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CNNSI.com's Stephen Thomas tackles three questions that matter to fans:

1	Does the Dodge Intrepid deserve more down force?

Sterling Marlin M. David Leads/Allsport NASCAR officials announced last week that effective Aug. 1, the Dodge Intrepids can extend their front air dam by an additional two inches. According to numerous team owners and innumerable crew chiefs, not only does this modification give the 10 teams that race the Intrepid an incredible (read: unfair) advantage in down force, but the timing of the change -- one week before the Brickyard 400, a track where down force is critical -- is curious at best. According to many crew chiefs, early season testing proved the Dodge already had better down force than its competitors. But even more than that, Sterling Marlin's performance alone should be enough to prove the Dodge's competitiveness. Last season, Marlin managed one second-place and six other top-10 finishes and was 19th in points. Through 20 races in 2001, he has already had 10 top-10 finishes, five of which have been top 5s. Even more telling, Marlin is fifth in points -- his career-best was third, which came in 1995. It's certainly true that Dodge has yet to win a race in its trumpeted return to NASCAR and god only knows that must gnaw at DaimlerChrysler officials. But, let's say Marlin had managed to win at Michigan, which he and Jeff Gordon and Ricky Rudd, the two he finished behind, said should have happened, would NASCAR officials have been quite so inclined to make this change?

2	What more can the sport learn from Earnhardt's death?

Mike Helton Jamie Squire/Allsport NASCAR President Mike Helton recently announced that the governing body's accident report into Dale Earnhardt's death, originally scheduled to be released in early August, will be delayed, perhaps until the end of the month. Will NASCAR's report fundamentally change what we already know? Expert testimony tells us what caused Earnhardt's death: basilar skull fracture. Dr. Barry Meyers, a professor of biomedical engineering at Duke University, concluded that Earnhardt died when his head whipped forward violently when his car hit the wall at Daytona International Speedway. According to Meyers, the broken seatbelt, the focus of intense speculation, "does not appear to have played a role in Mr. Earnhardt's fatal injury." In other words, there is little of substance to be learned from any additional report into that tragic and unfortunate accident. Or, as Speedway Motor Sports Inc. chairman Bruton Smith told The Orlando Sentinel a few weeks ago, "I don't expect a lot, I think we already have the answers." The issue is not what more can we learn about Earnhardt's death, but rather, what more can that death teach us such that additional deaths might be prevented? While the increased use of head restraints among Winston Cup drivers is quite obviously a good thing, the fact remains that, in the months since, little else has been done to better ensure the health of stock car drivers.

3	What's next -- cheerleaders along pit road?

Jerry Jones Harry How/Allsport Car owner Richard Childress told reporters at Pocono last weekend that he and Jerry Jones, owner of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys, have been attempting for some time to come to an agreement that would give Jones some stake in a Winston Cup team. Childress said Sunday that it only makes sense for a Cup team to seek out a deal with the Cowboys, "America's Team" and easily one of the sports industry's best-known entities. That the Cowboys are a valuable commodity as far as marketing opportunities go is understood, but ... does Childress really want Jones involved? Not only is he notoriously pushy when it comes to football decisions, often times at the expense of his hired hands, but there is the small matter of his recent track record. Yes, the Cowboys were one of the most successful teams in the NFL in the early '90s, but in addition to being a woeful 5-11 and out of the playoffs, but many experts are predicting that the Cowboys will be one of the worst teams in football this year. So, Richard, is that really the kind of guy you want on your side right about now?

 

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