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Vol. III,No.VIXII
OFFSEASON EDITION

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TODAYD FRONT PAGE< The Wrench Who Stole Racing
A NASCAR Christmas Story


Quote Of The Day:
"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."
— The Gospel according to St. Luke, Ch.2 V.1-14,

Happy Birthday:
Randy Earnhardt, Charles Comstock, Starr Elliott, Jesus Christ

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INSIDE TODAY'S ISSUE:

Boyer takes over crew chief duties for No. 40 team


Marlin to run limited Busch schedule for FitzBradshaw Racing

High-horsepowered Night Before Christmas

Craven gets Superchips as truck sponsor

Fuge buys truck team
Harvick enters Grand National West race in January

Corporation buys SCORE Motorsports, puts Hermie in car, Ince as crew chief

Seasons change but work never ends

Crosby becomes third woman to compete full-time in Busch Series

Chastised "Chase" gave NASCAR excitement, ratings

The Year That Never Was

The Wrench Who Stole Racing
The agony and the ecstasy of 2004

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By Greg Engle
Cup Scene Daily,December 24

(adapted from the " How The Grinch stole Christmas, by Dr. Suess)




Down in Fan-ville they liked racing a lot

But the ‘Wrench’, who lived just north of Fan-ville, did NOT!

The ‘Wrench’ hated racing! The whole racing season.

Now please don’t ask why

No one quite knows the reason.

It could be that his helmet wasn’t screwed on quite right.

It could be,perhaps, that his ‘steering’ was too tight.

But I think the most likely reason of all

May have been that his hands was two sizes too small.

But whatever the reason, his head or his hands,

He stood there the night before the first race, hating the Fans.

Staring down from his cave with a sour, Wrenchy pout

At the motorhomes below in the infield scattered all about. Was busy now hanging driver flags with glee.

"And they’re wearing driver t-shirts!" he snarled with a sneer, "Tommorrow is race day! It’s practically here!"

Then he growled, with his Wrench fingers nervously drumming,

" I MUST find a way to keep race day from coming!"

For, tommorrow, he knew...All Fan guys and gals

Would wake up bright and early with screams and happy howls...

They’d head for the track.

They’d rush the grandstands!

Hats on their heads and scanners in their hands.

They drop that green flag and then,

And then!

Oh the noise!

Oh the noise!

Noise! Noise! Noise!

That’s the one thing he hated!

The NOISE! NOISE! NOISE! NOISE!

PLEASE DO NOT POST ELSEWHERE WITHOUT PERMISSION!!
The Fans, young and old, would sit down there to watch them race.

And they’d race.

And they’d race!

And they’d RACE! RACE! RACE! RACE!

Those infernal machines would start going round, the Fans all cheering, yelling so loud!

But, before all of THAT they’d do something he liked least of all.

Every Fan down in Fan-ville, the tall and the small, in the stands, in the infield

And along the pit wall,

Would place their Fan hands over their little Fan hearts,

And they’d start singing.

They’d sing!

And they’d sing.

AND they’d SING! SING! SING! SING!

And the more the Wrench thought of the Fan-pre-race-Sing,

The more the Wrench thought, "I must stop this whole thing!",

"Why for fifty-four years I’ve put up with it now!

I MUST stop this race from running!....

But how?"

Then he got an idea!

An awful idea!

THE WRENCH GOT A WONDERFUL,AWFUL IDEA!

"I know just what to do!" The Wrench laughed in his throat.

And he made a quicky drivers hat and a drivers black leather coat.

And he chuckled and clucked, "What a great Wrenchy trick!"

With this coat and this hat, I’ll look just like Dale Earnhardt did in 1996!"

"All I need now is a crew chief and a car..."

The Wrench looked around. But since crew chiefs are scarce,

There was none to be found.

Did that stop the old Wrench...?No!

The Wrench simply said," If I can’t find a crew chief, I’ll make one instead!"

So he called his dog Max.

Then he took an old NAPA hat and placed it on his head.

THEN he loaded some bags,

And some old empty sacks

On a ramsackle old Pontiac Grand Prix

And he snatched up old Max.

Then the Wrench said with a hiss" Gentleman start your engines".

And the car started down toward the motorhomes

Where the Fans lay a-snoozen in the infield.

All their windows were dark.

The garage silent.

All the Fans were dreaming sweet dreams without a lark.

Then he came to the first motorhome on the row.

"This is stop number one." The old Wrenchy racer hissed, "Let’s start this show!"

And he climbed to the roof, empty bags in his fist.

Then he slid down the air-vent, a rather tight pinch.

But if a Fan could do it, then so could the Wrench.

He got stuck only once, then on he went.

Then slowly he stuck his head out of the AC vent.

On the table there before him, the little Fans’ hats lay all in a row.

"These hats" he grinned, "are the first things to go!".

Then he slithered and slunk, with a smile most unpleasant

And he took every Fan thing in the room that was present!

Mark Martin hats! T-shirts for Stewart! Dale Jarrett socks! Belt buckles for Dale junior!

Mugs from Labonte, both Terry and Bobby! Die-cast cars collected as a hobby!

PLEASE DO NOT POST ELSEWHERE WITHOUT PERMISSION!!
And he stuffed them in the bags.

Then the Wrench, very aloof, stuffed all the bags

One by one up to the roof.

Then he slunk to the icebox and as dirty as dirt.

He took all their food and shoved it down his shirt!

He cleaned out the icebox as quick as a deer.

Why that Wrench even took their last can of Lite beer!

Then he stuffed the whole load up onto the roof,

Where it landed on Max, who let out a ‘ooch’!

"And NOW!" grinned the Wrench," I‘ll head to the next,

There’s much, too much work that’s yet to be done!"

But as he turned to the vent and started to jump up with a lurp.

He heard a sound behind him, a quite large burp.

He turned around fast, and saw a large Fan!

A big old redneck, who went by the name of Dan.

The Wrench had been caught by this big redneck who stood near

Who’d gotten out of bed to relieve himself of old beer.

He stared at the Wrench, looking quite tipsy, and said," Junior...Junior? What the heck are YOU doin’ here?"

Now you know, that old Wrench was so smart and so slick.

He thought up a lie and he thought it up quick!

"Hey dude, sorry thought this was my hauler."

And this fib fooled the man.

PLEASE DO NOT POST ELSEWHERE WITHOUT PERMISSION!!
The Wrench reached in his shirt and pulled out a beer.

Then gave it to the man and whispered in his ear,

"Here, take this, thanks for your support".

Then he patted the man on the on his big redneck belly and sent him to bed.

And when the redneck went to bed with his beer,

He went to the vent and gave a silent cheer.

Then he went up the vent, the old liar.

On their walls he left nothing but some hooks and some wire.

And the one speck of food that he left in the RV,

Was a crumb that was too small for even little John Andretti.

Then he did the same thing to the other Fans RV’s

Leaving crumbs much too small for ANY John Andretti.

And last thing he did was climb the flag stand.

And took ALL the flags, red ,yellow, black, checkered and green!

It was a quarter past dawn, all the Fans were still a-dreamin’

The Fans still a-snorin’, when he packed up his old Grand Prix.

Packed it up with all that Fan stuff.

The Mark Martin hats! The Stewart t-shirts! The die-cast cars!

The Dale Jarrett socks!

PLEASE DO NOT POST ELSEWHERE WITHOUT PERMISSION!!
And finally the flags, red, yellow,black checkered and green.

Up the side of Mount Rockingham, the old Wrench he did climb.

His trunk piled high from his overnight snide.

He went to the top, and peered over the far edge,

And got ready to dump the bags over the ledge.

"Pooh-pooh to the Fans!" He was Wrenchly humming, "They’re finding out that no racing is coming!"

"They’re just waking up! I know just what they’ll do!"

"There mouth’s will hang open a minute or two!"

"Then all the Fans down in Fan-ville will cry BOO-HOO!"

"That’s a noise" grinned the Wrench, "That I simply MUST hear!".

So he paused.

And the Wrench put a tiny hand to his ear.

And he heard a sound rising from the track way down there.

It started in low.

Then it started to grow.

But the sound wasn’t sad. No BOO-HOO!

And he looked very hard at the track down below.

And saw them pushing RACE cars onto pit row!

The Wrench popped his eyes. Then he shook!

What he saw was a shocking surprise!

Every Fan down in Fan-ville, the tall and the small,

Was cheering!

Why, they’d race after ALL!

He HADN’T stopped the race from coming.

IT CAME!

Somehow or the other, they’d race just the same!

And the Wrench, with his wrenchy feet ice-cold in the snow,

Stood puzzling and puzzling: "How could it be so? How could they still cheer?"

"They’ll race without hats! Without flags, without Lite beer!"

"And yet, somehow, they’ll still put on a show. Race ‘round the track,off they’ll go"

And he puzzled awhile, and puzzled and puzzled‘till his puzzler hurt so.

Then the Wrench thought of something he hadn’t before!

"Maybe racing, means alot more, than hats, or T-shirts or stuff from a store," he thought.

"Maybe the drivers going around head to head, racing each other counting the laps that each have lead."

The Wrench screwed his mouth and looked up in the air,"Maybe at the end of 500 miles or more, after racing each other close, door to door, one-hundred ninety miles an hour, sometimes a little more."

The Wrench rubbed his pointy, wrenchy chin.

"Hmm...A TRUE test of a man is how far and fast he will go."

And what happened then?

Well...in Fan-ville they say

That the Wrenchs small hands grew three sizes that day!

And the minute his steering didn’t feel so tight.

He whizzed,raced really, with his load through the bright morning light.

And he brought back all the Fans’ things!

And he brought back the flags, red,yellow,black, checkered and green.

And he...HE HIMSELF...!

The Wrench dropped the green flag from the flagstand that day,

But not before all the Fans heard him say:

"Gentleman start your engines! Let the racing get underway!"

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Lug Nuts:left side
(Stories open in new window)

Boyer takes over crew chief duties for No. 40 team


December 22

New season, new chief...

FULL STORY

Marlin to run limited Busch schedule for FitzBradshaw Racing
December 22

Sterling will be a busy boy next year...

FULL STORY


(Back To Top)

3: The Dale Earnhardt Story
3: The Dale Earnhardt Story


We_Have_It_ALL
Hometeams.com

High-horsepowered Night Before Christmas
By Mike Massaro
ESPN,December 24

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a race team was stirring, especially not Roush. Their stockcars were built with incredible care, after 15 years without a Cup Championship, Jack suddenly has a pair.

Nestled snuggly in bed laid all Roush engineers, fabricators and crew members cherishing titles in back-to-back years. Kurt Busch had taken this year's victory lap, now it was time for his team to take a short winter's nap.


Throughout NASCAR the competition was resting, knowing in just a few weeks they'll head to Daytona for testing. Outside it was cold and the windows were frosted, and after covering 36 races I, too, was exhausted.

I climbed into bed and pulled up the sheets, as my head hit the pillow I heard noise in the streets. It was familiar; I knew that sound, it was the roar of an 800-horsepower engine pounding the ground.

I peeked through the window and for the second straight year, I saw that souped-up sleigh with the most magnificent high gear. With a screech and a skid it kicked up a shower of sparks, The driver stopped in my driveway, perfectly hitting his marks.

Dropping the window net out climbed that man, all dressed in red like a Dale Earnhardt Jr. fan. Quickly to the roof he did climb, down through the chimney he came in pole-winning time.

It was Santa Claus himself, I knew because last year I'd interviewed the Jolly old elf. It was a strange sense of deja' vu, but still, something seemed askew. He had a new sleigh, this year a Ford, not a Chevrolet. "Why, Santa?" I cried. "Why the blue oval, not the bow tie?"

Santa responded, "Last year it was Kenseth, this year it was Busch, for the second straight year their Taurus' kicked the Chevy guys' tush. I need to be careful even though the television guys are sleeping, You know, they're all dreaming up new words to start bleeping."

As he stood by the fireplace's stone facing, he put down his bags and decided to talk racing. With a smile he said, "It's time for reflection. What about Junior? How does his resrictor plate car even pass inspection?"

"Another Talladega victory and win at Daytona, but most impressive was his win in Arizona. I think 'Little E' might have been this year's champ, If at Atlanta he didn't try to squeeze his car into a space that was cramped."

"With five wins Jeff Gordon climbed the chart. He now has 69, just seven behind Earnhardt. While his fourth Brickyard 400 was an impressive win, under the old point system he'd be the champion," Santa said with a grin.

"Jimmie Johnson, you can call him the 'sweeper,' with eight wins he's clearly no championship sleeper. He won twice in Charlotte, Pocono and at 'the track too tough to tame,' ending the season just eight points short of the title seemed a shame."

"With 10 angels on his hood, Johnson's Atlanta win did the most good. While his victory helped heal the soul, there are still those who deserve a bag of coal."

"Tony Stewart reached into Brian Vickers' cockpit, and Junior said a word that sounded something like spit. Both actions were more naughty than nice, these drivers each paid a 25 point price."

"Rookie Kasey Kane emerged as the newest sensation, but when his crew attacked Stewart's it captivated NASCAR Nation. Tommy Baldwin shook Zippy, and Evernham made threats, After the Chicago melee no one had any regrets."

"Then there's the fans' reaction following the first Talladega race, throwing garbage onto the track was an absolute disgrace. Find the guy who threw the cooler and everyone who threw a can, pull their tickets forever and from every NASCAR event they should be banned."

"Not all is bad though, actually the season was quite good, especially for Busch who may be the series' most misunderstood. Vilified a year ago, I think he got a raw deal, he won this year's championship despite a runaway wheel."

Then, there was a pause. Clearly it was time to run for mister Claus. Quickly he snatched up his sacks, and headed to the kitchen where I'd left him some snacks.

There was a sports beverage and homemade chicken cacciatore, He gobbled the food but the Powerade was a different story. Old Kris Kringle just looked at the bottle and kicked, as a Gatorade guy he seemed a bit ticked.

He had one last message before he drove off through the frost, "never forget those who we've lost." 'Remember, wear those blue wrist bands proud and tight, Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night."

ORIGINAL STORY-ESPN


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Lug Nuts:right side
(Stories open in new window)

Craven gets Superchips as truck sponsor


December 22

Will he be a chip off the old block?...

FULL STORY

Fuge buys truck team
December 22

Do you take Amreican Express?...

FULL STORY


(Back To Top)



Hometeams.com

Harvick enters Grand National West race in January
December 22

Kevin Harvick will get jump on his 2005 NASCAR season.

Harvick and his Kevin Harvick Inc. organization have entered the Jan. 30 NASCAR Grand National West division race at Phoenix International Raceway.

Harvick is using the race to help prepare his Busch Series team for the 2005 season. KHI is fielding a full-time Truck team with driver Ron Hornaday and a full-time Busch team with drivers Tony Stewart and Tony Raines.

"I wanted to give all the guys that are going to be on the Busch car a chance to work together before we get to Daytona in February," Harvick said.

"I was going to be on the West coast for some Cup testing around the time of the West race, so we looked at what we had in the shop, and figured out a way to get here. We're doing it without any sponsorship right now, but hopefully we can find something before we get out there to help us out."

Harvick said KHI is also contemplating fielding a full-time team in the West series as a means to build a driver development program for the organization.

"It's a good way to make sure KHI will have drivers in the future who will have experience driving cars similar to the Busch cars," he said.

(Back To Top)

Corporation buys SCORE Motorsports, puts Hermie in car, Ince as crew chief

December 22

Peak Fitness has announced that the corporation has acquired the assets of the SCORE Motorsports Nextel Cup Team and will be the primary sponsor of a Nextel Cup car for the full 2005 and 2006 Nextel Cup seasons, with the car to be driven by Hermie Sadler. James Ince has been hired as the crew chief.

Jeff Stec, CEO of Peak Fitness is excited at the prospect of building a competitive NextelCup team to form the nucleus of a national marketing strategy to offer franchise opportunities worldwide.

"We have been searching for the right vehicle in order to move our corporation into a multi-national franchise and I believe that the powerful branding associated with NASCAR marketing affords us that opportunity," Stec said.

"This is very exciting for me and my family. To partner with a strong corporation like Peak Fitness, CEO Jeff Stec, and a proven winner like James Ince as crew chief is my best opportunity to make it in NEXTEL Cup racing. I will retain an interest in the new corporation, Peak Performance Motorsports, and will continue to be involved in the daily operations," said Sadler.

Peak Fitness is the number one health club in the Charlotte area and will launch its National Franchise Campaign in January 2005.

Seasons change but work never ends
By Larry McReynolds
Crewchiefclub.com,December 22

As a crew chief for 18 years of my 25 years in NASCAR, the most commonly asked question was, "What do you do during the off-season?"

Unfortunately, I never found the off-season. In fact, teams probably work harder during the off-season than they do during the race season. They may not travel as much, but I've been in the wind tunnel the night before Christmas Eve. It's a cycle that never ends, especially when major changes are thrown at the teams by the manufacturer (Dodge's new Charger) and NASCAR (cutting an inch off of the rear spoiler).

I always felt very fortunate if I could give my guys a week away during the off-season. As the competition and technology grew along with the accessibility to wind tunnels, time off got harder and harder to come by. When we went to the 2000 Monte Carlo during my last year as a crew chief, the only day we did not work during the off-season was Christmas Day. We left the shop at about lunchtime on Christmas Eve, and we let the guys come in a little bit late on New Year's Day.

We tried to be smart with our teams, and I know a lot of teams are letting the guys pick the week that they want to take off. Not every guy would want a week off between Christmas and New Year's. Some guys would want to take off during Thanksgiving. You're still able to give guys time off without slowing down preparations for the upcoming season because it creeps up on you. In two months, Speedweeks will be over, and in less than a month, all of the testing at Daytona will be completed so the off-season flies by.

I try to slow down around the holidays and remember what the holiday is all about. I especially like to spend time with my family. You hope that teams try to allow their people to do the same, especially the people who are on the road for 38 to 40 weeks a year.

Let's also remember families who have lost loved ones this holiday season. Tommy Baldwin will not be able to celebrate Christmas with his father this year. NBC Universal Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol and his family will not have their youngest son to enjoy the holidays. And, of course, the holidays will be very different this year for the families of the 10 people who died in an airplane crash near Martinsville, Va. in October. We want to make sure we remember all of those families, like the family of Scott Lathram, Tony Stewart's helicopter pilot. Lathram left a wife and three children who will be without their husband and dad this Christmas as well.

ORIGINAL STORY-Fox Sports

Crosby becomes third woman to compete full-time in Busch Series
December 22

GIC/PSE-93 announced tuesday the signing of Kim Crosby to drive the No. 93 race car for a full-schedule of 35 races in the 2005 NASCAR Busch Series. The team also announced that Boudreaux's Butt Paste, a Louisiana-based product originally created to relieve diaper rash, will continue its association with Crosby as a primary sponsor.

GIC/PSE-93 is a joint venture of Mooresville, N.C. - based GIC Motorsports and Raleigh, NC, sports and entertainment communication, marketing and sales firm PSE-3.

"We are very excited about our full-season sponsorship of Kim Crosby. She is not only a terrific driver, but is a model spokesperson for our product," noted Dr. George Boudreaux. "She is intelligent, attractive and has high moral standards--all qualities that align well with the Boudreaux's Butt Paste brand."

Crosby, who has previously divided time between the cockpit of race cars and her office as assistant principal of Slidell (LA) Junior High, will become only the third woman in NASCAR Busch Series and NASCAR Nextel Cup history to compete in a full-race schedule. She shares the full-time designation with Shawna Robinson and Patty Moise, both of whom ran full schedules in the NBS in the 1990's.

Crosby ran five NASCAR Busch Series races in 2004, with her best finish a 20th-place lead-lap run in Talladega. In four career ARCA RE/MAX series races, her finishes included a 21st in Kentucky and a 23rd in Nashville in 2003, as well as starts in Talladega and Daytona.

She is a 15-year veteran of NHRA and IHRA competition, posting a number of drag-racing victories. Crosby has been a driving instructor for the Buck Baker Racing School in Atlanta, Bristol and Darlington.

"I'm thrilled about the opportunity I've been given with GIC/PSE-93," said Crosby. "I look forward to competing every weekend, learning as much as I can as fast as I can about each track."

"I'm also happy that my friends at Boudreaux's Butt Paste will join us for the ride," continued Crosby. "Their continued support is a key reason this is happening."

(Back To Top)

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Chastised "Chase" gave NASCAR excitement, ratings
By Monte Dutton
SportsTicker,December 23

NASCAR's much-maligned "Chase for the Championship" may not have offered the two-driver duel that made stock car racing popular in its earlier days. But its 2004 debut did produce the two elements the circuit was looking for - close competition and higher television ratings.

Entering the finale of the 10-race playoff, five drivers had a chance to win the Nextel Cup championship. Although a bit contrived - all but 10 drivers were ineligible for the title over the last 10 races - the new format produced the closest finish in series history.


(AP)

Gone were the days of duels between Richard Petty and David Pearson, Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison, Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt, Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart and Mark Martin. In their place was a five-car scramble for the $5 million prize.

The winner was Kurt Busch, who ironically won the championship the same way Matt Kenseth did in 2003 - a win here and there coupled with consistently strong finishes. Kenseth won just once en route to his title; Busch was the only driver to have top-10 finishes in nine of the 10 "Chase" races.

And like Kenseth, Busch won the title by averting disaster. On lap 92 of the season finale at Miami, Busch was running second when the hub of the right front wheel on his Ford Taurus sheared away.

Busch was entering the pits because of the vibration and the wheel came off at the head of the pit wall, which he narrowly avoided. He dropped to 28th but fought back to finish fifth, just good enough to keep his overall lead.

Busch defeated Jimmie Johnson by eight points and Gordon by 16. Under the old format used from 1975-2003, Gordon would have become the sport's third five-time champion.

And for the second straight year, a driver with eight wins did not take the title. Last year, it was Ryan Newman. This year, it was Johnson, who won four times during the "Chase" but could not overcome a handful of poor finishes.

While some in the sport resist change, NASCAR CEO Brian France is not one of them. France continues to lead the sport forward, pushing tradition aside and doing what he believes is best. He has been unafraid to chart a new course for NASCAR under his leadership, just as his father did when he took over in 1972.

The new format certainly seemed to have the fans' attention. During the fall, NASCAR often found itself in a losing battle for TV ratings with the NFL, which has become America's pastime. But in the middle of an NFL Sunday, the season finale drew a 5.6 overnight rating on NBC, the highest for that race in its six-year history.

It couldn't have come at a better time for NASCAR - one year into a 10-year, $700 million primary sponsorship agreement with Nextel - as it began negotiations for a new TV contract, which should net more money per year than the current deals in baseball and the NBA.

Busch's aggressive style has led to a handful of run-ins with other drivers. He clearly was not the people's choice; that would be Dale Earnhardt Jr.

The sentimental choice would have been Gordon or Johnson, both of whom drove with heavy hearts over the final month of the season for Hendrick Motorsports. In October, the team lost nine associates killed in a private plane crash near Martinsville, Virginia.

The crash had a near-devastating impact on one of the top teams in the series. Among the dead were president John Hendrick, brother to team owner Rick Hendrick; John's 22-year-old twin daughters, Kimberly and Jennifer; Ricky Hendrick, Rick Hendrick's 24-year-old son and heir apparent; Randy Dorton, the head of the team's engine department; and Jeff Turner, the team's general manager.

One constant within NASCAR was its ability to keep American open-wheel racing in obscurity. While Michael Schumacher's dominance has kept Europe's Formula One a one-driver circuit, that is one more open-wheel driver that has made a name for himself in the United States.

As the IRL was ready to deliver a knockout blow to the rival Champ Car Series, it was hit with a counterpunch as General Motors announced it would leave the circuit after the 2005 season.

That left the IRL - which started nine years ago with the premise of creating a cost-conscious open-wheel circuit populated by Americans - with marginal attendance growth, plummeting TV ratings and its future in control of Japanese engine manufacturers Toyota and Honda. Racers with Honda engines won 14 of 16 IRL races in 2004.

Tony Kanaan won the series title for Andretti Green Racing and Buddy Rice became the first American in six years to win the Indianapolis 500. That scored Rice a visit to the White House. In 2005, the IRL will be hoping to avoid the poor house.

ORIGINAL STORY-Sports Ticker


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The Year That Never Was
By Greg Engle
Editor, Cup Scene Daily, December 17


For some 2004 was the year they will never forget, for others it was the year they wished never was.

This was the year we threw away our cigarettes and picked up our cell phones.

Nextel wasted no time in showing us that they too were fans, through the magic of television allowing us to watch Fireball Roberts and Richard Petty race against Jeff Gordon while the legend of Dale Earnhardt drove once again. It was almost as if they were somehow trying to win our affection. Curiously it wasn’t long before “Nextel Cup Series” became as familiar a phrase as “Winston Cup” , while we hummed a song and knew it really had been a long time.

A brash young captain now steered our ship and as he took the helm he announced bold new changes to the way we determine a champion. And we the fans of the NASCAR nation raised our eyebrows and shook our fists at him and threatened to mutiny, jump ship at the first port.

Our hero won the first race of the year, proving that there was no curse; that he wouldn’t have to struggle for decades to win the “big one” as his father had before him.

We visited an old friend one last time then said goodbye to the Rock.

It was about this time we sharpened our swords and looked at the captain of the ship with evil intentions…”curses on you Brian France.” We said, as his changes began to sink in.

An old friend yelled at us from across the bar: “Last Call” and the “Ironman” softened. They were joined by a seemingly ageless icon who perhaps has grown weary of trying to chase the big prize and always coming up just a bit short. These aging legends made us realize that we are all growing older and that perhaps it’s time to step aside and let the kids play in the sandbox now.

Then came Richmond in the fall and we all watched with an intense interest never before imagined, as the final top ten positions changed seemingly with every lap and in the end Jeremy Mayfield raced his way to victory and the Chase field was set.

When we cold all breathe again, we started to see that this new captain might be on to something. It was exciting, even if our driver didn’t make the top ten.

Then came that final ten, the “Chase”. We sat transfixed, glued to every lap of every race, because these races mattered like never before. Maybe this point system, this Chase, wasn’t such a bad thing at all, we thought. Every story was magnified, the comeback of Jimmie Johnson, the curses of Junior, the hope of an ageless hero.


And in the end, when the dust settled at Homestead we crowned a new, young champion after the closest points gap in NASCAR history. The comeback ended for one team, the hero said there is always next year and the ageless icon knows he’ll have one more chance and we all hope he won’t come up a little short, again.

This new champion, once brash, bold and booed grew up this year. There was a time not long ago that many hated the young man because he drew no quarter on or off the track, moving slower drivers out of the way when he had to, enduring the collective boos from the crowd, putting his head down and pressing on even when his fellow competitors used their fists to make a point. He matured before our eyes this season and did what he had to do and along the way earned the respect of us all, for some perhaps grudgingly.

It harkens back to another era and another young man who was brash, bold and booed. A young man who was also hated by many but did what he had to do to win races, because to him that was all that mattered. For those of us who have been around this sport for a while, we remember how that young man also matured before our eyes, pushed slower cars out of the way when he had to and endured the hatred of his fellow drivers. That young man went on to earn a total of seven Cups and along the way become a legend.

And now this young man can share something in common with that legend, the title of champion.

This young man may not be Dale Earnhardt but he has certainly earned our respect and we’re proud he is our champion.

And now we turn and say:

God bless you Rick Hendrick.


You, your family and your team were visited this year by a terrible, awful, horrible tragedy. And when it happened, we the fans of the NASCAR nation could do nothing more than open our collective arms, pull you close in our embrace, offer a shoulder to cry on and whisper to you that everything will be okay; That sometimes God does things for reason we don’t understand, or agree with, that while we may be somewhat angry at him for what he does, in the end it’s only in our faith in God that we can carry on, knowing that he has those reasons.

In the over two decades I’ve spent in and around the military, there have been too many sad occasions that I’ve had to console a young widow, a parent, a son or daughter after the loss of a loved one. And while every single case is tragic, different I was always asked the same question: Why? For many years I couldn’t answer that single question, until I did make the realization that God has his reasons. It was then that I would always try and search for some meaning, some reason. There were occasions that I could try and find a reason, others not.

I tried to search to find some reason that God called these ten beautiful souls home, struggled for a long time. Then as I was twisting the blue rubber wristband I knew that perhaps the Lord have given me an answer. I had known of the Hendrick Marrow Foundation as one of the many fine charities of NASCAR. But until the awful tragedy brought this Foundation to light I would never have imagined myself going to my local blood bank and registering to become a potential donor, but I did. And because of that there is now one more possible match, one more possibility of a life that could be saved. One more bit of hope for a person who might benefit from that.

Now magnify that a few thousand times, from the thousands of NASCAR fans who might not otherwise have given the Hendrick Marrow Foundation a second thought.

And now there are thousands more chances for people who might otherwise not have one.

No words can take away the pain of a great loss such as this, but Mr. Hendrick the fans of the NASCAR nation hope you can find some small comfort, some solace in that thought of the thousands of people who now have hope.

Now we turn our attention to 2005.

Let’s hope that everyone who starts the year is around when it ends.

That we have a record number of first time winners, including Kasey Kahne.

That the record for closest finish is broken, more than once.

Let’s hope that the points battle isn’t decided until the last turn of the last lap of the last race.

That Nextel and Sprint work out their merger so that the series sponsor remains the same and we don’t have to cast a line out into the open turbulent waters of the corporate world.

Finally Lord, if our driver isn’t the one sitting on the stage at the Waldorf-Astoria next December let it be Mark Martin, because to have come so close so many times and still not be a champion would be a grave sin indeed,

As our new sponsor Nextel would say about 2004:

…done.







2004 Year in Review:Pop Secret 500

Pop Secret 500

Winner:
Elliot Sadler Gear @ Store.NASCAR.com

Race Statistics

Time of race: 3 hours, 53 minutes, 47 seconds
Margin of victory: 0.263 Seconds
Winner's average speed: 128.324 mph
Caution flags: 11 for 51 laps.
Lead changes: 29 among 13 drivers.

Final Results:

1. Elliott Sadler
2 Kasey Khane
3 Mark Martin
4 Jamie McMurray
5 Ryan Newman

FULL RESULTS


POINT STANDINGS

1. Jimmie Johnson 3482
2. Jeff Gordon 3432
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.3366
4. Tony Stewart, 3304
5. Matt Kenseth, 3253

FULL POINTS

Slideshow:



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