Las Vegas — Events playing-out at Daytona International Speedway during a 10-day grind, known as Speedweeks, it can present a real challenge for NASCAR. Top on that list is potentially Feb. 8, with both qualifying for the Daytona 500 and the Bud Shootout scheduled, not to mention the corresponding inspections.
In prior years NASCAR would fill the labor-intensive inspection lines with both Shootout and Daytona 500 cars. But not this year. Winston Cup Director, John Darby has made the call to inspect the cars for the Shootout on Feb. 6 and then the Daytona 500 cars on Feb. 7, thus ensuring quality inspections for all cars. Inspections are vital as the teams try to improve their on-track chances with anything they can think of that’ll reduce drag by 10 drag-horsepower or increase the engine power by 10 horsepower.
These speedway inspections make the likes of the Ford Racing management sit-up and take notice.
Back in 2000, when the new Monte Carlo was introduced, it was noted by the Ford NASCAR Program Manager, Jay Novak, that the rear bumper of the No. 3 Chevy had an odd cut in the cap. The cut to the rear bumper, which mysteriously appeared between when the garage closed on Saturday night and the garage opened on the morning of the 500 reace, was a crescent shaped cut that went across the full width of the rear of the late Dale Earnhardt’s car. That cut, which resembled a frown, would have allowed more air to escape from under the car, thereby giving the car more speed.
Upon noticing the cut Novak planted himself on Earnhardt’s car and stayed with it until it hit the inspection bays. That’s when Novak went in for the kill. While no one but Novak, car owner Richard Childress, Earnhardt and the NASCAR inspectors will ever know what was said during that inspection, a lot of finger pointing and jabbing accompanied by some highly animated movements were witnessed.
Novak demanded that Earnhardt’s car be brought into specification conformance before it was given a sticker to race. Earnhardt tryed to use his status as seven-time champ to bluff the car through the line. But Novak wasn’t budging. NASCAR President Mike Helton was summoned to scene where more finger pointing and inspection of that bumper cap took place. Helton ordered the car fixed, frustrating Childress and Earnhardt to no end.
Ultimately, Earnhardt wasn’t the factor he usually was in the 500, but his car was legal according to NASCAR specification as he drove it to a 13th place finish.
And the Ford cars swept the Top-5 positions in that race with Dale Jarrett taking the win in his Quality Care Ford.
