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AP Notebook Viva la France! NASCAR president fights through cancer
Posted: Thursday February 17, 2000 12:42 AM
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Ailing NASCAR president Bill France Jr. is still very much part of the leadership as the stock car series gets under way in 2000. The 66-year-old France was diagnosed in December with cancer, although he won't say what kind. "I'm walking around," France said Wednesday at Daytona International Speedway. "As far as I know, things are moving along in the right direction." The son of NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. has been undergoing chemotherapy treatments during the week and working in his Daytona Beach office on the weekends. He said he'll be finished with his treatments at the beginning of March. France looked his usual self Wednesday except for some puffiness in his face and hands. "I have good days and bad days, but I feel pretty good right now," he said. France, who had a mild heart attack while in Japan for a NASCAR exhibition race in November 1997, said the cancer has not depressed him. "I like to consider myself a pragmatist," he said. "It's no secret we're all going to die sometime."
IROC 'n rollDale Earnhardt, the defending champ in the International Race of Champion Series, will start from the pole on Friday in the opening race of the IROC season. Earnhardt won three of four races in the all-star series last year on the way to his third IROC title. He has 10 race wins, trailing career series leader Al Unser Jr. by one. "Last year, I played it a little patient here and waited until the right time at the end," said Earnhardt, who led only the final lap of the 40-lap, 100-mile race at Daytona International Speedway. "Hopefully, we can get it done again this year." Unser, a longtime open-wheel star, is not driving in the series this year. With the CART drivers unable to compete because of a schedule conflict, the IROC field is comprised of nine NASCAR drivers and three from the Indy Racing League. The top 1999 Winston Cup rookie Tony Stewart will start alongside Earnhardt in the front row on Friday, with two-time NASCAR Busch Series champion and Winston Cup rookie Dale Earnhardt Jr. third. The IRL's Eddie Cheever will start fourth, followed by Bobby Labonte and Jeff Gordon, defending IRL champion Greg Ray and fellow IRL racer Mark Dismore. Four-time IROC champion Mark Martin will start ninth, with the lineup completed by fellow NASCAR stars Dale Jarrett, Jeff Burton and Rusty Wallace. The starting spots were determined Wednesday in a draw.
Rookie problemsFirst-year race driver Dave Blaney had a setback in the final practice for Thursday's 125-mile qualifying races. Blaney, moving up from the Busch Series, damaged his Pontiac in a crash Wednesday on the 2 1/2-mile Daytona oval. "Everybody got in a big pile and slowed up," Blaney explained. "We were trying to dodge to miss each other and I got together with another guy." Team owner Bill Davis, who also fields a car for Ward Burton, said Blaney's Pontiac would be repaired in time for his qualifying race.
Spark plugs
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