Joe Gibbs Racing

Reports estimate that the NASCAR layoff rate could jump from its current stand of 393 to anywhere between 700-1,000.

Jayski is reporting that the Hall of Fame and Yates Racing organizations could be announcing their cuts as early as this coming week.

Crew members aren't the only ones feeling the pinch.

Drives like AJ Allmendinger, Scott Riggs, JJ Yeley, Scott Wimmer, Bobby Hamilton,Jr., Kyle Petty, and this year's Rookie of the Year, Regan Smith, are all looking for jobs next season.

“In the '70s and '80s, I think it was even worse economically, but teams were much smaller then,” said former president and general manager of the Lowe's Motor Speedway Humpy Wheeler. “Some teams back then were letting go 50 percent or more of crew members. But that was only five or six people. Today cut backs might be less percentage of the team, but could equal dozens per organization.”

Sitting back and doing nothing has never been Wheeler's style. He has partnered with the North Carolina Motorsports Association to set up the Motorsports Employment Taskforce in an effort to help the growing number of displaced workers stay in the NASCAR field.

“When you count up the small teams too that we don't hear about, the Nationwide teams and smaller Truck teams we likely have over 1,000 people losing their jobs,” expressed Wheeler. “Historically those who lost jobs in the past moved back to their hometown States and we lost them from the area. The main thing is that we don't lose them from the region. This has major economic impacts to all of the community including non-motorsports related business.”

The Task Force's first meeting was last Friday, November 21st, and included representatives from NASCAR, the North Carolina Legislature, NC Biotech Center, The NCMA, NC- Community College Motorsports Consortium, Career Transition Consultants, The Wheeler Company, Centralina Workforce Development Board, NASCAR Technical Institute, Compass Career Management, and Belmont Abbey College.

Main objectives for the Task Force are to get the information out to race teams about employees, but also to help the unemployed "with information and steps to guide them in their sudden career path changes."

The city of Mooresville, North Carolina is also stepping up the plate to help workers in need.

According to Mooresville-South Iredell Chamber of Commerce President Karen Shore, Mooresville's business community is "ready to support, embrace, work with these displaced workers in any way that we can to help find other positions for them."

Thanks to Bloomberg, the St. Louis Examiner, WhoWon.com, NASCAR Scene Daily, Jayski, and Statesville for the quotes and information used in this piece.

It’s Thanksgiving on this Thursday in November-or turkey day-as I like to call it. It’s a day when family and friends gather ‘round to eat tons of food, watch the Detroit Lions get beat up by the Tennessee Titans and express what they are most thankful for.

Which means that it’s time to stick a fork in another season of NASCAR Sprint Cup racing, it has been roasted and is glazed. Fans are thankful that this boring year as many saw it, is over and have already begun the countdown to the 2009 Daytona 500.

We fans know what we are thankful for, what are the drivers most thankful for on this festive day?

12) Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Earnhardt Jr. will be most thankful that his first season with Hendrick Motorsports has concluded and he can use the chemistry from this year and focus on trying to win a championship next year.

He must also be thankful that he once again made the Chase and snapped his two year winless streak so that media can now focus on something else and stop asking him when he was ever going to win again.

Of course he is probably most thankful to just be competitive again, with a shot to win every week where as last year he was just waiting for an engine to explode.

11) Matt Kenseth

Kenseth is thankful that this season is over.

After failing to win a race for the first time since 2001, Kenseth will most likely be going to teammates Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle’s house and asking their secrets to success this year.

But he should also be thankful that he works for Roush Fenway Racing, they will certainly figure out what the problem is and fix it. Kenseth has a very strong team and a consistent team but they just could not find the key to victory lane.

10) Kyle Busch

Kyle Busch is thankful that there is a next year.

This time a year ago, Busch was thankful that he had a job when Joe Gibbs Racing decided to hire him. He went out and declared himself an early championship favorite before things went downhill.

So when next season begins Busch will be thankful that he has such a great team at JGR and has the powerful support of Toyota.

Plus it doesn’t hurt to be thankful that he has been blessed with crazy and sometimes questionable driving ability.

9) Tony Stewart

As Tony Stewart sits down at his table to enjoy his turkey, yams, potatoes and pies he will be most thankful that he no longer has anyone to answer to.  

Beginning in 2009 Stewart will be the boss and when things go wrong and he voices his opinions he won’t have to apologize to the officials at JGR. Just to the people that he offended when NASCAR demands that he do so.

Stewart will also be thankful that Talladega has a yellow line. When Regan Smith passed him on the last lap, NASCAR declared the pass illegal and awarded the win to Stewart. It was his only win of the year.

8) Denny Hamlin

When Hamlin reflects on 2008 he will be most thankful that the Martinsville race in March ended when it did. Jeff Gordon was closing fast on Hamlin in the last few laps of the Goody’s Cool Orange 500 when he ran out of laps.

Then things started to go south and Hamlin was in danger of not making the Chase, but he did and should be thankful that he has the equipment from JGR to get it done.

And lastly he will be thankful that Tony Stewart is leaving since this will make him the senior driver at Gibbs Racing and will not have to deal with the shadow of Stewart’s two championships.

7) Jeff Gordon

Today Jeff Gordon will be thankful that he has four championships, 81 wins made the Chase this year and has an amazing family.

Oh, and that he works for Hendrick Motorsports.

Other than that he won’t be thankful for the dismal season that he had this year. He was winless and sometimes just plain bad during certain races and certain parts of the year.

Gordon needs to have Thanksgiving with teammate and employee Jimmie Johnson and tell him to spread the love.

6) Jeff Burton

Burton is probably most thankful that Richard Childress is giving him good equipment and that he still has the fire to win.

Burton won at Bristol in March and during the Chase at Lowe’s and silently said that age doesn’t matter and he still has what it takes to be a championship contender.

5) Clint Bowyer

Bowyer is thankful that Denny Hamlin intentionally brought out the caution, Dale Jr. and Kyle Busch battled for the lead and then Busch put Earnhardt Jr. in the wall. All of this allowed Bowyer to skate on by to win his first and only race of the year.

Bowyer will also be thankful that David Ragan didn’t find enough consistency until late in the year when it was too late for Ragan to knock Bowyer out of the Chase.

And lastly he’ll be thankful that in the Nationwide Series Kyle Busch wasn’t running full time and that Jack Roush didn’t switch Carl Edwards’ crew chief till late in the year when Bowyer already had an insurmountable point lead.

4) Kevin Harvick

Freedom of Speech will be what Kevin Harvick is most thankful for this year.

Harvick insulted Carl Edwards after their accident at Talladega and then the two came to blows at Lowe’s. So Harvick is also thankful that he’s been in confrontations before because he knew exactly how to handle Edwards who ended up on the hood of his car.

3) Greg Biffle

Biffle will be most thankful that his team peaked at the right time, when the Chase began. He won the first two Chase races and quickly went from under the radar and dark horse to a serious championship contender.

Biffle and teammate Carl Edwards were the two who gave Roush Fenway their wins this season and hopes for a championship.

2) Carl Edwards

Edwards just like Kyle Busch, will be most thankful that there will be a next season. Unless the economy gets so bad and everyone in NASCAR decides that they no longer want to race anymore.

Edwards will also be thankful that he had the best year of his career, winning nine races and contending for both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series championships all the way down to Homestead.

Edwards also gets the award for the best quote of the year, “I wish Daytona was in twenty minutes.”

Amen to that brother.

1) Jimmie Johnson

Jimmie Johnson has a lot to be thankful for on the day. You could probably say that he has 48 things to be thankful for.

First, that he works at Hendrick Motorsports. Second, he has crew chief Chad Knaus and he’ll never work with anyone else. He should also be thankful that there’s a Chase, because without it he would only have one championship.

This means he will also be thankful that the 10 races that compose the Chase are at tracks that he is statistically better at then everyone else.

He’ll also be thankful that Kyle Busch had a Chase meltdown; Carl Edwards made a mental mistake at Talladega and that someone forgot how to set up his car at Lowe’s.

Yes, Jimmie Johnson has a lot to be thankful for.

As do we fans and Americans. Such as being able to sit around and eat good food and not have to worry about anything. We can watch our favorite TV shows and sports and then express our love and opinions on what we just saw.

So no matter how bad we think things are and no matter how mad we get at the things that happen on the track or mad at whose winning and whose not, just be thankful that we can be mad.

Happy Thanksgiving to all and to all a Gobble Gobble!

As Americans prepare to sit around their—or a relative's—dining room table, gobble down some turkey and talk about what they're thankful for, I thought I'd take a moment to reflect on the trials, tribulations and controversies the NASCAR sanctioning body are probably not thankful for this year.

So, without further delay let's look back on some of the most controversial stories on 2008...

1. Tires Cause Problems at Atlanta, Indianapolis

Sure, Kyle Busch winning Toyota's first race was a big deal. And even though drivers experienced no tire failures, many said "I ain't going to put up with this" or "I'm going home and taking everything that has Goodyears off and put Firestones on and feel a lot safer."

"I felt like I was going to crash every single lap," fifth place Jeff Gordon said. "I'm exhausted right now. I feel like I've run a thousand miles here. There is just no reason for this. This car, this tire, at this racetrack, was just horrible."

Goodyear and NASCAR, however, disagreed with the "120 different opinions" and classified the day as a success.

"Getting into attacks in the media is not the right place," Justin Fantozzi, marketing manager for Goodyear Motorsports, said. "We are tremendously proud of the wear rates we saw here today. As always, we bring the safest tire we know how to build. It's up to the race teams to go as fast as they can."

If drivers thought the tires at Atlanta were bad, they were definitely in for some sour grapes at Indianapolis a few months later, when tires that would only wear to twelve or thirteen laps turned the famed Brickyard 400 into a series of "heat races."

Only three drivers- Kurt Busch, Earnhardt, Jr. and Brian Vickers- were at the April tire test at IMS, something car owner Rick Hendrick wasn't happy with. The test had Tony Eury, Jr. concerned and he reported to Goodyear that tires were only lasting 15 laps, which the tire company pushed aside because the track surface "historically" gained grip throughout the weekend and race.

Yeah, that didn't happen...

"At least at Atlanta we could run more than 10 laps," said Jamie McMurray. "I'm shocked they did a tire test and this is what they ended up with.

"That wasn't a race," Ryan Newman said. "It's ridiculous."

Several were held to blame, including Indianapolis and owner Tony George, who have experienced tire debacleswith Formula One, NASCAR and of course Goodyear.

"It's nobody's fault," said Goodyear spokesman Greg Stucker said. "It's the package, and that's what we need to understand.

"We need to know why the racetrack didn't take rubber like last year."

Three letters will answer that: COT.

2. Rowdy Busch finds gold, rivalries but fails in Chase

Buddy Baker said it best. "Every once in a while the devil jumps out of Kyle Busch."

Busch won an impressive twenty one races this past season in the Cup, Nationwide and Craftsman Truck Series, including tying the great Sam Ard's most wins in a Nationwide season (ten) and winning four Cup races in a row. He even attempted three races in three states at the beginning of June, competing in Texas, Nashville, and Pocono.

It was also Busch's on track antics that got him in trouble with fellow drivers and, of course, the fans, starting with that fateful Richmond night when Rowdy wrecked NASCAR's most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

"Kyle has his style of driving, but I would have been a little more…I don't know." Earnhardt, Jr. said after the race.

“I wreck somebody (intentionally), I ain't going to leave him in good enough shape to come back and get me in the same race, so that wasn't my intentional,” he added.

Later in the year, it seemed like his bad boy antics had come back to bite him, with another incident involving Dale Jr., a sparring of words with everyone's cousin, and an near brawl with the defending truck series champion.

"Let's make it real clear, I'm not apologizing," a frustrated Carl Edwards said in his post race press conference, after winning the Sharpie 500.

Edwards put the bump and run on Busch en route to winning the race, leading the two to tangle after the checkered flag fell. Busch ran into the side of the No. 99 Office Depot Ford, and Edwards retaliated by spinning the JGR Toyota out.

Cousin Carl stated that he did what he thought Busch would do to him in the situation, in which Busch responded:

"Hmmm. Well, being as though I'm not in that position, then I would say that I wouldn't have touched him.

"But you don't try to hit somebody, and you know, even so, driving in the back of him getting into the corner. But I had been getting into the corner light all day, and I don't know, maybe I over braked and rove myself right back into his nose; who knows.”

After several run ins together, Edwards was asked if he thought he and Shrub were even.

"I don't know. I feel like we're pretty even on my side. You know, that's how I feel about it. I don't know; I'm sure it will be exciting. It's NASCAR and we all want to win really bad, that's for sure."

Busch also got into an incident during a truck race with Ron Hornaday, with which Hornaday said "I'm going to have to teach him a lesson and I hope I don't hurt him."

“I was going down the frontstretch, trying to look high and he stayed up against the wall so I stayed down to look underneath him and then he turned down,” Busch said. “I wasn’t expecting him to come across my nose like that. I got into him, spun him out.

“He didn’t have any damage to his truck fortunately. We had our incident to our Charlotte where I had a lot of damage done and wrecked a perfectly good truck. [Today] wasn’t payback or anything like that. I just got into him. I’m sorry about that.”

Yeah, okay Kyle. I bet Hornaday, Edwards and many others feel karma got to Busch once he reached the final ten races, where he finished outside the top twenty four times and only had two finishes in the top five.

You know what they say about karma, Kyle...

3. California Seeping; Drivers Complainin'

The second race of the NASCARseason seemed more like a marathon after it took nearly five hours to run the first 87 laps due to rain, and the race was pushed back to that Monday. Sure, Carl Edwards might'vestarted his impressive winning streak there, but the bigger story of the weekend was a seeping problem that led to several drivers crying foul.

Denny Hamlin crashed on lap 15, and was obviously furious with NASCAR for starting the race in such poor conditions.

"I think we can get (the car) back out there, but I think there are 42 other drivers that would agree that we should not be racing on that racetrack right now," Hamlin said. "I hit a slick spot and my car took off. You can see it on television—right at the seams, it's seeping a lot of water. I hit a wet spot and I'm not going to be the last one."

Casey Mears and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. also wrecked thanks to the wet track.

"We got a little bit loose getting down into [Turn] one," Mears said. "A couple of times, I hit the water there that's at the seam there seeping through. I hit it quite a bit down in three and four, it's a little bit worse down there.

"And there's a little bit down in one and two—and right as I got to the bottom, I got loose. And I don't know if it was right about the time I crossed that seam. I don't know if that was the reason or not but I hadn't been real loose, and that time I was. We about had it saved. It just kind of brushed the wall and unfortunately, it had to come back across the track and all the cars were coming by."

"We were just sitting there trying to chill," Earnhardt, Jr. said. "The track's real dirty and everybody's sliding around. The track ain't ready today. The track's dirty, and this was a bad move."

It looks like California has even more problems than just having a track that simply doesn't sell tickets.

4. Your Discriminating Heart

When you have something as successful as NASCAR, there's bound to be people that want a little piece of the pie. And why not a disgruntled former employee trying to get fifteen minutes?

Mauricia Grant, the African American former official, is currently suing NASCAR for $225 million for racial discrimination and sexual harassment.

While two officials were reprimanded after the lawsuit became public, NASCAR responded to Grant's public comments—including claims that Nationwide Director of Competition ignored her, and that after she made "several" complaints to Human Resources she was fired.

NASCAR claims she was fired due to her past record—including having a restraining order filed by an ex-boyfriend and arrests for DUI while she was an official—and repeated tardiness.

Dean Duckeet is another former official, who is also African American, and is currently suing NASCAR for his job back, and lashed out at Grant for claiming he sexual harassedher saying "she lied about that part" but claims she's telling the truth about everything else.

Both cases are still pending.

5. Tony Stewart Crosses Line Second, Wins Race

It had fans far and near up in arms with confusion after the fall Talladegarace that saw Regan Smith cross the finish line first, but sent Tony Stewart to Victory Lane.

However, why people were confused had me confused after reading stories that Smithwas the rightful winner. Smith clearly passed Smoke under the yellow line at the AMP Energy 500, a clear violation of NASCAR rules. Under no circumstances can you pass under the yellow line, even on the last lap.

"During the last lap of yesterday's race at Talladega Superspeedwaythe driver of the No. 01 (Smith) violated NASCARpolicy by driving under the yellow line to improve his position," NASCAR President Mike Helton said. "In NASCAR's opinion he was not forced below the yellow line. NASCAR correctly took immediate action to enforce the policy by penalizing the No. 01 and scoring the No. 20 (Stewart) as the race winner."

Smith, who was sent back to 18th for the rule violation, sees it much differently.

“We just watched the tape. They can argue about it for five years, they’re not going to change the decision. That’s not how NASCARworks,” Smithsaid. “I totally disagree with them 110 percent. I clearly moved to the outside, moved back to the inside. Tony made a move to the high side and made a move to the bottom side."

NASCAR's ruling stood, and Stewart was awarded his first Cup win at Talladega, and his last win with Joe Gibbs Racing.

6. Your Cheatin' Heart

Carl Edwards was on a hot streak in the beginning of the 2008 Cup season, and even held the points lead... for about five seconds. NASCAR inspectors after the UAW Dodge 400 in Las Vegas sent the Office Depot Ford back to Charlotte after the oil tank lid off.

The penalty would cost Edwards 100 driver and owner points, along with losing crew chief Bob Osbourne for six weeks.

Toyota claimed they had tested a car without the oil tank lid in a wind tunnel, and said it gave the car a distinct advantage. This set off a war of words between Roush, who raised questions on why Toyota was testing cars like that, and the Japanese auto maker.

Joe Gibbs Racing was also caught doing something naughty this year. Just weeks after NASCAR a modified "restrictor place" on all Toyota engines in the Craftsman Truck and Nationwide Series, JGR cars of Tony Stewart and Joey Loganowere caught with magnets under the gas pedals, which would cause the speed of the cars to look a lot slower on their upcoming dyno tests.

Very, very bad. NASCAR was furious with the finding, and suspended several crew members indefinitely, including crew chiefs Jason Ratcliff and Dave Rodgers, and fined Stewart and Logano and docked them 150 points. Their probation was eventually lifted.

"We want to apologize to NASCAR, all of our partners, all of our families at JGR, and all of our fans for the unfortunate incident that took place this past weekend in Michigan withour two Nationwide teams," team owner Joe Gibbs said in a statement after the penalties came out. "A poor decision was made by some key members of our organization, and 100 percent of the blame rests with us."

The last major penalty came via Red Bull Racing and Brian Vickers, whose team allegedly dipped their sheet metal in acid to make it thinner. Whether this was truly how they did it or not, the team was docked 150 driver and owner points, and crew chief Kevin Hamlin was fined $100,000 for the infraction.

Those were just some of the major storylines of 2008. And if this was the craziness we saw this past season...what will 2009 bring?

Thanks to Jayski, The Seattle Times, NASCAR.com, ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Pantagraph, The Guardian (UK), USA Today, RUWT Sports, and the Orlando Sentinel for the quotes and information used in this piece.

As children we are taught two things: to share your toys and never to tell secrets.

As race car drivers, you are taught to share information with your teammates and never to tell your secrets of success.  The one word that is repeated is: teamwork.

Teamwork, teamwork, teamwork. Always work with your teammate.

When one succeeds, they all say they're happy for them and glad for the organization. Although you know that they're standing there wondering why it was someone else and not them.

In 2008, the performance from certain teams, however, is making it hard to believe that teamwork is taking place.

Three perfect examples are Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch.

Through the first 26 races, Kyle Busch was the man to beat. He piled up eight wins, 17 top fives, 21 top tens and led 1,673 laps which prompted fans and media alike to crown him the 2008 Sprint Cup Champion. They were also looking where his place would be in history and making comparisons to Dale Earnhardt.

He won on superspeedways, short tracks and road courses, as Joe Gibbs Racing became the team to beat. Except, it wasn’t Joe Gibbs Racing, it was Kyle Busch.

His JGR teammates, Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart, were nowhere near as dominant as Busch was. Hamlin won his first and only race of the year at Martinsville in his home state, the eighth event. After that, he never saw victory lane again and slid through the standings.

At Michigan, he said that his team didn’t deserve to be in the Chase with the way they were performing.

Tony Stewart, on the other hand, had his own drama going on. He led laps and dominated races, such as Bristol and Charlotte and was in contention for the win until late when problems arose. Problems such as Kevin Harvick and a blown tire.

Then he announced that he would be leaving Joe Gibbs Racing at season's end to form his own team. It was another ending of an era between driver and team.

Stewart made the Chase but was still winless...until Talladega rolled around and NASCAR declared Stewart the winner after Regan Smith passed him under the yellow line.

No matter the way or race, Stewart had broken his winless streak. But it didn’t help salvage his rocky season.

Kyle Busch was running away from the field and his teammates were just hoping to stay within his dust.

But as the Chase approached, Busch received some company in the form of Carl Edwards who was carrying the banner for his organization, Roush Fenway Racing.

Edwards racked up six wins, and his teammates had zero as the Chase began in Loudon, N.H.

Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, and David Ragan all had goose eggs in the win column.

The man carrying the banner for Hendrick Motorsports was not the defending champion or four-time champion. Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon were both having their own struggles in the early part of 2008.

The newest member of the company, Dale Earnhardt Jr., was the strongest running Hendrick car for the first half of the season. He was third in points for majority of the year before finally jumping to second to split up the couple of Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards.

Johnson won Hendrick Motorsports' first race of the year, Earnhardt Jr. won the second and still remained the strongest car.

In fact, Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus said that besides testing, they were learning a lot from Earnhardt Jr. and his crew chief, Tony Eury Jr., even using their set-ups when struggling on certain race weekends.

The four-time champion, on the other hand, was having one of the worst seasons of his career. He finished 43rd for the first time at Texas, and he and his crew chief, Steve Letarte, just couldn’t find the chemistry they had from a year ago.

Casey Mears was once again the odd man out, the worst Hendrick car of them all.

Then the Chase began and everything that seemed so predictable from the regular season became an afterthought.

Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards started the Chase seeded first and second in points with Jimmie Johnson not far behind thanks to his late-season charge.

Edwards and Johnson went on to battle for the championship, winning six of the 10 Chase races between them before finishing first and second in points.

Edwards’ teammates, Kenseth and Ragan, failed to win a race. Kenseth finished 11th in points and Ragan 13th.

Biffle, on the other hand, gave it his best shot at the championship, throwing his name in the ring by winning the first two Chase races. He finished third in points.

As for Kyle Busch’s season, the wheels fell off when the Chase began just like his JGR teammate season. He finished 10h in points, Stewart finished ninth and Hamlin eighth.

Jimmie Johnson went on to win his third consecutive championship. Casey Mears failed to win a race this year as well as Jeff Gordon for the first time since 1993.

Mears was ranked 20th and Gordon seventh.

Meanwhile, Earnhardt Jr. stumbled through the second half of the season when his luck ran out. After winning at Michigan in June, he started fifth in points when the Chase began. But his good fortune and momentum was gone, as he slid to 12h in points by seasons end.

All of his good notes must have gone to Jimmie Johnson, and in return Earnhardt Jr. got....what?

What does it mean to work with your teammates? If everyone has all the same equipment and they all say that they share notes, then why do some succeed and others don’t?

“Your teammates aren’t really your teammates,” said Mark Martin. “If they were, they would only be on the track to make sure you won.”

Instead each is out there trying to win for themselves. And that's what racing is about.

Most teams do have an open-door policy and require that they all share everything except their wives. But after the way that Johnson, Edwards and Busch ran compared to their teammates, are they really telling their teammates everything?

“You hear all kinds of things,” Greg Zipadelli, now crew chief for Joey Logano says. “You hear about some teams that share information, others that don’t, and some that share some (but not all) information.”

If one driver and crew chief have found something they really like, then they obviously aren’t going to tell anyone about it.

Take Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus who a) don’t allow any photographers in their garages and b) who have no problem taking information from their teammates, but you rarely hear of their teammates learning anything from them.

Not once, did either of them say thanks to Tony Eury Jr. or Dale Earnhardt Jr. after winning the championship in Homestead.

Or case in point: take last year at Martinsville, after practice Jimmie Johnson was 43rd on the practice sheet and only using three of his four wheels while trying to control the car. Then Chad Knaus asked Steve Letarte for the set-up from the No. 24 car.

Johnson went out and won the race; Gordon finished second.

Gordon has also used Johnson’s set-up, but not with the same results. Edwards also passed along his set-up to teammates but they never won a race this year.

His teammates were wondering why he was getting better fuel mileage than they were.

Busch’s teammates must have been wondering why his chemistry with his team was better than there's was with their teams, who were together longer.

Yes, all teams “share” information. The only problem is, they're not sharing what they should: the true information they have about what the track and tires doing or how the cars are reacting.

John Fernandez, Chip Ganassi’s managing director said, “There might be a few little secrets that a crew chief has hidden here or there.”

Then why have teammates at all?

Silly Season. Once a three- or four-month stand where teams swapped drivers, it's now a year long event where drivers, crew members, sponsors and even car manufacturers are changed.

The year 2008 proved to be one of the most exciting Silly Seasons in NASCAR history...

Ryan Newman won the Daytona 500 before announcing he'd be leaving the struggling Penske Racing.

Reed Sorenson ended years of frustration at Chip Ganassi Racing after he decided to jump ship for '09.

Paul Menard has left a now non-existent Dale Earnhardt, Inc. with his father's big sponsorship bucks along with him.

Casey Mears was once again booted from a ride.

Mark Martin decided to give it "one more shot," saying he would come back full time next season to make a final run at the title.

Clint Bowyer will stay with Richard Childress Racing, but will he change rides?

JJ Yeley was fired by Hall of Fame Racing. Joining him in the unemployment line are the likes of Patrick Carpentier and an emerging AJ Allmendinger.

Then, there was this crazy rumor that after 10 years, 33 wins and two Cup championships that Tony Stewart would be leaving Joe Gibbs Racing to drive for and own his own team.

Oh wait...that crazy rumor came true. And Smoke began a domino effect that would change the look of this sport for the 2009 season.

Stewart will become part owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, a two-car team with sponsors like ARMY, Old Spice and Office Depot.

The other driver? Why, defending 500 winner and former USAC Rookie of the Year Ryan Newman, of course!

Martin's move to the Hendrick No. 5 sends Mears to RCR to drive the Jack Daniel's No. 07. Current driver Clint Bowyer will head to the new No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper's Chevrolet, headed by crew chief Shane Wilson.

Sorenson will replace Carpentier in GEM's No. 10, which has the US Air Force on board for only two races.

Yates Racing will add the No. 98 Menard's Ford for Paul Menard.

David Stremme will give the Cup Series another try as he replaces Newman in the No. 12. They will have sponsor Alltel for one more season.

Regan Smith will lose his No. 01 at season's end because of the DEI-Ganassi merger.  He could be in the No. 41 Target car.

Newcomer Scott Speed is a contender for Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year in 2009 after taking over for AJ Allmendinger.

Kyle Petty may be out of a ride at Petty Enterprises.

Michael McDowell was rumored earlier in the season to not be getting with owner Michael Waltrip, and isn't expected back at MWR, since the No. 00 will be going to teammate David Reutimann.

Max Papis will be driving the No. 13 Toyota for Germain Racing for 18 races in '09. That entry will be sponsored by GEICO. 

Oh, and how could I forget? There's an 18-year-old kid who, after winning his first Nationwide Series race in only his third start, along with two poles in his first two, will have big shoes to fill as he replaces Stewart* in the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota.

His name? Joey Logano. The so-called greatest thing since sliced bread. Yeah, we'll see.

All these changes have left the likes of Scott Riggs, Yeley, Carpentier, Petty, Smith, and Allmenginger with unknown futures.

Which means even though the checkered flag has flown over Homestead and the 2008 season, Silly Season isn't over yet...

*No Smoke, that wasn't a fat joke.

The following interviews are quoted from the "Behind the Scenes" Racing News from the Home Depot Racing website, thank you Ed!

__________________________________________________________________

Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 20 Home Depot machine for Joe Gibbs Racing since 1999:  

What do you expect the Homestead race weekend to be like for you?  

"I've tried to not think about it.  We'll deal with it when we get there and kind of take it as it comes.  This is the longest relationship I've ever had with any car owner, so that's why this situation is so different than anything else I've ever dealt with."  

What will you remember most about your tenure with the No. 20 team, or are there too many to count?  

"It's not that there are too many to count, they're just all special.  Every race that you win and with every accomplishment, there's something about each one of those that's special in their own unique way.  Everything that we've done over the last 10 or 12 years with Joe Gibbs, and Zippy (crew chief Greg Zipadelli) and all The Home Depot guys, it's all been big."  

How do you view your role in the overall growth of Joe Gibbs Racing, as it went from a single-car organization until you joined the team to what is now a three-car Sprint Cup team and a two-car NASCAR Nationwide Series team that has won over 100 NASCAR races?  

"It's been slow, because when you're around it like I've been, you're immersed in it and it just kind of grows.  But when you think back to when I first came to Joe Gibbs Racing with a limited Nationwide Series schedule in 1997, it's obviously been a huge change.  But the growth hasn't been because of me.  It's been because of the good people Joe Gibbs has hired."  

What have you learned from Joe Gibbs during your time with Joe Gibbs Racing?  

"I just think learning how Joe is with people.  No matter what position you're in at Joe Gibbs Racing, he cares about everybody, and that shows in the turnover rate of the organization.  It doesn't matter what role you're in there, the way he treats people is why he has such a successful organization, why he's been successful in the NFL, in the NHRA and NASCAR.  He's good to the people that work for him."  

Is there anything Joe Gibbs has brought out in you that maybe you didn't realize before you came to drive for him?  

"I think he's made me a smarter businessman, obviously, being able to spend 12 years with him.  I've been very fortunate and blessed to be surrounded by a guy and drive for a guy that is of the caliber of Joe Gibbs. And not only what he does as a team owner, but who he is as a person and what he means to us as a person."  

In addition to 10 years together with Joe Gibbs Racing, it's been 10 years together with your primary sponsor, The Home Depot.  When you made your debut at Daytona in February 1999, did you think you could make it this long? 

"I just wanted to make it, let alone make it 10 years here.  It makes me proud.  It makes me very, very proud of both my relationship with everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing and The Home Depot.  They've been a great company to work for and represent.  It's been a lot of fun.  We've been through a lot of highs and a lot of lows, but at the end of the day, we've had a lot of fun and we've won a lot of races and won two championships.  I think we've had a very successful 10 years."  

How has your role as an owner in the U.S. Auto Club (USAC) and the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series prepared you for becoming a driver/owner next year in Sprint Cup? 

"It's been a little like getting my feet wet for what I'm getting ready to do.  Obviously, there's a lot more people involved and a lot more variables that you have to worry about at the Cup level versus the USAC or World of Outlaws level, but it's still about people and putting them in the right places within the organization.

"I can buy them the best race cars and the best equipment, but you still have to have the right people to build the cars, set up the cars and then drive the cars.  It's definitely helped me get ready for what I'm undertaking as a NASCAR owner."  

Throughout your racing career, when you achieved success at one level, you moved up to the next level, a path that eventually brought you to Sprint Cup.  But once you've won races and championships at the Cup level, where else do you go?  Is becoming a driver/owner the next logical step? 

"I can't say that it's all been calculated steps, but everything has happened at a period where we felt like we could handle what the challenge was.  Whether it's been a new endeavor, a changing endeavor or whatever - it's all come at stages in my life where I felt like I was at the right place to make a change or add something to my plate.  It still goes back to what I learned from Joe Gibbs, and that's surrounding yourself with good people and giving them the authority to do the jobs you hired them to do."  

Do you think this will be your busiest off-season?  

"Oh, I can promise you that.  There's no doubt.  That's not stretching very far.  That's a given that it's going to be busier than it's ever been.  There's not really going to be an off-season.  We're going to work from Monday after Homestead all the way through until we get to Daytona, and then the work's not going to stop after we get to Daytona either.  We're going to be pretty busy for the next year.  We're going to stay really busy."  

There are a handful of drivers who haven't won yet this season who typically win every year, most notably Jeff Gordon.  You were in the same boat until your win at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in October.  How important is it to not have a season where you have zero wins? 

"I think the closer the season is coming to the end, obviously, the more thankful we are for our win at Talladega.  At that time of the season, we wouldn't have predicted we would only have one win on our season.  It definitely puts a lot of emphasis on that particular win now. 

"When you start your rookie season off with three wins and all the way through the first 10 years of your career you've not had a winless season, it makes it that much important to keep that streak alive.

"As competitive as we all are, when you've won every year, you don't want to end the season without having won a race.  I think that almost would be the most devastating part of a season to say you had a season that wasn't successful because of that."  

How big was your win at Talladega? 

"You always want to win.  You want to win every week, and that's the goal of this team every week.  We feel like we should've had three or four of these easily by now.  We're just happy that we got that first one, obviously.  It would've been a big shock to have a shutout season, so at least Talladega has kept us from that."  

Has it been a successful year for you this year? 

"No, definitely not.  We've definitely fallen short of that.  It's because this team - we hold ourselves to a lot higher standards than a lot of the other teams do and we expect more out of ourselves.  We've just fallen short."  

Greg Zipadelli, crew chief for Stewart and the No. 20 Home Depot machine for Joe Gibbs Racing since 1999:  

What do you expect the Homestead race weekend to be like for you, since it will be your last race working with Stewart? 

"To be honest, I haven't really thought much about it.  It's another race that we want to go out and win, and that's where my effort lies, but afterward I'm sure I'll think differently.  As hectic as things have been lately with traveling and testing and all the things I've had to do, it's been about trying to just get through these last few weeks. 

For me, obviously, it's going to be disappointing.  Somebody you spend a lot of time with, somebody you've had a lot of success with, somebody you respect - Tony's been really good to me over the years - and it's a big change.  Not a lot of people are fired up over change.  It's like it's been a marriage and now we're getting a divorce.  I spent so much time with him, working with him, working for him over the last 10 years that I don't know what to expect this weekend.  Not to be corny or anything, but it'll be sad.  It'll be disappointing.  I still wish that we were staying together and finishing out our time here at Joe Gibbs Racing, but obviously that's changed.  We're going in different directions now.   

In the times where I've looked at potentially doing something different, I've always found that this is where I need to be.  I feel like this is the path that God really, truly wanted me to take, so I'm going to continue what I started.  I'm content with that.  The unknowns are what you worry more about."  

Is it hard to believe 10 years has passed since you all first came together? 

"Yeah, it is.  As much as you're gone and as much as you travel and as many races as we run, you'd think it would feel like forever, but it's hard to believe a little over 10 years has passed since we started this deal here.  It's been really exciting and we've accomplished a lot of good things and we have nothing to hang our heads about."  

(Zipadelli and Stewart currently have the longest active crew chief/driver tenure in the Sprint Cup garage.  The next crew chief/driver combination with the longest tenure is Chad Knaus and Jimmie Johnson, as the two joined forces for a three-race Sprint Cup schedule in late 2001 before going full-time in 2002. - Ed.) 

J.D. Gibbs, president of Joe Gibbs Racing: 

Is it hard to believe 10 years has passed since you all first came together? 

"I think it has flown by.  For us, it's really been 12 years, because we started racing with Tony in the Nationwide Series back in 1997.  And he's my age, so it's been neat to kind of grow up together and win some championships together.  Our time together really has gone fast.  And what's amazing is that this team, it's pretty much the same crew, the same crew chief and the same driver.  So, to see it come to an end is bittersweet.  We're all looking toward the future now, but we also appreciate what the past has meant to us."  

How important was Stewart in the overall growth of Joe Gibbs Racing? 

"When we started, it was great the way Bobby (Labonte) kind of took him under his wing and worked with him.  And now Tony, when you watch him, he's been our driving mentor in a lot of ways, which is frightening (laughter).  But he really has done a good job in working with our younger guys in Denny (Hamlin) and Kyle (Busch).  That's something we really appreciate.  He's matured a ton over those 10 years."

NASCAR drivers, owners, general managers and crew members- and just about everyone else- are speaking out today as the sanctioning body announced this morning that testing for the 2009 season has been "suspended", effective January first.

“I think it's a mistake,” points leader Jimmie Johnson said. “I think teams need a chance to work on their cars and improve their programs to put on a better show.  At the end of the day, speed equals dollars.

“If we had this rule last year with all the work we needed to do, I don't think we'd be where we are today.  I feel a compromise would have been to allow teams to run data acquisitions on Fridays (at tracks).  We still have to test. We cannot sit still and we won't... When I heard the news this morning, I was shocked.

The announcement comes just days after NASCAR Chairman Brian France stated in a teleconference that he didn't want to "waste" time looking for a solution to NASCAR's current economic struggles.

Nice job, Brian. Let's not waste our time looking for answers to problems, when we can just count the ever dwindling amount of money in our bank accounts. Brilliant, sir.

President Mike Helton has said they are looking for alternative ideas and hopes "it’s a temporary situation."

Surprisingly, many others in the sport are siding with NASCAR on this issue.

"I think it's great overall for the sport because it creates an equal playing field," James Frye, General Manager of Red Bull Racing, said. "I compare it to a major league baseball. On the playing field can you tell which of the guys took batting practice or not. If everybody the same, then It won't affect the product.

"For what's going on in the world right now, it's the right decision. We're all in this together—the sponsors, the teams and NASCAR. We're in a difficult position right now. It's not going to affect what happens on Sunday. Who knows, it might make it better."

Denny Hamlin agrees, but also agrees with Johnson when talking about teams getting around the rule.

"I think you're still going to see testing get done. One way or another, it's going to get done, whether Goodyear calls for it or whatnot. But them cutting out the big tests, Daytona and whatnot, you're there for three days for not a whole lot of reason. We go to these racetracks and don't learn a whole lot, because the rubber's not put down on the racetrack. So we really don't learn anything until race weekend anyway.

"We get a lot of practice," he said. "We get almost three hours of practice every weekend. That's a lot. If we can't learn it by then, we shouldn't be in the sport."

Jeff Burton is on the fence about the issue.

"There are a lot of unknowns," Burton said. "I've never been a part of the sport when testing was banned, so I'm not sure of the consequences of that. I do believe that testing is a way for a struggling team to improve. But I also believe we're in severe times, and we need to have severe actions."

This move could save teams anywhere from $700,000 to one million per driver per test, which Helton estimates to be "in the range of tens of millions (of dollars)."

The move won't have as big of an impact on drivers who have experience in the Car of Tomorrow. Joey Logano, though he has tested a COT for Joe Gibbs Racing, has only started three races this season, and only one came in a JGR Toyota.

"Really, testing at the right track with the right tire is the cheapest R&D," Greg Zipadelli, Logano's future crew chief, said.

Teams can only hope that the ban- and these tough economic times- don't stick around much longer.

Thanks to the Winston-Salem Journal, NASCAR.com, The Sports Network, FOX Sports, USA Today and Motorsports.com for the quotes used in this piece.

ESPN has put the cart before the horse.

Joey Logano has been nominated as "Breakout Athlete of 2009." The only problem is, 2009 isn’t here yet and Logano hasn't done anything to deserve the nomination.

Currently Logano runs a limited schedule in the Nationwide Series for Joe Gibbs Racing and won his first race in only his third career start.

The kid—nicknamed “Sliced Bread”—has won in everything that he’s ever sat in and most of that equipment has been Joe Gibbs Racing equipment. This has prompted the officials at JGR to promote Logano to a full time Cup ride in 2009 when Tony Stewart moves on to his own team.

In order to prepare him Logano officials at JGR wanted Logano to get seat time and to show the world that he was ready for the big time.

They probably should have waited.

Logano made his first Sprint Cup start at New Hampshire in September driving for Hall of Fame Racing. Sure, he didn’t wreck the car but that was about all he did. He couldn’t keep pace with any of the leaders and finished thirty-second...three laps down.

Round two came at the Kansas Motor Speedway. Logano again couldn’t keep pace and bounced the car off the wall a couple times. He finished thirty-ninth.

On both of these occasions Logano blamed the equipment of Hall-of-Fame Racing and couldn’t wait to get in a Joe Gibbs Racing prepared car. In Logano's defense, Hall-of-Fame Racing doesn't exactly have top notch equipment; however, there has been so much hype surrounding him and the way he talks, we're lead to believe that he could not only compete but win in anything.

Finally at the Texas Motor Speedway, both Logano and the world saw him in a JGR race car.  

Not surprisingly he didn’t perform.

He finished fortieth and nine laps off the pace. There was no excuse this time.

Many fans and media, specifically Jimmy Spencer, has said that Logano is just not ready for the Sprint Cup Series and that extra time in the Nationwide Series wouldn’t hurt.

Now, ESPN The Magazine is ready to declare him a breakout for a year that isn't even on the calander yet. Apparently they have not seen how he has performed at this point either.

However, maybe they have it right. Maybe he will be a breakout-only because he’s going to have Tony Stewart’s championship winning team and cars.

It's no secret the auto industry in America is suffering right now.  In an effort to save a failing Ford, a near bankrupt General Motors and a collapsing Chrysler, Congress is set to approve a $25 billion bailout plan for the three.

September saw Detroit lose 28,300 jobs, adding on to the nearly 78,000 total as of last month.  That number is expected to continue, especially with Ford and GM stock combined to be less than five dollars.  That's right, with a green bill with Abe Lincoln's picture on it, you can own stock in the two former auto giants.

"We're doing what we can, both on and off the track, to try and support the company," Brian Wolfe, director of North American Motorsports for Ford, said. "On the track, we're winning races and contending for championships...we're creating a winning image for our products. Off the track, our drivers and teams in NASCAR and NHRA have been working hard to get the word out about our products."

Both Ford and Chevrolet say they're committed to the sport, along with a struggling Dodge, who admits they may not be in the sport past 2009.  Because of their own financial squeeze, GM has called off all talks on a merger with Chrysler.

“The sport is on very, very solid ground that transcends one manufacturer or another,” Brian France, NASCAR Chairman, said in a conference November ninth. “We’re not also going to live or die if one manufacturer or another manufacturer has a pullback or a pullout. I hope it doesn’t happen. We’re working like mad to make sure it doesn’t.”

What exactly is a solidly grounded NASCAR doing?  Not much.  Shortening races, fixing the testing policy- say, staying at certain track on Monday to test there?- and other measures are not being taken by the sanctioning body to save teams money.

France also said it wouldn't be "practical" for NASCAR to create a line of credit for the teams, similar to what the NFL did, because they're individual businesses, as well as the fact that "there are literally hundreds of (teams) that can be affected, depending on how far you would go in our national series, different teams starting up or exiting all the time."

Truck, Nationwide, and Sprint Cup teams may be closing, losing sponsorship, or, for some Dodge teams, losing a manufacture.  Truck points leader Johnny Benson is leaving his current team at the end of the year, simply because they may not be around due to lack of sponsorship in 2009.  Bobby Hamilton, Jr. is financing his Nationwide Series entry out of his own pocket.  Junior Motorsports doesn't have sponsorship for next season.

NASCAR crew members and shop workers are also feeling the pain.  Due to lack of sponsorship in June, Chip Ganassi Racing let go more than seventy employees from their shop.  Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing have also recently layed off employees, including driver Jimmie Johnson's spotter.

More firings are expected to come after this Sunday's season-finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where all three NASCAR champions are to be crowned.

Teams are coping by taking in outside investors and merging.  Struggling for sponsorship, it's being heavily rumored that Chip Ganassi Racing and Dale Earnhardt, Inc. are set to merge, possibly by season's end.  Penske, Petty Enterprises, who were taken over by Boston Ventures earlier this year, Gillett-Evernham Motorsports, and others are also rumored to be merging, cutting back cars, or changing manufactures to ease the crunch.

NASCAR needs to do something to ease the burden on these teams.  Without these teams, there would be no fans in the stands, no souvenirs to sell, and all in all, no NASCAR.

Brian France, this is yet another cry to you.  Stop expanding and start fixing.  This sport can't afford a weak leader... much less anything else.

Thanks to ABC Online, The Canadien Press, Jayski, Auto Racing Daily, and the Minneapolis Star Tribune for the quotes and statistics used in this piece.

Copyright © 2008 Bench Racing Productions, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
If you are not reading this article in a news reader, the website you are viewing it on is guilty of copyright infringement.
Please report this site through the contact link on OnPitRow.com.
(digital signature: 0cfdbe0a46fcc45c1d0ce390e8adfabc)

Sorry, guys. For some reason, I thought I posted my column last week, but when I looked for it here on the site, it was mysteriously not there. I picked the winner correctly, I called everybody but Jimmie Johnson irrelevant (oh, how wrong I was), and I even made reference to Tommy Tutone when I wrote about Denny Hamlin.

So, of course, my best work goes for naught when I don’t actually end up putting it up for the world to see. (Then again, now I can recycle my “Denny, Denny, who can I turn to” next year.)

In other words, it looks like I had a massive brain fart. Or, as Jack Roush would suggest, I’ve had my “mulligan” for the Chase. Just read the best nine columns out of ten, right?

Here’s what to expect from each of the 12 Chase drivers this week at Phoenix:

1. Jimmie Johnson: Best average finish of every driver at Phoenix, incredible Chase, last guy to win here, blah, blah, blah. Johnson’s run last week, while not catastrophic, left the door open for Edwards. Then again, don’t be surprised if Jimmie comes through in the clutch. That’s what Team 48 does.

2. Carl Edwards: Carl’s average finish of 14.5 is negatively affected by the 42nd place he had at this race last year, when his engine let go in the first half of the race. That can’t happen again.

Carl’s got a lot of momentum from the past two weeks, and he has a chance at winning four in a row and mimicking Johnson’s huge run at the end of last year. Given his record at Phoenix when things go right (5 top-10s), it’s definitely possible.

3. Greg Biffle: Da Biff is painfully average overall at Phoenix, with an average finish of 16.4, but the finishes themselves are often polarized. Biffle has two 2nd place finishes at the track, as well as two finished of 34th place or lower.

The question is simply whether the team will have one of the former or the latter come race day. With the way the team’s been since the debacle at Talladega, look for the former.

4. Jeff Burton: Betcha didn’t know that JB’s got two wins here. It’s true; he won this race in 2000 and 2001. Betcha also had no idea that Burton’s worst finish at Phoenix in the past decade is 15th in fall 2005. His 11.1 average finish here is in the top five of all active drivers. There’s no reason he can’t pull off another decent finish.

5. Jeff Gordon: Gordon’s only win at Phoenix was here in 2007, but he still has an average finish of 8.5. Here’s to hoping he wins this weekend, if only because winning at least once every year since 1994 is a huge accomplishment. His average finish of 8.5 is second only to Johnson.

6. Clint Bowyer: Bowyer made his Cup debut at Phoenix, finishing 22nd in the spring of 2005. Since then, he’s only failed to complete eight laps at the track, and has two top-5s, including a 2nd place this spring.

The team is a far cry from where they were at this time last year, but a 4th at Texas last week proves that they’re still capable of top finishes.

7. Kevin Harvick: Happy hasn’t won at Phoenix since sweeping in 2006, but he’s also been a solid contender for the past few years. Since the spring of 2006, his average finish is an astounding 7.6 with four top-10s. Then again, Harvick’s only spent 23 laps at the front of the field all Chase, so don’t count on a momentum-based win.

8. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth’s average finish of 18.8 is due to an extreme polarization of finishes. When he’s good (a win in 2002, six top-10s), he’s good. When he’s bad (five finishes of 32nd or worse), he’s bad.

Case in point: Kenseth led 93 laps to finish 3rd in this race last year, but finished 38th here this year in the spring. He’s a high-risk, high-reward pick, but given his last three finishes (average: 7.0), the reward may be there for the taking.

9. Tony Stewart: Stewart has been running at the finish all 13 times he’s started a Phoenix race. His average finish of 9.8 is tops among Toyota drivers, and he’s only finished worse than 18th once.

Smoke wants to go out at Joe Gibbs Racing with a bang, and building on that impressive Phoenix resume would sure help. An interesting note: Stewart’s eight top-10s are as many as his teammates, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch, have combined for in the same amount of starts between them.

10. Kyle Busch: Cheers to Shrub regaining the final position at NASCAR’s end-of-season awards banquet, for now. Securing that seat, however, will require him to build on his somewhat stellar record at Phoenix.

Busch has five top-10s in seven starts here, with the only exceptions coming in 2006. He’s led laps at the track before, and he’s been stellar in most of the past few races. There’s a chance that he might snag one more Cup win before the year is out.

11. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: One point behind Busch for the final banquet spot, Junebug goes to a track where he has two wins, four top-5s, and six top-10s. He led 87 laps at Phoenix in the spring on the way to a 7th place finish. It’ll take another performance like that to bring him back into the top 10.

12. Denny Hamlin: I predict Hamlin will finish 3rd this weekend. Hey, when it’s happened three times in six starts at the track, it seems like a safe enough bet. For the record, his other finishes are 13th, 34th, and a 16th at this time last year.

So who would I pick to win this weekend? I’m going to go out on a limb and say Jeff Gordon’s due. Hendrick ought to do his best to give Gordon the best car on the track this weekend and keep that 14-year winning streak alive, even if it means making Johnson a bit more vulnerable for Homestead.

Let’s make the title fight a real fight, boys.