AN EVENTFUL WEEK FOR AUTO RACING.Byline: TIM TIM Timothy TIM Technical Interchange Meeting TIM Transient Intermodulation Distortion TIM Time Is Money TIM The Invisible Man (movie) TIM Telecom Italia Mobile (Italian cellular provider) HADDOCK Motor Sports The news in NASCAR NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing), organization that sanctions American stock-car races, est. 1948. It held its first race in Daytona Beach, Fla. is coming three-fold this week. First, defending Winston Cup champion Tony Stewart For other persons named Tony Stewart, see Tony Stewart (disambiguation). Anthony Wayne "Tony" Stewart (born May 20, 1971) is an auto racing driver who was born in Columbus, Indiana. He has won championships in sprint cars, Indy cars, and stock cars. , 0-for-the-season until the Pennsylvania 500, finally won a race. Second, John Andretti, driver of the fabled No. 43 Dodge for Petty Enterprises, was fired and replaced with Brazilian Christian Fittipaldi. And third, California Speedway will be getting a second race, most likely on Labor Day weekend and at the expense of the traditionally rooted Southern 500. To say it's about time It's About Time may refer to:
In addition, NASCAR returned a confiscated con·fis·cate tr.v. con·fis·cat·ed, con·fis·cat·ing, con·fis·cates 1. To seize (private property) for the public treasury. 2. To seize by or as if by authority. See Synonyms at appropriate. adj. chassis from Stewart's stables to the Joe Gibbs Racing Joe Gibbs Racing (also known as JGR) is a group of NASCAR racing teams owned by Joe Gibbs, who first started racing on the NASCAR circuit in 1991. Headquartered in Huntersville, North Carolina, more notably near Charlotte, the team amassed three NEXTEL Cup Championships team. The chassis on the car in question was confiscated before the Texas Motor Speedway Texas Motor Speedway is a superspeedway located in the northernmost portion of the U.S. city of Fort Worth, Texas -- the portion located in Denton County, Texas. The track layout is very similar to Atlanta Motor Speedway and Lowe's Motor Speedway (formerly Charlotte Motor race in March for not meeting specification measurements. Stewart's confiscated car was only one setback for the driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Chevy. Blown motors and not being able to finish races have been problems haunting Stewart all season. As the series heads to Michigan International Speedway Michigan International Speedway is a two-mile (3.22 km), moderate-banked, D shaped superspeedway located off U.S. Highway 12 on more than 1,400 acres [1] near Brooklyn, in the scenic Irish Hills area of southeastern Michigan. , site of Sunday's Sirius Satellite Radio
Michigan and California Speedway share similarities in design and speed. That is part of the reason why Stewart has so much confidence. Even though he made an early exit in the April race at California Speedway, he did lead three times for 100 laps before retiring with engine problems. ``Our day at California might've been a short one, but it showed what we're capable of,'' Stewart said. ``We've learned a lot since then, in terms of reliability and found some more horsepower along the way. I call California Michigan West for good reason. They're both pretty similar. So, I think we're fully capable of running just as strongly at Michigan as we did at California, but this time all day long.'' Stewart's team will be bringing the same chassis to Michigan that ran at California Speedway. But horsepower is the main concern of Joe Gibbs Racing head engine builder Mark Conquest. ``From Texas to California, we probably picked up five or six horsepower,'' Conquest said. ``And since then, we've probably picked up between 10 and 15 more horsepower. Fontana had a little bit more of what we learned, then Charlotte had a little bit more, and when we head to Michigan, we'll actually have a little bit more. And in the next month we plan on gaining even more (horsepower).'' The news from Petty Enterprises isn't as encouraging. In what looks like a panic move, Andretti, the team's most successful driver since 1998, is out of a job. And Fittipaldi, untested at least in stock car racing
Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing found mainly in the United States and Great Britain held largely on oval rings of between approximately a quarter-mile and 2. , will take over driving duties for the rest of the season. But that hasn't deterred Petty Enterprises from making the switch. ``Christian Fittipaldi has shown, every time he has gotten in a Winston Cup car, including Phoenix, Texas and Daytona, that he has the talent to drive these cars and help us get to the front,'' said Kyle Petty, CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Petty Enterprises. ``We look forward to showing everyone what Christian can do week in and week out.'' Success is all relative in this sense. Andretti won only one race for Petty and finished a best 11th in the championship in his first year with the team. But what has been a never-ending rebuilding effort from Petty Enterprises has seen the end of an era. The news from California Speedway is at best a mixed bag. The anticipated announcement of a second NASCAR Winston Cup race being added to the California Speedway is good news for stock car racing fans in Southern California. However, the race will probably be held on Labor Day Sunday, meaning the Southern 500, which has run at Darlington Raceway since 1950, will be no more. It will take some time to get used to the Southern California 500 being run on Labor Day. It will take even more time for true Southerners, some of whom are still fighting the Civil War, to get used to the idea. CAPTION(S): box Box: RACE WEEKEND - Tim Haddock |
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