March 17, 2003
- Why no points for Brett Bodine? been asked why Brett Bodine got no drivers points for the race at Darlignton and the #57 Team CLR team go no owners points – they were classified by NASCAR as being ‘Post Entry’ [PE]. What does that mean? what it means is that a driver/owner is not eligible for any points as the race entry blank was received after the deadline which is normally 13 days before the race date.(3-17-2003)
- Skinner safe in the #4: despite rumors floating around, NASCAR.com reports that after #4-Mike Skinner’s 11th place run at Darling, team owner Larry McClure was able to put to rest rumors that circulated in the Darlington garage that Skinner was on his way out as driver of the #4 Kodak Pontiac. “We’re not looking at anybody else,” McClure said. “I’ve heard everybody questioning this, that and everything else. Look, every week that goes by I question what I do and what everybody else here has done. If you don’t win, you’d better do that.” Skinner ended 2002, his first season with MMM, 31st in points with a single top-10 finish. But McClure shuffled the deck by bringing in veteran mechanic Tony Furr as competition director and switching manufacturers, to Pontiac. “We’ve been behind and trying to catch up,” McClure said. “Mike’s a good race car driver and he can help us get there. Everybody’s just got to be focused. I’m not out here looking for another race car driver. Tony Furr came over here and we only had about three or four cars started and he’s made an impact. We’re going to keep going. I think everything’s going good. As far as saying that Mike’s not going to be here — I’m not going to say that. All I’m saying is we’ve got to perform. Let me tell you how this deal works,” McClure said. “Everybody that works on that race car is in jeopardy because we’ve got to perform. Whatever opportunity is in front of us, we’ve got to perform. Well, we got an 11th place finish, but we all knew we were capable of better.(NASCAR.com)(3-17-2003)
- Darlington TV Ratings: Fox’s broadcast of yesterday’s Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 Winston Cup race at Darlington Raceway was the weekend’s top sports draw on television, today’s Sports Business Dailyreports. The Daily says overnight Nielsen figures show the race with a 5.5 rating and a 13 share, well ahead of the 5.0/9 that CBS drew for the second-highest rated sports show, its coverage of the NCAA basketball tournament selections. Final figures from last year showed the race with a 5.8/14 on Fox, which was down from a 6.1/15 in 2001.(Winston Cup Scene Daily Newsletter)(3-17-2003)
- Trio of drivers a focus in reality TV effort: Cable network FX has trimmed its list of likely participants in a NASCAR reality-based TV show to three drivers and their teams – rookie Jamie McMurray, third-year driver Kevin Harvick and veteran Rusty Wallace, ThatsRacin.com has learned. Although contracts have yet to be finalized, FX officials plan to begin taping during the March 29 Winston Cup race weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. The TV show will air for seven weeks beginning in June on Friday nights on FX. Taping is to continue through the May race weeks at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, sources said. The show will allow FX to maintain a NASCAR presence in its programming while rivals NBC and TNT broadcast the second half of the Winston Cup season.(ThatsRacin.com)(3-17-2003)
- Texas Testing this week and an announcement: on Wednesday, March 19th, there will be a special announcement regarding the upcoming Samsung/RadioShack 500 and O’Reilly 300 at Texas Motor Speedway. Teams have also scheduled final test sessions in preparation for Texas race week. Teams are scheduled for testing Monday-Wednesday, March 17-19. Drivers scheduled are as follows:
Monday, March 17 – Busch Series:. Stanton Barrett. Tuesday and Wednesday, March 18 and 19:
Winston Cup Drivers: #2-Rusty Wallace, #5-Terry Labonte, #29-Kevin Harvick, #30-Jeff Green, #83-Kerry Earnhardt, #88-Dale Jarrett, #75?-David Starr.
Busch Series Drivers: Troy Cline, Mike Wallace, Stanton Barrett, Kevin Grubb, Lance Norick.(TMS PR)(3-17-2003) - Special Paint for Labonte at Bristol: The Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on March 23 will feature the first special car design of the season for Kellogg’s / got milk? Racing. Terry Labonte’s #5 Chevy will highlight the Cheez-It brand and will sport a primarily red-and-orange paint scheme rather than the customary orange and blue.(Hendrick Motorsports PR), see my Paint Scheme Gallery for images.(3-17-2003)
- NASCAR’s Go-to Guys: NASCAR regularly called the late Dale Earnhardt over the radio during races and asked him to relay track information to the tower. So who are the go-to guys now? Rusty Wallace leads the pack, but Jeff Gordon, Jeff Burton and Dale Jarrett also are tuned into NASCAR’s “secret” frequency.(Sporting News)(3-17-2003)
- Rumblings – Darlington: The win was Pontiac’s first of the season, and was worth $173,150 for Ricky Craven from the over $3.8M in posted awards. This victory also guarantees him a start in The Winston in May at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, and moves him into a tie for 86th on the all-time win list. Kurt Busch gave it all he had, but had to settle for the brides maid’s spotagain. He’s had three runner-up finishes in the five events this season. Dave Blaney (3rd) had his career-best finish today. His previous best had been 6th, which he’d accomplished three times, the last being at Homestead last November. Greg Biffle (12th) had his career-best finish today. His previous best was 13th, which he’d done twice including last week at Atlanta. Ken Schrader (17th) had his best finish since he was 13th at Loudon last September. Brett Bodine (31st) had his best finish since he was 26th at Lowe’s Motor Speedway last October.
STREAKIN….Matt Kenseth has 4 Top-10’s in a row. Tony Stewart has 4 Top-10’s in the last 5 races.
This Week’s Elevator…UP: Ricky Craven (+30) runs the table and nabs the Operator of the Week award. He was followed by Joe Nemechek (+25), Ricky Rudd (+24), and Mark Martin (+23). DOWN: The Big Dropper was Todd Bodine (-33), followed by Jerry Nadeau (-32), Sterling Marlin (-31), Jeff Gordon (-28), and Ward Burton (-22).(StockCarFans.Com)(3-17-2003) - WOW another wild finish: #92-Todd Bodine and #1-Jamie McMurray beat and banged to the end, both crossing the stripe sideways, McMurray ended up in the inside wall stopped, Bodine recovered and drove away and to Victory Lane. The unofficial top ten finishers:#92-Todd Bodine (how can this team NOT have a sponsor?)
#1-Jamie McMurray
#10-Scott Riggs
#59-Stacy Compton
#21-Johnny Sauter#27-Hank Parker Jr (no ride? how?)
#5-Brian Vickers
#38-Kasey Kahne
#2-Ron Hornaday Jr
#57-Jason KellerCars on the lead lap: 13 of 42
Did Not Finish: #99-Waltrip (accident); #44-Harmon (accident); #61-Ashburn; #52-Potter; #39-White; #72-MacDonald(engine); #84-Weber; #16-Gunselman (accident); #87-Nemechek(engine); #20-Bliss(accident); #56-Tim Sauter; #12-Earnhardt(off); #54-Sadler;
Lap Leaders: #60-Barrett; #23-Wimmer; #21-Sauter; #92-Bodine; #10-Riggs; #5-Vickers; #59-Compton;Cautions: 4 for 19 laps
Caution 4: Lap 61-67: #56-Tim Sauter into the inside wall on the front stretch after breaking loose, slapping the outside wall, then coming across the track, he had cut down a tire.
Caution 3: Lap 43-47: #20-Bliss into the wall on the restart after making contact with #1-McMurray.
Caution 2: Lap 38-42: #44-Harmon and #22-Smith got into each other when Harmon drifted up, Harmon went head first into the wall, but is ok.
Caution 1: Lap 31-34: #99-Waltrip got into the wall after cutting a tire down, #12-Earnhardt couldn’t check up and hit Waltrip in the rear, spinning Waltrip around, #37-Green and #16-Gunselman also were involved.
NOTES: Green flag stops occurred around lap 123-125 range. Around lap 80, after coming back on the track, #12-Earnhardt cut down a tire, wacked the wall and broght the car back to the garage. On lap 50ish, #23-Wimmer pancaked the right side of the car.
Results: see ThatsRacin.com, BGN Racing, NASCAR.com or FoxSports or MotorSportsOne for results.(3-17-2003) - Auctions for sponsors: With sponsorship dollars getter scarce, NASCAR Busch and Winston Cup driver Kevin Lepage has placed his Matrix Motorsports operation on the auction block, but not to sell equipment. Lepage is seeking sponsorship money to restart his NASCAR Busch team and to field cars in the premier Winston Cup series at selected venues. Lepage, a veteran of over 315 NASCAR races with an excellent driving record and competitive finishes, has had trouble landing a sponsor and sat out the entire 2002 season as a driver/owner. He did drive for Brewco Motorsports as a substitute driver for a good portion of 2002 filling in for injured Jeff Purvis. A recent limited-race sponsor deal went sour, so he’s determined to try whatever it takes to get his team back on the track in 2003. At the newly launched www.SponsorshipCentral.com website, potential sponsors register and become anonymous bidders by selecting from among the sponsorship packages offered by participating race teams. The website went online March 6 and was created by 200mph Media, a motorsports marketing company based in North Carolina, and offers race teams like Lepage’s the opportunity to post seasonal and event-specific packages. The unique feature of this process lets teams auction off advertising decal spots on the car individually, increasing the likelihood of getting sponsorship. Normally, race teams send elaborate and expensive proposals to companies and businesses on a blind basis to market themselves, not knowing if the recipients are interested in motorsports sponsorship or not. By way of SponsorshipCentral.com, race teams speed up the presentation process and companies participate in a way which avoids their being inundated with phone calls and proposals. No team knows who bidders are until the auction is successfully completed. Lepage’s team website is www.kevinlepaginc.com.(200mph Media PR)(3-17-2003)
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