CONCORD, N.C. — Humpy Wheeler received a standing ovation from Sprint Cup drivers before Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600, his final race running Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
Wheeler, who has spent 33 years at the track, is considered one of NASCAR’s top promoters. He announced his retirement last week after track owner Bruton Smith declined to let Wheeler move to a part-time role.
“Thank you for your contribution to each of us and your contribution to help build NASCAR to what it is today,” NASCAR president Mike Helton told Wheeler in the pre-race drivers meeting.
The 69-year-old Wheeler, known for his elaborate pre-race shows, had 1,500 U.S. Army troops take part in a military display that included three helicopter passes and gunners blowing up a house facade.
Wheeler later addressed the crowd before the green flag waved.
“I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to you for buying tickets to this facility through all these years,” Wheeler said, while nearby fans erected a sign reading “Thanks Humpy” on the top of a motor home.
Wheeler was considered one of NASCAR’s top innovators, introducing lights on a superspeedway and numerous other amenities that helped make Lowe’s Motor Speedway one of NASCAR’s top tracks.
“I got a little touched in there today,” NASCAR chairman Brian France said of the driver’s meeting. “He’s such a pioneer in the sport, somebody I’ve dealt with my entire career in NASCAR. He’ll be missed but like he said I don’t think he’s going to go that far away. And you know, maybe he could help NASCAR.”
500-MILE LEADER: Jimmie Johnson had a 500-mile engine in a 600-mile race.
The defending points champion was the race leader at the 500-mile mark. But Johnson lost a cylinder and then blew his engine with 49 laps to go, shortly after he was passed by former teammate Kyle Busch in NASCAR’s longest race. His night ended with a 39th-place finish.
“I’m gonna sleep well tonight knowing that those guys at Hendrick Motorsports are working really hard to pick up some speed,” Johnson said.
Johnson won five of six points races at Charlotte from 2003-2005 and had 11 straight top 10 finishes until he was 14th in the 2007 fall race. Sunday’s finish was Johnson’s worst at the track since he was 39th in his debut here in 2001.
BOUNCING TIRE: Less than two weeks after Brian Vickers’ team won the NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge, a mistake on pit road ended his chances for a breakthrough win.
Vickers started third and led 61 laps early. But midway through the race his left rear tire fell off, sending his No. 83 Toyota hard into wall. The tire bounced down the track, slammed off the hood of David Gilliland’s car, rolled into the infield and off a camper’s awning.
“We’re not really sure exactly why,” said Vickers, who finished 42nd. “It started vibrating several times for the first couple runs. The last two runs the car was picking up a left rear vibration. The left rear wheel was loose, but it was staying intact. We’re not really sure exactly what was causing it but in the last time, we picked up the vibration and the wheel just came off the car.”
It was an embarrassing moment for Vickers’ crew, which took home $70,000 on May 15 for winning the pit crew competition.
“They’re good,” Vickers said, “but we’ve got to get to the bottom of this for sure.”
MONTOYA’s WOES: Juan Pablo Montoya’s new crew chief couldn’t end his poor showings.
Montoya started 42nd of 43 cars in his first race with Brian Pattie at the helm, part of a number of personnel changes that left him at odds with car owner Chip Ganassi.
Montoya worked his way to as high as 18th place, but met heavy traffic and was forced onto the grass and spun out. He never recovered, finishing 30th, four laps down.
Before the race Montoya wanted to deliver a message to Ganassi, who was celebrating an Indianapolis 500 win with driver Scott Dixon.
“It’s great to see Chip win the 500,” said Montoya, who in 2000 gave Ganassi his only other outright Indy win as a car owner. “Put that out there. It’s great to see him win.”
KENTUCKY RIFT: NASCAR is in no hurry to move a Sprint Cup race to Kentucky Speedway.
Bruton Smith announced last week he planned to complete the purchase of the track later this year. Smith then indicated he would have a Sprint Cup date there next year. A NASCAR spokesman on Friday said it was too far along in the scheduling process to move a race there in 2009.
Before the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday, NASCAR chairman Brian France said the track near Cincinnati is in an area that already has plenty of Sprint Cup races.
“It’s not a market we have set as highly desirable. It’s well served,” France said. “We’ll look at things as we go down the road, but right now he doesn’t own it. We’ve got to deal with the owners that do have it. We’ve got Nationwide events and Truck races so we’re working on that right now with them.”
Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear met with Smith on Sunday and said he’s still hoping a Sprint Cup race at Kentucky Speedway “in the near future.” The governor said he and Smith are planning to meet again.
Jerry Carroll, the Kentucky Speedway’s current owner, said he thinks there’s still a possibility for a race there in 2009.
YAO’S NASCAR DEBUT: Yao Ming likes cars and drives a specially made SUV that lets him fit his 7-foot-6 frame in the driver’s seat.
The Houston Rockets center also knows how to change a tire — just not as fast as he saw on Sunday.
“It was very cool,” Yao said after assisting Kyle Petty’s team in a simulated pit stop before the race. “They showed me how to change a tire and refuel a car in what, 12 seconds? That’s a little different when you change your own tire. I never saw that.”
While Yao’s hometown of Shanghai hosts a Formula One race, Sunday was the first time Yao attended an auto race. He took a ride in an SUV around the track — after he couldn’t fit in the pace car.
Yao also shot some hoops with drivers Jeff Burton, Bobby Labonte, Michael Waltrip and Petty. It was part of a promotion unveiling collectable Coca-Cola cans bearing the company’s logo in different languages ahead of the Beijing Olympics in Yao’s home country.
Yao was asked if he saw any basketball talent among the drivers.
“If anyone wants to play in the NBA they need to stop driving like that so they can get a guaranteed contract,” Yao joked.
LUG NUTS: You can keep a baseball that goes into the stands, but not a tire. Jerry Gardner of Ellerbe, N.C. seemingly had himself a souvenir when Brian Vickers’ bouncing tire landed next to his camper in the infield. But NASCAR officials drove over in a golf cart and took the tire. … Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s winless streak reached 74 races, but Junior recovered from hitting the wall after a blown right rear tire to finish fifth. “We got lucky at the end, just got gas and made it last,” Earnhardt said.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
