Von Hall <von@...> wrote:From: "Von Hall" <von@...>
To: <nextelcup@...>
Date: Sat, 7 May 2005 09:17:52 -0500
Subject: Stockcarfans.com (Nextel Cup) Newsletter - Saturday May 7, 2005

StockCarFans Nextel Cup Newsletter
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StockCarFans.com (Nextel Cup) Newsletter - Saturday May 7, 2005

Good morning and welcome to Saturday Raceday! Check out Henry's latest blog
at the blogspot below. The race is tonight...don't get mixed up like I
almost did and miss it. :o)

Have a great Saturday!

--Von

---------------------------------
Stockcarfans Blog Spot Snipets
http://stockcarfans.blogspot.com

# A Justifiable Risk?
# A Shakeup in Broadcast Partners?
# Good Business Sense
# New Rules in Place

----------------------------------
Courtesy of http://www.racinnews.com/tv.htm

Saturday, May 7 (1974-Dave Steele)
12:00AM NASCAR Nextel Cup Qualifying Darlington SPEED
3:00AM NASCAR Fast Forward SPEED
5:00AM NASCAR Drivers: 360 FSN
11:00AM Trackside SPEED
12:00PM NASCAR Live! Darlington Live SPEED
1:00PM WoO! World of Outlaws OUTCH
1:00PM NASCAR Winston West in Bakersfield SPEED
2:00PM Raceline FOXNET
2:30PM NASCAR Beyond the Wheel SPEED
2:30PM Raceline KGEB
5:00PM Cribs MTVe
5:00PM NASCAR Performance SPEED
5:30PM NASCAR This Morning Darlington - Special Edition Live SPEED
7:00PM NASCAR Nextel Cup Carolina Dodge Dealers 500, Darlington Live! FOX
8:00PM Cribs MTVw
11:30PM NASCAR Victory Lane ~ Darlington SD SPEED

Sunday, May 8 (1964-Bobby Labonte, 1975-Nathan Buttke)
1:30AM NASCAR Performance SPEED
8:30AM NASCAR Performance SPEED
11:00AM Infield Hot Pass SPEED
11:30AM NASCAR Beyond the Wheel SPEED
5:00PM Millionaire Motor Homes TRAVEL
7:00PM NASCAR Speed News SPEED
8:00PM NASCAR Victory Lane ~ Darlington SPEED
9:00PM Wind Tunnel w/ Dave Despain Live! SPEED

Monday, May 9 (1981-Stuart Kirby, 1967-Tim Fedewa)
1:00AM NASCAR Speed News SPEED
2:00AM NASCAR Victory Lane SPEED
3:00AM Wind Tunnel w/ Dave Despain SPEED
8:00AM NASCAR Speed News SPEED
9:00AM NASCAR Victory Lane ~ Darlington SPEED
10:00AM NASCAR Speed News SPEED
12:00PM NASCAR Speed News SPEED
3:00PM Wind Tunnel w/ Dave Despain SPEED
6:00PM NASCAR Victory Lane ~ Darlington SPEED
7:00PM NASCAR Nation SPEED
8:00PM Inside Nextel Cup SPEED
10:00PM NASCAR Nation SPEED
11:00PM Inside Nextel Cup SPEED

----------------------------------
Courtesy of http://www.jayski.com

# Bill Elliott to take lead for NASCAR HOF Atlanta bid: #91-Bill Elliott
will be the lead salesman for Atlanta's bid to be NASCAR's Cooperstown.
Elliott will use his strong ties to corporate sponsors and NASCAR executives
to help Atlanta win stock car racing's hall of fame. Elliott will officially
be the honorary chairman of the city's NASCAR bid. Scott Wilfong, president
of SunTrust Bank, Atlanta, and Mark Lazarus, president of Turner
Entertainment group, are also leading the effort, among other city and state
officials.(Atlanta Journal-Constitution)(5-7-2005)

# Johnson has spoken to Dale Jr.: Jimmie Johnson says he's talked with Dale
Earnhardt Jr. and everything is okay between them. This after Junior on
Tuesday during testing at Lowe's Motor Speedway called Johnson an "idiot"
and blamed him for causing both major crashes last Sunday at Talladega.
"Yeah it (Dale's comments) defiantly caught me off guard, said Johnson, and
from what I understand he (Dale Jr.) was put in a bad position during the
interview.was put on the spot and some allegations of a comment that came
out of my mouth.so looking at that I don't blame him for saying what he did
and I spoke to him and everything's fine there. We'll just move on. It's
racing and this Lowe's team is very strong.I believe in my team and they
believe in me and I know everybody in the garage area respects me.
Everybody's given their opinion, right or wrong everyone can point fingers
in every direction but in my opinion it's a racing incident."(PRN's Garage
Pass Radio Show)(5-6-2005)

# Talladega TV Ratings Soar: Fox's broadcast of last Sunday's Aaron's 499 at
Talladega Superspeedway earned a final Nielsen Media Research rating of 7.6
and an 18 market share, Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Daily reports. The
rating is 20.6% higher than the 6.3 the 2004 Talladega spring race, which
was run a week earlier. It is also 24.6% higher than the rating for the 2004
California spring race, which was run on the comparable weekend. The race
was also easily the weekend's most watched sporting event, with Fox's
coverage of last Saturday's Busch Series race at Talladega finishing second
with a 3.3/7. To date, Fox is averaging a 6.2/14 for its Nextel Cup
coverage, up 5% from last year.(NASCAR Scene Daily Newsletter)(5-6-2005)

# Darlington Raceway book still available. UMI Publications still has some
books about Darlington Racway available, The Lady in Black, which celebates
the 50th anniversary of the famed raceway. The books can be ordered directly
by calling UMI at 800-357-8535 or www.umibooks.com.(5-6-2005)

# #14 and Andretti coming back in June, for 5-7 races: It was reported on
Speed Channel's NASCAR Nations show Thursday night that the #14 ppc Racing
Ford and John Andretti would return to the track to run 5-7 races in 2005,
with the first being at Michigan in June. Plans call for the team to run 15
to 17 races in 2006 and then full-time in 2007. No word on a crew chief for
the team as it was reported last week that crew chief Dave Charpentier left
and went back to DEI.(5-6-2005)

# Rusty does call injured crewman Contrary to a recent report, Rusty Wallace
said Thursday that he had, in fact, attempted to contact Richard Childress
Racing crewman Josh Yost throughout the past week. Wallace and Yost finally
spoke via cell phone Thursday morning. "I just spoke with him and he's
fine," Wallace said. Yost, the jack man for Jeff Burton's #31 Cingular
Chevrolet, was struck by Wallace's Dodge during a pit stop in the Aaron's
499 at Talladega Superspeedway. An RCR team spokesman who had spoken
directly with Yost on Wednesday told NASCAR.COM's Marty Smith that Wallace
had not yet spoken with Yost. The spokesman said Yost had his cell phone
with him throughout his hospital stay and had not received a call from the
1989 Cup Series champion. Smith then reported that information on SPEED
Channel's NASCAR Nation Wednesday, greatly upsetting Wallace, who explained
he had tried to contact Yost at home and had left messages on his home
answering machine. "I'm glad I've spoken with him and that he's OK," Wallace
said. Yost's right ankle suffered two ruptured ligaments, torn ligaments and
a severe laceration in the incident, which the team confirmed would sideline
him for the remainder of the 2005 season. Exploratory surgery Tuesday also
revealed that the tip of Yost's right fibula was crushed. Yost had
reconstructive surgery Thursday, and may be able to go home Friday, the team
said.(NASCAR.com)(5-6-2005)

# Barry Dodson back to the broadcast booth? In an exclusive interview today
on Rowdy, former crew chief Barry Dodson talks about his desire to return to
television work. "Basically, my stint with Rusty is complete," says Dodson
of his work with longtime compatriot Rusty Wallace. "We started the RWI
Busch shop and got it going from nothing--did the same thing with Steven
Wallace and the Hooters team, and he's about to turn 18. So it's a good time
for me to get back into something I really loved doing." Dodson, who won the
a championship as the crew chief for Wallace in 1989, has worked as a
television analyst before and is a regular contributor to Rowdy. Also on the
show today, Barry talks about the Big One at Talladega, drivers pay a salute
to their mothers, and Mark Garrow reports from Darlington. Rowdy is a racing
radio show you get on your cell phone, with daily racing news and driver
interviews. Call 1-800-95-ROWDY to sign up and try it for free, or listen to
samples, check out the archive, and find out more at
www.rowdy.com.(5-6-2005)

# Busch crashes into ambulance at Road America UPDATE: During a mid-morning
track test session at Road America [4 mile road course, Elkhart Lake, WI],
#97-Kurt Busch drove through a tire barrier and hit an ambulance. Although
two ambulance personnel were taken to the hospital for minor injuries, Bush
was not hurt in the accident. According to Busch, a loose brake fitting
caused break failure as he went into turn five. The incident is under review
by the Road America Safety Team.(5-3-2005)
UPDATE: It's news enough that Nextel Cup champion Kurt Busch came to
Wisconsin in early May to test his Cup car at Road America, considering
NASCAR hasn't competed at the 4-mile road course in Elkhart Lake since 1956.
Then you learn that he crashed and hit an ambulance. Two workers were
treated for minor injuries and released from a Sheboygan hospital after the
accident Monday in Turn 5, according to a track spokeswoman. Busch's crash
occurred when a brake line failure caused him to lose control, Roush Racing
said. Busch aimed for a tire barrier in the runoff area in Turn 5, a sharp,
downhill lefthander, and then hit the ambulance, which was parked in a
standard location, the spokeswoman said. (Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel)(5-6-2005)

----------------------------------
Courtesy of http://www.nascar.com

Kahne edges Newman for Darlington pole
By Mike Harris, The Associated Press
DARLINGTON, S.C. (AP) -- Kasey Kahne drove to his second Nextel Cup pole in
three tries at Darlington Raceway, easily beating qualifying ace Ryan Newman
in time tests Friday for the Dodge Charger 500. Kahne won the pole here last
spring and finished 13th in the race. He started 13th last fall on the
1.366-mile oval and ran fifth in the final Southern 500. "We've had some
success here, but it's a pretty tough track and it can bite you," Kahne
said. "It's gotten me a couple of times. I've run into the wall a couple of
times, but not too hard, yet." Kahne's Evernham Motorsports Dodge took the
fifth pole of his career with a lap of 170.024 mph. Newman, who has
qualified on the pole three times and been second twice in 10 races this
year, made it an all-Dodge front row for Saturday night's race with a lap at
169.555. "It was on the edge and I didn't expect it to get loose where it
did," Newman said of his run on the treacherous, egg-shaped oval. "Kasey
laid down a great lap. He was nice and smooth, and we weren't quite as
smooth or fast."
http://www.nascar.com/2005/news/headlines/cup/05/06/kkahne_pole.ap/index.htm
l

Dodge dominates qualifying at Darlington
By Ron Lemasters Jr., Special to NASCAR.COM
DARLINGTON, S.C. -- Talk about truth in advertising. A pair of Dodge
Chargers will lead the field to the green flag Saturday night for the Dodge
Charger 500. Kasey Kahne won his first pole since last June at Pocono,
lapping the 1.366-mile Darlington Raceway at 28.295 seconds, 170.024 miles
per hour. Ryan Newman, another Dodge Charger driver, was second at 169.555
mph. For Kahne, the fact that Dodge Chargers swept the front row was pretty
cool. It also validated his decision to get his hair cut for the first time
in a long while. "I finally got my hair cut this week," Kahne said. "I went
to Great Clips and got my hair cut and tried to change some things. When
were finishing second all the time, I had short hair, so I figured I'd
change it back." On the Dodge sweep, it figured that Kahne would be one or
the other on the front row. After winning the pole here for this race last
year, he is the only repeat pole winner since 1999. His run ended a streak
of eight different pole winners in 12 races (qualifying was rained out three
times). "It's pretty awesome that we're able to have two Dodge drivers in
the front row for this race," Kahne said. "For us to get the Dodge Charger
500 pole was great, and we're looking forward to the race. It's a great
feeling to get a Bud Pole this year. I think it's been since the middle of
June that we got our last one."
http://www.nascar.com/2005/news/headlines/cup/05/06/kkahne_rnewman/index.htm
l

Johnson goes for three in a row at Darlington
By Mark Aumann, NASCAR.COM
A trip to Darlington Raceway couldn't have come at a more opportune time for
Jimmie Johnson. Johnson, who won both races at Darlington in 2004, is coming
off consecutive races in which he was involved in controversial accidents.
At Phoenix, he tapped Tony Stewart, setting off a multi-car pileup. At
Talladega, he was in the middle of the two major crashes, which led Dale
Earnhardt Jr. and Greg Biffle to implicate him as the instigator. "When
you're out there in the cars and you're drafting, bump drafting three-wide
and four-wide, the cars are being moved around," Johnson said. "Imagine
being on a boat and the wake coming off of a boat. When you try to cross
that wake in another boat, it's difficult. It throws you all over the place.
"If you want to think of being out there with 42 other boats, and you stay
an inch or two apart from each other, stuff happens." Johnson faded to 15th
at Phoenix. He escaped damage in the first Talladega wreck -- but was caught
up in the second and wound up 20th. Still, he's 130 points ahead of Kurt
Busch heading to some of his better tracks. Johnson believed the recent
incidents were more indicative of the new aerodynamic package than any
change in his driving style. "There are a lot of things that are a little
bit different," Johnson said. "The cars are a little bit tougher to drive.
Everybody's trying hard. I think the competition is a little bit tougher
than it's been. A little of everything, to be honest with you." Johnson said
the 25-car accident at Talladega was more a result of restrictor-plate
racing than any other factor.
http://www.nascar.com/2005/news/headlines/cup/05/05/jjohnson_darl/index.html

----------------------------------
Courtesy of http://www.thatsracin.com/

Darlington bucks NASCAR tradition
Fan flop unlikely this time around
By PETE IACOBELLI
DARLINGTON, S.C. - Jim Hunter remembers the clunker of a deal NASCAR had the
last time it squared off with Mother's Day nearly two decades ago. Oh, the
racing was top notch with Bill Elliott outdueling Dale Earnhardt win The
Winston all-star race, now called the Nextel All-Star Challenge, at Atlanta
Motor Speedway in 1986. It was the grandstands were things didn't go so
well. "Yeah, it was me and four other people," laughed Hunter, NASCAR vice
president and chief spokesman for the Nextel Cup series. There'll be many
more spectators on Saturday night when a sold-out Dodge Charger 500 runs at
Darlington Raceway on Mother's Day weekend, the first time the sport's major
series has run near Mother's Day since that fan flop. And Hunter, who has
taught classes on NASCAR promotion, still can't figure out what went wrong.
Everything seemed ripe for a big day of racing in the second Nextel All-Star
Challenge, then known as "The Winston." The weather was great. And the
popular Elliott got his lone all-star victory. As far as the fans? "It was a
bomb, a flat-out bomb," said Chip Williams, with NASCAR public relations at
the time. Williams says they announced about 25,000 fans at the only
all-star race not held at Lowe's Motorspeedway in Concord, N.C. "But it
looked like half of them were in the bathroom," he said. Hunter wasn't sure
there were that many. "You could've shot a scatter-gun into the crowd and
not hit anybody," he said.
http://www.thatsracin.com/mld/thatsracin/11590446.htm

Kahne, Newman put Dodges on Darlington's front row
By DAVID POOLE
DARLINGTON, S.C. - Everybody wants to ask Kasey Kahne about his winless
streak in Nextel Cup racing, but at the time he won the pole on Friday for
the Dodge 500 he'd never lost a night race at Darlington Raceway. "I've only
been in one and I won that," Kahne said after running a lap at 170.024 mph
to earn the No. 1 starting spot for Saturday night's Nextel Cup event. That
one was a NASCAR Truck Series race held here on Nov. 13, the first race
under the lights at this historic 1.366-mile track, and it yielded a victory
for Kahne. That win was succor for the frustration Kahne dealt with in his
rookie Cup season, in which the 25-year-old driver finished second five
times but didn't earn a victory. He added a sixth runner-up finish at
Martinsville earlier this year, but going into his 46th Cup race tonight
he's still looking for that first career win. "The last two hours of the Cup
race here last fall was under the lights," Kahne said. "I enjoyed it with
the atmosphere, the fans and being right up against the wall. ...It would be
huge to win here. "It'd be a great track to win a Cup race at, especially my
first one."
http://www.thatsracin.com/mld/thatsracin/sports/motorsports/nascar/series/ne
xtel_cup/11584156.htm

Sadler: 'We're more out of control ... than ever at Darlington'
By MIKE HARRIS
Between the shorter rear spoilers required at most tracks this year, the
tire-eating racing surface and the narrowing of the 1.366-mile Darlington
Raceway with the addition last year of energy-absorbing barriers, NASCAR's
original paved superspeedway is harder than ever to drive. "We're more out
of control this year than I've ever been at Darlington," Elliott Sadler said
Friday after Nextel Cup practice. "The track is just getting old and gray.
"You have a lot less room to slide around because of the SAFER Barriers, but
we like the SAFER Barriers. It's going to create great racing, I think.
"Besides, when have you ever come to Darlington and seen a boring race?"
Six-time Darlington winner Jeff Gordon echoed Sadler. "You're taking spoiler
away. You're taking race track away," Gordon said. "The track continues to
age and it just gets more and more difficult and the bumps get worse. The
grip gets less and it just makes you have to really fight that much harder
to stay off the walls.
http://www.thatsracin.com/mld/thatsracin/sports/motorsports/nascar/series/ne
xtel_cup/11584613.htm

Kurt Busch hits tires, ambulance as brake test goes wrong
By JIM UTTER
DARLINGTON, S.C. - Kurt Busch got an unexpected surprise this week when he
visited Road America in Wisconsin for a brake test with his No. 97 Roush
Racing team - and his brakes failed. Busch was navigating several corners on
the road course and as he entered Turn 5, his brake pedal bounced off the
floor when he applied pressure. "I was doing 180 mph and looking right at
tire barriers," Busch said. "We slid through all the tire barriers and there
they have them staggered, so that if you blow a corner you can zigzag
through them. "Well, I just blew them all to pieces and, unfortunately,
there was an ambulance parked there." Two workers were treated for minor
injuries and released from a Sheboygan, Wis., hospital after the accident
Monday.
http://www.thatsracin.com/mld/thatsracin/sports/motorsports/nascar/series/ne
xtel_cup/11582723.htm

Newman addresses differences with Rusty Wallace, sort of
By JIM UTTER
DARLINGTON, S.C. - For weeks, Rusty Wallace has been making public comments
about his inability to work well with his Penske Racing South teammate Ryan
Newman and his No. 12 team. Wallace's comments have been directed at Newman,
his crew chief Matt Borland, and the No. 12 team in general and its
unwillingness to share information. Newman for the most part has remained
silent, preferring not to engage in a sparring match with Wallace. Newman,
however, did offer a response this week when asked if Wallace's comments had
affected his team's performance. "Not at all. Rusty has voiced his opinion
in a lot of areas. I've maintained a pretty calm stance, and basically our
performance has been related to our performance as a team in the No. 12
Dodge," Newman said. "We've had our goods and bads throughout the season and
none of it has been anybody else's fault except ours."

NASCAR says Johnson's driving not a problem
BY ED HINTON
DARLINGTON, S.C. - Despite a flurry of peer criticism for rough driving,
Nextel Cup points leader Jimmie Johnson is under no special scrutiny from
officials, NASCAR Vice President Jim Hunter said Thursday. Asked whether
NASCAR has any problem with the way Johnson has been driving lately, Hunter
said, flatly and firmly, "No." After pausing to let the certainty of his
word settle in, Hunter added, "Racing is rubbing," repeating an old NASCAR
adage. The flap grew out of Sunday's 25-car pileup at Talladega, Ala. - the
usual multicar mess that drivers take as almost inevitable in tightly
bunched restrictor-plate racing. Dale Earnhardt Jr. touched off a frenzy
Tuesday by saying, "If there was an idiot out there, it was him (Johnson)."
But NASCAR considers Earnhardt Jr. just as much to blame for the Talladega
wreck as Johnson, Hunter said. "At 190 mph, running inches apart, things are
going to happen on the race track," Hunter said. "I don't think Jimmie
Johnson was the sole reason for that crash. ...Jimmie moving over into Mike
Wallace, and Mike Wallace as a result crowding Scott Riggs against the
fence, and Earnhardt giving Wallace a shot from the rear - it all happened
at virtually the same time," Hunter said.
http://www.thatsracin.com/mld/thatsracin/sports/motorsports/nascar/series/ne
xtel_cup/11580274.htm

-----------------------------------
Courtesy of http://insiderracingnews.com/

Bruton Smith Talks About Racing's Past, Present and Future
O. Bruton Smith Photo by Harold Hinson
>From Promoting Dirt-Track Races to the Need for a Monorail, Bruton Smith
Talks about Racing's Past, Present and Future. O. Bruton Smith developed a
passion for building things while growing up on a modest farm in Oakboro,
N.C. Smith, chairman of Speedway Motorsports, Inc., has since parlayed that
passion into a business empire, focusing on the motorsports and automotive
industries. Among the many things Smith has built is Lowe's Motor Speedway,
site of the May 21 NASCAR NEXTEL All-Star Challenge and the May 29 Coca-Cola
600. The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series events continue a tradition which began in
1960 when NASCAR's premier division first visited the 1.5-mile
superspeedway. Never one to hold back an opinion, Smith recently sat down
with Jerry Gappens, Lowe's Motor Speedway's vice president of marketing and
public relations, for a question-and-answer session, and the topics ranged
from dirt-track racing to the need for a monorail at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
To read the entire interview... (Insider Racing News)

Kahne On Darlington Pole
Kasey Kahne
Kasey Kahne won the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series pole for the Dodge Charger 500,
lapping Darlington Raceway in 28.923 seconds at 170.024 mph. Ward Burton
holds the track-qualifying record of 28.295 seconds, 173.797 mph, set March
22, 1996. This is Kahne's fifth career pole in 46 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series
races, his first since Pocono last June. This is Kahne's second pole at
Darlington Raceway. He also won the pole here last March. Kahne became the
eighth pole winner in 2005. Ryan Newman (three) is the only repeat pole
winner this season. Ryan Newman qualified second to make it an all-Dodge
front row. Greg Biffle will start third in the Dodge Charger 500 on Saturday
night followed by Elliott Sadler, Brian Vickers, Kyle Busch, Sterling
Marlin, Jeremy Mayfield, Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards.

There have been eight different pole winners in the 12 races at Darlington
since September 1999. Kahne is the only repeat pole winner since 1999.
Qualifying was rained out three times in the 12-race period (spring 2001,
fall 2002, fall 2004). The furthermost back that a race winner has started
at Darlington was 43rd in the inaugural Southern 500 in 1950 by Johnny
Mantz. That race had a 75-car field. Only four other drivers have won at
Darlington from a starting position further back than 15th: Herb Thomas
(23rd - fall 1954), Bobby Labonte (37th - fall 2000), Ward Burton (37th -
fall 2001) and Ricky Craven (31st - spring 2003). This is the fourth pole
for Dodge in 2005. Chevrolet also has four poles and Ford has two. Four
drivers failed to qualify for the Dodge Charger 500: Johnny Sauter, Robby
Gordon, Tony Raines and Morgan Shepherd.
For Starting Lineup... (Insider Racing News)

Kyle Busch Leads First Practice
Rookie Kyle Busch, driving the Hendrick Motorsports' No. 5 Chevrolet -- put
up the fastest lap in Friday's practice session at Darlington Raceway in
preparation for Saturday night's Dodge Charger 500,Busch toured the
1.366-mile track in 29.133 seconds for a speed of 168.798 mph. Ryan Newman
was second in Penske Racing South's No. 12 Dodge with a lap of
29.158/168.654), and Jeremy Mayfield was third in Evernham Motorsports' No.
19 Dodge (29.420 seconds, a speed of 167.152 mph. Kasey Kahne was fourth
followed by Travis Kvapil, Carl Edwards, Elliott Sadler, Kurt Busch, Tony
Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr. to round out the top-ten.
For full practice results... (Insider Racing News)

Talladega Ratings Up 21%
The 7.6 final national rating for FOX's broadcast of Sunday's Aaron's 499
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race was the highest Talladega Superspeedway has
had in its history and the third-highest rated non-Daytona 500 NASCAR NEXTEL
Cup Series event in broadcast history. This number represents a 21 percent
increase over last year's 6.3 rating earned by the Aaron's 499. Jeff Gordon
defended his victory in last year's spring event, accomplishing it this time
even more decisively by leading 139 of the race's 194 laps with what was
clearly the strongest car all day. The Aaron's 499 was the No. 1 sporting
event of the weekend, outperforming by 162 percent the next closest sport,
the NBA Playoffs on ABC, which garnered a 2.9 rating. The 2005 Aaron's 312
became the second highest rated non-Daytona NASCAR Busch Series event in
broadcast history, with a 3.3 rating on FOX. This number represents at 57
percent increase over the 2.1 rating earned last year.

Dallas-Fort Worth TV Market Explodes
Fox officials keep NASCAR informed of major market trends, and they like
what they see in Dallas-Fort Worth. The D-FW television ratings for Cup
races this season are up 15 percent (about 145,000 homes) - a huge increase
in TV numbers.(Dallas News)

NASCAR Will Take Another Look At Canada
Daytona executives are expected to fly north in the next week or two to
check out possibilities for their planned north-of-the-border expansion. And
the latest thinking is that the Mosport road course near Toronto has moved
to the top of the NASCAR list. Canadian sources say that it is almost a
certainty that NASCAR will schedule a Busch race in Canada in 2006, hoping
for success similar to that of its Mexico City venture of two months ago.
The two cities in the running are Toronto, the country's largest, with 5.3
million in the greater metropolitan area, and Montreal, the second largest,
with 3.2 million. Mosport, a well-known track 50 miles from Toronto and 21/2
hours from Buffalo, N.Y., would have to spend money upgrading its
facilities. In contrast, the Montreal Formula One course, also under
consideration by NASCAR, is already fully prepared for a NASCAR race. But
the Montreal track is limited by law to two races a year, and one of them is
the Canadian Grand Prix. The other is the annual Indy-car race, run now by
the struggling Champ Car series.(Journal Now)

Andretti May Be Back For A Few Races
It was reported on Speed Channel's NASCAR Nations show Thursday night that
the #14 ppc Racing Ford and John Andretti would return to the track to run
5-7 races in 2005, with the first being at Michigan in June. Plans call for
the team to run 15 to 17 races in 2006 and then full-time in 2007. No word
on a crew chief for the team as it was reported last week that crew chief
Dave Charpentier left and went back to DEI.(Jayski)

Busch Hits Ambulance In Testing
It's news enough that Nextel Cup champion Kurt Busch came to Wisconsin in
early May to test his Cup car at Road America, considering NASCAR hasn't
competed at the 4-mile road course in Elkhart Lake since 1956. Then you
learn that he crashed and hit an ambulance. Two workers were treated for
minor injuries and released from a Sheboygan hospital after the accident
Monday in Turn 5, according to a track spokeswoman. Busch's crash occurred
when a brake line failure caused him to lose control, Roush Racing said.
Busch aimed for a tire barrier in the runoff area in Turn 5, a sharp,
downhill lefthander, and then hit the ambulance, which was parked in a
standard location, the spokeswoman said.(JS Online)

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Courtesy of http://www.catchfence.com/index1.html

Jeff Gordon is NASCAR's newest wine man: Move over Richard Childress, you
have some company in the wine business. Nextel Cup driver Jeff Gordon will
join the car owner, who started his own winery last year, in the industry.
Gordon is teaming up with August Briggs Winery, located near Napa Valley,
Calif., and will market two wines called the Jeff Gordon Collection. The
first one, a Chardonnay, will be introduced this year in October followed by
a Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon coming out in January of 2007. "I don't know
a lot about wine. I know wine when it tastes good and definitely enjoy it
when I get a chance to have a nice meal and some wine," Gordon said. Gordon
said the wine is probably something race fans won't be rushing to buy and he
certainly isn't planning to target race fans with any wine marketing
campaigns. "They can get it if they want," he said. "But it's not something
we're trying to take to the race fans."

Petty is pretty in pink for tonight's race: One car that will be easy to
follow tonight is Kyle Petty's.That's because the No. 45 Georgia Pacific
Dodge is pink instead of its normal red, white and blue paint scheme. Petty
is running the special Mother's Day paint scheme. "I guess he must love me
if he is running a pink car," Petty's mother, Lynda, joked recently. Other
drivers running a special tribute to their moms are Michael Waltrip and Dale
Jarrett. The track has a couple of festivities for mothers of Nextel Cup
drivers in attendance tonight. Mothers will walk across the stage with their
sons and also give the start engines command for tonight's race. - The
Richmond Times-Dispatch

Bill Elliott to drive Hall of Fame bid - Veteran promoting Atlanta: Veteran
driver Bill Elliott has volunteered to steer Atlanta's bid for NASCAR's Hall
of Fame. He has offered to use his strong ties to corporate sponsors and
NASCAR executives to help Atlanta become racing's Cooperstown. Elliott, 49,
contends the earliest days of NASCAR started in Georgia, and "Atlanta
deserves a good shot at this thing," he said. Some fans might assume
Charlotte, N.C., is a natural site for the Hall of Fame, he said, but that's
because North Carolina was geographically central when the sport was a
Southern pastime. "That's not so anymore," said Elliott, who is from
Dawsonville, Ga. "Atlanta is a hub for millions of people, it's a diverse
market with other good professional sports, and a good convention center. .
. . (These are) things we can bring to the plate that are important for
where it needs to be." Atlanta is competing with Charlotte, Richmond, Va.,
Kansas City, Kan., Daytona Beach, Fla., and the state of Michigan for a
NASCAR Hall of Fame attraction. Bids are due to NASCAR's decision-makers by
May 31. - The Indianapolis Star

Kahne, Newman put Dodges on Darlington's front row: If Friday's qualifying
is any indication, drivers will have their hands full in Saturday night's
Dodge 500 at Darlington Raceway. Kasey Kahne and Ryan Newman, both driving
Dodges, had no problem getting their cars around the tricky 1.366-mile
track. Kahne ran 170.024 mph to win his first Nextel Cup pole of the 2005
season, while Newman ran 169.555 mph to earn the outside spot on Row 1.
...Greg Biffle and Elliott Sadler, both in Fords, will start from Row 2 on
Saturday night, with Hendrick Motorsports teammates Brian Vickers and Kyle
Busch, both in Chevrolets, on the third row. - That's Racin'

Top-10 Starters: 1st) Kasey Kahne - 170.024, 2nd) Ryan Newman - 169.555,
3rd) Greg Biffle - 169.222, 4th) Elliott Sadler - 168.665, 5th) Brian
Vickers - 168.607, 6th) Kyle Busch - 168.089, 7th) Sterling Marlin -
167.773, 8th) Jeremy Mayfield - 167.693, 9th) Jimmie Johnson - 167.676, and
10th) Carl Edwards - 167.642

Failed To Qualify: Morgan Shepherd, Tony Raines, Johnny Sauter and Robby
Gordon. - Lineup By NASCAR.com

$500,000 On The Line In The "Powered by Tyson Pit Stop" - The National Pit
Crew Championship Powered by Tyson Gets Even More Exciting: Tyson Foods and
the Crew Chief Club announced today that four teams, out of the 38 teams
competing at the National Pit Crew Championship Powered by Tyson, will have
the chance to win a $500,000 cash prize in the final bonus round, the
"Powered by Tyson Pit Stop." The competition is scheduled for May 9, 2005
from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at Pit Instruction and Training (PIT) facility
in Mooresville, North Carolina. ...The first and second place teams, the
fastest non-winning team from round three, as well as a wildcard team chosen
at random by a Tyson representative, will qualify to compete in the bonus
round. The winning pit stop time needs to be equal to or greater than one
second faster than any other time posted in the qualifying rounds and the
competition, with the same rules and penalties being enforced. The fastest
team to break the one second barrier will walk away with $500,000. The
"Powered by Tyson Pit Stop" will take place after the winner of the
competition is determined.
- More

Office Depot Names Houston's Fort Bend Lock & Key America's First-Ever
"Official Small Business Of NASCAR" - Winning Company Logo Unveiled on No.
99 NEXTEL Cup Car at Darlington Raceway: Office Depot (NYSE:ODP), a leading
global provider of office products and services, today announced that Fort
Bend Lock & Key of Houston, TX, owned by Corey and Taryn Reynolds, has been
crowned as the first-ever "Official Small Business of NASCAR courtesy of
Office Depot." At an event held today, Office Depot introduced the winning
company and unveiled the No. 99 Office Depot Ford Taurus featuring the Fort
Bend Lock & Key logo. The car will be driven by Carl Edwards during the
Dodge Charger 500 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race at Darlington Raceway on Saturday,
May 7 (FOX 7 p.m.). The Reynolds' small business was randomly selected for
this opportunity from nearly 100,000 entrants across the country. As
NASCAR's Official Small Business, Fort Bend Lock & Key can tout the
company's unique status on select materials such as business cards,
letterhead and stationery. And, with a $1,000 shopping spree at Office
Depot, Fort Bend Lock & Key will be able to stock up on all the supplies it
needs to support its growing business. Additionally, as special guests of
Office Depot, the Reynolds are receiving the red carpet treatment at the
Darlington race this weekend. Their VIP package includes: Garage Passes and
Grand Stand tickets; a track tour; hotel accommodations for the weekend; and
personal meet-and-greets with Jack Roush, the Roush Racing Team and Carl
Edwards. They will also receive $250 worth of NASCAR-licensed memorabilia. -
More

DAYTONA USA Welcomes Sam Bass Exhibit: DAYTONA USA, "The Official Attraction
of NASCAR," is welcoming Sam Bass, "The First Officially Licensed Artist of
NASCAR," and an exclusive exhibit of eight original pieces of his
world-renowned NASCAR artwork. "DAYTONA USA is one of my favorite places on
the circuit," Bass said. "Its unique presentation of the history of the
sport combined with today's state-of-the-art cars and exhibits is
incredible. I am deeply honored to have a selection of my artwork on display
there." Bass, a celebrated motorsports designer and artist, is a household
name in the world of NASCAR. Not only have his skills with the brush
profiled many of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history, he also designed
the popular paint schemes on their racing machines. - More

Aaron's Dream Weekend At Talladega Superspeedway Produces Precedent-Setting
Television Numbers: The 7.6 final national rating for FOX's broadcast of
Sunday's Aaron's 499 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race was the highest Talladega
Superspeedway has had in its history and the third-highest rated non-Daytona
500 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series event in broadcast history. This number
represents a 21 percent increase over last year's 6.3 rating earned by the
Aaron's 499. Jeff Gordon defended his victory in last year's spring event,
accomplishing it this time even more decisively by leading 139 of the race's
194 laps with what was clearly the strongest car all day. - More

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