By BRANT JAMES, Times wires
Published April 24, 2004
TALLADEGA, Ala. - Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s favorite superspeedway car is sitting on display at Daytona USA. Michael Waltrip's was hauled off the track in a heap, 130 laps before his teammate won his first Daytona 500 in February.
A problem for most teams entering the season's second restrictor plate race, but not for Dale Earnhardt Inc., which has won 10 of the past 13 races at Daytona and Talladega Superspeedway.
Waltrip qualified second in the No. 15 Chevrolet and Earnhardt third on Friday, managing to upstage 47-year-old Ricky Rudd, who won his first career pole and the first for the venerable Wood Brothers team since 1984.
"We brought a car here we did not have a lot of time on the racetrack in," said Earnhardt, whose Daytona-winning No. 8 Chevrolet was placed, as were previous winning cars, in the track museum. "I thought we would struggle, but everybody at Dale Earnhardt Inc. just beat and banged and grinded."
Rudd covered the 2.66-mile track in 50.089 seconds at 191.180 mph in the No. 21 Ford. Waltrip, who won the Talladega fall race, took 50.143 seconds at 190.974 mph. Earnhardt, using the car in which he finished second in the Budweiser Shootout, had a best of 50.311 seconds at 190.366 mph.
"To come here and do this is pretty amazing for DEI," said team vice president Richie Gilmore, who used to head the restrictor-plate engine program.
BIG BILL: Nextel Cup drivers - particularly Earnhardt - competing in today's Busch race are unhappy with the wicker bill NASCAR has mandated for the cars on restrictor-plate tracks.
The bill, a strip applied across the top of the cars, is designed to break up large packs that have become the bane of restrictor-plate racing. Passing is facilitated, in theory, because the loss of speed is not as pronounced when dropping out of the draft.
The bill also causes cars to "suck up" close together, however, prompting drivers such as Earnhardt to consider the current aerodynamics package dangerous.
Dale Earnhardt Sr. was killed in February 2001 in the most recent Winston Cup race utilizing wicker bills. The race also was marred by Tony Stewart's rollover accident. The devices were removed for 2002 after driver complaint.
CATCH UP: Doug Duchardt, General Motors' racing director, said one demoralizing race was the impetus for an emphasis on restrictor-plate racing that has resulted in the DEI dominance.
"Our watershed event was the 2000 Daytona 500," he said, referring to a race in which Fords captured the top five spots and Chevrolet had four cars in the top 20. "We never want to be embarrassed liked that again. Now (Dale Earnhardt Inc.) has someone working on restrictor-plate races at all times."
JUST WONDERFUL: Rudd couldn't understand why none of the other drivers involved in a DC Comics cross promotion wanted a Wonder Woman paint scheme on their car for the June 20 Nextel Cup and Busch races at Michigan International Speedway.
His peers, who will feature the likes of Superman or Green Lantern, learned their lesson at an unveiling on Friday morning featuring the Amazonian superhero.
"These guys get to hug up on guys in a uniform," Rudd said. "I get to hug up on a woman, and I'm pretty excited about it."
SPARK PLUGS: Former Bucs running back Warrick Dunn will serve as grand marshal for today's Aaron's 312 Busch race.
SPONSORSHIP: Roush Racing announced that Roundup FastAct weed and grass control will sponsor the No. 99 Ford of Jeff Burton for the next four races.
DIVERSITY: Joe Henderson III was introduced at Talladega as the first of five minority drivers to be part of the "Drive For Diversity" initiative. Henderson is from Franklin, Tenn., and will be a regular at Fairgrounds Speedway in Nashville, driving a Late Model Dodge for Bobby Hamilton Racing with sponsorship from Kodak.
FORMULA ONE: Ford Motor Company and four other carmakers said they are scrapping an agreement with billionaire Bernie Ecclestone, reviving the possibility that they might start a rival series. ... Reducing the cost of operating a team is a goal outlined by International Automobile Federation president Max Mosley in a letter to six team leaders.
IRL: Robbie Buhl, an original driver, has competed in his last race behind the wheel. Buhl, 40, is retiring to focus his efforts as co-owner of Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.
MOTORCYCLES: Orange County prosecutors had no authority to charge Michael Goodwin with the slaying of racer-promoter Mickey Thompson and his wife, Trudy, outside their suburban Los Angeles home, a California appeals court ruled.
