March 19, 2004
Some stats going into this weekend, Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers at Darlington with 6 wins. Ricky Rudd has 25 top-10 finishes, and Mark Martin has 14 top-5's. Ryan Newman has 4 starts at the track, but has an average starting spot of 4.5. And there is now 30 less inches of race-track from the new SAFER walls, look for a bunch more drivers with a Darlington stripe!
Dale Earnhardt Jr. will drive a Corvette on July 18th in the Grand Prix of Sonoma. He'll share the ride with road racing expert Boris Said.
Bob Osborne has replaced Paul Andrews as the crew chief of Jeff Burton's #99 ride. The team sits 30th in points, and is running without full-time sponsorship.
TRACK STATS | DARLINGTON
DARLINGTON
It's a 1.366 Mile Egg-Shaped Oval
Banking/Turns 1-2: 25º
Banking/Turns 3-4: 23º
Banking/Straights: 2º
Front & Backstretch:1,229 ft.
Cup race is 400.2 mi. or 293 laps
Up for grabs $4.5 million
Last Years winner: Ricky Craven
March 18, 2004
 Scott Riggs will circle Bristol with the Harlem Globetrotters paint scheme on his 10 car. A couple members of the team will be on hand on race-day, and you can check out a larger photo by clicking on the 10 car to the right.
NASCAR will be handing out one set of free tires to teams this weekend, since they have not been able to test Darlington with the new SAFER walls in place.
TESTING | TEXAS
Four other teams plus Dale Jr. are testing this week at the track. The cars of Martin Truex Jr., J.J. Yeley, Bill Elliott and Larry Foyt are all there.
ON TV
BUSCH SERIES QUALIFYING @ 1:30 p.m. Friday on Speed
NEXTEL CUP QUALIFYING @ 3 p.m. Friday on Speed
BUSCH SERIES RACING @ 12:30 p.m. Saturday on FX
NEXTEL CUP HAPPY HOUR @ 3 p.m. Saturday on FX
NEXTEL CUP RACING from Darlington @ 1 p.m. Sunday on Fox
All times are eastern
March 17, 2004
The 4 drivers injured in last weekends truck race should be ready to go for Martinsville next month. Luckily Tina Gordon, Rick Crawford, Hank Parker Jr., and Joey Clanton all have over a month to recover.
If you are keeping score at home, add Kansas to the list of tracks that will soon add the SAFER barriers. They plan to have them in place with plenty of time before the October NASCAR weekend.
TESTING | KENTUCKY
Testing for today has been cancelled because of snow being forecast for the area. No word yet on how this will affect tomorrows sessions.
TESTING | TEXAS
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is on hand to run his 8 car through the paces this week focusing on the new tires. Since the Las Vegas set-up disaster, it seems Jr. is on a mission.
POINT STANDINGS | TRUCK SERIES
10 Matt Crafton
9 Chad Chaffin
8 Mike Skinner
7 Terry Cook
6 Shane Hmiel
5 Dennis Setzer
4 David Reutimann
3 Bobby Hamilton
2 Carl Edwards
1 Travis Kvapil leads by only 4 points
March 16, 2004
Kenny Wallace will be back in a Cup car for 5 races this year, thanks to Michael Waltrip and DEI. He'll drive the 00 Aarons Chevy at Talladega, Daytona, Indy, Bristol, & Atlanta.
So what happened to Tony Stewart's 20 car after dominating most of the race? Two things, first the track cooled down making his race-car tighter than earlier in the race, and second his run-in with Dale Jr.'s rear bumper was enough to go from first to 7th.
TESTING | KENTUCKY
On the track this week are Ricky Craven, Ryan Newman, Bobby Labonte and Scott Wimmer. They are all scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.
POINT STANDINGS | CUP SERIES
10 Bobby Labonte
9 Jimmie Johnson
8 Elliott Sadler
7 Jeremy Mayfield
6 Kurt Busch
5 Jeff Gordon
4 Kasey Kahne
3 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
2 Tony Stewart
1 Matt Kenseth
BIGGEST LOSERS Rusty Wallace falls 10 positions
BIGGEST GAINERS Ryan Newman and Jimmie Johnson both jump 10 spots
March 15, 2004
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© CIA Stock Photo, Inc.
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RACE RECAP | ATLANTA
10 Jeff Gordon
9 Dale Jarrett
8 Greg Biffle
7 Tony Stewart
6 Matt Kenseth
5 Ryan Newman
4 Jimmie Johnson 2nd top 5 this year
3 Kasey Kahne 3rd straight top 3
2 Jeremy Mayfield best finish since Dover last Sept.
VICTORY LANE
1 After the awful run last week the 8 team bounces back with a win for Dale Earnhardt Jr., his second of the year, 11th career, and is now 3rd in points
OTHER STORIES ON THE DAY
-Matt Kenseth locks up his breaks on pit road, comes back to a top 10 finish
-Rusty Wallace's 2 car has transmission problems
-Ganassi Racing's Jamie McMurray, and Casey Mears blew their engines. Mears led 37 laps, Jamie was running top 10
-Not a factor was Mr. Atlanta Bobby Labonte, he ends up 18th
-Jimmie Johnson's 4th place finish, rocket's him back into the top 10 in points
-Only two drivers have wins in 4 races, Matt Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES
On Saturday another great race, awesome finish.
5 Matt Crafton
4 Travis Kvapil
3 David Reutimann
2 Mike Skinner (almost gets Toyota their first win)
1 Bobby Hamilton
A big wreck injured drivers Tina Gordon, Rick Crawford, and Hank Parker Jr.
Updated: Sunday, October 31, 2004 | 9:48 AM Pacific
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