Stewart’s Tire’d Out……..

Tony Stewart wasn’t the only one who was upset with the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. over the past couple of races. There was a lot of grumbling in the garage area after both the Dover and Talladega races. One crew chief alluded that the Goodyear tires were junk and that they had furnished his team with tires that were dated from the 2002 season.

Stewart was fined $5k after his tirade about Goodyear supposedly because he used some minor cuss words that I’ve never seen anyone else get fined for, but NASCAR has to kiss up to Goodyear regardless of the junk they bring to the track. That’s the big problem right there, Goodyear has NASCAR by the short hairs and the powers that be at NASCAR kiss up to them whether they are right or wrong. Goodyear had been using junk tires at races for years, and it’s getting worse instead of better.

Even Jeff Gordon had to admit that the Goodyear tire inconsistency has hurt, if not foiled, his chances of competing for the championship this season. When you are trying to dial a car’s set-up in during a race, you can’t make the appropriate adjustments if you keep getting different tires when you make your pit stops. The ages of the tires have a tremendous affect on the car’s handling. The older the tire is, the harder the compound becomes, and a hard compound will not allow as much traction or adhesion to the track’s surface as a newer tire will, especially on concrete. Asphalt is a little more forgiving to race on, but a concrete surface is very tricky and very unforgiving. The correct tire compound for the surface is paramount to the race car’s ability to adhere to the track surface.

The tire blowouts at Talladega were totally unacceptable. When queried about it, Goodyear immediately places the blame on the teams for using radical set-ups. They complain that the teams use too much camber in their right front tires causing the tire to lean in too far which causes it to just run on the outside edge. Yes, we’ve seen this a few times, and a few teams have admitted to it, but what does that have to do with a rear tire blowing out which in turn caused a huge wreck. The set-ups don’t affect the way the rear tires are placed on the track, although the set-ups can shift a little more weight on either the right or left side, it has nothing to do with the way the tire runs on the track. Goodyear has never taken any blame for their junk tires, if they have, it’s been very minimal and played down as a development in progress.

I also write articles on IRL racing. The Indy cars use Firestone/Bridgestone tires and you hardly ever hear of one blowing out or of any of the teams having problems with them. These cars reach speeds of well over 230 miles per hour on a regular basis and never seem to have any trouble with the Firestone rubber underneath them. The drivers are always confident that the tires will be solid enough to risk their lives on. No matter what any one says, you can’t say that about the Goodyear junk that NASCAR is so crazy about using. I wouldn’t put a Goodyear tire on a wheel barrow……….. When you purchase Goodyear tires you’re just paying a large amount of money for a name that doesn’t amount to near as much as it did 25 to 30 years ago. There are a lot better tires out there on the market for a lot less money, shop around!

The New Rules Are Working…….

The response time for safety crews to reach on-track altercations has been greatly enhanced due to the new rules disallowing competitors to race back to the caution flag. When the caution flags are flown now, all competitors shut it down without worry about getting a lap back or enhancing their positions.

As time is passing, with NASCAR and the competitors are getting used to the way the new rules work, things are beginning to settle down. Those who were initially against the new system are falling in line along with those who are offering praise to NASCAR for finally doing something about the dangers drivers and teams faced during caution periods. Even the new pit road rules are beginning to sink in, becoming the norm now instead of something new to squawk about. Of course, there will always be drivers and crew members who will carp and complain. Some of them would complain if they were hung with a new rope.

Banquet 400……

Ryan Newman is still the man to beat! Eight wins so far in the 2003 season, culminates a great season for the sophomore driver. If he can keep up this type of scenario for the rest of the season, he’ll be known, along with crew chief Matt Borland, as the “fuel mileage king.”

Okay, now to do some carping before I forget about it, and I’m sure that some of you would rather that I forget about it. Why did Dale Earnhardt Jr. start from the pole position instead of on the outside of the front row? What ever the reason, it was very distasteful to this particular fan/writer. Starting positions are starting positions and they are earned by performance, not through deals with NASCAR or other teams, not by intimidation, or by what ever means possible. Earnhardt should have started on the outside in the second position where he belonged. You’ll notice that Mike Skinner made a statement by taking the lead from his second place outside starting position, even though he didn’t keep it very long. He was probably afraid of retribution from DEI and thought it best to fade back into the field quicker than he would have anyway. Intimidating other teams is a bunch of crap, whether they agree to a deal or not. I lost a lot of respect for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Dale Earnhardt Inc. because of the start of the Kansas race. While I’m on the subject of DEI, I wonder how Michael Waltrip fans like him now? This wasn’t a fixed restrictor plate race where NASCAR hands out certain plates to certain teams, Waltrip couldn’t even keep his car on the track!

While I’m on a carping roll, it was evident in the Banquet 400 that Goodyear was still furnishing teams with lousy tires. Tire blowouts and flats caused numerous wrecks during the race. Goodyear should be proud! Like I mentioned above, you certainly don’t see that kind of crap in an IRL race with Firestone tires!

Getting back to the race, Bill Elliott tried his best to catch Ryan Newman but he just didn’t have it. He was really upset and didn’t want to do a post race interview after his second place finish. Elliott’s teammate, Jeremy Mayfield, finished third, another great finish for the No. 19 team, which seems to be on the rebound going into the end of the season. Tony Stewart was happy to finish fourth, along with Jeff Gordon who was happy with his fifth place finish. Finishing positions six thru ten were filled by Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, rookie Jamie McMurray, Rusty Wallace, and Ricky Rudd. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- No. 8 Chevy – finished 18th
2. Mike Skinner -- No. 01 Pontiac – finished 29th
3. Bobby Labonte -- No. 18 Chevy -- finished 17th
4. Rusty Wallace -- No. 2 Dodge – finished 9th
5. Jason Leffler -- No. 0 Pontiac – finished 30th
6. Jeff Gordon -- No. 24 Chevy – finished 5th
7. Bill Elliott -- No. 9 Dodge – finished 2nd
8. Jeff Green -- No. 43 Dodge – finished 27th
9. Elliott Sadler -- No. 38 Ford – finished 42nd
10. Ryan Newman – No. 12 Dodge – finished 1st

As most of you are already aware, Matt Kenseth had another day of bad luck at the races. He managed to get his crippled car back onto the track to finish in the 36th position. Kenseth is now listed with 4282 points with a 259 point lead over second place Kevin Harvick. Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s paltry performance didn’t enhance his position in the points much, he’s now listed with a 325 point deficit to Kenseth. Ryan Newman’s win moved him up one spot in the points to the fourth position with a -364, just 39 points behind Earnhardt. Jimmie Johnson dropped down one spot to round out the top five listed with a -380. Jeff Gordon and Bobby Labonte are still listed in the sixth and seventh position with a -420 and a -637. Tony Stewart moved up one spot to eighth listed with a -666 (the number of the beast!). Kurt Busch dropped down one spot to ninth with a – 707 followed by Terry Labonte who rounds out the top ten with a -771.

Next Week……

The Cup Series travels back east to Charlotte for the first (inaugural) October night race, with race No. 31, the UAW-GM Quality 500. The event is scheduled to be televised live by the NBC network on Saturday, October 11th, at 7 p.m. eastern. Qualifying for the event will be televised by the SPEED channel on Thursday, October 9th at 7 p.m. eastern.

Last season’s winner of the fall race at Charlotte was Jamie McMurray. He was followed across the finish line by Bobby Labonte, Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Rusty Wallace, rookie Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Burton, rookie Ryan Newman, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Dave Blaney.

Inclement weather rained out qualifying last season, so owner’s point’s leading driver Tony Stewart assumed the starting position followed by Mark Martin, rookie Jimmie Johnson, rookie Ryan Newman, and Jamie McMurray. There were five caution periods for a total of 33 laps out of the 501 mile 334 lap race on the 1.5 mile tri-oval.

BDR Gets a Break……

There’s been lots of media attention surrounding Bill Davis Racing this season. First of all, Dodge Motorsports dumped the organization from their Cup racing program, alleging that BDR used Dodge technologies and facilities in the building of a Toyota Tundra for Toyota’s upcoming Craftsman Truck Series program. Working for Toyota Motorsports was deemed to be in violation of Dodge’s contract with BDR.

The next bit of news to surface was that impending move of driver Ward Burton, who claimed that he was leaving the seat of the No. 22 Caterpillar sponsored BDR Dodge. Dill Davis sought to find an amicable solution to the driver problem, and as reported recently, he did just that. Davis is moving Scott Wimmer up from the Busch Series.

Wimmer is currently driving the No. 27 Stacker II sponsored BDR Chevy in the Busch Series. Last season Wimmer won four of the last eight Busch Series races, finishing third in the driver’s standings with 11 top five and 17 top ten finishes. So far this season going in to the Little Trees 300, Wimmer has one win, four top five, nine top ten finishes, and is listed seventh in the driver’s standings.

Wimmer is expected to take over the No. 22 ride in Cup racing at Atlanta in two weeks. He’ll finish out the remaining four races this season and will race the 2004 season in the No. 22 starting with the Daytona 500 this coming February.

I see this as a plus for Bill and Gail Davis. The two have worked really hard for years, building teams in NASCAR racing. The move in placing the talented younger driver in the seat of the No. 22 is a wise one, considering the emergence of the young guns and the higher level of competition these days in Cup racing. The veterans, like Burton, got too used to the common place status quo in Cup racing, and when the time came for them to step up to the plate and compete against the stiffer competition, they are falling sadly short of the task.

Even though BDR was dumped by dodge this past summer, the team has continued to race the Dodge cars in the Cup Series. It remains to be seen what manufacturer they will use in the 2004 season with Wimmer, who’s used to racing Chevy’s in the Busch Series. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if BDR switched to Chevy’s for the 2004 Cup series campaign.

Tarnished Memory…..

So much for the R. J. Reynolds Victory Lap debacle. I guess these days a sponsor will do anything to get its name in the media. The cigarette company is on its last legs in NASCAR and is taking its last hurrah with this Victory Lap promotion, complete with die-cast cars and other paraphernalia geared to relieve race fans of their hard earned dollars.

Be that as it may, this seems to be the American way these days. What really ruffled my nape, and I can assure you that I’m not alone in this, was the Victory Lap debacle held at Charlotte where Jeff Gordon was allowed on the track at the same time with the black No. 3 Dale Earnhardt Monte Carlo. Talk about tarnishing someone’s memory! I’ve seen promotions take on a bad taste in my time, but this was the worst I’ve ever seen. What were they thinking?

Most die-hard Earnhardt fans contend that it was Jeff Gordon’s emergence into Cup racing that prevented Earnhardt from achieving his goal of a coveted eighth championship. Having Gordon on the track with the No. 3 car just rubbed more salt into the wound that time will never heal.

UAW-GM Quality 500……

Tony Stewart, our defending Cup Champion, managed to power past the field to take the checkered flag at Charlotte’s first fall night race. It was the second win of the season for Stewart and the 17th win of his five year career in his 171st Cup point’s race. Stewart’s first win this season came at Pocono Raceway in the June 8th Pocono 500 event.

The usual “wall-whackers” showed their stuff again at Charlotte under the lights. As per usual, Todd Bodine and Mike Skinner were both involved in wrecks. Unfortunately, this time they both contributed to the demise of Elliott Sadler, who wrecked out for the third week in a row. It won’t be long at this rate, before Sadler will be listed among the likes of Bodine and Skinner. Sadler was blocked into a wreck by both drivers, and stated that it was his fault for racing them too close. If he knew not to race these ill mannered drivers of limited skills too close, then why did he do it? Ho-hummmmm…… That’s kind of like begging an idiot to screw up; when everyone knows he’s going to do it anyway.

Ryan Newman followed Stewart across the finish line, along with Jimmie Johnson, Bill Elliott, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte, Jamie McMurray, Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Kevin Harvick to round out the top ten. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Ryan Newman -- No. 12 Dodge – finished 2nd
2. Jeff Gordon -- No. 24 Chevy – finished 5th
3. Jimmie Johnson -- No. 48 Chevy – finished 3rd
4. Bill Elliott -- No. 9 Dodge -- finished 4th
5. Kevin Lepage -- No. 4 Pontiac – finished 21st
6. Tony Stewart -- No. 20 Chevy – finished 1st
7. Elliott Sadler -- No. 38 Ford – finished 43rd
8. Todd Bodine -- No. 154 Ford – finished 29th
9. Kevin Harvick -- No. 29 Chevy – finished 10th
10. Mike Skinner -- No. 01 Pontiac – finished 39th

Matt Kenseth’s top ten finish kept him from slipping back in his point’s lead like he did the past two races at Kansas and Talladega. Kenseth is now listed with 4424 points and a 267 point lead over second place Kevin Harvick. The top six positions remain unchanged with Dale Earnhardt Jr. still in third place, now listed with a -324. Ryan Newman is listed with a -331 in fourth followed by Jimmie Johnson listed with a -352. Positions six thru ten are: Jeff Gordon, -407; +1 Tony Stewart, -623; -1 Bobby Labonte, -624; +1 Terry Labonte, -804; -1 Kurt Busch, -809.

It’s interesting to see that the Joe Gibbs Racing teammates are both in the top ten, just one point apart, and it’s equally interesting to see that both Labonte brothers are listed in the top ten, with Terry moving up a notch this past week over Kurt Busch, although Busch is only five points behind. Michael Waltrip and Bill Elliott are possibilities for moving up into the top ten, with Waltrip listed at -871 and Elliott listed at -877. Positions 13 thru 15 also have a chance to break the top ten barrier with Rusty Wallace in 13th with a -918, Jeff Burton in 14th with a -952, and Robby Gordon in 15th with a -966.

With just five races remaining in the 2003 season, competitors are going to have a tough row to hoe in catching or besting Matt Kenseth. “Mr. Consistency” tends to keep going this season about like the Energizer Bunny. The upcoming race at Martinsville may chip away some at Kenseth’s lead. Kenseth has never won at the facility, nor is he listed among the top 20 money winners. He did however, finish second there in the 2002 season’s spring race and sixth in the 2001 spring race, although he hasn’t fared very well there in races held in the fall. Kenseth finished 22nd this past spring at Martinsville, one lap down to the leaders.

Next Week……

Race No. 32 on the 36 race 2003 schedule is the Subway 500 at Martinsville Speedway. The event is scheduled to be televised live by the NBC network on Sunday, October 19th at 12 p.m. eastern According to the Martinsville web site, there are still tickets remaining for good seats (are there any bad seats?). Qualifying for the event will be aired by the SPEED channel on Friday, October 17th at 3 p.n. eastern.

Last season’s winner of the Martinsville fall event was Kurt Busch. He was followed by Johnny Benson, Ricky Rudd, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Ward Burton, rookie Jimmie Johnson, Ricky Craven, Dale Jarrett, Rusty Wallace, and Mark Martin.

The Bud pole award was won by rookie Ryan Newman with a speed of 92.837 miles per hour. There were 12 caution periods for a total of 65 laps out of the 500 laps on the .526 mile paperclip shaped oval short track.

Silly Season …….

The association between Bill Davis Racing and Ward Burton, eight year driver of the No. 22 Caterpillar car, has some to an abrupt end. Back in August when Burton announced that a split was eminent, it was figured that he’s stay with the BRD team until the end of the 2003 season. This was not to be.

Burton will take over the No. 0 NetZero sponsored CNC/Haas Racing’s Pontiac next week in Atlanta for the last four races of the 2003 Cup season. He is contracted to spend the 2004 season in the seat of the No. 0, unless some unforeseen circumstances foil the plans.

Burton won two races in 2002, the season opener Daytona 500, and the New England 300 toward the end of July. He hasn’t visited victory lane since, and his performance this season has been poor, to say the least. His best finish this season came at the Watkins Glen road course, in the sixth position, which was one of only four top ten finishes this season going into the October Martinsville race. Burton has six finishes over the 30th position, and has only one top five and two top ten starts. To say the least, it hasn’t been a good year for the 10 year Cup driver.

Scott Wimmer, BDR’s Busch Series driver of the No. 23 Stacker II Chevy, is moving up into the No. 22 beginning with Atlanta and will pilot the ride next season, although it isn’t yet clear which manufacturer Davis will use for the entry. Wimmer will be one of the young guns competing for the 2004 Raybestos Rookie of the Year title. He will finish the remaining Busch Series races while competing in the final four Cup races this season. Wimmer has five wins in the Busch Series, finished the 2002 season third in driver’s points and is was seventh in the 2003 Busch Series driver’s points standings going into the Memphis race.

More silly season rumors are surrounding Johnny Benson. It has been reported that MBV Motorsports is putting Scott Riggs in the driver’s seat of the No. 10 Valvoline sponsored Pontiac for the 2004 season. Riggs is currently in his sophomore year driving the No. 10 Nestles Ford in the Busch Series. No word yet on whether this is really a done deal or just speculation. The rumor mill was responsible for alluding that the team was so happy with the prospect of having young gun Riggs in the driver’s seat that they would buy out the final year on Benson’s contract.

Tarnished Memory Revisited……

As expected, I heard from some irate Gordon fans but I didn’t get any complaints from the Earnhardt fans. One yardbird even went so far as to say that I was right, Earnhardt’s No. 3 car shouldn’t have been on the track at the same time with “the great Jeff Gordon.” What did he do that was so great? Hmmmmmmmm…….

Another point of view is that the pairing of the two cars on the track together again symbolized the rivalry that was so popular back in the late 90’s in NASCAR Cup racing. The “new kid on the block” paired with “the greatest race driver of all time?”

NASCAR.com Polls…….

I’m just like everyone else in the respect that I’m always interested in the polls that are on different web sites. A few of the polls on the Internet are really interesting and meaningful, but some of the polls are really lame, and the ones that are featured at NASCAR.com are certainly no exception when it comes down to “lame.”

This morning they had poll asking “When do you think Dale Earnhardt Jr. will win the Winston Cup title?” The answers available were: “Within two years, In 3-5 years, After he’s 34 but before he retires, Never.” Well, as any NASCAR fan should know, the answer to that one has to be “Never” because there will never be another Winston Cup Championship after this season. Winston is leaving NASCAR as its series sponsor at the end of the Cup banquet. It appears that if Matt Kenseth can hang on to his lead, he will win the last Winston Cup Championship. Next season will be the beginning of the “Nextel Cup Championship.”

True, it’s just a technical glitch, but it’s a glitch never-the-less, and a poll writer should know that. This is something that will be seen and voted on by thousands of people, it should be right! The professionalism on the NASCAR.com site is very hard to recognize, if it exists at all. I’m wondering when the turner Interactive contract runs out to do the site, I’m ready for a new look and some new blood. Hopefully they’ll contract the site out again after the first of the year when Nextel takes over Cup racing.

It isn’t only NASCAR.com that has a problem with sensible poles, I’ve seen asinine poles on the news sites, as well as some of the other racing sites. I’ve seen some pretty stupid ones, like which driver will do the best in 2004. How in the devil does anyone know that? There’s no guarantee that some of these drivers that are listed on these poles will even have a ride in 2004. February and the Daytona 500 are still around 4 months away, and a lot can happen to teams and sponsors between then and now. We’ve seen that before with major sponsors declaring bankruptcy after the first of the year.

I’m wondering who Tuner Interactive hires to write these poles for NASCAR.com? Do they hire an elementary school class to come up with them? Some of them certainly appear that way. They surely aren’t written by anyone who has a solid knowledge of racing. If they can’t put up a sensible, knowledgeable pole, then they shouldn’t put one up at all.

Subway 500……

Jeff Gordon has proved to be the king of Martinsville for the 2003 season. The 11 year veteran has won both Martinsville races from the pole this season, boosting his career total to 63 wins.

Gordon’s teammate Jimmie Johnson followed him across the finish line giving Hendrick Motorsports a one two finish. Tony Stewart came across the line in the third position followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Ryan Newman, Terry Labonte, Kevin Harvick, Jamie McMurray, Bill Elliott, and Jeff Burton to round out the top ten. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Jeff Gordon-- No. 24 Chevy – finished 1st
2. Ward Burton -- No. 22 Dodge – finished 18th
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- No. 8 Chevy – finished 4th
4. Kenny Wallace -- No. 23 Dodge -- finished 16th
5. Kevin Harvick -- No. 29 Chevy – finished 7th
6. Jimmy Spencer -- No. 7 Dodge – finished 38th
7. Rusty Wallace -- No. 2 Dodge – finished 29th
8. Ryan Newman -- No. 12 Dodge – finished 5th
9. Sterling Marlin -- No. 40 Dodge – finished 43rd
10. Jeff Green -- No. 43 Dodge – finished 24th

Championship hopeful and second place driver Kevin Harvick cut Matt Kenseth’s points lead down to 240 points, with four races remaining in the 2003 Cup season. The top nine point’s positions remain the same. Dale Earnhardt Jr. in third place is now listed with a -283, followed by Ryan Newman listed with a -300. Jimmy Johnson is just six points back in fifth place listed with a -306. Jeff Gordon’s win didn’t improve his point’s position as he is still listed in sixth place, now with a -346. Tony Stewart is in seventh listed with a -577, followed by his teammate Bobby Labonte who is now listed with a -708. Bobby’s brother Terry Labonte is still in ninth listed now with a -773. Bill Elliott capitalized on Kurt Busch’s bad luck and moved up two spots into the tenth position listed with a -863. With four races remaining at Atlanta, Phoenix, Rockingham, and Homestead-Miami, Kenseth has a good shot maintaining his lead to win the championship. With Martinsville being the last short track race, Kenseth’s next big worry could be the one mile track at Rockingham, or maybe the flat 1.5 mile track at the season finale at Homestead-Miami. Atlanta shouldn’t be a big problem, nor should Phoenix, where Kenseth took the win last season after starting from the 28th position.

Next Week …..

Race No. 33 on the 36 race 2003 Cup schedule is the Bass Pro/MBNA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The event is slated to be broadcast by the NBC network on Sunday, October 26th at 12 p.m. eastern. Qualifying for the event will be televised by the SPEED channel at 7 p.m. eastern on Friday, October, 24th.

Last season’s winner of the October Atlanta race was Kurt Busch. He was followed across the finish line by Joe Nemechek, Dale Jarrett, Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Jamie McMurray, Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth, and rookie Ryan Newman.

There was no Bud pole award last season at Atlanta due to inclement weather. Tony Stewart, started from the pole due owner’s point’s rankings. There were five cautions periods for a total of 50 laps out of the 248 laps on the 1.54 mile D-shaped oval.

Superspeedway Rules..…..

I’ve carped incessantly over the years about restrictor plate racing, as have dozens of others in the media, along with a multitude of teams, drivers, and race fans. The past few months of activity in the IRL have added credence to NASCAR’s penchant for slowing the cars down on superspeedways following the 1987 crash that damaged the fencing at Talladega.

Its amazing how the aerodynamics and physics change between 190 miles per hour and 200 plus miles per hour. The biggest factor involved here is one that involves the race car leaving the track surface and becoming airborne. Sure, we’ve all seen the cars fly through the air during wrecks at 180 mile per hour, but not like they would if they were traveling at an even higher velocity.

Racecars that differ in style and weight have different airborne limits. NASCAR feels that their restrictor plate program that keeps the stock cars below 200 miles per hour on the superspeedways is providing a positive safety factor for both drivers and fans. After what has happened lately with the faster, lighter weight open wheel cars leaving the track going airborne into, and through, the fence at speeds well over 200 miles per hour, I think NASCAR needs to be applauded. I never thought I’d be writing that statement, but the facts are the facts.

Still, yet, or whatever, I think, along with a multitude of others, that there are better alternatives out there than the restrictor plate. I’ve carped about using smaller engines, but they claim that with today’s technology, the same horsepower can be derived out of half of the amount of cubic inches. I don’t believe it, but then again, I’m not an engineer or engine builder. If that’s the case, then let them race 200 cubic inch V 6’s with small carburetors on the superspeedways. I’m pretty sure that they won’t get the same speeds with them that they do with the 358 cubic inch V 8’s, and the drivers will be able to race instead of riding around in a 190 mile per hour parking lot waiting for disaster to strike anywhere from 6 to 20 cars at a time.

As we should all be aware of by now, NASCAR has gone to great lengths to try to allow competition to flourish at the restrictor plate venues of Talladega and Daytona, but haven’t really gotten a solid handle on it. They’ve tinkered with the aerodynamics from time to time, once even creating what they called “dirty air” to try and slow the cars down while giving the driver’s more control. Nothing has really worked. Then they’ve tried unsuccessfully to alleviate the “big one” which is the term given to the huge multi-car wrecks that occur because of the bottled up closeness of the 190 mile per hour parking lot. One of the tactics that they are still using is the smaller fuel cells. They went from the regular 22.5 gallon fuel cells to the 13.5 gallon design to make the cars come to pit road more often for fuel. They figured that by making the cars stop more often, they’d string out the field more and there wouldn’t be the two large packs of cars, but a few smaller packs instead. Well, as we have all seen, it works for maybe three or four laps, and then it’s right back to the two big 190 mile per hour parking lots, an accident looking for a place to happen.

I’m sure that we will all agree that the best thing NASCAR could do at this point is to do away with the restrictor plates and come up with another way to slow the cars down and give the drivers more control of the race cars. This would also put an end to the questionable dominance of Dale Earnhardt Inc. at restrictor plate events.

Gary Nelson, NASCAR’s managing director of research and development, has recently made it known that there may be an alternative to the restrictor plates in the near future. Nelson started out as a crew chief and has always hated the use of the plates in reducing air and fuel flow to the engine in an effort to reduce horsepower. Other means of reducing horsepower at the restrictor plate tracks are being tested in earnest as this is being written.

Rookie Roundup……

At the beginning of the season Greg Biffle was leading the Raybestos Rookie of the Year quest, but the tides have turned to favor Jamie McMurray. After Martinsville, with four events remaining, McMurray, driver of the No. 41 Havoline sponsored Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge, is 33 points ahead of Biffle, 82 points ahead of third place Casey Mears, and 86 points ahead of fourth place Tony Raines. Only those four drivers had started all 32 of the races up to that point. Fifth place Fifth Place Jack Sprague got ousted from the No. 0 NetZero Pontiac after having competed in 19 events, and sixth place Larry Foyt has only competed in 17 events. Seventh place Hideo Fukuyama dropped out of the running after competing in only two events.

I know I sound like a stuck phonograph record, because I’m always stating that the best place to find stats and a complete rookie of the year breakdown is at   Jayski.com   but the facts are the facts. According to Jayski’s stat page, Jamie McMurray has received twice as many rookie of the race awards as Biffle, but Biffle had ten bonus’ to McMurray’s nine, with Biffle listed with 997 points and McMurray listed with 996.

With the amount of points a rookie can make in a race usually staying in the teens, it’ll take more than one race for McMurray to best or tie Biffle. I’m not going to go out on a limb at this point and give the nod to McMurray, because there’s a lot that can happen in four races. Look at what happened to Sterling Marlin last season as he seemed to have a strong hold on the Cup Championship. An injury to McMurray at this point, especially at Atlanta, could easily give the rookie award to Biffle. Be sure to check regularly at   Jayski’s   and check back here for more rookie developments!

Bass Pro MBNA 500……..

Jeff Gordon won the rain delayed event, the 64th win of his career and the 18th time he’s accomplished back to back wins. NASCAR’s web site made a big deal about him beating Tony Stewart, claiming that Gordon won the “duel” between the two. Stewart never caught Gordon, how could there have been a duel? A duel a back and forth, and Gordon clearly dominated the end of the race with Stewart trying to play catch-up, but to no avail.

Jimmie Johnson followed Gordon and Stewart across the finish line, along with Bill Elliott, Bobby Labonte, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeremy Mayfield, Kurt Busch, Jimmy Spencer, and Joe Nemechek. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Ryan Newman -- No. 12 Dodge – finished 29th
2. Bobby Labonte -- No. 18 Chevy – finished 5th
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- No. 8 Chevy – finished 6th
4. Brian Vickers -- No. 25 Chevy -- finished 43rd
5. Bill Elliott -- No. 9 Dodge – finished 4th
6. Elliott Sadler -- No. 38 Ford – finished 17th
7. Todd Bodine -- No. 154 Ford – finished 42nd
8. Joe Nemechek -- No. 01 Pontiac – finished 10th
9. Jimmie Johnson -- No. 48 Chevy – finished 3rd
10. Kevin Harvick -- No. 29 Chevy – finished 20th

Matt Kenseth bolstered his lead with his 11th place finish. He is now listed with 4678 points, 258 points ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr., who moved up one spot into the second position. Kevin Harvick got pinned against the wall by Dave Blaney, damaging his car, and taking him out of contention for a win or top finish, which relegated him back one spot to the third position listed with a -262. Jimmie Johnson moved up one spot to fourth and is now listed with a -266, just four points behind Harvick. Jeff Gordon moved up one spot to round out the top five in driver’s points, now listed with a -296. Positions six thru ten are: -2 Ryan Newman, -349; Tony Stewart, -527; Bobby Labonte, -678; +1 Bill Elliott, -833; -1 Terry Labonte, -839.

Next Week……

Race No. 34 on the 36 race 2003 schedule is the Checker Auto parts 500 on the Phoenix International Raceway. The event is slated to be televised live on the NBC channel at 3 p.m. eastern on Sunday, November 2nd. Qualifying for the event will be televised by the SPEED channel at 4 p.m. eastern on Friday, October 31st.

Last season’s winner of the Phoenix event was Matt Kenseth. He was followed across the finish line by Rusty Wallace, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Dale Earnhardt. Jr., Kurt Busch, Dave Blaney, Tony Stewart, Dale Jarrett, and Elliott Sadler.

Ryan Newman won the Bud pole with at speed of 132.655 miles per hour. There were 4 caution periods for a total of 18 laps out of the 312 laps on the nearly flat one mile oval. This is one of those weird NASCAR races where they only race 312 miles on a one mile track and they call it a 500. Let’s get past the hype NASCAR, there’s no need of it, we have more brains than NASCAR gives us credit for!