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Today In Nascar History
05/17/1953-Lee Petty wins at Martinsville, win #3 of the season, and #9 of his career.
05/17/1959-Tom Pistone wins at Trenton, win #1 of the season, and #1 of his career.
05/17/1964-Richard Petty wins at South Boston, win #3 of the season, and #30 of his career.
05/17/1968-David Pearson wins at Beltsville, win #6 of the season, and #36 of his career.
05/17/1969-David Pearson wins at Hampton, win #5 of the season, and #51 of his career.
05/17/1981-Jody Ridley wins at Dover, win #1 of the season, and #1 of his career.
On May 17, 1981, a longtime car owner recieved his only visit to victory lane. Junie Dunlavey, a car owner for 45 years in the Cup series, watched as his driver, Jody Ridley beat Bobby Allison to the checkers by 22 seconds. It was the first and only win in the career of Jody Ridley. Junie’s #90 Ford led only 20 of the race’s 500 laps that afternoon in Dover.
Junie was in his 31st year as a car owner when he finally made it to victory lane. Junie was a car owner in the Cup series for 45 years, posting only 1 win in 863 starts. The team closed shop after running in only 14 races in the 2002 season. Rick Mast ran 9 of those races and Hermie Sadler ran 2. Many of the drivers that drove for Junie in the 45 years: Tim Flock, Speedy Thompson, LeeRoy Yarbrough, Dick Brooks, Bobby Isaac, Fred Lorenzen, David Pearson, Harry Gant, Buck Baker, Ricky Rudd, Ken Schrader, Benny Parsons, Buddy Baker, Ernie Irvan, Robby Gordon, Stan and Stanton Barrett, Morgan Shepherd and Mike Wallace.
Bill Ellis Memorial Charity Auction Set For May 25: Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (CGRFS) is hosting a memorial charity auction Thursday, May 25, to honor the loss of teammate, Bill Ellis, who passed away last month at the young age of 42. Ellis joined the Chip Ganassi Racing family in 2003 to work as a team fabricator. He was referred to as a “team dad” by many of his co-workers and served as a mentor to many, but most importantly to his three children. CGRFS is holding the live charity auction, as well as a silent auction, at its Concord, N.C. shop to raise funds for Ellis’ family. The event will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. ET, with all proceeds going directly into the trust currently being set up for Ellis’ wife and children. The team is still accepting donations of any kind to be auctioned off during the event, but most importantly welcomes all support and anyone who would like to attend. Admission is free. Some of the almost 200 items that will be up for bid include: Casey Mears autographed No. 42 Texaco/Havoline hood, Tony Stewart and Sterling Marlin autographed driving shoes, Dale Earnhardt Jr. autographed jacket, Steve Young autographed jersey, Jamie McMurray autographed helmet, Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman autographed helmet visors, and much more. For more information and to see a complete list of the item bid list, go to www.chipganassiracing.com and click on the Charlotte race weeks schedule toward the bottom-right side of the page. Then, click on special charity auction. - Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Press Release
Nominees Listed And Online Voting Begins For 2006 Talladega-Texaco Walk of Fame Inductees: Online fan voting began April 3 for this year's Talladega-Texaco Walk of Fame honorees, and on Saturday, Oct. 7, two new names will be added to this prestigious list. The Talladega-Texaco Walk of Fame in downtown Talladega is both a focal point saluting NASCAR's greatest names and a tribute to one of racing's brightest stars - the late Davey Allison. Developed in 1994, the Talladega-Texaco Walk of Fame has inducted one active driver and up to two inactive drivers since 1995 based on the fans' vote chosen from a ballot of nominees selected by strict guidelines. Fans may vote for their driver of choice through July 15 by visiting www.talladegawalk.com. Voting is limited to one vote per day. Active driver nominees for 2006 include: Michael Waltrip, Jeff Burton, Morgan Shepherd, Kurt Busch, Robby Gordon, Greg Biffle, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Bobby Labonte, Terry Labonte, Sterling Marlin, Jeremy Mayfield, Joe Nemechek, Ryan Newman, Elliott Sadler, Ken Schrader, Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart. Inactive driver nominees for 2006 include: Rusty Wallace, Jim Paschal, Bill Rexford, Jack Smith, Rex White and Speedy Thompson. On Saturday, Oct. 1, 2005, Kevin Harvick and Herb Thomas became the most recent drivers to be enshrined.
Story by Nick Griffith
One guy's running eighth on the NASCAR circuit, the other, is currently third in the NHRA drag racing series. But Tuesday, the duo filled their need for speed on the go-kart track.
Now we race, crank up the cheesy music, electronic go-karts going top speeds of 18 miles per hour, but how does it stack up with the real-thing?
“It's a lot different, but I still liked it,” said Kasey Kahne, Nascar driver. “I like anything that has a steering wheel."
Besides dominating the media on the go-kart track, the real reason these guys traveled to Kansas Tuesday was to promote their upcoming Free-State races— Kahne at the Kansas Motor Speedway and Grubnic at the Heartland Park Summer Nationals next weekend.
"I love coming to Topeka,” said Dave Grubnic, NHRA Drag Racer. “The people here are fantastic. They really get behind the motor sports. I have a lot of friends here, so yeah it would mean a lot for me to back that up this week.”
"When you only race one time at a track it makes it exciting, it makes it fun, because everywhere else we go twice, but Kansas you only come here once so it's pretty exciting to try to win at Kansas,” Kahne said.
Associated Press
Gentlemen, restart your bobsleds.
The Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge is returning to Mount Van Hoevenberg in January.
"What we accomplished was beyond our expectations," Geoff Bodine said Tuesday in a telephone interview from Detroit, where he was meeting with officials of Chevrolet, one of the main sponsors of the inaugural event.
The competition, which featured 10 current or former NASCAR drivers in two races in its inaugural run in January, will return to the Verizon Sports Complex in Lake Placid on Jan. 5-7, 2007. Road race ace Boris Said, son of former Olympic bobsledder Bob Said, and Kevin Lepage of Shelburne, Vt., won the first two races in sleds specially designed for the competition.
The event was devised as an effort to raise funds for the U.S. men's and women's bobsled teams. Bodine has been involved in the sport for nearly 15 years. After watching the 1992 Albertville Winter Olympics on television and noticing the U.S. teams competed with European-made sleds, he created the Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project, Inc. to help make sure U.S. sleds would be made in America.
Bodine and co-promoter John Morgan didn't begin organizing last year until July, and this year they're hoping to attract drivers from other motor racing series as well.
"Tony Schumacher of NHRA called after January's races and said, 'What am I, chopped liver? You didn't invite us to the race,"' Morgan said. "Now we can get creative. We spent 75 percent of our energy last year wondering, 'Do you think it's going to work? Are they going to be safe?' We had a lot of volatility. All of that is behind us."
Bodine and Morgan also said they have had discussions with the Indy Racing League and were considering expanding the event to bobsled tracks at Park City, Utah and Calgary, Canada.
"We got great reaction from fans in January," said Sandy Caligiore of the New York Olympic Regional Development Authority, which operates the winter sports venues in the Lake Placid region. "From our standpoint, it starts to open our organization to a totally different audience. You usually don't find race car fans coming to Lake Placid in droves."
Pete Pistone
Managing Editor
It's not often that a Top 20 finish is reason to celebrate. But for Tony Raines and the Hall of Fame Racing team, they'll take it.
Raines picked up a 20th place finish in last Saturday night's Dodge Charger 500 at Darlington Raceway, his third of the year.
After qualifying 42nd and not being able to better their speed by much in Friday night's "Happy Hour" practice session, the 20th place finish was even more impressive.
"It was pretty good, considering they type of day we had on Friday, you know hitting the wall in practice and hitting the wall in qualifying,” Raines said. “We started 42nd, and finished 20th -- I'm pleased with that as far as rebounding from where we started. If we had started 20th and finished 20th, I'd be disappointed. We passed a lot of cars. We scraped the wall, but we didn't hit it and tear up the car. It was a good rebound."
Since Raines took over from Terry Labonte, who started the season for HOF as an insurance factor to make every race with his past champion's provisional, the No. 96 DLP Chevrolet has been at least consistent in finishing races.
In fact, Raines doesn't have one DNF in his six starts since taking over as the team's full-time driver.
The combination of Labonte's and Raines' finishes has the team 27th in owners' points, which has gotten the car into the field the last several weeks without the added pressure of needing to qualify on time.
But even though strides have been made, Raines knows there's much work ahead, even if there is a slight sense of satisfaction for their recent efforts.
"We’ve got a ways to go yet, but we changed the car completely from Friday to Saturday, and it was definitely a better car today," Raines said after Saturday night's race. "It was a little tight at the beginning of a run, and loose at the end of the run, but in the middle of a run we had a fast car."
"We can build on that and carry some momentum in the next couple of races. From where we started, it’s a good finish.”
By TONY FABRIZIO
Michael Waltrip took aim a few weeks ago at the trepidation surrounding Toyota's entry into Nextel Cup and the Busch Series next year.
Toyota is not, Waltrip insisted, directly involved in recruiting drivers and crew members for its teams. It has not, he said, given its new team owners a crate of blank checks to buy the best talent and equipment available.
And then Waltrip, one of three new Toyota team owners, went out and signed Dale Jarrett to drive a Camry in 2007.
The move announced last weekend at Darlington has Toyota's fingerprints all over it.
On one hand, Jarrett turns 50 in November, and he's nearing the end of his career. He won't win a lot of races over the next couple of years.
On the other, he is a Ford guy who is popular among people who own and drive Fords. Most of Jarrett's 32 Nextel Cup victories came in a Ford, as did his championship, as did his father, Ned's, two championships.
Dale Jarrett Ford in Monroe, N.C., sells, well, Fords. (OK, to be fair, there also is a Dale Jarrett Suzuki.)
Neither Robert Yates Racing nor Ford wanted to see Jarrett sign with a Toyota team. At the very least, they hoped he would retire as a Ford driver.
But now there are hard feelings.
"They made him an offer he couldn't refuse," Yates Racing co-owner Doug Yates said. "That part doesn't surprise me because Toyota's history and background is throwing a lot of money around, and here is one of those examples. It is what it is."
Dan Davis, Ford's director of Racing Operations, was less conciliatory.
"We're obviously not happy Dale is leaving Robert Yates Racing because he's been a champion and a great ambassador for Ford fans," he said. "We understand his decision, but we are disappointed.
"Toyota is going to have its work cut out for them competing in Nextel Cup, no matter how much they plan on spending. Our plan is to keep winning races and championships."
To think, this was only the first salvo.
AP Motorsports Writer
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Josh Yost watched last year's Pit Crew Challenge from a wheelchair, his right ankle mangled when Rusty Wallace ran over it in a pit road accident.
Yost, the jackman on Jeff Burton's crew, has a job with many hazards. Only this one sidelined him six months and nearly cost the 28-year-old his livelihood.
"It was a pretty tough time for me," Yost said. "I had two surgeries, was in a cast for three months, couldn't work at all for six. I needed a wheelchair when I left the house and a walker for when I was home. It was a pretty ugly injury."
One Yost worked extremely hard to come back from, and he'll proudly showcase how far he's come in Wednesday night's Nextel Pit Crew Challenge. Kasey Kahne's team one the overall title last year, and the competition also awards $10,000 to the fastest crew member at each position.
"I actually practiced for the competition last year, because it was only being held two weeks after my accident," Yost said. "But then I got hurt. I had just had the second surgery right before the competition, and the team came and got me and brought me out there in my wheelchair to watch them.
"It will be a lot better to be out there with them this year."
Yost had just jumped over the wall last May 1 to service Burton's car when Wallace came down Talladega's pit road at 55 mph and clipped him.
The impact broke the tibia bone in his right leg, and severed every ligament and tendon on the right side of his ankle. When Yost looked down, the bottom of his shoe was facing up and he was standing on his bone.
But Yost, who has a thick scar that zigzags from the top of his ankle down the side of his foot, was back in the shop at the end of last year and practicing pit stops shortly after. He returned to his job on the race-day crew with the season-opening Daytona 500.
"It's pretty amazing what he went through to get himself well and back to work," team owner Richard Childress said. "But he's real tough, and really did a great job through the whole healing process. Then he jumped right back into it. Didn't hesitate at all to go back over that wall."
A pit crew job can seem glamorous to outsiders, but it's quite dangerous and has led to many fatal accidents over the years.
It wasn't until 1990, when a crewman for Bill Elliott was killed when Ricky Rudd hit Elliott's stopped car that NASCAR even implemented a pit road speed limit. Helmets were mandated in 2001 after driver Ward Burton veered into three of Rudd's crewmen, causing serious head injuries to the front tire changer.
Despite the peril, there's no shortage of applicants who all wish to jump over the wall and change four tires in 16 seconds or less. They are the faceless, nameless people on a race team who only get attention when they fail to tighten a lug nut or don't remove the gas can before their driver speeds away.
Toss in the intimidation other drivers use to rattle their nerves and the job seems less then desirable.
"Rusty was known for trying to scare other crews," Yost said. "The stop before he hit me he bumped another one of our guys. I guess he just tried to get other crews off their game."
Yost still holds a little bit of resentment toward Wallace, and it actually made headlines last season when the two failed to connect during Wallace's attempt to apologize. But Yost says to this day he'll pass Wallace on pit road before a Busch race and Wallace doesn't even acknowledge him.
"That bothers me because I know how Jeff Burton would have handled it if he had hurt a crew guy," Yost said. "When Jeff Gordon hit a bunch of Jimmie Johnson's guys a few years ago, he went to the hospital to check on them. There's just a way to take care of it, and Rusty never did."
Fast repair tricks will be put to use in weapons of the future
BY PETER BACQUE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
NASCAR pit stops are teaching the Army lessons for the battlefield.
And the Army is applying what it's learned from stock-car racing to its multibillion-dollar Future Combat Systems, the service's flagship modernization program.
As a recruiting tool, the U.S. Army already sponsors the 01 car, driven by Joe Nemechek, on the NASCAR Nextel Cup circuit.
"NASCAR could so quickly do maintenance on a race car," said the Army's Phillip W. Hodges. "Why couldn't we do that with our vehicles?"
So the Army tapped into NASCAR's experience at pit-stop design to make its networked weapons of the future sustainable in combat in the world's harshest environments, said Hodges, an engineer who is the Army's deputy manager for the program.
Officials at an Army logistics conference yesterday pointed out examples of pit-stop engineering to make its high-tech warfighting systems easy to fix and keep running in the field:
"We're now using those in Iraq, on Humvees, trucks and helicopters," Hodges said during the Association of the United States Army's Logistics Symposium at the Greater Richmond Convention Center.
The Humvee itself, the Army's hardy maid of all work, has seen its engine compartment redesigned a la NASCAR so that changing its engine now takes less than an hour, rather than the 12 hours the job used to require, Moore said.
"By letting the crew do the work, you've eliminated the logistics tail that stays behind to do all the maintenance and repair," Hodges pointed out.
"All that equates to reduced cost to the taxpayers," he said.
Several hundred senior Army leaders and civilian contractors are attending the three-day logistics symposium.
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Final practice: Nextel Open/NASCAR Nextel All-Star Challenge Friday, May 19 Noon Speed
Qualifying: Craftsman Truck Series Quaker Steak and Lube 200 Friday, May 19 4 p.m. Speed
Qualifying: Nextel Open/NASCAR Nextel All-Star Challenge Friday, May 19 6 p.m. Speed
Craftsman Truck Series Quaker Steak and Lube 200 Friday, May 19 8:30 p.m. Speed
NASCAR Nextel Pit Crew Challenge (Taped) Saturday, May 20 4 p.m. Speed
Nextel Open/NASCAR Nextel All-Star Challenge Saturday, May 20 7 p.m. FX
All time Eastern. Times and station subject to change.
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 wins'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
05/17/1953-Lee Petty wins at Martinsville, win #3 of the season, and #9 of his career.
05/17/1959-Tom Pistone wins at Trenton, win #1 of the season, and #1 of his career.
05/17/1964-Richard Petty wins at South Boston, win #3 of the season, and #30 of his career.
05/17/1968-David Pearson wins at Beltsville, win #6 of the season, and #36 of his career.
05/17/1969-David Pearson wins at Hampton, win #5 of the season, and #51 of his career.
05/17/1981-Jody Ridley wins at Dover, win #1 of the season, and #1 of his career.
On May 17, 1981, a longtime car owner recieved his only visit to victory lane. Junie Dunlavey, a car owner for 45 years in the Cup series, watched as his driver, Jody Ridley beat Bobby Allison to the checkers by 22 seconds. It was the first and only win in the career of Jody Ridley. Junie’s #90 Ford led only 20 of the race’s 500 laps that afternoon in Dover.
Junie was in his 31st year as a car owner when he finally made it to victory lane. Junie was a car owner in the Cup series for 45 years, posting only 1 win in 863 starts. The team closed shop after running in only 14 races in the 2002 season. Rick Mast ran 9 of those races and Hermie Sadler ran 2. Many of the drivers that drove for Junie in the 45 years: Tim Flock, Speedy Thompson, LeeRoy Yarbrough, Dick Brooks, Bobby Isaac, Fred Lorenzen, David Pearson, Harry Gant, Buck Baker, Ricky Rudd, Ken Schrader, Benny Parsons, Buddy Baker, Ernie Irvan, Robby Gordon, Stan and Stanton Barrett, Morgan Shepherd and Mike Wallace.
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Quote of the Year
As a result of the May 1st " Illegal Alien Boycott " the National Retailers Association reported 4.2% lower sales for that day, with a 67.8% reduction in shoplifting.
Quote of the Day
"They made him an offer he couldn't refuse. That part doesn't surprise me because Toyota's history and background is throwing a lot of money around and here is one of those examples. It is what it is."
--Robert Yates on losing Dale Jarrett to Toyota
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News gathered from multiple sources, including but not limited to: Jayski.com, Cup Scene Daily, Thatsracin.com, catchfence.com, nascar.com, yahoo!, espn.com and others.
News gathered from multiple sources, including but not limited to: Jayski.com, Cup Scene Daily, Thatsracin.com, catchfence.com, nascar.com, yahoo!, espn.com and others.
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Bits and PiecesBill Ellis Memorial Charity Auction Set For May 25: Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (CGRFS) is hosting a memorial charity auction Thursday, May 25, to honor the loss of teammate, Bill Ellis, who passed away last month at the young age of 42. Ellis joined the Chip Ganassi Racing family in 2003 to work as a team fabricator. He was referred to as a “team dad” by many of his co-workers and served as a mentor to many, but most importantly to his three children. CGRFS is holding the live charity auction, as well as a silent auction, at its Concord, N.C. shop to raise funds for Ellis’ family. The event will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. ET, with all proceeds going directly into the trust currently being set up for Ellis’ wife and children. The team is still accepting donations of any kind to be auctioned off during the event, but most importantly welcomes all support and anyone who would like to attend. Admission is free. Some of the almost 200 items that will be up for bid include: Casey Mears autographed No. 42 Texaco/Havoline hood, Tony Stewart and Sterling Marlin autographed driving shoes, Dale Earnhardt Jr. autographed jacket, Steve Young autographed jersey, Jamie McMurray autographed helmet, Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman autographed helmet visors, and much more. For more information and to see a complete list of the item bid list, go to www.chipganassiracing.com and click on the Charlotte race weeks schedule toward the bottom-right side of the page. Then, click on special charity auction. - Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Press Release
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NASCAR.COM launches NASCAR 24/7 Broadband Video Service - Shannon Wiseman to Deliver Daily NASCAR Update Via Broadband Video Newscast: NASCAR.COM, the premier online destination for NASCAR fans, announced today the launch of NASCAR 24/7, a broadband video service created to enhance the way racing fans get their news online. The daily newscasts, updated weekday afternoons and 90 seconds in length, will be a free service on the site and will provide users instant access to live interviews, highlights, alerts and breaking news of the day. Shannon Wiseman, current host of the website’s NEXTEL TrackPass Race Rewind segment will anchor the daily newscast from NASCAR.COM’s CNN Center studio in Atlanta. Wiseman, a 2-time Miss Winston on the NASCAR circuit and former MTV video-jockey, was formerly a co-host of UPN’s Atlanta Tonight. “As a leading site for NASCAR information, NASCAR 24/7 creates an added dimension of information for racing fans in a fast-paced, exclusive and convenient package,” said Lenny Daniels, Sr. Vice President, Turner Sports New Media. “This is the type of content we would look to franchise for multiple digital platforms.” Along with viewing online, NASCAR 24/7 will be available as featured content through NASCAR.COM TO GO, a subscription-based mobile service that gives subscribers access to view and share a variety of real-time NASCAR content via their wireless devices. Each newscast will be presented by a participating sponsor, including All-State and Target, on a rotational basis. Additional sponsors to be announced at a later date. - Turner Sports Interactive Press Release~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fort McDowell Resort Destination to Sponsor Leffler in the Phoenix Cup Race: Jason Leffler and Braun Racing are going NEXTEL Cup racing later this year at Phoenix International Raceway. Fort McDowell Resort Destination will step-up their motorsport’s program by becoming a primary sponsor in the NEXTEL Cup division for one race later this year. “It’s undisputed the coverage Fort McDowell will receive by stepping up to the next level at Phoenix later this year. Fort McDowell was very impressed by Jason’s performance in the Busch series race last month (at Phoenix) and this is a perfect opportunity to test the waters at a higher level,” explained Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation President Raphael Bear. “The combination of a great team and a great driver creates an exciting potential for the race and exposure of the Fort McDowell Resort Destination. Fort McDowell is definitely looking forward to the added and growing relationship within the NASCAR arena,” President Bear continued. In addition to their new commitment to Braun Racing at the Cup level, the Fort McDowell Resort Destination logo will be displayed as a major associate sponsor on Leffler’s No. 38 Great Clips Chevy at the California and Phoenix Busch races later this year. - Braun Racing Press Release ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Kyle and Pattie Petty Honored: Action for Children North Carolina, North Carolina's premier statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the well-being of children and youth, will honor NASCAR driver Kyle Petty and wife Pattie Petty with the inaugural North Carolina Children's Lifetime Legacy Award this Thursday [May 18th] in Charlotte. The award will be given to the Pettys in recognition for their founding of and continued commitment to the Victory Junction Gang Camp, located on 75 acres in Randleman, N.C., in the Piedmont Triad area. The Children's Lifetime Legacy Award event will be held on Thursday, May 18, 2006, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Founders Hall, located in the Bank of America Corporate Center in downtown Charlotte. Tickets to the benefit are $200/individual and $350/couple. All proceeds from the event will benefit the Victory Junction Gang Camp and Action for Children. For more information, visit ncchild.org.(VJGC PR)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stewart to field cars for Mopar All Star Showdown: Tony Stewart has entered six cars in Sunday's Mopar All Star Showdown at Concord Motorsport Park. He will field three cars in each of the divisions competing in 50-lap features USAC Sprints and USAC Midgets. Stewart's trio of drivers -- Josh Wise, Levi Jones and Kyle Nicholas will pull double-duty driving in both divisions. The midget feature on Sunday will be the second race of the 2006 season. While the USAC sprints will make their North Carolina asphalt debut, the midgets actually raced on the quarter-mile paved oval on the frontstretch at Lowe's Motor Speedway in 1998. The winner of that race was Stewart. For more info and tickets, see MetrolinaBrand.com. Concord Motorsport Park is located on highway 601 north of Midland and south of Concord, NC.(PR)
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Menard to move up in 2007: Dale Earnhardt Jr. was addressing fans at a sponsorship gala and revealed a pair of intriguing tidbits to the gallery: Earnhardt said it is his understanding that Paul Menard will run a full Nextel Cup schedule in the #15 Chevrolet in 2007.(NASCAR.com/Marty Smith) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NASCAR, NHRA in KansasStory by Nick Griffith
One guy's running eighth on the NASCAR circuit, the other, is currently third in the NHRA drag racing series. But Tuesday, the duo filled their need for speed on the go-kart track.
Now we race, crank up the cheesy music, electronic go-karts going top speeds of 18 miles per hour, but how does it stack up with the real-thing?
“It's a lot different, but I still liked it,” said Kasey Kahne, Nascar driver. “I like anything that has a steering wheel."
Besides dominating the media on the go-kart track, the real reason these guys traveled to Kansas Tuesday was to promote their upcoming Free-State races— Kahne at the Kansas Motor Speedway and Grubnic at the Heartland Park Summer Nationals next weekend.
"I love coming to Topeka,” said Dave Grubnic, NHRA Drag Racer. “The people here are fantastic. They really get behind the motor sports. I have a lot of friends here, so yeah it would mean a lot for me to back that up this week.”
"When you only race one time at a track it makes it exciting, it makes it fun, because everywhere else we go twice, but Kansas you only come here once so it's pretty exciting to try to win at Kansas,” Kahne said.
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Bodine Bobsled Challenge to make another run in January Associated Press
Gentlemen, restart your bobsleds.
The Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge is returning to Mount Van Hoevenberg in January.
"What we accomplished was beyond our expectations," Geoff Bodine said Tuesday in a telephone interview from Detroit, where he was meeting with officials of Chevrolet, one of the main sponsors of the inaugural event.
The competition, which featured 10 current or former NASCAR drivers in two races in its inaugural run in January, will return to the Verizon Sports Complex in Lake Placid on Jan. 5-7, 2007. Road race ace Boris Said, son of former Olympic bobsledder Bob Said, and Kevin Lepage of Shelburne, Vt., won the first two races in sleds specially designed for the competition.
The event was devised as an effort to raise funds for the U.S. men's and women's bobsled teams. Bodine has been involved in the sport for nearly 15 years. After watching the 1992 Albertville Winter Olympics on television and noticing the U.S. teams competed with European-made sleds, he created the Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project, Inc. to help make sure U.S. sleds would be made in America.
Bodine and co-promoter John Morgan didn't begin organizing last year until July, and this year they're hoping to attract drivers from other motor racing series as well.
"Tony Schumacher of NHRA called after January's races and said, 'What am I, chopped liver? You didn't invite us to the race,"' Morgan said. "Now we can get creative. We spent 75 percent of our energy last year wondering, 'Do you think it's going to work? Are they going to be safe?' We had a lot of volatility. All of that is behind us."
Bodine and Morgan also said they have had discussions with the Indy Racing League and were considering expanding the event to bobsled tracks at Park City, Utah and Calgary, Canada.
"We got great reaction from fans in January," said Sandy Caligiore of the New York Olympic Regional Development Authority, which operates the winter sports venues in the Lake Placid region. "From our standpoint, it starts to open our organization to a totally different audience. You usually don't find race car fans coming to Lake Placid in droves."
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Right as RainesPete Pistone
Managing Editor
It's not often that a Top 20 finish is reason to celebrate. But for Tony Raines and the Hall of Fame Racing team, they'll take it.
Raines picked up a 20th place finish in last Saturday night's Dodge Charger 500 at Darlington Raceway, his third of the year.
After qualifying 42nd and not being able to better their speed by much in Friday night's "Happy Hour" practice session, the 20th place finish was even more impressive.
"It was pretty good, considering they type of day we had on Friday, you know hitting the wall in practice and hitting the wall in qualifying,” Raines said. “We started 42nd, and finished 20th -- I'm pleased with that as far as rebounding from where we started. If we had started 20th and finished 20th, I'd be disappointed. We passed a lot of cars. We scraped the wall, but we didn't hit it and tear up the car. It was a good rebound."
Since Raines took over from Terry Labonte, who started the season for HOF as an insurance factor to make every race with his past champion's provisional, the No. 96 DLP Chevrolet has been at least consistent in finishing races.
In fact, Raines doesn't have one DNF in his six starts since taking over as the team's full-time driver.
The combination of Labonte's and Raines' finishes has the team 27th in owners' points, which has gotten the car into the field the last several weeks without the added pressure of needing to qualify on time.
But even though strides have been made, Raines knows there's much work ahead, even if there is a slight sense of satisfaction for their recent efforts.
"We’ve got a ways to go yet, but we changed the car completely from Friday to Saturday, and it was definitely a better car today," Raines said after Saturday night's race. "It was a little tight at the beginning of a run, and loose at the end of the run, but in the middle of a run we had a fast car."
"We can build on that and carry some momentum in the next couple of races. From where we started, it’s a good finish.”
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Jarrett Deal Has Toyota's FingerprintsBy TONY FABRIZIO
Michael Waltrip took aim a few weeks ago at the trepidation surrounding Toyota's entry into Nextel Cup and the Busch Series next year.
Toyota is not, Waltrip insisted, directly involved in recruiting drivers and crew members for its teams. It has not, he said, given its new team owners a crate of blank checks to buy the best talent and equipment available.
And then Waltrip, one of three new Toyota team owners, went out and signed Dale Jarrett to drive a Camry in 2007.
The move announced last weekend at Darlington has Toyota's fingerprints all over it.
On one hand, Jarrett turns 50 in November, and he's nearing the end of his career. He won't win a lot of races over the next couple of years.
On the other, he is a Ford guy who is popular among people who own and drive Fords. Most of Jarrett's 32 Nextel Cup victories came in a Ford, as did his championship, as did his father, Ned's, two championships.
Dale Jarrett Ford in Monroe, N.C., sells, well, Fords. (OK, to be fair, there also is a Dale Jarrett Suzuki.)
Neither Robert Yates Racing nor Ford wanted to see Jarrett sign with a Toyota team. At the very least, they hoped he would retire as a Ford driver.
But now there are hard feelings.
"They made him an offer he couldn't refuse," Yates Racing co-owner Doug Yates said. "That part doesn't surprise me because Toyota's history and background is throwing a lot of money around, and here is one of those examples. It is what it is."
Dan Davis, Ford's director of Racing Operations, was less conciliatory.
"We're obviously not happy Dale is leaving Robert Yates Racing because he's been a champion and a great ambassador for Ford fans," he said. "We understand his decision, but we are disappointed.
"Toyota is going to have its work cut out for them competing in Nextel Cup, no matter how much they plan on spending. Our plan is to keep winning races and championships."
To think, this was only the first salvo.
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By JENNA FRYER Injured NASCAR Crewman Back for Challenge
AP Motorsports Writer
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Josh Yost watched last year's Pit Crew Challenge from a wheelchair, his right ankle mangled when Rusty Wallace ran over it in a pit road accident.
Yost, the jackman on Jeff Burton's crew, has a job with many hazards. Only this one sidelined him six months and nearly cost the 28-year-old his livelihood.
"It was a pretty tough time for me," Yost said. "I had two surgeries, was in a cast for three months, couldn't work at all for six. I needed a wheelchair when I left the house and a walker for when I was home. It was a pretty ugly injury."
One Yost worked extremely hard to come back from, and he'll proudly showcase how far he's come in Wednesday night's Nextel Pit Crew Challenge. Kasey Kahne's team one the overall title last year, and the competition also awards $10,000 to the fastest crew member at each position.
"I actually practiced for the competition last year, because it was only being held two weeks after my accident," Yost said. "But then I got hurt. I had just had the second surgery right before the competition, and the team came and got me and brought me out there in my wheelchair to watch them.
"It will be a lot better to be out there with them this year."
Yost had just jumped over the wall last May 1 to service Burton's car when Wallace came down Talladega's pit road at 55 mph and clipped him.
The impact broke the tibia bone in his right leg, and severed every ligament and tendon on the right side of his ankle. When Yost looked down, the bottom of his shoe was facing up and he was standing on his bone.
But Yost, who has a thick scar that zigzags from the top of his ankle down the side of his foot, was back in the shop at the end of last year and practicing pit stops shortly after. He returned to his job on the race-day crew with the season-opening Daytona 500.
"It's pretty amazing what he went through to get himself well and back to work," team owner Richard Childress said. "But he's real tough, and really did a great job through the whole healing process. Then he jumped right back into it. Didn't hesitate at all to go back over that wall."
A pit crew job can seem glamorous to outsiders, but it's quite dangerous and has led to many fatal accidents over the years.
It wasn't until 1990, when a crewman for Bill Elliott was killed when Ricky Rudd hit Elliott's stopped car that NASCAR even implemented a pit road speed limit. Helmets were mandated in 2001 after driver Ward Burton veered into three of Rudd's crewmen, causing serious head injuries to the front tire changer.
Despite the peril, there's no shortage of applicants who all wish to jump over the wall and change four tires in 16 seconds or less. They are the faceless, nameless people on a race team who only get attention when they fail to tighten a lug nut or don't remove the gas can before their driver speeds away.
Toss in the intimidation other drivers use to rattle their nerves and the job seems less then desirable.
"Rusty was known for trying to scare other crews," Yost said. "The stop before he hit me he bumped another one of our guys. I guess he just tried to get other crews off their game."
Yost still holds a little bit of resentment toward Wallace, and it actually made headlines last season when the two failed to connect during Wallace's attempt to apologize. But Yost says to this day he'll pass Wallace on pit road before a Busch race and Wallace doesn't even acknowledge him.
"That bothers me because I know how Jeff Burton would have handled it if he had hurt a crew guy," Yost said. "When Jeff Gordon hit a bunch of Jimmie Johnson's guys a few years ago, he went to the hospital to check on them. There's just a way to take care of it, and Rusty never did."
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Army learns from NASCAR
Fast repair tricks will be put to use in weapons of the future
BY PETER BACQUE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
NASCAR pit stops are teaching the Army lessons for the battlefield.
And the Army is applying what it's learned from stock-car racing to its multibillion-dollar Future Combat Systems, the service's flagship modernization program.
As a recruiting tool, the U.S. Army already sponsors the 01 car, driven by Joe Nemechek, on the NASCAR Nextel Cup circuit.
"NASCAR could so quickly do maintenance on a race car," said the Army's Phillip W. Hodges. "Why couldn't we do that with our vehicles?"
So the Army tapped into NASCAR's experience at pit-stop design to make its networked weapons of the future sustainable in combat in the world's harshest environments, said Hodges, an engineer who is the Army's deputy manager for the program.
Officials at an Army logistics conference yesterday pointed out examples of pit-stop engineering to make its high-tech warfighting systems easy to fix and keep running in the field:
- using only 20 simple tools for all field maintenance
- eliminating the need to use tools for many operations
- designing the equipment so that any problem will take no more than 30 minutes to repair
- embedding diagnostic devices to tell the crew what component is going to fail and when
- making likely-to-fail parts the easiest to work on
- "Using quick-disconnects if at all possible," said Fort Lee engineer Bill Moore, "that's a technology we're definitely employing so they can make a lot of repairs with no tools at all."
"We're now using those in Iraq, on Humvees, trucks and helicopters," Hodges said during the Association of the United States Army's Logistics Symposium at the Greater Richmond Convention Center.
The Humvee itself, the Army's hardy maid of all work, has seen its engine compartment redesigned a la NASCAR so that changing its engine now takes less than an hour, rather than the 12 hours the job used to require, Moore said.
"By letting the crew do the work, you've eliminated the logistics tail that stays behind to do all the maintenance and repair," Hodges pointed out.
"All that equates to reduced cost to the taxpayers," he said.
Several hundred senior Army leaders and civilian contractors are attending the three-day logistics symposium.
Tom Higgins' Scuffs
Star Wars
The controversial finish ranks among the wildest and wooliest in NASCAR history.
It led to the intervention of a state governor, alleged death threats against the sport's biggest star and creation of a mythical move that never happened.
The race was the third running of The Winston, an all-star event at the track then known as Charlotte Motor Speedway. The principals were Dale Earnhardt, his arch rival Geoff Bodine, and Bill Elliott.
Here's the story of a day that will live forever in NASCAR lore, May 17, 1987:
It was hard to tell where Bill Elliott's forehead ended and his red hair began.
That's because the Georgian's face was ablaze in anger.
Elliott had just battled Dale Earnhardt--and lost--in a dramatic duel that makes this particular all-star battle the most memorable among many spectacular shows that have been staged annually since 1985. The current stars are scheduled to come out once again Saturday night at the big track north of Charlotte, a layout now named Lowe's Motor Speedway.
Elliott had the strongest car, leading 121 of the first 125 laps in his Ford on the 1.5-mile track. But since The Winston was being run in increments of 75, 50 and 10 laps, rivals got repeated shots at him.
As the last segment began, Elliott and Geoff Bodine ran abreast on the front row. Earnhardt was lined up third.
In turn one there was contact among the trio. Who hit who first is still debated.
The heavy bumping spun Bodine into Elliott, who had to slow and fight for control. Earnhardt darted low and flashed ahead in the No. 3 Chevrolet he was in the process of making famous.
Fans roared louder than the thundering engines.
After a brief caution period for Bodine's spin, Earnhardt and Elliott ran 1-2 with seven laps to go. Twice they brushed sheet metal. Then Earnhardt appeared to force Elliott high in turn four. Elliott responded by tagging Earnhardt, who careened off the asphalt into the grassy area between the homestretch and pit road.
Earnhardt stayed on the the throttle and with sensational driving (and some luck) kept going straight. He came back onto the pavement still in front.
Earnhardt's feat quickly became known as "The Pass In The Grass." Catchy, but incorrect. There was no pass. Earnhardt remained the leader throughout the incident.
While Elliott pitted to replace a tire cut by the contact, Earnhardt headed to victory, winning by almost a second over runnerup Terry Labonte.
The so-called "cool-down lap" was just the opposite. Elliott banged into Earnhardt on the backstretch, then again on pit road. Bodine popped the winner's car, too.
Fans roared anew. Half cheered Earnhardt. Half booed and made threatening remarks and gestures.
Because of the tension, two burly crewmen from Earnhardt's Richard Childress Racing team--Danny "Chocolate" Myers and Cecil Gordon, a former driver--accompanied Earnhardt to the press box as body guards. Before meeting the media, Earnhardt watched a video of the closing 10 laps.
"I know what happened and I'm just confirming it," said Earnhardt. "On the restart Bodine chopped Elliott off. It was just reflexes that allowed me to get under them. Then Elliott knocks me into the grass. I should be the one that's hot!"
Elliott came to the press box after Earnhardt left, an unprecedented visit for a 14th-place finisher.
"Dale knew I had the best car and he cut me off," said a seething Elliott. "This after he hit Bodine and got him into me. If a man has to win a race like that, he can have it."
NASCAR fined Earnhardt and Elliott $2,500 each. Bodine was fined $1,000.
Two days later Georgia Governor Joe Frank Harris announced that he and fellow citizens had raised the money to pay the penalty for Elliott, then the state's favorite son.
The animosity simmered, epecially among fans, throughout the summer. Some Bodine followers allegedly felt so strongly that they threatened to do in Earnhardt in August when the Winston Cup tour visited the road course at Watkins Glen, N.Y., Bodine's home track. The threats were never made public, but were taken seriously enough that the FBI is said to have investigated.
Earnhardt received extra protection at Watkins Glen, but there were no unusual incidents.
Earnhardt and Elliott eventually became friends again, even trading visits to help promote each other's auto dealerships. And Earnhardt and Bodine, through the strong intervention of NASCAR president Bill France Jr., were forced into a relative truce.
Since 1992 the all-star event has been held at night, and post-race fireworks have become a traditional part of the entertainment.
The rockets' red glare always is quite a sight to see. But the bombs bursting in air will never match the on-track fireworks of 1987.
Roush, veteran car owner, predicts car manufacturers will play much bigger role
By Mike Mulhern
JOURNAL REPORTER
Car owner Jack Roush is worried about Toyota.
Not about head-to-head, mano a mano racing - his Fords against Toyota on NASCAR's Nextel Cup tour - but rather about Toyota's deep pockets and the potential impact of its money on the balance of power in stock-car racing.
Toyota's Jim Aust, the company's racing boss, counters that Toyota won't be using any economic weapons in taking on Ford, Chevrolet and Dodge in 2007.
But Roush isn't buying it. And Roush said he's worried that NASCAR executives, so eager to get Toyota and its advertising and marketing dollars, might not be savvy enough to keep Toyota in check.
"This is my 19th year in Cup racing, and I've been racing over 40 years at the national level in things that are fairly serious - road racing, drag racing, and now stock-car racing," Roush said slowly. "So I'm almost to the point that the more experience I have, the less certain I am that what I believed in the past to be correct was, indeed, right - and that leaves me questioning whether what I believe to be right today will, indeed, be right sometime in the future. How will I really feel about this or that 10 years from now?
"That's the caveat to all this."
Roush conceded that NASCAR's track record in promoting the sport's growth has been impressive.
"NASCAR has had a history of landing on its feet, making decisions that made the sport progress and attract greater national attention, and the attention of more and more sponsors, and more sophisticated sponsors," Roush said.
"But some of my feelings about this (Toyota and NASCAR's car of tomorrow) are more negative. Still, I do believe in the process and the people and that they will work their way through this -and if things require it, that they will make changes.
"As far as Toyota ... if it does what it's done historically, it will bring a new dimension of manufacturer involvement. The manufacturers have not traditionally been the most significant source of team income. My Ford manufacturer has probably provided only five to 10 percent of our total revenue for the operation of my team. Toyota has traditionally carried a much greater percentage of the team's revenue, and if they do that here, they will put Ford, GM and Chrysler in a situation where they either may choose not to or may not be able to match the money that Toyota is bringing in. And that could upset parity that has been the basis for the competition among manufacturers that has been good for the series and really good for NASCAR and its fans.
"I am concerned about that balance being upset by the - I won't say outrageous, but certainly the generous-beyond-reason - rumors of Toyota's drivers' salaries."
One of those is Dale Jarrett's reported $20 million, two-year contract to drive Toyotas for Michael Waltrip. Waltrip has denied the $20 million figure but won't provide any details. -
It is Toyota's suspected subsidies of its teams that worry Roush and others. Toyota officials said that they are not coming in with bags of money. But Roush and others have laid out their case that says that Toyota is putting more money into its teams than Detroit manufacturers have traditionally done.
"Chrysler was actually the first protagonist in the Truck series to do this - Chrysler came into the Trucks with the willingness to underwrite the teams' programs," Roush said.
"And Toyota came into Trucks and fell right in line with that. Toyota brought a concept of engine-builds out of the Toyota-run factory on the West Coast, and the same with the cars, out of the North Carolina shop. That made the role of the team owners and crew chiefs much less important. Was that good for the Truck series? In the short term I think it was, because with Toyota's dollars and Toyota's presence there was more interest. But that was when the Truck series was struggling for viability, with TV and with track owners.
"But Cup is different. Cup is a healthy series, with parity among the manufacturers."
Roush said that Toyota's NASCAR entry will be a windfall for some teams that have not fared very well, in terms of competitiveness, and he sees an overall economic problem.
"Toyota has a lot of money right now, and a great opportunity to become a bigger player in the American economy, to the detriment of the traditional player," Roush said."So I see an economic problem. Ford has to look at what Toyota is spending and decide if they want to engage.
"If NASCAR lets them spend the money and change the model and upset the parity, NASCAR has to stop and think about what all that means. Is NASCAR willing to let this become a Toyota series? I'm not being Chicken Little on this; that's what they've done in other places. They have a history of doing that.
"If NASCAR manages to get in front of Toyota, it will be the first time NASCAR has ever gotten in front of an engine manufacturer who has brought something new into this sport, and that goes back more than 50 years. Whatever somebody brings in, NASCAR has reacted to, but they've yielded to it, allowed the obsolescence of much of the technology that already existed. And I expect that will happen with Toyota in the Cup series, too."
The controversial finish ranks among the wildest and wooliest in NASCAR history.
It led to the intervention of a state governor, alleged death threats against the sport's biggest star and creation of a mythical move that never happened.
The race was the third running of The Winston, an all-star event at the track then known as Charlotte Motor Speedway. The principals were Dale Earnhardt, his arch rival Geoff Bodine, and Bill Elliott.
Here's the story of a day that will live forever in NASCAR lore, May 17, 1987:
It was hard to tell where Bill Elliott's forehead ended and his red hair began.
That's because the Georgian's face was ablaze in anger.
Elliott had just battled Dale Earnhardt--and lost--in a dramatic duel that makes this particular all-star battle the most memorable among many spectacular shows that have been staged annually since 1985. The current stars are scheduled to come out once again Saturday night at the big track north of Charlotte, a layout now named Lowe's Motor Speedway.
Elliott had the strongest car, leading 121 of the first 125 laps in his Ford on the 1.5-mile track. But since The Winston was being run in increments of 75, 50 and 10 laps, rivals got repeated shots at him.
As the last segment began, Elliott and Geoff Bodine ran abreast on the front row. Earnhardt was lined up third.
In turn one there was contact among the trio. Who hit who first is still debated.
The heavy bumping spun Bodine into Elliott, who had to slow and fight for control. Earnhardt darted low and flashed ahead in the No. 3 Chevrolet he was in the process of making famous.
Fans roared louder than the thundering engines.
After a brief caution period for Bodine's spin, Earnhardt and Elliott ran 1-2 with seven laps to go. Twice they brushed sheet metal. Then Earnhardt appeared to force Elliott high in turn four. Elliott responded by tagging Earnhardt, who careened off the asphalt into the grassy area between the homestretch and pit road.
Earnhardt stayed on the the throttle and with sensational driving (and some luck) kept going straight. He came back onto the pavement still in front.
Earnhardt's feat quickly became known as "The Pass In The Grass." Catchy, but incorrect. There was no pass. Earnhardt remained the leader throughout the incident.
While Elliott pitted to replace a tire cut by the contact, Earnhardt headed to victory, winning by almost a second over runnerup Terry Labonte.
The so-called "cool-down lap" was just the opposite. Elliott banged into Earnhardt on the backstretch, then again on pit road. Bodine popped the winner's car, too.
Fans roared anew. Half cheered Earnhardt. Half booed and made threatening remarks and gestures.
Because of the tension, two burly crewmen from Earnhardt's Richard Childress Racing team--Danny "Chocolate" Myers and Cecil Gordon, a former driver--accompanied Earnhardt to the press box as body guards. Before meeting the media, Earnhardt watched a video of the closing 10 laps.
"I know what happened and I'm just confirming it," said Earnhardt. "On the restart Bodine chopped Elliott off. It was just reflexes that allowed me to get under them. Then Elliott knocks me into the grass. I should be the one that's hot!"
Elliott came to the press box after Earnhardt left, an unprecedented visit for a 14th-place finisher.
"Dale knew I had the best car and he cut me off," said a seething Elliott. "This after he hit Bodine and got him into me. If a man has to win a race like that, he can have it."
NASCAR fined Earnhardt and Elliott $2,500 each. Bodine was fined $1,000.
Two days later Georgia Governor Joe Frank Harris announced that he and fellow citizens had raised the money to pay the penalty for Elliott, then the state's favorite son.
The animosity simmered, epecially among fans, throughout the summer. Some Bodine followers allegedly felt so strongly that they threatened to do in Earnhardt in August when the Winston Cup tour visited the road course at Watkins Glen, N.Y., Bodine's home track. The threats were never made public, but were taken seriously enough that the FBI is said to have investigated.
Earnhardt received extra protection at Watkins Glen, but there were no unusual incidents.
Earnhardt and Elliott eventually became friends again, even trading visits to help promote each other's auto dealerships. And Earnhardt and Bodine, through the strong intervention of NASCAR president Bill France Jr., were forced into a relative truce.
Since 1992 the all-star event has been held at night, and post-race fireworks have become a traditional part of the entertainment.
The rockets' red glare always is quite a sight to see. But the bombs bursting in air will never match the on-track fireworks of 1987.
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Toyota will likely reshape Cup racingRoush, veteran car owner, predicts car manufacturers will play much bigger role
By Mike Mulhern
JOURNAL REPORTER
Car owner Jack Roush is worried about Toyota.
Not about head-to-head, mano a mano racing - his Fords against Toyota on NASCAR's Nextel Cup tour - but rather about Toyota's deep pockets and the potential impact of its money on the balance of power in stock-car racing.
Toyota's Jim Aust, the company's racing boss, counters that Toyota won't be using any economic weapons in taking on Ford, Chevrolet and Dodge in 2007.
But Roush isn't buying it. And Roush said he's worried that NASCAR executives, so eager to get Toyota and its advertising and marketing dollars, might not be savvy enough to keep Toyota in check.
"This is my 19th year in Cup racing, and I've been racing over 40 years at the national level in things that are fairly serious - road racing, drag racing, and now stock-car racing," Roush said slowly. "So I'm almost to the point that the more experience I have, the less certain I am that what I believed in the past to be correct was, indeed, right - and that leaves me questioning whether what I believe to be right today will, indeed, be right sometime in the future. How will I really feel about this or that 10 years from now?
"That's the caveat to all this."
Roush conceded that NASCAR's track record in promoting the sport's growth has been impressive.
"NASCAR has had a history of landing on its feet, making decisions that made the sport progress and attract greater national attention, and the attention of more and more sponsors, and more sophisticated sponsors," Roush said.
"But some of my feelings about this (Toyota and NASCAR's car of tomorrow) are more negative. Still, I do believe in the process and the people and that they will work their way through this -and if things require it, that they will make changes.
"As far as Toyota ... if it does what it's done historically, it will bring a new dimension of manufacturer involvement. The manufacturers have not traditionally been the most significant source of team income. My Ford manufacturer has probably provided only five to 10 percent of our total revenue for the operation of my team. Toyota has traditionally carried a much greater percentage of the team's revenue, and if they do that here, they will put Ford, GM and Chrysler in a situation where they either may choose not to or may not be able to match the money that Toyota is bringing in. And that could upset parity that has been the basis for the competition among manufacturers that has been good for the series and really good for NASCAR and its fans.
"I am concerned about that balance being upset by the - I won't say outrageous, but certainly the generous-beyond-reason - rumors of Toyota's drivers' salaries."
One of those is Dale Jarrett's reported $20 million, two-year contract to drive Toyotas for Michael Waltrip. Waltrip has denied the $20 million figure but won't provide any details. -
It is Toyota's suspected subsidies of its teams that worry Roush and others. Toyota officials said that they are not coming in with bags of money. But Roush and others have laid out their case that says that Toyota is putting more money into its teams than Detroit manufacturers have traditionally done.
"Chrysler was actually the first protagonist in the Truck series to do this - Chrysler came into the Trucks with the willingness to underwrite the teams' programs," Roush said.
"And Toyota came into Trucks and fell right in line with that. Toyota brought a concept of engine-builds out of the Toyota-run factory on the West Coast, and the same with the cars, out of the North Carolina shop. That made the role of the team owners and crew chiefs much less important. Was that good for the Truck series? In the short term I think it was, because with Toyota's dollars and Toyota's presence there was more interest. But that was when the Truck series was struggling for viability, with TV and with track owners.
"But Cup is different. Cup is a healthy series, with parity among the manufacturers."
Roush said that Toyota's NASCAR entry will be a windfall for some teams that have not fared very well, in terms of competitiveness, and he sees an overall economic problem.
"Toyota has a lot of money right now, and a great opportunity to become a bigger player in the American economy, to the detriment of the traditional player," Roush said."So I see an economic problem. Ford has to look at what Toyota is spending and decide if they want to engage.
"If NASCAR lets them spend the money and change the model and upset the parity, NASCAR has to stop and think about what all that means. Is NASCAR willing to let this become a Toyota series? I'm not being Chicken Little on this; that's what they've done in other places. They have a history of doing that.
"If NASCAR manages to get in front of Toyota, it will be the first time NASCAR has ever gotten in front of an engine manufacturer who has brought something new into this sport, and that goes back more than 50 years. Whatever somebody brings in, NASCAR has reacted to, but they've yielded to it, allowed the obsolescence of much of the technology that already existed. And I expect that will happen with Toyota in the Cup series, too."
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Loyalty Can Only Take You So Far
Bowles-Eye View
Thomas Bowles
After a Silly Season in which drivers ran from ride to ride faster than Denny Hamlin could truck it around his hauler, it’s easy to question the loyalty shown from drivers to owners in the Nextel Cup garage these days. Contract issues between Kurt Busch and Jamie McMurray that forced the hands of their former employers have forever altered the climate under which this racing community operates, possibly for good.
With betrayals and defections still fresh in one’s head, the first move of Silly Season 2006 has made it easy to question loyalty once again, this time with Dale Jarrett. At 49 years old and with time running short on his NASCAR life, Jarrett announced this weekend he was bolting from his Robert Yates Racing ride to newcomer Toyota for the final two years of his career. With 12 years under his belt at Yates, Jarrett has been soundly criticized in several circles for the move, especially when the recipient of his services is being given the equivalent of the “evil eye” by nervous competition. That’s a shame for Jarrett, because he should be applauded for this decision, for having the guts to stand up and take such a big risk so late in his racing life.
There’s no doubt Jarrett is leaving both an organization and a manufacturer through which he’s spent the best years of his career. Originally a temporary replacement for an injured Ernie Irvan to start the 1995 season, Jarrett has parlayed that opportunity with Robert Yates into a successful partnership that’s included two Daytona 500 wins and a Nextel Cup championship in 1999. Jarrett’s relationship with Ford runs even deeper, with his first Cup win being secured behind the wheel of a Wood Brothers Ford back in 1991.
The decision doesn’t come down to loyalty, though, and it’s not about the money (although at a reported $20 million for two seasons, it’s a nice bonus). This is a difficult admission by Jarrett that his time at Yates has simply run its course. After finishing in the Top 10 in points every season from 1996-2002, Jarrett’s finished 26th, 15th, and 15th the last three years. Since the beginning of that stretch in 2003, Jarrett’s only registered eleven Top 5 finishes—- in comparison, he had 24 Top 5s in ONE season during his championship year of 1999.
It’s not like the 88 team hasn’t been trying to recreate that success with top talent. The UPS car is currently on crew chief number six right now since 2002, Slugger Labbe, but the 88 team still finds itself consistently mediocre, with brilliance on the track being the exception, not the rule. Former crew chief Mike Ford is currently making magic with rookie Denny Hamlin, and Jimmy Elledge is doing the same for Reed Sorenson. Brad Parrott and Shawn Parker were talented crew chiefs in their own right. No restructuring Yates could do, however, seems to ever replace the chemistry Jarrett and former crew chief Todd Parrott had during their years together. Parrott was initially replaced at the end of the 2001 season, a move that, while Yates had his reasons, broke the back of an organization that has yet to get itself fixed. While Parrott’s come back for several short stints since to run the 88 car, things have never been the same; that magic communication between driver and crew chief had simply run its course.
Make no mistake, Jarrett could have finished off his career with Yates without a problem. A marketing machine, he’s beloved by sponsors, appreciated by teammate Elliott Sadler (signed through 2008, the year Jarrett plans to retire) and still had the respect of his organization.
Of course, all that gushing doesn’t add up to race wins, and all that marketing genius doesn’t stop a gentle fade into obscurity on the racetrack. Take the case of the Labontes as examples. Terry Labonte chose to remain loyal to Rick Hendrick for the final few years of his career in another situation where chemistry had run its course, and nearly a whimper has been heard of him on the track since. Meanwhile, brother Bobby left Joe Gibbs under similar circumstances at Jarrett and is beginning to enjoy a bit of a career renaissance at Petty Enterprises. Of course, Labonte is being lauded with praise for his decision now; but it’s easier to get the pats on the back when you’re working for a legend and not for the new kid on the block.
Certainly, moving to Toyota has its share of risks for Jarrett; simply take a look at the way Waltrip’s team has run this year. There are no guarantees Toyota money will produce instant results, and Jarrett doesn’t have the longevity needed to wait. On the other hand, if Toyota’s effort is anything like Dodge’s triumphant return to the circuit in 2001, Jarrett could have a handful of wins waiting for him, as well as possible spot in the Chase not once, but twice for a chance at that long-coveted second championship that would allow Dale to tie his dad in the record books. That’s a far better outlook than his last two years at Yates would likely have ever brought him.
No one knows what the move will bring, and that’s the beauty of it for Jarrett, giving him an opportunity to clear his conscience as to whether it was the driver or the team holding things back at Yates all this time. In a changing NASCAR world, there’s a difference between being loyal and being realistic; Jarrett chose to be realistic, and risky at the same time. There’s no reason to question that, other than to wish him luck the gamble pays off.
Bowles-Eye View
Thomas Bowles
After a Silly Season in which drivers ran from ride to ride faster than Denny Hamlin could truck it around his hauler, it’s easy to question the loyalty shown from drivers to owners in the Nextel Cup garage these days. Contract issues between Kurt Busch and Jamie McMurray that forced the hands of their former employers have forever altered the climate under which this racing community operates, possibly for good.
With betrayals and defections still fresh in one’s head, the first move of Silly Season 2006 has made it easy to question loyalty once again, this time with Dale Jarrett. At 49 years old and with time running short on his NASCAR life, Jarrett announced this weekend he was bolting from his Robert Yates Racing ride to newcomer Toyota for the final two years of his career. With 12 years under his belt at Yates, Jarrett has been soundly criticized in several circles for the move, especially when the recipient of his services is being given the equivalent of the “evil eye” by nervous competition. That’s a shame for Jarrett, because he should be applauded for this decision, for having the guts to stand up and take such a big risk so late in his racing life.
There’s no doubt Jarrett is leaving both an organization and a manufacturer through which he’s spent the best years of his career. Originally a temporary replacement for an injured Ernie Irvan to start the 1995 season, Jarrett has parlayed that opportunity with Robert Yates into a successful partnership that’s included two Daytona 500 wins and a Nextel Cup championship in 1999. Jarrett’s relationship with Ford runs even deeper, with his first Cup win being secured behind the wheel of a Wood Brothers Ford back in 1991.
The decision doesn’t come down to loyalty, though, and it’s not about the money (although at a reported $20 million for two seasons, it’s a nice bonus). This is a difficult admission by Jarrett that his time at Yates has simply run its course. After finishing in the Top 10 in points every season from 1996-2002, Jarrett’s finished 26th, 15th, and 15th the last three years. Since the beginning of that stretch in 2003, Jarrett’s only registered eleven Top 5 finishes—- in comparison, he had 24 Top 5s in ONE season during his championship year of 1999.
It’s not like the 88 team hasn’t been trying to recreate that success with top talent. The UPS car is currently on crew chief number six right now since 2002, Slugger Labbe, but the 88 team still finds itself consistently mediocre, with brilliance on the track being the exception, not the rule. Former crew chief Mike Ford is currently making magic with rookie Denny Hamlin, and Jimmy Elledge is doing the same for Reed Sorenson. Brad Parrott and Shawn Parker were talented crew chiefs in their own right. No restructuring Yates could do, however, seems to ever replace the chemistry Jarrett and former crew chief Todd Parrott had during their years together. Parrott was initially replaced at the end of the 2001 season, a move that, while Yates had his reasons, broke the back of an organization that has yet to get itself fixed. While Parrott’s come back for several short stints since to run the 88 car, things have never been the same; that magic communication between driver and crew chief had simply run its course.
Make no mistake, Jarrett could have finished off his career with Yates without a problem. A marketing machine, he’s beloved by sponsors, appreciated by teammate Elliott Sadler (signed through 2008, the year Jarrett plans to retire) and still had the respect of his organization.
Of course, all that gushing doesn’t add up to race wins, and all that marketing genius doesn’t stop a gentle fade into obscurity on the racetrack. Take the case of the Labontes as examples. Terry Labonte chose to remain loyal to Rick Hendrick for the final few years of his career in another situation where chemistry had run its course, and nearly a whimper has been heard of him on the track since. Meanwhile, brother Bobby left Joe Gibbs under similar circumstances at Jarrett and is beginning to enjoy a bit of a career renaissance at Petty Enterprises. Of course, Labonte is being lauded with praise for his decision now; but it’s easier to get the pats on the back when you’re working for a legend and not for the new kid on the block.
Certainly, moving to Toyota has its share of risks for Jarrett; simply take a look at the way Waltrip’s team has run this year. There are no guarantees Toyota money will produce instant results, and Jarrett doesn’t have the longevity needed to wait. On the other hand, if Toyota’s effort is anything like Dodge’s triumphant return to the circuit in 2001, Jarrett could have a handful of wins waiting for him, as well as possible spot in the Chase not once, but twice for a chance at that long-coveted second championship that would allow Dale to tie his dad in the record books. That’s a far better outlook than his last two years at Yates would likely have ever brought him.
No one knows what the move will bring, and that’s the beauty of it for Jarrett, giving him an opportunity to clear his conscience as to whether it was the driver or the team holding things back at Yates all this time. In a changing NASCAR world, there’s a difference between being loyal and being realistic; Jarrett chose to be realistic, and risky at the same time. There’s no reason to question that, other than to wish him luck the gamble pays off.
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"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
-Dale Earnhardt
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NASCAR ON TV THIS WEEK Final practice: Nextel Open/NASCAR Nextel All-Star Challenge Friday, May 19 Noon Speed
Qualifying: Craftsman Truck Series Quaker Steak and Lube 200 Friday, May 19 4 p.m. Speed
Qualifying: Nextel Open/NASCAR Nextel All-Star Challenge Friday, May 19 6 p.m. Speed
Craftsman Truck Series Quaker Steak and Lube 200 Friday, May 19 8:30 p.m. Speed
NASCAR Nextel Pit Crew Challenge (Taped) Saturday, May 20 4 p.m. Speed
Nextel Open/NASCAR Nextel All-Star Challenge Saturday, May 20 7 p.m. FX
All time Eastern. Times and station subject to change.
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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 wins'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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