Roger Diez
For those who complained about Matt Kenseth's 2003 Winston Cup Championship with only one race win, please note that Kenseth is batting .667 for the 2004 Nextel Cup crown.
Of course, it's still early in the season, and with the new playoff point system anything can happen in the last 10 races, but Kenseth has certainly shown that his championship last year was no fluke. And yes, I know it's the Nextel Cup now, but it wasn't then, and it wasn't in 1992, no matter how the TV announcers refer to it. History is history, and it was the Winston Cup up until this year no matter what the revisionists say. Sue me if you don't like it.
To the surprise of absolutely no one, Budweiser has re-signed with DEI racing to sponsor Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 8 Chevrolet. 'm sure the Daytona 500 win this year had a little to do with it. It's a good thing the deal was in the works before Junior's miserable performance at Las Vegas last weekend. That disaster pointed out the "team sport" aspect of big-time racing these days. If the car isn't right, the best driver in the world can't do much with it.
Speaking of not doing much, there are a number of drivers starting Cup races these days that don't have a prayer of winning. Since there are only 38 sponsored and funded teams, there are five spots up for grabs every weekend for the Carl Longs, Kirk Shelmerdines, and Morgan Shepherds of the world. Since just taking the green flag at the start is good for about $50,000, it makes sense for these guys to show up, especially since there seem to be about five cars every weekend for the five spots available, and nobody has to go home. The pundits are already grumbling about NASCAR's insistence on a 43-car field for Cup races, but since when has NASCAR listened to anybody but itself?
Short fields also plague the major league open-wheel series. After barely filling the field for last year's Indy 500, Speedway and Indy Racing League czar Tony George is now facing the inevitable and trying to put a positive spin on the possibility of having fewer than 33 cars in "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing." There were only 19 cars at the IRL season opener at Homestead-Miami Speedway two weeks ago, down from around 22 on average last season.
"I asked myself, if we change it up or down, what does that really do?" George said, speaking of the 500. "Whether it's 33 at Indy or 43 at a NASCAR race, it's just a number. There have been races where I was uncomfortable with the quality of some of the cars, and they were there just for the sake of hitting some number. I actually think we should reduce it; that's how I feel today. But that might change next week, next month or next year."
Over on the other side of the open-wheel gulf, activity seems to be picking up. 1996 Champion Jimmy Vasser has landed a ride on Kevin Kalkhoven's team, now known as PKV Racing. Vasser comes on board as a minority owner in the team, along with high tech industrialist Dan Pettit. Vasser replaces former Formula 1 ace Mika Salo, and stated that he still believes Champ Car racing is the most challenging form of racing in the United States, with its mix of ovals, road courses, and street races. Vasser's former teammate, Ryan Hunter-Reay, will probably be confirmed this week to team with Mario Dominguez on the Herdez Competition team.
The Champ Car folks also announced a new rule change that should improve on-track passing and make for a better show, particularly on street and road courses. The series has adopted a new "push-to-pass" boost system for all cars this season, which gives drivers a button on the steering wheel to press giving an increased turbo boost of 3.5 additional inches of mercury, good for about 50 horsepower. The extra boost will be available to drivers for a total of 60 seconds per race. Used with discretion, this feature could decide a pass for the lead on the last lap, making the series much more exciting for the fans.
Roger Diez is the Nevada Appeal Motorsports Columnist. Contact him at editor@nevadaappeal.com.