Happy Hump Day!  You're half way there!

Countdown to Daytona

Top Ten NASCAR Valentine's Day Gifts
Mistie Bibbee

10. A scale replica of your favorite driver’s car made out of conversation hearts.

9. Got an in with Cupid? Get him to shoot an arrow through your least favorite driver’s tire during the Bud Shootout.

8. A fine dinner at the track. Too bad Martinsville isn’t open for V-Day so you can take your sweetie out for a red hotdog.

7. Yummmm a gift box of chocolate covered lug nuts!

6. Nothing says unconditional love quite like tickets to Daytona.

5. The ultimate expression of love? Buy your significant other their own NASCAR team to show them how much you care.

4. Roses stuffed in the arms and legs of the driver’s uniform. (Ok maybe that’s a bad idea with all those thorns.)

3. Even St. Valentine can’t resist a six pack of Bud and an 8 by 10 of Dale Jr.

2. Apparently, Mike Helton is even in the mood this year since no events are scheduled for February 14th.

1. Say those famous four words every woman wants to hear on Valentine’s Day… “Gentleman- Start Your Engines!”... (Geesh… you saps… what did you think I was going to say… “Will you marry me?” Yeah right.)

Quote's of the Week

“One of the reasons for my stepping out of the Cup series at this time is because I was never really convinced, deep down inside, that I was all that good. I think I’ve fooled a lot of people for a long, long time, and I don’t want to take a chance on getting caught up in something where everybody figures out that I was a sham and I really wasn’t as good as the results I got.”
— Painfully modest Mark Martin, announcing he will retire, at least on a full-time basis, at the end of the 2005 season.

"I ran 19 years to win my first million dollars. Now they pay these drivers a million dollars just to walk from the bathroom to the car, OK? So from that standpoint, it looks to me like you ought to look after yourselves, OK?"
-Richard Petty, on whether NASCAR should offer driver pensions

"They named a highway in Junior Johnson's honor in Wilkes County, N.C. I told him that they should have named that highway after me as many times as he told me to hit it."
-Darrell Waltrip refferring to his former team owner

Mark is the essential ingredient that built Roush Racing. To look at Mark and see what he's done. He's a true competitor. He inspires us to look at him and want to be like him."
-Kurt Busch speaking about teammate Mark Martin

Comments from the Peanut Gallery

from Tom
Mommy Dearest...
Is it possible to use a darker color in some of the sections.   The hardest to read is the light green, then the pinkish color.  These old eyes have a hard time even with my glasses on.  Another season is upon us and it would be AWESOME for a 3 peat.   I hope Mark Martin gets his reward before he retires.  I know there are many great drivers that have raced and never became Champ,  but few have raced with the class and integrity of Mark.  I have had the honor of meeting him many times when he ran ARCA and drove a backup car for the company I worked for at the time (Patch Press).  He was always a gentleman and easy to talk to.  I may even cheer him on if he wasn't in a FORD!!!  Well maybe not.
 
Tom...A FORD FAN...Go Matt & Mark
(just happens to be my twin sons names also)

 

I'll do the best I can Tom....but I like those pretty colors!...LOL

from Karen
know body ever said it was just nascar  all  alcohol is bad  take time and look up statistics about alcohol and it's effects and compare it to cigarettes deaths yes i too have had family die of cancer and other dreaded diseases caused from smoking   but if you  stop putting adds out there for all of it  cigs and alcohol  the usage may come down    there are alot better sponsors out there   computer companies     use more gasoline sponsors    more paint manufacturers etc   if you don't put it out there  it won't be seen    yes too you can keep your kids from watching it  sure   just like the nasty filth    on tv and in the movies   Racing is a great sport why ruin it with the things that are bad for life  yes i too smoke  i been smoking from age 7  i'm noe in my late 50's  i did not start by seeing adds on tv but by seeing others do it  so that was not my point  my point was to not influence it any more there is enough adds out there the kids see   that do that why expose them to more of it .

from Jack
I'm sure Amy Henderson is not young enough to recall another interesting item about Fonda.  (I like to be nice to the ladies).  The track was flat as grass and if there was a problem (crash) causing a tangle (mess) in turn two and you weren't careful you could end up IN the Mohawk River.  It happened more times than often!  No fences!
 
My cousin, Lea Armstrong, drove a GMC coupe sponsored by Trinkaus Manor, a fine restaurant in New Hartford, NY.  Can't recall other local racers (mind going after 80 years) but it was great racing.  I guess Bobby and Petty, et al, were just getting started about then.  Then came WWII.
 
I do remember Lea going straight off turn one into a huge elm tree one time (nobody else on the track - chuckle).  He walked with his head stuck out like a chicken for a long time.
 
My home was in the village of Mohawk, about 30 miles west of Fonda.  What a fantastic Saturday night out that was! 

 
Ahh, the good old days.
 
Jack.

Bits and Pieces

Vickers to run limited Busch schedule, Ore-Ida as an assoc on Cup car:  Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick announced that 21-year-old Brian Vickers will return to the NASCAR Busch Series for four races in 2005 with support from primary sponsor Ore-Ida and its Extra Crispy French-fry brand. As part of the agreement, Vickers will drive his four Busch Series races in Ore-Ida-wrapped #57 Chevrolets. In addition to its support of Vickers' Busch Series appearances, Ore-Ida will become a major associate partner of the #25 NEXTEL Cup Series team with Vickers as driver. Vickers, the 2003 Busch Series champion is scheduled to make his first Busch Series start of 2005 at Lowe's Motor Speedway May 28, followed by events at Daytona International Speedway in July, Michigan International Speedway in August and the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November.(Hendrick Motorsports PR)

Bear Creek Soups To Step Up Sponsorship at ppc Racing:  ppc Racing officials announced associate sponsor Bear Creek Soups will return with an expanded 2005 motorsports marketing program. Under the sponsorship agreement, Bear Creek Soups will be the "Official Soup Product" at ppc Racing and have a strong presence on all four race teams with drivers #14-John Andretti [Cup], #22-Kenny Wallace [Busch], #10-Michel Jourdain Jr.[Busch] and #10-Terry Cook [Trucks]. Bear Creek Soups has sponsored ppc Racing since 2001 and was a primary sponsor with the team's NASCAR Busch Series efforts last year at select events. The Bear Creek Soups logos will be displayed in various locations on all four of ppc Racing's race vehicles; the #14 VB / APlus at Sunoco Ford Taurus in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series with driver John Andretti; the #22 Stacker 2 Ford Taurus in the NASCAR Busch Series with driver Kenny Wallace; the #10 ppc Racing Ford Taurus with driver Michel Jourdain Jr.; and the #10 Ford Power Stroke Diesel by International race truck in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with driver Terry Cook. For more information, please visit bearcreekfoods.com.(ppc Racing PR)

Curtis Turner Book Available:  The Life and Fast Times of NASCAR Legend Curtis Turner by Robert Edelstein, is the unremitting, over-the-top biography of stock car racer Curtis Turner, the most dynamic stock car racer of all time, who wrote the book on living fast and dying young. Curtis Turner was a racing legend in the 1940s, 50s and 60s, a peer of Lee Petty (father of Richard Petty) and Junior Johnson; he was the Dale Earnhardt of his time. A fellow NASCAR racer summarized Turner's legacy with the words: "There never would have been a Dale Earnhardt without Curtis Turner."

Born in 1924 in Virginia, Curtis Turner was the true pioneer of NASCAR racing; his life embodied everything that today makes NASCAR the biggest spectator sport in American history: the adrenaline rush of the races, the potential for danger at every turn, and the charismatic, outrageous personality of a born winner who possessed an uncanny business savvy. From his mountain country beginnings to running moonshine as a teenager and executing dangerous 180-degree spins on a single-lane bridge to elude the police to being the first NASCAR driver ever put on the cover of Sports Illustrated-and the only one so honored after having had his license revoked in two states-Turner created drama. Both at the racetrack and in his personal life-with constant partying and a no-holds-barred, good-times lifestyle-Curtis Turner lived the American Dream several times over-including the co-building of the Charlotte Motor Speedway against all odds and in the face of great controversy-before he died a violent and mysterious death in 1970 at the young age of forty-six in a plane crash that is still considered a great mystery.
In gripping prose, and with full access to the files of Turner's widow, Bunny Hall, biographer Robert Edelstein, the exclusive motorsports writer for TV Guide and the author of NASCAR Generations, thrillingly recreates the life of this American legend. FULL THROTTLE is the first ever full-scale chronicle of Turner's legendary life, from his 357 racing wins to his millions earned and just as quickly spent in fearless finance deals, to his incredible comeback after four years of being banned from the NASCAR circuit for trying to start a union among his fellow racers. (He was reinstated partly due to the thousands of rabid fans who demanded his return.) Motorsports, momentum and mayhem, the non-stop pursuit of outrageous dreams, high-speed thrills and a really good time…these are the raw materials of FULL THROTTLE.(2-9-2005)

Larry Foyt to run Daytona ARCA race, BAM Plans still in the works: Fulltiltpoker.com, an interactive poker gaming Web site, has signed with Foyt Racing as the primary sponsor of the #16 Dodge. The car will be driven by Larry Foyt in the Advance Discount Auto Parts 200 at Daytona International Speedway Saturday, Feb. 12th. The ARCA race will be the first foray into motorsports for Fulltiltpoker.com which sees a great opportunity to bring its online poker experience to racing fans."I'm excited to be back behind the wheel at Daytona," said Foyt. "I've only driven in one ARCA race and that was over four years ago. I've learned a lot since then so I'm really looking forward to competing next weekend." Foyt put together the one-time race package for his father A.J. Foyt's team with support from BAM Racing team owners Beth Ann and Tony Morgenthau. The Morgenthaus are trying to secure sponsorship to field a car for Foyt in one of NASCAR's divisions this year. Foyt has also signed two associate sponsors for this event: Demons Cycles (demonscycles.com), builder of custom motorcycles, and Victory Sportswear (victorysportswear.com a full line apparel company that offers screen printing, embroidery and ad specialty items to local race teams across the country.(A.J. Foyt Racing PR)

#66 Peak Fitness Racing Team Launches Website: Peak Performance Motorsports owner Jeff Stec announced today that his NASCAR Nextel Cup Series team has hired PSE-3, a sports and entertainment communications, marketing and sales firm headquartered in Raleigh, NC, to handle media and sponsor relations for the team. The January announcement of the newly formed team introduced NASCAR veterans Hermie Sadler as the driver and James Ince as the crew chief. For more information regarding PSE-3 and sponsorship opportunities with Peak Performance Motorsports, please visit (PPM website) or pse-3.com. The online destination for all things associated with the #66 Peak Fitness Ford Taurus in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series is peakfitnessracing.com.

TMS asks for local help to retain second race
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- Officials at the Texas Motor Speedway, which is getting its second Nextel Cup race this year, want the city of Fort Worth to contribute about $500,000 to help with marketing.
 
"The Cup race is good for one year," said Tom Krampitz, the speedway's director of government relations and general counsel. "Another race in 2006 depends on us selling out the speedway in 2005."

He said local fans typically pack the stadium for the first big Nextel Cup Series race, which this year is the Samsung/RadioShack 500 on April 17. They won't necessarily return for the Nov. 6 Dickie's 500 race, he said.

Krampitz presented the proposal Tuesday to a City Council committee, which endorsed and forwarded the proposal to the full council for consideration.
 
The 20-year promotional proposal would team up the speedway and the Fort Worth Convention and Visitors Bureau to promote both races -- and Fort Worth -- with financial help from the city.

Krampitz said the speedway has committed to spending $2.8 million on marketing efforts this year. Speedway officials want the city to contribute additional funds by kicking back most of the sales and hotel taxes generated by the second race each year.

Speedway officials estimated that about $300,000 would be generated in sales taxes and about $200,000 from the hotel tax this year.

The proposal seeks a rebate of 100 percent of those taxes for the first five years, and 90 percent for the next five years.

For the final 10 years of the agreement, the city would kick back 70 percent of the sales and hotel taxes generated.

Earnhardt Jr. passes the test with new crew chief
By DAVE CALDWELL
New York Times News Service


NEW YORK - Dale Earnhardt Jr. sat in a suite on the 41st floor of the Waldorf-Astoria at lunchtime Tuesday, absentmindedly toying with a cell phone as he talked about the tedium of test sessions. He would rather squirt air into tires than test a stock car.

But he was just at a test session, for four long days, and this one was not so bad. Earnhardt Jr., who finished fifth in the NASCAR Nextel Cup standings last year despite an enormous setback, has a new crew chief and, as a result, a new perspective.

"Lot of that cloud, that pressure, that vise, it's gone," he said.

Earnhardt Jr., 30, will open his sixth full Nextel Cup season Feb. 20 by trying to repeat as the champion of the Daytona 500. He has switched crew chiefs with his Dale Earnhardt Inc. teammate, Michael Waltrip.

Tony Eury Jr. is now Waltrip's crew chief, and Pete Rondeau is Earnhardt Jr.'s crew chief. Earnhardt Jr. had done well with Eury, and they remain friends. But as with almost anything else in Earnhardt Jr.'s life, their working relationship was overscrutinized.

"We had this churning, tense relationship last year," Earnhardt Jr. said. "It wasn't between us. It was all over our heads. When me and Tony didn't do good, we felt like we were jerks."

Earnhardt Jr. won six races and $8.9 million last season, both career highs, but he did not win his first championship when he was widely expected to do so, even more so after he won the Daytona 500 for the first time.

Earnhardt Jr. was badly burned in July when he crashed his car during a warm-up for an American Le Mans Series race in Sonoma, Calif., during a NASCAR week off. Although he did not miss a Nextel Cup race, the burns took several weeks to heal. He said his skin was lighter in the places he was burned.

"It's an experience I learned a lot from," said Earnhardt Jr., who was in New York with the defending champion, Kurt Busch, to do promotional work for NASCAR.

Earnhardt Jr. considers himself to be an uncomplicated person who is uncomfortable with his celebrity. He said that he paid $90,000 for his home in North Carolina, and that he liked to stop at a bar now and then.

The expectations placed on Eury and Earnhardt Jr., who finished second in 2003, were often overwhelming and unrealistic. Earnhardt Jr. said they were often scared to change their race cars because they might not regain the speed they had.

He encountered trouble even when he was successful. Earnhardt Jr. was penalized 25 points after an October victory at Talladega, Ala., because he cursed on his car radio and it was broadcast on NBC.

Rondeau's arrival has lightened Earnhardt Jr.'s mood. Earnhardt Jr. said he hated to throw Rondeau into the middle of his high-profile world, but the positive results of the four-day test session were an indication to Earnhardt Jr. that the relationship could work.

"We have a great respect for each other," the driver said. "One race can change that, but hopefully, I'm mature enough to handle everything properly, and he can take a couple of deep breaths."

It is not as if Earnhardt Jr. will enter the season as an underdog. No Earnhardt, including his father, Dale, ever has. But Earnhardt Jr. is clearly not putting as much pressure on himself. A format used for the first time last year has changed that.

The season has been divided into two portions. Results of the first 26 races will determine the 10-driver field for the 10-race Chase for the Nextel Cup. Earnhardt Jr., like other drivers, can concentrate on making the top 10 instead of the top spot.

"Maybe if he doesn't think every race is his last race, and he can take a more laid-back approach, that will work for him," Busch said of Earnhardt Jr. "If he can have a different mind-set, he might have a different outcome."

Preview: Kurt Busch
Champion looks for first Cup repeat since Gordon in 1997-98
By Dave Rodman, NASCAR.COM

 
Kurt Busch, as the second consecutive Roush Racing driver to win a NASCAR Cup championship, feels like he has a good model. Of course, Busch has his own ideas of how to one-up teammate Matt Kenseth, the '03 champion who fell to eighth last year.

"Matt was a great champion and the way he approached his title defense was one that we're gonna model ourselves after," Busch said. "But yet we can do some things a bit differently."
 
Kenseth's win total went up in his title-defending season -- but all his other stats were down -- except for his critical DNF total.

In his title year, Busch's win total went down from 2003, but everything else was up, except his DNFs, which he more than cut in half.

"I've had the opportunity to talk with Jeff Gordon," Busch said. "Dale Jarrett is a very well respected champion in my mind -- and of course, with Kenseth being a teammate of mine, it's very easy to discuss things with him.

"To see what he could have done better, we'll try that out."

Busch says he's ready, after vacationing in Tahiti in December, then the holidays, three tests of his No. 97 Ford and a warm-up racing outing in last weekend's Rolex 24 at Daytona sports car race.

"It's been a good off-season [and] we're refreshed -- ready to go," Busch said. "We've done quite a bit more testing than we normally have at this time of the year [and] we're excited with [the way it] has gone.

"Everybody's up and up and ready to go for 2005."

And that begins this week with Speedweeks at Daytona.

Busch's team returns intact, including crew chief Jimmy Fennig, who engineered a career year for Busch that included three wins, 10 top five finishes and 21 top 10s.

"It's definitely different to be able to see the way that the crew is approaching the racecar," Busch said. "The way we had everybody return on our team is a great feeling -- to have the infrastructure still so similar to what we did last year, but yet to know that we achieved something very special.

"It enables us to walk around a bit lighter with our footsteps and just to smile and look at the other teams and to have different crewmembers addressing my crewmembers as champions."

Busch earned that honor after easing into the inaugural Chase for the Nextel Cup in seventh in the standings. He then roared through the final 10 races to accrue the greatest point total with a win, six top five and nine top 10 finishes.

In the end, Busch won his first Cup championship by a scant eight points over Jimmie Johnson.

"We look at how we're gonna build cars and we just structure the whole season right around the beginning of the year," Busch said. "With the way that the 17 [Kenseth] seemed to struggle a little bit -- they had an awesome year back in 2003 [but] it's just that everything falls into place.

"That's what it takes to win a championship -- is to have your preparation meet those opportunities, whether it's out on the racetrack [or] behind the scenes.

"We know we had a great year last year and a lot of things fell into place. I'm very happy and very fortunate. Just to be able to be a champion is one thing and to be able to go and defend that title and achieve another one is something that we're going to strive for this year with that same type of drive."

Busch won his only Bud Pole of the season in the Homestead finale, so he said coming into this weekend's season opening Budweiser Shootout as the series champion is a definite plus.

This will be Busch's third time competing in the Budweiser Shootout, in which he's previously finished poorly. But lately, Busch and his team have proven they can run with the best in restrictor-plate races -- with a pair of top-five finishes in the four plate races last season.

"I'm really proud of the restrictor-plate effort by the Roush Racing organization," Busch said. "It seemed at one time that we were the little boy in town with not being able to put the power down and hang with a lot of those guys, but last year we really had set-ups that would run."

It's only the first step in repeating as champion, a feat that has not been accomplished since Gordon in 1997-98.

"One thing that's good about being a favorite is that the attention is always around you -- you've got that same buzz and that same vibe all year," Busch said. "If we're looked at as a favorite, we're still gonna have that same mentality to work at our pace and to not get too excited.

"You just have to roll with the punches. If you're a favorite, you're a favorite [and] if you're not, it's something that it almost feels better not to be one."

As much as he's sometimes been criticized for his demeanor in the past, Busch said he has his priorities in order and his goals in focus.

"It's still about going and hanging out with my crew chief, Jimmy Fennig, and being myself and going to the racetrack competitive and knowing that we've got an opportunity to win and we're gonna be respected as champions for the year," Busch said.

"It still is the same objective as it is every year and that's to go out and win the championship, but to have one under the belt is satisfying. It fuels you for a stronger drive and creates more ambition to come to the racetrack and to shoot for it again."

Nurture those young NASCAR fans
Cheryl Walker


Our racing season is about to burst before us, NASCAR fans. The hibernation is over, so give yourself a shake, get the coffeemaker going, and make sure you’ve got your cable or dish bill paid. It’s time to go racin’.

For the first few races of the season, I realize that all of us are going to be experiencing pure bliss, pure pleasure as those engines rev and those green flags fly. It will be hard to think of anything except the high-octane rush, and the sheer joy of a new season beginning.

Once we’ve caught our collective breaths, however, and our minds have accepted the jubilant reality that our weekends will be full again, I would like to make the suggestion that this year we all make the effort to nurture those young NASCAR fans.

During any of the race broadcasts, as the camera does a dizzy swing over the fans in the stands, take notice of the smaller and younger ones wearing their favorite drivers’ t-shirts and ball caps. Their faces will be just as excited and intense as their adult counterparts, and they will feel the same swell of pride when the driver they idolize makes a great move on the track. Some of them can tick off the statistics of particular drivers with more speed and accuracy than the older folks that have taught them, and some of them dream of being one of those racing warriors one day.

These young ones are the future of NASCAR, and we all should do our best to bolster their allegiance to the greatest sport in the world and to encourage their participation in it. There are so many ways to live and breathe NASCAR, and they should know about all of them. Anyone can be a faithful spectator, but there are also possibilities in the world of journalism and reporting, being a member of a pit crew or working in body shops, as a staff member at a favorite track; one only has to think a short while to come up with a list of choices. You never know which young one watching a race that will grow up to be a future NASCAR star in some form or another.

Of course I mean folks should do this with their own children, but beyond that I am talking about the kids in the neighborhood that your kids hang out with. As NASCAR is still the most spiritual sport around, it would be a terrific suggestion to the other adults in your church’s congregation to consider exposing their children to that wonderful part of it. That there are many drivers that are great possible heroes for these kids is another bonus; the number of honorable gentlemen and women to admire these days seems to be seriously dwindling.

The next time you attend a race, and you find yourself sitting next to one of these young fans, please take a moment to shake their hand, and ask them about their favorite driver. Listen respectfully as they share their thoughts about the race, the track, or anything else that might be on their mind. And it really wouldn’t hurt to be mindful of their presence, and to keep the obscenities and buffoonish behavior to a minimum, to set a good example. This world is so lacking in respect of others these days; this is a great chance to still have fun without being a jackass, and to pass that on to younger generations. The good times these kids take home with them are memories that will last a lifetime.

If I seem to be a little bit like a cheerleader, please indulge me. I just recall with great clarity the shining eyes of a wee little boy that stood with me while we both watched Jeff Burton helping his crewmen set up his car one bright day in Martinsville. This little tot was clutching a No. 99 Ford diecast car in his hand, and bobbed his head energetically when I asked him if he was excited. That was such a moment for me, seeing that slice of NASCAR through his eyes. I wish that everyone reading this would have a moment like that to remember forever.

Let’s keep the NASCAR circle widening and growing, starting with these terrific young fans.

The history of....

Buick’s Glory Days
How One Brand Became An Unexpected Winston Cup Contender
By Bill Holder


By the late-’70s in Winston Cup racing, the number of brands had settled down to basically Ford, Mercury, Chevy, Oldsmobile, and Pontiac. The MOPAR models left early in the decade. But there was one interesting exception to that rule that occurred in the early ’80s—the long-dormant Buick brand.

Buick had experienced a short tenure of success in the mid-’50s when 322cid-powered Centurys were competitive, but then a quarter-century dry spell set in. That changed only when General Motors came out with a super-slick Regal design that set NASCAR on its ear starting in 1981.

Buick Body; Chevy Engine

The race cars featured Buick sheetmetal on the outside, but there was no Buick power under the hood. That’s because GM had decreed that all of its models running in Winston Cup would use the same basic 358 cubic-inch, small-block Chevrolet engine. That applied to Chevy, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, and Buick.

With the identical “corporate” engines, it was necessary to acquire an edge in some other way, and Buick did it with aerodynamics. The super-slick Regal body style was hands-down superior to its GM brethren and the other brands. It looked like a wind tunnel had played a big part in this design, making it look like a rocket, and the car sure ran like one. The design had a look that wouldn’t have been out of place with the car models of the 21st century.

First, the grille was not vertical (as was the trend), a design that allowed air to hit the old version like a barn door. With the Regal, a double-angle slope in the grille allowed a smooth, non-restricted airflow up and over the car. Also, the windshield was sharply angled backward, with the sides being completely smooth. It was though the shapely Regal had been designed to be a race car from scratch. NASCAR drivers loved the handling of the machine all around the track. The front end of the model provided significant downforce, which was a major reason for its superb cornering capabilities.

Winners From The Start

The first Buick season came in 1981, and it was gangbusters. Darrell Waltrip won the championship in a Buick, posting 12 wins and 21 Top-5 finishes. The second-place finisher, Bobby Allison, also drove a Regal. But there were a lot more Buicks in the Top 10, with Harry Gant in third, Terry Labonte in fourth, Ricky Rudd in sixth, and Richard Petty (who drove Buicks for this single season) in eighth place. Other drivers wheeling Buicks that year included Tim Richmond. The coming dominance of Buick certainly came to light when Richard Petty took the Daytona 500 that season with a total of 14 Buicks in the starting field.

The 1982 season was even better for Buick, with Waltrip again taking the title, followed by Allison and Labonte in second and third, Gant in fourth, Dave Marcis in sixth, Ron Bouchard in eighth, and Morgan Shepherd in 10th. The domination was again overpowering for Buick, with 25 total wins. Next in line was Chevrolet, with just three wins. Twenty-five of the 42 cars starting the 1982 Daytona 500 were Buicks. Bobby Allison took the win.

As other models started to catch up in 1983, the domination fell off a bit for Buick, but it still had the champion, this time with Bobby Allison. Waltrip had moved to a Chevrolet, finishing second in the points. Harry Gant brought a Buick home seventh, but that was it for the Top 15. In all, there were only six victories, dropping Buick down to second place behind Chevrolet’s 15 wins. The following year, there were only two Buick victories, both of them coming from Allison.

Suddenly, as quickly as it started, the Buick phenomenon was over. The other brands had noticed Buick’s success, and their new models started incorporating aerodynamic improvements. That was particularly typified with the new Ford Thunderbird in the mid-’80s, which would be a dominator in NASCAR for years to come. A new nose on the Monte Carlo would make that model very competitive. It was an era that will never be forgotten, a period when all the big guys were driving Buicks, and running up front. That will never happen again, since the Buick model has been dropped from NASCAR competition. But for a single shining moment, Buick fans had their time in the sun. 

NASCAR ON TV THIS WEEK

BUDWEISER SHOOTOUT PRACTICE	4 p.m. Friday	Speed Channel
FINAL BUDWEISER SHOOTOUT PRACTICE	6:30 p.m. Friday	Speed Channel
NEXTEL CUP PRACTICE	10:30 a.m. Saturday	Speed Channel
NEXTEL CUP PRACTICE	1:30 p.m. Saturday	Speed Channel
BUDWEISER SHOOTOUT	8 p.m. Saturday	FX
NEXTEL CUP QUALIFYING	1 p.m. Sunday	Fox
All times Eastern. Times and stations subject to change.

Well, that's all for today.  Until the next time, I remain,
YourMomma
"Don't come here and grumble about going too fast.  Get the hell out of the race car if you've got feathers on your legs or butt.  Put a kerosene rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up there and eat that candy ass." - Dale Earnhardt – 1998

"It's nothin' personal, it's just racin'
-Dale Earnhardt 

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This list is authored by:

Sandra Monacelli
221 W. 57th Street 18B
Loveland, CO  80538
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