The Final Lap - with Kerry Murphey

NASCAR News

Sept 17, 2004

The Indy 500 will start an hour later next year. Drivers that may try 'The Double' that day like Tony Stewart and Robby Gordon may have a hard time getting back in time for the drivers meeting at the Coke 600.

The trophy that the Top 10 drivers are now fighting for was unveiled yesterday. The stats: 27-pound trophy crafted in sterling silver, by world-renowned jeweler and silversmith Tiffany & Co. Photos are at finallapradio.com as always.

So who do you think will win the Cup this year? Las Vegas lists Jeff Gordon as the favorite, and this stat is probably why. Jeff has 31 wins at the tracks in the final 10 races, the only other driver who even comes close is Mark Martin, and he has 16.

DRIVER MILESTONES
Both Robby Gordon and Kurt Busch will be making Cup start #100 this weekend.

TRACK STATS | NEW HAMPSHIRE
1.058-mile oval
Banking/Turns 1-4: 12 º
Banking/Straights: 2 º
Length/Frontstretch: 1,500 ft.
Length/Backstretch: 1,500 ft.
Miles/laps: 317.4 miles, 300 laps
Up for grabs: $ 5.1 million
Last years winner: Jimmie Johnson

Sept 16, 2004

Did you know that all of the drivers in the Top 10 have at least 1 win? How about Elliott Sadler being the only one without a DNF this season, or Jeff Gordon having the most polls so far with 6? Everything about the Chase for the Championship right here.

Dale Earnhardt Incorporated has signed Busch North driver Ryan Moore to run some Busch races next year, and handle some testing duties. Current Busch points leader Martin Truex Jr. came up with the team the same way.

TESTING | DOVER
Teams gearing up for next weekend are: Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jamie McMurray, Kyle Petty and Brian Vickers

ON TV

NEXTEL CUP QUALIFYING @ 3 p.m. Friday TNT

NEXTEL CUP HAPPY HOUR @ 11 a.m. Saturday Speed

CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES RACING @ 1 p.m. Saturday Speed

NEXTEL CUP RACING from New Hampshire @ 1 p.m. Sunday TNT

The Busch Series returns next week at Dover.

All times are eastern

Sept 15, 2004

Owner of Bobby Labonte's 18 and Tony Stewart's 20 cars, Joe Gibbs won his first game back as head coach of the Redskins over the weekend. They beat the Buccaneers 16-10

Ken Schrader's crew chief Scott Eggleston has been released from the 49 team, filling his shoes in the meantime is Donnie Richeson

TESTING | KENTUCKY
The track will see 3 Cup teams checking their setups this week, including Dale Jarrett, Robby Gordon and Bobby Hamilton Jr.

TALLADEGA
Teams running their plate cars this week are second in points Jimmie Johnson, Martin Truex Jr., and Hermie Sadler.

POINT STANDINGS | BUSCH SERIES
5 David Green
4 Greg Biffle
3 Jason Leffler
2 Kyle Busch is now 105 back of
1 Martin Truex Jr.

POINT STANDINGS | TRUCK SERIES
5 Ted Musgrave cracks the Top 5 with his win
4 Matt Crafton
3 Carl Edwards
2 Dennis Setzer
1 Bobby Hamilton leads by 57 points

Sept 14, 2004

The one spot drivers did not want to be caught in was 11th place in points, but that is where Jamie McMurray finds himself. He blames multiple engine failures, his co-owner Felix Sabates blames NASCAR for penalizing the team 25 points at Bristol for an X-Measurment infraction

With the huge hype surrounding the Cup race this past weekend, the Busch race kinda got lost in the shuffle. Robby Gordon took his first win in that series over a hard charging Casey Atwood. In the Truck Series Ted Musgrave led all but 10 laps to win over teammate Jamie McMurray.

POINT STANDINGS | CHASE FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP

Here are the 10 drivers locked in, and remember only 45 points now separate 10-1

1 Jeff Gordon
2 Jimmie Johnson - 5
3 Dale Earnhardt Jr. -10
4 Tony Stewart -15
5 Matt Kenseth -20
6 Elliott Sadler -25
7 Kurt Busch -30
8 Mark Martin -35
9 Jeremy Mayfield -40
10 Ryan Newman -45

Sept 13, 2004

RACE RECAP | RICHMOND

10 Rusty Wallace
9 Jamie McMurray - finished on 7 cylinders
8 Greg Biffle
7 Mike Wallace
6 Carl Edwards 3rd top 10 in 4 races
5 Mark Martin
4 Mike Bliss
3 Jeff Gordon - battled brake problems all night
2 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
1 Jeremy Mayfield

OTHER STORIES ON THE DAY

-A big wreck took out Jimmie Johnson when Jimmy Spencer got into Casey Mears, a total of 10 cars were involved.

-Matt Kenseth had two costly mistakes, first the crew left a wrench in the car after a pit stop giving the 17 a black flag, and the second was running out of gas plus stalling the car in the pits.

-Kurt Busch had a solid car and ran out of gas while leading and 8 to go in the race.

-The 88 of Dale Jarrett and 9 of Kasey Kahne had enough problems to take them out of the chase.

CHASE FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP

So only the last three spots were up for grabs since Busch and Sadler locked in their spots early.

After waiting since February to find this out, in the chase for the championship are: Ryan Newman #10, Jeremy Mayfield #9, and Mark Martin #8.

In the dreaded 11 spot, and not making it was Jamie McMurray. Also out are Kahne, Labonte, Harvick, and Jarrett.

Updated: Sunday, October 31, 2004 | 9:47 AM Pacific

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