DOVER RECAP

Rusty Wallace (in same car he used for second place at Bristol) dominates the entire weekend leading up to Sunday and starts on the pole, followed by Dale Jarrett and Dale Jr. Rusty gets the jump on the start until Dale Jr. claims the lead on Lap 3. Meanwhile Jeff Green appears to be one of the top drivers willing to try the high groove. Also, Kurt Busch wins a good battle with Greg Biffle for the sixth position. Biffle qualified fifth but would go steadily downhill throughout the day. Rusty suddenly closes the gap on Junior and reclaims the lead in the �beer battle� on Lap 20. Tony Stewart qualified back in 23rd (a recent trend) but quickly picks up ten positions in the early going. Now lets translate what the Japanese announcer is saying regarding the process of Hideo Fukuyama in the #66 car�.�Rusty laps Hideo, now Junior laps him, Jarrett laps, everyone laps him��. Hideo would hang around for about 2/3 distance before bowing (no pun intended) out with transmission problems. First wreck involves Ward Burton and Jerry Nadeau � who both slam the inside wall in front of the start/finish line on Lap 27. All cars pit as tire wear (softer compound from the spring race) is an issue. Newman 14.9, Junior 15.4, Rusty 17.3. Word out of the Matt Kenseth (qualified 17th) camp is that the car is very loose. Dale Jr. checks out soon after the restart while Rusty gets Jarrett for third, and is now setting his sights on Newman for second while Tony Stewart cracks the top ten. Newman spins in front of Rusty on Turn 1, hits nothing (wall or other cars), but brings out the yellow. Jimmie Johnson 14.0, Junior 15.3, Rusty 18, 19, 20, 21 � whoops the #2 has overshot his stall and is in his pit box crooked, dropping Rusty back to 15th for the restart. Newman also has additional problems on pit road relegating the #12 near the back of the field. Point leader Mark Martin (starting 32nd) makes a huge early gamble and takes two tires, and restarts in third.

Soon after the restart John Andretti gets Todd Bodine loose out of Turn 4, causing the #26 to wreck on the frontstretch along with another car trying to check up behind him, who is�.oh I can tell by the crowd reaction, it is Jeff Gordon � who also qualified back in the field with the decrepits and how now paid the price. There is significant back end damage, leading to an extended stay behind the wall. Junior continues to lead Jimmie Johnson on the restart, with Ricky Craven now in third. Stewart is now in fifth, Ricky Rudd sixth, Jeff Green seventh. Johnson loses second to Craven, and not long after falls into the clutches of Dale Jarrett and Tony Stewart. Stewart gets both Johnson and Jarrett to move into third. Stewart remains on the march and eventually gets Junior for the lead on Lap 104. On the other end of the spectrum, the slump of Sterling Marlin continues as he�s lapped and back in the 33rd position. Meanwhile, Ryan Newman has climbed steadily and is now in the top 20. Slumping Bobby LaBonte blows up on Lap 115 to bring out the next caution. The last two years it hasn�t mattered if the #18�s been in his orange and Black Oriole or Red, White, and Blue scheme, he�s been a disaster. Junior 15.3, Craven 15.7, Stewart 17.1. Restart order is Junior, Jarrett, Craven, Stewart, Johnson, Rusty. Jeff Green makes contact with Ricky Rudd on the crowded Dover pit road and sustains some front end damage. A trash bag makes it�s way onto the grill of Junior�s car as Dale Junior and Ricky Craven close in. It is Craven who grabs the lead before a caution for debris as we reach the 150 lap mark. Jarrett 13.7, Craven 15.0, Junior 16.1 (one pound up on the tires). Also a chassis adjustment for Robbie Gordon (slumping as of late). Jarrett restarts in front with Dale Jr. now back in tenth and Ryan Newman now up to twelth. Thanks to a great pit stop Jeff Burton now makes a rare appearance in the top five.

That was about it for the cautions. Craven gets Jarrett for the lead on Lap 164 and soon checks out. J. Burton gets out of line as Rusty and Junior are both on the march. Bill Elliott is having another sub-par day and is back in 23rd. Mark Martin struggled slightly after his two tire stop but is still in the top ten. Jimmie Johnson is making headway using the highline and by the halfway point (Lap 200) is battling Craven and Stewart for the lead. All three are battling lapped traffic as Rusty also closes in on the fray. Mike Skinner is having a good day and is now in 13th. Stewart grabs the lead on Lap 219 while Greg Biffle brushes the wall (no caution). Also, Jarrett gets Rusty for third on Lap 235. Green flag stops. Rusty 16.4 (a/p, tract bar adjustment). Rudd 14.3, Stewart (a/p adjustment), tract-bar adjustment on Johnson, Jarrett. Mark Martin stays out as long as possible to lead a lap and grab five bonus points. R. Gordon 16.1. Busch 14.3 (chassis adjustment), Kenseth 16.5 (chassis/tract bar). Martin 15.1. There was an adventure in Mike Skinner�s pit (one of the first stalls) as the #31 clips the jackman, who escapes injury. Turns out that Johnson has the best pit time, and is now in front � followed by Stewart and Jarrett. By three-quarters distance we are down to ten drivers on the lead lap with Dale Jr. and Jeff Green now among those lapped. Dale Jr. has an unscheduled stop, and falls four laps down in 30th. Race favorite Rusty Wallace now slaps the outside wall, bringing out a timely caution for most drivers. The damage leaves the #2 a lap down, along with some A-frame, toe-out damage. Jimmie Johnson checks out with a bid lead on the Lap 329 restart, while Robby Gordon has a tire go down almost immediately. Mark Martin is now having a great run and is in second while Matt Kenseth also suddenly appears in the top five. Martin closes in on Johnson during the waning laps, but not close enough as both cars encounter lapped traffic. Martin makes one final charge to the rear-end of the #48 with five laps to go, but the lapped car of Sterling Marlin gets in the way, and Johnson cruises from there to earn a sweep of both Dover races.

Could Ryan Newman and Rusty Wallace possibly find themselves in Dodges next year??? I don�t quite understand it but Chip Ganassi was meeting with representatives in Europe last week amidst reports that Ganassi Racing could be making the switch from Penske Fords to Dodges in time for the 2003 season. Meanwhile, Dodge teams are screaming for concessions from NASCAR after all manufacturer drivers finished outside the top ten for a second straight week.

KANSAS PREVIEW

After five consecutive weeks of short-track action, the super-speedways finally come back into play, with the second annual Kansas event this Sunday followed by Talladega (and smaller fuel cells) next weekend. In the inaugural Kansas race last year, Jason Leffler (#01 car, now #41 car) of all people sat on the pole in what turned out to be a crash-filled affair - as drivers spent the afternoon trying to figure out the right groove to run. Look for Goodyear to bring a softer tire compound this time around, much like they did at Dover this past weekend. The list of possible contenders are as follows�

Jeff Gordon � Qualified second and finished first here for the final victory of 2001. The #24 should be able to shake it�s recent doldrums.

Ryan Newman � Participated in the #02 last year as part of his �ABC� training, and got a then best career finish with a second.

Jimmie Johnson � After a few bad outings in mid-summer, Johnson proclaimed that he was no longer going to concentrate on the points race � for that was when he got into trouble. But as Crew Chief Chad Knaas said �We�re f-n going for it!!!!!�

Rusty Wallace � Fourth place finisher in �01, so it was a good day for two of the Penske entries. Expect another strong qualifying effort along with a strong run. I still have a feeling he�s going to break through with a win yet this year.

Tony Stewart � Finished seventh last year and 1 � mile tracks seem right up his alley.

Matt Kenseth � An early casualty last year, but I put his chances of winning that at least 10 percent.

Mark Martin � Last week was a typical Martin race. Don�t expect the #6 to start up front but to be a factor at some point during the day.

Kurt Busch � Had one of the better runs of his rookie season, finishing ninth in the inaugural event.

Bill Elliott � Blew up early in the race itself, but had a strong qualifying effort last year and started the race third.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. � Continues to show signs every week but dosen�t quite seem to get it all together.

Johnny Benson � Has some momentum going lately with a couple of consecutive top tens. Don�t be surprised if he gets his maiden win soon.

Dale Jarrett � You have to figure DJ is going to bring his Dover car here.

SLEEPERS

Jeff Green � Has finished in the top-fifteen in eight of his last 13 races, including three top-fives � and is now 17th in the point standings. Best bet out of the RCR stable.

Dave Blaney � Robert Pressley finished seventh in the #77 here last year while Blaney himself finished tenth in the #93. That figures to be a good combination.

SHAKY PICKS

Kevin Harvick � Up and down season is now back in the down cycle with finishes of 40th, 18th, 33rd and 30th. And it wasn�t like he�s been in accidents, the setup just seems to be off.

Robby Gordon � After four top tens out of ten races, the #31 has also hit the skids placing 21st, 20th, 17th, 28th, 17th, and 17th in his last six races. No disastrous early outs, but no contention neither.

Look for the top 20 to shake out as follows...

ANDY HOUSTON AWARD

Jerry Nadeau and Ward Burton share the honor this week. In fact this may be the Ward Burton award next year as the #22 now has two 43rds, and six finishes of 40th or worse � to go along with two wins yet.