Tuesday, July 8, 2003 | 10:54 a.m.
Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at [email protected] or (702) 259-4089.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Michael Waltrip -- who have dominated the past 10 restrictor-plate races at Daytona and Talladega -- weren't the only drivers surprised by rookie Greg Biffle's victory Saturday night in the Pepsi 400.
Rusty Wallace, who is winless in 41 NASCAR Winston Cup races at Daytona, said Biffle's victory is further evidence that this is "the strangest season I have ever seen" in his 20 full-time seasons on the Winston Cup circuit.
"This has to be the weirdest season yet as far as guys winning races goes and I've been doing this for quite a few years now, to say the least," Wallace said. "I told (the media) earlier this season that it was damned ridiculous with all the people popping up like popcorn winning races with absolutely no consistency at all.
"Well, I guess the popcorn popper boiled over last Saturday night with a rookie driver winning a race on a track like Daytona due to fuel mileage."
Biffle used a mid-race caution flag to top off his tank and his Roush Racing Ford was able to complete the remaining 80 laps with only one more pit stop while the majority of the field -- including Earnhardt Jr., Waltrip and Wallace -- needed to make two stops.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to discredit Biffle or the Roush guys at all," Wallace, who finished 28th. "They had the ability with the mileage they could get and they used it to their advantage and came home the winners. But it was especially surprising for a race to be won that way with the history of strength the DEI (Dale Earnhardt Inc.) cars had and how strong they were earlier in the race. It was such a weird deal all the way around.
"But then again, I guess it was pretty typical of what has been going on just about all year long. There's a hell of a lot of quality teams out there that could be -- and should be -- winning races, ours included. But there are all these other drivers and teams that keep on popping up and you don't think they'd win, but weird things happen and there they are over in Victory Lane celebrating when the day is over."
Gaughan, who held the points lead going into Saturday's race at Kansas Speedway, finished ninth and slipped a spot to second in the championship, six points behind series leader Travis Kvapil.
"Kentucky should be a good race for us," Gaughan said. "Dodge had a manufacturer's test at the track earlier in the season and our Orleans Dodge was really strong. Kentucky Speedway is another mile and a half track and we will be using the same truck we ran at Kansas this past weekend ... which also took a second at Charlotte."
In addition to his victories at Texas Motor Speedway and The Milwaukee Mile, Gaughan has posted a second-place finish at Lowe's Motor Speedway near Charlotte, N.C., and two third-place efforts at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway and Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield, Calif.
After 10 of 25 races, only 98 points separate the top seven drivers in the Truck Series standings.
"The points are tight and I think it's going to be a battle throughout the season. We feel really strong and I know we will be in the thick of things. Our goal is to win the championship for Dodge and we are certainly going to be doing our best to do just that."
Graham is the first presidential candidate to sponsor a NASCAR vehicle at any level, according to Roush Racing. Although the number of races Wood's truck will carry the sponsorship and the cost were not announced, both will become public when the campaign files its finance reports later this year, the Associated Press reported.
archive
