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HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
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achievements
Here is our weekly selection
of bloopers, inconsistencies, in
decipherable remarks, fractured
moments and maniacal deci
sions from the past season.
Loopy data
NASCAR signed with a com
pany called Stats LLC, the idea
being to provide new. improved
statistical categories for the
sport. What emerged were stats
that verged on the ridiculous.
Using “loop data." each week
NASCAR hyped packages that,
for instance, revealed there had
been more than 2,600 "passes"
in a Craftsman Truck Series race
at Daytona. Among those passes
were first-place cars passing
lapped cars, not to mention the
multiple free passes involved in
the "lucky dog rule." Such a
"beneficiary” would pass a hefty
portion of the field. Drivers were
rated in such arcane categories
as Fastest Driver Early in a Run,
Fastest Driver by Straightaway,
Fastest Driver by Turn Number,
Speed in Traffic. Slowest in Traf
fic, Green Passes and Green
Times Passes.
Sure, some of the data was
useful, but much of it was al
most impossible to understand.
Good ol’ days
Donnie Aliison recalled a sto
ry involving Joe Frasson, a Min
nesotan who came south to race
in NASCAR for most of the
19705, and the great A.J. Foyt.
According to Allison, he and
Foyt were seated in a booth eat
ing dinner. Frasson sat in anoth
er booth behind Foyt, not know
ing Foyt was there. Foyt over
heard Frasson loudly proclaim
that only a mechanical failure
had prevented him from "wearing
Foyt out" in a recent race.
“A.J. turned around and set
the record straight," recalled Alli
son. “He said to Frasson, ‘Joe, if
you could drive as fast as me,
you'd catch pneumonia.' That
pretty much shut Frasson up.”
Natives restless
Dale Earnhardt Jr. could've in
stigated a riot after the UAW-Ford
500 at Talladega, where Brian
Vickers won after wrecking him
and Jimmie Johnson on the final
lap. To borrow the terminology of
the Iraq War, by opting not to en
courage sectarian violence. Earn
hardt played a role in averting
civil war.
“The ‘2s’ (Vickers) turned
him (Johnson) into me," said
Earnhardt Jr., matter-of-factly.
"I'm not that upset. I'm happy
Brian (Vickers) got his first win,
and knowing him, I'm sure he
feels bad.”
“We all know there's a heavi
ly populated (Earnhardt) Junior
audience at this track,” said
Vickers, "and I definitely didn't
expect them to take it easy on
me."
Ttfvia time
Questions
1. Where did Lee Petty win his
first (now) Cup race?
2. Where did Richard Petty win
his first (now) Cup race?
3. Where did Kyle Petty win his
first Cup race?
4. Where did Bobby Allison win
his first (now) Cup race?
Answers
1. Pittsburgh. Pa. (1949)
2. Charlotte, N.C. (1960)
3. Richmond. Va. (1986)
4. Oxford, Maine (1966)
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■ “Sometimes we had to
write notes to each other be
cause you couldn't hear their lips
move." Fox analyst Larry
Mcßeynolds. at Bristol.
■ “The reason I went to
Evernham is not how my car's
going to run now. It's how we will
run next year and the year after.”
Elliott Sadler, after switching
teams during the season.
■ "We're all human beings.
We're not computers or ma
chines. We're human beings with
human emotions, and we all
have tempers at some point. We
all find ways to make up for it
and make things right going
down the road.” Tony Stewart
■ "No dust. Multi-groove rac
ing. Done by 10:30.” Ken
Schrader's three rules for run
ning a local short track.
■ “Now that he's leading, it's
going to be hard for Matt
Kenseth to pick up many posi
tions on pit road.” Fox analyst
Larry Mcßeynolds
■ "Darlington is kind of like
our Lambeau Field.” Matt
Kenseth
► If you have a question or a comment, write: NASCAR This Week, c/o The Gaston Gazette, PO. Box 1538, Gastonia, NC 28053
Nextel Cup drivers ‘Buschwhack’ another awards banquet
Kevin Harvick won his second Busch Series
championship, and Richard Childress claimed
his third as an owner. Those were the big win
ners when the series' standouts were honored
on Dec. 8 in an Awards Banquet held at the
Grand Floridian Ballroom in Orlando, Fla.
Also honored were the drivers who also fin
ished in the top 10 in series points. They were,
in order, Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer, Denny
Hamlin, JJ. Yeley, Paul Menard, Kyle Busch.
Johnny Sauter, Greg Biffle and Reed Sorenson.
Danny O’Quinn Jr. earned the Raybestos
Rookie of the Year award and was honored, as
was series veteran Kenny Wallace, who received
a special award for his career achievements.
"Racing with these guys teaches you disci
pline on when you need to go hard and how to
Tomorrow is Now
9
‘Car ofTomorrow'
another step back
from ‘stock cars’
By Monte Dutton
NASCAR This Week
■ The Car of Tomorrow will debut in
2007, though it won’t be used in all
races until 2009. NASCAR has a lot rid
ing on this completely new design,
which has been praised for safety but
criticized for its appearance.
■ The COT’s appearance is seen by
many as yet another step in the dis
tancing of so-called “stock cars” from
their production equivalents.
■ Amazingly, two NASCAR stars
were injured last week. Nextel Cup
champion Jimmie Johnson broke his
left wrist in get this a golfing acci
dent. Greg Biffle suffered a dislocated
shoulder when he crashed while testing
tires at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
■ Johnson's injury is mystifying. He
claimed on Sunday That he was thrown
from a golf cart when the driver took a
sharp turn. But on Monday, his
spokesperson confirmed a newspaper
report that Johnson was, in fact, on top
of the golf cart when it turned. It’s
good to see Johnson is having a good
time revelling in his championship.
■ There's little doubt that we’ll see a
new championship format in Nextel
Cup next season. But the dirty little se
cret is that the current method is not
inspiring fans to watch at.season’s end,
which is the intent of the race-offs in
the first place.
■ Former “RPM 2Nite” host John
Kernan will host a regular NASCAR
show on Sirius Satellite Radio, which
has acquired rights to broadcast races
this year in that medium.
■ Mexico’s Desafio Corona Series,
the top stock-car series in that country
will become the NASCAR Mexico
Corona Series next year.
■ Michael Waltrip Racing has an
nounced its crew chiefs. Matt Borland,
Golf injury forces Johnson out of Paris competition
By Monte Dutton
NASCAR This Week
Jimmie Johnson, who .won
the Nextel Cup championship
with nary a scratch, fractured
his left wrist in a golfing acci
dent and had to pull out of the
Race of Champions, scheduled
for Dec. 16 at Stade de France
in Paris.
Monday’s edition of The Cit
rus County (Fla.) Chronicle,
which had a reporter at the
Black Diamond Ranch who wit
nessed Johnson horsing around
during the Mike Hampton
Pitching In Celebrity tourna
ment, detailed the accident.
The newspaper said Johnson
was sprawled across the top of
the cart Friday as it headed to
ward the 16th hole when his
playing partner hit a berm,
throwing Johnson several feet.
Johnson was unavailable for
comment Monday, but a
spokeswoman for the driver
confirmed he was on top of the
cart when The Associated
Press asked for clarification.
“Jimmie was horsing around
race somebody," said O'Quinn, a 21-year-old
driver from Coeburn, Va. "There’s a lot you can
pick up by watching these guys drive and being
out there on the track with them."
The championship crew chief was Shane
Wilson. He. along with Menard and Sauter, took
batting practice at The Ballpark of Disney's
Wide World of Sports Complex, home of the At
lanta Braves’ spring training camp. Chicago
Cubs catcher Michael Barrett, a NASCAR fan.
was on hand to give pointers.
Childress and Bowyer took part in a fish
ing trip held in conjunction with the banquet,
while Yeley and Hamlin led a group in a nine
hold golf scramble held at Osprey Ridge Golf
Course, one of five courses at the Walt Dis
ney World complex.
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formerly with Ryan Newman, will
work with Dale Jarrett. Larry Carter
will join David Reutimann’s No. 00, and
David Hyder will join Waltrip's No. 55
Toyota.
■ David Starr finished fourth in the
Craftsman Truck Series standings, but
he’s out of a job at Red Horse Racing
because his replacement, Aaron Fike,
brought sponsorship to the team.
■ Truck Series champion Todd Bod
ine didn’t earn a promotion to one of
the major Toyota Cup teams, but he
will compete in 15 races driving a
Camry entered by his Germain Rac-
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and was on top of the golf cart
when he fell off,” spokes
woman Kristine Curley said.
“He wasn't trying to deceive
anyone and is sorry if anyone
believes he was being untruth
ful.”
The injury won’t affect his
NASCAR career. Doctors treat
ing Johnson said he could be
cleared to drive again in four
weeks.
■
And that’s not all Greg
Biffle suffered a dislocated
shoulder in a Las Vegas Motor
Speedway tire-testing crash
last week.
Speeds were high at the
track on the newly reconfig
ured LVMS layout, with
Chevrolet driver Kyle Busch
exceeding 187 mph on a track
where the existing track
record is 174.904 mph, set by
Kasey Kahne in 2004.
Biffle said he thought quali
fying speeds might reach 190
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mph. Initially, it was thought
he had only been shaken up in
the crash.
“I cut a right-front tire and
made heavy contact with the
wall,” he said. “As a result of
the incident, I dislocated my
shoulder and have been ad
vised by my doctors to remain
in Mooresville ... for further
assessment of the injury.”
Biffle hit the wall between
turns one and two. The impact
knocked the fuel pump loose
and caused his Ford to burst
into flames.
LVMS now has graduated
banking peaking at 20 de
grees in the turns.
“There are a lot of neat char
acteristics to the track,” said
Busch, a Las Vegas native. “It’s
still pretty wide and a great
racing surface. It’s wide
enough that we’ll be able to run
two and three wide. The transi
tions from the corner to the
straightaways and then the
straightaways to the corners
are awesome. It’s a great lay
out.”
■
-CRAFTSMAN TRUCK!
Todd Bodine waited years two decades
to be exact to win a NASCAR national tour
ing series championship. The 42-year-old Bod
ine, of Chemung, N.Y., set a NASCAR Crafts
man Truck Series single-season winnings
record, earning $1,046,60 when his race win
nings ($604,310) and other awards were to
taled up.
Bodine and the rest of the top 10 - in order,
Johnny Benson, David Reutimann, David Starr,
Jack Sprague, Ted Musgrave, Ron Hornaday, Ter
ry Cook, Rick Crawford and Mike Skinner -
earned recognition at the series' banquet, also
held at the Grand Floridian Hotel at Walt Disney
World, on Dec. 10.
CIA Stock Photo
ing team.
■ NASCAR has abandoned its Staten
Island plans. Political opposition
doomed plans to hold Nextel Cup races
within the confines of the greater New
York City area.
■ It’s pertinent to note, however, that
the New York market has been served
for many years by Pocono Raceway,
the 2.5-mile track that is easily accessi
ble. It’s less than a two-hour drive
from Manhattan to Long Pond.
Contact Monte Dutton at
hmduttonso@aol.com
Richert resurfaces Doug
Richert, who served as crew
chief when Biffle was runner
up in the 2005 Cup standings,
will move to Team Red Bull in
2007 to be Brian Vickers’ crew
chief in the team’s Toyota en
tries.
“The Cup series has gotten
so much more competitive
these days,” said Richert, who
was Dale Earnhardt’s crew
chief for the first of his seven
titles in 1980. “Starting from
scratch is no easy task, but
once the team gets some chem
istry and momentum going,
we’ll hopefully be able to do
some exciting things.”
“Doug has worked with prac
tically a who’s who list of driv
ers in this sport,” said Vickers,
“and he knows what it takes to
be consistently successful at
this level.”
■
Impact athlete Kurt
Busch, the 2004 Nextel Cup
champion, presented Kyle Pet
ty with a special Impact Ath
lete Award at the Southern
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2006 ♦
f THIS WEEK
The championship team was headed by Bod
ine, Germain Racing co-owners Bob, Steve and
Rick Germain, and crew chief Mike Hillman Jr.
The previous record for season earnings,
$1,002,510, had been established in 2000 by
Greg Biffle. For the first time in series history,
10 drivers won more than a half-million dollars
during the season. Benson wound up second on
the money list with $770,157 and was named
Most Popular Driver, becoming the 11th different
recipient of that award, which, in the Truck Se
ries, is voted on by NASCAR's membership.
The Raybestos Rookie of the Year was Erik
Darnell, 23, of Beach Park, 111. Darnell is the
fifth representative of Roush Racing to receive
the award in the Truck Series.
Monte Dutton
Jimmie Johnson,
the 2006 Nextel
Cup champion,
broke his wrist
last weekend
after falling
from the top of
a moving golf
cart. Johnson
originally said
he was thrown
from the seat of
the cart, but a
spokesperson
for Johnson
admitted he was
'horsing around.’
r- your thrnh
L* LETTERS FROM -OUR READERS*]
I just can’t afford to go to
NASCAR races any more
I am a 46-year-old father of two. ...
I wanted to chime in on why I feel
the ratings and attendance are
down in the Nextel Cup events.
First, and foremost, I can no longer
afford to go alone, never mind bring
the family, to a Nextel race. The
ticket prices are outrageous, and
the hotel rates are pure highway
robbery. Even on the local scene,
tickets for the Fall Finale at
Stafford (Speedway) were going for
$35 for an adult (while the purses
have barely increased). I just can
not justify spending that kind of
money.
As for the televised races, there
is far too much commercial interrup
tion. I really try to watch some of
every event, but the commercials al
ways seem to be interrupted by a
single lap of racing.
One other thing. The TV announc
ers are not that good. Too much
“Hollywood” and not enough nuts
and bolts. The broadcasts are pro
duced like a Broadway play. Cut to
the chase and show us a good race.
Man, think of the racing they could
show us instead of “if the race were
to end now, here's what the points
standings would be.”
I have rambled on long enough. ...
Joe Friscia
Torrington, Conn.
Thanks for letting us know how
you feel. We hear a lot from fans who
have grown disillusioned by “the new
NASCAR:
Don’t pay attention to the
points until the end
With seven laps to go in the
Dickies 500 at Texas, Kasey
Kahne was seventh in the
points, 168 ... back. Then he blew a
motor. With three laps to go, Kahne
was 10th in the points, 290 back. I
understand he got docked points
(for) not finishing the race, but why
over 100 points?
Raquel Sharp
Lucas, Kan.
First of all, contrary to what TV
would have you believe, points aren 't
actually awarded until the end of the
race. We think the practice of show
ing the points lap by lap is silly and
just plain wrong. Points are based on
position at the finish, and Kahne's
misfortune cost him positions that re
sulted in the loss of that many points.
We'll do our best to select the
best letters to the editor each week.
Send them to:
NASCAR This Week
The Gaston Gazette
PO. Box 1538
Gastonia, N.C. 28053
Sports Awards, a ceremony
held at Davidson (N.C.) Col
lege.
“Kyle Petty personifies not
only the best sports has to of
fer, but is a true superstar in
the game of life,” said Busch.
“Far too seldom is professional
greatness ever surpassed or
even matched off the field of
play, but that is certainly not
the case with Kyle (Petty).
“The efforts of Kyle and Pat
tie Petty in their creation and
operation df the Victory Junc
tion Gang Camp have allowed
children suffering from chron
ic and life-threatening illness
to be treated to a true camp ex
perience in a medically sound
environment. In other words,
they have given these children
a chance to put their cares
aside for a while and just be
kids.”
The Kurt Busch Foundation
announced in May 2006 it was
donating $1 million to create a
28,000-square-foot, climate
controlled athletic facility at
the 72-acre camp, located in
the Piedmont Triad of North
Carolina.
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