PAST NEWS JUNE 21-27, 1999
(6-27-1999)
- #25 Sponsor news UPDATE: Ever Since DEI announced that Budweiser would sponsor Dale Earnhardt, Jr in the #8 Chevy, Hendrick Motorsports has been in the process of searching for a replacement sponsor for the #25 Chevrolet. According to General Manager John Hendrick, the team should have an answer in the near future as it is close to signing a three year deal and expect to announce it in a few weeks(SpeedVision), I hear it's some building/contruction company, but that's all I know, also Food Lion was a rumored sponsor, but I hear that was incorrect(6-26-1999) -- UPDATE: This weeks Speedway Scene reports that Yamaha or Burger King are the possible sponsors with Yamaha being preferred with Dallenbach back driving(Speedway Scene) -- I hear the new sponsor for the #25 car is Yamaha and Wally Dallenbach will remain as driver(6-27-1999)
- Labonte Rumors, Terry that is: getting many rumors that Terry Labonte and Kelloggs would leave Hendrick after the 1999 season and move to Yates in the #28. But a story in this weeks Winston Cup Scene dispells that rumor as well as an article on SpeedVision: Hendrick striving to improve team infrastructure by Lee Spencer. It says in part - Both Wally Dallenbach and Terry Labonte have been linked with potential deals. But Hendrick feels the best way to dispel the accusations is to improve the infrastructure. John Hendrick said. "I went straight to Terry and I said, 'Hey, is there anything going on and what can we do to help you?' And he told me he's perfectly happy at Hendrick Motorsports and plans to retire here. I know he's a man of his word, so we're glad to hear that because Terry's a class act and an asset to Winston Cup." The team also added some extra help(6-26-1999)
- Rudd/Ganassi?? A few weeks ago I reported on the possibility of CART team owner Chip Ganassi buying or buying into Ricky Rudd's #10 team. All reports were that this was false. Well, today on TNN's Raceday, it was reported that Tide should announce their 2000 sponsorship plans within the next week, and whatever that decision is will decide Rudd's plans for his team, whether to sell it, bring in a partner, merge with an existing team or start a 2nd team. It was also noted that Ganassi was a possible buyer(Raceday) For past news see my #10 Past News/Rumors/Links page(6-27-1999)
- Four in a row: Jeff Gordon is the first Winston Cup driver(in the Modern Era 72-present) ever to win four road course races in a row(6-27-1999)
- Spencer: #23-Jimmy Spencer had his first top 10 of the 1999 season and first top 5 the 1998 Winston 500 at Talladega last October(6-27-1999)
- Only Four: Only four drivers have won both NASCAR Winston Cup races at Daytona in the same year: Fireball Roberts (1962), Cale Yarborough (1968), LeeRoy Yarborough (1969) and Bobby Allison (1982)(DaytonaUSA)(6-27-1999)
(6-26-1999)
- Petree News UPDATE: Sources tell me Oakwood Homes will move up to Winston Cup to sponsor Schrader in 2000(#52?)(6-19-1999) -- UPDATE: Andy Petree will announce his plans for next year during the Pepsi 400 at Daytona. Petree has not heard whether Skoal, the sponsor on the #33 APR Chevrolet will be back in 2000. Should they return, it is possible that Petree would move Ken Schrader into a different car with the Oakwood Homes sponsorship and bring in a new driver for the #33 car(SpeedVision and That's Racin'(6-26-1999)
- Roush Problems? Roush Racing president Geoff Smith touched off a vintage garage-area vendetta by making remarks critical of James Ince, one-time crew chief for Roush driver Kevin Lepage. Ince, now working on the #45 with Rich Bickle, issued a press release Friday that took what had seemed like a fairly routine USA Today feature and raised the tension level to DEF-CON 4. In a June 23 story, Smith said that Ince was let go because he deviated from the organizational norm. Ince fired back by saying he was not going to be the scapegoat for Lepage's poor performance. "I have always believed in living and dying by the sword, but I never dreamed they would wait until I had my back turned to pull the knife," Ince said. "That is what I feel like has happened here. "I'm not sure Geoff Smith has been to Liberty in the past two years," continued Ince. "Geoff is entitled to his opinion, but when I was at Roush I answered to Jack Roush and I never heard any of these concerns from him, and to this day I have heard nothing but praise from Jack about the work I did for him and his race teams." An immediate news blackout fell over Team Roush, although one of its operatives did visit the press box to pick up a copy of Ince's remarks(SpeedNet/Monte Dutton), see the USA Today story at: Roush Racing not satisfied. Also see another story on the topic at That's Racin' - Ince fires back at Roush Racing president(6-26-1999)
- Tethers: The cable restraint system to tether the front wheels of Winston Cup cars will become mandatory beginning with Sunday's race at Sears Point, said NASCAR spokesman Tim Sullivan. The use of the device was added to the NASCAR rulebook this week. NASCAR has asked teams to voluntarily use the devices since the Winston all-star race early last month(That's Racin')(6-26-1999)
- $800 Worth It: When Tony Stewart took a road-racing course at the Bob Bondurant school at Sears Point, everything went well until the final five minutes, when Stewart put one of the 'school cars' into a concrete wall.
As a result, Stewart had to put an $800 charge on boss Joe Gibbs' Visa card. "When the bill came in, Joe told me he didn't have any idea it cost that much to go to a road-racing school, so I finally had to 'fess up to sticking the school car in the fence," Stewart said(SpeedNet/Monte Dutton)(6-26-1999)
(6-25-1999)
- Action/goRacing: Action Performance plans on completing an Initial Public Offering for goracing.com, making it the first Nascar-related website to go public, see press release at: Stock Car Stocks Site(6-25-1999)
- Speedwords Rumors: Speedwords is hearing that at least two drivers are offering their services to other car owners in a deal that includes their own crew chiefs. At first this sounded a bit weird, but it makes sense. With all the talk about chemistry and such hiring a driver complete with a crew chief they already know and trust sounds like a good deal. It often happens anyway shortly after the driver is hired so this move would just be ahead of the curve a little....AND....Hearing that Jimmy Spencer could be in a different car (GM?)
within two weeks(Speedwords)(6-25-1999)
(6-24-1999)
- Roush Contracts: In part from a USA Today story: Johnny Benson and Chad Little are well into the second year of their three-year contracts with Roush Racing and the contractual option for releasing either driver a year early expired a few weeks ago, meaning both will maintain their rides at least through this time next season. See complete story by Skip Wood at Roush Racing not satisfied(6-24-1999)
- The Pits: thought this was interesting - Most NASCAR Winston Cup teams practice pit stops each week, some as much as twice a day. Melling Racing is no exception, but some of the crew members, led by team manager Jeff Buice, put in a little extra time before each race. Tire changers Steven Berry, 31; Kurt Binkley, 33; and Jason Pulver, 21, have a standard wheel hub mounted to the back of the "war wagon" -- the tool cart used by the team on pit road during the race. Before the green flag flies, the three crew members take turns with their air wrenches, tightening and loosening lug nuts dozens of times(Cotter Group)(6-24-1999)
- #2 Crewman: Bob Tracey, gas man/transport driver for Rusty Wallace, was recovering after he was injured on pit road at Dover. He broke two bones and had two chips in his left foot and was fitted in a full plaster cast. He's also undergoing hernia surgery which he had been delaying(SpeedNet)(6-24-1999)
- #26 Showcar Stolen: Roush Racing had one of its show cars and show car rigs stolen in Staten Island, N.Y., on Tuesday. The ensemble, which went missing around 11 p.m. ET, consists of a Ford F-350 dualie pickup truck, a 24-foot enclosed trailer and a #26 Cheerios Ford Taurus show car. The truck, trailer and show car were stolen from the Staten Island Inn parking lot. Anyone with information can contact the Staten Island Police Department at (718) 876-8500(NOL Notes)(6-24-1999)
(6-23-1999)
- DW Announcement: look for Darrell Waltrip to announce that the 2000 season will be his final one. The announcement will take place in Indy at the Brickyard 400 on Aug 4th. Calling it Calling it "DW's Victory Tour 2000" will supposedly have merchandise for the announcement and the Brickyard 400 weekend, then put it away until January 2000(6-23-1999)
- Gordon Contract: in the goRacing chat with Jeff Gordon, someone asked about Gordon's contract status. Gordon's contract comes up at the end of the year 2000. No decisions have to be made until next June(2000). He would negotiation with owner Rick Hendrick first, and then he would go to the sponsors. Gordon also said: "If it was up to me, I'd like to drive a car for Rick Hendrick forever."(6-23-1999)
- Gilliland to run: Butch Gilliland will take his #38 Ralphs/Food 4 Less/Coca-Cola sponsored Ford Taurus to the Sears Point Cup event, in hopes of qualifying for his first Winston Cup race of the season. Earlier in the season the team planned to qualify for the Fontana Cup race, but encountered bad luck when rain cancelled qualifying and the starting grid was set by points. Gilliland has won 2 of the last 3 Winston West races at the track, sat on the pole twice and was leading the last race until he was knocked out by a competitor with only 4 laps remaining in the race, and was unable to return due to the damage to his car. Gilliland also ran the Cup race last year for injured driver Lake Speed in the Melling owned #9 Cartoon Network car(www.butchgilliland.com)(6-23-1999)
- #75 UPDATE 2 SOLD? Butch Mock has said he is planning a significant reorganization of his #75 Cup operation and could have something to announce in the next few days(PitNow Notes), new sponsor? new partner? selling out?(6-19-1999) -- UPDATE: from same story - Conrad Ordt(#40 team but isn't the name Darwin Oordt), a little-known businessman who is one of the new figures on NASCAR's Busch tour, is now interested in buying a Winston Cup team, according to sources familiar with the situation. There is speculation he may have his eye on Butch Mock's team(PitNow)(6-20-1999) -- UPDATE Mock Sold? Hearing that the #75 Butch Mock team has been sold, but that's all I have heard(6-23-1999)
- Polaris Switch? Hearing that Polaris will leave the #75 Cup Butch Mock(?) owned Ford and driver Ted Musgrave at the end of the year. Supposedly Polaris is forming some kind of co-operative marketing deal with DeWalt Tools and will be moving to the #17 Ford sponsored by DeWalt and the #22 Caterpillar Pontiac of Ward Burton(6-23-1999)
- Marcis Miffed and no to retirement: "My body's still sore, and I'm still a little upset with Brett Bodine," Marcis said Tuesday. "(Bodine) did the same thing to his brother a couple of years ago at Indy. He just flat spun me out Sunday going into the tunnel turn at Pocono". Marcis asked Kevin Triplett to review the film of the accident. He said they would. Marcis said his rib cage was sore, his hips were black and blue and he still had a mild headache from Sunday's wreck, which did considerable damage to his #71 Chevrolet. Since he's still not fully recovered, Marcis has decided to let West Coast driver R.K. Smith drive his car this weekend at Sears Point to gain owners points. Smith, 61, who has lived in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., since 1973, won the SCCA World Challenge Championship driving a Corvette in 1990 and 1992. He competed in the 24 Hours of Daytona this season and will also compete in Saturday's Southwest Tour race in a Monte Carlo at Sears Point. Marcis also said Tuesday he has no plans to retire from Winston Cup racing, though rumors to the contrary have been circulating the garage area for weeks(That's Racin')(6-23-1999)
- #91 News: LJ Racing will have the #91 car at Daytona next week, but they were not sure who the driver would be. No, they haven't replaced the driver, Dick Trickle has a BGN commitment at the Milwaukee Mile next week, and won't be able to make the Daytona race. Several names were mentioned as potential drivers, but no decision has been made yet but Andy Hillenburg may be the leading candidate(Victory Lane Online)(6-23-1999)
- Nice: Chuck Trickle, father of the late Chris Trickle and brother of stock car veteran Dick Trickle, celebrated his 55th birthday and Father's Day with the first victory of his career Saturday night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway's 3/8-mile paved oval. See rest of story at NOL(6-23-1999)
- Sad News: Marion Rider, the mother of Bahari' Racing owner Chuck Rider(#30), died this morning after a lengthy illness. She was 85 and resided in Dillsburg, Pa(Bahari PR)(6-23-1999)
- Daytona Test UPDATE 3: next Tuesday and Wednesday, June 22nd and 23rd with Elliott Sadler, Roush Racing using driver Matt Kenseth, and Buckshot Jones are scheduled to participate in that test, which will include night-time running on both days(NOL)(6-16-1999) -- UPDATE: The Wood Brothers along with #21 driver Elliott Sadler have postponed their Daytona test due to bad weather predictions(NOL)(6-18-1999) -- UPDATE 2: I now here that the #21 will be at the test(6-22-1999) -- UPDATE 3: Rookies Elliott Sadler(#21) and Roy "Buckshot" Jones(#00) tested Tuesday at Daytona under the lights in hopes of gaining some insight to help them better qualify next week for the Pepsi 400. Busch Series driver Matt Kenseth also tested to check equipment for Roush(SpeedNet)(6-23-1999)
(6-22-1999)
- Craven News: Ricky Craven received two Winston Cup offers on Monday but he is going to deliberate carefully before agreeing to a deal, according to his close friend and confidant Stan Meserve. Meserve wouldn't divulge the names of the teams but said they are established Winston Cup teams on the NASCAR circuit. In the meantime, Meserve has gone to work building race cars for Craven's BGN team(Bangor Daily News)(6-22-1999)
- Different Drivers: Some different drivers will be at Sears point attempting to make the Cup race there. From the NOL Entry List: Boris Said #14 Federated Auto Parts Ford; Tom Hubert, #19 Bradford White Pontiac; Butch Gilliland, #38 Ralphs/Food 4 Less/Coca-Cola Ford; David Murry, #61 Midway Island Ford; Austin Cameron, #89 Mareon Products-Creative Touch Int. Chevy; Steve Portenga, #96 Golden Gate Meat Co. Pontiac; and Mike Borkowski, #09 AT&T Pontiac(NOL)(6-22-1999)
- No #91: The #91 Joe Falk/LJ RAcing Chevy will not make the trip to the West Coast(Times-Dispatch). Driver Dick Trickle will be driving in the BGN Watkins Glen event Sunday(6-22-1999)
- Marcis Injured UPDATE 3: Dave Marcis was taken to a local hospital by ambulance after hitting the wall hard midway in the race. He walked from the car but was woozy. His Team Manager said he had some cuts and chest pain. No further info known at 5:30pm/et - UPDATE: Dave Marcis was taken to a hospital after spinning out in turn 2 and hitting the wall. His helmet hit the driver's side netting just as the left side of car smashed into the wall. Marcis sustained a laceration to his chin, and bruises to his neck, chest and right ankle. He was taken to Penn State-Geisinger Wyoming Valley Hospital for observation and released(Infobeat/AP)(6-20-1999) -- UPDATE 2: From NOL - Dave Marcis was resting comfortably at home Monday morning following a brutal accident in Sunday's Pocono 500 at Pocono. A team spokesman said Marcis' participation in this weekend's Save Mart/Kragen 350 at Sears
Point Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., was "questionable," but that it would be reevaluated on a day-to-day basis(NOL), GET WELL DAVE(6-21-1999) -- UPDATE 3: RPM2Nite reports that the team has talked to Winton West driver R.K. Smith to possibly drive the #71 RealTree chevy at Sears Point if Marcis does not feel up to it(6-22-1999)
- #90 at Sears Point UPDATE: Eric Comas, the former Formula One driver will try to qualify a Junie Donlavey #90 Ford at Sears Point. Comas is a Nissan factory sedan driver, and Nissan engineers are expected to be at Sears Point to check things out(PitNow)(6-14-1999) -- UPDATE: It looks like Junie Donlavey will not take his #90 Ford team to Sears Point. Donlavey has been talking with another car owner about putting his #90 on another car that tries to qualify for the race. The owner bought a Butch Mock car and Donlavey's team had everything ready, but now it looks as though the team is not going. Originally, Donlavey had talked about joining a one-race deal that would put a F-1 driver in for the event, but that plan fell through late last week. NASCAR -- which owns all numbers -- has rules about putting a number on a car not belonging to that team but does allow the transfer under certain circumstances(Times-Dispatch)(6-22-1999)
- Irvan-Simo SP: Boris Said will attempt to make the field for the June 27th race at Sears Point #14 Federated Auto Parts Ford owned by Irvan-Simo Motorsports(RPM2Nite)(6-22-1999)
- E-A-G-L-E-S: Members of the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles(Jayski's favorite team, insert joke here) were in the garage this weekend filming driver endorsements. Four Jack Roush drivers -- Jeff Burton, Kevin Lepage, Chad Little and Johnny Benson -- filmed the promotions. They will run on the Eagles' JumboTron before games this fall(I'll make 4 games so I'll check them out)(Times-Dispatch)(6-22-1999)
- DW BGN ride: Remember those DW BGN rumors a while back, well I am hearing that DW will drive the #48 Champion Potato Co Ford at Charlotte in October in a one race deal. His brother Michael is supposedly listed as the owner(6-21-1999)
(6-21-1999)
- Bud Moore deal? UPDATE: whatever happened to the #15 Bud Moore/AMVETs deal? No idea(6-20-1999) -- UPDATE: Looks like it's still on, I hear the deal is still being finalized. Moore is going to the AMVETS National conference or meeting in early/mid July, where supposedly they are bringing a show car to display. Supposedly the deal would be to run the final 5 races this year with 2 full seasons in the deal begining next year. No word on a driver yet(6-21-1999)
- and moore: "The Bud Moore Engineering #15 Winston Cup team is very close to forging their deal with AMVETS and is looking for the help of loyal NASCAR fans. Asking that fans contact the AMVETS at their national headquarters in Lanham, Maryland by calling at 301-459-9600, faxing them at 301-459-7924, emailing them at amvets@amvets.org or writimg them at Amvets National Headquarters, 4647 Forbes Blvd, Lanham MD 20706-4380"(Moore PR-(doh not Melling))(6-21-1999)
- Sponsors: Two new sponsors hoping to get into Winston Cup racing are Freightliner and Sea-Land, according to NASCAR sponsor seekers(??). The two companies could be on Larry McClure's(Morgan-McClure #4) proposed second team(PitNow)(6-21-1999)
- DNF's: #22-Ward Burton suffered his first DNF of the season. Only four teams are left that have started all 15 races and have no DNF's: #18-Labonte, #20-Stewart, #33-Schrader; and #98-Mast. The #75-Musgrave has no DNF's but did miss one race. #60-Geoffrey Bodine leads with 6 DNF's in 15 races. See my DNF-Did Not Finish Page for the run down of each race and how many each team has(6-21-1999)
- Bill Davis BGN: Bill Davis is looking for a driver for his Busch team for next year since Dave Blaney plans to move up to the Winston Cup tour. One man on his list, according to sources close to the situation, has been Jason Lefler, who is also on Joe Gibbs' short list(PitNow)(6-21-1999)
- TV Cash? NASCAR executives are planning to change the way they divide up television revenues, with an eye to the hoped-for increase in TV money. According to several sources in a position to know, NASCAR is considering giving each car owner a lump sum TV money package at the beginning of the season, say $3 million a team. Currently television money is doled out race by race. The kicker: not every team would get the money. Only two teams per car owner would get new TV money(PitNow) - Jayski Note: If this happens I am sure there will some criteria to make a team eligible for the money(6-21-1999)