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THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL mm HHp H <m Vt s^<^sr 6 I W fIHB M*' ■ •* W W^fci ON THE^TUBE A// times Eastern Nextel Cup USG Sheetrock 400. TNT 3 p.m., Sunday Busch Series USG Du rock 300. TNT 4 p.m., Saturday Truck Series /99*fV Built Ford Tough 225, cJa“TT. 8 p.m„ Saturday ► Think the Chase is exciting? Well, if it doesn't bother you that a guy who's dominant all year long can have his advan tage erased with 10 races to go. then you’re probably going to love what Brian France has in mind for next year. Nothing's of ficial yet, but the title race is go ing to become even more wide open. If it's "tricked up" now, it’s going to become even more so. ► Dodge announced that its new Challenger will go into produc tion in 2008. It GM follows suit with its new Camaro concept, it's possible that Challengers, Camaros and Mustangs will eventually become the models of choice in the Busch Series. ► Tony Stewart’s late charge in the Pepsi 400 was reminiscent of one of the late Dale Earn hardt's famous rallies in restric tor-plate races. Stewart has something else in common with Earnhardt. Even though he’s be come a master at "plate rac ing." he still insists that he real ly doesn't like racing with the engines sapped of horsepower. ► Jimmie Johnson, when he heard that Brian France planned to tweak the Chase, said he hoped the field would be limited only to those within 400 points of first place, not the top 10. Ac tually, what France has in mind is almost the opposite of what Johnson proposed. The field is likely to get bigger, not smaller. ► Another likely change is a sep arate points system for the driv ers who make the Chase. In oth er words, points would be awarded on the basis of how the drivers fare in relation to each other. If a driver is fifth among the Chase drivers in one of the final 10 races but ac tually finishes, say, 21st he would get fifth-place points in the Chase standings. ► Dale Earnhardt Jr. dominated Daytona’s Busch Series race, ending consecutive races in which the races went to drivers who do not also compete in Cup. Those are the only two vic tories this season by "Busch specialists.” WHOSHOT AND WHO’S NOT - ► Who'* hot Kurt Busch has finished in the top 10 in four straight races.... Boris Said, fourth at Daytona, had his best-ever finish in a non road-course event. ► Who's not Jimmie Johnson had his worst fin ish of the season, and his points lead dropped from 101 to eight. ... Jeff Gordon fell ‘ML j Gordon back out of the top 10 in points. TOP* JLQ 4N POINTS^] Nextel Cup 3L Jimmie Johnson 2.501 2. Matt Kenseth : 8 3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. • 267 4. Ka»ey Kahne ■ 292 5. Tony Stewart - 299 X MarV Martin - 324 7. Jeff Burton - 349 8. Kyle Busch -406 X Kevin Harvlck -413 10. Denny Hamlin - 453 Busch Series 1. Kevin Harvick 2,812 2. Carl Edwards - 388 3. Clint Bowver 423 4. Denny Hamlin - 431 ». JJ. Yeley -452 6. Greg Biffle -639 T. Paul Menard - 645 8. Kyle Busch - 658 X Kenny Wallace 830 10. Johnny Sauter - 854 Craftsman Truck Series JL ToddJßod ine 1.909 X David Reutlmann -1328 X Johnny Benson -143 4. Ted Musgrave - 252 X Rick Crawford -273 X Terry Cook - 307 T. OawM Start -309 X Dennis Setter -316 8. Jack Sprague - 331 10. Ron Homaday - 349 NCKTEir CU P C^- ■ Race USG Sheetrock 400 ■ Where: Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet. 111. (1.5 miles). 267 laps/400.5 miles. ■ When: Sunday. July 9 ■ Last year's winner: Dale Earn hardt Jr. ■ Qualifying record: Jimmie John son, Chevrolet, 188.147 mph, July 8, 2005. ■ Race record: Kevin Harvick. Chevrolet, 136.832 mph. July 14 2002. ■ Last week: Tony Stewart's per formance at Daytona Internation al Speedway was positively Ro man. He came. He saw. He con quered. Debris in turn three turned what might have been a glorious finish into an anticlimax. mtir^Vigs7iaKT={i^B Tony Stewart Weekend Warrior Resurgent Stewart wins a pair of races in Daytona By Monte Dutton NASCAR This Week DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. A victo ry in the Pepsi 400 capped off a mem orable weekend for reigning Nextel Cup champion Tony Stewart. On the night of July 29, Stewart won his second straight International Race of Champions event, dominating a field of stars from a variety of racing backgrounds on the Daytona Interna tional Speedway road course. The Pepsi 400 was also Stewart’s second straight in Daytona's summer time night race. Those are the only re strictor-plate victories of his career, but in races at Daytona and Talladega, Stewart has 13 top-five finishes in 31 career starts. Though the race ended under cau tion, all but the very end was breath taking. Stewart, 35, charged to the front after a pit stop left him in 10 th place with 10 laps remaining. Stewart regained the lead by passing Boris Said with three laps remaining and then held off Kyle and Kurt Busch, with Said finishing fourth. With seven laps remaining, Stewart passed six cars in less than a quarter of a lap. “I did get a big run,” he said, "and I think, if I remember right, that it was a restart that kind of led us up to that. I was behind anyway, and I got sepa rated from that pack a little bit. I think I just got a good push that gave me the run when I got there. Those guys real ly weren’t paying attention to me; they were paying attention to the ‘two-wide’ that they were involved in. “I got underneath Denny (Hamlin) and got by him, and then Casey Mears was stuck in the middle and working on somebody on the outside, and I don’t even think he even saw me com ing because he never even flinched. France says Chase changes are likely next season By Monte Dutton NASCAR This Week DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - NASCAR chairman Brian France, who hasn’t often been readily available for public comment this year, conducted a press conference on June 30, and the chief news was his strong intimation that the Chase for the Nextel Cup for mat will be changed next year. France said it was “a natural time” to tweak the format that determines the champion, cit ing the phase-in of the so-called “Car of Tomorrow” and the be ginning of a new television deal. Expect NASCAR to make the Chase even more “tricked up” than it already is. France sug gested that some changes might be implemented to re ward victory in the final 10 races. Tony Stewart won the ti tle last year despite failing to win any of the Chase races. Another likelihood is a sepa rate point system for the driv ers who make the Chase. Such ► If you have a question or a comment, write: NASCAR This Week, c/o The Gaston Gazette, PO. Box 1538, Gastonia, NC 28053 Stewart executed a remarkable comeback after the final caution flag. He drove from 10th to sec ond in a span of two laps. then, after another caution flag, pol ished off Boris Said, the driver whom he had started alongside at the start. But, on the final lap, the champ was in a bit of a predicament. A pair of brothers, Kyle and Kurt Busch, were posi tioned behind him. That's when the debris was discovered in turn three. When the yellow waved, the field was frozen, giving Stew art his second consecutive victo ry in this race. The road-course specialist Said, meanwhile, wound up fourth, his highest ca reer finish on an oval track. Nextel Cup Series No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet NUTS AND BOLTS a system would keep the race closer since Chase drivers would be rewarded for their finishes relative to one another instead of relative to the entire field. How can that be? On a fairly regular basis, NASCAR an nounces what would seem to be a contradiction in terms. Before the Pepsi 400, offi cials announced that two cars, the Dodges ?f Kasey Kahne and Michael" Waltrip, would start at the rear of the field for “making unapproved adjust ments after the impound.” How could unapproved ad justments possibly be made “after the impound”? Isn’t that the purpose of impounding the cars after qualifying? Was there some espionage opera tion in which mechanics from Kahne’s and Waltrip’s teams cut a hole in a fence or busted a window, and stealthily snuck SPORTS HN^+IE-SPGTfaIQHT" tv* - _ ' Special to NASCAR This Week Tony Stewart's win in the Pepsi 400 was his 26th career victory, leaving him tied with Fred Lorenzen for 21st place all-time. You could’ve driven a semi between me and him. He never tried to block or anything. I had such a big run that I just blew by all those guys and the next thing I knew, I was in second.” Stewart’s 26 th career victory left him tied with another star from the Mid west, Fred Lorenzen, for 21 st place all time. Lorenzen, who is from Elmhurst, 111., won his final race in 1967. The Daytona victory could hardly have come at a better time. It ended a string of five races in which Stewart had fallen from second to seventh in the points standings. Winning at Daytona moved Stewart back up to fifth, 299 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson. l€S ■ Race: USG Durock 300 ■ Where: Chicagoland Speedway (1.5 miles), 200 laps/300 miles. ■ When: Saturday. July 8 ■ Last year's winner. Kevin Harvick ■ Qualifying record: Ryan Newman. Dodge. 186.438 mph. July 9, 2005. ■ Race record: Kevin Har vick, Chevrolet, 130.340 mph. July 9, 2005. ■ Last week: Dale Earn hardt Jr., in a Chevrolet, dominated the Winn-Dix ie 250 at Daytona. into a darkened impound area with wrenches and flashlights? Well, no ... the cars are locked into garages, but before the race, teams can request permission to make specific changes, the penalty for which is starting at the rear of the field. Tough guy Despite the fact that it was 90 degrees, Vice President Dick Cheney wore a jacket when he ad dressed the crowd before the start of the race. He also ad dressed the drivers’ meeting. Cheney also made a point, af ter his public remarks, of back ing away from the microphone into a snug spot between Ken Schrader, whose Ford was sponsored in part by the Air Force, and Joe Nemechek, whose Chevrolet carried the colors of the Army. In the drivers’ meeting, Ch eney called the president of NASCAR “Big Mike” (Helton) and said he’d heard what goes in the Nextel Cup hauler “is some- »• CRAFTSMAN TRUCK-] ■ Race Built Ford Tough 225 ■ Where: Kentucky Speedway. Sparta, Ky. (1.5 miles), 150 laps/225 miles. ■ When: Saturday. July 8 ■ Last year's winner: Dennis Setzer ■ Qualifying record: Bill Lester. Toyota. 178.141 mph, July 9, 2005. ■ Race record: Mike Bliss. Chevrolet. 143.515 mph, July 13, 2002. ■ Last week Terry Cook, in a Ford, won the O'Reil ly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway. Stewart, from Columbus, Ind., actu ally celebrated with the fans. After climbing the Daytona flagstand, a Stewart signature after victories, he dove into a sea of fans before return ing to his car. “I don’t know why I do half the stu pid stuff I do," he said. “I felt good af ter the end of the race until I got stu pid and went up the flag stand again. “I’ll be honest. There was no way I was going to let those race fans down tonight because it (the celebration) started here, and this was the year af ter it all started, and I was either go ing to get all the way up, or I was go ing to fall off and fall on my butt.” times more exciting than what happens in the race itself.” Making hay David Gilliland, who became a sensa tion by winning a Busch Series race on June 17 at Kentucky Speedway, is still reaping the benefits. Even though he was n’t entered in the Winn-Dixie 250, Gilliland was on hand for a press conference put on by NASCAR officials so that jour nalists could “get to know David better.” “What’s that saying? ‘You’ve got to strike while the iron’s hot.’ I think it’s important for me to take advantage of the ex posure, but I also think we’ve found some good stuff as far as our team goes," said Gilliland. “We’re building our own mo tors, and we’ve got a good car we built from the ground up. I hope soon we can get a sponsor together so that I can run the full series next year.” Gililand’s next start is sched uled for Chicagoland Speedway on July 8. FRIDAY, JULY 7, 2006 ♦ - OHIGAGOtAND OATA USG Sheetrock 400 - July 9 Distance: 1.5 mile trioval Length of frontstretch: 2,400 ft Length of backstretch: 1,700 ft. Miles/Lap5:. .400.5 mi. - 267 laps Banking in triaval Jimmie Johnson vs. Bobby Labonte Near the end of the Pepsi 400, Johnson lost control and slid into Labonte, with his car pinning Labonte's against the wall. The inci dent cost Johnson most of his points lead and left him in 32nd place, his worst finish of the year. The crash was as costly for Labonte, who is trying to bring his new team, Petty Enterprises, up to speed. "The car was fast and good and every thing," said Labonte. “We were sit ting at the right place and, then, all that happened at the end, and it was very unfortunate.” NASCAR This Week's Monte Dutton gives his take: "Johnson had won the first two restrictor-plate races of the season, putting behind a reputation, among some of his peers, for recklessness in 'plate races.' It doesn't take much of a mistake for a crash to occur in the close, narrow quarters of Daytona.” '.... -voUR TURN ■ «*• 'Toyota has as much right to race in NASCAR as anyone I have been a NASCAR fan for about 15 years, and I would like to justify Toyota competing in Nextel Cup in 2007. Some fans feel that Toyota does not belong because they are a foreign manufacturer. Toyota produces ... vehicles ... in the USA. which I believe is a rule that is in the NASCAR rule book. The Tun dra is built in Indiana and will be built in Texas starting in 2007, and the Camry is built in Kentucky. These ve hicles are American-made. Toyota em ploys about 25,000 team members in North America and is still growing. I have read that some fans and teams are worried that Toyota will come in and spend hundreds of mil lions of dollars and buy a champi onship. I do not think this is possible in NASCAR with the rules that are in place. Nobody is complaining when Chevy wins the championship almost every year, or when Dodge wins a lot of poles. I am proud to be a team member at Toyota and am looking toward to seeing Toyota compete in Nextel Cup and watching them give the Big Three a run for the championship! D. Goebel Evansville, Ind. Thanks for letting us know how you feel. We've gotten dozens of letters on this issue and are happy to air an op posing view. Good idea ln the after math of Jeff Fuller’s spectacu lar Busch Series crash on June 17, Kentucky Speedway will in stall SAFER (Steel and Foam Energy Reduction) barriers across an interior section of its back straight. The new barrier is 56 feet long. Fuller suffered only a broken wrist and finger after crashing nearly head-on into a wall at the site of the planned installation during a Busch Series race. Ac cording to the speedway, Fuller hit a “rounded inside portion” of the concrete wall. Sorry, no tickets The Ford 400 isn’t until Nov. 19, but it’s already sold out. Homestead- Miami Speedway announced that all tickets for the Nextel Cup season finale have already been sold. Tickets remain for the final races in the Craftsman Truck Series (Nov. 17) and Busch Se ries (Nov. 18). m i Banking in j turns 14 m i\ Ag yi.i , Timu Vlr' V E R S U S v-rrx ill Labonte Johnson 3B