The Worlds first daily e-newspaper devoted to the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series
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Vol. III,No.VIXII OFFSEASON EDITION
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The Worlds first daily e-newspaper devoted to the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Welcome to the Cup Scene Daily for Vol. III,No.VIXII OFFSEASON EDITION |
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TODAYS FRONT PAGE<
THE VARIOUS STAGES OF ‘DEVELOPMENT’
Development contracts are all the rage
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Quote Of The Day: “All of a sudden, you find yourself and learn that, if you think driving is the only thing you’ve got to do around here, you’re wrong. You’ve got five or six things to do, and driving is about fifth on the list.” — Jeremy Mayfield Happy Birthday: Mike Laughlin 7 DAY ARCHIVE SundayMonday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 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 Monte Dutton Quick! Is there a bright, young driver out there anywhere who hasn’t signed a development contract with Roush or Hendrick or Ganassi, or at least with a Busch Series team like Brewco? The development contract, where a big NASCAR team gets a bright, young prospect to sign on the dotted line, is clearly the rage of big-time stock-car racing. The idea is to take that hot Roman candle from the Texas panhandle — with apologies to Jimmy Buffett — and bring him along slowly so that eventually he becomes a genuine, 110-percent-giving, brand-new NASCAR star and corporate spokesperson. If the drivers in the Nextel Cup Series get any younger, they’re going to have to build playgrounds in the infields along with the motor-coach lots. Most of them seem to be named Casey, Kasey or K.C.; A.J, D.J.. or B.J.; Reed or Reid; Aaron or Erin; and Justin, Dustin, Jason, Eric or Derek. They’re all going to run a limited schedule of ARCA superspeedway events, then move up to ASA until they’re 18, then trucks or Busch. If they don’t make it to Cup by age 25, they’ll eventually wind up going to work for their daddy’s insurance company.
The great majority have driven either sprints, midgets or, at the very least, three-quarter midgets. Most were once world go-karting champions, leading one to believe that there are more sanctioning bodies in karting than there are in boxing. Let’s see, there’s the WKA, the WKC, the WKL, the USKA, the USKC, the USKL, the IKA, the IKC, the WKC and the WKA, and those are only the karting associations that begin with either “World,” “United States” or “International.” There may be a full slate of governing bodies that begin with “Federated,” “Consolidated,” “United” (without the states), or maybe even “Fraternal Order of.” Which ones the kids actually race their karts in depends on whether they get a bid and decide to rush. Perhaps they wear pledge pins on their Nomex uniforms. Wonder where this youth movement is going next? Will short tracks become minor-league franchises? Are we going to see a day in which Hickory Motor Speedway has a sign out front that says it’s the “Class A affiliate of Hendrick Motorsports”? Does Chip Ganassi employ a staff of scouts sent out to places like Iowa and Montana to search the dirt tracks for 13-year-olds who are natural-born racers? Are there independents scouts out there? You know, what they call “bird dogs” in baseball. “Psst. Kid! Yeah, you! Lemme talk to you for a minute.” “Hang on a minute. Gotta finish running the Pennsylvania 500 on my X-Box.” “Forget the X-Box, kid. You listen to me and we’ll have your fanny molded for a seat in a Nextel Cup Monte Carlo.” “Whoa, dude. That, like, rocks.” “See, kid, I got connections. Me and Greg Zipadelli go way back. I’m the one that told Joe Gibbs about Zippy, see. We’re tight, and he owes me one.” “No way!” “Way!” “So what do I, like, gotta do?” “Gotta a little contract here with your name on it, kid. Sign on the dotted line, see, and I’ll have you in the no time in big time.” “Say what?” “Sorry, I meant to say I’ll have you in the big time in no time.” “Cool.” “For a small and very reasonable percentage of the gross, I’ll act as an agent on your behalf. I been watching you, kid, and in my professional estimation, you got what it takes.” “Where do I sign, man?” “Right there, kid. ‘X’ marks the spot . And you can keep the pen. There’s plenty more where that’s coming from, if you know what I mean.”
Erin Crocker aims to become first female Nextel Cup winner
Erin Crocker was hired recently to a development deal at Evernham Motorsports. The open-wheeled driver not only fulfills NASCAR's new interest in diversity, she hopes to become the first woman to win a race in one of the three top touring divisions in NASCAR. She talked about her new job and what she expects.
Question: What are your feelings about joining Evernham Motorsports? Crocker: "Signing with Evernham Motorsports is truly a dream come true. I've always hoped for the opportunity to someday race for someone like Ray Evernham. Growing up I watched what he had done with Jeff Gordon and this past year I saw what he accomplished with a rookie driver, Kasey Kahne. I believe working with Evernham Motorsports will provide me all of the ingredients to become a successful stock-car driver. Starting next year, driving a variety of different race cars will certainly be the next step to get me on pavement and get started. So will having that opportunity to spend time with Kasey Kahne and Bill Elliott and spend time at the race shop and at the track, to provide me a chance to learn from some of the best in the business. I started racing when I was 7 years old, and I grew up watching my two brothers race. I think they taught me a lot about earning respect from the men and just how to be competitive. Next year, I want to learn as much as possible, and gain as much experience as I can, which in turn will hopefully create some strong performances. My ultimate goal is to be successful in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, but I want to take the right steps in getting there. I think Ray Evernham has the same plan in mind for me, so I believe it is a perfect fit. I thought winning a World of Outlaws feature this past October was the highlight of my career, but getting a call from Ray Evernham certainly ranks right up there." Question: Where do you get your drive to compete? Crocker: "Honestly, I don't know where it comes from. I've always been very competitive. I've played every sport in the book. I've played ice hockey, and I've played all of these sports with my brothers. I've always just had a really competitive fire inside me." Question: What would it mean to be NASCAR's first woman to win a race? Crocker: "It would obviously be an incredible honor. But, I'm really not doing this because I want to be the first woman to win a NASCAR event. That would just be a bonus. I'm just really competitive, and I love racing. I just want to go out there and run hard and be competitive, so that just comes as an extra honor." Question: Will you continue to drive in the World of Outlaws this year? Crocker: "I think that's something that Ray and I have discussed a little bit, and if time permits and it's not going to conflict with any testing or any races, there's a chance that I may be able to get in a winged sprint car again. I've definitely enjoyed driving winged sprint cars, but this is the path I want to take. I want to be in NASCAR. I'll probably miss the sprint cars a little bit, but I'm very excited about my opportunities here." Question: What would you be doing if you weren't racing? Crocker: "If I couldn't drive I would certainly still be in the racing world. I would probably put my engineering degree to use and hopefully go to work for a big team or even a manufacturer. I've been offered opportunities in the past. If driving doesn't work out, I've been offered shop specialist opportunities and different things. I'm sure I'd still be involved in racing and, hopefully, using my engineering background." Question: You come from an open-wheeled background, so have stock cars been part of your long term goals? Crocker: "I was never really sure which direction I wanted to go. I knew I wanted to be successful, and I knew I wanted to make it to the top. I definitely, at one point, said I wanted to go open-wheel racing. But, in the last few years, I've gone to a lot of NASCAR races, and I've gone to a lot of open-wheel races. And, quite frankly, all of my heroes growing up, Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon, and people I used to watch run USAC races, came from the NASCAR world. So I feel like if I want to run with the best, and I really want to be on top of the sport, then this is where I want to be." Question: What are your thoughts about women in racing? Crocker: "I wouldn't necessarily consider them heroes, but I certainly watched what they did and tried to learn from it. And I give them a lot of credit, people like Lyn St. James, Janet Guthrie and Sarah Fisher herself, have opened people's eyes to the possibility of a female being successful in this sport. So I definitely have followed them, and I've admired what they've done, and I've tried to learn from what they've done." Question: As a dirt racer, will the transition to pavement be difficult? Crocker: "I think I'll keep just as busy of a schedule. I might be a little bit more in one area. But I think that I'll have enough things going on between spending time at the shop and testing, and the races I'm going to run. Hopefully, I'll get to do some midget sprint car stuff as well. I think I'll keep myself just as busy, maybe not as much time on the road, but that could be a good thing. That's definitely going to be a big learning curve. I've run a little bit of pavement in the past, and it's a lot different. I think that running a sprint car teaches you so much about car control that once I get the feel of these bigger, heavier cars, I'm confident it will go well. I'm sure I'm going to have a lot to learn, and it's going to be quite the process, but I'm ready for the challenge." ORIGINAL STORY-Savannah Morning News
Some awards you may have missed
The small staff occupying desk space at Motorsports Central's Southwest bureau unearthed a few dubious awards that somehow failed to make the championship banquet circuit following the 2004 racing season. Here goes: Odor-Eaters 'Foot in Mouth' Award Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmy Spencer. Earnhardt flubbed his victory speech following a win at Talladega, Ala., uttering a four-letter word on national television. The NASCAR watchdogs fined him $10,000 and also penalized him 25 points. But he has to share with Spencer, who, when asked before the season what he thought of Toyota's entry into the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, made no secret of his hopes for a colossal failure, making a remark about the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. Spencer escaped penalty from NASCAR's bigwigs, and no one washed out his mouth with motor oil, either.
Kris Kringle 'Early Yuletide Present' Award Bryan Sperber. The president of Phoenix International Raceway worked diligently behind the scenes to make certain NASCAR didn't bypass the 1-mile oval for a second race beginning in 2005. Valley businesses and race fans are eternally grateful. New York City 'Wise Guy' Award Sperber. He's cleaning up. Not only is Sperber bringing NASCAR to town twice next season, he's also returning the popular Copper World Classic to its old format. Let's hope the event recaptures the magic of years past. IRL 'Wally Pipp' Award Buddy Rice. Rice, a Valley resident, replaced an injured Kenny Brack at the beginning of the season and turned what was anticipated to be a part-time ride into a multiyear contract. Rice won the Indianapolis 500 and also nearly won the Indy Racing League championship. Paul Robeson 'Old Man River' Award John Force. At age 97 - er, 55 - the ageless Force won a 13th NHRA Funny Car title. Yeah, some fun for Force's opponents. 'New Kid on the Block' Award Adrian Fernandez. He departed the Champ Car World Series for the IRL, and after a few transition pains rebounded to win three out of the season's final six races and finish fifth in the drivers standings. Fernandez, a native of Mexico, moved to Paradise Valley a few years ago. Look for the house with the checkered flags. La Corona 'Close But No Cigar' Award Bruno Junqueira and Kasey Kahne. Junqueira finished runner-up in half of the 14 Champ Car races, and Kahne was a five-time runner-up in the Nextel Cup Series. Let's hope they don't get a complex. Luis Gonzalez 'Good Guy' Award Kyle Petty. Petty and his wife, Pattie, lost their son Adam in a NASCAR Busch Series crash four years ago. Soon thereafter, the Pettys hatched an idea for a summer home for chronically ill children, which is called the Victory Junction Gang Camp and opened its doors last June. Charles Barkley 'Big Butt' Award Andretti Green Racing. How many times this season did it seem as if Michael Andretti's cars driven by Tony Kanaan, Dario Franchitti, Dan Wheldon and Bryan Herta became moving obstacles, trying to ward off attacks by Rice during heated races? Too many, that's how many. Then again, some say "that's racin'." Roadrunner 'Beep-Beep' Award Jimmie Johnson. Johnson didn't win the Chase for the Nextel Cup (soon to be Sprint for the Nextel Cup) championship, but he did motor into victory lane a series-high eight times. ORIGINAL STORY-Arizona Republic
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