Interest in this type of racing is on 'E' - NASCAR

What does Winston Cup racing have in common with Jumpin' Jack Flash?

Lately, at least, it's gas, gas, gas!

And the subtitle to this little ditty is "Pit crews outfox NASCAR."

In its move toward common-template cars, NASCAR assumed the racing would revert to the drivers.

Fat chance. In fact, just the opposite has been the case over the past two months. The calls from the pits have determined the outcome of nearly every race. So now the spotlight has moved from the drivers to the pit box.

Common-template cars have equalized the competition, but because one car isn't appreciably better than the next, it's nearly impossible to pass.

That problem is compounded by the tires. Goodyear has developed a tire that doesn't "fall off" or lose adhesion to the same degree that it had in the past. So teams are playing chicken with fuel strategy--let's see how far the car will go before it runs out of gas. Or, maybe we should pit earlier than necessary and try to upset the strategy of other teams.

With the teams returning this weekend to Michigan, where fuel strategy is often decisive, you can bet its importance won't wane.

Bill Elliott, who won the Winston Cup championship in 1988, has seven victories at Michigan, the most among active drivers. But when Elliott straps into the No. 9 Dodge on Sunday, he'll be questioning his self-worth as a driver.

"I don't know if the driver means anything anymore," Elliott told reporters at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. "I think all he does is hold the steering wheel.

"If you get at the right place at the right time you can look like a hero, or you can look like a rookie that's never driven a racecar in his life."

Mark Martin is a four-time champion of the International Race of Champions, an all-star series in which the cars are prepared equally, and he knows that's a situation in which a driver can make a difference. But today's Cup racing has him--and he hates to use the word--frustrated. Like Elliott, he knows he is losing the control he once had behind the wheel.

"Everybody's car is the same speed, and the cars make too much downforce," he says. "It's hard to pass because if you're too close to another car, you don't have downforce.

"They have the tire where it's not very good when it's new, and it's not very bad when it's worn out. So the person who gets the best gas mileage can look like a genius by outstrategizing everybody. You can't have poor fuel mileage and expect to beat people on pit road."

Martin does have an advantage. He drives for Roush Racing, which is known for its fuel economy. For Roush and other teams, calculations and planning usually begin during Happy Hour, when the cars have been changed from qualifying to race trim. If the weather remains consistent through the weekend, the teams can tune the car appropriately after getting a good indication of how the temperatures and humidity will affect the carburetor and the engine. After several long runs, the team calculates how many miles the car will run on a tank of gas. By race day, the team knows how many laps from the finish a car can make its last pit stop and still have enough fuel to complete the race.

Other strategies come into play in a race, but fuel mileage has become such a factor that when Jeff Gordon tested at Watkins Glen last month, crew chief Robbie Loomis spent a half-day working on that part of pit strategy.

"Engineers and crew chiefs have a tough job when it comes to strategy, but it's a product of what we have with the new rules," Loomis says. "The tolerances are so tight among the cars, and the teams have the money, the technology and the people to make the right decisions. So, there is a lot more emphasis on strategy."

Mileage and fuel strategy are an unavoidable part of racing. But has NASCAR forgotten that the personalities of the drivers and their accessibility have distinguished Winston Cup from other major league sports? I'm not taking anything away from those who make the calls in the pits, but I'm a race fan, and I want to see the drivers determine who wins the races. I want to see Ricky Craven and Kurt Busch trading paint to the finish line as they did in March at Darlington.

If the sport continues to take the racing out of the drivers' hands, it will lose its charm, and inevitably, its fans.

(S) Make a pit stop at http://ultimate.sportingnews.com/stockcar/draftkit for your copy of our Stock Car Draft Kit and Season Guide.

Down the road

GFS Marketplace 400 Michigan International Speedway

When: 2 p.m. (ET) Sunday

TV: TNT

Length: 200 laps, 400 miles

Run with this:

In 1975, the average audience at a Winston Cup race was 15 percent female. Current estimates put the percentage of women race fans at 40 percent and growing steadily.

Wondering about percentages? An impressive 56 percent of cars in the Winston Cup and more than 80 percent in the Busch and Truck Series use Mobil 1.

SPEED READS

* Sterling Marlin could use a little luck ... OK, a lot of luck. At this time last year, he had two wins and had held the points lead for 21 races. This year, Marlin has been unable to regain his status as a championship contender. His No. 40 team must put greater emphasis on qualifying, so he isn't tangling with the riffraff at the back of the pack.

* Kurt Busch was given the nickname Mr. October last year for a performance

that included victories at Martinsville and Atlanta. But if Busch's wins at Bristol and Michigan earlier this season are any indication of what to expect, he also could become Mr. August before the month is over.

* Credit Penske South with searching for a better race-day solution for the No. 2 Dodge and Rusty Wallace. Engineer Roy McCauley is back on the road in a reinforcing role on top of the pit box with crew chief Bill Wilburn, who welcomes the addition. That gives Wallace's crew a second authoritative voice when it is devising race strategy.

M@IL BONDING

LEE SPENCER ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS

Do you think that Caterpillar is more loyal to Ward Burton or to Bill Davis Racing? BDR will be nothing when Ward leaves. You speculated that he might go to the No. 30 for Richard Childress Racing. What about the No. 1 for Dale Earnhardt Inc.? If he can bring sponsorship with him, he could replace Pennzoil and give DEI a veteran driver whose success might be like Michael Waltrip's.

Brendon Bowers, Bethesda, Md.

Brendon: Unless there is a clause in the contract that states that Caterpillar is obligated to stay only as long as Burton drives the No. 22 car, expect Cat to be with BDR through 2007, the duration of the current sponsorship contract. I expect Scott Wimmer to be behind the wheel. Last year, Davis wanted Burton to sign a five-year contract that would dovetail with Caterpillar's. Burton refused because of uncertainty with the team.

Burton and teammate Kenny Wallace brought sponsorships to BDR, which has had trouble holding on to accounts, drivers and manufacturers.

A driver such as Burton, with his racing resume and solid off-track reputation, should be able to attract any number of sponsors. He won't sit idle for long.

INSIDE DISH

By LEE SPENCER

Dale Earnhardt Jr. says he is a "free agent" and has no long-term commitment to drive for Dale Earnhardt Inc. In January, Junior said during a news conference he had reached a deal to stay with DEI through 2007. But he never signed a contract and said last weekend at Watkins Glen he has only a "driver's agreement" that runs from race to race. Junior says he wants to get the contract done--but on his terms. "I've paid my dues to get where I am, and I feel I have to stand up for myself," he says. "There's too many security blankets on one side of the fence, and there need to be a few on my side. Right now the contract looks out totally after Dale Earnhardt Inc. rather than myself." Junior expressed concerns that if the complexion of DEI, which is owned by his stepmother, Teresa, should change through the sale of the company or the addition of a new partner, he wants the option to leave if he doesn't agree with the new ownership. Junior says he and crew chief Tony Eury Sr., an uncle, and car chief Tony Eury Jr. are a package deal. Though Junior hopes to work things out with DEI, there are a lot of fans who would love to see him team up with Richard Childress, his late father's longtime car owner. DEI better not drag its feet.... NASCAR and the teams were pleased with results from wind tunnel tests last week. Of the eight cars tested, Jamie McMurray's Dodge and Jeff Gordon's Chevrolet were the most aerodynamically efficient, but there was not a significant difference in downforce among the four makes of cars--even when NASCAR experimented by reducing the height of the spoiler.... Speculation in the garage is that safety guru Bill Simpson settled his suit with NASCAR out of court in order to simplify the distribution of his new product line, Impact Racing, which features, among other things, improved helmets. Simpson says he has pressurized the helmet with air from the top, which keeps carbon monoxide away from the driver's face and prevents the visor from fogging up. The helmet is a pound lighter than his previous models, which makes it better on the neck during impact. Joe Nemechek, Ricky Craven, Casey Mears and Rusty, Kenny and Mike Wallace are wearing the new helmets.... ExxonMobil has won the bid to become the official fuel supplier for NASCAR next season, and the announcement is expected this weekend at Michigan. Teams have tested the fuel and don't expect the change to have an effect on engines or components.... Points leader Matt Kenseth might be invincible, given his combination of solid performances and good fortune. He bashed a fender, and a tire went down early at Watkins Glen, so he had to pit. A caution a few laps later got him back on a fuel stop cycle that enabled him to finish eighth, his 17th top 10 of the year. Kenseth knew he had to improve on road courses this season, so he used two of his five official tests on them and posted two top 15 finishes. He entered the year with an average finish of 26.3 on road courses.

TSN's POWER POLL

Rank   Driver               TSN pts.   Winston Cup pts.

  1.   Matt Kenseth          2,234        3,294 (1)
  2.   Dale Earnhardt Jr.    2,002        3,036 (2)
  3.   Ryan Newman           1,857        2,636 (9)
  4.   Jeff Gordon           1,814        2,898 (3)
  5.   Bobby Labonte         1,724        2,768 (7)
  6.   Jimmie Johnson        1,685        2,816 (4)
  7.   Kurt Busch            1,649        2,696 (8)
  8.   Kevin Harvick         1,603        2,778 (5)
  9.   Michael Waltrip       1,524        2,777 (6)
 10.   Tony Stewart          1,454        2,550 (11)

Through race No. 22, at Watkins Glen, N.Y. For a complete
TSN Power Poll rundown and an explanation of the points breakdown,
go to www.sportingnews.com/nascar/poll.

LEE SPENCER

lspencer@sportingnews.com

COPYRIGHT 2003 Sporting News Publishing Co.
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group