Mid-June Racing

"The Kid" won the pole, but watch out for Rusty Wallace, and Jeremy Mayfield. I wonder who will wreck Gordon today in practice, so he has to use a backup car, and be relegated to the back of the field? Pole qualifying speeds are one thing, and racing speeds are another. I was timing the drivers last July, and the leaders were consistant with speeds near the mid 150's, a far cry from the 168 qualifying speed. The three turns at Pocono are all different, and don't leave any room for mistakes, plus the extra shifting that a lot of drivers have to do, if they use a Jerico transmission for the overdrive that checks their RPM's on the long straight stretches. All of this makes for a "drivers" race, much different than the easy tracks where they put the "pedal to the metal", and just fly around the track.

While watching TNN before the Michigan race, I was reminded how competitive these NASCAR races are. Four drivers had to load up and go home, because they didn't qualify, and weren't high enough on the list for a provisional. Todd Bodine, has had a hard time qualifying for his new Tabasco team this year, missing quite a few races. Dave Marcus has also missed races, including this one. Derrick Cope had to go home, and Tony Raines is 0 for 3 in attempting to qualify for a Winston Cup race.

Todd Bodine is a perfect example of a successful Champion Busch-series driver that hasn't been able to get a handle on Winston Cup. It's doubtful that Tabasco will stay with him through the entire season, if he continues to miss races. Finishing last is one thing, but if the car doesn't make the race, the sponsor doesn't get its fulfillment of advertising, because the car isn't on the track where millions of people will see it.

David Green lost his driving position with the # 96 Caterpillar team. Hut Strickland, former driver for the # 8 Circuit City team, was in the car for the Michigan race. Circuit City pulled sponsorship of the #8 Stavola Brothers car, after the race.

The fast paced race went to lap 113 before a caution was called for debris on the track. Jeff Gordon complained that he saw a couple of drivers throw objects out of their cars. Race officials took the debris to their trailer, and the interiors of three cars were checked after the race. There were only 12 cars on the lead lap at that time, with Jeff Gordon commanding the race, with Dale Jarrett, Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, and Bill Elliott in the lead pack. The race restarted at lap 124 of the 200-lap race. Right after that, Hut Strickland spun out and hit the wall, after being bumped by Jerry Nadeau, bringing out the second caution. Mark Martin took the lead at lap 149, and was the strongest car on the track. Martin came out first after pit stops on lap 182, and went on to win the 26th Winston Cup race of his career, along with $92,375. It was Martin's 4th win of the '98 season.

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