Snap-On stars put on a show

The first and perhaps only appearance of the Snap-On Stars of Karting in Carson City last Saturday was an interesting event.

I had been to parking-lot kart races before, but this one was for the best in the country. Drivers and teams came from California, Washington, Colorado, Texas, British Columbia, and as far away as Florida to compete. The races, six divisions in all, featured drivers from eight years of age to adult, and gave the many Carson City residents who attended a terrific show. Admission was free, and fans had any number of good vantage points around the tight, twisty course.

From the pits the view was almost surreal, with helmeted heads seemingly disembodied specters sailing this way and that above the hay bales that outlined the course. The speed and handling capabilities of these mini-rocket ships has to be seen to be believed. Next year's event is tentatively scheduled to take place at the Reno Hilton.

Our only local racer, Nick Halen, didn't fare well. His ICC 125cc shifter kart had power and handling problems from the get-go. He crashed in Saturday's last-chance qualifier, but made Sunday's race. He moved up several positions in the pre-final, but the kart still wasn't right. Too bad - it would have been nice to have a local boy on the victory podium.

As a Motorsports professional, I'm not supposed to have favorite drivers, but I was delighted to see Mark Martin win the Nextel Cup race at Dover last weekend after a 72-race losing streak. Mark has always been one of the truly nice guys in the sport, and should by rights have won at least two championships. I'm afraid that at this point in the twilight of his career a championship is a long shot, but it's nice to prove you can still win in the big leagues.

Lately I (and a lot of other folks) have questioned NASCAR's yellow flag procedures in Nextel Cup events. The 24-lap caution period at Dover last weekend, most of which was spent figuring out who should line up where after the field was frozen, brought the issue to the forefront. Surprisingly, NASCAR finally took heed and announced changes in some of its timing and scoring procedures, effective today at Pocono.

The goal is to simplify things so that the competitors and fans can understand them without resorting to spreadsheets and pie charts. As of today, NASCAR will rely solely on the electronic signals recorded as the cars pass the timing loops and their transponders trigger the loop. The car will be positioned where it was in the field as it passed the timing loop prior to the caution.

No additional visual aids such as video will be used, except in the closing laps of the race if an incident occurs in the "no red flag zonea" typically five laps from the scheduled distance. Past that point NASCAR will not wave a red flag to ensure a green-flag finish beyond which the race will end under caution. OK, that's as simple as it gets.

"If we feel like we need additional loops for the credibility of freezing fields, we'll do that," said NASCAR President Mike Helton. "We put in nearly $1 million over the winter in this current system buying decoders, installing loops, adding more personnel to the timing and scoring staff."

Also, the procedure to move the first lap-down car (the so-called "lucky dog") onto the lead lap will take place immediately, not at the end of the caution period. This is expected to shorten each caution period by one lap.

Rookie Kasey Kahne is on the pole for today's Nextel Cup race at Pocono. This young man won't be denied his first Cup victory for long.

Speaking of poles, Dario Franchitti will start from that spot in today's IRL race at Texas Motor Speedway. Franchitti's Honda-powered Andretti Green Racing entry led Honda to sweep the top five qualifying spots, two of the others going to his teammates Tony Kanaan and Brian Herta. With the new 3.0 liter engine spec, speeds were down dramatically from last year at TMS. Franchitti's qualifying speed was a mere 209.699 miles per hour.

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