The Buzz: April 1, 2001
April 25, 2001
11:12 AM EDT (1512 GMT)
Family Ties
Geoffrey Bodine and an "investment partner" are in the process of deciding whether to acquire an existing NASCAR Winston Cup operation or to start from scratch by assembling a team and a fleet of rolling stock.
Last week they toured Galaxy Motorsports; but after that visit, talk is they are more seriously considering building their own team since the most critical element of a team is its personnel and Galaxy currently is down to about three employees in the shop.
One of the most pressing considerations right now is sponsorship, but the plan would be to align Geoffrey's new operation with brother Brett's Brett Bodine Racing team to cooperate on sharing test information and other technology transfer without having the administrative tangles of a true multi-car operation.
Still truckin'
Winston Cup driver and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series owner/driver Bobby Hamilton has been the fastest trucker to test at South Carolina's Greenville-Pickens Speedway, a half-mile track that is a preferred test site not only for the next NCTS venue, Martinsville Speedway but also other facilities.
Hamilton and the other Dodge truck teams tested once at the facility, when he reportedly logged a 20-second lap as his best, and Dodge teams may test there again this week before reporting to Martinsville on Thursday.
A group of Chevrolet testees last week were within five-tenths of Hamilton, including the trucks of Randy Tolsma (20.40), Ricky Hendrick, Jack Sprague and Rick Carelli (20.45) and Coy Gibbs (20.50).
Picture this
Kevin Lepage will run his third straight race as the driver of the No. 4 Morgan-McClure Motorsports Chevrolet next weekend in the Virginia 500 at Martinsville. Lepage has staged a remarkable turnaround for the Virginia-based team, with finishes of 15th at Bristol and 11th at Texas since replacing the bought-out Robby Gordon.
Just chillin'
Robin Pemberton, who in the last 10 days has undergone a varied battery of tests to uncover the cause of persistent fatigue, Sunday, missed his first Winston Cup race since 1994. Pemberton has not missed a race since joining driver Rusty Wallace at Penske Racing South in 1995, or 201 straight races.
Team sources reported Pemberton to be suffering from "track withdrawal".
NASCAR supporter passes
Barbara Chrysler, co-owner and promoter of Kil-Kare Speedway a NASCAR Weekly Racing Series facility that includes a drag strip in Xenia, Ohio, died unexpectedly last Friday at the age of 72. Barbara, along with husband Dick, owned and operated Kil-Kare Speedway and Dragway since 1972.
Barbara and Dick supported NASCAR and promoted the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series at their facility since 1989. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at this time but Tobias Funeral Home; located at 3970 Dayton-Xenia Road in Beavercreek, Ohio is handling the arrangements. For more information, contact the funeral home at (937) 252-3122 or Kil-Kare public relations at (937) 429-2961.
Back in the day
NASCAR stock car phenom Kevin Harvick -- who won at TMS Saturday in the Jani-King 300 and scored his third Winston Cup top-10 in only his sixth career start -- continues to amaze most onlookers of the Busch and Winston Cup Series.
While Harvick has long demonstrated limitless potential, very little in his career prior to last season indicated his meteoric rise that includes the Busch Series point lead, Winston Cup Raybestos Rookie point lead and 10th in the NWCS point standings despite missing a race.
"Heck no!" Harvick exclaimed when asked if he could have predicted his current status when he was back in his native Bakersfield, California, "I used to rip the fenders off, crash into people -- man, I was out of control."
"I haven't had this much fun racing since I was 15 racing go-karts," said Harvick, who stopped Saturday on his cool-off lap in Turn 2 before lighting up a smoke screen, turning a reverse victory lap saluting the stands with a "No. 3" salute in honor of the late Dale Earnhardt, then igniting another massive smokescreen on the frontstretch.
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