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Happy Tuesday everyone.
26 Days, 1 Hour give or take!
"I love what I do; I love this business."
-- Bobby Hamilton Sr, March 2006 as he announced he had cancer
Quote of the Day
"The adjustments put in today put a greater emphasis on winning races. Winning is what this sport is all about."
-- NASCAR Chairman Brian France
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from Jo
Bill Weber will return as TNT's play-by-play announcer
Oh, that's too bad. Jo, Florida
Marlin says 2007 may be his last season
Sterling Marlin said Monday that the upcoming season will determine how much longer he plans to race in the Nextel Cup Series.
Marlin, whose contact with Ginn Racing expires at the end of this season, plans to evaluate his future with the team depending on how he and the team fare.
Marlin, the two-time Daytona 500 Champion, finished 34th in the final points standings last year, but is optimistic that changes to the team including the addition of Richard "Slugger" Labbe as crew chief will help it improve.
"We'll just see how this year shakes out. If we run top 10 this year, yeah, I'll sign up and come back again," Marlin said. "But I'm not the type of guy that I'm going to ride around in 30th and be happy."
NASCAR chairman Brian France said Monday that there have been inquiries from otherabout getting into NASCAR, but said that there isn't any current interest beyond that.
"I don't anything to report on that whatsoever. But is that possible in the future? Sure," France said. "We're the biggest opportunity of motorsports in North America and some would say the world. That's going to get a lot of attention. But right now, it's just that, a lot of attention."
Toyota, which is based in Japan will make its debut in the Nextel Cup Series this year.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Two-time NASCAR Busch Series champion Martin Truex Jr. was charged with disorderly intoxication after an officer saw him urinating in a parking garage, authorities said.
A Volusia County Beach Patrol officer observed Truex, 26, urinating on his own car Saturday morning, according to a police report. Capt. Rich Gardner approached Truex and said, "I hope that's worth 100 bucks," the report said.
According to Gardner, Truex responded with, "It is worth 100 bucks," and he held out a $100 bill.
"I got a ticket for doing something stupid," Truex told The Daytona Beach News-Journal on Monday.
"It was a stupid mistake and I'll never do it again."
Gardner repeatedly asked Truex to place his hands behind his back so he could handcuff him before Truex agreed, according to the report. Gardner smelled alcohol on Truex's breath and charged him with disorderly intoxication.
Chase Adjustments: The Chase – consisting of the season's last 10 races – will further reflect the importance of racing to win, via a variety of adjustments.
> During the format's first three years, the top 10 drivers in points after the 26th race of the season (at Richmond International Raceway) qualified for the Chase; in addition, any other driver outside the top 10 but within 400 points of the standings' leader was also eligible.
Starting this season, the 400-point cut-off is eliminated.
Also, after Race 26, the top 12 drivers in the points will qualify for the Chase.
> All 12 drivers will have their point totals re-set to 5,000; each will then receive a 10-point bonus for each race victory they had during the first 26 races.
> The Chase drivers will be "seeded" to start the Chase based on the number of wins amassed during the regular season.
Points adjustment: In line with the Chase adjustments, wins throughout the season will be more valuable.
> Race winners throughout the 36-race season will now receive 185 points, a five-point increase. Counting the five-point bonuses available for leading at least one lap and leading the most laps, a race winner now can earn a maximum of 195 points, creating a possible maximum of 25 points between first- and second-place finishers.
The 2006 season of Kasey Kahne provides a dramatic illustration of the adjusted Chase format's implications. Kahne qualified for last year's Chase, but started it in 10th place – despite having won a series-high five races. Under the new format, Kahne would begin the Chase in first place, with 5,050 points. Mark Martin and Jeff Burton, seventh and eighth at the outset of last year's Chase, would instead start in 11th and 12th, each with 5,000, since they had no race victories entering the Chase. Also, Tony Stewart and Greg Biffle, who failed to make the Chase last year – they were 11th and 12th and beyond the 400-point cut-off – would qualify under the adjusted format. Stewart would be fifth with 5,020 points, Biffle 10th with 5,010.(NASCAR PR)
* Double-frame rail on driver's side with steel plating covering the door bars.
* Energy-absorbing [foam] materials installed between the roll cage door bars and door panels.
* Enlarged cockpit – the driver is moved closer to the center of the car and the roof is 2½ inches higher.
The Car of Tomorrow also features a pair of unique aerodynamic pieces that teams may adjust at the race track:
Rear Wing:
The rear wing is an adjustable aerodynamic feature that provides better balance and control in traffic. It replaces the rear spoiler.
The rear wing reduces turbulent air behind the car.
The rear wing angle adjusts between 0-16 degrees, enabling teams to change rear downforce to suit individual drivers and tracks.
Various combinations and adjustments to sideforce-generating end plates and flat end plates allow for further at-track adjustments.
Front Splitter:
Teams can adjust the exposed portion of the front splitter fore and aft from 4-6 inches to impact downforce and aerodynamic balance.
The front splitter is another element to achieve the aerodynamic balance that their setup, driver or track conditions might dictate.
The adjustable front splitter enables teams to tune the front downforce to suit individual drivers and tracks.
With the adjustable rear wing and front splitter along with a more defined body and chassis inspection process, teams will not need to build track-specific race cars. These factors help make it more cost-effective for the teams.
The Car of Tomorrow design has also enabled manufacturers to have an increased product and branding opportunity. The manufacturers' 2007 Car of Tomorrow models – the Chevrolet Impala SS, Dodge Avenger, Ford Fusion and Toyota Camry – more closely resemble production cars than the current race cars do. Through input from team owners, NASCAR has implemented a multiple-year rollout schedule for the Car of Tomorrow to race in its Nextel Cup Series. In 2007, the Car of Tomorrow will race 16 times – 13 times at ovals less than 1.5 miles, plus the two road-course events at Infineon Raceway and Watkins Glen International and the fall race at the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway.(NASCAR PR)
Carmichael Ready for Stock Cars: Unlike Juan Pablo Montoya, who has moved to NASCAR from a successful open-wheel career with a wave of publicity, motorcycle superstar Ricky Carmichael is getting little attention, and that's just fine with him. The 27-year-old Carmichael has captured a record 15 AMA National championships but plans to run a limited schedule in Supercross this season while also beginning his stock car career as part of Ginn Racing's driver development program. Carmichael had stock cars tests with Evernham Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing before signing a three-year contract with Bobby Ginn's team - former MB2 Motorsports. He will begin his four-wheel career this season driving 15 late model stock car races in Florida in a car provided by Mark Martin, who left Roush Racing at the end of 2006 to join the Ginn team for a partial Nextel Cup schedule in 2007. "I'm kind of glad I'm running late model stocks to start with and working my way up to the top," Carmichael said. "I think it's good I'm not going to be the center of attention here. I think you need a lot more concentration in stock cars than on motorcycles, especially when you've been doing it as long as I have." Martin, who oversaw one of Carmichael's tests, is sold on the youngster. "I think he'll be as good a driver in NASCAR as anybody who ever came to stock cars from motorcycles," Martin said. "As soon as you get to know him and see his work ethic, drive and determination, you know it isn't possible that it's not going to work. I thought he'd be good and he's further along than we expected. If things move along well, we might run him in an ARCA race or two later in the season." Carmichael plans to run 25 stock car races in 2008, with some in ARCA and some in NASCAR's Busch Series. In 2009, the last year of his current contract, he expects to run a full season in Busch and possible a few Cup events. "I'm just a racer," Carmichael said Friday in an interview during the first day of the NASCAR Media Tour hosted by Lowe's Motor Speedway. "I like a challenge and I like what NASCAR is about."(Associated Press)
by Monte Dutton/Gazette Sports Writer
CONCORD — Juan Pablo Montoya sees signs that NASCAR is catching on in his native Colombia.
"I think the people there are taking it well," he said, making reference to his transition from Formula One to Nextel Cup. "I think they didn't know so much about it, but that was also true to some extend with Formula One. Now people are tuning in and paying attention in somewhat large numbers, I think, and the main reaction is `man, this is so exciting.'"
Montoya's crew chief, Donnie Wingo, expressed confidence that Montoya was capable of winning right away.
"I think he's focused, I think he understands completely the difficulty of the task in front of him, and I don't think he's taken this lightly in any way," said Wingo. "I don't think there's going to be any difficulty. Even though he's a world-class racer, he knows that, here, he still has to earn respect. His attitude is going to help him.
"He knew coming in what he was getting into. I think that's one reason he wanted to get started last year. When he came over here, he didn't have a clue going in on what the car would feel like. He's been dedicated from day one to figuring it out."
CONCORD, N.C. - NASCAR officials say the past champion's provisional will be altered in 2007.
That's news to past champion Dale Jarrett, who on Monday night said he had not been told of any changes to the program. Jarrett could end up needing a past champion's provisional because his new team lacks owner points. Since he moved to the new Michael Waltrip Racing team to start this season, Jarrett has no points for the first five races. He must qualify for each of those based on speed - or by using the past champion's provisional.
The driver, who won the 1999 Cup championship, would be locked into the final position in the field if he failed to post a fast enough time to make the race. Jarrett said that he understood the concerns surrounding possible abuse of the provisional system, but that those weren't applicable in his case.
"Concerns were that some of the new teams coming in were going to pay maybe excessive money due to some of the guys that weren't going to do it full time," he said. "My situation, I was going to be here full time anyway. Was somebody going to pay Bill [Elliott] a lot of money to get them in the first five races or something like that, which wasn't what that provisional was designed to do and isn't what our sport is about. That seems to have died down."
NASCAR officials said Tuesday that the change would not be in the rule book, but would appear on entry blanks sent out prior to each race. Vice President Steve O'Donnell said that limiting use of the provision to six races per year was what the sanctioning body had been looking into.
"That is still being talked about. I think what we're looking at is six for the driver and owner," he said during the NASCAR Nextel Cup Media Tour hosted by Lowe's Motor Speedway. "The one change [from the Busch Series] is maybe that you can use six concurrently. ... [T]hat's what it looks like it's going to be."
Is the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup banquet definitely going back to New York City, where it has been for more than a quarter of a century?
Well, despite some recent announcements that talked about this year's banquet in the Big Apple, that's still be determined.
"It's fair to say that we're still evaluating where the 2007 banquet will take place," said Steve O'Donnell, NASCAR vice president of operations.
"It's no secret that we like New York, but we're still evaluating."
Recent NASCAR announcements have said that Kelly Clarkson will sing at the postseason banquet in New York and said that the top 10 drivers will get to attend that event in New York, but several cities have expressed interest in playing host to the postseason awards ceremony.
Marathon Oil Corp. today announced a two-year contract with Petty Enterprises to sponsor the team's No. 45 Dodge for owner/driver Kyle Petty.
The deal calls for primary sponsorship in 14 NASCAR Nextel Cup races for what the company is calling the Marathon American Spirit Motor Oil Dodge.
"Continuing to partner with the legendary Richard Petty and his race team brings a great deal of added value to Marathon's NASCAR sponsorship," said Mary Ellen Peters, MPC senior vice president, marketing. "During the 2006 season, Kyle Petty had a series of top-25 finishes. He ended the season solidly in the top 35 in owner's points. We are really excited about the sponsorship, and we are looking forward to the upcoming season."
NASCAR President Mike Helton is defending Las Vegas Motor Speedway and its medical staffing for a Goodyear tire test last month in the wake of criticism from Roush Racing driver Greg Biffle, who was injured in a testing accident there.
"There was medical personnel on staff there," Helton said Monday. "I talked to Greg, and we talked to the race track to confirm there were medical services there and confirmed with Goodyear that they require them to be there, too, just like a team that would go test."
Biffle was allowed to drive out of the track in a passenger vehicle and fly home after a hard crash, which he later learned dislocated his shoulder.
"We're confident that Goodyear does their testing correctly and requires the right components," Helton said. "We know that we do at the races and at the race tracks and when there are testing [sessions] that NASCAR sanctions or officiates under our current test policy, we're confident about those.
"What we're not confident about is when teams go to a race track, what they require and request. I don't think it's fair for anybody to challenge Las Vegas when No. 1, they don't have all the facts, but No. 2, what about your own environment, so to speak.
Speed will use mostly the Fox broadcast crew for its telecast of the Gatorade Duels qualifying races Feb. 15 at Daytona International Speedway.
The only exception will be that Speed's Dave Despain will serve as host instead of Fox's Chris Myers. The rest of the Fox crew - including Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds and Darrell Waltrip in the booth - will do the broadcast for Speed, which is owned by Fox.
"It makes total sense to have those guys on for those races," Speed executive Vice President Hunter Nickell said Monday.
Speed also has the telecast rights for the Nextel All-Star Challenge at Lowe's Motor Speedway and will determine that crew at a later date.
It also is still to be determined whether Speed's Craftsman Truck Series broadcast crew will do the two truck events that will appear on Fox.
One of those will be the Martinsville spring race, and the other is still to be determined, Nickell said.
FOURTH IN A FIVE-PART SERIES ON FEBRUARY RACING DECADE-TO-DECADE AT DAYTONA BEACH, FLA.
My pal Steve Waid of NASCAR Scene has been known for years for his quick, witty, stinging one-liners.
Among his best, most biting ever came on Feb. 15, 1987, as the Daytona 500 neared its conclusion.
When driver Geoff Bodine and his crew chief, Gary Nelson, called their failed gamble on fuel "a roll of the dice," Waid instantly pounced.
"Yeah, and they rolled a nine!" Waid cracked in the press box at Daytona International Speedway.
Nine happened to be the number on the fleet Ford that Bill Elliott drove past the faltering Bodine on the 198th lap of 200 in the classic NASCAR event en route to Victory Lane.
Told of Waid's line when he came to the press box for the winner's interview, Elliott beamed brightly and flashed Steve a thumb's up.
"I knew those boys (Bodine's Hendrick Motorsports team) were going to gamble on not stopping after me and the rest of the leaders did pit for fuel late in the race," said Elliott. "That's typical of them and that car. They come to win and nothing else is good enough. You've got to admire them for it."
Elliott, winning the 500 for the second time in three years, shook his red head.
"I had no idea if Geoff could make it," he said of his Chevrolet rival. "I did know that car has a history of getting good gas mileage, but going 45 laps (112.5 miles) on a tank at the speeds we're running would have been tough."
Earlier, Bodine had made it 42 laps before refueling.
Elliott averaged a sizzling 176.263 mph as only four caution flags, all for debris on the 2.5-mile track, slowed the pace.
He continued to comment on the Bodine/Nelson duo's decision on fuel:
"Ernie (Elliott's brother and crew chief) called me on the radio and said Bodine had run out of gas. That perked me right up, because I was almost 24 seconds--or about a half a lap--behind him at the time.
"In the same situation, I definitely would have done what Geoff's team did."
Said Bodine:
"It was our plan from the previous round of pit stops to try and outlast them. If you never take a chance in life, well, it gets kind of dull and boring."
Added Nelson:
"If we'd had Geoff come in, maybe we could have finished second. We came to Florida to win the Daytona 500. We rolled the dice and came up short. I'd do it again, although I know everyone is going to come up and say we should have stopped."
After his fuel cell ran dry, Bodine coasted back around to his pit and got enough gasoline to finish the race. He fell back and took the checkered flag 14th, a lap down.
Although Bodine was out of contention, Elliott wasn't exactly home free for the triumph.
Charging on hard behind him were Benny Parsons, Richard Petty, Buddy Baker and Dale Earnhardt.
Elliott made his final fuel stop on Lap 187. His top challengers came to the pits over the next six laps.
"We got in and out good on the last stop and that's what ultimately won us the race," continued Elliott, who was then 31 and in the prime of his colorful career. "I figure beating Buddy and Dale out was the key, because it looked like to me they had the strongest cars, although Benny's was good, too.
"The crew deserves a lot of credit, but I guess I deserve some, too. I have yet to see one of these cars that can win by itself. There's always got to be somebody in there mashing the gas. I know I get teased a lot for using the word 'combination,' but that's what works for us."
Elliott, who had led by 1.27 seconds after the final round of pit stops, finished three car-lengths ahead of Parsons' Chevy with Petty, Baker and Earnhardt following.
Elliott and Baker dominated at the front of the pack. Elliott led 105 laps and Baker, the 1980 Daytona 500 winner, led 45, mostly in the first half of the race.
Finally, as the victors' press box news conference ended, Ernie Elliott, slowed through much of the 1986 season by mononucleosis, was asked what he thought the chance of Bodine running out of fuel might be.
He answered with a one-liner to rival that of Steve Waid:
"Oh, I'd say about 9.9."
Changes to the Chase add up to a negative
Lee Spencer / FOXSports.com
Some people shave in the car. Others check their makeup. Then there's the idiot who camps out in the fast lane on the cell phone.
NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France? He dreams up new points systems for the Nextel Cup.
France admitted Monday that part of his inspiration for the new NASCAR Nextel Cup points system came while he was "driving on (his) way to have lunch." Time will tell if the new system keeps the Chase headed in the right direction, or if it leaps the curb and runs into a tree.
In France's world, proper direction means eliminating the 400-point cutoff between the points leader and drivers outside of the top 10 in point by increasing the Chase field to 12.
I can buy that. What I don't understand is why NASCAR felt the need to monkey with the system once drivers qualify for the Chase. They would have been better off following the KISS system: Keep It Simple, Stupid.
Now I'm the first to admit that I'm more of a roads scholar than a Rhodes scholar. So it's more than a little scary to think that I'll be using my calculator more often than my spellcheck following the 26th race of the regular season. (I'd explain how my fifth-grade teacher Mrs. Miles brainwashed me to believe that girls didn't need math, but that's a whole `nother story).
At the very least, I'll be cozily ensconced in the comfort of the Richmond press box while I try to figure out which driver is leading the points and why heading into New Hampshire — the first race of the Chase. You, the fans in the stands, had better pull out your calculators and pull up your seat cushions, because it's likely to be a pain in the behind.
The first change is simple enough. Drivers will receive five additional points for wins. When the Chase was first introduced three years ago, the points for the winner jumped from 180 points to 185 — that's a 180-point base for the victory plus five points for leading laps. The driver who led the most laps was scored with 190. Now, if a driver wins the race and leads the most laps, he'll be credited with 195.
With me so far? Good. Here's where it starts to take a turn for the unnecessary.
Under the new breakdown, the top 12 drivers, two more than last year's 10, will make the Chase. Those dozen drivers will begin with a base of 5,000 points and will be seeded according to wins. For each regular-season win, a driver will receive an additional 10 bonus points on top of the original 5,000.
How does that play out? Let's look at last season as an example.
After the first 26 races last year, Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson were 1-2 atop the points standings. Under the new system, however, Kenseth and Johnson each would have had 5,040 points after Richmond, and Kasey Kahne would have been seeded No. 1 for the Chase with a score of 5,050 — the 5,000-point base plus 50 points (5x10) for his five victories.
I've been a proponent of increasing the reward for wins for some time. Before Bob Latford, the architect of the current points system, passed away several years ago, it was his wish to offer 10 additional points for wins. Like Goldilocks I would agree that this decision was "just right." The bottom line: Fans fill the stands to watch racers race. Sunday drives are for civilians.
Is there any good news to come from this number crunching? Yes. The days of points racing are over. Drivers will be forced to go all out during the regular season to score victories (and the bonus points).
France put it this way: "What we found was a balance between winning and consistency and how careful we have to be to get that just right."
Translation: Some sponsors were ticked at us last year when their drivers missed the Chase, so we want to toss in another level of scoring to put more of the onus on them and keep us from getting roasted again.
But if encouraging competition while simultaneously rewarding victories is the goal, then why didn't NASCAR just come out and do it? Why not just award 10 additional points for victories from the get-go, rather than recalculating arbitrarily for the Chase?
That would have been simple. Instead, it's just stupid.
Lee Spencer is a senior NASCAR writer for FOXSports.com.
Your![cid:136095618@23012007-2341]()
Momma
Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, wine in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"
"Don't come here and grumble about going too fast. Get the hell out of the race car if you've got feathers on your legs or butt. Put a kerosene rag around your ankles so the ants wins't climb up there and eat that candy ass." - Dale Earnhardt – 1998
"It's nothin' personal, it's just racin'
-Dale Earnhardt Sr.
This list is authored by:
Sandra Monacelli
221 W. 57th Street 18B
Loveland, CO 80538
970/663-6967
Today In Nascar History
01/23/1966- Dan Gurney wins at Riverside, win #1 of the season and #4 of his career.
01/23/1972- Richard Petty wins at Riverside, win #1 of the season and #141 of his career.
01/23/1972- Richard Petty wins at Riverside, win #1 of the season and #141 of his career.
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Countdown to Daytona26 Days, 1 Hour give or take!
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Top Ten Reasons Why the Daytona 500 is Better than the Super Bowl
10. Football fans are forced to wait all season for the Super Bowl ...the NASCAR season starts with the Daytona 500.
9. Daytona 500 has never had a wardrobe malfunction.
8. Remember the big riot when Dale Earnhardt won the Daytona 500? Me neither.
7. Burnouts in the grass are cooler than spiking a football in the grass.
6. NASCAR: The ultimate "contact sport."
5. Pit stops more fun to watch than water breaks.
4. NASCAR's ever-changing rule book offers an added layer of suspense to the race.
3. Taking the checkered flag is a better ending than running out the clock.
2. No one watches the Daytona 500 "for the commercials."
1. There's no such thing as halftime in a NASCAR race.
Thanks Bob!
10. Football fans are forced to wait all season for the Super Bowl ...the NASCAR season starts with the Daytona 500.
9. Daytona 500 has never had a wardrobe malfunction.
8. Remember the big riot when Dale Earnhardt won the Daytona 500? Me neither.
7. Burnouts in the grass are cooler than spiking a football in the grass.
6. NASCAR: The ultimate "contact sport."
5. Pit stops more fun to watch than water breaks.
4. NASCAR's ever-changing rule book offers an added layer of suspense to the race.
3. Taking the checkered flag is a better ending than running out the clock.
2. No one watches the Daytona 500 "for the commercials."
1. There's no such thing as halftime in a NASCAR race.
Thanks Bob!
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Quote of the Year"I love what I do; I love this business."
-- Bobby Hamilton Sr, March 2006 as he announced he had cancer
Quote of the Day
"The adjustments put in today put a greater emphasis on winning races. Winning is what this sport is all about."
-- NASCAR Chairman Brian France
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News gathered from multiple sources, including but not limited to: Jayski.com, Cup Scene Daily, Thatsracin.com, catchfence.com, nascar.com, yahoo!, espn.com and others. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Comments from the Peanut Galleryfrom Jo
Bill Weber will return as TNT's play-by-play announcer
Oh, that's too bad. Jo, Florida
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Bits and PiecesMarlin says 2007 may be his last season
Sterling Marlin said Monday that the upcoming season will determine how much longer he plans to race in the Nextel Cup Series.
Marlin, whose contact with Ginn Racing expires at the end of this season, plans to evaluate his future with the team depending on how he and the team fare.
Marlin, the two-time Daytona 500 Champion, finished 34th in the final points standings last year, but is optimistic that changes to the team including the addition of Richard "Slugger" Labbe as crew chief will help it improve.
"We'll just see how this year shakes out. If we run top 10 this year, yeah, I'll sign up and come back again," Marlin said. "But I'm not the type of guy that I'm going to ride around in 30th and be happy."
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Another foreign manufacturer coming to NASCAR? NASCAR chairman Brian France said Monday that there have been inquiries from otherabout getting into NASCAR, but said that there isn't any current interest beyond that.
"I don't anything to report on that whatsoever. But is that possible in the future? Sure," France said. "We're the biggest opportunity of motorsports in North America and some would say the world. That's going to get a lot of attention. But right now, it's just that, a lot of attention."
Toyota, which is based in Japan will make its debut in the Nextel Cup Series this year.
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Parsons honored with Pocono Spirit Award: Benny Parsons was honored with the National Motorsports Press Association's Pocono Spirit Award Sunday night in Concord, NC. Parsons, 65, passed away Jan. 16 after a six-month battle with lung cancer. He made 526 starts and earned more than $4.4 million, winning 21 times in NASCAR's top series to rank 28th on the career-win list. He won the series' championship in 1973 while driving for car owner L.G. DeWitt. His television duties, which continued through the 2006 season, began in 1989, a year after he retired from driving. He also later began hosting the popular radio show, "Fast Talk with Benny Parsons" on the Performance Racing Network. Outside the glare of the sport, Parsons often reached out to those less fortunate. For several years, he helped oversee a local school drive in his hometown of Ellerbe, N.C., that provided clothing and toys for area schoolchildren during the Christmas holiday season. The NMPA Pocono Spirit Award is designed to recognize character and achievement in the face of adversity, sportsmanship and contributions to motorsports. Each year, quarterly winners are selected and an overall winner is chosen by a vote of the NMPA membership. Other quarterly winners for 2006 included: Craftsman Truck Series owner/driver Bobby Hamilton (first quarter); longtime photojournalist Dozier Mobley (second quarter); and Owen Kearns, manager of communications for the Craftsman Truck Series (fourth quarter).(SceneDaily.com) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NASCAR driver Truex charged with disorderly intoxication DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Two-time NASCAR Busch Series champion Martin Truex Jr. was charged with disorderly intoxication after an officer saw him urinating in a parking garage, authorities said.
A Volusia County Beach Patrol officer observed Truex, 26, urinating on his own car Saturday morning, according to a police report. Capt. Rich Gardner approached Truex and said, "I hope that's worth 100 bucks," the report said.
According to Gardner, Truex responded with, "It is worth 100 bucks," and he held out a $100 bill.
"I got a ticket for doing something stupid," Truex told The Daytona Beach News-Journal on Monday.
"It was a stupid mistake and I'll never do it again."
Gardner repeatedly asked Truex to place his hands behind his back so he could handcuff him before Truex agreed, according to the report. Gardner smelled alcohol on Truex's breath and charged him with disorderly intoxication.
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NASCAR Announces Adjustments to `Chase' Format and Points System: Race victories will become more important than ever in 2007 as a result of adjustments to the points system and the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup format announced today by NASCAR. The adjustments are designed to establish more balance between winning and consistency, but there is a new emphasis on the former. "The adjustments taken today put a greater emphasis on winning races," said NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France. "Winning is what this sport is all about. Nobody likes to see drivers content to finish in the top 10. We want our sport – especially during the Chase – to be more about winning."Chase Adjustments: The Chase – consisting of the season's last 10 races – will further reflect the importance of racing to win, via a variety of adjustments.
> During the format's first three years, the top 10 drivers in points after the 26th race of the season (at Richmond International Raceway) qualified for the Chase; in addition, any other driver outside the top 10 but within 400 points of the standings' leader was also eligible.
Starting this season, the 400-point cut-off is eliminated.
Also, after Race 26, the top 12 drivers in the points will qualify for the Chase.
> All 12 drivers will have their point totals re-set to 5,000; each will then receive a 10-point bonus for each race victory they had during the first 26 races.
> The Chase drivers will be "seeded" to start the Chase based on the number of wins amassed during the regular season.
Points adjustment: In line with the Chase adjustments, wins throughout the season will be more valuable.
> Race winners throughout the 36-race season will now receive 185 points, a five-point increase. Counting the five-point bonuses available for leading at least one lap and leading the most laps, a race winner now can earn a maximum of 195 points, creating a possible maximum of 25 points between first- and second-place finishers.
The 2006 season of Kasey Kahne provides a dramatic illustration of the adjusted Chase format's implications. Kahne qualified for last year's Chase, but started it in 10th place – despite having won a series-high five races. Under the new format, Kahne would begin the Chase in first place, with 5,050 points. Mark Martin and Jeff Burton, seventh and eighth at the outset of last year's Chase, would instead start in 11th and 12th, each with 5,000, since they had no race victories entering the Chase. Also, Tony Stewart and Greg Biffle, who failed to make the Chase last year – they were 11th and 12th and beyond the 400-point cut-off – would qualify under the adjusted format. Stewart would be fifth with 5,020 points, Biffle 10th with 5,010.(NASCAR PR)
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COT Update: Project on Schedule for Bristol Debut: NASCAR provided the latest round of updates Monday on its heralded Car of Tomorrow project, which is slated for a March debut at Bristol Motor Speedway. The culmination of a seven-year project undertaken at NASCAR's Research and Development Center in Concord, N.C., the Car of Tomorrow was built primarily with safety in mind. During the development process, NASCAR also discovered ways in which the Car of Tomorrow could improve competition and enable teams to be more cost-efficient. Safety features on the new car include:* Double-frame rail on driver's side with steel plating covering the door bars.
* Energy-absorbing [foam] materials installed between the roll cage door bars and door panels.
* Enlarged cockpit – the driver is moved closer to the center of the car and the roof is 2½ inches higher.
The Car of Tomorrow also features a pair of unique aerodynamic pieces that teams may adjust at the race track:
Rear Wing:
The rear wing is an adjustable aerodynamic feature that provides better balance and control in traffic. It replaces the rear spoiler.
The rear wing reduces turbulent air behind the car.
The rear wing angle adjusts between 0-16 degrees, enabling teams to change rear downforce to suit individual drivers and tracks.
Various combinations and adjustments to sideforce-generating end plates and flat end plates allow for further at-track adjustments.
Front Splitter:
Teams can adjust the exposed portion of the front splitter fore and aft from 4-6 inches to impact downforce and aerodynamic balance.
The front splitter is another element to achieve the aerodynamic balance that their setup, driver or track conditions might dictate.
The adjustable front splitter enables teams to tune the front downforce to suit individual drivers and tracks.
With the adjustable rear wing and front splitter along with a more defined body and chassis inspection process, teams will not need to build track-specific race cars. These factors help make it more cost-effective for the teams.
The Car of Tomorrow design has also enabled manufacturers to have an increased product and branding opportunity. The manufacturers' 2007 Car of Tomorrow models – the Chevrolet Impala SS, Dodge Avenger, Ford Fusion and Toyota Camry – more closely resemble production cars than the current race cars do. Through input from team owners, NASCAR has implemented a multiple-year rollout schedule for the Car of Tomorrow to race in its Nextel Cup Series. In 2007, the Car of Tomorrow will race 16 times – 13 times at ovals less than 1.5 miles, plus the two road-course events at Infineon Raceway and Watkins Glen International and the fall race at the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway.(NASCAR PR)
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Darrell Waltrip and Mountain Dew Celebrate a "Flashback to Glory": Mountain Dew will once again be partnered with legendary NASCAR Champion Darrell Waltrip for the upcoming 2007 NASCAR season. Mountain Dew Racing will be celebrating DW's Championship seasons in the Mountain Dew car over 25 years ago. In 1981 and 1982, Waltrip won back-to-back NASCAR Cup titles behind the wheel of the #11 Mountain Dew Buick. DW's 1981 Championship season is now recognized as one of the most impressive runs in NASCAR history, as he fought back from a 341-point deficit in the final 17 races to capture the Cup. During those two seasons, Waltrip amassed an unbelievable 24 victories, 18 poles, 38 top-five finishes, and two Cup titles. Now, a television analyst for FOX Sports, Waltrip remains legendary to the sport. "It truly is an honor to be back with my friends at Mountain Dew", states Waltrip. "Those years together were the glory years of my career. Just look in the record books - in '81 and '82...Mountain Dew and DW were virtually unbeatable!" Mountain Dew will honor DW's history-making moments with the Fueled by Dew: Flashback to Glory national campaign. Waltrip and the #11 Mountain Dew Buick will be featured in national Mountain Dew advertising, including radio commercials, print materials, online, and on in-store point of sale materials. Mountain Dew has even refurbished one of the actual #11 Buick race cars from the Championship season and will let fans check it out at events throughout the year. Fans will also have the chance to win VIP race trips, meet Darrell and receive retro Mountain Dew Racing merchandise by participating in retail promotions throughout the country over the course of the Flashback to Glory campaign.(Darrell Waltrip Motorsports PR)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Goody's and Petty to Celebrate 30th Anniversary Together: For 30 years, the "King" Richard Petty has been synonymous with Goody's Headache Powders and its fast pain relief. Now through a landmark agreement, Petty's status as spokesperson for the fast pain relieving headache powders will be guaranteed for life. This announcement marks the first time a current or former NASCAR driver and a sponsor have agreed to lifetime terms. The lifetime contract guarantees that Petty, NASCAR's most decorated champion will continue his role as Goody's spokesperson and "expert on fast pain relief." This is a title that he has held since Goody's entered the sport in 1977. Petty will continue to star in Goody's advertising and make appearances on behalf of Goody's. Additionally, fans will have the opportunity to celebrate with "The King" and Goody's through a host of special promotions throughout 2007. These include limited edition Commemorative Goody's Headache Powders packaging featuring Petty's greatest moments along with a new logo titled "Goody's and 'The King', 30 Years Together." A sweepstakes to win "The King's" 30th Anniversary custom Dodge Charger will also take place to give fans a chance to drive like "The King." Petty's lifetime contract announcement is only the beginning of the most exciting year ever for Goody's. In 2007, Goody's will dramatically increase its involvement and participation in NASCAR with the Goody's Cool Orange 500 Nextel Cup race at Martinsville Speedway, the Headache of the Race Award, the Goody's Fast Relief Zone and a multitude of celebrations surrounding the Brand's 30th Anniversary in NASCAR, including car paints that will delight fans. Fans can also look forward to a major upcoming announcement with Goody's and two-time Nextel Cup champion Tony Stewart. To further celebrate Richard Petty and his 30 years with Goody's, the brand has also announced a $50,000 donation to the Victory Junction Gang Camp. Since the camp opened in 2004, Goody's has continued its status as a major sponsor of Victory Junction and was the first company to donate $1,000,000 to help build the camp's hospital named "The Goody's Body Shop."(Lighthouse Marketing PR)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Montoya earns praise for his work habits by Monte Dutton/Gazette Sports Writer
CONCORD — Juan Pablo Montoya sees signs that NASCAR is catching on in his native Colombia.
"I think the people there are taking it well," he said, making reference to his transition from Formula One to Nextel Cup. "I think they didn't know so much about it, but that was also true to some extend with Formula One. Now people are tuning in and paying attention in somewhat large numbers, I think, and the main reaction is `man, this is so exciting.'"
Montoya's crew chief, Donnie Wingo, expressed confidence that Montoya was capable of winning right away.
"I think he's focused, I think he understands completely the difficulty of the task in front of him, and I don't think he's taken this lightly in any way," said Wingo. "I don't think there's going to be any difficulty. Even though he's a world-class racer, he knows that, here, he still has to earn respect. His attitude is going to help him.
"He knew coming in what he was getting into. I think that's one reason he wanted to get started last year. When he came over here, he didn't have a clue going in on what the car would feel like. He's been dedicated from day one to figuring it out."
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NASCAR revamps Nextel All-Star Challenge
CONCORD, N.C. - NASCAR officials today announced a revamped format for the Nextel All-Star Challenge, creating stronger ties between the Nextel Pit Crew Challenge and the main event while extending the race to a four-segment feature.
Starting this year, three teams will advance from the Nextel Open into the May 19 race at Lowe's Motor Speedway. The top two finishers in the race and the driver voted in by fans will all move into the Challenge.
The Challenge itself will now consist of four 20-lap segments. A caution flag will be thrown after the 20 laps, with an optional pit stop to follow. After the second 20-lap segment, a 10-minute period will allow adjustments to be made to the car. All positions are locked in once a caution flag comes out.
After the third 20-lap segment, the caution comes out for a mandatory pit stop, Teams must at least break for a stop-and-go stop. Tire changes are optional, and teams will restart for the final segment in the same order in which they exit pit road.
The final 20-lap segment will determine the $1 million winner.
The free-pass rule will be in effect throughout the race. All restarts will double file, and only green-flag laps will count.
In the pit crew competition, scheduled for May 16 at Charlotte Bobcats Arena, teams are seeded to match the standings, with the top eight teams receiving a bye for the first round. The finishing order determines pit selection for the All-Star races.
CONCORD, N.C. - NASCAR officials today announced a revamped format for the Nextel All-Star Challenge, creating stronger ties between the Nextel Pit Crew Challenge and the main event while extending the race to a four-segment feature.
Starting this year, three teams will advance from the Nextel Open into the May 19 race at Lowe's Motor Speedway. The top two finishers in the race and the driver voted in by fans will all move into the Challenge.
The Challenge itself will now consist of four 20-lap segments. A caution flag will be thrown after the 20 laps, with an optional pit stop to follow. After the second 20-lap segment, a 10-minute period will allow adjustments to be made to the car. All positions are locked in once a caution flag comes out.
After the third 20-lap segment, the caution comes out for a mandatory pit stop, Teams must at least break for a stop-and-go stop. Tire changes are optional, and teams will restart for the final segment in the same order in which they exit pit road.
The final 20-lap segment will determine the $1 million winner.
The free-pass rule will be in effect throughout the race. All restarts will double file, and only green-flag laps will count.
In the pit crew competition, scheduled for May 16 at Charlotte Bobcats Arena, teams are seeded to match the standings, with the top eight teams receiving a bye for the first round. The finishing order determines pit selection for the All-Star races.
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Limits expected for past champion's provisionals CONCORD, N.C. - NASCAR officials say the past champion's provisional will be altered in 2007.
That's news to past champion Dale Jarrett, who on Monday night said he had not been told of any changes to the program. Jarrett could end up needing a past champion's provisional because his new team lacks owner points. Since he moved to the new Michael Waltrip Racing team to start this season, Jarrett has no points for the first five races. He must qualify for each of those based on speed - or by using the past champion's provisional.
The driver, who won the 1999 Cup championship, would be locked into the final position in the field if he failed to post a fast enough time to make the race. Jarrett said that he understood the concerns surrounding possible abuse of the provisional system, but that those weren't applicable in his case.
"Concerns were that some of the new teams coming in were going to pay maybe excessive money due to some of the guys that weren't going to do it full time," he said. "My situation, I was going to be here full time anyway. Was somebody going to pay Bill [Elliott] a lot of money to get them in the first five races or something like that, which wasn't what that provisional was designed to do and isn't what our sport is about. That seems to have died down."
NASCAR officials said Tuesday that the change would not be in the rule book, but would appear on entry blanks sent out prior to each race. Vice President Steve O'Donnell said that limiting use of the provision to six races per year was what the sanctioning body had been looking into.
"That is still being talked about. I think what we're looking at is six for the driver and owner," he said during the NASCAR Nextel Cup Media Tour hosted by Lowe's Motor Speedway. "The one change [from the Busch Series] is maybe that you can use six concurrently. ... [T]hat's what it looks like it's going to be."
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Banquet city undecidedIs the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup banquet definitely going back to New York City, where it has been for more than a quarter of a century?
Well, despite some recent announcements that talked about this year's banquet in the Big Apple, that's still be determined.
"It's fair to say that we're still evaluating where the 2007 banquet will take place," said Steve O'Donnell, NASCAR vice president of operations.
"It's no secret that we like New York, but we're still evaluating."
Recent NASCAR announcements have said that Kelly Clarkson will sing at the postseason banquet in New York and said that the top 10 drivers will get to attend that event in New York, but several cities have expressed interest in playing host to the postseason awards ceremony.
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Petty lands sponsorship Marathon Oil Corp. today announced a two-year contract with Petty Enterprises to sponsor the team's No. 45 Dodge for owner/driver Kyle Petty.
The deal calls for primary sponsorship in 14 NASCAR Nextel Cup races for what the company is calling the Marathon American Spirit Motor Oil Dodge.
"Continuing to partner with the legendary Richard Petty and his race team brings a great deal of added value to Marathon's NASCAR sponsorship," said Mary Ellen Peters, MPC senior vice president, marketing. "During the 2006 season, Kyle Petty had a series of top-25 finishes. He ended the season solidly in the top 35 in owner's points. We are really excited about the sponsorship, and we are looking forward to the upcoming season."
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Helton defends LVMS medical staff NASCAR President Mike Helton is defending Las Vegas Motor Speedway and its medical staffing for a Goodyear tire test last month in the wake of criticism from Roush Racing driver Greg Biffle, who was injured in a testing accident there.
"There was medical personnel on staff there," Helton said Monday. "I talked to Greg, and we talked to the race track to confirm there were medical services there and confirmed with Goodyear that they require them to be there, too, just like a team that would go test."
Biffle was allowed to drive out of the track in a passenger vehicle and fly home after a hard crash, which he later learned dislocated his shoulder.
"We're confident that Goodyear does their testing correctly and requires the right components," Helton said. "We know that we do at the races and at the race tracks and when there are testing [sessions] that NASCAR sanctions or officiates under our current test policy, we're confident about those.
"What we're not confident about is when teams go to a race track, what they require and request. I don't think it's fair for anybody to challenge Las Vegas when No. 1, they don't have all the facts, but No. 2, what about your own environment, so to speak.
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Speed will use Fox crew for Daytona qualifiers Speed will use mostly the Fox broadcast crew for its telecast of the Gatorade Duels qualifying races Feb. 15 at Daytona International Speedway.
The only exception will be that Speed's Dave Despain will serve as host instead of Fox's Chris Myers. The rest of the Fox crew - including Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds and Darrell Waltrip in the booth - will do the broadcast for Speed, which is owned by Fox.
"It makes total sense to have those guys on for those races," Speed executive Vice President Hunter Nickell said Monday.
Speed also has the telecast rights for the Nextel All-Star Challenge at Lowe's Motor Speedway and will determine that crew at a later date.
It also is still to be determined whether Speed's Craftsman Truck Series broadcast crew will do the two truck events that will appear on Fox.
One of those will be the Martinsville spring race, and the other is still to be determined, Nickell said.
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Tom Higgins' Scuffs
Die is cast for ElliottFOURTH IN A FIVE-PART SERIES ON FEBRUARY RACING DECADE-TO-DECADE AT DAYTONA BEACH, FLA.
My pal Steve Waid of NASCAR Scene has been known for years for his quick, witty, stinging one-liners.
Among his best, most biting ever came on Feb. 15, 1987, as the Daytona 500 neared its conclusion.
When driver Geoff Bodine and his crew chief, Gary Nelson, called their failed gamble on fuel "a roll of the dice," Waid instantly pounced.
"Yeah, and they rolled a nine!" Waid cracked in the press box at Daytona International Speedway.
Nine happened to be the number on the fleet Ford that Bill Elliott drove past the faltering Bodine on the 198th lap of 200 in the classic NASCAR event en route to Victory Lane.
Told of Waid's line when he came to the press box for the winner's interview, Elliott beamed brightly and flashed Steve a thumb's up.
"I knew those boys (Bodine's Hendrick Motorsports team) were going to gamble on not stopping after me and the rest of the leaders did pit for fuel late in the race," said Elliott. "That's typical of them and that car. They come to win and nothing else is good enough. You've got to admire them for it."
Elliott, winning the 500 for the second time in three years, shook his red head.
"I had no idea if Geoff could make it," he said of his Chevrolet rival. "I did know that car has a history of getting good gas mileage, but going 45 laps (112.5 miles) on a tank at the speeds we're running would have been tough."
Earlier, Bodine had made it 42 laps before refueling.
Elliott averaged a sizzling 176.263 mph as only four caution flags, all for debris on the 2.5-mile track, slowed the pace.
He continued to comment on the Bodine/Nelson duo's decision on fuel:
"Ernie (Elliott's brother and crew chief) called me on the radio and said Bodine had run out of gas. That perked me right up, because I was almost 24 seconds--or about a half a lap--behind him at the time.
"In the same situation, I definitely would have done what Geoff's team did."
Said Bodine:
"It was our plan from the previous round of pit stops to try and outlast them. If you never take a chance in life, well, it gets kind of dull and boring."
Added Nelson:
"If we'd had Geoff come in, maybe we could have finished second. We came to Florida to win the Daytona 500. We rolled the dice and came up short. I'd do it again, although I know everyone is going to come up and say we should have stopped."
After his fuel cell ran dry, Bodine coasted back around to his pit and got enough gasoline to finish the race. He fell back and took the checkered flag 14th, a lap down.
Although Bodine was out of contention, Elliott wasn't exactly home free for the triumph.
Charging on hard behind him were Benny Parsons, Richard Petty, Buddy Baker and Dale Earnhardt.
Elliott made his final fuel stop on Lap 187. His top challengers came to the pits over the next six laps.
"We got in and out good on the last stop and that's what ultimately won us the race," continued Elliott, who was then 31 and in the prime of his colorful career. "I figure beating Buddy and Dale out was the key, because it looked like to me they had the strongest cars, although Benny's was good, too.
"The crew deserves a lot of credit, but I guess I deserve some, too. I have yet to see one of these cars that can win by itself. There's always got to be somebody in there mashing the gas. I know I get teased a lot for using the word 'combination,' but that's what works for us."
Elliott, who had led by 1.27 seconds after the final round of pit stops, finished three car-lengths ahead of Parsons' Chevy with Petty, Baker and Earnhardt following.
Elliott and Baker dominated at the front of the pack. Elliott led 105 laps and Baker, the 1980 Daytona 500 winner, led 45, mostly in the first half of the race.
Finally, as the victors' press box news conference ended, Ernie Elliott, slowed through much of the 1986 season by mononucleosis, was asked what he thought the chance of Bodine running out of fuel might be.
He answered with a one-liner to rival that of Steve Waid:
"Oh, I'd say about 9.9."
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The dream 'Big Bill' built
Speedway has become THE place to race
By GODWIN KELLY /Motorsports Editor
The sons of William H.G. France, the man who founded NASCAR and built the Daytona Beach racetrack, believe they have realized their father's dream of creating a motorsports arena recognized throughout the world.
Before the gates ever opened for a racing event, "Big Bill" France named his facility Daytona International Speedway with the hopes that the track would some day gain a global standing.
With the addition of an Indy Racing League test session later this month, the Speedway now hosts virtually every imaginable form of motorsports competition, tempting competitors and manufacturers from every corner of the world.
"You are spot on with Dad wanting Daytona to be recognized worldwide," said France's youngest son, James C. France, now CEO of International Speedway Corp., the company that owns the track.
"Daytona Speedway has helped the stature of drivers, and the drivers have helped build the Daytona Speedway as the place to come to race," said William C. France, the ISC chairman and "Big Bill's" oldest son.
As a team, Bill Jr. and Jim France have carried the Speedway's international concept to a new level.
The 49th annual edition of Speed Weeks roars to life Thursday when teams begin practice and qualifying for the Rolex 24 At Daytona over the 3.56-mile road course. The 24-hour sportscar event will launch Daytona's ambitious 2007 racing schedule.
This upcoming season the track will host the first NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race featuring Toyota stock cars, see former Formula One star Juan Pablo Montoya compete in the Daytona 500, and get an IRL shakedown featuring an intercontinental roster of drivers.
Montoya has seen most of the world thanks to a seven-year driving stint in F1. He's never raced at Daytona but says the name is familiar to those outside this country.
"In Europe, Monza (in Italy) and Monaco is where the history is," the globe-trotting driver from Colombia said. "No question, Daytona and Indy are the two biggest tracks in the United States."
Indianapolis Motor Speedway is known for the Indianapolis 500, once a stop on the Formula One circuit.
Bill France Sr.'s international racing interest likely piqued after watching Sir Malcolm Campbell's last land speed run on the beach in 1935.
France, an auto mechanic who lived in Washington, D.C., had just settled into this community with his wife, Anne, and Bill Jr., then just a toddler.
He watched in awe as Campbell flashed past, posting a world record, straight-line speed just over 276 mph in his Bluebird creation. The same car now rests in Daytona USA.
"Then, they took that (land speed runs) out to the Utah Salt Flats," Bill Jr. said. "Daytona wanted to keep motorsports here and that's when the NASCAR-type cars started racing on the beach."
Soon after Campbell's last appearance, the France family began promoting stock car beach races. In 1958 they broke ground to construct the Speedway, a 2.5-mile, high-banked tri-oval along with a world-class road course that would beckon international racing events.
"When he designed the track, he put the road course in there for that very reason," Jim France said. "As quick as he could get the AMA (American Motorcyclists Association) to agree to it, they moved the motorcycle races from the beach over here. International was definitely his goal."
Bill Sr. built the track on a shoestring budget and had very little money in the bank for the inaugural Speed Weeks program.
"Money was tight," Bill Jr. said.
Still, his father paid a reportedly hefty fee to have the 1959 Daytona 500 sanctioned by the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile.
"They are the primary sanctioning body for Formula One right now as we speak," Bill Jr. said. "In some countries it's illegal to run a race unless it's sanctioned by the FIA."
By obtaining the sanction, any driver in the world with an FIA license could compete in the 500.
Two FIA drivers from Lima, Peru, jumped on the opportunity to compete in the inaugural 500 and did surprisingly well. Raul Cilloniz finished 12th while his countryman, Eduardo "Chi Chi" Dibos started ninth in the 59-car field.
The Daytona 500 and Pepsi 400 continue their FIA-sanctioned status to this day unlike the majority of races on the Nextel Cup schedule.
The Speedway hosted its first "continental" sports car event -- a three-hour spectacle -- in 1962 with Dan Gurney, now a Hall of Famer, earning the victory.
Over the years that race evolved into today's Rolex 24 At Daytona, a grueling, twice around-the-clock endurance test of man and machine.
"The only endurance races at that time were held at Sebring and from time to time at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) on the street course up there," Bill Jr. said.
"We've had a lot of Formula One drivers who were in our sports car race," he added. "And we've had riders from all over the world to run in the motorcycle races."
Do the France brothers think they fulfilled their father's international dream?
"It's work that is never done," Jim France said. "We are continuing to try and build it up. Don't ever rest on your laurels."
Key Dates in DIS History
DECEMBER 1947
William H.G. France calls a meeting of stock car promoters, team owners and drivers at the Streamline Hotel, where they agree to form a new sanctioning body called the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing.
FEBRUARY 1948
Races on the old Daytona beach-road course are staged as NASCAR events; six days later NASCAR is officially incorporated.
FEBRUARY 1959
NASCAR sanctions events at the newly opened Daytona International Speedway, built by France.
FEBRUARY 1962
Formula One driver Dan Gurney wins the three-hour Daytona Continental (a forerunner to the Rolex 24).
JANUARY 1972
William H.G. France names his son William C. France as president of NASCAR.
FEBRUARY 1979
The Daytona 500 becomes the first race televised live on network television (CBS); receives high ratings and there's a Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison brawl.
JUNE 1992
William H.G. France dies from Alzheimer's disease.
JULY 5, 1996
Daytona USA, an interactive attraction celebrating racing, opens.
FEB. 15, 1998
Dale Earnhardt finally wins the Daytona 500.
1998
Lights are installed in 1998 so the Pepsi 400 can be run at night. However, the race was delayed until October because of thick smoke from wildfires. The Pepsi 400 has been held under lights ever since.
FEBRUARY 1999
Senior Vice President Mike Helton is named NASCAR chief operating officer and takes over day-to-day operations from William C. France.
NOVEMBER 2000
Mike Helton becomes the third president in NASCAR's history; William C. France becomes chairman of the sanctioning body.
FEB. 18, 2001
Seven-time Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt dies in Daytona 500; new TV package begins with Fox broadcast of Daytona 500.
SEPTEMBER 2003
William C. France names son Brian Z. France as NASCAR chairman and chief executive officer.
SEPT. 26-27, 2006
Indy Racing League holds a compatibility test with drivers Vitor Meira, Sam Hornish Jr., Tony Kanaan, Scott Dixon and Dan Wheldon. It is the first time since 1959 that Indy cars and the first time since 1984 an open-wheel car have taken to the track at Daytona Beach.
COMING IN 2008
The Indy Racing League is looking to use Daytona's Road Course for preseason testing with the ultimate goal of having a race in Speed Weeks 2008.
-- Godwin Kelly, News-Journal research
Speedway has become THE place to race
By GODWIN KELLY /Motorsports Editor
The sons of William H.G. France, the man who founded NASCAR and built the Daytona Beach racetrack, believe they have realized their father's dream of creating a motorsports arena recognized throughout the world.
Before the gates ever opened for a racing event, "Big Bill" France named his facility Daytona International Speedway with the hopes that the track would some day gain a global standing.
With the addition of an Indy Racing League test session later this month, the Speedway now hosts virtually every imaginable form of motorsports competition, tempting competitors and manufacturers from every corner of the world.
"You are spot on with Dad wanting Daytona to be recognized worldwide," said France's youngest son, James C. France, now CEO of International Speedway Corp., the company that owns the track.
"Daytona Speedway has helped the stature of drivers, and the drivers have helped build the Daytona Speedway as the place to come to race," said William C. France, the ISC chairman and "Big Bill's" oldest son.
As a team, Bill Jr. and Jim France have carried the Speedway's international concept to a new level.
The 49th annual edition of Speed Weeks roars to life Thursday when teams begin practice and qualifying for the Rolex 24 At Daytona over the 3.56-mile road course. The 24-hour sportscar event will launch Daytona's ambitious 2007 racing schedule.
This upcoming season the track will host the first NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race featuring Toyota stock cars, see former Formula One star Juan Pablo Montoya compete in the Daytona 500, and get an IRL shakedown featuring an intercontinental roster of drivers.
Montoya has seen most of the world thanks to a seven-year driving stint in F1. He's never raced at Daytona but says the name is familiar to those outside this country.
"In Europe, Monza (in Italy) and Monaco is where the history is," the globe-trotting driver from Colombia said. "No question, Daytona and Indy are the two biggest tracks in the United States."
Indianapolis Motor Speedway is known for the Indianapolis 500, once a stop on the Formula One circuit.
Bill France Sr.'s international racing interest likely piqued after watching Sir Malcolm Campbell's last land speed run on the beach in 1935.
France, an auto mechanic who lived in Washington, D.C., had just settled into this community with his wife, Anne, and Bill Jr., then just a toddler.
He watched in awe as Campbell flashed past, posting a world record, straight-line speed just over 276 mph in his Bluebird creation. The same car now rests in Daytona USA.
"Then, they took that (land speed runs) out to the Utah Salt Flats," Bill Jr. said. "Daytona wanted to keep motorsports here and that's when the NASCAR-type cars started racing on the beach."
Soon after Campbell's last appearance, the France family began promoting stock car beach races. In 1958 they broke ground to construct the Speedway, a 2.5-mile, high-banked tri-oval along with a world-class road course that would beckon international racing events.
"When he designed the track, he put the road course in there for that very reason," Jim France said. "As quick as he could get the AMA (American Motorcyclists Association) to agree to it, they moved the motorcycle races from the beach over here. International was definitely his goal."
Bill Sr. built the track on a shoestring budget and had very little money in the bank for the inaugural Speed Weeks program.
"Money was tight," Bill Jr. said.
Still, his father paid a reportedly hefty fee to have the 1959 Daytona 500 sanctioned by the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile.
"They are the primary sanctioning body for Formula One right now as we speak," Bill Jr. said. "In some countries it's illegal to run a race unless it's sanctioned by the FIA."
By obtaining the sanction, any driver in the world with an FIA license could compete in the 500.
Two FIA drivers from Lima, Peru, jumped on the opportunity to compete in the inaugural 500 and did surprisingly well. Raul Cilloniz finished 12th while his countryman, Eduardo "Chi Chi" Dibos started ninth in the 59-car field.
The Daytona 500 and Pepsi 400 continue their FIA-sanctioned status to this day unlike the majority of races on the Nextel Cup schedule.
The Speedway hosted its first "continental" sports car event -- a three-hour spectacle -- in 1962 with Dan Gurney, now a Hall of Famer, earning the victory.
Over the years that race evolved into today's Rolex 24 At Daytona, a grueling, twice around-the-clock endurance test of man and machine.
"The only endurance races at that time were held at Sebring and from time to time at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) on the street course up there," Bill Jr. said.
"We've had a lot of Formula One drivers who were in our sports car race," he added. "And we've had riders from all over the world to run in the motorcycle races."
Do the France brothers think they fulfilled their father's international dream?
"It's work that is never done," Jim France said. "We are continuing to try and build it up. Don't ever rest on your laurels."
Key Dates in DIS History
DECEMBER 1947
William H.G. France calls a meeting of stock car promoters, team owners and drivers at the Streamline Hotel, where they agree to form a new sanctioning body called the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing.
FEBRUARY 1948
Races on the old Daytona beach-road course are staged as NASCAR events; six days later NASCAR is officially incorporated.
FEBRUARY 1959
NASCAR sanctions events at the newly opened Daytona International Speedway, built by France.
FEBRUARY 1962
Formula One driver Dan Gurney wins the three-hour Daytona Continental (a forerunner to the Rolex 24).
JANUARY 1972
William H.G. France names his son William C. France as president of NASCAR.
FEBRUARY 1979
The Daytona 500 becomes the first race televised live on network television (CBS); receives high ratings and there's a Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison brawl.
JUNE 1992
William H.G. France dies from Alzheimer's disease.
JULY 5, 1996
Daytona USA, an interactive attraction celebrating racing, opens.
FEB. 15, 1998
Dale Earnhardt finally wins the Daytona 500.
1998
Lights are installed in 1998 so the Pepsi 400 can be run at night. However, the race was delayed until October because of thick smoke from wildfires. The Pepsi 400 has been held under lights ever since.
FEBRUARY 1999
Senior Vice President Mike Helton is named NASCAR chief operating officer and takes over day-to-day operations from William C. France.
NOVEMBER 2000
Mike Helton becomes the third president in NASCAR's history; William C. France becomes chairman of the sanctioning body.
FEB. 18, 2001
Seven-time Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt dies in Daytona 500; new TV package begins with Fox broadcast of Daytona 500.
SEPTEMBER 2003
William C. France names son Brian Z. France as NASCAR chairman and chief executive officer.
SEPT. 26-27, 2006
Indy Racing League holds a compatibility test with drivers Vitor Meira, Sam Hornish Jr., Tony Kanaan, Scott Dixon and Dan Wheldon. It is the first time since 1959 that Indy cars and the first time since 1984 an open-wheel car have taken to the track at Daytona Beach.
COMING IN 2008
The Indy Racing League is looking to use Daytona's Road Course for preseason testing with the ultimate goal of having a race in Speed Weeks 2008.
-- Godwin Kelly, News-Journal research
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lee Spencer / FOXSports.com
Some people shave in the car. Others check their makeup. Then there's the idiot who camps out in the fast lane on the cell phone.
NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France? He dreams up new points systems for the Nextel Cup.
France admitted Monday that part of his inspiration for the new NASCAR Nextel Cup points system came while he was "driving on (his) way to have lunch." Time will tell if the new system keeps the Chase headed in the right direction, or if it leaps the curb and runs into a tree.
In France's world, proper direction means eliminating the 400-point cutoff between the points leader and drivers outside of the top 10 in point by increasing the Chase field to 12.
I can buy that. What I don't understand is why NASCAR felt the need to monkey with the system once drivers qualify for the Chase. They would have been better off following the KISS system: Keep It Simple, Stupid.
Now I'm the first to admit that I'm more of a roads scholar than a Rhodes scholar. So it's more than a little scary to think that I'll be using my calculator more often than my spellcheck following the 26th race of the regular season. (I'd explain how my fifth-grade teacher Mrs. Miles brainwashed me to believe that girls didn't need math, but that's a whole `nother story).
At the very least, I'll be cozily ensconced in the comfort of the Richmond press box while I try to figure out which driver is leading the points and why heading into New Hampshire — the first race of the Chase. You, the fans in the stands, had better pull out your calculators and pull up your seat cushions, because it's likely to be a pain in the behind.
The first change is simple enough. Drivers will receive five additional points for wins. When the Chase was first introduced three years ago, the points for the winner jumped from 180 points to 185 — that's a 180-point base for the victory plus five points for leading laps. The driver who led the most laps was scored with 190. Now, if a driver wins the race and leads the most laps, he'll be credited with 195.
With me so far? Good. Here's where it starts to take a turn for the unnecessary.
Under the new breakdown, the top 12 drivers, two more than last year's 10, will make the Chase. Those dozen drivers will begin with a base of 5,000 points and will be seeded according to wins. For each regular-season win, a driver will receive an additional 10 bonus points on top of the original 5,000.
How does that play out? Let's look at last season as an example.
After the first 26 races last year, Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson were 1-2 atop the points standings. Under the new system, however, Kenseth and Johnson each would have had 5,040 points after Richmond, and Kasey Kahne would have been seeded No. 1 for the Chase with a score of 5,050 — the 5,000-point base plus 50 points (5x10) for his five victories.
I've been a proponent of increasing the reward for wins for some time. Before Bob Latford, the architect of the current points system, passed away several years ago, it was his wish to offer 10 additional points for wins. Like Goldilocks I would agree that this decision was "just right." The bottom line: Fans fill the stands to watch racers race. Sunday drives are for civilians.
Is there any good news to come from this number crunching? Yes. The days of points racing are over. Drivers will be forced to go all out during the regular season to score victories (and the bonus points).
France put it this way: "What we found was a balance between winning and consistency and how careful we have to be to get that just right."
Translation: Some sponsors were ticked at us last year when their drivers missed the Chase, so we want to toss in another level of scoring to put more of the onus on them and keep us from getting roasted again.
But if encouraging competition while simultaneously rewarding victories is the goal, then why didn't NASCAR just come out and do it? Why not just award 10 additional points for victories from the get-go, rather than recalculating arbitrarily for the Chase?
That would have been simple. Instead, it's just stupid.
Lee Spencer is a senior NASCAR writer for FOXSports.com.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hamilton, like father, speaks his mind
By BUDDY SHACKLETTE/Staff Writer
DAYTONA BEACH -- Bobby Hamilton Jr. sat down at the podium with his racing suit and hat on, making his best effort at putting on his game face.
Just two weeks after his father's death, his voice cracked and he was occasionally brought to tears as he spoke of the late Bobby Hamilton Sr. during NASCAR Jackson Hewitt Preseason Thunder Busch Series testing at Daytona International Speedway.
Hamilton Sr. succumbed to a year-long battle with head and neck cancer Jan. 7, a day before his only son's 29th birthday.
"With everything we've been dealing with it was nice to be able to get back to the race track where we don't have to answer phones and do everything else," Hamilton Jr. said. "It was the biggest relief to put the window net up and go out, and it was like being on a beach somewhere by yourself because it was just my thoughts, my racecar ready to get back to work."
It was the first time Hamilton Jr. spoke publicly of his father's passing and the former Nextel Cup driver's first time back in a racecar since his father's death.
Much like his father, who won the 2004 Craftsman Truck Series championship and four Nextel Cup races with three different owners during his 17-year NASCAR career, Hamilton Jr. spoke directly and forcefully on all topics.
"It's a relief, but it's been tough for him and for me being here at the track," said Stephanie Hamilton, Junior's wife, "because he's used to calling (his dad) and telling him how things are going, or (Bobby Sr.) calling him and asking him how things are going or coming over and yanking down the net and chewing him out."
Father and son were always about as close as two could be.
Aside from having high-profile NASCAR careers, the two always made time to work on and race their legacy and late-model cars together.
Last year both made sacrifices to help each other out professionally.
Junior's career was at an all-time low after a failed year-and-a-half attempt with a now-defunct Cup team. Senior's goal at the beginning of last season was to get his son's career back on track.
"The Cup deal about put me out of business just about to where nobody would even talk to me," said Hamilton Jr. "You went from winning four or five races a year and possible a championship (in the Busch Series) to jump over in a pile of junk and couldn't fall out of tree."
Hamilton Sr. had planned a three -- and sometimes four -- truck effort for 2006, but three races into the season Bobby Sr. disclosed he would be getting out of the seat to fight the disease.
Bobby Jr. had been driving his father's equipment and was in discussions with several team owners, but decided helping his father's team -- which Bobby Sr. built from the ground up -- was in his and his father's best interests.
"Whether it was about building careers or not, it was about I need to jump in here and help him out," said Hamilton Jr. "We'd hoped to have had a better year."
Hamilton Jr. had one top-five and six top-10 runs for BHR last season while finishing 16th in the final points standings.
HE SAID, THEY SAID
Over the year, Hamilton Jr. grew more and more frustrated with the family-owned team. Four months before his father's death he learned he'd be back with Busch owner Ed Rensi, whom he won four races and contended for a championship with in 2003-04 before jumping to the No. 32 Cup ride of Cal Wells.
"Our leader at BHR wasn't around, he was sick, he wasn't up to par so there were a lot of things crumbling," said Hamilton Jr. "It was almost like the Titanic a little bit. I'm waiting and I'm looking for a lifeboat here."
Bobby Hamilton Racing released the following statement in response to Hamilton Jr.'s comments: "We at Bobby Hamilton Racing are continuing operations with a team of people hand-selected by Bobby Hamilton Sr. This is the same team of people who helped Bobby Sr. win his NCTS championship title in 2004.
"The team's and our sponsors', Fastenal and Dodge, continued commitment is evident by the recent successful performance during testing in Daytona. During the past season, we have had the full support from Fastenal and Dodge who were supportive during Bobby's battle with cancer as well as his plan for continuing operations at BHR in his absence.
"We have so many members of the NASCAR, Fastenal and Dodge family, as well as personal friends and family members who have confidence in Bobby Hamilton Racing's success in 2007 and beyond. We wish that same success to Bobby Jr."
As his father got worse, Junior expressed his frustrations to him and -- in true Bobby Hamilton fashion -- Bobby Sr. told his son he had "to go his own way."
Hamilton Jr. agonized over what his father had built and what it had become. He knew it was his legacy and his father's life's work.
He admits that he is bitter over what it has become and does not claim any ownership in the company.
"I've washed my hands and dried them. I'm done. There's people involved in it now that I just don't like, period. I'm very bitter about things and I don't care," said Hamilton Jr. "This is the first time I've talked about it. If you want the truth whether you like it or not, come to me or (Dad) -- well, he's not around so I'm having to take his place too with that."
THE NEXT STEP
BHR said it will schedule a press conference during Speed Weeks to address the organization's future.
"When he started getting bad and people were talking about legacy, (Dad) patted me on the back and said 'Your name is my legacy. Winning races is what I need you to do,' " said Hamilton Jr., his voice cracking. "He said, 'I won my championship, I did what I wanted to do, built it from ground up.' I kept hearing so much, legacy this, legacy that and I get up every day with his name. As long as I have a job, you go across that stage and wave to the fans and they hear that name and they know."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~By BUDDY SHACKLETTE/Staff Writer
DAYTONA BEACH -- Bobby Hamilton Jr. sat down at the podium with his racing suit and hat on, making his best effort at putting on his game face.
Just two weeks after his father's death, his voice cracked and he was occasionally brought to tears as he spoke of the late Bobby Hamilton Sr. during NASCAR Jackson Hewitt Preseason Thunder Busch Series testing at Daytona International Speedway.
Hamilton Sr. succumbed to a year-long battle with head and neck cancer Jan. 7, a day before his only son's 29th birthday.
"With everything we've been dealing with it was nice to be able to get back to the race track where we don't have to answer phones and do everything else," Hamilton Jr. said. "It was the biggest relief to put the window net up and go out, and it was like being on a beach somewhere by yourself because it was just my thoughts, my racecar ready to get back to work."
It was the first time Hamilton Jr. spoke publicly of his father's passing and the former Nextel Cup driver's first time back in a racecar since his father's death.
Much like his father, who won the 2004 Craftsman Truck Series championship and four Nextel Cup races with three different owners during his 17-year NASCAR career, Hamilton Jr. spoke directly and forcefully on all topics.
"It's a relief, but it's been tough for him and for me being here at the track," said Stephanie Hamilton, Junior's wife, "because he's used to calling (his dad) and telling him how things are going, or (Bobby Sr.) calling him and asking him how things are going or coming over and yanking down the net and chewing him out."
Father and son were always about as close as two could be.
Aside from having high-profile NASCAR careers, the two always made time to work on and race their legacy and late-model cars together.
Last year both made sacrifices to help each other out professionally.
Junior's career was at an all-time low after a failed year-and-a-half attempt with a now-defunct Cup team. Senior's goal at the beginning of last season was to get his son's career back on track.
"The Cup deal about put me out of business just about to where nobody would even talk to me," said Hamilton Jr. "You went from winning four or five races a year and possible a championship (in the Busch Series) to jump over in a pile of junk and couldn't fall out of tree."
Hamilton Sr. had planned a three -- and sometimes four -- truck effort for 2006, but three races into the season Bobby Sr. disclosed he would be getting out of the seat to fight the disease.
Bobby Jr. had been driving his father's equipment and was in discussions with several team owners, but decided helping his father's team -- which Bobby Sr. built from the ground up -- was in his and his father's best interests.
"Whether it was about building careers or not, it was about I need to jump in here and help him out," said Hamilton Jr. "We'd hoped to have had a better year."
Hamilton Jr. had one top-five and six top-10 runs for BHR last season while finishing 16th in the final points standings.
HE SAID, THEY SAID
Over the year, Hamilton Jr. grew more and more frustrated with the family-owned team. Four months before his father's death he learned he'd be back with Busch owner Ed Rensi, whom he won four races and contended for a championship with in 2003-04 before jumping to the No. 32 Cup ride of Cal Wells.
"Our leader at BHR wasn't around, he was sick, he wasn't up to par so there were a lot of things crumbling," said Hamilton Jr. "It was almost like the Titanic a little bit. I'm waiting and I'm looking for a lifeboat here."
Bobby Hamilton Racing released the following statement in response to Hamilton Jr.'s comments: "We at Bobby Hamilton Racing are continuing operations with a team of people hand-selected by Bobby Hamilton Sr. This is the same team of people who helped Bobby Sr. win his NCTS championship title in 2004.
"The team's and our sponsors', Fastenal and Dodge, continued commitment is evident by the recent successful performance during testing in Daytona. During the past season, we have had the full support from Fastenal and Dodge who were supportive during Bobby's battle with cancer as well as his plan for continuing operations at BHR in his absence.
"We have so many members of the NASCAR, Fastenal and Dodge family, as well as personal friends and family members who have confidence in Bobby Hamilton Racing's success in 2007 and beyond. We wish that same success to Bobby Jr."
As his father got worse, Junior expressed his frustrations to him and -- in true Bobby Hamilton fashion -- Bobby Sr. told his son he had "to go his own way."
Hamilton Jr. agonized over what his father had built and what it had become. He knew it was his legacy and his father's life's work.
He admits that he is bitter over what it has become and does not claim any ownership in the company.
"I've washed my hands and dried them. I'm done. There's people involved in it now that I just don't like, period. I'm very bitter about things and I don't care," said Hamilton Jr. "This is the first time I've talked about it. If you want the truth whether you like it or not, come to me or (Dad) -- well, he's not around so I'm having to take his place too with that."
THE NEXT STEP
BHR said it will schedule a press conference during Speed Weeks to address the organization's future.
"When he started getting bad and people were talking about legacy, (Dad) patted me on the back and said 'Your name is my legacy. Winning races is what I need you to do,' " said Hamilton Jr., his voice cracking. "He said, 'I won my championship, I did what I wanted to do, built it from ground up.' I kept hearing so much, legacy this, legacy that and I get up every day with his name. As long as I have a job, you go across that stage and wave to the fans and they hear that name and they know."
Empty Feeling: Hamilton, Parsons to be missed
By Mike Mulhern/JOURNAL REPORTER
The loss of Benny Parsons and Bobby Hamilton in the past two weeks has made for an uneasy start to the new NASCAR season.
Even though drivers and crews are trying their darnedest to begin things upbeat, it's been hard so far. When two of the really good guys move on like this, their deaths tend to linger.
And everyone is hoping that the homily "Bad things come in threes" doesn't pan out. Losing two of stock-car racing's most popular men has been bad enough.
Elliott Sadler, whose career has been full of ups and downs, was hit hard by the death of Parsons last week, after the death of fellow racer Hamilton just the week before.
"We've lost a great friend in Benny Parsons. That's hard to swallow," Sadler sid slowly. "I met Benny when I was 12 years old and had Thanksgiving dinner with him. That was pretty cool.
"To lose him - not as a driver or analyst or announcer or anything like that - but to lose him as a friend has been tough.
"My brother went to the University of North Carolina, and when he was a freshman, his suitemate was Keith Parsons, Benny's son. We knew Keith, but we didn't put two and two together until he invited us all over to meet his dad.
"I was always a race fan growing up, and I definitely knew who Benny Parsons was. So when they invited us to Thanksgiving dinner at Benny's house, that was a treat for me, 12 years old getting to go to his house. Spending the day with him and seeing his trophies and seeing his accomplishments at his house was amazing to a 12-year-old kid.
"We even played Pictionary, which I thought was awesome. That's something I'll always remember. It's weird how certain things are etched in your mind as you go through life."
Parsons and Hamilton were so full of life that they could fill a room just by walking into it. And once they got wound up on something, there was no off button. They were running until the end of it.
Everyone has a Benny Parsons story. Several, probably. One summer long, long ago, he taught me how to shoot craps in Vegas.
It was on a tour run from Riverside, Calif., to Michigan, back when the tour didn't fly but rather hit the road in doolies and cars, a long, extended circus train meandering from track to track to track. And Vegas was a good post-Riverside stop on Mondays and Tuesdays, particularly since part-time racer Mel Larson was the PR man at Circus Circus.
Watching Parsons work the craps layout was high-drama, mesmerizing. He was a Nureyev at the table, always in motion, cajoling the dice, carrying on a running conversation with all about him - and never failing to make a bet for the table or tip the dealer. He not only knew all the numbers but also the etiquette.
One fall Wilkesboro Speedway weekend, Parsons invited a few friends up to the old family homestead near the track for a small Friday evening cookout - and to show them the world he grew up in, the backwoods life down at the end of a desolate dirt road, where there was still no electricity and the only running water was what you ran to fetch.
Parsons also taught patience, so many times, once particularly at Talladega, where he had just lost a vicious last-lap duel for the win at that high-tension track, and he knew his job was on the line. Yet he stood there as cool as could be for those aggravating post-race interviews, even as his blood-pressure was clearly rising.
Parsons was a role model that many of today's newcomers would do well to emulate.
Matt Kenseth is, in some ways, a kindred spirit.
"Even though you know Bennie was sick, and you knew things weren't good - and the same for Bobby - it's always tough when they go," Kenseth said.
"Probably all of us have known somebody that's been bit by cancer. Robbie's (crew chief Robbie Reiser's) dad last year and Bobby, and my uncle Gary a while back, all of us who have been around long enough know somebody. They're a survivor or know somebody that's got it.
"It's a terrible disease.
"But more than anything, I remember how happy Benny always was, how he was always around the sport that he loved....
"Even the last time I saw him, at Homestead (in November), and he had this girl carrying his oxygen bottle, but he's in the garage and he's just as happy as could be.
"You knew he didn't feel good. But he still came down to see everybody and wish them luck and hang out in the garage, because that's where he wanted to be.
"That's really what I remember about him."
Jeff Gordon, torn between the loss of two friends and his own impending fatherhood, said, "I'm having a hard time talking about it because I'm still blown away. Most of us thought 'OK, he's cancer-free, and he's going to be back and be Benny.'
"And for this to happen so suddenly, it's really heartbreaking.
"He was somebody who was really good to me early on in my career. I don't even know if I was in the Cup series at the time. He had moved into a new house and had a lot of friends over. Somehow I got on that list and found myself hanging out at Benny's, and it was really a cool thing.
"But I'll never forget one day when he said 'You've got to come over to my house. You're missing out on something. I want you to meet this guy - he gives these amazing massages, and you need to get a massage.'
"So I went to Benny's and got a massage.
"It was a little strange, but it turned me into somebody that recognizes how important massages are."
Sometimes when big men die, they never really leave us - men such as Dale Earnhardt and Big House Gaines, the legendary basketball coach at Winston-Salem State. The smiles and the scowls may now be just fading images in the mind, but the spirit still hangs in there tough.
Some men are just bigger than life, bigger than the world they left behind. And Benny Parsons and Bobby Hamilton are two. We're all better just for having known them.
By Mike Mulhern/JOURNAL REPORTER
The loss of Benny Parsons and Bobby Hamilton in the past two weeks has made for an uneasy start to the new NASCAR season.
Even though drivers and crews are trying their darnedest to begin things upbeat, it's been hard so far. When two of the really good guys move on like this, their deaths tend to linger.
And everyone is hoping that the homily "Bad things come in threes" doesn't pan out. Losing two of stock-car racing's most popular men has been bad enough.
Elliott Sadler, whose career has been full of ups and downs, was hit hard by the death of Parsons last week, after the death of fellow racer Hamilton just the week before.
"We've lost a great friend in Benny Parsons. That's hard to swallow," Sadler sid slowly. "I met Benny when I was 12 years old and had Thanksgiving dinner with him. That was pretty cool.
"To lose him - not as a driver or analyst or announcer or anything like that - but to lose him as a friend has been tough.
"My brother went to the University of North Carolina, and when he was a freshman, his suitemate was Keith Parsons, Benny's son. We knew Keith, but we didn't put two and two together until he invited us all over to meet his dad.
"I was always a race fan growing up, and I definitely knew who Benny Parsons was. So when they invited us to Thanksgiving dinner at Benny's house, that was a treat for me, 12 years old getting to go to his house. Spending the day with him and seeing his trophies and seeing his accomplishments at his house was amazing to a 12-year-old kid.
"We even played Pictionary, which I thought was awesome. That's something I'll always remember. It's weird how certain things are etched in your mind as you go through life."
Parsons and Hamilton were so full of life that they could fill a room just by walking into it. And once they got wound up on something, there was no off button. They were running until the end of it.
Everyone has a Benny Parsons story. Several, probably. One summer long, long ago, he taught me how to shoot craps in Vegas.
It was on a tour run from Riverside, Calif., to Michigan, back when the tour didn't fly but rather hit the road in doolies and cars, a long, extended circus train meandering from track to track to track. And Vegas was a good post-Riverside stop on Mondays and Tuesdays, particularly since part-time racer Mel Larson was the PR man at Circus Circus.
Watching Parsons work the craps layout was high-drama, mesmerizing. He was a Nureyev at the table, always in motion, cajoling the dice, carrying on a running conversation with all about him - and never failing to make a bet for the table or tip the dealer. He not only knew all the numbers but also the etiquette.
One fall Wilkesboro Speedway weekend, Parsons invited a few friends up to the old family homestead near the track for a small Friday evening cookout - and to show them the world he grew up in, the backwoods life down at the end of a desolate dirt road, where there was still no electricity and the only running water was what you ran to fetch.
Parsons also taught patience, so many times, once particularly at Talladega, where he had just lost a vicious last-lap duel for the win at that high-tension track, and he knew his job was on the line. Yet he stood there as cool as could be for those aggravating post-race interviews, even as his blood-pressure was clearly rising.
Parsons was a role model that many of today's newcomers would do well to emulate.
Matt Kenseth is, in some ways, a kindred spirit.
"Even though you know Bennie was sick, and you knew things weren't good - and the same for Bobby - it's always tough when they go," Kenseth said.
"Probably all of us have known somebody that's been bit by cancer. Robbie's (crew chief Robbie Reiser's) dad last year and Bobby, and my uncle Gary a while back, all of us who have been around long enough know somebody. They're a survivor or know somebody that's got it.
"It's a terrible disease.
"But more than anything, I remember how happy Benny always was, how he was always around the sport that he loved....
"Even the last time I saw him, at Homestead (in November), and he had this girl carrying his oxygen bottle, but he's in the garage and he's just as happy as could be.
"You knew he didn't feel good. But he still came down to see everybody and wish them luck and hang out in the garage, because that's where he wanted to be.
"That's really what I remember about him."
Jeff Gordon, torn between the loss of two friends and his own impending fatherhood, said, "I'm having a hard time talking about it because I'm still blown away. Most of us thought 'OK, he's cancer-free, and he's going to be back and be Benny.'
"And for this to happen so suddenly, it's really heartbreaking.
"He was somebody who was really good to me early on in my career. I don't even know if I was in the Cup series at the time. He had moved into a new house and had a lot of friends over. Somehow I got on that list and found myself hanging out at Benny's, and it was really a cool thing.
"But I'll never forget one day when he said 'You've got to come over to my house. You're missing out on something. I want you to meet this guy - he gives these amazing massages, and you need to get a massage.'
"So I went to Benny's and got a massage.
"It was a little strange, but it turned me into somebody that recognizes how important massages are."
Sometimes when big men die, they never really leave us - men such as Dale Earnhardt and Big House Gaines, the legendary basketball coach at Winston-Salem State. The smiles and the scowls may now be just fading images in the mind, but the spirit still hangs in there tough.
Some men are just bigger than life, bigger than the world they left behind. And Benny Parsons and Bobby Hamilton are two. We're all better just for having known them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Championships have always driven me to win races. That 3 car pulling into the track would cause people to look around and wonder what we were doing, to see how to beat us."
-Dale Earnhardt
-Dale Earnhardt
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, that's all for today. Until the next time, I remain,Your
Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, wine in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"
"Don't come here and grumble about going too fast. Get the hell out of the race car if you've got feathers on your legs or butt. Put a kerosene rag around your ankles so the ants wins't climb up there and eat that candy ass." - Dale Earnhardt – 1998
"It's nothin' personal, it's just racin'
-Dale Earnhardt Sr.
This list is authored by:
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