Notebook: Score another for the senior set

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Score another one for the old guys. Last week, 47-year-old Rusty Wallace ended a long losing streak by winning at Martinsville Speedway.

	Ricky Rudd

On Friday, 47-year-old Ricky Rudd won his first pole in almost two years by qualifying first at Talladega Superspeedway.

"You mean the old guys are getting it done this last couple of weeks?" Rudd said. "I sat there and watched Rusty in his interviews last week, and that was a pretty neat deal. He won that race hands-down. He ran good.

"His hair isn't as white as mine, but I noticed he doesn't have quite as much hair on the top of his head that he used to have.

"So, anyway, for the old guys it's a pretty neat seven-day period. It would be nice to pull it off on race day. Hopefully, we can do it. I don't think age has anything to do with last week or this week, but it's pretty neat to see some of the older guys doing something."

Rudd and Wallace have had more than their share of incidents over their long careers, but Rudd seems to have mellowed lately.

"There's no secret about it, Rusty and I haven't been the best of on-track competitors over the years, and I caught myself at the end of Martinsville rooting for him," Rudd said. "So that's how bad it's gotten."

Pink hat for Wood

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One of Rudd's co-owners, Eddie Wood, lost a bet with Rudd's pole. The payoff? He has to wear a pink hat all weekend.

"The most enjoyment I'm gonna get out of this pole all week long is watching Eddie Wood wear a pink hat until Sunday evening," Rudd said with a wide smile. "He's got to wear a pink hat on a bet -- if we qualified in the top five he was gonna wear this pink hat, so he's sporting a nice pink hat all weekend."

The bet was with a sponsor representative, Judi Moritz, who knows Wood clearly doesn't like pink. Wood loosened up and put it on when qualifying was over, but he was tense waiting for it to end.

"We were sitting in the hauler watching qualifying and as it was winding down, it was overcrowded inside the transporter watching the TV," Rudd said. "A couple of them got up and were gonna make room, and Eddie said, 'Sit back down. You're not leaving here. You're not gonna jinx us now. You're gonna sit right down there until this thing is over with.'"

Burton picks up sponsor for Talladega

	Jeff Burton

Jeff Burton will have a sponsor for the next three races and for the Nextel All-Star Challenge in a deal announced this weekend. Roundup weed and grass control will be on the No. 99 Ford at Talladega, California, Richmond and the all-star race.

In addition, Scotts, Roundup's parent company, will be an associate sponsor.

"This is a great opportunity for our race team, and I'm excited about our new partnership with Roundup and Scotts," Burton said. "I've used Scotts products, including Roundup, in my yard for as long as I can remember, and I'm looking forward to growing our relationship with both Roundup and Scotts over the next four races."

Burton, who has had several one or two-race sponsorships this season, qualified 25th at Talladega.

"It's good to see something on the car," Burton said. "It's good for morale, and it's good to keep everybody pumped up. Being able to have a sponsor like Scott's on the car, which isn't just any sponsor, is pretty cool and hopefully we can turn our year around by having some green on the car."

Vito Boscaino, Scotts vice president of strategy and business development, indicated the involvement may be for more than four races.

"We've been exploring opportunities in NASCAR for sometime now and are looking forward to this trial run with one of NASCAR's most popular drivers," Boscaino said.

Newman leaves 'em laughing

	Ryan Newman

Many fans may see Ryan Newman as a boring, engineer-type, but he's got a dry sense of humor that fans should appreciate.

Asked if drivers dread coming to Talladega, Newman said, "I didn't realize that had nice fishing ponds over here, not too far off the racetrack. I might look forward to coming here a little more than I used to."

And what about Dale Earnhardt Inc.'s dominance? Have other teams caught up?

"I think it's getting a little bit closer, but I don't think 'caught up' is the right word," Newman said.

What is the right word?

"Catching up," Newman said.

NMPA announces award in honor of Patterson

The National Motorsports Press Association has created the Ken Patterson Helping

Others Award in honor of the late Talladega public relations representative who died April 2 from complications of myelodysplasia syndrome.

The award will be presented to a deserving PR rep in Motorsports. Talladega will donate $1,000 in the name of the winner each year to the Kenneth Patterson Educational Trust Fund.

"Ken was a respected, exceptional person who was taken from us far too soon," Talladega Superspeedway president Grant Lynch said. "He will be deeply missed, and we want to make sure his memory and his work within NASCAR and the community lives on.

"This is just a start as we look for ways to permanently honor and remember Ken Patterson."

Kodak backs Drive for Diversity

Kodak has joined NASCAR's Drive for Diversity program as a sponsor for Bobby Hamilton Racing's Late Model team with 18-year-old driver Joe Henderson.

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Henderson, a high school senior in Franklin, Tenn., will race in the Dodge Weekly Racing Series at the Music City Motorplex in Nashville -- the old Nashville Speedway USA.

Henderson has been pursuing Hamilton for six years, first going to Hamilton's old shop and introducing himself six years ago. He ran three Late Model races for Hamilton last year, posting two top-10 finishes.

Henderson clearly has the right attitude, already. When asked about Kodak's Nextel Cup driver, Henderson said, "Brendan, he drives the car real good, but I think I can drive better than he can."

The goal for NASCAR's diversity program is to "make African-Americans and other minorities aware of opportunities in NASCAR," vice president Jim Hunter said.

"We're committed to this from now on," Hunter said. "As a result of that, young, aspiring drivers like Joe will have an opportunity to find out whether they can make it to the regional tour level or ultimately to the national level.

"We needed a program that gave minorities an opportunity to do that -- not just as drivers, but there are so many other job opportunities in this industry today."

Drive for Diversity will name four other drivers and sponsors in the coming weeks. Six minority crew members are already working for various Craftsman Truck Series teams.