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HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
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[■BURNING ISSUES A
► Jimmie Johnson is the 28th
champion of NASCAR's premier
series. The first was Red Byron
in 1949. Richard Petty and Dale
Earnhardt have won more cham
pionships. seven each, than
anyone else. In the past eight
seasons, only Tony Stewart has
won more than one.
► The hottest offseason topic is
the recent decline in attendance
and TV ratings. No one seems
even to be considering the is
sue of disillusionment. Some of
the sport's longtime fans are
upset at what they perceive to
be the artificial measures
free passes, suspicious caution
flags, etc. that have been
taken to create excitement.
Many fans seem to feel as if
NASCAR doesn't pay attention
to them. It seems the ruling
body is so concerned with at
tracting new fans that it has
neglected the opinions of those
who are most loyal.
». The danger for NASCAR is that
when the trendiness wears off,
the hard lesson may be that the
fans who have been alienated
were more loyal than the ones
who started to show up just to
see what the commotion was
about.
► There's no’ need to panic, how
ever. The sport's popularity re
mains very near its all-time
zenith. The reaction against the
changes may decline once fans
become used to them. Trouble
is, the sport seems to be in a
constant state of change. Fans
never get a chance to catch up.
► Fans who think the sport has
become too “tricked up” fear
it's going to get even worse.
This week's Nextel Cup Awards
Ceremony and the events
leading up to it should pro
vide more information as to just
what NASCAR Chairman Brian
France has in mind.
► Next season will be a signifi
cant one. Forget about changes
in the Chase. For the first time,
a foreign manufacturer, Toyota,
will compete regularly, not to
mention a new driver, Juan
Pablo Montoya, who formerly
competed in Formula One. Then
there's the phased change to
the so-called Car of Tomorrow,
an entirely new chassis design.
► The 2007 season will also
mark the return of ESPN and
ABC to the television package.
When ESPN began televising
major NASCAR races, it was a
mutually exclusive arrangement
that benefited both the sport
and the cable channel. Times
have changed, though, and it
will be interesting to see how
much ESPN's approach has
changed.
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► Who’s hot The Busch Se
ries could be hot again. Early
indications are that the domi
nation of Busch races by Nex
tel Cup drivers won’t be quite
as overwhelming next season.
Most of the drivers who com
peted full time in both series
have announced they won’t do
so again. One of them is
Kevin Harvick, who won the
championship by the largest
margin In history.
► Who’s not Bob Jenkins,
who anchored the old ESPN
telecasts, brought a profes
sionalism that hasn't been
seen before or since. Unfortu
nately, he won’t be in the
booth when ESPN returns.
Nextel Cup
1. Jimmie Johnson 6,475
а. Matt Kenseth -56
3. Denny Hamlin -68
4. Kevin Harvick -78
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr. -147
б. Jeff Gordon -219
7. Jeff Burton -247
8. Kasey Kahne - 292
9. Mark Martin - 307
10. Kyle Busch : 448
Busch Series
1. Kevin Harvlck 5,648
2. Carl Edwards - 824
3. Clint Bowyer - 965
4. Denny Hamlin - 981
5. J.J. Yeley -1,161
6. Paul Menard -1,573
7. Kyle Busch -1,727
8. Johnny Sauter -1,854
9. Greg Biffle -1,859
10. Reed Sorenson -1,978
Craftsman Truck Series
1. Todd Bodine 3,666
2. Johnny Benson -127
3. David Reutlmann -136
4. David Starr - 311
8. Jack Sprague -338
6. Ted Musgrave - 352
7. Ron Hornaday - 353
8. Terry Cook - 401
9. Rick Crawford -414
10. Mike Skinner -447
► If you have a question or a comment, write: NASCAR This Week, c/o The Gaston Gazette, PO. Box 1538, Gastonia, NC 28053
NiEKmrcupseßi^s
Awards Ceremony
Where: Waldorf-Astoria Hotel,
New York, N.Y.
When: Friday, Dec. 1
Overview: Jimmie Johnson finally
captured the championship that
had eluded him during the first
two years of the Chase for the
Nextel Cup. Johnson, who fell
only eight points shy of the cham
pionship in 2004, finished up
this time 56 points ahead of
2003 champion Matt Kenseth.
The season’s top rookie, Denny
Hamlin, finished third in the final
standings. This banquet will
crown Johnson, but it will honor
all the other drivers Kenseth,
Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Dale Earn
hardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Jeff Burton,
Denny Hamlin
Remarkable Rookie
Third-place Hamlin
enjoys his historic
first season in Cup
By Monte Dutton
NASCAR This Week
As a rookie, Denny Hamlin made the
Chase for the Nextel Cup. Granted, the
Chase has only been in existence for
three years, but by any measure, the
Raybestos Rookie of the Year enjoyed
a historic season.
Hamlin, 26, finished third in the
points standings, the highest finish by
a rookie since James Hylton was the
runner-up to David Pearson in 1966. He
became the only rookie ever to win the
Budweiser Shootout. He swept the two
summertime races at Pocono Raceway,
perhaps the series' most unique track.
In short, Hamlin, who is from
Chesterfield, Va., is something special.
When the season began, few picked
Hamlin to be the top rookie, though he
certainly served notice with several
creditable showings late in 2005. He
also won the Shootout before the sea
son even officially began. Still, few
took him seriously.
“I think it’s more of an advantage
than a disadvantage to be a rookie be
cause our expectations are low from
the start from a lot of people,” said
Hamlin. “We don’t have the pressure
of, ‘ls this going to be the year?’ Every
one is wondering if this is going to be
the year you’re going to finish in the
top 20 in points, so, once I made the
Chase, I knew everything from there
on out was going to be great, but we
didn’t want to fall on our faces. We
wanted to end the year on a strong
note, no matter where we ended up in
points.”
Hamlin finished in the top 10 in 20 of
the 36 races. He won three poles.
Though greatly aided by having the
previous year’s champion, Tony Stew
art, as a teammate, Hamlin made the
Chase Stewart, by the way, didn’t
Johnson’s goal: Learn to master road courses
By Monte Dutton
NASCAR This Week
Jimmie Johnson was recent
ly reminded that, after winning
the 2005 championship, Tony
Stewart listed a Daytona 500
victory as his chief remaining
goal. He won it in 2006.
When asked a
similar ques
tion, Johnson
said he wanted
to win on a road
course.
“A personal
goal that I have
is to get better
on the road
courses,” he
Johnson
said. “I can run fair, run in the
top five, top 10, but I really
want to be up there racing with
the ‘2o’ (Stewart) and ‘24’ (Jeff
Gordon) for those victories.
“As I look into next season,
the race tracks that we have
ahead of us, that’s something I
really want to focus on.”
Kasey Kahne, Mark Martin and
Kyle Busch who qualified for
the Chase. The banquet is also a
showcase for owners, mechan
ics, officials and, yes, corporate
America, which is the principal
reason why it's held in New York.
Kenseth had the points lead at
regular season's end but faded
badly in the final six races. What
won the title for Johnson? Re
markable consistency in Chase
races five through nine. In those
races, he won once and finished
second in the other four. In the fi
nal race, Johnson finished ninth,
but it enabled him to nail down
the title without having to fret
over the season’s final laps.
IIMT^ESPOTUeHT
Nextel Cup Series
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CIA stock photo
Denny Hamlin finished third In the points standings, the highest finish by a rookie since
James Hylton was the runner-up to David Pearson In 1966.
while driving for an individual team
that had finished 33 rd in owner points
the previous year.
Perhaps one of the reasons for Ham
lin’s success is that he never put pres
sure on himself. Even in the Chase,
Hamlin never stopped having fun.
“That’s what it’s all about,” he said.
“We’re all here to have fun. Every one
of these drivers are at this top level of
the profession that they always
dreamed about, so why are you not go
NUTS AND fIOLTS
Field of 21 The Budweiser
Shootout, scheduled to be run
for the 29 th time at Daytona on
the night of Feb. 10, 2007, will
boast a starting field of 21
drivers.
The field for the first of two
Nextel Cup Series all-star
races the other is the Nextel
All-Star Challenge at Lowe’s
Motor Speedway on May 19
features the previous season’s
pole winners and past Bud
weiser Shootout winners.
Those who won poles in 2006
were Jeff Gordon, Jimmie
Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Brian
Vickers, David Gilliland, Kevin
Harvick, Jeff Burton, Kurt
Busch, Greg Biffle, Kasey
Kahne, Kyle Busch, Elliott
Sadler, Scott Riggs, Ryan New
man and Boris Said.
Eligible as past winners of
the Shootout are Dale Jarrett,
Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stew
art, Mark Martin, Ken Schrad
er and Bill Elliott.
Hamlin became the first
rookie to win the race last
SPORTS
BUSCH SERIES
Awards Ceremony
Where: Disney's Grand
Floridian Resort, Orlando,
Fla.
When: Friday, Dec. 8
Overview: Kevin Harvick's
margin, 824 points, was the
widest in the history of this
or any other major series.
The moonlighting Nextel
Cup driver won nine races
and finished in the top 10
in 32 of the season's 35
races. Only two of the top
10 drivers competed in the
Busch Series only.
year, leading 16 of the final 21
laps and holding off Earnhardt
Jr. and Stewart in a “green
white-checkered” (overtime)
finish.
■
Lifetime acheivement
Benny Parsons, the 1973 Win
ston Cup champion and NBC
analyst, will receive the
Achievement in Motorsports
Award from the North Carolina
Motorsports Association at its
banquet on Jan. 30, 2007, in
Concord.
Parsons, who underwent
treatment for lung cancer dur
ing 2006, will receive the life
time-achievement award from
the NCMA, which will also
hand out awards in the cate
gories of education, diversity,
marketing, economic develop
ment, safety innovations, event
facilities and “manufacturers
and suppliers.”
The NCMA, headed by exec
utive director Andy Pap
athanassiou, touts itself as “the
voice of the motorsports indus
try in North Carolina.” Richard
Petty and Rick Hendrick are on
T^Ssmantruc^
Awards Ceremony
Where: Disney’s Grand
Floridian Resort, Orlando,
Fla.
When: Sunday, Dec. 10
Overview: Todd Bodine un
derscored Toyota's growing
domination of the trucks,
which makes the timing per
fect for the Japanese manu
facturer's entry into
NASCAR's top series. The
top four drivers Bodine,
Johnny Benson, David Re
utimann and David Starr
all drove Tundras.
No. 11 FedEx Chevrolet
ing to have fun? There’s no sense in
getting to your goal and then not enjoy
ing it.
“You’ve got to enjoy it while you’re
here because you never know how long
it’s going to last. You really have to put
things into perspective and realize that
you’re at the top level of racing in
America, so have fun with it.”
Contact Monte Dutton at
hmduttonso@aol.com
the group’s board of trustees.
■
Coincidences Joe Ne
mechek will drive a Chevrolet
carrying No. 13 next season. In
the final race of the season, at
Nemechek
tel Cup standings by averag
ing a creditable 15 th in the final
seven races.
“I’m not sure what to make
of all those 135,” he said. “I’m
not superstitious, but maybe I
should be.”
■
As expected Nemechek’s
team is changing its name from
MB Motorsports to Ginn Rac
ing, owing to Bobby Ginn’s pur
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2006 ♦
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John Clark/NASCAR This Week
Kevin Harvick won the Busch Series title this year, but
says he’ll concentrate solely on Nextel Cup next season.
W LORE
Potty-Beauchamp rivalry
one of racing* earliest
It's well known that Lee Petty
and Johnny Beauchamp finished 1-2
in the first Daytona 500, with
Beauchamp originally declared the
winner in a side-by-side finish that
was overturned later when photos
clearly showed that Petty's car had
crossed the line first. In that same
year, 1959, the final two major
NASCAR races were run at Lake
wood Speedway, the mile dirt track
in Atlanta that had been one of the
sport's more popular venues.
Beauchamp, in a Thunderbird, won
the first on March 22,1959, and
Petty, in a Plymouth, won the final
race on June 14 of that year. The
first race marked the first of two ca
reer victories for Beauchamp, who
was from Harlan, lowa. For Petty, it
was the 42nd of 54 career wins and
one of 11 in the 1959 season
alone.
NASCAR stands for more
than speedway racing
The word NASCAR doesn't just
mean the Nextel Cup Series, and
stock-car racing's premier organiza
tion presides over more than just the
Busch and Craftsman Truck series.
In fact, NASCAR sanctions weekly
programs at short tracks all over the
country. “Where Stars Are Born: Cel
ebrating 25 Years of NASCAR Weekly
Racing” (Coastal 181, $19.95), by
Paul Schaefer, tells the story of the
short tracks and the greats some
of whom became celebrities and
some who did not who sprang
from them. This book concentrates
mostly on drivers whom you never
got to know but probably should
have.
[ YOUR TURN 1
rieTTgftSfROMOURREAOE«9J
Klnd words from
a happy reader
... I was so happy that, while
reading the Daily Record (Parsippa
ny, N.J.) sports page, I turned the
page and saw "NASCAR This Week."
Wow.
I've got to tell you: I loved it. I
read the Daily Record off and on,
and I do like it. In fact, today I just
subscribed to home delivery. Well,
I'm off to a good start, and now "the
Chase" will be fun to read about.
Long live NASCARI
Robert P. Zonl
Chatham Township, N.J.
We appreciate the kind words. As
they used to say at the end of TV
shows, keep those cards and tetters
coming.
chase of majority interest in
the team in July.
Nemechek will pilot the
team’s No. 13 Chevrolet next
season, while Sterling Marlin
continues as driver of the No.
14. Mark Martin and Regan
Smith will share the No. 01,
which previously was Ne
mechek’s number. The team
will also field a full-time Busch
Series entry with Smith and
Kraig Kinser sharing the ride.
■
Additions Dover Interna
tional Speedway is adding a
new sky-box complex and in
field media center, both of
which are scheduled for com
pletion in time for the June 1-3,
2007, NASCAR race weekend.
The sky-box complex will in
clude 12 new suites connected
to the existing sky boxes near
the start-finish line of the mile
track, adding two tiers to the
top of the grandstands.
Contact Monte Dutton at
hmduttonso@aol.com
Homestead-Mia
mi Speedway,
Nemechek both
qualified and
finished 13 th .
Nemechek
also closed out
what was other
wise a lacklus
ter season —•
27 th in the Nex-
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