Nascar Nextel Cup - Pocono 500 on FoX at 10am PT / 1pm ET on Sunday 6/13/04

Nascar.com ^ | 6/11/04

[NormsRevenge]

In Memoriam

Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the United States

[NormsRevenge]

Click the car FoR old NASCAR threads.

Nextel Cup / Pocono 500 on FoX at 10am PT / 1pm ET on Sunday, June 13, 2004

Busch Series / Federated Auto Parts 300 on FX at 5pm PT / 8pm ET on Saturday, June 12, 2004

Pocono's unique 2.5-mile tri-oval features three turns, each with a different degree of banking, and three straights, each with a different length. This combination produces fender-to-fender action in the turns, 200 mph slingshots on the long straights and photo-finish endings.

Track Facts
Banking/Turns: 14/8/3 degrees
Distance: 2.5 mile
Shape: Tri-Oval

[NormsRevenge]

Sunday Race Lineup

Pos.	Car	Driver	Make	Sponsor	Speed	Time	Behind
1	#9	Kasey Kahne*	Dodge	Dodge Dealers/UAW	172.533	52.164	Leader
2	#25	Brian Vickers*	Chevrolet	GMAC Financial Services	172.308	52.232	-0.068
3	#01	Joe Nemechek	Chevrolet	U.S. Army	172.183	52.270	-0.106
4	#6	Mark Martin	Ford	Viagra	171.887	52.360	-0.196
5	#48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	Lowe's	171.825	52.379	-0.215
6	#24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	DuPont	171.785	52.391	-0.227
7	#19	Jeremy Mayfield	Dodge	Dodge Dealers/UAW	171.736	52.406	-0.242
8	#20	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	Home Depot	171.671	52.426	-0.262
9	#16	Greg Biffle	Ford	Pennzoil/National Guard	171.481	52.484	-0.320
10	#88	Dale Jarrett	Ford	UPS	171.259	52.552	-0.388
11	#12	Ryan Newman	Dodge	ALLTEL	171.243	52.557	-0.393
12	#38	Elliott Sadler	Ford	M&M's	171.077	52.608	-0.444
13	#31	Robby Gordon	Chevrolet	Cingular Wireless	171.041	52.619	-0.455
14	#42	Jamie McMurray	Dodge	Texaco/Havoline	170.934	52.652	-0.488
15	#17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	DeWalt Power Tools	170.865	52.673	-0.509
16	#8	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	Budweiser	170.390	52.820	-0.656
17	#18	Bobby Labonte	Chevrolet	Interstate Batteries	170.380	52.823	-0.659
18	#49	Ken Schrader	Dodge	Schwan's Home Service	170.367	52.827	-0.663
19	#5	Terry Labonte	Chevrolet	Kellogg's	170.296	52.849	-0.685
20	#40	Sterling Marlin	Dodge	Coors Light	170.264	52.859	-0.695
21	#41	Casey Mears	Dodge	Target	170.129	52.901	-0.737
22	#15	Michael Waltrip	Chevrolet	NAPA Auto Parts	169.940	52.960	-0.796
23	#29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	GM Goodwrench	169.898	52.973	-0.809
24	#22	Scott Wimmer*	Dodge	Caterpillar	169.590	53.069	-0.905
25	#45	Kyle Petty	Dodge	Georgia-Pacific/Brawny	169.571	53.075	-0.911
26	#0	Ward Burton	Chevrolet	NetZero HiSpeed	169.488	53.101	-0.937
27	#97	Kurt Busch	Ford	IRWIN Industrial Tools/Sharpie	169.428	53.120	-0.956
28	#137	Todd Bodine	Pontiac	Carter's Royal Dispos-all	169.342	53.147	-0.983
29	#30	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	America Online	169.157	53.205	-1.041
30	#2	Rusty Wallace	Dodge	Miller Lite	168.837	53.306	-1.142
31	#77	Brendan Gaughan*	Dodge	Kodak EasyShare	168.798	53.318	-1.154
32	#43	Jeff Green	Dodge	Cheerios/Betty Crocker	168.482	53.418	-1.254
33	#4	Jimmy Spencer	Chevrolet	Morgan-McClure	167.986	53.576	-1.412
34	#32	Ricky Craven	Chevrolet	Tide	167.738	53.655	-1.491
35	#21	Ricky Rudd	Ford	Motorcraft/U.S. Air Force	167.701	53.667	-1.503
36	#251	Kevin Lepage	Chevrolet	NegotiationsSeminar.com	167.320	53.789	-1.625
37	#50	PJ Jones	Dodge	Arnold Development Companies	166.211	54.148	-1.984
38	#200	Carl Long	Chevrolet	Buyers Choice Auto Warranties	165.721	54.308	-2.144
Provisional
39	#99	Jeff Burton	Ford	Duke Children's Hospital	-	-	-
40	#10	Scott Riggs*	Chevrolet	Valvoline	162.045	55.540	-3.376
41	#89	Morgan Shepherd	Dodge	Racing With Jesus/Red Line Oil	-	-	-
42	#172	Kirk Shelmerdine	Ford	Freddie B's	163.348	55.097	-2.933
43	#198	Geoffrey Bodine	Ford	Lucas Oil Products	165.365	54.425	-2.261
Did not Qualify
44	#194	Stanton Barrett	Chevrolet	Husqvarna	165.679	54.322	-2.158
45	#280	Andy Hillenburg	Ford	Commercial Truck & Trailer	160.548	56.058	-3.894

* Denotes Rookie

[NormsRevenge]

NASCAR president promises changes after Dover fiasco

By DAN GELSTON, AP Sports Writer

June 11, 2004

LONG POND, Pa. (AP) -- NASCAR president Mike Helton on Friday promised changes to avoid a repeat of the caution-plagued race that slowed the field at Dover and upset drivers.

``The 24-lap caution that occurred is unacceptable,'' Helton said at Pocono Raceway. ``We can't go back and change that. All we can do is work through it and go forward with every effort possible to avoid that happening again.''

At Sunday's race at Dover, Del., leader Kasey Kahne skidded in oil left on the track by Casey Mears and crashed with 18 laps to go. Four cars were involved in that crash, which resulted in a red flag that lasted 20 minutes -- the second stoppage of a race that lasted 4 hours, 47 minutes.

The biggest change for Sunday's Pocono 500 will be depending solely on electronics to determine the positions of the cars on the track.

Every car has a transponder that can be read by 14 antennas around Pocono Raceway. They identify the position of each car on the track and will freeze the field instantly under a caution.

``We feel like we can eliminate the human element that led a lot, in part, to the extended caution last weekend, and score the race and determine who is in what position, in what lap they're in, electronically,'' Helton said.

The antennas were installed on the tracks in the offseason, but officials still relied on spotters and video replays. Helton said the human system in the control tower will be kept in place in case of possible electronic failures.

Also, pit road will not open for the first time under caution until the race leader passes the pits for the second time. Previously, the pits were closed until the pace car passed the entrance to pit road.

NASCAR also will no longer set aside an extra lap under caution to bring around the car receiving a ``free pass.'' The pass, which allows the first car a lap down to get onto the lead lap, will be enforced during the normal reshuffling of the field during pit stops under caution.

``We're going to try those two procedure changes this weekend to help expedite cautions in general,'' Helton said.

The race at Dover was slowed for 90 laps by 11 caution flags.

[NormsRevenge]

Kahne captures fourth pole of '04

LONG POND, Pa. (AP) -- There were no crashes or bad luck for Kasey Kahne at Pocono Raceway.

Kahne put aside the disappointment of a wreck at Dover that cost him his first career victory and rebounded Friday to set a track record and claim the pole for the Pocono 500.

Kahne, driving a Dodge for Evernham Motorsports, turned a lap of 172.553 mph for his fourth pole of the season, adding to top qualifying efforts at Las Vegas, Darlington and California. He becomes the first rookie to win the pole at Pocono. Ward Johnson in 1994 and Jimmie Johnson in 2002 started second in their rookie seasons.

"The car was perfect. I couldn't believe it," Kahne said. "We were a little bit off in practice, but the car was better, I drove a little better. It's a difficult track. It takes some time learn."

Kahne proved to be a quick learner. He took test laps at the track last week under the watchful eye of Bill Elliott, whom he replaced on owner Ray Evernham's team after last year.

Kahne got wide on Turn 1 and crashed. Nothing major, but it taught him a few lessons about navigating the 21/2-mile triangular track.

His qualifying time broke Tony Stewart's record of 172.391 set in 2000, and he started to make up for a missed opportunity at Dover.

Kahne narrowly missed a 19-car pileup late in Sunday's race and was well on his way to the first victory of his Nextel Cup career at Dover International Speedway. Then, with oil all over the racetrack, he wrecked with only 18 laps remaining. He went from nearly winning his first race to nothing.

"I've spent a lot of time thinking about it," Kahne said. "I pretty much get over it during the day, but when I go to sleep it comes back in my mind. It wasn't fun. We did everything right that day. It was just circumstances. The team was let down because we didn't win, but we were happy because we were the best team there."

Kahne hopes this pole can propel him to the winner's circle.

"I feel like last weekend I was ready to win," Kahne said. "This weekend, I don't feel ready. We need more laps. Hopefully, by Sunday, I'll be ready to go for another win."

Kahne's four poles lead NASCAR.

Kahne has four top-10 finishes, but none in his last six races, leaving him low in the points standings. Kahne is 12th -- 438 points behind leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- but needs to get into the top 10 to compete for the title over the final 10 races.

Another rookie, Brian Vickers, was second at 172.308, and Joe Nemecheck was third in 172.183.

It's the first time two rookies have started 1-2 since Johnson and Ryan Newman in 2002 at Richmond.

Having two rookies in the front row didn't bother Nemecheck.

"I know for Brian and Kasey it's going to be an experience," he said. "They're going to learn a lot tomorrow when we start doing race practice."

Vickers, last year's Busch series champion, brushed off any concern about inexperience as a factor. This is Vickers' sixth top-five start and he won the pole in Richmond.

"In years past, you had drivers get to the Cup level that didn't do a whole lot of racing before they got here," Vickers said. "You drive for so many years before you get here, you learn a lot. I think that makes a difference. As rookies and drivers, you get opportunities in good cars with great teammates."

Mark Martin was fourth and Johnson starts fifth. Jeff Gordon, Jeremy Mayfield, Stewart, Greg Biffle and Dale Jarrett round out the top 10.

Kahne will be back at the track early Saturday for more practice laps before taking a helicopter to Nashville, Tenn., for the Busch Series race that night. He'll fly back to Pennsylvania after the race.

"It's going to be fun," he said.

[NormsRevenge]

President George W. Bush (news - web sites) pays his respects in front of the casket of former President Ronald Reagan (news - web sites) during the state funeral at the National Cathedral in Washington, June 11, 2004. America bade farewell to Reagan in a majestic state funeral at the National Cathedral. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

[NormsRevenge]

It has been a historic week at home and in Iraq.

Join us Saturday and Sunday as we celebrate our FReedom at Pocono this weekend and honor those who serve our nation.

God Bless Ronald Reagan and God Bless America.

[Hatteras]

HELP! Someone hijacked my team! I've been away and haven't payed too close attention to my race team but when I tried to make a driver change this evening (Yahoo Free Republic League) I got two errors. The first one was reporting a server problem. The second said that I was not the owner of the team.

Hmmm... I'll use that as an excuse as to why I have slipped in the standings lately. Yeah, THAT'S the ticket!!!

[NormsRevenge]

Images from the Capitol at:

Farewell to a President.. a short AP slideshow worth a view, imo

[al baby]

Bogity Bogity Bogity

[GOP]

Although I love NASCAR I do not give a rats arse about NASCAR right now.

[GOP]

Although I love NASCAR I do not give a rats arse about NASCAR right now.

[tubebender]

I watched Cspan till 9pm this evening and I am drained. I have been riveted to the TV a lot this week plus trying to catch up on the threads but they were coming faster than I could read. I wonder what the hits were on FReeperville...

[Vigilantcitizen]

Long time, no see.

Good to see ya.

[SAJ]

Bogity?

Day-um, ol' DW spells better 'n dat.

[glock rocks]

I wonder what the hits were on FReeperville...

(articles + replies)

[glock rocks]

Looks like temps in the 70's and light winds... updating doppler

[Pete-R-Bilt]

another article i heard this week!

Total Resurfacing of Martinsville Speedway Under Way

Written by: RACER staff

Martinsville, Va. – 6/9/2004

Martinsville is comprehensively reworking its racing surface.

After a couple of months of considering resurfacing options, Martinsville Speedway has begun a comprehensive facelift of its racing surface. The upgrade follows a problematic NASCAR Nextel Cup race back in April, which was interrupted by a red flag after chunks of concrete began coming up. Application of a cement-epoxy compound proved effective as a quick fix, but the track has now moved to solve the issue for the long term.

Construction crews began demolition of the venerable concrete surface in the turns Wednesday morning in preparation for a total resurfacing of the 0.526-mile oval. The project, which includes new concrete in the turns and asphalt on the straights, should be finished by mid-July.

“I think the drivers are going to like what they see when they come back in the fall,” said Martinsville Speedway president Clay Campbell. “A lot of time and effort has been put into this to make the racing surface as smooth, as near-perfect as it can be.”

The new surface will result in a slight change at the exits of the second and fourth turns. The two grooves of concrete will be extended about 100 feet past the exit point of the turns.

“Drivers have expressed concern for years about the transition between the concrete and asphalt,” said Campbell. “In the past, they were still trying to accelerate off the corner while they were changing surfaces. Now the concrete will extend out further. It will be less upsetting to the car.”

The transition point from asphalt to concrete entering the first and third turns will remain the same. “Entering the turn isn’t really an issue,” added Campbell.

Surveying crews spent several weeks carefully charting the racing surface to make sure the finished product was as smooth as possible.

“The resurfacing will be done with computer precision,” Campbell noted. “The track is going to be very smooth; the transition points will be near-perfect.”

[WestCoastGal]

Computer precision resurfacing.....hmmm. I guess we will have to wait until the next race to see if that works or not.

I'm up early here, first practice is going on now on Trackpass.

So far.......and subject to change of course.

Martin
Marlin
Mears
Kahne
McMurray
Vickers
Kenseth
JJ
Rocket
Mayfield
Flash
Jun Bug

This is the first time I think I bombed out of qualifying and lost 500 points to boot. Bad choice of "B" drivers.

[WestCoastGal]

First practice today is complete. HH is on Trackpass at 8:10 my time but not on FX until 2:30 pst this afternoon just prior to the Busch race.

Here are the top times in this practice:

Martin 53.731
Marlin
Mears
Kahne
Mayfield
Flash
McMurray
Vickers
JJ
Kenseth
Rocket
Busch
Jun Bug 54.033

At least 4 of my team appear here. May be a good sign, or not. ;-)

[WSGilcrest]

Rank	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Total
1	20 Wins Again	302	291	356	252	272	160	379	224	254	331	276	366	209	13	0	0	0	0	3685
2	Rainbow Freeping Warriors	270	297	280	259	325	258	218	269	273	297	238	323	307	1	0	0	0	0	3615
3	Wheels of Cheddar	250	250	229	247	317	234	306	274	303	295	273	344	254	10	0	0	0	0	3586
4	Thundering Herd of Turtles	268	239	289	288	289	302	298	280	305	273	174	335	232	0	0	0	0	0	3572
5	bosco24	270	194	224	247	326	199	381	247	319	309	239	343	250	18	0	0	0	0	3566
6	JuniorsDreamTeam	256	233	263	192	296	271	341	276	273	245	264	348	247	0	0	0	0	0	3505
7	fnord not ford	256	197	232	236	297	243	230	284	299	295	269	400	251	14	0	0	0	0	3503
8	Dog Gone has fender damage	216	319	217	244	291	148	303	256	314	259	257	307	299	15	0	0	0	0	3445
9	Colonie TwinEngines	274	239	286	280	232	196	341	257	279	246	252	269	271	14	0	0	0	0	3436
10	Bubba Q Racing	274	158	274	245	258	208	335	214	269	254	263	359	262	13	0	0	0	0	3386
11	Elmo's socks	256	184	168	302	283	292	292	266	268	278	256	321	198	11	0	0	0	0	3375
12	Rexford's Rollers	188	257	319	262	318	229	299	297	279	320	203	168	203	10	0	0	0	0	3352
13	Norms Bar&Grill	216	253	315	227	224	214	258	277	296	278	233	292	214	1	0	0	0	0	3298
14	Ward Burton's Translator	214	197	334	237	256	306	207	255	245	334	243	231	213	4	0	0	0	0	3276
15	Bodine's Secret Sponsor	266	239	221	277	244	206	184	265	272	270	202	365	233	15	0	0	0	0	3259
16	rednek's road apples	202	212	279	252	298	150	286	284	317	308	170	236	244	13	0	0	0	0	3251
17	weaken wariors	136	253	291	260	244	231	268	219	295	309	160	301	248	13	0	0	0	0	3228
18	Deadeye Racing	282	234	319	234	164	272	249	198	264	242	218	229	291	1	0	0	0	0	3197
19	cpprfld1	130	291	267	191	229	270	347	251	343	245	130	248	210	5	0	0	0	0	3157
20	CarolinaGoldenKnight	134	192	370	257	258	229	320	208	258	266	217	204	232	1	0	0	0	0	3146
21	HersheyKiss	226	216	301	190	264	227	297	251	187	253	258	282	174	3	0	0	0	0	3129
22	puny human number one	148	242	248	151	282	245	298	219	219	247	259	263	288	14	0	0	0	0	3123
22	Speed Stars	172	204	302	174	300	248	131	245	274	347	276	218	232	0	0	0	0	0	3123
24	Dog Breath Racing	308	319	251	182	298	226	112	222	223	275	183	247	272	4	0	0	0	0	3122
25	FR-Drago-Go#6!	86	245	284	263	227	223	297	183	199	347	170	295	226	14	0	0	0	0	3059
26	Good Year Destroyers	242	200	291	256	236	229	288	216	204	179	241	266	194	10	0	0	0	0	3052
27	siouxland racing	0	209	184	273	304	223	260	241	236	222	253	356	215	4	0	0	0	0	2980
28	Fierceallegiance	146	162	277	62	304	221	189	158	265	338	278	347	218	10	0	0	0	0	2975
29	Benders de Fenders	250	183	289	225	214	267	176	200	246	309	170	185	214	10	0	0	0	0	2938
30	countrydummie's boys	196	192	243	262	298	179	242	275	251	210	276	199	110	0	0	0	0	0	2933
31	burning08	136	209	194	101	203	294	267	261	147	245	272	321	245	14	0	0	0	0	2909
32	Seaside 3 wide sideslide (FBD)	142	122	196	246	222	187	325	246	147	269	223	332	220	1	0	0	0	0	2878
33	Budman Racing	196	173	277	229	275	193	314	202	228	207	138	248	176	13	0	0	0	0	2869
34	Afronauters	206	158	201	259	308	323	245	204	192	164	168	170	230	0	0	0	0	0	2828
35	Maui No Ka Oi	264	170	218	239	215	265	255	197	302	186	157	196	143	8	0	0	0	0	2815
36	Marengo Short Tracks	278	283	183	282	310	197	310	222	254	227	86	129	40	0	0	0	0	0	2801
37	Godspeed Racing Team	0	252	270	234	287	240	292	223	212	237	189	230	112	10	0	0	0	0	2788
38	firewallfoward	124	258	220	166	247	190	269	217	211	230	200	201	190	13	0	0	0	0	2736
39	Harvick's Rescue Rangers	64	210	244	214	214	234	332	260	130	232	184	217	132	10	0	0	0	0	2677
40	Dead snake driving	196	157	161	181	168	213	303	220	232	140	191	264	158	0	0	0	0	0	2584
41	Uzimati Racing	188	142	205	294	247	202	331	262	265	219	147	79	0	0	0	0	0	0	2581
42	Speedy	234	206	204	290	221	234	234	256	293	109	85	45	37	0	0	0	0	0	2448
43	Zionists	98	132	201	295	305	252	251	152	214	195	156	170	0	0	0	0	0	0	2421
44	Bonforte Motorsports	134	152	303	276	233	209	307	242	213	203	10	10	3	5	0	0	0	0	2300
45	Rodney King's Team	134	197	159	209	183	246	231	238	234	0	0	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	1841