The common shape of things to come

Sporting News, The, March 25, 2002 by Lee Spencer

TSN's POWER POLL

Rank   Driver            TSN points   Winston Cup pts.

 1.    Sterling Marlin      680           645 (1)
 2.    Ryan Newman          465           571 (2)
 3.    Matt Kenseth         463           540 (6)
 4.    Tony Stewart         430           544 (5)
 5.    Rusty Wallace        404           531 (8)
 6.    Ward Burton          392           565 (3)
 7.    Jeff Gordon          378           516 (11)
 8.    Jeff Burton          368           520 (9)
 9.    Mark Martin          347           557 (4)
10.    Bill Elliott         330           460 (13)

Through race No. 5, at Darlington, S.C. For a complete TSN
Power Poll rundown and an explanation of the points
breakdown, go to www.sportingnews.com/nascar/poll.

M@IL BONDING

LEE SPENCER ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS

After a wreck in which multiple cars are knocked out of a race, how do they determine the finishing order of those cars? Is it who slides down the track the farthest or their position the last time they crossed the finish line?

Bill Martin, St. Peters, Mo.

Bill: Danielle Humphrey, NASCAR senior manager-communications, says, "In accordance with Section 10-8-B of the rulebook, `Finishing positions will be determined according to the most laps traveled in the least total time, whether the car is still running or not.' That being said, you revert back to the order the cars crossed the finish line on their last completed lap and arrange them by total laps completed." And as you have probably noticed, often teams will do their best to repair the cars just to make laps and earn more points. But NASCAR also sets a minimum speed limit that cars must maintain to stay on the track. The formula is 15 percent under the fastest time reached during happy hour. If a car is unable to reach that speed, the tower will radio the driver and have him park the car.

RELATED ARTICLE: Inside dish.

By LEE SPENCER

Despite Richard Childress Racing's attrition rate at Atlanta--both Kevin Harvick and Jeff Green fell out with bum motors--Richard Childress says he has no intention of giving up performance for durability. "When have you known me to throttle back on anything?" he asks. But NASCAR's new engine eligibility rule--which specifies that the entire engine assembly must be used for practice, qualifying and racing--goes into effect this week at Bristol, and that may change game plans for RCR and other teams. Before Bristol, teams had the option of using a practice motor before qualifying and changing pieces of the assembly throughout the process. Now teams must have the approval of the series director to remove any part of the engine and then must start the race from the rear of the field.... Jim Smith, co-owner of the No. 7 Sirius Dodge, denies rumors that there has been a lack of cooperation between his squad and partner Ray Evernham since Ultra Motorsports inherited Casey Atwood. "Ray's given us a tremendous amount of support," Smith says. Smith, who released crew chief Kevin Cram last week, hopes to find a pit boss who will easily interface with Evernham's No. 9 and 19 squads.... Though it's hard to keep a good coach down, Joe Gibbs insists he will remain a "silent" partner during his new venture as a minority owner of the NFL's Falcons. "I think what this does is give me a small opportunity to be involved in the (NFL) ownership process," Gibbs says. "It's a real thrill. I love the Redskins, and I always will, but this gives me a chance to be actively involved." The Falcons' new owner, Arthur Blank, is former CEO of Home Depot, which sponsors Gibbs' No. 20 car and driver Tony Stewart.... Stewart's crash at Darlington left him with some lower back pain, not a good thing heading to the high banks at Bristol. Stewart always has fared well at Bristol, so it's a good bet he'll go as long as he can. It's also a good bet that Joe Gibbs Racing will have a backup lined up in case Stewart needs some relief. But last weekend's 37th-place finish severely damaged Stewart's hopes for a run at the points title.... NASCAR's new pit road procedure for Bristol, the only track on the circuit that has pit roads on both the front and back stretch, drew a positive response from the garage. During a caution, pit road will be closed for the first lap. The pace car will pick up the cars off Turn 3 and then enter pit road through the back stretch entrance. That should equalize the disparity of pitting times between the two lanes.... Hooters extended its endorsement of Brett Bodine's team at Darlington, and the driver/owner is hopeful for the rest of the season. Says Bodine: "It's been great to put my concentration back on racing rather than searching for sponsorship all the time."