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HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
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ACHIEVEMENTS
Those unnamed sources
After a September race
in New Hampshire, Speed
TV's Bob Dillner cited an un
named source who claimed
NASCAR officials had ig
nored rules irregularities in
Chevrolets entered by
Richard Childress Racing.
One of those Chevrolets,
driven by Kevin Harvick,
won the race in question.
A week later, at Dover, de
nials were issued by practi
cally everyone Childress,
his drivers, NASCAR officials
and no one except Din
ner's employers offered the
slightest credence or sup
port for Dinner's report.
Another of the Childress
drivers, Jeff Burton who,
by the way, would go on to
win the Dover race - made
particular hay, though he
pinned the blame not on
Dillner but his source.
"Someone should've
woke up the next morning
feeling bad about this,”
said Burton, referring to the
Unnamed One. “If he had a
mama who raised him right,
he did wake up in the morn
ing feeling bad.
“I try to uphold the stan
dards of my 5- and 11-year
old children. If a 50-year-old
can’t abide by the standards
of a 5- and 11-year-old, I've
got no time for them."
The way it’s done
Mark Martin was sup
posed to retire in 2005,
when he conducted his
"Salute to You” tour.
Martin decided to come
back in 2006 (in fact, will
race part-time in 2007). Ac
cording to a team release,
"he (Martin) plans on using
2006 as an encore per
formance of his highly pop
ular ‘Salute to You' Tour."
Your tax money at work
According to Daytona In
ternational Speedway offi
cials, a space-shuttle launch
was “added to the Pepsi
400 pre-race festivities.”
How obliging of NASA to
send up a billion-dollar
spaceship ($1.7 billion, ac
tually) just for the benefit of
the fans at the speedway.
It never came off, howev
er. Weather complications
caused the launch to be
put off to the following day.
Trivia time
Questions
1. Who was the first driver to
break the 200-mph barrier on a
closed course?
2. Who was the first driver to
win a Cup race on Hoosier
tires?
3. Who was the first (and only,
so far) driver to win three
straight Cup championships?
4. Who was the first driver to
win more than SIOO,OOO in a
season?
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From page iB
period of tiine, like the afore
mentioned Mangini or even
a man Bellichick worked
under, Bill Parcells.
And yet it really bothers
the Chris Berman’s of the
world that Bellichick doesn’t
get along with everyone.
But I still have to love
how the photography side
of the sports media, in its
anxiety to anticipate a great
moment, actually gets in the
way of that moment hap
pening.
How was Bellichick sup
posed to give Mangini a
half-hearted hug if there
was a wall of photographers
between them?
► If you have a question or a comment, write: NASCAR This Week, c/o The Gaston Gazette, PO. Box 1538, Gastonia, NC 28053
Goody’s disappointed, but still committed despite snub
■ Goody’s officials ex
pressed disappointment at be
ing supplanted, after nearly 30
years, as NASCAR's “official
pain reliever” by Tylenol. Mar
keting Vice President Darren
Singer said, “It became appar
ent to us early on that
NASCAR was interested in go
ing in another direction.” The
company isn’t leaving the
sport, however. The spring
race at Martinsville Speedway
will be the Goody’s 500, and the
company will continue to be
represented by Richard Petty
A Fighter’s Spirit
Hamilton would
never accept the
label of‘victim’
By Monte Dutton
NASCAR This Week
Bobby Hamilton, the 2004 Craftsman
Truck Series champion, died on Jan. 7
of cancer. It’s often an exaggeration to
refer to a “battle” with serious illness,
but it was an accurate description in
Hamilton’s case.
Hamilton was only 49. After being
diagnosed with cancer in his neck and
back early last year, Hamilton still
competed in the first three races of the
season. His final race was a 14 th -place
finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway on
March 17, 2006. Highlights of his long,
successful career in NASCAR were
four victories in what is now the Nextel
Cup Series, one in the Busch Series and
10 in trucks. Beginning with a Busch
Series race at Charlotte Motor Speed
way in 1988, Hamilton raced a total of
559 times in NASCAR’s three major
touring series.
After winning Cup races at Phoenix,
Rockingham, Martinsville and Tallade
ga, Hamilton moved into the Truck Se
ries as a driver-owner in 2003, winning
the championship a year later. He was
a lifelong resident of the Nashville,
Tenn., area and was one of many fine
drivers to lay a foundation on the fa
mous paved short track at the fair
grounds there.
He fought it to the end and had even
planned to compete in the season's fi
nal event at Homestead-Miami Speed
way. As recently as December 2006,
Hamilton said of the illness: “I didn’t
want to be labeled a victim when I an
nounced it, and I sure won’t lie down
and be a victim now.
“There are two things that I’ve truly
learned from an unfortunate battle like
this,” he added. “One thing is that some
people really go out of their way to sin
cerely support my battle. The flip side
It was the same sight at the
end of the game bet ween Don
Shula’s Miami Dolphins and
his son David’s Cincinnati
Bengals. “All right, we’re all
ready to shoot, where’s the
legend?” “I’m back here fel
las.”
I had two questions about
college football coaches
that were bugging me to no
end. Only through Internet
research did I find that both
answers lied on the campus
of Michigan State.
We know by now that
Bobby Petrino has left the
University of Louisville to
become head coach of the
Atlanta Falcons. And we
should remember that, in
Petrino’s time in Kentucky,
he was at the center of the
Auburn controversy with
[burn suesJ
and Tony Stewart.
■ Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s sister,
Kelley Elledge, is his business
manager as well, and she de
fended her brother against
suggestions by their stepmoth
er, Teresa Earnhardt, that he
needed to “decide on whether
he wants to be a NASCAR
driver or whether he wants to
be a public personality." Ju
nior’s contract with the family
team, DEI, expires at the end
INTHESPeTLIQHT
Bobby Hamilton 1957-2007
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Photos by John Clark/NASCAR This Week
After being diagnosed with cancer in his neck and back early last year, Bobby Hamilton
still competed in the first three races of the season. He died on Jan. 7.
to that, unfortunately, is people really
use the circumstances to say or write
the story based on complete specula
tion and don’t think about the repercus
sions it causes. Cancer is an ongoing
battle, and once you are diagnosed, you
always live with the thought of the dis
ease in your body. It’s the worst thing
you could ever imagine.”
As these words, late in life, attested,
Hamilton was an honest, often blunt,
man whose courage showed in both his
career and the events leading up to his
death.
Tommy Tuberville and sev
eral other college and pro
teams were out for his ser
vices.
I was remembering that
Louisville had a good pro
gram going before Petrino
took over, but I couldn’t
remember who was his pre
decessor.
A few keystrokes later I
learn that it was John L.
Smith, who left to become
coach at Michigan State.
Then there was an inter
esting story coming out of
the first International Bowl
in Toronto. A coach named
Brian Kelly pulled off the
rare feat of coaching two
teams in two bowl games in
the same season, winning
both.
On Dec. 26 he led Central
SPORTS
of the coming season. “I think
most everybody in the indus
try knows that Dale’s focus
has been at its highest,” said
Kelley. “His number one de
sire and his passion is driving
that race car, and that’ll never
change.”
■ Still no signs of a thaw in
the frosty relationship be
tween drivers Stewart and
Carl Edwards. Stewart said on
his Sirius Satellite radio show:
“The next time that I hear Carl
Edwards tell me that he’s going
to make me bleed, he better be
Michigan, Mid-American
Conference champions, to a
win in the Motor City Bowl
against Middle Tennessee
State. Prior to that game,
Kelly accepted the posi
tion as head coach at the
University of Cincinnati,
which had accepted the bid
to the International game to
play Western Michigan on
Jan. 6.
I had this vague memory
that the Cincinnati coach for
the 2006 season had taken a
new job, but couldn’t for the
life of me remember where.
The guy’s name, which hap
pens to be Mark Dantonio,
didn’t stand out, but again
the good old net straight
ened me out. Dantonio went
to Michigan State to replace
... John L. Smith.
ready to do it right then and
there. Straight up. I don’t care
what the fine is from NASCAR.
I’ve got $50,000 saved.”
■ The move from Hendrick
Motorsports to Bill Davis Rac
ing by engine builder Dr. An
drew L. Randolph fuels the
widespread resentment by es
tablished teams that Toyota is
raiding the other manufactur
ers for top talent.
■ Benny Parsons is cancer
free. His current difficulties
relate to damage to one of his
lungs caused by the harsh
The illness was discovered during a
visit to a dentist’s office, where he was
having wisdom teeth removed. Hamil
ton publicly announced that he had
cancer on the day after his final race.
“I don’t take an aspirin,” Hamilton
said at the time. “I never have. I’ll be
back. I just have to take my treat
ment.”
He will be greatly missed at the
speedways of the land.
Contact Monte Dutton at
hmduttonso@aol.com
TOURNEY
From page iB
are GSGA members and
Georgia residents, with
combined USGA Handicap
Indexes of 4.0 and above.
The format of the event
is 54 holes of flighted,
four-ball stroke play over
three days. Last year, Rob
Wiggins and Ryan Evans,
both of Kennesaw, fired a
three-under 69 in the final
round, a tournament-low
65 in the second round and
set a new Georgia Four-Ball
Tournament record with a
tournament-total of 201 (-
15).
The father-son duo of
Calhoun’s Bob and Mike
Nance finished seven
SATURDAY, JANAURY 13, 2007 ♦
THIS WEEK
treatment required to eradi
cate the disease.
■ The Busch Series race on
Aug. 19, 2006, at Michigan In
ternational Speedway the
one where Dale Earnhardt Jr.
bumped Carl Edwards’ car out
of the way near the end was
voted by fans as the track’s
most exciting moment of the
year. Edwards later purposely
ran into Junior’s car and angri
ly confronted him in victory
lane. There are, however, no
lingering hard feelings be
tween the two.
FEUD OF THE WEEK
Edwards
V
E
R
S
U
S
Stewart
Tony Stewart vs.
Carl Edwards
Stewart still holds a grudge
against Edwards, who criticized him
(and rammed his car on pit road) af
ter a crash at Pocono last July. On
his Sirius Satellite Radio show,
Stewart said: “I don't know, but obvi
ously, being as nice as he is hasn’t
gotten him very far because he did
n’t even win a race last year. Maybe
he ought to try being a jerk this year,
see if he can win a couple more
races.” Stewart also revived his de
piction of Carl Edwards as "Eddie
Haskell,” referring to the character
from the old television series “Leave
It to Beaver."
NASCAR This Week's Monte
Dutton gives his take: “This all
started because Stewart, not Ed
wards, caused a wreck. Stewart's
car bored into Clint Bowyer's, and it
appeared intentional in part be
cause Stewart was shaking his fist
at Bowyer at the time. Edwards was
an unwitting victim, but the crash
was a major blow that may have end
ed Edwards’ chances of making the
Chase. This would have been over
long ago had Stewart only been will
ing to apologize at the time.”
Testing tires was once
a fatal proposition
In the 19605, several drivers lost
their lives while tire testing for either
Goodyear or Firestone. One was Jim
my Pardue of North Wilkesboro, N.C.,
who died at age 33 on Sept. 22,
1964, after a testing crash. Pardue
had won single races in 1962 and
1963. His fatal crash occurred at
Charlotte (now Lowe's) Motor Speed
way. Pardue's two victories occurred
in Richmond, Va., and Moyock, N.C.
> ANP WHO S NOT
► Who's hot This is the best
time of the year for Robby Gordon,
who, at least so far, has been more
competitive in the Dakar Rally than
while driving his own Chevy in the
Nextel Cup Series.
* Who's not Jacques Villeneuve
wants to go racing in NASCAR, but
his attempt to land a Roush Racing
ride in the Busch Series has hit
snags. Now Villeneuve’s reportedly
trying to land a Craftsman Truck Se
ries ride.
strokes behind in second
place.
Qualified players may
enter online at the GSGA
website at www.gsga.org
by clicking the Online
Registration quick link.
Paper entries are available
by request and may also be
downloaded as a PDF file
via the GSGA website.
The deadline for entries
is Feb. 28 at 5 p.m.
The Georgia Four-Ball
Tournament is the first
GSGA-sanctioned event of
the 2007 season.
Any questions regarding
GSGA competitions may be
directed to the Rules and
Competitions Department
at 770-955-4272 or 800-
949-4742, or via email at
info@gsga.org.
5B