NASCAR/WoO: Dodge, Mopar Racing Seasons Build Momentum
Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
LAS VEGAS,- The Dodge entries will be out to build on their
early success in NASCAR Winston Cup and Craftsman Truck Series racing this
weekend as the Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series continues with its first
televised race of the year.
Events scheduled for this weekend with Dodge- and Mopar-backed entries are:
* Thursday, Friday and Saturday, March 1-3 - The 2001 Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series continues with the Silver State Shootout at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
* Sunday, March 4 - The Florida Dodge Dealers 400, second event of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, takes place at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida.
* Sunday, March 4 - The UAW DaimlerChrysler 400, third event of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, takes place at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
* Sunday, March 4 - The World of Outlaws returns to California to run last weekend's rained-out race at Perris Auto Speedway. NASCAR Winston Cup The Dodge team will try to build on the success it enjoyed in the first two races of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. So far, Dodge has five top-10 finishes, a driver who is second in the championship standings (Sterling Marlin) and another with the most points for the Rookie of the Year Award (Casey Atwood). The Dodge drivers and their crews will have their work cut out for them because they'll find themselves wheeling and dealing with yet another type of racetrack this weekend. Las Vegas Motor Speedway - the venue for the UAW DaimlerChrysler 400 - is a 1.5-mile track. That's shorter than Daytona at 2.5 miles, and longer than Rockingham at 1.017 miles, but it is clearly the flattest track of the three. Daytona has banking of 31 degrees, and Rockingham a little less with 22. Las Vegas is a relatively flat 12 degrees. The drivers and Dodge engineers are confident they'll do well. Their reasoning? Las Vegas Motor Speedway is one of the tracks the Dodge team used for off-season testing while developing the Dodge Intrepid R/T race car, and they also used Kentucky Speedway for a lot of testing and the new track is similar to Las Vegas.
"Las Vegas will be a good test for Dodge to see where we stand with the body, engine, downforce and balance," says Dave Blaney, driver of the No. 93 Amoco Ultimate Dodge Intrepid R/T. "All of those things will show up at Las Vegas. This will be the first real good test for the downforce cars."
One Dodge driver who knows his way around the speedway in Las Vegas is Stacy Compton, driver of the No. 92 Kodiak Dodge Intrepid R/T. Compton set the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series qualifying record at Las Vegas, driving his Dodge Ram truck at a one-lap speed of 161.803 miles per hour on November 23, 1999.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
The race at Homestead-Miami Speedway opens a new chapter in the history of Dodge racing engines. The Florida Dodge Dealers 400 will be the first truck race for engines based on the new power plant developed for Winston Cup racing. Dodge engineers and the race teams have high hopes for the engine, based on extensive testing with no failures of Dodge-supplied parts.
Joe Ruttman will no doubt be pleased if he just matches his performance during the first race of the season. After all, it's hard to top winning the pole and the race. Naturally, he is also at the top of the points race after the first race of the season.
Ruttman will have another edge riding along with him in the No. 18 Dana Dodge - he holds the race record. He set the record on Nov. 9, 1997, when he won with an average speed of 125.849 miles per hour. He also won two poles for races at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Ruttman's Bobby Hamilton Racing teammate Willy T. Ribbs, on the other hand, has nowhere to go but up. After qualifying a very respectable third on the grid at Daytona, his No. 8 Dodge Ram encountered electrical problems on the first lap of the race. Not long after the crew fixed that problem, the transmission went haywire. Ribbs soldiered on, but finished a disappointing 23rd.
World of Outlaws
The Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series will start the weekend with the Silver State Shootout on Las Vegas Motor Speedway's dirt oval. The event starts Thursday and runs through Saturday.
The Sprint Car Network will broadcast the entire event live. The Thursday
and Saturday broadcasts will begin at 9 p.m. eastern time, with Friday's
show starting at 8 p.m. Fans living outside SCN radio affiliate areas can
listen to the broadcasts via the Internet at:
The Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series will return to Lake Perris, Calif.,
Sunday evening to run the event originally scheduled for last Saturday at
Perris Auto Speedway. Rain forced officials to postpone the race until
Sunday, and the weather didn't improve so the event was delayed a week.
Text Provided By Molly Morter
Editors Note: To view hundreds of hot racing photos and art, visit
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Visions of Speed Art Gallery.