Week of 10/16/05
Rusty last won at Martinsville
Rusty Wallace heads into Martinsville for the last time this weekend, a track where his last Cup win came in April of 2004. Rusty also leads all active drivers with 7 wins at the track and an impressive 18 top 5's, and 23 top 10's in 43 starts. October 21, 2005
Who's hot going into this weekend?
Jimmie Johnson has 2 wins in the first 5 Chase races
Ryan Newman, Mark Martin, and Carl Edwards all have top-10's in 4 of the 5 Chase races.
Brian Vickers has racked up 662 points since the Chase for the Championship began October 21, 2005
TRACK STATS | MARTINSVILLE
Race #6 in the Chase for the Championship
Distance: .526-mile oval
Banking/Turns 1-4: 12 º
Banking/Straights: None
Length/Frontstretch: 800 ft.
Length/Backstretch: 800 ft.
Miles/laps: 263 miles, 500 laps
Last year's poll sitter: Ryan Newman
Last year's winner: Jimmie Johnson
Up for grabs: $4.7 million October 21, 2005
Penalties stand for Berrier
The National Stock Car Racing Commission unanimously ruled that Todd Berrier's penalties will stand for having Unapproved aerodynamic modifications and unapproved fuel cell vent mounting at Talladega. So the crew chief for Kevin Harvick was fined $10,000, suspended for 3 races, and stays on probation until December 31. October 20, 2005
Braun Racing gets new sponsor
Braun Racing has announced a new sponsor for their #32 Busch Series Chevy. Jason Leffler will now carry VoxBox on the hood starting this weekend at Memphis. October 20, 2005
Rusty's son to make 1st Busch start
Stephen Wallace, Rusty's son will make his Busch Series debut driving his dad's #64 Top-Flite Dodge. Stephen won in only his third ARCA Series start earlier this year at Michigan.
October 20, 2005
ON TV - Martinsville / Memphis
NEXTEL CUP SERIES QUALIFYING @ 3pm Friday on Speed
NEXTEL CUP SERIES FINAL PRACTICE @ 11am Saturday on Speed
TRUCK SERIES RACING @ 1pm Saturday on Speed
BUSCH SERIES RACING from Memphis @ 3:30pm on TNT
NEXTEL CUP SERIES RACING from Martinsville @ 12:30pm Sunday on NBC
All times are eastern October 20, 2005
Busch chief suspended
NASCAR announced that Joe Shear Jr., crew chief for Aaron Fike in the Busch Series has been suspended for rules violations at Charlotte. His suspension lasts until October 26th and his probation continues through the end of the year. October 18, 2005
DW attempts final CTS race
Darrell Waltrip will make his final Craftsman Truck Series start (provided he qualifies) this weekend at Martinsville. DW has 16 starts in the series, with his best finish of 5th coming at this very track. October 18, 2005
TESTING | ATLANTA
14 cars were on hand this week at the track getting set for next weekends races. J.J. Yeley driving the #80 Joe Gibbs car was fastest with a speed of 188.636mph, Mark Martin was second, followed by Tony Stewart. Dale Earnhardt Jr. spun late in the session but never hit the wall. October 18, 2005
POINT STANDINGS | BUSCH SERIES
10 Greg Biffle
9 David Green
8 Jason Keller up 2 spots
7 Paul Menard
6 Kenny Wallace
5 Denny Hamlin
4 Carl Edwards
3 Reed Sorenson is 323 back
2 Clint Bowyer is 120 behind leader...
1 Martin Truex Jr. October 18, 2005
Park let go from Orleans Racing
Steve Park was released from his ride in the #62 Orleans Dodge in the Truck Series. Steve had 1 win with the team earlier this year at California Speedway, and finished top-10 in points last year. October 17, 2005
Blaney out, Bowyer in RCR #07
Dave Blaney is out of the #07 Cup car in 2006, and Clint Bowyer has been named as the new driver of the RCR car.
Over the weekend at the Lowes Motor Speedway, Richard Childress Racing announced Jack Daniels had extended the sponsorship of the RCR Jack Daniels Chevrolet through the 2009 season. Moving up to the Cup Series to drive it will be Clint Bowyer.
Richard Childress "Although the Jack Daniels Chevy with Dave Blaney behind the wheel has begun to have some stronger runs as the 2005 Cup campaign comes to a close, Richard Childress thought one of the ways to improve the car's performance next season was to make Clint Bowyer the driver." October 17, 2005
POINT STANDINGS | CUP SERIES
The top 7 are separated by only 92 points
10 Kurt Busch
9 Matt Kenseth
8 Jeremy Mayfield
7 Rusty Wallace -92
6 Carl Edwards -54
5 Mark Martin -51
4 Ryan Newman -17
3 Greg Biffle -11
2 Jimmie Johnson Leader
1 Tony Stewart Leader October 17, 2005
Race Recap | Charlotte
RACE RECAP | LOWES MOTOR SPEEDWAY
10 Carl Edwards
9 Ricky Rudd
8 Denny Hamlin first career top 10 in only his second start
7 Ryan Newman
6 Casey Mears
5 Mark Martin
4 Joe Nemechek
3 Greg Biffle
2 Kurt Busch
VICTORY LANE
1 Jimmie Johnson wins his 4th race in a row at Lowes Motor Speedway, and 5th in the last 6 races....but it wasn't exactly easy
OTHER STORIES ON THE DAY
-It was more like an episode of "Survivor" instead of a stock car race, only blown tires got you voted off the island pretty quick
-Points leader Tony Stewart had a fast car, and ran up front until his tire blew, he ends up 25 on the night, and is now tied for the points lead with Jimmie Johnson
-Among the other victims of the exploding rubber include Robby Gordon, Ryan Newman, Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Sterling Marlin, Kyle Busch and others
-NASCAR threw 2 competition cautions for teams to check their tires, even mandated exact tire pressures, and considered shortening the race at one point. October 16, 2005
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