit sued the governing body of the U.S. stock car series on Tuesday for race discrimination and breach of contract. David Scott, who worked as a motorcoach driver to one of the racing teams, claimed NASCAR executives deceived him and did not fulfill promises of a job following a well-publicized 1999 racial incident involving white motorcoach drivers, according to the complaint filed in Manhattan federal court that seeks unspecified damages. Scott was harassed by at least two white motorcoach drivers from different racing teams, including being called "n-word" and an incident where he was confronted by the pair with one wearing a white pillow case over his head imitating a Ku Klux Klansman, according to the complaint. When the incident was reported in the media, the complaint said, top NASCAR executives flew Scott back home to North Carolina promising him a future job, but while negotiations continued over the next five years, a job never materialized. Scott seeks back pay and compensatory damages for loss of employment benefits and mental suffering. NASCAR was not immediately available for comment.(Reuters) RDM team may look outside NASCAR for drivers: New Riley-D'Hondt Motorsports co-owner Eddie D'Hondt told Sirius Speedway (MRN/Sirius Satellite Radio) host Dave Moody Tuesday that he may look outside the established NASCAR system for drivers. "We have two drivers in mind right now," said D'Hondt, "and we hope to have an announcement on that, plus sponsorship and manufacturer affiliations within the next three to four weeks. I wouldn't necessarily be surprised to see NASCAR teams begin to recruit drivers from the Grand American Rolex (Sports Car) Series in the near future. I'm not saying it will necessarily be us, but with (co-owner) Bill Riley's connections in sports car racing, it might be."(MRN/Sirius Satellite Radio) Fans to Honor Richmond at Watkins Glen:  Fans with an eye to the sky Sunday morning prior to the NASCAR race at Watkins Glen likely are going to see an unusual banner being towed by plane. The banner's message in the air above the road course in the mountains of New York state's Southern Tier won't be an advertisement for some company or product. Instead, it will read, "Tim Richmond We Miss You--Your Fans." The banner is the idea of Mark Weaver, who lives near the Glen, along with Walt and Brenda Wombough of Neptune, N.J., and other friends, all of whom remain fans of the driver who died of AIDS on Aug. 13, 1989. It's a play off the banner that Richmond had towed over Daytona International Speedway in February of 1988 after NASCAR officials barred him from competing in the Daytona 500, ostensibly because of a failed drug test. That banner read: "Fans I Miss You--Tim Richmond."
"We're doing this to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Tim's win at Watkins Glen on Aug. 10, 1986 when NASCAR brought its big-time series and drivers back to the track after an absence since 1965," Walt Wombough advised in an e-mail. "It's also 17 years to the day of Tim's passing.(ThatsRacin)
Latest on Purvis:  Jeff Purvis is now at his Clarksville, TN home to begin the recovery process after being seriously injured in a highway accident on Saturday near Cullman, AL. Purvis, who competes with the StormPay.com Dirt Late Model Series, was visited today by series Founder and Director Mike Vaughn. "Jeff is now at home, sitting up and in good spirits," Vaughn reported. "He has fractures of his C1, and C5 vertebra in his neck, compression fractures of the T2 and T6 vertebra in his back, a separated sternum, and he has a gash in his head that took 24 staples to close. He has seen pictures of the aftermath of the accident and he's very thankful that no one lost their life in the accident." Purvis, his wife Margo, his son Clay, crew chief Matt Angel, and crewmembers Rocky Angel and Ben Britt were traveling in his race team's transporter on Saturday from Clarksville to the StormPay.com Dirt Late Model event at Talladega Short Track in Eastaboga, AL. The transporter blew a left-front tire while traveling southbound on I-65 near Cullman, AL at 3:15 p.m., swerved across the median into the northbound lane, struck another car, and then hit the guardrail before overturning in a ditch. The six occupants of the transporter vacated the vehicle just seconds before it caught fire, and became engulfed in flames. The transporter then burned to the ground, destroying everything inside, including the race car, and all of the parts and equipment. See more at stormpayracing.com.

A Banner Day At Watkins Glen


Fans with an eye to the sky Sunday morning prior to the NASCAR race at Watkins Glen likely are going to see an unusual banner being towed by  plane.

The banner's message in the air above the road course in the mountains of New York state's Southern Tier won't be an advertisement for some company or product.

Instead, it will read, "Tim Richmond We Miss You--Your Fans."

The banner is the idea of Mark Weaver, who lives near the Glen, along with Walt and Brenda Wombough of Neptune, N.J., and other friends, all of whom remain fans of the driver who died of AIDS on Aug. 13, 1989.

It's a play off the banner that Richmond had towed over Daytona International Speedway in February of 1988 after NASCAR officials barred him from competing in the Daytona 500, ostensibly because of a failed drug test.

That banner read: "Fans I Miss You--Tim Richmond."

"We're doing this to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Tim's win at Watkins Glen on Aug. 10, 1986 when NASCAR brought its big-time series and drivers back to the track after an absence since 1965," Walt Wombough advised in an e-mail.  "It's also 17 years to the day of Tim's passing.

"As the years have gone by it has become more and more clear what we all missed with his death...You realize just how much ahead of his time he was on many things.  Like having Hollywood friends at the track.  Riding his motorcycle to the speedway.  Staying at a motorhome in the infield on race weekends.  A lot of things that every driver has or does today can be traced back to Tim's influence.

"He really was the first open-wheeler to make a solid, fulltime transition to stock cars, a common path over the last decade or so with the likes of Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Kasey Khane and ohers.  Now we even have Formula One drivers looking to make the transition."

Until I received Walt Wombough's e-mail, it hadn't occurred to me that this weekend's race marks 20 years since NASCAR's return to storied Watkins Glen.  Nor that it had been anywhere near two decades since Tim Richmond won there so dramatically.

Where have the years gone!?

Richmond, his pal and arch rival Dale Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip and others made no secret of their deep desire to win the first race marking NASCAR going back to the legendary road course where F-1 drivers such as Jimmy Clark, Graham Hill and Ronnie Peterson had won the U.S. Grand Prix.

Richmond was especially intent.

However, his hopes appeared dashed when his Hendrick Motorsports team, led by the colorful crew chief Harry Hyde, worked feverishly through Sunday morning changing practically the entire inner workings of the No. 25 Chevrolet--including the engine, transmission and gears.

The overhaul was completed so late that Richmond's pole-winning Chevy was the last car to be rolled into position on the grid in a 36-vehicle field.

"During the last practice session on Saturday the car didn't seem to have all the power that it had earlier," explained an exuberant Richmond after his stirring victory.  "We simply weren't satisfied.

"We didn't have time to make any changes Saturday, so we gambled and decided to switch about everything Sunday morning.  It wasn't easy for the crew and tough on me mentally.

"A lot of nerve-wracking thoughts went through my head, like how much could I abuse the car and still race competitively."

The gamble worked.

Richmond, rallying from 14th to second place in 15 laps, passed Waltrip with 12 laps remaining in the 90-lap, 219-mile race and won by 1.45 seconds.  Earnhardt, Bill Elliott and Neil Bonnett followed in the top five.

"Harry Hyde and my crew are heroes," proclaimed Richmond.  "The car held up beautifully. The brakes were fading a little at the end, and that's all that troubled me.  We took a real big chance making all those changes, but we felt we had a better chance doing that and it's good for us that we did.  After removing everything, the crew found a cracked distributor."

Said Hyde:

"Tim's instinct is to charge.  He doesn't know how to back off.  In practice he was running so hard he was setting the car sideways in the corners.  I told him he couldn't do that in the race and win, that the key was to run smooth.  He listened and did wonderful."

Hyde chuckled.

"But I had to remind him about every four or five laps."

After the winner's ceremony and post-race media committments were taken care of, Richmond, Hyde and the crew went to the bar at the nearby, rustic Seneca Lodge and pitched one of the more memorable victory parties in NASCAR history.  In keeping with a tradition started by the U.S. Grand Prix winners, Richmond stood on the bar while crewmen splashed beer on him.  He left a tire off the winning car on the wall as a memento.

Richmond won seven races in 1986 and was the runnerup four times.  He finished third in the point standings behind Earnhardt and Elliott, amassing purses of $973,221, fourth on the money list.  An awesome future appeared to await.

Then, illness, first diagnosed as pneumonia, struck in December of '86.  Richmond came back to run eight races in '87, winning two.

But after the Champion Spark Plug 400 at Michigan International Speedway on Aug. 16, 1987, he was gone from the circurit, never to return, finishing his NASCAR career with 13 victories in 185 starts.

Richmond was inducted posthumously, along with Hyde, into the National Motorsports Hall Of Fame at Darlington, S.C., a couple of years ago.

To some, however, Richmond is no hero.  At least one woman alleges that she contracted the AIDS virus from Richmond through sexual intercourse, unaware that he had the disease.

The Womboughs, though, know Richmond only as a driver who treated his fans well and thrilled them with his ability on the track.

That's why their banner will be flying Sunday.

Knaus and the kiss of life
Johnson crew chief has No.48 driver on right track to Nextel Cup
By JENNA FRYER
Associated Press Writer


INDIANAPOLIS – Chad Knaus was on a furious mission two weeks ago, trying to figure out where the tradition of kissing the Yard of Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway began.

He called it lame and unoriginal, and swore his lips would never touch “that dirty old track.”

But when driver Jimmie Johnson grabbed the checkered flag at the Brickyard, his crew chief was practically the first in line to pucker up.

“I admit it, I thought it was stupid and cheesy,” Knaus sighed. “But you know what happened? With 10 laps to go and it was clear we were going to win that race, the only thing I was thinking about is how much I wanted to kiss those bricks.”

That exact scenario had been presented to Knaus on a rainy Saturday at Pocono Raceway, when he was bitterly criticizing the practice. When told he wouldn’t think twice to lean over and smooch the track surface, he was adamant it was a non-issue.

“We’re not going to win that race, I can promise you that right now,” he grumbled.

Morale was definitely down at that moment, and for good reason.

Johnson and his Hendrick Motorsports team had been snake-bitten at Indy, a place where their past seasons usually began to fall apart. They’d have a firm hold on top of the points standings, only to endure a terrible day at the Brickyard that would send them into a tailspin.

It happened in 2004, when the motor failed on the No.48 Chevrolet causing Johnson to notch his first DNF of the season. He wound up 36th, and fell into a deep slump after that race that cost him his points lead and ultimately the Nextel Cup championship.

Last season was even worse, with Johnson landing in the hospital after a hard wreck left him dazed and unable to remember the accident. He finished 38th and lost his points lead to Tony Stewart, who went on to win the championship.

So past history and a subpar test session had the team bracing for another disaster.

And as the day began, it looked they were exactly right.

The batteries were dead in Johnson’s radio when he climbed into his car.

Then he got a flat tire early in the race that dropped him all the way back to 38th. And as he pulled away following the tire change, a fire broke out in his pit.

Even after overcoming all of that to slice through the field and grab the lead, a caution for debris with 19 laps cost him his track position. Johnson made a 4-tire pit stop that dropped him back to eighth on the restart with 14 laps left in the race.

But he deftly maneuvered around the cars in front of him, picking them off one at a time until he was back in front with 10 to go.

That’s when Knaus realized the kiss was coming, and he excitedly coaxed his driver home for the second-biggest win of their career. The first came in February in the season-opening Daytona 500, and Johnson has now joined Dale Jarrett as the only driver to win at Daytona and Indianapolis in the same season.

Both were done in gritty, determined fashions: The Daytona win came after Knaus had been kicked out for cheating during race preparations, and Indianapolis was a true come-from-behind victory.

And although Johnson is NASCAR’s perpetual points leader, those two victories are a clear indication that this team has perhaps finally turned the corner and matured enough to seal its first championship.

This is the time of the year when they have always faltered, when Knaus’ obsessive drive wears himself out and grates on everyone else around him. Johnson gets stressed, the team is exhausted, and their firm grip on the Nextel Cup begins to loosen.

Both driver and crew chief sat down with car owner Rick Hendrick over the winter in a heart-to-heart talk aimed at finding a way to finally complete a season. Everyone knew something had to change, and everyone knew it started with Knaus.

Although he had promised to lighten up a little bit and relax in hyper-driven pursuit of a title, his Daytona suspension proved he had a lot of work left to do.

Perhaps it took those four weeks away from the track to fully realize what needed to be done, but when Knaus returned he was clearly changed. He wasn’t as in-your-face as he had been, and seemed content to stay on the right side of NASCAR’s inspectors.

And he was most definitely humbled.

In the 18 races since he returned, Johnson and his team has quietly put together another stellar season. They’ve won four points races and the All-Star event and sat on top of the standings for all but two weeks of the season.

Now their Brickyard win makes them the team to beat, proven by five of the past eight Indy champions going on to win the title.

But as proof of their new low-key approach, Johnson said they’ll wait and see if they’ve truly turned the corner.

“It’s way too early to say that we have broken the pattern, but this is a great start,” he said. “It’s nice to speculate and to, take this as team morale and tell our guys we got over a big hurdle – one that really plagued us in the past.

“But there’s just too much racing, too much racing going on. It’s just too early now to get too confident in anything really.”

 

Sticker Shock alive around the track
Lee Spencer | Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

Capitalism is a beautiful thing - unless you're a race fan.

After more than a decade on the NASCAR tour, I'm desensitized to price gouging. Yes, I'm well aware of the $350 rooms in Johnson City, Tenn., that wouldn't garner $49 the other 50 weeks of the year because of the "must wear flip-flops in the shower" condition of the facilities.

Or the mysterious "race" menus that appear around Daytona in February and July that feature a 50 percent markup in price and a 50 percent reduction in the number of entrees listed. Any Happy Hour bargains are suddenly just a fond memory.
 
But the cheapskate in me could hardly remain silent when gas prices in Indy jumped from $2.92 around the track when we arrived last Thursday to $3.19 and higher on Friday. Media outlets around Indy denied that the price hike had anything to do with tourists in town for the races. I don't believe it for a second. Here's why. Long after the NASCAR staff, the teams, support staff and fans left Indy on Monday prices returned to normal. My family and I stayed an extra day because it fit our work schedule better and because the flights on Tuesday were a lot less expensive than Monday. When we went to fill up the rental car on the way to the airport, gas had leveled off to $2.83. Now that's obscene.

Anyone who owns a gas-powered vehicle has been hit by sticker shock at the pump. My personal car takes 93-octane, so I feel it more than most. But when companies continue to stick it to consumers - especially those coming from out of town - at some point there will be a revolt.

There's no doubt that attendance is down at certain racetracks. People simply can't afford to take vacations at places where local businesses don't support tourism. Unless you're willing to pitch a tent in the infield or a surrounding property around places like Talladega, Bristol, Dover or Martinsville, prepared to be robbed for lodging. Severely.

That's generally not the case when the racetrack is closer to a major metropolis. Cities like Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth, Phoenix, Las Vegas or Los Angeles boast so many hotels that reasonable rates are readily available even on race weekends, as are options on airline tickets. Fans also can get bargains at tracks already nestled in vacation destination areas like the lake region of New Hampshire or the Pocono Mountains. A room at a bed and breakfast that's 30 minutes from the track still can be found for less than $100.

Driving an hour to and from the track every day certainly is an option. At a place like Ann Arbor, Mich., it's actually preferable because of the ambiance surrounding the town. Ditto, Chicagoland Speedway. Anything closer to the Windy City will offer amenities that can make a race-related trip more pleasurable.

But if you're dead set on staying near the racetrack or even pitching a tent in the infield, don't forget the flip-flops.

This story was produced by the Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service, a free content provider for newspapers.

1996 Bud at The Glen
Geoffrey Bodine's fuel mileage win makes him hometown hero
By Mark Aumann, NASCAR.COM

Running 12th and running out of patience, Geoffrey Bodine realized the only way he was going to contend for the victory in the 1996 Bud at The Glen was to do something out of desperation.
 
So when the caution came out on Lap 55, Bodine stayed on the track as the rest of the leaders came in for fuel and tires. That put him out front on the restart -- and four laps later, he made his last stop.

Able to go the rest of the way on fuel, Bodine then only had to wait for the competition to stop once more. When they did, he regained the lead with eight laps remaining and held off a struggling Terry Labonte for his first victory since North Wilkesboro two years earlier.

"This is wonderful, this is great," Bodine said. "Considering what I went through the last two years, I thought about selling the team and running away. It was a terrible two years, personally and professionally."

To that point, Bodine had led six different occasions at Watkins Glen, but only had a second-place effort in 1990 to show for it. Bodine, a native of Chemung, N.Y., had qualified in the top 10 seven consecutive times -- but started 13th behind polesitter Dale Earnhardt.

Earnhardt, who wasn't even sure how long he'd last, since he broke his collarbone at Talladega the previous month, felt good enough to lead the first 29 laps, and 54 of the first 64. However, he ran out of brakes and stamina at about the same time, fading to sixth at the finish.

"I felt like staying in the car was the best call I could make," Earnhardt said. "I thought I could stand it. Right now, I don't feel so good. I'm ready to go home."

Labonte remained atop the point standings with his sixth runner-up finish of the season, but he was more frustrated than pleased.

"We're mad because we didn't win," he said. "I've never won a Cup race here, and I thought today was it. I really thought we were going to be pretty good."

 
But as the grip on his tires went away, Labonte was forced to make a decision: either drive hard and perhaps crash out or take it easy and salvage second place. He chose the latter.

"I was just holding on those last few laps," Labonte said. "It was like I flipped a switch from one lap to the next. We were flying. I was confident. I was going to catch [Bodine].

"Then all of a sudden, I didn't have any rubber left."

Mark Martin was third and Jeff Gordon fourth, although Gordon's streak of leading a lap in consecutive races ended at 17.

"We had a real strong car at the end, but when the race started, the car wasn't very good," Gordon said. "We were fortunate to finish fourth and never really had a chance to lead."

Bodine's victory would be his 18th -- and final -- win of his Cup career, although he would finish second at The Glen the next season.

History nearly repeated itself for Labonte in 2006 at Infineon Raceway. Using a fuel strategy similar to Bodine's a decade earlier, Labonte held a lead of more than seven seconds at one point before Gordon and Ryan Newman were able to run him down following a late-race caution.

Earnhardt, not known as a great road-course driver, had 31 top-10 finishes in 47 starts at Riverside, Watkins Glen and Sonoma.