April 1, 2008 - Perhaps, it was poetic justice that Denny Hamlin won Sunday afternoon at Martinsville after losing a few weeks ago with a sputtering Toyota at Bristol with one to go.

It looked for a while like deja vu for Jeff Burton running second to Hamlin in the waning laps of a race, this one a very cold and dreary day with a constant slight drizzle at the ‘paperclip’.

But, Hamlin’s car stayed fast to the stripe, holding on to claim his fourth win, this time over a very hard charging Jeff Gordon in the final few laps.

The race started with Gordon on the pole (his 65^th career) seventh at the half-mile track, going on to lead many laps until an early multi-car wreck left the four-time champion with no where to go.

Two pit stops later for repairs, Gordon rejoined the field deep in the pack, but managed to get back out front some 200 laps later, taking the lead from teammates Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

All four Hendrick drivers including Casey Mears spent time among the top five before day’s end. The top five finishers were Gordon, Burton, Johnson and Tony Stewart. Mears wound up seventh.

Points leader Kyle Busch had a tough day making several bad on track decisions and having the rear end of his Toyota break sent him down to fifth in the points, the result of a 38^th place finish.

Burton’s latest top five run has the Virginia driver leave the Virginia track with the points lead, yet only 39 over teammate Kevin Harvick and 60 over Greg Biffle.

The racing weekend started with lots of bumpin’ and bangin’ in Saturday afternoon’s Craftsman truck race at Martinsville. When the smoke cleared and while cars were still spinning out of control, short track ace Dennis Setzer nailed down his third truck win, this one in Dodge.

Earlier in the run, Ron Hornaday beat his way to the front as did Kyle Busch, but it was Setzer with the strong horse on the day leading the most laps.

On the final circuit, Johnny Benson was running second with Busch thirs when Busch tapped Benson in turn 3, spinning Benson and himself, both finishing way down the list while the pack motored by. Once again Busch is not making any friends on or off the racetrack and I predict someone will shorten up the nose on his face sooner than later with his on-track antics.

Of particular interest in this race was Chrissy Wallace making her truck debut. The 19-year-old daughter of race Mike Wallace started 35^th and finished a very credible 18^th. More races are planned for the young driver.

The Cup and Nationwide teams move on to the wide open Texas Speedway this weekend.

Open Wheel News - The Indy Racing League held their season opener at Homestead Speedway with Scott Dixon besting Tony Kanaan who, while leading lightly hit a spinning back marker, but ended his shot at the win late in the go.

Marco Andretti took an impressive second with Dan Wheldon third.

There were eight newcomers from the Champ car ranks with most having a hard time dealing with the roundy-round concept. The majority of the drivers either crashed, broke or dropped out, a few taking out top runners inadvertently. They’ve got a ways to go to catch up with the experience of the IRL regulars. Several of the newbees were simply rolling chicanes for the rest of the field, being lapped often.

From Rumorville - There are still a lot of conversations involving a Roush Fenway part (a sway bar) being taken by a Toyota team (Michael Waltrip Racing) and not returned or informed of (for six months) until accusations were flying by Jack Roush. Some people say it’s no big deal, I say it is…what do you think? Drop me a line.

--- Greg Biffle is said to be 90% sure he will return to RFR for next year and beyond. Contract negotiations are still under way.

--- Don’t count out Jacque Villenueve from returning to Bill Davis Racing Cup action before the year is out. The world champion is said to be taking part in some of the Speedcar racing overseas while still working on obtaining backing to re-enter the taxi-cab set.

Did you know? What drivers have won the Daytona 500 and the championship in the same year? Well, the list is short with only Richard and Lee Petty, Cale Yarborough, Jeff Gordon and most recently, Jimmie Johnson in 2006 taking the dubious honors.

That’s it for this week. Next week’s RWR will have the results from NASCAR Cup and Nationwide runs at Texas, round two news from the IRL and more racing news from around the globe.

Questions? Comments? Contact Russ at racinwithruss@comcast.net

March 25, 2008 - NASCAR driver Scott Wimmer has seemingly been on the back burner. Yes, he and teammate Jeff Burton won the Busch championship (owners) last year, but Wimmer had not been in the winner’s circle for nearly five years.

It was time. He’s been competitive and patient, all ingredients necessary to get a win.

On Saturday afternoon at the 1.3-mile Tennessee Nashville SuperSpeedway, Kyle Busch appeared to finally have a lock on game, set, match, or in NASCAR lingo, the pole, most laps led and the trophy all but won.

But, for the fourth week in a row, something derailed ‘Mr. Personality’ (I’ll get back to that name later) as he spun away his lead overt Clint Bowyer and Wimmer not far from the end.

With Wimmer getting up on the wheel, the ex-Cupper moved on by his teammate Bowyer and went on to capture his first win while driving for Childress Racing.

Rounding out the top five in what was pretty much a ho-hum race were the cars of Bowyer, Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski and Kelly Bires.

Bowyer’s latest finish elevates him atop the points, yet only 11 ahead of current champ Edwards.

In regards to Busch, his falling out of races by his own hand or not, leads him to stomp out of the facility immediately with several reporters in tow. The ‘on-the-run’ interviews and smug attitude answers to reporters questions further illustrates the 22-year-olds immaturity. Some of his on- track swerving will probably lead to a wake up call, ala his brother, Kurt with punched in face episodes…just ask Jimmy Spencer and Tony Stewart who their favorite punching bag is.

Can the young Busch drive a race car? Oh, yeah, I’ll grant you that, he can drive the wheels off most anything, but as far as being the whole big picture as a marketable friendly entity? He’s got a long way to go. I’ve taken polls while announcing at local tracks over the years as to the fans favorite and neither of the Busch boys would have a problem with their fan clubs meeting in a closet size room.

This week, the Craftsman trucks and Sprint Cuppers visit the tough flat half-mile at Martinsville.

Formula One News - After Ferrari suffered only a one point day between two drivers in the opening round last week, they were surely looking for redemption.

They got some…not as much as they would have liked, but had to be pleased with Kimi Raikkonen’s winning performance in the oppressive heat of Malaysia on Sunday.

His teammate Felipe Massa started the weekend off by taking the pole but spun away any chance while out front…end of day.

Robert Kubica nailed down a career best second in front of Heikki Kovalainen.

Points leader Lewis Hamilton wound up fifth but is still out front of the points chase with Kimi second.

From Rumorville - BAM joining forces? Yes, that one-car Cup team consisting of the No. 49 with various drivers behind the wheel may wind up a stronger item by joining forces with the likes of Team Petty or Bill Davis Racing.

Once again the rising cost of racing forces teams to reorganize…read, raise more capital and resources.

--- Road race ace Boris Said has picked up a couple of races in the Nationwide series. The brillo-haired talented driver will replace Bobby Hamilton Jr for the two left and rights, those being in Canada and Mexico. Personally, I don’t understand why you would take out one of the best Nationwide drivers sitting around the top ten and put in the specialist. Good for the team perhaps in owner points, but pretty much destroys a top ten points run for Hamilton Jr.

Did you know? What drivers are among the most successful at Martinsville Speedway? Jeff Gordon has won seven times at the Virginia short track, but Richard Petty has a dozen grandfather clocks to show for his efforts. The “King” also represents the driver with the most top 5’s with 30 and the most top 10’s at 37. Throw in eight poles coveted by Darrell Waltrip and you have the dynamic trio of success.

That’s it for this week. Next week’s RWR will have the results from NASCAR at Martinsville, round one news from the IRL and more racing news from around the globe.

Questions? Comments? Contact Russ at racinwithruss@comcast.net

March 18, 2008 - After leading most of the laps at the always tough Bristol Speedway, Tony Stewart appeared to be well on his way to his latest Cup win.

But, once again, it ain’t over ‘til the checkers wave. With five to go, Stewart is out front, yet is passed by teammate Denny Hamlin. He was still within striking distance of getting the lead back until he got dumped by his buddy Kevin Harvick. Stewart went fairly hard into the wall backwards, yet able to wind up 14^th overall.

That set up a green-white-checker with Jeff Burton in second.

Hamlin made a good start, then faltered on the front stretch allowing Burton to zoom by and take the win with Harvick, Clint Bowyer, Greg Biffle and Dale Earnhardt Jr wrapping up the top five.

Hendrick boys Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon struggled all day with set up, both trying many different adjustments, but none seemed to be effective in getting among the top ten.

They wound up 20^th and 11^th respectively which puts them one point apart at 13^th and 14^th in points.

Veteran racer Dale Jarrett made his final start in a points race coming out 34^th in the final results.

Points leader Kyle Busch made it to the front only to have a steering problem send him into fence mid-race. He still managed to finish 19^th and stay on top of the charts, but only by 24 over Biffle.

The Cup and Craftsman trucks are off this week for Easter, while the Nationwide gang heads to Nashville SuperSpeedway on Saturday.

Clint Bowyer ran hard and strong from the drop of the flag in Saturday’s Nationwide race at Bristol.

Throw in the threat of inclement weather and the boys ran like it was the last lap every lap. From around lap 100, the crews reminded their drivers the threat of rain was near. Bowyer got up on the wheel and stayed out front despite the hard charging Kasey Kahne and others looking to get out front.

Race officials pulled the plug on this one by lap 171 of a scheduled 300, giving Bowyer his first win of the year, this one in front of Kahne, David Reutimann, Brad Kesolowski and Mike Bliss.

Kyle Busch dropped out early when his car was barely clipped by a spinning Martin Truex Jr. The non-personable driver immediately left the track in a huff, avoiding reporters.

Harvick’s seventh place finish was good enough to put him atop the points, some 49 points ahead of Bowyer and 50 ahead of reigning champ Carl Edwards.

Open Wheel News - Some things never change. Lewis Hamilton picked up just where he left off by dominating the Formula One opening round in Australia.

From the drop of the flag, the young Brit took off and left the pack in the dust, seemingly never putting a wheel wrong all day en route to his fifth career win. Capping off the top five were the cars of Nick Heidfeld, Nico Rosberg, Fernando Alonso and Heikki Kovalainen. The lack of traction control made the racing more exciting.

From Rumorville - Don’t look now, but there appears to be some more points swapping about to occur in the Cup ranks. One swap is more bizarre than the next. With Kyle Petty slugging around the tracks each week, it’s no wonder the veteran racer is sitting 40^th in points. I’d expect Team Petty to swap teammate Bobby Labonte’s 14^th place points with Kyle’s 40^th spot after this weekend.

Then, if you thought it wasn’t fair for Kurt Busch’s points to go to ex-open-wheel racer Sam Hornish Jr allowing him to get into the first five races, how about they are about to switch points AGAIN!…this time swapping Kurt’s 10^th place standing with Sam’s 36^th.

I think this whole process is wrong, wrong, wrong! You should have to earn the standings, not be handed them. What do you think? Drop me a line.

--- Ever since Tony Stewart made his feelings known about how bad he felt the Goodyear tires were at Atlanta, other drivers have chimed in with similar comments. Next topic of conversation has people speaking of the need for a driver’s union or at least a panel of drivers to represent the majority. Interesting….

Did you know? That Sunday’s Cup results had a number of honorable mentions. It was the first win for Chevy this season, something Chevy has not been able to do for four races, an unusual situation based on last year’s stats for sure. It was also only the second time in NASCAR history with starting 43 cars that all 43 were running at the end of the race.

And for the first time in the long history of Childress Racing that the team finished 1-2-3 in any kind of NASCAR race.

That’s it for this week. Next week’s RWR will review the action from the Nationwide series and more racing news from around the globe.

Questions? Comments? Contact Russ at racinwithruss@comcast.net

March 11, 2008 - It was only a matter of time.

Kyle Busch has been the talk of the pits both good and bad for weeks know, fast and successful in whatever he drove.

He started the weekend with a convincing win among the Craftsman truckers. Then, the 22-year-old driver led a good portion of the Nationwide race before succumbing to a right front flat and into the fence.

When the green flag fell on the high banks of Atlanta on Sunday, Jeff Gordon was leading, but it wasn’t long before the Toyota of Busch led most of the laps before lightly smacking fence.

On a late race restart, the Snicker's Toyota left the pits first and went on to claim Toyota’s very first NASCAR Cup race win. Not since 1954 has a foreign car maker taken the accolades of a NASCAR win. Al Keller in his Jaguar racer took the top spot at a racetrack in New Jersey.

I predicted months ago the youngest Gibbs driver would pick up their first Cup win, this one with teammate Tony Stewart’s help coming in second and playing body guard over the final circuits.

You see Greg Biffle was among the fastest cars on the track during the final segment, only to seemingly be held up by Stewart while on his way to the front.

Capping the top five in this one were the cars of Dale Earnhardt Jr (led the early laps), Biffle and Jeff Gordon. Of notable interest were the runs by Clint Bowyer, who led for a while and finished behind Gordon with Brian Vickers Toyota finishing in ninth and sitting an amazing ninth in points. What a difference a year makes.

Carl Edwards appeared to be on his way to a three peat winning situation with a comfortable lead well in hand. This is all went up in smoke with 50 to go. Too bad. He drops out of the top ten to 17^th.

Overall, not exactly a great race. The COT cars seem to be a handful to drive especially with rock hard tires on a cold day. The fix? I’m up for suggestions. Drop me a line.

--- Had it not been for a right front tire going down, Kyle Busch may have swept the top spots in all of NASCAR’s premiere divisions. Instead, the ever-steady Matt Kenseth held off Kevin Harvick for his latest Nationwide win.

Jeff Burton, Carl Edwards and Bobby Labonte made up the rest of the top five finishers.

Harvick now leads Edwards by 25 with Busch, David Regan and Clint Bowyer topping the points charts.

--- The Craftsman truck race was dominated by Kyle Busch and Ron Hornaday Jr. When the checkers fell, Busch nailed down his second win of the season and third top five.

Rounding out the top five included Hornaday, Mike Skinner, Matt Crafton and Chad McCumbee.

Busch leaves Georgia with a 72-point lead over Todd Bodine with Hornaday another 50 back of Bodine in third.

Formula One News - The world’s fastest open wheelers begin their 2008 season this weekend in Australia. Reigning F-1 champion and Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen returns with teammate Felipe Massa in the Italian red rockets.

Rookie sensation Lewis Hamilton is back with McLaren teammate Heikki Kovalainen replacing two-time champion Fernando Alonso.

Alonso is now back with Renault, the team he notched his two world titles, although he feels his car is about one second a lap slower right now with the McClarens and Ferrari’s topping the pre-season testing charts.

The opening round is a twisty road course in Australia. Check your local Speed TV listings in your area starting with a Thursday night practice.

From Rumorville - Petty’s out? Well not exactly, but have fallen victim to the high cost of racing by adding a partner to their operation. Petty follows suit akin to Roush and Evernham taking on business partners. You can expect more details this week with announcements from one of NASCAR’s oldest teams. I understand one of the largest problems was coming up with a name agreeable to both sides and keeping alive the Petty name.

--- Look for Mike Skinner to drive in three more Cup races for team Red Bull and the No. 84 Toyota. A.J. Almendinger is still slated to be their driver after Skinner’s four runs.

Did you know? After struggling with his car for the past two weeks, Tony Stewart proclaimed in post-race interviews that he hates Goodyear so much that he is ‘dismounting’ any Goodyear’s on his personal cars and switching them to Firestones. Funny stuff. No Christmas card from Goodyear to Tony this year.

That’s it for this week. Next week’s RWR will have the results from NASCAR in the Bristol battlegrounds, along with more racing news from around the globe.

Questions? Comments? Contact Russ at racinwithruss@comcast.net

March 4, 2008 - The Toyota of Kyle Busch led the opening laps of the Cup race in Las Vegas, but it was the strong running Ford of Carl Edwards that pulled into the winner’s circle by day’s end.

For the second week in a row, and ninth in a short career, Edwards put the hammer down on his Office Depot Ford Fusion and earned his latest win for Roush-Fenway Motorsports.

The action in this one really heated up when Edwards (at 52 laps to go) was forced to the back of the pack for a pit road violation involving a runaway tire. The hard driving pilot roared back from 17^th to lead after taking the top spot from teammate Matt Kenseth.

A late race restart found Edwards out front, Dale Earnhardt Jr second, followed by Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon. Dale Jr appeared to slow slightly (spinning tires), which prompted Kenseth to the outside and Gordon to the low side for the double pass.

When they finished the pass, they touched slightly sending both in a spin. The big difference was Kenseth’s ability to drive away with just a couple of flats (finishing 20^th). Gordon on the other hand, smacked the inside wall opening where the cars can exit the racing surface…no safe walls and a bad angle hit found the four-time champ hitting very hard, lifting the rear wheels of the car off the ground.

Shaken, but OK, Gordon emerged from the care center with comments concerning his not wanting to be on the bottom of the track as ‘his car was not working down there’. The latest results is his second DNF, sending him down eight spots to 22^nd in the big picture.

His teammate (Jimmie Johnson) and reigning Cup champion didn’t have much better results on the day struggling with an ill-handling Lowe’s Chevy. A 29^th place finish sends him down eight spots to 14^th. Is the Hendrick COT car domination over?

Blown tires ended several top runners successful runs with a bang. Tony Stewart had a right front tire let go, gingerly exited the race car a bit dazed and out of the show. The same ugly fate befell Robby Gordon and Kurt Busch, winding up deep in the final rundown.

Is there a problem with the hardness of the tires, or is it the setup on the car in some cases being too radical?

Other notables included Kyle Busch’s fall from grace, despite a pole and good start, the Toyota driver wound up 11^th, yet remains second to Edwards by only 21 points.

Capping off the top five finishers were the cars of Dale Jr, Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton.

As a result, Dale Jr moved up 13 spots in points to sit 10th while Stewart and Kurt Busch dropped eight places to 11^th and 12^th respectively.

Earlier in the weekend’s lineup, the Nationwide race turned out to be a real barn burner in the final laps.

Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski, Mark Martin and Greg Biffle all had visions of grandeur basking in victory lane. With just a handful of laps remaining, Martin accidentally got into Edwards which took out Martin’s teammate Kesolowski in the process.

Martin was able to hold off Biffle and the rest of the pack to claim his record breaking 48^th trophy and first series win in nearly three years.

Rounding out the rest of the top five finishers included Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick and Dave Stremme.

Edwards appreciated Martin apologizing in victory lane before celebrating, knowing all the while, the circumstance was very un-Mark-like.

The reigning series champion still came out on the lead lap, hitting the books with a 14^th place finish, good enough for fourth in the standings, yet first among the ‘full-timers’.

Tony Stewart ran strong but faded late. His day ended by sliding up into David Reutimann taking the two Toyotas out. Stewart did not return yet Reutimann patched up the car to wind up 25^th. Stewart felt that he got in a wreck implying the other car crowded him and they crashed. Same ole Tony. He screws up…the other guy is to blame. Someone does take him out as a legitimate payback, the other guy is to blame…there’s a theme here. I think those anger management sessions have a shelf life…time for renewal.

From Rumorville - No. 4 Back? Could there be life after a brief death from the Morgan-McClure headquarters in Abbingdon, VA? Reports indicate McClure has been wooing a few potential clients with no less than six COT cars sitting at the Virginia race shop. Stay tuned.

--- If NASCAR does not reverse their penalties against Robbie Gordon in regards to the discrepancy at Daytona, the fiery owner/driver is talking seriously about doing the Indy500/Coke 600 double duty day. That’ll spice up the weekend.

Did you know? What forms of racing this week’s winner Carl Edwards came from? If you said a lot of dirt track racing, you’d be correct. The young man from Missouri won races in Mini-Sprints, IMCA open wheel Modifieds, the Baby Grands on pavement, then moved into Roush Busch and truck deals before landing a full-time Cup ride with the ‘cat in the hat’. The rest, as they say, is history.

That’s it for this week. Next week’s RWR will have the results from NASCAR in Atlanta, along with more racing news from around the globe. Formula One and IRL starts are right around the corner.

Questions? Comments? Contact Russ at racinwithruss@comcast.net

When all of the predictions were said and done as to who would win this year’s Daytona 500, the word Dodge was conspicuously missing. Most said it would be a Hendrick Chevy or Gibbs Toyota in the winner’s circle.

Until the final lap, they would have been correct until teammates Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman bolted past the strong Toyotas of Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch.

After a late caution flag set up a three lap dash-for-cash, it appeared Jeff Burton had a shot of winning. Instead, he was quickly shuffled back with Kyle Busch attempting to make a ‘too low’ pass on the bottom of the track. Stewart took off out front and it looked for all intentions like the two-time champ had a shot of winning the Great American Race.

Enter the Penske boys. Newman positioned himself right behind Stewart, then moved to the high side with teammate Busch in position to help out.

And help out he did, bumping the Alltel Dodge several times and zooming by Stewart for the drag race to the stripe and the first win for the team in over two years.

For most of the first half of the race, I had all I could do to stay awake with the first mystery caution for debris coming out on lap 80 (there was a second one later on…they never showed the debris or even said what it was). Round and round they went with Kyle Busch in the lead then and for most of the race.

So, the Dodge boys took the big prize and six of the top ten spots…certainly the sleepers of the race.

Rounding out the top ten for the 500 included Stewart in third, followed by Kyle Busch, Reed Sorenson, Elliot Sadler, Kasey Kahne, Robbie Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr and the first Ford driven by Greg Biffle.

Hendrick champions Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson had days to forget, Gordon with a front suspension failure and Johnson with handling problems and a spin. Gordon wound up 39^th and Johnson 27^th.

The best part about outside polesitter Michael Waltrip’s day was his NAPA commercials concerning the wrecked scale models a fan wanted him to sign…hilarious! He dropped like a stone back to a 29^th place finish.

The opening weekend’s racing started with some exciting rock ‘em sock ‘em truck racing where Todd Bodine was able to hold off a hard charging Kyle Busch and Johnny Benson for his first Daytona win.

The New York driver proclaimed he’d been coming to the Florida track for 20 years and run second, third, been on fire, but never won until Friday night.

Earlier in the race, in fact, very early action saw Busch make a diving move to the bottom of the track tangling with Mike Skinner, setting off a multi-truck wreck sidelining several in the process. Busch can often be a weapon on the track and this race was no exception.

Others in the top five included David Starr and Rick Crawford.

On Saturday afternoon the action continued with the first official Nationwide series 300 mile event. Polesitter Tony Stewart led from flag-to-flag but not without help from teammate and blocker extraordinaire Kyle Busch. The Toyota’s proved very strong down the long chutes of Daytona.

Busch wound up second holding off the likes of Dale Earnhardt Jr, Brian Vickers and Matt Kenseth. Reigning champion Carl Edwards finished tenth.

From Rumorville - Don’t look now, but there’s about to be another Dale Earnhardt Sr movie written and produced. Unlike the previous movie “Dale” aired on ESPN without the blessing of DEI, this one will have the backing of DEI authorities. Stay tuned.

--- Ex-open wheeler Jacque Villenueve has been removed from his driving duties of the No. 27 Bill Davis Cup car. After failing to qualify for the 500, David has decided to replace the Canadian with Mike Skinner and Johnny Benson on a rotating basis. Supposedly, if Villenueve comes up with the backing, he’ll return behind the wheel. Jacque…don’t hold your breath.

--- Elliott’s last hoorah! Living legend Bill Elliott recently stated that 2008 will be his final year of racing. After 33 years, the one- time fan favorite will hang up his helmet in favor of spending more time with his family, most notably his 12-year-old son Chase.

Did you know? The car manufacturer car count difference between this year’s 500 and last year’s? Check out these stats…. 2007 - Chevy - 19, Ford - 10, Toyota - 4 and Dodge - 10. 2008 - Chevy - 16, Ford, - 7, Toyota - 9 and Dodge - 11.…what a difference a year makes. Obviously the biggest change is the number of Toyotas with more than double the first year.

That’s it for this week. Next week’s RWR will have the results from NASCAR in California and more racing news from around the globe.

Questions? Comments? Contact Russ at racinwithruss@comcast.net

December 18, 2007 - Here is Round 2 of a multi-part series to describe the 2008 Sprint Cup team lineups for next season. There are lots of wholesale changes between drivers, sponsors and car makes, so take notes and enjoy some of my predictions:

No. 7 - In what has to be an uphill battle at times, Robby Gordon returns as one of the very few single car driver/owner teams with any level of success. His 26^th place points finish is an accomplishment unto itself as bigger teams failed to make many more races than the single one missed by RGM. Look for Jim Beam and Menard’s to return to his Ford Fusion.

No. 8 - It will take a while for fans to get used to seeing Mark Martin and Aric Almirola driving this numbered racer instead of Dale Earnhardt Jr. The sponsor is Army and the colors are very different from the customary bright red of Budweiser. Martin will drive two dozen shows and the aspiring Almirola will drive the rest. Martin drove about the same amount last year, nearly won the Daytona 500, finished 27^th in points and won nearly $4 million. Not too shabby for a part-timer. Almirola couldn’t ask for a better mentor.

No. 9 - Pretty boy Kasey Kahne returns behind the wheel of this GEM Dodge with Budweiser on the quarters. He’ll have to step up to the plate of consistency to gain a spot in the Chase, something he’s only done once.

No. 10 - Open wheeler Patrick Carpentier will fill this GEM Dodge this year with Komatsu Equipment a possible sponsor and Mike Shiplett as team director. How will this ex-open wheeler do? He’ll be lucky to finish among the top 25 in points and may get a top 10 here and there, more likely on the roadcourses.

No. 11 - Other than changing from Chevy to Toyota, everything is in place for Denny Hamlin to pilot this Gibbs racer. Performance? That depends how quickly the team can gel with the new equipment. Chase? Maybe.

No. 12 - Ryan Newman returns behind the wheel of this Alltel Dodge with Penske as captain of the ship. Newman comes off a so-so season and needs to ‘get right’ out of the gate with results to make the Chase.

No. 15 - Paul Menard continues with the DEI lineup and should move up in the charts with a guaranteed spot in the first five races. Menards, Peak and Energizer return as backers in the familiar yellow livery.

No 16 - 3M will pay the majority of the bills for this Roush-Fenway Greg Biffle driven Ford Fusion. If Biffle’s equipment and luck could turn around, he’d have a better shot at returning to top contender status. DISH and Lumber Liquidators may join the fun later in the season.

From Rumorville - NASCAR has given permission for Penske Racing to transfer the owners points of Kurt Busch to newbee teammate Sam Hornish Jr for next season. That will ensure Sammy to make at least the first five shows with Kurt being able to fall back on his champion’s provisional status should he fall short during qualifying. What do I think? Ridiculous. No one should have that kind of guarantee without earning the spot.

--- Look for reigning champ Jimmie Johnson to run in three Nationwide series races next year with Lowe’s on the doors.

--- It does appear there will be changes in qualifying for next year by having those outside the top 35 attempt to qualify first. Is this a fix to the current problem of who gets in the shows? Not by a long shot. I still maintain the fastest 42 should qualify with one spot left for champions provisional or the highest in points standings at that time. What do you think? Drop me a line.

Did you know? Which driver used the most Lucky Dog awards this past year? If you guessed Bobby Labonte in the No. 43 with 13 times, you’d be correct. Paul Menard and Kyle Petty were right behind with 11 each. All time Lucky Dog recipient? That would be Kyle Petty with 48 and Jeff Green next at 34. Like the ‘Dog’ deal? I don’t. Why are they giving someone a whole lap back…entertainment?

That’s it for this week. Next week’s RWR will continue with Part 3 of the 2008 Cup lineup and more racing news from around the globe.

Questions? Comments? Contact Russ at racinwithruss@comcast.net

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

December 11, 2007 - Here is the first of a multi-part series to describe the 2008 Sprint Cup team lineups for next season. There are lots of wholesale changes between drivers, sponsors and car makes, so take notes and enjoy some of my predictions:

No. 00 - This ride will feature a number of driver and sponsor combos, a situation arising more and more due to the ever-increasing cost of sponsorship. David Reutimann will start the year in this MWR Toyota with Burger King (maybe) on the quarters. After the first five races, Reutimann will move over to the No. 44 UPS ride in which Dale Jarrett will retire from. Rookies Josh Wise and Michael McDowell will share the driving duties, but don’t rule out David Stremme on a full-time basis. Sounds complicated? You bet.

No. 01 - Regan Smith heads up this year’s rookie-of-the-year lineup in this DEI Chevy with a possibility of Coors on the sides. This young driver has much to prove and just may have the tools to complete the mission of success.

No. 07 - Here is the first of several scenarios that fit into the category, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’. Clint Bowyer returns behind the wheel with most everything in place, including backer Jack Daniel’s decals and Gil Martin as crew chief. After all, one win and third in the points is a working program. Can they repeat the performance this year? If this driver can step up on the consistency wagon…yes.

No. 1 - Martin Truex Jr’s stock certainly rose in 2007 and now that Dale Jr has left the building will head up the DEI Cup effort. All of the current ingredients will return for this year and their performance level has still not hit full stride.

No. 2 - Kurt Busch was on a role in the closing stages of 2007 with his Penske Miller Lite ride. If they could come out of the box stronger, they could very well be a force to be reckoned with by year’s end.

No. 4 - State Water Heaters will return to back this Morgan-McClure Chevy, but many of the other parts of the Virginia team have not been finalized, including the driver. Results? This team would do well just to make every race, something they surely didn’t do in ‘07. (Missed 20 races.)

No. 5 - Hendrick driver Casey Mears returns to work, but with a totally different paint scheme, sponsor and crew. Carquest and Kellogg’s will back this team with Alan Gustafson calling the shots from atop the pit box. Results? I’d give Casey yet another mark in the win column before year’s end. Chase? Not this year.

No. 6 - David Regan will be back in the saddle in this Roush ride after a pretty good rookie season, finishing as runner-up in the final R-O-Y stats. With a 23^rd place finish in the points and two top five’s and three top ten’s, I look for this talented young driver to step up to the next level of performance stats.

--- The Craftsman truck banquet saw Ron Hornaday collect a record amount of winnings, some $1.1 million in all. The event was aired two weeks afterwards (don’t know why) and saw a late night talk show format in interviewing each driver. The comedic talent was better than David Spade and the live band was a bit over the top for me.

--- The final Busch series banquet was held Friday night with Carl Edwards brining home more than $2.5 million for the season. More details next week after the tape delayed airing this week.

From Rumorville - Looks like Craftsman is calling it a day on sponsoring the truck series. That’s right, after the 2008 season, the founding sponsor is stepping aside as the primary series backer. Of the three premiere racing series however, I think this will be the easiest one to secure another sponsor as their TV ratings have increased over the past few years while the others have slipped.

--- Kurt Busch will join Jimmie Johnson as one of the Cup drivers competing in this years’s Rolex 24 sports car race at Daytona in January. Busch will make his second ‘left and right’ appearance, this time with Helio Castroneves and newbee Ryan Briscoe.

Did you know? For the first time ever, the famed indoor Chile Bowl race will be aired live on TV…although it will cost you $24.95 on a pay-per-view basis to watch the likes of Tony Stewart and Kasey Kahne wheel their midget racers around the diminutive indoor oval. Look for the event on Jan. 12.

That’s it for this week. Next week’s RWR will continue with Part 2 of the 2008 Cup lineup and more racing news from around the globe.

Questions? Comments? Contact Russ at racinwithruss@comcast.net

December 4, 2007 - After a busy week of making live appearances on network TV and radio, this year’s top Cup drivers collected some big money at the annual banquet at the Waldorf Astoria in New York.

Topping the list, of course, was this year’s champion, Jimmie Johnson, awarded more than $15 million for the season’s work. The six-year veteran now has nearly $60 million in career earnings. Not too shabby, eh?

Although, when you think about it, it took $15 - $20 million to get there (win title) with sponsor backing.

The old expression being, ‘how do win a million dollars in racing?….start with $3 million.’

This year’s runner-up, Jeff Gordon picked up a $3 million dollar check, bringing his 2007 total in excess of $10 million and his career earnings to over $90 million, more than double Dale Earnhardt’s career numbers.

Even second year driver Clint Bowyer wound up with $6.5 million for the season, his ‘racing stock’ surely raised from late season performances.

The overall banquet was the usual black tie affair, often stiff in audience response to comments made on stage. This year’s comedic talent, David Spade and singer Kelly Clarkson were a step up from years past.

Most of the drivers appeared more comfortable than prior years in accepting their accolades and financial rewards. Tony Stewart in particular got a few more laughs for clever comments than others.

I found it a little odd that superstars Stewart, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards attended the event, sans lady friend of some kind. For Kyle, I guess after last year’s naming his brother’s wife instead of his girlfriend at the time, had something to do with it.

The Busch series driver’s awards banquet takes center stage this Friday night at the Portofino Bay Hotel in Orlando, FL where Carl Edwards will pick up his first NASCAR championship.

The rest of the Busch pack will pick up their awards as well, including Jason Leffler, Stephen Leicht and so on.

Being the No. 2 premiere series, don’t expect the kind of ‘over-the-top’ ceremonies the Cuppers experience, but it is worth watching on TV Tuesday night….yes, that’s right, Tuesday, not Friday as it is shown in a tape delay format. We’ll compare notes next week.

From Rumorville - I’m still hearing some talk about pony car bodies for the Busch, I mean Nationwide series starting in 2009. Ford is all excited about the possibility of running their famed Mustang, Dodge is cool with using the new retro Challenger, yet Chevy is reluctant about the new Camaro and Toyota’s Solora might not be around by 2009.

I think the idea of creating a car that is very different than a Cup car is definitely the way to go. For the manufacturers, the idea of ‘win on Sunday, sell on Monday’ could come back in vogue. Stay tuned.

--- For the fifth consecutive year, Dale Earnhardt Jr won the fans most popular driver award…no surprise. This driver will surely be under the microscope next year and be expected to win races and at least make the Chase. If he does not, the ‘excuse train’ has left the station. He has joined the best organization right now in Cup and even managed to take along his favorite crew chief, Tony Eury Jr.

--- Kyle Busch and multi-winner Steven Wallace will not exactly be welcomed back to the famed annual Snowball Derby in Florida after this weekend’s happenings. It appears both drivers’ cars were found to be illegal and their reactions were not of a professional racecar driver. Busch expressed his displeasure in only ways he can, spouting off at the mouth and Wallace’s car was found light across the scales. He was later caught attempting to put sockets in his pockets to add weight. Talk about juvenile….Rusty must be so proud.

Did you know? With all this talk about what today’s Cup drivers have earned for just one season, do you know what some of the all-time greats amassed during their storied careers? Like….Richard “The King” Petty put together 35 years of racing with seven titles, only to earn $8.5 million…TOTAL! Or David Pearson with 105 wins earned a meager $2.8 million for 27 years of racing! How times have changed!

That’s it for this week. Next week’s RWR will review the Busch series banquet from Florida and start to discuss the 2008 team rundowns for the Cup series along with more racing news from around the globe.

Questions? Comments? Contact Russ at racinwithruss@comcast.net

November 27, 2007 - With the final laps in the record books, the top ten in the NASCAR Nextel Cup series will be spending most of the upcoming week in New York City, where area residents will get a chance to see them in person.

The busy schedule includes trips to radio stations, TV appearances, their actual race cars in parade formation through the streets of Manhattan, all culminating with Friday night’s awards banquet at the famed Waldorf Astoria.

While champion Jimmie Johnson’s duties start early in the week with radio and TV appearances, the rest of the top ten join the festivities on Wednesday with the top ten cars hitting the streets of Manhattan starting at 44^th Street and Broadway, winding up at 7^th and 43^rd, right in front of the Hard Rock Café.

Do the fans love it? Oh, yeah. Do the drivers rev up the cars and leave rubber here and there? Oh, yeah.

The 1.5 mile journey starts about 8:30 a.m. and ends about an hour later and yes, the TV cameras will be rolling.

Thursday’s lineup includes guest appearances by the top ten drivers at the Hard Rock Café with a special event named the Aflac Fan Fest. Here, local fans can meet and greet the drivers and take part in live trivia and prize giveaways, see this year’s Nextel Cup and much more. The fun continues through Friday.

Friday morning’s lineup has the drivers take part in the famous Myers Brothers Breakfast where more awards and photo opportunities take place.

The final tribute of the week takes place at the very fancy Waldorf where the driver speeches and large monetary awards are given.

I personally look forward to the driver remarks and remember, most of the night time event is aired live on TV. Some drivers are very comfortable in front of the camera and others simple stumble through their acceptance speech. Some use notes and yet others use the teleprompters.

We’ll compare notes next week as to how the whole affair came off. It’s usually amusing with some memorable lines.

Also think about the possibility of a new location or format. Drop me an idea…like Dress shirts and jeans in Kansas for the awards, then, move the affair to a local track with a ‘no holds’ barred 10-lap rental car race, $50 grand to the winner. Entertaining…

Rumorville - Besides the ARCA series having several dirt tracks dates on their 2008 menu, the popular series will hold a 500-mile race at the newly re-opened Rockingham Speedway and a 2.3 mile road course event in Millville, New Jersey. Sounds like some good stuff to me! Look for a handful of Cuppers to join the fun.

--- Looks like billionaire and multi-track owner Bruton Smith has played his cards correctly in getting what he wanted at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. When the Concord officials originally voted down his ability to invest a large sum of money into adding a drag racing facility to the current mecca of racing, Smith started sniffing around for another location and move LMS as we know it. When you have that kind of money, you can pretty much do what you want.

Concord officials have not only changed their minds about the whole idea, but have now offered serious tax incentives, streets to be named after Smith and more. So, at this point, Smith’s plans to expand the facility into part of the drag racing circuit will be put into motion.

Did you know? In six years of racing among the Cup ranks, Jimmie Johnson has never finished lower than fifth in points, including two runner ups in 2003 and 2004. Pretty amazing, huh? That is certainly an impressive record by any standards. At only 32 years old, two titles and 33 wins to date, this driver is well on his way to a famed history among the stock car set.

That’s it for this week. Next week’s RWR will review the Cup banquet, discuss the upcoming Busch affair and more racing news from around the globe.

Questions? Comments? Contact Russ at racinwithruss@comcast.net