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Racin' deals

LOSING ITS GRIP: Many Winston Cup drivers count Richmond International Raceway's 0.75-mile oval among their favorite tracks. Those same drivers were outraged in the spring when a sealer applied to the surface ruined side-by-side racing.

Since May the sealer has been eroded by an Indy Racing League weekend, a lengthy Goodyear tire test and, just to be sure, vehicles dragging tires around the track.

"The track is very much back like it was a year ago," said Ricky Rudd, defending winner of tonight's Monte Carlo 400. "When we left there, our argument was, 'Don't put any sealer on it. Don't paint any stripes on this track. Please just leave it alone, because it's fine.' "

GETTING LOONEY: Nine drivers will have paint schemes featuring Looney Tunes characters: Greg Biffle ( Marvin the Martian), Jeff Gordon ( Bugs Bunny), Robby Gordon ( Pepe Le Pew), Jeff Green ( Daffy Duck), Jimmie Johnson ( Tweety and Sylvester), Kevin Harvick ( Tasmanian Devil), Terry Labonte ( Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote), Joe Nemechek ( Speedy Gonzalez), and Mike Skinner ( Yosemite Sam). Biffle is subbing for Bobby Hamilton, injured in Thursday's truck race. DON'T SET THE ALARM: Three-time Richmond winner Tony Stewart planned to sleep until 11 a.m. today in anticipation of a prime-time race: "I'm nocturnal, basically. The best hours of the day for me are when the sun goes down. I'm a lot sharper and a lot wider awake at night."

FEEDING THE MILL: Petty Enterprises has scheduled a news conference for 3:30 p.m. today, and CEO Kyle Petty can't wait for people to learn how little the truth resembles rumor.

"Hearing what people think we're going to announce or what people think we're doing, some of it is pretty funny," he said. "Some of it might be kind of close. Some of it is pretty outrageous."

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