Rain, wind pushes back Dover race

Posted: Monday, June 04, 2007

DOVER, Del. - When everyone arrived at the Dover International Speedway last Friday, most made extended reservations until late Monday. Those who planned in advance had shelter Sunday night from what used to be Tropical Storm Barry. The rest had to ride out the storm in their cars or in hotel rooms hours away from the racetrack.

Sunday's Autism Speaks 400 was postponed until today at noon (Fox) by driving rain and wind. The forecast for today isn't much better.

Drivers had the easiest time adjusting to the delays. They lounged in a motor home compound in the infield of the one-mile concrete racetrack. And with a race at Pocono, Pa., next on the calendar on Sunday, there didn't appear to be too much concern about the weather. With Pocono being about three hours away, the rain seemed to be the least of everyone's worries.

NASCAR's new Car of Tomorrow, a hard racing tire and the lack of testing at Dover could create an interesting combination for today's main event. The new car, which is wider and taller than a standard stock car to promote safety and competition, still is being developed by the Nextel Cup Series teams, and the raw conditions only compounds the apprehension.


"(The rain) doesn't really disrupt you preparation-wise, but it does give you a different racetrack than what you've been running on," said Robbie Reiser, Matt Kenseth's crew chief. "For some reason the track is not building any rubber this weekend, so I don't know if it's going to be that big of a deal. But in the past it's always been a big deal.

"It's tough to sit here through a rain delay. We probably have more team trouble through the rain delays than what we've got when we're busy because our minds are on something else. Otherwise, we've just got our minds on ourselves, so we can pick on each other, you know? You just have to deal with it."

Some teams flew their crews home to North Carolina Sunday since it was difficult to find hotel rooms at the last minute. They will return on flights this morning. Other teams crammed into whatever accommodations they could find.

"You're kind of mad because you're going to be here an extra day," David Ragan said. "You just don't know what's going on. It makes it tough on me, but I feel real bad for all the guys on the team. They didn't bring enough clothes or they either have to fly back to Charlotte and fly back up here in the morning. It makes it tough on them, costs the teams extra money for more rooms and all, so when it's raining at the racetrack, we basically just kind of hang out and talk about old times or talk about what we can do different in the future. You know, it's a nice break, but we're always busy and moving, and we want to be moving."

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was concerned about the new car long before the weather changed the conditions for today's race. Now he believes Dover will be the most-significant test for the car that will be the every day race car for the Nextel Cup Series next year.

"There is just a whole lot we don't know about this car and I think there is always the opportunity to be surprised," he said.

"That concerns me the most. I think Dover is the biggest test so far for the Impala SS.

"Dover is a track you have to respect a lot. You have to back everything up here. The easier you run, normally the better you run. A lot of guys overdrive it, myself included. These cars here seem to be easier to drive around the track. It just doesn't handle the greatest, but just because it handles bad, doesn't mean it is hard to drive. It is still easy to drive. They are slow, cumbersome and heavy feeling."

The new car also has a scoop-like front bumper and a rear wing. The bigger car isn't as fast as the older stock cars because it relies less on aerodynamics. In fact, despite having less-powered engines, racers from the Craftsman Truck (155.420 mph) and Busch (153.584) series were faster in qualifying than pole winner Ryan Newman at 152.925.

When the rain clears, Earnhardt Jr. will start second at 152.387 mph, while Bobby Labonte is third at 152.304. The rest of the top-10 starters are: Kasey Kahne in fourth, Carl Edwards in fifth, Jeff Gordon in sixth, Elliott Sadler in seventh, Jamie McMurray in eighth, Jeff Burton in ninth and Greg Biffle in 10th.


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