Today In Nascar History

May 6, 1984

Cale Yarborough wins at Talladega after a record 75 lead changes among 13 drivers.  It is a NASCAR record that stands to this day.  Cale beat “Handsome” Harry Gant by 2 car lengths.

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This is the letter that DE3Fan sent to DEI…..way to go Larry!

from Larry
Team DEI,
I have been a fan of Dale Earnhardt since 1979.  I was also a devout fan of DEI after Dale's untimely passing.  As you can see in the attachment, I have the DEI team flying from one of my flag poles in my yard, courtesy of Corinne Chausse.  Those flags will be removed tomorrow and RCR's team will fly in their place.  I no longer wish your newsletters or emails.  Afterall, Dale chose Steve BEFORE Junior or Waltrip!  Steve should have finished out the year before this decision was made!  You have lost this DEI fan!
GOODBYE!
Larry Lange
Prarie du Chien, WI

I will be having a special commentary on this situation, but need to cool down a little bit and think about it before I post.  Stay Tuned!

Kevin Harvick Fastest in Busch, Bobby Hamilton Top Trucker As NASCAR Testing Continues at Lowe's Motor Speedway: Kevin Harvick and Bobby Hamilton topped the speed charts Tuesday as NASCAR Busch Series and Craftsman Truck Series teams tested at Lowe's Motor Speedway in preparation for the May 24 CARQUEST Auto Parts 300 and the inaugural Hardee's 200 on May 16. Persistent showers limited Busch Series drivers and teams to just one hour and 45 minutes of track time while heavy afternoon rain cut the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series test session to just three hours. Driving Richard Childress' No. 21 Chevrolet, Harvick posted a lap of 30.161 seconds, 179.039 mph, on the unofficial watches to top the 14 Busch Series teams. Harvick, a four-time Busch Series starter at Lowe's Motor Speedway, will be looking to duplicate the effort that saw him claim the pole for the 2001 CARQUEST Auto Parts 300. Kyle Busch, who turned 18 on May 2 and plans to make his first Busch Series start in the May 24 race, was second fastest in the No. 87 Chevrolet at 178.974 mph with Ron Hornaday third quickest at 178.536 mph in the No. 2 Chevrolet. Matt Kenseth was fourth at 178.341 mph in the No. 17 Ford with defending CARQUEST Auto Parts 300 winner Jeff Green rounding out the top-five in the No. 32 Chevrolet at 178.141.

The unofficial top-10 speeds:

NASCAR Busch Series: 1. Kevin Harvick, 179.039; 2. Kyle Busch, 178.974; 3. Ron Hornaday, 178.536; 4. Matt Kenseth, 178.341; 5. Jeff Green, 178.141; 6. Dave Blaney, 178.118; 7. Tony Raines, 175.393; 8. Damon Lusk, 172.844; 9. Tim Sauter, 172.612; 10. Jeff Fultz, 171.276.

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: 1. Bobby Hamilton, 171.958; 2. Ken Schrader, 170.875; 3. Jon Wood, 169.795; 4. Brendan Gaughan, 169.758; 5. Rick Crawford, 169.412; 6. Ted Musgrave, 169.380; 7. Kevin Harvick, 169.263; 8. Travis Kvapil, 169.173; 9. Jason Leffler, 169.078; 10. Dennis Setzer, 168.676. - More

So a few hours after an official announcement that Biffle would drive an Ultra Motorsports Dodge in the NCTS race, another announcement came: Biffle wasn't driving the truck after all.

"Sponsor conflicts are cited as the reason," the second announcement said. "Roush Racing apologizes for any confusion this may have caused."

That company has no obvious conflict with Grainger, Biffle's Winston Cup sponsor, but clearly Dodge and Ford have different agendas.

Park released after six seasons at DEI
By Dave Rodman and Marty Smith, Turner Sports Interactive

MOORESVILLE, N.C. -- Steve Park's turbulent career with Dale Earnhardt Incorporated came to an end Tuesday when the organization announced it had fired the driver.

"Steve was instrumental in DEI's first NASCAR Winston Cup program," DEI owner Teresa Earnhardt said. "Our loyalty to each other was hard to overcome, however the time came where we simply had to make a change.

"We wish Steve the best in his future endeavors."

Veteran Jeff Green, who was released on Monday by Richard Childress Racing, has been hired to pilot the No. 1 Pennzoil Chevrolet on an interim basis, beginning with the Winston Open at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Park released a statement on his personal Web site, which said: "Monday afternoon I was released by Dale Earnhardt, Inc. from my contract.

"I wanted to let everyone know that there are no hard feelings between myself and DEI; companies make decisions like this since that is the nature of the racing business.

"I will always look back on my years of driving for DEI with much happiness.  Together the Pennzoil team and I shared many great memories of winning races and pole positions.

"It will always be an honor for me that I was the first Winston Cup driver for owner Dale Earnhardt."

Park's six-year Winston Cup career, composed of 157 starts, two wins, 11 top-fives, 33 top-10s and three Bud Poles; was punctuated by two devastating accidents.

The effects of the most recent crash, in 2001 during a Busch Series race at Darlington Raceway, ultimately did the 35-year-old driver in.

Park's release came after crashes in successive events that left him with a 40th-place finish at California Speedway after he won the Bud Pole for the Auto Club 500 and 43rd at Richmond International Raceway when he crashed after only 42 laps.

The native of East Northport, N.Y., is 33rd in the Winston Cup standings with one top-10 finish in 11 starts.

Park was hired by the late Dale Earnhardt to drive DEI's car in the NASCAR Busch Series, ironically replacing Green for the 1997 season, after making one start in 1996.

In 1997, Park won three races, a Bud Pole, the Busch Series Rookie of the Year Award and finished third in the standings.

In 1998, Park moved to Winston Cup full-time and suffered fractures to a femur and clavicle in a crash during practice at Atlanta. He came back to compete in 17 races that season.

He finished 14th in the championship in his second season, then scored a career-best 11th place in the standings in 2000, when he scored his inaugural victory, at Watkins Glen International in upstate New York.

Park also won at Rockingham in 2001, one week after Earnhardt's death in the Daytona 500. 

Park had five top-fives and 12 top-10s in the first 24 races of that season, but suffered a life-threatening head injury in an accident that occurred under caution in the South Carolina 200 Busch Series race.

Park returned to Winston Cup in March 2002, with some observers questioning whether he had come back too soon, but qualified fourth for the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400.

Since then, he has been nagged by questions about every accident or incident he's been involved in on the race track.

After he won the pole position two weeks ago at California Speedway, Park took the media to task in his pole winner's interview, saying it was his intent to finish the final year of his contract with DEI. Park was given a one-year extension at the end of last summer.

"If I drive the Pennzoil car for 20 years, that's great -- that is something I want to do," Park said at California. "The main thing I want to do is win races and get back to the form that this team was heading for before I got hurt.

"We're not going to quit until that is done."

On Tuesday, Park's time ran out. The decision was a bitter one for Ty Norris, DEI's executive vice president, with whom Park lived early in his career in North Carolina.

"At the start of this year we felt like he was in the best position to be competitive again that he had been in, in a while," Norris said at California. "The poor guy -- he lived with me for a while (so) it's not like we're not good friends."

In the end, the friendship wasn't enough to save Park's job. He crashed on the first lap at California, with 2002 rookie of the year Ryan Newman. His crash at Richmond came when he was running alone, and he said a tire had been punctured.

Park was unsure on Tuesday what his next step would be.

"With my departure from the team, I wish (crew chief) Tony Gibson and the rest of the guys on the crew and at the shop great success," Park said on his Web site. "I have enjoyed working with them and know I will see them at the track very soon.

"I would also like to thank all of my loyal fans who have stood by me through the years, and hope to get all of us back in Victory Lane very soon."

MB2, RCR begin driver searches
By Dave Rodman, Turner Sports Interactive

CONCORD, N.C. -- With Lowe's Motor Speedway into its pre-event testing cycle for its busy upcoming schedule of six NASCAR races over the course of two weekends, a pair of Winston Cup teams need to hire drivers.

MB2 Motorsports and Richard Childress Racing have to fill open seats, but for two widely different reasons.

The No. 01 U.S. Army Pontiac fielded by MB2 is open as Jerry Nadeau continues to recover at the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center from head, rib and lung injuries suffered in a crash in practice last Friday at Richmond International Raceway.

The No. 30 AOL Chevrolet from the RCR stable became available Monday when team owner Childress fired Jeff Green.

Both outfits have said they are in no hurry to make a decision, given that there are 10 days until practice opens at Lowe's for The Winston all-star race and its companion event, the Winston Open, on May 16.

"Our main concern is to get Jerry well," said MB2's general manager Jay Frye on Monday evening. "Fortunately we have this weekend on which we're not running and that buys us some time to make a decision."

Neither car was eligible for The Winston, so the Open would be the next event. The next Winston Cup points race is the Coca-Cola 600 on May 25.

An RCR spokesperson said on Tuesday that it hoped to have a replacement by the end of this week for Green, who had a three-year contract that expired at the end of the 2004 season.

Frye said he had taken calls from five drivers that were interested in "helping the team out." Frye said the MB2/MBV organization had compiled a short list of "about 10" possible replacements for Nadeau.

Given Green's release Monday, it was unknown whether or not he was on the list.  "We are kind of looking at getting through this week with Jerry, first," Frye said. "In terms of a replacement, we have to look at the circumstances around each candidate, what other commitments they have and what potential conflicts there might be -- which usually occurs on the sponsor side."

Frye did say that, particularly in MB2's case that what might be obvious sponsor or manufacturer conflicts could often be easily resolved, as was the case with Jason Keller, who drove the team's car at Richmond.

"Obviously, Jason drives a Ford in the Busch Series but it was never an issue for him to drive our Pontiac," Frye said. "We will certainly consider Jason, moving forward, but there are a lot of what-ifs on our list that we have to consider."  On The Winston weekend, the Busch Series practices and qualifies on Saturday at Nazareth (Pa.) Speedway.

Green said he was sensitive to the issue surrounding the concern over Nadeau's recovery after his crash. Nadeau's condition was upgraded to serious but stable on Monday afternoon.

However, Green said he would be working the phones, as well.

"I'm not going to sit back and wait for them to call me," Green said of possible employers. "I've already talked to a few people and I would love to drive for Jay and those guys over there.

"That would be a great opportunity -- to be associated with the U.S. Army would be pretty awesome.
"But we're all thinking about Jerry and I don't want to overshadow what he's got going on in the next no-telling how long to get back to where he needs to be."

For his part, Keller said he was primarily concerned with his championship contending Busch Series program at ppc Racing, as well as with Nadeau's recovery.

"I've had no conversations at all with them about driving it again because I know that everyone's focus is on Jerry's recovery right now," Keller said. "The only thing I said was that if I could help them any more while Jerry recovers, to let me know.

"Now, with Jeff Green getting fired that's another name on the list but I know I can't do it full-time (because) I've got my Busch obligations. I would love to race the car a couple more times but I can't ask them to let me do just a couple races.

"They need to do what's best for their race team, I know that and I understand that, but they know that I would love to help them out if I could."

Green hired to drive No. 1 Chevy at LMS
By Dave Rodman, Turner Sports Interactive

MOORESVILLE, N.C. -- Jeff Green, who was Dale Earnhardt Incorporated's first "outside" driver when he competed in the NASCAR Busch Series in 1995, has been hired by the team to replace Steve Park, whose release as the driver of the No. 1 Pennzoil Chevrolet in the Winston Cup Series was announced Tuesday.

Green, who was replaced by Park in DEI's Busch Series entry in 1997, will drive the No. 1 car on an interim basis beginning with practice for the Winston Open at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

"We feel Jeff can bring a fresh perspective to this team," DEI owner Teresa Earnhardt said.  "He's worked with our teams in the past and knows that we're dedicated to winning.

"I'm optimistic about the rest of the season."

Green, 40, of Owensboro, Ky., became available when Richard Childress Racing released him on Monday as the driver of its No. 30 AOL Chevrolet.

"It's amazing how much can change in 48 hours," Green said. "DEI is a great organization. I was here when they first started to grow and to come back now and see what they've accomplished is tremendous.

"I'm looking forward to the opportunity that Teresa has given me and hope to bring some positive results to this team."

Green drove for DEI in its first full Busch Series season when seven-time Winston Cup champion Earnhardt retired from the Busch Series following the 1994 season.

In two seasons, Green finished fifth and fourth in the championship, and scored 11 top-five and 25 top-10 finishes in 52 races.

Green struggled to make a mark both of NASCAR's top national divisions until he joined ppc Racing in 1999. In three seasons with ppc, Green scored one of the most dominant Busch championship seasons in 2000, and won 13 races in three years teamed with crew chief Harold Holly.

Green drove for RCR in the 2002 Busch Series, where he scored two victories and 16 top-10 finishes in 22 starts. Since starting the AOL Winston Cup program for Childress, he had struggled to equal his stellar Busch Series record.

Park's recent career growth was damaged when he suffered a life-threatening head injury in a crash in the Busch Series South Carolina 200 at Darlington Raceway in September 2001.

His release closed a chapter in his career in which he had driven for DEI in Winston Cup and Busch for the last seven seasons.

"We've had some bright spots with Steve and the Pennzoil team, and our loyalty to each other was to hard to overcome," Teresa Earnhardt said, "however we are not where we need or expect to be at this point."

Green has also gained a ride engineered by Holly with Team Amick Motorsports for the May 24 Busch Series event at LMS, the day before the Winston Cup Coca-Cola 600.

Steve Park's Railbirds
by Paul Miron-Staff Writer

Don't ask why, accept the inevitable, the 1 car no longer has its number one driver. The first full-timer for Dale Earnhardt, INC was the first driver released from Dale Earnhardt, INC. Railbirds have been watching and crowing for a long time; his dismissal was no surprise but it ruffled a few feathers.

Railbirds emulate snowbirds. They hang out in large groups, they travel to Florida during winter. Criss-crossing America's landscape during mild climates, railbirds are more interested in Happy Hour than the early bird special. Large gatherings have been known to occur at racetracks. They nest in great numbers, primarily but not limited to the Northeast. They witnessed Steve Park's rise to fame, now they're clinging to the wires, clucking about his dismissal from DEI.

Young chicks caught his act from Long Island during the '70's and '80s as Park scarred the landscape. Daddy, Bob Park inspired his young gun to countless NASCAR Featherlite Modified victories but it was Steve who attracted the attention of the Old Crow. Dale Sr. saw something the railbirds had already seen- talent, courage and desire. Trucks? Kick butt. Busch? Get out of the way! Park would go prime-time under the tutelage of NASCAR's best.

Steve's immense popularity followed him south. Railbirds watched his NCT and Busch success. Undoubtedly, Bob was proud. When Dale Sr. signed him to the fledgling DEI operation, birds were singing his praises- handsome, fearless, successful. The win at Watkins Glen in 2000, sent the birds into frenzy- they had a driver with which to roost!

Then came the fateful day in Darlington, September, 2001. Steve had victory to his credit but his mentor was long gone from the nest, then the wheel came off. Talk about rapid descent- Steve haplessly watched number one trying to fly while mending his wings. The W/C victory at Rockingham in 2002 was followed by uneven finishes and the birds crowed while chicks cried.

Now, Steve, it's time to cruise. The pressure he's been under since that awful day has finally given way. Land a good ride, dude, fly like an eagle. Phoenix rose from the ashes, just like your brethren, Craven. Railbirds are squawking, watch that guy.

He knows how to fly.

You can reach Paul Miron at: pmiron@...

Your  Momma

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

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Today In Nascar History

May 6, 2000

Dale Earnhardt Jr. gets his 2nd win of his rookie season when he takes home the checkered at the Pontiac Excitement 400 at Richmond.  Dale Jr. would finish 2nd in Rookie of the Year standings to Matt Kenseth.

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from O’Sure
from David
Wouldn't you know it, one of the first drivers to spin was Steve Park. ---he is definitely not living up to driving a DEI car.
 "from --Results of the Pontiac Excitement 400 at Richmond 5/3/03"

"On Saturday night, Park was the first car to make a trip to the garage after a blown tire sent him slamming into the wall after just 45 laps. He finished 43rd. "

Do I dare ask --- Does equipment failure mean that the driver is no good? Or did I miss something?

O'SURE

Jerry Nadeau (right) with Todd Bodine at Bristol in March Credit: Autostock

Nadeau upgraded to serious condition
By Marty Smith, Turner Sports Interactive

RICHMOND, Va. -- Winston Cup driver Jerry Nadeau, critically injured in a crash during practice last Friday at Richmond International Raceway, has been upgraded from critical to serious but stable condition, the team announced Monday.

Doctors at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center said Nadeau's head injury does not include a skull fracture, and his improvement is on course for the injuries he sustained.

Nadeau, driver of the No. 01 U.S. Army Pontiac, suffered head, lung and rib injuries when his car hit the wall on the driver's between Turns 1 and 2 only 10 minutes into the first of two Happy Hour practice sessions.

NASCAR Busch Series regular Jason Keller substituted for Nadeau in the Pontiac Excitement 400 Saturday, finishing 32nd in his Winston Cup Series debut.

Nadeau is the fourth NASCAR driver to suffer injury at RIR in the past year. Bobby Hamilton injured his shoulder in the Craftsman Truck Series event last fall, while Johnny Benson and Derrike Cope were both injured in last year's Hardees 250 Busch Series affair.

The Nadeau family has requested that get-wishes be directed to the team's race shop address at:

MB2 Motorsports
U.S. Army Racing
7065 Zephyr Place N.W.
Concord, NC 28027

Winston Cup rookie and former NASCAR Truck series champion Greg Biffle has entered the inaugural Truck race at Lowe's Motor Speedway, ThatsRacin.com has learned.

Biffle, the 2000 series champion, will drive the No. 7 Dodge for Ultra Motorsports, which fields Dodges for Ted Musgrave and Jason Leffler.

Biffle, 33, is expected at the speedway Tuesday and Wednesday for an open test in preparation for the May 16 Hardee's 200, sources said.

Biffle's last appearance in the series came in November 2001, when he won the race at Phoenix driving the No. 99 Ford for Roush Racing. He now drives the No. 16 Ford for Roush in Winston Cup.

In 80 career Truck starts, Biffle has 16 wins, 12 poles, 42 top-five and 53 top-10 finishes.

WELCOME, N.C. -- Jeff Green, who never achieved the Winston Cup potential forecast by his dominant 2000 NASCAR Busch Series championship, was fired Monday as driver of Richard Childress Racing's No. 30 AOL Chevrolet.

The Winston Cup Series is idle for the next 11 days, until practice opens May 16 at Lowe's Motor Speedway for The Winston all-star race and the companion Winston Open.

The team had no comment on its plans to replace Green, who had a three-year contract that expired at the end of the 2004 season.

"Our relationship was not where we had hoped it would be at this point so we decided to make this move now," Childress said. "Jeff is a very good race car driver but sometimes change can be good for everyone involved."

In 55 starts for RCR since 2001, Green had four top-fives, eight top-10s and two Bud Pole Awards, including this year's Daytona 500.

Any displeasure the team owner might have felt for his displaced driver came to a head Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway.

While Green and teammate Kevin Harvick were battling for positions inside the top-10 in the Pontiac Excitement 400, Harvick ran into Green's car from behind, causing it to hit the wall and be eliminated from the race on the spot.

Green stayed on the race track and gestured wildly at Harvick as he drove past under caution. Green then went to Harvick's pit stall and confronted his crew chief, Todd Berrier. After speaking briefly with Childress, Green left the pits.

Berrier told a television reporter that Harvick began apologizing for the contact immediately after striking his teammate's car, which on TV replays appeared to hesitate as a closely following Harvick picked up the throttle.

Green would hear none of it.

"It's one thing to get spun out -- it's another thing to get spun out by your teammate," Green told reporters. "I can't hardly swallow that. Tough to be teammates when it seems like there's only one car at RCR."

Green drove eight Winston Cup races for Childress in 2001, his last season with ppc Racing. He then competed in 22 Busch races in 2002 for RCR, winning twice and scoring 12 top-five and 16 top-10 finishes.

"I'll always be grateful to him for what he accomplished for RCR in both the Winston Cup Series and the Busch Series," Childress said.

This season, Childress hired Ron Hornaday as his full-time Busch Series driver and split his other program between Harvick and Johnny Sauter.

Green was the driver for the America Online team since its inception in 2001. He finished 17th in the 2002 Winston Cup standings and is currently in 32nd place after 11 races.

After firing, Green hopes to rebound at Charlotte
Dave Rodman

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. -- Jeff Green will reunite with his former championship crew chief to try to win his third straight CARQUEST Auto Parts 300 at Lowe's Motor Speedway later this month.

The option came open under trying circumstances for Green, the 2000 NASCAR Busch Series champion who was fired Monday as the driver of Richard Childress Racing's No. 30 AOL Chevrolet in the Winston Cup Series.

Green and Harold Holly, who combined for one of the all-time dominant Busch Series championship winning performances in 2000 -- with six wins, 25 top-fives and 27 top-10s in 32 races -- will race a ca r for Team Amick Motorsports at Lowe's Motor Speedway on May 24.

The pair won 13 races in three seasons together at ppc Racing and had 56 top-five and 72 top-10 finishes along with 13 Bud Poles in 96 races.

"Harold is working over at Bill Amick's and they've got some awesome motors," Green said Monday evening. "Harold has got a brand new hot rod for me to drive and I'm looking forward to that.

"I'm looking forward to working with Harold again because he pays attention to detail and that's the difference between winning and losing in this game. He does a great job in the aero department so it's exciting (because) he understands me.

"I hope he hasn't forgotten about me because it's been a couple of years. I would love to run more Busch races even if I got something going on the Cup side."

The deal with team owner Amick, who has a great reputation as a Busch Series engine supplier, was a ray of sunshine for Green, who struggled to find a feel at RCR similar to what he had known at ppc.

"I don't know if it's the latest step in a great, big chemistry experiment at RCR," Green said, chuckling, of his demise. "I think all of us have tried to do the best job we could, to win races, and I've tried to do the darnedest job I could in the seat.

"Things just got in our way to be able to reach our goals, and I guess Richard wanted to make a change. It's very surprising (because) we've had some good moments, but we had some bad ones, too, and it was time to try something different."

Green said he wasn't sure what the issue was at RCR, which in the last two seasons has done some major shuffling among its personnel trying to find the best balance. Green was the first employee to be removed from the teams.

"I don't think the drivers are the problem why they're not winning and I don't think it's the crew chiefs," Green said. "It's not any body else -- it's just a combination of everything and competition is tough.

"I'm lucky to be friends with Matt Kenseth and they've got great teams over there at Roush (Racing) so it can happen. Richard's doing all he can do -- he's used to winning, too and RCR is a winning organization so there's no sense to getting used to anything else if you can help it."

An RCR spokesperson said the team had until The Winston weekend, May 16-17 at Lowe's Motor Speedway, to settle on a driver. Green isn't sitting still, either, as his deal with Holly displayed.

"Richard and all that organization's used to winning and so am I," Green said. "So hopefully we can make it work somewhere else with some other organization."

He acknowledged his frustration at having his potential season best finish eliminated when teammate Kevin Harvick ran into him from behind after 267 of 400 laps in the Pontiac Excitement 400 at Richmond International Raceway.

He said he'd had no indication his job was in jeopardy, prior to the blow-up after that wreck, in which he confronted Harvick on the race track while his teammate circulated under caution, then went to the pits to berate Harvick's crew chief Todd Berrier.

Green had a discussion -- for a matter of seconds -- with Childress after climbing off Berrier's pit cart.

"Everything happens for a reason and I'm not questioning that at all," Green said.  "Hopefully the next step will be, maybe not better but we'll be able to have success."

Green had two Bud Poles for Childress, including this year's Daytona 500, but had only four top-five and eight top-10 finishes in 55 starts since 2001.

"RCR was great for me," Green said. "They gave me an opportunity to win a couple Busch races for them last year and I had a great time there, and I had a good time for the AOL bunch and hopefully that hasn't gone away for me."

Green said he had not had a chance to talk with Harvick since Saturday night -- at least not on the level that he expected.

"No, I guess he does all his talking with his bumper, I don't know," Green said, chuckling again. "Any time that I've got into somebody and was sorry for it I've tried to call them and at least give them an opportunity to hear their side of it.

"I don't know -- I guess that's just part of it. I've had some good teammates in the past that I enjoyed being around and I enjoyed being around Kevin and Robby (Gordon).  It's not like they're going anywhere and hopefully we'll be racing together soon and not miss a beat -- just a little bit different perspective."

Green said he was sensitive to the issue surrounding the concern over Jerry Nadeau's recovery after his serious crash last Friday during practice at Richmond, which leaves MB2 Motorsports and its general manager, Jay Frye in need of a driver at least for the short term.

However, he said he would be working the phones, as well.

"I'm not going to sit back and wait for them to call me (because) everybody knows about it, now," Green said. "I've already talked to a few people and I would love to drive for Jay and those guys over there would be a great opportunity -- to be associated with the U.S. Army would be pretty awesome.

"But we're all thinking about Jerry and I don't want to overshadow what he's got going on in the next no-telling how long to get back to where he needs to be.

"Winston Cup is tough and I think I can get it done with the best of them if I get up there and get the right opportunity. I think I was earning respect there and with the AOL car it was a great opportunity to race with those guys and I hope it leads to something next year, if not for the balance of this season."

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The following is a glance at the NASCAR Top 10 in the championship following Saturday's Pontiac Excitement 400 at Richmond International Raceway, Race 11 of 36 on the NASCAR Winston Cup Series schedule. The NASCAR Winston Cup Series is idle this week and returns to action at Lowe's Motor Speedway with The Winston, a non-points all-star event, on Saturday, May 17 and the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday, May 25.

No. 1 -- Matt Kenseth (No. 17 DEWALT Power Tools Ford), Roush Racing. Points: 1,619. Last week's ranking: 1. Kenseth finished seventh at Saturday's Pontiac Excitement 400 at Richmond International Raceway for his series-leading ninth top-10 finish in 11 starts. Despite the performance -- his fourth top-10 finish in his last five starts at Richmond -- Kenseth still lost ground to No. 2 Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the fight for No. 1. Kenseth remained at No. 1 for the eighth consecutive race, but saw his lead over Earnhardt Jr. shrink from 44 points to 20.

Kenseth, entrenched at No. 1 since Atlanta, has been in the NASCAR Top 10 for 10 of the 11 weeks of racing. Kenseth battled with Earnhardt Jr. for the No. 1 spot in the NASCAR Busch Series in 1998 and '99. Although Earnhardt Jr. prevailed for the title both years, he is well aware of the talent he is chasing.

"It's going to be tough no matter whether it's me or anybody else," Earnhardt Jr. said. "It's going to be tough to beat him this year. I think his team is really on par to what they need to be doing. He is a great race car driver. They've just got a solid effort every week."

No. 2 -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet), Dale Earnhardt Inc. Points: 1,599. Last week's ranking: 2. Earnhardt Jr. finished third at Richmond for his sixth top-five effort of the season, earning a share of the series lead in that category with No. 5 Bobby Labonte. The finish was his fourth top-three performance in the last five races and fifth in a row among the top six, a streak that began at Texas. During that five-race stretch, he has trimmed his deficit from 186 points to 20 as he pursues the No. 1 ranking, a position he had never held in his NASCAR Winston Cup career thus far. This is his eighth consecutive week in the NASCAR Top 10.

"I think we've become a lot more consistent than we have been in the past," he said.  "A lot of it is luck. I never really believe much in luck, but I think you put yourself in a position to win races. That crash we had at California last year -- that really broke the stride of what we were doing. It was almost a mirror image of this season up until that point, so getting through California and coming in here and doing all right really gives us a lot of confidence."

No. 3 -- Kurt Busch (No. 97 Rubbermaid Ford), Roush Racing. Points: 1,452. Last week's ranking 4. Busch posted his seventh top-10 finish in 11 starts this season with an eighth-place effort at Richmond to improve one position to No. 4. It marks his seventh consecutive race week in the NASCAR Top 10 and sixth in a row ranked among the top five in the points.

Busch, who has spent 10 of 11 race weeks in the NASCAR Top 10, trails No. 1 Kenseth by 167 points and No. 2 Earnhardt Jr. by 147. It has been an interesting season for Busch thus far as he has posted five top-two finishes -- including a pair of wins -- and three finishes of 28th or worse on the flip side. He also is the only driver among the top eight in the points with more than one DNF at this point of the season (2)

No. 4 -- Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet), Hendrick Motorsports. Points: 1,441. Last week's ranking: 3. Gordon finished 16th at Richmond -- his worst finish since a 33rd at Darlington -- and the result dropped him a position to No. 4 after spending the last two weeks at No. 3. Gordon is just 11 points from regaining that position back from No. 3 Busch and 178 behind No. 1 Kenseth. This marks his sixth consecutive week in the NASCAR Top 10 and seventh overall.

No. 5 -- Bobby Labonte (No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet), Joe Gibbs Racing. Points: 1,376. Last week's ranking: 8. Labonte finished runner-up to Joe Nemechek at Richmond to vault three positions to No. 5, which matches his season-best ranking he established following his win at Atlanta in Week 4. He has been on the move in recent weeks, having rose from No. 15 following Talladega to his current position as a result of three consecutive second-place finishes. This is Labonte's fourth week in the NASCAR Top 10, but the first time he has been in for consecutive weeks. He trails No. 4 Gordon by 65 points and No. 1 Kenseth by 243.

"We've got a great race team," said Labonte, the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup champion. "I think we can run competitively week in and week out. If we're not good at some point in time in the race it seems like we can get better. We've gotten caught up in a few wrecks and if we could get those back, that's great. But, you can't, so we've just got to concentrate on what we're doing right now and make sure that we build on it and make sure we build on consistency and get that back. We know that's what it takes to beat guys like Junior and Matt and some other guys up there that are consistent week in and week out, so we have to do that, too."

No. 6 -- Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet), Hendrick Motorsports. Points: 1,372. Last week's ranking: 5. Johnson finished 19th at Richmond to drop him one position to No. 6, ending a run of four consecutive race weeks in the top five. He remains one of two drivers -- Michael Waltrip is the other -- to be ranked in the NASCAR Top 10 for every week of the season at this stage. It also marks his 43rd consecutive week in the NASCAR Top 10 dating to last season, a streak that ranks first among current drivers. He is just four points shy of No. 5 Labonte, and 247 from No. 1 Kenseth.

No. 7 -- Michael Waltrip (No. 15 NAPA Chevrolet), Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Points: 1,361. Last week's ranking: 6. Waltrip matched his career-best finish at Richmond in 35 starts -- 12th -- but it was not enough to hold onto the No. 6 ranking. Waltrip slipped to No. 7, but remains one of two drivers (Johnson is the other) to be ranked in the NASCAR Top 10 since the season opened. He is just 11 points from moving back into the No. 6 position, and 258 behind No. 1 Kenseth.

No. 8 -- Kevin Harvick (No. 29 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet), Richard Childress Racing. Points: 1,328. Last week's ranking: 9. Harvick finished sixth at Richmond to improve one position to No. 8 and extend his standing in the NASCAR Top 10 to a fifth consecutive week. Harvick has been in the NASCAR Top 10 since earning the No. 10 ranking following Texas and has been as high as sixth (following Martinsville) during that stretch. The finish at Richmond was his fourth top-10 effort of the season and first since finishing second at Talladega. Harvick is 33 points behind No. 7 Waltrip and 44 behind No. 6 Johnson.

No. 9 -- Rusty Wallace (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge), Penske Racing South. Points: 1,274.  Last week's ranking: 12. Wallace, who finished seventh in the series championship last season, makes his first appearance in the NASCAR Top 10 this season following a 10th-place finish at Richmond. The performance moved him up three positions from No. 12, which tied Labonte and Sterling Marlin for the biggest gain among the NASCAR Top 10 this week. Prior to this week, his best ranking of the season was No. 11 following Rockingham, the second race of the season. In the last three races -- all top-10 finishes -- Wallace has jumped from No. 16 to his current position, an improvement of seven places. Wallace is 54 points behind No. 8 Harvick.

No. 10 -- Sterling Marlin (No. 40 Coors Light Dodge), Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. Points: 1,259. Last week's ranking: 13. Marlin finished 13th at Richmond and the effort was strong enough to move him up three positions and into the NASCAR Top 10 for the first time this season. Since finishing 29th at Texas to fall to No. 23, he has improved 13 positions in the last four races courtesy of three top-10 finishes.  His appearance marks the first time he has been in the NASCAR Top 10 since being ranked 10th following the fall Talladega race last season. Marlin spent 30 consecutive races in the NASCAR Top 10 last season, including 25 in a row at No. 1, before an injury prematurely ended his season in late September.

"We almost got up there and finished in the top 10 [at Richmond], but we moved up enough to finally get back in the top 10 in the standings," Marlin said. "We're gaining on it, and we'll have this Coors Light Dodge back up there where we belong before long with a little luck."

Your  Momma
 

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

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Did You Know

David Pearson has won 12 pole positions and 10 NASCAR races at Darlington, the most ever.

Question:  Should DEI Replace Steve Park in the #1 Pennzoil Monte Carlo?
NO-66%
YES-34%

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from David
What a great race this past Saturday night.... Dale Jr. and his entire team has become Mr. Consistancy..... Wouldn't you know it, one of the first drivers to spin was Steve Park.... As much as I like the guy, he is definitely not living up to driving a DEI car.... As for the Jerry Nadeau accident, what a bad situation.... He hit the wall the same way as John Nemachek did a couple of years ago.... (Joe's brother and lost his life at Homestead)...The worse way / angle to hit, on the drivers side..... Robbie Gordon showed a lot of determination.... But it was obvious, Joe had the fastest car all night.... Talk about having some bad luck..... Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman can't seem to catch a break.... (No pun intended)....
David

from Bob
I'm relying on memory here, but the last win I recall for the Hendricks 25 car was with Ken Schrader, over ten years ago. And I can count nine drivers who have been in that seat since then.

Good to see!

I’m pretty sure that Jerry won in the 25, Atlanta in 2000 if memory serves.  Let me know if I’m wrong guys!

RACE WAS TOP TV DRAW
Nielsen Media Research figures show Fox's broadcast of the Auto Club 500 from California Speedway was the most-watched sports program last weekend with 8.3 million viewers, according to today's Sports Business Daily. Final figures show the race drew a 5.3 rating and 13 share to top the 4.9/12 ABC drew for the NBA's Timberwolves-Lakers playoff game. The final figures represent a virtual reversal of the overnight results that had shown the race drawing a 4.9/11 and the game drawing a 5.3/12 from the nation's largest markets. Despite the small-market boost, the race still fell short of the 5.9/13 it drew last year. The Daily says that so far this season the Fox results are down 3 percent from 2002 with an average of 6.0/14 this year versus a 6.2/15 last season.

Wallace, 46, will celebrate 600 consecutive Winston Cup starts at Richmond, and will have 609 total.

"700 straight?" Wallace asked rhetorically. "I honestly don't think I'm going to make 700 straight, but it'll be probably 675."

If he stays on his current pace, Wallace would be 49 years old at the end of the 2005 season, would have 687 consecutive starts if the schedule remains at 36 races a season and would amass 697 total events.

"When you're talking 600 consecutive starts, that's pretty slick," Wallace said. "I almost missed it at Sears Point back in '93 after Earnhardt and I had that huge wreck at Talladega. I had a broken arm and I had Scott Sharp standing by to drive my car.

"I had a hell of a car that day, so I figured I'd stay in it. I ended up missing a shift and tore the transmission out of it and didn't finish the race, but looking at the number now I'm glad I stayed in the car.

"If I hadn't done that, we wouldn't be talking about 600 straight right now."

Wallace didn't much elaborate on the figure of 675.

"It's a cool number," he said. "You feel like you've been there, done that and paid your dues and accomplished something with that many starts -- you feel real good about it.

“I don't know if I'm any smarter than I used to be, but I'm sure putting quality ahead of quantity. I used to do everything in the world for everybody, and now I'm getting selective and calming down and putting focus on things I need to put focus on, and I think that's paying dividends."

CONCORD, N.C. - An Iowa bachelor with a spare ticket for the Coca-Cola 600 has taken out a personal ad in NASCAR publication looking for a date to the May 25 race.

"Free Coke 600 ticket for single female. Looking for someone to hang out with and have a good time. Call Dan at (515) 480-2807," reads the ad by Dan Robbins.

Robbins, a 38-year-old truck driver from Des Moines, Iowa, has gone to the race the past four years with a brother who lives in Virginia. But his brother is on military assignment in Korea, so Robbins took out an ad in "Winston Cup Scene" looking for a date.

"Since I am flying in, I would love to find someone who could bring a grill and cooler-stuff my brother usually brought that I can't bring on a plane," he said. "I thought (the ad) might be easier and more enjoyable than finding a guy to hang out with.

"The ideal woman would be an Earnhardt fan, but it's not a deal breaker."

Never married and a nonsmoker, Robbins said his hobbies include NASCAR, exercising and racing simulators at the local NASCAR Silicon Speedway.

He said he's looking for a woman between 21 to 35 and would be happy to educate a novice fan about racing, so previous experience is not necessary.

"However, if Miss Winston wants the ticket, we'll definitely talk," he said.

Our family has been overwhelmed by the support we have received from fans, friends and people in the racing community. Our hearts have been touched by the thoughts, prayers and acts of kindness that have been sent our way. We have gathered strength and inspiration from your support and know we are not alone. When a family goes through a crisis such as this one, you truly discover how much love there is in the world. Thank you for your generosity of spirit as we continue to pray for Jerry's recovery.

We also want to express a sincere thank you to the medical and support staff at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center. They have been wonderful and have guided us through this ordeal with compassion and the utmost professionalism.

Damn, wouldn't ya know it, I'm married!

Drivers visit Nadeau, condition unchanged

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Injured driver Jerry Nadeau got a hospital visit from Kyle Petty, Jeff Burton and NASCAR great Bobby Allison on Sunday.

Nadeau remained in critical condition Sunday, two days after his car slammed into a wall during practice at Richmond International Raceway.

The drivers visited Nadeau the morning after the Pontiac Excitement 400, which was won by Joe Nemechek. Nadeau's parents, sister and wife also were at Medical College of Virginia Hospitals.

Nadeau has a partially collapsed lung and unspecified rib and head injuries. His condition remained unchanged from Saturday.

“We're in a wait-and-see pattern," U.S. Army team spokesman David Ferroni said.  "Everything is the same."

The 32-year-old driver had good vital signs and was sedated while being put through a series of tests, MB2-MBV Motorsports general manager Jay Frye said Saturday.

Nadeau had not spoken since the accident, but acknowledged the presence of visitors by squeezing their hands, Frye said.

The team still has not given any details about the extent of Nadeau's injuries, and Ferroni said he had no new information Sunday. Before Saturday night's race, Frye said the team hoped it would know more by Sunday morning, when the results of new tests were known.

Frye said team members and Nadeau's wife, Jada, were encouraged after seeing him.

Nadeau was injured when his car skidded, spun halfway around and slammed driver's-side first into the concrete wall on the three-quarter-mile oval.

Nadeau had qualified 12th for the race. The team hired Busch Series regular Jason Keller to drive its backup car in the race, and Keller finished 32nd in his Winston Cup debut.

Jerry Nadeau, It Didn’t Have to Happen ……..

As stock car racing fans, we all have to admit from time to time that a crash on the track makes things interesting. With 43 drivers out there all hoping for a chance to visit victory lane, it’s bound to happen, so you may as well go along with it. Be that as it may, it’s still tough to see a driver get injured, or worse.

The sanctioning body, goaded by safety minded drivers and safety manufacturers, have claimed that they try their best to insure that no one gets seriously hurt on the race track. It’s amazing when we see the racecars come apart after flying through the air and bouncing on the ground at speeds well over one hundred miles per hour. When these horrific crashes occur, we’ve become accustomed to seeing the drivers crawl out of the smashed debris and walk away.

It seems that the most serious crashes that tend to take lives and have crippling effects on drivers are the ones which concern contact with the concrete walls lining the sides of the tracks. Jerry Nadeau’s injuries could have been greatly reduced if the SAFER walls had been installed at Richmond. Something to soften the blow wasn’t there. As usual, it all comes down to money. There’s no other excuse, especially at a wide moderately banked track like Richmond. It would be easy to install the SAFER system at that track, but it would eat into the speedway’s profits, and that’s a no-no. They’ll use every excuse in the book to keep from spending that money. Testing a proven commodity will take quite a few more years. Better to see Jerry Nadeau hanging onto life by a thread than to overcome greed and spend a little money for safety………… After all, Richmond is owned by the France family’s International Speedway Corp., and we all know the financial state that they are in with the two principal owners becoming billionaires this past year….. At any rate, our thoughts and prayers are geared for Jerry’s recovery and the turmoil that his family must have to endure at this time.

Stewart Speaks the Truth……

There was some media hype at NASCAR.com recently concerning Tony Stewart’s statements regarding a trained safety crew to travel with the circuit. This idea has been up for consideration of the sanctioning body before, and has always ended up getting tabled in the end. Why? Money……. It would cost NASCAR money to have their safety crew traveling with the show from race to race.

Lets take Jerry Nadeau’s recent crash at Richmond to use as an example. Different media reports right after the incident state different timetables for accomplishing the tasks involved with extracting Jerry Nadeau from the wrecked vehicle and getting him the medical attention that was needed.

The medical profession has declared on several different occasions following different medical emergencies that the first hour after the accident is the most critical in treating the injured driver.

The first reports that were available on Nadeau’s wreck stated that it took the safety crew 20 minutes to cut Nadeau from the car. How long did it take them to get to Nadeau after he wrecked, and how long did it take them to decide that he had to be forcefully extricated from the wrecked vehicle? Just for the sake of putting a number on it, we’ll say that the total time there was from five to ten minutes. They reported that Nadeau spend thirty minutes getting checked over in the in-field medical center. They also stated that it took 15 minutes to transport Nadeau to a medical facility that could effectively treat him. Considering the time it took to load Nadeau into the ambulance and transport him to the in-field care center and then to re-load and transport him to the helipad and load him into the helicopter, we have reached at least 75 minutes, way over the “hour” limit that the medical profession has designated as a safety net.

Our champion is right; the competitors need a regular NASCAR safety crew to travel with the series equipped with a doctor to evaluate the driver’s condition just as soon as they arrive on the scene of a wreck. A regular safety crew doctor could tell the crew immediately that the driver needs to be cut out of the car and that he needs to be transported directly to a medical center for treatment and evaluation. Time wasted in an infield care center that isn’t equipped to handle serious injuries is a situation that needs to be stopped.

I want to be sure to not take anything away from the volunteer safety workers from the areas around the racetracks on the Cup circuit that have dedicated hours of their time to help our at the NASCAR events. These people have done all that they can with what they have to work with. The circuit only travels to these venues a couple of times a year, so the racing safety work isn’t something that they are used to doing on a regular basis. That’s why professional safety crews are needed to travel with the circuit. They would know the drivers, teams, cars, and what to expect at each venue. This is going to have to be a must in NASCAR’s future.

Pontiac Excitement 400 ……… Joe Nemechek

Front Row Joe added his third career Cup win to the column Saturday night in what they are calling a rain shortened race. Seven laps was all they lacked, but it still wasn’t the full 400 laps. At ant rate, it was a good win for Nemechek, who had to fight his way back into contention after a miscue on a pit stop between he and his crew chief cost him valuable track position.

The race resembled a Busch Series event with a record setting 15 cautions for 91 of the 392 laps that were run in the race. There were a lot of incidents that resemble the regular short track temperament straining fiascos. Apparently there is still bad blood between Richard Childress Racing teammates Jeff Green and Kevin Harvick. The two became engrossed in a heated rivalry when they were racing against each other in the Busch Series. Green had to resort to evasive maneuvers when the 12 and 22 car got together in front of him. He cut down to the bottom of the track right in front of teammate Kevin Harvick, who couldn’t get slowed up before hitting him and sending him into the wall. Then Green goes into a tizzy accusing Harvick of dirty deeds. Richard Childress stepped in and halted Green’s outburst toward Harvick’s crew before he made more of a fool of himself. Harvick was smart not to comment on Green’s folly, embracing a maturity that he has gained since his go-round with NASCAR last season. Hey Kevin, it’s good you learned that you can’t fight city hall!

The top ten starters and how they finished:
 
1.   Terry Labonte -- No. 5 Chevy – finished 21st
2.   Joe Nemechek -- No. 25 Chevy – finished 1st
3.   Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- No. 8 Chevy – finished 3rd
4.   Bobby Labonte -- No. 18 Chevy -- finished 2nd
5.   Ryan Newman -- No. 12 Dodge – finished 39th
6.   Jeff Gordon -- No. 24 Chevy – finished 17th
7.   Kurt Busch -- No. 97 Ford – finished 8th
8.   Kyle Petty -- No. 45 Dodge – finished 28th
9.   Tony Stewart -- No. 20 Chevy – finished 41st
10.  Jimmy Johnson -- No. 48 Chevy – finished 19th

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has managed to cut Kenseth’s point’s lead down to 20 points. Kurt Busch moved up one spot to third with a -167 while knocking Jeff Gordon back one spot to fourth with a -181. Bobby Labonte’s continued good luck this season has moved him up three spots to round out the top five with a -243 down from leader Kenseth. Jimmy Johnson dropped down one spot to sixth with a -247 followed by Michael Waltrip who also lost one spot and now has a -258. Kevin Harvick’s finish moved him up one spot to eighth with a -291 followed by Rusty Wallace who moved up three spots into the top ten with a -345. Sterling Marlin also moved up three spots to round out the top ten in driver’s points with a -360.

Next week the Cup Series takes another weekend off to celebrate Mother’s Day. The following week they race in the Winston All-Star race at Charlotte. The next point’s race is the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte on May 25th.

Yates not ready to hire crew chief for Jarrett
By Lee Montgomery, Turner Sports Interactive

RICHMOND, Va. - Robert Yates didn't sound like a guy who was close to hiring a crew chief for Dale Jarrett.

Yates said Friday at Richmond International Raceway that he prefers to keep Jarrett's No. 88 team intact for the time being and let that group solve the team's problems.

"I'm not ready to pollinate or pitch somebody on top of them, because I think we have a really good, solid group of guys," Yates said.

Team engineer Garth Finley took over as interim crew chief after Robert Yates Racing general manager Doug Yates released Brad Parrott. Yates said he wants to give Finley and the rest of the crew "the room, the support, the time" to get Jarrett running well again.

Jarrett won the second race of the season at Rockingham but has finished 20th or worse four times since. Parrott was fired after the Talladega race, and Finley and Richard Buck have taken the team's management.
"Everybody's chomping at the bit to contribute," Yates said. "That's a fun thing. What's going to be fun is if we get it right, everybody did contribute. That's a lot better scenario than me going out and hiring Ray Evernham, and he comes in and fixes it.

"I would take that scenario. There would be a point where I would want to do that. But I really like the way our guys are working, and I would really, really rather see them figure it out."

Yates said Doug Yates has talked to a few prospects, but "I don't see anybody coming in the door tomorrow," Robert Yates said.
 

"If Ray (Evernham) comes over and says, 'I want to help you,' I'd probably be in there hammering out a deal right now," Yates said. "There's a vacancy sign, but we're always looking for more good men, like the Marines. We have a lot of good men."

Yates said he hasn't talked to Jimmy Makar, who has been in the rumor mill to move to Yates. Makar is the general manager of Joe Gibbs Racing after being moved form Bobby Labonte's crew chief in the off-season.

"That would be the last guy that would leave," Yates said. "He's just got his deal going good. That would be one of the toughest persons to hire."

Yates himself has been working a little closer with Jarrett's team. He doesn't believe the No. 88 team is as bad as some make it out to be. Sure, there are some problems, but they are solvable.

"I told the guys this week, 'OK, we've got one finger broken. We've still got nine fingers,'" Yates said. "Let's exercise and use those nine fingers to the best of our ability. When we get that 10th finger back, we'll be where we want to be."

But when that 10th finger will be back, Yates couldn't say.

"You might see me in a month or two, and I might be like, 'Hey, I've got to pollinate. I've got to him something here,'" Yates said. "But I'm still excited that we're going to figure this thing out."

Before I begin my usual light-hearted Top 10 list this week, I must first start out by saying that my thoughts and prayers are with Jerry Nadeau and his family, and I hope you keep them in yours as well...

Okay, there were a few intense moments on Saturday night during the race at Richmond, but none that caught my attention more than the ongoing "spat" between two alleged teammates, Kevin Harvick and Jeff Green.

As reported by ThatsRacin.com, Jeff Green was running in the top five of Saturday's Pontiac 400 at Richmond International Raceway before he was hit from behind by Richard Childress Racing teammate Kevin Harvick on Lap 268, bringing a premature end to a strong run by Green's team.

Green was upset after the incident, walking hurriedly down pit road to Harvick's pit. He first confronted Harvick's crew chief, Todd Berrier, on top of the team's pit box, and then had a heated exchange with team owner Richard Childress, who was standing in the pit area. The incident lasted only a few moments before Green left the area and returned to the garage, where his No. 30 Chevrolet had been towed.

"We're supposed to be teammates, but it doesn't seem that way right now," Green said. "It's one thing to get spun out, it's another to get spun out by your own teammate. ...It seems like there's only one team at RCR." - OUCH.

I'm doing this week's Top 10 list a little differently, and am combining a Top 10 list of what might have been said during a conversation between Kevin Harvick and Jeff Green following the race at Richmond (i.e., a Top 10 list of lines said by each driver when conversing about the incident at Richmond). Therefore, here are the:

Top Ten Things Overhead at Richard Childress Racing on Monday Morning:

1.) JEFF GREEN: "Richard, if you don't discipline Kevin, I'm going to hold my breath until my face turns blue. And remember, I can also cry on demand!"

KEVIN HARVICK: "Green, has anyone ever told you that you have a head that could float above Fifth Avenue on Thanksgiving Day?"

2.) JEFF GREEN: "Hey, I may not be Richard Petty, but I do have something going for me."

KEVIN HARVICK: "Jeff, you couldn't win a Winston Cup race even if you crawled through the Everglades muck on your hands and knees."

3.) JEFF GREEN: "Oh yeah, and how many CUP races have you won this year, pal?" 

KEVIN HARVICK: "Humph. How many CUP races have you won EVER?"

4.) JEFF GREEN: "Man, I wish you had an I.Q. higher than a head of lettuce."

KEVIN HARVICK: "Yeah, well I wish I knew why Richard hired you in the first place. I mean, to me, doing that is like hiring a personal fitness trainer who weighs 400 lbs., slugs bourbon from the bottle, and chain-smokes cigars."

5.) JEFF GREEN: "Oh Kevin; what are you doing in racing when you obviously belong in comedy? And what was your problem at Richmond? Are your eyes so bad that you don't actually see things, you sniff them?"

KEVIN HARVICK: "Nope. I just do whatever the voices in my head tell me to do. And I kick hippies!"

6.) JEFF GREEN: "What in the hell are you talking about? Geez…Yeah, drink another Bud, Kevin."

KEVIN HARVICK: "Like those Budweiser commercials say, 'The best things in life are things that are true!' "

7.) JEFF GREEN: "You are an idiot."

KEVIN HARVICK: "Paint chips make me thirsty."

8.) JEFF GREEN: "Stop changing the subject! I want to hear YOUR explanation as to what happened at Richmond and why you wrecked me!"

KEVIN HARVICK: "The more you disapprove, the more fun it is for me!"

9.) JEFF GREEN: "Man, I don't know what makes you so dumb, but it really works."

KEVIN HARVICK: "Hey, there's one in every crowd, and I'm it."

10.) JEFF GREEN: "You're just a big old ray of sunshine, aren't you Kevin?"

KEVIN HARVICK: "No. But I'm not paid enough to be nice to you!"

NOTE: Yes, this list was written tongue-in-cheek and meant to make you laugh (which we all need to do during these troubling times in the world)…But I'm sure those of you with a SENSE OF HUMOR are already aware of that. So, lighten up!

Your  Momma

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

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What a race.  Another exciting short track race.  Let’s just get to the stories and results!

Pit mishap can't keep Nemechek from win

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Blunders like missing pit road have surely cost Joe Nemechek in his career. The mistake cost him 24 spots Saturday night, but this time he had 173 laps and the car to more than make up for it.

With help from a no-pit gamble that paid off with 100 laps left, three late-race cautions and rain that halted the race with seven laps to go, Nemechek won the Pontiac Excitement 400 for his third career Winston Cup victory.

It almost didn't happen after Nemechek and crew chief Peter Sospenzo miscommunicated on when the driver should pit, and he missed the pits and dropped from first to 25th when he finally pitted on his own.

"In the heat of the battle, I wanted to choke him," Nemechek said of his crew chief. "I wanted to get out and wrestle right there. It's just one of those things. We're leading and then, dang, I missed it."

Before the blunder, Nemechek looked like he had the dominant car. After it, he had to prove it, and with a lot of cars in front of him.

"Man, there was a lot of cars line up there, and I was in the back, but everything worked out," he said. "The car was so fast. I passed an awful lot of race cars there. As soon as that car started going fast again and I started passing all those cars, I never thought about it again."

At the end, the last three of a track-record 15 cautions for 91 laps helped, and so did the free pass after the rain shower came.

"It was an unbelievable night," he said. "Everything was perfect. It was a great team effort and I had a lot of fun out there tonight. When you see a car that good, run high, low, wherever it wanted to go, it was fun.

"It didn't matter what we did to the car. It was strong all night."

Bobby Labonte was second for the third consecutive race, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Robby Gordon, who rallied from three laps down early on and gave Chevrolet a sweep of the top four spots.

"Three first places would be better, but three second places is the next best thing," Labonte said. "We've got a lot of confidence."

Mark Martin was fifth in a Ford.

The rain might have deprived Labonte and Earnhardt from making a late push.

"We really didn't need any of those cautions," Earnhardt said. "We needed long, long runs and I think we were better than most of them."

Earnhardt did cut Matt Kenseth's points lead from 44 to 20.

Labonte didn't think he could have caught Nemechek "unless something happened and he slipped up the race track or something like that. My car was a little bit tight and his car looked a little bit better."

Gordon and Nemechek gambled by staying on the track with four others during a caution with 100 laps to go.

When the race went back to green, Gordon was leading, Nemechek was fifth and a handful of contenders were right behind them, counting on fresher tires to carry them forward.

On lap 331, Nemechek passed Gordon for the lead, then pulled away trying to extend his advantage. Chief among his pursuers was Earnhardt, who moved into second on lap 355 as the crowd of 100,000 roared wildly.

Nemechek had built his lead as high as almost two seconds and was easily disposing of lapped traffic when Dale Jarrett spun out on the 363rd lap, the caution erasing the lead and setting up a possible closing shootout.

Nemechek held onto his lead through three more restarts, taking advantage of a duel for second in which Labonte finally passed Earnhardt, and then was handed the last seven laps when the race was called.

Nemechek led six times for 155 laps, winning for the first time since November 2001 at North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham. His only other career victory in nine years came at Loudon, N.H., in September 1999.

The second five included Kevin Harvick, the Fords of Kenseth and Roush Racing teammates Kurt Busch and Jeff Burton, and Rusty Wallace's Dodge.

Busch passed Jeff Gordon for third place in points, 167 behind.

Among those not enjoying the night were two-time defending champion Tony Stewart, who apparently ran over some debris, crashed and was 41st.

Newman's sophomore troubles continue

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Reigning Winston Cup rookie of the year Ryan Newman won the Winston Cup event at Texas Motor Speedway on March 30, but otherwise has experienced all the signs of a sophomore jinx in the making.

That was his car flipping down the frontstretch early in the season-opening Daytona 500, and his blown tire that sparked a 27-car crash at Talladega Superspeedway on April 6, starting a streak of steady misery.

Since winning at Texas, he's finished 39th at Talladega, 38th at Martinsville Speedway and was 42nd last week at California, getting hit by Steve Park on the first lap after starting the race fourth on the grid.

"We've had a lot of freak things happen this year that we never would have thought would happen," Newman said before starting fifth Saturday.

"We just need to get the train back on the rails and go forward. The guys have gotten the wind knocked out of them a few times, as I have."

Newman seemed ready to start a comeback Saturday night, starting fifth and storming to the lead on the 75th lap. He led 24 laps before yielding to Joe Nemechek, then headed for the garage with rear end troubles.

He returned about 90 laps down, got caught up in a multicar crash on the 268th lap, went back to the garage and wound up 39th, 133 laps down.

Newman, who finished sixth in the points race last year, said he can only remember one time in his life when he's dealt with such misfortune.

"I had a dog die once," he said. "You get your tail whipped and you've got to get back and go. Some of the things that have happened to us are our fault and some of the things are totally racing gremlins or whatever you want to call it. You get knocked off the horse, you get back up."

Newman is 27th in points after 11 of 36 races.

Parked

Steve Park ripped into the media for a perceived lack of support after winning the pole last weekend at California, promising to remember who the naysayers were when he makes it to Victory Lane.

Park then crashed on the first lap and finished 40th.

On Saturday night, Park was the first car to make a trip to the garage after a blown tire sent him slamming into the wall after just 45 laps. He finished 43rd.

Celebrating 50

Richmond International Raceway is celebrating 50 years of hosting NASCAR races this year and held a series of news conferences Saturday with greats from the past telling some stories.

Among the storytellers were Paul Sawyer, who bought the track with Joe Weatherly in 1955 and bought out Weatherly two years later. Once a half-mile dirt track, Sawyer built a half-mile asphalt oval here in 1968, then tore that up to build a three-quarter-mile oval between races in 1988.

"People said I was crazy," Sawyer said, recalling how Richard Petty started the demolition on a backhoe right after the 1988 spring race.

By the fall, the current layout was up and ready for racing.

Darrell Waltrip said he almost cried when the work began because he loved the old track where he'd six times, while Junior Johnson, whose car Waltrip drove for several years, shared perhaps the most unusual story.

"I've probably got the only car that ever ran into a fire truck here," Johnson said, recalling when driver Cale Yarborough did just that.

Briefly

Jeff Gordon has started on the pole four times at RIR. His best career finish in those races? Thirty-first. ... Jimmie Johnson has been in the top 10 in NASCAR Winston Cup points for 44 consecutive weeks, the longest streak in stock car racing's top series. Kurt Busch is next with a 17-week streak. ... The cars of Jerry Nadeau and Bill Elliott dropped to the rear of the field for the start of the race.  Nadeau qualified 12th before getting hurt and was replaced in the car by Jason Keller. Elliott qualified 28th, but was forced to drop back after an engine change.

Quote

"Quit cussin', keep believing in the good Lord and don't quit working hard." -- Jimmy Spencer on what he needs to do to change his bad luck after something broke on his car and he crashed after 139 laps.

Green enraged after incident with Harvick
By Marty Smith, Turner Sports Interactive

Lap 268 crash ended good night for RCR driver

RICHMOND, Va. -- During their dog-eat-dog days in the NASCAR Busch Series, Jeff Green and Kevin Harvick built a searing rivalry.

So when Richard Childress made them teammates at the outset of the 2002 campaign, many expected an oil-and-water relationship.

And while the duo continually discounted the notion that they couldn't get along, after tangling on lap 268 of Saturday night's Pontiac Excitement 400 at Richmond International Raceway, it appears the relationship is still plenty volatile.

Green was running fifth when Ryan Newman and Ward Burton got together in front of him. In an evasive effort, Green dove to the low groove in front of Harvick, who hit him in the rear end and turned him around into the Turn 2 wall.

"Getting into Turn 1, the 12 car and the 22 car got together, it was all good, got to the bottom of the racetrack and the 29 ran over me," said an infuriated Green.

"It's one thing to get spun out. It's another thing to get spun out by your teammate. Can't hardly swallow that. Tough to be teammates when it seems like there's only one car at RCR.

Upon exit from the car, Green stormed over to Harvick's pit stall to discuss the accident with Harvick's crew, but was intersected by Childress.

"I'm trying to be the best teammate I can be and some other people don't be - that's what I told (Richard)," Green said.

"That's over the top. All I can tell you. I've let off for people all night, especially when my teammate's around me I've got to do the best job I can. But Richard's the one that's got to spend the money to build those cars, and Kevin just tore one up for him.

"I don't know. I'm sure he's going to have a different story, but I know what happened -- he spun me out."

Harvick went on to finish sixth, but wouldn't offer comment following the race.

1. Joe Nemechek
2. Bobby Labonte
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
4. Robby Gordon
5. Mark Martin
6. Kevin Harvick
7. Matt Kenseth
8. Kurt Busch
9. Jeff Burton
10. Rusty Wallace

And the top 10 in points:

1. Matt Kenseth
2. Dale Earnhardt Jr.               –20
3. Kurt Busch                          -167
4. Jeff Gordon                          -181
5. Bobby Labonte                     -243
6. Jimmie Johnson                 -247
7. Michael Waltrip                   -258
8. Kevin Harvick                      -291
9. Rusty Wallace                      -345
10. Sterling Marlin                  -360

"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
 

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Today In Nascar History

May 1, 1955

Buck Baker wins a 100 mile shootout at the old Charlotte Speedway.  Buck Baker will be inducted into the South Carolina Sports Hall of Fame this weekend.  Buck won a total of 46 races in his career and was Grand National Champion in 1956 and 1957.

from Todaysjokes
I’m really amazed at how you find so much info on DEI... but why did you mix that little piece about bodine, in such a great book on DEI...

Isn't it great?!!!  I work hard to find all that info on DEI....

from TomB
I'm sorry to see some of the Peanut Gallery replies you get.  I can imagine what you get that you can't print!!  I really enjoy your newsletter.  And if you’re a real fan you can put some chit on people and take it when it comes back.  As you know I'm a huge FORD fan not so much as a driver fan.  There is enough room for all of us.  I take a lot of ribbing at work for my FORD stance (G.M. Truck Plant) but I am not alone.  Some of my best friends are DEI die hard fans, or the 24 car (no names please).  I also sent you a poem about Dale Sr. that you printed and added the Seagulls, nice touch!!  But when I got the Memorial Tribute letter I glanced thru it and saw it was all Dale Sr. I just deleted it.  I didn't write back and call you names or belittle where your heart is.  It just wasn't for me. But GOD BLESS YOU and as long as your a NASCAR fan, isn't that what matters. With all that has happened in our world over the last few years, isn't there something out there we can unite on and really stand up for or against that effects our lives more.  I'm sorry I ramble so I'll close for now and you will hear from me again and again God willing.  GOD BLESS AMERICA  &   NASCAR!!!!

Tom----FORD FAN

It's not too bad Tom, although there are times when I have to bite my tongue cuz it does upset me sometimes.  But anything coming from RD is a hoot.  The guy thinks he has something over on me, but he doesn't.  Most of the people on my list are just bantering...and thankfully, I can take it with a grain of salt.

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NADEAU TOPS TEST
Jerry Nadeau lapped Lowe's Motor Speedway at 181.757 mph in MB2 Motorsports' No. 01 Pontiac to top the 13 Winston Cup drivers who wrapped up a two-day test Wednesday. The track says Jimmie Johnson was second fastest on the unofficial watches at 181.087 mph in Hendrick Motorsports' No. 48 Chevrolet. Mike Skinner, who had been the fastest Tuesday, was third quickest at 180.481 mph in Morgan-McClure's No. 4 Pontiac on Wednesday. Mark Martin (180.192 mph) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (180.180 mph) rounded out the top five. They were followed by John Andretti (179.372) Todd Bodine (178.324), Jeff Green (177.579), Dale Jarrett (175.484), Brett Bodine (174.403), Jeremy Mayfield (173.997), Kirk Shelmerdine (173.533) and Tony Raines (173.355).

Track management was severely criticized after last July's race because turns 3 and 4 proved extremely slick. The turns were resurfaced in April 2002 and had to be redone in June, only three weeks before the race.

Typically, it takes at least four weeks to cure a new surface.

Track owner Bob Bahre said he had all four turns resurfaced this time.

"I think it's going to work out well," he said.

Bahre ordered the resurfacing even though the second Cup race at the track last September was contested without complaint.

NASCAR's Busch series will provide the first test of the new surface, racing here July 19.

STATESVILLE, N.C. (AP) -- Casey Atwood is rejoining car owner Ray Evernham for a one-race Winston Cup deal next month at Pocono Raceway.

Atwood will drive the No. 91 Dodge Intrepid in the Pocono 500 on June 8, the team said Thursday. The car will be sponsored by Mountain Dew LiveWire, a new soda that will be available only this summer.

Evernham fields Winston Cup cars for Bill Elliott and Jeremy Mayfield. The No. 91 is a research and development car entered in select events last season.

Atwood drove the car in the season finale last year, but has been out of a ride since.

He was 19 when Evernham plucked him out of the Busch series to drive for him full time in 2001. But Atwood struggled through his rookie season in the No. 19 Dodge, running as a teammate to Elliott, and was let go when Evernham had a chance to sign the more experienced Mayfield.

Then Evernham bought into Ultra Motorsports, solely to give Atwood another car to drive and remain under his umbrella.

Evernham split with Ultra owner Jim Smith in November, and Atwood has been out of a job since.

Stewart enters Saturday night's Pontiac Excitement 400 11th in points after a strong but short run the previous weekend in California. Stewart led three times for 100 laps - the most of any driver in the Auto Club 500 - but an engine failure relegated him to a 41st place finish.

With Stewart having scored three wins amongst three top-fives and six top-10s at Richmond, NASCAR's visit to the Virginia capital couldn't come at a better time.

Stewart likes Richmond a lot - and for good reason - as the Indiana native has led a total of 562 laps during his eight career Winston Cup starts. That amounts to 17.56 percent of the 3,200 available laps. And when Winston Cup isn't racing at Richmond, Stewart still is, having piloted a NASCAR Busch Series car, a NASCAR Craftsman Truck, a USAC Silver Crown car and a USAC Midget around the .750-mile oval. In fact, Stewart's most recent win at Richmond came last September, when he won the Craftsman Truck Series race in only his second Truck Series start.

If Stewart continues his winning ways at Richmond, he will become the first driver in NASCAR's modern era (1972 to present) to win three straight spring Richmond races. With Stewart's track record, few are betting against him.

"I just really like that track," Stewart said of RIR. "It's always been good to us. We got our first Winston Cup win at Richmond, and anytime you win your first race somewhere, that track automatically becomes very special to you. And since then, we've gotten two other wins. Obviously, we enjoy going there and we enjoy racing at night and we always seem to have a car that drives well."

RICHMOND, Va. - No baking sunshine. Heightened visual effects. A less hectic schedule. A rare chance to sleep in. An ever rarer Sunday off.

As NASCAR's Winston Cup Series comes to Richmond for the first night points race of the season, drivers' reasons for loving the lights range from a return to their racing roots to Tony Stewart's extra sack time.

Stewart has won the last two spring races here and has three victories in his last eight starts on Richmond International Raceway's three-quarter-mile oval. He loves sleeping in until 11 a.m. on race day.

For drivers like Kevin Harvick and many others, racing at RIR also is like reliving their early days in racing, but in much nicer conditions.

"It's the style track most everyone grew up on," he said, noting it has tight quarters, lots of beating and banging, with muscle as valuable as speed.

Points leader Matt Kenseth appreciates the blasts from the past, too.

“Saturday night shootouts in our past hold a lot of great memories and I guess that ends up being a small part of the allure," Kenseth said.

Night racing also helps minimize the heat that can build up in an asphalt infield surrounded by 100,000 aluminum seats. The bright lights accentuate the paint on the cars - and the fireworks on the track.

"It's good for the fans and good for the drivers because it keeps us cool in the cars," Harvick said. "I think you get a bigger speed sensation at night, with the brakes glowing and the sparks flying everywhere."

This year's schedule essentially gives drivers most of Saturday off after qualifying and their final practice on Friday night. Their first Saturday obligation is the mandatory meeting for drivers and crew chiefs at 5:30 p.m., two hours before the green flag will drop.

That is good and bad to John Andretti.

"We have the whole day, and I mean the whole day, to sit around before the race starts," the Petty Enterprises driver said. "You almost think about going home and then coming back for the race. You just need to figure out something to do."

Greg Biffle thinks the waiting makes the racing more exciting, for fans who have all day to get ready and for drivers eager to go racing.

"The atmosphere at a night race just seems to be more energetic all the way around," the Roush Racing driver said. "The fans are extremely pumped up and the drivers seem to take a more aggressive approach."

At all Winston Cup races, the firing of the engines and the sight of 43 cars rolling off pit road draw roars from the crowd, but Busch Series driver Ron Hornaday said he gets fired up under the lights.

"My favorite part is on the pace laps when the flash bulbs are going off," he said. "From where I'm at in the car, it's an awesome sight."

Qualifying is set for Friday. The race begins at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

The comparisons are inevitable.

Ricky Rudd and Elliott Sadler were involved in a much-discussed team swap following the 2002 Winston Cup season, with Rudd going to the Wood Brothers ride from which Sadler moved into Rudd's old spot at Robert Yates Racing.

So it's only natural to look at where each driver stands heading into the Pontiac 400 on Saturday at Richmond International Raceway. And 10 races into the 2003 season, it might surprise some fans to find out that, at least from a team standpoint, the "trade" seems to be working out pretty well for all involved.

Sadler's season has been a bit more flashy. He did finish third at Talladega and win a pole at Darlington in the No. 38 Fords, and does have five top-five starting positions so far. Qualifying, meanwhile, has been a struggle for Rudd in the No. 21 Fords, but he did finish fourth at Bristol.

But last year after 10 races, the Wood Brothers were 25th in the standings with 925 points with Sadler at the wheel. This season, Rudd has scored 1,038 points - 113 more than last year - and the team is seven spots higher in the standings. Rudd's old team, meanwhile, was eighth after 10 races last year and is 10th this year.

Still, Rudd and the Wood Brothers come into this week's race in their home state of Virginia looking to get another solid short-track run before going back to work improving their performance at larger tracks.

"We've had one really good result, at Bristol and I was excited about that," Rudd said. "I look at our short-track performance at not being that far off.

We've run well. We ran fourth at Bristol, 11th at Martinsville, which very easily could have been better. On the shorter tracks we've been pretty good.

"On the intermediate-sized tracks like we ran at California and Las Vegas, we've got some serious work to do. I'm not pleased and the Wood Brothers aren't pleased. You can sit here and complain or you can go to work, and all of our guys have chosen to go to work on it. ...No one is giving up until we get it and, hopefully, it's sooner rather than later."

Rudd, who finished 24th last week at California, won the fall race at Richmond in 2001 and has four finishes of seventh or better in his past five starts at the 0.75-mile track. Team co-owner Len Wood hopes Rudd can bring that kind of success with him to the team's car this week.

"This is kind of his home track more so than ours," said Wood, who is from Stuart, Va., while Rudd is from Chesapeake. "We had a lot of support at Martinsville and I think we'll get a lot here.

"Ricky's fan club is really unbelievable. ...I had a birthday two weeks ago and I got cards from all over the world. I don't know who these people are, but they're in Ricky's fan club and it's just unbelievable the support that the fan club gives Ricky."

The team is hoping to give Rudd the kind of support he needs to have a solid run Saturday night. They visited the track to test earlier this month, hoping to get a head start on a hectic schedule that squeezes all of the Winston Cup practice and qualifying into Friday's schedule.

"That was really only our second test since Daytona and things went really well," said Eddie Wood, the other team co-owner. "We found some stuff that we've been probably missing on and, hopefully, our car will still be as good as it was when we tested."

Even though the results so far this year might be a little better than they appear at first glance, Len Wood agrees with Rudd that there's work to be done.

"We're not where we want to be, I want to make that clear," Len Wood said.

"But we're going to get where we want to be and we won't stop until we do."

Your  Momma
 

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

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Did You Know

The last year Dodge won a NASCAR race until 2001 was in 1977.

43

Consecutive races Jimmie Johnson has been in the top 10 in points dating back to Atlanta, in March 2002.

Should DEI remove Steve Park from the #1 Pennzoil Monte Carlo?
 
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from rd
Hey RD, I put this in without any comments from me yesterday.  Did you think you were gonna get away with it?  WRONG…..You disagree cuz  you know I’m  right and you are wrong!  You ferd lubbin jerk!!!!LOL.

Dear chebbie lubin, misguided jerkette, with delusions of  grandeur, er..I  mean Momma. I disagree because I know your right??? HUH?  You been talkin  with Lindy again? I understand being delusional can be  transmitted:)
rd

Nope, I jes know when I'm right, and you are wrong! LOL

from Melinda
Back atcha Bob,

First--do the math--I don't understand what the weight has to do with anything--hey, don't these cars have brakes?  Second, what the heck does celebrity have to do with the race at all??? third, I thought Chris Pook
bailed from LBGP--I know my stock in it  sure did.

Just me,

Melinda
 
from Darlene
Sandra,
Just a note to tell you, I think the newsletter on Dale's birthday, was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I cried for hours. I love this man and still miss him so much. I had hopes of someday meeting him, but I guess, I will have to wait until I get to heaven.  I was wondering if you wrote the poem, "One Quarter Mile From Heaven"? That is so BEAUTIFUL!  It was so hard to read it because I couldn't see for the tears.  Love your newsletter, keep 'em coming!  Oh, by the way, I'm 63 yr. old, female, and love NASCAR! Wish there was a race every day!
 
Darlene

I wish I could take credit for that poem, but I can't.  Someone sent it to me in the months after his passing, and I have kept it on my wall since then.

from Larry
Sandra,

It was Brooks and Dunn! (see insertion below)

I never saw him any Hall & Oates videos.

Larry

DE3FAN

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Adkins will sponsor car race in June

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -It's a match made in Music City: The Nashville Superspeedway found a title sponsor for its June Busch Series race in country singer Trace Adkins.

The June 7 race will be called the Trace Adkins "Chrome" 300, track officials and representatives from Capitol Records announced recently. "Chrome" is the title of Adkins' latest album.

"I've been a big fan of racing for as long as I can remember and have watched NASCAR on TV since I was a kid," Adkins said. "So you can imagine how honored I am to have a race with my name on it at the Nashville Superspeedway."

Adkins, whose hits include "Chrome" and "(This Ain't) No Thinkin' Thing," will perform in concert before the night race and sing the national anthem.

The 41-year-old country singer has a greatest hits album due out in July.

As Indianapolis Motor Speedway this month enters its second year of use of its SAFER (steel and foam energy reduction) barrier for the Indy 500 and preliminary practice and qualifying, NASCAR continues to try to adapt the revolutionary "soft wall" system for its tracks.

Dr. Dean Sicking, developer of the system, will conduct another test of a NASCAR variation Tuesday at the University of Nebraska. Data analysis is expected to take four to six weeks, so there's no clear indication whether NASCAR tracks will install SAFER barriers this season.

Sicking and NASCAR officials have maintained that Indy's soft walls aren't applicable to NASCAR tracks because of the wide variety in radius and banking of turns-the areas where the barriers are needed most.

When practice opens Sunday for the May 25 Indy 500, drivers will feel perhaps the most secure ever with regard to smacking the erstwhile concrete walls at the Brickyard. Last year, the SAFER either prevented entirely, or significantly reduced, injuries in all crashes at Indy.

Todd Bodine's Busch team will make the trip to Richmond this weekend after all.

Bodine, the Busch Series points leader in the No. 92 Chevrolet, said Wednesday that his Busch Series team has found a sponsor to keep the team going for the next few races.

"We weren't going to Richmond as of last night," Bodine said. "But we have a sponsor that was going to sponsor us for four or five races starting at Charlotte that agreed to move that up. ...It just buys us some time."

Bodine said three car owners in the Busch Series offered to put him in their cars at Richmond if his current team didn't make it. One owner offered to build him a new car, but the car would have been entered past the NASCAR deadline and therefore he would not have been eligible for points had he driven that one.

Bodine said the team is talking to another sponsor about a long-term deal for the rest of the season.

"It's not just the state of the economy, but the state of our sport," Bodine said of his team's plight. "I think a lot of people are starting to realize what I've been saying for a couple of years - we're in some trouble.

"We need to do some things differently. I don't know what the answer is, but it costs $4 million to run a Busch team these days. That's ridiculous. It costs more to go to some races than it pays to win them. What kind of sense does that make?"

ORLANDO, Fla. - All his rowdy friends have settled down - and so has Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Let him put it this way: "It takes a good damn reason to go out and raise hell now, instead of just for the hell of it."

Coincidentally or not, we find him launching his most serious bid yet for the Winston Cup championship, solidly in second place, 44 points behind leader Matt Kenseth.

Not that Junior hasn't always taken his business seriously on race weekends.  It was the other nights of the week - when he and his inner circle of rock musicians, race mechanics and computer nuts pounded the product of his sponsor, Budweiser, until the predawn hours, then slept until noon. The only motive needed was for one of them to say, "Let's do it."

What Earnhardt has learned at age 28 is that "it really takes a lot of focus and dedication every day, not just on race day. It takes good focus all week long to get the result you need on Sunday."

So he has altered his lifestyle?

"I'd like to think so," he said the other day, laughing. "I've toned it down quite a bit. It's a matter of what you do during the week-just having a better grip on the coming weekend.

"I still kind of kick back and relax. But we used to go out all the time and have good times. We still do, but we just don't do it as often. I think you get to a point where other things become more important."

Did the change come hard?

"Nah," he said. "It came pretty naturally."

Of course it did, when you think about it.

The heat is down. The pressure is less than enormous. The in-depth interviews with Playboy and Rolling Stone are over, the book long gone from the New York Times bestseller list.

No longer do crowds encircle his garage stall at every track, nor do they swarm him with every step he takes. NASCAR's merciful ejection this year of the legions of autograph seekers from restricted areas now allows him to walk blessedly alone through the garages.

To be sure, every grandstand on race day is a sea of red. No other driver is as roundly revered. But Junior has some breathing room from the adoring masses now.

With his father two years dead and the specter of that fatality dissipating, Junior is fully and finally allowed to be his own man. At last, he can hear himself think.

At his age, and in his fourth Cup season, he no longer feels pigeonholed with the much-ballyhooed "young-gun" set-Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch, Jamie McMurray, et al.

"It's good not to be such a factor in that (hoopla), and concentrate on your job, concentrate on what you're doing," he said.

So he feels, with blessed relief, like "a middle-of-the-road guy. I'm not quite old enough to be a 'veteran' yet."

All in all, there's no more need to vent-and no more compulsion to party. He can ponder now, strategize for months ahead, through the summer, into the stretch run of autumn toward the title his father won a record-tying seven times.

Now, he and his crew, led by the Eurys, Tony Sr. and Tony Jr., are able to "get what we can from every weekend," Earnhardt said.

That's the way the old man did it-refuse to accept a lousy break that could make a given race disastrous for the point standings, keep clawing and scratching back, lap after lap, until you turn a bad day into a good day.

There's been no better example of that than the way Junior handled last Sunday's 500-miler at California Speedway. He went into the race 51 points behind Kenseth.

Then trouble began to peck at Earnhardt. First, he was forced to start near the back of the field due to a late engine change. But he fought his way up to fifth place before a mistake in the pits-lug nuts left loose on one wheel-forced an unscheduled stop to correct the error.

That cost Junior a lap and sent him back to 18th place, while Kenseth ran well ahead of him. Against a lot of other teams, Kenseth would at this point have been a shoo-in to pad his points lead.

But Junior roared back, unlapped himself, kept charging and finished sixth to Kenseth's ninth.

So the following sentence would have applied to the Intimidator many times, over many years, as well as it applied to Little E last week: "Earnhardt turned an almost certain net loss in the point standings into a net gain."

That is precisely how championships are won. That, and a mental roadmap for the long haul.

"We need to be good in June, July and August-try to get through that part of the season and still be in position to win," Earnhardt said.

Specifically in summer come two road races at Sonoma, Calif., and Watkins Glen, N.Y.

"We're still struggling a bit on the road courses," Little E said, adding pragmatically, "I'd like to just get in and out of those in one piece."

Then, "With the last 10 races to go, if we're still in the top five, I feel like we've got a great opportunity to win the championship because we're really strong near the end of the season."

In the last eight races of 2002, Earnhardt had six top-10 finishes and four top-fives, including a win at Talladega.

In January, he went to testing at Daytona talking openly about "winning the championship." Few took him seriously, considering his sporadic early years, his feeling of hopelessness at some tracks and his love of good times on weeknights.

Now, it's hard not to take seriously the notion of another Winston Cup trophy with the name "Earnhardt" inscribed on it.

"We came into this season expecting to do what we were doing at the end of last season," he said. "And we have."

Conversation: Michael Waltrip
By Dave Rodman, Turner Sports Interactive

FONTANA, Calif. -- Michael Waltrip turned 40 on Wednesday, and typically there are no dull moments in the life of the Winston Cup driver, father of two, Busch Series and Craftsman Truck team owner, husband, TV commentator and product spokesman.

True to form, Waltrip's latest endeavor is smack in the middle of a charitable promotion that benefits "Give Kids The World," a 51-acre, non-profit resort for children with life-threatening illnesses whose one wish is to visit Central Florida's tourist attractions.

 In the midst of his most competitive Winston Cup season, Waltrip, a two-time Daytona 500 winner, took time to sit down with NASCAR.com's Dave Rodman to talk about dyeing his hair, his over-the-road pet peeves and the difference in Winston Cup racing since he started 18 years ago.

Turning 40 and dyeing your hair -- is this just an inevitable part of life or its next great adventure?

I think, as a Waltrip, it's inevitable (laughing). I'm the second Daytona 500 winner from the Waltrip family that's decided that dying their hair might be fun. I think you should do whatever makes you happy. I'm not ready for my hair to be gray yet, so I just started using Just For Men hair color, probably about six months ago. I really like the product and it really works for me.

To benefit Give Kids the World, would you dye your hair, let's say, purple?  Seems like you wouldn't get any less lip from (Ken) Schrader and (Johnny) Benson and Allen (Bestwick) on the TV show, Inside Winston Cup?

I really like the sweepstakes that they've come up with, benefiting Give Kids The World. That's the greatest thing about it -- I don't have to do anything crazy like that.  I can dye it my natural color and the fans that log onto justformen.com can win a trip to a driving school and $1,000 in expense money. The important thing is all the children that win, that are battling terminal and life-threatening illnesses, and that get to go to the Give Kids The World resort in Central Florida.

Are you going to be the driving instructor?

Nope. I leave that business up to the people that do that every day. The driving schools are a lot of fun and they are very well run. Those folks put people through school every day and they do a great job. I've had the good fortune to go through a couple of those schools through the years with my sponsors and I'm always impressed with the type of equipment they use and the type of instructing that goes on.

A lot of time, those instructors are guys that I am familiar with or have raced with through the years. Maybe they don't have rides right now and they're trying to stay involved in racing in some form or fashion and trying to stay current behind the wheel.

What's the worst thing people do out on the street? What's your pet peeve while you're driving?

I just don't like people that get all mad. It's like, we're not racing -- we're just trying to get to work or going on vacation. I can't even get a grasp on road rage at all. Why people get mad about the way someone else drives is a little silly to me. I guess that's my worst thing.

I don't like it when people are just on edge behind the wheel. I guess when I race I have to be on edge and battle for every inch I can get, but when I'm driving down the road I choose to just chill and I wish everybody else would, too.

In a lot of ways, people think you must have the perfect life -- wife, kids, all the pizza you can eat, driving race cars, travel. Is that fact or fiction?

I honestly enjoy our lifestyle and what makes it work for us, so I can't complain about anything. I'm real happy that I get to do what I love to do. When I made the Domino's commercial it was a chance for us to take our two little girls, Caitlin and Margaret to California and see what it's like to be in a commercial. They enjoyed that tremendously. Generally, the family travels with us wherever we go so I love it and I wouldn't complain about a thing.

Talk a little bit about broadcasting the Craftsman Truck race at Martinsville -- getting to watch DW race, knowing what it means to him to get back in and compete?

That was more or less all about Darrell getting a chance to do something that he loves to do. I promise you it turned his clock way back, to be able to go to Martinsville and to compete in that race. We were the fastest truck there prior to qualifying. He won practice. He passed people all day long and just had a real good run so I was real proud for him and real proud of my team for providing him with such a good truck to race.

If you had your way in a perfect world, how many races would Leroy's Boys do? How many would Darrell be able to drive?

We're very interested in trying to run a full Truck Series schedule for 2004 with our team. I think a nice complement to that would be Darrell running in a second truck in as many races as he wants -- or as many as (wife) Stevie would let him run. We'll just have to see what develops.

We bought some great trucks from Hendrick Motorsports and got some wonderful people working on our team that have a lot of truck experience. We're definitely going to IRP in August for our next event (with Darrell) but we're working now trying to secure sponsorship to provide someone with an opportunity to race for the championship next year.

After a quarter of the season, what's your impression of the current generation of Winston Cup cars?

Everything has gone well. I think (John) Darby (Winston Cup director) and (Mike) Helton (NASCAR president) and all the folks at NASCAR should really be proud of what they've accomplished. It was a plan that made a lot of sense to everyone going in -- that it would make the racing better if we could make all the cars similar so we're not constantly hearing all this silly bickering among the competitors and the manufacturers over a quarter-inch here or a quarter-inch there.

I appreciate the way NASCAR stood fast.  Early in the going, the Ford teams were whining and moaning just like they always have over issues that weren't even there.  NASCAR let them whine and moan and carry on and yet they didn't react -- they said we need to see more. I think at Texas everybody left there saying, "Wow, this was pretty cool." We had all the manufacturers in the front and we had a great race where the makes of cars wasn't an issue.

You never heard anyone make a story that made any sense to people that were looking at it realistically. NASCAR was really responsible and I think confident with what they had prepared so long to do with the rules in 2003 that they weren't going to react to people just running their mouth. They wanted to make sure that if there was an issue it was going to be based on facts -- not just drug in from left field somewhere.

As we go forward the racing will just get better and better. Now they're setting themselves up so that if they want to slow the cars down somehow and they make a change in aerodynamics they can do it across the board. They can make one swipe and take spoiler or air dam or whatever away from all makes and achieve whatever they're trying to achieve without penalizing one brand over the other.

What percentage do you feel like you, (crew chief) Slugger Labbe and the guys have gotten out of your Chevrolet?

One hundred percent at the Daytona 500 and 95 percent at Darlington and Vegas -- but the rest of them not any better than 50 percent. Well, at Talladega we did really good but got in an accident. The tracks that I have historically run well at: Atlanta, Bristol, Texas -- we just missed it. We're concerned about that and we're also focusing on what we need to do to make sure it doesn't continue.

A lot of that was said and done over the last two weeks, with the off weekend (at Easter). At DEI, and particularly the NAPA team have just accomplished a lot of goals and been to the wind tunnel and done all kinds of work behind the scenes that the race fans don't even know about, trying to address our shortcomings at some of the other tracks that we have not performed well at this year.

Have you selected your car yet for the Pepsi 400 -- assuming your Talladega piece won't be usable?

It is (usable) -- it's about fixed. It was a great car at Talladega. We led the race and we felt really good about our car -- we just got in a bit of an accident late in the going but we've got it just about the same. It wasn't a big deal. They've fixed it and we'll race the same one.

Now that you've turned 40, reflect a little about what's occurred in the sport over the course of your career.

It's just been amazing to see the difference in the sport from when I entered it in 1985 to today. The whole mentality of the sport has changed, from how to pick a driver to the amount of cars that can win to the amount of sponsors on the side of the car to obviously the amount of people at the races to the amount of coverage that the media gives our sport -- it's almost mind boggling to think of how different it is now.

The one single biggest change in that time is the fact that then, you had to be known, you had to be established -- you had to be old, basically -- to get a ride in a good Winston Cup car. There weren't any opportunities for young cats to come in and get in a good car -- not only in Cup, but in Busch, either.

Unless somebody's dad had a little bit of money, they weren't getting in a good car but nowadays you see Hendrick Motorsports hiring Brian Vickers and Kyle Busch. Of course, when Jeff Gordon came along that kinda changed things a little bit, but now with Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman -- it's changed 180 degrees.  It's gone in the other direction, completely.

My eyes are open and my mouth is agape. To put it mildly, I've just been shocked and awed by NASCAR fans.

When I wrote in last week's column that NASCAR should divest itself from all other entities under its corporate umbrella -- including the International Speedway Corporation's ownership of 13 tracks, MRN Radio, a concessions and hospitality outfit and a souvenir marketing and sales company -- and focus solely on its role as the governing body of stock-car racing, never in my wildest dreams did I expect the kind of response I received.

So far, I've received more than 200 e-mails -- and I'm still getting at least a dozen more each day -- from NASCAR fans and foes alike.

And the most surprising part is that roughly 80 percent of the respondents made it clear that they're unhappy with NASCAR the governing body, the business, the sport and the million-pound corporate gargantuan.

Don't get me -- or them -- wrong. The fans that took the time and trouble to respond made it clear they love racing (for the most part), as well as the teams and their drivers … they just hate the way NASCAR is running the show.

Among their major complaints: High ticket prices that continue to escalate.  Expensive concessions. Boring restrictor-plate racing -- not to mention the huge multi-car crashes. Perceived favoritism to certain drivers like Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon. An interest in maximizing profits at the expense of the racing. Writing rules, and then rewriting them over and over again. Monopolistic practices that rival the restraint of trade issues that got Microsoft into trouble. The belief that drivers are muzzled from saying what they really think. Horrendous traffic jams before and after races.

Those derisive comments are just for starters. There's plenty more where those came from. But the underlying message is clear: there are a lot of unhappy NASCAR fans out there. The question now is how -- or if -- the sanctioning body will begin to address some of those issues to make things more fan-friendly.

But given the fact that NASCAR is the No. 2 televised sport in America, third in licensed sales of souvenirs and apparel, enjoying high attendance and still counting the billions of dollars in TV revenue, wouldn't it be prudent to start listening to some complaints? After all, the fans are the ones footing the bill.

If 80 percent of my e-mails indicate there's something wrong with the sport, that's too significant of an audience to ignore. And since NASCAR loves to commission polls itself -- generally emphasizing just the good points, it seems -- isn't it time fan complaints are addressed?

NASCAR, for the most part, is about quality racing. The show arguably is the best in motorsports today. Not only has the sport made millionaires out of many drivers, crew chiefs and team owners, it's also made those in the highest seats of power equally as wealthy. And who has that wealth come from? The same wallets of fans who begrudgingly are forced to put up with high prices.

In other words, NASCAR is picking the pockets of the fans it continues to attract in record numbers, and the fans are willingly letting themselves be fleeced -- after all, they'd rather be in the game than on the outside looking in.

I've kept all of the e-mails I've received. I'd gladly share them with NASCAR officials, if they would so request them. Maybe what I've seen and read might open up some of eyes. For as fast as NASCAR has grown, continued ambivalence and increased grumbling could bring about its downfall just as quickly.

One need look only at CART for a fine example of how to alienate fans.  Open-wheel aficionados grew increasingly tired of prices that were out of reach, ever-increasing internal squabbles among team owners, the proliferation of foreign drivers at the expense of worthy North Americans, the lack of a business model and the sheer arrogance CART had being the only open-wheel circuit in the nation until the IRL came along.

Now, nearly eight years since the IRL came into existence, the tables have been turned. The IRL is No. 1 in open-wheel racing, most of CART's stars and teams have migrated to their rival. What was once a bitter war between CART and the IRL is all but over.

NASCAR could well find itself in a similar position if it doesn't start taking fan complaints seriously.

And it could get worse: Some day soon an enterprising lawyer who wants to make a name for himself may just decide to take on NASCAR and its monopolistic practices. As several fans wrote, it could rival the potential need to break up NASCAR in much the same way we saw AT&T split, or how Microsoft was taken to task for being the biggest and most powerful, at the expense and frustration of its rivals.

As much as some feel there's much wrong with NASCAR, most fans agree that if the sanctioning body would go back to its roots and jettison its ancillary businesses, the result would be better racing, consistent rules and, most importantly, happier fans.

As one of the most recent notes, from Patrick Rosati of Chanhassen, Minn., said, "It's inconceivable that NASCAR can make objective decisions being both a governing body and a business owner. It's like having the fox guard the hen house."

Jerry Bonkowski covers NASCAR for ESPN.com. He can be reached at motorsportwriter@....

Your  Momma
 

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

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Today In Nascar History

April 30, 1963

Michael Waltrip, driver of the #15 Napa Auto Parts Chevy Monte Carlo was born on this date in 1963.

April 30, 1975

Elliott Sadler, driver of the #38 M&M’s Ford was born on this date.

April 30, 1987

Bill Elliott sets a Winston Cup qualifying record when he is clocked at 212.809 miles per hour at Talladega. Awesome Bill from Dawsonville breaks his own record (212.229) set the year before at the same track. Elliott has sat on the pole a record eight times at the Alabama superspeedway.

Should DEI remove Steve Park from the #1 Pennzoil Monte Carlo?
 
http://de3fan4.tripod.com/

from Melinda
Momma, I thought Kerry was Dale's nephew, not his son?  Am I mistaken?

Yep, Kerry is Dale’s firstborn son from his first marriage.

from DE3FAN
Sandra,
What a GREAT thing you did by sending out a special edition today!  A tribute to the late, great Dale Earnhardt on this "Special Day" , Dale Earnhardt Day 2003!  Thank you, Momma you are the greatest!
Larry
DE3FAN

from Kath
Sandra, thank you, it was hard to read the entire new letter through the tears.  He is and always will be missed by me and my family.
Kath

from Sherry
Momma,

Wow what an awesome email.  Every article was breathtaking.  The more I read the
Harder it was to fight back the tears.  It brought back the memories of how I felt that day.  I will surely save this email.

I haven’t written you in quite awhile…But I’m still here.

You have been doing a Great job.  I look forward to reading your email every night at work.  Keep the
emails coming
Sherry from Tx

from Bob
North Carolina celebrates Dale Earnhardt Day
Gov. Mike Easley has proclaimed it Dale Earnhardt Day to honor the racing great from Kannapolis. Instead of waving, flash three fingers as a greeting? "I was going to eat three pancakes and three eggs and drink three glasses of milk to start the day," Humpy Wheeler, suggested buying three tickets to the upcoming Winston all-star race. Dialing up three friends or family members you haven't spoken with in a while would be appropriate.

Thank goodness his number wasn't 99!

I do think of him and Neil Bonnett and JD McDuffie kicking back in racer's heaven. My favorite memory was watching a Hall and Oates video, and realizing that the guy playing air guitar was Ironhead! Too few of the Dale Jr fans realized he inherited some of those laid back genes.

Cheers, Bob

Bob, are you sure it was a Hall & Oates video?  I’m thinking it was Brooks and Dunn.

from Judy
Thanks for the memories all over again.  I still get tears. I miss Dale so much.   Stinky aol would not load the pictures.  I probably would have cried more.   Great job you are doing.  Judy

from Dan
Thank You...
 
for the memory and the tears...
 
My mother died the next day...
 
He was her driver too...

Thanks everyone, there was no way I couldn’t have put a list out.  Dale was the best, and he needs to never be forgotten……

also from Bob
from Melinda
Why doesn't the city of Long Beach, and NASCAR get together and just add a road course race during the week of (or the week before or after) the Long Beach Grand Prix?

Stock cars on wide open road courses - NEAT!!

Big stock cars on narrow street courses with Jersey barriers - Danger, Will Robinson!

Indy cars weigh 1500lb - TransAm weigh 2000lb - NASCAR weigh 3400lb. Do the math.  We don't need a car in the crowd tragedy, plus the pits and garages would never support 43 stockers.. And Chris Pook is too smart to expose himself to the competition. He sent out a press release highlighting that CART racing draws celebrities:  "Several Hollywood celebrities have been among the tens of thousands of fans enjoying the stars of the Champ Car World Series Steven Dorf, Larry Wilcox and George Eads were all on hand . . ."
Pardon me . . .  who? Geez, Larry Wilcox' career died with "Chips".  Where was Sly "Driven" Stallone?  At the same time, Arnold Schwartzenegger was the GM at Fontana last weekend, and I know that Reggie Jackson, Kobe Bryant, many of the Angels, Jay Leno, and many RECOGNIZABLE celebs were in the crowd.

Cheers, Bob

CHARLOTTE TESTING SET
The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer says that as many as 15 Winston Cup drivers are scheduled to test at Lowe's Motor Speedway today and tomorrow in preparation for The Winston all-star race and the Coca-Cola 600 next month. Among the drivers expected to be on hand are Dale Earnhardt Jr., Mark Martin, Dale Jarrett, Jimmie Johnson, John Andretti, Jeremy Mayfield, Jeff Green and Jerry Nadeau. The newspaper says the 1.5-mile track will be open from 5 to 10 p.m. today and noon to 10 p.m. Wednesday.

The Goo Goo Dolls -- vocalist and guitarist John Rzeznik, vocalist and bass player Robby Takac and drummer Mike Malinin -- will perform a one-hour concert on the Miller Time Live Rock 'n' Racing stage located between turns one and two in the infield of Lowe's Motor Speedway.

The concert begins at 3 p.m. and all race fans with tickets to The Winston will be admitted to the concert area.

Rusty Wallace, who will drive a No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge sporting a Goo Goo Dolls paint scheme in The Winston, will be on stage to introduce the band.

The Goo Goo Dolls will also perform a 10-minute set later that evening between The Winston Open and The Winston-NASCAR Winston Cup racing's annual all-star event.

Formed in Buffalo, N.Y., during the late 1980s, the Goo Goo Dolls achieved their place in rock 'n' roll history with the 1998 release of "Dizzy Up The Girl," a double-platinum album that produced a string of hits including "Iris," "Slide," Black Balloon" and the title track.

The group's latest album "Gutterflower," released by Warner Bros. Records, features their stunning new single, "Here Is Gone."

The Winston All-Star Team, a group of Charlotte and Concord business leaders, has raised $500,000 in donations to give the days surrounding the May 17 race at Lowe's Motor Speedway a true all-star feeling.

The campaign is being called "There's No Place Like Home" -- a line taken from the "Wizard of Oz" and meant to play off Lowe's designation as the unofficial home of NASCAR. The Winston has been held at the suburban Charlotte race track for 17 consecutive years.

"When you think of the Rose Bowl, you think of Pasadena," Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory said. "When you think of The Winston, we want you to think of the Charlotte region."

Lowe's has a one-year deal with series sponsor R.J. Reynolds to host The Winston, and NASCAR has considered moving the event to other tracks on the circuit.

With RJR's role as title sponsor possibly coming to an end, Lowe's could lose one of its major supporters in keeping the race in Charlotte. However, most teams and drivers are based in the area and don't want the race to move because it's one weekend in a grueling 36-race schedule they can stay home.

This year's schedule gives the teams three weeks at home: There is an off weekend for Mother's Day, The Winston, then the Coca-Cola 600, which is also run at Lowe's.

"The schedule is ferocious, and this is the only time of the year they can spend three weeks at home," said track president Humpy Wheeler. "That is one of the strongest things we have going for us.

"Unfortunately, there's a lot of other politics involved, and most of that is coming from other tracks that want the race."

To convince NASCAR the event should stay at Lowe's, 15 companies including Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated, Bank of America and Duke Energy -- have scheduled two weeks of activities.

Among them are various concerts featuring Uncle Kracker, the Goo Goo Dolls and Lee Ann Womack, a fashion show by the Women of NASCAR, an inaugural Craftsman Truck Series race, and The Winston Homecoming -- a picnic and concert for NASCAR team members and their families.

Well, OK, maybe he's not everywhere, but doesn't it seem like it?

In a couple of weeks, Junior will be back in Rolling Stone.  This time, he'll serve as a "guest commentator" for the magazine's 35th anniversary issue, with will include essays about several American icons.

Junior will write about why the Corvette is a true American classic. No word if he rented one from Enterprise.

Among some of the other guest writers for the issue include Jay Leno, Cameron Crowe and Bob Costas. The topics range from the American flag to Elvis Presley to the Fender Stratocaster guitar to Homer Simpson. Doh!

Driving the No. 4 Kodak Pontiac, Skinner, who has had two top-10 qualifying efforts in the last three Coca-Cola 600s, circled the 1.5-mile superspeedway in 29.862 seconds, 180.832 mph, to lead the speed parade.

Defending Coca-Cola 600 winner Mark Martin was second fastest at 180.216 mph in Jack Roush's Viagra Ford. Roush prepared cars have won four consecutive Coca-Cola 600s and Martin will be looking to make it five straight.

Jeff Green was third fastest at 180.215 mph in the AOL Chevrolet with Dale Jarrett fourth on the unofficial watches at 180.156 mph in the UPS Ford. Jimmie Johnson completed the top five in the Lowe's Chevrolet at 180.138.

Speeds were well off the record lap of 186.464 mph posted by Johnson during last year's CTC Pole Night qualifying as teams focused primarily on race set-ups and long runs.

The five-hour practice session was run without incident. The only caution flag was waved when safety personnel responded to a small fire in the garage area.

NASCAR Winston Cup testing for the Coca-Cola 600 continues Wednesday. Drivers will be on the track from noon to 10 p.m. and the main grandstand will be open to the public with free admission.

The unofficial speeds: 1. Mike Skinner, 180.832 mph; 2. Mark Martin, 180.252; 3. Jeff Green, 180.216; 4. Dale Jarrett, 180.156; 5. Jimmie Johnson, 180.138; 6. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 179.330; 7. Todd Bodine, 178.306; 8. Jerry Nadeau, 177.971; 9. Jerry Mayfield, 177.608; 10. John Andretti, 177.410; 11. Brett Bodine, 175.046; 12. Tony Raines, 174.177.

Eric Poret, 40, was killed Saturday night in a stock-car accident at Westbank Speedway near New Orleans, the Times-Picayune reported.

Poret was driving a 1986 Chevy Monte Carlo when on the ninth of 12 laps, his car began to tip over, then was hit by another car.

His death was at least the 303rd in U.S. auto racing since 1990, according to a Charlotte Observer study.

--GARY SCHWAB

CONCORD - Because of lack of sponsorship, it appears unlikely the team of Busch series points leader Todd Bodine will compete this weekend at Richmond, Va., team officials confirmed.

Bodine, who was testing at Lowe's Motor Speedway with his Winston Cup team Tuesday night, declined to comment on the situation when asked.

Bodine and his No. 92 Chevrolet team owned by Herzog-Jackson Motorsports has been leading the series since winning the March event at Darlington, S.C.

He currently holds a 99-point lead over Ron Hornaday. Shane Hmiel, whose team also has sponsorship problems, is third. Missing a race would virtually eliminate Bodine from title contention.

In 10 starts this season, Bodine has four top-five and six top-10 finishes. He is the only Winston Cup driver who has entered every series race this season.

Bodine's team, which is expected to remain in business, has been without a sponsor since the start of the season. He finished fifth in the series' most recent race, Saturday at California Speedway.

"It is with deep sadness that we announce Possum Bourne passed away peacefully at Dunedin Hospital," his family said in a statement.

Family and friends kept a 24-hour vigil after it was decided Monday to gradually decrease the use of life support machines.

3 cheers in memory of the Intimidator
The Charlotte Observer

Fans turned out in large numbers to celebrate the second Dale Earnhardt Day in Mooresville on Tuesday, which would have been Earnhardt's 52nd birthday.

Gov. Mike Easley proclaimed the day in honor of the Kannapolis racing great who drove the No. 3 car. Earnhardt died in a speedway accident in 2001.

Tuesday's celebration, at Dale Earnhardt Inc. headquarters, included bands and live radio broadcasts all day. Fans toured Earnhardt's race shop and classic cars and heard from Dale Earnhardt Jr.

More than 12,000 people showed up last April 29 to celebrate Earnhardt's memory.

By Michael Knox
Independent Tribune
Tuesday, April 29, 2003

MOORESVILLE — Bob Harris wandered through the crowd of fellow NASCAR fans and passed a smattering of people in lawn chairs camped out for Dale Earnhardt Day.
The day celebrates the anniversary of legendary NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt’s birthday, who died in February 2001 during the Daytona 500.

Harris made the trip from Findlay, Ohio, to join the event  Monday at Dale Earnhardt Inc., located in Mooresville.

Dressed in a red shirt that read “Earnhardt Express,” Harris, 35, and others resembled an army of Earnhardt fans, dressed in hats and shirts displaying the driver’s name.

Some fans sat in Dale Earnhardt lawn chairs as a giant television screen displayed images of Earnhardt and showed a documentary of his life.

“The year he died, I actually took a year from NASCAR,” Harris said. “I cried like a baby for about a month, and I never met the man.”

Harris said he admired Earnhardt for his ability to make his own career from scratch.

“The way he looked at it, nothing is free,” Harris said. “Everything he owned, he earned; nothing was handed to him.”
Harris said that mentality helped Earnhardt on the track.

“He’s going to the front, and if you’re in his way he’s going to move you,” he said.

Earnhardt’s style of driving helped him earn seven championships in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series.

Harris was among many fans that came out Monday. Some fans estimated that by 10 a.m. the crowd had topped 1,000 people. Last year, more than 12,000 fans attended the inaugural Dale Earnhardt Day.

Fans snapped photos of the Dale Earnhardt Tribute Car and some of the memorabilia displayed in the Earnhardt museum and visited with Earnhardt’s oldest son, Kerry Earnhardt.  Harris said he planned to snap about two rolls of film before he left.

The museum included a car Earnhardt had driven, plus cars that he was car owner of, including Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Budweiser car and the Michael Waltrip NAPA car.

Fans also flooded the museum’s store, hefting black Dale Earnhardt shopping bags loaded with items.

John Galloni’s shopping basket overflowed with Dale Earnhardt items, including shirts, hats, decals and a beach towel, with everything adding up to nearly $400.

“I looked like a kid in a candy store,” Galloni said. “It’s not all for me, though.”

Galloni, 42, of Springfield, Mass., drove about 15 hours   to attend Dale Earnhardt Day. Galloni said he’s been a fan of Earnhardt’s aggressive driving style ever since 1979, when the Kannapolis native earned NASCAR Rookie of the Year honors.  Tears stung at Galloni’s eyes, hidden by dark sunglasses, as he spoke of his hero.

“He was like the underdog trying to make a go of it,” Galloni said.

Nancy Elliott cited Earnhardt’s background as one reason she admired the driver. Earnhardt came from a blue collar family and dropped out of high school to race cars.

“He started with nothing, so to speak,” Elliott said.

Elliott, 58, of Lynchburg, Va., said it’s still hard to believe that Earnhardt and his black No. 3 car are no longer around.

“That black car, if we could just see it one more time on the track,” Elliott said. “It’s just not the same without him.”

• Contact Michael Knox at mknox@... or call at (704) 789-9144.

So who will get the coveted Winston Cup dates under the reshaped schedule?

Because California Speedway, which is owned by International Speedway Corp., is in the second-biggest market in the country -- less than an hour's drive east of Los Angeles -- it's a sure bet to get another race. Especially with the France family steering ISC.

And if Johnnie Cochran has anything to say about it, Texas will be doing a two-step soon after getting another date. Cochran is one of the lawyers representing Speedway Motorsports stockholder Francis Ferko in a suit to win a second date for Texas Motor Speedway.  Speedway Motorsports CEO Bruton Smith insists that NASCAR promised to give another race to the track.

As for Kentucky Speedway outside Cincinnati, it would take more than mint juleps from Jerry Carroll, who heads a group that owns that track, to persuade the France family to add a track where its company does not get the 65 percent of the gate that goes to track owners. If that area is serious about securing a Cup race, Carroll's group will have to sell controlling interest in the track to ISC, mirroring Ralph Sanchez's sale of Homestead to ISC.

Aside from those issues, NASCAR should do two things as it adjusts its schedule: Put new, larger markets on the list, and junk the recent trend toward building generic, 1.5-mile tracks.

Imagine the Jimmy Hoffa Memorial 500 at the Meadowlands. Or, perhaps, the rain-shortened Starbucks 200.5 in Seattle.

When NASCAR, which says it has no plans to expand the schedule beyond the current 36 races, enters a new area, it should apply the knowledge gained in the past decade. For instance, once the novelty of Chicagoland Speedway wears off, it will have the same problem filling the stands that Atlanta has had. Baseball provides plenty of proof the sports aphorism "If you build it, they will come" is archaic. It also doesn't apply in racing.

Considering that most fans watch the races on TV rather than from the stands, the racetrack will make or break the reputation of an event. In this case, size does matter. Fans are tired of the 1.5-mile, cookie-cutter speedways because the racing is boring. Fans want the sort of side-by-side, door-banging action they saw recently at Darlington. They want the sort of survival-of-the-fittest bouts they see at Bristol and Martinsville.

They want man vs. machine, not machine vs. machine. They want the kind of old-fashioned racing they'll see this weekend at Richmond.

Richmond International Raceway is a track that got it right. It's got location, it's got history, and it's got one of the toughest tickets in racing. OK, it took 50 years to perfect, but even in the first event in 1953, Lee Petty won because he was the last man running. The racetrack then measured a half-mile.

Two expansions, the last in 1988, have lengthened the track to 0.75 miles, and since the lights were reinstalled a few years ago, the night races at Richmond have become some of the best on the circuit.

Tony Stewart, who got his first career Winston Cup victory at the track and has won twice there since, says Richmond is "one of the perfect tracks on our schedule" where fans always get to see a great race.

"The fact that you can run two-wide there gives not only the drivers but the fans a good short-track race," he says. "You don't hear people talking about the aero push too much or a certain team having more horsepower than anybody else."

If the quality of the racing isn't enough to sell a track developer on the benefits of a shorter track, then look at the economics. It costs a lot less to build a 0.75-mile track, and it wouldn't take as much land.

Chicagoland and Kansas Speedway, the last two 1.5-mile tracks added to the schedule, have a fair amount of seating, but Richmond has more. It expanded to 105,000 for this season, and the county has approved an additional 45,000. Smith's Bristol Motor Speedway already holds 160,000.

So let's break the cookie-cutter mold. Let's emulate Richmond and build a track smaller than a mile that will hold enough people to populate a medium-size city. For example, there's this guy in New Jersey, Morton Salkind, who is trying to put together a deal to build a 0.92-mile track in the New York City area. Maybe he eventually would have to sell the track to ISC to get a race, but why wouldn't NASCAR do everything it could to help him get it right?

Obviously, just building a track isn't good enough anymore. But if you build it right, they will come.

Lee Spencer covers NASCAR for Sporting News. Email her at lspencer@... .

Your  Momma

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

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April 29, 1951

The greatest race car driver in NASCAR history, Dale Earnhardt was born on this date.

If you see a whole lot of the number 3 around North Carolina today, don't be intimidated.

Note that it would have been Dale Earnhardt's 52nd birthday, and that Gov. Mike Easley has proclaimed it Dale Earnhardt Day to honor the racing great from Kannapolis.

True, more than 12,000 people showed up last April 29 to celebrate his memory at the Dale Earnhardt Inc. race shop in Mooresville, but this time the governor has made it official. It's a rare tribute Easley has bestowed on the driver. His office said people have been honored by proclamation before, but rarely, if ever, to mark a birthday.

"It is appropriate to pay tribute to the life of this extraordinary North Carolinian who meant so much to the people of this state," Easley said, citing Earnhardt's accomplishments on and off the track. But if you're a fan who can't make it to Earnhardt headquarters -- where a pilgrimage of Dale lovers is expected again today, like Elvis fans at Graceland -- you might wonder about the best way to memorialize the No. 3-car driver.

Make your co-workers race you from the copy machine to the water cooler?  Wear your sunglasses all day, indoors and out? Instead of waving, flash three fingers as a greeting?

"I was going to eat three pancakes and three eggs and drink three glasses of milk to start the day," said Lowe's Motor Speedway spokesman Jerry Gappens. His boss, speedway president Humpy Wheeler, suggested buying three tickets to the upcoming Winston all-star race on May 17 at the Concord track. Like the Coca-Cola 600, Earnhardt won The Winston three times.

Dialing up three friends or family members you haven't spoken with in a while would be appropriate, too, Wheeler said, "because he used to do that.  When he had time, he'd always call you."

And taking three minutes to think about the three things Wheeler says Earnhardt stood for off the racetrack -- integrity, loyalty and respect for others -- would be fitting, as well. Just don't stop for three minutes in the middle of N.C. 3 through Kannapolis, which was renamed in Earnhardt's memory in a ceremony March 3. (That would be 3/3/03 for anyone who hasn't caught on.)

The Observer asked readers for suggestions, as well. Not everyone, of course, was into the idea of celebrating a race car driver. And Chris Romano of Huntersville thinks racing fans should use the opportunity to do something serious: demand changes that would make NASCAR safer. "Why is Indianapolis the only track with 'soft walls?' “he wrote, referring to padding designed to reduce the impact of crashes.

Other readers shared touching memories and thoughts about their favorite driver. "I think cooking out and watching old races would suit my old hero just fine," said Kelly Smith of Albertson in Eastern North Carolina.

Running other drivers off the interstate should be avoided, but Jay Campbell of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., had an idea that won't get you arrested: "Drive safely and turn left every chance you get." Racing fans will understand.

Dale's Day

The celebration at Dale Earnhardt Inc. in Mooresville begins at 8 a.m. and lasts until 9 p.m., with bands and live radio broadcasts all day long.

Fans can go inside Earnhardt's race shop and see his classic cars.

His son Kerry Earnhardt will be there in the morning, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. will appear at 2 p.m. Wife Teresa Earnhardt will also appear. Details and directions: Call (704) 662-8000, press 1; www.daleearnhardtinc.com .

333333333333333333333333333
ONE QUARTER MILE FROM HEAVEN

Like a guardian angel from four cars back,
Watching Michael & Dale Jr. as they
circled the track.

No intention of winning, just holding his place,
So proud of his "boys" now winning the race.

We thought it was over, the end was so near.
No time for pain; no time for fear.
We did not know, as there was no sign,
Dale was only one-quarter mile
from his final finish line.

Within an instant,
NASCAR fans would be facing,
An eternal change
in their world of racing.

He was one of the greatest;
beloved in his sport,
With a grand career now sadly cut short.

All the crowd noticed
was excitement and debris,
But a miracle was happening,
we could not see.

Dale said goodbye
through shining metal and chrome,
As God gave "NUMBER 3"
the checkered flag "home".

But forever in our hearts,
and in the scheme of things,
We'll picture him circling heaven
with black and silver wings.
Grinning; telling angels...
and even the Creator,
"Look out over there...
here comes the "INTIMIDATOR".
333333333333333333333333333

by Ted Baxter

I was all ready to write an article on what an AWESOME 2 weeks I had down in Florida. The Great Racing, the Great weather, the Short Tracks, everything that goes along with February in Daytona. That all changed in one horrible moment that unfortunately, is permanently etched in my memory. As we left the track on Sunday starting our 1100 mile journey home, I was pretty concerned about Dale. There were so many ambulances and rescue workers by his car, that it had to be pretty bad. But then, I said to myself "C'mon, that's Earnhardt, nothing can happen to him", and we left the speedway.

At 6:15 PM, the local radio station was taking calls on what a great race it was, and how happy for Michael Waltrip they all were, when they broke the story that Dale was in Critical Condition. I still thought it myself "it's Dale, he'll make it" At 6:33 pm the radio station said that some bad news had been posted on Nascar.com. They said that Dale had been pronounced Dead. I had to pull the car over. I couldn't drive, I could barely breath. I didn't know what to do. I was in shock, and I felt like Dale's car shot right through the wall and landed on my heart. No, I don't know these race drivers, but they are still a very important part of my family. I just can't believe it!!!!

After about a half hour of tears and disbelief, I started homeward again. This trip home was not going to be very tough. As I passed many cars with messages of thanks and prayers written in soap on the windows, the power of this event truly set my mind to thinking. I wonder what Dale would be thinking looking down on all this. This is my impression of what his thoughts are.

---------------

Dear Loved Ones,

I'm sorry to put you all through this. It wasn't my intention, believe me. Please stop all this fuss about me though, I died doing what I loved, at the place I loved the most. As we were going through 3 and 4, I knew my 2 cars were gonna finish 1st and 2nd in the Daytona 500. I was thinking about how much fun the victory lane celebration was gonna be. That was my last thought on earth.

I want Michael Waltrip to be able to feel good about his win. I hate that what happened overshadowed what should have been the biggest moment of his racing career. Go ahead and smile Michael, you earned it!!!! It feels good to win the Daytona 500 doesn't it?

Now people, please stop saying that I was trying to block so Michael and Dale Jr could fight it out for 1st. I was blocking the cars behind me so I could stay in 3rd and have a chance to win going down to the wire. I love Dale Jr and Michael, but please, this was the DAYTONA 500 and I'd have done anything to win it again. Now Mikey's won it, and Dale Jr will win it soon. That makes me smile.

Please don't give any grief to Sterling on this. It was just good hard racing. Give the boy a big round of applause at The Rock, he's going through a very hard time right now. I feel bad for Kenny too, as he came over to check on me. "Kenny, I wasn't in the car, I was with my Dad. What you saw was just my body." Now I never felt any pain. I never even felt the wall, as I went straight up to Heaven. My Dad was there to welcome me with open arms. It was a very happy moment. You all know how I felt when my Dad left me. It's GREAT to have him back.

For the loved ones and friends I left behind, rest assured that you made my time on earth a better place, and I'll miss you until I see you again. My advice to you is make the world yours, just as I've done. I didn't get cheated on a single thing in life. I've always done things in a big way, and my death was from a Hollywood script. The last lap of the Daytona 500, a track that I am most known for, with my cars running 1st and 2nd, and the checkered flag in sight. Well, I guess I just took a different checkered flag.

Now, sorry to be so short on this. I know this is a pretty big deal down there, but I'm just not a man of many words. I have to go now; Neil and I are going fishing this afternoon. Enjoy life till we meet again.
 

Dale Earnhardt

---------------

Thanks for the Great Memories!!!
Rest in Peace, Dale.

By Dale Earnhardt Jr., Special to Turner Sports Interactive
February 21, 2001

The following column originally was published Oct. 18, 2000.

I know a man whose hands are so callused that gloves aren't necessary. Once, while cutting down a tree, he cut the back of his hand to the bone with a chainsaw. He didn't even stop to look until the job was done.

I've seen him get thrown from a tractor. The tractor, as large as a small home, was flipped by the trunk of a stubborn oak tree. His first thought was not fear, but how quickly he could get the tractor back on its tracks to complete the task. He has suffered broken bones and never had one complaint. Not to anyone, not even to himself.

This man could lead the world's finest army. He has wisdom that knows no bounds. No fire could burn his character, no stone could break it. He maintains a private existence. One that shelters his most coveted thoughts from the world.

His upbringing was no controlled creation. His hard-working family was like many from that era. He gained his knowledge in hard dirt and second-hand tools, from his toys as a child to the trucks he drove in his 20s. From that natural upbringing, he has an incredible sense of good and bad. He sees it before it sees him, in people, in anything imaginable. Where did he learn this? How does he know so many things?

I've seen this man create many things. With no blueprints, he has carved and produced wonders upon wonders. His resume shows he has created major companies. He has hammered out deal upon deal -- always being as fair as God would have it. He has taken land with thick shrub and deep valleys and molded them into a frontier fit for heaven. He has built homes that kings couldn't fathom.

Solving problems is as easy as breathing for him. They are thrown his way like the morning paper. People surround him daily, wanting solutions. He hands them out with pride and passion. Each solution is a battle won. He calculates his every action, demanding the same from everyone else. He is honest in letting you know your end of the bargain.

His friendship is the greatest gift you could ever obtain. Out of all his attributes, it is the most impressive. He trusts only a few with this gift. If you ever break that trust - it is over. He accepts few apologies. Many have crossed him and they leave with only regret for their actions. In every result, he stands as an example of what hard work and dedication will achieve. Even his enemies know this.

I have had the pleasure of joining him on the battlefield. I have experienced his intimidating wrath. That may sound strong, but I know what I am talking about.  He roams like a lion, king of his jungle. His jungle is his and his alone. Every step he takes has purpose. Every walk has reason.

He praises God, loves his family, enjoys his friends.

I wonder what his future holds. He has so much to be proud of. To this point, he's only barely satisfied. His eyes see much more than my imagination could produce.

He is Dale Earnhardt. Dad, the world's finest army awaits.

Your  Momma

Today In Nascar History

April 28, 1967

Bobby Allison wins his 1st career dirt track race at Savannah Georgia Speedway.  He took home a purse of $1,000.00

By winning the Southern 500 with a fourteen lap lead, Ned Jarrett holds the record for greatest margin of victory in one race.

Should DEI remove Steve Park from the #1 Pennzoil Monte Carlo?
 
http://de3fan4.tripod.com/

from Melinda
OH BOY, HERE WE GO AGAIN.

I gotta say it.

California Speedway has its priorities in place for THEM, but not for California.

With our state's $38B deficit, I don't see how the raceway's request for state funds to light up California Speedway for night racing can be justified.

Virtually every very election, the Pol's ask us to vote more bonds (read property tax increases) for education, etc. --and we DO. Then, this year, Governor Gray announced even before the next inaugural, that he is cutting education, but not eliminating the bonds we approved.   Hellooooo???

My solution, I think is win-win.

Why doesn't the city of Long Beach, and NASCAR get together and just add a road course race during the week of (or the week before or after) the Long Beach Grand Prix?  The blocks already or still are up, the stands are up and, the street lights are already in place. LBGP draws in excess of 200,000 fans on raceday; so can NASCAR!!!

Not that far from Fontana.

Just me--

Melinda

from Bob
Busch, who would win his second NASCAR Winston Cup race of 2003 at the California Speedway 500 mile race in Fontana the next afternoon, started and finished ninth in his Midget debut. He was the second quickest driver on the track for much of the race according to AMB electronic scoring. Busch, in seventh place on lap 16, spun to a halt in the third-turn infield when his arm restraints became entangled. He restarted the self-starting Beast/FF and came from the back of the field to pass cars inside and outside to finish ninth.
 ----------
An attaboy to Doug Stokes and his promotional acumen. For first time in an open cockpit, Busch acquitted himself proud.

from RD
Love your news letter in spite of the fact I disagree with EVERYTHING you say and stand for:) Like in the Johnny Cash tune Hurt, when I read your opinions I know I still can feel. Boiling blood is better then no blood:) Bogity shmugity.
Rd

Hey RD, I put this in without any comments from me yesterday.  Did you think you were gonna get away with it?  WRONG…..You disagree cuz you know I’m right and you are wrong!  You ferd lubbin jerk!!!!LOL.

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BUSCH MOVES UP WITH WIN
Kurt Busch has moved into fourth place in the Winston Cup championship after driving Roush Racing's No. 97 Ford to victory in Sunday's Auto Club 500 at California Speedway. With his second victory of the year and the sixth of his 88-race career, Busch moved ahead of Jimmie Johnson and is now 168 points behind his first-place teammate, Matt Kenseth. Kenseth has 1,473 points after 10 races to lead Dale Earnhardt Jr. (1,421) and Jeff Gordon (1,321). Roush Racing owner Jack Roush says that it's too early in the season to talk about a championship, even though he has two of the top four drivers in the standings. He says the two will be free to race each other all season: "Matt will race hard, and Kurt will race hard, and there are no rules, except it’s understood that they should not unnecessarily take one another out. Racing for the win is fair game. Whatever happens, happens."

Andretti takes step forward with top-10
By Dave Rodman, Turner Sports Interactive

FONTANA, Calif. -- Seldom has an eighth-place finish loomed as large for a NASCAR Winston Cup competitor as John Andretti's did Sunday at California Speedway.

But after his first top-10 in 30 races and only his second in two seasons, Andretti said he was happy to move ahead, even if only by inches.

In the process, he moved up two spots in the points, to 32nd.

"Racing hasn't been a lot of fun for awhile, but this was a lot of fun," the driver of the No. 43 Dodge said. "Even though I was eighth, it feels better than an eighth-place finish.

"It's more than just this year -- it's been a lot longer than that (since his last top-10) and I'm just ecstatic. Everybody just raced us clean today and that helped a lot.

"I had a crew chief last year that said baby steps was what it was going to take to get ahead and I believe that's what it's going to take."

Andretti had raced in the top 10 for 214 of the race's first 240 laps, but had fallen out of the top 10 with less than 10 laps to go. Then, with little over a lap to go, Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin crashed on the frontstretch.

Andretti hustled from 11th to eighth. In nine previous starts this year he had only three finishes in the top 20, with a best of 14th.

"My spotter did a real good job telling me where the crashed cars were at the end and I didn't lift," Andretti said. "It was real disappointing (just before that) because we had run in the top 10 all day and now we were going to finish out of the top 10 (and) that would have been a bad result.

"We just took back what was rightfully ours."

Petty Enterprises' brain trust agreed. Kyle Petty was caught up in an accident and finished 28th in his No. 45 Dodge, but he was upbeat after the race.

"The 43 had a great day," Petty said. "As much as they've struggled all year long, Gary and those guys did a really good job and John drove a great race. He kept the car out of trouble and that's what you had to do here today.

"He passed people and he run up front and he run competitively all day so it was good for the Cheerios Dodge. We (45 team) just haven't hit our stride yet. We've struggled all year long -- we're just dropping the ball, here."

Richard Petty was also pleased with Andretti's strong run Sunday.

"All year long they've been beating and a bashing and he got by on the beating and bashing today," Richard Petty said as he left the garage area. "We had a pretty good deal. He run in the first eight or 10 all day long and basically wound up about where he was running.

"It was nothing we were doing different, we just had a better day than we've been doing."

Though elated with the day's outcome, Andretti realized that Sunday's performance was just one step in the right direction.

“One decent race is not going to get us back to the front," Andretti said. "But it's certainly a step in the right direction, which we haven't seen in a long time.

"When things are going well you can't explain it and when things are going bad, you can't explain it, either."

By completing all 250 laps Sunday, Andretti facilitated 10,750 new books being donated by First Book and Cheerios to children in the greater Los Angeles area.

Through the Cheerios "Spoonfuls of Stories" program, 43 books were donated for every lap Andretti completed Sunday to children participating in the Boys and Girls Club of Fontana, Sivaland Head Start and The Agape House, also in Fontana; and in LA's BEST, an after-school program serving children in the city of Los Angeles.

"Obviously, our goal was to win the race and run as well as we could but we're happy that our race team and Petty Enterprises could play a role in this great program," Andretti said. "We know these books will go to great use, and will hopefully encourage the enjoyment of reading for a lot of children."

Park determined in face of scrutiny, speculation
By Ryan Smithson, Turner Sports Interactive

FONTANA, Calif. -- He took on the track. After he won the Bud Pole, he took on the media.

Steve Park fired back at his critics on Friday, vowing that he is about "to win races" and that the media will "look like a fool when it's all said and done."

Park, 27th in Winston Cup standings but arguably first when it comes to rumors, has been the subject of endless job security speculation for nearly a year.

Park is in his sixth season driving the No. 1 Pennzoil Chevrolet, but his contract -- and the contract of his sponsor -- is up at the end of the season. Naturally, that has fueled speculation that his job is on the line.

"Pieces of paper are just that," said Ty Norris, Executive Vice President of DEI. "If we give him what he needs, and he puts in the dedication he puts into this race team, despite all the things that have been said, written or shown up on websites, that is all that matters."

The rumors have gotten so thick that Park and Norris met earlier this month to discuss the situation.

Norris told Park not to dwell on anything he read -- just drive the car.

"We are not going to concern ourselves with it," Norris told Park.

Park blistered California Speedway on Friday -- winning the Bud Pole despite qualifying in the late stages, when the sun peeked out onto the two-mile surface.

Park says Friday's Bud Pole is just the beginning. The rumors may not stop, but Park says he won't pay attention to them.

Actually, he'll do just the opposite.

“When I am in Victory Lane, winning races, everyone that has had a bad thing to say about this race team is going to bite their tongue," Park said.

"I am going to put it in their face, and show it to them that not only were they wrong, but -- I mean -- if they expect Steve Park to be polite to them, and honor their wishes now that things are going good, that is not going to happen."

Park, severely injured in a Busch accident at Darlington in 2001, has gotten off to a slow start this season, in which both his teammates -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Michael Waltrip -- have won.

DEI restructured Park's team after the 2002 season, adding Tony Gibson as crew chief and bringing in a slew of new crew members.

Park says it will pay off -- and soon.

"No matter what people say, our main goal is to win races. (The media's) confidence has wavered. My confidence hasn't wavered. Our team hasn't wavered.

"Nothing hurts me. I have been through a lot in the last year and a half, and nothing hurts me. I am telling to you right now: I am fixing to win races."

Your  Momma

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

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Did You Know

The first Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway was held in 1950.

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New question: Should DEI remove Steve Park from the #1 Pennzoil Monte Carlo?
 
http://de3fan4.tripod.com/

Poll Results

The last poll results, Winston Cup drivers and Busch-Whacking, should it be allowed:
No-46%
Yes-49%
Don't Care-5%

from RD
Love your news letter in spite of the fact I disagree with EVERYTHING you say and stand for:) Like in the Johnny Cash tune Hurt, when I read your opinions I know I still can feel. Boiling blood is better then no blood:) Bogity shmugity.
rd

from Melinda
Mario Andretti crashed??? Who'd he blame it on this time?

LOL…pretty funny when you consider that he was following another driver who crashed!

from BigDaddy
Well momma, things are back to normal. I hadn't received, through aol, for 2 days again. Something about getting these lists and the results go through all of the time. So I am back to going to yahoo and trying to deal with everything. Boy, are you lucky we a dedicated fans of yours....lol. Keep up the great work and find a way to get aol to back off and then tell them what to do with their stuff. This is just way too frustrating to deal with all the time to get all the great information you do provide... Take care .. and keep nascaring out there... Tim

I really wish I could help you Tim.  Have you thought of setting up a yahoo account?  It’s free, and you would get the list every time I send it out.

from Kevlsdamam
Parks crashed ??? wow that never happens.... he is lucky he that he and junior are drinkin buddies otherwise he wouldn’t be a driver

LAS VEGAS WANTS SECOND CUP DATE
Las Vegas Motor Speedway officials have gone public with their goal of attracting a second NASCAR Winston Cup event to the 1.5-mile facility. "We continue to see other speedways going public with their efforts to land a second yearly NASCAR Winston Cup event," said track GM Chris Powell. "But there clearly is only one speedway that can offer everything -- a destination city; more than 125,000 hotel rooms; great weather; excellent atmosphere and great racing. That's why we sold every seat for the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 in March." As for shifting a date from another Speedway Motorsports Inc. facility, Powell said that is not something SMI boss Bruton Smith would support.

Lowe's Motor Speedway near Charlotte hosts Winston Cup teams next week for two days of testing, 5-10 p.m. Eastern Tuesday and noon-10 p.m. Wednesday.

Teams will test in preparation for the May 25 Coca-Cola 600.

NASCAR Truck series teams will test in preparation for the inaugural series race at the track, 3-10 p.m. May 5-6. Busch series teams test 9 a.m.-3 p.m. May 6 and 7.

Also...Shawn Parker Next #88 Crew Chief?: Shawn Parker could become Dale Jarrett's new crew chief, according to sources close to the Robert Yates team. And crew chief Greg Zipadelli says that there is nothing to the rumors that his own boss, General Manager Jimmy Makar, might move on to join the Yates team to work with Jarrett. Parker is a chassis specialist for the Elliott Sadler-Raymond Fox half of the Yates team. Parker was once a key member of the Jack Roush operation before moving on. - The Winston-Salem Journal

Also... McDonald's Courting NASCAR For Cup Naming Rights?: A Bloomberg News report states that McDonald's Corp. is negotiating for naming rights of the Winston Cup series. Winston has sponsored the series since 1971 and said earlier this year that if NASCAR could find another series sponsor it would back out of a five-year extension signed last year. - The Roanoke Times

FONTANA, Calif. -- NASCAR is expected to announce Monday that Brian Rose has been indefinitely suspended from the Craftsman Truck Series, a source said Saturday.

The exact reason for the suspension is unknown.

A penalty notice was sent to Rose, who has competed in two Craftsman Truck Series events in 2003. He ran the full schedule in 2002, finishing 22nd in points.

In NASCAR, an indefinite suspension is not a lifetime ban, but suspended parties must meet certain criteria for reinstatement.

"I guess we're reconfiguring Miami -- a place that I thoroughly enjoy having flat -- but I guess we're gonna put banking to that.

"It's gonna have to go through some winters and some rain down there to help mature the racetrack."

Homestead-Miami Speedway currently has six-degree banking in its corners. The South Florida track has been widely derided for its lack of racing excitement.

Rusty Wallace and Jamie McMurray were originally considered for the series, which has been planned for some time.

FONTANA, Calif. - Riverside County Fire Department officials confirmed Sunday that two spectators were killed Saturday night at Perris Auto Speedway in Riverside, Calif., when a sprint car wrecked, went over an interior fence and landed in the infield area.

Paul Bagley, and his wife, Helen, were in the infield near Turn 1 and were struck by the car as it came over the fence. Paul Bagley was killed instantly, while his wife died en route to Riverside County Regional Medical Center.

The driver of the car, Jack DeArmond Jr., lost control of his SCRA sprint car along the front straightaway, causing it to catapult over the fence and into the pits during the B Main event. DeArmond Jr. suffered minor injuries.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Paul Bagley was on the board of directors of the Knoxville Sprint Car Nationals, the largest World of Outlaws race of the year. The Bagleys also had a son, Jeff, who was killed in a sprint car crash at Ascot Park in 1989.

In a 2001 investigation by The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer found more than 260 people, including 29 spectators, died in U.S. auto racing from 1990 through 2001. Since then, 40 more drivers have died.

Three spectators were killed and eight others injured in May 1999 when a tire went into the grandstands during an Indy Racing League race at Lowe's Motor Speedway near Charlotte.

In 1998, three spectators died when a tire went into the stands at Michigan International Speedway during a Championship Auto Racing Teams race.

FONTANA, Calif. - Winston Cup driver Kevin Harvick won a Late Model race Saturday night at Mesa Marin Speedway in his hometown of Bakersfield, Calif., for the second consecutive year.

NASCAR Busch series driver Ron Hornaday also competed in the race and finished third.

"We have been fortunate to have brand-new cars both years," Harvick said. "We had a lot of fun with Hornaday and myself beating and banging. We also got to teach a couple lessons."

Harvick said this was likely the last year he will compete in the Late Model race during the Winston Cup weekend in Fontana.

"I think that was it for a while. It takes a lot of time, but it was fun," he said.

NASCAR officials polled competitors at California on what changes should be made to Homestead for the redesign of that track, which is expected to take place in mid-May. Winston Cup Series director John Darby says proposed changes involve more than just increasing the banking.

"The engineers are incorporating compound banking into the track," Darby says. "Instead of taking a straight measurement from the inside line and following it up to the wall, every lane has a slight change in the degree of banking."

Although the numbers aren't exact, Darby described the lanes as increasing in banking from 10 to 12 to 14 degrees as they move up the track. It would be similar to the design of Pikes Peak, which allows for three lanes of racing at the same speed. Some drivers believe there will still be a preferred lane. ...

Though Steve Park wrecked on the first lap at California -- he must exercise patience when he has a good car under him -- the team is beginning to show a bit of a spark. Dale Earnhardt Inc. insiders credit crew chief Tony Gibson, 38, for the progress and say he is the "heart of the team." Credit also must be given to the aerodynamics trifecta of Steve Hmiel, Andy Johnson and Chuck Jencks, who were instrumental in designing the new Chevrolet that helped Park win the pole at California. ...

 Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s team had to change engines on the No. 8 Chevy the morning before the race at California because water leaked into it. The team also had to change engines before the Talladega race, which Junior won, but the problem wasn't related. Engine builder Richie Gilmore says there was a problem with the head gasket at California.

Though Junior lost a lap because his crew had trouble with the lug nuts on a pit stop, he made up the lap, finished sixth and trimmed Matt Kenseth's points lead to 44. ...

Yates Racing GM Doug Yates says a new crew chief has not been selected for Dale Jarrett despite speculation that Shawn Parker, the car chief for teammate Elliott Sadler, would get the job. Several names outside RYR have been mentioned, including Joe Gibbs Racing team manager Jimmy Makar, who is Jarrett's brother-in-law. However, Greg Zipadelli, crew chief for Tony Stewart in Gibbs' No. 20 car, says he doesn't think Makar will go anywhere. ...

For those on the Todd Parrott watch, one Yates insider says he doesn't expect Parrott, the former team manager, to return. ...

Garage scuttlebutt is that a second date at California might replace the Southern 500 at Darlington on the Winston Cup calendar next season. Members of several teams don't favor such a move because they enjoy Labor Day at home with their families.

The biggest difference between racing at Darlington and California is the additional expense it would create. A team spends $1,000 on average to send a crew member to California; the same trip to Darlington is about one-third of that cost. ...

Robby Gordon will attempt his fourth Indianapolis/Charlotte double May 25. Gordon, who drives the No. 31 Chevrolet for Richard Childress, will return to the Indy Racing Series in the No. 27 Dallara/Honda, substituting for Dario Franchitti, who's injured. Gordon believes this is his best chance to win the Indianapolis 500. He says that each year he has improved his methods for completing the double.
Lee Spencer covers NASCAR for Sporting News. Email her at lspencer@...

Notebook: Junior miffed, but makes comeback

By Dave Rodman, Turner Sports Interactive
Monday, April 28, 2003

FONTANA, Calif. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. said that despite recovering from changing an engine Sunday morning and coming back from a lap down to finish sixth, he was still a little peeved.

After taking the green flag in 38th due to the engine change, Earnhardt was in the top-five after only 46 laps. But his hopes went out the window when a lug nut error on a lap 204 pit stop necessitated a second stop, and lost him a lap.

"I'm mad because we had a great car and we really screwed up in the pits," Earnhardt said.  "We cannot keep doing things to beat ourselves like that. I want to apologize to my crew guys because I was really, really hard on them on the radio, but at the same time they need to know that we can't keep doing that."

"On one hand, it was a championship-type day. When we had trouble, we did what we had to do to get back all we could (and) that's what you need to do to win a title."

Breakthrough for Ganassi Racing

As incredible as it seems, Sunday's Auto Club 500 was the first time this season two Ganassi Racing cars had finished in the top 10.  Jamie McMurray had a potential race-winning car and led six times for 41 laps before finishing fifth. Sterling Marlin, in a backup car, came back for 10th.

McMurray scored his second top-five but only his third top-10 of the year and Marlin, his third straight top-10 and fourth in the last five races.

"We never could adjust on it and get the balance right," McMurray said. "We freed the car up and it would be too loose at the beginning and too loose at the end (of a run).  We just needed the long runs."

Marlin was pleased with his finish, but focused on the big picture. 

"That's another top-10 finish, but we still lost a spot in the standings," Marlin said after dropping from 12th to 13th. "We didn't get a lot of practice with this car yesterday and we hadn't raced it since Atlanta (so) I guess that's not too bad starting from the rear of the pack."

Needing a few more laps

Bill Elliott scored only his second top-10 of the season when he guided his No. 9 Dodge into fourth, but he was looking for a few more laps after finishing strong.

"We had some lug nut problems and lost track position," Elliott said. "As good as everybody runs, it's just hard to get up through there, but that last set of tires was really hooked up good. I don't know if I could have beat the 97 (race winner Kurt Busch), but I believe I could have beat those other two cars if I just could have got to 'em."

Team owner Ray Evernham was disappointed when Elliott's teammate Jeremy Mayfield was eliminated in a nine-car accident with less than 15 laps to go, but remained optimistic.

"We're getting our deal turned around," Evernham said. "I know people are saying we're not doing so good and probably we're not, but our deal is stronger than it was last year and these guys are doing a good job. We're just going to shut up and work and get it turned around."

Nadeau a fighting 14th

Jerry Nadeau spun twice in his No. 01 Pontiac but never hit anything and finished 14th, on the lead lap Sunday. Most significantly, his run was in MB2 Motorsports' first in-house chassis, which was fourth in its debut last month at Texas Motor Speedway.

"We had an easy top-10 car, but we had a lot of things happen to us that made it difficult," said Nadeau, who had to give up his sixth-place starting spot after a Saturday engine change. "The guys did a great job and we all hung in there together. We made the best of it and I really feel this team is starting to jell. There will be better days."

"The car was loose and I was on the edge," Nadeau of his two twirls. "I was just happy to finish the race in one piece."

Harvick gets a hometown win

Limits on testing are the talk of the NASCAR Winston Cup garage, but a recent test session paid off for Kevin Harvick when he won a 75-lap Late Model race Saturday night at his hometown Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield, Calif.

Harvick flew with another Mesa Marin icon, Ron Hornaday, to the high-banked half-mile bullring after they both competed in the Busch Series race at California Speedway.

Harvick, who won the Mesa Marin Late Model championship as a 17-year-old student at Bakersfield's North High, started near the rear of the 23-car field and led the final 10 laps after a side-by-side duel with local Mike Riale.

After Riale suffered a flat tire, Harvick prevailed over Brian Richardson and Hornaday, who drove a car entered by local car builder Gary Collins.

Harvick's performance mirrored a similar victory in his last appearance at Mesa Marin, one year ago. He told Bakersfield writer Mike Griffith that he retaliated after local Mike Mason, 16, hit him before a restart. The youngster hit Harvick's car again on the cool-off lap, Griffith reported.

"I don't know who 55 (Mason) was but he was trying to make a name," Harvick said. "He came up and ran into me on the restart and I brake-checked him and he got spun out.

"He was mad. If you're going to mess with the bull, you're going to get the horn.  Everybody's got to learn their lesson some time or another."

Andrews a proud poppa

Winston Cup crew chief Paul Andrews was showing some pride from across the country Sunday evening after his son, Busch North Series rookie Tim Andrews, scored a fourth-place finish in that NASCAR Touring division's opener, the Freedom 150 at Lee (N.H.) USA Speedway.

Defending series champion Andy Santerre won the event.

Your  Momma

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

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What a great run for Sterling and John Andretti.  Although that was a shock to see John up in the top 10.  It was badly needed for the Petty’s.  Great finish for Michael Waltrip too.  Most of the top 10 finishers were quite a surprise.

It was a good race all around, and a great weekend.

Wrecks spark plenty of cautions at Fontana
By Ryan Smithson, Turner Sports Interactive

FONTANA, Calif. -- A record eight cautions -- including two in the final 19 laps -- marred the Auto Club 500 at California Speedway on Sunday.

The biggest incident came in lap 231 when Dale Jarrett spun, touching off a nine-car accident.

Jarrett took the blame for the crash, but several drivers had problems with a track surface that was more unforgiving on Sunday, as sunny skies produced hot, slippery conditions.

"It was just driver error," Jarrett said. "I just got into the corner a little hard."

The day's most notable incident, however, came on the first lap, when Steve Park's pole-winning run at California Speedway was nullified when he collided with Ryan Newman.

Park got together with Newman coming out of Turn 2, sending Newman hard into the wall. Park shot back across the track, barely missing the Dodges of Mayfield and Casey Mears.

"All I know is that the 1 car (Park) got loose and got up and shoved me into the wall," Newman said.

Newman has been involved in three accidents in 2003 after enduring only one last season.

Park spent 45 laps in the garage before reentering the event, and he finished 40th. He couldn't be reached for comment.

Newman completed only 34 laps and finished 42nd, his third straight finish of 38th or worse.

Since winning at Texas last month, Newman had three straight DNFs.

"It seems like we can't buy a break lately, and we get involved in everybody else's bad breaks, too," Newman said.

Mark Martin and Jimmie Johnson both spent the majority of the day in the top 10 -- Johnson for 139 laps, Martin for 119 -- but they tangled on the frontstretch with only one lap to go.

Johnson ended up 16th, Martin 17th.

"I think (Johnson) got crowded up against the wall and had to back out of it," Martin said. "We were all so close together that I got into the back of him there and we lost it."

Johnson said he simply got tight and brushed the wall.

"I am just bummed that, once again, we had a great car, and we get to the very end -- the last lap -- and something else happens."

Busch wins Fontana duel for second win of year
By Mike Harris

FONTANA, Calif. (AP) -- Kurt Busch became the first two-time Winston Cup winner of the season Sunday, passing Jamie McMurray 12 laps from the end of the Auto Club 500 at California Speedway.

The 24-year-old "Young Gun" regained the form he showed late in the 2002 season, when he won three of the last five races.

Since winning last month at Bristol, Busch had slumped a bit, finishing ninth in Texas, 19th in Talladega and 28th in Martinsville. But his win Sunday on the 2-mile California oval gave the youngster five wins and three runner-up finishes in his last 15 starts.

"We went on a little slide. No biggie," Busch said of the previous three races. "We just struggled a little bit. Today, we put together a great effort."

Busch led briefly in the middle of the race and stayed close to the leaders for most of the 250-lap event. Meanwhile, McMurray, Bobby Labonte and Rusty Wallace were battling for the top spot most of the second half.

McMurray and Labonte, who swapped the lead several times in the late going, were battling ahead of Busch when the last of eight caution flags came out after Dale Jarrett hit the wall to start a nine-car accident on lap 230.

Busch and Wallace took advantage of the situation to pass Labonte as they raced back to the flagstand to take the yellow.

Wallace tried hard to track down the leaders after the ensuing restart on lap 238.  On the second lap after the green flag waved, Wallace, who now has gone 72 races without a win since his victory here in 2001, dove low on the banked oval and nearly got past McMurray and Busch.

But Wallace's Ford got a little high in the second turn, and Busch nosed under him and drove past both Wallace and Labonte to take the lead for the first time since lap 145.

The Las Vegas, Nev., native then pulled steadily away as Labonte and Wallace battled side-by-side for second. Labonte got the runner-up spot by a few feet but crossed the final line 2.294-seconds -- about 20 car-lengths -- behind Busch's Roush Racing Ford.

Busch, who finished second to Jimmie Johnson here last year, said: "This makes up for what we did last year. We came up a bit shy.

"This was just an all-out effort by our team.  Every time I came in (for pits stops), we picked up spots."

The winner, who now has six wins in his career, averaged 140.111 mph.

Bill Elliott finished fourth, followed by McMurray, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip, John Andretti and series leader Matt Kenseth.

Kenseth, Busch's teammate, stayed in front of Earnhardt in the standings but had his lead cut from 51 to 44 points. Jeff Gordon, who finished 11th Sunday, remained third, with Busch moving from fifth to fourth.

A different driver had won in each of the first nine races, but Busch's victory left intact the record of 10 consecutive different winners at the start of the season, set in 2001.

Tony Stewart, the defending Winston Cup champion, led 100 of the first 128 laps before driving slowly to the garage with a broken rod in his engine. Stewart and McMurray were locked in a battle for the top spot, swapping the lead several times before smoke and oil began pouring from Stewart's No. 20 Chevrolet.

"He was the first guy to come up and challenge," Stewart said of McMurray. "I wasn't just going to let him go. It was the most fun I had all day, was racing Jamie."

Pole-winner Steve Park brought out the first yellow of the day. He slipped to fifth after taking the green flag for the start and suddenly veered right, knocking Ryan Newman hard into the wall and sending his own car spinning down the track.

Both drivers eventually got back into the race but finished 40th and 42nd, respectively.

1.  Kurt Busch
2.  Bobby Labonte
3.  Rusty Wallace
4.  Bill Elliott
5.  Jamie McMurray
6.  Dale Earnhardt Jr.
7.  Michael Waltrip
8.  John Andretti
9.  Matt Kenseth
10. Sterling Marlin

And the top 10 in Points:

1.  Matt Kenseth                      Leader
2.  Dale Earnhardt Jr.               -44
3.  Jeff Gordon                         -152
4.  Kurt Busch                          -168
5.  Jimmie Johnson                   -207
6.  Michael Waltrip                   -239
7.  Ricky Craven                       -268
8.  Bobby Labonte                    -272
9.  Kevin Harvick                     -300
10. Elliott Sadler                      -324

Next week they are off to Richmond, for the first night race of the season.  Hope everyone has a great week, and until the next time, I remain,
 

Your  Momma

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

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TRACK FACTS
Date Opened: June 20, 1997
First Winston Cup race: California 500, June 22, 1997
Qualifying record: Ryan Newman, 187.432 mph, (38.414 sec.), April 26, 2002
Race record: Jeff Gordon, 155.012 mph, June 22, 1997

TRACK CONFIGURATION
Distance: 2-mile oval
Banking in turns 1-4: 14 degrees
Banking on trioval: 11 degrees
Banking on backstretch: 3 degrees
Length of frontstretch: 2,500 feet
Length of backstretch: 3,100 feet
Grandstand seating: 92,000
Miles/laps: 500 miles, 250 laps
Purse: $5,030,261
Last year's winner: Jimmie Johnson

Jeff Gordon has the best average finish for California, with 2 wins and 4 top 10 finishes.  Jeremy Mayfield has the 2nd best finish, but don’t count on seeing him up front….Ricky Rudd is 3rd best, with Rusty coming in 4th.  Please note, these drivers have been in all 6 races to date.

FONTANA, Calif. -- Whether it's Ascot, Gardena, Ontario or Riverside, the greater Los Angeles area has been a hotbed for stock car racing for over 50 years.

The newest southern California racing facility, California Speedway, staged its first Winston Cup race in 1997, and despite its short history its springtime Auto Club 500 has created a sizeable log of statistical nuggets interspersed with facts and notes about the sport's best drivers.

0 -- The number of Winston Cup victories at California Speedway by either a Dodge or a Pontiac.

1 -- The number of times Bud Pole Qualifying has been rained out at California Speedway. Jeff Burton started from the pole in 1999 after the rainout.

2 -- The length in miles of a lap at California Speedway. The track has 14-degree banking in its four turns, 11-degree banking in its trioval and three-degree banking on its straightaways. The frontstretch is 3,100 feet long and the backstretch is 2,500 feet long.

3 -- The number of Winston Cup race victories by Chevrolet and Ford at California Speedway -- and victories by car owner Rick Hendrick.

4 -- The number of top-10 starts so far in 2003 by Bobby Labonte, who had only four top-10 starts in all of 2002.

5 -- The number of different Winston Cup race winners in six previous races at California Speedway.

6 -- The number of different Bud Pole sitters in as many Winston Cup races at California Speedway.

7 -- The number of consecutive top-10 starts by Ryan Newman, the leader in that category after one quarter of the season.

8 -- Tony Stewart's starting position four times in 2003. 

9 -- The number of different winners in nine Winston Cup races this season.

10 -- Mark Martin's finishing position in the inaugural Auto Club 500, when he ran out of gas on the final lap and failed to finish.

14 -- The number of races Jeff Gordon has won from the Bud Pole in his career.

18 -- Jeremy Mayfield's best finish since finishing eighth in the Daytona 500.

22 -- The number of drivers that have competed in all six races at California Speedway.

24 -- The farthest back a race winner has started at California, by Jeremy Mayfield in 2000.

25 -- The position in the 2003 Winston Cup owners' standings that is the cutoff for being charged with a provisional starting position.

26 -- The position in the Winston Cup standings for Johnny Benson, the highest position of any driver who has started all nine races without a top-10 finish.

33 -- The number of consecutive races in which Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been running at the finish, the longest active streak.

36 -- Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s finishing position in 2002 at California Speedway, when he suffered a head injury that he later blamed for his poor streak of finishes that took him out of the Winston Cup championship race.

42 -- The number of races in which sophomore driver Jimmie Johnson has remained in the top 10 in the Winston Cup standings, the longest such streak among active drivers.

43 -- The number of career Bud Pole Awards in 338 career starts by Jeff Gordon, the series' most recent pole-winner.

45 -- The number of entries at California this weekend, including Kerry Earnhardt and Hideo Fukuyama.

48 -- The number of drivers who have made at least one Winston Cup field in 2003.

52 -- The distance in miles from California Speedway to downtown Los Angeles.

56 -- The number of different drivers who have attempted to qualify for at least one Winston Cup race in 2003.

62 -- The number of career victories by Jeff Gordon, the series' most recent winner.

67 -- The percentage of winners who have started in the top five starting positions at California Speedway.

71 -- The number of races since Rusty Wallace last won -- at California Speedway in 2001.

139 -- The number of points separating third-place Jeff Gordon from leader Matt Kenseth.

150 -- The number of career Winston Cup starts by defending NWCS champion Tony Stewart, if he starts Sunday's Auto Club 500.

155.012 -- The Auto Club 500 race record average speed, set by Jeff Gordon in 1997.

187.432 -- The Auto Club 500 Bud Pole Qualifying record, set by Ryan Newman in 2002.

250 -- The number of laps it takes to cover 500 miles at California Speedway.

329 -- The number of laps led in six California Speedway Winston Cup races by two-time winner Jeff Gordon

568 -- The acreage of the property on which the California Speedway sits.

92,000 -- The grandstand seating capacity of California Speedway.

100,000 -- The value of the NASCAR Winston Cup Leader bonus at California Speedway.

5,120,261 -- The posted awards for the Auto Club 500.

120,000,000 -- The cost to build the California Speedway, which started life as a Penske Speedway facility before that company merged with International Speedway Corporation.

Gas-only call propels Johnson to first win
By Marty Smith, Turner Sports Interactive

FONTANA, Calif. -- Jimmie Johnson is California dreamin’ personified.

Having won the Bud Pole for the Daytona 500, Johnson’s rookie year in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series has been dreamy from the outset. But with Sunday’s victory in the NAPA 500, in the sunny surroundings of his home state no less, he’d be perfectly content to never wake up.

“To do this and be this competitive in Winston Cup racing has always been a dream of mine,” said an ecstatic Johnson in Victory Lane. “I can’t believe it actually happened, here, in front of all my friends and family up there in the grandstands. Thank you California!”

Johnson was fast all weekend and led 47 laps early on, but ran incognito among the top-10 for much of the day. Then, as the race neared the 40-to-go mark, Johnson stormed into the top-five to join the lead pack with Kurt Busch, Dale Jarrett and Ricky Rudd.

Busch had been untouchable in clean air all day -- building as much as a 15-second advantage at one point -- so when he grabbed the lead from Jarrett with 31 laps remaining, most thought the race was history.

Not so. Johnson locked onto Busch’s rear bumper, heckling him before taking the lead at the start/finish line with 23 laps to go.  Busch regained the lead on the very next lap, just before the caution flew for Dale Earnhardt, Jr.’s violent wreck in Turn 3.

The wreck occurred when Kevin Harvick blew a left rear tire, and in trying to correct his swerving car, tapped Junior into the wall.

"I popped the left rear getting into Turn 3,” Harvick said. “I was doing everything I could to save it. On the last save attempt, I hit the 8 car. I think he’s okay. Hope so.”

Earnhardt said the hit was arguably the hardest of his career, but he managed to walk away under his own power with a bruised right ankle, which he hit on the brake pedal during the accident.

After the accident, the leaders pitted with 17 laps remaining, ending speculation as to whether or not teams had enough fuel to go the distance. Johnson could not. Nor could Busch. Johnson’s crew chief, Chad Knaus, called for a gas ‘n go stop to gain track position, while Busch took two tires and fuel.

It won him the race. Johnson restarted behind Bill Elliott with 14 laps remaining, and by Turn 3 was out front for good.

“We were almost into our pit box and Jimmie was yelling ‘What are we going to do, what are we going to do?’ I just yelled out fuel only,” Knaus said. “I about got sick to my stomach after I made the call, but thank goodness it worked out.  I really almost threw up.”

With the win, the first of his career, Johnson becomes the fifth different victor in six events at California, the second first-time winner of the 2002 campaign, and, of course, earns Jeff Gordon his first win as a team owner.

“Thankfully, with the job Jimmie and those guys are doing, the business side of this deal isn’t going so bad,” joked Gordon.

Busch finished second, marking his second-straight top-three finish and third such run since he won Bristol five weeks ago.  He had the most dominant car for the vast majority of the event, but couldn’t get around Johnson in the final stages.

“That was one awesome (car),” said Busch, donning a Jack Roush-like straw hat.  “Unbelievable. The amount of people it takes to compete is big, but there’s only one I need to mention. Jack Roush. We can do this without him, but it’s so nice to have him here.

“This is what it’s all about. We’re running for that championship. I made the call for two (tires) and Jimmy wanted four. It’s sad we lost it by pit strategy. We had the best car.”

Ricky Rudd finished third, and Bill Elliott, who opted to stay out on the final caution, finished fourth. Mark Martin was fifth.

“Heck yeah I am (surprised),” Johnson said. “You always hope, wish, think you have the ability to do this, but you don’t know until the right opportunity presents itself. This is that opportunity for me. I feel like I’m dreaming.”

Good luck everyone.  Enjoy the races.  Have a great weekend, and see ya on Monday.

Your  Momma

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

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Did You Know

Since 1995 when he joined Joe Gibbs Racing, Bobby Labonte has finished in the top-ten in NASCAR Winston Cup points every year except in 1996 when he finished 11th.

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Should WC Drivers in the top 10 in points be allowed to race in the Busch Series?
 
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from Bob
The BMW WilliamsF1 Team has signed a major sponsorship agreement with GlaxoSmithKline, which makes a “stop smoking patch” called NiQuitin CQ.

What with Winston slowly phasing out, and the social pressures (witness fewer junk food sponsors, and more "Stacker 2" type backers), any one wanna start a pool as to when the first smokeender paint job appears.

Anyone remember when Durex, Trojan, EZ-Wider, and similar companies appeared on race cars, as well as Escort, Bel and Whistler radar detectors?

Cheers, Bob

also from Bob
For equal time, according to Jeff Foxworthy

CHEVROLET means:

Cheap Hardly Efficient Virtually Runs On Luck Every Time
or Cracked Heads Every Valve Rattles Oil Leaks Every Time

And that's from the world's #1 Dale Earnhardt fan!

See guys, I can post stuff that I TOTALLY disagree with!

from O’sure
from BigDaddy
As far as DW and all of the Fox crew, they are the greatest compared to NBC.  "Boogity, boogity, boogity" is what I wait for each and every race. I end up driving my family crazy saying it myself. I think it is wonderful that we have something unique and original and, like it or not, it has caught on. I don't remember anything as big that is loved and disliked since Howard Cosell himself...lol.

Howard Cosell, now don't get me started! (lol)

from Linda
Hi Momma!  This is my first time writing to you, but these comments about FOX and NBC just made me want to speak my mind.  I don't know how anyone can enjoy listening to the commentary on NBC.  They are sooo boring.  When you listen to the races on FOX, they make you feel as though you are at the race.  And what is wrong with their "accents" and "down-home" phrases.  After all, didn't stock car racing start in the South?  Why would you want to forget the roots of racing?  Should we be ashamed of where it all got started?  I am from the Northeastern part of the US and we have 2 tracks in our area that are only about 3 hours away from us.  But a majority of the tracks are still in the South.  The South still has a lot to do with what racing is today.  Of course with the younger generation, there seems to be a shift towards the drivers coming from the West Coast.  I'm sure things will change over the years.  But I for one am not ready to give up on the charm of someone like DW and the rest of his group.  They are what racing is all about.  They are knowledgeable and know the "lingo" of the racers.  That's what makes FOX so special.  If NASCAR was smart, they would show all of the races on FOX!  So stop being ashamed of your sports roots and let’s cheer on our favorite drivers each week.  I just wanted to put in a HURRAH for Terry Labonte, my favorite driver.  It's nice to see him doing so well the past few weeks, finally!  Well, that's about what was on my mind.  Sorry this is so long.  By the way Momma, my husband was a die-hard Dale Sr. fan and it's been hard for him to watch the races since the tragedy.  But, Dale Jr. has slowly become the one he seems to be pulling for each week.  (And I usually do to, since Terry hasn't been a threat to win any races.  But if he has a chance to win, I will still always cheer Terry on first and foremost!)  Thanks for a SUPERB e-zine.  I don't know how I ever lived without it.  Keep up the great work.
                                             Linda/ a NASCAR fan from Pennsylvania

I would I have to agree...if we lose the roots, the tree will die

Another Cup Sellout For California Speedway: The speedway announced Thursday that all 92,000 reserved grandstand seats for Sunday's Auto Club 500 have been sold, marking the seventh sellout in as many Winston Cup races here. However, tickets are available for today's Winston Cup and Busch Series qualifying ($10) and for Saturday's Winston West and Busch Series races ($40 and $50). In addition, infield standing-room wristbands are available ($45 for the weekend). - The Press-Enterprise

Also... Dover Not Looking At Installing Lights Anytime Soon: Local race promoters will be glad to hear that lights more than likely won't be installed at Dover International Speedway next year, according to speedway media relations director John Dunlap. It's still being discussed, but night racing could be two years away at the earliest. However, if television directs the speedway to install lights, then plans could be altered. NASCAR announced in January that its realignment for 2004 could include more twilight or evening races. - The Patriot-News

Dale Earnhardt Jr. saw his hopes for the 2002 season go sour when he crashed in last year's race at California Speedway, but he's not dwelling on that going into this year's trip to the 2-mile track.

"The crash was a freak deal," Earnhardt Jr. said. "(Kevin) Harvick blew a tire and I had nowhere to go. It was a big-time hit and I struggled for weeks after that. "But I hit the wall in practice in 2001 and came from the back of the field in a backup car and finished third. I prefer to look at that as a more realistic example of what we can do as a team."

Earnhardt Jr. is second in the standings after nine races, 51 points behind Matt Kenseth, and says he's ready to get back to work after taking Easter off.

"The weekend off was nice," he said, "but we'll rest and celebrate in December if we win the championship."

Racing at California Speedway doesn't worry Tony Stewart nearly as much as another assignment he has - throwing the ceremonial first pitch before Friday night's Anaheim Angels game against the Boston Red Sox.

"Throwing a strike at a baseball game with a packed house is tougher, no question," he said. "I don't do that every day. I can race three-wide all day long and that doesn't bother me a bit, but throwing a baseball, that's going to take a little practice."

Stewart does have some baseball experience. He played tee ball for the Columbus Parks and Recreation Department in Indiana in 1978 at age 7. That was the same year he started driving a go-kart, too, so that took care of that.

NASCAR will hold its first Toyota All-Star Showdown Nov. 6-8 at Irwindale Speedway in California.

The invitation-only event will bring together the top 15 drivers in NASCAR's Grand National Division series' - Busch North and Winston West - as well as the top 10 drivers from each of its Elite Division series' - Featherlite Southwest, International Truck and Engine Corp. Midwest, Kodak Southeast and Raybestos Brakes Northwest.

Paul Tracy, winner of all three CART Champ Car World Series races so far this year, was selected as first-quarter winner in the Driver of the Year voting.

The 34-year-old Canadian, in his first year driving for Jerry Forsythe's Team Player's, is off to the best start of his 13-year Champ Car career.

"Momentum is everything," Tracy said. "You have to take advantage of it when it comes because, when luck is shining upon you - and things are going right - if you don't take advantage, you're a fool."

The fast start earned him nine of 18 first-place votes from the national panel of motorsports writers and broadcasters. His 122 points were considerably better than the 79 points for runner-up Dale Earnhardt Jr., who had three first-place votes.

Fellow NASCAR Winston Cup star Matt Kenseth beat Earnhardt with five first-place votes but fell five points short and finished third.

NHRA Funny Car driver Tony Pedregon was fourth, followed by NASCAR's Kurt Busch and World of Outlaws star Steve Kinser.

Each member of the panel votes for six drivers and a total of 23 drivers made it onto the ballots.

Four quarterly winners are chosen before voting for the year's overall winner at the conclusion of the racing season. The award is presented by Speed Channel.

INDIANAPOLIS - Mario Andretti was hardly fazed after flipping a race car at more than 200 mph.

And the spectacular crash Wednesday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway while testing a car owned by son Michael won't change the elder Andretti's plan to help the team prepare for the Indy 500.

"Oh, yeah," he said without hesitation when asked if he would get back in the driver's seat next month should injured driver Tony Kanaan be unable to practice or qualify the car for the May 25 race.

In fact, the 63-year-old former Indy 500, Daytona 500 and Formula One champion seemed worried about only one thing - the reaction of his wife.

"I won't tell her," he said, laughing.

Andretti, the oldest driver ever to test an Indy car, hit debris and went airborne. The impact sent his car flipping end over end.

"I'm OK, a little bump on my heel and my chin," he said. "I didn't hit anything hard."

But he found himself in an unfamiliar position - wheels up and over.

"I haven't been upside down too many times, and I didn't want to do it here," he said.

The crash occurred when he hit debris between the first and second turns. After striking the debris, the car went into the air, flipped at least twice and landed on all four tires, said Carol Wilkins, spokeswoman for Andretti Green Racing.

Andretti was checked out at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's hospital, IRL spokesman John Griffin said.

"What I hit wasn't big, but it was solid, and it was able to launch me, and then all I saw was sky," Andretti said.

The debris apparently was left on the track after a crash involving former Indy 500 champion Kenny Brack, who hit the wall coming out of the first turn. Brack was not injured.

"I was going for it, obviously, and I came off of Turn 1 at full throttle, and all of a sudden there was debris everywhere," Andretti said. "It's just a freaky situation. It will not happen again, I'm sure."

Although Andretti retired from Indy car racing in 1994, he might try to qualify one of the team's cars for Kanaan, who has a broken arm.

The team has no problem with that.

"He proved he can drive the car, and the debris wasn't his fault. It could have happened to anybody," Wilkins said. "The debris was in front of him. It was just there."

Andretti has driven at Indianapolis 29 times, the second-most in history, and he was happy to be back at the speedway.

"I have great memories here, no question," he said following a session earlier in the day. "I can tell you I've enjoyed this joint, a lot. The way it looks from the cockpit is the way I remember it."

Andretti also remembers the frustration, when something always seemed to go wrong and ruin his chances to add an Indy 500 title to the one he won in 1969.

Andretti crashed six times at Indy between 1971 and 1992. In 1981, he thought he won the race after Bobby Unser was penalized for passing a line of cars during a yellow caution period. But four months later, a USAC appeals panel overturned the penalty and gave the victory to Unser.

In 1985, Andretti led 107 laps but finished second to Danny Sullivan, who won despite spinning. Two years later, Andretti started from the pole and dominated for 170 laps before his car went dead with a bad ignition 20 laps from the finish. In his final race at Indy in 1994, a problem in the fuel system knocked him out after just 23 laps.

The final day of qualifying for this year's Indy 500 is May 18. Kanaan is expected to be ready for the race, but even if Andretti qualifies in his place, Kanaan would start at the rear of the 33-car field.

"I'm not starting a career again," Andretti said. "This is something that's a great opportunity Michael gives me, and he knows I'm always up for a challenge. I may be able to fill in a void until at least one of the walking wounded comes back in action."

Andretti Green Racing driver Dario Franchitti, who injured his back in a motorcycle accident in Scotland, already has been ruled out for the race.

Andretti drove more than 50 laps Wednesday and turned a top lap of 225.4 mph. Last year at Indy, the 33rd car in the field had a qualifying speed of 227.096.

"Awesome. It was going well," he said. "We were just working. We were learning things. We were back in the groove, making small changes. I mean small changes. The car was responding beautifully.

"We were picking up some speed. Everything was just fine. We just needed another three minutes, and we would have walked away feeling very happy."

INDIANAPOLIS - A day after a spectacular crash sent his race car somersaulting at more than 200 mph, Mario Andretti decided he will not attempt to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 after all.

The 63-year-old Andretti, who last drove an Indy car in 1994, crashed Wednesday while he was testing a car for injured driver Tony Kanaan. Andretti's son, Michael, is a co-owner of the new Andretti Green Racing team.

Other than a scratch on his chin and a bump on his heel, the elder Andretti was not hurt, and within 20 minutes of the crash was back in the garage area saying he still intended to practice and if necessary qualify Kanaan's car for the race May 25.

But after arriving home in Nazareth, Pa., Andretti said Thursday that he had changed his mind.

"I've given it some thought," he said. "If I had an ongoing career, I would have no problem getting back in the car. All of a sudden, I have to start using at least an ounce of wisdom."

The crash occurred when Andretti ran over some debris on the track from another accident involving former winner Kenny Brack. The front end of Andretti's car lifted, then flipped end-over-end twice before landing upright on its wheels.

"I'm very lucky indeed," Andretti acknowledged. "I haven't been upside down too many times, and I didn't want to do it here, but here we go."

The former Indy 500, Daytona 500 and Formula One champion ran 82 laps during Wednesday's private testing. As the oldest driver ever to test an Indy car, he posted a top speed of 225.453 mph.

"I'm not trying to rekindle my career, and what happened yesterday maybe was a signal that I should pay attention to," he told WTHR-TV. "I had an incredibly satisfying day yesterday, and I'm very grateful to Michael and the Green team for giving me that opportunity.

Looney Tunes back in action at Phoenix

BURBANK, Calif. -- For the third consecutive year, the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes will return to the world of NASCAR, racing into Phoenix International Raceway with cars emblazoned with special paint schemes based on Looney Tunes: Back in Action, the upcoming live-action feature film from Warner Bros. Pictures, which is slated to hit movie theaters Nov. 14. The film stars Brendan Fraser, Jenna Elfman, Heather Locklear and Steve Martin.

Several top Chevrolet drivers, including four-time NASCAR Winston Cup champion Jeff Gordon, who has a cameo role in Looney Tunes: Back in Action, will team up with the irreverent Looney Tunes characters for some "Action on the Track" during the Nov. 2 race weekend.

This year's program will cross all three series that make up the NASCAR racing experience -- the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, the NASCAR Busch Series and the NASCAR Winston Cup Series.

The announcement was made Thursday, as Gordon and actress Jenna Elfman, one of the stars of Looney Tunes: Back in Action made a driving entrance down Brownstone Street on the Warner Bros. lot. Gordon piloted his Looney Tunes-branded No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet Monte Carlo, which will run in this year's race and Elfman was behind the wheel of the official "Spy Car" from the upcoming film.

Following the drive, Elfman and Gordon joined Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and executives from Warner Bros., Chevy and Action Performance in front of the Steven J. Ross theater to announce this year's program and officially unveil the Looney Tunes: Back In Action-themed pace car, which will lead the parade lap in this November's race.

"The fans always win when Chevrolet and the Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes team up for a NASCAR event," said Jim Campbell, marketing director for Chevy Racing and Monte Carlo. "You just can't beat the power, the color or the excitement that comes together when some of our finest Chevy NASCAR teams pair up with one of those highly-animated cartoon characters. The races at Phoenix International Raceway will be fun for every member of the family."

In the Looney Tunes: Back In Action NASCAR Winston Cup race, Gordon will team up with Yosemite Sam on his Looney Tunes-branded Chevrolet, along with driver Joe Nemechek who will feature graphics of Bugs Bunny on his No. 25 UAW-Delphi Chevrolet. Kerry Earnhardt will join forces once again with Yosemite Sam in the NASCAR Busch Series race where he will drive his No. 12 Supercuts Chevrolet, and for the first time ever, a NASCAR Craftsman Truck event will be even more animated when Kevin Harvick hooks up with his favorite Looney Tunes teammate, the Tasmanian Devil on his No. 6 Chevrolet truck.

"For the third year in a row, we are teaming with Chevy and Action Performance for another successful Looney Tunes-themed NASCAR race weekend," said Jordan Sollitto, Executive Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, Warner Bros. Consumer Products. "With the film coming November 14th, this year's promotion promises to be even more fun because the race will reflect the movie's theme."

Televised nationally on NBC, this exciting promotional event will also introduce highly collectible merchandise featuring the Looney Tunes: Back in Action characters and car graphics.

"We knew that the Looney Tunes would get quite a reception from the NASCAR faithful when we brought them to Richmond for the first time two years ago," noted Fred Wagenhals, Action Performance's chairman, president and CEO. "Now, to see the Looney Tunes program expand to Action's 'home' track here in Phoenix is a real treat. I look forward to experiencing and sharing all of the energy and enthusiasm that only the Looney Tunes can bring to the races with fans in Phoenix."

The Looney Tunes characters first partnered with NASCAR at Richmond International Raceway in 2001, when several NASCAR teams featured Looney Tunes graphics on their Chevrolet Monte Carlos in the Winston Cup race. In 2002, the relationship was expanded to include not only Winston Cup but Busch Series drivers as well, and the award-winning program was the largest race-related NASCAR promotion ever.

Guess Jeff is tired of the bad luck he’s had the past 2 years with Bugs, and has decided to change the character on his car!

Tony Stewart has finally spoken out on one of my pet peeves.  He wonders aloud as to why NA$CAR doesn't have a traveling safety team(s) such as those found in CART and IRL.?  This has been, with me, a big pet peeve for years.  There should, in my humble opinion, be at least one trauma doctor following the circuit to preclude the possible mishandling of an injured driver.  I can guarantee you that Rusty Wallace is, to this day, grateful the Dr. Jerry Punch was at Bristol when he had that near tragic accident. One thing is for sure, the local EMS team probably wouldn't have saved him.  I still contend that the lack of a permanent medical team borders on the criminal.

Jerry Bonkowski over on ESPN.com has an interesting article concerning the fans and their take on the incestuous relationship between NA$CAR and I$C.  According to him, eighty percent of his fan responses believe that relationship is costing you and I money that only serves to increase the bottom line for the corporate entities.  My regular readers know that this has been a very sore point with me so you can get another take on this by clicking here: http://espn.go.com/rpm/wc/2003/0422/1542607.html If Jerry's feedback is a true indication of eighty percent disapproval I'd think there are problems ahead.

It's being reported that Shawna Robinson will race a truck at Texas with an all female pit crew.  The sponsor is purported to be Aaron's.  Wonder if the pit crew will be dressed in those midriff exposing outfits they wore at Talladega.  I forgot which team it was, but some years ago one of the ARCA drivers had an all female pit crew.  I'm thinking Bill Venturini but can't be certain.  I don't think it lasted too long.  It would appear this is more of a gimmick to attract attention to Shawna.  Lord knows she deserves more attention than she's gotten.

Derrike Cope has obtained sponsorship from Great Barrier Reef, an internet provider, for the race at California.  Derrike is one cool cat and I hope this leads to better things for him.  Hopefully the sponsorship will allow him to have a fresh, quality engine so that he can make the field on time.  That's an awfully long haul to have to load up and go home. Good luck my man.

Let's see if I got this right.  Ground was broken Tuesday on a new super speedway at Houston.  The 1.3 mile modified D-oval is a slight deviation from the cookie cutter 1.5 mile low banked speedways already looking for a first or second race date.  At the same time, developers in New Jersey are planning a 0.92 mile NASCAR oriented oval at Linden, NJ. Jim Hunter says there is no chance for a race date there, while a track of that size provided it has adequate banking, seems ideal in size and locale.  The NJ track has some powerful figures on its board which include Paul Newman, Mario Andretti and the Ragin Cajun, James Carville.  Hey James, it's not only the economy it's lack of race dates, stupid.

The entry list for CA has forty two regular drivers plus Derrike Cope, Hideo Fukuyama and Kerry Earnhardt.  Qualifying could be of more than usual interest on this one.  Sadly, two of them will end up loading up and making the long trek back East.  I'm not prone to predict a winner for Sunday's race but let's hope for something different.  Some surprise movers and shakers at CA could be Ken Schrader, Terry Labonte, Dave Blaney and Hideo Fukuyama.  Stop laughing and pay attention.  Hideo has been looking better and it appears he's finally getting a handle on the heavier cars.  I've been critical of him but I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt for now and wish him well.

Lee Spencer at SportingNews.com took a play from my play book and pokes fun at the perceived fix at NASCAR headquarters to ensure Junior wins the championship.  I haven't done one of my secret meeting articles for some time so it was refreshing to see someone take a light approach to all the conspiracy theories that continually abound around our sport.  Next week’s list.

Until next time, be safe and secure in your homes and work places.  We must remain ever vigilant against the crazies that roam the world intending to cause us harm.  3,023 people, just like you and I, reported for work or a scheduled flight with no premonition of the tragic events of 911.  We must never forget.  Only God can judge these religious fanatics but we are obligated to arrange a hasty meeting before the judgment throne.  God's Blessing Upon You and Yours, Our Fabulous Defenders of Freedom, Our Great Nation and It's Leadership.

Don@...

Friday Fodder
by Jeff Alan - Staff Writer

This is one week I am glad to see come to a close. Not only does it mean a three-day vacation for myself, it also signals the start of the second quarter of the Winston-Cup season. What better way to celebrate than to fire a volley of Friday Fodder over the NASCAR battlefield.d

•  So, Bristol may lose one or both Cup dates if Sullivan County enacts a 10% entertainment tax on top of the price of race tickets? I don’t think so. If Uncle Bruton drops the ball and sends those two dates elsewhere, Sullivan County is SOL. And so are the fans who have waited two years or more to get tickets. C’mon, Bruton. Try another pressure tactic.

•  Kudos to Tony Stewart for raising a stink about the lack of a traveling safety team of extraction, firefighting, and EMT professionals ---- like the ones that travel with CART and IRL. Just about every driver wants to see it a regular part of the circuit. Naturally, it will probably take someone getting killed before NASCAR does anything.

•  If you’re attending the race this weekend, do NOT try the Sushi from the track concessions. You have been warned.

•  A standing ovation to Peter Flaherty, and his mission to expose the bribes that have been paid to Jessie ‘The Hypocrite’ Jackson by a certain stock car racing sanctioning body. Kudos to Catchfence.Com writers Lori and Marty Tyler for an excellent examination and commentary about the debacle as well.

•  I am all for some good, down-home promotion. But I got a press release from Goodyear yesterday. A press release, now. Incredible! Did you know that the circumference of the left-side tires this weekend will be 87.3 inches? I am so comforted by knowing that. Now I’ll be able to sleep. God bless you, Goodyear!!!!

•  Huh? Spies at Daytona USA? Someone is measuring Mike Waltrip’s winning Daytona 500 car in order to learn its secrets? Well, I’m sending an e-mail to George Noory at Coast to Coast AM right this minute and putting him on the case. Maybe they’ll find some crop circles at the track, too.

•  Ken Schrader says he still has fun racing in Winston-Cup, even though he hasn’t won a race in 12 years. OooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooK !!!

•  If you’re driving to the race track this weekend, and you want to get smashed without smashing your car, or someone else’s, the track has arranged designated drivers to drive the snookered fan, in their vehicle, to where they need to go after the race. Wonder what’s gonna happen when that couple from Hazard, Kentucky gets bombed on a quart of Jack they sneaked in, and hands someone the keys to their 1972 pickup truck with the slipping clutch and no brakes?

•  I was just thinking. If Mort Salkind gets to build that speedway in Linden, New Jersey, I would probably find it a wise move not to mess with any of the local security people, unless you got a good pair of kneepads.

•  Hideo Fukuyama is planning to qualify a Travis Carter hot-rod this weekend. That’s great. At least we won’t have to worry about some Japanese activist asking NASCAR for bribes and claiming there aren’t enough Orientals involved in Winston-Cup racing.

•  Sheryl Crowe is going to be present at the pre-race ceremonies before the Busch race this weekend. I can’t figure out the logic of having a person who openly protested the war in Iraq take part in a patriotic, opening ceremony. Make sure you save a couple of loud jeers when that anti-war bimbo takes the stage.

•  NASCAR has been testing, but still has not approved or mandated the use of carbon monoxide filters. I wonder what they are waiting for?

•  Do you own a sales business? Do you want a good salesman? Well, just look up Derrike Cope in the phone book. That dude has gone out and scrounged up a sponsor for his ride at California this weekend, and he hasn’t even qualified yet. Lord! How does he do it? I’ll bet that guy could sell dry ice in Antarctica.

• Did you see that Elliott Sadler toured the Pedigree Dog Food plant this week? Guess his hunting dogs won’t be eating Gravy Train again anytime soon.

You can reach Jeff Alan at: Jalan@...

"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

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Today In Nascar History

April 23, 1961

Richard Petty wins at Richmond for his 4th of 200 career wins.  It was a 12 car field in front of 7000 fans.

April 24, 1969

Hermie Sadler, driver of the #54 Chevy Monte Carlo sponsored by Toys R Us, and owned by Team Bristol, is born on this day.

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INVESTIGATE YOUR NEIGHBORS WITH NET DETECTIVE 2001!
Find out criminal records, driving records, unlisted phone
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All PRIVATELY from your home. FREE bonus with every copy.
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Should WC Drivers in the top 10 in points be allowed to race in the Busch Series?
 
http://de3fan4.tripod.com/

from BigDaddy
Holy Cow Batman!!!! Will miracles never stop....I got your newsletter today. Have you been working with aol or did I just get a gift from them allowing this one to go through. This is just a wonderful gift no matter what because it makes things so difficult going to yahoo and then checking for them there. I hope my other friends and family got this too so that I don't have to send it to them while I am at yahoo.  As far as DW and all of the Fox crew, they are the greatest compared to NBC. "Boogity, boogity, boogity" is what I wait for each and every race. I end up driving my family crazy saying it myself. I think it is wonderful that we have something unique and original and, like it or not, it has caught on. I don't remember anything as big that is loved and disliked since Howard Cosell himself...lol. It is so disappointing when mid season comes and we lose the best dang announcers Nascar has had in a long while. No one is perfect, but they knew who they were hiring when they hired them and that is what makes them so special and wonderful to listen too. Their knowledge is going to be hard to match ever again. And then you get DW and others that still are staying active with teams, either driving or working with teams, and that gives them everything they need to stay absolutely current with new stuff happening now, and doesn't keep them in the dark ages. It is wonderful to have first hand information of track changes and stuff. Later momma.. and be careful out there... happy
nascaring... Tim

Must have been a gift from AOL….I didn’t do nothing!

from Tab
okokok-I had 2 write & let ya know that I happen 2 LIKE DW & his BOOGITY BOOGITY BOOGITY..I feel the same way @ the start of a race!!!!!!!  c’mon, lighten up ppl-next thing ya know, they ain't gonna like the drivers celebrating after winning a race geeeeeesh    ~tabby  <all grown up & doin the BOOGITY ne wayz>

from Karen
I'd like to see a poll on who likes D.W. and who don't.
O'SURE
I LOVE DW....and BOOGITY BOOGITY BOOGITY!!! I am soooooo going to miss him when FOX's run is over. I hate the NBC coverage and always find myself counting the days until it's FOX's turn in the booth again. I have been a DW fan since I can remember and when he retired I was heart broken, even though I think he stuck it out way too long and made himself look bad in the end, he had a hard time pulling himself away from the sport he loves so much, and that's understandable, but from the first day I saw him in the booth I was so happy! A void was filled for me...and I love his "high pitched voice" and his excitement! It's much better than Allen Bestwick's "stick in the mud, I have no clue what I'm talking about persona"! And that's just my 2 cents, even though ya didn't ask for it! LOL
Karen

Some comments haven’t been posted today, but they will be quickly…lot’s of news to report!

Crew has feminine touch - All-female team will service Robinson's truck in June TMS race: Two weeks after Annika Sorenstam competes against the men at Colonial in Fort Worth, seven Dallas-area women will make history at Texas Motor Speedway by competing against men in the pits of a NASCAR race. An all-female pit crew will work with driver Shawna Robinson in the O'Reilly 400. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races at TMS on June 6. It will be the first time an all-female pit crew has gone over the wall in a major NASCAR event. Aaron's Sales and Leasing has agreed to sponsor the truck that is owned by Team Texas president Mike Starr. Team Texas is one of the driving schools at TMS, and TMS officials are behind the plan to debut the all-female team. - The Dallas Morning News

FONTANA, Calif. -- If he has his way, Michael Waltrip's budding racing operation will compete in the complete Craftsman Truck Series next season.

Waltrip said his older brother Darrell's successful outing in the Advance Auto Parts 250 at Martinsville Speedway provided the final incentive for him to seek enough sponsorship to field a driver next season in the Truck Series.

Darrell Waltrip drove a No. 17 Tide Chevrolet in the debut outing of Leroy's Boys Racing, which honors the pair's late father.

Darrell was quickest in the opening practice, qualified 12th and capped his weekend with a seventh place finish in the race, his third truck outing in the last two seasons after retiring as an active driver to enter the FOX Sports broadcast booth following the 2000 season.

"I was real proud for him and real proud of my team for providing him with such a great truck to race," Michael Waltrip said. "We're very interested in trying to run a full Truck Series season in 2004 with our team, to provide someone with an opportunity to run for a championship."

Waltrip, whose Michael Waltrip Racing also competes in a select schedule of NASCAR Busch Series races, said his brother's racing aspirations would dovetail well with a full program for another driver.

"I think a nice complement to that (full schedule) would be Darrell running in a second truck," Michael said. "That would be for as many races as he wants or as many as (wife) Stevie would let him -- so we'll have to see what develops."

Darrell Waltrip will drive the No. 17 truck, which Leroy's Boys purchased from Hendrick Motorsports, in August at Indianapolis Raceway Park.

Michael's Busch Series crew chief Bobby Kennedy and veteran mechanic Buddy "Red Dog" Barnes lead Leroy's Boys' truck effort.

SONOMA, Calif. -- Mark Martin posted the top time Tuesday during the first day of a NASCAR Winston Cup test session at Infineon Raceway.

Martin, one of six Winston Cup drivers testing the 10-turn, 2-mile road course in preparation for the Dodge/Save Mart 350 (June 19-22), toured the circuit in 1 minute, 17.50 seconds. He was followed by road-course specialist Ron Fellows (1:17.86) and Matt Kenseth (1:17.95). Tony Stewart owns the track qualifying record of 1:16.640 set in 2002.

Martin has one victory and 12 top-10 finishes in 14 starts at Infineon Raceway. The two-day session will conclude on Wednesday.

"We brought two cars out here and we're shaking them both down. We're trying to decide which one we'll bring back with us in June," said Kenseth, the current Winston Cup points leader. "For me, I just need to get in as many laps as I can."

Other testers included rookies Jamie McMurray (1:18.30), Casey Mears (1:18.60) and Jack Sprague (1:19.05).

"I'm just trying to learn the racetrack," said McMurray. "I've never been here before and road courses are a pretty different deal, but we're doing the best we can."

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Six Chevrolet NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series teams focused on aerodynamics during two days and evenings of testing Monday and Tuesday at Texas Motor Speedway in preparation for the O'Reilly 400k on Friday night, June 6.

Two-time 2003 race winner Dennis Setzer was among the participants along with David Starr, Travis Kvapil, Shawna Robinson, Eric Jones and Ken Weaver. Intermittent showers interrupted Tuesday's activities.

The main focus of the test sessions was gathering data using the new 2003 nose configuration on the Chevrolet Silverados. Unofficial speeds were in the 180 mph range. The information collected during the sessions will be put to use in the O'Reilly 400k and also at the next series race, the Hardee's 200 at Lowe's Motor Speedway May 16.

"We are working on the new 2003 Chevrolet Silverado nose," said Acxiom Racing driver Setzer. "We are trying to gain some information to make it better at speedways like Texas and Charlotte. It is a new nose we are starting to work with."

Spears Manufacturing driver Starr was also seeking answers during the sessions at his home speedway. "It has been a great test. We are learning a great deal about the 2003 nose. We learned it is definitely not as good as last year's truck (2002 nose), there is less downforce.

"Right now we have less downforce than we had last year. You can see it on the clock and you can feel it behind the steering wheel. It has been a big challenge trying to get that downforce back."

"We came here with two trucks, one is a brand new 2003 Silverado Truck with the other being a 2002 Silverado that Xpress Motorsports sat on the pole here with Mike Bliss," said Kvapil. "We are baselining the new truck against the old truck that has proven itself here at Texas.

"I feel good about our chances for a championship. I can see how they had so much success last year with Mike. This is a team that can win races and win championships."

Former NASCAR Winston Cup driver Robinson was testing the Team Texas Silverado for owner Mike Starr. "I'm just happy to be here. Obviously Mike knows the race track well. We are just here testing and doing the best that we can do."

Jones and Weaver rounded out the testers. Jones is the new driver for EJP Racing and was using the Texas test to get comfortable with the team. Local driver Weaver, from Duncanville, Texas, was getting seat time in the 1-800-4-A-Phone Silverado. Weaver was driving Trucks used last year by the Joe Gibbs team and driver Coy Gibbs.

NEW YORK (AP) -- NASCAR is testing a device designed to reduce or eliminate dangerous carbon monoxide fumes being inhaled by drivers.

Gary Nelson, NASCAR's managing director of competition, called it a "catalyst system," and said Tuesday that it was used two weeks ago in Martinsville, Virginia, by Winston Cup champion Tony Stewart during practice and the race.

Stewart was sickened by carbon monoxide fumes during a race last fall at Martinsville Speedway, and the Joe Gibbs Racing team volunteered to be the first to test the new system.

"We have a system we have been developing in our laboratory and thought it was time to try it at the track," Nelson said.

Stewart was supposed to try the device only in practice, but chose to use it in the race as well.

"I felt better than I probably had after any of the Martinsville races I remember," Stewart said. "I still did have a headache after the race was over, which is typical of a Martinsville race, but not nearly as severe as it was in the past."

Stewart said he told Nelson he would like to try the device again in the fall race at Martinsville "to be certain it wasn't just a good day. But I'm somewhat encouraged the filter did its job."

Gibbs is enthusiastic about the development of the device.

"Our biggest problem last year was when Tony got a pretty heavy dose and didn't feel very good," Gibbs said. "They gave him a test and it wasn't to a level where he needed to go to a decompression chamber. But it was fairly substantial."

It is on the tracks under a mile (1.6 kilometer) in length where the carbon monoxide problem is the most severe because of the close proximity of the cars during a race.

"We wanted to see if the results we had in the laboratory could be repeated in the car," Nelson said. "This is obviously a big milestone in our study, which is being done by a doctor, one of our engineers and myself."

Nelson, who heads up NASCAR's new research and development facility in Concord, North Carolina, said the device that Stewart described as a filter "is a catalyst that sits on the floor in the car next to the driver. The system sends (clean) air to the driver's helmet."

Nelson said the new system runs on "the same theory" as catalytic converters used in street cars to diminish pollutants in the exhaust, "but this is a low-temperature catalyst."

NASCAR has been working since last fall on systems to filter the air a driver breathes during a race, a project that drew increased focus after Rick Mast announced in January he was retiring because years of exposure to toxic fumes had given him acute and chronic carbon monoxide poisoning.

The effects of carbon monoxide are cumulative, building in a driver's body each time he or she is exposed to it. Since last year, some drivers have been undergoing heavy oxygen treatments after races to decrease the effects of breathing carbon monoxide.

Nelson said NASCAR is being conservative in its approach, doing a thorough study.  He said the new system, if it's eventually recommended to the NASCAR teams, is just one part of a three-part plan for keeping drivers from becoming sick.

"The first thing is to look to the car itself to see there are no exhaust leaks and the car is properly sealed against fumes coming in," Nelson said. "Second, the driver must be hydrated and ready to compete.

"Third, the catalyst system can help to see the driver uses air as fresh as possible."

He said the next step is for drivers to run it in practice.

"We don't want them to use it in the race, yet," Nelson said. "It is a developmental item and, if we keep getting a positive response, we would recommend it be used."

Martin still looking ahead despite rocky start
By Lee Montgomery, Turner Sports Interactive

Mark Martin has just about seen it all during his long driving career. To say he's at the twilight of that career wouldn't be a stretch.

Martin is 44 years old and has been driving NASCAR Winston Cup cars since 1981, including the last 15 with car owner Jack Roush. His career has been stellar, as he's won 33 races, 41 poles and finished second in the points standings four times. In the modern era, no one has more second-place finishes.

In this age of technology and engineering, the veteran Martin has been able to keep up with the younger crowd. Heck, he's outrun them, too. Last year's runner-up finish to Tony Stewart was a testament to Martin's tenacity and commitment to his career.

His driving days are far from over.

"I've started over twice in the last six years," Martin said. "Both times, out of the box, were fantastic. But I don't expect that to happen every time. I'm not going to stand around with tears in my eyes wishing I could do this stuff.

"I have done this stuff. I love winning races. It's been really good to me, and I plan to continue to do it. I have some unfinished business, I have a terrific race team, and I've got more years of my time than a lot of the guys in the garage. It's not time to be worrying about 2006 yet."

No, Martin's focus isn't on the future, isn't on sponsorships, isn't on car owners. It's on here and now and what it takes to win. Martin has been with Jack Roush since 1988, and there's no reason to change that.

"I have a real comfortable relationship with Jack," Martin said. "As long as I want to race, Jack will break his back to make that happen, whatever it might be. And he's made the same kind of commitment to help me with (son) Matt. Jack and I are partners in life, as well as an in racing. We're real comfortable with where we're at right now, with the race team, with Pfizer and Viagra. We're just working on taking care of that unfinished business."

Martin didn't say what his unfinished business is, but he hasn't won a Winston Cup championship yet. Nor has he won the Daytona 500.

And he hasn't won in 2003, either. Coming off the near-championship run of last season, Martin stands 15th in the points standings. That's obviously now where he wants to be.

"We've been more competitive on the racetrack so far this year than we were last year," Martin said. "Golly, in 50 percent of the races, we've been wrecked or blown up. I couldn't help the wrecks, and I couldn't help the parts breaking. And neither could my guys. Those are things that for the most part we can't control, and we have to roll with the flow.

"If nothing, nothing, went wrong the whole rest of the year, we'd probably win the championship by 500 points. But we're not done having trouble. We would be very happy if the huge majority of it is behind us."

But that's not realistic either, Martin said.

“I believe that, for me, I had an average year on luck last year," Martin said. "Average.  Or probably better than average for me and average for everyone else. I think I'm paying for that this year so far. We'll just see how things play out."

Martin's team took advantage of last weekend's time off to catch up on cars and to prepare for some upcoming test sessions. Martin tested at the Infineon Raceway road course this week and will test at Lowe's Motor Speedway after he gets back from racing at California Speedway.

"It's very important to all of us, but especially to the guys who work on these cars," Martin said of the time off. "We're getting in position to test two weeks in a row. ... It's kind of hard to do that if we were racing (last) weekend as well. It puts us in a position to just do more. Nobody gets a chance to lay down and rest. We just do more."

That's the way Winston Cup racing is. You hardly have the time to look back, and if you do, you might get passed.

That's the way Martin has approached his career. Always look forward. The most important race is the next one. That means the most important race is this weekend's Auto Club 500 at California Speedway.

Martin won there in 1998 and has two other top-10 finishes on the 2-mile track. But he also has three DNFs, including the inaugural race there in 1997 when he ran out of gas but still ended up 10th.

That's a little bit like his 2003 season. He runs well, but something happens to keep him from finishing better.

No worries. There's always next week.

"We've got a great race team, we've done really well," Martin said. "We ran so good at several races this year, better than we did last year. If we can keep doing that, everything will be all right."

As almost weekly controversy envelopes our sport let's take a step back and have a look at what the sport is all about, the basics , the essence.

Since the very beginning of the sport, auto racing has been about one thing, and one thing only ... winning.

From the first time, many years ago, that two automobiles chanced upon one another, contests of speed were the chosen method of determining whose machine was the more dominant, and what driver was more skilled. To that end a tactic was employed called 'passing'.

Lately, this maneuver seems to be the focus of increasing legislation and consternation among those in racing. Be it rules to define how this is accomplished, to arguments over if it should be done at all , it detracts from the essence of the sport.

Why a pass cannot be completed on the left on a re-start has its basis in the way a re-start looks to a television audience.

Several years ago, a high ranking NASCAR official of that era believed that re-starts didn't look 'neat' enough on TV and lobbied the NASCAR rule makers for change. Those changes were made, and today we have the passing on the right side only rule to contend with on re-starts. Most fans believe that this rule is in place for safety, when in fact, it is in place purely for the sake of appearances to the viewing audience. Time for a change to this rule that takes away yet another way of accomplishing the basic pass? Yes, I would think so.
 
We also have a line drawn in the sand known as the 'yellow line' rule. Its basis is rooted in safety, but this rule is as clear as mud in its vagueness and aggravating in its seemingly constant state of flux.

What caused this rule to be enacted? Passing, or rather, attempting to pass, and the actions of the driver in front to keep the driver behind from doing this. Well, isn't that what's supposed to happen?

Racing is not high tea with the Queen, nor should it be. Racing is a down and dirty backroom poker game with the highest of stakes. It's a knife fight at 200 mph. It's all about passing ... and winning. The essence of the sport.

I am not suggesting that we allow the sport to become a Roman chariot race, where anything goes , but the cars are equipped with brakes , and the drivers are supposed to be equipped with some measure of common sense. If it is paved, let them use it. If they want to take the race for the win down to the campers on the infield, so be it. Pass, or be passed. If you happen to crash one another out ... that's racin'.

Instead of making rules on how you can't pass. Might I suggest that they try to make the rules on how you CAN pass, and please spare us the mud, ok?

Just my 2 cents, and if you disagree ... leave my Momma out of it.

Bigdog
Bigdog@...

Build It. You’ll Get a Date
by Jeff Alan - Staff Writer

Once again, chatter has arisen from the abyss over a proposed speedway in the New York City-Metro area. The Big Apple remains the only major Television market in America without a NASCAR-sanctioned track. And there have been skirmishes behind the scene for over two years in an effort to build such a facility in the Meadowlands. Private investors, as well as the ISC have been spending voluminous amounts of cash and handing out freebies like penny candy to woo county commissions, and local officials (and perhaps, in some cases, their relatives), to approve their plans.

With the Meadowlands location in doubt, attention has now focused to Linden, New Jersey, where only three Mob families live. There is prime real estate there, with easy access to the Jersey Turnpike. Additionally, unlike their counterparts at the Meadowlands, local officials would actually like to see the property developed into a speedway and entertainment complex. And they like the ideas that have been offered.

When the ISC was pressuring local officials who governed the Meadowlands site, they proposed a plan that would require the State of New Jersey put up more than $400 million dollars in taxpayer money to help pay for the track. But to be fair, asking taxpayers to fund a sporting arena that you intend to profit from is nothing new.

However, a developer (who still has his original plan for a Meadowlands development on the negotiating table) and former state legislator, Mort Salkind, has taken the vanguard. He comes to the table with a plan for funding the project using money from private investors ---- the American way. And to help him spread the cheer, Salkind has surrounded himself with major celebrities like Paul Newman, Mario Andretti, and James Carville to help him sell his concept.

Wait. Let me see that again.

James Carville?

OK, I’ll keep my mouth shut. It’s tough, though.

These celebrities, of course, are there to attract publicity. But there is nothing wrong with that unless you are a stockholder or officer of the International Speedway Corporation. Those people are shaking in their boots.

It is no secret that the ISC desperately --- and I mean desperately --- want to own and operate a speedway in the Big Apple. They have spent untold (and we’ll probably never find out where all the money went --- or how much of it was paid to who) millions of dollars in attorney fees, feasibility studies, or maybe even gratuities to local officials, in their quest to own a track and casino in the #1 television market in America.

But now, somebody may actually beat them to the punch. And if this developer has his way and wins, the blow to the ISC will be financially staggering. The ISC is literally banking their long-term, financial future on a speedway and casino project in the Big Apple.

This isn’t going to be no run-of-the-mill speedway, folks. At .92 mile in length, the talk is that it would be a ‘Richmond-style' track with similar or higher banking. Additionally, plans call for a 20-story luxury hotel and conference center, and feature 400,000 square feet of “entertainment” area, which in New Jersey can be interpreted as a Casino.

A damned big Casino at that.

While most speedways come to life two weekends a year, the Linden proposal would be a cash cow, generating millions of dollars a month, every month of the year, in good times and bad. Naturally, the ISC would be pleased to reap the rewards of that 365-day a year cash flow, too. Ditto the stockholders. My guess is that they will now spare no expense to thwart the Linden, NJ effort. It may even get ugly. Lots of ISC stockholders are fidgeting in their leather recliners.

With Mort Salkind’s plan getting attention, NASCAR has already fired the first shot in what will soon be a war of words. Jim Hunter, that sly old guy who tells us that NASCAR has no problem giving money to Jessie Jackson, says “All of our dates are taken. We just could not put any races down on that (New Jersey) track."

This, my friends, at the same time that two other ISC tracks are appealing to NASCAR for a second date.

Now, common sense would say that, if NASCAR didn’t have any more dates, the ISC, and all its track management would know about it, and two of their tracks wouldn’t even be raising such an absurd request.

Gee, Mister Hunter, if the ISC got the bid to develop that Meadowlands site, do you think NASCAR would be able to find one of those dates you claim they “don’t have?”

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm?

You see, folks, NASCAR does have dates. They know what tracks draw crowds and TV ratings. Those tracks that don’t make the grade lose dates, just like Rockingham did. Such tracks are expendable to NASCAR. And I can assure you that NASCAR will have no problem flushing a date from another track to get their product within artillery range of downtown Manhattan.

I bid a hearty ‘good luck’ to Mort Salkind. I hope he lands that deal. If he can come up with the money to build it without having to reach into the pockets of taxpayers, I’ll be the first to go online and reserve a ticket or two.

Go ahead, Mort. Build It. You’ll get a date.

You can reach Jeff Alan at: Jalan@...

"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

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Today In Nascar History

April 23, 1970

Jason Keller, driver in the Busch series was born on this date in 1970.

5.8

Jeff Gordon’s average finish in the 6 California Speedway races that have been run.  He has 2 wins there.

Tony Stewart will make his 150th consecutive and career start on Sunday at California.  His first start was on February 14, 1999 at Daytona.

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Should WC Drivers in the top 10 in points be allowed to race in the Busch Series?
 
http://de3fan4.tripod.com/

from Bob
from Larry
Momma,  And yes, I'm sick of hearing 'boogity, boogity, boogity'!  After all, aren't the biggest percentage of viewers/fans "adults"?  Cannot wait until FOX run is over and NBC takes over.  Then I will no longer have to listen to that immature crap!

My peeve has nothing to do with the cutsie phrases, which have a way of working themselves out of the public's favor over time, but the horrible bad grammar, especially from Larry Mac. Hey, I'm all for accents, colloquialisms and quaint vernacular, but each time I hear "them drivers" or "all the cars was" I want to scream. He seems almost to cultivate this mistaken "good ol' boy" ignorant misuse of the language, and of course is not alone, but is probably the most prominent.

Darrell Waltrip, Ned Jarrett and others worked hard to clean up their presentation when they moved into the booth, but Larry has been resistant. These bad habits undermine the value of his excellent observations, and are a poor role model for all listening youth. It gives the impression that you can skip your studies if you aspire to be a NASCAR minion.

Gosh 'n gollee, Bob

Bob, from what I've read, Larry is working on his grammar.  But when you grow up speaking that way, it is hard to change.  I would certainly hope that Larry won't change all of the way he speaks, that is Larry, and I find him "cute"!

from O’Sure
And yes, I'm sick of hearing 'boogity, boogity, boogity'
 
 Thanks! I thought that I might be the only one who is so tired of D.W. cheering for "Mickey" and his constant babbling on with his "high pitch 'gee I'm excited' voice". It sounds like he needs to buy a larger size of jockey shorts. I am forced to turn the race on the radio and watch it on "mute" on the T.V. Fox's selection of sports casters leaves too much to desire. I'd like to see a poll on who likes D.W. and who don't.
O'SURE

from Tom
Sandi
Thought I would add my two cents worth to the Comments to the Peanut Gallery. If you will go back to Yahoo groups and look at the Terms of Service, you will find FLAMING is against their rules on any of Yahoo groups.  Flaming is the act of response to anyone’s emails in a manner to upset or belittle others. That was put in and used to eliminate entire groups from the internet. They don't hesitate to use it either. If one person reports such abuse to yahoo groups then everyone misses out when a entire list is deleted from Yahoo.  Enjoy your links etc to NASCAR..I am from the old NASCAR  family..."S"
Tom <owner WackyWits>

from Big Daddy
I basically agree with this too. As freedom of speech is always the way the United States should be, bashing other people instead of expressing your views on something else needs to be watched. You have a very special way of getting through to all of your NASCAR fans, pro or con, and I hope the others can learn from you and keep the fun fun, and the bashing of others to a minimum. I don't agree with everything you say or everything anybody else may say, but there are ways to come back to express views, and then there are wrong ways. This incident seemed to be getting out of hand and I am glad someone was able to nip it in the bud. I am still having problems getting your newsletters through aol, and therefore, having problems getting and reading them timely. I hope that there is someway that you can work with the AOL postmaster to resolve this problem, like a couple of my joke newsletters have recently. Take care and everyone keep the fun going, just be careful. Did anyone think that maybe it is the whole week off and that NASCAR shouldn't put us into withdrawals like that. I mean, there are very few weeks that is is absolutely no racing of any kind going on, but this is one of those weeks.  Impatiently waiting for this weekend to get things back to normal again... Later... happy Nascaring.. Tim

from BobS
Good comments and a wise choice on your part.

Feel free to edit, especially my stuff. You are providing a welcome and greatly appreciated forum, and we pray you don't get burned out.

Especially, don't let the little stuff and little people wear you down.

Cheers, Bob

from Melinda
OK, truce.

I just thought that your daily slap in the face of Darrell Waltrip shouldn't go unchallenged. Hence my first response--but it got out of hand.  My apologies to all--even you, EWOK.

Melinda

from Judy
I only get your newsletter about once a week.  I was surprised to see it on a Tuesday.  All I am getting is the information you send about the track of the week.  How can I get alo to stop doing this to yahoo groups?            Judy

Judy, I’m not sure what to tell you.  Try adding my address to your address book, knowyournascar@... and/or knowyournascar-owner@yahoogroups.com  That is about the only way I know of to fix it.  I’ve had several complaints about this, and I’ve been told this is the “only” way to fix it.

EARNHARDT JR. TESTS AT MEMPHIS
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is testing Dale Earnhardt Inc's No. 8 Chevrolet in a closed two-day session at Memphis Motorsports Park to prepare for the May 3 Pontiac Excitement 400 at Richmond International Raceway, NASCAR.com reports. Both tracks are .75-mile ovals. Also expected to test at Memphis today were Rusty Wallace in Penske Racing South's No. 2 Dodge and Robert Yates Racing, which might have both Dale Jarrett and Elliott Sadler on hand to test their Fords, the story says.

Martin Truex, Jr. will pilot Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 8 Busch Series Chevrolet for Chance 2 Motorsports, a team owned by the NASCAR Winston Cup Series star and his stepmother, Teresa. Truex Jr.'s first race with the team will be the Hardee's 250 on Friday, May 2 at Richmond International Raceway.

"You know, we didn't really have a handful of guys to pick from, so we just kind of sat down and talked about it," Earnhardt Jr. said. "Richie Gilmore, our engine builder at DEI, mentioned Martin as a guy we should look at."

"I feel really comfortable in the car," Truex Jr. said. "The biggest thing I have to learn is the tires. I have a little bit of experience running on these tires, so I'm probably one step ahead if I hadn't run any Busch races with my own stuff. But I can't wait. I'm really looking forward to coming back for the race."

N.C. lawmakers often honor recently deceased state leaders with resolutions.  Tuesday, they honored stock car racing.

The House passed a resolution honoring the sport, partially in an effort to persuade NASCAR to keep The Winston all-star race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord. NASCAR has considered moving some races to promote the sport in other states.

"Stock car racing is intertwined with the cultural heritage of this state," said Rep. Wayne Goodwin, D-Richmond. "I hope it will not diminish its presence in its birthplace."

Actually, stock car racing was commended two years ago when the General Assembly officially named North Carolina the stock car racing capital of the world.

Goodwin has also introduced a bill this year that would allow the state to issue official license plates with the names of stock car drivers and their logos.

EMPORIA, Va. - This year marks the third annual Elliott and Hermie Sadler Fan Appreciation Day in Emporia, Virginia. The fun, food and festivities will take place on April 30tth from 1:00-6:00pm at the Sadler Automotive Dealership located at 517 N. Main Street in Emporia. Both Elliott and Hermie will be on hand during the day's events hosting a question and answer session beginning at 4pm, which will be followed by an autograph signing. Refreshments will be served and prizes will be given away throughout the day including a pair of tickets to the Pontiac Excitement 400 at Richmond International Raceway on May 3rd. M&M's and Toys'R'Us Racing souvenirs will be available for purchase at the event.

Race fans are very important to the Sadler brothers. So once a year, the Sadler family hosts fans from all over the country to show their appreciation.

According to Hermie Sadler, "We always promised our fans we'd remember where we came from. Elliott and I both still live in Emporia but he's spending a lot of time in Charlotte now. Sadler Fan Appreciation Day is our chance to show the folks in and around Virginia that we still support our community and our state. Last year we had fans that drove from as far away as Michigan to attend Sadler Fan Day and that's really cool to know we are getting that type of support."

For more information please contact the Sadler Fan Club at (434) 348-0267 or visit SadlerFanClub.com.

Thank God It's Wednesday!
by Chris Campbell-Staff Writer

Thank God it's Wednesday?

Oh my I can't believe I have ever uttered those words...but I know I will utter them a few more times this year. Thank God it's Wednesday!!!

I watched a few of the NASCAR shows Monday night since I was extremely bored. I guess I am not the only person to be shouting Thank God it's Wednesday! Alan Bestwick, Mikey, Kenny Schrader and Johnny Benson were trying to find subjects to talk about and I know they will be shouting Thank God it's Wednesday!

Although, I have to admit that it was quite interesting to find out that Richie Gilmore, Head Engineer at DEI, is originally from Rochester, NH. This is the next town over from my hometown of Dover, NH! It was great to see another person from the great New England area. However, Alan Bestwick said that Richie has an accent. Sorry, but he doesn't talk like Frankie -- he parked his car, whereas, Frankie and myself pahk our cahs.

Thank God it's Wednesday! Racing action is just about to start up. We don't have to see the main headlines being all rumors. The drivers will stop being asked all those stupid questions to fill time; albeit to the joy of us fans who want a piece of news on our drivers, and love to know a little of their personal lives.

Thank God it's Wednesday. I have cleaned my house, talked to long lost friends and family that haven't spoke to me since before Speedweeks. But enough is enough...........I am having withdrawals.

I watched all the old races that I could find. I watched stupid reality shows (though a few of them are slightly redeeming). I have watched shows that said only 4 more episodes till the season finale, and really didn't care. I have checked all the racing sites looking for something to satisfy my need for racing news. I have not been satisfied. As the Rolling Stones said "I Can't Get No Satisfaction", so give me California!

Thank God it's Wednesday! Qualifying of Busch is coming up within 24 hours, teams are heading west and starting to talk about the upcoming race. Soon we will see the drivers in their uniforms huddling with the crews to come up with the winning combination for Sunday. Finally, very soon the news won't be stale anymore. Thank God it's Wednesday.

Also, congrats to Kenny Schrader for not taking the holiday totally off and for winning this weekend. Also, just got a look at the video of Tony Stewart and Dale Jr battling it out on the streets of Concord, NC in the song "Road I'm On" by 3 Doors Down...one word for the song and the video -- AWESOME.

You can reach Chris Campbell at: ccampbell@...

AMEN Brother!

Conversation: Ricky Craven
By Lee Montgomery, Turner Sports Interactive

Ricky Craven has always been New England's favorite son. But after last month's stirring duel with Kurt Busch at Darlington Raceway, Craven has picked up some more fans and more attention.

Not that he minds the attention. Craven and his PPI Motorsports team sit ninth in the NASCAR Winston Cup points standings, and is the only single-car entry in the top 20.  There were a lot of questions coming into 2003 for Craven, as he had a new manufacturer (Pontiac), a new crew chief (Scott Miller) and a new engine builder (PPI).

But one can tell by the smile on Craven's face that things are going well. NASCAR.com dispatched Lee Montgomery to sit down with him recently, and Craven opened up about a variety of subjects. Craven even talked about coming back from a head injury a few years ago, a topic he usually prefers to leave alone.

People are still talking about Darlington, the race there and how exciting it was -- and they probably will for a long time to come. Do you think about it a lot, and if so, what do you think about?

Craven: "I've got a picture in my bus that I'll keep in there. It's motivating. Wins are hard to come by, and when you win in that fashion, it's even more valuable, and I appreciate it more. At first, it was about winning Darlington. After we crossed the finish line and the team was celebrating and I looked up at the scoreboard, and they had us first and the 97 second -- I actually confirmed that we had won. The day following that, you sort of realized that it was more than just a win. I've enjoyed that since.

"We turned the page when we hit Bristol Friday morning. That's how we approached it, and that's how you approach it every week. But I have to confess that wherever we go, it gets brought up. I don't know how long that will last, but I'm enjoying it."

That's not a bad thing when people ask about it.

"That's not a bad thing. When you get that type of response from the fans, from your family and friends -- regardless of who it is, it seems to be brought up wherever we go -- that's proof that this sport is firing on all eight cylinders. This is a great time right now."

Both of your victories were real barn-burners, real battles: Jarrett at Martinsville and then the one with Busch. Does that show how much of a fighter you are? Not just in racing, but in general?

"It shows that I've got a really good racing team that I enjoy being around. Cal and I hooked up in 2001, and since we have, they've been the most productive years for me in Winston Cup racing. I believe he would tell you the same. We've had a lot of fun, but we've also performed.

"I love to compete. The flip side of that is I hate to lose, like every other competitor. I found that the older I get, the less I like losing and the more I like winning. It doesn't matter what we're doing. I have a hard time controlling my competitive nature. I think that's a good thing to a certain degree. There's an ugly side of being a competitor."

That's called a bad loser.

"None of us accept defeat very well. But I know I'm not going to be doing this forever. The one thing I want to be sure of is that when I've decided I've had enough that I can look back and say, 'I gave it every thing I had.' That's exactly how I raise my children, that's the way I evaluate people around me. It's just about giving it all you have."

You talked about when Cal hired you in 2001. Did he call you to offer you the job, or did he offer it in person? How long did it take you to say, 'Yeah.'

"Well, he called and asked if I would be interested in having dinner. At the time, I was racing part-time with the MidWest team. I was very frustrated with that because, for all the reasons I just described about being a competitor, I was not interested in running a part-time schedule again. For whatever reason, we got together. He called, we got together, had dinner. Ironically enough, I had built a friendship with Don Hawk, and I believe Don had put in a good word for me. We hadn't spent any time together up until that point. Cal and I flew to Cincinnati, and I was interviewed like any other job interview. Apparently, they felt I was qualified.

"The hurdle that I had to clear to be back in a competitive situation was the perception of being knocked around and injured. We ran awfully strong in that No. 50 car. We ran better than we should've under the circumstances. We did an awful lot with very little. We led 70 laps at New Hampshire, we ran second at Richmond for a long time and ran top-five -- just had some very good runs. We even led at Daytona at the beginning of 2000 in the Bud Shootout race.

"Before I could clear that hurdle, the perception of being injured, I had to have the opportunity. And Cal provided me the opportunity. The Tide team was going into their second season. The first season was not what they had expected, but they learned from it. It was just a perfect combination. Not only did we get hooked up with Cal, but with this group of people. There is a lot of talent on the team that you didn't necessarily recognize because the finishes weren't what they should've been in 2000.

"Two-thousand-one was a good year. We won at Martinsville, finished second at Michigan, won the pole at Michigan. Two-thousand-two, top 15 in points, top 10 in laps led. Statistically, we had a great year -- did everything but win. This year, we've won already. If you can't tell, I'm having a pretty good time."

Looks that way. And yet you're with a single-car team, and everybody seems to make a big deal about it. Is that kind of overblown? Do you wish you had a teammate?

"I think it's overblown to some degree.  There are aspects of it that put us in a difficult position. Financially, it certainly would be nice to have twice the income. On the flip side of that is we're very focused. Each of those team members go to work knowing they're going to work on the Tide Pontiac and Ricky Craven's their driver. There's not as much distraction. There are aspects of it that actually work to our advantage."

You talked about your family. You seem like a devoted and loving father. Tell me about your kids.

"They're great kids. They've got a great mom and great grandparents. I obviously see a little bit of me in them and a little bit of my wife in them. If you have kids, you realize kids are what you live for. If you don't have kids, then you don't have a clue."

I don't have kids.

“Then you just don't know. Some people have no interest in that, but I think that's because they don't know, they haven't experienced it. It's just priceless. Kids are priceless. You ask Everett who his buddy is, and he'll say, 'My dad.'

"That's a really good balance for me. I feel like I have as good an opportunity in the next four years as anyone, and having a solid family allows me to focus on my profession."

How did you and your wife meet? It wasn't at a race track, was it?

"It actually kinda was. I met her in '86, and I was racing for her uncle. She came to a race with her parents. I asked her for a piece of gum, and now I get my gum from Cal, but thank goodness I met her first.

"I actually resigned from the team just to be closer to her. We had a lot of fun when we were growing up, or attempting to grow up. We had a lot of fun. I moved to New Hampshire, for two reasons: that's where she lived, so I wanted to be closer to her, and the new track that was being built by the Bahres. She lived 10 miles from there, and I started my own Busch North team that year. It was one of the better decisions that I ever made. I went deep in debt to do it, but I paid all our bills."

You really have a connection with the fans in New England. It seems to be more than just because you're from Maine and lived in New Hampshire. Why have they attached themselves to you?

"I think it's a New England thing. The people have a strong allegiance to their communities and families and one another. I'm a New England boy. That qualifies me as one of them, whether I'm from Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut. I just think it's a New England thing. There's a bond. It's Fenway Park, the Boston Garden, the Fleet Center, Moosehead Lake, Mt. Washington, the coast of Maine.

"There are things about New England and New England people that I really appreciate. My wife and I made a decision to build a log home in Maine in 1997 so that we could establish some type of residence there and still call it home. That was the primary objective, to still be able to call Maine home and to take our kids there every summer and every Christmas. It's another one of the decisions that paid off for us. The fact that we have a home there still gives us a home base."

Are you a big fan of lobster?

"Let me put it to you this way. We flew to Maine (recently) to sign autographs at my store in Belfast. We flew five us in a 206, which is pretty much loaded. You can fit six people in, but they don't need to be very big people. And we're all big people. I asked the pilot, 'Do you mind if we get some lobster?' He said, 'If you get a little bit, it'll be fine.'

"We ended up getting 115 pounds of lobster and clams and scallops and haddock. He was a little disappointed when we showed up with two boxes that big. We couldn't get it in the plane. We had to take one of the seats out to fit it in the plane."

You could've left somebody behind.

"Yeah, well, that was an option. If it came down to leaving something behind, believe me, we would've drawn straws. The lobster and scallops and the clams were going to North Carolina."

New car, new crew chief, new engines.  And yet things have seemed to come together really well. Is that a testament to the whole team?

"It's Cal Wells. He keeps this s--- up, and we're going to get a second team. The second team is critical to all of us in terms of growth. It's not that important to me right now because it would be a bit distracting during the season to try and start up a team. But he deserves a second team. He's certainly paid his dues, and PPI should stand with the other multi-car teams. He's got two wins and three poles in the last three years. It's all about performance, and I think we're performing. The key is, and he'll always remind you of this, is that we need to continue. That's going to be the key for us. Although things have gone well the first 28 months, they need to get better the next 28. Then I can sit on the porch at our log home in Maine and say, 'We gave it all we had.'"

Stewart taking role as champion in stride
By Lee Montgomery, Turner Sports Interactive

CONCORD, N.C. -- Tony Stewart is really a simple guy. Strap him into a race car and turn him loose, and he is in his element. Nothing else really matters to him.

But in the big business of NASCAR Winston Cup racing, there is a lot more to it than going fast and turning left. Some of those things are what has gotten Stewart in trouble in the past.

And when Stewart clinched the Winston Cup championship last year, some wondered whether he would be able to handle all the added pressure, the extra appearances, the increased attention.

Joe Gibbs wondered that, too. He went to New York last December to celebrate Stewart's championship season, and Gibbs kept a close eye on his driver. The week leading up to the NASCAR awards ceremony is chock full of stuff Stewart dreads, especially the sometimes monotonous line of questions.

If Stewart can handle this, Gibbs thought, he'll be fine.

"We were all concerned going to New York," Gibbs said. "That's a full six days, and there's a lot going on. It's kind of endless; you're going from one thing to another. It's pretty hard to stay up. You know that that's going to be a grind.

"Had you picked something that you would probably say Tony wouldn't be good at, that might be it."

But guess what. Stewart didn't shove any photographers, didn't snap at any questions, didn't fly off the handle a single time.

"Since he's won the championship, he's much more relaxed," Gibbs said. "He did understand that he was representing the sport and all the people that had gone before him. I've got to tell you something.  I think he enjoyed the week (in New York) and he did his role for that week. We all saw a maturing process. He went through it great, he showed great patience, he wasn't frustrated by it.

"Tony normally just wants to race a car, and everything else, 'Get out of my way.'  But I thought he handled it extremely well. Since then, he's taken to heart that he is the champion and wanted to represent the sport the right way. I think he's done a terrific job. It's all part of a maturing process."

But to Stewart, handling the pressure of being Winston Cup champion is no big deal.

"I haven't really thought about it to be honest," Stewart said. "I look at myself as one of the 43 guys that starts the race every Sunday."

That's Stewart. Wonderfully simple. And that's the way he likes it.

"To me, a lot was built up too much over it last year," Stewart said. "I'm not going to say it's disappointing, because actually it's really pleasant for life to just go on as usual, contrary to the popular belief of some of the media members.

"I've enjoyed it. There's not been anything unpleasant about it by any means. There's not been any added demands like everybody speculated. It's just been business as usual for us."

If a Winston Cup champion can fly under the radar, Stewart has done it. Oh, sure, there was the controversy about Stewart's confiscated car at Talladega, but otherwise, Stewart hasn't received much attention.

The pressure is still there, of course, to repeat. But Stewart said he is feeling less pressure in 2003 than he was last year.

"The biggest reason is we're not sitting here answering the question, 'Can we win a championship?'" Stewart said. "That's a pretty big question in our series. ... It seems like once we won the championship last year, it was like I dumped a 3,000-pound weight off my back."

A loosened-up Stewart is a happy Stewart.

"As a race team this year, we've had more fun," Stewart said. "Between the guys on our crew and myself, we've really enjoyed our racing this year. It's something we had started to lose in the past. As much as we all love this sport, we were losing the passion behind why we love it so much. We needed to get that back, and luckily, winning the championship did that for us."

Through nine races, Stewart has done, well, OK. He's seventh in the points standings, 238 out of the lead. That's one spot better than 2002.

He hasn't won yet, and his best finishes have been a pair of fifth-place efforts at Las Vegas and Atlanta.

"We've had some parts of the season that we've been happy with," Stewart said.  "Every year, we're not really tickled to death with our performance until we get that first win under our belts. We're starting to close in on the time period that we normally really get going well.

"I'm not going to say we're disappointed, but at the same time, we feel like it can be better than what it is right now."

So maybe Stewart really is maturing. If he finishes 10th and that's the best he could do, that's OK.

If he crashes, like at Bristol, or blows an engine, like at Texas, that's fine, too.

A kinder, gentler Tony Stewart?

"He doesn't seem to get nearly as uptight and rattled by it," Gibbs said. "He's much more relaxed about what's happening around him."

"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

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Going forward, I will post 99% of all comments, but if I don't feel comfortable with the content, I won't post them.  The one in question was regarding the comments made by Melinda and answered by eeknomeek.  If you want to be heard, please keep the "bashing" impersonal.  I know that most of my readers agree with what Dave B has to say........

from DaveB
Nascar Momma,

I love your daily newsletter – its consolidation of all the Nascar news that matters is a great deal!  I also love your editorial comments, and the comments of the peanut gallery.  HOWEVER…  Recently, the some of the comments seem to have degenerated into name calling and slander.  While I have no desire to advocate censorship of any kind, but I don’t believe you have any responsibility, nor do your readers need to see comments that do nothing but flame another reader!  That kind of immature drivel is already way too rampant on the Internet, and we certainly don’t need it here!  Please DO print any and all comments from those that have something to say (good or bad!) about NASCAR, the drivers, the sport, the sanctioning body, the news, etc.  Just my 2 cents, but I thought it had gotten to the point where I needed to chime in.

By the way, I love DW and the Fox crews’ broadcasts.  While I was initially annoyed by DW’s “boogity, boogity, boogity!”, I know that now I’ll miss it when NBC takes over.  The first season, I think Fox did a much better job than NBC, but now I think the NBC team has come a long way, and won’t mind nearly as much when it comes to the season’s halfway point.  The only thing that both networks need to do is get HDTV coverage of the races!!!!!

Thanks again for the great job you do on this newsletter.

Dave

Thanks Dave, for putting this in a way that didn't nail me, and let others know that some things shouldn't be said!

Your  Momma
"Don't come here and grumble about going too fast.  Get the hell out of the race car if you've got feathers on your legs or butt.  Put a kerosene rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up there and eat that candy ass." - Dale Earnhardt – 1998

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Number of the Day

5.8

Jeff Gordon’s average finish in 6 California Speedway races.  He has 2 wins at the track.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. won his first race at Texas on April 2, 2000.

Should WC Drivers in the top 10 in points be allowed to race in the Busch Series?
 
http://de3fan4.tripod.com/
 

from Larry
Momma,
Dale Earnhardt had more class than DW will ever hope to have.  And yes, I'm sick of hearing 'boogity, boogity, boogity'!  After all, aren't the biggest percentage of viewers/fans "adults"?  Cannot wait until FOX run is over and NBC takes over.  Then I will no longer have to listen to that immature crap!
Larry
DE3FAN

from eeknomeek
Ok, I kept my mouth shut when Melinda said her first comment.  I almost kept my mouth shut the second.  But I can't do it.  Guess I can't turn the other cheek.  Where the h*ll does the b*itch get off being so disrespectful towards the dead?  Let alone Dale Earnhardt.  Guess her parents have about as much couth as she does.  Which is NONE in my book.  I would say that she is lower than dirt in a dustbowl.  Momma, I have a lot of respect for you putting those comments in this list, even though I'll bet you had to bleed a lot to do it.  Melinda, get the h*ll off the list, make us subscribers happy....so we don't have to listen to your disrespectful, nasty bulls*it any more.  Momma, keep up the great work.  I love it!  But do try to cover a few more ford, pontiac and dodge drivers, not all of us are chevy fans.
Sincerely,
EEK

from Bill
Well, Momma, I admire your persistent comments about the late Dale Earnhardt and his many victories, it is true that Dale had an uncanny ability to read a race track and take advantage of other drivers weaknesses.  It is also true, dear one, that Dale often drove as if he was at a Saturday night dirt track bump and run race.  Bill

I agree Bill, Dale did drive like he was Saturday night racing….but isn’t that what NASCAR is all about?  Isn’t that where NASCAR came from?

from Tom
To all the FORD haters out there-- There are only 2 points that matter;
1)   You spend your money and I'll spend mine wisely.
2)   2002 Nascar top 10 in points----7 FORDS
Nuff said--Tom B.--------FORD FAN

Dale Earnhardt, Jr., On Jimmy Kimmel Live: Dale Jr. will appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC-TV late night Thursday (early Friday morning for some) at 12:05 am ET. - Budweiser Racing PR

Daytona 500 Winner Michael Waltrip Helps Rev Up Charity Donations with Just For Men® Haircolor `Tune Up' Sweepstakes:

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- A developer who sought to build a NASCAR racing track at the Meadowlands Sports Complex now wants to build the speedway at an industrial site in Linden, The Star-Ledger of Newark reported Tuesday.

The $401 million proposal by developer and former state Assemblyman Morton Salkind calls for Liberty Speedway at Linden to feature a 100,000-seat grandstand -- expandable to 140,000 seats -- and a .92-mile track in accordance with NASCAR regulations, the newspaper reported.

It also calls for a 400,000-square-foot entertainment center and a 20-story hotel and conference center. If approved, the track would be the only NASCAR facility in the New Jersey-New York metropolitan area.
 
Salkind submitted a similar plan last fall for the Meadowlands complex in East Rutherford. That plan is technically still on the table, although Salkind now prefers the Linden site.

As I mentioned in my previous article last Thursday, http://www.insidethepitbox.com/April03/dh030419.html rumors abound about Steve Park and the Pennzoil Chevy.  It's now being reported that Jason Keller may be in the seat at Charlotte.  I'd like to be a fly on the wall inside the inner sanctum of DEI where I could listen in and tell you what's really going on.  One writer noted that he didn't believe Steve was receiving any less support in equipment or his team.  His point was that maybe it isn't the equipment, Steve or the team. It may well be that it's a simple lack of chemistry. That happens regardless of what team we're talking about.  As my previous article pointed out, look at the friction at Yates Racing.  They lost Rudd and Fatback.  Dale's ticked.  Steve is a good driver and it may well be he just needs to go somewhere new to best ply his trade.  The racing world wonders and waits.

Opinion: Predictions for the next nine races
By Lee Montgomery, Turner Sports Interactive

First Quarter 2003

We've seen a little bit of everything through the first nine races of 2003: Fantastic finishes, controversial calls, bad weather, crew chief moves and an excellent points race.

The one thing we haven't seen is a repeat winner. The first nine races were won by nine different drivers, and if you check the list of guys who haven't won, you might expect that streak to continue through the next few races, perhaps even to the unofficial halfway point, the Pepsi 400 at Daytona on July 5.

"It could, and probably will," said Jeff Burton, who is one of the guys who hasn't visited victory lane this year. "If this was four years ago and you told me this was going on, I'd be amazed. But I fully expected it coming into this year. It's not surprising to me that we've had nine different winners."

What's the limit? Fifteen? Twenty? Will it be possible for someone to break out of the pack, win a bunch of races and coast to the championship?

Some drivers don't think so, especially with the parity in the sport the way it is.

"It's just the way it is right now," said Mark Martin, another non-winner in '03. "The competitor in me doesn't really love that. But what are we doing here? We're not racing for $5,000 to win, there's a reason for that. We're putting on great shows, and it's great racing.

"But from a competitor's side, I wish we could gain an advantage and go out there and clobber them like you could years ago. But right now, we haven't figured out how to do that."

Of course, no one has. Kurt Busch, one of Martin's teammates, has come closest to that, as he has three second-place finishes to go along with his victory at Bristol.

But Busch doesn't even lead the points. That distinction belongs to Matt Kenseth, another Roush Racing guy, who has led since the fourth race. But Kenseth had a rotten race at Martinsville, and his points lead is only 51 over Dale Earnhardt Jr.

So what do the next seven races bring? Let's look into the crystal ball.

•  Will there be a repeat winner? Yes. While it's likely the different-winners streak could stretch to 12 or 13, the guys who have won in 2003 haven't been flukes. Kenseth, Earnhardt Jr., Busch, Bobby Labonte and Jeff Gordon have all run well more than once this season. That answers the next question.

•  Who will be the first repeat winner? Chances are good it will come from one of those five drivers. Gordon is perhaps the streakiest of those drivers, so let's say Gordon. Where? How far out on this limb do you want me to go?

•  Which drivers will continue the different-winners' streak? Well, let's see. This is not a hard choice. Winston Cup champion Tony Stewart comes to mind. And what about Jimmie Johnson?

Both are in the top 10 in points and have run well this season. If one of those guys doesn't win before the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway, I'll pick Johnson to win there.

•  Who will be the next first-time winner? Did you know there's not a driver in the top 20 in points who is without a Winston Cup victory in his career? The closest is rookie Greg Biffle, who is 22nd in points. But Biffle has shown some strength this year, so if there's going to be a new winner, it's him. Maybe Michigan? Pressure is on.

• Will Earnhardt Jr. take the points lead? Maybe the better question is, "Will Earnhardt Jr. not take the points lead?" Junior has been solid so far and looks like a championship contender. One more bad race by Kenseth and the No. 8 leads the points.

• Who else will sit atop the points standings? Geez, what is the limit? Already, Michael Waltrip, Busch and Kenseth have led. Gordon, Johnson, Stewart and Labonte could get there, too.

• Pick the next seven winners. I should've made it easy on myself and opted out of this. But I don't care. I've been wrong before. California: Kenseth (so much for the different-winners streak); Richmond: Ward Burton; Charlotte: Johnson; Dover: Johnson; Pocono: Labonte; Michigan: Busch; Sonoma: Gordon. Yikes, I expect the Earnhardt Jr. e-mails to come pouring in. But ...

• Who will be the points leader heading to Daytona: Earnhardt Jr. And he'll win the race, too.

• Who is the next candidate to lose his job? We've already seen Dale Jarrett's team pull the trigger and ax Brad Parrott as crew chief. There are any number of drivers and crew chiefs under the gun, but two come to mind: Kyle Petty and Jeremy Mayfield. Petty, whose team showed progress last year, has seemed to regress.

He's 38th in the points without a sniff of a top 10. Since Petty owns the team, he isn't going anywhere. Crew chief Steven Lane, got your resume ready? As for Mayfield, he's already been in the rumor mill. Car owner Ray Evernham says Mayfield is safe, but that is sometimes the kiss of death.

• Will NASCAR clear up the rule book? Yes, and Saddam Hussein's popularity ratings will rise above 80 percent.

"Just when you think you know it, you didn't quote understand it the same way they understood it," Martin said. "If you go along on the road long enough, you're going to get caught in the fog."

With that, let's get out of this fog, the fog where I supposedly know what's going to happen in the second quarter of 2003.

The only thing one can really predict is that it will be unpredictable.

And it should be pretty fun, too.

Lee Montgomery is a staff writer for NASCAR.com.
The opinions listed here are those solely of the writer.

Rudd disappointed over first-quarter results

Ricky Rudd hasn't gotten off to the start he had hoped for with his new team, the Wood Brothers.

While enjoying the first of the rare free weekends on Winston Cup's 36-race schedule, Rudd reflected on being 19th in the points. His only top-10 finish in a race was a fourth on the second week of the season in Rockingham.

"I'm kind of with a new situation this year with the Wood Brothers," said Rudd, who left Robert Yates Racing following a contentious 2002 season.

"We were actually as high as ninth in the points going into Talladega, but we took a big hit there. Then we finished 11th this past week at Martinsville.

"But that 42nd-place finish two weeks ago at Talladega, where we were in that big 27-car wreck, that's when we took the big hit in the points. It's going to take us a little while to dig back out of it, but we feel like we're somewhere in a top-10 type car."

Rudd, who was 10th at this time last year, added that staying out of wrecks "is probably our biggest problem."

One big difference between the Yates team and the Wood Brothers is that Robert Yates fields two Winston Cup cars, while the Wood Brothers have only Rudd's No. 21 Ford.

That has not been a problem, though, as far as Rudd is concerned.

"When I was with the Yates organization, even though there were two teams, they pretty much operated independently," he said. "They were actually in separate towns from one another and it really wasn't a smart usage of the team concept.

"As much as the two drivers wanted to work together or help each other, nothing really applied. (Dale) Jarrett had cars that were built in their shop and we had store-bought chassis. I understand now that Doug Yates has stepped in more and seen a lot of the weaknesses and fixed a lot of the problems they had."

Rudd noted that Jarrett and Elliott Sadler, the driver who left the Wood Brothers and moved into Rudd's vacated seat with Yates, are now operating out of the same shop with the same chassis.

Rudd doesn't feel alone, either. His new team has a working relationship with Roush Racing, which fields five Cup cars and supplies engines and chassis for the Wood Brothers.

"We have a lot of the benefits from sharing with the Roush camp," he said. "There is information available, so much so that it can overwhelm you sometimes with too much information."

Rudd noted that he and crew chief Pat Tryson sit down with Roush driver Mark Martin and his crew chief, Ben Leslie, after each Saturday practice and discuss what they're doing and how it is working.

"We kind of compare notebooks, and I know it's been beneficial to us. Hopefully, it's helped Mark some, too," Rudd said.

Rudd, with 23 wins in 27 seasons, said what his team needs most to develop now is more consistency.

"We certainly aren't where we need to be, we're playing catch-up and there are some reasons for that, like just-getting-to-know-your-new-team blues and stuff like that," Rudd said.

"We're working through it," he added. "Hopefully, by the midpoint in the season we can talk more about the positive things."

Fresh from its first free weekend of the season, NASCAR's Winston Cup heads to California Speedway for the Auto Club California 500 on Sunday.

This marks the seventh Cup event at the D-shaped, two-mile track at Fontana, and it could be the most wide-open race of the season.

There have been nine winners in the Winston Cup's nine races this season, eight drivers have won poles and there are unfamiliar faces among the top 10 in the points race.

Matt Kenseth, a two-time Busch Series winner at Fontana, is atop the standings, 51 points ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jeff Gordon, the lone multiple Cup winner at California Speedway, is third and defending champion Tony Stewart is seventh.

But the rest of the rankings are filled with surprises. Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip, who has won three races in 543 starts, is eighth followed by Ricky Craven and Elliott Sadler. Craven won in mid-March at Darlington (S.C.) and Sadler has five top-10 finishes in his first year with Robert Yates Racing.

Parity a quarter of the way through the 36-race season has arrived in Winston Cup.

And there are even more reasons for the buzz surrounding the Fontana stop Sunday.

The second date

Since NASCAR chairman Bill France Jr. mentioned California Speedway as one of four tracks under consideration for a second date under a realignment plan for 2004, there has been plenty of speculation regarding expanding the Fontana race schedule.

France was speaking with his NASCAR hat on, but he is also the chairman of the board for International Raceway Corp., which owns the speedway.

Second-date talk reached its zenith when the series raced at Rockingham (N.C.) Speedway and Darlington, two of the tracks mentioned as possibly losing a race. Although the talk has subsided it figures to pick up with NASCAR at Fontana.

A second Cup date is not assured. The track will ask San Bernardino County to amend its conditional use permit and, more than likely, to pay part of the $5 million needed for lights for a prospective night race.

Here comes Gordon

No other Cup driver has enjoyed the level of success Gordon has achieved at Fontana. He's won two of the previous six races and was listed as a co-owner for the Chevrolet Jimmy Johnson drive to victory a year ago.

Gordon put the familiar No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet in the winner's circle two weeks ago at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, the 62nd victory of his career. It was the first victory in 16 races for Gordon.

Last year, Gordon dropped to fourth in the points race after winning the title the year before. Gordon was 16th at Fontana last year.

Earnhardt on the prowl

Much was expected of Earnhardt this year, especially after opening the season at Daytona with victories in the qualifying and Busch races. But a 36th-place finish in the opener cooled the championship talk. Then came a 33rd-place finish the following week at Rockingham.

But no Cup driver has scored as many points as Earnhardt over the past six races. He has climbed into second on the strength of five top-10 finishes and 975 points over that span.

Earnhardt has had mixed success at Fontana. He won a Busch race in 1998 and finished third in the Cup race in 2001 but was a disappointing 36th last year after suffering the most serious crash of his career.

Changing of the guard

Ricky Rudd, Bill Elliott, Terry Labonte and Rusty Wallace have meaningful memories of California. Rudd and Elliott won their first Cup races at Riverside International Raceway in 1983, and Labonte started his then-record 655 consecutive starts at the now-defunct road course in 1979.

For Wallace, the last of his 54 Cup victories came at Fontana in 2002, a streak that has reached 71 races. Last year was the first time in 16 years that Wallace had not won at least one race.

The four racers have a combined 141 victories, but none this year.

While most of the racing world is taking the week off to celebrate Easter, experienced media planners know that arrangements for a major awards ceremony have to be made months in advance. When that ceremony takes place during the Christmas season, the plans have to be made even earlier. And to make the event the major media event you need it to be for sponsors, you must make it more of a real awards show and less of an infomercial. If you haven’t already started thinking about the Banquet for 2003, now’s the time to start. The following points should guide your planning.
 

1. Location: It has to be New York or Hollywood if you want mass-market media attention, and New York is the traditional location. Forget the talk of Nashville unless you want coverage to be restricted to TNN—excuse me, the Spike Network. To create excitement, get a venue bigger than the Hammerstein Ballroom (how about City Center?) and make tickets available to fans. Keep the prices reasonable and have the proceeds from tickets go to the Victory Junction Camp. Allot each driver a certain number of tickets to give out to his fans however he chooses and sell the rest to the public. Let’s get some real enthusiasm into the show.

2. Host: Do not hire an actor again. Actors need scripts and rehearsals. They don’t improvise well. Hire someone whose job requires her or him to think fast and speak on his/her feet, and who knows racing and is funny to boot. Jay Leno works for NBC; he’d be a good choice. So would Kenny Mayne, if you hadn’t blown your deal with ESPN. Don’t even consider Carrot Top. He’s needed for another role (see below).

3. Music: One mainstream country group for the traditionalists; one contemporary (probably rock) band for the new crowd. One token appearance by a musician interested in NASCAR—Sheryl Crowe is the most decorative but the red-white-and-blue necks would have a cat. Go with Alice Cooper or John Michael Montgomery (no duets!). No made-up tribute songs to the champion—they are embarrassing. Cross-promote the music—get Sterling on Nashville Gold and Junior on TRL that week to talk the show up.

4. Entertainment: This should be provided by the drivers and the awards (more about which, below). No Cirque du Soleil, Siegfried and Roy, or Anna Nicole.  The Oscars did away with big staged numbers for a reason! A cameo by Ozzy would be a nice touch, however. Get as many celebrities as you can to show up. You’ll need good gift bags—and they’ll have to contain more than a die cast, a carton of Winston's, a free sample of Viagra, and a gift certificate for a six-pack of Miller. Have the celebs help with the award presentations so we don’t just see the stiff from RJR all night. Who would you rather look at—him or him and Pamela Anderson? ‘Nuff said.

5. Spontaneity: Make this a teleprompter-free night. Drivers can write notes on their hands, a la Jeff Gordon last year. Also, if DJ makes the stage, force him to do a new speech. Those variations on buying a new car at Dale Jarrett Ford are getting tired. Make sure the drivers are present, weather not withstanding. (These guys can afford three nights in a New York hotel, no matter how much they whine.)

6. Videos: As I’ve said before, NASCAR Images just doesn’t cut it for exciting video packages. NFL Films turned around the Super Bowl DVD in less than two weeks; start working with them now to do highlight packages for individual drivers and for awards (again, see below). You need someone who is used to providing high-quality video excitement, not just cutting the main network feed for a race. Viewers are sophisticated about video—they expect even more from sports video. The increase in quality and entertainment you’ll get from going to the pros will be worth it.

7. Acceptance speeches: Limit speech time, a la the Oscars. Finishers 6-10 get 90 seconds each; finishers 3-5 get 2 minutes each: the top two get up to 4 minutes. If some of the drivers have to subcontract their speeches to the fast-talking guy from the old FedEx commercials to get all their sponsor mentions in, so be it. If they run long, start the music and cut them off. Short speeches and no teleprompters might even mean a few splashes of real emotion for a change and less of that infomercial feel. Worth a try.

8. Awards: As Alan Bestwick observed last year, it isn’t an awards banquet without some envelopes—and some suspense. So give some real awards at the banquet: MPD, Rookie of the Year, Most Improved Driver, Crew Chief of the Year, etc. (Some of these awards could be created and pick up a title sponsor, too.) Make sure the leading candidates are there for the award so that there is some tension. (And please note: for most major awards ceremonies, the cameramen rehearse. Signs are placed on seat locations so the cameramen will know where to find major figures in the audience. This provides better shots during the real broadcast.)

9. Fan Involvement: Besides inviting them to the show, add some new awards voted on by the fans, both at the track and over the Internet. Some possibilities: Best Scanner Conversation, Best Commercial, Most Impressive Wreck, Favorite Racing Moment, Favorite Off-Track Moment, Best Quote. A couple of special categories could really add fan interest if they were actually acted out on the stage; for instance, Most Obnoxious TV Commentator, Most Clueless Pit Reporter, Best Punishment for Carrot Top (I told you he’d show up). Liven the show up with the unpredictable—that’s why the MTV Movie Awards are so much fun.

10. Trophies: Let’s get some decent designs, not something that looks like it was left over from Al’s Discount House of Awards and Model Railroad Supplies.  Work with one of the classy New York trophy firms—Lalique, Tiffany, Swarovski—and get something worth having. And that gold car from Goodyear that goes to the champion—just two words. Radio Controlled.

 
If you follow these suggestions I am sure you will have a program that will actually engage viewers and be worth watching. Start now. Remember: you only have two more off weekends to work on this.

"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

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Did You Know

The most races Dale Earnhardt won in a single season was 11, which happened in 1987.  He won his third o of seven championships that year.

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Should WC Drivers in the top 10 in points be allowed to race in the Busch Series?
 
http://de3fan4.tripod.com/

from today jokes
Someone Slap Me!!!!!!  Wake Me Up.....I didn't see Dale Jr. or Tony Stewart Picture At The Top Of Today’s Issue....What Happened....
Today's Jokes

Guess I’ll have to remedy that…..read on!

from ms_shari
He actually meant "CHokes EVery Year"........

from Jeff24
RE: Tom B's Comment
Did you know that in NASCAR Ford stands for: Found On Racetrack Dead, Form Of Rebuilt Dodge or spelled backwards: Driver Returned On Foot. Now Chevy stands for: CHampions EVery Year.
Jeff24 Darby, Pa Loyal Chevy Fan!

LOL….good one Jeff

from arrallen
To mama and Jeff24
Having owned several Fords in my life time I can tell you for a fact that FORD stands for Fix Or Rebuild Daily.

from Bob S
Feedback for Jeff Alan's excellent comments:

• John Andretti is helping promote safe, teenage driving. He says “An automobile can be looked at as a weapon if it's not used right.” Good stuff, John.

Back in his full time Indy driver days, a non-racing radio announcer accompanied me to Nazareth, and while there asked me to introduce him to a top level driver for a safety promo. I approached John, and edited versions of his gracious off-the-cuff hints to young drivers ran on WTOP in DC for years after.

•  If anyone knows of four, large corporations with millions of extra advertising dollars to spend, please give them the phone number of Jack Roush.

Not sure why you want four, but someone is missing a bet in not getting their name on Carl Edwards' truck real quick. The kid is instant quick, and remarkably savvy. It's an embarrassment to see such an appealing up and comer stand in Victory Circle with no one to thank.  Could it be that Speed TV has too paltry a viewership to make it appealing to sponsors?

As an aside, note how successful Roush has been with home grown Kurt Busch, Kenseth and Biffle, and how mediocre his results were with very competent but journeyman drivers like LePage, Benson, Little and others?

•  My only reservation is that Jack Roush once suggested that NASCAR run the V-6 engine in Winston-Cup as a solution. The way I see it, we'd save an awful lot of money, and equipment, if they would just take those restrictor plates and melt them down.

I don't understand why folks are so opposed to V6s.  Unrestricted throttle response would improve racing, spread out fields, and align racing with the real world. Maybe not as macho, but there was the same gripe when folks went from horse racing at county fairs to gas buggies.  Really!

What I'm not ready for is 3500' of iron testing fragile chain link fencing. A car in the stands would really put NASCAR on the front pages.  Non restricted V8s would mean 220 mph racing, and some real abuses of the laws of physics.

•  Do you know that, in Europe, a Baby Formula-1 team that runs two cars has one car sponsored by a tobacco company, and the other car by a smoking cessation product?

I'm not sure what you are referring to as a "Baby Formula 1" team, but I believe Williams/BMW has a smoke ending minor sponsor, but no tobacco money in their paint jobs. Formula 1 prohibits different paint jobs or split sponsorships. BAR tried to paint their cars differently for different products, and then tried to do half the car for one brand, and half for the other, but was refused. Stupid, as it is near impossible to tell team cars apart as a result.

•  H.B. Bailey died yesterday.

Good bye Herring Burl. I hope you and your family knows that there is a special place in our collective hearts for you, D.K.Ulrich, J.D.McDuffie, Dave Marcis and those hundreds of independents who did and still try to soldier on. Your triumphs are fewer, lesser in stature, but no less sweet. Striving is the bedrock of our sport, and you have the appreciation of all real fans.

Cheers, Bob

from Melinda
To Buddy about the cat fight..My next response was "Darrell Waltrip, who is alive and well, and funny as hell, was the one who said 190 is fast enough.  And your guy is still dead"  But that didn't make it into the cat fight.

Darrell may still be alive, and I like the guy, but he's not even in the same league as Dale Earnhardt, let alone be compared to him.

JIMMIE JOHNSON TO BE HONORED
California Speedway says Jimmie Johnson will be enshrined in the track's Walk of Fame at 10 a.m. next Friday in a ceremony that will be open to the public. The honor comes one year after Johnson, a native of El Cajon, Calif., scored his first Winston Cup victory in just his 13th career start as he drove Hendrick Motorsports' No. 48 Chevrolet to the win at the track. Johnson, now 27, went on to finish fifth in the Winston Cup championship, and he will go into next weekend's Auto Club 500 at the Fontana track in fourth place in this year's standings.

Also... No Model Switch For Ford?: Despite published reports, Ford will not switch models for Winston Cup competition in 2004. That's the sensible decision, given that Ford will unveil a new Taurus for the showroom at the end of this season. Ford engineers already have tested a new Taurus in the wind tunnel. Ford will submit that model to NASCAR for approval this summer. - Tne Sporting News

Also...Yokohama Named Official Tire Of Infineon Raceway: Almost a year after selling the 10-year naming rights to German semi-conductor manufacturer Infineon for $35 million, Sears Point has made Yokohama the official tire, replacing Goodyear, in a multiyear deal. A track executive said Goodyear had been more defensive in its financial support, while Yokohama plans to be more aggressive and become a more proactive partner with the track in "some community projects." The Japanese tire manufacturer produces about 75 percent of the tires it sells in the U.S. at a plant in Virginia. – The Oakland Tribune

Domino's Pizza announced a cross promotional deal with NASCAR during Speedweeks 2003 at Daytona International Speedway, when Michael Waltrip was introduced as a product spokesman for the company.

A Domino's television spot that recently began airing called into question Waltrip's family makeup, as it featured a mock-up of his Dale Earnhardt Incorporated NAPA Chevrolet pit crew "servicing" the family after Mikey brought home some Domino's pizza.

Waltrip carried the boxes into the house and the crew set the table and served pizza and Coca-Cola to the driver, wife Buffy and daughters Caitlin, 13, and Margaret, 5.

But the ad's punch line came when Caitlin verbally nudged her father to alert him that the crew had failed to air jack her "little brother" up to table level.

Just who was that kid?

"He was as cute as a button, that little fellow," Waltrip said by way of clarification. "But he doesn't belong to us."

Waltrip said the travel and hubbub surrounding his career as a Busch Series team owner/driver, a Winston Cup driver, television personality and a product spokesman can make a man jaded. Still, the experience of doing the commercial with his whole family was an eye-opener for him.

"You haven't lived until you make a trip like that, out to California with two little girls for the first time," Waltrip said. "We get kind of used to what we have to do, but I was amazed at their excitement and knowledge.

"And kids identify with pizza anyways, so I don't think there's a better partner for us."

Commentary by LARRY WOODY
Staff Writer

Three years ago when Nashville driver Casey Atwood was the hottest young racing prospect in NASCAR, he had two mind-boggling opportunities.

Rick Hendrick, who fields the cars Jeff Gordon has driven to four Winston Cup championships, wanted Atwood to drive for him.

Ray Evernham, Gordon's former crew chief who left Hendrick to form his own team, also wanted Atwood.  Atwood, frankly, was not sure he was ready for such a giant step into either Winston Cup team, but Evernham was especially persistent.

Evernham promised Atwood that he if signed with him he would be under no pressure to perform.  Evernham pointed out that his was a new team, while Hendrick's was an established, high-profile operation that would cast Atwood in an immediate spotlight.

Partly because of that, Atwood agreed to sign with Evernham instead of Hendrick. The decision would come back to haunt him.

After two seasons Evernham last year cut Atwood loose and now he is floundering. He has no ride and no immediate prospects.

''I'm still looking, but right now there's just nothing available,'' Atwood said last week during a visit to Nashville Superspeedway. ''I won't give up. I'm confident that eventually I'll be back in racing.''

While Evernham abandoned Atwood after less than two full seasons, Hendrick continues to show his flair for finding and developing young talent.

He was the first to spot the potential in Gordon, who has grown into arguably the best driver in NASCAR. Hendrick also signed Jimmie Johnson, who had a sensational rookie season last year. Hendrick put Brian Vickers in a Busch car and the 19-year-old driver has been turning heads ever since.

Hendrick's latest find is Kyle Busch, a 17-year-old driver who won last Friday's ARCA race at the Superspeedway. Busch is the kid brother of Kurt Busch, the young Winston Cup sensation.
How good is Kyle?

''I don't know that I've seen anybody with more talent, including Jeff Gordon, at this stage of his life,'' Hendrick said. ''I could swear he's 26 and not 17.''

Busch credited the tremendous backing of Hendrick Motorsports for his rapid development and promising future. Vickers said the same thing: ''There's not a better organization in racing than this one.''

What if Atwood has opted to race for Hendrick instead of Evernham? How different would things have turned out? Could Hendrick have done for Atwood what he has done for other young drivers such as Gordon, Johnson, Vickers and Busch?

Had Atwood signed with Hendrick would he be better off today?

One thing's for certain: he couldn't be any worse.

Angry young man?: Speaking of Kurt Busch, the headstrong racer who has had a knack for getting under the skin of fellow drivers may be settling down.

That's NASCAR's point of view, but a lot of his drivers don't seem to be on board despite Busch's hot start this season.

Said Kevin Harvick, who called Busch ''Rubberhead'' after they were involved in a pair of incidents at Daytona:

''He's doing well, and you can't argue with that. But as far as getting along with people … you can't [tick] them all off. At some point it's going to come back and haunt you. It's going to be hard to walk out of your motor home and into the garage and not be able to talk to anybody. I think that's kind of where he's at right now.''

Said Jimmy Spencer, who had beefs with Busch twice last season: ''The drivers I talk to [say] he's cocky, he doesn't respect them. He's got a lot of things he needs to address himself personally. … You can win races and contend for the championship and not have that attitude he has.''

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- NASCAR Winston Cup racing is all about statistics, and numerology.

In the first quarter of the 36-race season plenty of facts and figures have come to the fore.

0 -- The number of top-10 finishes by Dale Jarrett in his last seven races.

.52 -- The number of unfinished miles this season by Winston Cup point leader Matt Kenseth, tops in the series.

1 -- The number of top-10 finishes this season by Ricky Rudd, the only driver in the top-20 in the standings with a single top-10 finish.

3 -- The number of victories in the last 13 Winston Cup events at Martinsville by Jeff Gordon, Winston Cup's most recent winner, in the Virginia 500.

4 -- The number of consecutive races in which John Andretti has used a provisional starting position.

4 -- The number of charged provisionals used in the first nine races by the No. 4 Morgan-McClure Motorsports team. This means driver Mike Skinner has only one provisional available until after the team attempts to qualify for the 16th race of the season, at Infineon Raceway.

7 -- The number of consecutive top-10 finishes by Winston Cup point leader Matt Kenseth in the season's first nine races. Kenseth broke the string with a 22nd place finish at Martinsville.

7 -- The number of races in the first quarter of the season led by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon, tops in the series.

8 -- Dale Jarrett's streak of consecutive top-10 finishes that was snapped when he finished 20th at Martinsville.

8 -- The number of races teams must attempt to qualify for, before getting an additional provisional starting spot.  Each team starts the season with four provisionals.

9 -- The number of different winners in the first nine Winston Cup races this season, including Michael Waltrip, Dale Jarrett, Matt Kenseth, Bobby Labonte, Ricky Craven, Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon.

22 -- The number of times Dale Earnhardt Jr. has led races in the first quarter of the season, best in the series.

26 -- The position in the Winston Cup standings for Johnny Benson, the only driver in the top-30 in the standings that has not posted a top-10 finish in 2003.

33 -- The number of consecutive races in which Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been running at the finish, the longest active streak.

34.44 -- The average starting position in the first nine races of the season by Tony Raines, the highest average start of any driver that has competed in every race this season.

42 -- The number of races in which sophomore driver Jimmie Johnson has remained in the top-10 in the Winston Cup standings, the longest such streak among active drivers. Johnson moved into the top-10 after the fourth race of his rookie 2002 season, at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

51 -- Matt Kenseth's lead in the Winston Cup standings over Dale Earnhardt Jr., the closest the margin has been in the last five races.

71 -- The number of races since Rusty Wallace last won, or since Wallace won on April 29, 2001. Ironically, that was at California Speedway, the next stop on the Winston Cup Series.

139 -- The number of points Jeff Gordon -- Winston Cup's most recent winner -- is out of first place in the Winston Cup standings.

604 -- The number of laps led by Jeff Gordon of the 2,909 raced so far in 2003, or 21 percent, the most of all drivers.

605.74 -- The number of miles led this season by Dale Earnhardt Jr., tops in the series.

100,000 -- The value of the NASCAR Winston Cup Leader bonus at California Speedway. It is available to the driver that wins the Auto Club 500 if he is also the Winston Cup point leader after the race.

BY NATE RYAN
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

Fresh off another championship-caliber performance in what is becoming a breakthrough season, NASCAR's reigning rock star wasn't in the mood to party.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. conducted a subdued postrace interview after his runner-up finish at Texas Motor Speedway two weeks ago, prompting questions of why the often carefree and hip star seemed so nonchalant after staging a stirring, side-by-side slamfest with Jeff Gordon.

"Am I giving you the Mark Martin?" Earnhardt joked, referring to the Winston Cup Series' most well-known pessimist.

But the mood suddenly turned serious again when the son of a seven-time titlist was asked what he needed to smile.

"The championship," he answered plainly.

Strictly business since the preseason about his goal to claim NASCAR's top prize, Earnhardt appears ready to mount a charge at assuming command of the points race. With a quarter of the grueling 36-race schedule completed, Earnhardt has moved to second in the standings, his loftiest perch through four full seasons in Winston Cup. He trails leader Matt Kenseth by 51 points with the circuit headed to California Speedway after the Easter break.

Despite a disappointing points finish of 11th in 2002, Earnhardt already ranks as the sport's most popular driver. He draws legions of adoring fans and lucrative endorsement deals.

He now could augment his seemingly limitless marketability with stock car racing's biggest crown.

"Last year, we fell a little bit and got stale," said crew chief Tony Eury, who revamped the pit crew on the No. 8 Chevrolet. "We regrouped over the winter with some new people and a new attitude toward racing. The championship is our main goal, and we'll be on it till we get it."

Mindful he was ranked fifth in the points heading into last year's race at California Speedway, Earnhardt has tempered his optimism. A wreck last season at Fontana, Calif., left Earnhardt with a concussion and triggered a three-month tailspin.

"This is a long season and a lot can happen," he said. "We were in this same situation last year."

But even Earnhardt admits the circumstances have changed. The 28-year-old is more focused on maintaining a positive approach and a big-picture outlook.

"I'm real dedicated to trying to gain points this year," Earnhardt said. "Last year, we just kind of raced one week after the other. We've got to keep trying to keep working hard. We can't get really lackadaisical or too confident."

His Dale Earnhardt Inc. team hasn't revealed many shortcomings through nine races. Always well regarded for possessing a special prowess at the restrictor-plate tracks of Daytona and Talladega, the DEI cars of Earnhardt and Michael Waltrip are measuring up on ovals of any length in 2003.

The team's restrictor-plate dominance hasn't faded, as evidenced by Earnhardt's win at Talladega and near-sweep of Speedweeks. But Earnhardt also has notched top-fives on Talladega's 2.66-mile superspeedway, the 1.5-mile ovals of Texas, Atlanta and Las Vegas and the 0.526-mile layout at Martinsville.

Sunday's Virginia 500 at Martinsville proved another prime example of Earnhardt's versatility. He led a race-high 195 laps and was poised for his first short-track victory since Richmond in May 2000 until a Lap 444 collision with Ricky Craven knocked him out of the top five.

In a rally for third place, Earnhardt's effort took Gordon, the race winner, by surprise. The four-time champion has traded the lead with Earnhardt five times in the past two races.

"This year, they seem to really have their act together," Gordon said. "They're definitely running good at a lot of different tracks. In the past they've had some weaknesses, but I think the team has matured. I think 'Junior' has matured."

The heir apparent to a NASCAR legend certainly concedes his demeanor has changed.

"There is a lot of drive and determination amongst all of us," Earnhardt said. "You don't want to be accused of not ever wanting it enough.

"I don't know why this year is different, but it's time to buckle down."

Contact Nate Ryan at (804) 649-6851 or nryan@...

"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

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Today In Nascar History

April 17, 1960

Joe Weatherly wins at Wilson North Carolina Speedway after winning at Hickory the day before in a rare 2 day sweep.

April 18, 1960

Glen Wood wins from the pole to collect his first career Grand National victory. Wood would earn three of his four career victories in 1960.

Should Winston Cup drivers be limited on number of tire changes under caution like the Busch Series?

http://de3fan4.tripod.com/

    Iraqi 'Most-Wanted' Deck Of Playing Cards!

You've seen these cards on the nightly news.
They've been featured in newspapers worldwide.
Now you can own the one true collector's item
from Operation Iraqi Freedom.
This is the same 55-card deck given to Coalition soldiers
featuring the Iraq's 52 "Most-Wanted" leaders.

                 Don't wait on this one!
         we can barely keep them in stock!
http://www.cyberbounty.com/ad?a=155&b=9999&amp;c=2090
<a href="http://www.cyberbounty.com/ad?a=155&b=9999&amp;c=2090">Click</a>
 

from Buddy
from Melinda
Sorry, but I don't much care for your "signature" closing from Dale Earnhardt.  The guy's dead, right? Not really one to be giving racing advice.

Well Melinda, since I’m the one putting this list together, I could really care less if you like my signature or not.  There is an unsubscribe option if you don’t want to see it.  Cuz I sure the hell ain’t gonna remove it just for you.

Is this the way a cat fight gets started?

LOL… I would say yes, but since my list people wouldn’t let me say anything else, I let the rest of em go for it!

For all you addicts out there who are going to be lost this weekend, read on!

from Tom
Sandi
For those folks going thru withdrawal due to a no race weekend, all can come on down to Sumter SC and see the Dirt track boys go at it two nites in a row. All classes will run hot laps and qualify Friday nite.. $5 adults $3 kids and then come on back on Sat evening and see the big boys of dirt track run. More than 20 Late Models are expected for the Carolina Clash, along with the Mini stock, Pure Street, Pure Stock, Pro Stock, Thunder & Lightning and Late models run ! Last years late model Champion Terry Caples will be hard to beat at Sumter Speedway as will Lil' Ed Gibbons and Gerald Mintz both are former Sumter Speedway Champions..plus drivers from all over the country making up the field, many have run against and beat Tony Stewart too!  Enjoy your ezine, keep up the good work.  Oh for more info folks can go to www.sumterspeedway.com for more information on this weekends events..
 
Tom P
Wedgefield SC
ps I am not associated with Sumter Speedway ..just a helper on one of the Pro Stock cars. Thanks

from Jeff24
RE: Tom B's Comment
Did you know that in NASCAR Ford stands for: Found On  Racetrack Dead, Form Of Rebuilt Dodge or spelled backwards: Driver Returned On Foot. Now Chevy stands for: CHampions EVery Year.
Jeff24 Darby, Pa Loyal Chevy Fan!

LOL….good one Jeff

ROUSH COMPLETES NO. 99 SHUFFLE
Roush Racing says the appointment of Brad Parrott as the car chief for the team's No. 99 Ford driven by Jeff Burton completes an overhaul of the team.  The team says Pierre Kuettel, who has been car chief for the No. 99 for five years, is assuming overall responsibility in the shop for mechanical preparation of all No. 99 cars. "The No. 99 Citgo team made some changes to improve the performance of their race team," said Roush Racing owner Jack Roush. "I think these are all steps in the right direction, and I’m looking forward to the results." Burton is 18th in the Winston Cup point standings, with one top-five and two top-10 finishes in the season's first nine races.

MOORESVILLE, N.C. -- Teresa Earnhardt is hosting the second annual Dale Earnhardt Day to take place at the headquarters of their company, Dale Earnhardt, Inc., on April 29.

The day-long event from 8 a.m. - 9 p.m. is in conjunction with Dale's birthday as a celebration of his life and racing accomplishments. Last year, more than 12,000 fans attended the inaugural Dale Earnhardt Day and this year looks to be even bigger.

Fans from many states made the journey to the home of Dale Earnhardt, Inc.'s three NASCAR Winston Cup Series teams. In addition to displays of Dale's race cars, there were also cars from his personal collection on view to the general public.

Well, this year looks to be a big deal, as well.

For the second time ever, fans will be allowed behind the walls of Dale Earnhardt, Inc. to view race cars and cars from Dale's Classic Car Collection in the Interior Showroom.  Some of these have never been seen by the public and are being put on display for this special occasion.

Also, there will be a musical display in conjunction with the upcoming Dale Earnhardt Tribute Concert at Daytona International Speedway on June 28. There will be albums, autographed guitars and photos from Dale's personal collection in the Retail Showroom. See what types of music Dale enjoyed and some of the stars he and Teresa met, too.

Fans that make their way to our headquarters will get the chance to win two DEInsider subscriptions. In addition, there will be live Web Chats throughout the day with various members of DEI and the Earnhardt Family.

If you're looking for a place to buy tickets to the Dale Earnhardt Tribute Concert, look no further. Fans will be able to purchase tickets to the concert right on our grounds during the day. And, there will be exclusive Dale Earnhardt Day merchandise available, as well.

There will be giveaways from our various sponsors and photos with the Dale Earnhardt Tribute Concert car that Dale Earnhardt, Jr. drove to victory in the Busch Series race at Talladega Superspeedway. A percentage of all Retail Store sales will go the Dale Earnhardt Foundation.

Gordon, Montoya to swap racers for Indy test

INDIANAPOLIS -- Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials announced that four-time NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon and 2000 Indianapolis 500 winner and Formula One superstar Juan Pablo Montoya will participate in speed demonstration laps in their cars on June 11 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Gordon and Montoya will trade places at the Speedway when they take turns driving laps around the 2.606-mile road course in Gordon's DuPont Chevrolet Monte Carlo and Montoya's BMW WilliamsF1 BMW FW25 car. This will be the first time that Gordon and Montoya will be behind the wheel of a Formula One car and NASCAR Winston Cup car, respectively.

"The Indianapolis Motor Speedway staff is excited to play host to such an event," said Joie Chitwood, senior V.P. of IMS Business Affairs. "Jeff and Juan are race car drivers who love to drive cars – fast. So it's going to be fun to watch them experiment in different cars on the road course."

Gordon will attempt to win his fourth Brickyard 400 on Sunday, Aug. 3 at the Speedway. He has competed in 12 events on the Speedway oval: nine NASCAR Winston Cup races and three IROC events. The demonstration laps will be his first laps on the IMS road course.

“There are a lot of things to coordinate to make this happen," said Gordon. "I'm just excited about this opportunity. It's something I've dreamed of, just getting behind the wheel of an F1 car and seeing what it was like. I don't plan on going F1 racing, but I would love to just get that experience."

Montoya, who won the 2000 Indianapolis 500, will attempt to become the first driver in Speedway history to win on both the famed 2.5-mile oval and road course when he competes in the fourth United States Grand Prix on Sept. 28. He is in his third season with BMW WilliamsF1 and has one career win, ten career poles and is sixth in the 2003 FIA Driver's Championship.

"The experience will be very interesting, and driving a big, heavy NASCAR car will certainly be different," said Montoya. "I don't think Jeff should be concerned that I will take away his job, but I will enjoy the opportunity of driving his Chevrolet and letting him take my BMW WilliamsF1 Team car for a drive on Indy's road course."

In addition to the demonstration laps, Montoya and Gordon will participate in a media luncheon and press conference. Fans will have free access to IMS' South Terrace grandstands for viewing.

NASCAR's Civil War
by Steve Nash-Staff Writer

It's a sport that defines America. Fast speed, fast cars, and excitement all wrapped up in a neatly packaged three hour program. Crowds of 150,000 aren't rarities, they're the norm. The athletes are household words. Earnhardt, Gordon, Elliott and Jarrett, most anyone can tell you who they are.

But deep in the underground lair of Bruton Smith and his cronies' laboratories, a possible concoction of the greatest evil may be brewing.

Smith's racing corporation, Speedway Motorsports, Inc. (SMI), which owns Atlanta, Bristol, Charlotte (Lowe's), Las Vegas, Sears Point (Infineon) and Texas Motor Speedway's, is the second greatest owner of race tracks in America today.

The corporation that boasts the most? International Speedway Corporation, which owns everything from the old (Darlington) to the new (Chicagoland), also happens to be run by the same people who run NASCAR. And, gasp, SMI and ISC aren't good buddies on or off the track.

ISC, which is owned by the France family, gave a Winston Cup date to SMI's Texas Motor Speedway in 1996, after Bruton Smith and Bob Bahre bought out the North Wilkesboro Speedway and split the dates between two of their tracks, with Bahre giving one to New Hampshire International Speedway.

Smith enjoys his date at Texas. He and the track's president, Eddie Gossage, are ecstatic when they see 150,000 cram their 1.5-mile superspeedway to watch a 500-mile Winston Cup race. They aren't too pleased, however, when they have to wait another year to get everyone back in Texas again.

It seems SMI is calling not for one date at TMS, but two. They contend that Bill France, the same man that oversees NASCAR and whose family runs ISC, promised him a second date back in 1996.

France says no sir, you're wrong, try again; he says he told SMI he'd give them one date through the North Wilkesboro split-up.

Unfortunately, for both sides in this case, the fans aren't exactly pleased with either. ISC has been known to ban coolers and raise ticket prices on the whiff of a dollar being lost. SMI's Smith has been known for crazy ideas that don't hold much with current fans of the nation's second most popular sport.

So, why does the war reference come up? Just like the real Civil War of the 1860's, the entire fabric of an entire body was threatened and nearly destroyed. It took some last minute changes and heroic victories to not only keep the nation together, but to let it continue to prosper.

Instead of guns and soldiers, it will be documents and lawyers.

Instead of a battlefield, it will be a courtroom.

And just like America, the new pastime of the USA has the possibility to be ripped apart by a few "suits" and suits.

Long story short, a SMI stockholder, some guy named Francis Ferko, got pretty mad at TMS only having one date, and sued ISC on behalf of SMI to get that second date.

So, you may be asking, what's the big deal? Why doesn't ISC just hand over another date to SMI, and go on with the merry business?

There are many reasons, but only true good response. If ISC gave into SMI's demands, not only would they be proving that they could be bossed around by other bodies, but that their sister, NASCAR, could too. This would mean NASCAR loses any credibility and that everything they've worked on for 55 years goes down the tubes.

In 1961, Curtis Turner, (a big shot of his day for you new fans) was running short on money. He had thrown a fortune into the Charlotte Motor Speedway's construction, and needed a loan. He went to the Teamster's Union, got the OK to get a loan, but on the condition he unionize the drivers. Turner was on his way to getting NASCAR into mob ties before Big Bill France, Sr., intervened and threatened to plow up his new track, the Daytona International Speedway, if the drivers unionized.

The drivers eventually gave up on the union idea, and Turner was banned for "life" from NASCAR. Big Bill proved, even in NASCAR's early days, that they would run the company THEIR way, and nobody else’s. Ironically, the person Turner worked with to build CMS and with who they also worked into debt was none other than Bruton Smith.

NASCAR has survived Manufacturer's boycotts by Chrysler and Ford in the mid-60's, a driver's boycott of the Talladega Superspeedway in 1969, and the death and public outrage of Dale Earnhardt in 2001.

Although SMI boasts, in most people's opinions, the nicest track of them all (Charlotte) and the most popular (Bristol), they aren't the sanctioning body, and they don't need to be making sanctioning body decisions.

Once again, NASCAR is standing alone on the top. Everyone is trying to take a piece of their pie, and in essence destroy the very essence of the sport. Again, with their backs against the wall, and with nowhere to turn, NASCAR must make decisions intelligently and aggressively.

A loss in this "war" would not only damage NASCAR, but possibly bring about an all-too-likely end of the sport's current stance, which could eventually end to NASCAR going back to being a barely-known regional sport again.

So, will it be the longstanding forefathers (NASCAR) or the upstart rebels (SMI) who wins this battle? For NASCAR's, and it's fans (minus the Texan fans) sake, this courtroom battle needs to end in an ISC victory.

By the way, you're humble columnists' opinion on the whole matter? Quit bickering, and give the two dates back to North Wilkesboro.

You can reach Steve Nash at: snash@...

The first-quarter marking period (nine races) in the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup season is over and a competitive balance that no one could have foreseen is on display.

While nine different drivers have visited Victory Lane, there is a definite mixture across the full range of grades through the 41 full-time teams in Winston Cup.

The first marking period is always the most interesting of the school, ahem, the racing year. Trends are not yet established.  Poor starts can be overcome -- as well as strong beginnings petering out.

Optimism still reigns supreme.

As nine victors in as many events would indicate, no driver and his team earned a supreme grade of A+ that would signal a degree of dominance. But some definitive statements were made in terms of first-term grading, so pull up a seat, a cool beverage and digest one would-be professor's assessment of quarter one.

Almost as good as it gets

Matt Kenseth led the standings for two-thirds of the season so far, banking on consistency and seven straight top-nine finishes, including his seventh career victory -- at Las Vegas. Typically, Kenseth did not qualify well but relied on his ongoing primo relationship with crew chief Robbie Reiser and his two-time defending world champion pit crew, which underwent personnel changes in the off-season but has not lost any speed.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., arguably the sport's most popular public figure, continues to cultivate his young career as he now simply shrugs off bad luck and bad performances and strives to inspire his team to come back stronger the next time. To whit, he closed the first quarter of the 2003 season by finishing first, second or third five times, which propelled him to a fighting second in the championship.

Given that he won at Martinsville to project himself into the middle of the Winston Cup championship race, Jeff Gordon can't be ignored. Along with Earnhardt, he is the only driver to lead seven of the first nine races and only an accident at Las Vegas has kept him from breathing down Kenseth's throat.

For their efforts in the first quarter of the season, Kenseth, Earnhardt and Gordon earn grades of A.

Coming and going, but from on high

Jimmie Johnson's scintillating Winston Cup career has scarcely abated since he won in only his 13th career start, last season. Johnson has ridden along in the top 10 in the NASCAR Winston Cup standings ever since the fourth race of his career, stretching over the last two seasons. His qualifying improved as the quarter went on and only some youthful mistakes cost him better finishes as he led four races and had five top-10 finishes.

Kurt Busch started 2003 only slightly cooler than he ended his four-win 2002 season. He sits third in the standings, and most significantly repeated his inaugural victory at Bristol Motor Speedway while tacking on three other second place finishes -- including back-to-back efforts to start the season. Busch has five top-10s and led five of the first nine races, and only needs to work on consistency.

Elliott Sadler has been at Robert Yates Racing for only nine races, but the young Virginian has meshed just fine with young crew chief Raymond Fox and car chief Shawn Parker. The Yates trio ended the first quarter with two straight top-five finishes, five top-10s and Sadler led at least a lap in five of the last six races.

For their work this period, Johnson, Busch and Sadler earn grades of A-.

Bump, bump, bumping along

Ricky Craven's PPI Motorsports switched to Pontiac in the off-season before the 2003 campaign and Craven has put the Grand Prix to good use in the season's first quarter, getting off to one of the best starts of his career with a victory, four races led and three top-five finishes.

Just as Tony Stewart has had to adjust to the Chevrolet Monte Carlo, so has teammate Bobby Labonte. Labonte has responded with a victory at Atlanta, four top-fives and five races led to sit 11th in the championship -- a big improvement over the 16th spot he filled at the end of 2002.

With nine races in their copybooks, Craven and Labonte earn a grade of B+.

Tagging a few too many curbs

Stewart's results have been sporadic through the first quarter of the 2003 season, but as much from circumstances as failings on his team's part. An engine failure cost him at Texas and accidents delayed Stewart at Bristol and Talladega, but otherwise he's led three races, scored five top-10s and has qualified well in his new Chevrolet.

Kevin Harvick has finally been reunited with crew chief Todd Berrier, who guided him to his 2001 NASCAR Busch Series championship, and it appears to be paying off with Harvick's sixth place in the championship, based on two top-fives, three top-10s, nine finishes and three races led.

Michael Waltrip has continued to mold a solid relationship with crew chief Slugger Labbe and it has made the Dale Earnhardt Incorporated entry a threat at most race tracks.  Waltrip started the season winning his third Daytona 500, has led three races and has three top-five finishes. The "Big One" at Talladega kept him from climbing higher than eighth in the standings.

For persevering through some befuddling turns of events, Stewart, Harvick and Waltrip earn a grade of B.

Hmmm?

With his team's recent personnel turmoil casting its ability to compete into question, Dale Jarrett has struggled to get back into the top 10 in the standings after occupying second following his victory at Rockingham.  Jarrett has led four races but has only two top-10 finishes.

Mark Martin has three top-fives and four top-10s but has led only two races. Engine failures crippled him twice and he was involved in an accident at Talladega, which is no measure of the team's ability.

Virtually no one running in the Winston Cup Series can equal Ryan Newman's sheer guts, engineer's intellect and precise car control -- but what's been lacking so far is consistency in Penske Racing's new Dodges. In the final seven races of the quarter, Newman only qualified outside the top-three once, with two Bud Poles, but outside a victory at Texas he has only three top-10s.

Terry Labonte is struggling to maintain a spot in the top 20 in the NASCAR Winston Cup standings and he and crew chief Jim Long have been putting better cars on the race track than their finishes have shown.

Greg Biffle is the leading Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidate, and while his expectations were high, even despite missing a race he is 22nd in the points, better than 18 other teams that have made all the races.

Dave Blaney started the season like gangbusters, with three top-10s and a career best third at Darlington, but as of late the team has struggled. Jimmy Spencer, on the other hand, has continued to overachieve in Ultra Motorsports Dodge, logging a couple career best qualifying performances for Jimmy Smith's team.

Ken Schrader is another that has rebuilt his career even as BAM Racing structures its future. Schrader earned the team its first top-10, at Martinsville, and his first in about two years.

For not measuring up to expectations in some cases and for exceeding them in others, Jarrett, Martin, Newman, Terry Labonte, Biffle, Blaney, Spencer and Schrader get a grade of B-.

Struggling

Sterling Marlin has struggled to achieve the consistent competitiveness he had last season for Ganassi Racing, when he led the points for 25 straight weeks. Rusty Wallace has been competitive but has been unable to post much in the way of tangible results. He's mired in a 71-race winless string marked as much by incredibly baffling circumstances as by poor performance.

Through his first nine starts this season, Johnny Benson remains the only driver in the top-33 in the NASCAR Winston Cup standings without a top-10 finish. That doesn't, however, indicate Benson's level of competitiveness.

Bill Elliott has qualified well but had only one top-10 finish in the season's first nine races. Even though Jamie McMurray won in only his second Winston Cup start, last season, he was with Marlin's championship caliber team. In 2003 McMurray has struggled with a lone top-five and two top-10s.

These guys and their teams expected much better, and for failing to deliver to this point, Marlin, Robby Gordon, Wallace, Joe Nemechek, Jeff Burton, Benson, Elliott, McMurray and Casey Mears get grades of C.

Thrashing

A strong pre-season test program has not been rewarded with exceptional results in the first quarter of the season for Ricky Rudd and the Wood Brothers.

Ward Burton has struggled in 2003 to find results but at least his team has seemed to erase parts problems from its itinerary.

As incomprehensible as it seems this early in the season, this gang could be a long jump to safety or a short hop from disaster; and while balancing that, after one quarter the results for Rudd, Kenny Wallace, Ward Burton, Steve Park, Jeff Green, Jeremy Mayfield, Jerry Nadeau, John Andretti, Todd Bodine, Kyle Petty, Jack Sprague, Mike Skinner and Tony Raines get a D.

Incomplete

For a variety of reasons the teams of drivers Larry Foyt, Mike Wallace, Brett Bodine, Derrike Cope, Christian Fittipaldi and Hideo Fukuyama get an Incomplete.

Dave Rodman is a staff writer for NASCAR.com. The opinions listed here are those solely of the writer.

Friday Fodder
by Jeff Alan - Staff Writer

It’s Friday! Another great week for our country comes to a close! Iraq is in the hands of civilized people. Americans are proud of their President and our brave troops in the Middle East. And here, in our Kingdom of NASCAR, the greatest fans in the world pause a few days to remember The One who gave his life so that we can retire to paradise when our stewardship in this earthly world is over. So, with a reflective and peaceful weekend ahead, let’s dump a boatload of Friday Fodder on the ground so the adults will have a place to hide Easter eggs for the kids.
 

•  How does NASCAR promote an upcoming race? They carefully ‘leak’ superfluous rumors in hopes the media picks up on it, and spreads it like bile from a broadcast spreader. Earlier this week, there was the crapola about Kansas Speedway trying to get a second date. Yesterday, another rumor was started. It was much ado about nothing.

•  So, here is this rumor that the Pepsi 400 is being moved to the last race of the year next season. That rumor was squelched as fast as it started even though it is still possible since the schedule won’t be released until August. In that time, anything can happen. But no problem. NASCAR, and the race, got publicity from it, and that’s all that matters, right?

•  Robin Pemberton denies he has talked to Robert Yates about a job, eh? Well, I have been keeping count of this, folks, and in the past two years, 85% of crewmen and crew chiefs who denied ‘talking’ to a particular owner suddenly becomes an employee within a week or two.

•  Does anybody really care if the Ford Taurus is eventually replaced?

•  Note to Jimmy Spencer; Stop whining about Kurt Busch. It’s getting real old.

•  On one hand, I want to applaud the guy who sent over a half-million e-mails to a FOX TV affiliate in Massachusetts as a protest for their twisted decision to air a baseball game over America’s most popular spectator sport. On the other hand, that kind of stuff is really destructive, and he deserves to be prosecuted. However, instead of a year in jail, I say, put him into a padded cell and force him to watch reruns of all the New Hampshire Cup races that have ever been run, with the sound of D.W. yelling ‘Boogity-Boogity-Boogity’ for two, straight weeks. Heck, he’d probably choose jail. I would.

•  You know what worries NASCAR about TRAC? TRAC plans to eventually build their own short tracks. Two places rumored are Los Angeles and New York City. NASCAR, and the ISC have wanted a track --- any kind of track ---- in the Big Apple for years. And TRAC may beat them to the punch. Good for them, I say. I hope they pull it off.

•  The winner of The Winston will get a million bucks. Those last 20 laps are going to be a real barnburner, eh?

•  John Andretti is helping promote safe, teenage driving. He says “An automobile can be looked at as a weapon if it's not used right.” Good stuff, John. Why don’t you stand up and say that at the next drivers’ meeting?

•  There is one thing wrong with those ‘virtual seat tours’ they have on selected web-sites. The views from your seat are not authentic. They are missing all the people who are in front of you and blocking your view. That $90 seat means nothing the moment Shamu’s brother stands up.

•  THIS JUST IN: Yellow line rules will not be enforced at The Winston.

•  THIS JUST IN: Yellow line rules will be enforced at The Winston.

•  If anyone knows of four, large corporations with millions of extra advertising dollars to spend, please give them the phone number of Jack Roush.

•  Speaking of Jack Roush, I stand and applaud his recent rants against Restrictor Plates. My only reservation is that Jack Roush once suggested that NASCAR run the V-6 engine in Winston-Cup as a solution. The way I see it, we’d save an awful lot of money, and equipment, if they would just take those restrictor plates and melt them down into something more useful.

•  Do you know that, in Europe, a Baby Formula-1 team that runs two cars has one car sponsored by a tobacco company, and the other car by a smoking cessation product? I just thought I’d throw that in.

•  H.B. Bailey died yesterday. What a tough racer he was during his day. I was standing just a few yards away from H.B. when he climbed from his car after being the first man to qualify for the first Brickyard 400, and the smile on his face was immeasurable. It iced the cake on his racing career. And he was so proud. I’ll never forget that moment. I’ll never forget H.B.

You can reach Jeff Alan at: Jalan@...

Your  Momma

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

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Did You Know

The minimum a NASCAR Winston Cup car could weigh in 1998 was 3400 pounds.

Should Winston Cup drivers be limited on number of tire changes under caution like the Busch Series?

http://de3fan4.tripod.com/

    Iraqi 'Most-Wanted' Deck Of Playing Cards!

You've seen these cards on the nightly news.
They've been featured in newspapers worldwide.
Now you can own the one true collector's item
from Operation Iraqi Freedom.
This is the same 55-card deck given to Coalition soldiers
featuring the Iraq's 52 "Most-Wanted" leaders.

                 Don't wait on this one!
         we can barely keep them in stock!
http://www.cyberbounty.com/ad?a=155&b=9999&amp;c=2090
<a href="http://www.cyberbounty.com/ad?a=155&b=9999&amp;c=2090">Click</a>
 

from JB
Hey momma

I have read NASCAR digest for years but yours is by FAR the best I have ever seen. Thanks for putting me on the list.

JB

from Todays Jokes
What A Joke !!!!!!!!!!!!

Petty: finishes 11th, on the lead lap, $84,000

$84,000 What a joke !!!!!!!!!!!  Looks Like Petty was Well Over paid…by about $83,999 Petty is about the biggest jerk on the track, he is not worth the sweat off my butt cheeks..

Today's Jokes

from Tom
This is in regards to some of the comments you have received.
 
1.  On your little quote from Dale Sr.:  it's cute--but I never liked him alive and don’t feel a loss with him gone, But that's me.
2.  Your site is extremely biased at the start of each news letter.--but it's your news letter.
3.  Most of the content are from many sources and give a wide scope of NASCAR news.
4.  I want NASCAR news, so I skip outbursts about Jr.-and anyone not driving a FORD.
5.  And most important--If I wanted only things that praise my favs and FORD drivers, I would write my own newsletter. But what good would that do?  I already know what I want to hear.
 
If I got fed up with the "dribble" about Jr. and Chevy drivers, I'd have enough sense to unsubscribe.   Keep up the good work and provide NASCAR fans with a newsletter that you can feel a part of.

Tom B.  FORD fan and a member of Mama's family

Now, now Tom, I did say I was getting to like ole Dale Jarrett….that I thought he was a class act…and he’s a ford driver!  I try hard to be unbiased, but I agree, there are times when I’m not.  I will be the first to admit it.  I have found however, that most of my list enjoys my little “outbursts” and I have to pat myself on the back for this one….I didn’t take sides in the “pass” below the yellow line at Talladega….and boy, I’ll tell you whut, that was hard.

No. 3’s race shop becoming museum: The race shop where Richard Childress Racing worked on the cars that won six Winston Cup championships is being transformed into a museum. A building now connects the shop to a small, existing museum at the RCR complex in Welcome, N.C., making it one big showcase for nearly 50 race cars driven by the late Dale Earnhardt -- winner of those six titles -- and Kevin Harvick, Mike Skinner, Childress and others. The 47,000-square-foot museum, which will open May 16, will also have lots of other RCR memorabilia, including trophies, photographs and banners. The original shop area will be dedicated to Earnhardt's No. 3 teams, which earned championships in 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993 and 1994. RCR moved into the building in June 1986, with the entire operation at under the roof of the 33,000 square-foot building. - AP/CBS SportsLine

Polaris Hosts Rusty Wallace Race, Watercraft Rides And NASCAR Fan Events At The 2003 AWA National PWC Jamboree - Polaris events also include NASCAR memorabilia auction to benefit Victory Junction Gang Camp and autograph sessions for the first 200 visitors who enter the Polaris activity area at Nashville Shores:

Spencer continues diatribe against Busch

Jimmy Spencer admits that Kurt Busch isn't one of his favorite people. The two Winston Cup drivers have been involved in several on-track incidents, and each man has publicly criticized the other.

"I don't get along with Kurt," Spencer said. "I think Kurt is a heck of a competitor and a great racer. Once he gets things straightened out personally, I think he's going to be a lot better competitor than he is now. The drivers I talk to say he's cocky, and he doesn't respect them.
"He's no Bobby Labonte, Bill Elliott, Jeff Burton or Mark Martin. And he's no Matt Kenseth. He needs to learn to get along with his fellow competitors and not have that chip on his shoulder."
For the record, Busch is fifth in the standings, which is higher than everyone Spencer mentioned expect Kenseth, the points leader. Spencer is 28th.

Ricky Rudd was one of the drivers who benefited and got back on the lead lap from the controversial decision by NASCAR during the Samsung/RadioShack 500. But Rudd thinks it's wrong for the race leader to allow other drivers to go by him and get a lap back while racing back to a caution.

"To me, that's not part of racing," Rudd said. "It doesn't need to be part of the team concept. It's not a safe situation. You race the wheels off a guy to try to keep him a lap down. To turn around and hand that lap back is wrong. It has been wrong for twenty-some years."

A.J. Foyt doesn't get riled up too often these days, but he went off on NASCAR last weekend in Japan, where his IRL team was competing in the Indy Japan 300. Foyt gave some angry opinions that were posted on FoxSports.com.

On racing back to the yellow flag: "It's bad deal, and one of these days, someone will get killed over it. I'm glad to see Jeff Gordon speak out against it."

On recent NASCAR rule interpretations and judgment calls: "NASCAR is so crooked. If you can't see that, then you are blind."

• Kansas Speedway president Jeff Boerger was asked Tuesday if the 3-year-old facility will have two Winston Cup dates next year? "Chances are fairly good," he said. A proposal on the matter called "Project Blitz" will be presented to NASCAR next month.

• Winston Cup team owner Jack Roush said teams are forced to spend too much of their annual budget on the four restrictor-plate races at Daytona and Talladega. Roush said cars totaled from the inevitable "Big Wreck" costs teams a fortune: "For our five teams, it's probably a $15 million proposition."

The Winston gets format, purse upgrades for 2003
By Lee Montgomery, Turner Sports Interactive

CONCORD, N.C. -- R.J. Reynolds has tinkered with the format for The Winston again this year. And the company has increased the purse again, too.

So let's see if we've got this straight: more money, and more cars going for the money. Isn't that a recipe for disaster?

Perhaps, but Jeff Burton and Mark Martin said Wednesday that's just the nature of the beast.

"I think this race pays a million dollars to win -- $50,000 a lap for the last segment -- because there's a good chance we will wreck," said Martin, drawing laughter at the press conference at Lowe's Motor Speedway to announce the changes.

"It all works together. I wouldn't bring my very best, number one car to The Winston. I did that two years in a row and tore 'em up, but we do the same thing at Daytona for the Bud Shootout. I think it's a fantastic event. I'm real excited about it, and I think there's a good chance you'll see some action."

The Winston has been all about action since its inception in 1985. The format has been changed almost as many times as there have been races, but the shorter race distance and high purse has pumped up the intensity, Burton said.

"The rules promote aggression," Burton said. "The rules promote taking chances, and I think that's OK. It's the drivers at the end of the day that make the cars wreck or not wreck. The rules don't necessarily make that happen, but it certainly puts you in a position where you've got to go, but that's what racing is all about.

That's what we do and that's what racing ought to be. So it's on a limit, but I think being on a limit is a good thing."

The changes are a lot more subtle than last year, when Sports Marketing Enterprises officials -- the promotional arm of RJR -- began using the "Survival of the Fastest" theme, where drivers were eliminated after each of the first two segments.

That will still happen, with the field being cut to 20 drivers after Segment 1. After Segment 2, however, 14 cars will remain, up from 10 a year ago, when Ryan Newman held off Dale Earnhardt Jr. to get the victory.

Also, whoever comes out ahead on the final segment will pocket $1 million from a $3.5 million purse.

Some other changes:

•  Officials implemented the "Jeff Burton Rule" during the first segment, saying a driver has to pit for four tires under green, and the stop must be completed before the final lap. Last year, Burton pitted on the last lap and made up a number of positions because he didn't have to get back up to speed.

•  An inversion will be done for the final segment, but exactly how many and the process for picking how many has yet to be determined.

•  The Winston Open will be split into two segments of 20 and 10 laps. After the 20-lap segment, the field will be pared down to 14 cars. The yellow flag will be waved, and the remaining drivers can choose to pit, but if they do, they will lose track position. The final 10 laps will determine the one and only transfer spot. Last year, two drivers -- one from the Open and another from the No Bull 5 Sprint -- advanced to the main event.

•  Qualifying, held Friday night, will again include a four-tire pit stop. The stop, however, must be completed for the final lap, and drivers must finish the qualifying run on the track. Drivers must observe the speed limit on pit road before the stop but can go as fast as they want after it is finished.

With two races left before The Winston, 23 drivers are qualified. The field is set by drivers or car owners who have won races in 2003 or 2002, any Winston Cup champion, any winner of The Winston in the last five years and the winner of the Winston Open.

The Winston is divided into three segments, totaling 90 laps. After the first 40-lap segment, drivers and teams get a 10-minute break to work on their cars without losing track position.

Drivers will restart double-file for the next 30-lap segment, with another 10-minute break. There is not a mandatory green-flag stop during Segment 2. Caution laps count in the first two segments.

There is a double-file start for the final 20-lap dash, and caution flags don't count.

Burton is not one of the drivers qualified, but he has raced in The Winston before, and he knows how crazy it can get.

"What makes the intensity different in this race is just the number of laps that you have to get it done in," Burton said. That's the only difference. You don't race any harder at the Open in The Winston than you do for the 600, it's just that you have less laps to get it done.

"You make more aggressive moves because you've got to get it done right then and there, but we race that hard every week. It's just that we have to make faster decisions to get it done in a shorter amount of time, which is what makes the racing exciting."

CONCORD, N.C. -- There will be a NASCAR all-star race next year, but what it will be called and where it will be held is open for debate.

R.J. Reynolds signed a five-year contract with NASCAR last year to stay as title sports of the Winston Cup Series. Included in that contract was a provision to hold The Winston, NASCAR's all-star race.

But in January, RJR said it had talked to NASCAR about getting out of the sport, and there is a chance the sanctioning body's top series could have a new title sponsor.

"We've said we've had discussions with them about the possibility of exploring a new sponsor," said Ned Leary, president of Sports Marketing Enterprises, the sports promotional arm of RJR. "I don't have anything to say about that, other than to say while we're here ... there will be an all-star event."

The Winston has been held at Lowe's Motor Speedway, which is located near the majority of the NASCAR team's shops, for 17 of the 18 times it has been held. But there is a chance it could be moved. NASCAR has looked at the possibility of moving the race among various sites, much like other professional leagues do for their all-star events.

That would be a no-no, LMS president and general manager H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler said.
"The Winston's not going anywhere, because NASCAR is going to have to shoot me and drag my body down to Daytona and bury me right next to Bill France," Wheeler said.

"Where else would you have it? We're going to have it here, we're going to put a bunch of people in the grandstands again, we're going to have a great race and we're going to work hard to keep it here."
Driver Mark Martin said he supported Wheeler "100 percent."

"I think this is the greatest racetrack that we race on for putting on a show," Martin said.
Wheeler and LMS officials got together with local civic, business and government groups in the Charlotte/Mecklenburg County area last year to ensure The Winston would stay at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

UNC Charlotte did an economic impact in 2001 of The Winston's effect on three counties surrounding the track and estimated it to be $75 million. Wheeler said the 2003 race could pump $100 million in the local economy if it stays at his track.

Leary said the procedure for picking the site of The Winston is the same as in 2002.

"It will be the same procedure we went through last year," Leary said. "We'll have discussions with all parties involved. A decision will be made in a timely fashion."

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Professional golfer John Daly has long admired the action in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series from afar. Two weeks ago he got to attend his first race, the Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway and he said it won't be his last.

The proof? Daly, who was introduced at the pre-race drivers' meeting as one of the special guests at the race, did not leave until a little bit after the checkered flag had flown over Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Budweiser Chevrolet.

"It was just a great finish -- seeing Dale win again," Daly said. "(Jeff) Gordon was up there for a while. I hated to see some of the big names get put out early-on, but it was intense -- it was cool to watch."

While the intensity of three- and four-wide action and fender banging at 195 mph was not lost on the 1995 British Open champion, he said the experience of standing over a potential winning putt on the 18th green was a crucible of a different kind.

"It's a little different -- a little quieter when you're doing that," Daly said with a grin. "But you can see these guys just race their hearts out. From what I've understood on TV, that looked like a hard race.

"It was just an awesome finish and I'm pretty excited about it."

Daly has a 56-event PGA Tour schedule ranging from January through December, but of course the four-time winner can pick and choose events. He'd like to include some more racing on his calendar.

Daly has signed a promotional partnership with Featherlite Coaches, whose guest he was at Talladega. He said the drivers' schedules on this weekend didn't allow for any driving tips from the pro.

"Now that I'm with Featherlite, they've got me in a coach that I just love to death, and they've been wanting me to come," Daly said. "I didn't get to see Gordon -- he's a good buddy of mine and I've played golf with him a few times.

"I was hoping to see some more of the racers but I just didn't have a chance to do it. I met a few of them but I didn't really get to set and chat with them -- that would have been cool.

"I'd like to come to some more and Featherlite would like me to."

Learning your ABCs

NASCAR team owner Andy Petree is the latest to go the "ABC route" to breaking a youngster into NASCAR racing.

Petree has made a commitment to run Paul Menard, 22, a winner in NASCAR's Touring Division, in an 18-race program of events this season in NASCAR's Winston Cup, Busch and Craftsman Truck Series and the ARCA RE/MAX Series.

Menard, who was victories in both the RE/MAX Challenge Series and Featherlite Southwest Series, caught Petree's attention with a victory against former Andy Petree Racing driver Ken Schrader last fall at Phoenix.

"To be honest, I didn't even see the race -- I was driving like crazy to get to the track to see as much as I could because I promised Kenny (Schrader) I would watch it," Petree said. "I got there a few minutes too late and called Kenny as I was crossing the bridge to find out what happened.

"He said he got beat by some kid and finished second."

That "kid" was Menard, the son of Indy car owner and Midwest businessman John Menard.

"What I do know is this," Petree said of the introduction. "If you beat Kenny at Phoenix, I don't care what type of car it is, you've done something significant."

Menard's 18 races will include both Winston Cup road races as well as the fall event at Phoenix.

Can't wait to get back?

Joe Nemechek won the inaugural Bud Pole Award at California Speedway in 1997, but has had a hard time duplicating those results since then. He's managed only one top-10 start in events since then at the two-mile oval outside Los Angeles.

Nemechek has shown some revived competitiveness in Hendrick Motorsports' No. 25 UAW/Delphi Chevrolet so qualifying on April 25 for the Auto Club 500 may be just what he needs.

Looking for a breakthrough

In the six previous editions of the Auto Club 500 at California Speedway, neither Pontiac nor Dodge has scored a victory. Chevrolet and Ford have three each, with Jeff Gordon scoring two of Chevy's wins. The highest finish by a Pontiac driver is second by Bobby Labonte (2000) while Bill Elliott posted the best California finish for Dodge with a fourth place (2002).

Winston Cup teams have a rare off-week from racing, but an "off-week" doesn't mean the same thing to Kenny Schrader as it does to others in the business.

Schrader most likely will find a track or two or three somewhere, get hot and sweaty at the wheel and then kick back with a cold one and laugh for a while.

If NASCAR's Bill France Jr. were looking for the perfect guy to run this sport for him, he might not be able to do better than Schrader.

Schrader knows it all - all the tricks, all the bull, all the excuses. He also has common sense and a great, wicked sense of humor. It's difficult to imagine anyone pulling anything over on him.

He's well respected among the touring media, and he has excellent TV presence.

But, even though Schrader is 47 - albeit a Red Farmer-Dale Earnhardt-Bobby Allison 47 - and even though it has been more than 10 years since his last Winston Cup victory, Schrader doesn't appear ready to hang up his helmet anytime soon.

At the moment, Schrader is trying to revive his career. And he has been doing a pretty good job of it this season, with a team that is one of the circuit's lesser lights, a new team owned by Beth Ann Morgenthau ("BAM"), not quite a household name but certainly a determined lady.

Schrader's 10th-place finish at Martinsville on Sunday impressed even him.

"What probably was most satisfying about it was it's not like we ran 18th all day and four guys blew up and four got in an accident," Schrader said "We started fourth and ran between (there) and ninth all day. That made us feel good.

"Without the last yellow, we thought we were looking at a top-five.

"It did feel good, the first top-10 for the BAM team. Their previous best had been a 17th at Darlington, which still wasn't very good.

"But 10th isn't what we're shooting for; we want to do a lot better than that. But it was a real good start.

"What we probably feel best about - even though it doesn't show at all - at Rockingham and Darlington, the car ran real good. We just got caught a lap in the pits at both places.

"At Bristol, we were one of the seven cars on the lead lap when we cut the right-front tire.

"The car has had plenty of speed. It's been fast enough to have top-10s at half the races this year. But we hadn't done it yet, so this is the first one we did it like we were supposed to.

"We weren't really getting frustrated, but everybody wants to finally make something happen. We finally made something happen at least."

Running for a one-car team in this era of mega-teams might intimidate another driver, but Schrader is rarely intimidated. He's the ultimate pragmatist.

"Robbie Reiser and Matt Kenseth sit down at their shop and look over their resources and try to do the very best they can," Schrader says, referring to the Winston Cup points leaders, part of Jack Roush's five-team company. "And we sit down at our shop, lay out a plan and look at our resources and try to do the very best we can.

"We're very blessed that Beth Ann and Tony Morgenthau have invested a lot into the BAM team already. We have a lot of resources there.

"I don't feel like we're out sitting on a little island by ourselves and it's just a matter of time before we're in big trouble.

"It was pretty neat to see Ricky Craven win Darlington, and that was a single-car team. We just take all the stuff we've got and do whatever we can."

Schrader has provided more to the team than just experience at the wheel. His political connections have helped, too. Dodge wasn't very interested in this team at the start of the season, but corporate interest has definitely picked up.

How much support? Schrader is cagey: "I couldn't really answer that because I'm not really in on that," he said. "I just drive the thing. I do know that we have an agreement with Dodge. I think it's the first year they've had one.

"We have been to the wind tunnel. We've been in on some conference calls, and there's some technical help there. I don't know to what extent, but we're definitely getting some help from Dodge."

And that help is desperately needed this season, with all the new body rules. Single-car teams such as Schrader's are really under pressure.

"Single-car team or not, everyone had to go through the body change," Schrader says. "But the bodies are simpler now. They're very complicated with all the templates and everything, but it's a no-brainer where it all goes - it's got to go right where NASCAR says it has to go. It has to fit these templates.

"Actually there's a lot less wind-tunnel time that you actually need because you're so restricted with what you can do. You've only got so much to work with."

Perhaps part of the key to Schrader's success this season is his new crew chief, Scott Eggleston, who has been around the block a few times.

"I had never worked with Scott, I had never really talked with Scott a lot, I didn't really know Scott," Schrader said. "But he came highly recommended: Michael Waltrip was very high on Scott and said we'd get along just fine. I've got a lot of confidence in what Mikey says. Someone else I look up to is Andy Petree, and Scott helped him when he had to field two cars at Talladega last year. Andy was very high on Scott.

"I can explain to him what the car feels like to me. I tell him what I would do to it if I were by myself; that's how I always describe it. I don't claim to be a chassis man, but I can bluff my way through some of it.

"He makes it feel like I want. I need someone I can talk to. And what Scott is real good about is he doesn't care what we do to the car as long as it makes it feel better. He doesn't care whose idea it is. He just cares about the stopwatch."

Schrader, of course, does more than just race the Winston Cup tour. His time off is usually spent flying around the country looking for another track to race at. He has been known to make unplanned stops just to make a race. "I'm going to run somewhere between 90 and 100 races this year, not because they're a good deal or anything but because I've got an off-night and there's a race and I want to go race in it.

"I'd say I've probably got more desire to race now than I ever have."

And if he had another shot at life, how would he like to replay his hand? "I'd probably like to do the same deal just one more time and try to do it better. My little boy, I keep telling him that golf is the way to go. That looks like a whole lot better deal to me.

"But I'd probably want to take another stab at what we're doing.

"I didn't get to Winston Cup until I was 29 or 30. I grew up in the Midwest, racing for a living, carrying a helmet bag around a hundred times a year all over, with Dirt and Sprint cars and stuff. Maybe I should have concentrated earlier on getting in Winston Cup, but I don't really have any regrets. I enjoyed all the other racing I did, and I still do. I wouldn't do it a whole lot different....

"I'm not working. I'm playing full time. It wears you out, but that's what I'm doing - I'm playing full time. I'm living the dream."

“Grampa, tell me a story”, the little boy said as he climbed up on Grampa’s lap, on a Saturday summer afternoon. “Tell me about when you used to go to the races.”

“Well, son. It was different when your dad was your age. We used to be able to take the whole family to see famous drivers beat and battle their way to the front. We saw Bobby and Donnie Allison, Richard and Lee Petty. Lot’s of dirt tracks back then, and if you weren’t there, you couldn’t see it on TV, or even hear it on the radio. I’ll tell you what, if you finished all your work on Saturday night, well, you just headed for the track. Never knew who might show up, but the regulars were always there. They were the guys you saw in town, with local names on their cars. Sponsors were just businesses you knew by their first name. You didn’t have to plan ahead, and make sure you got to the bank so you could pay your way in. Heck, you could always get tickets, and good seats the day of the race. Kids even got in free, well, maybe for a big NASCAR race, it was kids half price.”

“Drivers back then were just regular guys. They didn’t get mobbed by the fans. Drivers had a chance to actually talk to you, sometimes they’d even recognize you, if they’d signed a couple of autographs for you. Course, they didn’t have shirts with their names on them, or hats either. They just signed whatever cap you were wearing, or whatever piece of paper you had handy. I know it’s hard to believe, but they didn’t have all those souvenir trailers back then. When you went to the race, you went to see the race, and meeting a driver was about the best thing that could happen. They were just regular people, that went around in circles faster than most of us.”

“Used to be a great place for a young boy like you, to say hi to your heroes, and watch some good racing. There didn’t used to be so many rules. Usually, the fastest car, and the smartest, well maybe not smartest, but the driver willing to take a few chances, would be out there up front and win the race. And let me tell you, they’d race anywhere. They didn’t complain. They just raced, on dirt, on concrete, quarter mile, half mile. Didn’t matter. They wanted to race, and if the people wanted to watch, well, then, that’s fine.”

“Grampa, will you take me to a race?” the little boy asked.

Grampa got lost in thought, thinking how far they’d have to travel, and if they could even get tickets. He wanted his grandson to be able to have the same experience he’d had when racing was young, before the majority decided what racing had to be to be popular. The sounds, the smells, and the excitement of the race itself, not the hoopla.

Then he remembered. “Son, there’s an ARCA race tonight over at the fairgrounds. I think that will give you the idea. Go get your grandma, and we’ll head on over, so you can see some racing.”

"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

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Today In Nascar History

April 16, 1950

Tim Flock collects his first of 39 career poles.  However, Flock's speed at Langhorne Speedway, a one-mile dirt track in Langhorne, Pa., is not recorded.

Should Winston Cup drivers be limited on number of tire changes under caution like the Busch Series?

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from rd
Momma,
I don't care what anyone says, you do have class:) Your stand on not kicking someone off your list for an unpopular post, has class written all over it:)
Rd

from Brian
In response to your closing quote from Dale Earnhardt, I love it. Dale Earnhardt was an inspiration both on and off the track to and continues to do so even after his untimely death. Even his biggest rivals on the track count him as an inspiration and will miss his competitive nature on the track. Keep the quote and keep up the great work on this fantastic newsletter.

Brian G. Atkinson
Customer Service Representative
Standard Concrete Products
Laguna Hills,  CA.

Thanks guys.  I appreciate it all your input.  Good or bad.

from Wanttaberacer
Here's the kind of thing that just jumps out at you--the inequity of the winnings. (The ones that I really don't understand are highlighted in red.)

Take Kyle Petty: finishes 11th, on the lead lap, $84,000--Tony Stewart & Mark Martin finish 25th & 26th, more than 30 laps behind, win $20,000 & $30,000 more than him...Bobby Labonte, 32nd, 70 laps out, $25,000 more than Kyle... and the most egregious inequity, Rusty Wallace, 37th, more than 170 laps out, only completed 12 laps, $25,000 more.  I know there's all kinds of money awarded for all kinds of accomplishments during a race, but just what the hell did Rusty accomplish in his 12 laps to justify paying a 37th place finish way more money than an 11th place finisher who ran all 188 laps? If I'm Kyle, I gotta be going, "what the..........."  This isn't a case of sour grapes or whining about my favorite driver or un-favorite driver. It's a case of one of those things that make ya go "hmmmm..........."

Results
 Order Driver (No.)        Car       Laps Finished Laps Led       Winnings
 1 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (8)Chevrolet 188               34        $204,367
2 Kevin Harvick (29) Chevrolet 188               12        $179,233
 3 Elliott Sadler (38) Ford        188               1        $162,955
 4 Ricky Craven (32) Pontiac 188               0        $139,575
 5 Terry Labonte (5) Chevrolet 188               1        $122,221
 6 Sterling Marlin (40) Dodge        188               2        $126,380
 7 Ward Burton (22) Dodge        188                    5        $114,386
 8 Jeff Gordon (24)        Chevrolet 188               24        $128,458
 9 Matt Kenseth (17) Ford        188                    9        $104,730
 10 Robby Gordon (31) Chevrolet 188               0        $105,367
 11 Kyle Petty (45)        Dodge        188               0          $84,375
 12 Dale Jarrett (88)        Ford        188               2        $116,473
 13 Bill Elliott (9)        Dodge        188               1        $109,823
 14 John Andretti (43) Dodge        188               1        $109,388
 15 Jimmie Johnson (48) Chevrolet 188               65          $89,930
 16 Tony Raines (74) Chevrolet 188               0          $74,640
 17 Kenny Wallace (23) Dodge        188               0          $86,825
 18 Jeremy Mayfield (19) Dodge        187               19          $84,285
 19 Kurt Busch (97)        Ford        186               1          $87,195
 20 Steve Park (1)        Chevrolet 184               1          $97,302
 21 Joe Nemechek (25) Chevrolet 182               0          $70,695
 22 Greg Biffle (16)        Ford        178               0          $66,375
 23 Dave Blaney (77) Ford        178               0          $91,565
 24 Michael Waltrip (15) Chevrolet 177              10          $83,935
 25 Tony Stewart (20) Chevrolet 156               0        $118,708
 26 Mark Martin (6)        Ford        154               0        $102,783
 27 Jamie McMurray (42)Dodge        154               0          $65,395
 28 Todd Bodine (154) Ford        152               0          $79,045
 29 Jeff Green (30)       Chevrolet 124               0          $76,285
 30 Mike Wallace (09) Dodge        120               0          $65,390
 31 Mike Skinner (4) Pontiac        120               0          $76,214
 32 Bobby Labonte (18) Chevrolet 118               0        $109,658
 33 Ken Schrader (49) Dodge        110               0          $65,350
 34 Jack Sprague (0) Pontiac        109               0          $64,310
 35 Jeff Burton (99)       Ford        107               0          $97,597
 36 Jerry Nadeau (01) Pontiac        73               0          $67,050
 37 Rusty Wallace (2) Dodge        12               0        $101,567
 38 Jimmy Spencer (7) Dodge        9               0          $66,025
 39 Ryan Newman (12) Dodge        3               0          $93,215
 40 Casey Mears (41) Dodge        3               0          $71,090
 41 Johnny Benson (10) Pontiac        3               0          $89,640
 42 Ricky Rudd (21)       Ford        3               0          $70,690
 43 Hermie Sadler (02) Chevrolet 3               0          $62,746

Ok lower in the list, you will find the explanation as to how the money is divvied up between all the drivers and why some, although finishing lower, make more than others who finished ahead of them in the race.  Good one Wanttaberacer!

Round 9 Results -- McDonald's Drive-Thru Pit Championhsip fueled by POWERade - Tiebreaker Gives Bobby Labonte's Pit Crew First Place Prize in Martinsville: The Virginia 500 at Martinsville Speedway (April 13) marked the first time a tiebreaker criteria was needed to determine the race winner of the McDonald's Drive-Thru Pit Championship fueled by POWERade. Bobby Labonte's and Elliott Sadler's pit crews tied for top honors with each team's car spending 292 seconds on pit road - the least amount of time for participating teams of the McDonald's Drive-Thru Pit Championship. Labonte's pit crew was named the winner and recipient of the $20,000 first-place check by virtue of having a higher finishing position in the race. Labonte's Joe Gibbs Racing Interstate Batteries Chevrolet finished second while Sadler's Robert Yates M&M's Ford was fifth.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- NASCAR officials announced Tuesday that two NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series crew chiefs have been fined, due to rule infractions last week at Martinsville Speedway prior to the Advance Auto Parts 250.

David F. Bridgeman, crew chief of the No. 27 Chevrolet, has been fined $2,500 under Section 12-4-A in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series rule book (actions detrimental to stock car racing) and Section 12-4-W (improperly attached weight). The infraction occurred during the event's first practice session.

Lonnie L. Troxell, crew chief of the No. 93 Chevrolet, has been fined $2,500 under Section 12-4-A in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series rule book (actions detrimental to stock car racing) and Section 12-4-W (improperly attached weight). The infraction occurred during qualifying.

In both instances, the improperly attached weight fell off the trucks while they were on the race track.

End Of Stage One, Chevy Rules
by Paul Miron-Staff Writer

With Martinsville behind us, Winston Cup gets its first weekend off. Two races, California and Richmond lead to the next break then it's a push through the months of May and June with the delightful Winston as prelude to the season's most grueling race, the 600. Before the next break we'll have seen Dover, Pocono, Michigan and the road course at Sonoma.

The season is beginning to take shape. Though the manufacturer's standings don't show it, Chevy is in command. Consider the stats- Chevrolet has won 4 of eight. After Richmond, the top ten are overwhelmed by Chevy drivers (six) leaving three makes scrapping for what's left. The manufacturer's battle is slanted by design and Ford trails the Bowtie by one point (61/60) while Dodge and Pontiac are waging their own war, out of the picture (39/38).

Chevy/Ford rivalry harks back through America's automotive history. Historians note that Louis Chevrolet once worked for Henry Ford. Walter P. Chrysler's legacy was based in engineering long before the Hemi, long before his company purchased assets of the Dodge Brothers. Pontiac, the revered Indian chief from Michigan became indemnified by General Motors. This bit of Jepoardy! sets stage for the current mission, narrowly yet clearly led by Chevrolet.

Winston Cup teams at NASCAR's highest levels are manufacturers themselves. Engineers in white clothing work in "clean rooms" around the clock. Every eventuality is examined, every possibility is explored. Reading spark plugs is old school- CAD and RAD are buzzwords. NASCAR teams design their next offering virtually, just like Detroit. NASCAR, clinging to old tech (carbs, live axles) gives dominant warriors a hedge. The so-called red phone from team-to-maker is merely in place for transfer of funds.

Cost? Who cares? Win on Sunday, write off on Monday.

Back to the season break, wins tell the story. Teresa Earnhardt is the owner getting it done; Mikey won Daytona and Dale Jr. scored his exciting win at Talladega then threatened to back it up by stealing the show at Martinsville by leading the most laps. Railbirds think he's got his old man's genes while the effort from his step-mom's operations led to much shaking of heads in the garage. They're for real. Powerhouse teams are chasing DEI. They can do short tracks! (PSSST- he got it from his old man.) Suppose he wins Sonoma? Don't dismiss Kenseth: he beat out Jr. for ROTY, but at the break his lead is tenuous and Roush is concerned about Junior.

Then Gordon won Martinsville. Hendrick had delivered another bomb for the bowtie. Gibbs jumped to Chevy and scored another hit. Jimmie, Harvick, Robbie (who loves Sonoma) the hits keep comin'.

Meanwhile Yates is fiddling, dismissing crew for insubordination while the Dodge Boys (Davis, Evernham, others) squabble with those abandoned Indians. White coats are hard at work while Jack and Robert read plugs; Ray's fighting fire at his ankles. Henry and Walter P. would not be amused. Maybe if Rudd gets a week off he can level the playing field at Sonoma. Pick up the phone, somebody- the white coats are on O/T!

Happy Easter.

You can reach Paul Miron at: pmiron@...

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Who wins what amount of money from competing in a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race can seem like a complicated process -- with the most compelling question being how a driver that finishes far back can win more money than a driver that finishes in the top 10?

An example would be the 2002 Old Dominion 500 at Martinsville Speedway, where Jimmie Johnson won $49,550 for his sixth place finish, while Jeff Gordon won $90,753 -- the fifth highest payout in the race -- for his 36th place result.

The biggest reason for the money disparity is in the bonus programs that Gordon, as the defending champion and driving for one of the leading winners in the series, Hendrick Motorsports, is eligible for more special award plans than a newer team, such as Johnson's first-year operation, is.

As convoluted as it seems, the process is actually fairly simple and is regulated by the entry blanks that the NASCAR Competition Department issues in advance of each event.
Each race carries a purse figure, or its "posted awards."

The purse is comprised of a number of segments, including the racing purse; television awards; NASCAR Winston Cup car owner special award plans, including the Winner's Circle Program; and a list of qualifying and special awards that may or may not be paid depending on the eligibility of the driver finishing in the appropriate position.

The racing purse breakdown designates a set amount for positions 1-43 that decreases on a sliding scale. "Television Awards" are also posted for each position, using the same sliding scale from first to 43rd.

NASCAR Winston Cup team owners may participate in special award plans, such as "Plan 1," which allows for a set figure for each owner. Car owners participating in Plan 1c win money for their finishing position in relation to the other owners in the plan, again on a decreasing scale.
Those owners participating in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series Car/Champion Owner Program are also entitled to additional awards, per the regulations of the program.

Among the largest special awards at each race are the NASCAR Winston Leader Bonus, Time Trial Awards and the Gatorade Front Runner Award.

The Winston Leader Bonus is a modern day version of "Studebaker money." The money is available to the race winner IF he is also leading the Winston Cup standings after the event. If the winner is not the point leader, the money -- which accrues at the rate of $10,000 per event -- is not paid.

The Gatorade Front Runner Award, $10,000, goes to the driver that leads the most laps in the race, regardless of finishing position.

Most of the other manufacturers' and special award prizes are contingent on using the products and displaying uniform patches or decals.

At certain events special prizes are awarded to the leader of each lap in the race. These days, about 75 percent of the posted awards are paid after each event, per the official NASCAR race report. The balance of the posted awards is the "Manufacturer's Point Fund Awards," a prorated share of nearly $15 million in manufacturer and sponsor funds that are distributed at the end of the season.

While a certain portion of each purse is guaranteed to be paid after the event, some of the cash is what formerly was referred to as Studebaker money, placed in the purse simply for appearance sake.

The term refers to money offered on a purse, say "$10,000 to the winner if he is driving a Studebaker." The $10,000 would be reflected in the total posted awards, making them more impressive, but the chance of a Studebaker winning would be miniscule.

Hope this helps everyone!

As NASCAR pauses to catch its breath with the first open date of the Winston Cup season, here's a look at the top 10 people or trends to watch when racing cranks back up April 27 at Fontana, Calif.:

1. Here comes Gordon

After a tortoise-like start, the preseason favorite to win his fifth championship is picking up speed. Jeff Gordon is fresh off his first victory of the season last Sunday at Martinsville, a win that boosted him to third in the standings. Distracted last year by a messy divorce, Gordon this year appears to have his groove back. Bachelorhood seems to be suiting him well.

2. Popularity and power

Dale Earnhardt Jr. wobbled out of the season-opener at Daytona 38th in the standings but regrouped and has soared to second. With his on-track razzle and off-track dazzle, Little E is easily the most popular driver in NASCAR. Gordon is a close second. If the two lock horns in a tight championship battle down the stretch, it could be a title fight for the ages.
Should Earnhardt win the championship, get ready for a NASCAR-record celebration.

3. Nice guy finishes … ?

So far Tony Stewart's anger management counseling lessons have paid off. But the kinder, gentler Tony is also a winless Tony through nine races, and the defending champion has slipped to seventh in the standings. If his struggles persist, how much longer will the new, Nice Guy persona last? We may have received a hint last Sunday when Stewart rammed Elliott Sadler in the rear after a late-race encounter.

4. Crafting a comeback

Injury ended Sterling Marlin's best career championship run last year, and a sputtering start buried him in the standings early this season. But he has surged from 29th to 12th in recent weeks, and suddenly there is new hope for one of NASCAR's most popular veterans.

5. Speaking of veterans …

Dale Jarrett, Mark Martin, Rusty Wallace, Bill Elliott, Ricky Rudd and Terry Labonte have 205 career victories among them, but only one this season. Wallace is coming off his first winless season in 16 years, and Labonte hasn't won in more than three years. Martin carried the senior citizen banner to a second-place finish in the standings last year but now is mired in 15th. Clearly, the guard is changing.

6. Special K

Matt Kenseth continues to cling to the points lead, but his grip is becoming slippery. He was last year's winningest driver (five), but inconsistency doomed his title hopes. Can he pull it together this year and not just be good, but be consistently good?

7. Schedule shakeup looms

Look for the 2004 Winston Cup schedule to be announced around Labor Day, but don't look for Nashville Superspeedway to be on it. Nashville's best — and probably only — chance for a Cup race is for Dover Motorsports to move one here from its Dover track, and officials say they absolutely will not do it. Rockingham probably will lose its spring race, and nobody's sure where it will land. But it won't be Music City.

8. Going nowhere fast

What was supposed to be a breakout season for Evernham Motorsports has become a backslide season. Bill Elliott is 19th and Jeremy Mayfield 32nd in the standings. Mayfield, one of the sport's bright young drivers, is in danger of suffering the same fate as Nashville's Casey Atwood — tossed overboard because he can't make a slow car go fast.

9. Continuing confusion

Controversial calls, judgment calls, admitted blown calls. If NASCAR officials were a race car they would be belching smoke and bouncing off the walls. NASCAR needs to make its rules more clear, then enforce them more consistently. Otherwise it faces a credibility crisis.

10. Poised for more parity

Nine races, nine faces. There were 18 different winners last season, one shy of the modern-era record set in 2001. Since some of last year's most successful drivers have not yet won (including champion Tony Stewart) there is a chance a new parity record could be set. With 27 races to go, there's no telling how many finish-line flags will flap over fresh faces.

RacingOne Report

The following is a glance at the NASCAR Top 10 in the championship following Sunday’s Virginia 500 at Martinsville Speedway. The NASCAR Winston Cup Series is idle this week before preparing for the Auto Club 500, set for Sunday, April 27 at California Speedway.

No. 1 – Matt Kenseth (No. 17 DEWALT Power Tools Ford), Roush Racing. Points: 1,330. Last week’s ranking: 1. Kenseth finished 22nd at Sunday’s Virginia 500 at Martinsville Speedway, but despite a season-worst performance he held onto the No. 1 position for the sixth consecutive week. The finish, however, ended a run of seven consecutive top-10 finishes and trimmed his advantage over No. 2 Dale Earnhardt Jr. from 129 points to 51. After opening the season ranked No. 19 following Daytona, Kenseth has been in the NASCAR Top 10 for the last eight consecutive weeks. Kenseth, who had never led the NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship prior to this season, was second in the title race at this stage of the season last year.

No. 2 – Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet), Dale Earnhardt Inc. Points: 1,279. Last week’s ranking: 2. Earnhardt Jr. finished third at Martinsville and moved closer to being ranked No. 1 for the first time in his NASCAR Winston Cup career. He cut his deficit with No. 1 Kenseth more than half this week, slicing it from 129 points to 51. Earnhardt Jr., ranked 38th following Rockingham in Week 2, maintained his No. 2 position for the second consecutive week and has been in the NASCAR Top 10 for six straight weeks, dating to a No. 10 ranking following Atlanta in Week 4. The top-five finish was his series-leading fifth of the season and third in a row. At this point last season, Earnhardt Jr. was ranked fifth in the NASCAR Winston Cup championship.

No. 3 – Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet), Hendrick Motorsports. Points: 1,191. Last week’s ranking: 5. Gordon captured his first win of the season at Martinsville to move up to No. 3, which is currently his season-best ranking. He became the ninth different winner in nine races this season, one shy of the NASCAR Winston Cup record to start a season that was set in 2000. He trails No. 1 Kenseth by 139 points and No. 2 Earnhardt Jr. by 88 as he enjoys his fourth consecutive week in the NASCAR Top 10 and fifth overall. Gordon has improved 12 positions in the last four races since being ranked No. 15 following a 33rd-place finish at Darlington. He has posted a top-10 finish in each of those races to buoy the run. Gordon is ahead of last season’s championship pace when he was ranked No. 7 at this point of the season.

No. 4 – Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet), Hendrick Motorsports. Points: 1,151. Last week’s ranking: 4. Johnson finished ninth at Martinsville to secure his No. 4 ranking for the second consecutive week and remain one of three drivers – Tony Stewart and Michael Waltrip are the others – to be situated among the NASCAR Top 10 all season long. Of the nine weeks that Johnson has been in the NASCAR Top 10, he has spent seven among the top five, including a high of No. 3 for the first three weeks of the season. Dating to last season, he has been ranked among the NASCAR Top 10 for 42 consecutive races. Johnson trails No. 1 Kenseth by 179 points and is just 40 behind his co-owner, No. 3 Gordon. Through nine races in his rookie season of 2002, Johnson was ranked sixth in the championship.

No. 5 – Kurt Busch (No. 97 Rubbermaid Ford), Roush Racing. Points: 1,125. Last week’s ranking 3. Busch finished 28th at Martinsville to slip two positions to No. 5, but was able to remain in the top five for the fourth consecutive week. He has been in the NASCAR Top 10 eight of the nine weeks, his only miss coming after a 40th-place finish at Atlanta that left him at No. 14. It is the only week he has not been ranked among the top six in the NASCAR Winston Cup championship. Busch trails No. 1 Kenseth by 205 points and No. 4 Johnson by 26. At this stage of the season last year, Busch was ranked fourth in the championship.

No. 6 – Kevin Harvick (No. 29 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet), Richard Childress Racing. Points: 1,097. Last week’s ranking: 8. Harvick finished 16th at Martinsville, but was able to climb two positions to No. 6, his best ranking since being at No. 4 following the season-opening Daytona 500. It marks Harvick’s third consecutive week in the NASCAR Top 10 and seventh overall. He has improved 12 positions in the last four races following a 36th-place finish at Darlington that left him at No. 18. He trails No. 1 Kenseth by 233 points and No. 5 Busch by 28. Harvick is well ahead of his championship pace of a year ago, when he was ranked No. 29 after nine races. The improvement of 23 championship positions from a year ago is easily the largest among the current NASCAR Top 10.

No. 7 – Tony Stewart (No. 20 The Home Depot Chevrolet), Joe Gibbs Racing. Points: 1,092. Last week’s ranking: 9. Stewart, who slipped two positions last week, regained them this week and moved back to No. 7 following a sixth-place performance at Martinsville. He remains one of only three drivers – Johnson and Waltrip are the others – to be in the NASCAR Top 10 since the outset of the season. He is 238 points behind No. 1 Kenseth, just five behind No. 6 Harvick and 33 behind No. 5 Busch. The reigning NASCAR Winston Cup champion is ahead of last year’s pace when he was ranked eighth at this point of the season.

No. 8 – Michael Waltrip (No. 15 NAPA Chevrolet), Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Points: 1,088. Last week’s ranking: 7. Waltrip finished 23rd at Martinsville to slip one position to No. 8, but he still remains one of just three drivers – Johnson and Stewart are the others – to be ranked in the NASCAR Top 10 all season long. Included in that streak is seven consecutive weeks among the top five from the outset of the season, including two weeks at No. 1. Waltrip, who opened the season with a win in the Daytona 500, is 242 points behind No. 1 Kenseth and only four behind No. 7 Stewart.

No. 9 – Ricky Craven (No. 32 Tide Pontiac), PPI Motorsports. Points: 1,082. Last week’s ranking: 6. Craven finished 27th at Martinsville – his worst effort since a 36th at Las Vegas in Week 3 – to drop three positions to No. 9. Despite the slip, it marks his fifth consecutive week in the NASCAR Top 10 and sixth overall. The recent streak began when he won at Darlington and earned the No. 5 ranking, his highest of the season. Craven trails No. 1 Kenseth by 248 points, but finds himself just 15 points out of the No. 6 ranking held by Harvick. Craven is ahead of his championship pace of 2002, when he was ranked No. 15 at this stage of the season.

No. 10 – Elliott Sadler (No. 38 M&M’s Ford), Robert Yates Racing. Points: 1,055. Last week’s ranking: 10. Sadler finished fifth at Martinsville, and his second consecutive top-five finish of the season allowed him to maintain the No. 10 ranking for the second week in a row. He has posted four finishes among the top seven in the last six races to vault from 27th in the championship – following a 42nd-place finish at Las Vegas in Week 3 – to his current position. It marks his third week overall in the NASCAR Top 10, and all three have been at No. 10. He is 275 points behind No. 1 Kenseth and 27 behind No. 9 Craven. Among the current NASCAR Top 10, he has made the second-largest gain in the championship standings from a year ago. Last season he was ranked No. 23 through nine races, an improvement of 13 positions that is second only to Harvick (23).

Weeks at No. 1: Kenseth, 6; Waltrip, 2; Busch, 1.

New arrivals in the NASCAR Top 10 this week: None.

Most weeks in the NASCAR Top 10: 9, Waltrip, Johnson, Stewart.

Largest gain among the NASCAR Top 10: No. 3 Gordon, No. 6 Harvick, No. 7 Stewart, two positions each.

Many fans, including myself, love to watch short-track racing and the beatin’ and bangin’ that goes on. However, it can get frustrating for the drivers, especially when they’re fighting lapped traffic. And, obviously, many “thoughts” go through drivers’ minds – and many comments are
made to their spotters – when they’re trying to get around a lapped car.

But here are the…

10.) “Wow; that lapped stooge is wearing me out. And in this heat and humidity, by the time the race is over, I’ll be sprouting moss like a Chia Pet”.

9.) “Geez. That idiot must be the first person in his family to walk upright”.

8.) “Ugh!!!!! Boy, when I ‘snap’, he’ll be the first to go”.

7.) “Just look at that dope! He even missed pit road by a ‘Dukakis-like’ margin! He was so high up the racetrack that oxygen masks deployed”.

6.) “There’s only so many words I can drag out of my vocabulary to explain how much I hate lapped traffic”.

5.) “How do I feel about that lapped driver’s ‘execution’ ? – I’m for it!”

4.) “That lapped moron; he should consider a rewarding career in valet parking”.

3.) “I hate fighting lapped cars. But, unfortunately, the ‘administration’ has instituted a strong policy of not giving a crap”.

2.) “Man; I wish I raced against guys with an IQ higher than a head of lettuce”.

And the #1 Thing Said by Drivers About Lapped Cars at Martinsville is:

1.) “Hey, what’s that guy thinking??? Stevie Wonder could drive better than that!”

NOTE: Yes, this list was written tongue-in-cheek and meant to make you laugh (which we all need to do during these troubling times in the world)…But I’m sure those of you with a SENSE OF HUMOR are already aware of that. So, lighten up.

Until next time…be safe. And God bless America – 9/11: “We will never forget”.

Your  Momma
 

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

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Did You Know

In 1948, NASCAR sanctioned its first race.

Should Winston Cup drivers be limited on number of tire changes under caution like the Busch Series?

http://de3fan4.tripod.com/

from Melinda (on Friday)
Sorry, but I don't much care for your "signature" closing from Dale Earnhardt.  The guy's dead, right?  Not really one to be giving racing advice.

And the response I’ve gotten on the above:

from Larry
NA$CAR Momma,
Your ending quote by Dale Earnhardt was Dale, and yet another reason why he was the great man he was and I love it!
Larry
DE3FAN in Wisconsin

from Lisa
To Melinda, shut up or get off the track, lol.  The first time I read the closing quote you use from Dale Sr., I got a tremendous chuckle!  He was a great man and it is a timeless quote.  His unfortunate passing only makes this quote more of a treasure.  Love the stuff you have to say even though I may not always agree.
dj88fan

from Erika
Sorry, I just can't let Melinda's comments go unchallenged.

I cannot believe that someone would call themselves a Nascar fan, and say something so disrespectful of the deceased.  And especially about someone who was certainly one of the greatest racers we've gotten to see.  WOW!  It really floors me that someone can be so insensitive.

I've known many people, especially family, who gave me a hard time about being a Dale Earnhardt fan for many years.  But they were the first to understand the level of my grief when he passed away, and have shown tremendous respect for his driving skill.  They might sometimes give me a little hard time, but they would never stoop so low as to say something as mean as what Melinda had to say.

I noticed you invited her to unsubscribe.  Can we vote to have her kicked off?  I don't think we need that kind of disrespect and hate on this particular forum.

Thanks for letting me vent!

Sincerely,
Erika (riki3fan)

Well Erika, I do pride myself on letting people say what they wish, and I don’t feel I can kick Melinda off, no matter what I think.

from Tim & Dawn
Dear Nascar Momma
I met you as a stranger I took you as a friend I hope we meet in heaven were friendships never end.  God Bless take care we do .
 
ps thank you for all the great reading.

I wish I could attach the wonderful picture that came with this email.  Thanks guys.

from Jd
Couldn't have said it better Sandra!!!
Jdw

from O’sure
what is gone --- J.C. is gone (32 A.D.?) Shakespeare is not among us, has Elvis really left the building, my children said "We love you mom" for the last time in '83. Is D.E. not here among us who remember? Thank you for waking 'us who remember' up. I'm glad that the Melindas have set us on the road to recovery.
O'SURE

from Peggy
Thanks for a wonderful and inspiring newsletter..... I appreciate your comments from the great Dale Earnhardt at the end...

Always look forward to your news letter and maybe I was fortunate to meet the great man himself back in the summer if 1998 after fires swept thru my neighborhood and how he gave so much of himself and DEI for the wild fire victims of Florida....

Keep up the good work...
Peggy

from Dave and the dogs
ok hi  look  forward  to  your  news-letter  each  day  -  you  do a  great  job - thanks  I  like  the  closing  quote- hope  you  keep it  -  with  the  weekly  rule  changes  it’s  very  fitting ,
dave  and  the  dogs

Now, she has emailed me once again, but figured I would wait a few days to post that one….Then you all can have at her.

from Jeff24
I must have blinked cause I never saw Jeff get Bobby sideways. It never ceases to amaze me when a writer confuses "getting him loose" with "knocking him sideways".  To me sideways is when the driver looks out the windshield and sees either the inside or outside wall.

Jeff24
Darby, Pa

Gotta say it; totally agree there, that is why I always take what the press says with a grain of salt.

1 -- Jamie McMurray          89  Leader
2 -- Greg Biffle                   89  Leader
3 -- Casey Mears               80  -9
4 -- Jack Sprague             78  -11
5 -- Tony Raines               71  -18
6 -- Larry Foyt                  38  -51
7 -- Hideo Fukuyama          7  -82

RACE TRAILS GOLF
Fox's broadcast of Sunday's Virginia 500 Winston Cup race from Martinsville Speedway drew an overnight Nielsen rating of 4.6 and a 10 share, according to today's Sports Business Daily.  The weekend's highest ratings went to CBS, which posted a 9.3/19 for Sunday's coverage of the final round of the Masters golf tournament and a 6.2/14 for Saturday's round, although those figures were down 6 and 11 percent respectively. The 2002 race was aired on Fox's FX cable station, where it drew a 4.5/11, according to Sports Business Daily figures.

Penske Racing president Walt Czarnecki says the rumors that Todd Parrott would take over as crew chief for Rusty Wallace were "nonsense." That was comforting to crew chief Bill Wilburn, who "went right to Rusty" when talk of a change began circulating.  "I know we haven't run well lately," Wilburn says. "But if we won a race, no one would be talking." Parrott was placed on indefinite leave by Robert Yates Racing, and sources in the garage say Parrott has been told he has 30 days to find another job. . . .

Jeff Gordon put himself in position for his 62nd career win with a perfectly executed bump-and-run on runner-up Bobby Labonte at Martinsville. Gordon, who says he learned the move from watching the late Dale Earnhardt, says there's no etiquette involved in bumping the leader out to the way, but if it's toward the end of the race, the leader should expect it. Gordon is astute enough to know there could be retaliation down the road. Labonte will have to get in line behind Wallace. . . .

Dale Earnhardt Jr. continues to excel on short tracks, especially at 0.526-mile Martinsville. His third-place finish was his third consecutive top five there. He says there is no secret to his success, other than he enjoys short tracks. "Where else can you tear your car all to hell and everybody be pretty happy about it?" he says. Junior, second in points, whittled 78 off Matt Kenseth's lead and trails by 51. . . .

Kenny Wallace says his car was top-five material at Martinsville, but he finished 12th and was hot afterward. Why? Midway through the race, Wallace came in for a scheduled pit stop, but his crew had no gas in the cans. He was forced to pit again when gas was available and lost two laps.

There are four gas pumps at each track, but one was broken, and Wallace says seven cars, including his, were unable to get gas. "How can you come down pit road and not be able to get gas during a Winston Cup race?" Wallace says. "I'm very disappointed in NASCAR. I came down pit road for a stop and left like a Bozo with four tires and no gas." Wallace's car was strong enough to make up both laps. . . .

Much was made of the Alcon brakes Ryan Newman used at Martinsville. Too much, it turns out. Alcon brakes are used by many teams in Formula One and are supposed to withstand a lot of heat, but 30 laps into the 500-lap race, Newman's spotter warned him that his car's brake rotors were the brightest on the track. Newman lost his brakes for good after blowing a tire, leaving the race after Lap 436. He finished 38th. Most Winston Cup teams use Raybestos or Brembo brakes. . . .

Give credit to Elliott Sadler for seeing fifth place and taking it at Martinsville -- even though it meant rooting defending Cup champion Tony Stewart out of the way. Sadler gave the credit for the solid run to crew chief Raymond Fox; Sadler's average finish at the track had been 27th place. . . .

NASCAR announced last weekend that wheels must be tethered to the cars by two fiber cables instead of one steel cable at all tracks more than 1.25 miles in length beginning with the April 27 race at California Speedway. After Newman's left front wheel assembly broke loose and sailed over the wall during a wreck April 6 at Talladega, NASCAR officials conducted tests during the week and quickly moved to make the change, which also applies to the Busch Series and Craftsman Trucks.

Lee Spencer covers NASCAR for The Sporting News. Email her at lspencer@....

MOTEGI, Japan -- A.J. Foyt, a team owner in both the IRL and NASCAR, had harsh words for NASCAR on Saturday for its recent inconsistency in its rules.

Foyt's comments stem from the yellow flag decision at Texas Motor Speedway two weeks ago, to last week's race-winning pass where Dale Earnhardt Jr. clearly went below the yellow out of bounds like to pass race leader Matt Kenseth.

"More people are waking up to NASCAR, but they are afraid to speak out," Foyt said. "I have nothing to lose, either way. The yellow flag thing is a bad deal and one of these days, someone will get killed over it.

"I don't care what you write about. I call a spade a spade, good or bad.  That's how I feel about (restrictor) plate racing. What has happened the last three weeks, it's something different every week. I think the world of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and I think the world of Tony Stewart, but whoever that judge was should be thrown out of the organization or should be the judge of a bathroom whether boys or girls go in. If he looks at the yellow line thing and says it was right, then he was wrong."

Foyt was at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan for Sunday's Indy Japan 300, but Foyt's Winston Cup team decided not to participate at Martinsville Speedway for the Virginia 500. Foyt's son, Larry, is the driver for the Winston Cup team.

Foyt was also steamed that NASCAR disqualified his son's qualifying attempt last week at Talladega for a rules violation for being too low. Subsequently, Foyt did not make the 43-car starting lineup.

"After what NASCAR did to me at Talladega last week, we didn't see any point in going up to Martinsville and tearing something up," Foyt said. "The deal they did to us at Talladega was a big (bleep)-off deal, so (bleep) them.

"I'm like Dale Earnhardt was when he was alive; those (bleeping) plate races (stink). NASCAR is so crooked. Whoever you are, I don't care what you say, if you can't see that, then you are blind. Why should you take out that many cars if you are racing?"

Foyt believes it's time NASCAR recognize that restrictor-plate racing has only made the events at Daytona and Talladega more dangerous, rather than allow teams to race above 200 mph and let the cars spread out more naturally rather than bunch them together.

"All it is any more, restrictor-plate cars is a glorified IROC race, that's all it is," Foyt said. "If you are going to go racing, then go racing. But if you want an IROC race, then just call it an IROC race. I've never been for plate racing, I never will be.

"It's just like racing back to the yellow, I'm glad to see Jeff Gordon speak out against that. Racing shouldn't be who is a complete idiot on the yellow flag.  It's a different ball game than it used to be. It's not getting any better, it's getting worse."

MARTINSVILLE, Va. - Gordon vs. Earnhardt.

It never really happened before Dale Earnhardt's death, that head-to-head showdown for supremacy that would energize the partisans in Winston Cup racing's two most populous camps.

There were skirmishes here and there and the occasional glimpse of how good it might have been. There was Jeff Gordon's famous "milk toast" to Earnhardt at the awards banquet in New York when Gordon claimed one of his four titles.

There was the innocent prank here, the prickly comment there. But never, not quite, did come the man-to-man chase for a championship that would have had fans choosing sides more sharply than ever before.

Now, as Dale Earnhardt Jr. begins to look more and more comfortable carrying the competitive mantel of his family's name, should fans dare get excited at the prospect that Gordon and Earnhardt Jr. might be building a rivalry of their own?

It's still too soon to get all worked up about it, but the prospects are certainly there.

After his victory in the Virginia 500 at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, Gordon is third in the points standings with one quarter of the 36-race schedule in the books. He's 139 behind leader Matt Kenseth and just 88 behind Earnhardt Jr.

They've already had one stirring door-to-door battle this year, a race for second at Texas that Earnhardt Jr. won. Another one might have been shaping up Sunday, too, and this one might have been for the victory. But Earnhardt Jr. got shoved out of second place when Ricky Craven had a flat tire on a restart on Lap 444 and spent the rest of the race fighting his way back up to third.

Gordon, meanwhile, pounced on the opening.

"I saw Craven come up there and get him and slide up," Gordon said. "I just stood in the gas and said, 'I'm going to take advantage of this,' because I knew it was going to be big. If I could get by Junior, that was half the battle right there."

Labonte, who had changed only two tires on his final pit stop, was the other half.  Gordon, on four new tires, finally worked his way by on Lap 487 and held on to win for the first time this year.

It would be foolhardy to ignore Kenseth. Like Gordon and Earnhardt Jr., Kenseth has won a race this year and leads the circuit with seven top-10 finishes. Several times already this year, he's squeezed top 10s out of seemingly off days, although he wound up 22nd on Sunday.

Because of who they are, however, Gordon and Earnhardt Jr. already seem to be keeping at least one eye on each other.

"Whether it's Junior or his team, I'm not really sure which - they've had weaknesses in the past, whether it be road courses, short tracks or whatever," Gordon said. "This year they seem to really have their act together. ...To be championship contenders, you've got to be able to be good pretty much be good everywhere we go. They've certainly proved that this year. If he continues that and I can keep up with what I've done in the past, then there might be something to talk about."

Earnhardt Jr. is cautious. Last year, he won the season's ninth race at Talladega and was fifth in points, but then crashed hard in the season's 10th race at California and spent most of the summer trying to clear the cobwebs from his head.

"I'll believe it when we win it," he said. "This is a long season and a lot can happen.  We've got to keep trying to keep working hard. We can't get really lackadaisical."

Gordon's win on Sunday was the 62nd of his career. Since he first emerged as a championship contender in his third full season in 1995, he has been one of the drivers other teams measure themselves against, and a driver the media keeps trying to pit against another in some kind of rivalry.

"There's a different rivalry every weekend. It's whoever I'm trying to pass, whoever I'm racing that given weekend," Gordon said. "If it happens to be Dale, Jr., week in and week out, then the fans and the media are going to take it upon themselves to create that."

Gordon went 23 races last year before getting the first of his three victories. He finished fourth in points, having a solid year by most standards but sub par when compared to his own career. That and some off-track issues, including his impending divorce, seemed to take the edge off the bitterness in the Anybody But Gordon camp.

That would change in a Gordon-Earnhardt Jr. points race. Nothing would re-energize a Winston Cup championship race faster, and nothing would make fans pick sides more.

"If he wins the championship its game over for anybody else," Gordon said. "We're not even going to exist out there."

Ah, but Gordon would exist. That's why it would be so much fun to watch.

Conversation: Matt Kenseth
By Marty Smith, Turner Sports Interactive

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Matt Kenseth is as unassuming a superstar as you'll ever meet. If he's not decked out in trademark DeWalt black and yellow, you're likely to walk right by him. And he doesn't say much, either.

He lets his race car do the talking.

Kenseth's stealth approach to everything NASCAR has helped land him in the proverbial Winston Cup Series catbird seat.  With four top-fives and seven top-10s - both of which lead t he series - Kenseth carries a 129-point lead into Martinsville.

But don't ask him about it. He's not talking.  He did, however, take a few moments to sit down with NASCAR.com's Marty Smith last Saturday at Talladega to discuss his elite rank, the parking slot that goes with it and the current exploits of his feline friend, Lars.

All you ever hear from guys in your position is "It's too early to worry about points." Is being the Winston Cup points leader early in the season almost more of a distraction than anything else?

Not really. It's cool to be the points leader because everybody runs for points. It is too early to worry about it, but on the other hand we get the first parking spot, and we're ahead instead of behind. It's always good to be leading and up front, but it's too early to worry about it. I'm real happy with the consistency we've had so far -- real happy.

You have a keen knack for quietly negotiating the field. You won't hear a word about Matt Kenseth all day, then suddenly with 10 to go there you are, up front vying for the win. Is that more driving strategy on the track or adjustment strategy on pit road?

It's a little bit of everything, but mostly it's because we don't qualify well, really. I think if we qualified better and started up front, some of the days when we had a real good car, like Las Vegas, I think we would have led a whole bunch of laps and been up front all day.

But qualifying toward the middle of the pack kind of keeps us out of that position until the end of the race. But I think sometimes it's a little bit of an advantage, because we're in the back of the pack, working our way around traffic and trying to get our car to run to pass other people and make it work in traffic. That seems to help it out at the end of the race."

I'm going to start calling you the Silent Assassin. You dig?

I'm not sure whether that's good these days or not (laughing).

Much was made of racing back to the caution last weekend at Texas. What's your take on the "Gentleman's Agreement?"

It depends what position you're in. That whole thing last week, I feel like in hindsight, was a bad call. They probably should have left Jeff Gordon in the lead and left Kurt Busch and Ricky Rudd a lap down. The way it's always been told to me, it's scored at the line. What really happened is I didn't see Jeff coming.

If I would have seen Jeff trying to race me back to the line, I would have kept racing and beat him back to the line and Burton would have gotten his lap back and that would have been it. But I was just trying to help my teammate out and do the right thing there.

I didn't know Jeff Gordon said he'd never give anybody his lap back and didn't want his laps back, but I saw him do the same thing last year when he was leading for the 48 car.

So I think if the roles were reversed, if he was leading and the 48 needed a lap back, being a teammate, or the 25 or somebody, he would have let them back in, too. And if it would have been somebody else I was racing for points, I wouldn't have let them have the lap back. As a team, when you can, you've still got to try to help out your teammates.

Was that a confusing situation from the driver's seat right when it happened?

I knew what happened as soon as I saw Gordon go by me, but then it was too late. I wasn't confused until they let me stay in the lead, then let the other two cars go back on the lead lap. Then I was a little bit confused.

I figured Gordon was just going to let me stay in the lead, just because he didn't want to take advantage of the situation, he just didn't want those two cars to get back on the lead lap, which I totally understand. I was really confused when NASCAR put those cars back on the lead lap, and he was scored as the leader coming back to the caution, so I was a little confused by that."

Ever heard of a Wisconsin Waterfall?

No.

It's a mullet.

Never heard of it (laughing).

I recently saw you're "Driven to Read" poster. What's your favorite book?

I like all John Grisham books. He's my favorite author. I like the lawyer-type stories and the guy-trying-to-steal-money and all the courtroom stuff that goes on in all the John Grisham books. I just read "King of Thorns," just got done with it the other day.  That was pretty good.

My Mom got his autograph. I like his work, too. Let's check your statistical knowledge. Who is the only Winston Cup driver to finish every lap this year?

Nobody.

Nope. That would be you.

Nope. Nobody. The Daytona 500 was only 250.

Ohhh. He's smarter than I am. Nice.  During our conversation last year, we discussed your cat, Lars, and how he was grounded due to various incendiary offenses. Give me a rundown of his latest exploits.

I don't know what he's torn up lately. Lately, he's been eating everything around the house and throwing it back up in the middle of the night (laughing). So he's been pretty good. We got him a little bit bigger house than what he had before so he's got a little more room to run around. He's pretty cool. I think he's almost 3, and he still acts like a kitten. So that's fun. He also wants to play and bite -- and run around wide open.

All we hear about is how great the Chevrolets are, yet you and Kurt Busch are first and second in the standings (heading into Talladega). What gives?

Well, I don't know. It seems like the Chevrolets are really good, but they haven't taken anything to the wind tunnel yet. Which, I'm not really sure why. They made a lot of rules and made everything pretty even, but what they did -- which you've got to commend Chevrolet for doing -- is the only thing they left you with is the nose and the tail.

So, obviously, they're going to go to work and design the best nose and tail they can design to make their car the best in the air. Basically, ours, being a Taurus, is four years old or something like that. So I just hope, even if they don't do anything this year, that we'll get something redesigned next year to catch up a little bit.

We should be a little bit behind. They just made something this year and ours is three or four years ago. Every time you make something it should be a little bit better.

A lot of your fans are upset with me for not mentioning you enough. I tell them it's because you like to fly below the radar. Am I lying to them?

No (laughing).

When you were racing in the Busch Series full-time, it was a premier series. In your opinion, has it declined since then? What's the state of the series?

In my opinion, it's declined a lot. When I first came down and made my first Busch Series race in 1996, I went to Charlotte, and they used to take the top 28 by time and the rest of the cars had to run that last chance race. I qualified 29th out of 72 cars -- there was 72 cars that showed up at that race.

We finished second or third in that last chance race, and made the race. I'm telling you, it was competitive. Then last year when they changed the engine thing it started going downhill a little bit. Even this weekend, there's only 40 cars here and only 20 or 25 of them are good cars. So the front is still very competitive.

The top-10 cars are real competitive and tough to beat over there. But the back half of the field has declined a lot. They're basically just getting some field-fillers in there to keep the field full.

It seems like there's some issues with lapped cars every week, too.

Yeah, it's almost to the point, in my opinion, that they need to think about doing something different. Because we're at places like Texas or somewhere, and the real slow cars at the end will be running two seconds slower than we're running and it's getting to be a dangerous situation.

They're in the way of the leaders all the time. All the time they're affecting the race. At Bristol, I watched that race on TV, and they're lapping those guys every five laps. I think there are some real slow ones at the end of the field that they either need to be more strict on the minimum speed or else reduce the field a little bit so we have a more competitive field and give the leaders more room to race.

You guys haven't had any motor trouble the past couple of weeks, so it looks like the Roush engine problem has been resolved. But that had to have been a pretty big concern at the time.

Knock on wood, things have been OK for us this year. You just never know. There's been some problems they've found that I think they've fixed, but you never know when they're going to creep up and when you'll have problems. It was a bigger leap to get through Texas, but just because we got through Texas doesn't mean everything's hunky dory for the year.

I feel good about things. They're working hard on some things to get us more power and keep the stuff reliable. But you're always a little bit concerned it's going to happen.

Your  Momma

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

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Today In Nascar History

April 13, 1969

David Pearson, wins at Richmond to collect the 50th victory of his career and move into a tie with Ned Jarrett and Junior Johnson for third place on the all-time list. Pearson would go on to win 55 more races in a career that spanned from 1960 to '86. His 105 victories are second only to Richard Petty.

April 14, 1996

The final spring race is held at North Wilkesboro Speedway.  Terry Labonte starts from the pole and leads the most laps on his way to winning the First Union 400 race.

NA$CAR Momma,
 
The results of the poll after Talladega race are as follows:  Out of the 159 votes 93, or 58%, said Little "E" did not deserve a black flag for the pass on Matt Kenseth.
 
66, or 42%, voted "yes" that he should have been 'black flagged'.  The poll has been closed and voting is over on that issue.
 
Cannot wait until the next Talladega race!  I always love the racing there, and, at Bristol.
 
DE3FAN
Larry

from Melinda
Sorry, but I don't much care for your "signature" closing from Dale Earnhardt.  The guy's dead, right?  Not really one to be giving racing advice.

Well Melinda, since I’m the one putting this list together, I could really care less if you like my signature or not.  There is an unsubscribe option if you don’t want to see it.  Cuz I sure the hell ain’t gonna remove it just for you.

from Jeff24
With the way the 88 car has been doing and Robert Yates changing/firing crew chief's, losing team members and still nothing, I wonder if he's thinking maybe its the driver.  I know I’d be thinking that if nothing else is working.
Jeff24
Darby, Pa

Guess time will tell.  I’m sure they are watching him, but I’ve gotta say it….and I’ll deny I did tomorrow.  I like DJ, he seems like a class act.  Now, if I could only get him in a chevy!

from Carl
As much b*tching as I've heard about the yellow line rule you'd think people would thank nascar for getting it right this time.
Carl

LOL...well said Carl

from Trudy
Reckon why they didn't interview Elliott Sadler after his awesome finish?
Trudy

They did, I saw it on Nascar Victory Lane last night.

from David
Gee - I wonder who won the money?    Could it have been Michael?   I gotta say, it was a great race.... Junior is definitely growing up..... He is so composed and calm.... Definitely focused on the big picture.... I was quite surprised when Fox talked to him after the race.... Dale Jr was not upset with the Ricky Craven incident..... Can't say the same for me..... Nascar ended up giving Ricky Craven a one lap penalty due to the fact that he stopped at the top of the track and brought out the yellow flag....
 
Now the big question - what the hell am I going to do next Sunday with NO Winston Cup racing on TV..... Help...
 
Thanks,
David Robertson

LOL….I’ve been wondering the same myself….what will I do?  I do have the Aaron’s 499 taped…hummm  And by the way…yep, Michael won the money!

JARRETT LOOKS FOR IMPROVEMENT
Dale Jarrett says he's looking to return to his winning ways of the past in the wake of the shakeup in his Robert Yates Racing team that saw crew chief Brad Parrott released this week. Jarrett and team manager Doug Yates met with the media this morning at Martinsville Speedway to discuss the changes that also saw competition director Todd Parrott take an indefinite leave of absence. "I obviously have a lot of confidence that Doug and Robert (Yates, team owner) are going to do the things that we need to do to make this a winning team again," said Jarrett. Doug Yates said it was unclear what role Todd Parrott might play in the future: "If something comes along that we would like to go forward with, we'll let him know and, likewise, if he wants to take another opportunity… We'll see. Thirty days down the road, if we can't live without him, we may explore that option as well, but right now we're going forward with our program."

CONCORD - NASCAR says it plans to invest $100 million over the next decade in its new Concord research and development center -- welcome news for a sour local economy.

"Having the NASCAR research and development facility here is like having a Johns Hopkins or Mayo Clinic. That's the kind of impact it'll have," said John Cox, chief executive officer of the Cabarrus Regional Chamber of Commerce.

MARTINSVILLE, Va. - In response to a wheel and tire that went sailing over the wall at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway last weekend, NASCAR issued a technical bulletin Saturday revising its policy on tethering wheels in the Winston Cup series.

Under the revised guidelines, distributed to teams Saturday at Martinsville Speedway, two fiber cables must be used on each front spindle of the car on all tracks 1¼ miles or more in length, excluding the two road courses.

In addition, steel cables will no longer be permitted. The new guidelines go into effect April 23.

"... We have determined that two fiber cables would add more than double the strength of one steel cable," said Gary Nelson, NASCAR's managing director of competition.

Last weekend, Ryan Newman lost the left-front wheel of his No. 12 Dodge during a 27-car accident on Lap 4.

The entire wheel assembly sailed over the Turn 2 wall and landed in a parking lot. It was later recovered by NASCAR officials.

NASCAR released a statement Saturday advising participants in all of its series to seek guidance from their personal physician before taking any supplemental product labeled as containing ephedra/ephedrine.

The statement referred to a study released Feb. 23, 2003, by the Rand Corp. which concluded that supplemental products containing ephedra/phedrine may increase the incidence of such side effects as nausea, vomiting, jitteriness and heart palpitations.

NASCAR plans to continue to monitor reports regarding health-related concerns with ephedra/ephedrine and will issue further advisories as warranted.

Ephedra, which is extracted from an Asian plant, is banned in college sports, the Olympics, the NFL and minor league baseball. Supplement manufacturer Stacker 2 sponsors the Winston Cup car of Kenny Wallace and Busch series car of Scott Wimmer.

GLADEVILLE, Tenn. - Much-heralded 17-year-old Kyle Busch set a track qualifying record in the afternoon, then backed it up Friday night at Nashville Superspeedway to win in just his second start on the ARCA circuit.

Busch, the younger brother of Winston Cup star Kurt Busch, led 83 of 113 laps and held off four-time ARCA series champion Frank Kimmel by 2.406 seconds despite several restarts down the stretch.

The performance impressed Busch's boss, team owner Rick Hendrick.

"He just showed a lot of poise for someone his age, and Frank Kimmel is a heck of a race car driver," Hendrick said. "All those restarts late in the race, you would expect someone with no more experience than Kyle has to make a mistake. He was right on the money every lap."

Also... Roush Gets Suprise Gift: Last week at Talladega, Roush was reunited with two of the other men who saved his life, doctors Stephan Moran and John Kirkpatrick. Moran was the Alabama hospital contact who told Roush's brother to prepare the family for bad news, that Jack probably wouldn't make it through that first night. Kirkpatrick did the surgery on Roush's badly broken legs - ``with all the hardware from his son's erector set, screws and plates and tubes,'' Roush joked. A birthday party for Roush last week at the Moran family's home in Alabama produced yet another surprise. ``When I was 8 years old, I wrote my name in a library book that they had given me at school,'' Roush said. ``It was something about personal safety and health. He [Moran] found that book on eBay that had my name in it, and it was just right because it was about being careful and not hurting yourself.'' - The Tampa Tribune

Also... Tire Problems For Craven: Ricky Craven's crew apparently got the left-side tires on the right and the right sides on the left on the last stop.

Also... Toyota's NASCAR Tundra Racer Is Well Underway: Things have been pretty quiet on the Toyota front lately, but work on the Japanese company's new NASCAR Tundra racer is well under way. The two NASCAR teams expected to play a big role in Toyota's truck venture next season are the ones owned by Chip Ganassi and Bill Davis, although neither is willing to confirm anything. Davis' suspected Toyota truck operation, according to team sources, is being run at a secret shop that is being called Area 54, a take-off on the U.S. government's top-secret flight base, Area 51. Where might that shop be? According to sources, it's probably at Davis' old Busch shop in Thomasville.

Also... Todd Parrott Rejoining Rusty Wallace? No, Says Penske South Representative: Walt Czarnecki, of Penske South, says that Todd Parrott won't be rejoining the Rusty Wallace team... - The Winston-Salem Journal

Also... Around The Garage: By taking 10th, Ken Schrader earned his first top-10 finish since September 2001 at Darlington Raceway. . . . Jeff Gordon became the ninth driver to triumph in nine races this season. The Winston Cup record for the number of races to begin a season without a repeat winner is 10, which was set in 2000. Dale Earnhardt Jr. ended that streak when he followed his first career win at Texas with a victory at Richmond International Raceway in May 2000. - The Richmond Times-Dispatch

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — That slow dripping sound? It's saliva landing on mouse pads in NASCAR's marketing department. At least for one afternoon only nine weeks into a 36-week season, a 2003 championship chase starring Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. didn't seem far-fetched.
Gordon beat Bobby Labonte to win Sunday's race at Martinsville Speedway, and Earnhardt finished third. Gordon and Earnhardt combined to lead 385 of 500 laps, and they head into a rare off weekend second and third in the standings behind points leader Matt Kenseth.

Of course, Earnhardt's 2002 season demonstrated that the points standings don't mean much in April. Earnhardt was near the top at this time last season, only to see his season fall apart because of an injury and inconsistency. "I'll believe it when we win it," said Earnhardt, who finished in the top five for the third consecutive time at Martinsville.

Although Gordon, a four-time Winston Cup champion, knows it's too early to start looking at the standings or zeroing in on one competitor, he acknowledges that Earnhardt's team has been strong. "They're definitely running good at a lot of different tracks," Gordon said. "I think the team has matured; I think Junior has matured."

MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- For once, a NASCAR Winston Cup race didn't end in controversy. After Texas and Talladega, the sanctioning body had to be thankful.

But there were some questions after Sunday's Virginia 500 at Martinsville Speedway, notably about what is fair game when racing for the lead. Jeff Gordon and Bobby Labonte were racing hard for the victory Sunday when Gordon leaned on Labonte, getting him sideways.

Once past, Gordon went unchallenged. But was it a fair move? How much of a bump is too much?

Gordon, who has been involved in more than one late-race bump-and-run, said he learned his tactics from Dale Earnhardt.

"There are certain things you can do out there, just like Bobby was doing," Gordon said. "He wasn't really hitting me, but he was definitely making it close to impossible for me to get by him.

"Basically there at the end, I had a fender right inside his left-rear bumper, and when he turned in the corner I just didn't turn. That's usually a good way to, either, loosen them up or sometimes you're going to touch them a little bit. And on the short track, it usually takes a little more than just air to move them around.

"I try to not do anything to where I'm going to send the guy off to the wall or spin him out. I try to work him over, race him, and try to pass him as clean as I can -- then, you start going to other motives."

Labonte, whom Gordon and third-place Dale Earnhardt Jr. acknowledged as one of the most respected drivers in the garage, wasn't upset at all.

"He didn't move me up the race track," Labonte said. "We were racing pretty hard.  We ran a lot of laps side-by-side and never touched. All that racing was good. This is Martinsville, and I thought it was good racing."

The lines between a nudge, a bump and a hard knock are pretty blurry, but drivers seem to be able to police themselves.

"There are some guys that you won't knock out of the way, for respect reasons, and there are some guys that you disrespect and you want that opportunity to knock them out of the way for the win," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I can't say if that was a factor today. But I think Bobby is probably one of the most respected guys on the race track, and I saw Jeff lean on him.

"But that's all Jeff could do. Jeff had to muscle him. Jeff didn't just send him up the race track. But it was pretty good racing from where I was sitting. There was a little bit of bumping and carrying on, but I guarantee you that three-quarters of the field would have done a whole lot worse."

A brief flare-up

There was a lot of bumping and banging outside the top three in the closing laps. First, Jeff Burton got into Jimmie Johnson. Then on the last lap, Elliott Sadler and Tony Stewart tangled, enabling Burton to get past both.

Sadler and Stewart got together again after the checkered flag, but the consensus seemed to be no harm, no foul.

"We should have finished fourth, but they just leaned on us and knocked us out of the way," said Stewart, who ended up sixth. “They got a run on me down in the corner and just used us up. It didn't matter to them whether we were there or not."

Stewart didn't name any names, but he was clearly talking about Sadler.

"(Stewart) was trying to block both of us, and he left the inside lane open, so I stuck it in there," Sadler said. "I wanted to get these guys a top-five. They deserved it, and I did whatever I had to do. Tony would have done the same thing. I didn't spin him out, I just moved him up a little bit."

Johnson, who ran in the top five for a long portion of the race, slipped back to ninth in the closing laps. While his car got loose on the final set of tires, Johnson was also a bit miffed at Rusty Wallace.

"It was getting out of control," Johnson said of the late-race battling. "But what do you do? Everybody is beating on one another, and then the 2 car races me back to the caution. Gentlemen's agreement -you think it's there, and it's not. I guess that's just part of it."

Gordon's glad streak stopped

Gordon ended a 15-race losing streak Sunday, which was nothing compared to his lengthy slide last year. The four-time champion went 31 races without winning until he went to victory lane at Bristol last August.

So stopping the 15-race skid was a "big relief" to Gordon.

"There are so many sweet things about getting a victory early in the season," Gordon said. "In the first third of the season, I think it means so much. It just takes that weight off your shoulder. We don't have to go each weekend going, 'OK, it's been 18, 20, 30, 40, however many races it's been since we won.'

"Plus, we go into an off-weekend, so we get to enjoy it for a little bit longer than just a regular win. Any win is special.  It was awesome, and it was great to be able to do it from the pole.

"This team, I think they've been right there week in and week out to get a win. We've been close and let it slip away, and it's awesome to finally get it -- especially early on."

BAM's big day

Ken Schrader and BAM Racing had an historic day at Martinsville, as Schrader posted the first top-10 finish in the team's brief history. Plus, Schrader got his first top-10 since the 2001 season-finale.

BAM Racing, in its second season in Winston Cup, needed 26 races to get its first top-10.

"We weren't bad," Schrader said. "It was a good day. We could have finished better, but that last pit stop really hurt us. I think we could have been a bit higher. I didn't get a top-10 last year, so I'll take it. The neat thing is that no one expects us to do this.  We'll just keep showing them each week. I've got to thank (crew chief) Scott Eggleston for giving me a great car all day."

A 'read bad' day for Kenseth

On the other end of the spectrum is Matt Kenseth. The Winston Cup points leader never was a factor Sunday, especially after going down a lap early on. Kenseth got a little better as the day progressed, but he still finished 22nd, one lap down.

"We got to the tail end of the lead lap one time, but we never really got our lap back," Kenseth said. "We just ran real bad. Everybody worked on it hard, and we got it respectable at the end if we could do a real, real long run, but it just wouldn't go anywhere. That's all we had."

Kenseth kept the points lead, but he lost ground. Earnhardt Jr. is only 51 points out of the lead, with Gordon 139 back. Sunday's result was Kenseth's worst of the season.

"You do the best job you can do every week," Kenseth said. "You never want to run bad, so you just go and do the best job you can do every week, and that's all you can do."

Traffic earns McMurray's ire

Rookie Jamie McMurray had a stellar run going for half the race, running in the top 10 on a track he had never competed before Sunday. But it all went for naught as McMurray's Dodge blew an engine.

"For my first time here, I was probably doing better than I expected," McMurray said.  "This is a really hard race track, and I told the guys before the race that our car was probably better than I was here. I had a top-10 car. That's all that I could ask for my first time here."

But he did have one complaint.

"The lap cars are horrible," McMurray said. "There were a few of the lapped cars that I thought 'Man, get out of the way' but they told me that it was going to be that way. I was really patient. I probably called them every name in the book in the car."

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) -- Jeff Gordon is the most accomplished driver in Winston Cup racing and one of the sport's biggest names.

But when Gordon glances at the point standings after eight races this year, he sees a star emerging that he believes no one else can touch: Dale Earnhardt Jr.

“If he wins the championship, game over for everybody else," said Gordon, who has won 61 races, 43 poles and four titles. "We're not even going to exist out there."

Earnhardt, in his fourth full season in NASCAR's top series, enters Sunday's Virginia 500 second in the points race, second to Gordon on the starting grid and coming off a controversial victory last weekend.

Trailing points leader Matt Kenseth with four laps to go at Talladega Superspeedway, Earnhardt drove below the yellow line to grab the lead and won his fourth consecutive race at the track.

Already treated like a rock star because of his champion bloodline, and ability to drive fast and live fast, too, Earnhardt is only enhancing his profile this year by racing better than he has before.

"I don't know if I ever had that kind of popularity. He has certainly earned it over the last couple of years," Gordon said.

In his first three fulltime seasons, Earnhardt finished 16th, eighth and 11th in the points race. This year, he trails Kenseth by 129 points and already has one victory, four top-five finishes and five top 10s.

"I'm real dedicated to trying to gain points this year," Earnhardt said. "Last year or any other year, for that matter, we just kind of raced one week after the other. I think the falter there is that you don't prepare well enough for the duration of four or five weeks in a row -- what that can do to your energy level and your drive and determination.

"You open the door each Thursday or Friday, on each new weekend, and the preparation is just not there."

This year, he's learned that taking care of things before going to the track improves your chances of winning.

"It's more enjoyable on my end and it's also more enjoyable on each of the crewmember's ends to have good finishes and something to be glad to come home to, to talk about with your wife or whatever," Earnhardt said.

Gordon has noticed the change, too, but isn't ready to say he and Earnhardt have developed into rivals.

"They seem to really have their act together," he said. "They've been good pretty much everywhere they've gone this year. If he continues that and I can keep up with what I've done in the past, then there might be something to talk about."

Following his victory at Talladega, and the pass that many felt might have drawn a penalty for another driver, Earnhardt enjoyed being at the center of a controversy.  Even more, he enjoyed what he'd accomplished.

"Win or lose, black flag or not, I felt really proud of my effort personally -- what I've done and what I saw and what I was accomplishing inside the car," he said. "It was something that gave me emotions I haven't experienced too often in this sport."

Your  Momma

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

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Today In Nascar History

April 11, 1965

Marvin Panch, wins at Atlanta in the 700th race in Grand National history. It is also the seventh in a string of 32 consecutive victories for Ford, which won NASCAR-record 48 races in 1965.

Do You Think Dale Earnhardt Jr. Should Have Been Given the Black Flag for the Pass on Kenseth Under the Yellow Line at Talladega?

http://de3fan4.tripod.com/

from O'Sure
Doing some research on the "passing below the yellow line rule" and found the below site that explains it very well to all who might want to read up on it. Also, an important excerpt from that site.
O'SURE
 
http://tricklefan.topcities.com/guide/rules.html
 
Child: What happens when someone breaks a rule?
NASCAR: Depends.

Child: Depends on what?
NASCAR: Who he is, who his sponsor is, how much we like him, whether he's a pain in the butt, how long it's been since he won, how many fans he's got ... You know, just the important things.

Child: Oh.

BRAD PARROTT REJOINS ROUSH
Roush Racing announced today that Brad Parrott has been rehired to join Jeff Burton's No. 99 Ford team and will report to crew chief Paul Andrews.  Parrott's hiring comes one day after he was ousted as crew chief for Dale Jarrett's No. 88 Ford at Robert Yates Racing. "We are excited to bring Brad back to Roush Racing," said Burton. "Our Busch Series team had a lot of success last year, and Brad was a big contributor to that success, so we think he can come in and help the No. 99 team this year." Burton and Parrott scored five wins in 14 Busch Series starts last year.

MARTINSVILLE, Va. - Kevin Harvick will have a better outcome at Martinsville Speedway than a year ago - even if he finishes last Sunday.

He was banned last April from the Winston Cup race by NASCAR for rough driving a day earlier in the truck series.  It was an unprecedented move by the sanctioning body, one that contributed to Harvick's 21st-place finish in the standings and enhanced his reputation as a hot head.

“I had a barbecue at my shop, watched the race with my friends and learned my lesson," Harvick said. "I obviously wanted to be racing, but I put myself in that spot and that's the way it works.

"Actually, it was kind of relaxing."

This weekend, Harvick will drive in both races, hoping to continue an early season run that has him ninth in the Cup standings after a second-place finish at Talladega Superspeedway. Perhaps more important: He's staying out of trouble.

The 27-year-old Californian spent virtually all of last season on probation. His skirmish with Coy Gibbs during the truck race at Martinsville was the low point.  Harvick vowed over his car radio to spin out Gibbs - which he did.

Harvick won't do it again, but he has no plan to drive sheepishly in the Virginia 500, one of two races each year on the shortest Winston Cup track - where bumping and banging are commonplace.

"I can go back and race harder than I did last time there," he said. "I'm not in trouble, and I know what I need to do. I know how to handle situations better."

Harvick is not the only driver who has trouble with the tight turns and long straightaways at Martinsville.

The race begins with everyone knowing there will be plenty of beating, banging and flaring tempers. Dealing with it all becomes a key to success.

"You learn how to protect the car," said series champion Tony Stewart, who once recommended turning Martinsville into a bass pond, but has one victory and five top-10 finishes in his last six races here. "You learn how to not beat it up.