Happy Thursday!  

Today In Nascar History

March 5, 1983: Davey Allison finishes 25th in his first NASCAR start, the Coca-Cola 200 Nationwide Series race at Rockingham. Dale Earnhardt picks up the win with Davey's father, Bobby, second.

Comments from the Peanut Gallery

From Chip

Dear NASCAR Momma: I have a question that has been bugging me about the race starts. When the pole sitter of a race changes and engine and has to start from the rear of the field, as do any others who do the same, why does NASCAR then let the 3rd qualifier move up to the number one starting position instead of moving the entire inside row ahead of those they did not qualify better than? To my way of thinking, if the first guy has to start in the back then should not the second highest qualifier then start at the front? Why penalize the drivers through the field who qualify in the even numbered spots and reward the drivers who qualify in the odd numbered spots? After all if for any reason Miss America cannot complete her title reign is it not the first runner up who takes over and not the second? I know that there must be some rationale for this reasoning in NASCAR but I must admit it escapes me. How do you reward 21 drivers by advancing their starting positions and penalize 21 others by letting a guy who qualified slower start in front of them? Chip

Bits and Pieces

Robby helps out a solider: A couple of fans visited Las Vegas Motor Speedway last weekend hoping to get #7-Robby Gordon to sign a poster so they could send it to a solider they know who's in Iraq. Gordon not only signed it, he took the poster inside the track and had more than two dozen other drivers sign it and got it back to the fans so they could send it to the soldier.(Charlotte Observer)

#24 to spotlight National Guard program at Atlanta: This weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Jeff Gordon will trade in the bold orange, yellow and black hues that have adorned the hood of his #24 Chevy so far this season for the opportunity to spotlight one of the National Guard's community programs. Gordon will bring awareness to the National Guard's community-related initiatives this season during eight Sprint Cup Series races, starting with Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500. This weekend, the hood of his #24 DuPont/National Guard Chevy will feature the National Guard Youth Challenge program. The voluntary, 17-month program, which is funded by federal and state partnerships, is available at no cost to participants who are at-risk teens between the ages of 16-18. The program provides them with job training, life skills and the confidence to tackle life successfully, as well as a glimpse into the life of National Guard soldier. Visit ngyouthfoundation.org for more information. In addition to this weekend's Sprint Cup Series event at Atlanta, Gordon will partner with the National Guard in seven other races this season and help bring awareness to some of its special programs and benefits. These races include Texas on April 5; Darlington on May 9; Michigan on June 14; Chicagoland on July 11; Richmond Raceway on Sept. 12; New Hampshire on Sept. 20; and Martinsville on Oct. 25. "I'm really excited about having the National Guard on board this season," Gordon said. "They've been a great addition to Hendrick Motorsports, having them on the No. 88 team and seeing what they've done there. Obviously, we've gotten an introduction. The people are great to work with. I think it really ties to our fans. Obviously, (Dale Earnhardt) Jr. has a different fan base than I have, but I think both of us really have a connection with our fans and that connection can transfer over to the National Guard and be fantastic. With our sport being as patriotic as it is and all-American, I think it makes perfect sense."(HMS PR)

School visits by Labonte and Johnson: #48-Jimmie Johnson is scheduled to visit Hampton’s Lovejoy High School to donate a set of Kobalt Tools as part of the Tough Tools for Cool Schools program on Friday at 10:00am/et. Lowe’s, Kobalt Tools and SkillsUSA have partnered to provide approximately $300,000 worth of Kobalt Tools to more than 500 SkillsUSA Building and Construction Trade Classes and Labs across the county. Johnson’s #48 Chevy will also showcase a Tough Tools for Cool Schools paint scheme, which he will race on April 5 at Texas Motor Speedway.  AND Prior to qualifying at for the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Bobby Labonte will give a deserving fifth grader a ride to school before presenting Cotton Indian Elementary in Stockbridge with a computer donation on behalf of Ask.com and the Safe Search School program. The Safe Search School presentation featuring Bobby Labonte will take place on Friday, March 6 at 7:30am/et. Launched in the Atlanta area last month as a partnership between Ask.com, Web Wise Kids and NASCAR, the Safe Search School Program promotes internet safety education and awareness. Local Atlanta teachers and students participated in the program by visiting www.safesearchschools.com, conducting Internet safety lessons and submitting their own ideas for how teach fellow students to be safe online. Cotton Indian Elementary was selected from nearly 200 entries by a Blue Ribbon Panel, comprised of Jim Safka, chief executive officer of Ask.com; Mike Helton, president of NASCAR; Judi Westberg Warren, president of Web Wise Kids; and Bobby Labonte.(AMS PR)

Cub Cadet to sponsor #8 at Atlanta: Cub Cadet will come on board to partner with Earnhardt Ganassi Racing driver Aric Almirola and the #8 Chevy this weekend in Atlanta. The opportunity was presented through the strong relationship that Earnhardt Ganassi Racing has with partner BASS Pro Shops, one of Cub Cadet’s largest customers. Cub Cadet is a brand of MTD Products, a manufacturer of premier outdoor power equipment. This includes utility vehicles, home owner and professional lawn & garden products, compact tractors, riding mowers, walk behind mowers and hand held power equipment. MTD was founded in 1932 and is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. Cub Cadet’s products are sold through a network of independent dealers including BASS Pro Shops. Cub Cadet is the Official Lawn & Garden Equipment of NASCAR. For more information on Cub Cadet, please visit www.cubcadet.com.(EGR PR)

Kingsford colors return for Ambrose: This weekend Kingsford Charcoal is the primary sponsor of Marcos Ambrose’s #47 Toyota fielded by JTG-Daugherty Racing. Ambrose first drove the scheme last week at Las Vegas.(MWR)

BB&T colors for Bowyer this week: Clint Bowyer’s Chevy will sport new colors this weekend when the burgundy, white and gold paint scheme of BB&T adorn the #33 for the first of 11 races [see the #33 Team News page for the BB&T race list] where the Winston-Salem, N.C. corporation will be featured as the primary sponsor (RCR PR)

Edwards to run Claritin scheme: Schering-Plough SGP, maker of the top-selling allergy medicine, Claritin, announced its second Sprint Cup racing season as a sponsor of NASCAR star and long-time allergy sufferer Carl Edwards. Edwards, who takes non-drowsy Claritin to treat his allergy symptoms, will drive the #99 Claritin Ford during the April Sprint Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway.(MSN Money)

“Along for the Ride” on the #11 car: The #11 FedEx Ground Toyota of Denny Hamlin will feature “QNEG” on the wing caps this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway. QNEG is the code for the FedEx Home Delivery - New England Region and the group is being recognized for leading all FedEx Ground regions in customer service scores.(FedEx Racing PR)

Scott Speed...the DJ? With his ear on the Winter Music Conference later this month in Miami, Scott Speed is taking DJ lessons on Thursday in midtown Atlanta. He’ll hook up with DJ TD — short for music mixer Tim DeGroot — for the first of several scratch sessions that Speed has planned before the March 23-25 Winter Music Conference. “He’s going to spend some time working with me to teach me the basics of DJ’ing,” said Speed, whose favorite artists include DJ Tiesto, Timbaland, Lupe Fiasco, Kanye West and Placebo. “I’ve already been working on some stuff on my own with DJ equipment in my basement, so I’m hoping DJ TD will have some good stuff to add to what I’m learning. “I just like doing as much as I can. Life’s short — I want to do all of it.” The WMC is a weeklong electronic music event held every March since the mid- 1980s in south Florida. The event moved to Miami Beach in 1991 and was considered a major catalyst in the establishment of the South Beach club scene. WMC draws more than 3,500 music industry participants and 62,000 event participants from 70 countries.(Red Bull Racing)

Petty’s' Kansas Victory Junction camp gets a big gift: KBS Constructors of Topeka announced today it will build a $1.5 million state-of-the-art medical facility free of charge at the Victory Junction camp scheduled to open in Kansas City, Kan., in 2011. KBS Constructors president Dan Foltz made the donation at a news conference at Kansas Speedway. The 7,800 square-foot medical facility -- called The Body Shop -- will provide medical support and will house the medically advanced equipment for the children and families who attend Victory Junction, a year-round, nonprofit camp for children with chronic medical conditions. The original Victory Junction camp was founded in Randleman, N.C., by NASCAR driver Kyle Petty and his wife, Pattie, in honor of their son, Adam, who died in a racing accident in 2000. The camp in North Carolina opened in 2004, and the demand from families across the country has exceeded the room there, and the Petty’s decided to build a $35 million facility on 71 acres in Wyandotte County. “Victory Junction needs a medical clinic built, and KBS has the giving heart to make that happen,” Foltz said. “We are confident that our specialized experience in critical and sensitive environments makes KBS the right fit to build The Body Shop. We are excited to make this dream come true for the Petty’s, Victory Junction and the thousands of children they will serve.”(Kansas City Star)

Changes in gears rules for Vegas in 2010? NASCAR is considering an adjustment on the gear rule for Las Vegas next season to prevent the engine failures that plagued numerous Sprint Cup teams last weekend. Roush Fenway Racing lost three engines on Sunday, equaling the number of engines the team lost all of last season. Doug Yates, who oversees the Roush-Yates engine program, said the situation could have been avoided had there been a more conservative gear ratio that would have reduced rpms that were much higher than expected with the new tire and improved horsepower. He said weather conditions -- only 15% humidity -- also may have contributed to the failures. "With all that stacked against us, we just weren't ready for what we expected," Yates said. "I talked to the NASCAR guys after the race and they said they probably will go back and evaluate the gear ratios. That particular race we were a lot above where we want these engines to be running." Yates said several of the Roush and Yates cars reached 9,800 rpms on the front stretch -- about 400 more than where he and NASCAR would like the reading to be. "NASCAR is addressing that," he said. "They don't want us to, especially in these times, spend more money to make engines turn 10,000 rpms. That's not the intention of the gear rule." Yates agreed with Lee White, the president of Toyota Racing Development, that the engine failures that Ford experienced in the race were different than what Toyota faced in practice and qualifying. Those problems were fixed by using thicker lubricants and making a small mechanical adjustment. But he agreed all teams are pushing limits on the engines, and that these problems likely would have occurred had there not been a ban on testing. "I'm not going to blame not testing or NASCAR," he said. "At the end of the day if we run in those type of conditions again it's our job to make the engines stronger and more durable. I didn't anticipate those type of things." Yates doesn't expect the high rpm rate to be a factor this week at Atlanta because the tires will fall off faster and keep speeds slower. That doesn't mean he's not a bit worried.(ESPN)

Talladega Superspeedway to offer combo meals during Aaron's 499 weekend

By SceneDaily Staff

Talladega Superspeedway says it will be offering combo meals at select concession stands during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Aaron’s 499 race weekend in April.

The combo meals featuring either a hamburger or hot dog, fries and a drink will be packaged at nearly a 25 percent savings over the cost of the meal if each item were purchased separately.

“We realize the impact the economy has had on our fans,” said Talladega Superspeedway President Rick Humphrey.  “When our guests told us that food prices were weighing on their decision to attend a race, we knew we had to act.  Through close cooperation with our concessionaire, we are now offering value pricing on several combo meals. We truly believe this will help our fans with their decision.”

Infineon Raceway offering ticket packages with opportunity to meet Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne

By SceneDaily Staff

Infineon Raceway is offering fans an opportunity to spend time time with NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers Kevin Harvick and Kasey Kahne during the track’s Cup race weekend of June 19-21.

Harvick and Kahne are featured in two Platinum Pass packages for the Father’s Day weekend event at the 1.99-mile road course.
The $275 access package includes:

Tickets to the Toyota/Save Mart 350 Sprint Cup race.

A Q&A session with either Harvick or Kahne, depending on which Platinum Pass is purchased.

A raffle of memorabilia autographed by each driver at the Q&A sessions.

A Pit and Track Pass that allows access to the “cold pit” area and prerace festivities.

“I’m really looking forward to spending some quality time with the race fans at Infineon Raceway through the Platinum Pass package,” Kahne said. “It’s a great part of the country with great fans, and I really enjoy the road course. It’s a nice change of pace, and I even started on the pole there last season.”

Details are available at (800) 870-RACE or or online at www.infineonraceway.com.

Key Motorsports' Scott Wimmer gets sponsor for Nashville Nationwide race

By SceneDaily Staff

Key Motorsports says that Federated Auto Parts, which sponsored the Nationwide Series entry of Scott Wimmer at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last weekend, will return as the team's primary sponsor for the Federated Auto Parts 300 at Nashville Superspeedway on June 6.
"We were very satisfied with the results of this weekend's race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway," said J.R. Bishop, director of motorsports and event marketing for Federated Auto Parts. "We are very impressed by the quick success of this team in their first full-time Nationwide Series effort, and we look forward to continuing our relationship with Key Motorsports."
Wimmer finished 11th at Las Vegas after placing 32nd in the season opener at Daytona and failing to qualify the following week at Auto Club Speedway in California.

"I was happy to hear that Federated was coming aboard," he said. "I look forward to flying the Federated colors again at Nashville and would love to drive these guys to victory in the Federated 300."

Financial terms of the sponsorship were not disclosed.  

On the Loose Side

A NASCAR BLOG BY Kenny Bruce

Jake Elder fundraiser slated for Cup’s first off weekend

No plans yet for NASCAR’s upcoming off-weekend? If you’re in the Charlotte area, you might want to head up to Mooresville on Saturday, March 14.
That’s when Memory Lane Motorsports and Automotive Museum will host the third annual Legends Helping Legends of Racing fundraiser.
Funds from this year’s event are earmarked to help pay medical costs for legendary crew chief J.C. Elder, better known by many in the garage as “Suitcase Jake,” a moniker he picked up due to his penchant for changing jobs at the drop of a hat.
Elder, 72, remains in an assisted living center in Statesville, N.C.
According to a release from Memory Lane officials, the event will last from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. and will include the opportunity “to visit with dozens of drivers, crew chiefs, and mechanics from racing’s past and present who will be participating in this landmark event.” No guarantees on who will show, but drivers such as Harry Gant, Bobby Allison, Ned Jarrett and Buddy Parrott have participated in previous events.
There is a $10 admission fee. Door prizes, a 50/50 raffle and vintage car show will also be a part of the day’s festivities.
In addition, a motorcycle ride from Tilley Harley-Davidson in Statesville to the museum is scheduled. Interested riders can call Tilley Harley-Davidson (704-872-3883) for more details.
Elder began his career in the early 1960s as a welder for Petty Enterprises. Before long, he had moved on to Holman-Moody, another one of the premier organizations of the day. Holman-Moody was also a place where several future NASCAR stars – both behind the wheel and under the hood – spent their formative years.
While at Holman-Moody, Elder he helped guide David Pearson to Cup titles in 1968 and ’69, winning 27 races during that two-year stretch. A decade later, Elder was working with a young Dale Earnhardt, eventually departing midway through 1980, Earnhardt’s first championship season. Elder also worked closely with drivers such as Darrell Waltrip and Davey Allison during his career.
Previous events helped raise funds for track announcer Bill Connell and driver Sam Ard. For those who can’t attend but wish to make a donation, checks may be sent to Memory Lane Museum at 769 River Highway, Mooresville, NC 28117. Please indicate on the check that the donation is in care of the “Jake Elder Fund.”

He'll see your autograph - and raise you

THATSRACIN.COM OPINION

By David Poole/charlotteobserver.com

Some observations on NASCAR, racing and more, along with a little spare change:

OBSERVATIONS

Color us shocked, completely

So when the police went to a shop building behind a go-kart track near North Wilkesboro Speedway the other day, they ran up on a 300-gallon still, 1,150 gallons of corn mash, 200 gallons of corn liquor and 3,000 pounds of sugar.

Dean Combs, a 57-year-old former NASCAR driver and crew chief, owned the property and was charged with making non-tax paid liquor and possessing ingredients and equipment to manufacture non-tax paid liquor. The still was so large that instead of removing it from the site, Division of Alcohol Law Enforcement agents called in the bomb squad to destroy it.

True traditions never die.

He'll see your autograph - and raise you

A couple of fans visited Las Vegas Motor Speedway last weekend hoping to get Robby Gordon to sign a poster so they could send it to a solider they know who's in Iraq.

Gordon not only signed it, he took the poster inside the track and had more than two dozen other drivers sign it and got it back to the fans so they could send it to the soldier.

MY TWO CENTS

Easy does it, just not every time

It always amazes me how NASCAR fans seem to make things a whole lot more complicated and confusing than there's really any need for them to be.

For example, the past two weeks when pole winners have had to go to the rear of the field for engine changes I've received more than a dozen calls or e-mails telling me how unfair it is that the third-place qualifier gets to start first ahead of the No. 2 qualifier.

It's not unfair. It just the process. When the guy in front of you has to go to back, you just pull up one row to start the race.

If the No. 2, 4, and 6 qualifiers all have to go to the back, the guy on the outside of Row 4 just pulls up to the front because that's how it's done. You might believe that's totally unfair to the guys who line up in the inside positions, but it's just the most expedient way to handle the situation and get the race started.

If only one car went to the back and everybody moved up based on qualifying position, every car in the field would have to change from the inside or the outside line. That's pointless. It's a 400- or 500-mile race. Just get the thing started and go racing.

The same thing holds true for how cars go to the back. You'd be amazed at how many people obsess on what happens if, let's say, five cars have to go to the back for one reason or another. How do they line up at the rear of the field?

My question to somebody who asks me that is how would you expect them to line up, just based on what you think would happen even if you don't have any idea what the rule is. Almost everyone guesses that the cars would start at the back in the order they would have started if they hadn't had to give up their positions.

That's exactly how it's done. If five cars go to the back and one of them is the pole winner, the pole-winning entry starts ahead of the other four. How else would you do it? First one to the back wins?

It's just not that complicated.

Greatest race of all time: 1992 Hooters 500 had it all

By Official Release

The following is the third of a four-part series highlighting Atlanta Motor Speedway's storied history as the track prepares for its 100th Cup Series race.

HAMPTON, Ga. -- Few if any of the 99 previous races at Atlanta compare to the 1992 Hooters 500.

Realistically, there may never be another one like it. Many in the sport regard it as the "Greatest NASCAR Race of All Time." While many sporting events fail to live up to the pre-event hype, the '92 season finale at Atlanta Motor Speedway delivered far more than anyone anticipated.

For months fans had been lining up to buy seats for the Hooters 500, for it would be the last race in the storied 35-year career of the sport's King, seven-time champion Richard Petty.

By mid-summer, every seat around the track had been sold, including those in a new East Turn grandstand. Temporary bleachers were erected. Those seats were sold.

Then along came a barn-burner points contest. Under NASCAR's former season-long points formula, the outcome of the championship was much in doubt when the circuit arrived at AMS for the final race of the season. Davey Allison led the pack and needed to finish sixth or better to claim his first crown. Maverick owner/driver Alan Kulwicki was in second place, 30 points back. Hometown favorite Bill Elliott, who had won at Atlanta in the spring in the midst of a four-race win streak, had stumbled down the stretch and was third in the standings, 40 points behind Allison. Harry Gant was 97 back, one point ahead of Kyle Petty. Mark Martin, in sixth, was 113 back and still mathematically in the running.

Because he was a title contender, track officials, NASCAR and Ford wanted Kulwicki to participate in a mid-week media blitz in and about Atlanta. His publicist, Tom Roberts, a former PR director at AMS, sweated it out early on because his driver, who had plenty on his plate already, had never done a media tour.

"He reluctantly agreed, but I wasn't sure he'd go through with it until 11:15 on the night before when the front desk told me he'd checked into the hotel in Atlanta," Roberts recalled. "But at 6:15 the next morning, he swaggered in as dapper as could be."

Roberts believes the all-day blitz of media stops and sponsor appearances actually influenced the outcome of the race.

"Coming to town early got any apprehension and negative feelings out of the way on Thursday," he said. "I was expecting him to be on edge and difficult to work with, but it was totally the opposite all weekend. When he got to the track he was basking in the attention and allowing himself to think about things to come."

Kulwicki also was motivated by the special permission he'd gotten from Ford and NASCAR to block off the "Th" in the "Thunderbird" decal on the front of his No. 7 Ford, leaving a visible sign of his underdog status.

On race morning, more than 100,000 fans jammed the speedway hoping to witness history. They got far more than which they bargained.

As with many great events, some accomplishments got lost in the shuffle. That was the case for veteran Rick Mast, who grabbed his first career pole, and for a rookie, Jeff Gordon, who was making his first Cup start. Both drivers' time in the limelight was short. Mast and Brett Bodine crashed on Lap 2. Gordon wrecked out after 164 laps.

Richard Petty wrecked on Lap 95 in what appeared to be an unfitting ending to his career, but his crew patched up his car and he was able to finish his last race.

Attrition affected the championship race, too.

Kyle Petty and Mark Martin fell out with engine woes, and points leader Davey Allison was involved in a crash with Ernie Irvan on Lap 254, taking him out of title contention.

That left Kulwicki and Elliott to battle for the race win and the championship in what turned out to be an epic battle yet to be equaled in the NASCAR world.

In the closing laps, Kulwicki and his Paul Andrews-led crew began plotting a strategy to win the title.

Kulwicki, even with his main focus on driving the car, was a major player in the discussions.

"He could floor me with his capability of driving the car and thinking about strategy," Roberts said.

Kulwicki and his crew figured they'd need to take the bonus points for leading the most laps so they stayed on the track, even as Elliott was closing on them, until Lap 310, giving them 103 laps led. When Kulwicki stopped, the crew added fuel only and pushed him out of his stall. Because he'd lost a gear in his transmission on an earlier stop, he was slow getting back up to speed and Elliott won the race, leading a total of 102 laps, with Kulwicki second. But Kulwicki won the championship by 10 points, because he got the five extra points for leading the most laps. Had those points gone to Elliott, the two would have tied and Elliott would have gotten the title because he led the tie-breaker category, five wins to two.

But all that was news to Elliott until after the race was over.

"I never even thought about it until after the race," he said. "I won the race and lost the championship."

After that race, NASCAR would never be quite the same again.

Just days after the Hooters 500, Elliott's crew chief, Tim Brewer, was dismissed by team owner Junior Johnson, and the team never really recovered. "It was all downhill from there," Elliott said.

Kulwicki ran just five more races before dying in a plane crash en route to a race at Bristol. Three months after that, Allison died after a helicopter crash at Talladega.

Elliott said he was never all that close to Kulwicki, but he respects what he was able to do.

"He was different, a hard guy to get to know," Elliott said. "He kept to himself. He was driven and very intense in what he did.

"He did a good job [winning the championship]. It would be virtually impossible to do it in today's world."

Roberts, now the publicist for Kurt Busch, said that looking back on the events surrounding that race, there may have been some unexplained forces at play that November afternoon.

"Maybe Alan did have it all calculated," Roberts said. "But I get the feeling that fate intervened that day."

Long shot Papis makes it three-man rookie race

Associated Press

The three-man rookie of the year race in NASCAR's Sprint Cup series this year doesn't appear to be a fair fight.

Just about everybody who has any interest in the first-year drivers expects Joey Logano to come out on top.

And why not? The 18-year-old phenom took over the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota this season from two-time Cup champion Tony Stewart. The much-heralded teen -- discovered by Mark Martin at age 14 -- is working with a seasoned crew headed by veteran crew chief Greg Zipadelli and his equipment is as good as anyone's in the elite series.

There would be plenty of eyebrows raised if, somehow, former Formula One driver Scott Speed or Max Papis, another former open-wheel racer, beat out Logano in the rookie race.

The 26-year-old Speed, one of the few Americans to get to F1, stuck around the globe-hopping circuit for two seasons, racing in 28 events for Toro Rosso -- Italian for Red Bull. His long-standing relationship with Red Bull, which also started a Cup team in 2007, brought him back to the U.S. in 2008 and gave the Californian a shot at NASCAR.

His brief apprenticeship last year included 16 truck series events, with one victory, and five Cup starts in preparation for a full-time run this year.

The 39-year-old Papis has been the ultimate auto racing journeyman, driving Champ Cars, IndyCars, sports cars, trucks and, now, stock cars.

The Italian is the longest of long shots, considering Germain Racing has sponsorship for only a partial Cup schedule, which is why last Sunday's race at Las Vegas was his first Cup drive of the season. Right now, Papis is scheduled to drive in 16 Cup events, the minimum to be eligible to race for rookie of the year.

"I know some people are surprised to see me here," Papis said before finishing 26th in his Cup debut on an oval. "But I am a race driver and this is what I want to do. I want to give it the best I have and see what we can accomplish."

So far, so good.

Unlike his rookie competitors, Papis is outside the top 35 in car owner points and has to qualify for each race. He crossed that hurdle easily at Las Vegas.

"We made the show for the first time on an oval and it just proved that perseverance pays off," Papis said. "I think it's a matter of heart, it's not a matter of cars. Getting in the shows has to be the first goal.

"We're learning. It's like I told everyone, we need to keep in mind why we are here. Basically, we haven't been able to go do any practice. We are racing against people that have been doing this for 10 years plus and that's the perspective that you keep in mind."

After the first three races of 2009, the rookie race is a toss-up between Logano and Speed, with the teen leading 32-31 after being the top finishing rookie in the last two races. Papis brings up the rear with 9 points, but hopes to qualify for Sunday's race at Atlanta and cut into the margin.

It hasn't been an easy transition for Logano, either, although he is improving each week.

After crashing and finishing last in the Daytona 500, the youngster finished 26th at California and then moved up to 13th at Las Vegas.

"I look at myself and say, 'Hey, I probably could have got a top-10,' but that's part of being a rookie and I learned from it," Logano said. "I feel like I'm getting better and I'm learning every weekend so much, and it's helping me so much.

"The last two races, we were good by the end of the race. We've got to kind of work on getting good earlier. But I'm definitely getting more comfortable in these cars. It just takes time. ... By no means are we there yet, but we're getting closer."

Speed has finishes of 35th, 41st and 21st and is still trying to figure out how to make his No. 82 Red Bull Racing Toyota better each week.

"Where I need to work is to be able to figure out what the car needs and wants," Speed said. "But, honestly, having the car bad and making it better gives me a better idea of what does what on the car, so (Sunday) was a good day. We learned a lot."

While it's early in the season and none of the trio is thinking much about rookie of the year, they agree it would be an honor worth taking.

"If I win it, it means we've had a pretty good season and we've beaten a couple of real good drivers," Logano said.

Speed said, "I don't think about those things very much, but people keep asking me about it and it would be great to be on the list with some of the great drivers who won it before."

Papis said he can't afford to think that far ahead.

"What we have to do now is make sure we qualify for every race we're in and get the most out of the car and our time on the track each week," he said. "If things go well, maybe we can go for it at the end of the year. It would be fun -- especially since nobody expects us to do it." 

Matt McLaughlin Mouths Off

A Tale of Two Cities

Matt McLaughlin · Frontstretch.com

Geographically, Los Angeles and Las Vegas are about 270 miles apart. Yahoo! Maps says the drive should take about four hours on average — unless you’re Sam Kinison, or the nice folks at Shelby Motors lend you one of those Super Snake Mustangs. In this great big country of ours, the two cities are virtual next door neighbors. Hell, it can take four hours to get from Philly to Dover on race weekends… trust me, it’s been tested.

But it was very apparent over the last two weekends that the tracks at Fontana and Las Vegas had very different levels of success in selling tickets this year. Vegas drew more fans for Saturday’s Nationwide race than Fontana managed to peddle for the all-singing, all-dancing Cup event the previous Sunday. In fact, Vegas sold out the Sunday show, while the “crowds” for Saturday’s doubleheader Truck/Nationwide event at Fontana were nothing less than an embarrassment to the sport. In fact, the Calaveres Fair and Frog Jumping Contest draws more spectators than wandered into Fontana for Saturday races.

I mentioned this issue in Sunday night’s column, and some people immediately chimed in that Vegas has a natural advantage. With the casinos, the night life, the shows, and everything else going on in Vegas, it’s a vacation destination, they say. I can’t argue that point. Vegas appeals to a lot of people. To be frank, I’m not one of them. I’m not much of a gambler; if I blow 20 bucks at a casino annually, that’s an oddity. So in my opinion, I find Vegas crass, phony, tacky, and over-hyped. Yeah, there’s nothing like a pair of drunks getting married by an 80-year-old Elvis impersonator at a Drive Thru chapel to scream “class!” I think everyone should go to Vegas once… and only once. But if that city is your cup of tea, well, hey, to each their own poison.

So — while some of you who have decided that I hate the left coast because of my loathing for Fontana may be surprised to hear it — I actually prefer L.A. There’s something to be said for a town where you can go skiing in the morning, hit the beaches in the afternoon, and enjoy some of the best clubs in the country at night… if you can avoid the latest starlets achieving terminal meltdown. L.A. is America’s car town, the place where hot-rodding as we know it was born, and I’ve enjoyed every trip I’ve ever taken to Los Angeles. From personal experience, I can’t subscribe to the notion there’s nothing to do in L.A. other than going to the Fontana race. I guess the track promoters just need to do a little better job selling the city as a cool vacation for everyone, from folks who are obsessed with Hollywood types to sun worshipers needing a little quality preseason beach time in between 500 miles of cars going ‘round in circles.

Others have told me that Fontana’s chances at a sellout are doomed because their races and the Vegas events fall on subsequent weekends. That begs the question, why doesn’t Vegas suffer the same fate? L.A. has a bigger population base to draw from, and they ought to be able to sell out their races — even if fans don’t fly in from out of town.

So, then… why the disparity in ticket sales? For one thing, there’s a very major difference between Fontana and Vegas. Fontana is one of the tracks in the France family portfolio, while Vegas is one of Bruton Smith’s tracks. For all his faults, and they are myriad, Smith is a natural born promoter. I think the man could sell tickets to watch paint dry. The general managers he has hired to run his tracks, starting with the inestimable Humpy Wheeler, tend to be among the best promoters in the business. They’ll hustle to sell tickets in any circumstance, and they have no problem staging outlandish promotions. In Eddie Gossage of TMS’s case, he wasn’t above calling season ticket holders to listen to their thoughts on the cooler issue. It’s clear to me the SMI promoters have a better finger on the pulse of the fans, coming across to those fans as much more appreciative of their patronage as a result. Meanwhile, the France family’s typical arrogance has always been summed up as, “We’re offering a great product, and if you don’t want to buy tickets, there’s a line of eager fans behind you eager to grab up your seat.”

Yeah, these are tough times to sell tickets. The economy is well and truly in the tank. A lot of race fans are either unemployed, or fearful that they might soon be unemployed. A lot of folks are struggling to hang onto their homes. Retirement savings that once seemed rock solid have been decimated. I don’t have to tell you this stuff — you know it as well as I do. Back in the days when it seemed our 401Ks swelled a thousand dollars every month as if by magic, it was a lot easier to justify the not insubstantial cost of taking the family out for a race weekend. These days, that expense is a lot harder to justify for many of us, and completely unrealistic for many more. (Which seems to indicate TV ratings for the races should be soaring… but they’re not. That’s a topic for another column.)

It would seem that the folks at Vegas and other SMI tracks got the memo on the economy. In the months leading up to the Vegas race, I saw numerous press releases touting lower priced hotel rooms and discount flights to Vegas in various media outlets. Discounted race tickets were also available, perhaps not to prime seats but to ones that offered a decent view of the track. If fans needed more information on a budget race weekend at Vegas, they could find it on the track’s website. Let’s face it; even in these grim economic times, we still all need a break from the usual routine, a chance to have a little fun and make a change from the 9 to 5 Monday to Friday workweek. Through its various promotions, Vegas made a case that a race weekend was more affordable than ever — and a lot of people apparently bit.

I’ll admit that the way the so called “hospitality” industry gouges race fans has always been a pet peeve of mine, even back when I was traveling on somebody’s else’s dime chasing the circus. Hotels and motels are notorious for jacking rates for rooms during race weekends, doubling and even tripling their prices while imposing burdensome and expensive minimum stays. For whatever reason, Daytona has earned a reputation as the worst track on the circuit in that regard. Triple rate rooms with five night minimum stays were typical of the way local businesses tried to fleece the race fans there. To the best of my recollection, Humpy Wheeler was the first promoter to try to restore some sanity to the situation at Charlotte, working with the hospitality industry to offer fans affordable lodging in the area of the track. He was also the first promoter to offer reduced price tickets to the races. That was back when the economy was still good. My guess is that the folks in Vegas twisted some arms at the local Chamber of Commerce, pointing out that casino and hotel revenues were down — but that a big event like the races could bump up everyone’s bottom line. If the folks at Fontana tried a similar strategy, I never heard about the initiative — and I spend a whole lot of time keeping up on current happenings in the sport.

Just for a moment, though, let’s put aside the economy. After all, this sport has survived tough economic times before over its 60-year history. There will always be a need most folks feel for a little entertainment, even when things aren’t going well. The key word here is “entertainment.” Given this sport’s history, both Vegas and Fontana are relatively new tracks on the circuit. Both of them were designed as dual use tracks, and were designed to host both stock and open wheel cars. Tracks designed for dual use tended to be wider and have lower banking, while a track designed specifically for stock cars tended to be unsuitable for open wheel racing due to the higher speeds the open wheel cars ran. Texas and the IRL cars were a notable exception to that; when CART tried running at Texas, the speeds were so high that drivers claimed they were blacking out in the corners, to the point the race actually had to be canceled the day of.

But thanks to the fratricidal battle between CART and the IRL, open wheel racing has been reduced to a minor asterisk in the sports world, with the exception of Memorial Day weekend at Indy. Meanwhile, the tracks that hosted both series tended to put on some of the most boring events on the stock car racing schedule: Michigan, KC, L.A., New Hampshire, Joliet, and others. From the day they opened, fans have been complaining about the relative dearth of excitement at both Fontana and Vegas. The difference is the folks at Vegas actually did something about it. They dug up the track. They added more banking. They made a good faith effort to make the races there more exciting. To an extent, it has worked, at least in the Busch/Nationwide series over the last few years.

No race track design — not Richmond, not Martinsville, not even my beloved Darlington — is so perfect that every race held there is going to be a classic. Ned Jarrett once won a race at Darlington by a mere 16 laps. No, you don’t have to remind me. I was already following the sport back then. But it behooves the management at any track to put their best foot forward, attempting to make sure that the ratio of clinkers to classics remains acceptably low. It’s essential to try to host the sort of races that leave fans breathless, feeling the monies they spent to attend the race were well worth it. You want those fans to leave your track so excited that when it comes time to renew their tickets, even in tough economic times, they don’t want to miss out on a chance to see another classic race live and in person. It also behooves those track managers to see to it the irritants that turn a race weekend sour— traffic, high concession prices, long lines at the restrooms, etc. — don’t make the fans at this year’s event not want to come back next year. Here’s a hint: if folks are leaving the track with 100 laps left in the race to try to beat traffic, you’ve got a major league problem on your hands.

Vegas isn’t the only SMI track to get a major face lift. For better or worse, Atlanta was totally redone in 1997. The levigating experiment at Charlotte was a failure, but they kept right on digging the place up until they got it right. Texas has been dug up and reconfigured three or four times.

In comparison, the France family seems reluctant to lay out that sort of dough. Daytona is a stone cold embarrassment to the sport. Highways in Third World nations are smoother and have less cracking. Both that track and Talladega are way overdue for a major rewrite to eliminate the dreaded restrictor plates. Out in L.A., there have been calls to reconfigure Fontana almost since it opened. (A fuel mileage race, as I recall, dominated that first event… yawn.) Yet nothing has ever been done.

In the meantime, Fontana track management is long on excuses for the recent slowdown in ticket sales. It’s the economy. It’s the track’s date on the schedule. It’s the addition of the second date. (Funny, that didn’t seem to hurt Texas.) Well, here’s a hint for Gillian Zucker: the track sucks. Fix it. Fix it now, or don’t expect fans to lay out their hard-earned dollars to watch another parade. And if you think an improving economy, a different race date, or a Chase event is going to put butts in your seats, take a drive down the road to Ontario — to the remnants of a track that couldn’t sell out even when that race decided championships.

Some of you have apparently decided that I dislike (OK, loathe) Fontana because it’s a continent away from the Philly area I proudly call home. Quite frankly, if Fontana was across the street from my house, I got my tickets free, and they flew me over there in a helicopter to my own private suite, I wouldn’t waste four hours of my time to attend the race. And regardless of what I think, a lot of folks in So-Cal have already come to the same conclusion.

Confessions of a NASCAR fan

By Carolyn Brewster/scenedaily.com

I’m sitting at home in my living room, petting our new dog we recently adopted from the pound. A room away, yells and crying suddenly fill the air. Being the seasoned mom that I am, I don’t bother to get up, knowing if there is blood someone will come get me.

 It isn’t long before my 6-year-old is standing before me and the dog just sobbing that his older brother won’t let him make a car. The mutt, having more sense than me, gets up and leaves the room while I begin my investigation.

A car? What the heck are you talking about? Are you playing with Legos or Play-Doh?

No, it turns out my boys are playing EA Sports’ NASCAR 09 on our Xbox. Here’s the kicker though: We don’t own the video game NASCAR 09. Yet somehow the case and the disk are in my living room.

Years ago we rented a NASCAR game and prior to that we owned a steering wheel that clipped to the desk so you could play a game on the PC (talk about “old school”). But this was a brand new 2009 edition for the Xbox 360, which can be played live. It was complete with that holographic NASCAR sticker and official number. 

Before I could even begin to address the issue the boys were arguing over, I had to figure out where the game came from. Obviously it was not a rental. I concluded that my husband must have picked it up at some point the day before. Turns out I was right.

I’m not a big video game player, although I have been known to kick a little booty on Guitar Hero and Lego Star Wars. But for the most part, gaming is more a guy thing in our house.

I’m the one always saying we don’t need to buy anything else to play. Yet my husband slyly knew the video game purchase I wouldn’t object to was one featuring NASCAR. This is how NASCAR 09 magically appeared as part of our video game collection.

I ended up solving the issue of my boys not sharing the game by kicking them both off and making my own profile with car and paint scheme. After all, I couldn’t consider myself a responsible parent if I didn’t take the time to familiarize myself with what my kids would be playing. 

Looking through the game guide, I noticed there is a steering wheel which can be purchased. I’m not too savvy with the controller, so I may have to go a little “old school” and make the purchase. If it improves my driving, then I’m all for it – not that I play a lot of video games or anything.  

Final thoughts on the Vegas weekend

by Larry McReynolds/foxsports.com

For the third week in a row, at our third different size race track, we had a darn good race.

We had side-by-side racing. We had some hard racing for the lead there at the end ... I just think so many things continue to contribute to it. I have said this repeatedly, teams are continuing to understand and accept this race car.

The biggest thing that made an improvement at Las Vegas this past weekend was the tires that Goodyear brought there. I didn't hear anyone complaining about that tire all weekend long. The tire was plenty fast. We had no tire issues that I am aware of. The nice thing was that the tire didn't give up and I think that's why we had a bunch of different strategies there at the end of the race.

I think Goodyear is beginning to understand what they need for this car. It's been a work in progress for the teams. It's been a work in progress for NASCAR. Obviously it's been a work in progress for Goodyear.

The weather was perfect this weekend too. I don't think you could have scripted better weather for a NASCAR race. The other thing that has always amazed me about Las Vegas Motor Speedway is the crowd. Those fans come out even on Friday for practice and qualifying. There was an awesome crowd there for the Nationwide race and had all but a packed house for the Cup race. Even the infield at Las Vegas was packed, in fact, it was sold out by Tuesday of race week.

Keeping pace

It was a very interesting weekend. We had to work very hard as broadcasters to keep up with all the stories going on there.

·  First you had Matt Kenseth trying to set a NASCAR record of winning the first three races of the season — but basically blows up when the race started. Two of his teammates also ended up having engine woes. I don't think they have a clue that they are flirting with durability issues on the Roush Fenway Racing engines.

·  Toyota was another camp that had engine woes. That issue kind of continued for them from California to Las Vegas. The good news is, despite the problems they had with the engines during practice on Friday and Saturday, to my knowledge, they had no issues in the race Saturday.

·  The biggest thing that has all of us shaking our head about is the amount of mistakes and the amount of penalties on pit road on both Saturday and Sunday. You had people like Jeff Gordon who missed pit road when he slid the tires and couldn't get slowed down in time and was forced to go around again. Then he blew a tire out and brought a caution out which really changed the whole complexion of that race.

You had people speeding coming onto pit road. You had people speeding coming off pit road. Jimmie Johnson slid through his pit. Penalties and mistakes were just at an all-time high. Las Vegas has always been a very tricky pit road to get onto. What is deceiving is that NASCAR says pit road speed is 45 mph. They don't bust you for it however, until you are going over 50 mph. NASCAR always gives the teams a 5 mph buffer at all the races. So clearly, to get busted, they were way over the limit. It's a product of trying so hard and trying to get an advantage over your competition. But I have to say, it was kind of mind boggling to see the amount of penalties and mistakes on Saturday and Sunday.

NASCAR uses two pace cars to help the entire field get the correct speed for pit road. So for example on Sunday at Las Vegas, the pace cars ran 45 mph at least for one full lap. The drivers would look at their tachometer and get a tach reading. That's what they work off of but don't forget, as I mentioned previously, they know they have that 5 mph buffer that NASCAR allows them.

Everything on pit road is handled by the transponder on your car. Race control has a computer that shows everything electronically. If one segment flashes red on it, guess what? You just got a penalty for speeding.

When I get to Atlanta this weekend, I am going to talk to NASCAR and see if I can get a better understanding on all this. Is the pace car setting the miles per hour simply off the speedometer? How is this being dictated? It is definitely something we want to get our arms around and have a better understanding about.

·  The other thing we have seen the last two weeks are the mechanical issues. I mentioned previously about the engine issues with some of the teams. We've had teams with brake issues. Dale Earnhardt Jr. had transmission issues at California. For whatever reason the hub cap came off the No. 1 car Sunday and his axle came out.

The moral of my story is that all of a sudden mistakes, penalties and mechanical problems are taking center stage. I don't know if people are being more aggressive with their decisions and tying to step it up a little bit. You just don't know but I have to tell you, it certainly had me shaking my head when I left Las Vegas.

Looking forward

I am sure there is a lot of scrambling going on this week because we are headed to Atlanta Motor Speedway, which not only is 1.5 miles in length like Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but it is also very hard on engines.

The other difference this weekend is that the race is longer. This is a 500 mile race Sunday.

Make sure to tune in to watch. 

Top Ten…

Suggestions to Help Jeff Gordon Break His Losing Streak

Kurt Smith · Frontstretch.com

10. Instruct Jeff to imagine a hard-boiled egg under the gas pedal.

9. Attach transponders to middle fingers of Gordon-haters, giving the No. 24 another completed lap every time an anti-fan expresses feelings.

8. Seek out Wrigley Field goat for sacrifice following “Wrigley Stadium” blunder.

7. Team finds motorsports zen guru and meditates profoundly and deeply to find answers hidden within themselves regarding proper balance of temperament, self-confidence, and chassis adjustments.

6. Paint car blue and put a number 48 on it.

5. Demand that NASCAR restrict the engines of other manufacturers (given the history, there’s a good chance it’ll listen).

4. Put Matt Kenseth in front of him with two laps to go.

3. Motivate team with nude photos of Rosie O’Donnell displayed everywhere in shop until performance improves.

2. After being forced below the yellow line, pass for the lead anyway.

1. Two words: Ingrid Withholds.

By The Numbers: Atlanta

Labonte returns to his best track ranked top 10 in points

By Bill Kimm, NASCAR.COM

Cup champion Bobby Labonte doesn't know what it's like to drive in the Chase. In fact, since the Chase inception in 2004, Labonte doesn't really no what it's like to be top 10 in points. Sept. 5, 2004, after the Fontana Cup race was the last time Labonte was in the top 10.

But after three races, 10th is where Labonte is heading into Sunday's running of the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway (1 p.m. ET, FOX).

Things have been tough for Labonte since winning the championship in 2000. He has just five wins and 76 top-10s in 291 races and he has seen his average finish go from the teens to the low 20s. Instead of running up front, he's a mid-packer and not really a threat to win.

All that looks be in the past. With his new team, Hall of Fame Racing, Labonte is 10th thanks to solid runs of 22nd and 20th at Daytona and Fontana, respectively, and then a stellar fifth-place performance at Las Vegas.

With six wins at Atlanta, Labonte ranks third all time behind Dale Earnhardt (9) and Cale Yarborough (7) so don't be surprised to see Labonte and his No. 96 Ford up front this weekend.

Inside the Data

Bobby Labonte in the spring race at Atlanta in the Chase era

2004  Labonte came into Atlanta 11th in points and was able to jump one spot to 10th after an 18th-place finish. His run wasn't that impressive though, he was two laps off the pace.

2005  It was a short day for Labonte because on Lap 266 he was involved in a 10-car crash relegating him to a 37th-place finish and just his third DNF in 25 races at Atlanta. This didn't help his point position at all as he was 37th coming in to AMS and he left 37th.

2006  An even shorter race than '05. This time his engine quit 56 laps in giving Labonte his second consecutive spring DNF and his second 43rd-place finish at the track. The last-place finish dropped Labonte from 36th to 38th in the point standings.

2007  Labonte came into Atlanta 21st in points and put the nightmares of the previous two seasons behind him. He qualified sixth, led a lap and finished on the lead lap in 16th. He jumped four spots in the standings, up to 17th.

2008  The Labonte that used to dominate Atlanta seemed to be coming back. A top-five qualifying position brought back visions of old and he rode that to a 12th-place finish. Labonte was 15th coming in to Atlanta and inched up to 14th heading to Bristol.

Necessitous Numbers

2  Since the advent of electronic scoring in May 1993, Atlanta has seen two of NASCAR's six closest finishes in history.

5.2  Average starting position of Atlanta winners in the Chase era. In 10 races, only once has the winner started outside the top 10 (Tony Stewart started 11th in 2006) and 50 percent of the races have been won from the first or second row.

7  Number of poles for Ryan Newman at Atlanta, tying him with Buddy Baker for the most all-time at the track.

42  The have been 42 different winners in the 50-year Atlanta Motor Speedway Cup racing history.

91  Number of 500-mile races staged at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the most of any NASCAR-sanctioned track.

100  Sunday's race is the 100th Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Of those 100 races, Richard Petty has more starts than anyone at the track with 66.

289  Number of laps Greg Biffle has led at Atlanta without a victory, tops among active drivers. In 12 races, Biffle has three top-fives and seven top-10s and just three finishes of 20th or worse.

684  Number of points Jimmie Johnson has earned in the last four races at Atlanta, tops among all drivers. In those races Johnson has two wins, a second and a 13th.

NASCAR ON TV THIS WEEK

All times Eastern

Well, that's all for today.  Until the next time, I remain,

Your Nascar 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!"

his list is authored by:

Sandra Monacelli
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