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 Darlington-Texas a roller coaster ride
Posted: Friday April 02, 1999 02:47 PM
We had an extremely busy week between Atlanta and Darlington from a media standpoint. Early in the week we visited "This Week in NASCAR" with Alan Bestwick and made an appearance at Paramount's Carowinds -- an amusement park south of Charlotte, N.C. -- for their The Young Guns of NASCAR Take on Top Gun the Super Coaster promotion. There were three drivers besides myself, Kenny Wallace, Jerry Nadeau and Stanton Barrett, along with three actual military fighter pilots to take the first ride on Top Gun. It was one cool roller coaster. Then it was on to ...
DarlingtonIt's the oldest superspeedway on the NASCAR circuit. Darlington Raceway is a venue that garners a great deal of respect from racers -- it's not a track to be taken lightly. Even a seasoned competitor like my teammate, Bobby Labonte, can be bitten by the Lady in Black. Practicing on Friday for the Busch race, Bobby hit fluid on the track and slammed into the wall breaking his scapula.Having the opportunity to test there in late February really paid off because our car was ready to roll right off the trailer. We needed a stout lap for qualifying and our lap of 28.673 seconds was strong enough to sit on the fifth row. It also allowed us to spend all day Saturday concentrating on our race set-up. For the fourth weekend in a row, weather played havoc with race day, but we got lucky and the race started on time. The crew really hit on the set-up and we were able to move into fifth-place before rain brought out the red flag on lap 45. Three hours later we were back in business and maintained our top-five status and climbed as high as third despite a skillful challenge by Jeff Gordon. With a flawless pit stop by the crew, I was able to retain fifth-place, though other teams were threatening as they got dialed in throughout the day. By the time the rain started again, I'd fallen back to sixth. I was disappointed to see NASCAR call the race on Lap 164 because we were the top Pontiac and I really wanted to race. I think we had a good opportunity to win, but sixth-place is my best finish yet and we brought the car home in one piece, so I can't complain.
TexasOn Thursday I made the trip to Texas Motor Speedway. Having raced here before in the Busch series and my IRL car, I felt confident that we would have a solid showing. A limo picked us up at the airport -- typical Texas service -- and we were off to our first of several appearances for The Home Depot. Can you believe they have a store in Texas that's open 24 hours a day? Guess it would come in handy if you can't find a plumber at 2:00 AM. Friday was a perfect day. Our practice times were good and having started third last year in the Busch series, I had already established a tight qualifying line around the track. That afternoon, time trials were scheduled for 3:30, but were delayed nearly an hour by Ron Bouchard's horrendous crash. We drew the 14th qualifying spot and posted a 28.802 lap -- .404 sec. off the pole speed set by my fellow Hoosier Kenny Irwin -- but safely in the top 20. We were able to do it again - meet our goal of qualifying in the first round. Amazing!
Bobby was the real story on Friday afternoon. Despite suffering from a broken shoulder, he was able to place the Interstate Batteries Pontiac on the front row. The guy is amazing. We were able to practice our race set-up on Saturday morning before Mother Nature paid her weekly visit to NASCAR. It would have been great to make use of Happy Hour, but final practice was an absolute wash. We were hoping that the track wouldn't be too green on Sunday. After the mandatory drivers and crew chiefs meeting and pre-race activities on Sunday, I was ready to get strapped in and roll. It looked like the weather would cooperate and we could get the race in. Matt Kenseth stood by for Bobby again, in case his pain became unbearable. We heard NASCAR would provide a mandatory caution early in the race to get feedback on the track and tire wear. That would bode well for the 18 crew should Bobby decide to get out of the car. Our first pit stop went smooth, and by Lap 50, I was able to maintain a top-10 position for the rest of the race. In the next 100 laps, we surprisingly lost Jeff Gordon and Mike Skinner when their tires blew out, but the team made the necessary air pressure adjustments and we continued to progress. My pit crew was totally awesome all day getting me in and out of the pits with incredible stops. I am figuring out how to get into the pits and get out to support their efforts. Our rookie program is coming together. I figured if Bobby could stay in the car with the pain he was experiencing, I had no excuses. We would ride as high as fifth before the checkers fell on Lap 334, and for the second week in a row, The Home Depot team finished sixth. This early in my Winston Cup career, that's every bit as good as a win. Bobby was the big hero with his third place finish. He's the only driver to have led a lap in every race this season -- that's something for us to work on. This may be technically be an "off-week", but there are really no off-weeks in NASCAR. The Home Depot team will be testing at Bristol for the next couple of days, then we're going home to Indiana for a few days. There is a dirt late model there just waiting for me to hop behind the wheel. The Bristol test went very well. After our weekend off, we test in Martinsville and then off to Bristol to race. Better work that neck machine a little harder next week at the gym. Bye for now. NASCAR's Tony Stewart drives the No. 20 The Home Depot Pontiac for Joe Gibbs Racing. His diary appears regularly on CNNSI.com.
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