March 30 – Today in Jayski’s NASCAR history

March 30, 2007

• • • Final Bristol TV Ratings down 17%: Fox’s broadcast of last Sunday’s Food City 500 NASCAR Nextel Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway drew a final Nielsen Media Research rating of 5.1 and a 12 market share, Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Daily reports. The rating is 17.7% lower than the 6.2 Fox drew for the race last year.(SceneDaily.com), see past ratings and news, plus the Ratings Chart on my 2007 TV Ratings page.(3-30-2007)
  • • NASCAR expands rear height tolerances for COT: NASCAR will give teams a half-inch tolerance instead of a quarter-inch on the minimum height requirement of the rear of the car during post-race inspection at car of tomorrow [COT] races, Nextel Cup Series Director John Darby told reporters Thursday. #16-Greg Biffle was outside the quarter-inch tolerance after a fifth-place finish at Bristol, but NASCAR won’t penalize him because of the lack of benefit to the car to be that low. Darby also said that although it was procedural measurement with the car of tomorrow, it was never specified in the rulebook. He says NASCAR will continue to explore the minimum height of the rear of the car before making a steadfast rule. Darby also said that the minimum right-side weight was changed from 1,650 pounds to 1,700 pounds. As far as the problems some teams had with broken exhaust pipes, Darby said he expected that to be fixed. “The teams have been very weight conscious through this process,” Darby said. “Most of the exhaust pipe failures that we saw were pipes that were constructed out of material that was much thinner than the pipes on yesterday’s car were. iI should be an easy fix for the teams.”(SceneDaily.com)(3-30-2007)
  • • Hylton plans attempt Talladega in April: #58-James Hylton isn’t ready to let go of the steering wheel just yet. Hylton, 72, who came within a few laps of qualifying for the Daytona 500, wants to give the Nextel Cup Series another try — this time at Talladega Superspeedway in April. “We’ve still got the car we ran Daytona with, the same car,” Hylton said. “We’ve prepared this car for Talladega, which is not a real big jump. Unless something drastic happens, we’ll be at Talladega, because we’re set up to go there.” He’s in talks with the sponsor of that car [Daytona car], Retirement Living TV, to back him again in the April 29 event at Talladega. He had originally hoped to try to make last weekend’s event at Bristol Motor Speedway, but couldn’t get a Car of Tomorrow built in time. Yet the two-time winner and former rookie of the year [1966] on NASCAR’s premier circuit is still buzzing over the publicity generated by his attempt to make the Daytona 500.(NASCAR.com)(3-30-2007)
  • • NASCAR working on COT problems: NASCAR officials are scrambling to solve a couple of potentially serious issues with the “Car of Tomorrow.” Denny Hamlin and several other drivers complained about an unusual amount of carbon monoxide in their system after Sunday’s inaugural COT race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Some teams had issues with the protective foam in the right side door overheating, melting and producing toxic fumes. Some had springs that failed for no apparent reason, which may have been the reason for the #16 car of Greg Biffle being too low during post-race inspection. NASCAR officials plan to talk with crew chiefs before they arrive in Martinsville on Friday to discuss solutions to these issues. They will look at adjusting the tolerances for minimum height until it is determined what makes the new car settle. They will suggest that teams use a thicker exhaust pipe after determining those that had exhaust systems failures used a thinner pipe to conserve weight. They already have talked to Roush Fenway Racing officials about putting a heat shield over the pipe near the right door and notching the foam higher around the pipe to keep heat from compromising it. NASCAR vice president of competition Robin Pemberton and Nextel Cup series director John Darby have scheduled a Friday morning press conference to discuss the issues.(ESPN.com)(3-29-2007)
  • • Wood Brothers Museum open for Martinsville visitors this weekend: For those wanting to witness a real trip down Memory Lane, the Wood Brothers Racing Museum will be open both Friday, March 30th and Saturday, March 31st in their hometown of Stuart, Virginia. Stuart is only 30 minutes away from this weekend’s NASCAR races at the Martinsville Speedway. For hours, directions and more see www.woodbrothersracing.com.(Wood Brothers/JTG Racing)(3-30-2007)
  • • Bobby Labonte to Drive Grand-Am Rolex Cup Sports Car at Martinsville: #43-Bobby Labonte will give NASCAR fans the chance to see a different kind of race car on the oval at Martinsville this Saturday. Blending the worlds of NASCAR short track racing with the Rolex Series Daytona Prototypes, Labonte will drive Finlay Motorsports’ #19 Z-Line Designs/Mission Residential/Make-A-Wish Foundation Ford Crawford on the track prior to Saturday’s Craftsman Truck Series race. This is the same car Labonte drove in the 2007 Rolex 24 at Daytona endurance race. Following a demonstration run on Martinsville’s .526-mile paperclip-shaped oval, the brilliant orange and black-liveried car will be on display in VIRginia International Raceway’s tent at Martinsville. The car is coming off a top-ten finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The car races in the series enjoyed by several other Nextel Cup drivers, including Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and now-retired Rusty Wallace in their entries at the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Fans can examine the car closely meet and the Finlay and VIR teams at Martinsville and again at the Grand-Am Rolex Series VIR 400 April 27-29. Tickets can be purchased for VIR’s major events online at Etix.com or in person at the gate. More info about VIRginia International Raceway at .(VIR PR)(3-30-2007)
  • • Martinsville Goodyear Tire Notes: Both NASCAR series will run the same tire codes at Martinsville this weekend, though the Nextel Cup tires will be branded “Goodyear Eagle,” while the Craftsman Truck tires will be branded “Goodyear Wrangler” . . . this is the first time Goodyear has brought this specific combination of left- and right-side tires to the track . . . Martinsville is the only track at which Nextel Cup teams will run this specific setup of left-and right-side tires . . .however, this right-side code (D-4110) will be run on all four tire positions at the series’ two road course races — Infineon Raceway and Watkins Glen International . . . Craftsman Truck teams are scheduled to run this same tire setup at Mansfield in May . . . as on most NASCAR ovals one mile or less in length, teams will not run inner liners in their tires at Martinsville. Estimated Pit Window for Nextel Cup cars are every 115-125 laps, based on fuel mileage.(Goodyear PR), see notes, codes and more on my Martinsville Race Info page.(3-30-2007)
  • • Hamlin wins pole at Martinsville: #11-Denny Hamlin won the Budweiser Pole for the Goody’s Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville Speedway with a speed of 95.103mph for his 1st pole of 2007 and 5th of his career. The rest of the top-10 are #26-McMurray, #24-Gordon, #21-Schrader, #18-Yeley, #29-Harvick, #20-Stewart, #8-Earnhardt Jr., #99-Edwards and #70-Sauter. The non-top 35 teams that made the race were: #21-Schrader, #22-Blaney, #10-Riggs #49-Bliss, #36-Mayfield, #44-Jarrett, #84-Allmendinger and #00-Reutimann. The non-top 35 teams that made the race were: #21-Schrader, #22-Blaney, #10-Riggs #49-Bliss, #36-Mayfield, #44-Jarrett, #84-Allmendinger and #00-Reutimann. See Qualifying order, speeds and the starting lineup on my Martinsville Qualifying Page.(3-30-2007)
  • • Six do not qualify at Martinsville: #55-Waltrip, #78-Wallace, #15-Menard, #83-Vickers, #37-Lepage and #4-Burton.(3-30-2007)
  • • Ramblings – Martinsville Qualifying: It was Denny Hamlin today at Martinsville Speedway as he took the Bud Pole for Sunday’s Goody’s Cool Orange 500 with a time of 19.911 sec (95.103 mph). The Virginia driver has now captured the last two poles in his home state as his last top-spot was at Richmond last September. The was the 5th pole for Hamlin, and he’s also the fifth different driver to qualify for next February’s Budweiser Shootout.
      Jamie McMurray (2nd) takes the outside pole. This is his best starting spot since he was on the outside of the front row at Infineon last June.
      Ken Schrader (4th) has his best starting spot since he timed in 4th here in April of 2003! How’s that for handling that qualifying pressure?
      J. J. Yeley (5th) has his best starting spot since he lined up 5th at Kansas last September.
      Carl Edwards (9th) has his best starting spot since he qualified 6th at Dover last September.
      Johnny Sauter (10th) has his best starting spot since he lined up 10th at Bristol in March of 2004!
      Tony Raines (11th) has his best starting spot since he timed in 11th here last October.
      Jeremy Mayfield (13th) has his best starting spot since he qualified on the outside pole at Dover last June.
      David Ragan (27th) has his career-best starting spot this weekend. He lined up 35th at Daytona and Las Vegas this year for his previous best.
      STREAKIN…..Jeff Gordon has 4 Top-5 starts in the last 5 races.
      (See more at stockcarfans.com)(3-30-2007)
  • • Martinsville Qualifying Fast Facts:
      .. Denny Hamlin won the Bud Pole for the Goody’s Cool Orange 500, his fifth Bud Pole 49 career Nextel Cup races.
      .. Tony Stewart retains the Martinsville track qualifying record of 19.306 seconds, 98.083 mph – set Oct. 21, 2005.
      .. This is Hamlin’s first Bud Pole and third top-10 start in 2007.
      .. This is Hamlin’s first Bud Pole and third top-10 start – all top-fives – in four races at Martinsville Speedway.
      .. Hamlin became the seventh different Bud Pole winner at Martinsville since Jeff Gordon ended a streak of three straight in March 2004.
      .. Jamie McMurray qualified second, posting his best start since he started second at Sonoma in 2006. He also started second in this race in 2006.
      .. Ken Schrader (fourth) was the quickest of the 14 drivers required to make the field on time. It was Schrader’s best qualifying effort since joining Wood Brothers Racing in 2006 and the best for the Wood Brothers since Ricky Rudd started second here at Martinsville in October 2005.
      .. Four drivers posted their first top-10 start of the 2007 season: McMurray, Schrader, J.J. Yeley (ninth) and Johnny Sauter (10th).
      .. Juan Pablo Montoya (23rd) was the highest qualifying rookie-of-the-year candidate for the Goody’s Cool Orange 500.(NASCAR Stats PR)(3-30-2007)
    • Richmond Testing: Busch Teams tested in Richmond March 27-28. See the Richmond Testing News page for complete results.(3-30-2007)

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