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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: "Gambling? Heck, yes, every time you load this car up and head off somewhere, you're gambling. Big time. We gamble every Sunday. A big gamble."- Eddie Wood 7 DAY ARCHIVE SundayMonday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday INSIDE TODAY'S ISSUE: Robby Gordon set to announce plans for double Bliss wins first pole in record qualifying session Wimmer gets court date Modifications Likely Mean Better Racing Grubb concedes mistake Sams Town ante 'Busch-whacker' provisionals rules tweaked Fox celebrities to compete in weekend race at Bullring Martin set for another good run in Las Vegas Riggs swimming against the NASCAR current Zoom Lens: NASCAR Everything I Need to Know About NASCAR I Learned From Judge Judy (and other media ramblings) Cup Scene readers speak out about the new point system
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TODAYS FRONT PAGE<
KAHNE REIGNS:ROOKIES RULE
Kasey Kahne grabbed the attention of Las Vegas in fine style by winning his very first Bud Pole Award and breaking the track record at Las Vegas Motor Speedway during qualifying for Sunday's sixth annual NASCAR Nextel Cup Series UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400.
Kahne's Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge blistered the desert asphalt with a qualifying run of 174.904 mph (30.874 sec.), eclipsing Bobby Labonte's year-old record of 173.016 mph. "It was a good lap," Kahne said. "We took off out of the pits and I got real loose and killed my first lap. I didn't drive it where I needed to be. The second lap really felt good - a little bit better than during practice. It's a great deal to sit on the pole here in Las Vegas as a rookie, especially since our sponsor is also sponsoring the race. It's cool. All the Dodge dealers and everyone who supports Ray Evernham Racing is happy. "So far, we're off to a good start. We've done some things I wasn't expecting to do. We definitely have good people and a good race team. "I wish I would have broken the track record and wound up first on the Busch side too. I actually left a little bit out on the table. I didn't run quite as good a lap as I could have." Kahne also qualified third for today's Busch Series Sam's Town 300. So can he win? After his closing charge at Rockingham, an impressive run against the tour's defending champion, Kahne may have a shot. "That will be what we're after," Kahne said. "One better than Rockingham will be pretty tough.. But I definitely think we have a shot at running pretty good. When we tested here we didn't do any qualifying runs, just race runs." There were two surprises in qualifying: points leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. was 26th-fastest, and Jeff Gordon, qualifying 20th, hit the wall coming out of turn four. His team scrambled to repair the left-side damage. All three Ray Evernham Racing Dodges - Kahne, Jeremy Mayfield and Bill Elliott - qualified in the top 10. The native of Enumclaw, Wash., is no stranger to victory lane, having won the USAC Midget and USAC Silver Bullet Series championships in 2000. Kahne scored his first NASCAR Busch Series win at Homestead, Fla., in 2003. Sharing the front row with Kahne is Las Vegas native Kurt Busch. Busch's IRWIN Industrial Tools Ford stopped the clocks at 174.548 mph (30.937 sec.). "This is neat," said Busch, who has eight NASCAR Nextel Cup Series wins to his credit. "All the fans that stuck around 'til the end of qualifying - there probably was 50,000 - it's great to go out there and perform in front of them. But once you strap in and put the steering wheel on it's about racing that car to the best of its ability and that's when you feel the teamwork behind everything. There's a lot of team spirit and that's what it takes to be competitive at this level. "To be a little shy and not win the pole is a little disappointing, but it's a great start to our year," Busch admitted. "We've built solid cars. We finished well at Daytona and Rockingham so hopefully we can work on the race setup and get our new IRWIN Ford to the front. My crew chief (Jimmy Fennig) and engineer worked together really well and found that little edge that got us in the front row."
"Sunday truly is going to be a special day with both of us making a start in a NASCAR Nextel Cup event at our home race track. In 1994, we pushed our race cars out into the desert on what now is the track, not knowing that this track would be built here. It's a first-class race track and I don't just say that because I'm from here -- but I really feel special when we come here." Brian Vickers, also a rookie, was third in the final qualifying order. "Kasey did a great job," said Vickers, NASCAR's 2003 Busch Series champion. "The Dodges are pretty tough right now, so are the Fords. I'm really proud of our GMAC Chevrolet crew. We improved from practice, and anytime you improve from practice you're doing something good. We've got a great starting spot for the race on Sunday. "This is one of the tracks I ran in my first year (in the NASCAR Busch Series). I've always loved coming out here. I think it's a great race track. I don't think anybody complains about coming to Las Vegas. "The (new Goodyear) tire (compound) is good. They made them a little bit softer, which helps in qualifying, but they're going to fall off real quick, which I think will make the racing better." Jamie McMurray, 27, last year's top rookie, was fourth in a Dodge at 174.436, followed by the Intrepid of 2002's leading rookie, Ryan Newman, 26. He came into the day as the favorite but came up considerably short of winning his 20th career pole at 174.340. "We were going for it and I'm a little disappointed that we didn't get it," said Newman, who won a series-high 11 poles and eight races last season. "I think we were one of the few teams that didn't come out here to test.
Rounding out the top 10 were Jeremy Mayfield at 174.267, Bobby Labonte at 173.863, rookie Brendan Gaughan at 173.823, Greg Biffle at 173.807 and Bill Elliott, making his first Cup start of the season after cutting back to a limited schedule. He went 173.768. Kenseth, whose victory here last year was the only win of his championship season, qualified 25th at 171.679. He started 17th last March. Series leader Dale Earnhardt Jr., who won the Daytona 500 and finished fifth at Rockingham — the only driver with two top-five finishes this season — qualified 26th at 171.516. Four-time series champion Jeff Gordon qualified 20th at 172.469 despite bouncing hard off the fourth turn wall on his fast lap. To get a true indication of just how hard the impact was on the outside wall you only needed to study the right rear tire from his DuPont Chevrolet. The powdery remnants of concrete caked on the inside rim pretty much gave it away. "I can't believe I ran the lap that I ran, because I killed the wall," Gordon said. It was certainly no love tap. The four-time NASCAR champion coursed through Turns 1 and 2 on his second qualifying circuit when he got extremely loose, prompting him to expect much the same when he arrived in the similar fourth turn. In actuality, Turn 4 proved to be worse. Gordon lost control of the car exiting the corner and slammed hard into, then momentarily climbed, the wall with the right side before righting the machine. And he still improved on his first lap time by a tenth-of-a-second. He'll start 20th in Sunday's UAW-Daimler Chrysler 400, marking just the second time in seven tries he'll start outside the top 15 at LVMS. "It's a shame when you take the first lap and give it up," Gordon said. "With the way the tires work, I didn't want to push it hard that first lap. I saved it all for the second lap, and man I was loose." Following the accident, the No. 24 crew labored feverishly to repair the damaged machine. There were no plans to go to a backup car, however, given Gordon's confidence in his team. "It's bad. I hit hard," Gordon said. "We had an awesome car today. We've got to do a lot, a lot of work tonight. These guys can fix anything." Gordon, who won at LVMS in 2000 and has two career top-fives here, was third fastest in Friday's only practice. He expects a far different show Sunday than what's been customary here. "The tires are going to fall off (so) I think you should see a pretty darn good race," Gordon said. "I don't think you're going to see near as much single-file, follow-the-leader. I think you're to see a lot more passing for the lead. You're going to see cars coming from the back to the front and front to back." For the second straight race, there were barely enough entries to fill the 43-car field, with only Busch series driver Larry Gunselman failing to make the lineup. Among the drivers who will did make the field were "field fillers" Morgan Shepherd, who qualified at 164.986, Carl Long at 163.701 and Kirk Shelmerdine at 163.320. NASCAR was embarrassed at Rockingham when 60-year-old Joe Ruttman had to be blackflagged off the track after one lap when it was discovered he had no pit crew. He entered the race only because he was assured more than $54,000 for making the field. Series officials said all of the drivers entered at Las Vegas have full pit crews and were qualified to race.
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NASCAR This Weekend
What: UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 (400 miles or 267 laps)
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Date Opened: June 25, 1996 First NWCS Race: Las Vegas 400, March 1, 1998 Qualifying Record: Kasey Kahne, 174.904 mph(30.874 sec.), 3/05/04 Race Record: Mark Martin, 146.554, 3/1/98 TRACK CONFIGURATION Distance: 1.5 Mile Oval Banking in Turns 1-4: 12º Banking on Frontstretch: 9º Banking on Backstretch: 3º Length of Frontstretch: 2,275 ft. Length of Backstretch: 1,572 ft. Grandstand Seating: 126,000 Miles/Laps: 400 mi. = 267 laps |
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