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KJBLbB Jy Jflv “I hope that when my son races Hr jvjWHßfe'HMhiWjfidljF NASCAR, he never drives on a track w BB WjpTfl 0 1 that doesn’t have them." BB BBBSBBBH systems. Manin _ < jM BB £■ BB Hf BKB '‘keptical. however, of the addition of JB Bl BB O 2004 Chartone Obsorvar Distributed by Knight Rmdw/THbung . v. kz? 1 ; ;■; ~~ \ZZX —~ > W W <- I ,— ""’T*"" * wk- \ BKr ... BBBKb«BB F a ~ !R - CAMPOS KRT NASCAR driver Kurt Busch takes an up-close survey at Darlington Raceway in anticipation of this week's Carolina Dodge Dealers 400. a<~z ? ji L. -< i _ _ _a _ J J DID J’f£i SAFER barriers at Darlington take up valuable track space B\ David Newton Knight Ridder ,Vm spapers I / urt Busch wheeled his red Ford Expedi ' » \ tion onto the track at Darlington Race- / \ way and immediately headed for the -J -A new SAFER barriers on the wall in the middle of turns 1 and 2. "It'll have an impact here in the center of the comer," Busch said as he cruised w ithin a foot of the SAFER (Steel and Foam Energy Reduction) barriers more commonly known as soft walls "The racing line is right here. It'll take away a little bit of impact, but you won't notice it be cause you start heading down the racetrack." Busch then headed toward the exit of Turn 2 at about 50 miles per hour, well under the track record qualifying speed of 173.797 mph. “You'll scrape the side right on these hash marks coming off Turn 1." he said. "Then you'll slide right back up toward the w all where they 've closed it off and we're back to regular concrete, so the impact will be minimal on the exit of the comer of (Turn) 2." Busch was the first driver to get a close-up look at the new w alls and the potential new rac ing lines that will result wnh 30 inches gone from a track that many drivers said already was too tight. Ricky Craven, who beat Busch in last year's Carolina Dodge Dealers 4(X) by two-thou sandths of a second, later took a spin around the track w here a driver seldom escapes a brush w ith the wall and collects the infamous "Darlington stripe" dow n the side of his car. Everybody else gets to see it Friday when dn- RANKINGS THAT’S 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. flk |||| j|||L "~\r~ ALL MAKES & MODELS ®° <^ Kh Collision Canter The means better. 527 Atlanta Hwy. Sendee Dept Bit ggCSLUSIOR •-■* M-FM GM PUTS SPECIALIST ". .. Sat 8-1 ggGM SERVICE WE WELCOME 1 M ~ 770-887-2320 PLUS INSURANCE (778)8874317 HEALER CLAIMS TIM DOMiN.CK krt Busch and Ricky Craven battled side-by-side for first place in the 2003 Dodge Dealers 400. vers begin preparing for Sunday's 400-mile race w ith two practice sessions and qualifying. Some drivers, such as Mark Martin, already have expressed concern that there won't be enough room to race side by side on this egg shaped slice of real estate nicknamed "The Track Too Tough To Tame." “Once they come down and analyze it they won't have that perspective," Busch said. "They'll see the changes are for the positive and they 'll be able to compete and race here side by side. "We'll know we're missing 30 inches, but when we come back in the fall we won’t even know the barriers are here.” Busch then proceeded down the backstretch. He punted toward the concrete wall that has tak en a pounding over the past 50 years. "It's been hit so many times that it isn't straight." he said. 3. Stewart (car No. 20): Bad 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: I. 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. week: 5. 8. Ryan Newman (car No. 12): Our preseason No. I pick is 21st in points after three races. It's time to get rolling. Last week: 4. As Busch sped down the front straightaway toward the start-finish line, he glanced at the bar riers down the front side of pit road and then looked ahead toward Turn 1 again. “It's going to be a little more congested on a restart, but drivers will adjust and it'll be mini mal impact," he said. Craven agreed. “I can certainly see it's going to be a little tighter going into the comer." he said. “What we've done is take some of the track aw ay, and there wasn't a lot to start with. "It's going to be an issue in the middle of the comer and maybe a little on the exits. Otherwise, it's not a lot different. They've done a great job of transitioning, especially into the comers." That's not to suggest the track won't be tougher than ever. Both agreed the new walls will add a new meaning to the "Darlington stripe.” "'Die potential is there fora lot more Darling ton stripes." Craven said. That doesn't make those who haven't seen the walls less apprehensive. Elliott Sadler said he plans to come a day ear ly to see the walls even if he can’t get on the track w ith a car. “I already wear out a right side every time 1 go to Darlington." he said. "Ain’t no telling how bad I'll mess it up this time. "That's a track that you’ve got to have good rhythm at. You kind of know w>hen you leave pit road where you want to run at. how much throt tle you want to use. Now that they've taken half the track away we don't really know what we're going to do." 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 'O4. Last week: 6. For the rest of the top-40 M M rankings, go online and visit k ] www.thatsracln.com. FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Frldiy, March 18,2004 I THIS WEEK'S RACE CAROLINA DODGE DEALERS 400 Where: Darlington Race way, a 1.366-mile egg-shaped paved oval located in Darling ton. S.C. When: Sunday at 1 p.m. (all times ET). Qualifying is 3:10 p.m. Friday. TV: Fox. Radio: Motor Racing Net work. Purse: $4,551,592. Last year’s winner: Ricky Craven. Also this week: The NASCAR Busch Series returns to action this week at Darlington for Sat urday’s Diamond Hill Plywood Co. 200. Nextel Cup driver Kevin Harvick won the series’ most recent race, at Las Vegas, and leads the punts standings. The NASCAR Truck series is off un til April 17 at Martinsville, Va. POLL POSITION THIS WEEK’S QUESTION Should NASCAR fine drivers for using profanity in media interviews or on their in-car radios? Cast your vote at: www.thatsracin.com LAST 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? Number of votes: 5,937 33.7% SKUA Next 10 races 3.1% STOP N' GO RANDOMTHOUGHTS ■ Jeff Burton has an average finish of 11.20 in 20 races at Darlington, the best of all active drivers with more than five starts. Burton has finished in the top IO in 10 of the past 14 races there. ■ Jeff Gordon has led 1.378 laps at Darling ton. the most of all active drivers and almost 500 more than his closest active competitor Burton (786). ■ Las Vegas is the only race this season that had all three manufacturers finish in the top three. ■ Michael Waltrip hasn't finished better than 23rd this season. ■ Kasey Kahne has climbed from 41 st to fourth in punts since Daytona. His Evemham Motorspirts teammate. Jeremy Mayfield, has climbed from 25th to seventh in punts since Daytona. Jim Utter BY THE JWMBEWS NEXTEL CUP POINTS LEADERS The top-40 drivers as of March 14: Rank/Drlver Points Rank/Driver Points 1. Kenseth (17) . 673 21 S. Wimmer (22). 416 2. T Stewart (20) . 591 22. R Wallace (2).... 414 3.0 Earnhardt Jr (8) 583 23. G Biffle (16) 411 4. K Kahne (9) 550 24. J. Sauter (30).... 370 5. J. Gordon (24) ... 543 25. B. Gaughan (77).. 370 6. K. Busch (97) . . .527 26.R.Rudd(21) .. .364 7. J. Mayfield (19) . 514 27. K. Petty (45) 357 8. E. Sadler (38) 481 28. B Vickers (25).... 355 9. J Johnson (48) . . 480 29. R Craven (32)... 342 10. Labonte (18).. 469 30. J. Burton (99) 321 11 R. Newman (12).. 467 31. J. Green (43).... 310 12. K. Harvick (29) . . 466 32. R. Gordon (31)... 308 13. J.Nemechek(Ol) 465 33.S.Riggs(10).. .300 14. W. Burton (22). 459 34. K. Schrader (49). 277 15. D. Jarrett(Bß) ... 445 35. K. Lepage (4).... 274 16. J. McMurray (42) .437 36.M.Waitrip (15).. .264 17. M. Martin (6) 437 37.0. Cope (50) 259 18.S.Martin(40) ... 436 38. D. Blaney (23).... 248 19. C. Mears (41).... 433 39. J Andretti (1) 205 20. T. Labonte (5).... 423 40. J Benson (09)... 152 PAGE 5B ZJ Craven