Section C
SATURDAY, AUGUST 14, 1999
Classifieds
icloss
Auto racing g|anc«
WhstonCup
Brickyard 400
Site: Watkins Glen, N.Y.
Schedule: Friday, first-found
qualifying, 2 p.m.; Saturday,
. .secoTKkound qualifying, 10:45
,am.; Sunday, race {ESPN,
12:30 p.m.)
Track: Watkins Glen
International (permanent road
course, 2.45 miles, 11 turns).
Race distance: 220.5 miles, 90
laps.
.
Last yean Jeff Gordon raced to
his third straight victory and
-; seventh of the year, .
"
successfully defending his title.
Mark Martin finished second
for the third straight race.
Last race: Dale Jarrett
dominated the Brickyard 400
:
at the Indianapolis Motor
Speedway, leading 116 of 160
;
laps for his fourth victory of the
; season' .
Next race: Pepsi 400, Aug. 22,
Brooklyn, Mich.
Busch Grand National
Last race: Jason Keller started
from the pole and won the
Kroger 200 in Clermont, Ind.
Next race: Pepsi 200, Aug. 21,
Brooklyn, Mich.
Driver standings
i. Dale Jarrett
2. Mark Martin
3. Bobby Labonte
4. Jeff Burton
5. Tony Stewart
6. Jeff Gordon
7. Dale Earnhardt
8. Terry Labonte
9. Mike Skinner
10. Rutty Wallace
1 1 . Ward Burton
12,. Jeremy MayfleM
13. John Andretti
A A
O A U M I U«MIM>M«
14. tscDoy namnion
15. Sterling Marln
16. KenSehrader
17. BWEMott
.
18. WaHy DaHenbach
19. Michael Waltrlp
20. Kenny Irwkt
2 1 . Johnny Benson
22. Emle Irvan
23. Jimmy Spencer
24<JhadUtHe
25. Kemy Wallace
26. Steve Park
27. Kevin Lepage
28. Rick Mast
29. EHJott Sadler
3O.TedMusgrave
3 1 . Geoffrey Bodbie
32. Kyle Petty
33. Ricky Rudd
34.mchBteMe
35. Jerry Nadeau .
36. Joe Nemechek
37. DamMIWartrfp
38. Brett Bodtoe
39- David Green '
40. Robert Pretsley
3,199
2,925
2,906
2,819
2,711
2,692
2,601
2,378
2,368
2,341
2,339
2,231
2,119
2,106
2,032
2,032
2W)5
2,004
1,947
1,936
1,892
1,875
1,856
1,839
1,821
l,8iO
1,786
1,735
1,720
1,651
1,647
1.645
1,634
1.620
1,577
1,570
1,502
1,493
1,308
1,265
Crew chief
lost both
children in
Jarrett's
points lead
could hurt
attendance
.
.
SPEEDWAY, Ind.
im Hunter, forever the promoter, hit the speed dial button on~
the telephone at the Darlington
(S.C.) Raceway as soon as the racing-themed radio show hit the
national airways Tuesday night, •
. He couldn't wait to spread the
gospel about one of the most fabled
raceways on the
NASCAR
Winston Cup
Series docket :
He talked about
the speedway's
50-year celebration of tradition,
of legendary
winners and of a
Don Coble
track that refuses to change
with time. ... -.
Then, when the moment was
right, Hunter reminded the listening audience that plenty of good
tickets remain for one of stock car
racing's crown jewels, the Southern
500 on Sept 5.
Sellout crowds in the waning
months of the racing season are
going to be a difficult sell, even for
raceways like Darlington, where
tickets have been in demand for the
last 49 years. It seems nothing kills
a crowd like a race that's already
over before it started.
Dale Jarrett has turned the
Winston Cup points race into one of
the biggest blowouts in NASCAR
history. He leads Mark Martin by
274 points heading into Sunday's
Frontier at the Glen road course
race at Watkins Glen, N.Y.
With only 14 races remaining in
the 34-race season, Jarrett knows
he's got plenty of room tor error,
especially since the average differ^
eji.ce jretween finishing positions is
a mere 3.2 points. He can finish
dead last on Sunday and still maintain about half of his advantage.
Jarrett has been careful not to
drop his guard: He insists the cham, pionsbip is far from being clinched.
He consider^ Martin, Bobby
. Labonte, Jeff Burton, Tony Stewart
and two-time defending series
champion Jeff Gordon real.threats
to his lofty position in the standings. ProuToters like Hunter cling to
the hope that race fans buy Jarrett's
company line that still preaches
competition and parity.
While Jarrett's words won't create a stir in the normally volatile
garage area, it doesn't address what
the rest of the racing community
has practically conceded - he cant
J
By Ken Berger
T h e Associated Press
B
arry Dodson stares out of the
garage at Indianapolis Motor
Speedway, pondering the
sadness in his life. He lost his
two children in a 1094 car crash, then
had to get out of racing to cope with
his grief.
- Dodson, regarded as one of the top
crew, chiefs in NASCAR, returned to
work last week at the Brickyard 400.
Reunited,with.driver Derrike Cope, Dodson hopes to rekindle his love
for racing'while still trying to come,
to terms with the past .
.
."You never get through it,"Dodson
said, ''I used to think about Bobby
Allison and ask myself,'How did he
get up in the morning?' I never knew
that it would be me."
Allison, the driving great, lost sons
Davey and Clifford in accidents.
.' - After his tragedy, Dodson desperately tried to keep working, He
pushed himself to get up in the
morning and go to. the-race track
when it seemed that everything
important to him had been taken
away.
He made a promise, to himself and
in a prayer to his children."
_• "I'm not going to walk away a
loserr" Dodson said. "The people in
the garage that know will look at me, because I've won a lot of poles and a
lot of races. And they'd say, 'Nothing
to prove. Nothing to prove.'" '••: • -.
Dodson fulfilled his promise, winning in Dover, Del., with driver Kyle •
Petty in June 1995. He dedicated the
race to his son and daughter, then
Mike McKfiwn/The Associated Press
slipped quietly into the background
to pull his life back together.
Cww chief Barry Dodson, right, returned to racing with cMw Denike Cop* at the B r l e k ^
"1 needed to get away," Dodson when a car crash kUed his two chldran. Dodson was ffeeted at the race by his frmierdn\»r Kenny Walace, left.
said. ..
.'
. ' .
"/ had a weird feeling,
Dodson's 17-year-old son, Trey, and years after Cope woo the Daytona
16-year-old daughter, Tia, were 500. The chance to work with a driver
having been away so
killed along with another teen-ager he knew was a major factor when
in a wreck in Darlington, S.C. After Dodson began thinking about getting
long, I had a lot of
taking some time to deal with it, back into NASCAR's top stock car
people the first day
...
.
*
' Dodson gradually worked his way series.
back into racing in the NASCAR
''It's like he never left," said Cope,
saying, 'Thanks for
Craftsman IVuck Series and Busch who broke a string of missing nine
stock car circuit
coming back, we missed
straight, races by reuniting with
. Dodson had some success, becom- •Dodson and qualifying 31st for the
you, we needed you.'
ing the only crew chief in the truck Brickyard 400. "We came here with
series to win a race every year he two dajs notice, basically, and we got
Coming back the second
was on the circuit He was involved in the show,"
day, I felt like I 'd been
in the Busch series for six months
A week before the Indianapolis
this year, calling it a "minicamp" to race, Ghuck Rider sold Cope's
back a month.'* ~
get him ready for his return to Bahari Racing team to Jack
.WinstohCup. Birmingham, a Boston businessman
Barry Dodson
Dodson was the crew chief for who got new sponsorship and
Rusty Wallace when he won the renamed it Jimmy Dean Racing.
NASCAR crew chief
Winston Cup title in 1989, and his dri- Dodson had been talking with
Mike
McKown/TTw
Associated
Press
vers have won. 19 races and more Birmingham about joining the venture as crew chief and part-owner, so Barry Dodson, crew chief for
than $8 million. '
Dodson was Cope's crew chief
NASCAR driver Derrike Cope,
with Whitcomb Racing in 1992, two
See DODSON, Page 2C
retimed last week to racing.
lose.
••-.•;
, "DJ. and that team deserve it;"
Gordon said after watching Jarrett
win last week's Brickyard 400 at the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway. \
"We've got to get things going so we .
can at least make them work for it. •
Right now, it's too easy."
Jarrett has 16 top-five finishes in ,
See COBLE, Page 2C
is eookin' with the hottest sale of the summer!
Brand New 1999 Pontiac Gratia Am SE
Brand New 1999 Porttiac
Bonneytlle SB
MOTOCHOMMIOMt
LOADED With COld A/C, AM/FM/CD, Alum.
Wheels. Power Seat & More! stock* 8960
Automatic Trans.,
Air conditioning,
A M / F M - CD Player,
Rear spoiler & More!
Brand New 1999 Buick
Park Avenue
A/C. Aluminum wntot.
Brand New 1999 CMC Sierra Full size
per
Month*
LOADED with Cold A/C, Alum. Wheels. Power seats.
Remote Keyless Entry * Morel stock* $81
Brand New 1999 CMC
vt fct mart*.«Aumin
Suburban SLT
Ail PreOwned hove rwioining Fottory
or Heritage S Momh/6.000 Mile worrenty!
Harry in to take advantage of these
incredible deals before they sizzle out/
Automatic Transmission,
Air conditioning, V6 & Morel
Stock* 4998
1O9O HicfHwciy 27B in Bltfffton
per
Month*
| LOADEDI CD, Leather, Power seats, Remote |
Keyless Entry & Much Morel stockt so7*
n i t . li moncn pun ( 1 » OQWWV MnM.it No I
L * me*** ww i IMO mini* apvmwx V r
menm ««n (ttoo ootrnvti C M W V U * monM <
dMNCM w w o w loort« mdWif ««K t) iW down
(8a3> B15-1SOO • 1 -800-390-0200
.tit •, Hoi.i ••• MohcinVThiirsclav ^ ii hi S \) m * Fnci.iv 9.1 m -7 n m • Soutrrt.iv ^ <i >v\ S p in • SOIVICO Horns Mondoy-Fridov 1 ^ a m -6 p m
tiocooown »rtxntnK*s«o
www.gmbuypower.com
*9AQ*
$JOOOdown
r