10. Matt Kenseth – 22 races – Last Win: Homestead-Miami Speedway, Fall 2007
9. Jeff Gordon – 27 races – Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Fall 2007
8. Greg Biffle – 29 races – Kansas Speedway, Fall 2007
7. Tony Stewart – 36 races – Watkins Glen International, Summer 2007
6. Jamie McMurray – 40 races – Daytona International Speedway, Summer 2007

5. Martin Truex Jr. – 45 races – Dover International Speedway, Spring 2007
4. Kevin Harvick – 57 races – Daytona International Speedway, Spring 2007
3. David Ragan – 60 races – No NSCS wins
2. Brian Vickers – 68 races – Talladega Superspeedway, Fall 2006
1. Elliott Sadler – 141 races – Auto Club Speedway, Fall 2004

Post from: EveryJoe

List of the Week: Longest Winless Streaks Inside the Top 20

Ahh, yes, it’s another Friday, and Spring is in the air (though it’s starting to feel a bit like Summer!). But, it’s the end of the week, nonetheless, and we all know what that means. I’m joined here by Bruce Simmons from Bruce’s NASCAR Bits & Pieces, and the infamous Charlie Turner from On Pit Row for our weekly rendition of “Loose in Turn Three”.

This week here at Do You NASCAR, we’re going to take a look at the Toyota lineup and determine if anyone other than Joe Gibbs Racing is going to win them some races this year. We’re also going to play Jury on Denny Hamlin’s involvement in the huge accident this past weekend at Dover over at Bruce’s website, and we’re going to reveal some of the most underrated drivers in NASCAR over at On Pit Row.

So, sit back and buckle up tight. Three questions, three voices, and three different answer … we’re about to get Loose in Turn Three!

Q: Joe Gibbs Racing has won four times in the Sprint Cup Series this season, but in two years, they are the only Toyota team to win a race in Cup racing. Will a non-JGR driver reach Victory Lane in 2008?

TZ: Ya know, with the way that Kyle Busch and the rest of the Gibbs cars have been running, sometimes I wonder if another team at all will win again this year! In all seriousness, though, I think the dominance of the JGR cars has really overshadowed just how much the rest of these guys have really improved as organizations. After failing to qualify for all of those races in 2007, now they’ve got a bunch of drivers up in the top-35 in owner points, and they’ve run strong at a bunch of tracks. There’s one guy that’s really caught my eye, though, and that of course is Brian Vickers. I do in fact think he’ll win this year, and I think it will happen at either Lowe’s or Talladega in the Fall.

Charlie: Probably not.  JGR is Toyota’s “A” Team in Cup. Only Chevy has more than one “A” Team. Ford has only one. Dodge may not have even one. I think that Brian Vickers is capable of a win.  Dave Blaney is fast enough if all the stars line up somewhere like Pocono or Michigan. But the odds are long. Waltrips teams are more worried about top 30 finishes than wins.

Bruce:  I think JGR has the Toyota win column locked up.  I like Vickers also for a win, but reasonably, I only think he’ll get there via a lucky stroke of the fuel mileage window or weather god.  Toyota made a good deal, no matter what it was or how expensive it was to get their nameplate in the circle of winners..  Not to mention big name drivers associated with them now.

Follow the rest of this discussion:
- What happened with Denny Hamlin in the Dover wreck?

- Who is the most under-rated driver in NASCAR and how is he over-looked relative to his talent/value?

*Credit photo to Newscom.

Post from: EveryJoe

Loose in Turn Three: Is Anyone Else Driving These Toyotas?

NASCAR’s Best Tracks:
5. Richmond International Raceway
4. Daytona International Speedway
3. Lowe’s Motor Speedway
2. Chicagoland Speedway
1. Bristol Motor Speedway

Post from: EveryJoe

DYN List of the Week: Best & Worst NASCAR Tracks

Image details: Dodge Challenger 500 served by picapp.com

In the midst of all the contract controversies that have taken place already this year, all along we’ve heard Greg Biffle state that his deal to resign with Roush-Fenway Racing is 99% complete, and that he hasn’t yet begun talking to any other teams. But, we heard these same statements from both parties last year, and a deal was never actually finalized. Now, after a dismal night in Darlington, we’ve started to see a different side of the Biff that we haven’t quite been accustomed to in the past.

Biffle smashed the track record at Darlington during qualifying en route to winning his first Pole Award of the season, and then he went out and strutted his stuff through the first half of the race, looking as though he were the class of the field to that point. His bid for a third Darlington win in four years was crushed in heartbreaking fashion, though, when his transmission failed him on lap 237. This was Biffle’s first DNF attributed to actual engine failure since the Bank of America 500 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway back in October of 2006 and the seventh of his career, but still, Greg seems to feel as though they’re experiencing some sort of troubles with their equipment week after week.

Following the race, a frustrated Biffle told the media, “This has been typical of our equipment, I guess. Loose wheels all night, bad vibration, then I think the motor blew up. All I want is equipment to drive that stays together.”

Biffle was not the only driver in the Roush camp that complained about issues with their car throughout the night, as Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, and Jamie McMurray all also relayed concerns with their tires and some unidentified vibrations throughout the race, though they all held onto finish 11th or better.

Biffle continued his meeting with the press by adding, “It is really frustrating, but, you know what, I’ve just come accustomed to expecting it, because it’s just week after week it’s something. Something breaks, something falls off, we’ve got wheels loose …”

There has been a lot of speculation in recent weeks that a swap could be in the works between Biffle and Ryan Newman, whose contract with Penske Racing also expires at the end of 2008. Newman has publically expressed woes earlier this season concerning equipment failure as well – particularly after the race at Phoenix in which he also experienced an engine failure and finished dead last. Some have also suggested the Greg might be a strong candidate to field the fourth car that will come into service for Richard Childress Racing next season.

Biffle won championships in both the Nationwide (then Busch Series) and Craftsman Truck Series prior to making 7 starts in the Cup Series back in 2002, and going full-time in ‘03. In 197 career Sprint Cup Series starts, Biffle has accumulated 12 wins, 38 top-fives, and 66 top-ten’s. However, despite winning at least one race in each of his full-time seasons, Biffle’s only finish inside the top-twelve in points came in 2005 when he tied teammate, Carl Edwards, for second. Still, Greg Biffle remains one of the hottest names on the free agent market heading into 2009, and if Roush-Fenway Racing isn’t careful, they could find themselves in search of another driver at the end of this season.

Post from: EveryJoe

Is Biffle Still 99% Sure on Return to Roush?

Chip Ganassi Racing has been one of the most successful organizations in the racing world, and they demonstrated that yet again by becoming the first team to ever win three consecutive Rolex 24 events this past January. The struggle for the team, however, has been trying to find a way translate all of their success into the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series where they’ve been just mediocre.

It wasn’t always that way, though. Back in 2001 when Ganassi was running only a single car full-time in the (then) Winston Cup Series, Sterling Marlin finished the season third in points, coming in 371 points behind series leader Jeff Gordon. The next year got off to another great start, and Chip decided to add a second team to the mix with the no. 41 car of Jimmy Spencer. Marlin continued his hot streak sitting atop the championship points standings through the first 26 races of the season. Three races later, however, he had dropped all the way to fifth and his season ended early due to an injury. He would be replaced by Jaime McMurray for the remainder of the season, and amazingly enough he picked up right where Sterling left off by winning the race at Lowe’s in only his second career Cup start. McMurray’s success closing out the 2002 campaign was so adequate that it caused Ganassi to form yet a third team with the veteran Sterling Marlin leading the charge in front of the high-hope rookies of McMurray and Casey Mears. McMurray took the series by storm by finishing 13th in points in his first full season in the Cup Series, but Marlin was never able to rebound. He finished the year 18th in points, and to this date hasn’t won a race since the 2002 season.

The Ganassi lineup remained the same until the completion of the 2005 season with McMurray finishing the highest in points between the trio, coming in 11th in 2004 and 12th in 2005. Recording consistent top ten finishes didn’t appear to be the problem, but getting the cars to victory lane did, as the team as a whole hadn’t won a race since McMurray’s win at Lowe’s in 2002. McMurray had remained consistent for Ganassi, but that was of little consolation since he signed a deal late in the 2005 season to drive for Roush Racing in ’06. Meanwhile, Marlin continued to slip further and further into obscurity and Mears wasn’t progressing quite as quickly as Chip may have hoped.

The team’s 2006 lineup was completely revamped as Ganassi replaced McMurray and Marlin with rookies David Stremme and Reed Sorenson, and they moved Mears over to the number 42 car. The move appeared to work well for Casey as we completed the ’06 campaign 14th in points with 8 top ten finishes. Sorenson finished 24th with 5 top ten’s of his own, and Stremme was thankful just to remain inside the top 35 in owner points, finishing 33^rd. Mears’ progression in 2006 was unquestionable, but again, it was of little consolation to Chip since Mears decided to part ways with the team and head over to Hendrick Motorsports. That wasn’t the big news this time in the Ganassi camp, though. Ganassi made headlines across the world when he announced late in the 2006 season that former Indy Series Champion Juan Pablo Montoya was making the move to NASCAR and would compete full-time in 2007 behind the wheel of the no. 42 car. The move paid off as Montoya finished 20th in points and won Rookie of the Year honors. Oh, and he also won the race at Infineon, giving Ganassi their first Cup Series victory since 2002. Sorenson and Stremme also finished the year inside the top 25 in points, and it now appeared that Ganassi may have things back on track.

Heading into 2008, Chip Ganassi has made yet another bold move by relieving Stremme of his driving duties and replacing him with yet another former open-wheel champion in Dario Franchitti. Franchitti is already an early favorite to win the Rookie of the Year honors this year and will have Montoya there to coach him on just what exactly he needs to do to make sure that happens. With Sorenson  slowly progressing each year and Montoya now having a full season of seat time under his belt, the future of Chip Ganassi Racing now hinges on whether or not Ganassi leading the charge for the open-wheel drivers to make the jump over to NASCAR will pay off or not. Over the course of the next few seasons I think it will, and this year we just might see a few more wins come out of the Ganassi camp.

Cup Series Roster:

40: Dario Franchitti – In 2008, he will become the first ever European born driver to compete full-time in NASCAR’s Cup Series, and he comes into the season as the all-time winningest driver in US open-wheel history to hail from Great Brittain. In 2007 not only did he capture the Indianapolis 500 – arguably the most prestigious race in all of motorsports – but, he also closed the season out by bringing home the IndyCar Series Championship. He heads into this season as one of four rookie drivers that formerly competed in open-wheels, but he has the advantage over all but Sam Hornish in the fact that he will begin the season already ranked in the top 35 in owner points thanks to last year’s efforts of David Stremme. That means that Franchitti will have guaranteed starts in the first five races of the season while Jacques Villeneuve and Patrick Carpentier will be forced to qualify each week based on time. While that’s definitely a huge plus for Franchitti, it also creates a lot of added pressure coming into the year knowing that you’re an early favorite for success and knowing that you have an advantage over most of the other rookies in your class. I think he’ll be able to handle the pressure. While he probably won’t win any races or record any top ten’s in those first five races, I believe he’ll finish well enough to maintain his status in the top 35 and ensure his starts throughout the course of the season. He’ll remain dangerous on both of the Cup Series visits to road courses, and I’d expect his season to finish out much like Montoya’s rookie year … perhaps slightly better.

41: Reed Sorenson – In his first two seasons in the Nextel Cup, Sorenson compiled a total of four top five’s and eleven top ten finishes, which is actually better than Casey Mears’ first two seasons in the series. His points finishes have been a very respectable 24th and 22nd, and he appears to be maturing on the track rather quickly. He’s really the least talked about driver in the Ganassi garage thanks to all the media hoopla surrounding the open-wheel surge into NASCAR, and that actually bodes well for Reed, giving him the opportunity to grow into this sport at his own pace without over-anticipation from the public. You should continue to see much more of the same from Reed in 2008, possibly competing for some wins here and there. He should be able to bring home about 7 or 8 top five’s on the season, and by the end of the year could possibly be competing for a top 15 spot in the points standings.

42: Juan Pablo Montoya – 2007’s Rookie of the Year recipient started the season off with a 19th place showing at the Daytona 500, and that’s about where he remained for the majority of the season. With the exception of his road course performances – particularly his win at Infineon – he very rarely looked spectacular on the track, but remained consistent enough to finish the year out ranked 20th in points. Now that the team knows that they’re able to translate Juan’s open wheel success into success at the road courses in a stock car, that’s one less item to mark off their list. They’re likely to be coming into this year with their primary focus centering around figuring out the intermediate tracks on the circuit, where they had an average finish last year of right around 22 over the span of 24 races. Attaining a certain degree of consistency at these tracks would enable Juan to not only compete for a top 15 points finish, but possibly even compete for a spot in this year’s Chase field. I think it’s a longshot at this point to look for that to happen, but I’d be willing to bet that he’ll crack that field at some point within the next three years.

Driver Roster: B-
Off-Season: B
2008 Outlook: B-

Post from: EveryJoe

Season Preview: Chip Ganassi Racing

Petty Enterprises has long been a struggling team in NASCAR’s elite series, and there’s really not much else you can say about that. I mean, what they do off the track in terms of charity with their Victory Junction Camp is nothing short of phenomenal. What Richard Petty has meant to this sport is legendary. Kyle Petty is sure to have a future in the NASCAR media world. And, what this organization continues to do to help develop the sport has been key. There’s no denying any of those facts, but the evil truth remains … the truth that what they’ve failed to do is be able to put together a team that can go out there every week and compete with the best stock car drivers in the world.

I tend to get bashed for it every time I talk about Petty Enterprise, because – well, the fans adore this race team. I’ll admit – I quietly root for the numbers 43 and 45 to do well every Sunday, but this blog isn’t about who I’m rooting for. I’m not here to blow smoke up your ass, but rather deliver you with the truth. And, the truth is that this race team is likely to forever remain an underachiever. I’ve heard plenty of excuses about the team being underfunded, they don’t have the right sponsors, they’re not getting the fair breaks, they haven’t been able to land the right drivers, etc. Look, heading into the 2006 campaign, they went out and signed the 2000 Winston Cup Champion in Bobby LaBonte, and in those two years they’ve managed to nearly ruin his career. The truth is that the team’s focus is in the wrong place, no matter how noble that focus may be. Until that changes, fans of this team will continue to approach each week with the mindset that a top 20 finish means something.

Cup Series Roster:

No. 43: Bobby LaBonte – 17 years, 21 wins, and a Cup Series Championship in 2000. Very, very respectable … however, none of his success has come at the hands of Petty Enterprise. Since joining the race team in 2006, Bobby has managed only 3 top 5’s (none last year), and 11 top 10’s, and he hasn’t won a race since 2003. Okay, so that’s the negative. The positive? Well, despite not having a single top five finish to his credit last season, LaBonte still managed to finish the year ranked 18th in points which is a huge sign that at the very least he’s been running consistent. It’s also worth noting that he did look extremely well in quite a few different races last year, only to fall victim to mechanical failures or accidents in which he was not at fault. The average race fan has probably chalked this point in Bobby’s career up to him just basically giving up and going out there only to remain close to the sport, but nothing could be further from the truth. His determination to make this program work is evidenced by the fact that he’s agreed to run a part-time Nationwide Series schedule this year behind the seat of the no. 21 car for Richard Childress. It’s been quite sometime since LaBonte ran outside of the Cup Series, so it should be interesting to see if his Nationwide experiences can translate to better success in the Sprint Cup Series. I’d continue to look for the no. 43 team to make a strong run at cracking the top 15 in points this year.

No. 45: Kyle Petty – No offense to the son of one of racing’s greatest drivers of all-time, but to put it mildly, that’s all he is – the son.  Twenty-Nine years running in the Cup Series, and Kyle has managed only 8 wins, the last of which came all the way back in 1995. In fact, prior to his third place finish at Lowe’s Motorspeedway last May, you’d have to go all the way back to 1997 to find Kyle’s last top five finish! That’s amazing. He’ll start the year out with guaranteed starts in the first five races of the season due to finishing 2007 ranked 35th in owner points, but once those five races are over, things could turn quite sour for him. He managed to qualify in only 29 of the 36 races last season, and that third place finish I mentioned earlier was also his only top ten. Basically, anyone out there that may still be holding their breath thinking that this could be the breakout season for Kyle Petty needs to go see their shrink. He’ll be lucky if he can hang onto that top 35 spot.

Driver Roster: D
Off-Season: F
2008 Outlook: D

Post from: EveryJoe

Season Preview: Petty Enterprises

9. Jamie McMurray wins his the Pepsi 400 at Daytona.  This is Jamie’s first win since filling in for Sterling Marlin at Lowe’s back in 2001 and his first win with Roush Racing.

8. Martin Truex Jr. wins his first career Cup race at Dover International Speedway in June.

7. Casey Mears wins his first career Cup race at the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowes Motorspeedway in May.

6. Ron Hornaday wins the Craftsman Truck Series championship in the final race of the season at Homestead.

5. Toyota makes their official stock car debut in NASCAR at the Daytona 500 in February.

4. Tony Stewart wins his second Brickyard 500 and gets to kiss the bricks in front of his hometown for the second time in his career.

3. Carl Edwards clinches the final Busch Series Championship at Texas Motorspeedway in a race that was won by 2006 champion Kevin Harvick.

2. Kevin Harvick wins his first Daytona 500.

 1. Jimmie Johnson becomes the first driver to win back-to-back Cup Championships since teammate Jeff Gordon did it in the mid-90’s.

Post from: EveryJoe

the Big Ten: Best Moments of 2007