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“I was reading in the headlines that Bruton (Smith) might be moving the place. My track record's not the best there. I'm all for it. Move it. Move it to the other side of Charlotte. ”
—Clint Bowyer

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2007 Standings

1 +1 Jeff Gordon 0 5690

2 -1 Jimmie Johnson -9 5681

3 -- Clint Bowyer -63 5627

4 -- Tony Stewart -154 5536

5 +2 Carl Edwards -200 5490

6 -1 Kevin Harvick -120 5488

7 +2 Kurt Busch -210 5480

8 -2 Kyle Busch -260 5430

9 +3 Denny Hamlin -267 5423

10 -2 Martin Truex Jr -300 5390

11 -- Matt Kenseth -313 5377

12 -2 Jeff Burton -331 5359

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OVERHAUL
NASCAR’s qualifying system needs a major facelift
By Reid Spencer,Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service, October 13

CONCORD, N.C. -- Pick a sport—any sport—and you’ll find a paradigm for the survival of the fittest and fastest.

Ryan Newman, right, waits for his run during qualifying for Saturday's Bank of America 500 NASCAR Nextel Cup auto race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., Thursday, Oct. 11, 2007. Newman won the pole position with a speed of 189.394 mph. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

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Ideally, a sport is a meritocracy that rewards performance and penalizes mediocrity. The faster you go, the better your result. Whether you’re running the 100 meters in the Olympics, swimming the 200-meter butterfly or making a 300-mile-per-hour run in a funny car, the object is to go faster than your opponents.

In NASCAR racing, however, going faster than your opponent isn't always a guaranteed path to success. Never was that more glaring than during the Oct. 5 qualifying session for the UAW-Ford 500 Nextel Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway. Those time trials came straight from the Theater of the Absurd.

To recap, 51 drivers attempted to qualify for the event, but going faster than the next guy was no guarantee you’d be allowed to race on Sunday. In fact, the drivers who posted the ninth, 10th and 11th fastest times failed to make the show.

The driver with the eighth-best time, Dale Jarrett, qualified for the race but was required to start 43rd. The driver with the slowest overall speed, Ken Schrader, made the field, as did two drivers whose times were disallowed because of rules infractions discovered during post-qualifying inspection.

The slowest of the eight drivers who failed to qualify for the event, Kevin Lepage, was faster than 15 drivers who were allowed to race. Lepage, in fact, posted a quicker time than points leader Jeff Gordon and three other competitors in the Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup. It didn’t matter, because NASCAR’s qualifying rules reward cumulative performance in the races themselves more than a single performance in one qualifying session—and that needs to change.

The anomalies in the qualifying results stem from a system that guarantees a starting position to each of the top 35 cars in the owners’ standings. To remain in the top 35, a car must qualify for races and accumulate points based on its finishing position.

Burton wins war of attrition; Keller sets record
By Reid Spencer,Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service,October 13

CONCORD, N.C. --In a war of attrition—and on the night of a milestone—Jeff Burton pulled away from Kyle Busch during an 11-lap green-flag run to the finish to win the Dollar General 300 Busch Series race Friday night at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

Carl Edwards makes a pit stop during the Dollar General 300 NASCAR Busch Series auto race Friday, Oct, 12, 2007, in Concord, N.C. (AP Photo/Bob Jordan)
Burton finished 1.598 seconds ahead of Busch and extended the lead of his No. 29 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet to 116 points in the owner’s standings over the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Chevy driven by Denny Hamlin, who finished fifth. Dale Earnhardt Jr. ran third, followed by Aric Almirola.

“We had a really good car, and we got better as the night went along,” said Burton, who started at the rear of the field because of an engine change and drove to the front to win his fourth Busch race of the year and the 26th of his career. “We had some luck today, and we just got it right when it counted. It was fun to drive.”

Burton was losing ground to second place Earnhardt before the 10th and final caution flew on Lap 186 after Reed Sorenson crashed into the Turn 4 wall.

“I was glad to see that caution,” Burton said. “I don’t think I would have been able to hold Junior off.”

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Waltrip unveils 2008 plans; Jarrett announces retirement
By Reid Spencer,Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service, October 13

CONCORD, N.C. —In a Friday press conference at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Michael Waltrip unveiled the 2008 plans for his race team—plans that will see former NASCAR Cup champion Dale Jarrett take on a different role with the organization.

Jarrett confirmed that he will retire from full-time competition at the end of the 2007 season, though he will compete in the first five 2008 points races in the No. 44 UPS Toyota. After that, MWR driver David Reutimann will take Jarrett’s place behind the wheel of the No. 44, with UPS continuing as the sponsor of that car.

Jarrett also is eligible for the 2008 Budweiser Shootout as the 2004 winner of that event. He plans to make his final appearance in a Cup car at next year’s Sprint All-Star Challenge at LMS in May.

Waltrip also announced the addition of a new partner for MWR.Financier Robert Kauffman, founder and managing partner of Fortress Investment Group, has purchased 50-percent interest in the race team. Other additions to the MWR management team include former Cup team owner Cal Wells as executive vice president of operations.

Reutimann will drive the first five races next year in a car featuring his current No. 00, with Aaron’s as its sponsor. After Reutimann moves to the No. 44, Waltrip said, seat time in the No. 00 may be divided between Josh Wise, who has competed in both the ARCA and Craftsman Truck Series this year, and Michael McDowell, currently second in ARCA points. The team will field three full-time Cup cars next season, including the No. 55 NAPA Toyota driven by Waltrip, who says MWR also will field at least one team in the Nationwide Series.

“The last 21 years have been built around being at a racetrack for more than 30 weekends a year, doing exactly what I enjoy doing,” Jarrett said. “My family has paid the price and allowed me to do that and hopefully I can give some of that back now. I’m still going to stay busy and I’m still going to be involved with the race team. I’m going to be around for quite a while because I do enjoy this sport, I like the people in the sport and I like what goes on with this sport.”

As a past champion, Jarrett will automatically qualify for the first five races.

“I think it is important to point out that in the first five races of the season, I am running those to protect against things that we really have no control over -- weather and parts failures. I went to qualify at California Speedway for the second race of the season and had a part break in the transmission that never breaks. We are protecting our sponsor and their investment in this, and that is the only reason for that. Obviously, it has nothing to do with David’s ability to get a car into a race. We just are giving ourselves an insurance policy.”

Waltrip indicated the partnership with Kauffman will allow the team to strengthen its infrastructure in areas that have lagged behind, particularly the building of a body shop and the acquisition of a chassis dynamometer.

New stock car speed record
By Reid Spencer,Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service, October 13

Russ Wicks set a new world speed record for a stock car Friday, but it wasn’t on the asphalt.

Wicks drove a 2007 Dodge Charger prepared to NASCAR specifications at 244.9 mph, breaking his own world record of 222 mph. Guinness World Records confirmed the feat, which was accomplished on the Bonneville Salt Flats in northwestern Utah.

Wicks’ Dodge was developed with the backing of the Dodge Motorsports Engineering Group and Arrington Engines.

Wicks also holds the world speed record for propeller-driven boats at 205 mph.

Cup Scene’s Thumbies: Charlotte
By Dan Sipocz, Cup Scene Daily Senior Staff Writer,October 13

With a top ten at Talladega Tony Raines, yes the replaced driver Tony Raines, blasts into the Thumbies, earning the biggest move forward in Thumbies history. Joining him are Dave Blaney and Reed Sorenson. Meanwhile, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson are poised to overtake Bowyer for the top spot.

The View From Fanville
Night Lights and a Mean Corner
By Amy Hair, Senior Columnist Cup Scene Daily, October 13

Night races are awesome, that’s all there is to it…they are just excellent!

After a long week of working in the real world, I made it home in time to catch the Cup Series practices and the Busch Series qualifying. As night fell on the Lowes Motor Speedway, the excitement built up amongst the fans, the crews and the drivers. A touch of fall was in the air, keeping our fellows that were in their insulated fire suits from sweltering before they ever climbed into their cars.

This Day in NASCAR History
By Bill Marx, The Sporting News,October 13

1953: Jim Paschal wins his first Grand National/Cup race, a 200-lap race on the half-mile dirt track of Martinsville Speedway. Paschal would win 25 races before closing out his NASCAR career in 1972.

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