April 17, 2000
- Slow Down at ‘Dega UPDATE 2: Richard Childress and Jack Roush have prepared cars for a special test here Monday in an effort to slow Winston Cup cars down enough so they won’t need a carburetor restrictor plate. Nelson said teams came to him with some ideas, and he decided to try them out on the race track. One of the ideas is a bigger “greenhouse,” the size and shape of the rear window area(Total Sports). Ned Jarrett’s idea is to stand the windshield up, like the trucks, that’ll slow them down(4-15-2000)
UPDATE: NASCAR has closed the test to the media except for long-distance photography, and there are indications that NASCAR officials aren’t very enthusiastic about the test. See full story by Mike Mulern at PitNow
UPDATE 2: On RPM2Nite the two cars being tested were shown. The #6 Ford was driven by Matt Kanseth and had some sheet metal modifications done around the nose and hood. The #3 Chevy was driven by Dave Marcis and supposedly had a raised roof(by one inch) and widened by 2 inches. Also it was speculated on the show the the windshield was being tested at different angles. The cars with present restrictor plates and modifications were slowed down by 3 seconds. Using a larger restrictor plate (unknown size) the 3 seconds were regained. More testing will be done on Tuesday(RPM2Nite)(4-17-2000) - Cope Talks: Saying he was misled by the Fenley/Moore Motorsports owners, Winston Cup driver Derrike Cope left the Spartanburg race team to make himself available for any empty seats which may lead to a full-time ride. “I don’t feel like they lived up to what they promised,” Cope said Sunday. “They said we would run a full schedule. That didn’t happen. Team Owner Fenley said the team is still looking at a limited schedule for the rest of the season, but would not say whether Musgrave is in those plans. See full story at GoUpstate/Herald Journal(SC): Cope: I was misled by Fenley/Moore by Todd Shanesy(4-17-2000)
- Marathon UPDATE: Michael Waltrip participated in Monday’s Boston Marathon
UPDATE: Michael Waltrip completed the Boston Marathon in four hours, forty-two minutes and 20 seconds and finished 14,315 out of 17,813 entrants(Williams Company PR)(4-17-2000) - Gordon the Youngest Cup driver to reach 50 career wins. #24-Jeff Gordon is the youngest driver to reach the 50 career win mark at 28 years 8 months old. Richard Petty was a year older when he won his 50th in 1967. Lee Petty was the oldest at 46. And the fastest too, Gordon won his 50th in only 232 races, Dale Earnhardt did it in 369(not 278) races, Richard Petty did in 332 races(4-17-2000)
- Bad Parts: The NASCAR Winston Cup hauler has a table that holds all of the items that are confiscated each week-end. Normally it’s big enough to hold all the illegal items taken from the various teams. This week, at Talladega, the table is overflowing. The following is a partial list of the items. #32-Scott Pruett, oversized throttle plate, carburetor was pulled; #16-Kevin LePage, irregular rear spoiler; #44-Kyle Petty, rear spoiler too thick; #43-John Andretti, rear spoiler too thick; #17-Matt Kenseth, spoiler made of unapproved material; #97-Chad Little, spoiler made of unapproved material; #6-Mark Martin, non-approved rear hubs; #21-Elliott Sadler, non-approved rear hubs; #40-Sterling Marlin, unapproved spring. Plus dozens of teams had to cut away area’s of their cars and reshape using Bondo or similar type material(Insider Racing)(4-17-2000)
- Did ya Know? The last three winners at Talladega have started 17th or worse. In the previous 50 races here, only two winners started further back than 15th and Not only have nine different drivers won the nine races this year, but nine different drivers have led the most laps each race(News and Observer)(4-17-2000)
- One More Lap: #22 Car owner Bill Davis said the reason Ward Burton dropped from second to 10th on the final lap was that Burton thought the race ended when one lap actually remained(Roanoke Times)(4-17-2000)
- More #7 Sale Stories UPDATE once again, no sale: For the last couple of weeks, Michael Waltrip has heard the rumors that the team he drives for is about to be sold or has been sold by car owner Jim Mattei(rumored to #2 CTS owner Jim Smith). See the stories at the Roanoke Times and Total Sports and Speed Magazine and Alabama Live. I keep hearing both rumors, some say the team has been sold, others say no, so….???(4-16-2000)
UPDATE: Jim Mattei, owner of the #7 team, said Sunday that contrary to rumors he has no plans to sell the team. He is interested, however, in allying or merging with another team, saying single-car teams have no real chance in the present environment. Mattei said he had talked with Tim Beverley, owner of the #10 Lycos team, and Nelson Bowers, co-owner of the #36 M&M’s Pontiac, among others. He also said he has received calls from other people interested in buying the team or becoming a partner in it. Mattei insists, however, that an alliance with another team is a more likely alternative. He also said he has had talks with Jim Smith, owner of the#2 CTS team, with Smith showing interest in fielding a Cup team, but probably no time soon(SpeedVision)(4-17-2000) - Dodge Templates OK’d UPDATE um…nope: Dodge has received NASCAR approval for its Intrepid model, due for debut in 2001 at the Daytona 500, and templates have been made, Dodge program director Ray Evernham said Friday at Talladega. How about the engine program? Evernham did not say whether all parts have been approved, but he indicated Dodge’s engine has been cleared at least for development(SpeedVision)(4-15-2000)
UPDATE: NASCAR officials denied a report that appeared that said NASCAR had approved body templates for the 2001 Dodge Intrepid. The report said those templates have been used to build the cars Dodge car owner Ray Evernham will use in upcoming testing sessions(That’s Racin’)(4-17-2000) - Yates OK: #28 and #88 owner Robert Yates was uninjured in a pit-road incident. Dave Blaney entered the pits too fast and lost control of his #93 Amoco Pontiac, spinning almost the entire length of pit road and bouncing off the wall. A startled Yates fell from his pit wall, (hitting his head) and an ambulance was called over by the team. He shooed away emergency workers and returned to work(Times-Dispatch)(4-17-2000)
- Interesting Money Stuff: At the Goody’s 500 in Martinsville a week ago, the alleged purse was $2,288,867. The actual payout was $1,748,540, meaning that the percentage of the “posted awards” that were paid, as opposed to “posted,” was 76.4 percent(Gaston Gazette)(4-17-2000)
- Ganassi/Sabates? No: Felix Sabates denied rumors that he might sell his Cup operation, possibly to CART owner Chip Ganassi, who appears poised to join Winston Cup next season. He admitted he had talked to Ganassi last year and had advised Ganassi on such a move, but had no interest in selling(SpeedVision)(4-17-2000)
- Trickle and LaJoie OK: Dick Trickle will drive the #60 Power Team Chevy in the Cup race at Talladega after a hard wreck in Saturday’s BGN race there. Trickle suffered a bruised foot when he was hit on the driver’s side by Randy LaJoie. LaJoie was temporarily knocked unconscious, regained alertness and was taken to Caraway Methodist Medical Center for a CAT scan. No other serious injuries were reported in the race(Speed Magazine)(4-16-200)
UPDATE: Randy LaJoie was scheduled to be released Sunday night from Carraway Methodist Medical Center in Birmingham, AL. LaJoie suffered a mild concussion in a crash during the BGN race at Talladega. Results from a CAT scan didn’t turn up any problems, so LaJoie will be sent home(Total Sports)(4-17-2000) - Nemechek Illegal? UPDATE 2: hearing rumors that the #87 Joe Nemechek Cellular One Chevy that won the Talladega race may have been found to have some illegalities. No idea on any penalties, but NASCAR rarely takes a win away but fines the team and takes away points from the owner and driver. Case in point: Mike Skinner at Atlanta in March 1999 and Greg Biffle last year in the CTS where the team was fined and points deducted, costing Biffle the championship, but he kept the win
UPDATE: NASCAR inspectors discovered some “irregularities” late Saturday during a post-race inspection of Nemechek’s #87 Chevy that won Saturday’s Touchstone Energy 300 at Talladega Superspeedway. Kevin Triplett, NASCAR’s director of operations, said Sunday that Nemechek’s team is likely to face some sort of financial penalty, but the driver would not have his win stripped away. Triplett said NASCAR would issue a decision either clearing Nemechek or assessing a penalty by late Monday or early Tuesday.(That’s Racin’)(4-16-2000)
UPDATE 2: Nemechek’s BGN crew chief, Brian Pattie, was fined $20,000 for the car having quarter panels that did not meet specifications(RPM2Nite/That’s Racin’)(4-17-2000)
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