Nascar Nextel Cup Race - Sirius Satellite Radio at the Glen On NBC - Sun. August 14, 1 p.m.

Nascar.com ^ | 8.10.05 | Me

[WestCoastGal]

WELCOME EVERYONE

This week we are going to Watkins Glen International Raceway in New York. Please join us for a full weekend of racing.

Watkins Glen International continues a road-racing tradition that dates back to 1948 -- when sports cars competed on the streets of the village at the southern tip of scenic Lake Seneca. The circuit, which at one time hosted the F1 United States Grand Prix, has grown to become one of the most respected facilities in the northeast.

Track Facts Banking/Turns: -- Distance: 2.45 miles Shape: Road course

Sirius Satellite Radio at the Glen
NBC HDTV Sun. 1 p.m.
Toyota Tundra 200 - Truck Race
SPEED Sat. 5 p.m.
Zippo 200 - Busch Race
NBC Sat. 2 p.m.
Sirius Satellite Radio at the Glen Bud Pole Qualifying SPEED Sat. 11:10 a.m.
All Times are ET

This is an impound race, all practice is on Friday, qualifying on Saturday (unless they change their mind) FRFL picks must be made by Saturday morning 2am pacific time. I will update the practice times as we get closer to Friday as well as adding the qualifying lineup etc.

[steveegg]

Regarding DEI, it's all about sponsorships. DEI's been pigeon-holed as a plate-track team, and other teams have caught up to them there. Throw in the disastrous crew/equipment change, frankly horrid showings on the Lowe's clones that dominate the schedule, and the inability to re-sign sponsors that Sr got them (read, Pennzoil), and they're a team that's been adrift for quite a while.

What really puzzles me is how Ganassi could cobble up enough sponsors to get a 4-car team for next year. The last time they made serious noise, it was 2002 and Sterling Marlin was about to crash himself out of the points lead. Since that year (McMurray did win a race subbing for Marlin that year), they have 0 wins and a putrid owners' points showing (13th/18th/36th in 2003, 11th/20th/23rd in 2004, and 11th/24th/25th so far this year). True, he has one of the hottest Busch drivers in Sorenson, but the other driver he's plucking from Busch has exactly 0 wins there (in all fairness, Smoke didn't win a Busch race until this year and look how he turned out).

[tubebender]

What can you tell us about the cars and teams the Ringers will be driving this weekend? I will not use any of the information to formulate my picks and if I do I apologize in advance...

[steveegg]

What can you tell us about the cars and teams the Ringers will be driving this weekend? I will not use any of the information to formulate my picks and if I do I apologize in advance...

Lessee. I can't speak for their careers outside of NASCAR, but I can tell you what they've done inside NASCAR (and all of these guys will need to qualify their way in; those that are doing the no-rain dance are noted).

• Paul Menard's in DEI equipment (previously run well and hard by Ron Fellows), and this is actually his second Cup race (he ran one of Petree's rides at Watkins Glen in 2003, taking the last provisional and finishing 29th, one of 32 cars on the lead lap). He qualified well at Mexico City, but finished 3 laps down. He will be hoping it doesn't rain; the #1 doesn't have enough attempts to make it on a rain-out.
• PJ Jones has a top-5 in Morgan-McClure equipment at the Glen in 2002. Since then, it's been a famine for both Jones and Morgan-McClure.
• Terry Labonte hasn't done anything at road courses lately.
• Tom Hubert (a replacement for Kirk Shelmerdine) doesn't have a top-20 to his name (a best of 24th running a BDR entry here in 2002).
• Ron Fellows likes the Glen (best of 2nd while using DEI equipment last year after starting dead last), and the Tide Slide ran good at Sonoma.
• Scott Pruett also likes the Glen (also a best of 2nd), and he takes better care of his equpiment than Fellows. The bad news is he can't afford a rain-out of qualifying.
• Jorge Goeters is making his Cup debut, but he took the pole at Mexico City in the Busch Series with the #32 Braun team (his engine blew up in the race). He's also doing the no-rain dance.
• Boris Said is, well, Boris Said. He does have a top-10 (in 2001 running the Jasper Ford) and a best start of 2nd (way back in 1999) here.
• Jose Luis Ramirez missed Sonoma badly in this ride, and was near the tail-end of the lead lap at Mexico City in inferior equipment. His only hope is to run fast and dry.
• Chris Cook is pretty much running field-filler equipment (26th at Mexico City, 28th at Sonoma).

[steveegg]

Forgot to mention that Cook wouldn't make the race if qualifying was rained out (not that it matters :-)

[tubebender]

You're good! thanks...

[fideist]

RE: DEI and sponsorships

You are correct, however I don't see it as big of an issue AS LONG AS they keep NAPA. Bud and Junior are ajoined at the hips. Truex, Jr. has Bass Pro even full-time for the Cup series next year. In 2007 Paul Menard is supposed to race Cup full-time, and I don't see why Daddy wouldn't continue to back him.

WCG and I were talking last week -- it appears all of Gilmore's recent dance steps are about keeping NAPA. And apparently NAPA has sufficient say in who drives their car. "No NAPA, then no third team next year" is how it is appearing.

BRING BACK MIKEY!!! For just one more year. Then he can jump to Toyota in 2007, when Menard comes up. But of course, one of the rumors was that one of the reasons he could not come to a renewal agreement with DEI was they would not promise him Eury, Jr. for chief next year. That could still be a stubling block. I think it is now set in stone next year it will be "Junior and Junior" in the show.

[Jackknife]

It's a requirement to post what the cookout food will be. :)

[WestCoastGal]

It will be interesting to see if Mikey lands on his feet. It just seems to me that leaving because he didn't get Cousin Jr as a crew chief was a poor reason. Jimmy Elledge may or may not be 'Elledgeable' since Ganassi is dumping poor Casey Mears out of the 41 Target Dodge into the Home123 car. Ganassi's contracts only favor the owner not the driver, as they have no choice or say in what happens to them. I don't know about Elledge's contract.

On another note, my admiration for Martin Jr went up 1000% after reading that Penske offered him a $7 million dollar bonus to drive for them. But, Martin Jr chose instead to honor his friendship with Jr and that of DEI who gave him the championship Busch ride. Love ya Truex!!!

[steveegg]

Remember, do NOT poke the brats.

[WestCoastGal]

Trackpass practice (weather permitting) will be on today at 1:20pm ET and final practice at 4pm ET with a tape delay at 8pm ET on Speed.

Tomorrow's Cup qualifying is scheduled at 9am ET on TP and on Speed at 11am ET. For some reason TV schedule has the Busch qualifying at 9am and Cup at 11. Will have to check that later. The Busch race is scheduled at 2:10pm ET on NBC. The truck race is at 5pm ET on Speed.

[steveegg]

The important things are that both series will be qualifying tomorrow morning and that Speed will cover both sets of qualifying live. My guess is NASCAR didn't originally think there would be 54 Busch teams and only 48 Cup teams.

[steveegg]

Make that 47 Cup teams; the #152 that was to be driven by Jose Luis Ramirez has withdrawn according to NASCAR.com (they still list Captain Kirk in the #27 though; everybody else got the memo that it's Tom Hubert)

In other news, the Home Depot is celebrating Smoke's Indy win with a 10% sale on bricks, wall blocks and pavers (get your coupons in USA Today). Jayski quotes Tony as saying "First it was ladders and fences, and now it's bricks and pavers. plan to keep winning races and helping to drive down the cost of home improvement for The Home Depot customers." Also relating to Smoke and his win last week, NBC will finally carry the entire celebration during pre-race on Sunday.

[WestCoastGal]

"NBC will finally carry the entire celebration during pre-race on Sunday."

I'm really glad to see that!!

And, his home town will celebrate with a parade on Monday.

Ping for Tony info.

BBL

[steveegg]

I also forgot about Johnny Miller in the #192 (he did poorly ringering in a second Morgan-McClure ride in 2003); the team missed Sonoma with Stanton Barrett driving.

Of the ringers, you can only choose between Said (B), Terry Labonte, Pruett and Fellows (all C).

Another ringer update from Jayski - put Anthonly Lazzaro in for Kevin Lepage in the #37.

[steveegg]

Ganassi's 2006 plans are now complete (info from Jayski and NASCAR.com) -

The #40 Coors Light/Lonestar Steak and Saloon Dodge will be driven by David Stremme
The #41 Target Dodge will be driven by Reed Sorenson, who will extensively double-dip into Busch in Ganassi's #41 Discount Tire Dodge.
The #42 Havoline Dodge will be driven one more year by Jamie McMurray (who isn't happy about it)
Casey Mears will be driving the Home123 Dodge (car number unknown).

[fideist]

Jamie McMurray says the reason Ganassi won't let him go is the lack of talented drivers available.

What do Sterling Marlin, Michael Waltrip, and Ward Burton think of that comment?

Someone else opined what it is really about is owners wanting young, good looking drivers who are marketable to sponsors.

[fideist]

I am SO PISSED at Yahoo!

I wanted to pick Paul Menard for FRFL!

[steveegg]

Jamie McMurray says the reason Ganassi won't let him go is the lack of talented drivers available.

What do Sterling Marlin, Michael Waltrip, and Ward Burton think of that comment?

We know what Marlin thinks about that already (since he's out of a job after Homestead).

Someone else opined what it is really about is owners wanting young, good looking drivers who are marketable to sponsors.

We have a winner. Of course, the good-looking part doesn't explain Penske going for Kurt "Ears" Busch.

[steveegg]

Sirius at the Glen qualifying order (complete with last-second changes, including the withdrawal of the #89 Dodge of Morgan Shepherd) -

Order	Car	Driver	Make	Sponsor
1	136	Boris Said**	Chevrolet	CENTRIX Financial
2	5	Kyle Busch*	Chevrolet	Kellogg's
3	32	Ron Fellows**	Chevrolet	Tide
4	11	Terry Labonte	Chevrolet	FedEx/Kinko's
5	2	Rusty Wallace	Dodge	Sirius/Miller Lite
6	49	Ken Schrader	Dodge	Schwan's Home Service
7	39	Scott Pruett**	Dodge	Target
8	37	Kevin Lepage Anthony Lazzaro**	Dodge	Patron Tequila/BoSPOKER.net
9	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	Office Depot
10	19	Jeremy Mayfield	Dodge	Dodge Dealers/UAW
11	25	Brian Vickers	Chevrolet	GMAC/ditech.com
12	97	Kurt Busch	Ford	IRWIN Industrial Tools
13	38	Elliott Sadler	Ford	M&M's
14	6	Mark Martin	Ford	Viagra
15	07	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	Jack Daniel's
16	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	DeWalt Power Tools
17	27	Kirk Shelmerdine Tom Hubert**	Ford	Freddie B's
18	42	Jamie McMurray	Dodge	Home123 Corp.
19	21	Ricky Rudd	Ford	Motorcraft Genuine Parts
20	01	Joe Nemechek	Chevrolet	U.S. Army
21	77	Travis Kvapil*	Dodge	Kodak/Jasper Engines
22	22	Scott Wimmer	Dodge	Caterpillar
23	20	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	The Home Depot
24	45	Kyle Petty	Dodge	Georgia-Pacific/Brawny
25	88	Dale Jarrett	Ford	UPS
26	1	Paul Menard**	Chevrolet	Kraft/Ritz
27	15	Michael Waltrip	Chevrolet	NAPA Auto Parts
28	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	National Guard/Subway
29	4	P.J. Jones**	Chevrolet	Lucas Oil Products
30	8	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	Budweiser
31	10	Scott Riggs	Chevrolet	Valvoline
32	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	Cingular Wireless
33	7	Robby Gordon**	Chevrolet	Jim Beam
34	9	Kasey Kahne	Dodge	Dodge Dealers/UAW
35	0	Mike Bliss	Chevrolet	NetZero Best Buy
36	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	DuPont
37	187	Chris Cook**	Chevrolet	christinemariemotorsports.com
38	41	Casey Mears	Dodge	Target
39	43	Jeff Green	Dodge	Cheerios/Betty Crocker
40	50	Jorge Goeters**	Dodge	CU National Mortgage/Red Cactus Salsa
41	18	Bobby Labonte	Chevrolet	Interstate Batteries
42	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	GM Goodwrench
43	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	Lowe's
44	192	Johnny Miller**	Chevrolet	Oak Glove Co.
45	12	Ryan Newman	Dodge	ALLTEL
46	40	Sterling Marlin	Dodge	Coors Light

* Denotes Rookie
** Denotes driver/team not in the top 35 in owners' points, must qualify on time (top 8 of 11; 8th-fastest starts 43rd; if qualifying is rained out, the #50, #39 and #187 go home due to lack of attempts and points)

[steveegg]

1st Cup practice speeds -

Rank	Car	Driver	Make	Sponsor	Speed	Time	Behind
1	#20	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	The Home Depot	122.052	72.264	Leader
2	#39	Scott Pruett	Dodge	Target	120.447	73.227	-0.963
3	#6	Mark Martin	Ford	Viagra	120.441	73.231	-0.967
4	#01	Joe Nemechek	Chevrolet	U.S. Army	120.424	73.241	-0.977
5	#136	Boris Said	Chevrolet	CENTRIX Financial	120.411	73.249	-0.985
6	#32	Ron Fellows	Chevrolet	Tide	120.400	73.256	-0.992
7	#29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	GM Goodwrench	120.357	73.282	-1.018
8	#5	Kyle Busch*	Chevrolet	Kellogg's	120.342	73.291	-1.027
9	#31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	Cingular Wireless	120.329	73.299	-1.035
10	#42	Jamie McMurray	Dodge	Home123 Corp.	120.298	73.318	-1.054
11	#41	Casey Mears	Dodge	Target	120.298	73.318	-1.054
12	#38	Elliott Sadler	Ford	M&M's	120.234	73.357	-1.093
13	#25	Brian Vickers	Chevrolet	GMAC/ditech.com	120.221	73.365	-1.101
14	#7	Robby Gordon	Chevrolet	Jim Beam	120.203	73.376	-1.112
15	#11	Terry Labonte	Chevrolet	FedEx/Kinko's	120.201	73.377	-1.113
16	#97	Kurt Busch	Ford	IRWIN Industrial Tools	120.149	73.409	-1.145
17	#1	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	Kraft/Ritz	120.101	73.438	-1.174
18	#18	Bobby Labonte	Chevrolet	Interstate Batteries	120.023	73.486	-1.222
19	#12	Ryan Newman	Dodge	ALLTEL	119.998	73.501	-1.237
20	#88	Dale Jarrett	Ford	UPS	119.993	73.504	-1.240
21	#24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	DuPont	119.949	73.531	-1.267
22	#21	Ricky Rudd	Ford	Motorcraft Genuine Parts	119.923	73.547	-1.283
23	#45	Kyle Petty	Dodge	Georgia-Pacific/Brawny	119.923	73.547	-1.283
24	#4	P.J. Jones	Chevrolet	Lucas Oil Products	119.902	73.560	-1.296
25	#48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	Lowe's	119.897	73.563	-1.299
26	#15	Michael Waltrip	Chevrolet	NAPA Auto Parts	119.760	73.647	-1.383
27	#77	Travis Kvapil*	Dodge	Kodak/Jasper Engines	119.712	73.677	-1.413
28	#16	Greg Biffle	Ford	National Guard/Subway	119.702	73.683	-1.419
29	#99	Carl Edwards	Ford	Office Depot	119.681	73.696	-1.432
30	#19	Jeremy Mayfield	Dodge	Dodge Dealers/UAW	119.608	73.741	-1.477
31	#43	Jeff Green	Dodge	Cheerios/Betty Crocker	119.582	73.757	-1.493
32	#2	Rusty Wallace	Dodge	Sirius/Miller Lite	119.575	73.761	-1.497
33	#187	Chris Cook	Chevrolet	christinemariemotorsports.com	119.530	73.789	-1.525
34	#9	Kasey Kahne	Dodge	Dodge Dealers/UAW	119.460	73.832	-1.568
35	#17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	DeWalt Power Tools	119.413	73.861	-1.597
36	#10	Scott Riggs	Chevrolet	Valvoline	119.138	74.032	-1.768
37	#07	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	Jack Daniel's	119.001	74.117	-1.853
38	#8	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	Budweiser	118.963	74.141	-1.877
39	#39	David Stremme	Dodge	Navy "Accelerate Your Life"	118.958	74.144	-1.880
40	#0	Mike Bliss	Chevrolet	NetZero Best Buy	118.480	74.443	-2.179
41	#49	Ken Schrader	Dodge	Schwan's Home Service	118.474	74.447	-2.183
42	#50	Jorge Goeters	Dodge	CU National Mortgage/Red Cactus Salsa	118.324	74.541	-2.277
43	#22	Scott Wimmer	Dodge	Caterpillar	118.277	74.571	-2.307
44	#27	Tom Hubert	Ford	Freddie B's/Napa Valley Ford	117.381	75.140	-2.876
45	#192	Johnny Miller	Chevrolet	Oak Glove Co.	116.469	75.728	-3.464
46	#37	Anthony Lazzaro	Dodge	Patron Tequila	111.348	79.211	-6.947

* Denotes Rookie