March 25 – Today in Jayski’s NASCAR history

March 25, 2007

• • • Roush Fenway must lose team by 2010 UPDATE losing Ameriquest after 2007: Roush Fenway Racing will have to decrease its number of Nextel Cup teams from five to four by the start of the 2010 season, team president Geoff Smith said Saturday. NASCAR announced in 2005 that it would limit organizations to four fulltime Cup teams and that it would work with Roush to get down from four to five. Originally, the agreement was that once Roush lost a sponsor and driver at the same time, it would have to get down to four. “That [original discussion] triggered a loop that made the shrinkage date unpredictable, so it was [changed to] very simply, when the 2010 season starts, you’ll have four,” Smith said. “We have to be at four at the start of 2010, regardless of what happens to us in the interim, if we lose a driver, lose a sponsor.” Smith indicated that his contracts are solid through the 2009 season. He also said in the perfect world, Roush would sell one of the teams. “We’ve got three more years to sell one of our teams off,” Smith said. “Hopefully, we can retain some business with that sale.”(SceneDaily.com)(3-24-2007)
      UPDATE: Changes are on the way at Roush Fenway Racing, which is losing one primary sponsor after this season and has been ordered by NASCAR to drop one of its five Nextel Cup teams by 2010. Ameriquest, the mortgage company that became the primary sponsor of Greg Biffle’s #16 car this season, has asked Roush Fenway to sell off the final two years of its contract, which expires in 2009. The lender’s struggling parent company recently announced a second round of layoffs, and Ameriquest last week pulled out of a 30-year deal as rights holder to the name of the Texas Rangers’ ballpark. “It’s very clear that they want to reduce their contract exposure to us,” Roush Fenway president Geoff Smith said Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway. “If we weren’t able to do that, then you get into, OK, here’s your car, what are we going to do with it? You’ve got this lame duck environment going on, which is not helpful to anybody. So in practical terms, we can assume that we’ll have another sponsor for next season.” Smith doesn’t anticipate any difficulties in finding a new sponsor, especially given that Roush Fenway has nearly an entire season to search. Roush Fenway also has until the 2010 season to comply with NASCAR’s maximum of four cars per organization, announced by the sanctioning body in 2005. The car cap was put in place after all five Roush cars qualified for the Chase for the Nextel Cup championship. “There’s no mistaking our understanding of what we have to do,” Smith said. “Regardless of what goes on within our programs, we have to go to four [cars] in 2010.”(NASCAR.com)(3-25-2007)
  • • New DEI deal for Dale Jr. by May a ‘realistic goal’: Although negotiations are on hold, that shouldn’t prevent #8-Dale Earnhardt Jr. from having a new deal with Dale Earnhardt Inc. by May. “Absolutely,” Max Siegel, the president of Global Operations for DEI, said before Sunday’s Nextel Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway. “All of the issues are properly framed. That’s a realistic goal.” Negotiations were put on hold when Earnhardt Jr.’s sister and business partner, Kelley Earnhardt Elledge, underwent surgery on Friday to remove tumors from her pancreas. She is expected to stay in the hospital for four or five days. “She’s at a critical part of this process,” Siegel said. “I don’t want the focus to be on her recovery for the contract negotiation. “Every day we’re checking in with her and making sure that the first priority is her getting healthy. As soon as they’re ready to resume any kind of discussions we’re ready.” Siegel doesn’t foresee any situation in which negotiations would continue without Kelley. But Siegel sees no reason why a new deal can’t still be done by May while DEI still has exclusive negotiating rights. “You can’t really rush the process,” he said. “We’re all headed in the right direction, so just as soon as it makes sense for us to sit back down we will. But none of us want to do anything that is going to interfere with her recovery or frame of mind.” Earnhardt Jr. is in the last year of his contract with the company his father built. He said earlier this year he wanted majority ownership to be a part of his new deal.(ESPN.com)(3-25-2007)
  • • Kyle Busch wins 1st COT race at Bristol: #5-Kyle Busch won the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway for his 1st win of the 2007 season, 4th career win and 200th NASCAR [Cup, Busch, Trucks] win. There was a green-white-checker finish after a late caution, with #5-Busch holding off a hard charging #31-Jeff Burton, who held on to 2nd, followed by #24-Gordon, #29-Harvick, #16-Biffle, #66-Green, #8-Earnhardt Jr, #07-Bowyer, #26-McMurray and #25-Mears. #20-Stewart led the most laps, but had a fuel system problem religated Stewart to a finish of 35th. #24-Gordon takes over the points lead from idle #01-Martin. There were 15 cautions for 90 laps and 10 drivers lead the race with 14 lead changes.
      Race Results on my Bristol Race Results/Awards Page.
      Points Standings on my Drivers/Owners Points after Bristol page
      Race Rundown: see my Bristol Race Info/Rundown Page for my race rundown page, laps led, top 10, race notes, lucky dogs and more.(3-25-2007)
  • • Unofficial Driver Points Top-12 Standing after Bristol [5 of 36 races]:
      #24-Jeff Gordon 791
      #31-Jeff Burton 788 -3
      #48-Jimmie Johnson 716 -75
      #17-Matt Kenseth 697 -94
      #29-Kevin Harvick 647 -144
      #5-Kyle Busch 639 -152
      #01-Mark Martin 629 -162 [missed 1 race]
      #07-Clint Bowyer 621 -170
      #11-Denny Hamlin 606 -185
      #99-Carl Edwards 598 -193
      #40-David Stremme 587 -204
      #20-Tony Stewart 575 -216
      some noteables:
      #8-Dale Earnhardt Jr. is 17th
      #9-Kasey Kahne is 34th
      For drivers/owners points, see my Jayski’s Drivers/Owners Points Page.(3-25-2007)
  • • Bristol Penalty Report:
      Car#, Penalty, Reason, Issued
      1 #01 OL Car/truck pitting out of the assigned pit box 51
      2 #43 TE Excessive speed – Exiting pits 52
      3 #10 PT Excessive Speed-Entering pits 105
      4 #96 MCI Lug nut(s) not installed 152
      5 #36 TE Pitting before Pit Road is Open 226
      6 #36 TE Commitment Line Violation 226
      7 #9 TE Pitting before Pit Road is Open 282
      8 #31 TE Excessive Speed-Entering pits 284
      9 #20 TE Commitment Line Violation 289
      10 #18 TE Excessive Speed-Entering pits 312
      11 #7 TE Excessive Speed-Entering pits 380
      12 #88 TE Pitting before Pit Road is Open 413
      13 #21 OL Car/truck pitting out of the assigned pit box 416
      14 #48 TE Pitting before Pit Road is Open 485
      15 #88 TE Pitting before Pit Road is Open 485
      16 #22 TE Excessive speed – Exiting pits 488
      PT – Pass through
      TE – Tail end of the longest line
      SG – Stop and Go
      OL – One lap
      ND – NASCAR discretion
      MCI – Must come into pits
      (Provided by NASCAR Statistics)(3-25-2007)
  • • Rumblings – Bristol Race Notes: Kyle Busch won the first-ever COT event today at Bristol Motor Speedway as he took the Food City 504 by about a half-length over Jeff Burton, barely surviving a G/W/C in the process. It was the 4th Nextel Cup win of Kyle’s young career (he’s tied for 69th on the all-time win list) and the 152nd for Hendrick Motorsports (their third in a row, btw). The victory was worth $179,400 from the over $5.5M in posted awards, and puts the #5 car on the Winners Circle plan for 2007. Reviews will be mixed on the COT. There’s a bunch of drivers who don’t like the car….and the racing today was certainly not as good as many Bristol races we’ve seen. One thing’s for sure, they’re gonna have to do something with that front splitter…. By popular demand, we got to see Carl Edwards’ back-flip a day late….. Take that ABC/ESPN! We also got somewhat of a clarification concerning the Chase and the #01 car….as we expected. So, if you’re gonna follow that Owner Points race with a fervor, dig in!
      Jeff Green (6th) had his best finish since he was 5th at Talladega in October of 2002!
      Jamie McMurray (9th) had his best finish since he was 3rd at Watkins Glen last August.
      Mike Bliss (17th) had his best finish since he was 12th at Homestead in November of 2005.
      Ward Burton (18th) had his best finish since he was 10th at Talladega in October of 2004!
      Kenny Wallace (21st) had his best finish since he was 21st at Homestead in November of 2005.
      Jeremy Mayfield (34th) had his best finish since he was 29th at Loudon last July (only four races).
      STREAKIN….Jeff Burton has 4 Top-5’s in the last 5 races.
      Jeff Gordon has 4 Top-10’s in the last 5 races.
      This Week’s Elevator…..UP: Operator of the Week is Kevin Harvick (+36), followed by Jeff Burton (+27), Matt Kenseth (+27), Dale Earnhardt Jr (+24), Carl Edwards (+20), and David Stremme (+20). DOWN: The Big Dropper was Scott Riggs (-33), followed by Tony Stewart (-31), Elliott Sadler (-24), and Martin Truex Jr (-24). This is the second time at the top (and bottom) of the Shaft for both leaders this week…..Harvick was the Op at Daytona and for Riggs this is two in a row.
      (see full newsletter at Stock Car Fans.com)(3-26-2007)
  • • Bristol Race Notes:
      Kyle Busch won the Food City 500, winning the first Car of Tomorrow race. It is his fourth victory in 79 Nextel Cup Series races.
      .. This is his first victory and third top-10 finish in 2007.
      .. This is his first victory and third top-10 finish in five races at Bristol Motor Speedway.
      .. Kyle Busch has won at least one race in each of the past three Nextel Cup Series seasons.
      .. Jeff Burton finished second, his second straight runner-up finish and his third top-10 overall at Bristol.
      .. Jeff Gordon finished third, his 18th top-10 finish in 29 Bristol races.
      .. Kevin Harvick finished fourth, posting his ninth top-10 finish in 13 races at Bristol. Six of his finishes here have been fourth or better. .. Jeff Gordon took over the lead in the Nextel Cup point standings, his first time atop the points since Feb. 20, 2005. Gordon leads Jeff Burton by just three points.
      .. Mark Martin fell from fist to seventh in the point standings.
      .. This was the 600th Nextel Cup victory for Chevrolet.(NASCAR Stats)(3-25-2007)
  • • Founder of Hot Rod Mag passes away: Robert E. Petersen, an entrepreneur who single-handedly created the largest special-interest publishing company in America, was instrumental in the evolution of the hot-rodding culture, and who, with his wife Margie, realized his dream of establishing an educational museum to pay tribute to the automobile, died on Friday, March 23, at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, Calif. after a short but valiant battle with neuroendocrine cancer. He was 80. In January 1948 he launched Hot Rod Magazine, and hawked the magazine at local speedways for 25 cents a copy. Motor Trend, a more upscale publication for production car enthusiasts, and dozens of other titles aimed at specialty automotive segments soon followed.(Hot Rod Magazine site)(3-25-2007)
  • • Tragic News: Three friends bound for a NASCAR race in Tennessee were killed yesterday when their small plane crashed shortly after takeoff into a patch of woods near a Jacksonville home. Baltimore County police identified the victims as Theodore C. Ryder, 45, who was piloting the aircraft, Paul E. Sorensen, 48, and Timothy H. Conner, 48 – all from Joppa. There were no injuries on the ground, officials said. Officials said the plane, a six-seat Piper Saratoga, took off from Harford County Airport in Churchville at 9:06 a.m. and crashed about nine minutes later. The plane was heading for Abingdon, Va., and family said the three expected to attend a car race in nearby Bristol, Tenn.(Baltimore Sun)(3-25-2007)
  • • Chevy Impala Fact: Food City 500 marks the return of the legendary Impala nameplate to NASCAR Cup competition. Impala has 60 NASCAR Cup wins to date. Last Impala victory was December 1, 1963 by Wendell Scott at Jacksonville Speedway, the only African-American driver to ever win a NASCAR Cup race.(GM Racing PR)(3-25-2007)
  • • RIR to remain an impound race: Nextel Cup teams better make good use of their car of tomorrow test April 3-4 at Richmond International Raceway because they won’t get separate qualifying and race practice when they go there for the May 4-5 race weekend. Richmond remains an impound race, just as it was for both races last year, NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp said Friday. The Friday-Saturday schedule of the Richmond weekend allows for the impound procedure – where there is no practice between qualifying and the race – to make the schedule a little less hectic. While Richmond remains an impound race, when the teams go the following week to Darlington Raceway, they will not have their cars impounded. Darlington was not an impound race last year. Darlington also will be a COT race, and that will be the first COT race at a track longer than a mile [1.36miles].(SceneDaily.com)(3-25-2007)
  • • Waltrip gets help from Toyota: Toyota is taking aggressive measures, similar to the way it moved into the Craftsman Truck Series, to improve its Nextel Cup teams. Lee White, the general manager for Toyota Racing Development, said Saturday that TRD engineers are preparing a car from Michael Waltrip Racing that the struggling Waltrip could use at a future 1.5-mile track. He said TRD also has offered to build a Car of Tomorrow road-course car for Bill Davis Racing and a COT superspeedway car for Team Red Bull to use at the second Talladega race. But White insisted Toyota will not centralize the construction of Cup cars the way it did its trucks. White said four days are scheduled for Waltrip, who has missed the last four races, to test the car that was driven by Dale Jarrett at California. He said if the car ever gets into a Cup event it would be at the May race in Charlotte. White said the car will then go to Bill Davis’ shop in the High Point, N.C., area and be put on a chassis machine, measured, checked and rechecked. White said he is encouraged by the progress Toyota has made the past month, particularly getting five of seven cars into Sunday’s inaugural COT race at Bristol Motor Speedway after a subpar test last month. He said the company remains patient, understanding it will take time to make a mark in NASCAR’s premier series. He hopes sponsors will remain patient as well, particularly NAPA, the primary sponsor of Waltrip’s car. White added that Toyota is nearing a deal with a Busch team to run a few COT Cup road courses this year. He said Wyler Racing, which fields the Toyota Tundra driven by Jack Sprague in the Truck Series, might participate in a COT race later this year. He doesn’t anticipate major expansion next season.(ESPN.com)
      AND Toyota is sending one of Michael Waltrip Racing’s Camrys back to its TRD research center for a complete dismantling to see if they can learn why the car is so slow.(Ford Racing)(3-25-2007)
  • • Carmichael Debuted in Stock Car Race Saturday UPDATE 2:Supercross champion Ricky Carmichael makes his stock car debut in a Super Late Model feature driving a car owned by Mark Martin at Columbia Motorsports Park in Lake City, FL, Saturday, March 24, 2007, gates open at 6:00pm/et info at columbiamotorsportspark.com.
      SPONSOR: Ginn Racing announced that Monster Energy will be the primary sponsor of Ricky Carmichael’s late model stock car program which begins Saturday night (March 24) at Columbia Motorsports Park in Lake City, FL. Ginn’s Nextel Cup pilot Mark Martin will mentor Carmichael as part of his role as the company’s driver development director. The 27-year-old Carmichael is expected to run in 15 late model stock car races in 2007. After this weekend’s race in Lake City, Carmichael’s other two scheduled events at this time are April 21 and April 28 at New Smyrna Speedway in New Smyrna Beach, FL. Monster Energy, the popular energy drink, has been a major sponsor of Carmichael’s Supercross and motocross programs.(Ginn Racing PR)(3-24-2007)
      UPDATE 2: Ginn Racing development driver and motocross champion Ricky Carmichael made his stock car debut Saturday night in a super late model race at Columbia Motorsports Park [Lake City, FL]. Under the watchful eye of Nextel Cup point leader Mark Martin, Carmichael finished third in his heat race. In the main feature, he overcame a second lap incident, but on Lap 7 of 25 his right-front tire went flat, sending his #4 Monster Energy Chevy into the wall and a premature exit from the race. Fellow Ginn development driver Matt Martin finished fourth in his heat and seventh overall in the feature. Carmichael’s next two scheduled late model races will be April 21 and April 28 at New Smyrna Speedway in New Smyrna Beach, Fla. He is expected to compete in a total of 15 late model races this season.(Ginn Racing PR)(3-25-2007)

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