Friday, May 21, 2004 | 10:16 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.
Although NASCAR's continued expansion into the West may not necessarily be welcome news to racing fans in the Southeast and those responsible for transporting the teams' cars and equipment across the country, drivers and team owners will benefit in the long run, according to NASCAR chairman Brian France.
France said this week that the additional races in California (this year) and Arizona and Texas (next year) would carry "substantially" bigger purses to compensate teams for the added travel expenses.
"We took that into consideration before we moved any dates -- in particular, out West -- because there is more expense and that's why the purses will be larger than they otherwise would have been," France said. "In Texas or in Phoenix, you'll see that the purses take that into consideration ... because it's got to be healthy for everybody."
France also said that moving races from smaller markets such as Rockingham, N.C., and Darlington, S.C., to Los Angeles, Dallas/Fort Worth and Phoenix should help teams to more easily land or keep sponsors.
"We impact a major market more than once in both those instances, with Los Angeles and Phoenix ... and that drives viewership and interest in the market," France said. "We're able to have more prize money paid to the drivers and their sponsors are able to get that bigger impact."
France also laid to rest the rumor that NASCAR was considering adding races -- perhaps as many as four more -- to its existing 36-race Nextel Cup schedule.
"I don't think that's in our cards at all," he said when asked about the possibility of a 40-race Cup schedule. "I think we are either at or near the end of new dates that we might award and we think we're probably in a dilutive situation should we go much beyond where we are today -- and 40 is out of the question."
Instead, Busch will concentrate on Saturday's qualifying for Sunday's NASCAR Busch Series race at Nazareth Speedway.
"The biggest deal that came up was trying to fly back and forth (between Nazareth and Charlotte)," Busch said. "It was a deal where I'd have to miss the drivers' meeting for the Cup race. In a 30-lap race where everybody's going (all) out from the beginning all the way through the end of the race ... it's not going to be worth it in order to start dead last and try to come up through the field.
"It's a disappointment, of course, but we'll try again next year and I'm still going to be able to run next weekend in the Coca-Cola 600, so we'll definitely make up for it then."
Busch is leading the Busch Series standings after 11 races and is coming off his first career victory.
"Johnny, I thought, did a good job for us but we had some issues, like preparations for tests and stuff like that, that probably weren't up to the caliber that the Orleans Racing team wanted it to be up to," Park said. "They decided a change was in order.
"It has nothing to do with the performance of the truck. The results haven't shown how well the truck has run all year. I don't want people to think that it is based on performance because people will think that getting caught up in someone else's wreck is no reason to let a crew chief go. It has nothing to do with that ... it is about how the team works together; it needs to be a well-oiled machine (and) right now it is not running like one."
Park qualified 25th for tonight's Infineon 200 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
"We hope that we can reach out to minorities across this country and introduce a wonderful sport that is already doing very well," Johnson said during a news conference Thursday to announce his appointment.
Johnson, who said he would not be paid in his role with the committee, described himself as a longtime NASCAR fan.
Lazier will team with Felipe Giaffone on the team co-owned by former Indy Racing League driver Robbie Buhl and Dennis Reinbold.
"I've always enjoyed my relationship with Robbie and Dennis and I'm pleased to be working with Owen Snyder and all of the crew members for Dreyer and Reinbold," Lazier said. "This is a very, very late arrangement, but I feel strongly that the information DRR has compiled through the first three months of the 2004 racing season will enable me to do my job most efficiently.
"I have zero interest in running this race in a non-competitive way; I'm here to run to the front and make the most of what I'm given."
archive
