Loudon weather looks up Officials believe snow unlikely

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Fred Neergaard has heard all the jokes. Will the chains on the tires ruin the track? Will Winston Cup cars have to pit for anti-freeze? Will the winner shake up a thermos of hot coffee and spray it on his pit crew?

But the public relations director for New Hampshire International Speedway knows the chance of snow blanketing Loudon for the rescheduled New Hampshire 300 Winston Cup series finale in eight days is slim.

That’s not to say Neergaard is taking things for granted. He is already keeping tabs on the weather.

“Right now, everything looks great. It looks like it’s going to be a nice 50-degree day [for the race],” said Neergaard. “The weather isn’t as bad here as everyone would imagine. We’ve had a very mild start to the winter.”

The New Hampshire 300 had been scheduled for Sept. 16, but the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and The Pentagon caused postponement of the race.

NASCAR officials decided to reschedule it for the day after Thanksgiving despite protests from drivers who figured the weather would be too wintry to hold it.

Neergaard said tickets that were sold for the Sept. 16 date will be honored.

“It is sold out. And with the loyalty of NASCAR fans, if the weather cooperates, we should be very close to capacity,” said Neergaard.

Capacity would be in the 100,000 range.

He does anticipate seeing fewer RVs and campers, “but I think we’ll see more car traffic than we usually do.”

Neergaard said they conducted a survey and discovered that 82 percent of the fans were from New England. He said 25 percent came from Massachusetts, 22 percent from New Hampshire, 14 percent from Maine, 11 percent from Connecticut, 6 percent from Vermont, and 4 percent from Rhode Island.

Another five percent come from Canada, mostly Quebec.

One change, according to Neergaard, will involve the Goodyear tires.

“Normally, we use the same tires they use at Richmond and Phoenix. But, instead, we’ll be using the ones they use at Martinsville,” explained Neergaard.

Carole Swartz, the public relations manager for Goodyear Tires, explained that the tires to be used “will have the softest rubber compound in our lineup of tires. Their tread has more grip.”

“They will give the cars the best grip possible,” added Swartz. “Our engineers are confident that no matter what the temperature is, as long as it’s reasonable, the tires will be OK. They aren’t too highly concerned about the temperature because the tires will have the latitude to take care of it. The drivers will know these tires will offer them their best possible performance.”

She said it may take a few laps for the tires to warm up.

Swartz said the engineers have all kinds of data with which to select the proper tires for a specific track.

“There are a number of things that dictate how they group their tires,” said Swartz.

The race will start at noon and although Jeff Gordon will have probably already claimed the points title, Neergaard pointed out, “There is a lot of money on the line along with bragging rights for the other positions.

“I think we’re going to see some great racing. We’re all excited.”

Busch North has 19-race schedule

Busch North will have a 19-race schedule next year covering 14 tracks in eight northeastern states.

There will be three races at NHIS and two at Scarborough’s Beech Ridge Motor Speedway.

The NHIS races will be held on May 11, July 20, and Sept. 14 with Beech Ridge holding races on June 8 and Aug. 24.

The series will make its debut at Adirondack International Speedway in Beaver Falls, N.Y., on Aug. 17.

Mike Olsen of North Haverhill, N.H., won the points title this year, followed by Mike Johnson of Salisbury, Mass., and Dale Shaw of Center Conway, N.H.

Scarborough’s Kelly Moore and Strong’s Tracy Gordon were the top Maine finishers in sixth and seventh, respectively.

The first race of the 2002 season will be Sunday, April 21, at Lee USA Speedway (N.H.).

Yarmouth’s Lee Roy, father of paralyzed former BU hockey player Travis Roy and a former crew member for Ricky Craven and Kevin Lepage, has been named the series’ tour director. Both Lepage and Craven are driving on the Winston Cup circuit.