Like the waning days of a political campaign, the past week of the Tony Stewart/Mark Martin championship battle has manged to get even weirder - if that's possible. It is enough that team owner Jack Rosch may take matters into the hands of the judicial system should Mark Martin finish less than 25 points behind Stewart. Just imagine, an entire winter with the Winston Cup championship in utter limbo. I guess it fits that the final race is being held in Florida, anyone got a hanging chad??? Or a 3/8 coil that was supposed to 1/2???
It gets even more bizarre, and it has to do with airport runways as opposed to the track. On the way to an appearance to Las Vegas, the plane carrying Tony Stewart had a collision with a deer during an aborted take-off. You mean Chronic Wasting disease hasn't hit Texas yet??? Not to be outdone, Martin has a close call trying to get out of Phoenix. The plane Martin himself pilots blows a right front during takeoff and Mark is forced to make his biggest save of the year, fortunately a better one than during the pace lap at Talladega a few weeks back. Just as was evidenced nearly a decade before with Alan Kulwicki and Davey Allison, the biggest risks these drivers take, even more so than the track itself, is with all the frequent political campaign-like traveling to races, appearances, etc�
I got a tip Sunday Morning that Matt Kenseth would be in his race-winning car from Richmond, and that according to Robbie Reiser, the #17 is really hooked up. So don't tell me it's going to be one of those 'cheesy' kind of days??? The story of the Phoenix 500 is as follows�
PHOENIX REVIEW
In what amounted to anything but a surprise, Ryan Newman wins his sixth pole of the year, and his second in as many weekends. More noteworthy was John Andretti qualifying second as well as Kenny Wallace landing in the sixth position. Christian Fittipaldi (Petty #44 car) has an impressive 17th place run in his first-ever qualifying attempt, while further back in the field sees Kenseth (28th), Rusty Wallace (29th), and Jimmie Johnson taking a provisional (37th).
Newman jumps out to an early lead, but it becomes obvious that Dale Jr. (starting third) is the quickest car on the track, and would soon pace the field. Jeff Gordon follows through and into second on the one-mile oval dog-legged on the backstretch. Tony Stewart starts 16th, and is maintaining his position racing with Jeff Burton. Mark Martin picks up a couple of positions (getting right on the rear bumper of Dave Blaney at one point) and is running in fifth. The #6 slips a little in Turns 1-2 but is able to run on the bottom and make good time through 3-4. Meanwhile, Christian Fittipaldi backslides through the field. First caution occurs on Lap 27 when Jamie McMurray is spun around and into the Turn 4 wall. Slight a/p for Martin (who�s happy with the car) and Stewart. No changes for Junior (also happy with the car), track bar on Jeff Gordon. Kurt Busch gets into Kenny Wallace exiting his pit stall, putting a rip into the side of the #23. Ryan Newman, in an experiment by Crew Chief Matt Borland, takes on two tires � along with Robbie Gordon and the #12 and #31 will start 1,2. Matt Kenseth, Rusty Wallace, and Jimmie Johnson also take on two tires and will restart 10th, 11th, and 15th respectively.
McMurray heads to the garage before the Lap 35 restart, and will come out later just �to ride around�, the same fate JamieMac had in the Busch race the day before. Junior quickly assumes command of the race - as Newman starts sliding and Robbie Gordon freefalls through the field. Dave Blaney and Mark Martin also move into the fray while Newman battles Gordon for second. Kurt Busch reports possible handling problems, while Tony Stewart is not happy with the #20�s turning. Junior checks out and assumes a nearly six-second lead before catching the tail-end of the field. Kenseth (now fifth) and Rusty (eighth) actually gain ground on the two tires, a sneak preview on what the rest of the day holds. Elliot Sadler has a toe-out condition but is running strong in 11th. Ricky Craven, Bill Elliott and Jeff Green are among those going a lap down, and Ryan Newman slips all the way to the 12th position before green-flag stops begin just after Lap 100. The toll of the slippery track and the Arizona sun taking on these machines is evident in the brake-dust emanating from the axles during the pit stops. Rusty 15.4 (a/p), Andretti (who�s slipped to 13th) 14.6, Jarrett 14.8 (two turns on the track bar), B. LaBonte (a/p), trouble for Johnson as the jack falls during his stop, Mayfield (17.9 � both wrenches in use). Suddenly someone screams over the radio �I�M OUT OF GAS!!!!!!!� Who is it???? It�s JUNIOR, and he�s just heading into TURN 1, four laps earlier than the fuel-mileage the crew had calculated. After a near-eternity the #8 finally makes it to pit road, where the ether is placed straight into the carburetor and restarts immediately (16.9). Mark Martin stays out an extra lap in case Junior was not able to make it (which would bring out a yellow), then pits in 14.3, problems on the right front with Blaney, Busch 15.3 (track bar). Kenseth is apparently getting great mileage and now leads. The #17 finally comes in to pit, 15 seconds, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 (in what would become a 30-second stop). WHAT IS GOING ON????? Suddenly someone pulls out the ether, apparently the #17 was on fumes on the way to his pit stall. Radio transmission from the Kenseth camp to the tune of �We Just Blew the Race�. But Crew Chief Robbie Rieser pulls in the reins, and reminds the crew that they have a great car � and the race is not over. Despite Junior�s disaster, the #8 is still in seventh place � 13 seconds off the lead. Gordon leads by nearly six seconds, followed by Martin, Blaney, Rusty, and Tony Stewart.
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KENSETH WASTED NO TIME FINDING HIS WAY TO THE FRONT... |
Rusty makes a run for the lead on the restart, but Busch prevails and leads for a long green-flag stretch, followed by Rusty, who finally starts to fade on the two tires and falls into the clutches of Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin. Busch is among the first to pit on Lap 221, but should be able to make it to the end (312 Laps). Junior is still in the top ten, but car has not been right since running out of fuel. Fittipaldi runs out of gas, but makes it to pit road and we stay green. Stewart 14.2, Kenseth with a typical great stop, Martin 15.4 (after leading a crucial lap) w/no major adjustments., Gordon 15.8, Johnson 17.2 (chassis/wedge/a.p), Newman 19.6 (two rounds of wedge/a.p/possible spring rubber). Stewart moves up to second on the exchange of stops, 2.5 seconds behind Busch (who would lead the most laps). Martin is now running back in sixth. Damage is now noted on the #20, which is not running right, and eventually falls back to seventh. Kenseth meanwhile takes third while Gordon starts to close in on Busch. A hard Turn 3 crash by Christian Fittipaldi brings out the yellow on Lap 258. Immediately after the crash, Christian unbuckles and attempts to get out of the car as if it were about to blow up. Fittipaldi also seems perplexed about the amount of damage he's caused and has this look like 'Is my insurance going to cover this???' Nope, you haven't used up your deductable. Busch allows several cars to get a lap back. That would be the final break needed by Kenseth and Rusty, both take two tires � which is trouble. Two rounds of wedge for Martin, a tenth-pound air-pressure adjustment (two tires) for Busch, wedge adjustment for Stewart.
Restart order is Kenseth, Rusty, Busch, Gordon, Martin, and Stewart. Kenseth quickly checks out to a over two-second lead, while the lapped cars of Ward Burton and Ryan Newman initially keep the other contenders from making headway. Even with the two tires, Kenseth and Rusty would not be challenged. At this point Bestwick reminds us on TV about the large Wisconsin contingent in Phoenix to cheer on the #17. I know, they�ve been selling packages for this race here all year. Kenseth wins his fifth race of the year by nearly 1.5 seconds, followed by Rusty, Gordon, Martin and Dale Jr, who comes on in the last run. Rounding out the top ten are Busch, Dave Blaney, Tony Stewart, Dale Jarrett, and Elliott Sadler. Kenny Wallace hangs in there after the early pit-road incident and finishes 11th while two-time defending race champ Jeff Burton places 12th. Other notables include Ricky Rudd (13th), John Andretti (14th), Jimmie Johnson (15th), Johnny Benson (16th), Kevin Harvick (17th), Ryan Newman (18th), Bill Elliott (30th), and Jamie McMurray (40th). For the most part Tony Stewart is able to hold serve and now leads Martin by 89 points. Only 23 points separate the next five drivers including Kurt Busch (-230), Jimmie Johnson (-238), Rusty Wallace (-238), Jeff Gordon (-239), and Ryan Newman (-253). Kenseth�s win moves him to eighth in the standings, 302 points out.
COSMIC LATTE
Look for Ron Fellows to be a major contender at Sears Point and Watkins Glen in 2003. The Canadian road-ace inked a deal with DEI for those two events next year, by far the best rides Fellows will ever have. As suggested last week, Jimmy Spencer has emerged as a candidate for the #7 � as well as a possible Andy Petree entry. Bobby Hamilton and Dave Blaney are possibilities for Spencer�s current #41 Ganassi ride. And Hamilton is also mentioned as a possibility for the #49 BAM car.
Pit crewman normally go about their very important business with the anonymity of NFL offensive linemen. However, NASCAR�s most well-known pit warrior puts away his gas-can for good after this weekend. Chocolate Meyers, for years the gas-man for Dale Earnhardt, and for Kevin Harvick/Robby Gordon the past two years, has announced his retirement at age 54. Greg Biffle nearly had a perfect Saturday dominating the Busch event with rival Jason Keller following close behind. However Biffle�s machine goes away late and he places third as Scott Wimmer comes away with the win. However Biffle�s result is still plenty good enough to clinch the Busch Series title in a season he and Keller dominated. Three drivers remain in contention for the Truck Series title with the final race coming on Friday.
HOMESTEAD PREVIEW
This week, a Marshall University football supporter wound up getting knocked out after venturing too close to an angry opposing assistant coach in the midst of a post-game celebration. On the heels of that incident comes this warning to anyone who may be in the garage area on Sunday, should Tony Stewart get knocked out early and lose the Cup title to Mark Martin, DO NOT get within two zip codes of Tony. Just some sound advice.
As it stands now, Stewart clinches under the following scenarios�
Meanwhile, Rosch Racing has appealed the recent 25 point penalty towards Martin. The appeal board can either throw out, eliminate, uphold, or even INCREASE the penalty. Wouldn�t that be something, Martin getting whacked an extra 25 for having the nerve to appeal. Sounds like a fate for TEXAS JUSTICE or JUDGE JUDY. But should Martin win his appeal (not likely), or just to avoid the controversy altogether, Stewart would need to do the following to insure Martin is out of the equation�
Again this is to lock it up even if Martin wins, and he's only 1 for 35 in that department this year. Should the unthinkable happen and Stewart is first out of the event, then Martin can win by finishing 13th or better. All other drivers have been mathematically eliminated.
This is the fourth year of the Homestead event. 18 cars finished on the lead lap last year, after only six in 2000 and seven in 1999�s inaugural event. Like the past few weeks, do not expect a lot of attrition. As with last week, I will go through the field with my top 25 candidates�
ANDY HOUSTON AWARD
Never a good sign if you�re forced to pit road during the parade lap, as Tony Raines was at Phoenix, as NASCAR called him in due to a possible water problem. Things did not get any better, with the engine letting go after 120 laps.