7/1... ------------------------------------------------------ Pos Car Driver Make Time Speed ------------------------------------------------------ 1 42 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 46.187 194.860 2 10 Ricky Rudd Ford 46.255 194.574 3 6 Mark Martin Ford 46.302 194.376 4 97 Chad Little Ford 46.466 193.690 5 2 Rusty Wallace Ford 46.467 193.686 6 20 Tony Stewart Pontiac 46.473 193.661 7 40 Sterling Marlin Chevrolet 46.523 193.453 8 31 Mike Skinner Chevrolet 46.570 193.257 9 18 Bobby Labonte Pontiac 46.578 193.224 10 3 Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet 46.606 193.108 11 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 46.619 193.054 12 88 Dale Jarrett Ford 46.711 192.674 13 7 Michael Waltrip Chevrolet 46.793 192.336 14 94 Bill Elliott Ford 46.795 192.328 15 25 Wally Dallenbach Chevrolet 46.801 192.304 16 9 Jerry Nadeau Ford 46.812 192.258 17 23 Jimmy Spencer Ford 46.849 192.107 18 4 Bobby Hamilton Chevrolet 46.863 192.049 19 43 John Andretti Pontiac 46.868 192.029 20 12 Jeremy Mayfield Ford 46.891 191.934 21 60 Geoffrey Bodine Chevrolet 46.912 191.849 22 71 Dave Marcis Chevrolet 46.944 191.718 23 00 Buckshot Jones Pontiac 46.953 191.681 24 28 Kenny Irwin Ford 46.994 191.514 25 22 Ward Burton Pontiac 47.009 191.453 26 45 Rich Bickle Pontiac 47.018 191.416 27 41 David Green Chevrolet 47.048 191.294 28 55 Kenny Wallace Chevrolet 47.123 190.990 29 21 Elliott Sadler Ford 47.128 190.969 30 58 Loy Allen Ford 47.141 190.917 31 16 Kevin Lepage Ford 47.145 190.900 32 36 Ernie Irvan Pontiac 47.149 190.884 33 26 Johnny Benson Ford 47.185 190.739 34 66 Darrell Waltrip Ford 47.249 190.480 35 33 Ken Schrader Chevrolet 47.309 190.239 36 91 Hut Stricklin Chevrolet 47.398 189.881 37 30 Derrike Cope Pontiac 47.419 189.797 38 98 Rick Mast Ford 47.451 189.669 39 5 Terry Labonte Chevrolet 47.534 189.338 40 50 Ricky Craven Chevrolet 47.565 189.215 41 11 Brett Bodine Ford 47.644 188.901 42 84 Ken Bouchard Chevrolet 47.737 188.533 43 77 Robert Pressley Ford 47.935 187.754 44 1 Steve Park Chevrolet 48.293 186.362 45 75 Ted Musgrave Ford 48.426 185.851 46 44 Kyle Petty Pontiac 48.612 185.139 47 90 Stanton Barrett Ford 48.754 184.600 48 99 Jeff Burton Ford 00.000 0.000 Tide leaves Rudd: Procter & Gamble, Tide Brand informed Rudd Performance Motorsports (RPM) today that they have pursued other sponsorship opportunities for the year 2000. RPM has several options regarding sponsorship for the future that may encompass a multi-car situation. An expected announcement is scheduled to be released within the next month(RPM PR), hearing that Tide may be the sponsor for Larry McReynolds Cup team if that all works out. Sears Point Out? Hearing many RUMORS from good sources that Sunday's race at Sears Point could be the last one at the track. Two reason's have been sited, 1) Bruton Smith wants a 2nd race date at both Las Vegas and Texas and may move the date to either and 2) the lack of garage space, poor pits, and trouble getting improvements approved by the local government. Plus NASCAR wants improvements, see the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat article: Sears Pointt conditions upset race official, the official being Mike Helton, NASCAR'S senior vice president and chief operating officer. Some interesting comments in the story(6-29-1999) #28 News: Car owner Robert Yates appears closer to making a decision about the Kenny Irwin-Texaco team. Yates put the entire team on notice before the Coca-Cola 600 that he wanted to see better results. Since then, there has been marked improvement, with a 15th in the Coca-Cola, 10th at Dover, 11th at Michigan, 18th at Pocono and 22nd Sunday, at Sears Point. It is not clear if the improvements have been enough to satisfy Yates, who -- according to sources close to the team -- has been given the green light by Texaco to consider his options. However, despite reports that Yates is interested in hiring Terry Labonte, John Hendrick says that Labonte has assured him he plans to stay with Hendrick Motorsports Rudd/Ganassi?? A few weeks ago I reported on the possibility of CART team owner Chip Ganassi buying or buying into Ricky Rudd's #10 team. All reports were that this was false. Well, today on TNN's Raceday, it was reported that Tide should announce their 2000 sponsorship plans within the next week, and whatever that decision is will decide Rudd's plans for his team, whether to sell it, bring in a partner, merge with an existing team or start a 2nd team. It was also noted that Ganassi was a possible buyer (Raceday) Labonte Rumors, Terry that is: getting many rumors that Terry Labonte and Kelloggs would leave Hendrick after the 1999 season and move to Yates in the #28. But a story in this weeks Winston Cup Scene dispells that rumor as well as an article on SpeedVision. It says in part - Both Wally Dallenbach andTerry Labonte have been linked with potential deals. But Hendrick feels the best way to dispel the accusations is to improve the infrastructure. John Hendrick said. "I went straight to Terry and I said, 'Hey, is there anything going on and what can we do to help you?' And he told me he's perfectly happy at Hendrick Motorsports and plans to retire here. I know he's a man of his word, so we're glad to hear that because Terry's a class act and an asset to Winston Cup." The team also added some extra help(6-26-1999) Yet to win: Bobby Hamilton, Jeremy Mayfield and Ricky Rudd are the only drivers who earned victories in 1998 who have not been to Victory Lane in 1999 McReynolds to TV? "According to an interview published in this week's Winston Cup Scene, Larry McReynolds says if he can not find a sponsor for his new team, he will re-evaluate his career and perhaps stop being an active crew chief to become a network commentator on TNN." Skoal Gone, Official: U.S. Tobacco Co. announced today that it will not renew its Skoal Racing team sponsorship of Andy Petree Racing for the year 2000. The release says the difficult decision was made after much deliberation, including consideration of the Company's compliance obligations under the Smokeless Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement signed last year and that UST will not forget the loyalty and support that we have garnered among racing fans over the years. UST began its association with NASCAR in 1981 with the Skoal Bandit Racing sponsorship of Hal Needham and Burt Reynold's race team with veteran driver Harry Gant(PR)(6-30-1999) Nemechek Colors: The #42 BellSouth Chevy, driven by Joe Nemechek, will be sporting an impressive new car design featuring the BellSouth® Prepaid Phone card. His familiar blue and neon-stripped Chevrolet is being replaced with a new purple, red and white design for the Daytona night race(BellSouth PR)(6-30-1999) new Pepsi/Gordon spot: Pepsi will debut the latest commercial in its "The Joy of Cola" advertising campaign during Saturday's Pepsi 400 on CBS. The new spot, called "Finish Line," features Jeff Gordon and Hallie Eisenberg, the popular "Little Girl" character who goes to great lengths for her love of Pepsi. In the spot, a thirsty Jeff Gordon -- racing in his #24 Pepsi Chevy -- can't stop thinking about the ice-cold Pepsi waiting for him at the finish line if he wins. As his crew chief repeatedly reminds him of the tempting prize, Gordon weaves his way to the front of the pack -- until a surprising late entry into the race beats him to victory lane(Yahoo/PRNewswire)(6-30-1999) Stocks, not the cars and #58: StockCar Stocks Index Fund the only NASCAR-related mutual fund, will be using the famed Daytona Speedway to announce the launch of a new class of shares at $15. StockCar Stocks will be launching the Advisor class shares which will be available exclusively through brokers. To promote this to the NASCAR fans, StockCar Stocks will be the Associate Sponsor on the #58 Turbine Solutions Ford Taurus for the July 3rd Pepsi 400 at Daytona Speedway(StockCar Stocks Site) Sponsors: Some teams with sponsor agreements up at the end of the year - #11-Brett Bodine is one of many teams waiting to hear from sponsors, he has a one-year agreement with Paychex. Ricky Rudd could hear as early as today if Tide will return. Roush Racing is looking for a sponsor for next season for one of its five cars(#16-Lepage). Hendrick Motorsports with driver Wally Dallenbach is looking for a company to replace Budweiser, which leaves for the #8 in 2000. The #9 Melling Racing team's contract with The Cartoon Network expires after this season, although both sides have been talking. The #23-Travis Carter team is losing Winston as it's sponsor. Sara Lee signed a one-year deal with owner Chuck Rider's #30 team, and with Derrike Cope having missed six of 16 races this season, questions persist whether the company will rejoin the team. The #41-Larry Hedrick's team is in the option year with Kodiak and both are exploring other options. Larry McClure is looking for a sponsor for a second team to join Bobby Hamilton, and Larry McReynolds is looking for a sponsor to start a team with next season(News and Record), plus the #90-Junie Donlavey Ford and #91-Joe Falk Chevy who have been looking for a sponsor all season(6-30-1999) Menard to Cup? Spotted at Raceway Park(1/4 mile asphalt track outside of Minneapolis/St Paul, MN) on Sunday night(6-23): Indy-car owner John Menard, who was watching his son, Paul, and nephew Charlie compete in the Great North Legends Series. "We've looked at NASCAR," said Menard about the prospects of adding a team to his fleet. "We've talked to a couple of different guys who want to get rid of their teams and stuff. If that happens, then you might jump right into Winston Cup."(Minneapolis-St Paul Star Tribune)(6-30-1999) #90 Driver UPDATE: Stanton Barrett will drive the #90 Junie Donlavey Ford in the Pepsi 400 at Daytona, no word on a sponsor(NOL Entry List)(6-29-1999) -- UPDATE: Suburban Lodge will be the sponsor(Times-Dispatch)(6-30-1999) Gordon: If Jeff Gordon wins the Pepsi 400 at Daytona, he will be the only driver in the modern era(72-present) to win three consecutive races at Daytona International Speedway, having won this year's Daytona 500 and the first race under the lights at DIS that was scheduled for July of last year, but postponed until October due to forest fires(SpeedNet)(6-30-1999) Buckshot back and busy: Buckshot Jones will be back in the #00 Cup car this weekend at the Pepsi 400. He will also run the BGN event at Milwaukee on Sunday. Since Jones will be busy qualifying the Cup car, CTS driver Jay Sauter will attempt to qualify Jones&Mac226; BGN car in the Busch field(Times-Dispatch)(6-30-1999)