“Nextel Knights: the Ballad of Jeremy Elliott” has come to a merciful end as I type this on Wednesday. Elliott Sadler replaces Jeremy Mayfield in Ray Evernham’s #19 Dodge, effective immediately. Does anyone really care? If you blended that #19 and Yates’ #38 together, it’s doubtful that you could come up with a car capable of running in the top ten this year. Meanwhile, over at Robert Yates Racing, it looks like David Gilliland will become the new Candy Man at Michigan, while Jeremy Mayfield enjoys a lengthy vacation before reporting to work at Bill Davis Racing for the 2007 season. We wish everyone well in those new positions as we ponder another question. What prompts a team to put all of its money on a rookie so raw that he is only a part-timer in the Busch Series while a veteran of Cup racing and Daytona 500 winner, Ward Burton is told that he can drive a Yates car…only if he brings a sponsor with him? File that under things that make your stomach queasy.
Speaking of RYR, how many times now has crew chief Todd Parrott left that organization and “come home” again? It’s at least three and possibly four…and he’s been crew chief on both the #38 and the #88. Does anyone but me suspect that someone over there might be a tad difficult to work with?
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