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Welcome to the Cup Scene Daily for
Vol. III,No.VIXII FINAL EDITION
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Quote of the day: "Man, everybody tested Vegas, it looked like a Nextel Cup race out there."- Jeff Burton 7 DAY ARCHIVE SundayMonday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday INSIDE TODAY'S ISSUE: Jeff Gordon making late night appearance Ready to roll on short week after off-weekend Dale Jr in People Gambling on races a shaky issue Loudon's Bahre continues to improve California Speedway next to add SAFER barriers It will be great to be home, but demands will be plentiful Inaugural event courted disaster Message to NASCAR: Stay out of gray matters Refreshed: Crew chief Ince is eager to return Nadeau's journey prompts pension debate So Some Seats Were Empty! What's the Big Deal? Cup Scene readers speak out about the new point system
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Happy Birthday: Erin Blaney, Robert "Bootie" Barker During the final week of January, more than 30 cars turned laps at Las Vegas Motor Speedway - a record for the track's preseason test session.
This year in addition to new car bodies and a different Goodyear tire, NASCAR trimmed three-quarters of an inch off the cars' rear spoilers. "It's so many changes that our setups are a lot different than what we've had here in the past," said Burton, who was among numerous Cup drivers to test at LVMS in late January. The biggest change, of course, is the new tire, which features a softer sidewall and is designed to wear out sooner than the previous version. As a result, Burton said, you may not see the 55- to 60-lap runs on a set of tires as in past races at LVMS. "It's going to be real tough at the end of 50 laps -- the tires will last that long, I just think you're going to be really slow," Burton said. "I think the speeds will fall way off. I think they'll last that long but they'll be slow -- and that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's the same for everybody and getting your car to handle well is going to be even more important than it's ever been. "The more tires fall off, the more important it is to have a good-handling car." The changes are intended to neutralize fuel economy and aerodynamics while increasing the significance of passing, pit stops and chassis adjustments. Fuel mileage played a leading role in five of Ryan Newman's series-high eight victories in 2003. The No. 12 Dodge team often won by electing not to pit for tires, which didn't lose speed last year because of their durability. The softer tire should counter the tactics by requiring more stops. Jamie McMurray and Joe Nemechek each said wear from the Vegas test was comparable to Rockingham, whose razor-sharp surface is notorious for chewing up tires and making cars undriveable. "If it does what they say it's going to do, it's definitely going to cut out some of the fuel-mileage races," said Matt Borland, Newman's crew chief. Nextel Cup Director John Darby said the reduced spoiler, which also weakens handling, probably will mark the first of several cuts designed to lessen the cars' dependence on downforce and sensitivity to physics. In today's highly engineered era, disrupting the air flowing over the spoiler makes maneuvering extremely difficult - a phenomenon known as "aero push" that is prevalent at 1.5- to 2-mile tracks. The shorter spoiler has showed promise for negating the problem.
"It's going to be whole different racing atmosphere," Ward Burton said. "Entering the corner, the guy on the outside will be able to pull around a guy on the inside." Said Kenseth: "It should be easier to pass. . . . You're going to see a little bit different race than in the past. You're going to want to get tires if there is a caution." Mark Keto, Goodyear's lead stock car engineer, said the new tire tested more than a half-second faster, but lap times dropped by two seconds over a long run -which would guarantee the need for fresh rubber every 60-65 laps. "We had a tire that got too good and didn't wear out last year," said Jeff Green, driver of the No. 43 Dodge. "You could be off 10 percent on the chassis and still run near 100 percent. This year, that won't happen. We'll be working on the car a lot more. You'll see different winners that wouldn't have won if we had these rules last year because of the tires. There's going to be a lot better racing." It's also expected to be a lot more work. Mark Martin's experienced crew needed nearly a day to adapt to the new package, and Rusty Wallace, a chief proponent of the overhaul, anticipates settling on tire pressure will be tricky. In the tradition of most visits to Vegas, a crapshoot could be awaiting many NASCAR teams. "There are a lot of unknowns," Burton said. "Even though we tested, it's a lot different running by yourself than running with 42 other cars. "We'll be a whole lot smarter about where we are with the new tires and aero program after Vegas than we are right now." "Man, everybody tested Vegas," Jeff Burton said. "It looked like a Nextel Cup race out there." Even with all the changes about the only thing that won't change for this year's race, according to Burton, is the show. "I really think this track puts on really good races; good side-by-side, close racing," Burton said. "You'll see a lot of good racing here." Burton admittedly is fond of the speedway because he has won two Cup races (1999 and 2000) and two Busch Series races (2000 and 2002) here, but he said his affinity for the track began the first time he tested here. Although the relatively flat 1.5-mile LVMS oval has its share of critics that maintain it produces boring races, Burton said that couldn't be further from the truth. "I thought the first few races here, when they said this was a boring racetrack was just a ridiculous statement," Burton said. "This track already has two grooves ... and it's a fun track to run on. To me, this and Richmond are the two best racetracks because you have good racing. It's nice for the competitors and it's nice for the fans." The annual Las Vegas NASCAR weekend has become an overwhelming hit with fans across the country, as well. Sunday's Nextel Cup race is expected to draw a crowd of close to 140,000, making it the largest single-day sporting event west of Dallas. While Roush Racing's Mark Martin ran away with the first Cup race at LVMS, in 1998, and teammate Burton dominated the field here in 2000, he and older brother Ward Burton staged a classic side-by-side battle for the lead in the closing laps in 1999.
"The first race, Mark Martin kicked everybody's butt and the (third) race, we kicked everybody's butt -- that's just what happens sometimes," Burton said. "And then the (second) race -- hell, what else do you want? Ward and I raced side by side the last several laps -- that was a hell of a race. If you don't like that, I don't know what to say. "I think the track got a bad rap ... I like this racetrack a lot." Although Roush Racing has won four of the first six Cup races at LVMS -- reigning series champion Matt Kenseth is the defending race winner -- Burton was less sure if he and his teammates will be able to continue that success here this weekend because of all of the off-season changes NASCAR implemented. Sunday's Nextel Cup race could make local history in that three Las Vegas natives are expected to make the 43-car field. Kurt Busch, a Durango High School graduate, will be making his fourth Cup start at LVMS and Bishop Gorman High grad Brendan Gaughan, in his rookie season in the series, will be making his first Nextel Cup start at his home track.
Kyle Busch, Kurt's younger brother, will start in Saturday's Sam's Town 300 NASCAR Busch Series race and attempt to make his Nextel Cup debut in Sunday's race. "You've got three guys from Las Vegas, racing at a track (in a city) that's not known for breeding drivers," Kurt Busch said. "Most of the (Nextel Cup) drivers came from the Southeast or the Midwest and now there's three guys from Vegas and we'll all be racing together -- it's pretty cool." Kurt Busch comes into the third race of the 36-race Nextel Cup Series ranked seventh in points after a 16th-place finish in the Daytona 500 and an eighth-place effort the following week at North Carolina Speedway. Gaughan is 22nd in points after finishing 19th at Daytona and 20th in Rockingham. Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished second in Las Vegas last year, holds a slim 7-point lead over Kenseth after two races. Kyle Busch, a rookie in the NASCAR Busch Series, is 12th in points after two races. In addition to Saturday's Busch Series and Sunday's Nextel Cup races, LVMS will host the World of Outlaws winged sprint cars Thursday and Friday nights at the half-mile dirt track and Super Late Models, IMCA Modifieds, Legends Cars, Thunder Roadsters and Mechanix Wear Speed Trucks at the 3/8-mile paved Bullring Saturday night. Qualifying for Saturday's Sam's Town 300 NASCAR Busch Series race and Sunday's UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 Winston Cup race will be Friday at 1:30 p.m. and 3:10 p.m., local time. The 200-lap Sam's Town 300 will start at 1 p.m. Saturday and the 267-lap UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 will begin Sunday at noon.
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