Nascar General

[TheRob]

More fallout from the Dale Earnhardt crash.



Seatbelt maker Simpson resigns
(Aug 1) Bill Simpson, the man who found himself at the center of the storm surrounding the death of NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt earlier this year, has resigned as the head of Simpson Performance Products.

Simpson says the stress of the controversy in the wake of Earnhardt's death at the Daytona 500 in February "just got to be too much".

Following Earnhardt's death, NASCAR officials pointed to a broken seatbelt as a contributing factor. That led to death threats and harrassment against Simpson and his employees. Simpson has maintained all along that he was made a scapegoat by NASCAR for the star's death.

In April, an independent expert appointed by Florida authorities concluded that even if the seatbelt in Earnhardt's car did break during the crash, it happened after the driver suffered a fatal head injury.

As well, one of the first medical people on the scene following the crash says the belt was intact when he examined Earnhardt.

An internal investigation into Earnhardt's death by NASCAR is expected to be completed sometime this month. Simpson says he has not been given any indication what might be in the final report adding he doesn't really care at this point because "I know I didn't do anything wrong".

[Hands of Stone]

Ah, TR can me come over to see NASCAR and swig on some bud.

I'll bring down my dog buck and chew, if your old lady will make some stew.

Over HOS~

[TheRob]

We'll make stew if you bring your lovely waf.....I mean saster....ermm.....cousin.......umm, that girl you shag. I gots the Black Label on ice already HOS.

TR.

[Captain Shamrock]

TheRob,

Here are the odds in today's(?) Tropicana 400. I never follow this stuff so I was wondering if you could narrow the potential winners to THREE. Thanks. If anyone else follows it, then your advice would be appreciated. Otherwise, I won't be betting on it........


Captain

Motor Racing : Nascar - Tropicana 400

Bet Until: 14/07/2002 19:00:00

Multibet Competitor Price Unit Stake E/W

J Gordon 7.00

T Stewart 7.50

R Newman 8.00

S Marlin 9.00

K Busch 9.00

M Martin 11.00

M Kenseth 11.00

D Jarrett 11.00

R Wallace 13.00

J Johnson 13.00

D Earnhardt Jr 15.00

R Rudd 17.00

J Burton 17.00

B Labonte 17.00

B Elliott 17.00

M Waltrip 26.00

W Burton 41.00

K Harvick 41.00

J Nemechek 41.00

D Blaney 41.00

E Sadler 51.00

R Gordon 67.00

R Craven 67.00

J Spencer 67.00

T Bodine 81.00

J Nadeau 81.00

J Mayfield 81.00

S Park 81.00

T Labonte 101.00

M Skinner 101.00

K Schrader 101.00

J Andretti 101.00

B Hamilton Snr 101.00

J Green 126.00

C Atwood 126.00

K Petty 151.00

K Wallace 201.00

H Stricklin 201.00

B Bodine 201.00

S Kirby 201.00

S Compton 251.00

M Wallace 251.00

S Grissom 251.00


1/4 Odds Place 1,2,3,4


Show Betting Help/Rules Help - How Do I Use This Page?

[TheRob]

Captain,

Just saw this this morning. Sorry it is a little late to help you, but if I were to pick three they would have been Gordon, Stewart, and Earnhardt Jr. It also depends on what track they were running on. I don't follow Nascar very much. There are only about four races I'm sort of interested in. Daytona, Talladega, Bristol, and Watkins Glen.

Open wheel forever,

TheRob

[TheRob]

The top three finishers at the Tropicana 400 at Chicagoland Speedway were 1) Kevin Harvick 2) Jeff Gordon 3) Tony Stewart.

I got two for you Captain.

[Captain Shamrock]

However, I would have lost because I only go for winners, not for 2nd and 3rd. So, the picks would have technically been moot .

[Argyle]

Did anybody get to see this?

Three Army skydivers injured before NASCAR race in Rockingham

Sunday, February 23, 2003

ROCKINGHAM, N.C. (AP) - Three Army skydivers were injured Sunday when strong wind knocked them to the ground before a NASCAR race.

Two jumpers were in stable condition at a hospital and the other was in good condition. A group of eight jumpers from the U.S. Army Special Operations Command Parachute team from Fort Bragg came sailing into the track area, trailing red smoke as part of the pre-race activities for the Subway 400 at North Carolina Speedway.

With wind up to 65 km/h, one jumper was carried away from his targeted landing on the track and into the infield, where he appeared to bounce off the top of a tractor-trailer before landing on the ground, his chute caught on the antenna of a van.

He was airlifted to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, where he was in good condition, a nursing administrator said.

The hospital did not provide the soldier's name. Messages for spokesmen with the Army Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg were not immediately returned.

Another jumper sailed into the garage area and bounced off the top of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s hauler. He landed between race team trucks and a fence.

That jumper and another jumper who landed hard on the asphalt of the track were taken to Womack Army Hospital in Fayetteville for treatment of minor injuries. They were in stable condition Sunday evening, said Barbara Ashley, a spokeswoman for U.S. Army Special Operations Command.

The injured soldiers' names have not been released.

At least two jumpers nailed their landings on the front stretch of the race track. Another skydiver never made it to the track, landing outside the Turn 1 grandstands.

On a side note...Dale Jarret won the race...does anybody care?

[Fastshow]

Fills you with confidence to know that those charged with saving the world from the evil Iraqi empire come acropper when there's some nasty, nasty wind involved. Silly cnuts.

[Argyle]

Kenseth drives to victory in Las Vegas
Associated Press
3/2/2003

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Matt Kenseth solidified Roush Racing's hold on Las Vegas Motor Speedway by winning the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 on Sunday - giving his team its fourth victory in the track's six-year Winston Cup history.

Kenseth, who won a Winston Cup-best five races last season, got incredible help in the pits - his crew gave his Ford four tires in 13 seconds on their final stop - to jump out to a huge lead and beat Dale Earnhardt Jr. to the finish line by 9.104 seconds.

Since NASCAR's Winston Cup Series began racing in Vegas in 1998, Roush drivers Mark Martin, Jeff Burton and Kenseth have all made it to Victory Lane. Burton did it back-to-back in 1999 and 2000.

Michael Waltrip finished third in a Chevrolet and took over the Winston Cup points lead. He was followed by Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Bobby Labonte and Tony Stewart.

Burton was sixth. Ryan Newman came back from falling two laps down early in the race to finish seventh in a Dodge.

Sterling Marlin, Joe Nemecheck and Steve Park rounded out the Top 10.

Only 11 cars finished on the lead lap, and the front five were all running individually at the end of the race with huge gaps between them on the 1.5-mile oval.

It meant the best racing was actually for sixth, seventh and eighth place and led to late-race contact between Marlin and Jimmie Johnson. The two were running side-by-side when Marlin wiggled just a bit coming out of Turn 4 on the final lap and tapped Johnson, sending him spinning through the infield grass.
Johnson wound up 11th, the last car on the lead lap.

It was a strange weekend for the Roush Racing cars, starting Friday when rookie Greg Biffle failed to qualify for the race.
Third-year Roush driver Kurt Busch came into his home track on an incredible roll - he won three of the final five races last year and started this season with consecutive second-place finishes to take over the points lead - finally cooled where he wants to win the most.
The rear of his Ford was damaged early in the race when he banged against the wall, then the car was crumpled when he was caught in a wreck that began when Mike Skinner spun out Rusty Wallace.
Furious, Busch sat inside his car with his window net up while his crew tried to make enough repairs to get him back on the track. They didn't and finished 38th, dropping to sixth in the points.

Mark Martin, the only driver to finish in the Top 10 in each of the first six races in Las Vegas, had that streak snapped when he blew an engine and finished 43rd.

Kenseth was in command for most of the final 100 laps. He had a 4-second lead after the final round of stops and built it to more than 9 seconds by the checkered flag.

[Argyle]

Busch wins second straight Food City 500


Sports Ticker

3/23/2003

BRISTOL, Tennessee (Ticker) - Kurt Busch led 112 laps Sunday and defended his title at the incident-filled NASCAR Food City 500 for the second straight year at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Driving a Ford Taurus, Busch became the second driver in the last five years to win this event in consecutive seasons. Short-track specialist Rusty Wallace won in 1999-2000.
Busch also became the sixth different winner in as many races this year. In his last 11 races, he has four wins and three second-place finishes.
Matt Kenseth was second, also in a Ford, and opened a 138-point lead over Busch in the Winston Cup standings.
Bobby Labonte was third in a Chevrolet Monte Carlo, followed by the Fords of Ricky Rudd and Greg Biffle. Sterling Marlin was the highest Dodge Intrepid finisher as only the top six cars finished in the lead lap.
Jimmy Spencer and Jeff Gordon dominated the race, but the outcome was decided by a late caution that stranded several contenders on pit road. Gordon finished ninth and Spencer 12th.
The most notable accident took place with less than 80 laps to go when Kyle Petty bounced off Ward Burton's Dodge and hit the wall hard in turn 1. Petty was carefully helped out of the car and later was taken by ambulance to Bristol Medical Center for precautionary reasons.

For NASCAR fans, this is one of the best. A short little oval with lots of contact, and seats for 160,000. Always an exciting one...and always sold out.

[Argyle]

The last half of the race was filled with cautions, with some very hard wrecks. Another enjoyable weekend for the race fan.

Newman wins big in Texas


Sports Ticker

3/30/2003

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - Things finally went right for Ryan Newman on Sunday.
First, he caught a break when half the drivers on the lead lap made green-flag pit stops before a caution flag allowed Newman to make his stop without losing ground.
Then, on his final stop, the 25-year-old racer gambled on changing only two tires, lost the lead to Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the ensuing restart but was able to retake the lead from the crowd favourite with 11 laps to go.
Newman pulled away at the end to win the Samsung/Radio Shack 500 by half the final straightaway.

[Argyle]

That makes it 4 straight wins at Taladega. Very exciting race with half the field gone 4 laps in. Almost identical to the Busch race on Saturday. The same winner, with half the field out because of a huge accident on lap 11.

Dale Jr. gets fourth straight win at Talladega

Associated Press

4/6/2003

TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) - About the only thing that went right for Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Sunday was winning the Aaron's 499.
Crew chief Tony Eury Sr. had to beat on the doors of a couple of his crewmen who overslept their 5 a.m. wake-up call after forgetting to reset their clocks.
When the crew of the No. 8 Chevrolet warmed up the engine after arriving at Talladega Superspeedway, the oil cooler filled up with water, requiring an engine change and forcing Earnhardt to start from the rear of the 43-car field.
Four laps into the 188-lap event, Earnhardt drove through the infield grass to avoid a wild 27-car crash. The bumpy ride tore up his front air dam, messing up the car's aerodynamics and forcing a series of pit stops for repairs.
Earnhardt charged back to become the first driver to win four straight Winston Cup events on the 2.66-mile Talladega oval, but afterward he spent more time explaining a disputed pass than talking about his eighth career victory.
``Today was real tough,'' Earnhardt said, shaking his head and grinning. ``I didn't guess we'd be competitive the rest of the day after the accident. We were just hanging on in the middle of the race. I didn't feel like I had a very competitive car. But at the end of the day, we were able to make the moves we needed to make.''
Earnhardt didn't lead for the first time until lap 107 and wound up in front nine times for 34 laps in a race in which there was a total of 43 lead changes among 16 drivers. He fended off challenges at the end from Jimmie Johnson, Ward Burton and Matt Kenseth.
He fought his way into the lead twice in the last four laps, once with a pass below the yellow line on the track apron. The move had rival teams lined up at the NASCAR hauler after the race to complain.
Driving below the yellow line to improve position is prohibited at Talladega, and NASCAR warned the drivers before Sunday's race that officials would be watching closely for such moves.
But, after reviewing videotape of the pass, NASCAR ruled it a legal move.
The 28-year-old son of the late Dale Earnhardt, the career leader at Talladega with 10 Winston Cup victories, came up with his first win of the season and moved to second in the standings, 129 points behind Kenseth.
Earnhardt's victory Sunday broke the record of three in a row here, held by Buddy Baker, who won twice in 1975 and once in 1976.
``There ain't too many (drivers) ever won four races here, period,'' Earnhardt said. ``I'm stepping into some awful big shoes.''
NASCAR requires carburettor restrictor plates at Talladega and Daytona, its two longest and fastest ovals. The plates sap horsepower and produce huge drafts up to four cars wide in which a multi-car wreck is virtually inevitable.
The crowd of more than 160,000 didn't have long to wait for ``The Big One'' on Sunday. A deflated tire sent Ryan Newman's car into the fourth-turn wall on the fourth lap around the high-banked oval and started the crash in the second turn.
There were no injuries, but the crash took out or damaged the cars of a number of possible contenders, including Earnhardt.
At one point in the early going, Earnhardt had lost the lead pack and was facing the possibility of being lapped until debris on the track brought out another of the six cautions and allowed him to pit for more adjustments.
Late in the race, Earnhardt got caught in traffic and slid out of the top five. But he came back, taking the lead on lap 185 with the controversial pass on Kenseth and Johnson that took him below the yellow line.
Elliott Sadler, who was right behind Earnhardt, said, ``I was the one pushing (Earnhardt), and they ran him down. He had to do that or cause a big wreck, so it was a smart move. He's just like his dad driving that car.
``He kept giving me the 'come on, push' sign and I pushed him all I could. We almost had a 1-2 finish, but we'll take third right now.''
Kenseth took the lead on lap 186, but Earnhardt pushed back in front on lap 187 and kept the lead, beating Kevin Harvick's Chevy to the finish line by 0.125 seconds - about 1½ car-lengths.

[Argyle]

Another classic short track race...if a driver won't let you pass him, then put him in the wall...

Gordon captures Virginia 500

Associated Press

4/13/2003

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) - Jeff Gordon nudged Bobby Labonte aside on the 487th lap Sunday, ending a long stretch of nose-to-tail frustration to win the Virginia 500.
Gordon had been battling Labonte since they broke free on a restart with 48 laps to go. But Labonte blocked his efforts to pass on both the inside and outside before Gordon finally moved him out of the way.
The bump occurred as they entered the first turn, drawing a mixture of roars and boos from the crowd of 86,000. The race finished under caution, and Gordon earned his 62nd career Winston Cup victory and first this year.
``Bobby and I were having a lot of fun there at the end, bumping and rubbing,'' Gordon said. ``He was doing everything he could.
``I didn't want to knock him out of the way too hard, but I did push him around a little.''
After a caution ended with eight laps to go, Gordon easily pulled away from the field, proving he had the strongest car. The final caution came on the 499th lap.

[Argyle]

Nextel signs on as title NASCAR sponsor

Associated Press

6/17/2003

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - NASCAR is trading cigarettes for cell phones.
Wireless communications giant Nextel has reached a deal to replace R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., as the title sponsor of NASCAR's premier series, the Winston Cup.
Two NASCAR sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Nextel will be introduced Thursday at a news conference in New York's Times Square.
NASCAR scheduled what it called a ``major news announcement'' there Thursday, with chairman Bill France Jr. and top drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon to attend. It did not disclose the subject.
Two Winston Cup team sources, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said NASCAR officials called them Monday to tell them a deal with Nextel was complete.
When Nextel connects with NASCAR starting next season, it will be reaching out to the estimated 75 million fans in more than 100 different countries that follow the sport. It will also be a sponsor capable of advertising and reaching the youthful demographic NASCAR has long pursued.
RJR has been limited in marketing its NASCAR sponsorship by the 1998 master settlement of state lawsuits against the tobacco industry. RJR cannot advertise Winston, its top cigarette brand, on radio or television and is expressly forbidden to market to people under 18.
hose limitations and the uncertain business climate in the tobacco industry led RJR in February to give NASCAR permission to look for another title sponsor, despite a five-year contract extension RJR had signed last year.
RJR has been with NASCAR for 31 years, signing in 1972 to take over what was then called the Grand National Series. The company teamed with NASCAR to build the Winston Cup Series into the nation's hottest sports property.
Marc Ganis, a sports finance expert who heads Chicago's Sportscorp Limited, said the Nextel deal is good for both sides.
``I think it's an excellent fit for Nextel and in many ways should work well for NASCAR,'' Ganis said. ``Look how quickly they were able to go out and replace the sponsor. In this (economic) environment, that's extraordinary. Plus, they substitute a controversial product like cigarettes for a universal, non-controversial product like cell phones.''
RJR spends anywhere from $30 million to $60 million US annually marketing Winston through NASCAR. It's not clear what Nextel, based in Reston, Va., will spend, or what the series will now be called.
One NASCAR source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Nextel's presence will prevent other wireless companies from coming into the sport. Companies with sponsors already on the side of a car, such as Alltel and Cingular Wireless, can continue to be involved, the source said.
Alltel sponsors Ryan Newman's No. 12 Dodge for Penske Racing South and Cingular sponsors Robby Gordon's No. 31 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing.
Worried there might be conflicts, Childress went to NASCAR officials after hearing of Nextel's impending entrance.
``There didn't seem to be a great concern,'' he said Tuesday. ``There's not going to be a problem with Cingular and the other wireless company that's in there now because I think they would be grandfathered in.''
Penske Racing president Don Miller also has said he and Alltel officials do not foresee problems.
It is not clear how the decision would affect AT&T, which is NASCAR's official telecommunications company. AT&T has its own wireless communications division.
It's also not clear what will happen to The Winston, the annual all-star race held each May. The rights to that event have always been included with the title sponsorship agreement.
Nextel is known among cell phone providers for its ``push-to-talk'' feature, which allows people to use their cell phones like walkie-talkies within a local area.
Ganis said that feature is used heavily in cities and by companies that keep lots of workers out in the field on a daily basis.
In that sense, he said, the Nextel signing fits well with NASCAR's ongoing effort to gain popularity in larger markets for the sport, which has long been associated with the South. Last week, NASCAR said it will shift a key Labour Day race from South Carolina to Fontana, Calif., outside Los Angeles.
Ganis said the tie to NASCAR, whose fans are famously loyal to sponsors, may also help Nextel in one of the few remaining growth demographics for wireless companies.
``Golfers all have at least one, maybe two or three cell phones,'' he said. ``The segment of the population that either doesn't have a cell phone or is price- and service-sensitive is one that NASCAR seems to appeal to. It appeals to the average American, and the average American is sensitive to cell phone pricing.''

It is a shame that this series gets all of the money, and attention while the CART series continues to struggle...

[Argyle]

Robby dominates in Infineon win

Robby Gordon dominated Sunday's Dodge/Save Mart 350 on Sunday at Infineon Raceway and held off Jeff Gordon for his second career Winston Cup victory.

NASCAR should take more of their races to the road courses. What an amazing race.