TNT begins six-race broadcasting tenure
The new broadcasting deal means fewer races for FOX and six consecutive races for TNT. TNT used to broadcast races using NBC’s broadcasting crew under the old deal, meaning that viewers were always wondering if the race was on cable or not. This year, all of TNT’s races are consecutive and Kyle Petty will sit out those races to broadcast from the booth. Petty sat out last week’s Dover race to attend his daughter’s wedding. Chad McCumbee drove the #45 Dodge, but failed to qualify for the race. Terry Labonte drives for the Petty team until Chicagoland, when McCumbee will hop back in. Labonte has a past-champion’s provisional, so he is guaranteed a spot in the race.
Stewart wins Prelude to the Dream at own Eldora Speedway
Maybe there is such a thing as home field advantage in racing. On Wednesday night, driver Tony Stewart won the Prelude to the Dream at Eldora Speedway, in New Weston, Ohio. Stewart has begun a tradition of holding the race each year, to raise money for the Kyle Petty’s Victory Junction Gang Camp.
Stewart, who led each of the caution-riddled event’s 30 laps, presented a $1 million check to Kyle Petty in Victory Lane. Robby Gordon, Clint Bowyer, Kenny Wallace and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top-5. Jeff Gordon finished 14th, behind short track legend Red Farmer. Gordon’s former crew chief Ray Evernham finished 16th. There were seven cautions and Stewart won by 1.5 seconds. The race was shown on Pay-Per-View and will eventually replay on Speed Channel later this year.
Get your kicks with rumors about the #26
Early this week, rumors surfaced that Jamie McMurray was going to be relieved of the final year of his contract, making him a free agent for 2009. Some of those same rumors also had sponsor Crown Royal teaming up with Greg Biffle’s #16 Ford and the #26 team either shutting down or getting exported to Yates Racing, as part of the mandated downsizing that Roush-Fenway must do by 2009. Fortunately for McMurray, there has been no announcement regarding his future as of yet.
McMurray has been disappointing at Roush-Fenway, finishing 25th in the points with only seven top-10s in 2006, 17th in the points with only one win and nine top-10s in 2007, and is 22nd in the points this season. With the caliber of drivers that either are free agents or are looking to be this season, McMurray does have reason to fear for his job. So far the future for these free agents has not been decided: Ryan Newman, Martin Truex Jr., David Ragan, Reed Sorenson, and Dave Blaney. Tony Stewart has been rumored to be looking for an out in his contract that ends in 2009, but there have been updates on his future. See my article on McMurray on Frontstretch.com: frontstretch.com/sidebyside/17261/.
Sponsorship news: No more Alltel? & Kvapil ready to DISH it out in Pocono
Verizon Wireless is in talks with mobile carrier Alltel about possibly buying the company. If this happens, Alltel’s presence in the sport could come to an end. If Verizon buys the carrier, they would become the largest wireless company in America, surpassing AT&T. But like AT&T, this could jeopardize their NASCAR sponsorship.
Verizon likely would phase out the Alltel brand, just as AT&T did with Cingular. In the latter case, Sprint/Nextel took a major objection to allowing the new AT&T colors on their car the #31 RCR team and driver Jeff Burton. After a lengthy court battle and tug-of-war, Sprint agreed to let AT&T sponsor the car through 2008, despite them having a longer contractual commitment to RCR. Sprint bought out Nextel a couple of years ago, warranting the Cup Series name change.
Alltel currently sponsors Ryan Newman at Penske Racing in the #12 Dodge and has since the team’s inception in 2001 (it was the #02 in 2001). Alltel is in the last year of its deal with Penske, possibly leaving another team on the market in search of a sponsor.
Verizon Wireless has sponsored Robby Gordon in NASCAR before, in the Nationwide Series. This weekend, though, Gordon is without a sponsor at Pocono Raceway. The #7 Dodge is black and blank for this weekend’s race.
Travis Kvapil has good news this weekend. DISH Network, a Roush-Fenway sponsor, has agreed to sponsor the #28 Yates Racing Ford at Pocono. Travis Kvapil drives for Roush-Fenway in the Craftsman Truck Series and Yates has a partnership with Roush-Fenway, likely leading to this sponsorship deal. Kvapil has had many one-race sponsorships this year and this is another example. Though he and his teammate David Gilliland’s cars are without a full-time sponsor this season, they both have had some impressive runs and have remained well within the top-35 in the owner’s points. Gilliland carries FreeCreditReport.com colors this weekend and has had them sponsor him in several other races this year.
Mark Martin also will run special colors this weekend, with Steak-umm running for the 2nd race this year on the #8 DEI Chevy.
Hass-CNC appealing Lowe’s penalties
After spending the last week deliberating whether or not to appeal the heavy penalties levied against its team, Hass-CNC has decided to pull the trigger. Both the #66 and #70 lost their crew and car chiefs before last weekend’s Dover race and each were penalized 150 driver’s and owner’s points. This caused the #66 team and driver Scott Riggs to almost fall out of the top-35 in owner’s points and pushed the #70 Chevy even further out. The #66 wrecked at Dover and fell out of the comfort zone.
The penalties stay in effect until the appeal is heard on June 9th, meaning that the #66 could miss races and then the 150 points could be given back to the team, meaning that the #66 should not have missed those races. Hass also can opt to bring back its car and/or crew chiefs for Pocono, before the appeal. NASCAR penalized the team for illegal pieces on the rear wing of both of its cars at Lowe’s. Both cars were confiscated and taken to NASCAR’s R&D Center.
Jacques Villeneuve trying to get back to Cup?
Rumors surfaced this week that former Bill Davis Racing driver Jacques Villeneuve and former CART owner Barry Green are teaming up to find sponsorship and pave the Canadian driver’s return to Sprint Cup. Ganassi Racing was mentioned as a possible candidate for the driver’s destination. This makes sense, since Reed Sorenson has under-performed for the team and is in the final year of his contract. Ganassi sponsor Target also is rumored to be looking for an exit from the sport. Green denies that they are trying to field their own team, but are trying to find sponsorship to land a Cup ride. Another Ganassi car, the #40 and driver Dario Franchitti, also is without a full-time sponsor.
Kyle kicking out a triple this weekend
Like him or not, there is no doubt that Kyle Busch likes to race. This weekend, the Dover winner and Sprint Cup points leader is running the Cup race in Pocono, traveling to Texas to run the Craftsman Truck Series race for Billy Ballew tonight, and then is running the Nationwide Series race in Nashville on Saturday for Braun Racing. No driver has ever won all three races in one weekend, but Busch is in three rides that surely have a chance to. He has won at least two races in each series this season and has led the points in all three series for at least one race.
Nationwide Series COT may not happen as soon as thought
When NASCAR began discussing the idea of a Nationwide Series Car of Tomorrow, a possible time table for its inception was sometime in 2009. This may change.
The idea of a totally new racecar is scaring owners in the Nationwide garage. Dale Earnhardt Jr., who owns two teams in the series, says that it would be cheaper for him to begin a Sprint Cup team with his operation, because the cost is similar there and the money is better. Owner Todd Braun said the same thing, adding that he may be looking to sell his team or find an investor, if the sport becomes even less profitable than it already is.
In the Nationwide Series, the cost of running a team for a full season costs nearly as much as a Cup team, but sponsorship and race winnings are way less. This already has caused an infusion of many Cup teams into the series and has forced out many long time owners. NASCAR has not released any official word on if different types of cars will run or when that will happen.
Not much to write home about from Dover for Georgia boys
David Ragan ran solidly in the Cup race at Dover, finishing 15th, two laps down. He managed to gain points in the standings, because of early race trouble for Kasey Kahne, but still sits 13th in the standings, eight points out of the Chase. Ragan wrecked late in the Nationwide race and finished 29th. Denny Hamlin won that race and Ragan slipped a spot to 7th in the series standings.
Reed Sorenson had another dismal run in the #41 Target Dodge with crew chief Donnie Wingo, finishing six laps down in 26th. He is 30th in points. Bill Elliott found himself stuck in the early race wreck and sustained damage. He finished 33rd.
In the Truck Series, Tucker’s Shane Sieg had a solid run in the Billy Ballew Motorsports #15 Toyota, finishing 14th. His teammate, Kyle Busch, had transmission trouble after dominating the race early, finishing 27th. Dacula’s Andy Lally finished 22nd and his teammate, Donny Lia, in a truck that Lally owns, finished 17th. Lia won two weeks ago at Mansfield. Former F1 driver Scott Speed won his first career NASCAR race in a truck at Dover.
Listen to the Bellamy Strickland 120 with Captain Herb Emory and myself this Saturday from 2-4 p.m. on News/Talk 750 WSB and on wsbradio.com, for the latest racing news and updates this weekend.
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