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4/20/04......With the usual Easter lull in Cup racing behind us we should take a look at some of the news that's been buzzing around the Cup circuit for the past couple of weeks. One of the top stories touts Jimmy Spencer's return to the Cup Series driving the No. 4 Morgan McClure Chevrolet. The entry garnered sponsorship from Featherlite Inc. a company that has been selling transport trailers to NASCAR teams for several years.
Spencer finished 29th in his first outing in the No. 4 at Texas, and apparently it was good enough to appease both Morgan McClure and Featherlite because he was contracted to drive at Martinsville with the same sponsor. Another bit of news that some of you may have missed since the Easter holiday is the hiring of Bret Bodine as a special project engineer with NASCAR's Research and Development team in Concord, North Carolina. Bodine has a mechanical engineering degree from the State University of New York and will be working on cost cutting initiatives associated with future car design and rules packages. Bodine was one of the last owner/driver teams in Cup racing when his sponsor, the Hooters fast food restaurant chain, got out of racing due to the high cost demand that has driven many sponsors to other less costly divisions and leagues. He fielded the No. 11 Ford for many seasons, garnering one win in 480 starts in the Cup Series. Right before Easter, NASCAR announced its schedule for the end of season award ceremonies. The Cup Series banquet will once again be held at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. The TNT channel is scheduled to air the festivities live on the evening of December 3rd. The Busch Series banquet returns to the Portofino Bay Hotel in Orlando, Florida on December 10th and the Craftsman Truck Series will hold its banquet on November 20th at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel at Miami Beach, Florida. Starting times for these events will be announced at a later date. Rusty Wallace won his 55 career Cup Series race at Martinsville, his first victory since April of 2001. The 47-year-old former champion has been asked constantly by the media if he was ever going to win another race. Hopefully this victory and his decent record this season will quell the speculation. The amusing thing about the race that needs to be aired is Jeff Gordon's dissatisfaction with NASCAR officials and NASCAR President Mike Hilton. The old track surface at the Martinsville facility finally created a problem. A piece of the track came up near turn three and put a hole in the left front valance of Gordon's car. Go To Page: 1 2
The copyright of the article Rusty Wins Martinsville! in NASCAR is owned by Thomas M. Sampson. Permission to republish Rusty Wins Martinsville! in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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