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POLL QUESTION: Do you think Toyota and other "foreign" cars should be allowed to race in NASCAR?
CHOICES AND RESULTS
- No Way, No How, 33 votes, 71.74%
- Absolutley, 10 votes, 21.74%
- On a limited basis., 3 votes, 6.52%
Wendell Scott is the only African-American driver to win a NASCAR Winston Cup Series event.
from Linda
Momma,
I did not know Dale's first start was at Charlotte. However,
I have a picture of Dale and on that picture it states: First start:
05/25/1975-Finished 22nd, Richard Childress finished 23rd. First win:
04/01/1979 @ Bristol-(named rookie of the year) First Winston Cup:
1980-Only driver ever to win both Winston Cup and Rookie back-to-back.
Eighth Winston Cup: Heaven's Raceway.....................2001
Concerning this article from Larry
Jeff Gordon was Rookie of The Year in 1994 and won his first Winston
Cup in 1995. So Dale Earnhardt wasn’t the only one to do it
Linda 24 Fan
Hate to tell you this Linda, but Jeff Gordon was Rookie of the Year in 1993, and won his first Championship in 1995. Jeff’s first start was at Atlanta in the fall of 1992. It was Jeff’s first start in Winston Cup, and Richard Petty’s last race of his career.
BUSCH TO TEST CHAMP CAR
Kurt Busch, a Roush Racing Winston Cup driver who has expressed some interest in open-wheel racing in the past, is scheduled for a one-hour test today in a CART Champ car on the road course in Sebring, Fla. Roush Racing says Ford Racing and Team Rahal extended the invitation to the Las Vegas native, who this week re-signed to continue to drive for Roush. "I'm really excited to see how I do," Busch said. Plans call for Busch to take to the track from 4 to 5 p.m. today. (Wednesday)
Roush Racing says Mark Martin will run in Saturday night's Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway with a special Kraft foods paint scheme on his No. 6 Ford instead of its usual Viagra paint scheme. Martin will be running in his 16th shootout for last year's pole winners and past champions by virtue of his 1999 win in the event.
Veteran crew chief Harold Holly has reached a long-term agreement with Team Amick Motorsports, NASCAR Winston Cup Scene reporter Rick Houston has learned. Holly, who had been crew chief most recently with Angela's Motorsports until it dissolved, will work alongside Bo Montgomery, general manager for Team Amick Engine Development. He may also serve as a consultant for various Team Amick engine customers. Holly, considered one of the top mechanical minds in the business, has one Busch Series championship to his credit, with Jeff Green and ppc Racing in 2000.
The Houston Chronicle reports that construction on the proposed $100 million Houston Super Speedway is expected to begin within two months. Star State Investments Chairman Tom Floyd told the paper that the track, which hopes to lure NASCAR and IRL races, could open by 2005. Plans call for a 75,000-seat grandstand and 50 to 60 suites for the facility to be built on 2,800 acres southeast of Houston near Alvin. A proposed second phase could increase capacity to 150,000 seats.
By JIM UTTER
ThatsRacin.com Writer
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - NASCAR and R.J. Reynolds officials on Wednesday
confirmed changes
to the format of the 2003 Winston all-star race, including a record $1
million payoff for the winner.
The race, scheduled for May 17 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., features race winners from the 2002 and 2003 seasons as well as past winners of the event.
Then-rookie Ryan Newman won the 2002 Winston and its then-record $750,000 purse. The race, entering its 19th season, has been hosted by Lowe's Motor Speedway since 1987.
The Winston will continue to be run in three segments for a total of 90 laps. However, several changes have been in thoses segments and to The Winston Open, a race among drivers not already qualified for The Winston.
Among the changes:
- The first segment will consist of 40 laps, during which teams must make a mandatory green-flag, four-tire pit stop. If there's a late-segment caution, efforts will be made by NASCAR to ensure a green-flag finish. The top-20 finishers advance to the next segment.
- Following a 10-minute break, during which teams may work on their cars without losing track position, the second segment of 30 laps will be held. Only the top-14 finishers will advance to the third segment.
- Following another 10-minute break, the final segment of 20 laps will take place. The starting order will be inverted from positions three through 10 pfollowing a random selection process during the break. Only green-flag laps will count toward the total.
The winner of the final segments receives $1 million. The winner of the first two segments - as well as the pole winner - receives $50,000.
- The Winston Open, which included opportunities for two drivers to advance to The Winston the last two years, will return to one race in 2003.
However, the race will consist of two segments - of 20 and 10 laps - and only the top-14 finishers from the first will advance to the second. Only green-flag laps will count in the final segment and only the winner will advance to The Winston.
The Winston weekend will also feature the debut of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series at Lowe's Motor Speedway, with the inaugural Hardee's 200 set for May 16.
The Winston brand has been a mainstay in NASCAR since the early 1970s. Credit: Autostock
RJR, NASCAR discuss sponsor switch
By Lee Montgomery Turner Sports Interactive
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- The Winston Cup in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series may be gone after 2003.
The R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company said it has talked with NASCAR about the possibility of the sanctioning body finding another company to become the title sponsor of stock-car racing's top division.
Last July, RJR signed a five-year agreement to continue as the backer of the Winston Cup Series. But times have changed, said Ned Leary, president of Sports Marketing Enterprises, the arm of RJR that handles NASCAR sponsorship.
"Since that time, our business dynamics have changed dramatically," Leary said. "In our ongoing conversations with NASCAR, we have discussed the potential of their exploring a new series sponsor at some time in the future."
The news is a bombshell in the NASCAR world.
RJR has been the title sponsor since 1971, when the company came into the sport as manufacturers were leaving. Many have considered Winston to be a saving grace to NASCAR, establishing a points fund and pumping millions of dollars into the sport.
Winston Cup has become synonymous with NASCAR in the years since. Last week, Winston announced an increase in its season-ending points fund to $17 million, with the Winston Cup champion getting $4.25 million.
But on Jan. 6, perhaps a sign of things to come, RJR announced it was discontinuing the No Bull 5 program that could have handed out a $1 million bonus to a driver and fan at one of five selected races.
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc., the parent company of RJR, announced last week losses in the fourth quarter of 2002. The company lost $59 million in the final three months, as opposed to an $89 million profit in the same span of 2001.
The company blamed increased spending on promotions on the losses, saying it needed to spend more to compete with other tobacco companies both large and small.
The company also had a $224 million restructuring charge for the elimination of 635 jobs and the proposed sale of two businesses, according to the Winston-Salem Journal.
RJR also had a loss in the first quarter of 2002, and profits for the entire year were down compared to 2001.
Reynolds Holdings stock was down .49 to 41.65 Wednesday, a decline of 1.16 percent.
Leary set no timetable for when Winston could leave the sport.
"We have always worked with NASCAR and others to do what was in the best interest of this great sport," Leary said. "As the series sponsor, we will continue our work to grow this sport."
Last week, NASCAR lost another long-time sponsor when ConocoPhillips, owner of the 76 gasoline brand, announced it would not return next year as the official provider of fuel.
By DAVID POOLE
The Charlotte Observer
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Winston and NASCAR have discussed the prospect of the sanctioning body finding a new title sponsor for its top racing series, an official with R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. admitted Wednesday.
"In our ongoing conversations with NASCAR, we have discussed the potential of their exploring a new series sponsor at some time in the future," Ned Leary, president of Sports Marketing Enterprises for RJR, said in a statement issued Wednesday.
Leary's statement included no definitive word that RJR will end its sponsorship of the Winston Cup series, a relationship that began in 1971. Neither did it give any timetable for making such a decision.
"I hope it doesn't happen," said Clay Campbell, president of Martinsville Speedway. "If it does, they definitely will be missed."
NASCAR officials did not return phone calls seeking comment on the statement, in which Leary said NASCAR and RJR had signed a five-year contract for Winston to be the title sponsor last year.
"Since that time, our business dynamics have changed dramatically," the statement said. RJR's parent company lost $59 million in the final three months of 2002 and has eliminated about 600 jobs from its total work force.
Still, any possibility that NASCAR and RJR could part ways brings huge ramifications for stock-car racing.
The first Winston Cup points fund in 1971 totaled $100,000, with champion Richard Petty collecting $40,000. Last year, the fund's total was $14 million. Champion Tony Stewart earned $3.75 million.
Earlier this year, Winston announced that the 2003 points fund would be $17 million, $4.25 million of which would go to the champion. That puts the company's total points-fund contributions to the sport alone over the $100 million mark.
Winston also sponsors The Winston all-star race, which will this year be held at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte for the 18th time in its 19-year history.
The company also sponsors the Winston West series and, before dropping the program after last season, its No Bull 5 bonus program awarded $1 million bonuses to drivers and fans in designated races.
RJR previously sponsored NASCAR's weekly racing series at dozens of short tracks around the country and has also spent millions of dollars supporting tracks hosting Winston Cup events.
"I don't think everybody appreciates what RJR brought to the table in terms of signage, suites and track-side promotions alone," said Andrew Gurtis, president of Darlington Raceway. "(Its departure) would leave a huge hole."
While Wednesday's statement from Leary stopped well short of saying that Winston is leaving NASCAR, speculation about a replacement has already begun.
"In a hypothetical world, if the need ever came, we think it's a pretty good property," NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter said in a story posted on ESPN.com Tuesday that set off discussions about Winston's possible departure from the sport.
Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Anheuser-Busch are three companies that have been mentioned as possibilities.
"I don't doubt that NASCAR can find a replacement, but with the relationships that have been built over the years with Winston, it would be a big loss," Martinsville's Campbell said. "Things like that are hard to replace.
"I feel like somebody would jump at the chance to be the series sponsor, but Reynolds kind of picked us up in the '70s and walked down the aisle with us to where we are now."
NASCAR last week lost another longtime sponsor when the owner of the 76 brand of gasoline, ConocoPhillips, announced it would no longer be the sport's official fuel supplier after the 2003 season.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (left) and Michael Waltrip have dominated restrictor-plate racing since 2001.
Credit: Autostock
DEI anticipates tough Daytona
inspection
By Dave Rodman, Turner Sports Interactive
DAYTONA
BEACH, Fla. -- The three Winston Cup teams of Dale Earnhardt Incorporated
are in the majority in anticipating an intense two days of inspections
later this week at Daytona International Speedway.
DEI cars, driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Michael Waltrip have won six of the last eight events at the restrictor plate tracks of Daytona and Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
"We assume that NASCAR is going to be looking at our cars real hard," DEI executive vice president Ty Norris said.
In fact, major changes in check-in procedures and the inspection schedule for Speedweeks 2003 have some Winston Cup teams a little upset with NASCAR.
In the past, Winston Cup teams checked into the Daytona garage area on the Thursday before the opening weekend of Speedweeks and unloaded their cars for both the Budweiser Shootout -- the first racing event of the weekend -- and the Daytona 500.
Inspection for both cars began the same day.
For Speedweeks 2003, the Budweiser Shootout -- a 70-lap special event
with a field of 19 qualified drivers including 15 Bud Pole winners from
the 2002 season and four former winners of
the race -- was moved from Sunday afternoon to Saturday evening.
Bud Pole qualifying for the Daytona 500 was changed from Saturday to Sunday afternoon.
With that change, NASCAR ruled that although all teams would park their transporters Thursday morning, only those teams entered in the Budweiser Shootout could unload -- and the only cars they could remove would be their Shootout pieces.
"We've always done it that way -- we've been doing it that way for years," Norris said. "But we found out at 5 o'clock today (Tuesday) what they were doing. I'm sure NASCAR has a reason for doing it, but we don't know what it is."
He said simply getting settled in the garage area for an arduous 11-day stay was his biggest concern for his employees.
"It takes an hour-and-a-half to two hours to get the truck unloaded and get your garage stall set up with all your tool boxes and equipment situated," Norris said. "Then, you have to get the inside of the track geared up for all you have to do in it for the two weekends.
All Winston Cup practice on Friday will be for Shootout cars only. The remaining Winston Cup teams enter the garage Friday morning, with inspection for all Daytona 500 cars beginning at 7 a.m. ET.
Part of the reasoning behind the changes was a completely new template package for the four manufacturers fielding cars in Winston Cup and the typically lengthy process of getting through Daytona's first inspection of the season -- with the year's most prestigious and lucrative race as the payoff.
Winston Cup teams have two practices Saturday to prepare for Sunday's Bud Pole Qualifying session, which locks-in the front row for the Daytona 500 and begins forming the starting lineups for Feb. 13's Gatorade 125-Mile Qualifying Races for the 500.
"I don't know if some of the teams complained about it or what," Norris
said. "We always though the cars in the Shootout had an advantage anyway
by getting on he race track and in a racing situation, first.
"If you lose some of your advantage in the garage, you're gaining it
back by being out on the race track."
Last Friday, crew chief Michael McSwain and his Joe Gibbs Racing partner, 2002 Winston Cup champion crew chief Greg Zipadelli found out about the plan from NASCAR inspectors who visited their shop to brief them on some new procedures.
Reportedly, the pair spent more than a little time on the phone with the NASCAR hierarchy hotly debating the issue. By this week, McSwain was resigned to the change.
"It's great," McSwain said Wednesday, obviously being a little sarcastic. "It just gives us another day at home before we have to come down to Daytona."
Bobby Labonte's team, McSwain's unit, which is not eligible for the Shootout, changed its travel plans from Wednesday to Thursday afternoon. Norris said that was a potential upside to the situation.
"Our guys were planning to be there Thursday morning, first thing," Norris said. "But if they can't do anything they'll just stay at the shop longer and work on the Rockingham stuff, so you gain an advantage there, I guess."
Speedweeks As The Daytona 500 Champion
HIGH POINT, NC (Feb 5, 2003) -- Ward Burton, driver of the No. 22 Caterpillar Dodge owned by Bill Davis Racing, returns to Daytona International Speedway in unfamiliar territory…a champion of the Daytona 500. After several low points in his 2002 season, Burton is looking forward to a fresh start and what better place to get that then returning to competition as the defending champion.
"For the first time in my career, I am looking forward to returning for Speedweeks," said Burton. "Even with all the pressure and media attention, it is a great honor to have won the Daytona 500. At the time of the win, I was so overwhelmed with emotion and media and sponsor obligations that it all just seemed surreal. Now, I have a full understanding on what it's about and I am hopeful to have the chance to get back into victory lane and do it again."
Burton has a lot to smile about these days and it isn't all attributed to being the defending champion of the Daytona 500. He has a new crew chief - Frank Stoddard remains as the crew chief after filling in as crew chief for the remaining seven races of the 2002 season - and a lightening bolt fast pit crew that is ready to take on the competition.
"I truly believe that we are beginning the race season more organized and better prepared than we ever have been," added Burton. "We had a couple of holes in our program and Frankie, with the help of Bill and his support system, has been able to fill in those holes."
Stoddard brings fresh ideas and renewed confidence for Burton. Stoddard's resume speaks volumes with 14 wins and over $20 million in winnings. The Caterpillar Racing team is hopeful that that knowledge will spark a fire among the No. 22 team.
"Frank is a very dedicated and hardworking person with a mind that is working at always trying to outsmart the competition," said Bill Davis, owner of the No. 22 CAT Dodge. "He has an impressive resume that includes making smart calls on pit road and commanding a team that had to come from the back to the front a lot."
The Caterpillar Team is not setting their mark too high, but within arms reach. They hope that the 2003 season will bring renewed confidence and consistency to the program. If the consistency returns, the top-10s, top-fives and hopefully the wins will follow.
"We have some stiff competition out there," said Stoddard. "If we can bring the No. 22 back to where they were a couple years ago, a top-10 team, we will have made great strides. Right now, we need to build our team and make it better and the rest will follow as a result."
The Caterpillar team kicks off Speedweeks on top and their desire is to emerge a repeat winner in the most coveted race of the season.
Jamie McMurray won at Charlotte last fall filling in for Sterling Marlin. They'll both take the
wheel for Ganassi Racing this season. Credit: AP
Ganassi's M&M boys have little in common
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- On his first day as a Winston Cup driver, Casey Mears turned to teammate Sterling Marlin and asked for a little advice from the seasoned veteran.
Marlin's words of wisdom about turning a lap at Talladega were so simple that the rookie never forgot them.
Neither did Jamie McMurray, his other teammate, who already knew a little about Marlin's humor.
"Casey went up to Sterling real serious and asked 'Sterling, what can you tell me about running on this track?"' McMurray remembered. "And Sterling said in his slow Southern accent, 'Well, I guess you run high one lap, low the next.'
"That was it, that was all he said! And poor Casey thought he was going to get some real advice from him."
McMurray could barely contain his laughter at the memory, while Mears simply shrugged.
As rookie teammates, Mears and McMurray couldn't be more different.
McMurray, a 26-year-old from Joplin, Mo., is a wisecracking smart-aleck who got his start in go-karts around the Midwest before jumping through NASCAR's top three series -- from trucks to the Busch Series to Winston Cup in little more than three seasons.
Mears is a laid-back 24-year-old Californian with a dry sense of humor and a rich racing heritage. His uncle, Rick, is a four-time Indianapolis 500 winner and his father, Roger, was an off-road racing star. With an open-wheel background, Mears has just one full season in stock cars under his belt.
Together, the M&M Boys will try to help Marlin win his first Winston Cup championship.
Individually, they'll be the first teammates in NASCAR history to race against each other for Rookie of the Year.
But Ganassi won't pit the two youngsters against each other. His entire organization is built on a one-team concept. For example, instead of each driver having his own hauler as most teams do, Ganassi has his three serving designated functions: One for all three drivers to lounge in, one for the engineers from all three teams to work out of, and one for sponsors and other guests.
"It's not going to be Casey and Jamie against each other, that's just not how we do things around here," Ganassi said. "If Sterling wins the championship, everyone wins the championship because all three teams worked together for it. If one of them wins rookie of the year, everyone wins rookie of the year."
Still, a certain level of competitiveness will run between the two of them simply based on their desire to succeed at the highest level.
"I don't think either one of us will start each race saying 'I have to beat Jamie' or 'I have to beat Casey,"' Mears said. "We're not going to be out there racing only against each other every week, there's going to be 41 other guys in the field.
"But at the same time, neither one of us is going to want to be the one who comes back to the truck after a bad run and watch the other one celebrate a good run."
Mears and McMurray certainly aren't alone in the rookie class -- four other drivers, including Greg Biffle, the reigning Busch Series champion, will be competing for top newcomer.
But the early attention will be on Mears and McMurray, NASCAR's newest two "young guns" who'll be expected to continue the unbelievable recent run of rookie success.
Ryan Newman and Jimmie Johnson combined for four victories, 10 poles and Newman's win in the annual all-star race last season. Kevin Harvick won twice the year before, Matt Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. had three victories between them in 2000 and Tony Stewart set the bar with his rookie record three wins in 1999.
Mears and McMurray will be counted on to continue the tradition while driving for Ganassi, a highly demanding car owner who looks for immediate results and has little patience for a learning curve.
Ganassi pulled the plug after Jason Leffler had a miserable rookie season in 2001 and veteran Jimmy Spencer lasted just one year before he was fired.
But team manager Andy Graves, entrusted by Ganassi to oversee the entire Winston Cup operation, has watched both youngsters in a series of offseason tests and is confident each will hold his own.
Graves expects McMurray to excel on technical tracks that require experience and knowledge of tire conservation, while Mears, with his background in the speedier open-wheel series, should have an edge on the faster tracks.
Together, they should learn from each other as well teach Marlin a thing or two about the newest technology.
All of a sudden, we have a reputation that if a guy doesn't perform, we're just going to shoot them out of here," Graves said. "But that's not true; we watch how they progress throughout the year.
"We think both Jamie and Casey are going to be just fine. Jamie brings an energy level to us that is just unreal and Casey brings so much focus. I'm not worried about them at all."
2003 Paint Scheme’s
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Your
Momma
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