June 6, 2007
By Chuck Abrams

Chuck Abrams

A great race at Dover was overshadowed by the news that Bill France, Jr. passed away.

Bill France. Sr. created the sport and Bill Jr. built the sport into what it is today. Well at least until what is was until his son, Brian took over and helped to engineer the Chase format we enjoy today.

Bill France, Jr. too the reins from his father and oversaw the creation of what has become the biggest auto racing circuit in the U.S. He saw the transition of NASCAR from the Winston Cup into the 21st century with the Nextel Cup. He oversaw the creation of the Craftsman Truck Series. He oversaw the series growing from its down south good ol’ boys roots to becoming a major player in the world of sports. Sponsors went from being local and regional to national. From the local auto parts store to NAPA. And the money. We saw drivers go from making a million in the course of their career to a million in one race with the Winston Million.

Bill France, Jr. will be missed. We mourn his passing and pray for his family.

Dover also saw the first Cup win for young gun Martin Truex, Jr. He led over 200 laps and had a car that ran on the bottom of the track all day. Had he not had that good of a car, the race was Ryan Newman’s to win. Truex started the day in 26th place but quickly cut through the field and was confident he had a car to contend for the win. Kudos to the entire Bass Pro Shops car team and the effort they have made this year. They have had better runs than their finishes have shown and they have never given up.

Newman seems to be on a bit of a rebound and has to wonder what he needs to do to win a race this year. Monday, he needed to be 2 seconds faster.

Overall, Dover was a great, clean race and the first with the Car of Tomorrow that had more than a one second margin of victory. Thank goodness for that — I am tired of hearing how much better the racing is with the COT because of this “fact”. We all like to see close finishes, but I don’t think the Car of Tomorrow had all that much to do with it other than the fact it is hard to drive and only a couple of teams seem to have it figured out so far.

In a day with few cars out of the race, any problem was a serious points problem.

Can you believe all the Toyota’s that qualified including Mikey Waltrip and Dale Jarrett? They did not run too well, but hey, they were in the show on time!

Dale Jr. looked like he had a really competitive car until he had a left rear go flat, putting him 2 laps down that he never recovered from. It also dropped him to 15th in points. That 100 point penalty is looming larger than ever now. Another 100 points would have him in 10th place.

Kyle Busch finished the day in 17th place after slapping the wall pretty hard. Once again, he had a car that looked like it was a contender only to have issues with the wall that left him wondering “what if…”.

And speaking of Busch’s – brother Kurt had another run in with Tony Stewart. Running in the top 10, Smoke and Busch were racing with Greg Biffle and Denny Hamlin for several laps. Kurt slid up in front of Biffle and Biffle, with the faster car, tapped Kurt in the rear sending him back down the track. Kurt continued to try and pass Smoke on the low side and slid up into the path of the 20 Home Depot car. Smoke smacked the wall, hit Kurt in the rear sending the Miller Lite Doge sideways facing the outside wall. Smoke kept his foot to the metal and pushed the rear of the 2 around and left Kurt spinning behind him.

Afterwards, Busch drove down pit road and stopped next to Stewart, nearly hitting one of his over the wall gang. Words were exchanged and Busch smoked his tires pulling away from the 20 pit. While the Home Depot crew worked to get the 20 back out, NASCAR immediately parked the 2 car for aggressive driving.

Afterwards, Busch claimed he had no idea what the problem was with the 20 car and that he had him 90% clear. I am sure NASCAR will remind Kurt that 90% won’t cut the mustard. You need to be 100% clear or you are not clear.

That incident dropped Kurt to 11th place and Stewart to 7th.

Biffle had one of his best finishes of the year in 6th place and Kenseth quietly gained 5th. Fellow Roushkateers Carl Edwards finished 3rd and Jamie McMurray fell to 24th after a promising start.

Last week’s top finishers had no magic this week. Casey Mears finished 13th which was not too bad but JJ Yeley dropped out due to mechanical issues and finished 37th while Kyle Petty finished 34th.

And if all that was not enough, there was a great truck race at Dover this weekend as well. Ron Hornaday drove the Kevin Harvick-owned machine to the front and stayed there. Nice win for Ron in his 300th start.

Now on to Pocono where we get to watch Smoke and Kurt Busch continue their “love fest”. Last one spinning gets docked 50 points.

Michelle Theriault update

After a promising start to the year, Michelle and her Team Glock 37 Chevy went to South Boston hoping to return to the top 10. She qualified in the top 15 and was running near the top 10 when a sway bar broke. I don’t care who you are, once that happens you are headed in for repairs. 30 laps down, Michelle surged back out onto the track in her repaired car but like the Cup race at Dover, no one dropped out of the race so points were hard to make up. Her spokesperson said “ Cannot even tell you how disappointed we all were, she had a fast car and was driving her heart out.” If you know anything about Michelle, you know she is a trooper and a driver on a mission. Nothing can keep her out of that car.

Good luck Michelle and team Glock. We’ll be watching for you!

That’s my take. Drive fast, turn left and keep the shiny side up.

Feel free to send Chuck your thoughts on this and other race topics at his forum at www.turnleftracing.com/forums or email him at Insider Racing News and at Turn Left Racing.

The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.