Riggs looks to build on Dover breakthrough

NASCAR Nextel Cup rookie Scott Riggs' season has been full of support for his MBV Motorsports team, but lacking in the way of solid results for the No. 10 Valvoline Chevrolet.

That all changed Sunday when Riggs posted an impressive fifth-place finish in the MBNA 400 at Dover International Speedway.

	Scott Riggs

He might have been justified if he said, "I told you so" for finally realizing his potential, but Riggs was on a higher plane.

"The Dover finish shows us what we're capable of and gives us a good boost of confidence," Riggs said. "All the guys on this team do a great job (and) it's not a lack of effort why we haven't had some better finishes before now."

Actually, the naysayers might've had something, because in his 12 previous races, Riggs only had one finish better than 25th -- his 15th-place result at Texas in April.

"It's just learning each other, me learning the tires and gaining knowledge about these cars," Riggs said. "It's been a learning curve for all of us and now we're slowly but surely getting over that hill."

MBV is looking for more of the same, and in that vein has entered Riggs in a No. 99 Valvoline Pontiac in Saturday's Pocono ARCA 200.

Riggs has neither raced with ARCA nor on Pocono's unique 2.5-mile tri-cornered oval, but he hopes the experience pays off for him as it did for Ganassi Racing's Casey Mears.

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Mears won all three ARCA races and a pair of pole positions last season at Pocono and Michigan International Speedway.

"We're hoping the extra race can help give us a head start on the weekend," Riggs said. "Getting some laps under my belt should help us get a feel for the racetrack and with our set-up for Sunday. We tested our Cup car in Pocono and the car was pretty good off the truck.

"By the end of the day it felt great (so) we're hopeful we can take the test session, the ARCA race and our great result from last week and turn those things into another solid finish."

Larry Foyt spotting in IRL

Actually, A.J. Foyt's son will be "spotting" for his cousin, A.J. Foyt IV, at Saturday night's IRL race. Larry Foyt made his Indy car debut in the Indianapolis 500 and his dad said Larry could no doubt help his cousin in Texas.

"I think it helps to have a driver serve as the spotter," the A.J. Foyt said. "Drivers see things in a different perspective and are better able to relate that info to fellow drivers.

"Larry isn't running the stock car at Pocono this weekend so I asked him to help out."

Martin opts for safety

Not surprisingly, last weekend's Dover Nextel Cup winner, Mark Martin spoke up in favor of NASCAR's performance on a couple caution periods that were extended in the interest of determining a proper running order.

	Mark Martin

Similar situations have arisen since NASCAR determined that the running order in a race would be "frozen" the instant the caution lights are triggered. Martin is among the majority of competitors who don't want to return to the previous scenario of racing back to caution flags.

"The safety is worth the scoring hassles, and the scoring hassles are not regular," Martin said. "They happen from time to time. (NASCAR) was caught in a really tough situation with Ryan (Newman) spinning into the pit wall there (Sunday).

"Being one of the last leaders to pit was just a whole can of worms. They did the best they could today, and it's all in the name of safety. It could make a huge difference in someone's well-being at some point in time (so) I support it."

Martins score weekend "double"

Martin not only broke a 72-race NASCAR Cup winless drought Sunday at Dover, but his son, Matt, 12, won in a full-size Ford 150 pickup in the FasTruck Series' FasKids division for 12-16-year-olds.

Matt Martin's Saturday night victory in the series that tours the family's home state came at Columbia Motorsports Park in Lake City, Fla., and enabled Mark Martin to hold up his end in what he proudly described as the ongoing battle for family bragging rights.

"That was his third win, but that was a big one because his uncle and family and grandparents and everybody were there to see him do it," Mark said in his post-race media briefing. "And he did it in fine fashion, too. He had to work for it -- had to race real hard for it.

"They had a lot of fun (and) it was an exciting phone call to get (Saturday) night."

A helping bumper?

	Ryan Newman

Ryan Newman proved he had friends in the field Sunday when his No. 12 Dodge ran out of fuel while leading under caution at about lap 325. Newman initially tried to come onto pit road but spun and hit the water-filled tractor tires that guard the Turn 4 end of pit wall, bringing out a caution.

One lap later, Newman's car was out of fuel and Ricky Rudd, who drives the No. 21 Ford for the Wood Brothers, pushed Newman part way around the track to the entrance of pit road.

Newman's Penske Racing teammate, Brendan Gaughan then pushed Newman the rest of the way to his pit stall.

Strangest in-car conversation?

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was overheard during the second red-flag period at Dover discussing broadcast history with his crew, leading to the question of where the thread of conversation came from.

"I'm sure damn glad to hear Barney Hall's voice on MRN -- he's been on there for years," Junior said in reference to the veteran radio broadcaster. "I remember bein' 10 or 12 years old, playin' with Matchbox cars and listening to him call the races."

	Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Earnhardt paused, and then came up with a gem.

"But nobody called a race better than Ken Squier, Chris Economaki and the foreign guy -- what's his name?"

Earnhardt's car chief, Tony Eury Jr., could only come up with Connecticut broadcaster Jack Arute as his best guess.

"No! He's not foreign," Junior shot back.

Eury Jr. scrambled a little more and offered Scotsman Jackie Stewart as his next best guess, and Earnhardt was just as adamant in his response.

"No, he never called NASCAR races -- it's the guy that called the 1979 Daytona 500..."

Spotter Stevie Reeves, who can make claim to several saves for Earnhardt this season, came up with another Sunday. And he did it courtesy another broadcast veteran who was wearing a different hat on the spotters' stand, working for rookie Brendan Gaughan.

"It's David Hobbs," Reeves said. "I went over and asked Buddy Baker up here."

"Yeah! That's it," Junior said. "Squier could call the heck outta the race, and Hobbs was just funny."