The Buzz: March 23, 2001

March 23, 2001
6:09 PM EST (2309 GMT)

Kelly gone from DEI, but not too far

Okay, here's the story on Mike Kelly. Kelly, former car chief for Michael Waltrip's No. 15 Chevrolet at Dale Earnhardt, Inc.

Kelly was let go last Tuesday, but he wasn't alone. Word is that front tire specialist and changer Tim Sheets was also let go from the road crew, and from team shop, Steve Durne was let go as well.

Vic Radisi, who in the past has worked on Kerry Earnhardt ARCA team, has taken over as car chief on an interim basis, and David Gebhardt is now interim tire specialist.

Kelly's in no trouble though, he already has a new job. He's now a member of the No. 19 Dodge crew.

Swap me places

RAD, as in Richard Childress, Andy Petree and Dale Earnhardt, have long been swapping information on motors. Now, they're partnership goes further than that - they're swapping crew members.

The No. 15 Chevrolet team will use two Richard Childress Racing crewmen this weekend and next weekend at Texas. Ron Liddell will change front tires, while Mike Barry will serve as front tire carrier.

Middle E in Mikey's ride

Kerry Earnhardt will drive Michael Waltrip's No. 99 Busch Series car at Kentucky Speedway for sure, according to a team spokesperson, and may run more than that. Waltrip's next scheduled race in the car is California. Shawna Robinson will run Texas, Talladega and Nashville in the No. 99.

Wide Open

Kevin Harvick's 2001 datebook is absurd, as the 26-year old second-year Busch Series/Winston Cup rookie plans to run the entire slate of events in both series. In other words, he's gonna drive somewhere in the neighborhood of 800 miles every weekend, in different cities each day, no less. Although it seems he could plead insanity, he said Friday that those plans haven't changed.

"Nothing will be cut back," Harvick said. "There's around five races where someone else will practice and qualify the car. I'm gonna miss Pocono Happy Hour so I can make the Pikes Peak (Busch) race. Other than that, I feel like we owe it to AC Delco to do this. We wanted to run a full Busch Schedule and run for a championship in 2001, and they did what it took to make that happen."

The pits

Two pit crew members for the No. 10 MBV Motorsports Pontiac have been relieved of their duties at the track. Those two individuals, which were unnamed, still hold positions at the team's shop, but were replaced at the track by two former pit crew members of the No. 36.

2x2

The Winston has changed formats in 2001. Qualifying for NASCAR's All-Star race will feature a four-tire pit stop at the beginning of each team's qualifying attempt. In the past, qualifying has included a two-tire stop somewhere within the multi-lap qualifying process, before being moved to the beginning of the attempt last season. This year, each team will perform a four-tire stop followed by three hot laps. Teams will compete for the quickest total time.

Qualifying for The Winston is slated for May 18th, with The Winston scheduled for the following night.

Following Hammond, Larry Mac?

Bill Ingle, the former Winston Cup crew chief who most recently served in that capacity for driver Dennis Setzer at Morgan-Dollar Motorsports, could be the latest mechanical wizard to opt for a television career.

If that is the case, look for chief mechanic Todd Meyers, who built TKO Motorsports into a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series contender before the team had to suspend operations earlier this season due to a lack of sponsorship, to fill the role for Setzer.

Meyers replaced Ingle -- who was absent while attending to personal business --- at the most recent NCTS event, at Mesa Marin Raceway, where Setzer was running third late in the race before he hit the wall and ended his chances.