Conference vmsnet::nascar$note:nascar

	Ladies, Gentlemen,

 In a approx. three weeks, the start of the 1997 Winston Cup season will be
 upon us. Mr Gaffney is taking care of the Daytona 500 Contest, and if
 there is no objections, I will moderate this year's Winston Cup Contest.

	Note 277. will be the All Season Pick Note, and Note 278. has the
 Rules, and will be where your picks will be entered for each week's race.
 I still have to find the Winston Cup Schedule with dates/time/quals for the
 each of the race (as the one from last years)...... If someone has one, or
 has a pointer that I can go get it from, I would be very gratefull (extra
 pts ;-)..... uh um, just joking ;-)...

	Sorry I didn't start this earlier, but I was still in Football mode,
 but now that the season is over, time to get to the important stuff ;-)...

	Again, the 1997 All Season Picks go into Note 277, Weekly 1997
 Contest Picks in Note 278, The Official Contest Rules in Note 278.0, the
 A/B List is in 128.last....... 

	If you have a pointer to the Schedule, Please let me know where, and
 last but not least, Remember Rule #1 , Have Fun, and may the Best Player
 Win.........


	Good Luck Everyone.....

	Norm

    Two great races yesterday on TNN.  Yesterday was the 1st truck
    race that I actually really enjoyed.  Side by side racing
    almost the entire race.  Nasty wreck by John Nemecheck.  Can't
    Nascar do anything to help a driver who slams the wall on the
    drivers side door?  There must be something?  
    The BGN race had a lot of action also.  I hope Bob Bahre was
    watching yesterday.  There seems to be quite a bit of track
    reconstruction coming up.  NHIS needs it bad!!!!!!!
    
    Gone racin
    Gaff

re: -.1 
>>      Can't Nascar do anything to help a driver who slams the wall on the
>>    drivers side door? 

Better/smarter track design. 

It appears to me race car drivers try to take any turn as smooth and as rounded
as possible. To construct a track as a square didn't make sense to me. But
they did announce that immediately after the race at Homestead they were going
to make the track an oval.  

    Is it possible to put the driver in the center of the car?
    If they can do it with a funny car, why not Nascar?

	Speaking of crashes/driver getting hurt, I read in the paper that
 Ricky Craven crashed during practice, and has a fracture right shoulder blade,
 and a concussion/brain contusion..... He is in severe but stable condition
 in the ER, and may be going to a regular room sometimes today...... He was
 supposed to have been concious/alert when the emergency crews pulled him out
 of the car...... Doctors are confident that he'll be OK......

	Lots of head injuries lately, but what can you expect coming to a
 sudden stop from close to 200mph, with your head/brain rattling inside the
 helmet....... ;-(

	Whishing Ricky Lotsa Luck and a speedy recovery....

	Norm

    
    Saw a picture in the AM paper this morning of him getting helped out of
    the car. He was alert but in pain.
    
    Man this guy has had no luck this season in the sud's car. Hope he gets
    well soon.
    
    CJ

    Current Sports Illustrated states:
    
     "What ever Happened to Indy? Eclipsed by NASCAR and beset by a foolish
    battle of high-octane egos, the Indianopolis 500 has lost its place as
    Americas premier auto race."
    
    Great article.  It then goes on to compare sponsorship of IRL, CART,
    and NASCAR.  I hope the person(s) at Digital who spent the money for
    the tiny logo on the IRL car sees this.  SI says:
    
    NASCAR:  " With more races (32) and higher TV ratings than the other
    major racing series, the Winston Cup is a relative bargain for
    sponsors."
    
    IRL - With low TV ratings, no name drivers and just eight races, the
    IRL is a good value only to a sponsor who really, really likes racing."
    
    CART - "CART's shorter schedule (17 races) makes it almost twice as
    expensive for sponsors, per event, as the Winston Cup."
    
    Cost per event:  
    
    NASCAR - $187.5K
    IRL - $500K
    CART - $350K
    
    This only goes to support what Mike has been saying for years.  Hope
    this doesn't set you off again Mike.

    Who me?  I don't care anymore.  I'm going Super Street Racing in
    my Z/28 and American Sedan racing in my IROC.
    
    As long as my paycheck keeps clearing, digital can sponsor zambonis
    or a horse at the kentucky derby.  Maybe one of tiger woods golf
    clubs... who cares.
    
    MadMike