Dale Earnhardt Inc.

NASCAR Season Midway Review

Well, Kyle Busch capped off the season’s midway point at Daytona with his 10th career win and his sixth this season.

NASCAR’s premier series is in their first full year with the Car of Today, and it has undergone some criticism.  It actually got so out of hand that NASCAR President Mike Helton called a mandatory meeting to tell drivers to basically, “Shut up and drive.”

The first half of the Sprint Cup Series season has provided NASCAR fans with some good, bad, and very ugly races.

On paper, for the most part, this is a record breaking season for competition.  The California race had a record 33 lead changes, the Coca-Cola 600 had 2,580 green flag passes, that was up almost 900 from the 2007 Coca-Cola 600.  The Michigan race tied a track-best 3,204 green flag passes.

NASCAR is getting more coverage than ever.  TV Ratings are up for the most part from last year.  Although some tracks are struggling with attendance, tracks are still selling out.

NASCAR is also going through some economic hardships.  Sponsors willing to fork out millions of dollars a year are few and far between.  Teams are shutting down, Petty Enterprises sold 50% of their company to Boston Ventures.

The competiton is also even, all four manufacturer’s have won at least three races.  All four manufacturer’s are represented in the top 12 in driver points.  There has been 10 different race winners, 11 different pole winners, 74 drivers have attempted to qualify for at least one Sprint Cup Series race, and 46 driver had led at least one lap.  All evidence that NASCAR has accomplished one goal — make competitors and manufacturer’s even.  Chevy no longer has a stangle hold on the field.  In fact, the first Chevy in the top last week at Daytona will Dale Earnhardt Jr. who finished 8th.

Also, Hendrick Motorsports is apparently struggling.  Despite the fact that they only have two wins, and have three of their drivers in the top six in points.  At this point in the season, Hendrick Motorsports drivers had 10 wins.

Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, and Ryan Newman all led the points standings for the first time in their careers this year.  And, Kasey Kahne and Greg Biffle are back!  They are both back in the top 12, and Kahne has two wins so far.

And don’t forget.  The most-popular driver is showing that he indeeds deserves the attention.  He ended a two year winless streak with a win at Michigan, he has matched his 2007 numbers already, which is answering the question on how Dale Jr. would perform in 2008 after leaving DEI in 2007.  The answer — Great!

Speaking of DEI, recently, sources close to DEI are reporting that DEI could be sold to Max Siegel for as much as $130 million, which would take Teresa out of the picture.  This is still developing, but could get very interesting.

And, you can’t talk about the 2008 season without talking about Silly Season — 2009 edition.

Rumors have been circulating and some are very tasteful.

Sources yesterday confirmed that Joe Gibbs Racing will go to four teams, and Juan Pablo Montoya would be the driver.  Now, wouldn’t that be a combination.  Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, and Juan Pablo Montoya.  Add Joey Logano in the 20 after Stewart leaves to buy into Haas CNC Racing with Ryan Newman as a teammate, and you get headlines for the rest of the year.

Sources close to Tony Stewart say that he is expected to announce his future plans as soon as Indianapolis in two weeks.

As Silly Season continues to unfold, and the season heats up for the chase — stay tuned to NASCAR FanZone for all your NASCAR updates.

Almirola to Make Cup Road Race Debut

JRM to field a Sprint Cup car in 2009?

Dale Jr said on Friday that his current Nationwide Series team is in the position to field a cup ride as soon as 2009.  However, only if and when the right sponsorship and driver opportunity occurs.

When asked if he would consider Martin Truex Jr to be a driver of a JRM Sprint Cup Series Car, he responded, “Why would he want to come drive for me? He’s in good stuff now and he’s going to have great opportunities from other people. And I would never do that to him.”

“For the first year coming out of the box, man we’ll struggle like hell. Come on, man. He’s going to have deals offered to him by these great companies around here and from DEI. I’ll be at the bottom of that list, right there with Haas [CNC Racing] and a couple of other people. I don’t know with Tony [Stewart] if he goes [to Haas CNC], he might be able to talk Martin into it. But I don’t know, man. I mean no way would I even do that to Martin, even if he wanted to.”

Earnhardt doesn’t seem to think that costs to fund the team would be any higher than they are for the Nationwide Series.

“I used to say ‘No way, no way,’” Earnhardt Jr. said. “But it’s almost as expensive to run in the Nationwide Series. And they’re going to bring a [car of tomorrow] in and we won’t be able to race in the Nationwide Series with [it] probably. That’ll just be too expensive to switch all that over.”

“And the COT program is going to be too expensive for me to justify creating a whole new program with COT stuff, so I’d just as soon go into the Cup Series or get out of the Nationwide Series altogether,” he said.

If indeed he does  decide to field a part-time or full-time ride in the Sprint Cup Series, it is a near certainty that he WON’T be the one driving.

Last time for Jarrett

The upcoming NASCAR Sprint Cup All-Star race in Concord, NC is planned to be the career finale for Dale Jarrett. Wouldn’t it be great if he could win his first career all-star race this weekend?

Dale Jarrett will be in the race because of his 1999 Sprint Cup Series championship.

Dale Jarrett started his luxurious career in 1977. Racing at a Track his father (Ned Jarrett) owned, Hickory Motor Speedway.

“Enjoy this. We all have our time in this, and mine has been fantastic. To me, it has been an honor and a privilege to be able to race in this series and say I raced with and against and sometimes beat the best in the world. Thanks for allowing me to do that. Enjoy it. It’s a great sport, and you guys make it what it is.”

That was the quote from Dale Jarrett prior to his last points race at Bristol.

Dale Arnold Jarrett has achieved many awards and honors in his life. Including 1999 Sprint Cup champion, 2004 USG Person of the Year, and in 1998, he was named one of NASCAR’s 50 greatest drivers.

In 680 races, Jarrett has 32 wins, 163 top fives, 260 top tens, 16 poles, he has completed 185,947 laps (236,209.6 miles) - leading 6972 laps. Over 24 years of racing in NASCAR’s highest series, he has accumulated $46,725,581 in winnings.

At Lowe’s Motor Speedway, 3 wins in 42 starts.

So, this weekend, NASCAR will be saying Goodbye to a champion, and one of the greatest racers in the history of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing.

(Left to right) H.A. ‘Humpy’ Wheeler, president and general manager of Lowe’s Motor Speedway, and Dale Jarrett unveil the car that the 1999 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion will drive in his final event, the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. on May 17. (Photo Credit: HHP / Harold Hinson)

Fearless Forecast: The Winner At Richmond Will Be….

Let’s be scientific about this. I respect all 43 guys in the field, but let’s be real- we can eliminate 15 drivers right off the top. we’re talking about the guys in the line-up who’ve never won a Cup race. That includes the likes of David Ragan, Reed Sorenson and Patrick Carpentier-who did put forward good qualifying efforts. To me, this place is just a little too tough for a guy to get his first win. This whittles the field down to 28.

Then there’s the guys, that while capable, just don’t have the equipment to win. There’s about another 4 guys here who’ve won races, but because of things like funding and equipment- they have as much chance as a kerosene cat in Hell with gasoline boxers on. Kyle Petty, Sterling Marlin, and Joe Nemechek are among the racers that fall into this category. OK- now we’re down to 24.

Among the 43 entries are guy who just don’t win at short tracks. This includes all the Roush Fenway guys. I’m not sure what’s missing in their “Car of Today” short track program, but something’s missing. The you’ve got guys like Michael Waltrip, who is to Super Speedways like Boris Said is to road courses. I find 8 drivers in this group- taking the possibilities down to 16. Hard charger Kyle Busch is also in this group. He’ too aggressive on short tracks. You need some patience to win here.

Let’s not forget about the “luck factor.” There’s always somebody out there at any given time who arejust unlucky. Tony Stewart is having a run of bad luck. Bobby Labonte is another one. Overall, this group of guys number 4, so now we have 12 drivers to pick from.

Among the drivers who are left are guys who have the best chance of winning today. Guys who are “in their element” in Richmond. I’m talking about Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer from RCR, Mark Martin from DEI, Kasey Kahne from Gillett Evernham, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. from HMS (Jeff Gordon is one of my “bad luck” guys), and Ryan Newman from Penske- as well as Denny Hamlin from Joe Gibbs.

Frankly, it comes down to two guys- Denny Hamlin and Junior. Earnhardt has won 3 races at Richmond, and he’s been good enough to win this year, even though he hasn’t broken the spell. Now, I know that Hamlin is going to try to win from the pole- which isn’t easy. I also know the the “law of averages” are against a weekend sweep and he won last night. Yet there’s an “X” factor in all of this, I think the “11′ car has it. So in light of that, I predict…

DENNY HAMLIN WILL WIN AT RICHMOND- fulfilling his dream of winning at home. The odds may be a bit long, but that’s why we call it the “fearless forecast.”

Race Re-Cap: They’re Baaaack…..

Well, to be totally honest with you, I never thought Jimmie Johnson went anywhere. The driver of the Lowe’s #48 Chevrolet has the total package- the team, the crew chief, the driver. You may keep a man like Jimmie Johnson down for a little while, but you won’t do it for long.

Phoenix was a war of attrition. While we didn’t TOTALLY lose many cars, several good drivers were knocked out of contention for one reason or another. Guys that we’re accustomed to seeing towards the front. Matt Kenseth missed an extended stretch after bending the wall, Ryan Newman’s power steering squandered his pole position, and Kasey Kahne was victimized by late race troubles.

For a while, I was just sure we would see a Victory Lane visitor who hadn’t been there in a while. I haven’t seen ol’ Mark Martin run like that in a long time. It’s just my opinion (and one of many unpopular ones I hold- but you know me), but I think you can put away your DEI obituary and save it for another decade. Not only did Martin’s 5th place finish impress, but Martin Truex Jr. put together a solid performance. Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, and Kyle Busch looked like contenders at times too.

Ol’ “Junebug” just missed it. Junior, Newman, Martin, Carl Edwards, Johnson all had their runs and the good news for Earnhardt was that he finished with a car that was NOT 100 times worse than what he started with.

There was some good battling going one, and it seemed like there a boatload of cautions, but the real story was a gas- and no, I’m not talking about Tony Stewart’s pre-race Subway sandwich. I’m talking about the drama over fuel mileage and who had enough to finish, and how much drivers coming in would need.

Let’s just say it right now- Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus are the smartest driver/crew chief combo in NASCAR, unlike any other I’ve ever seen. The #48 team looked like they were taking a chance, but Knaus guided Johnson through those final laps with juts enough to cross the finish line ahead everybody else. It was so reminiscent of Johnson’s late 2007 run when he won 4 races in a row.

This team always finds a way to win and overcome mistakes. In a post-race interview, Knaus admitted that keeping the El Cajon, California native out on the caution at lap 129 was a mistake, but they found a way to recover.

That’s what champions do.

 I’m outta here. I”ve run a 10-mile race today, watched my daughter’s soccer game, helped coach my son’s soccer team, spent two hours working on my weekend job and tended to a sick wife (flu).

Keep it tuned right here. during the offweek, I’m cooking up a spirited debate with a couple of people whom I greatly respect, but profoundly disagree with.

Good night.