Junior off to a fast start

By Roger Diez

Well, the 2004 racing season is underway, with Championship heir apparent Dale Earnhardt, Jr. atop the Nextel Cup standings after Daytona.

Junior had one heck of a weekend, winning not only the 500, but also one of the 125s and the rain-delayed Busch race. He's also qualified in the top 10 for today's Rockingham round, but pole sitter Ryan Newman has served notice that he's going to carry last year's momentum into 2004, at least on non-restrictor-plate tracks. Although NBC is covering the first half of the season, the somewhat more bombastic FOX crew is covering qualifying on SPEED Channel. Anchor Mike Joy made the perfect call during qualifying Friday, calling the show "NASCAR's Premier Division" rather than risk saying "Winston Cup" instead of "Nextel Cup." My son called me during the show and asked whether I knew if the sports books had a line on how many times the announcers would say "Winston Cup" this season. I'm going to have to ask Joe Ellison what the "over" and "under" is on that bet.

With the bankruptcy settlement awarding Champ Cars' assets to the new Open Wheel Racing Series (OWRS), the conflict in American open-wheel racing continues. OWRS held a press conference at Long Beach last week, a venue that Indy Racing League (IRL) Czar Tony George very much wanted to add to his series' schedule as the IRL prepares to add road racing to its repertoire. I find it interesting that every one of the principles on which the IRL was founded (oval-only races, American drivers from sprint and midget series, no engine leasing, etc.) have gone by the wayside in George's drive to control open wheel racing in this country. Well, they DO put on exciting races, I'll give them that. Now if they could only stop killing and maiming their drivers. . . .

OWRS announced a number of rule changes at Long Beach, in the interests of safety and enhanced competition. The mandatory pit-stop rule has been modified to allow teams more strategy in their race plans. A revised point system awards points for leading a race lap, making the pit stop cycling even more important. More stringent safety rules have been implemented, including penalties for drivers causing an avoidable incident. Blocking and failure to yield while being lapped will be greeted with a stop and go penalty, with stewards given much more power to assess penalties during the race. Finally, teams are prohibited from scrambling their radio transmissions during a race weekend, giving fans with scanners much better insight into race strategy between the teams and drivers.

The Karson Kart Kids (my term) have been tearing up the track in California this winter, both in Chico and Red Bluff. Young Zachary Heinz is very much in the hunt for the Box Stock division championship at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico. He scored a wire-to-wire victory last weekend, and currently sits third in points, only twenty behind the leader, with three races to go. With a max of 60 points available each race, Heinz has a realistic chance to take home the gold.

At Red Bluff, little Kellcy Bell has a 15 point lead in the Beginner Box Stock division with only last night's race left on the schedule (results weren't available at press time). Last weekend she scored her 11th fast qualifying time out of 13 races, won the dash and her heat, and was going for the A main lead when she flipped the kart. She recovered to finish fourth and hang onto her points lead. Big Sister Mackena did double duty, winning her 125cc heat and finishing fifth in the A main. She then qualified in the top half of the field for the Intermediate Open division, took second in her heat, and finished seventh in the A main.

Many of the Karson Karters will be running for the prestigious QRC All-Star Tour next year. Among its many stops, this premier touring series for Outlaw Karts will make a visit to Thunder Bowl Speedway in Mound House on Labor Day weekend. Put that date on your calendar, because it will be a terrific event, with upwards of 200 karts and lots of racing action.

Roger Diez is the Nevada Appeal Motorsports Columnist. Contact him at editor@nevadaappeal.com.