Haddock in the Paddock

Dominguez not in the field

Sat, 10 May 2008 21:16:32 -0800

Mario Dominguez, driver of the No. 96 entry for Oxnard-based Pacific Coast Motorsports, turned 40 laps at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and had some of his best speeds since arriving a week ago, but he did not make a qualifying attempt.
The top 11 cars in qualifying Saturday for the Indianapolis 500 earned starting spots in the race. Weather permitting, the next 11 cars will qualify Sunday. Dominguez expects to be one of them.
"We had some valuable time on the track and we made a lot of progress," Dominguez said. "We are still learning the car, but today, I'd say we learned a lot about it. We made adjustments in several areas, some worked, some didn't. We need to find more speed, but we are on the right track."
The best lap Dominguez made at the track was 220.597 mph, by far his best and 2.7 mph better than his previous fastest lap.
"We haven't been able to practice much because of the rain, but I'd say today was very positive," Dominguez said. "We are keeping our fingers crossed that the weather holds out tomorrow and we get another productive day of running in. We will give it a shot in qualifying tomorrow if Mother Nature cooperates."
Scott Dixon won the pole on Saturday. His teammate at Chip Ganassi Racing, Dan Wheldon, was second and Team Penske driver Ryan Briscoe was third, making up the three-car front row.

Driver races to fight breast cancer

Sat, 10 May 2008 13:16:25 -0800

Lindsey Adams, a driver from Texas, almost lost her mother to breast cancer twice. She raises awareness about breast cancer survivors, including her mother, on her race car. Her story will be part of DIRECTV's "Hometown Heroes," on Sunday night for Mothers Day.
Joan Lunden hosts an episode about Adams' program, called Survivors Circle, which started in 2007 and consists of placing the names of cancer survivors on her race car.
"When I was 17, I almost lost my mother, for the second time, to breast cancer," Adams said. "At that point I knew I wanted to dedicate my career to fighting for the cause. We started Survivors Circle, a program where at every race we honor a breast cancer survivor or a family that has fought the breast cancer fight by putting their names on my car and dedicating that particular race to them."
Adams has a the names and stories of those who have been on her race car on her Web site: http://www.lindseyadamsracing.com/cause/
The "Hometown Heroes" segment and Adams' next race, at Road America in the Skip Barber Championship Series will be on DIRECTV channel 101 on Sunday night at 6 p.m. PDT.

Dominguez wrecks at Indy

Fri, 09 May 2008 21:40:20 -0800

Mario Dominguez, driver of the No. 96 entry for Oxnard-based Pacific Coast Motorsports and one of 13 rookies entered in the Indianapolis 500, made contact with the pit exit wall during practice Friday and was only able to complete 16 laps around the track.
Rain has washed out the past two days of practice at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and shortened Friday's session.
Dominguez was not injured in the crash. But his team has only one operational car. The team does not have a rolling spare car and will have to make repairs on the car that crashed. Pole day, when the top 11 starting spots in the Indy 500 will be determined, is Saturday.
"I am really disappointed," Dominguez said. "I was returning to the track for our second full run and I exited too fast coming out of the pits. I lost the rear of the car and crashed into the inside wall."
He had the 31st fastest time at 217.918 mph in practice Friday.
"I got a few laps at speed and this is so unfortunate because we were on the way to making our car better," Dominguez said. "Everyone is telling me to keep my patience. We are already behind and I guess I was trying to rush it back out there. We are working hard and we have a lot of work to do."

Pole day at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Wed, 07 May 2008 22:55:40 -0800

The pole position and the top-11 starting spots for the Indianapolis 500 will be determined in qualifying Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Mario Dominguez, driver for the Oxnard-based Pacific Coast Motorsports, was asked what his expectations are for the first day of qualifying.
The pole position is most likely out of the question. He said his team, making its first appearance in the Indy 500, is focusing on qualifying somewhere in the field and being in the top 22 when qualfying ends Sunday.
"Well, I have to be honest with you, I don't think at this point in time we have a shot at pole position Saturday," said Dominguez, driver of the No. 96 entry for Pacific Coast Motorsports. "We are years behind in development of cars. We just got the car a week and a half ago, and we will be competing against teams that have been developing this car for the past five years."
Dominguez is part of a 13-driver rookie contingent that is entered in the Indy 500. He had to begin a rookie orientation program earlier this week and completed three of the four phases. Pacific Coast Motorsports is one of the team's making the transition from Champ Car to the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series and it will be making its first IRL start of the year at Indianapolis.
While Dominguez said his chances of winning the pole are slim, he expects be one of the 22 drivers who qualify on Saturday and Sunday. Eleven drivers will qualify for the Indy 500 on Saturday. The next 11 drivers in the field will be determined on Sunday.
"But I think qualifying on Sunday, on the first week of qualifying, we have a very good shot of doing that," Dominguez said. "It's not going to be easy, but I think we can do it."
His time in the team's Indy car has been limited and coming from Champ Car will no doubt present some challenges. But Dominguez is learning quickly how his new car reacts to the track.
"I think what it takes to be fast around here, you need a car that doesn't have much grip," Dominguez said. "So you need to take a lot of aero out of it, and at the same time, it has to be steady. It has to be stable in the corners, because this place is tough. It can bite you pretty hard. And it's certainly a completely different oval to anything I've ever driven."

No. 1 Kyle Busch

Wed, 07 May 2008 22:23:42 -0800

Kyle Busch is the new leader in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings, but he is heading to track that has not been kind to him in the past.
Darlington has produced only one top-10 finish in three races for Busch. He came in seventh in the race there in 2006. His other two races have produced finishes of 37th and 23rd. All three of his previous starts at Darlington were with Hendrick Motorsports.
After finishing second in a wild race at Richmond International Raceway, Busch took over the lead in the Cup Series standings.
"It's great to be back on top of the point standings," said Busch, driver of the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. "We were there earlier this year and kind of fell back a little bit. We've had some great runs. We've had some strong runs. We've had some good cars. And so, fortunately we were able to capitalize on those most of this year and hopefully we can keep doing that throughout the year. With the new facility, the new race track and the new paving job (at Darlington), hopefully we can have a great run out there to keep our momentum going. It's been good and hopefully it keeps going that way."

No. 2 Jeff Burton

Wed, 07 May 2008 21:47:13 -0800

Jeff Burton's 11th-place finish in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond International Raceway, coupled with Kyle Busch's second-place finish means there's a new No. 1 in the Cup standings.
Burton falls to No. 2, 18 points behind Busch, as the Cup Series heads to Darlington Raceway in South Carolina this weekend.
Burton has won two Cup races at Darlington, both coming in 1999, and both coming when he was driving for Jack Roush.
His past two races at Darlington, both with Richard Childress Racing, have produced top-10 finishes. He was 10th last year and ninth in 2006.
"The one thing about Darlington is that if you have a fast car, it's easy to pass another car," said Burton, driver of the No. 31 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. "If you have a car that's the same as somebody else's car, it's incredibly hard to pass. A fast car rewards you a great deal. It will be interesting to see if passing will be the same with the new asphalt. We struggled there the last couple of years and haven't run as well as we needed to. I'm looking forward to Darlington. We've learned a lot about the Impala SS and I think we can be very competitive."
The car his team is bringing to Darlington is the same car Burton raced at Martinsville Speedway, where it finished third, and Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, where it finished 12th.

No. 3 Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Wed, 07 May 2008 20:09:24 -0800

Dale Earnhardt Jr. hopefully won't still be licking his wounds when the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series arrives at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina.
Even though Earnhardt Jr. went from fighting for the lead at Richmond International Raceway to finishing 15th, he can find some comfort in knowing he didn't lose much ground in the Cup standings.
He is still third in points, still has been the most consistent driver for Hendrick Motorsports, and still looking for his first win in more than two years.
The car his team is bringing to Darlington is the same one it raced at Atlanta Motor Speedway where it finished third.
The car will also feature a retro Mountain Dew paint scheme.
"I think the Mountain Dew retro paint scheme is very fitting for the history at Darlington," said Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports. "The car itself is an old paint scheme on a new car, and we've got an old racetrack with a new surface. It's going to be very interesting. It's going to be fun to see how to get around that track and where the fast grooves are -- where to find the grip and speed. It's a real good-looking race car so I can't wait to get some good photos -- old school type photos -- when I get out there."

No. 4 Clint Bowyer

Wed, 07 May 2008 19:44:03 -0800

Clint Bowyer was the unlikely winner in the wild NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond International Raceway. Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were fighting for the lead when they wrecked each other. Earnhardt Jr. had to pit for repairs and finished 15th. Busch ended up second.
Bowyer was the beneficiary of the collision and won the second race of his Cup career.
"They were putting on a show for a while; I thought so, anyway," said Bowyer, driver of the No. 07 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, after the race at Richmond. "They were racing hard. That's what racing at Richmond is all about in my opinion. It just didn't work out. I told the cops, I don't know why they were escorting me in here. I told them, they better get on and escort Kyle Busch out of here. It was meant to be, I guess."
The win vaulted Bowyer into the top five in the Cup standings. The car his team is taking to Darlington Raceway is the same one he raced at Bristol in March. He finished third in that race.
The car raced eight times in 2007, its best results coming at Bristol. In its only race at Darlington, the car won the pole and finished ninth.
"It was cool to get our first pole in the Cup Series at Darlington," Bowyer said. "We were fast all day in practice and we knew we were capable of it. When you know you're capable and have that confidence and can go out there and back that all up, it's pretty satisfying. Darlington is a special place and to be able to win a pole there is something to be proud of."

No. 5 Kevin Harvick

Wed, 07 May 2008 19:21:52 -0800

Kevin Harvick had four straight top-10 finishes in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. Then followed that with four straight outside the top 10.
His worst finish came at Talladega a couple weeks ago when he finished 24th. He bounced back last week, finisihing eighth at Richmond International Raceway, his first top 10 in more than a month.
Next is Darlington, a track that has yet to produce a win for Harvick, and a track that has produced only four top 10s in 11 career Cup races.
"When we avoid trouble, we always run in the top 10," said Harvick, driver of the No. 29 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. "However, if we get into the wall or struggle mechanically, then we never seem to be able to fight our way back. The one thing I have seen this year is that my team is willing to fight back and get the best finish we can. Hopefully, we can stay out of trouble and run up front all night long. That's what championship teams do week-in and week-out."
For the Cup race at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina, Harvick's team is bringing the car that finished second at Bristol Motor Speedway in March. It also finished seventh at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Childress owns Cup standings

Tue, 06 May 2008 23:16:40 -0800

By winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond International Raceway, Clint Bowyer moved into fourth place in the standings.
All three drivers for Richard Childress Racing are in the top five. Jeff Burton is second and Kevin Harvick is fifth. Burton was in first for more than a month and fell out when Kyle Busch took the top spot after the Richmond race.
The only other Cup team with all its drivers in the top 12 in the standings is Joe Gibbs Racing. The top 12 drivers in the Sprint Cup Series standings after the 26th race of the season will qualify for the Chase, the 10-race playoff to determine the Cup champion.
"I just think it shows the consistency and teamwork we're working with at RCR right now," said team owner Richard Childress. "Everyone is trying to be the most competitive they can and, hopefully, have a run at the Chase and the championship. All three teams and all three drivers still have areas to improve on. We're not resting on what we've accomplished at all but it is good knowing we have things headed in the right direction at this point in the season."

Mario Dominguez meets Hillary Clinton

Tue, 06 May 2008 18:35:11 -0800

Mario Dominguez, driver of the No. 96 entry for Pacific Coast Motorsports in the Indianapolis 500, met presidential candidate Hillary Clinton at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Tuesday.
"It was an honor to meet Senator Clinton," said Dominguez, a driver from Mexico. "I wished her luck in (Tuesday's) primary and she wished me luck in my efforts at the Indy 500. I also told her I know how much she likes Mexico and that is why she has such a strong following in the U.S. Hispanic community, so I invited her to visit Mexico City. She mentioned she has been there three times before, she commented how beautiful it is and said she looks forward to visiting our great city again soon."

Happy Cinco de Mayo for Pacific Coast Motorsports

Mon, 05 May 2008 17:33:27 -0800

On day two of rookie orientation at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Pacific Coast Motorsports was finally able to get on the track and driver Mario Dominguez completed three of the four phases of the program on Monday.
"I can't believe that I ran my first laps around this amazing track," said Dominguez, driver of the No. 96 entry for the Oxnard-based Pacific Coast Motorsports. "This is an absolute dream come true for me. I have to give credit to my crew for getting this together in such a short period of time."
Pacific Coast Motorsports could not participate in the rookie orientation program on Sunday because its car did not pass the technical inspection before the program began.
Team owner Tyler Tadevic said he was impressed how quickly his crew prepared the car.
"The PCM crew has done an unbelievable job," Tadevic said. "They accomplished in 12 days what the other teams have had four weeks to get done. And in two hours (Monday), they accomplished what everyone else had two days to get done and I am so proud of them. It hasn't been easy and the pressure was on, but in two hours we ran the car for our first time, we did our systems checks, we ran our first laps and passed the first three phases of the rookie tests."
Dominguez turned 48 laps on the track and had a top speed of 214.358 mph. Fellow rookie Enrique Bernoldi completed his fourth phase of the rookie orientation program on Monday.
Mario Moraes, who completed three phases of the rookie orientation program on Monday with Dominguez, can complete the fourth phase later in the month.
"Despite some issues we still made it out there and we were able to pass three phases of the rookie test," Dominguez said. "We had a small issue with the rear wing and we were very loose, but we did it. We only managed to run two hours and it was our first two hours ever running this car but we accomplished a lot and I am relieved. Now we can turn our focus to making the car better and I look forward to that."

Forgetable first day for Pacific Coast Motorsports

Sun, 04 May 2008 19:03:48 -0800

On the first day of rookie orientation at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Pacific Coast Motorsports couldn't get out of first gear.
The team couldn't even get on the track. Driver Mario Dominguez, considered a rookie at Indianapolis even though he is a veteran of the Champ Car World Series, did not participate in the first day of rookie orientation and will have to wait until Monday to begin the four-step program.
"Once we rolled through tech, three of the four wishbones on the car were deemed unusable by the series," said Tyler Tadevic, owner of the Oxnard-based team. "These are suspension pieces that we received with our car and we were not aware these parts are no longer being used."
As a result, the team's car was not allowed on the track. There are 13 rookies entered in the 92nd running of the Indianapolis 500. Ten of them completed the rookie orientation program on Sunday.
Enrique Bernoldi completed three of the four phases and can complete the program at any point during the month.
Mario Moraes completed only three laps and Dominguez was the only rookie driver not to get on the track on Sunday.
Both drivers must complete the first three phases of the rookie orientation program Monday to remain eligible to compete in the Indy 500.
"The guys have been working hard, we're back to being rookies again," Tadevic said. "We disseminating tons of information trying to catch up and we'll make sure Mario gets through his orientation (Monday)."

Kyle Busch is No. 1

Sat, 03 May 2008 22:26:46 -0800

Kyle Busch was asked after the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond International Raceway if he saw how the fans in the stands reacted to the way the race unfolded.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Busch were fighting for the lead when Busch and Earnhardt Jr. collided. Earnhardt Jr. took the worst of the crash and had to pit for repairs. Busch was able to stay out on the track and finish second.
"They were going crazy and you see it, but you don't pay attention to it," said Busch about the fans in the stands. "I don't know why they were telling me I was number one, I was in second place. Clint Bowyer got the lead from me -- they were all confused I guess, too many old (Dale Earnhardt) Jr. Budweisers."
Busch said he doesn't expect much support or sympathy from Earnhardt Jr. fans after what happened at Richmond.
"Oh, yeah. I feel it's like that," said Busch, driver of the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. "I mean, everybody probably is racing around the race track scared to death of wrecking Dale Earnhardt, Jr., so why wouldn't I be any different? You know that was just a product of good, hard racing. I apologize that's that happened, and I hated that it did. Fortunately he didn't get hurt and nothing like that happened, so he was able to continue."
By the way, Busch took over the lead in the Sprint Cup Series standings and Earnhardt Jr. remained in third.
"He'll see another day of racing," Busch said. "You know, to say that I took away a win away from him, you know, it's hard to say. And if I wanted to do it deliberately, I would have waited for the last lap where I probably could have still won the race. You know, there's a way that it happened and I hated that it did. We just didn't give each other enough room getting into turn three and, you know, I didn't -- I didn't feel like I slipped, but I mean, we just kind of banged simultaneously, and then that's when I got loose and got corrected and he was gone."

Hornaday adds to his Truck win total

Sat, 03 May 2008 17:40:00 -0800

Kevin Harvick Inc.'s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team had a good weekend at Kansas Speedway.
Ron Hornaday Jr., driver of the No. 33 Chevrolet Silverado for Kevin Harvick Inc., won the Truck Series race at Kansas Speedway, the 34th of his career, and added to his career win total, the most of any Truck Series driver.
Hornaday also took over the lead in the Truck Series standings. Kyle Busch had the lead before the race at Kansas Speedway, but he was at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide series races. He won the Cup race, crashed out of the Nationwide race.
After winning the race in Kansas, Hornaday built a 61-point lead over Rick Crawford. Busch dropped to sixth place.
Jack Sprague, Hornaday's teammate at KHI, finished second at Kansas and moved up six spots in the Truck Series standings to ninth place.
"It was a lot of fun and I was going to try and make a race out of it and Sprague almost caught me and I was like, wow," said Hornaday, a former Saugus Speedway champ from Palmdale. "So this is what it's all about because I believe in these guys in hanging these bodies and the first time I saw this truck is the first day that I got down here and sat in it. I just have a lot of faith in these guys and when you get the truck off the trailer you can hold it wide open. I really appreciate it because I hadn't won here in Kansas so this is cool."
Hornaday became the first Truck Series driver to win a race from the pole at Kansas. He also credits his crew chief, Rick Ren, for coming up with a fuel strategy to win the race.
They were cutting it close and when Dennis Setzer wrecked late in the race, it gave Hornaday a chance to conserve enough fuel to finish the race. It restarted with 34 laps remaining and Hornaday won by 0.149 seconds ahead of Sprague.
"I'm glad that was on Rick Ren's head because everyone is just as cool as they can be on this Camping World Chevrolet," Hornaday said. "I also have to thank VFW to come on board with us. I am sure the hair on Rick's head turned grayer (Friday) but that's what it's all about."