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Martin Puckering Up For Victory Tradition, Patrick Fired Up Again

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By TONY FABRIZIO | The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 23, 2008

Is part-timer Mark Martin a favorite to kiss the bricks after Sunday's Allstate 400 at the Brickyard? In his own mind, he is.

The 49-year-old surprised the media last month at Pocono when he basically predicted a Brickyard win in Dale Earnhardt Inc.'s No. 8 Chevy.

"I meant what I said," Martin said this week. "Indy is one of the crown jewels of racing, and we have the team that can get it done."

Martin's reasoning: DEI has a good setup for flat tracks (Indy is the least-banked track the Sprint Cup series runs on), and Martin has a solid record at Indy: nine top-10 finishes in 14 starts, including sixth last year.

What's certain is this won't be the final Brickyard for Martin, who is returning to a full-time ride next year with Hendrick Motorsports.

Here Come ESPN, Jarrett

Like Dale Jarrett or not as a TV analyst, NASCAR viewers are about to hear a lot of him. The 1999 Winston Cup champion begins his second career in earnest this weekend when ESPN/ABC opens its portion of the NASCAR broadcast package. The networks will air the final 17 races, with ESPN showing the next six and ABC the final 11.

Actually, Jarrett is quite good. He is far better than Rusty Wallace and even Kyle Petty, and could be as much a natural as Darrell Waltrip has been for Fox.

"I think he's already a natural," said Jerry Punch, the lead announcer who will share the booth with Jarrett and two-time champion crew chief Andy Petree. "There are people in sports that coaches say, 'Please, don't anybody try to coach this kid because we don't want to change a thing.' I think there's a lot of that with Dale."

Allstate 400 Schedule

NASCAR makes its 15th trip to famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend for what was originally called the Brickyard 400. The Nationwide and Craftsman Truck divisions also are in Indianapolis, but they'll race at .686-mile O'Reilly Raceway Park.

Friday: Sprint Cup practice, 2-3:30 p.m. (ESPN360.com), 3:30-4:30 (ESPN2); International Armed Forces 200 Craftsman Truck Series race, 8 p.m. (Speed)

Saturday: Allstate 400 qualifying, 10:10 a.m. (ESPN2); Sprint Cup practice, 2-3 and 3:30-4:30 p.m. (ESPN2); Kroger 200 Nationwide Series race, 8 p.m. (ESPN)

Sunday: Allstate 400, 2 p.m. (ESPN)

For the publicity-starved Indy Racing League, Danica Patrick's ongoing run-ins with other drivers is great theater.

They may not be so great for Patrick.

If America's most celebrated female driver didn't have a reputation as a hothead already, she cemented it by confronting fellow female driver Milka Duno in her pit box after a practice session last weekend at Mid-Ohio.

The two had a heated exchange, during which Patrick unleashed at least a couple of curse words and an equally rankled Duno tossed a hand towel at Patrick.

Video shows that Patrick was justified in being upset by being held up by Duno. The question is whether she should have confronted Duno in her pit box in front of her team. Racing etiquette says no.

Patrick also had a heated argument with St. Petersburg's Dan Wheldon on pit road last year at Milwaukee, and she had to be stopped by a security guard from confronting Ryan Briscoe during this year's Indy 500.

He Said It

"I'm kind of wondering if maybe we can up the speed limit in that stretch."

- Daytona 500 champion Ryan Newman, on having a portion of road in his hometown of South Bend, Ind., renamed for him. The road has a 45-mph speed limit.

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