NASCAR_ 11-13-14 ADVP coblecover0527

NASCAR 2008
THIS WEEK
SPRINT CUP
SPRINT CUP SERIES
Best Buy 400
Where: Dover International
Speedway at Dover, Del.
When: 2 p.m. Sunday.
Track dimensions: One-mile
oval with 24-degree banking.
Broadcast: Television — Fox,
1:30 p.m.; Radio — Motor
Racing Network, Sirius
Satellite Radio 128, 1:30 p.m.
Race format: 400 laps.
Last year’s winner: Martin
Truex Jr.
Track schedule: Friday
— practice, 11:30 a.m.; pole
qualifying, 3:10 p.m.; Saturday
— practice, noon.
Notes: Sunday’s race marks
the final broadcast of the
season for Fox. Starting next
week at Pocono, Pa., TNT will
be in charge of televising the
Sprint Cup Series. … Jeremy
Mayfield will drive the No. 40
Dodge while Dario Franchitti
continues to recover from a
broken ankle sustained last
month at Talladega, Ala.
Franchitti is expected to
return next week at Pocono.
… Mayfield holds the track
record with a fast lap of
161.522 mph, set on June
4, 2004. … Mark Martin ran
the fastest 400-mile race,
averaging 132.719 mph on
Sept. 21, 1997. … Bobby Allison
and Richard Petty both have a
track-record seven wins.
Up next: The Pocono 500 on
June 8 at Pocono Raceway.
TRACK ATTRACTION
RUSTY JARRET/Getty Images
Driver Kevin Harvick (right) and his wife, DeLana, are owners in the Craftsman Truck Series and the Nationwide Series.
The Harvicks are happily married to racing
Driver
By DON COBLE
Morris News Service
Pts.
1. Kyle Busch
1,860
2. Jeff Burton
1,766
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
1,721
4. Denny Hamlin
1,596
5. Clint Bowyer
1,578
6. Carl Edwards
1,538
7. Kevin Harvick
1,517
8. Tony Stewart
1,511
9. Jimmie Johnson
1,493
10. Jeff Gordon
1,486
11. Greg Biffle
1,483
12. Kasey Kahne
1,454
13. David Ragan
1,398
14. Ryan Newman
1,369
15. Martin Truex Jr.
1,291
NATIONWIDE SERIES
Heluva Good! 200
Where: Dover International
Speedway.
When: 3 p.m. Saturday.
Broadcast: Television
— ESPN2, 2:30 p.m.; Radio
— Motor Racing Network,
Sirius Satellite Radio 128,
2:30 p.m.
Race format: 200 laps.
Last year’s winner: Carl
Edwards.
Track schedule: Friday —
practice, 9 a.m. and 1:15 p.m.;
Saturday — pole qualifying,
10:30 a.m.
Notes: The Nationwide Series
continues to move forward
with its plans to switch to a
Car of Tomorrow next year.
Two teams — JR Motorsports
and Braun Racing — said
they probably can’t justify the
expected $1 million price to
make the switch.
Up next: The Federated
Auto Parts 300 on June 7 at
Nashville Superspeedway.
CRAFTSMAN TRUCKS
AAA Insurance 200
Where: Dover International
Speedway.
When: 5 p.m. Friday.
Broadcast: Television —
Speed, 8 p.m.; Radio — Motor
Racing Network, Sirius
Satellite Radio 128, 5 p.m.
Race format: 200 laps.
Last year’s winner: Ron
Hornaday Jr.
Track schedule: Thursday
— practice, 2:30 a.m.; Friday
— pole qualifying, 10 a.m.
Notes: There have been eight
different winners in the eight
truck races at Dover.
Up next: The Sam’s Town
400 on June 6 at Texas Motor
Speedway.
Blasting Busch
The list of drivers who’ve
grown tired of Kyle Busch’s
antics grew last Sunday night
during the Coca-Cola 600.
Jeff Gordon was upset
with Busch and confronted the
23-year-old driver on pit road
after the race.
“I guess he doesn’t like
people to race him,” Gordon
said. “You know, Kyle and I
never had any issues. But I
raced him hard tonight, just
like I did everybody. And when
track position is as important
as it is here, you’ve got to
race every single car for every
single position. And I wasn’t
going to give anybody an inch,
and I was racing for position.
He’s got an issue because he
gave me the finger. You know
what? That’s not necessary …
he just didn’t like racing him
the way I did.”
Busch clearly still has issues
with Hendrick Motorsports,
the company that fired him
last year to make room for
Dale Earnhardt Jr. During
the race, Busch made a vulgar
comment on his two-way
radio about Hendrick after
passing Jimmie Johnson for
the lead.
Earlier this month, Busch
knocked Earnhardt into the
wall while racing for the lead
at Richmond, Va.
Nationwide rumble
SPRINT CUP POINTS
Kyle Busch has
four top-five
finishes at Dover
International
Speedway.
GREEN FLAG:
NEWS AND NOTES
C
ONCORD, N.C.
— Unlike other wives
in NASCAR, DeLana
Harvick comes to the track in a
fireproof suit.
She sits on top of the toolbox
for Craftsman Truck and
Nationwide series races as
an owner. She also watches
Sprint Cup races as more than
a bystander, interested in every
facet of Kevin Harvick’s day
inside his race car.
For the Harvicks, racing is
more than a business. It’s a way
of life. Both grew up in racing
families. Both have a passion
that consumes their lives — on
and off the track.
By owning two trucks and
a stock car, the Harvicks have
a balance that’s helped Kevin
find a better peace with his
day job with Richard Childress Racing in the Sprint Cup
Series.
Once rebellious and brash,
Harvick has become the
consummate teammate, his
crew said. He is every bit as
fiery about the success of his
No. 29 Chevrolet, but emotions
are tempered toward finding
solutions instead of fighting
winless battles.
“I think Kevin would be the
first to say being a car owner
has had a calming affect,”
longtime RCR engineman
Danny Lawrence said.
All three series will race this
weekend at Dover International Speedway. Nothing could be
better for the Harvicks, watching their trucks Friday, their
Nationwide car Saturday and
Kevin in Sunday’s main event,
the Best Buy 400.
“I think, from a driver’s
standpoint, it just helps you
focus on the things that you
need to focus on as a driver,”
Kevin said. “It’s just a different
perspective of thinking from
a driver’s standpoint and understanding a lot of things that
you really wouldn’t understand
just on a normal week-to-week
basis as a driver, just jumping
in and out of the car.”
DeLana’s father, John Paul
Linville, raced in the Nationwide Series until 1995. She was
3 when she went to her first
race, and she hasn’t slowed
down since.
“I was at the racetrack every
weekend, so I didn’t really do a
lot of kid things,” DeLana said.
“I didn’t do soccer or brownies
or anything like that. I was always with my dad at the track.”
Now, she’s with her husband.
“DeLana is a big part of what
we do,” Kevin said. “And she
is a huge supporter with me
here every week. And to have a
wife that understands the sport
and who really enjoys being a
part of the sport is something
that makes my life a lot easier,
and we both have been able to
enjoy a lot of things as a couple
that most people don’t get to
enjoy. So we’re pretty fortunate
and enjoy being here.”
The Harvicks own the trucks
driven by defending series
champion Ron Hornaday Jr.
and former champion Jack
Sprague in Friday’s truck race.
They also own a Chevrolet that
Kevin will drive in Saturday’s
Nationwide race.
Hornaday is fifth in the truck
standings, and Sprague is 11th.
Harvick runs a limited Nationwide schedule. When he’s
not racing, rookie Cale Gale is
behind the wheel.
On Sunday, Harvick will
drive for Childress in the
Sprint Cup race. Harvick is seventh in the points standings.
Harvick won the 2001 Busch
Series championship, and was
Dale Earnhardt’s replacement
at Childress following Earnhardt’s death on the final lap of
the Daytona 500.
When Harvick won in his
third career Cup start, the
only missing piece was a truck
series win. To make that happen, the Harvicks started their
own team. Now they can’t slow
down.
“I think when we started the
company, we started the company just to go out and have
fun and really just try to win a
truck race and just kind of really mess around every once in
a while,” Kevin said.
“We brought Ron (Hornaday) in, and last year, we were
able to win the championship,
so you know it has progressed a
lot faster than we thought. But
five years ago, we really never
had plans for the company to
be as big as it is right now. It all
just kind of happened.”
What’s happened is the Harvicks have built the model race
team. They’re involved with
every aspect, sharing details
and successes. They love each
other — and what they do. It’s
the perfect relationship.
“Well, we spend a lot of time
together at home, and even if
it’s at work — she has an office
right down the hall from mine
— we work out together every
morning. We go home every
night. We don’t spend a bunch
of time with all the fluff and
buff. I don’t even know where
you go on vacation. I don’t
know where a place is to go. I
don’t play golf. I like to shoot
my guns and ride my go-carts.
I just like to race, and sometimes it’s a fault.”
Shared by both.
NEWSMAKER: BRIAN VICKERS
Environment is pressing issue for this driver
Brian Vickers has played
a role in Toyota’s dramatic
improvement over last season.
After finishing 38th a year ago
in the Sprint Cup Series, he
heads into Sunday’s race at
Dover, Del., ranked 20th.
The driver
for Red Bull
Racing also
has a lot to
say about the
environment
and the way
the U.S.
Congress
Vickers
works. He
talked last
week about several subjects.
Here are excerpts of that
interview:
Toyota has become a major
force in NASCAR this year.
What role has Joe Gibbs
Racing hand in that?
Toyota has definitely gained
a lot since last year. It comes
from a lot of hard work. Sometimes, you learn as much from
making mistakes as you can
from successes. We made a
lot of mistakes last year. We
fell out of a lot of races. As far
as Joe Gibbs Racing, they had
definitely brought a lot to the
table, and they have definitely
sped that process up, but we
work with those guys some.
Red Bull has a very minor relationship with them where we
share a little bit of information
in specific areas, and that’s
helped us some. A lot of the
whole Toyota camp growing is
just another year under the belt
and [Toyota Racing Development] getting better.
You are very opinionated
on environmental issues.
What tops your list?
I believe that we are damaging this world in many ways,
and it’s not just about carbon
dioxide. We’ve got to learn to
lead a sustainable life and a
sustainable future as humans.
People talk about environmentalism as a way to save the
planet, and I think that’s a very
inaccurate statement. I think
it’s a way to save humanity and
society as we know it, because
the planet is going to go on. It’s
been around 4 billion years,
and it’s going to be around for
another 4 or 5 billion years or
until the sun runs out of fuel
and the whole solar system
explodes. Nonetheless, it’s
come and gone through many,
many life cycles and species
that have gone extinct, and we
are a very small piece of that
puzzle. What we’re trying to
protect and what people need
to realize is that we’re trying
to protect our future as human
beings and how we live on this
planet. Unless we can do it in a
sustainable way, then that’s not
going to happen. And definitely not with 6 billion people.
As far as how to go about that,
I think all the people of the
world need to recognize that,
first and foremost, we need to
think about intelligent solutions.
What do you do specifically
to help the environment?
I use energy-efficient light
bulbs. I drive a hybrid, and
those are great things to talk
about, but they are really very
small in the big picture. A pig
farm puts out more methane
than my car every will. Methane is 27 times more potent
than greenhouse gas. I think
some of the people are blowing
some of the smaller stuff out of
proportion, and I think we’ve
got to recognize that.
What are your thoughts on
ethanol?
As a society, we need to
invest in technologies and re-
alistic alternative technologies.
Ethanol is a horrible solution.
Whoever thought that changing food to fuel was a good idea
was stupid — that’s the bottom
line. Ethanol is a no-win solution, and it’s going to make
people around the world starve
for food.
Do you talk about these
issues with other drivers?
I have spoken to some people, and it’s something I’m passionate about, so I do speak to
a lot of people about it. I think
that most people are willing to
do whatever it takes as long as
it doesn’t affect them. I think
we have a problem right now in
Congress that is pretty substantial. Congress has made
more progress on steroids in
baseball than they have on
global warming, economics or
war, and I have a big problem
with that. I don’t [care] about
steroids in baseball. If they
want to shoot up, I don’t care.
That’s not Congress’ problem.
That’s Major League Baseball’s
problem. Congress needs to reprioritize what they’re working
on, and I think if this country
focuses on what’s important,
then we’ve proven that we can
do amazing things.
NASCAR will keep an eye
on Denny Hamlin and Brad
Keselowski during Saturday’s
Nationwide Series race at
Dover, Del., to make sure there
aren’t any lingering problems
from last week’s race.
Keselowski, who drives for
Earnhardt JR Motorsports,
bumped Hamlin during a laterace caution.
Hamlin retaliated by veering
into Keselowski’s car, tearing
up the left-front fender.
Afterward, the pit crews
from both teams rumbled on
pit road.
“I was fully intending on
talking to him after the race,
regardless of anything that
transpired the caution before
all that,” Hamlin said. “There’s
situations where, give a guy
two inches to let him clear and
don’t hang on his right-rear
quarter panel because they
get frustrated. Then they get
(mad), and they’re going to
race you hard. I said at the
end of that race, I want to do
whatever it takes to make that
(No.) 88’s (Keselowski) job the
hardest to get around me. I’ll
block to let the 32 (Busch) win
if I have to because of the way
he raced me earlier in the race.
“I learned as a rookie that
if you make a guy that’s been
doing this a little bit longer,
[if] you make their job hard,
then they’re going to make
yours 10 times harder.”
Keselowski didn’t back
down.
“I race one day a week.
I don’t race two days a
week,” he said. “I have one
day a week to prove myself.
I have 200 laps, not 400
laps. I have to take every
opportunity to prove myself
to JR Motorsports … my fans.
I have to make the most of
every lap.
“We raced hard, and that’s
what racing is. He doesn’t like
when guys race him hard?
Well. That’s the sport, and
that’s what I do.”
Hamlin then fired this
warning: “You throw a rock,
I’m going to throw a concrete
block back.”
Testing, testing
The Sprint Cup Series
tested at the Pocono Raceway
on Tuesday and Wednesday in
preparation for next week’s
race and the Allstate 400
at the Indianapolis Motor
Speedway on July 27.
“Pocono with its unique
three-corner configuration,
should provide the teams
with a lot of new information
as it relates to the new car,”
said John Darby, NASCAR’s
director of competition.
The flat third turn is similar
to the corners at Indianapolis,
so teams can use that
information to get a jump on
July’s race.
“It’s yet another
opportunity for the teams
to work on their setups,
collect new data and make
some gains in improving
performance,” Darby said.
“And there are some small
features of Pocono that teams
can transform to get ready for
running at the Brickyard later
this summer.”
DON COBLE/Morris News Service