April 12, 2003
- Jarrett Speaks, Wants Support: Dale Jarrett said Friday’s he’s looking for a crew chief who “supports and believes in me as a driver” after his Robert Yates Racing team’s decision to dismiss Brad Parrott from that role this week. Parrott’s older brother, Todd, who was the crew chief on the #88 Fords when Jarrett won the 1999 Winston Cup title, was also placed on “indefinite leave” this week. Based on comments from Jarrett and team general manager Doug Yates Friday, however, it seems all but definite that Todd Parrott won’t be back. “I think some confidence was lost in the misrepresentation of some things,” Jarrett said. “As a driver you’re out there busting your tail week in and week out. Even in years where you win seven races…or the championship that might not be enough – you get that little hint. You hear things. …To be quite honest, I’ve been a little disappointed in some things I’ve heard. So that’s kind of separated us a little bit more.” Jarrett finished 10th in the Daytona 500 and then won the season’s second race at Rockingham, but has no top-10 finishes since. He pointed to a test the team had at Texas as the point at which he began to feel things weren’t working with him and Brad Parrott. “I was just not pleased with what I saw there,” Jarrett said. “Then just a few things have happened during some races that kind of threw up a red flag.” Parrott was hired Thursday by Roush Racing to be the car chief for Jeff Burton’s #99 Fords. He was Burton’s Busch Series crew chief last season for a team that won five races in 14 starts. “I never once had the opportunity to put a Brad Parrott set-up under the race car,” Parrott said of the 88 team. “It was always what this team had or what that team had.” Garth Finley and Richard Buck will share duties leading Jarrett’s No. 88 team for the Virginia 500 this weekend. Robin Pemberton’s name has been mentioned as a possible long-term replacement for Parrott, but Yates said Friday no decisions have been made. “Right now there’s a vacancy sign up and we’re just going to explore our options,” said Yates, son of team owner Robert Yates. “We’re just going to see who’s out there.”(ThatsRacin.com)(4-12-2003)
- Pemberton to Yates? UPDATE Makar? Robert and Doug Yates have been silent since putting Brad and Todd Parrott on the sideline this week, but the two car owners said they will talk about their team shakeup today and their plans for the future of Dale Jarrett’s half of their two-car team. Robin Pemberton is the subject of speculation for a possible to move to the Yateses’ team. Pemberton worked about 10 years with Rusty Wallace and Roger Penske, after a long run with Jack Roush. Last season Pemberton worked with Kyle Petty at Petty Enterprises, but he left at the start of the season to take a role with Ford Motor Company as the field director.(Winston Salem Journal)(4-11-2003)
UPDATE Makar? One name that came to the surface quickly was Jimmy Makar. Makar would be an interesting choice since he and Dale Jarrett have raced and won together when Jarrett was with Joe Gibbs, prior to his joining the Yates organization. Makar couldn’t be found at Martinsville and the Yates camp is holding their cards close to the vest, so no discussions took place regarding the viability of that rumor.(from Ford Racing)(4-12-2003) - Another tire war coming? Firestone engineers have begun testing NASCAR-type stock-car tires for what could be a planned move into this branch of the sport, according to NASCAR sources.(Winston Salem Journal)(4-12-2003)
- NASCAR gets letter from Congress about Ephedra UPDATE NASCAR will NOT ban it: According to wire reports Congress is asking major league sport leagues for information regarding their knowledge and position regarding the over-the-counter drug, ephedra. The now-legal substance is under review by Congress following Baltimore Orioles pitching prospect Steve Bechler’s death in February. According to a report there was a link between Bechler’s death from heat stroke and the dietary supplement. The congressional letter, which was sent to Major League Baseball the prior week, was followed this week with similar letters to National Football League, National Hockey League, National Basketball Association, Major League Soccer and NASCAR. The letter was penned by House Energy and Commerce chairman Billy Tauzin (R-La.), along with Reps. Michael Bilirakis (R-Fla.), Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) and James Greenwood (R-Pa.).(Ford Racing)(4-12-2003)
UPDATE: For now, NASCAR will not join other major sports leagues in banning use of the controversial stimulant ephedra among its competitors. In a printed bulletin handed out to teams in each of NASCAR’s top three series Saturday, NASCAR advised competitors to “seek guidance from their individual physician prior to taking and supplement product labeled as containing ephedra/ephedrine.” The bulletin cited a recent government-released study that concluded supplements may increase the incidence of side effects such as heart palpitations. “NASCAR will continue to monitor reports regarding health related concerns for ephedra/ephedrine and will advise NASCAR participants as additional information becomes available,” it said.(USA Today some good related links there too)(4-12-2003) - A.J. Foyt Speaks Out: A.J. Foyt, a team owner in both the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series and NASCAR Winston Cup [#14 Harrah’s Dodge which is sitting out this week at Martinsville], had harsh words for NASCAR on Saturday for its recent inconsistency in its rules. Foyt’s comments stem from the yellow flag decision at Texas Motor Speedway two weeks ago, to last week’s race-winning pass where Dale Earnhardt Jr. clearly went below the yellow out of bounds like to pass race leader Matt Kenseth. “More people are waking up to NASCAR, but they are afraid to speak out,” Foyt said. “I have nothing to lose, either way. The yellow flag thing is a bad deal and one of these days, someone will get killed over it. I don’t care what you write about. I call a spade a spade, good or bad. That’s how I feel about plate racing. What has happened the last three weeks, it’s something different every week. I think the world of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and I think the world of Tony Stewart, but whoever that judge was should be thrown out of the organization or should be the judge of a bathroom whether boys or girls go in. If he looks at the yellow line thing and says it was right, then he was wrong.” Foyt was also steamed that NASCAR disqualified his son’s [Larry Foyt, driver of the #14] qualification attempt last week at Talladega for a rules violation for being too low. Subsequently, Foyt did not make the 43-car starting lineup. “After what NASCAR did to me at Talladega last week, we didn’t see any point in going up to Martinsville and tearing something up,” Foyt said. “The deal they did to us at Talladega was a big (bleep)-off deal, so (bleep) them. I’m like Dale Earnhardt was when he was alive, those (bleeping) plate races (stink). NASCAR is so crooked. Whoever you are, I don’t care what you say, if you can’t see that, then you are blind. Why should you take out that many cars if you are racing?” Foyt believes it’s time NASCAR recognize that restrictor-plate racing has only made the events at Daytona and Talladega more dangerous, rather than allow teams to race above 200 miles per hour and let the cars spread out more naturally rather than bunch them together. “All it is any more, restrictor-plate cars is a glorified IROC race, that’s all it is,” Foyt said. “If you are going to go racing, then go racing. But if you want an IROC race, then just call it an IROC race. I’ve never been for plate racing, I never will be. It’s just like racing back to the yellow, I’m glad to see Jeff Gordon speak out against that. Racing shouldn’t be who is a complete idiot on the yellow flag. It’s a different ball game than it used to be. It’s not getting any better, it’s getting worse.” Between yellow flags, yellow lines and other NASCAR inconsistencies, Foyt admits he is losing interest in what is currently the most popular form of racing in the United States.(FoxSports/SportsTicker)(4-12-2003)
- Parrott Speaks: Brad Parrott, car chief of the #99 Citgo Taurus, held a brief Q&A session in the Martinsville Speedway Infield Media Center before NASCAR Winston Cup qualifying to discuss his departure from Robert Yates Racing and re-hiring at Roush Racing. (a few choice tidbits, see link in parens for more).
“First of all, I’d like to say that there’s not a better person in this garage area than Dale Jarrett. He’s a great person, individual and race car driver. I worked from February 1st to Tuesday and had one day off. I worked to make Dale Jarrett the best race car driver in the garage area and I’m sorry I couldn’t make that happen. I’m here this weekend and I’m racing with Jeff Burton for the next three years for sure. I’ve got a contract now and I’m happy about it. I know Jeff Burton is gonna go out and win a lot of races and I’m gonna help Paul Andrews. I’m gonna be the car chief on the 99 Citgo team and we’re gonna go win races and go have fun.”
WHAT HAPPENED FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE? “I was told there were too many opinions and that comes from going in the truck at Texas. I stayed out by the car and worked on the car at Texas a little bit and went in the truck and there were four guys in the truck telling Dale what the race car needed, so I turned around and walked back out.”
HAVE YOU TALKED TO TODD? “Todd is taking a month off and he’ll evaluate his situation when it comes time, but you’ll have to talk to him about what his plans are.”
DID YOU TALK TO YOUR DAD [Buddy] AND WHAT DID HE SAY? “Yeah, I heard from dad. He remembers the time back in 1978 that he walked into the DiGard shop and took care of business. He asked me if I took care of business and I said, ‘no’ because times have changed.”(Ford Racing)(4-12-2003) - Wheel Tethers UPDATE: Mark Harrah, one of the owners of Dave Blaney’s team and an engineer, said that NASCAR should change the way it has teams attach the wheel tethers to keep them from flying off the cars in a wreck. A wheel off Ryan Newman’s car flew over the wall at Talladega and hit a car in the parking lot.(Winston Salem Journal)(4-12-2003)
UPDATE: In response to a wheel and tire that went sailing over the wall at Talladega last weekend, NASCAR issued a technical bulletin Saturday revising its policy on tethering wheels in the Winston Cup series. Under the revised guidelines, distributed to teams Saturday at Martinsville Speedway, two fiber cables must be used on each front spindle of the car on all tracks 1¼ miles or more in length, excluding the two road courses. In addition, steel cables will no longer be permitted. The new guidelines go into effect April 23. Last weekend, Ryan Newman lost the left-front wheel of his #12 Dodge during a 27-car accident on Lap 4. The entire wheel assembly sailed over the Turn 2 wall and landed in a parking lot. It was later recovered by NASCAR officials.(ThatsRacin.com)(4-12-2003) - Final Talladega TV Ratings: Final Nielsen figures for Fox’s broadcast of last Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 Winston Cup race from Talladega Superspeedway show the race drew a 6.2 rating and 15 share, according to MotorsportsTV.com. The figures show a solid jump from the 5.7/12 overnight figures but still left the race well short of last year’s 7.0/16. Nonetheless, the race didn’t drop nearly as much as they did for CBS’s broadcast of the NCAA basketball tournament’s semifinal games, which fell from 11.3 last year to 7.9 and 9.4 to 6.3, MotorsportsTV.com says. The major cause for the drops in the sports ratings continues to be the war with Iraq, the Web site and industry observers say.(Winston Cup Scene Daily Newsletter)(4-12-2003)
- Atwood News: Casey Atwood always wished he had time to do more fishing. Now he wishes he had less time. ”That’s about all I’ve been doing, fishing at Percy Priest Lake,” Atwood said yesterday as he caught up with some of his racing buddies in the Nashville Superspeedway infield. ”I’m ready to do something else.” Atwood, 21, is out of racing for the first time since his mid-teens. The Nashvillian lost his Winston Cup ride with Evernham Motorsports at the end of last season and has yet to find a new ride. ”I’m still looking,” he said. ”I’m confident something will come up, but it’s still early in the season and no jobs have been opening up.” Atwood, who competed two seasons in Winston Cup, said he would actually prefer returning to the second-tier Busch Series where he set records for the youngest pole winner and youngest race winner. ”In Winston Cup there are a few dominant teams and if you aren’t with one of them you’re going to struggle,” he said. ”I’d like to go back and run Busch, at least for awhile.” Atwood said settlement of the final year of his three-year contract with Evernham is still in negotiation. ”Meanwhile I’m free to look for another job,” he said. ”If something comes open, I’m going to take it.”(Tennessean)(4-12-2003)
- New RCR Museum to Open in Mid-May: What was once the race shop where six championships were earned is now being transformed into a museum honoring one of NASCAR’s most storied racing operations. Richard Childress Racing’s (RCR) original race shop and museum at the RCR complex, with the construction of a connecting building between the two, is now a single-structure museum showcasing five decades of auto racing history. Nearly 50 race cars driven by Dale Earnhardt, Kevin Harvick, Mike Skinner, Richard Childress and others will be on display along with an incredible array of trophies, banners, photographs and other memorabilia.. Also near completion in the 47,000-square-foot building is a gift shop in the area that was the original race shop’s administrative offices. The new RCR Museum & Gift Shop is scheduled to open to the public May 16, 2003.
The original shop area will be dedicated to the famed No. 3 teams with Earnhardt that earned NASCAR Winston Cup championships in 1986-87, 1990-91, and 1993-94. Nearly 20 of the world-famous black paint-schemed No. 3 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet Monte Carlos, including the 1998 Daytona 500 and 2000 Winston 500 (at Talladega [Ala.] Superspeedway) winners, will be on display. Video screens and memorabilia throughout the building will showcase the highlights and amazing history of the No. 3 team during its 16 seasons within those walls.
“With all the history made within those walls, it wouldn’t be right to just lease the building out to another company or to put another race team in it,” said Richard Childress, president and CEO of Richard Childress Racing Enterprises, Inc. “I had mixed emotions on how to do it. I wanted to do something the Earnhardt family would be proud of, every employee that ever worked at RCR would be proud of, and the race fans would be proud to come and see. To me, it’s going to be one of the most incredible stock car racing museums in the country because of the history that was made there over the years. I want the race fans to feel they are a part of that history because they were the ones that made it possible. When they leave, I want them to walk away with a smile on their face knowing that they had just been on an incredible tour.”
The area that was the original RCR Museum and Gift Shop will have a variety of cars on display. Vehicles representing RCR’s championships in the NASCAR Winston Cup, NASCAR Busch Series and NASCAR SuperTruck Series (RCR is the only organization to have championships in all three), its current lineup of Winston Cup and Busch Series teams, cars for each of the No. 3 team’s special paint schemes for The Winston from 1995 through 2000 and a number of other race cars significant to RCR’s history will be showcased.
“There’s a lot of history that I’ve kept over the years from all of the RCR race teams that I’m looking forward to sharing with race fans,” Childress said of the area that was the original museum. “Those cars, the ones driven by Kevin Harvick, Mike Skinner, Robby Gordon, and many others, including some that I drove, are also a big part of RCR’s success through the years.”
The newly constructed center part of the building will be dedicated to Childress’ devotion to wildlife and outdoor conservation. The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, the North Carolina Wildlife Habitat Foundation, the National Wild Turkey Federation and Ducks Unlimited, all actively involved in the conservation of the nation’s wildlife and natural resources, will be showcased in this area along with many of the animal trophies Childress has collected over the years.
RCR moved into the building, located in this small town 10 minutes south of Winston-Salem off Highway 52, in June 1986. The entire operation at that time was under one roof in the 33,000 square-foot building. The No. 3 team earned its first victory working out of the new shop in October 1986 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (now Lowe’s Motor Speedway). They went on that year to capture RCR’s first, and Earnhardt’s second, NASCAR Winston Cup championship. During the time the No. 3 team occupied the building, from mid-1986 through the first race of 2001, it earned 58 victories, 16 pole positions and more than $38 million in race winnings. The three-car Winston Cup program and the administrative staff moved into a state-of-the-art 86,000 square-foot building in the same 35-acre complex in early May 2002. RCR, which also has a two-car NASCAR Busch Series program, now consists of more than 260 employees working in 12 buildings with approximately 300,000 square-feet of shop space.(RCR PR)(4-12-2003) - Fuel Problems? Sources at Talladega Superspeedway told teamfordracing.com that the fuel Unocal has provided since the announcement that they were leaving the sport might have some consistency problems. This, according to a leading engine builder in the sport, is leading to some interesting finds during post-race engine tear down. “We’ve even questioned here lately with Unocal moving out how the fuel … We’ve seen some funny things on our parts after the race and for some of us fuel quality is changing on us,” said the engine builder. “So yeah, it’s a big issue and we’ve been talking about it quite a bit.” Fuel is a vital part of the Winston Cup engine builder equation as the additive packages are what help hold a motor together during a race. Fuel chemistry changes can lead to premature part failure. NASCAR hasn’t let the teams know what will be pumping in 2003, which is making the engine builders nervous. Variances with the chemistry and consistency of blend will be needed soon as it can take six to nine months to match the engine package to the fuel package. One big question that’s not been answered is whether the fuel will be of a leaded blend, or no-lead. There is concern that if the sanctioning body goes the no-lead route that engine failure could rise dramatically due to leads lubricity qualities, or the capacity for reducing friction. Unocal, along with NASCAR and the teams, tried a no-lead blend several years ago in the Busch Grand National Series. Those experiments ended after the exhaust valves beat the seats out of the head. Unocal, to help solve the problem, suggested that the teams move to titanium vales. That suggestion angered the involved engine builders as they’d been using titanium for several years, and were surprised that Unocal engineers seemingly didn’t know what was in a motor for which they were blending fuel.(Ford Racing), see my NASCAR-Sponsors page for more info on the Unocal deal.(4-12-2003)
- Busch wins first ARCA race: 17-year-old Kyle Busch set a track qualifying record in the afternoon, then backed it up Friday night at Nashville Superspeedway to win in just his second start on the ARCA circuit. Busch, the younger brother of Winston Cup star Kurt Busch, led 83 of 113 laps and held off four-time ARCA series champion Frank Kimmel by 2.406 seconds despite several restarts down the stretch. Busch will debut in the NASACR Busch Series on May 24 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway after turning 18 on May 2. He finished 12th in his only other ARCA start, last October at that track. He won the pole by touring the 1.33-mile concrete tri-oval in 30.094 seconds at a speed of 159.460, topping the mark of 158.261 set by Kimmel in 2001. Kimmel had won three races at this track and finished second. Brent Sherman had the best finish of his career in third followed by Jeff Fultz, Darryl Sage and former NFL coach Jerry Glanville.(ThatsRacin.com/AP)(4-12-2003)
- Clanton in the #27: Joey Clanton, who has been sharing a Busch Series ride with Mt. Juliet’s Chase Montgomery this season, has secured the ride full-time for the remainder of the year. Brewco Motorsports yesterday announced a sponsorship by 4-C-SONS for the rest of the schedule. Brewco Motorsports also fields the car of David Green. Team president Todd Wilkerson said he hopes to find a ride for Montgomery, who also races on the ARCA circuit. ”Chase is a great talent and we are going to continue to work with him,” Wilkerson said. ”We hope to enter him in five or six more races this season.”(Tennessean)(4-12-2003)
- David Green wins at Nashville: #37-David Green passed #21-Johnny Sauter on the backstretch of the final lap Saturday to win the Pepsi 300 at the Nashville Superspeedway. Green won for the first time on the Busch Series since June 1996 and has six overall series victories. With the Winston Cup Series in Virginia this week, the 1994 Busch champion also became the first Busch regular to win this season. #46-Aston Lewis was third, followed by #20-Mike Bliss and 5th went to #87-David Reutimann. 10 drivers swapped the lead 15 times in 225 laps. Pole-sitter Randy LaJoie, looking for his first victory since October 2001, led three times for 49 laps. But he knocked himself out of the race on lap 107 when he got loose after running up on traffic and slammed his Chevrolet into the wall in Turn 4 finishing 32nd. #92-Todd Bodine, the series’ points leader, was the only Winston Cup regular in the field. He started 22nd after Mike McLaughlin qualified his Chevrolet while Bodine qualified for Martinsville. But he lost position early when he slid on the back stretch and finished 13th.(ThatsRacin.com/AP)
For results see: ThatsRacin.com, BGNRacing.com, MotorsportsOne or NASCAR.com.(4-12-2003) - Joe Ruttman to race at Martinsville? UPDATE: hearing Joe Ruttman has been tapped as a relief driver for Ted Musgrave this weekend, and recently tested with the team. Musgrave is recovering from minor sugery but will supposedly start the race and Ruttman will stand by.(4-11-2003)
UPDATES: from Truckseries.com: There is a rumor floating around that Joe Ruttman may be called upon to sub for Ted Musgrave in the #1 Mopar Dodge. Ruttman is here, and he has spent considerable time in the Ultra Motorsports pits. When asked what his plans are for the weekend, he smiled and said “I am just here checking things out.” AND a quote from Musgrave: “My plan is to go down into turn one, turn right and take out Bobby, and hope the ricochet catches Travis. No, we don’t have to prove anything here. This team runs strong everywhere they go. Last year we got taken out by a lapped truck, but this place doesn’t owe me anything special. It owes everyone who races here something throughout the years. But as you get older and as you get nearer the end of your career, you really start to cherish each race you get to run here. If it comes down to the last lap, and it is me and Darrell running for the win, I think the washing machine will be in the spin cycle and there will be some bubbles on the wall. If I was racing my mother in a wheel chair, and she was in my way for the win, I wouldn’t give her any special treatment. She’d get spun out just the same if I have to!” – hmm, doesn’t sound like he has any plans on getting out of the truck AND Trackside Live! has asked Ted Musgrave if there is any truth to the rumor floating around that he will be using relief help here at Martinsville this weekend. “No,” was his one word response.
from Tedmusgrave.com: We went to Daytona last week to hang out at the house and get some landscaping done while Britt was at the trainers in Ocala getting ready for the World Show. The guys had a Dodge test scheduled for monday and tuesday at Greenville-Pickens, Joe Ruttman is a Dodge test driver so Ted said let him run the #1 that way we culd stay till tuesday afternoon and pick Britt up. The test rained out both days and Ted was in the shop wednesday morning at 8:00am. Any speculation on him getting out of the truck tomorrow is purely wishful..He is getting tired of answering stupid questions though.(4-12-2003)
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