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CUP: Monday Dover Notebook
Written by: Tom Jensen   
06/03/2007
Dover, Del.
 
Bill France Jr. was always hands-on in the family business, as he shows during the construction of Daytona International Speedway in 1958. (NASCAR archive) » More Photos


RACERS REMEMBER FRANCE The death of NASCAR Vice Chairman William Clifton France cast a shadow over the proceedings at Dover International Speedway, site of Monday's rain-delayed Autism Speaks 400 presented by Visa. Many of the drivers and members of the racing fraternity weighed in on the loss of France following the race.

"I've never seen anyone who could strike the balance that Bill did," said team owner Rick Hendrick, himself one of the sport's leaders and visionaries. "He knew exactly what he wanted to accomplish and rarely compromised, yet always made it a point to be fair. We've lost a strong leader, a visionary businessman and a truly amazing person. Bill was one of the toughest guys I've ever met, but he had a soft side, too. Words cannot express how much his friendship and support meant to me and my family during the most difficult of times. We shared a love for the ocean - fishing and telling stories - and it's those moments that I'll cherish forever."

"It's just sad. You look at what he's been able to do in the time he's been with NASCAR and obviously learning from his father," added Tony Stewart. "There aren't enough words to describe what he's meant to this sport and what he's done for it. I guarantee it's the biggest loss in racing since Dale Earnhardt, and probably bigger."

Four-time series champion Jeff Gordon described France as "a real soft-hearted guy who had a real hard shell on the outside. He ran things with an iron fist, but he had a passion for this sport that a lot of people maybe didn't get a chance to see. You don't see it very often. I loved being around him. He's one of those guys you always wanted to listen to. … Certainly our thoughts and prayers go out to the entire France family. He's going to be missed. It's going to be hard to be a part of this sport without him."

"He's one of those giants - very intimidating to me," said Dale Earnhardt, Jr. "I didn't know him well, but my Dad was close with him and I know that made my Dad very, very proud to get close to someone that not a lot of others did."
Kurt Busch holds court at Dover. (LAT photo) » More Photos
BASH BROTHERS The most bizarre incident in Monday's Autism Speaks 400 presented by Visa involved two long-time antagonists and former NASCAR Nextel Cup champions, Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch. The two crashed on the frontstretch to bring out a caution flag on Lap 220. Stewart headed for the pits, and Busch immediately followed suit, parking on pit road alongside Stewart's car where he vociferously expressed his opinion about the contact to Stewart. NASCAR responded by parking Busch for the rest of the race and conducting an impromptu set-to with the crew of the No. 2 Penske Racing Dodge.

"I raced the guy (Stewart) all day long and for some reason he just didn't give an inch," said an obviously irked Busch. "We raced about 15 laps there side by side and I had about 90 percent of my car past him and he wrecked me flat out. I was maybe not clear by a few inches, but he bumped me on another restart, he hit me on another restart. I have no idea what Tony Stewart had for us today. He finally wrecked me. He got accomplished what he wanted to do. I'm still very confused by it. … I really don't know what he was all about today. He didn't give an inch. I saw a ton of cars stack up in the mirror behind us, which meant we were racing way too hard. He didn't want to give an inch. He hit me on the restarts twice. I think he got his mission accomplished. I have no idea (if this stemmed from something
else), but I know that he hit us so many times today (that) mission accomplished for Tony."

Stewart, naturally, had a different take on the contact. "I've never tried to wreck him," insisted Stewart. "I've had plenty of chances to wreck the guy. That's not what it was about. It's about racing people with respect and he hasn't done that with anybody for a year. You finally get to the point where you're tired of giving guys positions. Most of the guys are pretty good. There are only a couple of bad apples out there and he's one of them. When you've got guys that you let go every time they get to you and they don't do the same thing when the roles are reversed, you finally get tired of it. You finally learn to race those guys they way they race you. You don't see me having problems with Mark Martin and the guys that run up front every week. His (Busch's) brother figured it out and his brother and I have gotten along great and have no problems. This is a sport that is so competitive that you can't afford to give guys positions all the time if they're not going to do it back for you. I'm just going to race guys the way they race me. Like I said, I don't have problems with 95 percent of the guys out there. It's only a couple."

GOOD DAY Ryan Newman's recent hot streak continued in the Autism Speaks 400 presented by Visa, where in finished second Monday. This weekend, Newman earned his best finish of the season, his second consecutive pole and his fourth finish of ninth or better in the last five races. "Just to be up front all day and lead a lot of laps is a great feeling, even on Monday," said Newman, referring to the one-day rain delay. "Believe it or not I get out of the car with a smile, but I get a smile driving the car, too. It's nice. These guys are doing a good job. We've just got to keep working on it. We're not in the best points' position. We've got to stay focused on that. We don't have anything to give. We have to keep taking."

Newman did move up to 16th points on Monday, another reason to smile. "It was a hot and cold day, but it was a good run for the Alltel Dodge," said Newman. "I've got to thank everybody at Penske Racing for keeping with us. We'll keep doing it. With finishes like this, good things will come. I think we've had a good program from the get-go. We just haven't had the results to post."

ROUSH FIGHTING BACK Roush Fenway Racing still hasn't won a Car of Tomorrow race, but the team's results in the Autism Speaks 400 presented by Visa – three cars in the top six - showed it's trending in the right direction. "We really ran terrible, we just had great pit stops. We worked on it all day and never really got it better, but we had a decent qualifying position and just great pit stops kept us in the hunt," said Matt Kenseth, who finished fifth.

"We probably had a better race car than where we finished. I drove pretty conservative today; I got pretty beat up Saturday in the Busch race, made a mistake. I was just committed to not making a mistake today, and just drove the car and paid attention," added Greg Biffle, the sixth-place runner.

"I had a really good time racing today," said Carl Edwards, who was best of the group with a third-place effort. "The Office Depot Fusion was good. I feel like we're on our way back to meeting our potential with this team. Had a chance to win the last three races, including this one. We've had cars good enough. I'm just really excited about today's finish."