April 26, 1998
- DuPont Unveils “Illusion Car” For NASCAR’S 50th Year: As part of the 50th anniversary of The National Association for Stock Car Racing (NASCAR), DuPont Automotive Finishes held a press conference at the Talladega Superspeedway Saturday to unveil “the illusion car”. The car is one of the famous #24s driven by NASCAR Winston Cup Champion Jeff Gordon, sponsored by DuPont. The #24 DuPont Chevy is painted in DuPont ChromaLusion® Pure Fire Prizm, a color that changes from red to gold, depending on the viewing angle. The car will be driven in The Winston race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 16. See the rest of the story at The DuPont Website. They expect to have images up soon. NASCAR Online has an image on it’s website. The paint cost $17 an ounce.(TNN, DuPont and NASCAR Online), also The Official Jeff Gordon Website has an excellent image of the car.(thanks Brad for the heads up)(4-26-98)
- According to his brother, John Hendrick, Rick Hendrick appears to be winning his battle against leukemia. “Rick’s doing real well, and his prognosis right now is that he’s real close to being in remission,” John Hendrick said yesterday of the man who owns the cars driven by Terry Labonte, Ricky Craven and defending Winston Cup points champion Jeff Gordon. “The treatment is still very difficult on him, and it makes him really sick. But all the tests have come back very positive. He’s got a great attitude and he expects to be back with [the team] next year.” John Hendrick is the acting head of Hendrick Motorsports during Rick’s absence.(Richmond Times-Dispatch)(4-26-98)
- Rich Bickle will also run the #98 Thorn Apple Valley Ford at the California Speedway on May 3rd as Greg Sacks is still recovering from his Texas 500 injuries.(NASCAR Online)(4-26-98)
- The #47 Fans Can Race Ford Thunderbird picked up Philips sponsorship for the Talladega race as Geoff Bodine, driver of the #7 Philips Ford failed to make the race. And Billy pulled out a 28th place finish.(4-26-98)
- The cars of Bobby Labonte (#18 Pontiac), Dale Jarrett (#88 Ford) and Terry Labonte (#5 Chevrolet) were chosen by NASCAR to go the Lockheed wind tunnel in Marietta, GA(NASCAR Online)(4-26-98)
- Grand marshalls for the Diehard 500 were representatives of the “Alabama Gang,” which is the group of drivers that migrated here from their home state of Florida. On hand will be Bobby Allison, father of the late Davey Allison, Donnie Allison, Red Farmer and Susan Bonnett, wife of the late Neil Bonnett.(Richmond Times-Dispatch)(4-26-98)
- John Hendrick said he’ll meet with Budweiser officials tomorrow to make a final decision on who’ll be behind the wheel of the No. 50 car for the rest of the season. Craven had been the driver before he had to step aside because of post-concussion syndrome. Busch regular Randy LaJoie has been the substitute, and will be through the May 31 Dover, Del., race. Hendrick confirmed that the team has talked to Robby Gordon, although Craven has said he wants to return by the July 4 race at Daytona. Regardless, Hendrick said LaJoie will drive the car at all the remaining short-track races if he’s
needed.(Richmond Times-Dispatch)(4-26-98) - Want to help out Kevin Lepage and the #91 LJ Racing team, call the Dare County Tourism Board at 1-888-SEE-DARE or goto their site at http://www.outer-banks.com/visitor-info and let them know you support the team and maybe even request information on vacations to the Outer Banks? Dare County is the area covered by what is known as the Outer Banks, NC. It includes areas such as Cape Hatteras which is where the Lighthouse is that is on the hood.(4-26-98)
- Until Bobby Labonte won today at Talladega, Bill Elliott was the last driver to win the DieHard 500 from the pole. He accomplished the feat in 1985.(NASCAR Online)(4-26-98)
- Randy LaJoie blew an engine at the beginning of ‘Happy Hour’ practice and will start the Diehard 500 with an untested engine. Bill Elliott also changed an engine prior to the race.(TNN’s Raceday)(4-26-98)
- Tim Brewer, the veteran crew chief who helped turn Geoff Bodine’s #7 team around over the past year, is under consideration for two jobs, one with Bechtel as manager for the Green team, another with Felix Sabates and Sterling Marlin, according to sources close to the situation.(JournalNow NASCAR News)(4-26-98)
- If Chevrolet officials don’t keep an eye on Wally Dallenbach, he might end up back on the Ford roster. Car owner David Blair(#27 Ford, Kenny Irwin ran some races in this car in 1997), who worked with Ford’s Robert Yates last year in developing rookie Kenny Irwin, has been talking with Dallenbach, who concedes his future with car owner Sabates is a bit uncertain.(JournalNow NASCAR News)(4-26-98)
- Word from several sources is that Robby Gordon is a long shot to replace Craven/LaJoie in the No. 50 car. A new possibility is Wally Dallenbach, who’s been struggling in his second season for Team Sabco. Word is that crew chief Tony Furr would love the chance to work with Dallenbach, one of the more popular drivers in the garage area.(Richmond Times-Dispatch)(4-26-98)
- A couple of hours after the race, NASCAR Busch series spokesman Tim Sullivan announced that inspectors had found “questionable devices” on the shock absorbers of Nemechek’s car. Sullivan said the discovery would not affect the outcome of the race, but that further actions could be taken and any such measures would be announced later this week.(Greensboro News & Record Online/Bob Zeller)(4-26-98)
- Four fans were injured Saturday at Talladega during the BGN race when Brad Loney’s windshield popped out of a car and went into the stands during one of the many accidents that occurred.(That’s Racin’/AP)(4-26-98)
- Rick Mast was off to Arizona to work on his road racing at the Bob Bondurant School of Racing at Firebird Speedway in Tucson last Tuesday and Wednesday.(Greensboro News & Record Online/Bob Zeller)(4-26-98)
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