More Talladega Postscript & Charlotte Prologue
With Talladega done and Charlotte beckoning, a look at the varied winners,
losers, and border liners after the Alabama 500 and entering the National 500:
TALLADEGA WINNERS
EARNHARDT, INC. – They are the obvious big winners – they won the
race, won the $1 million, had all three cars in the top ten, and all three raced
superbly all day. DEI figured out the 13-gallon cells quicker than most, and the
team has now won six of the last eight restrictor plate races.
But there were some not-so-obvious reasons why the Earnhardt Inc. team was
the big winner. The first lies in Steve Park’s top ten. Let’s be honest here –
most of us doubted that Park would last much longer as a racecar driver, given
his injury from 2001 aggravated by the Pocono tumble, and the generally poor
results he has had all season. At Talladega Steve Park showed the Steve Park of
old, hanging stout in traffic all day long, and showing that he is finally
coming back to competitive form.
The second less-obvious reason lies in the fact that DEI’s Chevrolets were
NOT the strongest cars at Talladega. There really were no fastest cars at
Talladega; so many were capable of grabbing the win. That DEI had to race so
many cars for the win shows how good the team really is.
Finally, Junior won without his blocking back in Michael Waltrip. Junior has
won three plate races (two Winston Cup and one Grand National) with Mikey
Waltrip as his drafting back, and that taints the wins because of the "team
orders" flavor added to the mix. That he won this one without Mikey can
bring no accusations of team orders this time.
But DEI weren’t the only winners at Talladega:
ROUSH PERFORMANCE RACING – Larry Hicks, the ex-Marine who rescued Jack
Roush from his underwater airplane crash here in April, was at Talladega and
must have brought some good luck to the team. All four Roush cars ran super,
even though Mark Martin’s steering lock made him mug Jimmie Johnson on the pace
lap and cost him a lap he could never get back.
The rest of the Roush fleet had excellent days – Jeff Burton broke in his new
crew chief by breaking into the lead and finishing 11th; Kurt Busch raced into
contention and finished fourth; Matt Kenseth and Dale Junior renewed
acquaintances for the lead before Kenseth finished a surprisingly bad 14th. In
all it was a superb day for Jack and Larry to watch a race.
ROBERT YATES RACING – Looking borderline on speed at times, RYR nailed
down top tens, and Ricky Rudd looked the strongest he has looked in several
weeks, finishing a solid third and putting himself and Wood Brothers Racing up
for the next Winston 5 come the spring.
RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING – When Kevin Harvick stormed into the lead,
how many did the 3-finger salute at the Goodwrench Chevrolet leading Talladega –
and having to pass Jeff Gordon to boot? Harvick was one victimized by lousy
mileage with the new cells, while Robby Gordon took over past halfway and came
home 12th. The biggest winner was Jeff Green, fifth at the end and thus eligible
for the next Winston 5.
BILL DAVIS RACING – Frank Stoddard fit in with Ward Burton and the
tandem led much of the race before finishing 10th. The big winner, though, was
Scott Wimmer, who hung stout in traffic and finished 17th after several DNQs in
Winston Cup this year – but Wimmer also raised questions about the wisdom of
Kenny Wallace’s assignment in the BDR #23.
CAL WELLS – Getting the lousiest mileage of all was Ricky Craven, yet
under green the Tide Ride looked by far the strongest it has looked all year.
15th was the result, hardly indicative of the muscle shown in the PPI #32.
PETTY ENTERPRISES – All three Petty Dodges bounced up and down the
pack and showed consistent ability to go back to the front. John Andretti was
the one most sharply victimized by mileage; having fought off a Steve Park
challenge in the final handful of laps, Andretti was fifth but he and Kyle had
to pit for splash-&-goes. Jerry Nadeau lost a lap on an unscheduled stop
near halfway but fought it out with the top five near the end. All three Petty
Dodges finished in the top 25, with Kyle and John in the top eighteen.
Now for the losers –
HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS – By far the biggest losers; six engines, six
failures. Offhand I can’t recall the last time a multicar team’s cars all fell
out with engine failures in the same race. Jeff Gordon’s popular DNF also
changed the point race, knocking him into seventh some 201 points out; it thus
left him with no shot at the title barring a total collapse of the other
contenders.
GANNASI/SABCO RACING – Jamie McMurray’s Winston Cup debut was
commendable, but it reminds of the truism that one can calm down an aggressive
driver but one cannot fire up a timid driver; McMurray showed timidity as well
as ability to finish. Jimmy Spencer didn’t do much better; his downward spiral
continued with a run that can best be described as mediocre, with the former Mr.
Excitement showing little boldness.
ANDY PETREE RACING – Ron Hornaday jumped into the #55 for Talladega
and ran to the front early, but fell off the lead lap and was never heard from
again. Kenny Wallace made a one-race return to his former team and finished one
spot behind Hornaday after embarrassing himself hanging out with useless
"comic" Carrot Top.
It all spelled another dismal day for the A portion of RAD Racing, with
prospects for 2003 dim.
A.J. FOYT ENTERPRISES – Once again A.J.’s NASCAR team didn’t show
anything for its efforts, and wound up with a pos trace fine.
WOOD BROTHERS RACING – Between fuel mileage and a plain old lack of
speed, the #21 had a very poor day and finished an embarrassing 36th.
BRETT BODINE RACING – Stormed into the top ten in the first half, but
couldn’t stay there and wound up a lap down plus docked with a post race fine
for an unapproved spoiler bracket.
MORTON-BOWERS-VALVOLINE RACING – Ken Schrader made a great charge into
the top five early on but drifted back and finally fell out, this amid continued
uncertainty over the team’s sponsorship deal. Johnny Benson has his sponsor
locked in for a long time but showed little muscle and also fell out.
Finally, the border liners, those who had mixed days –
PENSKE RACING SOUTH – Rusty Wallace has been the most improved
restrictor plate driver of the last five years. He hasn’t, though, been able to
climb that last crest. He bounced around the pack and wound up a good 13th, but
it was a letdown from his stunning second at Daytona, and after the race he lost
25 points and Billy Wilburn got fined for an illegal spoiler.
Ryan Newman, meanwhile, was the biggest gainer in points other than Tony
Stewart with a seventh place finish.
JOE GIBBS RACING – The biggest border liners were The Coach’s
redskins. Tony Stewart ran to the front, led, and finished second; it all
factored into a sizable point lead with tracks on which he usually shines coming
up. Tony’s concern for the big picture (aka the point lead) and reluctance to
pass Junior did mar the moment – race drivers should always go for the win – but
he goes to Charlotte with big momentum.
In contrast, ex-champ Bobby Labonte didn’t run worth a flip all day and
finished 25th, thus continuing a downward spiral. He is now 18th in points and
has done little more than struggle seemingly every week.
A belated blast is due for Jimmy Makar as well – last year he screeched about
how Talladega fans were cheering in a finish where 20 cars were wrecked;
"Thumbs up, thumbs down, who lives, who dies, we’re all a bunch of modern
Gladiator geeks." Jimmy’s speech was an insult to the intelligence of those
fans. Those same fans were cheering as loudly this year when not a single yellow
flew; they were cheering for the same reason both years – for Junior’s win and
for a great race.
RAY EVERNHAM MOTORSPORTS – Jeremy Mayfield exploded up the middle into
the lead, but fell back and ultimately finished 20th, right behind Bill Elliott,
who stayed in the back all day and thus finished on what amounted to the tail of
the lead lap.
While the primary Evernham teams nonetheless had a productive day, Casey
Atwood had another abysmal day amid intensified rumors that he will have to
return to Clarence Brewer’s open-for-2003 Grand National Chevrolet to keep
racing.
BETH ANN MORGENTHAU RACING – If Shawna Robinson was in that car, the
race would not have gone caution-free (of course it also helped that Jeff Gordon
blew up); Stacy Compton may not have much aggression, but he raced well and had
a reasonable result to show for it.
MORGAN-MCCLURE MOTORSPORTS – The old Talladega fire reignited as the
McClure team fielded a car for Keith Segers in ARCA’s 300-miler and won the
event, then Mike Skinner roared up the middle into the fight for the lead in
about 20 laps of the 500. But Skinner ran out on the first round of stops and
never got his lap back; he nonetheless raced hard despite finishing an
inglorious 28th.
DOUG BAWEL RACING – Given this team’s lack of resources, a decent
running is big for Dave Blaney, and he showed some moxie but finished 31st for
it.
So now we enter Charlotte’s National 500, and if we can avoid the blather of
Bruton and Humpy (not that they ever let us do so) we can have an interesting
weekend.
Obviously in command of the title chase is Tony Stewart; of the six tracks
left to go this year, he’s won on four of them – Martinsville in 2000, Atlanta
back in March, Phoenix in 1999, and Homestead twice. If he wins one more race,
that may be enough to end the suspense.
Mark Martin may not have anything left, even though Charlotte was site of his
last win, back in May. He nonetheless is still in pursuit.
Jimmie Johnson needs to bounce back from Talladega, and in the World 600 he
dominated but lost on a late stop. Teammate Jeff Gordon needs to win more than
once in the last six weeks and hope the others blow up or crash.
Rusty Wallace needs to win, period, and while he’s certainly been competitive
this year he hasn’t shown enough to win; it will be a big upset if he winds up
failing to win a race, yet nickel and dimes to the title.
Of the manufacturers, Ford has the obvious upper hand at all but two of the
last six races. Ford won two of Charlotte’s three May races (Chevy won the Grand
National 300), won the Carolina 400 at Rockingham, has won all but four career
races at Phoenix, and has won three of the last five Martinsville 500-lappers,
including the debut win of lame-duck Ford driver Ricky Craven.
The two tracks Ford has its hands full on are Atlanta and Homestead.
Chevrolet and Pontiac have all but monopolized Atlanta since the debut of the
W-body Monte Carlo in 1995. From the 1995 Atlanta 500 onward, Chevrolet has won
nine 500-milers (RCR and Hendrick have four wins each, Joe Gibbs has the ninth,
his most recent win with Chevy), while Joe Gibbs’ Pontiacs iced down five more,
four by Bobby Labonte; Ford’s last Atlanta win was the last race run on the old
true-oval configuration, way back in March 1997.
The other Ford trouble track is Homestead. In three races Tony Stewart’s
Pontiac cleaned house twice and Bill Elliott came home to victory in 2001, in
Ray Evernham’s Dodge. Bill’s 2001 win came in the car he used at Pocono and Indy
for his most recent two wins, while Ward Burton won on the similarly-configured
New Hampshire track in July and John Andretti and Kyle Petty have steadily come
forward with their program. Ganassi/SABCO got hit by a huge curve with Sterling
Marlin’s injury, but while Jamie McMurray was decidedly timid in traffic at
Talladega, the #40 is a car to beat anywhere, so Dodge has a good chance at
Homestead.
They also have a good shot elsewhere. Dodge won the National 500 last year.
Martinsville can be conquered by teams competitive at NHIS, and the Dodge class
was generally good there. Atlanta is where Jerry Nadeau, presently in the #44
Intrepid, won once and should have won last year, and the Petty team showed good
form there in March while Ward Burton finished solidly in the top seven there.
Rockingham wasn’t that good to Dodge in February – Jeff Gordon’s cheap shot
wiped out three Intrepids in a vicious T-bone melee on the backstretch – but
their program has come quite a ways since then. So Dodge’s chances overall are
good.
With their monopoly at Atlanta, General Motors can be counted on there. Dale
Earnhardt Jr. has gathered momentum recently and usually runs well at Atlanta;
Kevin Harvick’s win there remains NASCAR’s most popular moment and RCR as a
group is humming along; Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson can be expected to run
for the win. The only Pontiacs with any shot are the Gibbs boys.
Aside from Atlanta, GM may be in trouble, though it has won two of the last
four National 500s at Charlotte. Joe Gibbs Pontiacs bagged GM’s last two wins at
Martinsville, but Chevy’s last win there came in 1998. Pontiac used to dominate
Rockingham, but that was in the early 1990s; Chevy won both races in 2001 but
those are the only Rock wins in the last four seasons. Terry Labonte the last
Chevy to win at Phoenix – in a Lumina, way back in 1994.
So the manufacturer battle looks to be a Ford win, while the driver title may
go another way.
And the final laps begin at Charlotte.
Editor’s Note: Recent editorial difficulties prevented previous posting of
this column in timely matter. Such difficulties have been resolved, and
for the sake of completeness we are posting this article as it is – the date of
it’s original submission is highlighted to better remind the reader of the
particular context of time in which it was intended to be published. We
hope you understand, and we thank you for your patience.