Motorsports FanHouse

Plenty of Ringers Headed to Wine Country

Geoffrey Miller — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 12:27:00 EST

Filed under: Terry Labonte, Chip Ganassi Racing, Nextel Cup, NASCAR Sponsors, Michael Waltrip Racing

As is normal in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, plenty of road course specialty racers will be attempting the field this weekend at Infineon Raceway in California. The 11-turn course brings out drivers from several road course series' filling in or running an extra car.

These "ringers" have had decent success in NASCAR Nextel Cup action at Infineon. Scott Pruett, who won't be in a car this weekend (maybe because Juan Pablo Montoya is?) has the best finish in the last five years for a non-Cup regular with a third in 2004.

2006 saw Boris Said (pictured) pick up ninth for the top ringer finish. Boris is among this year's entry list:

Butch Leitzinger, No. 23 - Leitzinger in effect is driving Jeremy Mayfield's No. 36 (Mayfield isn't making the trip), but it will be covered with Caterpillar decals and the new number.

Boris Said, No. 60 - Said barely fits in this category anymore with the amount of Cup racing he's doing now. The Saidheads will be out in force at Sonoma.

Klaus Graf, No. 49 - Graf will pilot Mike Bliss' ride this weekend in his second Cup start.

Brian Simo, No. 37 - Simo has best finish of tenth at Infineon and will be starting the race in the Front Row Motorsports ride.

Brandon Ash, No. 02 - Piloting his own ride, Ash will attempt to make his 4th-career race and improve his best finish of 38th. Ouch.

Ron Fellows, No. 96 - The Canadian, who has a Busch win, will pilot Tony Raines' DLP Chevy this weekend. Terry Labonte finished 2nd last year in the car.

Marc Goosens, No. 91 - In the first race for Riley-D'Hondt Motorsports, Goosens will attempt the race in the Commenwealth Toyota.

Note: I don't really know where Terry Labonte fits on this list, but for what it's worth, Labonte will making the start in the No. 55 as earlier noted.

Plenty of Ringers Headed to Wine Country originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Wed, 20 Jun 2007 12:27:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Live from Lowe's: What's a Waltrip to Do?

Geoffrey Miller — Fri, 25 May 2007 10:11:00 EST

Filed under: Michael Waltrip, Toyota, Lowes Motor Speedway, Nextel Cup, NASCAR Sponsors, Michael Waltrip Racing

It's a lonely time for Michael Waltrip.

In case you missed it, Waltrip wrecked for the second straight week in qualifying for Sunday's Coca-Cola 600. To make matters worse, another team car of David Reutimann crashed in qualifying, leaving only Dale Jarrett in the race from MWR.

Both were cases of a drivers trying to take a bad race car and run it over its limit. Neither made the show.

Michael's brother, Darrell was pretty upset because he knows how much Mikey has been through this season. The SPEED Channel analyst brought up an interesting idea for MWR during a commercial break from qualifying coverage. (Thank you, racing scanner)

Darrell Waltrip's suggestion for his brother's team?

Stop racing the 'old car'. Don't even show up for races that don't have next year's Car of Tomorrow competition. Take a attitude of "if there's no wing, we aren't rac-ing".

Is the idea at all feasible right now? Not really.

Does it make sense for the struggling MWR team? You bet.

Right now, Waltrip hasn't made a race since Daytona and he's trying jumpstart a three new teams with a new manufacturer. To make matters worse, he can't even run the same car design all the time.

DW suggested testing all the time at every track you can with next year's car instead of racing the old one. After all, Waltrip won't be back in the top 35 this season.

Would NAPA, Burger King, or UPS go for that idea? I'd highly doubt it -- unless a plan was worked out where money was returned, a smaller budget for only testing was used, or if Waltrip worked to develop the Toyota Camry more in the Busch Series with those sponsors onboard..

Waltrip can hold out hope that things are going to turn around, but frankly they aren't going to improve enough during 2007. He won't make it back to the top 35.

It is time for Waltrip to step back, re-evaluate, and come to the conclusion that running this year's car will only put his team further behind for the full-time COT in 2008.

Note: Your's truly has made the trek this weekend for the 12th straight year to this year's edition of the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte. Forget the fact that I reside less than 20 miles from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the real fun on Memorial Day Weekend is off of Highway 29 in Concord, NC. I'll provide you with some posts over the next few days relating to the action on -- and off -- the track, live from Lowe's!

Live from Lowe's: What's a Waltrip to Do? originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Fri, 25 May 2007 10:11:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Raceday Warmup: All-Star Challenge

Geoffrey Miller — Sat, 19 May 2007 13:41:00 EST

Filed under: Michael Waltrip, Carl Edwards, Roush Fenway Racing, Lowes Motor Speedway, NASCAR Gossip, Nextel Cup, Michael Waltrip Racing

No Rain!
For the first time in two weeks, a race weekend won't be impacted by rain tonight. The forecast for today in Charlotte calls for a high of 75 and Sunny while tonight things will get nice and cool for the fans in the stands. Clear skies, a low of 46 degrees, and plenty of sparks on the track.

Welcome Back
Pending May 30th, NASCAR has lifted the suspensions of David Hyder, Michael Waltrip's former crew chief, and Bobby Kennedy, the director of competition over at MWR. Both were suspended after the No. 55 engine scandal at Daytona. Also mentioned, a crew chief from the Busch Series who was suspended indefinitely after Phoenix last November. Think they forgot about his case? Or was he that bad?
North Carolinians, Watch Out
Mike Easley, the governor of the great state of North Carolina, has had his moments while attempting to drive a few NASCARs. A staunch supporter of motorsports, Easley has driven two Jimmie Johnson show cars. Once, he was driving around the state capitol as a publicity event and nearly sideswiped a parked car. A year later, Easley crashed while driving one at Lowe's Motor Speedway. For some reason, he still keeps getting to drive them, as tonight he'll do a few laps in the No. 25 car (a show car) prior to the Challenge in support of North Carolina's National Guard.

Vote for Carl? Vote for Charity!
Carl Edwards, who somehow hasn't managed a win in this season or last for a guaranteed spot in tonight's All-Star race, has taken a new approach to getting in. If he can't win the Nextel Open tonight for the transfer spot, then he will have to rely on the fan vote to get him in. Last night after qualifying, Edwards proclaimed that all of his winnings, including a potential $1 million payday in the Challenge, would be donated to Speedway Children's Charities and the Victory Junction Gang Camp. Basically, Edwards is making the plea of "If you don't vote for me, you hate children." Good for him.

Raceday Warmup: All-Star Challenge originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sat, 19 May 2007 13:41:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Matt Borland Brings MWR Ex-Crew Chief Count to 2

Geoffrey Miller — Fri, 04 May 2007 03:41:00 EST

Filed under: Dale Jarrett, Nextel Cup, Michael Waltrip Racing

It looks like Michael Waltrip Racing has found out why they aren't making races.

The engines? Nope.

The chassis? Wrong again.

The drivers? Never their fault.

The crew chiefs? You bet.

Matt Borland, formerly the crew chief for Ryan Newman, was let go from his position of crew chief for Dale Jarrett's UPS Toyota this week.

"Dale Jarrett wasn't happy, UPS wasn't happy, and we had to do something immediately," team owner Michael Waltrip said.

Jarrett has now used up all of his past champion provisionals and must either find the top 35 or race his way into each remaining race in 2007. Jason Burdett will fill the role of crew chief for DJ from here on out. Waltrip let go David Hyder last week from his role with the #55 team.

Burdett comes from Robert Yates Racing where he served last year as a co-crew cheif on Jarrett's #88 last year.

Will he know how to qualify a car into the race each week that can't seem to find speed anywhere?

That sure is a tough job to step in to, but Waltrip and Jarrett must have enough faith in the guy to knock Borland, who won 8 races with Ryan Newman in 2003, off the pit box. Tough times call for tough moves -- and Toyota certainly hasn't hit the ground with flying colors in its inaugural foray to NASCAR Nextel Cup.

Matt Borland Brings MWR Ex-Crew Chief Count to 2 originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Fri, 04 May 2007 03:41:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Raceday Warmup: Talladega

Geoffrey Miller — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 08:26:00 EST

Filed under: Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Joe Gibbs Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, Nextel Cup, Talladega Superspeedway, David Gilliland, Michael Waltrip Racing

Just a quick shot of 110 octane to get you goin' for ~~500~~ 499 miles of NASCAR Nextel Cup Racing at Talladega. Today's coverage starts at 1:30pm/et on FOX with the green flag sometime after 2:15pm/et. The weather forecast today is remarkable -- Sunny and a high of 82.

Would the Real Tony Stewart Please Stand Up?
First, he wouldn't talk. Then, he blasted NASCAR for being the new professional wrestling. NASCAR then, for all intents and purposes, laid a verbal lashing on him. Yesterday? Defiant as ever, acting as if he was still right. Which are you, Tony? When will you pick a stand and quit waffling? I can't agree more with this column over on ThatsRacin. The first line really says it all -- Tony Stewart is no hero for what he said on the radio, rather, he is just talking to be heard because the method in which he displays his displeasure is utterly ineffective for change. The NASCAR Nation thanks you, Tony, for so damaging any credibility this sport has worked so hard to have. Today begins an attempt to bring that back.

Don't Let the 499 Fool You
Just in case you were wondering, today's race isn't technically any shorter than a 500 mile race at Talladega. Aaron's took over sponsorship a few years back and have used the race title to apparently rent more TV's and pay for Michael Waltrip to be in their commercials. There will be 188 laps run today -- 500.08 miles -- pending no race-extending cautions. The 499 mile marker technically is on the backstretch heading into turn 3, but it's not the important finishing line.

Surprising Starters
As if Saturday's qualifying for today's race wasn't weird enough with David Gililland and Jeff Gordon running the identical pole speed (Gordon takes the pole because he's higher in points), today's race will be the first without a Wood Brothers car since 2000 after Ken Schrader failed to make the field. Also, Kenny Wallace's qualified 6th for his best start since Martinsville in 2003. Michael Waltrip missed his 8th consecutive race by .009 seconds.

Darnell, Labonte Score Saturday Victories
In case you've been living under a rock, stuck at a baseball diamond with your kids, or had to work the Saturday shift, yesterday in NASCAR racing was a decent day. Bobby Labonte snuck around Tony Stewart to take a last lap win in a wild Busch Series race at Talladega that saw quite a few significant accidents. At Kansas, Roush Racing's Erik Darnell won his first ever NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race, ending Mike Skinner's chance at scoring four wins in a row, which would have broken his own truck series record of three in a row.

Raceday Warmup: Talladega originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sun, 29 Apr 2007 08:26:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hyder, Waltrip Part Ways

Geoffrey Miller — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 11:28:00 EST

Filed under: Michael Waltrip, Toyota, Crew Chiefs, NASCAR Gossip, Nextel Cup, Pit Crews, Talladega Superspeedway, Michael Waltrip Racing

Yesterday at Talladega, Michael Waltrip announced that David Hyder can now add "former" to his crew chief title for Michael Waltrip Racing.

Hyder hasn't been at the track since Daytona when a suspicious substance was found on the intake manifold of Waltrip's #55 during qualifying. Waltrip was fined $100,000 and docked 100 points in addition to suspensions of both Hyder and competition director Bobby Kennedy for what mounted to be one of the biggest cheating scandals in recent memory.

Waltrip has yet to make a race since Daytona and his two other teams have not fared much better.

Waltrip reportedly had a long discussion with NASCAR again at Texas Motor Speedway a few weeks back to determine when his employees could return from their indefinite suspensions. At that meeting, Waltrip must have found some information implicating Hyder in the scandal.

After all, why else would Hyder be parting ways with the team? A paycheck for hanging around the shop couldn't have been too bad -- and he still won't be cleared by NASCAR to work at the track with another team due to the indefinite suspension.

It sounds like we could have our culprit.

Hyder, Waltrip Part Ways originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sat, 28 Apr 2007 11:28:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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From an Owner's Standpoint: Outside Looking In

Geoffrey Miller — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 17:30:00 EST

Filed under: Brian Vickers, Dale Jarrett, Michael Waltrip, Scott Riggs, Crew Chiefs, Nextel Cup, Michael Waltrip Racing

After Bristol, the teams in the Top 35 in owner points were locked in. Here's the ones who are out.

SURPRISES:

Evernham Motorsports - EMS driver Scott Riggs did make Daytona this year, and yet, he's not locked in for this week's race at Martinsville. Sitting 39th in points, Riggs has had 2 DNFs this year. He did have a strong run early at Bristol, but had trouble that knocked him out of contention. Also, another EMS driver -- you know, the one who is stalked by those middle-aged women? -- is barely inside that Top 35 barrier. Kasey Kahne hasn't run much better than his Valvoline counterpart.

Michael Waltrip Racing - For a start-up team, the first 5 weeks of this season couldn't have worse. Among the 3 teams, none are in the top 35. Waltrip hasn't made a race since Daytona, Jarrett has only made one race on speed [before getting booted by Kenseth early], and Reutimann's crash at California was awfully ominous. And oh yeah, cheating scandal was just icing on the cake. The team has the funding, but where's the speed?

Bill Davis Racing - Dave Blaney has shown some flashes of speed this year in different races, but they never seem to be consistent runs. They might have been in the top 35 if Blaney would have been a little more wise at Daytona driving through pit road and then clipping Ken Schrader. BDR is looking for another run this season where Blaney finished 4th, 9th, and 12th consecutively between Richmond and Dover last year.

EXPECTED:

Wood Brothers/JTG - Despite their alliance with Roush-Yates engines, this team sits 40th in owner points. Right now, they just don't have the speed or luck, but this team should be in the top-35. The switching of Schrader and Jon Wood for ten races is only going to hurt this team in the owners points, and I'm still yet to see Nextel Cup Series talent from Jon Wood.

BAM Racing - They have just really struggled since Schrader left the team two years ago. It's been a revolving door of drivers and now Mike Bliss is trying to will this car to the front, but the lack of multi-car support leaves this team at the bottom.

Team Red Bull: Brian Vickers has got to be loving the paycheck, but you wonder if he likes watching the race from home. He has run decently in the races Red Bull has made this year, and he got caught up in an unfortunate wreck at Atlanta. Vickers will evantually show brilliance from this team, but don't expect Allmendinger to last all season, much less into next year. He should have had a lot more seat time in the Truck and Busch series before Cup.

From an Owner's Standpoint: Outside Looking In originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Fri, 30 Mar 2007 17:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rubbin' Is Racin': Bristol Motor Speedway

Geoffrey Miller — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 09:46:00 EST

Filed under: Dale Jarrett, Matt Kenseth, Roush Fenway Racing, Nextel Cup, Michael Waltrip Racing

Kyle Busch was very thankful for Jeff Burton after Sunday's Food City 500. And Jeff Burton knew it:

"I could have used the bumper to move him out of the way and win the race, but I didn't want to,"

That was a concept Matt Kenseth obviously didn't understand, probably because he wasn't looking to win the race. It was a failure that ended with the driver of the big, brown truck seeing red -- and not because of the COT. Dale Jarrett was a little irritated with the Roush-Fenway driver after climbing from his wrecked race car:

"This is not the first time that (Kenseth's) done something like this. Everybody has this great vision that Matt Kenseth is this nice guy on the race track. He is a nice guy away from the track. But he's a rough driver on the race track when he doesn't have to be.

"We'll have a discussion."

Yep, now that DJ is out of the Ford camp, he's firing at will.And you know, he's right. The incident Sunday was just plain stupid. Kenseth was obviously a faster car, and like always he had qualified near the back. Jarrett, ultimately just happy to conserve a past champion's provisional and qualify on time, was riding behind Kyle Petty and looking to make a move into turn 1. However, Matt Kenseth in an Arby's paint scheme, and obviously having Arby's on the mind, just flat drove into the rear of the 44 Toyota. Jarrett half-spun and hit the wall before getting hit in the door by David Gilliland, ending his COT debut.

Jarrett made sure Kenseth knew of his displeasure before the mandatory ride to the infield car center.

Of course, one can't forget Kenseth's punt of Jeff Gordon for 3rd place last year in the same race on the last lap. Maybe Jarrett is on to something. Wouldn't you love to be a fly on the wall for that phone call?

Anyways, I thought that last year's wreck was worth showing again, mainly because of Kenseth's face after he was pushed. Who would have thought a 5'8'' driver could be so intimidating?

Rubbin' Is Racin': Bristol Motor Speedway originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Tue, 27 Mar 2007 09:46:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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California Crash One of the Hardest in History

tallglassofmilk — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 21:05:00 EST

Filed under: NASCAR Crashes, NASCAR Videos, Nextel Cup, Michael Waltrip Racing

NASCAR officials told ESPN.com that the g-force impact during David Reutimann's crash on Sunday is among the hardest ever recorded:

"We can't say it's the hardest [impact], period, because there are so many variables involved," NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said. "But it is among the hardest impacts we've recorded."

The crash happened when Greg Biffle got into the back of Reutimann with 11 laps remaining in the Auto Club 500 sending him head-on into the outside wall. The crash knocked the wind out of Reutimann tangled his left foot pretty good. He is at home recovering ... badly bruised and walking with a limp. He still plans to run the Busch Series race this weekend in Mexico City.

California Crash One of the Hardest in History originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Tue, 27 Feb 2007 21:05:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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