5C
SPORTS/S^e Charlotte $odt
Thursday, August 11, 200£
Mark Martin
moved up one
spot in the
standings to
sixth following a
seventh-place
finish at
Indianapolis.
STANDINGS
llow the top 10 stack up this week
NEXTEL CUP
Following the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard
1. Tony Stewart
2,923; previous: 2
2. Jimmie Johnson
2,848; previous: 1
3. Greg Biffle
2,812; previous: 3
• 4. Rusty Wallace
2,705; previous: 4
5. Kurt Busch
2,646; previous; 5
6. Mark Martin
2,636; previous: 7
7. Ryan Newman
2,568; previous: 6
8. Jeremy Mayfield
2,554; previous: 8
9. Dale Jarrett
2,493; previous; 10
10. Carl Edwards
2,487; previous: 12
BUSCH SERIES i
Following the Kroger 200
1. Martin Truex Jr.
3,286; previous: 1
2. Clint Bowyer
3,201; previous: 2
3. Reed Sorenson
3,182; previous: 3
4. Carl Edwards
2,955; previous: 4
5. Kenny Wallace
2,890; previous: 5
6. Denny Hamlin
2,847; previous: 6
7. David Green
2,629; previous: 7
8. David Stremme —
2,593; previous: 9
9. Ashton Lewis
2,573; previous: 8
10. Paul Menard
2,550: previous: 10
% THE RACING 411
NEXTEL CUP
Race: Sirius Satellite Radio at The Glen
Where: Watkins Glen International; Watkins Glen,
N.Y.
When: Sunday, 1:30 p.m., ET
Defending champion: Tony Stewart overcame an
upset stomach to win last year’s Sirius at the Glen.
Track qualifying record: Jeff Gordon, 124.580 mph;
Aug. 8,2003.
Race record: Mark Martin, 103.300 mph; Aug. 13,
1995.
Fast fact; With more than 2.5 million votes cast by
race fans. Dale Earnhardt Jr. leads the Chex NMPA
NASCAR Most Popular Driver Award balloting. Fans
have been voting at www.mostpopulardriver.com.
BUSCH SERIES
Race: Zippo 200
Where: Watkins Glen International
When: Saturday, 2:30 p.m., ET
Track length: 2.45 miles (90 laps, 220.5 miles)
Fast facts: The Busch Series returns to Watkins
Glen International for the first time since 2001.
This wUl be the first time the series has com
peted on road courses twice in one season;
Martin Truex Jr. won the historic race in
Mexico City on March 6.
Mexico natives Carlos Contreras and Jorge
Goeters are scheduled to compete. Both raced in
Mexico City, with (Joeters winning the pole
there.
j ALLSTATE 400 AT THE BRICKYARD REVIEW
Hometown
HERO
A top-five finish
in the Kroger
200 lifted David
Stremme one
spot to eighth in
the Busch
standings.
^ CRAFTSMAN TRUCK 1^
Following the Power Stroke Diesel 200
1. Dennis Setzer
2,279; previous: 1
2. Ted Musgrave
2,052; previous: 2
3. Bobby Hamilton
2,050; previous; 3
4. Ron Hornaday
2,006; previous; 4
5. Jimmy Spencer
1,974; previous: 5
6. David Reutimann
1,929; previous: 7
7. Matt Grafton
1,918; previous: 9
8. Terry Cook
1,905; previous: 8
9. Ricky Craven
1,891; previous: 6
10. David Starr
1,864, previous: 10
Points leader Dennis Setzer claimed
his fourth Craftsman Truck Series
victory of the season Friday by winning
the Power Stroke Diesel 200 at
Indianapolis Raceway Park.
A disappointing
25th-place finish
in the Power
Stroke Diesel
200 dropped
Ricky Craven
three spots to
ninth in the
standings.
Stewart experiences
his lifelong dream with
vktory at Indianapolis
By RICK MINTER
Cox News Service
Indianapolis
A ll week long, Tony Stewart’s
neighbors in his hometown
bf Columbus, Ind., have
talked about the NASCAR star’s
early days. Like when, as a 10-year-
old go-kart racer, he and his family
of modest means dared to dream of
winning a race at Indianapolis
Motor Speedway the most presti
gious track in motorsports.
Throughout Stewart’s success
ful, championship-winning careers
in USAC, IRL and NASCAR, he
won early and often, but still felt
unfulfilled.
His one elusive dream — win
ning at the Brickyard — always
seemed just beyond his grasp.
On Sunday, the dream became
reality There was no stopping his
No. 20 Chevrolet.
Stewart passed one of his pro
teges, Kasey Kahne, with 11 laps
remaining and won the 12th run
ning of the NASCAR race now
known as the Allstate 400 at the
Brickyard.
After a slow lap around the
track, soaking up the cheers of the
partisan Hoosier crowd, Stewart
stopped on the frontstretch for fes
tivities that included the ceremoni
al kissing of the bricks at the start-
finish line.
In one of the more touching
scenes of one of the most heart
warming days in NASCAR history
Stewart knelt beside his family —
mom and stepfather Pam and Mike
Boas, his sister Natalie, and his
Tony Stewart kisses the bricks after winning the Allstate
400 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
father Nelson Stewart. Together
they kissed the bricks.
Nelson Stewart, wearing his
trademark jeans and cowboy boots,
said that from the time he and his
son, then 6 years old, began watch
ing Indy 500s from the cheaper
seats in the grandstands, they
never doubted that one day they’d
be in Indy’s winner’s circle.
“We’ve talked about being here
for a long, long time,” Nelson
Stewart said, adding that he still
holds out hope that one day his son
will return to the winner’s circle
after winning the Indy 500,
arguably the world’s best-known
race.
“I’m not downplaying this, but I
want to win that 500 so bad I could
ill ON TV
M times
Eastern
NEXTEL CUP
Sirius Satellite Radio at The Glen
1 p.m., Sunday
NBC
BUSCH SERIES
Zippo 200
NBC
SPEED
CHANNEL
2 p.m., Saturday
CRAFTSMAN TRUCK
Toyota Tundra 200
5 p.m., Saturday
Truex wins
Busch race
M artin Truex Jr. (right)
got the 100th victory for
Dale Earnhardt Inc. by
winning the Kroger 200
Saturday at Indianapoiis
Raceway Park.
It was Truex’s 12th Busch
Series win and sixth this year,
gained by outrunning Clint
Bowyer and Reed Sorenson, a
rookie who won in St. Louis a
week earlier.
The race was interrupted by a
rain delay of 1 hour, 35 minutes.
— Rick Minter NASCAR
Gordon’s a,Hoosier at heart
H e’s not a native Hoosier. Jeff Gordon did not need to be
reminded of this, but South Bend, Ind., product Ryan
Newman playfully pointed it out the other day.
“The thing is, when I moved to Indiana (from Vallejo, Calif.,
as a kid), we started saying Pittsboro, Ind., for where my home
was,” Gordon said, “and everyone started to pick up on that and
all of a sudden I come from Indiana.”
Gordon, who considers Indianapolis Motor Speedway his
home track, has won four of the 12 Brickyard races.
“I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a native Indiana persdn
and that I’m a Californian,” he said, “But my racing really
kicked off here and the fans recognize that.”
RACE STATISTICS
Time of race: 3 hours, 22 minutes, 3 seconds
Margin of victory: 0.794 seconds
Winner’s average speed: 118.782 mph
Caution flags: 10 for 43 laps
Lead changes: 15 among 10 drivers
Lap leaders: Elliott Sadler, 1-22; Robby Gordon, 23; Sadler, 24-39;
Brian Vickers, 40-50; Matt Kenseth, 51-59; Casey Mears, 60-69;
Kasey Kahne, 70-92; Sadler, 93; Kyle Petty, 94; Terry Labonte, 95-96;
Vickers, 97-99; Tony Stewart, 100-117; Scott Wimmer, 118; Stewart,
119-133; Kahne, 134-149; Stewart, 150-160
taste it," he said.
While Nelson talked about com
ing back one day and winning the
Indy 500, Tony seemed content
with what he’d just accomplished.
“This is everj^hing I’ve ever
wanted, everything I’ve ever
dreamed of,” he said. “If I died
right now, my life’s complete.” ’
Almost lost in the post-race cele
bration was the fact that Stewart
took the Nextel Cup lead by 75
points over former front-runner
Jimmie Johnson.
Stewart’s crew chief Greg
Zipadelli, suffering flu-like symp
toms throughout the race, was as
emotional as anyone in the dra
matic closing laps, and afterward.
“Thank the Good Lord,”
Zipadelli said. “I never prayed that
hard in my life.”
Zipadelli and others repeated
earlier assertions that Stewart
entered this 400 more relaxed than
he has ever been, in large part due
to a recent move back to
Columbus, Ind., where he's found
renewed happiness living among
family and friends.
“He was more relaxed than I’ve
ever seen him at any race,” Nelson
Stewart said, “He’s at ease, but
he’s just as competitive as he’s
ever been, and you saw that
[Sunday]. “He just handles adversi
ty better now.”
CRAFTSMAN TRUCK
Race: Toyota Tundra 200
Where: Nashville Superspeedway ,
When: Saturday, 5:30 p.m., ET
Track length; 1.333 miles
Race length: 225 laps, 300 miles
Defending champion: Bobby Hamilton passed
David Starr with eight laps remaining to win last
year’s Toyota Tundra 200.
Qualifying record: Bobby Hamilton Jr., 160.190
mph; Aug. 14.2004.
Race record: Scott Riggs, 132.466 mph; Aug. 10,2001.
Fast fact: Former driver and Fox analyst Darrell
Waltrip will serve as grand marshal for the race.
■. INDY NOTEBOOK
Crash dims Earnhardt’s
chances for the Chase
By RICK MINTER
Cox News Service
Indianapolis
A collective groan went up from the red-
clad fans on the frontstretch at
Indianapolis Motor Speedway when
their favorite driver, Dale Earnhardt .Jr,
slammed into the inside wall on a Lap 63
restart. One woman sitting just outside the
press box even wept over the crash that left
Earnhardt with a 43rd-place finish, which
dropped him from 14th to 16th in the Nextel
Cup standings, 627 points behind new leader
Tony Stewart.
Sunday’s finish hurts his chances for get
ting into the Chase for the Nextel Cup, which
begins after five more races.
He seemed to take the setback better than
his fans.
“That’s life,” Earnhardt said. “You’ve got to
deal with it — good and bad.
“We’ll be all right. If we make the Chase, we
make it. If we don’t, we don’t. We’ll still tryto
win some races before the year is out.”
What he didn’t want to do. he said, was
climb back into his battered No. 8 and limp
around the track to pick up a few positions ~
and the points that come with them.
Crew chief Steve Hmiel agreed. “We could
get in another wreck, get Junior hurt or get in
someone else’s way,” he said. "We’re just going
to put it in the trailer and go on to Watkins
Glen.”
Earnhardt and others say his crash
occurred because several drivers ahead of
him slowed when the green flag was displayed.
When Earnhardt slowed to avoid hitting the
cars in front of him, Mike Skinner hit him
from behind, sending Earnhardt into the wall.
But Earnhardt didn’t blame Skinner, whose
view was obscured by the cars ahead of both
of them.
“I don’t think Skinner knew what was going
on,” he said.
Tire problems
As many as seven drivers suffered blown
tires in Sunday’s race. Goodyear officials
blamed the failures on teams using air pres
sures below the recommended levels and on
drivers running over a rough section of the
track’s apron where Bobby Hamilton Jr.
knocked some rumble strips loose.
Pole-sitter Elliott Sadler thought he was a
victim of tire trouble, but after an unsched
uled stop under the green flag, which dropped
him from sixth to 32nd with 10 laps to go, he
decided he wasn’t after all.
“I thought I had a tire going down,” he said.
“I don’t know if it was or not. I guess not.”
Sadler, who led three times for 39 laps, lost
three positions to 12th in points, but is just 24
points behind Carl Edwards, who moved to
10th on the strength of a 12th-place finish.
Edwards overcame his 38th-place start, despite
having to drive a little-tested back-up car that
was pressed into service after he crashed in
practice on Saturday
Elliott Struves
Bill Elliott, who had a win, five top-five and
nine top-10 finishes at the Brickyard entering
the latest running of the race, never seemed to
he able to get his No. 91 Dodge up to speed. He
started 33rd and finished 23rd.
COMMENTARY
NASCAR doesn’t waste time on reactions
By JEFF GLUCK
Cox News Service
T he steroid talk in baseball
picked up again this
month, with most fans
asking the obvious question:
Why won’t the sport’s leaders do
anything?
The NHL lockout finally
ended, but the lost hockey sea
son indicated that both owners
and players turned a blind eye to
the fans’ feelings.
Look at the college bowl sys
tem. Millions of fans scream
about how college football
should have a national playoff.
But no one listens.
In NASCAR, people do listen.
They’re always listening. And as
a result, the sport is in a state of
constant change.
Some would argue that
change means foi^etting the tra
ditional, core group of fans, a
sign that the sport is turning its
back on the people that made it
popular in the first place.
But during a time when fans
, in other sports are fed up with
their organizations, NASCAR’s
willingness to change — often
accompanied by the words
“effective imm^iately” — is
something motorsports enthusi
asts should embrace.
NASCAR’s changes work
because they’re reactionary The
sport’s executives see the prob
lem, realize they should do
something and, most of the
time, act on their thoughts.
Look at the green-white-check
ered rule: Jeff Gordon won the
Talladega race imder caution on
April 25 of last year. It then took
just 50 days for the sport to
change the rules.
If this were baseball, we
might not have seen a green-
white-checkered until 2015.
Similar changes have also
occurred swiftly. Matt Kenseth
wins the Cup title in a massive
blowout; the points system is
altered by the beginning of the
next season. Dale Jarrett is a sit
ting duck at New Hampshire
while cars race back to the fin
ish line under caution; NASCAR
makes a new rule that freezes
the field a few months later.
It’s been interesting to listen
to all the gripes about baseball.
The commissioner gave camera
man attacker Kenny Rogers a 20-
game suspension for his actions.
Then Rafael Palmeiro tests posi
tive for steroids, and the maxi
mum for a first offense is just 10
days.
F^s just can’t figure that out.
In NASCAR, Palmeiro’s punish
ment would have been simple:
Bye bye (see Shane Hmiel if you
don’t believe it).
Then there’s hockey. NASCAR
drivers at all levels are clearly
schooled in the business of rac
ing, which is necessary consid
ering that racing teams must
constantly woo sponsors for
income.
Hockey players apparently
don’t have the same knowledge.
During the lockout, star Jeremy
Roenick actually insulted fans,
saying “we don’t want you” to
fans who dare call the players
greedy
Does NASCAR get it? Does
NASCAR listen to suggestions,
make smart changes and always
look out for the best interests of
the sport?
Of course. This isn’t the NHL.
“(The hockey lockout) is like
walking out on your wife for a
week,” Craftsman Truck Series
driver Brandon Whitt said. “You
can’t walk back in the door, give
her a wave, tell her you missed
her and expect her to start cook
ing dinner. You break some
body’s heart and you don’t know
if you will ever win it back. But
you had better start quick and
work hard to do it.”
NASCAR may lighten your
wallet. But it probably won’t
ever break your heart.
Jeff Gluck writes about
NASCAR for Cox News Service.
E-mail: jgluck(ijCoxnc.x>m.
Distributed by Universal Press Syndicate for Cox News Service. (800) 255-6734. *For release the week of August 8, 2005.