Bristol News and Notes

[landergolfer]

Busch wins a WILD race at Bristol: #97-Kurt Busch won the Sharpie 500(with a chorus of boos from the stands) at Bristol Motor Speedway, the third time in the last fourth Bristol races he has won. It was Busch's 4th win of the 2003 season and 8th of his career. #29-Kevin Harvick finished 2nd [interesting post-race comments about Busch]. The highest finishing rookie was #42-Jamie McMurray [in a very cool looking car] with a 3rd place finish. Points leader, #17-Matt Kenseth powered thru the field and finished 4th and increases his points lead to 351 over #8-Earnhardt Jr. [who finished 9th].

 

Wallace goes to the hospital UPDATE 3: #2-Rusty Wallace, involved in a hard crash with #15-Michael Waltrip and walked away from the wreck, requested to be airlifted to a nearby hospital to be checked out as he didn't feel right.

UPDATE: Rusty has been released from the hospital, is ok and is on his helicopter and headed home.(TNT Race Coverage)(8-23-2003)

UPDATE 2: Wallace was treated and released later in the evening after a negative CT scan.(NASCAR.com)(8-24-2003)

 

More on Kodak: Kodak is in its 17th year as primary sponsor for the No. 4 Morgan-McClure team, but rumors persist that it will not return after this season. Team owner Larry McClure could not be reached for comment, but Ed McClure, his brother, says the contract runs through 2005. Because most sponsor contracts contain performance clauses, Kodak likely has an out. Sources at Dale Earnhardt Inc. deny that Kodak will sponsor the #1 car next season

 

Looking Good for Kenseth to win the final Winston Cup: #17-Matt Kenseth leads the points standings by 351 points [with 12 races to go], and no driver has ever lost a lead that big in the race for the championship. In 1981, Darrell Waltrip was 341 points behind Bobby Allison with 17 races left, but came back to win the title by 53 points.(

 

Latest on Rusty's Busch team: Rusty Wallace plans to field a Busch Series team next season and will make the announcement soon. The driver is expected to be Billy “Catfish” Parker, a late-model competitor and brother of Busch driver Hank Parker Jr.

 

2nd Team for Wells in 2004? #32-Ricky Craven, whose single-car team has struggled at times in a sport dominated by multi-car operations, may soon get some help. "I believe Cal is well on his way to having a second team, as early as next year," Craven said this week at Darlington, referring to car owner Cal Wells III. Wells fielded two cars in 2001, but dropped back to one after losing a sponsor.(

 

weather info for Darlington, SC in Aug/Sept compared to Nov (1972-2000):

August: Ave High Temp = 88.9F; Low = 69.8F; Precip = 5.35"

September: Ave High Temp = 84.4F; Low = 64.3F; Precip = 4.11"

November: Ave High Temp = 67.4F; Low = 43.7F; Precip = 2.91"

So the weather in November sure looks a lot better for the Southern 500 then in late Aug/early Sept.

 

Lights slowly going up at Darlington: Stakes around Darlington Raceway denote the locations of 74 light poles that will eventually encircle the track. Gurtis said officials from Musco Lighting are already on site doing preliminary work, although the heavy infrastructure work will wait until the summer of 2004.

 

Cautions Tie a Record: the record for most cautions at Bristol is 20, done twice, last time on April 13, 1997, that is also the Modern era record for cautions at any Winston Cup race. The fall event record at Bristol WAS 16 in August 2001 it is now also 20 with Saturdays. crashfest.(8-23-2003)

 

 

TOP FIVE [unofficial] DRIVERS POINTS after Bristol:

#17-Matt Kenseth, 3592

#8-Dale Earnhardt Jr., 3241, -366

#29-Kevin Harvick, 3128, -464

#48-Jimmie Johnson, 3063, -529

#24-Jeff Gordon, 3060, -532

For full results see NASCAR.com.(8-23-2003)

 

 

Most Winnings in 2003:

#48-Jimmie Johnson, $4,052,380 (won the Winston)

#97-Kurt Busch, $3,974,400

#29-Kevin Harvick, $3,597,310

 

 

Top 30: only one driver who has ran all 24 Winston Cup races have finished all the races in the top 30. #17-Matt Kenseth the points leader. #15-Michael Waltrip had finished in the top 30 until Bristol when he finished 42nd. #17-Kenseth's worst finish is a 22nd at Martinsville in the spring.(8-23-2003)

 

 

Johnson Streak continues: #48-Jimmie Johnson has been in the top 10 in NASCAR Winston Cup points for 57 consecutive weeks, the longest current streak in stock car racing's top series. #15-Michael Waltrip is next with a 24-week streak.(8-23-2003)

 

 

DNF Streak: #5-Terry Labonte has the longest streak without a DNF (did not finish) and starting all the races (in 2002 and 2003) at 30 straight races without a DNF (Talladega Oct 2002), followed by #29-Kevin Harvick at 27 straight races without a DNF (Atlanta Oct 2002) and #17-Matt Kenseth at 24 (Homestead Nov 2002). #15-Michael Waltrip saw his 33 DNF free race streak come to an end at Bristol. #24-Jeff Gordon holds the modern era record [1972-present] without a DNF (did not finish) and starting all the races at 56 (Darlington, March 2001, 31 races + all 25 in 2002 thru Richmond, Sept 2002). The all-time record is 84 races held by Herman Beam from April 30, 1961 thru March 10, 1963 (8-23-2003)

 

Top Fives: There have been 29 different drivers (add none at Bristol) who have scored a Top-5 in an 2003 Cup race. 2002's total was 31.(8-23-2003)

 

Top Tens: There have been 40 different drivers (add none at Bristol) who have scored a Top-10 in an 2003 Cup race; 2002's total was 42.(8-23-2003)

 

No Top Fives Since.... It has been a while since some drivers have had a top five finish on the Winston Cup circuit. Here are those with the longest streak of races without a top-five finish:

Driver, Races since, Finish, Track/Race, Date

Brett Bodine, 273, 2nd, Indianapolis 8-6-94

Kyle Petty, 175, 3rd, Dover 9-21-97

Ken Schrader, 170, 4th, Richmond 9-12-98

Mike Skinner, 101, 2nd, Talladega 4-16-00

John Andretti, 73, 2nd, Bristol 3-20-01

Derrike Cope, 64, 5th, Atlanta 11-16-97

Jeremy Mayfield, 49, 5th, Richmond, 5-4-02

Kenny Wallace, 47, 2nd, Rockingham, 11-4-01

Todd Bodine, 33. 5th, Richmond 9-7-02

 

No Wins Ever.... Some regular drivers in Winston Cup who have

never won a Cup race and how many starts they have:

 

Active Drivers

Driver, Races Run

Kenny Wallace, 288

Mike Skinner, 221

Todd Bodine, 193

Mike Wallace, 138

Dave Blaney, 135

Kevin Lepage, 120

Jeff Green, 116

 

Drivers with the longest streak since they won a CUP race:

Driver, Races Run, Last Win, Track

Brett Bodine, 400, 4/22/90, North Wilkesboro

Ken Schrader, 397, 6/2/91, Dover

Jimmy Spencer, 296, 7/24/94, Talladega

Derrike Cope, 291, 6/3/90, Dover

Kyle Petty, 245, 6/4/95, Dover

Terry Labonte, 156, 3/28/99, Texas

John Andretti, 149, 4/18/99, Martinsville

Jeremy Mayfield, 105, 6/19/00, Pocono

 

Stock Car Fans - Rumblings - Bristol: Nothing like a short-track to get back to some real racing, eh? #97-Kurt Busch fought a dying alternator (two batteries?....whatcha wanna bet we're gonna see that become the norm real soon?) and held on to beat #29-Kevin Harvick to the finish of tonight's Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. But how about the welcome he got in Victory Lane? The last time we heard a Bristol crowd react like that was August 28, 1999 when Dale Earnhardt drop-kicked Terry Labonte out of the way on the last lap to take the win. Then, that classic "What's wrong with ya'll?" look on his face in Victory Lane was forever etched in our minds.

Busch claimed the wreckfest (we tied a Cup record with 20 cautions) for his 4th win of 2003 and the 8th of his career. He's now tied for 50th on the all-time win list with Dale Earnhardt Jr & Kyle Petty. He's credited with the 66th win for Roush Industries....they're just two behind the legendary car owner Bud Moore [records I have show Moore with 63 wins as an owner].

And now a word about Wally's attempt at waxing eloquent on the pre-race show. His comments about the privacy of driver communication with his crew would have played well a couple years ago....but that was before NASCAR decided that they could sell those conversations to the fans! When NASCAR found the cash cow in Trackpass and In Demand, they invited us to "get into their heads". So why should we care if they don't like us in their house?

And, Busch also becomes a sweeper as he's taken both Bristol events this season. Anybody else wonder if Jimmy was watching and what he was thinking tonight?

#32-Ricky Craven (8th) had his best finish since he was 8th at Dover in June.

#23-Kenny Wallace (15th) had his best finish since he was 15th at Daytona in July.

#01-Mike Skinner (18th) had his best finish since he was 11th at Darlington in March.

#0-Jason Leffler (26th) had his best finish since he was 10th at Homestead in October of 2001 (only 6 races).

STREAKIN....Kevin Harvick has 5 Top-5's in the last 6 races. Ryan Newman has 6 Top-10's in the last 7 races. Matt Kenseth has 5 Top-10's in the last 6 races.

The Rookie Report: Jamie McMurray (3rd) jumps into the lead in this category with his 10th top-finish this season. He was followed by: Tony Raines (20th), Casey Mears (21st), Greg Biffle (22nd), and Larry Foyt (39th).

This Week's Elevator...UP: Jamie McMurray (+28) becomes the leader of the pack as this is his third Operator award of the season. He was followed by Kevin Harvick (+21), Dale Jarrett (+20), and Casey Mears (+20). DOWN: The Big Dropper was Michael Waltrip (-39), followed by Mark Martin (-34), Jeff Gordon (-27), Ricky Rudd (-25), Ted Musgrave (-24), Rusty Wallace (-23), and Elliott Sadler (-21). Some big names on the down side of the "shaft" this week.

Matt Kenseth tacks 22 markers onto his lead....it's now 351 over Little E. Jeff Gordon's "Magic Number" has now ballooned to 8th [which means if Kenseth finishes 8th or better in the last 12 races, Gordon cannot catch him], Dale Jr's number is 4.

Kurt Busch's win translates to a 3-spot advance in the points (9th to 6th), while Michael Waltrip's crash gave him the same ride in the opposite direction (5th to 8th).

 

ALL STATS AND NEWS PULLED FROM JAYSKI.COM OR STOCK CAR FANS NEWSLETTER