NASCAR NOTEBOOK | From the Pepsi 400

Making his point: NASCAR president Mike Helton took a few minutes before Saturday night's Pepsi 400 to speak privately with drivers Robby Gordon and Kevin Harvick about the gentleman's agreement. Then he made sure the rest of the field understood with a stern lecture during the prerace driver meeting at Daytona International Speedway. Helton reiterated that drivers should not race back to the caution flag, which Gordon did two weeks ago in California when he passed Harvick, his teammate, under yellow. It set off a flurry of criticism toward Gordon and debate over the agreement, which is not in the rule book. "It was realized a long time ago the drivers really don't want NASCAR into that part -- we would be better off if NASCAR didn't have to get into this issue," Helton said. "Drivers came up with an agreement that if the caution came out, the leader would put out his hand signaling other drivers to [slow down]. It's been working pretty well up until recent years. We joked at Sears Point about there really wasn't much of a gentleman's agreement anymore. The point is there should be." Helton warned that if drivers would not adhere to a gentleman's agreement, NASCAR would be forced to implement a rule. "You are the only ones that can make this happen," Helton said. "If there's not going to be one, and it gets out of hand, then NASCAR will step in. We don't want to do that and I don't think you want us to do that."
Parrott's back: Crew chief Todd Parrott made his first appearance at a race track Saturday since he parted ways with Dale Jarrett in April. "I missed eight races, the most since 1983 when I graduated from high school," he said. "From that point until this year, I had missed just one race and that was in 1992 when my son was born." Since stepping back from the sport, Parrott said he's been spending time with his family. He almost went to the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, N.C., in May, but got stuck in traffic and turned around and went home. But he came to Daytona with his father, Buddy, and the two were making their way through the garage Saturday, stopping every few feet to exchange greetings with old rivals. Then Parrott went to the Winston Cup sign-in and officially announced his arrival by signing his name on Jarrett's list of team members. He's still under contract at Robert Yates Racing, but said he's currently talking with other teams about opportunities. "I've missed it," he said. "I probably shouldn't have stayed gone so long, but I've been resting and relaxing and I feel great." Parrott, who spent seven seasons as Jarrett's crew chief and won the 1999 Winston Cup championship, and his younger brother, Brad, both left the No. 88 team in April as Jarrett tried to shake things up and get his season back on track. Todd had been working as the team manager at the time and Brad was in his first stint as a Winston Cup crew chief.
Nextel connects: Nextel made its first official visit to the race track Saturday since signing on to become the series sponsor beginning next season. NASCAR president Mike Helton introduced Nextel president Tim Donahue in the drivers meeting and the crowd gave him a standing ovation. "We've never been in anything as big or as exciting as this sponsorship. We want to make it a great time for the fans, for the teams, for the drivers, for the owners, for everyone involved," Donahue said. "No one understands the importance of relationships than I do. This is a partnership in the true sense of the word. We really want to enhance the relationship and do everything we can to take the NASCAR sport you all started to the next level."
NASCAR consultant: When R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. told NASCAR in February it could look for a new series sponsor, NASCAR was prepared. A short time before, NASCAR had hired sports marketing guru Greg Sullivan to prepare an assessment report on what would happen if Winston ever pulled out as sponsor of its top series. "I found that there probably couldn't be a worse economic time to be pursuing a new sponsor, but there couldn't be a better time in terms of the state of the sport," said Sullivan, a former executive with International Speedway Corp., NASCAR's sister company. So NASCAR turned to Sullivan to help with the search for a new sponsor. After putting together a list of about 200 potential companies, Sullivan went to work on a presentation to make to perspective sponsors. He was involved with the first meeting with Nextel, and was part of the process that brought the wireless telecommunications giant on board as Winston's replacement beginning next season. Sullivan said the courting process with Nextel was "extraordinarily quick" at just about eight weeks. "Nextel understood the marketplace and that there were other entities that were interested in it," Sullivan said. "This sponsorship is a game changer, the type of property that could change your business." With the Nextel deal complete, Sullivan is now helping NASCAR find a new fuel supplier. Unocal 76 is pulling out at the end of this season.