Houston home journal. (Perry, Ga.) 1999-2006, July 11, 2003, SECTION B, Image 15

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Newspaper Page TextTHE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL fy m This week jjjjffift —. ' _ p- Greg Biffte’s victory in S*Uwelay night's Pepsi 400 was no doubt the shocker of the season. Be fore Daytona, the rookie’s best finish was 16th in 23 career starts. He had been 25th in points, too. r ' : ’.''-f'M : Qs-^-< ► The smaller fuel ceH used In restrictor-plate races had an im pact. The Pepsi 400 came down to an interesting set of spash and-go stops that juggled the field several times over the last half of the race. ► The dominant Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolets of Dale Earn hardt Jr. and Michael Waltrip were losers in the fuel-mileage game. After running at or near the front most of the night. Ju nior finished sixth and Waltrip 11th. They’ll be back, though. ► NASCAR president Mike Helton made it clear that if the drivers can’t come to an understanding on the so-called “gentleman’s agreement," then the sanctioning body will have to do it for them. ► There are no more restrictor plate races in the Busch Series this season. Thank goodness, because nobody is beating Earn hardt out there. He won all three. ► Maybe NASCAR’s point to stay away from the yellow line finally sunk in. There were no out-of bounds infractions of note in the Pepsi 400. ► Kevin Harvick had a chance in the Daytona 500 and in April at Talladega. He clearly had the strongest car this time around, but as they say, “The best car doesn’t always win the race." ► We’ll see what Matt Kenseth’s team is really made of. There are 19 races from now until No vember and no more off weeks. ► Biffle’s victory added some much-needed spice to an ago nizingly dull Raybestos Rookie of the Year race. He took over the rookie lead from Jamie Mc- Murray and now leads by six points (186-180). ► The SAFER barrier is popping up everywhere, at New Hampshire, Richmond and Homestead. ft giaFPf r:ggirna Winston Cup 1. Matt Kenseth 2,551 2. Dale Earnhardt Jr. -180 3. Jeff Gordon -203 4. Bobby Labonte - 255 5. Michael Waltrip - 392 6. Jimmie Johnson - 472 7. Kurt Busch - 484 8. Kevin Harvick - 502 9. Rusty Wallace - 532 10. Sterling Marlin - 553 Busch Series 1. Scott Riggs 2.440 , 2. David Green -_2 3. Ron Hornadav -33 4. Todd Bodine -43 5. Jason Keller -84 6. Brian Vickers -88 7. Bobby Hamilton Jr. -191 8. Johnny Sauter - 230 9. Shane Hmiel - 315 10. Scott Wimmer - 317 Craftsman Truck 1. Travis Kvapii 1,529 2. Brendan Gaughan - 6 3. Bobby Hamilton -30 4. Rick Crawford -51 5. Ted Muserave -56 6. Dennis Setzer -57 7. Jon Wood -98 8. Jason Leffler -172 9. Terry Cook -194 10. Cari Edwards - 242 ► HOT: Matt Kenseth scored his 14th top-10 finish in 17 races. ... Ryan Newman actually didn't crash in a plate race. ► NOT: Steve Park crashed again. ... Elliott Sadler is in a steady decline in the points standings. NASCAR wants 'gentleman’s agreement’ confusion cleared up By Brit Fryer NASCAR This Week NASCAR president Mike Helton said Saturday the sanc tioning body is prepared to step in and create a rule if Win ston Cup drivers can’t stick to the so-called “gentleman’s agreement.” “You, the drivers, are the only ones that can make this happen. There should be a gen tleman’s agreement,” Helton said during the drivers meet ing before the Pepsi 400. “If there’s not going to be one, and it gets out of hand, then NASCAR will step in. We don’t want to do that, and I don’t think you want us to do that.” ► If you have a question or a comment, write: NASCAR This Week, c/o The Gaston Gazette, PO. Box 1893, Gastonia, NC 28053 WINSTONCUPSERIES What: Tropicana 400 Where: Chicagoland Speed way, Joliet, 111. (1.5 miles) 267 laps/400.5 miles When: Green flag drops at 3 p.m. Sunday Last year's winner: Kevin Harvick Qualifying record: Todd Bod ine, Ford, 183.717 mph, July 13, 2001 Race record: Harvick, Chevrolet, 136.832 mph, July 14, 2002 Most recent race: Leave it up to Greg Biffle to be the one to cut down Dale Earn hardt Inc. from its restrictor plate throne. Saturday night's Pepsi 400 at Day tona International Speedway was the upset of all upsets, b X Z 1 3 (/) S i Kyle Petty, Winston Cup Series HARD TIMES .lira V'; |||k M Hpl^ ' , .y jIH C ',// John Clark/NASCAR This Week Kyle Petty hasn't won a Winston Cup race since 1995, but the Petty Enterprises veteran isn’t about to give up, saying, ‘We’ll all go to Chicago and start on equal footing again.' Petty’s biggest concern is a major horsepower problem By Brit Fryer NASCAR This Week The changing face of Petty En terprises isn’t going exactly as planned, said the team’s lead driver and businessman, Kyle Petty. When Petty Enterprises made the switch to the Dodge Intrepid to help Daimler Chrysler with its return to Winston Cup racing before the 2001 season, Petty said it would take five years for the multi-car team to return to stock-car prominence. “We’re two and a half years into it,” Petty said. “In a lot of respects, we’re exactly where we want to be. In a lot of things we’ve laid out with our engi neering program and where our cars are aerodynamically, we’re exactly where we want to be. Some things have taken a leap forward, and some The gentleman’s agreement, which does not appear in the rulebook, has been a hot topic of debate since the June 22 road race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. In that race, Robby Gordon passed teammate Kevin Har vick as the two drove to a yel low flag. Gordon went on to win and soon came under heavy fire from Harvick and four-time Winston Cup champi on Jeff Gordon for violating the agreement and racing back to the yellow. Helton acknowledged the sport’s early drivers devised the agreement, where if a cau tion flag came out, the leader would signal to other drivers to and after it was all said and done, Biffle and his No. 16 Roush Racing team played their cards right. Biffle used a quick pit stop on lap 80 to top off his tank and then an other on lap 119 to guaran tee his Ford could make it the rest of the way on fuel. But it wasn't until Bobby Labonte's Chevrolet ran dry on the final lap that Biffle was guaranteed his first vic tory in his brief Winston Cup career. The deciding stop also guaranteed the DEI Chevrolets of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Michael Waltrip wouldn't win another restric tor-plate race, at least not on this night. Earnhardt fin ished sixth: Waltrip 11th. IIM THE SPOTLIGHT things have taken a leap back. Our en gine program has taken a leap back.” Indeed, engine problems have been the root of most of Petty’s problems this season. This past weekend at Daytona In ternational Speedway, only one of Pet ty Enterprises’ three Intrepids made the starting field for the Pepsi 400. With the two teams out of provisional starts, drivers Christian Fittipaldi and Shane Hmiel were sent home early. Only Petty competed, and he finished 23™, saying horsepower or a lack thereof is the problem. “You look at how we qualified last year and what we did compared to where we’re at this year, and we ain’t even in the ball game this year,” Petty said. “We’ve struggled to make races. “When you look at it, we’ve not maintained. That’s as much as a death slow down to avoid any unnec essary danger. “It’s been working pretty well up until recent years,” Helton said. “We joked at Sears Point (now Infineon) about there real ly wasn’t much of a gentleman’s agreement anymore. The point is there should be.” ■ New sponsor in town: Helton also introduced Nextel presi dent Tim Donahue to a stand ing ovation at the drivers meet ing. Nextel will become title sponsor of the Winston Cup Se ries beginning in 2004. R.J. SPORTS What: Tropicana Twister 300 Where: Chicagoland Speed way, Joliet, 111. (1.5 miles) 200 laps/300 miles When: Green flag drops at 3 p.m. Saturday Last year's winner: Johnny Sauter Qualifying record: Ryan New man. Ford, 181.886 mph, July 13, 2001 Race record: Sauter, Chevro let, 128.008 mph, July 13, 2002 Most recent race: Dale Earnhardt Jr., in a Chevrolet, led all 100 laps on his way to victory in Friday night's race at Daytona. Michael Waltrip finished second af ter running second for all but one lap. Reynolds’ partnership with NASCAR has lasted since 1972. “We’ve never been in any thing as big or as exciting as this sponsorship,” Donahue said. “We want to make it a great time for the fans, for the teams, for the drivers, for the owners, for everyone in volved.” ■ Getting softer: Add Home stead-Miami Speedway to the list of tracks installing soft wall technology this year. Ear lier this week, Richmond (Va.) International Raceway and New Hampshire International Speedway announced they’ll be What: Built Ford Tough 225 Where: Kentucky Speedway, Sparta, Ky., (1.5 miles) 150 laps/225 miles When: 8 p.m. Saturday Last year's winner: Mike Bliss Qualifying record: Bryan Reffner, Chevrolet, 168.460 mph, June 16, 2000 Race record: Scott Riggs, Dodge, 113.525 mph, July 14, 2001 Most recent race: Jon Wood, son of legendary Winston Cup car owner Eddie Wood, won his first Truck Series race by holding off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Carl Edwards on Saturday at Kansas Speedway. nail in this sport than anything else. Maintaining, you fall behind. When you go backwards, you fall double be hind and I think that’s what we did.” Petty has won eight Winston Cup races in his long career, but none since his victory at Dover, Del., in 1995. He ended up 22 nd in points last season his best championship fin ish since he was 15 th in 1997. Still, Petty said better days are ahead. “That kind of surprises me that we’re struggling again,” Petty said. “We’ve got a really good group of guys that work on these cars, back at the shop and all the way through. We’ve been further down than this. “The sun came up this morning and we all came back to the race track. We’ll all go to Chicago and start on equal footing again.” Contact Brit Fryer at britfryer@hotmail.com. adding the SAFER barrier. The walls, which will be in stalled in all four corners, are expected to be in place by the time NASCAR visits South Florida in November. The move is part of a $lO million reconfiguration project that is adding 20-degree banking to the track. ■ Spaced out: Winston Cup stars Dale Jarrett, Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman toured the Kennedy Space Cen ter in nearby Cape Canaveral, Fla., last week. “I’ve always been fascinated with everything NASA stands Tropicana 400 - July 13 HjjSn Distance: 1.5 mile trioval r^jjsr\ Length of frontstretch: 2,400 ft. 11 Length of backstreteh: 1,700 ft, triovai Nines/ iaps.„quu.o mi. * 2d/, laps , ums £4 ■ FEUD OF THE WEEK V E R S U S Robby Gordon Race teams were looking for a scapegoat in the garage after a crash on lap 74 knocked seven cars out of contention in the Pepsi 400. Kurt Busch lost control of his Roush Racing Ford coming off turn two and spun directly ahead of Rob by Gordon. Even with his spotter shouting "Clear low, clear low, clear low,” Gordon had nowhere to go. and his Chevrolet went spinning in front of three-wide traffic. Busch said via radio that his right-rear tire began to give way, but that's not what Gordon saw. “I didn't see a tire going down. Nothing was shredded," Gordon said. "He was on the apron." NASCAR This Week's Brit Fryer gives his take: "It was later revealed that Busch's tire did indeed go flat, and once that happens at 190 mph. a driver can do little else but hold on. Gordon, a racer's racer, made his com ments while letting off some steam after being released from the infield care center. I think it's safe to say the tight racing that restrictor plates pro mote can take credit for this one." A ‘chicken move’ Concerning Jeff (Gordon) and Robby Gordon's disagreement about racing the leader back to the caution. The only ones who should be racing the leader are the lapxJown cars. Robby was wrong to race his teammate Kevin Harvick back to the caution (June 22 at Sonoma, Calif.). He's not a gentleman, so how could he keep a "gentleman's agree ment?" If they're all going to race like a bunch of jerks like Robby Gordon, then NASCAR might as well be a box ing ring or a crash derby. I agree with Kevin Harvick. What a chicken move, Robby Gordon! Pamela Riley Point Pleasant, W.Va. Looks like the gentleman's agree ment issue has stirred a little emotion in everybody. Kids, get your crayons ready. Friendly's Ice Cream is offering children the chance to express their artistic ability and enthusiasm for NASCAR through a coloring contest. Using a special coloring contest entry form from the more than 535 Friendly's restaurants, kids can enter a color scheme for Derrike Cope's No. 37 Friendly's Chevrolet. The win ning entry will be the design used on the car in the Sept. 14 New Hamp shire 300 in Loudon. The contest began June 23 and will continue through Aug. 8. Cope and his team will the bring the car to the school of the contest winner, with permission from school officials. "There isn't a kid on earth who can't color well," Cope said. "All we are doing is taking the art that is usually on refrigerators and freezers freezers filled with Friendly's Ice Cream, of course and turning it into something bigger for a lucky child." For information, visit friendlys.com. for and how all the mechanics work in order to produce some thing as big as the space shut tle,” Newman said. “I’ve al ways heard people talk about how incredible the space shut tles are now I can see for myself.” Newman has a certain fond ness for what goes on at Kennedy. He has a mechanical engineering degree from Pur due University. “Being engineers, I have a feeling Matt (crew chief Matt Borland) and I are going to be looking at everything with our engineering goggles on, trying to figure out what this is or why they do that,” Newman said. FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2003 ♦ Kurt Busch 3B