Bits and Pieces
Inside Dish: Ward Burton to race this weekend
Ward Burton will race in the No. 4 Morgan-McClure Chevrolet in the Cup race this weekend at Martinsville Speedway. He's substituting for Craftsman Truck Series points leader Todd Bodine, who had concerns over the tight practice schedule. After an 11-year Cup career, Burton, who competed in Cup events for 11 years, hasn't raced since a dismal 2004 season with Haas-CNC Racing. Burton won the pole at Martinsville, a .526-mile track, in 1997 and qualified sixth or better in four of his last five starts there. Burton's career-high finish at Martinsville was third in 2001. Crew chief Chris Carrier said the team planned to test Wednesday or Thursday to shake down the car for Burton and give the crew an opportunity to adjust to its new driver. . . .
Dale Earnhardt Jr. put the new-again "Iceman" moniker--it once was Terry Labonte's--on Jeff Burton Saturday night at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Burton finished third, increasing his points lead to 45 over Matt Kenseth. "They are there every week doing a great job," Earnhardt says. Burton kept his cool after stalling on pit road and going a lap down. He battled leader and eventual winner Kasey Kahne to get back on the lead lap. Burton scored his third top five and his fourth top 10 in the Chase. . . .
Robby Gordon is joining the Ford camp. Because of NASCAR's move to the Car of Tomorrow, Gordon says now is the perfect time to change manufacturers. "It's an opportunity to take a faster step to the top at Ford Motor Co.," Gordon says. Dan Davis, director of Ford Racing Technology, put the deal into perspective. Davis wanted cooperative partners who wanted to use the full arsenal of engineering tools Ford has at its disposal. "It's about attitude and approach," Davis says. It was clear Davis was disappointed a deal could not be made between Gordon and Robert Yates Racing. But in a strange twist, Robert Yates said Saturday night a deal could be in the works in which former Indy 500 winner Danny Sullivan brings a sponsor's money to RYR. . . .
Competitors at Lowe's Motor Speedway did not like the smaller fuel cells that forced teams to pit every 40 laps and increased insanity on pit road. NASCAR chose to limit the containers to 14 gallons--they usually are 22 gallons--to decrease the probability of tire failure. Tire wear wasn't an issue, and NASCAR plans to stabilize the cells in the 17.5- to 18-gallon range. . . .
Dale Earnhardt Inc. vice president Richie Gilmore has narrowed his candidates to three for Paul Menard's crew chief on the No. 15 car next season. Gilmore says he was surprised by the overwhelming interest in the garage. He expects to decide in the next few weeks.
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Commercial Breakdown of the Bank of America 500:
Start time to record race/commercial periods: 7:04pm/et
End time to record race/commercial periods: 11:09pm/et
Total minutes: 245
Minutes of race broadcast: 174
Minutes of commercials: 71
(8.7 minutes per 30 total minutes)
Total number of commercials: 142
Total number of companies or entities advertised: 78
Total number of brief promos of products/services during the race broadcast: 22
Restarts missed due to being away at commercial: 1
NBC missed coming back to a restart once, after several races of getting back in time. On the other hand, twice NBC broke into a commercial to take viewers back to the race (once to see one of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s advantageous pit stops, and once when Jeff Gordon's engine blew up). See the full report at CawsnJaws.com.
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Small Fuel Cells done at LMS; 17 gallons in 2007?: NASCAR Vice President of Corporate Communications Jim Hunter said after the Bank of America 500 [at Lowe's Motor Speedway] that NASCAR will no longer mandate the 14-gallon fuel cells used in the last two races at Lowe's Motor Speedway in place of the normal 22-gallon cells. The smaller cells are designed to force teams to pit every 35 to 40 laps, which in turn reduces the possibility of right-front tire failure.(SpeedTV.com), supposedly a 17 gallon fuel cell will be used at all races in 2007
Inside Dish: Ward Burton to race this weekend
Ward Burton will race in the No. 4 Morgan-McClure Chevrolet in the Cup race this weekend at Martinsville Speedway. He's substituting for Craftsman Truck Series points leader Todd Bodine, who had concerns over the tight practice schedule. After an 11-year Cup career, Burton, who competed in Cup events for 11 years, hasn't raced since a dismal 2004 season with Haas-CNC Racing. Burton won the pole at Martinsville, a .526-mile track, in 1997 and qualified sixth or better in four of his last five starts there. Burton's career-high finish at Martinsville was third in 2001. Crew chief Chris Carrier said the team planned to test Wednesday or Thursday to shake down the car for Burton and give the crew an opportunity to adjust to its new driver. . . .
Dale Earnhardt Jr. put the new-again "Iceman" moniker--it once was Terry Labonte's--on Jeff Burton Saturday night at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Burton finished third, increasing his points lead to 45 over Matt Kenseth. "They are there every week doing a great job," Earnhardt says. Burton kept his cool after stalling on pit road and going a lap down. He battled leader and eventual winner Kasey Kahne to get back on the lead lap. Burton scored his third top five and his fourth top 10 in the Chase. . . .
Robby Gordon is joining the Ford camp. Because of NASCAR's move to the Car of Tomorrow, Gordon says now is the perfect time to change manufacturers. "It's an opportunity to take a faster step to the top at Ford Motor Co.," Gordon says. Dan Davis, director of Ford Racing Technology, put the deal into perspective. Davis wanted cooperative partners who wanted to use the full arsenal of engineering tools Ford has at its disposal. "It's about attitude and approach," Davis says. It was clear Davis was disappointed a deal could not be made between Gordon and Robert Yates Racing. But in a strange twist, Robert Yates said Saturday night a deal could be in the works in which former Indy 500 winner Danny Sullivan brings a sponsor's money to RYR. . . .
Competitors at Lowe's Motor Speedway did not like the smaller fuel cells that forced teams to pit every 40 laps and increased insanity on pit road. NASCAR chose to limit the containers to 14 gallons--they usually are 22 gallons--to decrease the probability of tire failure. Tire wear wasn't an issue, and NASCAR plans to stabilize the cells in the 17.5- to 18-gallon range. . . .
Dale Earnhardt Inc. vice president Richie Gilmore has narrowed his candidates to three for Paul Menard's crew chief on the No. 15 car next season. Gilmore says he was surprised by the overwhelming interest in the garage. He expects to decide in the next few weeks.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Commercial Breakdown of the Bank of America 500:
Start time to record race/commercial periods: 7:04pm/et
End time to record race/commercial periods: 11:09pm/et
Total minutes: 245
Minutes of race broadcast: 174
Minutes of commercials: 71
(8.7 minutes per 30 total minutes)
Total number of commercials: 142
Total number of companies or entities advertised: 78
Total number of brief promos of products/services during the race broadcast: 22
Restarts missed due to being away at commercial: 1
NBC missed coming back to a restart once, after several races of getting back in time. On the other hand, twice NBC broke into a commercial to take viewers back to the race (once to see one of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s advantageous pit stops, and once when Jeff Gordon's engine blew up). See the full report at CawsnJaws.com.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Small Fuel Cells done at LMS; 17 gallons in 2007?: NASCAR Vice President of Corporate Communications Jim Hunter said after the Bank of America 500 [at Lowe's Motor Speedway] that NASCAR will no longer mandate the 14-gallon fuel cells used in the last two races at Lowe's Motor Speedway in place of the normal 22-gallon cells. The smaller cells are designed to force teams to pit every 35 to 40 laps, which in turn reduces the possibility of right-front tire failure.(SpeedTV.com), supposedly a 17 gallon fuel cell will be used at all races in 2007