 |
|
 ABOUT CSD
Race
Shop
Tickets
Fantasy
Garage Opinions
ADVERTISE |
|
Click Here: |
Welcome to the Cup Scene Daily for
Vol. III,No.VIXII FINAL EDITION
|
Quote Of The day: 7 DAY ARCHIVE SundayMonday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday INSIDE TODAY'S ISSUE: Schrader gets a new crew chief Green racing for the books Sealed with a curse Chase jinx? Skunked at Kansas Fisher touring Hendrick this week Vending machine company to sponsor Edwards Overnight TV ratings down Kart driver dies in crash at Portland track Superspeedway power Talladega Top Ten Cup Scene readers speak out
The Daily Scene Newsletter is BACK! CLICK HERE To Sign up
Daytona 500 Tickets An open letter to Veterans from 21 Medal of Honor Winners
KEEP THE CUP SCENE DAILY COMING! PLEASE Support our sponsors!
Check out the NEW NASCAR Ebay page Featured Raceshop items:
|
Happy Birthday:Earl Barban, Austin Fox, Dave Rezendes, Rick Beebe Dale Earnhardt Junior may lose the Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup because of one single word. Junior put his newly acquired points lead in jeopardy by cursing during an interview with NBC. After dominating the EA Sports 500 on Sunday to take the Nextel Cup lead, Earnhardt erred - in Victory Lane, of all places.
If NASCAR holds true to its penalty system, Earnhardt will receive a fine and a minimum deduction of 25 points, which would knock him from the top of the current standings. "I'm worried about losing some points," said Earnhardt, who moved into the series lead by 13 points over Kurt Busch, who finished fifth Sunday. Asked about the significance of his fifth victory at Talladega, Earnhardt said, "It don't mean shit right now. Daddy's won here 10 times. NASCAR spokesman Mike Zizzo said the sanctioning body is reviewing the situation and will make a decision on Earnhardt's fate sometime this week. "We are currently reviewing the tape of the post-race interview with Dale Jr., and NASCAR Nextel Cup Series director John Darby already had a conversation with Dale Jr. about the incident on Sunday night," Zizzo said. "A decision on whether there will be a penalty forthcoming could come as early as tomorrow (today)." Earnhardt's profanity has the potential to cost NBC some large dollars. On his national radio show Monday morning, shock jock Howard Stern demanded the Federal Communications Commission fine NBC the same amount of money it penalized CBS for the infamous Janet Jackson "wardrobe malfunction" during the Super Bowl halftime show. CBS was fined $550,000 by the FCC in September. Stern has had a long, fierce battle with the government agency that regulates broadcast outlets. NBC spokesman Kevin Sullivan said the network would not respond to Stern's comments. Sullivan said, as of Monday, the FCC had not contacted NBC about the Earnhardt incident. "This is the type of thing that happens very rarely," Sullivan said. "It's a live event and situation. (Announcer) Bill Weber did a terrific job addressing it and apologizing and moving on." Because of the Super Bowl incident, NASCAR president Mike Helton warned Nextel Cup and Busch Series drivers about using profanity with electronic media in February. In a meeting with Busch Series drivers on Feb. 21, Helton told the assembly, "The networks and the government are getting ready to get into this deal and it's going to make things complicated. So, I wanted to be very precise and want you to understand that this is your warning." Helton reiterated the warning the next day to Nextel Cup drivers saying, "We have a policy about profanity, and that is under more of a microscope today than it ever has been." Sauter appealed to the National Stock Car Racing Commission, which upheld all penalties. In its verdict the commission said "the violation occurred on-air at the racetrack during the live broadcast of a NASCAR event, not in a casual private conversation or off-site activity." The commission also said "NASCAR had sent an unambiguous message just prior to this infraction regarding the importance of this matter and the likelihood of increased penalties for further infractions. Given these circumstances, the penalty assessed was correct." Earnhardt argues that his profanity was not said in anger. "Johnny Sauter said it in a fit of anger, and I said it in Victory Lane," Earnhardt said later in defense of the emotional outburst. "Do you want the commercial of Matt (Kenseth) being a robot to come to fruition? "If anybody was offended by the four-letter word - and I think George Carlin said it was one of the ones you could say - I can't imagine why they would have tuned in to a race in the first place. "There were a lot of (obscene) hand gestures going on during the race, and that was pretty weak compared to what we're doing on the racetrack. "I hope they understand it was in jubilation. When you're happy and joyous about something and it happens, it's different than being angry and cursing in anger. "Of course we don't want to promote that. But if a guy is in Victory Lane jumping up and down and lets a '(expletive)' slip out, I don't think that's something we need go hammering down on. Earnhardt has already lost points this season. The 29-year-old driver was docked 25 championship points on March 31 when he intentionally caused a caution condition during the spring race at Bristol Motor Speedway. "Actions such as this will not be tolerated," Helton said after stripping away those points. "We will always react to protect the integrity of our sport." NASCAR spokeswoman Denise Maloof said Nextel Cup director John Darby and vice president for competition Robin Pemberton were "aware of the situation and would address it on Tuesday or Wednesday. That doesn't necessarily mean that he will be fined or lose points." Earnhardt Jr. apologized Monday and said he hopes NASCAR views this differently than the situations where it stripped two drivers of points earlier this year. "I want to apologize for my post-race comments using curse words," he says on his Web site, www.dalejr.com. "It was all in the excitement of winning. I just couldn't believe we came from 11th to win with those last few laps to go. I was excited, and I hope NASCAR will view this one differently from those guys that got fined and docked points while cursing in anger. It was a slip of the tongue, and I apologize to anyone that was offended.... I guess we will wait and see what judgment is handed down from NASCAR. We will celebrate our win regardless of the outcome and go on to Kansas for the hunt to the Chase." The verbal slips took some of the edge off a very big day by Earnhardt. "I'm a little worried about that, but I've won five races this year and I'm pretty thrilled," Junior said. "I wasn't expecting to have such a great season." Although he was at or near the front for virtually the entire race, leading a race-high 78 of the 188 laps, Earnhardt need to charge from 11th place over the last five laps to the win the race. He fell behind when crew chief Tony Eury Sr. decided to gamble on two fresh right-side tires on his final pit stop. Eury decided to take advantage of the fact that Earnhardt was already on pit road for his final stop when a yellow flag came out for a crash involving Sterling Marlin and Bobby Labonte. Still, other drivers got ahead of Earnhardt by staying on the track or taking only fuel on their final stops during the last of five caution periods. But it made little difference once the green flag waved for lap 184. "Those brand new rights just drove around the corners so much better than those other guys with old tires out there," Earnhardt said. "I wasn't worried. They make the calls in the pits and I just drive the car." Earnhardt, who won four straight Talladega races before being beaten by teammate Michael Waltrip here last fall, came close again in April. He finished second to Jeff Gordon in a somewhat controversial finish, with NASCAR determining that Gordon was leading when a yellow flag waved and froze the field. The race finished that way under caution to the displeasure of the spectators. "I'm just glad to get back on top at Talladega," Earnhardt said. He drew a roar from the partisan crowd when he added, "This is my place." Gordon, who came into the race with a one-point lead over Busch, finished 19th and fell to third, 61 points behind after three of the 10 races in NASCAR's new 10-man playoff-style championship. It was a far different atmosphere than in April when the disappointed fans booed and threw beer cans and trash onto the track as Gordon took the checkered flag. After the green flag waved for the final restart Sunday, Earnhardt's red No. 8 Chevrolet shot up and down the steeply banked track, passing cars on the outside and inside seemingly at will before finally moving past Kevin Harvick for the lead on lap 186. Earnhardt then held off Harvick's Chevrolet, driving across the finish line 0.117 seconds - about two car-lengths - ahead. It was his 14th career victory. "I knew they were coming," said Harvick, whose finish was a season best. "There wasn't anybody else in the field that was going to get by me. They can just do it when they want to at this place." Dale Jarrett finished third, followed by rookie Brendan Gaughan, Busch, title contender Tony Stewart and pole-starter Joe Nemechek. The last lap turned out to be the wildest of the race, with Greg Biffle hitting the wall and crashing into Kasey Kahne in the second turn, far behind the leaders. NASCAR kept the green flag out and Elliott Sadler, who had a spectacular flip on the front straightaway in this race last year, did it again, sliding backward into the grass and doing a flip before landing on his wheels as he crossed the finish line. He wound up 22nd and fell to eighth in the standings, 166 points behind Earnhardt. Sadler was not injured. Among the other contenders in NASCAR's playoff, defending series champion Matt Kenseth finished 14th, followed by Mark Martin and Ryan Newman. Jimmie Johnson had an engine failure and finished 37th, while Jeremy Mayfield was taken out in a four-car wreck on lap 148. The results widened the gap among the contenders, with Martin now 111 points behind in fourth and Mayfield in 10th, 172 back. |
Speak your mind!
|
){kind=link}