BY TEAM FORD RACING CORRESPONDENT

Watkins Glen, N.Y. — The Ford of Matt Kenseth backed up the effort Ricky Rudd put forth in yesterday’s qualifying session and topped the speed chart in the final Happy Hour practice session for Sunday’s Sirius At The Glen event.

Kenseth was the fastest in the session with a lap of 72.753 seconds at 121.232 mph.

You’ll have to look down the chart to sixth to get to the next best Ford, which was Rusty Wallace’s Miller Taurus. Todd Bodine (seventh) and Ryan Newman (10th) filled the Blue spots in the Top-10 in the session.

Both morning sessions went off without a hitch, however there was one car that experienced a motor problem. This car, a Ford, was the Roush Racing-prepared NBC-mobile that analyst Wally Dallenbach features each week with his trip around the track segment. The motor in the car let go when Dallenbach had made about a half lap at speed, or as close to it as he takes the car for demonstration purpose.

TESTS PENDING
NASCAR let leak its intentions for next week’s speedway tests. The test, for which NASCAR hopes to attract 10 - 15 cars, is intended to give the sanctioning body an opportunity to try some new configurations to the speedway package.

Some in the garage say they expect the starting point will be where a 1998 test left off, cars carrying raised valances and radically reduced rear blades on the order of 3 inches, or perhaps even 2.5-inches.

Apparently at least one of the Dale Earnhardt Inc. cars and one of the Richard Childress Racing cars will be on-site for the tests.

CHECK THAT
Last week TFR reported that Cal Wells III was in all likelihood going to be staying in the Ford camp for the 2003 season. Since that time, however, TFR confirmed the move to Pontiac was a far more likely possibility than him staying with Ford.

One GM-type, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that they understood the GM deal with Wells was completed, but hadn’t seen the signed contracts. The GM source also told TFR that Richard Childress would be providing power to the effort, and displacing Robert Yates Racing as the motor supplier to the PPI organization.

The announcement is slated to come next week at Michigan International Speedway.

DON’T BE SPOOKED
If you’re a Ford fan, and you don’t hear a driver named in Tuesday’s Ganassi and Havoline press conference, take a collective deep breath and keep those fingers crossed. Apparently, the powers that be who manage the Blue Oval Racing program have rounded up the cavalry and are throwing everything that they can think into a deal to keep Rudd, True Blue until his retirement years.

This, like last week’s mention, is extremely preliminary, but the good fight is being fought to keep Rudd in-house and in a Ford.