3/4/02.The 2002 season has gotten off to a somewhat hairy start for NASCAR. The sanctioning body has been shrouded in a veil of controversy since Speedweeks began. The first controversy began with the carping about racecar model equality and getting in hot water for making changes. Then came the red flag fiasco at the Daytona 500 with Sterling Marlin, and then they fell victim to not throwing the red flag at Rockingham, once again angering Marlin and his team. Go figure! So the next deal at Las Vegas once again involved Marlin, but this time he got the best end of the situation for a change!

Lets not forget the controversy involving the fifty-one inch rule that caused Matt Kenseth’s crew chief to get nailed with a $30,000 fine. NASCAR looked like they had mud on their shoes for that one too! But maybe that was not the case after all. True, the inspection process has been a pain this season, just ask anyone who has anything to do with working around the garage area. The folks who work in the garage area are claiming that it is taking twice as long this season to go through inspection than it did last year. What gives?

What gives is the new hierarchy within the Winston Cup ranks this season. The new people that are in a position of running things are doing their best to cross their T’s and dot their I’s. Then you have the regular inspectors who were working the job last season. These people have to do their best to show their new bosses that they are on top of things. Here’s what happened:

NASCAR announced changes last October relating to its competition department that will take effect beginning with the 2002 season. Former Winston Cup crew chief and long time Cup Series Director Gary Nelson has been promoted to the position of Managing Director of Competition. In his new position, Nelson will oversee the new Research and Development Center in Conover, NC, as well as the Craftsman Truck, Busch, and Winston Cup Series.

Nelson, who has overseen NASCAR’s top series since 1992, has an uncanny understanding of the “nuts and bolts” technical aspect of the race cars that comes from his days as a very successful crew chief in the Cup Series. He has been involved with the new R & D center since its inception, and will continue to contribute to the center in his leadership capacity. He will oversee Joe Garone, a former crew chief who has been named director of the R & D Center.

John Darby, former Busch Series Director, will move up to take Nelson’s place as Winston Cup Director. NASCAR Cup and Busch Technical Inspector Brian Dehart will take Darby’s place as Busch Series Director. Kevin Triplett will move from NASCAR Director of Operations to Managing Director of Business Operations. Triplett will be responsible for credentials, schedules, sanctions, plan development, point fund management, timing and scoring procedures, and all other business aspects involving the Cup, Busch, and Truck Series.

Although a lot of us do not really have an interest in the organization’s hierarchy, it may be a good idea for us to have an understanding of who these people are. We hear their names a lot during race broadcasts, and occasionally see them being interviewed over technical or behavioral issues having to do with their respective series. So, maybe this will help to explain why the season has gotten off to such a seemingly rocky start for NASCAR. Methinks that things will simmer down some by the time they get finished with their three week stint at Charlotte. People who are antsy with their jobs will have had a chance to get situated by then.

UAW-Daimler Chrysler 400 …….

Getting back to Sterling Marlin getting the best of the situation this time around, Ol’ Sterling won the race and $412,842.00 because NASCAR had a breakdown in communications. Well, at least that’s what they said. NASCAR had called down to their official on Marlin’s pit box to tell him to hold Marlin in the pits for a 15 second penalty for speeding on pit road, and the official failed to hear them. NASCAR claimed that the officials on either side of Marlin’s pit box also failed to hear the call for the penalty. Marlin had finished his pit stop and was back on the track racing before NASCAR got things straightened out with their communications. At that time, they decided that it would be too harsh a penalty to bring Marlin back into the pits to make him serve the 15 second penalty. Marlin got off Scott free on that one! Had he had to suffer the penalty, it would almost certainly have put him a lap down which would probably have taken him out of contention for the win.

Actually, Marlin had tachometer problems and did not have any idea how fast he was going on pit road because he did not have any way to measure his speed. He had been hit by Jerry Nadeau while trying to make his entry onto the pit road to begin with, and after correcting the slide that Nadeau had put him in, he straightened the racecar up past the white line that dictates the beginning of the 55 mile per hour speed. Way to go Sterling!

Marlin beat second place finisher Jeremy Mayfield across the line by nearly ten car lengths. Mark Martin crossed the line in third place followed by rookie Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart. These five drivers will be eligible for the No Bull Five million dollar bonus when they race in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte in May. Rookie Jimmy Johnson finished sixth, followed by Dale Jarrett, Bill Elliott, Jeff Burton, and Jimmy Spencer rounding out the top ten.

Next Week…….

Race No. 4 on the Winston Cup schedule is the Atlanta 500 from the Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. The race will be televised live by the FOX network on Sunday, March 10th, at 1 P.M. Eastern, with the pre-race show beginning at 12:30 P.M. Qualifying will be televised live on most of the FOX Sports Networks Friday, March 8th at 5 P.M. Eastern.

Last season’s winner of the spring Atlanta race was rookie driver Kevin Harvick. Kevin was followed across the finish line by Jeff Gordon, Jerry Nadeau, Dale Jarrett, Terry Labonte, Ricky Rudd, Johnny Benson, Ken Schrader, Mike Skinner, and rookie Kurt Busch.

3/10/02…… I like Atlanta racing! Atlanta and Michigan are my two favorite tracks, lots of speed and tight racing! There should be more high banked 1.5 mile tracks on the circuit like them. The qualifying speed record at Atlanta of 197.478 miles per hour set by Geoff Bodine in November of 1997 still stands. Bill Elliott, driving the red No. 9 Dodge Dealers sponsored Evernham Motorsports’ Dodge, won the pole for this years’ spring race with a speed of 191.542. That’s a far cry from breaking the record, and a lesser speed than last years’ spring pole won by Dale Jarrett at 192.748 miles per hour.

The one engine rule that was implemented this season after the Daytona 500 may be responsible for Elliott’s paltry qualifying speed. The high horsepower qualifying engine with its lightweight internal parts is gone, but not forgotten. The one engine rule took Matt Kenseth out of the lineup when he lost an engine during qualifying. He was forced to change engines and gave up his 32nd starting position; starting his No. 17 DeWalt sponsored Roush Racings’ Ford from the back of the field.

Some of the drivers are getting more vocal on the subject of the one engine rule. Former Winston Cup Champion Bobby Labonte (2000) is one of them. Labonte claims that as soon as some of NASCAR’s top drivers suffer engine failures, that NASCAR will go back to using qualifying and practice engines allowing teams to save their race engines for competition. The 500 mile event high speed event is the best test yet of the new rule. Engine builders were flabbergasted to find severely worn and cracked parts on the engines used at Las Vegas and Rockingham. The wearing of some of the parts was not of the usual nature suffered by a race engine in competition.

After the checkered flew at Atlanta, the one engine rule should be considered a moot subject. In last season’s Atlanta spring race, eight engines were lost due to failure. This season, with the one engine rule, only five engines were lost during the 500 mile race. True, engine builders are taking more pains in developing power plants that will last, and also, speeds are suffering due to the heavier parts that have to be used that do not provide as much horsepower.

Steve Park Returning……

NASCAR officials have given Steve Park the green light to return to the drivers’ seat following his slow recovery from brain injuries suffered last fall during the Busch race at Darlington. He will attempt to qualify the No. 1 Pennzoil sponsored Dale Earnhardt Inc. (DEI) Chevrolet at Darlington on Friday, March 15th for this coming Sundays’ Carolinas Dodge Dealers 400.

Kenny Wallace, who subbed for Park during his recovery, will be out of a ride in the Winston Cup Series for the time being. There are reports that DEI plans to field a car for him is a few upcoming Cup races during the season, but nothing is written in stone at this time.

MBNA America 500……

Tony Stewart did indeed smoke Atlanta. He led 155 of the 325 laps, but the most important were the last 24 which led him to the checkered flag and $174,978.00. The 13th win of his Winston Cup career was his first victory in a race with a distance of over 400 miles. The milestone was set by besting Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was a mere five car lengths and 0.376 seconds behind Stewart as he crossed the finish line. Rookie Jimmy Johnson continued to turn heads as he crossed the line in the third position. Last week’s winner, Matt Kenseth, finished fourth, with Ricky Craven rounding out the top five.

The championship points standings do not mean a lot to some folks this time of the year. There is a lot of water yet to run under the bridge before the driver’s points become an issue. Still, there are some of us who like to keep up with the points standings from the beginning. Sterling Marlin has had quite a bit of bad luck on the track so far this season, but he still has managed to stay ahead of the game with 645 points. Rookie Ryan Newman is close behind Marlin with 571, and Daytona 500 winner Ward Burton is hanging onto third with 565. Mark Martin is balancing precariously in fourth place with 557. Tony Stewart is the mover in the standings by gaining six positions with his win. He is now in fifth place with 544 points. Positions six thru ten are: Matt Kenseth, 540; Kurt Busch, 535; Rusty Wallace, 531; Jeff Burton, 520; and Rookie Jimmy Johnson, 517. With two rookies in the top ten in championship points at the beginning of the season, we may be in for some great racing this year!

Next Week……

Race No. 5 is the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 on “The Track Too Tough to Tame” at Darlington Raceway, Darlington, South Carolina. The event is scheduled to be televised live by the FOX Network on Sunday, March 17th, at 12:30 P.M. Eastern. Qualifying for the event is scheduled to be televised live by MSG and the FOX Sports Networks on Friday, March 15th, at 2 P.M. Eastern.

Last season’s winner of the Darlington spring race was Dale Jarrett. He was followed across the finish line by Steve Park, Jeremy Mayfield, Jimmy Spencer, Sterling Marlin, John Andretti, Johnny Benson, Ricky Rudd, Bobby Hamilton, and Rusty Wallace.

3/18/02……. There was lots of news this past week coming out of the Winston Cup ranks. Not all of it was good news. Of course, I am referring to the revelation released Saturday by the West Palm Beach Post in Palm Beach, Florida. It seems that Jeff Gordon has done something that has infuriated his lovely wife Brook, as she has filed for a divorce from the NASCAR racing superstar. Jennifer Brooke Sealey Gordon cited in court papers filed Friday that the marriage is “irretrievable broken.” You can look expect to see the racing phenomenon labeled “The Kid” by the late Dale Earnhardt to be taken to the cleaners on this one. Yep, she wants the $9 million dollar oceanfront house, servants, cars, boats, airplane, and the whole enchilada. Hey, when you dance you have to pay the fiddler, and the fiddler is whining to the judge.

NASCAR announced that they do not plan to make any major changes to the restrictor plate racecars prior to next month’s Talladega race on April 21st. They did say however, that they may make a “tweak” or two to the packages, what ever that means. NASCAR President Mike Helton said, “We're going to Talladega the way we left Daytona. If there's any change at all, it will just be a tiny tweak. What we might change is some of the moves we made during Speedweeks, take a hard look at whether they still need to be there or not."

Helton answered questions about the practice of blocking on the racetrack. He said that he did not feel that there was anything NASCAR could do to control the age old practice. Blocking was considered to be the major cause of some major wrecks at this season's Daytona 500. Although NASCAR doesn't think the practice is conducive to the promotion of stock car racing, there is nothing that they can do to stop it. They have plans to lecture the drivers during driver's meetings of the consequences of blocking, and about the dangers involved with the practice.

NASCAR has also addressed the problem of the Pit stops at Bristol, the only track left on the NASCAR circuit with two separate pit areas. Drivers have complained in the past about losing valuable track position by having to pit in the backstretch pits. Those who qualified in the higher positions got to pit on the frontstretch, while those who qualified past the 25th position and received provisional starting positions had to use the back pits.

When they arrive at Bristol next week, the new pitting procedures will go into effect. During caution periods, all cars will enter pit road in turn two regardless of their pit stall location. After their pit stops under caution, all cars will exit the pit road at the end of the frontstretch at turn one. Under green flag pit stop conditions, all cars will enter and exit both front and back pits roads as they have in the past.

Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 …….

Watching the 400 mile Darlington race was an evident reminder that the "Track Too Tough To Tame" and "Lady in Black" were befitting labels for the difficult egg shaped oval. The tire eating slippery track surface showcases the walls that get almost as much use as the track itself. Even a lot of the veterans ended up with a "Darlington Stripe" on the side of their cars from contact with the wall coming off of turn two.

Sterling Marlin ended up with the win, the second of this season, the tenth win of his Cup career, and also his second win at Darlington. Marlin had qualified the No. 40 Coors sponsored Chip Ganassi racings' Dodge in the 11th position, but was relegated to the back of the field after having to change an engine before the race. They found a bad lifter in the engine and decided not to take a chance on it. Working ones way through the field at Darlington is no easy task, and Marlin happily enjoys the saying "From Worst to First" that’s circulating throughout the media. Marlin claims that the late Dale Earnhardt taught him something about turn three and how to come off of turn four a couple of years ago. He said that he tried it during the race and it worked well enough to propel him to the win. Earnhardt was a nine time winner at Darlington, second only to the ten wins by David Pearson. The next in line is Jeff Gordon with five.

A hard charging Elliott Sadler was second in the No 21 Motorcraft sponsored Wood Brothers Ford. Kevin Harvick was third in the No. 20 Goodwrench sponsored Richard Childress racings' Chevrolet, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the No. 8 Budweiser sponsored Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet. Rookie Ryan Newman got the fifth place finish in the No. 12 ALLTEL sponsored Penske Racing's Ford. Newman wrecked his primary car during final Happy Hour practice Saturday afternoon and had to resort to using a back-up car. This relegated him to starting at the back of the field instead of the third position that he had earned in qualifying. Jimmy Johnson, the other rookie at the top of the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings, finished sixth. Johnson, driving the No. 48 Lowe's sponsored Hendrick/Gordon Motorsports Chevrolet, is just one point ahead of Newman. The third rookie for 2002, Shawna Robinson, whacked the wall early on and ended up out of the race at lap 51 with ignition problems.

Steve Parks return to the No. 1 Pennzoil sponsored Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet was not much of a success. He ended up with the lead early on, and tangled with the No. 14 CONCECO sponsored A.J. Foyt Racings' Pontiac driven by Stacy Compton. Park was attempting to pass Compton, putting him a lap down, when Park got into the side of Compton's car. Park attempted the pass on the inside with Compton up against the wall. Park's car slid up into Compton as he tried to clear him. Park should have given Compton more room while trying to make the pass. Compton had every right to hold his line and fight to stay on the lead lap. Park made a rookie mistake at Darlington. There are places on that track where you can make a successful pass, and there are places where you cannot. Park attempted to pass on a corner instead of one of the straight stretches.

Sterling Marlin has racked up his fifth top five finish in five races, along with $1,115,580.00, and is still the points leader with 825. Rookie Ryan Newman is second, -99 points down. Matt Kenseth is third at -143 and Rusty Wallace is fourth at -148. Rookie Jimmy Johnson is in fifth, -158. Positions six thru ten are: Jeff Gordon, -161; Jeff Burton, -175; Ward Burton, -185; Mark Martin, -187; and Dale Earnhardt Jr., -204.

Next Week…….

Race No. 6 on the Winston Cup schedule is the Food City 500 at the Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. The event is scheduled to be televised live by the FOX Network at 12:30 P.M. Eastern on Sunday, March 24th. Qualifying for the event is scheduled to be televised live by MSG and the FOX Sports Networks on Friday, March, 22nd at 3 P.M. Eastern.

Last season's winner of the Food City 500 was first time winner Elliott Sadler. He was followed across the finish line by John Andretti, Jeremy Mayfield, Jeff Gordon, Ward Burton, Terry Labonte, Rusty Wallace, Bobby Hamilton, Steve Park, and Ricky Rudd.

3/24/03……… As this young season wears on, NASCAR continues to make changes in their rules. The sanctioning body has been really busy this past winter changing everything and anything that gets in their way. The latest round of changes for the Bristol race concerning the pit area coincides with another rules change from a week or so ago.

The pit road entry and exit points at Bristol were changed to where all drivers using the pit area under caution would have to travel through the entire pit area. The entrance to pit road at turn two, and the exit at turn one will makes for a long stay on the pit area, and also a dangerous situation with drive bys when drivers are trying to exit their pit stalls hurriedly to gain track precious track position. Couple this with the new rules concerning speeding on pit road, and you have a really long drive.

NASCAR did not come right out and address the issue, but the way I see it, if a driver is caught speeding during a pit stop under caution, he will have to make his penalty drive thru cover both pit areas. Whereas, if a driver is caught speeding on the pit road area during a green flag pit stop, he will only have to make his drive thru in the front or back stretch area where his pit stall is located.

Another rules change that was issued this past week concerns the Chevrolets getting an inch and a quarter added to their noses. The Chevrolets nose is now the same length as the Fords and Dodges, and according to NASCAR all three will be measured in pre-race inspection using the same reference line. The Pontiac nose is ¼ of an inch longer than the other three models. This rules change will go into affect beginning with the Texas race on April 7th.

I was happy to see the report that Darrell Waltrip is scheduled to race in the Advance Auto Parts 250 Craftsman Truck Series race at Martinsville on April 13th. He will drive the Melling/Harris owned Dodge truck that us usually driven by Stacy Compton. Compton has a conflict on that date and will be driving in the Pepsi 300 Busch Series race at Nashville, which leaves the seat in the truck open for DW.

DW was supposed to be in the broadcast booth for FOX announcing the Nashville Busch race, but was able to wrangle out of it in order to race the Truck. DW last raced a Truck at Martinsville in 1996 when he finished fifth with his own truck. He had five top five finishes in the Truck series that year. DW plans to test the truck at Greenville-Pickens Speedway, a track similar to Martinsville near Greenville, South Carolina, prior to the race.

3/25/02…… Food City 500 ……. Kurt Busch won his first Winston Cup race at Bristol in his 48th start. Busch became the fifth different winner in the six races run so far this season. Busch held on for the win after a late race skirmish with second place finisher Jimmy Spencer late in the race. Busch, driving the No. 97 Sharpie sponsored Roush racings' Ford, had a couple of run-in's with Spencer's No. 41 Target sponsored Chip Ganassi Racings' Dodge Intrepid. After being bumped out of the way for the lead, Busch came back and gave Spencer some of his own medicine, getting Spencer sideways and taking the lead for the 55 lap run to the checkered flag. Jimmy Spencer found out the hard way that "what goes around comes around."

Busch and his crew chief, Jimmy Fennig, followed the lead of Elliott Sadler last season when he opted to stay on the Bristol track with an old set of tires to enhance his track position. Sadler went on to get his first win by using that strategy by running 162 laps on a set of tires. The same thing worked for Busch, who ran 157 laps on a set of tires to take his first checkered flag. And, take the checkered flag he did! Busch stopped his car on the finish line, stood in the driver's window and bowed gracefully for his fans, then he got the checkered flag from the flagman and ran a victory lap holding the flag out of his window.

Ricky Rudd, driving the No. 28 Havoline Ford, followed Spencer across the finish line in the third position. Dale Earnhardt Jr. managed to finish fourth in the No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet after fighting to pass the lapped car of Robbie Gordon. Bobby Labonte crossed the finish line in the fifth position in the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Pontiac.

The problems that Dale Jr. had with Robbie Gordon, driver of the No. 31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet, escalated to a head as the race ended. Earnhardt Jr. went up beside Gordon and bumped him after taking the checkered flag. Gordon followed Earnhardt to the Pit area and rammed the back of the No. 8 Chevy, spinning it around. NASCAR handed down fines to both drivers for the altercation. Dale Jr. was fined $5,000 for his part in the altercation, and Gordon was fined $10,000 and placed on probation until August 28th.