Happy Friday everyone. Habbajeeba, we made it through the week! Today In Nascar History Nov. 13, 1966: Richard Petty wins the Augusta 300 at Augusta (Ga.) Speedway to win the first race of the 1967 season. Petty's second win of the season won't come for four more months, but it will be the second of 27 wins in the 1967 season, a record that likely never will be broken. Quote of the Year There's an unwritten rule in NASCAR: Thou shalt not take on Dale Earnhardt Jr. --Terry Blount/espn Vote for your driver! www.chexmostpopular Comments from the Peanut Gallery From RD I am crushed (not really) that there are two against me, and so far none for my argument. I usually do have different views then most of your readers, but damn, I feel I'm right in my assessment of race broadcasting, and about the Waltrips being egotistical media whores. rd from Darrel Ok I guess I need to get in on this about points during the race. First I am sure that the drivers that have a chance to improve their position are aware of where they stand. I am sure they are kept up to date by their crew chiefs as to where they are and who they need to catch and pass to get more points. But I have to say they are not told every other lap as we were and sometimes twice in the same lap. It gets old fast. We all know that Johnson was hurt bad by what happened and do not need to be told as often as we were. If someone just tuned in, as was said often, they are not true race fans and probably do not care, and if they do they can wait for a while to find out. We also do not need to be reminded every lap the kid is going to set a record when he is not even near the end of the race and be told that also every other lap. I do like knowing where a driver stands in the chase especially, when something like what happened has. I have a good memory, even thought I am 71, and do not need to be told as often as we were. I sometimes think that the announcers talk to just hear themselves, when they have really nothing to say. This is true in a lot of sports coverage not just racing. The other Old Man Darrel Bits and Pieces Latest on RPM 'layoffs' and switches: The dominos continue to fall at Richard Petty Motorsports. When Keith Barnwell was released on Tuesday, that left #44-A.J. Allmendinger sans spotter. On Thursday, the decision was made to reunite Allmendinger with former spotter Tony Hirschmann, who had been reassigned to #43-Reed Sorenson in the crew chief swap. Sorenson's crew chief Sammy Johns will spot for him this weekend. Kevin Buskirk, who was #19-Elliott Sadler's crew chief earlier this season, is expected to make the calls on the #43 pit box. Pete Rondeau, who served as the director of research and development at RPM since July 2005, was also released on Tuesday. The former crew chief for Dale Earnhardt Jr. says he's ready to become a road warrior again and is interested in any upcoming crew chief openings. (FoxSports) #71 has sponsor for Phoenix: #71-Bobby Labonte comes off of a 31h-place finish in his CBR MotorCars TRG Motorsports Chevy in Texas and is looking to improve significantly on last week's finish. Labonte will carry CBR MotorCars as the primary sponsor on the hood of his #71 Chevy. CBR MotorCars is an industry leader in securing high-end automobiles for luxury car enthusiasts. HANS continues to find counterfeit post anchors: Court ordered discovery proves counterfeit HANS post anchor issue in IMPACT RACING Products' helmets is more far reaching than originally reported. HANS Performance Products is continuing its free anchor replacement program both direct and through its authorized dealer network. HANS Factory Trained Dealer, Racing Radios has been servicing the NASCAR teams and leading support in NHRA comes from Factory Trained Dealer Simpson Performance Products. Simpson CEO Chuck Davies said, "Like the people at HANS, we take safety very seriously. Racers trust our products and we're proud our trackside services are able to help racers." 3M extends partnership with NASCAR: 3M and NASCAR announced an agreement for 3M to expand the categories for which it holds exclusive NASCAR marketing rights to include bandages, first aid supplies, braces, supports and hot & cold therapy products. For nearly 10 years numerous 3M products associated with automotive, industrial, professional and home use applications have been designated as exclusive NASCAR licensed products with the rights to use NASCAR-themed marketing elements in advertising and promotional materials. The 3M products range from hearing protection to automotive care and refinishing products, adhesive tapes, abrasives and many more. With this expansion of the agreement, 3M Nexcare bandages and first aid tapes, ACE, Futuro and Tru-Fit support devices and certain other 3M medical products will be permitted to carry the prestigious NASCAR mark on packaging, promotional elements and related media. 3M's association with motorsports spans decades and has taken many forms over the years. In addition to holding multiple NASCAR Officially Licensed product categories, 3M is a long-time sponsor of NASCAR racing as primary sponsor for Roush Fenway Racing's #6 3M Ford Fusion driven by Greg Biffle in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.(NASCAR) Living Legends treasurer accused of stealing: The stepdaughter of legendary NASCAR engine and car builder Ray Fox was arrested Tuesday after police said she embezzled more than $20,000 from an auto racing organization headed by her stepdad. Deborah Sue Burdick was charged with grand theft after South Daytona investigators said she pilfered about $21,000 from the Living Legends of Auto Racing, according to an arrest report. Living Legends, founded in 1993, recognizes, honors and promotes the pioneers of beach and stock car racing. The organizati:30 d 23929553 silvadeoliveirasimone@yahoo.com.br S 55 pr=groups-email-ff-m id332002-m73288 10:08:30 d 23929553 mifrapolli@yahoo.com.br S 55 pr=groups-email-ff-m id332002-m73288 10:08:30 d 23929560 G.vanRoye@online.de S 2 pr=groups-email-ff-m id"73465-m13493 10:08:30 d 23929553 fatimaonca@yahoo.com.br S 55 pr=groups-email-ff-m id332002-m73288 10:08:30 d 23929560 stephan.brouwer@planet.nl S 2 pr=groups-email-ff-m id"73465-m13493 10:08:30 d 23929553 rustico_massagemsensual22@yahoo.com.br S 55 pr=groups-email-ff-m id332002-m73288 10:08:30 d 23929553 agaianileite@yahoo.com.br S 55 pr=groups-email-ff-m id332002-m73288 10:08:30 d 23929553 srpjm74@yahoo.com.br S 55 pr=groups-email-ff-m id332002-m73288 10:08:30 d 23929553 biacypriano@yahoo.com.br S 55 pr=groups-email-ff-m id332002-m73288 10:08:30 d 23929553 edu.msjunior@yahoo.com.br S 55 pr=groups-email-ff-m id332002-m73288 10:08:30 d 23929553 aliancauniversitaria@yd "she needed the money," and she did not have her mother "or anyone to turn to," the report states.(Daytona Beach News Journal) ISC has agreement to sell Staten Island property By SceneDaily Staff International Speedway Corp., which abandoned its plan to build a race track on a 676-acre parcel in Staten Island, N.Y., in 2006, has reached a conditional agreement to sell the land to KB Marine Holdings, ISC announced Thursday in a news release. ISC bought the property for $114 million in 2004. The agreement announced Thursday is for $80 million and is scheduled to close Feb. 25. KB Marine has the opportunity to receive a $5 million credit to the sales price if the closing date occurs on or before Dec. 31. "We are very pleased to announce the execution of this agreement as it has been our intention to find a buyer interested in redeveloping this site to its highest and best use, which would be for port-related and logistic activities," said Brian K. Wilson, ISC's vice president of corporate development. Before abandoning the project in 2006, ISC spent about $150 million, including $114 million for the land, $9 million for land improvements, $11 million for costs related to the development of the speedway and $16 million for capitalized interest and property taxes. ISC has spent about $25 million since then in upkeep (including addressing environmental concerns with the fill) and property taxes, ISC chief financial officer Dan Houser said. Including the tax benefit, ISC will generate $110 to $115 million in incremental cash flow through the transaction, the company reported. That money will be used to further strengthen cash reserves and pay down debt, and it also could be used for the casino project at Kansas Speedway, Houser said. ISC officials are hopeful that the Kansas Lottery Gaming Facility Review Board will decide at its Dec. 1 meeting to award the casino contract to ISC and partner Penn National Gaming. ISC officials want to build the casino first and then later add in a hotel, and that has caused some concern from the lottery commission. Houser said there are enough hotel rooms currently in the area, and that not having the hotel in the first phase would not result in the area losing out on lodging taxes nor decrease activity in the casino. If ISC is awarded the casino, it has pledged to petition NASCAR to have two Sprint Cup weekends at Kansas Speedway starting in 2011. ISC has not indicated which of its tracks would lose a Cup date for the realignment. By the Numbers: Phoenix History shows points leader doesn't slip at PIR In Chase era, leader has always finished in top 10 By Bill Kimm, NASCAR.COM If Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon are hoping for a slip from the points leader in the Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway (2:30 p.m. ET, ABC), history shows they better not get too excited. Not only is Jimmie Johnson the top active driver at Phoenix with three wins, seven top-fives, 10 top-10s and a worst finish of 15th in 12 Cup Series starts, but in the Chase era, the points leader at Phoenix finished in the top 10 every race. Kurt Busch finished 10th in 2004 to keep his points lead heading to Darlington. In 2005, Tony Stewart came home fourth and extended his points lead en route to his second Cup championship. And then there's Johnson. In 2006, he finished second and then won the Chase races in 2007 and 2008 en route to his three championships. Inside the Data Chase drivers at Phoenix International Raceway
DID YOU KNOW? 2 Mark Martin has out-pointed Jimmie Johnson twice in 11 races at Phoenix. In 2002, Martin had a 42-point advantage and in this year's spring race, Martin led the most laps and won while Johnson finished fourth to give Martin a 30-point edge. The biggest point gain Johnson has made on Martin at PIR came in this race last year when Johnson led the most laps and won and Martin finished 14th. GORDON'S POLE WATCH 17 Congratulations to Jeff Gordon, who extended his pole streak to 17 consecutive Cup seasons with the fastest lap in qualifying at Texas. Gordon ranks third all time for consecutive years with a pole. David Pearson tops the list with poles 20 consecutive years and Richard Petty is second with 18. NECESSITOUS NUMBERS 1 Only one time in NASCAR history has a champion made up more than 73 points to win the title with two races remaining. Alan Kulwicki trailed Bill Elliott by 85 points with two to go and went on to win the title. 2 Two drivers entered in Sunday's race average a finish inside the top-10 at Phoenix: Jimmie Johnson (5.4) and Mark Martin (9.0). 4 Assuming Jimmie Johnson starts the final two races, four drivers are mathematically eliminated from the championship. The most any driver can make up is 322 points in the final two races and Ryan Newman (-324), Kasey Kahne (-399), Carl Edwards (-440) and Brian Vickers (-520) all fall below that. 4 Jeff Burton and Kyle Busch have four consecutive top-15 finishes, tops among all drivers. Burton is coming off a ninth at Texas and Busch finished 11th. 4.6 Average finish for Kevin Harvick in the past three fall races at Phoenix. He has three top-sevens including a victory. That is in contrast to a 19.6 average finish in the past three spring races with a 10th, 19th and a 30th. 7.6 Average starting position of the winners in the five Chase races at Phoenix. Three of the five came from top-10 starting positions including two from the front row. Including spring races, three of the past six have been won from the pole. 10 Chevrolet has dominated at Phoenix recently winning 10 of the past 11 races. The one slipup came in 2005 when Kurt Busch won in a Roush Ford. Dodge and Toyota are still searching for their first victory at the track. 150 Congratulations to Denny Hamlin who will be making his 150th Cup Series start Sunday at Phoenix. In 149 starts, Hamlin has seven wins, 45 top-fives, 77 top-10s and has made the Chase in all four of his full-time seasons. It starts with 'P', rhymes with 'T' and stands for Trouble by Darrell Waltrip/foxsports. Well the P is for Phoenix and the T is for trouble. Phoenix is a disaster in waiting for a lot of these teams because there are so many places at that track where you can get into trouble. You have the dog-leg off the back, the tight racing off of Turn 4, the front straightaway is really narrow and heavy braking getting into Turn 1 and the list goes on. So it's a tough little ol' track. A lot of people are talking about Mark having won there in the spring and that it will give him an advantage this time. It's true he won but it was sort of a night race. This time the race starts in the afternoon. You will have the sun in your eyes as you head down the front straightaway and that will be an issue they have to deal with. As we've told you many times in the past, that Phoenix track has an identity crisis. Sure it's a 1-mile track, but you race it like a short track and it acts like it's a superspeedway. And then on top of all that, you have to throw in the fact that it's flat. Don't you find it ironic that the two best drivers at Phoenix -- Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin -- are not only teammates, but also 1-2 in the points? So that will be really neat to watch as they battle it out for the championship. I always loved driving at Phoenix. It's a driver's track and it's a lot of fun. But again, looks can be deceiving. When you watch qualifying, watch that ticker because when they are hauling down that back straightaway they will be hitting 165 mph to 170 mph. Then come race time watch the drivers use the apron. You'll see guys like Kevin Harvick go all the way down on it in both turns to pick up some grip in those left side tires. With as long and as narrow as that front straightaway is I can see some trouble brewing during the double-file restarts. You saw Kyle Busch have trouble last week at Texas during the restarts but that has always been a characteristic of that particular spot on the track. Remember that the rule is you can't beat the leader to the Start/Finish line. So that gives the leader of the race a huge advantage despite whether he picks the inside or outside lane to restart in. Being able to go first and not having to worry about being passed until the Start/Finish gives a big advantage to the guy in first place. But my point is again with the narrow front stretch and how things bottleneck going into Turn 1, I would look for some serious issues this weekend at Phoenix. The other thing about Phoenix that everyone takes into consideration is that it's a short race. It's only 312 laps so you better have your car right when the green flag falls. Qualifying is unbelievably important there. Being able to get a good pit selection is primo. If you are able to sit on the pole and get the No. 1 pit stall, well that's a huge advantage. So that goes back to my point on Monday about the No. 48 car and how they better start qualifying better. This weekend they better spend more time focusing on the pole instead of only worrying about race setup. You can anticipate Mark Martin being bad fast there so you need to qualify and have a pit right near him. You don't want to give the old man any kind of advantage because he will be in your mirror or passing you for the lead before you know it. All three of our major series are there again this weekend. Just like last weekend, Kyle Busch will be going for the trifecta. Again, like I said Monday I would love to see him do it simply because nobody has. It doesn't matter to me a lick that it's Kyle, I mean it could be anybody going for it. I simply love watching folks do something that has never been done before. I just think that's cool. Jimmie goes into this race with a 73-point lead. It's the second-largest point lead anyone has had going into the final two races of the Chase. So it's not like the guy is toast and doesn't have a chance. 73 points is huge with two races to go. All he really needs to do is qualify well, avoid the problem areas I mentioned before and finish in the top two or three spots. He has his work cut out for him because that No. 5 bunch will be breathing down the No. 48's neck. But at this point in time you still have to say that Jimmie is the odds-on favorite for the 2009 championship. I also think it is pretty cool that it looks like the Hendrick Motorsports cars of the No. 48, No. 5 and No. 24 are going to take the top three spots in the final points. That's something else that has never been done before. It would be such a huge accomplishment. It just shows how well those teams work together. Speaking of working together, I was simply amazed at some of the comments I heard and read from folks following the race about teammates going over and helping out on the No. 48. For the life of me I don't understand why some folks were so up in arms about the No. 5, the No. 24 and the No. 88 members going over to help get the No. 48 back on the track. When I hear stuff like that it sure makes me wonder how much they really know about our sport. It tells me they haven't followed our sport for 30 or 40 years like some of us have. It tells me they must be fairly new fans that are used to watching other sports where the athletes are selfish. Those folks that are running their mouth about why teammates would even consider helping the No. 48 definitely need a history lesson on our sport. Our sport was built on and has gone for 60+ years now on helping one another. Sure we want to beat one another on the track but that doesn't mean teammates should ignore helping teammates. So if you are one of those that think what happened Sunday was out of the norm, well you need to learn that the norm in NASCAR is to help your buddy. I've called it coop-attition. That is why our sport is so successful in maintaining the integrity that it has. There's camaraderie in NASCAR that you aren't going to find anywhere else in any other big league sport. OH BY THE WAY: Now this one happens at times and it simply cracks me up. After a race, some cars are randomly picked for inspection. I need a math wiz to calculate the odds of how the one they randomly picked turned up to be illegal. Brian Vickers was randomly picked last year at Martinsville and his sheet metal was too thin. Then Sunday the No. 1 car was picked and it was too low. Here's a car that finished 14th on Sunday one lap down. He's randomly picked and the car was found to be too low. Now they are fined $50,000 and docked 50 owner points. You really must being have a bad year when you are randomly picked and there ends up being something wrong with your car. That's just really bad luck right there. It also tells me that maybe they need to be checking all the cars after the races. If they can randomly pick a car after the race and the trend is to find something wrong with it each time, well then my suggestion is to check all 43 after a race. OH BY THE WAY II: With all the building noise about Danica coming to NASCAR maybe it's time I give you my thoughts on that. Let me put some thoughts down and I will post it later this week. Retro Racing Mark Aumann PIR played big role in title battles involving Earnhardt From '89-'91, track had exciting races, dramatic finishes By Mark Aumann, NASCAR.COM With the installation of the Chase format in 2004, the odds are decidedly against a driver clinching the championship before the season's final race at Homestead. Until his early-race accident last weekend at Texas, Jimmie Johnson appeared to have a relatively decent chance of being in that position at Phoenix International Raceway. And even though the odds are long against it happening, Johnson could still clinch his fourth consecutive title one week early. However, when it comes to swings of fortune in the penultimate race of the season at Phoenix, it seems Dale Earnhardt's name comes to mind most quickly. In three consecutive seasons beginning in 1989, Earnhardt found himself in the thick of the championship battle with two races remaining -- and twice, he wound up wearing the crown at season's end. In 1989, controversy from the previous race at Rockingham was still on the minds of the three main challengers when the Cup Series descended on the Valley of the Sun. Mark Martin had just won his first Cup race, beating Rusty Wallace, who had collided with Earnhardt during the event, saddling the Intimidator with a 20th-place finish. However, Earnhardt fans received a bit of vindication when Wallace crashed while trying to lap the slower car of Stan Barrett and wound up 16th. Martin and Earnhardt both scored top-10s and cut into Wallace's points lead. However, despite Earnhardt winning at Atlanta, Wallace was able to hold on for a 12-point margin of victory. In 1990, Earnhardt trailed Martin by 45 points heading into the Checker 500 at Phoenix. He wound up dominating, leading the final 262 laps as Martin struggled with a sour engine and then was collected in a last-lap crash coming to the finish line, resulting in a 10th-place finish. That swing put Earnhardt ahead by six points, and he stretched that margin to 26 with a third-place finish in the season finale at Atlanta. Martin fans will remember that was the year Martin was docked 46 points at Richmond for a technical inspection penalty. So when NASCAR's premier series returned to Phoenix in 1991, Earnhardt had already seen both sides of the championship picture there. Carrying a 157-point advantage on Ricky Rudd and 203 points ahead of Davey Allison, Earnhardt knew he could play things conservatively and still have the championship sewn up by Atlanta, but it almost got away early, as he spun out on Lap 56. "The car was loose and I just kept driving it and driving it," Earnhardt said. "Finally, I hung it out too much and around and around it went. It was a show. I was lucky to keep it off the wall." While Allison went on to dominate, particularly during the final green-flag run of 107 laps, Earnhardt was fortunate to only be one lap down in ninth place. "We didn't have it today," Earnhardt said. "I think the motor was a little bit weak, but the setup was a little bit off, too." However, the 156-point advantage Earnhardt had at the end of the race virtually clinched the championship. All he would need to do two weeks later at Atlanta was to take the green flag. "I wish we could have been a lot better here," Earnhardt said. "I would have liked to wrap it up today. If I don't fall out of a tree deer hunting the next two weeks, we'll be OK. Then we'll get them at Atlanta. We'll go for it there." On the other hand, Allison was pleasantly surprised at how good his car ran after the team made wholesale chassis changes following a lousy practice effort earlier in the weekend. "As far off as we were in practice, to be so good today, I just can't believe it," Allison said. "I sat down last night and talked to [crew chief] Larry McReynolds and [uncle] Donnie Allison and we decided to try some things." Even following the final caution flag of the day, Allison assumed he'd be pressed by someone in the field. Instead, he built up an 11-second margin on Darrell Waltrip at the finish. "I figured it was going to be one of those cat and mouse games with some more caution flags and other guys making adjustments and suddenly running stronger," Allison said. "But when they dropped the flag for the restart and I pulled away from Rusty, I thought, 'I don't believe this.'" Interestingly enough, it was Allison who put himself in a position to win the 1992 championship when he returned to Phoenix the following year and won. Instead, he wound up the unwitting victim of a crash at Atlanta when Ernie Irvan's tire went flat, and Alan Kulwicki went on to edge Bill Elliott for the title. The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer. Tom Higgins Scuffs Martin's lesson from 1990? Don't change horses As Mark Martin battles Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon for NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series championship going into Sunday's Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, memories return of a costly call to pit on Nov. 4, 1990 at the Arizona track. That decision in the desert, combined with another even bigger one made a few days later prior to the season finale at the track then known as Atlanta International Raceway, proved critical as Martin and his Roush Racing team lost the Winston Cup title to Dale Earnhardt by 26 points. Martin, still seeking a first championship after being the runner-up four times, presently is 73 points behind Johnson with the Phoenix race and the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 22 remaining. Mark is 39 points ahead of Gordon. The popular Martin's resurgence as a sentimental favorite for the title at age 50 evokes recollections of his splendid chance to become champion 19 years ago. In 1990 Martin led Earnhardt by 45 points when they arrived in Phoenix. The advantage would have been an almost insurmountable 91 except for a penalty of 46 points the Roush outfit incurred in the Pontiac 400 at Richmond in March. NASCAR officials took the action, still controversial and disputed by team owner Jack Roush to this day, because the carburetor spacer plate on the engine of Martin's Ford was bolted to the manifold rather than welded. During the Checker 500 of 1990, Earnhardt took the lead on the 51st of 312 laps on the 1-mile track and stayed ahead the rest of the way. Meanwhile, Martin was running respectably, keeping Earnhardt's Chevrolet in sight. Then, while in sixth place on Lap 296 of the 500-kilometer event, Martin decided to pit for four tires during a caution period. It was a mistake. Martin ran the tires off his car trying to make up the lost distance. He finished 10th, as Earnhardt won. The difference vaulted Earnhardt and his Richard Childress Racing team into the standings lead by six points. "Mark and his guys won't be able to go to Atlanta and hope for us to have bad luck," said Earnhardt. "Now, they'll have to force the issue, and they're fully capable of doing that, just like we are." Martin fretted about deciding to make the late pit stop and taking tires all around. "We did the right thing, didn't we?" he asked a couple times over the radio hookup to his pit crew, led by Steve Hmiel and Robin Pemberton. The answer was mixed. Obviously, Martin would have preferred to go to Georgia leading the standings toward a title that then was worth about $1 million. But he indicated that in a way he was somewhat relieved it would be an all-out race for the crown. "We want to win this championship, and now the only way we can do it is to outrun Dale," said Martin. "That has to be done. "It takes all the pressure off. I don't know why, but now I don't feel any pressure. "I feel we had a bad day. It could have been worse, but we really should have finished better. We had better than a 10th-place car. "Now, I don't have to worry about getting outrun by Dale and losing the championship. Now, all I've got to think about is going down there and race to win, and I'm excited about that." Both teams had plans to begin testing almost immediately for the dramatic showdown at Atlanta. Martin's team was to be at the Georgia track Tuesday through Thursday, with Earnhardt's on Wednesday and Thursday. Roush ordered three different Thunderbirds taken to the Georgia speedway and Martin drove all of them Tuesday and Wednesday. However, it wasn`t the amount of machinery that longtime NASCAR observers found so surprising, but who was present to offer input about the cars. Testing an unpainted Ford, owned by the auto company, was veteran Winston Cup competitor Morgan Shepherd, who at the time drove for the Bud Moore Engineering team. And conferring after each run by Martin and Shepherd were Roush, fellow Ford team owners/engineers Robert Yates and Junie Donlavey, Eddie Wood of the Wood Brothers team, Ford engineer Preston Miller and chassis specialist Jake Elder, who worked for Yates. Roush, Elder and Miller appeared the most active, with the latter two relaying information back and forth between Martin and Shepherd as they sat in the cars, waiting for adjustments to be made between runs. The "official" explanation for the concerted effort: A revolutionary steering design of the late car builder Banjo Matthews was being tried in the hope that it might help deliver Ford the NASCAR manufacturers championship. Chevy held a 184-181 lead for an eighth straight title, a crown Ford hadn`t captured since 1969. Shepherd smilingly conceded, though, that he and the others were working on behalf of Martin. "I'm hopeful of finding something that will help me win the Atlanta race and Ford win the manufacturers' deal, of course," said Shepherd. "But all of us Ford people really want to see Mark win the championship. The three cars driven by Martin and the one by Shepherd were parked side-by-side in the track's sprawling garage area. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, from a location about 100 yards away at the other end of the garage, Earnhardt alternately tested two Chevrolets as team owner Richard Childress and crew chief Kirk Shelmerdine directed operations. Asked his reaction to the joint Ford preparations, Earnhardt smiled. "They've got a lot of irons in the fire, don't they?" he said. "It seems pretty late in the season to me to be engineering. Sure, we've noticed all the Ford people up there, but it doesn't bother us." The race for the title continued to be civil and diplomatic, a fact both Earnhardt and Martin said they were proud to have maintained. This situation was stressed when the two contenders ate lunch together. As Earnhardt sat eating barbecue in the track's infield media center, Martin approached, put his plate on the table and pulled up a chair. "Well, you put it on us Sunday at Phoenix," said Martin. "We ran good," nodded Earnhardt. "I kept expecting you to come up there and race with me, like we have all year." "I wanted to, but couldn't," replied Martin. "My car was too tight at the start of the race. When we adjusted, it got too loose and that was burning my tires off." After lunch, Martin explained the rare move of bringing four cars to a track. "It's imperative that we be at our best," said Mark. "I think winning is what it will take to beat Dale here. Atlanta is a great track for him." At the time, Earnhardt had six Atlanta victories, including three of the speedway's four previous 500-milers. After making a sustained 25-lap run on Wednesday, Earnhardt's team decided to pass on scheduled further testing Thursday, loaded up and headed home to North Carolina. It was a psychological ploy, as both Earnhardt and team owner Childress later smilingly admitted. Earnhardt added to the mind game by revealing that he was heading to Alabama to deer hunt. "We knew the Ford people would notice, and that by leaving after only one day we would drive them crazy," said Earnhardt. It appeared to do just that. By Thursday, Roush and his Ford advisers decided to have one of the Thunderbirds that Davey Allison drove for Yates brought to Atlanta for Martin to test. The result looked promising in finding some chassis combination or engine factor that might prove pivotal in overtaking Earnhardt. A late run in the Allison car produced a lap of 176.463 mph, fastest by far overall among the dozen or so teams that tested during that week in 1990. The speed left Martin and his teammates smiling. "We'll try and duplicate what we learned off Robert's car and put it on ours," Martin said. "We feel going in the only way to beat Dale for this championship is to outrun him, and maybe this will help us do that." "We're reaching, grasping for something new that will give us even the slightest performance advantage," said Roush. Understandably, the Roush/Martin contingent was non-committal about what developed from the research runs. "Basically, the result of all this work is that we've narrowed our choices from four cars to two," Roush said. "Those two will go in the Lockheed wind tunnel at Marietta (Ga.) Sunday and we will see which has the best aerodynamics. "Then Mark, Steve, Robin and me will go through everything and choose our car for the race." Looking back, I vividly remember an incredible scene as Martin's testing neared an end. As track closing time loomed at 5 p.m. Martin pulled one car in, sat conferring briefly with Hmiel and Pemberton, then crawled out. He was met by Roush, who repeatedly had climbed atop a transporter for a better view of the laps, then descended for consultations. Roush put his arm around Martin's shoulders, whispered some information, then patted the driver on the back four times. Martin dashed off to crawl in another car and return to the track. It looked just like a football coach giving his quarterback the big play on the sideline and sending him into the game to execute it. I remarked about the similarity to Preston Miller, the Ford engineer. Miller nodded and smiled. "I just hope it doesn't turn out that the play has to be a Hail Mary," he said. In a stunner, it was decided that the Yates team's Ford would be entered for Martin rather than a car from the Roush stable. Not all involved were happy about the decision. "This sucks," Pemberton, now NASCAR's vice president for competition, said privately on the morning of the race. That it did. Martin wasn't able to really get going in the Yates-owned car and finished sixth while Earnhardt took third place and claimed the fourth of the seven Winston Cup championships he was destined to win. Shepherd won the race, marred by the death of Mike Ritch, a crewman for Bill Elliott, in a pit road accident. "We had to do something out of the ordinary," Martin said of his move into the Yates car. "It didn't work out." Bet on Martin, by far the big-time stock car racing tour's most respected driver, being in his Hendrick team's OWN machinery for this year's final two races. Financial filing offers rare glimpse into NASCAR sanctioning stipulations By Bob Pockrass/scenedaily AVONDALE, Ariz. – A Dover International Speedway filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission this week offers an unusually detailed look at the range and scope of NASCAR's sanctioning agreements, including a $6.055 million fee for the track's May Sprint Cup race and $5.429 million for its September event. Dover's estimated broadcast revenue for the events will be $12.645 million for May and $10.473 million for September, according to the filing. With tracks having to contribute about 27.8 percent of their television revenue to the race purses, Dover's television revenue pays for $1.68 million of its May purse and $1.51 million of its September purse. The 2010 sanction agreements, minus the financial details listed on an amendment page, also were filed Thursday with the SEC. The 22-page sanction agreements are general in nature – only a cover sheet lists the date, the track and the promoter (in this case, Dover). Dover, which also owns tracks near Nashville and St. Louis but hosts Cup events only at the Delaware venue, must file the agreements with the SEC because it is these two agreements on which its "business is substantially dependent." In a previous filing, Dover reported that 70 percent of its total revenues come from its Sprint Cup weekends. Among the other items listed in the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup sanction agreements that Dover filed: • The track must carry $50 million in liability insurance and $1 million in medical malpractice liability insurance. NASCAR must be listed among the insured. NASCAR must require the TV partner to carry $2 million in general liability insurance ($1 million limit per occurrence) that includes the promoter in that policy. • A track cannot alter the racing surface by painting, sealing or resurfacing without prior written consent of NASCAR. • NASCAR can postpone or cancel an event if the promoter does not fix any unsatisfactory racing surface, barriers, fencing, retaining systems, SAFER barrier systems, garage area, pit area, race control area, timing and scoring areas or structures used for broadcast of the event. • NASCAR says it will attempt to consult with the promoter regarding postponement of events, but the decision to postpone is NASCAR's. • NASCAR gets 225 reserved choice grandstand tickets for the race and 200 for qualifying. • The track must provide 325 parking passes/permits adjacent to or near the garage area for NASCAR and 50 in close proximity to the NASCAR track suite. • The track must provide two pace vehicles. It also must provide 150 chairs in an enclosed, climate-controlled area for the drivers meeting. It must provide a control tower with air conditioning, heat, 14 chairs (with cushions), phone line and television monitors. • The track must provide a television booth for at least five people, air-conditioned to 68 degrees. The TV partner also gets 300 tickets plus one luxury track suite. The track also must use "reasonable efforts to cause the title sponsor of the event to buy advertising in the telecasts." NASCAR requires its broadcast partner to say the name of the race at least once during the opening segment of the telecast and thereafter at least once during each hour of the telecast. • NASCAR reserves the right to approve or disapprove any advertising or sponsorship in connection with the event. • The track must have authorization from any musician to play a song over loudspeakers during an event when the TV partner is on the air and there is a chance it would be picked up during the telecast. • The track must not allow testing forbidden by the NASCAR testing policy. • The track cannot use NASCAR's point or money standings to determine the eligibility of a competitor for a non-NASCAR-sanction The general terms of the sanction agreements are virtually the same as last year with one notable exception, and it is in the section dealing with the potential default of a promoter. In that section, an entire graph was added under the provisions of a default: "If NASCAR becomes aware, through any means, of a possible change in the promoter's affairs which might reasonably be determined to have a material adverse effect on the organization or conduct of the Event, including, but not limited to, the withdrawal or reduction of major event sponsorship( NASCAR officials didn't immediately comment on whether that clause has anything to do with what happened earlier this year with the Milwaukee Mile. NASCAR has stated that there are unresolved issues concerning the 2009 races in its Nationwide and Camping World Truck series there. NASCAR ON TV THIS WEEK
All times Eastern Well, that's all for today. Until the next time, I remain, Your Nascar Momma Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, wine in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"
"Don't come here and grumble about going too fast. Get the hell out of the race car if you've got feathers on your legs or butt. Put a kerosene rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up there and eat that candy ass." -Dale Earnhardt - 1998 |
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