| By Mark Spoor, NASCAR.COM
August 3, 2006
09:24 AM EDT (13:24 GMT)
Benny Parsons returns to behind the microphone this weekend for the Allstate 400 at The Brickyard (1:30 p.m. ET, NBC). This time, however, he does it knowing a great portion of the NASCAR community is pulling for him. You see, since he announced last week that he has been diagnosed with lung cancer, his phone -- and computer -- have been very busy. "I think we probably have a few thousand, maybe six or seven thousand people e-mailed get-well wishes plus, the community itself, they have just kept my phone busy ever since the announcement with 'We're thinking of you.'" The list of well-wishers has included some big names, Parsons said. "I talked to Bill France Jr. We talked for five minutes and never mentioned racing. We just talked about cancer. Rick Hendrick has been phenomenal, calling me, keeping abreast of what's going on, making sure that I stay positive. "Everyone has been terrific, there's no doubt at it." So far, the 1973 Cup champion says his doctor visits have given him reason to stay upbeat. "The treatments are going well," Parsons said. "I'm not getting ill, no nausea, I feel good, and everything so far is very positive." So positive, in fact, that Parsons even took a minute during an NBC conference call to joke with play-by-play man Bill Weber about the possibility of Parsons losing his hair as a result of treatment for the disease. "They told me I might lose my hair, but like I've told you, Bill, hair is very over-rated." As far as what may happen Sunday at Indianapolis, Parsons said Denny Hamlin is a guy a lot of people will have their eyes on. "Denny Hamlin is just blowing my mind," Parsons said. "A month ago when I asked who is in the top 10 that may fall out of the top 10, I thought 'Denny Hamlin' because the pressure of trying to make the Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup will certainly get in the way, but he is up to the task. "At Pocono, that performance a couple of weeks ago, he was nothing short of spectacular. And yes, one place that's hard to ease the throttle correctly is in that corner at Pocono. And talking to the crew chiefs there before the race, they said in June that's where Denny Hamlin really, really shined in that 11 car, in that corner where throttle control was so doggone important." Actor Chris Noth, who many folks know as "Mr. Big" from Sex and the City and is currently starring in the NBC drama Law and Order: Criminal Intent, will guest in Wally's World during Sunday's pre-race show. Defending Nextel Cup Series champion Tony Stewart and team owner Chip Ganassi are among the guests scheduled for Trackside from Indianapolis (7 p.m. Friday, SPEED). For those going to Indy, the SPEED stage will be inside the racetrack. ESPN Sportscenter will be at Indianapolis this weekend with full-set coverage anchored by Chris Fowler beginning today. Fowler will be joined by Rusty Wallace and veteran ESPN racing reporter Mike Massaro. Among the stories planned: • Tony Stewart's return to his self-named "home track" to defend last year's victory, a race he said he would give up his Nextel Cup championship to win.
• Analysis and interviews with key owners, crew chiefs and drivers, including on-set appearances by Stewart and Jeff Gordon.
• A profile of legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway public address announcer Tom Carnegie, 85, who has been the voice of every Indianapolis 500 (61) and 12 Brickyard 400's. In this week's edition of "Ask Wally and Benny," Doug Rivers of Marietta, Ga. writes: What makes one specific car or chassis so good and others, seemingly the same, not so good? Wally Dallenbach says it depends on several things. "I don't think it's necessarily that one chassis is better than the other," he said. "I think there are a lot of factors that comes into play. "Obviously, there will be times when a manufacturer has some kind of advantage because of the body work. The Fords may be better at one racetrack and the Dodges may be better at another racetrack just because the way the rules are at the moment. "As far as the chassis go, it really comes down to a finding a good combination of what the driver is looking for. Every driver has his own feel. What it comes down to is getting the right combination of all of the adjustments that you can make on a chassis -- such as shocks, springs and sway bars -- and giving the driver all of the little details that he is looking for. "If you can give the driver what he is looking for, then it looks like that chassis is better than everybody else's...but it really isn't. It's just that driver and race team hit on the combination that works best for that driver." On to this weekend's busy schedule: Nextel Cup Series: Allstate 400 at the Brickyard Track: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
• 2.5-mile oval
• 9-degree banking in corners
• No banking on straights
• Length of frontstretch: 3,330 feet
• Length of backstretch: 3,300 feet Race length: 160 laps/400 miles TV schedule: (All times ET)
• Practice: 3:30 p.m. Fri. SPEED
• NASCAR Live: 4:30 p.m. Fri., SPEED
• Trackside: 7 p.m. Fri., SPEED
• Bud Pole Qualifying: 10 a.m. Sat. TNT
• NASCAR Live: 3 p.m. Sat., SPEED
• Final practice: 3:30 p.m. Sat.., SPEED
• NASCAR Raceday: Noon Sun., SPEED
• Pre-race: 1:30 p.m. Sun., NBC
• Race: 2:30 p.m. Sun., NBC One year ago, Tony Stewart accomplished a dream, snagging his first Indianapolis Motor Speedway victory. The most recent checkered flag went to Denny Hamlin, who dominated two weeks ago at Pocono to complete a season sweep at the Pennsylvania triangle. Keep an eye on Jeff Gordon and Stewart. Their ongoing battle is not only with each other but with recent history. In the previous two years the Chase for the Nextel Cup has been held, no drivers who have been either ninth or 10th at this point in the season have gone on to qualify for the Chase. Busch Series: Kroger 200 Track: O'Reilly Raceway Park
• .686-mile oval
• 7.5-degree banking in turns
• 2-degree banking on straights
• Length of frontstretch: 699 feet
• Length of backstretch: 2,203 feet Race length: 200 laps/137.2 miles TV schedule: (All times ET) • Qualifying: 6 p.m. Sat., SPEED
• Race: 9 p.m. Sat., TNT One year ago, Martin Truex Jr. held off Clint Bowyer on a final two-lap shootout to win the rain-interrupted race. It was his sixth NASCAR Busch Series victory of the season. The most recent checkered flag went to Carl Edwards, who passed Denny Hamlin with eight laps to go Saturday night at Gateway International Raceway and the Missouri native went on to post his fourth Busch Series victory of the season. Keep an eye on Jason Keller. When he takes the green flag Saturday, Keller will become only the second driver in series history to make 400 starts. "This is a long time coming for the 400th start," Keller said. "It's really special. It's coming at a good racetrack for me. "My first win and my only career win with my family-owned team came [at ORP]. It's a great race track. It's a place where I typically run well and I'm going there with high expectations of running well this weekend." Craftsman Truck Series: Power Stroke Diesel 200 Track: O'Reilly Raceway Park
• .686-mile oval
• 7.5-degree banking in turns
• 2-degree banking on straights
• Length of frontstretch: 699 feet
• Length of backstretch: 2,203 feet Race length: 200 laps/137.2 miles TV schedule (All times ET) • Qualifying: 5:30 p.m. Fri., SPEED
• Race: 8 p.m. Fri., SPEED One year ago, Dennis Setzer earned his fourth Craftsman Truck Series victory of the season and his 16th overall -- in dominating fashion The most recent checkered flag went to Jack Sprague, who got around rookie Erik Darnell with eight laps to go to win the O'Reilly 200 at Memphis Motorsports Park after starting from the pole. . Keep an eye on qualifying. There have been 11 races at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis and none of the 11 winners have started worse than fifth. | 
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