Schrader dislikes the new rule

He said allowing drivers to race to the checkered flag could be dangerous.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The new NASCAR rule that will allow drivers to race to the checkered flag rather than finishing events under caution might please the fans, but Ken Schrader isn't very happy about it.
"I've felt all along we needed to stay with where we are," he said. "It's worked well for us, and it's been a good way to run the races."
He notes that the Nextel Cup series is unlike any other with races of up to 600 miles.
"So many times fuel mileage comes into play," Schrader said. "This isn't like adding extra innings in baseball or an overtime period in basketball. It's like stopping everything, and starting from scratch -- except, this time, we're just running two laps."
Beginning with next weekend's Cup and Busch series races in New Hampshire, the cars will not be driving slowly behind the pace car to the end if a caution slows the field in the last few laps. They will be given one chance to race to the end with a green-white-checkered finish.
Once the track is safe for racing, the drivers will be restarted with a green flag, then get the white flag, designating one lap to the finish.
If there is another caution flag during those two laps, the race will end under yellow.
Situation could be dangerous
Schrader pointed out that with the cars bunched for the restart and the victory and championship points on the line, the green-white-checkered finishes could be downright dangerous. He said late-race restarts have produced big crashes in the past.
"Two laps of green flag racing at a place like Talladega? That's going to get awfully interesting," he said. "We've gone down that road before and the results aren't too pretty. Most of the time, it won't make any difference at all because most races end under green anyway."
Four of the last 10 races haven't, though, and the unhappiness of fans over that helped prod NASCAR to make the rule change.
Cup debut
Joe Gibbs Racing will enter a car for J.J. Yeley at Michigan International Speedway on Aug. 22. The former U.S. Auto Club short track star and NASCAR Busch series rookie will try to qualify for the GFS Marketplace 400.
The 27-year-old Yeley has started 11 Busch races this season, posting two top-10s with a best finish of eighth.
The Gibbs team, which fields Chevrolets for former Cup champions Bobby Labonte and Tony Stewart, is expected to add a third car next year.
Safer yet
NASCAR is well on its way to having all oval tracks fitted with energy absorbing SAFER barriers before the start of the 2005 season.
The latest to begin work on installation of the Steel and Foam Energy Reduction System is Dover International Speedway. Track officials say the wall should be in place within two months, before the late-September race weekend.
Twelve tracks that hold Cup races already have the barriers in place, with work at Pocono Raceway expected to be done in time for its August races. The tracks in Kansas and Atlanta are expected to have the barriers in place sometime in August, with Las Vegas to follow in September.
The short tracks in Bristol, Tenn., and Martinsville, Va., also will be fitted in the future. The only tracks that will not have the barriers installed are Infineon Raceway and Watkins Glen International, the only road courses on the NASCAR circuit.
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