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"We're gonna run Boris in the ARCA race at Talladega, so he's qualified to run at Daytona," Skinner said of MB2's plans as he continues to sub for the team's regular driver, Jerry Nadeau. "We hope Jerry will be back in the 01 -- maybe Boris and I will be in 02 and 03. We'll have to work on figuring that out."
Goodyear sets Daytona tire test
Michael Waltrip and Kurt Busch -- who finished first and second in the 2003 season opening Daytona 500 -- will test Goodyear tires preparing for Speedweeks 2004 at Daytona International Speedway this Monday through Wednesday.
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| Kurt Busch Credit: Autostock |
Goodyear tire engineer Rick Campbell, team leader for NASCAR product development, said that rather than see a possible softer tire at Daytona next year, the Akron, Ohio, manufacturer was looking in the other direction.
"As that track continues to age, and the cars evolve and change, we find that we're seeing a lot of right side (tire) wear," Campbell said. "Chances are we'll move toward making the right side compound more durable."
Campbell said the test more than likely would be split equally between single-car runs using "10 to 12 different tire concepts we plan to bring," comparing notes between the two drivers to get a consensus of opinion.
The test will conclude with longer race runs and two-car drafts to make sure the "car acts like it needs to whether it was leading or following," Campbell said.
Kenseth repentant
Matt Kenseth said he was sorry after he ran into race winner Johnny Sauter under caution late in Friday night's Funai 250. But despite his explanation, Kenseth appeared to be disgruntled at being knocked out of the lead in Turn 3 on the last lap by Sauter, who went on to defeat Kevin Harvick for his first Busch win in 41 races.
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"It was a good race (but) everybody has a different perspective here," Kenseth said while retracing the last 15 laps. "He got a bad restart and I got up alongside of him, and he got loose and got off the bottom and hit me in the door pretty hard."
That three-wide move, which included Harvick trying to make a pass on the inside in Turn 1, incited the action on the next caution that Kenseth regretted.
"I hit him a little bit under yellow, which I should not have done," Kenseth said. "I didn't mean to get into him as hard as I did.
"When it went back green I passed him fair and square and he just plain drove into the back of me for the win. I don't really agree with that, but I raced him as clean as I could and gave him a lot of room and he didn't give it back -- but I felt like I gave him plenty of race track and he didn't need to run into the back of me."
Vickers questions Sauter's tactics
Hendrick Motorsports Busch Series driver Brian Vickers was another who questioned Sauter's aggressive actions Friday night.
"He (Sauter) ran into me as soon as he got to me -- he didn't wait at all," Vickers said. "Driving like that might get you a win tonight, but the respect it costs you from your fellow competitors in the long run isn't worth it to me."
Sauter was nonplussed.
"No," Sauter said when asked if he was concerned about losing any respect. "It's not like I've never been hit before (and) when I've got a good enough car to get to the front I'm going to take advantage of it.
"If those guys feel that they owe me, they owe me."
Penalties coming?
NASCAR spokesman Rick Houston said the sanctioning body expected to issue penalties for garage area altercations following the Funai 250 that involved the teams of Jason Keller, Shane Hmiel, Scott Riggs and Ron Hornaday early next week.
Petty captains Braves Monday
Kyle Petty will see professional sports from the other side of the fence Monday night at Turner Field in Atlanta.
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| Kyle Petty Credit: Autostock |
The driver of the No. 45 Dodge will be the guest of the Atlanta Braves as an honorary captain and will sit in the owners' box when the Braves host the Philadelphia Phillies.
"This ought to be a lot of fun," Petty said. "To be in the hometown of (team sponsor) Georgia-Pacific and see their hometown major league baseball team play is a real honor.
"I have to pull for the Braves. Besides the fact they are being so nice to me, I could never face those people from Georgia-Pacific again if I didn't -- they are big-time Atlanta Braves and Petty Enterprises fans."
Petty will take batting practice with the Braves, tour the clubhouse and even hand over the starting lineup during the home plate managers' meeting before the game.
Southern 500 most-watched last weekend
The Mountain Dew Southern 500, the Winston Cup Series race held last Sunday at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway and televised by NBC Sports, was the most-watched sporting event of Labor Day weekend, with an average of 7,965,000 viewers, according to data released by Nielsen Media Research.
The race's household viewership of 5,241,000 easily outdistanced the weekend's second-most watched sporting event -- college football on ABC Sports on Saturday night -- by 40 percent.
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