Local Look: Dover

Events: MBNA RacePoints 400, MBNA RacePoints 200 (NBS), MBNA RacePoints 200 (NCTS)

Local papers contributing: Delaware State News, Delaware News-Journal, Toledo Blade

Newman loves to return to Dover

	Inside the Numbers Ryan Newman at Dover Race Start Finish Spring 2002 38 4 Fall 2002 4 8 Spring 2003 1 1 Fall 2003 5 1 Spring 2004 2 24 Fall 2004 2 1 Average 8.7 6.5 NOTE: Out of a possible 2,400, Newman has led 602.

The deal: Mike Finney of the Delaware News-Journal says Ryan Newman has made a name for himself as the King of Qualifying since bursting onto the Nextel Cup Series in 2002.

The aggressive, lead-footed driver also has built another name for himself over the past two years -- the Dominator of Dover International Speedway.

Why we care: Newman has won three of the past four races at Dover's high-banked, one-mile oval -- including a sweep of both races in 2003 -- and promises to be the driver to beat in Sunday's MBNA RacePoints 400 before about 140,000 NASCAR fans.

Though Newman has not been to victory lane this season, he has recorded three top-five finishes in a row. Dover could be just the spot where Newman finally finishes what he started.

"I think we're mid-stride and I think that, statistically and historically, Dover is where the fire actually ignites and we take off," Newman said. "You know, we'll have to see if we can live up to our history. But we definitely look forward to this stretch in the season and always have."

Renshaw looking for fresh start

The deal: Chris Gasiewski of the Delaware State News says intimidation seized Deborah Renshaw as she took her initial glimpse.

Deborah Renshaw Credit: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

The second-year NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver looked at the high banks of Dover International Speedway and felt overwhelmed.

But Nextel Cup regular Kevin Harvick stepped over and gave Renshaw some pointers.

Harvick later took her truck around the one-mile concrete oval as a visual tool.

"I was a little intimidated at first," Renshaw told the paper. "Kevin came over and talked to me a little bit about the place. If anybody can get around this place, it's going to be Kevin Harvick."

It was Renshaw's first time taking laps at the Monster Mile as she tested last week in preparation for Friday's MBNA RacePoints 200.

Why we care: Although Renshaw, who ran 14 races in her rookie season last year, is seeing most of the circuits' tracks for the first time, the results have been rather disappointing. She has placed no better than 15th in her 20 career starts.

Consequently, testing was a must when it came to Dover.

"It was very important for us to come out here and test, the Monster Mile, as they say," Renshaw said. "First of all, I had never seen this place except for on TV. Being as we never been at the track and never seen the place it was very important to come out here."

Renshaw ultimately hopes to have the early success that Indy Racing League rookie Danica Patrick has had.

Stewart praises Patrick, but...

The deal: Matt Markey of the Toledo Blade says now that Danica Patrick has created a flood of publicity and generated new interest in the open-wheel racing ranks, is it time for the stock car folks to go find a petite and pretty driver and put her in the starting grid for every Nextel Cup race?

Tony Stewart

The often painfully frank Tony Stewart put the brakes on that venture yesterday, saying during a visit to Michigan International Speedway that it should only occur under the "right" circumstances.

"I don't think we need to rush that," Stewart told the paper. "I don't think they need to just find a woman and put her in the race car and say, here, we need to do this because we need a woman out there like Danica Patrick. I think that is the wrong reason to do that."

Still, he told the paper that Patrick is going about things the right way.

"Danica is there for the right reasons, not the wrong reasons," Stewart said. "She has earned her way up there, she's got the talent to do the job and do it right, and she is serious about it."

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Why we care: Stewart, who owns Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, along with a number of other racing interests, said he does not have a lot of time to assess the up-and-coming talent in the NASCAR ranks, but he doubts there is a Danica Patrick out there on the horizon.

"I'm a driver, not a scout, so I don't know," Stewart said. "I've got one World of Outlaws team, two USAC Silver Crown teams, two USAC Sprint Car teams, a USAC Midget team, and a race track. I don't have time to focus on anything else but what I've got going on. If there is that person out there, I haven't had any of them send me a resume yet."

Momentum swinging Johnson's way

	Jimmie Johnson

The deal: Mike Finney of the Delaware News-Journal says Johnson has the momentum right where he wants it. But this year he hopes to avoid the late-summer fizzle he experienced last year.

"Momentum's a weird thing," Johnson told the paper. "I'm one of the believers that there is such a thing as momentum, team morale and energy.

"If it's all on a positive, you know, good things happen. If you're down and out, bad things just seem to keep happening. So, I believe in that."

Why we care: His third consecutive Coca-Cola 600 win put Johnson back on the right track heading to Dover. He had finished 15th or worse -- including a 40th at Richmond -- in three of the four races preceding his bounce-back win, where he nipped Bobby Labonte by a fender at the finish line.

Johnson insists he never lost any confidence in his Hendrick Motorsports team.

"The thing that I've learned in this sport is that it's very humbling," he said. "There was some controversy, there were some races we wish we could have back where we didn't perform like we wanted to.