Holy Expletive Deleted, Hirschman! Plus Jarrett, Jan Leaty, and NHIS 2001
So Tony Hirschman, what did you think of
NHIS’ Mod Tour 100 this year?
"Holy (expletive deleted)!" was
his reply when the track announcer stuck the mike in Tony’s face afterward. It
was a pretty appropriate description of another exciting Mod Tour race at
Loudon, but it was also pretty appropriate for the entire weekend.
New Hampshire International Speedway
opened up its Winston Cup season and immediately bore witness to a stirring
comeback story – two, actually. The one getting the attention was Kyle Petty’s
return to NHIS with a tribute car for his son Adam. Kyle timed 26th, a
respectable effort in any event, but doubly important to start bringing some
sense of closure for Kyle, the Petty family, and their race team. Kyle was one
of three Dodges timing in the top 26 – the other two were Bill Elliott and
Kyle’s teammate John Andretti. This brought renewed attention to the lack of
balance in the Dodge racecar, with the focus remaining on nose weight with the
car’s engine.
The other comeback occurred after
Craftsman Truck final practice, as the Featherlite Modifieds took to the oval.
Timing third for the 100-lapper was Jan Leaty. Leaty was also making a return to
NHIS, and to the Featherlite Modified Series in general. In August 1997, owning
and driving the #25 ATC modified now owned by Gary Cretty, Leaty won a stirring
125-lapper, escaping a last-lap melee sweeping up Reggie Ruggerio and five
others. He nearly won again in June and July 1998, but in practice during August
1998, Leaty hit the first turn wall and was seriously injured. He raced
sporadically in 1999 and largely disappeared in 2000, but now he was back, in a
#6 Modified.
Leaty ran with the leaders and made his
move in the final 20 laps, dueling Ted Christopher in the Cretty #25. The two
exchanged the lead three times in a short stretch, and Teddy worked him over lap
after lap until blasting Leaty out of the Turn Three groove with some ten to go.
The final six laps then became a shootout between Terrible Ted and the driver he
replaced in the Cretty #25 – Hirschman, now driving Jack Kehley’s #48 and fresh
off victory at Richmond. Hirschman squeezed ahead of Teddy on the outside with
some five to go but couldn’t make it stick. With some two to go he squeezed high
again and this time got a clear lead. The win was Hirschman’s 22nd in the Mods.
Teddy crossed the line in second but was penalized 20 spots in the final rundown
because the left-front tire was placed on the left rear area – a harbinger of
the role officiating would play as the weekend wore on. As for Teddy, he
promptly boarded a helicoper for his regular Friday night gig in the Mystique
Motorosports #13 SK Modified at Stafford Motor Speedway, where he started 27th
and finished third in the feature. Rookie John "Rosco" Sandburg took
the checkered flag first, but in postrace the car was underweight and the win
thus went to Lloyd Agor.
The Craftsman Trucks went out on Saturday
and proved that restrictor plates weren’t the reason for lack of passing in the
Winston Cup race in September 2000. The race also showed how much NASCAR shaving
of the Dodges has affected them in the Trucks, as the Dodge contingent that
should have been battling Jack Sprague, Travis Kvapil, and the other Chevrolets
for the win could hardly keep up.
The Grand National North series went out
next and put on a spirited shootout for 125 laps. Brad Leighton, Martin Truex,
Dale Quarterley, Ted Christopher, and Dale Shaw were the primary combatants.
Christopher spun in Four in mid-race and was scored as losing a lap; he
nonetheless fought it out with the leaders the rest of the way. The battle for
the lead flared up and down for 100 laps, but it was the final 25 that saw the
shootout erupt between Leighton and Truex, a battle decided with six to go when
Leighton brilliantly used a lapped car as a pick. The win was the former GN
North champ’s fifth at NHIS.
More fireworks erupted on the last lap as
Dale Shaw nailed Dale Quarterley in the battle for third. Shaw was docked
fifteen spots for rough driving, moving Kelly Moore to third. "They’re
taking a hard look at how guys treat each other out there," was Moore’s
summation.
Thus was the stage set for Winston Cup.
Running without plates this time made no difference, as the leader could stay
there at will because of the general inability of NASCAR’s fendered classes to
race in dirty air. The only difference this time was the timing of cautions and
thus of stops. A mini-epidemic of blown right fronts, due in possible part to
the extra grip from the sealer, sent Johnny Benson and Dave Blaney into the
second turn wall, while Ward Burton got Earnhardted by Kevin Harvick and Ron
Hornaday climbed the backstretch wall after getting swerved by Stacy Compton.
The Yates tandem and Gordon led most of
the race, while Tony Stewart rocketed to the front, Jimmy Spencer hung stout all
day, and John Andretti clawed his way to the front – no doubt John wanted to
dedicate a win to Adam Petty. Andretti, however, was knocked off the lead lap by
a disputable call regarding the pit exit paddle and the pace car.
In all, though, the entire Petty
Enterprises fleet showed a strong sign of turning things around. John’s effort
stood out the most, but Kyle’s workmanlike effort also deserved brownie points,
while Buckshot Jones lost a lap but was able to hang tough with the leaders all
day and his 24th from 43rd indicates their program is beginning to run better.
Rudd appeared to have the car to beat, but
when Jerry Nadeau went three wide on Jimmy Spencer, Nadeau got swerved into the
third turn concrete, and this set up a short sprint won by Dale Jarrett.
Jarrett’s first win at NHIS was a near-carbon-copy of his defeat of Rudd at
Martinsville, and was a refreshing change from the team-order racing of the two
Daytona races; it also put the lie to Ty Norris’ protest of Robin Miller’s
post-Daytona slam at his team over Michael Waltrip’s no-pass comment on Dale
Junior.
The race was also something of a
breakthrough for Casey Atwood, who made up a lap after Elliott Sadler’s second
wreck of the day and finished twelfth. After a very up and down year, Atwood’s
effort is a sign of another team turning things around.
A little historical precedent and a Pocono
preview – the Jarrett-Rudd team battle at New Hampshire occurred fifteen years
and three days after one of the sport’s greatest finishes – the Tim
Richmond-Geoff Bodine shootout at Pocono in July 1986. Battling Neil Bonnett for
the lead at Lap 121, Bodine and Richmond, teammates at Hendrick Motorsports,
collided, and Richmond spun into a surprised Richard Petty over the Tunnel Turn
and lost a lap, but got it back when Cale Yarborough broke and Dale Earnhardt
crashed. With the race shortened to 150 laps due to fog and lateness, Richmond
got four tires and blasted through traffic and fought it out with Bodine on the
last lap. They roared side by side through Three and Bodine crossed up in time
for Ricky Rudd to fire underneath for a photo finish.
The weekend concluded with Winston Cup
drivers still whining about the NHIS layout, but again, if the Mods and GN North
can see quality competition there, then the problem lies with Winston Cup and
the Trucks, not with the track.
The Modifieds, GN North, and Winston Cup
return to NHIS in September. To paraphrase Tony Hirschman – Holy Expletive
Deleted!!!!