Motorsports FanHouse

McClure Denies; Schrader Back in No. 49

Geoffrey Miller — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 00:20:00 EST

Filed under: Terry Labonte, Michael Waltrip, Nextel Cup, NASCAR Sponsors, NASCAR Silly Season

Sterling Marlin won't be back in the drivers seat for Morgan-McClure Motorsports, despite a report yesterday that he might find a ride in a second car from the team, XM radio reported.

The FanHouse wasn't exactly believing the idea behind Marlin moving in as a teammate with Ward Burton yesterday, either.

XM Radio got a hold of McClure Thursday.

Morgan McClure team owner Larry McClure told Claire B. Lang on XM Satellite Radio that the rumor is absolutely not true.

McClure: "I know nothing about it. I have talked to no one. I have not talked to Sterling in a year and I have not talked to any of his people."

CBL: By no stretch of the imagination would anyone think that Sterling Marlin is going to go work for you.

McClure: "No mam."

Interestingly enough, the Cup Scene Daily no longer has any mention of the article up on the site. (HT: Jayski)

Ken Schrader Makes One-Race Cup Return w/ BAM Racing

I'd imagine when Ken Schrader decided to allow Bill Elliott to fill his seat in the No. 21 due to champion's provisionals in May, he didn't expect the end of July to roll around until he found a new ride.
And he surely didn't think his return wouldn't be with Wood Brothers/JTG Racing.

Instead, Schrader will head back to BAM Racing for next week's Allstate 400 in a one race deal. He'll have to qualify the car on speed, which certainly brings up an interesting situation.

Because Terry Labonte is entering the race in the No. 55, he is guaranteed a spot because he is the most recent champion.

Bill Elliott, in the No. 21 Schrader would typically pilot, will have to make the race on time due to that, leaving open the slim chance that Schrader could out-qualify Elliott and send his own car home.

I wonder how much Wood Brothers Racing would be kicking themselves at that point?

Mike Bliss will return to the No. 49 after Indy, despite parting ways earlier in the season with the team. He's expected to finish out the season with BAM.

McClure Denies; Schrader Back in No. 49 originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Fri, 20 Jul 2007 00:20:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Labonte Back in Waltrip's Car for Brickyard

Geoffrey Miller — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 11:32:00 EST

Filed under: Terry Labonte, Michael Waltrip, Nextel Cup, Michael Waltrip Racing, NASCAR Silly Season

I'd imagine Michael Waltrip thought that by this time in the 2007 campaign, he wouldn't be making announcements like this.

Michael Waltrip Racing announced Wednesday that two-time Cup champ Terry Labonte will find himself in the No. 55 Toyota for the Allstate 400 on July 29th.

Labonte drove the No. 55 for Waltrip in Sonoma, Calif., and finished 35th on the road course. He's also scheduled to drive next month at Watkins Glen.

"I felt having him in the car next weekend at Indianapolis would be a great opportunity for me to continue to evaluate my entire organization from an owner's perspective," Waltrip said Wednesday.

"The feedback related to road course racing that Terry was able to provide my team after Infineon Raceway was very valuable. "We look forward to more of the same input after Indy."

Labonte has participated 11 races at the Brickyard, but has had only one top-5 finish back in 1996.

More trivia? Indianapolis was the first race Terry missed in 655 races back in 2000 after suffering a head injury at Daytona just weeks before.

For Waltrip? MWR has indeed shown some improvement as of late, and his top-10 run at Michigan was a definite sign of things to come, I think.

Fans can fault the guy all they want, but the truth is NASCAR needs guys like Waltrip around the garage area. At least, that is, in Pocono.

Labonte Back in Waltrip's Car for Brickyard originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Thu, 19 Jul 2007 11:32:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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McMurray on Pole and Other Lineup Oddities

tallglassofmilk — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 12:54:00 EST

Filed under: Jimmie Johnson, Brian Vickers, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Robby Gordon, Terry Labonte, Michael Waltrip, Jeff Gordon, Jamie McMurray, Toyota, NASCAR Awards, Nextel Cup

Jamie McMurray starts on the pole today. That's only happened twice before in his five-year Nextel Cup career, the last time at the 2005 Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway on July 24, 2005. He finished 11th. His first Bud Pole Award came at Homestead in 2004 where he finished 9th.

Robby Gordon will start 2nd in the Toyota/SaveMart 350. Last time he started that high in the field was here in 2003. He won. He owes TGOM a thank you. Because he was excluded from the power rankings, he has a shot at repeating.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. starts 3rd. Previously, his best start at Infineon Raceway came in 2005, which didn't work out too well for him. He started 10th, finished 42nd.

Speaking of 42nd, that's where defending series champion Jimmie Johnson will start, making this only the third time in 199 starts that he has started this deep in the field.

His teammate, series points leader Jeff Gordon, who has started on the pole here five times, will start 41st. That'll be a new view for him. His previous worst starting position was 31st.

Why is the Hall of Fame Ringing?
Ron Fellows, in the #96 for Tony Raines, will start 11th. I have a question ... how is Tony Raines ever going to learn to road race if they keep pulling him out of the car? They didn't let him run it last year either. And it's not like they needed help qualifying. Raines currently sits in the 27th position in owner and driver points. Now he sits on the side for a week. And for what?

Really? All Those Toyotas?
Indeed. Despite Brian Vickers and A.J. Allmendinger not qualifying their Red Bull cars, the manufacturer has a record number of cars in this week's race: 6.

Marc Goossens will start 21st in the Riley D'Hondt #91 Toyota. Who? Oh yeah, he's the guy who tried last time at Watkins Glen International but crashed out.

Terry Labonte, in Michael Waltrip's #55, will start 25th. Good to have him back on the track and he didn't need the championship provisional. P.J. Jones will bring up the rear of the field in David Reutimann's #00.

Butch Leitzinger, in Jeremy Mayfield's #36 will start 30th. Who? No idea. He ran three Cup races at The Glen over a decade ago, but this will be his first at Infineon.

Dale Jarrett starts 16th, a season best. Dave Blaney 19th.

Loser of the Week
The #15 Menards Cheverolet. Where was Paul Menard's ringer?

Not Odd
Boris Said will pull off 4th.

McMurray on Pole and Other Lineup Oddities originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sun, 24 Jun 2007 12:54:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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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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Fanhouse Power Rankings: Infineon Raceway

tallglassofmilk — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 01:38:00 EST

Filed under: Tony Stewart, Terry Labonte, Kurt Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Dodge, Toyota, NASCAR Power Rankings, Nextel Cup, Ricky Rudd

1. Jeff Gordon. This place is heaven for Gordon. Last year he announced his engagement, this year he's having a baby. If Ingrid's not giving birth on Sunday, Jeffy will be out front in Sonoma. He is by far the dominant driver on the track with five poles, five wins and nine top 10s. If he has to miss one race, this shouldn't be it.
(Update: The kid is out and the race is on.)
2. Tony Stewart. He's the head of the class if Gordon's out. Maybe his 300th Nextel Cup career start will jump start his 2007 win column with his 30th career win.
3. Denny Hamlin. Only one start here, but that shouldn't stop him. This is a COT race. The COT owes him.
4. Martin Truex Jr. He too has only one start here. So what. He's on fire.

5. Kurt Busch. One of the Busch Bros. needs some good news. It would be just like this one to do something really annoying and win his first week out with a new crew chief.

6. Ricky Rudd. His last race won was here in June five years ago. He's got as good a shot of anyone being in the right place at the right time.
Ringer. Boris Said. He's finished in the top 10 in three of the last four races--as good or better than most of the full-time Cup drivers. Speaking of Boris, check out his fancy footwork:

Long Shot. Terry Labonte. It's only right to have a Toyota in the rankings for the manufacturer's first sponsored race. Texas Terry will have no trouble victory lane if they put him in a decent car--and there seems to be a decent possibility of that these days.

Hey, didn't this used to be Dodge's race?

Fanhouse Power Rankings: Infineon Raceway originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Wed, 20 Jun 2007 01:38:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Labonte: Groundhogs Want to Race in Canada, Too

Geoffrey Miller — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 10:26:00 EST

Filed under: Terry Labonte, NASCAR Crashes, Richard Childress Racing, Busch Series

Circuit Gilles Villeneuve has a groundhog problem.

The course will serve as a home to the Busch series this August in its first foray north of the border to Montreal, Canada.

But, thankfully, two-time NASCAR Nextel Cup Series champ Terry Labonte doesn't think the groundhogs cause much of a problem.

"I think the noise of the stock car scared them away so I didn't see any when I took the car around the track. Hopefully they'll make a good decision not to come across," said Labonte.

Imagine the possibilities with this one.

What happens when the race leader is coming to the checkered flag and takes a furry creature through the grill?

Is Juan Pablo Montoya (who has Formula One experience at the course) used to dodging groundhogs?

Could the guy from Caddyshack be hired by NASCAR to help with extermination?

F1 driver Anthony Davidson did hit a groundhog -- wrongly accused of being a beaver at first -- at last weekend's Canadian Grand Prix. Let's just say that when Davidson's front wing was replaced, the old one was carrying some extra cargo.

Labonte was in Canada at the start of the week to test a Richard Childress Racing Busch car for NASCAR to find braking points and determine if any changes were needed to the course.

Labonte: Groundhogs Want to Race in Canada, Too originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Thu, 14 Jun 2007 10:26:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You Can Own Bristol Motor Speedway for $25!

Geoffrey Miller — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 13:50:00 EST

Filed under: Terry Labonte, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte, Kurt Busch, Bristol Motor Speedway, NASCAR Crashes, NASCAR Videos, Nextel Cup, Craftsman Truck Series

... a piece of it anyway.

As Bristol Motor Speedway's surface gets thrown to the chopping block this week in favor of a new, progressively banked concrete base, the lovely folks in charge at Thunder Valley have announced that you can now own a piece of the start/finish line that was installed just 15 years ago. Available in three sizes, you can buy a piece of concrete that Terry Labonte slid across for a win. Or that Jeff Gordon drove across twice for the win after bumping Rusty Wallace out of the way. Or that Kyle Busch did a burn out on just last Sunday.

Oh, and don't forget. Kurt Busch's rear end did the snow angel on it in last year's Food City 500, as well. Wouldn't that be a treat to put above the fireplace?

The pieces are going to be available for order on July 1 and apparently in limited quantities because the start/finish line is the only place that is going to be sold off.

I think I'm going to hold out, though, because I think the rest of the concrete there will eventually have its price. After all, where's the love for turn 3 or the backstretch? I'm sure Bobby Labonte might want a piece of that concrete under where he stood to let loose on his wrecked Interstate Batteries Lumina in 1996.

So note to Speedway Motorsports owner [and BMS owner] Bruton Smith, don't smash up the backstretch because I need a new driveway. And my backyard? It could definitely use a nice section of turn 4 (banking included).

I can't wait.

You Can Own Bristol Motor Speedway for $25! originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Wed, 28 Mar 2007 13:50:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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