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C 2004 Charlotte C)h«<arvar ftiatehi itArl Kw KniriM QizVter/THh* in*
o 2004 Charlotte Observer Distributed by Knight Riddf/Tnbuns
I 'rack dominance i
By David Poole
Knight Ridder Newspapers
C.J J f the same cars used the same setups and
I raced on the same tires under the same
| rules every year, then it'd be tar easier to
Wh understand how one driver or one team
finds away to dominate at a particular track in
the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series.
But no matter how quickly things change in
the sport, there are situations in which success
seems to be a given.
NASCAR has moved through a series of
rules changes for restrictor-plate racing since
the start of the 2001 season, but nothing has
changed Dale Earnhardt Inc.'s dominance at
Daytona at Talladega. Ala.
K DEl's Chevrolets have won 10 of the past
13 points events at those tracks, including a
K victory by Dale Earnhardt Jr. in this year’s
Daytona 500. And after Matt Kenseth won
888 Sunday at Las Vegas, it was
again ob\ rous to point out
that Roush Racing now has
U J' won five of seven Cup races
M 'sr Fl at^at *-5-miletrack.
■l jj Those tracks are not the
|eL onl >' places where it’s easy to
find such trends.
89881j3 Kurt Busch, for instance,
Busch has won three of the past
four at Bristol. Tenn. Jeff
Gordon won five times in a seven-race stretch
at Darlington. S.C., between 1995 and '9B.
Jack Roush-owned Fords won five times in
eight races at Lowe’s Motor Speedway begin
ning with the fall race in 1998.
Tony Stewart’s team cheers his March 2002
victory at Atlanta. He has finished in the top
10 in each of the last five races at the race
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TH ATS RACIN’STOP PICKS
1. Matt Kenseth (car No. 17): Did
n’t win enough in 'O3 to suit some.
Might anger them by winning too
often in 'O4. Last week: 2.
2. Jamie McMurray (car No. 42): If
he hadn’t got caught up in the Big
Wreck at Daytona, he’d have three
good finishes already. Last week: 9.
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For some teams,
success is a given
on certain racetracks
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Bobby Labonte celebrates his March 1998
victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where
he’s won six times in 13 races.
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“If you look at different teams throughout
the year, there are different tracks that guys are
just really good at.” Tony Stewart said. "Differ
ent teams that find different packages that work
for them really well.”
Stewart should know. Joe Gibbs Racing,
which fields the No. 20 Chevrolets for Stewart
and the No. 18 for Bobby Labonte, has won six
times in 13 races since Atlanta Motor Speed-
3. Tony Stewart (car No. 20): Bad
l run at Rockingham was apparently an
aberration. He’ll be a favorite to win at
Atlanta. Last week: 7.
4. Kevin Harvick (car No. 29):
When a team gambles on fuel late in a
race, missing by five laps is just unac
ceptable. Last week: 3.
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (car No. 8):
Las Vegas was a debacle, but it’s done.
Now. the test will be how well this
team can rebound. Last week: 1.
6. Kasey Kahne (car No. 9): Don’t
overlook the team’s role in the rookie
driver's remarkable back-to-back
second-place finishes. Last week: 10.
7. Kurt Busch (car No. 97): Team
needs to find the sharpness it showed
in bursts over the past two years. Last
week: 5.
8. Ryan Newman (car No. 12): Our
preseason No. I pick is 21 st in points
after three races. It’s time to get
rolling. Last week: 4.
. Ir-
way, the site of Sunday’s Golden Corral 500,
was reshaped into its current 1,54-mile config
uration.
Labonte has five of those wins and nine top
five finishes in those 13 races.
Stewart has one victory and goes into this
weekend having finished in the top 10 in each
of the past five races at the track, with four of
those being top-five finishes.
Is there a secret ingredient these teams bring
to certain tracks?
"If there was one, I wouldn’t would tell any
body what it is,” Kenseth said about his team’s
success at Las Vegas. “But setups, rules, tires,
aerodynamics and bodies change so much that
there’s not four springs, four shocks and sway
bars that we bring back here and run every
time.
“I don't think there’s one thing that Jack
knows that makes his cars all win here. I just
think it’s a combination of the teams and all the
people he has in place and how hard they work
and how good they’re prepared throughout the
winter.”
One factor that can be overlooked is the dri
ver himself. Confidence. Labonte said, is as
good of an explanation as any of why he’s won
five of the past 13 races at Atlanta.
“It has just been a good track for me." he
said. “1 go way back to 1982 when I ran here
for the first time in a Daytona Dash car. 1 fin
ished third in the first Dash race I ever ran. I
beat Larry Pearson and Michael Waltrip and
the throttle hung wide open.
"Maybe that’s what got me over the hump. I
don’t know. That’s all I can say. 1 have no
idea.”
9. Jimmie Johnson (car No. 48):
Pit road scrape-up badly hurt what
looked like a really fast race car at Las
Vegas. Last week: 8.
10. Jeff Gordon (car No. 24): Like
Busch's team, this one seems to be a
half-step off of its “A game" so far in
04. Last week: 6.,
■n|| For the rest of the top-40
R M rankings, go online and visit
J www.thatsracin.com.
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Friday, March 12,2004 -
“It’s great to come to Vegas.
You don’t always leave here
a winner, so this is fun.” *BBr
Matt Kenseth, after winning
last week's UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400
at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
GOLDEN CORRAL 500
Where: Atlanta Motor Speedway, a 1.54-
rnile highly banked paved tri-oval located in
Hampton, Ga.
When: Sunday at 1 p.m.
(all times ET). Qualifying is 3
p.m. Friday. j
TV: Fox.
Radio: Performance Rac-
ing Network.
Purse: $4.692.401 | .
Last year's winner: Bobby
Labonte. Iz4v
Worth mentioning: Bill El- . nhrtnfo
liott leads all active drivers
with five poles at Atlanta. Rusty Wallace has
three. There have been seven different winners
in the past eight Cup races held at Atlanta.
Labonte (November 2001 and March 2003) is
the only repeat winner.
XMItiMWaK
THIS WEEK’S QUESTION
Second is a good place to finish in Nextel
Cup, but when will Kasey Kahne break
through for a Nextel Cup win?
Cast your vote at:
www.thatsracin.com
LAST WEEK’S QUESTION
NASCAR visits Las Vegas this weekend.
Do you think a driver should be able
to bet on himself in a race?
Number of votes : 5,360
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WINLESS STREAKS
Ten drivers who have posted Nextel Cup
victories have gone more than 50 races without
a win*:
Ken Schrader June 2,1991 410
Kyle Petty June 4.1995 258
Jeremy Mayfield June 19.2000 120
EHiott Sadler March 25.2001 105
Rusty Wallace April 29.2001 101
Jeff Burton Oct. 28,2001 79
Sterling Marlin March 17.2002 63
Mark Martin May 26,2002 63
Ricky Rudd June 23,2002 59
Wardßurton July 21,2002 56
* Chart doesn’t include races in which the drivers didn’t compete
Jim Utter
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NEXTEL CUP POINTS LEADERS
The top-40 drivers as of March 7:
Rank/Driver Points Rank/Driver Points
1. Kenseth(l7)..s23 21.R.Newman(12)..307
2. Stewart(2o). . . .435 22.D.Jarrett(88)....307
3. E. Sadler (38) 405 23. B. Gaughan (77).. 306
4. J.Gordon(24) ...404 24.J.Sauter(30) . .297
5. KBusch(97) ....400 25 R.Rudd(2l) ....294
6. 26. K.Petty(4s) 278
7.0. Earnhardt Jr. (8). 398 27. G. Biffle (16) 264
8. K.Kahne(9) 385 28.8.Vicker5(25)....255
9. J. McMurray (42) .225 29. R. Craven (32)... 245
10. C.Meara(41)....967 30.K.Lepage(4) ....219
11. 31. J. Burton (99) 218
12. R.Wallace(2) ...356 32.S.Riggs(10) ... 212
13. 347 33.D.C0pe(50) 210
14. J.Mayfield(l9) ..339 34.J.Andretti(1) 205
15. W.8urt0n(22)...335 35.J.Green(43)....204
16.5. (22). .334 36.K.Schrader(49). 192
17. T. Latxxite (5).... 332 37. R. Gordon (31)... 191
18.5. Marlin(4o) ....321 38.M.Waltrip(15)... 170
19.4 Johnson (48)... 320 39. J. Benson (09)... 152
20. M. Martin (6) 316 40. L. Foyt (14) 146
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