Four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon, banished to the rear of the field to start today’s Daytona 500 because he failed a tech inspection Thursday, expects the bad air hovering over the series to clear after the winner spins his victory doughnuts on the frontstretch at Daytona International Speedway. A race will put the focus back on the track, but a dramatic series of developments in the offseason will carry over in the form of the following Nextel Cup story lines:
1. Earnhardt vs. Earnhardt
At this time next year Dale Earnhardt Jr. might be driving his late father’s black-and-silver No. 3 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. Childress owns the patent on Dale Earnhardt’s No. 3 that was retired after the seven-time champion died at the 2001 Daytona 500. Junior, voted the sport’s most popular driver the past four years, wants majority ownership of his team or he will pursue other opportunities, and there is no team that would turn him down. His stepmother, Teresa Earnhardt, isn’t ready to give up the business her husband began while driving for Childress, but said she will continue to negotiate with Junior.
2. Changing the chase
NASCAR chairman Brian France, who introduced the Chase playoff format in 2004, has tweaked it to put more emphasis on winning races. Starting this year, the Chase will be reseeded according to a driver’s number of wins during the first 26 regular-season races. The playoff field will be expanded from 10 to 12 participants, and five extra points will be given to regular-season race winners. Last year, Kasey Kahne started 10th in the Chase, despite a series-most five victories. He would have started first under the current format.
3. Cheaters getting caught
NASCAR already has handed out a single-season record for penalties and fines for cheating. A handful of cars failed tech inspection at Daytona and those teams took a heavy hit. Owner/driver Michael Waltrip was hit the hardest after something with a striking resemblance and smell of jet fuel was found in the fuel line and manifold of his No. 55 Toyota. Waltrip and his wife, car owner Buffy Waltrip, each were docked 100 points, and their crew chief, Larry Hyder, was ejected from Daytona, suspended indefinitely and fined $100,000.
4. Toyota still foreign
Seven Toyota entries are competing in a full schedule for the Japanese automaker’s Nextel Cup season debut. Toyota has done well in other motorsports, including NASCAR’s truck series, but is not welcome by some traditional stock car fans and all-American teams using Chevrolet, Dodge and Ford equipment. Some NASCAR team owners using equipment from the “Big Three” vow to embarrass the newcomer.
5. Hispanic following
Rookie Juan Pablo Montoya of Colombia has joined Earnhardt Jr. as one of the circuit’s most-sought drivers. Montoya is a former CART champion, Indianapolis 500 winner and Formula One driver who could help NASCAR reach U.S. Hispanic audiences. He’s driving for Chip Ganassi Racing, not an elite team, but certainly above average.
6. Car of Tomorrow
Designed to improve safety, reduce costs and enhance competition, the Car of Tomorrow will debut March 25 at Bristol, Tenn., to begin a 16-race test run that includes five Chase races. All teams must use the NASCAR-brand model, but engines will continue to be provided by manufacturers contracted by the teams.
7. Play nice, Tony
Tony Stewart is to racing what Barry Bonds is to baseball. Stewart doesn’t get along with the media and his personality turns off plenty of peers, sponsors and fans. However, Stewart, like Bonds once was, probably is the best in the business, and he is coming off a non-Chase season. He could have won his third championship last year if anger didn’t get the best of him in a handful of incidents.
8. Johnson/Johnson
Jimmie Johnson goes for back-to-back championships, a feat last accomplished by Jeff Gordon in 1998. Johnson finished second in 2003 and 2004 and has not finished outside the top five in each of his six full seasons.
9. On the tube
ESPN returns to NASCAR after a six-year absence. The all-sports network and sister company ABC will combine to televise the final 17 races, beginning with the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard on July 29. Fox and TNT remain in the picture, combining to televise the first 19 events. Better exposure might help NASCAR rebound from a decline in ratings for 32 of 36 races last year.
10. Expansion always a concern
Florida-based International Speedway Corp. is proposing building Nextel Cup tracks in Tacoma, Wash., Denver and New York. Although the earliest any of those markets would be ready to race is 2010, scheduling is one of NASCAR’s hottest topics, because the slate already is full and teams are afraid of employee burnout. Expansion is imminent, but the question is whether NASCAR adds to the number of races or takes away from a double-host tracks such as Phoenix, Pocono, Pa., and New Hampshire.
