Petty Enterprises

They didn't win the Daytona 500, even though with 54 laps to go, it looked like one of them would.

But Richard Petty Motorsports drivers Elliot Sadler, A.J. Allmendinger, and Reed Sorenson all put up impressive numbers during Speedweeks and into the Great American Race.

It began with teamwork. Sadler and Sorenson drafted with Allmendinger during their Gatorade Duel. Falling back to draft with him, the famed No. 43 of Sorenson started 34th.

Sorenson was also fastest in Happy Hour.

"Everybody at Richard Petty Motorsports building great cars. I was hoping it was going to rain when Elliott was leading and Reed was second and I was fourth. That would have been a really great result for the team," Allmendinger said after the race.

I was trying to push Reed and Elliott as much as I could," he added. "They are the ones that got me into the race. It was my turn to return the favor and try to get them the win."

"I'm going to be honest with you," Sadler said later in the press conference. "I'm not going to lie to you. I was getting pretty emotional under the caution when it was raining a little bit in turn one and two.

"I thought it was going to be called a little bit earlier than it was. I was getting emotional in the car thinking, 'Wouldn't this be the coolest story?' I came down here as a fan the first time in 1979 and (then) finished second to Ward Burton, and now to have a chance to win the race.

"Seen guys like Harvick and Newman and them celebrate the last couple years on last lap passes, and how fun it looks like to me in Victory Lane. I had a lot of that cool stuff going through my head. But, you know, just wasn't meant to be."

The fourth teammate, Kasey Kahne in the No. 9 Budweiser, was caught up in a late race incident with Aric Almirola and finished 29th.

Things didn't have to be this way. Sadler was told in December that he would be replaced by the man he helped qualify for the 500. The Virginian fought, kept his job, and is looking to put the incident behind him for the good of the team.

"You've got to be a man about these things," Sadler said of the off-season turmoil. "Kasey Kahne is the flagship driver of Richard Petty Motorsports. But I'm the most experienced, oldest…been here the longest…if I don't lead by example and set good ways for the drivers to go by, who will?

"A lot of times you have to…race what's good for you and your company."

Sorenson, the youngest of the RPM drivers at just 23, is feeling the pressure of getting Petty's famous No. 43 back into the Winner's Circle.

"They haven't had a lot of success since (Petty) got out, so I'm trying to bring a little bit of that back.

"I'm not the only one who knows that I'm driving the 43, our team is part of the 43. The tire guys know it, the tire changers know it, my car chief knows it, my crew chief knows it. Everybody knows it. We all feel the pressure but it's exciting. We have something to represent."

If Daytona is any indication of the season ahead for the former Petty Enterprises and Gillett Evernham Motorsports, then you better believe this season is going to be a great one.

Thanks to NASCAR.com, St. Petersburg Times, Inside Track Breaking News Blog, and ESPNEWS for the quotes and information used in this piece.

Elliott Sadler may not be the fastest driver in the garage, but he demonstrated on Thursday why he is a fan favorite.

Elliott's Richard Petty Motorsports teammate, A.J. Allmendinger, had a bit of a shock when he arrived at Daytona for Speedweeks.  Because of all the owner point swapping, the new driver of the No. 44 Dodge suddenly found himself outside the top 35, and not guanteed a starting spot in the Daytona 500.

"...that was one of the big reasons Valvoline signed on (as sponsor). They thought they were in the 500," said Allmendinger.  "Coming down here to learn they weren't was tough."

So Allmendinger promised Valvoline that he would race his way in to the Daytona 500.  A promise he might not have been able to fulfill if not for his teammates—Sadler and Reed Sorenson.

"I think early in the race Elliott had a chance to be up front. It looked like he had a chance to go win the race. I watched him fall back to come back to me," said Allmendinger.

"I dropped back and helped him," Sadler added. "... trying to do everything I could as a good teammate to get him in the Daytona 500. That's what good teammates do."

Allmendinger went on to make the Daytona 500 based on his finish in the second of the Gatorade Dual races.

This could be a nice, feel-good story about new teammates in a newly reoganized organization learning to work together.  What makes this a great story that is catching media attention is the preseason history between Sadler and Allmendinger.

Just six short weeks ago, before the merger which brought in a fourth car, Gillette Evernham Motorsports had decided to replace Sadler with Allmendinger, despite the fact that Sadler's contract doesn't expire until 2010.  Sadler threatened legal action against both GEM and Allmendinger.  Sadler kept his seat in the No. 19, and Allmendinger was added to drive the No. 44 once the merger with Petty Enterprises was complete.

I wonder what it must be like to go to work every day for an organization who tried to get rid of you.

Elliott Sadler insists there are no hard feelings with Allmendinger. "We sat down when we first got down here—our buses are parked beside each other—and said, 'Look, we need to work together. We need to help each other. Let bygones be bygones.'"

"You've got to be a man about these things," Sadler continued. "Kasey Kahne is the flagship driver of Richard Petty Motorsports. But I'm the most experienced, the oldest...been here the longest. If I don't lead by example and set good ways for the drivers to go by, who will? A lot of times you have to be the bigger man—race the way that's not only good for you but your company—and hopefully everyone will benefit in the future. That's what I did [Thursday]."

Allmendinger chimes in, "Like I've said from day one, I've never had a problem with Elliott. I think he's a great race car driver. He's a great teammate. Obviously, there was a lot of stuff that happened over the last two months. Honestly, it was probably out of both of our hands. Really, neither of us could do anything about it. We happened to be the two guys put in the middle."

Elliott Sadler has something to prove this year; does he deserve to stay in the No. 19?  Only time will tell if his finishes will improve from the last two years.  However, if Richard Petty Motorsports needs a driver who will be a team player, they need to look no further.

*All quotes taken from NASCAR.com*

While I may be too young to fully appreciate the remarkable achievement of the television industry, covering a NASCAR stock car race flag to flag is a compelling watch.  In 1979, Daytona 500 by CBS Sports was getting this motorsports brand firmly established in mainstream American culture.

In years past, if you wanted to see a NASCAR event on the tube, chances are they were covered either in the last half of the race or one hour—condensed highlight reels aired on ABC's Wide World of Sports.

The only publicity that the sport would receive besides these delayed or condensed airings was on the newspapers of the southeast, nary making a noise in points elsewhere in the lower 48.

CBS Sports, who recruited most of the MRN Radio crew of the 1970s like Ken Squier and Ned Jarrett, decided to make a bold venture into covering a long regional sport into the national realms of relevance in the same vein as the NBA.

Crazy? Perhaps.

These may be lines muttered in places not below the Mason-Dixon Line:

Who would be so indulgent in following an event with more than thirty cars just traversing around a circle?

CBS Sports, are you guys nuts?!? Stick with the tennis and hardcourt of the major hubs.

Nobody is going to watch this Southern crap!

Call it magic, divine intervention, or the racing gods who wanted America to be introduced to an interesting sporting event with the feel of a Super Bowl, with drivers, crews, and participants that were like your close family and friends. A major snow storm spectacle buried the East Coast into their homes, leaving stranded and cabin fever residents relegated to watch the TV.

And low and behold, but for anyone who tuned into that historic broadcast brought to millions of homes live on local CBS affiliates, those viewers would witness the first flag-to-flag coverage of the Daytona 500.

Whether you're an old school fan or a fan who recently became addicted to the sport, February 18, 1979 is a date that might as well be a holiday on the NASCAR calendar. Just among the highlights of that race:

- Dale Earnhardt leading his very first 500 miler at the 2.5 mile facility.

- 37 lead changes among 13 drivers.

- Cale Yarborough's epic and successful quest to get back into the lead lap (significant in a later bullet point).

- A late race segment that went virtually caution free...until the last lap.

- A last lap lead change.

- Richard Petty's sixth Daytona 500 win in his storied career.

- And oh yea...The Fight. The Allison Brothers versus the three-time and defending NASCAR Winston Cup Grand National Champ Yarborough...that resulted in two mangled up speed bullets that hooked fenders and met the third turn wall and grass. Those fabled lines announced by Ken Squier:

"And there's a fight...between Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison...the tempers, overflowing, you know they have lost!"

All of this and more was aired to millions of homes in America all thanks to the men and women who were there at the Florida track, all members of CBS Sports.

When it seemed like the debut venture into this now national phenomenon appeared difficult to top, the network's efforts in that year's Great American Race (a moniker affectionately made by Ken Squier to give prestige to the event once overshadowed by the Greatest Spectacle of All in Racing aka the Indianapolis 500) led to several innovations in future broadcasts like:

- The in-car camera

- Booth-to-driver communication

- Speed shots by robotic or camerman stationed strategically around DIS

We make take these aspects of a NASCAR broadcast for granted these days, as they are a common element to the telecasts by present day media partners Fox Sports, TNT, and the ESPN family of networks.

Nowadays, we can track the telemetry and interval of targeted drivers. The cars from the leader of the race, listen to radio communications between drivers and teams through scanners or online scoring casts of each race, and the pre-race shows are inundated with interviews and entertainment that may seem lavish or over-the-top to the viewer who wants to view "the damn race."

CBS and Fox have covered many memorable Daytona 500s over the past thirty years, from unthinkable upsets that propelled unknown drivers to the spotlight, fan favorites earning a long overdue victory in the prestigious event, to tragedies that have forever changed the racing world outlook.

The network would provide an emotional and heartwarming family affair in the 1988 season opener, where the Allison clan once again found themselves in the spotlight of NASCAR's most premier race.

This time, however, it was Bobby Allison and his son, Davey, who were contending for the win with a nervous Judy Allison watching her husband and son on the track. Ultimately, it would prove to be Bobby Allison's finest hour, defeating son Davey and celebrating his last victory in Daytona with his family around him.

A year later, the outcome of the 21st renewal of the Daytona 500 would come down to some last minute dramatics and a wily veteran, champion driver who, until Dale Earnhardt nearly a decade later, had been snakebitten by the World Center of Racing.

Darrell Waltrip, a three-time NASCAR champion and still in the prime of his motorsports game, was piloting the #17 Tide Chevy Monte Carlo amongst the front runners, with the leaders juggling with fuel mileage conservation.

Having lost the race in every possible way, Ol' DW, when inheriting the lead in the last laps of the event, had almost all reasons in the world to believe that the race was his to lose.

Every ounce of fuel counted, and Waltrip would finally capture that elusive 500 win, ironically, in his 17th start in the Great American Race. In a year where his public image with the fans would dramatically shift from a vehement villain to a fan's champion, the Franklin, Tennessee native did about one of the most memorable celebrations in stock car racing.

Ecstatic and elated, Waltrip spiked his helmet on the grounds of Victory Lane in the style of Cinncinatti Bengals star fullback, Ickey Woods. Almost equally as poignant as the call of the '79 Daytona 500, Waltrip emotionally uttered the following words to CBS reporter Mike Joy:

"This is the Daytona 500, isn't it? Don't tell me it isn't...THANK GOD!"

The 1990s would provide many illustrious and captivating chapters in NASCAR's most prestigious and season opening race. It might as well have been racing's soap opera called "Dale Earnhardt and The Daytona 500 That Got Away." Case in point:

1990: With a car that had been nearly unbeatable all afternoon long, three-time NASCAR Winston Cup titlist Dale Earnhardt had basically wrapped up and assured his place in the winner's circle...or did he?

A piece of debris down the backstretch did "The Intimidator" in from a certain victory to a disappointing fifth place finish, although he remarkable kept his Goodwrench Chevy off the wall. The damage was done, however, with Derrike Cope in the #10 Purolator Chevy from Bob Whitcomb racing taking the win.

1993: In perhaps a recurring theme throughout the 1990s, Dale Earnhardt again had a fast and dominant racecar, the first Daytona 500 without Richard Petty behind the wheel of his famed STP car. A tire didn't cost Earnhardt his precious Daytona 500 win this time around.

It was just a matter of the wrong lane and momentum from a Geoff Bodine's push of Dale Jarrett to the lead. The end result? A Dale and Dale Show with Jarrett taking the charge, and a proud papa/color commentator named Ned Jarrett with the call on Valentine's Day of 1993:

"Come on, Dale! Go baby, go! Alright, c'mon! I know he's got it to the floorboard, and he can't do anymore. C'mon, don't let him get to the inside of you coming around in this turn.

Here he comes, Earnhardt, it's the Dale and Dale Show as we come off in turn 4. You know who I'm pulling for, it's Dale Jarrett, bring her to the inside, Dale, don't let him get down there. He's gonna make it, Dale Jarrett is going to win the Daytona 500!!!! Alright!!! Oh look at Martha, oh dear, she's...oh can you believe it? Oh man!"

1998: Following a frustrating defeat in his 19th try at the 500 (when he flipped down the backstretch but proceeded to remarkably finish the race with a battered Chevy), the #3 Chevy was once again at the front of the pack in one of the fastest 500s of all time. The pace was unbelievable and the driving that day seemed nearly flawless by all the drivers in the field that afternoon.

About the strongest challenger to Earnhardt on that fateful day was the Jeff Gordon in his DuPont Chevy. However, a damaged air dam greatly affected the aerodynamics of his #24 car and Gordon's chances of repeating his 500 win.

While Earnhardt's path to a 500 win seemed to be closer to realization, challenges from the lead pack of Bobby Labonte, Rusty Wallace, Ken Schrader, and Jeremy Mayfield gave the fan favorite a run for all his money. Would the Kannapolis, North Carolina fall victim to another defeat from the understandable to the unimaginable?

Not this time. Holding off the advances of Labonte, Mayfield, Wallace and others, Earnhardt would find the high life, ending a 59 race winless skid with in an emphatic style. About every member of the 43 teams that competed in that year's Daytona 500 greeted Earnhardt with a high five, all lined up on pit road to salute the 7-time champion.

With these moments in mind, Ned Jarrett and the CBS network may not be around at the Daytona 500, either retiring from the racing scene or venturing on to different projects after the final CBS-broadcasted 500 in 2000.

Those memories live on in VHS tapes, DVDs, and documentaries in countless media outlets and homes.

However, some long time fixtures of the channel are still around with present day partner, Fox Sports, mainly Dr. Dick Berggren who covers the frantic action on pit road with his always dramatic delivery, and play-by-play announcer Mike Joy, who also covered the events in the pits for CBS. And long time CBS leadman Ken Squier makes the appearance at Daytona for Fox's sister network, SPEED, with his observations and analysis for Speedweeks.

So, when we fans tune in to this Sunday afternoon's broadcast of the Daytona 500, surely on our minds is our driver's chances of winning the biggest race of the season. We're thinking of all the off season changes, the preliminary races that have given us some sample shots of the big show, and perhaps resorting to our pre race rituals that may aid Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. or Mark Martin into Gatorade Victory Lane.

But let's not forget that bold venture back in 1979—one that, now marking its 30th anniversary, is a broadcast that will last for the ages.

Following the 2000 season, Bobby Labonte looked like the sure fire man who had put an end to the dominance of Jeff Gordon.  The 2000 NASCAR Cup Series champ, Labonte was the driver who NASCAR fans surely felt would reel in multiple championships and wins at the prime of his career.

Then came 2001 and an assortment of trouble befell the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Pontiac Joe Gibbs Racing team. While he would collect a pair of wins in the July Pocono event and his usual Atlanta fall race, he slipped from champion in '00 to sixth place overall.

2002 would prove to be a total nightmare, with a lone win in the Virginia 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Ten spots lower in the points, and all of a sudden Labonte went from nearly bulletproof to mediocrity.

The last three years at Gibbs Racing were tumultuous. While he rebounded in 2003 with two victories and an eighth place finish in that year's championship, 2004 would not be so kind with no wins and a drop to 12th in points.

His ultimate year with the No. 18 team would prove to be a total nightmare. Instead of consistently finishing near the front with top-10 finishes—as he did from '97-2000—he collected torn sheet metal for the fabrication shop.

When all was said and done, Labonte would struggle to a 24th place result in the points standings in 2005, firing blanks in the win column.

Seeking greener pastures (no pun intended), the 2000 champ said adieu to JGR and went blue with Petty Enterprises and piloted the No. 43 Cheerios Dodge. The Corpus Christi, Texas native's move to the No. 43 team left a lot of fans confused and bewildered as to why a driver who once was on top of the NASCAR world would go drive for a team that had underachieved ever since The King returned to his home spun operation in 1986.

Under the radar and not as highly regarded as the title contender like in years past, Labonte performed fairly well for a team that was behind the curve of the multi-car operations, finishing 21st in points in 2006.

2007 looked even better for Labonte. Despite the addition of the Car of Tomorrow and the total evolution of coil spring setups, his points standings position improved three spots.

A ray of hope and optimism from such unexpected results, it looked like Petty as well as Bobby Labonte fans had many reasons to believe that a resurgence was in store.

Last season saw a slip up in performance and a Petty Enterprises team whose future was in doubt, even when the once family owned team brought in Boston Ventures to the fold. Distractions, poor finishes and even more lackluster setups saw the Texan finish in 21st place once again with a future that looked as doubtful as Brett Favre confusing football fans with his retirement or not game.

When all was said at the end of his Petty era from 2006 to 2008, Labonte collected only three top-fives (all in 2006), 13 top-10's and no victories. It has almost become conceivable that Labonte was nothing more than your top-25 driver with little or no exposure at the front of the field.

So you may have to "Ask" yourself, fans...is Labonte washed up? Have the good days of wins and title challenges simply vanished away, leaving a once winning driver into a field filler?

This season looks to be an ultimate judgment year for the 44-year-old, now driving the No. 96 Ask.com Ford Fusion for Hall of Fame Racing aka the true primary Yates Racing team and car in 2009.

Turning down the chance to drive for Dale Earnhardt Inc. (now Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates) and overlooked by Richard Childress to drive his fourth car, Labonte has inherited a ride that has stellar horsepower, a prestigious history, and equipment that may compliment the grizzled veteran.

While not the powerhouse team and fearful threat to NASCAR multi-car teams like in the late 90's, Yates Racing may be just the answer and elixir for the struggling driver. Has he put himself in position to return back to Victory Lane?

Perhaps it's not too much to "Ask" the Lonestar legend that very question, especially at the plate tracks and at Labonte's "house" aka the Texas Motor Speedway. Top-10 in points? Probably out of the question. A spot in the Chase? Nope.

But a trip back to glory? That is definitely not out of the question.

In America today, it costs more than $250,000 to raise a child.

The average wedding, in 2005, was more than $30,000.

College tuition for a public four-year university totals nearly $7,000.

So, what's this have to do with NASCAR? Well, for more than 800 pit crew members, it means they can't pay for these things since losing their jobs this past offseason.

Even Champions Aren't Immune

"I knew the layoffs were coming, but sometimes you think you're going to be all right," 28-year-old David Tallman said.

Tallman was one of the twenty Hendrick Motorsports employees let go due to the economy. He worked for three-time champion Jimmie Johnson's crew, tearing down the car after the race as well as checking parts and preparing for the next race.

He says that because he wasn't more versatile, the team let him go.

"There was no other room for anybody," Tallman recalls. "I was the only one in my department that wasn't on a pit crew."

Marriage May Have To Wait

Derrick Finley feels his pain. The former crew chief lost his job after Petty Enterprises shut down—a "surprise" to him, since he thought he'd be safe when Boston Ventures took over majority control of the company last year.

Finley and his wife are expecting their first child this month.

However, he is one of the lucky ones—thanks to Joe Nemecheck starting his own team, there's work. For now.

"Even the guys with jobs have to be somewhat worried because there's a lot of talented people without jobs," he says.

Family Vacation on Hold

"Bills have to be paid."

For former fabricator Andy Page, losing his job has became all too real. Not only did Page lose his job when Dale Earnhardt, Inc. and Ginn Racing merged, but he lost his job when DEI merged with Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates.

The trip he planned on taking with his six year old son—ironically, to the same place four-time champion Jeff Gordon just took with his little girl—will have to wait.

Now, Page can only tell Nicholas "someday."

Volunteer firefighter Travis McQuade was released from Gillett Evernham Motorsports. The 24-year-old "doesn't dare to spend a dollar right now."

A hard thing to do, as he's getting married this summer.

"It's driving me nuts," said McQuade. "I just don't know what to do."

Many drivers are echoing the sentiments of former crew member David Salerno: "I should be there."

While several independent teams are currently hiring, it's little comfort for those still unemployed. One can only hope these good people do get jobs.

If you're looking for a job in NASCAR, you can post your resume at http://racecityresumes.com/

Thanks to MSN, Baby Center, Money.CNN.com, FOX Sports and The Virginia-Pilot for the quotes and figures used in this story.

As we get geared up for the 2009 Sprint Cup racing year, we can’t help but notice the changing landscape of NASCAR. Long gone are the days of the single car owner, the two car owner and the owner/driver. No, today is the day of the “Super Teams”. Teams like Hendrick Motorsports, Rousch/Fenway, Gibbs Racing, Petty Enterprises (Petty/Gillette Evernham Motorsports (GEM)), Earnhart/Ganassi Racing, Hall of Fame (HOF)/Yates Racing, etc. are now dominating the garage.

Not only are we looking at the merging teams, but we are also now looking at a new economic stress that NASCAR has never really had to fight before. The closest thing may the “Gas Crunch” in the late 70s. Now we are looking at possibly having the “Big 3″ automakers potentially not making it though the season. Jeff Gordon was quoted as saying that the COT was a brilliant move by NASCAR, either by foresight or by luck. It is true that because of the development of the COT, NASCAR does control its own destiny and is no longer dependent on the manufacturers anymore. To be quite honest, what is left for the manufacturers to do? About the only thing that they have control over is their logo that gets stuck to the front of this shoebox. Unless there is going to be a change there, they can take a back seat. Brian France is the Czar of all that is NASCAR.

What else is going on? Well, pretty much every track on the circuit is now owned by either the Frances or Bruton Smith. I know that they have owned most of the tracks for a while now, but Smith has expanded his kingdom even more during the last season. With his new power, Smith has brought up the notion of instituting a “blackout” policy for races that don’t sell out. This is taken right out of the National Football League’s playbook. What a time to even propose that. I predict that this year, attendance will be down at all tracks. With the consumer economy the way it is, and with the tens of thousands of job losses in the month of January alone, I can’t see the same number of fans making the travel to the tracks, even if the race is in their own back yard. I know that every time I go to a race, I spend money. Right now there are a great number of people who simply can’t afford to do that.

On a separate note, Tony Stewart has left the nest of Joe Gibbs and moved into the wacky world of car ownership with StewartHaas Racing. They are bucking the trend with one of the few two car teams in the series. We’ll have to wait and see how Stewart and Ryan Newman perform as the season gets started.

I mentioned Petty Enterprises earlier, but let’s take a closer look at this merger. Not only did Petty move their operations from Level Cross, NC to Charlotte (Mooresville) last season, but now pretty much close up shop. First they sold majority ownership in Petty Enterprises to Boston Ventures religating Richard Petty to a minority ownership role. Now they merge for a second time in less than a year with GEM right as Ray Evernham is leaving. The Petty name withstood the merger, for namesake only. They also lose the one shining hope that Petty Enterprises has had in quite some time, Bobby Labonte, who makes the move to the newly formed team of HOF/Yates Racing.

Finally, I think you are going to see smaller fields throughout the season. You will have a ton of teams try to make the big ones for the payday alone. For example, Daytona 500, Charlotte 600, Indy 500, etc. are going to be big paydays and you will have teams bend over backwards to try and make those races, but I don’t think you are going to have many smaller teams make the trip across country to California, or even make the trip up north to Michigan or New York. I believe that unless the races are located near the Charlotte hub, you are not going to have 43 teams present unless NASCAR tries another trick like paying teams just to show up to preserve the image of the sport.

This will be an interesting year. Between the merging team storylines and the poor economy, it will be worth watching. NASCAR truly has a test ahead of them with sponsorship money, team expansion, bad economy, major auto manufacturers maybe pulling out of the sport and a potentially significant losses at the ticket booths across the nation. Stay tuned. More stories are sure to develop.

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Things are starting to come together for all the teams trying to make the Daytona 500.

The big four have been set for a while.  Rick Hendrick Motorsports has his four cars all set with Mark Martin coming on board to run the full season.  Jack Roush has had his five teams ready since getting the UPS sponsorship lined up at the  end of the 2008 season.  Richard Childress Racing has expanded his group to include a fourth car with Clint Bowyer moving over from the #07 to the new #33 car with General Mills sponsorship.  Joe Gibbs Racing has the kiddie corp  of Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and ROTY contender Joey Logano ready to hit the track.

After those four owners has been where all the craziness of the off season has revolved.  It has been well documented the strife a mergers that have surrounded Chip Ganassi, Dale Earnhardt, Inc, Gillet-Evernham and Petty Enterprises.  For better or worse success or failure will follow the mergered teams depending on their ability to adapt to their new surroundings, management teams and driving team mates.

With the loss of teams like Bill Davis Racing and part time seasons from Furnature Row and The Wood Brothers, the bottom feeders saw much of the change  revolve around them.  There has been an odd resurgence of single car–privateer teams spearheaded by Tommy Baldwin’s new entry in the Sprint Cup.  While many if not most of these new teams may not even make it past Daytona; it would seem to make the fields easier for the big boys to become bigger.

Less competition outside the top four teams could make it easier for a first time winner in both the 500 and the championship.  Which leads us to this week’s BUZZ ON PIT ROW:

Will 2009 be the magical season that Mark Martin wins the Daytona 500 and/or the Sprint Cup championship?

Let us know what you think and your comments could be used on this week’s ON PIT ROW radio show.  Listen live at www.onpitrow.com from 5 to 7pm ET.

photo credit: Icon Sports Media

I obsess about NASCAR.  It may seem an unhealthy habit to some, but it’s an adrenaline rush to me.  

I go into a slight phase of depression during off-season and literally go into, what best can be described as a sugar high, when I arrive at the track.   Race Days are MY days. 

I don’t talk work, school, family; I don’t even discuss what’s for dinner – only racing talk is allowed.    I cannot be the only one, but sometimes I feel alone in my ways of thinking.

Talking to my friends and co-workers, I just don’t see the same enthusiasm or fixation that I have.  The excitement level seems to fading with many of them and I am finding it harder to actual carry-on an intelligent conversation about the race with anyone anymore.  

Conversations with my peers are focused on how someone did Dale Jr. wrong, Kyle Busch is just a punk or Jeff Gordon has lost his guts for racing.  Small meaningless talk for a true diehard race fan, but sometimes I have to settle.  

It started me contemplating why so many fans are becoming detached to the true NASCAR.

1.  No relate ability?   I hear it from fans a lot.   There is no driver out there to relate too.  The days of Dale Sr. are gone and today’s drivers are multi-millionaires with giant houses, 100K cars and private jets.  

I don’t think the fact that these guys make the money actually bothers the fans; it’s that some of them walk around like they are worth that amount of money.    It reminds of a story that my boss told me. 

He received a garage pass and during that time, he was a Kasey Kahne fan.   Kasey wasn’t engrossed in a conversation with anyone or had his hands full, he was just standing around. 

When my boss tried to approach him, a young lady (which he could only assume was a PR person) stepped in between Kasey and him.  My boss asked if he could get an autograph and the lady turned to Kasey to make sure that was okay.  He shook his head and the lady motioned for him to leave.  

Another time, I was in Nashville attending a Nationwide race when Carl Edwards came out of the garage area down “fan row”.  As hundreds of his fans yelled for him, he turned his head and kept on walking – no wave, no smile, no nothing. 

Drivers don’t have to act “stuck up” to not be relatable to fans.  Just looking through Jeff Gordons website in his Fab 5section, he list some his favorite magazines as Robb Report – Luxury Homes, Yacht International and Conde Nast Traveller. 

Besides the fact he’s married to a supermodel that probably wouldn’t look twice at him if he didn’t do what he does, or the fact that he charges over $100.00 for a bottle of wine that most of his fans couldn’t (or wouldn’t) be able to afford just pushes him further away from those fans that have spent their life supporting this sport.   

I don’t mean to just pick on Jeff, just turn on CMT and check out the new episode of Cribs.   Did you see Kevin Harvick"s pad? 

Don’t know about you guys, but if someone came to my house, they’d see blankets on the couch, snacks on the table and dogs running through my yard.    The house seemed like something I’d see in an issue of Homes & Garden magazine, not the home of a NASCAR driver.   

I was excited when I heard they were featuring Kevin, Denny and Kyle’s homes, but is it really how they live?   I wanted to see the guys hanging out with friends, NOT Miss Hawaiian Tropic, playing poker, maybe some Nascar 09 on the X-Box, having a cook-out, tearing down some cars.. something that made them seem real.  

I started thinking about the thousands of fans that have been hit hard by the economy.  Was that just another blow to their pride? 

2.  Nothing to cheer for? Or no one to boo for?   I can remember a time where Dale Jr. fans would NEVER be the same as Jeff Gordon fans.  Where there would be no way Jr. would leave his fathers team and head to the enemy team (team Hendrick). 

Well, that day has come and gone - So have the days of true rivalry.  Fans got excited to see the confrontation between Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick last season, but it was short lived as they made up on Tony Stewart Live at the end of the season.   

Although getting along and loving each other may be the most politically correct thing to do, it just isn’t fun for the fans! Keep in mind that wrestling has lasted so long due to the antics, rivalries and drama.

3.  To root for the team or the driver.   With drivers switching teams on a whim, teams having to disassemble or merge just to keep going, it is hard to have and hold onto loyalties.   

Many fans couldn’t imagine a season without a Petty or Earnhardt team, and although the names will probably live in for years, it’s just not the same.  Now it’s Earnhardt-Ganassi racing with no Earnhardt racing under the banner and being led by the likes of one Juan-Pablo Montoya.  

Same goes for the soon to be merged Petty Enterprises with Gillette-Evernham Motorsports.   Kyle Petty was released during the negotiations which left a team of up and comers like Kahne, Sorrenson and Allmindinger.   

This year I am feeling the struggle to maintain my love of Joe Gibbs Racing with the addition of young Joey Logano.   The struggle for me comes from team Gibbs passing on some great drivers that were in a need of a ride for someone who, I personally feel, hasn’t put in his dues to be a Sprint Cup Racer.  I hear that other fans struggle with the same issues.

4.  Talking about dues – where are the boys that work on their cars and then go out and drive them?  They are a dying breed.   You just wonder how much some of these guys really know about cars anyway.  

5. The semi-ugly beast of corporate NASCAR.  I understand the need for high dollar corporate sponsors to keep NASCAR running smoothly, pay those outrageous salaries and to make it more widely available to a wider larger audience, but there are some downsides to the corporate influence. 

First of all, since money is so important, some drivers are being kept around only because of their marketability, not their driving ability, while many drivers are passed over for rides because they are virtually unknown.  A good example is the recent situation with Elliott Sadler.  

Elliot has fans that will always follow him, yet his less than average performances should have forced Gillette to kick him to the curve and replaced him with another driver that has some potential.   Well, we all saw how long that lasted.   

Same goes for Casey Mears.  Mears couldn’t keep up with his teammates for one of the top teams so how is he going to make it at an organization that does not have the same resources?  

Corporate NASCAR forces drivers to speak with the reporters and crews of TV, radio and print media, but also prevents the drivers from saying what they really think.   They have to be more careful on what they say as not to offend sponsors that are keeping them in operation.   Watching some of those post race interviews seem so rehearsed.

So what can be done to keep the loyal fans and to broaden a loyal fan base?   That’s what they hire those big boys as NASCAR marketing for.   Once they get that figured out, the better the sport will be.

Just a personal note to the drivers:   I know you get tired of fans walking up to you, asking for photos and autographs and gawking at you like you’re a new species that has just been discovered, but coming from a fan that spends 80% of her vacation savings each year on NASCAR races, pit passes, hospitality passes and buying countless unneeded NASCAR memorabilia, please treat fans with some respect. 

I will never forget the kindness that Greg Biffle showed me during my first pit road visit.   During that time, I was struggling for money, but still managed to come up with the over $100.00 needed to purchase a pit road pass just so I could get as close as I could. 

After qualifying, he pulled up and jumped up out of his car.   I was so excited since I was wearing my #16 hat and really thought if I ever had the chance to meet Greg, I would tell him what a wonderful man he was for supporting the animals through his foundation since that is where my heart lies too. 

I finally conjured up the nerve to walk up to him, only to spit out the words “would you mind signing my hat?” I actually interrupted him speaking to his crew and could have easily ignored me or said no, but he turned around and signed my hat with a smile. 

It made me feel so wonderful and it didn’t matter if I saw anything else the rest of the day.   My point being – you never know if that fan may have spent their dinner money to be able to afford a pass to a race, or maybe that day is the only day of the year they were able to get out an enjoy themselves from their lives of working 2 full-time jobs just to keep food on their tables. 

It is amazing what kind of influence you may have on someone’s life today.  You never have to apologize for what you have, where you live or what you drive, just remember that we are all family, part of the human family and each of us deserve to give and receive respect from each other. 

He signed a contract extension in May, some good news as NASCAR owners were (and continue to be) struggling to keep teams afloat.

But keeping his job meant filing a lawsuit against Gillett Evernham Motorsports early this month, after they planned on replacing him with former Red Bull Racing driver A.J. Allmendinger.

After a merger with GEM and Petty Enterprises, the team announced Elliot Sadler would continue driving duties for the No. 19 Best Buy/Stanley Dodge.

"They never said, 'Hey, we're replacing you, we're moving on,'" Sadler told the media Wednesday. "It was always just, 'Maybe this could be a possibility.' You know what, I think at the end of the day, they were just looking to see what their options might be to make sure the 19 car is going to be competitive and going to run good.

"It was pretty much like, 'We might do this, this might be an option, we're going to give you permission to go talk to other teams in case this is an option,'" Sadler continued. "So they were very up front about it to me. There was like no smoke and mirrors, anything like that, as far as that was concerned. A lot of stuff kind of got blown out of proportion. But as far as their communication with me about it, it was always up front."

The Virginian native, who is getting married this month, says the controversy has made his family stronger, and felt like "our back(s) (were) against the wall."

Sadler also says it's "all in the past," and that his team is focusing on the season opener at Daytona.

Sadler hasn't won a race in nearly five years. His new team director, Kevin Buskirk (formerly of DEI), hopes to change that this year.

"I really begged and pushed to have Kevin Buskirk on my team," Sadler said. "Bringing him on board was just a smart decision. And I tell you, I feel like a new man since this happened. We want to go out and shock the world: make people pay attention to the No. 19. And [Buskirk] will work day and night to make that happen."

As of Tuesday, he has yet to speak to Allmendinger, but says he holds no hard feelings toward him. No word on if Allmendinger, 27, will drive the currently unsponsored No. 10 that he finished the 2008 season in.

The three GEM drivers (Sadler, Kasey Kahne and new teammate Reed Sorenson) will be testing at Rockingham Speedway next week.

Thanks to NASCAR.com, Jayski and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer for the information and quotes used in this article. 

In spite of the twinkling holiday lights and fresh scent of pine trees in the air, there is no peace on earth as the US economy continues to struggle.

This economic turmoil has already deeply impacted the sport of NASCAR.  The first signs have been the tell-tale pink slips that started flowing through the garage area after the final race in Homestead.

Even storied teams such as Hendrick Motor Sports have not been immune to the layoffs.  In fact, champion Jimmie Johnson’s spotter was one of the first to be let go.

Other teams are also suffering. The future of Petty Enterprises is uncertain, with heir Kyle Petty out of a ride and Bobby Labonte leaving the team this week.

Legendary Dale Earnhardt Inc. is facing similar woes.  Recent merger discussions with Ganassi will result in four teams, yet only two and a half sponsors.

To date, close to 600 employees of the racing world have lost their jobs.  And the numbers are sure to rise as more teams grapple with the economic uncertainties.

Sponsorship woes also abound.  General Motors just announced that the company is rethinking its decades long sponsorship of NASCAR’s biggest show, the Daytona 500.

What is NASCAR to do in this epic battle with the US economy?  Short of throwing up their hands and gnashing their teeth, there are many steps that NASCAR can take to address these economic challenges.

One of the first issues that the sport should address in these tough times is that of sponsor exclusivity. 

While companies like Sprint have invested mightily to be the title sponsor, they have also forced out other competing companies in the process.  The sport no longer has the luxury of losing sponsors like Cingular/AT&T and Alltel because of exclusivity requirements.

In that same vein, NASCAR must also do more sponsor sharing and cross promoting in order to survive. 

Instead of competing for sponsors, NASCAR should introduce its sponsors to teams and tracks alike.  Creative cross promotions will not only help the sport but could also increase the overall value of the sponsorship dollar.

The final option that NASCAR must explore is a renewed focus on the fan.   

NASCAR should consider working with track partners to reduce ticket prices and working with sponsors to provide reasonable ways for fans to attend races, including lower prices for rooms and special travel packages.   

Drivers and teams could also help by increasing fan access and fan experiences on and off the track.

The most important thing that NASCAR can do, however, is to make each race a show.  Fans, new and old, come for the experience of seeing cars on the track, smelling the burning rubber, and feeling the thundering power of the racing motors.  If NASCAR can guarantee close, side-by-side racing, the fans will hunger for that Sunday relief from their everyday worries.

Will NASCAR survive?  Let’s face it, NASCAR racing is not for the faint of heart. 

This is a sport that got its start during the Great Depression, as bootleggers ran their moonshine.  Drivers put their lives on the line each time they take the track.  And NASCAR fans are some of the most hard-core and loyal in sports today.

NASCAR leadership, teams, drivers and fans will surely be tested during this recession.  But the drive to take the checkered flag, that competitive, no holds barred spirit that abounds in NASCAR, is indeed what will ensure its survival, even in these unsettling times.