April 14, 2003
- TV Ratings for Martinsville – FORE: Fox’s broadcast of Sunday’s Virginia 500 Winston Cup race from Martinsville Speedway drew an overnight Nielsen rating of 4.6 and a 10 share, according to today’s Sports Business Daily. The weekend’s highest ratings went to CBS, which posted a 9.3/19 for Sunday’s coverage of the final round of the Masters golf tournament and a 6.2/14 for Saturday’s round, although those figures were down 6 and 11 percent respectively. The 2002 race was aired on Fox’s FX cable station, where it drew a 4.5/11, according to Sports Business Daily figures.(Winston Cup Daily Newsletter)(4-14-2003)
- $100 Million into R&D: NASCAR says it plans to invest $100 million over the next decade in its new Concord research and development center — welcome news for a sour local economy. “Having the NASCAR research and development facility here is like having a Johns Hopkins or Mayo Clinic. That’s the kind of impact it’ll have,” said John Cox, chief executive officer of the Cabarrus Regional Chamber of Commerce. Chief among the problems the local economy has experienced lately are the financial hard times hitting several major companies, including Kannapolis textile giant Pillowtex Corp., which is for sale, and Corning Inc., which mothballed its Midland optical fiber plant this year. Cox said the $100 million investment will ripple through the local economy many times over, from the jobs NASCAR adds, to the homes its employees buy, to the spending by people working for or coming to the center. The NASCAR complex on West Winds Boulevard (off Derita Road across from Concord Regional Airport) houses the racing organization’s research and development work, as well as accident investigators, racing series directors and other NASCAR workers. The 61,000-square-foot facility opened in December. The research work focuses on short- and long-term projects ranging from testing surfaces of race track walls to designing safer cars. NASCAR owns 16 acres across from the regional airport, where it has a hangar. Its corporate headquarters is in Florida. NASCAR itself is continuing to expand, and Nelson sees growth at the Concord center mirroring growth in the sport. NASCAR had offices in the Catawba County town of Conover for about two years before it moved to the larger Concord site. The initial investment in the Concord project was $8 million, according to the Cabarrus Economic Development Corp.(Charlotte Observer)(4-14-2003)
- Only Two races to go to get in The Winston: there are only two points races left for some drivers to get into the 2003 The Winston, a few drivers not in the race yet who have won in the past few years: #99-Jeff Burton; #43-John Andretti; #19-Jeremy Mayfield; #01-Jerry Nadeau; #25-Joe Nemechek; #1-Steve Park; #45-Kyle Petty; #49-Ken Schrader and #7-Jimmy Spencer. If these drivers do not win at California or Richmond, they will need to win the Winston Open to get in the race. 2-Rusty Wallace and #5-Terry Labonte are in automatically for being past Winston Cup champs.(4-14-2003)
- Lap Leaders: no new lap leaders for the year at Martinsville. #8-Dale Earnhardt Jr [who finished 3rd] led the most laps with 195, just edging out #24-Jeff Gordon. Gordon led at halfway and garnered the MBNA Mid-Race Leader Award and the bonus since he won, a cool $35,000 bonus for winning after leading at halfway. The driver with the most laps led in 2003 is #24-Gordon with 604 over #8-Earnhardt Jr at 497, however, Earnhardt Jr has the most miles led with 605.7 while Gordon is 2nd with 572.7. Earnhrdt Jr leads Gordon in 2003 Bonus Points, 50-40. Chevy has led 1628 of the 2909 laps run in 2003 [56%] followed by Ford at 717, Pontiac has only led 15 laps in 2003. Eight drivers have made ALL the races so far in 2003 an NOT led a lap yet: #01-Jerry Nadeau; #9-Jack Sprague; #4-Mike Skinner; #10-Johnny Benson; #23-Kenny Wallace; #42-Jamie McMurray; #49-Ken Schrader; #74-Tony Raines. See my Lap/Miles Bonus Leaders page for the full rundown.(4-14-2003)
- Gordon Fact: Twelve of Jeff Gordon ‘s 62 victories have come on short tracks.(Roanoke Times)(4-14-2002)
- Stewart wins….a winged sprint car race: Reigning Cup champ #20-Tony Stewart realized a personal accomplishment Friday night. Stewart passed Jake Peters of Sioux Falls, S.D., on a 14th-lap re-start and won his first winged sprint-car feature in the Winged Outlaw Warrior-sanctioned event at Sedalia’s State Fair Speedway in Sedalia, MO. The race in front of an estimated crowd of 7,500 served as a support-class event as a part of a World of Outlaws sprint-car program. Outlaw driver Danny Lasoski of Higginsville, Mo., supplied a car for Stewart to drive. “This is great, and it was a lot of fun,” Stewart said. “We decided to take part in the race at the last minute, and everything worked out well for us.” Stewart began his night by running second to Larry Ball Jr. of Knoxville, Iowa, in the last of four heat races. In the feature, Peters led by as much as a straightaway by lap eight, but Stewart closed within three car lengths when Eric Jobe of Kansas City flipped in the fourth turn on lap 13, causing a caution period that set the stage for Stewart’s pass on the restart.(Kansas City Star)(4-14-2003)
- Wilburn staying at the #2 UPDATE 2 Parrott to the #2? Denied: #2-Rusty Wallace/Penske Racing crew chief, Billy Wilburn, said there are no truth to the rumors [not here!] that he is leaving the team or being released.(XM Satellite- NASCAR Radio – Subscription Required)(4-10-2003)
UPDATE: the rumor floating around is that once Todd Parrott gets out of his ‘lifetime’ contract with Robert Yates, he could be headed to the #2 Penske team.(4-10-2003)
UPDATE 2: Penske Racing president Walt Czarnecki says the rumors that Todd Parrott would take over as crew chief for Rusty Wallace were “nonsense.” That was comforting to crew chief Bill Wilburn, who who “went right to Rusty” when talk of a change began circulating. “I know we haven’t run well lately,” Wilburn says. “But if we won a race, no one would be talking.” Parrott was placed on indefinite leave by Robert Yates Racing, and sources in the garage say Parrott has been told he has 30 days to find another job.(Sporting News)(4-14-2003) - Sponsorships Up: Roush needs 4? Pennzoil looking? Car owners working the sponsorship marketplace are starting to put offers on the table, and the next few weeks will likely be filled with rumors of possible driver and team changes, rumors based on some contract negotiating points. Jack Roush needs to lock up sponsors for four of his five teams, and DEI’s sponsorship deal with Pennzoil is up for renewal. The Pennzoil contract may be the hottest one at the moment, and it’s not at all clear if the company will remain with DEI.(Winston Salem Journal)(4-14-2003)
- Toyota Stuff – Ganassi and Davis? Things have been pretty quiet on the Toyota front lately, but work on the Japanese company’s new NASCAR Tundra racer is well under way. The two NASCAR teams expected to play a big role in Toyota’s truck venture next season are the ones owned by Chip Ganassi and Bill Davis, although neither is willing to confirm anything. Davis’ suspected Toyota truck operation, according to team sources, is being run at a secret shop that is being called Area 54, a take-off on the U.S. government’s top-secret flight base, Area 51. Where might that shop be? According to sources, it’s probably at Davis’ old Busch shop in Thomasville, NC.(Winston Salem Journal)(4-14-2003)
- Roush Comments on the Restrictor Plate Racing: Jack Roush might have a new lease on life, and the accompanying attitude that a near death experience brings, but Roush has no love in his heart for the racing venues known as Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.
Roush can rattle-off reason after reason why restrictor plate racing should become a thing of the past, including:
• Four races of the year cost the same as a whole program
• He’s tired of hauling wrecked cars home from such tracks
• He dislikes requiring his drivers endure the experience.
But, Roush sums-up the entire exercise — taxing. Add the new no call from NASCAR angle from last week’s Talladega race, where Roush had a vested interest in the winner, and he just shakes his head. “Five teams is probably a fifteen million dollar proposition,” Roush said regarding the investment that is made to prepare Mark Martin’s, Jeff Burton’s, Matt Kenseth’s, Kurt Busch’s and Greg Biffle’s cars for probable destruction on a plate track.(See full story at Ford Racing)(4-14-2003) - Helton defends Talladega ‘no-call’: NASCAR president Mike Helton insisted once again Sunday that the no-call on Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s controversial pass below the yellow line on Lap 185 of the Aaron’s 499 was the right call. “It was clear to us last weekend that when the 8 car (Earnhardt Jr.) went below the yellow line he didn’t do it to advance a position,” Helton said in a taped interview with Fox Sports anchor Mike Joy. “He did it primarily to avoid an accident.” Helton also said that Earnhardt Jr. had already made the pass before going below the yellow line. “He already had the position,” Helton said. “(Winston Cup Series director) John Darby explained it inside the garage area to some folks earlier today. If you had a start-finish line at that point before he went below the yellow line, who would the winner be? Everybody agreed it would be the 8 car. If the 8 car was the leader, how can he gain a position?” Appearing on the Fox Sports prerace show, Helton acknowledged the controversy that has raged all week. “The thing that we hope everybody will remember is that…we have areas where judgment calls have to be made,” Helton said. “It’s just like in baseball with balls and strikes or whether he’s out or safe…those type of judgment calls exist in our sport, too. We’re the sanctioning body and we’re the ones who have to make them.”(ThatsRacin.com)(4-14-2003)
- Wrong tires? Ricky Craven’s crew apparently got the left-side tires on the right and the right sides on the left on the last stop.(Winston Salem Journal)(4-14-2003)
- No Gas For Herman: #23-Kenny Wallace finished 12th Sunday but had to work his way back from two laps down to do that. Wallace lost the ground when he made a green-flag pit stop before the rest of the field came in under yellow. Wallace was forced into the stop because, on an earlier stop, he didn’t get a full load of fuel in his Dodge. “The track only had three gas pumps open,” said Wallace, whose team was lined up at the gas pumps to get its fuel cans filled.. “When I pitted we couldn’t put gas in our car because we didn’t have gas. So I had to pit again. We easily had a top-five car. I came from the back three times and I was two laps down and made them up. What are you going to do?”(ThatsRacin.com)(4-14-2003)
- Rumblings – Martinsville: Jeff Gordon’s win was his 4th at Martinsville, the 62nd of his career (he’s 7th on the all-time win list), the 110th for Hendrick Motorsports, and he’s the first driver to win from the pole this season (Kurt Busch won the 2002 finale at Homestead from the top-spot). We’ve now had 9 different winners in the first nine races….and Gordon’s take of the $4.0+M in posted awards was a cool $219,143 (that’s more than Dale got last week at that “big track”, tho the posted awards were greater).
Jeff Burton (4th) had his best finish since he was 3rd at Homestead last November.
Ken Schrader (10th) had his best finish since he was 10th at Darlington in September of 2001
STREAKIN….Dale Earnhardt Jr has 6 Top-10’s in the last 7 races. Jeff Gordon has 5 Top-10’s in the last 6 races.
This Week’s Elevator….UP: Operator of the week (in a very quiet shaft this week) is Bobby Labonte (+37). DOWN: The Big Dropper was Ryan Newman (-35), followed by Jamie McMurray (-28). This is the second week in a row that Newman has headlined the downer category. The best move forward in the points goes to Kenny Wallace (28th to 23rd), while Ryan Newman fell the most spots (11th to 20th). Newman was 8th in the points when we left Texas…it sure has been all downhill since his victory there (might have something to do with being the Big Dropper back-to-back).(StockCarFans.Com WinstonCup Newsletter)(4-14-2003) - Congrats: Hank Parker Jr. and wife Wendy are proud parents of a beautiful baby girl born April 13th. They named her Alexandria Grace Parker and she was 7 pounds 11 ounces and 20 1/2″.(4-14-2003)
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