Gearing Up for the Daytona 500
Well the front row has been decided for the 500. Jeff Green nips Dale
Earnhardt Jr. for the coveted top starting spot for this Sunday’s running of the
Daytona 500. It sure looks like RCR and DEI have been sharing notes again and
it’s paid off for Jeff Green. Or maybe it’s just time for a resurgence of the
RCR gang. Regardless, congratulations go out to Jeff and crew for a job well
done. These two are the only two guaranteed starting positions at this point.
In case you forgot how the rest of the qualifying order is set for the 500,
here’s a refresher:
Positions 3-30 are set by Thursday’s finishing orders in the 125’s; 31-36 are
set by the fastest speeds of those not already qualified; 37-42, highest
previous season’s owner points; and then 1 position for a former Winston Cup
Champion.
Let’s hope Tony Stewart has got this out of his system – he dropped a valve
while attempting to qualify; no time was posted.
Just saw where there was a big pile up of cars just as today’s practice
session was about to end. Conflicting reports; one was that Sprague got into the
1 car of Steve Park, causing Sprague to turn into the 4 car of Mike Skinner; the
other that Sprague was the culprit in the incident. Either way, they tore up a
lot of equipment; collecting the cars of Elliott Sadler and Jeff Burton.
Sadler was pretty ticked off; will now have to go to a back up car; Burton on
the other hand, had a these things happen sort of attitude.
I suspect some of these rookies in the field will learn the hard way that
dues have to be paid before they get to play with the big guns. I suspect there
will be some drivers in that category in for a rude awakening.
RJR, with a five year contract in place, has informed NASCAR that they are
free to look for a new sponsor. Those mentioned to be in the mix of possible
candidates are; Coca-Cola, Budweiser, UPS, McDonalds, FedEx; to name a few.
Other Notes:
I had the opportunity to spend several days last week in Daytona working with
Jason Jarrett, Inc. and attending the ARCA RE/MAX Series event. Chase Montgomery
and the Alice Cooper sponsored #27 took the checkered; a great race and our
congratulations go out to this team. It was Chase’s first win ever, and I’m sure
there will be many more where that came from.
Jason had a tough weekend; after starting off fairly decent, the car’s
handling fell off causing Jarrett to lose several positions. To top it all off,
after the checkered flag was thrown, Jarrett was hit by #7 of Tony Ave causing
him to plow into the first turn wall and basically demolishing the car. Jason
was lucky and suffered no injuries as a result of the incident.
Andy Belmont’s Verizon #1 was fast; tough luck as with nine laps to go he
blew the engine.
Andy Hillenburg, after starting from the 32nd position, managed to work his
way toward the front and finish a respectable 8th place finish. Look for
Hillenburg in the truck race on Friday; he’ll be driving the #10 truck, and we
wish him the best of luck.
Next up for the ARCA RE/MAX Series; the Atlanta Motor Speedway, Saturday,
March 8th. Look forward to seeing you all there.
Swore I’d never talk about this; but here goes. This business with Brooke
Gordon is ridiculous, and I take offense that she and her lawyers would attempt
to serve subpoenas to other team owners at the race track. In fact, I find that
whole concept offensive. I must be naïve, but can’t see how or why other teams
should be involved in this mess.
But enough – the main thing is to get ready to rock ‘n roll this Sunday,
February 16th – the Daytona 500 and the official start of the 2003 season; can’t
wait!
That’s it for now.