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Sonoma.........


Winston Cup News.......... Hood Tethers

Last week I wrote about the hood tethers that were being tested at Pocono by the three models of racers. NASCAR had made them mandatory for the upcoming Daytona race next week, contradicting earlier reports that they would be mandatory for next season.

Wheel Tethers........

This week at Sonoma, another new innovation was tested. NASCAR is trying to guarantee that the front wheels of the racers won't fly off, so they came up with wheel tethers. I think they are trying to get ahead of the IRL and CART racers that seem to have a bigger problem with their wheels coming off, mainly because they are open wheel cars. In the past, the Winston Cup cars have had a wheel or two knocked off, but now as a general rule. The force that has knocked off these wheels was tremendous, and I don't think that a simple tether cable will work. If it will break the steel suspension parts, it will also break the small steel cable that is being used as a tether. I'll write more on this, as the news becomes available.

Pit Crew Helmets............

Mark Martins Valvoline crew were wearing helmets designed and donated by Bill Simpson. They have been designed not only for the safety of the crew member, but also for practical use. They have a large opening that will allow the crew member a usual field of vision, a visor to protect against sun glare, and a mouth covering with a speaker that not only works with the built in radio, but allows for the voice to be heard outside the helmet. This seems to be the only problem with it. The speaker in front of the mouth is rather large, restricting the crew members vision below him to the front, causing him to have to lower his head to see to change a tire. I think maybe they will be re-designed in the future to eliminate this problem. Word has it that next week in Daytona, Jeff Burton's crew will be trying them out.

Save Mart/Kragen 350................

What can I say? Jeff Gordon continues to amaze me. Stricken with the flu, sore throat, cold, laryngitis, and you name it, he managed to win his forth race of the season, the forty sixth of his career, and his forth consecutive road race, three from the pole. He's won from the pole at Sonoma for the second year in a row. Ernie Irvan won from the pole in '94, and Mark Martin won from the pole in '97. Gordon felt so bad that he wouldn't talk (or squeak) to his crew chief during the final laps of the race. He would key his mike to let Ray Everham know that he was hearing him. Not only is he the reining Winston Cup Champion, now he has the distinction of being Winston Cup's road racing champion, hands down, no questions asked. Anyone that can accomplish a feat like that while he is sick, certainly has my respect.
The copyright of the article Sonoma......... in NASCAR is owned by Thomas M. Sampson. Permission to republish Sonoma......... in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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