May 15, 2003

Good News..Jon Wood, grandson of the famous Glen Wood, was headed in the right direction with his career. He was driving for Jack Roush in a NASCAR Craftsman Truck. Wood also had a pretty good sponsor with the US Navy.

The Bad News...For reasons that are unclear at this point, the US Navy sponsorship was pulled as of Monday after only four races into the 2003 season.

Good News..H.A."Humpy" Wheeler, president and general manager of Lowe's Motor Speedway, has picked Jimmie Johnson to win The Winston. Wheeler has a pretty good track record, picking the winner eight of the last 14 years

The Bad News...Johnson's team has struggled lately and even Jimmie himself said that he was flattered by the pick, but his team and he need to pick up their performance considerably to get the job done.

Good News..The press release read: "Lowe's Motor Speedway officials announced the return of the Mother-in-Law Special, offering a 50-percent discount on all remaining single tickets for Saturday's running of The Winston and the May 25 Coca-Cola 600. A very limited number of single tickets are available in a variety of locations, including the frontstretch, and various price ranges around the speedway."

The Bad News...What? The speedway is going to sell single seating for the races so that you can take your mother-in-law and then dump her in a seat that will be nowhere near the one you and your spouse have. What kind of a deal is that?

Good News..The Governor of North Carolina, Mike Easley, was taking some laps at Lowe's Motor Speedway last Friday in preparation for an upcoming pace lap gig this week at The Winston. Everything went great for four or five laps.

The Bad News...Governor Easley crashed into the turn inside wall after losing control of his borrowed Chevrolet. They say he was doing approximately 165 miles-per-hour. I'm wondering why the heck he was going so fast. Do you need to practice at that speed to pace the race?

Good News..United States Army NASCAR driver Jerry Nadeau was upgraded to fair condition on Thursday May 8th, by doctors at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center. This past Tuesday Nadeau was moved out of the intensive care unit, into a private room. Doctors say his vital signs are normal and he continues to show improvement.

The Bad News...NASCAR says it was the worse wreck they've seen since they started keeping track of the G-Forces with a black box installed in all the cars now. The crash far surpassed the 80 times the force of gravity reading NASCAR got after Kyle Petty's wreck at Bristol Motor Speedway in March.

Good News..In appreciation of their support, Evernham Motorsports invites fans to join Bill Elliott, Jeremy Mayfield and Ray Evernham for the second annual Evernham Motorsports Fan Appreciation Day. The event will be held Friday, May 23, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Evernham Motorsports facilities in Statesville, N.C

The Bad News...Casey Atwood, still under contract to Evernham, except for a one-time ride at Pocono in June, is still out of Winston Cup, and he wasn't invited to the fan appreciation day.

Good News..Several months ago, someone suggested that the Homestead-Miami Speedway surface would be torn up and replaced with 20 degree banking at a cost of 3 1/2 million dollars.

The Bad News...This won't happen this year. Rebuilding the track could cost the local taxpayers millions and they are in a mini revolt over spending money for something that hasn't panned out, at least in their eyes. Many Winston Cup drivers were eagerly awaiting the reconstruction to be completed and to finally rid the schedule of one of the dullest races of the year.

Good News..Jimmy Spencer was scheduled to make his Craftsman Truck debut Friday night at Lowe's Motor Speedway in a truck owned by Jim Smith, in an Ultra Motorsports Dodge

The Bad News...Jeremy Mayfield will drive the team’s third Dodge Ram entry in the inaugural NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway this Friday night. Mayfield tested the No. 7 Dodge Ram for Ultra Motorsports last week at the 1.5-mile speedway. Jimmy Spencer, who drives Smith’s No. 7 Winston Cup Dodge Intrepid, was scheduled to drive, but soreness in his ribs from a hard crash at Richmond International Raceway two weeks ago prevented him from testing the truck last week.

You can contact Ron at: Insider Racing News