March 28, 2001
- #43 Too Low UPDATE Penalty: John Andretti’s second-place finish will stand, but there will be a penalty coming to his #43-Petty Enterprises team because his car was found to be lower than the minimum height requirement for a Winston Cup car in postrace inspection. NASCAR spokesperson Danielle Humphrey said the penalty will likely be announced Monday. Andretti’s finish is the best for a Dodge so far this season in the manufacturer’s return to Winston Cup racing(That’s Racin’)(3-25-2001)
UPDATE: NASCAR officials announced today they have penalized NASCAR Winston Cup Series crew chief Greg Steadman for rules violations found in post-race inspection following Sunday’s Food City 500 at the Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tenn. Steadman, crew chief for the No. 43 NASCAR Winston Cup Series team, was fined $20,000 and penalized under Section 12-4-T in the 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series rule book: “…any car found to be under the specified height requirement after the completion of time trials or the race…”(NASCAR PR)(3-28-2001)
- #10 Paint: Team Valvoline’s Johnny Benson will roll out the special Eagle One Pontiac at Texas Motor Speedway for the Harrah’s 500 Sunday. The car features the “Screaming Eagle” design. It will be the first of three consecutive Eagle One cars for the coming weeks’ Winston Cup races(Valvoline Racing)(3-28-2001)
- New #97 Crew Chief: Effective immediately, Ben Leslie has been promoted to crew chief of the #97 Roush Racing Taurus driven by Kurt Busch. Matt Chambers, Busch’s crew chief in the Craftsman Truck Series and Winston Cup since the 2000 season, will be assuming another role within Roush Racing. Leslie gained his experience at Roush Racing by working with several of its teams and drivers, including Mark Martin and most recently as car chief for 2000 Rookie-of-the-Year Matt Kenseth(Roush Racing PR) AND NASCAR>com’s Buzz is reporting that Chambers could end up back in the CTS series as the crew chief of the #99 truck driven by NCTS rookie Nathan Haseleu.(3-28-2001)
- New Cup Team? UPDATE: from the USA Today – Phoenix Suns(NBA) forward Rodney Rogers has a need for speed that he hopes to satisfy by becoming a team owner on the NASCAR circuit. Rogers and Barry Dodson, crew chief(and part owner) of the #27-Eel River racing team owned by Jack Birmingham, are seeking sponsors to field a team for next season. Rogers said he needs roughly $15 million to field a team.(USA Today), seems odd as Dodson is already looking for sponsorship for the #27 team, let alone a new team, unless Rogers is going to buy into the #27 team(3-26-2001)
UPDATE: from a Kenny Wallace chat on the Kenny Wallace Site: “My father, Russ called me and told me about the deal. I laughed so hard because all that amounts to is Rodney, a great friend of Barry’s and all it was about is saying he would like a WC team. There is no truth to it and Barry is surprised as much as everyone else. I think one day it would be cool to have Rodney involved with WC because we don’t get enough athletes involved in WC(3-28-2001)
- Billy Ray on the #90: Donlavey Racing will display the image from the cover of Billy Ray Cyrus’ latest album, “Southern Rain,” on both doors of the Hills Bros Coffee Ford at the Harrah’s 500. The decal will be located just behind the familiar #90.(Keystone Marketing)(3-28-2001)
- Testing at Martinsville UPDATE 3 Speeds: A few teams will be testing at Martinsville Speedway in the new few weeks: March 20-21 – #1-Steve Park, #24-Jeff Gordon, #6-Mark Martin, #97-Kurt Busch, #21-Elliott Sadler. and on March 27-28 – #12-Jeremy Mayfield, #44-Buckshot Jones, #96-Andy Houston and #??Hermie Sadler(Martinsville Speedway PR)(3-7-2001)
UPDATE: Originally there were supposed to be several Winston Cup teams testing today and tomorrow, but rain has just about washed all of that out. Steve Park may or may not test on Wednesday, but won’t know until in the morning. With everyone getting washed out this week, the testing schedule has doubled for next Tuesday and Wednesday. Drivers scheduled to test both days include: #12-Jeremy Mayfield, #44-Buckshot Jones, #96-Andy Houston, #??-Hermie Sadler, #29-Kevin Harvick, #6-Mark Martin, #97-Kurt Busch, #01-Jason Leffler, #10-Johnny Benson, #25-Jerry Nadeau, #24-Jeff Gordon, #27-Kenny Wallace and #21-Elliott Sadler(Martinsville Speedway PR)(3-21-2001)
UPDATE 2: Johnny Benson’s #10 Valvoline Pontiac will test at Martinsville Tuesday and Wednesday before heading to Texas on Thursday. #21-Elliott Sadler tested at Martinsville on Monday(3-26-2001)
UPDATE 3: Fifteen teams tested at Martinsville Tuesday. Kevin Harvick had the best time Tuesday, posting a 93.742mph lap in the Goodwrench Chevy. Kenny Wallace was next best at 93.372mph in the unsponsored #27 Eel River Pontiac. #24-Jeff Gordon was 3rd at 93.189mph, 4th was #21-Elliott Sadler at 93.051 and fifth was #1-Steve Park at 92.960mph(from ESPN2’s RPM2Night and Martinsville Speedway PR)(3-28-2001)
2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997