Busch Wrapup for June 7, 2000
Well, racing season has been flying by at an amazingly fast pace. Can anyone believe it's June already? Personally, I'm still somewhat affected by Adam Petty's death. When an accident occurs at our local track, I think my heart's going to jump right out of my throat and fall to the ground. Being able to get in the car, week after week, is really a tribute to the talent, dedication, and professionalism of the racers. They know and accept the risks.
Anyway, several interesting tidbits have happened in the Busch series since my last wrapup.
As a native Buckeye, I was glad to see that Alumni Motorsports and the #0 Ohio State University Chevy picked a new driver, Lance Hooper. Did it HAVE to be someone from California, though? Just kidding. Anyway, it seems to be someone with a decent pedigree. Lance won the 1995 Featherlite Southwest Series, NASCAR Touring championship and the 1996 NASCAR Winston West Series crown. He is also quite familiar with Mike Steurer, the crew chief for the #0 team, since it's the same guy who helped him win those two championships! Lance feels good about his chances, saying, "Alumni stacks up with the best of 'em on that count. They've got an awesome engine program with Fischer Engineering, great chassis and body hangers. Mike Steurer and I have a history on the West Coast, winning two championships out there. I'm just real happy to be able to drive for Mike again and for Alumni Motorsports. It's a young team and all the owners are young. They're going to be excited and it's going to be great things to come." Here's the full story, http://www.nascar.com/news/2000/0602/100... Hooper qualified really well for the race at Dover, front row outside, but unfortunately got caught up in an accident. Look to him to have some solid top ten finishes later this year.
Now on to Cal Wells and his struggling drivers. I have sympathy for Scott Prutt and Anthony Lazzaro, I really do. I have NO sympathy for Wells, who thought he would bring in two open-wheel stars to show the stock car yokels how to drive. Come on, Cal, you knew it would be a steep learning curve for your two guys. They're both great drivers, but this is a whole new ballgame. It's like watching Jordan play baseball. He had flashes of great playing at times, but it just wasn't meant to be. Maybe Scott and Anthony will get enough experience and seat time to become true contenders. Oops, you fired Anthony, so I guess that's not entirely possible, is it?
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