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4C ##Q SPORTS/trie C^atlatte $o0t Thursday, July 13, 2006 NASCAR Q: Who is the winningest car owner at New Hampshire International Speedway? A: Jack Roush (six victories). THIS WEEK Race: Lenox Industrial Tools 300 Where: New Hampshire International Speedway When: 1:30 p.m. Sunday ET Television: TNT Track manners getting... bumped aside Competitive pressures eroding some drivers’ belief in racing etiquette NEW HAMPSHIRE INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY By RICK MINTER Cox News Service Atlanta T he only things changing more often man the N.^CAR :^ebook, it seems, are the unwritten laws of the sport — the on-track etiquette that drives decision-making. Drivers say the thin line between re spect for others and trying to win races is being erased by pressures to qualify for NASCAR’s new playoff format and by young drivers who don’t know any better. For years the sport rehed on gentle men’s agreements not to race back to the finish line when the caution flag was dis played- But two summers ago, drivers were not too gentlemanly so new rules were put in place to freeze the field dur ing cautions. In restrictor-plate races at Daytona and ThUadega, drivers began bumping each oflier so hard in an attempt to gain positions that NASCAR, in February cre ated “no bump” zones on the track and instituted new requirements to weaken front bumpers. Another unwritten nile called for slow er drivers to yield to faster cars, particu larly if that faster car belonged to the race leader. But as Matt Kenseth found out while trying to lap Dale Jarrett at Bristol in March, the old protocol doesn’t always apply Jarrett didn’t move over for Kenseth, and Kenseth blamed that deci sion for his loss of the lead and, possibly the victory Veteran driver Mark Martin, known for his racing etiquette, said that pres- simes, especially the emphasis on the 10 drivers who m^e the Chase for the Nextel Cup, have changed the sport. “Dale Jarrett just missed the chase two years ago, so that answers your question as to why he stayed where he was [at Bristol],” Martin told reporters after the incident. “He didn’t block the leader; he just stayed where he was.... I would have to sayif I was in that situation, I might have handled it differently but I didn’t miss the chase the last two years.” Kenseth was involved in the latest chapter in driver misbehavior during Simdays USG Sheetrock 400. Jeff Gordon spim Kenseth out of the lead with four laps to go in the race. Track length: 1.058 mile Race length: 300 laps/317.4 miles Banking in corners: 12 degrees Banking on straights: 2 degrees Frontstretch: 1,500 feet Backstretch: 1,500 feet Grandstand seating: 91,000 Qualifying record: Ryan Newman, Dodge; 133.357 mph; Sept. 12, 2003 Race record: Jeff Burton, Ford; 117.134 mph; July 13,1997 Kenseth accused Gordon of wrecking him intentionally in revenge for an inci dent earlier this year at Bristol. “He should have expected if I could get to his bumper, there was going to be some action,” Gordon repEed. Defending Nextel Cup champion Tbny Stewart said many drivers still obey the unwritten rules, but others — particular ly the newcomers — do not. “There aren’t as many people exercis ing [etiquette],” Stewart said. “I think the veterans and the guys who are used to winning a lot of races are still using that, [but] there are a lot of young drivers in the series who don’t have that respect for the series and for the veterans of the se- Stewart explained that acceptable be havior doesn’t mean giving in every time. “Having respect for [veteran driveia] doesn’t mean you have to lay over and give them the wins,” he said. “Realizing that a SOO-mfle race is a 500-mile race, not a 200-miie race like a truck or Busch race, there’s a difference in how we race in Cup vs. how those guys race when they came through the Busch and truck big changes during the years, on-track and off. “It used to be if someone wrecked you, they’d come over and say they were sorry” he said. “Nowadays, its like they don’t even care.” Jimmie Johnson said its hard to find drivers — veterans or rookies — who will return favors granted on the track. “I think some of the give and take — I’ll let you go now and you’ll be my fiiend and let me back by lat^’ — is out the window,” he said, explaining that tiie pressures of the sport no longer allow it. “You have to race as hard as you can,” he said- “Tback position is so important. You even see it with teammates.” He said he was surprised at Phoenix in April when Greg Biffle wouldn’t let Roush Racing teammate Martin go by without a fight, even though Martin’s car appeared to be faster. T really expected to see [Biffle] let [Martin] roll on by but [Biffle] was ready to race,” Johnson said. ‘You can’t afford, even in the middle of the race, to let guys go by at will.” Johnson said he sometimes finds him self in similar scenarios with his Hendrick Motorsports teammates. “When you’re racing hard to stay ahead of tiiem and once they get by they drive off and leave you, you think, ‘Man I should have conceded a little bit earlier,’ ” he said. “But in most cases, when it is time to race, you’ve got to do the best for your self and your team. Tfeammate or aot, you’re racing hard to get your best finish, so you don’t feel too bad too often.” “I think those guys need to learn how we race. For them to think they’re going to come in and change how we race is lu dicrous.” Jeff Burton said he has seen NASCAR Tony Stewart, defending champion of Sunday’s race at New Hampshire, says there aren’t as many drivers observing traditional rules of etiquette on the track. Jeff Hood’s OBSERVATIONS Here are some storvlines this week beading to Ne)v Hampshire: Running hot Written off by some critics as recently as four weeks ago, four time Nextel Cup champion Jeff Gordon has captured two victo ries in three starts. Gordon’s victory at Chicagoland Speedway moved him into 10th place in the championship standings witii eight races remaining until tiie 10-driver lineup is set for this year’s Chase for the Nextel Cup. Gordon’s next victory will be the 76th of his career and will tie him with the late Dale Earnhardt for sixth on the all-time victories list. NASCAR Running on empty Tbny Stewart, the defending Nextel Cup champion and win ner of last season’s July race at New Hampshire, has experi enced a whirlwind of emotions during the past two weeks. Eight days after celebrating with fans beneath the flagstand following his victory in the Pepsi 400 at Daytona, Stewart fin ished 32nd in Chicago on Srmday when he ran out of gas with four laps remaining. “A tough way to end a race,” Stewart told reporters. “We worked all the way from 34th to third, and then to have it end like that, it’s pretty hard to take.” Stewart dropped from fifth to seventh in the championship standings. Running into contention An eighth-place finish Sunday kept 2004 Nextel Cup champi on Kurt Busch in contention for a spot in this year’s Chase. Busch, who has had five consecutive top-10 finishes heading into this weekend’s race in Loudon, N.H., is 13th in the champi onship standings, 132 points behind lOth-place Gordon. ‘We’re getting better and better on these mile and half-mile tracks, and we’ll eventually get it figured out,” Busch told reporters at Chicagoland Speedway ‘We’re going to Loudon this week and then back to Pocono. Those have been really good tracks for us. We’re just hoping to keep the momentum going.” Running out of time With his championship hopes fading quickly following a 36th-place finish at Chicagoland, Ryan Newman is facing a must-win scenario in Sunday’s Lenox Industrial Tbols 300. A victory at Loudon is not out of the question for the 28-yEar-old Newman, who edged Stewart by .292 seconds to win die Sjdvania 300 in September on the 1-058-mile track. There can be no margin of error over the next eight races for Newman, who is 18di in the points standings. He has been a participant in die Chase since its inception in 2004. Running with the big boys Chip Ganassi shocked the racing commu nity by announcing on Sunday that Formula I Onedriver Juan Pablo Montoya will assume I the driving duties of the No. 42 Dodge, which is being vacated by Casey Mears, in 2007. Gordon, who practiced in Montoya’s open-wheel car at Indiaiiapolis Motor Speedway in 2003, said he welcomes the Formula One driver to the stock-car circuit. “I think it’s esctremely exciting,” Gordon said following his victory at Chicago. ‘1 think it’s great for the sport.” MONTOYA Catching up with... Davidstarr TTiafts where I’ve kind of shined over the years. We’re getting back on top of that. We’re top 10 in points right now. Everything’s good, but we want it to get better. We want to be in the chase for the championship come the last four or five races. I think everything is going good right now.” David Starr has been a mainstay in the NASCAR Craftsman TVuck Series since 2002- Following his dismissal from Spears Motorsports at the conclusion of the 2005 sea son, Starr found a home with Red Horse Racing, a team that fields Tbyota Timdras and is co-owned by former Nextel Cup crew chief Jeff Hammond. The 38-yeai^old Starr made a quick impression by winning in his fourth start of2006. He talked with Cox News Service re porter Jeff Hood recently about life in the fast lane. Q: How would you rate your season in the Craftsman TVuck Series? A “I think we’ve lived up to our expectations. We won at Martinsville in our fourth race out. We’ve struggled a bit on the bi^er, fast tracks. Q: How do you compare your win at Martinsville in April to your three other career victories in a truck? A “I eat, hve and sleep this sport. This is all I think about and all I do. And when you work with peo ple who have the same passion and desires that I have, if s incredible. Tb win for a group of guys who want to win as bad as you do, ifs very emotional. It was hard to sleep at night last year through the winter time b^ause we didn’t win a race [in 2005]. My other wins were big, but I’d have to rate the win at Martinsville as No. 1.” Q: Whafs your outlook for the remainder of the season? A “On the 1.5-mile tracks, like Atlanta, the places where over the years I’ve run the best at, it seems like we are just so-so. We won Martinsville; we ran thfrd at Mansfield [Ohio] and could have won that race, but I didn’t want to knock people out of the way I’m looking forward to Indianapohs Raceway Park, Memphis and back to Martinsville. But I would hope to tiiink we can win on these bigger tracks be cause thaf 3 where we’ve been strong over the years.” Q: What are your thoughts on the TVuck Series making its debut at Thlladega Superspeedway in October? A “When we went to Daytona, that was big because when you think of NASCAR, you think of Daytona International Speedway When we went to Charlotte, that was big. But the NASCAR Craftsman TVuck Series is grown up. Now, we’re going to Thlladega. That’s going to be a big event for me personzdly my team and the whole series. I’m really CTcit^'about that race.” David Starr maintained the lead through eight restarts over the final 121 laps to win the Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway on April 1. STANDINGS NEXTEL CUP Following the USG Sheetrock 400 1. Jimmie Johnson 2,651; previous: 1 2. Matt Kenseth Cup next up: Lenox Industrial Tools 300; New Hampshire International Speedway 2,603; previous: 2 TV: 1:30 p.m. ET, Sunday: TNT 3, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Busch next up: New England 2,394, previous. 3 20O; New Hampshire International 4. Jeff Burton Speedway 2,327; previous:? TViSp.m. ET, Saturday; TNT 5. Kasey Kahne 2,303; previous: 4 e » ?' 6. Mark Martin Memphis Motersports Park 2,291; previous: 6 ® P'l"' 7. Tony Stewart 2,274; previous: 5 8. Kyle Busch 2,265; previous: 8 9. Kevin Harvick 2,253; previous: 9 10. Jeff Gordon 2,219; previous: BUSCH SERIES 1. Kevin Harvick 2,922; previous: 1 2. Carl Edwards 2,599; previous: 2 3. Clint Bowyer 2,540; previous: 3 4. Denny Hamlin 2,502; previous: 4 5. J.J. Yeley 2,494; previous! 5 TRUCK SERIES 1. Todd Bodine 2,043; previous: 1 2. Johnny Benson 1,931; previous: 3 3. David Reutimann 1,898; previous: 2 4. Ted Musgrave 1,807; previous: 4 5. Rick Crawford 1,806; previous: 5 What ever happened to . Phil Parsons Phil Parsons won one Cup race in 202 starts during a career that began in 1983 and concluded in 1997. The younger brother of 1973 Cup champion and NBC commenta tor Benny Parsons, Phil Parsons captured two checkered flags in 285 starts in the NASCAR Busch Series. The 49-year-old Parsons retired from racing in 2001 after making his final start in the Busch Series at Kentucky Speedway Tbday Parsons is best known as one of the voices of the Craftsman TVuck Series on Speed Channel. Parsons spoke with Cox News Service writer JeffHood about his ca- PARSONS On his most satisfying accomplish ments in racii^: “Obviously winning a [Cup] race at Thlladega back in 1988 was certainly the culmination of a hfelong dream and pursuit. And then, after my ca reer took a bit of a downturn when I was running the Busch Series part time with just one full-time employee, we went to Charlotte and won a big Busch race. That was awfully rewarding also.” On recoverii^ from the worst crash of his career, when he barrel-rolled a car at Tallad^a in 1983: “At that time, there wasn’t anything that was going to stop me from trying to achieve my dream. Certainly a bad accident did knock me out for about six weeks because I broke my shoulder. But other than that, it was just one of those things. Everybody has gone through it.” On initially getting involved in broadcasting: “Over the years, people would ask me to do some [broadcasting] when I wasn’t driving, maybe the day be fore a race or the day after a race when I was running in the Busch Series. I’ve been doing it on an on-and-off basis over the yearo and always felt hke that was what I would want to do when I finally quit. I had a good opportunity with ESPN when they pursued me to do the Craftsman TVuck Series in 2001.1 said maybe the timing is right now to maybe change directions in my career. So I’ve b^n doing it full time since 2001.” On his 2007 plans: “TVuthfully I don’t really know exactly what I’m going to do next year. But I certainly hope to keep in volved with racing in some way shape or form on the TV side of it.” NUMERICALLY SPEAKING $5,697,845 Jimmie Johnson's 2006 winnings through 18 races 300 Most laps led by a race winner at New Hampshire International Speedway (JeffBurton; Sept. 17, 2000). 30 Most drivers on the lead lap at the end of a Cup race at New Hampshire International Speedway (July 21, 2002). 10 Most Cup wins by a manufacturer (Ford) at New Hampshire International Speedway 4 Most Cup wins by a driver at New Hampshire International Speedway (Jeff Burton). Distributed by Universal Press Syndicate for Cox News Service. (800) 255-6734. *For release the week of July 10, 2006.
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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July 13, 2006, edition 1
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