NOTEBOOK

NOTEBOOK
NASCAR
No race for Blaney: Hartford native Dave Blaney missed his first Nextel Cup race of the season when he failed to qualify for Sunday's Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway. Blaney had only the 45th-fastest time in qualifying and didn't have enough driver points to get into the starting grid. After Sunday, Blaney sits in 38th place in the standings, 998 points behind leader Jeff Gordon.
Gordon urges NASCAR: When Jeff Gordon talks, other drivers and NASCAR listen. In the drivers' meeting two hours before Sunday's race, the man who would win the race later that day urged NASCAR to police the bump-drafting that has become commonplace at the restrictor-plate speedways. "Jeff's points are very valid, and we will monitor it," NASCAR president Mike Helton said. "We cannot police every car's bumper at Daytona and Talladega. We've let you race, but there have been moments where we've black-flagged a guy for crossing the line. You police yourselves this afternoon, and let's see if we can keep it going in the right direction," Helton told the drivers. "If you do it in such a way that it causes an accident, you screw it up for a lot of other people." Rookie Regan Smith said he was glad it was Gordon who made those comments. "I couldn't have said that," Smith said. "They wouldn't have listened to me."
The next best thing: AT & amp;T Mobility hasn't received a decision on its request for a preliminary injunction against NASCAR that would allow AT & amp;T logos to be displayed on Jeff Burton's No. 31 Cingular Chevrolet. Fox's broadcast of Sunday's Aaron's 499, however, provided an acceptable, albeit temporary, substitute. The camera in Burton's car showed the Cingular logo on the hood through the windshield, above a banner, superimposed on the screen, that read: "Cingular is now the new AT & amp;T." The new AT & amp;T, which decided to rebrand Cingular last year, filed suit against NASCAR for the right to place its logos on the No. 31 Chevy. NASCAR contends the exclusivity provision in its agreement with Nextel Cup Series title sponsor Sprint/Nextel precludes AT & amp;T from displaying its logo on the car.
Kurt Busch slams fans: Third-place finisher Kurt Busch was incensed by the reaction of fans at Talladega to Gordon's victory. "I've been working on my fan base for years," Busch said, "and I probably won't have any after this comment, but it's very disappointing to see race fans throw Miller Lite beer cans all over the racetrack. It's very unfortunate." Miller Lite is the sponsor of Busch's No. 2 Dodge.
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service