Kansas And Stafford Close Out September
With the final weekend of September, two racetracks take center stage with
big events.
The newest is the Kansas Speedway, where the Winston Cup and Grand National
cars will race. Greg Biffle holds a 35-point lead on Jason Keller and the two
have won four times apiece, with Keller having one more top five (16) than
Biffle (15). Biffle, though, tested at Kansas and is also in the Winston Cup
race, so he’s counting on the extra track time providing an edge; that, though,
may be lost, as his crew chief at Andy Petree’s team, Jimmy Elledge, cheated
once too often for NASCAR’s liking (and the probation he was already serving)
and got a one-race suspension.
The twosome are essentially the only drivers left with a realistic shot at
the title, as Dover winner Scott Wimmer is 271 out with seven to go, Jack
Sprague is 345 out, and fifth-place Mike McLaughlin is still looking for a win,
425 points out.
Among those on the entry list are part-timers Coy Gibbs in the JGR #20, Rick
Sanders in Jimmy Means’ #52, and Christian Fittipaldi in Chris Lencheski’s #30.
Winston Cuppers Jimmy Spencer, Jeff Burton, Jeff Green, Joe Nemechek, Todd
Bodine, and Michael Waltrip are also entered.
Over on the Winston Cup side, Mark Martin’s point chances are being touted as
stronger than usual, with eight raced to go and 30 points on Jimmie Johnson. The
rookie has some momentum, though, but his rival finished second at Kansas the
previous year and Ryan Newman wants another win this year.
Going in, the marque in obvious struggle is Dodge, which has come off several
poor showings the last month and which may mean that Sterling Marlin’s title
hopes this year are over; Marlin is fourth, 81 points out and realistically the
last contender for the title, but he needs an infusion of strength to have any
shot at the title.
The big story going in is revelation that Dale Junior’s crash at Fontana hurt
worse than he let anyone know. "People are going, ‘Oh, he’s finished, he’ll
never be the same,’"1
he said, noting that similar commentary has circulated about teammate Steve
Park.
Junior also gave some details about his contract negotiations with the team,
noting his desire to "corral" the number of sponsor appearances he
must make. He has also acknowledged his party-hearty reputation, noting his
desire to still have a "guy’s night out," but he also said that he
wants his niece Carson to want to think of him as cool – "I hope I can hang
on to that."2
The nature of the track is also an issue; last year’s demo derby never saw
much in the way of an outside groove, and there is disagreement among drivers
about the prospects of a two-groove track – Ward Burton for one tested and said
there is no outside groove despite a year’s aging of the surface.
Ed Clark of Atlanta sides with Kansas, noting that after Atlanta was
reconfigured and repaved there was no side by side racing until nearly three
years later.3
The other big race this weekend is the Fall Final at Stafford, CT. While it
will not close out the season for the Featherlite Modifieds or Busch North cars,
it will certainly affect their point battles entering the stretch run of
October.
Matt Kobyluck bounced back from his late New Hampshire crash to win at Dover
and is now just 28 points behind Andy Santarre. Brad Leighton’s 14th place
finish dropped his 53 back, while Kelly Moore, Tracy Gordon, Dale Shaw, and Dale
Quarterly are left over 178 points out and racing for fourth in the standings.
Grand National North has had trouble with the size of its fields this year,
and Stafford’s entry list displays this problem yet again, with only 32 entries.
In contrast, the Modified entry list shows 46 entries, which should make for a
huge B-main come Saturday.
Eddie Flemke holds a mere five-point lead on Jerry Marquis, who leads Mike
Stefanik by just 12, with Chuck Hossfeld 31 behind Stefanik, Rick Fuller only 15
behind Hossfeld, Ted Christopher ten behind Fuller, and Todd Zsegedy just eight
behind Teddy. And the way Stafford races can go, any one of the top seven could
emerge with the point lead when it is over.
Ted is going for the sweep, having won all three Mod Tour features at
Stafford this year. Rick Fuller, a former Sizzler winner, is still looking for
his first win of the year with Sheba Racing. Hossfeld wants to ride the momentum
of New Hampshire, and Flemke wants to avenge New Hampshire and bag a fourth win
this season.
Several SK regulars at Stafford have Mod Tour entries, such as Teddy, Doug
Coby, and Bo Gunning. Curiously, both Flemke and Christopher have run Stafford’s
SK class extensively this season, and presumably Flemke will also run the SK
features during the weekend.
While there will be no indictment of Tony Stewart in the Bristol incident, it
should seem clear that something did happen that Tony ought not have done. The
fan who made the accusation can pursue civil damages, and made clear she sought
no monetary gain from the episode, and Stewart’s rap sheet is quite obvious.
The mentality of caudillos stick together has surfaced in several areas of
the sport, but it is a mentality that has no place here. It led to Cary
Agajanian’s embarrassing assertion that the accusing fan made her case against a
driver high in the point race and that she could have been a Jeff Gordon or
other driver fan. And there is Ed Hinton’s laughable excuse that Stewart may
have "inadvertently jostled" her – it’s never the fault of the driver;
it’s never the driver; it’s ALWAYS someone else.
This is contemptible. Stewart ought to be held to some account and not just
blindly defended. He has a temper; he ought to reign it in, permanently. He
hates to lose; don’t take it out on anyone else. He occasionally gives sarcastic
answers to media questions; he ought to stop with the stupid sarcasm, just give
straight answers, and then it would be done.
Contrary to Agajanian, what is at play here is the increasingly remote,
uncaring, and boorish nature of drivers. They are shutting themselves away from
the outside, more and more, and need to be kept from doing so. Accessibility is
a prime reason for the sport’s growth, and it has to be maintained.
No one owes an apology to Tony Stewart or other drivers; they owe fans an
apology for turning into stick-and-ball athletes.