Happy Hump Day everyone.

Today In Nascar History

April 1, 1984: Darrell Waltrip wins the Valleydale 500 for his seventh consecutive Cup victory at Bristol. Terry Labonte is second, two seconds back, and Ron Bouchard is third. Waltrip finishes his career with a record 12 Cup wins at the half-mile track.

Bits and Pieces

Valvoline/Sears scheme for McMurray: This weekend #26-Jamie McMurray will pilot the #26 Valvoline/Sears Auto Center Ford in the Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. This car is the same car that McMurray last raced at Texas in November 2008 which was the start of his streak of finishing third for the last three races of the 2008 season.(RFR PR)

Bodine to have new car and motor at Texas: Todd Bodine and the unsponsored #64 Toyota head to Texas Motor Speedway with momentum and mechanics on their side. Aiding in their effort will be a newly-purchased Toyota with a new motor under the hood. After making Bristol by qualifying 16th and Martinsville thanks to Mother Nature, the Gunselman Gang hopes another great qualifying effort will get them in the show and, in turn, closer to their goal of completing a race. With a crew from SPEED TV scheduled to follow them this weekend, they have extra incentive to make the Samsung 500 qualifying field. Larry Gunselman, team owner: “We were supposed to have SPEED TV following us during practice, qualifying and pre-race last week in Martinsville. But when the weather pretty much cancelled everything but the race, they were nice enough to reschedule for this weekend in Texas. I’d like to thank them for that, too. This should be a good weekend to do that because we’re using a new car and will have a new motor for it, too. Its chassis No. 47 that we bought from Red Bull Racing and AJ Allmendinger won the Showdown with last year at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. So, this would be a great weekend for someone to get their name on the hood and quarter panels for both SPEED TV following us and because we are looking for a great racing weekend, too.”(Gunselman Motorsports)

National Guard returns on the #24: #24-Jeff Gordon and his Hendrick Motorsports team have a chance to share their patriotism publicly this season by featuring National Guard community-related initiatives on the hood of the #24 Chevy in eight Sprint Cup Series events. The National Guard's mission is to use the #24 car as a platform to help create awareness on some of the special programs it has to offer. These programs provide such incentives like job opportunities, valuable career training, college tuition, salary and benefits and the guidance needed to excel in life. This weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, Gordon's car will spotlight the National Guard's GED Plus program. The GED Plus program courses take only three weeks and has a success rate of more than 93 percent. Soldiers enlisted under the program earn a monthly paycheck and have the opportunity to select from more than 200 Military Occupational Specialties in which they can become skilled. For more information, visit www.nationalguard.com/JeffGordon.(NASCAR.com)

#18 team to honor Labonte: Kyle Busch’s #18 Interstate Batteries Toyota will feature a special paint scheme for the Samsung 500 in honor of Corpus Christi, TX native Bobby Labonte, who will be inducted into the Texas Motorsports Hall of Fame on Wednesday. Labonte was behind the wheel of the #18 Interstate Batteries car for 10 years with team owner Joe Gibbs, which includes his 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup championship and 21 Winston Cup career victories. Busch took over the #18 Toyota in 2008, which is sponsored by Interstate Batteries this weekend. The special paint scheme will be on display between 6-7 p.m. at the Speedway Club, with a photo opportunity with Busch, Labonte, CEO of Interstate Batteries Norm Miller and Speedway Motorsports, Inc. Chairman/CEO Bruton Smith at 6:30pm. #96-Bobby Labonte and SMI Chairman Bruton Smith, who brought NASCAR back to Texas with the construction of Texas Motor Speedway, will be inducted into the Texas Motorsports Hall of Fame on Wednesday, April 1 in The Speedway Club's Grand Ballroom at Texas Motor Speedway. Labonte and Smith will be available for media interviews between 6-7 p.m. and the dinner ceremony will begin at 7:30pm. Proceeds of the event will benefit Happy Hill Farm, an academy and home for at-risk children. (TMS PR)

Guitar Hero Metallica returns at Texas: Guitar Hero Metallica will again partner with #8-Aric Almirola and Earnhardt Ganassi Racing for this weekend’s Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. The game, which was released on March 29, allows users to enter the world of Lars Ulrich, James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo and experience the intensity and skill of one of the greatest bands of all time. (EGR PR)

Junior Johnson's son to make racing debut: Robert Johnson, the son of Junior and Lisa Johnson, is scheduled to be make his racing debut April 4th driving a Late Model car on dirt at Friendship Speedway in Elkin, NC. Johnson's team will be lead by his father and veteran NASCAR crew member Rock Harris. Sponsor's for Johnson's effort in 2009 will Carolina Carports and Junior Johnson Country Ham.(Robert and Junior Johnson PR)

Jeff Gordon's Crew Grabs Tissot Pit Road Win in Martinsville: The pit crew for Sprint Cup points leader Jeff Gordon won the Tissot Pit Road Precision Award in Sunday's NASCAR race at Martinsville Speedway. The #24 crew took top honors in the Tissot weekly competition as a result of Gordon's DuPont Chevrolet Impala SS spending the least amount of time on pit road -- 233.463 seconds. The pit road performance was a factor in Gordon's strong fourth-place finish in the Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 at the historic half-mile flat track. Gordon's pit crew consists of: Clay Robinson (front-tire changer), Mike Houston (front tire carrier), Tim Ladyga (rear-tire changer), Jeff Knight (rear-tire carrier), Jeff Cook (jackman), Caleb Hurd (gasman), Jamie Frady (catch can) and Andy Kruep (eighth man). The pit crew coach is Greg Morin. For winning the Tissot Pit Road Precision Award, the No. 24 team will receive $5,000. The team with the most pit road wins at the completion of the 36-race schedule will earn a $100,000 bonus plus Tissot watches for the driver and over-the-wall crew members.(Tissot/DMF Communications PR)

Chad Knaus Named Wypall Wipers Crew Chief of the Race in Martinsville: Chad Knaus, crew chief for the #48 Lowe's Chevy driven by three-time Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, has been named the Wypall Wipers Crew Chief of the Race in Sunday's Goody's Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. In addition to the $1,000 check, the winning crew chief will receive signage to announce the win on their pit box the following week. The crew chief with the most weekly wins will be honored as the Wypall Wipers Crew Chief of the Year and will be presented a $20,000 check at the season finale in Homestead, Fla. The Wypall Wipers Crew Chief Challenge will continue throughout the 2009 season and spotlight the men behind the machines. (Wypall PR)

GM Head Steps Down, could it affect NASCAR? George Richard "Rick" Wagoner Jr. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of General Motors resigned as Chairman and CEO at General Motors on March 29, 2009, at the request of the White House. During Wagoner's tenure as CEO of General Motors, the market capitalization of GM has gone down by more than 90%. In 2008 Wagoner came under renewed pressure as GM sought financial support from the U.S. government in an attempt to avoid bankruptcy. Under Wagoner's leadership, GM suffered more than $73 billion in losses.(AP) AND: Despite just ousting General Motors' chief executive, President Barack Obama Monday insisted "The United States government has no interest in running GM." However the abrupt dismissal of Rick Wagoner, the well-respected executive (Duke, class of '75) who has run GM for the past eight years, has shocked not only Detroit but the rest of the car market, including NASCAR's North Carolina base. Yet during Wagoner's run, GM stock fell from $60 a share to $1.27 a few weeks ago, and Obama says new leadership at GM is needed. During a 20-minute statement Monday in Washington, Obama laid out his game plan for reviving the American car industry. And it is very clear that Obama has agendas for both GM and Chrysler, the two car makers on the hotseat (Ford and Toyota have avoided the government's spotlight), and Monday he pushed repeated for "cleaner" cars out of Detroit. That could well make NASCAR men squirm, because these race cars are certainly not visibly cutting edge at all – 358 cubic inch engines with carburetors, five or six mpg. It took NASCAR nearly 30 years even to make the switch to unleaded gasoline. Obama himself raised the word "bankruptcy," and appeared to be bracing the American people for a GM bankruptcy – by trying to explain what he envisioned it would be: "A tool we can use, even as workers stay on the job building cars." (much more at mikemulhern.net and more info at the Detroit Free Press), No word how any of this could affect NASCAR, there are rumors that Chevy/General Motors could leave NASCAR.

Sonic Automotive: Bankruptcy is an option

By Jefferson George/charlotteobserver.com

Charlotte-based Sonic Automotive – a Fortune 500 company and one of the nation's largest auto dealers – today reported a staggering loss for 2008 and said it may have to file for bankruptcy protection.

The company said it has struggled because of outstanding debts accumulated during a recession that has severely curbed car sales.

“If we do not restructure or obtain additional financing to satisfy our substantial debt obligations, we may not be able to continue as a going concern or we may be unable to avoid filing for bankruptcy protection,” stated Sonic's annual report, filed this afternoon with federal regulators.

The company, which is led by Bruton Smith and has more than 150 locations across the U.S., had about $1.9 billion in outstanding debt as of Dec. 31. Roughly $1.5 billion of debt is scheduled to mature this year and next.

“Our significant indebtedness and near-term debt maturities could materially adversely affect our financial health, limit our ability to finance future acquisitions and capital expenditures and prevent us from fulfilling our financial obligations,” Sonic said in its report.

Sonic posted a nearly $686 million loss last year, a huge swing from a $95.5 million profit in 2007. The company's 2008 revenues were about $6 billion, down almost 11 percent from the previous year.

Sonic filed its report after the stock market closed today. Shares in the company closed at $1.60, down almost 12 percent from Monday and about 90 percent from a year ago.

Sonic has scheduled a conference call on the financial results for 11 a.m. Wednesday.

Hendrick, Easley did right for North Carolina and its people

NASCAR team owner does many good deeds behind the scenes.

From former Lowe's Motor Speedway president H.A. (Humpy) Wheeler:

While Rick Hendrick and former Gov. Mike Easley have taken a battering over their relationship, one must consider: who was wronged over all this comradeship?

I can't comment over the Highway Patrol records of the Easley trip to Rick's home in Florida nor Mary Easley's use of a Honda from a Hendrick dealership, but I can comment on the other matters since I was involved in most of them.

First, when the N.C. Motorsports Association was formed in 2002, we asked a very busy Rick Hendrick to be vice chairman. All of us who knew Mike Easley asked not only him but members of the General Assembly to help us keep this industry healthy in a state where we were watching our anchors of textile, tobacco and furniture take immense hits.

The response was not overwhelming but it helped. The legislature gave jets used to transport drivers and car owners, and teams a tax break on fuel. The NCMA also received $140,000 in grants from two state-funded agencies.

This was not just the Rick and Mike Show. It was a whole group of leaders and while the results were good it hardly amounted to a mass stimulus package.

Chumminess, graft and corruption are different in anyone's language. Granted everything may have not been done to the letter by both of them but they are good men and we have greatly appreciated what Mike Easley has done for our sport.

As for Rick Hendrick I have known him for more than a quarter of a century and I do not know a finer man. He has done so much for so many with no publicity.

In these days of corporate harshness and a general lack of caring for our fellow man, Rick stands out like a great light with his kindness, gentleness and caring.

A friend contracted leukemia. I made one call, to Rick. In two hours, treatment was arranged with the finest doctor in that field and a call made to my friend from Rick, not once but several times.

A driver was killed at the speedway late one night. His parents needed to get back to Pennsylvania. Twenty minutes later the parents boarded the plane at Concord and were flown home. No bill ever came.

If the world's greatest investigative reporter tried to find out all the wonderful things Rick did, he couldn't. One person wouldn't say a word: Rick Hendrick. 

Did You Notice

What Jimmie Johnson’s Hiding, Why Patience For NASCAR Owners Pays Off, And Driver Depression

Thomas Bowles · Frontstretch.com

Did You Notice? … During a garage walkthrough on Friday, the newest edition to Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 cloak of secrecy? It was a dark blue drape placed over his stall inside the garage area, meaning no one walking by could see what they were doing to set up the car. In the team’s defense, the forecast called for rain to hit later on that afternoon. But at the time I did my little garage walk – 11:00 AM – all other cars were in plain view on a cloudy but otherwise precipitation-free day.

This latest incident adds to a reputation for this team being a little overprotective about their equipment. Don’t believe me? The next time you’ve got a hot pass, walk a little too close to the Lowe’s Chevrolet while they’re looking under the hood and see what happens. To a certain degree, I do understand the right for Johnson & Co. to protect “copycats” from stealing their innovative ideas. After all, last time I checked stock car racing was supposed to be a competition, wasn’t it?

But the other side to this story is how often and how extensive Chad Knaus’ list of violating Sprint Cup rules has been. It would be one thing if the No. 48 car had never been caught doing anything wrong; but Knaus is always one that’s pushing the NASCAR envelope. Sure, any of his “gray area” changes should, and ideally will, be caught in the official inspection line. But wouldn’t you want to keep a much closer eye on a team that’s been known to cross the line in the past? That seems pretty logical to me … and there’s no way to do that with a drape protecting the car from public view.

Did You Notice? … How patience seems to still pay off in the long run? So often these days, Cup teams let their drivers go without giving them a full chance to develop. Between impatience amongst sponsors coupled with the pressure of media expectations, it’s pretty hard to leave a guy in a ride for two, maybe even three years.

But perhaps A.J. Allmendinger will become the classic case for promoting long-term growth over pulling the trigger too quickly. They released the former open-wheel star over at Team Red Bull after just a season and a half in the Cup Series (and limited time in stock cars prior to that). Even though the ‘Dinger had begun to turn things around last summer – scoring two top 10s and seven top 20s over a three-month period – it just wasn’t enough for the powers that be to offer him a long-term deal.

But just look what’s happened to the team ever since. New driver Scott Speed is just another rookie, one armed with so little experience it’s been equivalent to TRB starting from scratch. Speed’s yet to score a top 20 finish this year and is languishing outside the top 35 in owner points, slotting in second in the rookie race to Joey Logano. Meanwhile, Allmendinger’s taken a part-time ride in Richard Petty Motorsports’ No. 44 to two top 10 finishes and is jumping up to the fringes of Chase contention in 15th. You can even make an outside argument he’s become as competitive as Team Red Bull’s number one operation, the No. 83 car driven by Brian Vickers.

Of course, if Team Red Bull had only renewed its faith in developing the former Champ Car star just one more season, it’d have two cars looking to make the Chase right now instead of one simply trying to keep from qualifying for races on speed. But as NASCAR desperately searches for new stars throughout its top three series, it’s a lesson learned to be careful to throw away potential talent before giving them a long-term chance in the seat.

Did You Notice? … Sports is as much mental as it is physical? That’s all I could think of after analyzing Denny Hamlin’s post-race comments following the race at Martinsville. Yes, Hamlin’s one hell of a classy guy, but where’s the fire? Instead of being all fired up, Joe Gibbs’ “veteran” wheelman was acting like someone who absolutely expected to lose.

In one sense, I don’t blame him; after all, this was a guy on his way to one of the most dominating performances in Sprint Cup history last May, leading 381 of 382 laps at Richmond before a blown tire robbed him of a win at his hometown track. It seems like Hamlin hasn’t been the same since, and you’ve got to wonder what it’s going to take to change that mentality before seven, eight, even nine wins ultimately slip through his grasp.

I will say this in Hamlin’s defense, though: he’s not alone in terms of drivers who often need a Prozac instead of a chill pill after races. Here’s a look at a few other “Charlie Browns” on the Cup circuit these days:

Matt Kenseth: The only driver I know who takes a fourth-place finish as hard as a death in the family. This man can make Eeyore of the Hundred Acre Wood look chipper.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: On the radio and out of the spotlight, he’s willing to call Tony Eury, Jr. every name in the book when things go wrong. But when the cameras start rolling and the mics are in place? Junior simply struggles to put on any sort of happy face.

Casey Mears: I guess if you finish 20th every week, well, there’s nothing to get excited about, is there …

Mark Martin: If I finished runner-up in the title chase four times, I’d expect bad luck to happen to me, too. At least Martin has turned around his depression in recent years; now, even a blown engine in 43rd leaves him “Happy to just be a part of this A-B-C-D sponsored Chevrolet on my fourth-aborted Salute To You Tour!”

Did You Notice? … How silly it is for the Nationwide teams to hit the track this Thursday? At Texas, they’ve always had a schedule in April that spreads out over four days – not three.

Honestly, the schedule in my mind makes no sense. I can understand spreading out the track time in Charlotte, home base for 90 percent of the teams and drivers on the circuit – not to mention SPEED network television. But to do it in Fort Worth, where the sole consequence is causing teams and drivers to spend an extra night on a hotel room in this tough economy? And they’re not the only people that lose out on this deal, either. Because no one in television production hits the track until Friday, Nationwide qualifying won’t be televised by SPEED, leaving NNS fans in the dark and forced to rely on internet updates to figure out who won the pole.

Taking a deeper look at this, I just don’t understand why Eddie Gossage didn’t revise the schedule this year. I guess he’s looking at making more revenue by getting additional fans to come to the track on Thursday; but honestly, who in their right mind has the discretionary spending right now to make it a four-day trip to the track instead of three? For 2010, I think it’s time to change this anomaly for good.

Did You Notice? … Some short track aces tripped up big during the two-week swing at Bristol and Martinsville? I know it’s still early, but for guys I consider to be right on the “Chase Bubble” come August and September, these are the types of missed opportunities they’ll look back on should they miss the playoffs. Here’s a quick look at some specialists who really struggled to keep up:

Kurt Busch: The winningest Bristol driver this decade wound up 11th at Thunder Valley, then followed it up with an 18th-place clunker at Martinsville – with zero laps led in both races. Not exactly what you’d expect from a guy who came into this swing with solid momentum from an Atlanta win.

Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished 30th at Bristol (wrecked) and 11th at Martinsville for an average finish of just 20.5. And I thought the short tracks were RCR’s bread and butter…

Jeff Burton: Eighth and 15th over the last two weeks really isn’t all that terrible. But when you realize Burton was first and third during this same stretch in 2008, well … you realize that the No. 31 is not exactly clicking on all eight cylinders as of late.

Did You Notice? … The UConn Huskies in the Final Four? Sorry, I know it’s not NASCAR-related… but I had to give a shout out to my home state after a dominating NCAA Tourney performance. There’s more to our state than just the great racing at Stafford Springs and Thompson Speedway!

Now, if only they could tell their secrets of success to Joey Logano …

Southern 500's return thrills RCR

Iconic race brings back memories and raises hype for this season at Darlington

By Steve Wiseman - The State (Columbia, S.C.)

WELCOME, N.C. -- In a sport that has expanded far beyond its Carolina roots to find rousing success, Jeff Burton is glad one important piece of NASCAR history returns this season.

The Southern 500, a staple of the sport on the iconic Darlington Raceway oval for more than 50 years, is back in the sport's lexicon.

"I'm really excited about it," Burton said Monday at Richard Childress Racing's headquarters. "To me, any time you ran at Darlington, it was the Southern 500 as long as it was a 500-mile race. To me, it's the coolest place to go. The history there is so unique."

NASCAR's first superspeedway, Darlington began running the Southern 500 on Labor Day weekend in 1950. For most of the next five decades, the circuit's second stop at Darlington was the Southern 500, traditionally on Labor Day weekend.

That changed in 2004 when Darlington's fall race moved to November. The following season, NASCAR took Darlington's autumn race off the schedule, leaving the track with a race on Mother's Day weekend in May.

With that, the Southern 500 disappeared from the NASCAR landscape.

But this season the pop-culture retro movement has taken hold in auto racing — the May 9 race in the Pee Dee restores the Southern 500 name.

"It's like stepping back in history," Burton said. "I think it's just an unbelievable place to go race."

Casey Mears, Burton's new RCR teammate this season, is looking forward to bringing his new ride, the No. 7 car, to the distinctive egg-shaped oval.

"Darlington is a race that you'd really like to win just because it's been around so long," Mears said. "It's got so much history. It's definitely one of the most unique tracks we run. It's my favorite just because you approach it so different. It's fun to drive."

Clint Bowyer drove the No. 7 to a pole position in 2007 and has finished ninth and 15th in the past two Darlington races. At team owner Richard Childress' request, Bowyer yielded the No. 7 car and crew to Mears.

Driving the No. 33 car and No. 2 in the Sprint Cup standings, Bowyer looks to build on his hot start at a track where he is becoming more comfortable.

"It's very unique," Bowyer said. "It's a track where you've got to learn the track. You've got to have respect for the racetrack. It's one that gets on you quicker than any other racetrack out there. As I've gone there over the years, I've gotten better and better.

"My first pole was at Darlington, and I'm looking forward to getting back and sitting on the pole."

Mears' first experience at the track came during a testing run. He tried to absorb as much information as he could about The Lady in Black. He quickly discovered that driving it, and rubbing a wall — or two or three — was the only way to learn.

"You can take in as much as anybody wants to tell you about the track," Mears said. "You can watch all the videos you want. But you still have to go out there and knock the right side of it a few times to really learn what that track is about. I think I did that. ... You've got to respect that track."

Mears still is learning. In eight Sprint Cup starts at Darlington, he has yet to crack the top 10 or hold the lead for a lap.

Burton, though, knows his way around Darlington. He won the 1999 Southern 500, completing a sweep of Darlington's two events that season.

The trophy he claimed that fall ranks among his favorites.

"My Southern 500 trophy is displayed above my others," Burton said.

Alan Kulwicki: Running Down A Dream

Matt McLaughlin · Frontstretch.com

Editor’s Note: Vito Pugliese is off this week from The Voice Of Vito. Expect him to rejoin us with his usual brand of humorous commentary next Wednesday … in the meantime, we have a very special tribute on a special anniversary from Frontstretch Senior Writer Matt McLaughlin.

Though it was not all that long ago in the grand scheme of things, the Winston Cup circuit was very different back in the late ’70s and early ’80s. Back then, almost all the star drivers were still Southern-born and bred, most of them having started their careers racing late models on one of those storied old bullrings south of the Mason-Dixon line. A driver who showed promise might hope one day to land a ride with one of the “Good ol’ boy” teams, like Junior Johnson’s, Bud Moore’s, or Richard Childress’s. Certainly, if that driver ever expected to have a chance at running for the championship, it was thought he needed to land a ride with an established team.

Then along came Alan Kulwicki. Not only was he born way north of the heart of Dixie in Greenfield, Wisconsin, his plan — to start his own team and be an owner/driver — was almost unheard of in that day. But Alan Kulwicki never did follow the beaten path.

He blazed his own.

Alan’s dad, Gerald, was a race engine builder of some notoriety. While Alan wanted to get involved in racing at an early age, his father insisted he get a good education. Possessed with a genius level IQ, Alan eventually earned a college degree in mechanical engineering during an era that saw most of NASCAR’s stars drop out of school early on to pursue their racing careers. Kulwicki would use that talent at engineering to build his own race cars. Because of a tight budget, he by and large built the cars by himself, and his thorough understanding of the makeup of a race car would make him among the best drivers at setting up a chassis the way he wanted it to feel.

Alan started racing late models at the age of 19 in 1974. His first start was at the Hale’s Corner Speedway in Wisconsin; that same year, he won his first feature race at Leo’s Speedway over in Oshkosh. Those who knew him well recall that was also the year Alan Kulwicki decided he wanted to run in Winston Cup one day, competing for the championship. Daytona is a long way from Oshkosh; but as he did with everything in his life, Alan sat down and methodically started plotting a path to reach his goal. There was no use in anyone telling him it was an impossible dream. As Alan was fond of saying, “Obstacles are what you see in your path when you take your eyes off your goal.”

Kulwicki followed his plan, graduating from the Wisconsin short track scene (after winning two track championships) to driving full-time on the USAC stock car racing circuit and, eventually, the ASA series. There, he befriended another future NASCAR superstar, Rusty Wallace. While friends off the track, the two drivers were fierce rivals on it, and treated the fans to some of the finest racing that series had ever known.

While it was a slight deviation from his plans, when Bill Terry offered Alan the chance to run a few Winston Cup races in 1985 Kulwicki jumped at the chance. He started his first Cup race at Richmond that Fall and finished 19th. Kulwicki would make a total of five Winston Cup starts that year, with his best finish a 13th at Charlotte. Still, Bill Terry had seen enough talent in Alan to offer him a ride during the 1986 season. At that point, Alan decided it was time to move south to continue pursuing his goal of winning a Cup title. He sold his own shop and equipment, packing all his things in an old Ford truck. The day he was to leave, the electrical system of the truck caught fire. While some might have seen that as a sign to abandon their plans to move south, Alan calmly set about rewiring the truck stem to stern, then headed south the day he finished the job.

While any chance to run Winston Cup is a chance worth taking, Terry’s team was an extremely small operation. The team had only one car and two engines, with limited sponsorship from Quincy’s restaurants. The deal was thrown together so quickly that Alan arrived at Daytona to find his name misspelled on the car.

Alan’s goal that year was to run for Rookie of the Year honors. Knowing that wrecking the car would mean he would most likely miss the next race, Alan developed his trademark smooth clean driving style. He was never into swapping paint like Dale Earnhardt or driving on the ragged edge like Tim Richmond. Alan drove with his head as much as his right foot, and brought his equipment home in one piece. That’s not to say he was slow; Alan had four top 10 finishes in 1986, including a fourth place run at Martinsville that Spring. Those finishes were enough to let Alan achieve his goal of winning top rookie honors.

Alan was ready to move up to the next level for 1987, but he and Bill Terry were no longer seeing eye to eye. Kulwicki knew in his mind what the team needed to run more competitively, but Terry was not interested in spending the necessary funding to match. Instead, he sold the team to Alan, who went deeply into debt to buy that small operation. Alan began spending money, efficiently but as needed, and began building up his team. He managed ten top 10 finishes in 1987, including a runner-up finish at Pocono in June that left him a mere second behind Dale Earnhardt. Suddenly, no one was laughing at the dreamer anymore. Kulwicki was beginning to turn heads, and had taken a step up to the level of contender. With his tiny little race team, he finished 15th in the points that year.

The ‘87 season went well enough that Alan was able to sign on his first major sponsor, Zerex antifreeze. The deal allowed him to buy and build newer equipment, as well as rent engines from Prototype Engineering. What Alan needed next was a crew chief who was as dedicated to his goals as he was.

While at the awards banquet, Kulwicki discussed who he should hire with his old friend Rusty Wallace. Wallace recommended Paul Andrews. It turned out to be a perfect match and a very successful association, as Alan was able to effectively communicate to Andrews how he wanted things done. Andrews was sold on Alan’s vision and worked tirelessly to accomplish just that. That’s not to say the pair never had words. When two perfectionists work in a high pressure environment, they are bound to cross swords occasionally. But Alan and Paul had a deep mutual respect, and they were able to talk through their differences.

Kulwicki and Andrews combined for a great season in 1988. Alan had nine top 10 finishes, including a pair of seconds and his Cup first win at Phoenix that year. After the victory, Alan did a reverse lap of the track, a move which he called his Polish victory lap. The fans loved it — but NASCAR asked Alan not to do it again. Alan smiled and told them he would never do another Polish victory lap until he won his first championship. One can imagine Bill Gazaway just rolled his eyes and walked away.

While Alan didn’t win any races in 1989, he did have four second place finishes and was running strong week in and week out. In 1990, he won the Fall race at Rockingham and finished eighth in the points. Thus, it was somewhat of a bombshell when Zerex announced they would not be returning to the team for the 1991 season. Naturally, the loss of a sponsor is a major setback to a team, and there were those who doubted that Kulwicki Racing would survive. Not Alan, though. He was convinced that he had Maxwell House locked up as a sponsor.

Meanwhile, Junior Johnson, who had perhaps the best eye for raw talent in NASCAR history, tried to convince Alan to come drive for him. Junior had owned six championship teams already, and when combined with a seven figure salary offer, it had to have been a major temptation. But Alan’s plan was to own the team he took to the championship, and he was loyal to the team members who had stood by him. He turned down Junior’s offer, thinking once Maxwell House signed on that everything would be fine. Junior tried very hard to change Alan’s mind, for he knew — but was not at liberty to say — that Maxwell House had decided to sponsor his second team rather then Alan.

Thus, Alan Kulwicki faced the start of the 1991 season without a sponsor. He was up front with his team, telling him he would be paying expenses out of his own pocket with no idea how far they could go into the season if no sponsor signed on. He told the team members if they chose to leave to pursue more stable employment, there would be no hard feelings.

No one chose to leave.

At Daytona that year, Alan had a rather unique one race sponsor. The Gulf War was raging on at that point, and to show the sport’s support of the troops Winston arranged to have five cars run with the colors of one of the branches of the armed services. Alan was chosen to represent the Army, and his car was painted up black and camouflage. He managed to finish eighth in that year’s 500; but while the team had a couple decent runs after that, money was quickly running out.

Then, in a happy coincidence almost out of a fairy tale, Alan managed to grab the pole at the March race in Atlanta. At that very same race, Mark Stahl, who drove for Hooters, failed to qualify. This led Hooters to approach Alan about a one race deal to run their colors. A shy man by nature and a devout Catholic, Alan was uncomfortable with representing the restaurant chain famous for its scantily clad and well-endowed waitresses. But in order to run for a championship, his team needed a sponsor, and the championship was his goal. Alan smiled and signed on the dotted line. The one race deal quickly turned to a full season sponsorship when Kulwicki finished eighth at that rain delayed race. Kulwicki won his first race carrying the Hooters colors at Bristol that year. Despite having started the season without a sponsor, he wound up finishing 13th in the points.

Going into 1992, Alan Kulwicki had all the ingredients for success: a big dollar sponsor, good equipment, a great crew chief, and a ton of talent. He had an unexpected advantage in that Goodyear introduced their new radial tires, which responded better to a smooth driving style than an “on the edge” one. But he also had some pretty formidable competition in the form of Bill Elliott, who had left his family team to drive for Junior Johnson, as well as Davey Allison, who was running for the formidable Robert Yates operation. While 1992 featured one of the most competitive championship hunts ever, it was Bill, Alan, and Davey who wound up being the cream of the crop.

While Davey and Bill grabbed the headlines, with Allison winning the Daytona 500 and Elliott winning four races in a row, Alan quietly kept himself in the hunt. He won twice that year, at Bristol and Pocono. While those two events might not have had the glamour of Daytona, they paid the same amount of points. Heading into the stretch drive to the title, Alan was in position to achieve his ultimate goal.

A terrible weekend at Dover that Fall seemed to doom his chances. After destroying his car in practice, Alan took a backup car out and won the pole. Unfortunately, during the course of the race he tangled with Chad Little, wrecked the backup car too, and finished 34th. (That wasn’t the worst of Alan’s problems at Dover. At the first race that year, he totaled two cars in practice, had to send a flatbed to the shop to pick up a third, and wrecked that one in the race as well. Paul Andrews recalls they only had to do five clip jobs on wrecked cars that year, and all of them were from Dover.) Alan dropped to 278 points out of the lead, and just about everyone said he had no chance to make up that big a gap with only six races to go.

Just about everyone but Alan, that is.

In subsequent races, Bill Elliott and Davey Allison had problems of their own, while Alan ran strong to pull himself right back into contention. Going into Atlanta for the season finale, Alan was in second position in the points, 30 behind Davey and 10 ahead of Bill. While most fans know how that championship chase turned out, many do not recall just how dicey things really were for Alan. For one thing, Davey only needed to finish fifth to guarantee himself a championship, and Atlanta was a horsepower track. Allison’s car owner, Robert Yates, knew a thing or two about horsepower, as he was one of the premier engine builders of that era. In addition, the race was sponsored by Hooters, who kept Alan running from appearance to appearance even while he desperately needed to be working on his car. Because he was a longshot, or underdog, to win the championship, Alan got permission from Ford to change the “Thunderbird” decal on the nose of his Ford to read “Underbird” for that fateful race.

Things did not go smoothly for Alan during that event. On his very first pit stop, he tore first gear out of the transmission. Because of all the shrapnel in the gearbox, Alan was eventually left with only fourth gear. While that wasn’t a problem out there on the track, it made for extremely slow pit stops, and there was a real question as to whether the transmission would survive to the end of the race. Meanwhile, Davey Allison’s hopes were wiped out when he got into a wreck with Ernie Irvan with 75 laps to go — but Bill Elliott had a strong horse and was running up front. Alan had a good car as well, and he, too, led a lot of laps.

Quietly, Paul Andrews began calculating how many laps Alan needed to lead to be guaranteed the five point bonus for leading the most laps, knowing the slow pit stops would make it unlikely that Alan could beat Bill for the race win. When a caution flew and Elliott pitted, Andrew told Alan to stay on the track two more laps, clinching that “Most Laps Led” five point bonus. With that brilliant move, Andrews may very well have helped Alan win the title.

But there was still more drama to come.

Elliott was leading the race with Kulwicki in second, the position he had to finish in to win the title if Elliott was to score the race win. Again, because the Underbird only had fourth gear, Andrews decided to just pit for a gas and go on the final stop rather then changing tires. When Alan pitted, his gas man gave the car a quick shot of fuel while the rest of the crew pushed Alan’s car out of the pits, hoping to help him avoid blowing up the transmission. It wasn’t until after the pit stop, when the team measured how much fuel was left in the 11 gallon pit can, that Andrews calculated they had not gotten enough gas into the car and it was going to be very close as to whether Alan could complete the race. Andrews radioed Alan with the bad news, and there was a stunned silence on the radio.

Paul told Alan to conserve fuel as best he could, and began telling his driver how many seconds behind third place Geoff Bodine was running. Kulwicki had a racer’s heart and would have dearly loved to challenge Elliott for the race win, but he also had his eyes on his goal… the championship. He needed to save gas but still keep Bodine behind him, and that is exactly what Alan managed to pull off. He finished second in the battle, but won the war, and became the 1992 Winston Cup champion.

After the race Alan radioed Paul and asked quietly, “Did we win it?” The crew’s enthusiastic cheering let him know that indeed he had. Alan spun the Underbird around, and true to that promise he made in Phoenix in 1988 did a Polish victory lap to celebrate his title. NASCAR didn’t seem to mind at all. After pulling into Victory Lane, Alan reached into his uniform and pulled out a 39 cent Ace pocket comb to straighten up his hair before emerging from the car. It was a classic Kulwicki moment: Why spend a bundle when a 39 cent item will work just as well?

The 1992 awards banquet in New York was one of the best events ever. During his speech, a gracious Bill Elliott presented Alan with a gold-plated pocket comb, thinking the 39 cent item was a bit beneath the new champion. Alan may never have laughed so hard in public before in his life. NASCAR did a moving tribute to their new champion set to the tune of “My Way.” While public speaking was not Alan Kulwicki’s strong point, he gave an exceptional speech that night in which he vowed to do everything in his power to make everyone associated with the sport proud of his tenure as champion.

1993 started with a great deal of optimism for Alan, Paul, and the team. While a dropped valve relegated them to a poor finish at the Daytona 500, Alan had a series of strong runs early on that season. After finishing sixth at the Spring race in Darlington, he had climbed back to ninth place in the point standings. There were still a lot of races left in the season, and the team was quietly confident they could repeat as champions.

On April 1st, 1993 Alan Kulwicki was flying to Bristol for that weekend’s race aboard a Hooters corporate jet. Until that year Alan had always flown commercial airliners, but with the busy commitment schedule of reigning champion, he had begun flying on corporate planes. The plane had almost reached Bristol when things went terribly wrong.

Subsequent investigations have revealed that the pilot forgot to turn on the de-icers and the engines flamed out. Dale Earnhardt was aboard his plane not far ahead of Alan’s as it prepared to touch down. Earnhardt heard the frantic emergency calls from Kulwicki’s pilot, then the terrified screams of the plane’s passengers, including those of his friend he called “Quickie.” Then, there was an ominous silence. It was hours before the media was told the worst possible news. Alan Kulwicki and the other passengers aboard the plane had all died in the fiery wreck. Because of Alan’s celebrity, the names of the other three victims are often overlooked, but Mark Brooks, Dan Duncan, and Charles Campbell also perished that night.

The NASCAR family was stunned and moved to tears by the loss of their quiet champion. The next morning the No. 7 team’s rig, with a black wreath on the grille, took two slow laps around Bristol in a driving rain, while the other teams stood along pit road silently in honor of Alan Kulwicki.

Alan Kulwicki passed away at the age of 39. In his brief life, though, he managed to achieve the goal others had told him was impossible. His words, “Obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off the goal” are a map to the path of success for others brave enough to dream. And while his reign was far too short, Alan kept the promise he made that night in New York as well. We were proud to have Alan Kulwicki as our champion, and miss him to this day.

Head in the Sand

John Roberts/speedtv.com

Pardon me while I pull my head out of the sand for a moment…

During the past few months, we at SPEED have received numerous e-mails posing a similar question. Paraphrased, they read, “Why are you sticking your head in the sand and not talking about how the economy is affecting NASCAR?”

Unless you never pick up a newspaper or turn on a TV, you are well aware of how dire the current economic landscape is across the country. Unfortunately, NASCAR is not immune to these conditions, especially given the fact it is a sponsor-driven business and sponsorships are drying up across the board. That’s the bad news in this situation and whether you agree or disagree, bad news sells. Ever heard the TV news saying “If it bleeds, it leads?”

One thing we learned in journalism school was that if a dog bites a man, it’s not a story because it’s an everyday occurrence. But if a man bites a dog, you have a story. The fact that teams are contracting and people are losing jobs has become a “dog bites man” story.

Some of our best friends are out of work now and we are doing everything we can to help them. But to rehash that dismal fact on a daily basis really would serve no purpose. I challenge you to find one person who watches sports to be depressed and smacked in the face by stark reality. Sports, NASCAR included, are intended to be entertaining and inspiring, an escape from the everyday reality in which we all live. We haven’t ignored this realism on TV but have tried to focus more on the entertainment and upbeat attitude for which our viewers turn to us.

In fact, if it ever came down to only two unsponsored cars in the Daytona 500, we at SPEED would be crazy enough to be out there covering that drag race with the same zeal in which we covered February’s full-field 500.

So to further pull everyone’s head out of the proverbial sand, let’s take a look at a few facts:

During last year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup, ticket sales were down about an average of 10-percent. A race ticket easily is considered a luxury to most people (a necessity, though, to the diehard race fan) and in comparison to other luxury items, a 10-percent sales dip is pretty damn good these days. One Harley Davidson dealer told us his sales were off 45-percent and that he would be elated by a 10-percent drop. Furthermore, despite all the gloom and doom forecasted, the Daytona 500 was sold out with 57 cars entered.

Many off-season news articles said that there wouldn’t be anyone in the stands at the Auto Club Speedway but one highway patrol officer estimated the crowd at 85,000. While not all estimates were that high, the crowd was better than anyone expected. So, a state that led the nation in layoffs in February and climbed to a 10.5-percent unemployment rate, along with a U.S.-high number of foreclosures, hosted a race with tens of thousands of paying customers at a facility that usually doesn’t put on the season’s best race. That crowd should be praised and not shamed.

Several media outlets at Las Vegas Motor Speedway did live reports from the track stating that the race MIGHT not sell out because of rough economic times, but when the race did sell out, I didn’t see one go on-air with an update. Isn’t that ignoring the facts in the opposite way?

When you look at the NASCAR industry as a whole and the multitude of people it employs, the unofficial layoff count ranges from 600 to 1,000, which pales in comparison to many other big businesses in the country. Although that number is not a good one, comparatively, it’s not as bad as other industries that don’t rely on the tenuous funding of sponsors.

While we don’t purport to speak for everyone in the NASCAR broadcast world, we think that focusing on these subjects does not constitute sticking our heads in the sand but rather focusing on the positives and doing our part to keep our sport afloat, and yes, many of the facts represent positives.

So, my advice is if you have the opportunity to make it to a NASCAR track near you, stop by the SPEED stage and see us. Kenny Wallace will dance his version of the twist and Jimmy Spencer will sing his rendition of Guns and Roses’ “Sweet Child of Mine.” If that’s not enough to make you forget about the negative news for a couple of days, I don’t know what is.

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or Speed Channel 

Tom Higgins Scuffs

First win was no April 1 joke

By Tom Higgins

The outcome of the race was so significant that I felt compelled to phone my cohorts in The Charlotte Observer sports department the moment the checkered flag waved.

They needed to be alerted to the story I was about to file, because it was BIG in our circulation area.

“Dale Earnhardt just won the race up here at Bristol!” I told the fellow who took my call. “Sure he did,” the guy replied somewhat sarcastically. “April Fool!  You think I’m going to fall for that?”

Indeed, it was April 1, 1979. But I wasn’t kidding.

Earnhardt, who had built a big following over the past few years with his hard-charger driving style on short tracks around the Carolinas Piedmont, had won on the NASCAR big-time tour in just his 16th Winston Cup Series start.

The victory came in the Southeastern 500 at the track in Tennessee then known as Bristol International Raceway. The triumph was no fluke.

Following Dale, then 27, to the finish line that spring Sabbath 30 years ago were savvy veterans Bobby Allison, Darrell Waltrip, Richard Petty and Benny Parsons, each of whom had either won championships or were destined to take titles.  

Earnhardt, back on the track first from the pits after a final caution period, prevailed in a 23-lap dash to the finish.  He beat runner-up Allison by 3 seconds. The Winston Cup rookie led 164 of the 500 laps on the .533-mile track, more than any driver. He averaged 91.033 mph.

Earnhardt, understandably, was ecstatic. “I probably won’t believe this until in the morning!” he said.

Then, Earnhardt thought of his late father, the legendary short track champion Ralph Earnhardt, who had died of a heart attack at age 43 in 1973. “I know that somewhere there’s a fellow that’s got a big smile and he is mighty, mighty proud,” said Dale, his eyes moistening a big.  “He’s even more happy than I am, if that’s possible.”

The younger Earnhardt had learned the racing “trade” while watching and helping at his father’s backyard shop on Sedan Avenue in the textile town of Kannapolis, N.C. Sitting alongside Dale during the winner’s interview was J.C. “Jake” Elder, the much-traveled crew chief who had joined Earnhardt’s Rod Osterlund-owned team just three races earlier.

“It’s by far the biggest win of my career,” Elder stated emphatically. “No question about it.” Never mind that he had fielded superspeedway winners for drivers such as Fred Lorenzen, David Pearson, Parsons and Waltrip.

The ride with Californian Osterlund in ’79 was Dale’s first on a fulltime basis at the Winston Cup level. Before that season he had driven for six different car owners, including four starts for Osterlund in ’78 in which he posted a best finish of fourth.  

In just his second Winston Cup event in 1976 Earnhardt was involved in a horrifying, barrel-rolling crash at Atlanta International Raceway. His car, fielded by Alabamian Johnny Ray, sailed over a car driven by Dick Brooks and was totally destroyed. Earnhardt was unhurt, but there was speculation in the press box that the experience would scare him away from the big-time series.

“People who thought that didn’t know Dale Earnhardt,” long-time driver and hall-of-famer Buddy Baker said years later. “I was in the garage area at Atlanta that day of Dale’s awful crash, and the minute he got out of being checked at the infirmary he was out on pit road begging people to let him drive relief for them so he could get back in the race.”

Earnhardt didn’t triumph again in ’79, but he posted 10 more top five finishes and was rookie of the year. He won five races in 1980, taking the championship with Osterlund and Elder by 19 points over three-peat title winner Cale Yarborough.

After Osterlund sold his team to Jim Stacy in ’81, Earnhardt decided to move on. He first went to Richard Childress Racing, then joined team owner Bud Moore in 1982-83. Dale returned to Childress in ’84 and remained in the No 3 cars, mainly Chevrolets, until his death in a last-lap crash during the 2001 Daytona 500.

Sixty-seven of Earnhardt’s 76 victories and six of his record-tying seven championships came while he was driving for his friend Childress. As the 30th anniversary of Earnhardt’s breakthrough victory approaches, I remember standing alongside Dale and Elder on pit road at Bristol after they had qualified ninth.

“Stick with me, kid, and we’ll both be wearing diamonds as big as horse turds,” said the crusty Elder, now 72 and the resident of an assisted living home in Statesville, N.C.

Its no “April Fool” joking that Earnhardt could have had gems even larger than that if he’d wished.  His race winnings totaled $42,001,697, and he probably earned more than that in endorsements and business dealings.

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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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