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Friday, August 10
Fellows qualifies sixth at Watkins Glen
Associated Press

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. -- It's amazing what a little sunshine can do for Ron Fellows.


	Fellows

A year ago, rain washed out qualifying for the Winston Cup race at Watkins Glen International and the Canadian road-racing ace started way back in 40th. On Friday, the rain held off, the sun came out, and Fellows qualified sixth for the Global Crossing.

"It's been looking like it's going to rain all day," said Fellows, who won his third straight Busch Series race here a month ago. "My stomach has been in knots all day. It's tough when you don't have the provisionals. Friday is the most nervous you get, but we're in the race and I feel a whole lot better right now."

It's been 28 years since a non-regular won on the Winston Cup circuit. The late Mark Donohue won the Winston Western 500 at Riverside in 1973. Lurking in the third row, Fellows will be a driver to be reckoned with if last year is any indication.

Despite his dismal starting spot in 2000, Fellows was all the way up to 12th by only the 20th lap when the engine on his Bully Hill Vineyards Chevrolet failed, relegating him to a last-place finish.

"We have been able to find places to pass, and that's what it's going to take to win here," said Fellows, who finished second to Jeff Gordon in 1999. "This is where I want to come measure myself."

The break in the weather didn't help Ricky Craven. He slid off course early on his qualifying lap and was forced to take a provisional. Also taking provisionals were Matt Kenseth and Steve Park, who won the race a year ago, his first Winston Cup victory.

Most popular no more
Bill Elliott's streak of popularity is over -- voluntarily.

Elliott, voted the National Motorsports Press Association's most popular driver for the past 10 years and 15 times over all, has decided to remove his name from the 2001 ballot in honor of the late Dale Earnhardt.

"This is a much different year than others," Elliott said. "Dale Earnhardt never won this award, and I think it would be a tremendous honor for the Earnhardt family to receive it this year."

Elliott is the only driver in the history of the award to remove his name from the balloting.

"Bill's decision is another example of why he has won this award so often," said David Poole, motorsports editor at the Charlotte Observer and president of the NMPA.

Earnhardt was killed in a crash on the final lap of the Daytona 500 in February.

Skinner's return
Mike Skinner will return to competition in the NASCAR Winston Cup and Busch Series events at Michigan International Speedway on the weekend of Aug. 18-19.

The Richard Childress Racing driver has been recuperating since surgery to repair his left ankle, fractured in a crash during the July 15 Winston Cup race at Chicagoland Speedway. Skinner is scheduled to compete in both the Busch Series race and the Winston Cup race at the Michigan track.

"I'm planning on going to Michigan with the thought of winning the race -- actually winning both races," Skinner said. "If I didn't think that we had a chance, I wouldn't even go. But it wouldn't surprise me to see it take a couple of weeks to really get things going."

Robby Gordon and Jeff Purvis have been in the Winston Cup and Busch cars, respectively, in Skinner's absence. Gordon remained behind the wheel of the No. 31 Chevrolet this weekend at Watkins Glen and qualified fourth.

Pit stops

No one will dispute that starting near the front is the best way to win a race. That's certainly the case on the Watkins Glen International road course, where 13 of 18 winners have come from the first three rows. The polesitter has won seven times.

Hendrick Motorsports, which fields Chevrolets for Jeff Gordon, Terry Labonte and Jerry Nadeau, leads all car owners with four victories on NASCAR's oldest road course. Gordon has won from 1997-99, and the late Tim Richmond and Ricky Rudd also prevailed for Hendrick.

Despite the annual influx of road-course aces, a second-place finish two years ago by Ron Fellows is the only top five by a non-regular since 1986, when NASCAR returned after an absence of 21 years.

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