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THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
Mm J _
L BURNING ISSUES J
■ In general, the NASCAR
drivers performed well in
the Rolex 24 endurance
race. For the second year in
a row, Tony Stewart’s Craw
ford car was in contention
for the win, and for the sec
ond year in a row, his car
suffered mechanical failure
with victory in sight.
■ More and more NASCAR
drivers have
grown to love
the Daytona
endurance
race. Rusty
Wallace, who
is retiring
from Cup
competition
at the end of
fa*""" ijip*- j|HR
Wallace
the season, wants to com
pete in it next February.
■ Nicorette, the smoking-de
terrent aid, is now sponsor
ing a NASCAR team, leading
some to note that
NASCAR’s premier series
helped sell cigarettes for
more than 30 years and is
now identified with a prod
uct designed to help people
get off them. In case you’re
wondering, if Winston was
still the sponsor of
NASCAR’s premier series,
the Nicorette sponsorship
wouldn't have been allowed.
■ Todd Kluever, one of Jack
Roush's new drivers in the
Craftsman Truck Series, sur
vived a grueling tryout
process (nicknamed “The
Gong Show”) that saw
Roush officials sift through
more than 400 resumes.
Twenty-four drivers were in
vited to test at North
Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speed
way, then the field was nar
rowed down to 10 for a final
round at Darlington. Kluever
was the lucky prizewinner
and will now be paired with
veteran Ricky Craven in one
of Roush’s Ford F-150s.
■ Almost every team now
has a development pro
gram designed to scout out
new talent and bring them
through the ranks. The
next two to make an im
pact may be the bright,
young Hendrick Motor
sports recruits Blake
Feese and Boston Reid.
■ Technically, Nextel Cup has
two all-star races, Saturday
night’s Budweiser Shootout
and the Nextel All-Star Chal
lenge in May, but the Chal
lenge, at Lowe’s Motor Speed
way, has usually received far
more attention than the
Shootout. In case you don’t
remember, Dale Jarrett won
the Shootout last year.
■ It will be a crucial year for
Ray Evernham’s Dodge op
eration. The team featur
ing drivers Jeremy Mayfield
and Kasey Kahne made
considerable progress last
year, but the victory total
was only one.
■ Another team with high
hopes is the Chip Ganassi
team, which also made
progress but neither won
any races nor put a driver
in “The Chase.”
■ Optimism abounds in the
Robert Yates camp, where
general manager Eddie
D’Hondt thinks Elliott Sadler
is a legitimate title con
tender. Another goal is to put
Jarrett back in victory lane.
■ Actually, optimism abounds
just about everywhere this
time of year. All the teams
roar into Daytona prepared
and rested. Of course, the
adversity begins almost as
soon as they unload their
shiny new cars.
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Early
Speedweeks
schedule
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY.
Daytona Beach, Fla.
Feb. 9
IROC practice. 10 a.m., 2 p.m.
Feb. 10
IROC practice, 8:30 a.m., noon.
ARCA practice, 10 a.m., 1:30 p.m.
Feb. 11
IROC practice, 9 a.m., 3 p.m., 5:10
p.m.
ARCA qualifying, 12:05 p.m.
Nextel Cup Budweiser Shootout prac
tice, 4:15 p.m., 6:30 p.m.
WHAT’S UP NEXT
Nextel Cup Series
Not slowing down
1999 Cup champ believes last year was step in right direction
By Monte Dutton
NASCAR This Week
A year ago, Dale Jarrett
won the Budweiser Shootout,
but the post-race celebration
was a bit premature.
After capturing the all-star
race that kicks off the sea
son, Jarrett failed to score
again. Although he registered
some improvement over a
2003 season that had been
dismal, the hope that the
Shootout had seemed to rep
resent proved false. As the
current season nears, Jarrett,
the 1999 Cup champion, con
tinues to pound the pavement
of the comeback trail.
“When you win (the
Shootout), you have to be a lit
tle bit careful in what you say
and how you say it,” said Jar
rett. “I didn’t have the fastest
car that night, but I put my
car in front of the fastest car
at the right time, and that
helped me win the Shootout.
“In all of that excitement
and giving that reward to
your team for their hard work
and efforts, you don’t want to
bring them down by saying,
‘Look, this isn’t what this sea
son is going to be all about
right now. We have a lot of
work to d0.’... What needed to
be said was ‘this is great, it’s
great for morale, but we have
a lot of work to do.’”
Jarrett was quick to
stress, though, that the 2004
season was a step in the
right direction.
“I think 2003 we pretty
much hit the low spot of
those 10 years that I’ve
been here so far (at Robert
Yates Racing), and Mike
(Ford, his crew chief) did a
terrific job in getting us
back and making us a com
petitive race team again,”
Jarrett said. “I think the fo
cus now, though, after we
got to that point of becom
ing competitive not that
we weren’t trying to win
last year but I think that
the focus this year is get
ting this UPS car back in
victory lane.”
At age 48, Jarrett realizes
his career is winding down
but insists he has no retire
ment plans in the near future.
“Obviously, something has
to change there as time goes
Race: Budweiser Shootout
Where: Daytona (Beach, Fla.) Inter
national Speedway (2.5 mi.), 70
laps/175 miles.
When: Saturday, Feb. 12
Last year's winner: Dale Jarrett
The Format: Two segments 2O
and 50 laps, respectively with a
break between segments. Caution
flag laps don't count, and a "green
white-checkered" rule is in place at
the finish. Field consists of pole
winners from the 2004 season and
former winners of the event.
Who’s in: Kurt Busch, Joe Ne
mechek, Greg Biffle, Kasey Kahne,
Brian Vickers. Casey Mears, Jeff
Gordon, Ryan Newman, Bobby
Labonte, Ricky Rudd, Jimmie John
son, Jeremy Mayfield, Dale Jarrett,
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John Clark/NASCAR This Week
At 48, Dale Jarrett is upbeat about contending this season in the Nextel Cup ‘Chase.’ The 1999 Cup
champion said his team hit a low spot in 2003, but he added he feels healthy and competitive for the
upcoming season.
on,” he said, “but I’m not
sure where that comes in. I
think it may be different
with different people. I’m
definitely in better shape
than when I was in my 30s.
That part of it I’m not con
cerned with. I still see well,
and I still enjoy this so much
that I don’t think there’s any
part of me physically that is
keeping me from winning
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SPORTS
NfcX TEL CUR SeWtgS
Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart,
Mark Martin, Rusty Wallace, Ken
Schrader and Bill Elliott.
Who’s out: Matt Kenseth, Michael
Waltrip, Kevin Harvick, Elliott Sadler,
Jeff Burton, Sterling Marlin, Jamie
McMurray and Robby Gordon,
among others.
Who could be: Terry Labonte is eligi
ble but will not compete.
Event: Daytona 500 Pole qualifying
When: Sunday, Feb. 13
Last year's winner: Greg Biffle, Ford,
188.387 mph
Track record: Bill Elliott, Ford.
210.364 mph, 1987.
What's unique: Only positions 1-2
are determined, although everyone
must make a run.
races or competing weekly
in a good way. I’m not sure
when that will come.
“I think that certainly
there is a lot to be said for
experience when you get to
be this age that you can
maybe look at things and do
things a little bit differently.
I think, as much as anything,
you hear people talk about
the rigors of the travel and
_ NEW SUBSCRIBER _ RENEWAL
Dale Jarrett, No. 88 Ford
all the appearances we have
to do, so I’ve taken a little bit
different look at that and
tried to approach it a little
differently and try to make
my schedule more friendly
to myself and my family to
where it doesn’t wear on me
physically in that respect. If
anything is going to wear on
me physically, I want it to be
the actual racing itself.”
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2005 ♦
DAYTONA DATA
ar
Daytona 500
Feb. 20
VA
mternationa^peeSway^
£
Distance: 2.5 mile oval
Length of frontstretch: 3,800 ft.
Length of backstretch: 3,400 ft
Miles/Laps: 500 mi. - 200 laps
Banking in
trioval
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WHO'S HOT
AND WHO'S NOT
' jl
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John Clark/NASCAR This Week
For the second straight year, the
Rolex 24 race was not kind to
Tony Stewart as mechanical prob
lems caused havoc again. After
about 20 minutes of repairs, his
team was able to return to the
track in the fourth position. 14
laps behind the leader.
■ Who’s hot Jeff Gordon
portrays a swashbuckling sea
captain in the latest round of
Fox commercials hyping the
season. And, oh, yeah, he
was, like, at the Super Bowl.
■ Who’s not Tony Stewart
was almost on the winning
team at the Rolex 24. For
the second year in a row,
Stewart’s team suffered me
chanical failure in the late
stages with victory almost
in sight.
FAN TIPS
The season hasn’t even
started yet, but already
fans can vote for the Chex
Most Popular Driver. Voting
began on Feb. 1 at the Web
site, and fans may vote
once each day up until Mon
day, Nov. 21, at 12:59 p.m.
EST.
Wonder how many fans
will vote once each day be
tween now and then?
[LFGENDS AND LORE
Heroism paid off for Lund
in 1963 Daytona race
Four different drivers have
won the Daytona 500 in the
famous No. 21 of the Wood
Brothers. Three are easy to
name because they are
among the all-time greats:
Cale Yarborough (1968), AJ.
Foyt (1972) and David Pear
son (1976). The best story,
though, is of the fourth. In
1963, DeWayne “Tiny" Lund
helped the Wood Brothers'
driver, Marvin Panch, escape
a fiery sports-car crash at
Daytona. Panch suffered se
vere burns, though, and the
team decided to give the car
to the guy who helped save
Panch’s life. Guess what?
Lund won the Daytona 500.
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31
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