By Mark Spoor, Turner Sports Interactive
June 6, 2003
4:59 PM EDT (2059 GMT)
So far this season, the one thing race fans can count on is that the weather will be mentioned prominently in each broadcast.
Last weekend at Dover, it may have been mentioned a bit too prominently.
On Friday during Winston Cup Bud Pole Qualifying, FOX play-by-play man Mike Joy inferred that the following day's Armed Forces Family 200 likely would be rained out.
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| Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a colorful reponse to a Saturday practice crash at Dover. Credit: Autostock |
When it wasn't, Joy spent nearly all of Saturday apologizing.
Joy had little to apologize for.
From the season's very first race, the weather has had an impact on seemingly every event. A weather stoppage gave Michael Waltrip his second Daytona 500 victory and a weather stoppage gave Jimmie Johnson a win in the Coca-Cola 600 a few weeks ago.
Simply put, the weather is a story.
On Friday, all indications were that heavy rains were going to fall all day Saturday at Dover. Therefore, it was Joy's job to report it. It's tough to put a finger on why Joy felt compelled to apologize so often for the error, but it shows integrity on his part to own up for the goof.
Even if it wasn't a goof.
Anyway, on to last week's honors ...
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One-time only: If you missed the pre-race festivities from Dover on Sunday, you missed what was referred to as the first five-service flyover held at a major sporting event. Extra credit goes to FOX for getting some good shots of teams reacting to the flyover. Impressive stuff.
Straight from K-Tel: When rain began falling at Dover on Sunday, Darrell Waltrip innocently asked, "What's that song called, 'it's raining again?'" Leading into the next commercial, the bumper music was none other than, "It's raining again," a 70's hit by Supertramp. Great stuff.
New word of the week: Darrell Waltrip made a point during Sunday's race that Bobby Labonte had a good chance to win Sunday because he does so well at Bristol and the tracks are "simular."
We're guessing on the spelling.
More stars for Hammond: When Tony Stewart was docked a one-lap penalty for pitting outside his pit box, Jeff Hammond wasted little time busting out the rule book, complete with diagrams, to read the rule and explain the reason for the penalty. Hammond and his production staff get a gold star for preparation.
Quote of the week: Again, the best quote of the week didn't come from the race itself. After crashing in Saturday's practice, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was explaining his chances for victory on Sunday to Steve Byrnes.
"I think they call it making chicken salad out of chicken s*&(*," he said.
The most stunning part was that FX didn't bleep it despite the fact it was shown on tape delay several hours after the interview. Must be the guy that censors "The Shield" was working Saturday. Great stuff.
On to this weekend's action ...
Site: Long Pond, Pa.
 | Last year |  | Rudd's problems help Jarrett capture the victory
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|  | Jeff Gordon has problems in the pits, Rudd leads
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Track: Pocono Raceway (2.5-mile oval, 14-degree banking in Turn 1, 8-degree banking in Turn 2, 6-degree banking in Turn 3. Length of frontstretch: 3,740 feet. Length of shortstretch: 1,780 feet. Length of backstretch: 3,055 feet.
Race Distance: 500 miles, 200 laps
TV: Bud Pole Qualifying: SPEED, 3 p.m. ET Friday, Race: FOX, 12:30 p.m. ET Sunday.
Last year's race: Dale Jarrett picked up his first win of the season by passing his bad-luck-bitten teammate of Ricky Rudd with six laps remaining. Jarrett was chasing Rudd after Rudd took the lead from Jeff Burton on lap 179 of the 200-lap race.
Last week's race: Pole-sitter Ryan Newman won the MBNA Armed Forces Family 400 at Dover. It was Newman's second win of the year.
Last time at Pocono: Bill Elliott finally converted qualifying prowess into a trip to Victory Lane when he passed Sterling Marlin's dominant Dodge with 19 laps remaining and won the rain-shortened Pennsylvania 500 last July.
Potential Storyline: Jarrett comes into Pocono 24th in series points, but may be able to turn around his slumping season at a track he has three wins at.
"Pocono is a tough track, but it's a track I enjoy and look forward to racing because it is so difficult and challenging," Jarrett said. "Each turn is different and requires the driver to drive each turn differently. It's definitely a track where the driver's role becomes essential in how he or she handles the equipment and the way the car gets in and out of the different turns."
Point to ponder: Eight of the past 11 races at Pocono have been won from a starting position of fourth or better. Only five NASCAR Winston Cup races at Pocono have been won from a starting position worse than 15th. Jeremy Mayfield is the most recent driver to do so, winning the 2000 Pocono 500 from 22nd.
Next race: Sirius Satellite Radio 400, Michigan International Speedway, June 15
Site: Nashville, Tenn.
Track: Nashville Superspeedway (1.33-mile oval, 14-degree banking in turns, 9-degree banking in frontstretch, 6-degree banking in backstretch. Length of frontstretch: 2,494 feet. Length of backstretch: 2,203 feet.
Race distance: 300 miles, 225 laps
TV: Bud Pole Qualifying: SPEED, 6 p.m. ET Friday, Race: FX, 7:45 p.m. ET Saturday.
| Last year |  | Sprague outruns Biffle and Hamilton late in the race
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|  | Dan Pardus makes hard contact with the wall
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|  | Sprague and Biffle exchange the lead in the early laps
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Last year's race: Nashville Superspeedway has a penchant for producing first-time winners, and the trend continued as Jack Sprague won his first career NASCAR Busch Series event in his 90th career start.
Last week's race: Pole-sitter Joe Nemechek got his third Busch Series win of the year by surviving a wild MBNA Armed Forces Family 200 at Dover International Speedway.
Last time at Nashville: David Green passed Johnny Sauter on the final lap of the race at to earn his sixth career NASCAR Busch Series victory in the Pepsi 300 in April.
Potential storyline: Nineteen-year-old Brian Vickers jumped to seventh in the NASCAR Busch Series point standings following a fifth-place finish at Dover last weekend, his third top-five finish in the last four races.
Point to ponder: Jason Keller leads all active drivers at Nashville Superspeedway with three top-five finishes in four starts. He has led a total of 122 laps and scored his best finish, second, in 2001. Another top-five finish this weekend would push Keller's career earnings to over $7 million.
Next race: Meijer 300, Kentucky Speedway, June 14
Site: Fort Worth, Texas
Track: Texas Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval, 24-degree banking in turns, 5-degree banking on dogleg and backstretch. Length of Frontstretch: 2,250 feet, Length of backstretch: 1,330 feet.)
TV: Race: SPEED, 9 p.m. ET Friday
Race distance: 167 laps, 250.5 miles
| Last year |  | Gaughan captures his first career NCTS victory
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|  | Several drivers have trouble in the middle laps
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Last year's race: Brendan Gaughan led the final 59 laps of the 2002 O'Reilly 400 for his first Craftsman Truck Series victory.
Last week's race: Jason Leffler got his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory after dominant teammate Ted Musgrave blew his engine Friday at Dover International Speedway.
Last time at Texas: Gaughan went ahead when Ted Musgrave spun out during a caution with just 14 laps left to complete the Texas sweep with a win in the Silverado 350 last September.
Potential storyline: The Aaron's Dream Team, the first all-female team to compete in a NASCAR touring series, will go over the wall for the No. 49 Team Texas Chevrolet driven by Shawna Robinson on Friday.
Point to ponder: Rookie competitors have won four races at Texas Motor Speedway. Kenny Irwin won in 1997. Travis Kvapil won in 2001 and Brendan Gaughan won both Texas races in 2002. Not surprisingly, all won Raybestos Rookie of the Year honors. No other track on the current schedule has more than a single rookie winner.
Next race: O'Reilly 200, Memphis Motorsports Park, June 21
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