Ken's NASCAR Notebook  May 17, 1996

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Winston Select & Coca Cola 600 Notes
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As expected, the #37 Kranefuss/Haas Lincoln Mark VIII has not been 
 approved for the Winston Open, and the reason sited was that the 
 NASCAR rules require the sanctioning body be provided with all the 
 manufacturer's part numbers, which was not done according to NASCAR's 
 Mike Helton..  Still no word from NASCAR on whether it will be allowed 
 for the Coca Cola 600 but the "feeling" is that it won't be allowed to 
 run that soon either.  NASCAR reportedly wants more wind tunnel 
 testing.  Rumor has it that Ford is not happy with Kranefuss' Lincoln 
 testing, because they feel it will dilute their efforts to get 
 NASCAR's concessions for the Thunderbird.  On another note, Kranefuss 
 was involved in a motorcycle accident after leaving a test session at 
 Charlotte, when a car apparently cut him off while exitting the 
 expressway.  He suffered only minor injuries of cuts and bruises from 
 dumping the bike.

Ricky Craven says he could run in the Winston Open because he is 
 feeling much better, but he might elect to skip the non-points race to 
 continue to build strength for the Coca Cola 600.

Ex-Senator & now full-time Presidental Candidate Bob Dole has been 
 named as the Grand Marshall for the Winston Select.

RJR has announced another program that links the Winston Select to the 
 exhibition race in Japan.  If the same driver can win both races, they 
 will collect another $50,000 bonus from Winston.  

Word has it that Bobby Allison has been able to line up a new primary 
 sponsor for his fledging race team.  He will reportedly make an 
 announcement Friday (today) from Charlotte in a scheduled press 
 conference.  The sponsor is said to likely be Best Buy, a consumer 
 electronics retail chain similar to Circuit City.

Todd Bodine has been named as the primary replacement for Bill Elliott 
 in the #94 McDonald's Ford starting possibly with the Coca Cola 600, 
 while Elliott recovers from a broken left femur in his crash at 
 Talladega.  Todd is running the full BGN schedule this year, so Bodine 
 will have a few conflicts with the Winston Cup schedule.   Harry Gant 
 will still drive for Elliott in the Winston Select.

Dick Trickle will be at the Charlotte Motor Speedway to run The Winston 
 Select Open this weekend.  Early Sunday morning, Trickle will then fly 
 to Nazareth, PA for the BGN race.  Trickle's NASCAR Busch Series 
 Dura-Lube Chevrolet will be practiced and qualified by Tom Peck on 
 Saturday for the Cores States-Meridian Advantage 200 at Nazareth Speedway.

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Kodak goes racing on the Web
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Eastman Kodak Company recently announced that  
racing fans can now visit the Kodak web site at http://www.kodak.com to browse 
and electronically purchase Kodak Film Racing-themed merchandise from its 
online Giftshop.  The Giftshop is a pilot program designed to begin 
exploring customer response to electronic commerce.  

Kodak's Giftshop, located in the "What's Hot" section, offers a wide 
range of quality merchandise with a Kodak Film Racing theme including 
clothing, collectibles and toys.  Kodak is the official film of NASCAR. 

Shoppers can browse items such as a leather jacket, beach towel, 
baseball hat, inflatable boat, and scale model replicas of the 
Kodak-sponsored race cars and place them in a virtual shopping cart.  
Items can be shipped anywhere within the United States.  

Two options of ordering merchandise are available.  The first option is 
using Netscape Navigator to submit encrypted credit card information.  
The second option is using the giftshop "check-out" to request that a 
Kodak representative contact the consumer to receive the order and 
credit card information.

"Kodak is eager to tap into the potential of electronic commerce,"  said 
Kodak's Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President Carl Gustin.  
 "We believe the potential of the Internet for direct commerce is 
enormous, if not limitless. "

Also at the Kodak web site, racing fans can access the latest race 
results, pictures and statistics of the Kodak Race Car and Team, a 
schedule of Kodak car appearances, and information on Kodak race car 
driver, Sterling Marlin.

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Roush does Mustangs parts
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Jack Roush, owner of the #6 Valvoline Ford of Mark Martin, #16 Family 
 Channel Ford of Ted Musgrave, and the #98 Ford of Jeremy Mayfield, has 
 just recently just jumped into the Mustang high-performance 
 aftermarket by introducing a line of 1994-1996 Mustang bolt-on upgrade 
 packages.

Roush Racing has been building and racing Mustangs since 1984, and has 
 won 10 Trans Am manufacturer's and driver's titles, 12 IMSA GTO/GTS 
 manufacturer's amd driver's championships, and 10 consecutive sedan 
 class victories at the 24 Hours of Daytona. Mustang racing parts have 
 always been available for sale, but never publically advertised and 
 always hard to get.

Roush's new subsidary will sell three bolt-on packages which are 
 designed to be owner-installed for the do-it-yourselfer: stage 1 is an 
 appearance package, stage 2 is a suspension upgrade, and stage 3 is an 
 engine upgrade.  Roush will also open three authorized installation 
 shops, called J.R.'s Garage, to perform installations for those who 
 would rather not turn a wrench.  The first two shops are opening in 
 Livonia, MI and Garden Grove, CA., and the third is set to open in 
 North Carolina.

Roush Racing comprises only about 1/6 of Roush Corporation's total 
 business.  Roush has 1300 employees in 27 locations throughout the 
 world, with the majority mainly working for all three U.S. automakers.

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NASCAR schedule for 1997
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Word is out that the long awaited NASCAR Winston Cup schedule for 1997 
 will be available later this summer in the August timeframe.  Word is 
 that "major" changes can be expected, with the new tracks in 
 California and Las Vegas to be added.  Also, since NASCAR has hold 
 Bahre that he cannot have two races at New Hampshire, look for the 
 situation with North Wilkesboro to be resolved.  One source says that 
 the owners of the Las Vegas track are negotiating to buy out Bahre's 
 half-ownership of N. Wilkesboro, while another souce says the Bruton 
 Smith has his eyes on it as well.

Speculation says that the early spring races after Daytona may be moved 
 to warmer climates (read that out west towards Las Vegas, California, 
 and Texas), so they are suggesting that you ensure your advance 
 hotel/motel reservations be automatically moved up with the race (if 
 necessary).  Stay tuned.....

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Happy Motoring :-)
=Ken=

Email: 	Ken_Corpus@wb.xerox.com or 76734.1003@compuserve.com
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