March 16, 2008
- Burton wins at Bristol: #31-Jeff Burton won the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway in the AT&T Chevy for his first win 2008 and 20th of his career in a green-white-checked finish. #29-Harvick finished 2nd and #07-Bowyer finished 3rd, for the first ever Richard Childress Racing 1-2-3 finish. #16-Biffle, finished 4th followed by #88-Earnhardt Jr., #11-Hamlin [who led with 2 laps to go but had a bad restart], #9-Kahne, #8-Almirola [his best career finish in seven starts], #38-Gilliland and #17-Kenseth. Points leader #18-Kyle Busch finished 17th. #44-Dale Jarrett in his final points race of his career, finished 37th, 10 laps down. There were 10 cautions for 86 laps and there were 17 lead changes among 8 drivers.
See race results, awards, laps led and more on my Bristol Race Results page.(3-16-2008) - The Unofficial Points Standings [after Bristol race 5 of 36]:
1) #18-Kyle Busch 782
2) #16-Greg Biffle 752 -30
3) #29-Kevin Harvick 749 -33
4) #31-Jeff Burton 745 -37
5) #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. 686 -96
6) #9-Kasey Kahne 674 -108
7) #20-Tony Stewart 656 -126
8) #12-Ryan Newman 635 -147
9) #07-Clint Bowyer 606 -176
10) #2-Kurt Busch 605 -177
11) #17-Matt Kenseth 604 -177
12) #1-Martin Truex Jr. 595 -187
other chase contenders
13) #48-Jimmie Johnson 581 -201
14) #24-Jeff Gordon 574 -208
15) #11-Denny Hamlin 568 -214
16) #99-Carl Edwards 548 -234
For the points standings, see my Drivers/Owners Points Standings page.(3-16-2008) - Top-35 in Owner Points and guaranteed a starting spot at Martinsville
2008 owners points now take effect for the next race and the rest of the season. The teams are NOT locked in past the next race at Martinsville as the owners points change after each race.
31) #96-Yeley/Hall of Fame Racing 386 +34
32) #70-Mayfield/Haas CNC Racing 374 +22
33) #5-Mears/Hendrick Motorsports 368 +16
34) #44-Reutimann/Waltrip Racing 367 +15
35) #77-Hornish/Penske Racing 356 4 points ahead of 36th
these teams/ drivers must qualify by speed:
36) #26-McMurray/Roush Racing 352 4 points out of 35th
37) #22-Blaney/Bill Davis 334 -22
38) #40-Franchitti/Ganassi Racing 319 -37
39) #01-Smith/Dale Earnhardt Inc 317 -39
40-) #45-Petty/Petty Racing 296 -60
For the owner points standings, see my Drivers/Owners Points Standings page.(3-16-2008) - Bristol Motor Speedway – Fast Facts
.. Jeff Burton won the Food City 500, his 20th victory in 480 Sprint Cup Series races.
.. This is his first victory and third top-10 finish in 2008.
.. This is his first victory and 12th top-10 finish in 29 races at Bristol Motor Speedway.
.. Kevin Harvick (second) posted his 10th top-10 finish in 15 races at Bristol.
.. Clint Bowyer (third) posted his third top-10 finish in five races at Bristol.
.. This is the first-ever 1-2-3 finish for Richard Childress Racing.
.. Regan Smith (26th) was the highest finishing rookie.
(NASCAR Statistics)(3-16-2008) - GWC factoid: There have been 24 green-white-checkered [GWC] finishes in Sprint Cup history, and only six times has the leader lost the lead on those final two laps.
#01-Mark Martin led in the 2007 Daytona 500, #29-Kevin Harvick passed him as a huge wreck took place behind them and beat Martin to the line by 2/1000th’s of a second.
#17-Matt Kenseth led 146 laps at Las Vegas in 2006, #48-Jimmie Johnson passed him at the line and won by 1/2 a car length, only leading 1 lap to win.
#17-Matt Kenseth led at Talladega in Oct 2005, Dale Jarrett passed
#16-Greg Biffle won at Darlington after #12-Ryan Newman led heading into the green-white-checkered in May 2005
Biffle won the final race of 2004 when #20-Tony Stewart had fuel problems at Homestead.
#11-Denny Hamlin led with 2 to go, had a slow restart, #31-Jeff Burton passed him and won at Bristol, March 2008
(3-16-2008) - Jarrett fan’s odyssey on its final leg in Bristol: Last fall when Dale Jarrett announced his plan to retire from Sprint Cup Series competition after the first five races of the 2008 season, Cathy Tanner decided she had to see her man wheel it one last time. Or five. Tanner, a fan of Jarrett’s for more than a decade, took a seven-week leave of absence in February from her position as an elementary school teacher’s aid and hit the road. From her Florence, Ala., home to Daytona Beach, Fla., to Fontana, Calif., to Las Vegas, Nev., to Hampton, Ga., to Bristol, Tenn. Just her and her gray tabby cat, Baby, in a 27-foot RV. She’ll head back to Florence following Sunday’s Food City 500. “The next time somebody tells us they’re a DJ fan we’ll have to call BS on them,” laughed Jarrett’s son, Jason. “We know who the biggest one is now.”
“It’s just something I wanted to do — to see (Jarrett) race these final races,” said Tanner, via phone from a perch in the Bristol Motor Speedway grandstand, Cup cars blaring by in the background. “And I didn’t want to go by myself so I had to bring my cat with me.” She returns to school Friday. Tanner was introduced to NASCAR years ago when her daughter chose the sport as the topic for a high school term paper. They’d go to the library together and read about the sport, and watch races with Cathy’s father on Sunday afternoons. She cheered for Jarrett and Terry Labonte, but Jarrett ultimately won her devotion. “I went with Dale because we have the same birthday,” Tanner said. “I always thought that was sort of strange.” Tanner is uncertain how much she’s spent on the trek, or how many miles she’s driven (MapQuest says 6,065). She fills the RV up twice a day on the road. She used a portion of her inheritance from her father’s death to pay for the trip. NASCAR Sundays afforded father and daughter a special bond, so she felt he’d approve.(see full story by Marty Smith at ESPN.com, Thanks to Nancy Osterhoudt for the info for this article, Nancy runs my Truck Series site)(3-16-2008) - 2nd Darlington tire test scheduled…no Toyota..again: Goodyear is going back to Darlington Raceway for another test on the newly paved surface, and once again a Toyota won’t be involved. #16-Greg Biffle (Ford), #24-Jeff Gordon (Chevrolet) and #12-Ryan Newman (Dodge) will all return to Darlington in two weeks to help Goodyear find a suitable tire for when the series races there in May. Speeds inched toward 200 mph during the two-day test earlier this week, and Goodyear must find a tire capable of withstanding the speeds. Toyota officials were irked they were the only manufacturer not included in the initial test, and they grew angrier when they learned of the second session. But Goodyear officials said the participants are on a rotation, one manufacturer is always left out of the testing and having four teams at a session is overkill for the engineers. “We really don’t need four cars to get the work done that we need to get done,” said Greg Stucker, director of race tire sales. “We’re going to go to Indianapolis in a few weeks, there will be a Toyota there and there won’t be a Ford there. That’s the way that it plays out. We’re going to try to spread the work out among the teams that give us the best results.” Brian Vickers is expected to represent Toyota in Indianapolis. But inclusion there did little to satisfy the Toyota camp, which feels the other three makes will be ahead of its teams because of data it gathers during the test. And, because the surface has been repaved, the other teams have a baseline for setups that Toyota will not have when it arrives in Darlington for the race. Toyota officials declined to comment on the exclusion.(Associated Press)(3-16-2008)
- What happened to NASCAR’s ethanol program? from a Tom Jensen column…. Great question. I [Jensen] spoke with NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp late Friday afternoon at Bristol Motor Speedway and he said NASCAR is deep into alternative-fuel research at its R&D center in Concord, N.C. But making the change requires an awful lot of input from teams, fuel suppliers, engine builders, etc., and NASCAR tries not to rush into these things. I think within the next couple of years, there will be some alternative fuel in NASCAR, but it’s not ready yet.(SPEEDtv.com)(3-16-2008)
- Wypall Wipers Increases Stakes at Bristol: Wypall Wipers is going to make a certain pit crew extremely happy as well as treat a special young man to a once-in-a-lifetime experience this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. In addition to the $1,000 which goes to the Wypall Wipers “Crew Chief of the Race,” for Sunday’s Food City 500, a bonus of $1,000 will be awarded to the winning pit crew for their efforts. While they celebrate in Victory Lane with the extra cash, fifth grader Michael Castro will have already lived an unforgettable day. Castro, a student at Stonewall Jackson Elementary in Bristol, VA., is Wypall Wipers “Crew Chief of the Classroom.” A member of the Bristol Boys and Girls Club, the youngster will be an honorary “Crew Chief for a day,” and will shadow Todd Berrier, crew chief of the #29 Shell Pennzoil Chevy, before the race. The Wypall Wipers “Crew Chief of the Race” is a part of the Wypall Wipers “Crew Chief Challenge,” a season-long contest that will determine the best crew chiefs in the Sprint Cup Series garage. Go to Wypall.com to find out more about Wypall Wipers.(Wypall PR)(3-16-2008)
- The King Hands Over Keys of ‘Cat Chopper’: Jeff Green [not the NASCAR driver] compared his winning bid on the customized Cat Chopper motorcycle to enjoying a dish of Neapolitan ice cream. “I got the Cat Chopper, I met a true racing legend, Richard Petty, and I got to help a worthy cause like Victory Junction Gang,” said Green, a resident of Peoria, Ill. The winning bid was $100,000. Petty handed Green the keys to the Cat Chopper during a Caterpillar Inc. customer event at Caesar’s Palace. The event was part of ConExpo-Con/Agg, one of the largest construction trade shows in the world. Green, whose family owns 11 vehicle dealerships in Illinois, plans to exhibit the Cat Chopper at Green Chevrolet Hummer and Finish Line Ford, both in Peoria, and at various community events. The Cat Chopper was constructed for Caterpillar in 2005 during two episodes of cable TV’s American Chopper. The 150-horsepower, six-speed show bike toured 32 states and up into Canada before Caterpillar donated it to Victory Junction Gang last May. In February, Victory Junction Gang auctioned the Cat Chopper on eBay. All proceeds are going to the organization’s 72-acre camp in North Carolina. The camp, founded by the Petty family, caters to children with chronic medical conditions and serious illnesses. The Cat Chopper was constructed by Orange County Choppers (OCC) in New York and customized to reflect Caterpillar and its industry, including the signature yellow color, a bulldozer-like exhaust pipe and bolted front and rear wheels.(MCG Sports PR)(3-16-2008)
- There will be a competition caution on lap 50 of the Food City 500 today at Bristol Motor Speedway. With heavy rains overnight washing the rubber off the 0.533-concrete oval, NASCAR officials announced the addition of the competition caution so teams can check tire wear. Teams were told during the pre-race drivers meeting that they would not be allowed to add fuel prior to the competition caution. No rain is expected during the race, which is scheduled to get the green flag at 2:14pm/et.(SceneDaily.com)(3-16-2008)
- James Otto, Muzik Mafia Ride with Harmon in Pepsi 300: NASCAR and country music fans have always enjoyed a special bond. Mike Harmon and the Elite 2 Racing Team will continue that relationship at the Nashville Superspeedway for the Pepsi 300. James Otto will be displayed on the hood and Muzik Mafia on the television panel of Harmon’s #84 Chevy for the 300-mile event.(Elite 2 Racing PR)(3-16-2008)
- lood, Sweat & Tears 40th Anniversary Tour prerace concert at Kentucky: The Blood, Sweat & Tears 40th Anniversary Tour will make a Kentucky Speedway stop July 19 to set the stage for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series “Built Ford Tough 225 Presented by the Greater Cincinnati Ford Dealers. While traversing the world, the band has generated album sales in the millions and a Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Vocalist Rob Paparozzi, will join bassist Gary Foote, trumpeters Steve Janikowski and Teddy Mullet, keyboardist Glenn McClelland, drummer Andrea Valenti and trombonist Jens Wendelboe to perform favorites such as “Spinning Wheel,” “And When I Die,” “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy,” “More and More,” “God Bless the Child” and many more.(Kentucky Speedway PR)(3-16-2008)
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