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By Mike Finney
Delaware News Journal,DE

Tony Stewart found himself in a happy place Thursday night at the Home Depot store next to Dover International Speedway.

The Nextel Cup Series driver was not being bad-mouthed by fellow driver Rusty Wallace or being criticized by TV broadcaster Darrell Waltrip for what they have perceived as rough driving this season.

Instead, he was at the center of a sea of fans decked out in black and orange, just waiting for a moment to spend with their favorite driver. It sure beat those anger management courses NASCAR made Stewart attend after shoving a photographer in Indianapolis two years ago.

The 800 to 1,000 race fans who lined up for his autograph got to see the unshaven, soft-spoken side of Stewart that often is not portrayed in print or on TV.

Stewart signed hundreds of diecast cars, a dollar bill, a nutcracker painted like himself, a pair of tennis shoes, an empty Coke can and a pair of jeans ... anything race fans could think of.

"It still amazes me," Stewart said. "I can't imagine staying in a parking lot all night waiting to see anybody the next day, let alone only be able to see them for about 10 seconds.

"And normally the person we spend the most time with is that first person in line, knowing if they spent that much time in line waiting ..."

That person Friday was a family from York, Pa., which got in the autograph line at 6 a.m. for an event that didn't start until 6 p.m.

It was a three-hour wait for most fans.

"He's not a madman," said Mike Passero, who is stationed at Dover Air Force Base. "Tony's a driver who is out for the win just like anybody else would be.

"There ought to be a lot more Tony Stewarts out there racing for us, and maybe not quite so many Jeff Gordons."

Passero, 32, presented Stewart with an American flag that flew in Afghanistan. A humbled Stewart told him his race team would put the flag on their pit box this weekend.
Wimmer will not appeal conviction: NASCAR places driver on probation

Scott Wimmer said in a statement yesterday that he won't appeal his DWI conviction.

"I respect the decision of the courts," Wimmer said. "I'm eager to put all of this behind me and move forward. My next commitment to putting all of this behind me is to try and help others from making the same mistake that I've made." 
 
He received a 60-day suspended sentence and was placed on unsupervised probation for a year Tuesday. He also was ordered to perform 24 hours of community service.

Wimmer can still compete, but he will be on probation for the rest of the NASCAR season and must perform further community service that the series is arranging.

Despite calls from a Mothers Against Drunk Driving executive and fellow driver Kyle Petty, Wimmer will not be suspended by NASCAR.

"If that's their policy, then that's fine," said Cheryl Jones, MAAD vice president for field operations, of NASCAR's decision. "It's up to NASCAR how they want to handle it. We don't really have anything more to say."

Wimmer was granted a limited driver's license for 12 months, meaning the license could be revoked if he is found driving with alcohol in his system, defense lawyer Chuck Alexander said Wednesday.

The 28-year-old driver already has undergone an alcohol assessment, which found he had no substance abuse problems, satisfying the last term of the sentence, Alexander said.

Should Wimmer lose his license, he would not necessarily be banned from NASCAR events, spokesman Mike Zizzo said. To drive in NASCAR races, drivers must possess only a valid NASCAR license, which requires that they be 18, physically fit and able to pass driving ability tests administered by NASCAR.

In a statement released Wednesday, NASCAR said it had placed Wimmer on probation for the remainder of the season. Wimmer will also be forced to participate in an undisclosed community service program at the request of the sanctioning body

"NASCAR is confident that Scott Wimmer has put this situation behind him, and will move on with his life and career in a positive manner," the statement said. "We have been in constant contact with Wimmer and his car owner, Bill Davis.

"Wimmer has expected responsibility for his actions and has truly shown remorse for what has transpired. In addition to placing Scott on probation for the duration of the season, we are in the process of arranging appropriate community service activities that will allow Scott to help others.

"Scott is cooperating fully with us in this project."

Wimmer moved up to the Nextel Cup - NASCAR'S top level - last fall after three seasons of racing in the Busch Series. He had five wins in three years in the Busch Series.

He was arrested Jan. 31 for driving while impaired after wrecking a 2004 Dodge Ram pickup truck owned by Bill Davis Racing. Wimmer drives for the High Point-based racing team in NASCAR'S top-level Nextel Cup series.

Police had found some of Wimmer's possessions near the truck that had overturned in a ditch. Wimmer was found in his High Point home, crouched beside his bed and bleeding from a head wound, police said.

High Point police records state that Wimmer was charged after a breath test found he had a blood alcohol content of 0.15 percent, nearly twice the state legal limit. Drivers are considered intoxicated if their blood-alcohol content is more than 0.08 percent.

His wife, Jody Ambrose, was found innocent of charges that she impeded the investigation by lying to police.
INSIDE RACING
Pay scale isn't all it appears
Ed Hinton
 
Time to answer the most frequent question, by far, received here from readers. It's always some variation of this: How can it be that Driver A finished ahead of Driver B in Sunday's race, yet driver B won a lot more money?

The most obvious example in the latest Nextel Cup race, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, is that Jamie McMurray, who finished fourth, won $145,800, but Elliott Sadler, who finished fifth, won $178,663.

There's a three-part answer, and the first two are simple: 1. Sadler led more laps than McMurray and collected more bonus money, $7,600, for that. 2. Sadler won a $10,000 bonus for leading at the halfway mark.

The third part is the just the beginning of a payoff system that is vastly more complex than it might appear in the Monday morning race rundowns in the paper.

Sadler's car owner, Robert Yates, has fielded a Cup champion in the past (Dale Jarrett in 1999) and McMurray's car owner, Chip Ganassi, hasn't. Thus, Yates got a predetermined amount of "plan" money just to show up with Sadler's car. Yates got even more "plan" money to show up with a car for the specific former champion, thus Jarrett's $112,067 for finishing 18th in the 600, while 17th-place Dave Blaney received $82,450.

The most important thing to remember in reading any payout table is that the terms "winnings" or "won" (meaning money won) are misnomers. There are set amounts some drivers and/or owners are going to get, regardless of how they finish.

A more accurate term might be "payments" or "warnings," but NASCAR wouldn't dare use such a term, for reasons we'll explore in a moment.

In addition to the "plans" for teams, there are various "contingency awards." The highest finishers carrying particular manufacturers' stickers on the cars get bonuses. But you have to carry the sticker to be eligible. For example, if you win but don't carry stickers from Edelbrock manifolds or Moog chassis parts, you don't get the bonus money from Edelbrock or Moog.

Rusty Wallace and Ryan Newman automatically eliminate themselves from 15 such bonuses every Sunday because their team owner, Roger Penske, believes in a "clean car" appearance and won't allow cluttering with all those stickers.

Jeff Gordon carries nearly all the stickers. The contingency awards usually amount to $2,000 or less each, but with 15 of them, they can add up.

In addition, the driver who wins the pole has that award -- usually $5,000 but sometimes more -- added to his total at the end of the race. In the case of the Daytona 500, winners of the 125-mile qualifying races earlier in the week also have that money added to their totals in the final rundown for the 500 itself.

But most significant is the "plan" money. NASCAR doesn't like to advertise this system because it is, in fact, "appearance" money -- a term NASCAR dislikes. It's money paid to a team just to show up, regardless of how it does in the race.

It's a concept as old as, say, Fireball Roberts receiving a guaranteed $5,000 in a brown paper bag from some promoter at Podunk Speedway in south Georgia, just so the promoter could advertise the name and sell more tickets. It didn't matter whether Roberts ran well or not, just so long as he showed up and waved to the crowd.

NASCAR will argue that the "plan" money is based on previous performances, and that's true. Gordon is paid well just to show up because he is a four-time Cup champion with 66 race victories. He has earned his appearance money.

Formula One makes no bones about it -- its entire system is appearance money, in the many millions of dollars. I once asked F1 czar Bernie Ecclestone about the specific purse based on finishes in a particular Grand Prix, and he replied, "It's not enough to be worth mentioning."

NASCAR, on the other hand, doesn't want to create a perception of detracting from incentive to win, so it doesn't break down the amount of "plan" money on the payout rundowns.

There is some incentive to win each Sunday, but it's in basic guarantees on the official entry blank. An example is the upcoming Cup race at Michigan on June 20. From the racing purse, first place will pay $56,860, second $46,665 and so on. There also are guaranteed shares of TV rights money: $50,790 for first, $46,665 for second, etc.

But these don't add up nearly to what you'll see in the "won" column the morning after the race, even though the total usually isn't all money won that day.

NASCAR prefers "won" because it implies an open contest with the money up for grabs by -- and this is a key term -- "independent contractors." "Payments" or "earnings" would imply drivers as employees of the track or NASCAR.

"Independent contractors" vs. "employees" goes back to a 1951 decision in a New York State appeals court, which held that two midget-car drivers killed at a Long Island track were "independent contractors." That overturned an earlier ruling that the drivers were "employees" of the track, and that their families were therefore entitled to significant worker's compensation judgments.

Tracks and sanctioning bodies might be held responsible for the death or injury of "employees," but not of "independent contractors."

Employees "earn" money; independent contractors "win" money. That's why NASCAR is such a stickler for the terminology.

But, legalities aside, the next time you see a NASCAR race rundown, don't think "winnings"; think "total payments for various reasons."

And you'll be a lot less confused as to why Gordon won more money for finishing 30th in the Coca-Cola 600 last Sunday than Casey Mears did for finishing seventh.

Dover could be key race

Sunday's MBNA 400 at Dover could be a crapshoot for the current Nextel Cup point standings.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., who leads Coca-Cola 600 winner Jimmie Johnson by five points, has finished 24th or worse in three of his past four races at Dover.

Earnhardt does have one victory there, in 2001, and despite his dismal showing, he has led six of his past eight races at Dover.

Johnson has competed in only four Dover races, but has led three of them and won two, both in 2002 as a rookie. He did have one bad day there, 37th a year ago.

Whoever wins will automatically be a favorite in September in the second race. Five of the past 10 years, drivers have swept both Dover events: Rusty Wallace in '94, Jeff Gordon in '96, Tony Stewart in 2000, Johnson in '02 and Ryan Newman last year.
Junior becomes his own man
By MIKE FINNEY
Staff reporter
06/03/2004

Dale Earnhardt Jr. never had to make a name for himself in NASCAR. The name was already there. His father, Dale Sr., carried the Earnhardt name to seven Winston Cup championships. His grandfather, Ralph, was a short-track terror throughout the Southeast from the 1950s to the early '70s.

But when Earnhardt's father was killed in an accident on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500, he was left with a daunting challenge - take over as the favorite son of his dad's fans and keep the Earnhardt name at the top of the sport.

At first, he did not know if he could handle the pressure. But over time, it came naturally for the 29-year-old from Kannapolis, N.C.

"Racing's pretty difficult to get involved in," Earnhardt said. "Whether you're the son of a seven-time champion or whether you came into it on your own, it's a difficult sport to adjust to. That's just what happened to me. I just get a little more used to it every year."

He used to be known as NASCAR's resident "party guy," the voice of the MTV generation. Now, he seems to be distancing himself from those carefree days and taking his role in the sport more seriously, though he still maintains his individuality.

"Maybe I don't fit the mold. I just try to be myself," Earnhardt said. "You can't fool the public in trying to be something you're not. But I want to prove there's more to me than just magazine covers and fun times. I think I'm a good race car driver, and now I have the opportunity to take it to another level.

"There's something to be said about having your name in the book that says you were a champion somewhere in your life."

He might be on that championship path right now.

After Earnhardt won his third Nextel Cup Series race of the season May 15 at Richmond International Raceway, he made a startling announcement.

"There's never too many times where I've liked to have compared myself to my dad," he said. "I've always kind of been favored to my grandfather Ralph in terms of my driving style and what not.

"I jumped out there on the outside of Jimmie [Johnson] and got the lead. I'm normally not that aggressive with the car, and for just a second I felt like my daddy. It was kind of neat. I don't know if it really had come over me before."

Earnhardt left Richmond with the Nextel Cup points lead for the fourth consecutive week. He already has tied his personal best mark for wins in a season with three.

Now, he is starting to have questions about his future. Just how big can this Earnhardt phenomenon get?

"I'm curious myself about what the future holds as far as my appeal to the fans if and when I win a championship," he said. "What kind of pros and cons are there going to be on the other side of the fence? The more I contend, I see the gray area is less visible.

"It's a little more black and white as far as who likes me and who doesn't in the grandstand."

Tired of the questions

After Earnhardt won the season-opening Daytona 500 in February, he admitted that he had grown weary of answering the same old questions.

Everybody wanted to know what it felt like to win on the same stage in which his father lost his life - three years later.

"It just seemed like I was answering the same question over and over," Earnhardt said. "I'm just wondering when the day will come when I don't have to reflect back for every person that wants to do an interview. That gets kind of old.

"I don't know what's right and what's wrong, because I want to honor my old man. I know what he meant to me and I know what he meant to a lot of other people.
"I don't want people to think I'm starting to lose appreciation or anything, but I don't want to bank on it, either. I don't want to feel like I'm using it to my advantage. That's the last thing I want."

Four-time series champion Jeff Gordon said Earnhardt already is a champion, just for the way he handled the very public loss of his father in 2001.

"I saw Dale Jr. mature beyond what I thought he was capable of," Gordon said. "He surprised a lot of us. He's still a kid at heart, and you've got to admire him for that.

"I don't think I could have handled it the way he did. The attention, the pressure, the questions ... it had to be unbearable. And he still won some races."

Coming into his own

Even though 2001 was a difficult year, Earnhardt still has some remarkable memories from it.

He won the Pepsi 400 in July at Daytona as NASCAR returned to the superspeedway for the first time since he lost his father.

Then, at Dover International Speedway on Sept. 23, in the first race following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Earnhardt scored a wildly popular victory. Afterward, he took an emotional victory lap around the high-banked, one-mile oval with a huge American flag waving out of his driver's side window.

The 140,000 fans got chills as they waved their smaller flags back at him and roared in approval.

"It is clearly going to be the most vivid memory that I'll have about my career here," said Denis McGlynn, president and CEO of Dover International Speedway. "I think it was a one-of-a-kind occasion that will never be replicated. The day was just so electric, so loaded with energy and enthusiasm. It was just a great thing to witness.

"Seeing all of the flags waving and hearing all of the crowd chanting, 'USA! USA! USA!,' it was just amazing."

Having Earnhardt win in such a trying year for him personally was a bonus.

That afternoon, Earnhardt offered a rare glimpse into what had been a tough year.

His pit crew mounted a volleyball in his car a la the Tom Hanks movie "Cast Away." It spoke volumes. The volleyball, named Wilson, kept Hanks' character company on a deserted island after he was stranded following a plane crash.

Earnhardt said that is how he felt in 2001.

Ready to take over

Earnhardt already is the most popular driver in Nextel Cup racing, with his souvenir sales far outdistancing his competitors. The primary colors in the grandstands at every race this season have been red and white, the colors of Earnhardt's sponsor, Budweiser.

Gordon said, if Earnhardt wins the championship, the rest of the drivers will be dwarfed by his accomplishment.

"If he wins the championship, game over for everybody else," Gordon said. "We're not even going to exist out there."

Earnhardt just says he is another cog in the high-powered NASCAR machine.

"I really don't see myself as making that big of a difference," he said. "The sport is going where it's going without Dale Earnhardt Jr. I don't think I'm the lead locomotive here, and never have."

However, Rusty Wallace says Earnhardt now has to adjust to "the New York Yankees syndrome." NASCAR fans have historically liked to jeer the driver at the top, from Darrell Waltrip in the 1980s, to the elder Earnhardt in the early to mid-1990s, to Gordon after that.

"You get the New York Yankees winning all the games and winning the World Series year after year - there's a good number of people who love them, but there's a whole bunch that absolutely hate them," Wallace said.

"Their feelings are so strong that they'd pull for any other team when they play the Yankees. It's a deal where they're not really pulling for the other team in as much as they're pulling totally against the Yankees."

It is a problem that Earnhardt will be happy to have. He saw how his father dealt with it. He thinks he will take the same path.

"There's a backlash to everything," he said. "You've just got to roll with the punches. My dad never really let it bother him, and he got booed plenty of times.

"You've just got to be tough, be your own man, and people will appreciate that."