Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Cup title is sweet, but work continues

Friday, Nov. 14, 2003 | 10:31 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at bh@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4089.

You won't see crew chief Robbie Reiser in one of those traditional "I'm going to Disney World!" commercials after helping Matt Kenseth to the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup championship.

There just isn't time -- for the commercial or the vacation.

Less than 12 hours after Kenseth clinched the title with a fourth-place finish Sunday at North Carolina Speedway, Reiser was back in the Roush Racing shop in Concord, N.C., preparing car for Sunday's race and for the 2004 season.

What should have been the start of a weeklong celebration of his and Kenseth's first Winston Cup title turned out to be just another day at the office for Reiser.

"It don't really work that way," Reiser said when asked if he would take some time to sit down and reflect of what he and his team had accomplished. "The problem is, we get done winning the championship on Sunday at 6 o'clock and by 5 o'clock the next morning, we're into work here -- working not only on Homestead but everything on 2004.

"We've got to pretty much cut all the bodies off the cars and start over. In nine weeks, we need to be prepared to go to Daytona so it doesn't leave much time to sit back and look at what you did; it's pretty much what you've got ahead of you."

The reality of NASCAR Winston Cup racing, Reiser said, is that the season doesn't fit neatly into a nine-month period.

"It really doesn't have a season anymore; it's year-round and it just keeps coming and it don't let up (because) the competition is tough," he said. "I'd like to see it that you could enjoy it a little bit but it doesn't really have much enjoyment.

"The thing is, the season is so long that if you leave your guard down too long, next season ain't going to be a very good year. You pretty much got to wipe the smile off your face and get ready for next season."

That reality, according to Reiser, won't allow him to truly enjoy what he and his team accomplished this season.

"I just thought it would be a bigger deal than really what it is," Reiser said. "You kind of win it one day and you're back to work the next day trying to win the next one. It takes some of the fun out of the whole deal, really."

Hendrick Motorsports, which was fielding the No. 60 ditech.com Chevrolet for Busch, immediately withdrew the entry and said it would not attempt to field another car for the Busch.

NASCAR.com, quoting a spokesperson for Hendrick Motorsports, reported that the improper dimension was the same as the one that lead to Tony Stewart's Chevrolet being confiscated earlier this season after it failed a pre-race inspection at Texas Motor Speedway.

The measurement in question is done from the base of the car's back window diagonally to the back corner of the rear fender.

NASCAR said in a statement handed out at the track that the discrepancy in the car's body was sizeable enough that it could not be repaired at the track in a "timely and effective manner," ThatsRacin.com reported. NASCAR would not make the release available to media that were not at the racetrack.

Busch, 18, will compete for Rookie of the Year honors in the NASCAR Busch Series next season after racing in seven Busch Series races and seven ARCA Re/ Max events this year.

Busch, a Durango High graduate and the younger brother of Winston Cup driver Kurt Busch, earned two victories in the ARCA series and a pair of runner-up finishes in the Busch Series.

Anderson defeated Kurt Johnson in the final round of the Automobile Club NHRA Finals and established a single-season record for most wins (12) by a Pro Stock driver. Anderson's 67 round wins this season also set an NHRA record, breaking John Force's mark of 65 in 1996.

Anderson, who drives the Vegas General Construction Pontiac Grand Am, said it was important to finish the season on a strong note after clinching the Pro Stock championship with two races remaining in the season.

"We continued to perform at a championship level for the entire season; we didn't sit on our laurels after (clinching the title in) Dallas," Anderson said. "We have almost three months to go until we start the season next February. If we had fallen down in the last couple of races and ran so-so, everyone else in Pro Stock would be feeling pretty good."

According to track officials, Ruttman turned laps in the 49-second range (180-181 mph) during the two-day test. Jason Leffler won the pole for this year's truck race at Daytona with a lap of 182.994 mph.

As many as 53 riders will be competing for one of the 24 starting positions in the Supermoto championship race and 42 will attempt to qualify for the Supermoto Unlimited final. Several riders are expected to compete in both classes.

Other riders qualifying for this Friday's championship event include six-time AMA Supercross champion Jeremy McGrath and AMA Superbike champions Ben Bostrom and Doug Chandler. Riders had to record a top-20 finish in one of the five qualifying rounds' main events to be eligible for next weekend's AMA Red Bull Supermoto Championship.