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Welcome to the Cup Scene Daily for
Vol. III,No.VIXII FINAL EDITION
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Quote Of The day: 7 DAY ARCHIVE SundayMonday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday INSIDE TODAY'S ISSUE: NASCAR looking to buy Canadian Series New Ford engine results are mixed Kahne leads rookie battle On Track: Knaus, Johnson see their plan playing out for '04 Cup Waltrip can be seen again Drivers complain about scoring BAM Racing owner says NC test track "horrible idea" Junior's lead shrinks Playing nice isn't always an option Gordon: Double didn't work out as hoped Track shifts gears to new era Time for D.W. to Get Off the Fence Cup Scene readers speak out about Talladega
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Happy Birthday Jim Sauter, Lance Hooper, Anita Witzke, Ryan Pemberton Lowe's won Thursday. Lowe's won Saturday, Lowe's won Sunday. The Memorial Day weekend at the speedway once known as Charlotte, now known as, what else, Lowe's Motor Speedway, was an advertising festival for the home improvement chain.
The races were about the only thing not actually named for Lowe’s. Jimmie Johnson won the 600 mile commercial Sunday in dominating fashion. As Johnson said after the race, “The employees (and) owners at Lowe’s have got to be freaking out right about now.” Coincidence? Of course. It would take a pretty big stretch to believe that somehow NASCAR’s officials are in collusion with the home-improvement warehouse. In fact, with the exception of recent lawsuit settlement, it would be hard to believe that NASCAR’s officials would be in collusion with Speedway Motorsports Inc., the owner of the speedway — that seemingly enjoys pitting itself against the France family’s favorite publicly traded son, International Speedway Corporation Besides, how would the Home Depot feel if word got out. Home Depot is after all, officially, “NASCAR’s Home Improvement Warehouse.” Home Depot, with Tony Stewart driving its billboard, won the previous Cup points race at Lowes. Yeah, that'd probably go over well. The biggest reason Kyle Busch, winner of Saturday's Busch race and Johnson won was the fact that their respective teams aim for the weekend. They devote special attention to the races at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, and part of the reason is the name in the track’s title. They wanted to look good in front of corporate types. And in that they can say "mission accomplished".
Yet Johnson's crew chief felt one element still was lacking. Practice. "He wants to come back and test for the fall race!" Johnson said, smiling in disbelief at crew chief Chad Knaus following the supreme skunking. "I told him you're crazy!" Nope, Knaus playfully retorted, just typically seeking perfection. "I want to make sure when we get back in the final 10 races that we're prepared," he said. The week didn't start off well for the Hendrick Motorsports team as Johnson got caught up in that early crash in the all-star race and had to pack it in, before his rivals got a chance to see what he really had for them. "The thing that hurt me in the all-star race was that car was just as competitive as this one," Knaus said. "It would have been cool to win that race." On the other end of the scale is fellow teammate Jeff Gordon, the man who hand-picked Johnson. Gordon had a dismal showing and probably spent monday morning trying to figure out why. "Typically that doesn't happen," said Knaus, who talks frequently with team crew chief Robbie Loomis. "The guys do a great job of preparing both cars equally. "But there has been a lot of stuff going on over there. Robbie has been going through a trying time with his mother (who is seriously ill), and Jeff mentoring one of the key crew-members on that team who lost his father this week. They've gone through a lot of drama, and they might have just gotten a little off kilter. "But I can promise you one thing, it won't last. Jeff Gordon can drive a race car, and Robbie Loomis can set it up."
Gordon's car never got hooked up to the 1.5-mile track and was seven laps off the pace. Gordon was not in a wreck. There was no severe mechanical problem. The car just would not run. "It was really frustrating, but more than that, it was just a handful," Gordon said after finishing 30th. "I was just holding on trying to keep control of it." One of Gordon's biggest problems was the lack of caution periods during the daylight segment of the race. The first 160 (of 400) laps were all green-flag racing. "We needed a caution really bad and we didn't get it," he said. "We needed big, big adjustments and we just didn't get a chance to do that that. Once the track cooled down, we were better." It was 10 years ago this year that Gordon scored his first career victory in this prestigious NASCAR race that ignited his superstar stock car career. On Sunday night, he looked more like a rookie than a four-time NASCAR Cup champion. Loomis missed Nextel Cup practice and qualifying Thursday to comfort his ailing mother in Daytona Beach, Fla., where she has been hospitalized for several weeks while being treated for several blood clots and complications with the pancreas. He returned for practice Saturday but blamed himself for Gordon's surprising struggles Sunday. "It was a horrible night," Loomis said. "I take full responsibility because I haven't had my head in the game here lately." Gordon said that Loomis' absence wasn't a factor because he was on hand for Saturday's final rounds of practice. "But I can tell you I'm not a fan of day practice for a night race," Gordon said. "However, we win together and, we lose together." It was such a frustrating night that Gordon even missed pit road one time. "One car didn't see me and it looked like he was going to run into the back of me," he said. "That just made our night that much more enjoyable." Loomis did finally receive some good news after the 600 miles of misery. His mother, Sallie, called from Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach to say she was feeling better. She has been fighting a range of illnesses for several weeks. "She actually told my sister to leave the hospital," he said. "I like the sound of that." "This is easy to [put] behind," Robbie Loomis said after Gordon finished 30th in the Coca-Cola 600. "My mom just called, and she's had a real good day. She actually told my sister to leave the hospital, so I like the sound of that. Loomis vowed to return for the Oct.16 race at the Concord, N.C., track with the same setup as Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson, who has two victories and five consecutive top-10s at the 1.5-mile oval. It's obvious Sunday that Gordon and Johnson had different setups -- very different. "If he (Johnson) won with my setup, he needs to get a gold star," Gordon said with a laugh. "We don't normally have the same setups, but I want to go back and compare to see if we can figure out where we were off and where they were at." Loomis took it one step further. "I can tell you when we come back here in October, we're going to have the No. 48 car's setup on the car," he said. Said Gordon: "That looks like it makes good sense." |
