This price is anything but right - NASCAR

When Bill France Jr. recently handed the NASCAR reins to his son, Brian, he mentioned three key elements that were crucial to the continued success of the sport: safety, close competition and containment of costs.

France added that "those three driving forces will be intact no matter who's running the company."

Well, Mr. France, I beg to differ with you. You're only one-third right. Batting .333 is a fine average in baseball. But this is racing, and one-third isn't good enough.

Regarding safety, there's no dispute. The death of Dale Earnhardt prompted NASCAR to advance safety measures further in the last three years than it did in its first 50. It should be commended for moving to the forefront of auto racing.

But close competition and cost are another story. Close competition comes and goes. With the common-template cars, the racing actually may be too equal--drivers rarely are able to pass, and the essence of racing is lost. And as fans have witnessed over and over again, the car out front leaves the competition in the dust.

Track position is established by qualifying. The performance of the pit crews and the speed of a pit stop, more than anything, determine whether track position is maintained or altered. A stop of 15 seconds or more can mire a driver at the back of the field among inexperienced racers and those with ill-handling cars. That's a recipe for disaster.

So Winston Cup director John Darby and his colleagues at the tech center are trying to find a way to put the racing back in NASCAR. However, solutions don't come easily, or cheaply, and that brings me to costs.

Before teams met with officials earlier this month to review templates for the 2004 season, crew chiefs, general managers and owners were excited. Getting a head start on the body changes would alleviate much of the stress teams experienced after last season, when they felt rushed to build new cars. Then they learned about the wholesale changes required for 2004.

Richard Childress' reaction to the 2004 templates is "B.S." "It's a lot of money, and today I don't understand it, and I don't feel good about it, period," Childress says. "We have some of the best racing. And when they give us the new templates, we'll take advantage of them as far as we can go. But it's a cost that we shouldn't have to incur. It's ridiculous."

Derby says this latest move is one step closer to the "X" car, a bigger, less aerodynamic version of what the teams are racing now. He says that only two of the 36 templates will be different. The tolerances, however, are severe--a quarter-inch of leeway will become, say, an eighth of an inch, and so on.

Childress and other owners have complained that, over the last five years, some rule changes have been unwarranted or excessive.

Chip Ganassi and Childress have been singled out by NASCAR as part of the cause for the new tighter restrictions because they allegedly overstepped limits while attempting to maximize the effectiveness of their cars under the current rules. NASCAR made an example of Joe Gibbs' No. 20 team when it confiscated a car in March at Texas. But, according to Childress, no one has been warned or fined since.

And nothing was mentioned about crews taking liberties with the templates--until now.

"We've changed cars and bodies every year for the last four or five years, and with running 38 races (including exhibitions) like we are now, these guys need some time off," Childress says. "If not, they're going to be working 12- to 14-hour days, and we still won't get caught back up again until May."

The new rules will force every team to reskin its fleet. That entails removing the initial body, sanding and cleaning the sheet metal, fabricating the car, painting it and sending it to the wind tunnel. On average, that would be 15 cars per team at a minimum cost of $25,000 per car. For an owner such as Childress, with three Cup cars, that's more than $1 million extra he will have to spend. If Childress hires an additional fabricator or two (at $85,000 per head), his completion rate should be a car a week. For a single-car team such as Jasper Motorsports, crew chief Bootie Barker expects it will take three weeks to reskin a car. So much for equality among teams.

NASCAR needs to invest in research and development before passing the buck to the competitors. If not, there won't be anyone left to race.

M@IL BONDING

LEE SPENCER ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS

Which drivers have the most all-time victories for each of the current manufacturers?

Bob Pendergrass, West Plains, Mo

Bob: The four manufacturers competing in NASCAR's top division are Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford and Pontiac. Richard Petty, The King, tops the Dodge chart with 37 wins. He also holds the series record with 200 wins. Ford, which has fielded Fords, Mercurys and Lincolns, is led by Ned Jarrett with 43 wins.

In the last five decades, GM has raced Chevrolets, Pontiacs, Buicks, Cadillacs and Oldsmobiles, which won the first two series championships. Dale Earnhardt had the most Chevy wins, 73. Rusty Wallace leads Pontiac with 31 victories.

For the latest news from the Winston Cup circuit and analysis from FOX commentators Darrell Waltrip, Jeff Hammond and Larry McReynolds, plus Lee Spencer, go to www.foxsports.com, keyword: NASCAR.

SPEED READS

* Give NASCAR credit for defining roles for not racing back to the start-finish line when 1he caution flag falls. NASCAR's plan to freeze the field as soon as the caution comes out will curtail what was a reckless practice. Although drivers have raced back to 1he line for years, the similarity of the cars has forced drivers to take unnecessary risks in order to gain positions.

* It's time for Chip Ganassi to wake up and sniff the coffee. When driver Casey Mears' friends refer to him as a "weapon" it's time to re-evaluate the program. Another year or two gaining experience in the Busch Series would do Mears good.

* It's unfortunate that Mike Skinner, who's substituting for the injured Jerry Nadeau, will be bumped from MB2 Motorsports' No. 01 earlier than expected to make way for Brian Vickers, 19. But Hendrick Motorsports, an MB2 tech partner, needs to help Vickers make the move to Nextel Cup in '04, Vickers is expected to run the last four races this season in the No. 01.

INSIDE DISH

By LEE SPENCER

Before the race: Ryan Newman criticizes NASCAR's new rule in which the first car behind the lead lap gets the lap back after a caution. "I think the only hiccup" Newman said, "is going to be around the car that gets its lap back each caution." During the race: Newman becomes the first big beneficiary of the new rule, getting back a lap, then going on to a victory Sunday at Dover. Newman moved back onto the lead lap after a caution on Lap 286. During the next caution, Newman took the lead coming out of the pits and led the final 114 laps. Jim Hunter, NASCAR's vice president of communications, said NASCAR would "further discuss the rule even though it did what it was designed to do." Hunter said the rule did not win the race for Newman--just put him in position so that he could win.... Hunter says Dale Earnhardt Jr., who suffered a mild concussion and a bruised right foot at Dover, will need medical clearance from his doctors and NASCAR's before he will be allowed to race this weekend at Talladega.... The element of danger always exists on pit road, but Peter Sospenzo, crew chief for Joe Nemechek's No. 25 Chevrolet, says the smaller fuel cells used at the restrictor-plate tracks, Talladega and Daytona, increase the possibility of trouble. "I think we should go back to the normal fuel cell," Sospenzo says. "You have to come down pit road more often with the smaller cell, so that's just more of an opportunity to get someone hurt." Although the move to smaller fuel ceils was expected to break up the large packs of cars that accumulate at Daytona and Talladega, that has not been the case.... Multicar organizations with research and development teams have an advantage--with additional tests and teammates--especially at restrictor-plate tracks. This weekend, Hendrick Motorsports will run David Green again in the No. 60 Chevrolet. John Andretti will drive the No. 75 for Richard Childress Racing. Buckshot Jones will drive Michael Waltrip's No. 00 Chevrolet, with the car and engine supplied by Dale Earnhardt Inc. And Jason Jarrett, 27, will make his debut in the No. 98 Robert Yates Racing Ford. "It's exciting to have Jason to make his inaugural run at Taltadega," says Jason's father, Dale Jarrett, who drives the No. 88 for Yates. It also will be an eye-opening experience. Jarrett is second in ARCA points and has driven in the Busch Series.... DaimlerChrysler officials denied reports that Petty Enterprises was losing its top-tier status with Dodge. Although there have been concerns regarding the performance of the Nos. 43 and 45 cars this season, Dodge is committed to honoring the remaining years on Petty's contract.... Cal Wells has been working on a second team, and though the team isn't any closer to announcing its plans, Wells says, "Decision time is imminent." More from Wells: "We have to have the money to do this, but we are really, really dose. Our organization is developed to a point where we could really get things done if we have the opportunity with a second team. "Wells says he has talked to Joe Nemechek about driving for his team and adds that his objective is to find the "proper teammate" for driver Ricky Craven.

TSN's POWER POLL

Rank   Driver               TSN pts.   Winston Cup pts.

 1.    Matt Kenseth          2,782         4,158 (1)
 2.    Ryan Newman           2,684         3,578 (5)
 3.    Dale Earnhardt Jr.    2,286         3,668 (4)
 4.    Jimmie Johnson        2,276         3,685 (3)
 5.    Kevin Harvick         2,247         3,722 (2)
 6.    Jeff Gordon           2,105         3,542 (6)
 7.    Kurt Busch            2,020         3,372 (8)
 8.    Bobby Labonte         2,006         3,393 (7)
 9.    Tony Stewart          1,828         3,291 (10)
10.    Terry Labonte         1,661         3,294 (9)

Through race No. 28, at Dover, Del.

Lee Spencer

lspencer@sportingnews.com

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