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Welcome to the Cup Scene Daily for
Vol. III,No.VIXII FINAL EDITION
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G.B.U. Scott 7 DAY ARCHIVE SundayMonday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday INSIDE TODAY'S ISSUE: Robby Gordon may shoot for Busch crown Jamie McMurray to present music award Drivers to Watch at Nashville Crowd estimate at Texas reduced Petty to talk to teens about safety Racing in the first degree Feese first at Nashville No home-track advantage for Atwood Officials worried about rising expenses Longer schedule could be on tap Once kingly, now petty Dancers, start your engines' in this here ballet Cup Scene readers speak out about the new point system
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Happy Birthday: Kasey Kahne, Robby Pearson, Neil Castles Jr., D.K. Ulrich, John Dowd A Saturday afternoon show could turn into a Saturday night affair, because rain threatens today's Pepsi 300. Nashville Superspeedway has a backup plan though.
If rain prevents the scheduled 3 p.m. start, attempts will be made to dry the track and run the race tonight. If rain continues tonight, the race will be rescheduled for 1 p.m. tomorrow. ''I'm still optimistic that we can get the race in (today),'' said Cliff Hawks, vice president and general manager of Nashville Superspeedway. ''The forecast has been improving.'' Hawks requested Easter weekend from NASCAR for the first of the track's two annual Busch races. He said he plans to do so again next season. ''Getting this date on an open Nextel Cup weekend does two things,'' Hawks said. ''First, it makes us the only race in the country — everybody will be watching. And second, it gives us a chance to bring in some Nextel Cup drivers. I think this race has the strongest field in our track's history.'' A field that would have been led by Martin Truex who shattered the Nashville Superspeedway track record with a lap of 166.515 mph Friday. Then shortly afterward was running some practice laps when he spun his Chevrolet across the concrete and smacked into the fourth-turn wall. Truex, whose car is owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr., was forced to go to a backup car. Under NASCAR rules he must start at the rear of the 43-car field today. ''It was a stupid mistake on my part,'' said the 23-year-old Truex, who escaped injury after his crumpled car briefly caught fire. ''I'm OK, just mad at myself. ''It's the dumbest thing I've ever done. I was going around the track faster than anybody out there, but I kept getting looser and looser. Suddenly I spun and hit the wall. It wrecked it. It's just a shame.'' Truex crunched the right front corner of his Chevrolet after hitting the wall, was treated and released from the infield care center. He didn't appear injured as he worked with his crew to prepare his backup car before the final practice session ended. "It's not set up the same right now," he said. "We kind of ran out of time. We'll put that setup we had in the other car and try it," Truex said.
Hamilton, the popular local favorite, has led each of the five previous Busch races here but has yet to win. ''I don't know if that makes me feel good or bad,'' Hamilton said. ''I get really pumped up when I come home. You really stay pumped on the whole deal and we've been so close … '' As desperately as Hamilton wants to win on his home track he said he must take care not to press too hard. ''If you're not careful you'll put so much pressure on yourself that you'll outsmart yourself,'' he said. Benson has never raced on the 1.3-mile concrete track, but he tested here on a cold, blustery day last month. ''The test helped,'' Benson said. ''Having never seen the place it was nice to get those laps in.'' A total of 21 drivers topped the qualifying record of 163.324 set by Randy LaJoie before last year's Pepsi 300, starting with Kenny Wallace in the second car out on the 1.33-mile concrete oval. But Truex, third-fastest in the first practice session, added another pole to the one he took at Daytona after Johnny Benson came up just short of matching his pace. They were the only drivers to top 166 mph with Benson coming in at 166.475 in his Dodge. Truex credited his success to racing at Nashville last year in his own car. This year, he drives for a team owned by NASCAR Nextel Cup star Dale Earnhardt Jr. "The first time I pulled on the track I felt like I had an edge, that confidence that I could go out and drive my car as hard as I wanted and not worry about anything," he said. "At the same time, I had a great car underneath me. "We didn't come here and test, just put in some things we learned over the course of the year, went out and had a really great car out of the trailer." Benson qualified second, followed by Hamilton, Jason Keller and Johnny Sauter. Defending race champion and series points leader David Green qualified 10th. Some Nextel Cup regulars who took advantage of the off weekend didn't fare as well. Robby Gordon will start 11th, and Michael Waltrip 22nd. Tennessee already has been good to Truex, who won last month at Bristol. He's second in points. Benson believes Truex is doing a tremendous job. "He's with a great race team. That part is obviously pretty good. They're doing great," Benson said. Benson had tested his Nextel Cup car here for a half-day, which he said helped. He joked with Truex, asking if he scared him with speed. But after starting 39th at Texas last week, Benson doesn't mind being second. "I was going to be happy with anything in the top 10 first time here, so I'm ecstatic with second. That's great," Benson said. This will be the sixth Busch race at this track, but it hasn't changed much because of the concrete. "I think some other tracks need to copy this place because this place is pretty sweet," said Stacy Compton, who qualified seventh. "They've done a good job with it. They came in here and ground it, and it just has a boatload of grip right now." Jason Keller, a perennial title challenger, will start fourth. Noting the scarcity of Nextel Cup regulars near the top of the lineup, Keller said the season's first stand-alone Busch race makes for a more level playing field. Some Busch drivers feel the Cup drivers have an unfair advantage at the companion races by getting more practice time. ''It kind of shows because those Cup guys aren't beating up on us quite as bad when they don't have twice as much practice,'' he said. Keller has never finished lower than eighth in the Busch Series standings since 1999. In 2002 and 2000 he was runner-up. This season he's sixth, only 91 points behind leader David Green. Yet Keller has no full-time sponsor. ''It's discouraging, but I learned a long time ago that you don't worry about the things you can't control,'' Keller said. ''Running up front and winning races is what's going to change that so that's what we need to do.'' Miller High Life is Keller's primary sponsor in 19 races and an associate sponsor in the remaining 17 events on the Busch schedule. ''It's a struggle for these stand-alone Busch teams now,'' Keller said. ''All these (Nextel) Cup owners are starting their own Busch teams and it's really hurting us as far as sponsors, but I'm not going to complain. I'm going to put my nose to the grindstone.'' Sponsors covet the exposure that comes with victories and Keller hasn't taken the checkered flag yet this season although he does have three top-10 finishes. Some sponsors would rather go with racing's rising stars, young drivers who are in their 20s. That makes it tough on Keller, a 33-year-old veteran from Greenville, S.C., with 10 career victories. ''(Young drivers) bring them notoriety and sponsors want notoriety,'' Keller said. ''But there will always be a place for myself, David Green and some of the guys that have been here for a long time. So I'm not real worried about that. If we do our job right, those things will come.'' Starting fifth and sixth are Johnny Sauter and Kasey Kahne who celebrates a birthday, who are running the full Busch and Cup schedules, as is Greg Biffle, who starts 16th. Michael Waltrip, a two-time Daytona 500 winner, starts 22nd. Waltrip is third in the Busch Series standings but does not intend to run the full schedule, which means he will not be in contention for the title. Since this is the first stand-alone Busch race, some consider it the start of the real championship chase. Truex disagreed. ''The championship started at Daytona,'' he said. ''It doesn't matter who we're racing with.'' Benson echoed that sentiment: ''We don't care if we share the spotlight with them. To me it doesn't matter.'' Said Hamilton: ''They crown the champion after 34 races.'' |
