The General
Another Day, Another Dollar
By Seth Livingstone, USA TODAY
Gordon on display
Four-time Nextel Cup champion Jeff Gordon joined Dale Earnhardt Sr. when his wax figure in driver's uniform was unveiled March 8 at Madame Tussauds Speed attraction at the Venetian on the Vegas Strip.
"It's definitely an honor, especially since it's alongside Dale Earnhardt," Gordon said. "To be recognized in this manner ? joining the likes of Tiger, Shaq, Bob Hope and Paul Newman to name a few ? shows the growth and popularity of NASCAR."
The next day, Gordon hosted the Jeff Gordon Foundation Poker Classic at Caesars Palace, featuring the likes of poker icons Chris Moneymaker and Phil Hellmuth Jr.
"There are some similarities between poker and racing," Gordon said. "In both you must be patient but attack at the right times."
Mike Sugg was the winner of the poker tournament.
Hall needs push
Veteran Nextel Cup driver Jeremy Mayfield thinks NASCAR's hall of fame will be successful in Charlotte, but no one should expect fans to flock without a compelling reason.
"It depends on how it's marketed from here on out," Mayfield says. "If you just let it sit there and hope people come by and stop and look at it, it's probably not going to happen. ...
"If you don't have excitement, nobody is going to come to anything."
Jimmie Johnson has car under control
So far this season, Jimmie Johnson is doing just about everything right.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver has two victories and a second-place finish in the NASCAR Nextel Cup's three races.
Johnson was in the top five throughout the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400, but led only the final lap Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
"That was a lot of fun, but I know how aggravating losing like that can be," Johnson said after a late caution flag gave him the chance to catch and pass Matt Kenseth in a two-lap overtime sprint to the finish.
Johnson's No. 48 Chevrolet surged past Kenseth's No. 17 Ford on the outside after the two sped side-by-side through the third and fourth turns on the 1.5-mile oval for the final time. The winner crossed the finish line 0.115 seconds ? about half a car-length ? ahead as he led a lap for the only time in the race.
Johnson sympathized with Kenseth, noting he lost to Carl Edwards on the same kind of move last spring in Atlanta and then edged Bobby Labonte with an outside pass on the last lap last May at Charlotte.
But that experience definitely helped him strategize Sunday.
"I was slowly catching Matt before that last caution," Johnson said. "I think we could have got up there to race with him but, if it stayed green, I believe Matt had it in the bag. Then we got that last yellow."
Asked if he thought about trying to block Johnson's move to the outside, Kenseth said, "I was running in the groove where my car was the fastest. If I had to redo it right now, I don't think there was anything I could have done different."
Johnson won the season-opening Daytona 500 and finished second to Kenseth two weeks ago in California before taking his 20th career win Sunday. And he's doing it without crew chief Chad Knaus, banned by NASCAR for the first four races of the season after making unapproved modifications to Johnson's car in Daytona qualifying.
With lead engineer Darian Grubb stepping in for Knaus, Johnson will head to Atlanta Motor Speedway this week with a 52-point lead over Kenseth in the standings.
A dejected Kenseth told his crew by radio his engine didn't feel strong for the restart, but he was able to hold off Johnson for a lap and a half after the green flag waved for the final time on lap 269.
"Sorry, you guys won a race and I lost it," Kenseth said to his crew.
After getting out of the car, Kenseth said, "Nobody likes to run second. We led all day. ..." All three Cup races this season have gone into overtime because of late-race cautions.
Schrader soaring to different speed
Ken Schrader might not have had the fastest car at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but he was traveling faster than any of his competitors Thursday when he flew with the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds out of Nellis Air Force Base.
"An unbelievable ride," said Schrader, 50, the oldest regular driver on the Nextel Cup circuit. "I didn't know what to think going in, and I was plenty nervous about it."
He compared and contrasted it to driving 185 mph at Daytona: "We've got some acceleration, but nothing like that. When the Thunderbirds are flying in formation, they are running about as close as we're racing. They don't have to deal with a wall, but we don't have to deal with the ground. It's different, but man was it exciting."
Las Vegas' Cup history brief
Last Sunday marked the ninth running of a Cup event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
But there was one other Cup race held in Nevada.
In 1955, a 200-lap feature was held on the 1-mile dirt track at Las Vegas Park Speedway. It was held concurrently with an event at Martinsville that day. Pole-sitter Norm Nelson won the race with an average speed of 44.449 mph. The race was halted by darkness after 111 laps, in large part because of a red-flag delay after a wreck on lap 74.
? Kurt and Kyle Busch are hardly the first drivers to call Las Vegas home.
Leonard "Doc" Faustina, a Las Vegas dentist, competed in 10 races from 1971-76 and was a car owner for 35 events, providing cars for drivers such as Harry Gant, Wendell Scott, Richard Childress and Dave Marcis.
Earnhardt festivities set
Dale Earnhardt Inc. has announced that a celebration honoring the life and legacy of Dale Earnhardt will take place April 29, two days after the seven-time Cup champion is inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in Talladega, Ala.
The fifth annual Dale Earnhardt Day will be celebrated at the company's Mooresville, N.C., facilities from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
This year's Busch Series race at Talladega will be held on Earnhardt's birthday, April 29. Earnhardt is the winningest driver at Talladega with 10 trips to victory lane, including his 76th and final victory on Oct. 15, 2000.
Newman fired up for rescue effort
Ryan Newman knows all too well about fires. He was burned in a 2003 incident at Michigan International Speedway after a blown engine set his cockpit ablaze.
That didn't stop him from springing into action when his lunch was interrupted at a downtown Lenoir, N.C., eatery last week. Newman had just ordered lunch at Sledgehammer Charlie's when a fire broke out and the restaurant filled with smoke.
"It was quite an experience," Newman said. "We were actually on the fourth floor of an old, brick building. It was a wood-fired grill and it was grease on the top of the hood going up into the rafters caught on fire.
Newman accompanied former fireman Chris Barlowe and Jeffrey Rocks to the roof where Newman used his Leatherman ? a multipurpose tool he carries for cutting line while fishing and opening packages ? to remove bolts on a ventilator cover as Barlowe turned fire extinguishers on the blaze.
"We were on the roof, four stories up doing this," Newman said. "I think our initiative slowed it down before (the fire department) got there. They wanted to give me a key to the city and everything else, but I told them I wasn't in it for that."
Wheldon open to new course
Indianapolis 500 champ Dan Wheldon won't rule out getting behind the wheel of a NASCAR ride before too long.
"It's something that intrigues me," Wheldon told USA TODAY. "It's the biggest stage in America, no doubt. I will look at it again (because) it's something I'd like to explore further down the road."
Wheldon already has connections in place. He competes in IRL for Chip Ganassi Racing, which also fields the Nextel Cup cars of Casey Mears, David Stremme and Reed Sorenson.
Two-time Indy champ Helio Castroneves already has an appreciation for NASCAR drivers, in part from his head-to-head competition with them in the IROC Series. No open-wheel driver has won the IROC since Al Unser Jr. in 1988.
"It's totally different experiences," says Castroneves, who tailed Dale Jarrett during an IROC event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2002. "I finished second behind him in that race and he was fantastic. I kept waiting for him to make a mistake and, really, he made no mistakes."
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/motor/nascar/2006-03-15-nascar-report_x.htm
Gordon on display
Four-time Nextel Cup champion Jeff Gordon joined Dale Earnhardt Sr. when his wax figure in driver's uniform was unveiled March 8 at Madame Tussauds Speed attraction at the Venetian on the Vegas Strip.
"It's definitely an honor, especially since it's alongside Dale Earnhardt," Gordon said. "To be recognized in this manner ? joining the likes of Tiger, Shaq, Bob Hope and Paul Newman to name a few ? shows the growth and popularity of NASCAR."
The next day, Gordon hosted the Jeff Gordon Foundation Poker Classic at Caesars Palace, featuring the likes of poker icons Chris Moneymaker and Phil Hellmuth Jr.
"There are some similarities between poker and racing," Gordon said. "In both you must be patient but attack at the right times."
Mike Sugg was the winner of the poker tournament.
Hall needs push
Veteran Nextel Cup driver Jeremy Mayfield thinks NASCAR's hall of fame will be successful in Charlotte, but no one should expect fans to flock without a compelling reason.
"It depends on how it's marketed from here on out," Mayfield says. "If you just let it sit there and hope people come by and stop and look at it, it's probably not going to happen. ...
"If you don't have excitement, nobody is going to come to anything."
Jimmie Johnson has car under control
So far this season, Jimmie Johnson is doing just about everything right.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver has two victories and a second-place finish in the NASCAR Nextel Cup's three races.
Johnson was in the top five throughout the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400, but led only the final lap Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
"That was a lot of fun, but I know how aggravating losing like that can be," Johnson said after a late caution flag gave him the chance to catch and pass Matt Kenseth in a two-lap overtime sprint to the finish.
Johnson's No. 48 Chevrolet surged past Kenseth's No. 17 Ford on the outside after the two sped side-by-side through the third and fourth turns on the 1.5-mile oval for the final time. The winner crossed the finish line 0.115 seconds ? about half a car-length ? ahead as he led a lap for the only time in the race.
Johnson sympathized with Kenseth, noting he lost to Carl Edwards on the same kind of move last spring in Atlanta and then edged Bobby Labonte with an outside pass on the last lap last May at Charlotte.
But that experience definitely helped him strategize Sunday.
"I was slowly catching Matt before that last caution," Johnson said. "I think we could have got up there to race with him but, if it stayed green, I believe Matt had it in the bag. Then we got that last yellow."
Asked if he thought about trying to block Johnson's move to the outside, Kenseth said, "I was running in the groove where my car was the fastest. If I had to redo it right now, I don't think there was anything I could have done different."
Johnson won the season-opening Daytona 500 and finished second to Kenseth two weeks ago in California before taking his 20th career win Sunday. And he's doing it without crew chief Chad Knaus, banned by NASCAR for the first four races of the season after making unapproved modifications to Johnson's car in Daytona qualifying.
With lead engineer Darian Grubb stepping in for Knaus, Johnson will head to Atlanta Motor Speedway this week with a 52-point lead over Kenseth in the standings.
A dejected Kenseth told his crew by radio his engine didn't feel strong for the restart, but he was able to hold off Johnson for a lap and a half after the green flag waved for the final time on lap 269.
"Sorry, you guys won a race and I lost it," Kenseth said to his crew.
After getting out of the car, Kenseth said, "Nobody likes to run second. We led all day. ..." All three Cup races this season have gone into overtime because of late-race cautions.
Schrader soaring to different speed
Ken Schrader might not have had the fastest car at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but he was traveling faster than any of his competitors Thursday when he flew with the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds out of Nellis Air Force Base.
"An unbelievable ride," said Schrader, 50, the oldest regular driver on the Nextel Cup circuit. "I didn't know what to think going in, and I was plenty nervous about it."
He compared and contrasted it to driving 185 mph at Daytona: "We've got some acceleration, but nothing like that. When the Thunderbirds are flying in formation, they are running about as close as we're racing. They don't have to deal with a wall, but we don't have to deal with the ground. It's different, but man was it exciting."
Las Vegas' Cup history brief
Last Sunday marked the ninth running of a Cup event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
But there was one other Cup race held in Nevada.
In 1955, a 200-lap feature was held on the 1-mile dirt track at Las Vegas Park Speedway. It was held concurrently with an event at Martinsville that day. Pole-sitter Norm Nelson won the race with an average speed of 44.449 mph. The race was halted by darkness after 111 laps, in large part because of a red-flag delay after a wreck on lap 74.
? Kurt and Kyle Busch are hardly the first drivers to call Las Vegas home.
Leonard "Doc" Faustina, a Las Vegas dentist, competed in 10 races from 1971-76 and was a car owner for 35 events, providing cars for drivers such as Harry Gant, Wendell Scott, Richard Childress and Dave Marcis.
Earnhardt festivities set
Dale Earnhardt Inc. has announced that a celebration honoring the life and legacy of Dale Earnhardt will take place April 29, two days after the seven-time Cup champion is inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in Talladega, Ala.
The fifth annual Dale Earnhardt Day will be celebrated at the company's Mooresville, N.C., facilities from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
This year's Busch Series race at Talladega will be held on Earnhardt's birthday, April 29. Earnhardt is the winningest driver at Talladega with 10 trips to victory lane, including his 76th and final victory on Oct. 15, 2000.
Newman fired up for rescue effort
Ryan Newman knows all too well about fires. He was burned in a 2003 incident at Michigan International Speedway after a blown engine set his cockpit ablaze.
That didn't stop him from springing into action when his lunch was interrupted at a downtown Lenoir, N.C., eatery last week. Newman had just ordered lunch at Sledgehammer Charlie's when a fire broke out and the restaurant filled with smoke.
"It was quite an experience," Newman said. "We were actually on the fourth floor of an old, brick building. It was a wood-fired grill and it was grease on the top of the hood going up into the rafters caught on fire.
Newman accompanied former fireman Chris Barlowe and Jeffrey Rocks to the roof where Newman used his Leatherman ? a multipurpose tool he carries for cutting line while fishing and opening packages ? to remove bolts on a ventilator cover as Barlowe turned fire extinguishers on the blaze.
"We were on the roof, four stories up doing this," Newman said. "I think our initiative slowed it down before (the fire department) got there. They wanted to give me a key to the city and everything else, but I told them I wasn't in it for that."
Wheldon open to new course
Indianapolis 500 champ Dan Wheldon won't rule out getting behind the wheel of a NASCAR ride before too long.
"It's something that intrigues me," Wheldon told USA TODAY. "It's the biggest stage in America, no doubt. I will look at it again (because) it's something I'd like to explore further down the road."
Wheldon already has connections in place. He competes in IRL for Chip Ganassi Racing, which also fields the Nextel Cup cars of Casey Mears, David Stremme and Reed Sorenson.
Two-time Indy champ Helio Castroneves already has an appreciation for NASCAR drivers, in part from his head-to-head competition with them in the IROC Series. No open-wheel driver has won the IROC since Al Unser Jr. in 1988.
"It's totally different experiences," says Castroneves, who tailed Dale Jarrett during an IROC event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2002. "I finished second behind him in that race and he was fantastic. I kept waiting for him to make a mistake and, really, he made no mistakes."
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/motor/nascar/2006-03-15-nascar-report_x.htm