March 26, 2002
- Bristol Pit Road: drivers/teams did not have the choice of pit stalls at Bristol. They were assigned by the qualifying results. Some teams that qualified in the 15-22 area wanted pit on the back pit road, closer to the front but were told the stall were assigned by qualifying results. So #8-Dale Earnhardt Jr who qualified 23rd, got the first pit al on the backstretch pits.(FSN Totally NASCAR), see my Food City 500 Race Info page for the Bristol Pit Road rules and info.(3-26-2002)
- Three Days of Texas Testing UPDATE: The first of three hectic days of testing by Cup and BGN teams preparing for the Samsung/RadioShack 500 and O’Reilly 300 kicked off Monday at Texas Motor Speedway amid cool temperatures. Three Cup teams took to the 1.5-mile superspeedway to prepare for the April 7 Samsung/RadioShack 500. #18-Bobby Labonte, #57-Ron Hornaday and #49-Shawna Robinson tested, while BGN driver #12-Kerry Earnhardt turned laps Sunday evening and Monday. A cold front that moved through the area midday curtailed much of the afternoon on-track activity after temperatures dipped. All of the participating teams practiced during the morning session. There were no incidents during the Sunday and Monday sessions. Nearly two dozen different Cup and BGN teams are scheduled to test at the speedway Tuesday and Wednesday. The sessions are closed to the public.(TMS PR)(3-26-2002)
UPDATE: A total of 21 Cup and BGN teams took to Texas Motor Speedway en masse Tuesday as the second day of testing continued in preparation for the Samsung/RadioShack 500 race week. For most of the drivers testing, it was their initial experience with the new granite-based pavement on the 1.5-mile superspeedway that was installed after last year’s NASCAR weekend. Praise was universal among the drivers describing the new surface. “It is probably a second quicker than last year,” said Jerry Nadeau, driver of the #25-UAW-Delphi Chevrolet on the Winston Cup circuit. “The surface is so smooth.” Unofficial speeds were in the high 180mph range for several teams. Testing concludes Wednesday with another session that is also closed to the public. The drivers testing at the speedway Tuesday included from Cup: #2-Rusty Wallace, #5-Terry Labonte, #10-Johnny Benson, #14-Stacy Compton, #15-Michael Waltrip, #18-Bobby Labonte, #22-Ward Burton, #25-Jerry Nadeau, #28-Ricky Rudd, #45-Kyle Petty, #57-Ron Hornaday, #99-Jeff Burton. From the BGN: #2-Johnny Sauter, #14-Larry Foyt, #24-Jack Sprague, #26-Lyndon Amick, #27-Jamie McMurray, #34-Stuart Kirby, #37-Jeff Purvis, #87-Joe Nemechek, #98-Kasey Kahne.(TMS PR), no speeds reported. #18-Bobby Labonte blew a right side tire and hit the wall, damaging the right front of the car, Labonte is un-injured.(3-26-2002)
- Martinsville Testing: #12-Ryan Newman, #32-Ricky Craven and #48-Jimmie Johnson tested at Martinsville Speedway today, no word on speeds.(FSN Totally NASCAR)(3-26-2002)
- Busch at Memphis: #97-Kurt Busch tested at Memphis today.(FSN Totally NASCAR)(3-26-2002)
- Baseball scheme for Dale Jr: hearing Dale Earnhardt Jr will run a 2002 Major League Baseball All Star scheme at Daytona in the Pepsi 400 in July. The car is mostly red with a baseball bat on the rear quarter panels. Last year Earnhardt Jr ran a MLB All Star scheme last year at the Pepsi 400 with a white scheme, and won the race.(3-26-2002)
- Shell buys Pennzoil-Quaker State: Pennzoil-Quaker State Co., the nation’s largest motor oil maker and parent company of more than 2,000 Jiffy Lube oil change service stations across the country, is becoming part of Royal Dutch/Shell Group in a deal worth $1.8 billion. The agreement was announced Monday night in Houston, where both Pennzoil-Quaker State and Shell’s U.S. operations are based. The deal, approved Monday by Pennzoil-Quaker’s board, is expected to close in the second half of this year. It still needs the approval of shareholders and regulators.(Yahoo), no work on what, if any, effect it will have to racing sponsorships such as the #1 Pennzoil Chevy or Quaker State assoc sponsorships on the Hendrick Motorsports cars [#’s 5,24,25,48].(3-26-2002)
- Sauter to run the #71 at Texas: The #71 Marcis Racing team had talked to Dick Trickle about possibly running the Texas race. Since then Richard Childress [owner of the #’s 29,30,31] contacted Dave Marcis and will be leasing the team for the Texas race weekend and putting Jay Sauter in the car. Sauter is under contract with Richard Childress and they wanted him to get a race in. Childress will be supplying a motor as well as crew to help with the Texas race.(Dick Trickle Fan Club Newsletter)(3-26-2002)
- Trickle to test for Evernham: Dick Trickle was contacted recently by Ray Evernham/Evernham Motorsports [#’s 9 and 19, part owner of #7] to see if Trickle would be interested in testing a third car for them at Talladega. Trickle went last week and had his seat fitted into a car and will be testing with the Evernham teams this Wednesday & Thursday [Mar 27-28th] at Talladega.(Dick Trickle Fan Club Newsletter)(3-26-2002)
- TRAC News: With the season set to begin in a little over a year, TRAC has begun the search for qualified crew members to compete in the new motorsports league’s inaugural year. TRAC is interested in all potential candidates, and invites any potential crew members to contact them. For more information on the hiring process, they ask that potential candidates e-mail their VP Competition, Charlie Jeter. Jeter will provide you with the requirements for application and will guide you through the process. All applications must be received by July 1, 2002 in order to be considered eligible.(see the TRAC Series site for info)(3-26-2002)
- More on DEI case UPDATE 2 DEI wins: Testimony in the civil lawsuit between Boiling Springs resident Gray London and Dale Earnhardt Inc. is nearing an end. London’s former business associate, Rocky Wagner, and Dale Earnhardt’s brother, Randy, took the stand Wednesday. DEI lawyers are expected to call five more witnesses, including Earnhardt’s widow, Teresa, before sending the case to the jury. At issue in the trial is a die cast, produced by Action Performance Co., of the car Earnhardt drove in 1974 to his first win on an asphalt track. London contends the car, which he co-owned with members of the Earnhardt family in the Earnhardt Racing Team, was a 1965 Chevelle while DEI claims it was a 1964 model. London and his company, Driver on a Mission, had a 1999 contract with DEI under which the company would receive $550,000 from the sale of the die-cast car and have the opportunity to produce other Earnhardt souvenirs. Randy Earnhardt told jury members the car Earnhardt drove was a 1964 model and carried Doc’s Cycle Center as its sponsor. London contends his company, Dainty Maid Foods, was on the side of the car when Earnhardt won. DEI filed a countersuit against London for producing souvenirs without permission.
AND London’s lawsuit against Dale Earnhardt Inc. will resume Monday [today] when the jury is expected to begin deliberating. Superior Court Judge Richard D. Boner said he was prepared to wait out a verdict on Friday, but a unanimous vote from the jury will carry the trial through the weekend. Attorneys gave their closing arguments Friday after spending most of the morning helping the judge hammer out the details of his final instructions to the jury.(Gastonia Gazette – one day link, and the Shelby Star), see more on my Dale Earnhardt tribute page.(3-25-2002)
UPDATE: The jury in the Dale Earnhardt trial has ruled in favor of Dale Earnhardt Inc., awarding the company $10,000 in damages. More later when full story is posted.(Shelby Star)(3-25-2002)
UPDATE 2: Not only did Boiling Springs resident Gray London lose his lawsuit against the Dale Earnhardt empire, he must pay Dale Earnhardt Inc. $10,000 for breach of contract, a jury ruled Monday. After about three hours of deliberations, the jury found that London breached the 1999 contract with DEI when he sublicensed to a third party the right to use Dale Earnhardt’s name. The 1999 agreement released Earnhardt from the now defunct Earnhardt Racing Team, which London and Earnhardt formed with members of the Earnhardt family in 1974. London granted the release in exchange for $550,000 from the sale of a die-cast car made of one of the cars Earnhardt drove early in his career. DEI paid London $450,000. The remaining $100,000 was withheld by DEI because London filed a lawsuit against the company. Speaking for London, attorney Rob Deaton said, “I know that Gray is happy that the jury answered yes to question three, giving him the right in the future without limitations to make souvenirs, except for die-cast cars.” Question three allows London to make and sell souvenirs (other than die-cast cars) with Dale Earnhardt’s name on one or more of the three cars in connection with the Driver on a Mission logo on a souvenir such as a mug or T-shirt. The jury also found that on the night of July 19, 1974, when Dale Earnhardt won his first race on an asphalt track, he was not driving the No. 8 Chevelle with “Dainty Maid” on it as the sponsor, as claimed during earlier testimony by London.(Shelby Star)(3-26-2002)
- NASCAR Helps Out: James Doherty came to Daytona Beach early this month to enjoy his Bike Week vacation when a terrible accident left him an amputee and put his career as a New York City patrolman in question. But as he left Monday, aboard a NASCAR jet, the 31-year-old officer was upbeat and thanked those who helped him since a terrible accident three weeks ago. On March 7, while cruising on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle on State Road A1A, Doherty was struck by a car whose driver left the accident scene, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said. His arm was broken, his femur was shattered and doctors at Halifax Medical Center had to amputate part of his left leg. Hospital officials weren’t sure how Doherty could go home because a commercial flight wasn’t possible. Halifax first contacted the Sheriff’s Office, but the department is selling its own airplane, so deputies turned to NASCAR. “We were happy to accommodate him not only because it was a good thing to do but we feel indebted to the New York police personnel and the NY fire personnel for the unfortunate events of Sept. 11,” said John Graham, president of Daytona International Speedway.(Orlando Sentinel)(3-26-2002)
- Some Wind Tunnel News: hearing the #21 Motorcraft Ford is being tested in the wind tunnel today at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia. The #11 Brett Bodine Hooters team tested on Monday (along with the #90, see story below). Ford has the tunnel booked this week thru Thursday.(3-26-2002)
- NASCAR Cafe to open: Doors of the Nascar Cafe in Greensboro will open April 2, the restaurant chain said. The 10,000-square-foot restaurant at Four Seasons Town Centre will seat 290 people. The Greensboro location will be a little different for the Nascar Cafe, which is owned by Knoxville, TN,-based H&C Racing Inc., in that it is the first one that is designed for a market where the customer base will be primarily area residents. Other Nascar Cafes are in locales such as Myrtle Beach, SC, and Orlando, FL, where tourists make up a large part of the customer base. The restaurant will feature the sights and sounds of Nascar and will have a small retail shop for officially licensed Nascar merchandise. Nascar Cafe operates under an exclusive license from Nascar.(The Business Journal)(3-26-2002)
- It’s Official – DW in a Truck: Three-time Winston Cup champion and current NASCAR on FOX analyst Darrell Waltrip will make a return to racing on April 13th at the Advance Auto Parts 250 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event in Martinsville, VA. This will mark Waltrip’s first return to NASCAR racing since his retirement at the end of the 2000 Winston Cup season. Waltrip will drive the #17 Duck Head Footwear Dodge, owned by Virginia businessman Jim Harris and Mark Melling. Stacy Compton, originally slated to be in the Duck Head Footwear truck, is unable due to a scheduling conflict with the Pepsi 300 NASCAR Busch Series race running at Nashville that same day. Waltrip will be reunited with his former crew chief and current FOX Sports analyst Jeff Hammond for this event. Additionally, the team will run the #17 which Waltrip made famous when he drove for Hendrick Motorsports and then for himself. “Jeff and I want to thank FOX Sports’ David Hill and Ed Goren for letting us take advantage of this opportunity,” said Waltrip. “We were supposed to be in Nashville broadcasting the NASCAR Busch Series event for FX, but they were kind enough to let us go racing. This is going to be fun!” Waltrip won 11 of his 84 Winston Cup races at Martinsville – five in the spring event and six more in the fall. Waltrip finished 5th in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event at Martinsville in 1996. In 1997, the #17 Waltrip-owned truck won the Martinsville event. “This is a great opportunity to have some fun,” said Hammond. “It definitely will rekindle some great memories we had together and give us another chance to make some new ones. The Duck Head Footwear people are great to work with. D.W. and I are hoping to put their truck in Victory Lane!” Truck team owner Jim Harris was equally excited. “D.W.’s record at Martinsville is beyond belief,” he said. “When Stacy told us D.W. received the OK from FOX Sports to participate, I called Vice President of Sales, David Dunevant at Duck Head Footwear. He was really excited about DW and Jeff being associated with the Duck Head brand!” D.W. will drive the NASCAR Craftsman truck that captured four top-10 finishes and the Bud Pole Award at Phoenix last season when piloted by Compton. Melling Racing is preparing the Dodge Ram truck at its shop in Concord, NC. Qualifying for the Advance Auto Parts 250 takes place Friday, April 12. The NASCAR Craftsman trucks take the green flag at 2PM ET on Saturday, April 13.(Darrell Waltrip Motorsports. PR and a story at FoxSports), see more to the story below….(3-26-2002)
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