- OSHAWA, ONT - November 16th, 1999)
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Alan 'n Joe -
new faces for the millenium???? |
The penultimate (I love that word...) race was staged under brilliant, sunny Florida skies. A lot of things came together that should have made this race into a showcase... The chance to crown a new Champion; opening of a new speedway; NBC's showcasing of what it could do...
So why was I yawning halfway thru?
So... this is what NASCAR racin' will look like in the New Millenium... I may have a lot of free Sundays... Too flat... not just the track, but the announcers... Where's Benny, Ned, Buddy?? Too sanitized, too many set pieces... Way too much time followin' the top three cars around the track... Bring in the producers ESPN won't need any more - they understand racin'... Let us know who's runnin' where - get that leaderboard up more often...We all know what understeer is... there arn't that many new fans gonna tune in just because it's on NBC... now THEY'VE got a free Sunday afternoon... (at least no one rolled a styrofoam coffecup around to show what stagger is...)
Homestead is a brand new venue for Winston Cup, altho it has hosted BGN and Truck races for a few years already. A flattish, 1.5 mile oval, narrow, with one groove, passing only in the corners, if you get your nose in there... at leat that's how it's s'posed to be. Seemed like a multigroove track this time out...
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| Spoiler? What spoiler?? |
But, this is a handling and downforce track, fer shur...
David Green got it figgered out, and put the 10-10-345 Pontiac on the pole. Behind him, Andretti, Bobby Labonte, Dave Blaney, Ward Burton, Rick Mast, Mayfield, Martin, Gordon, Skinner and Jarrett rounded out the Top Twelve. Rick Mast had to go to the back of the field after wreckin' in practice, and needin' to start in a back-up... So we had six Pontiacs lined up at the front for the drop of the green flag... coincidence? I think not...
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| David 'n John lead 'em off... |
Green and Andretti headed out side-by-side, with Green leadin' the charge for the first several laps. Around lap 12, Andretti got under Green, and took the lead, pulling Labonte and Mayfield along with him. At the end of Lap 13, the leaders were beginning to string out, with Andretti leading Labonte, Mayfield, Green, Stewart, Gordon, Blaney, Ward Burton, Jarrett, Martin, Rudd and Skinner as top dozen. Rusty was sitting thirteenth, and Jeff Burton 14th, and Dale Earnhardt had worked his way from 23rd to 17th.
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| Jeremy's new paintjob... |
For the next dozen laps, Andretti held the lead, but Labonte began to reel him in. At about Lap 27 (imprecise - no leaderboard), Labonte put the INTERSTATE Pontiac into the lead. Behind them, Stewart's HOME DEPOT machine was beginnin' to work, and by Lap 36 he was by Green into 4th place, and four of the top five positions belonged to Pontiac, along with seventh. Mayfield, sitting comfortably in third, was the best Ford... (third place, new paint, new girlfriend... life is good, ain't it, Jeremy?) Gordon, strugglin' to keep up, in eighth, was the best Chevy.
Thus, on Lap 36, Top Dozen were Labonte, Andretti, Mayfield, Stewart, Green, Martin, Ward Burton, Gordon, Jarrett, Skinner, Rudd, and Jeff Burton. Blaney had begun to fall back, sittin' in 13th, with Earnhardt sniffin' for a way by... the top ten continued to disperse, by this time being spread over ten seconds apart.
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| Jeff's "NASCAR Racers" livery... |
Lap 39 saw Jarrett and Skinner get by Gordon, whose ugly-handling car was matched only by the ugliest DUPONT paint scheme I've seen since maybe Craven's original BGN scheme, in the early '90's. Red and Yellow... what's with that? (Turned out he was floggin' a new NASCAR cartoon series for NBC to start in a year's time... where will it end?)
Nuthin too rivetting happened next 20 laps; Mayfield faded to fifth, Jeff Burton put Gordon back to 10th, with Earnhardt right behind him. Green faded to 13th, and Blaney to 15th... As we approached the pit stop window, Stewart took second from Andretti, and Team Gibbs were 1-2...
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Tony, Bobby and john hit
the pits.. |
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| Kenny nearly hits the wall... |
Lap 59 saw the start of the first pit stops, under the green flag. Bobby Labonte peeled off in the INTERSTATE Pontiac, with Stewart on his bumper, and Andretti on Stewart's tail. Behind them, pandemonium... Kenny Irwin's brilliant sophomore year continued, as he lost the Havoline Machine comin' onto pit road, and found himself sideways, just past his pit.... Everyone ducked around him, and he got 'er into the pit, only to be slapped with a two lap penalty... no donuts on pit road... unless yer a NASCAR official... Kenny rejoined the fray, finally, in 42nd place.... one more to go, Robert... get ready, Felix...
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| Bobby gets out first... |
Labonte got out first, then Andretti, gainin' back the spot he'd lost to Stewart on the track. Once all the stops had cycled through, with Gordon gettin' to lead a lap - as did Marlin, Labonte was still out front. On Lap 73, it was Labonte, Andretti, Stewart, Martin, Mayfield, Skinner, Ward Burton, Jarrett, Jeff Burton, Earnhardt, Rudd and Gordon makin' up the top twelve. Twenty-four cars were still on the lead lap, with Park, in the very silly-looking PENNZOIL Shark car about to be lapped.... With Jarrett settin' eighth, all he had to do was stay out of trouble, and the Championship was in the bag... there was nuthin' Bobby could do.
Jeffie had all he could handle, as Kyle Petty had the HOT WHEELS Pontiac breathin' down his neck, ultimately gettin' by him, as did Green and Geoffrey Bodine, relegating the Dupont chauffer to 15th... Long day if you ain't used to it... somethin' tells me JG had better adjust to this for '00...
By Lap 96, Labonte was still in front, with Andretti still second, but Stewart was closin'. Martin was fourth, then Mayfield. Jarrett had worked up to sixth, ahead of Ward Burton, Skinner, Jeff Burton, Earnhardt, Rudd and Petty, who rounded out the Top Twelve.
About Lap 110, Mayfield's day went kablooey, as he made an early pit stop. Theory from the booth was he was short-pitting to optimize his tire usage. Mighta worked, had he not sped leaving pit road. NASCAR disapproved, and Jeremy found himself blackflagged, and down two laps in 33rd.... Hi, Kenny!!
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| Jeff's "RACERS" hood |
By lap 120, the second round of green flag stops were underway, with all the leaders coming in. Lap 124 had Stewart in, then Jeff Burton, who led briefly, a lap later. Gordon got to lead briefly again, then Marlin, then it cycled back to Labonte by Lap 127. The polesitter, Green, got lapped around Lap 140, and on Lap 143, there were 14 cars on the lead lap, with Bobby Labonte leading Stewart, Andretti, Martin, Jarrett, Ward Burton, Jeff Burton, Earnhardt, Rudd, Bodine, Mayfield and Rusty Wallace, who had leader Labonte all over his tail end. While the Burton Boyz staged a good fight for
6th, with Jeff ultimately getting it, Rusty fell a lap down. By Lap 160, Labonte was 2" out on Stewart and plus 9.5" on Andretti. Ten laps later, Martin had closed on, and passed, Andretti for third.
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| Mike scrapes the wall |
Mike Waltrip nearly interrupted the dance on Lap 194, as he got the Philips Chevy into the marbles, and slid up into the wall. Not a hard hit, however, and he kept on going, gettin' back to the pits without bringing out the yellow.
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| Next time, Ricky? |
The yellow did fly a couple laps later, though, when Rudd's race ended with a lunched Yates motor in the Tidemobile. (Hard to imagine only one more race in the Tide-Rudd ssociation!) So Ricky has one last gasp next week to keep his winning streak alive...
All the leaders came in, and Stewart was first out, as Labonte needed some wedge adjustments; adds a couple tenths to the time...
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| John's tire runs off... |
Poor John Andretti - he had just come in a few laps earlier under green, and this yellow cost him a lap. To compound his misery, when he came back in for tires 'n gas under the caution, one of the tires got away, and John was assessed a stop-and-go penalty! King Richard was less than impressed! (Joe Gibbs: "When I told Richard I was thinking about being a NASCAR owner, he said 'Why?'"
In an ominous sign for future TV coverage, the green flew while we were in commercial (thought TNN had the patent on that!) around Lap 193. Stewart led off, with Labonte, Martin, Jarrett, Jeff Burton, Skinner, Earnhardt, and Petty the sole eight cars left on the lead lap. Down a lap, Ward Burton, Marlin, Rusty Wallace, and Kenny Wallace rounded out the Top Twelve. Gordon sat 16th, and Andretti was 23rd, almost two laps down. Green and Blaney were the first cars two laps down, in 24th and 25th. We heard that Petty was contemplating tryin' to go the distance - 77 laps after this stop - not likely...
By Lap 200, Labonte had closed on team mate Stewart, and wrested away the lead. By Lap 207, Labonte was out front of Stewart, with Burton, Martin, Jarrett, Earnhardt, Skinner and Petty on the lead lap. Thirteen laps later, Lap 220, no change, other than Skinner had retaken 6th from his team mate Earnhardt. Gordon's completely forgettable day was continuing, as he was now back to 20th!
A couple laps later, an unusual sight, as Petty was all over Earnhardt for 7th, but he could not yet make it stick...
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| Tony stalks Bobby... |
Lap 228 had Stewart challenging his team mate again for the lead. It seemed Tony was set up better than Bobby for these long green runs. A couple laps later, Tony was by, and quickly opened up a 10-carlength lead. With 30 to go, Lap 238, he was 1.5" out front. Behind them, order on the lead lap remained unchanged. Ward Burton was a lap down in 9th, with Rusty Wallace, Mayfield, and Geoffrey Bodine rounding out the lead dozen. Andretti was 13th, Gordon still 20th, and Green and Blaney 24th and 25th. |
| Kenny's spiff paintjob |
With 26 to go, Kenny Wallace was one of the first of the lead cars in. Lap 243 saw Earnhardt give up, and wave Petty by his evil-handling Goodwrenchmobile into 7th. Guess it was a better alternative to them both wreckin'...
Conventional wisdom from the booth was that everyone would come in for a splash 'n go with about ten laps left. Bobby Labonte threw a monkeywrench into that strategy by pitting on Lap 244, with 24 still to go, and takin' on rightride tires as well as fuel. By pitting early, he would have enough on-track speed to make up for the 3-4 seconds longer that takin' on the two tires took. This meant he had time to catch and overtake anyone who opted to try the splash 'go route. Thus, he forced all the leaders' hands, to take tires as well as fuel.
This set up the most interesting incident in the race. A couple laps after Bobby came in, team mate Tony came on pit road for gas 'n two tires. He exited the pits onto the access road just as Bobby flashed by, in second place. (Jeff Burton was the actual leader, but it was a forgone conclusion that whoever of the Gibbs duo took second, would run him down...)
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| Tony 'n Bobby playin' rough... |
Now, Homestead's access road runs down the backstraight, and cars re-enter the fray just short of Turn three. So here we had Bobby on the track backstraight, and Tony dragracin' him on the parallel access road, both headin' for Turn Three. When Tony hit the track proper, he was a carlength or so behind Labonte, but kept his foot in it, and got his nose under the INTERSTATE Pontiac goin' into Turn 3. Kept his foot too far in, as it turned out. Labonte tried to close down, but Tony was comin' fast, and washed up into Labonte. Contact was made, and Bobby was forced up into the marbles, losin' two or three spots... I think it was Kenny Schrader, who put it succinctly on IWC, Tony had eight tires to get him thru the corner, Bobby only had four...
By all accounts, Bobby was none too pleased with the turn of events, and Owner Joe in the Booth was decidedly guarded in his comments, sayin' mainly, "There are no deals." He mighta wished there were in this case - the outcome coulda been a Team Gibbs Meltdown.
And that was the defining point of the race. the rest of the lead cars cycled thru pit stops, and with 8 laps left, Stewart had passed, and was a couple seconds ahead of, leader Jeff Burton, who'd done the gas-only thing. Behind him, Labonte, with his two new tires, was closing fast on Burton. But DJ was riding comfortably in fifth, well within the required window to claim the Chamionship, no matter what Bobby did.
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| Tony takes the race... |
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| DJ takes the Championship... |
With four to go, Labonte took over second from Burton, but at the end it was Tony crossin' the line for his third win as a rookie, with over five seconds on his ream mate in second place. Jarrett held his place, and crossed the line fifth, to clinch the Points Championship, with one race to go.
Can you believe that NBC did not see fit to give a final field rundown for the race???? Lots of preproduced boomph, around the Chamionship, some good interviews with Jarrett, Stewart and others... time wasted with this Williams guy - guess he's the new Ken Squier... but no final rundown?? I had to get the finish order from INSIDE WINSTON CUP on Monday night! Seven cars were on the lead lap at the end, with Stewart leading Labonte, Jeff Burton, Martin, Jarrett, Skinner and Petty over the line. In eighth down a lap, were Earnhardt, Dallenbach, Gordon, Geoffrey Bodine, and Rusty Wallace to round out the Top Twelve. Mayfield came in 13th, followed by Ward Burton. Andretti fought back to 16th, polesitter Green ended up 22nd, and future RotY candidate Dave Blaney 23rd.
I picked this Larry McReynolds quote off THAT's RACIN':
"NASCAR got what they wanted this year: They got a new superhero with Tony Stewart and the sport needed it. They got a new champion in Dale Jarrett and the sport needed it. If I take my Chevrolet hat off and put my NASCAR hat on, they couldn't have written a script and asked for what they needed for this sport."
...Cain't hardly argue with that...
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| Stewart's fer real..... |
Stewart is, as they say, The Real Deal. Three wins in his rookie year - never been done before... Back-to-back wins by a rookie - never been done before (that I could determine...) Here's a poser: which of the two Team Gibbs drivers would be considered the #1 driver in 2000, were Joe to use the F-1 team approach? I would not be surprised to see Tony ahead of Labonte by season-end in '00 - and that's not takin' ANYTHING away from Bobby... this Gibbs group is a powerhouse, and could well be one-two NEXT Novwmber! |
| So's DJ...... |
As to the Championship - I've long rooted for DJ to make it to the top. He took a lotta crap a few years back when he took over from Irvan, but has since showed that the Ned genes run true... I think he'll make a pretty classy Champion. Say... isn't this the first Championship to be won by a Ford driver since Alan Kulwicki??
And next week we finish off the season in Atlanta.. Seems to have flown by real quick, doesn't it? 'bout only thing left on the line in the top ten is if Burton can get by Gordon for fifth place... Other than that, Bobby, Dale, Tony and the boys will be mixin' it up for the win and the cash...
See y'all there... From My
Couch!!
