POCONO REVIEW

Torrential rains during the week resulted in track seepage on Friday, forcing the cancellation of qualifications. Thus for the first time this season, the grid was set on current owner points for the season. That meant Sterling Marlin on the pole where he did not last for long due to a loose running condition, and would eventually head towards the middle of the field. Ricky Craven and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were two of the big movers early on who ascended near the front, behind race leader and #3 starter Jeff Gordon. Ricky Rudd was the one driver who changed engines after Happy Hour and started in 42nd, but quickly moved up to 22nd in the early laps, but the crew was reporting a hotter than normal engine. Ryan Newman was another hot driver early on and moved into the top five as well. The first driver of any significance to encounter problems would be Jeff Green, who would make an extended stay behind the wall due to a break fire. Bobby LaBonte is another driver with problems, as he is unable to use the low gears on the road-course like triangular oval and is stuck in 38th. Tony Stewart is reporting a loose running condition and is in 16th while Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch join the top-five fray. Joe Nemechek would crash solo-style to bring out the day�s first caution on Lap 31. Craven 15.6, Gordon 16.4, Newman 17.0 with no adjustments while Rudd gets some tape removed from the grill of the #28 machine. Bobby LaBonte would make several trips to pit road during the yellow in an attempt to get the low gears fixed.

By pitting just before the crash, and then staying on the lead lap on this huge track, Kyle Petty and John Andretti would inherit the top two spots on the restart. Ricky Craven gets the lead on the restart while Busch gets loose and slaps the wall, with significant damage being the result. Both Dale Jarrett and Ricky Rudd are on the march, Jarrett into the top five, and Rudd in the top ten despite an engine still running a bit hot. Robby Gordon with his new crew is up to 15th while Marlin is battling the likes of Ken Schrader and Steve Park in the middle of the field. Ryan Newman is now in the lead, and just when one gets the idea that this could be the week that he slay�s the demons of recent weeks, Newman drops off the pace and loses complete oil pressure, and is forced behind the wall. Jarrett is now in the lead as a round of green-flag stops ensue. Johnson 15.8 with an acceptable engine temp of 220, Rudd 16.2 with another piece of tape pulled off, Spencer 15.4, Junior 16.6 with a round of wedge, Martin 16.4 with a rubber pulled out, Kenseth and Elliott both check in with 15.4�s.

Newman gets his oil pressure valve repaired and is out relatively quickly, now ten laps in arrears. Jarrett is now up to a five and a half second lead over Bill Elliott. Elliot Sadler leads a lap and is the last to pit � one of the Wood Bros. patented fuel conservation rounds perhaps??? Ward Burton has also lost the low gears and is a lap down in 34th. After a great early run, Jeff Gordon is now running 12th with a car that Gordon says is now �unbelievably loose�. Robby Gordon is now closing in on the top ten. Kevin Harvick, showing zero signs of shaking his doldrums, goes behind the wall with a transmission problem. Caution out on Lap 87 after Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch (who has just come back out from behind the wall) crash. Johnson 16.8, Jarrett 15.8, and Elliott 16.2, but none of the three could match up to the challenge of Matt Kenseth�s crew and the #17 comes out first. Guess it�s time to award the crew chief of the week to Robbie Reiser. Sterling Marlin and Rusty Wallace both opt for two tires, and get the top five track position as a result.

The yeoman�s work of Kenseth�s crew goes for naught as the #17 goes down with a transmission problem immediately after the restart, and goes behind the wall. That marks two early exits in a row for Matt, and drops him to eighth in the point standings, so much for the title run. Bill Elliott and Dale Jarrett are now the best two cars running, followed by Ricky Rudd and then a gaggle of cars involving Sterling Marlin, Rusty Wallace, (both with their two tires), Michael Waltrip, Dale Jr., and a fast charging Robby Gordon. Ward Burton and Terry LaBonte both succumb to mechanical problem and go behind the wall. Mark Martin is running another solid race and is now in sixth as the event takes the flavor of a Ford show. John Andretti crashes to bring out the next caution, Jarrett 15.9, Johnson 15.9, Elliott 16.4, Rudd 14.8. Now well past the halfway point, Rudd takes the lead on the restart. Dave Blaney is running a solid race and is in 12th while Jeff Gordon�s team made some adjustments with the #24 back in 18th. Nearly all crew chiefs (led of course by Chad Knaus) are adamant about not being able to make it on only one stop should the race stay green till the end (which of course it won�t). Mike Skinner makes contact with the wall but is able to make it back to pit road as we stay green. Potential pre-race dark horse Jeremy Mayfield joins the attrition list and goes behind the wall. J. Gordon is now running well and is up to ninth, but with the field so spread out needs a caution bad. Jeff Burton is having another quiet solid race and is in seventh. Jimmie Johnson is the first to head to pit-road for green flag stops and is out in 14.6. Teammate Jeff Gordon meanwhile locks his breaks trying to get to the pit road speed limit and spins toward the pit wall but fortunately does not hit it. Still, Gordon has problems re-firing as �real flames� emerge from the #24. Rudd 15.9, Elliott, 15.1, Craven 14.2, Waltrip 14.3, Stewart 15.3, but drops a clutch and is stalled momentarily. Jeff Burton pits in 14.3 with 43 laps to go and may be able to make it to the end. Rosch teammate Mark Martin stays out even longer and will be able to make it. Dale Jr. stays out too long, runs out of gas on the Long Pond stretch, pits in 18.8, and is held up by NASCAR for an unspecified reason.

Rosch Racing�s great conversation strategy goes for naught as a caution comes out for debris on lap 167 � a competition yellow perhaps??? Rudd 14.3 and Jarrett 14.9 as the Yates cars are among the first ones out. Other pit times include Martin 14.8, and Bill Elliott 18.0, which drops the #9 from fourth to twelfth. Rusty Wallace and Sterling Marlin are among those taking two tires, while Jeff Burton inherits the race lead. Burton takes a nice lead on the restart, as Frankie Stoddard and Kim Burton look on nervously on top of the war wagon. Of course Kim Burton was nervous as Jeff was cruising to victory last fall, but then again this is racing. Bill Elliott heads to pit road and the hood comes up, ruining a would-be good day for the #9 car. Rudd and Jarrett pass Burton with 20 to go and it looks like another banner day for RYR at Pocono. J. Gordon has come back strong from his pit road adventure and passes Tony Stewart for seventh. Meanwhile a great three-wide battle is going on between R. Gordon, Junior and Craven, with Kyle Petty and Casey Atwood also in the fray. Robbie backs away from the #8 and #32, and we hear Mike Joy�s spiel on TV on just how much Robby has matured. Not so fast, Robby gets into Craven, tire goes down, #31 heads to pit road and goes a lap down. The race still appears to be Ricky�s to lose, and he loses it all right where right on cue as from this time a week ago, Ricky reports a tire problem, this time a slow leak with a right rear. Jarrett gets Rudd, followed by both Marlin and Johnson. As the white flag comes out a tire blows on the #28 and gets into the wall. Rudd is able to make it around and finishes 17th. Todd Bodine�s engine expires and is not so lucky, as the #26 does not make it around and finishes a lap down as Jarrett takes the checkers under caution.

Martin and Johnson finish behind Jarrett, followed by Sterling Marlin and Jeff Gordon. Jeff Burton, Tony Stewart, Michael Waltrip, Rusty Wallace, and Dave Blaney round out the top ten. Other notables include Casey Atwood (11th), Dale Jr. (12th), Ricky Craven (14th), Robby Gordon (19th), Steve Park (23rd), Bobby LaBonte (26th), Bill Elliott (30th), Ryan Newman (32nd), Ward Burton (33rd), Jeff Green (34th), Matt Kenseth (35th), Jeremy Mayfield (36th), Kevin Harvick (39th), and Kurt Busch (40th). The top three point leaders basically all held serve, with Sterling Marlin 136 points ahead of Sterling Marlin, and 165 ahead of Jeff Gordon. Mark Martin (-212), and Rusty Wallace (-238) round out the top five.

GARAGE NEWS

Some additional silly-season rumors continue to circulate. Apparently, DEI is looking for possible replacements for Michael Waltrip for 2003. Considering MW�s recent strong runs that seems hard to figure. And actually reports of Steve Park leaving have actually cooled down. If Waltrip gets bumped from the #15, it is possible that he could join his brother in the broadcasting world. Caterpiller has re-upped with the #22 for next year, and Ward Burton has been offered a contract, but Ward has not signed yet, though chances are probable that he eventually will sign the dotted line. One sponsor that appears to be leaving is the M&M�s from the #36. Reports also have Jerry Nadeau replacing Ken Schrader in that car for �03. Bill Davis Racing (#22 and #23) is planning on adding a third car for selected races in the second half. Finally, it turns out that Rusty Wallace has a broken left foot, suffered in a crash that occurred during the All-Star race. The foot was not a factor at Pocono, or will it be at Michigan, but will probably present problems at Sears Point, where the veteran is a perennial contender.

Circle on Sunday. NASCAR continues to emphasize to teams that it will come down much harder on violators who fail post-race height inspections, realizing that $50,000 is barely a dent in the wallet when collecting a million or so in the process. In other words, teams can no longer be �a little bit pregnant�. Thence, NASCAR is looking at taking away points, and perhaps even the win (gasp) to future violators who dare come up 1/8 of an inch short. My guess is NASCAR will not wait long to make an example of someone and strip some points and/or win. Let�s pray they do it in the Busch series first.

MICHIGAN PREVIEW

Believe it or not the first half is winding down fast. After Michigan, we go to Sears Point, where a few road course specialists will be in the fray, and then it�s off to Daytona for the Pepsi 400 where the likes of Geoff Bodine, Kenny Wallace, and Mike Wallace, will be onboard. This is one of the less �stressful� races on the schedule, being only 400 miles on a 2-mile oval, which should cut down on possible attrition. Teams that come out best this week are most likely those who excel in fuel management as well as pit strategy. The contenders are as follows�

Sterling Marlin � Best driver here in �01, placing third in June before giving Dodge it�s first win in August�s rain-shortened event. Also, his strong run in Pocono (where his crew again was huge) was nice to see.

Jeff Gordon � Won the pole as well as the race last June. Also five top fives in his last five races.

Ricky Rudd � Qualified and finished second behind Gordon in this race in �01. I say he keeps knocking on the door until he kicks it down.

Mark Martin � Hot driver + Rosch factor. A four-time winner at this venue in his career.

Jimmie Johnson � Knaus is probably already telling people he will be short on fuel. The #48 seems to have survived just fine despite that the last month.

Tony Stewart � Crapped out in both races last year (25th and 27th), but won this event in 2000.

Dale Jarrett � Almost has as good a grip on this place as he does on Pocono, with six top five�s and a win in his last six races here. Only a cut tire ruined his chances of winning in August.

Bill Elliott - Strong in both runs last year (get the feeling it�s going to be a Dodge/Ford show???), qualifying sixth and finishing ninth in June and placing second and finishing third in the August outing. And the pit crew is coming through as well, with official times of 14.9, 15.9, 15.0, and 15.1 in his first four stops last week.

Matt Kenseth � finished fourth last August. Look for all the Rosch cars to be a huge factor in this fuel-mileage cauldron.

Jeff Burton � Three top fives since �98, all the Rosch boys are good bets this week.

Ricky Craven � Cal Wells � �lone wolf� was a huge factor in the August event, qualifying on the pole and finishing second. It�s about time the #32 is mentioned in the same breath as the big boys.

Ryan Newman � Actually has a history here, qualifying twelth and finishing fifth in the #02 last year.

LONG SHOTS

Kurt Busch � What is it that I said about messing with the Karma??? Since KB�s stunt in the all-star race it�s been a 31st, 12th, and 40th. Not a good sport to lose friends.

Jeremy Mayfield � Due for a huge race. Qualified ninth and finished fourth with the #12 in this event last year.

Dave Blaney � Just as the past two years (w/Robert Pressley), the #77 is becoming more of a factor. Finished eighth and sixth with the #93 car last year.

Michael Waltrip � Never a contender to win, but is beginning to find his way into the top ten consistently. Not bad for a lame duck.

Robby Gordon - Week 1 of the crew swap went well for Robby, I expect another top 15-20 finish here.

DON�T COUNT ON

Johnny Benson � Yes, this is his home track and he did finish fifth in the August race. But the #10 Pontiac just does not matchup well these days. This is one team definitely counting down the days until the new 2003 template comes in.

Jimmy Spencer � One of the year�s big disappointments, literally and figuratively. One would have thought that the gig with Sabates Racing would have fared much better.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. � Giving new meaning to �running in the red�. 39th and 12th places finishes here in �01. I smell yet another problem to crop up on Sunday.

Look for things to shake out as follows�

1. Johnson (about time somebody picked him), 2. Marlin, 3. Gordon, 4. Martin, 5. Rudd, 6. Stewart, 7. Jarrett, 8. Kenseth, 9. Elliott, 10. J. Burton

The odds I have from NASCARODDS, who actually made a pretty good call with Robby Gordon (until cutting down a tire) last week is as follows...

J. Gordon 3-1, Marlin 4-1, Rudd 9-2, Johnson 5-1, Jarrett 6-1, Martin 7-1, J. Burton 8-1, Kenseth 9-1, Elliott 10-1, Dale Jr. 11-1, Stewart 12-1, B. LaBonte 13-1, Newman 14-1, Rusty 15-1, Craven 16-1, Busch 17-1, Blaney 18-1, Mayfield 19-1, Nemechek 20-1, Harvick 22-1, Benson 24-1, Spencer 26-1, W. Burton 28-1, Andretti 30-1, Schrader 32-1, Sadler 34-1, Waltrip 36-1, R. Gordon 38-1, Hamilton 40-1, T. Bodine 42-1, Atwood 44-1, Petty 46-1, T. LaBonte 48-1, J. Green 50-1, Park 55-1, Skinner 60-1, Stricklin 65-1, Compton 70-1, B. Bodine 75-1, Grissom 80-1

ANDY HOUSTON AWARD

As stated at the beginning of the season, this award was named for the driver who always seemed to be headed for the garage by the first parade lap was over. But at least Andy Houston had a legitimate ride, who was capable of a decent finish if he could just last the entire race. That is more than I can say for the two recipiants of this weeks award, 'field fillers' Carl Long and Frank Kimmel. And if you think I'm being harsh by calling them field fillers just ask Mike Joy, he'll tell you. Even Shawna Robinson makes an effort to compete and to stay out for the entire race.

The reasons for Long and Kimmel being stuck in the back of the field (Kimmel in the #46 car, which I did not know existed) are very clear. If any less than 43 cars take the green flag in any particular race, NASCAR would then be forced to give the network covering the race a substansial rebate check. Thus, we get the likes of Kimmel, Long, Derrick Cope, Dick Trickle, and Andy Hillenburg to be in the field and just to run a few laps just so we can have a full field. Both drivers lived down to expectations on Sunday, with Kimmel bowing out after eight laps with overheating (allegedly) and with Long making the hard left turn after 18 cirucits with a brake problem (allegedly). I say it is time to for Rosch, RCR, DEI, etc to field extra teams just to keep the fillers out. Greg Biffle and Tony Raines are much better alternatives than Long, Hillenburg, or any other Dave Marcis entry.