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The Toyota poll regarding 'non-domestic' U.S. car manufacturers entering
Winston
Cup racing will end tomorrow at the conclusion of the Great American
Race Daytona 500. Please vote again at the URL below. This
is your last chance and the poll will be terminated tomorrow night.
The results will be posted on my website and also by "Know Your NASCAR"
by NASCAR Momma sometime next week.
Larry
02/15/03
http://bhb10.tripod.com/de3fan/
Dale Eanhardt Jr. (right) meets with Jeff Green before
the Koolerz 300 at Daytona on
Saturday. Credit: AP
Earnhardt Jr., RCR drivers heal
rift
By Marty Smith, Turner Sports Interactive
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The highly publicized battle-rap between Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a dead issue, both drivers said Saturday following the Koolerz 300 at Daytona International Speedway.
The matter in question was raised Thursday after Junior won the second Gatorade 125-mile qualifying race at DIS. During the post-victory press conference, Junior questioned the appreciation Harvick and Jeff Green had for car owner Richard Childress:
"I will always wish Richard well. I don't necessarily see eye-to-eye with every one of his drivers," Junior said Thursday. "They ain't been there that long, and they might not be there for much longer.
"Jeff and Harvick were too competitive at times with each other (in 2002). You've got Richard Childress over there busting his (butt) for all these years to get what he's got, and I don't think those guys appreciate what an opportunity they have."
The motorsports media was taken aback by Earnhardt Jr.'s statement, triggering a frenzy to get to the bottom of the predicament.
Simply put, Junior misspoke. Hence, he sought Harvick and Green out Saturday prior to the NASCAR Busch Series event, explained himself and made amends.
Case closed.
"It's dead," said Harvick, Saturday's third-place finisher. "What he said isn't what he meant. Unfortunately it got turned into something bigger. He apologized that it got out of hand. Everything's fine now.
"He knows that Richard Childress made Richard Childress Racing what it is with Dale Earnhardt. Dale Earnhardt made DEI what it is. We all understand that. We all respect that.
"We directly appreciate everything Richard's done for us. (Junior) directly appreciates everything Richard's done for him. That's the way it is."
"I didn't mean to piss 'em off, but I guess what I said would piss somebody off. It'd piss me off," added Junior, who by winning Saturday's affair gave himself the opportunity to become the first driver in NASCAR history to win all four events he's entered in at Daytona.
"I talked to 'em. We all qualified in the top three, so I saw 'em today and talked to them. What I said and what I wanted to say was two different things. I was a little asinine in here the other day, but sometimes you do that."
So what did he mean to say?
"The question that was asked me was if they could out-duel us in a drafting battle between me and Michael (Waltrip). And I felt like me and Michael had more experience at it because we've worked together more often.
"I didn't intentionally want to take a stab at any one driver or any group of drivers. I wasn't in the best mood that day, either, but that don't matter. I just run my mouth a little too much.
"My point was that if me and Michael team up tomorrow that everybody else on the track will just be bowing for third. I didn't upset Richard too much, and that was the one I really worried about."
Dale Earnhardt Jr. hopes for another celebration Sunday. Credit: Autostock
Favorite Earnhardt Jr. covets
Daytona victory
By Mike Harris, Associated Press
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- In the NASCAR garages, the refrain heading into the Daytona 500 goes something like this: "If Junior don't break or crash, ain't nobody gonna catch him."
Dale Earnhardt Jr. has followed his late father as perhaps the best superspeedway racer in Winston Cup action, and few can dispute the kid is the favorite going into Sunday's race.
His father won seven Winston Cup championships and 76 races before his death here two years ago. He often said none of his accomplishments was more precious to him than winning the 1998 Daytona 500.
It took the elder Earnhardt 17 tries to win NASCAR's biggest event, although he came close several times. Junior doesn't plan to wait that long, yet he's somewhat amazed to be in position to do it on his fourth try.
"The strange thing about it for me, though, is that I have a chance to win it so early, and Dad came in for years and years," the 28-year-old scion said.
Earnhardt Jr. pointed out that his father didn't have a strong ride here for most of his early years and didn't become a real contender until his second stint driving for Richard Childress began in 1984.
After that, Earnhardt became a dominant force at Daytona, winning every preliminary race and the July Cup race multiple times. But he couldn't seem to make the magic happen in the race he wanted most.
In 1990, The Intimidator was leading until running over a piece of metal and blowing a tire with half a lap to go. That gave the victory to Derrick Cope and broke Earnhardt's heart again.
"I was a teenager and I remember how hard it was and, I mean, it hurt," Junior said. "When he cut the tire in front of Cope that year, those were tough, tough times. It was awful. It just ruined the whole deal."
The heartache he saw and felt over his dad's near-misses, and the joy he experienced when his father finally won, have made the season-opening race just as special to Junior.
"Going through that, I realize how big this race is," he said.
Acknowledging his role as the favorite, Junior added, "I'm probably going to look back 10 or 15 years from now and wish I had a chance to do it all over again if I don't win this race because I'm going to have all this experience and go, 'Man, what the heck?'
"Hopefully, I'll win it and I won't have to worry about that."
If he does win Sunday, it will take more than pure speed.
NASCAR requires carburetor restrictor plates at Daytona to keep the cars under 200 mph, an effort to make the race safer for drivers and spectators.
An unwanted side-effect of the horsepower-sapping plates is bunching the field in huge packs with cars drafting two- and three-wide at up to 190 mph. A spectacular multicar crash is virtually a given during races here and at Talladega Superspeedway, the only other track where the plates are used.
"All it takes is to lose your focus for a moment," said two-time Daytona 500 winner and four-time series champion Jeff Gordon. "It's hard to hold your breath for three hours, but that's what it feels like."
NASCAR's solution to pack racing is a small fuel cell, forcing the cars to pit more often and, hopefully, stringing out the field. The tanks -- 13 gallons as opposed to the usual 22 -- were first used last fall at Talladega and the results were mixed.
Thursday's twin 125-mile qualifying races were the first time the drivers got to see the effects of the smaller tank on Daytona's 2 1/2-mile oval. It was the first time in more than a decade that a pit stop was needed in the 50-lap races.
Jeff Green will start at the front of the 43-car field alongside Earnhardt Jr., who won his qualifier. Green finished second to teammate Robby Gordon in his 125, losing the lead when Gordon outbraked him coming in for their pit stops.
"It's so much a different track than Talladega. Handling comes into play so much here," Green said. "It really pushes the front end off the corner and, if your car is handling, that singles cars out, too. It's going to get down to maybe 10 cars you have to race instead of 40."
If that scenario develops, it's likely the cars at the front will include Earnhardt Jr. and Dale Earnhardt Inc. teammate Michael Waltrip, as well as Richard Childress Racing drivers Green and Robby Gordon.
The elder Earnhardt won all but one of his championships while driving for Childress, and he and his car owner always put a particular emphasis on the plate races.
DEI was founded by the elder Earnhardt, who continued to drive for Childress until his death, and it has placed the same priority on the Daytona and Talladega events.
Earnhardt Jr. and Waltrip have combined for six wins in the last eight plate races, with Junior winning the 2001 July race at Daytona and the last three 500-milers at Talladega. Waltrip won the 2001 Daytona 500 and added a victory here in July 2002.
There's no guarantee, though, that those two teams, which also include RCR's Kevin Harvick and DEI's Steve Park, will dominate Sunday.
Tony Stewart, the 2002 Winston Cup champion, will begin defense of that title in a race in which he has failed to finish better than 17th in four tries. He was the favorite last year, but his engine blew up after two laps and he wound up last.
Other contenders in the big field are Jeff Gordon and other former Daytona winners Sterling Marlin, Dale Jarrett, Bill Elliott and Ward Burton, last year's winner.
The Roush Racing trio of Mark Martin, Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth can't be overlooked, either. Martin finished second to Stewart in points; Busch finished the season as the hottest driver, winning three of the last five races; and Kenseth led the 2002 series with five wins.
Then there are last year's rookie stars, Ryan Newman and Jimmie Johnson, both of whom finished in the top six in points.
The lineup also includes Rusty Wallace and Ricky Rudd, winless here in 20 and 25 starts. Six rookies also dot the field, including Brazilian Indy-car star Christian Fittipaldi, 2002 Busch Series champion Greg Biffle, three-time Craftsman Truck Series champion Jack Sprague, and Jamie McMurray, who ran a handful of races last year and won in his second start, the quickest victory in NASCAR history.
Wallace starts 38th, 30 positions lower than he thought he would be. His team was fined $10,000 and his car disqualified from his qualifying race for an illegal carburetor.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s team rushes off pit road to meet their driver after winning the
Busch Series opener for the second year in a row. Credit: Autostock
Dale Jr. stays perfect with dominant win
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. is on the verge of doing something his father never did at Daytona: a Speed Weeks sweep.
Junior put himself in position for the sweep on Saturday, winning the Koolerz 300 Busch Series race for the second straight year.
He is the first driver to win back-to-back Busch races here since his late father got his fifth in a row in 1994.
This was also Junior's third victory at Daytona International Speedway in eight days, including the Bud Shootout and a 125-mile qualifying race for Sunday's Daytona 500.
Three times, Dale Earnhardt Sr. won all the preliminary races, only to come up short in the Daytona 500 -- a race he didn't win until his 20th try. Now, his son is poised for a sweep during Speed Weeks -- something no one else has accomplished under NASCAR's current format.
"I'm a little nervous because nobody's ever done it," Junior said, when
asked about winning them all. "It doesn't bode well for tomorrow, but we've
got a good car and we'll go in with a good attitude."
The only competition Earnhardt hasn't won this week is pole qualifying
for Sunday's race. He'll start second, beside Jeff Green, but he still
goes in as the favorite to win NASCAR's biggest race.
"With the success we've had up to this point this Speed Weeks, we've got to be the favorite," Earnhardt said.
In Saturday's race, Earnhardt got out front just past halfway and stayed there. A four-car accident two laps from the end put the 120-lap, 300-mile race under a caution flag for the final trip around the 2.5-mile oval, with Earnhardt's No. 8 Chevrolet driving slowly across the finish line behind the pace car.
"It feels great," Earnhardt said. "We only an occasional starter in the Busch Series, took the lead from Kevin Harvick in the leaders' pit stops during a caution period on lap 54. He led the rest of the way and was never really challenged.
The win on Saturday gives Junior five total race victories at Daytona, including the 2001 Pepsi 400. But the third-generation driver is still far behind his father's Daytona-record 34 wins. The elder Earnhardt won the Busch race seven times.
Harvick came back to finish third, despite a penalty -- for leaving the pits with a gas catchcan stuck in the car -- that sent him all the way to 30th place on lap 81.
"You can't make a mistake and expect to beat the best of the best," he said.
Junior averaged 143.770 mph on the way to his 16th Busch Series victory.
It was
also the 28-year-old driver's third victory in his last four Busch starts.
He was the series champion in 1998 and 1999 before moving up to the Winston
Cup series.
It was his second win as a team owner.
"This (car) is my little baby, in a way," Dale Jr. said, grinning. "I'm real proud of my team. None of them have a whole lot of experience and they were real nervous about making some kind of a mistake on pit road.
"I got behind Kevin early in the race and couldn't get past him," he added. "I knew I needed to get out front to win and I kept getting two tires all the race. It was something I did last year and it worked out great."
With the late crash shaking up the top 10, Mike Wallace wound up fourth, followed by Jamie McMurray, Bodine, Bobby Hamilton Jr. and Kasey Kahne.
Green was subbing for pole-winner Joe Nemechek, who sat out the race
with the
flu. Green, who started from the back of the pack, saw his day end when
Scott Riggs bumped him from behind and sent his car spinning into the wall.
Michael Waltrip also was a victim of someone else's mistake. Vasser, riding at the top of a three-wide draft, bounced off the wall and hit Randy Lajoie, who slammed into Waltrip and sent him hard into the wall.
Stacy Compton had the most spectacular crash of the day. He banged the outside wall coming off turn four and the engine compartment and underside of his car burst into flame.
The fire continued to roar and the smoke bellow out until Compton got the car stopped in the infield grass nearly halfway down the back straightaway.
All the drivers except Keller were checked and released in the infield medical center. Keller was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital to be checked for a possible concussion.
Your
Momma
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