Bitter Memories Still Haunt New Hampshire

The super-hype is on this weekend as NASCAR begins an extended countdown to the championship crowning at the end of November. Phase one will be called “Race to the Chase” and it begins Sunday with the race at New Hampshire International Speedway.

The “Race to the Chase” is the public relations name for the ten races that lead up to the actual “Chase for the Nextel Cup.” The first round of the ten-race championship playoffs will also be run at New Hampshire on September 16.

The top-12 drivers in point standings that weekend will begin their version of the Survivor game show that runs until the weekend before Thanksgiving. The season-finale will again be held at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida.

The New Hampshire speedway is just over a mile and has only 12-degree banking in the turns. It seems to be a track that really hasn’t established any reputation yet. It only started hosting the NASCAR premier division in 1993 and the dark side of the speedway always comes to mind for me when race weekend there rolls around.

The speedway has claimed the lives of two NASCAR racers in its short history. Adam Petty, the grandson of NASCAR’s only 200-time winner Richard and son of current driver Kyle, was the first to go. The 20-year-old Petty was practicing his Busch car when he hit the New Hampshire wall and was killed. Kenny Irwin lost his life two months later when he hit the wall at the same place in his Winston/Nextel Cup car.

There is another dark side to New Hampshire for long-time NASCAR fans. New Hampshire’s second race on the yearly schedule was made possible by the closing of a track that many fans considered a jewel.

The owners of the speedways in New Hampshire and Texas teamed up to purchase North Wilkesboro Speedway and then promptly padlocked the North Carolina short track and split the two race dates up between them. New Hampshire got a second yearly race date and Texas Motor Speedway used the North Wilkesboro deal to secure their first race date.

My wife and I stopped by the old track two years ago on our way to the Mayberry Days celebration in Mount Airy, N.C. The old Winston Cup signs are still up, but some of them look a bit rusty. Trees were growing under some of the grandstands and it was evident that owners Bruton Smith and Bob Bahre had no intentions of preserving the historic relic.

It manufactures some sadness for me and others that have followed since sport since the days that Petty, Jarrett and Earnhardt meant Lee, Ned and Ralph. More and more early racing landmarks are being deleted without regard to their important contributions to the history of stock car racing.

My only hope might be that Tony Stewart begins to enjoy running Eldora so much that he decides to expand his motorsport property inventory. Stewart is doing his part to make sure a part of racing’s past that he participated in is saved for future generations to enjoy. Maybe he could add North Wilkesboro and Rockingham to his rescued racetracks collection.

New Hampshire Numbers: Jeff Burton has the best scorecard at New Hampshire. Burton claimed four winner’s trophies for his boss Jack Roush between 1997 and 2000. He has registered top-ten finishes in the last three races at the track.

Jeff Gordon has three New Hampshire wins. The No. 24 carried winner’s pay home in 1998, 1997 and 1995. He has the most top-ten finishes (10) and finished third in the September race last year.

The two-timers list at New Hampshire includes Kurt Busch (2004), Jimmie Johnson (2003), Ryan Newman (2002 and 2005) and Tony Stewart (2000 and 2005).

The active drivers with one victory at New Hampshire are Kevin Harvick (2006), Kyle Busch (2006), Ward Burton (2002), Robby Gordon (2001), Dale Jarrett (2001), Joe Nemechek (1999) and Ricky Rudd (1994).

The top-five finishers of the 2006 July race at New Hampshire were Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Mark Martin and Kevin Harvick. Busch collected the bonus points for leading the most laps in the race. The No. 5 led 107 of the 308 laps in the race.

The other drivers leading more than a single lap of the race were Jeff Burton (37), Brian Vickers (34), Reed Sorenson (31), Tony Stewart (28), Greg Biffle (25), Clint Bowyer (23) and Ryan Newman (16).

There were 11 caution flag incidents and the race took just under three hours and 13 minutes to complete.

Ryan Newman was the Bud Pole Award winner with a lap of 129.683 miles-an-hour in time trials.

Bad Boys: The judicial hammer bonged down on Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson after their cars failed inspections at Sonoma. NASCAR officials made the teammates start at the rear of the field for the California race, but the real punishment came Tuesday.

Both teams have been fined $100,000 and they are having 100 points deducted from their driver and owner points.

The crew chiefs for the two Hendrick Racing teams have also been suspended for six races and placed on probation until the end of the year.

The official NASCAR charges were that both Gordon and Johnson’s cars “were found to be in violation of Sections 12-4-A (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4-Q (car, car parts, components and/or equipment used do not conform to NASCAR rules); 20-2.1E (parts or components of the car not previously approved by NASCAR that have been installed or modified to enhance aerodynamic performance will not be permitted); and 20-2H (fenders may not be cut or altered except for wheel or tire clearance which must be approved by the Series Director) of the 2007 NASCAR rule book.”

Craftsman Truck Series driver Ted Musgrave has been suspended for the race this weekend in Memphis. Musgrave is also losing 50 points for an on-track incident last weekend in Milwaukee.

Georgia Boys: Bill Elliott left California with the best results among the Georgia drivers. Elliott, who soon will call the Ballground area of Cherokee County home, started seventh and finished 19th in the road course race at Sonoma. It was Elliott’s fifth race this season in the No. 21 Ford.

Unadilla’s David Ragan stayed near the back of the pack most of the day. It was Ragan’s first road course race in a Nextel Cup machine. He finished 29th and he is ranked 25th in Nextel points heading to New Hampshire this weekend.

Ragan finished 12th in the Busch Series race at Milwaukee. He is ranked third on the Busch point chart.

Two other Georgia drivers ran the Wisconsin Busch event. Chase Miller, of Cherokee County, was back in a Ray Evernham-owned No. 9 for the event. Miller finished 17th in his third Busch race.

Gwinnett County’s Richard Johns smashed his fender up early, but was still able to finish 19th. Johns has only run four Busch races.

Reed Sorenson was one of the drivers that ran a little short on fuel in the Nextel Cup run. He was five laps behind when the checkered flag flew at Sonoma. The Peachtree City driver collected 40th-place pay. Reed holds down the 27th position in the Nextel point standings.

Bill Lester was the only Georgia driver in the Milwaukee truck race. The Cobb County resident started 22nd and finished 24th. Lester is listed 19th in the truck point standings.

Saturday’s Allan Vigil Ford 120 will air from 2:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. on Newstalk 750 WSB Radio and www.wsbradio.com. For more race information visit our Fastcar Newsdesk at www.captainherb.net.