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Atlanta, Race 4


The Dodge boys, the Monte Carlo gets help, empty seats, and the Cracker Barrel 500 from Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton, GA.





The Dodge Boys..... Coming in 2001

Ray Evernham has revealed one of his drivers for his two car Dodge team in 2001. Bill Elliott will drive the No. 9 entry. The driver for Evernham's No. 19 entry will be announced at a later date. Elliott will be reunited with his old car number that he had when he won the championship with Melling Racing. Elliott hasn't won a race since '94, but has won the "Most Popular Driver" honors in Winston Cup for 14 years straight. If Evernham was going for experience, he certainly got that in Elliott.

Evernham has also bought out Elliott's team. Elliott has been looking for a buyer for quite some time. The new computer technology that has become commonplace with wealthier multi-car teams, was out of his reach as a single car operation. He was at a disadvantage, and was struggling to keep up the best way he could. This move will free his concentration to drive the racecar, without having to worry about the business end of team ownership.

Also fielding Dodges next season will be Bill Davis Racing. This isn't much of a surprise. Davis built a prototype Dodge Intrepid racecar last year to get the feel of it, and insiders speculated he would switch to Dodge when the time was right. Ward Burton and Dave Blaney will be the drivers for Davis's two car operation.

Petty Enterprises is slated to field three Dodges next season, and will be driven by John Andretti, Kyle Petty, and Adam Petty. These proposed moves will put seven Dodges on the track for next season's Daytona 500. There could be more additions to the Dodge camp as this season continues.





Monte Carlo Gets Two Inches........ Under Front Bumper

The key phrase here is "under front bumper." The Monte Carlo didn't get a two inch extension of the nose, like teams wanted to help balance the racecar. They got a two inch extension of the front valance, "below the bumper." The rules change put into force last Monday by NASCAR is getting mixed reactions from Monte Carlo teams.

Now some of them are complaining they will have to start from scratch to achieve a mechanical balance to coincide with the aero balance. Well, the way I see it, it's a forgone conclusion. The Monte Carlo teams started the season playing "catch-up" with the Taurus and Grand Prix. They aren't in a much better position now than they were at Daytona, but at least now they will have something more equal to work with in trying to set up their racecars to be competitive.
The copyright of the article Atlanta, Race 4 in NASCAR is owned by Thomas M. Sampson. Permission to republish Atlanta, Race 4 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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