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5C ooo SPORTS/atje Cjattolte $o«t Thursday, April 20, 2006 DID YOU KNOW? Kewn Harvick’s victory at Nashville was the eighth time a Nextel Cup regular has won in eight Busch races in 2006, i THIS WEEK Race: Subway Fresh 500 Wh«'e; Phoenix Iniernationaf When: Saturday 8 p.m. ET Television: Fox Defending race winner: Kurt Busch Rajd5||«Jj Rookie Denny Hamlin anticipates ... A HOT NIGHT IN PHOE B>' RICK MINTER Cox News Service Atlanta P erhaps no other driver is looking forward to this weekend's races at Phoenix International Raceway more than Denny Hamlin. Although he’s officMly a rookie this year, he made se^^n Nextel Cup st^ts last year, one of them at Phoenix, where he won the pole and finished I3th. That Phoenix pole made him eligible for this y^’s Budweiser Shootout at Daytona, which he won. Althoi^h the Shootout pays no points. Hamlin still is 14th in the Nextel Cup standmgs with one top-five and two top-10 finishes. He’s second In Busch points with a two poles and six top-lO finish- ^ tncliiding a third-place finish last week at Nasliville, where he stm'ted ftpm the pole in the Pepsi 300. He said he's looking foiward to Phoenix and a lot of other tracks com ing up on the schedule. “I think we're definitely performing better than what we expei^ed on mOc'- and-a-half race tracks, so hopefully w'ell be able to bring that to the shoi-ter PHOENIX INTEIOtATIONM. mem Trad* length: 1 rnile Race length: 312 iaps/3l2 miles (500 kilometers) BanWng in Turns 1,2; 11 degrees Banking InTurns 3,4:9 degrees Banidng on frontstretch: 3 degrees Banking cm hackstretch; 9 c^rees Frontstretch: 1.179 tee! Backsti«tc^: 1,551 feet Grandstand seating: 76,812 Qualifying record: Ryan Newman. Dodge: 135-854 mph; Nov, 5.2004 Race record: Tony Stewart. Pontiac: 118.132 mph; Nov. 7, 1999 'uV-'i \ % tracks as well" be said. "Wc haven’t had a ton of success, but l know Phoenix is a track W'bere we can run well, and itsulLs my driving style so I’m hxjkingdu'wani to it.” The Virginia native said he feels light at home on PhoKiix’s relatively flat (bankingfromnineto ILdegrees), odd- shaped, one-mile tri-oval. "It became iny favorite track the flrat time I w-ent there In the Busch car.” he said. "If was a track 1 ran really well at Evety' time 1 go there 1 seem to get a lit- • tie betlej*.” He said Ui.s first Cup points victory could come in Satmday night’s Subways f'resh 500. “I definitely think sve have a shot at it” he said, adding that he htis aaxss to the .setup notes generated by' his Joe Gibte Racing teammate, Tony Stewart, who has a victory, three top-fiw? and five lop- to finishffit in e Iglit Cup .starts at Phoenix. "We liave some good, setup notes.” Hamlin .said. "We had a good top-15, top- 10 car last fall. HofxifUUy we can go back with that and Improve on it.” 3 Rookie Denny Hamlin pulls his car into Victory Lane after winning the Bud Shootout, a race he qualified for by winning the pole in last year’s fall race at Phoenix International Raceway, Kurt Busch claimed victory in last year’s Subway Fresh 500 (above). Ptiotos NASCAR He‘s even more confident about his No. 2h Busch Series car. which he’ll diive in FViday’s Bashas’ Supermarkets ^ at Phoenix. "Our LBusch] team i.s head-over^houl- ders better than it was lastj'ear,” he said. "We’re gettingbetter in whirl we knqw: It's not necesi^iiy pkrple; it’s learning a lot and bringing a lot of stuff over from the Cup shop.” He also feels he has improved as a driver. "It's amazing how mudi better I am versus whei^ 1 was last yean” he said. "In Gup, i don’t expect tt> be anythmg less than a top-10 cai- every week. We've run really well every week. Wfe've ran in the top 10 every week, we Just need to finish it off." Another driver anx ious to ^ing at Phoenix te Carl Edw^s, who will be running his first race since Wally Brown replaced Bob Osborne as his crewchief. "We nui really well at Phoenix last year." said Ekhrards. who had finishes of sixth and seventh. ‘*'rbat should be a ^d spot for our team.” What ever happened to... Johnn/ALLEN From 1^5-1967, Johnny Allen made fra starts in the division now known as Nextel Cup. He wxin twice, once at Bowman-Gray Stadium In Winston-Salem. N.C.. and again in the uiaugura! race at Bristol Motor Speedway, v^en he finished the race in relief of Jack Smith. He seemed to thrive on new trades, as ev- idenc«i by his runner-up run in the inau gural Atlanta 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where three years later he was involwd in one of the most spectacular wrecks in the history of the track. Allen, ra. fetaod as owner of a paint and bcxly shop supply company and di vide his time between his hometown of Greenville. S.C., and his beach house in Daytona Beach, Fla. On his favorite track: "It had to be Darlington, although it wasn’t that good to ma It was a chaDenge to bo able to conquer it. I w'^ttxl so bad to be able to win it. and 1 lo'^d racing it, running inches ffom the wall hard passing, fast steeds. It had all the ingredients of a real challenge. 11 iked Daylima, too, but it was kind of boring.” On his crash at Atlanta in 1963 in which his c.ar Oew out of the track: "i was down on the very bottom groove when I blew the right front tii-e. The car Just shot .sh'dight up Ihe race track and hit the guardrail. It broke througdi the top rail and the car sbjod up on te nose tetuing up the guardi^ail.... It finally got a good gidp iind Just flew out of the mce track. It flipisod over once going out and ended up on its wheels. Itseemed like foreverl>efi>re it stopped." On the lastii^ impact of the ’63 wmik: "That pretty much ended ray ca reer in Grand National.s. It put the car owner [Ratiis Watera] out of business, It to tally domoMshed his only car I broke my foot Mid my hand and my nc«e. but I was very fortunate to not gel hurt any worse." On the changes in racing since he re- tii-ed: “Racing's racing, wherever you’re ruraiing. You’re nut there to win and beat y'our fellow man and master the car and deal with the track conditiems. That does n’t change. “There's more politira and all that today T wouldn’t do good in today’s racing busi ness. Rut the money’s good. In fact,, I'd say most professional athletes today are over paid.” • RkkMinfw IJMERICALLY iPEAKING 0 5 Nextel Cup races won from the pole at Phoenix International Raceway Car-owner victories at Phoenix by Jack Roush, lops among 1 1 Different pole I winners in the past -13 Cup races at Phoenix Victofies by Ford drh/ws in 19 Cup races at Phoenix NASCAR Kevin Hafvick won Saturday’s Pepsi 300. Rick Minter’s OBSERVATIONS Four major quesiians worth answering as NASCAR heads to Phoenix: I. Why woJd Itael Ct^i r^utars want to compete on the Busch Series? Busch Series points leader Kevin Harvick says he can answer that with a question of his own. “Would you rather be on a race track or sitting in your motorhome watching a race and trying to find some- thmg to do... bored to death?” he asked last week at Nashville Superspeedway where he was racing while most of his peers rested on Ea.ster weelrand. “1 enjoy teingat the track and would be here anj'W'ay with my cars if I wa?m’t driving “I kntnv ffiere's talk that a lot of piys don’t like the Cup guys in the Busch Seri^, but... I don't think it’s an issue of who's rachig in the Busch Series until we start sending quality cars home." Harvick is at^ the Busch Series standings de.spite driving different can; for different own ers and with different .sponsors. But for all but one race for the remainder of the sea«)n. he'll be m Ridiard Childress’ No. 21 Chevrolet, which he drove to victory in Saturday’s Pepsi 300 at Nashville. On the Cup side, he's ninth in points, 204 points behind leader Jimmie Johmson. “Right now, life is good,” Harvick ^id following his 18th career Busch Series victory Trailing Harvick in the Busch standmgs are feDow Cup drwere Denny Hamlin, Clint Bow^^r, J.J, Yeley tmd Call Edwards. 1 Just raactly when should a driver, especially a )«)ung one, take it easy in a race, rather ttiim stand on the gas pedal every lap? Carl Edwards said he's in the prcK»ss of faring that out for him self, Edwards, who fmislied tlie aXB season tied for second in Nextel Cup points, enters this weekend’.s race at Phoenix 22nd in the stand ings and with a new crew chief, Wally Brown. His car has been fast every week this season, but the results don't show it. And why is that? “I don’t fliink we need to be trying as hard,” he said, pointing out that he was too aggressive too early in races at Atlanta. Dajtona and Texas and wasted chances for gtxxi finishes. "I think that If we (X)ii!d calm down a little bit that we’d be aw'e- some,” he “This is all stilt i»^tty new, and you have to go through all trf it to learn everything. I’m learning a lot, ewn through this lad stuff.” 3. Is there a place in NASCAR for public pt-road con frontations between drivers’ spouses or girlfriends or fi- asxeesl The consensus in the garage is “No.” The question arose after a pit-road conft-ontation two weeks ago at Texas Motor Speedway between Gr^ BifTle’s girlfriend, Nicole bunders, and Eva Bryan, Busch’.s fiaiteee, after tlie two drivers wTa:ked on the trade. Iblevision ctuneras showwi Lunders in Busch’s pit area, apc^rently srolding Bryan. “If 1 was Greg Blfflc. I’d have been pretty irate when I got home and there'd have been a pretty serious convensation (with Lundere),” l^vin Harvick said. “I thought it was pretty embarrassing, and I think T wfHild have been pretty embarrassed if I was him. If you leave it between the drivers, it gets handled l^tween the drivers.” Harvidc's wife, DeLana, agi-eed. "There’s absolutely no reason to confront another sjx>u5e,” she said. “They absolutely have nothing to do with what happened on the track, period. It’s inappropriate and it's iinacreirtable.’’ But DeLana did acknowledge that emotkms often run high at the track. "It’s hard to hold it in.” she said. “I imderatand the knee-jerk reac tion, but yiDu Just have to hold it in a I ittle bit, and that’s not alwavs easy.” 4. As the Nextel Cup season gets in ftdi swir^, which driv- ^ will ©ner^e to add his nane on the list of liMy con- taiders for a berth In the chan^'onship-deciding, sear son-erkiir^, 10-race Dia^ for the Nextel Cup? Kyle field is Busch is looking tike one to watch when the champitmship races, he’s seventh in the standing.^. 113 points behind hLs Hendrick Motoraports teammate Jimmie Johnson, who leads the standings. a.isch has iwu top-five and four top-10 finishes and cleaiiy is plea^ witti his performanre. “It's been good Just being able to run as gK)d as we have." Busch said. “But Fmlooktr^more towarff the midtUeof the yeor and getttog in the Chase. “Rigfitnow. we're trying to keep things woikinglike they are and stey withui the top IQ and have that opportunity [to be a part of the Chase].” Busch said. Catching up with ... KVAPIL Travis Kvapil, a second-year driver In Nextel Cup, drives the No. 32 PPI Mikorsports Chevrolet for a single-car t^n o'^ed l^’ Cal Wells and based in Hickory N.C. Kvapil finished 33s-d in the 2005 Nextel Cup championship standings while driving the No. 77 Dodp' owned by DougBawel. The 2003 NASCAR Craftsman Track Series champion,' Kvapil is 40th in points entering Satunlay night’s Subway IT^h 500 at Plioenix International Rai^^ay. He took a few moments to answer some ques tions from Cox News Service writer Ride Minter. Q: How do you feel about racing at Phoenix? A: “Fm looking forward to it. It’s a mile racetrack, hut it’s kind of back to short-track racing. It takes a lot of the aero and horsepfiwer out of the equation. If s toek to just getting our car to handle and hiiving the light springs and shocks under the car and the driver doing a p^id job. I had a decent run there last fall Fm looking forward to getting back to it.” ffc How do you feel about Talladega and restrictor-plate racing, in ^neral? A: "I haven’t had the greatest success, but 1 haven’t been that bad. A lot of it is how you approach the day For me, in the past I’ve been one of those 0iys that Into the teck and Just .sort of rides it out. And when it’s time to go at the wid, 1 try to make a run. “It has been succe^ful for me in the fact that I haven’t got torn up too mtrch and have tsen able to st^ out of the big wrecks. It’s definite ly a lot less stressful A lot of times there’.s a big wreck and it'.s out of Travis Kvapil, who drives the No. 32 Tide/Downy Chevrolet, is 40lh in the standings, His average finish is 33.4 in five starts. (He failed to qualify at Atlanta and California.) NASCAR control, and you can get cau^it up in someone else's doing. But at the same time, maybe you don’t need to be putting yourself in a situation where you're in the middle nf a 20-car pack. It’s up to ywi how you warn to race there." Q: Wfoat*.s the biggest dilTerence In .single vs. multi-car teams? A: "Probably the b^cst thing is there’s not a big chain of com mand. ITiere’s one or two people in management, and if you want to make changes or get the real sco^ on the story js3u know who to go to. In the multi-car teams, it just .seems like there’s a lot of raant^ra and a lot of people running the show." Q: How is it working with new a'ew chief Gmy Ihitnam? A; "I'm excited about it. James flnce] did a gi^at,iob for us getting us to this point. But w'e just didn’t have speed and we had struggled on Ifiidays. So we had to make a change. IthinkGaryisgolngtobea good guy to plug in there. He's been with the sinre January The guys all really like him. He’s a level-headed guy And he’s done it before. I think it’.s going to be a good change.” Q: What, do you like on TV? A: “The only show that I religiously watch is ‘•24" Monday nights on Fbx. That’.s the only one f r^y like.” STANDINGS NEXTEL CUP Following the Samsung/Radio Shad 500 1. Jimmie Johnson ||||||||||||||^^ 1,063: fxevious: 1 2. Matt K«iseth 1,048; previous: 3 3. Kasey Kahn© • 1,017; previous; 4 4. Mark Martin 1.017: EKevious;2 5. Tony Stffwart 966: previous; 8 Cupnext _r. ^— 6. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Ptioemx tnternationamaeway' 951; previous: 6 TV: 8 pm ET, Salurday; R« 7. Kyie Busch 950; previous; 5 8. Jeff Gtwdon 911; previous: 7 9. Kevin Harvidt 859; previous: 12 10. Casey Wears 845; previous: 10 Supermarkets 200; Phoenix Intemationai ftaceiAfay TV: 8:^ p,.m.ET, Friday: FX Tfuck fV8x1 up: Dodge flam Tou^ 200; Gateway fnt, Raceway TV; 8 p.m. ET, Apnf 29; Speed Channet BUSCH SERIES 1. Kevin Harvick 1,284; previous: 1 2. Denny 1,128; previous: 2 3. Clinl Bowyer 1.075: previous: 3 4. J,J,Yeiey 1.028; previous: 4 5. Carl Edwards 963; previous: 11 TRUCK SERIES 1. Mark Martin 720; previous:'! 2. Ted Musgrave W5; previous; 3 3. Todd Bodine 662; previous: 2 4- David Rsutimann 576; previous: 4 5. David Starr 556; previous: 13 Distributed by Universal Press Syndicate for Cox News Service. (800} 255-6734. 'For release the week of April 17, 2006.
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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April 20, 2006, edition 1
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