NASCAR decision doesn't sit well

[Elwood]

NASCAR decision to shorten longest race doesn't sit well

 

By JENNA FRYER, AP Sports Writer

 

May 26, 2003

 

 

 

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) -- Ryan Newman stood in the garage, held out his hands and looked skyward. The rain had stopped, which made NASCAR's decision to halt the Coca-Cola 600 even more puzzling.

 

``It looks like it's stopped, and it's a 600-mile race, so it would seem to me we've got some more racing to do,'' Newman said. ``But I don't get to make calls like that so I guess we'll just go home with what we've got.''

 

What Newman got was a fifth-place finish in Sunday night's race, which was stopped after 276 laps and a brief, but heavy rain shower.

 

Jimmie Johnson was declared the winner after NASCAR called the race 186 miles before the finish, giving him a two-race sweep of the showcase events at Lowe's Motor Speedway. He also won The Winston on May 17, picking up a $1 million payday for that victory.

 

No one knows what might have happened had racing resumed.

 

Johnson thinks he was good enough to win -- no matter what.

 

``I don't want to say that we would have won, but we were going to be a contender regardless of what happened,'' Johnson said.

 

Maybe. Maybe not.

 

Perhaps Matt Kenseth would have given Roush Racing its fifth consecutive victory in the longest race of the season, which is considered one of the crown jewels on the NASCAR schedule.

 

Instead, Kenseth was credited with a second-place finish and went home disappointed he didn't get a chance to race for the win.

 

``I sure wish we would have waited it out a little bit and had a shot at it,'' Kenseth said. ``I'm real thankful and real grateful to finish second and to be with such a great race team, but the racer in me still wanted to race.

 

``I think for sure we had one of the three best cars out there and was counting on another 130 laps to try to have a chance at it.''

 

When NASCAR called the race, president Mike Helton said it would take three hours to dry the track. Plus, the weather radar showed more rain on the way.

 

But three hours after the decision, Johnson was still making the celebratory rounds through the corporate suites at Lowe's Motor Speedway and the rain had yet to return.

 

 

``Unfortunately in some deals, Mother Nature wins,'' Helton said. ``We did everything we could.''

 

That was up for debate among the teams.

 

The schedule for the Coca-Cola 600 is one of the more unique ones of the season. Qualifying is on Thursday and Winston Cup teams are not required to be at the race track on Friday, an extremely rare day off.

 

But it rained all day Thursday, and NASCAR sent the teams home with orders to come back Friday for a full work day. Early morning showers delayed the start of on-track activities on Friday, stretching qualifying day even further into the night.

 

So teams were puzzled when the sanctioning body quickly called an end to the actual race.

 

``I can't understand it,'' said Billy Wilburn, crew chief for Rusty Wallace. ``We can spend an extra day to get qualified, but we can't wait another 15 minutes to see if we can get this race in? I feel like I've been cheated.''

 

So did Robbie Reiser, Kenseth's crew chief, who thought they could challenge Johnson over the final stretch of the race.

 

``I'm kind of disappointed in NASCAR because I sat down here all day Friday trying to get these cars qualified in the rain,'' Reiser said. ``And now it isn't even raining and we called the race early. I don't think that's right.''

 

It's the second time this season NASCAR has been criticized for pulling the plug on one of its premier events. The season-opening Daytona 500 ended early, but it rained for almost two hours and showed little signs of letting up when the decision was made.

 

Michael Waltrip won that race, and had no qualms with the decision. He finished sixth on Sunday night and made a point to tell Johnson to enjoy the victory. But like everyone else, Waltrip wanted a chance to finish the race.

 

``I've kind of got the emotion that I'm geared up to run another couple hundred miles, you know?'' Waltrip said. ``I'm all fired up.''

 

In a way, it taints the effort of Johnson and his Hendrick Motorsports crew. He came from last in the field after changing his engine before the race, and his crew got him to the front with speedy work in the pits.

 

They think they would have stayed there, but will never really know.

 

``I'd almost rather go back and finish the race because this opens the win up to scrutiny,'' said crew chief Chad Knaus. ``We think the outcome would have been the same, that our car was only going to get better as the night went on.

 

``But no one will ever believe that.''

[JonesNTN]

The whole race sucked in my opinon. They might as well have called it!

[SilveradoWV]

It just seemed like something was influencing Nascars decision other than the rain, because they said a few times it was because the fans and police officers were probably tired or something and I had never heard that exuse before. I mean the fans paid $$$$ to get tickets and I am sure they didnt want it called off. So I have no idea why Nascar stopped it while they did.One time the announcers said something about drivers getting tired which was understandable but the post race interviews showed they werent ready to call it. The announcers showed on radar that it was clearing behind that storm then right after that Nascar said more rain was coming, I wonder how long after it stopped raining it really started again??? Just seems fishy to me to call a race like that.

[antig24]

I think they called it pretty early compared to normal, I was ready to stay up and watch the whole thing.

[LarryE]

not me I was fading fast when they called it

[General Lee 01]

Every fan in the stands booed when it was announced over the PA system that the race had been called, you can't tell me those fans were "tired".