Speaking of the old #3 car, a second degree of separation occurs from the Earnhardt era this week. Not only are the crews of Kevin Harvick and Robby Gordon are being swapped, but the cars are going to be swapped as well. Robby will now have the old �Black Aces� and will be driving the cars that Harvick had been driving up to this point, the only difference is that Gordon will be driving with his usual #31 colors. Harvick meanwhile will attempt to salvage his disaster of a season with a new crew chief in Gil Martin and his charges, including the cars, but will still be in the Goodwrench #29 scheme. The other silly season speculation of the week has Elliot Sadler now being offered Ricky Rudd�s #28 ride for 2003, an indication that Ford is going to try as hard as possible to keep Elliot in that make. This scenario also has Rudd (who is a Virginian) teamed up with the Wood bros. (also based in Virginia) in Sadler�s #21, which would probably be RR�s retirement ride.

Should Rudd and Sadler swaps rides for �03, look for Sadler�s value to rise, and Rudd�s to drop accordingly. In fact Sadler would become a monster in value-cap games in that scenario by landing in one of NASCAR�s marquee rides. Meanwhile the Gordon/Harvick crew swap has to hurt Robby, and it doesn�t come at a good time as this massive adjustment comes off a pair of good finishes and has Sears Point looming on the horizon, one of the two road races where the Latter-Day Tim Richmond is actually a top contender. On the other hand, I do not see anything changing Harvick�s fortunes for the time being. Kevin is also being rumored for the #28, if I had to choose between Harvick or Sadler, I would definitely be going with Sadler.

DOVER REVIEW

I did my own personal version of the Robby Gordon/Tony Stewart double this weekend, taking advantage of some duckets given to me at work to attend the South African Breweries (a.k.a Miller Lite) 250 go-CART race just down the freeway from me. That race went something like this, polesitter doesn�t see the green flag, loses five positions immediately and Paul Tracy (still trying to appeal his Indy 500 defeat) goes on to dominate the race for an easy win, with only 11 cars running at the finish � that�s all you need to know about CART. Memo to Adrian (or whoever was sitting on the pole) BOOGITY, BOOGITY, BOOGITY does NOT mean that we are going to run another pace lap. How do you translate boogity to Spanish or whatever, that may have been part of the problem. But the nachos and the Tomaso�s pizza were fantastic, and was even able to grab a $4 Jimmy Spencer die-cast for 11 bucks (can�t find those things anywhere else though). Hopefully I�ll be able to get to the Busch race here later on this month.

Then I headed home, and thankfully had the Dover race recorded for the right time and the right network. Matt Kenseth wins the pole for the first time in his life, and is way too easy starting there. So the DeWalt team changes engines and goes to the rear. #3 starter Jerry Nadeau and #5 Kurt Busch both wreck during the weekend, go to backup cars, and likewise move to the rear. So I guess you could go to the betting window at this point with a Kenseth, Nadeau, Busch exacta the way things have been going this year. Since all odd-numbered qualifiers are on the inside, that moves #7 Ricky Rudd onto the pole.

Sure enough, Kenseth hooked up from the get-go, moving from 40th to 30th in just the first 10 laps. First caution comes on Lap 17 for debris, but not before Bill Elliott takes lead from Rudd. Everyone pits, with some taking on two tires. Elliott 14.7, Rudd 16.8, and J. Gordon 17.5 and a tricky exit. Dale Jr. blocked in, team also removes a spring rubber/tract bar adjustment. John Andretti stays out to lead a lap. On the restart contact occurs between Craven and Nadeau, leading damage as visible as Hasim Rahman�s head on the front of the #32, and the Tide Ford starts fading back as a result. Nadeau, who has had a fast car most of the weekend, makes an unscheduled stop. Marlin, who has been struggling most of weekend, quickly takes his turn in the top ten. Rudd takes lead from Elliott on Lap 34, Mark Martin takes second by Lap 39. Second caution occurs on Lap 42 when Todd Bodine (back in the #26, as the first of a six week deal w/Discover card) takes out Nemechek, with Dale Jr. barely getting through, while Nadeau gets one of his two laps back. By the time Nemechek�s machine gets onto pit-road, the fuel cell catches on fire, closing pit road. Last Row Joe does not seem happy with his former teammate in the post-crash interview. When pit road opens, Martin�s crews throws a 15.7 and comes out first, but is reporting that his air-conditoner helmet is blowing nothing but hot air. Sadler is a big loser, dropping from sixth to 13th (lugnut). Bill Elliott also has a slow stop as his jackman slipped. Jeff Green rolls the dice with a two-tire change and is in fifth, but starts losing track position immediately on the restart.

Sterling Marlin has now moved into fifth, with Rusty Wallace sixth, and Tony Stewart seventh. Tony wrecked his concrete special during Happy Hour and considered going to a back up. Ricky Craven�s crew has not been able to make sufficient repairs and the #32 is now back in 24th. Meanwhile, Jimmie Johnson starts to show his muscle and passes Rudd for second, Kurt Busch starts to make his move as well and is up to 16th. Dale Jr. taps into Ryan Newman, causing possible damage to the #8. Jeremy Mayfield has to pull into the pits with a possible leak/caliper problem. Ward Burton (not been doing well recently) battles up to 14th but has lost radio communication. As the long-green flag run continues Martin and Johnson start to put cars a lap down. Gordon passes Rudd on Lap 110 to move into third. Bobby LaBonte (yes, he�s alive) is struggling and a lap down in 26th. Kyle Petty, a former winner (1995) here, is having a fine run in seventh. Craven and Dale Jr. are still struggling in the middle of pack. Rusty Wallace (dominant in Dover in the early �90�s is also losing track position and is in 14th. Martin amasses a four second lead over Johnson (no easy feat these days) until disaster strikes. Ryan Newman and Steve Park (who else) get together and crash, and #6 gets collected with a shot to the nose. With Martin involved several cars are able to get back on lead lap. Not much damage on #12. Meanwhile, Park not happy with Newman, suggests that the young guns need to �take a lesson from the veterans�. Yeah, like don�t wreck nine weeks in a row (like the #1 car). Rudd is caught in the pits, and loses track position. Jeff Gordon wins the race off pit road. Martin manages to stay on lead lap, but aero-package is obviously destroyed and will ultimately prove terminal. Bad pit stop moves Tony Stewart all the way back to 27th while Dale Jr. gets a spring rubber removed.

Jimmy Spencer is penalized (stop and go) for not being in position on restart, goes two laps down. Dale Jarrett (always a force at Dover) moves into top ten, while Johnson starts to close in on his teammate. Johnson gets the lead for the first time on Lap 144, and will remain there for much of the duration of the day. Elliott Sadler is having a strong run in eighth while Mark Martin gets lapped. Others making a run for the top ten include Robby Gordon, Casey Atwood, and Mike Skinner. Bobby Hamilton is having a even greater run and actually moves into third. Tires start to become a problem as Kurt Busch cuts a skin and pits 10-15 laps before scheduled stops. Ward Burton with an early stop (short-pit??) as well. A tire also goes down on Brett. Bodine. As we pass the halfway point, JJ�s lead climbs all the way up to five seconds. Green flag-stops start on Lap 208. Just before green-flag stops are due to begin Skinner runs out of fuel and is forced to coast into the pits. Even worse for Busch and Skinner, Matt Kenseth cuts a right front and nails the wall, bringing out a caution. Johnson (16.3), Gordon (15.7), and Rudd are first three off pit-road. Bobby Hamilton is forced to coast, as he is also out of gas on way to pit road. Another sub-par day for Ward Burton ends as he heads to the garage, along with Dick Trickle. Jimmy Johnson is still the dominant first-place car, others making a move include Jeff Burton (8th) and Tony Stewart (11th) Dale Jr. is having move problems after touching with Jimmy Spencer, and Dale doesn�t seem too happy (someone upset with Spence??? NNAAHH!!!!!) Rudd and Jeff Gordon fight in an epic battle for second for several laps, with Ricky finally winning the battle for position. Mark Martin is starting to lose water pressure, the end is near. Marlin (complaining of �loose in�) gets high and loses several positions, similar to a superspeedway effect. Bobby LaBonte has battled his way back onto the lead lap. Jarrett gets Gordon for third, Martin heads to the garage. Robbie Gordon now in seventh, shame that he�s going to drive Harvick�s car next week. Jarrett passes his teammate to second, both now hanging within 2.5 seconds of lead. Yellow comes out on Lap 290-something as Jeff Green�s day ends with cutting a tire and hitting the wall. Jarrett 14.5 wins race off pit road, followed by Rudd (14.8), Elliott, and Johnson (16.4). Take a spring rubber out of J. Gordon (17.0), who�s now back in tenth.

There is 102 laps left on the restart, probably not enough fuel to make it to the end. There are 18 cars left on lead lap. Rudd and JJ get hung up, as Jarrett quickly opens up 1.5 second lead. A smoking Mark Martin attempts to return, but he just brings out the yellow. Now there should be enough for everyone to make on fuel mileage, but Rudd elects to gamble, while Jarrett, Rudd, and Johnson take gas and four fresh skins. Restart order is Rudd, Ryan Newman, Elliot Sadler, Bill Elliott, and Jeff Burton. Johnson re-starts in tenth, but this week it�s enough time. However, the #48 bumps two cars on his way back, and gets warning from NASCAR. Stewart is back in 18th, last car on lead lap. Johnson moves up to 5th with 70 to go, and 3rd with 55 left, it is only a matter of time. Elliott passes Newman for second. Busch passes Newman to unlap himself. Craven (with his early damage repaired) makes it into top ten. Johnson closes in on Rudd, with lead down to 2.8 seconds with 48 to go, as he passes Elliott (also saving fuel) for second. Johnson cuts lead to 1.5 seconds with 43 left, and takes lead with 39 to go. Johnson is making circuits at 143.20 v. Rudd�s 141.67. Dale Jr. heads to pit road due to overheating, yet another bad finish for the #8. Ken Schrader�s machine breaks a tract bar, bringing out the yellow, a huge break for Busch (who gets around now on lead lap). Chad Knaus elects to have Johnson stay out while most others pit, Jarrett 15.1, Elliott 15.6, Rudd 15.0. Stewart stalls in his pit. Running order is now Johnson, J. Burton, Hamilton (gambled with gas only), Rudd, Elliott. Restart with 22 to go, JJ gets the jump, but not pulling away. Rudd quickly moves up to second, but radios that he has �a loose wheel�, which proves to be catastrophic. Rudd has to pit, and take four tires. Elliott closes in Johnson, down to .8 seconds with three to go, but Johnson hangs on by .5 seconds to finish the deal for once. R. Gordon pushes Hamilton out of the way to grab eighth, and get the wrath from the #55 car, as Robby takes his #31 to a near virtual stop to avoid having Hamilton spin him.

The finishing order is as follows: Johnson, Elliott, Burton, Newman, Jarrett, J. Gordon, Craven, R. Gordon, Hamilton, Sadler. Other notables include Tony Stewart (11th), Kurt Busch (12th), Sterling Marlin (13th), Casey Atwood (14th), Bobby LaBonte (16th), Rusty Wallace (17th), Ricky Rudd (19th), Michael Waltrip (21st), Jimmy Spencer (23rd), Kevin Harvick (28th and nothing close to being a factor all day), Dale Jr. (30th), Jeremy Mayfield (35th), Ward Burton (37th), Jeff Green (38th), Matt Kenseth (a damaging 40th), and Mark Martin (41st). Long-time Busch veteran Tony Raines made his cup debut, qualifying 17th and finishing 31st in a pretty respectable run. By finishing 13th Marlin increases his point lead to 136 over a fast-charging Jimmie Johnson, followed by J. Gordon (-160), Kenseth (-168), Rusty (-211), Martin (-222), Stewart (-225), Busch (-243), Elliott (-287), and Rudd (-293).

OTHER GARAGE RUMORS

Mark Martin�s team was fined $50,000 for being 1/8 inch too low in his World 600 win, but as with Dale Jr. this fall and Matt Kenseth earlier in the year, it was a small price to pay, especially in light of the million dollar bonuses won by Junior and Martin. But NASCAR is contemplating changing things up, and you make look for future violators to lose championship points as well, which may effect your fantasy team if you were to have such driver. The last driver to be docked points was Jeremy Mayfield in 1999 for his team using �illegal fuel additives�.

POCONO PREVIEW

Welcome to the �Roval�, as Pocono is a triangular raceway with a partial road-coarse look, where gear-shifting is an imperative skill. The main straightaway is a lengthy monster, with speeds reaching up to 200 MPH before jamming the breaks to a very sharp Turn 1. The second straight is shorter, leading to a more gentler turn coming into the �short-chute�, culminating in a long-sweeping turn into the front straightaway. Notice trends that happen on this track even more than normal, since the circuit will be right back in the Pocono�s six weeks from now. Also look for Pocono, and Michigan next week to be two of the less stresful tracks out there, as both events tend to become fuel mileage races. The drivers to watch for are as follows�

Ricky Rudd - Both Yates members rank as the favorites this week. In fact the #28 and #88 are good plays for the next three weeks. RR won from the pole in June, and started second but faded to eleventh in the July race.

Dale Jarrett - Until crapping out in the Summer race of '01, DJ's record here in recent years is nothing short of unbelievable, with eight straight top fives (a first, two seconds, three thirds, a fourth, and a fifth), he is favorite #2.

Bobby LaBonte - Another driver who's not done much this year who must be watched here. Swept both races in 1999, and was the July winner last year.

Tony Stewart - Personally, I like the prospects of the other Gibbs car. Finished seventh and third last year. The overall record is not that impressive (two top fives in six races), but Tony is a good road course type.

Jimmie Johnson - And when will I ever learn, the #1 driver overall in my book right now and he gets mentioned fifth. Jeff Gordon is always great here, so that should translate. JJ's possible pitfall here would be a missed shift or two late. But there is more pit road room than anywhere on the circuit so his entries there should be just fine.

Jeff Gordon - Shame on me failing to mention that Jeff led 381 of 400 laps at Dover last June. Jeff has six top threes (two wins, three seconds, and a third) in his last ten races here.

Mark Martin - How about this?? MM has finished fifth in the June race four straight years, with six top fives in the last eight races, so look for him to bounce back from last weeks bad luck.

Bill Elliott - Bill squeezed out a top five here last year, and is coming off a couple of solid runs, great sleeper.

Matt Kenseth - Not a good record here, still looking for his first top five. But if you like to go with drivers coming off a bad result, Matt is still good.

Sterling Marlin - Has definitely cooled down, but did get a fourth in this race in '01, this should be the day he bounces back big time.

Rusty Wallace - Another veteran good at the roadie type tracks.

SLEEPER PICKS

Robbie Gordon - I personally don't like him this week with the crew/car change, but the track is close enough to a road course to suit him and nascarodds.com has him ranked high.

Dave Blaney - Nascarodds likes the #77 as a possible sleeper this week also.

Michael Waltrip - Has been coming on enough that I think he could sneak into the top ten again this week.

Ricky Craven - Continues to contend every week, but not one of his better tracks.

Kurt Busch/Jeff Burton - At the very worst, Rosch drivers get at least a punchers chance in every race.

SHAKY PICKS

Ryan Newman - This race usually claims a few motors, and we all know Ryan's record with that this year.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Did come away with a second last July, but this is not one of his better tracks and this is not one of #8's better years.

DON'T COUNT ON

Kevin Harvick - Kevin gets the short end of the crew swap as he gets shoved out the RCR door at years end.

Look for things to shake out like this sometime Sunday afternoon...

1. Rudd, 2. Johnson, 3. Stewart, 4. Jarrett, 5. Martin, 6. J. Gordon, 7. Marlin, 8. B. LaBonte, 9. Marlin, 10. Kenseth

Nascarodds early line reads as follows...

Rudd 3-1, Jarrett 4-1, B. LaBonte 9-2, Stewart 5-1, Johnson 6-1, J. Gordon 7-1, Martin 8-1, Kenseth 9-1, Elliott 10-1, Marlin 11-1, J. Burton 12-1, Dale Jr. 13-1, Busch 14-1, Wallace 15-1, Newman 16-1, Blaney 17-1, R. Gordon 18-1, Waltrip 19-1, Benson 20-1, Spencer 22-1, T. LaBonte 24-1, Schrader 26-1, W. Burton 28-1, Craven 30-1, Harvick 32-1, Sadler 34-1, Mayfield 36-1, Hamilton 38-1, Nemechek 40-1, Atwood 42-1, J. Green 44-1, Skinner 46-1, Park 48-1, Petty 50-1, Andretti 55-1, Stricklin 60-1, Compton 65-1, B. Bodine 70-1, Grissom 75-1