NASCAR Says No To Point Swap Between MWR’s Cars

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Jeff Burton doesn’t do much in the way of trash talking, but after a late-race issue with rookie driver Michael McDowell, he felt the need to call attention to it.
“That kid in the 00 car needs to learn some manners or he’s going to get taught,” Burton said after the race. “It can be hard or it can be easy, and he can choose it however he wants it, but he will learn or get taught.”
McDowell, driving in his first NASCAR Sprint Cup race, appeared to hold Burton up late in the race when the latter was battling for the lead.
“I was trying to gain a few spots and we were trying to keep this car in the top 35,” McDowell said. “Once the 31 (Burton) put a nose underneath, I let him go. I’m sorry if I held him up — it wasn’t the intention, but I was racing the 28 (Travis Kvapil) and the 16 (Greg Biffle) at the time. I made a few mistakes out there today, but by no means was I trying to hold the 31 up.”

• Matt Kenseth couldn’t catch a break on Sunday. After struggling to stay with the leaders, Kenseth entered pit road to help his car when he got clobbered by an exiting Jeff Burton.
The impact pushed Kenseth forward in his pit, and the crew went ahead and serviced the car— outside the pit box. As a result, Kenseth had to come back in for a penalty.
He got another one late in the race when he made sure that David Gilliland, who had clipped him earlier, took a spin of his own. NASCAR immediately called Kenseth to pit road to serve a two-lap penalty for rough driving.

• Elliott Sadler’s trip to Martinsville, not all that far from his hometown of Emporia, Va., was marred by a lower-back injury Sadler sustained during his regular weekly workout session.
As a result, Truck Series veteran Dennis Setzer practiced the No. 19 McDonald’s Dodge for Sadler, who then qualified the car and returned to the motor coach to rest for Sunday.
“Apparently he had some injury after doing some (workout) routine for the week,” said Gillett Evernham Motorsports Vice President Mark McArdle. “Apparently, during the course of that, something went slightly wrong, and I think he exacerbated it later that same day with a different sporting injury of some kind.”
According to sources, the other sporting event that was the tipping point for the injury was golf, one of Sadler’s favorite pastimes.
“My back started to hurt late Wednesday, and the pain was more noticeable when I got up Thursday,” Sadler said. “It was a normal week for me, so that’s what really gets me more than anything. Nothing hurts a driver more than not being in his race car with his team. My goal is to be better by Sunday so I can race.”
Sadler did start the Goody’s Cool Orange 500 from 25th, but Setzer was standing by in case he was needed.

• Tony Stewart is hoping all that Samson talk is just that: talk.
Stewart let his hair down, literally, toward the end of last season and all through this one until his locks resembled those of a roady for the Allman Brothers Band. Well, no more, because Smoke went high and tight for Martinsville.
“To be honest, I just woke up one morning and told one of my roommates, ‘Today’s the day. I’m going to get it cut,’” Stewart said. “There was no rhyme or reason for it. I just woke up that morning and decided to get my hair cut, and that was that. I kind of laughed about it myself because there wasn’t anything that happened that made me do it. I just went ahead and did it. People who know me say I look 10 years younger now.”
This comes a week after getting his back waxed for charity. How’s that working for him? “It’s already growing back. It’s like a Chia Pet.”

• David Reutimann takes over the No. 44 UPS Toyota from the retiring Dale Jarrett this week, and there was talk of a point swap — Reutimann was 27th in points after Bristol, Jarrett 34th — for Martinsville. NASCAR said no.
“They wouldn’t let us switch,” Reutimann said Friday. “It puts you back almost in the same boat you were before. It’s aggravating.”
Sprint Cup Series Director John Darby explained. “This was never meant to be used to give a driver the best position he can get,” he said. “Most people in the garage understand that.”
Instead, rookie Michael McDowell gets the top-35 spot that Reutimann earned over the first five races for as long as he can hold it.