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Show -- 6 THE MAGNA TIMES, V V - - March 23, 2006 EST VALLEY NEW S, KEARNS POST THIS WEEK DID YOU KIIOW? Junior Johnson is the Race: Food City 500 Where: Bristol Motor Speedway When: Sunday. 1 .30 p.m. ET Television: Fox winmngest car owner at Bristol Motor Speedway with 21 victories. til c S3 U C W-- Rick Minters Welcome to Bristol; home of... OBSERVATIONS A weekly State of the I Tnion as NASCAR heads to Bristol THE STORYLINES A - The road too tough: Two Tbccoa, Ga., businessmen, John last year, Carter and Roger Craven, did the team to when they took their fledgling, shoestring-budge- t Daytona and finished ninth in the Daytona 500. They earned more than $300,000 for that one race. But as the Nextel Cup circuit heads to Bristol Motor Speedway this week. Carter and Craven are on the verge of dropping off the circuit With Mike Skinner at the wheel of their No. 37 Dodge, the R and J Racing team has failed to qualify for a single event this year and the team has no primary sponsor to help foot the near-impossib- TV" T Atlanta circuit heads to the big at Bristol Motor Speedway weekend for the first short-tracrun of the season. After three races on intermediate, nule-ana half tracks and a superspeedway run at Daytona, its time for some slam-banracing. Despite the high speeds that Bristols banking produce (Ryan Newman holds the track qualifying record of a drying 128.709 tnph) drivers tactics often resort to more suited to a flat, quarter-mildirt track. Car owner Bill Davis said thats not fair in many ways. He said he applauds a driver like fellow Arkansas native Mark Martin, who isn t known to intentionally knock aside another driver, even if it means a Nextel Cup victory. He remembers Martin running second to Ricky Rudd at Dover in 1997, even The NASCAR k d bump-and-ru- n e BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY Track length: .533 mile Race length: 266.5 miles (500 laps) Grandstand seating: 160,000 Banking in corners: 36 degrees Banking on straights: 16 degrees Frontstretch: 650 feet Backstretch: 650 feet Qualifying record: Ryan Newman, Dodge, 128.709 mph, March 21 , 2003 Race record: Charlie Glotzbach, , 1 Chevrolet; 01 .074 mph; July 1 1 1 , 971 bills. We're still trying to get on our feet, and team to just quit, Carter said. though he had what appeared to be a faster car and could have knocked Rudd aside. One of the things 1 heard people ask was why Martin didnt run over Rudd, Davis said. But that would have been stealing. Wouldnt it be some- By RICK MINTER Cox New s Service m , Sun shines on Burton: Jeff Burtons '5 'iGSWftk- Busch Series victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway last Saturday his first in any of NASCARs elite divisions since October 2002, is a sign that he and his Richard Childress Racing team are headed back in a winning direction. But Burton, who has driven his Nextel Cup car to two top-1- 0 finishes in the first four races and is 11th in points, cautioned that much work remains to be done. We've been able to improve everything, but you cant sit still, he said. Youve got to continue to improve, youve got to build better bodies, better chassis, better engines. Your engineering programs have to improve. If you want to beat the best, you have to do everything right, he said. - thing if that sentiment would go through the garage? But somebody is going to get hammered at Bristol, and thats not fair. If their morals are low enough, theyll do that. Kyle Busch said that a lot of the problems that typically occur at Bristol can be traced to high speeds and the narrowness of the rac- Photo illustration images by NASCAR Matt Kenseth bring to Bristol the same car he drove to victory in last will years fall race. ing groove. At Bristol, youve got one specific groove," he said. Youve got to get in there and do everything right. Somebody rattles you from behind and then youre all over the steering wheel trying to figure out what you need to do in order to get straight and keep it in line and try to get away from the guys behind you. He said the key to being a contender after 500 grinding laps is to be patient, unless youre about to get lapped. If youre not going a lap down, you might as well just ride, he said. Theres no point in racing at Bristol. Unfortunately, Busch said, he cant count on his competitors to do the same. Youre going to have patience, hut somebody behind you might not have he said. Matt Kenseth won at Bristol last fall in dominant fashion, loading 415 of 500 laps. He said hes bringing the same car - except with a Fusion body replacing the old Taurus sheet metal and the same chasBut he said thats no guarantee sis set-uthat hell be as fast this time A lot of times, even in my short track career and Busch days and all that stuff, you can dominate and come back with all the identical stuff in the car and not run like that for some reason. Kenseth said. As soon as you get on the track the first time, 1 think you have to keep an open mind and work on your car find try to get it to do the things you want it to do." that patience, A speedway plan: As nice as Bruton Smiths speedways are now, he says they can and will be a lot better for fans in the future. Our speedways are six or seven years behind the sport, said Smith, whose Speedway Motorsports Inc. holdings include Atlanta Motor Speedway Bristol Motor Speedway. Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Lowes Motor Speedway Texas Motor Speedway and Infineon Raceway He said he plans to create a Mardi Gras-likenvironment outside Texas Motor Speedway during race weekends and plans to add amenities at other tracks, too, including grocery stores at the tracks catering to campers and more restrooms and showers. He said he wants race fans to have the experience of a lifetime, beginning from a point 20 miles from the track. 1 want them to still be talking about their race experience 20 years later, he said. e Taking care of business: Atlanta Motor Speedway President Ed Clark had his hand full last weekend, making executive decisions related to hosting NASCAR's top three divisions Nextel Cup, Busch and Craftsman Truck at his track. But he found time Saturday night to drive his roadster on AMS quarter-miloval. His second-placfinish made him Winter Flurry Series. champion of the e : numerically SpAkig 1 A 'A I I ' Most lead changes in What ever happened to a Nextel Cup race at Bristol Motor Sppedway (April 1 9, 1 991 ) 0 Fewest lead changes in a Bristol event (Cale Yarborough led all 500 laps on March 25, 1973) 13-1- 4 people. Hamilton Sr. said he has enjoyed good C ox News Sen ke 1971-197- an times and bad, and that one of the worst came with the death of his former competitor, Dale Earnhardt. Everywhere in this garage area are people who I wont associate w ith, don't talk to, hut I care a ton for their safety; he said. Dale Earnhardt used to make me so mad I could have taken a dump truck and run over him three times, but when we lost him, there isnt a day that goes by that I dont think about him. Thats just the way this business is. I don't expect anything in return. I just want to take what I'm going through and use what little bit of celebrity status that I have left and try to promote the awareness for this disease. ' He hopes to return to the circuit for the season finale at Homestead in November. Mmter Dean Dalton of Asheville, N.C., ran 1 18 Nextel Cup races from Driving cars he built and prepared, he never won, but he recorded 10 top-1- finishes before a horrendous crash at Talladega brought his career to a premature end. trucks and works as a meToday he drives tractor-traile- r chanic in his hometown. In his spare time, he competes on . Confident Hamilton proclaims Im a survivor Atlanta ... MDalton B) Ru k finishes at Bristol by Richard Petty (left). That leads all drivers. Top-1- 0 Craftsman Truck Series driver Bobby Hamilton Sr., who has stepped out of his truck to take treatment for cancer in his neck, said hes confident hell survive and race again. He said his latest challenge mirrors his life to date. My whole life has been a bit of turmoil, he said. Eve been pretty proud to do what I've done because Im a survivor. 1 was out on the street at years old and ended up doing what I did and got a drivchance to race with the best race-ca- r ers in the best racing in the world. Now I'm an owner and employ right around 60 e six-rac- e Fewest laps led by a race winner at Bristol (Fred Lorenzen on July 26, 1964) By RICK MINTER Cox News Service were too good a Cox News Service Bobby Hamilton Sr. shows emotion at a press conference last week at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where he revealed he plans to begin treatment soon for neck cancer. antique-tractor-pullin- circuit. g On the changes in racing: Theres a lot more money in it. In 1972, 1 finished ninth in points. I made a little over $42,000 for the whole year and got $1,800 for the points. It takes a lot more money now to race, but theyve got oodles of people working in the shops. On the wreck that eventually put him out of racing: It took quite a while to get healed. I broke my neck in two places, broke my back in three places, punctured my lung and ribs. I was out of commission so long, had a bunch of bills pile up and never really had the money to start back. I got into trucking, hoping to get the money to go back. I went back a little, but I just never had any money On the highlights of his career: I was proud that I built everything 1 raced. It was a big challenge. I built everything from the engine to the frame. I chalked out my first car on a chicken-housfloor, with no frame machine or jig e or anything. On his favorite tracks: I lilted tracks like Darlington and Bristol, which I considered my home track. I never had any luck close to home. I always ran good and something broke. STANDINGS NEXTEL CUP Following the Golden Corral 500 Jimmie Jimmie Johnson 690; previous: 1 1 . Nextel Cup race An eight-timwinner, Kyle Petty is the son of NASCAR legend Richard Petty and grandson of racing pioneer Lee Petty The driver of the No. 45 Dcxlge, Kyle Petty last visited Victory Lane in June 1995 at Dover International Speedway In June 200 1, he and his wife Pattie opened the Victory Junction Gang Camp, which hosts terminally and chronically ill children from across the country. Cox News Service writer Jeff Hood talked with Petty and filed this report: e Q: Are you looking forward to Bristol? ; A: Oh, yeah, just because its .the first short track race. You go to Daytona and get the restrictor-- 1 plate race under your belt Then you go to Cal ifornia, and it seems Hike California, Vegas and i Atlanta are all the same type of race. But then its good to get the i short track under your belt. ; ! S Q: Do you think Bill Lester lie- - coming the first driver in 20 years to qualify for a Nextel Cup race was historical? A: Youre probably asking the wrong person, and the reason I say that is because I was here when Wendell Scott was here. I was a kid going with my father to the races, and I knew Wendell Scott. So its not historic to me. Its historic to a lot of people sitting in the grandstand and especially to people that have come into the sport in the last few years, especially with the diversity and minority programs we speak of all the time. Im a little bit older than that. I apologize. But I do think its important for the sport. I think an Eric Crocker is important for the sport. I think a Bill lister is important for the sport But I dont look at in historic proportions. I just think its where we need to be for the sport to grow. African-America- n Q: Whats going on with the Victory Junction Gang Camp? A: Its going 2. Kasey Kahne 640; previous: 3 3. Matt Kenseth 612; previous: 2 4. Mark Martin 600; previous: 5 5. Casey Mears 554; previous: 4 6. Jeff Gordon 539; previous: 9 7. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 534; previous; 1 1 8. Kyle Busch 530; previous: 6 9. Dale Jarrett 490; previous: 13 10. Clint Bowyer really good. We started seeing kids the second week of January Weve already seen probably about 200 to 250 kids tills year. Well end up seeing about 2,500 kids, maybe a few more than that, this summer. Its betm a good year so far. The weathers been good and that al ways makes camp good. good, Q: Are you concerned that there are only two or three Cup teams winning all the races? A: Thats the way its always been. Show me a year where it hasnt been that way. I think youre going to be hard pressed. Go back to when Petty Enterprises and Junior Johnson won all the races, and Bud Moore would win a few and the Wood Brothers wTould win a few. Go back to when DiGard and Richard Childress won ail the races. You can go back in time. There have always been teams that are just better than everybody else. Q: What do you w atch on TV? 471, previous: 7 Kyle Petty looks forward to Sundays race at Bristol, the first . 2. A: "I watch the Golf Channel, and I watch Speed. 1 watch Turner Classic Movies. I watch golf, because just started playing 1 some golf. And I watch Speed for the racing stuff because I like all racing And watch old movies. Distributed by Universal Press Syndicate for Cox News Service. (800) 1 255-63- 4. 50-poi- nt lead in the Cup standings after a sixth-plac- e run at Atlanta. Cup next up: Food City 500; Bristol Motor Speedway TV: 1 30 p m. ET, Sunday; Fox Busch next up: Sharpie Mini 300; Bristol Motor Speedway TV: 3 p.m ET, Saturday; Fox Truck next up: Kroger 250; Martinsville Speedway TV: 3 p m ET, Af 1, Speed Channel BUSCH SERIES 1 event of 06. short-trac- k Johnson holds a 3 4, 5. Kevin Harvick 772; previous: 1 J.J. Yeley 755; previous: 3 Jamie McMurray 698; previous 4 Clint Bowyer 664; previous: 5 Denny Hamlin 649; previous 2 TRUCi". SERIES 1 . Mark Martin 560, previous: 1 2. Todd Bodine 535; previous: 2 3. Ted Musgrave 495; previous: 3 4. David Reutimann 458; previous: 5 5. Jack Sprague 438; previous: 4 |