April 30, 2002
- Penalties announced: NASCAR officials have announced penalties for five Cup crew chiefs and a BGN crew chief for rules violations that occurred during the race weekend at Talladega.
Steve Lane, crew chief of the #45 Dodge Intrepid, received $1,500 in fines for rules violations found during pre-race inspection prior to the Aaron’s 499 on April 21. Lane was penalized under Section 12-4-Q in the 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series rule book, “Any determination by NASCAR Officials that parts and/or equipment used in the Event do not conform to NASCAR rules: rear spoiler.” He received a $1,000 fine for the rear spoiler and in addition was fined $500 and penalized under Section 12-4-U: “fuel cell container thickness less than 20 gage”.
Michael McSwain, crew chief of the #28 Ford Taurus and Paul Andrews, crew chief of the #1 Chevy, both received $1,000 fines and were penalized under Section 12-4-Q: “Any determination by NASCAR Officials that parts and/or equipment used in the Event do not conform to NASCAR rules: axles.”
Crew chief of the #11 Ford, Doug Richert, was fined $500 and penalized under the same section for having a fuel cell check valve filler neck that exceeded 2-1/8 inches.
Buddy Barnes, crew chief of the #7 Dodge, was fined $250 and penalized for having a fuel cell vent that exceeded 1-1/4 inches.
Gary Cogswell, crew chief of the #36 BGN Dodge team, was fined $1,000 and penalized under section 12-4-Q for an aluminum brake pedal.
In addition, following this past weekend’s NASCAR Winston Cup Series race at California Speedway, three penalties were issued to the following crew chiefs:
Mike Beam, crew chief of the #32 Ford, was fined $500 for not returning the impact data recorder box to NASCAR officials after the race.
Greg Steadman, crew chief for the #43 Dodge and Bryant Frazier, crew chief of the #44 Dodge, were both fined $1,000 and penalized under Section 12-4-Q: “Any determination by NASCAR Officials that parts and/or equipment used in the Event do not conform to NASCAR rules: axles.”(NASCAR PR)(4-30-2002) - Nice Ride to School: A dream came true for 11-year-old Jonathan Greene of Pineville, NC today when NASCAR driver John Andretti drove the #43 Honey Nut Cheerios Dodge Intrepid to Greene’s apartment to pick him up for school. Greene won the ride to school in the Honey Nut Cheerios #43 Dodge Intrepid through a General Mills contest held during Speed Street, a NASCAR street festival held every May in Uptown Charlotte. Andretti driving the car was an added surprise. “Hello Mr. Andretti!” Greene exclaimed as he opened the door to welcome the Winston Cup driver. “This is awesome,” Greene later said. “This is the best ride to school I have ever had.”. Even Andretti was excited about the ride to South Charlotte Middle School. “This is one way to get excited about going to school,” Andretti said. “Jonathan and I had a great ride today. The car handled great and we definitely had a lot of horsepower out there. Who knows, this may give Jonathan the bug to become a future Winston Cup Champion.”(General Mills PR)(4-30-2002)
- Energizer Scheme? the Bunny? hearing Jimmy Spencer will run a Energizer Battery scheme sometime this season on the #41 Dodge, possibly at Kansas.(4-30-2002)
- Little E OK UPDATE: #8-Dale Earnhardt Jr. escaped injury in a frightening crash that occurred on lap 229 of Sunday’s NAPA Auto Parts 500 at California Speedway. The crash, which involved Earnhardt and 2001 rookie of the year Kevin Harvick, apparently occurred because Harvick had a flat tire and tried desperately to turn his Chevrolet down toward pit road. Unfortunately, Harvick lurched left just as Earnhardt was streaking by on his inside, and the impact caused Earnhardt’s Monte Carlo to spin around clockwise and hit the fourth-turn wall almost flush on the driver’s side. Earnhardt limped to the ambulance but reported only mild pain in his right ankle. Doctors released him but recommended that his condition be monitored and he consult his doctor Monday in North Carolina.(Gaston Gazette)(4-30-2002)
UPDATE: Dale Earnhardt Jr. endured what he deemed the “hardest hit” of his career Sunday, but he doesn’t think it’ll slow him this weekend in Richmond. He has a bruised and swollen right ankle and is sore after a crash with Kevin Harvick late in Sunday’s race at California. Earnhardt has won at Richmond and has never finished worse than 13th in a Winston Cup race here. “I’m pretty sore and beat up, but I’ll be OK for Richmond,” he said.(Richmond Times Dispatch)(4-30-2002)(4-30-2002) - Lannigan to test the #57? hearing that ARCA driver Darrell Lannigan will test the #57 CLR Ford at Lowes Motor Speedway next week.(4-30-2002)
- Vickers and the General: #40 BGN driver Brian Vickers will have a special guest at the Hardee’s 250 in Richmond, on Friday, May 3. Major General Terry E. Juskowiak of the U.S. Army, a two-star general, who assumed command of the Quartermaster Center and School, Fort Lee, Virginia in July 2001, will attend the event as Vickers’ guest. “This is an honor for me and our entire #40 EMP/U.S. Army team,” said the 18-year-old Vickers. “To have someone as important as Major General Juskowiak taking interest in our program, and taking time from his busy schedule to attend the race, is truly special.” The Commanding General earned a degree in political science from The Citadel, and earned his master’s degree from the Florida Institute of Technology. Major General Juskowiak has participated in Operation Just Cause in Panama, Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm, and Operation Desert Fox (Kuwait). Among other decorations, the Commanding General is authorized the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Bronze Star Medal, the Army Commendation Medal and the Army Achievement Medal. Command Sergeant Major Bradley Peat will join Major General Juskowiak at the race(brianvickers.com)(4-30-2002)
- Short Track Wisconsin Racer to make BGN debut: Lowell Bennett, one of the most accomplished short-track drivers in Wisconsin, winning FRRC titles in 1991 and ’98 and was the Red, White and Blue champion at WIR in 1999. In addition to winning titles at Slinger Speedway in 1996, 2000 and last year, Bennett also won the World Series of Asphalt Racing in Florida in 1997 and is a two-time champion of the Midwest All-Star Racing Series (1999 and 2000). Bennsett, 43, recently purchased a car from the BACE Motorsports team and intends to compete in up to five BGN races this year, starting with the June 30 race at the Milwaukee Mile. The timing was perfect for Bennett because BACE recently announced that, with help from Andy Petree, who owns the Winston Cup #55 car driven by Bobby Hamilton, it was going to become more involved in Winston Cup with its driver, Chad Little, for at least 15 races. Thus, it needed to unload some of its Busch cars. Bennett has already applied for his NASCAR license, and when he gets it he’ll be approved to race on tracks up to one-mile in length. “They took into consideration my experience, the champion-ships and the things we’ve been doing.” Bennett said. “I had to give them references and I gave them Rusty Wallace and Rich Bickle, two guys I’ve gotten to know pretty well. Everything I submitted is in order. I’m just waiting for a number and a rulebook.” In addition to Milwaukee, he’s also looking at entering the races at Gateway in Madison, Ill., Indianapolis Raceway Park, Memphis and possibly one more. He also plans to defend his championship at Slinger on Sunday nights, and run as many races as he can at Wisconsin International Raceway, as long as he doesn’t have a Busch conflict. “We have a dynamite motor program with Carl Wegner, but we’re going to be racing against people who have 25 to 30 employees and 12 cars,” he said.(paraphrased from the Post-Crescent) and more info on the Lowell Bennett Motorsports site(4-30-2002)
- #19 gets a sponsor for Richmond: Cox Communications Northern Virginia announced today it would sponsor BGN driver Tim Sauter and his #19 AP Performance Racing Chevrolet in this weekend’s Hardee’s 250 at Richmond International Raceway. The Cox logo will be on the hood of the #19 car with the familiar blue, red and green colors. Joining Cox in the #19 car sponsorship will be Toshiba, Speed Channel and CompUSA who will also have their company’s logos on the car. Sauter is coming off a career-best performance – a seventh-place finish -in the most recent BGN race at California Speedway. To highlight this partnership, Sauter’s #19 Chevy will sport a special electric blue paint scheme for the nighttime Richmond race.(AP Performance Racing PR)(4-30-2002)
- Cook and East – Congrats: ESPN pit reporter Amy East and her husband Terry Cook, driver of the #29-Power Stroke Diesel Ford in the CTS, have announced they are expecting an addition to their family after the completion of the current racing season. “Terry and I had discussed having children at some point in the future,” said the excited mother-to-be. “We know that with our busy schedules, that if it didn’t happen this year it would probably be a couple of years before we had this type of opportunity. We haven’t been trying all that long, and we both feel very fortunate to have it work out the way it did. Our entire family is so deeply involved in racing, so it is so nice to have this timed the way it is.” The timing could not have worked out any better. “Our due date is December 25, Christmas Day,” she said. “We couldn’t ask for a better Christmas gift. And it is timed out perfectly, right in the middle of the off season. That way, I can continue with my duties with ESPN and be at all of the events with Terry. I plan to be on pit road when the season starts up at Daytona in 2003, too.” The expectant father says the upcoming addition to the family definitely gives him an added incentive on the racetrack. “You know the old saying, baby needs a pair of new shoes?” Cook asked. “Well, at this point baby needs new everything! I really need to start collecting those wins and top-5s, and fast, to help furnish the baby’s nursery, don’t I? Maybe we can ask the Power Stroke folks if they want to sponsor Amy and the baby to help defray some of the costs,” Cook said with a smile. “In all seriousness,” Cook continued, “I have never been at the start of a racing season and couldn’t wait for it to be over. It’s usually the other way around; you just don’t want it to end. Now, that last race at Homestead can’t get here soon enough. The best part of the whole thing is knowing we will both be together at the track week in and week out and I will be there by Amy’s side the entire time. Winning races is great and what every racer is in this business for, but it truly doesn’t match the happiness we both feel right now.” The child will be the first grandchild for the East family, and the first great-grandchild for the Kennedy family. When asked what the couple is hoping for, boy or girl, Cook summed it up nicely. “Right now, we are both praying for ten fingers and ten toes. As long as we have a healthy baby, we will both consider ourselves to be very fortunate.”(PR)(4-30-2002)
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