| | HAMPTON, Ga. -- Dale Jarrett, the pole-sitter for Sunday's Cracker Barrel 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, had a rare bad race.
In fact, when the engine in his Robert Yates Racing Ford blew on lap 260 in the 325-lap event and finished 36th. It was the first time in 37 races -- dating to the 1999 season-opening Daytona 500 -- that Jarrett failed to finish.
The defending Winston Cup champion said, "We had a Monday on Sunday. It was one of those bad days. Nothing went right and something finally happened in the engine compartment. It just started off bad and got worse."
Jarrett ran among the leaders until he collided with rookie Stacy Compton during the first pit stops.
"He cut right across in front of me and I couldn't miss him," Jarrett said.
The crash was hard enough to turn Compton's car around and do some severe damage to the front of Jarrett's Taurus.
He came out of the pits 40th among the 43 starters and slowly worked his way back toward the front. He was running 25th when his engine went.
"These guys have done a fantastic job; they always do," Jarrett said. "Unfortunately, things are going to happen some days."
Pit dangers
Two crewmen were injured in separate accidents on pit road Sunday.
A car ran over the right ankle of Michael Cooper, jackman for Ken Schrader, during an early pit stop. Cooper was driven to a nearby hospital for precautionary X-rays, where the injury was diagnosed as a sprained ankle.
Late in the race, Joe Ward, gasman for Ted Musgrave, was taken to the infield care center for observation after being engulfed in flames when a gas can caught fire. Tracks officials said Ward had inhaled some fumes but was awake and alert.
Jim Long, crew chief for Musgrave, subbing for injured Geoffrey Bodine, said, "A spark from a lugnut started the first. The gasman and the catch man (Jimmy Penland) caught fire, but NASCAR does a real good job making us wear safety suits.
"They didn't have on helmets, but I think they will next time. Ward didn't get burned. He just swallowed a mess of fire extinguisher and they're flushing him out."
Team points
Ray Evernham, heading up Dodge's return to Winston Cup racing in 2001, said Sunday an added benefit of his hiring of Bill Elliott as the first of his two drivers was that the veteran driver will bring along his team points.
"That's one of the reasons why we've got to work real hard to help Bill and make sure he finishes in the top 25 this year," said Evernham, who announced his deal with Elliott on Friday.
Elliott is a team owner, but has sold the assets to Evernham,
who will also start a second team from scratch.
Team points from the previous year are valuable because they determine provisional starters -- positions 37-43 -- for the first six races of each new season.
Elliott finished 10th Sunday -- his third top-10 this year -- and is fourth in points.
First visit
Retired Gen. Colin Powell, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, brought his two grandsons, ages 5 and 11, along for his assignment Sunday as grand marshal of the Cracker Barrel 500.
"It's my first NASCAR race in person and the first race for my grandsons," the smiling Powell said. "It was also the first helicopter ride for the boys and their mouths have been wide open all morning."
As grand marshal, Powell waved the green flag for the start of the 500-mile race.
"It's a heck of a lot faster, louder and more exciting than watching it on TV," he said.
Back to the tunnel
In its ongoing effort to stay on top of the aerodynamic situation in its top division, NASCAR impounded the Chevrolet of Mike Skinner, the Pontiac of Bobby Labonte and the Ford of Mark Martin for a trip to the wind tunnel in Marietta, Ga., on Monday.
It is the third time this season the sanctioning body has taken a car from each of its competing makes to the Lockheed wind tunnel to gather data.
The first two trips' results allowed Chevrolet to extend the
front air dam on their new Monte Carlos two inches in front of the
bumper before the Atlanta race.
Skinner's car led 191 laps before its engine blew with 20 laps
to go. Labonte finished less than two feet behind winner Dale
Earnhardt and Martin was third.
Spark plugs ...
Runnerup Bobby Labonte, who came in the race with a four-point lead over Jarrett in the standings, leads third-place finisher Mark Martin by 18 and race winner Dale Earnhardt by 68. Jarrett fell to sixth, 119 points behind. ... Earnhardt's victory was the first by a Chevrolet driver this year. ... Tony Stewart,
last year's top rookie and Labonte's teammate, was shaken up in a
crash. He was briefly kept in the infield care center for
observation before being released. ... Rookie Matt Kenseth, making
his 10th start, took the first lead of his Winston Cup career on
lap six. ... Steve Park's fourth-place finish bettered his previous
career best sixth in June 1999 at Michigan Speedway. ... Dave
Blaney in 20th was the highest finishing rookie for the first time
this season.
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