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CNC Machining Magazine | ||||||||||
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The off-season is a chance for race teams to regroup, reflect and recover. But it is also the time they must review the previous season’s performance, and set their plans of attack for the new season. After months of off-season testing, drivers are ready to try out some real racing against the best in the sport. With several racing teams using Haas machining centers to shape many of the precision engine, chassis and suspension parts, it’s a sure bet they’ll be prepared to push the limits during their year-long struggle for the series championships. If the Daytona 500 is a sign of things to come, then this season’s NASCAR Winston Cup Series will be full of competitive side-by-side racing and wild finishes. Ward Burton survived a crash-marred race to capture his first Daytona 500 with a final three-lap sprint to the finish. Although Jeff Gordon’s DuPont 200th anniversary car seemed in command of the race with five laps to go, a bump from Sterling Marlin sent him spinning into the infield grass. The race was then red flagged for 20 minutes to clear the track of debris, a situation which added yet another unexpected twist to the race’s wild ending. Taking advantage of the red-flag lull, Marlin jumped out of his car to repair his fender – a big no-no – and was rewarded with a penalty from the officials, leaving the track wide open for Burton to hold off Elliott Sadler and win by three car-lengths. “Today we had some luck. We were in the right place at the right time,” said Burton. Following the race, Gordon, the 2001 Winston Cup champion, accepted the blame for the crash that led to the red flag. “I should have just given up when he (Marlin) got beside me and still had a battle and a shot to win the thing,” said Gordon, who rallied to finish ninth in the first race of his quest for a fifth Winston Cup championship. Gordon was still in contention at the end of the race, despite an incident with Kevin Harvick that eliminated nearly half the field. Gordon bumped Harvick and sent him spinning into the wall. Harvick’s car then slid down the track in front of a pack of cars racing at close to 190 mph. One of the 18 victims of the subsequent pileup was Gordon’s teammate, Jerry Nadeau, who limped his damaged car home in 28th place. Rookie-of-the-year candidate Jimmie Johnson, the newest addition to the Hendrick Motorsports Winston Cup family, was more fortunate, managing to miss all of the accidents and finish in 15th place.”All things considered, this is a great finish for the team,” said Johnson, who won the pole with a 185.83-mph qualifying lap.
NASCAR Busch Series Hendrick Motorsports also had a successful opening weekend for its new Busch team in the EAS/GNC Live Well 300. Jack Sprague, who moves to the Busch Series after winning the Craftsman Truck Series 2001 championship, battled other drivers in his new No. 24 NetZero Chevrolet Monte Carlo for seventh place, while teammate Ricky Hendrick, who has also moved to Busch, finished in 27th place. “I’m happy with our performance today,” said Sprague. “This is the first time I’ve run here at Daytona and finished in the top 10. The way I see it, these were the first two Busch Series speedway cars that Hendrick Motorsports built, and they were awesome.” Ricky Hendrick’s No. 5 GMAC Financial Services Chevrolet Monte Carlo got caught in a wreck on lap 103, which damaged the radiator and kept him from a top-10 finish. “Of course we wanted more,” said Ricky, who finished second in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck race at Daytona last year. “Racing at Daytona feels like being on a playground. You get to race fast with great guys in great equipment. I still love this track, and racing is the only thing I want to do.“ Sprague’s success continued through races two and three, with a pair of sixth-place finishes that bumped him to first in the points standings. “I’m definitely not complaining about another top-10 finish,” said Sprague. “I’m really happy with the way things have gone so far. This team is awesome, and we are determined to get better as the weeks go on.” After a year of problems and a lack of leadership, CART has hired a new president and CEO in hopes of turning around the struggling racing league. Rick Pook, the founder of the Long Beach Grand Prix, brings his years of racing experience to the open wheel circuit. “I can’t change the past, but I am going to change the future,” Pook declared. “We are starting to listen to our sponsors and promoters and understand their needs.” A new television contract is one step in the right direction. For the first time in the 23-year history of CART, every event on its 2002 FedEx Championship Series schedule will be aired on live television in the United States. The package is anchored by 12 races on the Speed Channel, with six events currently scheduled to air on the CBS television network. Pook has already made some changes as president, the most noticeable being a change in street and road course qualifying.
“We need to give the fans and the media a story on Fridays, and this is a way to create more interest,” said Pook. Both days will also feature a 60-minute qualifying period in which all drivers will be on the track together, instead of having a fast and slow group like previous years. “It’s a lot more interesting to have Friday qualifying for the general public, and it’s more challenging for the drivers, because we have to be ready to run 100 percent by that first afternoon,” said Cristiano da Matta, a three-time winner in 2001 and a serious contender for 2002. CART has also chosen to eliminate the Dayton Indy Lights Series for 2002, opting instead to “consolidate its operational and marketing efforts behind a single, top-level development racing series.” The CART Toyota Atlantic Championship Series has been enhanced to provide a more viable and effective development series for open-wheel racing teams and drivers. In other CART news, PacWest Racing Group has officially changed their name to PWR Championship Racing. With the name change comes some driver and equipment changes, as well. Scott Dixon (2001 CART Rookie of the Year and 2000 Indy Lights champion) once again will drive for PWR, but this time he’ll wear the lucky number 7. His new teammate, who takes over the seat vacated by the retiring Mauricio Gugelmin, is Oriol Servia, the 1999 Indy Lights champion. Both drivers have been hard at work with pre-season testing at Sebring, Laguna Seca and Homestead. On the equipment front, PWR has traded their Reynard chassis for the new Lolas, but has opted to stick with the Toyota power plant for another year. During the CART Sneak Preview at Laguna Seca, Dixon consistently ran in the top 10 in the new chassis. “Overall it was a good test, because we had a lot of track time,” Dixon said, “which will help us prepare for Mexico.” The PacWest/PWR team enters its 10th season in 2002; the team is currently preparing for the CART FedEx Championship Series opener on March 10 in Monterrey, Mexico. J&B Motorsports’ driver Todd Veney kicked off the 2002 season with races in Florida in March. Veney, who is racing in the NHRA Federal-Mogul Funny Car Series, is scheduled to compete in Chicago in April, and then at the 22nd Annual NHRA Southern Nationals in May. Look for more news about the Haas-sponsored teams in future issues, as they drive for championship points. ~~
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