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Today In Nascar History
February 18, 1979
The Daytona 500 is televised live on CBS for the 1st time. Just as CBS was going off the air, a big fight ensued between Cale Yarborough and brothers Bobby and Donny Allison after Cale and Donnie took each other out on turn 3 of the final lap of the race.
The winner of a NASCAR Winston Cup series race is guaranteed 175 points.
7
DEI wins in the past 9 restrictor plate races.
from Trudy
I'll just take Elliot Sadler LOL!!
M &M 's The Woman's Survival Kit
At the first sign of hot flashes eat the RED one.
Eat the ORANGE one to minimize depression.
The GREEN one calms your frustrations, when you want to be left alone.
If you feel a headache coming on eat the PURPLE one.
The BLUE one reduces bloating.
You can eat the "BROWN" ones ANYTIME!!
If all symptoms occur at the same time, eat the WHOLE BAG!(BIGBOYZBIKES)
Momma,
Two things:
A) Tony Stewart...what a hottie!!! I just LOVE passionate men!
B) I missed Vin Diesel at the opening ceremony. Do you have any pics of him and do you know when the race will be shown again?
Your Faithful Follower,
Trudy
Trudy….to the best of my knowledge, the race will be rebroadcast on Wednesday at 8pm eastern on Speed.
from Susie
Well, that sucked. First race of the year and one of the most touted
and they call it after 272.5 miles. The rain delay had been only a bit
over an hour. Some of the races last year had much longer delays and one
even came back the next day. What a disappointment. Only run it a little
over half way and then quit. The way they were racing and the
changes in the leaders, it was anyone's race yet. If they had kept it going,
it is even possible that Jr could have come back and won. And to think
I waited for months to see it. Blah! Susie
Have to agree with you….I just sat there, staring at the TV! I didn’t know what to do. I looked at my husband and best friend and said….S*@# now what!
from Tommy
How Could you trash FORD that way by calling a dodge a FORD.
The losers deserved to crash for switching to dodges. To bad he didn't
take rusty with him. Sorry, I get a little protective of my dear
FORDS. I'm glad he wasn't hurt, but I have no regret for cheering
as he spun.
Thanks--Tommy Truetell
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The rear end of his No. 12 Ford sailed high in the air as the car pirouetted on its left front. With the right rear wheel assembly torn off, the car came down and dug into the grass, then started flipping. It rolled once to the left and then three more full turns to the right, finally winding up on its roof, a battered mess. It took several minutes to get Newman out of the car.
LOL Tommy good catch….I didn’t even see that….I didn’t do it! The writer did, I just posted it!
WALTRIP CAR GOES ON DISPLAY
Daytona USA today put Dale Earnhardt Inc.'s No. 15 Chevrolet on display,
one day after Michael Waltrip drove it to his second Daytona 500 victory.
The car, which was autographed by Waltrip and all of the team's crew, will
rest inside Gatorade Victory Lane at the attraction for a year. Waltrip,
who today participated in a fan forum along with crew chief Richard "Slugger"
Labbe and DEI Executive Vice President Ty Norris, says he celebrated his
victory last night with his crew on team owner Teresa Earnhardt's yacht.
Waltrip, who also won the race in 2001, becomes the eighth driver to win
the Daytona 500 more than once.
Sterling Marlin, Dale Jarrett and Bill Elliott are scheduled to test this week at Kentucky Speedway. The track says Marlin was scheduled to test his Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge there today, while Jarrett is expected to bring his Robert Yates Racing Ford tomorrow, and Elliott is scheduled to test an Evernham Motorsports Dodge on Wednesday. The track says Dale Earnhardt Inc. is also scheduled to test on Wednesday, although it wasn't known which of its drivers would be on hand. While testing is not open to the public, the track says fans can watch from the front of the visitor center in the corner of turn three.
Nielsen Media Research says Fox's airing of Saturday's Koolerz 300 Busch Series race drew a 3.6/8 overnight rating/share, a 24 percent increase over the network's 2001 broadcast of the race. MotorsportsTV.com predicts that when final ratings are available on Friday the event prove to be the most-watched Busch Series race from Daytona ever.
Phoenix International Raceway says two-day ticket packages for Oct. 30-Nov. 2 NASCAR weekend will go on sale at 9 a.m. (MST) Tuesday. The packages can be purchased at phoeinxraceway.com or by calling the ticket office at (602) 252-2227. Track President Bryan Sperber also says he has met with NASCAR officials to express interest in obtaining a second Winston Cup for the facility in the wake of NASCAR's announcement that it would look at realignment as early as next year. "I started raising the question with NASCAR officials - could Phoenix potentially be considered? The answer was yes," Sperber said.
Lowe's Motor Speedway says it will offer a limited number of "Access Passes" to its Speedway Club for its May races, including The Winston all-star race and the Coca-Cola 600 Winston Cup race. The tickets include a frontstretch seat, a pre-race pit tour, dining in the club restaurant, a souvenir program and a subscription to Winners Magazine. Options start at $385 per person and go up to $1,015, depending on the location and the number of races. Details are available at www.gospeedwayclub.com or by calling (704) 455-3240.
Chicagoland Speedways says Track Pack tickets for the 2003 season, including the July 12-13 Busch Series and Winston Cup races, went on sale today. Details are available at www.chicagolandspeedway.com or www.ticketmaster.com or by calling (815) 727-7223.
GRAMMY nominated, Atlanta-based rock band Third Day, performed a post-race
concert following the season opener for the NASCAR Busch Series this weekend
at the Daytona International Speedway. Prior to the start of Saturday's
Koolerz 300 Busch Series race, Third Day's lead singer, Mac Powell, sang
the National Anthem broadcast live on FOX Sports. Third Day was part of
all promotions surrounding the Daytona International Speedway during Speedweeks,
which were attended by over 600,000 fans over 14 days. The Koolerz 300,
won by Dale Earnhardt Jr., was attended by over 150,000 race fans while
the 45th Annual Daytona 500 had over 200,000 in attendance. Other celebrities
present at this year's Daytona 500 Weekend were Mariah Carey, who sang
the National Anthem prior to the big race; John Travolta, Grand Marshall;
Wayne Brady, Tony Hawk and Evander Holyfield, who all participated in pre-race
festivities.
By Lee Montgomery, Turner Sports Interactive
Dale Jarrett was pretty vocal during NBC's telecast of the Daytona 500 that perhaps NASCAR should take a look at its rules regarding what makes an official race. After a race is halfway, it becomes official, and in the event of inclement weather, the race could be called well short of its posted distance.
That's what happened Sunday, when Michael Waltrip was awarded the victory
91 laps short of
the posted 200-lap distance. Jarrett wondered that since the Super Bowl
isn't stopped at halftime if it rains, so maybe an exception for NASCAR's
Super Bowl should be made.
Other drivers were on both sides of the argument.
"It's a shame that the Daytona 500 had to finish a little over halfway," rookie Jack Sprague said. "This is the big race that everybody comes to see. They saw half of it."
Others agreed but didn't think a special rule should be made for Daytona.
"I think it shouldn't matter which race it is, it just needs to be consistent throughout all 35 or 36 so we know what we're dealing with every time," Jimmie Johnson said. "No, I'm not upset. You know, of course, I would have loved to race till the end. I felt we had a shot to win the race.
"We've been here for two weeks. This pays the same amount of points was Rockingham does next week. We need to get home and get ready for that. I wish we could have finished under green and been out there. That's kind of a double-edged sword."
One guy who liked the current rule was, of course, Waltrip.
"Oh, yeah, it's just ruining me," Waltrip said if his rain-shortened victory. "You know what I heard? They're still going to pay me the whole amount. That's kind of crazy, isn't it?"
Harvick vs. Busch, Round II
Kevin Harvick called Kurt Busch a "rubberhead" after an incident on pit road Sunday. Rubbermaid, you'll recall, is one of Busch's sponsors. And it wasn't the first time Busch and Harvick had troubles on pit road. They got together in their Gatorade 125 qualifying race last Thursday.
As for Sunday, here's what each driver said:
“He came in there, hot as usual," Harvick said. "I don't know what happened, but he was sitting in my pit, and I was sitting on pit road stopped. That's about the third time (he's done that). Then, he about ran over our jack guy, running through our pit stall and ran over our jack.
"They just need to put a restrictor plate on his foot because obviously his foot doesn't register with his brain."
Ouch.
Obviously, Busch had another version.
"I don't think anybody knows what's going on there," Busch said. "We've got three cars running three positions apart right there next to each other. The 01 pulls in, I've got to come around the 01. Then the 29 has to come around him. So we've got three cars. We're going 55 to 0 in a space where you can't park anything. We're all trying to do two tires or fuel only or four tires, and it's the most congested pit area with those three cars pulling in that way. I'm in the middle, so I'm making guys mad behind me and in front of me, so what am I supposed to do?"
Ford: Chevys have advantage
And here we thought NASCAR's aero matching would end the squabbles between manufacturers. But some Ford drivers were complaining of a Chevrolet advantage after Monte Carlos took five of the first seven spots.
"All of the Fords have an enormous amount of work to do to even get in the hunt," said Mark Martin, who finished fifth. "I don't even know if a Ford led a lap today. I would be surprised if they did. There was no one that had a chance to win with a Ford, so that means we have to go to work. We've got to find something new that we didn't know was out there to be able to take a step and contend."
Martin's teammate, Jeff Burton, sang the same song.
"Our speedway program's behind some, and then on top of that, take the advantage that the Chevys have, and that makes it that much worse," said Burton, who ended up 11th.
Martin the thief
Martin was as pleased as he could be to finish fifth. Winning the race would have been criminal, he said.
"Let me tell you something, for me winning with that car I'd have had to have a gun and a mask," Martin said. "That wouldn't have been right, so to run fifth was really awesome."
Bodine almost steals one
Todd Bodine was in a position to steal the victory Sunday. Bodine stayed on the track during the penultimate caution to get the lead but his team decided to pit when the race was going back to green. The rains came soon after, and Bodine was left with an 18th-place finish.
"Yeah, we took a shot," Bodine said. "You've got to gamble when you're in that position in the Daytona 500. You've got to gamble and we did, but it didn't pay off. We had to come back in with the one to go to change tires and fuel it up, and that put us back in the pack. We were fighting our way back through, but we needed more time. We had a better car than 18th and we felt like we could get a top 10."
Bodine said his team was looking at the weather radar, which indicated
rain was coming.
"Yeah, we had everybody telling us what was happening," Bodine said. "(Car owner) Travis (Carter) was standing by the radar, the spotter was up there trying to be the weatherman, and we rolled the dice. It didn't work out, but it was something we had to do."
Stewart in better shape
Winston Cup champion Tony Stewart began his run for the 2003 title in a much better position than last year. He finished 43rd in 2002 but ran up front and finished seventh Sunday.
"It's our best Daytona 500 finish, so I'm excited about that," Stewart said. "But we ran in the top-three pretty much all day and even led at one time. We had a better car than a seventh-place car. Part of me is really happy and excited, considering we left here last year 43rd in points. But at the same time, I'm a little bit on the sad side because I know we could've finished better than where we did."
Credit: Brian Cleary/ISC Photo
Waltrip celebrates with car induction
at Daytona
By Dave Rodman, Turner Sports Interactive
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- After a long night spent reveling with family and friends and relishing his role as a two-time Daytona 500 champion, Michael Waltrip finally rested at noon Monday.
But before he finally put his head down for some sleep, Waltrip and his family watched over the induction of his No. 15 Chevrolet into the Daytona USA motorsports attraction outside Daytona International Speedway.
It continued a tradition established in 1996 when the attraction opened, of the Daytona 500 winner's car residing in the facility for the next year.
Waltrip, of course, won the 2001 edition of the "Great American Race" so he had practice at the event. He also donated his helmet and several key pieces of his driving gear worn Sunday in the rain-shortened race.
The celebration began in Victory Lane, spilled into the drivers' motor
coach lot and continued
overnight at team owner Teresa Earnhardt's yacht on the Daytona Beach riverfront.
Despite the overnight rain, the celebration hardly abated.
"That shows how much Michael means to everybody in the garage," DEI's executive vice president for motorsports Ty Norris said. "It took a long time to get back to that motorhome lot, after he had got done with all his obligations, and the people standing there were Dale Jarrett, Elliott Sadler, Dale (Earnhardt) Jr., Schrader.
"Everyone was calling. I think, in that garage, everybody pulls for Michael, whether they want to admit to it or not. When you stand around in the rain for two hours waiting for him to come back, that shows how much it means."
As much perspective as the celebration's aftermath gave Waltrip, there was one fact he didn't dwell on: He has surpassed his older brother Darrell's single win in the Daytona 500
"Well, he had three championships and 80-something victories over me," Waltrip said, "So that's a ship I won't sail."
A lot of Waltrip's reflection Monday morning was on family, and his brother figured heavily in that.
"I'm so proud of what my brother accomplished and what he did in this sport," Michael said. "And we're so blessed and I'm so lucky that he showed up at Daytona to do his new job and every time he's come here I've won, and that's pretty cool."
Both Sunday and Monday Waltrip recalled trips from Owensboro, Ky., in the back seat of his parents' Chevrolet to come to Speedweeks, beginning when he was five years old.
"When you've accomplished the things and have the longevity in this
sport that he has, every
day you grow older and winning Daytona becomes more special," Michael
said of his brother. "He knows what it did to me yesterday and what this
place means to me in general.
"It feels good to have someone that appreciates and understands the significance of what we accomplished yesterday."
Short term, the victory placed Waltrip atop the Winston Cup standings, and fattened DEI's coffers by $1,400,706. The operation, which with Waltrip and Earnhardt Jr. has won seven of the last nine restrictor plate races, added another chapter to its legend.
The winning car will rest inside Daytona USA for one year and will be returned to the team before the start of the 46th annual Daytona 500 on Feb. 15, 2004. DEI technical director Steve Hmiel isn't worried.
"This was Michael's favorite race car -- he just liked the way it drove and he did a good job with it," Hmiel said. "But we have two more fresh bullets at home just like it. The spare car from Speedweeks is actually as good as this one.
"The other car hasn't been to the wind tunnel yet or on the race track, but we're pretty confident it will be the equal of either of these, so we're still in good shape. The spare car has been tested at Daytona and Talladega and in the wind tunnel three or four times -- similar to this car."
The car on display is in the same condition as it was when it left Victory
Lane -- including a liberal
sprinkling of confetti -- and bears the signatures of all of the crew members
including Waltrip.
After the induction Waltrip participated in a fan forum along with his crew chief Richard "Slugger" Labbe and Norris.
Speedway president Robin Braig presented all three with custom made Daytona 500 leather jackets while Gatorade's Ed Shull presented the 2003 Daytona 500 champ with a framed photo of Waltrip and his family from Sunday night's Victory Lane celebration.
Waltrip will continue handling the media obligations of a Daytona 500 winner in the next few days, including an appearance via satellite on Monday night's Late Show with David Letterman.
"I thought it was fun to get to party with Teresa and just enjoy her company," Waltrip said. "I had a lot of good folks over. We went back to the motorhome. I didn't do anything crazy. I just enjoyed family and friends."
But not much sleep.
Waltrip's victory made him only the eighth driver to win the Daytona 500 more than once. He joins Richard Petty (seven), Cale Yarborough (four), Bobby Allison and Dale Jarrett (three) and Bill Elliott, Jeff Gordon and Sterling Marlin (two) on the list.
RACING PERSPECTIVES
Brooke The Crook
by Steve Nash-Staff Writer
"I love you," the wife says. The husband turns around and smiles, looking at his wife, thinking about their love, thinking about their relationship...only to find she's not talking to him, but a wallet that fell out of his pocket.
If this scenario hadn't of happened between Brooke and Jeff Gordon during their time together, then something close to it most likely did.
It's sad to see their relationship, called racing's "first couple", end in such a trashy way. Brooke wants half the world over, Jeff just wants her to shut her big mouth.
In case you've been living under a rock the last year, here's what's happened. In March 2002, Brooke filed for divorce with Jeff after seven years of marriage. Citing "marital misconduct" and other factors, Brooke attempted to take half of Jeff's money and a lot of Jeff's stuff as alimony.
Of course, Jeff didn't want to give her everything he's worked for, so he countersued saying that the small fortune he's assembled he "risked his life" for.
So, now it's February 2003. The racing season is starting up again, new rules are changing the face of NASCAR, more fans than ever before are watching the sport, the energy is juiced up beyond any level before, and a series of Volusia County sheriffs are running around the Daytona International Speedway.
These sheriffs aren't running around trying to find the prime spot to feel 3,400 lb. race cars churn by in a 190+ mph draft just inches apart from 30 other cars; they're there trying to serve subpoenas.
The subpoenas aren't directed towards Jeff or Hendrick Motorsports; but to the rest of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series world.
Says Brooke's hero, Terry Young, her Orlando-based attorney, "We wanted to take advantage of the fact they are in Florida and issue Florida subpoenas. If they choose to contest them, we want them to go before a Florida judge to do so."
Jack Roush, Chip Ganassi, Richard Childress and many other top car owners have been asked to hand over confidential contracts to show how much a top Winston Cup driver really makes a year.
In other words, instead of getting $25,000,000 from Jeff's estimated $50,000,000 worth, she wants even more.
Brooke has gone from loving wife to a girl that wants nothing more than a lot of money.
But the question is, what has Brooke done to deserve so much money? Has she supported Jeff, given him the ride he's in, given him the talent he has? Did Brooke go out and change tires on pit road, and fill the car up with gas during a pit stop? The answer is an obvious, no. But under Florida law, she could very well get what she wants.
An outrageous cry; an outrageous lady. Says Jeff of this whole situation, "It's out of my control, but I think it's really disgusting...This is just harassment."
Not only does Jeff think it's wrong, but so do many others in the NASCAR world. Ray Evernham, who had been Jeff's crew chief from Jeff's Busch Series days until 1999, was given a subpoena, outside the track (NASCAR wouldn't let the officials subpoena anyone inside the track).
Evernham took the subpoena, and promplty said that he wasn't going to appear in court; he had more important things to worry about, like getting two cars ready for qualifying.
Geoff Smith, president of Roush Racing, refused to take the subpoena as well. Nobody wants to give up confidential information, but especially not for a reason like this.
Says Felix Sabates, who was also given a subpoena, "She (Brooke) has no consideration for Jeff Gordon's career and thinks NASCAR is just a toy to play with."
No truer words have ever been spoken, and no less devious of a greed-ridden odysee has ever been thought up in the NASCAR world.
You can reach Steve Nash at: snash@...
Your
Momma
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