
| Posted: Wednesday March 14, 2007 11:11AM; Updated: Wednesday March 14, 2007 11:11AM With the first Car of Tomorrow only two races away, it's possible that NASCAR will be less restrictive during its inspection process to make sure it has a car on the track for the Food City 500 at the Bristol Motor Speedway. The COT was supposed to make the inspection process uniform and easy, but every car at the Bristol test session apparently had problems meeting all eight of the computerized inspection points required by NASCAR. Dale Jarrett said Tuesday that NASCAR needs to change its inspection process to ensure every driver gets equal time to practice on Nextel Cup weekends. On the first day of inspection at a given track, NASCAR starts with the point leader and works its way down the list. That means that cars toward the bottom of the point standings are inspected last. This year, with more than 50 cars coming to every race, some cars aren't finished with inspection by the time the first practice begins. Bobby Hamilton Jr. said he wants stepmother Lori Hamilton -- or whoever is in charge of Bobby Hamilton Racing -- to buy his share of his late father's team. Hamilton Jr. said he was unsure who to talk to about selling his share of the team because he is "totally confused" about who is running it. Contrary to published reports, NASCAR has no immediate plans to pull the Busch Series out of Mexico City. There was a lot of talk that NASCAR wouldn't sign a new sanctioning contract with the governmental agency in charge of promoting the road-course race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. NASCAR vice president Jim Hunter was quick to squash that talk. Terri Parsons, Benny's second wife, is searching desperately for memorabilia from Benny's driving career. The hope is to collect a wide range of helmets, trophies, driving suits and sheet metal to display in a special wine-tasting room at Benny's winery in Wilkesboro, N.C. Terri seeks a driving uniform and helmet from every car he ever drove. To date, the quest has been exasperating. Richard Childress Racing will be the first team to utilize Chevrolet's new R07 motor when Scott Wimmer hits the track with the No. 33 Holiday Inn Chevy on Friday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Per NASCAR regulations, the R07 displaces a maximum of 358 cubic inches. In contrast to the SB2's "mirror port" cylinder heads, the R07's cylinder heads resemble production LS-series small-block cylinder heads with alternating intake and exhaust valves. Richard Childress Racing Nextel Cup driver Clint Bowyer returns to the Craftsman Truck Series this weekend, this time driving the No. 2 Kevin Harvick Inc. entry. Bowyer is scheduled to drive the KHI truck in four races this season. Kevin Harvick and Cale Gale are also driving for the team this year. T.J. Bell will make his debut for Roush Fenway Racing in this Friday's American Commercial Lines 200 Craftsman Truck Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Bell, a native of Reno, Nev., recently signed a 15-race deal with Roush Fenway this season. He'll drive the team's No. 50 Ford with sponsorship from Heathcliff Cat Litter and SpeedZorb. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||