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Today In Nascar History
August 3, 1980:
Mercury collects its 94th – and final, to date – Winston Cup victory when Neil Bonnett wins at Talladega. Bonnett earned Mercury's 93rd all-time victory in the previous race two weeks earlier at Pocono.
Mistie Bibbee
Special thanks to Brian Boyer for all of his help co-authoring the Top Ten this week!
10. Tony Stewart: By climbing the Pagoda.
9. Matt Kenseth: By sending McMurray some Wisconsin cheese to go with McMurray’s Wine.
8. Elliott Sadler: By shoving peanut M&M’s up his nose to see if he can shoot them out to the fans in the stands.
7. Michael Waltrip: By dedicating his Brickyard 400 win to NAPA, Chevy, DEI, Nabisco, Domino’s, Best Western…
6. Mark Martin: By saying he’s going to come back and race the “I Won the 2005 Brickyard 400 Tour” in 2006.
5. Carl Edwards: By becoming the first driver to get a concussion from the bricks after he misjudged his backflip.
4. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: By getting called into the NASCAR Trailer for entering pit road at 143 mph.
3. Jason Leffler: By Fed Ex’ing himself a step stool so he could reach the mic for the interview.
2. Dale Jarrett: By getting out of Elliott Sadler’s car.
1. Rusty Wallace: By starting to call Ryan Newman to rub it in, until he realizes that he doesn’t get free Nextel to Alltel minutes.
"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
"You know what, that was a pretty good deal, the whole thing. During the race, I didn't even think about it. It wouldn't have mattered if it was Jeff Gordon or Michael Schumacher, I was going to drive as hard as I could."
- Reed Sorenson on winning the Wallace Family Tribute 250
from Paula
Let the fans who have lived and died NASCAR for all their lives represent NASCAR.
I think that there should be a drawing at every track 2 hours before the race. And the seat number that is drawn would have to go to the main office and the winner would get to wave the green flag. They also should have a drawing for one lucky fan to give the starting command. JMO
Fusion tests at Atlanta: Ford Racing NASCAR Nextel Cup driver Dale Jarrett test drove the new 2006 Ford Fusion for the first time today in the official on-track NASCAR approval phase for the new car. The test took place Tuesday at Atlanta Motor Speedway in front of NASCAR officials. Jarrett took to the AMS track at approximately 1:15 p.m. this afternoon, and completed a series of approval runs for NASCAR. The Wood Brothers Racing team prepped and ran the car for Jarrett, who drives for Robert Yates Racing. The new Fusion race car was scheduled to go to the Lockheed wind tunnel later in the day in Marietta, Ga., for its final NASCAR approval stage. #88-Dale Jarrett said: "I think things went really well. I was pleased with the way the new Ford Fusion was as far as the balance entering and exiting the corner. It has a very nice look to it and performed well. We were able to achieve the speed that we were looking for, and hold on to the speed we needed in a 10-lap run. I was very comfortable in the car."(Ford Racing)
By ERICA BESHEARS
The Charlotte Observer
The Cornelius (N.C.) Board of Commissioners approved zoning Monday night for a race shop/ entertainment center headed by NASCAR Nextel Cup driver Michael Waltrip.
Waltrip appeared at Monday's meeting to push his vision for "Waltrip Racing World" at the former Movies at the Lake off Interstate 77 Exit 28.
After about three hours of public hearing and debate, the board granted the conditional-use zoning necessary for him to begin work.
Nearby neighbors complained that a motorcoach park planned as part of the complex would hurt their property values. Waltrip Racing World representatives agreed to a long list of conditions in order to get approval.
Paul Tracy will test an ARCA stock car today at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord,N.C.
Tracy's test today will be in a car prepared by Andy Hillenburg, who has been one of the top driving instructor's in North America in guiding youngsters to stock car racing.
The next step for Tracy will be to do another test -- this time in the NASCAR Nextel Cup No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet at Michigan International Speedway on the day after Sunday's Brickyard 400.
If that goes well, Tracy will attempt to qualify the car for the GFS Marketplace 400 Aug. 21 at MIS.
"Paul and I have talked about an opportunity like this for the past couple years, and it has finally come together for Michigan...," said Childress. "This will be Paul's first shot in a stock car, but he obviously has a great deal of talent and knows how to win races and championships. We'll take a look at how things go after the test and, if all goes according to plan, get him ready for the Cup race."
"There are things I want to try in my career and there is a window of opportunity that gets smaller and smaller the older you get," Tracy said. "There's an opportunity in the future, maybe for me in NASCAR, but I've got to go and try it first and see if that is what I want to do."
Tracy's Champ Car contract with Forsythe Championship Racing is up at the end of this season and the 36-year-old said earlier this season that one of the options he was looking at was to try his hand at the world's top stock car racing series.
Eddie Wood, co-owner of the Wood Brothers team, says that the team is looking to expand to a two-car team.
"We're exploring that right now, but I don't see it happening for '06,'' Wood said in a statement from the team. "We're more concerned for the 21 car for '06 right now. But maybe by '07 we'll have a couple.
"I wouldn't want more than two. Two, I think, is enough to do what you want to do as far as having somebody to compare off of. When it gets down to it, each car goes to the race track, teammates or not.
"You hear a lot about teammates working together and you hear a lot about teammates not working together. It's all through the garage -- both sides of it. But, we would be looking in the next couple of years doing that.''
The Wood Brothers have primarily been a single-car team for more than 30 years. Ricky Rudd is the team's current driver. Rudd's three-year contract expires after this season and he's said he planned to decide if he wants to continue racing by late summer.
NASCAR will hold a site visit to Daytona Beach on Tuesday to review the city's proposal to be the home of the planned NASCAR Hall of Fame.
The day will be kicked off by a welcome rally at 9:30 a.m. in front of motor-sports attraction Daytona USA, adjacent to the speedway.
Other cities bidding for the hall are Atlanta; Charlotte, N.C.; Kansas City, Kan.; and Richmond, Va.
The list is expected to be trimmed to two or three finalists in September.
The final decision is expected to be made no later than December, NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp said.
Mark Martin says he's agreed to car owner Jack Roush's request for one more year of service.
After Roush signed Jamie McMurray to drive his No. 6 Ford, news came to light that McMurray is still contractually bound through 2006 to Chip Ganassi, his current car owner and Ganassi continues to indicate he will not release McMurray from his contract.
While at Batesville Speedway this weekend, Martin said he hoped Ganassi and Roush could reach a compromise. If they can't, he said he would return.
"It's the best thing for Roush Racing and for the team that has given me everything that they can give," Martin said. "I feel an enormous amount of loyalty. The 6 car brand in Cup racing means something and it means something because of the success that I had in that car with Jack Roush standing next to me. They want me to drive it if Jamie doesn't, and I will."
Martin announced after the 2004 season that this would be his final year in Nextel Cup racing. Earlier this year, he said he would race for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series title in 2006. The truck team remains his chief priority.
"My focus is still getting my truck team together and getting those things situated," he said. "That's what I can count on and what I plan to be doing. I will race the truck some even if I do the Cup car....If Jamie comes available prior to the Daytona 500, then I'm out of the way."
BY ALLEN GREGORY
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER
BRISTOL, Tenn. - Wayne Estes got a dose of good news late Tuesday afternoon. The Bristol Motor Speedway vice president learned that BMS has reached yet another milestone and audience. This time, the nation’s oldest sports publication is the outlet.
The Sporting News dubbed Bristol, Tennessee as the "2005 Best Sports City" for NASCAR. Estes eagerly looked up the article on the Internet before leaving the office.
"Attention like this always make us happy, and it takes everybody in the Bristol area to make it happen," Estes said. "The way folks in the Bristol area roll out the red carpet for our NASCAR visitors each year is central to our success."
Over the past decade, BMS has been listed as a fan favorite in various national polls and publications. Last month, Sports Illustrated featured the August night race at Bristol as one of the "must-see" sporting events of the summer.
"It’s encouraging to see mainstream publications pay more attention to Bristol and NASCAR," Estes said. "Not to sound cocky, but the folks at Sporting News know what they are talking about because they picked the right city.
"Sports Illustrated and Sporting News, that’s a big one-two punch in the same summer. The exposure is gratifying for us and for Bristol residents."
A sellout crowd of more than 160,000 is expected for the Aug. 27 Sharpie 500 Nextel Cup race at BMS.
Editors of the St. Louis-based Sporting News described Bristol as a "quaint mountain town full of earnest smiling, enthusiastic waving and rusty Camaros."
According to Matt Crossman of the Sporting News, the choice of the "Best Sports City" for NASCAR was not even close.
"The consensus is so strong that there’s no point in arguing, equivocating, hemming or hawing: Bristol Motorspeedway is the best place to watch a Nextel Cup race," Crossman said. "Drivers, fans, owners, crew guys - everybody agrees."
Those type of words are sweet music for a public relations guru like Estes.
"It tells us that we’re doing things right," Estes said.
The entire list of "Best Sport Cities" is revealed in the Aug. 12 issue of the Sporting News, which hits newsstands today.
We wonder ...
Fans get their chance to wonder about just about anything
With no Nextel Cup Series race to ponder about this week, we thought we'd turn things over to the fans this week. What follows is the best of the fan e-mails we've received since this column began a few months ago:
... if Jeff Gordon is cursed, which it would certainly appear he is, what would break it.
-- Sarah Harbinson, Parts Unknown
An excellent question. We've pondered this ourselves. Would it be a win at Chicagoland? What about another, more successful go at "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" where he actually gets the name of the field right.
The real question here is why would Jeff Gordon's people get him into a situation like this? It's clear that the guy knows nothing about baseball. What's more, he admitted days before that he didn't know the words to the song. So why put him in front of arguably the most rabid baseball fans in America and hope he can fake it?
... am I alone in thinking that NBC/TNT's Dave Burns look s a great deal like Mark Wahlberg?
-- Janis Smallwood, Dallas, Ga.
We love you, Janis. However, after careful consideration, we've determined that you are alone.
... why points weren't taken away from Tony Stewart for saying "damn fat" after he won at Daytona.
-- Several fans from across America
We actually have the answer to this one. The difference lies in the word. "Damn" is an acceptable word in the eyes (or ears) of the FCC. Other words used by other drivers that have resulted in fines or loss of points are not acceptable. Think about it. How many times did you hear Archie Bunker or George Jefferson say "hell" or "damn" in 70s television?
... are some of the most popular drivers doing so much off the track that it is affecting their performance on the track?
-- Edward Demeritt, Parts Unknown
Certainly a valid point. However, it's not just the most popular drivers that have backbreaking schedules these days. Look at any driver in the top 10, or the top 30 for that matter and you can bet that their time is not their own. Everyone has to deal with it. Therefore, they all have to know how.
... why there hasn't been a boxed DVD set for season one of NASCAR Drivers: 360 out yet.
-- Chantrel, Parts Unknown
We've all been in video stores lately and seen the TV box sets. If you can get the first season of Misfits of Science on DVD, certainly there's money to be made with 360. What's the holdup?
... where the heck Ward Burton is.
-- Every other fan that writes us an e-mail
We couldn't agree more. He's a Daytona 500 winner, a good guy and one of the best interviews in the sport. Oh, he can wheel it, too. Don't believe it? Read our boy Elliott Gordon's column from a couple of weeks ago.
... why NASCAR doesn't have the drivers vote in the extra driver in the Nextel All-Star Challenge.
--Kristi Bockting, Parts Unknown
Another solid idea. However, I think the answer we would get here is that the All-Star Challenge is a race for the fans. An interesting question is who would the drivers have voted into last year's race?
... why Jimmie Johnson doesn't sweat.
-- Kate Sheffield, Parts Unknown
When we first got this e-mail, we kind of laughed and shrugged it off. However, we looked at our photo archive and Kate has a point. Not one bead.
By AL LEVINE
Cox News Service
ATLANTA - Everything seemed to be going quite normally as Elliott Sadler drove the old No. 21 Ford for the Wood Brothers team. And then Sadler stopped the crew in its tracks.
"I've got potatoes coming out of the back end," Sadler reported.
Hold the headphones, this could be groundbreaking. How did the spuds get past the NASCAR inspectors? Is his car really dropping potatoes around the track, and are they baked or french fried?
Actually, the incident, a few years back, was the driver's unique way of describing what it felt like in the car, a Sadleresque spin on the typical conditions - loose or tight.
"Potatoes? What are you talking about?" team owner Len Wood said. "Elliott said, 'This thing's plowin'.' The first time a crew chief hears 'potatoes,' he's wondering what the heck is he talking about, but the next time, he knows: The car is handling really bad."
It has been a tradition in stock-car racing ever since Junior Johnson strapped on the first microphone-equipped helmet in 1961 to communicate with his crew chief.
The races might be long, but the conversation coming from the car is usually short.
IN a race during Nextel CUp's spring stretch, Nextel Cup driver Tony Stewart said his car felt like he was "driving a razor blade."
The words sent NASCAR scholars to their stock-car thesauruses. Did Stewart mean the car felt sharp and smooth or was it on a very thin edge?
Only his crew chief knows for sure. But given that Stewart was laboring to a 17th-place finish in the Auto Club 500 at California Speedway, Greg Zipadelli knew that Stewart wasn't being complimentary. The No. 20 Chevrolet was a tough piece to handle all afternoon.
Zipadelli has thrown similar riddles at Stewart.
After making their final pit stop on Lap 70 at Watkins Glen's road course, with Stewart in 30th place, Zipadelli radioed to his driver, "Don't worry about gougin' to get your way to the front."
Razor blade? Gougin'? These are new entries in NASCAR's glossary.
NASCAR defines a loose race car as: "when the rear tires of the car have trouble sticking in the corners. This causes the car to 'fishtail' as the rear end swings outward while turning in the corners."
A car is said to be tight, according to NASCAR, "if the front wheels lose traction before the rear wheels do. It causes the stock car to have trouble steering sharply and smoothly through the turns as the front end pushes toward the wall."
But in the sport's evolving dictionary, loose is now measured in various degrees. There's loose and then there's way loose (as in "you guys expect me to drive this thing?); way, way loose ("does this car have a steering wheel?") and whoa loose ("I'll just hang on until the next pit stop.")
As Stewart was struggling with another 17th-place car a few weeks ago at Atlanta Motor Speedway, he said "I'm just plowing the fence down entry to center," which isn't as productive as it sounds.
"Our entry through the center (of the corner) is tight, and the longer we go, the more our exit (off the corner) frees up," Stewart explained. "We need to undo whatever changes we've made. It's just worse now."
At times, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has described his No. 8 Chevrolet as "very, very bouncy" and "it feels nervous." He can also articulate thrills like no one else.
At last year's Bud Shootout, as the entire field swerved to avoid safety trucks on the Daytona track during the slowdown lap, Earnhardt said into his radio: "Whoa. Is this where we do the 40-yard dash through the archery range?"
Perhaps he inherited this gift from his daddy.
Dale Earnhardt used to keep Larry McReynolds guessing. McReynolds was Earnhardt's crew chief for 45 races in 1997-'98.
"Dale would say 'the car's not down in the tracks,"' McReynolds said. "What that meant was it's sliding around. The car can't physically be down in the track, as we well know, the track's an asphalt surface. It took me a little bit to figure out, but what he meant was the car's not down in there biting, not gripping."
McReynolds, an analyst on Fox, said it sometimes takes years for drivers and crew chiefs to not only get on the same page but quote from the same book.
"Over time you develop your language with each other," McReynolds said. "Sometimes you've heard that same language with another driver, sometimes it's a new language that's been created."
There are phrases that are recycled, however, like, "this thing drives like a dump truck."
"I think every driver I've ever worked with has used that," McReynolds said. "That's just to overemphasize how bad the thing will not turn."
And "this car won't turn in a 40-acre field."
"Means the same as dump truck," McReynolds.
There's also "on a rail." That's a good thing.
But driving a razor blade, unable to turn in a 40-acre field, with potatoes coming out the back end? Now, that's one of them racin' deals.
By Jeff Gluck, Rocky Mount Telegram
The steroid business in baseball picked up again this week, with most fans asking the obvious question: Why won't the sport's leaders do anything?
The year-long NHL lockout finally ended last month, but the lost season indicated that both owners and players turned a blind eye to the fans' feelings.
Look at the college bowl system. Millions of fans scream about how college football should have a national playoff. But no one listens.
In NASCAR, people do listen. They're always listening. And as a result, the sport is in a state of constant change.
Some would argue that change means forgetting the traditional, core group of fans, a sign that the sport is turning its back on the people that made it popular in the first place.
But during a time when fans in other sports are fed up with their organizations, NASCAR's willingness to change — often accompanied by the words "effective immediately" — is something motorsports enthusiasts should embrace.
NASCAR's changes work because they're reactionary. The sport's executives see the problem, realize they should do something and, most of the time, act on their thoughts.
Look at the green-white-checkered rule: Jeff Gordon won the Talladega race under caution on April 25 of last year. It then took just 50 days for the sport to change the rules.
If this were baseball, we might not have seen a green-white-checkered until 2015.
Similar changes have also occurred swiftly. Matt Kenseth wins the Cup title in a massive blowout; the points system is altered by the beginning of the next season. Dale Jarrett is a sitting duck at New Hampshire while cars race back to the finish line under caution; NASCAR makes a new rule that freezes the field a few months later.
It's been interesting to listen to all the gripes about baseball this week. The commissioner gave cameraman attacker Kenny Rogers a 20-game suspension for his actions. Then Rafael Palmeiro tests positive for steroids, and the maximum for a first offense is just 10 days.
Fans just can't figure that out. In NASCAR, Palmeiro's punishment would have been simple: Bye bye (see Shane Hmiel if you don't believe it).
Then there's hockey. NASCAR drivers at all levels are clearly schooled in the business of racing, which is necessary considering that racing teams must constantly woo sponsors for income.
Hockey players apparently don't have the same knowledge. During the lockout, star Jeremy Roenick actually insulted fans, saying "we don't want you" to fans who dare call the players greedy.
Does NASCAR get it? Does NASCAR listen to suggestions, make smart changes and always look out for the best interests of the sport?
Of course. This isn't the NHL.
“(The hockey lockout) is like walking out on your wife for a week," Craftsman Truck Series driver Brandon Whitt said. "You can't walk back in the door, give her a wave, tell her you missed her and expect her to start cooking dinner. You break somebody's heart and you don't know if you will ever win it back. But you had better start quick and work hard to do it.”
NASCAR may lighten your wallet. But it probably won't ever break your heart.
Your
Momma
Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, wine in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"
"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
This list is authored by:
Sandra Monacelli
221 W. 57th Street 18B
Loveland, CO 80538
970/663-6967
Today In Nascar History
August 3, 1980:
Mercury collects its 94th – and final, to date – Winston Cup victory when Neil Bonnett wins at Talladega. Bonnett earned Mercury's 93rd all-time victory in the previous race two weeks earlier at Pocono.
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Top Ten Ways Drivers Would Celebrate Winning at the Brickyard Mistie Bibbee
Special thanks to Brian Boyer for all of his help co-authoring the Top Ten this week!
10. Tony Stewart: By climbing the Pagoda.
9. Matt Kenseth: By sending McMurray some Wisconsin cheese to go with McMurray’s Wine.
8. Elliott Sadler: By shoving peanut M&M’s up his nose to see if he can shoot them out to the fans in the stands.
7. Michael Waltrip: By dedicating his Brickyard 400 win to NAPA, Chevy, DEI, Nabisco, Domino’s, Best Western…
6. Mark Martin: By saying he’s going to come back and race the “I Won the 2005 Brickyard 400 Tour” in 2006.
5. Carl Edwards: By becoming the first driver to get a concussion from the bricks after he misjudged his backflip.
4. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: By getting called into the NASCAR Trailer for entering pit road at 143 mph.
3. Jason Leffler: By Fed Ex’ing himself a step stool so he could reach the mic for the interview.
2. Dale Jarrett: By getting out of Elliott Sadler’s car.
1. Rusty Wallace: By starting to call Ryan Newman to rub it in, until he realizes that he doesn’t get free Nextel to Alltel minutes.
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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
"You know what, that was a pretty good deal, the whole thing. During the race, I didn't even think about it. It wouldn't have mattered if it was Jeff Gordon or Michael Schumacher, I was going to drive as hard as I could."
- Reed Sorenson on winning the Wallace Family Tribute 250
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Comments from the Peanut Galleryfrom Paula
Let the fans who have lived and died NASCAR for all their lives represent NASCAR.
I think that there should be a drawing at every track 2 hours before the race. And the seat number that is drawn would have to go to the main office and the winner would get to wave the green flag. They also should have a drawing for one lucky fan to give the starting command. JMO
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Bits and PiecesFusion tests at Atlanta: Ford Racing NASCAR Nextel Cup driver Dale Jarrett test drove the new 2006 Ford Fusion for the first time today in the official on-track NASCAR approval phase for the new car. The test took place Tuesday at Atlanta Motor Speedway in front of NASCAR officials. Jarrett took to the AMS track at approximately 1:15 p.m. this afternoon, and completed a series of approval runs for NASCAR. The Wood Brothers Racing team prepped and ran the car for Jarrett, who drives for Robert Yates Racing. The new Fusion race car was scheduled to go to the Lockheed wind tunnel later in the day in Marietta, Ga., for its final NASCAR approval stage. #88-Dale Jarrett said: "I think things went really well. I was pleased with the way the new Ford Fusion was as far as the balance entering and exiting the corner. It has a very nice look to it and performed well. We were able to achieve the speed that we were looking for, and hold on to the speed we needed in a 10-lap run. I was very comfortable in the car."(Ford Racing)
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NASCAR Nextel Cup Cars At Atlanta Motor Speedway: NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series cars took to the track today for the first time since a tornado hit Atlanta Motor Speedway on July 6. In a closed test session, NASCAR officials took data from a Chevrolet Monte Carlo driven by Bobby Labonte in the morning, and in the afternoon session, Dale Jarrett was behind the wheel in the new Ford Fusion. Official speeds were not released from the test session. “The track is absolutely no different than it was before the tornado,” said Labonte. “From a competitors view, there is nothing that I saw today that would keep us from coming here in October.” Great seats are still available for the Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 race weekend. Tickets can be obtained by calling (770) 946-4211 or online at atlantamotorspeedway.com. - Atlanta Motor Speedway PR ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Triple Duty for Edwards: Carl Edwards, driver of the #99 Office Depot [AAA this week] Ford, will have a busy week leading up to Sunday’s Brickyard 400. After competing in a Ken Schrader exhibition race during the middle of the week in Pevely, Mo., Edwards will race in the USAC Silver Crown, NASCAR Busch Series and NASCAR Nextel Cup Series races in Indianapolis.(Ford Racing)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NASCAR and the Moon: Experience a journey to the Moon, Mars and beyond when NASA brings its new interactive exhibit -- the Vision for Space Exploration Trailer -- to the NASCAR Allstate 400 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indiana, Aug. 5-7. The Vision for Space Exploration Trailer is intended to put visitors' imaginations on the fast track to the farthest reaches of the Solar System, and inspire space enthusiasts as they embark on a simulated journey into space. Housed in a 53-foot-long tractor and trailer rig, the exhibit is designed to share with visitors NASA's exploration goal, which is to return to the Moon and travel to Mars and beyond. The Vision for Space Exploration Trailer will be located in the Brickyard Plaza and open to the public during NASCAR hours, Aug. 5 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Aug. 6-7, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. The exhibit is handicapped accessible.(NASA Site)
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New Chevy to be announced Thursday: on Thursday, August 4th, GM Racing will unveil the 2006 Monte Carlo NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race car at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Waltrip entertainment center gets zoning OKBy ERICA BESHEARS
The Charlotte Observer
The Cornelius (N.C.) Board of Commissioners approved zoning Monday night for a race shop/ entertainment center headed by NASCAR Nextel Cup driver Michael Waltrip.
Waltrip appeared at Monday's meeting to push his vision for "Waltrip Racing World" at the former Movies at the Lake off Interstate 77 Exit 28.
After about three hours of public hearing and debate, the board granted the conditional-use zoning necessary for him to begin work.
Nearby neighbors complained that a motorcoach park planned as part of the complex would hurt their property values. Waltrip Racing World representatives agreed to a long list of conditions in order to get approval.
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Watkins Glen test looks like a race weekend
Robert Yates took one look around the crowded garage area at Watkins Glen International and came up with an idea.
"They should go ahead and sell some tickets," NASCAR team owner Yates said. "They could have a race tomorrow." After a rare week off in the 36-race Nextel Cup schedule, there were 27 haulers lining the sides of the garage area Monday. Teams were at the Glen to practice on the track ahead of the Nextel Cup and Busch series races to be held there in two weeks.
Although there's races this weekend in Indianapolis, teams want to familiarize themselves with the track at Watkins Glen, which has been altered since last summer to accommodate an IRL event in September.
Only six races remain to qualify for the 10-race Chase for the Nextel Cup championship, which will include the top 10 drivers and any others within 400 points of the leader after the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond on Sept. 10. If the season ended today, only 10 would qualify.
Robert Yates took one look around the crowded garage area at Watkins Glen International and came up with an idea.
"They should go ahead and sell some tickets," NASCAR team owner Yates said. "They could have a race tomorrow." After a rare week off in the 36-race Nextel Cup schedule, there were 27 haulers lining the sides of the garage area Monday. Teams were at the Glen to practice on the track ahead of the Nextel Cup and Busch series races to be held there in two weeks.
Although there's races this weekend in Indianapolis, teams want to familiarize themselves with the track at Watkins Glen, which has been altered since last summer to accommodate an IRL event in September.
Only six races remain to qualify for the 10-race Chase for the Nextel Cup championship, which will include the top 10 drivers and any others within 400 points of the leader after the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond on Sept. 10. If the season ended today, only 10 would qualify.
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Paul Tracy testing today at Lowe's Motor SpeedwayPaul Tracy will test an ARCA stock car today at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord,N.C.
Tracy's test today will be in a car prepared by Andy Hillenburg, who has been one of the top driving instructor's in North America in guiding youngsters to stock car racing.
The next step for Tracy will be to do another test -- this time in the NASCAR Nextel Cup No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet at Michigan International Speedway on the day after Sunday's Brickyard 400.
If that goes well, Tracy will attempt to qualify the car for the GFS Marketplace 400 Aug. 21 at MIS.
"Paul and I have talked about an opportunity like this for the past couple years, and it has finally come together for Michigan...," said Childress. "This will be Paul's first shot in a stock car, but he obviously has a great deal of talent and knows how to win races and championships. We'll take a look at how things go after the test and, if all goes according to plan, get him ready for the Cup race."
"There are things I want to try in my career and there is a window of opportunity that gets smaller and smaller the older you get," Tracy said. "There's an opportunity in the future, maybe for me in NASCAR, but I've got to go and try it first and see if that is what I want to do."
Tracy's Champ Car contract with Forsythe Championship Racing is up at the end of this season and the 36-year-old said earlier this season that one of the options he was looking at was to try his hand at the world's top stock car racing series.
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Wood Brothers looking to add carEddie Wood, co-owner of the Wood Brothers team, says that the team is looking to expand to a two-car team.
"We're exploring that right now, but I don't see it happening for '06,'' Wood said in a statement from the team. "We're more concerned for the 21 car for '06 right now. But maybe by '07 we'll have a couple.
"I wouldn't want more than two. Two, I think, is enough to do what you want to do as far as having somebody to compare off of. When it gets down to it, each car goes to the race track, teammates or not.
"You hear a lot about teammates working together and you hear a lot about teammates not working together. It's all through the garage -- both sides of it. But, we would be looking in the next couple of years doing that.''
The Wood Brothers have primarily been a single-car team for more than 30 years. Ricky Rudd is the team's current driver. Rudd's three-year contract expires after this season and he's said he planned to decide if he wants to continue racing by late summer.
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NASCAR to review Daytona's bid for hall of fameNASCAR will hold a site visit to Daytona Beach on Tuesday to review the city's proposal to be the home of the planned NASCAR Hall of Fame.
The day will be kicked off by a welcome rally at 9:30 a.m. in front of motor-sports attraction Daytona USA, adjacent to the speedway.
Other cities bidding for the hall are Atlanta; Charlotte, N.C.; Kansas City, Kan.; and Richmond, Va.
The list is expected to be trimmed to two or three finalists in September.
The final decision is expected to be made no later than December, NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp said.
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Reese's Big Cup Now Available Everyday, Nationwide - NASCAR Driver Kevin Harvick to Debut the No. 29 Reese's Big Cup Chevrolet; Reese's Racing to Donate $10,000 to Victory Junction Gang Camp: Reese’s, one of the nation’s most popular candy brands, is giving consumers even more to love with the permanent addition of Reese’s Big Cup peanut butter cups. Reese’s Big Cup, which made its Limited Edition debut in July of 2003, will now be an everyday fixture on candy store shelves nationwide. NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick will help celebrate this addition by driving the No. 29 Reese’s Big Cup Chevrolet during the highly anticipated NASCAR Nextel Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 27, 2005. In honor of Harvick driving the Reese’s Big Cup car, Reese’s Racing will make a $10,000 donation to the Victory Junction Gang Camp, a proud charity of NASCAR and non-profit organization created to enrich the lives of children with chronic or life-threatening illnesses.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Simo in for Wallace at Watkins Glen? hearing that Brian Simo will drive the #4 Lucas Oil / Morgan McClure Chevy at Watkins Glen in place of regular driver Mike Wallace, who is driving Darrell Waltrip's #12 Truck this week at IRP. Wallace is looking at other options for that weekend, including possibly driving a truck in the Truck Series at Nashville Superspeedway on Saturday August 13th.(Motorsports Lounge)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Martin: I'll Be Back Mark Martin says he's agreed to car owner Jack Roush's request for one more year of service.
After Roush signed Jamie McMurray to drive his No. 6 Ford, news came to light that McMurray is still contractually bound through 2006 to Chip Ganassi, his current car owner and Ganassi continues to indicate he will not release McMurray from his contract.
While at Batesville Speedway this weekend, Martin said he hoped Ganassi and Roush could reach a compromise. If they can't, he said he would return.
"It's the best thing for Roush Racing and for the team that has given me everything that they can give," Martin said. "I feel an enormous amount of loyalty. The 6 car brand in Cup racing means something and it means something because of the success that I had in that car with Jack Roush standing next to me. They want me to drive it if Jamie doesn't, and I will."
Martin announced after the 2004 season that this would be his final year in Nextel Cup racing. Earlier this year, he said he would race for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series title in 2006. The truck team remains his chief priority.
"My focus is still getting my truck team together and getting those things situated," he said. "That's what I can count on and what I plan to be doing. I will race the truck some even if I do the Cup car....If Jamie comes available prior to the Daytona 500, then I'm out of the way."
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The Sporting News names Bristol "2005 Best Sports City" for NASCARBY ALLEN GREGORY
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER
BRISTOL, Tenn. - Wayne Estes got a dose of good news late Tuesday afternoon. The Bristol Motor Speedway vice president learned that BMS has reached yet another milestone and audience. This time, the nation’s oldest sports publication is the outlet.
The Sporting News dubbed Bristol, Tennessee as the "2005 Best Sports City" for NASCAR. Estes eagerly looked up the article on the Internet before leaving the office.
"Attention like this always make us happy, and it takes everybody in the Bristol area to make it happen," Estes said. "The way folks in the Bristol area roll out the red carpet for our NASCAR visitors each year is central to our success."
Over the past decade, BMS has been listed as a fan favorite in various national polls and publications. Last month, Sports Illustrated featured the August night race at Bristol as one of the "must-see" sporting events of the summer.
"It’s encouraging to see mainstream publications pay more attention to Bristol and NASCAR," Estes said. "Not to sound cocky, but the folks at Sporting News know what they are talking about because they picked the right city.
"Sports Illustrated and Sporting News, that’s a big one-two punch in the same summer. The exposure is gratifying for us and for Bristol residents."
A sellout crowd of more than 160,000 is expected for the Aug. 27 Sharpie 500 Nextel Cup race at BMS.
Editors of the St. Louis-based Sporting News described Bristol as a "quaint mountain town full of earnest smiling, enthusiastic waving and rusty Camaros."
According to Matt Crossman of the Sporting News, the choice of the "Best Sports City" for NASCAR was not even close.
"The consensus is so strong that there’s no point in arguing, equivocating, hemming or hawing: Bristol Motorspeedway is the best place to watch a Nextel Cup race," Crossman said. "Drivers, fans, owners, crew guys - everybody agrees."
Those type of words are sweet music for a public relations guru like Estes.
"It tells us that we’re doing things right," Estes said.
The entire list of "Best Sport Cities" is revealed in the Aug. 12 issue of the Sporting News, which hits newsstands today.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rusty impressed by son's progress in racing
By Dave Rodman, NASCAR.COM
The precocious Stephen Wallace has outrun a lot of his famous father's expectations this season, and only one week after making his Nextel Cup debut -- albeit in a test session -- "Kid Wallace" will make his next step Wednesday.
Rusty Wallace's youngest child, 17, will test an ARCA RE/MAX Series car fielded by Penske Racing in an open test session at Michigan International Speedway.
The session is in preparation for Wallace's big-track ARCA debut at MIS on Aug. 19, coincidentally one day after Stephen turns 18, which makes him legal to race in NASCAR's national tours, including the Busch Series.
"As far as Stephen, my whole goal with him is to get him as much seat time as I possibly can," said Wallace, the 1989 NASCAR champion who is in the midst of his final full-time driving season. "We've run him on the Hooters Pro Cup Series and it's good -- but it's all short tracks.
"I've got to get Stephen running faster."
It's no secret that the elder Wallace's car owner, business and motorsports icon Roger Penske, has had his eye on the younger Wallace.
Penske is anxious to give Stephen some support similar to what he lent Rusty in 1980 when Wallace made his Cup debut in a Penske car at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Penske facilitated Stephen Wallace's recent test at Kentucky Speedway.
"Last Monday he had a real big deal -- Stephen tested a Penske Kodak (Nextel Cup) car," Rusty said. "I drove the car first to make sure it was driving good and then we put Stephen in it to work his way up to matching my time."
Stephen Wallace once again proved he's a quick study.
"It meant everything in the world for me to be able to have the time to go test with him," Rusty said.
To begin the test, the elder Wallace jumped behind the wheel of the No. 77 Dodge from Penske teammate Travis Kvapil's stable and completed a baseline lap of 32.65 seconds.
After some chassis tweaks it was Stephen's turn. By the end of his second outing, the younger Wallace had logged a best lap of 32.83 seconds, barely missing the time set by his father.
"We definitely accomplished our mission -- we wanted to get Steve some seat time at a bigger racetrack and, as usual, he impressed all of us," Rusty said. "It took us a while to get the car hooked up on Hoosier tires, but once we got it driving comfortably, Steve ran nearly as fast as I did.
"I couldn't be happier with how Steve is progressing. He was up to speed in nothing flat. The test was a great success.
"It took no time at all to get right up to speed. It was something down deep I really expected (because) I knew he could do all this. I just wanted to have a little insurance -- that's the reason I took him there, to see him.
"Right away, he was just wide open. It was amazing."
There is more support than Penske's alone going on at the Mooresville, N.C., racing conglomerate. Rusty said there are some other ties to his past set up for Stephen's Michigan debut.
"It's going to be car No. 27 and sponsored by Kodak," Rusty said of the number he used in his championship season. "It's a damn good-looking car.
"The whole team is from Team Penske and they're really excited about it -- all pumped up -- especially the 2 car guys, because it's my son.
"They really want to do this and (crew chief) Larry Carter said, 'I want to call the race -- I want my pit crew to pit this thing because I don't want nothing going wrong.'
"So I said, 'you call the race.' Earl (Barban, Rusty's Cup spotter) is going to spot, I'm going to be up top coaching him and the 2 team is going to pit him -- so we've really got a lot of effort going into Steve right now."
Rusty said moving forward the plan was to "run Stephen in the second Dodge development program car, which will be the No. 4 car, with Eddie Sharp at the Chicago ARCA race Sept. 10."
"Then, if everything's looking good I'm going to field him in a second Busch Series car at Memphis and then again at Phoenix, Ariz.," Rusty said of his plans for his own Rusty Wallace Incorporated Busch team, which already fields one full-time car.
"I'm going to run Stephen all I possibly can this year to get all the seat time he possibly can," Rusty said. "I'm going to run him in as many Hooters races as I can this year -- that still makes sense.
"Dodge has funding for one Busch Grand National race (and) they already have a pre-existing agreement with one of the teams. I'm going to be talking to one of those guys.
"I'd much rather run Stephen in one of my cars, but if they have a deal with this particular team, that team's already got points, where Stephen is already geared into the race -- we'll run Stephen in that car."
Wallace closed by saying the Busch Series is his ultimate goal for his son for 2006.
"When all that is said and done, then we're going to take a look at next year and say, 'Where have we come so far?' And I'm going to try to run Stephen all I possibly can in a second Busch car.
"I'm not saying that Stephen might fall right in the lineup of maybe 10 races in the 64 car, if we do use two drivers next year."
Wallace said before last weekend's Wallace Family Tribute 250 that he was contemplating running another multi-driver lineup akin to this year's combination of himself, Jeremy Mayfield, Jamie McMurray and Bill Elliott -- or possibly zeroing in on a single pilot.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~By Dave Rodman, NASCAR.COM
The precocious Stephen Wallace has outrun a lot of his famous father's expectations this season, and only one week after making his Nextel Cup debut -- albeit in a test session -- "Kid Wallace" will make his next step Wednesday.
Rusty Wallace's youngest child, 17, will test an ARCA RE/MAX Series car fielded by Penske Racing in an open test session at Michigan International Speedway.
The session is in preparation for Wallace's big-track ARCA debut at MIS on Aug. 19, coincidentally one day after Stephen turns 18, which makes him legal to race in NASCAR's national tours, including the Busch Series.
"As far as Stephen, my whole goal with him is to get him as much seat time as I possibly can," said Wallace, the 1989 NASCAR champion who is in the midst of his final full-time driving season. "We've run him on the Hooters Pro Cup Series and it's good -- but it's all short tracks.
"I've got to get Stephen running faster."
It's no secret that the elder Wallace's car owner, business and motorsports icon Roger Penske, has had his eye on the younger Wallace.
Penske is anxious to give Stephen some support similar to what he lent Rusty in 1980 when Wallace made his Cup debut in a Penske car at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Penske facilitated Stephen Wallace's recent test at Kentucky Speedway.
"Last Monday he had a real big deal -- Stephen tested a Penske Kodak (Nextel Cup) car," Rusty said. "I drove the car first to make sure it was driving good and then we put Stephen in it to work his way up to matching my time."
Stephen Wallace once again proved he's a quick study.
"It meant everything in the world for me to be able to have the time to go test with him," Rusty said.
To begin the test, the elder Wallace jumped behind the wheel of the No. 77 Dodge from Penske teammate Travis Kvapil's stable and completed a baseline lap of 32.65 seconds.
After some chassis tweaks it was Stephen's turn. By the end of his second outing, the younger Wallace had logged a best lap of 32.83 seconds, barely missing the time set by his father.
"We definitely accomplished our mission -- we wanted to get Steve some seat time at a bigger racetrack and, as usual, he impressed all of us," Rusty said. "It took us a while to get the car hooked up on Hoosier tires, but once we got it driving comfortably, Steve ran nearly as fast as I did.
"I couldn't be happier with how Steve is progressing. He was up to speed in nothing flat. The test was a great success.
"It took no time at all to get right up to speed. It was something down deep I really expected (because) I knew he could do all this. I just wanted to have a little insurance -- that's the reason I took him there, to see him.
"Right away, he was just wide open. It was amazing."
There is more support than Penske's alone going on at the Mooresville, N.C., racing conglomerate. Rusty said there are some other ties to his past set up for Stephen's Michigan debut.
"It's going to be car No. 27 and sponsored by Kodak," Rusty said of the number he used in his championship season. "It's a damn good-looking car.
"The whole team is from Team Penske and they're really excited about it -- all pumped up -- especially the 2 car guys, because it's my son.
"They really want to do this and (crew chief) Larry Carter said, 'I want to call the race -- I want my pit crew to pit this thing because I don't want nothing going wrong.'
"So I said, 'you call the race.' Earl (Barban, Rusty's Cup spotter) is going to spot, I'm going to be up top coaching him and the 2 team is going to pit him -- so we've really got a lot of effort going into Steve right now."
Rusty said moving forward the plan was to "run Stephen in the second Dodge development program car, which will be the No. 4 car, with Eddie Sharp at the Chicago ARCA race Sept. 10."
"Then, if everything's looking good I'm going to field him in a second Busch Series car at Memphis and then again at Phoenix, Ariz.," Rusty said of his plans for his own Rusty Wallace Incorporated Busch team, which already fields one full-time car.
"I'm going to run Stephen all I possibly can this year to get all the seat time he possibly can," Rusty said. "I'm going to run him in as many Hooters races as I can this year -- that still makes sense.
"Dodge has funding for one Busch Grand National race (and) they already have a pre-existing agreement with one of the teams. I'm going to be talking to one of those guys.
"I'd much rather run Stephen in one of my cars, but if they have a deal with this particular team, that team's already got points, where Stephen is already geared into the race -- we'll run Stephen in that car."
Wallace closed by saying the Busch Series is his ultimate goal for his son for 2006.
"When all that is said and done, then we're going to take a look at next year and say, 'Where have we come so far?' And I'm going to try to run Stephen all I possibly can in a second Busch car.
"I'm not saying that Stephen might fall right in the lineup of maybe 10 races in the 64 car, if we do use two drivers next year."
Wallace said before last weekend's Wallace Family Tribute 250 that he was contemplating running another multi-driver lineup akin to this year's combination of himself, Jeremy Mayfield, Jamie McMurray and Bill Elliott -- or possibly zeroing in on a single pilot.
Fans get their chance to wonder about just about anything
With no Nextel Cup Series race to ponder about this week, we thought we'd turn things over to the fans this week. What follows is the best of the fan e-mails we've received since this column began a few months ago:
... if Jeff Gordon is cursed, which it would certainly appear he is, what would break it.
-- Sarah Harbinson, Parts Unknown
An excellent question. We've pondered this ourselves. Would it be a win at Chicagoland? What about another, more successful go at "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" where he actually gets the name of the field right.
The real question here is why would Jeff Gordon's people get him into a situation like this? It's clear that the guy knows nothing about baseball. What's more, he admitted days before that he didn't know the words to the song. So why put him in front of arguably the most rabid baseball fans in America and hope he can fake it?
... am I alone in thinking that NBC/TNT's Dave Burns look s a great deal like Mark Wahlberg?
-- Janis Smallwood, Dallas, Ga.
We love you, Janis. However, after careful consideration, we've determined that you are alone.
... why points weren't taken away from Tony Stewart for saying "damn fat" after he won at Daytona.
-- Several fans from across America
We actually have the answer to this one. The difference lies in the word. "Damn" is an acceptable word in the eyes (or ears) of the FCC. Other words used by other drivers that have resulted in fines or loss of points are not acceptable. Think about it. How many times did you hear Archie Bunker or George Jefferson say "hell" or "damn" in 70s television?
... are some of the most popular drivers doing so much off the track that it is affecting their performance on the track?
-- Edward Demeritt, Parts Unknown
Certainly a valid point. However, it's not just the most popular drivers that have backbreaking schedules these days. Look at any driver in the top 10, or the top 30 for that matter and you can bet that their time is not their own. Everyone has to deal with it. Therefore, they all have to know how.
... why there hasn't been a boxed DVD set for season one of NASCAR Drivers: 360 out yet.
-- Chantrel, Parts Unknown
We've all been in video stores lately and seen the TV box sets. If you can get the first season of Misfits of Science on DVD, certainly there's money to be made with 360. What's the holdup?
... where the heck Ward Burton is.
-- Every other fan that writes us an e-mail
We couldn't agree more. He's a Daytona 500 winner, a good guy and one of the best interviews in the sport. Oh, he can wheel it, too. Don't believe it? Read our boy Elliott Gordon's column from a couple of weeks ago.
... why NASCAR doesn't have the drivers vote in the extra driver in the Nextel All-Star Challenge.
--Kristi Bockting, Parts Unknown
Another solid idea. However, I think the answer we would get here is that the All-Star Challenge is a race for the fans. An interesting question is who would the drivers have voted into last year's race?
... why Jimmie Johnson doesn't sweat.
-- Kate Sheffield, Parts Unknown
When we first got this e-mail, we kind of laughed and shrugged it off. However, we looked at our photo archive and Kate has a point. Not one bead.
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Drivers use colorful words to make their pointsBy AL LEVINE
Cox News Service
ATLANTA - Everything seemed to be going quite normally as Elliott Sadler drove the old No. 21 Ford for the Wood Brothers team. And then Sadler stopped the crew in its tracks.
"I've got potatoes coming out of the back end," Sadler reported.
Hold the headphones, this could be groundbreaking. How did the spuds get past the NASCAR inspectors? Is his car really dropping potatoes around the track, and are they baked or french fried?
Actually, the incident, a few years back, was the driver's unique way of describing what it felt like in the car, a Sadleresque spin on the typical conditions - loose or tight.
"Potatoes? What are you talking about?" team owner Len Wood said. "Elliott said, 'This thing's plowin'.' The first time a crew chief hears 'potatoes,' he's wondering what the heck is he talking about, but the next time, he knows: The car is handling really bad."
It has been a tradition in stock-car racing ever since Junior Johnson strapped on the first microphone-equipped helmet in 1961 to communicate with his crew chief.
The races might be long, but the conversation coming from the car is usually short.
IN a race during Nextel CUp's spring stretch, Nextel Cup driver Tony Stewart said his car felt like he was "driving a razor blade."
The words sent NASCAR scholars to their stock-car thesauruses. Did Stewart mean the car felt sharp and smooth or was it on a very thin edge?
Only his crew chief knows for sure. But given that Stewart was laboring to a 17th-place finish in the Auto Club 500 at California Speedway, Greg Zipadelli knew that Stewart wasn't being complimentary. The No. 20 Chevrolet was a tough piece to handle all afternoon.
Zipadelli has thrown similar riddles at Stewart.
After making their final pit stop on Lap 70 at Watkins Glen's road course, with Stewart in 30th place, Zipadelli radioed to his driver, "Don't worry about gougin' to get your way to the front."
Razor blade? Gougin'? These are new entries in NASCAR's glossary.
NASCAR defines a loose race car as: "when the rear tires of the car have trouble sticking in the corners. This causes the car to 'fishtail' as the rear end swings outward while turning in the corners."
A car is said to be tight, according to NASCAR, "if the front wheels lose traction before the rear wheels do. It causes the stock car to have trouble steering sharply and smoothly through the turns as the front end pushes toward the wall."
But in the sport's evolving dictionary, loose is now measured in various degrees. There's loose and then there's way loose (as in "you guys expect me to drive this thing?); way, way loose ("does this car have a steering wheel?") and whoa loose ("I'll just hang on until the next pit stop.")
As Stewart was struggling with another 17th-place car a few weeks ago at Atlanta Motor Speedway, he said "I'm just plowing the fence down entry to center," which isn't as productive as it sounds.
"Our entry through the center (of the corner) is tight, and the longer we go, the more our exit (off the corner) frees up," Stewart explained. "We need to undo whatever changes we've made. It's just worse now."
At times, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has described his No. 8 Chevrolet as "very, very bouncy" and "it feels nervous." He can also articulate thrills like no one else.
At last year's Bud Shootout, as the entire field swerved to avoid safety trucks on the Daytona track during the slowdown lap, Earnhardt said into his radio: "Whoa. Is this where we do the 40-yard dash through the archery range?"
Perhaps he inherited this gift from his daddy.
Dale Earnhardt used to keep Larry McReynolds guessing. McReynolds was Earnhardt's crew chief for 45 races in 1997-'98.
"Dale would say 'the car's not down in the tracks,"' McReynolds said. "What that meant was it's sliding around. The car can't physically be down in the track, as we well know, the track's an asphalt surface. It took me a little bit to figure out, but what he meant was the car's not down in there biting, not gripping."
McReynolds, an analyst on Fox, said it sometimes takes years for drivers and crew chiefs to not only get on the same page but quote from the same book.
"Over time you develop your language with each other," McReynolds said. "Sometimes you've heard that same language with another driver, sometimes it's a new language that's been created."
There are phrases that are recycled, however, like, "this thing drives like a dump truck."
"I think every driver I've ever worked with has used that," McReynolds said. "That's just to overemphasize how bad the thing will not turn."
And "this car won't turn in a 40-acre field."
"Means the same as dump truck," McReynolds.
There's also "on a rail." That's a good thing.
But driving a razor blade, unable to turn in a 40-acre field, with potatoes coming out the back end? Now, that's one of them racin' deals.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On the Right Track: NASCAR doesn't stall on reactionsBy Jeff Gluck, Rocky Mount Telegram
The steroid business in baseball picked up again this week, with most fans asking the obvious question: Why won't the sport's leaders do anything?
The year-long NHL lockout finally ended last month, but the lost season indicated that both owners and players turned a blind eye to the fans' feelings.
Look at the college bowl system. Millions of fans scream about how college football should have a national playoff. But no one listens.
In NASCAR, people do listen. They're always listening. And as a result, the sport is in a state of constant change.
Some would argue that change means forgetting the traditional, core group of fans, a sign that the sport is turning its back on the people that made it popular in the first place.
But during a time when fans in other sports are fed up with their organizations, NASCAR's willingness to change — often accompanied by the words "effective immediately" — is something motorsports enthusiasts should embrace.
NASCAR's changes work because they're reactionary. The sport's executives see the problem, realize they should do something and, most of the time, act on their thoughts.
Look at the green-white-checkered rule: Jeff Gordon won the Talladega race under caution on April 25 of last year. It then took just 50 days for the sport to change the rules.
If this were baseball, we might not have seen a green-white-checkered until 2015.
Similar changes have also occurred swiftly. Matt Kenseth wins the Cup title in a massive blowout; the points system is altered by the beginning of the next season. Dale Jarrett is a sitting duck at New Hampshire while cars race back to the finish line under caution; NASCAR makes a new rule that freezes the field a few months later.
It's been interesting to listen to all the gripes about baseball this week. The commissioner gave cameraman attacker Kenny Rogers a 20-game suspension for his actions. Then Rafael Palmeiro tests positive for steroids, and the maximum for a first offense is just 10 days.
Fans just can't figure that out. In NASCAR, Palmeiro's punishment would have been simple: Bye bye (see Shane Hmiel if you don't believe it).
Then there's hockey. NASCAR drivers at all levels are clearly schooled in the business of racing, which is necessary considering that racing teams must constantly woo sponsors for income.
Hockey players apparently don't have the same knowledge. During the lockout, star Jeremy Roenick actually insulted fans, saying "we don't want you" to fans who dare call the players greedy.
Does NASCAR get it? Does NASCAR listen to suggestions, make smart changes and always look out for the best interests of the sport?
Of course. This isn't the NHL.
“(The hockey lockout) is like walking out on your wife for a week," Craftsman Truck Series driver Brandon Whitt said. "You can't walk back in the door, give her a wave, tell her you missed her and expect her to start cooking dinner. You break somebody's heart and you don't know if you will ever win it back. But you had better start quick and work hard to do it.”
NASCAR may lighten your wallet. But it probably won't ever break your heart.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Championships have always driven me to win races. That 3 car pulling into the track would cause people to look around and wonder what we were doing, to see how to beat us."
-Dale Earnhardt
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, that's all for today. Until the next time, I remain,Your
Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, wine in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"
"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 Sr.
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