ThatsRacin.com: Dover International Speedway

New role an adjustment, maybe even inevitable, Ray Evernham acknowledges

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 19:57 EST

Ray Evernham is still feeling out his role at the race team he built from the ground up, then sold majority ownership of last season.

Now a minority owner of Gillett Evernham Motorsports, he's adjusting to not having to be the first guy at work each morning and the last one to leave at the end of the day.

Now working from home when he wants to, or taking long weekends when he needs to get away, Evernham said his new workload took some getting used to.

"It's hard, but in other ways it was also inevitable," Evernham said Tuesday. "There was no way to continue and have success the way I was going. I would have killed myself or somebody else. It was not a good path."

Evernham said he left New Jersey for North Carolina some 15 years ago set on making it in NASCAR. He went from a guy who could move all of his possessions in the back of a pickup truck to a three-time championship winning crew chief, then parlayed that into team ownership.

But it took a tremendous amount of time and energy, and when Montreal Canadiens owner George Gillett expressed interest in buying his team last season, Evernham was finally ready to scale back.

"I felt like it was time to hand it off," Evernham said. "If I wanted to just run myself out of business, and not do a good job for Dodge and all the people who supported me or I could hand it off and say 'The best thing for me to do is hand off and be part of this and help grow it, rather than try to control it.'"

GEM will field cars this season for Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler and Patrick Carpentier.

They're in a race of their own, just closer to back of the pack

Wed, 26 Sep 2007 19:27 EDT

When Kyle Petty blew his top Sunday at Dover, berating Denny Hamlin and reaching into his car to slap down the younger driver's helmet visor, some wondered why the veteran was so angry.

It’s true Hamlin hit Petty from behind and knocked him into the wall, but what does Petty have riding on in these late-season races that brought on a case of road rage?

He isn’t part of NASCAR’s Chase for the Nextel Cup championship, and he hasn’t been close to a victory since the last of his eight career wins in 1995 at Dover.

Even so, the longtime stock car competitor has a lot riding on every lap the rest of the way, just like Hamlin, one of the 12 drivers in the Chase.

“Right now, every race is important for everyone for different reasons,” Petty said.

“You can’t spoil any good runs and our team’s total focus is on having good races. For us, as we’re looking at it right now, this top-35 battle is going to go all the way to Homestead.”

What Petty was talking about is NASCAR’s rule that assures the teams in the top 35 in the car owner points a starting spot in each Cup race. For those outside the top 35, there are only eight spots up for grabs in qualifying each week, and one of those could go automatically to a former series champion who doesn’t make it on speed.

Beyond that, with the end of the season looming, everyone battling to stay in the top 35 knows that the final standings of this season will carry over for the first six races of 2008.

Heading into Kansas Speedway this week for the third of the 10 Chase races, Petty’s No. 45 Dodge is 34th in the owner standings, 83 points behind rookie Johnny Sauter’s No. 70 Chevrolet and one point in front of the No. 21 Ford driven by Ken Schrader in the transfer spot.

Dave Blaney’s No. 22 Toyota is 36th, 105 points behind, followed by the No. 10 Dodge of Scott Riggins, a distant 236 points out of the all-important top group.

Blaney, the top Toyota entry this season, had a disastrous result at Dover, failing to qualify for the race. It’s the first time this season that the Bill Davis Racing driver has failed to make a lineup.

Meanwhile, Schrader had his own problems in the race, but finished 26th and gained points.

“For us, it was a bit more about survival and if nothing else,” Schrader said.

“But we made up some more ground in the points in spite of everything. And we’ve just go to keep pushing hard.”

Blaney has the same attitude.

“Obviously we need to find a way to put what happened last week in Dover behind us and concentrate on this weekend in Kansas,” he said.

“We’ve been working so hard to get inside the top 35 in points and we’re disappointed that we gave so many points away last week because we really thought we could catch the No. 21.

“Lucky for us, everyone that we’re chasing had some problems, so it’s not over yet. This Caterpillar Racing team is pretty tough. Everyone has been through a lot these past couple of years and we all still show up fighting every week. We believe we have what it takes to be competitive week in and week out; we just have to make it all come together.”

Although Blaney isn’t out of contention for the 35th spot with seven races remaining, Petty looks to be fairly secure. But the pressure remains.

“There are some guys that are racing Kansas Speedway this weekend knowing it has implications for Daytona and the beginning of 2008,” Petty said.

“That’s a reality, and we happen to be one of those teams right now.

“I owe it to my team, my sponsors and myself to race as hard as I can. ... Can we get ahead and be out of that circumstance by Homestead? Yeah, we can. But, right now, we are working hard to earn every point and move forward.

"It’s obvious that Dover wasn’t meant to be, but we’re focused on Kansas right now. You are 15 steps behind if you’re not looking to the next race. Our attention is on Kansas.”

Raines fined for throwing helmet, other notes

Wed, 26 Sep 2007 07:20 EDT

Short takes from the midweek notebook:

• Tony Raines was fined $15,000 and 25 points for throwing his helmet toward Robby Gordon'scar after an incident in Saturday's Busch race. DeLana Harvick, owner of the No. 33 Chevrolet that Raines was driving, was docked 25 owner points.

• Jason Leffler will drive the No. 1 Toyota owned by Red Horse Racing in five of the six remaining races. Brandon Whitt will drive at Atlanta on Oct. 27.

• David Stremme, Casey Mears, Kyle Petty and Mark Green in a Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota tested tires in cars of tomorrow Tuesday at Daytona.

NASCAR takes 25 points from Edwards, fines his crew chief

Wed, 26 Sep 2007 07:13 EDT

Carl Edwards dropped from third to sixth in the Chase for the Nextel Cup standings Tuesday. NASCAR penalized Edwards 25 driver points because his car was too low in inspection after his victory in Sunday's Dodge Dealers 400 at Dover International Speedway.

Bob Osborne, Edwards' crew chief, was fined $25,000 and placed on probation until Dec. 31 and car owner Jack Roush was fined 25 owner points.

Roush Fenway Racing president Geoff Smith called the points penalty unfair and said the team will appeal.

"We have the misfortune of violating a rule which makes no sense," Smith said. "I say misfortune because we are being penalized for a violation that actually impaired the car's performance."

Smith said the rule the No. 99 Ford team violated was written for restrictor-plate races, where teams try to make the rear of the car as low as legal to reduce aerodynamic drag.

Conversely, on tracks where teams look for more downforce, the objective would be to raise the rear end.

Smith also said a 25-point penalty against a driver in the Chase is particularly harsh -- 250 percent greater, he said -- than a similar penalty against a non-Chase driver.

"Chase drivers are competing for a total of 1,950 points," Smith said. A driver can earn a maximum of 195 points in each of the 10 Chase races. "All drivers competed for 5,070 points in the first 26 races. Do the math. The net effect is that a 25-point penalty falls unfairly hard on a Chase contender. That's simply not right."

Before the penalty, Edwards had 5,337 points -- three fewer than leader Jeff Gordon, one fewer than Tony Stewart and one more than Jimmie Johnson. A loss of 25 points puts Edwards 28 points behind Gordon

Top three maintain grip on rankings

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 12:57 EDT

That's Racin's David Poole ranks the top 40 teams in the NASCAR Nextel Cup series following the Dodge Dealers 400 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. (Rankings based on team performance and potential. Each team’s previous week's ranking in parentheses:)

1. (3) Tony Stewart – car No. 20

2. (2) Jeff Gordon – car No. 24

3. (1) Jimmie Johnson – car No. 48

We’ve told you that these guys are virtually interchangeable in the top three spots, so they’re ranked here strictly in order of their finish on the wild afternoon at Dover.

4. (4) Carl Edwards – car No. 99

If the rest of the Chase tracks were concrete, this team would be No. 1 this week. But likely points penalty for Dover rules infraction keeps us from moving up after win there.

5. (9) Kyle Busch – car No. 5

Trouble seemed to find him in ’06 Chase but this year he’s deftly dodging danger.

6. (10) Clint Bowyer – car No. 07

Can’t afford to start 42nd many times in Chase but he sort of got away with it a Dover.

7. (8) Martin Truex Jr. – car No. 1

Considering how bad it could have turned out, 13th in wrecked Dover car wasn’t bad.

8. (5) Denny Hamlin – car No. 11

9. (6) Matt Kenseth – car No. 17

Both had the worst possible Chase days at Dover – bad finishes after big things spoiled good runs in great cars. A championship’s too hard to win to survive that often.

10. (7) Kurt Busch – car No. 2

Car snapped sideways to set off the big Dover crash and reshape the Chase standings.

11. (12) Jeff Burton – car No. 31

12. (11) Kevin Harvick – car No. 29

13. (13) Dale Earnhardt Jr. – car No. 8

14. (15) Casey Mears – car No. 25

15. (17) Greg Biffle – car No. 16

16. (21) Mark Martin/Regan Smith – car No. 01

17. (14) Ryan Newman – car No. 12

18. (19) Jamie McMurray – car No. 26

19. (20) Juan Pablo Montoya – car No. 42

20. (16) Bobby Labonte – car No. 43

21. (18) Kasey Kahne – car No. 9

22. (25) Robby Gordon – car No. 7

23. (22) Reed Sorenson – car No. 41

24. (23) J.J. Yeley – car No. 18

25. (24) David Ragan – car No. 6

26. (26) Jeff Green – car No. 66

27. (27) Tony Raines – car No. 96

28. (31) David Gilliland – car No. 38

29. (36) Elliott Sadler – car No. 19

30. (37) Kenny Wallace/Ricky Rudd – car No. 88

31. (33) Brian Vickers – car No. 83

32. (34) David Reutimann – car No. 00

33. (29) David Stremme – car No. 40

34. (35) Paul Menard – car No. 15

35. (32) Ken Schrader – car No. 21

36. (28) Johnny Sauter – car No. 70

37. (30) Dave Blaney – car No. 22

38. (38) Scott Riggs – car No. 10

39. (39) Kyle Petty – car No. 45

40. (NR) Michael Waltrip – car No. 55

| All the action at Dover

Sun, 23 Sep 2007 23:02 EDT

- 'A crazy Dover day,' Gordon says

Sun, 23 Sep 2007 21:31 EDT

DOVER, Del. - Jeff Gordon’s best description of his day? “Effective.”

“It certainly wasn’t pretty. I thought maybe we were going to have a good day here and then it just went downhill for us,” he said.

“We survived and I think we came out 11th.”

He came out with the Nextel Cup Series points lead as well, although it is a mere two points over Tony Stewart.

"We certainly didn't have the car that we were hoping for today. But we fought through to a decent finish and missed some accidents and it was a crazy Dover day," Gordon said.

- Stewart, team 'hit on something'

Sun, 23 Sep 2007 21:33 EDT

DOVER, Del. - It was probably the worst good performance Stewart has had this season.

Stewart started 28th, fell a lap down early, but with the help of adjustments to his car and problems for several other drivers in the Chase, he ended up ninth in Sunday's race at Dover and is two points behind leader Jeff Gordon in the standings.

“Oh, gosh, I was on suicide watch for the first 200 laps, but we finally hit on something that the car liked,” he said.

“We also kept getting boxed in the pit box (by Paul Menard). We’d get in and then we’d lose positions on the track and then we’d have to fight our way through.

“Toward the end of the day there was a lot of chaos. Everybody was fighting for everything they could get and it’s like driving down a dark alley there late in the day especially when you go through Turn 2.”

- Edwards likely faces penalty

Sun, 23 Sep 2007 21:34 EDT

DOVER, Del. - Carl Edwards’s No. 99 Ford exceeded the half-inch tolerance in the right-rear and failed post-race inspection on Sunday.

NASCAR elected to take the car back to its research and development center in Concord to verify the measurements.

If the findings remain the same, Edwards is likely to face a 25-point penalty and $25,000 fined for crew chief Bob Osborne – the same penalty assessed Johnny Sauter and Kyle Busch earlier this season for similar infractions.

With a 25 point loss, Edwards would fall to sixth in the standings, 28 behind leader Jeff Gordon.

- Johnson glad with where he is

Sun, 23 Sep 2007 21:20 EDT

DOVER, Del. - Jimmie Johnson called it the perfect example of the wildness of NASCAR.

“The guy who dominates the race (Matt Kenseth) ends up blowing up. We thought we would finish 33rd and we ended up 14th,” he said.

Johnson, the pole-winner, ran well early but had a right-rear tire go flat on Lap 187 of Sunday's race at Dover and was forced to pit for new tires under green.

He lost several laps in the process.

With so many drivers falling out near the end, he rallied for a decent finish.

“I’m glad I’m in the position I’m in of having my championship and working on the second one,” he said.

“I’m more relaxed. I know there’s going to be a lot of pressure on a lot of guys.”

- Kyle Busch escapes carnage

Sun, 23 Sep 2007 21:17 EDT

DOVER, Del. - Although he was one of the 12 cars collected in the late-race wreck on Lap 387 of Sunday's race at Dover, Kyle Busch was able to escape without serious damage and kept his championship hopes alive.

“It definitely was an adventure out there today,” he said.

“We got through that big wreck luckily somehow, some way, with just a little cosmetic damage there to the left-rear and the wing plate torn off.

"It was a good day for us and a well-deserved finish, but maybe even a few spots better than what we deserved.”

- Bowyer rallies after wreck

Sun, 23 Sep 2007 21:13 EDT

DOVER, Del. - Clint Bowyer’s weekend started badly and didn’t look much better during much of Sunday’s race, especially when he was caught up in a wreck involving Kyle Petty and Denny Hamlin.

Bowyer, who won last week at New Hampshire, started 42nd and had to share a pit stall for the first 100 laps or so with Michael Waltrip’s team.

After the accident, his team worked on his car feverishly and with the number of late-race wrecks, he rallied to finish 12th.

- Trouble finds Truex, team

Sun, 23 Sep 2007 21:10 EDT

DOVER, Del. - All the hard work appeared to be for naught.

Martin Truex Jr. and his team had spent most of Sunday’s race at Dover working to improve his No. 1 Chevrolet, only to see most of what they accomplished go up in smoke when he was one of 12 cars involved in a late-race wreck.

His crew tried to make repairs and he got back out on the track, but debris from his car caused the final caution of the race.

He finished 13th.

"The bad luck bit us today. It was a decent day, we were going to have a good finish. It’s just frustrating,” he said.

- Burton struggles, still gains

Sun, 23 Sep 2007 21:35 EDT

DOVER, Del. - Somehow Jeff Burton finished seventh. No one is sure how.

Burton struggled much of Sunday’s race.

At one point he was running near the end of the field because his car was performing so poorly.

But with constant work from his crew and the slew of accidents that knocked out several cars, he ended up seventh and moved to the eighth position in points.

- Tires still haunting Harvick

Sun, 23 Sep 2007 21:03 EDT

DOVER, Del. - Kevin Harvick can’t seem to get away from tire problems.

Early in Sunday's race at Dover he had to pit under green because his No. 29 Chevrolet had a loose wheel. And later, already two laps down, he was forced to pit again under green for a flat tire.

Harvick also had a flat during last weekend's race at New Hampshire.

At one time he was 37th on Sunday, but with the help of the late-race wrecks, he ended up a respectable 20th.