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WGI Annouces NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Sponsor - AMD At The Glen:  Watkins Glen International President Craig Rust announced today that AMD (NYSE: AMD), a leading global provider of innovative microprocessor solutions, will become title sponsor of the 2006 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series event at Watkins Glen International. The race will be called “AMD at The Glen,” and is scheduled to take the green flag at 1:35 pm on Sunday, August 13. The race will be broadcast live on NBC.

Earnhardt needs win at Brickyard
By Jeff Bartlett, Times-Mail

 
BEDFORD - Got us a little ‘ol race going this weekend up in Indianapolis. Something called the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, which is gonna pack over a quarter-million fans into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for a few hours Sunday afternoon.

We all know that Pittsboro's Jeff Gordon has been the king of Indy in his home-state race, winning the Brickyard 400 four times, and we watched as Columbus' Tony Stewart captured an emotional victory last year at his “home” track.

Certainly another victory by either of those Hoosier heroes wouldn't be a big disappointment to many area fans. But Gordon has been very inconsistent in 2006, and took his share of boo-birds after a bump-and-run win over Matt Kenseth a couple of weeks ago.

Stewart, meanwhile, has been a disaster with numerous wrecks, and he has reverted back to his old whining, nasty ways with other drivers and the media after making some strides in that department in the past year.

Jimmie Johnson is sure to make a strong run, though his crew chief, Chad Knaus, said that Indy is “Just another race” and “no big deal,” during an interview on Nascar.com. He went so far as to say that the yard of bricks at the finish line is “just bricks.”

Well, that's blasphemy in these parts, so it's tough to wish the 48 car a whole lot of luck.
 
So who do we watch for?

How about that No.8 machine. The big, red Budweiser car would look pretty cool streaming toward that finish line in first place. Dale Earnhart Jr., has had a big helping of bad luck thus far, and he could use a big boost.

Earnhardt is currently 11th in the points, the last one looking in at the Chase for the Nextel Cup. A victory at Indy would put him in strong position to get into the championship run.

And you can bet, just as his dad did back in 1995, that Junior would realize the significance of a victory at Indianapolis. It would not be “just bricks” to him.

Plenty left in the tank
Elliott's desire to race more draws plenty of suitors
Tim Tuttle | SI


Tired of the travel, sponsor appearances and stress of 36 races a year, Bill Elliott voluntarily walked away from full-time Nextel Cup competition at the close of the 2003 season. Awesome Bill from Dawsonville probably couldn't have imagined that three years later he'd be pursued to return by multiple Cup teams.

As of now, Elliott figures to be fourth on the most-wanted list, behind Elliott Sadler, Jeremy Mayfield and David Gilliland. Sadler is the top choice for Red Bull's Toyota team and has been for months. Ray Evernham also would like Sadler for the No. 19, currently occupied by Mayfield, who has a spot waiting for him at Michael Waltrip's Toyota team if he needs or wants it. Gilliland seems to be headed for Robert Yates.

Sadler's decision should determine Elliott's fate, unless Elliott declares an intention to run the full schedule, which could make him an even hotter property. But Elliott is unlikely to comply. He ran six races in '04, nine last year and is scheduled for nine this season. He wants to run more, but not all; the number he's looking for seems to be 20 to 25.

This much is certain: Elliott will have good choices and bargaining power, albeit more in which races he wants to run than in compensation.

It's easy to understand the demand for Elliott. In 2003 he won a race and was ninth in points at the age of 48. Drivers typically see their victory totals drop in their 40s, and while Elliott has been no exception, the fact that he won a race at 48 says he's capable of doing it into his 50s. His youthful reflexes were long gone at Rockingham in '03, but Elliott still made it to Victory Lane.

We're not talking about just any journeyman or merely some successful veteran, such as the well-respected Ricky Rudd. Elliott has a points title under his belt and 44 Cup victories, including two in the Daytona 500 and one in the Brickyard 400. Championship drivers with Daytona 500 wins on their résumés don't slow down as fast as other, less-accomplished drivers. They may be declining, but it's from a skill level that is a cut above.

It was only a year ago that Elliott finished 11th at the Brickyard (and he's entered again this season, with Waltrip's team). And he was 19th in February at Daytona with MB2. Elliott didn't need the champion's provisional to get in, either: He had the ninth-fastest speed in qualifying.

The desire to drive and to be an active member of the NASCAR community has never left Elliott, as evidenced by his gradually increasing workload.

"The first year ['03] I was burned out and needed a break," Elliott said. "I wanted to slow down. Ray and I really didn't have a plan of what we were going to do that year. I had an opportunity to escort President Bush that year at Daytona. It filled the void and was a neat experience, an honor."

Elliott then watched the 2004 Daytona 500 on television. He didn't enjoy it.

"I haven't reached the point where I am content to watch this race on television," Elliott said. "If I'm sitting on the couch, I can't win the Daytona 500."

Earlier this year Elliott decided he wanted to drive in more races but didn't have anything lined up. Under contract with Evernham, who didn't have a place for him after signing Scott Riggs and expanding to three cars, Elliott put together a deal with MB2 for Daytona.

Elliott then put the word out that he was interested in doing more races and landed five races with Waltrip and three with Red Bull, which will use those races as a trial run (the team has never run a race with one of the three current manufacturers).

With more seats available than drivers who can win races, teams started asking Elliott if he'd be interested in expanding his schedule in '07, and that appears to be just what Elliott wants.

He doesn't just miss the racing. "You miss the people," he said. "You miss being at the track with your friends."

Elliott offers a package much like Dale Jarrett, who is a year younger and signed with Waltrip. He brings leadership, experience and the champion's provisional, an important asset in an era when 35 cars are locked in from the previous year's points at the start of every season.

If Sadler turns down Red Bull, Elliott should be its next pick. He could mentor the signed Brian Vickers and a prospect who could run the part of the schedule that Elliott doesn't. Yates should jump in, too. Gilliland's Busch win at Kentucky was overwhelming evidence of his talent, but he's never been to most of the Cup tracks. Elliott could be Gilliland's guiding light and would be a perfect partner for 19-year-old Stephen Leicht, rumored to be the top candidate for the second Yates seat. Elliott would be valuable at Waltrip and Evernham, too, if they don't sign Mayfield and Sadler.

No matter where he lands, it's clear Elliott has a lot more racing left to do.

Is it time for Junior to move on?
by Jeff Owens | Scene Daily


Maybe it’s time for Dale Earnhardt Jr. to think about a career change.

Maybe one that includes him driving for another team. Maybe it’s time to think seriously about that long-rumored move to Richard Childress Racing.

Clearly, Junior is not making much progress driving for his stepmom at Dale Earnhardt Inc.

Oh, he is slightly better than last year. But is slight improvement what Junior and DEI are looking for?

After his miserable 2005 season in which he failed to make the Chase and slumped to 19th in points, Junior and his team made major changes, reuniting him with cousin Tony Eury Jr. This was supposed to be the season for a big turnaround.

Instead, he’s plummeted to 11th in points and is now in serious jeopardy of missing the Chase again. And with three tracks where he has struggled on the horizon, things don’t look good.

Yes, he was as high as third in points a few weeks ago. And yes, his freefall is due mainly to consecutive last-place finishes because of a blown engine and a wreck.

But a closer look at the numbers show that Earnhardt Jr. and his team really aren’t that much better than they were a year ago.

At this point last year, Junior had one win. Ditto for this season.

Through 20 races last year, he had eight top-10 finishes and five top-fives. This year, he has eight top-10s and six top-fives. He has led more laps, but it hasn’t translated into significantly better finishes.

His average finish at this point last year was 18th. This year it’s 15.2. What’s the difference when your goal is to be a championship contender?

Is Junior’s team better than last year?

Yes, but only slightly. At this point last year, he was 14th in points, now he’s 11th. That’s not what DEI had in mind when it made such major changes.

The rest of the organization doesn’t appear to have made great strides, either. At this point last year, Michael Waltrip was 19th in points. Rookie Martin Truex Jr., his highly touted replacement, is 21st.

Clearly, DEI is still lagging far behind the super teams and Junior is paying the price.

Something has to change, and soon. If not, it might be time for Earnhardt Jr. to think about moving on.

Indy
As told to David Newton, NASCAR.COM


Nextel Cup rookie Clint Bowyer was driving in the top 10 two weeks ago at Pocono before being intentionally wrecked by Tony Stewart. He finished a season-worst 41st, dropping him three spots to 19th in points and all but out of the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

The incident that also took out Carl Edwards left Stewart making a public apology 24 hours later after a phone conversation with Bowyer, but that doesn't ease the frustration.
 
Now Bowyer heads to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for his first trip around the famed Brickyard.

Bowyer: The best scenario for me this week at Indianapolis is to be running second with one lap to go with the No. 20 car in front of me.

What'll happen? You'll have to use your imagination.

Yes, Tony Stewart called me last week to talk about what happened at Pocono, but I don't think he ever apologizes. I don't think he ever does anything wrong in his mind, but he did call for whatever that's worth.

I've cooled off a little bit and trying to focus on how to get back the three spots in the points we lost.

That's the biggest thing. We had a good run and could have gone to 15th in points. Instead, because of something we had nothing to do with, it ended up costing us.

That was about as angry as I've been on the racetrack. I've never had anything that blatant happen -- ever. It was real frustrating. These guys work too hard on these cars to have them torn up absolutely for no reason and on purpose.

The funny thing is what he got out of the car and said about young drivers needing to learn patience is exactly what I was trying to do. I understand the concept of patience.
 
I've finished in the top 10 and the top five, and I know what got me there. It's patience and being in a fast racecar.

We had a very fast car. We started 15th and were running sixth on the first run. We got a bit greedy, over-adjusted and got a little too loose. No big deal. That race is super long. That's more than enough time as I learned in the first race to get back up there.

I let four cars go -- Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson and my two teammates, Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick. I pulled over and they all went to the inside of me and life was good.

For whatever reason, when he caught me and I moved up he tried to pass me on the outside instead of going on the inside and got squeezed into the wall. It might have barely wiped the "H'' off the Home Depot. I guess he thought I was trying to race him. In reality, that's exactly what I was trying not to do.

I was trying to get out of his way and let him go and take the least amount of time to do that. He said he took it as me racing him, so he took the whole Jack Daniel's off the side of my car.

I guess the lesson is don't race Tony Stewart.

I told him in our conversation that wrecking me made me mad, but what he told the reporters afterwards about all the rookies being impatient is what pissed me off.

That was uncalled for. Obviously, the wreck was dumb. Then getting out and bad-mouthing me, that's the part that blew my mind.

He just started making up stuff. He showed his true colors. The people that know what's going on and know about racing, they know.

Yeah, I saw the written apology he put out. With Tony, that's about as good as you get, I guess.

It's an unfortunate deal for me and my team trying to get back in the points race. It's unfortunate for him and his team trying to make the Chase and win a championship, because his list of enemies is getting longer and not shorter.

I don't know if anybody would take him out, but I know there are a lot of people that would just as soon not see him in the Chase.

I'm not one that gets in the tabloid and bad-mouths people. I learned a long time ago when you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all.

But it was a stupid thing that happened and it cost my team and Carl Edwards' team a heck of a lot more than his. That's flat-out not fair.

I'd never seen Carl that upset. That's how stupid of a thing it was. We had a long shot at making the Chase at best. Carl still had a chance. That pretty much wiped us both out.
 
I would never want to give up on my team for that hope, but we'd have to win a lot of races over the next six weeks and hope everybody else had a real bad day.

I'm not saying it's not possible, but it's going to take a miracle right now.

Hopefully, one day his temper will get the best out of him.

It was just one of those crazy weekends. On Saturday the track at Pocono was fogged in so everybody running in the Busch Series race in Martinsville, Va., tried to get out of there early.

Kevin called early in the morning and said we were leaving after the first practice. Neither one of us knew the weather conditions then. I finally got up and came over to the garage and saw the fog had settled in and the next thing you know my phone is ringing and Kevin's going, "We're leaving. Hurry up!''

I told him I needed to check with my crew chief to see if it was all right. By the time I got back to him in two-and-a-half minutes he had already left me, so I had to play catch-up.

I got in a Cadillac and made up about five minutes on him on the road to the airport. I caught him just in time to catch the plane. I won't say how fast I was going, but I should have gone to jail.
 
Then in the race I was running second to him at the end and team owner Richard Childress told me not to pass if it meant bumping him as often is the case at that track.

I hope when the shoe's on the other foot he'd do the same for me. Our teamwork has been a key to getting RCR back on top. It would have been foolish to wreck him or take a chance at wrecking both of us.

But if it was a Cup race like this weekend at Indianapolis and I still hadn't won a race and I was told to hang back ... hmmm, sometimes I have selective hearing.

How much does it pay to win at Indy? Like $2 million? Richard wouldn't do that to me there.

I'm excited about running the Brickyard for the first time. It's a cool race and a unique track with flat corners. You carry a tremendous amount of speed and momentum through them.

I'm looking forward to going there and trying to get back some of those points we lost at Pocono.