Quote of the Year

"To be a real, true NASCAR driver, you have to know where the sport came from and you have to respect that history and tradition. The guys that don't respect that history and tradition, I don't think they're going to be around all that long. And those guys who don't know the history and tradition, I think it's upon them to learn about it pretty quick if they want to be a success."
– Richard Petty

Quote of the Day

"Drivers have their own little club, and they handle things the way they handle it. The rest of us kind of stand back and watch."
—Steve Hmiel on Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Michael Waltrip mending fences 

 

Comments from the Peanut Gallery

from RD
#1 Why does it matter to NASCAR, or anyone else, what a driver does during his off time?
 
#2 As long as a driver is unimpaired by race time, should that not be the only criteria, for whether is is fit to drive?
rd

from Joyann
I'm new to nascar and wasn't around the last time he was suspended..is he on cocaine?  Does Jr get along with Michael?  Who sings the theme song on Jr's site..I love it ja

from Tom P
Hmiel's Big Deal: Shane Hmiel was second fastest in Busch Series practice.
After the first practice session, he was summoned to the NASCAR trailer where he met with a team of officials, and was escorted out of the Dover racetrack. speedwaymedia.com/Articles/05/060205Ewert.asp

After the last couple weeks,  I think it is time they test Jr...!

Bits and Pieces

On Hold: NASCAR's new-engine project has stalled: NASCAR's controversial engine of the future suddenly appears all but dead, according to engine builders and car owners, after the latest round of meetings between NASCAR executives and a few Nextel Cup team owners. However, that would lock in the current Toyota and Dodge engine designs as still technically superior to the present Ford and Chevrolet engines. And it would leave Honda - widely expected to make a run into NASCAR racing - with a clean sheet of paper to design its own new NASCAR V-8, which rivals worry would be even better than any engine in the sport right now. NASCAR's engine of the future was to have debuted at California in February 2007. Now it has been pushed back to 2009 or 2010. Add to that, word that NASCAR is apparently working with Honda on an engine development operation for the NASCAR Technical Institute in Mooresville, and it's easy to see why the NASCAR garage here has been in such turmoil the past 48 hours. That's not the only reason. NASCAR's turnaround in the engine of the future comes as NASCAR executives are also considering a dramatic change in the Busch tour schedule that could pair the Busch series with the Indy Racing League during a number of doubleheader weekends in 2006, according to some top NASCAR team owners. In turn, NASCAR would hope to raise the television profile of its struggling Truck series by moving it to several Saturdays as part of doubleheaders with the Nextel Cup tour. - The Winston-Salem Journal
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More On Fox/NASCAR TV Deal: Only half the NASCAR TV renegotiations story with Fox came out last week. NASCAR officials said they had decided not to renew the final two-year option with Fox for 2007 and 2008. But the real story, according to sources, is that Fox has proposed canceling that two-year option in order to sign a new six-year contract with NASCAR, for 2007 through 2112, for a slight bump in money. And Fox executives are reportedly pleased with David Hill's work last week at Charlotte in his negotiations with NASCAR. Hill is Fox's sports boss; his duties have also expanded to include running DirecTV, the satellite network. It is unclear what role DirecTV might play, if any, in any new Fox-NASCAR contract. NASCAR officials are very interested in expanding their sport's international television coverage.

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NNCS Crew Chief "Slugger" Labbe Slugged With Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever: Crew chief Richard "Slugger" Labbe is going to be out of action for a while, it appears, while battling a stubborn case of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Engineer Francis Allen handled the pit-box action for Jeremy Mayfield yesterday. Questions are being raised by some teams about the late red flag thrown during the Coca-Cola 600. That red flag closed the field and could have played a role in Jimmie Johnson's victory. - The Winston-Salem Journal*
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Biffle Tackles the Monster; Richert Wins Fourth WYPALL® Wipers Crew Chief of the Race Award: Not even Miles the Monster could stop the tag team of Greg Biffle and Doug Richert this weekend at Dover International Speedway. Biffle blistered the intimidating high-banked, concrete oval in his Richert prepared Ford. The #16 Taurus took over the top spot on lap 241 and never looked back. Biffle led 150 of 400 laps before taking the checkered flag. His winning performance earned Richert his fourth WYPALL® Wipers Crew Chief of the Race award in 2005. ...With his fourth WYPALL® Wipers Crew Chief of the Race award, Richert stays in first place of the Crew Chief of the Year standings. Robbie Loomis is in second place with two wins. Tommy Baldwin, Scott Miller, Bob Osborne, Alan Gustafson and Pete Rondeau are in a tie for third place. At the end of the season, the crew chief with the most weekly wins will receive $20,000. For more information, log onto wypall.com.
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Mayfield, Evernham Motorsports Ink Multi-Year Agreement: Ray Evernham, president and CEO of Evernham Motorsports, announced today a multi-year contract extension with Jeremy Mayfield as the driver of the No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger. Mayfield is in his fourth year at the helm of the No. 19 Dodge Charger for Evernham Motorsports. He claimed his first victory for Evernham with a win at Richmond last September that also earned Mayfield a berth in the inaugural Chase for the Nextel Cup. He finished 10th in the final season standings.
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Dupont Extends Long-Term Sponsorship With Hendrick Motorsports, Jeff Gordon: Going on its 13th full season as a primary car sponsor that took a chance on a young man with a lot of talent, DuPont has extended its long-term commitment to the Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series team with four-time champion driver Jeff Gordon. The new contract extends the partnership through the 2008 season, with the option for two additional years. The DuPont Automotive Finishes business initiated sponsorship of the No. 24 car in 1992 with an iconic rainbow paint scheme designed by renowned motorsports artist Sam Bass to showcase the brilliance of DuPont's paint products. Gordon made his debut that year in the season-ending race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, which ironically, was the final race for seven-time series champion Richard Petty. Since that debut, the look of the car was transformed when the "fire and flames" paint scheme was introduced in 2001. In addition, Team DuPont has accumulated 72 wins and four championships leading DuPont, Hendrick Motorsports and Gordon to recommit to furthering their mutual success both on and off the race track.
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Ganassi Shake-up imminent? Marlin, Mears out? Is a shakeup in the works in the Ganassi Racing camp? Sterling Marlin still hasn't been officially told what the plans are for the #40 Dodge in 2006, but he says he's not ready to retire. "I'd like to race another two or three years and then go fishing," says Marlin, who'll turn 48 on June 30. Marlin has spoken with several teams and hopes to have a plan solidified in the next two weeks. Busch driver David Stremme is considered the heir apparent in the #40. He could replace Marlin for the last seven races of the season, gaining experience while not jeopardizing his rookie status for next season. Changes are expected involving the #41 team and driver Casey Mears. Sources say owner Chip Ganassi plans to clean the entire house, making way for Busch Series rookie sensation Reed Sorenson and crew chief Brian Pattie. Mears' crew chief, Jimmy Elledge, has been mentioned as a potential crew chief for Stremme.(Sporting News)
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Truex Jr. close to re-signing with DEI UPDATE: on Speed Channel's NASCAR This Morning, DEI's Richie Gillmore said they are close to signing Martin Truex. Jr. to a 3-year deal [with a 3 year option] and the contracts are in the laywers hands and hope to have something to announce in a few weeks.(6-5-2005)
UPDATE: If Martin Truex Jr. signs a new contract with Dale Earnhardt Inc. as a Nextel Cup driver, as DEI officials would like, Bass Pro Shops, a part-time Nextel Cup sponsor for Richard Childress, will become Truex's primary sponsor next season. DEI has offered Truex Jr. a three-year contract. Childress officials says they expect Bass Pro (privately held, with about $1.6 billion in annual sales) to remain a part-time sponsor for Childress' operation.(Winston Salem Journal)
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Biffle honors fallen soldier in car; to give trophy to injured: #16-Greg Biffle's racecar is sponsored by the National Guard, and Biffle had a picture of a young man named Ryan Doltz, a National Guard soldier, who was killed in Iraq exactly one year ago Sunday. It was taped to the roll bar of his racecar. Biffle also said "I'm so excited to win here in Dover (with) all the soldiers I met this weekend. I'm going to give the trophy to a soldier that's here this weekend. (He) lost his leg in Iraq, and he's up here from Walter Reed Hospital. He's around here somewhere. I can't wait to celebrate with him."(FoxSports)
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NASCAR declines TV option with Fox after 2006 UPDATE: NASCAR declined an option to extend its TV contract with Fox Sports past the 2006 racing season, said Dick Glover, NASCAR's vice president of broadcasting and new media. Fox, NBC and Turner Sports are in the fifth year of a six-year, $2.4 billion contract to televise NASCAR races. NASCAR had to decide by May 31 whether to pick up its option with Fox through 2008. Glover said the move was made to end all of its television contracts simultaneously. "All it means is we've synced up the agreements with our broadcast partners," Glover said. "We've said all along we'd like to renew with all of them. That hasn't changed." Glover didn't disclose the size of the option. "Our contract runs through 2006, and we are continuing discussions with NASCAR about a new deal," Fox spokesman Dan Bell said. Former ABC Sports Executive Steve Solomon said ABC and ESPN are possible bidders for NASCAR's rights when the current agreements expire after the 2006 season.(Tennessean)
UPDATE: Only half the NASCAR TV renegotiations story with Fox came out last week. NASCAR officials said they had decided not to renew the final two-year option with Fox for 2007 and 2008. But the real story, according to sources, is that Fox has proposed canceling that two-year option in order to sign a new six-year contract with NASCAR, for 2007 through 2112, for a slight bump in money. And Fox executives are reportedly pleased with David Hill's work last week at Charlotte in his negotiations with NASCAR. Hill is Fox's sports boss; his duties have also expanded to include running DirecTV, the satellite network. It is unclear what role DirecTV might play, if any, in any new Fox-NASCAR contract. NASCAR officials are very interested in expanding their sport's international television coverage.(Winston Salem Journal)
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More of new 2006 models: Both Chevrolet and Ford have been busy working on their new models for Cup and Busch competition starting next season. Chevrolet will debut the newly-redesigned Monte Carlo at Daytona in February 2006, while Ford will switch from the Taurus (which is no longer being built) to the Ford 500 [other reports have the car being the Fusion] next year.(Yahoo Sports)
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No Shifting at Pocono: Changes in NASCAR's gear rules mean competitors will not be able to shift through the turns this Sunday at Poco#"I disagree with the gear rule," Jeff Gordon says. "At Pocono, we'll be way down on RPM, and we won't be able to shift. It's like putting a restrictor plate on the cars at New Hampshire. We won't be able to pass, and that's not a good thing." Many competitors feel the lack of horsepower will produce single-file racing.(Sporting News)
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What's Up with Waltrip and the #15? #15-Michael Waltrip's future with DEI is still up in the air. DEI's Richie Gilmore said he would like to keep Waltrip and sponsor NAPA, but the ultimate decision is up to team owner Teresa Earnhardt, who could make a move in the next few weeks.(Winston Salem Journal)
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Trouble with Toyota? Honda looking? New Engine plans delayed? UPDATE: There are questions being raised about Toyota's commitment to a Busch series effort next season, and indications of a possible rift between NASCAR and the Japanese car maker about engine issues related to NASCAR's proposed engine of the future. NASCAR's meetings with the sport's four car makers about specifications for the engine of the future, tentatively designed to roll out in 2007, have been takin place since December. The Toyota engine, according to its rivals, has a technical edge in several respects, and the engine of the future project was in part designed to put all four car makers back on equal technical footing. The NASCAR-Toyota debate comes as word breaks that NASCAR and Honda are reported to be in talks for an engine program of some sort, still undefined, but apparently tied in with NASCAR's technical institute in Mooresville.(Winston Salem Journal)(6-5-2005)
UPDATE: NASCAR's controversial engine of the future suddenly appears all but dead, according to engine builders and car owners, after the latest round of meetings between NASCAR executives and a few Nextel Cup team owners. However, that would lock in the current Toyota and Dodge engine designs as still technically superior to the present Ford and Chevrolet engines. And it would leave Honda - widely expected to make a run into NASCAR racing - with a clean sheet of paper to design its own new NASCAR V-8, which rivals worry would be even better than any engine in the sport right now. NASCAR's engine of the future was to have debuted at California in February 2007. Now it has been pushed back to 2009 or 2010. Add to that, word that NASCAR is apparently working with Honda on an engine development operation for the NASCAR Technical Institute in Mooresville [NC], and it's easy to see why the NASCAR garage here has been in such turmoil the past 48 hours. On the engine front, Ford's Jack Roush says that Toyota has the best engine design in the sport at the moment and Dodge has the second-best. GM officials agree, which is one reason that GM has been promoting NASCAR's proposed new engine. Ford's Roush, however, says that such a new engine would be very expensive, though he has reluctantly hired engine designers for the project.(Winston Salem Journal)
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Some Good Mikey News: The National Motorsports Press Association announced that Michael and Buffy Waltrip had been named first-quarter nominees for the NMPA/Pocono Spirit Award. The Waltrips were honored for Operation Marathon, a fund-raiser that raised more than $1 million for the Victory Junction Gang Camp in Randleman. Michael Waltrip ran in the Las Vegas Marathon in conjunction with the project. Wife Buffy competed in a half marathon on the same weekend.(Gaston Gazette)
AND Victory Junction Gang Camp founders Kyle and Pattie Petty, along with NASCAR driver Michael Waltrip and his wife Buffy, dedicated the new Michael Waltrip Operation Marathon Sports Center at the 1 year birthday celebration on May 24th. The $1 million gift was made possible by the Waltrips’ Operation Marathon fundraising initiative, through the Michael and Buffy Waltrip Charitable Fund. The dedication ceremony featured the unveiling of an 18-foot tall caricature statue of Michael Waltrip.(Michael Waltrip site)
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Believe it: Biffle is true title contender
Associated Press


DOVER, Del. – Greg Biffle's surprising run to the top of Nextel Cup competition got a boost Sunday from a stunningly easy victory in a crash-filled race on the Monster Mile.

Biffle got his series-leading fourth win of the season to close within 46 points of pacesetter Jimmie Johnson. The victory in the $5.5 million MBNA 400 was Biffle's first at Dover International Speedway and the seventh of his career.

In a race slowed seven times for 33 of its 400 laps, Biffle won in part because he avoided traffic problems that resulted in hard crashes. Among those taken from the field were four-time Dover winners Jeff Gordon and Ricky Rudd, and Ken Schrader and Dave Blaney.

Biffle did crash once, but it was after the race: As crew chief Doug Richert was explaining that Biffle "drove the wheels off the thing," the winner smacked the wall hard during his burnout celebration.

Until this year, Biffle was largely overlooked among drivers for Roush Racing, which also fields cars for NASCAR great and four-time Dover winner Mark Martin, series champion Kurt Busch, former champion Matt Kenseth and exciting youngster Carl Edwards.

But Biffle, 20th and 17th in the final standings in his two years on the circuit, leads them all this season.

Biffle said the Roush organization's tightknit approach is behind its success. He said his car wasn't so good leading up to the race until Kenseth's team prepared it with a new shock package.

"That's what teamwork is all about," he said.

He did make one decision on his own – to take four tires on his final pit stop under green while most of the others were saving time by taking two.

"I said, 'I want four tires, and I don't care what happens,'" he explained. "I was prepared to put four on and race for the win."

Biffle started second because rain prevented qualifying Friday, forcing the field to be set by car-owner points. He bided his time over the first half of the race, then passed Elliott Sadler for the lead on lap 241.

After that, the field became strung out, allowing Biffle an open track with few traffic problems. He wound up leading a race-high 150 laps on the high-banked concrete oval.

It was the fourth straight finish for Biffle in the top six, including a victory last month at Darlington.

Roush had another magnificent day, taking four of the top nine spots in the field of 43. It was the team's sixth victory in 13 races this season; the only real competition for Roush this year has been Hendrick Motorsports, which has five wins between Gordon and Johnson.

Biffle's Ford beat the Chevrolet of Kyle Busch by 4.281 seconds. Martin was third, followed by Johnson in a Chevy and Rusty Wallace's Dodge.

The winner averaged 122.626 mph. There were nine lead changes among five drivers.

Brian Vickers, Kenseth, Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch and Elliott Sadler completed the top 10.

Gordon was spun out early in the race by Tony Stewart, and Rudd crashed in the wake of their contact. Blaney hit the inside wall on the backstretch and was fortunate not to be injured when he got sideways and a was clobbered by trailing Schrader on the 137th lap.

The race marked the halfway point toward the 26-race cut, after which only the top 10 drivers or those within 400 points of the leader will contest the championship over the final 10 events.
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Biffle wins at Dover for series-best fourth victory
The Associated Press
 

DOVER, Del. -- Greg Biffle's surprising run to the top of Nextel Cup competition got a boost Sunday from a stunningly easy victory in a crash-filled race on The Monster Mile.

Biffle got his series-leading fourth win of the season to close within 46 points of pacesetter Jimmie Johnson. The victory in the $5.5 million MBNA RacePoints 400 was Biffle's first at Dover International Speedway and the seventh of his career.
 
In a race slowed seven times for 33 of its 400 laps, Biffle won in part because he avoided traffic problems that resulted in hard crashes. Among those taken from the field were four-time Dover winners Jeff Gordon and Ricky Rudd, and Ken Schrader and Dave Blaney.

Biffle did crash once, but it was after the race: As crew chief Doug Richert was explaining that Biffle "drove the wheels off the thing," the winner smacked the wall hard during his burnout celebration.

Until this year, Biffle was largely overlooked among drivers for Roush Racing, which also fields cars for NASCAR great and four-time Dover winner Mark Martin; series champion Kurt Busch; former champion Matt Kenseth and exciting youngster Carl Edwards.

But Biffle, 20th and 17th in the final standings in his two years on the circuit, leads them all this season.

Biffle said the Roush organization's tightknit approach is behind its success. He said his car wasn't so good leading up to the race until Kenseth's team prepared it with a new shock package.

"That's what teamwork is all about," he said.

He did make one decision on his own -- to take four tires on his final pit stop under green while most of the others were saving time by taking two.

"I said, 'I want four tires, and I don't care what happens,"' he explained. "I was prepared to put four on and race for the win."

Biffle started second because rain prevented qualifying Friday, forcing the field to be set by car-owner points. He bided his time over the first half of the race, then passed Elliott Saddler for the lead on lap 241.

After that, the field became strung out, allowing Biffle an open track with few traffic problems. He wound up leading a race-high 150 laps on the high-banked concrete oval.

It was the fourth consecutive finish for Biffle in the top six, including a victory last month at Darlington.

Roush had another magnificent day, taking four of the top nine spots in the field of 43. It was the organization's sixth victory in 13 races this season; the only real competition for Roush this year has been Hendrick Motorsports, which has five wins between Gordon and Johnson.

Biffle's Ford beat the Chevrolet of Kyle Busch by 4.281 seconds. Martin was third, followed by Johnson in a Chevy and Rusty Wallace's Dodge.

The winner averaged 122.626 mph. There were nine lead changes among five drivers.

Brian Vickers, Kenseth, Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch and Sadler completed the top 10.

Gordon was spun out early in the race by Tony Stewart, and Rudd crashed in the wake of their contact. Blaney hit the inside wall on the backstretch and was fortunate not to be injured when he got sideways and a was clobbered by trailing Schrader on the 137th lap.

The race marked the halfway point toward the 26-race cut, after which only the top 10 drivers or those within 400 points of the leader will contest the championship over the final 10 events.
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Cross' Words: Dover
By B. Duane Cross, NASCAR.COM
 

Greg Biffle is a tweener -- he's not an old-school driver and, at 35, he isn't a Young Gun.

Mark Martin and Rusty Wallace ... well, they are as old-school as Pong, breakdancing and The Brat Pack. (Whatever happened to Judd Nelson?)
 
But those three drivers are old enough to remember a time before Rubik's Cube, Michael Flatley's "Lord of the Dance" or Valley Girl. (Better question: Where is Deborah Foreman?)

They also are three of the top seven drivers in the point standings.

During a season in which the the sport's youth movement was supposed to overwhelm the nouveau fandom, the party is being crashed by two guys who are retiring and another who is only in his third full season of Cup racing.

After 22 cautions slowed the Coca-Cola 600 to a crawl, many were quick to point to the shorter spoiler, softer tires and new gear ratio as reasons for the yellow fever sweeping the Cup series.

Sunday at Dover -- a 1-mile concrete track where the racing is much tighter than at Charlotte -- there were only seven cautions for 33 laps.

So have the rule changes leveled the playing field so that the older, seat-of-their-pants drivers have a better chance to compete with the new, seemingly computer-generated drivers?

"I haven't complained about the rear spoiler because I was one of the guys and advocates trying to get it out there, trying to get it shorter," Wallace said recently. "We're all getting accustomed to it.

"A lot of the new, young drivers aren't liking it, but they're all starting to come around now," Wallace said. "I'm hearing 'em shut up a little bit, and saying, 'Hey, it's not too bad. It's pretty good.' And a lot of those guys that hated it are starting to have some success."

Biffle, Martin and Wallace have combined for four wins (all by Biffle), 11 top-five finishes and 21 top-10s in 39 starts this year.

Sunday at Dover, Biffle showed the wares of a veteran by taking four tires on his final pit stop -- a lesson learned after opting for only two tires at Bristol when he had a chance to win before finishing ninth. This time, he turned a 1.5-second lead into a 4-plus seconds victory.

Despite the rule changes, Biffle remains defiant that the No. 16 team is merely continuing a roll that started last year -- with the taller spoiler.
 
"I wish that we could put the spoiler back on the car, and I think we [could] keep doing the same thing we're doing," he said Sunday. "I keep talking about Kansas [last year]. We cleaned their clock at Kansas. We were just murdering 'em like we did at Homestead and Texas. We had to stop with 14 [laps] to go and start 23rd because we weren't going to make it on gas. And got all the way back to second or third, catching [Joe] Nemechek and the 21 car [Ricky Rudd], just catching 'em half a second a lap.

"We were so dang fast, you know, there, Pocono, Indy, Michigan and Homestead and I think that we would've just kept going and been right where we're at today if they hadn't cut the spoiler off, I believe," Biffle added.

"But, has it hurt us? No. Has it helped us? I don't really think it's magic. It's not why we're winning all these races, I can tell you that."

Flags

• Red -- Would you believe: Jeff Burton (6) has led more laps than Dale Earnhardt Jr. (5) this year? Dale Jarrett has led only one lap. Ditto Ricky Rudd. Those drivers have combined for 86 wins -- but only 13 laps led this season. Stupefying.

• Yellow -- Tenth-place finisher Elliott Sadler led 128 of 400 laps Sunday at The Monster Mile, the most laps that he has led in a Cup race in 226 starts. His previous best was 70 laps while winning the Food City 500 at Bristol on March 25, 2001.

• Green -- Kyle Busch has four top-five finishes in his last six races: won the Truck and Busch series races and finished 25th in the Cup race at Charlotte; won the Truck race, finished 36th in the Busch race and finished second in the Cup race at Dover.
 
Quote, Unquote

"I got into the back of him. It doesn't take much of a rocket scientist to figure that out. Everybody else was doing a pretty good job of give-and-take. It's just when you get around Jeff I guess the rules are different with him. He does more taking than he does giving."
-- Tony Stewart, on his Lap 41 bump-and-run that sent Jeff Gordon into the wall

Around the Track

• Greg Biffle has scored nine top-10 finishes in 13 races this season, second only to Jimmie Johnson (10).

• Mark Martin, who finished third at Dover and moved up six spots to sixth in points, has led only 10 laps this year.

• Sixth to 10th in the point standings are separated by just 15 points: Mark Martin (1,588), Rusty Wallace (1,584), Kurt Busch (1,579), Carl Edwards (1,574), Kevin Harvick (1,573).

Up Next

Pocono Raceway

• Tony Stewart has eight top-10 finishes in 12 races at Pocono, but has finished 37th, 27th and 35th in his last three races there.

• Mark Martin leads all drivers with 18 top-fives and 25 top-10s in 36 races at Pocono. However he has never won there.

• There have been nine different winners in the last 10 races at Pocono. Only Jimmie Johnson has won twice (both in 2004).
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Gordon, Stewart trade barbs after early incident
By Ryan Smithson, NASCAR.COM
 

DOVER, Del. -- It wasn't quite the magnitude of their memorable war of words in 2000 at Watkins Glen, but Dover came close.

Jeff Gordon wound up 39th at Dover after he was tapped by Tony Stewart on Lap 41, sending Gordon into Dover's unforgiving Turn 2 wall.

Cue the accusations.

Gordon was upset that Stewart rubbed him so early in the race, but Stewart counterattacked, saying Gordon should have moved over and let him go.

"He just ran out of patience. I just think it's a little uncalled for to start something that fast," Gordon said. "I probably would have let him go once we got out there."

"He expects more patience out of everybody else, not himself," Stewart said. "I don't know what it is with him and Jimmie [Johnson] and Ryan [Newman], but it's a group of them that think the roads are named after them."

Stewart finished a lap down in 15th after he was caught speeding on the final pit stop. It was the first time Stewart had ever finished worse than 11th at the Monster Mile.

Gordon, was also caught up in wrecks at Richmond and Charlotte, now has a staggering five DNFs in the first 13 races this season. His car had heavy rear-end damage, forcing a third consecutive DNF for the first time since 1993.

But Gordon knows the incident could have been avoided, and he vowed to remember the day.

"All I can say that the next time Tony's holding me up, it won't be very long for him to be out of my way," Gordon said.

"That is fine," Stewart said. "We can get into a car-crashing war. It does not matter to me."

"Jeff is always whining like that. I mean, if somebody does something to Jeff, it's always their fault, that is just Jeff Gordon."

Stewart said he sees a trend in NASCAR where drivers have to constantly battle slower cars for position, and he cited Mark Martin and Jeff Burton as the two best examples of give-and-take.

"The best thing that can happen to NASCAR is Mark Martin giving a seminar on give-and-take," Stewart said. "It didn't used to be like this. Now you have got to race them to the death to get by them."
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More of what Tony Stewart has to say
ThatsRacin.com Report


Driver Tony Stewart's post-race quotes from Dover:

What happened with the #24?

"I got into the back of him. It doesn't take much of a rocket scientist to figure that out, now does it?"

Was he in the way? Should he have moved?

"Everybody else was doing a pretty good job of give-and-take. It's just when you get around Jeff (Gordon) I guess the rules are different with him. He does more taking than he does giving. But the intention wasn't to knock him up out of the way. I just wanted to get behind him close enough that he knew I was there to say, 'Hey, you know, let us go and if you're faster we'll let you go.' And we've always done that with him. I don't know why it is with him and Jimmie (Johnson) and Ryan (Newman), but it's a group of them that think that the roads are named after them - one way."

Jeff said the next time your in the way you'll get the same thing.

"That's fine. Jeff's always whining like that. If somebody does something to Jeff it's always their fault. That's just Jeff Gordon. That's the way he's been ever since he's been down here. So, that's fine. We can get into a car crash. It really doesn't matter to me."

Are all of these incidents happening week to week with various people because it's so tight and competitive on the race track?

"No, it's happening week to week because people are forgetting how to… you know they were talking about it today on the pre-race show about people being respectful. I remember when I started, I mean the best thing that could happen to NASCAR racing is Mark Martin give a seminar on give-and-take, because it didn't used to be like this. Now guys… I mean, you've got to race them to the death just to get by them, and if you have to do that then that's what you're going to have to do. You're going to have to get behind guys like that and then when Jeff (Gordon) checks up like that and I run into him, then it's his fault and not ours. All he had to do was move up and let us go and 20 laps later if he was faster we would've let him go right back by."

He said that he had a slower car.

"Then why didn't he move?"

He said he expected more patience.

"Yeah, he expects more patience on everybody else, not himself. Instead of him doing it he expects us just to let him go and wait until his car gets better."

Kevin Lepage said this week just what you said, that NASCAR should call all the drivers together and just talk to them about being respectful.

"Yeah, I mean, I didn't have any problems with Mark Martin. I didn't have any problems with Jeff Burton. The only guys I had problems with were Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman. It's the same guys every week. Eventually, you finally got to stand up for yourself. You give so much that they expect you to just give it to them all the time. Well, by gosh, if I got a fast race car they're going to have to start giving me some now."
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DEI mends fences, Dale Jr. talks about Shane Hmiel


The members of Dale Earnhardt Incorporated family have seemingly kissed and made up.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and teammate Michael Waltrip got together on Lap 246 at Lowe's Motor Speedway last week, ruining both cars and triggering a four-car pileup and an angry response from the Waltrip camp.

On Monday, Earnhardt Jr. apologized to Waltrip's crew at DEI.

Richie Gilmore, Director of Motorsports for DEI, said Saturday that he wanted Earnhardt Jr. and Waltrip to talk first, and that's what happened on Monday.

"We wanted the drivers to talk amongst themselves first," Gilmore said. "That was the most important thing that Teresa wanted to handle was talk about what happened and get past it."

"Junior apologized to Michael on Monday,” Gilmore said while describing the team meetings held to work through the tension in the air at the shop, ” First it was the managers. And then it was the teams after that, then drivers. You know, Michael has his show on Monday morning. And, so we did it with the manager, then the crew and then the drivers.

The biggest thing, we didn't want the drivers involved. We wanted the drivers to talk amongst themselves first. That was the most important thing that we wanted to handle-was them two had talked first and get it. Talk about what happened, and get past. Like I said, Junior came in and first thing he did was went to the #15 shop and apologized to them guys and then he went down to his team, the #8 shop.”

Gilmore also said and indicated that Dale Jr. seem to agree, that the wreck was caused -- in part -- because Earnhardt Jr.'s Chevrolet was so fast.

Gilmore said Earnhardt misjudged his closing rate when his No. 8 Chevrolet, turning laps faster than the leader, nailed the rear of Waltrip's No. 15 on the frontstretch. Both DEI cars were running in the top 10, which Gilmore credited to better teamwork and sharing of information.

"We had the first team meetings after every practice in the history of DEI, and the chemistry of the teams worked really well," he said. "I think [Earnhardt] was excited [because] that car hasn't run in contention to win for while. That was probably the best that car's been all year."

Steve Hmiel, Earnhardt's interim crew chief, said the focus has shifted to today's MBNA RacePoints 400. Earnhardt will start 15th, while Waltrip starts one row behind in 18th.

"Drivers have their own little club, and they handle things the way they handle it," Hmiel said. "The rest of us kind of stand back and watch."

"Those guys have talked a lot and everything is fine. It was just one of those racing incidents. It's not a deal breaker for sure. We hope it never happens again."

For his part Junior wouldn’t comment on last week’s incident and the subsequent aftermath, but he did talk about his close friend for years, Shane Hmiel

NASCAR suspended Hmiel indefinitely on Friday after he failed his second drug test in less than two years. Hmiel is the son of Steve Hmiel, and many expected the younger Hmiel to eventually wind up with DEI.

"I know that is a mistake you hate to see someone make twice, you know, he can still turn his life around," said Earnhardt Jr.

"I am just thinking about him, this weekend, I know he is probably down. But you know, that is a tough one."

Earnhardt Jr. said he would continue to support Hmiel's career.

"Whatever I can do to help him," Earnhardt Jr. said. "It's disappointing, but I won't turn my back on my friend. I'll help him however he needs to be helped."
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In Nascar Numerology, No. 3 Means Earnhardt
By VIV BERNSTEIN


There is an old joke about how children in the South are taught to count: one, two, Earnhardt, four, five and so on.

No need to say three.

Dale Earnhardt won six of his seven titles while driving the No. 3 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, immortalizing his number in the hearts of devoted fans. Although Earnhardt was killed in a crash on the final lap of the Daytona 500 in 2001, his presence is still felt at speedways throughout the Nextel Cup circuit.

The No. 3 Chevy driven by Dale Earnhardt when he died in a crash at Daytona in 2001 seems to be everywhere but on Nascar tracks.

"It's sacred," said Scott Hunt of Centerville, Iowa, who flew to Concord, N.C., to watch the Coca-Cola 600 last Sunday. Hunt stopped at the Earnhardt merchandise trailer outside Lowe's Motor Speedway before the race and bought two No. 3 seat cushions because, he said, "I've got everything else."

But what is sacred to Hunt and many fans is not sacred to Nascar, which owns all numbers and assigns them to teams each year for a fee. Nascar does not retire numbers.

"We just haven't," Brian France, chairman and chief executive of Nascar, said earlier this season. "I can't tell you there's a technical answer. It's just not something that we've historically done."

It is one of the few traditions Nascar has followed. There have been no exceptions, not even when Richard Petty, known as the King, retired after 1992. Petty won 7 titles and 200 races - more victories than any other driver - in his five-decade career. He helped make the sport what it is today.

But each season, Petty still sends a $2,000 check to Nascar for an owner's license. He has to be assigned the No. 43 because teams keep their numbers each year as long as they continue to run them. Since Petty's retirement, Wally Dallenbach Jr., John Andretti, Bobby Hamilton, Christian Fittipaldi and now Jeff Green have raced in the No. 43 car.

Unlike Petty, who said he profited most by keeping the number on the racetrack, Childress has withheld the No. 3 from competition in the Cup series since Earnhardt's death. Childress said he still paid Nascar each year for the owner's license and held the rights to the No. 3 design that was on the Earnhardt racecar.

So what will become of the No. 3? Will it race again? Should it?

Some say yes, some no.

The most intriguing answer came recently from Childress, "Never say never."

The No. 3 was famous long before it was associated with Dale Earnhardt. Over the decades, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Junior Johnson, and Buck and Buddy Baker drove the No. 3, according to the Web site racing-reference.com.

When the number was rarely used in the early 1970's, Childress, then an independent driving No. 96, asked Nascar for No. 3. He had no connection to the number but saw the switch as a smart move.

"I wanted a small number, a low number, that was easier to paint, easier to get on the car," he said. "That's when we were painting them on the car. So I went after No. 3."

Childress drove the No. 3 for five-plus seasons without a victory before handing the ride to Earnhardt in the middle of 1981. That relationship lasted 11 races; Ricky Rudd drove the No. 3 in 1982 and 1983. The next year, Earnhardt returned to Richard Childress Racing and the No. 3 for good.

Earnhardt won 67 races and 6 Cup titles in the ensuing 17 years, building his reputation as the Intimidator with an aggressive style and menacing black racecar. A North Carolina native, he endeared himself to Southern racing fans while helping to build the sport nationally.

"Dale made that stylized 3 what it is today," Childress said.

The number became infamous on Feb. 18, 2001, when Earnhardt crashed into the outside wall at Daytona International Speedway and was killed on the final lap of the Daytona 500.

Kevin Harvick, an up-and-coming driver in the Busch Series that year, was quickly moved to Cup competition to take over the G.M. Goodwrench racecar. But Childress asked Nascar for the No. 29.

No one was going to drive the No. 3.

Earnhardt is still a top seller for Action Performance Companies, which handles merchandise sales for many of the drivers in the Nextel Cup. Childress said that he and Earnhardt's widow, Teresa, who owns the rights to Earnhardt's likeness, had an agreement to share profits of items that have both the likeness and the number.

Earnhardt merchandise is 10th in sales this year, down from sixth last year.

"There's been some legal battles on this insurance issue that Richard Childress is now going through," Fred Wagenhals, president, chairman and chief executive of Action Performance, said in a telephone interview Wednesday. "And I think once that's resolved, Teresa and Richard, if they get back together and start putting the 3 out there with Dale's name on it, I think you'll see our sales increase."

Richard Childress Racing has sued United of Omaha on behalf of Teresa Earnhardt over a $3.7 million life insurance policy it refused to pay her. The case is being heard in Lexington, N.C.

"We just haven't been getting as much stuff through the approval process that we need to," Wagenhals said. "I still think Dale, he's an icon like a James Dean and an Elvis Presley. I think he can go on forever if everybody works together."

And if they do not? Childress can build a new legacy with No. 3 by putting another driver in the racecar. But he knows that would be a hard sell not only in the Cup garage, but in the stands as well.

"I don't think it should be run out there," said the four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon, Earnhardt's nemesis in his later years. "I think they should retire it, honestly. I think Nascar and Richard Childress should come up with a way to retire that and be the only number ever retired."

That would not sit well with Kyle Petty. He said it would not be right to snub his father, Richard, or to retire both numbers at this point.

"You didn't do it to the 43, so you can't go back and do it to the 3, " he said recently. "They missed an opportunity. So once you missed that opportunity to retire a seven-time champion, then the next seven-time champion, he should get the same play that Richard Petty got."

Meanwhile, the idea of another driver for the No. 3 is infuriating to some fans.

"Nobody else would ever live up to his standards," said Charles Trimble of Portsmouth, Va., who said he was at Daytona the day Earnhardt died.

For some, it depends on the driver.

"Well, there's probably only one person that could get in it," said Scott Hunt, the fan from Iowa, "and that'd be his boy."

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is without question the most popular driver on the Nextel Cup circuit. He won that title through an Internet poll the last two years, leads the voting this year and tops all drivers with an eight-figure yearly take on merchandise bearing his red No. 8 Chevrolet.

He has a contract to drive for Dale Earnhardt Inc., the company founded by his father and now run by Teresa Earnhardt. Even Childress said it would be hard to imagine Earnhardt Jr. driving for another team.

"He's put so much into D.E.I.," Childress said. "He's built his own following and legacy with the 8."

But the tension at Dale Earnhardt Inc. is palpable these days. Earnhardt, who opened the season poorly, was critical of the organization two months ago for falling behind top competitors like Hendrick Motorsports and Roush Racing.

Now Earnhardt is working on his third crew chief in seven months and is slipping out of the hunt for the Nextel Cup. He is 15th in the points standings after finishing 33rd in the Coca-Cola 600. He angered some at Dale Earnhardt Inc. by bumping his teammate Michael Waltrip during the race. Both were running in the top 10 at the time and crashed.

"I don't know what his problem is with Michael," Tony Eury Sr., director of competition for Dale Earnhardt Inc., told reporters after the wreck. "D.E.I. has enough problems. We don't need that."

That controversy came days after Earnhardt fired Pete Rondeau, who replaced Eury as crew chief after last season, and installed the technical director Steve Hmiel as crew chief.

The sudden decline of the program after Earnhardt finished in the top five each of the last two seasons has led to speculation that he will leave the team and join Childress. Earnhardt's contract with D.E.I. expires after the 2007 season.

The combination of Earnhardt and the No. 3 in a Cup race could be priceless.

"If Dale Jr. ever got in a black No. 3 car, I don't think you'd have a bank big enough to hold all the money," Wagenhals said.

But Kyle Petty said it would be a mistake for Earnhardt to drive the No. 3. Petty has driven No. 44 and now No. 45 for Petty Enterprises, not the No. 43 made famous by his father.

"I think he would be the one guy who could do it," Kyle Petty said of Earnhardt. "But he would be the one guy who should never do it. Because he is not Dale Earnhardt. He is Dale Earnhardt Jr. So to put himself in that position would be more pressure, more fingers pointed, more questions asked, more of everything.

"I think it's like watching great actors come along like Michael Douglas and Kirk Douglas. Michael Douglas should never play Spartacus. You don't want the comparison. You forge your own niche and you're just as great an actor or you're just as great a driver, but you just did it different."

Earnhardt declined several interview requests and did not respond to questions sent by e-mail through his publicist.

As for Childress, he has seen the possibilities. At Daytona in 2002, Earnhardt Jr. won a Busch Series race driving the No. 3 for the first time. Childress called the moment "very special."

And he left the door open to running the No. 3 someday with Earnhardt Jr. or his half-brother Kerry Earnhardt.

"I don't ever have any intentions of putting it back on the racetrack, no," Childress said. "But who knows?"
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that's racin' (phrase): Expresses frustration or emotion. 1. When a small part costing just a few dollars fails and stops a $150,000 race car, that's racin'. 2. When you race a competitor for 500 miles and lose to him by just a few feet, that's racin'. 3. When a hot dog wrapper blows out of the stands, gets caught across the air vent on the front of your car and causes your engine to overheat, that's racin'.
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Well, that's all for today.  Until the next time, I remain,
Your Momma
"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