***NASCAR Tropicana 400 at Chicagoland on NBC, July 13th at 1130 PT / 230 ET***

NASCAR.com ^ | 7/11/03

[NormsRevenge]

Chicagoland Speedway, which held Winston Cup and Busch Series events for the first time in 2001, includes grandstand seating for 75,000 spectators, 37 luxury suites, on-site parking and camping areas and reserved long-term parking areas for recreational vehicles in the infield adjacent to the second and third turns.

Support Our Troops!

God Bless America and God Bless Our Armed Forces Worldwide and their families.

[NormsRevenge]

NASCAR

Tropicana 400 at Chicagoland Speedway

NBC at 1130am PT / 230pm ET on Sunday, July 13, 2003

Chicagoland Speedway
Chicagoland Speedway, which held Winston Cup and Busch Series events for the first time in 2001, includes grandstand seating for 75,000 spectators, 37 luxury suites, on-site parking and camping areas and reserved long-term parking areas for recreational vehicles in the infield adjacent to the second and third turns.

Track Facts
Banking/Turns: 18 degrees
Distance: 1.5 mile
Shape: Tri-Oval

Support our Troops

[NormsRevenge]

Starting Lineup for Sunday's Race

Pos.
1	#20	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	Home Depot	184.786	29.223	Leader
2	#24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	DuPont	184.445	29.277	-0.054
3	#9	Bill Elliott	Dodge	Dodge Dealers	184.401	29.284	-0.061
4	#41	Casey Mears*	Dodge	Target	184.263	29.306	-0.083
5	#19	Jeremy Mayfield	Dodge	Dodge Dealers	183.892	29.365	-0.142
6	#48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	Lowe's	183.723	29.392	-0.169
7	#16	Greg Biffle*	Ford	Grainger	183.499	29.428	-0.205
8	#38	Elliott Sadler	Ford	M&M's	183.449	29.436	-0.213
9	#77	Dave Blaney	Ford	Jasper Engines & Transmissions	183.430	29.439	-0.216
10	#42	Jamie McMurray*	Dodge	Havolline	183.200	29.476	-0.253
11	#29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	GM Goodwrench Service	183.163	29.482	-0.259
12	#15	Michael Waltrip	Chevrolet	NAPA Auto Parts	183.144	29.485	-0.262
13	#6	Mark Martin	Ford	Viagra	182.846	29.533	-0.310
14	#12	Ryan Newman	Dodge	ALLTEL	182.815	29.538	-0.315
15	#1	Jeff Green	Chevrolet	Pennzoil	182.803	29.540	-0.317
16	#8	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	Budweiser	182.593	29.574	-0.351
17	#25	Joe Nemechek	Chevrolet	UAW/Delphi	182.593	29.574	-0.351
18	#18	Bobby Labonte	Chevrolet	Interstate Batteries	182.587	29.575	-0.352
19	#40	Sterling Marlin	Dodge	Coors Light	182.242	29.631	-0.408
20	#4	Johnny Sauter	Pontiac	Kodak	181.984	29.673	-0.450
21	#7	Jimmy Spencer	Dodge	Sirius Satellite Radio	181.641	29.729	-0.506
22	#2	Rusty Wallace	Dodge	Miller Lite	181.586	29.738	-0.515
23	#30	Steve Park	Chevrolet	America Online	181.494	29.753	-0.530
24	#17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	DeWalt Power Tools	181.470	29.757	-0.534
25	#37	Derrike Cope	Chevrolet	Great Barrier Reef Online	181.427	29.764	-0.541
26	#32	Ricky Craven	Pontiac	Tide	181.366	29.774	-0.551
27	#99	Jeff Burton	Ford	CITGO	181.287	29.787	-0.564
28	#5	Terry Labonte	Chevrolet	Kellogg's/got milk?	181.232	29.796	-0.573
29	#74	Tony Raines*	Chevrolet	Staff America	181.068	29.823	-0.600
30	#22	Ward Burton	Dodge	Caterpillar	180.989	29.836	-0.613
31	#14	Larry Foyt*	Dodge	Harrah's	180.929	29.846	-0.623
32	#97	Kurt Busch	Ford	Rubbermaid	180.917	29.848	-0.625
33	#88	Dale Jarrett	Ford	UPS	180.904	29.850	-0.627
34	#0	Jack Sprague*	Pontiac	NetZero HiSpeed	180.832	29.862	-0.639
35	#31	Robby Gordon	Chevrolet	Cingular Wireless	180.693	29.885	-0.662
36	#10	Johnny Benson	Pontiac	Valvoline	180.644	29.893	-0.670
Provisional
37	#21	Ricky Rudd	Ford	U.S. Air Force	180.168	29.972	-0.749
38	#23	Kenny Wallace	Dodge	Stacker 2	180.590	29.902	-0.679
39	#154	Todd Bodine	Ford	National Guard	180.072	29.988	-0.765
40	#01	Mike Wallace	Pontiac	U.S. Army	180.282	29.953	-0.730
41	#45	Kyle Petty	Dodge	Georgia Pacific	180.276	29.954	-0.731
42	#43	Christian Fittipaldi	Dodge	Cheerios	179.503	30.083	-0.860
43	#49	Ken Schrader	Dodge	BAM Racing	180.222	29.963	-0.740
Did not Qualify
44	#81	Jason Keller	Chevrolet	Kraft Foods 100th Anniversary	180.312	29.948	-0.725

* Denotes Rookie

******************

**************************************************************

Stewart sets record to get Chicagoland pole

Tony Stewart set the track record at Chicagoland Speedway on Friday to take the Bud Pole for Sunday's Tropicana 400.

Stewart toured the 1.5-mile speedway in 29.223 seconds in a speed of 184.786 mph to take his first Bud Pole Award of 2003.

Jeff Gordon qualified second at 29.277/184.445 and Bill Elliott was third at 29.284/184.401.

Casey Mears and Jeremy Mayfield, Elliott's Evernham Motorsports teammate, round out the top five.

**************************************************************

NASCAR mandates larger hood bolts

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Opinion: Speculating on Stewart's future plans

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By The Numbers: Chicagoland

**************************************************************

[Support Free Republic]

Lighten Up, Francis!

Fundraising posts only happen quarterly, and are gone as soon as we meet the goal. Help make it happen.

[NormsRevenge]

Friday Night Ping with the starting lineup info and some links to stories.

Please Donate to the FReepathon if you can.

If you want ON or Off the Ping List , let me know.

Thanks. :-)

[Pete-R-Bilt]

There's Busch qualifying now on speed. don't know if its live but its racing...

[Pete'sWife]

Qualifying 5th in the Busch race was David Reutimann, son of Buzzie Reutimann, one of the greatest dirt track racers of all time. He was unbeatable at northern dirt ovals from the late sixties to the late seventies.

If you look in the dictionary under the word "Class," you'll see Buzzie's picture. He's standing next to the venerable "00."

Go, David!

[Afronaut]

BIg fan of Buzzie, 00 !! I saw him run many times he was a clean well liked driver. Nazereth in the early '70s. I am fired up about David. I need a new guy to root for. My main guy is in his sunset.

[Vigilantcitizen]

"Qualifying 5th in the Busch race was David Reutimann, son of Buzzie Reutimann, one of the greatest dirt track racers of all time. He was unbeatable at northern dirt ovals from the late sixties to the late seventies."

Thanks for sharing that. I love NASCAR history.

[Pete'sWife]

The memories of Buzzy & Wayne Reutimann doing battle with the likes of Gary Balough, Tighe Scott, "Fuzzy" Van Horn (whose GRANDSON is now driving a big block) and the other local heroes at Nazareth, Middletown, Flemington, are as fresh and clear in my mind as they were 25+ years ago!

Have you ever been to the "Reading Reunion?" It's... interesting.

[Hawkeye's Girl]

I'm a total NASCAR newbie, but what the heck. Go Dale!

[blastdad51]

Smoke is on the pole. Should be a good race, any predictions as to the winner?

[countrydummy]

Howdy! Can't wait till tomorrow! Go Bobby go!

[NormsRevenge]

Sea Biscuit by a head '-P

Hell, If I knew man, I'd be somebody important .. or banned from Online Sports Books ;-)

I like Busch... and President Bush too. :-)

[NormsRevenge]

We like our newbies .. It reminds us of when we newbies. Thanks for coming by. Don;t be shy. Ask questions.

We'll make up answers if we have too. ;-)

Dale Jarrett or Earnhardt 8-? LOL (I know) but I had to ask.

[SevenofNine]

I got question for Freepers who play ponies HOW MANY FRIGGIN TIME Hollywood make the movie Seabiscuit prove Drudge right here

There is no new Script in Hollywood HEY Norm was there NASCAR race today on NBC

I hear there was I know about Sunday one but Saturday

Did I miss it

[Afronaut]

Have you ever been to the "Reading Reunion?"

My favorite driver of all time was killed there, Mike Grbac. No PR no TV no nothing. You could see how much this guy had style and flair from his driving on the track! Damm he was a good driver. Iron Worker and weekend dirt tracker....

[NormsRevenge]

That horse movie looks exciting, I may have to go see it. Betting on ponies is one habit I'm glad I never acquired. Affording a fit filly is expensive enough.. :-\

Yup! Bobby Hamilton Jr won the Busch race driving the US Marines car!

Tomorrow, Tropicana 400 ... 1130 PT :-)

Tony is the polesitter. I bet he blows it up ... Go Busch!

[NormsRevenge]

I hate when accidents happen. I'm sorry to hear of his death. Was he an open wheeler?

I have a nephew racing superstock on a 1/2 mile track every Sat night in Minnesota. I have had 2 brothers, 2 brother-in-laws and 2 nephews race over the last 30 years or so. They have wrecked a few times but never anything serious. Myself, I have resisted the racing bug altho I enjoy watching the races and much that goes along with it.

[blastdad51]

Predictions are like belly buttons, ya gotta figure everyone's got one.

I like the old farts, Martin, Wallace, Elliot and all but they're havin a hard time winning lately, so I'm going with Bobby Labonte

[NormsRevenge]

He has been on a bit of a run lately... If he hadn't run out of gas, who knows? I like Bobby and wish him well tomorrow. He's a class act.

[SevenofNine]

OHHH so I miss it I be home tommorow watch that race on NBC tommorow morning MY TIME ZONE

You know what I saw preview of Seabusit andddd I not interestied that movie man how many timee that horse been made into MOVIE CONSTANTLY

[zygoat]

Did anyone else happen to see the truck series' race last week? It was won by a Roush owned truck sponsored by "Bob Graham for President". It came very close to winning the race last night also. I know I should be giving the driver credit for winning the race, ( Jon Wood), but this is the first time I can remember seeing a politically backed racing machine in a NASCAR santioned event.A dem truck. What's the world coming to?

[blastdad51]

I agree, he races clean and smart. You never hear that he caused a wreck or took someone else out by bring stupid. He also drives for a very good guy, Joe Gibbs

[Afronaut]

No this was back when they used bodies from the thirties.He ran a Modified. I feel like Teddy Roosevelt when I look at these pictures that I took back then. heheh

Dirt tracks have racing, Nascar is filled with racing and teams making runs. They are both cool. I do not have a dirt track near me anymore, I used to go to Flemington speedway. Very dirty and fast. They burned down the grandstands and built condos.

No wonder I am a fan of Jimmy Spencer and Tommy Baldwin. I can't wait for the #7 to beat the tar our of the Mega-Million $ teams.

[NormsRevenge]

I agree ... Jimmy has definitely paid his dues. He is always competitive but has had some rotten luck at times. He's a throwback to the old racing days.

I'm sitting here watching NASCAR This Morning on Fox Sports Network .. Lots of good young drivers coming up.. "Mongo" better do it soon or .. ;-|

[steveegg]

The 2 Roush trucks lost their sponsors early in the season (I don't remember who sponsored Carl Edwards' truck, but the Navy moved their sponsorship from Jon Wood's truck to a Busch car driven by Casey Atwood). Despite the lack of sponsorship (which also shut down Roush's Busch team), the trucks ran close to the top all year. The Graham deal is a few (4, though I may be off by 2) race deal.

Methinks Bush ought to get a top-flight Nextel (ugh) team to sponsor next year for the entire year.

[WestCoastGal]

Morning everyone. From Happy Hour yesterday it looks like the guys in the front are pretty good. Although none of them are my picks today.

Can Harvick do the hat trick today? Yes.

Rocket man looked much better yesterday than in qualifying, Junior had a lot of problems dialing in his car and Mr. (KB) Busch looked awful, but you can't ever count him out because he just never gives up. Also, Matt looked good yesterday in the Busch race, so he will be in the top 5 today too.

It just better not be Biffle again that's all I have to say.

[steveegg]

Lots of good young drivers coming up.. "Mongo" better do it soon or .. ;-|

One of them is his Busch teammate, David Reutimann.

[NormsRevenge]

Pre-Race Ping.

Almost time to roll 'em out onto the track!

Weather looks great!!

[NormsRevenge]

What's the Over / Under on the number of commercial breaks today? ;-\

[Mo1]

Thanks for the reminder over on the Freepathon Thread

[tubebender]

Got front row seats today but my grandson wants the puter for a couple of minutes...

[tubebender]

Some pretty hefty fines for last weeks race and Mikey lost some points...

[NormsRevenge]

Prety clever about using the punch tho on the venturi jet, LOL , ;-)

[NormsRevenge]

You're most welcome!!! :-)

[glock rocks]

aye! how boutz that tony fella?

let's go racin bump!

[glock rocks]

who got fined?

[NormsRevenge]

Mikey and Teresa Earnhardt ... for the carb oops. 25 points, $25 K..

[NormsRevenge]

Groove analysis by the announcers,,, This is a fairly new track and the groove has grown larger as the track has been used more. Waltrip tested running high yesterday during the Busch race.

[steveegg]

Hey, how about him? In any case, we got ourselves a Wisconsin race this week between Kenseth and Johnny Sauter. Too bad Johnny's driving junk this week, though. Childress oughta fire Park and put him in the #30 :-)

[Kakaze]

hEY " Y'ALL "

I know most of you are not CART fans but Paul Tracy just won the Toronto race. And, as irony would have it he drives for players racing ( a tabacco company) Looks like the champion of the series might have to drive with blank side walls, since tobacco sponsorship is illegal in canada as of oct. 1 . Thank god gov't is looking after us........wait can i say gov't and god in the same sentence?

[NormsRevenge]

Have you been to the FReepathon threads? Please donate to FR and keep the grass-roots burning.. Thanks

[NormsRevenge]

Thanks for the CART update and congrats to Paul! He's getting to be an "old-timer" and is long overdue.. where did the years go, anyway? :-\

[steveegg]

Start your engines.

Haven't been there as often as I want to, but I got my boost in.

[steveegg]

Ugh. If the gubmint really wanted to kill tobacco, just kill it.

[AGreatPer]

Diamond Reo did one of the best Star Spangled banner singings I have ever heard.

[NormsRevenge]

We got some real pretty pictures up on those threads.. The digital camera,, Don;t leave home without it ;-)

[Kakaze]

LOL I realised I was becoming an old timer too ......it's been 10 years since he last won that race, doesn't seem that long ago ( I was 27) and another good young man Greg Moore was just comming on the scene.

Here's to old age and memories of great young drivers now gone on to a better place.

[glock rocks]

[steveegg]

We got some real pretty pictures up on those threads.. The digital camera,, Don;t leave home without it ;-)

Cable modem; don't FReep without it.