NASCAR Cup

Pocono Thursday news

NASCAR Fans E-mail List Silly Season Updates (Courtesy of Jayski) Morgan Shephard is rumored to be gone from the 1 car to the 77. Bill Elliott will run another special batman paint scheme later this year. Sabates comments on Indy ...

Edited: May 8, 2001, 12:19 PM

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Silly Season Updates (Courtesy of Jayski)

Morgan Shephard is rumored to be gone from the 1 car to the 77. Bill Elliott will run another special batman paint scheme later this year.

Sabates comments on Indy racing

Felix Sabates was not impressed by the Indy scene. ''I'm glad I did it, so I can say I did it. But I'll never do it again,'' Sabates said. ''It's just not my cup of tea. That's not me." ''People are more friendly here (NASCAR). Plus, this is high-bucks/low-tech, and that is high-bucks/high-tec h. I like wheel-to-wheel, door-to-door racing, beating and banging, pushing guys out of the way. They move over at Indy; to me that's just not racing.'' All this displeasure over Indy racing has Felix stuck with some used Indy equipment. Or does it? ''It's not like I bought all that stuff and have to throw it away,'' Sabates said. ''Four or five people want to buy the whole deal. I'm going to give Robby first crack at it. He's trying to get somebody to loan him the money, because he wants to run some other races. And he wants to go back to Indy next year. I told him he's on his own with that.'' ''Robby's got a business agent, and he and Robby were sitting in my office and he said (to Gordon), 'You're all excited you did good at Indy for 14 laps,' '' Sabates said. '' 'You get back in the (Winston Cup) car at Michigan and run in the top five and you're going to forget about Indy cars and love NASCAR again.' '' Robby Gordon has said that Sabates doesn't know what he wants to do. ''Whoever told Robby the last lie, that's who he believes,'' Sabates said. ''Look what happened with Roush -- Roush's engines finished 1-2-3 at Indy. And Robby thought Roush's engines were no good.'' There is no doubt that Sabates still has confidence in Gordon as a driver. ''There's no question in my mind we will win a race this year with Robby Gordon,'' Sabates said. ''The kid's smart. He understands a race car. He understands the limits of a race car . . . if he ever figures out his own limits." ''I think going to Indy was good for him because he understands he's dealing with high-tech stuff. He's beginning to see things he didn't see before.'' Sabates seems to have his hands full with the team. There have been others courting Wally Dallenbach. ''I know (Robert) Yates has been after Wally,'' Sabates said. ''I know this new team that's starting up is after Wally. And Yates is after Robby; he wants to swap with Ernie (Irvan). But I wouldn't swap Ernie for Saddam Hussein. Besides, if I got Ernie, I'd have to switch to Ford because I don't think Ernie would drive a General Motors car.'' So what does Sabates think about firing and re-hireing Keith Simmons in his engine shop? ''The worst mistake I made was firing Keith Simmons,'' he said. ''Our motor department was five years behind the times. We went backwards last year so bad. Our motors were junk." ''We've ended up with a whole new engine shop and a whole new crew with each car. I'll put our motors up against the Hendrick motors, except for the restrictor-plate motors. We made some big gains, though we're not where we need to be." ''We've got 29 people in the engine shop, and a lot of them didn't come from Winston Cup racing. The guy who builds engines for Wally's car came from an Indy engine shop. ''We were so low we had to jump up to hit bottom. So I'm not disappointed in the way things are going this year. We've got three brand new teams started from scratch, and it just takes a while to get going.'' Darlington extends it contract with Sponsor till 2000

Darlington Raceway has extended its agreement with TranSouth Financial for three years through the year 2000. The company is the title sponsor of the TranSouth 400, run each spring at Darlington Raceway. TranSouth first got involved with Darlington in 1980, underwriting the Busch Series race until 1982. It jumped to the Winston Cup event in 1983 and has held the title spot each year since. Media Reps son in bad shape

Jon Sands, who handles media relations for Robby Gordon, is counting on a miracle. Sands' son, Lane, was born last week with a herniated diaphragm, a condition that had life-threatening effects on the baby's heart and lungs. ``He's a fighter,'' said Sands, adding Lane was taken off of a respirator Monday. Words of encouragement can be sent through Team SABCO, 114 Meadow Hill Circle, Mooresville, N.C., 28115.

Von Hall NASCAR Fans _______________________________________ NASCAR Fans Website http://www.nascarfans.com

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