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SPORTSACSe Charlotte
Thursday, JUne 1, 2006
DID YOU KNOW?
Bobby Allison and Richard
Petty share the record for
most Cup wins (7) at Dover
International Speedway.
THIS WEEK
An afternoon with the
‘MONSTER’
Most drivers enjoy
racing on Dover’s
concrete track
By RICK MINTER
Cox News Service
Atlanta
T he NASCAR circuit went straight
lixim the old asphalt of Darlington
Raceway to the new blacktop at
Lowe’s Motor Speedway This week the
action moves to a track with no asphalt
at all.
The Neighborhood Excellence 400 will
be run on Dover International
Speedway one of the few concrete tracks
on the circuit. Hie oval track, surround
ed by 140,000 seats, is 1 mile in length,
with the straights banked 9 degrees and
turns banked 24 degrees. It’s a recipe for
high speeds, and not surprisingly most
drivers love it.
“I always like going to Dover because
you can go out there and go real fast for
a 1-mile track,” said Matt Kenseth, who
made his Nextel Cup debut at Dover in
1998. He filled in for Bill Elliott, vdiose
father died that week, and drove the car
to a sixth-place finish. A year later,
Kenseth became a member of his cur
rent Roush Racing team.
KenseUi said the speeds at Dover do
have a downside.
“The challenging part the last few
years has been not wrecking,” he said.
“Dover has alwaj^s been notorious for
the right-fiont tries blowing out, and
we’ve had a few of them. But it seems
like they’ve been able to fix that the last
couple of years.
“I love the track, but I’ve kind of strug
gled there the last few years in my Cup
car, so just to get my car to do what I
DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
want to do for a whole run is my hugest
challenge.”
Mark Martin, who has four career
Cup victories at Dover, tying him with
Jeff Gordon for tops on the active-driver
list, said he really likes Dover.
“I can’t think of anything I dislike
about racing at Dover,” Martin said. “I
liked it better when it was asphalt, but
it’s the best concrete track we race on.
“You can drive hard. You don’t have to
drive easy or be careful. You can race
hard there.”
And he said that in a sport where fac
tors beyond a driver’s control — aero
dynamics and horsepower — often de
termine who wins and who runs in
midpack, Dover is a place where driving
skill can make a significant difference.
“A driver can carry a car a little bit
there,” he said.
But sometimes tempers flare at Dover
as much, or more, than on the short
tracks of Martinsville and Bristol. It’s
because the racing sometimes is more
like what’s seen on a short track instead
of a superspeedway
Last year’s first race at Dover fea
tured marquee stai3 Tbny Stewart and
Jeff Gordon colliding pn the track and
trading barbs in the garage after the
race.
“All I can say is the next time Tbny’s
holding me up, it won’t be very long be
fore he’s out of my way” an angry
Gordon told reporters at the time.
Stewart’s response: “Jeffs alwa>^
whining like that. If somebody does
something to Jeff, it’s always their
fault.”
The monster on the trophy of last
year’s MBNA RacePoints 400 grips a
model of race winner Greg Biffle’s car.
Track length: 1 mile
Race length: 400 laps/400
miles
Banking in corners: 24
Banking on straights: 9
Frontstretch: 1,076 feet
Backstretch: 1,076 feet
Grandstand seating: 140,000
First race: July 6, 1969;
Mas9n-Dixon 300
Qualifying record: Jeremy
Mayfield, Dodge; 161.522 mph;
June 4, 2004
Race record: Mark Martin,
Ford: 132.719 mph; Sept 21,
1997
What ever happened to ..
Patty
Moise
Patty Moise, from Jacksonville, Fla., was one
of the most successful female racers ever in
NASCAR. She ran five Cup and 133 Busch
Series races from 1986-1998.
She had several strong mns in the Busch
Series, finishing seventh at Talladega in 1995
and 10th at Bristol in 1998, but her best run was
in 1987 in a Busch race at Road Atlanta. She
started second and was leading with five laps to
go. She was passed by eventual winner Morgan
Shepherd, then slid off the track, racing for sec
ond, Just as rain began to fail. She finished
eighth.
Today, she works behind the scenes in televi
sion, co-producing the “24-7” Speed Channel
show that chronicles the week for teams in the
Busch Series. She sat down with Cox News
Service writer Rick Minter at Charlotte last
weekend to discuss life away from racing:
Q. Did you come along too
soon in the sport?
A. “Do female drivers right
now have it that much better?",
Q. Is the garage environment
better for females today than in
your era?
A. “So that’s why there's such
a plethora of [female drivers] in
the Nextel Cup and Busch
garage.”
Q. Do you think [IndyCar
driver] Danica Patrick is opening
doors for female drivers?
A. “Well, there is the one, but
at least she’s got people thinking about it Ask
me that when there’s five or six women racing
competitively in these upper echelons. Don't
Just hang it on the one."
Q. Were there highlights during your driving
career?
A. "There wasn't really a highlight. I honestly
don’t think 1 accomplished my goals. I didn’t
will races. Whether I didn't have the talent or
didn’t get myself in position with good teams or
didn’t have the money, what
ever the case may be, I didn’t
accomplish my goals. But I
had a great time. I did get to
lead a race or two, and I got to
race with my hero, Dale
Earnhardt. It was exactly two
times that I got to pass him
when he wasn’t broke."
Q. Do you recall the 1987
race at Road Atlanta?
A. “I led a bunch. I was
running second with a few
laps to go, and I didn’t man
age to stay on the course. But
! don’t think ^ut stuff like
that.... If you don’t have wins in your column, it
can only mean so much.”
NASCAR
EARNHARDT
there
Race: Neighborhood Excellence 40C^^^fiB
Where: Dover International Spee(Maym^^
When: Sunday, 1:30 p.m. ET ~ *
Television: FX
Defending race winner: Greg Bitfle
Rick Minter’s
OBSERVATIONS
Here are some of the top storylines this week heading to Dover.
Talking the talk
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is, without a doubt, the face of
NASCARformost of America. And now his voice is spread
ing the word ^out the sport.
Earnhardt Jr. is one of the celebrities lending his voice to
the animated movie, “Cars.”
“It’s something that I felt was really important,” he said.
“The sport’s starting t5 get that type of recognition to where
people are actually going to spend millions of dollars to make
movies about it. 1 want to jump in that pool and be a part of it.
It sounds like a lot of fun."
To hear him talk, he’s a natural behind the microphone.
. “I’m a one-take guy,” he said. “I don’t needbO t^es. I got ’erdone. I was
five minutes.”
stuck in a big hole
Even though Michael Waltrip was able to buy Derrike Cope's ride for the Coca-
Cola 600, it didn’t help him dig out of the owner's-points hole for the No. 55 team.
Waltrip's Dodge was too slow in qualifying, and he was one spot out of the top 35
in owner’s points that are guaranteed starting spots for races. So he worked a deal to
drive Cope's No. 74. But under NASCAtR rules. Cope’s car owner, Raynard
McGlynn, got the points Waltrip earned in the 600. So Waltrip, who finished 41st in
McGlynn’s car, heads to Dover in an even worse position in owner’s points. Waltrip’s
team dropped three spots to 39th, while McGlynn gained three,- to 49th.
Jeremy Mayfield’s No. 19 team holds the 35th position, while the teams of Scott
Wimmer, David Stremme and Travis Kvapil moved ahead of Waltrip in owner’s
points.
stuck in a big hole: part 2
Defending Nextel Cup champion Tony Stewart had a brutal month in May. He took
an upside down ride in his No. 33 Busch car at Talladega, then wrecked three times at
Lowe’s Motor Speedway — first in the All-Star Challenge, then in the Carquest 300
Busch Series race and again in the Coca-Cola 600.
The last two crashes resulted in hospital visits, but he left Charlotte expecting to
race at Dover this week.
The crash in the Coca-Cola 600 also hurt him in the points standings. He came into
the race second in points, 93 behind points leader Jimmie Johnson. He left in fourth
place, 231 behind Johnson.
Dodge tough
Car owner Ray Evemham obviously has his No. 9 Dodge mnning strong, as Kasey
Kahne sped to his third superspeedway victory of the season in the Coca-Cola 600.
But his other two drivers, Scott Riggs and Mayfield, also showed new strength.
Mayfield, who has struggled all season, started on the outside pole and finished
15th; Riggs started on the pole and led eight times for 90 laps before a late-race mis-
cue on pit road dropped him to '13th at the end.
Evemham called the pit miscue “a huge mistake,” and he wondered whether
NASCAR made the right call in penalizing the team. Still, he expressed confidence in
Riggs and his crew.
“It’s a first-year team, and Scott has shown he can win races,” Evemham said.
NASCAR
Carl Edwards stops in the pits during the Carquest 300.
Back on the right track
It seems impossible to carry momentum through NASCAR's offseason. At the
end of 2005, it looked as if Carl Edwards could do no wrong. He won twice and had
finishes of fourth and sixth in the final four Nextel Cup races. In ihe Busch Series,
he closed the season with four top-five finishes, including a victory, in the final five
But for the first few races of 2006, he couldn't seem to recapture the magic he
had enjoyed last year. His average finish in Nextel Cup, heading into the Coca-Cola
600, was 20.5 and he was winless in the Busch Series.
On Saturday night, in the Carquest 300 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, his victory
drought ended thanks to a late-race surge that saw him move from sixth to first in
the final 30 laps. He backed that up with a third-place run in the Coca-Cola 600 on
Sunday.
Car owner Jack Roush said the strong runs at Lowe's allow Edwards and his team
to look forward with great optimism.
“1 look at Charlotte as really the end of the beginning as far as the year is con
cerned,” he said. “If we can close the deal at Charlotte, whatever has happened in
thefirsthalf of the year just passes in insignificance later in the year as you think
back on it.”
Catching up with
Robert ‘Bootie’
Barker
BARKER
Robert “Bootie” I
Barker, a 35-year-old I
crew chief from I
Brookneal, Va., has I
been a Nextel Cup
crew chief for three
years and currently
oversees the No. 66
Chevrolet driven by [
Jeff Green. He previ
ously has worked with
Jason Leffler, Dave
Blaney and Scott Wimmer.
He’s also a regular guest on Speed
Channel’s NASCAR talk shows. He sat
down with Cox News Service writer Rick
Minter to discuss racing and life away
fix>m racing:
On his favorite movie: “I hke ‘The
Shawshank Redemption’ because it’s
about a guy that’s out and came back.”
On his favorite book: “I’d say ‘The
Count of Monte Cristo’ for the same rea
son.”
On the best race he’s ever been a
part of: “The race at Darlington in 2003
between Ricky Craven and Kurt Busch.
And the one [in 1999] when Dale
Earnhardt wrecked Tferry Labonte at
Bristol.”
On his best race ever as a crew
chief: “The Busch race at Homestead [in
2002] with Scott Wimmer. We really domi
nated that race. We had fun.”
On his season so far: “We’re average.
We’re not bad, and in this garage, to be av
erage ain’t bad.’^
On his budding career as a TV com
mentator: “I enjoy it more than I thought
I would, but racing is my first gig. Maybe
that’s why I’m comfoi^ble, because I
know racing is most important to
me....[TV] is not my bread and butter, so
maybe that’s why I don’t feel any stress.”
NUMERICALLY
SPEAKING
381
38
Most laps led by a race
winner (Jeff Gordon, 2001) in
a 400-mile race at Dover
International Speedway.
Consecutive laps run by Jason
Leffler in the Carquest 300 at
Lowe's Motor Speedway without
being passed; tops among all
drivers.
Most Nextel Cup wins by a -
manufacturer at Dover
(Chevrolet).
Fewest laps led by a Dover race
winner (Dale Jarrett, 1998).
STANDINGS
NEXTEL CUP
Following the Coca-Cola 600
1 Jimmie Johnson Cup next up; Neighborhood
1,861: previous: 1 Excellence 400; Dover
2. Matt Kenseth international Speedway
1,752; previous: 3 TV: 1:30 p.m. ET, Sunday; FX
3. Mark Martin B,„hn.xtup,
1,652, previous: 4 stonobrWgoRacing com 200;
o International Speedway
1,630, previous: 2 3 ^
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr. ’
1,590; previous: 5 Truck next up: AAA Insurance
6. Kasey Kahne 200: Dover International Speedway
1,569; previous: 8 TV: 8 p.m. ET, Friday; Speed
7. Jeff Gordon Channel
1,451; previous: 8
8. Jeff Burton
1,450; previous:
10
9. Kyle Busch
1,437; previous: 7
10. Kevin Harvick
BUSCH SERIES
1. Kevin Harvick
2,092; previous: 1
2. Carl Edwards
1,744; previous: 4
3. Clini Bowyer
1,653; previous: 2
4. Denny Hamlin
1,642; previous: 3
5. J.J. Yeley
1,602; previous: 8
w
Kasey
Kahne
is sixth in
the Cup
standings
TRUCK SERIES
1. Todd Bodine
1,140; previous: 1
2. Ted Musgrave
1,120; previous: 2
3. David Reulimann
1,034; previous: 3
4. David Starr
948; previous: 7
5., Johnny Benson
948; previous: 6
Distributed by Universai Press Syndicate for Cox News Service. (800) 255-6734. *For reiease the week of May 29, 2006.