NASCAR - Nextel Cup 2004

[Argyle]

Might as well start the season off with the new rule changes for the scoring system.

NASCAR changes scoring system

Canadian Press

1/20/2004

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) - Good thing for Matt Kenseth that NASCAR's new points system wasn't around last season. The champion would've finished sixth.
In a bid to add excitement and put more emphasis on winning, NASCAR changed its scoring system Tuesday by setting up a showdown for the Nextel Cup title over the final 10 races.
Kenseth took the 2003 championship despite winning just one race. He was rewarded for his consistency - 25 finishes in the top 10.
That wouldn't happen under the new system, which readjusts drivers' points after the first 26 races in NASCAR's top series, which has had many recent championships decided early in the season.
The top 10 drivers and any others within 400 points of the leader will be included in the ``Chase for the Championship.'' No driver ranked outside the top 10 with 10 races to go has ever gone on to win the championship.
``We think when our fans and drivers and everybody else, when it all shakes out, when all the details are understood, they're going to love it because more drivers are going to have an opportunity to compete for a championship late in the year,'' NASCAR chairman Brian France said.
He said the changes to a system in place since 1975 are also aimed at increasing attendance and TV ratings, which usually drop in the fall because of competition from the World Series, college football and the NFL.
Some drivers are not so sure the old system needed to be revamped. Kenseth said the changes could actually discourage drivers from trying to win until the final chase.
``I think a lot of the guys will have the feeling of not wanting to make a mistake and just concentrating on getting a good finish to make sure they're in the top 10,'' he said. ``I think it takes the emphasis away from winning.''
Dale Earnhardt Jr., the son of a seven-time Winston Cup champion, was concerned future titles might be viewed differently.
``The only thing, personally, that is important to me is, if and when I win a championship, how is it going to be compared to championships that my father won?'' he asked. ``Will it be the same, better, not as good?''
Kenseth led the standings most of last season, built a huge lead and ran away with the championship - the final Winston Cup title. Ryan Newman was sixth despite winning a series-high eight races.
Under the new system, Jimmie Johnson would have won the title by 55 points over Jeff Gordon instead of finishing second. Newman would have been third, followed by Earnhardt, Kevin Harvick and Kenseth, 406 points behind the champion.
Those drivers, of course, would have changed their strategies if they had been racing under different rules. For example, Kenseth used an experimental engine in the season finale at Homestead, Fla., and finished last when it failed.
The first-place driver will now begin the final 10 races with 5,050 points, the second driver 5,045 and so on, with incremental drops of five points for all those involved in the championship showdown.
Drivers also will get a new five-point bonus for winning a race, beginning with the season-opening Daytona 500 on Feb. 15.
``It does give everybody new hope with 10 races to go, particularly the guys who might be a couple of hundred points behind,'' Earnhardt said. ``This is going to force you to change the way you win championships, your strategies.''
The champion will be guaranteed a minimum of $5 million US, while each of the other drivers who finish in the top 10 will earn $1 million. The 11th-place finisher will get a $250,000 bonus.

 

[Argyle]

I am tired of listening to all the crap about CART and the IRL, and all the in fighting.

It is going to be a great year for the NEXTEL CUP! The shootout on Sat nite was a great little teaser for the racing fan, and I can't wait for opening day at DAYTONA.

Biffle wins Daytona 500 pole
Associated Press

2/8/2004
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Like everybody else, Greg Biffle didn't expect his Roush Racing Ford to be on the pole for the Daytona 500.
``I was sweating it out and I'm still half sick to my stomach,'' Biffle said Sunday after a nerve-racking wait of nearly an hour while a succession of NASCAR Nextel Cup stars took a shot at knocking the second-year driver off the pole.
Nobody could.
After winning the Pepsi 400 here in July - the only rookie in NASCAR's top stock car series to win a race in 2003 - the former Busch Series and Craftsman Truck Series champion pulled another surprise on Sunday.
His name rarely came up in the prequalifying hype
``I would have never thought we'd be on the pole for the 500 but I'm excited,'' said Biffle, who earned his first pole in 43 tries in NASCAR's top stock car series.
Asked what it is that brings out his best at Daytona International Speedway, Biffle credited established series stars and former Daytona 500 winners Michael Waltrip and Dale Jarrett, as well as Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Bobby Labonte for showing him how it's done.
``I've just learned a lot from all those guys and tried to apply it,'' Biffle said. ``But anybody will tell you, the driver means nothing here. It's the team.''
Biffle's fast lap of 188.387 mph was just good enough to push Robert Yates Racing's Elliott Sadler's 188.355 to the outside of the front row in next Sunday's Nextel Cup season-opener. Biffle got around the track in 47.774 seconds, just 0.008 seconds faster than Sadler.
A strong headwind on the backstretch of the famed 2-mile oval - with gusts to 20 m.p.h. - played havoc with just about everybody's expectations in qualifying.
It also put a premium on engine power, playing right into the hands of Biffle, Sadler and the rest of the drivers using engines produced by the 2-month-old alliance of longtime Ford competitors Roush and Yates.
``We've been taking things apart and seeing how they work and just putting the best of both together,'' said team owner Jack Roush, who won last year's Cup championship with Matt Kenseth.
The result has been a big jump in power, and drivers using the Roush-Yates engines qualified in four of the top five positions on Sunday.
``The Taurus is a much improved car over what it was last year, we've got a great engine program going and Greg did a great job with the car,'' Roush added.
Earnhardt, the favourite in every event he enters at Daytona these days, missed the front row with his lap of 188.210 and will determine his starting spot in next Sunday's 43-car field by racing in one of Thursday's twin 125-mile qualifying events.
``We just weren't fast enough,'' said Earnhardt, who finished second to Jarrett in Saturday night's made-for-TV Budweiser Shootout on the same track. ``We're going to go out and try to win our 125-miler, like we did last year.''
Sadler, who was fastest in Friday's practice, sat on the pole for about an hour until Biffle relegated his Ford to the outside of the front row.
``Our car is fast but the wind just killed us,'' Sadler said.
Ricky Rudd was fourth at 188.162, followed by Jarrett at 187.884.
All but Earnhardt, who drives a Chevrolet for Dale Earnhardt Inc., were in Fords - cars with improved front and rear end aerodynamics and powered by the Roush-Yates engines.
Jarrett also drives for Yates. Rudd drives for the Wood Brothers, who get technical help from Roush and buy engines from his team.
Two-time Daytona 500 winner Sterling Marlin was one of the disappointed drivers who thought he had a shot at the pole but wound up 12th.
``The wind is the same for everybody, but it's about 300 rpm's off from the front straightaway to the back straightaway,'' Marlin said.
The top 10 on Sunday was rounded out by Kevin Lepage at 187.876, surprising 23-year-old rookie Kasey Kahne - replacing longtime Cup star and former champion Bill Elliott - at 187.766, Joe Nemechek at 187.750, Casey Mears at 187.672 and Kevin Harvick at 187.602.
Waltrip, the defending 500 champion and winner of two of the last three February races here, qualified 13th, with 2003 series runner-up Jimmie Johnson 14th.
Except for Jarrett, none of the former Cup champions among the 45 qualifiers fared very well.
Rusty Wallace was 16th, Kenseth was 28th, Terry Labonte 31st, Bobby Labonte 35th, Tony Stewart 37th and Jeff Gordon 39th.
Ryan Newman, who led the series with eight victories in 2003 and is expected to be a top contender for the Cup championship this season, qualified 42nd.
``We knew we weren't going to be super fast, but we didn't think we were going to be that slow,'' said Newman, who also led the series last year with 11 poles.
Only the top two qualifiers nailed down starting spots Sunday in NASCAR's unique qualifying format. The next 28 positions are determined in 125-mile qualifying races - 14 from each. Then it goes back to the qualifying results, with eight more spots doled out based on Sunday's speeds. Finally, the last five spots are determined by last year's car-owner points.
Meanwhile, everyone gets a day off before practice resumes on Tuesday.

 

[Argyle]

Dale Jr. released from hospital
Associated Press

7/19/2004

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Dale Earnhardt Jr. was released from hospital Monday, one day after being burned on the face and legs following a crash during a warmup for an American Le Mans Series race.

The NASCAR star, son of the late Dale Earnhardt, was flown to hospital Sunday after the car he was driving crashed and turned into a fireball at the Infineon Raceway in Sonoma.

Earnhardt was treated for second-degree burns on the insides of both legs and on his chin, according to a statement from the hospital. The burns covered about six per cent of his body.

The terrifying accident came at the beginning of a morning practice, when Earnhardt lost control of his Chevrolet Corvette C5-R. The car spun and slid into a concrete barrier.

The crash broke the fuel filler neck, where gas is poured into the fuel tank, and sparked the fire. Earnhardt was able to get out of the car on his own.

While Earnhardt's injuries weren't serious, any wreck he is involved in always brings up memories of the last-lap crash at the 2001 Daytona 500 that killed his father, easily the most popular driver of his era.

Steve Crisp, a spokesman for Dale Earnhardt Inc., said the younger Earnhardt will compete in next weekend's Nextel Cup race at New Hampshire International Speedway. Earnhardt, second in the Cup standings behind Jimmie Johnson, was supposed to be enjoying a weekend off from his regular series for a rare chance to race without pressure.

Thankfully, JR has switched over to the full face mask. This could have been alot worse.