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The Buzz |
What it means |
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Ken Hornack of the Daytona Beach News-Journal says Ray Evernham wasted no time in making another splash at Daytona in pole qualifying for the Daytona 500. When Bill Elliott ran the fastest lap all afternoon at 183.565 mph, the Dodge Motorsports program became the undisputed hot topic of Speedweeks.
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Dodges accounted for four of the seven fastest qualifying times which wound up being allowed by NASCAR on Saturday. That development came after the manufacturer turned in four of the 10 fastest times in practice Friday morning, although Elliott's was not among them. |
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Ed Hinton of The Orlando Sentinel says a six-month investigation done by the newspaper says Adam Petty should be alive today. So should Kenny Irwin. So should five of the other six NASCAR drivers killed during the past decade. In total, at least 12 of the last 15 drivers killed in major auto racing worldwide since 1991.
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Most major racing organizations have heeded the grim message delivered by fatalities in their series and took steps in the 1990s to improve safety conditions for drivers. But America's wealthiest and most popular motor sport, NASCAR has become the international focal point of continuing tragedy.
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Mike Mulhern of the Winston-Salem Journal says Jimmy Makar has done it all himself, as the boss. He's proven himself a master at organizing and running Joe Gibbs' operation
and he may be in perfect position to lead Bobby Labonte to that rare second consecutive Winston Cup title starting at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 18.
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Back-to-back titles may be difficult enough. But Makar has added an even more difficult twist - he's also general manager for Joe Gibbs' two-car operation, and he'd like to see teammates Tony Stewart and Greg Zipadelli emerge as title challengers. And it might not take much for that to happen; Stewart and Zipadelli have finished fourth and sixth in the points their first two seasons on the tour.
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Rick Minter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution says of Bill Elliott's 40 Winston Cup victories, 34 came when he was driving for the late Harry Melling, whose team -- now owned and managed by his son -- has struggled since Elliott left in 1991. But like Elliott, they are back on top, thanks to the return of Dodge to Winston Cup.
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The Melling team, which consisted of 12 people last year, now employs more than 40. Elliott's brother Ernie Elliott still builds Melling's engines, but now there are reams of information from Dodge. "Single teams have struggled before but the Dodge 'one-team' concept is showing up," Melling said. "All the teams are pretty equal." |
