BY TEAM FORD RACING CORRESPONDENT

Denton, Texas — Saturday’s practices were not just a time when the NASCAR Winston Cup teams worked to find a little speed in their cars. Most teams spent at least part of the sessions scuffing in tires, which isn’t the most complicated process in the world, it is time consuming.

	Around the Track
	Location Everything in Texas Start for Bodine No New Groove for Rudd

Scuffing tires involves bolting on a set of new tires then running them for several laps before returning to the garage; and having a new set of tires installed on the car. Heat cycling during the process changes the tire compound ever so slightly and makes the tire slightly harder and gives the driver a looser feel in his car.

The number of laps a team will run a tire during scuffing run can vary from just a half-lap blast to a 15 lap full run. It’s difficult to say where the exact sweet spot for a scuffed tire can be found, but the crew chiefs use their 3-inch thick notebooks to pick a number that works best for the combination that’s under the car.

Goodyear engineers told TFR that the process of scuffing tires was devised quite some time ago, during the biased ply tire days. In those days, the tires were scuffed to harden them to help with durability issues. Today, tires scuffing is for the driver. As a race proceeds a track can tighten up, or in some cases loosen up, according to tire reps; and having a set of scuffed tires around at the right time can give a team a decided edge.

Both practice sessions showed that the Ford teams were struggling a bit to keep up with the field. In the second session it was the sixth fastest car of Matt Kenseth that was best in class for the Oval while the first session showed Elliott Sadler as best Ford, at 10th.

Chevrolet cars paced both sessions, with pole sitter Bobby Labonte fast in the first session with his 188.697 mph lap and Jimmy Johnson quick in the second, and final practice session, with his 188.983 mph lap. However, Johnson’s car lost the motor in the final session and his team was busy replacing the broken mill just moments after the crossed red and black flags ended the session. Johnson will forgo his fourth-place starting spot and start the 500-mile race from the back of field. Johnson will join Brett Bodine at the rear after Bodine changed a motor earlier in the weekend.

A third car could drop to the back of the field if Kyle Petty decides he’ll put Christian Fittipaldi in the No. 45 Dodge for Sunday’s race. Petty is still suffering the effects of the Bristol Motor Speedway race, where he broke several ribs. Fittipaldi practicing Petty’s car during today’s sessions to give the banged-up driver some options.

CODE CHARLOTTE
Goodyear engineers told www.teamfordracing.com today that they are going to use the right side Dover International Speedway tire at Lowe’s Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway. The change, engineers believe, will put a fantastic tire on the cars. After all, Goodyear showed up at DIS with a tire that transformed Dover’s tedious races into a two-wide run for the checkers. The drivers raved about the feel of the tires, hence, Goodyear picking these two venues to try the new compound.

Goodyear has not done a lot of testing in 2003, nor do they plan to, as the tires they’re running this year all have enough history to make testing unnecessary.

MONEY VOTE
One sponsor representative relayed to www.teamfordracing.com that his sponsor intends to hold all of their television advertising dollars until the NBC crew picks-up the broadcast duties, which will begin with the Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway.

Pushed somewhat, the rep said that his company didn’t care for the Fox network presentation of the sport. The rep said, NBC’s professional presentation of the sport is more fitting with his company’s image. Additionally, the sponsor disputed an ad buy guaranteeing coverage.

“[The driver] could be banging fenders for second place and they’d show the 14th and 15th place cars nose-to-tail. It didn’t matter if [the sponsor] bought time or not. They just wouldn’t show the car. They were not getting anything out of it, so they’ve decided not to bother.”