NASCAR 03|20|05 - Golden Corral 500 Cup Race @ Atlanta Pre-Race Tribute - US Special Ops Command

nascar.com (and other classified sources) ^ | 03/16/05 | ChefKeith/WCG/NASCAR.COM

[ChefKeith]

NASCAR Cup Golden Corral 500

Race time is 18:20 GMT

(Attn: Tubebender & GlockRocks you must do your own time conversions)

Atlanta Motor Speedway Specs.
Banking/Turns: 24°
Distance: 1.54mi
Shape: Oval

Friday, 3/18 on SPEED

1 p.m. ET: NASCAR Live! on SPEED 1:30 p.m. ET: Nextel Cup Happy Hour on SPEED 6 p.m. ET: NASCAR Live! on SPEED 7 p.m. ET: Nextel Cup qualifying on SPEED 9 p.m. ET: Craftsman Truck race on SPEED 11:30 p.m. ET: Trackside Live! on SPEED

Saturday, 3/19 on SPEED/FX

Noon ET: Busch qualifying on SPEED 2:30 p.m. ET: Busch prerace on FX 3 p.m. ET: Busch race on FX 6:30 p.m. ET: NASCAR Performance 7 p.m. ET: SPEED News on SPEED

Sunday, 3/20 on SPEED/FOX

11 a.m. ET: NASCAR This Morning on SPEED 12:30 p.m. ET: Nexel Cup prerace on FOX 1:20 p.m. ET: Cup race on FOX 7 p.m. ET: SPEED News on SPEED 8 p.m. ET: NASCAR Victory Lane on SPEED 9 p.m. ET: Wind Tunnel on SPEED

JOHN MICHAEL MONTGOMERY TO SING NATIONAL ANTHEM AT SUNDAY'S GOLDEN CORRAL 500

HAMPTON, GA - Multi-platinum country recording artist John Michael Montgomery will sing the national anthem for the March 20 Golden Corral 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, capping off a heart-swelling military demonstration scheduled for pre-race by the U.S. Special Operations Command.

Special operations forces to be honored at NASCAR race March 20 U.S. Army Special Operations Command Public Affairs Office Wednesday, February 9 2005

FORT BRAGG, N.C. (USASOC News Service) - For the second consecutive year, warriors from the U.S. Special Operations Command will be honored during the pre-race excitement of NASCAR's Golden Corral 500 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway March 20.

Race fans will be treated to a demonstration by special operations forces that will be capped off with the scheduled arrival of the race's official pace car inside an MH-47 Chinook helicopter from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne). Demonstration participants will include special operators from the Army, the Navy and the Air Force.

Leading the special operations demonstration will be Lt. Gen. Philip R. Kensinger Jr., commanding general of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command here.

In addition to the 160th SOAR (Abn), the storied Green Berets will represent the Soldiers of USASOC. Air commandos from the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command at Hurlburt Field, Fla., and Navy SEALS from the U.S. Naval Special Warfare Command, San Diego, Calif., will also be represented.

In addition to the Chinook helicopter, other aircraft scheduled to be included in the demonstration include MH-60 Black Hawk and MH-6 Little Bird helicopters and an MC-130 Combat Talon aircraft.

Additional information on U.S. special operations forces can be found at the U.S. Special Operations Command's Web site at http://www.socom.mil/ and at Operation Tribute to Freedom.

(Click the Pic to Visit the FR Canteen)

This race thread is always dedicated to our men and women in the military who stand in harms way every day protecting us from those evil forces who wish do to us harm. They keep us safe, they protect us, some gave the ultimate sacrifice for us so that we have the freedom to enjoy our lives each and every day. We will remember them always, we will never forget!!!!

[Fierce Allegiance]

I ought to buy him a nice big bone, 'cause I'm in 49th after getting the big zero in points for Daytona.

[umgud]

bumpity, bumpity, bumpity

[Pete-R-Bilt]

Harvicks crewchief is a moron and should have a size 12 put up his butt.

everyone in the top 35 in points is garanteed a starting position.

cheating was just stupid and it cost Harvick a 43rd place starting spot, 25 points, a bunch of money and tweaked the whole team for four races...

IMO

[NYTexan]

Cheating is part of the game in NASCAR

By JENNA FRYER, AP Motorsports Writer
March 17, 2005

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – There's an old saying in NASCAR: If a team ain't cheating, it ain't trying. With a murky rule book open to various interpretations, drivers and crews constantly push the limits to see what they can get past inspectors.

"Being creative is my job," crew chief Chad Knaus said when he earned his first major penalty in 2002. "If I am going to get fined and penalized for being creative, then that's just part of it.

"Besides, the other guys are cheatin' more than we are."

Maybe so, but Knaus and his peers may start thinking about following the rules to the letter of the law from now on: Knaus and two other crew chiefs were suspended this week as NASCAR cracked down on its culture of cheating.

All three crew chiefs will be allowed to compete in Atlanta this weekend while the National Stock Car Racing Commission prepares to hear their appeals next week.

Knaus was suspended for two weeks and fined $35,000 after race-winner Jimmie Johnson's car was found to be too low following a victory in Las Vegas. Johnson was docked 25 points, which cost him his spot atop the Nextel Cup standings.

Make no mistake about it, Johnson should consider himself fortunate he was allowed to keep the win.

NASCAR has a long-standing tradition of not changing the race winner after an event. The argument is that it is confusing to the fan, who just cheered his driver on to victory, only to go home and read in the next day's paper that his guy actually didn't win the race.

But in NASCAR's push to stop cheating – the sanctioning body first relied on monetary fines, then upped the stakes to docking points in 2002 before issuing Tuesday's suspensions of Knaus and the crew chiefs for Kevin Harvick (one month) and Kyle Busch (two weeks) – taking victories just might be the next step.

"It is not fair to the fans or to the cars that are legal for a victory to be tainted," said NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter. "We've tried money and we've tried points and nothing works. Hopefully the light will go by some crew chiefs taking a vacation and we won't have to do anything else.

"But if we have to consider further action, we will."

NASCAR might have to because, as word spread through the Nextel Cup circuit about the suspensions, some considered the penalties a slap on the wrist.

"I've got three drivers who would trade $25,000, 25 points and a suspension for a win," said Chip Ganassi, car owner for Sterling Marlin, Jamie McMurray and Casey Mears.

"You want to stop cheating? Take the wins away."

The problem is, NASCAR never will be able to 100 percent police cheating – because what it deems illegal, a crew chief might view as a loophole in the rules.

The late Smokey Yunick was the master of massaging the rule book, maintaining that if something was not specifically outlawed, it was assumed to be legal. It led to a decades-long feud between Yunick and NASCAR's ruling France family, and inspectors spent hours each week picking over Yunick's race entries.

In one of the most notorious Yunick stories, NASCAR questioned the fuel mileage of one of his cars after rivals accused him of having an oversized fuel tank. NASCAR removed the fuel tank, and after a heated argument, Yunick climbed into his car and drove it away without a fuel tank.

Now that Brian France, grandson of NASCAR founder Bill France, is running the sport, he's more interested in integrity than the tradition of teams trying to pull a fast one over on inspectors.

That's why the latest round of penalties was so stiff, and why NASCAR found no humor in Todd Berrier admitting to illegally rigging Harvick's fuel tank.

In a different day, Berrier's boasting would have been funny. But when he essentially told the media he knows why he got caught, and wouldn't hesitate to do it again, France and NASCAR president Mike Helton hit the roof.

"Anybody is free to be as aggressive against the line as they want to be, that's their job – to go all the way to the line but still be in compliance," France said. "If they miscalculate, even in the smallest way, we have to address it to maintain the credibility of the rules process."

Car owner Rick Hendrick has maintained that the penalties against Knaus and Busch crew chief Alan Gustafson were too harsh and he is appealing. So is Childress, even though Berrier told reporters that his boss encourages him to tweak the rules.

But at least one driver said NASCAR is finally on the right track.

"It's getting to the point where NASCAR doesn't want to see people cheating. They want it to be fair for everybody, which I think is great," said 2000 series champion Bobby Labonte. "By NASCAR taking points away and fining them and giving them suspensions, it keeps escalating.

"It's going to get to a point where everybody says this is way too much. Is it too much right now? No, but it's taking steps to get people's attention, I guess."

[LasVegasMac]

I think what Berrier did was wrong, I agree that the suspension should have been longer. I think that the win should have been taken away from Johnson. Technically the first legal car was Kurt Bush. I am no fan of his, but he was the first to cross the finish line with a legal car since his brother failed inspection also.

Did you read Nascar.com - Marty Smith says the penalties for Johnson were way too severe. In essence he says that parts probably worked loosed during the race, lowering the car.

I sent Mr. Smith an e-mail stating, 1) you might be right on Johnson's car. Always the possibility it was loose on purpose, too. 2) Marty, you barely mention the 5 car penalty. Ass end of the car too high, remember? What, is your theory from the 48 car supposed to carry over to the 5 car? Parts working loose and actually jacking the car UP as the race went on?

Nascar was way to lenient on these jugheads.

Wanna bet that at Atlanta Nascar will use the proverbial microscope in inspections - and everything will be clean as a whistle?

LVM

[SouthTexas]

Yeah, I know, but nobody drove up into the stands after the fans either. :)

I was just irritated about the penalties and that just happened to be "the" straw.

[SouthTexas]

(Don’t tell anyone, but NASCAR apparently makes up the rules as they go along,

Now they done gone and popped my bubble.

Here's hoping ya'll have a great vacation!!!

[flutters]

Hi WCG. I hope you have a wonderful vacation - enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!

Thanks for posting the article. I didn't watch nascar during the time the author was talking about, but one statement kind of irked me. He said: “Leave me to my ignorance about how Bill Elliott came back from two laps down at Talladega in 1985.” I took that as a kick toward Matt Kenseth since he came back from 2 laps down. I sure hope he didn't mean it the way it came off.

It’s interesting the way this whole thing is shaking out. Did anyone watch speed channel tonight and the piece they had on Greg Biffle? From what I gather, Greg came on the radio during the race and made a comment about JJ’s fenders looking too good for all the adjustments they made throughout the day. He suggested that nascar take a closer look. I didn't get the entire interview but will look for a replay.

[flutters]

NASCAR has a long-standing tradition of not changing the race winner after an event. The argument is that it is confusing to the fan, who just cheered his driver on to victory, only to go home and read in the next day's paper that his guy actually didn't win the race.

Great article, thanks for posting it. I was at the Charlotte race last year and watched Matt Kenseth come in third. The score board showed fourth and they didn't change it until the next day. It was aggravating because I kept yelling to my hubby "he beat him McMurray...I watched him do it with my own two eyeballs...darnit!" lol

[SouthTexas]

Practice is on the Speed channel right now!!!

[Fierce Allegiance]

Nice. They qualify tonight, can't change setup and race on sunday. This will make the first green flag run very interesting from home, and will likely be scary as hell if not deadly for the drivers.

[SouthTexas]

Very true and I wonder what kind of excuse Nascar will have for this???

Speaking of, I wonder what the new "rule of the week" will be?

[steveegg]

Maybe I should throw my computer in there (not while you're in there, though; just want to destroy the computer). The thing crashed yesterday on me when I tried swapping hard drives, and I am first back up now.

[SouthTexas]

Qualifying is on Speed now!!!

Hope everyone got the picks in. Rocketman is up.

[umgud]

I don't have Speed channel, so I've gotta go take a drive and listen to XM to hear the quals........ Carl Edwards, Mark Martin very fast in practice. DEI struggling.

[Afronaut]

The 50 will win! It's a Spencer triple weekend!

[SouthTexas]

Spencer is on now, 189.66. We shall see.

Rocketman set the mark!!!

[SouthTexas]

The 5 backed it into the wall. He now has a flatback racecar.

[NYTexan]

Looks like yer in charge of keepin' this thread bumped!

I'll try ta pitch in! *L*

No points for quals fer me yet, how about you?

[SouthTexas]

Evenin', looks like it!LOL And I don't have any of the fancy stuff WCG and CK has to keep things current.

JJ came through for me to finally get on the board. May be all I end up with, but it's better than nothin'! (if it holds)