Bump-Drafts.com

(A Special Weekly Edition Prepared for NASCAR_Nation)

I should take the week off……but I won’t. I’ll keep it a little more brief, but the occasion gives me opportunity to weigh in on trends as we make our way into Turn One of the 2008 season.

Biggest surprise- For me, it’s not Junior, I expected improvement. It’s not Toyota’s performance, you may remember I predicted that. It’s Richard Childress Racing. I had been dissing on them after their late 2007 collapse in the Chase. Kevin Harvick has been remarkably consistent, Jeff Burton is our most recent winner (plus he’s posting an average finish of 8.2), and Clint Bowyer has flashes of true racing brilliance. The tire strategy at Bristol was a HUGE gamble- and they made it work.

Biggest disappointment- It’s not Jeff or Jimmie. I’m predicting no 3-peat for J.J., and I stand my forecast that Gordon will not make the Chase. For me, the biggest disappointment has to be…..The Open Wheel Invasion. I support their presence in NASCAR, but man I didn’t think we’d see Jacques Villenueve and A.J. Allmendinger without rides, or Dario Franchitti as a “go or go homer.” Sam Hornish is hanging on, and Patrick Carpentier can’t get in a race. Reed Sorenson isn’t fulfilling his potential either.

In my opinion, things are better in NASCAR in 2008. Our first 5 races have produced 4 different winners from 4 different makes from 4 different teams. In doesn’t get much more even than that.

Did anyone really think (outside his legion of fans) that Junior would be Hendrick’s Top Driver statistically?
Rock Solid Shops- Joe Gibbs has brought respectability to Toyota. Richard Childress is solid to to bottom (imagine Bowyer being your #3 driver). Roush-Fenway has three drivers running solid, with a 4th showing signs of promise. Penske and Gillett Evernham are getting their money’s worth from Ryan Newman and Kasey Kahne.

Hanging On- Richard Petty Enterprises looks to be in rough shape. Yates Racing can’t get a sponsor for Travis Kvapil. Bill Davis and the Wood Brothers appear to be on life support.

Did anyone really believe that DEI would be doing as well as they are? Martin Truex is looking pretty good and so is the Martin/Almirola Show in the #8.
T.V. Ratings Are Up
Crashing Out Is DownI’m not ready to say that this is a great year, but NASCAR seems to have something for 2008.

Now get out there and enjoy some spring air. Oh yeah, enjoy the Nationwide race in Nashville.

Potential. One definition of potential in the world of sports is “Hasn’t done it yet.” That definition is very fitting for the Gillett Evernham Motorsports crew- a team with abundant talent that has yet to be realized.

It all starts with Ray Evernham. His 3 Cup titles and 47 victories as a crew chief for Jeff Gordon speaks volumes about his briliance as a pit leader and setup guru. That brilliance set Evernham as the spearhead to lead Dodge’s return to NASCAR in 2001 (it should be mentioned that Casey Atwood did register a top 10 with Evernham as owner in one of three starts in 2000). Along the way, Evernham has had the likes of “Awesome”Bill Elliott, Atwood, Jeremy Mayfield, and Scott Riggs driving for him- but perhaps no driver has meant more to what is now known as GEM than Kasey Kahne.

The boyish Washingtonian roared onto the Cup scene in 2004, earning Raybestos Rookie of The Year honors with a 13th place in the Cup standings. After a bum 2005, Kahne rebounded with an impressive 6 victories in 2006 and 19 top 10’s en route to an 8th place finish at season’s end. Kahne’s 2007 frustrations epitomized GEM’s futility in 2007, as Kahne was never really a factor, other than a Busch Series win. A lot of GEM’s problems were obviously program related. Evernham admitted that trying to juggle business (fundraising and sponsorships) with racing proved to be overwhelming. The team was just never that competitive and looked way behind the curve on Car of Tomorrow development.

To be sure, Kahne has fulfilled some of his promise. Seven wins are not chopped liver. Yet a closer look at the number reveals a need for growth from the 27 year old if he wants to be mentioned in the same breath with Gordon and Johnson. All of Kahne’s wins have come at intermediate tracks (Atlanta, Texas, Lowe’s, Michigan- to name a few). He needs to add super speedway prowess and road course mastery to his resume. On top of that, Kahne has a vexing number of DNF’s on his track record. Compare his numbers to Clint Bowyer’s in 2007 and you get my drift.

If it sounds like I’m being harsh, it’s because he’s capable of more. He’s a winner, but he not only needs more support from his owner and he needs to spend less time enjoying the life of a rock star. He’s tested well at Vegas and California, so there is hope.

Another guy fans hope for more from in 2008 is Elliott Sadler. Like Kahne, Sadler has a following- yet at the rate he’s going, he’s destined to become another Michael Waltrip or Kenny Wallace- a popular guy due more to personality than actual performance. Sadler hasn’t visited victory lane since 2004, when he raced for Robert Yates. Quick- name a race where he was really in contention in 2007. Can’t think of one? I think there’s a reason for that. Here’s hoping the partnership with Gillett will enable Ray Evernham to provide better support for the likes of Kahne and Sadler. They deserve better.

One area where GEM is not left out is in the foreign intrigue department. Scott Riggs is out as the driver of the #10 Dodge and Canadian Patrick Carpentier takes over. So far, the best you can say about Carpentier is that he hasn’t angered established drivers by wrecking them- which puts him ahead of say, Dario Franchitti. If nothing else, Carpentier’s development will help draw attention to Gillett Evernham if winning can’t.

What we have right now is not the notoriety a team really wants: an owner more famous for being the boyfriend of a female racer (Evernham and Erin Crocker have been an item for a while now), a star driver more famous for his commercials fleeing crazed soccer moms, a journeyman driver who’s also more famous for his popularity among women and for his one time promise as a basketball player, and a rookie more famous for being a part of the open wheel mass defection to NASCAR.

These guys are better than that. I think.