Cross' Words: Charlotte
Evernham, Dodge take center stage for Cup Series' biggest act
By B. Duane Cross, NASCAR.COM
May 30, 2006
08:44 AM EDT (12:44 GMT)


I hope everyone has a safe holiday weekend. While I'm taking a much-deserved mini-vacation (my opinion, not necessarily that of my boss), faithful reader Jeff Stellish has offered to throw bouquets instead of barbs ...

While my buddy Duane was coaching his 12U baseball team this weekend, he asked me -- Jeff Stellish, please to meet you -- to pinch hit. And it's a good thing Kasey Kahne won; Dodge is right down my alley:

•The Coca Cola 600 was Kasey Kahne's fourth win -- third this year (all in the same car, all at 1.5-mile tracks) -- and it was Dodge's first victory in the Coca Cola 600 since Richard Petty won in his Charger on May 29, 1977. However, it is not Dodge's first win at Lowe's Motor Speedway since '77. Sterling Marlin won the fall race at Lowe's in 2001, and Jamie McMurray won the same race in the same car subbing for the injured Marlin in '02.

•Sunday was Kahne's first win from a starting spot (ninth) other than the pole, although both his teammates started on the front row (Scott Riggs and Jeremy Mayfield).

•It was Dodge's fourth win of 2006, besting last year (three) and matching '04 and '01. (In 2002, Dodge won seven times; in '03, nine times).

•With his fourth win, Kahne ties Bill Elliott's number of wins in Ray Evernham's No. 9 Dodge. Bill won one race in 2001 and '03 and twice in '02, including the Brickyard 400.

•With three wins this season, Kahne is only the second Dodge driver to win more than two races in a single season since Dodge returned to NASCAR racing in 2001. Ryan Newman won eight races in 2003.

•The win also marked the first time that Evernham's team has won more than two races in a season. In 2002, Elliott won twice, and last year Kahne and Mayfield won a race.

•Evernham is the only Dodge team to have wins in every year since Dodge's return to NASCAR in 2001. Penske Racing South has won a race every year since switching to Dodge in '03. The only other Dodge teams to have won a Cup race since '01 are Chip Ganassi and Bill Davis, both of which are winless since '02.

That's all I have for today, but the next time you're in Cherokee County, Iowa, (population 13,035 -- salute!) check out the Sanford Museum and Planetarium. The museum was made possible through a trust fund established by the late Mr. and Mrs. W.A. Sanford of Cherokee in memory of their only son, Tiel.

Cherokee (pop. 5,369) is the smallest town in the world to have its own symphony orchestra, the Cherokee Symphony. This 60-member orchestra has been referred to as "the best-kept secret in Northwest Iowa," and the city's annual events include the jazz festival in January, the Cherokee County Fair and the Cherokee Rodeo.

Say Anything

"I just don't think it's a sport for women. And so far, it's proved out. It's really not. It's good for them to come in. It gives us a lot of publicity, it gives them publicity. But as far as being a real true racer, making a living out of it, it's kind of tough."
-- Richard Petty, in an interview with The Associated Press. ... Maybe these women should get Coca-Cola to sponsor them.

Figuratively Speaking

262 -- Consecutive starts for Michael Waltrip, after he bought a ride for the Coca-Cola 600. The last time he didn't start a Cup race: Oct. 25, 1998, at Phoenix. Waltrip failed to qualify this weekend, then purchased the No. 74 Dodge of Derrike Cope, started 43rd and finished 41st.

Through 12 races, Waltrip has raced 36.02 percent of the time on the lead lap (1,459 of 4,050) -- last among the the 39 drivers who have made at least nine starts.

Toyota: Oh what a feeling. ... It's called indigestion.

Fast Facts

•Jimmie Johnson (second) scored his ninth top-10 finish in 2006 and his ninth consecutive top-10 -- all seventh or better -- in 10 races at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

•Three races ago Greg Biffle was 232 points behind 10th. With his seventh-place finish, Biffle is now 86 points behind 10th; he has climbed from 23rd to 13th in points.

•Dale Jarrett (43rd) scored the worst finish of his 615-race career. He finished last for just the third time: May 29, 1988 at Charlotte (41-car field) and at Sears Point on June 11, 1989 (42-car field). Thanks to e-mailer Jacob M. Johnson for that tidbit.

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