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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2006 14B t k r\ ON THE TUBE All times Eastern Nextel Cup Bank of America 500. 7 p.m., Saturday NBC Busch Series Dollar General 300, THT 8 p.m., Friday Truck Series __ Qjggg Kroger 200. SSSffim 1 p.m., Oct 21 - ri- fIU ► NASCAR vice president for competition Robin Pemberton told reporters on Oct. 7 that no restrictor-plate changes would be made, even though practice speeds had surpassed 198 mph on Talladega's freshly repaved surface. On the morn ing of Oct. 8. Pemberton an nounced the plates would be changed from 57/64ths of an inch to 7/Bths. He also said he hadn't lied to anyone. * Another NASCAR assertion was that the changes would be across the board and wouldn’t have any effect on competition. David Gilliland went out and won the pole. His previous best qual ifying performance had been 22nd. Gilliland's Robert Yates Racing teammate, Dale Jarrett, qualified second. Jarrett's previ ous best had been a fourth granted, it was also at Talladega and it was only his third top -10 start of the year. ► Mark Martin will drive a Chevy next year. The last time Martin drove anything other than a Ford in a Cup race was in 1987. It was an Oldsmobile owned by Roger Hamby. +■ At MB2 Motorsports, the driv ers next year will be Martin, Sterling Marlin and Joe Ne mechek. At the Daytona 500, the combined age of the three will be 140. ► Next year, for the first time in 21 years, the flagship of Richard Childress’ Chevrolet fleet will carry sponsorship from something other than GM/Good wrench. Shell and Pennzoil will combine to sponsor Kevin Har vick in No. 29. The number 3 to 29 has changed, as well as the driver Dale Earnhardt, then Harvick but the black and silver colors were a con stant ... but not in 2007. ► As of now, Martin will compete in 20 races, plus the Budweiser Shootout and Nextel All-Star Challenge. His avowed goal of competing full time in the Craftsman Truck Series has ap parently been abandoned, at least for now. ► Qualifying at Talladega takes a long, long time. After taking sec ond place, Dale Jarrett noted: "Entire college football games have begun and ended since we started qualifying.” - VVHfO ’'S'' ’ ANO WHO ’ S NOT ► Who's hot Brian Vickers became the 170th driver to win a race in NASCAR’s pre mier series, although he was booed as loudly as any previ ous winner. ... Martin Truex Jr. finished a career-best fifth. ► Who’s not Jeff Gor don led 27 laps but wound up in a crash that left him 36th in the race and seventh in the Gordon TOP 3LO IN POINTS * Nextel Cup X. Jeff Burton 5,598 2. Matt Kenseth - 6 3. Mark Martin -10 4. Kevin Harvick -33 5. Denny Hamlin -51 6. Date Earnhardt Jr. -106 7. Jeff Gordon -147 8. Jimmie Johnson -156 9. Kasey Kahne -185 10. Kyle Busch -185 Busch Series 1. Kevin Harviok 4,810 2. Carl Edwards - 729 3. Clint Bowyer - 855 4. Denny Hamlin - 902 5. J.J. Yeley - 984 6. Kyle Busch -1,257 7. Paul Menard -1,267 8. Greg Biffle -1,331 9. Reed Sorenson -1,573 10. Johnny Sauter -1,658 Craftsman Truck Series 1. Todd Bodine 3,076 2. Johnny Benson -113 3. David Reutimann - 255 4. Ted Musgrave - 281 5. Rick Crawford - 368 6. Ron Hornaday -411 7. David Starr -432 8. Terry Cook - 495 9. Dennis Setzer -499 10. Mike Bliss - 502 ► If you have a question or a comment, write: NASCAR This Week, c/o The Gaston Gazette, PO. Box 1538. Gastonia, NC 28053 NrxiFl CUP SERIES ■ Race: Bank of America 500 ■ Where: Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Concord. N.C. (1.5 miles). 334 laps/501 miles. ■ When: Saturday, Oct. 14 ■ Last year's winner Jimmie John son ■ Qualifying record: Elliott Sadler, Ford, 193.216 mph, Oct. 13, 2005. ■ Race record: Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 160.306 mph, Oct. 11, 1999. ■ Last week: Brian Vickers wrecked the sport's most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and his own teammate, Jimmie Johnson, on the final lap at Talladega Super speedway. That’s the way he won for the first time in his Nextel Cup career. Asked to describe it, Vick- WHAT’S UP NEXT Kyle Petty Link to the Past Petty’s not competitive anymore, but he’s a key NASCAR figure By Monte Dutton NASCAR This Week Kyle Petty, at age 46, is no longer one of NASCAR's leading contenders. The most recent of his eight Cup vic tories occurred on June 4, 1995, in Dover, De|., 356 races ago. Does he remain a significant fig ure? Most definitely. Petty is a link to the past because he carries a name that is synonymous with stock-car racing as the founding Frances. Kyle Petty’s grandfather, Lee, competed in the first major race staged by William H.G. France, the founder of NASCAR and grandfather of current chairman Brian Z. France. Kyle Petty’s father, Richard, is, by virtue of his 200 victo ries and seven championships, the most successful driver in history. No, Kyle Petty isn’t in the Chase for the Nextel Cup and likely never will be. But he’s still out there every week, trying to bring Petty Enterprises, the family team, back to some semblance of the place of honor it once occupied. So what would Kyle do differently? “The last 10 races of the season, the point system has been really good, but I don’t like it,” he said. “We’ve had ex citing Chases, but that still doesn’t mean it’s the best system. I’m not a big fan of continuing the same points system in the last 10 races that you had in the first 26 races. “I would probably judge those 10 guys off of each other rather than off the field. The highest finishing guy, if you win, gets X number of points, and the second-highest-finishing guy gets nine, eight, seven, six, or whatever it may be and the last guy gets at least one point. They race inside the race because that's basically what it is. They race inside our race now. If you’re going to have a different race inside the race, why not have a differ ent point system?” The Chase, at present, includes at least the top 10 drivers at the end of Harvick says the Chase doesn’t change much By Monte Dutton NASCAR This Week TALLADEGA, Ala. Kevin Harvick said it’s a myth that the dynamics of the Chase have a notable impact on the final 10 races. “I know there has been a lot made of racing guys different ly,” he said. “I’ve been on that side of it (i.e., out of the Chase) the last couple years. No mat ter what series you’re in, the last couple races of the year, if you’re racing the guys who are racing for the championship, you give them a little extra room. When you’re out on the race track, everybody has something at stake. Everybody is trying to win the race, and everybody is trying to get as high in the points as they can. “If you get caught up in all that, you’re probably putting more into it than necessary.” ■ An astonishing performance With five laps to go in the ers initially used one word: “Excit ing." Then he anticipated the obvi ous question: "Yes. I did have mixed emotions." At one point, Vickers said, he dropped to the back, hoping to miss the almost inevitable multicar crash that al most always characterizes the races at this sprawling track. But, he said, it was too boring back there. "If we get in a wreck, we get in a wreck." he said, "and that’s what we did." "I showed Brian (Vickers) a couple of moves earlier in the race I probably shouldn’t have shown him," said Earnhardt Jr. Once upon a time, a Talladega race had 75 lead changes. This one, contested on brand-new coat of silky smooth asphalt, had 63. Twenty-three different drivers led. IN THE SPOTLIGHT Nextel Cup Series No. 45 Victory Junction Dodge jjj {:S ; ' *" , " J " ' John Clark/NASCAR This Week Kyle Petty hasn't won a NASCAR race since 1995, but that doesn't diminish his popularity or his standing within the sport. the 26-race regular season. Any other driver within 400 points of the lead would also make the field, although that’s never happened in the three years of the Chase’s existence. Petty would be even more inclusive. “At the end of 26 races, I don’t think you should knock the hottest driver on the circuit out, especially a driver with a huge following,” he said. “We could have gotten Junior (Dale Earn hardt Jr.) and Jeff (Gordon) in with a ANC Banquet 400 at Kansas Speed way on Oct. 1, Jimmie Johnson wanted to pit. When Kasey Kahne spun, his spotter told him to stay on the track be cause a yellow flag might re sult. It didn’t, so Johnson, who had been dominating the race, accelerated back up to speed and pitted the next lap, after which NASCAR officials penal ized him for speeding. When the race ended, John son was driving down pit road the “drive-through” penalty, as opposed to the window at McDonald’s at the time Tony Stewart’s car was taking the checkered flag. Somehow, Johnson finished 14 th , on the lead lap. Asked how this could be pos sible, Johnson said: “I don’t have a clue.” ■ Driver changes Scott Wimmer is out, Todd Bodine in as driver of Larry McClure’s SPORTS BUSCH SERIES ■ Race: Dollar General 300 ■ Where: Lowe's Motor Speedway, Concord. N.C. (1.5 miles). 200 laps/300 miles. ■ When: Friday, Oct. 13 ■ Last year's winner: Ryan Newman ■ Qualifying record: Jim mie Johnson, Chevrolet, 187.735 mph. Oct. 14, 2005. ■ Race record Mark Martin, Ford, 155.799 mph, May 25,1996. ■ Last race Points leader Kevin Harvick won the Yellow Trans portation 300 at Kansas Speedway, holding off Matt Kenseth. No. 4 Chevrolet. Bodine failed to make the field at Talladega. Mike Bliss fared better, quali fying 20 th in the BAM Racing Dodge after being tapped to re place Kevin Lepage. Lepage moved to another team but failed to make the -Talladega show. Wimmer’s release was an nounced last week. Bodine, who leads the Craftsman Truck Series standings, will take over for at least one more race. “We are sorry to lose Scott, but at the same time we all have to do what is best for each of us,” said McClure. “He is one of the nicest young men I’ve had the opportunity to work with, and we enjoyed having him with us this year and getting to know him and his family.” “We just decided to go differ ent ways in ’07,” added Wim mer. “We were working real hard to put sponsorship togeth er and get things going in the right direction, and it just nev er seemed to materialize." ■ Wood plans lncumbent CRAFTSMAN TRUCK ■ Race: Kroger 200 ■ Where: Martinsville (Va.) Speedway (1.526 miles), 500 laps/263 miles. ■ When: Saturday, Oct. 21 ■ Last year's winner: Ricky Craven ■ Qualifying record: Rick Crawford, Ford. 95.966 mph, Oct. 21, 2005. ■ Race record: Jon Wood, Ford. 72.069 mph, Oct. 18, 2003. ■ Last week: Mark Mar tin, in a Ford, won for the fifth time this sea son, capturing the inau gural truck race at Tal ladega Superspeedway. little bit of a different system (in 2005). “I’m not saying it’s right or wrong. On a personal level, I’m not a big fan of it. Obviously, it’s working because, for two years in a row, there has been excitement leading into the last race. There’s been some hype.... You can’t say it’s all bad.” Contact Monte Dutton at hmduttonso@aol.com Ken Schrader will split the No. 21 Wood Brothers/JTG Ford next year with Jon Wood, the Busch Series regular and son of co-owner Eddie Wood. The team will continue to field one entry at the Nextel Cup level and two in both the Busch and Craftsman Truck se ries. Eddie Wood said the team would enter a second car in oc casional Cup races. Little Debbie will sponsor Schrader in 18 races, with Ore- Ida and Delimex combining to sponsor Jon Wood in the other 18. Wood will also continue to run the entire Busch Series schedule in the team’s No. 47 Ford. His Busch Series teammate will be the Australian Marcos Ambrose, who will replace Stacy Compton in the team’s No. 59. ■ Martin continues to set records Mark Martin, by winning the John Deere 250, became the only driver to have won races in Cup, Busch and Trucks at Talladega. There could, of course, be no more THIS WEEK CHARLOTTE DATA Coca-Cola 600 Ijtay2B 6*X All-Star Challenge May 20 t --Lowe's, M-TiTi ——- Horn* Improvement Warehouse Distance: 1.5 mile oval Length of frontstretch: 1,952 ft Length of backstretch: 1,360 ft. Miles/Laps: 600 mi. - 400 laps m Banking in straights HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL Bank of America 500 Oct. 14 24 °^W Banking in turns 1-4 FEUD OF THE WEEK V E R S u s Johnson Jimmie Johnson vs. Brian Vickers Vickers, leaving Hendrick Motor sports at season's end. won his first race at teammate Johnson's ex pense. When Vickers’ Chevy tapped Johnson’s, it also had the purpose of wrecking both Johnson and leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. "I can't believe it." said Johnson. "Here we went all day long and had a great chance to make up some points ... and got crashed by a teammate.” NASCAR This Week’s Monte Dutton gives his take: "Wrecking a teammate and the sport's most pop ular driver on the last lap won't help Vickers pick up ground in the most popular-driver voting.” f- LEGENDS AND ISrEJ NASCAR has run a couple of races across the border NASCAR’s top series has never raced in ivjexico, but that doesn’t mean that what is now known as Nextel Cup never crossed a border. Richard Petty made his first start at Canadian National Exposition Speed way, a 1/3-mile paved track in Toron to, on July 18,1958, in a race won by his father, Lee. The race was run in what was later known as Exposi tion Stadium, home for many years to the Toronto Blue Jays. That, however, wasn't NASCAR's first Canadian visit. On July 1,1952, Buddy Shuman drove a Hudson to victory at Stamford Park, a half-mile dirt track, in Niagara Falls, Ontario. .... fan tips ■ Jeff Gordon’s charity holding an online auction The Jeff Gordon Foundation is holding an online charity auction that will include various mementos from Gordon’s career as well as an au thentic, race-used Budweiser firesuit used in a race by Dale Earnhardt Jr. The online auction is being hosted by GoMotorßids.com. an online auction house. The Jeff Gordon Foundation benefits the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Ri ley Hospital for Children, Marrow Foundation in partnership with the Hendrick Marrow Program and the Jeff Gordon Children's Hospital at North East Medical Center. For more information, visit www.jeffgordonfoun dation.org. than one because Talladega hosted a Craftsman Truck Se ries race for the first time. In February, the 47-year-old Mar tin won the truck race held at Daytona, a similar track. ■ Getting longer Talladega is the eighth track of a mile or longer that has been added to the truck schedule since 2000. When the series began in 1995, it had no races at tracks longer than a mile. ■ New tour guide The Victo ry Junction Gang Camp, found ed by Kyle and Pattie Petty, has launched a new Web site (www.victoryjunction.org) that includes a debut of the camp’s new mascot, Vic the Horse, which is used to give “virtual tours” of the camp. The camp relies solely on donations to give children life-changing ex periences. The cost of having each child at camp is $2,500, and no child pays to attend. Vickers