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THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
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All times Eastern
Nextel Cup |r«)|
UAW-DaimlerChrysler
400, 2 p.m., Sunday
Busch Series
Sam's Town 300 '^ rA
3:30 p.m., Saturday
Truck Series fiSfWtfl
World Financial Group
200, 9 p.m., March 18
r 'WiWPWWBBW 1
L BURNING-ISSi)E»J
► The Busch Series race in Mexi
co City seemed more like an en
durance race and was run at a
crawl. Nothing helps college
basketball like three hours of
road racing on network TV.
► Fox's broadcasters repeatedly
told the nation that NASCAR had
never sanctioned a race outside
the U.S. in "a major touring se
ries." Untrue. There were Grand
National (now Nextel Cup) races
run in the Canadian province of
Ontario in 1952 and 1958. Bud
dy Shuman and Lee Petty were
the winners. You can look it up.
It’s a shame Fox didn't.
► The race at Autodromos Her
manos Rodriguez drew a huge
crowd, and NASCAR officials
have to be thinking about what
the presence of an Adrian Fer
nandez in the field could do for
ticket demand at tracks like
Homestead-Miami Speedway, for
instance where there is a
huge Hispanic population.
► Roush Racing drivers occupy
four of the top five positions in
the Cup points standings. This
would not seem to be the week
for that to change. Roush-owned
Fords have won five of the seven
previous races at Las Vegas Mo
tor Speedway.
► Greg Biffle’s California victory
was the 75th for Jack Roush,
whose drivers have won at least
once in each of the last nine
seasons.
► On the other hand, Jeff Gordon
comes to Las Vegas with some
thing to prove. He's finished no
better than 15th in his last
three visits to Sin City.
► The champ's on track. Kurt
Busch,has finished second and
third in the season's first two
races. He’s never won at his
hometown track, though. In fact,
Busch has only one top 10 fin
ish in four tries at Las Vegas
Motor Speedway.
► Very few observers would have
predicted that Jorge Goeters
would win the pole for the Mexi
co City Busch Series race. And
not that many more would've
predicted that Martin Truex Jr.
would win the race.
♦ TOP !<HN^»aiNTO«|
'Nextel Cup
1. Kurt Busch 340
2. Jimmie Johnson - 5
3. Mark Martin 39
4. Carl Edwards -53
8. Greg Biffle -67
6. Elliott Sadler -68
7. Tony Stewart 72
8. Rusty Wallace 72
9. Sterling Marlin 80
10. Jeff Gordon 82
Busch Series
1. Kevin Harvick 515
2. Carl Edwards -61
3. Clint Bowyer -82
4. Martin Truex Jr. -92
5. Reed Sorenson 101
6. Ashton Lewis -118
7. Shane Hmiel
8. Kenny Wallace -197
9. Justin Labonte - 212
10. Jason Keller 221
Craftsman Truck Series
1. Bobby Hamilton 355
2. Ricky Craven -25
3. Jimmy Spencer -34
4. Ted Musgrave -45
5. Matt Crafton 75
6. Steve Park -76
7. Johnny Benson 84
8. David Reutimman -99
9. Dennis Setzer -101
10. Casey Atwood -104
WE GO THE EXTRA MILE
FOB YOU!
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tNHE
Race: UAW Daimler Chrysler
400
Where: Las Vegas (Nev.) Mo
tor Speedway (1.5 miles),
267 laps/400.5 miles.
When: Sunday. 2 p.m.
Last year's winner: Matt
Kenseth
Qualifying record: Kasey
Kahne, Dodge, 174.904
mph, March 5, 2004.
Race record: Mark Martin,
Ford, 146.554 mph, March
1, 1998.
Last race: Greg Biffle served
notice that his may be the
breakout story of the 2005
NASCAR Nextel Cup season
by winning the Auto Club 500
at California Speedway in
Fontana. Not that Biffle’s sue
-“WH ATO-UP-NBCT
Robby Gordon
World Traveler
Gordon’s experience convinces him NASCAR can thrive in Mexico
By Monte Dutton
NASCAR This Week
No NASCAR driver championed the
cause of racing in Mexico City more
than Robby Gordon, the versatile Cali
fornian who swept the Nextel Cup
road races during the 2003 season.
It should come as no surprise that
Gordon, 36, should promote NASCAR
diversity. Few drivers have more di
verse backgrounds than Gordon, who
has raced off-road, in sports cars, and
in both CART and the IRL before and
during his stock-car career. He spent
part of the offseason competing in the
annual Dakar Rally.
Of Mexico, Gordon said: “It’s a good
market for us. It makes a lot of sense
because it’s in a different country, and
we can just drive across the border to
go down and put on the event.
“I’ve been going to Mexico for 20
years, and I’ve always enjoyed myself
every time I’ve been there. The key is
keeping it all in perspective, in know
ing where you are and what your con
sequences may be. I’ve had friends of
mine who have gotten in trouble in
Mexico before. You don’t want to get
into trouble down there. The rules are
still the rules. They still have speed
limits. When you have a language bar
rier, like we do of being U.S. citizens
and not speaking fluent Spanish, it can
be a big issue. I think Mexico City is a
lot different than being in Baja, but
for 20 years I’ve never had an issue
down there.”
Gordon failed to make the starting
field for the Daytona 500, but he has
high aspirations of getting his new
team up to speed and eventually win
ning races. His ambition is under
scored by the fact that his Cup Chevro
let carries No. 7. The significance of
that number is that it was carried by
Alan Kulwicki, who won the champi
onship in 1992. He was the last combi
nation owner-driver to win a title.
Coincidence? Maybe. Gordon’s part
ner is Jim Smith. The No. 7 has been
handed down through several pur
chases since Kulwicki's untimely
death in a 1993 plane crash.
“Even though none of the cars that
came over from the Sirius No. 7
(Smith’s former team) are actually the
cars that we’re racing today, Jim
Smith has been a supporter of my ca
reer for many years,” Gordon said.
“He’s been a sponsor, and a friend,
and has a lot of experience that I’ll be
able to use, as well.”
Contact Monte Dutton at
hmdso@aol.com
40,000 Mill
TREADUFE
WARRANTY
P165/80R13
$51.50
P175/80R13
$52.50
► If you have a question or a comment, write: NASCAR This Week, c/o The Gaston Gazette, 80. Box 1893, Gastonia, NC 28053
cess should be a surprise, by
the way. Counting the 2004 fi
nale in Homestead, Fla., he's
won two of the last three Cup
races. He was the only multi
pie winner not to finish in the
top 10 of the points stand
ings last year. Biffle and
Roush Racing teammate Kurt
Busch secured track position
by passing up a tire change
during the race's final caution
period. Biffle then passed
Busch, the reigning champi
on, with 23 laps remaining.
He then held on for dear life
as his Ford became loose. He
held off the fast-closing
Chevrolet of Jimmie Johnson,
with Busch settling for third
and taking the points lead.
CHARGER
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HOURS: MUN-FRI. 7:30-5:30: SAT. 7:30-1:00
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SPORTS
auson'6CßfEa-
Race: Sam's Town 300
Where: Las Vegas (Nev.) Mtr
tor Speedway (1.5 miles),
200 laps/300 miles.
When: Saturday. 3:30 p.m.
Last year's winner: Kevin
Harvick
Qualifying record: Mike
Bliss, Chevrolet, 171.238
mph, March 5, 2004.
Race record: Jeff Burton,
Ford, 135.118 mph, March
4, 2000.
Last week: Martin Truex Jr.,
in a Chevrolet, won the
Busch Series race in Mexico
City.
IN-T^&SPOTIaiQHT”
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John Clark/NASCAR This Week
Robby Gordon has driven in almost every racing series in the United States and around the
world. He’s convinced that NASCAR can succeed in Mexico if they pay attention to detail.
SAFARI SUV
PREMIUM RADIAL FOR
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►RAFTSMAN TRUCK
Race World Financial Group
200
Where: Atlanta Motor Speed
way, Hampton, Ga. (1.54
miles), 133 laps/204.82
miles.
When: Friday, March 18,9 p.m.
Last year's winner: Bobby
Hamilton
Qualifying record: David Re
utimann, Toyota, 179.452
mph, March 13, 2004.
Race record: Bobby Hamil
ton, Dodge, 123.675 mph,
Murch 13, 2004.
Last race: Steve Park, in a
Dodge, won the American
Racing Wheels 200 in
Fontana, Calif.
No. 7 Harrah’s Chevrolet
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FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 2005 ♦
"IAS If EGAS DATA
UAW Daimler Chrysler 400
fm IAS VESAS\
Viß? MOTOR SPEEDWAY Jf
Distance: 1.5 mile oval
’’'2m Length of frontstretch: 2,275 ft
Length of backstreteh: 1,572 ft. 12
tronttSftth Miles/Laps: 400 mi. - 267 laps
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HREUP OF THE WEEK
Jm
Versus
Matt
Kenseth
Matt Kenseth vs. NASCAR
schedule makers
After two weeks in Daytona, the
Nextel Cup schedule went off to Cali
fornia, then some drivers were
wooed by NASCAR to compete in a
Busch Series race in Mexico. This
weekend's race is in Las Vegas. Matt
Kenseth didn’t race in Mexico, but he
would have preferred to save the
open date for later. “I never want to
give up an off weekend," he said,
“but I'd rather put it in the bank and
use it in September or October, when
everybody is getting tired and worn
down and you've got 20-some-odd
weeks in a row. Having the third
weekend of the year off is kind of
strange.”
NASCAR This Week's Monte
Dutton gives his take: “How’d you
like to be a truck driver (no, not the
racing series) in the Busch Series?
Daytona to California to Mexico City
to Vegas. What a shame they don’t
have frequent-driver miles."
FAN T«f»S
Motorsports writer’s son
overcomes shooting
Motorsports journalist Brad Win
ters had a terrible accident strike his
family in February when his twin
sons, Derek and Dustin, were exam
ining a .22-caliber rifle one had just
purchased. The rifle bumped against
a bedpost and went off, striking
Dustin in the neck. Another of Win
ters’ sons, 21-year-old Jeremy,
grabbed Dustin and raced to the hos
pital, where Dustin underwent emer
gency surgery to repair a severed
carotid artery. Brad, who was in New
York at the time, said doctors told
him no one had ever survived such
an injury at the local hospital.
According to Brad, Dustin re
turned to school this week, although
he still has only 10-20 percent mo
tion in his right arm. Doctors expect
him to recover most of his range of
motion eventually. The incident was
traumatic to Derek, the twin brother
who was with Dustin at the time of
the accident, but another son, 18-
year-old Adam, has assisted Derek in
recovering from his grief, according
to the boys’ father.
"As a father, I have been humbled
by an awesome God, a giving church,
great friends and a loving family,”
said Brad Winters, who said there
were 70 people at the hospital within
45 minutes of Dustin’s arrival.
•-veuß^r-uRN-f
’’■HjerreßS-fROMTIUR-REAPERS^
How long for Junior?
We have a big debate going on
and need some help. Can you tell us
how many tries it took Dale Earnhardt
Sr. before he won the Daytona 500,
and how many tries it took Earnhardt
Jr. before he won it?
David E. Smith
Mansfield, Ohio
Dale Earnhardt Sr. won the Day
tona 500 in his 20th try. His son won
the 500 in his fifth try.
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