10/7/02 ……… Dale Earnhardt Jr. has once again quieted his critics by dominating the right part of the EA Sports 500 at Talladega. There was no DEI magic creating the usual one two finish. Waltrip screwed up and allowed his car to roll off of the jack on pit road. It was a stupid mistake that took him out of contention for the win, and out of position to draft with his teammates.

Dale Jr. easily cruised to victory with the help of one of his friends, Tony Stewart. Stewart had radioed his spotter and asked him to tell Dale Jr's spotter that he was going to stay with him until the end. Stewart is too smart a racer to try to get out of line in an effort to pass and get hung out to dry, losing valuable positions. Stewart's strong second place finish helped him to cement the championship point's lead.

The top ten starters and their finishing positions:

1. *Jimmie Johnson -- No. 48 Chevy – finished 37th
2. Mark Martin -- No. 6 Ford – finished 30th
3. Tony Stewart -- No. 20 Pont. – finished 2nd
4. Jeff Gordon -- No. 24 Chevy -- finished 42nd
5. **Jamie McMurray -- No. 40 Dodge – finished 26th
6. Rusty Wallace -- No. 2 Ford – finished 13th
7. *Ryan Newman -- No. 12 Ford – finished 7th
8. Matt Kenseth -- No. 17 Ford—finished 14th
9. Bill Elliott -- No. 9 Dodge – finished 19th
10. Ricky Rudd -- No. 28 Ford – finished 3rd

This made the second time in two years that Dale Jr. has won the No Bull Five Winston $1 million dollar bonus for himself and a fan. The top five finishers at Talladega will be eligible for the next No Bull Five event, probably at Las Vegas is they keep the same No Bull Five schedule that they have had for the past two seasons. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart, Ricky Rudd, Kurt Busch, and Jeff Green will be the eligible drivers.

The smaller fuel cell didn't really amount to much as far as keeping the cars out of large groups. Here's the scoop, all cars have a pit window for fuel that spans approximately four to eight laps. The cars were strung out for a few laps, but then they all drafted back together in one big block within five or six laps of their green flag pit stops. The smaller fuel cells were a mute subject, they didn't succeed in breaking up the large packs of cars.

The big change that evolved with the ending of the race was the dramatic change in the championship point's race. Tony Stewart is now the point's leader! Stewart has 3958 points, 72 more than Mark Martin. Former rookie leader Jimmie Johnson is now in third with a -82, not out of the big picture by any means. Ryan Newman, the Raybestos Rookie of the Year leader, is now in fourth place with a -137. Veteran Rusty Wallace rounds out the top five with a -147 deficit down from the leader.

Special mention has to go out the Hendricks Motorsports engine builders. There were a total of six Hendricks engines in the race and they all succumbed to broken valve spring retainers before the end of the race. The Hendrick Motorsports had won the 'Golden Benny" award from TV announcer Benny Parsons before the race. It seems that the Golden Benny is jinxed. Up to this point, and one who has won it has suffered a string of bad luck. Stuff the award Benny!

Next week race No. 31 on the 36 race Winston Cup 2002 schedule is the UAW-GM Quality 500 from Charlotte, North Carolina. The event is scheduled to be televised live by the NBC network at 12 P.M. Eastern on Sunday, October 13th. Qualifying is scheduled to be televised live by the SPEED channel at 4 P.M. Eastern on Friday, October 11th.

Last season's winner of the October Charlotte race was Sterling Marlin. He was followed across the finish line by Tony Stewart, Ward Burton, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Burton, Dale Jarrett, Rusty Wallace, rookie Kevin Harvick, Mark Martin, and Bobby Labonte.

10/14/02 ………

Foot in Mouth Disease……… Well, actually my foot ended halfway down my throat. I just hate it when stuff like this happens! The following excerpt is from one of my past articles:

“I was amused by a story at NASCAR.com about the Bristol Busch race with the title "Brilliance at Bristol." Tim Packman, the Turner Sports Interactive writer, needs to learn that there isn't anything brilliant about Jimmy Spencer, especially the way he drives a racecar.”

I received an email from Tim Packman advising me that he wasn’t responsible for writing the titles, he just wrote the stories. He went on to say that it looks like I’m the one who needs to learn. Point taken, I have learned! My sincere apologies go out to Tim Packman at NASCAR.com.

Who was at fault when Debbie Renshaw hit the disabled racecar of Eric Martin at Charlotte? Martin had hit the wall in turn four while practicing his ARCA car for their up-coming race. He radioed his crew that he was okay, then was broadsided by Renshaw’s 160 MPH racecar, which killed him instantly from massive internal injuries.

I’ve read conflicting reports concerning the incident. Some say Martin had set there for 15 seconds, other reports state that Martin’s car was disabled a full 30 seconds before the fatal impact. According to qualifying trials, it takes approximately 30 seconds to circumvent the 1.5 mile Charlotte track at race trim. Some cars will be a little less, some a little more. At practice speeds I would think that it would be a little more than 30 seconds.

At any rate, there seems to be a lot of hard feelings around the garage area concerning the female driver hitting the disabled car and killing its driver. To begin with, there are a lot of chauvinistic people in racing that don’t think Renshaw should be racing in their league to begin with. Couple those feelings with the stigma of the accident and you can imagine what she will have to overcome, when and if, she comes back to racing and attempts to compete in NASCAR’s Busch series.

The death of Eric Martin has overshadowed the fact that Renshaw was severely injured in the crash. She had orthopedic surgery on her foot and ankle that required pins. She will be out of circulation for several weeks and has a lot of painful physical therapy to go through, not to mention the mental trauma she is suffering.

GM-UAW Quality 500……… A historic day at Charlotte, to say the least. Jamie McMurray is the first driver in NASCAR’s modern history to win his first Winston Cup race in only his second race in the series. Last season, Kevin Harvick set a similar record by wining his first race in his third time out. Actually, this was the fifth time in NASCAR’s overall history that this feat was accomplished, but the first time in NASCAR’S modern history which is believed to have begun with the 1980’s era. McMurray’s closest challenge came from second place finisher Bobby Labonte. Labonte was close to passing McMurray in the final laps, but just couldn’t get the job done.

The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Tony Stewart -- No. 20 Pont. -- finished 3rd
2. Mark Martin -- No. 6 Ford – finished 16th
3. *Jimmie Johnson -- No. 48 Chevy – finished 6th
4. *Ryan Newman -- No. 12 Ford -- finished 8th
5. **Jamie McMurray -- No. 40 Dodge -- finished 1st
6. Rusty Wallace -- No. 2 Ford – finished 5th
7. Matt Kenseth -- No. 17 Ford – finished 34th
8. Jeff Gordon -- No. 24 Chevy – finished 4th
9. Bill Elliott -- No. 9 Dodge – finished 35th
10. Ricky Rudd -- No. 28 Ford – finished 39th

The second Charlotte race of the 2002 season finally got off after a nearly three hour rain delay. The event was marred by one major wreck caused by Todd Bodine when he was forced to go through the wet infield grass when the Burton brothers checked up in front of him. Bodine’s left rear tire briefly crossed some grass as the car veered low to the inside to keep from ramming the Burtons. The wet surface on the tire was enough to cause the car to veer out of control into the side of Ward Burton, collecting eight other cars in the process.

Tony Stewart is still sitting atop of the driver’s championship point’s chart. Stewart has 4128 points and leads the second place driver, rookie Jimmie Johnson, by 97 points. Mark Martin dropped down one spot to third and now has a -122 deficit from the leader. Rookie Ryan Newman is still fourth with a -165. Rusty Wallace rounds out the top five with a -182.

Next Week race No. 32 on the 36 race 2002 schedule is the Old Dominion 500 on Martinsville Speedway at Martinsville, Virginia. The race is scheduled to be televised live by NBC at 12 P.M. Eastern on Sunday, October 20th. Qualifying for the event is scheduled to be televised live by the SPEED channel at 3 P.M. on Friday, October 18th.

Last season’s winner of the Martinsville fall event was Ricky Craven. He was followed across the finish line by Dale Jarrett, Ward Burton, Bobby Labonte, Jeff Burton, Johnny Benson, Mark Martin, Mike Wallace, Jeff Gordon, and Sterling Marlin.

10/21/02……… Changes to the oldest track in NASCAR have been giving drivers fits since unloading their racers from team haulers. The once bumpy and porous track has been ground down to make it smother, an action which apparently has lowered the groove some and also changed some of the driver’s exit lines coming off of the corners.

Clay Earls, president of the .526 paperclip shaped concrete track, had the corners ground down a few weeks ago. In recent years drivers have complained about the track being too rough. Now that the track is smoother, they are complaining about the changes, claiming that the smoother track doesn’t have as much grip, making the racing slower.

Some of the younger crowd of drivers, namely the young guns, like the changes to the track. As a matter of fact, rookie Ryan Newman smoked four time champion Jeff Gordon off of the pole. The look on Gordon’s face was priceless as he realized that he had been beaten by the hot young rookie. So naturally, Gordon won’t have anything good to say about the track!

As it turned out, the changes were indeed beneficial to the young guns. The veterans had a harder time maneuvering the newly ground surface than the younger drivers did. Kurt Busch bested Johnny Benson for the win, while both drivers were being chased down by third place finisher Ricky Rudd. The veterans just couldn’t get it done this time at Martinsville.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished fourth followed by Ward Burton, rookie Jimmie Johnson, Ricky Craven, Dale Jarrett, Rusty Wallace, and Mark Martin to round out the top ten. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. *Ryan Newman -- No. 12 Ford—finished 15th
2. Jeff Gordon -- No. 24 Chevy – finished 36th
3. Bill Elliott -- No. 9 Dodge—finished 42nd
4. Ward Burton -- No. 22 Dodge-- finished 5th
5. Rusty Wallace -- No. 2 Ford—finished 9th
6. Joe Nemechek -- No. 25 Chevy – finished 41st
7. *Jimmie Johnson -- No. 48 Chevy – finished 6th
8. Hermie Sadler -- No. 02 Chevy – finished 35th
9. Mike Skinner -- No. 4 Chevy – finished 33rd
10. Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- No. 8 Chevy – finished 4th

Busch became the 11th different winner in as many races at the storied track, which is one of the oldest on the NASCAR circuit. He also changed a NASCAR record set in 1959 by winning the race from as far back as the 36th starting position. Lee Petty had held the previous record by winning in 1959 from the 24th starting position. It was Busch’s second victory in the sophomore year of his career. Busch won his first race last spring at Rockingham.

Tony Stewart finished 11th, and is still the point’s leader with 4263 points. Rookie Jimmie Johnson is still in second place with a -82, followed my Mark Martin with a -123. Either one of the top three drivers can come away from next week’s race with the lead. Rusty Wallace moved up one spot to fourth with a -174 while his teammate rookie Ryan Newman moved back to fifth with a -177.

Next week race No. 33 on the 36 race 2002 Winston Cup schedule is the NAPA 500 on Atlanta Motor Speedway, at Hampton,, Georgia. The event is scheduled to be televised live by the NBC network at 12 P.M. Eastern on Sunday, October 27th. Qualifying for the event is scheduled to be televised live by the SPEED channel at 7 P.M. Eastern.

Last season’s winner of the NAPA 500 was Bobby Labonte. He was followed across the finish line by Sterling Marlin, rookie Kevin Harvick, Jerry Nadeau, Ward Burton, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Dale Jarrett, Tony Stewart, and Jeff Burton.

10/28/02……… It’s apparent that the majority of NASCAR fans don’t care for setting the race field via owner’s points when qualifying gets rained out. A poll at NASCAR.com asked, “What should NASCAR do when Bud Pole Qualifying is rained out?” The two choices were, “Set lineup by owner’s points” and “Try again the next day.”

On Sunday, October 17th, with nearly 60k fans voting by noon, it was evident by the results that fans want NASCAR to try again the next day. The disparity between questions was 31% for owner’s points, and 69% for trying again the following day.

This is all well and good, and I for one think that they should indeed try again the next day. Problem is, there are usually events or practice times scheduled for either the Busch or Winston Cup Series on Saturday morning. Sometimes NASCAR shares the venue with ARCA racing and also the Modified divisions.

Before the rules were changed that only allowed for one qualifying session, second round qualifying was always held on the morning following the first attempt that set the first 25 positions in the race. Positions 25 thru 37 and the provisional starts were set in second round qualifying. When the rules changed, it freed up the track the following morning for other money making events to be held. It’s all about making money folks, that’s the name of the game. Don’t expect to see any second round qualifying or following day “re-tries” in case of rain unless in rare circumstances the track may be free to do so.

The NAPA 500 finally came to a close after a couple or hours of rain delays. There were a lot of strong leaders on the damp unpredictable track, but the one who emerged at the lead when the final caution was thrown for rain was Kurt Busch, NASCAR’s new rain man.

The win was Busch’s third of the season in Roush Racing’s No. 97 Rubbermaid Ford, and his third career win in his sophomore year. His other two short track wins this season were the Bristol spring race, and last week’s race at Martinsville. Busch won his third race in his 75th career start.

The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Tony Stewart -- No. 20 Pontiac – finished 4th
2. *Jimmie Johnson -- No. 48 Chevy – finished 22nd
3. Mark Martin -- No. 6 Ford – finished 8th
4. Jamie McMurray -- No. 40 Dodge -- finished 7th
5. Rusty Wallace -- No. 2 Ford – finished 17th
6. *Ryan Newman -- No. 12 Ford – finished 10th
7. Jeff Gordon -- No. 24 Chevrolet – finished 6th
8. Kurt Busch -- No. 97 Ford – finished 1st
9. Matt Kenseth -- No. 17 Ford – finished 9th
10. Ricky Rudd -- No. 28 Ford – finished 32nd

The race was red flagged for heavy rain on lap 242, which constituted a 372.68 mile race, shortening the NAPA 500 by 127.32 miles. With sprinkles in the air most of the afternoon, the objective was to reach the halfway point which was approximately 163 laps. NASCAR allowed the race to continue for as long as they could, considering the safety of the drivers. The track managed to stay relatively dry due to the heat from the racecars traveling at speeds near 200 M.P.H. If finally began raining too hard for the cars to maintain the integrity of the track, and NASCAR had to call it.

Joe Nemechek was a front runner and race leader, finishing second to score his best finish of the 2002 season. Dale Jarrett wasn’t a factor in the race, but managed to edge in front of Tony Stewart to cross the finish line in the third position. Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s fifth place finish rounded out the top five.

Tony Stewart is still the championship point’s leader with 4428 points. Mark martin moved back up to second place with a -146 deficit ahead of Jimmie Johnson who now has a -150 point deficit. Ryan Newman moved past his teammate Rusty Wallace to fourth with a -203, while Wallace has a -227 deficit. Only the top three in the standings will be eligible to come away from the next race with the point’s lead, with 150 being the magic number needed to take control.

Race number 34 on the 36 race Winston Cup schedule is the Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn 400 on the North Carolina Speedway at Rockingham, North Carolina. The race is scheduled to be televised live by the TNT channel at 12:30 P.M. EDT on Sunday, November 3rd. Qualifying is scheduled to be televised live by the TNT channel on Friday, November 1st at 3 P.M. E.D.T.