Though they may not admit it, several drivers in the Sprint Cup garage area were probably a bit smitten when NASCAR was forced to cancel qualifying for the Centurion Boats at the Glen at Watkins Glen International on Friday. The simple fact of the matter is that several drivers near the top at points are going to receive a better starting position that they likely would have, and while it still may not exactly give them a shot at winning Sunday’s race, it obviously provides a good path towards a better finish. That would be the guys like Greg Biffle and Kasey Kahne who historically get left in a position where they have to work just a little harder to keep their Chase hopes alive after a long day of racing at Watkins Glen. And, as for guys like Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, and Kevin Harvick - drivers that are typically considered to be among the favorites to win anytime we go road course racing - they should be just as happy that there was no qualifying on Friday - or, at least they almost were.

Per the NASCAR rulebook, no qualifying means that the field will be set based on car owner points from top to bottom with the small caveat of the past champions provisional to be taken into account. Now, that was almost enough to keep the road course ringers from making their way into the show, but because Ron Fellows is replacing Regan Smith for DEI and PJ Jones is driving the no. 96 HOF Racing entry this weekend, both drivers had enough owner points to receive the opportunity to run on Sunday. Max Papis and Marcos Ambrose almost missed the cut as well, but with only 45 entries, they managed to squeeze by as well.

The two cars that failed to “qualify” were Brian Simo and Boris Said, both considered to be road course specialists. This marked the second year in a row that Said showed up at Watkins Glen only to watch Mother Nature end his weekend before he ever even started the engine ….. and, it was also the second year in a row that a veteran driver climbed out of their car to make room for Said’s talents and expertise. Last year it was Bill Elliott stepping out while Boris drove the no. 21 Wood Brothers car to a 14th place finish. This year, it was Kyle Petty sacraficing his no. 45 Petty Enterprises car - 40th in owner points - to give Boris yet another break.

“Boris is known around the world as one of the premier road-course racers,” said Robbie Loomis, vice president of operations at Petty Enterprises. “He’ll give us another great opportunity to assess our program. Everyone at Petty Enterprises is grateful to Boris for helping us out.”

They are all the all-time leader in NASCAR for wins as an organization, they have 7 Cup championships to their credit, and they’ve been in operation since 1949. So, why is it that only a few months into the 2008 season, Petty Enterprises had looked as though they might be on the verge of crumbling? Maybe it’s because they haven’t visited Victory Lane since 1998. Perhaps it’s the fact that General Mills, the team’s #1 sponsor for a very, very long time, has already announced their departure from Petty to put their name on a new RCR car. It might have something to do with Bobby LaBonte, the cornerstone for Petty since 2006, looked as though he could be headed with General Mills. Or, it could be the fact that it wasn’t so long ago that the owner’s son, Kyle Petty, was asked to remove himself from one of the team’s cars for a race, after which he publically called out VP Robbie Loomis in several media articles.

Whatever it is that had us all thinking that Petty Enterprises had become a simple afterthought in the NASCAR circuit, we can put those notions to rest, because with their announcement on Wednesday afternoon has erased any doubts about their intent to compete in this sport. Petty announced the re-signing of LaBonte to a four-year contract extension, which many people believe could take Bobby to the near-end of his career, but the big announcement for the team was at the management level. Richard Petty has given up majority control of the organization to Boston Ventures in an effort to finally bring the team the capitol it has so desperately needed.

Boston Ventures has several interests in the media and entertainment industries, including investments in Six Flags theme parks, Motown Records, American Media Inc, and some others. While Richard Petty claims he will still be involved in the day-to-day activities of Petty Enterprises, Boston Ventures Managing Director, Barry Barker, has taken over as the new Chairman, and David Zucker will fill in as the CEO.

For LaBonte, negotiations with Petty have been ongoing and intensified earlier in the season when it was rumored that he would follow General Mills over to Richard Childress Racing. After finally coming to an agreement with the team, he cited the additions of Boston Ventures to the mix as a very large contributer to his decision. While he enjoys racing for Petty and would like nothing more than setup shop there long-term, just as any other racer desires, he felt like he needed better equipment to compete in. With Boston Ventures coming on board, he strongly feels like they can finally get the equipment they need.

“With Boston Ventures coming on board, it was definitely the thing that swayed me to stay,” he said. “They are bringing the things we need to move forward.”

While nobody is expecting an overnight miracle to result from this announcement, it’s good to think that Petty Enterprises could be back on the move. This is certainly a step in the right direction, and with LaBonte still competing for a spot in this year’s Chase, things are definitely looking up for Petty!

*Credit photo to Newscom.

We all know that Joe Gibbs Racing has established themselves as the powerhouse of the field at this point in time. We know that Roush-Fenway Racing has come a long way in figuring out this new car and that Hendrick Motorsports seems to have lost the edge that they had on everyone else last year. We’ve analyzed potential contractual signings every which way we could, and still found ourselves locked in a guessing game. Been there, done that, but perhaps one of the stories that we haven’t talked nearly enough about are two teams that are holding out hope of getting a driver into contention for the Chase for the Cup for the first time in their team’s history, and another that hasn’t fielded a Chase contender since 2004.

Once considered one of the top organizations in NASCAR, Yates Racing last visited Victory Lane back in the Fall of 2005 when Dale Jarrett drove the no. 88 car to a win at Talladega and the last time they were able to land a driver inside the top-12 in points was with Elliott Sadler back in ‘04. Since those days, the team has gone through a horrendous rebuilding stage and continue to struggle week in and week out to find primary sponsorship of their cars driven by Travis Kvapil and David Gilliland. Both are highly regarded as “underdogs” every Sunday when the series hits the track, and both have failed to land a top-five finish all season long. Still, they’ve continued to push forward, and have managed to turn a few heads along the way, particularly Kvapil. Coming into the season as a driver that nobody really paid much attention to, Travis admittedly got off to a rather slow start. But, something seems to have clicked within this team ever since a solid run at Phoenix turned sour and he finished 22nd. After that race, Kvapil sat 24th in points, but four finishes of 16th or better in the last six races - highlighted with a 6th place run at Talladega and an 8th place run in Darlington - have now moved Travis up six spots in the standings. He’s now 18th in points and trails 12th place, Tony Stewart, by only 150 points.

Red Bull Racing has been the team that quite a few people have been talking about as of late. With Brian Vickers and AJ Allmendinger behind the wheel for the organization, the team managed to qualify for only 40 races in a combined 72 attempts in their inaugural season in 2007. Coming into the season with both cars outside of the top-35 in points and forced to qualify on time, Allmendinger again missed out on the first three events of ‘08 before being replaced temporarily by veteran driver, Mike Skinner. Despite failing to finish inside of the top-25 in any of the five races that Skinner filled in, the move appears to have paid dividends. AJ has been able to take what he’s learned from Skinner and put it to good use on the track, first winning the All-Star Showdown at Lowe’s to make the cut for the All-Star event itself, and then scoring a career best 12th place finish last week at Pocono. Still, the focus of the media on this team has been placed with Brian Vickers, who appears to be on the verge of scoring the second Cup victory of his career. After a disappointing 2007 that brought him only 1 top-five and 5 top-ten’s, Vickers has been impressive on several occassions this year, though it may not always show up in the results column. He’s been strong on all of the superspeedways, but the team really started to turn heads when they established themselves as one of the dominant cars in the Coca Cola 600 before an equipment failure ended their day. Since then he’s bounced back with a 13th place effort at Dover and finished 2nd last week at Pocono. Brian has now moved up to 17th place overall and trails 12th by a mere 112 points.

Rounding out the list of underdogs making a charge towards the Chase is non-other than Petty Enterprises. Despite the fact that this team has more wins than any other organization in the history of the sport and a slieu of championships from when “the King” himself, Richard Petty, drove the car, the company hasn’t celebrated a win since 1999 when John Andretti won at Martinsville, and the closest they’ve come to a bid for the Chase was an 18th place finish in the standings last year from Bobby LaBonte. Now, nobody’s really sure who will drive the no. 45 car next year as Kyle Petty, Chad McCumbee, and Terry LaBonte have all failed to do much with the ride, but Bobby continues to press forward. Though he’s failed to score a top-ten all season long, he does have seven top-15’s and has gone the entire year without a DNF, something that has hindered the team in recent years. Additionally, he’s got six finishes of 18th or better in the last eight races, which started with a 12th place run at Phoenix, and LaBonte now resides in 19th in the standings, trailing his former Gibbs teammate in 12th by 159 points.

As many of the drivers in the top-12 continue to experience their share of misfortunes as they bounce back and forth between the bubble spots, this could be a prime opportunity for one of these teams to capitalize. But, with the recent emergance of guys like David Ragan, the resurgance of Matt Kenseth, and other perrenial Chase hopefuls such as Ryan Newman and Martin Truex Jr. standing between them as well, the guys currently in the top-12 may not be all they’ll have to contend with.

DYN Imposes:
This week, Do You NASCAR also asks its readers …

1. Which driver in these 3 organizations will be the first to score their first / next win?
2. Are consistent top-15 and top-20 runs going to be enough to land a driver in the Chase field?
3. Which of these teams has made the best organizational move(s) in the last 2 years?
4. Will any of these 3 teams get a driver into the 2008 Chase? If so, who?

*Credit photos to Newscom.

Image details: Tony Stewart’s Prelude to the Dream served by picapp.com

Every year he puts on the annual “Prelude to the Dream” race at the track that he owns, Eldora Speedway, but for the first time, Tony Stewart can call himself the winner of his own event. After the qualifying heats tore up several cars, Stewart went onto dominate the 30-lap feature, after which he and his crew promptly climbed the fence.

The event included several of NASCAR’s top-reigning stars in addition to Stewart, to include two-time defending Sprint Cup Series champion, Jimmie Johnson; four-time Cup champ, Jeff Gordon; Carl Edwards; Kasey Kahne; Kevin Harvick; Matt Kenseth; JGR teammates, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin; and a slieu of others.

Inclimate weather from this past weekend that carried over into the early parts of the week left the dirt track wet and, as some described it, lightning fast. Stewart was apologetic for not being able to get the track in better condition for his guests, stating that it was a little rough for the dirt late models they were racing.

Robby Gordon finished runner-up to Stewart in the race, with Clint Bowyer, Kenny Wallace, and Denny Hamlin following behind to round out the feature race’s top-five finishers. Following the race, Stewart presented Kyle Petty with a check for $1 million in support of the Victory Junction Camp II, which is being built near Kansas City.

Greg Biffle turned the fastest lap during Friday’s Sprint Cup Series qualifying session at Dover International Speedway by clocking a lap in just 23.193 seconds, and in doing so, will start Sunday’s Best Buy 400 from the pole position. This is the second time Biffle has won the Coors Lite Pole Award this season - the first of which was at Darlington, where Biffle was arguably the best car on the track before running into mechanical issues.

Starting next to Greg on the outside of the front row will be former Roush-Fenway Racing teammate, Kurt Busch, who came in 0.188 seconds slower than Biffle. Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Jamie McMurray, and Brian Vickers rounded out the top-six qualifiers for the race. In rows four and five will be the cars of Jeff Gordon, AJ Allmendinger, Elliott Sadler, and Jeremy Mayfield, who is filling in for the injured Dario Franchitti in the no. 40 Chip Ganassi Racing car.

Carl Edwards, Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr, and Jeff Burton couldn’t find the speed they were looking for, as they all qualified 14th, 22nd, 25th, and 38th respectively. Failing to make the race were Jason Leffler, who got behind the wheel of the no. 70 Haas CNC Racing car this week, and Chad McCumbee, who was subbing in for Kyle Petty.

Image details: Dickies 500 served by picapp.com

Petty Enterprises recently announced that Kyle Petty will take a leave of absence from the no. 45 Dodge beginning on the June 1st race at Dover until July 12th when the Sprint Cup Series heads to Chicago. The reason for Petty’s leave from the team is to attend his daughter’s wedding, and he will then join the TNT booth to report from broadcasting duty.

The void in the no. 45 car will be filled by NASCAR rookie, Chad McCumbee, at Dover and Chicago, with Terry LaBonte to drive the car for the five races in between. Chad filled in for Petty during his injury last season with very little success, and attempted to replace him at Texas earlier this year, but he failed to qualify for the event.

For Terry LaBonte, this is his first opportunity to team up with brother, Bobby LaBonte, at the Cup Series level. The two-time former champion last competed in a Cup Series race at Watkins Glen in 2007. He ran three races that season, resulting in a pair of 30th place finishes and another 35th. He competed in 31 events from 2005-2006. His last full-time season was 2004 with Hendrick Motorsports, in which he finished 26th in points. His last victory came in the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in ‘03.

Image details: Aaron’s 499 Qualifying served by picapp.com
 

It’s admittedly WAAAY too early in the season for NASCAR’s silly season to already have gotten as it deep as it has, that’s for sure … but, alas, I must do my small part in life to contribute to this nonsense, because - well, quite frankly it intrigues me.It all started just a few weeks into the ‘08 season when Richard Childress Racing announced the addition of a fourth team to their arsenal next year, and immediately everyone started pointing towards Bobby LaBonte to fill the seat in that ride due to his ties with RCR and Kevin Harvick Inc. in the Nationwide Series. While nothing has come of that since then, RCR has gone ahead and already secured the current #1 sponsor over at Petty Enterprises in General Mills.

RCR got the ball rolling with contract talks, and then a small focus within the media shifted over to Roush-Fenway Racing. Roush will be forced to part ways with one of their team cars after 2009 due to a new rule that will be implemented in NASCAR that will limit to teams limiting no more than four cars. However, two of their five current Cup Series drivers - Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle - have contracts that currently run only through the end of this year. While there’s not really much speculation that Edwards has any plans of leaving the organization - and, may in fact actually nab one of NASCAR’s largest sponsors next season in UPS - Biffle was earlier reported to be about “90% done with his contract renewal.” Talks since then appear to have slowed a bit, and now there’s some minor speculation lingering out there that the Biff may be headed in a new direction. Of course, then you also have the notion that Roush may work out a deal with Yates Racing that would send one of their cars over to that organization in somewhat of a partnership deal, in which case Roush could essentially really wind up not losing anyone after next year.

Fast forward a bit, and then you’ve got Tony Stewart reportedly looking into all sorts of offers, though his contract doesn’t officially end at Joe Gibbs Racing until after the 2009 season. The most widely known offer that seems to be on the table right now for Stewart is a deal that would give up as much as 50% ownership at Haas CNC Racing, and would also return Smoke to his long-tenured relationship with General Motors. There’s been a lot of speculation that Tony has been trying to get out of his contract with JGR following this season, but both parties claim that no such talks have taken place. Additionally, Joe Gibbs himself has stated that their organization is pretty much set the way that it is in terms of ownership, but if that’s something that Tony was interested in, something could possibly be worked out that would set Stewart in the right direction for such a venture.

There was some question regarding Martin Truex Jr’s contract at Dale Earhardt, Inc, which only went through the end of this season. With the team struggling early on, there was a bit of doubt whether or not the organization would pick up the option they had on Martin for 2009, but they recently inked that deal earlier this week and our now working on a deal that would keep Truex at DEI beyond 2010.

Staying somewhat out of the public eye in terms of contract negotiations has been Ryan Newman, who has driven for Penske Racing since entering the Sprint Cup Series, but his contract also expires at the end of the year. Newman has stated that he hasn’t been talking to any other teams about potential options, but he also admitted that he has yet to sign a renewal with Penske and that they haven’t really talked about it. It’s also no huge secret that Newman hasn’t been happy with some of the engines that have been handed to him through the Penske garage, so who knows?

There are also some rumors that Casey Mears could be let go from his ride with Hendrick Motorsports, which would not only free up another driver for a potential signing, but would free up another seat for one of these other guys. And, let’s not forget the blowout that occurred within Chip Ganassi Racing not all that long ago. If Chip’s not happy with his race teams, then who knows who might be available for signing by the time we roll into 2009.There’s a lot of circumstantial talk within these rumors, and I’ll admit that this post is probably somewhat premature, but all the same - it looks like we’re going to have plenty to keep talking about as 2008 pushes forward.Current Rides Available:
#12 - Penske Racing (Ryan Newman)
#16 - Roush-Fenway Racing (Greg Biffle)
#21 - Wood Bros. (Bill Elliott / Jon Wood)
#33 - Richard Childress Racing (new team)
#43 - Petty Enterprises (Bobby LaBonte)
#70 - Haas CNC Racing (race-by-race)
#99 - Roush-Fenway Racing (Carl Edwards)

The votes are in, and I’ve tallied your winners. So, strap in, and let’s get you ringside for the first-ever NASCAR Mania! Enjoy!

Rookie Brawl - Five Way Elimination Match:
Patrick Carpentier and Regan Smith eliminated one another via a double countout. Dario Franchitti pinned Sam Hornish Jr via a Small Package. Then, Michael McDowell closed the match out by defeating Franchitti with his patented finishing move, the “Suicide Spin,” to pick up the victory. Following the match, Aric Almirola attacked McDowell from behind, claiming that he should have had the opportunity to compete in the match, stating that he, too, is a rookie - even if not by NASCAR standards.
Winner: Michael McDowell

East Coast vs. West Coast: Tag Team Match:
Elliott Sadler / Denny Hamlin vs. David Gilliland / Kevin Harvick
Hamlin and Sadler dominated more than half the match and appeared to have the victory well-in-hand when DaLana Harvick strutted down to ringside and distracted them. This gave Gilliland an opportunity to dropkick Sadler over the top rope, and the two proceeded to battle outside the ring. With the ref distracted, DaLana then slid Kevin a metal folding chair, which he smacked over Hamlin’s back before making the cover for the win.
Winners: David Gilliland & Kevin Harvick

Battle for the ESPN Booth:
Rusty Wallace vs. Dale Jarrett
The two battled one another feverishly, and the crowd was really getting into this battle of the legends. Late in the match, Rusty attempted to suplex Jarrett into the turnbuckles, but DJ blocked with his foot on multiple occasions before reversing it into a variation of his finishing move, “the Special Delivery.” He nailed the move and made the cover for the three count.
Winner: Dale Jarrett

Battle of the Legends … Sons:
Dale Earnhardt Jr vs. Kyle Petty vs. Casey Mears
Casey Mears was dominating the match, going to town on both of his competitors. After throwing Earnhardt Jr to the outside of the ring, he was setting Petty up for the kill. He stomped away several times to Petty’s right knee before applying the figure four leglock. Just when it looked as though Kyle was going to tap, though, Earnhardt scaled the top turnbuckle and signaled for his finisher, “the Whisky River!” He nailed it and proceeded to make the pinfall on the unconscious Mears.
Winner: Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Hair vs. Hair:
Jeff Gordon vs. Jimmie Johnson
In this highly anticipated battle of the villains, the momentum switched back and forth several times, but in the end, it was Jimmie Johnson picking up the win. He was able to land his “Three-Peat” after Gordon missed with the “Drive for Five.” Fans then watched on as Johnson proceeded to shave his tag team partner bald.
Winner: Jimmie Johnson

Loser Leaves Match:
Paul Menard vs. Robby Gordon
Despite the ramifications of this match, several fans in the arena chose to take an intermission at this time, and the pay-per-view channel itself even went to commercial. We’re told, however, that Gordon did pick up the victory and that Menard must now leave and never wrestle again. Incase you were wondering, yes, FOX coincidentally happened to have majority ownership in this ppv channel.
Winner: Robby Gordon

Tag Team Match:
the Busch Bros (Kyle & Kurt) vs. the Waltrip’s (Darrell & Michael)
Coverage of this event finally returned about five minutes into this matchup, at which time the Waltrip Brothers were well in control. They finally polished their foes off when Darrell reluctantly took Kyle out with the “Boogity Slam.” After the match, Darrell attempted to befriend Kyle, but the youngster just stormed out of the arena, refusing to offer his comments to reporters.
Winners: the Waltrip’s

Cage Match:
Jack Roush vs. Lee White
As several of the Roush and Toyota drivers surrounded the ring on the outside of the cage, these two enemies battled ferociously back and forth. Both men tried to escape the cage several times, only to be dragged back down. Finally, a bloodied Lee White attempted to crawl out through the cage door, only to have it slammed in his face by Carl Edwards. The impact knocked White out cold, and Roush was able to escape the cage with the victory!
Winner: Jack Roush

#1 Contenders Match:
Carl Edwards vs. Ryan Newman
Edwards stormed the ring like a madman and absolutely pounded Newman from pillar to post, scoring several near falls in the early goings. About 15 minutes into the match, however, Edwards appeared to be getting a little too cocky. As he was posing to the crowd, Newman staggered to his feet and attacked Edwards from behind. Newman’s offense lasted several minutes before setting Edwards on the top turnbuckle for a superplex. Edwards was able to push Newman away, however, and then proceeded to turn around and … he nailed Newman with a backflip from the turnbuckles! He made the cover and scored the win to earn himself a match with the winner of the Heavyweight Title match!
Winner: Carl Edwards

Heavyweight Title Bout:
Tony Stewart vs. Jimmy Spencer
The two men beat each other to a bloody pulp in an effort to be crowned as the first-ever DYN World Heavyweight Champion. Both men came close to getting the three-count on several occasions in this matchup that last nearly a half hour. In the end, though, it was Stewart walking away with the hardware after he punished Spencer with his devastating “Smoke Screen.” Stewart was immediately interviewed by Marty Smithson in the middle of the ring. As he drank his Coca Cola and snacked on two Subway Subs, the Champ talked about how he was looking forward to his upcoming match with #1 Contender, Carl Edwards. We’re still not really sure what it has to do with anything, but in the interview, Tony made several comments about blown tires and give ‘n’ take.
Winner: Tony Stewart

Image details: Subway Fresh Fit 500 Qualifying served by picapp.com

Thursday night’s Sprint Cup qualifying session contained nothing near the drama that was witnessed last weekend at Texas qualifying, but it did feature “Flyin” Ryan Newman turning in the fastest lap of the evening en route to picking up his 43rd career pole award. His lap of 26.975 seconds earned him his first pole at Phoenix International Raceway since 2004, and is his fourth at the track overall. Newman was also the fastest overall in the first Cup Series practice session earlier in the day.

Elliott Sadler was second quickest, a mere 0.009 seconds slower than Newman, and will start Saturday night’s race on the outside of the front row. Carl Edwards looks to continue riding his hot streak by starting third, and Mark Martin and Kasey Kahne will complete the top-five.

Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon, the winners of last year’s Phoenix races, will start the race 7th and 11th respectively in search of the Hendrick organization’s first win of 2008, along with Dale Earnhardt Jr – who will roll of the line in 13th. Series points leader Jeff Burton had a rough day of qualifying, turning in a lap nearly half a second slower than the polesitter’s, and will start from the 39th position. Kevin Harvick, second in the standings, will start 17th.

Dave Blaney, Dario Franchitti, Mike Skinner, Patrick Carpentier, Joe Nemecheck, and Johnny Sauter all successfully qualified based on time, while John Andretti and – for the second week in a row – the no. 45 team (this time driven by Kyle Petty) failed to make the show. Bill Elliott used another Past Champion’s Provisional to get himself in the show.

Starting Grid (from nascar.com):

Ryan Newman’s no. 12 Alltel Dodge failed post-race inspection on Sunday when officials discovered that his car was too high. Newman – who finished fourth in the race – was docked 25 driver points, and Crew Chief Roy McCauley was fined $25,000 and placed on probation until December 31, 2008.

Officials at Penske Racing did not reveal any plans to appeal the penalty, but did appear that they’re ready to move on from the incident. Penske Racing VP, Mike Nelson, stated, “It is always our intention to follow NASCAR’s rules, and we regret this mistake. We look forward to getting back to the track this weekend, and we are focused on having a strong run at Phoenix.”

Newman had moved into 8th place in the points standings after Sunday’s race, but now drops to 10th. He is 189 points behind points leader Jeff Burton, and only 56 points ahead of 13th place Matt Kenseth.

In other news:
- After racing for the team for less than a year, Jeremy Mayfield has parted ways with Haas-CNC Racing. After finishing 5 of the 7 races this year in 30th or worse and dropping down to 36th in points, Mayfield decided it was time to move on in search of a more promising opportunity. The empty seat in the no. 70 ride is now being returned to the same driver that occupied it last season, Johnny Sauter. Last season Sauter had an average finish of 26th and finished 30th overall in the drivers points standings. This weekend at Phoenix will be his first time driving a Cup car in 2008, but will now be forced to qualify on speed due to the team’s position in the standings.

- After a rigorous week in the news last week, Kyle Petty will reassume the driving duties behind the wheel of the no. 45 Dodge this weekend for Petty Enterprises. After a lot of talk about what they needed to do to improve the race team, they decided to give Kyle the week off at Texas and replace him with Chad McCumbee, who failed to qualify for the race. This week they’re trying something new, and have hired Stewart Cooper as the team’s new Crew Chief. Cooper has no experience as a Crew Chief in the Cup Series, but did work a stint in the Nationwide Series with Braun Racing. He replaces Billy Wilburn, who has been reassigned as the Crew Chief for one of Petty’s test teams.

- Bill Davis Racing has named Marty Gaunt as the team’s new Vice President. Gaunt has held similar roles with Penske Racing and Team Red Bull. They’ve reassigned the former VP,  Mark Chambers, to be the new General Manager, and they’ve also hired Jim Thomas to be the team’s director of marketing. Thomas was previously the director of business development for Sullivan Worldwide Marketing Group. The team currently fields only one Sprint Cup Series team (Dave Blaney) and 4 Craftstman Truck Series teams, though they still aim to lock on long-term sponsorship for Jacques Villeneuve to drive a second Cup car for them in the Cup.