By Mark Spoor, Turner Sports Interactive
September 4, 2003
2:39 PM EDT (1839 GMT)
As with the pre-race festivities last week at Darlington, there'll be plenty of rock and roll this week before the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond.
The rock group Trapt will kick off the show, to be followed by a feature on Winston Cup points leader Matt Kenseth, who is a huge fan of the legendary group, Metallica. Expect plenty of rock talk, also, as many drivers will be sporting paint schemes featuring popular groups.
If you're wondering who Trapt is, it was best explained during our morning editorial meeting Wednesday -- they have a hit song and you'll know it when you hear it.
Actually, the name of the song is "Headstrong." The album is called, oddly enough, "Trapt."
Also on Saturday night, Terry Labonte will be Bill Weber's guest on the War Wagon. Obviously, Labonte will be talking about his stirring victory in last week's Mountain Dew Southern 500.
In this week's edition of "Dave Discovers," Dave Burns will explore the "kill switches" that were such a hot topic last week as Ryan Newman went from dominant car to also ran at Darlington after accidentally hitting his.
By the way, a solid job by the NBC crew using the split screen to show the race and the comically sad antics of Newman's team trying to get that darn No. 12 Dodge to fire. Is there anyone that didn't feel bad for those guys as they tried to push that car in 90-degree heat?
In this week's "Benny and the Pits" segment, Benny Parsons takes a look at the educational help that Jeff Burton's No. 99 team is giving to a special group of kids in Michigan.
Thoughts from Darlington: At first look, last week's feature piece on Jeff Gordon seemed very odd. After all, his boat -- named "24 Karat" -- is bigger than some countries. What's more, how many of us know what ahi tuna tastes like?
However, after looking at it a second time, it's clear that the point of the piece was to show how Gordon is at peace despite all the turmoil around him. In that case, it succeeds.
The real question is how Gordon's ex-wife Brooke liked the story.
"Wally's World" was a scream last weekend. David Spade's comments were hysterical -- particularly Spade's reference to his late friend Chris Farley and his knock on Wally's driving ability afterwards.
It's even funnier when you consider that Dallenbach was only planning to hit the wall twice. He hit it three times.
"I don't know who this guy was or what his credentials were, but that made me think he wasn't very good," Spade said of Dallenbach, eliciting a lot of laughs from a media gathering. "I didn't think that (hitting wall) was a regular thing here."
All the folks that have been e-mailing their displeasure about the number of commercials in recent broadcasts had to be happy Sunday. According to published reports, NBC aired just four minutes of commercials in the final 57 minutes of race coverage.
Tough to figure why the network would show the pit crew bios on the No. 16 team and leave Randy Goss as the crew chief when he was let go earlier in the week.
The voices of many were heard. This week's Victory Lap ceremony with Cale Yarborough was shown. What's more, Yarborough joined the guys in the booth for a few minutes afterward.
It's not your father's NASCAR anymore, is it?
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Quote of the week: "You're dating someone's chauffeur?"-- Amanda Church, Jeff Gordon's girlfriend, on last Sunday's Gordon feature describing a friend's reaction to the news that Church was dating "a driver."
Note to Mike Helton: Increase efforts on getting folks in New York to understand NASCAR.
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Ask The Producer: This week's "Ask The Producer" question comes from several users wanting to know if there is any chance that the old TBS "No Brakes" coverage -- the practice of running the race in the corner of the screen during commercials -- will come back.
"It's unlikely. The last time we tried "No Brakes" coverage was the 2000 Homestead race on NBC. Advertisers evaluated that race and decided against it. Ultimately, it's really the advertisers decision."
Each week, we'll pick one question to ask the producer of the NBC/TNT telecast. Why did they do things this way? Why did they talk to that driver? Any question that eats at you could be answered right here in the Viewer's Guide.
Send your questions to the e-mail box in this piece.
On to this weekend's schedule...
Site: Richmond, Va.
Track: Richmond International Raceway (.75-mile oval, 14-degree banking in turns, 8-degree banking in frontstretch, 2-degree banking in backstretch. Length of frontstretch: 1,290 feet. Length of backstretch: 860 feet.
Race distance: 400 laps, 300 miles
TV: Bud Pole Qualifying: TNT, 3 p.m. ET Friday. Happy Hour: TNT, 7 p.m. ET Friday (tape). Race: TNT, 7 p.m. ET Saturday.
Last year: With uncanny pit strategy and an unparalleled rocket ship, Matt Kenseth made up a two-lap deficit, fighting all the way back to claim his series-high fourth victory of the 2002 campaign.
 | Last year |  | Matt Kenseth celebrates his fourth win of 2002
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|  | Late problems for others give Kenseth the victory
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|  | Michael Waltrip makes hard contact with the inside wall
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Last race: NASCAR's oldest superspeedway produced a very popular win on Sunday, as Terry Labonte won the Mountain Dew Southern 500 at Darlington for his first victory since 1999.
Potential storyline: Can anyone stop Kenseth's march to the final Winston Cup championship? Kenseth finished 14th at Sunday's Southern 500, padding his lead over No. 2 Dale Earnhardt Jr. by 38 points and increase the advantage to a season-high 389 points.
Kenseth has spent 22 consecutive race weeks ranked No. 1 and has been in the NASCAR Top 10 for 24 of the 25 race weeks. He enters Richmond having posted top-10 finishes in his last three starts and four of the last five at the .75-mile oval.
Point to ponder: Kevin Harvick finished second to Terry Labonte at Darlington for his third consecutive runner-up finish and fifth top-five effort in a row.
Next race: Sylvania 300, New Hampshire International Speedway, Sept. 14
Site: Richmond, Va.
Track: Richmond International Raceway (.75-mile oval, 14-degree banking in turns, 8-degree banking in frontstretch, 2-degree banking in backstretch. Length of frontstretch: 1,290 feet. Length of backstretch: 860 feet.
| Last year |  | Junior avoids trouble on the way to the victory
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|  | Jimmy Spencer has mechanical problems while running second
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|  | Derrike Cope is alert following after a violent crash
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Race distance: 250 laps, 187.5 miles
TV: Bud Pole Qualifying: SPEED, 3 p.m. ET Thursday. Race: NBC, 8 p.m. ET Friday.
Last year: Dale Earnhardt Jr. rewrote the record book during qualifying, then backed it up in the race, leading 190 of 250 laps to take home the hardware.
Last race: Brian Vickers, 19, won the Winn-Dixie 200 on Saturday, beating 18-year-old Kyle Busch, who finished second. Michael Waltrip was third.
Potential storyline: The battle for the 2003 NASCAR Busch Series championship continues to get closer. Scott Riggs leads, but by the slimmest of margins. David Green is just 19 points behind Riggs, with the rest of the top-five drivers a bit further back but still crammed tightly together.
Vickers is third in the standings. He's 67 points behind Riggs.
Point to ponder: Shane Hmiel has yet to finish out of the top 10 this year in four short track races. He's finished fourth in the last two, at Indianapolis Raceway Park and Bristol Motor Speedway.
Next race: Stacker 200 presented by YJ Stinger, Dover International Speedway, Sept. 20.
Site: Richmond, Va.
Track: Richmond International Raceway (.75-mile oval, 14-degree banking in turns, 8-degree banking in frontstretch, 2-degree banking in backstretch. Length of frontstretch: 1,290 feet. Length of backstretch: 860 feet.
Race distance: 200 laps, 150 miles
TV: Race: SPEED, 8 p.m. ET Thursday.
| Last year |  | Tony Stewart scores his first Craftsman Truck Series win
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|  | Stewart leads a mad dash to the checkers
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|  | Harvick and Stewart make their way to the front
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Last year: Starting 25th in the No. 33 Chevrolet Truck owned by Andy Petree Racing, Tony Stewart went without a pit stop for the final 104 laps of the 200-lap race and held off a hard-charging Kevin Harvick in the closing laps for the victory.
Last race: Harvick's cut tire as the white flag was coming out gave Travis Kvapil the win at the O'Reilly 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Aug 20.
Potential storyline: Richmond International Raceway is the only track in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series where an active NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver has won more than once. Terry Labonte (1995) and Stewart (2002) have accomplished the feat.
Point to ponder: In all eight previous seasons, the competitor who led the series standings at this point of the season was crowned NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion.
Next race: New Hampshire 200, New Hampshire International Speedway, Sept. 13.
Mark Spoor is an associate producer of NASCAR.com. The Domino's Viewer's Guide appears each Thursday.
The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.
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