Ken's NASCAR Notebook, June 10, 1996

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Buddy Parrot Update
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During the Dover weekend, Buddy Parrot reportedly was complaining of 
 chest pains and was taken to Kent Memorial Hospital and later 
 released.  A Roush Racing spokesman said that the tests he underwent 
 showed no signs of heart problems, and he is now home and doing well.

Parrot, well known as the former Crew Chief of Rusty Wallace, is now 
 with Roush Racing and the #99 Exide Team.

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What's the Point?
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After Dover's race, Earnhardt continues to lead the Winston Cup Points 
 Race with a total of 1901, and is reportedly on track to challenge the 
 record for most points earned in one season.  Cale Yarborough won the 
 1977 championship with a total of 5000 points, in his second of three 
 consecutive championships in that decade.

Mark Martin is struggling this year, and after his dismal 40th place 
 finish at Dover has dropped out of the top ten in points, and is now 
 down to 13th.

Bobby Labonte's finish at Dover pushed him into the top ten for points, 
 and is now 9th overall.

Visit my friend's website where you can get race statistics such as Lap 
 Leaders, Manufacturer Points,  Average Finishes and other information. 
  The URL is  http://users.aol.com/BrianD37/page3.htm  (You will need 
 MS Excel.)

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Rusty's Got A New Chassis
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Penske Racing South has supplied its first in-shop-built chassis for 
 Rusty Wallace.  Up until this point, the Penske crew had bought their 
 production version chassis from Hopkins.

Rusty is referring to the new ground-up car as "PC-1" which stands for 
 the first Penske Chassis. The driver and crew will refer to the 
 racecar as PC-1, until it wins a race.  After winning a race, the crew 
 has a tradition whereby they give the car a nickname such as Midnight, 
 Captain or Killer.

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NASCAR Aero Concessions
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Again, Except this time they give concessions to Chevy.  NASCAR will 
 allow the Chevrolet Monte Carlos to add an additional quarter-inch to 
 the front air dam and rear spoiler for the upcoming races at Pocono 
 and Michigan.

Dan Rivard, director of Ford's Special Vehicle Operations, says "The 
 logic behind NASCAR's actions on this escapes me. It really makes us 
 wonder if they want competitive, multiple-manufacturer racing."

Ford has fought long and hard to get NASCAR to allow changes on the 
 Thunderbird which would even the playing field with the Monte Carlo.  
 Ford had asked for 1.25 inches to be trimmed from the Thunderbird's 
 roof height to help them gain parity with the Chevys in downforce. 
 NASCAR has allowed two separate changes so far this season to the Ford 
 roof which total three-quarters of an inch.

Darrell Waltrip, owner/drivers of the #17 Western Auto Chevy, says that 
 all this change will do is bring the middle of the Chevy pack up to 
 the front.  He says his race team can use all the help they can get.

Ford teams say that the Chevy Monte Carlo, with its modified rear width 
 to meet NASCAR's rear spoiler requirements, didn't need anymore help 
 than it already had.

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Jarrett Family Expands Race Team
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Dale Jarrett has announced a new partnership with a leading sports 
 marketing firm called ISL, as well as plans to expand DAJ Dale A. 
 Jarrett) Racing.  Dale is currently the driver for the #88 Ford 
 Quality CareThunderbird, and owns/drives the #28 MAC Tools Busch 
 Series car as well.

The DAJ Racing team will try to expand to two cars in the NASCAR Busch 
 Series and will add one entry in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.  
 Dale and son Jason will share the driving duties on the primary Busch 
 Series car, while Dale's older brother Glenn will drive the truck.  
 The team will also begin an in-house engine development program.

Ultimately, the team has a long-range goal of moving up to NASCAR 
 Winston Cup Series, but the marketing program initiated by ISL must 
 deliver the necessary funding first. 

Dale stated " For at least the next two years, however, I will remain 
 committed to my role as driver for the Ford Quality Care/ Red Carpet 
 Lease Racing Team fielded by Robert Yates Racing."

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Pocono Repaved, Finally
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Many people have been hoping, wondering, and even praying that Pocono 
 would get completely repaved someday.  My personal lasting memories of 
 the that track include a broken windshield in my Mustang from a 
 high-speed track event there.  

Over the years, the track has been patched, repatched, and partially 
 repaved.  In the midst of the summer heat, the problem of crumbling 
 asphalt is exaserbated by the 3500 lb stock cars grinding through the corners.

The track now sports completely new paving all the way around, just in 
 time for the Winston Cup race there this coming weekend.  Johnny 
 Benson Jr. tested there this weekend, and reports that the track is 
 "smooth, very fast and tricky."  Johnny ought to know, he spun turn 
 three and wrecked his #30 Pennzoil Pontiac.  Johnny was unhurt and the 
 team was forced to end its practice session.

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SuperTruck Updates
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The NASCAR Craftsman Truck series is being infilltrated by more and 
 more Winston Cup drivers.  Add Jeff Burton to the list, as he made his 
 SuperTruck debut this past weekend at Heartland Park in Topeka.  
 Burton's #99 Exide Ford F150 also made its debut.  Jeff will run 
 atleast two more truck races this year, at Nazareth and Martinsville.  
 Jeff also runs in the Busch Series driving the #05 Ford Thunderbird of 
 Key Motorsports, complete with a Roush Racing engine. 

Kenny Wallace and Wally Dallenbach, Jr. also made their debut at Topeka 
 in the Truck Series.  Dallenbach was driving a Chevy pickup truck, but 
 he got special permission from Ford when they were unable to find a 
 Ford ride for him.  Dallenbach is a road course expert but only 
 managed to finish 25th after having transmission problems.

Jeff Burton's Roush Racing teammates Mark Martin and Ted Musgrave are 
 also planning on running selected Truck events later in the year. 

Tommy Archer, a well known truck racer and very successful with Mopars, 
 is trying to form a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series entry.  His 
 manufacturer of choice?  Dodge, of course.  Tommy is trying to obtain 
 factory support, and his decision to enter the race may be dependent 
 on whether the factory is capable of providing the necessary financial 
 support.

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Irvan Returns to Michigan
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For the first time since he near-fatal accident, Ernie Irvan returned 
 to the Michigan International Speedway to practice in his #28 Havoline 
 Ford Thunderbird.  Reports from the track say the driver and team were 
 extremely happy with their test results.  When asked about his 
 feelings about returning to the track that almost killed him, Irvan 
 says that everyone else remembers the accident and that he doesn't.

Oh yes, Ernie also plans on running a few truck races at the end of the 
 year as well.  Irvan is owner of the 1-800-COLLECT truck driven by 
 Bryan Reffner.

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Ford is committed to NASCAR
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Two weekends ago, TNN's Raceday reported that Ford might quit building 
 the Thunderbird, Cougar and Lincoln Mark VIII cars, which could 
 potentially eliminate all of the current bodystyles that are eligible 
 for NASCAR Winston Cup racing.

This weekend, Raceday spoke with Dan Rivard, head of Ford's SVO 
 division, and found out that their concerns were only speculative at 
 best.  Rivard stated that Ford is committed to NASCAR and Winston Cup 
 racing for a long time to come.

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Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet
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So you're a die-hard Ironhead fan, who thinks he has every Earnhardt 
 collectible made including the neat little black #3 underwear?  Well, 
 are you driving a black Dale Earnhardt signature edition Monte Carlo?  
 If not, call 1-888-333-DALE and order yours today!

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1997 Winston Cup schedule
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Reports are still being circulated that NASCAR will release next year's 
 schedule in late August, which is mush earlier than usual.  
 Speculation surrounding the reason for the early release is focused on 
 several major changes to the schedule, including the addition of the 
 newly constructed Texas and California speedways.  Folks from the Las 
 Vegas speedway say that while they would like a NASCAR race, they do 
 not have a confirmed date on next year's schedule.

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Silly Season Rumors
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There was a a rampant rumor that Ernie Irvan might be parting ways with 
 the #28 Robert Yates team, but Irvan and Yates have made it publicly 
 known that everything is okay, and Irvan will stay to finish out his 
 contract thru next year.  In an interview with TNN's Raceday reporter, 
 Irvan said that he was not leaving and would have to be kicked off the 
 team in order to leave.

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Eli Gold's RaceTalk Online
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Eli Gold, former voice of NASCAR's MRN Radio, now has a new weekly show 
 on TNN called RaceTalk.  The show is filmed live from the various 
 tracks around the country and features a call-in show with racecar 
 drivers or team members.  He also now has a homepage, complete with 
 updated news, on the Web at the following URL:  http://www.racetalk.com/

You can contact Eli Gold's new RaceTalk show on TNN via email at 
 email@racetalk.com or call 1-888-CALL-ELI for the voice mail option.

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NASCAR teams are generous
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After Robert Yates, Ernie Irvan and Dale Jarrett learned of Scott 
 Brayton's death at Indy, the three teammates began taking up a 
 collection in the garage area at Charlotte.  They managed to raise 
 more than $10,000 for an education trust fund for Scott's daughter, 
 Carly Brayton.  The collected funds included a donation of $5000 from 
 the money raised in Kyle Petty's Charity Ride Across America.

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Happy Motoring :-)
=Ken=

Email: 	Ken_Corpus@wb.xerox.com or 76734.1003@compuserve.com
CyberHome:	http://www.geocities.com/motorcity/1105/
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