Back towards the end of October, I wrote of how I was shifting focus of the site because I was unhappy with the direction of NASCAR.  Well, who could have ever imagined what would happen over the past couple of months that have followed?  One of my biggest gripes is the multitude of big teams that were drowning out the smaller teams.  This was, of course, fueled by sponsorship dollars endlessly given by big business including the “Big Three” auto makers.

Well, that was yesterday’s NASCAR.  With the significant fall of the Stock Market and, the pending demise of the “Big Three”, sponsorship money has all but dried up.  Teams are starting to collapse and in the interest of surviving, are looking to merge with each other.  The saddest part of all of this is the massive lay-offs that have hit the racing industry.  Especially at this time of year.

Teams started by two of the biggest names in NASCAR/Winston Cup Racing are struggling for existence.  Dale Earnhardt, Inc. has already joined up with Chip Ganassi Racing to field a four car team.  Petty Enterprises is rumored to be looking to join up with Gillett-Evernham Racing in some type of a merger deal.  NASCAR, in an effort to save money, has even eliminated testing for 2009.

For these reasons, I will be remaining active in my NASCAR, Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Truck Series racing.  Not because of wanting to watch a train wreck but instead because this could be the be the beginning of a return to the roots by NASCAR and the teams competing in it.  Sure, it’s easy to be the best with unlimited money but what happens when you suddenly have a budget to contend with.  Whereas this is new for a lot of teams, there are some smaller teams that are no strangers to struggling to survive.  It’s in this environment where you may see some of these teams excel. 

I can’t help thinking of the Wood Brothers or even Petty Enterprises and how they are prepared to do better in this environment of having less.  This is indeed a new era in NASCAR racing.  Shoot, we may even start seeing hometown garages on the hoods of cars before it’s over.  Yes boys and girls, this may be what returns NASCAR back to the hands of the people who started it.  Without rockstar salaries, who’s going to want to be a driver except those who truly love the sport?

With that said, I am actually very excited to see what NASCAR looks like during Speedweeks and the months to follow.  I am looking forward to writing about this transformation as well here.

The RacingFaces podcast will be happening.  We are actually planning to produce an introductory episode this weekend with the first regular episode starting with the first week of 2009.  The podcast will be an extension of the blog with an opportunity for more news and interviews.  We’re going to do some prizes so be sure to listen as we’ve already got some really nice prizes lined up courtesy of Sprint and Toyota!

According to a release by Hendrick Motorsports, Brad Keselowski will be making his Sprint Cup debut at Lowes Motor Speedway in the October 11^th Bank of America 500. He will be driving the number 25 GoDaddy Chevrolet. A few weeks later, on November 2^nd, he’ll be doing it again at the Dickie’s 500 in Texas. Keselowski is currently third in the Nationwide points, driving for JR Motorsports. In order to get ready, Keselowski will be driving the car during an open test this week at the Lowes Motor Speedway.

“I’m focused on making the most of these first two races,” Keselowski said. “The Sprint Cup Series has always been a goal, and now it’s up to me to take advantage of the opportunity. I have to thank Mr. Hendrick, Dale Jr. and the folks at GoDaddy.com for showing so much faith in me.”

For full details of the release, check out http://www.hendrickmotorsports.com/news_detail.asp?id=2135&bhcp=1

Until the Richmond race today, it was pretty easy to dismiss David Reutiman.  He’s only run 53 races with an average finish of 26th.  Up until Fontana, he had only led a total of 6 laps in his three year career in Nextel/Sprint Cup racing.  He pretty much stays out of the way and runs his own race.  That is until Fontana, where he grabbed his first ever top-ten finish. 

I am a firm believer in the power of bounce.  We see it all the time in the sport.  Sometimes, all a team needs is a win or even a good run for a shot of confidence to spring them forward.  That’s why we see so many winning streaks or at least back to back wins.  The #44 UPS team may be just experiencing a bounce from their 9th place finish in Fontana but I don’t really think so.  For the second week in a row, they’re inside of the top-ten.

It’s relatively easy to grab a couple of lead laps.  Just stay out on a caution for a couple of laps and grab the bonus points.  When a driver is able to stay out front for 104 laps in a 400 lap race, that’s a different story.  That’s what Reutimann was able to do today at Richmond.  I was very impressed with the #44’s run today.  For a bit, I even thought he might just pull off his first Cup win.  Mark my words, this teams win is coming.  I’m not sure it will be this season but I’m betting that by this time next year, Reutimann will have a win or two under his belt.  That would be incredible for Michael Waltrip Racing.  Off the top of my head, I’m not sure if they’ve ever had a win.

I was so impressed with the #44’s run today that I even dedicated a forum to David Reutimann fans which, if he keeps running like this, should keep growing every week.  If you want to check it out, it’s our first real racingfaces.com forum.  Even better than checking it out, jump in and post.  During the off season this year, I plan on doing a lot of work with the forums to get them ready for next season.

Photo Credit: Sam Greenwood / Getty Images for NASCAR

During the pre-race to the Sprint All-Star Race, Dale finally did it.  Dale Jarrett that is.  He drove the UPS truck sending the crowd wild.  It even looked like the big guy even shed a few tears.  Dale, who hasn’t raced since Bristol, declared the All-Star as his final with him retiring from the car and moving on to the broadcast booth.  I’ve really enjoyed watching Dale over the years.  Sadly, he’s one of the few remaining good old drivers and, I’m going to miss him. 

Dale has the perfect combination of class and skill.  Something that is often missing from the young guns today.  He’s the son of two time NASCAR Grand National Series Champion Ned Jarrett, so genetics didn’t hurt him either.  Dale entered then Winston Cup racing back in 1984 when he was just 27 years old although he didn’t race a full schedule until 1986.  Over the years, he’s driven for some of the greats.  The Wood Brothers, Cale Yarborough and he was the first driver recruited to drive for the brand new team formed by Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs back in 1992.  In recent years, he drove for Robert Yates Racing and most recently, Michael Waltrip Racing.

Dale’s a three time winner of the Great American Race, the Daytona 500.  He won his first back in 1994 and went on to win in 1996 and 2000 as well.  In 1999, he won the Winston Cup Championship.  All in all, he’s had 668 starts with 32 wins, 163 Top 5’s and 260 Top 10’s.  That puts well over half of his starts as tenth or better finishes.  Boys and girls, I don’t care how you count it up, that’s pretty damn good.

One of my favorite moments in NASCAR was when Ned Jarrett was calling the 93 Daytona 500 and the excitement and pride in his voice as his son went on to win the race.  During those final laps, Ned stopped being a sportscaster and was a Dad, coaching his son onward to the checkered.  Take a few minutes and check this video out of it.  I watched it live in 93 and I’ve seen it probably a hundred times since but still enjoy watching it every time.

Dale Jarrett’s 93 Daytona 500 Win

I’ll miss Dale in the car but I can’t wait to see him in the booth.

Thanks Dale!

Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR

This past Saturday was the NASCAR Sprint Cup All-Stars night at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.  As in past years, drivers not in the “big show” by virtue wins, past champion provisionals or by being a past All-Star winner participated in what was this year named the “Sprint Shootout”.  In the past, this has been an incredible little race, the real epitome of “go or go home” and has proven to have some incredible finishes.  My favorite one in recent years was in 2005 when Brian Vickers wrecked Mike Bliss just short of the checkered to snatch the win and thus, the transfer into the feature race from Bliss.

This year was another good one.  After netting the pole, Elliott Sadler’s night ended early when A.J. Almendinger took him out in lap 10.   Almendinger went on to win the race and advance to the feature.  Patrick Carpentier’s night was another short one.  He took himself out in turn 2 on lap 2.  The most impressive finish of the night was Sam Hornish Jr’s.  He had problems early on but went on to grab a second place finish.

Driver and team introductions are always a favorite part of the night for me.  No surprises there.  Dale Earnhardt Jr. was cheered and Kyle Busch was boo’d.  The Sprint Fan Vote winner ended up being Kasey Kahne.  Personally, my choice would have been Kyle Petty but, I couldn’t vote because I’m no longer a Sprint Wireless customer.  I could have went into a Sprint store but I didn’t feel like the hassle.  Now, I would have preferred a web voting method or a text message method open to all wireless carriers but I can’t complain too loud since it is, after all, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

The Sprint All-Star race consisted of four 25 lap segments.  Fan Vote winner Kasey Kahne started out dead last.  There were zero cautions other than the ones between segments.  This almost seemed impossible with one million dollars on the line and no points to worry about.  It came as no surprise that Kyle Bush won the first segment.  He was strong, leading all 25 laps of the segment.  After all, this type of race seems to have been made for him.

On lap 39 in the second segment, Kyle’s Toyota started developing engine trouble and he lost the lead to Carl Edwards.  Carl then went on to win the second segment.  During the ten minute break between the second and third segment, Kyle’s team declared his night over due to the engine trouble.

After the break, Carl started the third segment leading but quickly lost the lead to Dale Earnhardt Jr. who went on to lead laps 51 through 64.  Greg Biffle was able to take the lead from Jr. when the handling went away from the 88 Chevy.  Greg went on to win the third segment with Jr. finishing second.

After the third segment, there was a mandatory pit stop.  Drivers and teams could elect to do a stop and go but the starting order of the last segment would be determined by the order they left pit road.  In an incredibly bold move, Kasey Kahne’s team opted not to take any tires and came out with Jimmie Johnson who did the same.  Starting order for the final segment was Johnson, Kahne, Hamlin, Biffle and Kenseth.  Out of the gate, Denny Hamlin took the lead and held it until lap lap 83 but became the third JGR car to develop engine troubles during the event.  Tony Stewart had swapped an engine after practice requiring him to move to the rear of the pack at the start of the race.  Kahne then took the lead and went on to stretch out that lead and bring it on home making him the first Fan Vote winner to win the All-Star race.

Here’s the finishing order for the main event. 

Normally, it wouldn’t be a story if a NASCAR Sprint Cup driver lost his temper especially on one of the short tracks like Richmond.  This time, it involved the normally happy go lucky, Michael Waltrip and Casey Mears.  On lap 355, Casey Mears cut up into Michael’s 55 Napa Toyota, pinching him into the wall.  Waltrip, obviously frustrated hits the accelerator, pushing Mears for a good bit down the track.  At the time, Michael was a lap down and he admitted later that he lost his cool.  Well, as soon as I saw it happen, I predicted that a trip to the NASCAR trailer was in Michael’s future.  I was, however, surprised when NASCAR parked him for the remainder of the race.

I consider myself a fan of Michael’s even before and since he left DEI.  This guy can’t catch a break.  Dale Earnhardt Sr. saw Michael’s talent which is why he brought him into DEI in the first place.  With DEI’s equipment, Michael saw his most successful career years so far.  I was hoping that with Toyota’s backing, he could keep that momentum going with MWR but so far, he can’t get ahead of the curve and stay there.

By doing what he did, he assured that his Napa Toyota would be included in the replay reels for Richmond even when he wasn’t going to have a stellar finish.  Good move or bad move?

After watching the race last night, one has to wonder if Kyle Busch made it home safely last night.  It was, after all the 72nd race that Dale Jr. had started only to go home winless.  After Denny Hamlin developed a leak in a right front tire, Jr was able to secure the lead with Kyle Busch running second.  Then, on lap 396 I believe, while the two were battling for the lead, Kyle appeared to raise up into Jr, sending him spinning and eliminating any hope of Dale Jr seeing victory lane.

That’s not where the controversy is after all, it’s racing.  I watched the replay several times and it almost appears that Kyle Busch is in control of his car the whole time.  When the two initially come together, Busch appears to drive ever so slightly up into Earnhardt Jr., at almost the exact spot it would take to spin him without harming Busch.  Fox commentators all agreed that Busch got loose even after Larry Mac initially observed the same front tire wiggle that I did and commented that it worried him.  Even with the incident, Earnhardt Jr. went on to finish 15th leaving him third in points.

During the post-race press conference, Kyle Busch was asked about the incident.

"Oh, yeah.  I feel it’s like that.  I mean, everybody probably is racing around the racetrack scared to death of wrecking Dale Earnhardt, Junior, so why wouldn’t I be any different?

You know that was just A product of good, hard racing.  I apologize that that happened, and I hated that it did.  Fortunately he didn’t get hurt and nothing like that happened, so he was able to continue.  He’ll see another day of racing.

You know, to say that I took away a win away from him, you know, it’s hard to say.  And if I wanted to do it deliberately, I would have waited for the last lap where I probably could have still won the race.

You know, there’s a way that it happened and I hated that it did.  We just didn’t give each other enough room getting into turn three and, you know, I didn’t    I didn’t feel like I slipped, but I mean, we just kind of banged simultaneously, and then that’s when I got loose and got corrected and he was gone. "

I was glad to see Mark Martin driving the number 8 DEI car keep Busch busy on the Green/White/Checkered restart so that Boyer could secure the win for RCR in what was otherwise a stellar night of racing at Richmond.

I bet the buzz this week is the Earnhardt Jr and Kyle Busch incident even up to Darlington.  What do you think?  Leave a comment and let everyone know.

(Photo Credit: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

CONCORD, N.C. (April 29, 2008)-Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (CGRFS) driver Dario Franchitti was re-evaluated this week by his doctors and will sit out this weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at Richmond International Raceway (RIR).  NASCAR veteran Ken Schrader will drive the No. 40 Kennametal Dodge on Saturday for the 400-lap event. 

Franchitti was seen by Dr. Terry Trammel and Dr. Kevin Scheid in Indianapolis, Ind. on Monday.  The doctors confirmed the slight fracture in Franchitti’s left ankle.  Franchitti will be fitted for a carbon fiber brace later this week.  His status behind the wheel of the No. 40 Dodge will be evaluated on a week-to-week basis.

Schrader is confirmed to race for CGRFS in Richmond only.  Franchitti will also be in Richmond with the No. 40 team.

Source: Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates News Release

I usually don’t revisit results even though I just post the unofficial results as soon as possible after the race.  The reason why is usually, the finishing order remains the same from unofficial to official.  This is one of those rare occasions when there is a small change.  Simple enough explanation if you watched the NASCAR Sprint Cup Aaron’s 499 on Sunday.  The last lap crash was crazy further back in the field.  NASCAR had to review video and all of the scoring loop data to determine who was where when the caution came out because, remember, the field is frozen as soon as the yellow flag flies.  There is, surprisingly, only one change.  Sterling Marlin and Regan Smith were shown as 21st and 22nd in the unofficial results.  In the official results, they are flipped; Regan is 21st and Sterling is 22nd.  Not bad considering the mayhem that ensued on that final lap.  As expected, Talladega delivered another exciting weekend.