The Carolina 400 is always among the toughest races in the season, a marathon
\nof ground-up tires, a small group of cars that hit the setup and a pile of cars
\nwho look like they’re down 200 HP, and at least three grooves that the field
\nruns through the day.<\/p>\n
2002’s running of course proved its toughness – tough like a rock, if you
\nwill. It started with a crash-torn Grand National 200 initially dominated by
\nJeff Green but seized with authority by Jason Keller. The ride of the race was
\ntaken by Steve Hmiel’s son Shane, one of the unsung heroes of the Daytona 300;
\nat The Rock Shane hit the wall, got pretty high off the ground, then did it
\nagain – that he didn’t tumble into traffic was something of a miracle.<\/p>\n
Some comments on the Carolina 400 –<\/p>\n
– Robert Yates Racing took it in the chin. Dale Jarrett was among those – Ward Burton’s Daytona glow went away when he hit the wall twice in one lap; – Swervin’ Gordon struck again, and Casey Atwood took a nasty ride down the – While not exactly panic time for Chevrolet, it is curious that Chevy has – Remember Harvick accepting blame for the Daytona crash? Turns
\navalanched by The Rock, blowing up in a rare engine grenade for Yates; Ricky
\nRudd ran away up front for awhile, then gagged on the ensuing stop and thus it
\nwas all tossed away. Doug Yates was decidedly
\nPO’ed <\/a>about Jarrett’s blown engine: "No, we didn’t abuse it, and heck,
\nif we can’t make it through Rockingham we’re really in trouble for next week at
\nLas Vegas."<\/p>\n
\nhe nearly took out half the field after smacking the concrete off the
\nalways-treacherous second turn. He still salvaged a good finish (13th) and this
\nserves well in the title chase with the track that re-ignited his career (Las
\nVegas – remember his runner-up finish there in 1999) coming up.<\/p>\n
\nbackstretch, getting T-boned by Kyle Petty and then Buckshot Jones in the
\nprocess. Those who whine about "the big one" at Daytona and Talladega
\nought to remember that crashes like those at The Rock – where impacts, as in the
\nAtwood melee, tend to be harder – are the real killers.<\/p>\n
\nnot come out better than it has so far; only Jeff Green showed any muscle among
\nthe Chevys at The Rock. The top ten did have a decent diversity – Ford, Dodge,
\ntwo Pontiacs, two Fords, Chevy, Ford, and two Chevys.<\/p>\n
\nout<\/a> he was thoroughly ticked off with Gordon and tried to approach the #24
\nbut was held back by a firefighter. I smell PR people going to work on Harvick
\nafter the crash. It is worth mentioning because people will say "Casey
\nAtwood checked up in front of Gordon." You see, with Jeff Gordon it’s never
\nhis fault, it’s never him, it’s ALWAYS the other guy’s fault.<\/p>\n