NASCAR: No decison on whether to race
By Dave Rodman, Turner Sports Interactive
September 12, 2001
5:30 PM EDT (2130 GMT)
ATLANTA -- NASCAR, which is renowned for its ability to rebound and adjust on the fly, tried to do both Wednesday as the entire country struggled to recover from Tuesday’s brutal terrorist attacks.
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Dale Jarrett won the spring Loudon event.
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A NASCAR spokesman Wednesday afternoon said the sanctioning body “is hopeful of making a decision within the next 24 hours” on whether or not Sunday’s Winston Cup New Hampshire 300 would take place at New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon.
“We’re talking to other leagues and we’re taking counsel from political leaders,” said Rob Copeland, NASCAR managing director of public relations. “We are, above all, totally absorbed with comprehending all that’s happened and we are most concerned with doing the right thing.”
Copeland said that while some leagues, including racing organizations, have decided to move ahead with their games and events, others have not.
“We don’t feel, at the moment, compelled to make a snap decision,” he said. “We are waiting and seeing what is happening on a lot of fronts.”
NASCAR historian Bob Latford said the sanctioning body has postponed races for snow, rain and the “wildfires” around Daytona Beach, Fla., in 1998; but that natural phenomena were the only things to disrupt racing in the 53-year history of the sport.
NASCAR issued a points-based starting lineup for the New Hampshire 300 Wednesday morning while rescue and recovery operations continued in New York City; Washington, D.C.; and Johnstown, Pa. -- the sites of crashes of hijacked commercial airliners Tuesday morning.
Earlier Wednesday, NASCAR and Texas Motor Speedway announced that the Silverado 350 Craftsman Truck Series race scheduled Saturday afternoon at the 1.5-mile facility outside Fort Worth, Texas, would go on as planned. Friday’s Bud Pole Qualifying was canceled, the lineup will be set by points and truck teams will practice for three-and-a-half hours Friday evening.
"It is the right thing to do," said TMS general manager Eddie Gossage. "Any decision we could have made will be met with approval from some and disapproval from others. However, auto racing is the most American of sports and our fans have made it clear that they want us to hold these races.
“It will be a time when Americans can gather together, begin the healing process and show the world that you cannot break us."
While NASCAR and the Indy Racing Northern Light Series elected to plow ahead, other racing bodies postponed scheduled events.
On Wednesday Grand American Road Racing president Roger Edmondson announced in Daytona Beach, Fla., that the Grand-Am Finale scheduled this weekend at Daytona International Speedway would be postponed indefinitely, citing “the FAA's indefinite suspension of air travel.”
The NHRA Tuesday postponed this weekend’s Winston Drag Racing Keystone Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, Pa. The event was rescheduled to the weekend of Oct. 4-7.
Winston Cup competitors supported NASCAR’s decision.
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Pit road at Loudon
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“NASCAR was great about the first press release last night,” Winston Cup driver Kenny Wallace said. “We all stayed in touch, but they’ll still have to monitor the situation. As of today, Wednesday, they’re still trying to open up these airports, so it’ll still be really hard for some people that are going commercial to get to the races this week.
“I know some of the NASCAR officials have already started driving up there. All we can do is follow NASCAR. I already commend them for what they’ve done.”
"Most of the teams fly private, but we have a couple people that fly commercial every week,” said team owner Eddie Wood, who added that he had secured a bus for his team to go from Stuart, Va., to New Hampshire. “We all fly commercial when we go to the West Coast (and) that's the problem I see in racing this weekend. Not so much the teams and people that's on the deal - it’s the fans safety to get there. How you gonna get there?”
After NASCAR announced Tuesday evening that Friday’s Winston Cup schedule at NHIS had been cancelled, including Bud Pole Qualifying, three teams with the least number of Winston Cup owner points withdrew their entries, leaving 43 entered teams for the 43-car lineup.
Winston Cup point leader Jeff Gordon is scheduled to start on the pole for Sunday’s 300-lap race on the 1.058-mile oval in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, alongside Robert Yates Racing Ford driver Ricky Rudd’s No. 28 Taurus.
Meanwhile, NHIS officials released the new schedule for Friday through Sunday’s events. Thursday’s activity for the Busch North Series and Featherlite Modified Series, NASCAR Touring, was canceled Tuesday evening.
Friday's schedule has Busch North practice from 9-10:25 a.m. ET with Featherlite Modified practice from 10:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. Busch North Bud Pole Qualifying is at 1 p.m. with Modified pole qualifying scheduled at about 2:15 p.m. Both divisions’ half-hour final practice sessions will be held beginning at 3:30 p.m.
Saturday's on-track schedule will open with Winston Cup practice at 11 a.m. The New Hampshire 100 race for the Featherlite Modified Series will begin at 12:30 p.m. The New Hampshire 125 race for the Busch North Series will begin at about 2 p.m. Winston Cup Happy Hour final practice will be held at about 3:30 p.m. and will conclude the day's on-track activity.
The Winston Cup Series New Hampshire 300 will run on Sunday 1 p.m. as scheduled.
NHIS spectator gates open at 8 a.m. Friday, 7 a.m. Saturday and 6 a.m. Sunday.
Despite their support, some competitors were shaking their heads Wednesday.
“I kinda thought they’d cancel everything just because Major League Baseball and all sports and all rock concerts -- anything with a mass group of people -- was cancelled,” Wallace said. “So it did catch me by surprise that we’re gonna race this week. But I’m a professional. I totally understand.”
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