9/2/02……… Mother Nature played havoc this past weekend at Darlington. It happens a lot in that area, especially for the fall race. Qualifying was rained out for the Busch Series as well as the Winston Cup Series. Both series set their fields according to their team owner's point's positions. This move gave Sterling Marlin the pole for the second time this season due to rain.

When Jeff Gordon finally broke his 31 race losing streak, he did so with a vengeance. He dominated the final laps of the Southern 500 Sunday in culminating a new streak of back to back wins. This was Gordon's 60th win in 318 Winston Cup starts. It was also his fifth win in the Southern 500, tying him with Cale Yarborough in third position on the all-time Southern 500 winners list behind David Pearson and dale Earnhardt Sr.

Here are the top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Sterling Marlin – No. 40 Dodge – finished 4th
2. Mark martin – No. 6 Ford – finished 11th
3. Jeff Gordon – No. 24 Chevy – finished 1st
4. Tony Stewart – No. 20 Pont. – finished 8th
5. Jimmie Johnson – No. 48 Chevy – finished 9th
6. Rusty Wallace – No. 2 Ford – finished 22nd
7. Ricky Rudd – No. 28 Ford – finished 30th
8. Bill Elliott – No. 9 Dodge – finished 3rd
9. Matt Kenseth – No. 17 Ford – finished 37th
10. Dale Jarrett – No. 88 Ford – finished 5th

The long race's start was delayed a little over two hours as track drying efforts prevailed in getting the event under way. The inclement weather that had plagued the area all weekend finally held off so the race could be run in its entirety. The checkered flag didn't fly until well after seven in the evening, which made it a long day for all involved.

The crowd were all on their feet as Jeff Gordon circumvented the track for the final lap with Ryan Newman in tow for second place in the No. 12 ALLTEL Ford. The young rookie is in a tight battle with Jimmy Johnson for the Raybestos Rookie of the Year honors. He is leading Johnson by a mere five points in theory battle although Johnson is in the fifth position in the driver's point's standings compared to Newman's 11th place position. Actually, Johnson would have been ahead in ROY points, if it had not been for the 25 points that were deducted by NASAR for a rules violation for the Pepsi 400 event at Daytona. You can see the entire rookie points breakdown at Jayski.com . You'll always find the best and most up-to-date stats on the Internet at Jayski's.

Gordon now joins the multiple race winners for the 2002 season. Along with Gordon, Dale Jarrett, Ward Burton, Bill Elliott, Jimmie Johnson, and Sterling Marlin each have two wins. Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth are the leading winners with three wins each.

The championship point's battle is still being led by Sterling Marlin. He has 3405 points with a 91 point lead over Jeff Gordon, whose win moved him into second place. Mark Martin dropped back to third with a -125 deficit while Tony Stewart remains in fourth with a -162, with Rookie Jimmie Johnson rounds out the top five with a -167.

Next week……… Race No. 26 on the 36 race 2002 schedule is the Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400 on the Richmond International Raceway at Richmond, Virginia. The race will be televised under the lights by the TNT Network on Saturday, September 7th at 7 P.M. Eastern. Qualifying for the event will be televised live by the TNT Network on Friday, September 6th at 3 P.M. Eastern.

Last season's winner of the Richmond fall night race was Ricky Rudd. He was followed across the finish line by rookie Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Dale Jarrett, Rusty Wallace, Bobby Labonte, Tony Stewart, Jimmy Spencer, Jeff Burton, and Johnny Benson.

9/8/02……… Tony Stewart's Winston Cup career may be coming to an end. There's a simple assault charge brewing against him stemming from an alleged incident two weeks ago after the Bristol race. An unidentified woman claims that Stewart shoved her out of the way in the pit area.

The Sullivan County Sheriffs Office is investigating the incident, and they claim that one of their officers was a witness to the altercation. They also claim to have taken six different statements about the incident, and are turning their findings over to the county prosecutor's office. The determination of whether any charges will be filed will be found by a Sullivan County Grand Jury.

There are a lot of unanswered questions about this latest Stewart affair. Why did they wait two weeks before releasing the news about the altercation? The Sullivan County Sheriffs Office made it known through a press release at 3:15 P.M. last Friday afternoon, the day before Stewart was scheduled to compete at Richmond. It's hard for me to believe that Joe Gibbs Racing and Tony Stewart didn't know anything about this. I also wonder how much NASCAR knew about this in advance. It certainly appears that this may be Stewart's undoing in NASCAR racing. If he is indeed indicted, then NASCAR and Home Depot will both have no choice other than to suspend him from racing. He may also get fired from Joe Gibbs Racing. It was stated after the altercation at Indianapolis that he was really close to losing his job. Joe Gibbs held a press conference prior to the Richmond race in which he stated that the team had people surrounding Stewart at all times at Bristol and nothing was reported out of the ordinary. Stewart also issued a statement denying the incident.

Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400 …… The top ten starters, and how they finished:

1. Jimmie Johnson -- No. 48 – finished 13th
2. Ryan Newman -- No. 12 – finished 2nd
3. Dave Blaney -- No. 77 – finished 9th
4. Mark Martin -- No. 6 -- finished 6th
5. Terry Labonte -- No. 5 – finished 41st
6. Ricky Rudd -- No. 28 – finished 7th
7. Todd Bodine -- No. 26 – finished 5th
8. Mike Skinner -- No. 4 – finished 22nd
9. Johnny Benson -- No. 10 – finished 35th
10. Jeff Gordon -- No. 24 -- finished 40th

Matt Kenseth came back to win the race after going a lap down twice with flat tires, Kenseth beat out second place rookie starter Ryan Newman for his fourth win of the 2002 season and his fifth win in the fifth year of his Winston Cup career.

I have to note here that the racetrack was not fit for racing when the green flag was thrown. Once again NASCAR blew it. They were too concerned with what they perceived as their patriotic duty to portray a solid image. They were more concerned with making themselves look good by putting on a big show in honor of the 9/11 victims, than they were of insuring a good honest race. What actually happened to the track was this:

The Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400 at Richmond is one of the five No Bull Five $1 million dollar bonus races that RJ Reynolds (Winston) sponsors each year. Before the race began, after the cars had already been given the command to start their engines, an armored truck circled the track with a Winston No Bull Five show car and the five show cars of the five teams that were eligible for the bonus in tow. One of the show cars blew an engine, leaving a heavy trail of oil on the track. Safety crews were dispatched to put speedy dry on the oil, but they apparently did it too quickly, because they only managed to dry up a small fraction of the oil.

When the race started, several of the drivers were heard complaining to their teams via their radios that the track was too slippery to race on. There were multiple wrecks during the first few laps. The championship point's leader was taken out along with his teammate. They were both eligible for the $1 million dollar bonus.

The race was another of many gaffes that NASCAR has pulled off to pretty much ruin the 2002 season when it comes to good old fashioned "fair" racing.

The championship standings took a big hit at Richmond. Sterling Marlin is still the point's leader, but only by a margin of nine points over Mark Martin, who moves up one spot to second place. Rookie Jimmie Johnson moved up two spots to third with a -72, while Jeff Gordon lost two spots down to fourth with a -82. Tony Stewart lost one spot and is a -118 rounding out the top five.

Next Week……… The next race on the schedule is the New Hampshire 300 at the New Hampshire International Speedway at Loudon, N. H. Race No. 27 on the 36 race 2002 schedule is slated to be broadcast live by the NBC network on Sunday, September 15th at 12:30 P.M. Eastern. Qualifying will be broadcast live by the SPEED channel on Friday, September 13th at 3 P.M. Eastern.

Last season's winner of the New Hampshire 300 was Robby Gordon. The race was canceled due to the 9/11 terrorists attacks and was held on November 23rd, the day after Thanksgiving. Gordon was followed across the finish line by Sterling Marlin, Bobby Labonte, Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart, Jerry Nadeau, Robert Pressley, Brett Bodine, Mark Martin, and Dale Jarrett.

9/16/02 ……… New Hampshire 300…… The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. *Ryan Newman -- No. 12 Ford – finished 1st
2. Johnny Benson -- No. 10 Pont. – finished 4th
3. Bobby Labonte -- No. 18 Pont. – finished 5th
4. **Greg Biffle -- No. 55 -- finished 27th
5. Mike Skinner -- No. 4 Chevy – finished 43rd
6. Kurt Busch -- No. 97 Ford – finished 2nd
7. Mark Martin -- No. 6 Ford – finished 16th
8. Ricky Craven -- No. 32 Ford – finished 6th
9. Jeremy Mayfield -- No. 19 Dodge – finished 24th
10. Tony Stewart -- No. 20 Pont. – finished 3rd

The Winston Cup Series has a new rain man. Ryan Newman shattered the pole speed record at New England, then went on to win the rain shortened race to record his first career victory in NASCAR's elite series. Newman led 143 laps of the 206 lap event, and was still in the lead when the race was called for rain past the half way mark which signifies a completion if NASCAR deems that there isn't enough time to get the event in. That was the case at the Loudon, New Hampshire track where the time constraints wouldn't allow track drying to be completed before dark if it had stopped raining, which it didn't.

All of the past controversy involving the race track's condition was a mute subject, as the track proved to be in top condition. Bob Bahre, track owner, had said that the newly paved asphalt on the track needed to cure over the summer, and he was correct. The track allowed two and three groove racing, and no problems were reported by the drivers or NASCAR officials.

The driver's point's standings changed around some with a new leader. Mark Martin is now the leader over second place Sterling Marlin by a mere 6 points. Rookie Jimmie Johnson is still at third place with a -40 point down from leader Martin. Tony Stewart moved up one position to fourth with a -59 while Jeff Gordon dropped back to fifth with a -67. This means that there is only a 67 point spread between the top five drivers in the championship point's standings. Rusty Wallace is still in sixth place with a -146. He isn't entirely out of the picture, but considering the list of those ahead of him in the standings, he may have a hard row to hoe to gain many positions.

2002 Rookie of the Year …… The 2002 Rookie of the Year battle is too close to call at this time. There are four rookies competing for the honors this season, but the battle is only between the top two. Rookie candidates and their points prior to the New England 300:

1. Ryan Newman – 316 points
2. Jimmie Johnson – 301 points
3. Shawna Robinson – 73 points
4. Carl Long – 31 points

Newman and Johnson have each had 26 attempts and starts each. Robinson has attempted eight races and has qualified for seven. Long has attempted nine races and has qualified for one. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that Robinson and Long are out of the picture. The battle between Newman and Johnson is expected to go down to the wire. The 2002 Raybestos Rookie of the Year may not be named until well after the season finale at Homestead/Miami in November.

Jimmie Johnson was third in driver's points prior to the New England race and Newman was tenth. The fact that Newman is ahead of Johnson in rookie points reflects on the 25 points that were deducted from Johnson following a rules infraction found by NASCAR officials after the July Pepsi 400 at Daytona. Even though he lost those valuable points, he still may prevail to win. It may also come to pass that a similar type of fine could be handed out to Newman before the season is completed.

Next week…… race No. 28 of the 36 race season will be the MBNA America 400 from Dover International Speedway. The event is scheduled to be televised by the TNT network on Sunday, September 22nd at 12:30 P.M. Eastern. Qualifying is scheduled to be televised live by the TNT Network on Friday, September 20th at 2 P.M. Eastern.

Last year's winner of the fall Dover race was Dale Earnhardt Jr. There are still a lot of pictures shown of Dale Jr. taking his victory lap holding a large American flag out of his window, marking the first race and victory after the 9/11/01 terrorist's attacks. Following Dale Jr. across the finish line were Jerry Nadeau, Ricky Rudd, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, rookie Kevin Harvick, Joe Nemechek, Sterling Marlin, rookie Casey Atwood, and Bobby Hamilton.

9/23/02 ……… The Crew Chief Merry-go-round has been rotating just as much as the driver's Silly Season merry-go-round. Believe it or not, fifteen teams have changed crew chiefs since the beginning of the season, some of them more than once.

With team chemistry and continuity one of the most important factors involved in a team's success, it's really strange that these teams have shed their own tried and true for another team's cast-offs. However, that seems to be the name of the game this season. For instance, Joe Nemechek wasn't happy at Hendrick Motorsports without his tried and true old standby crew chief Brian Patty. Apparently Patty didn't fin into the Hendrick organization, or just didn't get the job done, because he has been replaced with Peter Sospenzo, who got left by the wayside quite some time ago when Penske dumped Jeremy Mayfield.

There is no sense of security with the crew chiefs job. This was clearly evident a few weeks ago when Jeff Burton orchestrated the removal of his good friend and crew chief Frankie Stoddard. One bad season was all it took. Let alone whose fault it is that the No. 99 team hasn't scored any wins or many top five finishes. It couldn't be whiner Burton's fault, he's considered to be the cream of the crop, just ask him. If the team doesn't do any better the rest of the 2002 season, and starts out the 2003 season with the same mediocre performance, look for Burton to get sent down the road. Personally, I think he should have been released and Stoddard should have stayed.

This just goes to show that a driver and/or team members performance have a direct affect on a crew chief's job. If one or any of them are lying down on the job, the crew chief will be the first one to be sent down the road, and it doesn't necessarily mean that it's any fault of his own.

Some of the senior tenure crew chiefs in Winston Cup are rather nervous. Especially the one with the most seniority with one crew, and that would be Jimmy Makar with Joe Gibbs Racing. Makar has been with Bobby Labonte for eight years, and Labonte isn't having what one would call a stellar year. Todd Parrott and Dale Jarrett have been together for seven years, even though Parrott stepped aside for a spell earlier this season, he was still there running things, that's why Jimmy Elledge left.

The next pair that have survived a certain amount of continuity are Ward Burton and Tommy Baldwin who have been together for five years. The pairings of Tony Stewart and Greg Zipadelli and also Tony Eury Sr. and Dale Earnhardt Jr. has lasted four years. This doesn't mean that next weekend they won't be working with someone else.

MBNA 400……….

The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Rusty Wallace -- No. 2 Ford – finished 15th
2. Dale Jarrett -- No. 88 Ford – finished 3rd
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- No. 8 Chevy – finished 24th
4. *Ryan Newman -- No. 12 Ford – finished 8th
5. Greg Biffle -- No. 55 Chevy – finished 33rd
6. Kurt Busch -- No. 97 Ford – finished 7th
7. Ricky Craven -- No. 32 Ford – finished 9th
8. Bill Elliott -- No. 9 Dodge – finished 18th
9. Joe Nemechek -- No. 25 Chevy – finished 23rd
10. Steve Park-- No. 1 Chevy – finished 26th

Jimmie Johnson managed to stay ahead of a hard charging Mark Martin to win his third race of his rookie season, tying the feat set by Tony Stewart in his rookie year. Dale Jarrett finished third followed by Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart.

The race was marred by Goodyear's gaffe of bringing an old soft compound tire for NASCAR competitors to use at the Dover track. Their main concern was to make NASCAR look good by allowing two and three wide racing on the difficult high banked concrete track. Problem is, they didn't care that the tires wouldn't hold up and never let the newer crew chiefs who weren't around a couple of years ago know of the situation with the soft tire compound. As a result, a lot of good teams fell back and weren't able to compete. Plus, a lot of tire failures put some top cars and drivers out of the competition.

Mark Martin remains the driver's championship point's leader with a 30 point lead over up and coming Jimmie Johnson. Tony Stewart is third with a -74, Sterling Marlin has been relegated back to fourth with a -81. Fifth place is held by Jeff Gordon who is out of the running for a one-race come back with a -190. Rusty Wallace is right along with him in sixth with a -198.

Next Week……. Race No. 29 is the Protection One 400 on Kansas Speedway, Kansas City, Kansas. The event is scheduled to be televised live by the NBC network on Sunday, September 29th at 12:30 P.M. Eastern. Qualifying for the event will be televised live by the SPEED channel on Friday, September 27th at 4 P.M. Eastern.

Last Year's winner of the inaugural Kansas event was Jeff Gordon. He was followed across the finish line by new-comer Ryan Newman, Ricky Rudd, Rusty Wallace, Sterling Marlin, Mark Martin, Robert Pressley, Tony Stewart, rookie Kurt Busch, and Dave Blaney.

9/29/02……… BAM Racing is getting to be just as big of a joke as some of the shenanigans that A.J. Foyt Racing has pulled in it's foray into Winston Cup racing. The BAM team, owned by Beth Ann Morganthal, has seated a series of drivers this season in their No. 49 Dodge.

The BAM team started out the 2002 season with ARCA star Shawna Robinson as their premier driver. They were struggling and needed some veteran assistance so they turned to Ron Hornaday, then to Derrike Cope. Last week at Dover, Kevin Lepage was driving the entry.

In its most recent strange move, BAM Racing gave the nod to 20 year old Stuart Kirby, who recently lost his ride in the Busch Series. Kirby drove Jimmy Spencer's No. 34 Chevrolet for the eight races in the Busch Series before being canned. Kirby failed to qualify the car at Kansas Speedway, so the BAM team had to load up and head for the house. In other news that was recently released, BAM Racing stated that Shawna Robinson was still their primary driver. I think it's really strange that they aren't allowing her to get seat time and experience. The only way that she is going to gain experience and learn the tracks on the Winston Cup circuit, is to race the car on them.

Crew chief Jimmy Elledge just hasn't had a good year. He started out the 2002 season on the No. 88 UPS Ford with Robert Yates Racing. Todd Parrott was given a promotion in the organization so he could spend more time at home with his family and Elledge was hired to take over his crew chief duties.

As it turned out, Parrott couldn't let the No. 88 crew chief job go, and rode herd on Elledge, preventing him from effectively doing his job. Parrott was not only the crew chief on the No. 88, he is also driver Dale Jarrett's brother-in-law. Elledge didn't have much choice but to step aside, allowing Parrott to once again return to his crew chief's position with RYR and the No. 88.

It wasn't long before Elledge accepted a crew chief position with Andy Petree Racing on the No. 55 Square D sponsored Chevy driven by Bobby Hamilton. Elledge found himself on probation this past August 27th for improper fuel cell spacers that he used in the Michigan race.

Last week at Dover he got in trouble for improper air directional devices that were found in pre-qualifying inspection. Elledge was immediately suspended for one race and was fined $5k for the rules infraction. Team owner Andy Petree assumed the crew chief duties for this weeks Kansas race.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. startled the NASCAR community last week with his revelation about racing with a concussion that he received last April 28th at California Speedway. After he told the USA Today and AP reporters about the malady that he suffered for weeks, he felt that he would have been better off if he had kept quiet about it.

Naturally, Jeff Burton had to run his yap and capitalize on the situation to bring attention to himself. Burton made the statement that he once raced with a concussion and that NASCAR should do something to prevent drivers from doing that.

NASCAR President Mike Helton made a statement at Kansas Speedway regarding the situation, and stated that the sanctioning body may require their in-field medical center doctors to order CT scans for drivers who they feel may be suffering a concussion from momentarily being knocked unconscious during a wreck. If the CT scan shows that a concussion is evident, then the driver would be sidelined until the bruise on the brain is healed.

Wally Dallenbach, one of the NBC TV commentators stated that in the CART and IRL racing leagues they have what they call a "baseline program." At the beginning of a season drivers are given manual tests to display their motor skills. These tests are used as a baseline that is used after the driver is involved in an on-track mishap. If the driver's motor skills do not match or better the baseline tests that were set before the season started, he is forbidden to race the car until he can match his set baseline. I wouldn't be surprised to see NASCAR initiate some type of similar program in the future, since Dallenbach issued them the challenge over national TV.

Protection One 400

the top ten starters, and how they finished:

1. Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- No. 8 Chevy – finished 6th
2. *Jimmie Johnson -- No. 48 Chevy – finished 10th
3. *Ryan Newman -- No. 12 Ford – finished 2nd
4. Michael Waltrip -- No. 15 Chevy -- finished 26th
5. Bill Elliott -- No. 9 Dodge – finished 5th
6. Dale Jarrett -- No. 88 Ford – finished 39th
7. Sterling Marlin -- No. 40 Dodge – finished 33rd
8. Tony Stewart -- No. 20 Pont. – finished 8th
9. Mark Martin -- No. 6 Ford – finished 25th
10. Jeff Gordon -- No. 24 Chevy – finished 1st

Jeff Gordon won his 61st career victory and has the distinction of being the only winner of the Kansas event. He won the inaugural event at the track last season. This was Gordon's third victory of the 2002 season, and with just seven races to go, he may very well be setting himself up for his fifth championship.

Rookie Jimmie Johnson is now sitting atop of the championship point's standings. They claim that a rookie had never won the championship, but there is an outside chance for it to happen this year. Mark Martin is now in second place, just a mere 11 points down from Johnson. Tony Stewart is still in third place with a - -36. Jeff Gordon's win moved him up one place to fourth with a -109. Sterling Marlin dropped down one spot to fifth and rounds out the top five with a -121.

Next week, race No. 30 on the 36 race 2002 schedule is the restrictor plate race at Talladega, Alabama. The EA Sports Thunder 500 is slated to be televised live by the NBC network on Sunday, October 6th at 12:30 P.M. Eastern. Qualifying for the event will be televised on Friday, October 4th on the SPEED channel at 4 P.M. Eastern.

Last year's winner of the October Talladega race was Dale Earnhardt Jr. He was followed across the finish line by Tony Stewart, Jeff Burton, Matt Kenseth, Bobby Hamilton, Kenny Wallace, Jeff Gordon, Joe Nemechek, Mark Martin, and Kevin Lepage.