Nascar Nextel Cup Allstate 400 Race at the Brick / Indianapolis on NBC Sunday 8/7 , 2pm ET - 11am PT

Nascar.com ^ | 8/3/05

[NormsRevenge]

Join us this weekend for some racing on hallowed ground.

God bless our troops, families and nation.

......

This thread is dedicated to the men and women in our country's armed forces defending our freedoms.

Thank you for your service.

[SouthTexas]

I think it's going to get real interesting from here on out. I thought I'd drop today, but didn't. Stayed in 10th in FRFL and actually gained overall. Sure was a lot of flipping around me.

I figure it's about time for you to catch second gear and leave us all in the dust again. :)

[SouthTexas]

JJ was treated and released from the hospital. His crewcheif is not a happy camper about the lack of ambulance.

I thought ANY hit into the outside wall required a mandatory trip to the infield hospital.

[alancarp]

I'll take a moment to gloat while I still can: in the League, I started with weeks of 212 and 213 points -- I think that was 41st place. East(Fender)Benders is now 6th.

Of course I didn't take Smoke this week, which would have bumped me to 4th.

[WestCoastGal]

Shake-Ups: Talk heats up on potential driver moves


By Mike Mulhern
JOURNAL REPORTER

INDIANAPOLIS

The NASCAR driver-swap pot is boiling over, and the latest word in the stock-car garage includes some potential blockbusters:

?Toyota may be making a run at Ford star Matt Kenseth for a 2007 Nextel Cup bid, .

?Jason Leffler could be NASCAR's newest free agent.

?Michael Waltrip may not be leaving Dale Earnhardt Inc. at the end of the season after all.

? Ryan Newman has signed a new contract with Roger Penske that will keep him there through the 2009 season, and crew chief Matt Borland also has a Penske contract through 2009.

? Kasey Kahne has signed a new contract with Ray Evernham that will keep him with Dodge for at least the next five years.

? Penske is down to two men in his search for a driver to replace Rusty Wallace next season. Penske will make his announcement by Sept. 1.

snip~

Cary Sources familiar with Gibbs' negotiations say that, earlier this year, an offer was made to car owner Jack Roush to hire away Greg Biffle for the FedEx-sponsored team, basically an open-ended offer in which Roush could set the price. Biffle, however, decided to sign a new contract to remain with Roush.
snip~

Meanwhile, car owner Chip Ganassi raised a few eyebrows yesterday morning when he tossed out a rumor he said he'd heard about Penske making an offer to Roush for $12 million to buy out Kenseth's contract in order to put Kenseth in Rusty Wallace's ride next season.

"And I heard Jack was going to keep $2 million and turn around and give me $10 million to buy Jamie McMurray's contract," Ganassi said with a laugh. "If so, I want to make sure Jack has my phone number."

Geoff Smith, the head of Roush Racing, didn't find Ganassi amusing.

"That is Chip pulling everyone's legs. That is 100-percent fabricated," Smith said.

"What that does tell you is his decision (to keep McMurray in 2006, despite McMurray's new 2007 contract with Roush) might not be being made by what is right for Jamie or for the sponsor or for racing, but 'Hey, maybe I can make a buck.' That's what it feels like."

Nevertheless, there were reports yesterday that Penske had indeed approached Roush with an offer of some sort for Kenseth, but that Roush had dismissed it out of hand.

Penske continues to decline comment on his driver search.

Is Kenseth's contract for sale? "Absolutely not," Smith said.

However, Smith said he hasn't had an opportunity yet to talk with Kenseth about the Penske report. "I've been traveling around on sponsorship business, and I've been trying to track him down to ask him," Smith said.

Kenseth's comments at Pocono about possibly not being around at Roush Racing in 2007 - when McMurray is to join the Roush team - has sparked considerable speculation as to what Kenseth was really talking about. Kenseth has been rather nebulous when questioned about his Pocono comments.

Smith says he's confident that Kenseth will remain with Roush: "Matt is very happy about being at Roush Racing, and we've had some discussions about going forward."

Kenseth's contract with Roush runs through the end of 2006, and Smith says he is working on a long-term renewal.

"I think Matt just wanted to point out to Jamie that he is a senior driver," Smith said of the Pocono flap. "And we've always had a sense of deference, in relationships, from the young drivers toward the senior drivers. So I think that was Matt talking to Jamie and not to Roush Racing."

[WestCoastGal]

Oops link did nt light up.

LINK

[WestCoastGal]

Hard hit sends Jimmie Johnson to hospital

By JIM UTTER

ThatsRacin.com Writer


INDIANAPOLIS - Jimmie Johnson was taken to Methodist Hospital Sunday for a precautionary examination following a hard hit in a wreck on Lap 145 in Turn 4 of Sunday's Allstate 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Johnson was being examined for a possible concussion, team officials said. Johnson was released from the hospital later Sunday night.

"They are just going to take him over there and check him out," said Johnson's crew chief, Chad Knaus. "His bell has definitely been rung. That was a pretty hard hit he took out there.

LINK

No mention in any articles I've found whether or not he had a concussion.

[WestCoastGal]

" Did you put up jr's radio com yet? In post race he was moaning (yet again) about what a lousy car they had put him in. I'm sorry, but this guy comes across as a whining baby. "

---

Morning don-o. With all due respect, we all would do more than whine if we were given a car to drive every week that we had to drive 200mph that was a piece of cr@p that wants to send us into the wall at every turn. Here is his interview, doesn't sound like a baby to me. I will post the radio com after this. BTW, Jimmy Spencer reported last night that McMurray was the cause of the back up and wreck when he lagged back leaving about 2 car lengths in front of him open trying to get a good restart. Spencer & Kenny Wallace said he should have been penalized for that.

---

Dale Jr. Quotes: CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHAT YOU SAW IN THE ACCIDENT?
“Everybody took off and then everybody stopped and when I stopped I got ran into. It's hard to see when you're way back in the back, you know, what the leaders are doing. But, they called the green flag and I was waiting for Bill (Elliott) to go and when Bill took off, I took off and we stopped again. I don't think (Mike) Skinner knew what was going on, or whoever took off behind me. I think it was Skinner. I got hooked in the right rear, and got sent into the inside wall. I don't know. My spotter said the leader checked on the restart, but I don't know. I didn't see anything.”

HOW DOES THIS IMPACT YOU IN THE POINTS CHASE?
“Well, we lost a lot of points. I ain’t a fortune teller, but it ain’t looking good… I mean, it’s obvious, we’re way behind and there’s not many races left. I had a terrible race car today. I hope I don’t have to get back in that car.”

YOU SEEMED TO HAVE HAD A LOT OF CONFIDENCE EARLIER IN THE WEEK AND ON THURSDAY ABOUT YOUR CHANCES HERE…
“Yeah, well we tested real good here, and we thought we’d come here with something. But from the moment we got here, we’ve been junk. It was real frustrating that the car wouldn’t drive right. I was in the back and trying to work on it every pit stop to get it better. It’s all we could do.”

HOW WOULD YOU ASSESS THE NEXT FIVE RACES:
“Well, it’s wide open. For us, we can’t bring cars like this to the race track. I knew when the race started that it would be a miracle to get a top-10 with that car, so as long as we’re bringing cars like that to the track, that’s the way we’re going to finish.”

IS IT GOING TO TAKE A MIRACLE TO MAKE THE CHASE?
“It will take something extraordinary to make the Chase for us at this point. We’re so far behind now.”

[WestCoastGal]

Here is the radio chatter:

Best Radio Chatter:
Because of faulty radio transmission, there was some confusion on whether to take two or four tires on a lap-48 pit stop. Crew chief Steve Hmiel called for a four-tire stop, but Junior – not hearing the call – drove off after only the right-side tires were changed.
Dale Jr.: “Can y’all hear me?”
Steve Hmiel: “We can you fine, Junior.”
Dale Jr.: “What?”
Jimmy Kitchens (spotter): “He says he hears you fine.”
Dale Jr.: “Alright. I was talking to him in the pit stall but he didn’t say nothing back.”
Hmiel: “I heard you in the pit stall. I was just telling them to go ahead and get four tires because you said you wanted to see what the changes did. We don’t have any laps on our lefts anyways, June. We’ll be OK.”
Dale Jr.: “Are the lug nuts good on the left?”
Hmiel: “There are no loose lug nuts. Everything is fine.”
Dale Jr.: “I didn’t hear nothing about four tires. That’s why I drove off. We’re having bad radio communication today, I can tell, so I don’t wanna (tick) ya off, because I’m not doing nothing I ain’t been told to do, know what I mean?”
Hmiel: “It’s all good. Everything’s good.”
Dale Jr.: “Yeah, but I can’t hear some of the stuff y’all are saying, and y’all damn sure don’t answer me back. I’ve been talking like hell!”
Hmiel: “Can you hear everything Jimmy? Am I just not returning back to him? That’s very possible.”
Kitchens: “Yeah, Steve, I can hear everything, and if you don’t answer back, I’ll repeat everything he says.”

For the first time all day, Dale Jr. reported the first inkling of progress while turning pace laps under the fourth caution. Regretfully, those laps were his last of the afternoon, as it was the ensuing restart that doomed the Bud team’s chances at Indy:
Hmiel: “We’re getting pretty far up on right rear air. We’ll take a little air out there, and probably take a little more wedge out too, June. Would that be OK?”
Dale Jr.: “Yeah, I was wondering if you maybe you were doing both, because one is too much and one is not enough. But I think you got the combo right.”
Hmiel: “OK.”
Dale Jr.: “It took me awhile to get (the car) underneath me, but I think I was getting ready to make some progress there.”

[Wolfstar]

Thanks for the update on JJ, WCG. That was a hard lick he took, but maybe his condition was also partly caused by the heat. He didn't just act and sound odd when they interviewed him, he looked odd, also.

[steveegg]

The Blue Deuce would be a natural fit for the Robot (what's left of SABMiller's white-collar American presence is still in Milwaukee). However, since it's Ganassi that's saying it, I highly doubt it.

[steveegg]

More on the disappointing Monte Carlo SS test at AMS last week (from via Jayski - Bobby Labonte couldn't get the JGR prototype up to minimum speed even after borrowing springs from the Wood Brothers (who were theere to test the Fusion). An annoyed NASCAR agreed to let them retest on Tuesday.

[fideist]

Michael Waltrip may not be leaving Dale Earnhardt Inc. at the end of the season after all.

Crimony, still another different rumor.

I would love to see Mikey stay. If you subtract his crashes this year, he has proved that with a quality crew (Eury, etc.) he can be competitive. But the rumors since the beginning of the season was Mikey was going to need to prove himself or DEI wouldn't give him a contract. Then when Mikey announced he was leaving DEI, the rumor was it was because they would not promise him Eury, Jr. next year.

I am surprised that no one besides me has pointed out the brainlessness of Richie Gilmore's comment that DEI might fold the #15 team, following Eury, Jr.'s comments that he would be back with the #8 next year. What kind of message does that send to Junior's current crew?! I really thought I was sensing the negativity from the crew while I was listening to the team's radio chatter. Gilmore needs to announce now that there will be three teams next year, come hell or high water.

[fideist]

Dale Earnhardt, Jr.; Tony Eury, Jr.; Martin Truex, Jr.

Junior is Junior.

Can we please think up some nicknames for Tony, Jr. and Martin, Jr.?

[steveegg]

Gilmore needs to announce now that there will be three teams next year, come hell or high water.

That's assuming they can cobble together another full-season primary. I can think of only two non-field-filler (i.e. multi-car) teams that could possibly do that in Cup; Roush (which DID pull it off with the #99) and Hendrick.

The list of teams that went to a part-time schedule after losing a primary and not getting another one is long:

• #1 DEI - It's been part-time since Pennzoil bolted after the 2003 season, but Bass Pro Shops will make the jump with Truex in 2006.
• #23 BDR - Ever since Stacker2 took themselves and Kenny Wallace to Busch, they've only run a few races a year.
• #44 Petty Enterprises - Sprint pulled off Kyle's #45, so he took Georgia-Pacific from the flagging (even for PE) #44, shut it down, and ultimately gave the number to Hendrick so Terry Labonte could run it.
• #33/55 Andy Petree - I don't recall what happened to the #33, but Petree pulled out of Cup entirely shortly after Bobby Hamilton ran to the Trucks and took Square D with him.

Further, Bill Elliot's part-time schedule last year was severely-limited by the lack of primary sponsors; indeed, he had to form his own team to get McDonald's to sponsor him a couple of times (Evernham had an associate sponsorship with another fast-food restaurant at the time).

[steveegg]

Edit (changed the open, didn't fully proof-read) - I can think of only two non-field-filler (i.e. multi-car) teams that could possibly do that run an unsponsored full-time team in Cup; Roush (which DID pull it off with the #99) and Hendrick.

[steveegg]

More on Jason Leffler (freshly-eliminated from the Chase)...

• From the part of the Winston Salem Journal article snipped off above, Leffler's attorney will neither confirm nor deny that Joe Gibbs Racing has offered a $5 million buyout of the remaining 18 months of Leffler's contract.
• ThatsRacin.com is reporting that Terry Labonte WILL be in the FedEx machine at Watkins Glen amd may be there for additional races (the early entry list should be out sometime today; it's not out yet).

[fideist]

That's assuming they can cobble together another full-season primary.

You nailed it. See, that is the only thing that makes sense to all of Gilmore's comments he has made so far (finding another driver Napa likes, or folding the team) -- it is all about retaining Napa vs. losing Napa and having to find another primary. Even with the latest rumor that Mikey might be back -- "keeping Napa" is what it is all about.

How much does it cost to be a primary sponsor?

You would think that DEI would be the most attractive for a sponsor. Could Wrangler come back for a full season? Or could Menards deep pockets move up to Cup? Probably only if Paul is driving (the 2007 plan?).

And that could be how Gilmore is thinking -- 2006 is another two team season, with Menard and his daddy waiting in the wings for 2007.

[WestCoastGal]

Some interesting thoughts from both of you.

I have a feeling they are all playing games. That's a brilliant deduction huh? Ha ha

I think as far as Wrangler is concerned they get their moneys worth big time with the Dale Jr commercials!! They don't need to spend money to sponsor a car full time.

Heck, I even read somewhere that Goodwrench may not be back for gosh sake. That's because GM is not doing well financially. Of course it has been denied. However, it is a fact that Goodwrench will not be back with Harvick's truck next year. And, I'm quite sure it's not because of anything but finances there because that's a popular truck, good owner etc.

I personally am getting annoyed at Napa, Mikey and Gilmore for dragging this out and making us suffer. I wonder at this point considering DEI's "cr@p" (yes he said that, go ahead Nascar take away points) #8 car this year how anyone would go into a fulltime contract sponsorship with them. If it were me they would have to show me a car that is in contention. And NO it is not the driver as some who don't have a clue would like us to think.

Actually when DJ was in the booth with the truck guys the other night, they were going over the drivers in and out of the Cup Chase. He said with no hesitation that Jr is one of the best drivers out there, he only needs the right equipment.

Anyway, back to sponsorships. Menard's would be a great sponsor full time since many of us elsewhere had not even heard of them prior to their Busch sponsorship as well as the rear quarter panel of the #8 car in Cup.

We discussed the subject of sponsor loyalty briefly during the rain delay the other night. Nascar fans are VERY eager to support their drivers sponsors. However, that's a double edged sword because if that sponsor backs out without a very good reason then they are going to get boycotted.

[WestCoastGal]

One more thing.....

I did say somewhere that "cousin Jr" (I'm still working on Truex Jr) should have kept his trap shut about going back to the #8 car because it would send the team morale in the dumper for the rest of the season.

On the other hand, it could make them work harder to be a faster team member etc. I did see the Bud duo come over to the 15 car yesterday to change front tires.

[steveegg]

It is Silly Season, after all. The usual rule is to toss out 80% of "news". I just can't see Goodwrench yanking themselves off the 29 (mainly since the stock cars are so far away from street cars; the closeness between the two pulled GM out of NASCAR twice in the '60s).

I am surprised they hung on to the truck sponsorship as long as they did. I always thought it somewhat unnatural (not to mention wasteful) for them, Lowe's and Home Depot to be double-dipping into the support series.

As for Menard's, be thankful you didn't hear about them from those of us in the land of cheese and beer :-) They're well-known up here for a complete lack of quality (as Crash is finding out the hard way in the engine department).