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5C • •O SPORTS/IRie CJarUitte #o« Thursday, February 2, 2006 Mm » ir What we learned in JANUARY ByRICKMINTER Cot News Service Concord, N.C. N ASCAR again took center stage at Daytona International Speedway in January when Nextel Cup, Busch and TVuck series race teams traveled to the track during test sessions. Following are 10 things we learned before the NOTtel Cup season opens Feb, 19 with the Daytona 500. Bill Elliott posted impressive times in the No. 36 Chevrolet owned by MB2 Motorsports. l.TheriseofMB2 MB2 Motorsports can build some really fast super speedway cars. From the first day of testing, the Chevrolets, owned by Nelson Bowers, sped to the lop of the speed charts. The No. 36 driven by the scmi-rc- lired Bill Elliott was fastest opening day and sccondr. fastest on the first Tuesday test. Sterling Marlin, MB2’s newest full-timer, drove the No. 14 to the head of the class the following week. His teammate, Joe Nemechek, was fourth-fasicsi. Photos by NASCAR Nextel Cup Rookie of the Year contenders David Stremme (left) and Reed Sorenson talk during testing sessions at Daytona International Speedway. 5. Ganassi not yet ready Chip Ganassi’s race teams have work to do before Speedweeks. In the first week of testing, nxikie driv ers Reed Sorenson and David Stremme ran re spectably in the draft, but were slow in single-car runs. Sorenson’s two cars were 36th- and 47lh- fastest; Stremme’s were 79lh and 82nd on the speed charts. In the second week, Casey Mears was 59th and 66ih in single-car runs, but was 25ih in the draft. 2. Hendrick finds horsepower Hendrick Motorsports appears to be ahead of the compe tition when it comes to making horsepower when engines are stifled by restrictor plates at Daytona and Talladega. When the MB2 drivers, who use leased Hendrick engines, weren’t pacing the field, they were following Hendrick drivers JelT Gordon and Kyle Busch. Both drivers dominat ed a session of testing. 3. For better or for worse TTie new Ford Fusion is better than the Thurus it’s replacing, and the new Chevrolet nose and tail ap pear to be as good or better than the old design. The Dodge Chai^r, mtroduced last year, needs some help. Drivers from the Ford camp are unanimous in their praise for the Fusion, but Dodge driver Kasey Kahne said NASCAR needs to make concessions for tJie Chatter. Nextel Cup Series Director John Darby pointed out that Dodge has an alternative; going back to the old Intrepid body, which still is legal to run and was used with some success by several teams last fall at Homestead. 6. Rookie on fast track Of the seven rookies on the Nextel Cup circuit this year. Brent Sherman has followed the most interesting, most unlikely — and possibly shortest — path to NASCAR’s elite circuit. Sherman was serving in the Air Force when he saw an ad for the Russell Racing school at Infineon Raceway. His dad gave him a driving experience as a gift, then Sherman relumed to the track and won a competition that resulted in a one-year ride in one of Russell’s cars. After two years in the Barber Pro Series, he moved to ARCA for another two years, then spent only a partial season in Busch before being hired to drive the No. 49 Dodge in Cup. Fortunately for him, he’s guaranteed a starting spot in the first five races because of the points Ken Schrader earned last year driving the No. 49. 7. Fan Fest a bust Brent Sherman found an unusual path to Nextel Cup. The preseason tests at Daytona which include “Fan Fest” sessions in which drivers meet fans, are not as popular as the old Winston Preview, which was held in Winston-Salem, N.C..when Winston was the Cup circuit’s title sponsor, The Preview typically drew 12,000 or more fans from across the Southeast. Only a few hundred per week attended the Fan Fest gatherings at Daytona. 8. Edwards stays grounded 10. Daytona still king 4. No ‘five-peat’ for Roush? The consensus in the garage is that Pteush Racing won’t repeat its feat of putting all five of its drivers in the Chase for the Nextel Cup and that Hendrick Motorsports, the sport’s other “superpower,” will do better than the one Chase entry it produced last year. Even Roush’s Greg Biffle, who finished second in points last year, conceded that his team will have a tough time taking five of the 10 Chase berths. “Odds are that one of us may have some trouble along the way” he said. Carl Edwards, the surprise stpry of2005, vows that he won’t let success — or the distractions that come with his newfound fame and fortune — spoil him. “I’ll be darned if I let anything get in the way of us having a good year and me performing,” he said. 9. Stewart skips the test Defending Nextel Cup champion Tbny Stewart probably would have been better off to ^t at Daytona rather than have Mike McLaughlin drive the No. 20 Chevy Stewart skipped the test to race in the Chili Bowl, a Midget race in TVilsa, Okla., but wound up flipping his car and injuring his NASCAR has truly become a national sport, but its biggest race is still the one held in its birthplace. The Daytona 500 winner’s purse, an estimated $1.5 million, is far from the $6.17 million that goes to the Nextel Cup champion, but a victory in llw Daytona 500 is one to be cherished and one that can make a career fix a driver. Two-time 500 winner Sterling Marlin said he’d r^her have a Cup championship, largely because it pays millions more, but a Daytona 5(X) victory “goes a long way” toward making a career complete. NOTEBOOK Evemham says Car of TomoiTow needs work ByRICKMINTER Cot Nes^ Service Edward.s backs out of IROC NASCAR Presidential visit: Nextel Cup champion Tony Stewart met President Bush last week during a visit to the White House. Stewart gave Bush a driver’s suit from the No. 20 team. Get the refund you deserve. A BIGGER OIUE. We find deductions the others miss. • We know all the latest tax law changes ' Our average refund is $400 more than the average IRS refund FREE electronic filing with paid tax preparation Call 1-800-234-1040 ior nearest location. SAVE $15.00 ON FEDERAL TAX PREPARATION WHEN YOU PRESENT THIS COUPON! Offir Ytiki or ifdvil tax pnpantion Pktx pnstnt taupor at time of tax pnpaiatisn Qoodonlyat pintdpating locations and may not be comiXfKd with any other offer Mon offices are indeoendentty owned and operated EXPIRES: 12/31/06 COUPON CODE: CHE72 ■IMKMI Bilim'- And here they are... one of them the No. 22 Distributed by Universal Press Syndicate for Cox News Service. (800) 255-6734. Concord, N.C. NASCAR team owner Ray Evemham said NASCAR’s Car of Tbmorrow is ^^^Il•inten- tioned but needs a lot more work to deliver tlie cost savings and competitive racing for which it was designed. He said its shortcomings are evident by re cent tests in which a rear wing from a Grand Am car was bolted to the prototype Car of Tbmorrow. “Aerodynamically, tlie car did not accom plish what they were looking to accomplish. Otherwise you wouldn’t have to put a wing on ! it,” he said. “I think tliey did a decent job de- \ veloping the chassis. I Uiink tliere needs to be j more time put into tlie aerodynamics, and I ^ tliink the tire manufacturer needs to be in- ; volved. You can’t expect tliat car to run on the J same tire we run on now. It simply won’t \ work.” ! While other team owners already have ] built at least one car from the new design, , Evemham is waiting to start his until tlie ‘ final specifications are issued by NASCAR, j Carl Edwards said he considered his invi tation .to race in the International Race of Champions a great honor, A week after his se lection was announced, he backed out, citing a scheduling conflict. ' Ryan Newman will take his sjxit in tlie four-race series that pits drivers ftxim various racing circuits in identically jiivpared cars, Edwards’ problem was that tlie IROC se^ason finale at AUantfi Motor S|x»edwayon Oct, 28 will be held at tlie same time as the Busch Series race he’s to nin at Memphis, Tfenn. Repaving of Lowe’s .set to go Preparation for a rejxiving of Lowe’s Motor Speedway is well under way Tlie last sections of the track’s SAFER barriers were removed last week. TVack President H.A. “Humpy” Wlieeler said the $3.5 million paving project will bqgin as soon as daily temperatures are 55 degrees or higher, which is tlut optimum temperatui’e for paving. He said tlie track’s bumps are being smoothed, which he feels vrill lead to more side-by-side racing. ' Newman eager to make friends Ryan Newman said that he’s looking for ward to building a good working relationship with new Penske Racing teammate Kurt Busch, something he did not accomplish while Rusty Wallace was driving the No. 2 Dodge. “HojiefuUy [Busch] will have all the right morals and those things, so that when time passes, we’re still on the same jiage,” Newman said. who owns a team, primarily in Tbyota has introduced the three team owners who will field Camrys next season in the Nextel Cup Series. As expected, Bill Davis Racing will field two cars, one of them the No. 22 Caterpillar-sponsored car driven by his current driver Dave Blaney and another with a driver and sponsor to be named later. Davis campaigns Tbyota TXindras in the Craftsman THick Series. Nextel Cup driver Michael Waltri^, Michael Waltrip Racing, that fields NASCAR’s Busch Series, will field two Cup entries in ’07. Waltrip will drive one, the NAPA-backed No, 55. The spon sor and driver of the second car will be announced at a later date. The third team, Red Bull Racing, is new to Nextel Cup but already operates , two Formula One teams The team, backed by the energy drink that bears its name, will be managed by Marty Gaunt, a veteran team manager who has worked in several NASCAR divisions including Nextel Cup. Gaunt said no decisions have been made on drivers or crew chiefs. Waltrip, who will drive a Dodge this season, said the re sources that Tbyota is making available to its teams are the main reason the venture is financially feasible for him. “Tbyota’s foray into Cup racing means cats like me can own teams,” he said. — Rick Minter
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Feb. 2, 2006, edition 1
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