Driving down the road yesterday, talking with wife and 4 year old son
about truck race on Saturday and Cup race on Sunday, I started
thinking…..

Pretty much everything on the road is raced in one form or another…
except (what I was driving in) MINIVANs!

Think about it, a bunch of minivans with 800 hp engines flying around
the track.  It would be hilarious!

Of course my wife pointed out that SUV’s would be funnier.  They might
make it through turns one and two after the green flag, but come turn 3
they would roll over….

The guys starting in the back would last the longest, since they would
have to slow for all the rollovers…..

Just thought I would inject some humor.

Does anyone have any idea why Jeff Gordon never has an in car camera?  Is this
a Gordon thing?  A DuPont thing?  A Hendrick thing (because now that I think of
it I can’t recall seeing a camera in Nadeau’s or T. Labonte’s car either)?  Did
he ever have one before?  I’ve only been watching racing for about a year (I
feel like such a baby!).

One thing I do kind of miss with the Fox broadcasts is at the beginning of a
race, going to each car and saying "here we have so-and-so’s in car camera".
The hardest thing for me last year as a brand-spankin-new fan was figuring out
who the heck was who.  That four-year-old kid they showed a couple of weeks ago
still has me beat hands down on knowing who’s who and what’s what.  It kind of
seems like Fox puts less emphasis on sponsors, too.  I remember a lot of "and
here we have the blimp-cam sponsored by Pennzoil" or something like that.  Not
really a criticism, just pointing out a few changes I’ve noticed.  :-)

The Nascar Girl
"I’m just a [wo]man with a stick in my hand
That I helplessly jab at the sky…
It’s my nature to try."

Since I don’t have your e-mail, I’ll ping you in here.  

Any plans for the RIR May reunion? The banner is in my hands and I
would certainly defer to you since you have done the job nicely for as
long as I can remember.

We should have bunches of first time RIR attendees.

Let me know if you will still do the hosting honors ?

Thanks.
Glenn

We are getting ready plan our annual trip to the Winston and the 600. Is there
still construction in or around the NC. VA stateline. Also any info on deisel
prices would be nice.
Thanks,
Nancy

Did no one go to Texas and/or Martinsville and live to tell about it?
Cindy? Sam? Anybody?
Scanner bytes, we need scanner bytes…

JT

Complete Text:

http://www.thatsracin.com/01/docs/0411report.htm

Nascar’s response:

http://www.thatsracin.com/01/docs/0411response.htm

JT

Are you going to a NASCAR race during the 2001 season? Would you
like to meet some fellow RASNers? Send me an e-mail at
chuckh…@snet.net and I’ll add you to the following list of reunions.
If you have any ideas on where to meet at the track, or if you would
like to be the host for your reunion, please include that information
in your message.

Don’t forget the Ice!

April 22 Talladega 500, Talladega
Keith & Melissa Ladd <KL…@aol.com>
David Gray <Dave2…@aol.com>

April 29 Napa Auto Parts 500, Fontana

May 5 Pontiac Excitement 400, Richmond
NASCARJULES (Omajahn) <omaj…@aol.com>
Will Dossel <wdos…@home.com>
Glenn Stafford <lovel…@erols.com>
Chuck Hill<chuckh…@snet.net >
Linda  <DJs88g…@webtv.net>
Rick  <Race…@aol.com>
David Gray <Dave2…@aol.com>
George Cayro <bvl…@earthlink.net>

May 19 The Winston, Charlotte

May 27 World 600, Charlotte
NASCARJULES (Omajahn) <omaj…@aol.com>
Linda <DJs88g…@webtv.net>
Steve <XRAYT…@aol.com>
Dwayne White <d.wh…@fuse.net>

June 3 MBNA Platinum 400, Dover
Chuck Hill <chuckh…@snet.net>

June 10 Kmart 400, Michigan
Sandy Dolinshek <sdoli…@bw.edu>

June 17 Pocono 500, Pocono
Sara J. Woodin <swoo…@crbliss.com>
David Gray <Dave2…@aol.com>

June 24 Dodge/Savemart 350k, Sonoma

July 7 Firecracker 400, Daytona
Dwayne White <d.wh…@fuse.net>

July 15 Nascar 500, Joliet

July 22 New England 300, New Hampshire

Reunion spot – at the bleachers overlooking the road course up the
hill
from turn 2, easily found by taking the access road around turns 1 and
2
past the tunnels. Reunion time is 10AM on Winston Cup Sundays.
Hosts-  Diane C. Genthner <GENTH…@MAINE.maine.edu> and
Richard Bemben <rbem…@rsasecurity.com>
Alan J. Claffie <aclaf…@bnsracing.com>
Kenneth465 <kenneth…@aol.com>

July 29 Pennsylvania 500, Pocono
Sara J. Woodin <swoo…@crbliss.com>

Aug. 5 Brickyard 400, Indy
Dwayne White <d.wh…@fuse.net>

Aug. 12 Global Crossing@ The Glen, Watkins Glen
Martin X. Moleski, SJ <mole…@canisius.edu>
David Gray <Dave2…@aol.com>

Aug. 19 Pepsi 400, Michigan

Aug. 25 Bristol 500, Bristol
NASCARJULES (Omajahn) <omaj…@aol.com>
Brian Hoffman <Brian_Hoffm…@Dell.com>
Steve <XRAYT…@aol.com>
David Gray <Dave2…@aol.com>
Charles Frey  <rusself…@bigfoot.com>

Sept. 2 Southern 500, Darlington

Sept. 8 Chevy Monte Carlo 400, Richmond
Will Dossel <wdos…@home.com>
Linda <DJs88g…@webtv.net>

Sept. 16 New Hampshire 300, New Hampshire

Reunion spot – at the bleachers overlooking the road course up the
hill
from turn 2, easily found by taking the access road around turns 1 and
2
past the tunnels. Reunion time is 10AM on Winston Cup Sundays.
Alan J. Claffie <aclaf…@bnsracing.com>
Kenneth465 <kenneth…@aol.com>

Sept. 23 MBNA.com 400, Dover
Chuck Hill <chuckh…@snet.net>
Keith & Melissa Ladd <KL…@aol.com>

Sept. 30 Nascar 500, Kansas
Hostess- NASCARJULES (Omajahn) <omaj…@aol.com>

Oct. 7 UAW-GM Quality 500, Charlotte
Steve <XRAYT…@aol.com>

Oct. 14 Old Dominion 500, Martinsville
NASCARJULES (Omajahn) <omaj…@aol.com>

Oct. 21 Alabama 500, Talladega
Keith & Melissa Ladd <KL…@aol.com>

Oct. 28 Checker Auto Parts/Dura Lube 500k, Phoenix

Nov. 4 Pop Secret 400, Rockingham

Nov. 11 Pennzoil 400, Homestead
Host- Bill Desjardins <b…@carracing.com>

Nov. 18 Napa 500, Atlanta

Got to the track about 9:30 after i was supposed to be there at 9 to meet someone.
The hotel I was staying at in Roanoke never changed the time on the
clock in my room to adjust for daylight savings and i never noticed
when I set the alarm….so my day did start off well.
          First thing I did was go to De’s trailer and take some photos of the thing.
The messages and drawings are pretty moving.  For those that don’t know it…
fans have been writing on the souvenir hauler for weeks now and it’s
getting damn near full.    http://www.rappy.net/trailer1.jpg  (400KB)

I then went into the stands and found my seat.   It seems that Goody’s must
not have paid the speedway so my Goody’s tower tickets were actually in the
"Blueridge tower".     At least that’s what i guessed the problem was……

It was already getting hot so I went down to the concession to take
advantage of the shade and eat a sack of those awesome pink hotdogs and
drink a few dr. peppers.   With a full belly I set out to wait and see if my  friend
 would come and find me at my seat whenever he decided to come back
out of the garage and go slumming in the stands again.  
          he met up with me about 10:30 and I got to hear about the interviews
he had done earlier in the week and we discussed who was running well,
who wasn’t……..and why they weren’t.
            After he left i put on about three coats of sunscreen and prepared
to bake in the +85 degrees by drinking two bottles of water and watched
the pre-race show.       During driver intros and the drivers being driven
around the track the crowd booed Tony Stewart something fierce. Other than
 that the only other thing worthy of mention in pre-race was the Gordon doesn’t
booed at all like he used to.
                 My seats were about halfway between turn 4 and the finish line and
halfway up that stands.    A good vantage point for shooting pics of the cars
coming off turn 4 so I like them allot.    After last fall and the spring race I have
decided to give up one of the Richmond events every year in favor of Martinsville.

Well……..as i expected Gordon’s "drop snot" car didn’t impress me at all and
 I soon made my mind up that i should go to Robby Loomis and make him say
drop snout over and over again as i smacked him in the head in the hopes
the associated pain with drop snout would insure he would not build Jeff
another one.   It became clear to me after the first few cautions and seeing
how the tire strategy was playing out that any one of a dozen guys could win
if the late cautions or lack of fell their way.    Their was no dominate car at all…..
           I didn’t get any good scanner goodies because it turned out that
DW Larry mac and the gang are so dammed funny on the backhaul feed when
they go to commercial that i just had to keep them on.    DW commented on how
particular driver let another one by easily that he gave him a full five fingered wave
and how unusual it was to get that many fingers form another driver at Martinsville.

A few drivers seemed to really stand out in just how aggressive and impatient they
 were…….namely Schrader and Mikey.     They hit everything that moved
and then some.   (but then that’s what short tracks are all about)

Casey was hanging in the top ten and really holding his own until Jarret
spun him when Casey checked up for a car in front of him who had
gotten loose.

(Pic of that is on  http://www.rappy.net/Casey/Atwood.htm)

  Felt bad for the kid ….but all in al he drove another clean
smart race and made this fan proud.       Unlike many here i didn’t think Gordon’s
non-pit call at the end was a bad one.    when he got back in mid pack early in
the race he had a heck of a time passing people and i thought his best bet
was track position and trying to hold them off.   If not for the last caution Gordon
would have done better finish wise and Jarrett would have been lucky to have
seen better than 3rd or 4th…..   but what the heck it’s just the way it played out.

I really wanted to see Rud win like I’m sure many did……..
Well………I packed my stuff up with about 20 laps to go and had the back pack
on my shoulder and was walking down the stairs before the cool down lap was over.
In my car 5 minutes later and northbound on 220 doing 50MPH…….

502 miles later at 12:30AM  I was home in Easton Pa. and putting in the tape of the race
to see what i missed.       (didn’t miss much)      

that’s all folks…………

I should be getting my 250 pictures i took back Friday……or Saturday.

I did develop two rolls today and I’ll have a few pics up soon on my pages.
—
Humor. Don’t Leave home without it!
Rappy’s Racin’ Screensavers
http://www.rappy.net

Now what? DE’s soft tissue, including his brain, slammed against his bones, resulting in…what?
A totally paralyzed and dependent person? A person blinded by having his soft eyeballs popping out?
All his soft innards damaged and malfunctioning? A Man like DE kept alive by machine?

Neither Dr. Barry Myers nor the HANS inventors are willing to state the device would have kept him alive,
nor have they stated what the driver’s life would be like after surviving that kind of crash with the restraint in place.
Rusty Wallace has vividly described how he has shut his eyes tightly to keep his eyeballs from popping out.
Ernie Irvan and Rick Carelli suffered crossed eyes and worse after their crashes.

This ‘Quality of Life’ issue needs to be considered by the drivers before they ‘strap in’ at Talladega.
Comments?
—
Crusader

What is your source?  In the past, numbers that were re-used by different
teams were given "owners numbers" with three digits.  The actual number on
the car was only the last two digits.  For example, the when Tim Beverly
bought the 17 team (now the 10 car) a few years back he was assigned the
"owner number" 117, but the car number remained 17.

I am attempting to find an owners points list for the Busch series, but no
luck so far.  Nascar Online is ssssllllooowwwwwww.

In article <3ad6ca94.110211…@news-server.tampabay.rr.com>,

go…@tampabay.rr.com wrote:

>There will be two cars trying to qualify at Nashville with numbers
>over 100:  Mike Harmon in the #144 and Jeff Streeter in the #183.

>BG

Deven Atkinson
de…@bright.net
—
http://www.bright.net/~deven/pennylane.htm
The road to all things Numismatic