| | SATURDAY CUP NOTEBOOK | Soldiering on | Mark Martin wrecks during practice; will start at back of field |
|  | | CIA Stock Photo | The backup car Martin will drive Sunday last ran at Michigan, where he finished 29th on June 17. | | By Reid Spencer / Sporting News Wire Service JOLIET, Ill. -- In a split second, Mark Martin went from the second row to the back of the field for Sunday’s USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.
Exiting Turn 2 during Saturday's first practice session after his crew had made a shock change, Martin spun and backed into the wall, damaging his No. 01 Ginn Racing Chevrolet beyond repair. As a result, he will relinquish his fourth-place qualifying position for Sunday's race and start from the rear in a backup car.
After the wreck, Martin must have felt like kicking himself all the way from Joliet to Lake Michigan.
"It's just absolutely inexcusable," Martin said. "This U.S. Army team built me one of the best cars I've ever had in my life, and there is just no excuse for me letting that happen.
"I'll probably never get over it as long as I live. I've really never seen a shock change make that much of a difference, but that should not have happened."
Martin's primary car was a new chassis. The backup car he will drive Sunday last ran at Michigan, where he finished 29th on June 17. Before that, Martin drove the backup to a seventh-place finish at Pocono on June 10.
Elliott Sadler was 16th fastest in Happy Hour (final practice) but suffered the same fate as Martin, wadding up the rear end of the No. 19 Dodge against the outside wall late in the session.
Sadler had qualified 31st but will drop to the rear in a backup car to start the race.
BIFFLE PLAYING CATCH-UP
The recent resurgence of Roush Fenway Racing doesn't include Greg Biffle, who hasn't come close to joining teammates Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards and Jamie McMurray as a race winner this year.
Perhaps the turnaround for Biffle started Saturday. After qualifying 33rd on Friday for the USG Sheetrock 400, Biffle found some speed in Saturday morning's first practice session after wholesale adjustments to the No. 16 Ford.
As a result, the car was sixth fastest in morning practice.
"We switched our car around a quite a bit, and then we put it back how we ran it last year, some, and it's better," said Biffle, whose contract with Roush Fenway runs through 2009. "We still have a little ways to go, but, yeah, I definitely think it's better...
"We've been running better as a group, but it seems like the 16 is really not running any better. Today we are, and that's exciting for us."
CAMPING ADVENTURE WITH BOWYER
With an extensive background in RV camping as a child, Clint Bowyer is comfortable in his role as a standard-bearer for Camping World, an RV and outdoor supplies retailer that is expanding its presence in NASCAR racing.
Bowyer visited the Chicagoland Speedway media center Saturday as part of Camping World's announcement of its sponsorship of the Labor Day weekend Busch Series race at California Speedway.
As a young motorcycle racer, Bowyer used to travel to events in an RV driven by his father. En route to Oklahoma City one night, according to Bowyer, his father grew tired and let Bowyer's brother, who was 14 or 15 years old, drive the vehicle for the first time.
The trip proceeded without incident until Bowyer's brother fell asleep at the wheel, and the RV careened across the median into oncoming traffic, then bounced back across the median to safety.
"It threw my father from his seat," said Bowyer, who was playing Nintendo with a couple of friends in the back of the RV. "We were playing Excitebike, and as soon as I hit a jump, the RV jumped, too.
That was pretty cool." | | Posted July 14, 2007 , 8:58 pm EST
Last Updated July 15, 2007 , 8:38 pm EST | | | | | | |
