Car Insurance

For some, working on cars for a living during the day just isn’t enough. To maintain their hydrocarbon high, these readers retire to the race shop in the evenings and hit the track on weekends.

Several months ago, we began asking our readers to tell us about their racing experiences. We’ve all followed the exploits of high-profile1 drivers in NASCAR, NHRA, Indy Car and other professional racing series. We thought it would be interesting to find out what some “regular folks” were doing at the1 tracks, and to learn more about their interests and successes. These folks are MOTOR readers, just like you. And like you, most earn a living during the day diagnosing and repairing vehicle’s for their customers.

Much of what follows is presented in quoted passages. That’s because we wanted to preserve what was stud, and the way it wtis stud, by the volunteers in this experiment-in their own words.

Ryon Joe Smithberger

Rytin Joe Smithberger is the owner of Smitty’s Automotive in Santa Fe. He has been racing since 1985 and owns three race cars.

My dad was a drag nicer Unfortunately, he died when I was only a year old. His dream was to own a garage and race cars. I always wanted to race, no when I was old enough and had a few bucks, I started racing and never quit. Then I opened my own auto shop. I quess it’s in my blood.

I now have three race cars, and last year I also started driving for Bill and Sherry York, owners of York’s Equpment. I met Bill and Sherry in 1989 and we became great friends. Among the great benefits to racing are the people yon meet and the friends yon make. Bill and Sherry never had kids of their own, awl today Bill and I are like father and son. It’s like racing with the Dad I never knew.

The Yorks own a 1989 Super Comp Ford Thunderbird with a 540-cubic-inch big-block Chevy. The car has a full chrome moly chassis with a four-link suspension. We have run a best of 8.85 seconds at 150 mph.

We finished third in points in the South West Drag Racing Association (SWDBA) and third in track points at Albuquerque National Dragway in 2005.

About five years ago the track closed for a cpouple of years, so we built a street stock dirt car to fill in the time. We finished second in points in 2004 and we icon five out of seven races in 2005. We had one second-place finish and our first DNF in 500-plns laps when we had a flat tire with three laps to go.

I race became I love the competition and because it’s a great way to make great friends.

Randy Rundle

For most, racing is a liohhy-something that can be supported only by a regular job and pursued during personal time. For a lucky few, racing is that job.

Randy Rundle is owner and founder of Fifth Avenue Antique Auto Parts in Clay Center, KS (www.fifthaceintemet garage.com). Randy started buying 1948-55 Chevrolet trucks back in the early 1970s to restore and resell, while he was still in junior high school. He always had a “driver” and one in the works. Soon after, he got into selling parts, because he learned there were lots of other people wanting to fix up their old Chew pickups.

One of th things I always had trouble with on those old trucks was the charging system. The 6-volt battery was always dead and the headlights were always a yellowish color. Starting was always a problem as well, so I always learned to park on a hill so I could coast clown and “dump the clutch” to get going.

It was because of this hands-on experience that I decided I was going to fix the 6-volt charging system once and for all. I decided in my simple logic that I would, apply modern charging technology in reverse and build a 6-volt alternator.

By the spring of 1987 I had a reliable working prototype. The key word here is reliable, with the output I wanted. I tested the new 6-volt alternator for six months on my 1951 Cheuy ½-ton pickup and it worked great! So I built about a dozen more and installed thein locally on antique vehicles with good success.

In 1989 I found out about the Great Race-a rally-type race where pre-1945 cars are driven 4500 miles across the United States during a two-week period. I looked for a high-profile car entered in the race that was likely to have charging problems and I got more than I bargained for in a 1936 Cord. The Cord, owned by Bud Melby of Seattle, had an electric shift transmission that was shifted via electric solenoids that were controlled by levers on the steering column. In addition, there was an electric overdrive, along with two electric fuel pumps and an electric radiator cooling fan, all 6volt. It didn’t take long to see why the original 40-amp Cord charging system could not keep up.

It took quite a sales job on my part to convince Bud that I could fix his car. I offered to give him the alternator for free in exchange for an advertising endorsement if it worked. The Cord shifted better than it ever had before, and the original batterry stayed in the car for the entire race. Bud finished in tlie top ten that year.

Parked next to Bud in the pits that year was Howard Sharp, who was driving a 1929 Dodge Sport Roadster-one of only 1200 made that year….The folloiving year I put an alternator on the 1929 Dodge. For the next two years the Sharp Racing team got closer and closer to winning the Great Race. Now that their battery and starting problems were over, they could concentrate on the navigation part of the race. Finally, in 1993 they won first place-$30,000 in prize money and a neio Buick Roadmaster. I had finally estabUslted a track record for the alternator.

I still help prepare about a dozen cars for the Great Race each year and I continue to sponsor Howard Shar}),just as I have evenly ear since 1989. Howard now dnves a 1911 Velie in the Great Race. Most years it’s the oldest car entered. There is also a lot of satisfaction in seeing a car that you prepared, especially one as old as the Velie, being driven across the U. S. every year without a breakdown.

The Great Race has been a good experience for me. It’s a way to find out what you know versus what you think you know. It also teaches you to pay attention to the details. Ignoring the smallest details can endup costing you the most money.

Dennis Flaherty

Dennis Flaherty is a sales representative for ALLDATA in Huntington Beach, CA. He started racing in the ’60s with a supercharged ‘56 Ford. Business and family responsibilities kept him away from racing until a few years ago, when he returned to road course racing with his three sons.

Brady Flaherty drives a ‘93 Camaro Phil Hausman helps out with parts and Dennis’ third son, Sean, handles the video, video editing and production.

The Flaherty clan has raced at several famous west coast road courses, including Fontana Raceway, Willow Springs Raceway, Buttonwillow Raceway, Bakersfield, Infineon Raceway, Thunderhill Raceway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

After 35 years of marriage, I think it’s great that my wife has to go to a racetrack to see her boys. After we got married, I sold my Shelby GT500 ($2400) for a station wagon. That’s what I drove until the boys got their driver’s licenses.

The racing only came after Ryan and Brady had graduated from college. Our youngest son Sean is in his junior year, majoring in engineering at Santa Clara. The participation-working together and independently, then coming together as a team once a month-is very rewarding. Winning is just icing on the cake. The people we race with are as great a group as you could ever hope to find. There is nothing like a National Auto Sport Association (NASA) event.

Michael Lindquist

Michael Lindquist is president of Wilton Service Center, Inc., in Wilton, CT. Its a three-bay full-service repair facility, with Getty gasoline service. He has been an automotive technician since 1984 and claims to have loved racing for as long as he can remember.

My dad was always on a pit crew way back in the late ’60s and 70s at tlie Danhunj Racarena, in Danbunj, CT. I got my first taste when I was in 6th or 7th grade racing go-karts until I was in 10th grade.

We have a late-model stock car that we race at Thompson Speedway in Thompson, CT. It has a tube chassis with a fiberglass/aluminum/plastic Monte Carlo body. We run a two-barrel carb with 10:1 compression, headers, stock clutch and a solid cam. It’s making a little over 400 hp, I think.

, and was the 2005 NASA Camaro Mustang Challenge (CMC) Western Champion. He also broke the lap record by three seconds at Fontana Raceway last season. In 2004, Brady was the runner-up in CMC and won Rookie of the Year honors that year. Dad and Crew Chief Dennis Flaherty also won a McGyver Award in recognition of his wrenching expertise in 2004. Another son, Ryan, drives the Maximum Motorsports ‘89 Mustang,and is a prior winner in the American Iron racing series.

I still help prepare about a dozen cars for the Great Race each year and I continue to sponsor Howard Shar}),just as I have evenly ear since 1989. Howard now dnves a 1911 Velie in the Great Race. Most years it’s the oldest car entered. There is also a lot of satisfaction in seeing a car that you prepared, especially one as old as the Velie, being driven across the U. S. every year without a breakdown.

The Great Race has been a good experience for me. It’s a way to find out what you know versus what you think you know. It also teaches you to pay attention to the details. Ignoring the smallest details can endup costing you the most money.

Dennis Flaherty

Dennis Flaherty is a sales representative for ALLDATA in Huntington Beach, CA. He started racing in the ’60s with a supercharged ‘56 Ford. Business and family responsibilities kept him away from racing until a few years ago, when he returned to road course racing with his three sons.

Brady Flaherty drives a ‘93 Camaro (No. 70), and was the 2005 NASA Camaro Mustang Challenge (CMC) Western Champion. He also broke the lap record by three seconds at Fontana Raceway last season. In 2004, Brady was the runner-up in CMC and won Rookie of the Year honors that year. Dad and Crew Chief Dennis Flaherty also won a McGyver Award in recognition of his wrenching expertise in 2004. Another son, Ryan, drives the Maximum Motorsports ‘89 Mustang (No. 17), and is a prior winner in the American Iron racing series.

Phil Hausman helps out with parts and Dennis’ third son, Sean, handles the video, video editing and production.

The Flaherty clan has raced at several famous west coast road courses, including Fontana Raceway, Willow Springs Raceway, Buttonwillow Raceway, Bakersfield, Infineon Raceway, Thunderhill Raceway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

After 35 years of marriage, I think it’s great that my wife has to go to a racetrack to see her boys. After we got married, I sold my Shelby GT500 ($2400) for a station wagon. That’s what I drove until the boys got their driver’s licenses.

The racing only came after Ryan and Brady had graduated from college. Our youngest son Sean is in his junior year, majoring in engineering at Santa Clara. The participation-working together and independently, then coming together as a team once a month-is very rewarding. Winning is just icing on the cake. The people we race with are as great a group as you could ever hope to find. There is nothing like a National Auto Sport Association (NASA) event.

Michael Lindquist

Michael Lindquist is president of Wilton Service Center, Inc., in Wilton, CT. Its a three-bay full-service repair facility, with Getty gasoline service. He has been an automotive technician since 1984 and claims to have loved racing for as long as he can remember.

My dad was always on a pit crew way back in the late ’60s and 70s at tlie Danhunj Racarena, in Danbunj, CT. I got my first taste when I was in 6th or 7th grade racing go-karts until I was in 10th grade.

We have a late-model stock car that we race at Thompson Speedway in Thompson, CT. It has a tube chassis with a fiberglass/aluminum/plastic Monte Carlo body. We run a two-barrel carb with 10:1 compression, headers, stock clutch and a solid cam. It’s making a little over 400 hp, I think.

It’s difficult to go racing without help. Most of the readers we spoke with mentioned friends or family who help them follow their racing dreams. Mike is no different.

Bob Mattera is my main everything man. He is at it every minute ivith me, and without him I would not be doing this right now. It’s great knowing you have someone who is easy to work with, who will show up to work around my crazy hectic life and is into racing. Bobby is just happy making it to the end of a race, with no great expectations other than having a beer afterwards, telling some war stories and having some great laughs. Bobby makes it fun for me.

Mike Christianson is my secondary main man. He’s always around when we “get behind” (which is most of the time) and will do whatever needs to be done.

Pat Kretschman is the ultimate spotter. He also is great at setting up the car and coaching nu- on driving. The only problem is that Pat is also my service manager at the Cetty station, and it’s difficult for bot h of us to leave on the same afternoon or night to go racing.

Carol Angotta is my girlfriend and the love of my life. She brings sanity to my crazy life. She never makes me feel guilty about my interest in racing and never feels neghicted when we are in “thrash” nwde (most of the time) to get the car ready for a race weekend.

Amy Bartram is the shop bookkeeper. Site also serves as our timekeeper, picks up and makes sandwiches and beer for us after the races.

My children each have their own attitudes about my involvement in racing. My daughter Marissa (14) is not. at all interested in racing. She will say tilings to me like: “So you can wreck it again? I don’t get it. ”

Christopher (9) would be in the garage and at the track more than me if he possibly could. When he was five years old he installed a “super power button” in the car for me. He gets red in the face non; when we talk about it but I still insist that the button be “installed” every time we repaint the car.

Juliauna (4) loves dirt bikes, snowmobiles and race cars! As soon as she is able, she will probably have grease under her pretty fingernails (if she wants to).

Many amateurs enter races every year and never taste victory. There’s always the hope that “next week” or “next year” will he different. For many, winning races is not the primary motivation. Some savor the competition, others enjoy the challenge of preparing the car and others simply look forward to time spent with close friends and family.

I won a heat race once. That wax the mont memorable racing moment for me. I felt like I had won the Daytona 500! I took the lead in the feature thai night after four or five lapa (the car wax unbelievable!). Everything was going great until I hit some oil dry that did not get cleaned up coming out of Turn 4 on a restart and the car sailed hard into the wall. Not only did I not win, hut the car needed a new front clip, etc. Ugghhh! I love racing.

I started racing in 1956 in Aquasco, MD, when a friend borrowed my ‘47 Ford Convertible and raced it before I knew anything about it. After that I raced a 1933 Dodge Convertible. We drove our curs to the track. There was no Christmas tree, only a flagman. There were very few rules and regs back then.

I quit racing in 1970 because of family demanda. In 2002 a customer came into the shop and we started talking about drag racing. He had a 1972 Dodge Demon he was racing. I went along to watch and was bitten by the bug again. We double-teamed his car for two years.

Not long after that, MeI decided he needed to have his own race car again.

It’s a 1970 Plymouth Barracuda that’s a completely custom build. The entire chassis is hand-made, including the roll cage, floors and dash. The headers also are custom-made. I built the engine myself. It’s a Chrysler 440 bond .30 over. The trans is a 727, which I also built. It has a trans brake but 110 box.

The last pass of the season last year was 135 mph and 10.15 seconds. With the modifictitions that I am making, the car will go in the 9-seamd range this season. Wa dyno’d the car last week and it’s developing 495 horsepower and 1900 fool pounds of torque to the rear wheels at 3500 rpm.

I’ve raced the Barracuda at Pueblo Motorsports Park, in Pueblo, CO, Bandimere Speedway in Denver, Julesburg Dragistrip in Julesburg, CO (one of the oldest track’s in the country), Speedway Raceway Park in Surprise, AZ, Southwestern International Raceway in Tucson and Douglas Dragwuij in Douglas, WV. I hope to race in kansas this year. Bob Bruier and Roberta Hinebaugh are my pit crew.

I bought this car in 2003. It look two years of hard work and lots of money to get it going. I am now 72 yearn old. I have passed both the physical and driving requirements to drive a 9-second car and I have been working to do that this year.

Michael L. Vellines

Michael L. Vellines is the owner of M & M Auto Repair, which opened in Kissimmee, FL, in 1984. Michael is an ASE Master Auto and Ll-certified technician. His shop does general repairs, with an emphasis on computer diagnostics.

In 1998, Rs son (also named Michael) asked if he could try out racing to see if he liked it; he was nine years old at the time! After watching some events together, Dad decided it would be a hobby they could enjoy together.

The younger Michael began in quarter midgets and has since moved up to the Allison Legacy series. The cars in this series are ¾-scale models of N EXTEL Cup cars. Chassis construction is similar to the larger cars, but a 2.2L engine from a Mazda B2200 truck provides the power.

The engines are sealed to keep costs down. The series dso mes a spec tire and spec shocks. Because everybody in the field has very similar equipment, it puts a greater emphasis on driver skill.

The father and son team relies on Ben Rothkopf (spotter), Denise M. VeIlines (backup spotter) and Bob Semple (crew) for support when they’re at the track. The touring series races in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. Some of the tracks they’ve visited include Concord Motorsports Speedway, Hickory Motor Speedway, Peachstate, Lonesome Pine Speedway, Florence Speedway and Myrtle Beach.

Ho-hum. Audi won the 12-hour Sebring endurance race again in 2006, making it seven in a row. What’s different about the latest victory is the car’s powerplant: a diesel engine. This is the first time a diesel-engine vehicle has triumphed in a major automobile endurance race. And it’s also a shot in the arm for the image of diesels, which account for nearly half of all passenger cars sold in Europe but for only a fraction in the U.S.

The LeMans Prototype Audi R10, with its V12 turbocharged diesel engine producing 650 hp, finished four laps ahead of the runner-up. A sister R10 diesel retired at the midpoint while leading; Audi called the retirement “precautionary.” (Translation: An overheating problem from track debris clogging the radiator fins could have caused embarrassing engine failure.) From Sebring, it’s on to the most famous of all endurance races—the 24-hours LeMans, in June.

Audi had a slight advantage going into the race: Rules allow slightly bigger diesel engines than gasoline engines, with more turbocharger boost (pressure), and a gallon of diesel fuel has 12 percent more energy than gasoline. Other diesel-engine cars have competed in major races, but have had less success. A Cummins diesel racer won the starting pole position for the 1952 Indianapolis 500, but wound up finishing 27th.

Jon D.: I’d call TOCA a 30-car pileup if cars were racing genres and massive accidents got me really hot. It’s a smooth, sexy sampler of every driving type and terrain imaginable—from open-wheel racing to rally to big rigs in Africa (no foolin’). Online or offline, it’s much more diverse and organic than the sterile Gotham or redundant RalliSport, though not as deep as either. Details like the turbos whining as they spooled volumes of boost through my Skyline’s engine until I let up to a satisfying chuff from the blow-off valve, as well as keen physics—exaggerated just a touch to make the skids, flips, and spectacular piece-by-piece damage more dynamic—sucked me right in. It’s a great title for beginners and seasoned vets looking for a not-too-serious commitment.

I found the linear progression pretty limiting—I couldn’t stray much from the beaten path—but nothing else really turned up to crash my TOCA party. Sorry, folks, but here’s yet another Xbox racer you may have to buy this year.

Demian: TOCA delivers the ultimate in hardcore gearhead bragging rights: a clutch button. You don’t have to use it, but it’s there. This is Codemasters’ Gran Turismo, with less tinkering, garage puttering, and a little less polish, but far more diverse race classes (from Formula Ford to…semitrucks?) and a career mode that, while silly at times, actually tells a story. It’s tough but rewarding if you have the skill and patience. TOCA also offers 12-player online racing (with optional CPU cars to round out the field), though it lacks the extra Live features that made Project Gotham Racing 2 so great.

Stewart doesn’t conceal his emotions. Even when he has a legitimate gripe, he often hurts himself by expressing it in an ill-advised manner.

Losing control in competition is nothing new. From the Little Leaguer–or his parents–throwing a temper tantrum after striking out on a bad pitch to Marty McSorley brutally slashing Donald Brashear with his stick and facing criminal charges, anger takes on many faces during the heat of the battle.

In auto racing, that heat is elevated to a higher degree–or at least, a higher temperature. Because there are no timeouts other than a caution period here and there, drivers are strapped into cockpits that are more like saunas for three to four hours. As the race wears on, the blood begins to boil, and so do tempers, especially in the closing laps.

A racecar easily can become a weapon with a nudge here and a bump there, and retaliation is never far away. Because of television replays and pictures, many of those incidents are ingrained in our memories.

For me, the 1979 Daytona 500 stands out. Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison, fighting for the win on the last lap, banged down the backstretch until they wrecked. Then more fighting took place–outside their cars. Bobby Allison parked his car and joined in.

Almost every sport has ugly incidents–Kermit Washington punching Rudy Tomjanovich, Roberto Alomar spitting in an umpire’s face, McSorley’s slashing–though most are isolated. The offenders are fined or suspended or both, and the games go on.

Only if that offender winds up back in the doghouse or shows a pattern of misbehavior is there potential for a greater problem.

Which brings to mind Tony Stewart, easily one of the top talents in Winston Cup–and easily agitated. Is Stewart simply a hothead who has trouble controlling his temper, or do his repeat offenses suggest he needs help managing his anger?

Stewart’s recent outburst at Daytona, where he slapped a tape recorder from a reporter’s hand and was restrained by his boss, Joe Gibbs, from a NASCAR official, was surprising to no one, which speaks to Stewart’s problem. He already was on probation for driving into Jeff Gordon on pit road earlier this season at Bristol.

Those types of incidents have been characteristic of Stewart’s behavior since his earliest days in racing, from USAC to the Busch Series and now in Winston Cup. This is stock car’s major league, not some weekly bullring in Pennsylvania. Not only is Stewart representing Joe Gibbs Racing, but Stewart’s sponsor, family-oriented Home Depot, is supporting the team’s multimillion-dollar racing effort.

“What’s different here compared with the NFL or the NBA is that you represent the corporation,” Gibbs says. “It has got to be someone Home Depot is comfortable with, someone they think is a good representative. I think they look at the total picture like I do: Here are all the great things that have happened, but there have been some negatives we don’t want happening again.”

Gibbs says a car owner, like a coach, must look at the entire individual, not just the periodic episodes that might disrupt the team, when making a decision about committing to a driver or signing a player.

“I look at whether they are good people first,” he says. “Do they have a good heart, and are they going to be good representatives of our race team, or in the past, the Redskins? People ask me about John Riggins. He might have done a lot of things that didn’t fall in line with me, but I felt like he had a good heart and was a great team guy.

“People don’t see the Tony I know who does charity work or is so good with kids. They don’t see the total person. In racing venues where he is faced with severe disappointment, sometimes he’ll go off.”

Gibbs stops short of linking Stewart’s emotional outbursts to a lack of maturity. Stewart is 30, still a youngster in racing circles, and although Gibbs never wants Stewart to lose his passion, he hopes his driver learns from experience and understands the spotlight will be on him.

“It’s usually through our mistakes that we learn the most, and it’s what you do with those lessons that matters,” Gibbs says. “We’re in a very competitive sport, and chances are that over time you’re going to do something you wish you hadn’t done or said.”

Al Shuford, a former trainer for the Carolina Panthers and now a consultant for the Gibbs team, says he noticed a positive change in Stewart in May, when Shuford placed him on a fitness routine to prepare for his day of double duty at the Coca-Cola 600 and Indianapolis 500.

“Stress is virtually eliminated with proper nutritional habits along with good sleep habits coupled with a strong workout,” Shuford says. “During physical activity, there are social changes that take place as well as physical changes. Some of the social changes include renewed self-esteem and positive reinforcement of directions, goals and ideals.”

Indeed, there was much made of the kinder, more gentle Tony Stewart in May, but somewhere on the way to July, it was back to the old Tony. So, at what point does Gibbs decide enough is enough?

“Every driver out here knows the only thing that can cost him a job–if he’s a great driver–is to misrepresent the corporation,” Gibbs says, “or do something that would embarrass the corporation.”

Gibbs says he doesn’t think Stewart has crossed that line yet, and the team is doing all it can to make sure that doesn’t happen. Sources close to the team say Stewart is working with a psychologist. Gibbs won’t comment, and there is no word about which party initiated the contact.

Which leaves you and me to read between the lines. Stewart wasn’t talking after either of the past two races.

“We have a plan in place. It’s just about taking the right approach,” Gibbs says. “And we’ve all talked about it.”

Stewart is too good of a driver to let his temper get in the way. He has all the support he needs. Somewhere along the way, it’s up to him to take the next step.

M@IL BONDING

LEE SPENCER ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS

Don’t you believe Terry Labonte is done? When Dale Earnhardt wrecked him on the last lap at Bristol (1999), it appeared to suck the competitiveness right out of Labonte. He might not want to leave, but I’ll bet Kellogg’s might be making some noise about getting a better driver in that car.

Robert M. McAdam, Roanoke, Va.

Robert: I think Terry Labonte is far from done. Yes, he’s 44, but that’s not too old in this sport. My sources tell me Kellogg’s adores its driver, which is easy to understand. He is a sponsor’s dream–intelligent, articulate and a man of principle. The driver is not the problem on this squad. There needs to be a stronger sense of direction coming from whoever is leading this team. The chemistry isn’t there at this point.

And before anyone speculates that Jeff Gordon, one of Labonte’s teammates, receives better equipment, I can tell you that’s just not true. Rick Hendrick doesn’t operate that way; he knows he has two championship-caliber drivers. Remember, Labonte won a title driving for Hendrick in 1996. Although Labonte is mired in the point standings, he has the ability to win at any track.

Owner Cal Wells denies reports that there were additional layoffs last week at PPI despite news that the No. 96 Ford and driver Andy Houston would not compete at New Hampshire or this weekend at Pocono. “Things in racing always evolve, and you have to be prepared for them,” Wells says. “That’s what we’re doing.” Word spread in the garage last weekend that as many as 30 workers had received pink slips. PPI laid off 14 employees earlier in the season. The team will attempt to qualify for the Brickyard 400…. The New England 300 was probably a preview of the rest of the season: Robert Yates drivers Dale Jarrett and Ricky Rudd battling for the Winston Cup title with Jeff Gordon trying to horn in. “I would love for it to go down to the last race of the season,” Yates says. “I just don’t want to be there.” … NASCAR was scheduled to hold another safety meeting this week when teams tested at Indianapolis. Teams were expected to watch the videos on taking precautions that were viewed in February and to see the new carbon-fiber seat developed by Matt McArdle, PPI’s technical director. Tony Eury Sr., crew chief for Dale Earnhardt Jr., says he’s not sure the new seat will be embraced. “There’s no way of telling if the seat is cracked after an accident, and if the car is wrecked, then NASCAR would put a sticker or a stamp on it to make sure it goes back to the manufacturer for repairs,” Eury says. The cost of the seats has not been revealed, and that is a concern because composite seats would have to be custom-fitted and moved from car to car. Current seats range from $400 to $600…. Lots of teams had engine trouble at Chicago, but it was the third time this season for Bobby Labonte. The team made changes last week to address the problem. “A valve spring failed at Chicago,” crew chief Jimmy Makar says. “The material that we’ve been using was part of the old design. We’ve decided to go with a better grade of steel on the new parts.” … Mike Bliss is the second driver to bite the dust with Eel River Racing in the last three weeks. Kenny Wallace was the first. The team has missed six races, including the last two with Bliss attempting to qualify. Sources say Rick Mast will be in the car at Pocono…. If Chip Ganassi finds proper backing, he might have a third Cup team in the works for next season…. Tommy Baldwin, crew chief for Ward Burton, and former Evernham Motorsports G.M. Eddie D’Hont are joining forces to build a Busch Series team for next year. D’Hont and Baldwin hope to field Dodges but might run Pontiacs if manufacturer money is packaged with the driver. Although the new Dodge Busch engine is expected to be approved soon, the team might run Dodge bodies and General Motors engines until the Dodge engines are up to speed.

3 WIDE

1 Just a good ol’ boy. Ron Hornaday did his best Dukes of Hazzard impression, riding with two wheels on top of the concrete wall after colliding with Stacy Compton. As Bo Duke would say, “Yee-haw!”

2 He loves me, he loves me not. After three weeks of musical chairs, Jim Smith put Mike Wallace back in the No. 7 for the rest of the season. Wallace rewarded him with a top-10 run, Wallace’s first since Talladega.

Coming attractions. With Dale Jarrett, Jeff Gordon and Ricky Rudd dominant at New Hampshire, we saw what we’ll see for the rest of the season: a three-way battle for the Winston Cup title.

What makes you angry?

Robby Gordon. There are so many competitive drivers in this series that it’s hard not to get angry about something every weekend. Everybody has such a strong desire to run well and be competitive that often the simplest things will set you off. I get angry at a lot of things.

Jeff Green. I hate being lied to when you make deals with other teams. From agreeing to give someone their lap back to drafting at super speedways, I believe in keeping your word.

Jeff Burton. People being inconsiderate on and off the track tends to make me angry.

Johnny Benson. Pitting at a short track. Whenever you pit at Bristol or Martinsville, you are worried the caution flag will fall. If it does, you automatically lose two laps if the leader hasn’t pitted. It all boils down to luck, and when it doesn’t go your way, you get really mad.

Jimmy Spencer. I know things have happened on the racetrack that might look like I’ve been angry, but that’s just racing.

Todd Bodine, When you have a good car, a good team and a good life, it’s hard to find anything to be angry about.

DOWN THE ROAD

Race: Brickyard 400, No. 21 of 36.

When: 2:30 p.m. (Eastern) Sunday, NBC.

Where: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 2.5-mile oval.

Last year’s winner: Bobby Labonte.

Three to watch: Ricky Rudd, Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon.

Key to winning: “You have to have a strong engine. Last year, we learned how to get our car really good through the center of the corners. That made a big difference.” –Bobby Labonte

See a different game: Because the corners are more square than round, teams must find the proper points to negotiate them. Many drivers struggled with the tire–the same compound used in the Pocono races–during Indy testing sessions.

TSN’s POWER POLL

Rank Driver TSN points Winston Cup pts.

1. Jeff Gordon 2,025 2,847 (1)
2. Ricky Rudd 1,837 2,802 (2)
3. Dale Jarrett 1,836 2,735 (3)
4. Tony Stewart 1,543 2,586 (4)
5. Rusty Wallace 1,514 2,492 (6)
6. Sterling Marlin 1,435 2,529 (5)
7. Bobby Labonte 1,430 2,438 (8)
8. Kevin Harvick 1,420 2,422 (9)
9. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 1,418 2,453 (7)
10. Mark Martin 1,254 2,325 (11)

Through race No. 20, at Pocono, For a complete TSN Power
Poll rundown and an explanation of the points breakdown, go
to www.sportingnews.com/nascar/poll.

Bob Margolis is an associate producer and contributing editor for Motor Sports Weekly.