Saturday, June 16, 2001
Speedway Notebook
No Winston Cup here next year
By Tom Groeschen
The Cincinnati Enquirer
SPARTA, Ky. — It is unlikely that NASCAR will add any Winston Cup races to its 2002 schedule, according to a Web site report Friday.
The Charlotte Observer site, www.thatsracin.com, quoted NASCAR senior vice president George Pyne as saying there will be “no dramatic changes” for 2002. Pyne was interviewed at Pocono, Pa., where the Winston series races Sunday.
“The sanctioning process is under way,” Pyne was quoted as saying. “We're ahead of schedule, and NASCAR is very sensitive to adding any more weeks to the schedule at this point. While the process isn't complete, it is very unlikely that you will see any additional weekends.”
The Sporting News reported earlier this week that the “garage rumor” was that Kentucky Speedway and California Speedway each would be awarded new races for 2002, lifting the annual schedule from 36 to 38 races.
“I want to be clear. It's not completed,” Pyne said of the 2002 schedule. “Anything's possible. I wouldn't read anything more into it than that, other than we're ahead of where we normally are.”
Kentucky Speedway chairman Jerry Carroll was not immediately available to comment on the report, but Carroll repeatedly has said he is not expecting a Winston race for 2002. Carroll said a more realistic hope is 2003.
“I don't want to see a headline that says, "Kentucky Speedway doesn't get a race for 2002,' because that wouldn't be fair,” Carroll said earlier this week. “We're looking more at 2003, and right now we're concentrating on our Busch race.”
START YOUR ENGINES: Here is the umpteenth and final advisory from Kentucky Speedway officials regarding tonight's NASCAR Busch race:
Be there early.
A sellout crowd of more than 67,000 is expected, along with traffic jams.
Gates open at noon, with Busch pole same-day qualifying also at noon. The original Busch pole night Friday was postponed by rain.
Mark Cassis, speedway general manager, said fans should depart many hours ahead of the 8p.m. start. For Cincinnati residents, any post-noon departure might land you in heavy speedway traffic.
“It's a day-long event, so just get here early and enjoy the day,” Cassis said.
Pre-race activities include a Kerry Earnhardt autograph session (4p.m.), Darrell Waltrip monument dedication (5p.m.) and a Brad Paisley concert (5:45p.m.).
Kentucky state transportation officials recently predicted that more than 25,000 vehicles will converge on the speedway today at Route 35 and I-71 in Sparta, about 35 miles southwest of Cincinnati.
Last June, a storm dumped more than 3 inches of rain on the area before the inaugural NASCAR Craftsman Truck race. Hundreds of race fans subsequently were stuck in miles-long traffic backups on I-71 as dirt and grass parking lots were unusable.
Since then, the track has spent nearly $2 million paving some lots and covering others with gravel.
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No Winston Cup here next year
