Chevrolet: Vegas Notes & Quotes
March 7, 2004
NASCAR NEXTEL CUP SERIES
UAW-DAIMLER CHRYSLER 400 RACE NOTES
LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
Kenseth Wins Again In Vegas
March 7, 2004
Defending NEXTEL Cup champion Matt Kenseth cruised to his second straight Cup victory Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Coming back to the schene of his only win in his 2003 championship season, Kenseth already had one victory under his belt in 2004. Now he has another. This was also the second week in a row that rookie Kasey Kahne came across the line second behind Matt. However this week was not the photo finish that Rockingham produced.
NASCAR.com: Kenseth snags second Cup victory in a row
ThatsRacin.com: Kenseth wins at Las Vegas, his 2nd straight in 2004
NASCAR.com: Race Results
Panic In F1 Teams?
March 7, 2004
Much was made this past winter over the differing car designs by the big four of F1; Ferrari, McLaren, Willams, and Renault. Williams and McLaren opted for the “revolutionary” approach; Williams with its tusked nose and McLaren with its needle nose design approaches. Ferrari and Renault chose to evolve their designs from last year, improving their aero bits and working on the new drive train packages and chasis designs.
Based on the above, all the insiders of the sport practically wrote off Renault and Ferrari and handed the crown to Montoya, Ralf or Kimi. Not to mention the prediction of the demise of Michael Schumacher. After the season opener in Melbourne, I think all those predictons aren’t worth the crumpled paper they were written on.
It’s the Coverage, Stupid!
March 7, 2004
Well, the Australian Grand Prix is over, and once again I have to face ridicule from people like Dushyanth, who ask:
“Why do you watch this “sport”? All they do is go round and round in circles, and in the end Schumacher wins.”
As time goes by, I have fewer and fewer answers to that question. But instead of talking about Formula 1 as a sport, let’s discuss it as a media event.
Ferrari Dominate Australian Grand Prix
March 7, 2004
All of the pre-season hopes for the F1 also-rans came screeching to a halt with weekend in Melbourne as Ferrari were up to their old tricks. The Maranello super team of Schumacher and Barrichello dominated qualifying and the race this weekend in Australia. Schumacher won the race and Barrichello brought the other Ferrari home a mere 13.60 seconds behind.
F1-Live.com: Schumi dominates in Australia!
F1Racing.net: Race Results
Motorsport.com: Dominant Australian GP win for Schuamcher
Densham Bumps Force; Grubnic, Anderson maintain leads
March 6, 2004
Gary Densham grabbed the number 1 Funny Car slot in Saturday qualifying for the Checker Schuck’s Kragen NHRA Nationals. He stole it away from his boss John Force. In Top Fuel and Pro Stock, Friday leaders Dave Grubnic and Greg Anderson stayed on top. The hot track wasn’t as kind to current Funny Car points leader Jerry Toliver, who failed to qualify for this event after winning the season-opener last Sunday…
NHRA.com: Saturday Recap
Top Fuel Ladder
Funny Car Ladder
Pro-Stock
Schumacher Tops Ferrari 1-2 Qualifying Effort In Australia
March 6, 2004
Following their domination of both practice sessions Ferrari have captured the top two qualifying spots for this Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix. This is in stark contrast to the McLaren disaster that will see Kimi starting 10th and David starting 12th on the grid. David made a major mistake during his run, furthering the notion that he is incapable of a good result in this “flying lap” qualifying format.
Grubnic, Force, Anderson Earn Top Qualfiying Spots At Check Schuck’s Kragen Nationals
March 6, 2004
CHANDLER, Ariz. - Australian David Grubnic paced the Top Fuel category Friday, running a career-best time to earn the provisional No. 1 qualifying spot at the 20th annual Checker Schuck’s Kragen NHRA Nationals at Firebird International Raceway. Grubnic used a track-record time of 4.486 seconds at 324.51 mph in his Kalitta Air dragster to lead the Top Fuel class. The last time Grubnic was the No. 1 qualifier was at Memphis in 1999.
John Force and Greg Anderson also led their respective categories at the $1.8 million race, the second of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.
NHRA.com: Friday Recap
Kasey Kahne - Pole Sitter’s Interview
March 6, 2004
Rookie Kasey Kahne led the way as three Evernham Motorsports Dodges qualified in the top 10 and three other Dodge drivers nailed down top-10 starting spots for Sunday’s race.
“It was a good lap. We took off out of the pits and got real loose. That killed my first lap. I didn’t drive it where it needed to be. The second lap really felt good. It felt a little bit better than practice. It’s a great deal to sit on the pole here at Las Vegas as a rookie. Our sponsor, UAW, is sponsoring the race, so it’s great to sit on the pole.
Hot Rookie Kahne On Pole In Vegas
March 5, 2004
The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup rookie that came up with a second place finish in his second race two weeks ago at Rockingham has delivered again. Kasey Kahne’s lap of 174. 904 mph was enough to earn the Nextel Cup rookie his first Bud Pole on Friday. Kahne will be joined in the front row by Las Vegas native Kurt Busch in the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 on Sunday.
NASCAR.com: Rookie Kahne gets first Cup pole with record run
ThatsRacin.com: Kahne, other rookies rack up in Cup qualifying at Las Vegas
NASCAR.com: Race Lineup