Canada put on '07 calendar
DOVER, Del. -- Martinsville, Va., will lose its Busch Series
race and Montreal will add one next season, according to
a copy of the 2007 schedule distributed Saturday at Dover
International Speedway.
An official announcement, including NASCAR's expansion
to Canada, is expected Tuesday.
The Observer reported last week that the date of the race
at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve -- should the deal
be completed -- would be Saturday, Aug. 4. The 2007 schedule
distributed Saturday confirms that date.
The move provides back-to-back road-course events; the
week after Montreal the series will head to Watkins Glen,
N.Y.
Martinsville hosted a Busch race this year for the first
time since 1994. The event was not well attended.
The 2007 Busch season will open Feb. 17 at Daytona, followed
by races at California and the circuit's third consecutive
visit to Mexico City. There will be five open weekends,
with the season finale again at Homestead, Fla., on Nov.
17.
October Cup race to have new tread
Based on test results from last month, Goodyear has decided
to change the left-side tires to be used at the Oct. 14
Bank of America 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway."A new
left-side tire, featuring a new tread compound, will be
matched with the same right-side tire setup that was used
in the May race," said Mark Keto, Goodyear's lead engineer
for stock car tires.
Drivers Kurt Busch and Joe Nemechek participated in the
Aug. 29 test.
The change will make the left-side tires a little softer
and should improve handling characteristics for drivers,
Goodyear officials said.
After the speedway's $3.5 million repaving this year, several
drivers complained the tires used during the May race weekend
were too hard and didn't offer enough grip.
Ragan in line for 1st Cup experience
David Ragan, 20, got off to a good start in his Nextel
Cup Series debut, making today's race on speed to line up
37th.
Ragan is among four young drivers being considered as Mark
Martin's replacement in Roush Racing's No. 6 Ford next season.
Ragan had never been in a Cup car until he ran his first
practice laps Friday.
"I wish we could have got to go test, but it was very
last minute. I ran a lot of laps in my head and getting
to run the Busch (race) really helped out a lot and gave
me some good track experience, because I had never been
to Dover, either," Ragan said.
He has also run most of the Truck series schedule for Roush
this year.
Crew chief's son gets NASCAR win
Tim Andrews, 23, son of Nextel Cup crew chief Paul Andrews,
won Friday's Busch East series race at Dover, passing then-leader
Steve Park with two of the scheduled 150 laps remaining.
Andrews held on despite a late green-white-checkered finish.
"Obviously, we're a team that is looking for things
to unfold for next season. My father and everyone that works
on this team have put a lot of effort into getting us noticed,"
said Tim Andrews.
|
