NASCAR cancels qualifying, practice

NASCAR on Tuesday canceled qualifying for the New Hampshire 300 following terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, but the sanctioning body made no decision concerning the race itself.\nQualifying and a practice session were both scheduled for Friday at New Hampshire International Speedway until NASCAR president Mike Helton called off the activities and said the field for Sunday's race would be set by points.\n"Our country has experienced a terrible tragedy," Helton said. "All of the NASCAR community offers our sincerest sympathies to all those who have suffered losses. We will continue to monitor and evaluate this situation and make the appropriate decisions as the week progresses."\nDriver Dale Jarrett said earlier Tuesday he hoped the sanctioning body would consider how difficult it could be for teams to get to the race track following the FAA-ordered shutdown on air traffic.\n"With what's taken place here, you have to be concerned for safety and we also have to make sure that this is the right thing for us to be doing at this particular time," Jarrett said. "I think we do have to look at that. Is it safe for us to travel, along with the other teams in the other sports?\n"And is that the thing to be doing or do we just need to make sure that we have everything under control and we're doing everything with our nation's best interest in mind?"\nJohnny Benson, one of a handful of drivers participating in a two-day testing session at the new Kansas Speedway, canceled his activities and his team decided to drive the 700 miles back to Charlotte, N.C.\n"Crew chief James Ince said there was no desire on his, driver Johnny Benson's or the team's part to test after witnessing the attacks in New York City and Washington," team spokesman Drew Brown said.\nInce also said the decision was based on the lack of emergency aircraft available in case of an on-track accident.\n"We felt it was best to come home," Ince said. "There just wasn't any desire to run after what we watched on television today"