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.

This definitely is not the first time that the two-time NASCAR Nextel Cup Champion has found himself in trouble for similar off-track incidents.  He was placed on probation back in April when he commented on NASCAR officiating and compared it to that of professional wrestling, and he was also fined $25,000 and docked 25 driver points for swearing on live tv following his victory in Indianapolis.  Even before 2007, though, the long-time driver of the Home Depot Chevrolet has built a reputation of being the recipient of numerous fines and suspensions that cannot be rivaled by any other in the sport today.  During his first championship run back in 2002, Stewart accumulated well over $100,000 in fines and was even placed on probation by Home Depot themselves!

NASCAR reportedly refused to speculate on any potential penalties that might be issued to Stewart, but I would imagine that it will be somewhat reflective of the penalty Carl Edwards received following his victory last week at Dover … 25 driver points and $25,000 in fines.  If that’s the case, then I’ve got to pose the question – where’s the justification in that?  Seriously, Carl Edwards’ team got caught up in an incident that could easily be viewed as cheating, and Tony Stewart will probably suffer the same consequences for using a poor choice of words.  I understand that these guys are professional athletes and should be held to a higher standard, but to me there’s a clear cut difference in bad attitude and a lack of integrity.  In my opinion, it’s like locking up a guy that got caught selling marijuana in the same cell as cold blooded murderers.  Is it wrong?  Of course it is, but there’s also absolutely no real comparison.

Call me old fashioned, call me old school, call me what you will – but, I long for the days when NASCAR’s sanctioning body lets these guys go out and race and bases their points standings on that alone.  Give me some consistency in your rulebook and punishments and quit giving me excuses as to why this guy got this and that guy got that.  Hopefully NASCAR will not make any irrational decisions regarding this incident.  Wishful thinking?  Perhaps, but I guess you can just call me a man of faith at the moment as well.

Post from: EveryJoe

Stewart – Not a Man of Words

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

On the season, Stewart has three victories, ten top 5 finishes, and twenty top 10’s.  Only points leader Jeff Gordon has better numbers than him in all three categories, and Jimmie Johnson is the only other driver better than Stewart in any of the three.  When you breakdown the upcoming races and look at some of the favorites to win them, you’ll see Tony Stewart’s name come up quite often.  Stewart, or “Smoke” as he’s commonly referred to, won the race at Kansas last year and has an average finish of 6.5 at that track – best amongst all active drivers in NASCAR.  Following Kansas, the Cup Series heads to Talladega, and it’s been no secret that Gibbs Racing has been the only rival to Hendrick Motorsports at restrictor plate racing in the past couple years.  Stewart has also experienced tremendous success in recent years at Martinsville, Atlanta, and Homestead – all races that remain on the schedule as the 2007 season dwindles down.  The key to Stewart’s success this year could lie in the races at Lowes, Texas, and Phoenix, but even those tracks Tony has faired well at over his career.

Don’t get me wrong, while I firmly believe that 2007 is Stewart’s year to shine once again, it won’t come easy.  Jeff Gordon is still working on his “Drive for Five” campaign in an effort to pickup his fifth Cup Championship, and Jimmie Johnson is valiantly trying to become the first back-to-back champion since his Hendrick partner-in-crime did it nearly ten years ago.  The biggest difference, though, is that while the two of them have been losing more and more steam over recent weeks, Tony Stewart has been heating up, and that’s why Smoke is going to be sitting at the head of the table in New York once this season is over.

Post from: EveryJoe

3-Peat is in the Works

Roush Racing president Geoff Smith is obviously appealing NASCAR’s decision to dock Carl Edwards of 25 points in the midst of his bid to win his first Cup Championship.  Smith stated that the rule infraction actually hurt Carl’s car rather than helping it, and that the rule is actually in place to address restrictor plate races (as opposed to downforce races).  The Roush President also claims that if you do the math that a 25 point penalty assessed to a Chase contender serves as a much harsher penalty than to a non-chase contender based on the total number of points they’re competing for.  Smith says that the team should have been hit with no more than ten driver points.

Let me ask you this, Mr. Smith … shouldn’t a team be scrutinized more harshly because they’re competing for a championship?  It’s no secret that NASCAR has some serious issues with their schematics for awarding penalties, as there’s absolutely no consistency there.  Earlier this year at Darlington in May, the number 8 Budweiser team was levied with a $100,000 fine, a six-race suspension for their Crew Chief, and Dale Earnhardt Junior was penalized 100 driver points, which ultimately cost him his chances of making the Chase four months later.  Granted, that incident involved an actual illegal part on the car, but all the same, an infraction is an infraction, and an infraction is usually caused by somebody attempting to cheat.  Regardless of the consistency issues that NASCAR has with their penalties, though, what it all really comes down to is the fact that somewhere along the way somebody has to be accounted for.  This is not little league baseball where the umpire might be willing to turn the other cheek for an unintentional rule violation, this is NASCAR – the competition is the absolute best of the best and the dollar signs are huge.  As an avid fan of the sport, I expect more from the teams that fall into the upper tier.  Now, I know, I know … it is very likely that this particular incident was not a blatant attempt to gain an advantage, but all the same, I also expect those teams to have such a level of attention to detail that these things do not happen.

Did the infraction help Edwards’ car?  Probably not.  Did it hinder the car’s performance?  Doubtful.  Am I being too harsh on the no. 99 Office Depot team?  I don’t think so, but then again, maybe I just expect too much from guys that consider a six-figure annual salary to be a bad year.  I actually like Carl Edwards, and I very rarely ever complain when a fellow Missourian brings home a trophy, but I find it absolutely appalling that this race team was only hit with the loss of twenty-five points for this incident.

Post from: EveryJoe

Fair Is Fair – Or Is It?

It was announced early this week that Tony Eury would be departing his current team in just two weeks with his last DEI race falling at perhaps his favorite track, Talladega, where Eury (along with his father) have joined Earnhardt in sharing a great deal of success over the years.  After all the great runs they’ve had this year only to suffer late-race engine failures, this team is completely amped up right now to end their tenures with DEI on a high note, and I firmly believe that Talladega is likely to be this duo’s stomping ground one final time as employees of Dale Earnhardt Incorporated.

Now, that being said and despite their desire to win some more races for the company before defecting over to Hendrick Motorsports, I believe this is absolutely without a doubt the right move for everyone involved.  This gives Tony Gibson, who served as Junior’s interim Crew Chief during Eury’s suspension earlier in the season, a great opportunity to become much more acquainted and experienced with the roles of the Crew Chief before taking on the task of calling the shots for youngster Ragan Smith, who will drive the no. 1 Chevy for DEI next year.  More importantly, Eury Junior will be able to get a head start on learning more about the program over at Hendrick and start getting their team ready for Daytona in February.

Post from: EveryJoe

Parting Is Not Such Sweet Sorrow

With the 2006 season serving as an exception (refer to Tony Stewart dominating the last 10 races while sitting on the outside of the Chase contenders), history has shown that the final races to determine the Cup Series Champion are typically dominated by those contending for the Cup.  It makes perfect sense when you relate race car driving to any other team sport … in baseball, the Houston Astros are one of the toughest teams you can possibly play in the last month of the season when they’re trying to catch the Cardinals or the Cubs for the Division Championship, but when they’re already out of contention, they’re a lot like the Kansas City Royals at any given point.  NFL teams dread the thought of having to play any team in the NFC East in the last 2 weeks of the football season, as 4 of the 5 teams are usually still fighting for playoff spots.  NASCAR is no different, but the exception in all of these sports is the teams that are fighting for pride.  That is why Tony Stewart absolutely turned up the heat in ’06 after an embarrassing run at Richmond that ruined his hopes at a Championship run, and this is what makes drivers like Casey Mears and Juan Pablo Montoya so dangerous as they will do anything they can to ensure that they head into the 2008 season as more established drivers.

That being said, this week you’ll want to keep an eye on Tony Stewart for your fantasy price.  Sure, he’s likely to come at a rather hefty price, but just keep this in mind … Tony Stewart has been the most consistent driver in NASCAR in the latter parts of the year nearly every year since 2002.  In the past 10 races, his only finish outside of the Top 10 came at California where he posted a solid 13th place finish and has allotted 3 wins and 7 top five’s in that span.  As if that all were not enough, Tony also heads to Kansas with the best average finish amongst all active drivers.  In six races at Kansas Speedway, Stewart has posted 2 top fives, five top tens, and a win there just last year.

Jeff Gordon has been a favorite to win at every track so far this entire season, and with the numbers he’s put up to this point, he should continue to be a favorite every week for the remainder of the season.  Gordon has led the points standings almost every week this season until the beginning of the Chase for the Cup, and then just two races into the Chase, there he is right back in front with a two point lead over fellow chaser Tony Stewart.  In six races at Kansas, Gordon has 3 top fives, two of which resulted in victories in 2001 and 2002 in the tracks inaugural Cup events.  Going into last season, Gordon’s average finish at Kansas was 6.0, but a dismal 39th place finish at the track in ’06 as dropped that average to 11.5.

Other drivers to keep an eye on at Kansas include Carl Edwards who is coming off of a win at Dover last week and has finished 3rd and 6th in his last two races at Kansas;  Kyle Busch who is coming off of two consecutive top five finishes in the past two weeks and finished in 7th place in this event last year.  And my sleeper pick for this week is non-other than Casey Mears.  Mears, who received his first career victory in the Cup Series earlier this year at Lowe’s Motor Speedway heads to Kansas with two straight top ten finishes and has had some moderate success in recent years as it relates to this track.  He finished eighth here in 2005 and second last year.

Post from: EveryJoe

Fantasy Preview – Kansas

2.  Jimmie Johnson – Coming off a victory at Richmond just 3 races ago to pick up his sixth win of the season, Johnson has just 1 Top 10 finish in the first two races of the Chase.  If he hopes to repeat as the Cup Champion this year he will need to get things going this week at Kansas.

3.  Tony Stewart – After a very disappointing start to the “Car of Tomorrow” season where the two-time Cup Champion showed points of extreme dominance only to suffer various mishaps, Stewart has turned up the heat as of late and has scored 2 Top 5’s and a Top 10 Finish in the past three races.  He’s now second in points, just 2 points behind leader Jeff Gordon and has the best average at Kansas amongst all active drivers.

4.  Carl Edwards – Carl picked up his third win of the season last week at Dover, only to have it marred in controversy via failing post-race inspections.  Nonetheless, Carl is still in the Chase and the last time he as (2005), the man from Missouri really turned up the heat in the last 10 races of the season.  Edwards still has momentum heading into Kansas.

5. Kyle Busch – After posting back-to-back Top 5 finishes in the last 2 races, Kyle will look to improve on his 2006 7th place Kansas finish in an effort to improve his chances of a Cup Championship before leaving Rick Hendrick.

6.  Clint Bowyer – After more than a year and a half of trying, all of his efforts finally paid off when Clint Bowyer picked up his first career victory in the big leagues just two weeks ago.  He’s now fifth in points and is hoping to keep his championship dreams alive with a solid outing in Kansas.

7.  Matt Kenseth – He was solid in Dover until a late race accident put him out of contention and put a serious dent in his chances to win it all this year.  He’s still looking for the momentum that guided him to a 2004 Championship, and it’s crucial that he makes good this week.

8.  Denny Hamlin – As we’ve seen so many times already in this youngster’s career, Hamlin was the class of the field last week in Dover only to suffer a fatal blow late in the race.  Still, Hamlin has been very consistent in the Car of Tomorrow when he’s not experiencing mechanical failures or pinned up against the outside retaining wall.

9.  Martin Truex, Jr. – This has without a doubt been a career year thus far for the young Truex Junior, and things are looking optimistic for him next year as well, as he is expected to become the number one driver at DEI with the departure of Earnhardt Jr.  Truex scored a Top 5 in the first week of the Chase.

10.  Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – After missing out on the Chase this year, Junior’s looking to match Tony Stewart’s performance from last year by dominating the final portion of the season and ending the 2007 year on a high note.  Last week was a good start as Dale looked solid and was able to avoid trouble while bringing home a Top 5 Finish.

Post from: EveryJoe

Power Rankings – Week of 9/24 to 9/30

From Jayski’s site: Both drivers joined the organization when it was MB2 Motorsports. Marlin began in 2006 with a base salary of $1.1 million, and that increased to $1.2 million for 2007. Nemechek started with MB2 in 2004 and received $900,000 for 2004, $1 million for 2005, $1.1 million for 2006 and $1.2 million for 2007. Both drivers got to keep 45% of their race winnings (Nemechek, who was 27th in points in 2006, had $4,099,914 million total in race winnings last year, while Marlin, 34th in points, had $3,248,034 million) and 33% of souvenir sales.

What really shouts out at me is that if middle-of-the-road drivers like Nemecheck and Marlin and making $1 million per year, imagine what Gordon, Johnson, and Stewart are making.    Now it becomes very clear as to why NASCAR is attracting open-wheel drivers.

Post from: EveryJoe

Marlin, Nemecheck Sue Ginn Racing

Times are a changin’ in NASCAR and I think it’s a good thing.  Granted, it will take even the most seasoned IRL driver at least a year to feel comfortable driving the Cup cars, but they’re definitely going to bring a new level of competition to the sport.   Juan Pablo Montoya has already shown he’s not afraid to be agressive, much to the dissatisfaction of old-school NASCAR types, but look for all of the IRL drivers to bring that type of agressiveness.

Post from: EveryJoe

IRL Drivers Heading To NASCAR