Coca-Cola 600 Notebook

Stewart not only busybody; RAD something besides cool

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Posted: Saturday May 29, 1999 06:57 PM

Dale Earnhardt (right) leads all active drivers with 20 top-10 finishes at Charlotte. AP

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) -- Tony Stewart isn't the only person who's doing double duty this week at Lowe's Motor Speedway at Charlotte.

While Stewart has been logging plenty of miles in his preparations to drive in the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day, Tony Eury Jr. has been literally pounding his share of pavement as well.

Eury, car chief for Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s entries in both Saturday's Carquest 300 and Sunday's Coca-Cola 600, has been wearing a step pedometer to monitor the distance he's walking this week in the garage area at Charlotte.

There are 346 steps between the two cars in their respective garage areas in the track's sprawling infield.

On Wednesday, Eury took 9,486 steps as he worked on the two cars, a total of 2.8 miles.

On Thursday, Eury's total increased to 16,873 steps -- 5.3 miles.

He walked 8,219 steps, or 2.5 miles, on Friday.

That's 34,518 steps, or 10.6 miles, in the three days leading up to Saturday's 300.

Stewart, by the way, took part in both Winston Cup practice sessions for the 600 on Saturday, then flew to Indianapolis to stay overnight before his big day Sunday.

Totally RAD

A three-car alliance designed to improve aerodynamic performance produced some impressive qualifying results for the 600. All six drivers in the so-called RAD alliance earned starting spots in the top 15.

The alliance drew its name from Richard Childress Racing, Andy Petree Racing and Dale Earnhardt Inc.

"The crux of what we do at RAD is perform wind-tunnel testing and computer simulations to develop ideas for track testing," said Louis Duncan, the group's aero engineer. "Track testing is the acid test of what we do. It might work in the wind tunnel or on the computer, but it means nothing if it doesn't work on the track."

RAD's Kenny Wallace qualified third, Steve Park fifth, Ken Schrader sixth, Dale Earnhardt Jr. eighth, Mike Skinner 11th and Dale Earnhardt 15th.

Looking back at Charlotte

The first running of the Coca-Cola 600, in 1960, was also the first race held at what was originally called Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The race was originally scheduled for Memorial Day weekend but was postponed until June 19 because of construction delays.

Joe Lee Johnson won the race by four laps over Johnny Beauchamp. It was the only victory of Johnson's Winston Cup career.

Pit stops

Three drivers have won eight of the last 10 Winston Cup races at Charlotte. Jeff Gordon and Dale Jarrett have won three each and Mark Martin has won twice. ... Dale Earnhardt leads all active drivers with 20 top-10 finishes at Charlotte. Terry Labonte is next with 18, followed by Rusty Wallace with 15 and Mark Martin with 13. ... Dale Earnhardt has 10 top-10 finishes in 12 races at Charlotte. Jeff Burton has four consecutive finishes of eighth or better.

 

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