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For the freshest (and perhaps most promising) faces in NASCAR, one need look no further than Team Red Bull. Perhaps no team has put forward an image with their drivers that more closely fits the brand of the company sponsoring them. In your minds eye, you can just see A.J. Allmendinger chugging a can of the energy drink in victory lane. Their colorful paint schemes that feature red wheels gives them high visibility on the track. Now the drivers just need to back it up with wins to complete the effect.

For drivers Brian Vickers and A.J. Allmendinger is the good news that this team already know a thing or two about motorsports though they are NASCAR neophytes. Red Bull already operates two Formula One teams and has involvement with Indy Car and Champ Car teams and/or drivers.

Of the two young drivers in the Red Bull shop, Brian Vickers seems poised for the more immediate impact. The 24 year old has been racing Cup full-time since 2004, and has seen what it’s like with a premier NASCAR team as Vickers drove 3 seasons for Rick Hendrick in the ride now occupied by Casey Mears. Vickers has already tasted victory in his former ride, the #25 Chevy at the Fall, 2006 Talladega race.

In 2007, Vickers was the first Toyota driver to lead laps in Cup competition. In fact, Vickers looked like a strong possibility to win the Coca-Cola 600 before gradually tapering off as the race went, an all-too-common malady for the manufacturer in 2007. Like teammate A.J. Allmendinger, Vickers has some moments of greatness in 2007 and seems to have the aggressiveness to win with the big boys. After all, it was Vickers who bumped his then-teammate Jimmie Johnson into Dael Earnhardt Jr. to get that Talladega win. Anyone Familiar with Hendrick Motorsports knows that’s not only a very gutsy move, but one that will likely spell your departure from the “all for one, one for all” mentality at HMS. Look for continued improvement from the North Carolinian who once boasted a high school GPA of 4.43.

Though Vickers has a load of potential, perhaps the driver with the greatest upside is A.J. Allmendinger. I like this guy. Like another promising young driver by the name of Kyle Busch, Allmendinger will push his car right to the point of losing control of it. The 2nd year Cup driver has tasted success in other motorsports- Allmendinger finished 5th in Champ Car points in 2005. In 2006, the Los Gatos, California native won a Champ Car race at Portland. In 2004, Allmendinger was rookie of the year for Champ Car. Allmendinger has tested very well in the 2008 pre-season.

This is definitely a team on the rise, sponsored by an organization that seems committed to success as a motorsports sponsor. They’re not afraid of change as Red Bull replaced Vickers’ veteran crew chief Doug Richert with Randy Cox in an effort to find a winning fit.

For Team Red Bull and owner Deitrich Mateschitz, it’s just a matter of getting the equipment and team personnel up to the level of the drivers.

It’s gotta be a bummer knowing that your racing team was the punch line in the joke that was your manufacturer’s season in 2007. Sad to say, that was the case for Michael Waltrip Racing in 2007.

It all started at Daytona, when the team owned by the legendary Darrell Waltrip’s younger brother was penalized for an illegal fuel additive. It pretty much went downhill from there. Team owner Michael Waltrip’s failure to qualify became so legendary he began to joke about it in his Napa auto parts commercials. The champion’s provisional is meant to be a safety net, but the automatic qualifier became a lifeline for 1999 Cup champion Dale Jarrett. Once he ran out of provisionals, Jarrett had qualifying troubles of his own. About the only bright spot for the fledgling team enjoyed is when Waltrip took the pole for the fall Talladega race, and the performance of NASCAR rookie David Reutimann- who also made the top 5 in the Busch Series.

The good news for Michael Waltrip Racing is things can only get better in 2008. “Mikey” won the outside pole for the Daytona 500 Sunday, and the younger Waltrip ran very well at the Bud Shootout. Reutimann ran 4th best in qualifying last Sunday, and Jarrett also scratched and clawed his way into the field. As 2007 wore on, one certainly got the impression that Toyota got the hang of building a better engine, the question for 2008 is one of whether or not Toyota has engine built to last the long race distances. Before petering out late in races, Waltrip, Reutimann, and Jarrett all had great early race runs in the late schedule.

Despite calls to leaves the cockpit to assume full-time ownership duties, “Mikey” returns to the #55 Camry in 2008. It will be interesting to see how the 43 year old Kentuckian does at Daytona. In fact, all 4 of Waltrip’s victories have come at restrictor plate races- 3 of them at Daytona Super Speedway. Waltrip’s first victory in 2001 was marred by the death of his employer at that time-Dale Earnhardt.

2008 is the season Dale Jarrett rides off into the sunset- actually the broadcast booth- following in his father Ned’s footsteps. After the first handful of races, Jarrett will turn over the wheel of the #44 UPS car to David Reutimann, who will in turn hand over the #00 ride to Michael Mc Dowell. It’s been tough to watch the former champion and owner of 32 victories who rose to greatness at Joe Gibbs struggle the way he has, especially when you suspect that the lousy runs have been the result of crappy equipment and not any diminishing driving skill. Jarrett will replace Rusty Wallace in the broadcast booth at ESPN, something I think we all are look forward to.

Look for good things from David Reutimann. “Ruty” has been a winner wherever he’s gone- including the NASCAR Autozone Elite Division Southeast Series where he never finished lower than 7th from 1997-2002, as well as the Busch Series (where he finished 3rd in the 2007 standings) and the Craftsman Truck Series. The Floridian has it in his blood. His father “Buzzie” ran a Cup race at Golden Gate Speedway in Tampa in 1963, and was also a competitor in DIRT modifieds. He’ll make a slightly unusual switch by changing rides for the same team in the same season.

Jarrett’s retirement has the net effect of opening a door for Michael McDowell. The 23 year old has enjoyed success as a go-kart racer and 4 races and 9 poles in the ARCA series in 2007. Michael made his NASCAR debut in the Craftsman Truck Series with one 2007 start. What’s interesting about Mc Dowell is he will be one of the few rookies of the 2008 class to take the more traditional path to Cup competition.

The beauty of starting from the bottom is you can only go up from here. In spite of the struggles, Waltrip and Jarrett have a faithful legion of fans cheering them on to greater success.

Solid performances by Kurt Busch helped solidify Penske Racing as Dodge’s top team in 2007. Not only did Busch pick up wins and run well in the Chase, Ryan Newman continued to fortify his reputation as the “King of Qualifying”- picking up poles like track officials pick up debris. Though Newman’s victory drought continued, he narrowly lost his bid to make the Chase, edged out by the promising Clint Bowyer. For all that noise, the biggest has been made by a driver who has yet to run a full Cup schedule, former Indy champ Sam Hornish. The Ohio native will climb into the #77 for a full-time run in 2008, part of a wave of former open wheel studs (Jacques Villenueve and Dario Franchitti as well) to abandon Indy cars for the Car of Tomorrow.

Hornish struggled to make the field race after race, but seemed to pull it together by Homestead. In watching his qualifying efforts, you could see that little by little, Hornish began to master the turns. Team owner Roger Penske has successfully lobbied for a little insurance: Kurt Busch’s driver points have been transferred to Hornish, guaranteeing him a spot in the field while Hornish continues to learn. It’s a clever maneuver (though I hate it personally) as Busch will have a past champions provisional (Busch won the Cup title in 2004- the first year of the Chase) that guarantees him 6 starts. Still, I doubt Kyle Busch’s big brother will need it much- he proved he had a fast car all throughout 2007.

Busch’s performance helped keep Dodge from completely fading into obscurity in 2007 as other Dodge teams (Petty Enterprise, Gillett Evernham, and Chip Ganassi) all struggled. The Las Vegas native continues to rehabilitate a tarnished image cultivated by aggressive driving and a police incident in Arizona in 2005- a mishap that ultimately spelled the end of Kurt’s run with Roush Racing. Busch’s image took a hit with a collision he had with his brother Kyle during the all-star weekend, and a pit road melee with Tony Stewart’s team in mid-summer. Still, you can tell that Busch regrets some of the brash moves of his youth and he’s earnestly trying to earn the affection of more NASCAR fans. At 29 years old, the driver of the #2 Miller Lite Dodge has plenty of career left, and his 17 wins puts him on a path to build a strong legacy if he can keep it up. Winning also has a way of making fan forget prior indiscretions if he can avoid further on-track rumbles.

Hoosier Ryan Newman is a driver with a lot to prove in 2008. If qualifying equaled greatness, Newman would already be a legend. He has over 40 for his career- one of the best totals you’ll ever see. Unfortunately, “Rocket” hasn’t won since 2005, leaving him stuck on a career total of 12 trips to victory lane, not bad, but by no means immortal. These frustrations aside, Newman was in a position to win in numerous races, and he is one of my picks to make the top 12 in 2008. He’s too good to go winless this long.

By virtue of Busch’s success, one can’t help but think Penske Racing will be heard from in 2008. It’s not really a stretch to think Busch, Newman and Hornish all three are capable of being among the best. The question remains as to how well this team has mastered the Car of Tomorrow.

If this team has any sense of teamwork (and they seem to), they’ll figure it out.

Richard Childress Racing has been one of the fixtures in the sport ever since Richard Childress and his good friend Dale Earnhardt joined forces as owner and driver back in the early 80’s. Yes, you could say that RCR is the “Team That The Intimidator Built”, as Earnhardt won all seven if his titles while driving for Richard Childress. All three of Childress’ drivers made the Chase in 2007, demonstrating depth and veteran driving talent. Unfortunately, all drivers not named Clint Bowyer faded badly down the stretch- a combination of bad luck and car problems.

No question Clint Bowyer is a rising NASCAR star. He shone brightly in the first Chase race after barely getting in, earning his first victory at New Hampshire. Die hard race fans have to love Bowyer, as he is a pure “car guy” through and through with his own dirt track and an impressive collection of classic cars. The Emporia, Kansas native is a hard charger, I just think the guy needs to mellow out a bit (he was a nervous wreck towards the end of his victory race). Nonetheless, he’s a likable good old boy and provided a nice fan alternative in the Chase for those who don’t like the HMS drivers. If this guy really starts to put it all together, look out.

It helps Bowyer that he has a couple of proven studs like Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick as teammates. I wouldn’t say Burton had a banner year, but he certainly was solid, ending a long victory drought with a win at Texas. The 40-year-old Virginian shows he still has plenty of gas in the tank and continues to impress me as a guy who would be a great driver’s rep if indeed NASCAR ever had a union. He’s shown he still has the fire, and as long as he has that, Ward’s younger brother will be just fine.

“Happy” Harvick had plenty of reasons to smile. It’s not just anybody who wins the Daytona 500, and the guy who took over Dale Earnhardt’s ride after he died in 2001 won it in dramatic fashion against the venerable Mark Martin. Harvick also hauled in a nice paycheck with a win at the all-star weekend and his racing team got it done as well. Harvic still runs a pretty ambitious Busch schedule and he moved into second place all-time for wins in NASCAR’s second series behind the aforementioned Martin. A hallmark of Harvick’s career is either he’s way up or way down, and true to form, 2007 had it’s not-so-great moments for the driver of the #29 Chevrolet. There was the run-in with Juan Pablo Montoya, car troubles galore in the latter half of the Chase, and a maddening inconsistency that no dobut left a bad taste in his mouth.

Childress has done an awesome job of running this team, making it one of the most viable in NASCAR. Given that, I expect another competitive year for his drivers. I’d look for another couple of wins for Bowyer and the others will be very visible and competitive, even if they don’t win much.

Keep your eyes on Bowyer. If you haven’t heard of him already, you soon will. This guy’s the real deal, and an organization like RCR is just perfect for him.

(Special weekly edition of bump-drafts.com)

When I think about it, it’s fitting that the NASCAR season ends just before Thanksgiving. I can now watch the best part of the NFL season with a clear conscience. While I’m in the mood for giving thanks, I will give thanks for the following:

Thanks Jeff Gordon for making this fan proud of you. You racked up a nice bundle of wins and top finishes, and carried yourself with grace through the ups and downs.

Thanks Jimmie Johnson for being a gracious champion.

Thanks Tony Stewart, for being who you are- and for adding color to the 2007 season. I’m glad you pulled off a few wins during an otherwise frustrating season.

Thanks also Smoke for not throwing a hissy fit when your boss announced the move to Toyota in 2008.

Thanks to Kevin Harvick, Mark Martin and Clint Bowyer for the great finish at the Daytona 500.

Thanks Jamie Mc Murray and Kyle Busch for the great finish at the Pepsi 400.

Thanks Casey Mears, Martin Truex, Juan Pablo Montoya, and Clint Bowyer for reminding us how thrilling that first Cup win is.

Thanks Kevin Harvick for respecting Busch Series history when you took over second place in Busch Series wins.

Thanks Richard Petty for hanging around and chiming in with your sage advice.

Thank God for no driver deaths this year.

Thanks Junior, Kasey and Mikey for having a sense of humor during a hellaciously bad season.

Thanks for the backflips, Carl and the fence climb, Tony.

Thanks Jimmie and Matt for some monster burnouts.

Thanks Rick Hendrick for bringing Junior over.

I’m glad you’re still here old schoolers: thanks to Mark Martin, Kyle Petty, Bobby Labonte, Dale Jarrett, Michael Waltrip, Ricky Rudd, Sterling Marlin, Joe Nemechek, and Kenny’s Schrader and Wallace for being reminders of an era that passed too quickly.

Thanks to my son Jonathan for turning me into a serious race fan.

Thanks to my wife Lynnae for inspiring me to blog.

Thanks for my family: Lynnae, Hannah and Jonathan just because…….

Thanks to all the fans- especially you fine folks in NASCAR-NATION, let’sgoracingfans.com, and NASCAR For Dummies for being great bunch ‘o’ fans to hang out with. I won’t name all the names because I fear I’ll leave somebody out. You’re all great and bring something fun to the party.

And finally, thank God for America and the brave souls who keep us free.

(Prepared specially for letsgoracingfans.com)

In today’s competitive climate of sport, one should never take victory for granted. Take NASCAR for example: aracer is doing incredibly well if he wins 20% of the races he enters. 20%! No less than Mark Martin has said to savor each victory, because you never know if you’ve just won your last one.

That’s just wins, not Championships. The fact that a driver as prodigious as Martin has never won a Cup is testament to this. Neither did greats like Junior Johnson, fed Lorenzen, or Fireball Roberts. Now try wrapping your head around two in a row. Only 8 drivers have done- Dale Earnhardt went “back-to-back” 3 times (1986-87, 1990-91, 1993-94) Richard Petty twice (1971-72, 1974-75), Cale Yarborough pulled a 3-peat from 1976-78, Darrell Waltrip went back to back with Cup titles in 1981 & 82, David Pearson accomplished the feat in 1968 & 69, as did Joe Weatherly in 1962-63. Lee Petty was the original repeat Champ in 1958 & 59. Today we add one Jimmie Kenneth Johnson, who added a companion Nextel Cup today next to his 2006 title. the company the El Cajon, California native joins says a lot about the achievement.

Before adding more to that add, let us tip the cap to “Mr. Consistent.” Matt Kenseth ends his 2007 season the way any driver would want to cap off a season. The 35-year old from Cambridge, Wisconsin ends a great stretch of top 5 running with his second victory of the just concluded season. Kenseth quickly overtook Johnson early in today’s Ford 400 at Homestead and never really looked back. Kurt Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, Jeff Gordon and Ryan Newman kept Kenseth on his toes, but the driver of the #17 Ford was in control. Given that today was the swan song for Kenseth Crew Chief Robbie Reiser, it seems fitting to end the association in this way.

Reiser has accepted a promotion at Roush- Fenway Racing that will enable him to spend more time with his family in 2008. Though he will be missed on the track, Reiser will be a valued contributor to the Roush team in his new capacity. If Kenseth’s late season run is any indicator, there are great things in store for the Ford team that is home to Kenseth, Carl Edwards, David Ragan, Jamie Mc Murray and Greg Biffle.

The Roush-Fenway team will no doubt be joined by the likes of Richard Childress, Roger Penske and Joe Gibbs  as teams well-positioned to knock Rick Hendrick off the top of the heap. Nothing lasts forever, but I’m not ready to bet against HMS.

Even on his own team, Johnson will have stiff competition. Jeff Gordon is far from finished as a racer, Casey Mears is a capable driver, and there’s guy named Earnhardt will will be more than ready for a re-birth. It’s this kind of friendly and spirited competition that has made HMS great. I think we’ll see Junior smiling a lot more in 2008.

Next season seems like an eternity away. Plenty of time for Johnson to savor a truly historic season complete with 10 wins, 4 victories in a row and one big trophy.

To Jimmie Johnson, Hendrick Motor Sports and Johnson’s fans- “Congratulations.” This is truly something special.

(Prepared specially for letsgoracingfans.com)

In today’s competitive climate of sport, one should never take victory for granted. Take NASCAR for example: aracer is doing incredibly well if he wins 20% of the races he enters. 20%! No less than Mark Martin has said to savor each victory, because you never know if you’ve just won your last one.

That’s just wins, not Championships. The fact that a driver as prodigious as Martin has never won a Cup is testament to this. Neither did greats like Junior Johnson, fed Lorenzen, or Fireball Roberts. Now try wrapping your head around two in a row. Only 8 drivers have done- Dale Earnhardt went “back-to-back” 3 times (1986-87, 1990-91, 1993-94) Richard Petty twice (1971-72, 1974-75), Cale Yarborough pulled a 3-peat from 1976-78, Darrell Waltrip went back to back with Cup titles in 1981 & 82, David Pearson accomplished the feat in 1968 & 69, as did Joe Weatherly in 1962-63. Lee Petty was the original repeat Champ in 1958 & 59. Today we add one Jimmie Kenneth Johnson, who added a companion Nextel Cup today next to his 2006 title. the company the El Cajon, California native joins says a lot about the achievement.

Before adding more to that add, let us tip the cap to “Mr. Consistent.” Matt Kenseth ends his 2007 season the way any driver would want to cap off a season. The 35-year old from Cambridge, Wisconsin ends a great stretch of top 5 running with his second victory of the just concluded season. Kenseth quickly overtook Johnson early in today’s Ford 400 at Homestead and never really looked back. Kurt Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, Jeff Gordon and Ryan Newman kept Kenseth on his toes, but the driver of the #17 Ford was in control. Given that today was the swan song for Kenseth Crew Chief Robbie Reiser, it seems fitting to end the association in this way.

Reiser has accepted a promotion at Roush- Fenway Racing that will enable him to spend more time with his family in 2008. Though he will be missed on the track, Reiser will be a valued contributor to the Roush team in his new capacity. If Kenseth’s late season run is any indicator, there are great things in store for the Ford team that is home to Kenseth, Carl Edwards, David Ragan, Jamie Mc Murray and Greg Biffle.

The Roush-Fenway team will no doubt be joined by the likes of Richard Childress, Roger Penske and Joe Gibbs  as teams well-positioned to knock Rick Hendrick off the top of the heap. Nothing lasts forever, but I’m not ready to bet against HMS.

Even on his own team, Johnson will have stiff competition. Jeff Gordon is far from finished as a racer, Casey Mears is a capable driver, and there’s guy named Earnhardt will will be more than ready for a re-birth. It’s this kind of friendly and spirited competition that has made HMS great. I think we’ll see Junior smiling a lot more in 2008.

Next season seems like an eternity away. Plenty of time for Johnson to savor a truly historic season complete with 10 wins, 4 victories in a row and one big trophy.

To Jimmie Johnson, Hendrick Motor Sports and Johnson’s fans- “Congratulations.” This is truly something special.

(From the pages of bump-drafts.com. Prepared specially for NASCAR_Nation and NASCAR For Dummies).

Up Next: The Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Sunday November 18, 2007, 2:50 p.m. EST on ABC/MRN. Homestead has been hosting NASCAR since 1999 with the Pennzoil 400. Homestead is a 1.5 mile oval track with 18 to 20 degree banking on the turns and 4 degrees banking on the straights. The race here will mark the end of the 2007 season.

Homestead Facts and Trivia- Tony Stewart won the first race here, right before the turn of the 21st Century. David Green won the pole in 1999 with a qualifying time of 155.759 mph.

Greg Biffle’s 3 Cup wins and single Busch Series win makes him the wins leader at Homestead. Ton Stewart owns a pair of victories in N.N.C. competition, David Reutimann has 2 Craftsman truck Series wins here as well, as does Joe Ruttman.

Jamie Mc Murray is the King of Qualifiers at the south Florida race track with a lap time of 29.816 seconds, earned in his Chip Ganassi Dodge days back in 2003. His speed? 181.111 miles per hour. Tony Stewart owns the fastest race speed, thanks to his performance in the inaugural race at Homestead with an average speed of 140.335 m.p.h.

The record for cautions here is 14, thanks to the 2004 race. The fewest yellows? 1was waved in 1999. Just one!

This track is also not one for taking out drivers, as many as 42 finished (in 2001), 32 is the mark for the fewest finishers (that’s happened 3 times, the latest being 2006).

NASCAR News & Gossip

The Grand Finale- It all ends here gang! The season that gave us the side-to-side finish of Kevin Harvick and Mark Martin at Daytona is now drawing to a close with Jimmie Johnson leading the way. We’ve seen a little of everything: photo finishes like the Johnson victory over teammate Jeff Gordon and Jamie Mc Murray’s sliver of a win over Kyle Busch at the Pepsi 400. 

Driver Domination- We’ve also seen what domination looks like. Johnson’s 4 race winning streak, the longest since 1998 when some guy named Gordon did it. Kurt Busch also showed us a dominating race run at the 2nd Pocono event.

Team Troubles- Teammate conflict has also grabbed headlines- the first Martinsville race resulted in a chilling period between Jeff and Jimmie. A Pepsi 400 wreck caused tensions between Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin that were bad enough that team owner Joe Gibbs had to intervene. The there was the recent row between Roush-Fenway teammates Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth.

Junior’s On The Move- For all that other noise,  no other headline grabbed as much attention as the announcement by Dale Earnhardt Jr. that he was leaving DEI, the team founded by his legendary father. Teresa Earnhardt rebuffed Junior’s attempts to gain 51 percent ownership of Dale Earnhardt Incorporated, resulting in the departure. 2008 will mark  Earnhardt’s maiden voyage at Hendrick Motorsports, a change that produces mixed emotions in Junior Nation. While many fans agree that this will provide the driver of the #88 Chevy the best equipment and technology in the business, it leaves fans who have generally thought of HMS as the "Evil Empire" feeling perplexed, considering that Dale Earnhardt Jr. will now be teammates with Senior’s last great rival, Jeff Gordon.

C-c-c-hanges- This move triggered a domino effect. Junior coming over to HMS meant the release of Kyle Busch. Busch will now join Joe Gibbs Racing, who announced over the summer that they will be racing in Toyotas in 2008. This pushed former open wheel star J.J. Yeley, and now the 30-year old Arizona native will move to Hall of Fame Racing to take a ride from journeyman driver Tony Raines. Raines is joined in the so-to-be unemployed ranks by David Stremme, Jeff Green (who got an early start on his vacation), Johnny Sauter, Sterling Marlin (who will likely retire), Regan Smith, and Kenny Wallace among others.

Jeremy Mayfield was taken on by a new employer when he moved to Haas-CNC Racing, taking over the #66 ride from Green. Scott Riggs will take over the #70 Chevrolet from Sauter.

All the moving around also brought about a merger. DEI joined forces this year with Ginn Racing. This not only brought about a releasing of Marlin and Joe Nemechek (who has since moved over to Furniture Row racing, driving the #78 car once occupied by Kenny Wallace), but the merger also brought in Mark Martin to be the elder statesman in the DEI garage. He will continue to race part-time in 2008, piloting the #8 Chevy vacated by Junior. Aric Almirola will race in the #8 when Martin is off.

Rudd Retires- Speaking of older drivers, the upcoming season finale will mark the end of the 32-year racing career of Ricky Rudd. Think about it, Rudd has raced with everybody from Richard Petty and Cale Yarborough to former Indy champ Sam Hornish. Rudd made over 900 starts in his Cup career and ol’ Ricky takes home 23 victories- the last coming in 2002 at Infineon. All you old schooler know that Rudd’s first came at Riverside in 1983. He’s been a team owner and has driven for the likes of the Wood Brothers, Rick Hendrick, Robert Yates, Richard Childress and Bud Moore among others.

Rudd may never go down in history as one of the greats, but certainly no career has been more enduring. Only Richard Petty started more races than the Chesapeake, Virginia native, as The King took the green flag an exhausting 1,184 times.

New, Yet Familiar Faces- While old schoolers Rudd and Dale Jarrett (who will hang it up 5 races into 2008) are going out, open wheelers are coming in. A veritable "foreign invasion" is taking place with former open wheel studs Jacques Villanueve (racing for Red Bull in the #27), Dario Franchitti (racing primarily in the Nationwide Series for Chip Ganassi), and Patrick Carpentier (racing for Gillette-Evernham in the #10) coming over to NASCAR. For long-time NASCAR fans, this is an uncomfortable situation as it is a reminder that the sport once dominated by red-blooded southern drivers is now becoming even more diverse with these guys, as well as Ohio-born Indy champ Sam Hornish, who will race for Roger Penske in 2008.

 New Sponsors- It should also be mentioned the Dale Jr. exit from DEI also triggered sponsorship changes. Budweiser, who’s sponsored Junior since he was a pup, will now sponsor a driver who LOOKS like a pup, Kasey Kahne in 2008. Mt. Dew/Amp will sponsor Junior’s #88 ride. After an eternity of sponsoring JGR’s #18 car, Interstate Battery is getting out of NASCAR. The car that will be run by Kyle Busch in 2008 will be sponsored primarily by M&M’s- who currently sponsors the #38 driven by David Gilliland. I’ve heard no word on who will pick Gilliland up.

Speaking of sponsors, the Cup Series will be sponsored by Sprint in 2008, the former Busch series will become Nationwide next year.

It truly has been the King of Silly Seasons, and the recent events that may very well prevent Jeff Gordon from getting this 5th Cup Championship has caused quite a debate over the worthiness of the Chase. Gordon fans are also quick to point out Gordon would have won his 5th back in 2004, the first year of the chase, had it not been for the new "playoff" system.

What’s Next?- For fans unhappy with the current direction take heart: all of events I’ve highlighted above tell you that nothing stays the same in this sport and it’s often a good thing. What changes there are ahead are unknown, but one thing is sure. It will be impossible for 2008 to be a repeat of 2007. We’ll be looking for changes in NASCAR leadership, and with that, a possibility of rule changes.

NASCAR Terminology-

Head and Neck Restraint- "NASCAR mandates the use of a head and neck restraint system, the approved HANS Device, for all drivers competing in any of NASCAR’s three national  series (Nextel Cup Series, NASCAR Busch Series, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series), as well as its touring series." (Now if NASCAR can come up with a "mouth restraint" maybe Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch wouldn’t get in so much trouble. Oh wait, that’s what Mike Helton is for). Some theorize that HANS device could have prevented the death of Dale Earnhardt at Daytona in 2001.

Window Net- "Keeps a driver’s head and limbs inside the car during accidents." NASCAR pioneer Joe Weatherly died when his head hit the wall in a crash at Riverside in 1965, signaling the need for this safety device. 

Ignition Kill Switch- "Shuts off engine in emergency situations." When one considers driver deaths like Adam Petty’s due to stuck throttles, this is a critical safety innovation.

That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading and thanks for your input.

Special Thanks- to Dixie, Drew, and Amanda.

Extra Special Thanks- to the 2007 Edition of the Sporting News Officially Licensed NASCAR Record and Fact Book for all the facts and definitions.

Extra, Extra Special Thanks to- God (the giver of all good things), my wife Lynnae (the giver of inspiration and the mother of my children), and to my Chicklettes (Hannah and Jonathan) for much pride and joy.

NASCAR’s getting to be a regular soap opera. They talk about silly season? I think silly season in this sport runs January 1 through December 31. The rumors, suggestions of conspiracies, and whining by fans never ends. This is some of the stuff going on lately and rumors I’ve been hearing about:

"Smoke" Breezing on to RCR- That’s right. Rumor has it that Tony Stewart will move on to become a 4th driver at Richard Childress Racing when his contract with Joe Gibbs Racing ends. As one who has been following pro sports journalistically for a long time, let me tell you a lot of talk (and I mean talk) gets thrown around. Suffice it to say, Tony Stewart and his agent know darn well his value to JGR as the veteran leader and most consistent performer. While Denny Hamlin and the soon arriving Kyle Busch are fantastic drivers, they don’t have Smoke’s mileage and track record. No doubt Stewart would love to get top dollar for his services. Floating rumors about a move to RCR would serve that end well, especially knowing that Gibbs’ Racing would highly value the credibility Stewart would give JGR while they begin work with a new manufacturer (Toyota)  that has not performed especially well in its first season with NASCAR.

Let me assure you that this is just a rumor. J.D. and Joe have plenty of money to keep Tony around, and while his presence on the team comes with a psychological price tag, as well as monetarily, they know what they have and will do everything to keep him.

To be perfectly honest, those who hate the presence of the Japanese auto giant in the Cup Series are more likely the source of this talk- if it’s not being "leaked" by someone in the Stewart camp posturing for more money.

A Tony move to RCR ain’t gonna happen folks.

Hall of Fame Racing to go with Toyota- Hall of Fame Racing, owned by executives from the Arizona Diamondbacks, as well as NFL legends Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman, are quite likely to move to Toyota next year.

Considering their affiliation with Joe Gibbs’ Racing, the move makes sense. The owners of the #96 currently driven by 44-year old Tony Raines will also be hiring on former Gibbs’ driver J.J. Yeley, aced out of the JGR picture by the arrival of Kyle Busch, who lost his ride at Hendrick Motor Sports when Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced he was leaving DEI to go with Jeff Gordon and Company. This my friends is what you call a domino effect.

This WILL happen.

Sam Hornish Goes Cup- This IS happening. An announcement is being made that Indy Car Champion Sam Hornish will join the growing legion of open wheel drivers joining up with NASCAR. Roger Penske is adding a third team with a car that Hornish will pilot. He will drive a #77 Dodge with Mobil One as a primary sponsor. Some fans are disturbed by the move, as they question the commitment of Penske to his two current teams for Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman. Busch made the Chase for the Nextel Cup this year, but his performances have been a bit uneven. Newman hasn’t won a race in over 2 years. Meanwhile Hornish has been unable to qualify the #06 Penske Dodge.

Hornish joins Juan Pablo Montoya, Jacques Villanueve, Dario Franchitti, and Patrick Carpentier as former open wheel drivers who’ve recently made the jump.

Driver Scramble- This week Johnny Benson will take over the #36 Toyota recently vacated by Jeremy Mayfield. Mayfieldis finishing out the 2007 season in his 2008 ride, the #66 Chevrolet once driven by Jeff Green. Mike Skinner has seen recent action in the car Benson will be driving.

Kyle Busch will be a busy guy this week. We learned in the Thursday edition of ESPN’s NASCAR Now that Busch the younger will enter the Busch Series race, the Craftsman Truck race, and will be running a Late Model race in Las Vegas (Busch’s home town). And oh by the way, Kyle will still be looking to fortify his 4th place standing in the Nextel Cup chase Sunday.

Busch Series stalwart Brad Coleman will see Cup action in 2008. The Texas native has signed on to do 7 races at NASCAR’s top level in 2008 for Hall of Fame as they will add a second team. Earlier, the 19-year old Coleman had committed run with Brewco Racing in what will be called the Nationwide (soon to be formerly Busch) Series in 2008.

There’s a lot of movement and not certain word on the 2008 whereabouts of Green, Tony Raines, Johnny Sauter, David Stremme (who seems to have a Nationwide ride lined up) and Kenny Wallace.

There’s lots of commotion in the pits as well. Denny Hamlin has just announced a change on his crew for changing tires. Fatback Mc Swain (Crew Chief late of Wood Bro’s.) is looking for work, and we’re hearing that yet another Crew Chief will guide the #43 Dodge driven by Bobby Labonte. jayski.com says Doug Randolph, who took over the lead in the pit box, is moving to to guide the #15 Chevy of Paul Menard. Menard’s Crew Chief is being promoted to technical director at DEI.

Wow! this is making my head spin.

We’ll try to stay on top of it.

Gosh ladies, you thought following the soaps was complicated.

(From the pages of bump-drafts.com)

Up Next: The Checker Auto Parts 500, Phoenix International Raceway, Sunday November 11, 2007, 3:25 p.m. EST. The Valley of The Sun has hosted NASCAR since 1988. After two weeks on mile and a half tracks, NASCAR drivers will go at it this week on a 1-mile oval, with 9 to 11-degree banking in the turns, 3-degree banking on the front stretch, 9-degrees on the back.

Phoenix trivia- Alan Kulwicki won the first Cup event at Phoenix International Raceway on November 6, 1988. The Craftsman Truck Series started running here in 1995, the Busch Boys didn’t start running here until 1999.

The fastest qualifying speed here is owned by "Mr. Pole," Ryan "Rocket" Newman with a 26.499 lap in November, 2004 with a speed of 135.854. for the Busch Series, Kyle Busch turned in a best qualifying speed of 26.902 or 133.819 mph. In the Truck Series, Johnny Benson is the best all-time qualifier with a lap time of 27.137 seconds and a speed of 132.660.

For best race speeds, Tony Stewart ran an average speed of 118.132 in the #20 Pontiac in his 1999 victory, Jeff Burton set the pace in the November, 2000 Busch race with an average 115.145 in a Roush Ford. For CTS drivers, Kevin Harvick set the standard with an average speed of 108.014 from his November, 2002 win.

The Big Winners at Phoenix- 2001 & 2006 Busch champ Kevin "Happy" Harvick, now the 2nd winningest driver in Busch history (32 and 6 this year) has won 2 Cup races, a Busch race, and a Craftsman Truck race. 2002 Busch Series titleist Greg Biffle has won 2 Busch races and a truck race in the Grand Canyon State, Jack Sprague has 3 CTS checkereds.  In Cup driving, Davey Allison, Jeff Burton, Dale Earnhardt Jr. have all won 2 apiece. Chase leader Jimmie Johnson has never won at PIR, and 2nd place chaser Jeff Gordon just got his 1st Phoenix win back in April.

Caution- The record here is 11 in November, 2004. The fewest? Just 2 in 1999. A record 41 Cup drivers finished the fall, 1999 race. The record for the fewest finishers is 27 in the November, 1989 race.

In NASCAR news, Jimmie Johnson has seized the Chase lead from Jeff Gordon with a slim 30-point cushion, thank to his victory Sunday in Texas. This gives the 32-year old El Cajon, Ca. native 9 wins for the 2007 campaign, easily outdistancing teammate Jeff Gordon, second in the Chase and second in 2007 wins with 6. Richard Childress driver Clint Bowyer is still hanging tough, just 189 points back of Johnson in third. Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards round out the top 5. Tony Stewart checks in at number 6. Chasers Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth round out the top 10, but have been eliminated from title contention, along with Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr., who complete the top 12.

Carl Edwards clinched his first Busch Series title last week in Texas in the Dish Network #60 Ford Fusion, although Kevin Harvick made history with his 32nd Busch win, edging out Jack Ingram for 2nd all-time behind Mark Martin, who has won 47 in NASCAR’s 2nd Series.

Off the track, Gene Haas, one of the principals in Haas-CNC racing was sentenced to 2 years in federal prison after his conviction for tax fraud. Haas is owner of the #66 now being driven by Jeremy Mayfield, who replaced Jeff Green two weeks ago. He also owns the #70 Chevy currently driven by Johnny Sauter, who will reportedly be replaced by Scott Riggs in 2008.

Back to the Chase for the Cup, NASCAR followers are now speculating on whether or not Jimmie Johnson will manage a repeat of his 2006 NNC title. Adding to the intrigue is the fact his nearest competitor is his best friend and teammate. Chase naysayers are quick to point out that Gordon would be running away with the title under the old points system. For those of you keeping score, Gordon would be 439 out in front under the old scoring system. The Dupont Chevrolet driver is still very much alive in his "Drive For Five," but Johnson just looks so darn unbeatable. Every race, he’s running out front, avoiding the crashes that plagued him in mid-season, and Gordon, while good, just hasn’t had the car to keep up.

It’s a test of endurance for fans who dislike "Wonder Boy" and "J.J.". They try to maintain interest by speculating as to the end of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s winless streak, and they also wonder when recent strong runs by Ryan Newman and Matt Kenseth might translate into victories. Kenseth drove his Ford Fusion to the limit, but just didn’t have the tires to catch Johnson last Sunday. In a show of class, Matty backed off when when it was apparent that the only way he could catch the 48 was by risking a wreck by driving a speed that the tires wouldn’t likely handle.

Track Terminology (your shot at impressing your friends with your knowledge of all things racing):

"A-frame" (it’s not just those funny looking houses they built in the 70s). "Either the upper or lower connecting suspension piece (in the shape of an "A") locking the frame to the spindle."

"Drag"- Besides what you take off a cigarette (which would be a "drag" I guess), drag is "The resistance a car experiences when passing through air at high speeds. A resisting force exerted on a car parallel to its airstream and opposite in direction to its motion."

"Greenhouse"- Al Gore loves to entertain us with talk of "greenhouse gasses." In NASCAR speak, however, the greenhouse is "The upper area of the race car that extends from the base of the windshield in the front, the tops of the doors on the sides and the base of the rear window in the back. Includes all of the A, B, and C pillars, the entire glass area and the car’s roof."

"Pit Road"- Not "Pit Row" for those of you in Rio Linda. "The area where pit crews service the cars. Generally located along the front straightaway, but because of space limitations, some race tracks sport pit roads on both the front and the back straightaways." 

Get all that? You’ll be quizzed on it later.

That’s all for this week. It’s hard to believe we just have 2 more races left before 2007 is in the books. A shout out to our family hairdresser Lisa. Lisa and her muffler shop-owner husband Mike  were given a trip from one of his vendors. Have fun and be safe! I expect a report.

That’s all for now. Keep your fenders away from the wall now, ya here?

Special Thanks to Drew, Amanda and Dixie Lady.

Extra Special Thanks to God, Lynnae, and the "Chicklettes."

Extra, Extra Special Thanks to….YOU for reading.

Sources: Yahoo! Sports and The Sporting News Officially Licensed NASCAR Record & Fact Book Book- 2007 edition.