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| | Thursday, November 16 Weber opens up his mailbag | |||||
| ESPN.com If there is one thing ESPN auto racing analyst Bill Weber loves more than being down in the pits for a NASCAR race, it's giving the fans the inside scoop. So he's opened up his e-mail to you, the fans, this season. Talladega might be the talk of the town, but Weber answers user questions about more than just this weekend's race. "In the GM-UAW 500 last Sunday, I don't remember the car (Skinner), but on the restart after a caution he was on the tail end of the lead lap and started right in front of the leaders. Why not in the last position of all cars on the lead lap?" Mark PurvisCrestview, Fla. Mike Skinner stayed on the track when the leaders pitted. The leaders come off of pit road and they are now behind Skinner. He is in the proper place. It's easier to explain with video but my personal telestrator is on the blink. "Why did officials cover the #88 car after his wreck at Charlotte and take it off on a flatbed truck and to where?" Gail Wilson Concord, N.C. Sometimes they cover the car to keep broken parts from falling off or flying off while it is being "wheeled" back to the garage. Sometimes teams ask track workers to cover the car to "hide" some of the "body-building secrets" they have. Sometimes NASCAR covers the car for reasons only they know. The car is usually taken back to the garage where the team can work on it or load it up and go home. As for the 88 car at Charlotte, I really don't know. I would ask Crew Chief Todd Parrott but he never gives an honest answer to the media so it would be a waste of time. "Is NASCAR going to carry over the (Talladega) restrictor plate and body change rule to Daytona next for the 500? Will the new Dodge have to follow the same rules?" David Tisdale Las Vegas I don't think anyone knows what rules the Dodge Boys will have. The plan for Talladega is to test the rules for the Daytona 500 and hopefully it will work. "Is Rick Mast going to drive for A.J. Foyt next season?" Rob Bailey Willard, Ohio Yes. He has re-signed to drive the 14 car next year. "I would like to know if the Winston Cup provisional system is being "abused" by some of the top teams at this time of the season? I'm referring to the lineup at Lowe's this weekend where Earnhardt, Burton, Park, etc. took these spots." Don Kenny Ingleside, Ontario In my opinion, yes. I think the provisional system is out-of-date. Since the midway point of the season, some of the biggest names in the Winston Cup series have not had to worry about qualifying. I'm not saying that they haven't worried about it, but they have not HAD to worry about it because by rule, they were a lock to make the field. So why not spend all day Friday trying to polish the race set-up and then roll the dice in qualifying. Hold one round of time trials, two laps at every track, the fastest 43 guys get to race on Sunday, the others battle for the open TV analyst spots. "After the season that Ricky Rudd and the Texaco team have put together this year, Are they one of the favorites for championship next year?" Mike Spengler Northampton, Pa. Yeah, I think so. But they need to win this year. As a team, they need to prove they can "finish". "I heard that Michael Waltrip will be driving for Dale Earnhardt racing next season. I have not heard any details concerning this. Can you tell me what car he will drive? Is it going to be a third car for the team? Or is he taking over for Steve Park?" Ray Hamilton Fairfax, Va. Michael will drive a third car for DEI in 2001 as a teammate to Park and Dale, Jr. It will be the "15" car sponsored by NAPA. It will be the 67th time Michael will have "the best opportunity" to win his first Winston Cup race. "Why is Goodyear the only tire you hear about in Winston Cup racing? Do they pay to be 'the tire company,' or is it that they simply have the best tires to offer racers?" Lyrece Tyre Waycross, Ga. Goodyear is the only tire provider. Others have tried and others still might, but as I recall, right now Goodyear has an exclusive contract to provide tires to NASCAR. "What do you think is the best solution for the "traffic problems" on pit road at short tracks such as Martinsville?" Rusty fan Paso Robles, Calif. Off the top of my head after spending 500 laps there two weeks ago? Have one pit road but have pit stalls only on the straight portions of pit road and no pits between turns 1 and 2 or 3 and 4. It would make a long pit road even longer but it is still worse to have some cars pit at "an angle" and some not. It clearly cost Burton and Rudd the win at Martinsville two weeks ago. The 20 pit crew had a great stop but the pit crew did not win the race for Tony Stewart, the pit STALL did. "What happened to Robby Gordon, did he give up on NASCAR? He just seems to have disappeared from racing." LeRoy Zimmerman San Jose, Calif. Robby is working to get his team back up to speed. He's running a limited schedule down the stretch this season. Next season is a question mark. | ALSO SEE Weber's mailbag: Sept. 27 Weber's mailbag: Sept. 21 Weber's mailbag: Sept. 13 Weber's mailbag: Sept. 6 Weber's mailbag: Aug. 30 Weber's mailbag: Aug. 24 Weber's mailbag: Aug. 17 Weber's mailbag: Aug. 10 Weber's mailbag: July 19 Weber's mailbag: June 21 Weber's mailbag: June 7 Weber's mailbag: June 1 Weber's mailbag: May 3 Weber's mailbag: April 27 Weber's mailbag: April 12 Weber's mailbag: April 6 Weber's mailbag: March 29 Weber's mailbag: March 22 Weber's mailbag: March 15 Weber's mailbag: March 8 Weber's mailbag: March 1 | |||||