4/4/04…….. Ten foot tall and bullet proof! I assume most of us have heard that old saying. People get to feeling that way from drinking too much, and they also get that way from getting their egos constantly boosted by others. Such may have been the case of Dale Earnhardt Jr. actions and statements following last week’s event at Bristol motor Speedway.

NASCAR and the media have been boosting him and the four-time champion up to levels above and beyond those of most mortal men. Was this the reason for his actions at Bristol or was it just one of those “heat of the moment” things? Junior’s comments about his spinning out on purpose to bring out a caution so he wouldn’t go a lap down weren’t made in the heat of the moment, they were made out of too much over confidence and self assurance.

Lets hope for his sake that NASCAR’s trimming of his sails will bring him down to a level where he’ll be able to compete with the rest of the drivers on a level where he’s just be one of the guys instead of this larger than life made for TV personality that NASCAR turned him into for their own marketing purposes.

In Dale Jr.’s defense, the same thing happened a couple of years ago to Kurt Busch when he purposefully caused a caution and then shot his mouth off about it. NASCAR trimmed his sails too, but further incidents coming from Busch showed that his sails didn’t get trimmed as much as they should have. It took Jimmy Spencer to trim his sails and bring him down a peg or two, although Spencer paid for it dearly with a heavy fine and a one race suspension.

In reflection, the fine handed down to Junior is a hoot. To begin with, $10k is pocket change for Earnhardt, and the little bit of a probationary period that they laid on him is just as big of a joke as the 25 driver’s points they took. Actually, the 25 owner’s points that they took fro Dale Earnhardt Inc. hurt worse.

If it were last season, the 25 points may have made a difference, but not this season, and especially not in this point in time as far as the season goes. With the new Chase for the Championship initiated this by NASCAR season, the top ten in points will have their points taken away and changed anyway. So, what hurt did a 25 point reduction for Junior do? It was nothing more than a joke. If they want to hurt a driver by taking points away they’ll have to take at least 100 or more.

The drivers in the hunt out of the top ten who are within 400 points of the leader will also get a shot at the brass ring this year. After the Bristol race there were 30 drivers within 400 points of the leader with Ricky Craven in the 31st position with 494 points which translates to 395 points below the leader. Of course as the season winds down there won’t be a fraction of that many drivers that close to the leader.

Last season when the last race was over Matt Kenseth had 5022 points. Kurt Busch ended up in 11th place with 4150 points, 872 points down from the leader. Only the top six drivers were within 400 points of the leader. Ryan Newman had 4711 points, which was 31 points down from Kenseth. Seventh place Tony Stewart was 473 points away from Kenseth and wouldn’t be eligible for the Chase for the Championship.

Elliott Sadler hung on to best hard charging Kasey Kahne to win the 500 mile Texas race by a mere car nose length. The victory was the second one for Sadler, having won his first in the Food City 500 at Bristol back in 2001. It’s been a long dry spell for the driver of the No. 38 M & M’s sponsored Robert Yates Racing Ford, but he’s has some close calls along the way.

Following Sadler and Kahne across the finish line were Jeff Gordon, Earnhardt Jr., R. Wallace, K. Busch, Mears, Stewart, Johnson, and McMurray. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Bobby Labonte -- No. 18 Chevy – finished 25th
2. Bill Elliott -- No. 91 Dodge – finished 36th
3. Kasey Kahne* -- No. 9 Dodge – finished 2nd
4. Greg Biffle -- No. 16 Ford -- finished 31st
5. Joe Nemechek -- No. 01 Chevy – finished 14th
6. Casey Mears -- No. 41 Dodge – finished 7th
7. Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- No. 8 Chevy – finished 4th
8. Jimmie Johnson -- No. 48 Chevy – finished 9th
9. Jeff Gordon -- No. 24 Chevy – finished 3rd
10. Rusty Wallace -- No. 2 Dodge – finished 5th

Matt Kenseth’s 16th place finish only garnered him 115 points and dropped him out of the lead down to second, 19 points behind new leader Kurt Busch. Earnhardt Jr. and Stewart remain in third and fourth with a -35 and -86 respectively. Earnhardt’s 25 point reduction by NASCAR didn’t even end up being a slap on the wrist at this stage of the game. That was one of the dumbest moves in racing history! Elliott Sadler’s win moved him up four spots to round out the top five listed with a -90. Johnson is still in sixth, and is now listed with a -109 while second place finisher Kasey Kahne moved up four spots to seventh listed with a -130. Kevin Harvick slipped back one spot to eighth with a -135 followed by J. Gordon who moved up three spots to enter the top ten at ninth with a -141. Ryan Newman’s bad luck at Texas dropped him back five spots to round out the top ten with a -198. The biggest gainer in driver’s points was Rusty Wallace who moved up six spots to eleventh, while Ryan Newman ended up with the distinction of being biggest point’s loser.

Next week is Easter Sunday. Most of the Cup drivers will be spending time with their families or else racing in other types of competition. Some may head to Nashville to race in Saturday’s Busch Series event. Check back here in next week’s article for a rundown on the next Cup event.

4/11/04…….. Isn’t it strange how native Texan Bobby Labonte won the pole at Texas Motor Speedway for the second year in a row. Almost as strange as Dale Earnhardt Inc.’s domination of the restrictor plate venues, which by the way, wasn’t really prevalent until Earnhardt Sr.’s death in February of 2001.

Where was pole winning phenomenon Ryan Newman? Texas is a fast easy track, one where just about all you have to do is to hold the petal to the metal and steer. Ryan Newman started 15th? Granted, in his rookie season, the Texas track wasn’t kind to Newman, he started 36th in 2002 and finished 40th after losing an engine on lap 252. Last season he made up for it by starting third and winning the event. His luck this season reverted back to his rookie season. He ended up against the wall on lap 194, just a little over halfway in the 334 lap event. Even then, finishing in the 39th position, he still managed to realize a purse of $110,742.00.

Getting back to Labonte, Atlanta is supposed to be his favorite track, he has six victories there since his first one in the spring race of 1996. Most of his victories have been in the spring with only one coming in the fall race in 1998. Last season he had top five starts and finishes in both races at Atlanta, wining the spring event. This season it appeared like they gave Atlanta to Junior, apparently because his team screwed him up so badly at Las Vegas, with B. Labonte starting tenth and finishing 18th? I assume they’ll blame it on the new tire and spoiler reduction, although it certainly didn’t hurt him at Texas! At any rate, Labonte finished the event four laps down in the 25th position and gathered up a purse of $139,908.00 for his troubles.

While we’re on the subject of strange, there has been lots of whispering and finger pointing in and around the garage area this season concerning Evernham Motorsports. Everyone is a buzz about their successful runs, finishing in the top fives and tens. One of the big deals with them is when they place the blanket over the front of their cars while they are on pit road awaiting the start of the race. Rumor has it that they have come up with some sort of trick with the front of the car to give them an aerodynamic advantage.

The problem with this theory is that all cars have to go through the template inspections before and after an event, so what ever they may possibly be doing has to be within the parameters of the template. Unless, Evernham has found something he can do that isn’t within the template’s parameters. I have my doubts about that. I have the idea that the blanket of the nose of the car is just a ruse to take peoples minds off of what he may really be doing in another area. A trick is a trick, and we all know that Evernham is full of them! Worst thing that ever happened to Jeff Gordon, except for when Brooke caught him with his hand in someone else’s cookie jar, is when he and Evernham went their separate ways. Keep your eyes peeled in Evernham’s direction, this thing may come to light before the season is over.

Rookie Standings……… With the Easter weekend lull in Cup racing, it’s time to take a look at how the rookie class of 2004 is making out. It’s kind of a surprise that Bill Elliott’s replacement in the No. 9 Dodge Dealers sponsored Dodge is taking the field by storm. In the first seven races of this short season, Kahne has racked up four top fives and has already won more than $1.27 million! He leads the rookie point's battle with 102 points. Kahne has been a surprise to me because he didn’t, and still doesn’t, set the track afire in the Busch Series. It’s either Ray Evernham’s equipment, or the kid just has a special knack for Cup cars. I’m sure we’ll find out more about this as the season progresses.

Following Kahne by 32 points is Scott Wimmer, driver of the No. 22 Caterpillar sponsored Bill Davis Racing’s Dodge. Wimmer has scored one top five in his seven starts so far this season. He and Kahne are the only rookies that have broken into the hallowed top five and ten area.

Brian Vickers and Johnny Sauter are tied for third with a -42, which translates to each having 60 points. Vickers took Joe Nemechek’s place in Hendrick Motorsports No. 25 GMAC sponsored Chevrolet, while Sauter is behind the wheel of Jeff Green’s old ride in the Richard Childress Racings No. 30 AOL sponsored Chevrolet .

Brendan Gaughan, former Craftsman Truck Series star, and current driver the No. 77 Kodak sponsored Penske-Jasper Dodge is fifth with a -47, followed by Scott Riggs who took Johnny Benson’s place in the No. 10 Valvoline sponsored Chevrolet for MBV Motorsports. All six of the rookies have started all seven events this season and are within 50 points of each other. If Kahne slips up and gets another DNF like he did a Bristol, he can easily lose the top spot. It will be interesting to see how these rookie competitors are fairing half way through the season as the circuit visits Daytona for the Pepsi 400 night event.

4/18/04…….. It appears that Jimmy "Mr. Excitement (until Kurt Busch came along)" Spencer may have gotten himself a decent ride in the No. 4 Morgan McClure Motorsports Chevrolet.

The struggling No. 4 team needs a good break or two and a solid driver would help it get back in competitive form. Of course, some of you may wonder just how solid Spencer is as a driver, not having won a race in ten years. His last and only 2 victories came in 1994 behind the wheel of a Junior Johnson entry, although he has knocked on the door with occasional top five and ten finishes.

Last season Spencer drove the No. 7 Sirius sponsored Dodge for Ultra Motorsports without much fanfare or success. In Spencer's defense, all one has to do is to look back trough the years at this statistics to see that when he had a solid ride under him, he turned in some decent finishes and has occasionally been up front vying for the win.

Unlike Kevin Lepage, who has had a less than stellar Cup career, Spencer has still got what it takes to get the job done. Lepage started out the season in the No. 4 car but was released before the Texas race because of his consistent lackluster performance, which has been a trademark of his Cup driving career. Some of you may remember him driving the No. 16 Roush Racing's Ford for a few seasons.

Spencer's first ride in the No. 4 Chevy as at Texas, it appeared that it was a one time deal. He started 42nd and finished a paltry 29th. I was surprised when I heard that Morgan McClure was going to bank on him again at Martinsville, along with Featherlite Inc. who sponsored the foray. He had a better start at Martinsville at 34t, but cooked the engine just a little over half way at lap 272 finishing in the 38th position.

Russell William Wallace finally won another race! The 47 year old Rusty Wallace was beginning to wonder if he would ever visit victory lane again, as was his thousands and thousands of fans. The win was the first for him since April of 2001 and the 55th of the former Winston Cup Champions storied career. The victory was Wallace's seventh at the Martinsville facility.

as the long drawn out race wore on, it appeared that one of the Hendrick Motorsports drivers would be taking the checkered flag. As Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson traded the lead with Dale Earnhardt Jr., the bottom fell out for Gordon as a piece of the track broke loose and put a hole in his front valance. The race was red flagged for well over an hour as the track surface was repaired.

NASCAR has a strict policy of keeping crews from working on their cars during red flag conditions. Gordon argued with NASCAR officials, and even with NASCAR President Mike Helton, to let them work on his car because the track caused the damage. Naturally, much to the chagrin of Gordon, his plea was denied and he had to wait for the caution flag to come out just like everyone else before his team could make the necessary repairs on his car.

Following Rusty Wallace across the finish line were Bobby Labonte, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Newman, Jeff Gordon, Jamie McMurray, Matt Kenseth, Sterling Marlin, and Dale Jarrett. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Jeff Gordon -- No. 24 Chevy – finished 6th
2. Jamie McMurray -- No. 42 Dodge – finished 7th
3. Ryan Newman -- No. 12 Dodge – finished 5th
4. Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- No. 8 Chevy -- finished 3rd
5. Kevin Harvick -- No. 29 Chevy – finished 19th
6. Ward Burton -- No. 0 Chevy – finished 22nd
7. Kurt Busch -- No. 97 Ford – finished 11th
8. Jimmie Johnson -- No. 48 Chevy – finished 4th
9. Elliott Sadler -- No. 38 Ford – finished 12th
10. Jeremy Mayfield -- No. 19 Dodge – finished 36th

The driver's point's standing have been seesawing back and forth like a politician running for office. This week Dale Earnhardt Jr. moved up two spots to the top with 1167 points. Kurt Busch dropped down one spot to second listed with a -5 while Matt Kenseth also dropped down one spot to third with a -12. Jimmie Johnson moved up two spots to fourth with a -79 while Elliott Sadler remains in fifth with a -98. Tony Stewart dropped down two spots to sixth with a -100 while Jeff Gordon moved up two spots to seventh with a -116. Rusty Wallace's win moved him up three spots into the top ten listed in eighth with a -157. Rookie Kasey Kahne dropped two spots to ninth with a -160 while Kevin Harvick also dropped two spots to round out the top ten with a -164.

Next week the Cup series travels a short distance to Talladega Superspeedway at Talladega, Alabama for the second restrictor plate race of the season. The event is scheduled to be broadcast by the FOX network at 1 p.m. eastern on Sunday, April 25th. Qualifying for the event will be televised by the SPEED channel on Friday, April 23rd at 4 p.m. eastern.

Last season's winner of the spring Talladega race was Dale Earnhardt Jr. Does that surprise anyone? He was followed across the finish line by Kevin Harvick, Elliott Sadler, Ricky Craven, Terry Labonte, Sterling Marlin, Ward Burton, Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, and Robby Gordon.

Jeremy Mayfield won the Bud Pole Award with a speed of 186.489 miles per hour in the No. 19 Dodge Dealers sponsored Evernham Motorsports Dodge. There were six caution periods for a total of 32 laps out of the 188 lap event on the 2.66 mile tri-oval.

4/25/04…….. Felix Sabatas, a part owner in NASCAR's Chip Ganassi Racing organization was livid this past week. His irritation was due to the usual inconsistency of the sanctioning bodies' thought process in handing down fines and reprimands for what they feel are actions detrimental to stock car racing.

I'm sure most of you remember last season's confiscation of the Joe Gibbs Racing's No. 20 Home Depot car because of its offset body configuration. When taking X measurements from the top of the windshield to the bottom of the opposite side rear window, they discovered a discrepancy of more than two inches. NASCAR kept the car for research most of the season, before returning the majority of it back to Joe Gibbs Racing. No penalties were assessed by NASCAR on driver Tony Stewart, crew chief Greg Zipadelli, or the Joe Gibbs Racing organization.

On Friday March 26th, qualifying day for the Bristol Food City 500, NASCAR impounded the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing's Dodge and the No. 14 A. J. Foyt Racing's Dodge due to the same infraction as listed above. The cars failed the X measurements when the templates were applied. Foyt withdrew his car from competition; he didn't have any sponsorship to begin with and didn't care to suffer the added expense of preparing a backup car for the event.

Chip Ganassi Racing prepared a backup car for driver Jamie McMurray, who ended up qualifying in the sixth position and finishing the race in the eighth position in the backup car. NASCAR handed down penalties for McMurray, Larry Foyt, and their team owners this past Tuesday, April 20th. Each driver and owner was penalized 25 points. Crew chiefs Donnie Wingo of Chip Ganassi Racing and Keith Koppenal of A. J. Foyt racing were placed on probation for the rest of the season (Dec. 31st).

I can't pass blame on any of the owners, drivers, or crew chiefs fr being upset with NASCAR for its blatant inconsistency. If Tony Stewart, Joe Gibbs, and crew chief Greg Zipadelli weren't penalized last season for the same infraction, then NASCAR shouldn't have lowered the boom on the competitors this season for the same infraction. I haven't heard at this time if any of the guilty parties plan an appeal to the Stock Car Racing Commission, but I certainly feel that this is the type of grievance that should be heard by the commission even though they would most likely kiss up to NASCAR as per usual.

The Talladega spring race appeared to be more of a professional wrestling match than anything else. It certainly wasn't what any normal race fan would call stock car racing. It ended up being "Golden Boy" day at Talladega! NASCAR had to choose between their two golden boys to see which one would get the lollypop this week and which one would get the lump of coal! Apparently they made a foul decision, as fans littered the race track and race winner Jeff Gordon with beer and soda cans as he was attempting to do his donuts. It was truly a sad day for stock car racing all around.

We'll never know if Jeff Gordon's teammate spun out on purpose just as Jeff got a nose ahead of Dale Earnhardt, bringing out the caution and freezing the field with Gordon ahead and winning the race. All I can say is that it certainly was convenient for Hendrick's Motorsports. At any rate, it's kind of like Jeff Gordon said in his post race interview, at least Earnhardt didn't win and continue his domination of restrictor plate racing! When in fact, Earnhardt did dominate the race, taking the lead at will and running roughshod over the rest of the competitors with a car that no one could catch or even get close to. Earnhardt used his teammate on numerous occasions to reach the front of the pack then flagrantly hung him out to dry as he weaved and wobbled all over the track while in the lead to break everyone's draft. There's nothing like flaunting your superiority. One of these days DEI's secret edge in restrictor plate racing will come to light.

The victory was the first of the season for Jeff Gordon and the 65th Cup win of the four time Winston Cup Champion's career. Among all of the bumping and banging that went on and the record setting 11 caution periods, Gordon somehow managed to keep his car near the front during most of the race with his teammate Jimmy Johnson. The two were the best teammate combination out there. If Earnhardt hadn't acted so foolishly and had taken care of his teammate, he could have easily won the race. When you keep hanging your teammate out to dry, you don't have him on your bumper to depend on for drafting help when it's needed!

Following Gordon and Earnhardt across the finish line were Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Robby Gordon, Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, Casey Mears, Jamie McMurray, and Bobby Labonte. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Ricky Rudd -- No. 21 Ford – finished 16th
2. Michael Waltrip -- No. 15 Chevy – finished 12th
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- No. 8 Chevy – finished 2nd
4. Joe Nemechek -- No. 01 Chevy -- finished 32nd
5. Scott Riggs* -- No. 10 Chevy – finished 34th
6. Mark Martin -- No. 6 Ford – finished 6th
7. Dale Jarrett -- No. 88 Ford – finished 17th
8. Jimmie Johnson -- No. 48 Chevy – finished 4th
9. Sterling Marlin -- No. 40 Dodge – finished 31st
10. Ward Burton -- No. 0 Chevy – finished 40th

Not only did Earnhardt manage to keep the driver's point's lead this week; he managed to extend it to the widest spread it has enjoyed so far this season. He is now 89 points ahead of second place Jimmie Johnson, who moved up two spots to second. Jeff Gordon moved up four spots to third listed with a -106 while Kurt Busch dropped back two spots to fourth listed with a -120. Matt Kenseth rounds out the top five after dropping two spots to be listed with a -150. Kevin Harvick's third place finish moved him up four spots to sixth with a -169 followed by Tony Stewart who dropped one spot to seventh with a -173. Elliott Sadler dropped three spots down to eighth listed with a -189 while Ryan Newman and Bobby Labonte advanced two spots each to ninth and tenth with a -213 and a -232. The Burton brothers seemed the have the handle on being the biggest movers in the driver's points this week with Jeff moving up five spots to the 28th position and Ward dropping down six spots to the 25th position.

Next week the Cup Series travels across the country to the California Speedway for the Auto Club 500. The event is scheduled to be telecast on the FOX network on Sunday, May 2nd, at 3 p.m. Qualifying for the event is scheduled to be telecast by the SPEED channel on Friday, April 30th at 6 p.m. All event times are eastern daylight savings time.

Last season's winner of the event was Kurt Busch. He was followed across the finish line by Bobby Labonte, Rusty Wallace, Bill Elliott, rookie Jamie McMurray, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Michael Waltrip, John Andretti, Matt Kenseth, and Sterling Marlin.