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<generator>Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/</generator><item><title>Dodge CEO: Petty Switch to Ford 'a Business Decision'</title><link>http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/11/dodge-ceo-petty-switch-to-ford-a-business-decision/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/11/dodge-ceo-petty-switch-to-ford-a-business-decision/</guid><comments>http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/11/dodge-ceo-petty-switch-to-ford-a-business-decision/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/kasey-kahne/" rel="tag">Kasey Kahne</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/dodge/" rel="tag">Dodge</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/ford/" rel="tag">Ford</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/sprint-cup/" rel="tag">Sprint Cup</a></p><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" align="right" alt="Kasey Kahne" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/motorsports.fanhouse.com/media/2009/09/091009-kahne-200.jpg" />RICHMOND, Va. -- Tthere was mixed reaction in the Richmond International Raceway garage Friday morning to the news that Richard Petty Motorsports (RPM) and Yates Racing plans to merge for the 2010 <a class="injectedLink" href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/">NASCAR</a> season and will field a four-car Ford team under the RPM name.<br /><br />RPM currently fields Dodges and the move to Ford would leave Dodge only the three-car Penske Racing stable in the Sprint Cup Series.<br /><br />Dodge Motorsports President and CEO Mike Accavitti issued a statement saying, "Richard (Petty) has made a business decision to merge with Yates Racing. We wish Richard and RPM luck the rest of the season and in the future.''<br /><br />"Dodge's plan -- to be a championship contender in 2010 with Penske Racing and a solid lineup of drivers -- has not changed."<br /><br />RPM also announced its 2010 driver lineup of <a class="injectedLink" href="http://nascar.fanhouse.com/drivers/sprint/kasey-kahne/396">Kasey Kahne</a>, <a class="injectedLink" href="http://nascar.fanhouse.com/drivers/sprint/elliott-sadler/75">Elliott Sadler</a>, <a class="injectedLink" href="http://nascar.fanhouse.com/drivers/sprint/aj-allmendinger/1245">A.J. Allmendinger</a> and <a class="injectedLink" href="http://nascar.fanhouse.com/drivers/sprint/paul-menard/1053">Paul Menard</a>. And even some of these drivers, say they were just as surprised by the announcement as everyone else.<br /><br />There is plenty of irony to go around. Sadler left Yates Racing late in the 2006 season to drive for Evernham Motorsports, which is now RPM. Kahne, the team's lead driver, was involved in a lawsuit with Ford in 2004 after he signed with Evernham to drive Dodges.<br /><br />The twist in fate wasn't lost on Kahne<br /><br />"This wasn't really about me, it was about building Richard Petty Motorsports," said Kahne who only found out about the merger Wednesday night -- the day before the formal announcement. "When I left Ford and went through that suit and I wasn't a big fan and they weren't a big fan of me, but time heals and a lot of those people that were involved in that aren't there now. They have new people there and I'm really excited.<br /><br />"I feel good they're trying to make us better as a company. The Dodge deal was up.<br /><br />"This change is to make us stronger and give us a better chance when it comes to racing against these four and basically eight-car teams. "<br /><br /><a class="injectedLink" href="http://nascar.fanhouse.com/drivers/sprint/reed-sorenson/1275">Reed Sorenson</a>, who drives the No. 43 Dodge for RPM this season is one of the drivers -- along with former champion <a class="injectedLink" href="http://nascar.fanhouse.com/drivers/sprint/bobby-labonte/2">Bobby Labonte</a> and up-and-comer <a class="injectedLink" href="http://nascar.fanhouse.com/drivers/sprint/erik-darnell/1268">Erik Darnell</a> -- left out of the announced merger plans.<br /><br />Sorenson told Sirius Satellite Radio Thursday, "I didn't know when this was going to happen or what they were working on it but obviously it came along this week.<br /><br />"There have been some conversations in the past few weeks just discussing next year and I've kind of known for a few weeks now that I'm looking for a job next year."<br /><br />Sorenson said he doesn't have a real good lead right now, adding, "I just think it's the circumstances of the economy and what everybody's having to do to get through it."<br /><br />Driver <a class="injectedLink" href="http://nascar.fanhouse.com/drivers/sprint/ryan-newman/176">Ryan Newman</a> said he thought this merger -- and a trend of teams merging in the last two seasons -- was a bad sign for the state of NASCAR.<br /><br />"It's crazy to see how this sport has changed,'' said Newman, who drives the No. 39 U.S. Army Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing. "To see some of these mergers to me is a weakness in the sport. We don't want to see mergers of organizations; we want to see organizations have multiple teams. I want to see six to eight cars go home every week, that's the way it should be in my eyes.<br /><br />"I don't think that having these mergers is a good thing for the sport. You know the Dodge thing here, that doesn't really matter, it's just more the merger of the teams that I see as the bigger kicker."<br /><br />It also creates an interesting situation for Kahne who is the only RPM or Yates driver in position to qualify for the Chase for the Championship. He's a two-race winner this season and currently sixth in the standings, needing only to finish 21st in Saturday night's race at Richmond to make the 12-driver playoff.<br /><br />Kahne is the only driver with either the Petty or Yates team to win a race since 2005.<br /><br />"I'm not real worried about that (next year) right now," Kahne said. "I'm worried about driving my Dodges and winning races in them."<p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/11/dodge-ceo-petty-switch-to-ford-a-business-decision/">Dodge CEO: Petty Switch to Ford 'a Business Decision'</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com">Motorsports FanHouse</a> on Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:18:00 EST .  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/11/dodge-ceo-petty-switch-to-ford-a-business-decision/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/forward/19158563/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/11/dodge-ceo-petty-switch-to-ford-a-business-decision/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/11/dodge-ceo-petty-switch-to-ford-a-business-decision/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><dc:creator>Holly Cain</dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:18:00 EST </pubDate></item><item><title>Petty, Yates Teams to Combine Forces</title><link>http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/10/petty-yates-teams-set-to-merge-will-field-fords-in-2010/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/10/petty-yates-teams-set-to-merge-will-field-fords-in-2010/</guid><comments>http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/10/petty-yates-teams-set-to-merge-will-field-fords-in-2010/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/kasey-kahne/" rel="tag">Kasey Kahne</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/ford/" rel="tag">Ford</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/yates-racing/" rel="tag">Yates Racing</a></p><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" align="right" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/motorsports.fanhouse.com/media/2009/09/pettypost.jpg" alt="Richard Petty" />RICHMOND, Va. -- Two of the biggest names in NASCAR -- <a href="http://www.fanhouse.com/tag/Richard+Petty+Motorsports/">Richard Petty Motorsports</a> and <a href="http://www.fanhouse.com/tag/Yates+Racing/">Yates Racing</a> -- announced Thursday they have signed a letter-of-intent to merge for the 2010 season and will field a four-car Ford team under the Richard Petty Motorsports (RPM) banner.<br /><br />Current Yates driver Paul Menard and current RPM drivers Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler and A.J. Allmendinger will be the drivers.<br /><br />"This is a pretty big deal for us," <a href="http://www.fanhouse.com/tag/Richard+Petty/">Richard Petty</a> said. "We've talked with a lot of folks, but in the end it came down to the success the Gilletts (co-owner George Gillett and his sons) and and I think we can achieve with Ford Racing.<br /><br />"There are lots of details still left to be ironed out so we don't have a lot of answers for anyone right now. We'll be working on all that in the coming days, weeks and months, but we do intend to have everything in place before the start of next season. I've won races with Ford and plan to again."<br /><br />"I am very pleased that Richard Petty Motorsports has made the decision to switch to Ford," said Brian Wolfe, director of Ford North America Motorsports. "They had choices to consider other than Ford and it's gratifying to us that they have enough faith in the Ford Motor Company and what we're doing to make the switch."<br /><br />"What's also really cool to me is the chance to have someone with the class and legacy of Richard Petty involved with Ford. Combine that with the chance to work with the Gillett family, who we have great respect for, and add some great drivers to the Ford camp, well, it's hard not to be excited about this opportunity.''<br /><br />The Petty team's switch from Dodges to Fords leaves only Roger Penske's three-car operation in the Dodge ranks. and dispels season-long rumors that RPM would be fielding Toyotas in 2010.<br /><br />George Gillett bought majority control of what was then Evernham Motorsports in 2007 (the company was renamed Gillett Evernham Motorsports after the deal was completed). Team founder Ray Evernham eventually sold most of his interest to Gillett in 2008 and relinquished almost all involvement with the organization -- which again changed names to Gillett Motorsports -- at that point.<br /><br />Gillett and the legendary Petty joined forces following the 2008 season to form (and rename yet again) Richard Petty Motorsports. Evernham remains a small minority shareholder, but is not active in the organization's operation.<br /><br />Thursday's news effectively means that Reed Sorenson, who moved to RPM this season to drive the No. 43, and former Cup champ Bobby Labonte, who moved from the former Petty Enterprises to Yates Racing after last season, will both once again be free agents at the end of this season. It also leaves the status of Eric Darnell, who will replace Labonte in the No. 96 Ford for six of the remaining 11 Cup races on the schedule in what was considered somewhat of a tryout on the Cup series for the young driver, uncertain for next season.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/10/petty-yates-teams-set-to-merge-will-field-fords-in-2010/">Petty, Yates Teams to Combine Forces</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com">Motorsports FanHouse</a> on Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:04:00 EST .  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/10/petty-yates-teams-set-to-merge-will-field-fords-in-2010/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/forward/19157416/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/10/petty-yates-teams-set-to-merge-will-field-fords-in-2010/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/10/petty-yates-teams-set-to-merge-will-field-fords-in-2010/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><category>richard petty</category><category>richard petty motorsports</category><category>yates racing</category><dc:creator>Holly Cain</dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:04:00 EST </pubDate></item><item><title>Roush Team Targets Michigan Speedway</title><link>http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/06/11/roush-roster-targets-michigan-speedway/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/06/11/roush-roster-targets-michigan-speedway/</guid><comments>http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/06/11/roush-roster-targets-michigan-speedway/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/carl-edwards/" rel="tag">Carl Edwards</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/greg-biffle/" rel="tag">Greg Biffle</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/ford/" rel="tag">Ford</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/roush-fenway-racing/" rel="tag">Roush Fenway Racing</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/sprint-cup/" rel="tag">Sprint Cup</a></p><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/motorsports.fanhouse.com/media/2009/06/split-425-061109.jpg" alt="" /><br />What with <a href="http://www.fanhouse.com/tag/Tony+Stewart/">Tony Stewart</a> going it on his own just fine, thank you; <a href="http://www.fanhouse.com/tag/Kyle+Busch/">Kyle Busch</a> smashing trophies in victory lane; <a href="http://www.fanhouse.com/tag/Dale+Earnhardt+Jr/">Dale Earnhardt Jr.</a> struggling to live up to his hype; 50-year old <a href="http://www.fanhouse.com/tag/Mark+Martin/">Mark Martin</a> winning races; and Hendrick Motorsports being, well ... Hendrick Motorsports, the once dominant Roush Fenway Ford team finds itself on <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/">NASCAR</a>'s attention periphery here at the midseason point.<br /><br />Three of Roush's five drivers are currently ranked among the championship top-12, but only one -- <a href="http://www.fanhouse.com/tag/Matt+Kenseth/">Matt Kenseth</a> -- has reached victory lane.<br /><br />Roush drivers have led laps and led them late -- <a href="http://www.fanhouse.com/tag/Carl+Edwards/">Carl Edwards</a> at Talladega, <a href="http://www.fanhouse.com/tag/Greg+Biffle/">Greg Biffle</a> at Dover, for example -- but inevitably another story seems to come along and swipe the checkered flag and the spotlight.<br /><br />Of course, that could all change this Sunday at Michigan International Speedway, where Roush Fenway Racing owns 11 victories -- eight in the past 10 years.<br /><br />"I think we're a little under the radar obviously," said <a href="http://www.fanhouse.com/tag/Greg+Biffle/">Greg Biffle</a>, who's ranked seventh in the standings. "The 16-team, we tend to fly under the radar a little bit more. We're there every week, right there, right there. ... And tend not to make too much racket, which does and doesn't bother me that we don't get the attention.<br /><br />"Pretty much everything I saw and read after the Dover race was about Tony Stewart and <a href="http://www.fanhouse.com/tag/Jimmie+Johnson/">Jimmie Johnson</a> -- 'two of the best drivers in the world, did you see em?' "<br /><br />"I wasn't even mentioned," Biffle said smiling. "It was like I wasn't even there. I was the one leading. Tony and I battled for position, then he got by me. ...Then the 48 got by me.<br /><br />"I don't let that bother me, it's just where the storyline is. Sometimes we'll be the storyline and sometimes we won't."<br /><br /><!-- START SWF PUBLISHER -->
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    <p class="caption"> NEW YORK - JUNE 10: Brian Vickers, driver of the NASCAR #83 Red Bull Toyota, pulls away after making a full pit stop with the Red Bull Racing pit crew on 7th Avenue in Times Square on June 10, 2009 in New York City. (Photo by Jaime L. Mikle/Getty Images for Red Bull) *** Local Caption *** Brian Vickers</p>
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    <p class="caption"> NEW YORK - JUNE 10: Brian Vickers, driver of the NASCAR #83 Red Bull Toyota, makes a full pit stop with the Red Bull Racing pit crew on 7th Avenue in Times Square on June 10, 2009 in New York City. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images for Red Bull) *** Local Caption *** Brian Vickers</p>
    <p class="credit">Getty Images for Red Bull</p>
    <p class="caption"> NEW YORK - JUNE 10: Brian Vickers, driver of the NASCAR #83 Red Bull Toyota, makes a full pit stop with the Red Bull Racing pit crew on 7th Avenue in Times Square on June 10, 2009 in New York City. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images for Red Bull) *** Local Caption *** Brian Vickers</p>
    <p class="credit">Getty Images for Red Bull</p>
    <p class="caption"> NEW YORK - JUNE 10: Brian Vickers, driver of the NASCAR #83 Red Bull Toyota, makes a full pit stop with the Red Bull Racing pit crew on 7th Avenue in Times Square on June 10, 2009 in New York City. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images for Red Bull) *** Local Caption *** Brian Vickers</p>
    <p class="credit">Getty Images for Red Bull</p>
    <p class="caption"> NEW YORK - JUNE 10: Brian Vickers, driver of the NASCAR #83 Red Bull Toyota, makes a full pit stop with the Red Bull Racing pit crew on 7th Avenue in Times Square on June 10, 2009 in New York City. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images for Red Bull) *** Local Caption *** Brian Vickers</p>
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    <p class="caption"> NEW YORK - JUNE 10: A NASCAR racing lollipop is held in the street before Brian Vickers, driver of the NASCAR #83 Red Bull Toyota, makes a full pit stop with the Red Bull Racing pit crew on 7th Avenue in Times Square on June 10, 2009 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images for Red Bull) *** Local Caption *** Brian Vickers</p>
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    <p class="caption"> NEW YORK - JUNE 10: Brian Vickers, driver of the NASCAR #83 Red Bull Toyota, makes a full pit stop with the Red Bull Racing pit crew on 7th Avenue in Times Square on June 10, 2009 in New York City. (Photo by Jaime L. Mikle/Getty Images for Red Bull) *** Local Caption *** Brian Vickers</p>
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    <p class="caption"> NEW YORK - JUNE 10: Brian Vickers, driver of the NASCAR #83 Red Bull Toyota, makes a full pit stop with the Red Bull Racing pit crew on 7th Avenue in Times Square on June 10, 2009 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images for Red Bull) *** Local Caption *** Brian Vickers</p>
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    <p class="caption"> FILE - This is an April 19, 2008 file photo showing Colin Braun posing for photographers after winning his first pole position in his three-year career, during the NASCAR Nationwide qualifiers in Mexico City. Braun figures there couldn't be a better time for his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory than in Saturday's race at Michigan International Speedway. The 20-year-old Braun, in his second full season driving trucks for Roush Fenway Racing, would love to be the driver to give team co-owner Jack Roush his 50th series victory. (AP Photo/Miguel Tovar, File)</p>
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    <p class="caption"> Tony Stewart (14) drives from the garage area for practice Saturday, June 6, 2009, at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa. Darian Grubb had no intention of leaving his engineering job at Hendrick Motorsports. But when Tony Stewart called him with an offer to be the crew chief of his upstart team, Grubb couldn't say no. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)</p>
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<!-- END SWF PUBLISHER --> <br /><br />More often than not, the Roush team is the storyline at Michigan, a driver-favorite 2-miler where the Roush Fenway team has scored at least one victory in the past seven consecutive years -- a track record. The last time the Cup Series raced here (August, 2008), all five of the Roush Fords finished in the top-10.<br /><br />And as far as team founder Jack Roush is concerned, there's no finer place for the success. He lives outside Detroit and his ROUSH Industries engineering company is headquartered a half hour away from the track. He got his first Michigan win two decades ago with a 30-year-old Martin.<br /><br />"It's just fun to race in front of the home crowd and we have a history of being successful based on the foundation that Mark Martin put under us 20 years ago," said Roush, who counts a 1997 win during Ford Motor Company's 100th anniversary celebration as his most memorable victory here.<br /><br />Edwards, Biffle and Kenseth -- who are ranked sixth, seventh and eighth in the championship -- are among the leaders in nearly every statistical category at Michigan in the last four years and considered heavy favorites this weekend.<br /><br /> Edwards holds the top driver rating at MIS, Kenseth is third and Biffle fourth. Edwards, who has two wins in nine Cup starts here, is also tops in Average Running Position (seventh), Laps Run in the Top 15 (90.2 percent) and Fastest Race Laps (134).<br /><br />"Trust me, I want to win so badly," said Edwards, who won at Michigan last August and is coming off a runner-up effort at Dover on Sunday.<br /><br />"Even though it's only been 13 or 14 races [since a win], it feels like forever. But I think if we just keep our heads down, I think we'll get what we deserve. And definitely points feel good."<br /><br />Biffle concurs.<br /><br />"Big picture, we're right there," said Biffle, adding with a laugh. "We're not lousy by any means."<p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/06/11/roush-roster-targets-michigan-speedway/">Roush Team Targets Michigan Speedway</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com">Motorsports FanHouse</a> on Thu, 11 Jun 2009 21:45:00 EST .  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/06/11/roush-roster-targets-michigan-speedway/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/forward/19064952/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/06/11/roush-roster-targets-michigan-speedway/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/06/11/roush-roster-targets-michigan-speedway/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><category>Carl Edwards</category><category>Greg Biffle</category><category>Matt Kenseth</category><category>Michigan International Speedway</category><category>Roush Fenway Racing</category><dc:creator>Holly Cain</dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 11 Jun 2009 21:45:00 EST </pubDate></item><item><title>Toyota's NASCAR Monopoly on Hold</title><link>http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/01/15/toyotas-nascar-monopoly-plans-on-hold/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/01/15/toyotas-nascar-monopoly-plans-on-hold/</guid><comments>http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/01/15/toyotas-nascar-monopoly-plans-on-hold/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/ford/" rel="tag">Ford</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/toyota/" rel="tag">Toyota</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/roush-fenway-racing/" rel="tag">Roush Fenway Racing</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/sprint-cup/" rel="tag">Sprint Cup</a></p><a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/tag/JackRoush/"><img hspace="4" border="1" align="right" vspace="4" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/motorsports.fanhouse.com/media/2009/01/rsz_183714314.jpg" alt="" />Jack Roush</a>, co-owner of NASCAR's <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/tag/RoushFenwayRacing/">Roush Fenway Racing</a>, can sleep a little better these days.<br /><br /><a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/tag/Toyota/">Toyota</a> Racing Development -- long the rotten apple in the eye of Roush -- <a href="http://www.thatsracin.com/topstories/story/21732.html">acknowledged this week</a> in a conference call that it too expects budgetary cuts in the coming year thanks to an automobile market that's having a problem or two selling cars.<br /><br /> TRD's NASCAR point man, Lee White, said the entire company posted its first annual loss in 70 years in 2008 and that "there is probably not anything on this earth here that Toyota is involved with now that is not under some level of review regarding budget expenditure" thanks to sorry market conditions.<br /><br />Since joining the <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/tag/CampingWorldTruckSeries/">Camping World Truck Series</a> in 2004 and <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/tag/SprintCup/">Sprint Cup</a> &amp; <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/tag/NationwideSeries/">Nationwide Series</a> in 2007, Toyota has been greeted by some in the garage area with a cold shoulder, thanks to the company's overseas ties and seemingly endless cash stream.<br /><br />Roush, ever the Ford man, has long had not-so-nice things to say about the company mainly because he fears the deep pockets could overwhelm his race team's ability to compete. Roush's Sprint Cup drivers include Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, David Ragan, Jamie McMurray and Greg Biffle.<br /> <br /> The l<a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2008/03/07/roush-not-too-happy-with-toyota-comments/">atest round of Roush vs. Toyota</a> came at <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/tag/AtlantaMotorSpeedway/">Atlanta Motor Speedway</a> last March, a week after Edwards' race-winning Las Vegas failed post-race inspection due a loose oil tank cover. White, a former Roush employee, didn't buy the argument, and Roush responded.<br /> <br /> Needless to say, relations between the blue oval and Toyota are roughly as warm as a sheet of ice.<br /> <br /> Perhaps today, though, Roush's idea of being overrun by Toyota's deep pockets has simmered some. That being said, I wouldn't go as far as to say that Christmas cards are going to be exchanged anytime soon.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/01/15/toyotas-nascar-monopoly-plans-on-hold/">Toyota's NASCAR Monopoly on Hold</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com">Motorsports FanHouse</a> on Thu, 15 Jan 2009 15:00:00 EST .  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/01/15/toyotas-nascar-monopoly-plans-on-hold/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/forward/1430937/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/01/15/toyotas-nascar-monopoly-plans-on-hold/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/01/15/toyotas-nascar-monopoly-plans-on-hold/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><category>CampingWorldTruckSeries</category><category>Ford</category><category>JackRoush</category><category>NationwideSeries</category><category>RoushFenwayRacing</category><category>SprintCup</category><category>Toyota</category><dc:creator>Geoffrey Miller</dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 15 Jan 2009 15:00:00 EST </pubDate></item><item><title>Edwards Bumps Busch, Wins Sixth at Bristol</title><link>http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2008/08/23/edwards-bumps-busch-wins-sixth-at-bristol/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2008/08/23/edwards-bumps-busch-wins-sixth-at-bristol/</guid><comments>http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2008/08/23/edwards-bumps-busch-wins-sixth-at-bristol/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/carl-edwards/" rel="tag">Carl Edwards</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/kyle-busch/" rel="tag">Kyle Busch</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/ford/" rel="tag">Ford</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/toyota/" rel="tag">Toyota</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/roush-fenway-racing/" rel="tag">Roush Fenway Racing</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/bristol-motor-speedway/" rel="tag">Bristol Motor Speedway</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/sprint-cup/" rel="tag">Sprint Cup</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/joe-gibbs-racing/" rel="tag">Joe Gibbs Racing </a></p><div align="center"><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" alt=""  src="http://www.blogcdn.com/motorsports.fanhouse.com/media/2008/08/rsz_82530505.jpg" /><br /></div>
<br />75 percent? That number works just fine for <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/tag/CarlEdwards/">Carl Edwards</a>.<br /><br />Banging the <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/tag/SprintCup/">Sprint Cup</a> point leader out of the way for a win? Well, that works too.<br /><br />For the third time in four races, Edwards has chopped into the bonus point lead held by Joe Gibbs Racing driver <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/tag/KyleBusch/">Kyle Busch</a> via a race win in the Sprint Cup Series. Saturday night that win -- his sixth of 2008 -- came in the <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/tag/Sharpie500/">Sharpie 500</a> at <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/tag/BristolMotorSpeedway/">Bristol Motor Speedway</a>.<br /><br /><br /> Edwards led 84 laps, but took the lead for the final time from Busch on lap 469 of the 500 lap race by giving the No. 18 a bump heading into turn one. <br /><br /> Busch finished second was hot after the race, slamming Edwards in the side after the checkered flag. Edwards responded by spinning out Busch before driving to the start/finish line to complete his trademark flip. Denny Hamlin finished third, Kevin Harvick fourth, and Jeff Gordon fifth.<br /> <br /> "He hit me getting in to turn one. You know whatever. Carl will say he's sorry and he didn't want to race that way -- you know Mr. Ed like. We'll race him that way in the Chase if that's the way he wants to race," said Busch.<br /> <br /> Instead, Edwards wasn't apologetic in victory lane.<br /> <br /> "It was one of those deals where I couldn't get by him and couldn't get by him. And then I had to ask myself, would he do that to me? And the answer was yes, and he's done it to me before," said Edwards. "In the back of my mind I was still thinking about a Nationwide race at Richmond when he was driving through the field and he pile-drove me."<br /> <br /> And he certainly didn't need to.<br /> <br /> Edwards' move didn't take Busch out of the race and he had plenty time after the contact to get back to Edwards to make a winning pass, but the No. 18 could not come near Edwards as he pulled away from the field to take the checkers. <br /> <br /> Simply, it was a well-timed move by Edwards at a short-track that did nothing but move a car out of the way.<br /> <br /> Thank you, Carl Edwards, for a great finish and an appropriate response to Busch's late-race antics by not apologizing for what happened on track.<br /> <br /> Dare we say it? NASCAR has a new rivalry -- just in time for the Chase to the Championship.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2008/08/23/edwards-bumps-busch-wins-sixth-at-bristol/">Edwards Bumps Busch, Wins Sixth at Bristol</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com">Motorsports FanHouse</a> on Sat, 23 Aug 2008 23:45:00 EST .  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2008/08/23/edwards-bumps-busch-wins-sixth-at-bristol/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/forward/1293312/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2008/08/23/edwards-bumps-busch-wins-sixth-at-bristol/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2008/08/23/edwards-bumps-busch-wins-sixth-at-bristol/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><category>Bristol</category><category>BristolMotorSpeedway</category><category>CarlEdwards</category><category>DennyHamlin</category><category>JeffGordon</category><category>KevinHarvick</category><category>KyleBusch</category><category>Sharpie500</category><category>SprintCup</category><dc:creator>Geoffrey Miller</dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 23 Aug 2008 23:45:00 EST </pubDate></item><item><title>First Time: Ambrose, Carpentier Qualify at IMS</title><link>http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2008/07/26/ambrose-carpentier-earn-first-brickyard-start/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2008/07/26/ambrose-carpentier-earn-first-brickyard-start/</guid><comments>http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2008/07/26/ambrose-carpentier-earn-first-brickyard-start/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/dodge/" rel="tag">Dodge</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/ford/" rel="tag">Ford</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/indianapolis-motor-speedway/" rel="tag">Indianapolis Motor Speedway</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/sprint-cup/" rel="tag">Sprint Cup</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/evernham-motorsports/" rel="tag">Gillett-Evernham Motorsports</a></p><em><strong>FanHouse's Geoffrey Miller is on-location at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for Sunday's 15th Running of the <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/tag/Allstate400/">Allstate 400</a> at the Brickyard.<br /><br /></strong></em><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" align="right" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/motorsports.fanhouse.com/media/2008/07/rsz_82066589.jpg" alt="" />It's a good day to be a driver from Australia or Canada in Indianapolis.<br /><br />Both drivers representing their respective countries managed to qualify for their first <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/tag/Allstate400/">Allstate 400</a> at the Brickyard Saturday morning at <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/tag/IndianapolisMotorSpeedway/">Indianapolis Motor Speedway</a> in the session's go-or-go-home finale.<br /><br />Australian <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/tag/MarcusAmbrose/">Marcus Ambrose</a>, who <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2008/07/16/hello-mate-ambrose-moves-to-sprint-cup/">announced just last week</a> that he would be jumping from the <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/tag/NationwideSeries/">Nationwide Series</a> to the <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/tag/SprintCup/">Sprint Cup</a> Series full-time in 2009 with the creation of JTG Daughtery Racing, qualified for his first oval race. Needless to say, he was excited:<blockquote>"I've never been so anxious and nervous and apprenhensive all my life. Two laps on the race track here at the Brickyard, which is so famous and so intimidating as well, I just had to suck all that up and let her rip," said Ambrose.<br /><br />"We're racing against the big boys and we qualified ourselves in on merit. It means an awful lot to me. I feel like today I've made it. I feel like we're in the Brickyard."</blockquote>Now isn't refreshing to hear a guy who is <em>that</em> excited to make the race? Ambrose's run is all that more impressive because his team had just two laps in practice on Friday thanks to NASCAR rules that allow Top-35 cars to go through technical inspection first.<br /><br />Ambrose will start 24th.<br /> <br /> Canadian Patrick Carpentier -- who does have one career start in 2005 Indianapolis 500 at IMS in which he finished 21st -- also made the 400-mile race in his first career attempt, despite not having a Top-35 owner points position to fall back on. <br /> <br /> Carpentier's 15th-place starting spot continues a nice streak for the Gillette-Evernham Motorsports driver, as he has now put the No. 10 Dodge in 15th starting position or better in three of the last four races.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2008/07/26/ambrose-carpentier-earn-first-brickyard-start/">First Time: Ambrose, Carpentier Qualify at IMS</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com">Motorsports FanHouse</a> on Sat, 26 Jul 2008 14:59:00 EST .  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2008/07/26/ambrose-carpentier-earn-first-brickyard-start/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/forward/1267698/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2008/07/26/ambrose-carpentier-earn-first-brickyard-start/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2008/07/26/ambrose-carpentier-earn-first-brickyard-start/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><category>Allstate400</category><category>Brickyard</category><category>IndianapolisMotorSpeedway</category><category>JTGDaughteryRacing</category><category>MarcusAmbrose</category><category>NationwideSeries</category><category>PatrickCarpentier</category><category>SprintCup</category><dc:creator>Geoffrey Miller</dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 26 Jul 2008 14:59:00 EST </pubDate></item><item><title>Carl Edwards' Sprint Cup Roller Coaster</title><link>http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2008/03/10/carl-edwards-sprint-cup-roller-coaster/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2008/03/10/carl-edwards-sprint-cup-roller-coaster/</guid><comments>http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2008/03/10/carl-edwards-sprint-cup-roller-coaster/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/carl-edwards/" rel="tag">Carl Edwards</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/ford/" rel="tag">Ford</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/roush-fenway-racing/" rel="tag">Roush Fenway Racing</a></p><em><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" align="right" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.fanhouse.com/media/2008/03/edwards-blows-up-vegas.jpg" alt="" />Welcome to the Carl Edwards Sprint Cup Crazy Train, the newest attraction at Roush-land Amusement Park. Before boarding, realize that this ride is not for the faint of heart. Be sure to keep the lap bar down at all times, and enjoy your ride on the Carl Edwards Sprint Cup Crazy Train.<br /><br /></em><strong>It's been an interesting couple of race weekends for <a href="http://www.fanhouse.com/tag/CarlEdwards/">Carl Edwards</a> in the <a href="http://www.fanhouse.com/tag/SprintCup/">Sprint Cup</a> Series. Winning races, cheating accusations, penalties, and a blown engine don't generally run together for a driver, so let's rewind:</strong><br /><br /><a href="http://www.fanhouse.com/2008/02/25/carl-edwards-wins-delayed-auto-club-500/"><em><strong>Monday, Feb. 25, 2008</strong></em> <strong>-</strong> <u><strong>Auto Club 500</strong></u></a>: Edwards takes his No. 99 to victory lane on rain-delayed Monday. The No. 99 led 64 of 250 laps for Edwards 8th-career victory at the Auto Club Speedway of Southern California.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.fanhouse.com/2008/03/02/carl-edwards-doubles-up-in-las-vegas/"><em><strong>Sunday, March 2, 2008 </strong></em></a><strong><a href="javascript:void(0);/*1205169103696*/">- <u>UAW-Dodge 400</u></a>:</strong> For the second week in-a-row, Edwards carries his Roush team to victory, backflip and all. It's his 9th-career victory and is a sign that Roush-Fenway Racing has made significant strides in 2008.<br /><br />Hours later though, problems would arise.<strong><em><br /><br /></em></strong>Its revealed that NASCAR has found a problem with the oil tank cover on the No. 99 Ford. The part is missing and Edwards <a href="http://www.fanhouse.com/2008/03/02/carl-edwards-no-99-fails-inspection/">is deemed to have failed post-race inspection</a>. The car is taken by NASCAR back to the research and development center in Concord, NC. for further examination.<br /><br /><strong><a href="http://www.fanhouse.com/2008/03/05/edwards-draws-significant-nascar-penalty/"><em>Wednesday, March 5, 2008</em> - <u>Significant Penalties</u></a>:</strong> NASCAR comes down hard on Edwards &amp; Co., taking away 100 driver points, 100 owner points, 10 bonus points, and suspending crew chief Bob Osbourne for six races. The Roush-Fenway team debates whether or not to appeal the penalty, though the admit a mistake.<br /> <strong><br /> <a href="http://www.fanhouse.com/2008/03/07/roush-not-too-happy-with-toyota-comments/"><em>Friday, March 7, 2008</em> - <u>Roush Fires Back</u></a>:</strong> A <em>USA Today</em> article runs with the head of Toyota's racing program Lee White telling the world he feels that what happened on the No. 99 was an intentional mistake. Hot under the collar, Roush fires back with technical reasons about how it happened, says that White will do (and say) anything to get ahead, and implores that he didn't intentionally cheat.<br /> <br /> Dale Earnhardt Jr. sums up garage area opinion by simply calling Roush's explanation "comical".<br /> <strong><br /> <a href="http://www.fanhouse.com/2008/03/09/busch-scores-first-toyota-win-at-atlanta/"><em>Sunday, March 9, 2008</em> - <u>Edwards Leads, Then Blows</u></a>:</strong> Carl Edwards was on his way to putting a big stamp on the critics who felt that his win at Las Vegas was now tainted by putting on an impressive performance late in the race by building a huge lead over Kyle Busch. He leads 33 laps until lap 274 -- 60 laps to go -- when his engine begins to blow up and the No. 99 heads to pit lane.<br /> <br /> After exiting the car, Edwards puts a smile on and <strike>sarcastically</strike> humorously tells Fox that the oil cover is still on the car. Kyle Busch goes on to win Toyota's first Sprint Cup Series race.<br /> ----<br /> Without a doubt, up and down hardly begin to describe the past few weeks for Edwards, but he's got to be used to it by now.<br /> <br /> The last time that the Sprint Cup Series rolled into Atlanta Motor Speedway, Edwards was getting bad-mouthed by nearly every driver after a <a href="http://www.fanhouse.com/2007/10/21/nascar-ringside-edwards-v-kenseth/">weird incident with teammate Matt Kenseth</a> after the previous race at Martinsville.<br /> <br /> This time? It was more directed at the explanation offered by his team. Simply, the infraction that Edwards got caught with has been done time and time again to help increase downforce on the cars by several other teams in the garage, so when the Roush group tried to claim an honest mistake based around a "failed bolt" and "vibration harmonics", it made the team that laughingstock of the garage.<br /> <br /> Obviously, a win on Sunday by Edwards would have been a nice shot in the arm for the embattled team -- especially because his car was so dominant in the later stages of the race. Instead, the racing gods must have had other plans as Edwards' engine went sour despite building such a great lead.<br /> <br /> And to <strike>slap Jack Roush in the face</strike> cap things off? His biggest on-track nemesis, Toyota, won their first ever Sprint Cup race. In the mean time, Edwards had been first in points before his penalty from Las Vegas now finds himself 17th, 232 points behind leader Kyle Busch. <br /> <br /> The past couple of weeks have certainly been a roller coaster of sorts for Edwards and the Roush-Fenway organization, and it wouldn't be surprising to see the team lose focus for a race or two, but he is far from out of the championship hunt. <br /><br />A few strong finishes and wins will be all that the No. 99 team will need to get back on track and forget the crazy weeks that were Las Vegas and Atlanta.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2008/03/10/carl-edwards-sprint-cup-roller-coaster/">Carl Edwards' Sprint Cup Roller Coaster</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com">Motorsports FanHouse</a> on Mon, 10 Mar 2008 14:25:00 EST .  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2008/03/10/carl-edwards-sprint-cup-roller-coaster/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/forward/1136239/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2008/03/10/carl-edwards-sprint-cup-roller-coaster/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2008/03/10/carl-edwards-sprint-cup-roller-coaster/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><category>Atlanta</category><category>AtlantaMotorSpeedway</category><category>AutoClubSpeedway</category><category>CarlEdwards</category><category>JackRoush</category><category>KobaltTools500</category><category>RoushFenwayRacing</category><category>SprintCup</category><category>UAWDodge400</category><dc:creator>Geoffrey Miller</dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 10 Mar 2008 14:25:00 EST </pubDate></item><item><title>NASCAR FanHouse Top 25 Year-in-Review:<Br>Matt Kenseth, No. 17 Roush-Fenway Ford</title><link>http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2008/01/06/nascar-fanhouse-top-25-year-in-review-br-matt-kenseth-no-17-r/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2008/01/06/nascar-fanhouse-top-25-year-in-review-br-matt-kenseth-no-17-r/</guid><comments>http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2008/01/06/nascar-fanhouse-top-25-year-in-review-br-matt-kenseth-no-17-r/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/matt-kenseth/" rel="tag">Matt Kenseth</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/ford/" rel="tag">Ford</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/roush-fenway-racing/" rel="tag">Roush Fenway Racing</a></p><div style="text-align: center;"><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" alt=""  src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.fanhouse.com/media/2008/01/matt-kenseth-fanhouses.jpg" /><br /></div>
<em><strong>Welcome to the <a href="http://www.fanhouse.com/tag/top25drivers">2007 NASCAR FanHouse Year in Review.</a> Follow along each day as we look back on the top 25 drivers of the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series for the 2007 season. Heck, bookmark us if you have to! Today, we review the season of 4th-place Matt Kenseth.<br /><br /></strong></em><strong>Driver: </strong>Matt Kenseth -- Cambridge, Wisconsin<br /><strong>Team: </strong>No. 17 DeWalt Ford<br /><strong>Points: </strong>4th (-425)<br /><strong>2006: </strong>2nd in Cup Standings<br /><strong>Key Stats: </strong>2 wins, 13 Top-5s, 22 Top-10s<br /><strong>Back in 2008?: </strong>Yes<br /><br />Generally, when a driver changes crew chiefs in the off-season, one would tend to believe that the previous season was a total loss. Especially so when the two people involved are Matt Kenseth and Robbie Reiser. <br /><br />Kenseth and Reiser have worked together from the get-go of Matt's NASCAR career. Two former rivals on the short-tracks of Wisconsin, they teamed up and headed south for the riches of NASCAR's top series nearly a decade ago and found success quickly. They latched on with Roush Racing and together won the 2003 Winston Cup Championship.<br /><br />And so, in 2007, it looks like on paper that if Reiser is leaving, something went drastically wrong.<br /><br />But it didn't.<br /><br />Instead, Kenseth finished his 2007 campaign quite well in 4th-place after stringing together two wins at California in February and Homestead in November. Along the way, Kenseth didn't struggle to find his trademark consistency. Reiser, leaving to take a higher role in Roush-Fenway's team, kept the car tuned well enough to win potentially score another championship if not for some terrible luck in the Chase.<br /> <br /> Kenseth finished the Chase with five-straight Top-5's, but sandwiched between a seventh at Loudon were finishes of 35th (Dover), 35th (Kansas), 26th (Talladega) and 34th (Lowes). At Dover, Kenseth should have walked out with a victory after leading 149 laps until a blown engine sealed his fate with 26 laps to go.<br /> <br /> At Kansas, Matt led 49 laps and Talladega saw Kenseth finish 17 laps off the pace after an incident. Finally, Lowes Motor Speedway saw Kenseth led 32 laps before falling out.<br /> <br /> Obviously, Kenseth's Chase had a ton of potential if not for some unfortunate luck, and for that reason, despite having a new crew chief in '08, I think you can look at the No. 17 to be at the front a lot. Is is a championship in the picture? I sure think so.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2008/01/06/nascar-fanhouse-top-25-year-in-review-br-matt-kenseth-no-17-r/">NASCAR FanHouse Top 25 Year-in-Review:<Br>Matt Kenseth, No. 17 Roush-Fenway Ford</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com">Motorsports FanHouse</a> on Sun, 06 Jan 2008 14:00:00 EST .  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2008/01/06/nascar-fanhouse-top-25-year-in-review-br-matt-kenseth-no-17-r/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/forward/1078846/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2008/01/06/nascar-fanhouse-top-25-year-in-review-br-matt-kenseth-no-17-r/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2008/01/06/nascar-fanhouse-top-25-year-in-review-br-matt-kenseth-no-17-r/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><category>Top25Drivers</category><dc:creator>Geoffrey Miller</dc:creator><pubDate>Sun, 06 Jan 2008 14:00:00 EST </pubDate></item><item><title>NASCAR FanHouse Top 25 Year-in-Review: <br>Carl Edwards, No. 99 Roush-Fenway Ford</title><link>http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/12/31/nascar-fanhouse-top-25-year-in-review-br-carl-edwards-no-99/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/12/31/nascar-fanhouse-top-25-year-in-review-br-carl-edwards-no-99/</guid><comments>http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/12/31/nascar-fanhouse-top-25-year-in-review-br-carl-edwards-no-99/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/carl-edwards/" rel="tag">Carl Edwards</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/ford/" rel="tag">Ford</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/roush-fenway-racing/" rel="tag">Roush Fenway Racing</a></p><div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;"><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" alt=""  src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.fanhouse.com/media/2007/12/carl-edwards-fanhouse.jpg" /><br /></div>
<em><strong>Welcome to the <a href="http://www.fanhouse.com/tag/top25drivers">2007 NASCAR FanHouse Year in Review.</a> Follow along each day as we look back on the top 25 drivers of the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series for the 2007 season. Heck, bookmark us if you have to! Today, we review the season of 9th-place Carl Edwards.</strong></em><br /></div>
<em><strong><br /></strong></em><strong>Driver: </strong>Carl Edwards -- Columbia, Missouri<br /><strong>Team: </strong>No. 99 Office Depot Ford<br /><strong>Points: </strong>9th (-501)<br /><strong>2006: </strong>12th in Cup Standings<br /><strong>Key Stats: </strong>3 wins, 1 pole, 11 Top-5s, 15 Top-10s<br /><strong>Back in 2008?: </strong>Yes<br /><br />The NASCAR world welcomed Carl Edwards back -- or at least he acted like it -- with a vengeance in 2007.<br /><br />A year removed from not winning a race and finishing outside the Chase for the Nextel Cup, Edwards came back to life with his No. 99 Roush-Fenway Ford. Edwards notched three wins in '07, with the first coming at Michigan in June. From there, he would play master of concrete speedways by winning the 500-lapper at Bristol in the fall and the second race in the Chase at Dover.<br /><br />On the Busch Series side of things, Edwards flat-out whipped the field early in the season, gaining a nearly 800-point lead on second place around Charlotte in May. That early domination was enough for Edwards to slide through a tough end of the season with his second career Busch Series title.<br /><br />In 2007, we got to see a different side of Carl Edwards -- one that doesn't always smile and can be just a little bit scary. Each time, though, involved teammate Matt Kenseth.<br /><br />First, Edwards and Kenseth were battling for the lead at Kansas in the Busch Series event when the two collided -- loosening up Edwards. Several laps later -- and some irritated radio chatter communications from Edwards --  Edwards blew a tire  and smacked the turn 3 wall. After climbing from the car, Edwards pointed at teammate Kenseth and also had some disparaging remarks about the guy in his interview.<br /> <br /> A few weeks later at Martinsville during the Chase, Kenseth and Edwards surprisingly and confusingly got at it again. This time, though, Kenseth was as confused as the rest of the world when Edwards walked up to him way after the race was over and pretended to punch and manhandle Kenseth.<br /> <br /> No one quite understood the action, and it likely caused several young Edwards fans to return their camo skateboard shorts.<br /> <br /> Hopefully, 2008 won't have any of the weird Carl coming back, but it should definitely have some success for the No. 99. Edwards was decent in the next-generation race car in '07 and there's no reason to believe he won't lead the Roush parade -- with teammate Kenseth, nonetheless.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/12/31/nascar-fanhouse-top-25-year-in-review-br-carl-edwards-no-99/">NASCAR FanHouse Top 25 Year-in-Review: <br>Carl Edwards, No. 99 Roush-Fenway Ford</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com">Motorsports FanHouse</a> on Mon, 31 Dec 2007 10:00:00 EST .  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/12/31/nascar-fanhouse-top-25-year-in-review-br-carl-edwards-no-99/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/forward/1073807/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/12/31/nascar-fanhouse-top-25-year-in-review-br-carl-edwards-no-99/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/12/31/nascar-fanhouse-top-25-year-in-review-br-carl-edwards-no-99/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><category>CarlEdwards</category><category>Top25Drivers</category><dc:creator>Geoffrey Miller</dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 31 Dec 2007 10:00:00 EST </pubDate></item><item><title>NASCAR FanHouse Top 25 Year-in-Review:<br>Greg Biffle, No. 16 Roush-Fenway Ford</title><link>http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/12/21/nascar-fanhouse-top-25-year-in-review-br-greg-biffle-no-16-ro/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/12/21/nascar-fanhouse-top-25-year-in-review-br-greg-biffle-no-16-ro/</guid><comments>http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/12/21/nascar-fanhouse-top-25-year-in-review-br-greg-biffle-no-16-ro/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/ford/" rel="tag">Ford</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/roush-fenway-racing/" rel="tag">Roush Fenway Racing</a></p><div align="center"><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" alt=""  src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.fanhouse.com/media/2007/12/greg-biffle-fanhouse.jpg" /><br /></div>
<em><strong>Welcome to the <a href="http://www.fanhouse.com/tag/top25drivers">2007 NASCAR FanHouse Year in Review.</a> Follow along each day until the end of 2007 as we look back on the top 25 drivers of the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series for the 2007 season. Heck, bookmark us if you have to! Today, we review the season of 14th-place Greg Biffle.<br /><br /></strong></em><strong>Driver: </strong>Greg Biffle -- Vancouver, Washington<br /><strong>Team: </strong>No. 16 3M Ford<br /><strong>Points: </strong>14th (-2732)<br /><strong>2006: </strong>14th in Cup Standings<br /><strong>Key Stats: </strong>1 win, 1 pole, 5 Top-5s, 11 Top-10s<br /><strong>Back in 2008?: </strong>Yes<br /><br />Where exactly has Greg Biffle gone?<br /><br />No, not the one who also finished 14th in points a year ago, but the Greg Biffle from 2005 when he personally put his No. 16 Roush Ford into victory lane 5 times.<br /><br />Biffle did come up with a win at Kansas Speedway in October in what was likely one of the weirdest events of the NASCAR season -- complete with two rain delays, a shortened race, and a winner (Biffle) who didn't technically cross the finish line first.<br /><br />That is just that though, a technicality.<br /><br />Otherwise, Biffle's season wasn't horrendous but it didn't reach hardly any potential of what his Roush-Fenway Racing team should be doing on a daily basis. Only a handful of times or less this year actually looked like it could turn into be Greg Biffle's winning day which, to say the least, didn't look possible after 2005.<br /><br />Biffle's lone 2007 race win helped total the same amount of race wins earned during his rookie campaign. Each other year, he's won at least two other races.<br /><br />To add to the drama and suspense hanging over Biffle's head for his 2008 season is the final year of his contact with Roush. Biffle's contract has been somewhat of a contentious issue and if it doesn't get resolved in the offseason, things could get really ugly.<br /><br />Performance on the track, like always, could really help Biffle's cause there.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/12/21/nascar-fanhouse-top-25-year-in-review-br-greg-biffle-no-16-ro/">NASCAR FanHouse Top 25 Year-in-Review:<br>Greg Biffle, No. 16 Roush-Fenway Ford</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com">Motorsports FanHouse</a> on Fri, 21 Dec 2007 08:00:00 EST .  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/12/21/nascar-fanhouse-top-25-year-in-review-br-greg-biffle-no-16-ro/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/forward/1068350/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/12/21/nascar-fanhouse-top-25-year-in-review-br-greg-biffle-no-16-ro/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/12/21/nascar-fanhouse-top-25-year-in-review-br-greg-biffle-no-16-ro/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><category>Top25Drivers</category><dc:creator>Geoffrey Miller</dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 21 Dec 2007 08:00:00 EST </pubDate></item><item><title>NASCAR FanHouse Top 25 Year-in-Review: <br>Jamie McMurray, No. 26 Roush-Fenway Ford</title><link>http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/12/18/nascar-fanhouse-top-25-year-in-review-br-jamie-mcmurray-no-2/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/12/18/nascar-fanhouse-top-25-year-in-review-br-jamie-mcmurray-no-2/</guid><comments>http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/12/18/nascar-fanhouse-top-25-year-in-review-br-jamie-mcmurray-no-2/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/jamie-mcmurray/" rel="tag">Jamie McMurray</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/ford/" rel="tag">Ford</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/roush-fenway-racing/" rel="tag">Roush Fenway Racing</a></p><div align="center"><em><strong><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" alt=""  src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.fanhouse.com/media/2007/12/jamie-mcmurray-fanhouse.jpg" /></strong></em><br /></div>
<em><strong>Welcome to the <a href="http://www.fanhouse.com/tag/top25drivers">2007 NASCAR FanHouse Year in Review.</a> Follow along each day until the end of 2007 as we look back on the top 25 drivers of the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series for the 2007 season. Heck, bookmark us if you have to! Today, we review the season of 17th-place Jamie McMurray. <br /><br /></strong></em><strong>Driver: </strong>Jamie McMurray -- Joplin, Missouri<br /><strong>Team: </strong>No. 26 Crown Royal Ford<br /><strong>Points: </strong>17th (-3167)<br /><strong>2006: </strong>Finished 25th in Season Standings<br /><strong>Key Stats: </strong>1 win, 1 pole, 3 Top-5s, 9 Top-10s<br /><strong>Back in 2008?: </strong>Yes<br /><br />Jamie McMurray did something in 2007 that he hadn't accomplished since his 2nd-career race in 2002.<br /><br />Win a NASCAR Nextel Cup Series points-paying race.<br /><br />McMurray captured a thrilling win at the Pepsi 400 in July at Daytona International Speedway. McMurray's Crown Royal Ford Fusion slid just in front of Kyle Busch at the stripe to his first race ever with his Roush-Fenway Racing team. McMurray's first-career win came in Charlotte in '02 with Chip Ganassi Racing.<br /><br />Despite the win, McMurray had his second-worst season ever in terms of Top-10 finishes. Just 9 times did the high-profile team find its way to the Top-10 at the end of the 36-race season. Compared to his career-low in 2006 with 7 Top-10s it's an improvement until you realize McMurray had 23 of those Top-10s in 2004.<br /><br />Without a doubt, McMurray has shown some minute signs of success with Roush-Fenway, but a revolving-door crew chief position atop his No. 26's pit box sure doesn't make things easy on the Show Me State driver. In the same breath, one could also say McMurray's job security for 2008 is in extreme jeopardy with Roush but the facts are simple. <br /> <br /> Roush-Fenway hasn't performed a whole lot better as a team.<br /> <br /> McMurray still needs to be battling to make the Chase fot Sprint Cup in 2008 in order for those rumors to not swell for the 2009 campaign. McMurray's got talent behind the wheel, but putting the cogs in motion together has to happen in '08.<br /> <br /> Otherwise, that revolving door might find its way to the driver's seat.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/12/18/nascar-fanhouse-top-25-year-in-review-br-jamie-mcmurray-no-2/">NASCAR FanHouse Top 25 Year-in-Review: <br>Jamie McMurray, No. 26 Roush-Fenway Ford</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com">Motorsports FanHouse</a> on Tue, 18 Dec 2007 08:00:00 EST .  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/12/18/nascar-fanhouse-top-25-year-in-review-br-jamie-mcmurray-no-2/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/forward/1065415/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/12/18/nascar-fanhouse-top-25-year-in-review-br-jamie-mcmurray-no-2/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/12/18/nascar-fanhouse-top-25-year-in-review-br-jamie-mcmurray-no-2/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><category>Top25Drivers</category><dc:creator>Geoffrey Miller</dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 18 Dec 2007 08:00:00 EST </pubDate></item><item><title>Force Leaves Dallas Hospital</title><link>http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/10/21/force-leaves-dallas-hospital/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/10/21/force-leaves-dallas-hospital/</guid><comments>http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/10/21/force-leaves-dallas-hospital/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/ford/" rel="tag">Ford</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/nextel-cup/" rel="tag">Nextel Cup</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/other-racing-series/" rel="tag">Other Racing Series</a></p><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" align="right" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.fanhouse.com/media/2007/10/nhra-force-wreck.jpg"  alt="" />27 days after suffering horrific injuries in a 300mph crash in Dallas, NHRA champion John Force headed home from the hospital Saturday in Dallas.<br /><br />Force suffered major injuries after his <a href="http://www.fanhouse.com/2007/09/23/john-force-airlifted-to-dallas-hospital/">Funny Car ripped in two pieces</a> at the completion of a run during the O'Reilly Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex on Sep. 23.<br /><br />Left with a compound fracture of his left ankle, a broken right foot, broken fingers, a dislocated wrist, and severe abrasions impacting the tendons and ligaments of his right knee, Force ended up being a lucky man, despite his own belief<a href="http://www.fanhouse.com/2007/10/01/force-from-the-hospital-bed-i-should-have-been-dead/"> that he shouldn't be alive.<br /></a><br />He'll <a href="http://www.star-telegram.com/motorsports/story/274419.html">continue eight weeks of rehab</a> near his California home, and is expected to be behind the wheel of his Ford Mustang Funny Car at the start of the 2008 NHRA Powerade Series Season.<br /><br /> <blockquote>"[...] my car broke in half and my legs got out and my arms. So we went to work to fix that. We've refitted the chassis with crossover bars to give it strength," said Force.<br /><br /> "What you saw, I've never seen in my career. I never saw a car rip in half."</blockquote> <br />In essence, there's one word that can legitimately describe Force's accident and recovery.<br /><br />Incredible.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/10/21/force-leaves-dallas-hospital/">Force Leaves Dallas Hospital</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com">Motorsports FanHouse</a> on Sun, 21 Oct 2007 01:35:00 EST .  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/10/21/force-leaves-dallas-hospital/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/forward/1018152/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/10/21/force-leaves-dallas-hospital/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/10/21/force-leaves-dallas-hospital/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><category>castrol</category><category>dario franchitto</category><category>DarioFranchitto</category><category>drag racing</category><category>DragRacing</category><category>eric medlen</category><category>EricMedlen</category><category>ford mustang</category><category>FordMustang</category><category>injury</category><category>john force</category><category>JohnForce</category><category>kenny bernstein</category><category>KennyBernstein</category><category>mac tools</category><category>MacTools</category><category>nhra</category><dc:creator>Geoffrey Miller</dc:creator><pubDate>Sun, 21 Oct 2007 01:35:00 EST </pubDate></item><item><title>Jarrett Will Be Back, Rudd Won't</title><link>http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/08/20/jarrett-will-be-back-rudd-wont/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/08/20/jarrett-will-be-back-rudd-wont/</guid><comments>http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/08/20/jarrett-will-be-back-rudd-wont/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/dale-jarrett/" rel="tag">Dale Jarrett</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/ford/" rel="tag">Ford</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/toyota/" rel="tag">Toyota</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/roush-fenway-racing/" rel="tag">Roush Fenway Racing</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/nextel-cup/" rel="tag">Nextel Cup</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/ricky-rudd/" rel="tag">Ricky Rudd</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/robert-yates-racing/" rel="tag">Yates Racing</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/nascar-silly-season/" rel="tag">NASCAR Silly Season</a></p><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" align="right" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.fanhouse.com/media/2007/08/jarrett-not-retiring.jpg" alt="" />Dale Jarrett hasn't had the best of years -- by far.<br /><br />That, though, doesn't mean the Cup Champ is <a href="http://www.scenedaily.com/stories/2007/08/13/scene_daily360.html">going to step out</a> of the driver seat of the No. 44 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota before his contract is up at the end of 2008.<blockquote>"I'm very fortunate to have a sponsor that's very committed to our program, and I'm fortunate as a driver that they built their marketing program around me, and so that's very good," he said. "Do they want to do better? Sure. We all do. They're no different than anyone else, but never has there been anything said about making a change or doing anything different."</blockquote>UPS really should be given a pat on the back for their support of Jarrett. Can the man still wheel a race car? Definitely. Can he make hilarious commercials? He can act in them, I suppose.<br /><br />And they realize that Toyota will make some nice strides in 2008 with the Car of Tomorrow.<br /><br /><strong>Rudd One and Done</strong><br /><br />As for Jarrett's old car and teammate, Ricky Rudd has deciding to hang it up again next year.<br /><br /> Though contemplating full retirement, Rudd hasn't taken his name away from anything, other than saying he won't be back at Yates and that he is tired of the daily grind.<br /><br />Isn't that we he left the sport for a year ago?<p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/08/20/jarrett-will-be-back-rudd-wont/">Jarrett Will Be Back, Rudd Won't</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com">Motorsports FanHouse</a> on Mon, 20 Aug 2007 01:11:00 EST .  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/08/20/jarrett-will-be-back-rudd-wont/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/forward/968684/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/08/20/jarrett-will-be-back-rudd-wont/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/08/20/jarrett-will-be-back-rudd-wont/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><category>3M Performance 400</category><category>3mPerformance400</category><dc:creator>Geoffrey Miller</dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 20 Aug 2007 01:11:00 EST </pubDate></item><item><title>Said Heads Inspire Boris into Top-35</title><link>http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/08/13/said-heads-inspire-boris-into-top-35/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/08/13/said-heads-inspire-boris-into-top-35/</guid><comments>http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/08/13/said-heads-inspire-boris-into-top-35/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/ford/" rel="tag">Ford</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/nascar-rumors/" rel="tag">NASCAR Rumors</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/nextel-cup/" rel="tag">Nextel Cup</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/ken-schrader/" rel="tag">Ken Schrader</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/car-of-tomorrow/" rel="tag">Car of Tomorrow</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/chase-for-the-sprint-cup/" rel="tag">Chase for the Sprint Cup</a></p><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" align="right"  src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.fanhouse.com/media/2007/08/said-watkins-glen-(1).jpg" alt="" />Boris Said was living the life Sunday at Watkins Glen. He, after all, <a href="http://www.fanhouse.com/2007/08/11/then-elliott-said-to-said/">got a last-minute ride</a> in the Wood Brothers No. 21 after missing the race in his own car due to rain on Friday's qualifying.<br /><br />And now, Ken Schrader should be back in the ride this weekend at Michigan International Speedway thanks to Said.<br /><br />With his fake afro-clad legion of fans -- the "Said-heads" -- cheering the road course turned-nearly-regular-driver, Said powered the No. 21 into the top-35 ahead of TGOM's favorite driver, Dave Blaney, with a 14th-place finish.<br /><br />Said was <a href="http://www.scenedaily.com/stories/2007/08/13/scene_daily297.html">pretty fired</a> up for the finish. <blockquote>"Mission accomplished," Said said. "At the end, I think we could've gotten a top-10, but where the 22 car was, I had to really think about it. I kind of gave up and let the 2 car by and then made a little mistake and the 12 got by. <br /><br />"But still, that's exactly what they needed - and I got to race instead of watching on the couch, and I get to take a picture away of me driving a Wood Brothers car, so it's a pretty special weekend."</blockquote>Elliott started filling in the No. 21 at the Coca-Cola 600 so his past champion's provisionals could help the team return to the top-35.<br /><br />Schrader, who's been a much better sport about his ride getting taken away than a lot drivers could ever be, should be back for Michigan, right?<br /><br />To be announced.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/08/13/said-heads-inspire-boris-into-top-35/">Said Heads Inspire Boris into Top-35</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com">Motorsports FanHouse</a> on Mon, 13 Aug 2007 04:04:00 EST .  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/08/13/said-heads-inspire-boris-into-top-35/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/forward/963725/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/08/13/said-heads-inspire-boris-into-top-35/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/08/13/said-heads-inspire-boris-into-top-35/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><category>Bill Elliott</category><category>BillElliott</category><category>Boris Said</category><category>BorisSaid</category><category>Centurion Boats at the Glen</category><category>CenturionBoatsAtTheGlen</category><category>Watkins Glen</category><category>WatkinsGlen</category><dc:creator>Geoffrey Miller</dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 13 Aug 2007 04:04:00 EST </pubDate></item><item><title>McMurray is Magic at Daytona</title><link>http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/07/08/mcmurray-is-magic-at-daytona/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/07/08/mcmurray-is-magic-at-daytona/</guid><comments>http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/07/08/mcmurray-is-magic-at-daytona/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/jimmie-johnson/" rel="tag">Jimmie Johnson</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/casey-mears/" rel="tag">Casey Mears</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/tony-stewart/" rel="tag">Tony Stewart</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/carl-edwards/" rel="tag">Carl Edwards</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/jeff-gordon/" rel="tag">Jeff Gordon</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/clint-bowyer/" rel="tag">Clint Bowyer</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/jamie-mcmurray/" rel="tag">Jamie McMurray</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/chevy/" rel="tag">Chevrolet</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/ford/" rel="tag">Ford</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/hendrick-motorsports/" rel="tag">Hendrick Motorsports</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/roush-fenway-racing/" rel="tag">Roush Fenway Racing</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/daytona/" rel="tag">Daytona Int'l Speedway</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/pit-crews/" rel="tag">Pit Crews</a></p><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" align="right" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.fanhouse.com/media/2007/07/busch-mcmurray-finish.jpg" alt="" />"That's sleight of hand."<br /><br />"No, it's magic."<br /><br />Regardless, for Jamie McMurray on Saturday night at the Pepsi 400 at Daytona, it was the right stuff.<br /><br />McMurray edged Kyle Busch in the second-closest NASCAR finish on record.<br /><br />Winning for the first time since his triumph at Lowe's in 2002 -- 166 races ago -- McMurray became the third Roush driver to win this season when it looked like Chevrolet was the sure bet in the closing laps.<br />Jeff Gordon led late, and Kyle Busch took control for most of the last lap. Jimmie Johnson, Casey Mears, Clint Bowyer and others all closed on the leaders, but McMurray squeezed past just yards from the finish line thanks to help from his teammate Carl Edwards.<br /><br />Kurt Busch again had a very strong car, but failed to capitalize again -- continuing Roger Penske's winless streak in restrictor-plate racing.<br /><br />Tony Stewart again managed to make a mockery of himself after wrecking his teammate Denny Hamlin in the race's early laps while battling for the lead, and then somehow blaming it on Hamlin. More on that later.<br /><br />Saturday night, though, the story was really about a race at Daytona that again had an incredibly dramatic finish that got you -- or at least me -- on your feet with your heart-pumping and yelling at the TV for the final laps.<br /><br />Now, let's hope we get that in the Chase. Maybe we can <a href="http://www.fanhouse.com/2007/07/07/daytona-to-november-just-say-no/">move</a> Daytona in July there, too.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/07/08/mcmurray-is-magic-at-daytona/">McMurray is Magic at Daytona</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com">Motorsports FanHouse</a> on Sun, 08 Jul 2007 00:50:00 EST .  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/07/08/mcmurray-is-magic-at-daytona/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/forward/935350/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/07/08/mcmurray-is-magic-at-daytona/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/07/08/mcmurray-is-magic-at-daytona/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><category>Kyle Busch</category><category>KyleBusch</category><category>Pepsi 400</category><category>Pepsi400</category><dc:creator>Geoffrey Miller</dc:creator><pubDate>Sun, 08 Jul 2007 00:50:00 EST </pubDate></item><item><title>Awesome Bill Rides Again</title><link>http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/05/18/awesome-bill-rides-again/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/05/18/awesome-bill-rides-again/</guid><comments>http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/05/18/awesome-bill-rides-again/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/ford/" rel="tag">Ford</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/lowes/" rel="tag">Lowes Motor Speedway</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/nextel-cup/" rel="tag">Nextel Cup</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/nascar-silly-season/" rel="tag">NASCAR Silly Season</a></p><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" align="right" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.fanhouse.com/media/2007/05/bill-elliott-charlotte.jpg" alt="" />Bill Elliott will back in a NASCAR Nextel Cup Car starting with next weekend's Coca-Cola 600.<br /><br />Elliott, the 1988 Nextel Cup Champion, will <a href="http://www.woodbrothersjtg.com/newsdetail.php?news_id=123">pilot the No. 21</a> Wood Brothers Ford in place of Ken Schrader and Jon Wood. <br /><br /><blockquote>"I was pretty honored to get a call from the Wood Brothers to drive the 21 car. I've seen them struggle the last few weeks, being outside the top-35, and it breaks my heart to see them miss races. I hope I can get in the car, get us qualified well every week and see what we can make up in the points battle along the way," said Elliott.</blockquote><br />It certainly does make sense for the team -- especially heading into one of the season's marquee events. Elliott, while no slouch behind the wheel, also has the option of using a past champion's provisional. <br /><br />This team is one of those many could foresee struggling because of its mixed driver program between veteran Ken Schrader and young gun Jon Wood. The Wood Brothers haven't been a weekly competitor for a long time and spliting that job between two drivers just makes the whole situation that much tougher. <br /><br />Wood and Schrader were portrayed as content with the temporary change in the press release, but who knows how that really is. <br /><br />If Elliott, who has two wins and 11 top-5's at Lowe's, can make up some ground in the top-35 race though, that could mean a lot of good for the Wood Bros.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/05/18/awesome-bill-rides-again/">Awesome Bill Rides Again</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com">Motorsports FanHouse</a> on Fri, 18 May 2007 01:40:00 EST .  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/05/18/awesome-bill-rides-again/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/forward/898872/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/05/18/awesome-bill-rides-again/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/05/18/awesome-bill-rides-again/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><category>Charlotte</category><category>NASCAR</category><category>Nextel Cup</category><category>NextelCup</category><category>Wood Brothers</category><category>WoodBrothers</category><dc:creator>Geoffrey Miller</dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 18 May 2007 01:40:00 EST </pubDate></item><item><title>Doesn't Play Well with Others</title><link>http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/05/04/doesnt-play-well-with-others/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/05/04/doesnt-play-well-with-others/</guid><comments>http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/05/04/doesnt-play-well-with-others/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/dale-earnhardt-jr/" rel="tag">Dale Earnhardt Jr.</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/chevy/" rel="tag">Chevrolet</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/ford/" rel="tag">Ford</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/dei/" rel="tag">Dale Earnhardt Inc.</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/robert-yates-racing/" rel="tag">Yates Racing</a></p><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" align="right" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.fanhouse.com/media/2007/05/earnhardt-jr-240.jpg" alt="" />All the talk of Dale Earnhardt Inc. buying Robert Yates Racing has everyone talking manufacturers. <br /><br />Doug Yates builds Ford engines. <br /><br />Dale Earnhardt Jr. drives Chevys. <br /><br />If the deal goes down and Junior stays with DEI, change is imminent for one of them.<br /><br />Not likely for Junior, a Chevy devotee.<br /><br />On his XM radio show last night, Junior, whose own classic car collection doesn't include a single Ford, declared his love for Chevy and made his thoughts about driving a Ford crystal clear:<blockquote>"Ford is like the other half and you don't play with the other half."</blockquote>No word on whether or not he will move to disallow Ford plugging him in their <a href="http://www.fanhouse.com/2007/04/24/earnhardt-jr-gets-plugged-in-a-ford-commercial/">commercials</a>.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/05/04/doesnt-play-well-with-others/">Doesn't Play Well with Others</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com">Motorsports FanHouse</a> on Fri, 04 May 2007 12:15:00 EST .  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/05/04/doesnt-play-well-with-others/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/forward/888888/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/05/04/doesnt-play-well-with-others/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/05/04/doesnt-play-well-with-others/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><dc:creator>tallglassofmilk</dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 04 May 2007 12:15:00 EST </pubDate></item><item><title>You Didn't See a #17 Ford Fusion On the Highway Today, Did You?</title><link>http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/05/02/you-didnt-see-a-17-ford-fusion-on-the-highway-today-did-you/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/05/02/you-didnt-see-a-17-ford-fusion-on-the-highway-today-did-you/</guid><comments>http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/05/02/you-didnt-see-a-17-ford-fusion-on-the-highway-today-did-you/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/atlanta/" rel="tag">Atlanta</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/matt-kenseth/" rel="tag">Matt Kenseth</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/ford/" rel="tag">Ford</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/roush-fenway-racing/" rel="tag">Roush Fenway Racing</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/nascar-media-watch/" rel="tag">NASCAR Media Watch</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/nascar-police-blotter/" rel="tag">NASCAR Police Blotter</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/nextel-cup/" rel="tag">Nextel Cup</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/sponsors/" rel="tag">NASCAR Sponsors</a></p><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" align="right"  src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.fanhouse.com/media/2007/05/matt-kenseth-stolen.jpg" alt="" />If so, call the Dekalb County Sherriff's. And then email us at the FanHouse -- that's one heckuva story!<br /><br />It could happen soon in the Atlanta area as one of Matt Kenseth's <a href="http://www.thatsracin.com/242/story/4022.html">show cars was stolen</a> from a Hampton Inn there Wednesday morning. The show cars are retired machines that are used for promotional purposes.<br /><br />It wasn't like the car was parked by itself in the parking lot, but rather, in a Ford F-350 pickup coupled with a Featherlite trailer  with the car inside was stolen as well. The thief realized quickly that the large 17 and other sponsorship on the side of the hauler could be a little too easy to spot -- so they unloaded the car and left with it.<br /><br />I'd imagine that Kenseth's car -- or a former car now that it's a show car -- was loaded on to a waiting trailer and has left town.<br /><br />But how freakin' weird would it be to say, be heading down the Dan Ryan tomorrow morning and get passed by a Nextel Cup Ford Fusion? I'd like to see someone try to race that 800hp beast. Back down, BMW!<br /><br />I'd have to say the race car at this point is valued at about $70,000 because it's not been through a wind tunnel in a while or raced. Roush Fenway Racing has to be happy that the truck and trailer came back -- after all, they ain't too cheap either. <br /><br />So race fans, if you think Matt Kenseth just blew your doors off on I-85 this morning, it wasn't him. Give the guy a break and call up Dekalb County at (770) 724-7650.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/05/02/you-didnt-see-a-17-ford-fusion-on-the-highway-today-did-you/">You Didn't See a #17 Ford Fusion On the Highway Today, Did You?</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com">Motorsports FanHouse</a> on Wed, 02 May 2007 22:53:00 EST .  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/05/02/you-didnt-see-a-17-ford-fusion-on-the-highway-today-did-you/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/forward/887647/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/05/02/you-didnt-see-a-17-ford-fusion-on-the-highway-today-did-you/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/05/02/you-didnt-see-a-17-ford-fusion-on-the-highway-today-did-you/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><category>Matt Kenseth</category><category>MattKenseth</category><category>NASCAR</category><category>Nextel Cup</category><category>NextelCup</category><dc:creator>Geoffrey Miller</dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 02 May 2007 22:53:00 EST </pubDate></item><item><title>Dale Jr. in a Ford? Yates Confirms Talks With DEI About Buyout</title><link>http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/04/29/dale-jr-in-a-ford-yates-confirms-talks-with-dei-about-buyout/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/04/29/dale-jr-in-a-ford-yates-confirms-talks-with-dei-about-buyout/</guid><comments>http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/04/29/dale-jr-in-a-ford-yates-confirms-talks-with-dei-about-buyout/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/dale-earnhardt-jr/" rel="tag">Dale Earnhardt Jr.</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/chevy/" rel="tag">Chevrolet</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/ford/" rel="tag">Ford</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/dei/" rel="tag">Dale Earnhardt Inc.</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/talladega/" rel="tag">Talladega Superspeedway</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/robert-yates-racing/" rel="tag">Yates Racing</a></p><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" align="right" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.fanhouse.com/media/2007/04/dale-earnhardt-jr-contract.jpg" alt="" />And Dale Earnhardt Jr. thought he was the most important negotiation that DEI had on its plate.<br /><br />Lee Spencer would like to <a href="http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/story/6751928">beg to differ</a>:<br /><blockquote>Robert Yates confirmed on Saturday that talks have resumed between Robert Yates Racing and Dale Earnhardt Inc. The topic of discussion: The possible sale of RYR to DEI.<br /></blockquote>This is quite an interesting story on many fronts. Not only is the Dale Jr. contract such a hot-button issue in NASCAR right now, but you also have to look at it from a Ford and Chevrolet standpoint. Remember, the Yates organization currently works with Roush Fenway Racing in the engine department to produce Roush-Yates Ford engines. Robert Yates has long been a Ford guy, and Jack Roush will likely be buried in a Ford Mustang. <br /> <blockquote>[Richie] Gilmore said Chevrolet has already submitted a new offer to DEI, and the company is willing to listen to offers. John Story, a DEI manager, said that three of the four manufacturers have made offers to the company.<br /></blockquote><em>Note: Richie Gilmore is the VP of Competition at DEI<br /><br /></em>Also, John Story, who is a member of DEI's executive team, confirmed that Ford was one of the other companies DEI had preliminary discussions with. Chevrolet, apparently, is still the <a href="http://www.scenedaily.com/stories/2007/04/23/scene_daily275.html">top priority</a>.<br /><blockquote>"We're going to work through the Chevrolet process first. If there is a need, then we'll entertain some of these other opportunities," said Story.<br /></blockquote>Quite an interesting tune for DEI, to be actually giving legitimacy about a switch away from Chevrolet. After all, Dale Earnhardt Jr. seems to <a href="http://www.autoracingdaily.com/article/contract_negotiations_no_distraction_at_all_says_dale_earnhardt_jr/">be a fan</a> of the Bowtie Brigade.<br /> <blockquote>"You know, I like driving Chevrolets. Over the years, NASCAR has done things that I didn't agree with to help certain manufacturers, maintain a level playing field. But, you know, my Chevrolet, I don't know, I've always been a Chevrolet guy," said Earnhardt Jr.<br /></blockquote>Richard Childress Racing might be looking awfully nice right now with his Chevy Monte Carlos and Impalas. And maybe this is why Dale Earnhardt Jr. so badly wants ownership of DEI -- to keep one of the most important links to his father as a die-hard Chevrolet fan -- alive.<br /><br />After all, can you really see something bearing the Ford emblem coming out of a Dale Earnhardt-related business venture?When pigs fly? <br /><br />Stay tuned on this one folks. This will undoubtedly raise alarm in Dale Jr.'s negotiations.<br /> <br /> <strong>Previously at the NASCAR FanHouse<br /> </strong><a href="http://www.aolsportsblog.com/2007/04/24/earnhardt-jr-gets-plugged-in-a-ford-commercial/">Dale Earnhardt Jr. Gets Plugged in Ford Commercial</a><br /> <a href="http://www.aolsportsblog.com/2007/04/20/dei-puts-deal-on-table-ball-in-juniors-court/">DEI Puts Deal on Table, Ball in Junior's Court</a><br /> <a href="http://www.aolsportsblog.com/2007/03/17/what-would-dad-do/">What Would Dad Do?</a><p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/04/29/dale-jr-in-a-ford-yates-confirms-talks-with-dei-about-buyout/">Dale Jr. in a Ford? Yates Confirms Talks With DEI About Buyout</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com">Motorsports FanHouse</a> on Sun, 29 Apr 2007 13:51:00 EST .  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/04/29/dale-jr-in-a-ford-yates-confirms-talks-with-dei-about-buyout/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/forward/884833/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/04/29/dale-jr-in-a-ford-yates-confirms-talks-with-dei-about-buyout/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/04/29/dale-jr-in-a-ford-yates-confirms-talks-with-dei-about-buyout/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><category>Chevrolet</category><category>Dale Earnhardt Inc.</category><category>Dale Earnhardt Jr.</category><category>DaleEarnhardtInc.</category><category>DaleEarnhardtJr.</category><category>DEI</category><category>Ford</category><category>NASCAR</category><category>Nextel Cup</category><category>NextelCup</category><category>Robert Yates Racing</category><category>RobertYatesRacing</category><dc:creator>Geoffrey Miller</dc:creator><pubDate>Sun, 29 Apr 2007 13:51:00 EST </pubDate></item><item><title>Biffle a Little Peeved Over Contract Publicity</title><link>http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/04/29/biffle-a-little-peeved-over-contract-publicity/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/04/29/biffle-a-little-peeved-over-contract-publicity/</guid><comments>http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/04/29/biffle-a-little-peeved-over-contract-publicity/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/greg-biffle/" rel="tag">Greg Biffle</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/ford/" rel="tag">Ford</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/roush-fenway-racing/" rel="tag">Roush Fenway Racing</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/nascar-rumors/" rel="tag">NASCAR Rumors</a>, <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/category/nextel-cup/" rel="tag">Nextel Cup</a></p><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" align="right"  src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.fanhouse.com/media/2007/04/biffle-talladega.jpg" alt="" />When Geoff Smith, the president of Roush Fenway Racing, decided to discuss with the NASCAR media about Greg Biffle's contract situation, he must have felt that explaining how Biffle was involved with negotiations would put out some fires. Instead, it apparently <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?seriesId=2&amp;id=2852221">lit a fire </a>under Greg Biffle. Said Biffle:<br /><blockquote>"The biggest thing that's been a bit of a deterrent for me is that Geoff Smith put in the paper that we're negotiating -- Roush and Greg Biffle -- an extension. And in my eyes there was no reason for that. I'm under contract."</blockquote>Biffle says that many, many teams have been lighting up his cell phone inquiring about the status of the negotiations and if he'd be interested in discussing other options. Apparently, a bunch of those teams thought that his contract expired at the end of this year, when the true story is it lasts through 2008. <br /><br />Think about it on Biffle's end. The guy is still under contract with Roush for more than a season and a half, but yet his own team is setting him for questions and controversy. That's just gotta suck.<br /><br />Biffle is a senior guy at Roush now with the departure of Mark Martin and Roush would crazy to let him go. Right now, it sounds like he's easily, and happily, on the road to extending his currect contract for many a year to drive the Fords. <br /><br />I'd be happy, too, if the organization trying to re-hire me was thinking I was at the top end of the current Nextel Cup Series pay scale. But first, I'd be getting a new cell phone number.<br /><strong><br />Previously at the NASCAR FanHouse</strong><br /><a href="http://greg-biffle.aolsportsblog.com/2007/04/17/biffle-looks-like-he-could-be-odd-man-out-at-roush/">Biffle Looks Like He Could Be Odd Man Out at Roush</a><br /><a href="http://www.fanhouse.com/2007/03/26/another-thorn-in-jack-roushs-side/">Another Thorn in Jack Roush's Side</a><p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/04/29/biffle-a-little-peeved-over-contract-publicity/">Biffle a Little Peeved Over Contract Publicity</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com">Motorsports FanHouse</a> on Sun, 29 Apr 2007 03:57:00 EST .  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/04/29/biffle-a-little-peeved-over-contract-publicity/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/forward/884732/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/04/29/biffle-a-little-peeved-over-contract-publicity/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2007/04/29/biffle-a-little-peeved-over-contract-publicity/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><category>Greg Biffle</category><category>GregBiffle</category><category>NASCAR</category><category>Nextel Cup Series</category><category>NextelCupSeries</category><category>Roush Fenway Racing</category><category>Roush Racing</category><category>RoushFenwayRacing</category><category>RoushRacing</category><dc:creator>Geoffrey Miller</dc:creator><pubDate>Sun, 29 Apr 2007 03:57:00 EST </pubDate></item></channel></rss>