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Compiled from Times wires
© St. Petersburg Times, published April 20, 2001
Nemechek takes Busch pole
TALLADEGA, Ala. -- This is why they call him "Front Row Joe."
Veteran Joe Nemechek, racing at the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway for the 10th time, Thursday took the pole for Saturday's Subway 300 Busch Grand National race.
It was the fourth Busch pole for Nemechek, who drove his Pontiac to a lap of 189.729 mph (50.903 seconds). He set that mark after turning four laps in practice in the car in which he won the pole for the Daytona Busch race this season.
Nemechek has taken the pole four times in his past six races at Talladega.
"It was a good lap, and a lot of work went into this car," Nemechek said. "It's the car we ended up wrecking on the last lap in Daytona after running second to my teammate there."
That would be Randy LaJoie, who will start outside Nemechek on the front row, just as he did in Daytona. Both knew they had good cars after their qualifying runs.
Jimmy Spencer, like Nemechek a Winston Cup driver, qualified third in a Pontiac. He had the fastest time in practice.
Series points leader Kevin Harvick will start fourth in his Chevrolet, followed by Jeff Purvis in a Pontiac and Mike Skinner in a Chevrolet.
NEWS ORGANIZATIONS ASK TO JOIN SUIT: Six news organizations throughout Florida asked a Broward County judge to include them in two newspapers' challenge of a new state law banning the viewing of autopsy photos without permission.
The Tampa Tribune; its TV affiliate, WFLA; the Gainesville Sun; the Ledger of Lakeland; the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, and the Ocala Star-Banner want to join a suit filed by the Orlando Sentinel and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that questions the constitutionality of the law, said attorney Gregg D. Thomas, who represents the new parties.
Autopsy photos were public records in Florida until Gov. Jeb Bush signed a measure last month making it a felony for a medical examiner to make the photos public. The law was a result of a dispute between the Sentinel and Teresa Earnhardt, the widow of NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, who was killed in a crash at the Daytona 500 in February.
HARMON BELT SHOWN: Busch series officials showed off a partly separated left lap belt from Mike Harmon's car during a drivers meeting at Talladega.
The sanctioning body plans to do the same when Winston Cup teams arrive today.
Harmon wrecked during the Pepsi 400 on Saturday at Nashville Superspeedway and broke a shoulder blade. Busch director John Darby said the belt, made by Simpson Performance Products, sustained a 1/2-inch tear near the adjuster.
Seat belts have become a concern since Earnhardt crashed on the last lap of the Daytona 500. NASCAR officials found a broken left lap belt in his car, but a crash expert determined the broken belt played no part in Earnhardt's injuries.
"Today there has not been, to my knowledge, a specific conversation with the manufacturer," Darby said. "What we're seeing in this belt may not even reflect toward the manufacturer."
DRIVER OF THE YEAR: Winston Cup points leader Dale Jarrett, the series' only multiple winner this season (three victories in eight races), led the first-quarter voting by a national panel of motorsports writers and broadcasters.
Jarrett had 13 first-place votes and 141 points to outdistance runner-up Sam Hornish Jr. of the Indy Racing League.
INTERNATIONAL MOTORSPORTS HALL OF FAME: Neil Bonnett was one of four people inducted at Birmingham, Ala. The others were motorcycle and Formula One racer Mike Hailwood, sprint car champion and Indy 500 winner Jimmy Bryan, and engine builder Fred Offenhauser. All four were honored posthumously.
Bonnett was a member of the famed Alabama Gang along with Bobby and Donnie Allison and Red Farmer.
"He was the most enthusiastic person at anything he was doing, whether it was short-track racing, big-track racing or later on when he went into race announcing," said Bobby Allison, Bonnett's presenter.
Bryan won three national titles in sprint car racing and the 1958 Indy 500. He was 33 when he was killed in a 1960 in a last-lap crash at Langhorne Speedway in Pennsylvania.
Hailwood won 300 motorcycle races and nine championships from 1957-67. He switched to auto racing in 1969. Three years later, he won the Formula 2 European Championship and finished eighth in Formula One points.
Offenhauser's engines powered 24 Indy 500 winners from 1934-60.
- Staff writer Kevin Kelly contributed to this report.