Image details: Coca-Cola 600 served by picapp.com

It’s been a trying run for Brian Vickers ever since he departed from Hendrick Motorsports at the conclusion of the 2006 season to hookup with Team Red Bull last year in the inaugural run for Toyota Racing. In their two seasons together, the team has failed to qualify in 13 events (all of which came last season) and has amassed only 2 top-five’s and 7 top-ten’s in 35 starts. They finished 38th in points last year, and currently sit 20th in the 2008 points standings after a 42nd place finish this past weekend at Charlotte. Yet, this is the same driver that won the 2003 [then] Busch Series championship and put together a win, 10 top-five’s, and 19 top-ten finishes in his final two years with the Hendrick organization.

It seemed as though things may have been steering a bit more towards the positive side during the running of the Coca Cola 600. After leading a total of only five laps through the first eleven races of the season, this – the site of Vickers’ only top-five finish in 2007 – appeared to be a great opportunity for Brian to finally have a shot at putting his no. 83 Red Bull Toyota into Victory Lane. He qualified in the third position, and then took the lead from Kyle Busch 34 laps into the race. He went onto lead a total of 61 laps and had clearly established himself as a contender, if not the favorite.

Misfortune reared her ugly head on lap 184 of the 400 lap event, though. After fighting a vibration with his left rear tire for several laps, the lugnuts finally worked their way loose as the tire came completely detatched from the car. The tired bounced off the hood of David Gilliland’s no. 38 Ford before gaining momentum down the track and into the infield. Luckily none of the fans were injured, but as Vickers car lay wrecked up against the Turn 1 inside retaining wall, I couldn’t help but shake my head and wonder what might’ve been.

The no. 83 car was taken out of contention for the win in this same race back in May of 2007 due to mechanical issues. In that race, he’d led a total of 76 laps before his power steering gave way as he ran up near the front of the pack late in the race. He still managed to hold on for a 5th place finish, but he was far from eligible to score the win that evening.

“I’m not exactly sure what caused that, but we started experiencing problems with the left rear lugs coming loose on the last few runs. The wheel would stay on, and I’d just notice a vibration,” Vickers said. “For whatever reason, this time it just let go, and obviously we’ll need to get to the bottom of that problem because we had one of the fastest cars. This is several years now leading a lot of laps in this race and just can’t seem to close the deal.”

In reference to the fans whose camper was hit by the tire, he added, “I guess they wouldn’t let those fans keep our wheel, so we’re going to get them some cool Red Bull stuff to replace it.”

Post from: EveryJoe

Gotta Feel for Vickers

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?

It’s hard to imagine that a team like Yates Racing would no longer be considered to be in NASCAR’s elite organizations, but the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of the course that this company has undergone over the past few seasons is the phrase, “My, how the mighty have fallen.” It wasn’t long ago that Robert Yates had the likes of the rising Elliot Saddler and racing legend Dale Jarrett driving the no. 38 M&M’s and no. 88 UPS Chevy Monte Carlo’s and both drivers were contending for championships. Fast forward to 2008, and Doug Yates – Robert’s son – now controls ownership of the race teams and runs the company with the help of Max Jones.

2007 was a complete catastrophe for the Yates teams – perhaps the worst year in the company’s history. The two teams were fielded by David Gilliland (driving in his first full-time season in the Cup series) and Ricky Rudd (driving in his final full-time season). The teams finished the season 28th and 33rd respectively, bringing home a total of (1) top five and (3) top ten finishes … oh, and a Budweiser Pole Award via Gilliland’s efforts at last year’s running of the Daytona 500. The only bright spot from last season is the fact that both cars did manage to maintain their positions inside the top 35 in owner’s points, meaning that Gilliland and Travis Kvapil (replacing Rudd in the now no. 28 Chevy) will have guaranteed starts in the first five points races of the season. That’s of little consolation for the team, though, when they consider the fact that in 2005 their teams finished 13th and 15th in points with 19 top ten finishes and a win, and 9th and 15th in points with 2 wins and 28 top ten’s. In fact, Dale Jarrett’s win at Talladega in October of 2005 was the last time the Yates family has visited Victory Lane, and if last year was any indication of things to come, it may be quite sometime before they receive another ticket to go back there.

NASCAR brand-name sponsors have apparently taken notice to the fallout inside the Yates camp, because it was only early Thursday afternoon that they finally landed their first primary sponsor for either of their cars when they signed Experien Consumer Direct for the first seven races on the hood of the no. 38 car. Yes, they’ve gone from decorating their cars with M&M’s, Snickers, and UPS to opening up the Daytona 500 with Experien and a sponsor TBD. Oh, and what are they going to do 2 months from now when that contract expires? All hope is not lost, though. At the end of 2006, Yates partnered their engine department with that of Roush Racing, who started coming on very, very strong towards the end of last season, primarily with Matt Kenseth. I’m sure both organizations have had their people working around the clock in the offseason to get things right for both camps. If that’s the case, then the potential of David Gilliland should shine brightly right away – provided he can keep the nose of the car clean, and Travis Kvapil could possibly bring home some consistent finishes as well by the end the year. It should be interesting.

Cup Series Roster:
28: Travis Kvapil – He hasn’t raced in the Cup Series since 2006 when he raced 31 races for Penske Racing and finished 36th in driver points, failing to record a top ten finish. He did, however, race the full schedule in 2005 – his rookie season in Cup – and brought home two top ten finishes en route to a 33rd place points finish. Don’t let the numbers fool you, though. Despite his poor performance in the Cup Series thus far, Travis did win the Craftsman Truck Series Championship back in 2003 in what was only his third season of racing the trucks in a brilliant season which saw him finish 22 of the 25 races that year in the top ten, finishing all but one lap. If Doug Yates can somehow find a way to put some solid equipment behind him, Travis should not only have no problem keeping this car inside the top 35 in owner’s points, but could perhaps find enough consistency to bring home a 20th to 25th place points finish.

38: David Gilliland – David seemed as though he was a perfect match for the NASCAR circuit when he first debuted in the Busch Series in 2006. In only his seventh start he was able to bring home the checkered flag at Kentucky Speedway and then quickly found himself in the Cup Series after Yates had parted ways with Elliot Saddler mid-way through the year. In only his 8th start in the Cup Series, David won the pole award at Talladega and went on to finish a very respectable 15th in that race, though his average finish in the fifteen races he participated in that year was only 28.3. 2007 got off to a great start, though, as he won the pole award for the Daytona 500 and finished 8th in the “Great American Race”, officially scoring his first career top ten finish in the big leagues of racing. The season was downhill from there, though, as David would capture only one more top 10 finish on the season, coming in with an average finish of 27.4. He’s looked good at times in many races, but the big problem he’s had is being able to avoid trouble on the track … purely a sign of his inexperience. If he’s able to maintain a high level of awareness to his surroundings on the track, then I’m confident that he’ll eventually get this car to victory lane and possibly even cruise to a top 20 finish in the points standings. That’s a big “if”, though … much easier said than done.Driver Roster: C+
Off-Season: C+
2008 Outlook: B-

Post from: EveryJoe

Season Preview: Yates Racing

With all of the teams that have undergone significant astronomical changes heading into the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup season, Dale Earnhardt Inc. ranks rate up there. The thing that separates the changes with DEI this year from that of Hendrick Motorsports or Joe Gibbs Racing, however, is that the point of impact will not be determined by what they’ve gained in this offseason, but rather with what they’ve lost … Dale Earnhardt Jr. While even the biggest fans inside the realms of Junior Nation will agree that the son of “the Intimidator” has underachieved thus far in his career – at least compared to the expectations that constantly loom over his head – the name recognition that he was able to bring to his father’s company is unrivaled. With the loss of Junior also comes the loss of fan support, key sponsorships (ie, Budweiser), and all-around financial gains. Yes, they’ve lost the most popular driver not only in NASCAR, but in motorsports.

In 2007, Dale Earnhardt Junior failed to make the Chase for the Nextel Cup while the “other” Junior – Martin Truex – finished 11th in points and won his first career Cup race in only his second full-time Cup schedule. Much of this may or may not be attributed to the many conspiracy theories out there claiming that DEI deliberately sabotaged Dale’s engines and mechanical setups once the team learned that he would be parting ways with the company following the season, but that’s all debatable. Whether Truex is better than Earnhardt is also debatable, but no matter what happens in the next couple years, the fact is that Earnhardt will still be recognized as the superior between the two. What’s funny with this whole scenario, though, is the fact that neither Earnhardt or Truex is even comparable to the man that is actually the best driver on this year’s DEI roster … Mark Martin. The fact that Martin is still so talented and running well at this point in his career poses an interesting debate, though, because one could argue that despite the fact that he’s likely to run well in the majority of his races again this year, some still believe that he’s only taking up roster space because of the fact that he’s not running a full-time schedule. With Junior out of the picture and Mark Martin running limited time again this year, the basically leaves Truex as the lone hope for DEI to get a driver into the Chase. That’s a lot of pressure to throw onto the young shoulders of the driver of the no. 1 car … asking him to not only step out of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s shadow, but to also take DEI to the promised land. Frankly, I think DEI’s bitten off a little more than they can chew, and some will argue that when the walls come crashing down on Theresa Earnhardt, it will be much deserved.

Cup Series Roster:

01: Regan Smith – With Mark Martin moving from the 01 to the 8 car this season, DEI went out and decided to bring Regan Smith up to the big-times this year. Regan’s been running the Nationwide Series (formerly Busch Series) since 2002, and will now join once of the most highly anticipated rookie classes in recent Cup Series memory. His best Nationwide Series points season was 20th in 2006 and comes to the Cup with no wins and only one pole position under his belt.  Nonetheless, DEI felt that he was ready, and in fact, in the midst of a huge rookie class this year, many fans believe that Smith will be the one to end 2008 as the Rookie of the Year.

1: Martin Truex Jr – Truex ran a combined nine races at the Cup level between 2004 and 2005 that resulted in only one top ten finish. During those same years, however, he was also running a full-time Busch Series schedule and became only the second driver ever to win the Busch championship in back-to-back seasons (the other being Earnhardt Jr). In 2006, he decided to leave the ranks of the second series and run full-time in Cup. 2006 resulted in a mediocre, yet solid rookie season, finishing 19th in points, including 2 top five’s and 5 top ten’s. Things turned around for him last season, however, as he cruised to 7 top five’s and 14 top ten’s, including his first ever Cup victory. Oh, and did I mention that he also qualified to make the Chase field, though he ran miserably in the final 10 races of the season, managing to finish only 11th in points. This season he will have his work cut out for him as he not only sets out to improve upon his numbers from last year, but as he also tries to erase the memory of Dale Earnhardt Jr from the halls of DEI.

8: Mark Martin / Aric Almirola – Just as he did last year, Mark Martin has decided to run a “limited” schedule in the Sprint Cup for 2008, participating in only 24 of the 36 races on the schedule. Last year’s schedule produced five top five’s and eleven top ten’s, finishing 27th in driver points despite only running 2/3 of the races. It’s actually kind of sad, though. Based on his numbers from last year and 2006 – his last full-time season in which he finished 4th in points – one has to think that if he would continue running full-time that he might be able to finally capture his first Cup Championship. Since he ran his first Cup race back in 1981, Mark has finished 2nd in points on four occasions – the most recent of which came in 2002 when Tony Stewart took the title from him in the final race of the season – but, he’s never been able to win the big one. The twelve points races that Mark will not be competing in will be run by rookie Aric Almirola. Aric ran 6 Cup races last season with an average finish of 34.

15: Paul Menard – Menard, who ran his first full-time Cup season in 2007, was a disappointment. He qualified for only 30 of the 36 races and failed to land a single top ten finish (though he did have a top ten in 2006 running a very limited schedule). In fact, some would argue that the highlight of Menard’s Cup career thus far would be his short-lived feud last season with Tony Stewart. In his two seasons in the Busch Series prior to jumping to the Cup level, Menard did accumulate a win, 13 top five’s, and 31 top ten’s, demonstrating himself as a model of consistency. However, he has yet to find the key ingredients to translate his Busch success into NASCAR’s premier level.

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

Post from: EveryJoe

Season Preview: Dale Earnhardt Inc.

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

The Busch Series was originally designed to serve as somewhat of a “minor league” for NASCAR.  As the years have passed, however, NASCAR owners have been searching for ways to make the series more profitable for them, so what better way than to get the sport’s marquee names to headline their events?  It makes perfect sense, don’t get me wrong, but it’s definitely not helping the Busch regulars excel and expand their skills. For starters, if ten to fifteen Cup regulars have their names on the entry list and qualify their cars for the event, that means that every week there are ten to fifteen younger, less experienced, and under-funded drivers that are not receiving the opportunity to make a name for themselves and the other twenty Busch drivers that do make the race have a far less chance of being able to truly compete for a victory.

Last year Kevin Harvick walked away with the Busch Series Championship, and at the same time was competing for the Nextel Cup Championship.  This year, Carl Edwards is doing the exact same.  Edwards currently holds a 754 point lead over second place David Reutimann and the only reason Harvick sits in third place in the standings and isn’t competing with Edwards for the title is because he’s missed 8 of the races.  Furthermore, twenty-six of the twenty-nine Busch races this year have been won by drivers racing a full-time schedule in the Nextel Cup, over half of which were won by guys with over three years experience driving full-time for NASCAR’s premier circuit.  Heck, three drivers in the Top 10 in points don’t even have a top 5 finish to their credit this season.  How does that even make sense?!

I find it ridiculous that if you ask any of the Cup regulars about why they do this, they’ll claim that it all boils down to trying to gather as much track information as they can get to help their Cup team excel that week.  Have these guys forgotten that they’re professionals … that they’re supposed to be the best in the business?  Let the minor league system be just that – a minor league system, and not some stomping ground for you guys to feed your egos.  It’s time to sack up, do your jobs, and just flat out drive your car better than the guy in front of you and maybe we can start letting some of these youngsters actually take their talent to the next level one of these days.

Post from: EveryJoe

Bushwackers – Enough is Enough

Figure the odds! The IRL and Champ Car League (same open-wheel type cars – different leagues) can’t get their act together to reunite. What makes any of them think they could co-exist with NASCAR. And what was that about replacing Busch races? Again – figure the odds!

Terry Angstadt, the IRL’s new president of its commercial division, said the IRL would not allow itself to be presented as a support race. He also claims that IRL is a ‘tier-one’ series. What did he leave unsaid? NASCAR is _________ (fill in the blanks).

In the same statement he said, “…certainly it would be hard to argue that the Indianapolis 500 is not a cornerstone event, if not the premier motor sports event in the world.” Well – yeah, the Indy 500 probably is the premier motor sports event in the world BUT it’s one race. Deal with reality, Terry. Indy-car racing is now 2nd tier with the one exception of the Indy 500.

IRL and Champ need to reunite before they try to horn in on NASCAR. Do NASCAR fans care one whit about Indy racing? Let me know what you think. Tell me too if you think I’m being too hard on the IRL/Champ people. I grew up in Indianapolis, in Indy car racing – before the big feud that split them in two. It was stupid then and it’s still stupid.

Post from: EveryJoe

NASCAR and IRL? Figure The Odds!

NASCAR Raceday 11:30 SPEED

NASCAR Nextel Cup Race 1:30 Fox

Speed Report 7:00 SPEED

Victory Lane 8:00 SPEED

Wrap up  so far:

Mike Skinner started on the pole and won the Craftsman Truck race.

The Busch Series has the week off.

Denny Hamlin in the #11 will start on the pole today.  Next to Denny on the front row will be Jamie McMurray.  Michael Waltrip didn’t make the race again.  Dale Jarrett made it but thanks to Matt Kenseth last week at Bristol, Dale dropped out of the top 35 in owner points.

Post from: EveryJoe

NASCAR In Martinsville Today

Friday March 23

2:30 pm Busch Series Final Practice ESPN 2

3:30 pm NASCAR Nextel Cup Qualifying SPEED

5:00 pm NASCAR Live! SPEED

7:00pm Trackside! SPEED

Saturday, March 24

10:00 am NASCAR Nextel Cup Practice SPEED

11:00 am Busch Series Qualifying ESPN 2

12:30 pm NASCAR Nextel Cup Final Practice SPEED

2:30 pm Busch Series Race at Bristol ESPN2

7:30 pm NASCAR Performance SPEED

Sunday, March 25

11:00 am Tradin’ Paint SPEED

11:30 am NASCAR RaceDay SPEED

1:30 pm NASCAR Nextel Cup Race from Bristol Fox

All times are Eastern. Enjoy!

Post from: EveryJoe

NASCAR at Bristol – TV Schedule

Jimmy Johnson passed Tony Stewart with three laps to go (after Tony brushed the wall) to win the Kobalt Tools 500.

The 48 just would not be denied. It was awesome today.

A thumbs up to Jeff Burton for finishing 4th today after his win in the Busch series yesterday. This proves he really isn’t letting the logo controversy get to him. Way to go, Jeff!

Juan Montoya ran a good race too, finishing 5th. He kept his nose clean and out of trouble. Good job, Juan.

Post from: EveryJoe

Jimmy Johnson Wins the Kobalt Tools 500 in Atlanta