Image details: LifeLock.com 400 Practice served by picapp.com

Tony Stewart has won 32 races, finished in the top-five 125 times, and has recorded 200 top-ten finishes through 9 1/2 seasons of racing in the Sprint Cup Series for Joe Gibbs Racing. He has also brought home two championships for the organization during that timeframe, but at the completion of his tenth season with the company, Tony will say goodbye to the Gibbs family and venture out into the unknown as a 50% owner and a full-time driver for what was formerly known as Haas CNC Racing in 2009.

Stewart Haas Racing, as the new company will be called, will take on a new image with Tony Stewart behind the wheel and serving as the face man for the organization. While they will continue to receive support from Hendrick Motorsports, a great deal remains unknown about the team’s inaugural season together. Car numbers, sponsorship, and a second driver are all question marks, as is the team’s performance capabilities coming right out of the gate.

Earlier this week, the “Loose in Turn 3″ panel was asked to discuss what Stewart Haas Racing can accomplish next season compared to what the expectations are for them in 2009.

Q: What are the realistic expectations for the newly formed Stewart-Haas Racing in 2009?

TZ: It’s going to be a long, tough road for this team for the first couple of seasons – probably moreso than many people realize. But, the fact of the matter is that Tony Stewart is one of the smartest and most talented race car drivers of the modern era, so if anyone can get this done, I really believe he’s the guy. They’ve always said that Smoke’s a guy that can drive anything, anywhere, so now I guess we’ll get to find out firsthand. I look for them to get out there and win 2 or 3 races between the two cars, though that could largely depend on who winds up in the second car. But, as much as I hate to admit it, I think a bid for the Chase could be a longshot in their first go ’round.

Bruce:  I expect, with his experience running teams in other racing leagues, that he’s got great insight into what needs to be done.  I’d be surprised if they do win a race, but I expect the team to do well enough to give everyone a sit up and stare moment as they contend for the cup.  I mean with the top 12 cars in the Chase, that’s 27.9% of the field.  It won’t be that hard I think.

Charlie: Realistic expectations the new owner/operators of a team that has both cars sitting outside the top thirty five right now. Anybody who qualifies can – I say can - win a race in todays NASCAR. Particularly plate races. But it isn’t reasonable to expect. Neither is a finish in the Chase. I say one car in the top twenty in points and the other a top five qualifier. That would not be a bad result for 2009.

Quite a bit of controversy has been “brewing” as of late throughout the country as it was learned that InBev, the largest beer European beer distributor (and in the world) has purchased the Anheuser-Busch company for the sum of $52 million. Anheuser is the maker of Budweiser – “the Great American Lager” – and has one of the top marketing strategies in the US, which includes a major role in an array of professional sports, to include NASCAR. We’ve already seen Anheuser pull out as the official beer of NASCAR this season, and now many analysts are discussing whether or not this corporate takeover will have an effect on the Budweiser sponsorship of the no. 9 Gillette-Evernham car driven by Kasey Kahne, as well as their other sponsorship roles in the sport.

Read more on this over at Bruce’s NASCAR Bits ‘n’ Pieces.

Penske Racing has recently announced that they will part ways with 8-year driver of their no. 12 Alltel Dodge, Ryan Newman, at the end of their 2008 campaign. Will many people firmly believe that Newman is on his way over to Stewart-Haas Racing to reunite with former Crew Chief, Matt Borland, and to create the first Indiana “Hoosier” connection in NASCAR, there has been much debate over whom Roger Penske has slated to drive for his team next season. Casey Mears remains on the free agent market after his release from Hendrick Motorsports, and Penske already has David Stremme in their pocket as a backup and test driver, but there are also a few drivers out there lurking that we haven’t talked much about during the early stages of this Silly Season.

Read more on this over at On Pit Row.

Post from: EveryJoe

Stewart Haas Racing Could Get Loose in Turn 3

Image details: The Meijer 300 served by picapp.com

Good morning, everyone. It’s another Friday here in mid-July, and it’s a hot one out there ….. which is rather fitting, because that’s the only way to describe the NASCAR scene as of late! I welcome you to another edition of our overly-glorified “Loose in Turn Three” segment. Of course you all know me, and with me as usual are my fellow NASCAR Bloggers, Bruce Simmons and Charlie Turner.

Just as we do every week, we have a trio of topics that the three of us are going to be discussing, but before we jump right into that, let’s start with some background on this week’s featured stories just to make sure that we’re all caught up. Over the last two weeks we’ve seen things already begin to shape up for one helluva 2009 season as the two biggest announcements for NASCAR’s Silly Season have taken place within that timeframe.

Last week in Daytona, Mark Martin was announced as the driver-to-be for the #5 car over at Hendrick Motorsports, which at the time was the easily the most coveted available ride on the market, and knocked down what we thought could be the biggest “domino.” Tony Stewart apparently must have had an Ace up his sleeve, though, and decided to trump that announcement with one of his own, as he announced yesterday in Chicago that Joe Gibbs Racing has granted him his release from the organization prior to the expiration of his current contract. Stewart will depart the no. 20 ride to head over to Haas CNC Racing, which will be renamed to Stewart Haas Racing next season with Stewart as a 50% owner of the company.

Stewart’s announcement now sort of realligns the “dominoes,” and sets the no. 20 car atop the pedestal as the best available car on the market, and makes Ryan Newman the marquee name that could be entering free agency this offseason. Whatever Joe Gibbs Racing and Ryan Newman decide to do from here could have a major impact on the rest of the garage area next year. If Newman winds up in the no. 20 car, then that would keep young Joey Logano out of a full-time Cup ride for at least another season. If Newman joins Stewart over at Stewart Haas Racing, then the no. 12 car at Penske Racing becomes available. If he stays at Penske, then the second Stewart Haas seat will remain open.

There are still a lot of drivers out there waiting to see what these guys intend to do. Their actions will play a factor to who Casey Mears is driving for next year, and could determine if guys like David Stremme or Scott Riggs have a job in the Cup Series at all. That said, let’s take a look and see what exactly Joe Gibbs Racing should do from here.

Q: With Tony Stewart’s departure from Joe Gibbs Racing, who should they look to fill the #20 seat?

TZ: Of course, the obvious answer is Joey Logano, which is what would most likely happen, but I don’t think that’s the best course of action for them to at least pursue. Imagine this … give Logano a full season racing the Nationwide Series in 2009, and field a fourth team car to get him in a few Cup races late in the year. Instead of rushing him into the #20 seat, take advantage of the driver market while it’s worthwhile. Put a damper on all of the Stewart / Newman to Haas CNC talks, and go after Newman. Ryan’s got nothing to gain at Haas CNC in terms of ownership, so why wouldn’t he want to consider driving one of the most marketable cars in NASCAR? A 2010 lineup of Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, and Ryan Newman would make it a lot easier for that organization to handle losing Smoke.

Bruce:  You already put out the good answer with Joey Logano filling the seat, and my Ryan Newman fan mode likes the idea of him moving to Gibbs rather than Logano filling the seat right away.  But the chemistry of driver and crew chief:  That’s out next concern!

The other aspect to ponder is with the economy in the down slide that it’s in, is fielding a fourth car going to be worth it for Gibbs?  Food for thought.

Charlie:  Joey Logano has been doing most of the CoT testing for Joe Gibbs Racing this year. He won’t be any younger than Kyle Busch was when he started with Hendrick Motorsports. That #20, Home Depot Chevy with Stewart at the wheel was one of NASCAR’s most recognizable brands. That’s gone after 2008. Might as well start building the new #20 right off the bat.

Now, Ryan Newman moving over to Joe Gibbs Racing next season is certainly a possibility – and, probably a dream come true for most Flyin’ Ryan fans – but, the consistent rumors floating around right now would put Newman driving the car opposite of Smoke over at Stewart Haas Racing.

Newman was tearin’ up the track his first couple of seasons in the Sprint Cup Series, but ever since Matt Borland departed as Newman’s crew chief, the road’s been a little rocky for the no. 12 team. He’s shown signs of life this year – particularly with his win at the season opening Daytona 500, but the team has had their struggles as well, and Newman now currently sits outside the top-15 in points with just 8 races remaining until the cutoff for the Chase. Read more on this over at Bruce’s NASCAR Bits ‘n’ Pieces as we answer the question of:

With the rumors of Ryan Newman signing on with Tony Stewart under Haas-CNC, and Jack Daniels as his sponsor, do you think his on-track performance will improve?

Moving down to the Nationwide Series for a moment, rumors have begun to circulate that the Navy may be pulling out of their sponsorship program there with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and JR Motorsports. The organization picked up their first two wins earlier this season with both Mark Martin and Brad Keselowski pulling into Victory Lane, but with a lack of backing from the Navy, this could potentially jeopardize the operation as it stands now.

There was some talk earlier in the season as to whether or not Earnhardt would be looking to promote JR Motorsports up to the Sprint Cup level as early as next season, and then most recently there has been rumors (though they’ve already been denied) that DEI could be looking to sell or maybe even grab hold of some financial backing. Head over to On Pit Row to read the rest on this one as we answer the following question:

It has been reported that Dale Earnhardt Jr’s JR Motorsports has lost the Navy sponsorship for the #88 Nationwide Series car for 2009. If you’re Jr, now what?

Post from: EveryJoe

Who’s Going to Fill the #20 Seat at Joe Gibbs Racing?

Roger Penske has undoubtedly assembled one of the greatest and most consistent racing organizations in NASCAR in what has become known as the “modern era”, despite not having yet won himself a Cup Series championship. Originally formed back in 1972 on an interim part-time basis, Penske didn’t go full-time until 1976 with Bobby Allison, but soon exited the sport after running only 2 races in 1980 with Rusty Wallace behind the wheel.

Penske Racing returned to the Cup Series in 1991 with Rusty again driving for the team, this team with the #2 Miller Genuine Draft car. Rusty would remain with the team until he retired in 2005, collecting a total of 37 wins for Penske and nearly winning them the Cup Series title in 1993, finishing only 80 points shy of the eventual champion Dale Earnhardt. Rusty’s success for Roger Penske in the 90’s not only established the team as a dominant force to be reckoned with in the NASCAR garage, but has also established what appears to be a permanent sponsor for them as well, as the #2 car has never had a primary sponsor under Penske’s control other than a Miller Brewing Co product.

Despite Penske not bringing the #12 car into play until 1997 and the #77 team having only two full-time seasons under their belt (2004 & 2005), the organization has proven their consistency by the sheer fact that the only two years in which they’ve failed to produce a top ten points team were 1992 (they had only one team; Rusty finished 13th that season) and 2006 (Penske had 2 teams; finished 16th & 18th). They’ve also never had a full-time team finish outside of the top 35 in owner points.

After a very successful campaign in 2005 in which Penske saw both Rusty Wallace and Ryan Newman finish inside the top ten in points after qualifying for that year’s Chase field, things suddenly took a turn for the worse. Rusty retired at the end of the year and was replaced by another former champion, Kurt Busch. Not only was Kurt’s debut season with Penske not a success – recording only one win and finishing 16th in points, the worst finish in his career other than his rookie campaign in 2001 – but, teammate Ryan Newman finished with a career-worst finish of 18th in points. After 2007 started off much the same way that ’06 ended, many people were really starting to give up on the Penske organization. Then, a miracle occurred that resurrected the #2 team when they signed Pat Tryson has the new Crew Chief for Pat Tryson. Not only did this move get Busch back into victory lane twice, but it also got him back into the “Chase” field as he went onto finish the year 7th in points while Newman came in a respectable 13th. The teams’ spirits have been lifted, and hopes are high as we head into 2008. This team should be well on their way back down the road of success and should possibly be competing for championships once again.

Cup Series Roster:

#2: Kurt Busch – As previously mentioned, Busch has received a much-needed boost with the addition of Pat Tryson to his team. Tryson is credited with much of the success accrued in the career of Mark Martin during his time with Roush Racing, and many people feel he will do the same for Busch … including me. The 2004 Cup Champion struggled during his first year and a half with the Penske group, but went on an absolute tear heading into the Chase last season after adding Tryson to the mix. Many people are picking Busch as an early favorite to not only make the Chase field again this year, but to seriously compete for – if not win – the Sprint Cup title. I will stick with the prediction I made at the beginning of January and call Kurt Busch for a third place finish in the championship run.

#12: Ryan Newman – “Flyin” Ryan busted into the Cup Series in 2002 – narrowly winning the Rookie of the Year race over Jimmie Johnson – and, went onto win 12 races and 34 pole awards in his first four seasons in the series. Since losing Matt Borland as his crew chief, however, Newman has won only 7 pole awards and has failed to score a single victory over the past 2 years. What’s worse is that Newman’s worst points finish in his first four years was 7th in 2004, but has finished 18th and 13th in ’06 and ’07. Newman’s 13th place finish last year was at first a surprise considering he was only in 18th a third of the way into the season. Then, it became disappointment as he bounced back-and-forth between 13th and 14th for the remainder of the season, unable to climb a spot higher into the Chase brackets. With a new Crew Chief once again this year, he will need Roy McCauley to step up in ’08 if he wants to leave the horrors and pressure from the past two seasons in the past and reclaim his spot amongst NASCAR’s top stars.

#77: Sam Hornish Jr – Penske has brought the #77 back from the graveyard specifically to Sam Hornish a ride in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. As if that weren’t enough, Penske has also taken Kurt Busch’s owner points from last season and transferred them over to #77 for 2008. So, needless to say, there’s a lot of pressure sitting on the shoulders of the three-time Indy Car Series Champion to perform well and keep the car inside the top 35 in points. While nobody’s expecting him to compete for a spot in the 2008 Chase field, though, the real points race for this driver is going to be for Rookie of the Year honors as he battles against 3 other former open wheel stars that will also be making their NASCAR debuts this year. Hornish ran the final two races of the season in ’07, finishing 30th and 37th. He should have a better feel for the handling of these stock cars this year, though, and should make a solid effort to remain in the top 35.

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

Post from: EveryJoe

Season Preview: Penske Racing