May 9, 2003
- Sadler leaving #54? UPDATE 2 Sadler leaves Busch ride, will focus on Cup team: hearing that Hermie Sadler asked for and was given his release from his contract to drive for #54 Team Bristol Motorsports. No word on his future plans or those of Team Bristol Motorsports.(5-6-2003)
UPDATE: also hearing Team Bristol will not go to the race at Gateway and that sponsor Toy-R-Us may be leaving the team.(5-7-2003)
UPDATE 2 – Sadler leaves Busch ride, will focus on Cup team: Hermie Sadler has left the #54 Busch Series team, which is on hiatus for at least four races after apparently losing its primary sponsor. “The money hadn’t been there all year to do what we needed,” said Sadler, ranked 25th in the points standings through 10 starts with a best finish of 11th at Richmond. “They said they needed to take four to five weeks off, so I asked them to release me.” Sadler is focusing on his #02 Winston Cup team and will drive a Virginia Tech-emblazoned car in The Winston Open on May 17 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. He is hunting for another Busch ride but didn’t rule out a return to the #54 if the team’s funding problems are resolved.(Richmond Times Dispatch)(5-9-2003) - Sad News: Jim Kent passed away on May 7th. Kent was with NASCAR before joining the NASCAR Craftsman Super Truck Series in its inaugural year. He became the chief tech inspector and held that position until 2001.(RacingWest.com)(5-9-2003)
- DEWALT Extends Sponsorship with Kenseth and the #17: Roush Racing announced that DEWALT Industrial Power Tool Co. has signed a multi-year extension to continue as the primary sponsor of the #17 DEWALT Tools Ford driven by current point leader Matt Kenseth in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. “The race program with Matt Kenseth and Roush has become a focal point for DEWALT’s relationship with our customers and end users,” stated Chris Allen, DEWALT’s Vice-President of Marketing. “We’re really excited by the marketing gains the DEWALT team has helped us achieve and we look forward to several more years of on and off-track success with Roush and Matt,” he added. In keeping with the practices of both companies, financial terms were not disclosed. “The extension of the DEWALT relationship means a lot to me,” said the Cambridge, Wisconsin native. “DEWALT has been my primary sponsor since I began in the Busch Series and I’m happy to know that we’ll be together many more years in the Winston Cup Series. I think we’ve gotten off to a great start this year with our consistency and our goal is to do our best week in and week out in order to put ourselves in position to bring DEWALT and Jack Roush a Winston Cup Championship,” he added.(DeWalt Site)(5-9-2003)
- Governor loses control of race car, wrecks at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Not Injured: North Carolina Governor Mike Easley, who was turning practice laps in a Winston Cup car at Lowe’s Motor Speedway Friday morning, lost control of the car while exiting Turn 2 and wrecked on the backstretch. Easley was not injured, speedways officials confirmed. The accident occurred about 11:45am.et and Easley’s car – a #48 Chevy from Hendrick Motorsports – was the only car on the track at the time. Easley was wearing the HANS device, one of two head-and-neck restraint systems mandated by NASCAR in October 2001. After the wreck, Easley stood by the car joking with his staff and track officials and even autographed the crumpled car before it was towed away. Easley drove two laps behind the pace cars for two parade laps before last October’s Winston Cup race at Charlotte. He’d planned to run three laps in honor of the late Dale Earnhardt, but a rain delay and damp track conditions spoiled those plans. Easley was at the track Friday to practice in preparation of reprising that role during May race activities at the speedway.(ThatsRacin.com)
AND A close call this morning for North Carolina Governor Mike Easley at Lowes Motor Speedway. Driving an old Jimmie Johnson #48 Lowes Chevy The Governor lost the handle coming out of turn 2 then crashed.along the backstretch wall while practicing for a pre-race event for The Winston All-Star race next weekend. Easley, who was clocked at just over 165 miles per hour when the accident occured was not injured. After autographing pieces of the wrecked car he continued his pace laps in an old Terry Labonte #5 Kelloggs Monte Carlo.(PRN’s Garage Pass)(5-9-2003) - Mario on TV: Auto Racing great and winner of the Indy 500 and Daytona 500, Mario Andretti will be the guest on Speed Channel’s Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain tonight [May 9th] at 11:00pm/et. More info on the show at the Speed Channel site.(5-9-2003)
- Panther Power at The Winston: Dave Blaney and the #77 Jasper Motorsports team will run the special “Panther Power” scheme on the #77 Jasper Engines and Transmissions Ford during competition at The Winston at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte. The design is one of three special paint schemes to be used during the next three months by Blaney and the #77 team [not sure what the other two are…yet]. The Panther Power die-casts—both 1/24 and 1/64 scale—will be available June 9 at all NASCAR at-track and retail outlets as part of the Team Caliber Pit-Stop Series.(Jasper Motorsports PR). See a drawing of the car on my Paint Scheme Gallery.(5-9-2003)
- Gordon 9th overall at Indy practice: Robby Gordon returned to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in fast fashion Thursday, posting the ninth-fastest lap at 230.214mph (39.0941 seconds). Gordon strapped back into the #27 Archipelago/Motorola Dallara/Honda/Firestone yesterday after taking Wednesday off for a previous engagement.(RCR PR)(5-9-2003)(5-9-2003)
- SAFER Tests Goes Well: NASCAR managing director of competition Gary Nelson said Tuesday’s test of the impact-absorbing SAFER barrier wall “went well,” but it will be 20-30 days before engineers will tell NASCAR if it is ready to be installed on the turns of Richmond International Raceway and New Hampshire International Speedway. Engineers at the University of Nebraska’s Midwest Roadside Safety Facility crashed a used Winston Cup car into a modified version of the original SAFER barrier that was fitted to a mock-up of one of Richmond’s turns. SAFER, which stands for Steel and Foam Energy Reduction, was installed on the outside retaining walls at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway last May; NASCAR and Indy Racing League drivers said the barrier significantly cushioned the impact of crashes. The modified barrier is similar to the original but comes in much shorter sections so it can curve to fit tight-radius turns at short tracks. Dean Sicking, who is in charge of the SAFER project, and his engineers will review computer data gathered during the test to determine if it is ready. Even if Sicking approves it within 30 days, it is unlikely to be installed at New Hampshire for its July 21 Winston Cup race. However, it could be in place in time for the September races at Richmond and New Hampshire. (USA Today)(5-9-2003)
- Drivers to be inducted at Thunder Road: On Friday, May 9th [Tonight] at Thunder Road in Dawsonville, GA, eight auto racing legends will be inducted into the Georgia Automobile Racing Hall of Fame – 2nd annual HoF Induction Ceremony: Mechanic Henry Jones, 1960 Winston Cup champion Rex White, promoter Alf Knight, announcer Jimmy Mosteller and drivers Bob Flock, Frank Mundy, Ed Samples and Jack Smith. More info at the Georgia Automobile Racing Hall of Fame Association site.
AND Thunder Road U.S.A. may run out of gas without financial assistance. The entertainment complex/Georgia Racing Hall of Fame has fallen on hard times since it opened its doors a year ago. Thus during a spiraling economy, Thunder Road has not been the destination of the estimated 350,000 people expected to visit the complex annually. To date, only 5,865 visitors have made the trip to the racing Mecca in 2003. Scheduled to celebrate its second birthday Friday, Thunder Road’s financial setbacks may be too much to overcome to prop the doors open without a financial boost. A meeting of the Joint Development Authority of Dawsonville/Dawson County is scheduled for 10:00am on Friday at Thunder Road U.S.A. to discuss the crisis. The public is invited to attend.(Dawson News & Advertiser)(5-9-2003) - Lewis Jr wins pole at Gateway: #46-Ashton Lewis won the pole for Charter Pipeline 250 at Gateway International Speedway with a speed of 131.903mph, followed by #2-Ron Hornaday, #57-Jason Keller, #59-Stacy Compton and #38-Kasey Kahne. Only 42 cars showed up, so all made the field.
For qualifying results/lineup, see ThatsRacin.com, BGNRacing.com or NASCAR.com.(5-9-2003) - Rose Suspended UPDATE 3 Appeal Denied: NASCAR Craftsman Truck series driver Brian Rose has been informed by NASCAR officials that he has been indefinitely suspended from the series, ThatsRacin.com has learned. Rose has been suspended for “actions detrimental to stock car racing” and a formal announcement regarding his suspension is expected to be made Monday. Rose’s suspension does not come as a result of actions during a race or on the track, but NASCAR officials are unlikely to be more specific about the cause, sources said Saturday. Rose has started in two of the series’ four races in 2003. He finished 14th at Darlington, S.C., and 24th at the most recent race at Martinsville, Va. He competed in 21 races in 2002 with one top-five and five top-10 finishes while driving for Bobby Hamilton Racing. He made his series debut in 2001.(ThatsRacin.com)(4-26-2003)
UPDATE: NASCAR officials announced today that NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Brian C. Rose has been suspended indefinitely for actions detrimental to stock car racing (Section 12-4-A of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Rule Book).(NASCAR PR), no idea why he was suspended, meaning the details.(4-28-2003)
UPDATE 2: Brian Rose tells this week’s NASCAR Winston Cup Scene that he is working to resolve the issues surrounding his indefinite suspension by NASCAR so he can return to competition. While NASCAR did not specify the reasons for its actions, the 23-year-old driver told Scene he was suspended for not following NASCAR’s instructions on taking a drug test. “I was told to go to a specific location by NASCAR,” Rose said. “I went across from that location and checked into an emergency hospital when I should have remained at the designated location. I should have paid more specific attention and detail to what NASCAR told me to do. It was my own fault I didn’t follow specific procedures.” He said all of the tests were negative.(Winston Cup Scene Daily Newsletter)(4-30-2003)
UPDATE 3: On May 9, 2003, the National Stock Car Racing Commission heard and considered the appeal of Brian Rose. The penalty did not stem from a racing competition, but instead from a clinical laboratory test the Appellant was directed to take by NASCAR in accordance with NASCAR’s Substance Abuse Policy. The penalty imposed by NASCAR was indefinite suspension. During the Hearing, the Appellant admitted that he failed to properly comply with the testing procedures set forth in the Substance Abuse Policy. NASCAR, at its discretion, may wish to schedule another substance abuse test for the Appellant at some future time, as well as any additional requirements to assure compliance with NASCAR’s Substance Abuse Policy. However, the Commission finds that NASCAR acted correctly in imposing an indefinite suspension in light of the facts. It is therefore the unanimous decision of the National Stock Car Racing Commission to uphold the penalty assessed by NASCAR. The Appellant has the right, under Section 15 of the NASCAR Rule Book, to appeal this decision to the National Stock Car Racing Commissioner.(NASCAR PR)(5-9-2003)
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