Coyotes, Roadrunners, And Other Beasts At Phoenix
Charles Martin Jones never drove a racecar, but he did have an influence on
racing. Chuck Jones was Warner Brothers’ most famous animation director, and
created a cartoon character that became among Chrysler’s most famous automobile
nicknames. The Roadrunner became the ultimate chase fanaticism allegory, and it
also badged Plymouth’s machinery in NASCAR in the 1960s through the brand’s
final Winston Cup win in 1973. The Roadrunner in turn begat its high-winged
offspring, the 1970 Superbird, the winningest of Mopar’s wing cars.
There is of course a real animal known as the road runner, a member of the
cuckoo family that is "all over southern California," as Jones often
explained in why he created the cartoon character. The road runner’s primary
stomping grounds are in Arizona, and NASCAR’s roadrunners and coyotes will be
doing their thing at the racetrack outside of Phoenix – which brings to mind a
missed sponsorship opportunity; given how Warner Brothers cartoons bedecked
NASCAR racecars earlier this year, badging those characters at Phoenix would
make sense.
Regardless of sponsor opportunities, the Phoenix 500k will likely settle the
Winston Cup, Grand National, and Craftsman Truck title chases once and for all.
For Tony Stewart and Greg Biffle to possibly lose the title, it all has to come
apart at Phoenix, and who expects anything like that? The Truck Series also
comes to Phoenix with Mike Bliss holding a slimmer lead than to be found in the
two car divisions, but it is still not a lead with any realistic prospect of disappearance.
The Phoenix oval itself is rather difficult to get around, and the number of
different winners has been very large. Alan Kulwicki set the tone, outlasting
Ricky Rudd for his breakthrough win in 1988. Bill Elliott won the next year,
Dale Earnhardt won in 1990, then Davey Allison bagged two straight. Mark Martin
beat Allison’s successor Ernie Irvan in 1993, Terry Labonte bested the field in
1994, then Ricky Rudd outlasted Irvan and held off a strong charge by Derrike
Cope for the win in 1995.
The next first time winner came the next year, as Bobby Hamilton scraped past
Geoff Bodine for his breakthrough win. Dale Jarrett made up a lap under green
for the win in 1997, then rain (for obvious reasons a rarity in the desert)
handed Rusty Wallace the win the next year. Tony Stewart grabbed the win in
1999, then Ricky Rudd’s late crash in 2000 lifted Jeff Burton to the first of
two straight wins.
So the prospects for another different winner, or even a first-timer, look
quite promising.
The strangest Silly Season in memory keeps chugging along.
Lee Spencer elaborated on the recent internal explosion at Ultra Motorsports.1
"Casey does not take direction well," Spencer wrote, adding that Tony
Furr had retained Kevin Lepage to do some testing and was some 7/10ths faster
jumping in cold than Atwood had been. Furr finally exploded to Atwood during the
American 400, quitting the team with some 150 laps to go.
But wait, there’s more – reports have it that Jim Smith has bought out Ray
Evernham’s stake in the team after the engine used at Rockingham was down on
power compared to Evernham’s two primary teams. One can reasonably feel it was
just the latest such occurance in this organization, and one has to be a little
suspicious of the circumstances surrounding Lepage’s reported tests with the #7.
One should also remember Evernham’s "Revive the 25" campaign while at
Hendrick that never got past the 1996 Daytona 500.
As for what Smith will do now, it is unknown as of this writing where he will
get engines, but no doubt some other Dodge teams may be taking a look at some
kind of alliance with the #7.
On the crew chief front, rumors keep floating of a crew chief change within
Richard Childress’ teams. The new wrinkle was the release of Harold Holly from
Greg Pollex and Keith Barnwell’s #10 Grand National team. Holly worked with Jeff
Green for three seasons and won so often that in 2000 Green won the GN title by
the largest margin since the division was created from the old non-touring Late
Model Sportsman division in 1982.
Elsewhere, the ax belatedly fell on Mr. Unexcitement. Jimmy Spencer thought
he could reinvigorate his career with Chip Ganassi; he was wrong. His career may
now be over in Winston Cup after 2002, though he still has a good deal with
James Finch in Grand National, having won at Bristol in August.
Bobby Hamilton may take the ride, given how close he is with Sterling Marlin
– a prospect that led to a rather cheap clam by writer Chuck Abrams, a former
member of the Ganassi team.2
Abrams notes how Jimmy Vasser has been rumored for the #41, and attacks Hamilton
as a choice because he is "a whoppin 32nd" in points – never
mentioning that Hamilton missed several races due to injury. He also ignores
that Hamilton has won races in the last six seasons, and that his slide this
season has nothing to do with his driving – the fault rests with the collapse of
Andy Petree’s team due to sponsor woes and the ill-advised attempted merger with
Jerry Jones.
Abrams contrasts with Jimmy Spencer by citing Hamilton’s point positions from
1996 onward, again ignoring the resource problems the teams Hamilton has driven
for had to battle. Nor does Abrams see fit to mention Hamilton’s ability in
setups and car construction. Hamilton has always been a substantially better
driver than Spencer, and can fit with the Ganassi organization and old pal
Marlin quite well, and deserves the chance.
Lee Spencer also discussed the penalty against Mark Martin. "Call me
naive, but I believe Ben Leslie" when he denies that the spring was altered
after arriving from the supplier, because the title chase gives the team too
much at stake to try and cheat.
Roush Racing would not knowingly take such a risk? I’m calling Lee Spencer
naive; I’m suspicious that it was an accident, because Roush has a history of
"accidental" cheating, from the loose-insert plate manifolds of
1989-90 to the carb spacer of 1990 to the similar fine in Grand National in
1992, to the near-DQ of the #6 in September 1993 for excessive aero raking, to
the illegal deck lids at Talladega in 1997, to the penalty to Greg Biffle in
1999 that cost him the Truck championship (remember Roush’s polygraph test?),
and so forth. Roush may not be the only such cheater, but he’s certainly been
among the bolder (and has never come up with a brilliant BS line like Hoss
Ellington’s "Gee, we left that nitrous bottle in the car at Trenton in
1973"), and all the better to make it look "accidental."
One belated note about Rockingham, the finish to the American 200. What had
been an uneventful race turned upside down when Mikey Waltrip collided with Jeff
Green in the final few laps, giving the win to a surprised Jamie McMurray. The
worst excuse often given for a wreck is the hoary "he came down on"
the other guy gripe. It seems there is a disturbing number of people who cannot
tell when a car has the corner and when a car doesn’t. Green had the corner, and
Mikey didn’t. OF COURSE Green "came down" on Waltrip – he had the
corner.
People need to stop using the "he came down on" excuse, because it
is insulting.