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From Team Press Release

ATLANTA -- A win at Pocono Raceway may not have the cachet of winning a Daytona 500 or a Brickyard 400, but it does carry an equal amount of satisfaction simply because it's a hard place to master. Just ask Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet and defending race winner of the Pocono 500.

Stewart earned the 16th of his 17 career NASCAR Nextel Cup Series victories and his first of the 2003 season in last year's Pocono 500. After posting two top-fives and seven top-10s in his eight previous visits to Pocono, Stewart and The Home Depot Racing Team finally hit on a chassis setup that complemented Pocono's unique layout.

The track is best described as a 2.5-mile triangle, with none of its three corners alike. It begins with an enormously long front straightaway that dumps into a tight, semi-banked corner. Upon leaving turn one and shooting down another straightaway, drivers are subjected to the tunnel turn, a very narrow half-corner. If unscathed, drivers exit the tunnel turn and speed down a third straightaway, only to negotiate another tight corner. Turn three is the final turn of the track, and with little banking, drivers must feather the throttle to get the balance and grip they need to race down that long front straightaway all over again.

Stewart's June win, where he led five times for 37 laps -- including the final 10 -- looked to be bookended by a repeat victory when the series returned to Pocono in July. There, Stewart came from 33rd to first by lap 98. He paced the field twice for 15 laps before his engine detonated less than 50 laps short of the scheduled 200-lap distance.

As disappointing as the run was, it again showcased the No. 20 team's penchant for finding the fastest route around Pocono. And come Sunday, soon after the public address announcer introduces Stewart as the driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet and defending race winner of the Pocono 500, Stewart will attempt to do what only Jeff Gordon, the late Tim Richmond and Bobby Allison have done -- win back-to-back Pocono 500s.

How satisfying was your win at Pocono last June?

"It was pretty neat. We had good pit strategy, great pit stops and a great race car. We had all of the variables we needed to win. We'd been close a couple of other times at Pocono, but it seemed like late in the race other variables would creep up and we'd lose it. But last year everything came together just right, and it felt good to finally finish one off."

When you won at Pocono last June, how much adjusting did you have to do to the chassis during the race?

"We just had to keep freeing it up. We were pretty tight at the beginning of the race, but we wanted it that way to make sure we were on the safe side because the track was so green. As the race went on, we just kept freeing the car up. It was real tight on entry and we kept making some good changes and the car kept responding to it. We just kept sneaking up on it, even though we never got all the way there. But the guys on the pit crew got us track position and we were able to run our pace, not everybody else's pace."

With track position being so critical, how important was your pit crew in helping you earn your first win at Pocono?
 
"It won us the race. The crew won the race -- not me. I just did my part by driving. They got me in position on that stop toward the end where we went back to green. I was able to run my pace, and not abuse the front tires chasing down the leader. I could run the way I wanted to run and lift the way I wanted to lift and do everything my way instead of trying to push hard and run those guys down. When it came time to come in and make our green-flag stop for fuel, they had another great pit stop. We got out ahead of Sterling (Marlin) and Mark (Martin), and the biggest thing was just getting right back into my rhythm. They had two really good stops right there at the end of the race that put us in victory lane."

If you're down on horsepower at Pocono, are you pretty much out of contention?

"Yeah. If you're down on power at Pocono you're a mid-pack car at best. You need power to go down that front straightaway, and if you don't have it, you're done."

How hard is Pocono on engines?

"Pocono is tough on engines because you're in the gas so long and you're shifting and you're up in that rpm range for a very, very long time. It's definitely a place that makes the engine builders nervous."

Explain a lap around Pocono.

"Turn one is probably the easiest of the three, but you've got the challenge of having to downshift in the middle of the corner. You go down the backstretch and into the tunnel turn and it's basically one lane. It's flat and very line-sensitive. You've got to make sure you're right on your marks every lap when you go through there. Then you've got a short chute into turn three. It's a big, long corner and it too is very line-sensitive. With it being line-sensitive and the fact that we've got a straightaway that's three-quarters of a mile long after that, it's very important that you get through the last corner well. You need to come off the corner quickly so that you're not bogged down when you start down that long straightaway. Each corner has its challenges, and each one tends to present a different set of circumstances with each lap you make."

Because no corner at Pocono is alike, do you have to give up handling in one corner to make yourself better in another?
  
"With Pocono's three corners, you're normally able to get two out of three, and the third one you struggle with a little bit. But we're starting to get to where we're right in all three corners now. With Pocono being as big as it is, you just have to really work hard and know how much momentum plays a role on that race track. If you're a little bit off, you're a bunch off. If there's a guy who can get all three of those corners right, then that's the guy who's going to win the race.

"It's a three-turn road course. You're shifting like you do on a road course and it has three unique corners. For the most part, it doesn't have the big banked corners and two and three grooves like you typically see. The only turn that has that is turn one at the end of the straightaway.

"It just makes you focus and concentrate really hard. The tunnel turn is line-sensitive. You can't go down in there and miss your marks and expect to run a good corner through there. It's a very technical track. It makes you really focus on all three corners, and the hardest thing is getting the car to drive well in all three. That's the challenge. It seems like I always get two of the three fairly easily, but it seems like the third corner is the one I have trouble with. But in all reality, it doesn't matter which corner it is on the race track, it just seems like on every lap you're off on one of the three corners at least a little bit. That's the challenging part about Pocono."

Coming down that front straightaway the racing can get pretty wide. When and where do you have to get back in line to make it into that first corner?

"It just kind of funnels itself back into line before we get into (turn) one. Everybody tries to get back on the high side to make their entry into the corner, but sometimes it does get a little tight in there. But most times, you just do what you have to do to get The Home Depot Chevrolet back in line."

What's the most treacherous part of Pocono's layout?

"Probably the tunnel turn. Everybody realizes how fast they're going into (turn) one. And they know that if they wreck they're going to wreck hard. The tunnel turn is a little sneaky. It's a tight fit through there, and you don't really know how fast you're going until something bad happens."
UNDER CAUTION
Penske Racing's Miller: "NASCAR's call on Sunday was wrong'

In the normal weekly routine of a Nextel Cup Team, by Wednesday the attention is already focused on the next event.

This week is different however, as teams are still blowing off steam about the scoring debacle at Dover last Sunday.

This week it's Newman's team that is confused and frustrated about how NASCAR officials scored Sunday's Nextel Cup race at Dover: a feeling other teams have known all too well this season it seems.

"NASCAR's call on Sunday was wrong,'' said Don Miller, President of Penske Racing South, through a team spokesperson Tuesday. "And I believe that they know that it was wrong. But, we can think or say whatever we want and it won't make a difference, because we, as a team, do not make decisions as far as calls go. NASCAR is not a democracy. They make the final ruling and we have to deal with it.''

Newman's crew chief Matt Borland said Tuesday through a team spokesperson:

"What happened Sunday was unfortunate. I really wouldn't know what to suggest to NASCAR on how to change it or stop it from happening again. The truth is that it will keep happening again and again, until NASCAR takes a hard look at the way it processes the call it makes.''

The flap started when Newman spun entering pit road as he led at Dover Sunday.

At the time he was the only car on the lead lap. After driving through pit road, he returned four times to fix his car. One time, he passed the NASCAR official holding a stop sign at the end of pit road.

Newman contended the official switched his sign from go to stop too late to heed it. NASCAR said it didn't matter and ruled Newman was a lap behind the leaders after being penalized for ignoring the sign.

NASCAR officials did not return phone calls asking for comment Tuesday.

NASCAR officials spent a great deal of time, some 20 minutes and 24 laps, trying to arrange the field after Newman's spin.

And even when that part of the scoring was straightened out, the real fireworks began. On the restart, the front-runners were scrambled, with leader Jeremy Mayfield stuck in the middle of the pack, behind a group of cars trying desperately to stay on the lead lap. Seconds later, three drivers went three-wide, triggering a 19-car melee, more confusion and hot tempers.

Maybe, as Michael Waltrip suggests, some drivers' tires picked up debris during the long caution, and that contributed to the wreck. Maybe it was frayed nerves or over-aggressive driving. In any case, the lengthy caution shouldn't have been necessary some say.

``These days, with computers and timing and scoring the way we've got them, I see there's just no reason to run 20 laps under caution to figure out scoring,'' Jeff Green said Tuesday.

``There wasn't anything on the racetrack [after Newman's spin], and to throw a caution in the middle of a green flag stop? Why not let things cycle through a couple more laps to get everybody on pit road and off? It put a lot of people a lap down, and the end result caused that wreck. To put people laps down - people lose their minds because of it.''

Sunday was not the first time scoring this season has been questioned since NASCAR stopped the practice of allowing drivers to race back to the caution in September.

NASCAR officials said in September that adjustments might have to be made. And there are some teams who would argue changes need to be made now after several controversies this season.

• Teams challenged NASCAR on how eventual winner Matt Kenseth and runner-up Kasey Kahne remained on the same lap at Rockingham when they were on pit road as the caution came out. Chip Ganassi thought his driver, Jamie McMurray, should have been the winner.

``We just got robbed in front of 100,000 people,'' Ganassi said at the time.

• Kahne questioned NASCAR for keeping the race under caution for so long late in the Texas race, where he finished second to Elliott Sadler.

• How cars were positioned during a caution changed during the Busch race at Las Vegas. Series officials also altered the finishing order after that race and the Nashville Busch race when the caution came out on the last lap.

• The caution lights inadvertently flashed in the final laps of the Craftsman Truck race last month at Lowe's Motor Speedway, causing leader Carl Edwards to slow and be passed for the victory. A few days later, NASCAR admitted to the mistake. Series officials have since announced the caution lights will be turned on only in the officials' tower and not the flagstand.

"There evidently needs to be some type of computer system in place that really shows what's taking place,'' Jimmie Johnson. "There is enough technology in the world today that I'm sure there's some type of system in place that would speed up the process.''

NASCAR officials have said they are getting closer to technology that should improve scoring but have not announced changes yet. Until then, crew chief Chad Knaus says NASCAR needs to take the time to make sure it's right before restarting a race.

The other incident that drew the ire of teams happened late in the race when Casey Mears' Dodge dropped oil on the track, no caution was thrown. Leader Kahne, Brian Vickers and Matt Kenseth spun in the oil and crashed. Mark Martin inherited the lead from Kahne and scored one of the strangest victories of his career.

Points leader Dale Eanrhardt Junior is one of the few voices siding with officials.

"NASCAR doesn't want to throw a rash of cautions every time somebody has a (problem)," Junior said "He went in the corner and blew the motor up high. I saw the guy blow the motor, but I didn't see oil layed down on the race track. I just went where he wasn't. I don't know why the other guys went up in the corners as high as they did because the oil was way up high. I went around the bottom and didn't hit anything. I never saw oil on the race track until we slowed down. When the car is going at that speed the oil dissipates and it's harder to see on the race track.

As for the Newman incident, Junior said:

"I don't think there was a question on where Ryan was supposed to be. They were going to handle that situation. I think they were more concerned about who it cost a lap because everybody was out of sequence."

"When they threw the caution they said I was two laps down because Ryan was still out in front of us. It was real confusing. They were saying I was two laps down but I thought I was one lap down. We weren't going to argue when they were giving them back."

"I learned this year to keep my mouth shut on the radio when you have a different opinion about NASCAR's opinion. It's a mistake to voice your own opinion over your radio when NASCAR is sorting it out.

"They have a lot of people up there trying to help them and a lot people with a lot of different opinions already in that booth up there trying to help them figure it out. They don't need every driver and every crew chief banging on every officials shoulder on pit road.

"I'm sure there a lot of guys that are disappointed about the way they finished or what happened to them. You've got one guy sitting here that's real happy about where he finished. I didn't have a problem. I thought the race was pretty cool.

"There were cautions for a reason. It wasn't like they were dropping the flag on the race track every time. If you don't think you enjoy the race, don't buy a ticket next year."

"NASCAR did what they did. We got the finish we did and we'll go to Pocono."

McMurray and Kenseth though were pretty angry after the race. McMurray said it was the ``biggest joke of a race I've ever been involved in.''

Tony Stewart called the last 80 laps of the race "a circus, a joke" .

Kevin Harvick, who managed a 10th, agreed with Stewart that it was a crazy day: "I don't believe all this. I've seen a lot throughout my career, but I've never seen so much stuff torn up before. Maybe Talladega or Daytona, but not some place like here. It's hard to laugh, but it is kind of funny.

"This has got to be one of the longest days I have ever spent in Dover. It's going to be a race to remember."

When all is said and done, most will resign themselves to the fact that there isn't much they can do.

"It's their circus,'' Jeff Green said. "It's their game. We're going to play by their rules.''
Veterans left out of points race
By Chris Jenkins
USA Today

If you spend your Sundays wearing a Dale Earnhardt Jr. or Jimmie Johnson cap turned backward, you might enjoy the trend developing with NASCAR's new points system

But if you're an old-school fan who already is fed up with the hype lavished on the Nextel Cup series' so-called "young guns," you might not be so thrilled.

Halfway through what officials have established as a 26-race regular season, it appears several familiar veteran drivers — who already have been overshadowed in recent years by the sport's youth movement — might not have the chance to show up those hotshot kids by winning the championship.

If the season-ending 10-race "chase for the championship" postseason were to begin this weekend, Bobby Labonte, who is eighth in the standings, 321 points behind leader Earnhardt, would be the only member of NASCAR's over-40 crowd eligible to compete. Veterans Mark Martin, Rusty Wallace, Dale Jarrett, Sterling Marlin, Terry Labonte, Ricky Rudd and Kyle Petty would be left out.

Not that they've given up.

"We're gonna keep fighting," said Martin, 45, who won Sunday's race at Dover International Speedway. "We've had a lot of problems this year, but we still want to make that top 10 ... at the cut."

Earnhardt, 29, admires Martin's ability to compete in what has become a young man's sport: "I don't know what it is about drivers. They kind of lose their edge. He hasn't lost his."

When Martin's teammate, Matt Kenseth, ran away with last year's championship through steady but unspectacular racing, NASCAR officials made drastic changes to the points system in an attempt to foster more aggressive racing.

The new system establishes a 26-race regular season to determine which drivers — the top 10 in points, plus any other driver within 400 points of the leader — will be eligible to run for the championship in the final 10 races. Ineligible drivers can compete in the final 10 races but can't win the title.

To some extent, the new system has allowed elite drivers and teams to more aggressively pursue victories instead of running conservatively for consistent good finishes. But the system's more dramatic effect might be the formalization of a trend toward younger drivers that has been developing for several years.
 
Veteran Kyle Petty notes that the trend in NASCAR is opposite that in baseball, where 40-plus pitchers Randy Johnson and Roger Clemens are dominating: "All of a sudden, our sport tends to be younger, and baseball goes the other way."

Other developments from the first 13 races:

• Kenseth the chameleon. Kenseth's consistent but unspectacular 2003 championship drive might have been the major reason behind the points system change, but the new system hasn't hurt him. Kenseth already has won two races, plus the all-star exhibition, and is third in the standings.

• The 400-point clause might become meaningless. Last month 17 drivers were within 400 points of the leader. Today only the top-10 drivers are within 400.

• An attitude adjustment for elite drivers and teams. Because NASCAR will tighten up the points among the championship-eligible drivers for the last 10 races, top teams don't seem to be as worried about consistency.

Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus have said several times that the new system has taken pressure off them in the first 26 races, allowing them to go for victories, not points.

It's also a good thing for drivers such as Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch, who have gone through mini-slumps.

Under the old system, even a few bad finishes early in the season had major championship implications. But the new system allows elite teams to have a regular-season slump, just like any other professional sport.

• Be careful what you wish for. The new system was controversial among drivers in the offseason, but Michael Waltrip was its most vocal proponent. Today Waltrip is 20th in points and would need his recent hot streak to get much hotter in the next 13 races to make the cut.
Stewart, Earnhardt find unlikely bond ... notes on motorsports
By JIM BENTON

It's well documented Tony Stewart can get upset and lose his temper. Anger-management counseling can only do so much.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a competitor who has been known to bark at friends and foes alike.

So when Stewart and Earnhardt were battling for second place at Dover International Speedway on Sunday, no one would have been surprised to see fireworks afterward.

However, the drivers actually like each other.

It showed on the track and in the postrace interviews.

"The fun thing about it is you can run that close like we did," Stewart said after finishing second in the MBNA 400. "You trust Junior. You have a lot of faith and trust in the guy.

"Him and I are good buddies. I know he wouldn't do anything to put us in any compromising positions. He raced us hard, but he raced us clean. It made it fun at the end."

Earnhardt finished third, increasing his Nextel Cup points lead, but never was able to overtake Stewart.

"I was able to get up under him," he said. "We put three sets of tires on with 50 laps to go, trying to put ourselves in the best position to get as many spots as we could. The last set of tires were a little bit loose.

"I could get under him, but I couldn't make it stick. I didn't want to get into him. Anybody else I might run a little different. Me and Tony are pretty good buddies. I gave him the benefit of the doubt. I didn't want to hit him and he didn't want to hit me."

Earnhardt went into the race only five points ahead of Jimmie Johnson in the standings but left 98 points in front. Johnson was third with 54 laps to go when he plowed into a pileup caused when Michael Waltrip and Dave Blaney got together. Johnson finished 32nd.

"The No. 48 (Johnson) was looking like he was going to win the race," Earnhardt said. "We gained a big chunk on him. It (stinks) because there was nothing he could do about his situation. He drove into a wreck. It wasn't like we got out there and outran him."

ATTENTION

Next on the schedule is a 500-mile race at Pocono Raceway on Sunday - and that raises the question of whether the Nextel Cup should shorten races.

Many believe the main issue isn't distance but time.

Stanton Barrett, who gave up his career as a Hollywood stuntman and actor and now is running a limited Busch and Nextel Cup schedule, has a unique viewpoint.

"For the sport itself, I can see where shorter races could make a big difference in the entertainment factor," he said. "I've been in the entertainment business and I know the attention span of the American public is getting shorter and shorter. If we are going to compete as a sport, we're going to have to adjust as well.

"Shorter races, something that would fit that attention-span time period, are probably the answer, at least as far as the Cup series is concerned."

PIT STOPS

Smarty Jones wasn't the only one who failed in a bid for the Triple Crown. Ryan Newman was bidding for a triple of his own but was denied any chance for a third consecutive Dover victory. It wasn't a good day for Newman. He spun entering pit road, causing a caution. He was penalized a lap after running the stop paddle at the end of the service race. His race ended when he was involved in a crash on Lap 374 . . . Mark Martin, 44, won the race and drew praise from Earnhardt. "He's one of the pure racers out there," he said. "He doesn't care about fame or money - nothing but racing and running good, and there's relatively not too many in the sport behind the wheel like him."

- Contact Jim Benton at bentonj(at)RockyMountainNews.com. (my local newspaper!)