Happy Tursday everyone.

Today In Nascar History

March 12, 1972: Bobby Isaac wins the Carolina 500 at Rockingham for his 37th and final Cup victory. He leads 210 of 492 laps and finishes more than a lap ahead of Richard Petty. Jim Vandiver is third, also on the 491st lap. The fourth- and fifth-place drivers, LeeRoy Yarbrough and Dave Marcis, complete 477 laps.

Comments from the Peanut Gallery

From Darrel

For Chip

That might not be too bad, your suggestion if the pole  car moved to  rear and  they realigned the field  but then what if there are two cars that move to the rear or three or five wow what a mess and then think if some of the cars qualify in the middle of the field so only the cars behind it have to move again can you see the MESS..

They do to select their pit location by qualifying time so it is more than just the race starting position.

Darrel

Bits and Pieces

Penske Has Change Of Heart

After watching Kurt Busch go to Victory Lane at Atlanta, car owner Roger Penske admitted a change of heart over the newly instituted NASCAR test ban at any NASCAR-sanctioned track.

“I think over the offseason I complained about not having testing, but (now) I’m glad we didn’t because we worked on some of the (other) things we needed (to work on).”

Meanwhile, Penske also observed that the new NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race car is demonstrating an important intended benefit. With a fleet of Dodge race cars in their shop, the team raced the same car within seven days with great success.

Goodyear Tire Test at Darlington Raceway UPDATE: #11-Denny Hamlin (Toyota), #29-Kevin Harvick (Chevy), #96-Bobby Labonte (Ford) and #19-Elliott Sadler (Dodge) are scheduled to be at Darlington Raceway participating in a Goodyear tire test on Wednesday, March 11 in preparation for the Southern 500 on May 9th (Darlington Raceway PR). The testing is NOT open to the public. UPDATE: Darlington Raceway was the site of the latest Goodyear tire test today with four teams, one from each manufacturer that competes in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, taking to the track. #96-Bobby Labonte, #29-Kevin Harvick, #19-Elliott Sadler and #11-Denny Hamlin began testing Tuesday afternoon with Goodyear engineers on the two-year old surface at Darlington. All four drivers gave the track good reviews and talked about the importance of winning at Darlington Raceway.
“Well obviously this is a very historic race track that we go to,” said Kevin Harvick. “It still has a lot of the characteristics that it’s had for a number of years so to come here and race as a driver in NASCAR, I think that’s something special to everyone in the garage. This is an exciting place for us to race at and to win would be really cool. We’ve been close a couple of times and it would be nice to finally win one.”
“This is a place I got to come to as a kid and watch races because it is not far from where I grew up so to come here and have a chance to win this race is a dream come true,” said Elliott Sadler. “I love that we race here, I’m glad it’s a night race, it’s a great event for us and since we only come here once a year we put a lot of effort into running well here because Darlington is still a huge cornerstone in our sport and represents where we’ve been and how far we’ve come.”
“They repaved the track last year and you hated to see it in one way but they did a great job and it’s still the same Darlington,” said 2000 Southern 500 winner Bobby Labonte. “Speeds have picked up, the surface is smoother but the racing is still great and it still means the same thing to win here.”
“Darlington is a great racetrack for me, I always run well here,” said Denny Hamlin who has won twice at Darlington in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. “It’s a great race track, I love running here and it’s got so much history. You hated to see it get paved but they did a great job doing it and it still promotes great racing. It’s a great track with great history and you love to win here no matter what car you are in.”
Darlington Raceway or the track “Too Tough to Tame” as it is known to many, is where the purest of NASCAR competition meets true southern hospitality. A NASCAR staple since 1950, Darlington Raceway has seen some of motorsports most talented drivers thunder to Victory Lane. In 2009 a NASCAR tradition, the Southern 500, will return as Darlington Raceway celebrates 60 Seasons of Racing. Be a part of history when Darlington Raceway celebrates 60 years of racing in 2009. Tickets to the 2009 Southern 500, as well as the NASCAR Nationwide Series Diamond Hill Plywood 200 are on-sale now. Tickets can be purchased by calling the Darlington Raceway ticket office at 866-459-RACE or online at darlingtonraceway.com/tickets/.(Darlington Raceway PR)

More on the "Start and Park": How closely will NASCAR watch for "start and park" teams in this time of less than fully funded fields in Cup races? And how harshly will NASCAR deal with them? That depends on who you talk to within NASCAR. Vice president of competition Robin Pemberton largely confirms what scenedaily.com began reporting Friday: that NASCAR is watching closely. But two officials with higher seniority are taking a more benign posture.
Jim Hunter, NASCAR's veteran vice president for corporate communications, wonders how and why NASCAR could enforce start and park. And NASCAR president Mike Helton doesn't even like to use the term "start and park" anyway. Could NASCAR actually prove a driver has parked, not for mechanical reasons stated, but to save money and still collect the minimum prize to start? "Sure we can," Pemberton said Sunday. "If somebody says the motor was sputtering due to a fuel-pump problem, we can take it apart and look at it." Bottom line, "We're encouraging people to come in and race," Pemberton said.
But, said Hunter, "It's not an issue that's paramount to the success or failure of an event, so why is it an issue [at all]." Said Helton, "I don't look at them as start and parks. I look at them as teams and drivers that are trying to figure out how to get into the sport, and that's a good thing. People talk about start and park as a negative thing, so I don?t like to use that term. "I think of it more as people who have an opportunity," Helton said. "Maybe they're not up to speed yet. Maybe they're not quite capable of doing things that they want to do one day. And this is the way they get started." Helton agrees that "What Robin was referring to, we're watching to be sure that that [getting started] is the intent of these owners."
"If you were going to label somebody a start-and-parker, you would have to understand his financial situation," Hunter says. "Does the guy who might do it this week and not do it next week? Does he have the money to buy tires to really race?" It's race by race, case by case, so that there are so many factors that I don't think it's an issue," Hunter said.(ESPN Insider)

Robby heads to Mexico to race dirt: #7-Robby Gordon will spend his week off from pavement racing by returning to his desert racing roots as one of 10 overall winners from the last 13 years entered in this week’s 23rd Annual Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250. Round 2 of the 2009 SCORE Desert Series will be held Friday through Sunday in Mexico’s quaint and picturesque fishing village of San Felipe, located on the East side of the Baja California peninsula along the azure waters of the tranquil Sea of Cortez. Gordon, who won this race in 1996 and whose only attempt here since then was a did-not-finish in 2004, will drive the #77 Team Gordon Chevy CK1500 SCORE Trophy-Truck that won January’s 2009 SCORE season-opener in Laughlin, NV. “Usually when I run a SCORE Baja race I have to commute and pull double-duty so this week will be a real treat for me as I can focus on just the desert and not the desert and all the things connected to NASCAR racing as well,” said Gordon, who has two career class wins in his limited time in San Felipe. “We came out in Laughlin in January planning to run the entire 2009 SCORE season and after winning that race we are even more enthusiastic about running the entire five-race series this year. With all of our other racing commitments, this will be the first time we have run the entire SCORE series since we won the SCORE Trophy-Truck season point championship in 1996.”(off-road.com)

NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race Weekend Announcements: on Friday, March 13th, Lowe's Motor Speedway officials, with the help of SPEED, 2007 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race champion Kevin Harvick and one very special guest, will make several announcements at the Time Warner Media Center, Lowe's Motor Speedway infield regarding the 25th running of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race on May 16.(LMS PR)

Kurt Busch looking for help to name his celebration lap: #2-Kurt Busch says he has been “just blown away” by the attention he has received from his special celebratory “Victory Lap” after winning last Sunday’s Kobalt 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. After dominating the race and picking up his first victory of the 2009 NASCAR season, Busch celebrated the win by stopping at the finish line, grabbing the checkered flag, throwing his Miller Lite Dodge Charger in reverse and backing around the entire track to show his appreciation to all the fans. “It has been unbelievable – I’ve been just blown away by it all,” Busch said of the response from his post-race antics after recording his 19th career NASCAR Sprint Cup victory. “It’s amazing to see the attention it (the celebration lap) has gotten. We’ve done hundreds of media interviews since Sunday and every time it’s inevitable that they’ll get around to wanting to discuss our unusual victory lap. We were doing Eli’s radio show on Tuesday night when we decided we were going to ask the fans to help us put an official name on our lap,” Busch said of his appearance on “NASCAR LIVE,” the MRN Radio program hosted by Eli Gold. “Doug Rice and I were already talking about doing something special with it when I called in to ‘Fast Talk’ on PRN on Monday night. So we’ve decided to ask the fans to log on to our site (www.kurtbusch.com), follow the story to the link, click on it and give us your suggestions,” said Busch. “After discussing the situation with my staff, we’ve actually decided to make a nice little contest out of it. We’re urging the fans to participate and I can’t wait to review their suggested names for the lap. We’ll send the winner a nice gift basket and that one lucky fan will always have the bragging rights for naming the lap,” said Busch. “We’ll announce the winning entry on Friday at Bristol (March 20).”(Tom Roberts PR)

NC Racing Academy Opens: The North Carolina Racing Academy (NCRA) – a comprehensive one-stop resource for racers aspiring to hone their driving skills and raise their stock in the sport – is now open. The NCRA is currently accepting contacts from interested candidates for academies at North Carolina pavement short tracks as early as this spring. Racers of all levels of experience are eligible for any one of four different academy packages offered by the NCRA. The academies will utilize top-quality 2009 race-ready stock cars that are legal to compete in NASCAR late model, Camping World East, Nationwide and ARCA RE/MAX series. In addition to on-track coaching and evaluation from several of NASCAR racing’s top team members, applicants will have the option to add chassis setup and/or marketing/media seminars presented by those areas’ top industry professionals. More info at northcarolinaracingacademy.com.(NCRA PR)

Bowyer's Crew Claims Tissot Pit Road Win in Atlanta: The #33 crew for Clint Bowyer won the Tissot Pit Road Precision Award in Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, becoming the fourth different team in as many races to capture top honors for pit road achievement. Bowyer's crew captured the Tissot pit road win as a result of the team's #33 BB&T Chevrolet Impala SS spending the least amount of time on pit road (364.400 seconds) during the Kobalt Tools 500. The quick pit stops helped lift Bowyer to a sixth-place finish as the Richard Childress Racing driver remained second in the driver point standings. Bowyer's over-the-wall crew consists of: Clint Pittman (front-tire changer), Shane Stevenson (front-tire carrier), Daniel Rankin (rear-tire changer), Michael Hodges (rear-tire carrier), Bill Ferguson Jr. (jackman), Bryan Smith (gasman), Chad Haney (catch can) and Scott Brewer (eighth man). The team's crew chief is Shane Wilson, pit crew coach is Matt Clark and the strength/conditioning coach is Ray Wright. For winning the Tissot Pit Road Precision Award, the #33 team will receive $5,000. The team with the most pit road wins at the completion of the 36-race schedule will earn a $100,000 bonus plus Tissot watches for the driver and over-the-wall crew members. (DMF Communications/Tissot PR)

NASCAR Hall of Fame hires operations manager: The NASCAR Hall of Fame has named Steve Burrell as operations manager. In this role, Burrell will be responsible for all daily operating functions for the Hall of Fame, including developing policies, procedures and a work environment that ensures exceptional customer service. He will plan, direct and supervise daily operations including guest services, event management, volunteer coordination, emergency procedures and security. Burrell has more than 14 years experience in the entertainment and tourism industry with Carowinds where he served as the loss prevention manager, paladium and campground manager in addition to operations manager. He also sat on the North Carolina Amusement Advisory Committee as well as the Education Committee for the American Industry for Maintenance and Safety. Burrell also has experience as the corporate safety and chief ethics officer for a government contractor with sites throughout the United States.(NASCAR PR)

Motorsports Authentics names new Interim President: Motorsports Authentics named Joe Mattes as interim President of the motorsports merchandising company. A 14-year veteran within the NASCAR industry, Mattes brings a strong track record of licensing and merchandising success to Motorsports Authentics. In his previous roles as President of Sports Image, Co-Founder and President of Chase Racewear, and Vice President of the NASCAR.com Superstore, Mattes demonstrated experienced leadership in the development and promotion of numerous merchandising platforms involving multiple drivers, teams and sponsors in the sport. During that time, he was successful in maximizing returns and expanding value and demand for all entities involved. Mattes will continue in his current role as Vice President of Licensing for JR Motorsports. Motorsports Authentics board member Don Hawk, who has been serving as interim President for Motorsports Authentics, will maintain an ongoing active role in the company’s operations while retaining his position as Vice President of Business Affairs for Speedway Motorsports, Inc.(Motorsports Authentics PR)

NASCAR Drug Testing Nets 2nd Crew Member

A second crew member has been suspended indefinitely for violation of NASCAR's substance abuse policy.
It's the second suspension in the two months since NASCAR instituted a new drug testing policy for the 2009 season. As opposed to being concerned about having multiple violators, NASCAR officials say the findings confirm the integrity of the sport and its zero tolerance policy.
"We made a good program even better," NASCAR spokesmen Ramsey Poston said Wednesday. "What it shows is everyone is going to be tested. And it removes all doubt that the competitors at the track are clean."
John Boyd, who was a crew member on the No. 23 Nationwide Series team, joins Paul Chodora, a former Sprint Cup Series team member, as the first two people to test positive under the new and improved policy.
Both were part of a mandatory test for all drivers, crewmen and officials during season-opening Speedweeks at Daytona International Speedway in February, however, Poston said Boyd's test results weren't confirmed until this week.
NASCAR's new policy requires everyone to be part of the massive preseason drug test and then a series of random tests -- the names generated by computer -- will be held at each race event. No one has been found to be in violation through the random tests.
Previously, NASCAR tested only because of reasonable suspicion with no formal format. But last year, Aaron Fike, a former Camping World Truck Series driver claimed to have competed in a 2007 race while under the influence of heroin. Drivers and teams were so outraged they called for tougher testing considering this is a sport where lives are on the line.
Seven drivers have been suspended since 2000, but only four were found through the previous random testing policy.
"NASCAR can test anyone, anywhere, for any reason, it's always had one of the broadest policies of any professional sport,'' Poston said.
"When you put it into perspective and look at the thousands of people we've tested, this confirms the sport is extremely clean in terms of substance abuse and we're very proud of that. This is a very small percentage.
"What we're seeing now is that with all the competitors tested, the sport is overwhelmingly free of substance abuse."

Traffic soars on Hendrickcars.com after Stewart’s win

By Michael Smith, Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

The tired NASCAR axiom of “Win on Sunday, sell on Monday” has been outdated for the past decade, if not longer, but the executives who run Rick Hendrick’s NASCAR team and auto dealerships brought it back to life last month at Daytona.

Hendrickcars.com, the website that aggregates all of the used cars at Hendrick’s 80 dealerships, was the sponsor on Tony Stewart’s winning car at the season-opening Nationwide Series race. Not only did Stewart’s car lead much of the race and capture the checkered flag, Stewart also mentioned the site in his postrace interview on Fox.

The visibility from Stewart’s win, combined with the quick turn-around for website traffic, returned blockbuster results for Hendrick Automotive Group’s flagship website.

On the day of the race, Saturday, Feb. 14, the site’s total unique visitors numbered 53,000, an increase of 6,424 percent over the previous Saturday. Total visits were up more than 5,000 percent, and the 1.2 million page views were up more than 2,000 percent.

From the period of Feb. 11 through Feb. 28, the site received 151,655 unique visits, compared with an average of 40,000 visits for a typical month. Sales directly related to the sponsorship won’t be available for another month.

“It wowed us, it really did,” said Chris Little, a director in Hendrick Automotive Group. “We were expecting about a 1,000 percent increase in our traffic and the numbers that came back just blew our mind. The combination of winning the race and all of the marketing we had behind this, it was the perfect storm.”

Hendrickcars.com was created last year as a way to bring the full inventory of used cars on his 80 lots to one site. About $90 million in used-car inventory can be found on the site, which has quickly become one of the Hendrick Automotive Group’s most critical sales tools.

Car shoppers are making fewer and fewer physical visits to dealerships these days, about 1.5 per buying decision. That’s down from 4.8 visits five years ago.

“Usually, we get one good shot at them and it’s paramount that you have a strong online presence,” Little said.

With that in mind, Hendrick had the idea to field a Nationwide Series car for the Daytona race and put Stewart in the driver’s seat, optimizing the team’s chance to win. Even though the money stayed within the Hendrick empire, Hendrick Automotive did write a check to Hendrick Motorsports for the transaction.

A one-race deal with a top Nationwide Series team might typically go for $100,000 or so.

“Mr. Hendrick said to treat the sponsorship like any other corporate relationship,” said Pat Perkins, vice president of marketing at Hendrick Motorsports. “So we put together as integrated a program as you can have for a one-race deal. We had a promotion, we supported with (local market) advertising on Time Warner Cable, we had all of the supporting elements in place.

“And the driver was on message.”

The promotion offered fans a chance to win the firesuit Stewart wore in the race. About 23,000 entered the sweepstakes and 9,000 registered an interest in buying a vehicle. A majority of those even identified a make and model of interest.

EBizAutos, the company that manages the site, had extra staff on hand during the race and the following evening so any glitches could be addressed quickly. Hendrick’s group also bought several key words on search engines so that if viewers misspelled “Hendrick” or “Stewart” or another pertinent word, they could still get to the site.

Every state was represented by visitors to the site.

“This site has been three years in the making and it launched without any real promotion at all,” said Gary Davis, chief operating officer of Hendrick Automotive Group. “The sponsorship gave us truly national exposure. Now we have a way of reaching consumers that we could have never reached before.”

Michael Smith is a reporter with SportsBusiness Journal.

Is there lack of balance at Hendrick Motorsports

Jeremy Dunn/Atlanta NASCAR Examiner

Go to Jeremy's Page

Hendrick Motorsports is a NASCAR powerhouse, a force to be reckoned with.  They have been ever since the company’s birth in 1984.   What began as a single car operation is now a four-team juggernaut.  If you glance at the stat book, the number of wins and championships is astonishing.  Hendrick Motorsports has amassed 175 Sprint Cup victories and eight championships.

If you take a closer look, you will see that the extraordinary stats primarily favor two of the twenty-plus drivers that have driven for Hendrick Motorsports on a regular basis.  Yes, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson seem to be the primary beneficiaries of the vast resources provided by Hendrick Motorsports. They have earned seven of Hendrick’s eight championships; Terry Labonte owns the other title.  They have combined for 121 of the 175 Sprint Cup victories, which is approximately seventy percent. 

Meanwhile, the other two teams have practically become a revolving door entered and exited by talented drivers who hoped to jumpstart, or re-establish their careers with one of NASCAR’s most powerful teams.  Ever since Terry Labonte stepped away from the No. 5 car, that team is on its third driver.  Kyle Busch, now one of NASCAR’s top drivers, replaced Labonte in 2005, and developed into a solid top ten driver.  However, he was never at the same elevated level as Gordon and Johnson, despite his talent.  Since leaving Hendrick Motorsports for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2008, Busch has nine wins.  In three full seasons with Hendrick, he scored a total of four wins.  Perhaps the significant increase in performance is because Busch is more seasoned now than he was while he was with Hendrick Motorsports. 

Casey Mears, who transferred from the No. 25 team, supplanted Busch in the No. 5, and he was out of that ride by mid-season.  Well, not literally out of that ride, he did finish the season with the team, but it was common knowledge that he would have to search for a new ride. Mark Martin is the current driver of the No. 5 car, and thus far, it has been no pleasure cruise for the fifty-year-old veteran.  Two engines failures and a blown tire have marred his introductory season with Hendrick.  It is still early, and there is ample time for Martin to rally back into the top twelve.

The No. 25 team, which is now the No. 88 team, has always been the redheaded stepchild at Hendrick Motorsports.  Tim Richmond won seven races in 1986, and two more in 1987, but since his tragic circumstances, the team has won only eleven races in 21 years.  Ken Schrader, Ricky Craven, Wally Dallenbach, Jerry Nadeau, Joe Nemechek, and Brian Vickers are just some of the drivers that enjoyed minimal success with Hendrick Motorsports. 

Dale Earnhardt Jr left DEI to join the team in 2008.  They switched the number to No. 88, and at first, it seemed as if the number change ended the ostensible curse. However, Earnhardt Jr stumbled throughout the latter part of the season, and his issues have carried into the 2009 campaign.  Earnhardt Jr has yet to live up to the lofty expectations placed before him when he first signed with Hendrick Motorsports.  Of course, it is still very early in the season, and there is plenty of time for both Earnhardt Jr and Martin to turn around their seasons. 

The lack of balance within the organization is puzzling because it has been this way for so long.  It has not been cyclical like it is with other teams. 

Unless this arrangement recently changed and I am not up to speed, the No. 48 and No. 24 teams share a shop, as do the No. 88 and No. 5 teams.  I am in no position to question Hendrick’s business decisions, but to me, it would seem logical to transfer one of the struggling teams into a shop with one of the flourishing teams.   

Matt McLaughlin Mouths Off

Five Middle Tier Drivers Making Waves

Thomas Bowles · Frontstretch.com

Matt’s stuck at home with a nasty case of the flu this week, so I’ve been pressed into service as a last-minute replacement for his column. Usually, I try my best to match his sarcasm when I sub in (although in reality, no one can even come close). But this week, in terms of Mouthing Off … I’ve pretty much already done it on a variety of subjects in my weekly version of Did You Notice? on Wednesday. So, I thought that instead of spewing more venom at the NASCAR powers that be this week, I’m going to play around with the term “Mouthing Off” in a different way.

All too often, the drivers at both extremes in NASCAR are the ones who make the news these days. It’s kind of like the evaporating middle class in this country … if they’re not making it big or losing their jobs (and recently, we’ve seen far more of the latter), they’re basically getting completely ignored. We’ve got the rich and famous – the Dale Earnhardt, Jr.’s, Jeff Gordons, and Carl Edwardses – sharing space in print these days with men like David Gilliland and Jeremy Mayfield, the sport’s version of the underdog looking to resurrect their careers with the underfunded.

But hidden amongst the early season media scrutiny of upper and lower class, the modest success of a few in the middle has ultimately been lost in the shuffle. Too good to play the role of the underdog but without the top-tier equipment to find themselves running up front, these drivers toil under the guise of 10th place finishes each week but never get the credit for keeping their organizations in contention… until now.

With the off week upon us, it’s a good time to take a breath and stop to look at a few of these men making waves. Here’s five drivers who have quietly put themselves in decent position so far in 2009, making the best of what they have to work with:

Martin Truex, Jr.: Under the auspicious finish of the Daytona 500 – one that’s angered so many fans – it’s easy to forget one of Speedweek’s biggest surprises was the No. 1 car of Truex taking the pole. An 11th place finish was a bit of a Daytona disappointment at the end, but who knows what would have happened if the race ran its full 500-mile distance – the car very well might have been capable of contending for the win.

Since then, Truex has had two disappointing runs at Fontana and Vegas before making news at Atlanta that no one would have ever expected. Rushed to the hospital for kidney stones, Truex passed one on Saturday night before rallying Sunday to post his first top 10 finish of the season. That’s left him 19th in points and within striking distance of the top 12, heading towards the short track swing that’s capable of giving teams like his a major boost. Avoiding the engine DNF that once was DEI’s Achilles’ Heel, mechanical reliability for the new Earnhardt Ganassi organization has got to be a major shot in the arm for Truex — bit all too often by issues not of his own making these last few years. Certainly, stability within his own team has helped during the offseason transition, as crew chief “Bono” Manion continues to run his own ship within the greater fleet of the fledgling three-car organization. But as EGR continues to sort itself out following the merger, both Truex and Manion will only benefit from all cars figuring out how to work together and share information. With that comes a great deal of upward potential … the question is whether “up” is enough for them to make the Chase. At the moment, though, there’s a solid foundation to build on for this group moving forward.

Jamie McMurray: Roush Fenway’s fifth option has long been the runt of the Roush Fenway organization, never seeming to run consistently enough to challenge for a spot in the top 12. But when McMurray’s old crew chief, Donnie Wingo, came on board this offseason, the former Chip Ganassi teammates seem to have brought a renewed focus and energy to their job manning the No. 26. So far this season, McMurray has earned himself three finishes of 16th or better, and would occupy a position in the coveted top 12 if not for becoming an innocent victim of the Dale Earnhardt, Jr. / Brian Vickers wreck down Daytona’s back straightaway.

Yet even with that near-DNF (McMurray wound up 37th in the 500), the IRWIN / Crown Royal Ford team stands 18th through the first four races of the season. And with tracks like Martinsville and Texas coming up soon on the slate – both places which play to McMurray’s forte – there’s a bit of an opportunity for this team to get themselves off the schnide at RFR.

Michael McDowell: For most, the name McDowell is linked forever to that terrifying crash at Texas last year, the one where the former Cup rookie flipped his No. 00 Toyota into a pile of parts and pieces – but still made it through with nothing but a scratch. Apparently born with a flair for the dramatic, the 23-year-old followed up with Act II at Fontana this year, when a hard crash caused his No. 47 Nationwide Series Toyota to catch fire in a frightening explosion that forced him to bail out of the car.

It’s highlights like those which make you scratch your head and wonder if the kid’s good enough to make it in this business. But after stepping back to the Nationwide Series full-time – recognizing a need to develop after jumping from ARCA to Cup last season – McDowell has quietly but effectively been taking small steps towards respectability in 2009. 14th amidst a field of Cup regulars at Daytona, he followed that up with a third best qualifying effort at Fontana (ruined by the wreck), then scored a career-high sixth place finish at Vegas to jump all the way up to 10th in the overall season standings. Still searching for sponsors to support him for all 35 events, McDowell doesn’t quite have the high-level funding necessary to challenge for a championship. But he’s with an organization in JTG that took Marcos Ambrose to Victory Lane last year; and based on McDowell’s early season performances, he could be a man to contend with at the series’ standalone races at Nashville, Kentucky, and elsewhere later in the Spring.

Kenny Wallace: Tucked right behind McDowell in those Nationwide Series standings, Wallace has to be secretly satisfied to be sitting 11th, giving Jay Robinson Racing their best ever start in NASCAR’s second-tier division. The No. 28 hasn’t been flashy, but it’s gone the distance, earning them two finishes of 16th or better in three races to date this season. With continued support from primary sponsor U.S. Border Patrol, the team has been gradually able to upgrade its equipment and put itself in position to become a top 15 car each week – even when the Cup regulars show up. A source also tells me the team’s become far more comfortable as they settle into their second season together, allowing for Wallace’s feedback in making necessary adjustments to be far more effective on race day. Personally, I think the third-place run at Memphis last October gave this team a momentum boost they’ve never had before; for the first time ever, one of their drivers proved that on a good day, JRR can compete with the Big Boys of Roush, Hendrick, and others that infiltrate this series. And once that seed of confidence gets implanted in your head … well, you suddenly find yourself capable of achieving bigger and better things out on the racetrack.

Chad McCumbee: Just three months ago, it looked like McCumbee would emerge on the scene as a full-time Sprint Cup driver running for Rookie of the Year. But when Petty Enterprises was forced to merge, McCumbee was suddenly dropped from the radar screen of newly-formed Richard Petty Motorsports – leaving him without a full-time ride as late as early January.

Such tough luck could have left the 24-year-old with every reason to complain. Instead, he took a deep breath, reevaluated, and went home to the Truck Series team that gave him a shot at a full-time ride in the first place – the No. 07 Chevy owned and operated by Green Light Racing and Bobby Dotter. A borderline “underdog” organization in their own right – the team starts and parks a second truck each week to gain additional funding to compete – Green Light’s not exactly a truck you think of that’s capable of winning races and contending for the season championship.

Yet here we are, three races into the Truck Series season, and McCumbee has finished 19th, 3rd, and 6th to surge to fifth in the standings, just fifteen points behind third place Mike Skinner following Atlanta. The speed out of this truck at the intermediates has opened up a lot of eyes, and with a solid history of performing well at Martinsville in their back pocket, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them up front contending for their first win. It was some short-term pain for McCumbee to take a step back, I’m sure; but in the end, it could lead to the long-term gain of a much stronger Cup organization coming ‘round and giving this kid a second look.

Well, there you have it – five guys no one’s talking about yet until we “Mouthed Off” about them. And speaking of that Matt reminder, I hope you’ll all join me in wishing him a quick and speedy recovery! Look for the sarcasm to return next week … much to Brian France’s chagrin.

What’s Vexing Vito

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do: Should Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Tony Eury, Jr. Split Up?

Vito Pugliese · Frontstretch.com

Like many NASCAR journalists keeping up with the sport, I was thumbing through the article links on Jayski the other day – mainly to see if my most recent submission was featured – and came across an article written by Terry Blount of ESPN where he suggested it was time for Tony and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. to go their separate ways. The bickering cousins, he surmised, had run their course together, and it was time for them to see other people. If I could agree on one thing with Terry, it’s that the two have been unusually quiet lately – kind of like when couples put on happy faces for public appearances or only stay together “for the kids.” This has been the opinion shared by an ever-expanding majority of fans, too, who seem to want to pin the reason for Dale Earnhardt, Jr.’s struggles solely on the relationship between he and his cousin.

Well, I have always held tightly to the notion that this was hogwash. But after reading this piece, I wondered… could there be some truth to it all?

At the June race at Michigan International Speedway last year, I spoke with Dale Jr. after qualifying and asked him what he thought of implications that family unity was taking precedence over professional responsibilities. When I posed the question, “What do you think of some of the statements that have been made suggesting that a new chief should be in order?” his eyes opened up and he sheepishly mumbled, “…What do you mean??…”

It was almost as if to imply, “Do you know something I don’t know?”

Later in the conversation — when I rephrased my question to ask if he thought a crew chief change would make sense — Junior shook off the notion with crystal clear certainty. “I would rather run 10th every week with the people I love, respect, and care about than win championships with a stranger,” he explained.

Two days later, I got to ask him the same question again; but this time, I was able to preface it with, “How does it feel now when somebody asks you, ‘Don’t you think you should get a different crew chief?’ “

Tony and Dale Jr. you see, had just won the LifeLock 400 at Michigan after a fuel mileage call from the pit box.

As Junior thought over his answer from the podium, he started nodding in agreement, chuckling and grinning wildly. Right then, he knew full well what I was implying: “Doesn’t it feel good to be able to tell everybody to **** off?” As he started to answer, Tony Eury, Jr. spoke first, saying, “I don’t really pay much attention to what people say about all that.”

It was a clear example of his cousin pulling in the reins a bit on his driver, as well as someone who is more like a brother. And while this little vignette may have come from the euphoria of winning their first race since 2006 at Richmond – as well as relieving the pressure both had been under since it was announced that NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver was joining forces with the most powerful force in motorsports – I think it was illustrative that these two are still stronger together than apart. Take a look back at how they ran following the first time they were separated in 2005, just a few months removed from nearly winning the 2004 Sprint Cup. Had Dale Junior not cooked himself at Infineon Raceway during practice for an ALMS event, or misjudged a pass on Carl Edwards at Atlanta, he very well could have claimed his first title that year, forever silencing those who constantly pose the question, “Why haven’t you won a championship?”

(Oh, I don’t know, probably the same reason I haven’t won a Pulitzer Prize yet. Shut up. But we’ll get to that question in a bit.)

Anyways, 2005 was an unmitigated disaster for Dale Earnhardt, Jr. His new crew chief Pete Rondeau didn’t even last half a season, and then he had a nasty tangle with teammate Michael Waltrip at the Coca-Cola 600 in May. The one bright spot was when he was able to win a race with Steve Hmiel atop the war wagon at Chicagoland that July — but the rest of the season looked a lot like the first half. It was a harsh lesson learned, and Tony and Dale were quickly re-conjoined for 2006 — winning at Richmond together in June of that year. After qualifying for the The Chase and finishing fifth in the final point standings, it seemed like everything was back on course over at the No. 8 DEI Chevrolet. But their world was turned upside down again before the green flag even fell at Daytona, when focus was turned to the apparent rift between Dale Jr. and stepmother Teresa Earnhardt.

While Junior tried his best to quell any controversy back then, the Budweiser Clydesdale was already out of the barn. One year later, both he and Eury moved to Hendrick Motorsports, looking for a championship but finding a roller coaster of inconsistency instead in their 15 months with the team to date. As we study the two men’s relationship now, it comes complete with a package filled with one top 10 finish and just 24th place in the season standings through four races.

But despite the slow start, we all know the real reason for the continued questions of if these two are fit to be together; Dale’s last name. Since he is the son of a seven-time Champion, than he surely should have won at least one by now, people say.

Well, not quite.

Call it Kyle Petty Syndrome if you want to: People place unattainable, unrealistic expectations on a driver expected to follow in his father’s footsteps. Even Davey Allison had a similar experience, although he tragically was never fully able to realize his potential. Keeping in this same vein, the common question persists: why hasn’t Dale Earnhardt, Jr. been able to produce the numbers his father did? Junior’s only won at restrictor plate tracks and a couple of short tracks!

Well, not so fast. Let’s take a look at the record here.

From 1996 to Daytona 2001, Dale Earnhardt, Sr. won eight races. Of those eight wins, three of them were at Talladega, a pair came at Atlanta, and he snagged one each at Daytona (another restrictor plate track), Bristol, and Rockingham. How does that compare to Dale Earnhardt, Jr.’s numbers dating back to 2004 to this point in 2009? He’s got nine wins: restrictor plate victories at Daytona and Talladega, short track wins at Bristol, Richmond (two), and Phoenix (it’s more of a short track than a superspeedway), as well as intermediate track victories at Atlanta, Chicagoland, and Michigan.

In my view, those appear to be pretty well rounded numbers that essentially mirror his old man’s.

Still, some fans are never satisfied. Junior carries the blessing and burden of being the face of NASCAR, and as such is expected to contend for championships and wins every year — regardless of the situation within his team. Those dreams are a bit unrealistic, however, and unfair to both the driver and the guy on top of the pit box calling the shots. The early season struggles this year did begin from the driver not having his head in the game at Daytona — but they were compounded by an engine failure in a competitive car at California. The team’s misfortunes could still easily be remedied with a win; and with tracks such as Bristol, Phoenix, and Richmond coming up, that may very well happen sooner than you think.

Here’s the question, though: is it already too late to change the court of public perception? With so many up in arms, will a win silence the critics who continue to demand a new leader for the No. 88 team?

Most likely, it will not. So, how long until the call comes to swap crew chiefs or teams with Hendrick Motorsports’ other team that has struggled, Mark Martin and Alan Gustafson? After all, it has become a popular practice in NASCAR the last few years to swap teams to help one that is underperforming. Richard Childress tried it in 1998 with Dale Earnhardt and Mike Skinner, and it seemed to work fairly well. Four years later, Jack Roush followed suit, swapping the teams of Kurt Busch and Mark Martin. Martin won a race after going winless in 2001 and contended for the Sprint Cup, while Kurt Busch went on to win three of the last five races — four total that season.

But Hendrick knows these moves can always backfire. Look at Carl Edwards and Bob Osborne after they were reassigned for the 2006 season. That same year, Jeremy Mayfield was never a factor when Kenny Francis was sent to manage Kasey Kahne, while Kahne won six races with his new crew chief at the helm. Since then, Mayfield had been making about as many headlines as Casey Atwood. As it is, Martin and the No. 5 team have had a car capable of winning every race so far this year, and if not for blown engines and motors, they very well could have a pair of wins already.

Moreover, people seem to not understand where Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is coming from; he would rather win a couple of races a year with Tony Jr., than win championships with Chad Knaus. There are things more important to the man than the final result. Although racing is his life, it also claimed the lives of both his father and his dad’s best friend, Neil Bonnett. And those are the types of tragedies you never forget.

So, if you’re going to dedicate your life to something, you had better be with the people you want to be with — and more importantly, want to be with you. Besides, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. probably said it best after that Michigan win regarding his cousin and crew chief. “Tony Eury, Jr. can win a championship… he will win a championship.”

“And I don’t want to get beat by him.”

NASCAR's original trophies in good hands with Parks

Former car owner will hand over trophies to Hall of Fame

By Mark Aumann, NASCAR.COM

History was under wraps at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday morning, hidden behind colorful terrycloth bath towels and tied together with plastic police barrier tape. That's how the championship trophies from NASCAR's first two seasons were transported to the track.

Hockey's Stanley Cup travels in its own protective steel case, handled by assistants who wear spotless white gloves. The same goes for the NFL's Vince Lombardi Trophy and baseball's Commissioner's Trophy. The 1948 NASCAR Modified and 1949 NASCAR Strictly Stock trophies might be envious, if bronze had feelings. But then again, they don't get out much.

For the past six decades, the two symbols of NASCAR's very beginnings have been lovingly cared for by their owner, 94-year-old Raymond Parks, who owned the cars Red Byron drove to consecutive championships.

"They've always been in Raymond's office," said Violet Parks, Raymond's wife.

Parks still visits his office on Northside Drive in Atlanta on a regular basis, and as the trophies are a reminder of a NASCAR era long since gone, the liquor store on the corner is the last vestige of his once-vast real estate holdings.

"I didn't get to know Raymond until 1979," Vi Parks said. "I don't go back to that history, but he has always been very protective of those trophies. 'No, you can't touch those.' We had a fire in 2002 and all the newspaper people and radio people came up there to make sure those trophies were safe. It was a big deal."

The eldest of 16 children, Raymond Parks was born in 1914. His first brush with the law came at 14, when he was arrested for running moonshine in the family's 1926 Model T Ford. Two years later, he moved to Atlanta to help an uncle run a service station, which was a front for illegal activities that eventually landed Parks in a federal penitentiary for nine months, starting in 1936.

By 1938, Parks had made enough money to fund a racing program for two aspiring drivers, cousins Lloyd Seay and Roy Hall. He hired two of the best mechanics in the area, Red Vogt and Buckshot Morris, and entered cars at a race at nearby Lakewood Speedway. Seay won the race, and Parks' career as a car owner was born.

Seay was killed in 1941 in a moonshine dispute, and Parks went into the Army during World War II, seeing action in the Battle of the Bulge. When he returned to Georgia, his racing operation resumed without missing a beat. At one point, cars owned by Parks won 10 of 13 races on the old Daytona beach course.

He was present at the famous 1947 meeting with Bill France at the Streamline Hotel, and with Byron behind the wheel, dominated the 1948 and 1949 seasons. By 1952, Parks decided to get out of the racing business for good. However, even though he didn't maintain a presence in NASCAR, Parks was never far from the action.

"He's been to Daytona for the races nearly every year," Vi Parks said. "He's only missed two races since he first went down. We have a condo down there, and we've gone every year for at least 30 years. He stills buys his 10 seats."

At this year's Daytona 500, Parks was introduced at the drivers' meeting -- and received a standing ovation.

But this story is less about where the trophies have been all these years and more about where they're going. The Parks are donating those trophies -- along with many other pieces of racing memorabilia dating all the way back to his first win as a car owner in 1938 -- to the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, due to open sometime next year.

"Raymond doesn't have any living children," Vi Parks said. "He has three grandchildren but they're not particularly interested in this, and keeping those trophies is a big responsibility. If you want to preserve them, you need to donate them to some museum that's going to take care of them. That's the idea."

Just like her husband's meticulous efforts to keep his crowning achievements sparkling as the day he received them, Vi Parks said her biggest fear would be to have Raymond's legacy tarnished in some way.

"I don't want to have them sold on eBay or something."

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.

Well, that's all for today.  Until the next time, I remain,

Your Nascar Momma

Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, wine in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"

his list is authored by:

Sandra Monacelli
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