| | Associated Press
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- It has been a year of farewells and
frustration for Darrell Waltrip, and this week he says goodbye to
the most famous track on the NASCAR circuit.
The 53-year-old driver is hoping to make his 55th and final start at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday night in the Pepsi 400.
"It's definitely one of those tracks where I'll get a little emotional when it's all over with," Waltrip said Thursday.
Waltrip's first race at Daytona came in 1966, when he drove a 1958 Ford in one of the races leading up to the Daytona 500. He says he was running in the top five until his engine gave out late in the race.
Of his 84 career Winston Cup victories, only one came at Daytona -- the Daytona 500 in 1989. He celebrated by dancing in Victory Lane.
The odds against a repeat in his Daytona finale are astronomical. Waltrip is in 40th place in the Winston Cup standings. He hasn't finished higher than 24th in any race this year.
So, before sentiment starts kicking in, Waltrip has work to do to salvage his so-called Victory Tour.
"I think the second half will be kinder to us," he said. "I don't know if we'll put the 'V' in victory. But I hope the second half will be kinder."
Little looking for 2001 ride
Roush Racing and driver Chad Little will part ways after this season, ending a three-year relationship that has produced few positive results.
Little is winless with just 13 top-10 finishes in 2½ years with Roush. He is in 20th place in Winston Cup standings at the midway point of the 2000 season.
"I appreciate the support that Jack Roush has given me to get started in full-time Winston Cup racing," Little said.
Roush is expected to continue fielding the No. 97 car. A replacement driver has not been selected.
Big donation, bigger prize
Scott Slater of Temperance, Mich., donated $22,000 to Big Brothers Big Sisters of America to bring himself and three of his sons to Daytona to serve as honorary crew members for Mark Martin and Jeff Burton.
"We're NASCAR fans, we're Ford fans and Roush Racing fans and Mark Martin fans," said Slater, who won an auction on eBay for the prize. "We've been to a lot of races and have wanted to do this. It was a good cause to donate to and we get some fun out of it at the same time."
Slater, the vice president of financing at a glassmaking plant, is a car aficionado. He owns eight Ford Mustangs, but he doesn't know how helpful he'll be in the garage.
"Probably an all-thumbs kind of thing," he said. "We probably know just enough to do some damage."
The Slaters will spend the week working with the pit crews, performing "odds-and-ends jobs, helping with tires, things like that," said Jeff Dowling of Valvoline, the primary sponsor of Martin's car.
It's the family's first trip to Daytona for a race.
"That's why we did it," Slater said. "We'd never been here.
And this is a great way to make the trip."
Olympian effort
One racing fan will split $4.5 million with the United States Olympic Committee if NASCAR's Dale Earnhardt Jr., and the NHRA's Kenny Bernstein win in consecutive weeks later this summer.
Bernstein and Earnhardt Jr. will split another $500,000 if they
pull off the back-to-back victories.
The prize, awarded by Budweiser, which sponsors the cars of both drivers, will be given if Earnhardt Jr. wins the goracing.com 500 on Aug. 26 and Bernstein follows with a victory in the NHRA U.S. Nationals a week later.
The fan will be chosen from among entries submitted on
Budweiser's Internet web site.
Earnhardt Jr. and Bernstein won in consecutive weeks earlier this season -- in April at Texas (Earnhardt) and Las Vegas (Bernstein).
STP missing in action
The STP car, a familiar sight on NASCAR tracks since the days of Richard Petty's reign, is absent from the track for the first time in nearly three decades.
The No. 43 car owned by Petty, now driven by John Andretti, will run Saturday night in the Pepsi 400 with Cheerios as its primary sponsor. The familiar 'Petty Blue' paint scheme will remain, and STP stays as an associate sponsor.
Viva Las Vegas for NASCAR
The NASCAR Winston Cup Series will make its fourth visit to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March. Nevada's largest annual sports weekend will be held March 1-4, speedway officials announced Thursday.
"Each year the NASCAR weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway has grown, improved and become more popular," said Chris Powell, speedway executive vice president and general manager. "It's the biggest sports weekend west of the Rocky Mountains in terms of fan attendance." | |
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