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.

Post from: EveryJoe

Stewart Wins the Dream

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

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

Cup Series Roster:

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

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

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

Post from: EveryJoe

Season Preview: Petty Enterprises