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January 30, 2009

Mike Skinner and Taylor Malsam Get Full-Time Truck Rides With Randy Moss Motorsports

Two more full-time truck teams were confirmed today - Randy Moss Motorsports will switch manufacturers to Toyota this season and field trucks for Mike Skinner and Taylar Malsam, both of whom had previously been with Bill Davis Racing until that organization was sold and its race teams dismantled. Moss said,

"We are very pleased to have both Tayler and Mike come on board at Randy Moss Motorsports for the 2009 season. Tayler has shown a lot of promise in his performance on the track in 2008, and we look forward to helping him to continue to grow as a driver in 2009. Mike will be able to help mentor Tayler while going for his second championship all at the same time. It's the perfect combination."

I think Skinner and Malsam do make a good combination - there's a lot that Malsam can learn from Skinner for sure! However, according to Skinner they are in need of sponsorship and if they don't find some I have to wonder how that might effect the organization's ability to field competitive trucks. But for now I'm just glad that Skinner and Malsam both found rides. They were put in a really bad position since they both unexpectedly found themselves without rides after BDR was sold at a time when there weren't that many quality rides still open. I have to think that Toyota helped make this deal happen for both drivers and I'm glad that they take care of the drivers that are affiliated with them. I'm not sure Skinner will be able to race up front quite as much as he did with BDR but hopefully he and Malsam both will have a good season with RMM.

In other Truck Series news, two other open rides were filled - Stacy Compton will race the #60 for Wyler Racing, though I have to wonder if that team will race the entire season since the team had said at the end of last season they needed sponsorship to continue and no sponsor was announced was announced for the truck. 18-year old James Buescher has been named the driver of the #10 truck for Circle Bar Racing, something which I find a little surprising since I was thinking they might go with a veteran driver. It'll be interesting to see how he handles racing the Truck Series full-time at just 18-years old, though I'd rather see him in a truck learning all he can about racing in NASCAR than thrown into a Nationwide or Cup car without any experience. In addition, Mike Bliss will race six truck races for Key Motorsports. I'm thinking we'll be seeing other partial deals as teams and drivers look to take advantage of expected short fields - the purse money for truck races isn't as good as it is for Nationwide or Cup races but some will probably still try to make a go of it knowing that they might be able to make races just by showing up.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:33 AM | Comments (0)

January 28, 2009

Photo of the Day - Great Falls

Great Falls, Paterson, NJ, January, 2009.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:26 PM | Comments (0)

A.J. Allmendinger Will Race the #44 for Richard Petty Motorsports in Nine Races and the Bud Shootout

Richard Petty Motorsports announced today that at expected they have signed A.J. Allmendinger to race a partial season in the #44 with the possibility of more races if sponsorship is found. To start, Allmendinger will be in the car for the first eight races of the season as well as the July race at Daytona, as well as the season opening Bud Shootout. The team also has an option on Allmendinger for 2010 with the hope that a sponsor can be found to field him in the car on a full-time basis. I've seen some speculation that RPM will be watching Reed Sorenson very closely to see how he does in the #43 and if he doesn't race at the level that they're hoping for he may be replaced by Allmendinger. Since the results for Sorenson have never been very impressive in the three years he's been in Cup, though that could be due to the cars he's been given to race, if that speculation is accurate he may be in some trouble if he doesn't race up front more often than he has in the past.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:15 PM | Comments (0)

David Gilliland Still Under Contract With Yates Racing

The good news for David Gililland is that he's still under contract with Yates Racing because it means that he's going to continue to collect a paycheck even though he doesn't have a ride. But the bad news is that until Yates releases him he can't find a ride with another team. Doug Yates said,

“David is still under contract with Yates Racing. We’re looking for opportunities for David, but just with the way things came together at the end of the year with the Bobby Labonte program [at Hall of Fame Racing] and keeping Travis in the [No.] 28 car, David doesn’t have a ride right now."

Yates continued by saying that they hoped to put something together for Gilliland but how likely is that really? It's a little over two weeks to the Daytona 500 and sponsors are in very short supply. I don't think the odds are good that a scenario is going to present itself that will put Gilliland in a car for Daytona and probably not the rest of the season either. I can't really understand Yates thinking here and why they don't just release Gilliland. They still need to secure sponsorship for Travis Kvapil and the #28 team let alone Gilliland. Maybe they're thinking that if they're going to have to pay him anyway since they'd probably have to buy out the remaining year on his contract, that they may as well keep him around in case they do find something. But it's really not a good situation for Gilliland because it could keep him from racing all season even if another team wants to give him a ride unless Yates gives him permission to race for someone else.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:06 PM | Comments (0)

Truck Series Rules Changes Expected to Help Teams Cut Costs

After gathering feedback from the teams in the Truck Series, NASCAR is expected to announce some rules changes in an effort to help cut costs. According to Lee Spencer from foxsports.com, the changes include limits on pit crew members on pit road including a reduction in the amount of over-the-wall crew members which will lead to teams not being able to change tires and gas the trucks on the same spot. Unfortunately from the sounds of it this change amy lead to more layoffs but from the team's perspective they will save money when it comes to salary. There had been some talk that NASCAR was considering regulating pit stops even further to where there would be set "time-outs" or competition cautions which would be the only time teams could pit (unless they had a mechanical issue or were involved in a wreck). Although the series has done pit stops that way in the past I wasn't crazy about that idea since I like that pit stop strategy has to be part of a team's game plan. This way there will have to be even more strategy utilized when it comes to pit stops if they have to stop separately for tires and gas.

In addition, there will be changes related to the engines which will mean that teams will use the same engine for two races - I'm not sure I understand exactly what that's all about but I assume that some teams - if not all teams - were buying an engine per race so reusing engines will cut costs in that area. Some think that NASCAR should make rules that cap how much teams on all levels can spend on the competition side but I don't think that's a good road to go down. As much as it might make for an imbalance I think the teams should be able to spend their money any way they want.

There's been quite a bit of doom and gloom lately about the future of the sport in general and about the Truck Series in particular especially since there are rumors that there may be less than 15 full-time teams and fields could be extremely short for some races. Some are predicting this series may fold before the end of the 2009 season and I think rumors like that do a tremendous disservice to this series. On one hand some say that NASCAR has to do more to save this series because the situation is so dire but don't recognize the damage that's done when the future of the series is painted in such a bleak light. Why would any sponsor want to get involved in the Truck Series if they are led to believe that they won't get any exposure via their involvement in the series and that NASCAR might be thinking about throwing in the towel and may shut down the series sooner rather than later?

Maybe I'm missing something but I don't see NASCAR simply giving up on the Truck Series. Too much time, money and effort has been invested in this series and there are too many obligations, contractual and otherwise, to fold the series instead of trying to fix some of the problems and help the teams - which is what the rules changes are an effort to do. In addition, while there is some speculation that Camping World has some sort of "out" clause in the contract they signed to be the title sponsor of this series, as of now NASCAR is receiving money from Camping World to run the races. The tracks have also sold tickets to fans and sponsorship packages to sponsors for these races. Teams have signed sponsors and drivers. SPEED has plans in place to broadcast all the races - something they say they will do no matter how small the fields are - and I assume they've already sold commerical time for those races. I really can't imagine any of those entities agreeing to just give up on the Truck Series this season - or beyond - without some real effort being made towards addressing some of the issues the series, and the sport itself, are facing.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:50 AM | Comments (0)

January 26, 2009

Dave Blaney Gets an (Almost) Full-Time Ride with Prism Motorsports

I scarcely know where to begin with this one. At one time Phil Parsons wouldn't even confirm that he was a car owner in the Nationwide Series now he's jumped full-throttle into publically acknowledging his ownership role not only in MSRP Motorsports in the Nationwide Series, but also in Prism Motorsports, a newly formed Cup team from the same ownership group as MSRP. Today it was confirmed that Terry Labonte would race the #66 in the Daytona 500 with sponsorship from Window World. Dave Blaney will then get behind the wheel of the #66 for the rest of the season. In addition, Prism has formed a technical alliance with Michael Waltrip Racing and will get engines from Joey Joey Arrington.

Co-owner Randy Humphrey said of Blaney,

"Like Terry, Dave is not only a talented, competitive race driver, he is also a first-class guy off the track. He's someone that we believe we can build a great team around."

I hope that means that Prism intends on fielding cars that they will actually attempt to race with as opposed to starting and parking like MSRP has done in the Nationwide Series. I can't see them spending money on a technical alliance with MWR and what should be decent engines from Arrington if they're not going to make some sort of effort. I can't help but wonder if all the starting and parking last season - which I would guess will continue in the Nationwide Series - was intended to fund this season's Cup effort?

Parsons said,

"Randy and I are committed to building an organization founded on integrity and driven to succeed; one that every team member and every sponsor can be proud of."

Statements like that mean they almost have to race instead of just starting and parking so as to not make themselves look silly. There's already a significant amount of negative feelings on the part of fans in relation to what they did in the Nationwide Series last season, if they were to do the same in Cup this season it would make things even worse. I can't see Blaney taking a start and park ride so I hope that's a sign that they actually race but with so few rides available Blaney might have felt taking an iffy ride was better than having no ride at all. I guess I hope they make a go of racing in these races - if they blatantly start and park every race like they did in Nationwide and there's a huge backlash it could force NASCAR to address the issue which would probably lead to rules changes that will make it harder for small, poorly funded and newly established teams.

To me the best part of this announcement was the technical alliance with MWR. I believe Parsons is still on the board at MWR so that likely has something to do with how that alliance came about but I'm happy that MWR is in a position to be providing technical support to other teams. That's an indication that they're confident in their own cars and their competitiveness if they think they can help other teams as well. It's also likely a good source of revenue for MWR, something that they need since they still need sponsorship for half the races for the #00.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:39 PM | Comments (0)

Joey Logano Gets a Showdown Win Taken Away

The finish to this weekend's Toyota All-Star Showdown in Irwindale was controversial to say the least! I didn't end up watching the race live but I saw some video of the last ten laps this morning and after seeing it I don't like NASCAR's decision to take the win away from Joey Logano. Don't get me wrong - I'm happy that Matt Kobyluck won, in fact I would prefer Kobyluck to win over Logano, but I'm not a fan of NASCAR's decision in this race. I guess NASCAR felt that Logano's move at the end of the race that resulted in Peyton Sellers wrecking was overly aggressive so not only did they penalize him by taking the win away, but they put him in 40th last car in the field.

While I understand NASCAR's thinking in that they didn't like the aggressive way Logano raced Sellers, just exactly how was what Logano did any different from the countless other aggressive moves during the race including the two moves Ron Hornaday, Jr. made that resulted in wrecked race cars? Furthermore, on the last lap I think there should be more leeway given to the drivers to race hard and be aggressive in pursuit of the win. I don't like to see wrecked race cars but I do like to see exciting racing, particularly for the win coming to the checked flag. I want to see drivers giving it their all and particularly for the win.

What bothers me is that fan complain about how a lot of the races are boring, how there's too much follow-the-leader racing and how there's not enough passing. So when a driver races hard for the win, they not only raise the ire of fans but get penalized for it by NASCAR. I don't want to see drivers racing like grandmas on the white flag lap, afraid to make a move or race hard out of fear of getting penalized or getting fans angry at them. I want to see drivers battling each other hard and I accept that sometimes things are going to get messy and there's going to be wrecked race cars.

I've see a lot of fans complain about how a driver like Sellers can't afford to end up with a wrecked race car in comparison to Logano who has a lot of money behind him which in their minds makes what Logano did even worse. For one thing Sellers has enough money in his pocket to where he's going to be able to move up to the Nationwide Series next year in a start-up team. But beyond that when a team enters a race the risk that they take is that their car is going to end up getting wrecked. Of course the ideal situation is to bring a car home in one piece without a scratch on it but sometimes things go bad and it results in a wrecked race car.

In other Showdown news Steve Park was a non-entity in this race due to mechanical issues. After one break he couldn't get his car re-fired and it turned out there was an engine issue. After some time behind the wall Steve was able to return to the track but he was able to finish no better than 23rd. There's all the talk about how Logano screwed Sellers, but there are so many other teams who made the trip from the East Coast to Irwindale, only to end up wrecked or have their night ruined by mechanical issues like Steve's team. Talk about disappointment!

I kind of wish I had watched this race. While it was going on I checked in a few places online and saw that it was a big wreckfest but it turned out having a good ending. I didn't even end up recording it as I often do with races that I can't watch live. There were a lot of drivers that I'm interested in racing in this race too and I was happy that there was finally some action on the track. Just never got around to seeing the DVR for some reason - maybe because it was a non-points race it didn't seem so important.

At any rate, somehow I get the feeling this won't be the last controversy Logano is involved in this season, not necessarily because he's going to do anything wrong but because every move he makes is going to be over-analyzed and blown up into more than it is.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:19 AM | Comments (2)

January 25, 2009

Photo of the Day - Great Falls

Great Falls, Paterson, New Jersey, January, 2009. I made my first visit to Great Falls in Paterson this weekend and it definitely won't be my last! It would have been an incredible sight in any season to see the water spilling over the falls of the second highest waterfall on the East Coast but it was an even more beautiful and awesome sight with the falls half frozen. I could have spent all day there taking photos!

Posted by silverdsl at 09:15 PM | Comments (0)

January 23, 2009

Many New Teams to Attempt to Make the Daytona 500

It's not just Tommy Baldwin who has recognized an opportunity to get a foothold in the Cup Series and maybe make some money with the demise of a number of teams since last season. Just about every day a new or not regularly seen team announced their intention to field a Cup car during Speedweeks and their hope to be able to race the full season. In fact, there are so many teams in the mix right now on a full- or part-time basis for 2009 that besides the West Coast races I'm not sure how many short fields we're actually going to see.

Joe Nemechek has indicated that he will both own and drive his own car, and he won't be the only owner-driver. I was very surprised to see that Jeremy Mayfield will apparently be doing the same. I think it's great for Jeremy - I'm not sure how much success he'll have but after several years of struggling to finish well while racing for others, he'll probably enjoy the opportunity to make his own decisions when it comes to his team. It's going to be good to see both of these veteran drivers returning to the track and doing it their way.

Another surprise was that Terry Labonte will apparently be "racing" the #90 Cup car for MSRP at Daytona. Labonte will be second in line to use a Champion's provisional after Tony Stewart, who likely won't have to use one, so odds are that he'll get MSRP in the show via his provisional, which means that Bill Elliiott and the #21 team will really have to be on their game if they want to make the race since he likely won't have his Champion's provisional available to him. Phil Parsons has indicated that they actually intend on racing during the Daytona 500, the first time ever an MSRP car will be doing anything remotely like racing as opposed to just going to the garage after a few laps. Still, racing to them may be a lot different than racing to another team. I hope to be wrong for Labonte's sake, but it's hard for me to see MSRP fielding a car that's very competitive considering that's never been a concern of theirs in the past. I have to assume taking this ride is a favor to Phil Parsons, and Labonte has missed racing enough to agree to race for some less than competitive teams the past few years, but I'm still shocked that Labonte agreed to race for this team.

According to Jayski, Phoenix Racing also plans to return to the Cup Series in 2009 with partial support from Hendrick Motorsports for ten races when Brad Keselowski is behind the wheel. In the other races they'll field Dodges with a combination of Sterling Marlin, Ken Schrader and Mike Bliss behind the wheel. That Schrader will be racing Cup will come as a surprise - a happy one - but a surprise all the same to his many fans who had thought they would only be able to see him dirt racing this year.

While I'm not loving the idea that we may see some start and parking this season in Cup, I think the influx of new teams is a good thing. The Gatorade Duels may end up being quite a battle since there may be a huge field of drivers racing very hard to make the Daytona 500. That could result in some surprise teams and drivers making the field. Even some of the other races where the fields will likely be less could have some interesting entries. It's almost certain that many of these teams will struggle to race well, but maybe there will be some surprises, and maybe some of these teams could develop into more competitive teams given time. I'm looking forward to seeing what these teams end up doing.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:04 PM | Comments (0)

Michael McDowell to Race for JTG Daugherty Racing for 16 Nationwide Races

This week it was announced that Michael McDowell was going to race the #47 for JTG Daugherty Racing in 16 Nationwide races this season with the hope of securing enough sponsorship to race the full season in the car. Apparently this was made possible because McDowell is bringing sponsorship with him. What's good news for him is bad news for Kelly Bires who had thought he was going to race at least a handful of races in the #47 but has now been informed that he's free to explore his options with other teams. McDowell is hoping to not only be able to race for the Rookie of the Year in the Nationwide Series but also that it will turn into a Cup ride with JTG for him which means that he would essentially end up racing for Michael Waltrip Racing again via their alliance with JTG.

I'm glad that McDowell is getting another opportunity in NASCAR and particularly in a lower level since he really could use some additional experience before he attempts to race Cup again. However, I'm not exactly jumping up and down at the prospect of him racing for MWR/JTG in Cup. I wasn't impressed with McDowell last season and not just because the highlights of his short Cup career were mostly wrecks. But maybe a season in the Nationwide Series will be exactly what he needs and things will be a lot different if he gets another opportunity to race Cup.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:48 PM | Comments (0)

January 22, 2009

Ricky Carmichael to Race in at Least 14 Truck Races for Kevin Harvick, Inc.

I'm very happy that sponsorship has been found that will allow Ricky Carmichael to race a truck for Kevin Harvick, Inc. next season! Monster Energy will sponsor Carmichael in the #4 truck for 14 races and I'm hoping that additional sponsorship can be found so that Carmichael can race the truck for the entire season if he wants to. Last season Carmichael finished sixth in the Camping World East Series and I'm glad that he's getting an opportunity to advance to the Truck Series after having done well in the East Series. Carmichael said,

"This is an opportunity I’m really excited about. I think this is my best shot to learn and the best chance to become a successful NASCAR driver. I’m going to give 110 percent to make it worthwhile for myself and the entire team.”

I'm excited too! I'm really looking forward to seeing what he might do in a truck! I think Carmichael is taking the right approach - instead of jumping right into a Nationwide or Cup car he's slowing advancing and giving himself plenty of opportunity to gain experience. I'm not sure he's going to be as successful in NASCAR as he was in motorcross but I'm really hoping that he develops into a driver who contends for wins in NASCAR.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:05 PM | Comments (0)

SPEED Puts the Brakes on "Tradin' Paint"

As part of NASCAR's media tour this week, SPEED held an open house to show off their new facilities. They also announced that Tradin' Paint was going to be replaced with a game show. TP featured John Roberts, Kyle Petty and a different motorsports media member who discussed each week's news and events. In some ways it's unfortunate that TP is getting canceled since there it was an opportunity for a lively and candid exchange of opinions, but I'm not really going to miss the show because I haven't watched since Michael Waltrip was replaced by Kyle. As much as I like Kyle, I wasn't too happy when Michael stopped doing the show since I thought he was terrific on it, and I just couldn't bring myself to watch someone else doing the show.

I can understand why SPEED is canceling the show. It may be that low ratings played a role, but these days it seems like it's all doom and gloom in the sport and week after week of being negative and talking about bad news - which is probably what the show would have been this season - isn't very fun for those on the panel or those who are watching. It may also be that NASCAR discouraged SPEED from continuing the show, realizing how that kind of a tone might not lead to warm and fuzzy feelings from fans about the sport. I just wish they were replacing it with something other than a game show. To me the more racing and racing related programming the better and I'm unlikely to watch a game show.

However, there was some good news that came out of the media's visit to SPEED - based on what was said apparently there are no other programming or personnel changes at SPEED which I think means that Michael will likely be back on This Week in NASCAR and in the booth for Truck races. Every season there always seems to be rumors that he's getting replaced on the Monday night show and as much as he seems to love doing the truck races one never knows season to season whether his schedule is going to allow him to continue. I'm really happy that Michael will be doing both, particularly since it's almost certain that Michael Waltrip Out Loud won't be back. Even though he won't have a weekly radio show, I'll still get to hear his thoughts and opinions on what's happening in the sport, and enjoy his enthusiasm in the booth during truck races.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:41 PM | Comments (0)

Earnhardt Ganassi Racing to Field Three Cars Afterall

Earlier in the week it was said that there had been an additional round of layoffs at Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing because it was unlikely that the #8 car would be fielded past the Daytona 500. However, although he confirmed that 30 people had been laid off, the president of EGR, Steve Lauletta said that they plan on having three Cup cars this season, including the #8 with Aric Almirola behind the wheel - very good news for Almirola, who I'm sure is very happy that it appears he has a ride this season. According to Lauletta, there are multiple sponsors for the #8. In addition, EGR plans on entering a fourth car for the Daytona 500, with a sponsor and a driver to be named soon. Because of how many rumors were circulating about the organization recently, Lauletta said he addressed EGR's employees this week,

"There's a lot of rumors out there, a lot of misinformation, a lot of things we needed to confirm so people could put their heads down and continue to work hard."

Perhaps if Lauletta and EGR had been more forthcoming about their plans a little sooner, maybe some of the rumors wouldn't have circulated so widely. Since they put out a press release announcing that DEI and Chip Ganassi Racing would be merging for the most part no one from EGR has gone on the record to clarify their 2009 plans, let alone address any of the many rumors. In fact according to Dave Moody from Sirius, EGR wasn't even responding to media inquiries. Perhaps they didn't know exactly what they were going to do, particularly since Bobby Labonte deciding to go to Hall of Fame Racing probably threw them for a loop, but their silence only fueled the rumors and speculation.

One issue that is still unclear to me even after Lauletta addressed it is the status of the Bass Pro Shops sponsorship on the #1 car. Reportedly Bass Pro Shops was going to cut back on their sponsorship possibly leaving EGR with the need to find a sponsor for as many as 10-12 races. Lauletta said that Bass Pro Shops is sponsoring "most" of the season on the #1 and that they would sponsor the rest of the season if another sponsor wasn't found. He also said on Sirius yesterday that there are so many sponsors who want to be affiliated with Martin Truex, Jr. and the #1 car that they approached Bass Pro Shops about whether they would be willing to let some of these other sponsors take some races and they agreed. I find it difficult to believe that there's that many companies lining up to sponsor Truex - he's not a superstar for one thing and the poor economy is discouraging most companies from becoming involved in the sport. I also don't understand why an organization would think about possibly upsetting a sponsor they already have a relationship with by asking them to give up races. So I would guess the situation is that BPS wants to cut back on how many races they sponsor, maybe for financial reasons, but they're contractually obligated for the full season. So EGR is trying to find other sponsors to buy those races from BPS, thus letting them out of their obligation for those races. To me that doesn't bode well for BPS's continued involvement not only with Truex, but with NASCAR in general if they're cutting back.

A side note to all of this is that two of the people who were instrumental in the management at DEI, Max Siegel and John Story, have decided not to stay at EGR, and will instead form their own sports and entertainment marketing company, The 909 Group which will have NASCAR as one of it's clients who will use their services to run their diversity program. I think one problem with NASCAR's diversity program has always been that it's been run by a marketing company but I like that Siegel and Story will be the ones running it since they have hands on experience with race teams and understand the racing side of the sport as opposed to just the business side. Apparently The 909 Group will also have DEI has one of their clients and I wonder if they'll be working with the The Dale Earnhardt Foundation and other non-racing parts of the company that I would think weren't included in the merger with Ganassi.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:57 PM | Comments (0)

January 20, 2009

Bruton Smith Proposes TV Blackouts for Races that Don't Sell Out

Today Speedway Motorsports, Inc Chairman Bruton Smith proposed what he believes is a wonderful idea to help increase weak ticket sales for races - he would like there to be TV blackouts in the local areas for races that don't sell out. I'm not going to mince words about what I thought when I heard about his idea - worst idea ever! At times I've thought that various entities are woefully out-of-touch when it comes to the fans and that feeling is confirmed by Bruton proposing something which would likely lead to even more negative feelings and resentment from fans who are already unhappy about any number of things in the sport.

NASCAR isn't the NFL and the fanbases are very different, particularly now. There are many passionate NASCAR fans but a TV blackout isn't likely to send fans to the track. Odds are a lot of fans will simply opt not to view that particular race either at the track or at home. The fact of the matter is that in spite of tracks lowering ticket prices, going to a race still remains a costly outing, even for fans who live just a few hours from the track when one considers all the expenses that are involved. In addition, a lot of fans are really unhappy with the quality of the racing and I don't see those fans opting to spend money on a race they're used to watching at home for free if they have doubts about whether they're going to see competitive racing.

In addition, if there are sponsorship woes now, imagine how bad it would be if races were blacked out in some areas? What sponsor is going to want to spend $20 million or more to be on a car and not get the TV exposure they're counting on because it turns out a race isn't sold out? And particularly when it comes to major markets like New York or Los Angeles - a market it should be noted where the California Speedway is that often doesn't sell out. The last thing the sport should do is make moves that are going to discourage sponsors from spending money in the sport.

It's also mind-boggling when so many fans are so discouraged about the state of the sport that they're losing interest that someone would advocate an idea that would only make fans even more upset. Everyone in the sport - from those who run tracks like Smith, to drivers and teams, to NASCAR itself, has to do everything they can to be fan-friendly, and TV broadcasts, no matter how much they may be used in other sports, are most certainly not fan-friendly.

If Smith and NASCAR wants to get more fans to the track the best course of action besides making the experience of the fans at the track the best it could possibly is to be sure that the racing is as competitive and as compelling as possible. That's what gets fans to watch on TV and buy tickets - great, exciting racing.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:07 PM | Comments (2)

Earnhardt-Ganassi Likely to Only Field Two Cup Cars in 2009

Sponsorship woes continue to cause organizations to scale back for the 2009 season. Although Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing had hoped to field the #8 Cup car for Aric Almirola for the entire season, a lack of sponsorship will likely result in the car not being on the track at all this season (though I've seen that they may field it for the Daytona 500). That's extremely unfortunate for Almirola, a promising young driver who will likely have a hard time finding a quality ride this close to the start of the season - even lesser rides are in short supply these days. As a result of the decision to field one less team, EGR laid off 40 employees yesterday, bringing the total employees who lost their jobs when DEI and Chip Ganassi Racing merged to 170.

It's pretty incredible that these two organizations went from having seven cars on the track between them at one point to just two in 2009. Now the newly merged organization will feature just one car from each organization with Juan Pablo Montoya behind the wheel of the #42 and Martin Truex, Jr. behind the wheel of the #1. Rumors have circulated since last season that both Montoya and Truex, Jr. might want to leave for other teams so I have to wonder what the future holds for EGR, and whether they'll still be around a few years from now. I can't see either their existing sponsors or drivers wanting to stick around if they aren't competitive this season so this season may determine whether the organization survives long-term.

I've seen a few people blame all of this on Teresa Earnhardt, but while she had a hand in the woes at DEI, she had nothing to do with the decisions at Ganassi put them in a position where they lost sponsors, had to cut teams and lay off employees. Though I'm sure some will still find a way to blame her for all of EGR's problems.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:26 PM | Comments (0)

NASCAR's Media Tour and the Inauguration

Watching the Inauguration was awe-inspiring and I was completely wow'd by seeing history unfold. I could fill an entire entry talking about the Inauguration but since I prefer to keep politics (and religion) out of this space for the most part I'll keep most of my thoughts to myself.

But one thing did occur to me in relation to the Inauguration and what I discuss most often in this space, NASCAR, and that's how it's kind of amazing to me that the NASCAR media tour was scheduled for this week, the motorsports media are attending events today that will likely get very little space in their publications because the focus of every media outlet in the country is on the Inauguration. Of course there is always a traditional time when NASCAR's media tour is held in Charlotte and perhaps it would have been difficult to schedule it at a different time but I can't help but think that this media tour took place today is a sign that in some ways NASCAR is out-of-touch. While there often isn't major news or earthshattering stories written during the media tour, given the issues facing the sport, all the teams, drivers and sponsors very much need the exposure and publicity that comes with the media tour, much of which will be greatly reduced today, if not the entire week. I wonder if the media tour paused so that everyone could watch the Inauguration or was it just business as usual?

Posted by silverdsl at 01:50 PM | Comments (0)

January 19, 2009

Gillett-Evernham Motorsports to be Renamed Richard Petty Motorsports

As expected Gillett-Evernham Motorsports announced today during a press conference as part of the annual motorsports media tour in Charlotte that after the merger with Petty Enterprises, the organization would be renamed Richard Petty Motorsports. In addition, the fourth car for RPM will be renumbered from the #10 to the #44, with A.J. Allmendinger behind the wheel for at least seven races with the possibility of more, including the full schedule, if sponsorship is found. Although the contract has yet to be signed, apparently RPM thinks so highly of Allmendinger that they are willing to sign him to a multi-year deal.

Richard Petty was the one who engineered that the fourth RPM car would be the #44 - in fact he made one of the conditions of the deal that both the #43 and #44 be continued to be fielded. Other conditions that he insisted on before the deal could go through was that in keeping with the Petty family tradition of no alcohol sponsors ever being on their cars that the Budweiser logos would never appear on those two cars even though that beer company is the sponsor of the #9 car. He also asked that three employees from Petty Enterprises, Robbie Loomis, PR representative, Brian Moffitt and crew chief Dale Inman, have jobs at RGM. What's interesting about all of that is that many believed that the merger was all Boston Ventures - who only have a small percentage of ownership in RPM - when it appears, at least according to what was said today that perhaps Richard played a big role in merger negotiations. That may go a long way towards appeasing those who believe that Richard is merely a figurehead at the new organization and that the Petty name is disappearing from the garage area.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:32 PM | Comments (0)

Scott Riggs Will Race for Tommy Baldwin Racing

Here's one the rumor mill got wrong - word was that Dave Blaney was the leading candidate to race for Tommy Baldwin Racing but today it was announced that Scott Riggs got the ride in the #36 instead. It's been rumored that Riggs has sponsorship in the form of State Water Heaters and/or Hunt Brothers Pizza to bring with him to a team and if so that might explain why he might have moved ahead of Blaney on Tommy Baldwin's wish list - if Baldwin was even considering Blaney in the first place. It may turn out that neither of those sponsors end up on the #36 but some had been wondering why if Riggs really had one or both of those sponsors in his pocket why he hadn't been signed by a team yet even though many are desperate for sponsorship - the answer might be that neither of those companies can afford to spend the amount that many good teams are asking for to sponsor a car. But Tommy Baldwin is likely willing to take significantly less - some sponsorship for a small team just getting started is better than none.

Whether it's one of those sponsors or another I'm hoping Tommy Baldwin finds some sponsorship for his team. If there's money coming in from a sponsor it'll help the team be competitive and if there's a sponsor on the hood it'll also make it more likely that this team will race the entire race rather than start and parking.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:17 PM | Comments (0)

January 18, 2009

ServiceMaster Clean to Sponsor Cautions During Races

Some are freaking out because ServiceMaster Clean entered into a deal that right now is with the ISC and SMI tracks but will reportedly be expanded to all the tracks and the TV broadcasts as well so that the cautions will now be called ServiceMaster Clean Cautions. I'm not a fan of the rights to yet another thing in this sport being sold to a sponsor but I don't see this as the huge problem that many others do. To me this is no different than any other sponsorship deal and I'm skeptical that it's going to effect the races or the way the TV coverage is any more than any other sponsorship deal. It's not like sponsorship deals in relation to cautions are anything new - Aaron's sponsors the Aaron's Lucky Dog. There were already quite a few fans who believed that NASCAR throws fake cautions to manipulate races and/or create excitement, now the belief is that they will throw even more fake cautions simply to make sure ServiceMaster gets the exposure they're paying for.

Some have actually said that now there will never be a race without a caution. Well, just exactly how often does that happen anyway? I've seen it said that the last time there was a caution-free Cup race was either in 2001 or 2002 - seven or eight years ago! The fact of the matter is that as hard as it is for some who think that the majority of cautions are fake, the reality is that drivers get in wrecks, debris gets on the track, engines blow up, and countless other things happen that result in cautions. This sponsor will get plenty of exposure without NASCAR's help.

If someone wants to they can create a conspiracy theory for any sponsor, team, driver or situation if they try hard enough. But the fact is that there isn't always an ulterior motive to why things happen, some sort of manipulation or deception. The poor economy has had a tremendously negative effect on the sport. I can't blame the tracks or NASCAR for entering into an agreement that will provide them with a financial benefit. I actually think it's a good thing that there's a company that wants to make a major investment in the sport since it seems like companies that are able to do that are few and far between right now.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:28 PM | Comments (0)

January 17, 2009

Will 2009 be Michael Waltrip's Last Season in Cup?

Michael Waltrip made some comments today at Daytona Fan Fest that weren't music to this fan's ears. He said that his goal in 2009 was to race up front so that he doesn't have to say that it's his last year. Michael said,

“...if I don't do those things, if I can't compete at the level that Reutimann does or NAPA expects, then I probably won't get to do this again in 2010.”

The title of this article asks whether Michael is contemplating retirement after this season, and if that happens I think it would be because he has to, not necessarily because he wants to. The reality is that NAPA Auto Parts is only signed through the end of 2009 and that's likely because they want to see if the results will improve this season before they opt to invest $20 or $25 million in Michael and Michael Waltrip Racing for more years. Though it has to be expected that NAPA wants to see more of Michael racing up front, I hope the expectations are being kept reasonable. The fact of the matter is that MWR is only in it's third season in existence and although they've had some good races, and both Michael and David have raced well at times, they are very much still a work in progress. I'd love for it to happen but I don't think Michael, David or their teammate via the alliance with JTG-Daugherty Racing, Marcus Ambrose, is likely to race in the top ten every week or be in the Chase. I definitely think that Michael can contend for wins - after all, he's won two Daytona 500s and two other Cup races besides, but he's never been a driver to contend for wins every single week - which has been perfectly fine with NAPA up to this point.

NAPA wants to see more of Michael racing up front sure, but I also think it comes down to exposure. They get a lot of exposure when their car is racing in the top ten, but Michael has always been able to get them a lot of exposure outside the car. Unfortunately some of those opportunities may not be there as they once were. As far as I know Michael will still be doing This Week in NASCAR and will be in the booth for Truck races on SPEED, but he's not on Trackside or Tradin' Paint anymore. In addition, Michael Waltrip Out Loud is unlikely to return and fan interest in the sport in general is decreasing. MWR has created a new Facebook page to promote their interests - including their sponsors interests - but what they put on that page only reaches a limited audience - those who are on Facebook who visit their page regularly. So perhaps the question this season in addition to whether Michael races up front this season enough to satisfy NAPA is also whether he gets them the amount of exposure they want. Michael is one of the most gifted and savvy when it comes to finding opportunities to generate exposure for his sponsors but even he may be limited by the current state of the economy and other issues that all the teams and the sport are facing.

Michael also said,

“This is a real important year for me because I still love it. I'm still emotional about it. That's a great feeling. I'm glad I have that. I'm glad I feel the way I do, and I'm also glad that I own my car, because if this is my last year then I'm fine, because that means I got somebody faster or better than me to drive my car in 2010, and that's how it was supposed to be.

I'm glad to hear that Michael still loves to race - he probably always will and even if he isn't able to continue racing on the Cup level hopefully he can race in the Nationwide Series. I'm also very happy that he is a car owner because as long as there's sponsorship for his cars being an owner will keep him involved in the sport for many years to come. Problem is with the way the economy is and the increasing difficulty for even the good teams to find and keep sponsorship, there are no guarantees that the sponsorship and other funding will be there forever for Michael to continue as an owner, not because he or his organization will have done anything wrong but just because all the teams are struggling with these issues. If NAPA walks or reduces the level of their sponsorship there may not be a replacement sponsor since there doesn't seem to be that many companies willing to make a $25 million investment in sponsoring a car any more. Without NAPA I'm not sure MWR will be able to continue, at least in Cup, with just Aaron's, some associate sponsors and the affiliation with JTG.

The other issue is that since it appears there may not be the sponsorship to put Josh Wise in a Nationwide car this season they may not have a younger or faster driver to put in the car when Michael steps out. Josh could be a star for MWR but financial issues may prevent them from developing him so that he's ready to race Cup. It sure didn't work out throwing Michael McDowell in a Cup car without getting him some experience on a lower level. I suppose MWR could sign a free agent to take Michael's place but that costs more money and unless MWR is fielding cars that race up front and have solid sponsorship they may not attract the top level "name" free agents.

I always used to be the kind of fan that would watch races regardless of whether my favorite driver was racing or not. But I'm increasingly getting the feeling that once Michael isn't racing anymore my interest in the sport may decline significantly. That doesn't mean that I'll stop watching all together but I don't think I'll be as ardent or as passionate of a fan as I am now. I've always been able to shrug off a lot of the things that a lot of fans make a big deal about, I have don't have that many major issues with the way the powers that be run the sport, and in general I would prefer to focus on the positives and the things that are going right, than on the negative and complain all the time. But even I'm getting disheartened and discouraged by the direction the sport is going in.

So hopefully Michael will race up front on a regular basis and even win a couple of races - he certainly has the talent behind the wheel to do it! I would love to see Michael racing the #55 NAPA Toyota for many years to come!

Posted by silverdsl at 06:44 PM | Comments (0)

Paul Menard To Get Owner's Points From Another Yates Racing Team

According to Paul Menard, as some have suspected, his #98 team, will get owner's points from one of the existing Yates Racing teams. What that means is that it's unlikely that either the #38 or #28 - as well as their respective drivers, David Gilliland or Travis Kvapil - are likely to be back at Yates Racing, since it's been said previously that the #96 team will get the #38's points. Kvapil may end up racing a part-time schedule in the #28 but a lack of sponsorship may means that might not even happen. While I understand completely why Yates will be transferring the points from the #28 and #38 teams so that their fully sponsored cars are locked in, I still think it's unfortunate for Gilliland and Kvapil who did such a good job along with their teams of making the most of cars that were being fielded with limited outside funding and less resources than other teams. Now they're going to see their owner's points - and in essence their rides - go to other drivers.

The most unfortunate thing is that while Yates may have a plan in mind, nothing's been clarified, maybe not even to the drivers involved and it's just a few weeks before Speedweeks. How are Gilliland and Kvapil able to look for new rides if they aren't 100% sure what their status is at Yates?

Based on what Dave Moody has been saying on his show on Sirius recently some of the teams that have questions that still need to be answered about their plans for 2009 have stopped responding to media inquires. I have to wonder if Yates is one of those teams since there's been a lot of speculation and questions but not a lot of answers since the initial press releases about Labonte and the alliance with Hall of Fame Racing. Fans are increasing frustrated by a lack of good communication it has to be even more infuriating for those in the media since it makes them harder for them to do their jobs. I can't really understand why these media members aren't getting a response even if it's just "no comment" or "we have nothing new to announce." Seems to me it doesn't encourage good will and positive coverage if the teams aren't responsive or cooperative with the media.

Posted by silverdsl at 05:04 PM | Comments (0)

January 16, 2009

David Reutimann to Race Four Nationwide Races for Braun Racing

Earlier this week some David Reutimann fans were disappointed when it appeared that David wouldn't be racing the #99 for Michael Waltrip Racing at all this season. However, as it turns out David will still be racing in the Nationwide Series in 2009. Braun Racing announced today that David will race the #10 with sponsorship from Beringer Vineyards, in four races. I can't say I'm overwhelmed by the tracks he'll be racing at - California Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway, Michigan International Speedway, and Phoenix International Raceway - but I am happy that David will be racing in Nationwide this season.

David said,

"Braun Racing is a top-notch organization in the Nationwide Series, something I know very well having competed against them over the last couple of years. I look forward to working with them next season and competing to give Beringer their first win as a primary sponsor in the Nationwide Series.”

Braun does field very competitive cars that race up front - and have ended up in Victory Lane. I'd much rather David win a race for Michael Waltrip Racing, but it would still be awesome to see him win for Braun! Maybe one of those weekends everything will fall into place in such a magical way that David can win a Nationwide race for Braun and then a Cup race for MWR!

Posted by silverdsl at 02:29 PM | Comments (0)

NASCAR Changes the Rules for the Bud Shootout

NASCAR has changed the rules for the Bud Shootout so that in addition to the top six cars from each manufacturer based on 2008 owner's points will participate, the seventh spot for each manufacturer will go to a past Champion, and if that manufacturer doesn't have a past Champion, then the seventh top finishing car for that manufacturer based on owner's points will get the slot. This change was likely made because with the way the rules were set up Tony Stewart wasn't going to be taking part because his new team didn't have the owner's points to get in and I would guess that NASCAR didn't like a scenario in which one of the sports most popular drivers wasn't going to race.

I think the more drivers that get to race the better, so I'm in favor of this rules change. The Bud Shootout isn't a points race, and spots to race are no longer awarded based on whether a driver won a pole in the previous season, so to me it doesn't really matter who races. In fact, I think they should do away with the rules all together, particularly since the new change makes it so that most of the regulars with the possible exception of Ryan Newman, will get to race anyway. I'd like to see them go even further and allow pretty much any team and/or driver who attempted every race last season to participate. After all, this is the race that kicks off the season and it's a way to get fans excited about the races that follow. I suppose some might think that it doesn't make it special if ever driver can take part but it's already lost some of it's luster when the rules were changes so that eligibility was no longer determined by who won a pole.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:04 PM | Comments (0)

January 15, 2009

Elliott Sadler Speaks

Elliott Sadler spoke with the media yesterday via a conference call and on Sirius for the first time since the news broke that A.J. Allmendinger nearly replaced him at Gillett-Evernham Motorsports. Of course it's to be expected that Sadler is going to engage in damage control and spin things in the best light possible since he's still going to be racing for GEM next season but it was really hard to believe a lot of what he said to the point where I almost found it to be an insult to my intelligence. Sadler claimed that he contacted a lawyer for some legal advice, well filing an intent to sue is a lot more than just getting some advice. In addition Sadler claimed, as Tom Reddin from GEM did before him, that it was just a "family disagreement." Well, you don't threaten to sue over a simple disagreement or misunderstanding. Sadler said, "I don't think it's fair to sit here and say today that the team didn't want me." No? Then why did they seriously look at replacing you with A.J.? Naturally Sadler tried to blame the media and make it seem as if they reported the story all wrong but something tells me they depicted a lot more accurate picture of what was going on than Sadler tried to yesterday. I've heard this interview called "candid" and I thought it was anything but.

Sometimes it's really discouraging. Drivers find out they might be out of a ride through reports on the internet instead of via a phone call from their team. Interviews are done by teams and drivers that are nothing more than spin and damage control in which every word they say is carefully considered to make sure fans hear the right "message." As someone who used to work in public relations I understand completely why this is done but at the same time I think it can be over the top - Sadler would have been a lot better saying less rather than more about the situation with GEM because the more I heard from him the less credible I found him to be. Good communication seems to be increasing falling by the wayside especially when it comes to the increasing way teams leave everyone in the dark from the media to fans to even their own drivers.

Below in the comments section of another entry someone said that it was a callous way to treat people and I agree - it also shows a lack of respect and common courtesy. I don't understand how these teams expect to get good results out of their drivers, get positive media coverage or get full support from the fans when this is how they operate. Seems like the new way is to stick their heads in the sand about problems or uncomfortable situations and either hope they go away or in an attempt to ignore they as long as possible. Seems to me that only creates ill will and resentment.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:32 AM | Comments (2)

January 14, 2009

Michael Waltrip, Scott Speed to Split Time in Michael Waltrip Racing's #99 Car

Today Michael Waltrip Racing announced that they would field four full-time teams in 2009, three Cup cars and one Nationwide car. As has been previously announced the Cup lineup will be Michael Waltrip in the #55 with sponsorship from NAPA Auto Parts, David Reutimann in the #00 and Marcos Ambrose in the #47 with a variety of sponsors via the alliance with JTG-Daugherty Racing. Although there had been an announcement a number of months ago that David would return to the #99 Nationwide car for a handful of races it appears that won't be happening. Instead, Michael and Red Bull Racing's Scott Speed will split the schedule. There's been some video and photos posted on the MWR Facebook page that relates to the Aaron's sponsorship for the #99, but apparently Best Western will also be sponsoring Michael for some races as well. Of course Red Bull will be on the car when Scott is behind the wheel.

I have to admit that I have mixed emotions after reading today's announcement. While I'm thrilled that Michael will apparently be racing more Nationwide races than previously thought, I'm not so happy that it appears that Josh Wise not only won't be in the #99 for any races as originally planned but since he's not mentioned, may not race for MWR at all in 2009. I understand completely why that might be since there probably isn't any sponsorship to put him in the #99 or another car. However, as a fan of Josh's who had high hopes that he would not only develop into a very successful and winning driver, but do that at MWR, it's disappointing that he doesn't appear to be part of their plans right now. It also concerns me because it's important for MWR to develop young talent for the future and at least for the moment it seems like a lack of sponsorship dollars is going to prevent that from happening. Of course MWR isn't the only team who will be scaling back on driver development this season and I don't think that's a good trend.

The other thing that's a concern is that MWR still hasn't found sponsorship for the remaining half season for David and the #00 car. While Michael said today that MWR will still field the car on a full-time basis in spite of there not being a sponsor for every race, that could present a problem since MWR will have to pay to field the car out of their own pocket. I suppose that they're still better off than some since there are teams that don't have any sponsors let alone a sponsor willing to cover half a season. Apparently the remaining races will be offered to potential sponsors at a discounted rate so hopefully that will appeal to some companies even if they only sign on for a few races. David is a very talented driver who showed last season that he can race up front and contend for wins. He's an overall great person and very fan-friendly. So David can get sponsors the exposure they're looking for. Problem is that it seems like sponsorship dollars are so scarce that even if a company might be interested they might not have the money for it even at a reduced rate.

Putting my concerns aside, I am definitely thrilled that Michael will be racing a lot of Nationwide races this season! He's won in the #99 before and I would love to see him take it to Victory Lane again! Although the #55 team has made a lot of progress since 2007, they still have a ways to go before they're racing up front on a regular basis, but in the past Michael has usually raced competitively when he's been in the #99. So it'll be good for him to race that car and race competitively as the #55 team continues to develop. I'm really excited for Daytona - a great truck race on Friday that Michael will hopefully be in the booth for, and then Michael racing in both the Nationwide and Cup race! Maybe somehow, someway, Michael will end up in Victory Lane that weekend - he certainly knows how to win at Daytona! How awesome would that be?!

Posted by silverdsl at 08:56 PM | Comments (0)

David Gilliland Assumes He's Out at Yates Racing

In this day and age of the internet when news breaks fast and travels even faster, it boggles my mind that some teams aren't proactive about keeping their drivers in the loop when it comes to news that involves them. More and more drivers cite the internet as the first time they find out about news about their team, their organization and even sometimes about being released. Such is the case for David Gilliland who found out via the internet that he may no longer have a ride in the #38 for Yates Racing. Although Gilliland said that he's still under contract with Yates through 2009 and he hasn't had a meeting with anyone from Yates, he assumes based on internet reports that the #96 is taking the place of the #38 and that Yates will only be fielding three cars next season that he will have to find a new ride.

Even though he's still under contract with Yates I can't say I'm surprised that Yates opted to (maybe) keep Travis Kvapil over Gilliland. Gilliland has had some good runs in the #38, most notably when he finished 2nd at Sonoma. However, that 2nd place finish was his only top five last season and the only other finish up front for him was 9th place early in the season at Bristol. I suspect that may have as much to do with the cars he was given to race as anything else but his overall results aren't impressive and that's a problem when it comes to attracting sponsorship which his team was very much in need of.

In addition, Gilliland has been involved in some controversy on the track. The incident at Texas in which he put Juan Pablo Montoya into the wall elicited an extremely strong and negative reaction from fans to the point where more than a few people felt Gilliland should have been released immediately following that race or suspended indefinitely by NASCAR. I'm quite sure that Gilliland had no intention of causing any physical harm to JPM but that's exactly what could have happened and I don't think that incident reflected well on him. Regardless of whether he was retaliating for something JPM did first or not, Gilliland made a pretty serious error in judgment and it's possible that also played a role in why Yates would choose Kvapil over him. Especially when one considers that wasn't the only controversial incident that he was involved with - there was also the huge wreck at Watkins Glen which he played a role in by tangling with Michael McDowell. The results for Kvapil weren't much better but he didn't put anyone into the wall and for the most part kept himself out of trouble on the track other than when he got swept up in someone else's mess.

Unfortunately for Gillland he's probably going to have a hard time finding another ride. The same issues that may be contributing to his likely release from Yates are going to be an issue for other teams - the need for sponsorship, that his results haven't been very impressive in Cup, and that he's been involved in some controversy. Gilliland could go back to the Nationwide Series - though there isn't much available in that series either - but other than his magical win at Kentucky in 2006 that put him on the map he hasn't done all that much in that series either That doesn't mean that Gilliand can't race race up front and contend for wins - as with so many drivers Gilliland can only make the most of the cars that he's given and he can't do much with a non-competitive car. So he may be able to race more competitively than he has in Cup thus far. But will anyone give him a chance to prove that?

Posted by silverdsl at 03:53 PM | Comments (3)

January 13, 2009

Bobby Labonte to Race the #96 for Hall of Fame Racing?

Here's a bit of a shocker - for weeks it had been rumored that it was all but a done deal that Bobby Labonte was going to race for Ganassi-Earnhardt Racing next season but that deal appears to not have been as done as previously thought. Sources are telling nascar.com and scenedaily.com that Labonte will race the #96 for Hall of Fame Racing this season, with an announcement possibly coming as soon as tomorrow. This piece of news comes on the heels of today's announcement that HOF has formed an alliance with Yates Racing which would result in Yates fielding the #96 for HOF but would allow Jeff Moorad and Tom Garfinkel to retain ownership. Sponsorship will reportedly come from DLP and ask.com. Some are questioning how Labonte could consider going to team that was as uncompetitive as the #96 often was in 2008 but the alliance with Yates should make the #96 a better and more competitive team.

There is some potentially bad news in all of this, at least if you're a fan of Travis Kvapil or David Gilliland. According to scenedaily, Yates will only field three cars, not the four that most seem to think they'll have. If scenedaily is correct the #96 is taking the place of either the #28 or the #38, not becoming an additional car. That makes sense since neither the #28 or #38 has sponsorship and it's unlikely that Yates would be able to field two cars with partial or no sponsorship for a second season. But that means that if Labonte is racing the #96 and Paul Menard has already been announced as the driver of the #98 for Yates that there will only be room for one other driver at Yates if they're really only going to be fielding three teams, either Kvapil or Gilliland but not both.

There's no telling which driver Yates would opt to keep if they are going to have to choose between Kvapil and Gilliland. Supposedly Gilliland is signed through the end of this season and Kvapil's contract only went through the end of last season but Yates could opt to sign Kvapil and buy Gilliland out of the remaining year on his contract. One things for sure though this is a really bad time to be a driver looking for a ride. There haven't been many rides available to begin with, particularly competitive rides, and now it's just a month before Speedweeks meaning that there's not much time to find a ride. Maybe Kvapil and Gilliland had some idea of what was going on, after all a number of crew members had been let go at the end of the season which was the first clue that I had that Yates might be thinking about eliminating either the #28 or #38. So maybe they're already been making calls and exploring their options. But at least publically it's seemed like both drivers thought that they were going to be back at Yates. For their sake I hope that's exactly what happens... but I wouldn't be surprised if scenedaily is correct and one of those teams is going away.

What this also means is that an already uncertain driver lineup for Ganassi-Earnhardt becomes even more murky. Does this mean that they need to find another driver or given their sponsorship issues will they just opt to drop a team? What's going to happen with Aric Almirola since it was rumored that he was going to be replaced in the #8 by Labonte, something that doesn't seem likely to happen now. Many questions but not many answers, and according to Dave Moody on his Sirius show no one at Ganassi had seemed inclined to return phone calls or otherwise respond to media inquiries regarding their plans for next season so no one really knows what's going on over there - maybe even more so now.

Update: Word is that Gilliand is the odd man out at Yates...

Update #2: The article at thatsracin.com indicates that the #38's points are going to the #98 and in addition there isn't the funding to field the #28 for the full season. Based on the way the article is written it sounds like the only definites to race next season are the #96 with Labonte and the #98 with Menard. So doesn't sound good for both Gilliland and Kvapil. It'll be a very interesting Morning Drive on Sirius tomorrow morning and hopefully some of this will be clarified by then.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:52 PM | Comments (0)

Random NASCAR Thoughts on Random Thoughts (1/13)

*Coca-Cola got a bump in hits on their website and some extra publicity today thanks to a rumor that spread in relation to a photo of some of the drivers in the Coke Family of Drivers that was posted on their website. Some fans noticed that Bobby Labonte was wearing a Super 8 driver's suit in the photo and speculated that Super 8 was going to sponsor Labonte at Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing. However, the story behind why Labonte is wearing that particularly driver's suit isn't related to his plans for 2009, but instead the team he was racing for in 2008. At the time the photo was taken in October, Labonte was still racing for Petty Enterprises and Super 8 is an associate sponsor on the #43. According to Jayski if Super 8 sponsors a car it will be a few races on the #43 at whatever Gillett-Evernham Motorsports is to be called after the merger with PE. Until Dave Moody talked about this rumor on his show I hadn't seen any discussion of it anywhere and I have to wonder if spending ten minutes talking about an apparently false rumor that no one was talking about was really helping to stop it's spread or was it actually giving it more legs?

*Elliott Sadler is staying at GEM but most of his team will be changed. Most of the #19 team from 2008 will work on the #10 team, not-so-great for them considering the team is a part-time team at the moment. Sadler's crew chief will be Kevin Buskirk who was Sadler's team engineer in 2004 at Yates Racing when he made the chase. Somehow I don't think the results will be much better for Sadler. Not because Sadler is lacking in talent or anyone is going to give less than a full effort but it seems to me that it's going to be a very awkward and possibly hostile working environment for Sadler since he had to threaten to sue to keep his ride. Something tells me that Sadler may get released again - this time for real - before the end of 2009. Other personnel moves announced by GEM include that Robbie Loomis will come over from PE and serve as executive director of racing operations - he should definitely be an asset on the competition side for that organization.

*Speaking of that organization it's a month before Speedweeks? Are they going to have a new name for the organization by then?

*Another team that has some announcements to make before Daytona is Earnhardt-Ganassi. It's still unknown what the full driver lineup will be or who the sponsors will be but the latest rumor is that Bobby Labonte won't be racing the #41, he'll be racing the #8. That would put Aric Almirola in the #41 and out of a full-time ride since that team apparently only has partial sponsorship. I think that would be very unfortunate for Almirola. It's thought that he's a promising driver but how can he possibly develop as a driver if he's only racing on a part-time basis... or maybe not even at all depending on how things work out. It's a problem for a lot of teams - it's necessary to develop young talent but sponsorship issues and a lack of funding creates an inability to field cars for them. Some fans are surely very happy about this because it might create more opportunities for veteran drivers but I think it's important that there's some promising young talent that gets a chance to race as well so that there's someone to take the place of those veterans when they retire.

*But what could turn out to be an even bigger story is that reportedly Bass Pro Shops is reducing the level of their sponsorship of Martin Truex, Jr. and the #1. Sponsorship may be needed for as many as 15 races.I wonder if Truex knew that was going to happen when he re-signed with DEI? Many have said that it's a done deal that in 2010 Truex will go to Stewart-Haas Racing with sponsorship from Bass Pro Shops but that doesn't sound like a sponsor that's committed to staying in the sport for sure or with the driver they're with currently if they may go from a full-time to a part-time sponsor. Seems to me that Ganassi-Earnhardt has quite a few sponsorship issues and if those aren't resolved a lack of sponsorship dollars could effect their ability to be competitive.

*ESPN is reporting that Max Siegel may be on his way out at DEI. Like David Poole this morning on Sirius, I think that's extremely unfortunate. Siegel is relatively new to NASCAR and previously worked in the entertainment industry. As such I would guess he has some different ideas and perspectives than the same-old, same-old that so many seem to be fond of. That's a good thing. In addition, Siegel is currently the highest ranking NASCAR team executive and if there's one thing that NASCAR needs more of it's diversity, not less. Hopefully if he does leave that organization he'll end up with another team. John Story is reportedly also leaving DEI.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:29 PM | Comments (3)

January 12, 2009

Michael Waltrip Goes Boar Hunting with Aarons Outdoors

Back in October Michael Waltrip and some others from Michael Waltrip Racing went wild boar hunting at the Briar Patch Plantation in Georgia, as part of the taping of a TV show for Aaron's Outdoors. Not too long afterwards photos from this outing surfaced and I didn't do an entry about it because if I'm being honest I found it a little disturbing to see photos of Michael holding and shooting a gun. I'm not sure exactly why it bothered me since I don't have a problem with hunting if that's what someone wants to do or with gun ownership, though neither or those things are for me. Perhaps it was because in the past Michael has made a comment or two that indicated that he might not be that comfortable with guns and when he talked about going wild boar hunting on his XM show he sounded a little leery about shooting the pigs. But the show that was filmed for Aaron's outdoors has been airing and has a few more air dates so for the sake of those who visit this blog who might be interested in watching the show I decided to do an entry now to pass on the air dates which are from a press release on Michael's site:

Saturday, Jan. 31 at 9:30 AM on CSS
Monday, Feb. 2 at 8:30 PM on Pursuit (Direct TV channel 608)
Wednesday, Feb. 4 at 10:00 AM on Pursuit

I don't have either of those channels so I won't be able to watch but I'm sure some others will be interesting in checking it out. Apparently it aired a couple of times already and based on what was said by a fan who watched neither Michael, nor Ty Norris, who also took part, had ever fired a gun before. I admit I'm a little surprised by that because even if Michael isn't a big gun person with how popular hunting and presumably guns are in the garage area are I would have thought that he would have gone hunting or at least target shooting at some point prior to now.

Apparently Michael did very well for someone who has never shot a gun before and was able to shoot two pigs with one bullet the first time he tried after taking some target practice. Just goes to show that drivers have good eyesight and excellent reflexes! However, one of the two pigs was only injured from the shot, and Michael didn't want to finish the pig off - I can understand that as I would think if one isn't used to hunting and isn't fully comfortable with it, finishing off a kill up close and personal might be kind of difficult. A tradition with a first kill on a hunt is that the person smears blood from that kill on their face, something Michael declined to do, and again, I can understand why he wasn't too keen on that. After the hunt was over there was a pig roast and a good time was had by all.

Something tells me that unless Aaron's Outdoors wants Michael to do something else for him we probably won't see Michael going hunting on a regular basis.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:38 PM | Comments (0)

Michael Waltrip Wants a Preseason Race, Thinks Testing is a Waste of Time

Michael Waltrip had some interesting comments during the Sound and Speed Fan Festival this past weekend in Nashville, one of which is about how he thinks that there should be a preseason race - something I think is an excellent idea. Michael said,

“Why not have a race in January, maybe a New Year's Eve race, middle of January, some sort of race in a cool location where it pays money? You go down there for two or three days, you're able to test what you've learned and you actually have like an unofficial race. NASCAR does it. It's like a pre-season game, if you will.”

Some of the teams and drivers might not be as enthusiastic as Michael about a race during the off-season but fans dearly miss racing during the three month break that NASCAR takes and even more-so now that there isn't even testing to look forward to. Sure, there's the Toyota All-Star Showdown that the Camping World East and West Series teams and Whelen All-American Series teams take part in , and a few other events but for the most part the drivers from the Cup, Nationwide and Truck Series that the fans cheer for so ardently during the season don't do any racing. How awesome would it be to have a race on New Year's Day or at some other point during January to look forward to? I'm thinking it would also be a lot of fun for the drivers since it would be a race that didn't really count for anything, prior to the season, where they could let it all hang out.

Michael continued,

“You get paid money for it. Fans get to come and watch it. It's a test for all the teams. Everybody gets to compete. We can start 50 cars. Whoever shows up gets to race. I like that.”

I like that too! For one thing paying the teams and/or drivers to take part is a great idea because it would provide some incentive for them to take part. It would serve as a way for teams to test, something which they can't do right now on any of the NASCAR sanctioned tracks. I also love the idea that whoever shows up gets to start so no team goes home. Fans would love that too since it would give some drivers who might not normally race Cup an opportunity to participate in a Cup race though I would think there would need to be some limits such as making it that a team or driver would have had to have started at least once race in the year prior to take part to prevent the field from being too big to manage. Maybe they could also have the race at a different track each season or have some sort of twist like the field is inverted halfway through like they do at the All-Star race to give the race some uniqueness. I'm hoping that someone in a decision-making capacity heard or will see Michael's comments and will consider his idea because I think it's a very good one.

As for testing, Michael would like the current test ban which is temporary for now to become a permanent one. He said,

“My philosophy on testing is that it's a colossal waste of time and money. We can go to the wind tunnel. These guys will tell you, the cars are set up so precisely when they leave the shop. The guys go to the seven-post rig and they shake them. They do simulation. They understand what the cars are going to do when they go into the corner in the wind tunnel. So everything about the setup, it can be done virtually or through wind tunnel and seven-post testing. So when you go to a racetrack to test, you're just basically burning up tires, burning up gas, and taking people's time, taking employees' time at home away, which is a negative, because the schedule is so intense.”

From an owner's point-of-view, as someone who has to be concerned with money, resources and his employees, I can understand where he's coming from. In addition, I get the impression that testing isn't high on a driver's list of things that they're anxious to do and particularly during the off-season. However, it seems to me that there is some value in testing. For one thing these days drivers and crew chiefs are constantly on the move. Test sessions give drivers and crew chiefs an opportunity to get to know each other and work on communication prior to when they have to start racing together. Also, testing is a way for young drivers to get some experience and get to know tracks that they might not have raced on much or at all. I also think that as much as computers and simulations can duplicate everything almost exactly, there's still something to be said for doing things hands on, at the actual track. I don't know much about the technical aspect of the sport so I could be completely off-base but I would think there might be things like how the track feels to a driver or certain kinds of feedback that might be hard to duplicate via a computer simulation. But what do I know?

In other Michael related news from Sound and Speed he literally gave the shirt off his back... or more precisely the sweater off his back to a fan. Apparently this fan asked him if she could have the sweater and he gave it to her. I really can't understand what possesses fans when they do stuff like that in general as I think it's kind of pushy and inappropriate but I really can't figure out what this fan was thinking in this case because the sweater Michael was wearing is without question one of the ugliest sweaters I've ever seen in a truly horrible shade of bright green. (Sorry Michael!) He told Raygan Swan that people were making fun of him the whole time he was wearing it and even I who doesn't tease people much would probably have had a hard time keeping my thoughts to myself if I saw him wearing that sweater in person!

Michael also talked about how he spent New Year's Eve from 5:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. bowling with Macy and maybe some other family members which is a nice way to spend New Year's. Raygan - no surprise - made a big deal of a comment that Michael made about how his right arm hurt afterwards and how he ",,,couldn't use it for things that I'm used to using it for anymore" to which Denny Hamlin said, "Like writing and whatnot" and Michael responded, "Yes, writing and whatnot." Raygan called it the "...most disturbing innuendo I have ever heard from a driver in a public setting" and while I can understand that some who are more conservatively minded might be offended or find it inappropriate I'd say she doesn't get around much if she thinks that's the most disturbing innuendo she's ever heard from a driver in a public setting. In fact, a driver (not Michael or one of his drivers) once said a joke to me that I found about a hundred times more disturbing and no where near as funny, though I wasn't offended because I understood that this driver was just trying to be funny.

It's unfortunate - fans, the media and NASCAR say they want the drivers to show more personality but when they do it gets called "disturbing." The reality is that as much as some like to think that all the drivers are ulltra-conservative, spend every night at home drinking milk, eating cookies and playing board games with their families; and never make an off-color joke or even think about anything that isn't g-rated, the reality is something different and there's nothing wrong with that.

What's also unfortunate is that the media were told not to report on anything from the silent auction that was held on Saturday night. That's never been the case in the past and I can't imagine why it was this year unless NASCAR thought that it might not go over so well in this economic climate if fans heard about the drivers and others spending big money at a silent auction on things they don't really need when some fans are having trouble paying their bills. That's a shame because something tells me there are some good stories to be told about that auction since it's seemed like a fun event in the past.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:02 PM | Comments (0)

A Sad Day

Yesterday a very devoted fan of Michael Waltrip, John Seidelman, who was also a great friend to many of the Wal-Nutz (Michael's fans) passed away from lung cancer at the age of 64. John was a constant presence on the forum on michaelwaltrip.com, and he will always be remembered for the weekly messages he did for Michael and David Reutimann, his jokes, for calling the ladies of the forum his "gurlz" and for his overall positive attitude. He will be very much missed, and to give an indication about just how much Michael even made mention of John's passing on his Facebook page this morning. Although some had met John in person, many people got to know him through the forum, by exchanging emails and in some cases talking to him on the phone. So there may be some who don't understand how it's possible to be sad about the loss of someone who many never met in person. However, the Wal-Nutz are a family of sorts and John was a vital part of the fabric of the community on the forum and his loss is felt deeply by all, even those who weren't close to him.

One thing about John was that he was an unwavering, loyal and devoted fan of Michael's through thick and thing. No matter what happened John always believed in Michael and was always positive and optimistic about Michael and Michael Waltrip Racing. If there were things that John didn't agree with or didn't like I don't recall him ever letting on. I also don't remember him every having a bad word for anyone - it just wasn't his style. There is a lot to be learned from his example and from his positive attitude.

John will never be forgotten by the Wal-Nutz. One thing's for sure when Michael races in the Daytona 500 next month, John will be looking down from above and cheering him on. Rest in Peace John and thoughts and prayers to Lois and the Seidelman family.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:08 PM | Comments (0)

January 11, 2009

Photo of the Day - Ice

Had a bit of an snow and ice storm last night into this morning which made for a good opportunity to take some ice photos. I'm probably one of the few people who was hoping that the storm would have brought even more ice - I love taking photos of the ice covering everything! This particular photo is of ice that formed on the side of my car.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:28 PM | Comments (0)

MSRP Motorsports May Expand in 2009

Finally Phil Parsons wised up and openly acknowledged his involvement in MSRP Motorsports and that the organization fields start and park teams. Only thing is that in an interview on Sirius, he indicated that MSRP is likely expanding their efforts to the Cup Series. The intention right now is to field a car during Speedweeks for the Daytona 500 with the driver reported to be Terry Cook. Parsons said that they will race in the Daytona 500 if they make the field which would be the first time to my knowledge that an MSRP team will actually do any racing as opposed to just taking it to the garage within a few laps. After the Daytona 500 they may field a car in other races that will likely be a start and park.

Of course MSRP won't be the only team that takes advantage of the current situation in the Cup Series where there will be less teams showing up to race each week than last season. There likely will be several teams - maybe even a lot of teams - that attempt to make races with no real intention to race. As I've said before I can't really blame those teams for taking advantage of an opportunity to make some money and NASCAR isn't going to mind if it keeps them from having short fields. But there's still something about start and parking that I don't care for even if I understand the reasons why the teams do it - I'd just like to see as much racing as possible and turning a couple of laps before parking it isn't really racing.

Posted by silverdsl at 05:54 PM | Comments (0)

January 09, 2009

Elliott Sadler to Race the #19 in 2009 Afterall; Gillett-Evernham Reach Merger Agreement

The news that Gillett-Evernham Motorsports and Petty Enterprises have finalized an agreement to merger is major news on its own but perhaps even bigger news is that sources are saying that Elliott Sadler won't be replaced with A.J. Allmendinger after all and will return to the newly merged organization to race the #19 this season.

The way the Sadler situation has played out has been puzzling from start to finish and I think GEM very much mishandled the entire situation. It's hard for me to understand why GEM would tell Sadler he's out of the #19, then turn around and put him back in, though David Poole had a theory that made a lot of sense this morning on Sirius. Poole speculated that perhaps there was truth to the early rumors that some of the sponsors of the #19 were so upset about GEM's decision to remove Sadler from the car that they were going to leave with him and GEM couldn't afford to lose sponsors. That makes a lot of sense to me since Sadler's lawyer said he shot ads with more than one sponsor and no company is going to be happy about wasting money on ads and possibly other things that now can't be used.

I also don't understand how Sadler can return to the #19 given that he threatened to sue GEM and there are surely hard feelings on both sides. It seems to me that this isn't something that can just be swept under the rug. I would think that this would make for a very awkward and uncomfortable working environment. Is GEM going to want to give the #19 the same resources as the other teams? Are there going to be communication issues? Doesn't seem like the kind of situation that's going to do anything to help Sadler and his team improve their results from last season.

In addition, A.J. Allmendinger is apparently still in need of a ride according to his agent. To some degree, although his agent denies that they were negotiating with GEM with the idea of replacing Sadler in mind, I think GEM has kind of jerked Allmendinger around just as they have Sadler. Last week Allmendinger was probably thinking that he had found a full-time ride, now he may be exactly where he started - unemployed with the prospects of finding a ride by Daytona not looking very good. Supposedly after merging with Petty, GEM will field four cars next season but the #10 may only be part-time depending on how sponsorship works out so that doesn't sound like an ideal situation for Allmendinger. It's possible that he could end up in the #41 at Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing but it's widely thought that Bobby LaBonte is the front-runner for that ride.

As far as the merger goes, it's pretty much what most expected it would be. The newly merged organization will field four cars, the #19, #9, #43 in every race, with the #10 entered in the Bud Shootout and a minimum of seven additional races. The teams will be run out of the GEM shop and the only Petty employees other than Richard Petty who will be involved will be Robbie Loomis and Dale Iman. In addition, the Richard Petty Driving Experience willl continue to operate as a separate entity from GEM by Petty Holdings. One thing that isn't addressed is what involvement, if any, Boston Ventures, who had bought into Petty Enterprises last year, will have at GEM. I would guess that it might be minimal, and that their ownership interest will be in the Driving Experience.

One thing that Mike Bagley brought up this morning on Sirius is that it seems like there's quite a bit of disarray and questions that still need to be sorted out in a short amount of time and it could effect their level of preparedness for Daytona. I have to agree and I think it applies for Earnhardt-Ganassi as well. Neither organization has confirmed much of anything, including their driver lineups and it seems to me that it's going to be very hard for those teams to be fully ready to race when a little over a month before the first race they don't even know exactly who is going to be behind the wheel of all their cars. That doesn't seem like a recipe for success to me.

Update: Tom Reddin, GEM's Chief Operating Officer, is on Sirius right now talking about the Sadler situation and the merger with PE. He confirmed that Sadler will be back in the #19 for sure. To his credit Reddin didn't try to brush the situation off as a misunderstanding or otherwise downplay it, he said that GEM and Sadler had "differences" that they've since worked out. He said that they are all family and just like any family they have differences. Aside from the possibility that maybe GEM brought Sadler back because of the sponsors, I also wonder whether the lawsuit that Sadler threatened to file had merit and they were looking to avoid losing a protracted court battle. In addition, if they were going to have to pay Sadler anyway since they likely would have had to buyout the remaining two years on his contract, may as well pay him to race for them.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:07 AM | Comments (0)

January 08, 2009

David Starr and Red Horse Racing Part Ways?

Jayski is reporting that he's hearing that David Starr and his sponsor, Zachry Construction, have parted ways with Red Horse Racing and are looking for another truck to race in 2009. In some regards I'm surprised if this is true and in others I'm not. I'm surprised that at a time when it's very hard to find and keep sponsors and the economy is having such an effect on the sport that a team would let a sponsor go, unless the Zachry's sponsorship wasn't for much money or there are other extenuating circumstances. But I'm not entirely surprised because there had been rumors at the end of the season that Johnny Benson wouldn't be Starr's new teammate, that he would be replacing him. Those rumors were so persistent that I had a feeling that there might be something to them even when it was said that Starr was staying at RHR.

In the past RHR has seemed to be quick to make driver changes when the performance isn't at a high enough level. In fact, last season was Starr's second stint with RHR. The organization may have been looking for more than a 12th place finish in the points, with the most memorable moment in the season for Starr and his team being the fight on pit road they were involved in with Todd Bodine's team at New Hampshire. The question becomes whether RHR will have a second team in 2009 and if so who the driver will be. With Mike Skinner, Ted Musgrave and Jack Sprague, as well as other drivers available there is certainly quite a few attractive options. Maybe Skinner and Benson will reunite at RHR.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:24 PM | Comments (0)

Steve Park to Return to NDS Motorsports in the Camping World East Series

It's been made official that Steve Park will race in the Camping World East Series for NDS Motorsports again. Steve said on his website,

"I'm really excited about the 2009 season. We had some really good results in 2008 and the team just kept getting stronger and stronger throughout the year. I am thrilled to be back with NDS Motorsports and everyone at Waste Management Recycle America. I think we will definitely be a contender for the championship this year and I'm really excited to get things started."

Odds are that Steve likely will be able to contend for the Championship which will be nice to see. Although the pieces didn't come together in the right way for Steve to end up in Victory Lane he was able to race up front and be competitive in just about every race. In addition, several of the top teams in the series either may not return or might have different drivers. So at the very least Steve should be able to improve his points finish from 9th, where he finished at the end of last season.

So far there doesn't seem to be much excitement or even interest that Steve is returning to NDS and the East Series even though it was known that this was likely going to be what was going to happen once the news came that Steve was going to race at the Toyota All-Star Showdown with NDS. I know that a lot of people aren't all that thrilled with Steve racing in what's considering to be a lower, developmental series as opposed to in one of NASCAR's higher levels, so I think some were probably hoping that he would find a Cup, Truck or Nationwide ride even though that wasn't too likely to happen. I know for me it's also hard to get excited about East Series races at times because I don't have HDNet, who carried the races last season, and I don't have that much interest in watching a race that I already know the results from weeks after it's been run on SPEED.

However, I'm happy that Steve has a ride and will be racing in 2009. The same can't be said for a lot of other very talented drivers, some of whom have been even more successful than Steve over the course of their careers. I think any driver who has a ride and particularly when it's a competitive ride like Steve's going to have should count their blessings even if that ride is on what's considered to be a lower level. Steve speaks often about how the only thing racing is about to him is contending for wins but I would assume it also brings him some measure of enjoyment. Like many others in NASCAR racing is just about all he's known for most of his life, and I would think it would be hard to some degree to not be involved with something that he likely feels a great deal of passion for.

Hopefully Steve, his team and his fans will get to celebrate one or more East Series wins in 2009!

Posted by silverdsl at 09:46 AM | Comments (2)

January 07, 2009

Random NASCAR Thoughts on Random Thoughts (1/7)

*Dover International Speedway is making changes to their pit road which will include the addition of a 43rd pit stall and and widening of pit road. I think these changes are long overdue, particularly the addition of another pit stall. It's always been a little ridiculous to me that two teams have to share a pit stall. The teams will probably be pretty happy about a wider pit road as well since it will probably reduce some incidents.

*JR Motorsports finally secured some sponsorship for 2009. Godaddy.com has signed on to sponsor the #88 for 18 races and will sponsor the #5 in another two races. In addition, Godaddy.com will also be the primary sponsor for Brad Keselowski for seven Cup races at Hendrick Motorsports and will be an associate sponsor on Mark Martin's #5 Cup car. It's kind of amazing to me that it took until now for JR Motorsports to secure Nationwide sponsorship for Keselowski and that they may still have additional races to find sponsorship for. It really says something about the state of the sport when it comes to sponsorship when even an organization owned by the sport's most popular driver has a hard time finding sponsors.

*Although there's been speculation that Hall of Fame Racing is closing their doors and that they've lost the DLP sponsorship, Tom Garfunkel, one of the owners said yesterday that the #96 car will race at Daytona and that they plan on racing otherwise during 2009. Apparently they still have some sponsorship from DLP, though it may not be at the level that it was last season when DLP was the full primary sponsor for every race. This is far from an elite ride but it's still an open ride for the many drivers who are unemployed to consider.

*Some audio from Rusty Wallace was just played on Sirius and I literally laughed out loud when he said that he would consider starting a Cup team when his son was ready to move up to the Cup Series. I'm not as down on Steven Wallace as some fans are and I think he could very well still develop into a solid driver, but I'm not sure he'll be truly ready for Cup racing any time soon. It's not just what he does on the track, it's also the pressure and some of the other things outside the car that go along with racing Cup. I think Steven could very well be a good Nationwide driver who wins races but I'm not sure he's going to be a good fit for the Cup Series.

*Speaking of young drivers who have had their careers helped along by their fathers, Ken Butler III is going to race the #23 Nationwide car for R3 Motorsports in 18 races this season. I hope that it works out the way that they're hoping and that Butler successfully continues his development as a driver. I think it says something that Butler isn't going to be in a Michael Waltrip Racing car. The #99 is in need of additional sponsorship and Aaron's will be on the car for at least ten races, but I guess Butler isn't a good fit for that car.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:35 PM | Comments (0)

January 06, 2009

Elliott Sadler's Lawyer Says Sadler Wants to Keep Racing the #19

Elliott Sadler's lawyer says that Sadler plans on suing Gillett-Evernham Motorsports so that he can race the #19 through the end of his contract in 2010. John Buric said,

"Our objective is to get in the car and race for them. We have a contract with them. We intend to enforce that contract."

I find it hard to believe that Sadler has any desire to or intention of racing for the organization that he found out on Christmas Eve planned on dumping him as their driver. This is nothing more than posturing and maneuvering to help Sadler get a generous settlement in the amount he wants from GEM. His lawyer says that Sadler isn't interested in having the last two years of his contract bought out but that's exactly what will end up happening. If the management at GEM is smart they would just throw a bunch of money at Sadler, be done with it and move on with A.J. Allmendinger, if only to save themselves additional negative publicity. That would also be good for Sadler since he's receiving his own share of criticism.

What's really astonishing to me is that according to Sadler's lawyer, ads were completed with Sadler for 2009 with all his sponsors except one. I'm amazed that even after some of the sponsors moved forward with advertising and maybe other things that featured Sadler that GEM released him anyway. When the news first broke that Sadler had been released rumor had it that one or more of the sponsors of the #19 were so upset that they were considering leaving GEM with Sadler. If it's true that ads and maybe other things were done with Sadler I can understand why those sponsors were so angry. With budgets being so tight right now due to the economy no company wants to spend money away on ads, photo shoots or anything else that just have to be thrown away. No wonder Sadler was so surprised by the news that he was getting released - no driver would expect that to happen after shooting ads for the following season with their sponsors.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:13 PM | Comments (0)

Tommy Baldwin Racing to Field Full-Time Cup Team in 2009

Among those that were laid off from Bill Davis Racing recently, Tommy Baldwin didn't sit idle for long. Instead of looking for another crew chief or team management position with another organization, he's decided to field his own full-time Toyota Cup team in 2009. No driver, car number or perhaps most importantly, sponsor, was announced but Baldwin said,

"Being in the business as long as I have, I know how to cut costs but still remain as competitive as positive. We have a short list of three former Cup racers and hope to make an announcement soon."

While it's true that Baldwin is an experienced NASCAR veteran, I'd say the odds of this team being anywhere near competitive are somewhere between slim and none, particularly if they don't have much or any sponsorship. Single car teams struggle to race competitively to begin with but add into it that this is a new team that just formed a little over a month before the first race of the season only makes things more challenging.

What's interesting is what former Cup drivers Baldwin is looking at for this ride? There are a lot of talented drivers who are out of rides right now but some of them likely won't even consider taking a ride with a team that's not in the top 35 and that they may struggle to race up front with. I would guess that Dave Blaney might be one driver on Baldwin's list and possibly Jeremy Mayfield as well. I've already seen some speculation that maybe Baldwin would team up with Ward Burton again but I'm not sure Burton would want to deal with the challenges that this team will face after going through quite a few struggles with Morgan-McClure Motorsports in 2007.

On one fan forum I saw one fan speculate that this could only be a start and park effort as a way for Baldwin to make some money. I'd like to think that someone like Baldwin is going to make a legitimate effort to race but I wouldn't be surprised if this did turn into a start and park type of deal. If not Baldwin, then there will probably be a number of others who try to put a team together with the emphasis not on racing but on profit. All the money that MSRP Motorsports made by start and parking in 2008 probably got a lot of attention in the garage area just as it did with fans. With teams closing their doors on all levels meaning that there could be short fields and an easier time making races than we've seen in the recent past, I can see some taking advantage of an opportunity to make some money. I understand the reasons why some might choose to start and park but I still hope that Baldwin goes a different route and shows up to race.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:15 PM | Comments (0)

The Team Formerly Known as Bill Davis Racing May Not Field Any Truck Teams in 2009

Jayski has an "I heard" item today that says that Triad Racing Technologies, the entity that purchased Bill Davis Racing, may not field any trucks next season and may focus all of their efforts on fielding a Cup car. Although BDR has struggled on the Cup level for years, their truck program has been extremely strong, with their most recent success being Johnny Benson winning the Truck Series Championship last season. If Triad doesn't field any trucks in 2009 it would be a major loss for a series that already has quite a few problems.

In addition, since the #22 Cup car has no sponsor and I don't think it's too likely that they'll find one by Daytona, I have to wonder how likely it is that Triad will field a full-time Cup car next season either. I can see them attempting the first five races to see what happens and to see if they can attract sponsorship based on good results but these days even a spot in the top 35 and racing competitively isn't enough to secure sponsorship. So it could end up that an organization that fielded three and sometimes four trucks and at times two Cup cars might not end up fielding any.

That makes me wonder if Triad's purchase of BDR was more about the included purchase of Triad Racing Development, which provides engines, chassis and bodies for cars and trucks on all three of NASCAR's highest levels, than about purchasing race teams. It seems to me that Triad Racing Development is an opportunity to make a profit because no matter how bad the economy is there will always be teams that need to purchase engines, chassis and bodies to field their cars and trucks, whereas it seems to be increasingly hard to generate revenue, even enough to operate via a race team.

There already seemed to be some question about what Mike Skinner's future was at Triad since he wasn't mentioned as one of the drivers of the two trucks that Triad said they were going to field next season. So Skinner may be joining a lot of other very talented drivers on the unemployment line who are fighting for a very small amount of open rides. Skinner is a former series champion who knows how to get a truck into Victory Lane but the other two Triad drivers who thought they had rides, Taylor Malsam and Brian Scott, may have an even harder time than Skinner finding something else unless they have sponsorship to bring with them. When Benson left BDR for Red Horse Racing some thought it was a curious decision since he had just won a Championship with the organization but now it's looking like it was a very wise move to leave when he did.

The Truck Series like every other series has problems related to the economy and otherwise. There are teams that are closing their doors and other teams that still need sponsorship. What didn't bode well was that Todd Bodine was on Sirius yesterday talking about how he needed a new primary sponsor to replace Lumber Liquidators and it didn't sound like there was too much serious interest from another company. It's really not a good sign if one of the best teams in the Truck Series garage that features a former series Champion who continues to race competitively and win races can't find sponsorship because it means it's not too likely that smaller and less successful teams will be able to find sponsors. With teams like Wyler Racing and HT Motorsports also in some danger of not fielding trucks next season, teams like Roush-Fenway Racing having cut back, and some like Bobby Hamilton Racing already having closed their doors, one has to wonder what the racing in the Truck Series is going to be like next season if many of the major teams may not be around or have less financial resources to work with in 2009.

Update: Jayski now has an item that comes from Triad which says that they re-hired 80 employees of those that were let go since the end of the last season and are in full operation. What's important there is what they aren't saying - they didn't deny that they won't be fielding any truck teams next season. Those 80 people could be involved in the effort to field a Cup team next season or to work for Triad Racing Development.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:29 AM | Comments (0)

January 05, 2009

Brendan Gaughan Will Race for Rusty Wallace, Inc in 2009

Rusty Wallace, Inc made it official that Brendan Gaughan will race full-time for them in the Nationwide Series in 2009. Partial sponsorship for the #62 car will come from the South Point Hotel and Spa, the Gaughan family business so apparently Brendan's father decided that buying him a Nationwide ride with RWI would bring the best return on their money. Usually I have no issues with drivers buying rides or otherwise bringing financial backing with them to a ride since drivers need to do whatever is necessary to get a ride and teams need to do whatever is necessary to ensure that they have the money to operate competitively. However, based on Brendan's comments in a recent Sirius interview, his preference seems to have been returning to the Truck Series in the #10 truck for Circle Bar Racing but that decision wasn't up to him - where Brendan raced was entirely up to his father based on where he wanted to spend his money and Brendan was just fine with that because it made the money flow freely from his father to himself.

Brendan's Sirius interview was unfortunate to me because I think he came off like a bit of a spoiled brat, but I think it was also unfortunate because of the negative connotation that many fans equate with ride buying. Some believe that drivers who bring sponsorship with them and buy their rides only do so because they don't have the ability to get a ride based on talent. In reality Brendan has a lot of talent behind the wheel. If he has a competitive car or truck he's very capable of racing up front and winning races. Although Brendan has only raced one Nationwide race and that was in 2001, I wouldn't at all be surprised if he won a race in 2009.

I often wonder though what Brendan's career might have been like if he hadn't raced for his family's team and with the backing of his family's money for so long. The easy answer is that he might have had a much shorter career because his family's money opened a lot of doors for him and made it possible for him to race when there might otherwise not have been rides available to him. But I sometimes wonder if Brendan would have done even more if he had to rely only on himself, his ability behind the wheel and his other talents. I'm sure Brendan always gives 100% effort at all times but he would probably have had to work - and race - even harder to prove himself without his family's money to smooth the way.

The question now becomes who is going to end up in the #10 truck? As far as I know the truck still has full sponsorship from Maxxforce so presumably CBR will continue to field two trucks. Although the #10 didn't end up in Victory Lane in 2008 it's still a pretty competitive ride that would likely interest quite a few of the many drivers who are looking for rides right now. That puts CBR in a pretty good position because they can choose from a driver pool that includes veteran Truck Series drivers who are former series champions, talented Cup drivers who might be interested in taking their career in a different direction by racing a truck, and some promising young drivers.

As for Brendan, given how fan-friendly he is and that he'll be a Nationwide-only driver, he's a good addition to the Nationwide Series and I think he'll do well for RWI.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:35 PM | Comments (0)

Not Much News of Note...

Although most teams are probably back at work today after a holiday break, there's still not much in the way of NASCAR news to discuss. Sorry, but as excited as I am about Steve Hallam joining Michael Waltrip Racing, it takes more than a press release about how he's settling into his new office at MWR to get me to blogging. I suppose I could talk about the Bodine Bobsled Challenge which is a pretty cool event or which NASCAR drivers will be taking part in the Rolex 24 or what Robby Gordon's up to in the Dakar Rally but... meh. Nothing's really grabbed me so far today, and I don't really want to blog just to fill space.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:40 PM | Comments (0)

January 02, 2009

Elliott Sadler Files Notice That he May Sue for Breach of Contract

Paperwork was filed today by Elliott Sadler's attorney indicating that he may sue Gillett-Evernham Motorsports for breach of contract as a result of their decision to replace him in the #19 with A.J. Allmendinger in spite of the fact that two years remained on a contract extension that Sadler had signed with GEM during the 2008 season. Elliott has until January 20 to decide whether he'll actually sue for damages or not and I would assume the final decision will be made based on what GEM does for him between now and then. It may be that GEM is hesitating on buying out the last two years of his contract or isn't offering as much money as Elliott thinks he's entitled to. Filing notice to sue sends a message to GEM that Elliott is very serious about getting what he thinks is owed to him.

I say good for Elliott. It used to be frowned upon for a driver to sue when they were released by a team even if they thought they were owed money to the point where some said that teams wouldn't give a ride to a driver who threated to sue but those days are over. Now if a driver isn't happy with the way they're released or feel they're owed money they don't hesitate to sue and I can't blame them. More and more it seems that contracts don't mean much - there are so many "out" clauses in contracts that allow drivers, teams and sponsors to part ways with each other very easily. Those "out" clauses are in place to protect each party in case things don't work out and I think drivers, teams and sponsors are entitled to make use of the "out" clauses as they feel necessary. However, I also think that the drivers need to be able to stand up for themselves, particularly when they feel that they're owed money or otherwise been done wrong.

There's been a lot of conflicting information circulating as to when Elliott found out that he was getting released. While Elliott was apparently aware that the team was considering making a change, he didn't find out there were actual negotiations underway between GEM and A.J. until he got phone calls from people last Tuesday, just before Christmas, asking about media reports to that effect. GEM has every right to make the decisions they feel are necessary to improve the performance of their teams however I also think they owe it to Elliott to have enough respect for him to inform him when the decision was made to replace him so that he found out from them and not from others. As I said in another entry, the timing is horrible as well - maybe they wanted to be sure that they could come to an agreement with A.J. or were hoping to break the news to Elliott after the holidays but knowing the way the rumor mill works in this sport and how hard it is to keep anything a secret, being up-front with Elliott about what was going on would have been a wise course of action.

I would guess that Elliott and GEM will negotiate an agreement that will result in Elliott being paid a generous amount of money to buyout the last two years of his contract and Elliott won't end up suing. An ugly lawsuit will only result in more negative publicity for GEM and there's no telling what might be revealed in a lawsuit that neither GEM nor Elliott wants known publically.

Posted by silverdsl at 06:34 PM | Comments (1)

January 01, 2009

Photo of the Day - Bubbly

Got to playing around with taking some (very) abstract photos of my Champagne glass last night...

Posted by silverdsl at 11:22 PM | Comments (0)