Posted on 10/24/2003 5:59:50 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
FRom Yahoo Sports
NASCAR Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 for Saturday, October 25
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October 25, 2003 By Bruce Martin HAMPTON, GEORGIA (TICKER) -- Although he is just 19 years old, Brian Vickers will start fourth Sunday in the Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500, just his second NASCAR Winston Cup race. Vickers takes over the No. 25 Chevrolet at Hendrick Motorsports for Joe Nemechek, who departed to drive the No. 01 Pontiac. He made his Winston Cup debut at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina two weeks ago, driving the No. 60 Chevrolet, starting 20th and finishing 33rd.
The Busch Series regular will have a much better starting position at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, lining up on the outside of the second row after qualifying Friday night at 193.272 miles an hour. "This shows how well the Hendrick organization is," Vickers said. "It's a very good car and we had a good qualifying effort. But we have to do it again Sunday. That last lap on Sunday is what really counts. This is one of my favorite race tracks because it's really fast. But you still have to back it up come Sunday. That's the key." One of the reasons Vickers' transition has gone smoothly is teamwork. "I can't say enough about all the help I've gotten from (teammates) Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon and Terry Labonte," Vickers said. "The support they have given me and the encouragement is awesome. They will do anything they can to help me. I hope to someday give them something back with a win." HE'S THE MAN: Ryan Newman's nine poles and eight victories are easily the most of any driver this season. But he is just fourth in the standings, 300 points behind leader Matt Kenseth. Newman has five DNFs (did not finish), the most of any driver in the top five. If Newman can put together some consistency, is he the early favorite for next year's championship? "When you think about that, at the end of last season, I thought Kurt Busch would be hard to be beat this year," Bobby Labonte said. "Look what happened to them (11th in the standings). A lot of things can happen. When you think about over the winter time that Ryan Newman had problems early on and so did Kevin Harvick, they can be really good next year. But at this time next year, they could have stumbled, too." Labonte said the numbers Newman has posted this season for poles and wins remind him of Jeff Gordon's dominance in 1997 and 1998. "They do compare with Jeff," Labonte said. "It's harder to do that now, so it's awesome his team has been able to do that. That gives him something to shoot for." DESPITE POOR SEASON, JARRETT'S CONTRACT EXTENDED: Dale Jarrett is having his worst season in years, entering Sunday's race just 26th in the standings. But Robert Yates Racing announced Friday that Jarrett's contract has been extended through 2006. "We couldn't be happier to have Dale's contract done through 2006," Yates said. "We've had a great relationship with Dale Jarrett and it's one we look forward to continuing. Dale and I started the No. 88 team together and I am lucky to still have him in the car. Dale and I both knew this contract extension was going to happen,; it was just a matter of finding the time to sit down, putting everything out on paper and getting it signed." In nine seasons together, Jarrett and Yates have combined to form one of the most formidable teams in the NASCAR garage. In addition to winning the 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup championship, they have scored 28 wins and 14 poles. "The biggest thing for everybody to understand is even though things have been difficult this year, we weren't about to give up on this team and our goals," Jarrett said. "It's gratifying for me to know that Robert and Doug Yates and UPS want to continue this and believe in this to continue. I'm looking forward to seeing this team back where it belongs and that's winning races and contending for championships." THE PLAN IS SIMPLE: Harvick is second in the standings, 240 points behind Kenseth with four races remaining. That makes his quest for the Winston Cup championship simple. "Just keep doing what we've been doing," he said. "We can't control anything that Matt does. We just have to keep a hold on our own race team and make sure we keep doing the things we've been doing and we'll be fine." When Kenseth's lead reached 436 points last month, Harvick insisted that the title chase was not over. He maintained that if he and his Todd Berrier-led team paid attention to details and continued to string together top-five and top-10 finishes, then the points would take care of themselves. For the most part, Harvick's team has done so, while Kenseth has experienced some of the inevitable troubles of a 36-race schedule. "I'm still as ambitious as ever to get things done and probably more so than I was six months ago," Harvick said. BENSON OUT FOR 2004: MBV Motorsports announced earlier in the week that Scott Riggs has signed a multi-year agreement to drive the No. 10 Valvoline Pontiac in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, beginning with the season-opening Daytona 500. "Scott Riggs is a winner," said James Rocco, designated team owner and senior vice president of The Valvoline Company. "He is a hard-charger who has excelled in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and the NASCAR Busch Series. He has the talent to compete at the NASCAR Nextel Cup level and continue Valvoline's winning legacy." Riggs replaces Johnny Benson, who will complete the 2003 season in the No. 10 car. "Johnny Benson is a tough, talented driver with a lot of heart," Rocco said. "He gave the team its first win and is a good ambassador for Valvoline Racing. We wish him the best." Riggs, 32, joinied the Truck series in 2000. A year later, he was fifth in the points with five wins, 14 top-five finishes, 16 top-10 finishes and five poles in 24 events. Riggs moved into Busch in 2002 and earned Rookie of the Year honors, winning twice and scoring 13 top-10 finishes en route to placing 10th in the standings. This season, he has led the standings several times, posting wins at Nashville Superspeedway and Gateway International Raceway. Riggs is just 13 points off the pace with three races remaining. "I've been blessed to have had some great rides in my racing career and some great people helping me along the way," Riggs said. "I explored several excellent NASCAR Nextel Cup opportunities as well as offers to remain in the Busch Series and I decided the Valvoline Pontiac was the best place for me to be at this stage of my career. I'm going to work with the team to get everything I can out of the cars and hope to reward them with some wins."
Updated on Saturday, Oct 25, 2003 8:03 pm EDT |
Great for the deer hunters, bad for racing.
Even tho Nascar says ...
"It's been a rainy morning in Atlanta, but the Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 is still scheduled for 12:33 p.m. ET. NBC's broadcast begins at noon. The command to start engines is at 12:25 p.m. ET. "
:-(
Good thing we got some NFL to watch too
Rain and mud don't slow them down much.. ;-)
Hurry Up Mode today.. Rain's a 'comin' ,, and lots of it
. The track is dry now but getting a full race in will be tough if the radar is any indication.
Flyover by A10 Warthogs
Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!!!
Booker T Booker T Booker T !!!!
Caution,, chunk of DJ's tire flew off,
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