NASCAR News

NASCAR star Kenny Irwin today became the second driver to be killed at the New Hampshire International Raceway in a matter of months.

On May 12th this year, the NASCAR world was plunged into a state of shock when 19 year old Adam Petty lost his life in a testing crash at New Hampshire International Speedway.

Multi car Winston Cup outfit Jack Roush Racing have announced that one of its five WC drivers, Chad Little, would not be continuing with the team next year.

Just weeks after announcing that Valvoline would be discontinuing their sponsorship of Mark Martin after many years of success, Jack Roush named Pfizer Inc as the replacement for the outgoing oil company.

Winston Cup rookie Scott Pruett and his fledgling team, PPI Motorsports, have been handed a $50,000 fine and penalised 50 points after their Tide sponsored Ford Taurus was found to have an illegal braking system on their car after the Save Mart/Kragen 350 at Sears Point last weekend.

The Save Mart/Kragen 350 at Sears Point is one race where you can truly throw the form book out of the window. Of the 34 Winston Cup events held each year, only two are held on road courses which requires a completely new approach to oval racing.

Not many people are brave (or stupid) enough to mess with Dale Earnhardt on the final lap of a Winston Cup event. Earnhardt is THE toughest driver in Winston Cup racing and has earned the respect and admiration of all his racing peers.

1. Bobby Labonte Pontiac Joe Gibbs 37.918 secs. 2. Ricky Rudd Ford Robert Yates 38.091 secs. 3. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Rick Hendrick 38.174 secs.

One of the longest standing team's in the NASCAR Winston Cup, Melling Racing is to swap its current squad of Ford Taurus' for a team of Dodge Intrepid's next season.

Last season Kevin Lepage produced some of his best NASCAR Winston Cup performances to date in the #16 TV Guide Ford Taurus. This year, without the backing of the media and communication's company, Lepage has been in a slump.

1. Bobby Labonte Pontiac Joe Gibbs 1946. 2. Ward Burton Pontiac Bill Davis 1864. 3. Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet Richard Childress 1848. 4. Dale Jarrett Ford Robert Yates 1790.

Sunday's MBNA Platinum 400 was dominated by Tony Stewart's Joe Gibbs run #20 Home Depot Pontiac who simply pulverised the opposition around the 'Monster Mile' beating Matt Kenseth by more than a second, a lifetime in NASCAR terms.

In almost any other year, a statement such as that made above would be laughed at, however in view of the calibre of rookie's in this season's Winston Cup, it isn't really that surprising.

Kyle Petty will take the wheel of his late son Adam's car when the Busch Grand National series visits Dover this weekend. Adam was killed in a practice crash at New Hampshire three weeks ago and his father has not raced since.

In the final year of his career which has spanned for nearly three decades, Darrell Waltrip faced not qualifying for one of the Winston Cup's longest standing events, the Coca Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Finally Ray Evernham has the driver line up he so desperately wanted when he was given the opportunity to run his own Winston Cup outfit. Series veteran Bill Elliott will be joined by 19 year old Busch Grand National sensation Casey Atwood in the brand new two car team of Dodge Intrepid's.

After an almost week long investigation, it has been announced that the cause of last Saturday's bridge collapse can be put down to chloride ions seeping into the bridges steel reinforcing cables causing them to rust away from the inside.

One of the most enduring images of the world of NASCAR racing throughout the 1990's will be the technicolour pit-crew that so ably aided Jeff Gordon to 50 Winston Cup race wins and three Winston Cup championships.

Predicting a winner in a race of 600 miles is difficult at the best of times but with this season's Winston Cup being so close, picking a winner is nigh on impossible.