Bill Elliott sits on the pole along with Mike Skinner (of all people), and Skinner would end up leading Lap 1. I would imagine that is the first time the Morgan-McClure/Kodak car has led a lap since the 1995 glory days of Sterling Marlin. It doesn�t last though as Skinner is the first of many to go high into the marbles, and loses several positions. Dave Blaney has one of his best qualifying runs ever starting in Row 2, but that doesn�t last as he spins in the backstretch on Lap 3, Ryan Newman and Matt Kenseth are forced to break hard, but except for some minor damage on the #12, both escape unscathed. Blaney would also be able to stay on the lead lap, but would have some extended pit road stays later on. Rusty Wallace leads on the restart (Lap 7) while the likes of Tony Stewart, Ricky Rudd, and home favorite Ricky Craven all squeeze into the top five. Meanwhile Kevin Harvick is looking great again, picking up ten positions from his starting spot of 24th. A Jimmy Spencer spin on Lap 20 brings out the second caution. Many in the field pits, but not race leader Wallace. Pre-race projections have the field being able to go 90 laps on feul, while Goodyear says the tires should be good for 120-130 laps. Restart order is Rusty, Stewart, Elliott, Rudd, Craven, Skinner, Marlin, and Jeff Gordon. None of the eight would be a factor at the end of the day. Joe Nemechek brings out the third caution on Lap 31, after getting some help from Bobby LaBonte. Nemechek would give Bobby the �use your head� signal as the field comes around on yellow. Many pit again, although crew chief Robbie Reiser gets the hint that it will be a long caution day, and plays the track position game by having the #17 machine of Matt Kenseth take on fuel only.

Restart on Lap 36, and Bill Elliott goes off the pace immediately, turns out to be a carburetor, and costs the #9 thirteen laps. Field-filler Morgan Shepherd has actually been running on the lead lap, but goes to the garage. Caution #4 on Lap 66 when Elliott Sadler spins, but hits nothing. No changes for Junior, who is running great. Rusty 16.5, Stewart 15.4, Rudd 15.3, but block in by the #20. Problems on pit road for Jeff Gordon as well. Kenseth takes on two tires and is front on the restart. The Turn 4 problems start to manifest themselves as Robby Gordon and Ward Burton get high and both lose several positions. Mike Skinner goes off the pace and onto pit road. Junior battles, and eventually overtakes Kenseth for the lead. Caution #5 when Casey Atwood and John Andretti get together in front of the start-finish line. It�s beginning to sound like a Bristol affair. Restart on Lap 80 with Junior, Kenseth, and New Hampshire favorite Jeff Burton leading the charge. None of the three would be heard from by the end of the day. Jimmy Spencer now in 12th, Stacy Compton in 13th, Kyle Petty in 14th, and looking great as he heads into Turn 4�WHOOPS!!! Petty�s car skids as if on ice and smacks into the wall � Caution #6 (Lap 106). Leaders on pit road, Junior 15.4, Kenseth 14.7, Stewart plays the track position game with two tires � 8.7. Ward Burton restarts in first but is quickly passed by Jerry Nadeau in the #10. Rusty Wallace gets out of line on Lap 112, apparently a tire going down. Kurt Busch has some contact, and loses eight positions. Now Tony Stewart collects the Turn 4 wall, and comes to rest in front of Turn 1, Caution #7. Tony pissed as he heads straight for his motorcoach, without getting the mandatory checkup or giving any TV interviews. Crew chief Greg Zimpadelli does the talking for Stewart, and rips into the track, as the track continues to rip apart. Should have took the four tires Tony�

Nadeau pits, most everyone else stays out. Kenseth and Junior back in the lead while Jeff Gordon is stuck in the 26th position. There are a few extra caution laps while safety crews attempt to clean up the Turn 3 / 4 area. Kenseth/Junior continue to be the story as the race reaches the halfway point. Kurt Busch has a tire go down in Turn 1, and the tire is in shreds by the time he makes it to pit road, which is an extended stop while the crew has to wedge the left side up, the whole episode would cost Busch two laps. Smoke pours from the rear of Ricky Rudd�s machine (oil line???) as Caution #8 comes out on Lap 158, while Rudd is black-flagged. Junior 15.3, Kenseth 15.0, Newman 14.8. Nadeau leads on the restart (Lap 168), but has possible breaking problems. Jeff Gordon has played the track-position game to move into fourth, and Jeff Green with another strong run has moved into the top ten. Steve Park slams the Turn 4 wall to bring out caution #9 (Lap 187). Most teams pit again, with Jeff Gordon getting a wedge adjustment. Ward Burton leads on the restart (Lap 192), with Kevin Harvick sitting in fifth, appearing primed for a second straight win. Bill Elliott appears to be off the pace yet again, while Jeff Gordon gets high, and brushes the Turn 4 wall. Drivers galore are now bitching on their radios, and Gordon is calling for the race to be red-flagged. Michael Waltrip and Terry LaBonte get together on Turn 1 to bring out Caution #10. Tommy Baldwin says that Ward Burton�s machine is getting �terrible gas mileage�. Gordon goes down half a pound, 15.2. Kenseth and Junior back in front from the restart (Lap 210), it has been their show. Do they have enough fuel to make it the rest of the way???

Junior is reporting a vibration on Lap 230 as Kenseth starts to pull away. Caution #11 comes out on Lap 232 for a piece of metal that has fallen on the track. 31 cars still on the lead lap, Junior 15.1, Kenseth 15.4, Jeff Burton 15.9. Fuel only on both of the Bill Davis cars, the #22 and #23. Kevin Harvick loses �several positions� on pit road. Dale Jarrett takes fuel only and restarts in first, followed by Jimmie Johnson, Elliot Sadler, Jeff Green and Ward Burton � as the race is turned upside down. Caution #12 on Lap 242 when Michael Waltrip becomes yet another Turn 4 victim, as Kurt Busch is able to make up his second of two laps to get back on the lead circuit. Restart on Lap 248, with Jarrett still in front. Ricky Craven spins on the front stretch, and several drivers, including Jeff Gordon are forced to take evasive action, a couple cars having to drive-thru pit road. Elliot Sadler overtakes Jarrett with 42 laps to go. According to the Sadler camp, it will be close on fuel, just before Caution #13 occurs. Matt Kenseth starts mowing them down on the restart, and overtakes Jarrett for the race lead with 18 laps to go, Ward Burton goes underneath to get second, while Jeff Green overtakes Sadler for fourth. Dale Jr. is getting aggressive, banging the #26 machine of Todd Bodine around, and pays by spinning in the backstretch � and the rear end ultimately making contact with the inside retaining rail. Amazing no one else involved, and Dale Jr. is able to stay on the lead lap - as the caution waves for the 14th time. Double-file restart with 12 laps to go. Ward Burton overtakes Kenseth, for the race lead - the #17 may carry an AT & T logo, but at this point it might as well be WORLDCOM as the car goes south fast. Turns out Kenseth has a tire going down, he gets the Ricky Rudd award for the week. Ward Burton opens up a huge lead at this point and goes on to take the checkers, while Kenseth had to go to pit road, and finishes 33rd�

Jeff Green leads another huge day for RCR by finishing a career-best second. Dale Jarrett finishes third but fails post-race inspection. An 1/8 inch too short, that wound up costing DJ 25 points. Rounding out the top ten was Rusty Wallace, Ryan Newman, Todd Bodine (great run!!), Robby Gordon, Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick (all three RCR drivers in the top ten), and Elliot Sadler. Other notable scattered in the New England wreckage include Jeff Burton (12th), Sterling Marlin (14th), Jimmie Johnson (15th), Mark Martin (16th), Ricky Rudd (17th), Michael Waltrip (20th), Ricky Craven (21st), Dale Jr. (23rd), Jeff Gordon (29th), Matt Kenseth (33rd), Bill Elliott (34th), Dave Blaney (35th), and Tony Stewart (39rd). Sterling Marlin maintains a 49-point lead over Mark Martin, followed by Jimmie Johnson (-89), Jeff Gordon, (-95), and Tony Stewart (-157).

Obviously, all of the postrace talk centered around the track condition. Bobby LaBonte called for NHIS to refund everyone's money for 'impersonating a race'. LaBonte adds 'It was tearing up in 1990 and it's still doing the same thing. Jeff Gordon was so steamed that he wouldn't do interviews afterward, but had plenty to say over the radio in the latter stages. 'NASCAR, they need to red-flag this race -- it is not safe to be out on this race track'. And then there was Greg Zipadelli's view - in regards to the Stewart crash, 'We just got a little bit out of the groove -- but there is no groove. He got in the junk and wrecked a perfectly good race car.' And then there was Ward Burton's view - 'It took me three-to-five laps to get any grip at all, the track has always been like that - I tried to stay on the inside groove at both ends because that is where the grip was at'. Appearantly it is going to take more than the $200,000 track owner Bob Bahre spent in expanding the racing surface to fix this mess. And the great news is the fall race is only eight weeks away, I imagine Texas will offer to take that race off NHIS hand's, as they tried with the rescheduled Thanksgiving race last year. If things don't get straightened out soon, NHIS could find themselves on the contraction list once NASCAR decides on expanding to Colorado as well as that second Texas race...

GARAGE NOTES

RUDD IS HAVING ISSUES WITH FATBACK AS WELL AS HIS CONTRACT V. JARRETT...

Once again, most of the talk centers around Ricky Rudd - and it's starting to get strange. Apparantly Rudd got into a major spat with crew chief Fatback McSwain over Fatback holding a 'victory party' during the off week to celebrate the Sonoma win, without Rudd - who was on vacation during that time. Insiders compared the row to a pair of 'four year-olds fighting'... After that episode, RYR announce that 'it was highly unlikey' that Rudd will return next year. Some feel that Ricky has been unhappy ever since teammate Dale Jarrett signed on with UPS for sponsorship money far greater than what Rudd is locked in with Texaco/Chevron. Meanwhile speculation has Rudd going everywhere from being a third driver for Chip Ganassi (Sterling Marlin/Jimmy Spencer) to joining the new partnership between Andy Petree and Dallas Cowboy owner Jerry Jones. Also, it appears that Steve Park will stay with the #1/Penzoil car through the 2003 season, after which both Park's and Penzoil's contracts expire. Meanwhile, DEI is courting IRL star Sam Hornish Jr. to run in a 'handful of races' in a fourth DEI car in '03, then to take over the #1 with a new sponsor after that. Finally, Petty Enterprises is making a pitching change with the #44 car for the second time this year, as Jerry Nadeau has been hired for the balance of the season.

POCONO PREVIEW

It's back to the mountains, as NASCAR returns to Pocono for the second time in seven weeks. In case you already forgot about the June event, you can get the entire recap here. That would had been the race Ricky Rudd had in his hip pocket until a bad tire cost him late. Also, qualifying was rained out that weekend, so the grid was set on points. The list of suspects is as follows...

Ricky Rudd - I said it would be a Yates show last time, and it was exactly that until Rudd blew that tire.

Dale Jarrett - 9 out of his last 10 for top fives here, not a badd batting average.

Mark Martin - Ford track. Ford track. Seven out of his last nine as far as top fives are concerned.

Jeff Gordon - Seven out of eleven top fives, notice a pattern - the big guns just don't get collected here.

Tony Stewart - Also a big-time Joe Gibbs track. Coming off three straight top tens here.

Bobby LaBonte - Always a big-time track for the #18, don't be surprised if he doesn't steal his second win of the year.

Jimmie Johnson - Third place in June, best bet out of the young guns.

Sterling Marlin - A solid top five in June, seems to be content with collecting points, and staying in the lead. A safe play.

Bill Elliott - Blew an engine here last time out, so he's due to make amends.

Matt Kenseth - Only because he's due.

Jeff Burton - Finished sixth in June.

Kurt Busch - Again, can't do too much wrong with Fords this week.

Rusty Wallace - Ninth place last month.

Ryan Newman - Beginning to put some consistant runs together.

SLEEPERS

Ricky Craven - A typical Craven day in June, placing 14th.

Kevin Harvick - Only reason I'm not ranking the #29 with the big boys is because RCR had a bad day here in June>

Robby Gordon - Coming off a solid top ten, and this is one of his better tracks.

Dave Blaney - Top ten in June, and a monster qualifying run last week. He's about to put it together.

Todd Bodine - Another driver with a lot of momentum going. Was looking at a great finish before the engine expired on the last lap in June.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Beginning to run better consistantly, twelth place last month.

Michael Waltrip - Hasn't been as good since inking that contract (coincidence???), but another top ten here a possibility.

John Andretti - This week's deep sleeper. This should be Andretti's best portion of the season with Pocono, Indy, and Watkins Glen coming up.

And the final finishing order will be...

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

You want your odds??? I've got your odds right here...
J. Gordon 3-1, Martin 4-1, Stewart 9-2, Marlin 5-1, Rudd 6-1, Johnson 7-1, Rusty 8-1, J. Burton 9-1, Jarrett 10-1, Kenseth 11-1, B. LaBonte 12-1, Dale Jr. 13-1, Newman 14-1, Elliott 15-1, Busch 16-1, W. Burton 17-1, Harvick 18-1, Blaney 19-1, Craven 20-1, T. Bodine 22-1, Waltrip 24-1, Spencer 26-1, J. Green 28-1, Sadler 30-1, Nadeau 32-1, Schrader 34-1, T. LaBonte 36-1, R. Gordon 38-1, Mayfield 40-1, Hamilton 42-1, Nemechek 44-1, Andretti 46-1, Skinner 48-1, Park 50-1, Atwood 55-1, Petty 60-1, Compton 65-1, Stricklin 70-1, Grissom 75-1, B. Bodine 80-1

ANDY HOUSTON AWARD

NASCAR made a call to Geoff Bodine to trot out the #66 car to help fill out the field. At least it was a legitimate driver and a legitimate team. Geoff lasted just four laps. It's the plate tracks with the #09 car when he shines. 60-year old Morgan Shepherd also made an appearance, and actually went around NHIS 43 times (on the lead lap) before heading to the garage.