*NASCAR WC at Darlington .. Mountain Dew Southern 500 on NBC - Sunday 8/31 - 0930 PT / 1230 ET*

NASCAR.com ^ | 8/29/03

[NormsRevenge]

Darlington..Every driver who has strapped on a helmet and climbed behind the steering wheel has wanted to win at Darlington because the toughest is most desirable. For those few select drivers who have won races at the granddaddy of superspeedways, there is a priceless satisfaction in knowing they've conquered the unique egg-shaped oval nicknamed "Too Tough To Tame."

This thread is dedicated to our armed services members, their families and friends worldwide.

God Bless America and God Bless FRee Republic.

[NormsRevenge]

Darlington Raceway
Mountain Dew Southern 500
Sunday, August 31,2003 on NBC at 930am PT / 1230 pm ET

Every driver who has strapped on a helmet and climbed behind the steering wheel has wanted to win at Darlington because the toughest is most desirable. For those few select drivers who have won races at the granddaddy of superspeedways, there is a priceless satisfaction in knowing they've conquered the unique egg-shaped oval nicknamed "Too Tough To Tame."

Track Facts
Banking/Turns: 25 / 23 degrees
Distance: 1.66 miles
Shape: Oval

Sunday, August 31,2003 on NBC
12:30 PM ET / 9:30 AM PT

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FYI --- Qualifying can be seen on SPEED Channel right now,, Noon PT

I will update thread when official lineup is set.

[NormsRevenge]

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Remember this?

Last time at Darlington, Busch and Craven battled it out, nose to nose, to the finish line..
Ricky won!

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Rumored 2004 Nextel Cup Series Schedule

Where will you be able to catch seeing your favorite driver next season? Credit: Autostock

The Buzz: Rumored 2004 Nextel Cup Schedule

August 29, 2003
11:03 AM EDT (1503 GMT)

Based on published reports by USA TODAY, the rumored 2004 Nextel Cup Series Schedule is as follows:

• February 7: Bud Shootout, Daytona International Speedway

• February 15: Daytona International Speedway

• February 22: North Carolina Speedway

• February 29: Off weekend

• March 7: Las Vegas Motor Speedway

• March 14: Atlanta Motor Speedway

• March 21: Darlington Raceway

• March 28: Bristol Motor Speedway

• April 4: Texas Motor Speedway

• April 11: Off weekend

• April 18: Talladega Superspeedway

• April 25: Martinsville Speedway

• May 2: California Speedway

• May 9: Off weekend

• May 15: Richmond International Raceway

• May 23: All-star race, Lowe's Motor Speedway

• May 30: Lowe's Motor Speedway

• June 6: Dover International Speedway

• June 13: Pocono Raceway

• June 20: Michigan International Speedway

• June 27: Infineon Raceway

• July 3: Daytona International Speedway

• July 11: Chicagoland Speedway

• July 18: New Hampshire International Speedway

• July 25: Pocono Raceway

• August 1: Indianapolis Motor Speedway

• August 8: Watkins Glen International

• August 15: Michigan International Speedway

• August 22: Off weekend

• August 28: Bristol Motor Speedway

• September 5: California Speedway

• September 11: Richmond International Raceway

• September 19: New Hampshire International Speedway

• September 26: Dover International Speedway

• October 3: Talladega Superspeedway

• October 10: Kansas Speedway

• October 16: Lowe's Motor Speedway

• October 24: Martinsville Speedway

• October 31: Atlanta Motor Speedway

• November 7: Phoenix International Raceway

• November 14: Darlington Raceway

• November 21: Homestead-Miami Speedway

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Busch meets with sponsor to discuss expectations

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Stewart to stay with Gibbs

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Darlington's Labor Day tradition ends this weekend

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[Moose4]

Enjoy this one, folks. This is the last Southern 500. Fifty years at Darlington didn't matter. International Speedway Corporation said "the hell with you," and from 2004 on you'll be watching your Labor Day left-turning at the California Speedway in Fontana, a Michigan clone--and hey, aren't races at Michigan always more exciting than races at Darlington?

Yes, I live 70 miles from Darlington, and yes, I'm bitter as hell.

}:-)4

[Renfield]

I lived in Darlington for 9 years and never attended a race. In fact, we often left town during race weekends, to escape the noise.

[umgud]

I'm praying for Mark Martin. He's looking more like the bad-luck kid.

[RebelBanker]

Somehow "Nextel Cup" just does not flow as well as "Winston Cup." Guess I'll just have to stick to the Craftsman Truck Series...

[Lost Highway]

I don't understand why people keep building the same track over and over. If I were building a track today, with the intention of getting a NASCAR race, I would build something similar but slightly larger than Bristol.

btw, I wandered onto the message board at http://www.thatsracin.com and man are there some hardcore leftists/socialists on there. Anyone been there?

[Lost Highway]

My prediction. I have an errie feeling Kurt Busch will be in the winners circle. (Not a fan)

[Moose4]

I don't understand it either. Look at Richmond. It's 3/4 mile but wide enough that the racing is good, and it's a very good facility (so I've heard). Why does everything have to be either yet another Charlotte or yet another Michigan? I'm thoroughly sick of mile-and-a-half quad-ovals right about now. :)

}:-)4

[Johnny Gage]

My prediction. I have an errie feeling Kurt Busch will be in the winners circle.

Me either. He's p/o'd enough other drivers, hopefully somebody will give him the "punting" he needs.

Here's hoping the #24 can get his 6th win.

[NC Conservative]

Yes, I live 70 miles from Darlington, and yes, I'm bitter as hell. I used to live fifteen miles from the track(Florence,SC born and bred.) Never been to a race. I hate it. Cars in a circle. Go figure.

[NormsRevenge]

I hope it's not an omen.. but Jeff just qualified 13th.. :-o LOL .. It isn't over yet,, but ... if this is any indication , look at his luck lately ,, ouch!

[SengirV]

NASCAR - Never understood, probably never will. Can someone give me an intelligent response as to why watching cars go around in a circle is entertaining? I'm serious. I'll be willing to listen to any and all INTELLIGENT arguments.

Thank you.

[NormsRevenge]

Newman on Southern 500 Bud Pole

Pos.
1	#12	Ryan Newman	Dodge	ALLTEL	169.048	29.090	Leader
2	#48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	Lowe's	168.862	29.122	-0.032
3	#5	Terry Labonte	Chevrolet	Kellogg's/got milk?	168.538	29.178	-0.088
4	#38	Elliott Sadler	Ford	M&M's	168.451	29.193	-0.103
5	#18	Bobby Labonte	Chevrolet	Interstate Batteries	168.227	29.232	-0.142
6	#17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	Smirnoff Ice/DeWalt	168.158	29.244	-0.154
7	#6	Mark Martin	Ford	Viagra	168.025	29.267	-0.177
8	#32	Ricky Craven	Pontiac	Give Kids The World/Tide	167.853	29.297	-0.207
9	#16	Greg Biffle*	Ford	Grainger	167.813	29.304	-0.214
10	#77	Dave Blaney	Ford	Jasper Engines & Transmissions	167.785	29.309	-0.219
11	#10	Johnny Benson	Pontiac	Valvoline	167.647	29.333	-0.243
12	#8	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	Budweiser	167.619	29.338	-0.248
13	#40	Sterling Marlin	Dodge	Coors Light	167.505	29.358	-0.268
14	#24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	DuPont	167.493	29.360	-0.270
15	#19	Jeremy Mayfield	Dodge	Dodge Dealers	167.396	29.377	-0.287
16	#01	Mike Skinner	Pontiac	U.S. Army	167.328	29.389	-0.299
17	#42	Jamie McMurray*	Dodge	Havoline	167.288	29.396	-0.306
18	#29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	GM Goodwrench Service	167.237	29.405	-0.315
19	#88	Dale Jarrett	Ford	UPS	167.157	29.419	-0.329
20	#20	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	Home Depot	167.083	29.432	-0.342
21	#41	Casey Mears*	Dodge	Target	167.078	29.433	-0.343
22	#9	Bill Elliott	Dodge	Dodge Dealers	167.061	29.436	-0.346
23	#43	Christian Fittipaldi	Dodge	Cheerios Heart Health	167.038	29.440	-0.350
24	#23	Kenny Wallace	Dodge	Stacker 2	166.959	29.454	-0.364
25	#31	Robby Gordon	Chevrolet	Cingular Wireless	166.936	29.458	-0.368
26	#154	Todd Bodine	Ford	National Guard	166.862	29.471	-0.381
27	#25	Joe Nemechek	Chevrolet	UAW/Delphi	166.862	29.471	-0.381
28	#99	Jeff Burton	Ford	CITGO	166.766	29.488	-0.398
29	#22	Ward Burton	Dodge	Caterpillar	166.738	29.493	-0.403
30	#21	Ricky Rudd	Ford	Motorcraft Quality Parts	166.614	29.515	-0.425
31	#97	Kurt Busch	Ford	Rubbermaid	166.563	29.524	-0.434
32	#30	Steve Park	Chevrolet	America Online	166.259	29.578	-0.488
33	#74	Tony Raines*	Chevrolet	BACE Motorsports	165.989	29.626	-0.536
34	#2	Rusty Wallace	Dodge	Miller Lite	165.905	29.641	-0.551
35	#1	Jeff Green	Chevrolet	Pennzoil	165.889	29.644	-0.554
36	#0	Jason Leffler	Pontiac	NetZero HiSpeed	165.760	29.667	-0.577
Provisional
37	#15	Michael Waltrip	Chevrolet	NAPA Auto Parts	164.832	29.834	-0.744
38	#7	Jimmy Spencer	Dodge	Sirius Satellite Radio	-	-	-
39	#49	Ken Schrader	Dodge	1-800-CALLATT	165.559	29.703	-0.613
40	#45	Kyle Petty	Dodge	Georgia Pacific	164.860	29.829	-0.739
41	#4	Kevin Lepage	Pontiac	Kodak	164.639	29.869	-0.779
42	#37	Derrike Cope	Chevrolet	Friendly's/SP Films	162.705	30.224	-1.134
43	#02	Hermie Sadler	Pontiac	goteamva.com	159.559	30.820	-1.730
Did not Qualify
44	#150	Larry Foyt*	Dodge	Harrah's	165.626	29.691	-0.601

* Denotes Rookie

[cyclotic]

OK, here's my explanation.

Stock car racing, to the casual viewer who is ignorant (in the proper use of the word) of the sport, rules, strategy etc. can be extremely boring. I challenge you to find a friend who is a rabid fan and ask them to introduce you to the sport. This wek at Darlington is a good place to start. Or, get a tape of last week's race at Bristol. 500 laps of heart pounding excitement.

The strategy, to the knowledgable fan is incredible. What kind of car setup, when to pit, change 2 or four tires. At some tracks, you're in a better position to win the race by being in 2nd or 3rd place two laps from the end.

Teamwork is central to NASCAR. good driver, good crew, good car equals a good chance to win.

GREAT driver, OK crew, OK car equals zero chance to win.

Check it out. If you can afford it, go to a race, even a good local track.

Steve

[Aegedius]

Compared to what? Tell me which sport you prefer to watch, and I'll tell you what's wrong with it.

I'm not a NASCAR fan, but a lot of people are, and I'm happy for them.

I repeat. Compared to what?

[SengirV]

Compared to what? Tell me which sport you prefer to watch, and I'll tell you what's wrong with it.

Ahh prove by negation. I'd rather have someone tell me something positive about NASCAR instead of bashing other sports.

[SengirV]

Thanks cyclotic. I was never one of those car guys growing up, so the idiosyncrasies of the car, what kind of tires, etc... is of very little interest to me. In fact changing a tire, whether it is in 10 mintes or 10 seconds brings me no joy/excitement what-so-ever.

Based on your positioning at the end comment, I might enjoy NASCAR like I do any NBA game - ignore the first 90% of the game/race and just watch the last five minutes.

I actually have gone to local races in the past. When I was growing up, there was a race track in my hometown(Schoentown, PA). I've also been to a couple after that shut down(in Forestville, PA). I would rate those as mildy entertaining because I didn't have to endure hundreds of laps. The races only lasted a couple dozen laps and there were many differnt kinds of races during the night.

[cyclotic]

I'm not a gearhead either. Get me under a hood and I go blank. However, the intricacies(spelled wrong but too lazy to check it out) of following NASCAR can get very habit forming. That's why I recommend watching the entire event, not just the last ten laps. For instance, at Watkins Glen road course a few weeks ago, Jeff Gordon was punted off the track on lap one and ended up in 43rd place. By the end of the race, he had moved up to 2nd or 3rd. Ran out of gas on last lap and got punted again. Without watching this, you would have thought the pole sitter only moved back a few spots rather than losing 43 and making up 41.

It's hard to explain the lure of the sport, but again, I heartily recommend getting with a fan and spending a few hours with them.

Of course, NBA bores me to tears, even the last 5 minutes of the game. Sometimes, I'll just paint a wall and watch it dry during basketball games. Sarcasm duly noted. Just messing with you. We each have our favorites.

Steve

[NormsRevenge]

Both Labontes in top five

Apologetic Spencer returns to racing at Darlington

Friday Notes: Busch-Spencer case back to police