Commission denies Berrier's appeal; penalty stands

March 30

Todd Berrier's appeal of his four-race suspension has been denied by the National Stock Car Racing Commission.

A three-member panel of the commission met Tuesday at NASCAR's research and development center in Concord, N.C., to hear Berrier's appeal.

NASCAR fined Berrier, crew chief for Nextel Cup driver Kevin Harvick, $25,000, docked Harvick and car owner Richard Childress 25 points apiece and suspended Berrier for four races. Berrier altered the fuel cell of Harvick's No. 29 Chevy prior to qualifying at Las Vegas to make it appear full, when in fact it wasn't.

Berrier sat out the March 20 race at Atlanta in hopes his suspension would at least be reduced by the commission to two races.

However, Berrier and his team were informed the commission upheld the entire penalty, multiple sources confirmed Tuesday night.

Berrier is not eligible to return until the April 23 race at Phoenix.

Last week, the commission reduced the two-race suspensions of crew chiefs Chad Knaus and Alan Gustafson to 90 days' probation, but upheld monetary and points penalties. Their respective cars had failed post-race inspection at Las Vegas.

Rudd's rut

by Jerry Bonkowski
March 30

This was supposed to be Ricky Rudd's year of resurgence.

After finishing 23rd and 24th the last two seasons, there was reason for optimism that Rudd would do much better in 2005 – perhaps even well enough to finish in the top 10 like he had in 2000 (fifth), 2001 (fourth) and 2002 (10th).

Rudd got off to a disappointing start last year, but the Virginia native was encouraged with top-20 finishes in each of the last nine races, including a runner-up at Kansas and a ninth-place showing in the season finale at Homestead, Fla.

He was further encouraged that the man who engineered those finishes, longtime crew chief Michael "Fatback" McSwain, would be back for a full season in '05. Having worked together twice before during Rudd's nearly three-decade Cup career, the pair was reunited last August after McSwain's bitter departure from Joe Gibbs Racing.

But preseason optimism within the Wood Brothers Racing camp has been dealt a blow in this season's first four races.

Rudd's best finish thus far is 24th in the season-opening Daytona 500 – and he had to overcome a wreck to accomplish even that.

The following week at Fontana, Calif., he wrecked again and was forced to bow out early with resulting engine problems, finishing 41st.

Rudd followed that up with another wreck at Las Vegas and ultimately finished 37th there.

In the last race nearly two weeks ago at Atlanta, the left front wheel on Rudd's No. 21 Ford locked up 209 laps into the 325-lap event. The team spent nearly 25 laps in the garage trying to repair the problem, eventually getting Rudd back on the track for a 33rd-place finish.

Add up all the misfortune and it's no wonder Rudd is 39th in the standings heading into Bristol.

"It's just been a real frustrating season," the 48-year-old Rudd said. "We've had good race cars every week; we just haven't had a chance to show it."

Let there be lights: Phoenix unveils $5 mil system
By Mark Armijo
The Arizona Republic,March 30

With a flip of a light switch, night turned into day Tuesday at Phoenix International Raceway.

A new $5 million lighting system was officially unveiled at the 1-mile oval, and five NASCAR drivers were around to witness the transformation. None, however, made it onto the track, as their testing was completed during the day..

"The lighting won't be an issue at all," Jamie McMurray said. "You can see better at night at all of these racetracks vs. the day because you don't have the (sun's) glare." advertisement

Iowa-based Musco Lighting installed the permanent lighting system, and project manager Mark Flesner said company officials have given PIR the go-ahead for its April 23 NASCAR Nextel Cup race, which is tentatively scheduled to begin between 4:55 p.m. and 5:20 p.m., and end about 8:30.

"It's race ready," Flesner said.

Although Ryan Newman would have preferred a chance to test under night conditions and check for dark spots, glares or shadows, he doesn't foresee any problems.

"They (Musco) are pretty good at what they do, and it doesn't take much to get used to it," said Newman, who attended the test along with Jeremy Mayfield, rookie Carl Edwards and Busch Series driver Reed Sorenson. "I haven't been to one track yet that has any problems with things like that."

Drivers in the Subway Fresh 500 actually won't see nighttime racing conditions until the race itself. Practice and qualifying are scheduled during the day.

But it's nothing new. The same format was used at last year's inaugural night race at California Speedway.

McMurray initially believed he would be practicing until 10 p.m., but that plan was nixed by PIR and NASCAR officials.

"When we started the construction project, we didn't know exactly when the lights would be completed and felt it wasn't fair to accept any kind of evening testing based on the fact we didn't know when we could provide it," PIR President Bryan Sperber said. "So in talking too NASCAR, the decision was made to not allow any evening testing until after the (race). That way we could be fair to everybody."

Some stock cars did make it onto the track, however. Richard Petty Driving Experience instructors took turns giving one-lap rides to VIPs and the media.

NASCAR hall of fame bid clears 1st legislative pit stop
By Jim Saunders
Daytona Beach News Journal,March 30

Daytona Beach's bid to attract a NASCAR hall of fame got its first legislative victory Tuesday -- but the hard part is still coming.

The House Tourism Committee approved a plan that would commit $30 million over 25 years to the city's effort to lure the hall of fame to a site near Daytona International Speedway.

The vote came after weeks of lobbying and tinkering by local officials as they tried to ease concerns about using tax dollars to pay for the project.

"I think we started out with a worm, and we now have a butterfly," said Rep. Pat Patterson, a DeLand Republican who is sponsoring the proposal.

But the plan still faces major obstacles, including uncertainty about whether House and Senate leaders will go along with funneling tens of millions of dollars to the hall of fame and other sports-related projects. Also, three other House committees are slated to vote on the plan during the coming weeks -- including the House Finance and Taxation committee, which is expected to closely scrutinize the project.

"I have labeled the finance and tax committee 'Death Valley,' " said Tourism Committee Chairwoman Nancy Detert, a Venice Republican who was the only dissenter Tuesday.

Backers of the hall of fame say state funding is crucial to Daytona Beach's effort to outbid five other areas of the country for the project. Those areas are Atlanta; Charlotte, N.C.; Kansas City, Kan.; Richmond, Va.; and the state of Michigan.

Daytona Beach initially sought $75 million from the state over 30 years to help build the hall of fame. But it scaled back the proposal to request $30 million, with the rest of a revised $60 million overall cost coming from corporate sponsors and city and county land donations.

To further sweeten the plan, Daytona Beach proposed creating a NASCAR-themed license tag and using its proceeds to pay back the $30 million in state money.