Hello Angels, Bosley, Mr. X and the UnNamed One,

There is a lot to talk about this week, especially when tragedy happens off the track to family members.  I don’t know if any of you have been paying attention to Dale Jarrett’s Crew chief Shawn Parker and his wife Tara Parkers’ ordeal over the past two years. Tara had severe heart problems and received a transplant two years ago.  Things were going real well for the young couple and they even adopted a newborn two months ago.  Tragically, Tara and two of her sisters perished in a fiery crash in North Carolina on Wednesday, after a drunk driver struck the limo they were driving in.  Here’s a link you can send your condolences to Shawn and his family:  http://boards.nascar.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=nascarmeet&msg=561.1&ctx=0

 Dale Jarrett was able to race today but was wrecked early during a restart on lap 161.  He was running in 11th place during the restart when (I believe) Jimmy Spencer got loose and hit Jarrett from behind sending him into the wall.  To make matters worse, Bill Elliott was leading the race at the time and was letting cars get a lap back.  Well Ryan Newman and Mikey Waltrip weren’t having it and decided to race Elliott back to the yellow flag.  Jarrett’s car was stopped in the middle of the track coming off of turn 4, right before the start/finish line.  Let’s just say it was pretty dicey there for a while until Waltrip and Newman slowed down.  I’m going to grandstand for a second here and say that NASCAR has got to do something about the racing back to a yellow flag.  It is much too dangerous out there and today’s accident definitely pointed that out.  

Another incident that NASCAR officials need to take of is racing to the pits, especially for those cars diving on to pit road whose pit stalls are the first one’s on pit road.  Today we saw three members of Jimmie Johnson’s pit crew get run over by Johnson’s teammate and owner Jeff Gordon after Gordon made a mental error and cut to the inside of Waltrip as Waltrip was going into his stall in front of Johnson.  Gordon’s stall was in front of Waltrip’s.  Luckily the three members were all ok, although one suffered a heavily bruised shin in the incident.  Gordon apologized after the accident, and said he didn’t realize Waltrip was pitting there, but regardless, pit road is a dangerous place to be.  This is the second or third incident with people being run over in the pits this year.   In fact Jarrett had an incident a few weeks ago in the same manner sort of speak.  He was coming in to the pits hot and locked his brakes up trying to get to the first pit stall and spun.  He unfortunately took out his own crew.  The last of the crewmembers returned to work today.  

Ok, so, where did the pit-road incident leave the Lowe’s Chevrolet Monte Carlo?  Right where they needed to be because Johnson and his crew went on to win the race.  Gordon was going to be a close second, but unfortunately ran out of fuel with two laps to go.  He went from second to 19th where he finished one-lap down.  Congratulations to Johnson on his New Hampshire sweep for the 2003 season.

So where did all this mayhem leave our teams standings, well, unfortunately for our Segment three leaders, today’s race didn’t help you today.

The only thing today’s race got you, Mr. X, is the CHARLIES’ ANGEL’S FANTASY LEAGUE GOLDEN CABOOSE AWARD.  Greg Biffle started it off for you when a $5 rubber belt broke and came off his oil pump, blowing up the engine.  Biffle finished 43rd.  Jarrett definitely didn’t help you with his 41st either.  Terry Labonte was having another great race, but the great equalizer, fuel, ended his streak of good fortune when he ran out of gas on pit road.  He fell a lap down by the time he got the car restarted and could only manage a 18th place finish.  Jamie McMurray and Matt Kenseth tried helping you with their 10th and 7th place finished respectively, but ultimately it wasn’t enough.  Your Golden Caboose Award winning average finish is a disappointing 23.8.  Much better luck next week.

Kelly, you didn’t faire much better either.  I’m not sure what happened to the hometown favorite, but Ricky Craven had an absolutely terrible car and could only muster a 38th place finish.  Robby Gordon had a spin early in the race, recovered and I believe actually led some laps.  He unfortunately suffered fuel problems late in the race and then sped down pit road with two laps left.  He finished one-lap down in 21st place.  Tony Stewart was spun into the wall by seven-time pole sitter, Newman after contact going into one of the turns.  Stewart didn’t leave the race, but had a definite deficit with a crunched up back end.  He finished one-lap down in 20th place.  Labonte’s fuel problems and 18th place finish didn’t help you that much either.  Your best driver’s finish is Bobby Labonte, but only in 16th place.  Your average finish is also a disappointing 22.6.  Much better luck next week.

UnNamed One, Biffle and Jarrett were your problem drivers today.  Be glad that your other drivers made up for their 43rd and 41st finishes respectively.  Kurt Busch is happy to be out of the limelight, but his 15th place finish might keep him out of sight for a while.  Kenseth had another top-10 finish with a nice seventh place finish.  Your top finishing driver is Ricky Rudd (go Air Force) in second.  Rudd improved one spot from last week’s third place finish at Richmond.  UnNamed One, your average finish today is also a disappointing 21.6.  Much better luck next week.

Bosley, Ken Schrader never had a shot to win the race today…in fact he was several laps down by the time Jeff Gordon ran out of fuel.  Schrader helped the Dupont Chevrolet team by pushing Gordon’s car around the track until the white flag dropped.  This is legal as long as the car wasn’t being pushed during the final lap of the race.  Schrader finished 37th.  I’ve mentioned Waltrip’s earlier incident with Gordon, but I didn’t mention his incident late in the race with his own pit-crew.  Waltrip came in for a gas-only pit stop.  He was only in his stall for about three seconds when he got the order to drive away.  Unfortunately, the gasman didn’t get the word and Waltrip drove away with his gas can still attached to the car.  That is an automatic stop-and-go penalty for driving out of the pits with equipment on the car.  Waltrip went from third to 26th with 5 laps to go.  That is where he stayed, one-lap down. Bobby Labonte and Busch helped with their 16th and 15th place finishes respectively, while today’s polesitter, Newman finished ninth.  Your overall average finish today is another disappointing 20.6.  Better luck next week

Jill, you and I tied this week for the third position in the Charlie’s Angels’ Fantasy League.  

I’ll start with me first because you’re ahead of me in the standings.  Biffle was my nemesis today when his belt broke and he finished 43rd.  Jeff Gordon didn’t help with his gasoline problems and 19th place finish.  John Andretti has found a nice home with Dale Earnhardt Incorporated and finished today in 12th.  Having Kenseth and Johnson on my team definitely helped when they finished seventh and first, respectively.  

Jill your worst driver today is Stewart and his wrecked Home Depot Chevrolet.  He finished one spot behind Jeff Gordon and his gasoline guzzling #24 Chevy Monte Carlo. Casey Mears could only muster a 17th place finish, while Busch finished 15th.  Your top driver is Newman and his ninth place finish. 

Our tying average finish is a not-so-bad 16 even.  Still I wish us both better luck next week.

Kris, you didn’t have that bad of a day either.  Your worst driver is Mike Skinner, who also ran out of gas.  He finished 22nd.  Jeff Gordon and Terry Labonte didn’t hurt you to badly either with their 19th and 18th place finishes respectively.  Busch helped you with his 15th place finish too.  Helping you the most though is Dale Earnhardt Jr., with his 5th place finish, even after breaking a valve-stem in his engine, and running on a little more than seven cylinders (for those of you who don’t know, the engines have eight cylinders when they have full power).   Your average finish is a little better than Jill’s and mine at 15.8.  Nice job.

Blowing away the competition is Tiffany, who earned this week’s TOP ANGEL AWARD were her average finish. Helping put you in today’s top position is Mark Martin, even though he didn’t have that great of a day.  His banged up car got that way during one of the many restarts today.  He managed a 28th place finish.  Kevin Harvick managed to keep his cool and cruised to a 13th place finish, while Andretti cruised to his 12th place finish.  Earnhardt and his fifth place finish definitely helped.  Speaking of helping, having Jimmie Johnson on your team definitely helped when he won his second straight race at New Hampshire International Raceway.  Tiffany, your TAA winning average finish is a very nice 11.8.  Congratulations.

 Our teams combined average finish is a nice 14.88.

 Next week’s race is the MBNA America 400 at Dover International Raceway.  Don’t forget to update your driver’s roster by Thursday at 11:59 Pacific Time. 

 Good luck Angels,

Charlie