| | Associated Press
CONCORD, N.C. -- NASCAR officials upheld Matt Kenseth's
victory in the All Pro Bumper to Bumper 300 after finding nothing
illegal with his engine.
The engine of Kenseth's Chevrolet was impounded following
Saturday's Busch race because it failed to meet several
specifications during the post race inspection.
After testing the engine again on Sunday morning, NASCAR ruled
it was legal.
"It's not uncommon for us to keep a motor and try again so that
we can be absolutely certain," said Mike Helton, NASCAR's senior
vice president and chief operating officer.
"In the case of the No. 17 car yesterday, it was very close to
not being the right dimensions," he said. "But we checked it
again this morning and it passed inspection."
Kenseth won the race, his second consecutive Busch series
victory, when leader Joe Nemechek ran out of gas with two laps to
go.
On Sunday, Kenseth finished ninth in the UAW-GM Quality 500.
"I was real happy with the outcome of the Winston Cup part of
the weekend," he said. "We haven't run as good lately as we did
earlier in the year. It was a good weekend. It was a little
stressful for us earlier today until we got that Busch situation
settled."
Battle lines
Lowe's Motor Speedway Chairman Bruton Smith said
he was "terribly disappointed" that Sunday's race had to compete
with the Carolina Panthers' home game to attract fans.
The race started at 1:10 p.m. and drew approximately 125,000
fans, far below the capacity of 167,000. The Panthers, meanwhile,
kicked off at 4:15 p.m. against the Seattle Seahawks in downtown
Charlotte.
"I think that's part of it," Smith said. "I'll bet they'll
have an awful lot of empty seats."
Attendance for the Seahawks-Panthers game was estimated at
50,000 in the 72,000-seat Ericsson Stadium.
The Panthers might not have been the only thing taking a bite
out of the race attendance. It was 48 degrees when the race began,
chilly by NASCAR's warm-weather standards.
Smith said Panthers owner Jerry Richardson had assured him that
the Panthers would not have a home game scheduled on the same day
as the annual October race in Concord.
"Next year, if this happens again, we'll have a game plan,"
Smith said. "We'll go ahead and draw the battle lines and see what
we can do."
No storybook ending
Darrell Waltrip's final race at Lowe's Motor Speedway was a brief one.
During the day's third caution, Waltrip pulled his No. 66 car
into the pits and got out, complaining of numbness in one hand and
a shoulder injury suffered in a wreck during Saturday's final
practice. Todd Bodine drove the car the rest of the way.
It was an unceremonious end for Waltrip, tied with Bobby Allison
as the track's winningest driver with six victories.
"I just wasn't comfortable in the car and this was a good
opportunity to get out and let Todd get in, so I felt I better take
advantage of that now and not do it under a green," Waltrip said.
"I thought I was all right, but my hand keeps going to sleep and I
can't drive with one hand. I'm pretty good, but I ain't that
good."
Bodine, who drives full-time on the Busch Series, drove the car
to a 30th-place finish. He will take over the No. 66 car next year.
Bad luck for teammates
Jerry Nadeau's crew shared some setup advice with Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon before
qualifying for Sunday's race. Gordon responded by taking the pole while Nadeau qualified third.
On Sunday, however, they shared bad luck. They were involved in
separate accidents in the first half of the race that took them out
of contention early.
Nadeau was involved in a two-car accident with Robert Pressley
in turn four on lap 145. He returned to the race but finished 36th.
Gordon, meanwhile, fell out of contention when he was involved
in a five-car accident in turn four of lap 160. The wreck started
when Rusty Wallace and Dale Jarrett tangled, sending Jarrett
spinning through the turn. Gordon smacked into Jarrett's No. 88
car, mangling the front end of the No. 24.
Gordon tried to return to the race -- sans a hood and front
bumper -- but called it a day around lap 235.
Extra motivation
Jimmy Makar, crew chief for UAW-GM Quality 500 winner Bobby Labonte, received quite a surprise Saturday night.
After making an appearance at a promotional event at the track,
Makar returned to the parking lot and found that his truck had been
towed to make way for track workers to set up a promotional tent.
Makar was irked, giving the team incentive to even the score by
taking the race promoter's prize money.
"That's one reason why we won," Labonte said. "We had some
motivation to win, because this was one hot man."
Track officials apologized to Makar and handed him an infield
parking permit designated for past race champions.
"I'm not saying you'll never get towed again," track spokesman
Jerry Gappens told him. "But by gosh, your chances are better."
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ALSO SEE
Pit strategy helps Labonte to UAW-GM Quality 500 win
UAW-GM Quality 500 Results
Kenseth wins Bumper to Bumper; NASCAR clears engine
All Pro Bumper to Bumper 300 results
Tire shortage shackles weekend's Cup, Busch races at Lowe's
Kenseth takes pole for Busch race at Charlotte
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