BY TEAM FORD RACING CORRESPONDENT

Loudon, N.H. — Bill Davis had an interesting week after he read in the newspapers that his crew chief, Tommy Baldwin, was entertaining a contract offer from Dale Earnhardt Inc. to fill the position vacated by Paul Andrews with Steve Park’s Chevrolet. Andrews left DEI last week to assume the crew chief job with Jeff Burton No. 99 Ford entry.

Davis had several choice comments about Baldwin’s handling of the situation, and sources told teamfordracing.com that Ty Norris, general manager for DEI, also was unhappy with the public airing of contract negotiations in the media.

Davis, perhaps still irked, took a little shot at the GM boys, whose gear he ran prior to converting his fleet to Dodge cars.

"The way Dodge handles its program, it won’t have any effect on us if they add some teams,” said Davis of the rumors of Dodge’s fleet increasing by two cars. “Budget-wise and engineering-wise, they’re committed to what they’re going to do for us. To have another strong team, another player in the mix, it doesn’t concern me at all. I’m confident the Dodge guys are going to do what they said they were going to do for me.

"They’re so active. Bob Wildberger [Dodge’s stock car manager] is at every race and Jim Julow [Dodge’s racing czar] is at a bunch of races. When was the last time you saw Herb [Fishel] at a race? These guys are involved and serious about what they’re doing. We’re having meetings out here in the parking lot after a race. The first thing out of their mouths after ‘hello’ is ’what can we do to help you get better?’

"There’s just such a commitment there compared to the other guys."

Davis, addressing his crew chief possibilities said that he’s spoken with Frankie Stoddard this past week, and that he believes Baldwin will stay put where he is.

"Frankie Stoddard and I have talked, but we haven’t talked about official job description capacity, yet,” said Davis. “I’d love to have Frankie. He’s one of the best crew chiefs in the garage. Tommy Baldwin seems to talk to [the media] more than he does me. I assume he’s staying. We’ll sit down and talk next week.

“I figure he’ll be crew chief for the [No.] 22 for a long time.”

SKINNER FEELS THE PAIN
It was an eventful week for Mike Skinner after he stuffed his Monte Carlo into the wall during a test at Kansas City Speedway last week. Skinner lost control of his Chevy after a tire failure.

Both ends of Skinner’s car were crunched in the incident and a fire broke out in the car. Skinner, who received a concussion in the incident, climbed from his burning car prior to fire personnel arriving at his car to help. Rescue workers were on hand to help make sure Skinner staggered away from the car, but it was several moments before the fire fighters arrived at the scene.

This is a troubling and recurring issue with International Speedway Tracks. You might recall Brett Bodine’s car burning uncontrolled at Daytona International Speedway in July, some say for more than four minutes before rescue personnel arrived to knock the flames down. Then, just last week at Richmond International Raceway, Ashton Lewis freed himself from his burning car a full nine seconds before firemen arrived to begin their process. Now add Skinner and his incident during a practice session to the list.

The GM cars are far more prone to fire in a frontal impact than the Ford and Dodge cars due to the fuel pump mounted on the right side of the motor. The pump, despite protection, frequently gets knocked off the block, or the lines compromised, and the ensuing fire has plenty of fuel to burn.

NASCAR is looking at different and safer fuel system layouts, but the project is still in development.

Skinner injured his right knee this time, the same one that he injured last year at Chicago Motor Speedway when a tire let go in a turn. He also has burns on his face from where the visor on his helmet was opened a crack to keep him cool during his test session.

Actually, Skinner’s face is causing him discomfort and medical personnel concern. The padding on the helmet is riding on the burn and is annoying Skinner as he drives. New Hampshire International Speedway medical facilities staff is considering bandaging to help keep the area protected from the chaffing of the helmet. However, Skinner looked unaffected by it all after he qualified fifth for Sunday’s New Hampshire 300.

It’s a wait-and-see game whether Skinner will make it all 300 laps of Sunday’s event, but he’s a tough guy with a good starting spot.

HISTORY HAUNTING STEWART
Tony Stewart, read in the Concord (N.H.) Monitor that he punched an emergency medical technician the last time the tour visited Bob Bahre’s New Hampshire facility. The incident occurred after Stewart climbed from his wrecked car, which slid into the wall due to track conditions.

"As soon as he saw me in the corner of his eye he swung at me and hit me in the left arm," EMT Phil Jewett told the local newspaper.

A track spokesperson said that while safety and recovery is the track’s responsibility, as with all NASCAR sanctioned events, it was uncertain whether or not Jewett was working this race.

NASCAR apparently knew about the July incident, but Jewett was unsatisfied with the response; and involved the newspaper.

"Nobody ever got back to me," Jewett was quoted in the Monitor. "They didn’t get back to my supervisors or anyone from Raceway Ambulance. That’s another reason why I’m irritated about it now."

According to a NASCAR spokesperson, rescue workers are told not to touch the drivers after an incident due to the driver’s heightened aggravation levels.

Stewart, though his public relations people, declined to comment regarding the situation.