Hillenburg was up to NASCAR's minimum speed: #80-Andy Hillenburg was traveling above NASCAR's mandated minimum speed of 135.409 mph (34.5 seconds per lap) [note: not sure how NASCAR calculates minimum speed, this speed is about 80% of the pole speed] in Sunday's race when #20-Tony Stewart got a run on his car and sent it sideways on Lap 28. Title contender #24-Jeff Gordon, who was running behind those two, had nowhere to go and T-boned Hillenburg's car. The wreck ended Gordon's day, and he finished 41st, dropping him from fifth to 13th in the points standings. After the accident, Hillenburg admitted, "We have to go back and make the car faster to keep up with these guys." That wasn't good enough for Gordon's team owner, Rick Hendrick. After the race, Hendrick said, "If those guys can't get out of the way, then they shouldn't be there." Hendrick plans to discuss the issue of slower cars with NASCAR this week.(FoxSports/Sporting News)(3-22-2004)

redriderbob

 

"Field-filler" announcement? hearing that NASCAR is going to make some kind of announcement this week about the whole "field-filler" deal.(3-22-2004)

jayski.com

redriderbob

 

Nascar should reduce the field to 38. There are some people who just dont belong on the track.

 

Agree. As much as I don't care for #24, that accident should not have happened for that reason...[:'(]

 

Good call, that is the incident I was talking about. I dont like Jeff either but he did not deserve that.